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and the Outback
G'day
It's 2 pm, the car's rolling down the driveway into the street. I point it north and you little ripper we're on holidays. We're all set, the milk's being held at thepost office, the mail's been watered and the dog andtwo cats have been cancelled.
Suitcases are on the roof rack and our more preciouscargo in the boot. Jessica's games and CDs, Julieanne'slaptop (no not the cat:-) and my beer and guitar.
I have this thing or ritual when we go on holidays inthe car. I make myself curried egg sangers (usually2-3) that I eat while I'm driving. No one believes me,but I reckon about an hour after that we start goingfaster. Where does all this extra power come from?Buggered if I know, anyhow that's between you and meand the gate post. I can't ask Julieanne or Jessica,they're always in a deep sleep at that time. LOL.
We got to Mildura Friday night about 7, checked intothe resort and headed for a Hot Chook shop we'dseen on the way in.
Satdy, Sundy, Mondy and Tuesdy (that's how ockers say the days)we did all the usual touristy thingsbehaving like a bunch of gallahs.
That's the good thing about being on holidays, you cancarry on like a pork chop and it doesn't matter becausenobody knows you.
Wednesday morning we left the resort to go on a tripoutback. Probably not as "outback" as I'd call going upthe top end past Alice Springs, Katherine and TennantCreek, but definitely out bush where the quiz can reach127 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer.
Picture this!! We're driving on a red sandy, corrugatedroad that went straight through the middle of thisstation called Tapio. It's owned by one family with aquizstead at either end. Tapio one end and Gol Gol out-station quizstead at the other end. The average sizeof the stations around here is about 120,000 acres andmost of them run about 15,000 sheep, roughly the samenumber of cattle and grow wheat in some of the hugecleared sections.
Tapio station is run by one family (3 people), theybring in shearers for the season, stockmen at mustertime and contract out the wheat harvest.
Anyway, about 20 minutes into Tapio station with halfthe people in the bus nodding off like the balls on a Christmas tree.
BANG!!!
A kangaroo hit the front of the bus. The poor roo waskilled instantly and the front of the bus copped a fairhiding. Looked a bit like Dame Edna Everidge havin' abad hair day. The driver saw it coming and was readyfor it and kept the bus under control. After a quickinspection we moved on.
Ahead in the distance a big dust cloud was comingtowards us. Two minutes later a Land Cruiser passed atabout 100 clicks and left us in a dust cloud withoutany view of the road ahead. "No worries" said John thedriver, he was used to it and was more concerned aboutthe damage. We pulled over to check the bus again andafter a real peaceful cuppa tea and cake out in themiddle of nowhere (you really need to have a gander at this for yourself to appreciate it).
We decided we'd do a U bolt and head back to Mildura todo the trip the next day with a different bus.
Thursday was probably the highlight of our holiday. Weended up going bush again, this time with Harry Nanyatours, owned and operated by Aboriginal people.
Our Aboriginal guide was George. His mother is from theBarkindji tribe. Our destination, Mungo National Parkis Barkindji Tribal land, dating back many thousands ofyears (almost back to when Adam was a boy). George has11 children, he reckons he's just about got a tribe of his own.
On the way George explained all about the Aboriginalculture, bush medicines, bush tucker and pointed outsome coffin trees. A coffin tree is a tree used to'bury' a person. Bark about the size of the coffinis removed, the tree is then hollowed out to accomodatethe body. The person's body is placed in the hollow and the bark replaced. Later the skeleton is taken out of the coffin tree and buried in a sacred site where the spirits of the loved one won't be disturbed. This doesn'tkill the tree, as the Barkindji tribe believe in preservingmother nature.
The Aboriginal people believe that when a person dies,he or she should go back to mother earth.
We also saw trees that have been used to make canoesand other implements, including baby carriers, and hada look at some spears, boomerangs, clubs and warshields. The trees that are used to make implements arecalled scar trees, because they can still live on forhundreds of years while the scar heals over. Othertribes might ring bark the trees, causing them to die.These ring barked trees are called "dead dog trees"because dead dogs have no bark.
A lot of the trees had mistletoe growing in them withberries that the Mistletoe Birds love to eat. Theberries are a source of vitamin A, George said they'recalled snotty gobbles (bugger it George, I just lost my appetite!!).
To finish off, here's something I didn't know.Kangaroos have 2 sets of ears, one set on their headand the other between their toes. No wonder they're soflamin' hard to sneak up on!!
Just before I go, there's 3 main rules to remember when you're in the bush:
1) Watch out where you're going. 2) Every tree is a lavatory. 3) The best cuppa tea is the one you make yourself.
So, when you come down under, be prepared to make yourown
cuppa or you might miss out.
See ya later, John.
by George O'Neill
Work is hard without no play,George O'Neill
I walk and talk from day to day.
We tell our visitors of our tribal way
because in our land they've come to stay.
While they're here we'll make them see
that our life out bush was not easy.
We'd walk for miles in our land
gathering and hunting to get our feed,
we never ever take much of any,
that way we'd always have plenty.
Now you fellas have fast foods and so do we,
but ours is more a delicacy,
ours don't stand still and spit out food,
we gotta chase ours,
the Emu and Kangaroo, now them buggers don't stop.
In a hurry we track and follow until the mood is right
and then with our spears we give em a fright.
They scuffle and scurry trying to get away
but in our eyes they can see
this is where their spirits must stay.
(George's old man is Irish)
ABN: 11872387149 ROMA
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