Often I think back to that stage of my life and wonder how I ever came to reside there and what a lucky person I am to have had such an opportunity as when I lived in Ngukurr I had an amazing number of adventures and met some really interesting people.
These days when I am stuck for something to write about I can always revisit that time to come up with a good yarn.
The people of Ngukurr and the surrounding area believe that one of the ways to bring jobs and enterprise to the area is via tourism. The Roper River that runs through Ngukurr has some of the best fishing in the world and the local area is full of magical scerery and wonderous places.
Ngukurr is an untapped tourist market as the bumpy, dirt road that winds its way into the small community is a major deterrent to all but the hardiest visitor. If tourist ventures can be started in the region, infrstructure and local jobs will follow. This is the want of the local people.
With that in mind a small goup of government employees and Aboriginal Traditional Owners set out on a two day drive to discover and explore potential tourist attractions in the area.
On our travels we found rivers and billabongs everywhere overflowing with bird and wildlife. Unfortunately, many of the serene looking billabongs provided an ideal refuge for a monster saltwater crocodile or two. In one such billabong, far from saltwater we found a four metre crocodile baasking on the banks in the sun. The billabong was covered in a lush layer of purple lillies and once in the water you would never know where the croc was. You just can't take the risk to swim in any body of water in Arnhemland however still and isolated they may appear.
Jagged, dark ochre-coloured hills rose from the plain. Gum trees grew at impossible angles from the hillsides. The sun beat down. The traditional owners showed us a set of hills that house a collection of rock paintings. These paintings whilst important to them weren't sacred and they were prepared to allow tourists to come and view them.
The paintings were hidden from the elements under rock overhangs, some were faded and barely recognisable. You had to squint at the drawing's to make out the kangaroo, birds and fish. Stick figures ran all around the walls and ochre-blown handprints adorned the rock. The sheltered, shallow caves came alive with the forgotten action the drawings represented.
At different locations the rock drawings were much clearer and we were told that over the years they had been re-touched and repainted by decendants of the original artists.
One felt a sense of awe and wonder at being in such a place.
That night we camped under the star's. It was hard to sleep as the star's threw out so much light and effervesence. It is a well worn cliche but all the same a true one in that it appeared that you could almost reach out and touch the stars in the sky, they were that close. I just lay there for an hour or more just looking towards the heavens taking it all in and committing the sight to memory.
The next morning we visited the local billabong in time to witness the coming and goings of a multitude of birds who made their homes around the waterhole. Fishing lines were thrown into the water and good sized barramundi were caught in quick succession. Everyone kept an eye out for crocodiles.
After a delicious brerakfast we were on the road again heading for the coast. We picked up a local Traditional Owneer who was going to take us to his land on the coast to see if we thought it had any tourist potential.
The road to his coastal lands could be best described as a bumpy, twisting, dusty rut, but perhaps I am being too kind. This was the type of 4wd that affectionados lust after. All the while and Elder in the back seat told us about the country we were travelling through and what it meant to him.
After almost two hours of hard driving we were rewarded by the sight of clear blue ocean. The waters were so clear that from a hilltop vantage point we could see large sharks cruising off shore. From the same vantage point we could see golden beaches heading off in the distance for kilometre after kilometre and there was not one single person in sight. The Elder said that we were probably the only people to have been to this place since he was last here four or so months ago. Amazing.
But he still had more to show us and we mounted the vehicles to continue our journey, this time down the golden beach.
We had gone several kilometres when my passenger said, "isn't that a buffalo in the billabong? What's he got around his horns?"
I slowed the vehicle and had a look. It was a buffalo and he did have something around his horns. I turned the vehicle toward the billabong.
That's it for now folks if you want to know the rest you will have to come back. I know not fair!
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