Maningrida

We spent most of the day yesterday in the Aboriginal community of Maningrida in North Central Arnhem Land, at the mouth of the Liverpool River where it flows into the Arafura Sea.

For (permitted) visitors, barramundi fishing is all the go here and we were among the first in our tour group to board the boat for a two and half hour cruise around this massive river mouth in search of croc and bird sightings and a spot of fishing.

Croc ahead (and a bird in the frame too)!!

Stewie was our local guide. I loved watching him gazing out - seeing everything and pointing out the tiniest movements and the creatures making them. He was a reticent man but he made every word count. Stewie doesn't live on Maningrida he lives on his own homeland. He's been working for Outback Spirit for a decade or so.

There were plenty of croc sightings - this part of the river was like crocodile riviera - they were all sunning themselves in the mangroves on the edge of the river. it was a pretty cool morning for this part of the country so the water was probably cooler than usual.

We weren't so lucky with the fishing today.  The tides were all wrong ra ra ra. But our friend David did score the only catch of the day - a good size golden trevally.... an exciting way to end off our boating experience.

We spent most of the afternoon with Dorothy and Frida who are eminent weavers and fibre makers at the renowned Maningrida Arts Centre (the oldest Aboriginal run arts centre in Australia) and holders of great knowledge about the histories and cultures of the local people.

They demonstrated how they prepare the pandanus leaves ready for weaving, the dyeing process and the various objects made using all the different weaving and knot making techniques they, and their ancestors, have developed over thousands of years.

This string made from Kurrajong tree bark is used in all the dilly bags ... it's as strong and resilient as you'd find anywhere ....... the ladies make it using a rolling action with their hands (usually against their legs).

This is how the bark is stripped and whipped into shape........

The local museum made for an interesting visit too ........

I have been blown away by the quality of objects and art works we've seen in these communities. They are just extraordinary ......  they deserve to be in world class galleries.

We've heard a lot about the way trade with the Makassans (from Sulawesi in Indonesia) impacted the coastal people of Arnhem Land (from about the 1700s). This contact was a lot more respectful and reciprocal than later contact (colonisation!) with the Europeans. These woven dilly bags from the old days incorporate lengths of cloth fibre that would have been traded with the Makassans.

Another day of amazing experiences on this trip ........

Today we're heading to Mount Borradaile, site of some of the most stunning rock art galleries in the world and the incredible wetlands of Cooper Creek (another Cooper Creek!). There's no wifi where we're heading so for the next few days we'll be off the grid in that regard.

Ramingining to Barramundi Lodge

We enjoyed one last magnificent sunrise over the Arafura Wetlands before leaving beautiful Murwangi yesterday morning.

It was only an hour of goat track driving and a short distance of good road before we'd arrived at Ramingining - and specifically, at the Bula bula Art Centre. Our permit only allowed us to visit the art centre but driving through this "dry" Aboriginal community (pop. 800), past its school full of happy waving kids, things were looking pretty good for the locals here. 

The art centre itself looked amazing with lots of artists working on their paintings and weavings. Because of so many issues in the early days around abuses of artists' copyright no photos were allowed of the paintings (except for these two pieces at the entry.

These ladies said it was ok to photograph them weaving (with pandanus fibre).

We bought a painting here - by Evonne Rraraypun - a Dhuwa painting of a bush tucker story (yams) with caterpillars.  Evonne was taught to paint by her mother Dorothy Djukulul, the first Ramingining woman to be given permission to paint cultural stories (formerly women only had permission to weave). Dorothy painted 5 of the 200 commemorative poles that were commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia for the Bicentenary in 1988.

We all enjoyed our time at the art centre especially around morning tea (provided by our tour company) - the artists really tucked in. Our driver knows they love tins of smoked oysters in particular so they are always on the shopping list.

it was just under a two drive from Ramingining to our next stay at Barramundi Lodge - closer to Maningrida. There were a number of water crossings in this stretch. The Blyth River crossing was the deepest - just under the 70cm mark - but easy for our careful driver in our special outback equipped Mercedes tour  bus.

A lovely lunch was waiting for us on arrival at Barramundi Lodge - on the deck of this lodge, set high on the escarpment overlooking the floodplains of the Tomkinson and Liverpool rivers.

Once again, our "glamping" tents look very luxurious indeed.

Nothing was planned for the afternoon - so we went walking with David and Ro to get a feel for the amazing environment surrounding the lodge.

This grevillea, in flower, really caught our eyes. - we got a bit carried away taking photos to celebrate!

The bars at these lodges open every afternoon. Apparently the local kingfisher birds are regular afternoon visitors to the bar. They love the eye fillet steak treats on offer and have got quite tame, over time!

Drinks and then a beautifully prepared dinner (barramundi for me - of course)  served on the deck with this amazing sunset backdrop was a perfect way to end another amazing day in Arnhem Land.

Murwangi Safari Camp Arnhem Land

We arrived at Murwangi Safari Camp yesterday afternoon after a pretty bone shattering drive (at least the last three hours of it anyway) from Nhulunbuy. From our "glamping" cabin deck overlooking the wetlands we quickly decided this was worth the sometimes agonising drive. Murwangi is just beautiful.

This is definitely the way to go camping.

Sunset drinks, chef cooked meals are all part of the deal on this trip. This was Rob on our walk to evening drinks at the bar!

Sunrise over the wetlands is not to be missed. This was the view from our cabin deck around 6.30 this morning - complete with a pair of feral water buffaloes at the water's edge ........

And this was the view from the (crocodile safe) pontoon as the sun rose over one of the most extensive wetlands in Australia ................

After a gourmey breakfast our day's adventure started in this vehicle ........

We were heading out on "safari" with Frankie, our local Yolngu guide, learning to read this amazing country through his eyes ........

Feral water buffalo are a scourge in this area... remnant populations from the pastoral era (prior to native title) have exploded in numbers in this delicately balanced environment. This was one of the first sightings on our "safari".

Frankie is a revered elder - full of stories of his country - some of which he shared with us today - translated by Mark the manager of our safari camp.... Everything is determined by skin name - even inanimate objects in nature - which is a very complex thing to understand. We heard stories of local animals, trees, food gathering and ceremony... quite mesmerising. 

The pic below is of a massive cathedral termite mound framed by a native lillipilli tree....... termite mounds are everywhere here.

We learnt to catch green ants and taste their citrussy zest. This is a close up view of a green ant nest high up in this tree.

Frankie demonstrated how to strip and laminate  pandanus leaves ready for weaving into dilly bags (and jewellery in more contemporary times). Frankie says this is actually womens' work!

The iconic film "Ten Canoes" by Rolf de Heer was filmed in this country - Frankie and his family were actors in this film. This was one of the beautiful water holes used as a location in the film.

Frankies' father is a famous Ramingining artist (Milpirru); Franke says he chooses not to paint but he was happy to demonstrate the way his community uses charcoal and ochres to tell stories and make meaning through mark making. He used his arm as his surface.......

... to create this image of a water monitor in the right moiety (skin name).

We spent the afternoon exploring the wetlands on a flat bottomed (croc safe) pontoon. There were a few crocs around but the most exciting sighting this afternoon was this Jaburu - the black-necked stork.

...... especially when we saw it catch a ginormous water snake and spend the next 15 minutes trying to thrash it into submission (and eventually swallow it). 

So many bird sightings too in this beautiful peaceful wetland setting.........

.. including this sea eagle - quite a rare sight even here.

... and the ubiquitous water buffalo, here in the middle of the wetlands .........

Graham was our local guide in the wetlands.....like Frankie he was full of knowledge, stories and deep connection to this country. He's acted in movies too in his day.

Lotus was introduced in Australia around 2,000 years ago ..... it's become quite a menace in the wetlands once the rainy season is over... although Graham says it does help protect turtles and other creatures from crocodiles and water buffalo. attack.

We only have one more night here - a chance to see another sunrise and enjoy the incredible hospitality and setting of this amazing "safari camp" in the Arafura Wetlands.