I haven't forgotten that I need to finish my fascinating account of my Outback tour - this will be uploaded here I promise in the next day or so - I am now in Singapore and tomorrow I hope to find a decent internet place !!
So ... Back to Barrow Creek, which, in effect, is just a pub, a gas station and a telegraph office. Anyway, Barrow Creek pub is the place that Joanne Lees was brought to when she managed to flag down a vehicle after the "attack" on her and her fiance - do you remember a few years ago ? She and Peter Falconio were touring the outback when some guy pulled them over, apparently killed Peter but she got away by hiding in the outback. His body has never been found despite the local Aboriginees expert trackers efforts - I remember seeing a documentary about the whole hoo-ha, she didn't come across very well and there is still an element of scepticism amongst the locals about her story. The guy who was eventually convicted for it was initially in Darwin prison but they moved him to Alice Springs in the hope he would tell them where the body was - he says he can't tell as he doesn't know, still claiming his innocence.
Anyway, the pub is one of these places that people who visit from around the world leave flags or football shirts and whatnot on the walls .... I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted a sticker on the window with a familiar picture of a certain High Street and proclaiming - "Stockton-on-Tees, lively and friendly, come and enjoy !" - in the middle of the outback on the other side of the world and there is a sticker for my home town !!
It was then on to Devil's Marbles - a strange place absolutely choc-a bloc full of lovely round boulders and rocks, they believe that all the area used to be under water and the rocks were on the sea bed and have now been exposed.
That night we camped at Banka Banka and witnessed the most amazing lightening - all night, absolutely continuous. The following morning another early one for sun-rise and we headed out for Daly Waters but not before stopping to say hello to a black headed python.
At Mataranka we spent some time in the gorgeous thermal pools to the sound of thousands of flying foxes overhead.
The final day was probably the best, we spent the night near Katherine and the morning saw us head to Katherine Gorge which was beautiful. We took some canoes down gorge 1, very hot but we stopped at various little beaches on the way to have a refreshing dip in the river. I bumped into Thomas and Julia again from my Uluru tour before we headed towards Darwin, stopping at Edith Falls for another much needed swim.
So, back in Darwin for a couple of days - met up with Thomas and Julia for lunch but wasn't able to meet up with my relative Bruce unfortunately .... but Barbara and he both came down to the airport to wave me off which was really nice.
So, as promised before - the image of the Aborigenees here is really bad, often the only time you see them in towns is sitting around drinking. Their tolerance level for alcohol is very low as it has only been introduced into their lives comparatively recently. In the Northern Territories white people only really arrived in the 1920's, less than 100 years ago so their lives have been hugely affected in very recent times. You can see signs when you drive past Aborigine territory stating that they are no alcohol zones so this pushes them into the towns to get drink. A bit like a version of prohibition I suppose, not really the way to deal with a problem.
During the tour I often felt like the Spanish girls I met during the Machu Picchu tour - our forefathers have a lot to answer to. There are serious social issues in Australia and racism is a big thing. The government seems to have made some strange decisions ... if you can prove Aboriginal ancestry then the state benefits you receive are much more than white folk, something like 200 quid a week plus housing etc etc. One Ozzie said to me "why would you work for a living when the government pays you that much ?" - I didn't see one Aboriginal face in a working environment. I asked why the government chose to give the Aboriginees more benefits than the white people - the answer, "guilt".
So, I'm glad I did the outback tour, I'm glad I saw the 2nd side of Australia away from the cities and the beaches. Would I return ? Not sure, probably not - there are plenty more places to see in the world - Singapore being one of them !
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