Day 45: Arnhem Land

A full day group tour to Arnhem Land was worthwhile. We were going to try it ourselves, but we would have had no idea where to go. Arnhem land contains the area of the longest continuous human settement in Australia, dating over 60,000 years ago. Interestingly, though, Makassan traders (from Sulawesi) have been coming here since about 300-400 years ago to gather sea cucumbers and trade, and many of the things we saw had Makassan origins, like the lilies you see in the croc photo below and the local language - the word for white person (balanda) is the same as the Makassan word, which was their word for the Dutch. 

One of the oldest ones, from maybe 8-10,000 years ago

We had the retired former head of the Northern Land Council take us - a guy who knew everyone and everything about the place, including the history. HIs own story was interesting, a 62 year old white guy who married a local aboriginal woman (his wife and daughter are currently park rangers and he was a former ranger) and lives in one of the local communities in Kakadu, filling in driving tour groups when they are busy.

In the local billabong

The rock is meant to be the first paperbark raft which rested up there. The local area is named after this.

A painting outside the local arts centre (sugar gliders)

Cahill's Crossing, a causeway on the East Alligator River (the first Europeans thought that crocodiles were alligators) marks the divide between Kakadu and Arnhem Land. There was a croc death there recently, but despite the warning signs, a few people still fish at the crossing.

The waters can get a bit tricky on this crossing, with big tides making the water flow backwards, despite being WAY inland

Rock art from about 100 years ago - this one of one of the supply ships for the buffalo hunters

A local long-necked turtle

Even the locals don't know who did these ones, with some thinking that they just came out of the rock.

Below is our "indoor-outdoor" bathroom. Such a good use of old water tanks and road signs and so practical and easy to clean (no mouldy tiles, just rocks on the ground).