Good evening from Mataranka, on the traditional lands of the Mangarayi and Yungman people. After another week in Darwin full of fun and adventures (as well as a few down days cos we're pretty soft!), we're back on the road south, heading towards the Red Centre. Today marks the 7th week of this amazing trip, so we're officially over the half way point. Eeekkk! Given this post covers almost 10 days, and includes lots of photos from Bob's new toy, its a long one. Make a cuppa and enjoy!

On Thursday we visited one of the free water parks in Darwin where we had heaps of fun on the waterslides and in the pool. I was particularly impressed with Nora, who was very nervous to start with, but agreed to go on a slide with me on a double ring float. After a few goes on that one with me and then Toby, she was ready to try her very first solo waterslide - as a huge fan of the special thrill that only a waterslide can bring, I was so proud!!

On Friday we were so lucky to be able to do a tour of the Tiwi Islands which are made up of 2 main islands, Bathurst and Melville. They're located 80 kms north of Darwin, which took us 2 hours on a ferry and after an early (for me!) start I spent most of the trip dozing on Bob's shoulder. We arrived on Bathurst Island and had the privilege of taking part in a traditional welcoming smoking ceremony at the Tiwi Arts Centre. Our guides Kevin and Vivian were joined by a few other men and women of various ages, who performed some of the traditional dances of the Tiwi people for us, including those for animals such as crocodile, shark, buffalo and brumby. The last one was a pretty recent addition to their dances, as the feral horses had been introduced to the islands in the last 150 years or so.

Kevin was keen for us to understand that Tiwi culture is a living thing, and that their dance, art and song continue to evolve and respond to their experiences. He told us how they have specific dances to commemorate the bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 that they perform every year on the anniversary of the attack, and let us know that one of their elders who had been singing for us was actually alive on that day. She told us how scared she had been as a 5 year old to see the Japanese bombers heading for Darwin. A priest on the island radioed Darwin to warn them of the incoming threat but Darwin was still caught unawares, and over 200 people in Darwin were killed in the raid.

After the welcoming ceremony and a yummy morning tea of damper we headed out on a walking tour of some of the key spots of the small town of Wurrumiyanga. The town had been the site of a Catholic mission which was established in 1911, and one of the most famous buildings on the island is the old timber church which feature in the film Top End Wedding.

We then visited the Patakijiyali Museum, which was established by Sister Anne Gardiner, a Catholic nun who lived on the island for over 50 yars and wanted to help to preserve Tiwi history, language and culture.

Out the front of the museum Kevin explained the map that showed the lands of the 9 traditional groups within the Tiwi nation, spread across the 2 main islands. Melville is the bigger of the 2 islands (its the 2nd largest Australian island after Tasmania!) but Bathurst has more people living on it these days. But Kevin assured us that people still go over to Melville to hunt, which Vivian had earlier told us happens every Sunday. Kevin also told us a bit about the system of skin names that is practiced in Tiwi cultural, which is similar to the system we learned about in Kakadu and is common across many Aboriginal groups.

The museum had a lot of amazing information and artifacts, including really detailed creation and dreaming stories and a wide range of traditional artworks and tools. It also had lots of information about the role of the Tiwi Islands in WWII, as well as a whole room about the amazing footballers and other sportspeople the islands have produced. However, there was also a whole section on the Catholic mission, which was a bit uncomfortable to read about. The museum has been established by a Catholic nun who was obviously very dedicated to the islands and their people. However the rosy tale of the church bringing education and 'civilisation' to the Tiwi people was pretty hard to reconcile with when it was very clear that this process also involved the intentional attempt to suppress and destroy their language and culture, as did all colonisation.

I asked Kevin about this, and he told the group a few stories about the complicated relationship between the church and the Tiwi people. One story he told us was about how in the 1920's the church, and in particular the German priest who founded the mission Father Gsell, was instrumental in providing an alternative to polygamous and arranged marriage traditions that had been practiced by the Tiwi people. Traditionally, female babies were promised to men for marriage at birth, and once they reached puberty were forced to marry the man, who often had several/many other wives. In the 1920s, a young girl Martina was at the mission school and begged Father Gsell to let her stay rather than return to her community where she would be forced to marry a much older man. Father Gael was very conflicted but felt they couldn't keep her at the school without creating a significant conflict with the community. So she went, but returned in a few days, injured and desperate not to be sent back to her husband. When her husband and other warriors of the group came to collect her, clearly very angry, Father Gsell decided to offer the husband a huge collection of food, weapons and gifts in exchange for Martina, and the husband agreed to the deal. Martina became the first of 150 girls who were able to stay on the mission rather than be forced into arranged polygamous marriages, who were known as Father Gsell's 'wives'. Martina went on to marry a Tiwi Islander man of her choice. Kevin explained that this led to the end of these particular marriage traditions, assuring us that his daughters (one of whom plays professional AFLW) would be selecting their own partners.

Another story Kevin told us was about a more recent engagement with a younger priest which lead to a more collaborative relationship between the church and Tiwi culture. About 50 years ago a newer priest to the Islands had gotten very frustrated at the fact that none of the islanders were at mass on a particular Sunday morning. He didn't know that the community was all participating in a funeral ceremony, and when he found them on Melville Island he pushed over a burial pole in anger. On his way back to Bathurst Island the motor on his boat died, and by the time he found his way back to the Island he was experiencing seizures. The community believed he had been possessed by bad spirits from the burial pole and performed a 2 day cleansing ceremony, after which he was healed. As a result the priest was much more open to the Tiwi faith and culture, and from that point on the church took a much more inclusive approach. Now, masses are held in an outdoor amphitheatre in the Tiwi language and Tiwi art and music is incorporated into the liturgy. To wrap up this section of the tour Kevin said that the relationship between the church and the Tiwi people is complicated but also very interesting. Which seemed to be a very politic answer to a difficult question on a tour full of white people!

We headed back to the art centre for lunch, and to start our print making experience.

After this amazing art making we wrapped up with a big thanks and goodbye to Vivian and Kevin, and loaded back onto the ferry to Darwin. Being a Friday afternoon, the ferry was totally full, with lots of Islanders heading to the mainland for the weekend. A few under 16 footy teams were on the ferry, and I got to have a little chat with two young women sitting next to me and Josie. My favourite exchange was when I asked them if they wanted to play professionally and they looked at me like I was completely stupid, and were like 'ah, yeah!!. So cute!

We had a pretty quiet weekend, although I did a bit of shopping including for snorkels for our upcoming visits to springs and thermal pools. I also searched for the 2 donut kings that Apple Maps assured me were in various shopping centres in Palmerston, to no avail. My disappointment was so great that I have removed Apple Maps from my homescreen on my phone and replaced it with Google Maps, which Bob has been begging me to do for at least 6 months now. But the snorkels were a big hit!

On Monday we went to Aqua Park at the Darwin Waterfront. We didn't take any photos of our own, so here is something from the internet.

It was a lot of fun, but also, HARD WORK. It was not nearly as bouncy and fun as I expected it to be, much more hard and slippy. My main response was ...

Even while I was in the middle of the course, I could tell how much I was going to hurt for days to come. And I was right! I was hoping that a trip to the hot springs at Berry Springs on Tuesday would help, but it didn't really make a difference. Sigh..... But the springs were beautiful, as evidenced in these photos we took on the GoPro that Bob bought on the way!

And that was the last of our big adventures in Darwin, aside for one final (second) breakfast at Parap on Wednesday after which we were back on the road! After 2 weeks in one spot it was good to get moving again, and more importantly, to be able to pack everything back in the car (and trailer and roof box and bag) despite Qantas thwarting our plans to send home some stuff with Alice. Yay us!

We did require a quick stop in Katherine to stretch our legs (especially the shortest legs in the car, which were attached to the most whinging of all of the car's inhabitants), and made it to Mataranka, home of many thermal springs! On Thursday we tested out Bitter Springs, which is a lazy river type situation where you float along the current from one set of steps to another and then walk back along a path to start all over again. There's lot of plant and animal life which was amazing to see, though thankfully no large freshwater alligator like the one that an older gentleman took great pleasure in telling me all about swimming with one time. He assured me it was years ago, but I was still extra watchful after that story!

We stopped in a town for lunch where we had what I think were the nicest pies of the trip to date, and also saw the local brolgas that hang out around town. I was so excited to see them in the park, but then a little sad to see them hanging out at the BP eating scraps 😥

In the evening we went to the Mataranka Homestead for dinner, where it was pizza and karaoke night. It was an odd type of karaoke - there was an old gentleman singer who did a full set of his own with proper backing tracks, then opened up to karaoke by dinner guests. I think that maybe the workers at the homestead (95% were backpackers, as is the case in almost all hospitality workers we've met on this trip!) had requested / insisted on the karaoke, but were still working so there weren't many active participants which is always tough on a karaoke host, let alone one who was struggling to work with an impromptu set up with Spotify on someone’s laptop! So I decided to give into temptation and had a crack at Sin Wagon (which I was really under-prepared for) and Crazy, which is always so much fun. Who knew my first karaoke attempt in over 5 years would be in the outback town where We of the Never Never was written?!?!? It was the first time the kids had seen me sing on a stage, so their enthusiastic response was very gratifying!

Nearly there I promise! Today we went to Mataranka Springs, which is still a part of a natural stream but is a lot more manicured / landscaped than Bitter Springs, with much less animal and plant life. But still very beautiful!

Ok, finally done - thanks for sticking it out to the end! We're heading out tomorrow, from Mataranka to Banka Banka, and then we've got a long drive to Alice Springs. I'll do to be a bit more regular with these so they don't end up in a TL:DR place!