On the road

On Saturday of my second week, it should have started: the big trip! Up the East Coast to Cairns, then on to Darwin in the far north. My buddy Flo, who has been in Australia for the second year, and the Frenchwoman Marion are joining me.

Our first destination was Walgett, 8 hours away from Sydney. Here we wanted to meet Marion's cousin Mathilda and her husband Luc. He is an archaeologist, boomerang expert, and is passionately interested in the culture of the Aborigines. Once a year, he participates in a small festival of a group of Aborigines called 'Ringbalin'. The festival is an attempt to pass on knowledge about the history, traditions, ceremonies, and dances of the Aborigines to the younger indigenous population. It also aims to raise awareness of the pollution of the Murray-Darling River, where the festival takes place. The group then travels downstream for two weeks, stopping in various places along the river to dance. And we were allowed to be there!

(If you would like to find out more: http://www.anangukuarts.com.au/about/Projects/p4070.aspx)

The first event in Walgett took place on a sports field. The dancers, mainly children and teenagers, all had traditional body paintings. The dances mainly depicted Australian animals such as kangaroos, emus, whales, etc. (which sometimes looked quite funny). There were also traditional chants and 'music', with boomerangs being rhythmically struck together.

The next evening, the whole spectacle was repeated in the town of Brewarrina, this time in a city park. However, the Aborigines do not want photos or videos of the ceremonies and dances to be posted on the internet. So no pictures of that!

We spent the third day in a national park, where we discovered old paintings by Aborigines that were worth seeing. It was unbearably hot that day, well over 40 degrees, and I felt terrible. Besides the temperatures, we also struggled with the countless flies that flew directly into our eyes, nose, and mouth! :-(

I was so relieved when we set off towards the coast again the next day!

The Outback itself is quite desolate. Sometimes you drive for three hours without seeing another car or, let alone, a house. But lots of kangaroos and emus!

One of the Aborigines had a little kangaroo with him, which lived in a large brown jute bag. The mother was killed by a car and now they are raising the kangaroo. So cute! :-)

It was a great experience to witness something like Ringbalin (thanks to Luc!)!