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By Gavin Tyte
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From Edith Falls, I continued to hitch north, and just before dark, I hitched a ride with a guy driving an old, beaten-up, brown station wagon. He said he was driving over night because he wanted to get to Darwin to see a Midnight Oil concert. I jumped in and off we cruised. As we sped along the empty road, he lit up a bong made out of an empty coke can and began to smoke marijuana. At each bend the car would swerve onto the dusty verge and I prayed that there would be no cattle on the road. However, the next morning we arrived in Darwin safe and unharmed.
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, originally a pioneer outpost, it is now a large town and home to over 100,000 people. I toured around the city centre, visiting various attractions including ‘Aquascene’, a fish feeding where visitors watch three feet long ocean milkfish being fed. Despite the temptation to whip out my fishing rod, I took heed of the sign warning of the $1000 penalty for fishing! I’m not a big fan of cities and so I left Darwin and headed for Kakadu National Park. I hitched as far as AnnaBurroo and went for a swim in the croc-free Annaburroo Billabong. I camped the night by the billabong and the next day hitched to Kakadu.
Kakadu National Park is an enormous state park some 200km long and about 100km wide. It is owned by the Aboriginal people and leased to the Australian government to be used as a national park. It is a major tourist attraction in Australia, but it is possible to get off the beaten track, especially if you hitchhike. On entering the park I purchased a visitor guide and a local newspaper and read them from start to finish. I was particularly intrigued with a line in the Visitor Guide that advised me not to harass the saltwater crocodiles. Good idea.
Whilst in Kakadu, I managed to hitch a ride with one of the park rangers to Ubirr Rock to see some more cave drawings. The ranger was responsible for all the oil-fired electricity generators across the park. He was checking on a generator in an Aboriginal settlement called Cannon Hill. We arrived in the settlement and it was pretty basic – the accommodation being comprised of three tin sheds. There were a few guys mooching around and I saw a goat and a few pigs. Then, I noticed that on top of one of the sheds was a satellite dish. I asked the ranger what it was for and he told me it was so they could watch satellite television. They also got crates of beer delivered. Apparently this was how they spent the money given to them by the government for leasing the land. We went out of the park and into Arnhem Land, the Aboriginal land that is off-limits to tourists. The border between Kakadu and Arnhem Land is defined by an immense escarpment full of gorges. The range showed me the spot where a fisherman was snatched by a crocodile in front of a bus load of tourists.
Here was a clash of cultures. Perhaps the Aborigines had the best of both worlds; the privacy and beauty of their own land, with the best of Western culture, namely television and alcohol? However, I couldn’t help but think that they were being grossly short-changed. I left the village with a very unsettled feeling. This wasn’t another group of animals to be fed and watered, but a people who deserved love and respect. It reminded me of how we have impressed our culture on other cultures over the years and the native Australians are no exception. It was quite permissible to shoot a native Australian who ventured onto ‘white’ land until relatively recently. What is that all about? Thankfully, today, all Australians – both black and white - are taking very seriously the heritage and ongoing care of the native people. I hope it is not too late.
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