A floorless performance at the launch!

08 November 2011

Not quite the plush red carpet of city churches! The church at Numbulwar has a sand floor. Rather than vacuuming, the floor gets raked. The photo shows a performance by members of the church at the launch of the New Testament in the local language of Wubuy.

Risk removal for renewal!

08 November 2011

Before the swimming pool was built in Ngukurr during the 1990s, there was the old water tank or the river for the symbolic washing of renewal at Baptism. The problem with the river of course was the crocodiles. This problem has escalated since crocodiles have become protected. It can a personally risky business renewing your life and committing yourself to a new cause. However, leg-loss need not be a part of that risk.

It’s a Klingon captain! But not as we know it!

08 November 2011

I didn't take it personally, as a reflection on my personality. But I was mistaken for a tree one day. The little gecko with his groovy suction cup feet climbed up me as I cut down the dead grey tree in which he was nicely camouflaged. Thankfully he stopped before he saw my more suitably coloured grey shorts.

The blessing and curse of the NT

08 November 2011

When it gets to 42 degrees in Ngukurr and you bake within minutes, any full shade is an oasis of relief. African Mahogany trees grow ridiculously fast and provide some of the best shade around. In fact Wikipedia even lists the Northern Territory as the main other place to find these trees besides ... you guessed it, Africa (see Khaya senegalensis). What a blessing they are! However, they are also a curse when cyclonic winds batter the knobby hill of Ngukurr. The rocky ground refuses entry for the roots and so they settle for a shallow relationship with Ngukurr hill. A rift in the relationship is inevitable. The photo shows a tree that came down beside the old shop early in 2010. It took out the power lines to our house and lay across the road before being pushed 90˚ clockwise on the ground to where it is in the photo.

Steady as she goes captain!

08 November 2011

A large 4WD is worth a fair bit of money. You put your heart and your wallet in your hands when you drive it down a muddy bank onto a barge that is only just slightly bigger than your car. It's pretty hairy driving it up the thin planks and it's hairy "setting sail" around the rocks and the ship wreck to get in or out of Ngukurr in the wet season.

Improvising for a BBQ Ngukurr-Style!

08 November 2011

Improvisation is a great art in Ngukurr. When you are living remotely with over 300kms and two flooding rivers to the nearest hardware store, you learn to make do. It requires creative thought to put the air-conditioner on milk crates to get it to window height, to use a pram as a Billy-Cart, to use a baby singlet for a hat or to do many of the other adaptations seen around here. So what do you do when you want to have a big community BBQ? You get a front end loader scoop bucket, turn it upside down and weld a few smoke stacks on top. Easy!

Coming of Age.

11 October 2011

This photo was from a few years ago when some boys were being initiated into adulthood. It involved a ceremony that went over many weeks and finished with an all night session that is secret men's business – so I can't share the details! Many of the boys in the photo are young men these days.

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A record of the main types of work that we did each year while living in Ngukurr.

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