We visited the Northern Territory Wildlife Park. Berry Creek is south of Darwin. They have an assortment of reptiles, birds and mammals found in the Northern Territory. The park is quite large divided like a zoo with a tram circling the park on the road to take those who would prefer to ride to the next exhibit instead of walking.. The park is situated along side Berry Nature Park with a stream separating them.
The exhibit that caught our attention was the show put on by the park rangers at the raptor exhibit. Raptors are birds of prey that catch their prey with their feet. The Wedgetail Eagle, the Sea Eagle, and the Barking Owl are the three examples trained by the rangers.
The Barking Owl is a cute little Owl, with speckles on its breast and whiskers. The owl 'whoof whoofs'. It has whiskers which serve to help it locate its food once it has caught it. The animals in these 'show and tell' demonstrations had tethers on their legs so that the handler could keep them perched on their arm when necessary ... like falconry.
Raptors have extremely good vision, allowing it to zoom in on specific targets with much better resolution and pinpoint accuracy than humans.
Even with the particular raptor flying, it was watching the handler. The Wedgetail Eagle for example can be observed drifting in the air currents high above ground. When the handler put his hand in his food pouch and pitched a piece in the air, the Wedgetail Eagle swooped down and caught it in mid-air with its feet. Other eagles can try to cause it to drop the food so that they can catch it so the Wedgetail eats in flight before this might happen.
The Sea Eagle on the otherhand swoops down and catches its prey with the strong talons on its feet and carries the prey to a safe place to eat. Whether the prey is a large barramundi, or a kangaroo or feral pig baby, makes no difference because of the strength of the talons and the heavier leg structure.
The park ranger related a story about a couple of folks who were fishing nearby. They heard a pig squealing. They looked up and the piglet was flying.... On the talons of an Sea Eagle. Yes Alice, pigs can fly... in the Northern Territory. ... :)
The Northern Territory Wildlife Park also has other exhibits one of which, the aquarium, is exceptional. Walking through the aquarium with the special lighting, which accentuates the colors in the fish gives you a special presence. fish1, fish2, fish3.
We continued on South after the Northern Territory Wildlife Park to Adelaide River and spent the night at the show grounds there. Showgrounds in the outback communities comprise of a block of land that may have a horse racing track and rodeo grounds on the same oval with permanent buildings for exhibits and perhaps a caravan park. Adelaide River was no exception. A permanent fixture of the showgrounds is a bistro that serves food and grog on the weekends. I partook of the grog ... :)
In the middle of the grounds was a huge termite mound.
Katherine, The Second Time
Since we are headed to Broome on the far northwestern coast of Western Australia, we will return to Katherine and go west from there. We stopped off in Katherine to have some film developed and to briefly log on the Internet to catch email and also shop. In Australia, there are three major chains of grocery stores and Katherine has a Woolworth grocery store.
In the outback, a major grocery every 1,000 miles is a treat. While some outback communities have some meat and milk, vegetables are not as plentiful. Exotic things in my tucker box (food storage) like Heinz Ketchup and Filipino noodles are impossible to find... :)
In the afternoon of July 9 we arrived at Timber Creek. We stopped at the second Caravan Park on the right. It was in the heat of the afternoon and the sun was searing. The first caravan park, viewed from the road was out in the open and no shade in sight. The second had plenty of shade and a hotel and pub on the premises. There were a mob of aborigines in the front, some sleeping off the grog on the concrete benches of the picnic tables. This is where I booked us.
Later in the evening, Allan and I were going to go to the bar and see if we could meet some characters. I left earlier and got separated from Allan. I went to the Public Bar and I found out later Allan had been at the one upstairs.
I met three aboriginals, in the pub, from a nearby settlement, part of the mob we had seen out front when we arrived. These aboriginals were from a nearby clan and come to the pub to coerce tourists into buying them beer and cigarettes in return for relating what it is like to be an aboriginal.
From other sources along the way I had gathered the information that most aboriginals are on some kind of subsidy from the government or mineral royalties. Some Aboriginal communities like that one in Pine Creek, prohibit the sale of alcohol to them the day their subsidy check arrives hoping that they will buy food to last until next payday. Some spend the money on grog, others have a one-day feast with little or nothing left until the next payday.
In the pub, I met one aboriginal woman and her name was Rita. She was short in stature but seemed to be of normal proportions. She was talkative for a price, beer and cigarettes. Communicating with most remote aborigines who have come in contact with Australians is like communicating with other natives through out the world. It is done in a Pidgin English...so understanding may not always translate.
The government might provide a Toyota Land Cruiser, some utes (pickups) and some basic housing. Basic housing might be a block of two bedroom units. Since the clans are remote on their land, similar to American Indian reservations, other wanderers might show up in a community, overloading the facilities built to contemporary Australian standards. Rita said that there were too many people in her house. The excess of humanity overloads even the finest engineering...so the toilets quit working and those few who do try to practice a primitive level of hygiene are prevented from doing so. The doors fall off their hinges also. The sweat and odor of ones body doesn't seem to be regarded.
Since, Allan and I planned to fish in the river, Rita wanted me to catch her a catfish. I did, but it was only 6 inches long and I released it.
In the Timber Creek caravan park, our spot was all the way to the back, since others had filled the park ahead of us. Across the fence was a herd of goats, one with a bell around its neck.
One of the permanent residents has some boats which they rent. A couple of blokes returned their boat from a fishing trip. One caught a 59-centimeter barramundi and the other a 61-inch. Later others returned with similar fish stories. Allan and I got enthused about doing the same. We have tried so hard to catch some fish of substance we plan to try our hand again soon ... after we gather a little more information.
Saturday, Allan, Liz and I went to the Victoria River which passes in back of Timber Creek to see if we could catch anything. In a 3-hour time, Allan caught one little fish with spots on its sides, like the ones we saw swimming in the creek. The river empties into the Indian Ocean so it is tidal at this point. Allan put the fish on a Taylor rig of three hooks and cast it out, having no luck with it.
Saturday evening, the 9th of July, Liz cooked all of the fresh vegetables we had since tomorrow, we move on to Kununurra, which is the first town inside the Western Australia border.
On the way to Kununurra, we pass by two cattle stations that my host Noel Hale worked at a few years ago. He used to make regular trips from Tewantin to the stations which are west of Timber Creek. He was very aware of the 'night life' at the Timber Creek pub as he had refreshed himself there many times.
On our way back, perhaps Allan and I can go on a fishing trip with the bloke who has the boat hire here at Timber Creek.
Central Australia is 1/2 hour earlier in time from the east coast so when it is 4 am on the Gold Coast, it is 3:30 am in Central Australia. All of our travels thus far in Northern Territory were 1/2 hour earlier than we were used to.
Kununurra, on the other hand, is one of the eastern most towns in the northern part of Western Australia. Kununurra is an aboriginal name meaning "Meeting of Big Waters". Kununurra is where the eastern part of the Kimberley Mountains start to be seen. The protrusions are layered red rock and near the tops, there seem to be a layer where the ocean level used to be several hundred feet above the plain. The plains we had seen had tall grass with occasional Boab (Bottle) trees interspersed with the others.
The land we had seen in the Northern Territory was mainly suitable for sheep or cattle grazing. As we could see after a short cursory tour around the Kununurra environs was an oasis with sugar cane, row crops and dairy cattle. The Ord River which is close must be the difference. Fresh water in an abundant supply, in many cases, is all that is necessary to produce the sweetest fruit, melons, I've tasted in many years.
The drive from Timber Creek to Kununurra was only about a 1/2 day drive and since we were gaining 1-1/2 hours because of the time change, we arrived shortly after we departed. There are about 3 caravan parks in Kununurra. Even though we arrived early in the day on Sunday, the first one closest to town was full and they referred us to the one in Hidden Valley.
There are plenty of things to see and do here. Lake Argyle to the southeast is huge. The famous Australian colored diamonds come from the local Argyle Diamond Mine. The Kimberley Dairy Farm is open. The Ord River low water crossing is beautiful and an opportunity to wet your feet and legs on a hot afternoon without the fear of crocodiles. There are two fruit farms that have sheds open to sample their honey sweet fruits including chocolate covered bananas and cantaloupe.
One thing that makes finding fresh fruits and vegetables so nice is that Western Australia has a strict quarantine. Travelers into Western Australia have to dump their honey and fresh-uncooked vegetables at the border checkpoint.
We visited the Kimberley Dairy, which has cows that are bred to withstand tropical conditions and to be able to forage well for their food. The Kimberley Dairy milking area can handle 16 cows at a time and is piped to the processing room. The dairy provides milk for the Kununurra area both of the "Full Cream" variety and also flavoured milks.
At Kununurra Melon Farm, which is one of the two fruit distribution point we visited, we had an opportunity to see and taste some of the sweetest watermelon and rockmelon I have ever tasted. At Barra Barra Bananas, which is another melon farm, we saw some red finches. These are the only ones I have found in all my travels. Chocolate covered bananas and cantaloupe are nice and only cost about $1 each.
