THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH – Bar none…
In this last week I, along with one of my sons, Martin, and a good mate (Doug T) had the privilege of being the guests of Anja and Steve Thoms from
Jabiru NT.
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The experience that they shared with us in
Kakadu was something my son and I will never forget. I never realized the Importance of this area until these people explained it to me. Doug and my Son were also completely overwhelmed by the hospitality of Anja and Steve and the knowledge that they shared with us.
The story – a whirlwind visit:
My son and I arrived in
Darwin on Monday at about 1-30PM local time and were met by Doug and immediately went to visit the Australian Aviation
Heritage Museum just near
Darwin’s airport.
The museum was amazing - what with a real B52 inside the hanger, other WW2 planes that we had mostly forgotten about, old trucks, airplane engines, bomb fragments, old Japanese aircraft parts and artifacts made me sit up an notice what the people of this city went through during that sad and terrible time in Australia’s history.
I think we spent a good hour and a half just wandering through the place before we had a chat with one of the museum experts, purchased a 380 Bomb group insignia and then headed off towards
Adelaide River where Doug currently resides. Along the way Doug showed us many of the old WW2 airstrips that embrace the main road but also a few of similar significance but off the main road.
History just leapt out at us and the information boards that explained the details of these
places where nothing short of brilliant. See airstrips in
places...
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Amazingly most areas are unspoilt by those of them in society that must have a souvenir an in doing so wreck what is essentially a historic monument to all those men and women who were involved in the conflict all those years ago.
It should be noted that Doug has spent many many hours exploring, investigating and documenting the information that he has gleaned and started posting some of it here on EO in
places.
From the roadside strips it was off to
Adelaide River to the park where Doug resides to settle in and have a good feed. Along the way Doug showed us many smaller but interesting features of the countryside around the
Adelaide river area.
I did not realize that this area was known as Australia’s Front Line during the war and that many hundreds of thousands of men and women were there preparing and actually engaging in war time activities from these
places. Oh how ignorant we are about our own country…
After a barra burger at the
Adelaide river pub that night my son and I slept in the jockey club rooms at the race track at
Adelaide River thanks to the park caretakers (thanks guys.. sorry we did not get to say that in person but Doug kept us moving at a pace you would not believe) and next morning we were of again visiting old airstrips and the beautifully maintained War Grave
cemetery at
Adelaide river.
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The place makes you sit up and think about what went on back then.
The
graves to mark the civilians who died as a result of the Japanese bombing of the
Darwin post office made a great impression on me and these civilians were laid to rest in the same
cemetery with the boys and girls who served in the forces in that area but did not survive the war. There are some
graves in the precinct that died post war and our guess is from wounds. If anyone knows the answer to that puzzle I would be pleased to know.
I believe that one whole family was wiped out as a result of the
post office bombing.. the Bald family… Mum, Dad and Daughter I believe.
VERY SOBERING PLACE but one not to be missed.
From here we visited a few other
places that Doug has discovered and then it was off to Anja and Steve’s place in
Jabiru.
The drive out to
Jabiru was full of surprises that for me were quite reflective e.g. The Humpty Doo pub and the area which I learnt about in primary school way way back. An abject farming failure by the government of the day was the result and can be Googled if you wish to know more about the place..
The country out here was like nothing I have experienced in my life (yes I was a sheltered city boy..) and all of us in the troopy were of the same opinion. A couple of hundred k’s went so fast due to all the new visual experiences we were having. Doug at this point was the “encyclopedia” for us, keeping the information flowing and we enjoyed the trip out to Jab..
On arrival Anja and Steve met us with the usual Territorian welcome of “what do ya wanna drink?” Hahahahaha. That would be a tinny thanks Steve!!!
Once the introductions were out of the way we settled in as we were to be their guests for 2 days and nights.
We caught up with
young Philip when he got
home from school and met his pup Josey. Lovely dog that Doug’s dogs also got on very
well with as
well.
After a long long night of getting to know you and catching up we finally hit the sack at about 2 am (Steve & I anyway as the others faded really early). Up next morning reasonably early 8’ish maybe and from here on it did not stop.
Steve wanted to take us out in his new toy (boat) for a spot of fishing at Yellow Water , a huge billabong – we had not been in the boat for more than two minutes when a crocodile came swimming by without a care in the world. By the end of the afternoon on
Yellow Water Billabong we must have seen hundreds and they became so numerous that we hardly took any notice of them. We picked up Anja and the five of us tied up under a tree and had lunch, all the while looking at the bird and aquatic life that surrounded us. How good was that!!
After lunch we dropped number 1 off so she could collect the
young fella from school and we headed off to another billabong to
check the fish out. It should be known that the Crazy Dog was the only one to hook up with a barra.
The lure won the competition for longest and heaviest but we all enjoyed the afternoon and the information coming from Steve (and Anja when she was with us) was just amazing. It was almost like an on the run history lesson, botany lesson ,ornithology lesson, aquatics etc lesson all rolled into one…,amazing, just amazing.
That evening we needed to make sure the beer was ok so we sampled some more and which I should mention was Carlton Mid and NOT NT LAGER or whatever the local brew is. Doug faded really early (old age) and my son soon after. Steve and I lasted to midnight and that was it for us. Just casual conversation about this that and the other were the main
topics for the evening. We all bedded down most content that Wednesday night.
Thursday morning and I woke to a beautiful day and had breakfast by 8am. Anja took Philip to school and then we headed off to the days surprise which Martin and I were told would “knock our socks off”. Little did we know just how true that statement was to be.
We headed off to a place called UBIRR Art site and
Lookout, about 43.3ks from
Jabiru.
We arrived about 10.15am and proceeded into the park. We had not gone more than about 5 steps when were being informed about the vegetation and plants at
the entrance to the park. Joseph Banks eat ya heart out because Anja and Steve know just about all there is to know about the native trees, shrubs, plants etc in this vast area called
Kakadu.
Our walk was one of ease with stops every 20 or so metres to discuss and learn about the lives and times of the ancient peoples of this land. This area is one of such importance in my humble opinion that it should be taught in schools and the stories about the art and paintings should be told in story book form for the children of today so that they to can experience in some small way the stories that my son and I had told to us.
I remember Noddy and the like BUT the stories I were told on this visit were of far more interest and I am sure the children of today would just love them.
Come on Anja do it mate – write a book for the kids. You told the stories to us so
well.
The
places made me feel so humble and after all these years I had finally walked the land of the ancient Aboriginal peoples and had finally learnt what they mean by “Their lands”..
There is just so much to learn from these art sites (and the “Old Ones”) and many of the lessons that are taught today were being taught to the children many thousands of years ago and believe it or not are on parallel with what we as youngsters were taught by our parents and also what the kids of today are learning.
For instance the signs we see all over the Top End regarding Crocodiles and the danger they pose: These were pictorially described to the children in art form as
well as being told in story form.
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The Old Ones when telling the children the stories were required to tell them slowly so that the children understood them fully so that they too could pass them down for following generations.
This how the people have survived so long in these areas.
The finale was a walk to the top of the park area to view the land below (360 degree view) and it is one of the most awesome
places I have ever visited. It is a must see in my opinion.
There is not enough time for me to explain all that was seen and told to me and my advice is GO AND HAVE A SQUIZZ…you will not be disappointed and if you would like to do a tour of some areas of
Kakadu then book a trip with Top End Explorer Tours and you will get Steve and his team describing the beauty of the land their.
My Wife, Son and myself are going back next year and will do the tour with Anja and Steve.
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Thanks to Doug T who chauffeured my son and I all over the show and made us laugh and cry (and showed us the airstrips etc) and a huge thank you to Anja, Steve and
young Philip for making our stay with them bloody magic…. Friendships will last for life…
The CD..
Grrr!!!