On Friday I went for an Aboriginal day. Again I was very lucky and it was only a small group, with 2 other couples. It started at the Jandal art center where the artist, Binna, showed us how the art is created and the differences between old and contemporary aboriginal art. Then we made some of our own.
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| My artwork! |
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| Outdoor painting (thankfully undercover) |
I brought a couple of prints which I will put photos of up later. I am still looking for the painting I want. Hopefully at the markets on Sunday.
After the gallery, we went to the Mossman Gorge Centre which is only a few years old but a lovely place run by the aboriginals from the rainforest to showcase their culture and history. I got to go on the Dreamwalk tour while the rest of the group went with Darryl, our tour guide. (I sort of wish I had gone with them as it sounds like they had a lot of fun trying bush tucker.)
My tour was ran by Aaron, whose grandmother is from the Kuku Yalanji tribe who live in this area. He has come here from his fathers tribe to learn the ways of his mothers tribe. We started with a smoking ceremony which is basically walking around a specially prepared fire to ask to be allowed into the forest and to be safe there. This area is a special to the Yalanji, full of spirits.
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| Fire for the smoking ceremony |
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| Red cedar tree |
On the walk though the forest, Aaron (who is still waiting for his aboriginal name, which he has to wait for his grandfather to give him) showed up various plants and their uses.
He also showed us aboriginal shelters. The hut is built using "wait a while" canes (from the vine which has spikes and catches anything near it) and palms. The "cave" shelter doesn't look like much (especially a cave) but it does keep the rain off. I can confirm this as it was still raining so we tried it out.
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| Hut |
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| Cave shelter |
The mid-point of the walk was at Rex Creek. Normally we would be allowed to swim here but the water level was too high.
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| Rapids |
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| Rex creek, looking down towards the river |
Aaron showed us the leaves use to make soap which is also a great mosquito repellant, moisturizer
for dry skin and heal wounds. It smells good too! He also showed us a vine which you can use the
bark as a muscle relaxant, like deep heat.
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| Soap |
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| Making deep heat |
We also got a demonstration on body paint, what they use and what it means.
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| Different minerals give different colors |
And the difference colors represent different ideas. Here drawing his family totem, the cassowary.
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| Markings |
After the walk, we got a cup of billy tea made with the local Daintree tea and damper (kind of like scones/sweet bread). I got the bus back early on my own as I had to met the rest of my tour for lunch. I had Barramundi, which is a local fish and very tasty. Next was a beach hunting trip. We were shown briefly how to use the spear before heading into the mud flats. The mud was quite deep in places and not altogether pleasant at times!
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| Our guide off the find some mud crabs |
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| This was the minimum mud level |
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| Random mangrove tree in the middle of the mudflats |
Frankly there was no way I was ever going to throw the spear at a fish and even come close to hitting it. However I did get 3 mud crabs! And I got first "kill" of the day. The first 2 were pointed out to me by our guides. But the final one I managed to spot and spear on my own. I was very happy!
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| Victorious hunter! |
We also saw other wildlife.
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| starfish |
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| Puffer fish (super cute and speedy |
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| Sea slug - prettier than the name suggests |
Back on the beach (after quite a long walk - I was amazed how far we walked), we went to the house
of the brothers who took us hunting and eat the mud crabs. In the shop, they are $100 a crab. And we feasted on them. Unfortunately there was another group as well and they didn't catch nearly as much as we did (mainly because they had a few kids) so we had to share our haul with them so we didn't get as much as I would like as the crabs were really tasty. I can see why they cost that much! The brothers also had a bunch of sea artifacts they passed around.
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| 200 yr old turtle shell - they used it to feed their family |
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| Saw and sword fish "noses" |
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| Giant clam shells |
After eating, we went downstairs and saw their giant clam shells. And I violated an ant. I was given it, told to hold its head and lick its butt. So I did. It tasted of very strong sour lemon and is used as
a cold remedy. Still it's an odd thing to do. :-)
On the way back the weather did clear up a bit and I finally got to see crocodile island which is shaped like a crocodile (it had been pointed out a few times but was until now behind the mist).
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| Crocodile Island |
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| Blue sky at last! |
