Broome!! red dirt, crabs, mangrove madness!

I just went on one of the most amazing trips ever! Last week during spring break we headed up north to Broome. We stayed over night there at the Notre Dame Broome campus for a night. It was so hot when we got there that we pretty much went straight to the beach. The water was amazing, warm and clear. The beach itself was ridiculously beautiful. We went on an hour long camel ride at sunset. It was so fun. I never knew how slow camels walked. It was really relaxing though. My camel's name was Lazy Daisy, who happened to be male. Interesting. He was 14, and until he was 4 he was a race camel. (Didn't know you could race them...) Now he just spends his days walking along the beach. Rough life. There were a couple of other camels that were famous. They had recently starred in an upcoming Nicole Kidman movie called Australia. We felt famous as we were riding them down the beach because people kept taking pictures of us. The sunset was probably the best part. I notice that up in that region of Western Australia the sky is very hazy, so when the sun is setting you can look almost directly at the sun, and the colors around it are so vivid.

We headed out the next day. The town we were in is called Lambadina, about four hours out of Broome. The ride was long and bumpy, but the road was really pretty. I'm still amazed at the color of the dirt here. On the way out of town we stopped at an important historical place. Beagle Bay was one of the first missions to be built in Western Australia. Children who were a part of the stolen generations were taken from their homes and placed on missions or in institutions. Beagle Bay is still standing today. We were able to look around the church, as well as see the buildings the children slept in. It was interesting to see because I had read about it in my Aboriginal Studies class, and to see it sort of put things into perspective. It's so much different reading about something, and then actually being able to see it yourself.





While we were staying with the Bardi people we were able to learn about their culture. They were kind enough to show us their way of life and customs. First, we learned how to make spears. They use a branch from a certain type of tree. Putting the branch in the fire and heating it up makes it soft, so you're able to bend it; which is how the spears are made straight. The next few days we learned how to make boomerangs. It is amazing how much work is put in to making one. Starting from a board, and using an ax to create the right shape and thickness. I can't imagine the days before the ax and how difficult it must have been. No one in our group had realized where boomerangs had come from before this trip. We had all thought that they were just another form of recreation, and that was it. They're actually used for hunting. An interesting story we heard is that they were once also used in battle. If two men were upset with each other, they would each get a certain number of boomerangs to throw. They would then "fight" by throwing the boomerangs. No matter the outcome, as soon as the last boomerang was thrown, the fight was over and all bad feelings were set aside. This last picture is a girl named Samina. She was

helping us peel the bark off the branches after they had been heated in the fire. While watching her I thought to myself how different her culture is from mine. I could just imagine if Michaela had a stick in her mouth and was biting the bark off of it what a fit people would have. Grandma, mom... everyone would tell her to get it out of her mouth, it's too dirty. She probably wouldn't put it in her mouth to begin with. Yet this girl didn't think twice about it. It's just the way she was brought up, the way her people live. Very interesting to think about.

We took our spears out a couple times and went hunting. It was soooo cool! :) We mostly looked for crab. We looked in the water, on the beach... and in the mangroves. I have never seen trees like the mangroves. The roots of the trees grew above ground, so there was an entangled mess everywhere. Just walking around in them was a chore, like an obstacle course. It was actually a little scary. We weren't really sure where the crabs would pop up, or which pool of water had a crab hiding under the sand in it, so it was very nerve wrecking thinking about where to step. I was the first to catch a crab both days we went out. The first day I used a spear. It was hard to get (with just one hand). Plus, when I missed it the first time, it ended up stirring up the sand in the water, so I had no idea where the bugger went. I ended up just moving my spear around until he clamped onto it with his claw. But when I lifted it out of the water I realized that he had donated his claw to the cause, and he was still in the water. I finally caught him though. The next day I had a metal rod with a hook at the end and was able to catch my second crab with that. HE WAS HUGE!!! I'm pretty sure he's the one in the first picture. We put all the crabs we caught in the yellow bag so they couldn't pinch us while we were still hunting. In the photo is "Uncle Vincent", he is the T.O. or Traditional Owner of the land. Basically the government has acknowledged that his people have had a tied to the land for thousands of years, so he "owns" the land. (Although, he cannot sell it, or profit off of it, and it can be taken away or surrendered at any time). This last picture is a few of us walking/climbing through the mangroves in search of dinner. It really doesn't do justice to the massive, entangled roots. By the end of our hunt we were all dripping in sweat from the exercise.




I can't begin to explain how perfect the water was. The beaches were so beautiful. The sand was white, and the water was clear blue. We went swimming almost every day, which was such a relief since it was so hot. It was at least 100 degrees every day. The Aboriginals would come with us. It was fun to swim with them. "Uncle Brian" was particularly nice. He was the one who taught us how to make boomerangs. While teaching us, I couldn't believe how much patience he had with us. Again, watching him in the water with the small children... you could just see that he was very patient. Hard to explain. He reminded me of Grandma Tschiegg though.

If you dug around in the sand under water, you could find clumps of clay. The Aboriginals were painting each other's faces with it. I had my face painted too (sorry I couldn't get ahold of any of the pictures). After getting our (Shelby and I) faces painted, we rolled around in the sand with Tarek. It was funny to watch him cover himself with it. Shelby and I would take handfuls and put it on our arms or legs. While he just did a complete face plant into the sand. He would literally lay there, on his stomach, with his face in the sand.

I only thought it appropriate to put all the swimming/water pictures together... so the next couple pictures are of us... and the water. Don't worry Mom, we didn't go for a swim this time. This first picture is of our group, trying to decide how close to get, and looking in amazement.

Anyone see it? Someone had recently gone turtle hunting and decided to gut the turtles on shore when they were done. Which, of course, attracted some sharks. There were about 6 or 7 of them. I'm pretty sure I saw the same one that I ran into while surfing. He was swimming around in circles, I don't think he could see very well. :)

I was shocked at how easy it was for the Aboriginals to spot the sharks in the water. We were driving when all of a sudden I hear over the CB radio "Pull over!". We got out, and sure enough there were sharks swimming in very shallow water. I actually have a few pictures of the sharks with their fins sticking out of the water. Pretty cool.

These last couple pictures are just some of my favorites that I decided to include. There's no real explanation behind them, I just like them. The black & white is where we were crab hunting the first day. I'm pretty sure no one actually lives there, it's just a place set up for use when people are hunting and what not.
The other is just a shot of the beach where we were staying. Why don't we have beaches like that in Oregon?


Sorry for the wait guys. I'll try not to take so long with the next blog. :)