It is difficult to adequately capture the scenery as we wake each morning and pull back the curtains of our stateroom. For the past few days the scenery has been similar, sparkling azure blue seas, cloudless sunny skies, rocky islands and deserted beaches. The Kimberley holds an allure, promising everything but just holding back at the last minute. The water looks enticing even from the shade. Sitting in the sun for half an hour it promises even more ... but for the sharks and crocodiles. It's like that beautiful girl from your teenage years; always around but just out of your reach.
The title today? I know my dear reader it does come as a surprise. It is certainly not something in my vinyl collection, but it does link with an anecdote from today's adventure as you will read. Whatever happened to Adam and the Ants? One would think they'd make a comeback on the strength of the Ant-man movies.
Today was a special day. Well, yes, each day has been special, but today was more so. Today we met traditional owners on country. We were greeted by Naomi who marked our faces with red ochre. It is a sign of welcome and an agreement from us that we will respect the law and tradition. Following this we set off up the dune and across some open country to an indigenous gallery featuring rock art. The gallery is really an overhang that has been used for thousands of years to tell the stories of the Worrorra people.
The Worrorra are salt water people and are a part of the Wandjina culture and belief system. For those who remember the 2000 Olympics in Sydney the Wandjina featured in the opening ceremony. The Wandjina has eyes but no mouth because it has given the laws for the people to live by and they are not to be changed. The law is the law - no need to say anything else.
The walk to the gallery was described as "challenging". Perhaps one day I will find a stroll through the bush challenging but that day has not yet come. Although there was one area where we had to squeeze between two rocks. Apparently if you get through you are allowed to have dessert that night. If not ... well. Jayne almost made it through unscathed until her sun shirt grabbed part of the rock face and tore. I did work up a sweat for the first time because of the heat once we moved away form the beautiful sea breeze. There were flowering gums with friar birds chasing little honey eaters away from the blossoms. It was quite pleasant sitting in the shade listening to the birds while we waited for our turn in the gallery below the rocks we were on. |
| A disused green ant nest |
Josh and one of the other guides pointed out various things to the group as we enjoyed the afternoon. "Ever tasted a green ant?" he asked me. "No" I replied as he reached forward with a green ant between his fingers. "You can bite off the green bit and crunch it. Or you can just lick it." I opted to lick it, several times. It has a bitter-sweet lemon flavour. I then released the little fellow back onto his nest. Apparently green ants are quite the on trend industry. There is green ant encrusted cheese and green ant gin. It was certainly a new experience and provided me with the title for today's blog.
The Worrorra people use the ants for a variety of medicinal purposes including rubbing them on the skin as an antiseptic, drinking water infused with the ants to induce breast milk flow and in concentrate, as a purported form of contraception.
The rock art was spectacular and Naomi's brother, Neil related stories to us from the Dreaming or Lalai, the creation time, as it is referred to up here. The stories are painted onto the ceiling of the overhang and relate to moral lessons; always listen to your parents, as well as explaining natural features of the area such as te whirlpools at Montgomery Reef. Again, I have photos, but we were requested not to post them on social media. If you are interested in looking at the art, Dr Google is more than able to assist you.
Following our talk from Neil, we made our way back to the beach where we were smoked by two of Neil's brothers to ensure the spirits didn't follow us back to the ship. Another zodiac ride, this time it was calm and smooth. Back on deck it was time to repair Jayne's shirt and have lunch. I have never eaten so much and the food is excellent - mostly.
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| Jayne at the smoking ceremony |
There was a rather long break before the next zodiac outing at Langgi, 3 nautical miles from Freshwater Cove. The tide is a mere 8 metres today, so the landings and departures from the beach need to be carefully managed to ensure all guests get ashore and more importantly get back to the ship again.
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| Get ready for the splash |
While we were whiling away the hours over lunch and a very nice, crisp French rosé, the shout "whale" went up. Indeed there were a couple of humpback whales not far from the ship waving fins and slapping tails in the water. That occupied us for a while and then we returned to our stateroom to process some photos and get some thoughts down for future blog posts. While enjoying the quiet of our balcony, Jayne saw some more humpbacks. In the space of a few minutes we saw more whale action here than we did on the entire whale watching expedition in Canada. And we stayed warm.
Watching the tide is fascinating. The speed at which it moves is quite frightening and it would be easy to caught unaware if you were not familiar with the area. As we made the beach at Langgi to see the Wandjini pillar rock formations there was a boat that was anchored, but on sand. On our return less than an hour later it was floating and too far out from the coast to wade to it.
The sand stone pillars along side a narrow the gorge on the beach at Langgi are up 3 metres tall. Two prominent pillars are the Wandjina and the wife he stole from another man. They were hunted down on the beach and speared, immediately turning to stone, along with all the warriors that were surrounding them to enforce the law. They stand there, frozen in time, to remind the Worrorra people of the way they should live.
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| This is the silhouette art shot |
Given the shower you enjoy riding in a zodiac we generally have another as soon as we return to the ship. This ensures we are always clean and don't spread disease like they do on those nasty bulk cruise carriers. You know the ones I mean dear reader, they look like a block of flats parked at Circular Quay. All glitz and no substance.
Showered and dressed for dinner, it was down for the nightly recap and then briefing for tomorrow. A back row seat ensures a hasty get-away to check the newly posted lists for zodiac groupings and times.
Tomorrow we were supposed to be going to Montgomery Reef, but the tides are not right for that visit. Therefore, days are being swapped around and we are headed for Talbot Bay and the Horizontal Falls.
Until next time.
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