sunday


a drive to cape arnhem ... much i could say about this ... we took two cars loaded up with the ladies and children and andrew, di, young will and us ... drove along the bumpiest red road which was filled with puddles and down the hill into 'oyster bay' ... the ladies immediately disappeared to the rocks where they stood in waist deep water and chipped at the thousands of rock oysters exposed at low tide, they were gone for hours and returned only once the tide came in with buckets of oysters...i tried my hand at getting them off the rock but found it easier just to bang the lids off and eat them there and then , delicious raw and later delicious cooked
the kids ran into crystal clear warm water where they played for hours and later made sand houses in the rocks, iggy ran in and out of the ocean throwing himself him while we tried in vain to remind him he doesn't actually know how to swim
while that was all happening we went  scenic driving up the beach to the top of the cape and stood watching as a storm blew in and over (while kade and will snorkelled but didn't catch anything) andrew saw a mantra ray swim in to the bay and check the boys out
and then back around a fire we had damper cooked in leaves and oysters, sausages and billy tea
good, i like that

monday


a day of administration and a tired day after yesterdays big journey. We are trying to get liquor permits as you can't buy alcohol here without one (arnhem land is dry - an initiative to help the community) And since we live and work in yirrkala (which is an aboriginal community and in a 'prescribed area' (whatever that means) the process to get such a thing is LONG and drawn out with forms and police checks and committee meetings, so the next chance at getting 'approved' is the 2nd feb ...THE SECOND OF FEBRUARY!!!  my mother did suggest i might not feel much like drinking in this heat .. WRONG ..ha ..somedays i really need a nice glass of wine at the end of the day.. especially when i have to deal with all the silly paperwork required to move somewhere new.. like we can't get a NT drivers licences without a form and a letter, and we can't join the pool without a form and a witness AND not to mention that when we finally can get a liquor permit we are limited to a 6 pack of light beer each day ..ha!
so, it is a place of extremes at the moment, where from yesterday to today i can feel so excited and awed to be living in such a place to loathing the place and wishing i were back in melbourne. 
love and hate relationship...
anyways ..enough complaining .. on a bright note, the power hasn't gone out for a couple days..
now off for a glass of, water.
sigh