ALMOND LAND

Oct 14, 2011

can relax ... i made it to sydney and back with nyapsie intact

We all went to her exhibition opening which was filled with her beautiful work

with nyapanyapa in attendance as a super art star .. getting swooned over

photographed

with will

with dhalulu

moi

after all that we were invited to roslyn's palace by the sydney harbour for food and wine and general sydney-art-scene madness/weirdness

all in a days work ...

then once that was all over i got to hang out exclusively with this adorable thing who is undoubtably winner of the most beautiful baby girl of 2011 competition, i am not biased either.

we bonded

this is richard parker and bear - an unlikely duo

i also got to do some shopping for christmas - so organised - and eat delicious sour dough bread ( life's too short to eat bad bread - thank you sarah, so true) as well as over indulge in dumplings but best of all got to play canasta and drink wine and lounge about with this spunk ...

with a mum who has style like this - this little one really can't go wrong ...

(except for the clips ....!! )

as you can see

I returned to nhulunbuy on sunday night to my little darlings who missed me terribly of course hah and the new relentless heat - the build up is here and the heat is building - second hottest day on record was on wednesday ... i have invested in a paddling pool for the boys which is also mine in the afternoons after work ... we have a new deck on the house (almost finished) which has taken ten months to arrange, two weeks to build and another month to finish ... tis the way it goes up here but still we can sit out there and it is perfect for this time of year ...

Oct 4, 2011

oh my .. i am off to Sydney tomorrow with Nyapanyapa ... i am flying her down for her exhibition opening at roslyn oxley9 which is on thursday night ... i am responsible for nyapanyapa making it to sydney. I am underlining this because although i am certain it is going to be alot of fun flying down with this tiny small women who has been to my house everyday for the last four weeks asking if this is the day we fly to darwin (no nyapanyapa, not today and we are going to sydney) it is also going be a little bit stressful incase I lose her. I could lose her. I won't lose her! I just have to watch her and never let her leave my sight until she is safely delivered to Will and Dhalulu who speak yolngu and english unlike nyapsie and me who only speak one or the other ...

In anycase - her bags are packed - she has brought shoes for the occasion, socks, woolley jumper and a oversized quiksilver hoodie to fend off the cold- now finally after 4 weeks of waiting (i kid you not) she is ready to hit sydney art scene ...

also i get to see my LL and her Lucky Y A Y and they get to meet nyapasie ... so that means that another person from my old world can meet this magical hilarious lady who paints the most amazing pictures from my new world (and maybe they can give me the words to describe her since i ain't got em ...)

fingers crossed

Oct 1, 2011

Last weekend we went to a funeral out in a homeland called Djarrakpi - a four hour drive away and a beautiful spot - we camped for two nights and got very dusty, hot and dirty. A visit to the A M A Z I N G beach nearby was paradise aside from a shark which leapt out of the water 5 metres from the shore as i walked down to brave a dip of my toes ... camp was fill with yolngu camping in true style - children galore ignored the baru (crocodile) sighting and warnings to keep away from the fresh water lake and leapt from the surrounding trees for a swim .. no one got eaten but still ... the fresh water lake was huge with looming sand dunes that rose out of the water. We caught trees frogs and lizards, watched a bit of the ceremony and generally felt a little awkward and unsure what we meant to do - at one stage i chased iggy down a road that was closed for secret men's business and later jane and i had to sit facing a certain direction as sacred objects were moved. There is a feeling of complete cultural unawareness as a white person in these situations - even will after 15 years still feels it... but wandering around asking questions is considered pretty rude so we just attempt to remain inconspicuous until someone who is in the know tells us what to do.