The View from Elsewhere: wetlands

Ok, so I'm back and am officially exhausted as previously prophesied by self due to mad work-and-travel plans. The short story is: flew to Darwin on Weds evening, had dinner with fellow staff people, made pig of self at buffet by heaping seafood, seafood and more seafood onto plate (you don't get anything fresh and marine in the desert), had planning meeting for one-and-a-half days, hired car on Friday afternoon, drove about 300 km to Jabiru in Kakadu National Park, went on cruise through the wetlands the next day which included walk through area with rock paintings, drove to Nourlangie Rock in the evening and watched the sunset, went on scenic flight the next morning, then another cruise through the 'yellow waters', drove back to Darwin, saw Inside Deep Throat, went to Vietnamese diner and ate stir fry like a starving woman after two days of living on snacks and bar meals, went to bed, got woken up at 3 am by ringtone ad on mobile, got up at 5.45 am, drove to airport & returned hire car, caught 7am flight, got back to Alice and started new job officially at about 10 am.

So far with New Job...seems like we (i.e. our team) are all more or less 'on the same page'. Also -- 'planning' as far as this job is concerned seems to be working out what you're going to do in the near future rather than an end-in-itself ....WHICH IS A BLOODY DAMN GOOD THING! (K said gravely to me at the end of my last job, 'The problem with you is you don't understand the True Nature of Planning. It's not about producing a plan. It's about planning as an ongoing process.' Kind of like the distinction between the logos and writing in deconstructive thought, I guess.) I'm going to try not to blog about work, tho am very tempted to report vignette about yet another adult educator (fortunately not in my team) kitted out with about 20 pairs of scissors, 15 glue sticks, 100 textas, etc, some of which they tried to offer me (kindly) and which I politely declined to their bewilderment. But I'll refrain from telling that anecdote. I'm now am in midst of administration, marketing, rounding up new and old students, with my colleague and having to do things for myself with forms and faxes in order to get 'on the system', etc. I'm still not on email and only got a PC today...hence the lack of interaction in the blogosphere. But this may well be the only job I'll ever get in which I can officially include blogging as a work-related activity.

So why am I now sitting in half-lotus position (strongly disapproved of by physios) typing in my blog? Goodness knows. Oh, and btw, the Mindil markets are only open during the Dry season. And, yes, I was hit with half a dozen porn site trackbacks after the last post.

And....I caught up with the softly lilting Morgan and his mother in Alice last night back from their 40 C heat travel extravanganza in the desert. Which was very nice indeed.

I'll lob in some photos now while I watch the ABC night of comedy. I might include some commentary, too...

Heading into the hinterlands of the Park...note the greenery! This desert-dweller felt they could be in Ireland with so much greenery, bluery and water around...(This desert-dweller also thought it was amazing how long she had to drive before she could go at her accustomed speed of 140 km/h ...unlike Alice where it's unlimited speed only about 15 km out of town.)

Paperbarks on the cruise along the East Alligator River...you have to warm to a place with names like 'East Alligator' and 'South Alligator'. And signs at every river crossing marked 'Achtung! Extreme danger: Crocodiles.' Not that I saw any...

Strange reddish weeds in the water. There were also pom-pom-like weeds, but I don't seem to have got any of them.

Billabong...see what I mean about Ireland? Can you believe this exists in the same state...er, territory...as desert (though it is about 1000 km away)?

The road less travelled...this is why it's necessary to go on cruises in Kakadu at the moment. We sailed across this bit.

Rock paintings at Ubirr...apparently the people used to go hunting and fishing in the morning then retreat into the rocks and caves during the heat of the day and paint their catch. They painted over existing paintings, so erosion is gradually revealing previous paintings, a bit like how Byzantium art is sometimes revealed beneath church friezes in Europe. I don't know if you can see the figure of the white man in the centre of the painting...his hands are not shown to indicate his amazing ability to make them disappear...i.e. put them in his pockets. I like the degree of insouciance possessed by this figure.

Rock painting gallery