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| View from Ubirr |
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| View from Ubirr |
Yes, I know, I'm running a bit late for 'August', but better late than never. The only bit of exciting news really for August was my parents arriving on my doorstep at work, on my birthday (5th Aug). That was a surprise. I actually thought they were on the Sunshine Coast for a holiday, not traveling thousands of kilometres to Kakadu. Anyway, they stayed for a week and a half, and made me get off my backside and go see something. You never seem to get around to it when you actually live there. Mum and Dad went on a number of tours etc while I was at work, but we did all go to Ubirr (Oo
as in boot beer) which had a great view and a number of Aboriginal rock art galleries.
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| Aboriginal rock paintings |
August is the dry season, so when the wet season comes, imagine the plain covered in water. I hope to come back up and see the difference. I still have plenty more to see and do though before then. Temperatures in August by the way, were hot, hot and hot. The lowest
minimum was 17 degrees celsius, highest
minimum 26 (that's in the middle of the night in winter). Lowest
maximum 29.1 and highest
maximum was 36.8 degrees celsius. That is Jabiru in winter. Just thought I would mention that for all those people rugged up, sitting around fires, and putting up with the miserable rain. Don't worry though, I have the wet season and summer temperatures and humidity to suffer
through.
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| Me on top of Ubirr Rock lookout |
Anyway, Mum and Dad left and took the slow road home with their caravan. They only arrived home on Saturday (11th Sept) after being 'tourists' and seeing many of the sights in northern NT and western Qld. I on the other hand continued to work and haven't been on any walks, tours etc since. Slack I know. The other thing I did do though is move residence. I was boarding with someone, but due to unforeseen circumstances, had to move out two weeks ago. Yes, this did happen in August so we are still in the right month. I didn't really have anywhere to go as you are not able to rent here like normal towns. This town was built for the mine, and therefore most of the places are owned by the mine (some I think are council and other businesses) and the houses/units etc are generally only provided with jobs. Some jobs do not provide housing, so you need to be already living here (eg your partner may have been provided with a house with his/her job), or you need to know someone so you can board. It is a pain in the butt. Anyway, I am currently living in a room with a bed. This room is part of a long demountable building with 3 other 'bed' rooms. It's called a donga in some states. If you have ever seen shearers quarters, then you have an idea of what it looks like. I use the kitchen and bathroom at work, as I'm right next door. This building was originally for the builders who are doing work for our organisation. They have now moved across town to similar quarters, to work on a new project for us. More on that and the organisation another time, I think it's time to go. So until next month (and this time I hope I won't take so long to update the blog) boh, boh (pronounced more like a short, quick bor, bor - that is goodbye in the local aboriginal gundjeihmi (goon-jake-me) language).
