Bo bo Gunbalanya (so long Gunbalanya)

With every week of the wet comes new waterfalls, billabongs, bugs and predators. The transformation has been spectacular and after a big rain Gunbalanya looks like an island surrounded by flooded wetlands. This weekend I had the pleasure of going on my final helicopter adventure and it was the best! Simon, our pilot, took us on an epic flight that culminated in flying through a narrow gorge and landing at the top of a magnificent waterfall in Kakadu. It was extremely remote with no walking paths or roads passing anywhere nearby. We explored the rocky ledges and swam in the top pools before flying back along the escarpment and the East Alligator River home. Hopefully from my photos you will get a small impression of how magnificent and special this place is.

The last month has been extremely busy within the clinic and in the community. Gunbalanya has a profound absence of any regular sports and recreation. From a medical point of view it’s difficult to promote exercise and fitness when there are no options available. From a personal perspective I wanted to meet new people and find ways to feel fit and healthy. So since arriving I have been spruiking the sport that I’ve been playing for the last 14 consecutive years- netball. For those who may not know, netball has been genetically programmed into my family and any skills, knowledge or interest I have comes from my mum and her passion for the game. I have been sponging off her success for years and this trip was no different. I pulled in my contacts at Netball Australia, primarily the super talented Julia Symons. She helped me to network with Netball NT and Australia Post and we have spent the last month running netball clinics a couple of times each week. The first session had 8 people attend and the last one had 36. I targeted mostly school aged children and have been helping a few girls in their early twenties to become coaches and leaders. Last week two of the mothers even came down and it was fabulous for the children to see their mums or aunties playing on the team, explaining the rules and correcting technique.

The clinics have become a big success and I have a lot of people to thank who have helped make it happen. Not only Julia and Steph (from Netball NT) but also Catherine and Sharna (two local community workers). The children have a natural talent for sport with superb hand eye co-ordination. They are quick to learn the rules and have so much energy and enthusiasm that I have to call off the session at dinner time and send them all home! This week the team got together and named the team “Daughters of Ingana” after Ingana the mother of creation in local dreaming stories. It’s been really fun to start this up and I hope that it continues after I have left.

Last Sunday I also had the chance to do something different; I did a radio interview with Liz Ellis, host of the All Australia Program on ABC National. Now I’ve never had a voice for radio and was surprised to be asked but of course I said yes (as Liz is a difficult person to say no to). The interview was about living and working in Gunbalanya and if you have been reading my blogs then you are abreast of everything that was discussed. It’s was a good opportunity to talk about the great time I have had up here and shine light on the positive experiences to be had in Arnhem Land.

As this is my last blog I wanted to thank those of you who have been reading. Keeping a blog is similar to social media in that can see how many people have been reading, where they were reading it from, what browser they accessed the site from and the operating system like Windows, iPad, iPhone etc. It feels like checking how many “likes” you have but in a more in depth, nerdy, statistical kind of way. What I can tell you is that with almost 1000 views and from every populated continent on Earth except South America- I have been extremely flattered by the interest and the positive feedback I have received.

My last session at FAFT
(educating mothers about health and development)

I am really looking forward to coming home to the east coast and seeing my friends and family. I know though that I will miss being here and am hopeful that someday I will get to experience something like this again. I have been surprised by how little I have missed certain things like good food, Melbourne coffee and having the freedom to do whatever you want. It’s also been liberating not wearing make-up or turning on my hair straightener. Being surrounded by the beautiful and dramatic scenery and weather patterns that are unique to Arnhem Land and Kakadu has also been awesome. Thanks for reading along!

If you're interested in finding out a little more about Arnhem Land communities you can watch "Charlie's Country". This film was shot in Ramingining, a town about two-thirds the size of Gunbalanya. I think it is a realistic representation of life in these communities. Here's an IMDb review: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3244512/ and here is the youtube trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly8_7Su4m4c.

If you'd like four minutes of escapism you can look at a collection of my photos from the NT experience. By making a video I am hoping to win an iPad from NT GP so here is my entry: https://vimeo.com/118472730

        

New year, new life and new challenges

After two fabulous weeks away for the Christmas break, I felt refreshed and enthusiastic about my last month in Oenpelli. I flew from Darwin to Oenpelli in a Cessna Caravan aircraft and as usual I asked to sit in the cockpit. It was awesome to learn so much about flying this machine. I learnt about pressure systems, altitude, speed, navigation, take-offs and landings. I followed our route on screen, listened to traffic control in the head phones and assisted the pilot with safety checks. I'm pretty much ready to fly solo I think! 

Exhilarated from my flying experience I was a bit flat when I realised my lift from the airport hadn't arrived. It was 38 degrees, there was no shelter and my groceries were perishing with every minute that passed. Luckily the council mechanic drove by and offered me a lift. This is when I knew I was back in Gunbalanya. I jumped into a rusty ute with my toothless driver "Gringo" and his kelpie "Millie". I tilted my head to see out the broken windscreen while the dog drooled all over my French Connection pants. He drove me to my donga and I lifted my bags out of the tray now all covered in red dirt. I was back!   

The wet season has definitely arrived and Gunbalanya has been experiencing monsoonal rains. The sound of rain on the corrugated iron roof is often quite comforting but when raindrops the size of rocks pound the roof above your head; the ambience is not as pleasant. The thunder wakes me from my sleep and the lightning comes around my black curtains to light up my room like night-club strobes. I’m not usually prone to anxiety but sometimes I have to turn the light on, take a few breaths and reassure myself that I'm okay. My donga is elevated on stilts and supposedly “cyclone proof”; therefore flood risk is small and I shouldn’t blow away like the opening scene from the Wizard of Oz.

"Small waterfall"

The transition to the wet season has seen a dramatic change in the landscape. The red dust has become fertile soil for long, luscious, emerald green grass. Waterfalls are flowing with the “small waterfall” being only three kilometres from my door. We went swimming there on the weekend and it was beautiful and peaceful. My ornithology skills are improving as I recognise more of the diverse birdlife up here and with every rain more billabongs, creeks and puddles start to appear in and around the community. Locals are fishing for barramundi by the side of the road!

You could think that Gunbalanya was paradise; but that would be dangerous and foolish. The crocodiles are breeding and looking to claim their territory. They migrate between billabongs and pools sometimes via community roads. Also breeding are a variety of snakes (including king browns) as well as millions of terrible cane toads. The wet weather brings swarms of insects and I have discovered that I develop large welts and hives after NT mosquito bites. They look hideous but are thankfully not very painful.

Tuesday mornings at FAFT 

The profile of the patients at the clinic has changed as well. Itchy insect bites and scabies lesions are turning into nasty boils and abscesses. Walking bare foot through stagnant, muddy puddles leads to ugly foot infections. Plus a combination of factors such as locals walking all day in wet clothes, and sleeping indoors during monsoon weather, means that the number of respiratory infections are on the rise. But perhaps the most dangerous and threatening issue during the wet season has nothing to do with the animals, insects or the environment- it’s boredom! Isolated by road from everywhere outside of a few kilometres, the people here have little to do. As a result substance abuse and violence have become big problems. We’re hopeful that now school has returned some of this will improve.

Poster made with the mothers at FAFT

Speaking of school, this week saw me return to weekly education sessions at FAFT (“Families As First Teachers”). FAFT aims to give children the best start to life. It is run from a family centre where parents and their children (aged 0 – 3) can have morning tea and lunch and parents learn about caring and nurturing their children. Every Tuesday I go for a few hours in the morning and talk about a health related topic. We’ve covered topics like scabies, healthy lungs, brain development and “Well Children’s Checks”. At first the women were very quiet and reluctant to get involved. However after a few weeks they became less shy, started asking questions and now even suggest the topic for each week. The children are so friendly and affectionate. In Aboriginal culture parenting tasks are performed by many members of the family- siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great aunts etc. I think this often makes local children very trusting of others, unafraid of strangers and actively curious about the people around them. It’s been really lovely getting to know the families at FAFT. It’s given me a real interest in health promotion and education partly because it helps establish rapport with families so that when they are in need they can come to you as someone they know and trust.