Mulubinba Moments

Kakadu National Park - Ubirr

Ubirr is the site of some magnificent Aboriginal rock art. Rock shelters were used by the Aboriginal people as camps while hunting and gathering food. There was an enormous variety of food available from the surrounding East Alligator River, Nadab floodplain and woodlands. The rock art in the main gallery depicts many food items - Xray painting dates from 1500 years ago but there is one painting of a phylocene which became extinct on the mainland of Australia 2000 to 3000 years ago. There are other paintings depicting mimi spirits, and legends about the Namarrgarn Sisters and the Rainbow Serpent. 

 

 

 

From the top of Ubirr rock, you can see the extent of the Nadab floodplains and escarpments. This is a deeply moving and spiritual place .... I'm certain no visitor will leave without feeling a little in awe of the scenery.

 

 

 

Blogging, internet search engines and privacy

Recently I was made aware of a few indiscretions made on social networking internet sites by people who had unwittingly written posts for online friends that breached privacy and confidentiality agreements in their places of work. It is particularly relevant to those of us working in fields where there is strict legislation. In essence we are unable to post anything that might identify anyone we work with regardless of whether details about them have been changed in an effort to maintain anonymity. Medical students were disciplined not long ago for discussing interesting cases online despite having changed the person's name (ie to Mrs S or Mr Jo Bloggs). Publishing even disguised details is a breach and therefore a cause for dismissal or expulsion - the claim is that the person being discussed might still be identified.

Given the fact that many tertiary centres use the internet and Wikis to teach students, I have to ask myself how much privacy laws are affecting teaching strategies. To lecture in a classroom using video and photographs requires the signed permission of the subject - that is understood. For that person to have their case discussed online and perhaps viewed by many people on the internet is quite different. Using case histories to illustrate an example is becoming more and more tricky as access is becoming easier and reaches more people. This then poses the question as to whether we should all just use entirely fictitious examples if we wish to illustrate a point. Does this then detract from the point we are trying to make, I wonder? Does it make a situation less real and the impact an example may have less real? Statements like "that would never happen"; "that's just not possible" could be the norm.

As the awareness of privacy increases, I regularly review how I work and what I have written. No longer do I feel comfortable writing on the blog about everyday issues that might be interesting, moving but recognisable. I have decided to remove several posts from here for this reason. 

I value privacy and respect confidentiality but when we begin having to talk in riddles and code in order to get our point across, I wonder if we have gone too far. I guess the best rule of thumb is to never discuss on the internet anything that is not appropriate for general readership. 

Kakadu National Park - Jim Jim and Twin Falls

It's been a long time between posts here. The Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls Gorge region is only accessible by 4WD and in the dry season. We took a $WD tour for the day in order to access both sets of falls ... no way could we have made the trip without an experienced guide. The walk to Jim Jim falls and plunge pool are 60km from the Kakadu highway and the walk while only 2km involves a scramble over quite large boulders. (Good walking shoes, drinking water and a medium level of fitness required). The falls were not flowing when we visited but there were also no estuarine crocodiles in the water to contend with either.

 

 

10km further on is a boat shuttle to Twin Falls (which were flowing). Unfortunately we were unable to swim there because of crocs. The track to the falls is a little easier compared with Jim Jim but still involves clambering over some boulders. The boardwalk over the water is equipped with showers so that walkers can pump water over themselves in order to cool off. The extreme heat soon dries any wet clothing. (The photos may look a little exposed - apologies... I think this is because of the intensity of the light).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kakadu National Park - Yellow Water Region

The local aboriginal name for yellow water is Ngurrungurrudjba. It is part of the South Alligator River floodplain and hosts an abundance of wildlife. It holds water longer than most other parts of the plain and attracts large numbers of waterbirds. We didn't have time to take the boardwalk on the Home Billabong but took a water boat cruise. Pictures in album.

Kakadu National Park - Burrunggui

We have just returned from a six day trip to the Northern Territory (Darwin, Kakadu and Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge National Parks. Despite the small amount of time we had, we managed to take 940 photos. Obviously many will have to be culled but I hope to post the better ones in albums on the sidebar.

Kakadu National Park covers almost 20000 square kilometres. (approximately the size of Switzerland). Its traditional owners are the Bininj/Mungguy who are custodians of the land. It is a World Heritage landscape partly because it is one of the last remaining examples of Aboriginal Australia and honours their spiritual connection to their land. Kakadu's rock art represents one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world. More than 5000 art sites tell of the Creation Ancestors and the changes in the landscape over thousands of years. Many older paintings are covered by younger ones.

In terms of environmental significance, Kakadu also gained a World Heritage listing for its exceptional beauty and unique biodiversity, its variety of landforms, habitats and wildlife. It is home to 68 species of mammals, 120 species of reptiles, 26 species of frogs, over 300 species of fish, 2000 plant species, 10000 insect species and 290 species of birds many of which are migratory. 

There are six main landforms and habitats - savanna woodlands, monsoon forests, hills and ridges, stone country, tidal flats and coastline, floodplains and billabongs. Kakadu is divided into seven regions - South Alligator, Jabiru Rgion, East Alligator, Nourlangie (Burrunggui), Yellow water Region, Jim Jim f and Twin falls Region and Mary River region. 

We have been to Kakadu twice now - once at the end of the wet season in April and this time in the September hot dry season. On our first visit, many areas were still flooded and inaccessible, this visit, water was scarcer and therefore there was a concentration of wildlife near the billabongs. Both times, we were unable to cover the vast area of the park and there is still more to see.

Day One - Nourlangie Region or Burrunggui. Attractions of this site are the human history record in the rock art. The site has been an ancient Anbangbang shelter site for over 20000 years. The stories in the rock art focus around Namarrkurn (Lightening Man) photographed above. He was said to be responsible for the lightening storms common in the area. He uses stone axes growing from his body to split rocks, shatter trees and frighten mimi spirits. In the main gallery artwork also depicts legendary heroes, fish,wallaby, and other wildlife. The natural beauty of the area is a highlight with the lookout affording views across to the kakadu escarpment in the distance. Photo album here.

Aida at the Sydney Opera House

As part of a birthday celebration for Geoff, we managed to get tickets to see Opera Australia's performance of Aida. The setting itself, Sydney Opera House, is amazing, but the staging of the opera was spectacular. We were fortunate to be able to get seats towards the front and our view of the performers was unobstructed. The subtitles were a little hard to see but this by no means detracted from the opera. Magnificent singing by all concerned. This is a highly recommended treat for anyone visiting Sydney.

French and Saunders

We managed to get tickets to see the fabulous Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders on their tour of Australia. Fantastic show!! We are so privileged to have entertainers like these two visit our shores. Thanks Dawn and Jennifer for coming to Australia!

  

In case anyone is thinking of a holiday.....

These photos were taken on our recent holiday - Lord Howe Island.

Lord Howe Island

We spent a very pleasant week on Lord Howe Island last month and I have only now just managed to upload an image. Lord Howe is located east of NSW about level in latitude to Port Macquarie. It is unique in that it has the southern most coral reef in the world and is so isolated that there are a number of rare species of bird and insects that exist only on the island. Unfortunately, human settlement has resulted in many endemic species becoming extinct. The island is now a World Heritage site and therefore the remaining reef, flora and fauna are protected. It is also famous for the bird watching as many seabirds arrive annually to breed. We arrived too late in the season to see many birds (and unfortunately watching seabirds and sheer cliffs are often synonymous which with my fear of heights is a disadvantage), but we did find the white tern, masked booby, providence petrel, sacred kingfisher, emerald dove, red tailed tropicbird, shearwaters, Welcome swallows, and the very rare Lord Howe woodhen still in residence. I will upload these images into an album as soon as I get a chance for those of you who are keen bird watchers. Album with photos of some of the birds we spotted is here

EARTH HOUR 2009

Lights out at 8.30 tonight for one hour.