Day 13
Friday 6 October
There’s nothing better than waking up to the sound of the bush orchestra next to a tropical rain forest. Des left at 4.00am to do another day of hauling stuff out of Cape Flattery. I eventually track down today’s day sail organiser, to find that there has been a mix up and once again our planned day sails are cancelled. In one way it’s a relief for the crew who can now have a day-off after the intensity of all their sailing. The trade winds have simply not let up during this whole two weeks, holding steadily at 20-25 knots every day without fail. There’s got to be good wind generator possibilities along this coastline. We use this opportunity to do something special for Ini and the Pelican team and arrange for two cars to pick them up and drive inland to the McIvor River.
Des arrives back at Starke having driven Andrew and Hong down the beach and put them on Marty’s boat at the mouth of the McIvor River. this has reduced the weight in the boat for the rough ocean passage. I help Des to unpack the vehicle. It reeks of dead turtle and looking into a large blue esky I am greeted by the gruesome sight of a recently butchered animal. The flesh is still quivering as this old female has given her life to the Community. It is divided up and later distributed amongst a bunch of family groups. Turtle is one of their favourite sources of protein –a food that their people have consumed for many thousands of years.
Estelle tells us tribal stories about the McIvor River
We take the troopy and trailer and go to meet the tinnies about 10 kms upstream on the McIvor River at Morgan’s Landing. Marty kindly lends us his boat to take the whole team downstream in this awesome piece of river wilderness. The banks are lined with Saddle Palms, which only grow in this region giving the landscape an almost biblical quality. We
sight the occasional glimpse of a croc’s tail as it slides silently into the murky water. Garry and I check out the river entrance with Estelle, Margo, Nat and Aurora with a view of possibly bringing Pelican in here as an option during a future project. The crew enjoy a ride on a boat they don’t have to maintain nor operate and are struck by the wild beauty of this place. Estelle tells us the story of how one of her people was taken by a croc in the 1920s. A mother with a child was cleaning fish on the riverbank when the crocodile suddenly pounced. The child came back to their camp saying that her Mum had gone for a swim in the river.
Colin, Peter, Eric, Jazzmin, Estelle, Sandy, Ini, Estelle, Raf with JJ, Anna and Nick.
Together with crew we have a final cup of tea at Starke and then it’s time to head into Hope Vale for the barbeque, which coincidentally is being run with the first Hula festival in this Community. This is where girls from both Hope Vale and another Bama Community to the south, Wujal Wujal, perform their dances. They have been practicing this Pacific Islander style of Hula dancing for many weeks and there has been a lot of talk about this forthcoming event, particularly by the teenage boys. They look forward to watching the girls swing their hips and do their thing.
It’s dark by the time we drive into Hope Vale. Des, Raf & Estelle will be delayed. Des realised that Ritchie and Louis are overdue. Their vehicle must be having problems somewhere en route back from Cape Flattery. He finds them stuck on the sand dune exit from the ocean beach, due to gearbox problems. He pulls them clear of the track, transfers their load into the Troopy and gives them a lift out.
Kids scream in support of the Hula dancers during their first Hula Festival.
The Hula festival is in full swing with rows of girls in grass skirts, flowers and brightly coloured tops dancing together with rehearsed moves. The organisers have done a fantastic job of decorating a raised stage with flowers, coloured lights, and a 2 m “HULA” sign with red and blue flowers. Some of the dancers are about 5 years old. It’s uplifting to see such a great turn out from the whole Community and we now know many faces in the crowd after 3 years of doing this project. The announcers invite the Wujal Wujal community people and the Pelican team as guests to grab steak and salad rolls first while the dancers swish their grass skirts and delight the crowd.
There’s a 15-minute break from dancing where we are asked to speak to the assembled crowd. The Elders Tim & Elaine begin, as Traditional Owners for this Hope Vale land and the land where we’ve been operating, followed by a Councillor, Estelle, myself, Andrew and Sarah from the ANZ. I ask the audience to give Estelle a big cheer for all the hard work she has put into organising this project and we thank everyone who has helped us put this years ANZ Hope Vale Pelican project together.
I feel sad and a little relieved that the 2006 project is just about all over. We have one more day sail to do tomorrow morning -our final day. It’s time to say goodbye to Des, Estelle, the rest of the Bowen family and everyone in the Community that we have grown closer to over these past 13 days. We will be coming back next year as we have committed to keep doing this project for the foreseeable future.
We are all a bit subdued as we drive back to Cooktown, reflecting on the enormity of the past two weeks. This is our first step of returning to our normal lives.
There’s nothing better than waking up to the sound of the bush orchestra next to a tropical rain forest. Des left at 4.00am to do another day of hauling stuff out of Cape Flattery. I eventually track down today’s day sail organiser, to find that there has been a mix up and once again our planned day sails are cancelled. In one way it’s a relief for the crew who can now have a day-off after the intensity of all their sailing. The trade winds have simply not let up during this whole two weeks, holding steadily at 20-25 knots every day without fail. There’s got to be good wind generator possibilities along this coastline. We use this opportunity to do something special for Ini and the Pelican team and arrange for two cars to pick them up and drive inland to the McIvor River.
Des arrives back at Starke having driven Andrew and Hong down the beach and put them on Marty’s boat at the mouth of the McIvor River. this has reduced the weight in the boat for the rough ocean passage. I help Des to unpack the vehicle. It reeks of dead turtle and looking into a large blue esky I am greeted by the gruesome sight of a recently butchered animal. The flesh is still quivering as this old female has given her life to the Community. It is divided up and later distributed amongst a bunch of family groups. Turtle is one of their favourite sources of protein –a food that their people have consumed for many thousands of years.
Estelle tells us tribal stories about the McIvor River
sight the occasional glimpse of a croc’s tail as it slides silently into the murky water. Garry and I check out the river entrance with Estelle, Margo, Nat and Aurora with a view of possibly bringing Pelican in here as an option during a future project. The crew enjoy a ride on a boat they don’t have to maintain nor operate and are struck by the wild beauty of this place. Estelle tells us the story of how one of her people was taken by a croc in the 1920s. A mother with a child was cleaning fish on the riverbank when the crocodile suddenly pounced. The child came back to their camp saying that her Mum had gone for a swim in the river.
Colin, Peter, Eric, Jazzmin, Estelle, Sandy, Ini, Estelle, Raf with JJ, Anna and Nick.
It’s dark by the time we drive into Hope Vale. Des, Raf & Estelle will be delayed. Des realised that Ritchie and Louis are overdue. Their vehicle must be having problems somewhere en route back from Cape Flattery. He finds them stuck on the sand dune exit from the ocean beach, due to gearbox problems. He pulls them clear of the track, transfers their load into the Troopy and gives them a lift out.
Kids scream in support of the Hula dancers during their first Hula Festival.
There’s a 15-minute break from dancing where we are asked to speak to the assembled crowd. The Elders Tim & Elaine begin, as Traditional Owners for this Hope Vale land and the land where we’ve been operating, followed by a Councillor, Estelle, myself, Andrew and Sarah from the ANZ. I ask the audience to give Estelle a big cheer for all the hard work she has put into organising this project and we thank everyone who has helped us put this years ANZ Hope Vale Pelican project together.
I feel sad and a little relieved that the 2006 project is just about all over. We have one more day sail to do tomorrow morning -our final day. It’s time to say goodbye to Des, Estelle, the rest of the Bowen family and everyone in the Community that we have grown closer to over these past 13 days. We will be coming back next year as we have committed to keep doing this project for the foreseeable future.
We are all a bit subdued as we drive back to Cooktown, reflecting on the enormity of the past two weeks. This is our first step of returning to our normal lives.
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