Tags
aboriginal paintings, darwin, deckchair cinema, heat, hot, kakadu, sunlight
Ô, Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on Earth.”It’s so hot!
The sun is shining down on my tied back hair covered head complete with a most hated object- a hat. The beads of perspiration are swimming together, assembling in one rivulet pouring down the top half of my body, dripping slowly melding with the moisture pooled from the lower half! I look up at my husband who smiles at me as he takes a ‘glowing’ picture of me standing in front of some amazing Aboriginal art work.And this is the dry season????? Right now I am not very dry at all!-++ Technically it is. We are supposedly here at Kakadu in the best time of the year – the dry season which encompasses May to October. Everyone around me, including my darling husband assures me this is the best time of year to see the Northern territory of Australia and in particular Kakadu National park and Katherine where we will be going in the next few days. I am sure that this weather is great or those who absolutely love the burning heat, adore flies and other insects settling on your skin all day as they find fresh flesh and generally bathing in the whole sun/heat drenched filled experience of a ‘dry’ season! After leaving Darwin, but I have to add here, not before we had the pleasure of attending the Deck Chair cinema viewing of a movie! This was an amazing never before experience as we headed down past Government house and took our place on a selected deck chairs complete with our cushions, plastic cups and bottle of wine and nibbles and settled into watch a movie surrounded by many others who had thought of the same thing! As I relaxed in the reclining chair as dusk arrived and the warm humid night fell upon us, well in reality, actually began to smother me with its nightly heat, and as the lack of air and beads of moisture settling in place upon my face, I thought of my jacket and scarf happily occupying space in Marc’s backpack beside me because I thought I might be cold. Some twisted perverse thought that I might find it cold – oh what a joke! Whatever was I thinking! I think I will just have another glass of that chilled rose instead and watch the movie! Now enough of that and back to my dialogue … after leaving Darwin we headed down the Stuart Highway to the Arnhem Highway into Kakadu National Park. A total of two to three hours including some stop offs on the way! Amazingly the speed limit on these very straight and long, long, long, but not particularly wide or smooth, roads is 130kms per hour and we were definitely doing that. Whenever we had to slow down to 100, it seemed so slow! Quite amazing, how you can easily get used to the faster speed. Of course we met a few road trains going in the other direction … it would be interesting trying to overtake one of them going in the same direction as you! But the road was exceedingly long and boring and once again the sun shone brightly into the car and you guessed it … on my passenger side. But sundrenched and glowing we eventually arrive at the Aurora Kakadu resort and campsite. Ah – the air-conditioned room engulfed me with her swirling cool arms and the sparkling blue pool only twenty metres away from me brilliantly beckoned, calling my name enticingly to meet her warm waters and to submerge myself into her civilizing liquid, my heated apprehensions melted away ready to meet the onset and expectations of another hot day here in the Top End. And expectations were well met as the aboriginal rock art crowded upon the galleries of rock piled on rock art sites like piles of sandwiches was incredibly inspiring and definitely encouraged the imagination of the viewer to surmise how these ancient people survived in these harsh climatic conditions and habitat and told their stories; now sharing their depicted conversations with the rest of the world through their drawings. This was so worth the travelling and the warmth of the sun glowing upon my body! I look forward to seeing more of these natural wonders over the next few days But now I have to contemplate, as I once again submerge my hot, drenched, sun kissed ( more like brushed and burnt) body in the surrounding blue water of our resort pool, I wonder what it would be like in the wet season … when the rains and humidity are highly intense and the dankness and constant clamminess is entrenched firmly not only on and in your body, but in your mind, your soul and your spirit day after day after day after day and it continues endlessly for six long months. No wonder they say people go “troppo” up here! If I was here in the ‘wet season’ as opposed to the dry, I would be one of the first ones to crack – that is – if something that has melted slowly into a blob and liquefied on the ground can crack!