The People

We are the Yolngu people of Ramingining, in the northern part of Central Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory.

Ramingining is a town of about 800 of our people. More of our people live on outstations different distances from town. Also about 50 Balanda live here.

The nearest other town is Maningrida, more than two hours drive away except in the rainy season, when we can only fly there.

In Ramingining we have a store, a clinic, a school, a new police station, an arts centre, a resource centre, houses and not much else.

But we have history and culture here, that our ancestors have been growing for more than forty thousand years.

They passed that culture on from generation to generation. Now it's our turn to pass it on, not just to the next generation, but to people everywhere, all over the world.

That's because our way of life is changing fast now, and what you can see on this website is for every generation to remember and keep our culture alive.



Taken from http://www.12canoes.com.au/

Monday, February 14, 2011

day eleven - acclimatisation

14th February 2011 - 2:15pm


Acclimatisation or acclimation is the process of an individual organism adjusting to a gradual change in its environment, (such as a change in temperature, humidity, photoperiod, or pH) allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions.


Well, I managed to drag myself through four days of relaxing at Kuta Beach (Bali) in an attempt to acclimatise to the hot weather. Needless to say, I think I did a pretty good job. Sleeping in, eating, drinking, shopping, and extreme sports. Until now, my idea of extreme sports was gently lowering myself into the water from a boat to go snorkeling. But apparently Ben thought I should challenge my limits, and suggested we go jet-skiing, banana-boating and para sailing. Although probably not the highlight of my life, I did have a ball, and we have some fantastic photos and videos to prove it.

















After successfully completing my first level of acclimatisation, we arrived back in Darwin at 4:00am on Wednesday morning to begin my cultural acclimatisation. What an amazingly beautiful and totally under-rated city. It's wet season at the moment, so most afternoons are filled with pouring rain and thunderstorms. But on Thursday morning, I went for a 5km walk around the city. The beautiful harbour with immaculately manicured gardens (in fact, the only people there at 9:30am were the gardeners on ride-on mowers), the Esplanade with its wonderful ocean view. And the incredibly clean well set out, tree-lined streets. Friday I managed another 5km walk in the sweltering 30 plus degree heat, and walked to Cullen Bay (the Sandy Bay of Darwin) and the Botanical Gardens. On Friday I also went for a meeting at the University - another place with amazing gardens and open spaces.

 Darwin Harbour


Cullen Bay


And talk about success with public transport! If the system was as good in Hobart, I'm sure everyone would use it. The routes were easy to understand, buses turning up exactly on time, basically free for everyone (students, pensioners, any concession card holders) and only $2.00 for those adults that pay - for a 3 hour ticket. Friendly bus drivers, clean buses. Fabulous. And amazing scenery on the way to boot.

Although I did experience racism for the first time here on the bus. At one bus stop we pulled up at, there were around 10 aboriginal people waiting. Before we'd even reached the stop, almost everyone in the front half of the bus moved immediately to the back of the bus, and I was sure it wasn't being nice and letting everyone have a seat. Some of the people that got on the bus were rather loud, and some obviously drunk, but I thought the clear display of racism was disappointing, to say the least. I have had some more positive experiences though, especially when an aboriginal man was playing the clap sticks and singing as Ben and I had dinner on tables outside a restaurant on Saturday.

I can't wait to learn more about these people that seem to be so misunderstood.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 14, 2011 at 4:35 PM

    Wonderful photos! I've always wanted to visit Darwin one day as it seems so different from anywhere else Australia.

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  2. HeatherFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:16 PM

    Thanks Nicole. It is totally different. Such a beautiful place. You'll have to fly up here with David!

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