Monthly Archives: January 2012

Goodbye to Nhulunbuy

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The bags got packed, the house got cleaned, the goodbyes were said and we left Nhulunbuy. On the plane we felt sad to be leaving. It’s a special place, even if somewhat surreal. After being there for three months I do feel a sense of longing to find out more about this part of Arnhem land, to get under its skin, and to learn more Yolngu Matha language.

We’re off on a bit of a discovery trip now, exploring some other places and thinking about where we could end up for the next few years. I would love to come back to this area. Who knows what the future holds? For us, we want to follow our faith in God and let his direction guide us.

As a parting memory of Nhulunbuy, here’s a photo of the hospital sprinklers going flat out in the middle of a torrential downpour.

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And here is the embarrassingly large pile of stuff that we somehow managed to sweet talk Qantas into letting us take on the plane.

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Next stop – Katherine! The wanderings continue.

Woolworths University

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Not Gove supermarket (via kidspot.com.au)

“He’s still sniffing.” a soft voice said. I looked up from putting the veggies on to the conveyor belt at the checkout. “My son,” he repeated, “he’s still sniffing”. I finally realised this was the father of one of my patients who had a nasty injury as a result of a fight. This was a really brave kid, and it was sad that he was petrol sniffing. It struck me as such a different type of “aisle four” consultation that I usually get in the supermarket. This wasn’t a reminder about a certificate I was supposed to write for a patient or a request about an ear problem. This was a heartfelt plea from a dad who didn’t know where he could get help for his son.

While I was thinking about this and going through the checkout, I noticed that the Indigenous girls in front of me had an argument about their shopping. One of the girls took a box of icypoles and left it on the ground, under the magazine rack. I thought that was pretty wasteful, and I brought it up with Cathy later. “Do you think that is a common attitude for Indigenous people, just wasting things like that?” I said. Cathy told me “I saw that girl, she came back after us and picked up the icypoles to buy with some drinks.”

Turns out my preconceived ideas about Indigenous people really coloured my perception of the situation. I was ashamed at how deep these preconceptions affect us.

There’s a lot to be learnt on a shopping trip to Woolworths.

What we’ve been up to

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Christmas in Nhulunbuy was a laid back time of cooking and spending time with friends. Note to self: gingerbread houses become gingerbread puddles in the tropics! We had a great time splashing through mud on New Year’s Eve and managed to avoid getting bogged. We’ve been sailing with friends and watched a great sunset over the bay. Our banana tree produced such a good harvest that it fell over from the weight. We’ve become  frequent flyers at the pool as it seems the monsoon had a false start and we’re back to hot and humid.

All in all, it’s a great time of year.