Darius

This is our mate Darius, he did a few self portraits then wanted some action shots to show off his footy prowess. He is a handsome little bloke.

Fishing for Snakes!

We went fishing today with Joe. We were hoping for some big barra but instead pulled in a catfish and a big file snake! Notice in the picture with me and Darius, I AM HOLDING THE BITING END JUST TO BE SURE!!!

South Alligator River Boat Ride

We had a boat trip up the South Alligator with our friend Geoff. It was spectacularly beautiful with the sun shining one minute and the sky angry and churning the next, never did rain though and as usual I got a heck of a sunburn on my nose. As we journeyed up the river (away from the ocean) it became increasingly difficult to figure out where the banks of the river were as
the flood plains moved in. We were once again floating through the treetops, passed a Jabiru nesting and could almost look her in the eye! Eventually the trees became few and far between until there were none but a couple of branches just barely reaching out of the water and it seemed like the whole world was submerged. The sky came down to meet the wet on the horizon with nothing to separate the land from the sky except the fine line of the escarpment in the distance, it was truly eerie!

Lizard on the Stump

This little bloke was sitting, sunning himself on a stump in the town plaza.

Queenie's Paintings & Stories

Queenie says these are stories her parents told her, I love them! She is a very nice lady.

The Mighty Magela

More on the Magela

In the dry, the mighty Magela is barely a trickle. If you are brave, you can hike up the almost dry bed, but watch out for the Momma Croc who lives up the way and is none too friendly. In the wet, as you have seen from the pics, it turns into a river, making it impossible to get across the road, and into a fisherman's paradise with big tarpon and barra jumping everytime I go out. Anyhow, we decided to take a cruise up the creek while the water is high, it was absolutely surreal, gliding through
the tree tops in a boat, too many different shades of green to count, when they cut the engine on the boat, a quietness that is
almost scary! Here are some pics. I will put more up on www.rooeytoo.smugmug.com in the next couple of days.

Lesson To Learn From The Snake

Big python on the road this morning. He may have just finished a round of golf since he was coming from the club!
Betcha he was at least 6' long, pretty impressive bloke hey!

Idyllic Scene

In the wet, there are photo opps everywhere you look, but be careful, don't get too close to the water, because you never know what lurks in the weeds!

Wildflowers in the Bush

Nestled down in between the gigantic shoots of speargrass are so many different kinds of wildflowers. Here are just two. I will try to get more for you to see. Here is some information about this season Gudjeuk.

We celebrate Gudjeuk.
Blue-grey skies burst with rain.
Bush food trees give plenty of fruits.
The yams in the earth are swelling
As they grow,
they send more and more leaves
to twine around trees.
The country is green, green, green,
and bursting with water.
Many birds and animals are nestitng
now there is an abundance of tucker.
At night, walburr, the glow beetles,
fly through the darkness
making magical patterns,
as they search for a mate.
Wind blows, water flows,
streams fill, fish swim
and children sing.......

Sunday Morning Birdlife

From a distance it looks like a dead ole tree with huge white flowers! However since we are now experienced Territorians of 1 whole year, we know better. Soon you start to hear the peculiar moaning and groaning coming from the tree and of course, it is the silly corellas, a large white bird of the parrot family with big blue eyes. They don't look too white in these pictures because they are seed eaters and forage on the ground and since we are in the midst of the wet, they really are dirty birds! The big bird in the creek is a Jabiru, they are huge birds, like flamingos, maybe a tad bigger. They look black and white but up close the black is a greenish/purplish color that absolutely gleams in the sunlight. They are very elusive so it is always a treat to see one.

Speargrass in the Sunset

Speargrass

We are coming to the end of the Gudjeuk season, that is the wettest part of the wet. The speargrass is so tall!!! 6-7' everywhere you look. To my yank eyes, it is so exotic, I always expect to see a lion or a tiger peeking out through it, lots of dingos that's for sure. The dingos look like skinny cousins of my big Red Akita. The local kids call him "The Fat Dingo." So here are a few pics of the speargrass so you can get a feel of what it is like.