Borroloola and the Rodeo

No photos of Borroloola itself. It isn't a pretty town like Robinson River and it isn't a dry town either- these 2 facts are probably not disconnected, though it's also situated in very flat country- and by the time we got there the morning light was gone and I was feeling hot and lost and grumpy. In that mood, it felt mean spirited to photograph bleakness, and, more to the point perhaps, the place was full of white tourists and I felt like one of them with a camera in my hand. 

The art gallery, Waralungku Arts, was shut on weekends (it has a great website though - www.waralungku.com), and even the town tip was bleak -burned black and smouldering. However, we did find a perfectly good and unburned office chair, with hydraulics working, and a few lengths of copper piping  and fencing wire to add to my collection of Things That Will Surely Come In Handy One Day.  I have been missing my Sydney collection but it hasn't taken long to start another. And a few 5 gallon drums which of course come in handy every day. To make manure tea in, for example, in case you are wondering. (Not tea for me but for the garden.)  

From babies to old people, there are no excretory euphemisms in Robinson River, despite the heroic efforts of the school teachers. One teacher, wanting the requests to change from "Miss, I need a piss/shit" to " I need to go to the toilet", found that her class came up with "Miss I am full for toilet", while holding the belly! (This is the problem with euphemisms- too vague).  When I first arrived, I used the word 'poo' to a group of littlies who wanted to know what I was doing with my bucket and shovel- I told them I was collecting horse poo, as I didn't think they would know the word 'manure'- and they enthusiastically joined in the activity, as the kids here do, each with their own bucket. 
The littlest asked his brother "Wo dat?"                                          
His brother replied "Shit". 
"Wo'fo?" (what for? what's this all about ?) 
 Shrug.   (Translation:- "this new woman is collecting buckets of horse shit and for some reason dog shit won't do even though there's plenty of it. Don't ask".)

Back to the rodeo. Eventually we got there, and it was really fun. The photos tell all- a tiny fraction of all- but after a few hours of sitting in the sun breathing the dust, I'd had enough, so we missed seeing most of the Robinson River mob ride horses and bulls and wrestle calves to the ground. They didn't make the finals, but the Doomadgee rodeo is on next weekend and a lot are going to that too. Doomadgee is in Qld- we are just near the border, but Campbell Newman feels a long way away, thank heavens. 

I was so enthused at my own enthusiasm I bought a blue check Wrangler shirt- well, a cheap knock off, with pink diamantes on the collar and threaded through with gold thread- and was complimented several times when I wore it down the street in RR. I couldn't quite carry the cowboy hat thing off- like the little fellow in the picture below- but I kind of regret not getting the boots as well.

The next three snaps are a series (and I have to attribute all the following photos to Alex, one of the school teachers here. He took them in the late afternoon after we had left)

The next 3 are also a series

And before we left Borroloola we went to the local store and found... CUCUMBERS and reasonably tasty tomatoes (yay!!). You folk with a smorgasbord of choice of what to eat and where and how, may not be able to appreciate the culinary doors that open with a few fresh cucumbers, a couple of reasonably tasty tomatoes, a cup of runny home made yoghurt and some mint of course. I might have sounded a bit deprived foodwise in the first blog but I have come to enjoy the simplicity of it all. So little choice, so much gratitude.

I used to feel most comfortable cooking Mediterranean food but my cooking style is changing to suit the tropics, and inspired by the south east Asian food and produce and plant stalls at the markets in Darwin. If you cook with turmeric, try it fresh. Completely different from dried- no comparison really. Down south you should be able to get it in Asian supermarkets.

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The days are getting seriously hot and the humidity is starting to build. I rarely go outside now without covering myself from head to ankle, but I have had to buy some of the work shirts that all the guys here wear - with 50+ sun protection- because I was getting burned through my clothes! In the Dry, every day is the same (perfect) with a cloudless blue sky, and gloriously cool nights, and absolutely not a drop of rain for half the year. But just last night I noticed the eastern sky glowing pink in the sunset. It took me a few minutes to realise that the setting sun was reflecting off clouds! The first clouds to appear since I have been here, and today the sky is flecked with white wisps. This means that the Build Up to the Wet is beginning, and I am getting nervous. But it is a popular time with the locals because the land changes from dry and brown to green and abundant, with lots of food around. The water warms up and the big fish start biting (and so do the crocs, as their metabolism starts to crank up and they begin to think about mating. Well, I daresay there isn't much thinking involved with crocs but they certainly start practising it as the water warms up. Crocs can live as long as humans but their average life expectancy is but a few weeks. They eat each other.)

I find it amusing to think that, because they are cold blooded, these terrifying monsters are rendered semi comatose by water temperature that wouldn't phase a 3 year old human. A bit like the original Daleks being prevented from world domination by a set of stairs. 

My whole garden will need shade cloth pretty soon. Such a change from inner west Sydney where my garden never gets enough sun. By next blog entry I hope it will be photogenic (a bloody horse trampled it last night but everything survived) and you will be entertained with many photos of vegetables. To whet your appetite, here is a sampler from the market garden. I go and admire these little cabbages every day because they are so, well... green!

The sun has just 'gone behind a cloud'. Overcast sky. New experience. 

Till next time.