23 – 26 May. 10,414kms.
Bardi Jawi Country.
Heading up the peninsula to another place enjoyed 14 years ago, and now anew with kids, this time the bumpy Pindan road upgraded and sealed. The Pigram Brothers our soundtrack for this country, the lyrics speak of the stories in the landscapes out our windows and under our feet.
Middle Lagoon our home for the next 3 nights, off the sealed road and 30 slow kilometres along bumps and sand, we arrive to a sleepy super chilled vibe. It’s hot, we swim at Lagoon Beach, dodging stinger bites, and retreat to the sand to collect magnificent shells to be made into necklaces and bracelets. Friends are coming from Cable Beach Caravan Park and there is much energy to renew a ‘shop’ started there. This becomes a morning and afternoon (pre)occupation where Talia and her other younger sibling buddy Remi hop from camp to camp to promote their wears whilst Poppy and her match Amelia finger-knit and weave through shells, custom making for each customer. Many kind campers heed the call and many a dollar is made!
We head back out along the sandy road to venture north up the peninsular, keen to explore One Arm Point at the tip, seeking edge of the world feels. This is remote country, one of those very extreme edges of the continent. Unfortunately the community is closed due to Covid, hopes dashed we head for the next opportunity, Cygnet Bay. This is a working pearl farm, highly touristy, the visitor experience neatly wrapped up in a restaurant, pool, tours and a pearl shop. We eat our packed lunch, get some juices from the bar, kids have a swim, and we venture on. We know Cape Leveque is closed, a Covid casualty, but just north of there we come across Gumbanan Wilderness Retreat. This is it! Divine, sparkling, pristine, a tropical paradise. There is only one other person here, fishing off the rocks. The rocks are deliberately arranged, clearly a natural fish trap. We don our rock shoes, clamber down and wade in. Heaven. The rocks are covered in oyster shells and using stones as axes we wedge some off. A delish afternoon tea!
Day 3 and we are amped. On a recommendation we have connected up with Bardi man Bolo Angus, his offsider and hunting expert Terik, and their cultural tour of Lullumb, his country, back up the peninsular again. Bolo welcomes us in language, he sings out to the ancestors to let them know to care for us, we splash our armpits, leaving our scent here so if we ever come back, they will know to take care of us again. They live in our hearts now, they are our Liyaan, they’ll let us if something’s not safe. We meet a frilled neck lizard, some mud skippers find there way onto hats, we collect bombshells and we find a fresh water stream amidst the salty mudflats. We crush melaleuca leaves to release their oils and drink the fresh water infused through our cupped hands. Such quench! We find a female mudcrab not lot long out of its young shell and still forming a new hard shell. Not right to catch that one. We head further into country, we eat flowers shaped like perfect birds that taste like sugar snap peas. We learn about the six seasons and the local calendar, the wet, the hot, the season of plenty, and the transitions in between each. The seasons convey when to build different types of shelters, which parts from which trees are medicinal, edible or functional; when the crocs are out, when to catch crabs or turtle, or harvest the honey from the bees. The bush and ocean, a supermarket, a pharmacy and a home, so long as you learn how to work with it, respectfully. We head out through the mangroves, its safe he assures us, out to the ocean. Terik heads off with his spear and Bolo with a shopping bag for mud crab! The tide is coming in, the girls jump in in their clothes. Its irresistible. Fish are speared, oysters harvested but much to Bolo’s anguish, no mud crab. We don’t mind! Onwards to the tour’s end, back at Bolo’s camp, a BBQ with damper, by the ocean, we feast and are show Bardi cultural artefacts, headdresses and stories, they sing for us. Our hearts are full and spirits soaring. Bolo leads us back out of Lullumb, but not before pulling over to show us a tiny bearded dragon he’s pulled from the side of a tree.
Middle Lagoon
Gumbanan
Lullumb Southern Cross Cultural Tours
