darwinian theory 8

so, we found a beautiful little souvenir in a darwin gallery.  a small utility basket woven from dyed pandanus reed.  we were able to see the way in which the reed was dyed with natural root extracts, some colours of which are very hard to find and extract, and woven into a variety of beautiful practical and symbolic artifacts

the local museum has a section dedicated  to this craft and we were very happy to bring home a small example as a reminder.

these photos, lifted from  the Arnhem Weavers website gives some insight into the story and the link provides a real time look at the processes involved (see here).

the last photo shows how all of this is put to use in suburban civilisation.

happy food

good for the soul!

more shamu

at her photographic best!

garden update

a few images of the garden at black rock. winter is here so everything is settling down. we lost a few plants over summer, which have now been replaced and the rabbits seem to like a bit of a munch, so that will have to be controlled before spring. the electric fence is doing a good job of deterring the roos.

cutout in courtyard stone paving to make way for a deciduous tree

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btw best pic, me thinks

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some more random photos of sunsets, etc

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this could have gone under a 'stop it or you'll go blind' heading , but seeing as the little critter are actually blind, i defer.

wouldn't look out of place in dubai

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you call that a steakburger??

this is a steakburger!!*

culinary delights from crocodile country

 *with apologies to crocodile dundee 

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and thence to the great outdoors

a quick overnight trip to litchfield national park, about 1 1/2 hours south west of darwin.  not quite kakadu, but ok for a bit of a walk in crocodile country

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more from the war museum

leica vlux

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a few days r&r well spent in darwin and little bits of the NT  hinterland.  

darwin has it's charms, but it's kind of a three day town you'd visit on the way to somewhere else.  very much a "we've been bombed" sort of a place at first with much memorialisation of the war days (not a sign of nicole to be found, though).  

strange, in a way, to be in place which has had it's built history erased by war and tempest, with little of it's pioneering past evident in the built fabric, and little of merit in the replacement stock.

below are some  photos from the war museum, a fairly ramshackle collection of bits and pieces, housed in the ruins of an old gun emplacement.  

like most things in the tropics, everything feels on the edge of decay.

leica vlux

i love mr picassohead

mr picassohead lives here

road trip. edited

well, as it turned out, the road trip with 2 year old was cancelled due to WFC issues, to be replaced with "long weekend in the north".  

we head off tomorrow morning, to Darwin for a day or two, then a little driving in the bush, and back on Sunday.  i read all of the books i was planning to take, so i guess i'll just have to find something else to read-mind you not much time for just sitting around reading with all those crocodiles to see!!

many pictures to follow