The Colours of the Dry

In the Dry, after the forest is burnt, leaves glow like fire in the evening sun and new fronds unfurl from the cycads.

Tropical Island Paradise

There are many times when I realise that I am living on a tropical island paradise. These islands are very beautiful – no cats, no cane toads, no broad acre farming, no wide spread logging. In many ways the islands are as they were in 1788.

In the evenings out fishing on one of the many creeks the still water reflects everything.

The waterfall at Taracumbi on Melville Island runs clear and clean all year.

At the Nine Mile waterhole on the road to Milikapiti. This waterhole is clear and fresh during the wet, and becomes stagnant during the dry.

The yellowing grass at the Nine Mile waterhole, clouds and rain coming in. The end of the wet.

Long grass at Purrampurnali near Milikapiti at the end of the wet.

PURRAMPURNALI

On Melville Island is Purrampurnali, site of the first landing by the Dutch on Tiwi Islands. There are new and old Pukamani poles on the site. It is an area rich in food: fish, crab, mussel and longbum.

During the Dry, 10 Mile stops flowing and becomes brown and brackish. But when the Wet starts again, the 10 Mile fills and water begins to run clear and cool.

After the burn

When the rain stops and the grass begins to dry, the Tiwis burn the forest. Its a cool burn and after the fire the forest begins to sprout. Cycads, palms, gums - all return, growing back in startling green. Plants appear from the black earth. Cycads unfurl like strange beasts. It is a beautiful time in the Tiwi forests.

Tumarripi: Deep in the heart of Bathurst Island

Deep in the heart of Bathurst Island is Tumarripi, on the road to Ranku from Nguiu. It was hot the day I went and I stripped off and jumped into the water. Sweetest water I have swum in since coming to the Territory. Clear and cool, soft white sand under foot. The Wet is beautiful!

With the Wet Comes the Water

The monsoon comes and everything is green again.
Stagnant water holes fill with rain and start flowing.
Grass seems to grow by the hour.
The forest begins to flower.

Islands fringed by Mangroves

The Tiwi Islands are surrounded by mangroves. The mangroves supply food and the Tiwi people regularly go hunting among the trees for mangrove worms, longbum, mud crabs and the mangrove mussel.

How Much is the Earth Worth?

The European Union pledged US$10 billion at Copenhagen to fight global warming over the next four years.

To put this in perspective:

US$2 trillion: global entertainment and media spending by 2011;
US$1.46 trillion: global military expenditure at current prices, and has been rising in recent years;
US$700 billion: banks’ bailout
US$144 billion in 2011: global gambling industry estimate up from the current $101.6 billion;
US$210 to $665 billion: global cost of alcohol-related problems in 2002;
US$141 billion in 2012: global sports market.

In the beginning

I have been working on the Tiwi Islands since Oct 2009. The Wet has started. I listen to the thunder roll over Nguiu and black clouds fill the sky.

Tiwi Islands are 20 minutes flight by light plane from Darwin in the Northern Territory. The Islands are about as far noth as one can go and still be in Australia.

The Tiwi Islands are Aboriginal land, managed by the Tiwi Land Council.