Biting the Bullet

We took a whole convoy of SUVs down the river fishing yesterday. We were delayed at first while someone jumped out of a car to kill a goanna (“barney” is the traditional term for a goanna around here). Then everyone needed their photo taken with the goanna.

Then some of the old bush women decided they had brought bad weather because they hadn't gotten here in time for the traditional smoking ceremony.

So we had to smoke them before we went to the river. Then we had to cook the goanna. Then noone caught a fish. Then we stopped to gather firewood into a trailer. On the way home and the wheel came off the trailer.


I was offered a piece of the goanna, but I had heard that eating the fat from the goanna gives you dreadful BO. Of course you’d have to eat a lot of it. Still I wasn’t too keen to sweat pungent goanna oder.

Over dinner of salt beef and damper tonight, one of the interpreters “bit the bullet”. We were tucking into beef from the cow that Uncle Ernie had shot a couple of weeks ago. Lucky she didn’t break her teeth!

There has been much debate over the best way to cook damper. The folks from the APY lands use a camp oven. The East Kimberley folks fry it like a big pancake. Either way, it needs a lot of butter and honey.

The interpreters have officially gone through 400 tea bags in 4 days. That’s quite a haul for only 20 people. There is a widespread belief in Australia that aboriginal people have a problem with alcohol. Well, I can tell you, their real addiction is tea.