Smart spending
Five things to do
1. Take:
The SeaLink ferry from Darwin’s Cullen Bay ferry terminal travels across the aquamarine Beagle Gulf to the port of Wurrumiyanga, on Bathurst Island, one of the two big Tiwi Islands. Look out for whales (we were lucky to see a pod with a baby) on the 2½-hour trip.
2. Book:
Take a tour to learn about the extraordinary rich and unique culture of the Tiwi people from the articulate locals, whose families have lived on the islands for thousands of years. The $295 cost includes the ferry ($120 return without the tour), bus tour of the local sights, smoking ceremony with ironwood leaves, dance performances, morning tea and lunch.
3. Visit:
All three Bathurst Island art centres produce beautiful silk-screened fabrics and clothes, ironwood carvings, ceramics, ochre paintings and glass works. Don’t miss Ngaruwanajirri (The Keeping House) with its painted, domed Sistine chapel-style ceiling that has been run by John and Joy Naden for over 26 years and is a studio space for 12 artists and many more part-timers.
4. Hear:
Local guides with a sharp sense of humour share stories about their four-clan system (sun, rock, pandanus and fish); the old traditions that include brothers not talking to their sisters once they reach puberty; the bush foods – mud mussels, cockles, ducks, geese, native plums and sugarbag bee honey – that still make up 70% of the local diet; and bush medicines.
5. Check out:
Patakijiyali Museum was set up with the help of Sister Anne Gardiner who arrived in the Tiwi Islands 60 years ago and has never left. It spans the dreaming stories as well as the natural flora and fauna. It also documents European settlement and the islands’ sporting heritage. The passion for AFL and the local team, the Tiwi Bombers, runs deep. The museum also looks at the role of the Tiwi Islands in the Japanese bombing of Darwin and the capture of a Japanese pilot by Matthias Ampiyartilawayi Ulungura, the first Australian to take a Japanese prisoner of war on Australian soil.