Don't compare apples to oranges!

Well, it was Queens Birthday weekend here in Australia this weekend, a week later than they have it in New Zealand, so we decided to visit a few places.
Yesterday we headed to the Buranga Sports and Cultural Festival which they have here every Queens Birthday weekend and it's one of the longest running Aboriginal Festivals in Australia.  It is about 80 kms south west of Katherine and the Jawoyn people open their community up to everyone so they can share and celebrate their culture.  It's a drug and alcohol free event and you're also able to camp there (tourists included) and attend all the events, including a music concert that goes half the night on Saturday, traditional dancing, story telling, spear making (and throwing competitions), bush medicine tours, market weaving, didgeridoo making & playing workshops and many other events. They have a bit of a market going also with food stalls and there is the youth inter-country (meaning, inter-community) sports competitions such as basketball, softball and Aussie rules rugby running also.

Anyway, we went on Sunday and there wasn't much going on so it was a little disappointing.  Apparently, Saturday is the day to go. I will need to remember that for next year. The atmosphere though was one of happiness and celebration. It's the first time since being in Australia that I have seen aboriginal people and white people co-habituating right alongside one another.  It truly was an awesome sight.

Then today we visited the Cutta Cutta Caves which are 27 km south of Katherine.  Now again I was disappointed but this time largely because all I could think of was our New Zealand caves and our wonderful glowworms that light the way. The limestone caves here don't have glowworms and they are pitch black when the lights are out. However, they do have snakes, lizards, various species of bats and the wonderful large mouse spider. So while these were definitely no Waitomo Caves, I was excited to go to see the wildlife.  But yet again, I did not see a single animal.  It's becoming the story of my life here.  Everyone constantly thinks snakes, spiders and crocodiles when they think of the Northern Territory, yet I am still to see any.  So all and all, if you have been to the Waitomo Caves in New Zealand, don't go to these caves as you will hugely disappointed.



People keep saying, you can't compare New Zealand to Australia as it's like comparing apples and oranges.  Well, I'm starting to see just that. In New Zealand, not only are the caves more beautiful, largely because we have glow worms and are able to explore them to a much greater extent due to not having to worry about snakes and vampire bats like they do here, but also the NZ bush is more beautiful.  It's more dense, green, and full of native trees and wildlife.  Where here in the Territory, the bush is sparse, dry and there is next to no wildlife in it unless you are near a river or billabong. You might see the odd hawk feeding on the dead wallaby, but there is a distinct lack of bird life and animal sounds. I guess it makes sense, as because it's so dry how could wildlife live in the bush without a water source close. Also the cane toads have killed off a lot of the snakes and some are now considered to be endangered as a result.

The cane toad was an introduced specie to Australia, initially just around a small area in Queensland near Cairns. It was introduced in an attempt to control the native cane beetle that was destroying sugar cane crops, which are a major source of income for Australia.  They have since spread and are now throughout a lot of the Northern Territory National Parks. As they are poisonous to eat, when snakes, goannas or birds eat them, they then die. So they are changing the ecology of Northern Australia. With less snakes & goannas for example, it means more saltwater crocodile eggs are untouched and then hatch, meaning the numbers may increase sufficiently over the next 100 years or so. Whereas the freshwater crocodile is known to eat the cane toads causing them to also die which could in turn make this crocodile endangered also. Just a side note, the poison from cane toads is known to cause an hallucinate effect for people if licked, therefore some people purposely lick cane toads for this high.  Maybe there will be a lucrative business for dealers here in the future also :)

Anyway, that was me getting a little side tracked.  The point being, even though I constantly look at Australia and think to myself, this is not as nice as New Zealand, I need to remember the ecology and climate here in the Northern Territory is vastly different from New Zealands.  On saying that, it is currently the dry season here, and winter in New Zealand.  Everyday day now here, is full of sunshine and dry weather. The days having a high of 27-31 degrees and the nights down to around 7 degrees.  So the weather is one thing I'm not wanting to exchange with New Zealand anytime soon.

Northern Territory Bush at beginning of the dry season