HIGH COUNTRY and MARINE LITTER

- February 27, 2021

Greetings from Minjilang, Croker Island

You may have heard of a movie that was recently released called, 'High Ground'. It features some big names like Jack Thompson and Simon Baker. Of greater interest to me though were some of the Indigenous actors who featured. Gutjuk was a young boy when his family were massacred. He is played by a young man related to some of the Garngi rangers. His uncle/father (in traditional kinship systems someone's father's brothers are also called father), Baywarra is played by Sean Mununggurr from Gapuwiyak and Gujtuk's grandfather is played by Witiyana Marika from Yirrkala - we know both these actors especially Sean and his family.

'High Ground' is a confronting account of the often brutal frontier in Australia. Sadly, this story was repeated countless times across Australia.

High Ground was filmed around West Arnhem Land and Kakadu National Park showing some of this area's spectacular scenery.

Below is a link to the trailer. A must for every Australian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL-G4oCoDF0

On Croker Island the only roads that are bitumen are the few streets in Minjilang. Beyond the town boundaries, there are gravel roads to the airport and barge landing. These are considered as 'essential service roads' and are graded periodically. After the recent heavy rains these roads are potholed and badly washed out in places. Beyond these roads there are tracks which are not graded. Below is an example. The recent heavy rain has washed down the track in the process levelling the sand.

Below are the remains of an Indonesian canoe that washed up on Croker Island. These pieces of timber can transports unwanted animals and diseases into Australia.

Nearby some more marine debris probably from Indonesian again - a bamboo pole with a weight on one end, a couple of floats in the middle and a flag on the top.

Recently a community member reported a large fishing net near Darch Island which is just east of Croker Island. Marine litter has become a serious problem along this section of the NT coast. Below the Garngi Rangers are attaching a tow rope to the net.

We attempted to tow the net to a nearby beach however it became re-snagged on another reef. Plan 'B' was to tow it about 8 kms into Sandy Bay on Croker Island where there was a beach clear of reef and snags.

We managed to tow it into a calm corner of Sandy Bay and secured it to a tree. We will have to return by 4WD after the wet season and tow it up onto the beach where it can be disposed off. We just got back to the boat ramp and had the boat on the trailer when the heavens opened.

Early Saturday morning PK and I decided to take a drive across the floodplain. The water lilies are just starting to flower.

Over wet feet all the time? No problems, just perch on a horse.

While driving along the road across the floodplain enjoying the scenery there was a large splash and swirl in the water right along side the road. PK and I had disturbed this 3.5 m crocodile enjoying some early morning sun. PK is not allowed out of the vehicle while near the floodplain.