Some things I forgot to post yesterday

In my haste, I forgot to include a bunch of stuff about yesterday - mainly that I remembered to take a photo of the salt lake and that I was thrilled to have a turn at throwing the garbage in to the tip.

I've taken hardly any photos of the camp - it feels very weird to be taking photos here, kinda like when you see tourists taking photos in Broadway Shopping Centre and you think 'what on earth are they trying to capture?'. The one below is the view from the school out to the salt lake, doesn't do it justice at all, but a bit of an indication nonetheless.

This is the school emblem - the people who live in the community are Martu, and their lands cover a big proportion of the Western Desert with communities dotted all over, though many Martu now live in towns and cities. They're one of the last groups to have all its members "discovered" by white people in the late 1960's and they are very proud of their culture and their connection with country. The community has an AFL team, which plays other communities at carnivals throughout the year (I'm JUST going to miss out on one that's on a mere 8 hours down the road, and am feeling the disappointment very keenly), a band that has produced recordings that the kids listen to on their ipods and a ranger program that keeps up the traditions of hunting, water sourcing and controlled burning (among other things) alive and well. 

Just outside the town is the tip. No garbage trucks here, you just walk up to the hole and throw in your bag. As you can see, some people are more successful than others.

The salt lake! Lake Dora, breathtakingly beautiful and just a quick walk down the hill from the school. In the wet season, it does sometimes fill with water, but mostly it's hard, hard enough to drive and ride bicycles on with a thick layer of crusted salt that crunches as you walk. Again, the photos don't do it justice - the sunset was amazing. We may camp on the other side of the lake tomorrow night after the town disco has finished and watch the sun rise over the town the next morning. 

Today has been far less eventful, with a super hot day (it was still 36 degrees at 5pm, so I'm guessing it was at least 40 during the heat of the day), unsettled kids and a longer than usual day at school as a result. After we finally got home and had a late lunch, it was well and truly siesta time and we have all only started to stir now some 4 hours later.

Tomorrow will be filled with excitement though - the kids are taking me goanna hunting as a special activity and we'll be joined by some of the older ladies from the community, one of which was one of the very, very last people to stop living a traditional, nomadic lifestyle in the 70's/80's, so it should be brilliant. The plan is to come back and cook the goanna for lunch and I've already been warned that I may have to kill my own if I want to eat some, so we will see how that goes, but I hope I can convince one of the kids to do my dirty work for me!