Driving through the red dirt landscapes of the north-west of Western Australia was an incredible experience. Our blue car stood out like nobody’s business in contrast to our surroundings, not only because we were packing surfboards hundreds of kilometres from the coast! As Dan and I travelled closer to the border of the Northern Territory, the landscape began to change – we were surrounded by more escarpments and gorges. When we saw the sign welcoming us, we jumped out for a quick snap and a foot race to see who would be first over the border, as neither of us had been to the Territory before.
We arrived in Beswick, an Indigenous community about 90 minutes south-east of Katherine (well, in Gigi it takes about that long!). We were there to meet Tom E. Lewis, a celebrated Australian actor, artist and musician who made his film debut back in 1978 as Jimmy in The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith. He’s been in loads of films, including The Proposition by Nick Cave. He told us that in 2016 he will be playing King Lear at the Barbican in London.
Spending a day with Tommy and his family at Beswick was one of the most special experiences of our trip. Not only did we hear his extraordinary story (and I got a few pointers on my didj playing!) but we also spent time with his family. We dug in the bush with his aunties for ‘sugar bag’, a native underground beehive filled with the most delectable honey. They were so cheeky and funny, bickering over the sugar bag, trying to steal it from each other’s buckets and slapping each other’s hands. Then we made some delicious local-style damper by bashing to a pulp the seed from dut dum (water lilies) and wrapping it in bark and cooking it over the fire. All the while we were encouraged by laughing, excitable young kids. I think they especially loved our little blue Bug!
To wrap up our amazing visit, Tommy took us to his secret spot, a waterfall cascading into a freshwater swimming hole surrounded by vibrant red rock and beautiful white sand – which was covered in croc tracks! There were so many it was like a kid had dragged a spade through the sand. After a day of sitting around in 40-degree heat, we were ready for a swim. Tommy told us it was safe, so we waded in and swam around. He tried to get us to go under the waterfall, but we weren’t venturing any further in with all the crocs!
Dan and I were keen to go for a fish in Katherine, so we grabbed our rods and headed to the river. Again we had no luck, but we did run into two locals, Manuel Pamkal and Ben Lewis, who were setting some traps for freshwater prawns. We pulled in a few nets with them and managed to catch some. Running into cool characters is what this trip was all about.
Manuel wanted to show us two young blokes how to make fire with a fire stick. It was the first time Dan and I had ever done this and it was a real treat to learn from him. Plus, it got the fire roaring and ready to cook up the prawns, and the sneaky catfish we’d caught! It was a really relaxing setting. The sun was setting and we were sitting in the dirt with bare feet. The ground-baked fish tasted amazing, the sort of food you make on a camping trip with mates.
During our visit to Katherine, DC and I made possibly two of my most favourite recipes in the whole trip – my Sicilian Honey Fish with Macadamias (page132), and his amazing Barramundi Family Coconut Curry (page 131), a big sharing bowl of curry goodness!
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