National symbol with sauce
Does anyone else in the world eat their national symbol in a sausage roll? Anyone?
We spent this morning at the Desert Park. Our thinking was that as we were about to spend two weeks in the wild, it might be good to first see the animals and birds with labels. Not a bad thought, but my main take-away was that I have no desire to get up close and personal with an emu without a fence separating us. Those birds are evil!
As you’ll have gathered we had the other half of the coat of arms for lunch.
The final highlight was a talk by a local man about how Aboriginal people used to survive and prosper in the desert. I found it fascinating although knowing how to make fire with a boomerang is probably of limited use.
This afternoon we met up with our fellow walkers for a briefing. There are eight of us and two guides. Everyone seems nice on first impression, but we’ll see how we go over 14 days. So tomorrow at 7am it’s into the desert – limited showers, swags, no phone reception, small tents and 230 km of rough track. Can’t wait!
Looking forward to whatever updates emerge about the Larapinta trail. Do not feel compelled to write electronically while ‘out there’. It is too open and beautiful and big, and also too remote for signal lots of the time. Enjoy it. I’ll be there for Beanie Festival in 3 weeks time!
Not to mention the wildlife. Watch out for that spinafix. Seriously dangerous.
Regarding spinifex, the Arrernte word is ‘ayerte’ whose pronunciation is very similar to the Spanish word for ‘help!’. If you fall into its spiky embrace, your call for assistance will coincidentally identify the species attacking you!