Experience indigenous culture in Arnhem Land, NT

A TRIP to Arnhem Land reveals rich indigenous heritage and mysteries to make you eager to return.

Sunset drinks at the campsite. Picture: Kari Gislason.

"NOW I know I'm back,'' says our guide David McMahon as the scent of wood smoke makes its way into the 4WD.

For McMahon, being back means Kakadu and Arnhem Land, and ultimately our final destination in the Northern Territory's Cobourg Peninsula.

In the north, one of the first things you need to adjust is your attitude to fire. The indigenous people have long worked with it.

The rangers perform controlled burns. The animals have adapted and know how to escape the flames.

The smoke trail leads us down the old Jim Jim Rd, our first stretch of dirt track since leaving Darwin. Our destination is the Venture North campsite at Garig Gunak Barlu National Park.

After lunch, we stop at the indigenous rock paintings of Nourlangie, a site complemented the following day by Injalak Hill, an abrupt buttress of immense rock.

Underneath impossibly large overhangs, the light dims and fires red again, the ochre paint deepening in the shadows.

Rock paintings at Injalak Hill. Picture: Kari Gislason.

My first steps into these ancient shelters satisfy my long-held desire to see Aboriginal artworks in their home landscapes.

They also remind me of how little I know about this part of the country and its custodians.

The fineness and complexity of the paintings reflects equally complex social structures.

At Nourlangie, McMahon begins our introduction to both, and reveals his deep curiosity about the area and its people.

He started out as a chef. And so, as with his commentary about the bush, he finds food items wherever he looks.

One picture is a barramundi, just what he's cooking for us tonight.

At Injalak Hill, the introduction is continued by Azariah Kelly. He tells me that he lived away for a long time, but eventually felt his country calling him back.

There is a young family in my group, the Crawfords from Cootamundra, and their three girls have taken a liking to paintings of Mimi - very tall, thin figures that represent mischievous spirit beings.

When the three Crawford girls wonder how some of the highest paintings were done, McMahon guesses that a high tree might once have leant against the rocks. A surer answer, we conclude, is that the Mimi did them. Only they would have been tall enough.

On our second day, we cross over to the corrugated roads of northern Arnhem Land. In the last half-hour, the dirt road and its curtain of thin, even bush reddens. We turn our last corner and find that even the sea is on fire.

The cliffs of Port Essington are struck by the same match of sunset and red wine.

Magpie Geese at Fogg Dam. Picture: Kari Gislason.

The next morning after camp breakfast, I begin a list of the birds we'd seen the day before. I'm joined by McMahon, and with his help I see about 30 birds.

As much as anything, I'm captivated by their names. The royal spoonbill sounds like the Queen's cutlery manager; bar-shouldered doves like someone selling a tall story in a pub. Each arrival to Arnhem Land has, after all, brought its own terms and metaphors.

At the failed settlement of Victoria, which lies a short boat ride from the camp ground, you find ruins of fireplaces that once warmed officers' cottages.

This is in an area where there could never be an escape from either fire or heat. But sometimes the imagination runs deeper than reality - and, of course, their imaginations ran back to England.

Orange-footed scrub fowl had built an enormous mound at the back of the Quarter Master's Store.

Recently one of the rangers encountered a death adder within the walls of the old hospital. There's a return of sorts going on, and I'm reminded that, sometimes, returning is more powerful than arriving.

For my own part, that's how I answer a feeling that I should have come here 20 years ago. One day, I'm going to come back.

The writer was a guest of Venture North Australia.

GO2 NORTHERN TERRITORY

Getting there: Venture North Tours depart Darwin on Mondays and Thursdays (May through October). The cost of the 5-day tour per adult $2590 (twin share) and per child $2290, see venturenorth.com.au

Staying there: There are restrictions on the number of vehicles that can enter Garig Gunak Barlu Park, and independent travellers must be self-sufficient.

More info: See parksandwildlife.nt.gov.au

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Sunset drinks at the campsite. Picture: Kari Gislason.