Australia

Adventure is worthwhile in itself.
Amelia Earhart

My next Australian adventure is in the remote far north, referred to as the Never Never. This is an alien land of killer heat and monsoonal rains. And that's just the weather. There are also snakes, crocs, and that infamous bubble of doom, the box jellyfish, any one of which can put you away, for good. My first stop in the north is Arnhem Land, home of the aboriginals.

Around evening campfires at Mt. Borradaile I listen to tales of a people and their Dreamtime, the Aboriginal version of a creation myth. It seems all of northern Australia, despite the remarkable isolation (no paved roads, few people), carries the heavy stamp of man. Aboriginals have been here for a long, long time. Around 60,000 years ago, (alas! some would say 100,000), a battered raft or two washed ashore on a wild and far-flung beach of northern Australia. The world's first ancient mariners had stumbled into the mystery of history, where they remain today. It was man's first encounter with an entirely new land mass, separate and distinct from the jungles and caves of Africa and Eurasia. How on earth did it happen?

We can only speculate. During the history of man there has not been an overland route to Australia, this much is known. Therefore humans arrived by sea. The world was very different 60,000 years ago, locked in the grip of the Pleistocene when much of North America, Europe, and Asia were covered with glaciers up to two miles thick. There was so much sequestered ice that sea levels were 400 feet lower than today. The result was Indonesia joined to Asia, probably as far south as today's island of Timor, at the time only 50 miles from Australia.

I say "only" 50 miles. Think back to prehistoric times-the first Eurasians migrating slowly southward to the tip of Timor. Imagine that first vision of the vast and moody sea and the myths and superstitions which inevitably sprang up around it. Then consider that even in the relatively enlightened time of Columbus, only 500 years ago, sailors were afraid to sail out of sight of land for fear of sea monsters and falling off the edge of the earth, among other things. And they had seaworthy vessels and 3000 years of sailing history in their blood by then. But a primitive campsite in a remote corner of Kakadu National Park confirms that in some mysterious manner the peopling of Australia began at least 60,000 years ago, 57,000 years before there is any evidence of maritime travel, anywhere in the world! In the ensuing interval the glaciers melted, raising sea levels and submerging the landing beaches, and any archaeological evidence that might have told the story.

The beach in the photograph, along the Arafura Sea at low tide in Australia's far north, is a truly wild place. There are no paved roads for hundreds of miles. Sab is on the left and we are accompanied by two aboriginals who have taken us to collect "bush tucker"-clams, witchetty grubs, crabs, and fish- gathered from land, sea, and billabong without modern implements. The tucker will be consumed sushi style or roasted over a fire, as the aboriginals have done for millennia. A French filmmaker (fourth from left) is here to document the adventure for television.

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Adventure is worthwhile in itself. Amelia Earhart My next Australian adventure is in the remote far north, referred to as the Never Never. This is an alien land of killer heat and monsoonal rains. And that's just the weather. There are also snakes, crocs, and that infamous bubble of doom, the box jellyfish, any one of which can put you away, for good. My first stop in the north is Arnhem Land, home of the aboriginals. Around evening campfires at Mt. Borradaile I listen to tales of a people and their Dreamtime, the Aboriginal version of a creation myth. It seems all of northern Australia, despite the remarkable isolation (no paved roads, few people), carries the heavy stamp of man. Aboriginals have been here for a long, long time. Around 60,000 years ago, (alas! some would say 100,000), a battered raft or two washed ashore on a wild and far-flung beach of northern Australia. The world's first ancient mariners had stumbled into the mystery of history, where they remain today. It was man's first encounter with an entirely new land mass, separate and distinct from the jungles and caves of Africa and Eurasia. How on earth did it happen? We can only speculate. During the history of man there has not been an overland route to Australia, this much is known. Therefore humans arrived by sea. The world was very different 60,000 years ago, locked in the grip of the Pleistocene when much of North America, Europe, and Asia were covered with glaciers up to two miles thick. There was so much sequestered ice that sea levels were 400 feet lower than today. The result was Indonesia joined to Asia, probably as far south as today's island of Timor, at the time only 50 miles from Australia. I say "only" 50 miles. Think back to prehistoric times-the first Eurasians migrating slowly southward to the tip of Timor. Imagine that first vision of the vast and moody sea and the myths and superstitions which inevitably sprang up around it. Then consider that even in the relatively enlightened time of Columbus, only 500 years ago, sailors were afraid to sail out of sight of land for fear of sea monsters and falling off the edge of the earth, among other things. And they had seaworthy vessels and 3000 years of sailing history in their blood by then. But a primitive campsite in a remote corner of Kakadu National Park confirms that in some mysterious manner the peopling of Australia began at least 60,000 years ago, 57,000 years before there is any evidence of maritime travel, anywhere in the world! In the ensuing interval the glaciers melted, raising sea levels and submerging the landing beaches, and any archaeological evidence that might have told the story. The beach in the photograph, along the Arafura Sea at low tide in Australia's far north, is a truly wild place. There are no paved roads for hundreds of miles. Sab is on the left and we are accompanied by two aboriginals who have taken us to collect "bush tucker"-clams, witchetty grubs, crabs, and fish- gathered from land, sea, and billabong without modern implements. The tucker will be consumed sushi style or roasted over a fire, as the aboriginals have done for millennia. A French filmmaker (fourth from left) is here to document the adventure for television.

© Danny Kimberlin 2015