The time came to leave Lawn Hill, so we packed up our Adel's Grove campsite and got onto the Savannah Way. We stopped at Doomadgee, an Aboriginal settlement, for lunch and supplies. Driving into there we felt very white, because the whole population was decidedly black. Well, almost. On closer inspection we discovered to our surprise that a few key positions in the town were occupied by whites. The bakery and the school to name two.
Speaking of the bakery, in order to get brown bread there we had to order with a week's notice and pay extra. White bread was, however, available in abundance. Also in the supermarket the size of the sugar bags were unbelievable. Much, much larger than I have ever seen before. I think that right there are two reasons why indigenous people in this country have higher rates of diabetes than the rest of the population. Add to that the difficulty of getting fresh food in those remote communities and the prevalence of soft drinks (which would be very popular in such a hot dry climate).
It was while we were inside the supermarket shopping that (we think) our Australia aerial went missing. When we bought our Pajero it had an aerial shaped like Australia. It was an excellent likeness, not just some random approximation. It had many of the actual features of the coastline, it was quite impressive, especially considering it was handmade out of a coat hanger. Well someone decided that they liked the look of it, so it got swiped while we were visiting Doomadgee. It took us a little while before we noticed, and we had travelled some distance down the Savannah Way before the discovery was made.
Along the way we had to stop at Devil's Gate Roadhouse, for the experience. Unfortunately, all it has left is its reputation. New grog restrictions in the Northern Territory put the onus on the publicans to make sure that they only sell 2 cases of beer per car. Given that their major source of revenue was selling car loads of cases of beer, this new regulation has put a serious dent in their profits and left them to administer the regulation. Most publicans have hence decided not to sell any alcohol at all and forgo their liquor licences. So the old Devil's Gate was a very quiet and subdued affair and not a drop of alcohol to be had.
As I wrote in my diary on 10/5/2007:
2/3 of their business was selling beer to Aboriginals. They would come in car loads on Thursdays with their pay cheques and buy 5 cases of beer each.
I think that the publicans have decided it is not worth the headache of administering it when a huge slice of their profits have been taken away from them.
We are having a very dry season - no beer - poor Steve.
We camped the night at Calvert River Crossing, near where Leichhardt the explorer would have camped. It was an okay spot, as it was free. It rained that night, just enough to damp down the dust.
On the 11th we moved onto Borroloola, another Aboriginal settlement. Once again it was a bit of a culture shock entering a town and feeling terribly white. There were heaps of Aboriginals just hanging around or driving around in cars. It didn't feel like a particularly happy town. Once again, all the businesses in Borroloola were run (staffed) by whites.
We camped the night at the local caravan park.
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