Before you come to Carnarvon, get your friends to talk to you a lot with their noses completely blocked so that you can practise not understanding a single thing anyone says to you. Changing your name to Bazza, Dazza or Shazza will help - and don't forget that rising intonation at the end of each sentence? Because that's how nearly everyone talks here?
We are staying with Finn and Candy, friends of Duncan's, who have a cute old tropics-style house next to the Caaahhnaaaavin Cemetery (how do we pick these places??). The blokes are getting the boat ready for some heavy fishin' action. Candy and I were ready about seven hours ago as the blokes threatened to leave us behind if we weren't ready according to their finely-tuned detailed schedule. Essential preparation activities on this demanding schedule include Standing Next to the Ute Talking A Lot About Previous Fishing Trips, Suddenly Getting Hungry and Cooking a Huge Meat Breakfast, Wandering Off to the Storage Unit to Look At the Five Used Bar Fridges For No Reason, and Messing Around With An Old Fishing Rod That Might Be Good For Some Other Fishing Trip.
Candy is the clinic manager for the Aboriginal Medical Service here in town and she is amazing. She was telling me last night about how she is almost the only Aboriginal woman in the area who will take action on child abuse - it's a huge problem, and because of the scale of family relationships here, most people are afraid to make or pursue a complaint. Almost every female Aboriginal you see here from early teens onward seems to be pregnant and/or have at least a couple of toddlers. I hear a lot of disparaging remarks from white people about the aboriginals here, and I can see the problems, but so far my actual experience of aboriginal people here has been great.
I'm not wild about Carnarvon as a place - if you've ever been to Innisfail in Queensland it's almost a twin in size, climate and "feel" - but the kids here are gorgeous. All of them are mad about fishing and are always coming up to offer us bait or fish, and want to ask us all kinds of questions. They're all out rambling around all day with just their fishing gear, so I end up sharing any fruit & snacks we've got with us (they're always hungry). The aboriginal kids are divine, real characters, and are obsessed with Honey. Candy and her co-workers are always coming up with ways to provide the town's kids with pathways out of the abuse & lifestyle problems.
Hmm, looks like the blokes might have emerged from Poking Around in the Shed Talking About Generators so perhaps it's time to think about going fishing...photos later.
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