Photos from the Real AUSTRALIA

Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory

Arnhem Land, named after a Dutch ship, that was itself named after a Dutch town, is a large Aboriginal Reserve in the far north of the Northern Territory of Australia. This is all Aboriginal land, and outsiders may only visit it with permission of the Aboriginal owners, as is clearly stated at the border with Kakadu National Park.

It is a vast, wild land with breathtaking scenery but also long, sandy roads, dusty in the Dry and totally impassable in the wet season. There are small remote Aboriginal "Homeland Centres" where people have returned to live on their own ancestral land, although houses are now built and there is a water bore, often a generator, solar-powered satellite telephone and even an airstrip! Total isolation is a thing of the past, even in this vast and empty land.

The photos on this page were all taken in the north west of Arnhem Land, going from the South Alligator River Crossing to Kunbarllanjnja, as it is spelled in the local Kunwinjku (Gunwinggu) language, an Aboriginal community, also known as Gunbalanya or Oenpelli. From there we are heading east towards Maningrida. The roads are rough, but the rewards are many, like clear rivers and billabongs, although care needs to be taken: there may be crocodiles.

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