Matt Down Under

Two weeks earlier than expected I am back in Darwin. It’s hard to adjust to city life again after two months in a remote Aboriginal community.

Originally I was meant to return to Darwin in two weeks, but some spontaneous changes in staff planning and complete ignorance of existing agreements at ALPA’s end — my employer — resulted in me returning to Darwin early.

By now I’m used to a lot of bullshit from Australian employers, but such lack of reliability, honesty and professionalism is one of the few things that still make me miss Germany. Sometimes things are a bit too casual in Australia.

They didn’t even have the courage to ring me up and tell me in person that they would break all agreements and send me home early, they simply booked the flights and I found out about it via my local store manager, one day before departure. Pathetic HR management.

Another thing that disappointed me was that I had explicitly asked to drive out rather than flying, to get to see more of the land.

The departure on such short notice meant I had to leave a lot of fresh food behind that I couldn’t take with me. But enough ranting.

I’m back in Darwin and haven’t put much thought yet into what I’ll do from here. My tendency is to go West, trying to get to Broome as the next ‘milestone’. But I haven’t done any research yet, I don’t know what the best route is, what sights I want to see along the way and most importantly, how to get there and when.

I guess I will spend at least a week here in Darwin only to finish a couple of work-related things that I had planned to finish during my last two weeks in Numbulwar, such as my tax return. I’m glad I found accommodation on such short notice, but of course a cheap backpackers is nowhere near the quiet beach house I had in Numbulwar. I really miss it (despite the asbestos warnings all over the place).

On the positive side, the last two months were absolutely magical, a unique experience. I loved staying in Numbulwar, such a quiet and relaxing place. Sure, the standard of living is not up to par with urban Australia, but who cares. It’s the simple life, back to basics. Going fishing after work, or walking along the beach in front of the house, never having to lock the car or house — such lifestyle is priceless.

Living among Aborigines is interesting too, it’s a different culture that will still need many generations before they finally have equal opportunities to the rest of Australia — if they want to. A very long and complicated topic. I got along very well with locals and even got invited to private ceremonies. Some were quite upset when they found out I would have to leave, and it really meant a lot to me.

I could have imagined staying longterm, but the longer I stayed the more I realised that I mostly liked the location, culture and people, but not really the job conditions and employer.

So far I think Arnhem Land is the greatest part of Australia I have seen so far, and I can only hope it will stay as exclusive as it is now. Yesterday on my day off I took the 4WD from the shop and went on an extended tour to check out the surroundings outside town. After a long drive over scary bush tracks I ended up at the most beautiful, pristine beach ever. 

One day I would love to get permission to move to Arnhem Land permanently and live in a remote location at the Gulf of Carpentaria. So far I can’t imagine a lifestyle that would provide more happiness.