During the June break in 1st year I had the great opportunity to go up to an outback Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.One of the second year medicine students had great links to a community called Numbulwar where he was involved in organising veterinarian and hip hop clinics every year.
He encouraged medical students to come up as well in order to experience and further interests in Aboriginal culture.
Arnhem Land, Northern Territory
Photos by Nigel, Aaron, Bec and Elisabeth
Taking advantage of the weekend off to try fishing NT-style.
We worked really hard trying to catch fish and crab, but just ended up with a very tiny version of each!Still managed to bbq and eat them though - can't let it go to waste!! Mmmm...
Aside from the little sandflies that loved me, the beaches were great, complete with clear evidence of water buffalo, and strict recommendations not to hang out too long beside the edge of the water where crocodiles are known to lurk...
The countryside in Arnhem Land is beautiful and using our down time to explore it was the best way to start understanding why Aboriginals love their traditional land and lifestyle.
Buffalo waterhole
Gulf of CarpenteriaVeterinarians
Doing dog surveys around the community - Bae knew the kids well so they always came out to say hello.
Bae and Linda, the main vet on our trip, checking out little Coffee's crackling lungs. Coffee was our favourite pet puppy who kept coming back to visit us, despite us taking away his manhood! He even gave me a chance to hear my first lung crackles!
Aah! Coffee... so cuteDoing veterinarian work was an interesting way to do something helpful (the program has been going on for several years and Bae and Linda are now known and trusted with their Dog Health Program), and improve our understanding of the Aboriginal setting without forcing ourselves onto the community members themselves.
Dogs are very important to the Aboriginal traditional lifestyle in the remote Territory. Some families had up to 14 dogs - the vets were slowly working on trying to reduce numbers so that each was better taken care of. They believe they are making some headway.
We were not surprisingly fairly popular among the canine population (a big bucket of buttered bread goes a long way...).
Porch Clinic
We set up our temporary clinic on the Women's Centre porch, which worked nicely for the warm days of the dry season up north.
Nigel, one of the med students, was a vet in his pre-med life so he was right into the dog and cat work. The rest of us newcomers had fun doing our first, real-live animal stitches and injections.
Twilight operation
We had quite a few regular visitors, like Tara and her sister Catherine (pictured at top), our friend Coffee and other dogs, and even a wild pig.
The kids loved playing with our cameras - this photo was taken by one of the little girls who came by to say hello.
Aaron is sitting on the tractor among the kidsEven the ride in and out of Arnhem Land was eventful with kangaroo midnight snacks over the open fire with friendly Aboriginals, sleeping under the stars, lots of wildlife (including a croc!) and the awesome Mataranka Hotsprings in the dark.
Watching the sunrise 
N.T. Water BuffaloIt's not actually a good idea to go out for a stroll in the community because of the water buffalo who roam the streets and have been known to charge pedestrians!
The gang at Mataranka Hotsprings
Litchfield National ParkThis park is supposed to be beautiful with gorgeous waterfalls and waterholes. We had a glimpse on the way back to Darwin, and I look forward to explore it further with Craig next year.
I was fascinated by the awesome art that crabs make on the beach when the tide goes down. Some of it was really amazing.Darwin
Darwin esplanade
Mindyl Beach markets and famous sunset
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