This was the day of the fabled Tiwi Island cup and the requirement for permits is waived for the day.
You go over by small plane. So small that Emma had to sit in the co-pilot's chair. Occasionally she bumped the steering wheel (or whatever that's called) but no one died and we can all laugh about it now.
"I didn't just see something fall off that wing, did I? Did anyone else? I'm sure it's fine."
The day is also a chance for the islands to showcase art and culture. Football fans rub shoulders with the artistic crowd and vice versa. Above is from the museum. The poles are carved into birds that indicate signs or events associated with that bird, such as fresh water and a particular plant, or clan groups for whom the particular bird may be a totem. They are also used in funerals.
It's a nature shot!
Ah sweet shade — a precious resource today.
"But Pete," you ask. "WHAT ABOUT THE FOOTBALL?"
Oh right. Action photography!
We did get better photos than that. First here's some shots of the women's game:
We can't really tell you much about that game because we were stuck looking for something vegetarian at the bistro. We settled for chicken.
The main game between the Imalu Tigers and the Ranku Eagles we got much more of. We found a place to sit, noticed we were in the Tigers' section and decided to go with them as our team. We got to meet some of the Tigers' strongest players:
And their most ardent supporters:
The Imalu Tigers won the day (GO TEAM!) mostly through, as far as I can tell, superior ball control and marking. There was some controversy that the Eagles had some bad calls from the umpire but I don't see it.
Then people retired to the club for a hard-earned light beer.
Having XXXX Gold as your main beer may be the most ingenious anti-drinking campaign yet.
The above photo would probably used by a mainstream media organisation to decry alcohol abuse in remote Aboriginal communities but this really was just a nice little club in a unique location.
The club is run by locals who enforce strict rules about how much alcohol you can have and when the club is open. It does make you wonder whether more "wet canteens" would be a good idea in more remote communities but, as always, I think it depends on what that community wants.
No one got out of control here and actually most people were way more friendly than you'd find in many towns this size. It was simply a very pleasant afternoon.
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