Snap and Scribble

I’ve heard several people say that Maningrida’s “cut off” for at least six months of the year – because lots of Arnhem Land between here and where the tarred road starts, near Jabiru, is flooded and you can’t drive along the road.

But “cut off” is a rather melodramatic exaggeration. There are two flights between here and Darwin each day, except Saturday and Sunday – when there’s only one. And there’s a cargo barge that comes from (and goes back to) Darwin twice a week.

Any large items we need to get from elsewhere are shipped here via the barge. That includes fresh fruit and vegetables for the two shops, which come in twice a week. Some people order shopping from one of the supermarkets in Darwin and get them shipped here on the barge – but there’s a minimum charge of $41, so you’d want to be doing a big shop to make it worth paying that much to get it here.

I’ve phoned shops in Darwin more than once and paid for stuff over the phone, by credit card, and got them to post them to me. They generally arrive the next day.

It can be expensive to fly to Darwin and back – depending on how far ahead you book. But it’s not cheap to drive, either. It’s about 500km each way. Fuel costs about $1.60 a litre here, and it’s only drivable by four wheel drive – which is pretty heavy on fuel. Still, at probably about $200 return, for diesel, driving’s a lot cheaper than flying, i guess – specially if there’s more than one of you.

But we’re certainly not “cut off” at all, really!

Here’s a photo of the barge, offloading cargo here this morning…

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