First days in Darwin

Dear All,
I've been busily unpacking and have done about half - but the main half! I didn't need any rocking to sleep my first night here. A couple of other sisters are here at the minute - Sr Ann from Bathurst Island (BI), who has lived and worked there for more than 40 years continuously, and Sr Tess Ward who is off to Wadeye (Port Keats / PK) after 10+ years in East Timor and 6 months in Sangre de Cristo which she loved, following many years in Territory outposts. Sr Lorraine from St John's is still here until the Boarding School gets going again next Wednesday.

I'll give you three guesses what the weather is like. Yesterday a cloud came up after lunch and it just rained - big drops that were each the size of a 20 c piece - I managed to get my few clothes off the line before disaster overtook them as the rain drops coalesced. It's rather cloudy today but not wet yet. Plenty of sun.
On Friday when I arrived, 4.30 pm, there was the funeral Mass for Fr John Leary, msc who spent his 60 years of religious life, bar 2, in the Northern Territory in the various Aboriginal Missions. He worked with Aboriginal people all the time and they were there at the funeral Mass in numbers from BI, Daly River and Melville Island (Garden Point). A large group followed the coffin in and then out at the end. When I went around the front afterwards, they were all standing around the back of the hearse grieving loudly. I had forgotten how beautifully dark the Aborigines up here look! A lot of them were dressed in 'Bima Wear' dresses (the ladies, that it) which look very attractive on their wonderful black skin. One of our sisters started Bima Wear on BI years ago. She got an OBE for her work and died a few years back at a very good age. I knew John Leary - he told me (and many other people) his crocodile story about the huge monster chasing their boat off BI some years ago now, snapping at the back of the boat, while they headed - fast - for shore. On the shore, a local lady was wringing her hands and calling out "St Ann save him! St Ann save him!" He and his friend beached the boat at speed and zig-zagged (crocs can't twist well) - at speed -up the beach with the croc in pursuit. They jumped into their utitlity and lived to tell the story. He commented that the lady praying in distress for them had a daughter named Ann who had died.
Fr John was a reall character and a lovely, genuine and humble man who gave his all for the Aboriginal people up here as a true friend. He'll be buried at PK next week. Amazingly for a gingerish-colouring man he did not die of any skin cancer - never had any- but of a heart attack while on holidays at Kensington Monastery in Sydney. He was 86.
There were many tributes by aboriginal people at the end of Mass including two from Garden Point former residents. They went there as children to the settlement where the authorities sent half-caste children in accordance with the Govt policy of those days. Many of our sisters were there for years and loved the place and the people (who largely live in Darwin now) seem to have very fond memories of it. Fr John saw his role as being a father to them and those who spoke of him talked with affection and sadness. Sr Miriam Rose (the well-known artist) from Daly River also spoke about how he went there to build a school, a clinic and a church for them and really set their place up although that wasn't his favourite type of activity. His love was to be with the people. Sr Ann Gardiner spoke of him with great love after many years working with him on BI. I was there once and she arranged for Fr John to take us on a picnic out bush to a beach. As we drove through the town people called out to go with him and we ended up with a large group of parents and children on the back of the ute. We had cut our lunch, but were unable to eat it in front of many many large staring eyes of children waiting for their parents to catch some bush tucker for them! I learnt a lesson from that!
Ah well - back to the salt mines, so to speak. Must lug a couple more boxes upstairs and see if I can find anywhere to put the contents. I am missing everyone a great deal, but that will settle down as life takes over up here. I'll try and do some snail mail today to people who I should write to. Wish me luck. It is quite pleasant in my air-conditioned room. No pics this week - am not organised enough. I think I'll count staggering upstairs (and down) with heavy boxes as my exercise for today!
On Tuesday at 8 am Nungalinya gets going. I'll try and remember to pack the camera as well as a lunch!
God bless
Rita