Out to the outstations

Now that the wild weather of the wet is over until October, many families here are heading to their outstations, remote bush camps located anywhere between 50 and 150 kilometres away from the community itself.
Offering a respite from the unpredictable turbulence of the community, outstations provide an opportunity for a more traditional approach to Aboriginal life through fishing, hunting, story telling, and maybe most importantly, an absence of alcohol.
As always up here, the difficulty is in the distance - to get to and from their outstation, the family needs either a working vehicle (and, generally, one with four-wheel drive) or a generous government employee willing to give them a ride.
Fortunately, they've got the latter, with an unspoken emphasis on 'willing'.
Unlike many other requests for rides, I'm always happy to take people to their outstation. It's one of the best parts of the job, and a great chance to see absolutely amazing parts of the country and connect with a culture in their own context.
Better still, with most of my outstations located in coastal areas, the rewards are more than just scenic, with fresh mud crabs, barramundi, red snapper and salmon usually provided in return for a ride.