Friends of Papua New Guinea in Darwin, Northern Territory | Non-profit organisation

Friends of Papua New Guinea

Locality: Darwin, Northern Territory

Address: Craig Hand GPO Box 1812 0801 Darwin, NT, Australia

Website: http://www.friendsofpapuanewguinea.org

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24.01.2022 Went Buffalo Hunting with some locals. Learnt what plants & seeds to eat whilst walking barefoot through swamps & how to get honey out of native grevilia's. All... of the bush tucker tasted ok. Was taken to a spot driving through bushfires in the Stone Country on the Mann River about 60 klm's inland where not many people had been. The stone formations of the riverside with some sandy areas was beautiful. We caught a freshwater Barra. You can swim in the side pools as their is a big Croc in the river. Back in the Stone country, i saw some Rock Art, a cave & something else which i can not talk about here, even if i wanted to. Maningrida is another excellent Community, the people have really looked after me & made sure i have had a great time, i have enjoyed my roast buffalo meals & buffalo jerky, pity i have to go. See more

23.01.2022 Caught this on the Headland approaching Jared's Creek. I had it fresh for lunch & dinner & dried the rest out on my boat clothes line for fish jerky to eat for ...the next week. The bones were used for crab bait. I went 1 week without using tinned food just living on fresh seafood cooked in sand ovens on the beach or campfires in the bush. Lots more pics to come, some will be posted to the "Cracker Tracker". I also had a great time on 2 sandy islands & lots more fun in Jared's Creeks. A great outcome with school talks today on Croker Island in Western Arnhem Land. I should be in better reception areas in about a week. Bad seas here again at the moment but all good. Crackers :-) See more

23.01.2022 With the strong winds last week, I left Grant Island for a 70klm run in the dark to Goulburn Island, closer to the mainland. All was good until 1am in the morni...ng, 15klm's short of my destination, when the wind popped up & could not go forwards at any speed as the instant waves that appeared went over the canopy, so had to turn & run for my only cover within 40klm's which was Brogden Point, surfing the boat most of the way. I did not expect much protection & didn't get much but it was the only place to go. I anchored at 3am in the best spot possible in 2 metre seas with white caps. I slept from 4am til 9am with the drift alarm on (thanks to Matt Flynn for the loan of a decent GPS Plotter) & waited all day until it was calm enough around 4.30pm to get out of there & on my way again. I think this photo shows how tired i was. See more

23.01.2022 I had to wash my shirt & my head to get a few shots like this.....& they were aiming, i could see it in their eyes, they took turns hovering over me :-)

21.01.2022 Camped on a sandy island about an acre or 2 in size for 2 nights with a croc stalking me. My 1st encounter was when i was photographing nesting Terns on the bea...ch when the 11 foot croc came running flat chat out of the grass on my right down the beach 10 foot in front of me to the water on my left before i could blink an eye. This is a photo of the big girl's foot prints as she was galloping down to the water! When i got back to the boat on the other side of the island it was there waiting for me. And again near my boat when i woke up the next morning.....it followed me around the little island waiting to make its move. & again when i went to up anchor & leave the island. Got some video footage to post down the track. See more

18.01.2022 Out of the 5 classes that i taught about PNG yesterday, the eldest class naturally wanted to know how the people lived & the youngest classes wanted to know abo...ut fishing but all of the kids now realise how lucky they are to have lollies, toys, sports equipment, tv's, computers, phones & Xbox 360's. They all enjoyed the Doco & some of the classes had seen clips from my YouTube channel as well as following the "Cracker Tracker". The eldest class want me to come back to Maningrida. Some of the girls from one class, in the photo, sang a song with their teacher for me to post down the track. They also drew some pictures about their lives which are being laminated & sent to Bamaga post office where i will collect in September & take to the kids in PNG for a reciprocal arrangement. Went to a quiz night last night. See more

17.01.2022 Caught some Barra on the way out of the Liverpool River at Manigrida & cooked one up on the coals at Entrance Island 10klm's off Maningrida then went 30klm's al...ong the coast mostly in the dark to avoid the winds & camped at the mouth of the Blythe River which is a sacred river & no boating or fishing is allowed.....however i met Michael the Custodian of the river who boated up to me & invited me for a cuppa at his lean to on a sandbar near the mouth. I ended up staying 3 days & helped him & his nephew Timmy, also Glen, Chris & Angus who arrived the next day with their Mudcrab business. Timmy saw me on Channel 7 news & they said i was a big news man. They thanked me for for sharing campfire stories about PNG & said i am welcome to come & go. Caught some good Barra in no time at all there. When they want fish for dinner, they just catch one, anytime, any tide, probably the way all rivers were before populations boomed with the rules following. See more

17.01.2022 Turn your "Cracker Tracker back on! The weather is calming & I am attempting to leave Gove at dawn. Getting around Cape Arnhem will be my biggest challenge either today or dawn tomorrow for the run down towards Groote Eylandt & maybe a bit of fishing off some remote islands. I have really enjoyed Gove, lots of friendly people & have made good friends, especially at the Gove Boat Club that has views that rival the best pub, clubs in Oz.

16.01.2022 What a day yesterday! Went to a boys Initiation Ceremony before school, the Mob entered the area from across the street with 2 boys. They danced with sticks ban...ging, singing & didgeridoo playing over to a hut built with sticks & gum leaves. A lot of the people were dressed up traditionally & with ochre paint patterned on them. They performed the Crocodile hunting dance where the boys on the ground crawled to sneak up on the Crocodile with other boys creeping up in support with spears behind them. About 200 people there & half joined in the trance like dance in the mob around the hut with dust flying everywhere when they stamped their feet. Very impressive & felt quite privileged to witness this. I did not hang around for the snip procedure on the block, i had 5 classes at school to attend to before another boys Initiation Ceremony after School. Had a great chat to Andy, one of the Maningrida Rangers who met me at sea a few days ago, he let me film the Ceremony & told me to get a bigger boat :-) See more

14.01.2022 Other than the Crocodile running amuck through the Tern nests eating eggs & Terns, a pair of Ospreys lived off them as well as fish cleaning up the sick & injur...ed to feed this young chick. There were half a dozen small trees on the island, one was where they ate as it smelt & bird parts were everywhere. An interesting island of life & death.....the oysters tasted good there but because the Crocodile stopped hanging around the Terns & hanging around me i moved on to the next location along the top of Oz :-) See more

11.01.2022 If anyone likes this, please hit the share button & let your friends see it. Cheers. Crackers :-)

10.01.2022 WHILST ON MY CURRENT ADVENTURE MOST OF MY NEWS WILL BE ON MY PERSONAL FACEBOOK SITE AT "CRAIG HAND DARWIN". IT IS TOO DIFFICULT TO UPDATE ALL SITES WHILST NAVIGATING IN MY BOAT :-)

09.01.2022 How's this for a Bush Turkey nest inside the Quartermaster's Store at the abandoned Victoria Settlement! The boat is ready to go again & i hope to up anchor if ...the winds settle down tomorrow arvo. I want to stay a couple of nights on 2 sand islands before going to Croker Island but it may be too windy.....might have to stay on the mainland. The Seven Spirit Resort had 20 retirees go down to the Victoria Settlement ruins in the Resorts 60 foot boat while i was there filming, the tour guide said they took more photos of my boat than of the ruins! They were very excited about my travels & their comments were overwhelming. They all wanted my "Cracker Tracker" info. They even joined in with my filming. I caught up with them a day later at the resort before they flew out. See more

07.01.2022 Filling up my jerry cans with a hand pump for the next leg to Croker Island. I will depart tomorrow & should arrive in about a week. Not sure if i will get a ch...ance to communicate from there, it may be a week after that? Thanks again to Andy from Shorebarge for arranging delivery of my fuel :-) See more

07.01.2022 The School talks at Mamaruni School at Minjilang on Croker Island in Western Arnhen Land went down well! The kids were all excited, they knew Crackers was comin...g. They liked the Doco & when i asked the toddlers class what they learned, the teacher had a tear in her eye because they all told me exactly what happened. I was impressed with their answers as well. I gave away some Bunnings hats & a Reidy's Lure to the elder class as they liked the fishing side of it more. The kids all sung out "G'day Crackers" when they saw me in the community over the 2 days & their parents had a chat to me about my Adventures & they want to follow the "Cracker Tracker". A very good community & i met some great people! See more

04.01.2022 Triple J will play my interview across Australia somewhere between 5.30pm & 6pm today. 5 boat emergencies here lately. A fellow has been missing for a few weeks & his yacht smashed into Cape Wilberforce, a trawler went down last week in Elizabeth Bay, a yacht sunk in Gove Harbour today, another wooden yacht that was taking on 300litres of water/hour had to be taken diesel to continue running its bilge pump so it could get to shore & another yacht is limping its way here now. Weatherzone & WillyWeather vary by 13 klm's with their wind speed forecasts over the next few days making it very difficult to work out the pattern & when to make a break for Groote Eylandt.....

02.01.2022 Crackers doing a live talk on air from a Saibai Island classroom at 10am Eastern Standard Time on ABC 105.7 FM Darwin Radio with Kate O'Toole :-)

02.01.2022 2 Policemen met me at the Maningrida Boat Ramp. They had been following the "Cracker Tracker" & now the Little Red Boat is in the Police Compound yard. But all ...is good, they are looking after it for me while i stay at the school for a few days & do school talks. I also got asked to show my Doco & do a talk at the local Health Clinic within an hour of getting onto dry land, then i went to a Boys Initiation Ceremony, then got carted away in a car for a tour of Maningrida with locals & to another Ceremony at side camp, then i went to the shop as i had not eaten since brekky & got mobbed at the shop by about 20 kids who had all been following the "Cracker Tracker", they have seen all my YouTube Clips, i got 2 items on my shopping list & got out of there as i could not read my shopping list with kids hanging off me, one of the teachers was giggling at my fruitless effort to get dinner & asked me to have dinner with some teachers, so i did & had a good time. Lots of teachers & nurses want me to set up something in PNG for them. See more

01.01.2022 WHILST ON MY CURRENT ADVENTURE MOST OF MY NEWS WILL BE ON MY PERSONAL FACEBOOK SITE AT "CRAIG HAND CRACKERS", YOU ARE WELCOME TO SIGN UP OR SUBSCRIBE. IT IS TOO DIFFICULT TO UPDATE ALL SITES WHILST NAVIGATING IN MY BOAT :-)