darwin: little stories

A collection of moments, photos and little stories. In third-person. Just because!

Lulu was scared of the big crocs. Especially when the men in the safari suit started handing out fishing lines with bloody chunks at the end of it for the battle-scarred crocs to lunge at. She wanted her mummy to carry her all the way down the feeding walkway. But when the man whipped out a two-foot long baby croc for photo-taking, she was intrigued: It’s cute! Putting on her best smile, cowboy hat firmly on her head, she stepped forward and gripped the croc without a tremor. Said the man: We have some brave young kids today!

Evening fell at the Florence falls, the mozzies came out in full force. The man of the family conscientiously zipped up the tent and sprayed repellant in, around and out. He was really protecting himself. With him around, everyone else was safe because his blood is sweetest. He did not forget his neck and ears. The wife had to try hard for a steady shot because she couldn’t stop laughing at the ribbon.

The bowls, cups, chopping board, knife, cutlery, pot, saucepan, lean bacon, mushrooms, spinach leaves, pasta, were all diligently assembled and carted along for camp dinner. Chef and camp co-ordinator Choon suddenly looked up: We forgot the oil. Bacon fat would have to do. To overly dry pasta, add milk.

A beautiful morning at Berry Springs. David ran down the steps and lunged into the pool, a fantasy playground of warm crystal-clear water, small fish, crabs, pebbles and a waterfall. Ooh there’s more fun downstream and upstream! He clambered up the rocks, looked around, lost his footing and came tumbling down the fall. Sucked into the current, his father fished around and pulled him out alive.

* Day in bright blue and green

Lulu was scared of fishes. She liked looking at them, but not swimming with them. She zipped on her suit, stuck to her papa like a limpet, then begged to be put back on dry land to munch on Smith’s black pepper and lime chips.

Jo was envious. She saw her brother frolick in the icy-cold Florence Falls and now he was doing the same at warm Berry Springs. She knew there were fish in both waterfalls but when she put on her goggles and peered into the water, she realized the fish at Berry Springs were a lot smaller. They were about the size of her hand unlike the Florence Falls foot-long fish. Soon, she, too, was playing in the natural spring like it was Bedok Swimming Pool.

* Jo in red and blue

In preparation for a frigid camp night, the children were kitted in everything that could possibly keep them warm. K-mart fleeces, bought the day before, warm hats, fleecy pants and sleeping bags. Imagine the disappointment and discomfort when the night turned out to be about as cold as the local Woolworth’s supermarket.

* Girls with ears covered

At the Territory Wildlife Park, the local zoo where a wise man once said “you walk a lot to see very little”, the girls peed into the bushes because the toilets were very far. Unknown to all, the bushes were full of tiny little thorns which stuck cruelly to their new fleecy pants. After a chorus of “Oo! Ow! Pain!” girls and mother – who escorted them into the bush - all stopped to pull out the thorns. Only it never really seemed to go away. There was always another one somewhere. Foot, thigh, crotch. Kids did not want to walk.

God, its tiresome writing in third-person. End of experiment.