Global Snapshots Recipient of the inaugural World Nomads Travel Photography Scholarship is let loose in Australia's top end...

Day 5 was really just pack up day. Most of the Yolngu clans left earlier in the day. After I realised that nothing much was happening I spent most of my morning getting my things ready as I was leaving that night. I took it pretty easy really. I was pretty exhausted from the last few days, and was happy for a quiet one. In the afternoon I hung around some young children who were eager to have their photo taken and to take their own photos. It was great just to sit and spend time with these children. I was there with my friend John, from France, he’s a top photographer/ videographer taking photos at Garma for his ten month photographic work on Australia, which will be exhibited in France in 2009. He is such a fantastic guy, we had heaps of fun together and lots of laughs. The joke for today was we both had nothing to photograph, and his flight didn’t leave until the following day, “what am I going to do” he asked me.

That night I just assumed there was no dancing because it wasn’t on the program, but there was. The children started the final bungul off, all painted up and in brightly coloured costumes. The boys carried spears and were pretending to throw them for the cameras, I was thinking I hope they don’t really throw this thing! But it was great, for a few moments a golden light made their faces shine, which only lasted for a few minutes, but it was exciting while it lasted. The dancing today was really good because there weren’t so many other media people to clutter things up, it was just me and a few others, most people had left Garma by now.

After the children did their dancing I thought that would be it, and then the other clan groups came to do some dancing. So I stayed and kept taking photos. It was really great because I was the only photographer left shooting, everyone else had gone. I was having a great time, totally in my own world. I knew my bus for the plane was leaving at 7:30pm, and that was ages away so I didn’t need to worry. As the hours passed by I started thinking I should go in about an hour. Then it was announced that the bus for the plane was leaving at 8:30pm. I asked someone, “did he say 8:30?” and she looked at me funny and said “yeah!” I was thinking that’s funny, I though they said it was leaving at 7:30pm. So I just stayed there, taking a few photos, enjoying the dancing, and then my friend Sam sits next to me and says “Where have you been? I have been looking for you everywhere!” She asked if I wanted to go, and I said, “Just a bit longer.” So we sat there for a bit. And by now it was 7:25pm. I was still enjoying the dancing and she said “Don’t you need to go?” I was like “yeah let’s go,” still thinking that my bus ride to the plane was leaving in an hour. And as we were walking to my tent, she asked, “why don’t you rush,” I said “it’s ok, my bus leaves at 8:30pm.” “No!” she said, “it’s 7:30pm!!!!” “WHAT,”I said. I literally had 2 minutes to chuck all my things together, I just picked up everything, I was so stressed out. And because I was stressed I worried that I would accidentally leave something behind. I frantically got my stuff together, jumped out my tent, and power walked about 1km to the bus, I was so stressed out! I thought. “what do I do if I miss the bus?” I must be on that bus, I must be on that plane! I felt so stupid. I rushed to the bus and thankfully it was still there. But I then realised I left my battery charger in the media room, which was locked. I asked someone to open it, and she asked “why did you leave it in there?” I felt like saying you can’t tell me off, I don’t know why I left it in there, I just did, that’s it. So they radioed the key holder to come over and open the room, I nearly died from all the stress. By the time I was actually on the bus I was so relieved, beyond what words can describe.