Tadika and Opals

Addi and I went to the Aboriginal Cultural Institute aka Tardanya ("the place of the red kangaroo") today. We saw some amazing Aboriginal artwork, a didgeridoo performance, and a historical documentary on the instrument. It was fantastic. I attached a link to a youtube didgeridoo song in the entry below...I couldn't figure out how to add it to this entry. Worth a listen if you've never heard it before!

As it turns out, most Aboriginal tribes have never used a didgeridoo. This instrument is only used for tribal storytelling purposes in a tiny section of the very far north of Australia. I also learned that westerners are the only people to call the instrument a didgeridoo. Its real name is Tadika! The wood is hollowed naturally by termites and then trained Tadika masters find the 'perfect' hollowed tree, cut it and decorate it.

There is an opal mine about 525 miles into the southern outback that produces 90% of the worlds opals. Unfortunately, it is too far for us to go on this trip (boo!) but we found an opal store that has a small replica of an opal mine. Addi was in heaven and we spent almost two hours there! In the name of frugality, I resisted my urge to buy opals...I hope I don't regret it! Hmmm....I already do.

So, we did not make it to the zoo or the botanical gardens today, but the Tardanya and opal store were all we needed.

I hear you east coasters are going to get more snow. Oh dear- its a white one this year, eh?

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