Darwin's Theory Of Perpetual Motion

In Australia’s Far North, Home Is Where The Hikes Are Long And The Heart Hammering. A Passer-By Runs Into Travellers Who Stayed More Than The Night

- Sohini Das Gupta

Once a jolly *swagman camped by a billabong Under the shade of a coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited till his *billy boiled, You’ll come a-waltzing *Matilda, with me

“Oi, how’s it going?” A sun-flushed hiker grins at me on his way down from the upper pool of the Edith Falls, as I try to squeeze past his troop in the opposite direction. We are in Nitmiluk National Park, three hours from Darwin city in Australia’s Top End—the northernmost section of the country’s Northern Territory. Usually, this cue to exchange a minute of mild banter before going our own ways—a cultural quirk I was finding to be typical of NT—would be met with equal enthusiasm. Today however, I’ve been Humpty-Dumptying along the uphill trail leading up to the waterfall in a swimsuit (“It’s a short hike away, my guide Adam had promised) so I nearly pass on the offer. But surely our man here would know if the water up top is worth the bruised knees? “Great swim,” he flashes a thumb, as I beam back and resume the climb.

Perhaps the hustle would seem easier if I caught up with Adam, got him chatting. Adam Mattner has the best stories, and he does a fine job of telling them.

ADAM, WHO FELL IN LOVE

*Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me.