#30 - My name is Ted but they call me Tim

#30 What's in a name?

Today was a great day.  A day full of culture lessons, and fishing and reef walking and all the things I cant do if I am on Call and need to be near a phone and clinic.
  It started with a welcome knock on my door at 8am to hand over the oncall phone and drug keys to Annie, the permanent RAN here on Darnley Island.  I was a free agent.  I took a long walk along the shore, up around the south western tip of the island.  Darnley Island or Erub as the locals call it is one of 4 islands formed after the eruption of a volcano.  It has lush red volcanic soil which supports a tropical friut salad, just growing wild in the lush jungle like interior.  On the beaches, which is course sand formed from broken down coral, there are remnants of black lava flows, with boulders of basalt and obsidian littering the rocky coast lines.  The beach might be a sandy beach for a hundred metres or so, then a rocky ledge full of tidal rock pools, then another stretch of sandy beach, then another rocky beach, and so on.  It is truly beautiful.

I met a local man fishing with a bit of string and a home made hook that he'd sharpened.  No reel, or sinker.  He was fishing in a deep gutter between some rocks on the low tide, and demonstrated how he caught his bait first, by putting his line in to a dark cloud of sardines, and pulling randomly in a jerky fashion to snag a sardine.
Once caught he re-hooked the fresh live fish through it's tail and casts it with precision into a deep blue hole.  Within seconds he has a huge fish on the line, which shot up under a rocky oyster encrusted ledge and cut his line to ribbons.  I was amazed.  He told me the fish are very big, and then proceeded to take a hook from his bag which was as large as my hand and almost straightened out.  "tis bastad got away" he told me recalling the event.  It bent his huge hook!!!

Walking a bit further, and I met another bloke.  He introduced himself as Ted but said everyone here calls me Tim.  I enquired of him why this is the case, suggesting that despite being named Robert, a few people call me Timmo.  Tim told me that in his culture he, and anyone else in his family is forbidden from calling an inlaw by their name.  He said when My sister married a Man, that man's father (Tim's sisters Father-in-law)   His name is also Ted.  So the younger man could no longer say the word Ted, despite the fact that Tim's real name was Ted, he was no longer allowed to use it....so gets Tim.....Are you following??   He said that not only does this affect him, but all his brothers and sisters and their children too.  It is Taboo to call your inlaws by their name, but more than that, is taboo to use your own name if that is the same as an inlaw.  They would address their inlaws as Uncle / Aunty or just Friend.  Should he slip up, and utter the name of that who he cant utter, then a penalty is imposed, which means that Tim would have to present a substantial gift to Ted senior.

After going for my walk, Annie's husband Chris the plumber/handyman, who had finished inspecting the leaking roof down stairs in the clinic, asked me to run my shower.  I turned on the shower, which is directly above the child health/immunisation room...that had the leaky roof....Are you following this??
Within seconds he yells up to me to shut off the water.  The s-bend trap under my shower has cracked and is running straight into the clinic ceiling.  No more showers for me!!!  My hygiene needs will now be met by going down to the clinic shower.  A bit of inconvenience, but you do what you must.  A work order will be completed but it is probably not going to get fixed in this financial year!!!

This afternoon, it was Fishing off the reef in deep water.  All the thrill of rock fishing with little of the dangers involved.  We rugged up the lines on 100lb braid, and lures that were 9 inches long.  I have never fished with a rod that had such heavy gear on it, but Chris assured me that it was necessary.  First cast, and BANG, a massive Potato Cod came out of nowhere and hit my line like a Mack Truck.  It was all I could do to stand up straight, as the rod bent in two and the braid was being peeled of the screaming reel.  I slowly tightened the spool, and attempted to lock up the line, but just couldn't hold it.  after what seemed like minutes but was probably only a matter of 30 sec or so, there was a bit of give and I was able to start winding the reel, and take back some of what Moby Dick has claimed.  what a fight.  It was like trying to tow in a couple of bags of cement.  I kept winding, and slowly making ground, when suddenly, SNAP...my line was limp, and the resistance was gone. The braid had been cut on the sharp coral.

This was the biggest fish I never caught!!  Had I landed this monster I think it would have easily been as big as an ironing table, only twice as wide.  I saw it actually take the lure from 10 feet away!!!
That was my fishing story.  One cast, one lure, one fish escaped, one-nil to the ocean.

  After fishing Chris took me exploring 4WD style.  We went to the top of the island with magnificent views of the southern beaches, and the other Eastern Torres Strait Islands of Mer (Murray), Ugar(Stephen), and Yorke.  Outstanding views.
We picked some coconuts, and bananas, and explored another beach before coming back.  This was the best day in the Straits so far.  I love the clinical work, and the people, but I had forgotten what it felt like to have a guilt free day off.

Tomorrow afternoon...some Octopus fishing, and Im going to have a crack at making SopSop...and island vegetarian dish made with sweet potato, pumpkin and fresh coconut cream.

Yawo !!