Gundjeihmi Seasons

Gudjewk

• Full wet season
• Waters peak at their highest
• Fish are nice and fat
• Worledon, the green ant mother, is ready to gather and eat
• Wirndilk are ready to collect to dye panduanus for making baskets and pandanus crafts
• Ginga, the saltwater crocodile, are on the move, travelling throughout the river systems

Bangerreng

• Last Knock’em down storms bring fierce wind and rain
• Spear grass seeds are brown that indicates the bamurru (magpie geese) are laying their eggs which are ready to eat
• Many fish have spawned

Yekke

• Rains cease
• Ngarribolkwurlke – we start to burn fires on country as soon as the rains stop towards the end of April
• Angindjek ready to harvest for eating
• Wetlands turn into feeding frenzy
• Egrets in abundance feeding on insects as the waters recede
• Whistle ducks return in their numbers
• Fish spawned
• Fish and turtles fat
• Anwirndilk, heamadorum plant, start to grow within a couple of weeks in areas that have been burnt
• Red eye pigeon start to lay their egg in the patches of grassy regrowth that have been burnt

Wurrgeng

• The orange flowers of the eucalypts beginning to flower indicate the change of season
• Coldest time of the year
• Gumugen, freshwater crocodile, are laying eggs in the sand dunes of Kakadu creek systems, indicated by the blooming of the andjedj – bright yellow flowers of the the kapok tree. This is also a good time to collect pods for the yellow fluorescent dye for pandanus weaving
• The beautiful pink flowers of the calytrix indicate freshwater crocodiles are fat and pignosed turtle are laying their eggs
• Magpie geese and ducks are getting fat and ready to eat
• Kapok flowering indicating fresh water crocodiles nesting and also pig nose turtle another indicated is the turkey bush tree.

Gurrung

• Andudjmi starts to flower
• Hot weather time
• Wetlands are drying up
• Time to hunt for Almangayi on the floodplains
• Bamurru, magpie geese, are really fat from anguladj the water chestnut good time to eat both
• Freshwater mangroves start to bloom beautiful red dangling flowers
• River levels are low and filesnakes ready to gather
• Long necked turtles in hibernation time to hunt and gather them
• Fresh water mussels fat

Gunumeleng

• First rains starts making the country beautiful green and lush
• Anbedje, the spear grass, starts to grow
• Andudjmi, the green plum, start to ripen and fall of the trees
• Badju are ready to dig and harvest
• Andjurrkumarlba the black current ready to gather and harvest

Items collected all year round

• Pandanus collected all year round