Of Caterpillars and other things

Aboriginal Dreamtime stories of the Arrernte tribes around Alice Springs feature the caterpillar ancestors of Mpartnwe (the indigenous name for the area) who crawled across the landscape from Emily Gap (Anthwerrke) in the East MacDonnell Ranges. These creative ancestral beings – the Yeperenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye caterpillars – formed all the geographical features of the area.
It would be no surprise, then, for keen readers of this blog to recognise that my once-(and briefly-)shaven upper lip vanished under a new caterpillar during our time in Alice. If you are really keen to know what my face looks like without said growth, I have placed a photo in the appropriate entry earlier in the blog. (You wouldn’t expect me to make it easy, would you????)