Diary: Uluru, Boomerang, Kangaroo, Aboriginal

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Diary of biker Dmitry Petrukhin. Record 15.

ULURU, Boomerang, kangaroo, Aboriginal.

So, Australia. My head is spinning: where to start? Whether to go to the north – it is much warmer there, but you will have to drive through the desert for almost 2000 km, and there are no attractions that are present in the southern half. Anyway, I decided to go towards Adelaide, it is almost the heart of Australia, moreover, in that area there is the famous Uluru Rock (it is an aboriginal name, but now it is called Aers Rock – in honor of the former Prime Minister of South Australia).

A few words about this stone. It is located right in the center of Australia, its size in circumference reaches 9 kilometers, and its height is 400 meters. No one knows the history of this stone, but there is an assumption that it is a huge meteorite. It took me 2 days to get there. Naturally, I wrote on the stone: "Here was biker Dmitry from Kazakhstan. 19.07.06". Nothing unusual, mostly artists and tourists. But for some reason travel agencies do not pay proper attention to these historical places.

I then asked a Russian-speaking travel agency in Melbourne what they emphasize in the tours around the country. The answer is the same: the famous Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, kangaroos, koalas, nature, famous beaches, 5-star hotels: But all this is also in Asia! And America! And Europe! What about the famous jungle? The aboriginal tribes? They say that all this is in the past, and now you can learn about it, and meet an artificial aborigine only in museums and theaters. Although they say that somewhere in the northern regions you can see and real aborigines. But with them, allegedly, it is better not to communicate, they become aggressive. Strange, the indigenous local inhabitants are aborigines, and they are almost not seen in the country … Anyway, I'll find a couple of aborigines and take a picture with them.

And now I will tell you about the boomerang, which I want to learn how to launch. Here in Australia there are even competitions and world championships among boomerang throwers. And here I am holding a boomerang for the first time in my life. It seemed like nothing special, but when my friend Quinn took it from my hands and launched it with great force, I thought that my money was gone and that I would never see this boomerang again. It was a miracle! The boomerang soared so high into the sky that at some points it was not visible at all. But literally in 15-20 seconds it was already flying back to him. I will say that without special training you can't do anything like this. So, out of my five launches, only one boomerang came back to me. But when I wanted to catch it, I got a strong blow in the face. This still didn't stop me, and I still made some small progress in the boomerang launching technique. By the way, there are several types and varieties of boomerangs: for example, there are sports boomerangs, there are also boomerangs for hunting small animals and birds, there are also amateur boomerangs (they are usually light and do not pose a great danger to others). Of course, I took boomerangs and will definitely gift them to my friends and loved ones.

I decided to go from South Australia to Victoria (Melbourne). On the way, I met some bikers from Perth, four of whom had already traveled all over Australia. I told them, let's go to Asia, to Europe – there are a lot of interesting things there too. They took my coordinates and said they would come to our region. Let's see: They showed me how to ride a motorcycle to the ocean. The thing is, let me tell you, it's almost impossible to get to the ocean. This comfort, civilization, all around nets, grids, like here they are – nature and forest, but you can not go there. As I was later convinced myself, this is all done more for the safety of drivers.

You know, for kangaroos, these fences are no barrier. That is why I have seen many kangaroos killed under the wheels of cars. They are also the cause of many car collisions. I myself witnessed such an accident and almost hit a kangaroo several times, so after that I became afraid and slowed down a lot. Before Melbourne we parted ways: my fellow travelers went to the mountains, and I – to the ocean. In general, bikers quickly get used to each other. When I come home, I will write in detail about my meetings and contacts with biker-passengers. I had such meetings in Africa (Tunisia), in America (Buffalo), in Europe (Denmark)….

I started looking for a place to sleep: everywhere the prices were over 100 dollars. I knew that the closer to the city, the more expensive the hotel! Still, I found a Chinese hotel for 70 dollars, but without breakfast. In the morning I drove into Melbourne. At first I wanted to stay for two days and wander around the city. Moreover, the rain practically never stops, and my birthday is coming up. Got everything in a pile! But after lunch the sun came out, and I decided to go to the ocean, as bikers showed me. In general, Australia is washed by two oceans – Indian and Pacific. I approached the wharf, and there are two boats loading for the island of Tasmania. My blood boiled: I had to go there, there would be no other chance. I went to get a ticket, and it turns out that the ship will sail only in 3 days. Winter, off season, no tourists…. I was told that an airplane ticket costs only 80 dollars, right across the street is a private airport. No, I'm not going without my bike. A friend from Canberra called, asked where I was and suggested I go to the town of Batman's Bay. He said that if the weather permitted, I could see whales on the coast.

I'm off. And on this day I had my first encounter with a native! In the camping site where I was staying, there was no telephone or cafeteria, and, as you understand, a biker needs to eat every day. I approached the motorcycle, and there is a real aborigine, only in a tracksuit. We talked, took pictures. We got into his car and went to get food. When I asked him where we could find a lot of natives, he smiled and said that there are few of them and all of them mostly live in cities. I immediately remembered America: when I drove through the 20 states of the USA, my only wish was to see real Indians, like from the movies. But it turns out that I had been going on a motorcycle trip for too long. I should have gone 50 years ago, then there would have been both Indians and aborigines. But I wasn't even alive then. And the aborigine turned out to be a "bukharik" and offered me to drink a hundred dollars with him. It was tempting, of course, but I have a dry law on the round-the-world trip.

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