Although he shrugged her question off, I later got him alone and asked him if he did indeed star in "Neighbours". In fact, Dan had played my mate Fleech's brother on the show. I switched to a five-day tour. That evening I was approached by a potbellied Aborigine woman with whiskey breath asking for money so she could buy food. I knew she would use it for alcohol, so I suggested I get her something to eat at the C-store. I didn't know this would end up costing me AU$14, as she bought enough groceries for a few days. But I gained a good experience of the Aborigine problems with going from the stone age to the modern age in a couple generations. Their biggest killers are diabetes and alcoholism, mostly because their bodies cannot process our sweeteners and alcohol. The change was just too rapid. In Alice Springs you see Aborigine groups sitting outside everywhere, but they aren't homeless. They would simply rather camp in a dry river bed than stay inside. It's what they are used to. But it's still very sad to see an entire race and culture disappearing so quickly. They survived 40,000 years in the harsh desert, yet now are struggling to survive.

Joining me for an Outback Adventure were twelve others, among them Naomi, an meat-eating pome artist, Travis, a Hollywood film writer from Oklahoma (his photos are on this page), Ally, a just-graduated from college Canadian, Manning, a ESL teacher also from Canada, Yumicorp, a quiet Japanese girl traveling Australia alone, Lisa, a very tan Swede, and Andy, a smart-ass pome. Our guide was Chief, a rough and tough, rollie-smokin', bald Kiwi, who just happens to be an excellent chef (makes great Damper!). Just us and our Hummer. The group bonded quickly as we explored the sacred sites of the Aborigine and sat around the campfire out in the bush, hundreds of kilometers from "civilization".

Chief was like a walking encyclopedia. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the geology, the plants, the history and the Aborigine. He taught us that the Aborigine, who had been living in the stone age in the Outback until 150 years ago, had no concept of property ownership. That makes sense considering their "One Spirit" belief, because if everything is one, then it is already yours. This partly explains their "sharing" concept, where if an Aborigine brings in a kangaroo to his clan, he can sit back and let others eat first, knowing there will be enough left over for him. This works in contradiction to western thought, where the "hunter" takes a larger cut first. Chief illustrated this contrast well, using the example of an Aborigine kid and a white kid, both with a bag of crisps (potato chips). The Aborigine kid will first give it to his friends, knowing there will be enough left for him, while the white kid takes a larger amount of crisps before sharing with the others. Interestingly enough, the Aborigine did not make war. Is there a connection between the two?? It made me start to wonder about why we often make war, for control of resources.

Besides tearing down dead trees with my bare hands, the best part of bush camping I soon discovered was sleeping in a swag. Tents and campgrounds are for sheilas! This makes the perfect conditions for stargazing. The stars in the Outback were like nothing I have ever seen. The sky was so clear, and so dark, and I could see the Milky Way so well I thought I could almost reach up and touch it. First time I had seen an huge orange moon like that too, so I had to wake up the camp in the middle of the night to show it to them. Maybe it was Chief's talks on the formation of the planet and the Aborigine culture, but I began to see the stars not as stars, but as the Universe. And since I had given up a "home" when I left Europe, home was for these nights the hard ground of the Outback, and my ceiling was the infinity of space. I also began to wonder about how we say space is endless, and how we can never really wrap our heads around it. Did the Aborigine understand it??

Our final day in the Outback was a visit to Uluru (aka Ayers Rock - named after some dead white dude). So this is the rock on my Lonely Planet! With it's gigantic size, ancient rock paintings and amazing beauty, Uluru is a sacred Aborigine site, shared by many different clans who did not war over the rock. I was in awe, and began to wonder if the Israelis and Palestinians could learn something from the Aborigine.

One mark on Uluru that I do not find beautiful is the white streak running along its side, caused by the climbers. Posted everywhere are signs with "Please Don't Climb" and "We Don't Climb" from the Aborigine. When Uluru was taken from the Aborigine, people began to climb it, and now, although it is governed by a white and Aborigine park service, the Aborigine do not forbid people from climbing it. Instead they want to educate people and let them make their own choice . . . to teach rather than control.

Curious as to WHY people want to climb Uluru, I wandered over to the entrance to the climb, pretended to be interested in climbing it, and asked others why they were climbing. Among the replies were, "Because my friend did it," "Because I paid the entrance fee, and the Aborigine make a lot of money from climbers anyway," "The view is amazing,"Just to say I've done it," and the best of all,"I hear there is a book you can sign at the top." There was one common denominator to the replies - Ego. Having already noticed local gift shops promoting "I Climbed Ayer's Rock" T-Shirts, I began to understand. Is it alright to trample on and deface a sacred site of the Aborigine after they plead with you not to, as long as they get rich and you feed your ego??

Getting back to Alice Springs, our group had a wild night in the bar and then slowly disbanded. Wondering where to go next, I was thinking I needed to start thinking about going to Sydney to take the Indian-Pacific across to Perth. I even called the train company, but they never picked up. And I was thinking about finding a beautiful beach, although this would mean an extension to the journey. As I told Lisa at the tour desk I was thinking of going to a beach, she went, "Cape Tribulation? Cape Tribulation?!" I wasn't sure. Then I saw Naomi, who had a brochure for Cape Tribulation and was going to book there. So I went too.

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