I had a disrupted sleep last night with the wedding going on and a few people talking close by to my tent. I approached the two men and asked them to be a bit quieter. I was expecting a smart ass comment but they were surprisingly very nice about it. This morning I wanted to thank them for being quiet, as they were camping close by. One of the men had left but the other was still around. As I was talking with him he offered me some fish that he caught the day before. This was very fresh and I was very grateful for it. Not what most people would call a good breakfast before descent bike ride, but my body definitely appreciated it.
The ride to Nundroo was quiet in terms of traffic and farms, but kept me busy in looking at the large amounts of natural shrub land. I much prefer to look at these natural landscapes as my mind is consistently active. I scan through the various plant species, trying to see if I'm familiar with any, why their use might be and also try to imaging how the Aboriginals of the area managed this land. I saw a few dead wombats, which is really sad when you see how cute they are. Their paws almost resemble a small child's hand. I also saw a live one waddling through the shrubs.
Pulling into Nundroo I was starving. I was relieved to see they had a road house, as this meant I could get quick food, and not deplete my food stock for the oncoming days. I was surprised to see in the roadhouse a group of young attractive european girls running the place. I was really stunned. I realised it would have some relation to visa extension. After talking with them I learnt that it was classified as farm work, as it is so rural. Makes you realise how much trouble country Australia would be in if the work couldn't be outsourced. I must admit, it's a lot better dealing with worldly travellers in these country towns, rather than the narrow minded and often grumpy old Australian women that usually run the small roadhouses.
I investigated here about volunteering at Yalata. Yalata is Aboriginal owned and ran land that many people have actually told me to deter. Yalata begins roughly two km's pass Nundroo and in my short time here this afternoon I've seen quite a few come in. This is very disheartening as the only thing I saw these people buy is coke and potato chips. After talking with the girls they confirmed this even more by saying every day the Aboriginal people from Yalata will come to buy alcohol, fast food or soft drink. They explained that Yalata is a dry zone so the roadhouse can only sell alcohol to certain people or only sell mid strength beer. The aboriginal people are also reported as asking other people to buy the alcohol for them.
I tried to converse with one gentleman at the front of the roadhouse. I asked what his language is, but he appeared to be under the influence o some sort. He said very broken "English my language". I heard a few talk and knew it wasn't English. I tried some Pintjarra that I learnt and definitely got the mans attention. After the man left I asked around a bit more about Yalata and its people. I had been informed that they speak a southern dialect of Pintjarra, which bears many similarities to the dialect I observed in Pt Augusta. The man I spoke with did youth work at Yalata and seemed to be culturally aware of different Aboriginal people around the country. I queried him about permits and how I'd go about camping on their land. He has been the first person I've met to actually talk positive of Yalata, and most possibly Aboriginal people in general. He was wrapped when I said I wanted to volunteer so he said he would investigate or me tomorrow. The only problem with this however is that I might have to have a day doing nothing in this small roadhouse, while I wait or him to get back to me.
There is no phone reception here so I will have to spend the day relaxing, rathe than catching up on stuff back home. This is somewhat difficult to relax here as there is literally thousands of flies, perhaps the most I've ever encountered. Can't believe these European girls persist out here! I've decided to wait for the mans response tomorrow, and if he gets back to me early enough and says there's no work I will go ahead with the 150km to pass Yalata. If he believes there's work for me than I might be getting comfortable with the flies for a week or so..
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