YOUR FAVORITE AUSSIE STORE
It was July 7th, after traveling for a month, this was to be our last day in the outback of Australia. I was beginning to feel as though I didn’t want to go back to the states, this felt like home to me.
Our final stop of the day before traveling to the Alligator River
Campground for the night would be at Jabiru, a new uranium mining town in Kakadu National Park.
Ayres Rock
The Australian government is trying to correct some of the mistakes that we Americans created in dealing with our American Indians, they have decided that if any precious minerals are found on Aboriginal Land, the wealth is
shared with the native peoples. The city of Jabiru 
is one such instance of this policy being put into effect. It is a very modern city with beautiful parks and lakes.
The problem that has been created is that the Aborigines have lived in the bush for 40,000 years and are having trouble adapting to their new way of life, new housing is built for them, but they refuse to live in it, living instead outside the houses in the back yard.
They have lost their motivation because everything is given to them by the government and their way of life is disappearing, as a result alcoholism and drugs are a major problem.
After dining at one of the many outdoor restaurants, we were looking forward to having the afternoon off and being able spend it swimming in a large lake nearby. It would have been a welcome relief after spending 6 grueling days traveling the Outback of Australia and sleeping in swags (canvas sleeping bags) stretched out on the ground.
It was about this time that Mark, our aborigine driver suggested that if we wanted to see one more Aboriginal Site, he would be willing to drive us. Mark was of Irish descent, however he now followed the aborigine ways In Australia, an aborigine can be any one who is following the aborigine ways, regardless of race, creed or national origin
The aborigines are actually Caucasians and as one of them put it, ” Mate , we have stood out in the sun for forty thousand years, if you did that, you would be black also.”
I actually saw some who had taken their shirts off, they were as white as someone from Sweden.
Many things began racing through my mind, we had visited many ancient sites in the last week and I really didn’t want to see any more, the swimming sounded really refreshing, but what the heck, I could go swimming at home next week if I wanted, this was my last day in The Land of Oz. I wanted to enjoy it to the max. I knew deep down that this was
going to be a very special afternoon, it had been pointed out to me before I left that July 7th would be a day I would never forget.
Traipsing around in the outback for almost a month I had lost track of the time.I was unaware of the date, July 7th,and as I was about to discover, it would be a highlight in my search for truth.
Besides that, everyone knows all the rivers in Australia are filled with crocodiles and after swimming in those uranium infested waters I would probably glow like a porch light all night.
With that, nine of us boarded the bus for the bumpy, dusty journey of 40 miles of dirt roads that lay ahead. Sitting near the back of the bus I had plenty of time to contemplate what lay ahead and what it would all mean to me.
We bounced along the dusty road occasionally crossing crocodile infested creeks and rivers it seemed as though I was going back in time, to a time long forgotten, a time remembered only in the Aboriginal Dreamtime.
I was a little awed at what was going on around me, I could sense and see the other people on the bus, but it was as though I wasn’t really a part of their reality and they perhaps weren’t part of mine.
The dust from the road filtered into the bus and a layer of red settled on everyone and everything. At times when passing another vehicle, yes there were others out here, it became so dusty in the bus that we could barely see the driver. These times contributed to my feeling that we were passing into another dimension.
It was at this time that I felt as if I was actually alone with no one else sharing my experience. I could actually feel my body becoming lighter and lighter and at the same time I was becoming less aware of the surroundings around me.
We were passing through sacred lands, and the warning not to enter without permission of the tribal elders continuously entered my mind.
My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden jerk and a screeching of brakes, the bus was coming to a stop, we had reached our destination, Ubirr Rock, the home of Lightning Man, a very powerful figure from the
Aboriginal Dreamtime
Part 2 next week! Stay tuned.
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The author has been a writer/photographer for over thirty years. Specializing in nature and landscape photography, as well as studying native cultures.
His travels have taken him to most of the United States, as well as Australia, Belize, Egypt and the Canary Islands.
He has studied the Mayan culture of Central America as well as the aborigines of Australia. Photography has given him the opportunity to observe life in various parts of the world.
He has published several books about his adventures.
For more information, please consult his website,www.journeysthrulife.com.
Your comments are welcome
A small town traveler finds adventure and intrigue while investigating a new found spirituality. Learning self-discovery and new age thought the author ventures on a journey to the outback of Australia where he learns the ways of the aborigines and in the process discovers a new way of life. Less Beginning in America’s heartland follow the author into a foreign land and culture, travel to the outback of Australia and discover the ways and teachings of the Australian aborigine. Discover with the author a journey of self-discovery and of a way of life and culture that is slowly being forgotten and lost.
is an enjoyable stop along the way.
.
. As you can see many can be over six feet tall.
or Ayres 
.
. Located in Kakadu Wildlife Park, Cooinda contains a large billybong or small lake. Billybongs are created by the monsoonal rains that are common in the BackO’Beyond during the rainy season. They hold large reservoirs of water that the wildlife thus survive on during the long droughts often experienced during the winter months.
on Saturday and my flight wasn’t until Sunday, I decided to not worry about the bus, I had an extra day to hitchhike if need be, and by this point in time I began to realize everything would work out perfectly, so there was no need to worry. Sit back, learn and enjoy, good advice for life no matter what the situation.
has different meanings, sometimes if you are looking into the past, you are using memory, and when looking into the future you are using imagination. They believe that we are spiritual scientists and are only “dreaming” this life. 
, regardless of skin color. In modern 
Thinking Between the Lines 