Throughout the day that I’d arrived I’d been hoping to get another free pass for the National Park and I was thinking about talking to the “right” Aborigine about the Olgas…. I had a question I wanted to ask. I figured that these things would just happen in due course without me making a concerted effort…. but as the day wore on it was looking less and less lightly, but that didn’t concern me…. “whatever” was my attitude.
Then, after I’d had dinner, I went into the TV room and 2 English girls initiated conversation with me. We were having a bit of a laugh and debate, then out of the blue Leigh offered me her pass which expired on….. 21st December, Mid-summers Day… fantastic!!!! Then Hayley offered me her pass too…. But I only needed one!!!! 🙂
After we’d gone to get the passes… and I’d selected Leigh’s one!!! 🙂 …. Hayley started talking of the tour she’d done that day and got a magazine with the picture of the Aboriginal guide that led it…. That was the geezer!!!! He’s the one I needed to talk to. I’d noticed him a few times in the bar the last time I was there and had actually clocked him earlier that day. I immediately went looking for him around the bar…. but he wasn’t about…. Bugger!!! Well….. at least I had the pass!!!
The next day (20th) I went out to the Rock and drove around it then walked around it…. both in the opposite directions to the last time I’d journeyed those routes. It felt right to do it that way and it also gave me a complete perspective of the views and contours around the Big Fella. I had no intentions to go up there on this occasion…… but the path was closed anyway, due to the heat apparently…….. you know what….. if you want to risk dieing of heat exhaustion, surely that’s your choice…. I’m just saying… and if loads of people do start dieing then it will only go to show the kind of muppet world we live in…. and it was their choice…. No-one else is to blame.
I drove around the Big Red Fella first and stopped by the side of the road, which lead to the local Aboriginal community, right on the line where the sign said this was private Aboriginal land and that any trespassers will be fined…… I thought in principle that’s fair enough….. with all the tourists they need some privacy…. but I was hoping to meet an elder so I could ask my question about the Olgas. I hung around for a while…. hoping that someone would pass…. but then thought that this was getting me nowhere and so drove off.
I then parked up and began my walk around the base of the Big Red Fella and as I walked around I noticed that I didn’t feel the same buzz I had the last time I was there and my mind had slipped back into feeling a bit conditioned with “other peoples rules”. When I reached the place where I’d climbed up and had that experience before, I wanted to go up there again…… but found I was held back by this thought……. that I might offend the Aborigines…… aaarrrgghhh for fucks sake Lee!…… So I gave myself a talking to…….. Do you feel it’s right for you to go up there?…….. Yes….. Exactly who are you going to hurt by going up there?….. No-one…. Will you cause any damage by going up there?……No…… So what’s the problem?!!!!……………….
*It’s amazing how quickly you can regress from following your free will. I’d been in Melbourne for around 5 weeks and in Australia you really live in a nanny state. There are rules everywhere…… even small rules which add up to really affecting your everyday life….. and even if you ignore them, it’s that threat of fines which inhibit your freedom of thought if a coppers having a bad day.
Laws like not being allowed to drink out in public areas….. yes people do…. but if your behaving in a civilised manner why should you have the threat of a $5000 fine hanging over your head!!! Fines for not wearing a helmet on a bicycle…… Well I did that at Ayers Rock and quite frankly it was MY RISK and one I’m happy to take cos quite frankly its hardly a risk at all!!!!!!!!!!…… fines for crossing the road when there’s no green man…. I express my free will in a city by crossing the road when…. wait for it…. when there’s no fucking traffic!!!!!!!!…… and yet a copper collared me for doing that the other day!!!!……. and….. yesterday I went to a massive book sale at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and there were only 2 doors 400 yards apart…… one was the “entrance” and one the “exit” and when I wanted to leave through the door I was closest to the security guard wouldn’t let me out and said I had to leave by the “exit” door….. which was almost a quarter of a mile away!!!…what’s the point?????…. and then there’s the having to have ID melarchy which really pisses me off….. IF YOU”RE NOT DOING ANYTHING NEGATIVE WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE TO PROVE WHO YOU ARE???!!!!!….. and dont give me any of that “Well, if you’ve got nothing to hide” bollocks….. I’ve got a RIGHT to keep a SECRET!!!!!!
Australia’s full of people telling you what you should or shouldn’t do….. EVERYWHERE YOU FUCKING GO!!!!! I came here to live on the edge and really test myself……. if you dont push yourself to the limits how will you ever know what you’re truly capable of????? Yet even in the outback and the National Parks there are signs everywhere telling you that you cant go here or cant do that because its “dangerous”…… FUCK OFF….. let ME assess what’s dangerous for ME to do!!!!! And then there’s the indigenous land ownership regulations…….. if you’re anything other then an Aborigine you get fined if a mere toe has had the audacity to touch the soil of a place where no one exists for miles!!!!!!!
I find its all bollocks!!! And its a shame….. because there’s such a positive energy in this land…. which seems to be under so many restrictions!!! I’ve travelled through over 70 countries now…. and I have to say that Australia is one of the countries where I’ve experienced the least sense of freedom. England (and Great Britain) with all its apparent bureaucracies still remains the freest country I’ve ever been to, with its balance between civilised laws and the freedom to express free will….. but even those are being attacked by the government on a daily basis, under the guise of anti-terrorism!!!!! DONT FUCKING BUY IT……. THEY JUST WANT MORE CONTROL OVER YOU BY MANIPULATING YOU BY FEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS BULL SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
………….So, I saw common sense, broke through those barriers and went up there, sitting in the shade and feeling at peace. I felt so much better for doing it and knew that if I hadn’t done it, and continued on my walk, I would have felt awful. I felt like I’d reclaimed a piece of myself. After half-hour or so I continued on my way and completed the base walk.
That evening I hit the bar and went looking for the Aboriginal guy, and was struck by another converse parallel….. unlike before, the guy now playing live music was completely shit and out of tune, tone, timing and whatever other ability you need in order to be a performer!!!!!…. How the bloody hell did he get the gig?????? At one point he asked the crowd if there were any requests……. yeah……..fuck-off!!!! 😉
I didn’t find the Aboriginal guy so met up with Leigh again and another English woman, and then a German woman joined us, and we had a good crack. It was a funny night and I got to bed a bit earlier this time, ready for the early start in the morning.
Love and Light,
Miller
The Adventures of Miller 