Broome, west coast of Australia, 15 thousand inhabitants and a 22km long white sand beach, beautiful. Once a remote village of pearl divers and 'now a resort' vacation among the most 'popular coast. The business of pearl and 'still flourishing and involves the same way as tourists who visit the areas of production and buy souvenirs, and local people employed in factories. Among the backpackers who flock to the hostels of Broome pearls and a place in the 'highly coveted because, despite the work is hard (14 for 7 consecutive days of leave and so on), the pay and 'high: up to $ 1200 a week, they say.
Broome and 'impossible to turn a small town on foot. But how - you ask - with only 15 thousand inhabitants? For starters, the old town, which turns into 20 minutes, and '7km away from the Cable Beach (the beautiful white sand). Then there is' another, called Town Beach, where there is also a library and a small museum that is a couple of miles from the center. All around there are residential neighborhoods - estates - and industrial areas, airport placed in the middle 'way between Cable Beach and downtown. For those who are 'on foot like me and' a slaughterhouse, compounded by the existence of a single bus that runs every 30 minutes.
A Broome 'of casa Rusty, un ragazzo australiano conosciuto in Cambogia, che per 6 mesi all' anno fa la guida nelle Kimberley: porta a spasso turisti per 13 giorni su un truck 4x4 di marca Isuzu. Lo incontro un lunedi sera; e' sbronzissimo perche' ha appena terminato un tour e si sta godendo 2 giorni di pausa. Tra una birra e l'altra riesco a spuntare un colloquio di lavoro per il mercoledi successivo: in uno dei loro campeggio stanziali (wilderness o safari camps) cercano personale.
Il seguente incontro con Tony, uno dei responsabili della Kimberley Wilderness Adventures, piu' che un colloquio si configura come un "ti spiego quello che c'e' da fare e tu mi dici se la cosa ti interessa". Accetto e ringrazio e dopo alcuni giorni, il 14 luglio per l'esattezza, are on the mini-truck carrying a weekly, the food in the 3 camps located in the Kimberley, north-east of Broome. Back on the Gibb River Road and back on a road traveled only a little more 'than a week ago, but in the opposite direction. They are intended to 'Ungolan Wilderness Camp, near the Mitchell Falls and a short distance from the coast. Almost 900km from Broome and 3-day trip on a dirt road: a Milan-Bari, but nothing in between! If I look at an atlas, good luck, I would first provide the GPS coordinates and add: I've never traveled so far to get a job.
beginning and 'hard. I have to get used to new rhythms, the days are exhausting: every other day, woke up at 5:15 or 7. Cooking, cleaning, wash, stretch, clear ... Barely perceive the place, the landscape could be anywhere but I am in a special place that only a few years Australians have begun to discover. Do you think that one of the most 'stage - the Bungle Bungle domes of stratified rock of a different color - were made available to the general public only in 1982, and that there are other hidden treasures, especially in the form of rock art, the suspect in many.
After a week I get transferred to the Mitchell Falls Marunbabidi Camp, 200km south-east of the previous year, inland in the bush. Here the next step in 5 weeks and my working conditions are improving. The camp is' small: it has 16 tents and can 'hold up to a maximum of 32 people. At work we're 4 and we manage very well; the mornings end up around 12, which gives us a few hours to relax before the evening shift, which usually ranges from 16 to 21. I assimilated the pace of work and I enjoy the free time after having prepared breakfast, remade beds, clean toilets and spread the laundry can take a swim in the creek near the camp, read a book or just sleep in the shade of a tree. I discovered the bird-watching and I enjoy to lurk with binoculars to find birds of the place: colorful parrots, hawks, herons and other birds with strange names (Cockatoo, Kookaburra). I appreciate the solitude and tranquility 'and isolation of this place untouched. No TV, no radio. A phone keeps us connected to the world and allows us a very slow navigation (28k) internet. The Olympics have lost me. I learned that China won the gold medal standings, but it was something readily predictable.
Our neighbors - a community 'Aboriginal and disused farm, 20km away - do not see them hardly ever. One evening a shot not far from the camp tells me that the aborigines have just provided with meat (cow). Here in the bush do not go for very thin you hungry? Kill. The sun and 'hot, arid vegetation, wildlife and the words are as precious as water during the Dry Season: If you ask a local how long they live here, after un lungo sguardo e una pausa di 10 secondi, ti rispondera' "too long", spostando gli occhi sul paesaggio, come in un western di Sergio Leone.
Nell'ultimo racconto vi avevo gia' accennato alle dimensioni, ma vi do ulteriori dati sull'area: le Kimberley occupano il 16% dello Stato del Western Australia, una regione che puo' contenere tranquillamente Inghilterra, Giappone e Germania; la superficie si estende per 700km da est ad ovest e 600km da nord a sud, per un totale di 421mila km quadrati; al suo interno si trovano fattorie e proprieta' private grandi come mezza provincia di Bergamo.
A Marunbabidi, 20 giorni dopo il mio arrivo, il sole al tramonto colora di rosso l'orizzonte, gli uccelli lanciano gli ultimi, acuti, richiami e il fuoco al centro del campeggio illumina i volti dei nostri ennesimi ospiti serali; e' in questo momento che, alzando gli occhi alle prime stelle, mi rendo conto di essere in un posto speciale.
Rene'
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