Party with Indigenous in Down Under

by Dreses Putranama (Indonesia)

I didn't expect to find Australia

Australia has many to offer for its visitors. From Opera House and Harbour Bridge in Sydney to Uluru in Northern Territory. Having well-managed metropolitan like Sydney and Melbourne attracts tourist from all over the world. Not only that, Australia´s nature offers equivalent experiences with its city scape. During my stay in Straya (slang for Australia), I`d experienced many things the country has to offer. Living in big City like Sydney sure is a nice thing. But living in countryside far away from crowd was interesting. I still remember how I had to drive 60 to 80 kilo meters every week to get my groceries. It was tiring, but was really nice experiences. From April 2017 to July 2017 I lived in small town named Dimbulah in Far North Queensland. The town is about 2 hours driving from nearest city, Cairns. I was working in Lime and Mango farm to complete regional work in pursue to get 2nd year of Work and Holiday Visa. The works were really taught, but I was happy. I met several fellow Indonesians and other people from other side of the globe. They are from China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, England, etc. Not many locals are working with us except the Supervisor, and the Owner of the Farm. Since the town is very quiet, Everybody seems to know each other. That is the perks of living in countryside. Me and one of my friend was really close with our supervisor Dion, because We gave him and his nephew and our co-worker Marcus a lift every morning to work. They are two of few indigenous people in town. We had daily conversation every morning and afternoon about their lives. Dion who is working in the farm for many years told us that he is teaching at school. He taught aboriginal culture to the student in public school. Dion changes my opinion about aboriginal people in Australia. One day, He invites us to come at His Step-Daughter birthday party. Being only to Indonesians in that party makes us nervous. But it all gone once we joined the crowd. We had a really nice barbeque party that night. Meats, sausages, and beers keep coming during the party. I was grateful to witness Aboriginal Dance and Music. Such a beautiful performance by Dion and his family. One of his brother was performing some traditional music instrument called Didgeridoo. It`s a wind instrument made from wood. The instrument is probably 2 meters long. It looks like a giant Trumpet. Dion himself doesn´t know how to play Didgeridoo. He told me that he only know the basic. He took 2 piece of wood and hitting them each other to make a noise. He said that was a basic of music. “The first music is when 2 objects hitting each other and make noises, that´s the basic. I only know the basic”, He told me. Dion´s nephew, Marcus and his other brother performed a traditional dance in circle. The were mimicking animal´s movement and create a beautiful performance. We laughed, drunk and dancing all night long under the Moonlight. In the middle of mango farm, where Dion lives, We were dancing in circle around the fire created to make ourselves warm from the cold wind. How on earth stranger like me ended up having a party with indigenous people in the middle of nowhere. That was something I didn´t expect when I came from the first time few months before the party. They are so friendly and welcome to foreigner like me and my friend. I enjoyed that experience as one of memorable moment in my life. I do still can imagine the noise they made in their native language during the performance. Sometimes, the most prestigious moment comes from something we`ve never imagined before. KEEP EXPLORING MATE.