AustraliaQuest is an interactive expedition developed by Classroom Connect. For five weeks a team of scientists and explorers will examine the ancient culture of the Aborigines and attempt to determine how it affects their modern existence.

Terry tells his tale

The Quest team, with laptops and satellite phones, pitches camp in Iga Warta. Early in the trip Terry Coulthard compared the team, and their truckload of technology, to "aliens"

The first features you notice when speaking with Terry Coulthard are his deep hazel eyes, and his soft, lilting voice.

"No worries Steefany," he says, so quietly you can barely hear him.

Then he'll pause and politely say: "What do you think, Steefany? Do you agree?"

It's a refreshing question, one that I don't often hear back home. But in Terry's Aboriginal Adnyamathanha culture, understanding the thoughts of others is as essential as breathing. In fact, Terry and his wife Josephine often times don't communicate by talking. They read each other's facial expressions, body language, and, Terry says, "We can almost hear what each other are thinking." As we Americans aren't tuned in to reading minds, we've asked Terry to write down his thoughts about life in the Outback, and his view of the Quest so far.

VIDEO View the team's daily movie feature on the AustaliaQuest site Play video     More on AustraliaQuest from Classroom Connect: Cool Science Week in Review Mystery Sound Quest Map        MORE REPORTS COMING SOON Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 Day 15 Day 16 Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Day 20 Day 21 Day 22 Day 23 Day 24 Day 25

Terry writes:

"At first I reckoned the team was alien, from Mars or Venus. I felt a bit out of place because you all had a certain task and I felt in the way. It's not that I haven't had contact with computers, but it's the way you put it all together and work as a team. I felt like I became a part of the crew after we hiked up to the top of Wilpena Pound. Now you don't seem quite so alien to me!

I should start out by telling you that I remember times when I lived in permanent stick-and-leaf shelters. My father made a house out of old drums and cans that he found and flattened out, using bits of wire to fasten them together. I can always remember having a short supply of food. We ate lizards, kangaroos, emus, grubs, eggs, and lots of bird -- green parrots, pink and gray gullahs, and white cockatoos. But I was always happy. I can't remember a time when I was unhappy because we always made our own fun. We played around a lot in the billabongs.

When I was 13, I went to Port Augusta and tried to do schooling, but couldn't cope with that way of life and all the people. I basically stood in a corner during recess and lunch periods, too scared to move. I don't think anybody noticed me.

I suppose I'm stereotyping when I say this, but I think one thing Westerners can learn is to be more considerate of natural things. What I mean is to take time out for people and natural stuff. Lots of time you can be in a city with hundreds and thousands of people and you can still be alone.

Terry Coulthard, our AustraliaQuest Aboriginal guide, shares his home in Iga Warta with the rest of the team

It's also important to have family support. In our culture, a child can do no wrong in the eyes of a parent. I can't recall a time when my mum or dad ever told me off. If a child does something wrong, they normally let the uncles and aunts, the mother's brothers and father's sisters, discipline them.

I was thrilled to sit with the three lovely Quest ladies at breakfast. There was a time when my father wasn't allowed to be in the same room as white women. In those days, in the '50s and '60s, he would have probably been shot.

Things have come a long way since then, but I'd have to be honest in saying that we've got serious problems, given the fact that the Western ways are really dominating. The parents need to show a bit more interest in the Aboriginal way of life so that children can value it. Television and computer games have taken over.

We definitely need leadership from our elders to be able to continue. I'm actually recording the languages, trying to put together a dictionary, putting some stuff down about plants on CD-ROM. I've also recorded some of the Dreaming stories in a book. But I have so much to do.

I like all the Dreaming stories, I suppose, because I can learn from them. There are a lot of messages in there. But what you're learning now only scratches the surface. You'd have to stay here a lifetime to really understand it."

Sharing Stories,

Stephanie and Terry

AustraliaQuest
Classroom Connect