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.

The right here, the right now

The AustraliaQuest team poses for a portrait at Alice Springs

Today was one of those "Are You My Mother?" days.

If you've read Dr. Seuss-style books -- and I'm a voracious reader of children's books -- you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, read on.

The day started out innocently enough. At breakfast the conversation bounced like a pinball across the breakfast table. It began with sleepy mutterings about last night's satellite transmission and initiation rites of Aboriginal boys.

John brought up that we planned to spend much of the next week in the bush and needed food. At this, Washington Post writer Remar Sutton took center stage. A refined gentleman, Remar has taken on the daunting assignment of covering our Quest. He's never slept in a tent and his definition of roughing it is staying at a hotel with less than four stars. "Does that mean I won't have room service?" he quipped.

VIDEO View the team's daily movie feature on the AustraliaQuest site Play video     More on AustraliaQuest from Classroom Connect: Myths & Legends Get a Clue! Mystery Photo 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

John led a food-buying expedition into town and Jerome logged on to see where you, our online collaborators, had sent us for the week. Meanwhile, I began the excruciatingly tedious job of extracting 22 thorns from my tire. It took exactly three minutes of off-road cycling to get them and two hours to patch all the holes!

Then Jerome came back with frightening news: The vote this week was for us to strike out on our bikes to see what we could find. Our collaborators could have sent us into the bush to interact with Aboriginals, or walk around Alice Springs to interview urban Aboriginals, but no, you voted to send us to see what we could find. SEE WHAT WE COULD FIND?!? A wave of terror came over me.

We had 12 hours to find, photograph, videotape, and write a story. It may not seem like a tall order, but this kind of random gumshoeing strikes terror in the hearts of reporters. Especially when a million eyeballs are watching. The pressure was on to find something very cool.

We struck off boldly into the wilds of Alice Springs, past the McDonald's and the Kmart, and into the center of town. I turned down Todd Street and pedaled past strolling tourists, backpackers, and arm-locked sweethearts. Cafes, gift shops, and banks lined the street. I counted nine stores that purported to sell "authentic" Aboriginal art and didgeridoos. This is not cool, I thought.

We cycled to the outskirts of town. The Red Center Resort advertised "authentic Aboriginal dancing." I parked my bike and walked inside. Through a sliding-glass door by the pool, I spied four Aboriginals costumed in red polyester loincloths and sloppy body paints. They chanted, clapped fake boomerangs, and led a pow-wow of tourists in a circle dance. "This is definitely not cool," I said to myself.

I cycled out of town. The Stuart highway shot straight to the north, rolling gently over the Outback. I kept my eyes peeled for a cool creature. I'd heard that bearded dragons inhabit these parts. Their heads and necks are ringed with wickedly pointed spines. They change colors to blend into the environment and their bites close into a mortal lock.

One of the many seemingly endless highways across the Outback

Then there's the six-foot long perentie, a lizard that sports a pretty, lace-like pattern on its black skin. Its bite is brutal and it eats carrion that makes its mouth a sewer of nasty microbes. That, along with its serrated, tendon-severing teeth, makes a Doberman's bite seem playful. But I never saw either of these. All I saw were a few little willy wagtails, little birds that do, indeed, wag their rear ends. "But this is still not cool," I thought.

Finally I just stopped and sat down on the ground. The wind made a soothing howl in my ears and the air smelled pleasantly of sage. The temperature was perfect. In front of me stretched the bush. Cone-shaped mulga trees stood like solitary sentinels over the landscape. Beneath them, looking like cheerleaders on a bad hair day, were the olive-colored mallee bushes. Delicate paper daisies dotted the ground like May Day bouquets.

I just sat there until my mind was quiet. I tried not to think about flat tires, grocery lists, satellite transmissions, or finding something cool. I just tried to be. I felt overwhelming peace.

In the book "Are You My Mother?," a newly hatched bird falls out of its nest. It goes all over town asking different animals if they are its mother. They are not. Finally, a sympathetic steam shovel, that is also not its mother, puts the hatchling back into its nest. It then finds its mother, without really having to look.

I spent all day looking for something special only to realize that I really didn't have to look. It was around me all the time and Aboriginal peoples have known this for the last 60,000 years. Now that's cool!

Pedals Up!

Dan Buettner

AustraliaQuest
Classroom Connect