一家九口鄉(xiāng)間歷險記

As one of seven children growing up in the eighties, the chances of my family jetting off to Hawaii and staying at the Hilton was as likely as Australia winning goldfor table tennis at the Beijing Olympics…or any Olympics for that matter.But lack of monetary resources never seemed to bother my parents who are, as we speak, in the midst of the second year straight of their grey nomad adventures.

Boeing 747s were replaced by a 1985 Sahara Tan Ford Falcon XR.This car seemed extremely cool at the time.So cool, in fact, that we drove around to show it to everybody we had ever known and some people we didnt.But I digress, the original car was made to sit six, but my family cunningly managed to squeeze in nine by installing a dickie-seat in the boot.Luckily the car was a station wagon and not a hatchback or, even worse, a sedan!This seat managed to fit an extra three primary-aged bottoms and was the source of much amusement on the part of the kids who were “forced” to sit in the back and stare at, ridicule and poke fun at the drivers of the cars behind.

The Hilton was replaced by a Jayco Camper Trailer which was faithfully towed behind “Big, fast motor car” the nickname of our treasured Falcon.This caravan was cleverly designed to meet the accommodation needs of nine.At first glance it looked like a small box, but after a few acts of pure magic by my father it soon blossomed into a mini apartment complete with kitchen, living room, storeroom and bedding for nine.Two double-beds extended out on either side, a couch and dining room set converted into bedding for three, and a mattress stored outside under the annex for the remaining two.

As for Hawaii, well around Australia my family discovered destinations more exotic, waters more blue and sunshine more abundant.During my childhood my parents made it their mission to ensure us kids saw as much of Australia as possible.So on school holidays and even during the school semester we piled into the car and hooked on the caravan ready for our next adventure.

The trip I remember most fondly was when I was in grade six and my dad was given ten weeks long service leave.Ten weeks is like a lifetime for a kid, especially when you get to miss school for that whole time!We decided it was time for a real “Outback Adventure” so travelled up through Queensland and then west into the Northern Territory which is the place you want to go to experience the heart of what Australia is.

After hitting the Top End (as it is affectionately known to the locals), we headed north to Kakadu National Park which is two hundred kilometres from north to south and over one hundred kilometres from east to west.As Australias largest national park, it is on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its environmental and cultural treasures.Environmentally it boasts over sixty mammal species, fifty freshwater species and one thousand six hundred plant species.Culturally it has played home to the Aboriginal people who have lived there continuously for forty thousand years.We went in July which is the dry season (May-October). Going in the wet season (November-April) is an option if torrential rain and tropical cyclones dont dampen your spirits.

One particularly interesting animal residing in Kakadu is the crocodile.There are in fact two main species, namely, the ‘freshie which grows to 3 metres and ‘saltie which can exceed 6 metres.Closer to Darwin there are actually boat tours available in double-story boats where you can sit on the top floor and watch the operators dangle bits of meat over the edge of the boat.The crocodiles will then leap two metres in the air and snatch the meat from the operators lines.It is probably best to keep a close eye on the kiddies on these kinds of adventure cruises!

After basking in the lushness of Kakadu we headed south to Mataranka.Being loaded with seven kids does tend to put a damper on ones love life, so when we arrived my parents tricked us into going to a clown show by threatening us with a twenty kilometre bushwalk through Elsey National Park.While we were at the clown show they escaped to enjoy the crystal clear pool of thirty-four degree thermal water which is Mataranka Thermal Springs.After we arrived back from the least funny clown show in history my parents admitted their subterfuge and we all headed off to the spring to swim as a family.

After indulging in the therapeutic springs, my family packed up and headed down to Ayres Rock or Uluru as it is known by its traditional Aboriginal owners.Uluru is also listed as a World Heritage Site and is, as the name suggests, a huge rock which appears very out of place due to its island-like appearance.It stands 348 metres high and 9.4 kilometres in circumference.

Uluru holds huge spiritual and cultural significance for the local Aboriginal people, so climbing the rock is not recommended.However, when my family went there back in 1991 we climbed it and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.The climb is physically demanding—not Mountain Tai demanding, but more dangerous with thirty-five deaths recorded so far. I can still see the image of a screaming Japanese tourist clinging to the rock and refusing to move not ten metres into the climb and a potential heart-attack victim lying on the rock half way up huffing and puffing.I never did see those two at the top.

Much to my little sisters humiliation, my father insisted he use a length of rope to connect them together.Lucky I was eleven so was spared the humiliation and was left to my own adventurous devices.My sister did manage to get revenge the next day though when she decided to run ahead during one of our bushwalks through the Olgas.At the age of eight she managed to get so far ahead that instead of doing only part of the walk we were forced to do the entire eleven kilometres in the deathly midday heat.She is now a keen marathon runner!Fortunately, we had taken enough food and water with us to last a week.Beautiful scenery through those parts though!

The walk around the rock was also truly memorable as it was filled with waterholes, rock caves and ancient aboriginal rock paintings.Another beautiful thing about Uluru is that it changes colour according to the time of the day or year when you view it because the light changes continuously.My family joined the masses to take snaps of the glowing red rock at sunset.

Although I missed two months of school on that trip, the knowledge I gained about Australias environment, history and culture truly made the trip a rewarding experience.If we had travelled by plane and stayed in five-star hotels I am positive I would not have gained as much from the journey.So, when I have a family, Ill be packing up the family wagon, hooking on my caravan and embarking on another adventure of a lifetime.

我生于上個世紀80年代，是我家7個孩子中的一員。我們舉家去夏威夷旅游住希爾頓酒店的幾率幾乎跟澳大利亞在北京奧運會或者任何一屆奧運會上的乒乓球項目上拿金牌的幾率一樣低。但是缺錢花卻似乎從來沒難住我的老爸和老媽。就像我們所說的，在我出生后的第二年就帶我們過起了灰色的游牧生活。

坐不起波音747，我們干脆就坐一輛1985年的撒哈拉黃褐色福特獵鷹XR。這輛車看上去非?？?，真的很酷。我們開著它在每個我們從沒見過和不認識的人面前展示了一番。我先打個岔，這輛原裝車設(shè)計的是六座，但是我們耍了個小聰明，在后備箱安了個加座硬是擠成了九座。幸好這是一輛旅行車，而不是一輛后開門的汽車或者是更糟糕的轎車。這個加座可以容下三個小孩，可以說是孩子們的娛樂場所。因為他們可以坐在后面盯著后面汽車的司機并取笑戲弄他們。

希爾頓酒店被Jayco的野營者活動房屋所取代。這間活動房被我們心愛的獵鷹——被我們稱之為“又大又快的汽車”所牽引著?；顒臃吭O(shè)計得十分合理，正好能滿足我們9個人的入住。第一眼看上去它就像是一個小盒子，但是經(jīng)我父親幾下子就很快變成了一個迷你公寓。里面有廚房、客廳、儲藏室以及供9個人居住的臥室。兩張雙人床在兩邊，餐廳里的沙發(fā)可以展開供3個人睡，還有一個床墊，放在外面一個夾層的下面，可以給剩下的兩個人睡。

至于夏威夷這部分，我們的父母在澳大利亞周邊找到了更富異國情調(diào)、水更藍、陽光更充足的地方。在我的童年時期，我的父母給自己定了一個任務，就是讓我們盡可能多地游覽澳大利亞。所以一到學校放假，甚至還沒放假，我們就被拉進車里，帶著我們的活動住房，準備好下一段旅程。

讓我覺得最有意思的一次旅行是我六年級那會兒，我爸爸有一個10個禮拜的休假期。對于一個孩子來說，10個星期就像一生那么長，特別是還可以為了這段時間不用去上學！我們決定是時候開始我們真正的“鄉(xiāng)間旅行”了，向上行進，穿過昆士蘭州，然后向西到達北部地區(qū)——那個可以體驗澳大利亞中心地帶的地方。

到達“北領(lǐng)地”（當?shù)厝藢Ρ辈康貐^(qū)親切的稱呼）之后，我們向北行進到達卡卡杜國家公園。它從北向南全長200公里，自西向東100公里，是澳大利亞最大的國家公園，還因其豐富的自然文化瑰寶被列為聯(lián)合國教科文組織世界遺產(chǎn)。自然遺產(chǎn)方面，它擁有60多個品種的哺乳動物，50多個淡水物種，以及1600多種植物；文化遺產(chǎn)方面，這里還是土著居民的家鄉(xiāng)，到現(xiàn)在為止他們在這里已經(jīng)生活了4萬年。

鱷魚是卡卡杜公園里非常引人矚目的一種動物。一共有兩個品種，一種小個頭，能長到3米長；另一種大個頭，能長到6米?？斓竭_爾文的時候，我們改乘船前進。船是兩層的，站在最上層可以看到工作人員站在船邊用繩系著一小塊肉來回搖晃。這時候，鱷魚們就會跳出水面兩米高一口咬下繩子上的肉。在這種驚險的水上旅行當中，看好孩子們是很明智的做法。

愉快的卡卡杜之行之后，我們繼續(xù)向南來到馬塔蘭卡。對于盼望享受二人世界的夫妻來說，帶著7個孩子旅行實在是一件讓人掃興的事。于是我的父母哄騙我們?nèi)タ葱〕蟊硌荩碛墒谴┻^艾樂斯國家公園還要徒步走20公里。當我們看小丑表演的時候，他們兩個跑去水晶般晶瑩的水池里享受34度水溫的馬塔蘭卡溫泉去了。我們看完有史以來最無趣的小丑表演之后，我們的父母承認了他們的小伎倆，結(jié)果我們一家人又去了趟溫泉。

泡過療養(yǎng)溫泉之后，我們收拾行李向下行進來到因土著居民而聞名的艾爾斯巨石，又名烏盧魯巨。烏盧魯巨也被列為世界遺產(chǎn)，就像它的名字，一塊巨大的，像一個孤島，看上去十分特別的巖石。它有348米高，周長有9.4公里。

對當?shù)氐耐林用駚碚f，烏盧魯巨石有著巨大的精神上和文化上的重要性，所以不建議攀爬。然而，我們?nèi)?991年來到這里的時候，我們爬上去了——那是我經(jīng)歷過最驚險的事情之一。爬烏盧魯巨石需要很大的體力，不像爬泰山，是非常危險的，到現(xiàn)在為止已經(jīng)有35個人為此喪生。到現(xiàn)在我眼前還浮現(xiàn)著一個尖叫著的日本游客依附在巖石上，說什么也不再爬了，再爬10米都不行。還有一個人像得了心臟病一樣，在半路上躺下來不停地喘著粗氣。在山頂我沒看到這兩個人。

讓我小妹妹感到丟臉的是，老爸堅持用一根長繩子將自己和我妹妹系在一起。于是我妹妹在第二天設(shè)法報復——在我們徒步穿過奧爾加斯石陣的時候超過我們。8歲的她并沒有想偷懶，而是想方設(shè)法超過了我們很遠。我們被迫在熱得要死的天氣里走完11公里。還好，我們帶了足夠的食物和水，維持了一個禮拜。不過沿途的風景真的很美！

巖石周圍的旅程也是十分讓人難忘的。到處是水洼、巖洞和古老的土著繪畫。烏盧魯?shù)牧硗庖惶幟谰笆?，當你每天或者每年不同的時間看它的時候，它可以隨著不斷變化的光線而變換顏色。我們?nèi)艺驹谌巳褐凶ヅ闹章渲袧u漸變紅的巖石。

盡管為了那次旅行我耽誤了兩個月的學校課程，但是在旅行中我得到了很多關(guān)于澳大利亞環(huán)境、歷史和文化方面的知識，是一次非常值得的經(jīng)歷。如果我乘坐飛機，住五星級賓館，肯定收獲沒有那么多。所以，等以后我有一個家庭，我也會把我的家人裝進汽車，拖著我的活動車房，開始一個個生命中的旅程。