Nature + travel, country + people
12,378 km Australia – Sven Furrer on the wrong track
In the fifth episode, Furrer explores the Kimberleys. There, in north-western Australia, he travels to the untouched bushland and immerses himself in the world of the Aborigines. He lives with Neville Poelina of the Nyikina tribe for three days and learns how to use the leaves of a certain tree to relieve pain. The journey continues to the mining town of Newman. The average age of the approximately 5000 inhabitants is only 32 years. Those who live in Newman either work in the mine or for a subcontracting company. Almost 40 million tons of iron ore are mined in opencast mines every year. Furrer visits the massive iron ore mine at Mount Whaleback. Nobby Clark has been a crane operator there for 20 years and is the coach of the Newman Saints, one of Newman’s four football teams. Furrer accompanies him to the Saints’ match against the undefeated arch-rivals the Centrals. Because many of his players work shifts, Nobby can never plan reliably. He’s still missing important players today and has to be on the field himself. Australians claim their continent has the happiest people. Is that correct? Sven Furrer wants to know and travels 12,378 kilometers through the country in the southern hemisphere.
