My name is Mike Rowe,
and this is my job.
I've made a mess in all 50 states... a big one.
Now I'm packing my bags for Australia, land of kangaroos...
Look at me. I'm over here.
And didgeridoos.
[ didgeridoo sputtering ]
But I'll be doing more than cuddling koalas.
Oh, her bum is soaking wet.
I'll be getting dirty Down Under.
I'm still trying to get my head around what I just saw.
Coming up on "Dirty Jobs: Down Under"...
I shift into overdrive for an Australian adventure.
[bleep]
I recommend it.
So many different things go wrong.
It's an exclusive visit...
That is not the way to cut.
To a remote aboriginal community...
What are you doing?! You got sand in the bread!
Where survival requires sharp eyes...
Strong hands...
Oh.
Firm feet...
How does that not hurt your feet, Djambawa?
Lookit. That is tough! Tough! [ Chuckles ]
And a keen sense of direction.
You know the way to get out? Yeah, it's over that way.
Or it could be that way. It might be that way.
Hang on, kids.
♪ It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it ♪
♪ Whoa-oh, oh-oh, oh
[ insects buzzing ]
Arnhem land is aboriginal for "where the [bleep] am I?"
Actually, that's not true, but it should be.
And if you find yourself traveling.
To this remote part of the northern territory.
For the purposes of making a TV show.
About an ancient and mysterious people,
There's only one thing.
You absolutely, positively don't want to forget...
Okay. I'll tell you what I know.
We are in Nhulunbuy,
And our bags are all together.
And we have two vehicles,
Each capable of holding...
Well, we have enough room for everyone.
But no room for any of the bags.
If we had two of these and one land cruiser,
We'd probably be fine, right?
But then it's gonna be a pain in the ass to work out of.
We told our production office to reserve four vehicles,
But, somewhere down the line,
There was a misunderstanding... a little miscommunication.
And since there's a limited number.
Of rental vehicles in this town...
What's the poop?
I don't know yet.
Our adventure may be over before it's begun.
Epic, epic, epic failure...
[ chuckles ] planning logistics.
Oh, there's no question.
It doesn't fit. [ Chuckles ]
There's no question.
Well, as it turns out, our excessive baggage will fit.
Rowe: I love 'em!
I told you they wouldn't fit.
Because I was told they wouldn't fit.
Man: Two at a time. That's how we do it.
Yeah, good for you.
This would mark the beginning of a trend.
That would envelop us over the next few days...
A growing cloud of confusion and miscommunication.
That would thwart our attempts.
To understand and to be understood.
No! Stop!
Oh, I'm sorry. Take that out.
Too much? Too much too fast?
[ chuckles ]
All right. I'll see you guys back there.
Who's riding with me?
The community we're visiting is a 4-hour drive from here,
So tonight we'll be staying at a hotel in Nhulunbuy.
And head into the bush tomorrow.
So, tonight, we're looking forward to relaxing.
At our luxury accommodations...
Having a beer or two or three... maybe four,
Then hitting the sack,
Where we'll all be snug as bugs in a rug.
Before we head into the wilderness, we stop here...
Not for supplies but for a nice dose of art.
This is the yirrkala arts center,
Where Australian aboriginals.
Display and sell their creations.
Art plays a big part in aboriginal life.
The man who will guide us to the aboriginal artist.
Is holding a spear over there.
His name is Kade McDonald.
Kade is an art dealer.
Committed to bringing indigenous Australian artworks.
To all people.
And today you're gonna be our guide, essentially.
Yep.
The people we're going to meet today.
Live about four hours from here in the homeland? Yeah.
And what's the homeland called?
It's called Yilpara. Yilpara. Okay.
What am I looking at right here?
This is called a larrakitj,
or a hollow log, or a memorial pole.
So, traditionally, it was used as a sort of...
Almost like a coffin.
These all started out as individual trees.
All the art in this collection is highly sought after,
And it's not cheap.
Today we're gonna meet the artist,
Find one of these special trees, and cut it down.
We're gonna get in those vehicles.
We're gonna drive approximately five years where we're going.
Yeah, yeah. Five hours. Yeah, yeah. Five hours, then. Good.
Depending on your driving, but, yeah, let's do it. Okay.
Founded in 1931,
Arnhem land is one of the largest aboriginal reserves.
In all of Australia.
To make room for the crew,
We left half our gear back at the roach motel.
And set off to the aboriginal community.
Whose name I can't pronounce or remember.
For the next four or five hours,
The roads look like this and feel like this.
And, no, there's no speed limit.
Try and go with the motion.
That wasn't so bad.
[ chuckles ]
That's not one of us, is it?
This does not look good.
One of our vehicles appears to have flipped over.
Too fast, eh?
Wow. How long ago, you think?
Yesterday.
Kade says accidents like this happen all the time out here.
Man: Somebody's head hit the friggin' windshield,
That's for sure.
We figure it probably happened yesterday.
There's nobody inside, thankfully,
But whoever was riding shotgun.
Is gonna have a heck of a headache today.
So, we're gonna slow things down a little bit...
Just slow things down a bit. [ engine turns over ]
But the rough road is not the only danger.
Kade: We're just looking for buffalo.
What kind of buffalo?
Water buffalo from southeast asia.
You have a lot out here?
Yeah, there's lots, and they're really big,
And they will charge the car.
Any advice for those unforeseen moments.
When a water buffalo might charge the car?
My advice is just drive away as quick as you can, really.
I mean, they're big. They're pretty vicious.
We've gone 87 kilometers. [ chuckles ]
We're 87 kilometers into a 4-hour trip.
The road still looks pretty much... Like that.
After three more hours of shake, rattle, and roll...
We finally arrive at Yilpara,
A homeland community of about 100 people.
Located on what's commonly called blue mud bay.
Access to Yilpara is very restricted.
To visit,
You must get the stamp of approval from this guy.
His name is dja-ba-wa... or maybe djam-bawa.
I'm not sure.
But he is the man in charge,
And I thought we already had his thumbs-up.
Apparently, that's not quite true.
He still has some questions for us.
Guess there was a little miscommunication somewhere.
Shocking.
What do you want to do with these films?
Well, there's a TV channel called the Discovery Channel,
And there's a TV show on the Discovery Channel about work.
It's called "Dirty Jobs."
So, you're the main person for the television or for the TV?
I'm the one on the TV most of the time,
But my crew is also in the show a lot.
Those people will be on the film there? Yes.
They'll be dying, some of them, in the future.
This is the part where Djambawa tells me.
His culture has a taboo against cameras.
I just know it.
Please don't tell me that, Djambawa.
Well, a lot of people tell us that by being on the show,
We're preserving their memory for all time.
Like a documentary? Yes.
That's Waka, by the way.
I think he's Djambawa's brother-in-law.
And we like to be very honest in the way we shoot the show.
So, we talked for about five more minutes,
And I think I passed the test...
But not the communications test.
Now the trouble begins.
Relax first. Just go on in and drop your things there.
Djambawa tells us the plan today.
Is to drop our stuff at the guest quarters,
And then we'll all go out.
And chop down a tree for the art.
But then Kade was informed by Djambawa.
That the plan was changed.
The plan is actually to spear stingrays today.
And chop down the tree tomorrow.
What we were gonna do tomorrow we're going to attempt to do today.
I'm not sure why, but it involves spears and looking for stingrays.
Stingray... maybe that we'll do tomorrow, eh?
Do tomorrow, eh? Sure.
More better, and then we'll go a different way,
Maybe to go and get some wood.
Okay. So, I guess today we're getting wood,
Which I guess means.
We're cutting down the tree after all... I think.
Well, we're dressed, you know, to get wet,
But we can put on our other clothes and go get wood.
Yeah.
This is basic, uh... Communication.
So, are we gonna fish first?
Yeah, well...
You got any room for me?
Yeah, we'll get you in here. For me and Djambawa?
Yeah, we'll get you in there. Yeah.
Okay, and just like that, we're back to getting stingrays.
Well, actually, no. No?
We're getting crab and fish today.
Crabs and fish?
That's the current agenda. Right.
Till five minutes from now.
We're in a...
Very fluid situation.
[ chuckles ] super fluid.
The village of Yilpara is a small place.
With homes much like the ones we'll be staying in.
There's only about 100 people here,
But I just wish I could remember one name.
I just can't remember their names, man.
Did I say that right... Waka?
Yeah, Waka.
Waka, nice to meet you.
Waka.
How does he say his name again?
Which one? Waka? Djambawa. Djambawa.
Djam-bwa. Djam-ba-wa. Djam-ba-wa.
Djambawa!
That was easy.
Shall we go for a ride? Huh?
Go for a ride? Yeah, yeah.
Rarely, in such a short period of time.
Has there been so much confusion,
So many mixed messages, so much ambiguity,
So much ambivalence, so much hope.
Coming up...
Yeah, we're on the trail of a water buffalo.
Deadly wild water buffalo,
Poisonous trees,
And world-class driving.
Leaf, tree, rock, log, indigenous species, killer snake.
Is there anything in this country that can't kill me?
If you're just joining us,
We're in arnhem land catching crabs.
All right. So, we're going to a place...
It starts with an "m."
Monata dongolay, yeah.
Mata dogongaway, that's where we're going. It's not...
Monata... Monata...
Dongolay. Dongo-lo-ay.
You've never watched the Discovery Channel?
Television?
[ chuckles ] good for you.
You're not missing much.
As we arrived at the ocean,
our plans suddenly changed once more.
When Djambawa spotted a wild water buffalo.
Across the way, that's a big buffalo.
You see it? Right up there, yeah.
There's the big guy right there.
Even though Djambawa might not watch TV,
He knows a good TV moment when he sees one,
So he took us to get a better angle of the beast.
Djambawa seems to see something.
Yeah, we're on the trail of a water buffalo.
You see him?
I'm tired of walking.
I don't blame you. You want to hop in? Stand up?
Okay, follow the track. You can see a whole track there.
Djambawa has found the tracks of another water buffalo,
So, once again, the crabs and fishes will have to wait.
Up, up, up. Here we go.
Kade told me if we ran across a wild water buffalo.
To go the other way because they're fast and unpredictable.
I don't think Djambawa and Kade communicate, either.
Yeah, he's calling us. He sees it.
[ speaking native language ]
All right. Here we go.
Even though Djambawa and Waka.
Haven't actually told me in so many words,
I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing.
When it comes to tracking wild water buffalo.
Pretty sure.
Oh, heads up.
Heads up.
Something's been in here.
I'm not sure what we're doing here.
I can easily hear this water buffalo.
Just start snorting and snapping.
Oh, the water buffalo... it's that way.
Djambawa told me we were following tracks.
Now, I assumed he meant the tracks of a water buffalo.
But obviously...
I don't understand anything.
Fortunately, Waka knows the goal of this adventure.
Milkwood tree.
Milkwood, okay. So, that's what you carve?
This is what we are after.
Why a milkwood tree?
Maybe Djambawa will tell me.
Maybe not.
Mike? Yeah?
I'm here.
Kade, I thought we were looking for crabs.
This is on the way to the crabs.
We were looking for crabs,
Then we got distracted by the water buffalo,
And now we're gonna cut down a tree.
Yeah. Yeah. Ahh.
That is not the way to cut.
No? No.
How you cut?
Give... hey!
Oh, you're gonna cut yourself, man.
No. How do you do it?
It kind of seemed like that's what I was doing.
You will cut it from the other side, then. Okay.
So, Kade, will this be used.
For any of the things that we saw back at the museum?
Yes, made out of this stuff. Oh.
Djambawa will use this wood,
'cause he's picked a nice tree, eh? Yeah.
Remember, Djambawa is an artist.
This tree is his canvas.
Here it goes. Where's it going?
It's going right towards you, troy.
Yeah, this thing is falling.
And if I let it go, it's gonna fall straight...
So, guys, here it goes.
So, I'm gonna try and do this.
Wait, which way are you going? I'm trying to do this.
That's what I'm saying. Dude, this is all I could...
Here it goes.
Heads up, everybody. Tree coming down.
Oh, you guys... you know what?
Now everybody's alive and Doug's bored.
[ laughter ]
It's just no fun.
1, 2, 3.
[ grunts ]
[ sighs ]
You have to be careful, eh?
Yes.
Once that milk goes into your eyes, it will make you blind.
[ sighs ] well, this is an important tip, Waka.
Blind, really? That's poison.
[ sighs ] is there anything in this country that can't kill me?
See, this is what I mean by milk, see?
Even milk.
I mean, that's the nicest thing in the world... milk.
But it will kill you.
Right there, there. That stuff.
Just liquidy or whatever.
Yeah.
If it gets into your eyes.
Yeah, I guess it's milk. It goes into your eyes... make you blind.
I'm all right. I got two eyes, right?
Yeah, you got two eyes. Yeah, there you go.
Just be careful, huh? Good.
So, the key, then, for the sake of safety,
Would be to keep your eyes shut while you swing the axe.
As you said, hot, dirty work.
Hot, dirty work.
You absolutely latched on to our agenda.
Goodbye, everyone.
You know the way to get out?
Yeah, it's over that way.
Or it could be that way. It might be that way.
Waka, I'll tell you, in all the confusion, I'm not sure,
What with the blindness.
[ chuckles ]
[ chuckling and groaning ]
[ panting ]
[ chuckles ]
Djambawa, you're a tough son of a gun.
Where are we gonna put these, Kade?
Kade: Put it in the bull bar.
Rowe: In the vulva?
Bull bar. Bull bar.
The, uh, what do you call it?
Just bull bar. The bull bar.
The bumper? Yeah.
The bullba?
Bull bar... hitting bulls. Bull bar.
Oh, the bull bar. Yeah.
Bull bar, of course. It's obvious.
[ chuckles ]
All right. So, we take these down to your vehicle,
We strap them to the roof,
And then can we go get some crabs?
No, no. I think we found some turtle eggs.
Oh, okay. Well, we're again...
The situation's very, very fluid. Very fluid.
What are we gonna do with the turtle eggs...
Paint them or eat them? Eat them.
I can't wait to see what happens to us now, Djambawa. Huh?
I can't wait to see what you got in store next.
Djambawa: Look. There, there. Look. There, there, there.
Kade: Mike, see? Turtle.
This way. Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch.
Rowe: These are turtle tracks?
Yeah.
So, they come up here...
Up the beach, lay the eggs, then back down the beach.
Don't want to dig too hard.
How deep are they?
Oh, I see 'em.
[ indistinct conversations ]
Like a ping-pong ball.
Wow, this is a lot of eggs.
In a lot of places, eating turtle eggs is against the law.
Here, it's just part of living with the land.
Rowe: So, basically, you just walk down the beach,
You look for the tracks... the tracks are obvious.
If you see them, you eat the eggs.
Not always, you know. No.
Sometimes they've hatched.
And they've run away.
That's disappointing. Well, I'm on the turtles' side.
Unless you're a turtle... I was gonna say.
I mean, let's be honest. It's hard not to root for a thing and then...
Yeah, they're kind of cute. Until you're hungry,
In which case, let's face it... You take what you can.
Let's go wash my hands off.
Watch out for baru, eh?
For what? Crocodile.
Oh, baru... crocodile.
Crocodile live in the bay. That's great.
[ suspenseful music plays ]
You got to think totally differently.
From what you're used to, you know, in the states.
You hop in the ocean. You hop in the bay.
I mean, you know, in the back of our head,
We're always thinking "sharks," but here, it's crocodiles.
The crocodiles just come straight out of here.
That's the difference between a crocodile and a shark.
Take it from me, a naturalist. [ chuckles ]
The sharks rarely come out of the water to get you,
But a crocodile will.
You can tell by the drums and scary music.
That crocodiles are nearby.
But right here on the beach, there are other dangers.
Nobody expects to see a grizzly bear.
In north Australia.
But they're here, and when we come back, we'll show you one.
I'm so glad we're not doing that kind of show.
Coming up...
I'll tell you what... it's very exciting.
Fsk!
When things get brutally tough.
Out in the bush...
This is gonna hurt.
The whole crew just learns to suck it up.
[ sucking ] [ sucking ]
There you go. That's one way to do it. [ Chuckles ]
Djambawa is taking us to the other side of the bay,
Where he has assured me we will finally catch crabs.
I'm just curious... we're all bleeding from walking through the woods.
You don't have any cuts on you.
Can I see your feet? Huh?
Your feet? My feet? Look.
Yeah, I want to look at your feet.
Can you put your foot right up in the lens there?
Why? The bottoms of your feet must be amazing.
Lookit. That is tough!
Tough!
Man, I wish I had feet like that.
What happened to your arm? I saw a scar on your arm, too.
Where? You're looking at everything.
Over here. [ Chuckles ]
Yeah, what's that?
Oh, I had a triple bypass.
[ chuckling ] oh, really? Yeah.
You okay? Yeah, I'm okay.
[ chuckling ] oh, geez.
A triple bypass heart operation.
Wow.
Didn't see that one coming.
But Djambawa is full of surprises.
Okay.
All right.
As we got out, I could see that Waka was already on the job.
Djambawa: Waka caught a manta shark.
Rowe: Who got it?
Waka. Hey.
Turtle eggs and shark.
[ laughing ] it's the Discovery Channel blue plate special.
Shark liver is a delicacy,
But it doesn't make it onto the menu.
Until we give it a quick inspection.
No blemishes means it's safe to eat.
Is it okay?
[ Waka and Djambawa conversing ]
Waka: Megma.
What's that word mean, Kade... "megma"?
"Good." "Good"?
Yeah, "good."
"Megma" is "good."
"Yuka megma" is "no good."
"Yuka megma," "no good." "Megma," "good."
"Megma" is "good." so, this is megma.
What do you do now?
Well, we didn't get any crabs today,
But we had shark and turtle eggs,
So I figured we'd be kicking back.
Until dinner was ready.
I was wrong.
We can go on by dinghy and get some...
Kade: Get in the boat now.
Aneline. Aneline.
All right. So, we're now moving to the next phase.
Of our unplanned series of ongoing fluid adventures.
It involves a boat, a couple of lines, I believe,
And I guess we'll go out a little bit.
I want this dinghy there.
Drag it or to lift it up.
All right. How far out we gonna go?
There. It's not far.
Gah! How does that not hurt your feet, Djambawa?
The plan is simple.
The women, children, and child-like people.
Will stay on the beach making a delicious dinner.
While the brave men take to sea on a perilous voyage.
To catch sharks or man-eating crocodiles.
Or giant squid or something.
Paddle hard! Paddle hard!
Paddle hard?
More! More! More! More! More! More!
Our sea voyage was filled with many challenges,
Intense action, and most importantly...
Puckered lips.
[ whistling ]
That's whistling for a fish. Come.
I've never heard of whistling for fish before, but I like it.
[ whistling continues ]
[ smooches ]
To keep from nodding off, I began to think about.
The deadly saltwater crocodiles.
That infest the bays and inlets around here.
[ whistling continues ]
Crocodiles eat people, you know. You can look it up.
So, I began to wonder.
If one could jump right into our boat...
When suddenly...
What is this? Hey, hey. That looks like something.
We got lucky.
Blue mouth.
Coral fish.
[ sighs ]
Fsk!
[ chuckles ]
He said hit him.
Oh. Well, that'll definitely stun him.
What you're doing right there will absolutely...
Mellow him out.
[ groans ]
[ sucking ]
They're not bad. [ Chuckles ]
Megma. Megma.
Megma.
It means "good." It's good.
Mm.
Eating turtle eggs on a beach with some new friends.
At Yedinya.
At Yedinya. Yeah.
It's important to know where you are.
Seems like the community is starting to warm up to us.
And our cameras.
So, when in rome...
As Djambawa pulled up with his nephew, Nicholas,
We heard some music not currently on the U.S. Top 40.
Okay. Here they come.
The music is from a cd.
That Nicholas composed and performed himself.
[ didgeridoo music plays ]
Good morning. Good morning.
Is that your song? My song.
I love it. It really sounds great.
All right.
We're about 40 minutes... Late.
It's not too bad, actually,
But we got to make a quick pit stop.
The cigarettes are not for me.
They're for another member of our party.
And the only place around here to buy them.
Is this little blue store.
We got a jug of water, we got nine cans of pop,
And we got three packs of smokes, okay?
22 bucks apiece, by the way.
Grand total?
Guess.
Guess again.
No, no, higher.
No, it's a little higher than that.
Ah, I'll just tell you.
Amber gave 'em $100...
And this was the change.
99 bucks.
Nine cans of pop, three packs of smokes,
And a gallon of water.
Finally, we're off to spear stingrays at a remote beach...
Which requires,
another 2-hour adventure in off-road exploration.
I'll tell you what, man... it's very exciting.
If you've never driven through the jungle before.
Trying to keep up with a 4-wheeler,
I recommend it.
So many different things go wrong,
There's no real clear path,
And you never know what you're gonna see...
Lizards, water buffalo,
Trees jumping out from nowhere.
You know?
This is a lot of guesswork, really,
And a lot of shifting on the fly,
A lot of last-minute crazy crap.
Man: Oh [bleep]
Ultimately, I know we're looking for the ocean,
But we've taken so many twists and turns,
I don't know east from west at this point.
Going over a log, guys. This is gonna hurt.
Oh [bleep]
Ohh!
Sorry, fellas.
Zero hope of getting out of this place without help.
Oh [bleep]
Heads up.
Oh, criminitly.
Oh, log.
[ chuckles ] bump.
Leaf, tree.
Mm, leaf, tree, rock, log, indigenous species, killer snake.
It's like that, only it never stops.
It never stops.
God bless. Log.
Branch, rock.
Oh, big log.
Jones, we're going over a log.
I'd like to apologize to your equipment right now.
We're coming into the open, mike.
We're coming into the open? Yeah.
No, really? Here it is.
Oh, it feels like it. It could be. It could be.
Just over this hill.
It's... aah, tree! Oh, wait a minute.
I think I see ocean. I think, I think...
Oh, my god. We're here.
Coming up...
See there? There's a stingray there. See?
For some people,
Spearfishing for stingray comes easy.
For others...
Not so easy.
Miss.
Be good if there was one right here.
Uh-oh. Was that him?
Interesting thing about Australia... the toilets here.
I've been going to many toilets.
For the purposes of research,
And I've been looking for.
A counterclockwise swirling of the water.
This is the commode we've all been sharing.
All of these... I have not seen a toilet in Australia.
That doesn't come with two options...
Option "a" for pee-pee.
And option "b" for poo-poo.
This is a number-one flush.
There's a suction almost like a...
Like an airplane technique, you know?
You flush a toilet up in the airplane, it just... ka-pshhh!
Number two...
So, you can see, it's the same basic thing,
But it's just more of it, obviously.
It's sort of interesting.
[ speaking native language ]
Man: Are we getting back in and moving?
Yeah, yeah. We're going back that way.
Okay. We're moving on.
Get along the road there and give us room.
Are we driving?
Eh? We driving?
We will drive. I will drive.
So, it seems, Dave, we're not here?
Dave: I guess not anymore.
How much farther, you think?
Far? Not far. Not far?
From a production standpoint,
It's impossible to even bring you up to speed.
With what's going on.
It's like Waka is a... he's a fierce hunter,
And he just jumped out with a harpoon.
And just wanted to go fishing right here.
Djambawa, meanwhile... he wants to take us someplace else.
So, half the crew's out with cameras.
The other half's, you know, pissed off.
The other half... well, you can't have three halves,
But you know what I mean.
We're fractured. We're bifurcated.
We're just doing our best to cover what's going on.
Unbelievable.
And ants are crawling up my leg.
Where they came from, I don't know.
All right. So, it looks like Waka, with his spear,
Is going down to the ocean.
Ryan, with his camera, is following him.
In the hopes of capturing some, what we like to call, content.
Kade: Uh, hey, mike,
Are you following us, or did you find another way?
I am right behind... oh [bleep]
I'm right behind Djambawa.
Hang on, kids.
We're here? Djambawa: Yeah.
I think he said, "yeah."
Hard to know.
His lips said, "yes,".
But there was "no, no," in his eyes.
See?
Yeah.
Ay-yi-yi.
Looks like a swell place just to park.
Sure.
Now, it looks like we're here.
[ chuckles ] it'll be interesting to see if we really are.
Man: He's got a spear in his hand, and he's leaving.
Oh, he's got a spear in his hand, and he's running.
[ suspenseful music plays ]
Tell their vehicle turn around now.
Rowe: Eh, communication has broken down a little bit.
Between us.
I think he's impatient now with this whole process.
I don't blame him.
That looks like a face, doesn't it?
The nose?
Miss.
Meanwhile, Ryan watched Waka toss his spear.
Right into the open water.
It was kind of a wild throw,
And Ryan figured Waka was just playing around or warming up.
Amazingly, on the other end of the spear is a big fish.
That's a big mother.
I would have loved to have been there.
And experienced all this firsthand,
But just like yesterday,
Whenever there was action, I was somewhere else.
B-b-b-b!
[ speaks indistinctly ]
Is that the stingray call?
Yeah, yeah. B-b... b-b-b-b!
B-b-b-b! [ speaks indistinctly ]
[ chuckles ]
B-b-b-b! [ speaks indistinctly ]
I wonder how your brother-in-law's doing.
Oh, he's catching a lot up there, maybe.
[ chuckles ] He's having good fun there.
Yep.
Waka was having good fun.
That's a stingray, by the way.
It'd be good if there was one right here...
Like, a stingray right there on the rock.
That would be super convenient.
Some of that. Some of that.
Then we'd be done.
Stingray number 2 for team Waka.
B-b-b-b!
Nothing for team mike.
Hey. Come here.
Yeah?
I think he said, "come here."
See that? There's a stingray there, see?
Yeah, yeah.
Okay. How close can we get?
Not close.
Then you just hold it like this, eh?
Okay. I see him.
Right through the head?
Head, yeah.
All right.
Okay.
You got it. Don't grab it.
Don't gra...
Uh-oh! Was that him?
Djambawa: Here, look. Here, look. Here.
Get him!
How the heck did he get out of that?
I'm sure I had him.
Right there.
Right.
Clear? Close.
There.
There he is.
Miss. Miss. Miss. Miss. There.
Where the heck is he?
All right. Come on. Tough boy.
There.
I see his tail. Straight, straight,
You know, like... Here.
Miss.
How could I be missing? He was right in front of me.
So, he's in here, you think?
Oh!
[ ominous music plays ]
You got him? I got him.
Nice!
I'm glad somebody did.
See, I got him once on the other side, I'm sure.
Hmm. Yeah, look at him.
Well, he's not that impressed. Well, all right.
So, I'd say that's how we do it. That's how he does it.
What I do is a version of it, except I don't hit it. Yeah, I went right.
There's another one... look.
There's another one. Yeah. Great.
It's coming, see?
Go on.
Grab it now. Oh!
Wow. Fast.
[ groaning ]
So, let's summarize.
Waka... two stingrays and a big fish.
Djambawa... one stingray.
Me... zero and something that feels like a broken toe.
Crap.
Djambawa: Take your boots off.
[ groans ]
How do you feel now?
Like $100.
[ chuckles ]
[ chuckles ] the sand's maybe 1,000 degrees,
Maybe more.
Yeah.
Why would I take my shoes off just because he told me to?
That's the real question.
If I haven't already made it abundantly clear,
Tough feet is a huge asset in the bush.
[ sighs ]
[ Djambawa chuckles ]
Yeah, funny.
[ chuckles ] I'll square up with you later.
[ chuckles ]
We'll tell you right after the break.
I can't understand them, either.
[ Djambawa chuckles ] [ rowe sighs ]
Even with my fancy water shoes,
I messed up the toe of my right foot.
[ inhales sharply ]
That guy right there, jacked up.
I think I sprained it. Don't know how.
Man, it aches.
Oh, well.
I don't think there's gonna be a lot of sympathy.
From Djambawa there, so...
Man: Can you drive?
Yeah.
We rejoined Waka and the rest of the group up the beach,
Where they were preparing dinner.
Woman: Oh.
[ sighs ]
What are we working on?
I'm working on a spear.
Uh-huh. I heard you made quite a throw.
You got the fish, yeah? That's right.
We're gonna have to play that back a couple times. [ Chuckles ]
All right, Waka may have speared a big fish.
And landed a couple of stingrays...
But I get to chop 'em up.
No, no, no, no, no.
I show you... like this.
Actually, no. I don't get to chop 'em up.
Djambawa has bigger plans for me involving stingray balls...
That is to say, balls of stingray.
So, if it's skin, it's bad.
If it's cartilage, it's bad. If it's tail, it's bad.
But if it's anything soft and squishy.
That you might want to put in your mouth, it's good.
That goes in here to be lovingly massaged by sam and me.
The trick to delicious stingray balls is,
After mixing the meat...
[ grunts ]
You squeeze out all the water.
I'm wringing the last of the moisture.
Out of the stingray.
Mix everything up a second time...
Didn't we just do this?
And then add the secret ingredient...
All good?
Raw stingray liver.
Then mix in the liver and mold into festive balls.
So, you eat these raw, or you cook these? Huh?
You gonna cook these at all?
No, eat it. Just eat?
You already cooked 'em, yeah. Right?
It's very delicious. Yeah.
I still found a bone.
I still found a bone!
[ chuckles ]
Woman: Sit down there. Sit right here?
Yeah, sit right there. I'm gonna sit right here.
Wait, you're going to burn!
I know... well, you told me to sit there!
[ chuckles ] now it's a thousand degrees.
It's not bad.
The second course of our dinner on the beach is bread.
Trying to keep the sand out.
Making gamba.
That's what I'm doing.
"gamba" is their word for "bread," I think.
I put all this there? Yeah.
Their way of baking here is the same as anywhere else.
This would be bad in a breeze.
The only difference is you put the Dough.
Directly onto the hot sand.
And while you wait for the Dough to rise,
You eat raw shark liver.
You try this liver.
What is... you're giving me liver? Yeah.
Did you have some? Yeah.
How was it?
Megma, good. Megma?
Megma. That means "good," I think.
I didn't see you eat it. You're not teasing me, are you? [ Chuckles ]
I'm not gonna be the only one to eat liver? Try it.
[ speaking native language ] michael, yeah.
Michael.
It's good. Oh, it's burning.
Megma.
That's really good.
That's really good... very creamy and delicious.
Back to baking.
All right. What do I do?
[ speaking native language ]
Cover it with sand?
Yeah. What are you doing?!
You got sand in the bread!
Yeah. Yes, sand in the bread.
All right.
It just feels wrong.
[ laughter ] What?
Push the sand in it?
Really?
Yuka hand!
Oh, oh.
All right.
[ chuckles ]
[ speaking native language ]
Wait!
What?
It's all hot.
[ speaking native language ]
[ laughter ]
I feel as though I've received.
A huge quantity of mixed messages in rapid succession.
The bread is being literally baked in the sand.
George bernard shaw said
"the single biggest problem with communication.
Is the illusion that it's taken place."
Very hot. Very hot.
Well, I'm under no illusion.
Nothing on this trip has gone the way I was told it would.
Then we'll take it around.
And I'm still in the dark.
As to what might happen next.
[ chuckles ]
But I'm not too worried.
I am on a beach, after all,
With shark liver, turtle eggs, stingray, new friends,
And all the bread I can eat.
Who cares if there's some sand in it? [ muffled ] this is really good.
And if I haven't communicated all that properly...
Megma.
Well, there's always next time.
If I don't see you again, I wanted to thank you.
Why?
For having us out, for bringing us here.
No worries.
No, we really, really appreciate it.
This has been amazing.
And if I'm ever in this neighborhood again... My pleasure.
We'll come looking for you and say hello.
Save some for the rest of us, all right?
Yeah. [ Chuckles ]
So, while I was trying to communicate.
Adequate goodbyes and thank-yous to our hosts,
Nicholas was out hunting, and look what he caught.
I guess he's perfected.
The time-honored stingray call of "b-b-b-b!"
Well, thank you. I'm just gonna stand here and look at this.
And imagine that I caught it for a while, okay?
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