Chapter 729: Dangerous Australia
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
They ate dinner until the moon was high up in the sky. That was to say, if the moon could have been seen.
Li Du looked up at the sky and found it strange. "Mr. Pickett, it was sunny during the day. Why is it cloudy at night?"
He had heard about the beauty of Australia"s starry sky. He had specifically timed his visit so he could see the autumn sky in Australia.
As a result, he was disappointed that he did not see even a single star.
Pickett, the boss, served himself a kangaroo steak and said, "There"s a big storm coming. Didn"t you see the weather forecast before you came?"
Li Du looked at Hans. Hans shrugged. "What I saw was fine weather, and I swear I saw fine weather forecast for several days."
Pickett laughed. "Of course, of course. These are the days it"s clear in the day, but it"s cloudy at night."
His wife added, "It"s supposed to be a big storm, with the weather forecast warning people to pay attention to scheduling."
Li Du was a little depressed, not expecting bad weather on their first trip to Australia.
The weather in Australia was different from that in China and the United States because Australia was surrounded by the sea.
But the weather report Hans had seen was correct. The weather during the following days was fine and sunny.
They stayed in Canberra for three or four days and then split up.
Hans and Sophie continued to stay in Canberra for a while, and Brother Wolf had an appointment with a top dermatologist who would treat Ivana. They planned to continue to traveling around Canberra until her consultation was over. Then they would travel north to Sydney.
Li Du, G.o.dzilla, Big Quinn, and Lu Guan went to Melbourne to learn about fis.h.i.+ng for black gold abalone and to prepare to work in the sea.
In mid-march, the group separated and continued their respective journeys. Li Du and his group rented an off-road vehicle and took three small cars to the south.
Like Canberra, Melbourne was a big city.
Many foreigners had heard of Sydney, but not Melbourne, which was the capital of Victoria, Australia"s second largest city.
The city was Australia"s cultural and industrial center. It was the most famous cultural city in the southern hemisphere and was built on a mountain from Canberra along the Australian Mountains all the way to the south. Melbourne was the largest city that could be seen from the ocean.
Along the way, there were only a few pa.s.sers-by, cars, and buildings. Australia was arguably the least populous developed country in the world.
When Li Du drove in the United States, he had thought a lot of rural roads there were spa.r.s.ely populated, but he found that Australian roads were even more spa.r.s.ely populated.
The scenery along the way was currently more beautiful than that in the United States.
The reason for that might have been the change in seasons from winter to summer. The trees in Australia were green, and the flowers were rich and lush.
As they approached Melbourne, Li Du said, "Great view, huh?"
Lu Guan replied, "Of course, Melbourne has a green land rate of up to 40 percent. It has won the UN habitat award and has been rated as the world"s most livable city by the UN for many years."
Li Du looked at him and said, "You seem to know a lot about this place."
"I did my homework, boss," Lu Guan said proudly. "Now I"m an expert on Australia."
"Well, Mr. Aussie, where shall we eat at noon?" asked Li Du.
"Wait for a while more," Lu Guan said. "It"s the suburbs of Melbourne. I expect to see a lot of restaurants."
Li Du hissed, "You expect? What if you made a mistake? We will die of hunger if we expect something that is not there. Maybe we should find a place to eat around here."
G.o.dzilla pointed to the trunk and said, "I"ve got kangaroo jerky, beer, and some water."
There were gas stations and convenience stores on the side of the road. They stopped at one of them, and went in and bought bread, hot dogs, ham, canned food, and snacks.
Lu Guan asked the convenience store clerk if there was a campsite nearby. The clerk pointed and said, "The sandy areas can be used for picnics, and there is water nearby."
They walked back with their food, and then walked nearly a kilometer before they found the "sandy area" mentioned by the clerk. It was a large area with a well for water between a pile of rocks.
Big Quinn leaned over and looked in the well. "Be careful, you"ll fall," said Li Du, trying to scare him.
The big black man smiled and said, "I won"t. I"m just checking to see if there are any fish or frogs in it. We"re lucky, there are frogs in it. The water is fine."
The four worked together. Big Quinn picked up the meat and food, G.o.dzilla and Lu Guan went to gather some firewood, and Li Du did the cooking.
He opened the black hole and took out some spices and vegetables. He quickly cut them up and threw them into the pot.
Later on, if someone wondered where the vegetables had come from, he could just say he brought dehydrated vegetables. It was an easy explanation.
Big Quinn prepared to build a stove. He lifted a stone. Ah Meow, who was next to him, rushed up and used his paws to toss something long away.
Li Du and Big Quinn didn"t respond. They couldn"t see what it was until it landed. It was a snake.
The men cursed.
"Holy sh*t!"
"F**k!"
The snake was quite large, about a meter and a half long. It was thick and had a broad head, a pale orange appearance, and greenish-yellow markings. It coiled immediately after it landed, aiming its head toward them and probing with its tongue.
As its head moved back and forth, its originally flat neck swelled. Li Du and Big Quinn shouted at the same time, "Cobra!" and "The Australian tiger snake!"
This was a cobra. Its specific ident.i.ty was the Australian tiger snake. It was a large snake in the subtropical region of Australia, and a unique group in the cobra family that could often be quite large compared to other types of cobra.
Generally, the body color of tiger snake was olive, dark yellow, orange-brown and black, accompanied by yellow-green, gray or orange, with brown rings.
Li Du only recognized it as a cobra but did not recognize its species. When Big Quinn said it was an Australian tiger snake, he nervously asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, that"s the tiger snake, d*mn it. We"re in trouble!"
The tiger snake apparently didn"t want to just leave them be. After winding its body, it slowly flattened itself and tightened its muscles. Its black eyes stared at Ah Meow.