Ngaanyatjarra

And, um, so off we went and, um, we got out of town.

After a while, he started singing, just singing softly in the Ngaanyatjarra language.

And then every now and again, Dorothy would give us some information on what the song was about, and it was mainly, um, he would be singing about a particular feature in the landscape, um, related to a creation story or related to the location of a waterhole or, you know, a low range of hills.

But this is a desert, right? So it's t- it's like completely flat.

William is among the first to arrive to shore.

He's greeted by a group of officials from Wollal and representatives of the indigenous Ngaanyatjarra people.

The Ngaanyatjarra play an instrumental role in helping the scientists carry nearly thirty-five tons of equipment across the tumultuous surf.

The precious cargo, much of which was designed specifically for this experiment, is then loaded onto waiting donkey carts, which transport it to a campsite about a mile and a half inland.

As William helps unpack, he inspects the area, squinting to shield his eyes from the plumes of dust that fill the dry air.