To answer your question directly, "sampling" does not mean "trying." It means "trying out samples of."

If you visit an ice cream parlor that serves 21 different flavors, you can ask the attendant to serve you samples of a few flavors that seem worth tasting so you can decide which one is the most delicious. The attendant will give you a spoonful of this and a spoonful of that until you make up your mind. You are trying out samples. You are sampling.

The person in your question is perusing Australian culture. He is trying out thong throwing. It is a game, so he tries it out by participating in it. He is apparently trying out other aspects of traditional Australian culture:

" . . . and I am sampling traditional Australian culture."
وأنا أُجرِّب ألواناً من الثقافة الأسـترالية التقليدية