Sunset of an Adventure

 

Here we are in the final two weeks of this grand adventure and I'm becoming reflective about all that we've experienced here in Australia. Thinking about the things that define this country and the things that I've come to love. For instance the scent of eucalyptus which is sometimes so pervasive that it wafts in through the vents while driving. I'm going to miss that scent. And the sunrises and sunsets over wide open spaces..... there's nothing quite like it....... seeing the colours creep into the day or fade away into night.

The Breakawaya-South Australia

We will miss the dramatic landscapes which have appeared on every horizon, every state seems to have its fair share. Gorgeous gorges, beautiful waterfalls, stunning rock formations, the strange moonscapes created in Coober Pedy (the adjectives are not adequate and are often interchangeable, well except for Coober Pedy and nothing really decribes that, we'll give it a try when we get home)

We will miss seeing exotic animals and plants and the signage that accompanies both (beware of ...). Even the trees can be dangerous, particularly gum trees which adapt to seasonal droughts by self pruning and limbs can fall at any time. 

  We have become aware of water issues. We are so spoilt in Canada to have so much water easily accessible. Here it is either to much during the wet season in the north, with some places getting 140 mm a day while central and south/western Australia sometimes doesn't see that much in a year. Southern Australia is full of saltwater lakes and streams so even when you do find water its pretty useless. But Australians are very good about finding creative solutions eg. using grey water, catching rain water whenever possible, limiting showers to 3min in campgrounds.

Floodway marker

Shore of the salt lake

I have gained an appreciation for corrugated iron as a building material but I'll still have to think twice if Dave wants to build the fence with this... .. I don't think it is as affordable in Canada.

We will miss the friendly Aussie's who created our itinerary for us as we went along even if we sometimes didn't quite get what they were talking about at the time. We were told we had to drive the Graydation Rd when visiting Victoria. We had some trouble locating it on our map but we did find the Great Ocean Road which is a coastal route that is highlighted in every travel itinerary for visitors to Victoria. We were lucky enough to have sunny clear days while driving this reknown coastal route to Melbourne.

The Twelve Apostles - Great Ocean Road - Victoria

Drizzly, wet and grey in the Melbourne area today.......reminds me of home....and it's time to start thinking about getting organized for the trip home. The days will go by quickly now. We're doing an olive oil course in Melbourne this week. Then up to the Blue Mtns .....3hrs out of Sydney.... where we'll be visiting two more olive growers before returning the van to Sydney.

A trip like this always ends with mixed feelings. Part of me doesn't want it to end and the the other part is so ready to go home. Can't wait to see you all........

The Red Cntre -Part Two

Ochre Pits, West MacDonnel Range

Waterhole at Ormiston Gorge, West MacDonnell's-very cold.

playing marbles at the Devils Marbles

King's Canyon

Simpson Desert

Love the flowers and the red sand

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Hiking the Pound at Ormiston Gorge- the riverbed wasn't quite dry enough needed to swim a section of this trail.

Uluru at sunset.

Valley of the Winds in the Olgas - I'd live here after a wet year.

The Red Centre

We thought Uluru(Ayers Rock) would take us a couple of days and that would be it for the Red Centre. Well there is a whole lot more to the Red Centre.......theWest and East MacDonnell Ranges, Kings Canyon, the Hennebury Crater, Kata Tjuta(the Olgas), Devils Marbles..... so we've managed to stretch a couple of days into two weeks. We've hiked escarpments, along dry river beds, mountain ranges and ridges, through gaps, gorges and chasms and each one is unique in its geological make up. We've seen Australia's grand canyon......enough you say.....and then there's the Simpson desert those beautiful red sand dunes.

It seemed as soon as we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn it turned cold. We arrived in Alice Springs under cloudy skies, the odd rain shower and cool temperatures. We packed away our shorts, sandals and the mosquito netting and “rugged up” as they say here..... layers just like we do at home. At night we closed up all the windows to keep out the drafts and mice instead of opening all the windows and doors to increase air flow...... how quickly things change. We had a week of cloudy weather but then the sun and blue skies returned..... feels like October in the Okanagan. Some mornings we wake up to frost but usually it always warms up during the day. Even with the cooler temperatures campgrounds are busy ....... if I was at home I might consider this weather to cold for camping.

We arrived in Alice Springs es were showing up for this race, dirt bikes, trucks, dune buggies etc... We thought it would be best to head out of town so we headed for the mountains and much to our surprise there was a music festival being held at one of the gorges. We thought much to cold for sitting outside listening to music but then usually it's not this cold and the temperatures did improve for the weekend. We arrived just before the crowds so we had a campsite and stayed put.

The outstanding feature for us has been the colours here...... the rocks, the water, the trees, the earth, the sand.....colour everywhere. The place is alive with colour, it's an artists paradise. This year they've had more rain in the desert than most years and this has resulted in more green in the landscapes and an unusual amount of desert flowers that are blooming. My fascination with birds shifted to desert flowers; they're easier to photography. Dave is a little disappoi 2western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And then of course there is the rock......Uluru which We visited at sunset, sunrise and midday, viewed close up, from afar and circumnavigated by foot and by car. Each time it was the same but different. The walk around the base took us 3 hours and was a very satisfying experience. Each side has unique features some of which had to be appreciated from afar and some of which you get up close to and touch..... we thought we would be walking along and be able to run our fingers along the rock all the way.... silly us. The aborigines have requested visitors choose not to climb the rock but it remains a choice and so many visitors do climb the rock. The aboriginals believe this to be a place of power and all around the rock there are sacred sites which are not to be photographed. They believe that it is their responsibility to take care of this site and educate as to it's cultural signifigance and value. Failure to do so may have repercussions for them and visitors as well. So it was disturbing to see so many people climbing the rock. It iting sand and it then being compacted. We'll have to do some research as there was a lack of scientific explanation at the site.

People speak of becoming very emotional when visiting Uluru. I was waiting for such a response and Dave was hoping Uluru would sing to him but it didn't happen for either of us. After our walk around Uluru a strange thing did happen. We went back to our campground to do laundry and relax for the afternoon. Dave went to lock the vehicle and the key did not come back out......the spare key was inside the vehicle. We had to call AAA (BCAA) to break into the vehicle so our afternoon was spent making phone calls and waiting. Very strange ....the next morning we took it into the auto shop where they had to take the door apart to get the key out. We are using the key again but the spare key is now with us at all times. Was it magic..... the powe n a few things.

Happy summer solstice everyone, I'm sure you'll be feeling sorry for us down under having to celebrate winter sostice again. Sorry no pics having trouble with the image uploader?? Will try again later...

June 20th, Port Augusta, the Happy Wanderers

The Top End Aborginal Australia

Coming up to six weeks of being on the road and there are a few things I'm geting used to other than living out of a small camper van which took some getting used to.

For instance the night sky .......seeing the Southern Cross and the star constellations around it. It's getting dark before 7:00pm so I can watch the stars come out. Sunshine, sunshine and more sunshine, can't remember when we last had rain. Getting used to being hot and sticky and the buzz of mosquitos. Smoke and or fire along with burnt landscapes. Early in the dry season they use fire as a way to manage the forests and avoid hot burns later in the season that will do more damage to the forest and animal habitats. So rangers and aborignal stewards are starting grass fires in designated areas in the parks, range land and aboriginal lands. The result is smoke everywhere ..... it makes for some pretty spectacular red sunsets. Reminds me of those Okanagan summers when its been a bad forest fire season with the ever present smoke haze. Geting used to road trains which were pretty scary in the beginning. Driving on the left side of the road and traffic circles..... they have a lot of them here.

Surprised that we had to get used to not having recycling but we still seem to carrry recyclables around for an unreasonably long time. Getting used to seeing a lot of kangroos and wallabies unfortunately to many as “road kill”. Becoming familiar with crocodile safety. Finding idylic springs in the most unexpected places....... the water here seems to come from nowhere bubbles up from the earth flowing over the rocks filling pools and waterholes that are safe for swimming. Some are mineral springs, some are thermal springs but the landscape is jam packed full of crystal clear springs. Rivers on the other hand are most often murky and muddy full of fish as well as crocs. This year with the high water some of the crocodiles have moved into areas that are normally croc free but the rangers are doing a good job setting up traps and closing these areas to the public until they can ensure the publics safety. (They sample until they don't catch crocs for “a while”, then itis safeunless someone spots another one??) This has resulted in some closures of campgrounds and trails which we would have liked to visit but we're seeing and experiencing enough. We're getting used to raucous bird calls sometimes even at night. And once these noisey birds turned out to be flying foxes (fruit bat). We are getting pretty good at identifying birds. Getting used seeing colourful birds.... the azure kingfisher being one of the most beautiful. Red cliffs, red dirt and red rocks that define the landscape. Every National Park.....Nitmiluk, Kakadu, Litchfield....... has featured rock formations that are both ancient and are the home and shelter of the aboriginal people of these lands for thousands of years. Their stories are painted on the rocks. They are places of power, spiritual and sacred their cultural significance is as important today as it was thousands of years ago. One such place is Ubirr in Kakadu park where we ended up climbing to the top for sunset and there were at least a hundred other people there to watch sunset .......groups of quiet, reflective people..... all of us there for the same reason captured by the power of the place. There is much to learn here. The parks are jointly managed by the government and its traditional people. Things have not worked out along the lines of the service work /volunteering I had hoped to do so I am getting used to the idea of a road trip and a life of leisure. So we're off to see the desert the wonderful centre of this country. The Happy Exploreres/Wanderers

The Outback - Savannah Way to the Top End

another curtain fig

To experience the outback we took the road less traveled..... the Savannah Hwy. To leave the coast and the rainforest the road winds its way up to the Atherton Tablelands where you suddenly emerge from the rainforest onto a plateau .......sprawling farmland where they grow coffee, tea, peanuts, hay, sugar cane, bananas etc. They did dam a river to control the flooding and build an irrigation system that without which they probably wouldn't be able to grow half the crops that they do. Slowly this turns into endless grasslands and grazing lands leased by the ranchers. Traffic became less, braham herds became more..... sometimes on the road with us. These roads seem to be traveled by less tourists and more Australians headed for the rich fishing grounds in the north.......checkout barramundi, the fish of choice for most Australians, similar to our halibut. Or “gray nomads” as they like to call themselves......retired folks that now have time to explore their country and of course they're seeking warmer weather trying to escape the southern winter. Australians understand camping gear , we've never seen such elaborate camp set ups, that pack up so small and are so versatile. Most drive 4wds with snorkels for when they have to ford flooded roads and lets them access all the national parks......lots of dirt tracks to some incredible places..... reminds me of the north west territories. We are not driving a four wheel drive. In general Australians are very welcoming and friendly but we found the further we got into the outback the friendlier the people... it can be a very lonely place.... we had days where we met no more than five vehicles on the road. But invariably when we arrived at the roadhouse (most roadhouses have a campground attached to it) there would be lots of friendly, chatty travellers. These folks have been a great resource and of course we've invited them all to come visit us in Canada. We've also met an interesting array of international students and backpackers who find employment at these isolated roadhouses. There must be some network.... what happens is they commit to 4 months work and then continue their travels.

Termite mounds “castles” have been a constant in our travels. The construction has somewhat changed over the 2400kms but they've consistently dotted every landscape excepting the wetlands. Apparently every so often there will be an unusually wet year......like this last year was...... and the termites know when it's coming. So if the meterologists would have watched the termite mounds they would have noticed a special cap being built to prepare for the flooding...... the aboriginals knew this.

It's hard to believe how much water flows this land during the wet season but the evidence is on the trees where you can see the high water mark and on the roads and bridges that they're busy repairing and rebuilding.

three trailers full of stock

The birds continue to be a very interesting aspect. We've traveled through beautiful wetlands watched tall cranes dance away from us.....possibly a mating dance. Birds of prey that are so numerous..... eagles, hawks, falcons, kites.......because of the abundance of food. Herons, ducks and kingfishers.... different from what we're used to but identifiable all the same. Black and white cockatoos, colourful green parakoots.... but unfortunately my wildlife photography has not improved and often when you're driving by the time you stop and focus the camera the moment has passed.

The helicopter seems central to the Australian outback. There is one stationed at every roadhouse to take tourists for an arieal view of the landcape. The ranchers use them for checking on their stock and to muster their herds. We saw a lone bull being rounded up by helicopter. They use them to monitor grassland burns and wildfires. Helicopters everywhere.

We welcomed the cooler nights of the outback although the daytime temperatures still reached mid thirties now we're back to the sweltering humidty of the top end of the Northern Territory and the termite mounds have gotten even bigger and magnetic....... yes magnetic but also magnificent. In case you thought the brain was melting away. The Sometimes Lonesome Wanderers Darwin, Tuesday May 31,2011