Camel Tow

 

It is very difficult to describe the Australian Outback. Most people use terms like desolate, dry, dangerous, or even boring. All of these adjectives have some truth, but they do not adequately convey the experience of driving to the middle of Australia. For many Australians, this drive is an exercise in extreme boredom, but for us it was truly amazing.

To put our trip in a nutshell, we drove from Cairns south to Townsville. From there, we moved west, away from the coastline to Hughendon, then, Mount Isa, then Tennant creek. Here we turned north to Katherine, then Pine Creek. From Pine creek, we took the north eastern route through Kakadu to Darwin, then looped back south through Litchfield National Park finishing the nearly 3000km drive in Darwin.

 

Many of Greg’s colleagues felt that this type of road trip could be quite dangerous, so we always made sure that we had plenty of water, fuel, and the car keys in our pocket. The thought of locking keys in the car (God forbid with Fenton still in the vehicle) was too scary to risk. Despite the hazards and desolation, it was the road trip of our lives. 

Fenton and his daddy looking gangsta

Fenton doing a few pull ups before going down the slide.

We will never complain about the gas prices in Edmonton again.

Pink Panther Roadhouse Pub

Fenton on a walkabout

The following is a list of highlights and qualities that made the trip so unique:

·      The highway was two thin lanes without shoulders. One can see oncoming traffic so far in advance that the risk of passing someone is minimal. 

·      The roads were sometimes quite bouncy for the speed limit and our Spaceship had a few launches.

·      The speed limit was 130 km/h

·       “Road trains” frequent this highway. These big trucks are sometimes over 50 meters long (Olympic swimming pool length) consisting of a semi with 3 or 4 trailers in tow. 

·      The road-kill is absolutely astounding. Although we did not see a single living kangaroo as we drove to the centre of the continent, there was never a kilometer without several dead ones. At one point along the way there was a dead horse with all four legs pointed straight in the air, and the body bloated like a balloon ready to pop.

·      Huge black and brown eagles would crowd on the highway where fresh road-kill was laying. The birds were obviously accustomed to the vehicles, because they would take flight just in time for you to actually see what they were feasting on before it was possible to swerve around the remains.

·      Wintertime is the dry season, and therefore the wildlife is scant compared to what one would see in the summer. However, we did manage to spot several flocks of cockatoos, two emus walking in the middle of nowhere, and two camels towing a man’s truck.

Rose breasted cockatoos

Internet image of emus

We did not take this photo, but this was very similar to the scene we passed on the highway!

·      The sky is amazing. The land is completely flat, so it is possible to see the entire hemisphere of sky. The daytime sky is a blue canvas with beautiful cloud patterns. The sunrises and sunsets cannot be described in words. You just have to see them to understand. The night sky is full of stars and the milky way streams across with the southern cross at the top. The night sky of the southern hemisphere puts our to shame simply because it is the south end of the planet that faces our galaxy.

 

·      As you get more north, the termite mounds get much bigger. We though that they were big when they were as tall as a person, but Kakadu has some mounds that are well over 4 meters high! Sometimes we would see mounds that people have dressed with clothing. It’s funny because we actually thought they were people until we got close.

Some of these mounds take over 80 years to build!

Once in Hughendon, we pulled up to a lovely rustic campsite. This was the night of watching the “State of Origin”, a rugby game (Rugby League, NOT Rugby Union) between the Maroons - players who began their career in Queensland vs. the Blues - those from New South Wales. There are three games in total. Queensland had lost the first game, and the second game was to play that night. The Queensland Maroons had to win the game that night in order to still have a chance to maintain their momentum of victory since 2006.

The camp kitchen turned tavern hours before the game.

Right before the game, there was breaking news that the leader of the country, Julia Gillard – the first Aussie female PM – had been challenged in a leadership race by party member Kevin Rudd. To anyone who had been following politics, this wasn’t a surprise as a federal election is scheduled for September 15 and Gillard’s popularity has been tanking for weeks. At the same time Kevin Rudd has been touring Australia “campaigning” for weeks.  While strategic, it still seemed sudden.   

Before the vote was counted, the news was interrupted by the game. The priorities are clear; rugby first, then politics.

It was such a great night that we ended up giving up our vegetarian diet to join the locals in eating some delicious sausages. As the Queensland Maroons achieved victory, the crowd went wild, then stumbled off to bed to sleep off the beers consumed.

Great Barfier Reef

 

We must apologize for taking so long to post. The internet has been essentially nonexistent or ridiculously expensive. Today, in Darwin, we have managed to get some time on line, so here goes the first post of our two week vacation from Cairns to Darwin…

The Saturday flight to Cairns was remarkably uneventful. Fenton was a dream and the time seemed to pass quickly. Leaving at wee hours of the morning has its benefits allowing us to land with the entire day still ahead of us. We were expecting a pick up from our van rental company – they did not. We took a cab to their address – they moved. When we finally got to the correct location, our van was so disgusting – dirty and smelling of cigarettes – that we had to refuse it. Although they managed to get us an appropriate van, we will never rent from Spaceship again. We drove to the campground and fumbled our way through getting the van set up, made it to a grocery store to load up for the 2 weeks, and realized just how exhausted we were considering none of us had managed to sleep for close to 16 hours.

On Sunday, we decided to head down to the port to get tickets to see the reef. With a young toddler, it made sense to limit our sea travel time as much as possible, so Green Island seemed to be the best place to experience the reef. Green Island is located a short boat trip away on the “inner reef”. It seemed like this was the best of both worlds – a chance to see the Great Barrier Reef in all of its glory without the long journey. We met a wonderful couple on the ferry – Graham and Judy. While Greg was chatting away with Graham, Judy went outside for fresh air. The wind was much stronger than anyone had anticipated and the ride became very rough. It became apparent that many passengers were becoming quite ill. Heather came back from the deck of the ferry with Fenton and suggested that Greg hold Fenton for a while. Greg positioned himself so that he was supported by a bench as the ferry rocked back and forth. As soon as Heather made it to her seat inside the boat, Greg experienced a warm sensation down the back of his shirt followed by the familiar scent of regurgitated dairy product. This was reminiscent of a scene in the movie “Stand by Me” where the character tells a story of a puke–a–thon started by one person vomiting causing a chain reaction throughout the crowd.

Once we arrived at our destination, we wondered how we were going to fair on the submarine tour and the glass bottomed boat. It seemed like a good idea to get onto land and allow our little boy to recover.

We were rather horrified by Green Island. Possibly, our expectations were unrealistic? This is, after all, the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage sight and a wonder of the world. We expected the reef to be managed like a national park. We thought that it would be treated with the same respect as Macchu Pichu. Instead, we experienced a nightclub atmosphere with beach volleyball competitions, Sea Doos racing around, and snorkellers standing on the coral without any supervision or environmental education. It was truly shocking how little regard there was for the fragile ecosystems there.

 

We did give the submarine a try. Unfortunately for us, the tides had made the water rather murky and it was difficult to see much colour. It was still very windy and the water was quite rough. We were able to see a turtle and a fair number of fish before Fenton threw up yet again. We were the only ones on the submarine, so they decided to just take us back to shore, ending the tour after only 10 minutes. Our Great Barrier Reef experience was unfortunately not what we had hoped for but we also recognize that nature can make things less thn optimal for tourists and traveling with a little one can limit what we are able to see.

 

Cairns has a beautiful walk by the ocean, which they call the Esplanade. There are runners, cyclists, families, hippies, shop owners, and musicians all weaving around the area.

We were lucky to see a paramedic helicopter land near the park by the hospital. Fenton, being a big fan of helicopters, was allowed to board this special ambulance while Greg and Heather chatted with the pilot, doctors , and paramedics. There is a massive playground area for families with attached barbeque areas and splash parks. It was truly amazing. Everything was free of charge and an obvious benefit for the community.

 

The next day we took a trip North to see Karrunda and take a short walk to see some falls and then visit a Butterfly Sactuary. Fenton especially liked the butterflies and caterpillars.

Our friends Randall, Karen, Erica, and Krista Ellis from Kelowna showed up on our last night in Cairns. We had the fortune of staying with this family when we attended a trip to Stradbrooke Island sponsored by the Queensland Exchange Teachers League. We have to say that anyone who does an exchange is simply crazy not to take advantage of the opportunities to meet other exchange teachers. Greg had thought that he was alone in finding his assignment so challenging. It turns out that his experience is fairly common and that most exchange teachers find their exchange year the most challenging of their career. It was such a great opportunity to see our friends from Kelowna again. Fenton has been a rather shy little fellow and the Ellis girls have managed to get Fenton to come out of his shell and play. It was such a pleasure to see Fenton having so much fun with the girls and we will miss this family dearly in the next few months. We sat up chatting late with Randall and Karen while the kids slept. We really didn’t want to say “goodbye”. It was so great to spend one final night with them before taking off on the long drive to Darwin.

Next is our drive across the interior of Australia. This is the real outback. We plan to drive through the flat, red, hot dusty desert area where it is dangerous to have a car break down without a good supply of water and food. We look forward to this with a slight trepidation given that we take with us a toddler.

To be continued…