Sunset at Uluru (Ayers Rock)
We're back in Sydney (chilly) after a 7,500km road trip in our camper van from Perth to Darwin (with a few side trips), a ride in the Ghan train from Darwin to Alice Springs and a flight back here.
The camera has swallowed all the pics on our 500mb memory card (before we could do a CD back-up) and the gods of Olympus are trying to retrieve them. We gulp and wait for good news.
Also, like all quality (?) publications, we've decided it's time to give our blog a new look.
The West Coast was magnificent: snorkelling a few meters from our camping spot on a deserted beach near Denham, seeing the dolphins being fed (in the nicest, conservation-minded way) at Monkey Mia, swimming with a whale shark on the Ningaloo reef (despite being so sea sick that I was throwing up under water next to this largest of sea animals), fooling around with a hobycat in the tropical-island waters of Broome, BBQing on fires for which we collected our own wood in free-range campsites. I should probably catch my breath and start a new sentence.
Renting (for only A$160) a kayak and camping equipment, including cooking utensils, waterproof plastic pots for clothes etc and a swag (a thick, canvas uber-bag with a thin mattress into which you slide your sleeping bag, allowing for some amazing star spotting but rather sleepless nights due to Australian night bush noises - is it a croc or a dingo. Boy, are we pathetic.)
Fantastic trip, though, just the two of us, 53km in three days down the River Orde from Lake Argyle near the border with the Northern Territory to Kununnara. Setting up camp, scouting for fire wood stomping around in sandals and shutting down the part of the brain that contemplates the presence of Aussie snakes, incidentally the same cerebral function that allows for swimming (nudie) in the river with freshwater crocodiles (freshies).
Correction
After my previous rant about BBQing in Oz, matters improved. Obviously the further north (ie furthest away from Pansyland) the more they welcome barbecuers.
Bearing in mind the number of crazy people in the Outback who want to dispose of folk of British descent (Coups, not me) we reluctantly decided to overnight where others do (which unfortunately means caravan parks). That is, until we discovered that fantastic Aussie institution, the free camping spot. Rudimentary - the upmarket ones come with smelly long drop - but normally in quite a nice spot, near a river etc and always next to the road - they allow people to break their journey in this country of huge distances. And you're allowed to make a fire. So a typical driving day would see us stopping a few kilometres before the free stop to collect wood, then getting to the free site, picking your spot and making fire right next to the van. I was in heaven.
We stayed in official caravan parks when we had to top up the power for our fridge battery and laptop. (Yes, we travelled with a laptop, as ladies do. Or rather, birds who forgot their i-pod speakers and inexplicably lost the i-trip frequency settings.) And when we needed a shower, of course (every 3 to 4 days).
Simpson's Gap - a day trip out of Alice Springs
The local wildlife
Apart from close-up encounters with whale sharks and dolphins, and the omnipresent kangaroos/wallabies, we had a number of interesting sightings of the indigenous fauna.
On the beach in the unforgettable Cape Range National Park (Exmouth and the Ningaloo Reef), we spent a sleepless night due to the incessant rustling that was the invasion of the little fucker mouse (a new species, discovered by me that night).
The first fucker we caught, or rather s/he caught him/herself in the rubbish bag and couldn't get out. I made the fatal mistake of setting him (I'm sure it was a him) free, because he returned with his family and a few neighbours. After turning on the light at 3am for the 20th time, I spotted 4 of the said species scuttling for safety. A plague following some heavy rain, said the ranger. So the next night we wedged in our ear plugs and slept like babies.
Leaving Cape Range behind (the most amazing snorkelling at Turquoise Bay - coral, turtles, enormous sea snails, rays), our next overnight spot was in the Karijini National Park, 400km further inland and with fantastic gorges. But with a little snag: one little fucker forgot to leave the bus 400km back. He stayed with us for a further two nights (we wore our ear plugs again) and then disappeared - we still wonder what happened to him.
Then there are, of course, crocodiles (north of Broome, really). As with all things Australian, they've acquired diminutives. Salties for saltwater crocs and freshies for the other lot. The salties eat people, the freshies don't. The authorities tell you they track the salties, but nature being what it is, they can't legislate for the odd one slipping through. Fortunately, we experienced no slippage.
The Olgas - rock formations not too far from Ayers Rock
Plain sailing
The end of the road was Darwin (hot and humid - winter is a non-existent concept), and we were very sad to leave our mobile home. We'd grown used to living in such a small space - and in fact did not eat in a restaurant once, we were so into cooking and bbqing at home. Only once did we buy a glass of wine in a bar - although how much we had around the open fire is another matter.
After changing vans on day 2, we had no further mechanical problems, not even a flat tyre. But on entering the Northern Territory we got 4 chips within half an hour in the windscreen from stones flicked up by road trains (53m long mega-trucks), but at A$190 it didn't break the bank and we were very glad we didn't spend nearly $700 on top-up insurance.
The Ghan train from Darwin was interesting and fun - we regretted not being able to afford a sleeper couch but didn't complain about sitting upright for 24 hrs.
Alice Springs is disappointingly big, modern and efficient but it has a good vibe, great Aboriginal art galleries and fantastically clean air. We did a 45 kilometre cycle ride, slept a lot (with ear plugs - it was a backkpackers) and then went on a 3-day backpackers tour of Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) and Kings Canyon. Despite there being 22 people on the tour, we laughed a lot, slept under the stars in our swags (very very cold) and made huge camp fires. And it was without a doubt the cheapest way of seeing what we saw.
Round circle
So here we are in Sydney after our 7-week adventure. It's cold, but we're by the sea (staying in the kind Sal and Ros's house and waiting to look after their dog Mr Fleagal once he returns from his holidays.) While we're chaperoning Mr F we're doing a sailing course (24ft-er) that will allow us to hire a boat of up to 12m in quiet waters (Greece). Two weeks of skiing in New Zealand at the end of the month, wedding in Melbourne in mid-August. And then it's off to India, Nepal and Tibet, but more about our plans in a later blog.
Lesbians of Arabia
