Subscribe to this blog30 October 2008
Of cameras in Perth and Italian food in Melbourne
Arriving into Perth, the temperatures dropped quite a bit and I started to feel cold for the first time in months. It is actually amazing how a couple of hundred kilometers can shift weather patterns from a two seasons' climate ("wet" and "dry") to four seasons. So here I am in an early spring day, using my sweater from Mongolia again. But then, the sun is actually out and the skies are blue. If I would be blunt, then I might say that Perth hasn't changed much over the period of twelve years since I last visited. But that might offend locals and I think that I spotted a couple of new streets, sights and store displays. The bell tower being the most obvious new tourist sight. During my stay, I bought a new camera, since my old one was suffering from a couple of mechanical problems. I went through sand storms and the poor "old lady" (as I called my Sony Cybershot DSC W200) had more and more difficulties to take decent pictures - or even open its lens cover and extend the lens. Although I got attached to this pocket sized camera, the 3x optical zoom had always been a bit of a let down - especially when taking landscape pictures.
Therefore, I was looking for something more substantial, without the need of having to carry around a single-lens reflex camera and its various lenses. I am simply not that much interested in photography. So I went for the Sony DSC H50. Going for this model of Sony, I'm able to reuse all equipment (memory stick, charger, batteries and cables). With a 15x zoom, it really does a descent job in framing the parts of the landscape that I like. Wish I'd bought this camera before. There are a couple of nifty things that are real improvements when taking pictures: The tilting display, shutter speeds up to 1/4000 and direct access buttons for features I would have to go through deep menus on the old camera. Unfortunately, there is also useless stuff that clutters the menus. I don't need a smile detector (needed in case the photographer goes brain-dead while taking the picture) or an infrared night shot mode (can't remember when I last wanted to take pictures inside a dark cinema).
I did a side trip to Fremantle, south of Perth, which would give me some possibilities to try out this camera. This is the place where people from the big city hang out on week-ends. It's the kind of shiny, well groomed and sterile Disneyland which usually puts me off. This time, I was so busy taking pictures and trying out that fantastic new zoom lens, that I honestly did not have time to see the city. After a couple of days I left Perth to fly to Melbourne and visit Jace and Ania with whom I had travelled through Mongolia earlier this year. The journey with the budget airline "Jet Star" was smooth. Since all budget airlines provide similar qualities in-flight, I definitely do value the parts of the trip which really matter: Check-in was professional, swift and very friendly. I did not have to wait too long for my luggage upon arriving in Melbourne. Thus, this was a perfect trip meeting my needs. Another budget carrier is "Tiger Airways". I flew with them out of Bangkok to Darwin (via Singapore). They ask passengers to be two hours prior to the flight at the airport. However, since their check-in counters open only 90 minutes before - having only two clerks handling a full load of passengers for a A320 Airbus plane - I hardly enjoyed that trip. It seemed to me that I was queuing all day long with them.
After arriving in Melbourne, Jace and Ania welcomed me at their new home. I was given some insight into the local night-life and food. The current hype seems to be "Parma" which looks like an italian "Piccata Milanese" except that you would find chips underneath the meat (instead of pasta). I knew "Parma" from the famous "Parma Ham" (or Prosciutto) - however since everybody ordered this, I went with the flow. And it was tasty, a huge portion and inexpensive. This event showed me, that I probably missed out a lot of local food, just because Australians love to label food differently. Obviously, the stay in Melbourne was very nice, although all places I wanted to visit (the railway museum and the tram museum) were closed. But Jace and Ania took good care of me and it was a bit sad that I had to leave so early after staying there for only two days - but the travel has to go on. Armed with information from Jace (and other Kiwi backpackers I met back in Perth) about New Zealand, I boarded my flight to Auckland. But that's another airline story to tell...
Labels: Australia
posted by Reto at
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25 October 2008
October in Review: More Pictures
By clicking on the respective album picture below, you should be taken to a small selection of exclusive pictures which I have taken during the month of October while traveling from Darwin to Perth, then Melbourne in Australia.
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| Australia |
Older monthly reviews:
September 2008: Laos
August 2008: Cambodia, Bangkok
July 2008: China's East, Uzbekistan reloaded
June 2008: China's West, Central China
May 2008: Siberia, Gobi desert, Beijing/Pingyao/Xi'an
April 2008: Moscow, Uzbekistan
Labels: Australia, Principality of Hutt River
posted by Reto at
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23 October 2008
Lord of the flies in Cervantes
The stay in the backpacker lodge in Cervantes was a very quiet one. After having been to so many party hostels in Australia, this was definitely a welcomed change. I stayed there for two nights and had the dorm room to myself. We were a handful of guests in this beautiful environment.The reason to visit the town of Cervantes is a visit to the nearby Pinnacles Desert, located within the Nambung National Park. The Pinnacles are in fact limestone peaks that were created through time by sea, sand and various layers of vegetation. Formed underneath some sand dunes, they are exposed by the fact that the dunes "wander" by wind relocating the sand cover.
Upon arrival at the National Park, we learned that the information center in the park just had opened this very day and we were the first visitors to see the in-depth information presented there. And there was more luck in store that day: Although it was raining throughout the day, the clouds cleared as the sunset was about to happen. Which gave us a spectacular array of colours and light. Even our tour guide would take out his camera and sit with us to make loads of pictures.Back in the hostel, we went to visit the beach of Cervantes. Still being on West Australia's Coral Coast, the views were obviously magnificent and I decided to bum at the beach next day (a first). Next day, I strolled the few meters from the breakfast table to the sandy beach and discovered, that once again, the Australian bush flies pestered me. Once in the water, the problem is gone as the flies don't like it out there. However, it was simply impossible to lay down in the sand and relax in the sun.
Most tourists who traveled through Australia - especially the Outback - will remember the flies being quite a nuisance. Since the female flies need protein from tears, saliva, mucus and from blood of fresh cuts, they land on the human skin in dozens. Probably they also think that we would poo like a cow and consequently some of them are in a constant flight holding pattern humming around the body. I found out that smaller bush flies are more frantic and persistent. In one of the hostels, there was a posted note about the reason why Australia hosts so many flies. However, I don't know whether this is an anecdote or the plain facts: As the first colonists arrived on the continent, they brought cows and bulls with them. As most bush flies breed in cow dung, there is nothing that stopped them from multiplying excessively. Australia has more than 20 million cattle which each drops around twelve "pads" per day. Each cow pad can breed about 2000 flies. Do the math and you see the problem.
However, when I arrived back from the beach that day, a mother Kangaroo would graze with her child in the hostel's garden. Both were completely unimpressed by me approaching them for taking a couple of pictures. But they left some "dung" after leaving, which again will help breeding even more flies.Definitely, Cervantes was a very relaxed place and I can recommend this to anyone seeking a bit of relief from all the travel stress in other tourist places. It was a good place to finish reading my second book on this journey: "Australia's worst disasters". A good primer of parts of the Australian recent history and what is considered important to the people in this country, especially since most of these disasters were unknown to me with my European tunnel-vision. Having a considerable aviation background (and being an Antarctica buff), I was especially surprised reading in this book about a fatal flight disaster of a DC-10, which crashed in the Antarctica. This was absolutely new fact for me. Therefore, I highly recommend this book, if you want to learn more about this part of the world.
Labels: Australia
posted by Reto at
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20 October 2008
Hard Target: Kalbarri and the Principality of Hutt River
Given the fact that there was no day tour to the Kalbarri National Park from Geraldton, I backtracked a bit north with my Rucksack and decided to stay in the beautiful beach town of Kalbarri. This actually proved to be a good decision, since the hostel there was very beautiful and well maintained - despite all the big crowds arriving and leaving every day. On arrival, did stretch my legs on the beach and afterwards went to visit the Pelican feeding.Although Kalbarri is in a similar setting as Denham, the tours leaving from these hubs are very different. Both towns are small and have a cozy tourist area along the sandy beach. However, while animals are the major theme in Denham (Shark Bay) - the focus in Kalbarri lies more in its unique geological and botanical features.
In the south, some coastal gorges (Red Bluff, Pot Alley Gorge, Rainbow Valley, Eagle Gorge, Shell House, Mushroom Rock and Island Rock with the Natural Arch) gave me enough spectacular views to keep me busy for the day. In fact, the ocean here did carve out large pieces of the limestone coast by creating high cliff formations and weird looking shapes. There are a couple of secluded beaches along this 22km long coastline in the south. North of Kalbarri town, the Kalbarri National Park (covering 180'000 hectares) is a major Western Australian scenic spot. I decided to include a visit to the park's places during the next day, when I would rent a car to go to the 'Principality of Hutt River', Austalia's second largest country. Created by a farmer who opposed the new wheat quotas of the Australian government, he did find a loophole in the legal system of the British Commonwealth. Consequently, he seceded his farmland from Australia on 21st of April 1970.
Although many government lawyers tried to overturn his new country, it seems that the farmer, who calls himself 'HRH Prince Leonard', really knew how to exploit the constitution. 38 years later, his 'Principality of Hutt River' still exists. It was back in the 70's when I first had seen a short report on German TV about this stubborn farmer, who even stamps their visitors passports with visas. I then decided to see that place, whenever I'd be in the region. It took me five trips to Australia and two trips to Western Australia to make it there - the first trip where I finally have a voice and can visit some the weird stuff that is on my personal shortlist and not on someone else's.This said, I expected the visit to the Hutt River Province to be no more than a simple visit to a weird farm station in the middle of the Western Australian wheat belt. So did the other four backpackers, who were joining me during this trip. Once there in the Principality, various buildings, such as a post office and government house, a tea room, souvenir shop and a church do serve as the country's infrastructure. His royal highness prints his own money and postal stamps. And letters seemingly get delivered. Apparently, the Australian Post would not accept his stamps in the early days of the Principality. So the postmaster from the Principality of Hutt River would have to bulk-mail all post to Canada, where it was accepted for further processing. These days, the postal situation has vastly improved and the Australian Post now accepts mail bearing the neighbouring country's stamps.
Other fun facts are on display at the souvenir shop, where various news articles from all over the world (and over the time span of 38 years) are shown on the walls. Most notably, the acquisition of British tanks by the Principality's ambassador to Las Vegas, made some news headlines (and makes visitors smile). After that refreshing short stop, where most of us had our passports stamped, we continued to the Kalbarri National Park which includes the Murchison River Gorges, the Loop, Z Bend, Hawkes Head Lookout and Ross Graham Lookout. Geologists do estimate that these sandstone walls were created 400 million years ago along the tidal coastline of an ancient sea. Along the river, many fossil tracks (and sea fossils) can be found. However, we only got glimpses at parts of these sights and decided halfway through to head back to the hostel in Kalbarri. It was too hot, too many flies and we simply had driven too many kilometers that day. Proves that sometimes a tour programme can be too big.
Labels: Australia, Principality of Hutt River
posted by Reto at
12:44
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17 October 2008
The life aquatic in Geraldton
Geraldton is a mid-size town (20'000 people), located on the shores of the central west coast of Australia. Here, cray fishing is one of the bigger businesses and consequently the backpacker place I stayed in was full of fishermen. All activities here are based around fishing. People who love to sit on a yacht out in the sea will find this a perfect spot to stay for a couple of days.What lured me into Geraldton was the prospect of making this a hub to explore the Kalbarri National Park in the north and the Pinnacles in the South. At least this is what tourist brochures of the various hostels suggest.
However, there is almost no tourist scene and all these side trips seem to have been abandoned. There was no way to park my swag for a couple of days in one place and do day trips to these sights. Therefore, I decided to backtrack north to the Kalbarri National Park and stay there - before heading south again to Cervantes to see the Pinnacles. While waiting two days for the bus to arrive, I made the best out of it and visited the town.
There has actually a substantial renovation project been done, with nice pedestrian areas and parks along the beaches. Although this is not a major tourist spot, the town definitely has its charm and a couple of worthwhile sights. The towns' history is greatly influenced by 17th century explorers from the Netherlands - some being successful navigators on their ships, while others weren't so lucky.One of these ships, the 'Batavia', became infamous after it wrecked on the Abrolhos islands, located 60km off the coast of Geraldton. This archipelago hosts 122 islands, claimed to be much more beautiful than the Great Barrier Reef on the other side of the continent.
On 4th of June 1629, the Dutch East India ship 'Batavia' ran aground on one of the Abrolhos reefs. Most of the crew and passengers made it
to the various islands, but fresh water supply was a major problem. As the weeks passed, some of the survivors started to attack their neighbors stranded on the other islands. As if this territorial conquest on a microscopic scale wasn't enough, one of the group's leaders - who obviously had become mad - ordered older women and children to be executed. As the story unfolds (much better told than by me in this great book: 'Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny'), murder, debauchery and rape reigned among the survivors. The captain of the 'Batavia' was sailing to Indonesia, which was the nearest outpost of the Dutch company at that time, to get help in bringing back the goods and people (in that order). When he arrived back in the Abrolhos with a rescue vessel, he had the murderers executed - sparing two teens, because he claimed they were too young for this capital punishment. Instead he had them marooned on the Australian continent, before sailing back to Indonesia with the goods and rescued survivors.Rumor has it, that the legacy of these boys can be found in some Dutch sounding words of the Aborigines. Another influence - seemingly measurable - had been caused by the shipwreck of the 'Zuytdorp' - about 200km north of Geraldton. Some Aboriginal people carry the rare 'Ellis van Creveld syndrome' gene, which was prevalent in Holland back in 1712.
The fantastic Western Australian Museum actually runs a 50 minute documentary telling the story of the 'Batavia' and has a large amount of collectibles from a couple of dozen shipwrecks that were found along the coastline of Geraldton. Moreover, the museum has a great display of the development of the town, from its pioneering days to present - showcasing the challenges, such as getting enough fresh water supply and agricultural food for the growing demand. A more recent display, on a hill overlooking the city, is the ship 'HMAS Sydney' memorial. It displays the names of 645 men on board who died when the ship was sunk in 1941 during an attack by a German vessel.Filled with so much maritime history, I concluded my visit to Geraldton by visiting Fisherman's Wharf and the scenic Point Moore beach. Although my visit started as a bit of a disappointment, because the hostels weren't meeting the advertised expectations, I ended up in appreciating this place.
And all the beautification work currently underway leaves no doubt in me that Geraldton is eager to become a tourist hot spot in a couple of years down the road. It definitely has potential.
Labels: Australia
posted by Reto at
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15 October 2008
Gone in 60 seconds at Shark Bay
Denham, the westernmost point of Australia, is a major tourist stop on the way down from Darwin to Perth. Even though it seemed that there are only beaches (booooring), I ended up by giving a try and go there, since other backpackers along the way told me that there's actually a lot to see and to do. To make it short: They were absolutely right. Denham is the biggest town located in the Shire of Shark Bay, an area of 1500km coastline and a population of less than 1000 people.Shark Bay also is the name for the regions' UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although by itself alone, the town of Denham would be worth the 2hour side trip from the coastal highway, another nearby attraction is more famous synonymous of the Shark Bay area: Monkey Mia. This is a dolphin resort, which attracts a lot of tourists and which is located roughly 20km northeast of Denham. Even though that the much hyped dolphin feeding ritual each morning seems to be a bit of a circus performance, I enjoyed experiencing this attraction a lot.
As mentioned before, Monkey Mia is commonly used to describe the whole Shark Bay area (as this official prospectus "40+ things to see when you're next to Monkey Mia" falsely suggests). In fact, the dolphin resort is only one of many attractions spread out over
this peninsula. However, transport between the sights was again a problem - since most this National Park - much as the other sites in Western Australia - are geared towards motorists with their own vehicle. Visiting using public transport is a pain in the neck, but I knew this before and therefore I'm not really whining about this. I ended up renting a car for the day, together with two other backpackers to share the cost.Car rental in Australia is quite annoying. Although there are "backpacker" (or budget) car rentals in Darwin and Broome, there was none of that sort in Denham. The only car rental place had a rate that was twice as high than in any other major town. And most annoyingly there was a cap on 100km per day. Surprisingly, Australian car rental agencies love this distance limitation and it is very hard to find deals for unlimited kilometers. Since the country is big and distances covered during a typical rental are extreme, charging the excess kilometers is obviously the big money making scheme of these kind of businesses.
There would have been the alternative to rent a bicycle or going with a local tour operator around the peninsula. One Japanese guy I met at the "Overlander" bus station
even went as far as going around the various sights at Shark Bay by hitchhiking. I am quite adventurous, but hitchhiking in a remote area in temperatures of 40+ degrees was not what I wanted to do at that time. And since we could share the cost among three persons, the car rental finally proved to be the most comfortable and cheapest option - despite the fact that we ended up paying a total of AUD 170 for the car (plus AUD 50 for the gas). So, we set off for the day trip around Shark Bay, starting with the dolphin feeding at Monkey Mia early in the morning.Next, we went to the other end of the island to continue with a visit to the stunning stromatolites located at the telegraph station near the Hamlin Pool. There, parts of the beach consists of tiny shells that have been compacted over millions of years into a solid concrete-like mass. Shell block cut from this substantial shell deposits, was a popular building material during the pioneer times, being cheap, easy to recover and offering excellent insulation qualities. These days, some of bricks in the Hamlin Pool quarry are still cut out for preservation purposes of the historical buildings.
Then, we went on to Shell Beach, where the sea is hypersalinated and the shores are made out of billions of small shells. Its an absolutely
magnificent place and we had a rest by having a swim in the crystal clear water.Eagle Bluff, another place visited in the Shark Bay area features a boardwalk on the cliff, from where we easily could spot sharks and other predators swimming in shallow waters near the beach. This was an awesome and unforgettable sight. where actually there is a boardwalk along the sea which permits a fantastic view of sharks and other predators swimming near the shores. There is a small island about 200m into the sea where sea birds nest their eggs. In ancient times, Aborigines would wade through these shallow, shark infested waters, to harvest these eggs.
The visit to Ocean Park was our last stop on our day's tour. There, we would see various fish and - obviously - sharks, with very informative explanations from a ranger. Although the entrance fee was a bit on the expensive side, we enjoyed this park a lot and spent considerable time there admiring the wildlife variety.
Under different circumstances, I probably would have ended up staying in Denham and Shark Bay for a week or more. But after seeing gone all my week's budget in virtually no time to pay my share for a rental car, the excess kilometers and the gasoline, I had to move on after the second night. I might be coming back, when I am rich.
Labels: Australia
posted by Reto at
09:31
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12 October 2008
Chaos in the Broome dormitory
Broome, a small city of 15'000 people, located in the northwestern part of Australia is the major stop when travelling through the Kimberley region. With the Timor Sea at its northern shores, Broome is in fact much closer located to Indonesia than most Australian states. The next big cities to the east (Kununurra) and west (Port Hedland) are about 720km, resp. 610km away, a long drive through sometimes featureless deserts. This makes the town of Broome stand out like an oasis, where infrastructure (shops, restaurants and accommodation) seems to be the primary reason to stay for a day or two.However, Broome also has a quite exotic history and absolutely beautiful beaches, located in a colorful mix of red earth, crystal blue sea and white sand. Although small, I felt that Broome was vibrant and full of energy, like the bigger cities in Australia. There is a mix of pioneering spirit and laid back entrepreneurship, which results in an unique atmosphere that is fascinating. I planned to stay two days here and ended up having to kick my butt to finally leave after four days. It would have been very easy for me to hang around a couple of weeks in this town.
The Japanese started the business of pearl diving here in the late 19th century, joined later by Chinese and Malay divers. This was back then an especially dangerous job, when operating in the open sea. Many workers were killed by sharks or other accidents. The Japanese, Chinese and Muslim cemeteries do witness parts of this tragedy, as well as a small statue of a pearl diver downtown Broome. This statue is actually located in Chinatown - one of many hints pointing out the cultural mix that makes this small outback town very unique. There are also Pioneer cemetery, historic courthouse and Broome museum showing the tragic pearling past. Another notable sight downtown is the Picture Garden (Sun Pictures), which is the world's oldest operating outdoor cinema. It is operating since 1916 and entering this cinema is in fact like traveling back in time (although the movies shown are the current blockbusters). Lying on a deckchair watching a film under the stars in this historical setting was a personal highlight. However since the Airport of Broome is located within the city, the landing path of aircraft just goes over this theater. But then, the occasional plane flying through the cinema's 'ceiling' is the spice which makes the experience so special. I guess that this is probably also the case for flight passengers who get their share of a short, free glimpse of a movie during landing.
Town Beach features a unique sight at certain dates: When the tide is low and the rising moon is full, the reflections in the rippled bay cause an optical illusion of a golden stairway to the moon. Unfortunately, I would have had to wait two weeks for this event (called 'the staircase to the moon') to happen - but I was told that this was an awesome sight.
A bit further away from town is the lighthouse at Gantheaume point, where the retreating waters during low tide reveal some 135million years old dinosaur footprints along the coastline. A bit further north, the much hyped Cable Beach is definitely beautiful - but then again: I still find beaches very boring, despite the fact that I have been through a very dry desert before arriving here. I guess that some of the excitement of Cable Beach stems from the possibility of nude sunbaking at the north end of the bay. The name of this site actually comes from a telegraph cable between Indonesia and Australia that was laid here back in 1889.Youth hostels in Australia are simply called "Backpacker". However, many tourists down under - and this includes Broome - who are staying in Backpackers aren't backpackers. Usually, teens would fly in by plane and have suitcases with wheels - carrying heaps of clothes to dress perfectly for the nights out. To cater for this audience (they should be called "Suitcasers"), receptionists hand out crockery to anyone checking in. There was no point for me to argue that I had my own - it would have messed up their "system", since upon check-out everyone is supposed to return the loaned cutlery and dishes. After the initial outrage of how posh backpacking through Australia had become, I now do try to blend in as much as I can.
The Broome Backpacker reminded me a bit of the joint in Beijing, since it had a licensed bar attached and thus there was quite some partying going on. Quiz nights and wet t-shirt contests were organized on nights. Obviously, you'd want to get dressed nicely for this.By chance (?), I ended up in the dormitory with the worst reputation of the whole hostel: On the door were final payment notices pinned ("...or you may get evicted!") for a couple of guys staying in the room. And inside the room it looked as if a bomb had hit all suitcases. Hundreds of pieces of clothes were laying everywhere: On the beds and on the floor. All the cupboards doors were open because the clothes were spilling out onto the floor. There was no way for hostel staff to clean the room and therefore they ordered everyone to put all their belongings at least onto the beds.
This was the situation when I entered the room at 11am. One guy was sleeping in my bunk, because this empty bed was the only free space in the whole 12bed dorm. He was not keen to clean up the mess, since he simply had gathered all his clothes from the floor and put them on his bed (as did most of the others). However, he was very apologetic and left my bed immediately to sleep outside in a hammock instead. After the staff had cleaned the floor in the room, the guy came back, threw all his clothes back onto the floor and then went back into his bed. By 4pm most of the others in the dorm had done the same and the creative chaos was back in place.
Traveling with only four t-shirts, pairs of socks and underwear, it was almost impossible for me to blend in with the crowd and mess up the place. But at least I got some free entertainment, when the boys and girls tried to dress up in the evenings, sifting through their piles of clothes. It's a good way to listen and learn swearing in Australian slang. Somehow I ended up loving this dorm.
Labels: Australia
posted by Reto at
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07 October 2008
The Purnululu Bungle Bungle and the Gibb River Road
The Gibb River Road is a 670 km long road which was constructed for cattle road trains. It is only accessible during the dry season (April - October). To drive on this road, a high clearance four wheel drive (4WD) is required. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any other tourists undertaking the same trip. So I had no possibility to get a lift or to share the cost of a rental 4WD. Nevertheless, I decided to rent a Nissan Patrol and go for the four day journey on my own - including the Bungle Bungle Ranges, if time permits.When the lady at the rental agency asked me whether I had driven a four wheel drive car before, I became aware that this was actually a first for me. Funnily, I had driven all the crazy vehicles in my life - such as motorbikes, trucks and tanks. But never a 4WD. But I wasn't really afraid of having this experience. However, since I stated that I'd wanted to do the Gibb River Road, the lady at the car rental agency automatically reserved a second spare tire. As it turns out, everyone is doing this road with two spare tires. Most people are very well prepared, carrying safety beacons, ham radio, extra fuel tanks and tons of food and water along. But here I am, renting a car for four days. Obviously, this puts constraints to which kind of safety investment I can do. I opted for the water (enough for four days) and food (enough for two days).
The first day of the trip, my scenic drive would take me through several creeks filled with water - but other than that, the dirt track was for the most part in good condition. I managed to drive 400km's - my optimistic target for that day. The stopover at Ellenbrae roadhouse was entertaining. Hubert, the station ranger, migrated 1970 from Germany to Australia. He was keen on speaking German with me and full of stories about the Kimberley region and the days of settlement in Australia. Since I finally had finished reading my book "Die Vermessung der Welt (D. Kehlmann)" (English) on board the flight to Darwin, I decided to give this as a gift to Hubert. The book tells the story about two German explorers and mapmakers - and Hubert definitely seems to absorb this sort of novels.
Later that day I arrived at the beautiful Gorges near Mount Barnett, where a campsite with a quiet lake greeted me for sunset. On the second day, I visited various sites along the route, such as Tunnel Gorge, Imintji Aboriginal Camp, Lillimilura Police Station and more. The drive was much easier than anticipated, the gravel road was for the most part in good to excellent condition. Drivers in the outback greet each other, much like drivers do on motorbikes back home. Traffic was kind of dense, since every five minutes a car would pass in either direction. This makes me wonder, why carrying a radio transmitter is advised on this track. Maybe the Aussies start to become overly obsessed with safety, like the Americans? In fact, after returning to the Great Northern Highway, the number of cars encountered dropped dramatically: Sometimes I would stop on this major bitumen road for half an hour to make a rest - with no other cars in sight.
On the third morning, I left the campground near Halls Creek early - about sunrise time. The road to the turn off for Purnululu National Park was a bit depressing: Every couple of kilometers, there were dead animals lying on the road. For the 200km I drove that morning on the Great Northern Highway, I did count at least five kangaroos or wallabies, one cow, several birds and other small animals - all probably overrun by traffic the night before. Although modern vehicles are at the cause of the killing, a lot of crows and other animals were busy having a breakfast by feeding themselves off these dead animals - which is somehow the natural life cycle.
After the turn off to the National Park, omnipresent signs warned about the 52km access road not being suitable for vans, 2WD and trailers. Another sign instructed me to switch to 4WD now - which I did. It takes about two hours to do this track and - as much as the Gibb River Road was a disappointment in terms of difficulty - it was a joyride from the start to the end: This road is why car makers build these vehicles. There are stretches over pebble stones, sand dunes, through river creeks and steep crests. Driving this road was definitely both fun and challenging.After arriving at the park's visitor center and registering for the day, I immediately drove another 30km to the rocky domes of the Bungle Bungle Range. Although the drive into this range was already quite scenic, the subsequent hikes I undertook right after getting out of the car, were absolutely awesome. I spent most of the day walking in 40+ degrees around Piccaninny Creek and the Cathedral Gorge - all places with abundant views of the famous domes.
Both Aborigines and locals tried to keep this place secret for a long time. It was only in 1983 that word about the Bungle Bungle Ranges got out - through a national television documentary. In 1987, the Western Australian government established there the Purnululu National Park and in 2003, the 300'000 hectare area was declared a World Heritage Area. To become listed as such, a site must meet one of UNESCO's ten natural and cultural criteria. Bungle Bungle was granted a listing based on two criteria: Is contains a superlative natural phenomena and is an outstanding example representing significant geomorphic features of the Earth's history.
Before heading off to the campground, I visited Echidna Chasm, which consists of narrow passages, colorful light variations and fan palm trees. On the fourth morning, I drove back to Kununurra to return the rental car. Upon arrival, the first tropical rainstorm in the wet season greeted me. This reminded me how lucky I have been by being able to drive 1000km of dirt road, plus 600km of sealed road in perfect weather conditions.
Labels: Australia
posted by Reto at
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03 October 2008
Having a flat white with a Jackaroo in Kununurra
The town of Kununurra lies on the border between West Australia (WA) and the Northern Territory (NT) in Australia. When crossing this internal border coming from Darwin, NT there is a checkpoint which serves to prevent the spread of disease that affect agriculture. No fruits or honey products are allowed to bring into Western Australia. Although I was aware of that fact, I did board the bus to Kununurra with three apples and two oranges. The driver mentioned the impending control further down the road and - with a touch of Aussie humour - he added, that we had five hours to eat all our fruit. So I did and probably ended that day with an overdose of vitamin C. Mum would have been proud of me.
Once arrived in the backpacker place (YHA) in Kununurra, I was pleasantly surprised about the much better atmosphere than in Darwin. The Kununurra YHA was fully booked and the common area, the pool and the kitchen were bustling full of people. Why does a small town like Kununurra have two backpacker places fully booked? Well - Australia introduced a Working Holiday Visa a couple of years back. This allows some travellers to work legally for a limited time. Most of these seasonal workers go for fruit picking jobs, which explains why the local hostels are fully booked: The area around Kununurra is prime farming land and most backpackers stay for a couple of weeks or even months to earn money. This Australian system of granting such visas seems to have only positive aspects for everyone: The government still controls migration (and now gets taxes from these workers). The farmers find much needed helping hands quicker (and probably cheaper). And backpackers can work legally to earn money needed to continue their trip. This is a huge improvement over the situation I encountered ten years ago, when lots of travellers would have to resort to black market jobs - often abusively underpaid.
As for the town itself, it features Mirima National Park, a sunset spot on a hill and the Celebrity Garden along lake. Further a field lies the dam of Lake Argyle which holds 15 - 22 times (depending on the source of information) the water volume of Sydney Harbour. The lake is impressive and a beautiful view. No wonder, there are cruise ships that run through this scenic area. Aside of the beauty, the building of the dam was crucial to the development of the whole area around Kununurra (also known as Ord River area). Without lake Argyle, there would not be enough water to supply the agricultural needs around here.
Another lesser known fact of Kununurra are the diamond mines near town. The "Argyle Diamond Mine" is producing around 25% of the global diamonds and thus the biggest player on the field. Among all the Jackaroo's I encountered in Kununurra, I also met one - Matt - who was formerly working in the Argyle Diamond Mines. He outlined to me - over flat white - the various differences in diamonds. The colour ranges between "white", "champagne", "yellow" and "pink". In fact, the legend of Argyle pink diamond has grown over the past ten years. At a 1989 Christie's auction in New York a 3,14 carat Argyle pink diamond sold for US$1,510,000. As if it was for security reasons, there is little to no information about the diamond mines in Kununurra. There is no public access road. Organised tours are heavily security checked (and so are the miners who work in two week shifts, then have one week off) at the mine airstrip. Rumour has it in Kununurra, that the mines need to expand under this airstrip, which seems to hold more of this precious mineral.Labels: Australia
posted by Reto at
08:38
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Burn after travelling: Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Singapore and Darwin
Crossing the continents by going from Chang Mai and Bangkok in Thailand via Singapore to Darwin in Australia, was - well - very much uneventful. Chiang Mai is definitely a nice city. However, it does not measure up to other sites throughout China, Cambodia and Laos. Being somewhat at the end of my Southeast Asian journey, I found this place to be far from being special (or: important). The days of the "Golden Triangle" - a description for an Opium producing region that attracted crowds of tourists - are definitely over. The government of Thailand aggressively fights against all drug trafficking and has agricultural incentives for Thai farmers who grow legal crops.
Although tour operators will still highlight the terminology 'Golden Triangle' on their prospectus, it is nothing more than an empty shell these days. Therefore, what remains to be seen in Chiang Mai are temples. A bit outside there are fantastic places featuring waterfalls, canoeing, kayaking, hiking and - you guessed it: Elephant riding. All of which I had done in a much more rural setting back in Laos. However, for people on a tight schedule and with less interest in travelling to more authentic places (read: Cambodia and Laos), Chiang Mai might provide enough touristic entertainment for them to stay for a day or two. After leaving Chiang Mai on a night train I arrived in Bangkok, which was a perfect stop to do administrative tasks (back-up my photos on DVD's and mail them home, surf the Internet at relative low-cost, check out travel agencies for flight deals, etc.). Two days later I was ready to undertake the budget airline flight to Darwin - having a six hour stopover in Singapore.
After having travelled more than half a million miles on air crafts (I stopped counting about ten years ago), I have become very cynical about the sheep herding practices implemented by keen and eager government, airport and airline staff. It seems that their employees of the month invent every now and then a new method to annoy the crap out of the stoic flight passengers.
TigerAirways (as many other airlines) asks to be two hours early at the airport. But then, why do they open their check-in counter only one and a half hour before departure? And even more weird: Thailand customs at Bangkok airport takes a picture of all tourists - upon leaving. Why don't they take pictures of people when they enter? Weird...
Singapore on the other hand, asks arriving passengers to go through a security check, where hand-luggage is scanned and where I had to remove my shoes and belt. This happens actually before immigration and passport control. Even after strong reflection, I could not come to a conclusion as to why this security check is made. Maybe it's just a Singaporean way to show off that they didn't trust the security checks at the airport of origin. But even then - my plane had landed. So what should I blow up now? The customs desks? Throughout Asia, I did not prepare (with the exception of the 'Stans') much my journeys. I had a rough plan about what I really wanted to see and once you get to such places, exchanging travel stories with other backpackers give a pretty good idea, what to see next. Australia, however, is a different beast: For one, I did not meet anyone in the guest houses in Asia who would share a ride down-under - nor did I meet people coming back from Australia who could give me some hints and tips.
This was a contributing factor to plan and budget extensively my journey to and through down-under. Knowing that Australia would be the most expensive part of my round the world trip, I was looking for alternatives to bring down travel and lodging costs. Moreover, most of the sights in Western Australia (my itinerary) are less accessible and require a 4WD vehicle. Travelling by bus definitely would be the cheapest option, renting a camper van alone would be second cheapest and renting a 4WD would be out of the budget. Factoring in the costs for food and gasoline was not very easy, because prices in Australia fluctuate a lot. One liter of unleaded fuel costs about $A 1.67 in Darwin - but this may go up to $A 2.35 in a remote roadhouse.Being a true Swiss I made a compromise with myself (we love to do compromises in Switzerland). I'll be travelling through Australia by bus, but I'll be renting 4WD vehicles for the day, if needed. This still costs me an arm and a leg and burn a hole in my pockets. Therefore, although I do love Australia, I am secretly looking forward to travel onwards to New Zealand, where prices - especially lodging and transport - will be quite bit cheaper than here.
After one night (and a spectacular sunset) I left Darwin, eager to start visiting one of the last bits of Australia that I always wanted to see. The "Bungle Bungle Ranges" and the "Gibb River Road". Stay tuned and come back soon to read more about these adventures...
Labels: Australia, Singapore, Thailand
posted by Reto at
08:17
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