The Great: Opal fossicking in Adamooka and Coober Pedy. Ania and I got so hooked on this stuff that we researched other places in Australia where we could find other gemstones. We are going sapphire hunting in Queensland in a few days.
The Hidden: Claire Valley north of Adelaide. Claire Valley gets little publicity and is mostly visited by the locals. It was only because Claire Valley stood on our path that we decided to stop over for the night. Boy are we glad we did. Not only is there wine tasting, but the valley itself is very scenic. Claire Valley was a great way to kickstart our Adelaide to Darwin trip.
The Overrated: I can’t think of anything overrated in this region. Maybe gold panning in Tennant Creek was slightly disappointing because of the silly opening hours of the centre. The lady who worked there didn’t seem too happy to help us as well.
The Ugly: The whole situation with the Aboriginals. Most Outback towns have a very uneasy feeling about them because of the tensions between white Australia and the Aboriginals. A real shame in such a beautiful country.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sto lat Sto lat!!!!!!
My dear and highly esteemed co-author of the blog celebrates his birthday today!!!
I will make sure the whole city of Cairns knows :)
Happy Birthday Marc!
I will make sure the whole city of Cairns knows :)
Happy Birthday Marc!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Ladies and Gentlenmen - The Croc!
Ok ladies this post is not for the faint of heart.
To show you how much crushing power lies in the jaws of a saltwater crocodile, I’ll use a chart I saw in Crocosaurus Cove. The jaws of an adult human can exert the equivalent of 20 kilos worth of pressure. That’s as if a big bag of potatoes fell on your foot. Not pleasant at all but I can survive that.
A lion exerts 300 kilos worth of pressure. That’s as if a motorcycle would fall on your foot. Not a happy thought. Interestingly, a hyena has 500 kilos worth of pressure in its jaws. It has more biting power than a lion! 500 kilos is the equivalent of a horse that falls on your foot.
Now a normal adult saltwater crocodile, at 4.4 meters, can exert 3500 kilos worth of pressure. 3500! A big saltwater crocodile, at 5.5 meters, has a smashing 4400 kilos worth of pressure in its mouth. This is as if a large diesel truck would fall on your foot. The jaws of saltwater crocodiles are thus the most powerful in the animal kingdom. They can easily crush the bones of any animal.
We had a display of bite force at Crocosaurus Cove. One of the staff members brought a foot-thick, solid block of ice which she put in a mechanical set of jaws for bite force demonstration. Once she hit the button, the jaws of the fake crocodile just smashed through the block of ice as if it was paper.
No wonder humans and animals alike have very little chance of escaping a crocodile whose jaws has shut on them.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Twarted by Yasi and Carlos - a journal
I had said in Fiji that I wish I could witness first-hand the power of a cyclone. Well Mother Nature has given me a nice birthday gift. And what an experience it was. But before I go on talking about cyclone Carlos, let me talk about the kind of impact category 5 (the most destructive power in the scale) cyclone Yasi had on our journey from Adelaide to Darwin.
The remnants of cyclone Yasi were already inland when we left Coober Pedy on February 5 in the morning. Our destination, Uluru, was straight on the path of Yasi, which had by then already been downgraded to a category 1 storm (winds up to 115 kilometers an hour).
As we approached Uluru, it became obvious that we had crossed path with Yasi. The gusts of wind were tossing our campervan left and right on the road. When we parked over for the night, Ania was extremely worried about the campervan tipping over and falling on the side. The next day we reached Uluru where we stayed for two days. It poured down heavily a few times but there was no sign of any flooding.
It is on the road from Uluru to Alice Springs that we encountered our first flooded roads. However, the water over the road was not deep enough to prevent crossing. So far so good.
But everything changed in the Western Macdonnel Ranges west of Alice Springs. We had planned a two day trip in the ranges to enjoy the many great swim holes, canyons and hikes in the area.
We were only about 15 kilometers west of Alice Springs when we realized that we had once again crossed path with Yasi: the main road was flooded.
There was a fairly strong current that cut the road for about 30 meters. I asked my chief navigator to test for depth. The response was 10 centimeters. We decided to go ahead and drive through. We made it. Phew!
The big hurdle came about 100 kilometers west of Alice Springs. We had to hit the breaks in a hurry when we saw the massive current that was sweeping across the road. Another campervan was also parked on the side of the road. We all looked at each other in amazement. A 4WD service truck popped behind us. The workers warned us: don’t even think about it. Our journey had to end here. There was no way around this. Bummer!
This was not the last time we had to change our plans because of Yasi.
On the road north of Alice Springs, Ania and I had decided to noodle for zircon and garnets at Gemtree, which lies about 140 kilometers north-east of Alice Springs. When we arrived at Gemtree we asked about noodling in the area. The lady who operates the tours told us that the dirt road to the gemfield was impassable. Bummer again!
We continued our journey north and realized that Stuart Highway itself was flooded for hundreds of kilometers. The water was never deep enough to warrant road closure, but traffic was definitely slower at times. I could hardly imagine our fate had we been here 6-7 days earlier. We would have definitely been stuck at the nearest roadhouse for days.
Once we reached Tennant Creek we knew that we were out of the danger zone. What we didn’t know was that we were about to cross path with a new cyclone.
In Katherine we heard a worrying weather report: a tropical depression was forming just west of Darwin, our final destination!!!
Our plans for the last days went up in smoke. We had planned to go to Kakadu National Park, but the lady at the visitor centre in Katherine told us that the road between Jabiru and Darwin was completely flooded.
Ania and I then decided to go to Litchfield National Park.
This was also a bad idea. We heard a weather report just as we were about to get on the road to Litchfield National Park: the main road into the park was under two meters of water. Two meters!!!
When it floods over here the authorities are not only concerned with flooded houses, businesses, and plantations. They have a serious threat to contend with: saltwater crocodiles.
Saltwater crocodiles are the biggest and most dangerous crocodiles on earth. They’ll attack anything that enters the water or gets close enough to it. During the dry season (May-October) crocodiles are restricted to major waterways such as Adelaide River and Mary River. But everything changes during the wet season. Because rivers are flooding crocodiles are free to roam pretty much everywhere in the Top End. There are pictures of crocs lurking about in the middle of downtown Katherine. That’s how dangerous it can get.
Oh you’ll hear stories from Joe who was brave enough to swim in a random creek during the wet season. Maybe. But the truth is that swimming in a random creek in the wet season is akin to playing Russian roulette.
Back to our journey – When we found out that going to Litchfield National Park was a bad idea, we decided to sleep at the nearest rest area and make plans for the next few days.
It was pouring down and visibility was near zero when we arrived at the rest area. And what did we discover when we reached the rest area? Why that it was flooded of course! A creek about 50 meters away had exploded throwing a strong current in all directions.
We were in deep poo. We felt that making a dash for Darwin was premature considering that the cyclone was closing in on the city. Besides, driving in such heavy rain was nearly impossible. We had to stop for the night.
With most of the rest area under water, we decided to park in the highest part of the rest area where water had not (yet!?!) extended its reach. We parked the campervan in a way that allowed us to make a quick exit should the water level keep going up.
Ania and I got out of the van and surveyed the area. We kept away from the water edge because the part of the rest area that was under water was technically croc zone.
We anxiously watched the water level (from the safety of our van) for the next 5 hours. We were safe as long the water was not going any higher.
We decided to put the alarm clock in the middle of the night to check on the water level. Stress and nervousness made it so that we checked every hour of the night. We wanted to be absolutely sure that we remained on safe ground. At 7 am we peeked outside and realized that the water had actually receded in the night. Lucky us! It could have easily gone the other way though.
The morning report was serious: the tropical depression had now been upgraded to category one cyclone Carlos. Darwin had also apparently been hard hit the night before. After our morning tea&coffee, we decided to head for Darwin and bring back the van a full two days before originally planned. Our reasoning was that cyclone winds can easily bring down trees. We had full coverage for the campervan apart from a critical area: the top of the van.
Our Adelaide to Darwin trip ended a bit prematurely but safely.
Unfortunately we never managed to get onboard a cruise ship to see crocs on Adelaide River. It may have a blessing in disguise as we were told in Darwin that Adelaide River had flooded. Wise decision not to go!
The remnants of cyclone Yasi were already inland when we left Coober Pedy on February 5 in the morning. Our destination, Uluru, was straight on the path of Yasi, which had by then already been downgraded to a category 1 storm (winds up to 115 kilometers an hour).
As we approached Uluru, it became obvious that we had crossed path with Yasi. The gusts of wind were tossing our campervan left and right on the road. When we parked over for the night, Ania was extremely worried about the campervan tipping over and falling on the side. The next day we reached Uluru where we stayed for two days. It poured down heavily a few times but there was no sign of any flooding.
It is on the road from Uluru to Alice Springs that we encountered our first flooded roads. However, the water over the road was not deep enough to prevent crossing. So far so good.
But everything changed in the Western Macdonnel Ranges west of Alice Springs. We had planned a two day trip in the ranges to enjoy the many great swim holes, canyons and hikes in the area.
We were only about 15 kilometers west of Alice Springs when we realized that we had once again crossed path with Yasi: the main road was flooded.
There was a fairly strong current that cut the road for about 30 meters. I asked my chief navigator to test for depth. The response was 10 centimeters. We decided to go ahead and drive through. We made it. Phew!
The big hurdle came about 100 kilometers west of Alice Springs. We had to hit the breaks in a hurry when we saw the massive current that was sweeping across the road. Another campervan was also parked on the side of the road. We all looked at each other in amazement. A 4WD service truck popped behind us. The workers warned us: don’t even think about it. Our journey had to end here. There was no way around this. Bummer!
This was not the last time we had to change our plans because of Yasi.
On the road north of Alice Springs, Ania and I had decided to noodle for zircon and garnets at Gemtree, which lies about 140 kilometers north-east of Alice Springs. When we arrived at Gemtree we asked about noodling in the area. The lady who operates the tours told us that the dirt road to the gemfield was impassable. Bummer again!
We continued our journey north and realized that Stuart Highway itself was flooded for hundreds of kilometers. The water was never deep enough to warrant road closure, but traffic was definitely slower at times. I could hardly imagine our fate had we been here 6-7 days earlier. We would have definitely been stuck at the nearest roadhouse for days.
Once we reached Tennant Creek we knew that we were out of the danger zone. What we didn’t know was that we were about to cross path with a new cyclone.
In Katherine we heard a worrying weather report: a tropical depression was forming just west of Darwin, our final destination!!!
Our plans for the last days went up in smoke. We had planned to go to Kakadu National Park, but the lady at the visitor centre in Katherine told us that the road between Jabiru and Darwin was completely flooded.
Ania and I then decided to go to Litchfield National Park.
This was also a bad idea. We heard a weather report just as we were about to get on the road to Litchfield National Park: the main road into the park was under two meters of water. Two meters!!!
When it floods over here the authorities are not only concerned with flooded houses, businesses, and plantations. They have a serious threat to contend with: saltwater crocodiles.
Saltwater crocodiles are the biggest and most dangerous crocodiles on earth. They’ll attack anything that enters the water or gets close enough to it. During the dry season (May-October) crocodiles are restricted to major waterways such as Adelaide River and Mary River. But everything changes during the wet season. Because rivers are flooding crocodiles are free to roam pretty much everywhere in the Top End. There are pictures of crocs lurking about in the middle of downtown Katherine. That’s how dangerous it can get.
Oh you’ll hear stories from Joe who was brave enough to swim in a random creek during the wet season. Maybe. But the truth is that swimming in a random creek in the wet season is akin to playing Russian roulette.
Back to our journey – When we found out that going to Litchfield National Park was a bad idea, we decided to sleep at the nearest rest area and make plans for the next few days.
It was pouring down and visibility was near zero when we arrived at the rest area. And what did we discover when we reached the rest area? Why that it was flooded of course! A creek about 50 meters away had exploded throwing a strong current in all directions.
We were in deep poo. We felt that making a dash for Darwin was premature considering that the cyclone was closing in on the city. Besides, driving in such heavy rain was nearly impossible. We had to stop for the night.
With most of the rest area under water, we decided to park in the highest part of the rest area where water had not (yet!?!) extended its reach. We parked the campervan in a way that allowed us to make a quick exit should the water level keep going up.
Ania and I got out of the van and surveyed the area. We kept away from the water edge because the part of the rest area that was under water was technically croc zone.
We anxiously watched the water level (from the safety of our van) for the next 5 hours. We were safe as long the water was not going any higher.
We decided to put the alarm clock in the middle of the night to check on the water level. Stress and nervousness made it so that we checked every hour of the night. We wanted to be absolutely sure that we remained on safe ground. At 7 am we peeked outside and realized that the water had actually receded in the night. Lucky us! It could have easily gone the other way though.
The morning report was serious: the tropical depression had now been upgraded to category one cyclone Carlos. Darwin had also apparently been hard hit the night before. After our morning tea&coffee, we decided to head for Darwin and bring back the van a full two days before originally planned. Our reasoning was that cyclone winds can easily bring down trees. We had full coverage for the campervan apart from a critical area: the top of the van.
Our Adelaide to Darwin trip ended a bit prematurely but safely.
Unfortunately we never managed to get onboard a cruise ship to see crocs on Adelaide River. It may have a blessing in disguise as we were told in Darwin that Adelaide River had flooded. Wise decision not to go!
Don't feed the dingos
Dingos are wild animals and it should remain so. This dingo has obviously been fed here at this rest area before. That’s why it does not fear proximity with humans anymore.
That’s a death sentence for this poor dingo. In a few weeks at most, rangers are going to find this fellow and shoot it. The reason is simple: once dingoes lose their natural fear of humans they can become aggressive.
I can understand the urge to feed wildlife. But before you do, please consider that you are in fact putting a death sentence on many of the animals you feed.
If you love wildlife – leave it alone.
Welcome to Wycliffe Well!
After watching E.T. in the 1980’s, it became obvious that UFOs do exist. After all, who could resist E.T.’s charming call to go “home”? If you fell in love with E.T. or need more proofs that he does in fact exist, please stop over to Wycliffe Well on Stuart Highway.
Wycliffe Well is renowned for its regular UFO activities. In fact it has been compared to Area 51 in the United States. The local pub has all kinds of newspaper articles detailing UFO sightings and UFO landings around Wycliffe Well. Of course many of the sightings are reported by men who had too much to drink, but other articles seem convincing enough.
I myself found hard evidence of E.T’s visit to Wycliffe Well: in a dark chamber behind the local pub, I found a segregation room where the staff has imprisoned one such Alien. It seems that the locals have performed some surgical procedures on it, too.
Have a look at the picture. Are you not convinced now?
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monthly Trip Summary (3)
Jan. 9 2011 – Feb.8 2011
Summary of the third month of our trip
Number of countries visited: 1 (still in Australia!)
Number of flights taken: 2
Number of posts added to our blog: 18
Number of marital conflicts: 0. Hard to believe, but nothing fits this category for this month... We must be getting boring as a couple :)
Best overnight stay: This is hard to pick: we spent many nights in beautiful places but it was so hot and the wind was so strong that they can hardly qualify as best overnight stay. Our pick is simply an overnight rest area on the road from the West Coast to Tom Price and Karijini Park. It was not too hot and not too windy and we were surrounded by intense colors: the ground was very red; the trees around had very white trunks; the sky around us was completely dark. And wherever we turned we could see spectacular lightening breaking the darkness. Beautiful spectacle.
And a bonus: I cannot recall seeing any dangerous (or dangerous looking) spiders there. I’m sure they were somewhere around, as they always are, but at least they didn’t stain my memories of this place!
Worst overnight stay: unfortunately it will have to be Exmouth. It was a beautiful camping almost directly on the beach but the temperature stayed well above 30 degrees for the whole night and the wind almost broke our tent. We had planned to stay there for two nights but after the first one we decided to head inland to look for a nice place to sleep in the dryer climate. And the fact that it was in Exmouth where I first encountered the red-back spider (see Marc’s post on the subject) definitely didn’t help!
Best Call we made: Deciding to rent a campervan for the trip between Adelaide and Darwin instead of camping in a tent. The rest of cyclone Yasi and the rainy season in the north would have made sleeping in a tent quite impossible.
Worst Call we made: Not staying longer in Adamooka and Coober Pedy. Had we known that parts of the national parks we had planned to visit were impassable due to Yasi, we would have definitely followed our hearts instead of sticking to the original plan…
Summary of the third month of our trip
Number of countries visited: 1 (still in Australia!)
Number of flights taken: 2
Number of posts added to our blog: 18
Number of marital conflicts: 0. Hard to believe, but nothing fits this category for this month... We must be getting boring as a couple :)
Best overnight stay: This is hard to pick: we spent many nights in beautiful places but it was so hot and the wind was so strong that they can hardly qualify as best overnight stay. Our pick is simply an overnight rest area on the road from the West Coast to Tom Price and Karijini Park. It was not too hot and not too windy and we were surrounded by intense colors: the ground was very red; the trees around had very white trunks; the sky around us was completely dark. And wherever we turned we could see spectacular lightening breaking the darkness. Beautiful spectacle.
And a bonus: I cannot recall seeing any dangerous (or dangerous looking) spiders there. I’m sure they were somewhere around, as they always are, but at least they didn’t stain my memories of this place!
Worst overnight stay: unfortunately it will have to be Exmouth. It was a beautiful camping almost directly on the beach but the temperature stayed well above 30 degrees for the whole night and the wind almost broke our tent. We had planned to stay there for two nights but after the first one we decided to head inland to look for a nice place to sleep in the dryer climate. And the fact that it was in Exmouth where I first encountered the red-back spider (see Marc’s post on the subject) definitely didn’t help!
Best Call we made: Deciding to rent a campervan for the trip between Adelaide and Darwin instead of camping in a tent. The rest of cyclone Yasi and the rainy season in the north would have made sleeping in a tent quite impossible.
Worst Call we made: Not staying longer in Adamooka and Coober Pedy. Had we known that parts of the national parks we had planned to visit were impassable due to Yasi, we would have definitely followed our hearts instead of sticking to the original plan…
The ghosts of Australia
This is a difficult post.
Ania and I discussed over and over if we should publish this post. Hopefully our readers from Down Under won’t take offense over the issue.
It’s very hard not to notice the plight of the Aboriginal people in Central Australia. If the Aborigines are mostly unseen in big urban centers onthe East coast, they make up a large part of the population in Central Australia.
The extent of the demise of the Aboriginal people in Central Australia is unmistakable. Consider that standard, unleaded fuel isn’t available in this part of Australia. Unleaded fuel has been replaced with “Opal Fuel”. Why? Because of “sniffing”. That’s right. The Aborigines are getting high on fuel and it has gotten so bad that the Australian authorities have had to remove the chemical agent that produces the typical fuel smell and replace it with a neutral agent. In many hardware stores in Central Australia, warnings of hefty fines are posted on front doors to remind patrons that buying glue on behalf of someone else is strictly forbidden. Bike patches are only available behind the counter. That’s how bad it is.
The Aborigines are just hanging out in and around parks and spend the whole day enjoying the sun. We saw maybe a couple of Aborigines working. Most of the low paying jobs are staffed with Asians. The Aborigines have a mountain to climb - literally.
More worrying is the fact that Aborigines, dogged by alcohol and drug related problems, quarrel a lot between each other. Overall the feeling is that the Aboriginal community is unhealthy: some have worn-out bandages with blood stains, others are limping. The contrast with white Australia couldn’t be greater.
Crime, real or imagined, is very much alive to any white Australian we spoke to: “watch out for the Abos – as they are disparagingly called – they’ll take a whack at you if they have a piss”. Others claiming that “you don’t want to hang around these people”. Even tourist information staff talked about the Aborigines in such fashion. It’s very hard to hear something positive about the Aborigines over here.
I dare not to discuss any of the shared responsibilities for this tragedy, but it is obvious that the Aborigines living in the towns of Central Australia are on the decline. The question becomes whose responsibility is it to reverse the ongoing tragedy?
White Australia has done an excellent job at growing Aboriginal artwork into a multi-million dollar business. Aboriginal culture tends to emphasize how thriving the communities once were.
Can white Australia now help turn the tide so that the communities thrive again?
Ania and I discussed over and over if we should publish this post. Hopefully our readers from Down Under won’t take offense over the issue.
It’s very hard not to notice the plight of the Aboriginal people in Central Australia. If the Aborigines are mostly unseen in big urban centers onthe East coast, they make up a large part of the population in Central Australia.
The extent of the demise of the Aboriginal people in Central Australia is unmistakable. Consider that standard, unleaded fuel isn’t available in this part of Australia. Unleaded fuel has been replaced with “Opal Fuel”. Why? Because of “sniffing”. That’s right. The Aborigines are getting high on fuel and it has gotten so bad that the Australian authorities have had to remove the chemical agent that produces the typical fuel smell and replace it with a neutral agent. In many hardware stores in Central Australia, warnings of hefty fines are posted on front doors to remind patrons that buying glue on behalf of someone else is strictly forbidden. Bike patches are only available behind the counter. That’s how bad it is.
The Aborigines are just hanging out in and around parks and spend the whole day enjoying the sun. We saw maybe a couple of Aborigines working. Most of the low paying jobs are staffed with Asians. The Aborigines have a mountain to climb - literally.
More worrying is the fact that Aborigines, dogged by alcohol and drug related problems, quarrel a lot between each other. Overall the feeling is that the Aboriginal community is unhealthy: some have worn-out bandages with blood stains, others are limping. The contrast with white Australia couldn’t be greater.
Crime, real or imagined, is very much alive to any white Australian we spoke to: “watch out for the Abos – as they are disparagingly called – they’ll take a whack at you if they have a piss”. Others claiming that “you don’t want to hang around these people”. Even tourist information staff talked about the Aborigines in such fashion. It’s very hard to hear something positive about the Aborigines over here.
I dare not to discuss any of the shared responsibilities for this tragedy, but it is obvious that the Aborigines living in the towns of Central Australia are on the decline. The question becomes whose responsibility is it to reverse the ongoing tragedy?
White Australia has done an excellent job at growing Aboriginal artwork into a multi-million dollar business. Aboriginal culture tends to emphasize how thriving the communities once were.
Can white Australia now help turn the tide so that the communities thrive again?
Uluru - much more than a sunset
We left Coober Pedy just before the remnants of monster cyclone Yasi were about to hit Central Australia. To illustrate how cyclonic events can have far-reaching consequences, consider that Coober Pedy (South Australia) is thousands of kilometers away from Queensland where cyclone Yasi landed. Yet Coober Pedy, Alice Springs and Uluru (all in Central Australia) were all set to receive torrential rain. Since Uluru was our next destination, this surely was disheartening news.
After staying in parched Coober Pedy and Andamooka, the sight of all the greenery in the red centre was a relief. Australia had received record rain during last winter. The red, cracked landscape of central Australia had already been replaced by greenery everywhere. Not your typical desert landscape!
But deep inside I felt concerned, as the forecast of rain meant that Ania wasn’t going to be able to see Uluru in its entire splendor – meaning Uluru under a sunny sky. I had been to Uluru before so this really was Ania’s time to do “wow!”
Uluru (formally known as Ayer’s Rock) is an unmistakable feature of Australia. It is the second most visited attraction in the country after the Great Barrier Reef.
Most visitors who come to see Uluru only do so at sunset time. They tend to congregate around the observation decks a few kilometers away from Uluru where they snap a few pictures of the monolith. The tourists are then rushed back inside the bus by a tour operator anxious to finish his day.
These tourists don’t know what they are missing. For if Uluru looks great from the observation deck it certainly looks breathtaking up close and personal.
There is a base walk around Uluru that allows the visitor to appreciate the sheer size of the monolith and its odd-shaped scared walls. Seasoned walkers can choose to do a 10.2 kilometer walk around Uluru. After viewing the sacred aboriginal sites and paintings – Uluru is first and foremost sacred aboriginal ground – we stopped at spectacular Mutitjulu Waterhole where we enjoyed the sight of rain trickling down the walls of Uluru into the waterhole.
We didn’t have the pleasure to see Uluru under a constant sun. However, in this part of Australia where it seldom rains, a crying Uluru was a very rare sight.
It seems we were no so unfortunate after all.
After staying in parched Coober Pedy and Andamooka, the sight of all the greenery in the red centre was a relief. Australia had received record rain during last winter. The red, cracked landscape of central Australia had already been replaced by greenery everywhere. Not your typical desert landscape!
But deep inside I felt concerned, as the forecast of rain meant that Ania wasn’t going to be able to see Uluru in its entire splendor – meaning Uluru under a sunny sky. I had been to Uluru before so this really was Ania’s time to do “wow!”
Uluru (formally known as Ayer’s Rock) is an unmistakable feature of Australia. It is the second most visited attraction in the country after the Great Barrier Reef.
Most visitors who come to see Uluru only do so at sunset time. They tend to congregate around the observation decks a few kilometers away from Uluru where they snap a few pictures of the monolith. The tourists are then rushed back inside the bus by a tour operator anxious to finish his day.
These tourists don’t know what they are missing. For if Uluru looks great from the observation deck it certainly looks breathtaking up close and personal.
There is a base walk around Uluru that allows the visitor to appreciate the sheer size of the monolith and its odd-shaped scared walls. Seasoned walkers can choose to do a 10.2 kilometer walk around Uluru. After viewing the sacred aboriginal sites and paintings – Uluru is first and foremost sacred aboriginal ground – we stopped at spectacular Mutitjulu Waterhole where we enjoyed the sight of rain trickling down the walls of Uluru into the waterhole.
We didn’t have the pleasure to see Uluru under a constant sun. However, in this part of Australia where it seldom rains, a crying Uluru was a very rare sight.
It seems we were no so unfortunate after all.
The Impossible Towns of the Outback
When one drives on
Our Rough Guide to Australia said that the most incredible thing about Coober Pedy is that it exists at all. This statement is very true and it also goes for Adamooka. Coober Pedy has about 2000, while Adamooka only about 500. However, there are a lot of similarities between them (other than opal, of course). Both towns are erected directly in the desert without any water sources. After enduring years of water shortages and limits of 100 liters per week per household, Coober Pedy has developed a technology to desalinate and filter bore water that can be found not far from the town. Adamooka, however, still relies on a cistern trucks to fill out its water tanks.
Obviously, there are no electric wires going through the Red Centre. This means that both places rely on diesel generators for their electricity. Coober Pedy also added a windmill to diversify its energy sources.
As Coober Peddy grew larger and became of interest to tourists, the Government decided that it needed to be represented there, despite the resentment of the locals who felt very good free of government presence and the boundaries that come with it. Andamooka still prouds itself as a place free of government and bureaucrats. I don’t even recall seeing a police station there.
And so both places live their quiet lives, isolated from the outside world. And yet, they are both pretty international, as the amateurs of opal came from all over the world. According to the last census (2006) people currently living in Coober Pedy were born in 50 different countries!
I thought I would be very impressed by
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Comparing extreme temperatures - Australia and Canada
Some of the Australians we met have commented on the extreme cold in Canada, and how it seems unthinkable to survive in our country.
I reflected a lot on that because after touring Western Australia and Central Australia, I have to ask myself the same question: how can Australians survive the boiling heat?
In Ottawa the temperature in winter does reach -30 and with the wind factor, below -40. When that happens, Canadians will still venture outside, but in fewer numbers. I’ve seen people skate on Canal Rideau when it is a crisp -35 outside.
Australians seem to have a harder time adapting to the summer heat, particularly in Western Australia and Central Australia where temperatures reach +40. It seems so because Ania and I noticed that nobody ventures outside during the day. The only activity that occurs outside is the walk from the air-conditioned car to the house or shopping mall.
In some way, it is easier for us in Canada to escape the cold than it is for Australians to escape the heat: in Canada, one can expect every single house, motel, or store to be heated in winter. God knows how it feels to enter a store in Coober Pedy (Central Australia) to escape the +45 outside only to realize that there is no air conditioning but only a fan. The air is humid, heavy and sticky. What’s worse, some of the rooms in hostels have no air-conditioning. Others have air-conditioning but the thing has obviously seen better days and is barely working.
In a way, extreme temperatures have forced both Australians and Canadians to adapt. But it seems that escaping the cold is a tad bit easier than escaping the heat.
I reflected a lot on that because after touring Western Australia and Central Australia, I have to ask myself the same question: how can Australians survive the boiling heat?
In Ottawa the temperature in winter does reach -30 and with the wind factor, below -40. When that happens, Canadians will still venture outside, but in fewer numbers. I’ve seen people skate on Canal Rideau when it is a crisp -35 outside.
Australians seem to have a harder time adapting to the summer heat, particularly in Western Australia and Central Australia where temperatures reach +40. It seems so because Ania and I noticed that nobody ventures outside during the day. The only activity that occurs outside is the walk from the air-conditioned car to the house or shopping mall.
In some way, it is easier for us in Canada to escape the cold than it is for Australians to escape the heat: in Canada, one can expect every single house, motel, or store to be heated in winter. God knows how it feels to enter a store in Coober Pedy (Central Australia) to escape the +45 outside only to realize that there is no air conditioning but only a fan. The air is humid, heavy and sticky. What’s worse, some of the rooms in hostels have no air-conditioning. Others have air-conditioning but the thing has obviously seen better days and is barely working.
In a way, extreme temperatures have forced both Australians and Canadians to adapt. But it seems that escaping the cold is a tad bit easier than escaping the heat.
A Bureaucrat’s Secret Passion: Noodling
Well, when it was decided that we were finally going to
When we arrived in Coober Pedy, we were already half-experienced noodlers, so we asked a very nice opal-cutter about the best places to find opal around town. He gave us a really great tip: a mining claim about 40km from the city where miners were currently finding the precious stone. We spent a whole fruitful day noodling there.
Let me explain what noodling means. Machines used to excavate opal stones from the ground leave behind large hills of sand and stones they already went through. Once abandoned by the owner, the hill is up for grabs for everybody else. Well, at least this is an unofficial rule and it’s always safer to ask the owner of a claim for permission, especially if he is on the site…. And then you just go there and dig through it, hoping to find a piece of opal that others missed.
Among different methods of noodling, Marc adopted the one I call “the caveman style” – he used one stone to break another, as opal can hide in the rocks missed by the machines. Since I am just a sheila, I contended myself with exploring little stones and dust, looking for opal visible from outside. It’s hard to say which method is more effective, although certainly Marc’s style was more spectacular.
After a few hours of noodling one feels very dirty, very tired, very hot and very, very thirsty. And yet, it is like a drug - really hard to stop. I tell myself: OK, that’s it, it will be reasonable to stop now. But then I spot something sparkling on the ground in front of me and I’m back on my knees.
I can now understand how gold rush could happen. I even know how it feels when you get lucky and find YOUR piece. I know because the first opal I found (in Adamooka) may actually be worth up to a few thousand dollars after treatment. Not that I want to ever sell it :)
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