ALICE SPRINGS

.....from Northern Territories south

0h, I’d like to tell you one more Kakadu experience. I went to Adelaide River for a “Jumping Croc” cruise. On this >reasonably large boat< they hold a pole out with raw meat tied to it. The crocodiles jump out of the water to get the meat and they are huge! They make our alligators look like wimps. I watched a bridge repair group go into the water around the bridge; they were in cages (like shark cages) to do their work. The Adelaide River is infested with crocs and on the boat we were told where our life jackets were—HOWEVER—they recommended that since the jackets were orange (and the crocs favorite color) that we throw the jacket in one direction and swim in the other.

It was another 20 hour bus trip to Alice Springs. The bus drivers encourage you to sit near enough to have a conversation.  The first time I heard a loud "thump" -- sorry I asked, because we hit a "roo."  Again two drivers so they can trade off. Goods and well, everything is shipped from the coastal towns Port Augusta/Adelaide an incredible distance to the Northern Territories.

ALICE SPRINGS

The geographical center of a vast country

We got into Alice Springs at 5:00 AM. I had breakfast with my bus drivers and the Station Manager. Good conversation and I was told of a good place to stay—walking distance. It’s a Hostel and the bathroom is right next door and I don’t have to share with too many. One night when I got up to go to the bathroom, there was this guy striding down the hall in his jockey shorts (that’s not a complaint mind you). Hostels have kitchens that are shared by all. You pick a space in the refrigerator and another in a cabinet. I have never had anything taken by someone. You prepare your meal, take it to a dining area to eat and then go back to clean your dishes and the space you used. I’ve been offered some very good food prepared by people from various countries. It’s fun to eat with them and attempt to converse. They usually gave me info on trips, outfitters and travel.

Some of my friends here

Before white settlement, for thousands of years, the Aborigines lived on the land. Sad to say the Aborigines were treated the same as  our Native American. I was told some Aborigines prefer to live in the outback the same way their ancestors did—the only people who can survive in this harsh country. The ones staying in settlements are either educated and make a good living, or live like our Indians in poverty and drunkenness.

Alice Springs is the home of the Royal Flying Doctor Service—the outback’s answer to home visits. They have a fleet of aircraft and medical staff and many have been saved over the years. The telegraph station was completed in 1872 and serves this desolate area today. Since many school children live in the outback and only go into a school for a week or two a year, all learning is done at home via mail, TV, radio and now the internet. Some children never meet their school friends, but only see them over webcam.

I took a motorcycle ride with “High on the Hog” motorcycle adventures. We went to the Trephina Gorge in the East MacDonnel Ranges. Here is the only place with the Ghost Gum tree. There’s a guy standing next to one of these trees for perspective.

                                                                                no, I didn't

Flowers growing in this red dirt.  Some
water.  And imagine a grove of these
gum trees.

I didn’t know about the Afgans of Australia and their camels, but in 1866 more than 100 camels were brought to Australia. Since no one knew how to handle camels, many Afghan cameleers as well. The camels were brought in because they could carry loads up to 600 pounds over long distances with little food or water over almost any terrain. Afgans provided almost all goods and services from South Australia to the Northern Territory. The camels outlived their usefulness and were turned loose—there are an undetermined number of feral camel in the outback. The Afgan men married and settled in Australia.

I spent a day in Desert Park; a very interesting zoo with different habitats and mostly birds. On que one of park personnel would go out with ‘food’ held high and wild birds of prey would fly down from the hills and canyon walls to take the food. They live totally in the wild, but come for these treats.

I just love Ausse humor. In the usually dry bed of the Todd River in the September school holidays, they hold a “boat race.” They pick up the boats and run the race. Lots of beer, lots of fun and one year the river did have water in it, so they cancelled the race!

Tomorrow I go with a Camping Safari to Uluru. Another sacred place of the Aborigine and they allow visitors in certain areas.

Goodbye Cairns - Hello Darwin

This is most of the area I traveled.  Yes, I could have gone by air, but it is more costly and this way I got to experience the area and meet people.

Leave Cairns by bus at 2 pm—change several times for a 14 hr bus ride to Mt Isa.  A dismal mining town  where I have an 8 hr. layover.  I will be staying overnight before the next bus ride which is 14 hrs to Tenennt.

Next leg is 20 hrs to Darwin.  Good thing they stop often enough and these Road Stops have coffee/tea and good sandwiches and pastries.

Somewhere into this part of the trip, the bus pulled over

and stopped.  Both drivers (we have to have a relief driver on these long hauls) got out and started tinkering with the engine….after about an hour we were under way again.  The area was so desolate, and  I heard horror stories about waiting 6 hrs for another bus, etc.

The heat is like a bad Mississippi day in August—and this is the best for Darwin. There are young people backpacking all over.  They are from every country imaginable and carry such loads you would not believe.  Backpacker Hostels meet them at every stop and they can stay for $8 to $15  per night in dorms or sometimes separate rooms.  They let this ‘lil ole lady from America’ go along and I was treated very well. 

 About Darwin:

          The settlement in the Northern Territory was just as troubled and violent as elsewhere in Australia, with Aboriginal groups vainly trying to resist the takeover of land on which their way of life depended.

 The road south to the railhead at Alice Springs was surfaced, finally putting the city in direct contact with the rest of the country.  Darwin was attacked 64 times during the war and 243 people lost their lives.

Families were sent to Alice Springs for safety.  Medical facilities were moved away from Darwin and personnel were housed in the outback in tents and makeshift hospitals.

Darwin is very close to Japan. They are very fond of the “Yanks”  for keeping them safe in WWII.

I am leaving tomorrow to see Kakadu.  I will be with an outfitter for 3 days and 2 nights.  We will be camping and they furnish everything and feed me.

 Here’s a little about the Aboriginal culture at Kakadu. 

Kakadu is a cultural landscape shaped by the spiritual ancestors of Aboriginal people during the Creation Time (Dreamtime)  These ancestors or “first people” journeyed across the country creating the landforms, plants, animals,… Kakadu National Park covers almost 20,000 sq kilometers, and includes the traditional lands of a number of Aboriginal clan groups. 

During the ‘monsoon season’ the Aborigines live in the rocky areas.  During that time the elders teach the children about their heritage by drawing on the rocks.  Here’s some of the drawings and the one of a large figure is (to me) just like a petroglyph I saw out West.

This is another part of Kakadu.  These two are a billabog (a small lake filling with water seasonally.)

The Great Barrier Reef

This was one of my most thrilling experiences in Australia.  I went to Port Douglas and had a nice place to stay.  I told the people running the place that I wanted to snorkel and they suggested a local run boat group.  This turned out to be a good recommendation.  They picked me up and took very good care of me—I needed it.

Not many folks were on the boat to snorkel; they were interested in diving.  I had them put out a platform tied to the boat when I was snorkeling.  A short while before a honeymoon couple from the states were snorkeling and the boat pulled away and left them!  ….never to be seen again.  Not this boat you understand, however, Australians are not as litigious as Americans, and they do not “count heads” or make a big deal about keeping track of people.

The snorkeling was terrific, the best I’ve ever experienced.  I used an underwater camera and had a wonderful time—keeping an eye on that platform, you understand.  Anyway, they convinced me I should try diving.

They gave a 15 minute Resort Diving Instruction, suited you up and down you go.  My first dive was ruined (my fault) because I had to sit there awhile with all this “stuff” on while someone took a long time getting in.  All the while I am loosening weights and when I go down holding the rope line (ears hurting) and that’s when I find I have the weights in the wrong places.  So, I’m “crabbing” around, mostly not going the way I want…..Next dive in the afternoon, I stayed like they fixed me, down the rope slower so ears better, and I could maneuver properly.  One of the greatest experiences of my life!

The Queensland area -- gateway to the Great Barrier Reef

Cairns (say Canns) tropical and beautiful

I found the flower children.  They’re on the beaches in their see-through gause dresses, holding naked toddlers and trekking about with their guy in shorts and barefoot.

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has a cell phone.  Some shoeless, bummy looking person will drag a cell phone out of a plastic bag and start talking!

A nice lady I met at Arie, made me have a renewed appreciation of my life.  She is a widow, her husband did not have a Pension, so she is on their form of Social Security.  She receives approx $600 Aust per money and if she works and earns anything, she has to forfeit 50 cents for every dollar she earns.  If you do have a pension, you can only take out part of the money, under an extremely complicated system.  I get the impression you can’t take out enough for a house or anything costly.  She lives in an old “cane cutter’s shack” on the Cane Farm her daughter and husband own/manage.  She does not have enough money to travel and I met her on a trip she won as a prize.  Oh, they do have a form of Medicare, but I didn’t get the impression it covered as much as in the US.



Went to a restaurant last night that was typical Australian.  You place and pay for your food order, then go to the adjacent bar and hang about drinking until they call you to pick up your order.  I started talking to some football coaches who were in town for some games.  We had some good conversations until they brought up Clinton.  They had big laughs about Clinton’s follies, and sometimes I would say I was from Canada to escape the teasing.  I had to endure questions about the KKK too.



There are some wonderful places to see in this area.




Another piece of Australia map showing the area I am
writing about.  There is more than I can ever cover or
show pictures of.

Tourist buses are everywhere.  There were more people than I expected in this jungle.  They were from all over the world.

The Skyrail was very exciting.  There were many Chinese couples treated to this trip after one of those weddings of hundreds -- they had never met each other until the marriage.  Got this from a person acting as interpreter.  They were having a wonderful time.

The Great Barrier Reef is next (I can hardly wait to show you this)



Australia Mail Plane

I saw a poster about this plane ride – to go with the postal plane to deliver mail and packages to the outback.  The pictures posted are from the first part of the flight over the Atherton Tables where they raise lots of vegetables and fruit.

It was a very exciting flight.  To see the terrain from the air was great.  There was just the pilot and myself and there were many, many stops.  Some were near  small towns and there would be people waiting at the small air strip.  I was allowed to get out and talk to people and watch the unloading and loading of new cargo being shipped off.

After the small towns, we were in the outback and landed on small dirt strips on a ‘station’ (farm) ‘homestead.’  There was always a truck kicking up dust as it came to meet the plane.  We also woke up kangaroos and they would be hopping away.

The people living in the outback live a very solitary life.  Mostly family members and at times of the year a large barracks for workers that travel from farm to farm rounding up cattle, mending fences, anything needed.  The lady of the farm is responsible to cook and feed all these workers.  I was told it took an acre of land per head of cattle.

They had only radio when I was there.  That’s what they used for communication with the rest of the world, and the connection to teachers for school for the children.  The young people found that marriage to a “city” person did not work out, so at slack times of the year they had parties and dances for the young people to meet.  They had to travel so far to attend these get-togethers that each host was expected to “put people up.”

At one of the farms, the pilot and I were invited for “a cuppa” at the main house.  We were served tea and small cakes, but best of all we had a great conversation with the lady of the homestead.  She told me a little about her life and the house I visited was very basic like a cabin.  I was amazed at the life she led, and she told the pilot she could not understand the American Lady traveling all over the country by herself! 

The flight went all the way to Heathlands and the Pilot took a swing over the water before heading back.

Great experience!

Sidney and more

This is my first communication from Australia.  I wrote it by hand and mailed it.  Later I learned they have many internet spots, cafes, etc. 

August 10, 1998

Hello Mates:

Seems like a long time since I left the US, but it was only the 5^th.  In those 5 days I’ve covered a lot of ground—about 1,500 if I am converting kilometers to miles correctly.

The morning I arrived in Sidney (after a 14+hour flight)…sitting in a space /  / this wide.  I found a place to stay and then “hopped” (they always say “hop” or “jump”) on a city bus and went to the harbor.  Saw the Opera House; Botanical Garden; “The Rocks” and took an hour ferry ride.  Good timing too because it was cool and overcast—next day it was cold and blowing rain.

Went right to a Travel Agent and bought a bus pass.  It’s definitely the most economical travel, but not necessarily the most comfortable.  There is no ‘one’ train (there’s several, depending on what territory you’re in)  It’s not cheap—no good pass deals.  You have to go to the train station to do business.  I will do some train travel as soon as I survive this bus tour.

My ticket covers—leave Sidney all the way up the Queensland coast as far as Cairns—across into the outback from Townsville to Mt. Isa and Tennant Creek.  Then either up to Darwin and Kakadu or down to Alice Springs—Uluru.  Haven’t nailed down that section of my trip.  I can get on/off whenever and wherever on this route—stay as long as I want—definitely my kind of travel.  The only thing I’ve run into is little (to no) help finding accommodations.  So will have to start calling ahead for reservation.

I’ve taken 12 hr. bus rides—all through the night.  They have become better in service, stops for “tea” and driver courtesy, I’m glad to say.  Even more real terminals and not just dumped off at some Shell station!  The seats are even closer than economy class on flights.  Usually after leaving big cities, you can have the whole seat to yourself.

I am in Airlie Beach just south of Townsville.  It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.  When the bus turned by the harbor full of sailboats and such, with the sun coming up, it was breathtaking.  I stumbled around pulling and toting bags trying to find a place to stay—actually found a great place just around the corner.  Reasonable, clean, view of the beach and refrigerator, sink and hot plate.  I’ve already gone to the grocery!  It’s the gateway to Whitsundy Islands—boats going to all the islands; snorkeling, walks..  Think I’ll stay awhile.  I’ve already found an ‘internet centre’ here—it seems to be a thriving new business, so those of you who email, I hope to hear from you.  My 800 number will not work.  They have prepaid phone cards that go into the phone and show you how much money you have and tick off as you talk so you know the cost of your calls.  Only thing is—you must find these phones on the street.

From the cold in Sidney to cool and sunny in Brisbane.  It’s pleasant, warm and sunny here.  So far the clothes I packed are working out and the luggage is mostly manageable.  I am getting a good rate on the US dollar (almost +40 cents) tho some of their prices are high.

I think that’s all for this time.  Love and best wishes to all,  Lydia

                                                                                              

My travel plans

My travel plans consisted of buying a ticket to Sidney, Australia..... after that I just 'played it by ear' and made plans as I went.  It all worked out fine and that's the way I prefer to travel.  My trip started in August, 1998 and I returned to the US November 1998. 

It was the "Trip of a Lifetime" for me and I hope I can present the events in a way you will enjoy.  I take many pictures--most were slides--I hope to share prints of the places, events and people.