What, no photos?

Update:

I've managed to upload my photos onto Picasa, but I'm still having trouble attaching photos to the blog posts.

Hi guys,

this is just a quick note about my recent postings. I haven't been able to upload any pictures either to Picasa or directly to the blog - I'm on a free connection at the Adelaide public library and it is dreadfully slow. The reason I don't pay for internet is that when I have done so here in Australia it has been just as bad as the free stuff, so I'm not bothering!

As soon as I get a decent connection I'll be updating the posts with photos and posting a link to the new Picasa web albums.

Till then, stay safe!

Uluru Katja Tjuta

Uluru - Ayer's Rock… this giant monolith is synonymous with Australia, the spiritual heart of Aboriginal Australians, and for many the symbol that they most associate with Terra Australis. Getting to Uluru is quite a pilgrimage in itself - it is more than 450km from Alice Springs, the nearest city, and then Alice itself is pretty much in the middle of nowhere itself. This means that unless you are one with a jet-set lifestyle, you've come a long long way by sealed (or dirt) road to catch a glimpse of the world's largest monolith.

On the road to Uluru you gradually notice subtle shifts in the landscape. As you leave the hills of Alice Springs behind you the trees recede, the majority of the cover is low bushes, and eventually this in turn gives way to short spinifex grasses and bright red sand dunes.

On the horizon you see a large red shape looming, your heart skips a beat, and then you remember that it's not Uluru, but the other, oft forgotten monolith in this area - Mt Conner. Once you've seen Mt Conner the wait for Uluru is half over - just under 200km to go! After a good hour's driving along the Lasseter highway you finally see a shape on the horizon, and yes, that's it, the first glimpse of Uluru. Even in the harsh afternoon sun the rock stands out a bright orange against the horizon in the hazy blue distance. The rock slips in and out of sight as you're driving along (the highway is curvy to reduce driver boredom), until you come to a roadside rest stop surrounded by high sand dunes. A short run up the dune, a few snaps of a young military dragon, and there it is, Uluru in blazing glory, and looking larger than life.

After taking plenty of photos from this vantage point we hopped back into the van and headed for Yulara - the township cum resort that services Uluru Katja Tjuta National Park. Being in the middle of nowhere, prices aren't cheap, but not quite as extortionate as you would expect. Once we had located our camping berth we headed to what we were told was a sunset viewing spot from where we could see both Uluru and Katja Tjuta, but that was still more than 50km away!

As we passed the boom gates that mark the park borders Uluru stuck out, in all its humongous glory. The rock really looks like a hologram - its just so huge, and the colours in the evening light so startling - its as if the rock was placed there, rather than being a natural part of the landscape. I could immediately feel why all Aboriginal tribes of Australia place so much spiritual weight on this area.

A further four kilometers into the park we reached the Katja Tjuta turn off, and that was the last I saw of Uluru for a while. Katja Tjuta is a series of some 39 monoliths that are about as old as Uluru, but due to a different geological composition Katja Tjuta eroded into smaller, distorted shapes, whereas Uluru remained as one giant monolith. Along the long and winding road we spotted a herd of Australia's famous wild camels, and even though we were cutting it close, we stopped to take some photos of the shy dromedaries.

The further we drove, the less we could see of Uluru, and when we finally got to the sunset viewing area for Katja Tjuta, it was quite clear that we had been given the wrong directions! Still, the Katja Tjuta formations are impressive in the light of the setting sun. The rocks gently change colour from a bright orange to deeper and darker shades of red as the sun recedes into the horizon, until they are just a black mass in the distance. Once the darkness fell we made our way back to Yulara for an early night - we would have to be up before 6am to make it to the Uluru sunrise viewing area before the 7am sunrise!

My wish for a slightly cloudy sunrise over Uluru was granted - as we drove in to the park towards the sunrise viewing platforms it was clear that the view we would have of the rock would be fringed by some light cloud cover - perfect for photographs! We made our way to a suitable area where I set up my tripod, and then all I could do was wait and snap. At sunrise Uluru performs the reverse colour changes that we saw the previous night - the rock goes from a black mass on the horizon to a shining orange beacon as the sun rises. The viewing area we were standing on only opened in 2009 and afforded us a view of Katja Tjuta in the distance - with the added bonus that Katja Tjuta was changing colours before Uluru. The distance between the monuments and the difference in heights means that Katja Tjuta is "lit up" before Uluru. The clouds that made for such great photos had the undesired effect of shielding the sun as it rose, so the cold morning remained that way - Justyna and I retired back to the Batvan to catch a few more winks of sleep before exploring the base of Uluru.

The Mala carpark is also the point where "the climb" can be attempted. This is a very controversial issue - climbing Uluru is forbidden according to Aboriginal Tjukrupa (belief system, religion, moral laws - commonly called the Dreamtime): it is a path taken by creation beings in the Dreamtime. Walking on Uluru could be compared to climbing over the altar at St. Peter's, or standing on the sacred stone in Mecca. To add to the insult of walking over such a sacred place, there are no toilet facilities at the top of Uluru, so most people relieve themselves on the face of the rock. Can you imagine what would happen if someone were to pee on the Western Wall in Jerusalem?

The reason the walk remains open is thanks to Western tourism - when the park was handed back to the traditional owners in 1985 a clause was included that the climb should remain open to safeguard tourism, and the climb's status should be reviewed every ten years. Though people's opinion is shifting with education, and many decide to respect the Anangu's wish that the rock not be climbed; this doesn't stop 100,000 people from climbing the rock each year. The fate of the climb seems to have been sealed though, the last time that the status was reviewed it was decided that within the next ten years the climb will be closed. This is due to three reasons - respecting the Anangu beliefs; environmental protection and for safety. As many as 39 people have died on the rock, and many more have succumbed to heart attacks a day or two after undertaking the climb. The day we were at Uluru the climb was closed due to a "serious incident" but I don't know if that was an injury or a death.

Anyway, enough about the controversy surrounding the climb, Justyna and I were at the Mala carpark for a guided walk with one of the rangers who work in the Uluru Katja Tjuta NP. This is an interesting hour's walk that follows part of the Uluru base walk. The ranger explained various aspects of Anangu customs and creation stories - though he could only tell us certain snippets: Anangu Tjukrupa holds that stories can only be told in certain places, and then only by people who have been properly taught, thus ensuring that stories are not lost or distorted over time. Furthermore there are stories that are forbidden, stories for men, stories for women, and stories that are only known by elders.

After the guided walk we drove on to the visitor's centre to gain some more knowledge about the Uluru Katja Tjuta NP, the cultural beliefs of the Anangu and the work of the rangers to maintain the park.

Our visit to Uluru had drawn to a close - this was the peak of my visit to Australia, and I came away from it feeling a renewed awe at the immensity and splendor of the country.

From Uluru we had a long 700km drive to Coober Pedy, the opal mining capital of the world!

Tennant Creek to Alice Springs

The Devil's Marbles

Heading further south along the Stuart Highway from the gold mining town of Tennant Creek we came to a rock formation known as the Devil's Marbles. These are a series of sandstone formations that are precariously balanced on top of each other. The white man's name for them comes from the fact that the rocks look like they've been thrown at random by some giant devil. On the other hand Aborigines call them XXXXXX and consider the area of great spiritual importance.

Alice Springs - the heart of Australia

The Alice, as locals call it, is the town that sprang up in a gap along the Macdonnel Ranges. It is hundreds of kilometers from everywhere, and lies almost slap bang in the middle of this great continent that is Australia. To the north its a 600km drive to Tennant Creek, whereas south its 700km to Coober Pedy. Besides having the Macdonnel ranges on its doorstep, Alice Springs is also the closest town to Uluru-Katja Tjuta, meaning that many tourists use her as a base to visit the rock.

While in Alice Springs we took the opportunity to go on a cultural Aboriginal experience. Our host was Con, who has been working with the local aborigines since the early 80s and has got to know their ways quite well. His talks were a good primer on Aboriginal marriage customs, beliefs relating to the "Dreamtime", problems relating to education etc. He told us about how most of the aborigines from the greater Alice Springs area still live in a traditional manner - out in the remote bush, sleeping on the land and living off it. Even though the Australian government supplies them with housing they eschew it, or sleep out on the porch under blankets, as that is what they have always known. The company that runs the tour we went on works hand in hand with the Aborigines to help the preservation of the culture.

An interesting segment of our tour was the "bushtucker" part - Con introduced us to various berries and grasses that the aborigines live off, things like bush plums, bush tomatoes, bush bananas, berries, seeds etc. We of course were given a taste of most of these foods, but the highlight of the bushtucker presentation was definitely the Witchety Grub. This critter is the larva stage of the Witchety moth, it spends most of its life living in the root system of the Witchety Bush which gives it its name. One of these grubs has as much protein as three t-bone steaks, and in 30 grubs you'll find as much sustenance as a whole cow! With some trepidation I volunteered to try the grub. After dangling the wriggling monster above my mouth for the Yankee tourists to grab a photo, I let go. The white skin is rather chewy, but the insides are runny, with the consistency of runny eggs, and the taste is very nutty and meaty. To me it was like a cross between eggs, walnuts and steak. In hindsight, the grub couldn't have tasted anything other than good - Aborigines have been eating Witchety grubs for thousands of years; I'm sure that if they tasted bad they wouldn't form part of their diet!

The final delicacy on offer to us was a traditionally cooked Kangaroo tail. The tail is wrapped in herbs and spices and buried with hot coals, where it is left to cook for an hour or so. The American coach party seemed emboldened by my adventure with the Witchety grub and everyone was eager to get a piece of the tail - Con said it was the first time that he had done the tour when everyone had a taste of it!

The final part of our tour was a boomerang session. Unlike their coastal relatives, inland Aborigines have no use for a returning boomerang. Their weapons are longer, heavy sticks that are tossed with the intention to maim the prey. As the hunting party is chasing their prey they will pick up boomerangs that they have thrown earlier to use again. On the other hand returning boomerangs are thrown over the water where they make a loud whistling noise, scaring waterfowl onto the shore, where hunters with spears lie waiting. The reason a boomerang needs to return is saltwater crocodiles - if the boomerang falls into the billabong, that's where it stays, you're not about to risk your life for a piece of wood! After a demonstration we were given the chance to throw a boomerang at a foam kangaroo called Skippy. Lucky for us we don't depend on our boomerang skills for food - Skippy survived another tour!

The West MacDonnel Ranges

The MacDonnel ranges spread east and west from Alice Springs, though in a 2WD vehicle like we've got its only the West MacDonnels that are accessible. The entire range is a comfortable day's drive out of Alice. There's plenty to see in the West MacDonnels, but they are truly appreciated on foot - the Larapinta trail is a 230km trek along the West MacDonnels. Our lightning visit to the outback didn't allow any time for long treks, but we did stop at the major attractions of the West MacDonnels.

The mountain ranges look amazing at both ends of the day in the golden light of sunrise and sunset. As we were driving along we could see one of the Aboriginal creation myths in the flesh - for the local tribes the West MacDonnels were created by an ancestor being in the form of a Witchety grub, and you can see the outline of a caterpillar along the ridges of the mountain range.

Driving through the MacDonnel ranges didn't do much good to my roadkill tally - flocks of budgerigars just love the tarmac, and I must own up to leaving a couple of clouds of green and blue feathers in my wake. The tally stands at 3 budgies, 2 Zebra Finches, and a few hundred thousand insects!

After another night in the MacDonnel Ranges we made an early start, stopping in Alice to brim the tank and buy some supplies for our trip to Uluru Katja Tjuta, the spiritual heart of Aboriginal Australia.

Plenty of photos from Alice Springs are now on my Picasa web album

Katherine to Mataranka

The town of Katherine lies some 350km south of Darwin and is still well within the tropics. The town is subject to occasional flooding, and in the most recent high floods (2002) a saltwater crocodile made its home in the flooded isles of the local supermarket! There's not much going on in Katherine - the main reason people stop here is to visit the impressive Katherine Gorge in Nitmjiluk National Park 35km away. We only had an afternoon dedicated to exploring the town and it was quite sufficient. Most of the attractions had already closed their doors by the time we arrived in town from Kakadu, but we still managed to visit a few places.

We took a refreshing dip at the Katherine Hot Springs - they are supposedly at a constant 32C but they felt a little bit fresher than that when we were there. They certainly were cooler than the tepid Katherine air!

Once we'd been refreshed we paid a visit to the NT Rare Rocks gallery. This is an old gentleman's front room where he displays (and sells) rare rocks that he collects from - you guessed it - allover the Northern Territory. It sounds boring? Well, its not quite! There's a great variety of stones to be found in the NT, as well as precious gold, opal and silver. The stars of the display have to be the appropriately named Zebra Stones and Okapi Stones. These are very particular and apparently this type of rock combination can only be found in certain areas of the NT. The rocks get their name from the bands of white and brown that decorate the rocks. I'm glad we visited the rare rocks gallery as now I've got a unique souvenir to remind me of Katherine!

We made our way to Spring Vale homestead to spend the night. Springvale is an historic house that was one of the first homes in Katherine - it was the headquarters of the first cattle station opened in the area. It lies in a quiet location just out of town on the banks of the south Katherine River and there's even a freshwater billabong on the property that is home to a large number of freshwater turtles. The inquisitive turtles make their way to the bank expecting food when you stand close to the bank.

Nitmjiluk National Park

About 35km north east of Katherine you'll find Nitmjiluk NP - home to Katherine Gorge, the result of the Katherine River wearing out the soft sandstone over millennia. The best way to experience the gorge is from the water, and to that end we were planning on renting canoes for a day so as to be able to explore the gorges. Sadly this was not to be as the level of the river was still too high to allow private boats and canoes onto it - the only option was a very expensive organized boat tour. Instead of this we opted to take a 4km walk along the lip of the gorge leading to a very welcome waterhole. The walk climbs over an easy enough gradient to the plateau at the top of the gorge, where it winds along among some interesting rock formations before descending slightly to the waterhole. This is an amazing spot for a swim - a towering waterfall fills the deep pool (more than 2.5m deep) with cool, clear water. The pool is surrounded by high cliffs on three sides which makes for a shady rest area when you're out of the water.

Mataranka

From Katherine we made our way to Mataranka, some 100km further south along the Stuart Highway. While making our way through Ellersley National Park we came close to killing a wallaby … the animal must have been no more than 15cm from my front bumper. Our wildlife spotting was not to stop there - as we drew nearer to the campsite we caught a glimpse of a family of feral pigs, big hairy black beasts they were!

In the morning we made our way to a caravan park where we saw some Baramundi being hand-fed. Baramundi is a type of bream that inhabits the tropical north of Australia and is very sought after by sports fishermen for its game, and by hungry locals for the quality of its meat. The Baramundi lives happily in seawater and in freshwater, coming inland to breed. The fish is a hermaphrodite, starting its life as a male and gradually changing to a female as they age and grow - full grown Barras can be up to 180cm long and weigh in the region of 60kg!

Daly Waters

Some 150km south of Mataranka you'll come to a westerly turn off on the Stuart Highway labelled Daly Waters. This little roadhouse is home to what is known as Australia's remotest pub and oldest pub, running steadily since 1935. This little cult icon is a must-do stop on anyone's outback itinerary and most travelers leave a memento of their visit. The walls are lined with photos, ID cards, business cards, t-shirts, and bras! The whole "town" is littered with humorous signs such as "the world's most remote Traffic lights", a sign saying "Park at an angle - any angle mate!", and a rundown house with a helicopter crashed into it with the sign "for sale, ideal home, close to pub and services, own helicopter pad". After the mandatory photos had been taken and bladders emptied we hopped back into the Batvan for the rest of our 500km trip to Tennant Creek.

Tennant Creek

The drive along the Stuart Highway is incredible - not for its challenge as a drive - the road is mostly flat and slightly curvy - but for the amazing scenery. Clear blue skies, a distant horizon, rocky outcrops and eucalyptus trees as far as the eyes can see. As we neared Tennant Creek the landscape got gradually more hilly, giving the bored driver something to admire other than a distant horizon! In the early evening we eventually pulled up to the outskirts of Tennant Creek where we would be spending the night. As we drove through the hills we got to see another Aussie great - a herd of bush brumbies (wild horses). After watching a beautiful sunset we called in for an early night as we had another 600km trip ahead of us the next day - destination Alice Springs!

You can find photos from our adventure by clicking here

Litchfield to Kakadu - National Parks on Darwin's doorstep

In Darwin we picked up a Wicked Campervan - an early '90s Mazda van with aircon that doesn't work, a steering wheel that lists to the left and Batman painted on the side! This mighty Batmobile was to be our mode of transport across the great Australian Outback, for a total of some 4,800km from Darwin in the top end to Adelaide in South Australia.

Litchfield National Park
We didn't have to drive very far to come to our first stop - 135km south west of Darwin lies Litchfield National Park, a small gem that often gets overlooked as people visit the larger and more popular Kakadu NP. The beauty of Litchfield lies in its small size - we visited the major attractions in a day and a half, and there isn't much driving to be done between stops. The areas that we didn't visit are only accessible by 4WD vehicle, and while we were there most of these were closed as the high waters of the wet season had not receded sufficiently.
Litchfield holds not only lots of natural wonders but is also highly significant to the local Aboriginal Australian Tribes. Most of the waterholes of the park are open for swimming, though certain areas are of such an important spiritual significance to the local tribes that access is forbidden. That being said, there are plenty of places for people to cool off and take a break from the heat of the day. The most popular place is Buley Rock hole, a series of cascades and rock pools of cool, clear water. While swimming in one of the rock pools we came face to face with a large goanna or monitor lizard. The creature seemed unfazed by the bathers in its waterhole, it just went on about its business basking in the sun, occasionally cocking its head to one side to pose for photos!
One of the most amazing sites in the park that doesn't involve water features are the termite mounds. There are several varieties of termite mound in Australia, but here in Litchfield National Park two very particular ones are found close together. These are the Cathedral mounds and the Magnetic mounds. The former can be more than two meters tall and are so called because of the buttresses and alcoves that look like they belong in a Gothic cathedral. On the other hand magnetic termite mounds make up for what they lack in size with ingenuity. All the mounds are aligned more or less along the north-south magnetic axis to maximise exposure to the sun. This gives the mound a more or less constant temperature - the termites move around to the warmer or cooler parts of the mound depending on the time of day. Scientists believe that the termites have the magnetic alignment genetically implanted in them - each alignment varies by a few degrees depending on location, and if the mound isn't perfectly aligned it will fail, thus ensuring that only the termites with the correct information in their genes survive.

Kakadu National Park
A further couple hundred kilometers away from Darwin is the mighty Kakadu National Park - this behemoth is world heritage listed both for its natural diversity as well as for its cultural significance. The park is steeped in rich Aboriginal history and there are several rock art sites that date back thousands of years. The sheer size of Kakadu is impressive - if you approach from the north entrance then you will drive for 200km before arriving to the first point of interest - in between is just highway and forest! Having visited Litchfield before Kakadu we approached the park from the southern Kakadu highway. This is where all the action is happening - the action that can be seen in a 2WD vehicle that is! As with Litchfield there's a lot in Kakadu that can be accessed only in a 4x4, and then that's only when the conditions permit. While we were in Kakadu most of the 4WD tracks were still closed for maintenance due to the recent rains. Unlike in Litchfield there wasn't any swimming to be done in Kakadu - saltwater crocodiles just love the waters of Kakadu!
The park lies on the edge of Arnhem Land - a special reserve that belongs to the traditional Aboriginal owners who have lived on this land for at least 30,000 years. Visiting Arnhem Land is not possible without a hard-to-obtain special permit, but at least you can catch a glimpse of the Arnhem escarpment from many of the lookouts in Kakadu, and at the rock art site called Nourlangie Rock you are just under 30km away.
For me the rock art was the most amazing aspect of our visit to Kakadu. For thousands of years this art was used by Aboriginal ancestors to teach laws, customs, behavior, tracking skills, hunting skills, spirituality etc. Aborigines had no written language till 1985 - before then, and till today, art is the way that they pass their knowledge down to the new generations. While it is taboo to alter a previous painting (it would disturb the spirit of the painting's creator), it is perfectly fine to paint a new story over an existing painting, or to refresh an older painting so that the story is not lost. This results in a mishmash of paintings at the rock art sites, stories blend into each other, and it is very difficult to date particular paintings precisely.
The Bowali visitors centre at the heart of the park provides an insight into the work of the rangers who manage the park. It is also one of the few places with air-conditioning in the whole park, and provides a welcome break from the baking tropical sun! About half-way along the Kakadu highway on the Yellow Water turnoff we found the Warradjan Cultural centre which provides detailed information about the customs and lifestyle of the Anangu who make their home in Kakadu.

Our visit to the park was very rushed, we visited the attractions in the same time that we spent in Litchfield, a park about a quarter of the size. That being said, it is very difficult to see Kakadu properly without undertaking one of the longer treks or having an off-road vehicle, and on our time schedule this was just not possible! We did get to see some wild life while driving along the highway - some wallabies crossed our path, a frilled lizard was sunbathing on the highway as we drove past, and we also caught sight of the elusive Jabiru (the only Australian stork) in one of the many waterways that criss-cross the highway.

For photos of Litchfield and Kakadu National Park click here

In our first three days with the van we'd covered 830km, less than a fifth into our expected total trip! From Kakadu it was on to Katherine...

Darwin - The Tropical Top End

Our adventures up the east coast of Australia ended in Cairns, from where we boarded a flight to Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory and Australia's smallest state capital. Located in the far north of Australia, Darwin is graced with tropical weather - warm temperatures year round, and two seasons: wet and dry.

Our visited coincided with the early dry season - possibly the best time to visit the top end as the humidity is not as bad as during the wet, the rains have gone, yet the area is still alive from the past season's waters. As the dry season progresses the grasses die, waters recede and the landscape becomes very barren.

Darwin is certainly the most sedate Aussie city we've been in so far - there wasn't much going on even on a Saturday night on Labour Day (May Day) weekend! Besides the usual watering holes and souvenir tourist shops Darwin has a few Aboriginal art galleries to visit, but as usual prices are really high. A short walk from the town centre is the Darwin Museum that has plenty of interesting displays where you could easily while away a half day in the cool air-conditioning. The galleries range from Aboriginal culture from the surrounding lands, the flora and fauna of the tropical top end, the effects of WWII as well as a very detailed exhibition about Cyclone Tracy, a tropical storm that devastated Darwin in the 1960s.

During the dry season Mindil Beach is home to the Mindil Sunset Markets twice a week. A plethora of stores line the waterfront selling everything from cheap eats to skin remedies, didgeridoos to bull whips, and everything in between. Though there is plenty to keep the traveller occupied the real star of the show has got to be the setting sun. Mindil Beach faces into the west, giving a splendid view of the sun setting into the golden ocean. While we're talking about beaches I should mention that though the waters around Darwin are very inviting swimming isn't recommended - not only are you likely to come across deadly Box Jellyfish and Irukandji, but Saltwater Crocodiles have been known to frequent the area around Darwin! To compensate for the deadly creatures in the sea the Darwin council has created an artificial lagoon and wave pool at the other end of town.

Our final stop in Darwin was the Wicked Campers depot, where we picked up a van to take us on the road trip of a lifetime…

Cairns

The second city of Queensland is Cairns, and it is to be found a long way away from everywhere else! The distance between Cairns and Brisbane is about twice the distance between Melbourne and Brisbane… that makes for a very long bus ride unless you're arriving from somewhere in between.

Cairns has a great tropical climate that induces an easygoing attitude in the locals and people passing through - you just want to relax under the coconut palms and look at the azure ocean, or sip a beer in one of the many bars that cater for thirsty travelers.

Having just two full days in Cairns meant we were on a very tight schedule and had to make an important decision before we got there - either dive on the Great Barrier Reef, or visit the rain forests of Cape Tribulation in the north. It wasn't easy to say no to visiting the Cape, but diving on the Great Barrier Reef is one of those things that you must do if you've got the opportunity, so the choice was obvious.

The outfit that we selected to take us out on the reef was Cairns Diving Centre, a small, independently run company that does great value for money day trips and longer live-aboard courses. On our trip there was one other person doing a trial dive, a handful of people getting their certification and a couple of snorkelers, with a head count of 19 in all with 7 staff - not bad when you consider how little we paid to b

e on the boat. The trial-dive master, Ethan, did a great job of introducing us to the basics of diving (we've already been on a trial dive in Malta, but its always nice to refresh your memory) and explaining what would be happening on the dive. The 90 minute ride out to the reef was a little choppy, but then again I didn't expect any less as we were traveling through very open water.

Once at our first dive site we were kitted up and hopped into the water with Ethan. The first order of business was to practice removing the regulator from our mouth and putting it back in, followed by removing water from our masks. Once we had proved our mettle with these simple tasks we could begin our descent. I was immediately impressed with the clarity of the water - we could see a good ten or twelve meters ahead, a very welcome change from our experience in the Whitsundays!

Once upon the actual reef we were met with a thunderstorm of rainbows - multicolored fish swimming here and there, colored coral, big fish, little fish, and all of them pretty oblivious to our presence! About half way into our dive we hit a double jackpot - we came across a family of clownfish living in an anemone - we had found Nemo! Immediately after spotting Nemo a white tipped reef shark swam by us and settled onto the bottom. The dive instructor directed us over the shark and it just stayed there with us hovering a couple of meters above it, before setting off to chase a large parrot fish. Ethan later told us that it was the first time he had seen a shark chasing a fish on the reef, usually they just sit in the sand waiting. Time underwater really flies by, and it felt like we had only just jumped in when we resurfaced after half an hour under the sea. Unfortunately Australian law dictates that on your first trial dive you cannot hold anything in your hands as you must link arms with your fellow divers, so there are no photos from our first deep sea adventure.

Back on board we were treated to a light lunch while the skipper took the vessel to our second site for the day, this time to a much shallower reef where we would be snorkeling. The reef was so shallow that it was hardly 6 inches below the surface in some places, and I've got a scratch on my knee to prove it! Swimming on the surface was definitely rougher than being down under the surface, but I thought that we saw a lot more from the surface than we did deep down - most of the coral life on the reef depends on daylight to survive, so the deeper you go the less there is to see. I thought that the amount of sea life we had seen during our dive could not be topped, but I was proved wrong! Clouds of small (3cm-6cm) fish could be seen hovering round the edges of the reef, schools of larger fish swimming a few meters below the surface, and plenty of monster sized fish darting among the coral. The palette of colours was reminiscent of an acid trip - fish that are half purple, half green, orange and red, blue and yellow, black and gold…

As you can tell I had a great time snorkeling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and I would say that it is a quintessential element of a trip to Australia!

You can find pictures of Cairns on my Picasa web album

Airlie Beach - Gateway to the Whitsundays

Another popular stop on the east coast for backpackers is Airlie Beach, known as the gateway to the Whitsundays. Traditionally people go on a three day, two night sail around the islands, with prices ranging from the ultra budget to the top end. Unfortunately for us the boats at the budget end are "party boats" catering for very young travelers who want to get incredibly drunk for three days. Rather than pay great amounts of money we opted for a cheap boat transfer to one of the Whitsunday Islands where we would bush camp for two nights.
Airlie Beach feels like a tourist trap - plenty of hotels, motels and hostels line the esplanade, and in between you're spoilt for choice by souvenir shops and cafes and not much else. The hostels do battle for backpacker bucks with front of house bars, loud music and plenty of drinks promotions like free beer and pizza at 7pm :) Sadly the hostel we stayed in - Magnums - left a lot to be desired. We paid $24 each for a "deluxe 8 bed dorm" that smelt of damp and in which the air-con didn't work. Magnums do cater for campers though, so when we came back from our island adventure we opted for the campsite, which at $22 for both of us made a lot more sense, especially since the facilities for campers were much nicer than the en-suite bathroom of the "deluxe" dorms! If you're in Airlie and are considering Magnums, save money and pitch a tent. If you don't have a tent, then save your money and go for the larger, cheaper dorm - the deluxe dorms are not worth the extra expense!
The one winning feature of Airlie Beach, besides its proximity to the Whitsundays, is the beautiful artificial lagoon that graces the waterfront. Stingers like the box jellyfish and irukandji make swimming in the sea off Airlie Beach dangerous, so its nice to have a place to swim in sea-water while safe from these tentacled nasties. Enough about Airlie Beach though, the true star of this blog are the Whitsunday Islands!

Whitsunday Islands Paradise
I'm sure you've all heard of "the best job in the world", but in the off chance that you were living under a rock last year, here's a short recap - Tourism Queensland needed a "caretaker" for a tropical island - duties included swimming, feeding the fish, delivering mail to the resort, and writing a blog about the experience. The salary - A$75,000. The perks - living on said island, in a five bedroom villa, with all expenses cared for! The Whitsunay Islands are where the lucky bloke who won the selection process was posted.
The Whitsundays are a group of some 75 tropical islands, all of them protected as part of the Whitsundays Marine Park and the Great Barrier Reef protection area. The islands are very hilly - they are the tops of continental mountains that were flooded in the last ice-age. Some are deserted rocks just a few kilometers long, while others are enormous and have the full works, resort, town mall, resident population, even an airport. One thing the islands all have in common is their beauty!

Our chosen destination was Paddle Bay, on South Molle Island. South Molle is home to the Koala Adventure resort, so we at first thought our camp site might not be as secluded as we had hoped, but it turned out that the resort was partially closed - when we walked through there was no-one around except a cleaning lady. In fact South Molle was pretty isolated while we were there; I don't think we met more than 10 people, and none of them were staying at the campsite, they all came in on private boats to explore the island.
The camp site itself was in a very nice location at the northern tip of South Molle with coral beaches on both sides and a tidal causeway to Mid Molle Island. The campsite has plenty of trees and lots of long grass to set your tent up on, making for one of the softest beds we've had in our adventures in Australia. There were plenty of coconut trees around so Justyna and I got to try our hand at skinning and opening a fresh coconut. I can attest that it this really hard work, hats off to whoever invented the machine that takes the thick fibrous skin off coconuts so that we consumers get a small, hard nut in the shop that only needs a nick with a knife to release its treasures.
The Whitsunday Islands are famous for their snorkeling, in fact the group of islands is part of the Great Barrier Reef protection area, even though the reefs themselves don't form part of the same ecosystem. Unfortunately for us, the weather hasn't been kind to the Whitsundays of late - Cyclone Ului blew through about three weeks before we arrived, and it was followed by lots and lots of unseasonal rain. These factors combined to make the sea around the islands very murky - we could see no further than a meter when we tried to snorkel, so after cooling off in the water we decided to head back to dry land to explore the island.
Our meandering took us across to the southern end of the island to Sandy bay, though this is quite a misnomer as the beach is almost entirely made up of dead coral, just like Paddle Bay! On the way we didn't see any of the island's goannas, though we did catch sight of a retreating brown snake; and of course there were plenty of spider-webs along the side of the footpath. Creatures of the feathered variety were more visible on the island. Our campsite at Paddle Bay was home to a couple of spotted curlews - the pamphlets about Molle Island say that these birds can usually be heard but are rarely seen because of their great camouflage. Many a time we would be walking towards the picnic table or the toilets and we would hear a sound like a kettle whistle - closer inspection of the immediate surroundings revealed the curlews hiding in plain sight. The birds stand stock still when you approach, and they blend in very well to the undergrowth that they live in.

I cannot say whether our experience of the Whitsunday Islands was any better than that of people who opted for a sailing trip - they certainly got to see more of the islands than we did. I can confirm though that if you opt to camp in the Whitsundays you won't have many people to compare notes with, this is an unexploited option that not many people know about. Waking up on a tropical island that is practically yours is a great experience and provides a nice break from the masses that throng the east coast.

Plenty of photos can be found in the usual place!

Hervey Bay and Fraser Island

Hervey Bay is a quiet seaside town about seven hours north of Brisbane in a bus. There isn't much going on here, but the backpackers keep flowing in as Hervey Bay is where most Fraser Island tour operators are based. In the photo to the left you can see me attempting to coax a green parrot onto my hand - that's about the most exciting thing that happened on the mainland!

Fraser Island is a spit of sand just off the west coast of Queensland, though calling it a spit of sand hardly does the place justice - it is the world's largest sand island, stretching a whole 125km from north to south and about 20km at its widest point. The island is covered in rainforest, mangroves, sand blows and freshwater lakes. Plenty of animals make their home here, including Dingos (the purest strain left in Australia), goannas, plenty of birds, as well as the usually Aussie plethora of snakes and spiders. Off the west coast of Fraser Island it is not uncommon to find Estuarine Crocodiles (the saltwater variety) and the east coast is a tiger shark nursing ground. Besides the wildlife there are a few human settlements - very expensive holiday resorts mostly - but the island is largely unspoiled and untouched by human modifications. The only sealed road is to be found at the holiday resort of Eurong Beach, the rest of the island's roads are sand tracks, with the main thoroughfare being the west coast's 75 Mile Beach.

The reason so many backpackers visit Fraser Island is the self-drive, three day tour. Basically, you hand over about A$300 of your hard earned money and the hostel/tour operator gives you and seven strangers the keys to a bright pink Land Cruiser packed with camping gear and food, permits for camping on Fraser Island and tickets for the barge that plies the half hour crossing from the mainland. You're then free to explore Fraser Island - within limits. Certain less travelled tracks are off limits as the likelihood of getting stuck in fast are high, whereas the far northern and southern reaches of the island are deemed "not interesting" and hence are off limits too. Another no-no is driving in salt-water, which provides the drivers of the 4x4 quite a challenge! When you're driving along the beach you need to keep as close to the waterline as possible, as this is where the sand is firm, but its also in the direct path of the surf.

If you pull away from the water too much, you get into the soft sand, the truck starts to wobble, and you slow down to an ungainly 20km/h (the speed limit on the beach is 80km/h). Add to this hidden rocks, freshwater washouts that make the speed bumps and potholes of Maltese roads look insignificant, and plenty of pedestrians walking around on the sand, and driving on Fraser makes for quite a baptism of fire for the novice 4x4 driver!

Day 1:
The first day of our Fraser Island adventure started with a quick briefing on sand driving and general know-how about our Land Cruiser - how to engage the 4WD, what to do if we get bogged in, general niggles etc. By 9am we were on our way to the

supermarket to buy food for three days, and Dominic, the only other guy in our group of travelers, took the driver's seat. His first reaction was "its handles like a Panzer" - the vehicle is BIG, and the clutch is either IN or OUT - you don't feather the clutch, just chuck the gear in and mash the gas pedal into the carpet, and you're off!With the shopping done we had to make our way some 20km out of Hervey Bay to the barge at River Heads, and I was given the task of driving to and onto the barge. My German companion Dominic was right, it does feel like you're driving a tank! And that clutch? Like pushing down a ton of bricks… but its all part of the adventure I guess! Getting to the barge was no problem, but reversing onto the barge proved to be another kettle of fish altogether! I generally find no problem reversing into tight spaces, but driving a new, huge car, without begin able to look through the rear window owing to all the gear and people piled in the back, and to make things worse, down a narrow ramp, with a clutch that doesn't like to be feathered was quite challenging. The first hurdle in our adventure was overcome with some help from the crew of the barge, and we were on our way to Fraser

Island!Once on the Island we were greeted by plenty of puddles and potholes - it had been raining rather heavily in the previous days so the road leveling crews couldn't do their job. This made for a very fun, bumpy ride up front in the driver's seat, but I think the swaying got boring after the first few minutes for the girls riding in the back. Driving off-road is a very slow and time consuming business - though the limit is set at 30km/h on the inland roads we hardly ever got past 20 - anyone who drives at the speed limit on these roads either has no regard for his passengers, or wants to punish them for some wrongdoing!
Our first scheduled stop was at an old logging site called Central Station, where we filled our water tank, emptied our bladders, and then set off for the first real attraction of the day - Lake Mackenzie. This freshwater lake is the largest on the island and is comprised of a sandy beach surrounded by rainforest, looking on to the cobalt blue waters of the lake and more rainforest on the far shore. It is a really lovely place to spend a sunny afternoon taking in the views and wading in the cooling waters, though our sun worshipping was limited somewhat by the arrival of rainclouds. We beat a hasty retreat to the carpark for lunch, then set out to our final destination for the day - Gabala camp grounds, along 75 Mile Beach. With plenty of one-way tracks and big back tracking loops to be done, it took us more than an hour and a half to get to the campsite even though we were just over 20km away.
With Autumn well under way it gets dark quite early, and none of the group being heavy drinkers intent on bingeing all night long, we were tucked away in our cosy tents by 10pm!

Day 2:
Despite the gloomy weather forecast for the duration of our stay we woke up to a bright, sunny morning, and were quickly on our way up the beach looking for a suitable place for breakfast. Once our grumbling bellies had been sated we set off for Eli Creek, the largest freshwater washout along the beach. Here we took a stroll through the picturesque rainforest to the end of the boardwalk, where all the party took off their sandals

and hopped in for a cooling walk in the water back to the 4x4. We didn't see any wildlife along our way, though a guy coming upstream did say he saw a snake…
Back on the Land Cruiser and on our way north along the beach we got our first glimpse of one of Fraser Island's famous dingos - we'd heard plenty of stories about Dingos bothering campers, chasing children, opening tents etc but it took us almost a full 24 hours on the island to see one! With the dingo photo session done we proceeded to the farthest reaches of 75 Mile Beach at Indian Heads. These large rock cliffs mark the point farthest north that we were allowed to travel in our vehicle, so we parked up in the soft sand and set off to explore on foot.
Indian Heads are so named because the cliffs supposedly look like the profile of an Indian - we tried hard at straining our eyes, and letting our imagination run loose, but we couldn't quite make out the profile. From Indian Heads we headed further north along the beach to the Champagne Pools - the only place on Fraser Island where you can swim in sea-water. The rock pools are so named because the crashing waves bubble and look like the expensive French beverage as the wash in on the bathers… though my friends assure me that that is where the similarities end, the taste being quite different!
Back at the Land Cruiser we had the pleasure of seeing some more Dingos feasting on the leftover lunch of some of the other groups… its this sort of behavior that makes the Dingos look to humans as a source of food, so if you ever are on Fraser Island, make sure you don't leave food scraps lying around. Dingos that are not afraid to approach humans can become a nuisance, some even become aggressive towards humans, and so any bold Dingos have to be humanely put down by the Rangers to prevent accidents. I'm getting off my soap-box now…
With the tide receding and the beach widening we could make our way back down the highway/beach towards other landmarks before making camp. Our first stop on the southward journey was at the Pinnacles, a multicolored sandstone formation that is being slowly eroded by the action of the sea and wind.
From the Pinnacles we headed onwards to the shipwreck of the luxury liner Maheno. This vessel foundered off the coast of Fraser Island in a violent storm in 1935 and has proved quite a popular attraction. Unfortunately the vessel has deteriorated so much that it is now forbidden to enter the wreck or stand within three meters of it, but we still got plenty of nice pictures (and everyone seems to disregard the three meter exclusion zone).
Once we'd had our fill of taking photos of the rusting hulk of the Maheno we got back into our pink Panzer and drove into the twilight towards our campsite for dinner and a good night's sleep. While we were setting up camp we were visited by the Fraser Island Rangers who inquired about any Dingos coming into the campsite and were quite surprised when we replied in the negative…
Once the rangers were gone and we sat down to dinner though it didn't take long for one of the four footed fiends to make its was into our clearing, though as soon as it noticed that we were aware of its presence the Dingo beat a hasty retreat, and we saw no sign of it while we were outside our tents.

Day 3:
In the morning we did find some evidence of Dingos in our camp clearing, but they seem to have stuck to sniffing around the Land Cruiser where all our food was stored, rather than approaching our tents.
Our final destination on Fraser Island was to be Lake Wabby, another freshwater lake, but this one being surrounded by high, steep sand dunes on one bank, and thick, impenetrable rainforest on the other. The water certainly wasn't as clear as that in Lake Mackenzie, but the ambient was just as nice. Lake Wabby is inhabited by catfish and turtles, and the former like to swim up to bather's feet for a tentative nibble! The sand dunes also provide for some entertainment - using discarded beer cartons you can slide down the sand dunes just like you would on a sledge down a snowy hill. The descent provides a nice adrenaline rush - and this is needed as the walk back up the dunes is quite taxing!
From the lake we headed to Eurong resort for lunch, and from there it was an all too quick drive back to the barge landing, and an end to our 4x4 adventure on Fraser Island.

A big wave goes out to our safari adventure companions - the German clan: Dominic, Brenda, Anka, Melissa and Sabrina, and the only other non-German speaker, Liz from America!

Plenty of pictures can be found as usual on my Picasa web albums