Overlanding through the outback
This grand trip of mine has gone through phases of travelling overland, being sick of that so flying, wanting to save some money so overlanding it again and latterly reverting back to flying again. However taking on the Cairns to Darwin stretch overland was an opportunity not to be overlooked. On offer was a 4-day trip covering almost 3000 km almost entirely through bush and outback. This was a side of Australia I really wanted to experience, although admittedly I had little idea of what to expect.
Off we set last Saturday on a great orange all terrain vehicle, some 22 of us, heralding from countries as Ireland, France and Germany. Yes, well it was a rather European crowd, but a good one, and despite the many hours on the road each day the time passed quickly and in good humour, eased along by the sights of the outback and regular stops at towns and creeks along the way. Highlights included handling a selection of Australian pythons and watching the more poisonous snake varieties quickly dispatch the rats they were fed; a true outback pub where the stereotypical beer advert image of the Aussie bloke with his hat and a 12-pack of XXXX on his shoulder rang absolutely true; seeing roos, emus, wallabies and much else besides dash around in the bush on either side of the vehicle; roads stretching into the horizon sometimes empty for hours, at other times populated by four-trailer 'road trains' or behemoth loads from one of the outback mines.
All-in-all the tour proved to be pretty much everything I might have hoped for. It was totally different to the cities, as well it should be. This was Australia's wild west and it fit this casting requirement effortlessly. The population are rough, thirsty and friendly inhabiting towns of just a few hundred at most, yet being so remote each has to be self-sufficient, offering all the services even in minute form that you might possible need living out there or passing through on a road trip through the outback. There are after all no short outback trips. The mainstay for drivers is the famous Aussie roadhouse. These generally comprise a filling station, pub, cafe and motel all in one and generally also offer repair services and might even store any game you've acquired on the way. It's not entirely clear where the staff of these roadhouses live as often they're entirely detached from any other form of civilisation. Nevertheless operate they do and they're a most welcome sight at the end of a long drive. Just ignore the frogs inhabiting the toilet rim and you'll be right.
Much of the outback is divided between the huge cattle stations, the Aussie term for what would be called a ranch in the US. I'm unsure why these have to be just as massive as they are given that the cattle seem to only ever inhabit a small area within good reach of a watering hole, yet some of these stations are as large as Belgium. They're lightly staffed too, perhaps just 12 stockmen working on one of these country-sized outfits in the peak season. My current reading is a humourous collection of tales from a guy who's tried his hand at this stockman life and I suspect as I progress through the book a good deal besides too. Detached from the outside world and most importantly the pub for months, uncooperative horses and fruit bats impaling themselves on the ceiling fan and spraying their guts over you are all experiences that go with this territory.
Four-days on through the arid mobile phone receptionless country that was is outback and I made it intact to Darwin with my fellow travellers, having by now learnt the lyrics to several favourite Aussie songs such as "G'Day G'Day", and both the lyrics and actions to "Give me a home amongst the gum trees" as well as having had ample opportunities to join in with classics such as Midnight Oil's "Beds are burning" which I'd never previously realised is actually a protest song about giving back land to Aboriginals and "Land Down Under" by Men at Work. Darwin doesn't have much in the way of historical architecture to boast about, having been both heavily bombed by the Japanese in WWII and more or less wiped off the map by a cyclone in the 1970s. I find myself here for a few days on account of taking a cheap flight to Melbourne on Saturday. The weather is astoundingly hot and not terribly conducive to doing anything aside from sitting around, preferably somewhere air conditioned with a cold drink in hand, while attempting to avoid noticing just how appallingly England are doing in the Ashes, although the Aussies normally do a good job of making sure any Pommie who makes themselves known is brought up to date with all that stuff.
Rather eager for internet access after the trip I've already uploaded the best of the photos to the my flickr site. I've also been uploading photos taken on my mobile over the past few weeks and months as well as topping up a few other recent sections on the site too.
Next stop is Melbourne to where I'm taking an overnight flight on Saturday. The flight times might be rubbish but the price was great, meaning I can spend a little more on tours exploring the Great Ocean Road or Blue Mountains during my last couple of weeks down under. The end is approaching quickly. Before I know it I'll be back to the freezing cold of a Northern winter, yet in the Darwin heat I'm currently doing my best to avoid that doesn't sound half bad at the moment.
Off we set last Saturday on a great orange all terrain vehicle, some 22 of us, heralding from countries as Ireland, France and Germany. Yes, well it was a rather European crowd, but a good one, and despite the many hours on the road each day the time passed quickly and in good humour, eased along by the sights of the outback and regular stops at towns and creeks along the way. Highlights included handling a selection of Australian pythons and watching the more poisonous snake varieties quickly dispatch the rats they were fed; a true outback pub where the stereotypical beer advert image of the Aussie bloke with his hat and a 12-pack of XXXX on his shoulder rang absolutely true; seeing roos, emus, wallabies and much else besides dash around in the bush on either side of the vehicle; roads stretching into the horizon sometimes empty for hours, at other times populated by four-trailer 'road trains' or behemoth loads from one of the outback mines.
All-in-all the tour proved to be pretty much everything I might have hoped for. It was totally different to the cities, as well it should be. This was Australia's wild west and it fit this casting requirement effortlessly. The population are rough, thirsty and friendly inhabiting towns of just a few hundred at most, yet being so remote each has to be self-sufficient, offering all the services even in minute form that you might possible need living out there or passing through on a road trip through the outback. There are after all no short outback trips. The mainstay for drivers is the famous Aussie roadhouse. These generally comprise a filling station, pub, cafe and motel all in one and generally also offer repair services and might even store any game you've acquired on the way. It's not entirely clear where the staff of these roadhouses live as often they're entirely detached from any other form of civilisation. Nevertheless operate they do and they're a most welcome sight at the end of a long drive. Just ignore the frogs inhabiting the toilet rim and you'll be right.
Much of the outback is divided between the huge cattle stations, the Aussie term for what would be called a ranch in the US. I'm unsure why these have to be just as massive as they are given that the cattle seem to only ever inhabit a small area within good reach of a watering hole, yet some of these stations are as large as Belgium. They're lightly staffed too, perhaps just 12 stockmen working on one of these country-sized outfits in the peak season. My current reading is a humourous collection of tales from a guy who's tried his hand at this stockman life and I suspect as I progress through the book a good deal besides too. Detached from the outside world and most importantly the pub for months, uncooperative horses and fruit bats impaling themselves on the ceiling fan and spraying their guts over you are all experiences that go with this territory.
Four-days on through the arid mobile phone receptionless country that was is outback and I made it intact to Darwin with my fellow travellers, having by now learnt the lyrics to several favourite Aussie songs such as "G'Day G'Day", and both the lyrics and actions to "Give me a home amongst the gum trees" as well as having had ample opportunities to join in with classics such as Midnight Oil's "Beds are burning" which I'd never previously realised is actually a protest song about giving back land to Aboriginals and "Land Down Under" by Men at Work. Darwin doesn't have much in the way of historical architecture to boast about, having been both heavily bombed by the Japanese in WWII and more or less wiped off the map by a cyclone in the 1970s. I find myself here for a few days on account of taking a cheap flight to Melbourne on Saturday. The weather is astoundingly hot and not terribly conducive to doing anything aside from sitting around, preferably somewhere air conditioned with a cold drink in hand, while attempting to avoid noticing just how appallingly England are doing in the Ashes, although the Aussies normally do a good job of making sure any Pommie who makes themselves known is brought up to date with all that stuff.
Rather eager for internet access after the trip I've already uploaded the best of the photos to the my flickr site. I've also been uploading photos taken on my mobile over the past few weeks and months as well as topping up a few other recent sections on the site too.
Next stop is Melbourne to where I'm taking an overnight flight on Saturday. The flight times might be rubbish but the price was great, meaning I can spend a little more on tours exploring the Great Ocean Road or Blue Mountains during my last couple of weeks down under. The end is approaching quickly. Before I know it I'll be back to the freezing cold of a Northern winter, yet in the Darwin heat I'm currently doing my best to avoid that doesn't sound half bad at the moment.
posted by Daniel at 3:44 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home