Journey to the Centre of Oz / Happy Christmas!

On 2nd / 3rd December we ended the first leg of our journey, by taking the overnight flight from Singapore to Darwin. For the third time in a week, we found ourselves arriving at dawn in a new city. But where the people of Singapore had beguiled us with the warmth of their welcomes, the Darwinians unfortunately left a sour taste: unfriendly, sarcastic and cynical at every turn it seemed. Maybe it was just the heat, which was hitting the high 30s, but the place didn't endear itself to us. Unfortunately we had to spend 5 nights here sandwiched around a 3 day expedition to Kakadu and Lichfield National Parks.

Where else would we stay in Darwin?

As we hinted, Darwin wasn't much to write home about, though we spent an interesting morning at a museum which focused on the history and culture of the local aboriginal peoples, the local flora and fauna and an exhibit on Cyclone Tracy, which pretty much destroyed the city on Christmas Day 1974.

This is my fourth visit to Australia and Sue's second, but the first time either of us has spent any time in the Northern Territories. The thing that struck us both is the aboriginal issue, which is much closer to the surface here than in the big cities and feels much more real. In the Northern Territories, the indigenous and non-indigenous peoples often inhabit the same spaces, but at the same time from our observations seem to live in completely separate universes. The aboriginals that we sag in Darwin City reminded us of ghosts, wandering through the spaces that they used to live in, with a look of bewilderment on their faces. This is their land, but no longer their land.

This is a hugely complex issue and not one that we could deign to have a solution to. What is evident, is that the aboriginals developed a way of living in harmony with their environment over 60,000 + years, but that these ways were trumped by the technological solutions brought by the Europeans. When they saw the aboriginals, they saw little more than savages; indeed well into the 20th century they were classified under flora and fauna as a sub-species and policies of effective ethnic cleansing were practiced. A significant number of aboriginals have struggled to adapt to the society implemented by the settlers, whether through reluctance to give up their traditional ways (and many would say why should they), through inability, or due to prejudice against them. Whichever, they often seem to be stuck in a half-way-house limbo, where they are not fully living the old ways or the new ways.

Whatever the rights and wrongs, this is an issue that still polarises Australia. Government policy today is without doubt much more liberal and seeking to draw in aboriginal culture and knowledge into the mainstream, whilst giving aboriginal peoples more rights over their old lands and to live traditional lifestyles, but we have heard many white people complaining that they are being taken advantage of. We left the Northern Territories unsure whether two such disparate ways of living can easily co-exist, or whether they need to draw closer together. Either way, it looks like it will take many more generations, before the dust settles on this.

We had 2 weeks in total in the Northern Territories. It was pretty tough going for us at times, but we did manage to pack a lot in. First off, we visited Kakadu and Lichfield National Parks on a gruelling 3 day, 4 wheel drive safari. The temperature was hitting 40 degrees with high humidity and after a few minutes of activity in this we were drenched through with sweat and the flies swarmed around us. A couple of 3 hour walks in particular really tested us both, even if some of the views were spectacular. We had some welcome relief in the form of some clear, deep, water-holes: because they are high up, formed by waterfalls coming off the escarpments, they are guaranteed to be free from crocodiles. We were able to dive in and swim for a while, which was the most wonderful relief from the heat of the day. We also pay tribute to our guide Brad, who taught us so much about aboriginal culture and about the flora and fauna in the area.

Our second tour was really a means of getting down from Darwin to Alice Springs and experience the feel of the 'Red Centre' on the way. We were in a minibus with 12 others, with 9 Germans, a Dutch girl and ourselves - fortunately our guide spoke no German, so English mostly prevailed. It was 3 hard days of driving, with the scenery changing slowly from the tropical rain forest of the 'Top End' to the semi-desert of the 'Red Centre'. There were some interesting stops along the way, including the Katherine Gorge and the Devils Marbles, but we suspect at times that the only person awake on the bus was the driver!

Finally, we arrived in Alice Springs, an oasis town that grew up as the location for a wireless station halfway between Darwin and Adelaide. Our first impression was that it seemed a rather world-weary town, though wouldn't you be in that heat. We stopped off for just one night, before heading off for another 2 day / 2 night tour culminating in Uluru.

Uluru, was just as anticipated, but we were probably more taken by the Olga's, a series of huge sandstone boulders and rock escarpments. The largest, was much higher than Uluru and millions of years, the walls of it's rock faces have been eroded into surreal shapes, making this like a walk through a modern sculpture park. We managed a good 2 hour hike into the Olga's and having left the rest of the group to do a longer version, we had the place to ourselves at times, which just added to the special atmosphere.

At Uluru, we arrived in time to see sunset and then came back at dawn the next morning. We just had time to do the 10km base walk right round the outside, managing to get off before any of the other tour groups, which allowed us to see it at it's best and in serene quiet. These were two of the best hikes of our tour, but sadly my camera fell into one of the rock pools halfway down to Alice Springs and seems to have given up the host, so we have limited pictures available of this leg taken on our I-pad.

Before we finish, a word on accommodation. On our tours down from Darwin, this was easily the most basic since we left London. 3 of the last 5 nights were in swag bags, which are basically canvas bags with a mattress inside. The group just rolled these out in a circle around an open fire and hoped that this would ward off any snakes, spiders or other venomous creatures for which Australia is famous. On the first of these nights, we had to head for shelter half way through the night, as there was a thunderstorm coming in - not just because we would probably have got a soaking, but because the spiders tend to come out of their burrows after a heavy downpour! But the worst night was probably in a motel on the first trip, where every room and the toilet/shower block was infested with cockroaches and cane toads, which wasn't conducive to a good night's sleep.

Matters went from the ridiculous to the sublime though on our final day. We arrived at Uluru airport for our flight To Sydney on Sunday 15th December, to find that our flight had been cancelled. But all is well that ends well, because we were taken off to a luxury resort for the night and slept soundly under our clean, crisp linen and air conditioning.

So, a day late we arrived in Sydney, where after nearly 4 months on the road we have finally completely unpacked our rucksacks. Thanks to Dax, Max, Freddy and Joe, whose house we are looking after whilst they are back in the UK. We've been here a week now and just about getting used to the idea that we don't have to pack up and move on again tomorrow. We will probably stay here in Sydney until mid-January whilst we are working out what our next plans will be.

Thanks to everyone who has been following this blog and our journey thus far. We hope it has been half as much fun to read as it has been to write. Now we are settled for a bit, our posts will probably reduce a little, but we will let you know here when we have settled on our next steps.

In the meantime, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.