Life in the Red Centre

I finally have the internet at home so can realtime blog again instead of writing them at night and hoping to find internet somewhere in town to post it. Yahfrigginhoo! I've had a lot of questions about Australian life and what it's like to live here, beyond the massive amount of photos I've taken so here goes:

• I have managed to nearly master the art of driving on the other side of the road in a right-hand drive car. Nearly. I still forget at times and walk over to the left side to get in and drive...I haven't actually gone as far as getting in, but I still make for that side on occasion. I also forget occasionally in the parking lots, but thankfully not on the roadways. They have a lot of signage that helps - KEEP LEFT...I think they should also have the pedestrian walkways painted up like they do in the UK - LOOK RIGHT...nearly got smoked a few times that way while crossing the street. Pedestrian crosswalks are not often marked and no one stops for you to cross the road. In fact, when I have stopped to allow people to cross, I've been honked at, loudly.
• I have adapted very well to the climate. Turns out the fall is the perfect time to come to central Australia. The days are getting cooler and always below 30C, and the nights are 10-15C which is perfect for sleeping. I haven't worn socks or a sweater since I arrived, just short sleeves and flip flops.
• Food buying is sometimes a bit of a challenge as prices on some things are sky high like $6.49 for a pint of strawberries. Yes, a pint. I don't think they even sell them by the pint in Canada. Apparently the high cost this year is due to the Queensland floods destroying much of the crop. who knows...
• other groceries are often expensive too. 
• Milk is not known by the fat it contains but rather by the fat it doesn't. So instead of buying 2% milk, I buy 98% fat free milk...weird, I know.
• I cannot find orange cheddar, and instead of labeling them by mild, medium, or old, they are labeled tasty, extra tasty and mature.
• there is no parking provided at work so I park in the K-Mart parking lot each morning like many other government workers it seems. No one seems to care. Parking under a tree keeps the car cooler, but then it is covered in bird droppings...gross.
• I still have to look at the paper money to see what denomination it is, as the colors are different than ours, and all different sizes. The ten dollar bill is blue and the five dollar bill is purple. The twenties are orange/red and the fifties are gold. They have a 5 cent piece, 10 cent piece, 20 cent piece, a 50 cent piece, a dollar coin and a two dollar coin. They stopped using the one cent piece nearly 20 years ago, so prices are rounded up. 
• the downtown area is very busy at quitting time, but rush hour only lasts about 10 minutes. Then the streets seem empty.
• there are far too many roundabouts! I've only driven around them in Canada a handful of times, as most towns have just a couple, but they are very numerous here. I hate them. 
• there is a large river that flows through town. There is no water in it this time of year and won't be until next summer (December or so). 
• People keep telling me I have an accent, and often they think I am American (egad!) so I just show them my maple leaf tattoo and tell them I like their accent. 
• they do not recycle here. At all. No paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, or metals. Not even deposit recyclables. There is movement afoot to start accepting pop cans, but that will be it. They claim it is too expensive to ship them south to a recycling plant, but I don't buy it. Canada has been doing it in the north for years, so it isn't a valid excuse to be polluting the environment. There is garbage everywhere, often drink containers - wine bottles, liquor bottles, juice containers, pop and beer cans, pop and water bottles, wine bladders (the foil ones) and so on. 
• they still smoke in the bars here. I was out last night and stunk like a 3 pack a day smoker when I got home. Gross.
• alcohol is rather expensive. I bought a round last night - wild turkey and coke, a Smirnoff Ice, and a Heineken = $23...holy shit. And a 24 case of cans is about $50...
•  red, green, and yellow peppers are known as capsicums. 
• Cadbury products are very popular here. Thank-you Australia for not forcing me to eat Hershey's chocolate. I much prefer Cadbury.
• take-out food is known as takeaway, as it is in the UK. It took us well over an hour to find someone to order food from last night during the royal wedding. It was a popular event with my fellow members of the commonwealth. It was a gorgeous wedding. Diana would have been proud.
• there is a mouse plague in town and the rats have begun to arrive this past week or so from Queensland. And me without a cat for the first time in probably 35 or 40 years. I hear Stormy is getting his own fill of mice and rats - mostly by watching them outside the window, but he did run out into the garden after a big rat last week. Go Stormy!
• Toyota is a huge seller here, with many Land Cruisers, Hilux, and Prados on the roads. Land Rovers are also popular but nowhere near as popular as the Toyota Land Cruiser. I'm hoping to buy one second hand if I can find a good deal and a reliable one. A 4x4 is necessary to cross any of the floodways when they fill with water, not to mention to tackle many of the roads. 

So there you have it, life in Alice Springs so far.

Jetsetting in the Northern Territory

Today I was off to a small remote community with a police officer on our taskforce. The local police force has a nice little jet to fly around to the different posts in. We didn’t get to leave on time though as there was technical difficulties in filing the flight plan – computer, phone, and fax were giving the pilot issues, but he persevered and was finally able to file a verbal flight plan that would allow us to lift off. The flight is a scheduled one that takes members and other items to the various outposts in this part of the territory. Today they loaded a door on…

The plane was a 10 seater (including pilot & co-pilot seats) however there was more cargo than the door in the back, so only four seats in the cabin were available. I took a second row seat to give the tall men who boarded with me more legroom. There wasn’t a co-pilot but the copper I was with offered to fly the plane…I’m not sure if he was joking or not. We did have a long conversation about skydiving later on, so he might not have been. The flight was quite short, just 20 minutes, or so heading northeast of Alice Springs over the Hart’s Range of mountains, which are pictured here. The range looks like a ridge on a dinosaur to me, pushed up from the earth. Apparently, there are gems and minerals in them thar hills such as garnets, black and green tourmaline, sphene, mica, smoky and rose quartz, aquamarine, sunstone, rubies, iolite, and kyanite. I have no idea what some of those are but they are listed in the LP guidebook. We passed by an outstation where you can mine for your own garnets and quarts, so I may have to check that out sometime when I’m out on my own time. I also spotted three different waterholes from the air. The landscape is so very different from Canada this way. I have yet to see a lake or flowing river, whereas in Canada there are so many lakes and rivers of all sizes.

Once the flight was over, we got into the business of the day and visited with a youth at the airstrip who happened to be on his way out of town with other family for what is known as “sorry business” – a family funeral. It is impolite to speak the name of the person who has died, so it is generally just referred to as “sorry business”. We spoke with him over the racket of the jet that was headed out to its next destination, not exactly the prime interview location, but we managed. Then we were off to the police station for a few introductions. From there we were given a police vehicle to get around town in so we were off in search of the health centre and then the school for some interviewing. Both were rather easy to find as we saw several signs for each.

I haven’t written about the communities much, nor have I taken photos as I wonder if it is appropriate or not while working, however the conditions in most of the Aboriginal communities are very similar. Most housing in the Northern Territory is built of either brick, concrete, cinder block, or galvanized corrugated steel. They never use wood because of the termites found just about anywhere in this neck of the woods, such as found in the termite mound I took a photo of. So while the houses in the communities are quite solid and will last for many years, the houses do deteriorate with lack of maintenance. Floors are bare concrete, as are front porches. Most families sleep on basic steel cots with springs, and an old mattress or piece of foam on top of it. The beds are often outside, as many prefer to sleep outside, particularly during hot summer nights when the solid buildings gather too much heat to sleep in them. Many of these beds are in very rough shape, with pieces missing from the mattresses and foam. Blankets are optional it seems, and are also in rough shape. There is often a lot of garbage scattered everywhere, in piles, or otherwise. Some say they don’t pick it up because it is “whitefella trash” even though it is from their consumption, but considered to be manufactured by whitefellas so not theirs. Others think this is a lazy cop-out for not wanting to pick up the trash. All I know is there is a lot of it, and it stinks in the hot sun, as flies rise from the piles as you pass by. Not all homes are like this, but the bulk of them are. I’ve yet to enter one of the homes and have been warned that I probably don’t want to. We do most of our interviews as informal chats, often standing around, or squatting on the ground under the shade of a desert oak. The refrigerators are often standing outside on the porch step. Food cabinets are also often found outside, with a padlock on them. The windows may or may not be there, and are often broken, and taped up. Blankets hang in most windows to keep the heat of the sun out, and caging is over any windows that might open. That part is common for all housing that I’ve seen – for safety from thieves and probably troublesome snakes. In many yards, or outside the front gates are a dead car. And by dead, I don’t just mean parked and no longer working, I mean they have BEAT the hell out of them. The windshield has been jumped on to bash it out, the doors ripped off, the hood (known as the bonnet here) ripped and hanging off over the side, tires (tyres here) always gone, upholstery ripped to shreds, and often the car has been set on fire at some point. You can also find dead cars along the highways where families have left them when they either break down or run out of gas. Sometimes they are the ones who set them on fire…sometimes they aren’t.

Among all of this are families of people who walk barefoot through the rubble. People of all ages walk barefoot both in their communities and in the city, which I am still quite fascinated by. Folks in the cities often go shopping and do their business in town without shoes. I don’t know how they don’t cut or burn their feet. There is often glass all over the place from the drinking of the day/night. The back alleys, particularly near the main child welfare office is often littered with broken liquor bottles, foil wine bladders, dirty diapers (nappies here) and bits of clothing, not to mention steaming piles of … and fresh pools of urine. I know, lovely. Urine does not smell good in the hot sun and with little rain, it doesn’t get washed away for some time unless someone is out there with a hose.

There are also a LOT of community dogs of all shapes and sizes. Every one of them mutts, often looking half-starved, missing a leg or an eye, matted fur, and just plain mangy looking. They love to chase our vehicles and bite the tires, that is when they are not lifting their leg over them…

As poor as the communities present themselves, the people seem to be happy enough and enjoy spending time with family members. Most yards will have large groups of people sitting out, chatting, playing cards, and passing the time, often in the shade of the hot sunny afternoons.

We visited the medical clinic and met with the NIC (Nurse in Charge) for introductions and information gathering. After a bit of a chat, we determined that rural health centres here in Australia are very similar to the health centres in rural northern Canada. Not many nurses stay for long because of how the community treats them, passive aggressiveness, lateral violence, and the usual bullshit of small towns. If they decide they don’t like you because they didn’t get what they want, they will simply lodge a complaint about you, which often leads to a major investigation by outsiders who do not understand how things work. The NIC was a long-timer, having been there for about 5-6 years, and is looking at retirement in her near future. As in Canada, the health centre nurses are always a terrific source of community information, as they know everyone, and despite what the locals think of whitefellas and the nurses in general, they tell them all sorts of things because they feel it is safe to, whereas they often cannot trust their own in the community not to gossip.

From the clinic, we went to the school. More issues there. A few of the teachers had to be removed because of some bullying and there were temporary teachers in their place while that was sorted out elsewhere. The interim principal we spoke with was the third principal this year. It is only April, and the term started in late January. The school year is broken up into much different terms than in Canada, with no 3-month summer break, but a series of month long breaks during particular seasons. The schools in general are in good shape, kept clean, and new funding for improvements as required. The playgrounds are often quite nice with brightly painted tubular equipment as you would see in Canadian playgrounds. Much of the play areas are shaded by either trees or structures. The schoolyards are always fenced with high chain-link that is locked at the end of the day, or during school if there is community rioting, or troublesome youth who are banned from the grounds. Most children are barefoot at school, and sports clothing seems to be the chosen outfits.

After the school visit, it was back to the police station to eat our packed lunch while chatting up the local police. One of the officers was looking for a gun, I mean something to kill a brown snake he had just seen outside. It slithered off into the grass before he could kill it. Brown snakes are deadly, even though the one he saw was just a baby. Venom is venom.

Following lunch, we were off in the police vehicle for the 2.5-hour drive back to Alice Springs. We were taking the vehicle in for the local officers for repairs. The clutch was almost non-existent…their excuse was from towing out local vehicles all the damn time. Much of the road was dirt for a while, and very rippled, making for a very loud drive for about 60kms. We had a few floodway crossings where the creeks had dried up, but not before they ripped out much of the bitumen (asphalt) which had not been repaired yet. This is when a 4x4 comes in handy as the missing bitumen leaves giant chunks out of the roadways. Today the copper that was in with me plugged in his iPod to the stereo in the vehicle (a Toyota Hilux) and we drove back listening to Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones. Awesome. As long as it wasn’t country music, I was happy enough.

We didn’t see any wildlife other than the suicidal birds that continued to hit the roo bar (to keep the kangaroos you might hit from destroying your engine). We did however see many termite mounds, and lots of paddy melons, which are fairly small melons similar looking to a watermelon, but very bitter and inedible, not even the locals use them. They are poisonous to eat, so generally are just thrown around, left on the road to run over with your 4x4. We also stopped off at the Tropic of Capricorn monument, as we cross that boundary. Clearly, the birds use the statue to perch on as the base was covered in bird shit.

It was a busy and productive day. Often visits to the community will lead us on a wild goose chase to track down people, as they are rarely where we expect to find them, and people move around the community often, sleeping here or there, stopping over with this relative or the other for a day, week, month, or year! This trip we were able to see everyone, and the allegations were not substantiated so a good day all around.

Holiday Weekend in Australia

We seem to get a few extra holidays this time of year. In addition to Good Friday and Easter Monday, there is also Easter Saturday, Anzac Day on Tuesday, and then next weekend we have Monday off as an additional public holiday “in recognition that Anzac Day and Easter Monday both fall on Monday 25^th April”. So I’m not sure if that means next year when it doesn’t fall on Easter Monday, we don’t get it? In any event, I’m happy enough to have days off anytime! That just means more exploring time for me.

So today, being Good Friday, I did my laundry, caught a mouse, cooked a chicken, and took a hike to the top of Anzac Hill, fitting since Anzac Day is coming up. There is a large memorial up there, freshly painted white, so I may have to take another hike up there on Anzac Day to see what type of ceremony will be going on. For those who don’t know, Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand to honor the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during the first World War. It also more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for these countries. So it sounds like it is kind of like Remembrance Day in Canada.

I had wanted to take a hike at King’s Canyon, but didn’t manage to get a chance to make plans with any of my new co-workers at the main building before the holidays, as I spent such minimal time in the office since I started. The hike I want to do is 6kms which is a bit too long to do alone in such rugged territory. The hike is along the canyon rim, so lots of chance for accidents! And I promised my mother I wouldn’t go alone, heh heh. Yes, I am 44 years old and still listen to my mother on occasion.

So for the rest of the holiday weekend, I reckon there will be more local hikes, some reading, some telly watching, mouse catching, and some drowsy napping on the sofa. The weather is just gorgeous this time of year, with the temperatures in the teens in the morning, the mid to high twenties in the afternoons, and about 8C-10C at night. Perfect weather for sleeping, although I do keep the air conditioner on above my bed as well, as the white noise blocks out the night roamers on the street close to my bedroom window. Many of the local Aborigines live in the town camps on the outskirts of town, and seem to roam at all hours of the day and night into and out of town. There is one just a kilometre or so from my street, as I am on the very edge of town. One morning I heard voices at about 5am on a weeknight and so got up to look, and saw four teenage girls strolling along, chatting and carrying on. Clearly no one cared if they were out at all hours or not.

Happy Holidays everyone!

I WANT a 4 x 4!

This week I was on the road for the first two days and then in four-wheel drive training. Yesterday was pretty low key, quite a bit in the classroom with a power point, and then some videos of what NOT to do, including a nasty rollover. We also went out and checked our gear, and changed out a tire on our vehicles. Changing a tire on a Toyota Land Cruiser is a bit different than changing out a tire on the Toyota Corolla I used to own. Tires are MUCH heavier. As well, the terrain is much different here. We have to remember to use a tarp or blanket to get down on when putting the jack in place. It isn’t about getting dirty, it is about not getting burnt from the ground. Even with cooler temperatures of fall here at 28C or so, the ground temperature is well over 40C and in the summer, close to 60C or 70C, so to avoid burning any part of your body that might touch the ground, a tarp or blanket is highly recommended. We also might need a jack plate, particularly if jacking up the vehicle on a sandy desert, as it keeps the jack from just burrowing into the sand.

I did learn a real neat trick though, as I was a little concerned about having to hoist up the changed out tire to the back to slide it into its cubby, which is higher than my waist. I was envisioning a lot of grunting and groaning, and rotten back pains. Instead, I used a long handled shovel, putting the blade of the shovel up under the back cubby, curved side down, and the handle on the ground like a ramp. I then took the tire and rolled it up the shovel handle, with a leg on each side to guide it, and presto, it was up in the back with minimal effort. I was the first one done out of all 7 of us. Yayy, the Canadian did it! There were 5 Australians and one Sudanese fellow.

Interestingly enough, our instructor was a paraplegic. Yes, in a wheelchair, with limited use of his arms and hands. He had a gal helping him out with the tasks he couldn’t do anymore, and she was a full mechanic, as well as the one who showed me the shovel trick. The instructor had been a very active person until a bad car wreck several years ago, and despite being confined to a wheelchair, he was able to get it together to modify his vehicles and now off-roads all the time. He has a special glove with a spike thing attached to it and this spike goes into a slot in the steering wheel, allowing him to turn without needing to grip the wheel. He has something rigged up for his right hand to control speed, and I saw a breathing tube for some type of command. In any event, he is well equipped and has let nothing limit his fun.

Day two was where he really shined. We headed out into the desert to have some fun. First off, we had some basic training of running over some rocks to see if we knew where our tires were, and how to line them up. This was the easy part. Then we practiced stopping on rough terrain, which became easier as we went along. From there we headed to the dunes. Yeehaw…I lost sleep over this part, after chatting with someone from the main office who had failed the training last time by nearly rolling the vehicle over on a dune. Once we got going though, it turned out to be a whole lot less scary. We tried the dunes with high-range 4wd, in 1^st gear, regular pressure tires. With the right amount of steady speed, it was no problem. I got bogged once in the deep sand, and then not again. Some of the others got bogged several times, as they backed off too quickly on the speed, and failed to keep the tires straight on the way up. So that meant we got some practice towing them out. At one point, one of the rigs was burrowed deep so they used two vehicles to pull him out, with one vehicle connected to another, and another connected to that one, so three in a row. It worked like a charm. We also got to use what is called a “snatch strap” which is kind of like a high tension rubber band, that will slingshot the vehicle out of the sand as the tension stretches out to the limit and then snaps back. These worked very well, and we were reminded to stand well clear, in the event that one lets go.

We then hit some dunes in low range 4wd, 2^nd or 3^rd gear, low pressure in the tires (15psi) and this was much easier to tackle any of the dunes, as the low tire pressure allows more of the tire to make contact at once. I burned up the dunes without getting stuck once! It was quite a thrill to be bouncing all over the dunes, ripping up the hills. From the dunes we headed to another spot where the hills were all rock, and it was then that I discovered that these manual transmission 4x4 rigs are different than anything I’ve owned in the past. I could be in 3^rd gear, low-range 4wd and I could let the clutch out, and take my foot off the gas and it would self-propel up the hill without stalling. This was actually recommended for the rocky inclines we were driving over, given the sharp rocks and more dangerous landings. We also had to show that we could start the vehicle on a sharp incline if it happened to stall out. It looked scary at first, but turned out to be not that tricky at all, if you remembered the correct sequence in which to do things.

We didn’t get to do any water crossing as it was the wrong time of year and most of them have dried up. I did go through one on Tuesday while out in Hermansburg, but none on training, so that meant I didn’t get to drive one yet. The vehicle assigned to my team that I share with just my supervisor has been outfitted with a “snorkel”. What? Yes, a snorkel, and it means just that. When making water crossings, you can stall the engine by getting water in it, and choking out any air it needs. With a snorkel, as shown in the photo, is a long pipe with a grated top on it that allows air to be sucked away from the lower part of the vehicle, far from the water – just like a snorkel. While our vehicles are not boats, they can cross a fair depth of water.

We took our lunch in the shade of a big desert oak that is rather common in the red centre. Our instructor provided us with lots of cold water, Gatorade and iced tea. It doesn’t take long to sweat out a few litres of water in the mid-day sun. It wasn’t steaming hot today, but hot enough when standing on piping hot sand dunes trying to attach a tow or snatch strap. I was thankful for air conditioning in the rig, and blasted it all while I was driving. Once we finished low-range 4wd driving, we headed back to the driving club to reinflate our tires to normal. I was once again finished first.

So the training was awesome, and now I want a 4wd vehicle. They aren’t cheap to buy brand new, but I’ve been told about a few places to check for second hand vehicles. I rather like the Toyota Land Cruiser, and they are the most popular vehicle for 4wd world-wide for a reason. They can get through damn near anything. Initially I had my heart set on a Toyota Rav 4, but they are pretty small for outback driving, and might not have the ground clearance I’m looking for. It really depends on who is willing to loan me money to buy a vehicle – dealer financing for something brand new, or a bank loan for something second hand. Once I finally get a paycheck, I will have to see where that stands. At least with Toyota, I have a great credit rating, having paid off two vehicles without a single missed payment.

I overcame my fear of driving the desert. My father would be proud. I did it Dad. I really freaking did it.

Stay Tuned

Hi folks. Just a quick post to say I'll be catching up this blog tomorrow. I haven't had any web access other than my phone but I do have a few blog posts written and tons of photos to post. I should be able to get online somewhere tomorrow once things open up again here after the long weekend. Thanks for your patience. G'day!

Outback Road Trip

Today was my first road trip that took me off the main highway and onto the dirt roads of the outback in a four-wheel drive vehicle. There were three of us and a Toyota Land Cruiser, diesel. For the first bit of the drive we were thundering along the double lane sealed road (asphalt) and then we were on single lane asphalt. We passed a few road trains, and they OWN the road, particularly when it is single lane. You pull the hell over and get out of the way for them to thunder by. We saw a few 3 link road trains, and one 4 link road trains, and they all left us in a cloud of dust. Then we were onto the unpaved dirt roads. Yes, you do need a 4x4 for these as it was quite a bone-rattling drive, and the fact that we were on dirt did not slow our driver down much! It was a bouncy ride, but also rather thrilling to be bouncing along, hitting bumps, cracks, gaps, ruts, and other uneven surfaces. The road changes hourly, depending on the traffic, the dryness or wetness of the dirt, and whether or not the road grader has been through.

As for wildlife, I managed to see two kangaroos go bouncing by, one across the road, and one off into the fields. I did not have my camera out in time to catch either on film, but they were pretty amazing to see just the same. We also spotted one in the dark on the return drive home, just two bouncing lights in the dark as the spotter light caught their eyes. I saw about a dozen wild horses, one with a young colt, which was also pretty cool. Those I did get to photograph. There were also a ton of termite mounds, but we didn’t stop for photos of those, I’ll do that another time.

The visits to the two Aboriginal communities were very interesting. Our first visit to someone’s home involved squatting down on the red earth beneath a tree in their yard, and having a chat with one of the elders, and whomever else felt it was their business to sit in. Apparently this is how things are done, and it seemed to work rather well. So there we sat, in the shade of the tree, surrounded by about a half-dozen family members, taking turns having our say. The mood was pleasant, and engaging, with us all sharing the same concerns for the youth in the community. Most home visits take place like this, either squatting on the ground, or standing by the gate or front porch. We did several today, and visited a few public buildings like the school and clinic. It was interesting to see in the medical clinic, separate windows for “Woman Only” and “Man Only”. Within the Aboriginal community women and men conduct their business separately as is their custom. There was another sign up in the clinic that separated folks further by camps, as the families are pretty divided between two camps in that community and cannot share the same space. There was a bit of a riot the day before, and trouble again just a few hours before we had arrived, enough that the school locked its gate to keep the children out of it. Families are feuding, and it gets violent at times, so people try to keep the children out of the way when this happens, and from joining the trouble outside the fence that surrounded the school.

My first look at an Aboriginal community was an eye-opener. Conditions are rough, trash is everywhere, and community standards are basic survival. Many people have set up beds outside their homes during the dry season, with beds, clothing, and blankets scattered everywhere. Many people were sitting in the shade under trees and porches. For the most part, people were rather cheerful when we came around, despite the violence earlier in the day. Many were barefoot, regardless of age, and local languages were spoken most of the time, except when conversing with us. Then it was mostly pigeon English, which is quite common in this country from what I have read, and experienced. It was all rather interesting to see how people relate to us, and to one another.

People were packed up and waiting at the community health centre for the “bush bus” which is a bus that runs regularly to the remote camps to bring people into Alice Springs. Their luggage typically consisted of a bag of clothing, and bags or loose bundles of bedding to use while “in town”. Most stay at the town camps that lie on the outskirts of Alice Springs, where you must bring your own bedding and sleep on an empty cot, the floor, or the open ground. I haven’t been to a town camp yet, but reckon it won’t be long.

The drive back was a beautiful drive as the sun set over the distant mountain range behind us, and the moon rose like a huge glowing ball over the horizon that lay in front of us. The stars began to appear, one after another, and at one point, we saw a brilliant shooting star fly downward in the sky.

Tomorrow I head to another community, this time with a police officer on my team. I wonder if the roads will be as rough as they were today…adventure awaits.

Simpson Gap and Standley Chasm

Well, today I set out for more hiking. I returned to Simpson Gap to see if I can spot any wallaby action, but I think I was too late in the day. The guide stated that they are most often seen at dawn and dusk at the watering hole. I did take the short hike through the gap and the watering hole, which was gorgeous. The watering hole is shrinking fast, and will probably be dried up within another week or two. The hole was a raging river during the wet season. They normally only get a couple of inches of rain per year but this past summer (our winter) they received upwards of half a metre of rain, most of it all at once, which flooded the roads, and had the dry creek beds flowing like rivers. There were signs all along the highway for floodways, and measuring sticks so you can tell just how high the flooding is before you try to drive your sorry ass through it and need rescuing, which apparently happens ALL the time in the top end. They receive monsoon rains in the Darwin area, and flooding in the summer (our winter) is quite an issue.

In any case, from the short hike at Simpson Gap, I drove another few dozen kms down the highway to Standley Chasm. If you don’t know what a chasm is, it’s when the force of a river cuts a deep cleft in the sandstone, leaving behind sheer cliffs that run straight up. As the sun reaches noon position, it lights up the walls of Standley Chasm, making them glow red in the sunlight. People gathered to watch this happen and cameras were clicking constantly. I think I took about 50 photos here alone. I wanted to go past that sign that warned me not to, but I was good, and decided not to tempt fate. Before the chasm hike though, I took another path up to the top of a mountain point, scratching the heck out of my legs on some sort of very sharp needle like plant. I also came across some wallaby poop, but alas, no wallaby. It was on this lesser traveled trail that I came across a grass shelter. It was made of four posts and a net across the top, with grass thrown up on it for shade. Interesting!

On my way back from the chasm, I came across my very first goanna. It was a spotted one. I heard something rustling in the bush beside me, and saw something move, and was happy to find a goanna and not a deadly snake. This one was about 2-3 feet long from tip to tail. He didn’t seem to mind me taking his photo, although I’m certain he thought I couldn’t see him. He did blend well with the environment, but I could definitely see him. I wanted to reach out and pick him up, but then someone else came along, and the moment was lost. I did chat for a few moments with the folks that came along, all Aussies. One of them told me he loves to give tourists a go at King’s Canyon when he sees them swimming in the waterhole by telling them he wouldn’t be swimming in there with all the crocs around…heh heh…then they all rush out. We both chuckled over that. There are no crocs in the red centre. I think King’s Canyon will be my next weekend hike. It’s 6k, and should take about 2-3 hours. I’m hoping I can convince one of the other newbies to come with me if they’re interested.

I also saw a few more spiders today, different from the ones I saw yesterday, and a bit larger. Gross, but interesting. I put my bankcard next to one for size comparison. He was as big as the card…at least I saw them both in plenty of time not to become wrapped up in the web.

My legs are still pasty white, despite wearing shorts today. My upper half is getting some sun, and I’ve been putting 55spf sunblock on my face, as my nose and giant forehead usually get too much sun. I’ve had a look at the women from here, and they are wrinkled and look OLD, from too much sun. I’ve made it to 44 without a single wrinkle in my face, and don’t want to start now. A few that I’ve spoken with were surprised to find out I was as old as I am, because they are used to seeing women become rather wrinkled from the sun by that age. I think my face has survived so well because I gave up make-up a couple of decades ago. All that pushing and rubbing on your face along with layering on the crap will do some real damage to your skin after a while. As for grey hairs, I have many these days and have earned each and every one.

On Monday, I head “out bush” with my team leader to Yuendumu, and another place I can’t find on the map I have at home. We leave at 7am and expect to be back about 7pm. We are taking the 4-wheel drive and may need it, as one of the short cuts is an unpaved road through the outback. I’m excited!

Exploring the Simpson Gap

Well, I’m just back from my first outback excursion. I drove about 20kms out of town to the Simpson Gap. A gap is what they call a break between two plateau mountains. I was up before dawn and headed out to catch sunrise over the desert. I didn’t make it to the top of the before sunrise, but just moments after as it cracked the horizon. I hiked just a short 1.5 km hike to the top of Cassia Hill, where I had a panoramic 360° view of the Larapinta Valley. The weather was gorgeous, just a breath of wind, and long before the heat of the desert. I started out with a sweater on, but within moments it wasn’t necessary as I began to climb upwards. There was quite an abundance of green in the desert, quite unexpected, but I’m told they usually only get a couple of inches of rain per year and this year they got half a metre. So there is grass everywhere where there usually isn’t.

As I was charging up the bush trail to the summit, I had been coming across spider threads here and there, just a line or two, and then before I knew it, I was wrapped up in a huge web, spider included. It was not as big as a tarantula, but it was BIG ENOUGH. I don’t know if it was poisonous…must remember to get an outback book that details this necessary information…later on up the trail, I came across another, and stopped in enough time to take photos, instead of flailing about screaming in the desert to get this damn spider off me. The spider was apparently laying eggs in the web, and now that I saw that, I realized I was not only covered in web before, but spider eggs…great. After a closer inspection of my clothes, I flung off more spider eggs…showering was in order when arriving home! I came across a few more webs, but no more spiders, thankfully.

The hills were amazing once the sun struck the redness of the rock cliffs. I couldn’t get over the quietness of the day as well, could hear a pin drop, and the occasional songbird. The desert flowers were just coming into bloom, with an array of colors. I’ll have to return in a week or two to see what has transformed. When I was first at the Simpson Gap, I could hear voices of other hikers on a different trail, but didn’t see them anywhere. They were likely down in the bush of the trail.

The gum trees were impressive, and gorgeous when the sun hit their stark white bark. Australia has a whole new group of trees to enjoy! I snapped photo after photo against the brilliant blue sky.

Driving back to town I stopped for some McBreakfast and discovered severely inflated prices. I had a sausage McMuffin, two hashbrowns and orange juice (they did not carry white milk) and it was $9!!! I nearly shit my pants. So I know where I shall not be returning…no real loss anyhow as I need to steer clear of those fatty foods anyway.

Then just as I am on my way home, my lead food caught the watchful eye of the local police who pulled me over in short order. Great. My first Australian speeding ticket. It was just $100 which was a relief. I was going 88km in a 70km zone and they knocked it down to 85 to lower the ticket. If that wasn’t bad enough, when they ran the plate they discovered that my rental car had expired plates, and was not currently registered. Great. Thanks Thrifty’s Rental Car. That ticket was not so cheap - $200!!! They also informed me that I could not drive the car any longer, and must get an officer to drive it home, and they would give me a lift back to my place. Nice. Showing up at home in a police car…what would the neighbours say? Not that I cared particularly, as I usually don’t. They further informed me that should the car have been involved in an accident, I would be the one held liable, not Thrifty’s! Needless to say there was a hasty call to Thrifty’s to unravel this mess. They tried to tell me that Western Australia plates do not have a sticker (as the car had WA plates, not NT) but the police were not going by the sticker, they ran the plates through their system and the plates came up unregistered to a vehicle. Terrific. Thrifty’s now has a $200 charge to pay because I surely am not!

So, while the day had a glorious start, the mood was soon spoiled by police business. Yuck.

What will the next adventure bring?