Posts filed under 'Alice Springs'
Back in another relocation van again and it feels good to be on the road. The road north from Alice Springs is extremely flat and straight, and in true Northern Territory style, it has no speed limit. There really isn’t much to see along the way except for red dirt and bushland but I kept myself entertained by listening to an audio book. There are a few places worth mentioning though - one is Barrow Creek, made famous from the Peter Falconio “backpacker” murder a few years back. If you didn’t know about the murder, you would have no idea that anything ever happened there, but if you do know then I think you can’t help but drive along and wonder where his body might be (it was never found).
Much more interesting heading north is Wycliffe Well, otherwise known as the UFO Capital of Australia. It’s just a roadhouse and caravan park, but the entire place is decorated in tribute to the many alleged UFO and alien sightings there. Even the toilets are labeled ‘Femaliens’ and ‘Maliens,’ but it definitely adds interest to what would otherwise be just another caravan park. It also happens to known for having the largest selections of beers of any roadhouse in Australia - about 160 I think - hmmm, could there be a scientific reason why the aliens would single out a place with an extraordinary selection of beers???? Things to think about while driving I guess.
I’m camping tonight at Banka Banka. For $6 you get a campsite, a nice hot shower, and a slideshow by firelight about the Banka Banka cattle station. It was interesting to see photos and hear stories about a different station after having just finished working on one myself. I couldn’t help but look around at all the people watching the show getting their 40-minutes insight into station life and think how fortunate I was to be able to live and work amongst it for 5 weeks. I definitely got the real deal.
On a side note, the temperature’s been rising as I head north as well, so I can well and truly say goodbye to -5C nights in Alice and hello to 30C days in Darwin very soon! Tomorrow I continue north. It’s about 1900 km to Darwin from here.
June 24th, 2006
I’m back in The Alice again, back to civilization that is this small country town after having finished my job at the cattle station. It was a great adventure to work ‘out bush’ for 5 weeks, to see how outback Aussies live, and also to experience life on a real working cattle station. And no, I did not sample the fresh organic beef, not even once, to the dismay of my boss who was convinced that he would convert me away from vegetarianism. I happily ate my veggies and we still managed to get along fine. The boys finished all the mustering in about 6 weeks and I completed my job of spring-cleaning the house, so the three workers - ‘Bones’ the Aussie fellow from Queensland, Jim the Irish backpacker, or ‘Packer’ as he was called, and myself - all left the cattle station for our next destinations. Bones drove back to Queensland to be with his 3 kids, Jim flew south to Perth, or ‘Pert’ which is how it sounds with his thick Irish accent, and I have been in Alice Springs for the last week waiting to get another relocation van to get to Darwin. There is a lot to see around Alice and I’m lucky to have friends here so it’s been an easy place to spend another week. Admittedly though I am feeling ready to move again and I hope to be in Darwin in the next few days. I have another Lizard Island friend up there, and I know she is waiting anxiously for me to arrive so we can hit the pubs!! It will be good to catch up with another old friend.
On a side note from the traveling, I had some sad news from home this week - my Pop-Pop Kazelis died last Friday and being in the middle of Australia, I’m just not able to realistically get home for his funeral. When you are traveling as long as I’ve been these things are bound to happen and this is not the first time that I have received a bad email, phone call, or text message. Life on the road is still life and it’s still full of the same ups and downs that people have at home. My Pop-Pop was old and not well and everyone agrees that his passing was for the best, but it is still sad to lose a part of the family. Since I can’t be there to say goodbye to you in person Pop-Pop, I hope you check my website from heaven and see me writing that I love you and I am glad that you are finally with Grandmom. This entry is dedicated to you.
June 23rd, 2006
No one would ever guess where this here vegetarian of 13 years is working? Yep, in a cattle station in the Aussie outback! I have been here on Indiana Station in the Northern Territory for 3 weeks now, living and working on a real cattle station with true outback Aussies. I saw the ad for the job while I was in Alice Springs, and I thought, why not do 5 weeks work - it’s a chance to top up the bank account a bit and experience another part of Australia. So here I am in the real outback, miles from nowhere, surrounded by nothing, with 5,000 cattle and 5,000,000 flies on a 1,100 sq. km property just north of the Simpson Desert. This is how remote this place is: the ‘driveway’ is 51km long and that only leads to a dirt road!! I thought Lizard Island was remote, but at least we got mail there every day ? they don’t even get mail here! My main job is to spring clean the house for the wife Liz, while her husband David and 2 other guys are out doing the mustering every day. I did go out with them for 2 days, just to see what it’s all about and to sleep in the outback in a swag under the stars for one night. We had our dinner and tea by the fire and food from the ‘tucker box’ in real outback style. They do most of the mustering from the air in gyros so there isn’t too much to see on the ground, but I did get to experience the maddening flies first hand and we did have to help muster from the ground at the end of the day.
It’s an interesting world out here. The owner’s 10-year old daughter Alice is schooled through the School of the Air, an education system for Aussie kids living in the outback. Every day she sits at the computer to watch her teacher giving live lessons from the nearest town (a 5-hour drive away), and the kids interact through their school-installed microphones. They submit their homework through by email, and the whole thing seems to work pretty well. Every so often, all the kids go into town for a week of lessons there, so they get to meet each other in person and just have fun like normal kids I guess. In fact, Liz and Alice have just been on town for the last 8 days on a Sport’s Week for school, so I have been here feeding the dogs, cats, guinea pigs, chooks, and boys on my own. Their power is supplied by solar panels, and their water is from a bore, so they are completely self-sufficient. Liz drives into town about once every 2 weeks to buy the groceries and pick up the mail.
The boys have been pretty good to me so far considering how much of a city slicker I am to them. They don’t really seem to care that I am a vegetarian, probably because it just means more meat for them at mealtime. They just did a ‘kill’ the other day, and cut up an entire cow, which they reckon will last them for 3 months. We have one entire freezer full of that cow at the moment. As I said, it’s an interesting place.
Just a few blurbs from Indiana Station:
You know what NT stands for don’t ya? Not today, not tomorrow, not to worry mate. Can?t get anything done quick in the Northern Territory.
You’ve got 3 food groups right here: caffeine, sugar, and protein from the milk. Coffee is the perfect meal.
We’ll have you converted by the time you leave.
No dead sheep here? Well let’s just take a camel instead. The only thing they’re good for is eatin’ anyway.
Cattle at sunset on Indiana Station
Mustering with the boys?
At camp after a day of mustering
June 3rd, 2006
It’s been a whirlwind of mainland madness ever since I left Lizard Island 6 weeks ago. I had a great time at the Byron Blues and Roots Fest with friends from the Lizard Island Resort and saw some really great music over the 5 days we were there. After that I started my Oz Road Trip from Brisbane. I travelled by way of relocating campervans for a rental car agency, which is a cheap and easy way to travel without spending a lot of cash. They only charge you $1/day to return the vehicle and they even give you some of the petrol money - what a deal! My first van was a big Mercedes campervan which I drove from Brisbane to Melbourne, covering a distance of about 2000km in 4km. On the way south. I drove through the Hunter Valley and then stopped at Kosciuszko National Park and hiked to the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia. It’s only about 2300m, but still it’s another milestone!
In Melbourne I stayed with some old family friends who I hadn’t seen since I was just a bub, but they took me into their home and made me a part of their family for the week that I was there. Thanks so much for everything Dionne! I also caught up with an old hiking buddy from my Tasmanian travels and another Lizard island friend. After one week, I was ready to hit the road again, so I booked another relocation from Melbourne to Alice Springs, a 7 day trip covering more than 3500km. I drove via the Great Ocean Road and the Fleurieu Peninsula south of Adelaide, then up through the red centre.
I stopped in Coober Pedy for a look at the underground opal mining and after a quick look around I was ready to leave until I remembered that I knew an old Lizard Island employee from there, so I stopped at the Info Centre and asked if anyone know Milly. Before I knew it we rang him up, he came down to say hello, and then I was out drinking with him and all his opal mining friends all night long. That was an experience I will not forgot. What wonderful hospitality I experienced there! We ended up at an underground house at 3am watching a very serious poker game take place. Not many tourists get to see that side of Coober Pedy.
From there I headed north to see Ayer’s Rock before returning the van in Alice Springs. I was a bit disappointed about the Rock, but after all, it is only a rock. In my opinion, nearby King’s Canyon is much more spectacular.
Anyway, I’ve been in Alice for a week now staying with yet another friend from the Lizard Island Resort. It’s amazing how we have all managed to meet up again all over Australia! It’s been a fun trip driving all around, seeing more of the country, and catching up with old friends. On the way, I’ve managed to not pay for accomodation either, sleeping in the van in many interesting places, from airport parking lots to free campgrounds. From here, I plan to head north, but there may be another story there in between…….
The one and only Great Ocean Road
Scenes of the outback
Which one are you
May 15th, 2006
