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tbutler

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  1. tbutler
    No, this wasn’t named for New England in the US. Both the US and Australia have a common connection to England so both have named a part of their country New England. Australia assigns names to their highways and designated the highway that runs through the area the New England Highway. It took the better part of a day to drive from Lightning Ridge to Tamworth which was our starting point for touring the New England Highway. It was a distance of 400 km but the road was rough and we had to drive slower than normal.
    The drive from Lightning Ridge was interesting in several ways. The first thing we saw as we turned east toward Tamworth was cotton fields. These were huge cotton fields that went on for 100 kilometers of travel. The land was so flat that you could see mirages from the heat rising from the dirt. The fields were barren as we traveled, being fall it was between planting seasons. Near the end of the drive we found some places where there were crops in the field. Clearly, cotton was king in this part of the country. We also noticed a lot of standing water. This we think had come from the storms that we saw on our way to Lightning Ridge. In any case, they had recently received a good rain shower. We even saw water standing on the road in one location. As we traveled east, a mountain range appeared on the horizon. As we got closer we could see more definition. The New England Highway runs through the Great Dividing Range and we were going to be in the mountains for this part of our trip. The final route into Tamworth wasn’t as extreme as it looked, the highway turned and took us through a gap in the mountains with little mountain travel. We were thankful for that. We checked in at the Top Tourist Park in Tamworth and settled in for a nights rest. Morning would bring another adventure.
  2. tbutler
    We started our first day on the New England Highway with a visit to the yellow i. That is what I call the visitor’s center here which are identified on the blue signs with a simple i for information. Many of these are commercial operations, others are operated by the community. I suspect that if you pay the state or national government your money, you too can be an i. They all have a variety of brochures on the local activities and some regional activities. They tend to be pretty parochial, having only those things nearby and the brochures do not include brochures from other states even when they are relatively close by.
    Tamworth’s claim to fame is a country music festival which is held in town each January, early summer here in Australia. It started in 1972 with a local radio DJ putting together a small gathering of local country music stars. Held on a weekend, it attracted a good crowd so the festival grew. Today, they have a 10 day festival, two weekends and the week in between. The festival is now held at several locations throughout town and people come in flocks to see big name stars including many from the US. The town hosts the Australian Country Music Gallery of Stars with the great ones recognized with wax statues. Tamworth is also an equestrian center with the Quarter Horse Association and Appaloosa Association headquartered in town.
    We visited with one of the aides at the visitor’s center who could have talked all day about the country music festival. When we left, we decided to walk around town. There was a walking trail that started at the visitor’s center and ran along the top of the Peel River levee which separated the town from the river. At the campground we had seen pictures of the river in flood so we understood the need for the levee. On the town side of the levee was a park which included sculpture, gardens, memorials and fountains. As in many of the city parks we have seen in our travels this summer, the park was alive with people walking dogs, riding bicycles, mothers with children, elderly people walking and dozing. It was a wonderful cross section of Australian society.
    From there we drove north out of town on the New England Highway. Our first stop was at the top of a long grade about 15 kilometers north Tamworth. A sign indicated a scenic overlook. We turned off and were rewarded with a quite spectacular viewpoint. Unlike some viewpoints where you peer through the trees that have grown up, this viewpoint was a platform atop a 30 foot diameter boulder of granite. Built in 1938, it was a county (they call them shires) project. There were steps of concrete up one side of the boulder. Those led to two platforms, one at an intermediate level and another on top of the boulder. From there you could look out on the valley all the way back to Tamworth. You could see forests, fields, horse farms and small communities all laid out in this luscious green valley. We delighted in seeing a pair of Crimson Rosella, parrots with bright red bodies and blue, yellow and green wings and heads. They were cavorting in a tree right next to the intermediate platform. Parrots are fun to watch, they readily turn upside down and pick fruit or seeds from the trees. Their colors make them a feast for the eyes. Their calls will rattle your ears.
    We continued on enjoying the scenery along the road until we reached the town of Guyra where we stopped for the Mother of Ducks Wildlife Preserve. This was just off the road and sounded very interesting. Arriving there we saw that people were camping there. We joined them parking in the most level spot that we could find. This was free camping as it is called in New Zealand and Australia. There was no electric, no internet and no fee. Our campervan has limited battery and no generator so we would be going to bed with the chickens or perhaps I should say ducks.
    I enjoyed a walk around the area, following a stream channel for some distance before it looped back toward the camping area. I didn’t see a duck but heard a constant chorus of frogs. In the camping area I visited with one of the other people in the campground. He knew the area and told me that in normal times, the entire area here would be underwater but that this had been a very dry year and so there was a poor showing of ducks this year.
    This place turned out to be quiet and an excellent place to stay for the night. It was a warm night and we slept with the windows and roof vents open. In the morning the birds woke us. There are many noisy birds in Australia, crows, magpies, parrots and cockatoos to name just a few. We’re working to identify as many as we can and having a great time doing it. I spotted a small yellow bird working in the bushes near our campervan and was able to identify it as a silvereye. It’s identifying feature being a prominent bright white ring around its eye.
  3. tbutler
    Wednesday April 2, 2014. We’re near the end of the New England Highway and we want to make our way to the coast. Looking at all the opportunities, we decide to make a stop at Mt. Tambourine National Park which is south of Brisbane. The attraction there that drew our attention was a Rainforest Walkway. Without knowing much more than that, we left Rochedale headed north on the final leg of the New England Highway before turning off onto the Scenic Rim Highway. This heads east through a caldera formed when a volcano collapsed. The road follows the scenic rim of the caldera giving spectacular views of the surrounding area.
    We pulled into the small town of Boonah for a restroom stop. Louise commented on the chatter of the birds. A little later she asked me what was in the nearby trees. A stranger overhead the question and answered it, those were bats. The chattering noise came from these bats as they rustled around trying to keep cool in the warm sunlight. No doubt this was a difficult challenge for a black creature all wrapped up in its wings.
    We went closer to study the bats. With binoculars we could see their fox-like faces and watch them moving around. We learned that there were two types of bats in these trees, both were fruit bats which live in the tropics in the northern part of Australia. They summer at higher latitudes and then return to the rainforest in winter. While here in Boonah, they strip the trees of their leaves and leave droppings which can be quite pungent. They are protected so there is nothing to be done except to tolerate them.
    In the visitors center we were told that there were ten times more bats a month ago but that one species, the red bats leave earlier than the rest. The remaining black and brown bats will depart soon. Watching the bats, we enjoyed their efforts to keep cool. This resulted in jostling and a constant shuffling of positions. Bats maneuver using the thumb at the bend in their wings to grip branches and shift from one spot to another, something like monkeys moving about in trees. The brown fruit bats photographed best and the photo with this posting features one of these brown bats with a few others in the background.
    There were approximately 500 bats in the trees behind the visitors center. Some branches had a dozen or more bats hanging upside down from the branch. These bats are about a foot long from nose to tail and have a wingspan of about two feet. Occasionally one would fly from one tree to another. In daylight their wings were translucent with their bones outlined almost like an x-ray. In the evening they all leave to go feed. They return each dawn to rest in the trees.
  4. tbutler
    Mt. Tambourine National Park is a collection of smaller national parks on the slopes of Mt. Tambourine, an extinct weathered volcano. There is a town at the summit which features a variety of shops for those who enjoy quaint towns and browsing curio and antique shops. We went to take a walk in the rainforest. This was not to be an ordinary walk. The walkway was elevated. We walked out of the building that housed a café, a small museum with information about the rainforest into the upper level of the rainforest. As the slope dropped away from the under us, we were looking over most trees and into the largest trees. The walkway was sturdily constructed of metal with a metal grid on the floor. We could see below around and above us as we walked through the trees.
    Signs on the railing of the walkway identified trees and plants along the way. We were looking down on palms with a few of the tallest being at eye level. The palms were flowering and insects swarmed the flowers. Major trees in the Australian rainforest are the eucalyptus tree and the strangler fig. The rainforest covered most of Australia in the past but as the environment and population changed, the rainforest has shrunk to about 10% of the continent.
    In the rainforest, the eucalyptus trees and the strangler figs struggle for dominance.
    Eucalyptus trees fight the strangler fig by shedding their tendrils. Their bark easily peels from the tree so the strangler fig can’t attach to them. The figs are very effective at taking over other trees. Figs start when bird drop their seeds in their droppings on a tree branch. These seeds will sprout and live in the branches of the tree while they grow vines down to the ground which will become roots. Eventually the fig grows to surround the entire host tree and covers it shading it, starving it of sunshine. The fig then becomes a free standing tree. As the host tree rots away, the fig fills in missing tree with more of its vines. The figs were covered with fruit which was ripening. These provide a rich source of food for the birds of the rainforest. The rainforest is a tangle of vines of the figs, they are everywhere.
    One of the birds we saw was the Wompoo Fruit-Dove, a large dove almost 20 inches from head to tail. It is a beautiful bird with a white head, green wings, plum purple breast and yellow abdomen. The dove is an ally of the strangler fig. It feeds on the figs and drops the seeds which sprout to form more fig plants. These in turn feed the doves.
    An animal which we didn’t see but which lives in this rainforest is the Koala. They feed on the eucalyptus leaves and sleep during the day high in the trees. They are difficult to spot as they cling to the trunk of a tree resting on a branch they become just another bump on the tree. We were told where they are sometimes seen and looked for them but our untrained eyes were unsuccessful. We hope that we will be able to find one as our exploration of the Australian rainforest continues.
  5. tbutler

    We Journey North

    By tbutler,

    Friday, April 4, 2014. We drove a short distance into Brisbane and made a quick stop at Britz to deal with several nagging problems with the campervan. That done, we left the city about noon headed north toward Cairns, a city on the northeast coast of Australia. At Cairns the famous Barrier Reef is closest to the coast and is thus most accessible. We hope to spend several days exploring this wonderful natural feature. The challenge is that the distance from Brisbane to Cairns is a daunting 1718 kilometers, about 1065 miles. In the US on US roads, this distance is not insurmountable but on Australian roads this is a daunting journey. We will get there but it will take the better part of four days.
    The mid-day start from Brisbane started with a departure on dual lane separated highway. In Australia they are called motorways and are the prime highways here. They are similar to our interstate highways and have speed limits of 100 to 110 kilometers per hour, about 63 to 70 miles per hour. That lasted for about 100 kilometers before it gave way to two lane highway with a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour. That would be fine but traffic remained heavy, the roads are rough and there are frequent road repairs with speed limits of 60 or 40 kilometers per hour. This slows our progress and we roll into a campground near dark in Bundaberg. Our travel distance for the first day, 385 kilometers.
    On our drive we saw beautiful scenery, mountains to the west, the Dividing Range that we have been exploring for the last two weeks. This range of mountains runs from Eden in the south on toward Cairns in the north. We drove through farmland and pastures with sheep and cattle. Later as the land flattened and the ground became more fertile we saw crops, soybeans and then sugar cane. At Bundaberg there is a rum distillery which uses the sugar cane to make rum. The campground we stayed at is called Cane Village Holiday Park. We enjoyed meeting the gregarious host. He inquires about where we are from. We are his first visitors from the United States. This is a location that is off the ordinary tourist travel list. He worked for Caterpillar in Melbourne. He made numerous trips to the US for Caterpillar training and had fond memories of Phoenix and Peoria. We find that many Australians have been to the US or have some connection such as a friend or relative that lives there. The Big 4 Cane Village Holiday Park was more like a garden than a campground. The ground were green, trimmed and very neat. If this had been our destination we would have enjoyed several days in the park.
    Our second day we left Bundaberg on a small highway that would eventually connect with the main route we are following, the Bruce Highway. The road was narrow and rough which makes travel slow. We pulled off several times to let faster traffic pass. Eventually we reached the Bruce Highway. I had previewed the route for the day and knew that there were few towns on the route so our first stop was to fill up with diesel. As we continued on the Bruce Highway, we encountered one area of road work area after another. We would just speed up from one work area and then encounter another. After noon we passed Gladstone, a large coastal city, and traffic dropped off significantly. The road work also dropped off with only a few scattered slow-downs through the afternoon. This road was in good repair. Once we were well north of Rockhampton the speed limit was raised to 110 km per hour. I don’t drive the campervan that fast but it allowed us to get up to 100 and above as the road permitted. With few interruptions we were able to travel a good distance. We stopped once more for fuel and then pulled in for the night at Mackay. Our travel distance for the second day was 620 kilometers. This put us just past the half-way point from Brisbane to Cairns.
    The second day of travel brought us closer to the coast. We still were traveling along the Great Dividing Range with an occasional encounter with some of the foothills. Sugar cane crops were all along our route. It is a huge crop here in the northeastern coast of Australia. On our drive today, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn as we passed the city of Rockhampton, so we are now in the tropics. Another change which we have adjusted to is the change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time. This didn’t happen on Saturday night, April 6, 2014 as it will for the rest of the country of Australia but this happened when we crossed from New South Wales which is on Daylight Saving Time as are the states of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Queensland where we are now does not observe Daylight Saving Time. So when we drove into Brisbane to our campground on Thursday night we had to reset our clocks. As fall comes on, days will get shorter and nights longer. This is countered by traveling toward the equator where the length of day and night remain almost constant. The closer to the equator we are, the more equal day and night will be.
  6. tbutler
    Sunday, April 6, 2014. Our travels north continue. Leaving Mackay we drove on almost until noon. Our lunch stop was a park in a small town, Ayr. Louise fixed sandwiches while I went in search of a restroom. The restrooms were behind the information booth so I stopped in there to see the two ladies who were sitting outside in front of the building this sunny warm day. We talked, they inquired about our travels and then loaded me up with information both verbal and written. One of the ladies was very knowledgeable and made several good recommendations. They asked me to sign the guest book which was on the table outside. I sat down and did so then visited with them for a little while longer. I shared with them our travel history and a little of our travels in the US and Canada.
    Louise met me as I returned, carrying our lunch out to a picnic table near the campervan. We were visited by eight Australian White Ibis. If you aren’t familiar with ibis, they are large wading birds and have very long bills which curve downward. Their normal method of feeding is to probe the mud in a stream or lake in search of various small animals and insects. I have observed these birds probing grasslands with great efficiency. How they get that long bill 2 or three inches into the ground is beyond me. I sometimes have trouble getting a tee into a manicured golf tee box. Anyway these large white birds with dark heads and bills are quite impressive to all but the most jaded. Australians are jaded when it comes to ibis which are quite common. Animals which are common are usually seen as a kind of nuisance. These we had within a few feet were used to being fed or picking up snacks from picnickers. I enjoyed watching them and later got a few pictures though they were much more cautious when we no longer had food in our hands.
    We decided to walk around the grounds to get a little exercise after our long morning driving. On the walk I spotted three bush stone-curlew, another long legged bird which is as at home on land as wading in the water. These were skittish but I still managed to get a picture or two and enough information to be able to identify them when we returned to the campervan and pulled out our book on the birds of Australia. The bush stone-curlew would be our new bird for the day.
    While I had the book out, I checked on a bird that we have been seeing during our drive on the New England Highway and now on the Bruce Highway. It was a dark colored hawk of some kind. Driving down the road it is hard to observe birds and have great detail but sometimes a distinguishing feature can help. This bird had a swallow-like tail. The edges of the tail were longer than the center of the tail. That and the general shape of the wings were enough to identify it as a black kite. This is a raptor that is seen throughout Australia so I’m sure we’ll see plenty of them. It is a large bird with an impressive 40 to 50 inch wingspan.
    In the afternoon we covered another 200 kilometers and managed to get into a campground in Cardwell, a small coastal community on the Bruce Highway. During the day we filled the diesel tank twice, not wanting to test its limits on these long stretches of roadway with few petrol stations on a Sunday afternoon.
  7. tbutler

    Chasing Waterfalls

    By tbutler,

    Monday, April 7, 2014. Looking over the information we picked up from the ladies in Ayr the day before, we decided to pursue a scenic drive into the Dividing Range to see some waterfalls. I love a good waterfall and the ones in the brochure looked inviting including one which we were told we could swim under the cascading water. We had about 70 kilometers to cover before leaving the Bruce Highway for the highlands. I put the town with the same name as the waterfall we wanted to visit, Millaa Millaa, into the GPS and it guided us through a dizzying set of turns on small roads to our desired destination. I have said it before and I’ll say it again, purchasing the GPS maps for New Zealand and Australia, a set on a chip and bringing our own GPS was one of the best decisions I made on this trip. By the way, my second best choice was to bring my Leatherman!
    There were three waterfalls, each beautiful. The first we viewed about 50 feet from the plunge pool. On the hike down into the stream bed, we were met by an Australian Brush Turkey. It crossed our path and disappeared into the woods so fast that I didn’t even think to try for a picture. We both got to see it and there was no doubt it was a turkey. On the return to the parking lot, we found what looked like the same turkey sitting next to the trail near the parking lot. I got a number of pictures. It lingered as if it was completely comfortable in this environment even as a tour bus unloaded 30 or so passengers who tromped by on the trail barely taking notice of the turkey I was photographing. This turkey has a red head and a yellow collar which makes it pretty easy to identify.
    The second was inaccessible from that distance. I tried an old trail that had steps but there were so many large trees that had fallen across the trail it became more than I could do to get to the bottom. Tracks on the trail indicated that younger people were undaunted by the challenge but I gave up and settled for the view from the top of the falls. We saw several of the same people who were at the first waterfall and said hello. As we were leaving, the tour bus pulled in.
    We drove to the third falls and it was now almost 1:00 p.m. so we decided to eat lunch then go see the waterfall. I figured the tour bus would come and go in that time and we would be able to enjoy the falls without the crowd. Wrong! We got to the falls and the bus had a picnic set up for the tour group. They were scattered all over the lawn that faced the waterfall. A few of the group were in the water, shivering and cheering on a half dozen of the group that had swum to the fall and were cavorting behind the falling water. We dropped our shoes off and entered the water. It was cold but not too cold for swimming, just cold enough to make you pause to adjust to the temperature as you waded into the pool. We both swam across and enjoyed the view of the falls from behind and under the falling water. By the time we were there, the tour group was packing up but there were plenty of casual visitors and a number of them joined us under the and behind the curtain of water.
    Returning to the campervan, we dried off and dressed for the drive into Cairns. The road to come was described by the ladies at the visitor’s information station in Ayr as, “a road with 100 turns” and I don’t think she was wrong. We were going to descend from high in the mountains of the Dividing Range to sea level. The turns were near constant from the time we started our descent until we reached the valley. We took our time and let other traffic pass and safely made it to the bottom. Louise gets car sick so she has to concentrate on watching the road. If she looks around she gets dizzy and becomes ill quickly. She didn’t have much to say about this part of the drive.
    Checking in at our campground which is walking distance from downtown Cairns, we booked in for four nights. This is one of the premier destinations on our trip. On the news tonight a cyclone (Pacific hurricane) which has been sitting off the northeast coast of Australia for several days and was initially projected to just brush the northern peninsula is now possibly going to make landfall somewhere north of us along the coast. We’ll be watching this carefully and may leave here early if necessary. We wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef and spend some time snorkeling or diving there. With a storm approaching and high seas expected in the area, we may miss this opportunity completely. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
  8. tbutler

    Mossman Gorge

    By tbutler,

    To the north of Cairns is one of the prime rain forest sites on the eastern coast of Australia. There are many other sites but those are further north and there are no roads that can be traveled in all weather conditions with less than four wheel drive vehicles. Mossman Gorge is in Daintree National Park just north of Port Douglas. The gorge itself lies within Aborigine land and the concession at the gorge is run by the Aborigine community.
    The eighty kilometer (about 48 miles) drive from Cairns takes us almost two hours because of numerous road repair operations and the subsequent delays. We arrived at noon and checked in at the park visitor center. They run a shuttle to the gorge from the visitor center and the only charge is for the shuttle transportation. We paid for our tickets and were ready to board the next bus but decided wisely that we should eat lunch before exploring the gorge. After lunch we hopped the next shuttle and were taken on a ten minute ride to the beginning of the trail system.
    The trail started with an elevated walkway through the rainforest. This is a different rainforest than the one we explored earlier. This is in the tropics and on the coast so it is a wet rainforest. Some things are the same, the strangler fig is still an important tree in the forest here. During our hiking here we saw some amazing trees. The photo with this posting shows me standing on one of the roots with my hand resting on another root of a strangler fig tree. In the background you can see the trunk of the tree which is a tangle of roots going in all directions.
    One of the animals that lives here is the cassowary a very large bird standing five feet tall. It has an appendage on the top of the head that is referred to as a casque, it looks like a blade on a Roman warrior helmet. We were looking for this bird the entire time but never saw it. We saw evidence of its presence. There were extensive diggings which were done as the cassowary digs in the ground searching for food. In places these dug up areas covered more than 100 square feet.
    We walked the trail up along the stream in the gorge. It was flowing nicely and there were numerous places to view the cascading water. In a few places, groups of people would swim in the stream but in most places there were simply too many rocks and access to the stream itself was limited by the terrain. At one point we saw a large lizard, two feet from nose to tip of tail sunning on one of the large boulders.
    We returned to the bus pick-up point about 4:00 p.m. and were taken back to the visitor center. The return trip took about the same time as the trip north. We stopped for fuel before returning to the park and finally pulled in to Cairns Holiday Park well after dark.
  9. tbutler

    Cairns

    By tbutler,

    Our first day in Cairns is dedicated to catching up with laundry and getting to know the town. While doing laundry we discussed our plans for our stay. The Great Barrier Reef is one of our prime objectives. One travel brochure we picked up in the park office has an item I was interested in learning more about. It was a an offering of the Down Under Dive company to certify for open water SCUBA in a four day course. The course involved two days of tests and preliminary training followed by two days of dive training on the Great Barrier Reef. I figured what better place to learn to dive and having certification would greatly improve the dive opportunities on our cruise in Fiji at the end of this trip in June.
    Once the laundry was done, we had lunch and then walked to town. We were camped at the Cairns Holiday Park, just a few blocks from the seafront Promenade. Our walk was welcome after four days of continuous driving. We enjoyed a beautiful warm day as we strolled along the seafront. The Promenade is about 60 feet wide, beautifully landscaped, and incorporates a boardwalk along the beach, a walking path, a separate bicycle/running path, a series of exercise equipment for adults and a variety of activities for children of all ages. It was mid-afternoon on Wednesday, April 13 and the facilities were being fully used. There were hundreds of people enjoying all the facilities.
    Nearing the docks in the heart of downtown Cairns we came to a swimming pool with hundreds of children and adults enjoying the pool and surroundings. This was no ordinary square pool, it was huge and included a wading area with a sand beach, fountains for children to play among, shaded areas of the pool and a huge deck for sunning or picnicking. It was not fenced in any way, the entire pool and deck were simply part of the seaside entertainment.
    One of our objectives was to find the Down Under Dive offices to discuss the classes. We were able to find a booth that is only manned early in the morning so we abandoned that quest. We found the shopping area and Louise set about shopping. This lasted for about an hour. While she shopped, I walked around the mall area and picked up a local paper to read. After a while I decided to give Down Under Dive a call to learn more about the classes. Once on the phone with their representative I learned more about the course. Louise joined me during the call and I relayed some of the information to her. We decided to sign on for the first class we could get which would start on Friday.
    With that decision done, we decided to find a place to have dinner. We found a seafront bar/restaurant and decided on our menu choices. Louise went to the bar to place or order and returned with the beer and told me that the kitchen didn’t open until 5:00 p.m. and they would begin taking orders then. This is pretty standard practice here in Australia, restaurants and bars have kitchen hours around meal times and in between limited items are available. We relaxed and enjoyed the afternoon breeze on the outdoor deck. When the kitchen opened we ordered our meal.
    Following dinner we retraced our steps from earlier in the day. As we passed the swimming pool we saw about 100 adults doing Zumba in the water being led by three instructors on the stage on one side of the pool. The walking and running tracks were thick with people and families with children were everywhere. The exercise equipment was being fully employed by people waiting their turn at each piece of equipment. There were groups practicing games in the adjacent lawns and fields, the seafront was alive with activity and this held throughout our walk as the sun set and dusk faded from the sky.
  10. tbutler

    Fleeing the Storm

    By tbutler,

    Returning from Mossman Gorge the night before I had listened to the news reports on the approaching cyclone (hurricane) Ita. The storm was gathering strength and was approaching the area north of Cairns. I got on the computer and checked the official Australian weather reports which had the storm at category 3 and expected to reach category 4 before coming ashore somewhere between Cooktown and Cairns. We made the decision to leave on Thursday morning. We needed to arrange a refund of our payment for the SCUBA course and check to see if we could get a refund for Thursday night from the campground. Both were accomplished easily and we were on our way out of town at 9:00 a.m.
    I had very mixed feelings about leaving. I knew without a doubt that the storm would affect the area and doubted that we would be able to complete the SCUBA course and that there would be no trips to the Great Barrier Reef in the next few days so we wouldn’t be able to do these things even if we stayed but it still was a great disappointment not to be able to see the Great Barrier Reef.
    To leave Cairns, we had to drive 380 kilometers south to the town of Townsville. We would then turn west into the Queensland outback. The road took us through a gap in the Great Dividing Range of mountains so we avoided the slow, climbing and descending curvy roads of the mountains and were rather quickly on the west side of the dividing range.
    As the afternoon wore on we were slowed by a series of road repairs, each with a series of stoplights that regulated the one way traffic. Being in the realm of the truck trains now, the lights were set for longer periods to allow these large trucks to accelerate and move though the construction zones. This made for very slow travel.
    Once clear of that construction, we found a place to stay for the night at Pentland, a small town. The park was quite old and wasn’t expensive, just $22 AUS. Most parks are charging fees around $30 to $35 with a few charging over $40. We have two discount plans which give 10% discounts at certain parks and the conversion from Australian dollars to US dollars is running about 8% to 10% in our favor.
    Louise found a bright green frog waiting outside the women’s restroom. This park suffered from a condition we have noticed at a few other parks, the restrooms harbored mosquitos. I suspect the frog was there to feast on the insects around the lights. There were no frogs around the mens restroom where the light was either burned out or turned off. Some parks have screened restrooms, others have open restrooms with no doors and no screens. This doesn’t seem to be a factor related to mosquitos. I believe it is a matter of having some mosquito control in the community. It also seems to help if the lights are on some kind of control to shut them off or at least shut off most of them once the evening activity wanes.
  11. tbutler

    On to Mount Isa

    By tbutler,

    After experiencing a rash of road repair work on our drive the day before we were pleasantly surprised to encounter no road work on our second day of driving. In fact, with just a few exceptions, this was some of the best road we have traveled. This highway is known as the Flinders Highway and is the only all-weather east-west road through northern Queensland. There were only a few towns in the 652 kilometer drive. One of them is featured in the picture with this posting. The windmill was working, drawing water for the public restrooms in the picture. The road was nearly flat all the way and had few curves. I could set the cruise control and concentrate on staying between the lines. An added plus is that the drivers out here wave at you. Even the native Australians wave at a rental campervan! We would encounter a vehicle every five or ten minutes and were passed by a vehicle only a few times an hour. It was a long trip on a lonely road.
    The truck trains which are posted as being up to 53.5 meters (about 160 feet) long are not driving much faster than we are. We met one or two of them several times an hour but we never had to pass one and were never passed by one so I assume our speed nearly matched their speed. We were driving about 97 KPH which was well under the posted speed limit of 130 KPH (about 85 MPH). The campervan will cruise at 110 KPH without difficulty but it severely reduces our mileage on a liter of fuel. It also makes the ride a little rougher, this vehicle rocks and rolls enough already. Fuel mileage is an important concern because the communities are widely scattered and the distance between fuel stops isn’t posted on any signs. In the US you see signs posted indicating how far to the next fuel stop on stretches of road that have widely separated stations. Here you are on your own. The map we have indicates all the small communities but not all of them have fuel so we have to plan on only the larger communities having fuel. I keep the tank topped off so we have a minimum of ½ tank if possible. We made two stops on this trip, both after about 250 kilometers of travel. Fuel prices are running close to $2.00 per liter at this point.
    Just before reaching Mount Isa the road goes through some hills. The road curves and climbs and descends and our travel is slowed for the last 30 kilometers as we come into town. Mount Isa (pronounced Iza) is a mining town and has the look of a mining town. There are active mines here and smelters with tall stacks spewing smoke. We could see the smoke for some distance before we reached the town itself. The smoke was white in the late afternoon sun and may have been simply water vapor or mostly water vapor.
    We stayed at the Discovery Argylla Big 4 Park which was right on the Flinders Highway as we came into town.
    We parked, hooked up electric and settled in for the evening. Temperatures during the day had been in the upper 30’s, near 100 degrees F. We are running the air conditioning at night now, at least long enough to cool the campervan so we can open the windows and ventilate during the night. By morning it is nice and cool inside and we are glad to see the morning sun.
  12. tbutler

    Burning Diesel

    By tbutler,

    In my notes, I titled this day as above. Unlike the curving road we found coming into Mount Isa, the road was straight for long stretches with little change in elevation and only one town with fuel. We started out on the Flinders Highway and then at Camooweal the name changed to the Barkly Highway. The other fuel stop we made was at the Barkly Homestead. This is a large homestead which has everything that someone on the road would need. There is a caravan park, hotel, restaurant, activities including camel rides and the all-important fuel. At the Barkly Homestead they are not on the electric grid. They run a generator 24 hours a day to provide the electric they need to operate. I know this because they had it posted outside the store. They gave the amount of diesel the generators use as an explanation of why their fuel and other prices were so high. We paid $2.099 for a liter of diesel.
    Just west of Camooweal we crossed into Northern Territories, the seventh Australian state we would travel through. Northern Territories is so sparsely settled that it doesn’t have the status of state in the government and has very limited representation in the Australian Parliament. I noted with a chuckle when we pulled into the petrol station at Camooweal a sign which indicated that eastbound travelers should set their clocks ahead 5 years AND 30 MINUTES. The thirty minutes being the time change between the state of Queensland and Northern Territories. The 5 years was a regional slur on their neighbors to the west.
    We stopped briefly at the border to photograph the welcome sign to Northern Territories. We don’t do this at all borders but this being such a remote location I decided to pause and collect a souvenir photograph. Observing someone else who was photographing the sign busily swishing flies away from their face I decided to go with the through-the-windshield option for the photograph. Flies are a pesky nuisance in this part of the country. These are not biting flies but they love to be in your face. If the wind is blowing they will be on the downwind side of your body. So you face into the wind to keep the flies off your face and your back is covered with flies. When it is time to get back into the campervan you have to wave off as many as you can before quickly ducking through the door. Then you kill as many as you can before driving away! This is all very reminiscent of our mosquito experience in Canada on the drive north into the Arctic Circle on the way to the native village, Inuvik. Not wanting to shortchange Alaska, I’ll add that we found the same to be true in Alaska.
    We are getting a special treat. You will notice quite a bit of green in the photo with this posting. Central Australia got a good rain about a week and a half ago and we are seeing the desert dressed in green. You can still see plenty of soil in the picture, that is where the region gets its nickname, Australia's red center. You will also notice dark mounds of dirt on the landscape. These are termite mounds which are common in the area. We saw many of the on parts of the road and in other places very few but they are an ever-present reminder of the recycling going on as plants die here in the desert.
    We drove the entire length of the Barkly Highway today. The drive, like yesterday, was pleasant enough. The temperatures were a little cooler, low 30’s, in the 80’s Fahrenheit. We had a few clouds, always welcome late in the day when heading west. The road was straight, level and the surface in good repair. We covered another 660 kilometers before reaching Tennant Creek and our camp for the night. Tennant Creek is on the Stuart Highway which runs from Adelaide on the southern coast of Australia to Darwin on the northern coast. We drove a short distance on the Stuart Highway when we left Adelaide a month ago but at that time we turned east to explore eastern Australia. Now we would travel south toward Uluru (Ayres Rock). The Stuart Highway is the only north-south highway through central Australia.
    One of the things that Louise and I noted at the end of the day was another day without road repairs and also the fact that we hadn’t seen the abundance of kangaroos that we expected. In fact, we hadn’t seen a single live kangaroo. There were a few dead ones along the roadside but not a single live on. At Camooweal they had a statue of a kangalope outside the gas station. Those familiar with the Texas jackalope know what a kangalope would look like! Kangaroos are primarily nocturnal so driving during the day we wouldn’t expect to see them. We do watch carefully for them in the early morning and late in the afternoon. So far, our greatest kangaroo sightings have been in Tasmania and when we were in Lightning Ridge where we had kangaroos on the lawn outside the bath house in our campground each night.
  13. tbutler

    Uluru and Kata Tjuta

    By tbutler,

    The big red rock in the center of Australia is the source of much interest and is of great significance to the native Aborigine culture. When I speak of the Aborigine culture, it is not as a single culture for the entire nation. The Aborigine tribes were just that, local tribes. There were four tribes that inhabited the area around Uluru, AKA Ayers Rock. Of those one tribe was the primary tribe that interacted with Uluru, the Anangu. They operate the National Park at Uluru in conjunction with the government of Northern Territories. Most of the land around Uluru and it sister rock formation Kata Tjuta, AKA the Olgas, belong to the Anangu tribe. There are sites in both locations which are sacred and are prohibited to be visited or photographed. Climbing Uluru is an activity that the Anangu ask that tourists forgo as this too is a sacred activity done only by their adult men in a special ceremony.
    Visiting the park is a lesson in cultural sensitivity. Respecting the wishes of another culture is a sign of respect for the culture. It isn’t a culture that appeals to me nor is it a culture which is highly advanced. It is a remnant of an earlier age, largely based on superstition and tradition, it is not to be dismissed. These are the people who will survive when no other humans on earth will survive. Name your disaster, I’ll put my money on people who can live in the desert for centuries.
    We visited Uluru and hiked the 12 kilometers all the way around the base of the rock. We did not climb Uluru out of respect for the wishes of the Anangu. It is an amazing piece of sandstone standing above the surrounding desert. It is not alone, some 40 kilometers away is it companion, Kata Tjuta. We also hiked the canyons of Kata Tjuta. Both these formations are alluvial fans from previous mountain ranges. One is sandstone, the other is conglomerate. To the geologist that means that one is formed from the fine particles, sand, that washed out of the much older mountains. The other is formed of large particles, boulders, pebbles and rocks held together by a fine mass of rock. The boulders, pebbles and rocks were washed out of a mountain range also but settled in a different kind of place. The sand formed in quiet waters and the layers can be seen in Uluru while the boulders and gravel settled out of fast moving water that carried the sand on to quieter locations. Both were buried for long periods of time and were cemented by waters containing iron and other minerals that glued everything together. The iron is evident in the red color that stains everything in this part of Australia.
    To the Anangu, these spectacular formations were home. They moved from one to another as food supplies and water sources fluctuated. They made their homes here, living off the land and finding shelter and inspiration at each location. We saw caves where they lived, rested and taught their young. We saw from a distance sites that they considered sacred and we read of their stories passed down from generation to generation. They were stories that passed on lessons for living, much as Greek mythology contained lessons for life. Their gods weren’t Zeus, Jupiter or Neptune but were lizards and snakes, those creatures they knew from their experience. Just as in Greek mythology, some were good and some were evil and they battled each other. Out of the battles came lessons for life and these they passed on from generation to generation.
    We enjoyed all aspects of this visit. We reveled in the geology, learned much about the life of the Anangu and marveled at the changing appearance of Uluru at sunrise and sunset and the strange domes of Kata Tjuta. I read an article recently that was written about the things you don’t take home from a trip in a suitcase. Things that add to your understanding of life from the viewpoint of other people and other cultures and we will take home many such memories to share with our friends and family.
  14. tbutler
    Our last evening at Uluru was spent on a camel ride with a sunset view of Uluru. We spent the earlier part of the day hiking in the domes of Kata Tjuta. Following that we returned to our camp to get showers and dressed for the evening. We were picked up at a bus stop just outside the entrance to the campground. It was a small, 30 person bus and we got the last two seats. After a short ride from the campground and we arrived at the camel stables. We were escorted into the office and given a short briefing before meeting our camels. They were all lined up, saddled waiting for us. The line of camels were all sitting on the ground. It is amazing how they can fold up those long legs and sit right on top of them.
    We were given the mount and dismount instructions and then assigned a camel. When we climbed on the heavier person gets the rear seat, that’s me! Mounting from the left, swing a leg up and over being careful not to catch your foot on the lead to the next camel in line. There is a lead rope tied to our saddle for the camel that is behind. There is also a small line with a clip to the nose of that camel. The clip on the nose is to keep the camel from regurgitating its last meal! It is a time honored solution to a messy situation. Catching a foot on either line would be unpleasant for the camel and also for me.
    Louise then swung into the saddle in front of me. The saddle was a single saddle, two seats, one in front of the hump and the other behind. We had stirrups for our feet and there were bars in front of each of us to give us a place to hold on. And hold on we did as the camel stood up. We had to lean back then the cameleer would tell the camel to stand giving it a prod on the hindquarters with a hand if necessary. Most of the camels would bray loudly at this point as they lifted their load raising to full height on their hind legs and then rising on their front legs. Our camel was no exception. We really weren’t that heavy a load. A camel can carry about 1500 pounds for great distances in the desert.
    Camels came to Australia many years ago and they have adapted well to the conditions here. There are numerous places where you find camels here and rides are readily available. As far as I know, there is only one franchise for camel rides at Uluru, Uluru Camel Tours. I would rate the quality of the ride as simply outstanding. The staff of a photographer, who seemed to be in charge, and seven cameleers plus a cook and bartender were all very engaging and did an excellent job of explaining what they were doing and answering questions about the camels and the operation at the camel stables.
    The camels were in two lines that traveled independently. There were ten camels in our line and another 15 in the other line. We led the way out of the stables across the desert up and down several dunes. From the top of the dunes we could see Uluru in the distance. As the ride continued the light and shadows changed on Uluru, the sky color changed and the shadows faded as the sun set. Watching the sunrise and sunset on Uluru is one of the major activities here. I took a few photos but riding on a camel, it was hard to be steady enough to get good photos. I took advantage of the pauses to snap some shots of Uluru as well as the rest of the group. In the end I purchased the CD with all the pictures of the event as well as a few pictures of desert critters, all done by the professional photographer.
    The lead camel was ridden by a cameleer so they had control of starting and stopping the camel train. Along side there was a cameleer walking and monitoring the behavior of the camels. The longer line had two cameleers. We were encouraged to ask questions and did so. Since we were in the middle of the line, the cameleer that was on foot was always somewhere near where we were and we carried on a near constant conversation with him. He was quite informative and told us about plants and animals found in the desert as well as his personal history of working there and some general information about Australia.
    As the light faded from the sky we returned to the stables and dismounted. Then we went into the office area and they had snacks laid out for us and a variety of drinks. There was also merchandise and the photos. We had a great time, there were drinks aplenty and the staff was there to explain everything that hadn’t already been discussed. The cook talked about the desert version of beer bread and also the ingredients that went into making this delicious bread as well as the dips. We went home well satisfied with our experience.
  15. tbutler

    Leaving Alice Springs

    By tbutler,

    I hadn’t looked at a map for a while so I pulled out a map to see where our coming journey would take us. I had a general idea but the specifics were foggy. The first thing I looked for and found was the Tropic of Capricorn. How close were we to the tropics? Well, it turns out we were really close. Alice Springs is only slightly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. We would cross back into the tropics in about 60 kilometers when we left town in the morning. In fact, the marker for the Tropic of Capricorn was one of the things we saw on the way south and wanted to stop to see on the return trip.
    The next thing I looked for was the logical campgrounds on the trip north. The first would be to return to Tennant Creek where we had stayed on the way south. There were a number of choices for the next night but the first real town was Katherine, the second largest city in Northern Territories. The problem with Katherine was the distance which was over 600 kilometers. There were only a few stations in between. So Katherine became our goal for the second night. Once there we were officially in the Top End as the Aussies call it. We would be less than 200 kilometers from Darwin and would be near several national parks that looked interesting for exploration.
    Now all we had to do on Tuesday morning was execute the plan. The trip from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek was somewhat relaxed. We needed to travel just 460 kilometers so we stopped at several markers including the Tropic of Capricorn. While there I helped a group of Chinese youngsters by taking their picture and then they returned the favor by taking one of Louise and I by the marker. There are many Chinese people touring Australia and New Zealand and we have had nothing but pleasant encounters with all.
    We fueled up at Aileron Roadhouse. We were attracted to the roadhouse by a large statue of an Aborigine warrior on the hill behind the roadhouse. There was an art gallery with Anmatjere art works associated with the statue. Outside the gallery there was an equally large statue of an Aborigine woman and child. The Anmatjere tribe owns the land that Aileron Station is located on and they are actively involved in all its operations. We browsed the artwork and found two pieces that looked quite interesting. We asked some questions of the proprietor and discussed prices. We finally settled on one of the pieces, a painting in modern Aborigine style which incorporates many of the traditional forms and figures seen in the older works. With that done, we continued on our way north.
    The remainder of the trip was a straight drive to Tennant Creek so we could get into camp before dark. We arrived in time to check in and watch the sun set while we had drinks at their outdoor bar. A couple from Western Australia were there and we had a nice conversation with them regarding things we should try to see in the area we were headed into. They also shared some of their experiences traveling in the US. Another of the many pleasant exchanges we have had with people in our travels.
  16. tbutler
    Our last trip to Alice Springs we were southbound toward Uluru. This time we were returning from Uluru and Kings Canyon. Our normal travel pattern is to avoid backtracking over the same route. If at all possible we will take a different road on a return trip. In this case there is one road from Alice Springs to Uluru. There was an alternate route from Kings Canyon that would cut off some distance and give us different scenery. That road was a dirt road. We gave it a try but found it badly washboarded which seems to be standard for the dirt roads here. The road was 99 kilometers long and the campervan rides like a truck. We decided it wasn’t worth saving the fuel and seeing some different scenery just to have the campervan fall apart around us.
    We rolled into town late in the afternoon and went immediately to the grocery store. Our tucker (Aussie for food) was getting thin. We spent $186 Australian, $174 US to restock the cabinets. Tucker is not cheap here in Australia. Then we headed for Wintersun Caravan Park. This is a Top Tourist park and we chose to stay here because the park we stayed in before had internet but it was so expensive and limited that I refused to use it. As we were checking in we asked about the internet and found out theirs wasn’t in service due to some kind of problem which couldn’t be resolved before we planned to leave. We decided to stay anyway, we could eat lunch tomorrow at McDonalds and take advantage of their free internet. We parked, put groceries away, ate dinner, showered and hit the sack.
    The following morning started with breakfast and then Louise wanted to get the laundry caught up. I helped her haul the three sacks of dirty clothes and linens to the campground laundry. She loaded the machines and returned to the campervan for a brief rest. Then when the machines were done she went back to hang the laundry on the line. All the parks here have extensive clothes lines for patrons to use for drying clothes. They almost universally prohibit putting up lines on your site. I joined her and carried clothes out to her to hang on the lines. With that done, we set out for McDonalds.
    The food at McDonalds is almost the same worldwide. There are some local differences, one of the biggest is that the McDonalds restaurants here incorporate a coffee shop much like the Tim Horton’s in Canada. There are two counters, the restaurant counter and the coffee shop counter complete with all the rolls, etc. We’ve used the internet at other McDonalds here in Australia and had reasonably good luck but this restaurant had really poor internet with very slow downloads and frequent interruptions in service. We gave up after accomplishing little in an hour. Our next stop was to get fuel for the trip the coming day. We headed for the Shell station on the north side of town. On the way we stopped at the local Britz office and had a couple of problems fixed. Britz has free internet at all their offices so we jumped at the opportunity while the repairs were being done.
    Back at the campground we collected the clothes from the line and put them away. Then we spent some time looking at the coming weeks and getting some idea of what we might be able to do with the time that remains for us in the campervan.
  17. tbutler

    Kings Canyon

    By tbutler,

    Northeast of Uluru is an area known as Kings Canyon. The as the crow flies distance is about 120 kilometers but the road distance is more like 300 kilometers. It is a beautiful area of sandstone bluffs and canyons. There are several hikes of interest to us in this location so we spent Easter Sunday driving to this location. We arrived at the Kings Canyon Resort to find that all the powered sites were taken and the rate for unpowered sites were just a few dollars less than those with power. If we wanted to camp without power, we could do that free at some locations but none close.
    Being in the park in mid-afternoon we decided to take one of the short hikes. The hike we chose was about a half mile long and went directly into Kings Canyon along Kings Creek. The hike was an easy one being on paved or gravel walkway with a few bridges over Kings Creek. The scenery was spectacular as you looked up several hundred feet to the canyon rim. The rock walls consisted of a lower layer of sandstone in very thin layers overlain with sandstone in massive thick layers. The canyon walls were eroded in these steep walls because the thin layers eroded away more easily leaving the upper layers unsupported. The upper layers then collapsed into the canyon and were evident throughout the walk. Blocks of sandstone the size of houses littered the floor of the canyon. Weather would eventually wear these blocks down and the creek would carry them away.
    We enjoyed watching birds, photographing a lizard and seeing interesting plants including one that looked very much like a holly with small red berries. There was some interpretative information but nothing mentioned that plant. There was another trail that started where this one did and we planned to hike that trail around the canyon rim the next day. That trail was described as being difficult with a steep climb to the rim and with very dry warm conditions strong cautions about taking adequate water for the hike were posted. We took note of those cautions and begin planning for the hike.
    The only other campground nearby was at Kings Creek. This was a private way station just outside Watarrka National Park, the park that contains Kings Canyon. These stations are isolated and are high cost operations which also charge high fees for everything from fuel and food to camping. We were able to get a powered site at Kings Creek and it wasn’t as expensive as I assumed but the facilities were really rough. The shower house was in poor condition and the roads and campsites were on dirt or dust. Still, we had power and could use the air conditioning to cool down for the night.
    The following morning Louise woke up feeling poorly. She was suffering from a migraine headache which had become worse overnight. We decided to scrap the plans for the rim hike and head for Alice Springs where we would get some rest and catch up with housework before continuing north toward Darwin on the northern coast of Northern Territories.
  18. tbutler
    I’ve seen pictures of the planet Mars, and this part of Australia sure looks like Mars. The landscape here is relentlessly red. The red is a deeper red than the red center. The desert is red, hills are red, sand dunes are red. Even the rivers look deep red, much deeper red than the Red River on the Texas-Oklahoma border. Our whole journey from Nanutarra Roadhouse to Exmouth had only minor elevation changes and only a few curves to move us around rather than over hills.
    Temperatures are moderating as we travel south. With a few clouds around mid-day we were able to shut down the air conditioner periodically as we traveled. Traffic was light until we reached the turnoff for Exmouth. Making that turn, we began traveling west and then north onto the Exmouth Peninsula.
    The town of Exmouth lies at the northern end of the peninsula. There is a navy base north of town. We learned that the navy base used to be a US base in the 60’s and 70’s. A large antenna array north of the base is used for VLF communications with ships and submarines. The antenna is still operated by the US but the base has been turned over to the Australian Government. The antenna array is similar to another we saw in central Australia. Twelve radio towers are arranged in a circle around a single larger tower. All the towers are connected and connecting cables support an antenna ring around the central tower. The town of Exmouth didn’t exist until the US built the naval base and the antenna. Exmouth was built like a US town until Australians moved in to support the base population with goods and services.
    Around Exmouth there are numerous national parks and reef areas. One of our goals here is to do some snorkeling. We didn’t get a chance to see the Great Barrier Reef and want to see some of the Ningaloo reef while in this area. There are numerous companies here that provide snorkeling tours, many feature a swim with a whaleshark. Whalesharks are large sharks, not whales. They are filter feeders like whales, thus the name. They have only small teeth at the back of the mouth. They feed on plankton in the water. The whaleshark has a large wide mouth with which it sweeps up small plants and animals for its food. The dive up to 2000 meters below the surface and feed at the surface. Being a fish, not a whale, they do not need to come to the surface to breathe. While they are at the surface snorkelers can swim near them without disturbing them. A whole industry has developed in Exmouth to support this activity.
  19. tbutler
    Monday, May 12, we went out to swim with the whalesharks. We chose Ningaloo Whaleshark Swim as the company based on the information we could gather. We were picked up at our park at 7:15 and driven to the dock which is on the other side of the peninsula. There were 19 adults in the group plus three young children. We were transferred to the boat which was anchored offshore and then taken to a reef area. The snorkeling was partly a training exercise for the whaleshark swim which has to be executed very quickly to catch the shark as it swims by. You can swim for a while but eventually it will outpace even the strongest swimmers.
    The boat anchored off the reef and we were to swim to the reef for snorkeling. With the tide coming in and the boat being inside the reef it meant we had to swim against a pretty strong current. I wore myself out completely swimming against the current and just couldn’t get ahead of it. So I returned to the boat, a washout! Louise is a stronger swimmer than I and was able to get to the reef and snorkel there. Everyone came back with stories of a Manta Ray and other great sightings of fish. Once everyone was back on board we set out to hunt a whaleshark.
    The actual hunting is done by airplane. Pilots spot them swimming just below the water’s surface and relay their location to the ship. So off we went bouncing our way into the 2 to 3 meter swells of the Indian Ocean. As our guide said it could be rough as there is nothing between where we were and Africa just a whole lot of open water! Reaching a whaleshark we put on our snorkeling gear and once the boat was positioned ahead of the shark we jumped in. Off we swam to see the whaleshark. I got a look at it but it was a fleeting look still I had seen it. Whale sharks are large, this one was about 4 meters long from head to tip of tail.
    Returning to the boat, we continued searching for whalesharks. More rough seas plus the seawater swallowed while snorkeling began to hit a few of the adults. One woman was down and out from that point on. A second whaleshark was spotted and we got another chance to snorkel. This time I got an even shorter peek at it before it swam away. I couldn’t keep up with it at all. Louise got a pretty good look.
    We encountered a group of dolphins and circled them several times. There were about 20 dolphins in the group. They were not shy and stayed close to the boat. I went to the top deck and took some pictures. The telephoto lens doesn’t work for dolphins because they pop up and then are gone before you can point the lens at them. You have to aim a wider view lens at the area where they are and even then when you see them the lag time between realizing they are there and pressing the shutter relase can mean you get a nice picture of the ocean surface. I got a few good shots of dolpins before we left them.
    Shortly after that we found a third whaleshark. This one was swimming slowly and I was able to swim along with it for what seemed like a good length of time. I would guess that I was within 5 feet of the shark for a good 30 seconds, maybe more. I had time to look at the gill slits, to examine the fins and tail and to also appreciate the host of smaller fish that accompany this huge shark. There are different fish at what seem to be special locations. I had seen two long eel-like fish just below the belly of the shark with the first shark. There was also a school of about 20 tiny fish that were five or six feet below the belly of the whale. Several medium sized fish swam just above the shark and one colorful reef fish was swimming just in front of the tail. So the whaleshark has a whole community of fish that swim along with it. During this whole time I was the only swimmer along that side of the shark. Then the group caught up with me and I dropped out. It was the best experience of the day for me. Louise also got a look at this one but was on the other side with the crowd most of the time so she didn’t get as good a look. The photo with this article is one from the set the photographer for Ningaloo Whaleshark Swim took on the day we were swimming. They gave us a set of pictures taken during our swim.
    Finally a really large whaleshark was spotted. Our guides estimated it at 8 meters long. Louise was too tired and was feeling the effects of the motion of the boat and the saltwater she had swallowed while snorkeling so she sat out this one. I went in after it but never saw it. Louise told me I was right in front of it but must have somehow missed it. Anyway, I’d had a good experience and learned something about my limitations. I’m going to have to get more swimming exercise to get those muscles toned up for our coming cruise in Fiji.
    On our way back to the dock, we were traveling with the swell and it made the ride much easier. Everyone seemed to recover from their seasickness enough to eat lunch. We stopped just short of the dock to do one final reef snorkel and then returned to the dock and back to the campground. We spent the next day taking care of laundry and resting in the campground before departing Exmouth on Wednesday.
  20. tbutler
    North of Tennant Creek is Three Ways, a small community near the junction of the Barkly Highway which we drove from Mount Isa to Tennant Creek several weeks before and the Stuart Highway which we are now taking on north toward Darwin. When we passed Three Ways we were in new territory again. As we drove along you could tell that there had been quite a lot of rain lately. We were seeing water standing in creek beds that would normally be dry. Further north the vegetation became thicker with little soil visible as we transitioned from the desert climate of Alice Springs and Tennant Creek to the tropical climate of the Top End. Water was more abundant in streams and lakes and the area took on a lush look.
    The land was mostly flat along this route. We could see occasional mountain ranges to one side of the road or the other but never had to drive through anything resembling a mountain or even serious hills. Flat, straight road was the rule. Roads were in excellent condition with only the occasional rough patch. We encountered no road work! There were frequent grids, the Australian term for a cattle guard. The road was posted as being open range and we were cautioned to watch for wandering livestock. Late in the day we did pass three cows grazing at the edge of the road. We also began seeing kangaroos, dead alongside the road. These were small kangaroos, a different breed than those we had seen earlier.
    We made one stop for fuel and lunch and then drove all afternoon without stopping until we reached our destination in Katherine. We arrived as the sun was setting, fueled up so we would park with a full tank and picked up a few groceries before reaching the park. Louise had called ahead and checked availability and rates at several parks before deciding on Knotts Crossing Resort. This was not one of the regular chain caravan parks. Knotts Crossing Resort has a hotel, cabins and the caravan park. The grounds are groomed as you would expect of a nice hotel and the facilities are quite nice. In this park, we have our own private bathroom right next to our campervan. They refer to this as en suite accomodations.
    We’ll make this our base for exploring the some of the sights around Katherine. Friday, April 25, is Anzac Day here in Australia. This is one of their premier holidays as they honor their veterans of foreign wars. The date is the day they suffered a terrible defeat in the battle of Gallipoli in WW I. The people we met last night said that Gallipoli was the last battle they fought alongside the British. After that they fought in association with American troops.
  21. tbutler
    Nitmiluk National Park is a small park just a few kilometers east of Katherine in the Northern Territories. The primary feature of Nitmiluk is the Katherine River which has cut a gorge into the rocks. The gorge is rather unique in that it developed as the rocks were lifted. With its path established prior to the rocks being lifted, it encountered resistant rocks and created a new path along the stress cracks in the rising rocks. These stress cracks are in a pattern with near 90 degrees angles between two systems of cracks. The result is a gorge which is a series of stair-step zigs and zags. In the case of the Colorado River, the meandering pattern of the river set the course for the Grand Canyon as the Colorado simply continued on its established course cutting deeper and deeper into soft rocks. In the case of Nitmiluk and the Katherine River, the rocks were very hard and thus played a role in establishing the pattern.
    Trails within the park provide access to viewpoints overlooking the gorge and the Katherine River. The river itself is navigable for short distances between falls and rapids so they have boat tours and canoe rental. There is no swimming in the river because of the crocodiles. That’s a good enough reason for me! We never saw a crocodile but I’m not going to put my toe in the water to test that observation.
    We spent some time in the visitors center. They had an excellent interpretative exhibit which explained a number of things we have noticed and/or wondered about. One of the most interesting was the information about termites and their role in the ecology of the tropical rain forest. Termites it turns out will eat the heartwood out of trees. The heartwood is the wood in the center which is no longer transporting nutrients and water to the leaves. In its place, the termites store organic matter which is another food source for them. This organic matter decays and fertilizes the tree. So as they attack the tree they are also beneficial to the tree. In addition, their hollowing of the interior trunk and branches of the trees results in hollow places in trees in which animals live. The exhibit stated that an amazing half of all mammals here in the rainforest live in cavities produced by the termites. But that wasn’t all, one fourth of all reptiles (think lizards) live in these cavities and one fifth of all birds in the tropics live in these cavities as well. The Aborigine used the hollow branches of trees to make one of their musical instruments, the didgeridoo. So, it turns out that termites aren’t all bad. At least when they are not attacking your house! As an aside, the utility poles in this part of the country are all metal poles, there are no creosote soaked poles here. My guess is that a wooden pole wouldn’t last long with the abundance of termites that exist here.
    Other exhibits showed the scientific explanation of the formation of the gorge as well as the Aborigine legends about the formation of the gorge. This was particularly well done with an exhibit that displayed both sets of information on a ribbon with one side being the science and the other being the legend. The entire exhibit area was one of the best and most informative that I have seen anywhere and I told a staff member just that.
    After exploring the exhibits we hiked to the viewpoint closest to the visitors center. Starting the hike we were greeted by a huge flock of fruit bats hanging in the trees along the river. These were the same kind of bats we had seen a month before near the visitors center in Boonah as we wound up our trip on the New England Highway. Here they were in their native habitat in the northern rainforest. Just as before they were flapping trying to keep cool on a bright sunny day. We noticed that they stopped their flapping and their noise stopped as soon as a cloud blocked the sun. It was an amazing change in behavior with just a little cloud.
    Continuing the hike, we climbed up the cliff face on a series of metal stairs followed by more stairs cut into the rocks. The rocks were fascinating with alternating layers of sandstone and conglomerate. Some of the sandstone looked like the sandstone at Uluru while the conglomerate reminded us of the Kata Tjuta.
    Eventually we reached a platform built out on the edge of the cliff overlooking the gorge and river. From there you could see both upriver and downriver along a good stretch of the gorge as well as looking out over the landscape in the area around the river. This was the lower end of the gorge so looking downriver there was quite an expanse of land visible.
    Just uphill from the viewing platform was a canvas shade with a bench. We made that our picnic area, breaking out a simple lunch, we had a great view, shade from the sun and a nice breeze on top of the hill. The trail continued on past the water treatment plant and water storage tanks for the drinking water at the park offices and campground. From that location we were overlooking the entire developed complex of the park.
    The trail followed the access road for the water treatment system back to the main park road and the visitors center. Hiking along the road we enjoyed flowers, rocks and birds. All these were new and different from what we see in the US as well as what we have seen here in Australia. The heat of the day began to affect Louise so we had to slow our progress and take advantage of the available shade. We had plenty of water with us so there was no emergency but we have a new rule now, no hiking if we aren’t on the trail by 10:00 a.m. The mid-day heat gets to be oppressive. Perhaps this will abate, this is fall in the southern hemisphere but in the tropics there are really no seasons like we are used to at the mid-latitudes. April is the beginning of the dry season here, referred to only as the Dry. That will last until August when the storms from the Pacific and Indian Oceans begin to bring rains to the area. That is known as the Wet.
    Our hike concluded at the visitors center where we found ice cream and cold drinks and air conditioning to drain away some of the heat of the hike. Returning to the campervan we changed into cooler and dry clothes and then returned to camp for a good shower.
  22. tbutler

    The Lazy Lizzard

    By tbutler,

    Saturday, April 26 is another moving day. We left Katherine on the way to Kakadu National Park near Jabiru, NT. Kakadu National Park is a world heritage site. It encompasses a large area of land with several large rivers and lakes. It is known for its fishing, birding and crocodiles. There are no swimming areas in the park other than swimming pools. Crocodiles are found in the waters throughout the park. One person laughingly described this as Crocodile Dundee territory! We’re going for the birds, the scenery and the rain forest. The park is on Aborigine land and the Warradjan Tribe has a cultural center here that we’ll visit tomorrow.
    The road from Katherine to Pine Creek is the same road we will take on returning from Darwin next week. At Pine Creek we stopped to fill up with diesel as the prices there have to be better than in the remote areas of the national park. We stopped at the Lazy Lizard Caravan Park/Bar/CalTex Petrol Station. Inside I was greeted by an old gentleman who was as friendly as anyone we have met on the road. We conducted the transaction for the fuel and he began telling me about the establishment. Louise returned from the restroom which was in the bar and said that I needed to see the bar. He talked about the bar and some of the unique features.
    We walked next door and Louise was right, this was one of the nicest bars we had seen. The building was a block building which was made with blocks from termite mounds. Apparently the termites make some pretty good building blocks. The bar was typical for tropical buildings, it had no doors, the walls were mostly open to the outdoors, there were gaps in the walls with wagon wheels of various sizes, saddles set on top of several walls, there were tables inside and outside and in between, under cover but no walls. There were bar stools drawn up to the walls so you could sit and talk across a wall. There were a variety of fans stirring the air and much more. Louise insists that we will have to stop for the night on our return trip from Darwin. We’ll try to do so. It was just a fuel stop that turned into so much more.
    Leaving the Lazy Lizard and Pine Creek we turned onto the road that goes into Kakadu National Park. It is about 60 kilometers to the park entrance and a total of over 200 kilometers to the far eastern side of the park where we will pick up a different road that will take us into Darwin after we have seen what we want in the park. We were planning to stay at the campground at Cooinda Lodge and take an early morning cruise on the lake that is part of the park. We pulled in at 3:00 p.m. and went to check in. We were pleased to find space available in the campground and space also available for the first cruise in the morning. We will stay one night and leave in the morning following our cruise. Then we’ll head further into the park.
    An evening walk to the boat dock ended with a spectacular sunset over the water. We didn’t see many new birds but we did meet a couple who visited with us for half an hour. They were from Darwin and had suggestions for our time there. He was in the lumber sales business and she was a librarian and teacher. Now retired, they were camping here with her parents. He spotted my binoculars and said he had just purchased the same kind of binoculars. I have a harness which holds the binoculars without the strap around the neck. He tried mine out, had his wife photograph them, front and back and was talking about making or buying something like that. She and Louise were sharing poetry and talking books while all this was going on. It was just a bird walk that turned into so much more.
  23. tbutler
    There is a little bit of everything in Kakadu National Park but the heart of the park is the South Alligator River. The entire drainage basin of the South Alligator River is within Kakadu National Park. About the name, it was incorrectly named when the person who named it mistook the crocodiles for alligators. Once named I guess there is no way to correct the mistake. So there are no alligators in the Alligator River, only crocodiles. This goes along with a standing joke Louise and I have. If we see a feature named for some animal we seldom if ever see that animal in that feature. Swan Lake for instance would likely have no swans (at least when we see it). We’ve never seen a snake in the Snake River. Bear Meadow seems to never have a bear. You get the idea. If we cross Turtle Creek one of us will ask the other if there were any turtles in Turtle Creek.
    We are visiting the park at the end of the Wet. The rivers are running strong from rains received over the last three or four months. Much of the park is closed because roads are flooded. The park is one huge wetlands and they are at their prime right now. We took an early morning cruise on Sunday morning. Driving to the cruise the bus drove through roads that were covered with standing water, maybe 6 inches deep. We started out on the Jim Jim Billabong also known as the Yellow Water. Much of what we cruised on today will be dry ground in August at the end of the Dry. The park is a World Heritage Site which reflects the value of these extensive wetlands.
    On this boat trip we saw several crocodiles and a number of birds including the spectacular Black Necked Stork which was gathering nesting materials and then taking them back to its nest. We were able to watch it fly to its nest where it greeted the female by tapping their long beaks together. We also saw a number of Magpie Geese which are quite common here. Several White Bellied Sea Eagles were also in the trees and we had close up looks at several of them. All this and we were able to view a beautiful sunrise over the water. Breakfast was included in the cruise and they came through with a full buffet breakfast.
    After breakfast we returned to the campervan. We had an hour to get ready to check out. First on our list was to shower and get the insect repellant off and remove a layer of sweat. The tropics are being truly tropical, temperatures overnight in the 80’s and quickly into the 90’s during the day with humidity that approaches 90% constantly. It is quite a change from the first three months of this trip which have been quite cool weather at least at night if not all day. We were in the tropics in Cairns but the humidity was not nearly as high as it is here.
    We got off the site right on time and stopped at the fuel station here to top off the tank with diesel. The price was just 4 cents higher per liter than it was at the Lazy Lizzard in Pine Creek. This fuel will be enough to take us into Darwin on Monday. Today we headed east, further into the park. The visitors center is located deep within the park and that was our next stop. We pulled off at a viewpoint which involved a 1.3 kilometer hike to get to the viewpoint. Given our new rule, no hike starts after noon, we bypassed that hike and continued on to the visitors center. We spent about 30 minutes viewing the exhibits there before continuing on to our planned campground at Kakadu Lodge and Caravan Park in Jabiru, NT.
    Jabiru is a small town that supports several mining operations which have mining leases to some of the land within the National Park. Their claims date back to before WW II so the mining continues today. One of the resources that is mined here is uranium. The area which has the uranium was known to the Aborigine people as a land of sickness. They must have experienced health problems when living there and the land became a kind of forbidden territory.
    The campground here is one of the better places we’ve found to stay in Australia. There is plenty of room, good shade and nice restrooms and showers. We arrived before 2:00 p.m. which is the usual check-in time but we were welcomed without hesitation. It was a relief to be plugged in again and have the air conditioning to keep us comfortable.
  24. tbutler

    For the Birds

    By tbutler,

    Monday, April 28, we departed Jabiru at 6:00 a.m. on the way to the Nourlangle site in Kakadu National Park. This site has two things we want to see, Aborigine rock art or petroglyphs and a scenic viewpoint overlooking that part of the park. Our early departure is an attempt to cope with the extreme humidity and very warm temperatures that are common in this part of Australia. We are just 13 degrees from the equator so every day is a warm day and there is plenty of moisture.
    We got to the Mourlangle area just after 7:00 a.m. The area doesn’t officially open until 8:00 a.m. according to the sign at the entrance road but the gate was open so we continued to the site. The trail we chose took us to the viewpoint and then it continued to the petroglyphs and finally back to the parking lot. The trail to the viewpoint started level and paved but quickly turned into a steep rocky trail. Once at the viewpoint, we had spectacular views of the rugged dissected plateau that forms the southern part of the park. We spent time there enjoying the view as the sunrise lit the rocks that towered over us.
    Continuing on the trail we descended into the rainforest along the base of a cliff. Water dripped from the top of the cliffs, the result of rain the night before. We stopped to sit on a bench for a while to listen to the water dripping from the cliffs and the babbling of the brook that resulted. While sitting there, Louise saw a bird and directed my attention to its perch. I quickly found the bird and described it to Louise. She found it in our Birds of Australia book and we then confirmed its identification. We were looking at an Emerald Dove, found only along the tropic coast of Australia. It was a beautiful dove and a lucky find. That bird made our day!
    We left the bench and continued on the trail to the artwork we also wanted to see. The sites were along the base of the cliff protected from the weather by a large overhang. The first site was a startling array of artwork, a couple of dozen figures in varying degrees of sophistication from early primitive art to very elaborate drawings with good detail. The site had been occupied for 20,000 years and the artwork had accumulated over that time.
    We continued on the trail and saw an amazing series of petroglyphs with interpretative information explaining the meanings of various figures in the drawings. We spent an hour going from one set of drawings to the next. By the time we returned to the parking lot it was 9:30 a.m. We planned to visit two other sites before the weather became too warm so we were off to the next site.
    On the road we flushed a flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos. We had seen them fleetingly several days before when we flushed another flock but this time we went back to get a good look at them and snap a few pictures. When they take off they look like they could be a flock of big Ravens but their red tails catch your attention immediately. When they are sitting, their helmet-like crest and huge bills make them a really distinctive bird.
    Our next stop was at Mamukala, a large wetlands area with a bird blind for observing the birds around the wetlands. When we arrived there was one other couple there. We immediately identified several pairs of ducks as not ducks but Green Pygmy-geese. They were the size of ducks but had the long necks of a goose. Another couple from Britain came in and mentioned several birds they had noticed outside the blind on the walkway to the blind. They helped identify several birds we were working to identify. We continued viewing the area from the blind. Several buses arrived and groups of people came through the blind in droves. We visited with several and shared views through my spotting scope with a few.
    I won’t list all the birds we saw but we added at least half a dozen birds to our list of Australian birds we have seen on this trip. We also had some great chances to see other birds we had seen only once and not under the best observing conditions. A pair of Whistling Kites sat in a tree above the observing blind and whistled and squawked then flew circles overhead so we really got to see them well. We watched a pair of Rufous-banded Honeyeaters building their nest right outside the bird blind.
    By this time we had spent so much time at the first two sites we had to cancel our plans to visit the third site. We debated staying for another day at Kakadu National Park to see the third site but instead chose to continue on to Darwin to keep our trip on its planned schedule.
  25. tbutler

    Darwin

    By tbutler,

    The capital city of Northern Territories is Darwin. It is the smallest of the capital cities in Australia. We are at a park just south of the airport, Hidden Valley Tourist Park. It is a well maintained park but the rates are among the highest we’ve paid anywhere at $45 per night for the en suite accommodations. The regular accommodations without the private bathroom were $44 per night. All this and only minimal free internet, a two day pass for 100 MB and then you have to buy internet starting at $10 for two days or 200 Mb. The irony is that in one of the most remote locations we have visited we had one of the best parks in Lightning Ridge, NSW and the rates were $30 per night with unlimited free internet.
    Darwin is a town that was almost completely rebuilt after cyclone Tracy in 1974. Tracy arrived with Santa on Christmas Eve that year and demolished most of the town. It was category 5 and had wind recorded up to 230 KPH at the airport before the wind gage went missing. Tin roofs were the rule at that time and sheets of tin were flying everywhere. Most homes were leveled by cyclone Tracy. Afterwards they evacuated many of the residents, almost 30,000 by air and over 7000 by the highway. This was to avoid disease due to a total lack of utilities. Darwin is accessible by sea but the land route is at least a one day drive from the nearest town and it doesn’t have resources needed to help with the resulting damage so the clean-up and repair work was going to take some time. They rebuilt with new stricter building codes which as of today have been weakened by modifications. We humans have such a short memory! Forty years go by and we’re thinking it won’t happen here once again. This despite the excellent exhibit at the Northern Territory museum we visited. They had news reports from the national news, a model showing what was left of many houses in the area and a sound booth with a recording from the night of the cyclone that someone made. Want to know what it sounds like to be in a hurricane? That booth will show you. As we walked out I remarked to Louise, “That was why we left Cairns as the cyclone was approaching.” I can only imagine what it would have been like to go through that in a campervan!
    We spent the bulk of Tuesday at the museum. There is a collection of Aborigine art that is well displayed and explained. Everything from rock art to bark panels to canvas and carvings. They had burial poles, hollow logs that were decorated and held the bones of the deceased. They had a small woven decorated container for the bones of a baby that died before or during birth. The mother would keep this until the next baby was born so that baby would have the soul of the baby that died. Once another baby was born the container with the bones would be discarded. That child now lived in the one most recently born. We all have stories that help get us through tough times. You begin to get a better understanding of the culture and beliefs of the Aborigine from this kind of exhibit.
    Of course a museum in this territory would have to include a crocodile and they have a large one mounted in an atrium along with the story of its capture and demise. Known as Sweetheart, this rogue was attacking boats. Sweetheart would bite the boat and sink it but wouldn’t attack the escaping occupants. They had pictures showing boats with the bite holes. Best guess was that he saw the boats as competitors in his territory and just wanted to get rid of the boat. After several attacks they went out to capture Sweetheart. The whole episode is on tape and they have edited it into about a six minute presentation. There was no crocodile wrestling involved. They caught him in a trap. They wanted to capture him alive but it didn’t work out that way. Sweetheart became tangled in underbrush and drowned before they could free him. So they stuffed and mounted him!
    The last exhibit that we visited was a traveling exhibit on the work of Alfred Wallace. Wallace was a naturalist from Wales in England. He was a contemporary of Charles Darwin for whom the city of Darwin was named. Alfred Wallace traveled and collected specimens of animals from beetles and birds to plants in the Amazon basin of South America. On returning the ship he was traveling on sank along with all his specimens. He returned home broke, in addition to the scientific value of the specimens he also sold some to support his work. It was the custom at the time and a way to make a living. He gathered his resources and set out on a second trip this time to Malaysia, thousands of islands just to the north of Australia. This area was largely unexplored. He spent considerable time here going to many islands and collecting and cataloging species of animals and plants.
    As a result of his work he developed an understanding of the variety of living things and ways they are similar and different. He sent to Charles Darwin a paper that explained the mechanism by which the differences in species came about. Darwin had developed a similar explanation and together the two presented their ideas to the Linnaean Society of London. Darwin incorporated the work and ideas of Wallace into his publication of the Origin of Species and the two are considered co-discoverers of the theory of evolution. The exhibit illustrated much of Wallace’s work and outlined his long and productive life.
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