Saturday, November 05, 2005

Indian Ocean in all of its glory: Broome

Our westward journey came to a screeching halt when we arrived in Broome, WA.

Along the way and as always, we came across another sign that caught my attention:




Stray Animals--gotta watchout for those as they are "everywhere":




And as promised, I mentioned before that I would eventually explain a bit about the BOAB tree. So here’s the story: I first saw a boab tree in Western Queensland as we were headed to Carnavron National Park. At that time, I thought it was the same BAOBAB tree that Antoine St Exupery describes in his book: The Little Prince, and I was terribly excited that I had finally encountered one in real life! But when I went to the stockman’s museum in LongReach QLD a few days later, I found out that it was actually called a BOAB tree. So sadly, I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably have to go ALL THE WAY TO AFRICA to see a real BAOBAB tree.

Well low and behold, on our way out of Derby (NT), we visited the BOAB PRISON TREE (where aboriginals were kept in captivity earlier in the 20th century) and it turns out that as per usual, the Aussies who love to shorten every word or name, had indeed decided to apply their “shortening” principle to the BOAB tree. So, the BAOBAB tree became known as the BOAB tree and my prior state of excitement was without reason, the first time I saw one here!!


LE BAOBAB



But anyway, after this quick stop, we made our way to Broome!! Oh…Broome!!!

Originally, we planned on spending about 5 nights in Broome with 3 nights at the town beach campervan site and perhaps another 2 nights at a beach town a few kms North of the town (Cable Beach).
But once we got to our campsite, I was witness to such an amazing visual experience, I honestly thought I had died and gone to Indian-Ocean-heaven!!!!


A campsite with a view:





An aerial view of our campsite:





And, after seeing my first sunrise right outside my tent,




I said to myself: How could we possibly even consider going anywhere else??? So as soon as Laurie and I were both “awake” enough that morning around 6:40am to have a conversation, I said: do we really need to go anywhere else? And, we both decided that we should stay “just where we were” for 5 nights (which turned into 6 nights because the last “stairwell to the moon” was happening on 18th of October at 6:42pm—the last of its kind for the year before the “wet” season began).

Stairwell to the moon is a natural phenomenon that happens during the “dry” season a few days after each full-moon. At this time of the year, the tide is very low at moon-rise and the reflection of the moon over the mud-flats creates an illusionary staircase to the moon. Very cool…





So with my amazing luck in Australia so far, on this beautiful day of October 19th, I decided to go for a quick dip into my swimming pool (ie: the ocean) with a bikini (rather than a full swimsuit) and no more than 15 minutes was I in the water before I got stung by a jellyfish.
Once again, the sting did not swell up for about 12 hours and then when it finally took on its full-fledged form, I also got attacked by a million sandflies…and for the next 5 days I was an absolute crazy mess, popping antihistamines, lathering the cortisone cream, scratching myself to a bloody pulp and nearly tearing my skin off (I even had to trim my fingernails down to the skin to stop murderously tearing myself to shreds)!!!!


Another jellyfish sting:







The attack of the Sand-fly (a total of 139 visible bites!!! HOLY SHIT!!!):




But aside from these natural upsets (which most Aussies laugh about--while I whimper and cry for sympathy), while we were in Broome, Laurie and I went on an amazing sea-plane ride over the Dampier Peninsula, the Buccaneer Archipelagos and to the Horizontal Falls in the West-Kimberleys.

WHAT A DAY!!! I felt like I was going to Fantasy Island and that Mr. Rourke and Tatoo were going to greet me when I got off the sea-plane with: WELCOME! WELCOME TO FANTASY ISLAND!

I took over 200 photos that day…and here are some of the amazing highlights:


Our Plane:




Two roads meet in the Outback:




Western Coastline:



Rugged Coastline:






Aerial of the Second Fall at Horizontal Falls (a tidal water way between two inlets of seawater, solely controlled by the tides—thence “horizontal” falls. The direction of the water-flow changes of course 3 times a day!! Freaky!!!):





The First fall (we actually sped-through this channel!!):





Aerials of the Buccaneer Archipelagos:





Crocodile-shaped Island:





Hey guys, I think I finally found “my” island!!!:





Here’s barely an island:





And who ever said that water was simple…check out the crazy path that this little river has paved for itself—it almost looks like a snake got drunk and tried to find its way home…






Cape Leveque:



I had it in my head that I really wanted to go to the tip of Dampier Peninsula—being Cape Leveque…I was psyched to fly into it and get to swim in the very northern tips!!!






And what a great way to finish off a tremendous visual day, but with a sunset over the clouds…





More to come!!! More to come...I have about 3 or 4 more BLOGS to update in the next week that I am a bit "sedantary", here in Perth.

How are you all? And what were you for Halloween?? Here, they celebrated the Melbourne CUP on November 2nd and I guess it's quite the celebration--but yeah, no costumes. Oh well, gotta start getting used to the different celebrations, I suppose!!! So, yah...wonderwoman will have to wait for another year. *sigh*

Cheers, FUJ

Friday, November 04, 2005

Kununurra to Broome: the ocean, the ocean!!! here i come!!!

Through Western Australia, we drove through quite a few un-controlled bush-fires that honestly just burn wildly and right up to the road. In some places, it almost looks like the road is the only thing that keeps the fire from spreading…

No firetrucks, no brouhaha about putting out the fires…they just burn, baby…BURN!!!





and the termite mounds were starting to go from little grave-stone like mounds to now something I call: smurf-dwellings:



Once in Kununurra, we decided to stay 2 nights in this town, as Laurie wanted to go for a “flight over Purnululu National Park and surrounding areas, and I was trying to get a 4WD tour to take me on an overnight tour of the same area (unfortunately because of the low-season—the wet season is about a month away—I was not able to book a tour that suited my own travel-calendar so I had to give up the idea which just made me say: I’ll just come back and do it “next time”—see were my thinking is going these days?? Ha ha).

Next to our fabulous campervan park, there was Mirama National Park—a small but beautiful park to exlore in our “backyard”. The first tree to greet me at the entrance of this park was a most beautiful and grandiose BOAB tree:



and as I trekked in the early morning heat into the park, I must have been hallucinating as I saw something move in the grass and thought it was some kind of diabolical, long-legged creature when really, it was just a gnarled up tree branch—can you see what I mean?? It’s looks like a long-legged something-or-rather, trying to ambush me!




The park I was hiking through is called Hidden Valley and consists of sandstones that were formed from sediments deposited by creeks and wind-blown sand during the Devonian period 360 million years ago!!

Looking carefully at the incredible intricate layering of sediment, slashed into the most amazing design truly struck (my dehydrated body) and my delusional imagination—leading me very slowly to a series of thoughts on the origins of aboriginal art-style: some being very intricate dotted-style use of color for art paintings (so-called-post-modernist-style):












and finally, here’s me…just horsin’around in one of little rock-worn holes in the side of a wall in the park—visibly: I am having a very “out-there” kind of day while Laurie was on his “flight” across the lands:





From Kununurra, we proceeded on a long day of driving bringing us to Fitzroy Crossing. Here, I visited Geikie Gorge the following day (soon to be re-named: Danggu Gorge—another “re-claiming the land” steps for the Aborigines). I had started to sprain my left wrist in Darwin and had to ride up to the gorge to catch an 8am boat-tour (that Laurie was not interested in joining)…and unfortunately, I chose to ride up an un-sealed (un-paved) road which of course did “wonders” to my already pained-wrist.

I arrived at 2 minutes til 8am and they almost turned me away but seeing that I had just biked 22 miles, I begged using the excuse that the park-receptionist said that the trip was “only 18km” when it turned out to actually be 22km long (true story!)!! I had planned on a 45-minute ride…but it actually took me a full-hour! So in full-sweat, I plopped myself down in a seat in the tour-boat…catching my breath as the tour began in full swing! And what a great little tour it was!!!


Geikie Gorge:





Masked Lapwing Birds:




YES!!! A croc!!!





Picturesque photos:



Rock-face on the gorge:







Amazing faces of the gorge:





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UPDATE:

well folks (i know most of you don't even really read this blog anymore...for many reasons but some being: we don't care anymore, we don't have time to read your shiat, and just that you have better things to do!!!), i am now in Perth (WA) where my major travels through OZ and my campervan trip have come to an end.

i'm quite behind again on my blog as most of WA does not have high-speed internet access or the cost is a bit prohibitive...so i've just been waiting to get back to a city environment to kinda wrap things up.

strangely enough, i was apprehensive to come back to civilization after being in the outback and louging around in the sun, snorkeling on prestine beaches and just taking in the natural beauty of the WA coastline. but perth announces itself to be a very cool and chill city, so i plan to stick around here for 2 weeks or so.

things with my travel companion (laurie) turned a bit sour in the last two weeks (though the discord began about 4 weeks ago): something to do with male-female interactions, emotions, stubbornness, close-minded-obstinent-behavior and who-knows-what-else. we had a bit of a blow-up at a wonderful resort by the name of monkey mia (with morning visits by dolphins).

so i decided to jump off in perth and laurie and i parted today without even a hug--barely a smile. just a most disingenuous: "have a good life" kinda exchange.

my feelings are still a bit raw from the whole experience and the stress has taken its toll as i have caught a cold in the last two days and need to put myself to bed very shortly this evening (even though it's my first FRIDAY night in perth!! DAMN!!).

but so life goes...and we humans, as bullheaded and incensed as we can be at times, we pick ourselves up and we move on--and so i do.

i am hoping to spend the next few days, just chillin' and catchin'up on some sleep, some bloggin' and fully explore this beautiful WA-city!!

hope all is well in your worlds.

P---z, FUJ