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:





**********************************************************************************

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

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home