Anthologie

I'm not done the Northern Territory trip report yet, but if you want to see what I'm to in Montreal, check it out here.

Northern Territory Trip II: The Ghan Day I: Katherine

After our day in Kakadu, we woke up early the next morning to catch The Ghan heading south to Alice Springs. "Ghan" is short for "Afghan", and is named after the Afghani camel trekkers who used to cover the route before the railroad was built.

The train is very long and all the passenger cars are silver. We opted for Gold Kangaroo service which gave us a (relatively) fancy little sleeper berth, access to the lounge car, and fancy little meals in the restaurant car. Each meal we were seated with another couple, so it was a great way to meet other travellers. One time we sat with a couple from Scotland who were in Australia to see their son, and another time a couple from Darwin who were retired from the Australian military.

The view from the train was iconic.

The train stopped for the day in Katherine. We took a boat tour on the flooded Katherine Gorge in the Nitmiluk National Park. It was very, very hot and sunny. But already, just a few hours south of Darwin, the air was noticably drier. 38 degrees in Darwin felt the same as 45 in Katherine. It made us very thirsty.

We had not seen any crocodiles in Kakadu and we did not see any today. It's less likely to see them in the wet season when the river systems are larger. We did see a crocodile trap though.

When the tour was over we went into Katherine to get some water, and just like the day before, an afternoon storm suddenly came through. We got absolutely soaked running the 7 meters from the convenience store to the tour bus.

Back on the train, it was time for a cozy little shower over the toilet, a cozy little drink in the lounge, a cozy little dinner in the restaurant car, and a cozy little sleep in our bunk beds as the train rocked back and forth on its tracks. It was one of the best sleeps of my life. It was hammock-esque, but with the snugness of being in a treehouse. And once again we woke up very early...

Northern Territory Trip I: Darwin/Kakadu

In February, before I left Australia, Adam and I took a whirlwind trip of some of the Northern Territory: Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine, Alice Springs, Uluru and Kata Tjuta. From there I continued on to Sydney and Adam went back to work in Brisbane.

We were really lucky with the weather. It was the rainy season, but it hardly rained. That doesn't really happen.

Darwin is a town on the northern edge of the Northern Territory. We arrived in Darwin past 1 AM, checked into our hotel, and rose at 5 AM for a day tour of the World Heritage site Kakadu National Park.

On the way there we stopped at a gift shop for coffee. It was at a really relaxed, really dirty gift shop. There were cobwebs and bird poop on most of the gifts. There, I used one of the most disgusting washrooms I have ever used. But I made some friends in there too. You can see them on the wall in this picture.

The drive from Kakadu was really beautiful. One bird we saw that I wish we got a picture of was the Jabiru.

When we got to Kakadu the tour guide took us to see the ancient Aboriginal rock art first. Some of the paintings were quite sexy. The handprints are signatures.

Then Adam and I left the tour for a time and did a short hike. It was 40-something degrees and as humid as possible and we nearly died.

Then the tour went for a boatride on a billabong. It was so beautiful I considered trashing all my plans for Montreal and moving to Darwin instead. I really, really liked the boatride. There was something about it.

We saw a couple Jacanas living on the lilypads.

While we were on the billabong a storm started brewing.

And we saw a heron, and an eagle.

The storm passed rather quickly, and after the boat tour Adam surprised me with a scenic flight over Kakadu. We were in a small plane with 4 other tourists and the pilot. The views were amazing, with the floodplains and the plateau and waterfalls. I nearly lost my stomach on a few of the turns.

We could also see the uranium mine. The Aboriginals knew the area was unsafe through their histories before the uranium was discovered. The plans are to restore the site when the mining is finished.

After a very short night's sleep and a busy day in the heat, the busride home was mostly one of sleep. I did see this dingo and a beautiful sunset.

Then the next morning it was another early morning, to catch a train.

Fraser Island II: Maheno Wreck

There is a wreck on the east beach of Fraser Island called The Maheno. It was built in 1905 and was wrecked in 1935.

Fraser Island I: Made of Sand

Fraser Island is all sand. It is the largest sand island on our planet and has World Heritage status. With all that sand and all that water and all that Aussie sun, it's pretty much exactly what you think of when you think of paradise. It's surrounded by an angry ocean infested of sharks and rip tides, but there are some surprise lakes in the jungle that are calm, bright turquoise, and breathtaking. The water is filtered through the sand over many, many years and is very, very pure.

Fraser Island is also home to the purest-blooded population of dingos in Australia. And it has no kangaroos, but it does have some wild horses, or brumbies.

When we went to Fraser Island, it wasn't sunny paradise. In fact, it not only wasn't sunny, it was cycloney. It rained heavily for most of the first two days, and on the third day the island was evacuated.

Due to all the roads being sand, and many of them not really being roads but rather beaches, only 4WD vehicles are allowed. And there are many of these vehicles, at least during the busy (Christmas vacation) time we visited. This brings either a war zone or adult playground vibe to the island.

Adam and I had made plans to meet Adam and Sonya on our first day at one of the little towns, but at the time of plan-making we hadn't realized that you have to plan your driving according to the tides. You can only drive at low tide. So, we missed them. But we found this note, and went to find them. And we did. That was good.

With the intermittent rainstorms, we decided exploring the jungle from the relative comfort of our vehicles was the most fun. I say relative because I'm quite sure we all got seat belt bruises on our shoulders. Adam and I also got stuck once, but Adam and Sonya saved the day with their handy shovel and rope and real 4WD.

The second day, we had a very expensive and quite awful breakfast at the only restaurant. It did include a free game of Yahtzee. And then we explored some more.

We saw this wild dingo on the north end of the island.

These are masked plovers. They have funny yellow skin on their faces. They, like Australian magpies, will swoop at your head if you are in their territory at certain times of year.

A scribbly gum is a gum tree that has these funny marks all over it, from the scribbly gum moth.

We saw a goanna in the lake parking lot, scrounging for garbage. He tried to eat a chocolate bar wrapper. Tsk.

On the last day, it got sunny briefly, and we got a taste of what Fraser would be like in the sun. Look at that lake!

Our tiny joke of an off-road vehicle and our little Canadian tent held up remarkably well all things considered. This trip was great fun, even with no showers or flush toilets. And now I can now check "camping" off my list and avoid it for another 10 years.

So Much At Once

I have not updated in a while although I do have much to tell!

There was a Canadian-style Christmas Eve at Cari and Steve's, with seafood chowder and oysters and maple beans and rum balls and shortbread and summer dresses. There was Christmas Day snorkeling at the beach at Byron Bay. There was a crazy camping trip to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island, during a cyclone.

But the biggest news of all is...

I am moving to Montreal! After a year and half down under, I am feeling the pull back to Canada. I want to be closer to my family. Since I moved here my aunt, Brenda, and my grandfather, Arnold, both passed away unexpectedly. They were amazing folks. This is life I guess. But it's time to go home. However I am just not ready to give up on my adventure and go back to Vancouver. Hence, Montreal.

Plus Montreal is by all accounts the cool shit. There are some good video game companies there. And I can actually afford to buy an apartment there.

So I've been busy arranging movers and a pet relocator, training the dude Ben who is taking over my work and whom I have the fullest confidence in because he is awesome, talking to companies in Montreal, and researching tons about Montreal neighborhoods/housing/food/shopping/etc. Also I'm taking a course about Sustainable Community Development through SFU Distance Education. I am perpetually behind on the reading for that course. It is a lot of reading.

Adam is staying in Brisbane. We've had a great time together these last four years but we've got different long term plans in different directions.

Wish me luck. Today is my last day at work. I'm spending February traveling around Australia and then organizing the move. Tonight Adam and I leave on a whirlwind trip to see Darwin, Kakadu, The Ghan, Alice Springs, Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and Sydney. Then I'm spending all of March in Vancouver with friends and family! And then I'm finally off to Montreal in April, just in time for the weather to be warm enough for someone coming sub-tropical paradise to almost handle.

P.S. Fraser Island pics to follow sometime in the next few weeks.