The Red Centre

After the luxury of the Ghan we arrived in Alice Springs to 40 degrees plus. Our hotel was booked with WOTIF ( equivalent to lastminute.com) and although the room was basic we were next to the pool and had a chance to do laundry and have a look around.

Our wake up call was 5.00a.m. as we were being picked up at 5.55 for our camping trip to the Red Centre. Was this a good idea? Would we survive 40 plus degrees in a tent? Would the spiders, reptiles, searing heat finally finish us off?

Our vehicle was an offroad, air-conditioned bus. After picking up our fellow-travellers (we were happy to discover we were not the oldest ones on the trip), we set off for Uluru with several stops on the way to stretch our legs and refill the water bottles. The distance from Alice Springs to Uluru and our first camp site was around 500km and took over 6 hours. The tents were built on platforms with proper beds. There was no air conditioning but they seemed fine. We helped unload the food and store it in the enclosed kitchen which was well equipped with the very necessary large fridge freezer, fan, tables and benches.

After a quick lunch we drove to Uluru, going all the way round the rock and hearing much about it before setting out for a short walk. Although it was afternoon it was quite debilitating to walk in that heat and good supplies of water were very necessary. We then gathered with hundreds of other tourists from dozens of other coach parties at the "Sunset Viewing Site" where tables were laid out with champagne, orange juice and nibbles for us to watch the sun set on the rock. As it happened clouds intervened at the critical moments and the sunset was nowhere near as spectacular as it should have been, but it didn't seem to matter too much.

We were all in bed early as we had to get up at 4.15 to see the dawn - not a problem as we were all exhausted but some of our group were unable to sleep in the heat. We were warned that it gets cold at night but that seems to be only in the southern winter. It was probably still in the mid-thirties for us. Dawn over Kata Tjuta (formerly known as the Olgas) was much more impressive than the previous night's sunset, but nowhere near as impressive as our early morning hike through Kata Tjuta. It had to be early morning because the walks are closed from 11 a.m. on days when the temperature is forecast to go over 36 degrees. Incidentally that also meant that climbing Uluru was also banned - not a problem as our guide explained to us very clearly that, although it's not actually banned, the indigenous people don't like it and we didn't fancy it much anyway.

The rest of the day was taken up with a visit to the tourist trap - sorry resort - at Yulara, then another long drive to King's Canyon, broken by a stop to gather firewood for a campfire at our new campsite. The campfire was very sociable and the food, cooked in large cast iron pots on the campfire, was excellent.

Next morning another early start then a choice of walks at King's Canyon. One of us opted for the easier walk inside the canyon, and one of us took the more strenuous option of the spectacular Rim Walk. Finally another long drive back to Alice Springs.

The pictures in the text are, in order, gathering firewood, King's Canyon, champagne at Uluru, a perentie lizard at King's Canyon (he's about 5 feet long and not full grown), and our guide Nick cooking dinner on the campfire. Maybe someone smarter than us can figure out how to put them in the right places on an Apple computer!

The Ghan

Our trip on "The Ghan", the famous train that runs from Adelaide all the way across Australia to Darwin, was planned as one of the highlights of the whole journey. At this time of year it only makes one run a week, so if we wanted to break the trip and see the Red Centre we had to get off at Alice Springs and go on to Darwin four days later by air. Our schedule didn't allow for a full week in Alice, and anyway the heat would probably have wiped us out completely. The forecasts the last couple of days were for 43 degrees and the locals reckoned it was nearer 46. The train of course was fully air-conditioned and the height of luxury. We were in Gold standard, thanks to many of those who attended our party and are hopefully reading this account. That gave us a reasonably sized double cabin with en-suite shower and toilet - just a little smaller than a Northlink cabin - all our meals in a very smart restaurant car, full bar service, and a fantastic view of the outback rolling past our windows for 26 hours.



After we passed Port Augusta, about 5 hours in, it was really empty - the occasional road, a few emus, kangaroos in the distance towards dusk and early morning, but surprisingly large numbers of sheep and cattle. They don't call them ranches here, they are sheep stations or cattle stations, and the biggest one, which is in South Australia, is bigger than Belgium. In fact it was nearly lunchtime on the second day before we left South Australia and crossed into the Northern Territory. When we stepped off in Alice the train was only halfway on its way to Darwin.

Can you spot Norma in this view of the dining car? Much of the interest was in our fellow passengers who we got talking to at mealtimes and in the bar. There was a honeymoon couple who were engineers, based in Sydney but travelling all over the region together setting up and trouble-shooting new power stations. Another older couple lived near Melbourne in an area with lots of expensive holiday homes. He worked as a general handyman looking after them. She had been on several camping trips to the Red Centre and had persuaded him he should see it too. There were two ladies from Darwin going home after a shopping trip to the big cities, and an American who claimed to work in the US Embassy in Moscow. He was a bit strange and we were convinced he must be CIA (probably we've been reading too many thrillers) but we kept running into him in the Red Centre where he was on another tour bus which we kept meeting. But more of the Red Centre next time. For now many thanks to everyone who helped to make this part of the trip possible.

Adelaide

Our time in Adelaide was dominated by the trips we made with a company called "Bums on Seats", kindly booked by Jean as our Christmas and Anniversary present. Another major factor of our stay was the "Tour Down Under" which was happening throughout the week. It's an annual cycle tour in stages, a bit like the Tour de France, and including this year a farewell appearance from Lance Armstrong. It was a novelty getting into a hotel lift with a lycra clad cyclist holding his bike (upright since it wouldn't fit in).

The first day we took a tram to the seaside area of Glenelg, a lovely sunny day but windy and we had an enjoyable walk along the beach. It was the first place where Europeans settled in South Australia and still looks quite elegant along the seafront. The city of Adelaide is lovely with extensive parks and lovely gardens. It should have an "in bloom" award if they exist here. It was certainly a pleasant place to walk around.

Our first trip outside Adelaide was to the Murray River. We had a pleasant run through the hills to the north east of the city, then over some very dry country to the river, which we crossed on a chain ferry. The river was full and fast-flowing but most of the locals were expecting much more water and floods in a couple of weeks when the water reached them flowing down from the interior. We then crossed back over further downstream, but not at the town of Murray Bridge where we had previously crossed it in the train, because the road bridge was closed for maintenance.

The next day was spent mostly in the town of Hahndorf, which had been settled in the 1840's by German immigrants, and still had many German characteristics. While we were there the Tour Down Under passed through. We are reliably informed that Lance was there but 100 plus cyclists passed us in the blink of an eye, so we had no chance of recognising anyone. The trip also included visits to various South Australian wineries, very educational!

On our last day we took a train to Port Adelaide where we hired a double kayak for a couple of hours and visited, among other things, a mangrove swamp within the port area, and a number of shipwrecks. All this in stifling heat.

Water water......

Apart from an obsession with Princess Mary of Denmark (who comes from Tasmania and is a Donaldson to boot), the press here is full of news of the floods which have swept through Australia and even affected the north east of Tasmania, particularly Scamander and St Helens. Scamander broke the state record for rainfall in 24 hours last Thursday, and the road to St. Helens was partly washed away. We missed all the excitement as we were further south, but on Saturday we were heading back via Hobart and the obligatory visit to Salamanca Market. Not much was bought there due to the terrible exchange rate. Every time we have two coffees and a piece of cake between us it costs ten pounds or more. It's Scandinavian levels here.

After a night sorting out our things in Scamander and packing a box to send home-mainly family memorabilia but it still weighed more than 12 kgs - we set off to return the hire car, and meet Jean and Vic in Launceston where they had been at a wedding. On Sunday afternoon we headed up to the Cataract Gorge where the river was in full flow. It was quite scary and there had been a rescue the day before where a young couple were stranded by the sudden flash flood, being rescued by helicopter after three hours. We took loads of photos and some video to capture the ferocity of the water. The river by the way is the South Esk. In the middle of Launceston it joins with the North Esk and from then on it's called the Tamar - go figure as they say.

Next day we said our goodbyes and caught the plane to Melbourne. There we met up with Rachel Clarke, Tom's second cousin from Invergordon who has been working in Melbourne for the last four years. The next day was an early start to catch the "Overland", the train to Adelaide. On the way we were able to see some of the flooding which was affecting north west Victoria, though even more was expected later. It was a long journey but very comfortable and not as tiring as flying. We arrived in Adelaide to warm sunny weather - at last!

Wildlife

On our visit to Bruny Island on Thursday we walked from Adventure Bay to Fluted Cape on the southeast corner of the island and we were lucky enough to meet several wallabies and an echidna . None of them seemed in the least bothered by our presence as you can see. The interesting thing was that they were all out and about in the middle of the day, as both animals are basically nocturnal and only usually seen at dawn or dusk. Another walker we met suggested that this may have been because the dull, overcast and rather cool weather had confused them. Whatever it gave us a great opportunity to see them in daylight.



Our last day in the south before heading back to Scamander was spent at Cygnet, another farming and apple growing centre which hosts Tasmania's biggest folk festival. We wandered about during the day taking in the atmosphere, then had tickets for the main hall concert in the evening, which featured the Sydney Russian Balalaika Orchestra (no really!), Fred Smith and the Spooky Men's Chorale singing Urban Sea Shanties (honest I'm not making this up!), a Maltese group from mainland Australia, and a very fine Scots/Australian string band. It was a great night. The only problem was we had to drive back to our accommodation late at night - about half an hour on quiet country roads successfully avoiding all the wallabies, possums, and bandicoots which stray onto the roads at night. The roadkill you see here in the mornings has to be seen to be believed.

Weather

When we set off on our third week here in Tasmania in our hired car we thought we would be sunning ourselves in the south of the island. Unfortunately our travel week coincided with the big weather fronts in the Big Island. Luckily we had a window of opportunity each day which enabled us to make the most of it.



After leaving Hobart we set off for the airwalk at Tahune, a long drive in after a very interesting visit to the apple growing town of Geeveston. Among many other characters we learned about there was a lady who was a stalwart in her community. She had very poor eyesight all her life and only learned to drive when she was in her 60's. She kept a bale of hay at the end of her garage to aid with parking! She was renowned locally for her driving, believing that it was not necessary to use more than the first two gears. We all know folk like that. Tahune is a forest site where you can walk on an aerial walkway at treetop level as well as cross two rivers on swinging bridges.

Southport was our base for two days, a basic cabin with no T.V., no mobile reception and a car with no radio. It rained and rained that first morning. After a revision of plans and a break in the rain we decided to risk it and set off on unsealed roads to reach Cockle Creek, the furthest point south in mainland Tasmania. Luck was with us and we walked to the sculpture which commemorates the whalers (or the whales caught here in the 1800's). Yes Richard, William is with us and enjoying his holiday. Another beach walk took us to one of the whaling stations, later a pub and a connection to another Thomas Smith. They are everywhere.





The next day was a bit misty but not a problem as the itinerary started with a visit to the hot springs and thermal pool at Hastings, last visited with Mhairi and Rona about 26 years ago. Our next camping hut was a bit more sophisticated with T.V. and mobile reception and we began to realise what was going on in Queensland. In fact the TV had 24 hour coverage of events there. We planned to visit Bruny Island the next day and luckily it stayed reasonably dry. After a short ferry crossing we drove to Adventure Bay where many early explorers landed, Matthew Flinders, Captain Cook, D'Entrecasteaux, and Captain Bligh of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame. A walk to the point of the island followed but much more of this in the next blog.



While we were away in the south of Tasmania, Scamander had had its own flood with lots of water pouring into several of the local townships and many roads closed. On Friday it was the north west which was most affected. We had made a good choice for our few days away.

Fish and Chips

We have had a couple of longer walks from Diana's Basin to Burns Bay near St Helen's, along a lovely beach, sand all the way and nothing to be seen but a couple of 4-wheel drives----a strange way to admire the coastline! Vic kindly dropped us off and agreed to pick us up. Luckily we eventually found ourselves in mobile phone range and able to call him.

A trip was arranged for us on a fishing boat, mainly to scatter mum and dad's ashes but also to try our hand at fishing for the local catch. We were all up at 5.30 for a 7.00 start at St Helen's. It was only 8.00a.m. and we were having a little dram to toast their memory. The boat was called the Salt Shaker and the skipper was Rocky Carosi. He and his crew member were very helpful to the novice fishermen and we ended up with a reasonable catch of sea perch and gurnard (?). As you can see from the pictures the shark which Vic caught was not a meal for us all but we ended up with a lovely lunch from the Blue Shed, overlooking the sea and our catch became several meals over the next couple of days.

On Friday we were all invited for dinner to a couple Jane and Vic know in Scamander. Loretta is a Sicilian Australian, which means she talks like an Australian and cooks like a Sicilian so it was a great meal. Chris is an aging hippy - we know he's happy to be called that - and regaled us with tales of his time in Britain in the early 70's, including playing darts with Eric Clapton. However Tom was able to impress him by telling how he had seen Jimi Hendrix live in concert in 1967.

On Sunday we picked up our hire car in Launceston and headed down to Hobart where we met up with Keith and Diana Jones, then on to the far south of Tasmania for a week. More on that soon.

New Year on the Sunshine Coast

We made it to Tasmania on schedule last Wednesday, and the sun was indeed shining. We are staying in the house that belonged to Tom's Mum and Dad, next door to his sister Jane, in a little village called Scamander, which is a seaside resort on the north east coast about ten miles south of the town of St. Helens. Miles of beaches and lots of walks in the forestry on the other side of the Tasman Highway. It's peak summer holiday season here so it's relatively busy - lots of camper vans on the road - but it still looks empty to anyone used to beach resorts elsewhere. This is the view along the beach looking south from Scamander.

Our mornings so far have been largely taken up with clearing and cleaning in the house - it lets us feel we're earning the free board and outstanding evening meals. In the afternoons we have been exploring the area on foot. We've discovered Shelly Point, a real treasure trove for shell collectors, and we've also been up to the Skyline Tier Lookout. It turned out to be a long dusty walk mostly on forestry roads and we didn't see a soul, just one wallaby briefly in the trees and a big 4-wheel drive in the distance. This is the view from the lookout, with Scamander spread around the bay in the centre of the picture.



On New year's Eve we all went to Binalong Bay, another little resort just beyond St. Helens at the start of the Bay of Fires, for a barbecue with Vic's brother Pete and his family. That's how to bring in the New Year Aussie style.

On New Year's Day we went to the races at St. Mary's with a crowd of Jane and Vic's friends. Not racing as we know it, it's called pacing and the horse doesn't gallop it trots, pulling the jockey - sorry the driver - behind in a little two-wheel buggy. Out of ten races we managed to pick one third place, so not much success there! We still have a couple of walks in mind then next week we plan to hire a car and head down to Hobart.