Roadtrip 2 10.3.09- 30.3.09

The plan was to cover almost 4000 kilometres within three weeks, starting from Melbourne, passing the Great Ocean Road, stopping in Adelaide, then heading further to Alice Springs and the Ayers Rock and finally reaching Cairns.

Our means of transportation for this wild mission was a ‘Wicked-Camper’, which was designed for three people while we had five. You can imagine how well we got to know each other, since we were squished like sardines in a can. With a happy frame of mind, we set off on the Great Ocean Road, where we witnessed two of the so-called twelve Apostels, from which nine still remain standing. They are giant stacks made out of limestone and rise majestically from the Southern Ocean. Particularly during sunset and sunrise they offer a magnificent view, as their colour changes from dark and foreboding to a bright sandy yellow. 
 

Every now and then on our road trip we’d stop either at a nice beach along the coast or at a rest area in the inland. We had a simple hippie life style, walking around always bare feet, playing the guitar and cooking up baked beans in a can.

The Outback
 

While cruising along the coast line there were constantly beautiful spots to look at, this changed dramatically once we passed Adelaide, the gateway to the Outback (by the way: Adelaide is a shithole).
The landscape changed in stages from lush greenery to dry bush land. The scenery would stay the same for hours until we would see small changes, such as the ground turning from brown to red or the density of the vegetation. Along with this also the climate changes considerably. The temperature rose up to 47 Degrees, which was like being stuck in a sauna 24/7.
We were dripping with sweat, while the flies continuously buzzed around us, trying to get whatever liquid they could, flying into our eyes, mouths and feasting on our sweat. It became daily routine to inhale at least two flies a day. A positive is that they are high in protein.
You’d think that once the sun had set and the flies had retreated, everything would be peaceful, but no, the flies were only replaced by the yet more vicious and merciless mosquitos, which were relentlessly trying to suck every drop of blood until there’s nothing left except for dried skin and some bones.
And as if that was not enough to bear, on top of that there was also the stench from our sweaty, unwashed bodies.


An oasis in the middle of nowhere
 

After a strenuous, three-day journey through no man’s land, we finally made it to the legendary Red Centre: the Ayers Rock, respectively the Uluru (how the Aboriginals call it), a massive boulder that is worshipped by the Aboriginal people.
Unfortunately due to extremely hot whether, they closed the gate to the track, which leads up the 348 metre high peak, as there were a fair number of people in the past dying on the attempt to climb Ayers Rock. Thus we circled it in a four-hour-long track, on which we saw many undulating shapes and grooves on the rock faces, formated by erosion, which reminded me of human brains. An interesting fact is that two thirds of the actual rock lies under the ground, which rather surprised me considering its size.

King’s Canyon

Although when the word outback is mentioned, first thing that pops to most peoples mind is the Ayers Rock, we found the trail along King’s Canyon even more impressive. Once reaching the top, it almost feels as if you are on another planet, as the humongous gorges and honeycomb like rock formations surround you in every direction.


The Goon Capital of Australia

Civilisation at last, we arrived Alice Springs, ready to stuff our faces full of Fast Food, which we were craving for the past few weeks. Alice Springs is the town with the highest number of Aboriginal people, which we found a lot of them having severe drinking problems, thus for the reason of the goon restriction being applied throughout the town. Hence one night we had to resort to beer which shocked the system owing to large intake of goon over the last few months.


Conflict of cultures

When you first go to Australia you are overwhelmed by the kindness and laid-back style of the people. But this doesn’t always come out towards the Aboriginal people, as many Australians being in contact with them, seem to discriminate the Aboriginals (the terms ‘Coon’ or ‘Abo’ for instance are used similarly to the word ‘Nigger’).
This is due to many of them constantly being drunk, starting fights and mugging people. As an apology for the horrific history between the Europeans taking a lot of the half-Aboriginals away from their parents (the “stolen generation”) and forcing them to adapt to western society, as well as extinguishing them and taking away their land, the Australian government has tried to compensate this by giving them large sums of money, free housing etc.
This however didn’t solve the problem, as many Aboriginals are poorly educated, without identities of who they really are, originating from a culture that is so different. This produced a culture clash that left many Aboriginals without having a motivational drive in their life, which led to alcoholism by trying to deal with their problems through drinking, being worsened by the fact that they have a very low tolerance.


 


The end of the road

We left Alice Springs in order to head for our last destination Cairns, home of the crocodiles and jellyfish. The car had been a mess all along the way, but I could still deal with it as I experienced and saw so many great things at the same time. Towards the end of our trip though, it became plain and simple unbearable. Apart from the five of us being crammed into a three square metre area with no privacy whatsoever, the vehicle began to look like a brothel. There was rubbish and food scatted everywhere, which left an overwhelming stench. Along with the van, also the atmosphere among us had crashed. The tension was high and any little thing would set off an argument. I was really relieved when I saw the sign for Cairns coming up in the distance. Nevertheless the last section was not all bad, as we got to see our first Emu, which ate our stuff from the car and had to be driven away by me making awful noises with the guitar (this is how I normally play the guitar). I was a little bit disappointed tough, as I didn’t get to see a single kangaroo, apart from the ones splatted on the side of the road.

When we arrived in Cairns, we went straight to the lagoon, which felt like an oasis after the long journey through the desert. As the level of cleanliness had degraded to the lowest possible point, we felt like cast aways re-entering civilisation at last.