“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
― Mark Twain
I see life as an Adventure and would like to share my story.
First of all, I wish everyone a (belated) merry Christmas and a happy new year 2013.
Anyone who keeps a blog will tell you that it’s bloody hard to keep up with writing in a punctual manner. Travel blogs such as this one are the hardest as you’re constantly distracted and it takes a huge effort to edit all the photos that go into it. But enough with the excuses
Current situation and future plans
Most of you already know that Laura and I already left Australia in November and currently enjoy some time out with our families. Also our arrival in Europe doesn’t mean that any of us have decided to settle down now. We still want to do some more working holidaying. For that, there’s a bit of organizing to do. Visas need to be arranged, our finances and insurances need sorting out as well as many other things that we neglected during our absence.
That also includes a good amount of photos from Australia and a good few more stories that I haven’t written down yet. If I get all done alright, next week there will be a new post from Australia’s East Coast and its tropical rain forests.
Our short break from the heat was only a momentary one. There was one final frontier I did not dare to visit when I first had the chance. A place with a reputation: Cape York.
Hot, remote, rough, partially impassable and yet boasting with beauty. Though battle hardened from our more recent outback adventures we were wary of this drive and made sure Jimmy was up for the job. This also meant replacing the stricken brake caliper in a caravan park and restocking our supplies as much as possible.
Once ready, we headed to Cooktown; named after the explorer James Cook who landed here in 1770 for some vital ship repairs. A charming little town we will remember positively.
But soon we were back in the dust and even a few hundred KMs into the drive, all was well – nearly. Cape York is famed by many for its birdlife endemic to the local rainforests. After the dirt tracks we have travelled through recently we struggled to fully enjoy the mostly dry savannah landscape we actually encountered.
Chili Beach
However all this changed once we arrived at the beautiful Chilli Beach. Located at the edge of a rainforest it’s so pretty, you would to send it as a postcard if you could. It did have a strange personality as we were deep in croc country during the period of Box Jelly and Irukandji making swimming in the turquoise waters a bit scary. Despite that, it did offer a pleasant retreat from all the stressful roads and the free organic coconuts where one more reason to stay.
The Tip
With limited time and limited supplies we had to move on, still going further up the dead end. Though we weren’t too convinced of our destination, we were already so far up North; we simply had to carry on. A trip that got us thinking:
How often do we visit a place because “everyone” says its great or a must do? Sometimes we don’t feel like it, but we still go.
Why?
Because if we don’t, we might later regret having missed out.
That’s how we felt with the continued drive. We already missed out on Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and thought that it would be sad to miss out on this opportunity. A decision made harder by the worsening road conditions and rising costs. The compulsory ferry was 70$ and the corrugations partially got so bad we had to slow down to snail’s pace.
The conditions and the true remoteness make out quite a bit of Cape York’s reputation. If you stick to the main road that bypasses the fearsome old Telegraph Track, it’s very doable indeed. But then the constant risks don’t necessary make this drive very pleasurable.
Despite the worries and the pain, eventually we did reach Pajinka – the northernmost point of the Australian continent. It may not be Mount Everest or any place of great magnificence. The journey alone was quite an achievement though, and that felt really good. An enjoyment of successfully passing a difficult challenge; something we all have in common.
There were some more bonuses too. Right at the tip we had a chance to spend an evening with Sabine and Burkhardt, two fellow travelers who made traveling their profession and gave us some insight into their experiences.
Another treat in stock with a chance to light up ones fascination for the forgotten was the abandoned Pajinka eco resort. Once an expensive lodging destination it started to loose profit and was shut for good after a fire that rendered the entire resort inoperable. Now left behind we had a chance to have a look and wander around this once prestige place.
Return
Arriving at the most extreme point of any place usually means that there is nowhere to continue but to return back. And so we had too, Jimmy managed the trip so far so well. Only the front left bearing started to become a bit noisy which at this time only needed a re-tightening.
On the way back south to the “civilized” world, the road was at tough as coming up and did require 100% of everything: The car, our patience, skills and our relationship. By this time we were pretty worn out and looking for a prolonged escape from the torture. I did get quite a sense of nostalgia - similar to how I feel at this moment writing this journal. We both knew that this would be the toughest and very last big adventure that we would encounter with our beloved Jimmy. Sure we still had a few more trips ahead of us, but nothing that would pose an adventure that would stack up with the great dirt tracks we encountered.
Come Back?
Well, it’s a tricky one. I would love to, but not the same way we did it last time. Cape York offers a lot more if you do have a proper 4x4. Particularly the Old Telegraph Track and the Frenchman’s track are two adventures that would draw us in if we get the chance of coming back with a proper off-road vehicle.
If there’s anything that I have learned on this trip than it is this: A prolonged exposure to any environment will at some point result in misery. Or in other words: Whatever you do, if you do it too much, you will eventually get sick of it.
This was also the case with the Outback. While we did take it easy enough and had a few breaks (including a 3 day camp at the beautiful Leichardt Falls) we started to get tired of it all and there’s a lot to get tired of:
Heat
Flies flying on your eyes
Drinking warm water all day
Mosquitos
Not having a proper wash
Flies flying in your ears
Conserving every drop of water
The fact that everything gets dirty
Flies in your food
Red dust
Marathon driving
Having to take a shovel if you go for a number 2 and flies flying around your bum
Shaken jaws and bleeding ears from driving on corrugations
Being the only people around
The constant worry that something on the car will give in to the punishment of the roads
I will probably write another rant about Van life itself in another post. But I think I’m right in saying that we were looking forward for a change.
The first change already came shortly after Normanton, which marked the end of the unsealed sections (less dust and no more shaking). It was also on this road where we met another group of Townace travellers: Lucy, Manu and Elena.
So another Konvoy was born. Together we travelled to another familiar, yet beautiful area: The
Atherton Table Lands. Less than 100kms east of Cairns, a plateau filled with waterfalls and rainforest. They are part of the Great Dividing Range which separates the green east coast from the dry outback.
It’s one of our favorite areas in the country that offers everything one might want from a travel destination: enjoyable temperatures, beautiful landscapes and secluded spots that are still close enough to civilization. Especially the cooler temperatures were something we welcomed; the simple fact of not having to feel all grimy at the end of the day was a joy in itself.
After a stop at the glorious Berri (hot) springs we finally made it to Darwin. A spot where we sorted out a few bureaucratic necessities. Here we also managed to meet up with Tina and Jens; two German acquaintances I met 2 years ago and that now emigrated here (Warm wishes to both of you).
An interesting get together as Laura and me had had similar plans (we still haven’t given up on the thought of emigrating). Generally, it was a time of meeting with fascinating characters who left a lasting impression.
With the clock ticking and the season warming up, we had to move on. Although we should maybe have waited, as 500KMs South, in Katherine, the starter went back on strike and a break caliper decided to have a leak as well. Luckily, Katherine was a large enough town to offer wreckers, part dealers and mechanics. We were in for a 3 day wait as we arrived on a Friday afternoon. Nevertheless, we decided to make the best of it by spending our time at the local hot springs. This break also gave me some time for a spot of programming (yes, I’m a geek).
After a whole day at a friendly wrecker we finally did find a solution for the starter (dirty contacts) but for the brake we could only do a temporary fix. Following the traditional Australian saying: “She’ll be alright, mate” we crossed fingers and continued our long journey East.
The Savannah Way
Since we were feeling adventurous and the eastern direction in mind, the famous Savannah Way
(including large unsealed sections) was our choice.
It was also the first long stretch of Australia neither of us had visited before and one of our greatest adventures, especially the scarcely used Limmen Road leading through the equally named National Park. To me, this drive represented the Australia many of us imagine:
Rough as guts, hot, dusty and remote savannah with crocodiles luring in every creek (though we sadly didn’t see any salties), framed by eucalyptus forests. Something we enjoyed here more than anywhere else were the bizarre characters and their habits after having spend prolonged periods of time in this remoteness.
These were a few of the highlights that we came across:
A bull shaped post box where mail is loaded via its bum.
An hour long discussion in the center of a crossroad.
A lady that walks across Australia with a push buggy.
A road house name Hell’s Gate.
A man who spends his day fishing out the same fish and releasing them.
Grey Nomads that set up a month long survival camp that gets driven down at a top speed of 20Km/h (maybe that’s why they stay so long).
Another aspect of this road was its lack of famous attractions. A fact that completely changed the type of visitors driving here, particularly the missing tour buses was a welcome change. That didn’t mean we had nothing to enjoy.
We discovered abandoned townships, lakes teaming with life, relaxed at the beautiful Butterfly Springs and the unreal Leichardt falls. Not to mention the adventure of the drive itself where you can get a feel how it must have been like to be one of the early pioneers traversing through this rough landscape.
With only one fixable puncture we eventually made it unharmed to the other side of the Gibb. That wasn’t the end for us however. Traveling this way can become quite addictive. The more remote and the tougher, the better. Fuelled with the confidence we gathered from our previous trips, from this moment on we tried to avoid the main roads as much as possible. To me this was doubley exiting as we could reach places neither of us had been to before.
And so we decided on the Perry Creek road, a wonderful shortcut from Wyndham to Kununurra near the Northern Territory Border, bypassing the direct but monotonous highway. Though scenic, it was also a road that showed us some of the darker realities of Australian remoteness.
On a sandy stretch that was leading up to a (dried up, ha!) waterfall the inevitable happened. Without 4WD we hit a deep and soft spot and bogged the Van. Damn! While we did have some recovery gear, it nevertheless took a good few strenuous hours of digging in the dust and shifting the car inch by inch using nothing but a car jack, a shovel and a ratchet strap.
This was our last escapade, at least for a short while.
Litchfield
In a reasonable pace we made it to Katherine, the starting point of some more natural beauty. Here we took a cute little Tourist Drive cruising through the bush land towards one of my favorite national parks: Litchfield.
Here we also regrouped with Aurelie and Gael, visiting the gorgeous waterfalls, termite mounds and the Lost City, a "city" made of spectacular rock formations. It was also here where the Van had developed a new problem. The starter would randomly decide not to work anymore, requiring the occasional push. It wasn’t catastrophic but it did keep us on our toes having to always park on downhill slopes.
However, as magically as this issue started it also disappeared again once we reached Darwin.
