June 22, 2002
06:08 AM dublin time
and then we reached darwin.
but before that there was a wee trip [between world cup soccer matches] down to see the rock and take the compulsory sunset photo. it was very pretty and all, i just hate being a photo snapping tourist cliche. though i guess it had to be done. especially as it was only a 2000km detour - that's only about twice round ireland.
and then i got my cast off. and was delighted to find my leg hadn't an apalling cast-shaped white untanned patch. i am now hobbling crutchless on my own two feet. what i hadn't realised was that it's going to be another while before i'm walking properly again - the orthopod reckoned about six weeks, so still no strenuous mountain climbing for cd.
with the cast off i've had five swimless weeks to make up for, so since leaving alice, what with being the furthest from the sea that i've probably ever been, we've been touring the local swimming holes and hot springs. and there've been some gorgeous spots such as the warm bitter springs at mataranka [gorgeous in the cooler early morning] and the piping douglas hot springs about 300km south of darwin [a bit hot, but very cleansing].
we've spent the last couple of days in litchfield national park dipping in and out of it's beautifully cool waterfall fed pools. it's the middle of winter here and the temperatures are at their annual coolest, but while the nights are chilly, it's still peaking at a sweaty 25C-30C around midday making daytime swimming a necessary luxury.
[link]June 12, 2002
06:54 AM dublin time
yesterday evening we arrived in alice springs. since i last checked in, circumstance, timing and the irish football team have contrived to rush us off our feet and deposit us in the remotest internet-less outposts, all meaning that i now have a helluva lot of catching up to do...
our day trip around the whitsunday islands was everyting i expected it to be, given that boats and broken legs don't really mix [and i'm not that big on boats either]. we went mainly so aonghus could get some [mediocre] snorkling in and to see the stunningly beautiful whitehaven beach and it's glorious bleached talcuum flour sands which was really worth the trip - cd-non-swimability aside.
the one requirement of our next port of call was that it was showing the first irish soccer match, and we just about managed to install ourselves in an irish bar in townsville in time to catch it - the victorious outcome of which had the unfortunate consequence of giving both us a severe case of football fever and scupperring any plan to visit places not showing the following matches.
this, combined with my indifference to visit all the interesting but awkward [if cast-wearing] places around [consisting mostly of islands] meant that we sped up the rest of the coast to the daintree rainforrest and cape tribulation in a roadside blur of sugarcane [the predominant northeast coast crop].
having ensured that a bar in cape trib was indeed playing the next irish match, we relaxed and enjoyed the place for a couple of days. we stayed one night in a bush camp in the national park, wittnessing the very biggest spider i've yet seen - definitely tarantular - and getting up in time for our last [and first] east coast dawn. aonghus also had an excursion out to the great barrier reef and we enjoyed a short botanical walk [crutch assisted hop] through the incredible jungle rainforrest. the daintree rainforrest has a reputation for being one of the last reamining pieces of pristine forrest of its kind and i was as wowed as all the leaflets said i'd be - the road twists through the tropical canopy so i could appreciate it without having to walk. in short i was well impressed.
there was also a croc-spotting trip somewhere in there that i forgot to mention. basically it consisted of getting in boat and spotting crocodiles. we saw three. they were crocodiles. it was fine but somehow lacking in excitement - it felt a bit staged somehow, guide pointing out croc, boatload of tourists taking distant obligatory photos. hrrrm....
anyway.
are you bored yet? i'm beginning to lose my thread here...
the next couple of stops were for the more fixed legged among us, so aonghus enjoyed some hot springs [innot hot springs] and a tubular cave tour at undarra [created my giant lava flows - not really my bag]. we had by this stage left the east coast for good and were entering outback queensland and what is known as matilda country. the change in scenery was dramatic and totally refreshing. enter a country of vast plains, straight endless trafficless roads, bleached savannah land and carrion surrounded roadkill. i had expected the roadkill - there are huge 'road trains' that sweep along these roads knocking flat any wildlife who unfortunately don't realising they're trespassing into human road-realm. i was anticipating the dead kangaroos, foxes and possums. what i wasn't expecting was the huge bloated corpses of [wild] pigs and [tame] cattle [sections of the road are unfenced and the livestock can wander dangerously onto it]. it is hard to imagine that even the force of a road train could plow down these bulky animals and i dreaded the thought of our puny vanette hitting one - it is more likely the cow or pig would survive. [note to parents: we drove very sensibly - always during daylight hours and never even had a near miss].
this was the australia i had imagined. long distances between petrol stations leading us to [unnecessarily] fill up our spare 10L fuel tank and water carrier, stock up on provisions, check the pressures on our two spare tires and fill up engine oil and water [i think we were being a bit over-dramatic]. there is so little traffic on the roads that on occasion it becomes a one-lane only affair, meaning that when you do meet opposing traffic, one's left tires are required to leave the paved surface to allow enough room to pass, though this happens so rarely and the roads are so straight that you can still travel perfectly safetly while going at quite a lick. we have made such good time since i last blogged that we have covered nearly 3,500kms - most of it in the past four days!
now, i'm sure i've left out loads - there was that stuff with the camel and donkey, and then aonghus' ankle - but i've had anough of this typing - maybe aonghus has mentioned them? in the meantime i'm off.
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