Uluru - one very big stone!
Now I like to think of myself as a fairly open minded type, without prejudice and ill will to my fellow man, in fact I'd say that xenophobia is one of only two things I really dislike in the world. The second of those two things is the Germans! Sorry, but not only were they on the wrong side in two world wars but they send me the car mate from hell to drive the couple of thousand km from Darwin to Uluru (Ayers Rock).
OK perhaps that isn't entirely fair, on first meeting Marten he seemed like a nice (though in hindsight a tad eccentric) 26 year old german lad, working as a marine ecologist in Darwin, he had a perfectly normal australian girlfriend and was heading home as his visa was due to expire. However, a couple of hundred miles into the trip south he started admitting things!!!
Now most of his oddities weren't that bad but together,,, for gods sake, a man can only take so much. The lad believed in voodoo, constantly stood in yoga poses and wouldn't eat any processed food (bar the occasional Mrs Mac's pie - that made him ill) I mean, really!
Anyway, on with the show. Tomorrow I'm heading east towards Cairns with a couple of Irish girls (Trish and Aghna) who'll hopefully prove an improvement on Marten so watch this space.
The trip down from Darwin was actually really good. I stopped of for a swim in some thermal pools where we saw literally thousands of rainbow fish and several turtles then on to Daly Waters for a v. amusing drunken night in a crowded pub miles form anywhere - dread to think of the carnage on the roads after closing - and finally the Devils Marbles at sun set (more odd shaped rocks - they have a lot of them out here!) just north of Alice.
From Alice it was on to Uluru (Ayers Rock). You can see why the Aboriginals hold Uluru as a sacred place, it really is an amazing piece of rock - with this knowledge, if I was to respect the Aboriginal owners I wouldn't have climbed it. However as I'd helped out a family of Aboriginals that had broken down the day before I figured my karma - as Australians seem to go on about a lot - would even things out so up I climbed and what a view from the top!
We also visited the Olgas (more very impressive big rocks) and Kings Canyon (beautiful gap in rock) and some meteorite craters (holes made by falling rocks) on the trip back to Alice and that's where you now find me.
Only other big news is that the Northern Territory police clearly either don't like me or they don't like Brucetta. Having managed to drive for the last 10 years in England without so much as a second glance from the old bill I've been in the NT for under two weeks and I've already been stopped three times. Yes, three times!
Apparently both my front and rear bumpers wobble dangerously, the rear light has a crack in it (some swine bumped me while I was away jumping off some rocks), I produce far too much smoke and I didn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign in Kakadu. Seeing as I was stopped anyway I also passed a breath test and was advised to not take Brucetta along dirt roads - too late, she's already a past master of corrugated surfaces!
So, to the East coast and surfing in the Pacific Ocean. Fingers crossed that the Queensland police are a little less keen and Brucetta makes it through without further incident.
Until the next time,
Jonathan.
Elkes Backpackers
Alice Springs
NT
Oz.
OK perhaps that isn't entirely fair, on first meeting Marten he seemed like a nice (though in hindsight a tad eccentric) 26 year old german lad, working as a marine ecologist in Darwin, he had a perfectly normal australian girlfriend and was heading home as his visa was due to expire. However, a couple of hundred miles into the trip south he started admitting things!!!
Now most of his oddities weren't that bad but together,,, for gods sake, a man can only take so much. The lad believed in voodoo, constantly stood in yoga poses and wouldn't eat any processed food (bar the occasional Mrs Mac's pie - that made him ill) I mean, really!
Anyway, on with the show. Tomorrow I'm heading east towards Cairns with a couple of Irish girls (Trish and Aghna) who'll hopefully prove an improvement on Marten so watch this space.
The trip down from Darwin was actually really good. I stopped of for a swim in some thermal pools where we saw literally thousands of rainbow fish and several turtles then on to Daly Waters for a v. amusing drunken night in a crowded pub miles form anywhere - dread to think of the carnage on the roads after closing - and finally the Devils Marbles at sun set (more odd shaped rocks - they have a lot of them out here!) just north of Alice.
From Alice it was on to Uluru (Ayers Rock). You can see why the Aboriginals hold Uluru as a sacred place, it really is an amazing piece of rock - with this knowledge, if I was to respect the Aboriginal owners I wouldn't have climbed it. However as I'd helped out a family of Aboriginals that had broken down the day before I figured my karma - as Australians seem to go on about a lot - would even things out so up I climbed and what a view from the top!
We also visited the Olgas (more very impressive big rocks) and Kings Canyon (beautiful gap in rock) and some meteorite craters (holes made by falling rocks) on the trip back to Alice and that's where you now find me.
Only other big news is that the Northern Territory police clearly either don't like me or they don't like Brucetta. Having managed to drive for the last 10 years in England without so much as a second glance from the old bill I've been in the NT for under two weeks and I've already been stopped three times. Yes, three times!
Apparently both my front and rear bumpers wobble dangerously, the rear light has a crack in it (some swine bumped me while I was away jumping off some rocks), I produce far too much smoke and I didn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign in Kakadu. Seeing as I was stopped anyway I also passed a breath test and was advised to not take Brucetta along dirt roads - too late, she's already a past master of corrugated surfaces!
So, to the East coast and surfing in the Pacific Ocean. Fingers crossed that the Queensland police are a little less keen and Brucetta makes it through without further incident.
Until the next time,
Jonathan.
Elkes Backpackers
Alice Springs
NT
Oz.
posted by JP at 4:08 am
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