13/07
A very tiny part of the 1119km of the Great Central Road across Western Australia.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Barbecue in the wild
13/07
On the Great Central Road we had to improvise our first barbecues of our trip. The magical feeling to enjoy a meal we cooked with the few we found was simply speechless.
Our 5 senses are working. The silence is so strong that it becomes horribly loud. Landscapes are so monotonous that they become breathtaking. Sausages are so juicy and tasty that they become the best meal ever.
In the middle of no where, nobody can steal you this priceless moment. Delicious feeling of endlessly.
Charles
On the Great Central Road we had to improvise our first barbecues of our trip. The magical feeling to enjoy a meal we cooked with the few we found was simply speechless.
Our 5 senses are working. The silence is so strong that it becomes horribly loud. Landscapes are so monotonous that they become breathtaking. Sausages are so juicy and tasty that they become the best meal ever.
In the middle of no where, nobody can steal you this priceless moment. Delicious feeling of endlessly.
Charles
Aborigines villages
Over our drive on the Great Central Road, we had the opportunity to cross several towns in which aborigines represent roughly 80% of the population.
We have heard about the tragic reality of the aborigines peoples in Australian history but we, as foreigners, had never had the occasion to sight it, until recently.
The level of poverty we saw in those towns, especially in our first stop, Dock River, was truly beyond imagination for the persons who know the level of development in Australia.
We first were intrigued to see ironed gates around petrol pumps in stations. Actually it is to keep away some people who are addicted to sniff petrol. The supermarket was barricaded and looked more like a remote convenient store in China countryside than the fully automated Coles and Woolworth we used to in Australian cities.
People themselves were dirtier, lost, wandering in the streets with crossbreed dogs.
We get used to Australian remote villages since the start of our trip. Few people, everything close by 5pm.This was definitely up to another scale.
We didn't take pictures, first because it was not allowed, second as a respect toward those people. However we will let you have a look at this picture we took briefly leaving Dock River.
Charles
We have heard about the tragic reality of the aborigines peoples in Australian history but we, as foreigners, had never had the occasion to sight it, until recently.
The level of poverty we saw in those towns, especially in our first stop, Dock River, was truly beyond imagination for the persons who know the level of development in Australia.
We first were intrigued to see ironed gates around petrol pumps in stations. Actually it is to keep away some people who are addicted to sniff petrol. The supermarket was barricaded and looked more like a remote convenient store in China countryside than the fully automated Coles and Woolworth we used to in Australian cities.
People themselves were dirtier, lost, wandering in the streets with crossbreed dogs.
We get used to Australian remote villages since the start of our trip. Few people, everything close by 5pm.This was definitely up to another scale.
We didn't take pictures, first because it was not allowed, second as a respect toward those people. However we will let you have a look at this picture we took briefly leaving Dock River.
Charles
The Great Central Road
12/07 and 13/07
Here are on the Great Central Road. This mystical and quite unknown road which cross the Great Western Australia for 1119km from Dock River to Laverton.
Amazingly enough, we crossed quite a lot of vehicles (1 every 2 hours ?) all along the way. Fuel is well supplied every 220km on average amounting nonetheless 2.5aud/ liter (We noticed up to 2.6aud/L in Warakurna).
All along the way, we notice 117 tyres and 35 abandoned vehicles, among which an abandoned tow truck (with an a car on it ^^).
The drive lasted 2 days, we have the very deranging experience to sleep in Warburton which is a small aborigines city. We arrived around 6.30pm, everything was closed, including the petrol station, the roadhouse and the police station. There was a camping park, which was also closed. We had clearly no where to sleep. We hesitated to set up a camp on the parking area, fearing to commit an offence and upset the locals. I decided to go knocking on a house with light inside (which basically means there is at least one person in). The trick is that I just never found the entry door, but several iron gates with no ringer. Then I decided to ring the Police Station, no answer as well. I then rang another house next door in which I saw clearly the living room inside with full light (no iron gates or jail things...), again, nobody.
What was really frightening in this town was not the fact that we didn't meet anybody. We would have named it a ghost town. It was that some houses were lighted and we still found nobody. It looked more like a zombie town or a town in which something sudden and apocalyptic happened in the hour before we arrive.
We finally met a group a aborigines on the street and I asked where we could sleep. They indicated us the parking area behind the petrol station. We didn't dare to set up the camp, we just took our sleeping bags, laid down the front seats and watched a movie with Pierre's mac book. We saw "Safe", an excellent Statham movie. We then definitely fell asleep "safe".
Charles
Below, Pierre
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Ayers Rock
Ayers rock (also known as Uluru) is a sacred monument for
the aborigine people. The site is protected with a natural park which covers
from Uluru, Kata Tjuta (or the Olgas in English) which is another massive rock
43km away to the Western Australia s border. We will drive tomorrow to this
border to go on the Great Central Road, a sandy road which will cover most of
our way to Perth.
Above :
Uluru
Below :
Kata Tjuta
Charles
stars in sky
The Australian outback is well known to provide some of the
best spot to observe the sky overnight. Here is one of my numerous samples.
Charles
Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy is a mining city. As a tourist, particularity
for us is to sleep underground in rehabilitated hostels. The region offers also
gorgeous landscape, as you can see below.
Charles
Friday, July 6, 2012
Driving at night
It is well known that animals all go party on Australian roads at nightfall. This is why it is highly advised not driving during night time. Unless :
You drive a truck and you just blow up every single kind of life on your way on the road
You have a protection on the front of the car which can save your vehicle in case of collision, or at least lessen the damage.
Or you can install those simples and smart plastic whistles. Disposed on the front the car, they release ultrasounds from the wind when you drive. Those ultrasounds then scare kangaroos and other wombats, all of which get away from the road before you arrive. 10 bucks. Unlike 400 aud to buy and install the equipment to protect the front of your car. Definitely value for money. Unless we end up with a kangaroo in the front screen in the next couple of days J
Charles
The Great Australian Road Trip started today.
We had some fears about place in car, when Kasia and Karolina joined us. We figured out to pack everything inside. Experience in Tetris is a prerequisite.We wondered how to add tanks for petrol reserves when we will drive in the outback. We were looking for a rack in an Auto Barn in Geelong, on our way to The Great Ocean, so that we could put the tanks on the top of the car. Quick quote: 400aud. We quickly figured out that it was much more value for money to pay petrol twice in the outback. We finally invested in one simple 20l tank. Especially after reassuring words from the salesman who had a lot of experience at driving to Perth. The size was just enough to go in the back of the car. Perfect..
We could then chill out, watching the gorgeous Great Ocean Road landscape and enjoying the Ipod playlist with sweet music teaming up with our Tomtom sexy voice and speed alarm
We finally arrived just in time to observe the sunset.
Tomorrow we will go back for sunrise. Then we have a 7h30 trip to Adelaide.
Charles
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