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Travelogues
Journey to the Centre
- Cosmic Colours (4)ourney
to the Su's
Travels
Going South - The
Car Story (3)
Oz Update - Gorged Out
(2)
NEW
The Land of the Unexpected
- PNG (Update 5)
3rd October, 2000
Hello to everyone. Great
hearing from you all. Sorry if this email is a little
off, I'm really spaced out, I just returned from PNG and have
not yet found my feet. I'm going to try now to make some sense
of my trip both for you people who read this email and for my
own recollections.
PARADISE - That's PNG's other name. It's funny that some people
call it paradise and other people call it hell. I reckon
it's one of the world's best kept secrets. Go into any
travel agents, ask them to read you the foreign office's report
on the country, "dangerous, muggings, murders etc.,"
You name it they have it. So do most other countries and
that's why I decided to go, but deep inside I was still really
nervous, up until the last minute I still wasn't sure if I was
doing the right thing. I was also strongly warned not
to go it alone - "take tours" I was told. I'm
glad my budget didn't allow for this, other wise I would have
followed the advise and this would have allowed no room for
any adventure and there were many.
I landed in Mount Hagen and had
previously arranged to stay with a family who run the airport
Motel. Lovely people extremely well educated and very
helpful, I immediately felt very at home. It's was several days
before the Cultural Show, I wasn't sure why I had arrived so
early, maybe to get aclimatised. I had forgotten what's it's
like to be in a 3rd world country - I always do. The cultural
show was absolutely amazing. Watching the sing-sing groups
enter into the field was incredible.
Sound - Drumming, humming, hissing and singing. Colour - reds,
yellows, blacks and whites, intricate face paint, cowry shells,
beads, leaves, grass skirts. Head dresses made out of human
hair, flowers and thousands of dead birds, lots of birds of
paradise, it's hard not to approve, they've been doing it for
centuries. Smell - thick with the smell of oil, bodies doused
in cooking oil, it used to be pig's fat, now cooking oil is
easier. Mixed with a body odor, it's a strange dusky smell
not at all bad, just thick and rich. Funnily enough I could
smell it as I looked at my photographs. The show went on all
day - it was a photographers paradise. Although I got
my best photographs the following day when I watched them dressing
and making up and I was less excited.
At the show I met another English
woman - Vik and we spent the next few weeks travelling together
and also gathering other lone travelers. After the show I met
a Spanish family of 3, mother, father and their son, who was
the only one who spoke English. We all wanted to go an
area in the Southern Highlands, at first we looked at the tour
prices. Too expensive we thought, had I have known what
was to follow I would have gladly have paid the price. I run
into a man who said he had been a tour guide for the region
"Tari" he was in fact from the area. He said
he used to be a driver and a tour guide for one of the larger
companies. We all agreed on a price and set about making
arrangements. All flights to the area were fully booked
so we decided to rent a car, too easy - this took all morning
and most of the afternoon! It took 4 hours to get half
way - not even that far. The roads were bad and it was
raining, so we spent the night in the town. I cut a great
deal with the Ozi hotel manger and we all spent the night in
style. The next day we set off along one of the worst roads
in PNG both for construction and hold up records. None
of us realised how bad it would be, in all my travelling days
I've never seen a road like it and it went on for 5 hours!
With about 2 hours being in danger of being held up! We
were all shaken by the time we arrived.
When reaching the destination the
guide asked us what we wanted to see! "Don't you know"
I asked. I began quickly to get the picture. Everything
he suggested had to be laid on, everything was Kina here and
there and becoming expensive. It was mayhem.
We stayed in the village and people started to arrive, a bow
and arrow fight, a sing sing, somebody lighting a fire, killing
a pig for a traditional moo moo. It was craziness and
to top it all pissing with rain. We were up to our ankles
in mud which becomes slick like ice and impossible to walk on.
The night was even worse with the Spanish family complaining
about the smoke from the hut we were sleeping in. The
hut was also very tiny and when the fire went out freezing.
I awoke at 6 o'clock a.m. and the guide started asking for money
and the family wanting to fly back to Hagen. I wasn't
about to drive back with the guide on my own. More craziness,
until we all decided to drive back that afternoon. We
were also worried about the car falling to pieces, which it
started to do the following day.
We reached our secure hotel that
night and got even a better deal, one night of sanity! That
night the guide told me he ripped us off for the accommodation
money paid to stay in the village. He told me this while
telling me how he admired my negotiating skills and intelligence.
I managed to hold my tongue, I wanted to get back to Mt. Hagen
in one piece and he was the driver. On the last leg of the journey
the car proceeded to fall to pieces, first the battery, then
the head light and the bumper. Looking back on it I see
the humorous side. I was there with a shoe lace and a
swiss army knife tying on the light and the bumper - which kept
falling off every few yards. Then off course we had a flat.
By the time we got the car back to the hire shop we were all
sure it would cost an arm and a leg. The charges started to
amass, I turned to the guide and said, "You said you would
handle this, now do it". Of course he suddenly declined
all responsibility and I erupted. I yelled at him, with
all the pent up fury of the last few days, nightmare.
I proudly managed to make sense. Outside the office he
had the gall to ask me for more money. The joys of traveling,
still it makes a good story. The next day I decided to leave
immediately, I wanted to catch the "Mask Show" in
a town called Madang, I was also meeting Vik there. I
arrived at the airport and was told it was full up. I
kept saying there must be something they could do, I wouldn't
take no for an answer. There was something they could
do - rip me off for K200 and all with a smile. To top
it all they asked for money for excess luggage as well.
I had no more money, I got on the plane with K6 and this is
how I arrived. Still it all worked out and I stayed with
the woman from the tourist board. A few days later I went
into the airline office to sort out the flight rip off.
It took about a week to get my money and apparently the guys
got fired. After days of lounging around, the ship to Wewak
finally arrived by this time there was three of us, Andy an
English guy. We met another one on the ship Simon, I got along
with him really well, everyone thought we were about to have
an affair, (sorry Marcus), the reality was we were just good
friends, neither of us being interested in anything else. We
had paid for first class tickets on the boat, this was to insure
we got a sleeping bunk, of course others had managed to sneak
on and take all the beds, with a lot of running around I managed
to reclaim 3 bunks for us. My trip sounds awful, I seem to be
remembering all the bad things but the reality was far from
bad. In Wewak we organised a trip to the Sepik and met our last
travelling companion, a tall American, called "big fellow",
I always called him "big boy".
We spent the first night on a PMV,
local transport and not at all comfortable, it stopped in a
village in the middle of nowhere, for a sleep. Us whiteys
were taken in by the local school teacher to sleep on his floor. The
next morning we arrived early at the river, our boat man met
us and off we went. We were based in a village that boasts
the biggest house Tamboran "spirit house". The
first time I saw one I was overwhelmed by the impressive sight,
by the end of the trip, sadly they became no more then a place
in
which to sell carvings. The villages generally were very
impressive, clean with beautiful gardens. The river was
huge and extremely hot and full of mossies, great for swimming
and trying to learn to paddle a canoe. One of the more impressive
side trips was going up to the lakes. Around every corner
great white, black and brown birds flew away as they heard the
sound of our engine, I don't know the names of these birds but
they were lovely to see. It was a good trip and sad to leave.
It took us ages to get back, we had engine trouble and every
few minutes the boat stopped, at these times it became unbearably
hot and we all thought we might have to spend the night
bobbing around on the water. We finally returned and in the
next few days our little group had all split up. Vik and
Andy returned to Madang, the big boy went straight to Goroka
and Simon and I went to a wonderful Island. It was one
of my favorites, the
water was clean, no electricity, peaceful and lovely people.
It wasn't long
enough, I was going to New Britain and Simon to Goroka. In New
Britain I stayed in a place run by a wakey Australian and was
likened to "Faulty Towers". I saw a rather interesting
Independence Day show, the most interesting being the "Dukuks",
spirit dancers. Covered with leaves and pointed black
heads, I really enjoyed these guys. Sadly I was unable
to see the fire dancers, they were not performing. The
most interesting thing about New Britain, is the volcano spewing
up it's belly and belching big clouds of smoke, it reminded
me of the pictures I had seen of the atom bomb.
I wasn't sure why I was on this Island and had decided to got
to New Ireland. One day I went to the golf club for something
to do and met a man who offered me a photography job on New
Ireland. The next day I was being flown out and put up
in the best hotel. I was to photograph a lot of very boring
property, owned by the Provincial Government. In between this
I went to another festival on a smaller Island - New
Hanover. I met some really wonderful people, on both Islands.
All in all it
was a very interesting trip. I haven't been paid for my work
yet, but was just talking to the expat who hired me and he assured
me the money was to follow. I won't send the film until
I receive payment.
Well sorry this story is a little long, I hope not boring.
I had I really wonderful time and the people of PNG are really
wonderful. Dark faces with huge friendly smiles and welcomes.
Journey
to the Centre
- The Red Centre - Update No:4
Cosmic Colors.
The journey to Alice was wondrous, more desert flowers in bloom,
and just
full of wondrous colors and shapes. I felt like I was
so happy and
privileged to be able to do this journey alone and just to be
able to see
the world in all it's glory. I hope one day you'll all
get to see some of
the photos and of course I hope they manage to capture the true
intensity of
what I was feeling.
In Alice I decided to take a few
tours, the first was a short tour with an
Aboriginal based company, explaining about their culture and
giving us a
glimpse of a traditional dance. The dance was short, but
all they would
allow us to see. I really enjoyed this tour and got to
try some bush
tucker, including witchetty grubs and Kangaroo tail.
Another tour was to the Simpson
Desert, I was unable to get there alone as I
would have needed a four wheel drive. The splendour of
the desert was once
again amazing, in the morning we arrive at a waterhole, so still
the image
reflected in it was like glass. Apparently some
of these waterholes never
fill up, but this year due to the amount of rain, all the desert
was alive with
water and of course flowers, which never appeared at all last
year. The
other beautiful thing I remembered about this trip was the sky
turning green
with flocks of budgerigars. I could go on forever, but
I don't won't to
bore you all. The next day I went on a balloon flight,
something I had
always wanted to experience. We watched the sunrise over
the MacDonnell
Ranges, the actually experience of the balloon was more exciting
than the
views, but I loved the ride and the silence of being high up
in the sky. We
got up to 2,300 feet. Then we had a champagne breakfast,
unfortunately I
couldn't drink too much, because that day I had to start driving.
Time was
catching up with me and I had a long way to go.
I finally left Alice Springs heading
for some more beautiful spots, The
Mcdonnell Ranges. Red rock, blue sky and gorges.
Going into one of the
areas I hesitated and wondered whether my car would make it,
I wasn't sure
if I needed a 4WD. Just as I was about to head off down
the track, when the
big brother to my van came along, a Toyota Hiace. A guy
stopped and asked
me if I was okay, I told him about my quandary and he offered
me a lift to
the gorge. This was the start of a great friendship.
We decided to drive 200 k's on a dirt road to get to Kings Canyon.
I had
asked the department of transport and they said the road should
be fine for
a 2WD. We set off in the morning driving in tandem, me
in front of him
following. The first part of the road was so bad, I thought
it was
dangerous, so at the next turning I decided to get back to the
proper road.
We were still on another dirt road, but this time it wasn't
so bad. Chris
caught up with me and said he was going to continue on the dirt
road as it
was much shorter. I weighed up the options and decided
to take the dirt
road with him. It was a real bumpy ride but not as dangerous
as the first
bit of the road. We arrived at Kings Canyon, with a real
sense of
achievement. I was so happy until I looked in the back
of my van -
everything was covered in a layer of red sand - including my
body. It was
such a mess. I would highly recommend anybody who considers
a journey like
this, to hermetically seal themselves and all their belongs
in a layer of
plastic!
Kings Canyon was stunning, we got
up before sun rise thinking we would take
a little walk to get a nice view of the sun. We ended
up walking 7 k's and
all before breakfast, the walk followed the upper rim of the
canyon. Still
it made the breakfast taste great. From here we went to Ayers
Rock and the Olgas. Another amazing site, one huge piece
of rock sticking out of the ground.
It was rather sad to leave Chris as he had become a great companion,
but by
this time I was desperate to get back home. I am also leaving
on the 16th to go to PNG. I started the drive home thinking
I could do it easily in 4 days, I think the whole drive was
3-4000 k's. The last day I thought would be the shortest,
but turned out to be the longest. I drove for 14 - 15
hours, some 700 -800 k's. It was manic, but I was just determined
to get home that night, and safely without running over any
Kangaroos.
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GOING
SOUTH - The Car Story (Update 3) 12th August, 2000
Hello to everyone. Once again thanks to
all those who have replied
positively to these updates. I know they are a bit self
indulgent but I'm
also using them for a diary.
I just arrived back from the Kimberleys feeling really good,
confident and
happy to be on the road again. Going against my true feeling
of wanting to
travel alone, I decided to take a traveling companion.
We left early Sunday morning for Kakadu National
Park. I was really regretting the fact that I'd offered
him a lift, he was a nice enough person, but so dreadfully boring,
not much spunk! Listening to the music trying to make
polite conversation, I
suddenly smelled burning, I turned off the music and to my horror
I could hear
this awful hissing sound coming out of the engine. What
a nightmare, I got
the XXXXXXXX a lift to Kakadu and sat at my table drinking wine,
dancing
in the road, waiting for the RACQ to come and tow me.
By the time I got back
to Darwin the wine had worn off and the blues set in. "How
stupid, what had I done!", basically baked the gasket.
Loads of bucks and a few tears later, I'm on the road again,
(that's a song ain't it?) Surely nothing else can go wrong
with the beast. I stopped at a service station to fill
up with petrol, the car won't start, this time I'm being to
find it amusing. The car doesn't want to leave Darwin.
This was Saturday.
Monday, I had a new starter motor put in, meanwhile,
however, I still managed to get to a Rodeo and yet another beautiful
gorge - Katherine Gorge. This time nothing else can possibly
go wrong, until of course I reached the next town. The
gears start to slip, this time to my great relief it's only
minor things, a few washers and a bit of welding, all will be
fixed without too much of a drama - I hope. So all those
of you out there who are reading this, pray that I never have
to see another car doctor.
Just a little bit about the weather and the
scenery. When I left Darwin it
was about 30 - 32 degrees and beautifully hot. Heading
down towards the
desert it becomes so cold at night it freezes, quite a shock
to the system.
The scenery however, is absolutely beautiful. Lots of
people on the road
describe it as "Boring, nothing to see". I'm
finding it incredible, a vast
landscape of colour and especially now the desert is in bloom
- aren't I
lucky. Imagine this, patches of yellow, red, purple, bluish,
green,
interspersed with white, light and dark green grasses, all set
against a red
earth and a blue sky. When I wear my polarizing glasses,
it becomes almost
psychedelic.
The landscape is constantly changing, in clumps
of different growth. Then
just to throw in a bit of movement, Kites are continually circling
in the
sky and for real excitement some Wedge Tail Eagles and splashes
of colour
from the parrots. So how does that sound pretty groovy
eh? It takes me
forever to get anywhere I'm always stopping to take pics. One
of the more amazing places I stopped at was called "Devils
Marbles". A large collection of huge red boulders, some
round in shape and perched one on top of the other, and lucky
old me got there for sunset.
In between the landscape are the occasional
red neck towns, in fact
these towns are often just a gas station and a general store,
with a group of old
Aboriginals hanging around, passing the time. Even this
I find fascinating,
and every now and again I pluck up the courage to ask them if
I can snap
them. I'm hoping I've some good portraits out of it.
I'm definitely becoming addicted to this lifestyle,
I have everything I could need right there in my van.
I truly feel like the gypsy I've always been. That's it for
now.
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| GORGED
OUT - Update No:2
I hope you are all well and enjoying life -
I know I am. So
here's my little story.
FROM THE LAND OF
BOAB TREES.
When I finally reached Darwin, my little blue beauty of a van
needed internal surgery, I think it was more expensive than
a face lift! The master brake cylinder was fixed in Brisbane,
in Darwin it needed a new or nearly new engine, clutch and radiator.
While the little thing was sick, I was off gallivanting.
I borrowed the woman's car with whom I was staying and went
off visiting some national parks.
The first of these parks is called Litchfield,
a small, very accessible place
but very beautiful, huge waterfalls, plunge pools for a swim,
lots of
different birds and it was here that I saw my first Goanna,
it must have been a
couple of meters long. Sniffing around the empty BBQ pits
for scraps,
lovely creature. I really enjoyed this place and walked
around as many of
the falls as I could.
Nearby, well nearby in Ozy terms, a couple of
hundred ks, was a hot spring,
lovely and quiet free camping. I was going to stay another
night but was
thrown out because of some killer bacteria, lurking in the hot
water. I
reluctantly, moved on to the next caravan park only to my joy,
to find a
beautiful river resort. The highlight being jumping into
the small rapid at
one end and being carried down the river by the current.
Like a child I
kept running back for more.
The following day I went for a bit of wild life
education, at the Wildlife
Park. Sounded like a zoo to me. I couldn't have
been more wrong, some
caged animals but huge areas of rainforest, swamp land and wild
animals and
birds. A great place.
On my return to Darwin I answered an ad.
This guy was looking for people to
join him in his 4WD to go to a remote area in Western Australia
- The
Kimberleys. "We're leaving in a few hours and I have one
place in my car" My world was shattered, I thought
I was going to get a couple of days rest in Darwin, but this
was too good to miss. When I met the guys, I wasn't so sure
I was doing the right thing. Still we all left the following
day and things worked out fine, mainly due to Brice's calm nature.
The area we visited was absolutely stunning,
lots of water falls, beautiful
red rocks, gorges galore. Of course we had to walk to
all of them, some
were only a few ks, most a lot more. I realised I hate
stepping stones and
slippery streams, especially when I have my camera on my back.
Of course
the distance we had to drive between the different spots was
always a lot
and a 4WD essential. Roads run into rivers and huge ruts.
I also saw my first fresh water crocs, freshy's as the Oz's
say and I've seen loads of them. I've exposed 27 rolls of film
and I hope they turn out as beautiful as it looked to me.
I'm off on the road tomorrow, going south in my own vehicle.
I've agreed to take a French guy and maybe two girls.
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