Taking an air touring holiday is one of the finest things you can do in Australia – what is below is more than you can imagine. The beauty of the Outback takes on a tapestry effect, with colours stitched together and nature’s textures rising and falling as applique on the desert’s soft blanket.
I took my seat with only 28 other travellers on the mighty little Dash 8 that was to be our transport for two weeks. I joined the group in Darwin and there was an air of excitement as the group discovered the Top End’s tropical city. They had already visited Queensland and had touched down in Longreach and enjoyed a splendid dinner in the Longreach Hall of Fame.
We chilled out together onboard the Streeter Pearl Lugger and sailed off into a brilliant sunset on Darwin Harbour – classic. A glass or two of bubbly, little snacks, some getting to know you chat and I knew I had found my tribe.
Departing Darwin the following morning we filed onto the aircraft and met the captain and crew. Thus began the beautiful experience of seeing the country from a different aspect and as the days went by, the difference in the group was obvious compared with a small group travelling at ground level. On the ground, viewing the world at eye level we get tired of hypnotic staring out of windows as the landscape rushes by. In the air, it’s slow motion and none of us is so jaundiced by travel that we aren’t constantly in a state of wonder at what we are seeing. Miles and miles of desert. But this trip is distinctly different from what many before us have been on. The colour is different.
In the past six months there has been more rain in the top end of Australia than there has been for years. What shows through from our great height is the red, red, red of the earth, but also swathes of green in graded shades; from soft mossy greens of the saltbush, to the bright hard green of the grasses and dark, sea-at-night green of the tops of trees, it has changed the identity of the landscape.
After we arrived in Kununurra (population just over 5000), one of Australia’s newest and remotest towns – 855km from the closest town of Darwin, we were swept up and taken on a journey along the Ord River through vivid scenery of the Kimberley region. This was a fabulous day – because of the amount of rain that had crashed in the region we had to forgo the usual picnic spot on the edge of the river. As we had seen many freshwater crocs sunning themselves along the banks we were curious to know just where we would be having lunch.
We moored at the river’s edge and found a comfy picnic spot and were invited to eat fresh salads, cold meats, cheese plates and many tasty accompaniments. Cool drinks, wine, beer and the soft sort were sipped
and everyone relaxed into the day – with the odd turning of heads to check if anything was moving near the water’s edge . . .
After the cruise we walked the grounds of historic Argyle Homestead, home of the pioneering Durack family. (The story of the Durack’s legendary cattle drive through unknown and unmapped territory is told in Mary Durack’s book Kings in Grass Castles.)
On the plane again and our hostess with the mostest Michelle looked after us as we were peering into the vapour, with coffee, tea and sweet treats. We drew closer to the coast and the sand from the long, long beaches north and south of Broome looked like a bark painting as the variegated lines and soft circles in the bush met up with snaking inlets – a perfect Aboriginal dot painting – in the raw and seen from the clouds.
Lake Argyle is the largest man-made lake in Australia and it goes on forever. We floated over the Bungle Bungles – domed spirals of ancient rock that are the colour of the precious Argyle diamonds that have been taken from the scarred hillsides nearby. What would usually appear as pink and red countryside was now pink, red and lots of green dotted over the walls of rock with tufts of fresh grass sprouting from the rough, jagged cliffs.
Ah, Broome, you little beauty of a pearling town.
We stayed at classy Cable Beach Club Resort for two days and enjoyed the luxury and facilities of this fine establishment. Beautiful restaurants, stylish rooms and an excellent spa – they give great pedicure!
Strolling around town, you’d be surprised at the small and attractive array of boutique shops selling clothes, and there’s an excellent shoe shop, ‘Bob’s Shoes’, if you want to stock up on good walking shoes or casual sandals.
And of course there are pearl shops – the best pearls are sold out of Broome. At dinner some of my female travelling companions were wearing recently purchased fine necklaces and earrings. Our last evening was at the bar overlooking Cable Beach. While most of us gathered to enjoy farewell drinks bathed in the soft orange light of the famed sunset, one of the women from the group, in fact the oldest there at 72, was seen silhouetted in the sunset riding a camel. Anything is possible...
Next was the flight across the endless Gibson Desert viewing amazing salt lake formations – many blurred at the edges by recent rain. On each leg of the flight we rotated so we all got to see out the windows and our tour guide Melinda gave us an informed and interesting commentary so we knew what exactly was going on down there!
Everyone in the plane was excited as we approached Uluru (Ayers Rock); our captain announced that he would be flying in a figure eight formation so we could all see the mighty monolith up close. And what a sight. That big red rock never fails to leave you speechless – not that there wasn’t a lot of oohing and aahing. We landed and once again felt the privilege of travelling by private plane – we had our own section of the airport – as it should be.
Quite cool when we arrived and after a brief walk around the Cultural Centre and snapping up a couple of beautiful paintings our group checked into Sails in the Desert to freshen up and rug up for a special night under a starry, starry sky.
The Sounds of Silence dinner is an award-winning event that is world famous. We meet with other travellers from all over the globe, and we sip bubbly and look forward to Uluru, then behind us to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). As the sun sinks the many colours of the rocks and the desert swim around us and remind us just how small we are in this awe-inspiring part of the world.
As night falls we make our way to tables and chairs set up on the desert floor. A bonfire is at the back of our table, so we are quite cosy. Gas heaters warm the backs of the guests too. Three courses later and an astronomer tells us to dim the candles and he takes us off into space to introduce the stars and planets in their heavenly abode.
An early start next morning for a walk among the domes of Kata Tjuta; the circumference of these formations is more than 22km. Kata Tjuta is welcoming to guests who can explore some of the area. But there is much kept out of visitors’ way as it has great significance as a sacred area for the local Indigenous clans.
The area leaves us thoughtful and appreciative of the privilege of experiencing Yulara precinct and all it contains.
About to embark for the trip to Alice, at the airport we all proudly talk about ‘our plane’. It’s taken on a personality and we are very protective and territorial of our Dash! Back on board and on to a town like Alice.
We check out the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the Australians proudly introduce our foreign fellow travellers to this benevolent service. A few purchases, some generous donations and we are off to Standley Chasm for a 20-minute walk into the gorge. Lunch at the historic Telegraph Station gives us the opportunity to meet Alec Ross, who had been moved to the station as a three-year old when it was the ‘Bungalow’ from 1933-1942, housing stolen generation children.
Alec’s happy memories of the place and amusing anecdotes make for an afternoon that we wished could carry on for hours.
We learned that it was here that the greatest engineering achievement of the 19th century occurred – a single wire was first connected from Adelaide to the rest of Australia, then from Darwin to England – connected to the other side of the world in 1873 – take that mobile phone devotees!
Setting off from Alice on our last day was a little sad – but it’s not over til it’s over.
The first stop in NSW was the famous town of Birdsville – a quaint, legendary place that is all about the Birdsville Hotel and all that happens there. Annually occurring, the big noise of the Birdsville Races when hundreds of people drive, ride or fly their planes into town. It’s one of the great Aussie traditions. The day we turned up, not even a dog was taking itself for a walk through the main street, and Australia’s most remote Outback pub was as genteel as any you could find.
We had a tour of the Birdsville Working Museum which houses a marvellous collection of collectibles and perhaps ‘why have we keptables’ – stuff that has been invented as a makeshift tool or kitchen implement – I especially liked the electric beaters in a cake bowl that were two old-fashioned hand beaters connected to electricity. When you live in the Outback initiative combines with creativity to produce tools of trade. The walls are covered in rust-edged retro signs: Mobil Oil; Pepsi; Bourneville Cocoa!
We had a scrumptious hot buffet lunch and walked slowly across the oval back to the landing strip.
Then, it was as if we entered another dimension – we were flying into Sydney. We could see the lights from a million windows, and the sky a bright haze of soft colour with not a star to be spotted – so different from the night sky we were used to – millions of twinkling stars drawn across the crowded sky looking down on a quiet and ancient desert. Much like we as a group had done as we looked out our windows of the Dash 8. •
Bev Malzard travelled courtesy of Bill Peach Journeys/Aircruising Australia.
Visit: www.billpeachjourneys.com.au
Top
|