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Entry # 7
Mon – 6/19/06 - 8:13pm (Sitting at PJ O'Briens for dinner with a steak and walnut salad, side of chips (fries), and a pint of Newcastle)
So last Monday night I had the tv on while sitting at the computer and scrubbing (backing up and removing files from) my hard-drives getting ready for the rest of my travels. At about 9:45 I was floored to find girls showering on whatever channel was acting as the background entertainment. Having caught my attention, I paused from my work for a few minutes to figure out what kind of wonderful smut this could be on public television. Low and behold, it was Big Brother... Adults Only, a weekly feature. This is where my disappointment settled... I've been in Australia for 4 months and no one's filled me in on this?!?! Nude girls showering on public television (have I said that already?)! But girls, not to fret, you're catered to as well with the male nudity... now that kind of business is rarely even shown on Skinamax at 3am in the US. Goes to show how while in the US sex is sold through the current music industry's rap and the like, as a country, we're still a bit uptight in comparison to others.
But anyway... I was excited to watch less tv while here in Australia and I've done just that, partly since I only have five channels, one of which predominately broadcasts foreign films masked by the fuzz of the station. I keep my programs to really only Scrubbs on Monday nights... but NOW, I've got two shows! ; ) It's too bad I'm also down to only two weeks left. I find it interesting though, most Aussies don't have cable and are happy with the five public broadcast stations... imagine that, there's more to life than than television! ; ) (I'm not gonna lie though, I'm looking forward to getting home to kill some brain cells with a healthy dose of MTV, Comedy Central, and HBO.)
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And onto my last trip... to Alice Springs and the surrounding Outback...
Kata Tjuta / the Olgas - while these may look small here, they're HUGE!!!
Last weekend I packed up and headed up to Alice Springs in central Australia. A VERY isolated town; Alice stands as one of the few stopping points between the north and south coasts of Australia. It's got a very small population, many of which are Aborigines who drink (alcohol) all day long and sleep in the dry Todd River. They say if you've seen the Todd flood twice in your lifetime then you're a local. This time of year it's just over freezing in the mornings and then warms up to around 50-60 degrees F during the day. Without water nearby, the sky remains fairly clear. Without clouds, the heat quickly escapes once the sun goes down.
I only spent a few hours in Alice itself where I attended an Aboriginal dinner and show my first night there. It was a nice buffet outside where a few Aboriginal hosts introduced us to Aboriginal tools, weapons, and dances. What was the most shocking was the so-called 'judicial' system in Aboriginal communities. Let's just say they don't mess around and leave it at that (imagine a surprise axe in the head)... a very eye-for-an-eye culture.
And without detailing each step of the way... I must say that my expectations were COMPLETELY surpassed! I had heard many good things about Alice, the McDonnell Ranges, Uluru (Ayer's Rock), and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. The McDonnell Ranges stand both to the East and West of Alice and hold a number of gorges, valleys, and waterholes. The red colors of the sand and rock were magnificent and looked especially incredible reflected in the minimal amount of water that existed in these dry months. My hope was to visit King's Canyon but due to a lack of time (and money - only 650 km were included with the rental truck and I think I drove around 1400), I decided to cut it out. Instead I headed down to Uluru (SW of Alice by about 4 hours), and stopped at Rainbow Valley along the way. Rainbow Valley presented a dried up lake which was beautifully tiled with a cracked lake floor that made for a nice foreground for photos. Down the path I met a park ranger who filled myself and 2 other travelers in on the cultural significance of the grounds and explained how specific rocks/mountains belonged to either the men or women of the Aboriginal community and the opposite sex was not permitted in those areas. After a few hours at the valley I had to leave and continue on to Uluru if I was to catch sunset there. Pressed for time I knew I had to average a good 140 km/h to make it there on time. Needless to say getting a flat tire when pulling in for gas didn't help the situation. Thanks to Warren for the tire-changing lesson 10 years ago, I changed it like a NASCAR pit crew, and was back on the road within 10 minutes. The mad dash continued without hindrance, except for the occasional 'road-train' which added a strong gust of wind and shook things up a bit (road-trains are 18-wheelers/tractor-trailers/whatever you want to call them, with 3-4 trailers on the back - they're monstrous and as you can imagine will stir up a big wind at the equivalent of 80-100 mph).
Ormiston Gorge entrance to Palm Valley Rainbow Valley
I eventually made it to Uluru just before sunset and joined the masses of people already there and waiting. Uluru is the world's biggest monolith at 3.6 km long and 348 meters tall (although they say most of the rock is actually under the ground!). It's truly amazing because until you get very close to the rock, it appears to be semi-unique and cool 'mountain', but once you really get close, you realize that it IS just a big rock! And the face of it holds so much unbelievable character that's been formed over the years of clashing with nature. Photographically, Uluru is known for it's myriad of colors, depending on the time of day. Especially during sunrise and sunset, the rock quickly changes through a range of browns, reds, and oranges... and many shades in-between. Religiously, it possesses a deep significance for the Aboriginal peoples. Several tribes over the years have called this incredible rock home and a religious salvation. In many of the several cracks and crevices in the rock, the tribes seek shelter and pray to the land. These certain sections of the rock are 'protected' by the gov't and park services and prohibits people from even photographing these sections out of respect for the native people. A supposed AU$10,000 fine will certainly dissuade most!!!
Climbing the rock is an adventure for many who come through, and as you can imagine, takes up a good part of the day. The first 200 ft or so is a free-climb/walk/run and then for the remainder of the climb up, the gov't installed stakes and cable to aid climbers by providing something to hold on to. I only ran up the first 100 ft or so to get an idea as to how steep it is and how quickly you get to an uncomfortable height, but from what others said, it gets VERY cold as you climb higher. Given it was winter, and the wind was quite strong, and without any sort of wind-blockage, I can imagine the climb gets progressively more difficult. Since there is no safety harnesses or anything else of the like, there have been many injuries and deaths over the years, and the climb is at each person's own risk. ...On another note, climbing the rock is also considered insulting to the Aboriginal people... but unlike the photography, the gov't has not removed the cable, or prohibited the climbing of Uluru. It is merely a suggestion to refrain... which means about nothing, or so it seems, with the masses of folks running up the side.
Uluru at sunset Uluru at sunrise
The next morning I awoke early (too early - I thought sunrise was an hour earlier than it really was...oops). After being kicked out of the park b/c they weren't open yet, I made it back in after opening for sunrise and grabbed some photos. Without many clouds though, the sunsets and sunrises are fairly limited in their explosiveness. I spent the next four hours doing the 'base walk' around the base of Uluru. Hundreds of others were climbing the rock, but due to limited time and the fact that it's offending to the Aboriginal people, I decided not too. The view from the short distance I did run up though was incredible... I couldn't imagine it from the top! Although with the strong winds of the day, many came back down shivering and complaining. The walk on the other hand afforded me to opportunity to shoot the red rock and yellow-green Spinifex and other plant material against the electric blue sky. I can say I've honestly never seen a sky SO blue! And with the presence of Sunday's rare bright white clouds it looked even more incredible!
Following the Uluru base-walk, it was on to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) around 40 km down the road. Kata Tjuta's MANY rock formations were formed in a similar manner to Uluru... the result of a harder combination of sandstone and other compressed rock that outlasted that of the surrounding land over the many millions of years of erosion and other natural developments. Unlike the base-walk at Uluru which was an easy flat trail around the rock, the Valley of the Winds trail through the Olgas was a long, semi-arduous trek... over dirt and rock and up and down hills and valleys for a total of roughly another 7 km's, if my memory serves me correctly.
So after the Uluru base-walk, which finished with a 2 mile run back to the car, and then the Valley of the Winds walk, I ended the day at nearly 18 km's (almost 11 miles). All with a ~15lb backpack of gear and camera with tripod in hand. Not bad!
Around the base of Uluru Valley of the Winds walk around Kata Tjuta
For all the Alice Springs, Rainbow Valley, Uluru, and Kata Tjuta photos, click
HERE!
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And now are you ready for the bonehead move of the month???
On Saturday I did a load of laundry as I sat at the computer editing the Alice photos. When I heard the washer stop I went to go move the clothes into the dryer. To my surprise, upon opening the washing machine, the clothes were gone!!! "Uh, what, where the hell are the clothes" I thought to myself. "Ah, maybe I'm losing it and I just finished drying them instead and they're in the dryer". Had a look and nope, no clothes! Then I was REALLY confused, "the Boogie Man must have stolen my clothes!"
And here's a hint to you all... although the detergent container recommends the following steps of (1) fill the washer with water, (2) add detergent, and lastly (3) add clothes... it'll really mess with you if you forget step 3!!! (They were still on the floor in the bedroom) ; )
Fri – 6/30/06
Today at work I gave an hour (+) presentation of my trips and photos from Australia. Every Friday someone presents the work they've been doing to the rest of the division. It's normally interesting for about 10 others, somewhat boring for another 20, and terribly boring for the remaining 10... putting them to sleep... literally. A good attendance is assured each week though with free ice cream!
My boss asked me months ago to do a Friday Forum and after I responded by laughing, he came up with the photos idea... which I naturally accepted. Only rather than display them in the conference room, I expanded on the Forum idea and booked their theatrette, with a large projected screen and plenty of theatre-style seats. I received a great turn-out, better than most other days... after all who doesn't like photographs, esp beautifying their own country?! I spoke about each trip for 5 minutes and then sat down and ran a slideshow with music from that respective place. Then onto the next... and next. At the end, I fielded travel and photography questions and received more than I expected. Even in the dimmed lights, everyone stayed late, continued to ask questions, and didn't fall asleep!
It was a nice, warming, way to leave DSTO. It was my last day of work there, and as with the past few months, I felt very comfortable and accepted in this wonderful land. Big-ups to Daniel and the others for allowing, and helping, me to put this on!!!
...And a continuation of the last journal entry, today I also finally heard back from the South Australia Immigration Office. I had challenged the decision agreed upon a few weeks earlier (couldn't return to OZ for 3 years). Basically since my pay check is still coming from the US, and I'm here on official business, I wasn't comfortable with the fact that I was told I was 'working illegally' for a month. I could have been doing the same job from the US over the phone. I was contributing greatly to their economy and the US was paying me. That was the meat of my rebuttal. And after consideration and further research, they determined that I was actually covered by an SPV - Special Persons Visa. It was all good, I was all good. I can return whenever I want! Now if I could just do something about those damn speeding cameras!!! ; )
And then it was off to the McLaren Wine valley for the weekend... ahhhhhh..............