The Nullarbor – this icon of Australian geography, mythical in its breadth and isolation, part of the essence of the great Australian circumnavigational journey, arduous, long and touted as devoid of features – making its crossing a seeming quest and near heroic task. It wasn’t so bad. Perhaps we lucked out with rainy weather the first day and mild temps the next (highs of 26 degrees only) but all tolled the journey wasn’t as monotonous and difficult as preconceived. Firstly I would like to debunk the name – Nullarbor. For the entire 1500 odd kms across there wasn’t a stretch that I could say was without a tree so it perplexed me how such a name could stick to an obviously unbarren plain. It struck me moreover as akin to the African Plains than anything truly lacking in life or vegetation. The drive through the middle of Australia was comparably far more barren in parts especially around Woomera where scrub brush pervaded. The trees, as in other parts of this trip, were fascinating in design and artistic bent (especially the dead ones). Through stretches of predominantly dead trees one gets an almost gothic sense with intricate curves and wayward branches often bent sideways as if the wind was constantly applying its force. Some intrepid and creative tourists have livened up the roadside scenery at points by decorating various dead trees with assorted refuse. Some appear as literal Op-shop trees with a mix of t-shirts, undies, shoes, socks etc, while others seem more thematic with skulls from local roadkill, others with a preponderance of hats, shoes or bras and underwear to add a little seductive touch to the drive. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm of these occasional sculptures gradually waned throughout the drive and instead we had to be transfixed by the simple straightness of the road (there is a 90 mile stretch – the longest absolutely straight road / highway in the world), the incredible vistas which appear over the horizon of one hill onto another and occasional crazed lunatic(s) pulling a rickshaw-like contraption or riding a bike. Another distraction which I’ve developed into a near reflex action is the index finger wave as another fellow traveler crosses paths in the opposite direction. You know you’re in a personable, friendly country when nearly every driver that passes (the truckies excepted of course), courteously responds to the simple wave of the finger reflex. It takes a bit of timing and knack though as Jen has found out – her success rate is probably sitting around the 50 % at present – she is a bit too aggressive and almost desperate with her finger wave or flick– sometimes unknowingly concealing it behind the screen for the rear-view camera or behind the blind. She’s working on the languid subtlety of the slow gradual extension without releasing the steering wheel and is being rewarded with an improved response. She’ll get it – not to worry. Of greater worry to us both – especially since crossing through quarantine, has been the near incessant withdrawal symptoms from our beloved fruits and veggies. Servos along the way have had scant anything let alone fresh veg or fruity bits. It wasn’t until we were nearly at the end of the crossing that we finally stumbled upon some bananas which we devoured like something out of a B-movie zombie flick. The other main withdrawal has been our lack of linkage to the rest of the world. We were entirely without mobile access for the entire day today – some would welcome such lack of intrusion into their lives and aim to cherish such periods but for us the lack of connection nearly drove us batty. We even attempted to pay for internet use at a servo midway along the path but alas this was doomed to failure as their system was down. Strange that only a few years ago we were without such encumbrances and no the wiser – now the inability to touch base or stay connected to the outside world is almost tantamount to committing harikari! Perhaps this was the most isolating part of the journey. The phones eventually sprang to life as we were about the enter Norseman after a very long day on the road and relief spread across both Jen and I – once again in touch with the world. The kids burnt off very few calories today although their ocular muscles sustained quite a work out watching images dance across the screen for the greater portion of the day. We’ve only got a short stretch of driving ahead of us tomorrow so we should be able to re-start the fitness regime again. Thus far, traveling has not been all that conducive to improved or even some sort of maintenance of cardiovascular fitness - we’ll simply have to try harder to make it happen. So without further ado – farewell to the Nullarbor – and in the famous words of Rocky Balboa – “You ain’t so bad!” …but were glad we won’t have to drive you again anytime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment