Tête en bas

One of the reason I like having people with me for relocation is that the way they react remind me how I was the first time I got into a campervan and discovered the comfort into it. It’s almost always the same kind of reaction, and I really like it.

We left Alice later that I was planning, but I’ll be waiting quietly that Mara and Gabrielle finished doing all they have to do. For what I know, there’s nothing between here and the Devils Marbles anyway. But I heard a lot of thing about those rocks, and we all agreed about the idea of sleeping there tonight.

The road is definitely quiet. We crossed the Capricorn tropic not long after leaving Alice Springs. A little voice in my head remind me that it’s not my first time in tropical region. Bali is not so far in my memories after all… but still, it’s an interesting process to cross it in a car.

Tropic aside, the UFO gas station is the only other attraction on the road.

That’s not a real problem. There’s a nice and warm feeling in the van. Way more quiet with three people instead than six. Nice chat interrupted by interesting silences and smiles. Amazing moment, simple as I love them.

We finally arrive at the Devils Marbles. Just after sunset. The place just look amazing, and completely desert. We’re happy as we take the little path that goes to the campground away from the road. There, well hidden by the road, we discover 30 or 40 other camper van, all park together. Here for the quietness. We’re not sure. We have hesitation… but we don’t really have the choice as we really want to spend the night here. The day was long, and it’s nice to arrive. If it’s the end of driving, it’s definitely not the end of the day. A few minutes after, we are sitting on a rock, mixing all the different instrument we brought with us. Flutes, didgeridoos, ukulele… in a perfect communion with the stars. We spend a long time, just playing and enjoying the magic of this moment, before we go for a little walk in the rocks, finding a nice Tasmanian families, that thanks us for the music.

The place is inspiring me in an other way. I bought kerosene earlier in the afternoon. I want to do some experiment. Unfortunately, my remote is not working anymore. I hope that it’s just because of the battery. Because of that, I have no choice except cheating to take the pictures. The result is not as good as it could have been, the rocks doesn’t show as much as I would have like. But I still have a nice time, and think that Mara and Gabrielle also enjoy.

We finally say good night to Mara, who’s feeling really inspired by the place, and decide to sleep under the star. I have some hesitation, before I decide to take to comfy option. Back in the van with Gabrielle, we talk about the world, small and big things, for a very very long time…

I asked Cassie to drop me at Erldunda, as it saved me 200km. My plan was to hitch hike to Coober Pedy. “Only” 500km to do. It was an easy ride. I though… I staid at the gaz station for four hours. Talking to everyone. Seems that everybody was going north, or west. None was going south. Well… a few were going south, but had no room. Except this guy who “doesn’t pick up hitch hiker, for safety reason”. Yes, I looked pretty scary with my flippers in my back pack… The sunset. There were less and less car… I was thinking to build my tent, somewhere in the wilderness. But there is a campground at Erldunda. And they only charge $11. Cheap enough for me to pay. It took me an other 3 hours the next morning. I was starting to loose faith. Thinking that there might be place, in Oz, where hitch hiking was to complicate. But I was finally saved by two italian girls. They asked me for $20 for the gaz, that I was more than happy to pay. And I finally arrive at Josephine and Terry orphanage, in Coober Pedy.

It was six days ago. Already! Enough time to get my little habits. Life is not really hard here. I wake up between 9 and 10 AM, and take my time to check the last news on internet. Also trying to find what my next step will be… after that, it’s time to clean the roo yard. Just on time for the first public feed at 12. If there’s a group, or a lot of people, all the five older kangaroos have there milk bottle. If there’s not enough people, they just get some little snack.

The afternoon is about getting an area of the house ready to become an other kangaroos yard, so they can have more room. So it’s about putting up some fence and digging a few holes. When Terry or Jo need an extra hand, I often help feeding the younger one, who are on a four hours feeding schedule. Yes, day and night. Terry does the day shift, Jo the night one.

Evening is usually quite. Chat, cuddling with the young joeys, watching tv. I usually find some time to play flute or didgeridoo. And to do some more computer too. And it’s finally time for me to go back to my room. Yes, I’m sleeping in a caravan, in a backyard, in the middle of the desert. Yes, it’s cold during the night. But I love my caravan! Looks amazing!

And sometime, there is those special days. Where a South Korean TV crew come to film the orphanage. I ended up being interviewed, and I’m now wondering if I’ll be famous in South Korean in the next few weeks… and that’s also during this interview that my phone rang. Next week, I’ll have a job interview. On Skype. For a job I applied in Melbourne, a few weeks ago. Why not!

And there’s also this phone call, at the end of the afternoon, that sounds like an alert. Yes, a rescue team is needed. A few miner find a young joey, still alive. A new family member is coming. I jump in the car with Terry. He’s driving fast. Not because it’s a real emergency, I think, but because he use to be a Rally Car driver. We pick up the young lady. Her name is Prue. She’s only 3 months and a half, and she’ll be coming with us. What a strange feeling to hold her, as close to me as I can to keep her warmth. To feel her breath under the towel. To know that she had a mother, 8 hours ago, and she’s entering a complete and totally different world by now…

I leave you alone and with no comment, to discover Kings Canyon, with its landscape coming straight from outer space… just enjoy!

Kata Tjuta and the valley of the wind

The valley of the wind… I’m a little bit ashamed that I didn’t realize earlier. I just though “hey, sounds nice, I like the name”. It took Cassie asking “have you seen the movie Nausicaa of the valley of the wind? Myiasaki find some of its inspiration here”. And then, I realize. Uluru’s shape, from a certain angle, remind me the Omu (the giant insect). Even the name, Omu, sounds like Emu in english… the shape of the mountain, a landscape that looks really organic… yes, Nausicaa is everywhere around us.

The day started with a sunrise. Who says sunrise says wake up early. Much to early. For a second day in a row. As for the sunset yesterday, sunrise is the reason for a big gathering of more that 50 people (yes, it’s harder to come for a sunrise than a sunset). But I have a place that I like, where I can enjoy the landscape. When the sun is a little bit upper in the sky, and breakfast is eaten, we can take the road to Kata Tjuta.

It’s quite hard to find the good word to describe Kata Tjuta. After Uluru yesterday, I didn’t know what to expect. I discovered something completely different. More sacred than Uluru, definitely not as known. Only two areas are open to the public. That’s more than enough!

After Kata Tjuta, Cassie drive us back to Uluru, for a quick visit of the cultural center (photo forbidden) before giving us a short guided walk. A few geological explanation about the rock, but mainly cultural/historical explanation from an aboriginal point of view. We discover an other side of the rock, that I like even more. Once again, I can feel it. Deep inside me. Like a deep slow vibration.

Back to the bus for a couple of hours driving. Going to Kings Canyon, on tomorrows planning. This time, we’re alone at the campground. No other group. Quiet evening with an other campfire. And as I do have my fire staff and some kerosene left over…

Guided tour… those words kind of frighten me. I see a giant bus, dropping hundreds of old people, in view point and touristic shop. I see the complete impossibility to take picture with no one, people always complaining and never happy. A slow moving group with an unbearable inertia. But at the same time, Cassie told me that it worst it, and that it was great. And I totally trust Cassie. When I saw the old bus coming, when I heard the engine, sounding like it could die anytime, I start thinking a different way. I start thinking that I was right to trust Cassie.

Alice Springs to Uluru. Around 400k. Bus often stop. Pee pause. Emu pause. Pee and gaze pause. Photo pause. But the dynamic is still interesting. Life in the bus is nice. It’s my turn to be the copilot. I’m not use to that! I do my best to help Cassie. As it was in the van, life in the front and life in the back are completely different. In other circumstances, I would probably have try to spend more time in the back, learning to know my fellow travelers. But being quiet with Cassie is ok for me.

There’s a lot of different tour company in Alice Springs. The Rock Tour seems to be the cheapest one. Because of that, people are younger. The bus is full. It means only 22 persons. Still a bearable size group.

I’m fouled by the first rock I see far away. Thought it was Uluru for a little while, before Cassie told us that it’s not. Well, that’s true… Uluru is way more organic than that!

But we finally arrive. This time, I recognize the shape with no hesitation. Of course this is it. I love traveling. It remind me, each time, how amazing the world we’re living in is. I’m happy to be here, in Uluru. It seems unexpected to me. As it was to arrive at the top of the Empire States Building, to walk on the Golden Gate Bridge, to see Sydney’s opera, to discover Death Valley, or to dive on a wreck in Bali… my life is full of surprises. And I love that !

My first reaction is balanced. From far, it’s a nice impressive rock. But nothing exceptional. Uluru starts to be awesome when you get close to it. “I saw it hundreds of time, I still love it. It’s always different”. I quickly understand what Cassie means. Every two minutes, Uluru is different. It changes. Constantly. We could almost feel him alive as those change are quick. She drops us at the foot of the rock, with the mission to walk around it. She warns us. There’s sacred place, where it’s forbidden to take picture. I always have trouble when I can’t take picture. But quite often, I keep the camera off. There’s amazing part of the rock that you won’t see. Not on this blog at least. He’s waiting for you anyway. Just come, and you’ll see.

Long story short: like everywhere in the world, white men steal the land from the people who were living there when he arrived. Ayers Rock and the area became property of the crown. Lots of aboriginal people where strongly suggest to move away. Once again, I want to wait a little bit more longer before talking about aboriginals. But I will. I promise. Collecting information is still going on… anyway… in aboriginal tradition, the land you’re living on is one of the most important thing. In such a hard place to survive, knowing everything about your place is a matter of life. Aboriginal wanted to come back. It took time. Lot of time. But at the end of the 80s, australian government finally give back Ayers Rock to the tribes who were living there. Those four tribe merge to become only one. In exchange, aboriginal agreed to rent the area to the government for 99 years. Since that day, the site is managed by a council formed by 6 aboriginal and 4 australian.

Little precision: making a difference between “aboriginal” and “australian” is definitely a mistake. If, until the 70s, aboriginal were not seen as human (they were protected by the ministry for fauna and the flora), they are now seen are australian citizen. Maybe I should say “6 aboriginal and 4 white men”. But once again, it won’t be exactly true.

Uluru is in the middle of Australia. Straight in the middle. Uluru is red. Uluru is often seen as australian spiritual heart. I easily understand why. There’s something you can feel around the rock. Something spiritual. Of course, you’ll feel it only if you want to feel it. It’s totally possible to work around the rock, and just see a giant red thing, quite impressive, with hips of strange shape. I wanted to see more. I wanted to see more than just a rock. I closed my eyes. I touched it. I felled it. There’s something more, and it’s really easy to feel it. My flute, of course, was really happy to share sometime with the rock.

The day ended with what seems to be a must do. Sunset on Uluru. Cassie warned us. Other tours, who are way more expensive, give a glass of wine to there traveler. So she invited us to by her own bottle to celebrate the sunset. Celebrate, really? With a little bit more than 10 cars gathered, almost 500 tourists on a parking… with table, everywhere. And tourists, drinking sparkling wine in fancy glasses… I tried to do a time lapse, with some difficulty. The result is not that good. If the rock changes color, it’s not as impressive as I though.

I remember… a few days ago. Almost the same number of people, climbing a hill, for an other sunset. Being happy, and screaming when the sun finally disappear. Here, people seems to try to be as stupid as they can while taking picture. They don’t mind about the sunset. They just want to have a photo for there Facebook page. I find it very sad. But can’t change anything about it…

Sun away, diner eaten, we go bak to the campground for the night. There’s a big bonfire waiting for us. I take my flute and my didge. Play the first. Play the second. And went away from the light, taking a few picts of the stars. The rock, of course, is there…

After spending so much time with my travel companion, as friendly and amazing they can be, I was feeling that I might need to be alone for a little while. At the same time, I wanted to stay with them, and to go on my own way. I take thursday really easy, just relaxing, without taking any decision… I finally decide, late in the afternoon, to take my back back, and go. Trying to hitch hike to the festival. I was missing hitch hiking… I didn’t have much food, but I decide to trust Rachel for that. Quite an unusual thing for me! Leaving Alice hitch hiking was little bit difficult… but as soon as I was out of town, every thing was easy again, and I arrive at the Wide Open Space festival. Maybe a little bit later than expected.

It was the first time I was working as a volunteer on a festival. I had too. My bank account doesn’t really allow me those kind of spending anymore. And apart of the financial aspect, the human aspect interested me too. But not on the first evening. I was looking for loneliness. To stop and relax, just by myself. I tell who I was, build up my tent, and went to bed.

What can I say about the Wide Open Space festival… i had a lot of expectation when I went to Confest. And I came back a little bit disappointed. By people, who were not that much into meeting other, and were way to serious about what was happening, and by the event itself, who didn’t do anything to gather us all together. There was no real reason, for us, to be there.

I went to the Wide Open Space with no expectation. And I came back completely and totally amazed, by an overwhelming experience. First of all, it was not a big festival. 500 people. Maybe 600. A little site means that you don’t have to carry all kind of stuff with you always. When your camp is 2 minutes walk from the main stage, you can easily forget something. But it also mean that you also see the same people. You smile to them. You start talking with no reason. And you’re quickly a part of a big family.

No workshop where you learn how to be happy. Nop. At WOS, people knows how to be happy, without having someone telling them how. It’s a big fest, where everything seems to be about happiness.

A few art work, here and there, different clothing style… as in Comfest or Burning Man, you have to live the experience to really understand it. It’s definitely not easy to talk about the openness of people, the happiness that was radiating from them. The laughs that were everywhere…

Someone told me not to have any expectation about music. I’ve bee nicely surprised. All the bands had something to offer. And there was all different kind of music. From metal to reggae, from electro to the single singer with is guitar. Everything, for everyone. I was a little bit worried about the reggae/hip hop first night, no much quiet for me… but on saturday, the music definitely evolved to something way more dynamic. More electro, more energizing. And on sunday… well, I start dancing around 2PM because the music was so intense…

Just for the pleasure of finding a negative point, I would say that once again, didgeridoos were missing. Like in Comfest, I felt like if I was the only one… I’m looking forward an opportunity to play with a few others!

Apart from the music, the “closure” ceremony was the other gathering element. When a group of people start climbing up the small hill, on the site of the festival, to watch the sunset. There was no burning giant piece of art. That was not a problem. Everyone was gathering at the same place, for the same reason. That’s all I was missing. All I was waiting for, in order to conclude those 3 days of magical happiness. Three days of dance, music, quick meeting and smile sharing.

I was expecting to be stressed, to have to hurry up every one. But Cassie and Rachel take care of everything, and the van was quickly ready to start again. And, at some time, to be given back.

A few little break on the road, but here we are!

Yes… we survived. We are in Alice Springs. We do a quick tour of the city, in order to drop everyone stuff, and leave Ben and Josh downtown. Giving back the van take a little while, but was no problem.

We don’t have the van anymore… what’s next? I’m still waiting from news from my CSer who might host me. But I realize that I’m not that much motivated to couchsurf tonight. So is Rachel. And we finally end up in the same hostel than Indri.

We all met together a little bit later, in the evening. The 6 of us, for a last meal. What will come next? I don’t know yet. But we are 5 to go to the festival. So all that is not exactly finish yet…

An other wake up, soft and quiet, in the middle of the desert. Today, we’re going to take our time, in order to visit Coober Pedy. I could have go on on the road, as I’ll be back soon here, but my fellow travelers want to have a better look. I totally understand. And at the same time, I like the idea of having a better idea of what I have to expect. Last opportunity to change my mind!

The day starts with a visit of a museum/souvenir shop/old opal mine. The ground is quite easy to dig. And full of opals. So people start digging every where. Mines becoming houses. And houses becoming mine. Because since a little while, you now need a permit to dig for opal. But you can still dig new room for your house… it seems that people here live in giant underground house… the preview we have while visiting the museum is definitely really nice. I would just miss the real sun light from time to time. But except from that, it seems to be a very comfy place. Air is fresh and really nice to breath.

And because it’s time to feed the kangaroos after the museum visits, we give a quick visit to Jo et Terry. I like the idea of meeting them quickly, before coming back in two weeks. The first contact is very nice. I don’t really have opportunity to talk with Jo(sephine) but Terry is definitely friendly. I think I’ll have a good time there. I’ll just have to find a way to come back. I think I like the idea of hitch hiking!

Quite a lot of time has already passed when we finally go back in the van. There’s still quite a lot to drive. Alice Springs is 750 km from here. I still propose a last little detour, to visit the Breakaway. Not very far from Coober Pedy. We just need to drive on a small gravel road. The van is happy to do so. And it’s an opportunity to give a look to the road to Oodnadatta. For the next time… and of course, the landscape definitely worst the detour. I have this feeling to be back in Painted Hills, Oregon.

But after that, no more reason to stop. No more time either. My goal is to have less than 300 km to drive the next morning, so that’s the day won’t be to hard. The sun set. Ok, that’s a good reason for a 10 minutes stop.

I still drive for quite a while. More than expected, as it’s quite hard to find a nice place to stop. But we finally stop. The spot is great. Away from the road, quite, perfect for us. One more time, the evening goes quietly around the camp fire, while Cassie cooks us a canadian speciality: a roo (kangaroo) tail. Tasting experience… strange. Not really because of the taste, who is quite soft, but more because of the jelly strange texture. Well, it’s still edible I guess… There’s quite a strange feeling, a few tension in the air, but everything still go quite well. It’s hard to believe that we’re going to split on the following day…

We all wake up in the middle of nowhere, with only emptiness around us. I finally find what I was looking for. Everybody woke up early in order to see the sunrise. Everybody but me. If my travel mates can take a nap during the day, it’s a little bit harder for me. I still had a look through the window, to see a sun hidden by cloud.

As we have lot of bread, I cook french toast to have a nice start for the day. The road is definitely quiet. We see a car, once in a while. Almost each time, drivers wave to each other. We’re living the same experience. We’re driving the same never-ending road. The same crazy road, in the middle of nowhere. If we are at the middle of our journeys, people coming the other way are at the end.

We discover quickly that there is definitely enough room for 3 people in the front of the van. Everything missing is just a seat. We start improvising one using pillow, before we remember that we have camping seat in the van. I’m not sure it’s totally approved by australian road security, but lets forget this minor little detail. With three people sitting in the front, dynamic change completely. If the driver can’t really create ambience and craziness, he can definitely be part of it. And I like that!

Cassie told us about Hart Lake. A salt lake. We saw a few one, not really big, on the side of the road. Hart Lake is an other story. He’s big. Really big. Perfect place to start playing with perspective and photography. Not as good as Uyuni Solar (all my apology to bolivian people for what’s probably the worst way ever to write it), but still a really interesting place.

We spend a little while taking picture. On the way to the lake, we go through a small tunnel, under the train rail. We stop again, for a crazy little time, mixing didgeridoo, musical improvisation in a perfect little moment of happiness.

Back on the road. Trees are definitely rare. Until they become totally inexistent. We are in Coober Pedy.

I’ve been waiting for this moment for a little while. Because I’m planning to live here for a little while, taking care of kangaroos and doing some renovation job. But about Coober Pedy, I don’t know anything. Except that people live in dwelling dig into the ground, that it’s the opal capital of the world. And that there is a lot of dust.

All that is absolutely and completely true. When I stop the van “downtown”, in a small dirt parking, a little voice whisper in my hear “Welcome Home”. Because in this little house, coming straight out of Mad Max (the movie had been filmed in Australia btw) I had this feeling to be back in Burning Man. I was missing dust. It’s a very strange feeling that I can really explain. But I was so happy to find it again… as I was to think that I was back in a post apocalyptic universe… yes, I think I’ll love Coober Pedy. For 10-15 days, at least.

We arrived just on time to catch the sunset. We watched it quietly, from the top of a small hill, before walking back to the van. We drive a few km, in order to get outside of the city and find a quiet place. It’s not even 7 PM, but the van is already stop for the day. No more driving today, I’m the first happy about that! Rachel starts cooking a curry. Everyone ask me to leave when I offer to help. That’s perfect for me. I just sit down, and relax, in the back of the van, looking everyone acting together.

The evening was just amazing… good meal, with good wine, share under the stars. I take my fire staff, my camera, and my bottle of kerosene. In order to have some fun.

I got an idea. An experience I want to try. I try it, and it works. Really well!

An idea leading to an other, I try a group picture. With an other really interesting result!

The evening end up quietly, with a giant pile of people, cuddling together, one on each other. Sharing laugh after laugh after laugh…

I don’t want to make things go faster. I just want the life in the van to find its own pace. We’re not in an emergency, and I don’t want to try to make everyone move quickly. Instead, I preferred to take it easy. The day starts in joy and happiness, and a lot of crepes.

The beginning of the day is not really different of the day before. Landscape is still the same, monotone. It’s nice to drive a lot.

Adelaide is quickly behind us. It was not planed to stop there, and driving threw just confirm me that there was no real reason to do so anyway.

When leaving the city, we follow the ocean for a little while. But we all know that he’ll soon disappear. After Port Augusta, we’ll turn right, on Stuart Highway. Ocean will then be only a souvenir. For a very long time. We decide to stop a last time on the shore, just the time to say bye to the ocean, et to try to put a toe in the water. Way to cold !

We continue with an other detour, to see a gorge Ben strongly suggest. We understand when we arrive there. The mountain is amazing. We take the time for a small walk that make every body happy. We even include a little climbing time, to have a better view from the height.

Back to the van, we take sometime to talk about the end of the day. Port Augusta is the last real point to buy food. After that, we’ll be in the middle of nowhere. Next town will be Coober Pedy. And it’s small. And it’s far. We have to buy all the food we’ll need in the next few days. In order to make it simple, I suggest that we split the different lunch and diner. One or two people will take care of them. Grocery and cooking. Quite efficient. Not so fast… A team start buying food, while I go behind the grocery with Cassie, to check the bin.

I heard after dumpster diving a little while ago, and tried for the first time with Bernt in Hobart. I was quite surprise by the quality of the food we found. This time, we get out of the bin with lots and lots of breads, a dozen of crescents, and a few bananas. Bread is just perfect, as we all agree that the option “sandwich while driving” was the perfect lunch.

Grocery stop take more time that I though, and I start feeling impatient. But we’ve been definitely saving on money. The day before, I was a little bit worried when I discovered that a full tank of gaz lasted for only 400 km. I think that the tank was not completely full. But to be sure, I started driving slower. Driving 85/95 instead of 100/110. Despite a not stop rising of the diesel price ($1.50 at the beginning, $1,96 at the end) we end up (including reloc saving) aping $75 each. Quite proud of me, as I’ve never seen a ride share between Melbourne and Alice Springs for less than $150. And the food? $45 each. For 5 days. We can all be quite proud of that to!

Grocery finally done, everybody back in the van, we go back on the road. To start the Stuart Highway. A road sign. A right curve. And the pleasure of hearing the GPS saying “in 1,212 km, turn left”.

Night has started for a little while. We want to enjoy as much landscape as we can. We keep on driing for an hour, before stoping on a rest area. Van is quickly in night mode, and we still have some time to talk quietly, before going all to bed, as the wise children we all are.