
G'day mates! As you can probably tell from this update, I survived my
walkabout in the Australian Outback. The trip across the Outback was
fascinating, but it's
also nice to be back in civilization. I've spent the past few weeks driving over 3,000
miles from Port Augusta in the south to the Great Barrier Reef in the east, during which I saw four
million bushflies, two million termite mounds, 843 road trains, 27 roadhouses, one dingo, Crocodile Dundee's
pub, and a very large red rock.
On the map
above, my journey looks like just a few short lines, but it was actually a long, long
drive. If you're in the U.S., imagine driving from Dallas up to North Dakota and then east to
Boston and you'll get the idea. Thanks to air conditioning, an ice chest
(or "esky" as they call them here, as in "eskimo")
and 300 hours of my favorite music on MP3 discs, though, I made it. And I didn't
even hit any kangaroos, which was my biggest worry.
I arrived in Port Douglas a week ago and this seemed like such a nice place --
and so different from the bone-dry Outback -- that I decided to stay put here
for a while. I've been cooped up for several days in the Lazy Lizard Motel
where I've been a real lazy lizard, just working on my website, returning
e-mails and, best of all, not traveling. By the way, the Lazy Lizard Motel
is a lot nicer than it sounds -- even nicer than the Mud Hut Motel in Coober
Pedy. And it's great not to have to pack up everything each morning and then watch the
world rush past the windshield at 60 miles an hour -- or
100 kilometres per hour, as it does here in Australia.
I've
got five updates to post in this round, plus this page, including:
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March
16, 2002 (Winton, Australia)
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March
13, 2002 (Alice Springs, Australia)
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March
11, 2002 (Ayers Rock, Australia)
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March
8, 2002 (Coober Pedy, Australia)
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March
5, 2002 (Port Augusta, Australia)
So
dig in and find out
what "Waltzing Matilda" means and why it's not a good idea to sit near
the wall in Oodnadatta's Pink Roadhouse. Now
that I've been in Australia for almost two months, I've posted a page that describes some of my impressions about Australia, which you can read in a page appropriately titled
My
Impressions of Australia. By the way, there are now 168 webpages on
this website with 1,482 photos posted (about 10% of all the photos I've taken on
this trip). So much for my relaxing vacation, eh mate?
Heading
Home
As
of yesterday, March 23, I've been gone from my job in Portland for exactly one
year. With all the motels that I've been staying at throughout New Zealand and
Australia, instead of campgrounds like in my initial plan, I've spent a lot more money on this trip than I
was hoping to. That's one reason
why I decided to head back to the U.S. next month instead of continuing on
around the world. The other reason is
that I'm getting pretty tired of traveling, something I never thought I'd
say.
As I've said many times, though, Australia is a beautiful,
interesting and fascinating country, so it's going to be hard to leave here
-- but leave I must. I'll be flying out of Sydney on the morning of April
8 and, because of the date change, will arrive in Seattle at the same time, on
the morning of April 8. I'm not really looking forward to the 22-hour
flight back but at least I've booked a window seat all the way.
Changes
in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
As I say, I'm now in Port Douglas, a very
pleasant and very tropical town of about 4,000 folks in northern Australia on the Pacific coast.
Port Douglas is near the Great Barrier Reef and it’s about as far
north as you can drive on Australia's eastern coast. The town's a bit
trendy and upscale, probably more than I care for, but it's also very laid back
and has a lot of
charm. It's a great little town and I definitely plan to come back here someday.
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Port Douglas: Not a bad place
to spend a week, eh mate?
(Photo courtesy of
my good mate, Johnno).
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A lot of
people don't realize that the northern part of Australia is tropical and, being
in the tropics, Port Douglas is surrounded by rainforests. The weather
here has been really hot and muggy, which is typical for this time of year, so
it's a far cry from the arid Outback where I spent the previous few weeks.
It's about 90 degrees now and the rain is pouring down outside, which isn't unusual for
March.
Speaking of the weather, there are two seasons in northern Australia: the wet season
from November through March (simply called "The Wet") and the
dry season from April through October (called, you guessed it, "The
Dry"). It doesn't pour constantly during the Wet, but when it does rain,
it REALLY rains -- like it's doing now. In twenty minutes, though, the skies might be clear
again. A nice thing about visiting northern Australia during the Wet,
however, is that the crowds are down, as are the motel rates.
I'm
sure that Geoff and Susie, the friendly owners of the Lazy Lizard Motel, are
starting to wonder about me because I checked in here about a week ago intending
to stay just one night. This motel, though, is about the nicest place I've
stayed at during my entire 12-month trip, it's got dirt-cheap off-season rates, I had
a lot of work to do on my website, I had a lot of e-mails to return, and I was getting tired of driving.
So I've
spent an entire week here, mostly plugging away at my computer.
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Left:
The first time I'd heard of Vegemite was
about 20 years ago in the song, Down Under. I didn't know
what it was, but it sounded delicious. When
I got to Port Douglas, though, I learned otherwise. It smells
like yeast, looks like tar, and tastes like salt. One evening,
an Aussie friend suggested that I spread it very thinly (doh!). When applied correctly, it's actually
not too bad. |
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And here's the song
that piqued my curiosity about vegemite.
This is the Aussie
group Men at Work singing Down Under.
Requires a
RealPlayer. If problems, see
Help. |
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However,
after being here for so long, I'm getting antsy to drive down to Sydney
and fly back to the U.S., especially since it's now springtime there and the
weather is improving. I'm
not sure what I'm going to do after I get back to the U.S. I've thought about
traveling around America, but I'm kind of road-weary, so maybe I'll spend a month or so
working on my family's history first.
After
I post this round of updates, I'm going to go exploring around Port Douglas. I hope to
go snorkeling out on the Great Barrier Reef, then visit some of the tropical
rain forests and maybe go "crocodile spotting" on the nearby Daintree
River. I'll post
photos and stories of those adventures in my next update (assuming that the
crocs don't spot me first). In the meantime, you can take a look at my new
updates, or just read on and learn about some of the nasty things I've been
dealing with during the past month in Australia.

Above left: Driving through the
Atherton Tablelands near Townsville.
Above center: No, I didn't eat here.
Above right: They call this the "curtain fig tree" for
obvious reasons.

Above left: Dropping down to Port
Douglas. That's the Daintree Rainforest, a World Heritage Site, off in the
distance and Cape Tribulation, named by Captain Cook in 1770.
Above center: The Port Douglas marina.
Above right: Port Douglas is a nice town despite being a bit
upscale.

Above left: Four Mile Beach in
Port Douglas.
Above center: Strolling on the beach.
Above right: Working on my website at the Lazy Lizard Motel in Port
Douglas. This room has been my home for the past week.
Warning:
This Continent May Be Hazardous to Your Health
In
my entry from Port Augusta a few weeks ago, I described a wonderfully humorous book about Australia called
"In a Sunburned Country" written by the American travel author, Bill
Bryson. In his book, Bryson talked about some of the things that can kill
you here in Australia, such as Taipan snakes, red-back spiders, salt-water crocodiles and
Great White sharks.
I've had run-ins with a few other things here during the past month that Bryson
didn't mention, including Red Gum Trees (see News:
March 5, 2002) and a group of pushy kangaroos at Grampians National
Park (see News: March
1, 2002). By the way, if you're ever confronted by a surly
kangaroo, be sure to look him straight in the eye and show him who's boss... and
never, ever let him see you sweat. That strategy seemed to work pretty
well for me. ;-)
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Above:
Spinifex -- don't mess with it unless you like acupuncture |
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A
few weeks later during my drive across the Outback, I had several close
encounters with another nasty specimen: spinifex. I can't
remember if Bryson mentioned spinifex, but it's an innocuous looking bush with
green shoots similar to lawn grass. Don't mess with spinifex though,
because as I discovered, it's very pointy and can even draw blood -- and it
hurts like heck.
Spinifex is pretty, but it's also like a stationary porcupine.
Now
that I'm on the coast, I have to contend with another nasty critter: the box jellyfish. These things are a lot more venomous than their North
American counterpart, the Portuguese man-of-war. I have vivid memories of
a Portuguese man-of-war, having stepped on one in Florida when I was
four years old, an event that is permanently etched in my mind -- not to mention
my foot. Box jellyfish are even nastier and, from what I've heard, one
tiny sting from a microscopic box jellyfish barb feels like a burning cigarette
being pushed deep into your flesh. Occasionally, a swimmer will get
ensnared in the 10-foot long tentacles of a box jellyfish, which isn't a pretty
thing to see -- or hear.
As I recall, Bryson
discussed the box jellyfish, or "stinger," at great length in his book. In fact,
I believe it was during a visit
to this very same city, Port Douglas. There's a beach here about four
miles long (which, not surprisingly, is called "Four Mile Beach"), but
nobody goes swimming in the ocean between October and May because of the box jellyfishes which float around here during that time of year. Actually,
the one place you can swim on Four Mile Beach is within the
"stinger net," a rope net enclosure with floats attached that extends
out into the ocean, about 50 yards on a side, supposedly designed to keep out
the box jellyfish. I thought about swimming in
it a few days ago but noticed
that the high waves were easily crashing over the
top of it, so I figured it probably wasn't doing a very good job of keeping the
stingers out. It wasn't doing a good job of keeping other nasty things
out, either, because they caught a 3-foot long shark inside the stinger net
yesterday!
As
I learned last summer in South Dakota when I visited the world's only Vinegar Museum
(see News: September 15, 2001),
the best antidote for a box jellyfish sting is vinegar. And sure enough,
as I walked down the beach today and passed by the stinger net, I saw a big
bottle of vinegar there with big red letters that said
"VINEGAR." If you're unlucky enough to get stung by a box jellyfish
and don't happen to have vinegar handy, I understand that peeing on
the afflicted area also works. I could make some jokes about that, but
then my website would lose its PG rating.
There
was no swimming today in the ocean, though, because the stinger net was rolled
up, waiting for repairs. The lifeguards had posted a big sign on the beach
saying "NO SWIMMING," so everyone, including myself, walked along the
beach and kept a healthy distance from the water. In amazement, though, I
saw a guy who was about 20 years old walk towards the ocean, fling off his
shirt, and dive in. As he frolicked in the water, a small crowd gathered
to watch him out of morbid curiosity -- including myself, I must admit.
Young Neptune was proving either his masculinity or his stupidity, I guess, but
either way he provided us with 10 minutes of free entertainment after which he
calmly emerged from the water, put on his shirt, and disappeared into the
coconut grove. That was a shame, because I really had to pee.
Box
jellyfish, sharks, and crocodiles are enough to worry about in coastal
Queensland, but last night I was reading in my Frommer's Guide about another
deadly creature here: the cassowary. A cassowary is a small, cute,
flightless bird, which looks like a peacock. It's a distant relative of
Australia's other much more ubiquitous and much larger flightless bird, the emu
(which is pronounced either "e-moo" or "e-mew," depending on who you talk
to). Cassowaries are an endangered species which, based on what I read in
Frommer's, may or may not be a bad thing. That's because, according to Frommer's,
these cute-looking cassowaries can and have killed humans with their powerful claws.
Here's Frommer's advice if you confront a cassowary: "Back slowly
away and hide behind a tree." As I recall, they used that same
strategy in "Jurassic Park" and look what happened.
Actually,
though, cassowaries are pretty, little birds -- at least, when they're not
attacking with their killer claws. I even hope to see a cassowary before I
leave, although preferably when I'm standing near a tree.

Above left: You can see the
stinger net here (near the bottom of the picture) on Four Mile Beach in Port
Douglas.
Above center: The next day they took the stinger net down for
repairs. As the sign says, no swimming...
Above right: ...and this is why. You don't want to mess with
a box jellyfish. After reading this sign, I, um, decided to stay away from the
water.
Next
News
March
28, 2002 (Airlie Beach, Australia)
Previous
News
March
16, 2002 (Winton, Australia)
March
13, 2002 (Alice Springs, Australia)
March
11, 2002 (Ayers Rock, Australia)
March
8, 2002 (Coober Pedy, Australia)
March
5, 2002 (Port Augusta, Australia)
March
1, 2002 -- Part 2 (Robe, Australia)
March
1, 2002 -- Part 1 (Robe, Australia)
February
18, 2002 (Bega, Australia)
February
7, 2002 (Auckland, New Zealand)
February
2, 2002 -- Part 2 (Taupo, New Zealand)
February
2, 2002 -- Part 1 (Taupo, New Zealand)
January
25, 2002 (Hokitika, New Zealand)
January
20, 2002 (Geraldine, New Zealand)
January
16, 2002 (Te Anau, New Zealand)
January
12, 2002 -- Part 2 (Dunedin, New Zealand)
January
12, 2002 -- Part 1 (Dunedin, New Zealand)
January
1, 2002 -- Part 2 (Christchurch, New Zealand)
January
1, 2002 -- Part 1 (Christchurch, New Zealand)
December
24, 2001 (Wellington, New Zealand)
December
20, 2001 (Auckland, New Zealand)
December
16, 2001 (Auckland, New Zealand) December
14, 2001 (Aitutaki, Cook Islands)
December
10, 2001 (Rarotonga, Cook Islands)
December
3, 2001 -- Part 2 (Bellingham, Washington)
December
3, 2001 -- Part 1 (Bellingham, Washington)
October
18, 2001 -- Part 3 (Bismarck, North Dakota)
October
18, 2001 -- Part 2 (Bismarck, North Dakota)
October
18, 2001 -- Part 1 (Bismarck, North Dakota)
October
6, 2001 (Fort Lincoln State Park, North Dakota)
September
30, 2001 -- Part 2 (Bismarck, North Dakota)
September
30, 2001 -- Part 1 (Bismarck, North Dakota)
September 15, 2001 (Bismarck, North Dakota)
August
30, 2001 (Webster, South Dakota)
August
18, 2001 (Watertown South Dakota) August
17, 2001 (Walnut Grove, Minnesota)
August
14, 2001 (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
August
10, 2001 (Battle Creek, Michigan)
August
8, 2001 (12 Days in Syracuse: Part 2)
August
8, 2001 (12 Days in Syracuse: Part 1)
August
6, 2001 (Manlius, New York)
July
23, 2001 (Middleton, Massachusetts)
July
22, 2001 (Boston, Massachusetts)
July
20, 2001 (Pomfret, Connecticut)
July
18, 2001 (Denton, Maryland)
July
16, 2001 (Cumberland, Virginia)
July
14, 2001 (Roanoke, Virginia)
July
9, 2001 (Sevierville, Tennessee)
July
8, 2001 (Fontana Lake, North Carolina)
July
5, 2001 (Manchester, Tennessee)
June
30, 2001 (Hohenwald, Tennessee)
June
29, 2001 (Corinth, Mississippi)
June
27, 2001 (Natchez, Mississippi)
June
24, 2001 (Austin, Texas)
June
20, 2001 (Canyon de Chelly, Arizona)
June
18, 2001 (Clay Canyon, Utah)
June
15, 2001 -- Part 2 (Zion Nat'l Park, Utah)
June
15, 2001 -- Part 1 (Zion Nat'l Park, Utah)
June
14, 2001 (San Diego, California)
June
11, 2001 (San Jose, California)
June
2, 2001 (Bellingham, Washington)
May
19, 2001 (Hillsboro, Oregon)
April
30, 2001 (Hillsboro, Oregon)
April
19, 2001 (Bellingham, Washington)
April
5, 2001 (Bellingham, Washington)
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