Along the West Coast returned to Broome A Broome, in front of a couple of beers, greeting Rusty's friend from Australia who helped me find work in the Kimberley. I am ready to join in an Israeli boy, Arthur, who is traveling to Perth. Let's start at the end of August on his white Ford Fairmont overloaded with stuff, a station wagon of the 90s in very good condition. With
Broome behind him and a dozen kilometers covered are already 'in the middle of the Outback, Australia wild, deserted: no radio, the phone that does not take, a few cars and large expanse of scrub and red earth as far as the eye can see. The road hugs the coastline and is located a few kilometers from the sea, but 'a certainty that we and' data only from the map, the landscape around us and 'monotonous, the street and' starboard and water if they sees. To achieve the spectacular and long Eighty Mile Beach must leave the highway and walk a few miles of dirt road. The white sandy beach and 'populated only by birds and some fishermen. I take some photos and pick a shell memory of one of the most beaches' long the world.
Port Hedland, the next town (about 15 thousand inhabitants) is located 600km from Broome. Here we stopped just to give stores and gasoline. We leave it to the coast to the Karijini National Park, personally, I consider the quintessential Australian landscape. We spend two days to walk across narrow rocky canyons, streams, waterfalls and eucalyptus. In the evening, the sun in sunset dramatically exacerbates the red color of rocks and brush of purple high stratiform clouds, and a dusk from the end of the world. After the flatness of the coast with the highlands of Karijini its unpredictable streams, the narrow and deep wounds carved by water, views, the spectacular cliffs and vertical size and colori della roccia sono un piacere per gli occhi. La terra australiana ci avvolge e si incastra in uno dei nostri pneumatici, lacerandolo. Il successivo acquisto di una nuova ruota a Tom Price, nel profondo West, non si rivela un'operazione economica.
Dall'entroterra ritorniamo verso la costa e facciamo tappa ad Exmouth un luogo significativo per la sua posizione: e' dove la costa, dopo essersi snodata a ovest di Broome, "vira" decisa verso sud e Perth. A Exmouth inizia il Ningaloo Reef, la barriera corallina della West Coast, decisamente piu´piccola di quella “Grande” lungo la costa orientale ma sicuramente piu´accessibile; bastano un paio di pinne e un boccaglio. I coralli si trovano infatti ad un centinaio di metri dalla spiaggia. Only drawback - and not the least - the spiteful undercurrents that create a dangerous backwash effect of preventing, at times, the return to shore. In addition to the reef site is marked by a naval base and a forest of radio antennas in the U.S..
Not far from town and the radiation of a small hill is home to a beautiful lighthouse. At sunset, on this hill, we see enormous humpback whales in migration. Are returning with their offspring to the seas of Antarctica after being played off the northwest coast of Australia. With a little 'luck, as well as fin whales and sboffi, you can' see some jumps (which justifies their English name of humpback whales).
Exmouth me a little 'feel' end of the world, the last bastion colonized, in addition to which there is' nothing more. Feeling the fact of being the north end of a narrow peninsula with nothing around except the huge void in Australia. From here we move to the south over 700 km up to Shark Bay and Monkey Mia. A `other remote area, after disturbing and full of aquatic life: sharks - of course - that dolphins and dugongs, huge expanses of underwater feeding on algae, is dubbed the" sea cows ". Monkey Mia and 'famous' cause along the shores of this bay on time, every morning for over 30 years and is visiting a group of dolphins. What justified the creation of a resort on the famous beach and dolphins are now being fed by a group of rangers, three times a day. According to some a malpractice but should be considered while the tourist who shoots thousands of miles to reach this place only to see the dolphins up close, once you get there ... want to see them then!
Continuing the journey south and the barren semi-desert vegetation of the 'outback gradually leave room for pastures, fields and woods. In Australia and 'spring near Kalbarri and are enlivened by the many colors of wildflowers. Coloured stretches as far as the eye can see. A paradise for lovers.
Kalbarri and 'a day's drive from Perth and it is perceived walking the streets of this town. A lovely seaside 'resort inspired by the holiday weekend, after spending a day `s fishing fleet, filled with restaurants and bars. To the north and south of the country e'caratterizzata the coast with high cliffs, shaped by the fury of wind and water. Kalbarri is the last place where one feels the calm, indolent air of the small provincial town, before arriving in Perth, the capital city where 85% of the resident population of the state of Western Australia.
Along the way we stopped one last time to see the Pinnacle Desert, so called because of monolithic rocks, hundreds of them, sprouting from the sand not far from the sea. An interesting and mysterious place, Like many of the attractions of Australia, easily accessible by car: You can even make the slalom between the pinnacles.
12 days away from Broome to appear here `horizon the skyline of Perth: the skyscrapers of the CBD, Central Business District . For the first time in months I see many cars at once, traffic, people crowding the sidewalks. Perth is the first city 'with millions of inhabitants who visited Australia and the first impression is not' exciting.
Rene '
The days go by. Flywheel. Six weeks go by in a hurry. E 'on August 22 and worked for 35 days, surrounded by' huge bush. I have often felt the need to move, to explore what is around me; pulse would have started walking, chasing the horizon, with the desire to discover what lies beyond that hill, at the end of that clear or what is behind that group of rocks. A trip impossible, crazy, that would end early for lack of food or water. Only fantasies of the mind, triggered by the isolation of the place.
Now I am going to return, as they say, the civilizations', in a particular way. From farm to Drysdale River (60km from the camp) I am embarking on a small plane landed a few minutes is delivering mail in remote corners of the Kimberley. The pilot-postman, Aron, is 22 but looks 18. He tells me that fly from 3 years are in his hands. The plane ' lowercase: bi-helix, 8 seats and many parcels to deliver. After leaving Drysdale River Plan on two other farms, and Theda Doongan, communities' and Kalumburu Aboriginal Oolbungurri, before reaching the town of Wyndham and Kununurra to reach the final destination. Four hours of ups and downs, air gaps, slopes of grass or clay, with one hand on the bag for air sickness and eyes glued to the window. Below us, endless stretches of barren land and rock, serpentine rivers and herds of cattle are the postmen of the air. At each landing a few words with the locals, drink a glass of water, top up fuel and then say goodbye until the next delivery; Aron, in quest'area di remota Australia, lo fa gia' da due anni.
Quando arrivo a Kununurra, con il viso candido come quello di un lenzuolo, ho l'impressione di venir travolto da una ondata di rumore. E' strano, forse improbabile, dato che mi trovo in un sonnolento paese di 6mila anime. Tuttavia il cambiamento, da nulla a molto, e' drastico. Da una tenda singola circondata da natura incontaminata, alla camerata di un ostello. Mi lascio andare a sensazioni nostalgiche, ricordando fresche albe e brucianti tramonti; stavo meglio ieri, penso, ma ho comunque voglia di viaggiare, di tornare al movimento. L'indomani sono gia' su un pullman con destinazione Broome; 13 ore e mi ritrovo dove avevo cominciato, giusto un mese e mezzo fa. Davanti a me spreads throughout the west coast and the beauty of at least 3 thousand miles before arriving in Perth.
Rene '
It works! Broome, west coast of Australia, 15 thousand inhabitants and a 22km long white sand beach, beautiful. Once a remote village of pearl divers and 'now a resort' vacation among the most 'popular coast. The business of pearl and 'still flourishing and involves the same way as tourists who visit the areas of production and buy souvenirs, and local people employed in factories. Among the backpackers who flock to the hostels of Broome pearls and a place in the 'highly coveted because, despite the work is hard (14 for 7 consecutive days of leave and so on), the pay and 'high: up to $ 1200 a week, they say.
Broome and 'impossible to turn a small town on foot. But how - you ask - with only 15 thousand inhabitants? For starters, the old town, which turns into 20 minutes, and '7km away from the Cable Beach (the beautiful white sand). Then there is' another, called Town Beach, where there is also a library and a small museum that is a couple of miles from the center. All around there are residential neighborhoods - estates - and industrial areas, airport placed in the middle 'way between Cable Beach and downtown. For those who are 'on foot like me and' a slaughterhouse, compounded by the existence of a single bus that runs every 30 minutes.
A Broome 'of casa Rusty, un ragazzo australiano conosciuto in Cambogia, che per 6 mesi all' anno fa la guida nelle Kimberley: porta a spasso turisti per 13 giorni su un truck 4x4 di marca Isuzu. Lo incontro un lunedi sera; e' sbronzissimo perche' ha appena terminato un tour e si sta godendo 2 giorni di pausa. Tra una birra e l'altra riesco a spuntare un colloquio di lavoro per il mercoledi successivo: in uno dei loro campeggio stanziali (wilderness o safari camps) cercano personale.
Il seguente incontro con Tony, uno dei responsabili della Kimberley Wilderness Adventures, piu' che un colloquio si configura come un "ti spiego quello che c'e' da fare e tu mi dici se la cosa ti interessa". Accetto e ringrazio e dopo alcuni giorni, il 14 luglio per l'esattezza, are on the mini-truck carrying a weekly, the food in the 3 camps located in the Kimberley, north-east of Broome. Back on the Gibb River Road and back on a road traveled only a little more 'than a week ago, but in the opposite direction. They are intended to 'Ungolan Wilderness Camp, near the Mitchell Falls and a short distance from the coast. Almost 900km from Broome and 3-day trip on a dirt road: a Milan-Bari, but nothing in between! If I look at an atlas, good luck, I would first provide the GPS coordinates and add: I've never traveled so far to get a job.
beginning and 'hard. I have to get used to new rhythms, the days are exhausting: every other day, woke up at 5:15 or 7. Cooking, cleaning, wash, stretch, clear ... Barely perceive the place, the landscape could be anywhere but I am in a special place that only a few years Australians have begun to discover. Do you think that one of the most 'stage - the Bungle Bungle domes of stratified rock of a different color - were made available to the general public only in 1982, and that there are other hidden treasures, especially in the form of rock art, the suspect in many.
After a week I get transferred to the Mitchell Falls Marunbabidi Camp, 200km south-east of the previous year, inland in the bush. Here the next step in 5 weeks and my working conditions are improving. The camp is' small: it has 16 tents and can 'hold up to a maximum of 32 people. At work we're 4 and we manage very well; the mornings end up around 12, which gives us a few hours to relax before the evening shift, which usually ranges from 16 to 21. I assimilated the pace of work and I enjoy the free time after having prepared breakfast, remade beds, clean toilets and spread the laundry can take a swim in the creek near the camp, read a book or just sleep in the shade of a tree. I discovered the bird-watching and I enjoy to lurk with binoculars to find birds of the place: colorful parrots, hawks, herons and other birds with strange names (Cockatoo, Kookaburra). I appreciate the solitude and tranquility 'and isolation of this place untouched. No TV, no radio. A phone keeps us connected to the world and allows us a very slow navigation (28k) internet. The Olympics have lost me. I learned that China won the gold medal standings, but it was something readily predictable.
Our neighbors - a community 'Aboriginal and disused farm, 20km away - do not see them hardly ever. One evening a shot not far from the camp tells me that the aborigines have just provided with meat (cow). Here in the bush do not go for very thin you hungry? Kill. The sun and 'hot, arid vegetation, wildlife and the words are as precious as water during the Dry Season: If you ask a local how long they live here, after un lungo sguardo e una pausa di 10 secondi, ti rispondera' "too long", spostando gli occhi sul paesaggio, come in un western di Sergio Leone.
Nell'ultimo racconto vi avevo gia' accennato alle dimensioni, ma vi do ulteriori dati sull'area: le Kimberley occupano il 16% dello Stato del Western Australia, una regione che puo' contenere tranquillamente Inghilterra, Giappone e Germania; la superficie si estende per 700km da est ad ovest e 600km da nord a sud, per un totale di 421mila km quadrati; al suo interno si trovano fattorie e proprieta' private grandi come mezza provincia di Bergamo.
A Marunbabidi, 20 giorni dopo il mio arrivo, il sole al tramonto colora di rosso l'orizzonte, gli uccelli lanciano gli ultimi, acuti, richiami e il fuoco al centro del campeggio illumina i volti dei nostri ennesimi ospiti serali; e' in questo momento che, alzando gli occhi alle prime stelle, mi rendo conto di essere in un posto speciale.
Rene'
The Kimberley to Darwin tour Fine giugno; e' arrivato il momento di partire. Dopo lunghe indagini e ricerche decido di aggregarmi ad un tour organizzato che in 9 giorni (e 8 notti) mi portera' da Darwin a Broome, sulla west coast. Gia' prima di arrivare in Australia avevo deciso che avrei visitato, ad ogni costo, la zona chiamata Kimberley che, a detta di molti, รจ l'ultima vera frontiera del continente: coste frastagliate infestate da coccodrilli, un bush selvaggio, lunghi canyon scolpiti da turbolenti fiumi, aspri massifs, gorges, waterfalls and huge farms. The area 'a-half times as large as England, Switzerland, or 11 times, and populated by no more than' 50 thousand people. The paved highway that connects Darwin to Broome around the Kimberley, which are penetrated only by the Gibb River Road: 700km of dirt road that does not forgive, we drilled during the tour 2 times, broken a windshield and melted a bearing!
farms in this area are so large (some exceeding 1 million hectares) and 'unnecessary and too expensive, fence, cows graze in the wild and are monitored by helicopters. With me traveling
other 7 people, all squashed into the back of a Toyota Landcruiser (siamo seduti uno di fronte all'altro). La nostra guida, Kurt, e' un classico cowboy; un ragazzo del posto, muscoloso, abbronzato e belloccio che si farebbe tutte le tipe - ce ne fosse una carina... - del gruppo. Sempre alla ricerca dell'effeto speciale ma, devo ammettere, sa il fatto suo quando si tratta di fare "vita all'aria aperta". La prima notte, dopo cena, sparisce e torna dopo mezz'ora con in mano un coccodrillo d'acqua dolce (in teoria, innocuo) di un metro. Non bastasse, lo molla vicino al fuoco e in un nano secondo 8 persone saltano sulle sedie e urlano "cazzo, riprendilo in mano!".
Nei giorni seguenti, dopo averci illustrato le meraviglie del mondo animale, ci impressiona con una serie di tuffi in pozze d'acqua Disproportionate from heights, we are about 25-30 meters. Another day we catch the fish they eat for dinner, then go hunting for crabs from the river, a short guy.
along the Gibb River Road we saw almost all the gorges and waterfalls accessible by 4x4. Fantastic places, pristine, crystal clear rivers of ice water. The night accommodations have always been kind of "wild camping" in nature, under the stars. Evenings spent around a warm fire and clear nights of bitter cold and the semi-desert climate of the region it means warm days (35 degrees) and refreshing nights (5 degrees).
Kurt and 'separate the kitchen: a special mention for a leg of lamb and grilled vegetables; absolutely delicious.
For me 'the first taste of Australian outback, the rugged hinterland. I admit: I'd like to do so themselves, but the current financial resources do not. The tour 'ok, and the fact that the group is small, making it a good alternative to travel independently.
dirt road, red rocks, dust, dry vegetation and beautiful rivers I have entered the heart and when the sun sinks into the waters of the 'Indian Ocean at Broome, 1200km south-west of Darwin, I get the feeling that one of the Kimberley is not a closed chapter.
Rene '
