Sailors on wheels; from Cairns to Darwin

  March 2013

We left Soren Larsen and Sydney Harbour behind, with the big plan to discover Australia. The start of our contract on the Royal Albatross in Singapore had been delayed till the second week of April, due to a refit which takes longer than expected. For us the opportunity to get some red earth between our toes.

We flew to Airlie Beach to visit my friend Karla, with whom I sailed in St Tropez in the Classic regatta in 2005. Unfortunately the weather was very bad; day’s with rain and more rain and a cyclone circling at the ocean. Good for us to work on our blogs, prepare our road trip and socialize with Karla and her friends.

A ten hour drive from Airlie Beach to Cairns

We booked a bus for the 10 hour drive from Airlie Beach to Cairns. For me it felt like the sweet memories from years ago, travelling with friends in Mexico and Indonesia. Listen to music, see the scenery go by and daydream.

Escape the rain and the approaching cyclone

 

We picked up the campervan, named “spaceship”. They boost in their brochure that it works like a “Swiss army knife”. A camper that is like a car to drive but has the basic features of a campervan. I got a shock how small it was and that we had to live a month in a small box, with a little tent at the back for the enlargement of the bed. Billy got the real shock when he looked under the car and found a shock absorber broken. We had to wait a day for the repairs and I could set my mind to camping and living in the back of a van. But no worries, after a couple of day’s I was completely used to folding out the car into a bedroom or a kitchen. Sleeping in the back, seeing the stars through the rear window and wake with the sunrise is very special!

 The plan was to go “outback” and our route was the following:

Cairns to Darwin;

The route we drove, check also the link

Via Wonga Beach, Chillagoe, Mount Surprise, Gregory dawns, Adels Grove,
Mount Isa, Barkley Homestead, Katherine
 We drove 3597 km and used 380 liter of fuel.

The bible for our road trip (look HEMA is worldwide)

http://www.distancesfrom.com/au/map-from-Cairns-to-Darwin-via-Wonga-Beach-Road-Chillagoe-Mount-Surprise-Adels-Grove-Airport-Mount-Is/MapHistory/2525636.aspx?IsHistory=1&GMapHistoryID=2525636

The outback, past the Great Dividing Range, were the sky opens wide and the sun beats down on the tough country. Were the hot Sunny day meets a starry night. The land with the rare colours and the dusty red earth!

Cairns- Wonga Beach;

On the road

First day driving along the beautiful coastal route. But still rain and camping in a little van is not really fun when you have to sit inside. It is low season everywhere (who want to go north in the wet season?)  So most of the time we are “only the lonely” on the camping parks.

From Cairns to Wonga beach

The rain never stopt in Wonga Beach

Our camp in Wonga Beach

 Also in Wonga Beach and we had a spot right at the beach. Falling asleep with the waves crashing on the beach is fantastic. But be warned; here you don’t swim in the sea! There are stingers and crocodiles and both you don’t want to meet.

Wonga Beach-Chillagoe

For the pleasure of camping we decided to leave the rain behind us en go west. We take the wheelbarrow way to Chillagoe. The name goes back to the time when the gold rush was on:

Men from countries around the world toiled in an incredibly hot, hostile environment. Their mode of transport was basic. When work became scarce, or it was time to move on, they walked. Ir- vinebank to Chillagoe, Chillagoe to the Hodgkinson gold fields, or over the wild ranges to Mt Molloy.  "Dad pushed a wheelbarrow in which were stacked all their belongings. A few pieces of iron, which would be used as shelter; maybe some hessian, a spade, a lantern, a few kitchen things and very little else. Mum and the children straggled behind, Mum, usually with a babe in arms. "  (Quote from old-timer Mr. Peel)  It is as a tribute to these pioneers, who trudged the dusty tracks, that this route has been named The Wheelbarrow Way .

Coastal Road to Mossman

Morsman to Mareeba

  Termite Mounds make the scenery into a sort of a space landscape. People have eaten termites in many cultures. They are best gently roasted on a hot plate or lightly fried until slightly crisp!

Termite mounds

Termites as a source of inspiration in architecture. The Eastgate Centre, Harare, is a shopping centre and office block in central Harare, Zimbabwe, whose architect, Mick Pearce, used passive cooling inspired by that being used by the local termites.

To go “outback” you have to leave the paved roads and go “dirt”. We were lucky because the wet season was extremely mild, otherwise we would have had a lot more problems with flooding and closed roads. The good tip for “of the road” driving is; ask the guys in the roadhouses and the truck drivers, they know exactly what is going on.

Besides the flooding you have all sort of hazards like cows, wallaby, birds and road trains what make you understand why most of the people drive 4 WD with an enormous wild rack on the front!

We Leave the paved roads; this is the outback

Roadtrains = danger

They are so close, stay were you are

We Parked our spaceship on the campground of Chillagoe Observatory & Eco lodge. We looked that evening to the stars and planets in the observatory through an enormous telescope. Amazing and of course we from now on we always check the Southern Cross before we go to sleep. Wildlife is just in the backyard from the campervan. What a fantastic way of camping!

Sunset drinks in our camp

Wallibies in our back garden

Not shy at all

We went to the Chillagoe caves, a very interesting limestone formation from millions year old. A nice little exhibition about Chillagoe mining and the pioneers in the information centre and all the info from Jim, responsible for the tourist information centre, made Chillagoe a remarkable place.

Stalagmites & stalagtites

Limestone caves of Chillagoe

Mineworkers at the Chillagoe company

 Chillagoe-Mount Surprise;
Another good tip when you are travelling; ask he locals what their favourite place is and for sure you will see nice spots “off the beaten track”. Advice from Jim; go to Adels Grove that is the Garden of Eden! We added this to the itinerary.

The road to Mount Surprise is a dirt road and after some tactics how to pass the floodway, we left. Challenging but absolutely worth it to go into the real nature!

Challenge for our Toyata van

We are still in the wet season

Beautiful nature and well worth the road challenge

View from our camp spot in Mount Surprise

Mount Surprise-Gregory –Downs;

Some serious driving today so we leave at 7.30 in the morning. Camping makes your lifestyle anyway like a bird’s life; “when it gets dark you go to sleep (reading outdoors with light is asking for mosquito attacks) and when the sun rises and warms up the van so our bedroom, it is time to wake up.

Croyden, interesting retail

A lunch stop in Croyden with a remarkable store and hotel and the most beautiful variation in landscape and road.

Some old stuff but rather any new stuff either

The local cattle station boss

The famous hotel in Croyden

...End of the highway

Highway

Still some flooding

Check the burning smell

And the earth colors red

Kings of the road; roadtrains

We have to stop driving when it gets dark, because of the danger of crossing animals and an encounter with a kangaroo is not a pleasant one. We stop at the roadhouse in Gregory Downs. Chat with the truck drivers, enjoy the pub BBQ and get the latest road conditions.

Gregory Downs – Adels Grove;

Tough for our little campervan again

On the way to Adels Grove

Dancing cows on the road

A very short distance today so we arrive early in the morning in Adels Grove. According Jim it was the Garden of Eden, but we see mainly dry rocky hot land. But the beauty is in Badjamulla national park. We rent canoes to peddle in the gorge en swim in the waterfalls. Billy made some wonderful video clips of our trip.

We visited the Lawn Hill Creek and I had a wonderful swim in the emerald green water. No crocks here, only fresh water crocs and they are small and friendly! Around the grove are the former botanical gardens, created by Albert Leslang in 1939. Originally there were 1000 species of exotic and native plants. Today it looks more like a dry Savannah landscape, just enough for cowes to wander around.

 

Adels Grove to Mount Isa;

We wish we had a 4WD

A challenging route via dirt roads, but according the locals we could do it. Maybe the Gregory River was still flooding, but pass the floodway with care, steady low speed and everything is OK! After 1 hour driving we had the not passable hurdle of the Gregory river. If you go till your knees in the water, there will be water in the van. So we have to turn around and take the paved roads and go back via Burk & Wills.

Can we take this hurdle?

This hurdle is too much, we have to turn !

 

Road trains are an integral part of the Australian Outback, just like kangaroos, red dust and endless horizons.The  serious roadtrains, the ones with three or more trailers, are restricted to the Australian Outback regions. Road trains shrunk the Australian continent to a more manageable size (though that's still relative...).

A roadtrain may be over 50 metres long and can weigh up to nearly 200 tonnes!

200 tonnes moving at considerable speed aren't going to stop in a hurry. Those monsters can't even slow down or change direction in a hurry, so don't expect them to do so because you'll end up in trouble and guess who'll win?

 

 

It was an unfortunate day because after 2 hours driving we had a flat tire! Change of plans again; we have to go to a bigger city to find a new tyre. So destination Mount Isa. On arrival we were so tired and exhausted of all the excitement, that we booked a room in a motel and had a nice meal in the restaurant. Mount Isa is a wealthy mining town, far away from everything, were multiple beers are needed to cool down the dusty heat.

Mount Isa-Barkley homestead

We were lucky that one of the six car tyre companies had our tyre on stock and within an hour we were on the road again on our way to Barkley homestead. Kilometres of nothing! No one lives here just emu’s, kangaroos and cattle stations in the “middle of nowhere”.

Just when we set up our camp and had an arrival drink, the flies started their attack. Unbearable and we had to go inside to escape them. Lesson leraned; never stay on a farm station or anywhere near !!

Barkly homestead-Katherine;

Today we have a distance to bridge of just over 800 km. We leave when the sun rises and the route is all highway! What we learned from the locals as well is, fuel up when the tank is half, because you never know how close the next fuel station is.

Our stay in Katherine was relaxing and from our campervan a beautiful view on the wildlife of Australia. To get the best pictures, Billy had to jump some fences and barbed wire and with blood marks on his legs, he came back with the best pictures ever.

 

Katherine-Darwin;

Short distance today and we are absolutely going back to civilisation. Roads are better and more crowded and even traffic lights. In Darwin we stay for a couple of nights in a motel, to give our spaceship some rest and sleep in an air-condition room and wash the red earth from our feet.

 

After 3597 km we made it to Darwin

We did it, drove all the way from Cairns to Darwin. We were in the “outback” and we love it! We are only half way. Next series is from Darwin to Alice Springs via Kakadu national park. Final destination is Sydney, so more kilometres and more stories to expect.

The sea again. Darwin

Ahoy Charlotte

The billowing sails of Sydney

February 2013

For us as sailors, the maritime history of Australia is amazing. Remember that it took a few navigators over 100 year to search for the undiscovered continent, Terra Australis.  We found a lot of the stories displayed in the Maritime museum and anyway Sydney is one big maritime paradise.

Sydney Maritime museum

But it was the Dutch navigators, who discovered first the “lost southern” continent.

The fair breeze blew, the white foam blew

The furrow followed free

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner part II

Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772-1834

In 1623  Jan Carstensz reported to the Dutch East India captains of seeing a dry land, no use to mankind, whose inhabitants were 'the poorest and most wretched creatures ever seen'

Then it was the inspirer of this blog, Abel Tasman, who searched for the undiscovered continent and accidentally came upon Tasmania which he claimed and named Van Diemen's Land. He next found and named New Zealand.

Abel Tasman passage, a replica of his map in marble on the floor in the State Library

Capt. James Cook

Endeavour

April 1770, Captain James Cook on the Endeavour spotted and claimed the east coast of Australia for the Crown. He named it New South Wales. And as we 
know a penal Colony had been set up at Botany Bay a desperate attempt to ‘cleanse the festering sores' that were England's overflowing prisons.

The Rawson Institute for Seaman at The Rocks, formerly the Mariner's Church, was creating a mission for neglected seamen.

 










Sydney harbour is amazing and there are boats everywhere. Ferries, cruise liners, replicas, harbour tour boats, motor boats and yachts.

And with so much maritime inspiration, we were looking for a ship to sail on. The start of our job on the Royal Albatross in Singapore had been delayed, so we have a couple of weeks to kill. In the sailing world, you can try to send mails and resume’s, but much better is just to “rock up” at the dock. Networking is another must in sailing and with help from my friend Karla, with whom I sailed in St. Tropez in the Classic regatta; we met Marty from Sydney Tall Ships.

If we want to come out for a trial day sailing?
Of course, sailing bag packed and off we go to
Campbell’s cove to meet with the ship. Both Billy
and I were completely astonished to see he Soren Larsen moored at the quay. For the sailors, this is a very famous Tall Ship which was starring in the Onedin Line (my favourite TV program when I
was a little girl) and circumnavigated the world
several times. We both have sent several emails
with job applications, but we never got an answer. And guess: we are going to sail on the
 SOREN LARSEN!

Soren Larsen in Sydney Harbour

Of course I was nervous. After 4 years in the office being a landlubber, back on a Tall ship. Do I remember the lines, the pins, the sail setting commands and “do I still dare to climb the mast? “ Billy got immediately directed to the engine room and I got a climbing harness and instructions for the mooring lines (shit I hope that I can still throw a heaving line!). But we did it! End of our trial day we got the invitation from Marty the captain “yes you are more than welcome to be crew on the Soren Larsen. Your bunks will be ready; you can stay onboard for the next weeks". When Billy and I walked back to our hotel that evening we just sang the song “YES YES we are going to sail on the Soren Larsen, the freaking Soren Larsen”. For you as readers of this blog herewith the link to the website of the Soren and you understand our fascination.

Brasso, Brasso. Shiny!

http://www.sorenlarsen.com

We packed our bags in the hostel and moved to the ship. We stayed in a "luxurious cabin" but still so small that you at least sleep with one of your bags in your bunk !

So how the day of a sailor does looks? The sailing program is harbour tours 3x a day. That means waking up in the morning and polish the brass, scrub the deck and get the ship ready for guests. A lot of catering activities while the people get served drinks and food during the sail.

Going aloft, climbing the mast to get the sails ready

Coiling again and again

Going aloft, climb the mast to un-gasket the sails and get them ready to set. Set the sails, most of the time just a couple of square sails, staysail and jib. Tidy the ship, coil the lines and relax for a bit. Enjoy the wonderful view of Sydney harbour and chit chat with the guests.

Crewmate Mike and me

My big help and my buddy on deck was Mike to let me remember all the lines and sail setting commands and after a week I was back on track.  YES Tall Ship girl again.

Billy is mostly busy operating the engine controls and worrying about the clutch. When that was done he helped with hauling on some lines.

 Another famous character on the boat is Frankie, the host who tells about the maritime history and make sure that the guests have a great time.


But my goodness, my muscles were sore after a couple of days sailing and tired from all the physical strenguous work. I really had to shake off my office lifestyle and every day I got stronger and the mast seemed lower. What a fantastic Tall Ship is Soren Larsen and so much fun with the crew. Hopefully we will join her again in August to sail more and join the Tall Ships event.

YESSSS.... Tall Ships girl again!

 Ahoy Charlotte

Sydney; a hyper energetic marketplace of the soul

 

February 2013

We left Bali and her tranquillity behind with a little pain in our hearts. Going to Sydney, the city known for the loud, uncompromising and “in your face” mentality. We flew with Scoot airlines to Sydney, what was a very surprising experience of a low cost carrier. No luggage included in the fare and rocking up at midnight to check in, learned us that trying to travel with 80 kg’s of luggage cost you a fortune of excess fee’s. I had to get my negotiations skills out, paid cash and next time “book your excess luggage ahead!

Highfield hotel, Victoria street, Pott's Point

As budget travellers, we stayed in the Highfield hotel in Victoria Street, Potts Point. One block away from the "roughy toughy" area of Kings Cross. Our street was lovely and besides the shared bathroom facilities, which really needed a thorough clean and paint touch up, we were happy with our little room with even a fridge.

Of course we started with the icon of the city: The Sydney Opera House. The inspiration for the design of Danish architect Jorn Utzon, were billowing sails. Architect Louis Kahn said “The sun did not know how beautiful its light was, until it was reflected of this building”.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney is a beautiful city, with lots of outdoor enjoyment. Parks, Botanical Gardens and the beaches. I remember when I visited Sydney 16 years ago, that I thought “I want to live here”. Sydney has it all; the city buzz circles around the huge harbour with outdoor activities and boating. Unfortunately me being over 30 years old; no way to get a work visa, so not easy to fulfil this dream.

 

The Rocks, the old part of Sydney, were he sailors and whalers, joined the convicts and inns and brothels sprang up to entertain them. Today it is Sydney’s cultural and historic heritage with unfortunately a lot of tourist traps. Gazing at the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 134m high and 53.000 tons of steel.

The Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge

Australian Museum

 


With so many things to see we choose the Australian Museum as first to visit. A natural history museum, with skeletons of dinosaur, giant wombats and video projections of snakes, spiders, crocodiles and all these dangerous creatures, you wish you will never ever see on your “outback tour”.

Indigenous Australians

Most interesting for me was the exhibition about the aboriginals, the indigenous people. Aboriginal history and spirituality with their dreamtime stories. The snake is of great significance. The rainbow      serpent is regarded as the creator of life and created the rivers land and the birds and the animals. But also the sad story of the Aboriginal right issues, their stolen land, used for sheep and cattle stations and “the stolen generation” where the children of the Aboriginals were moved from their parents. And till today the aboriginals fight for their freedom. There will be a 2013 Referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution.

 

 The museum of contemporary art has been raising the most open minded eyebrows because of her controversial exhibitions. We went to Taboo with a lot of work about war, discrimination and sex which even made me as Dutch free liberal spirit sometimes astonished and ashamed.

Australian history & crime against the indignuous people

Self portrait as a narcotic from Jenny Watson

Shocking exhibitions

Sydney on Valentine’s Day. What a dream: Ti Amo (I love you) written for us in the air, a champagne tapas dinner at the Opera kitchen and a performance “la Soiree” in the Opera House. Finished off with midnight drinks and the view of the Opera House by night.

I love you

The Sydney food experience is changed from the colonial meat and two vegie culture, and changed into a food culture with star chefs, food festivals and a multi cultural kitchen. We tried the wonderful fresh fish from the fish market, the siphon coffee from Antidote (best coffee in Pyrmont), Chat Thai (make reservations ahead) .

Coffee culture Antodote

 Harry’s cafe de Wheels an institution since 1938 and foto’s of special guests who ate here (Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken).


 The beach is an essential part of the Sydney experience. Join the bronze & beautiful, watch the surfers and eat an ice cream. Just hop on the ferry to Manly and half hour later you can stick your toes in the golden sand.

Manly Beach

Sydney, what a wonderful city! Next blog we will sail and see Sydney from the water.

Ahoy Charlotte