South Australia, Western Australia: 14. - 27.04.2011

Now it meant for us to go west. Two possibilities we had in store for this until February 18th to get to Western Australia. However on the Ferry to Tasmania an Australian told us about a third option, and of course this bug grew until it was the only one left. It would lead us along a dusty gravel road thru the deepest and most solitaire Outback.

Before we left for this adventure, we were on the search of a few animals. Sonja has seen some pictures in a brochure that she got from one of the many visitor centers and an ultimate “I want to see that!” sounded thru Nisto. That is why you could see us driving from one reserve to the next, hoping to see these animals, but we knew chances were slim as they are really rare and even extinct in most other places. But if you don’t try you won’t have a chance at all.

In the Telowie Gorge Conservation Park luck was on our side. We’ve spotted some Yellow footed Rock Wallabies. These supposingly shy creatures got real curious maybe they don’t get to see such persistent tourists all the time. As Markus started to climb the rocks they disappeared just to show up again behind another rock some seconds later. Soon we realized that is not gonna get us somewhere. So Sonja climbed the other side of the gorge to guide Markus in the right direction. Sometimes she could barely hold laughter as Markus struggled to climb up with the Wallaby no 10 Meters away watching that that bloke is doing. A very memorable experience, however in these two week we had some encounters we could have done without.

In the mean time we reached the southern end of the Flinders Range and set up camp and Mount Remarkable National Park for two days. We had planned for a hike into the dramatic gorges, besides that Sonja finally wanted to get rid of that blind passenger. Somehow another mouse found the way inside Nisto. We enjoyed dinner in the last sunrays however we had no clue what we would experience in the coming nights.

It got colder outside, the dishes where done and our ‘mousetrap’ was setup (our foldable sink with some bred inside on top of it a thin sheet balancing also with some bred on it) we snuck into bed with our books. No hour later we heard the by now familiar rustle of the mouse, no five minutes later Markus dove head first down from bed and squeezed the sink shut. A bit of wiggling proved ‘We’ve got it!’ We grabbed the camera and got outside. However we did not get to take a picture, as soon as we opened the sink the mouse jumped effortless up out of it and down from the table where we had placed it. Seems like in Australia also the little animals know how to hop.

Satisfied with the success we snuggled back to bed and turned of light and exited as we where we joked a few more minutes about our victory, until we’ve heard a rustle again. Oh well we’ve got another one the and quickly set up the trap again. Altogether Markus carried three mice out, while one slipped out the trap inside Nisto. Only at dawn it eventually stopped, not because we’ve got them all, no because these mice are only nocturnal.

With heavy eyelids we struggled no five hours later 18 Kilometers thru the park to a gorge where vertical walls are just 2 meters apart. It was a wonderful hike however in the back of our head always was that Nisto is not alone. Also the next night belonged the mouse hunt. This time, with a modified trap, five mice got evicted. Slowly we had some doubts, how can that be, are they coming back in? Indeed, with comparing pictures, we recognized one mouse was caught twice. That’s it, even for Markus it now meant to take more severe measures. That is how we became owners of a ‘real’ mouse trap. Seven times this trap snatched in the following nights, we felt sorry for these buggers but if you don’t get the clear message and even invite your friends…

After we also explored the northern end of the Flinders Range, we too course to the lowest point in Australia, Lake Eyre with its 12 Meters below sea level. It is a salt lake that only filled to level for three times within the last 150 years. However thru the huge floods Queensland encountered early this year and with Lake Eyre being at the end of a huge drainage system, it was time for another fill. The view was overwhelming. The eyes desperately searched for a horizon, but due to the reflection of the water there was just none. We enjoyed a beautiful day at the shore of the lake, which only got disturbed by thousands of flies. We have heard that these nasty buggers are quite annoying, but we never would have imagined that they are that bad. As soon as you get out of the car, you literally get attacked by them and they try to invade any imaginable opening in your head. You literally feel like a freshly digested delicacy. Only with a net around your head it is somewhat bearable.

Now our great outback adventure should start. Ahead of us where 1.661 kilometers, that should take us thru some of the most isolated parts of Australia all along two tracks in the sand that carry the misleading name Anne Beadell respectively Connie Sue Highway. These tracks where laid back in the fifties of the last century by Len Beadell and his Gunbarrel Road Construction Party (six people) to get access to the Woomera Rocket test site as well as for surveying the Outback of Australia and where named after his wife respectively daughter. Today these tracks are a 4WD alternative to the straight, paved and boring Nullabour Highway ‘a bit’ further south along the coast. However packing up and go, does not work here. Next to the normal checks of the car we needed four permits, because parts of it belong to Aboriginals and parts are Nature Reserves or the Woomera Prohibited Area. But since we planned this trip for quite a while we had them all neatly stored in our glove compartment.

Even if we couldn’t really imagine what to expect out there, we looked forward to it like little children for Christmas, seven days far off from any form of civilization. On April 22nd, stocked with food for two weeks, 120 liters of water and 240 liters Diesel, we started our adventure. We dove into an ocean of green and ochre. The huge amounts of rain the last few months worked their wonders also here. The Desert was as green as an English garden in spring, full of flowers and flocks of budgies and even a couple of cockatiels showed up. In parts the track was not even as wide as our Nisto. Nature was continuously working on getting this part back, because government does not maintain this track at all and declared it as recreational road. However looking at the corrugation we cannot really confirm that recreation part. Nevertheless we would do it again right away for this amazing scenery in a world where you really get a feeling of only being a visitor for the fraction of a moment. Maybe it is hard for a reader to imagine what ‘out the back’ makes so exiting. Pictures do not really return, nor can word describe what we have felt out there. Pure nature in its whole extent.

Maybe a few number help you getting the picture; on the whole distance we came across nine moving and two camping vehicles, eight people on the two stations as well as eleven car and one plane wreck. In our perspective that was a lot considering you drive one of the remotest tracks in Australia. But put this in perspective with a trip from Berlin to Moscow, it’s about the same distance (straight line)!? Hardly imaginable.

One encounter we would like to highlight though. Halfway into the track at the only Station we met the Senior Elders of the Spinifex People. An Aboriginal Tribe that didn’t get in contact with the white people until 1950ies, when they cleared the area for their Atomic Bomb tests. They got sent to Missions, but after lengthy negotiations they got their land back about thirty years ago. Nevertheless also for them nothing was like it has been. During their Teatime we got invited to sit with them. But since we speak only English, which is not their preferred tongue, communication was difficult also because of cultural reasons as it seems. Besides it showed us once more to really understand another culture and its people one needs time and lots of it. Nevertheless this brief but original insight was really fascinating, a moment we do like to remember, like the whole of our Outback Adventures. For us it could start again just tomorrow, but since we are already here we are first going to enjoy the ocean for a bit.

Whether we actually got ourselves wet or just bake on the beach? Who knows…?

See ya.

Sonja and Markus

Here it goes to the pictures...