Circumnavigation of Australia
Day: 297-336 Stage Three. Travel days Australia, four years
Temperature - Day (maximum):
12°-35° degrees, sun 25°-55°
Temperature - Night:
9°-20°
On tour – 08.03.2003 – 17.04.2003
In the last six weeks, we have covered around 7,000 kilometers in our old Ford. It took three years to cover this distance on foot. We often think about how exhausting and hard it was to make our way through the eternal wilderness of the outback. For months we had to walk through deserts, over sand dunes, through mulga forests and flood plains, which today only takes us a day.
We are finally enjoying what we consider to be a well-deserved vacation. Thank God we were able to extend our visa. If the authorities had refused the extension request, this round trip would not have been possible. We have to cover around 20,000 kilometers to circumnavigate and cross this fantastic continent. Even if we spend many hours in the car, we enjoy the time.
We spend the first night in the house of General Manager Rod Hockey of Win Television. He lives with his family in Rockhampton. In the few meetings we had before, it turned out that we have common views on the world, spirituality and philosophy. Rod and his wife are excellent hosts. Even if we only spend one night with them, the experience of sleeping in a real bed again after such a long time is indescribable and disconcerting.
On the way to Cairns, we stop in Townsville to pay a visit to my old friend Robert Reichinger. He emigrated to Australia almost 10 years ago. He now lives with the Australian Linda, who gave birth to a beautiful son about six years ago. I went on one of my first trips to Asia with Robert in 1984. The joy of seeing each other again is great and we have a lot to talk about.
Then it’s on to Cairns. The climate is humid and very tropical at this time of year. Tanja and I stroll through the coastal town of Port Douglas. We visit a few jewelry stores to find an opal for Tanja’s engagement ring. After enjoying the sights of Cairns and the surrounding area and I completed a few dives on the Great Barrier Reef, we leave the town. Due to the heavy rainfall further north, in the area called Cape York Pennisula, we turn around and head south again. The temperatures become more pleasant with every kilometer. The route takes you past the coastal towns of Bowen, Mackcay and Rockhampton to Brisbane. There, on the Gold Coast, we visit another friend who, like Robert, was one of my first travel partners. Gerald Krüger and I went on an expedition to the Auca Indians in Ecuador in 1987. He now lives here on the east coast, is married to Australian Susan and has two children. As we haven’t seen each other for years, there is so much to talk about.
Margaret and Greg, Sebastian and Hardie’s buyers, give us the address of a goldsmith in Brisbane. Peter is Greek and a life-affirming, very cheerful person. Together we design Tanja’s engagement ring, our wedding rings and a little camel for me to wear around my neck. After a few days, Peter Papamanolis, who is a gifted artist, forged the symbols of our marriage in gold. Before we leave him and his hospitable wife Filia, we visit a school to tell the children there about our expedition. After a delicious breakfast at Peter and Filia’s, we leave the big city of Brisbane, which seems frighteningly hectic after years of living in the Australian deserts. “I don’t think I can ever live in a city like this again,” says Tanja. “Me neither,” I reply and enjoy the impressive coastal road.
We cross the border from Queensland to New South Wales. We visit the small coastal town of Forsters before Sydney. I fulfill a dream and dive with sharks. The experience is amazing. I would never have thought that it is possible for a human to dive in the middle of a shoal of perhaps 70 or 100 sharks without being eaten by them. However, when one of the divers above us harpoons fish on the surface, the sharks become unpredictable, which is why we have to slowly retreat.
On the rest of the journey we admire the cosmopolitan city of Sydney, its zoo, the Sydney Habour Bridge and the world-famous Opera House. The trip is full of sights, many experiences and new acquaintances. Our Ford has no trouble pulling the heavy trailer over the mountain passes on the east coast. It’s dark as we struggle through the traffic madness of Melbourne. Huge bridges span the Yarra River. From up here, we are overwhelmed by the sea of lights of the huge city.
Now we continue along the south coast. We left New South Wales behind us about 300 kilometers ago. The Great Ocean Road, which we are now following, is located in the state of Victoria. Its beauty and the impressive coastline keep us spellbound. It is a must-see on a round trip around Australia and is without doubt one of the most beautiful stretches of road we have ever driven. The nights have now cooled down to around 9° degrees. We are no longer used to these temperatures and are freezing miserably.
On a few short walks along the cliffs, we see sight-seeing dogs that obviously feel at home in the waves of the southern ocean. The rough seas here on the southern coast of Australia are also home to the famous great white shark. Only recently, fishermen killed a 13-meter-long specimen here.
We leave Victoria behind us and drive to South Australia. Unfortunately, our schedule does not allow us to visit the city of Adelaide. We drive through it and head north again. Even after Port Augusta it gets warmer again. The landscape becomes barren. The country urgently needs rain. It doesn’t take long for the vast, endless plains of the outback to take us in. The Stuart Highway is straight for long stretches and takes us into the Northern Territory.
We are tired when we reach the famous Ayers Rock and are greeted by the pilot Glenn Morey. “Nice to see you again,” he says with a laugh. About 15 months ago, after completing the second stage, we were already his guests. (Diary overview stage 2, 08.12.01-14.12.01)
On 15.04.03 we hike around the sacred mountain of the Aborigines, known as Ayers Rock or Uluru. The last time we were there, we were able to admire the holy mountain in the pouring rain. (Diary overview stage 2, 08.12.01-14.12.01)
This time the sun is shining. In the late afternoon, the gigantic rock glows, bearing witness to the history of the indigenous Australians from the beginning to the present day. We take a seat on a bench and admire this marvel of Mother Earth. We sit there spellbound and excited. We take each other by the hand. “Would you like to be my wife? ‘ I ask Tanja to initiate the solemn act of our engagement. “Yes,” she says, beaming with joy. With my heart pounding, I take the ring out of my pocket that Peter the jeweler made a few days ago and put it on Tanja’s finger. We look at each other and kiss. “I’ve got something for you too,” Tanja says with a laugh. “Yes, what is it?” I ask. She hugs me again and hangs the little camel around my neck, which Peter also made. Then we whisper in each other’s ears and wish for a future together that nothing in the world can destroy.
