Going down under: Australia’s wonders

Crocodile Rock – Down Under

As much as I had wanted to go to Russia when I was a teen, I also had big plans to visit the other end of the planet, and possibly as far away from Canada as one can get, by going to Australia. When I finished college and set off for Asia, it was partly with the thought in mind that I was getting an awful lot closer to my goal of Australia, and that I was sure to be able to make it to that country within the two years that I had signed up for work in Thailand – alas, the dream was not to come true to easily, and so quickly. It took a full 8 years before I did finally make it to the land down under, and only for a whirlwind production trip. Nevertheless, it was a great trip, and a great experience, and I still have in mind to revisit that country before too long (although the last time I tried to do so was in 2013, and it just wasn’t in the cards. It’s 2019 now, maybe the 8-year thing will happen again, which means that maybe I’ll make it in 2021 – still not too late).

Australia was memorable, in more ways than one. Of all the travelling I have done over the decades, whether it was to Argentina, South Africa, or any other continent, I had never had any problems with my luggage (other than unknowingly lugging around 5 kilograms of rice on one trip for the camera crew, but that’s another story). It was the trip to Australia, however, that put me face-to-face with the problem of arriving at a destination with no luggage. As we stood at the luggage belt in Cairns, it became plain to see that my bag was just not going to show up. The terminal was deserted, all other passengers having left, and for the last fifteen minutes no new piece of luggage had been placed on the belt, so it was time to figure out what had happened. Half an hour later, the mystery was solved: whereas I had checked in to fly to Cairns, my luggage had apparently been tagged for transfer via Sydney but had been off-loaded and forgotten. There was nothing for it than to take the small bag of accessories provided by the airline and make my way to the hotel – the t-shirt provided was welcome, and since the temperature was nowhere near cold, it was sufficient to wear that day, and with a wash that evening, even good for the next day, for my luggage would not arrive until the evening of that following day.

Birds of a feather…

Feeding the Wildlife

We were met by our guide/host/driver from the Australian Tourism Board, and the first point of order after a hearty breakfast with plenty of coffee was a stop at a local outfitters – the sun was much too strong to be walking outside without some form of protection on my head, and so I ended up with an Akubra hat that was a blessing, for the heat of the sun really was tremendous. (I somehow lost the hat a year or so later and had to replace it with a Canadian Trilby, but will acquire a new one on my very next visit). We were off to see one of the natural attractions of the Cairns area, salt-water crocodiles, and we had them leaping up out of the water for the bait that was dangled from a long pole over the edge of a boat. The first lunge and chomp came as a total surprise – we had been warned about the danger these reptiles posed – and the stealth of the beast was amazing; before we had a chance to react it had snapped the chunk of meat off the line and slipped back below the surface. As we chugged along in the boat, we could see plenty of crocs lying on the shore, basking in the sun, literally warming up their blood and filling up on energy. As the sun continued to climb and we came to a stop, it was not long before more crocs slipped into the water and joined the feeding frenzy; I counted at least 10 of them circling the boat, waiting for a chance to disappear with a piece of flesh; I was glad we were on a boat large enough that none of them would be able to get on board and demand that piece from some part of my body.

Termite homes – this is one of the smaller ones…

From the crocs we moved on to other wildlife, including huge termite chimneys that dotted the countryside, the odd buffalo, and, off a pier, plenty of Barramundi and other assorted fish. Strangely enough, throughout the entire trip I did not see a single Kangaroo; Emus (similar to ostriches), Wallabies, a few Koalas, but no Kangaroo – something to make up for in a repeat visit.

To the Red Centre

As part of the series, we always had to include the production of a short segment on something different, something new, or something weird. In the case of Cairns, we ended up talking to a construction contractor who was in the process of sandblasting a home not with sand, but with tiny metal pellets; it was not something weird, but it was certainly something new that might be applied in Thailand to blast clean the surfaces of buildings or bridges covered in thick layers of carbon from the black smoke emissions of the buses and cars on Bangkok’s roads. We stood and watched for a few moments as our film crew took some footage, and we could clearly see the difference the blasting was making, giving the building a brand new glitter.

Camels – miserable animals – used for treks around Uluru in Australia’s red centre.

The short trip to Cairns was interesting, a quick dive into the tropical region of Australia, before heading further south (and eventually snow), but before that destination was reached, we travelled to the very centre of the country, and the largest rock on earth; or at least the most photographed and well-known rock on earth.