TRAVEL

A day in the life of a big Oz road trip

It’s a long haul from the east to the heart of Australia. VALERIE MERWOOD shares part of a journey that was a great adventure for mind, body and soul.

Time for a cuppa — Noel Merwood in the red between Uluru and the WA border where the birds (below) play in the water drips from a tank.

Last winter, my husband Noel and I set off to drive the great central heart of Australia – a real adventure for two senior Kiwi/Aussies who hold “the land”, wherever it may be, deep in our hearts.

We travelled 17,000 kms and spent 60 days seeing Birdsville, Alice Springs, the Great Central Road, the national parks of Western Australia and the Northern Territory and the top of Queensland in our red Honda CRV.

We ate our cuppa soups from the car and left cash in the cafes and food stores of as many small towns as we could. We slept in the cheapest motels, the convenient roadhouses, and camped out in the Kimberley – mostly comfortable, always happy, always delighted. Here is the record of just one day.

We are in the wonderland that is Uluru/Kata Tjutu and it’s photographic heaven.

We left Curtin Springs in 11C and had felt it drop way below that during the night. As we hit the road, the shapes and colours of this cattle land impress mightily.

There are a few groups of beasties about. The Curtin Springs farmers use their own beef and are applying for a slaughter licence as they have to truck their stock hundreds of kilometres for processing.

They will succeed – if the rainfall permits. There has been autumn rain and this is obvious in the green which is good cattle fodder this year.

The morning colours are astonishing: silver-topped or pink and purple shrubs, golden stalks, clumps of grass in all tones of green, and grey salt bush.

The morning light is delicious. There are small trees and lots of bigger trees. Everything seems to claim its own patch and the red dirt is the background for it all – that, and the blue cloudless sky. We stop off road to boil up and by the table is a tank. Beside it is a can to catch drips for the birds.

A multitude of the most delightful little birds are dancing, drinking, dipping.

Uluru comes in sight, all pink and soft purple, and the Kata Tjuka is in the distance.

We tell the girl at the National Park entrance that we do not need to pay park fees as we are passing through. It’s only when she sees our paperwork that she accepts our story.

As we come closer to Kata Tjuku (The Olgas), moving from the morning light into the shady side of the “big boys” they become dark and moody, shady and serious. And that change is in just a few kilometres.

But we leave these monoliths and turn, almost alone, towards the WA border, 200kms away.

This is the stretch of road, reputedly “bad”, that we had wondered/worried about, but it’s a beautiful drive.

We are on the edge of the Gibson Desert to the north, and moving southwest into the Great Victoria Desert.

Dust? Sand? Yes indeed. Emptiness? Flatness? Nothing could be further from the truth. Red dirt? Absolutely.

We pass between ranges of high outcrops in amazing shapes and colours. Uluru may have claimed fame but it’s not the only one deserving admiration.

The road is dirt, red dirt, endless red dirt. It is more than a motorway wide.

The colours of the desert are prolific –trees, shrubs, grasses. Every turn brings change: the rocks and ranges in the background. The red dirt road treats us well.

The border is a non-event, though there are “road closed” signs because of Covid. Who knows if we were noticed.

We drive on and the car’s clock jumps back 1.5 hours. The road improved and became gravel, but we missed the feel of that earlier track.

Another 100km and we pull into Warakurna, the best little roadhouse imaginable. It’s not cheap but it pleases us greatly as we watch the day close down.

The gas is locked within cages but we can read the price at 240 a litre and reckon we are okay for tomorrow. While being in WA, they are still in NT time which had us confused and we had to call the manager out of his scheduled hours on a Saturday. He was gracious and we learn that this is a very good community; that this area has the only still-manned meteorological weather station in Australia, although it’s closed to the public because of Covid induced staff shortages.

There is also a nuclear history to these parts. In the 1950s, the Brits were testing missiles in Australia, sending long range heads out of SA, to see if they could reach the Indian Ocean. Some didn’t make it and came down around here.

The weather station was developed at that time because, after all, the testing planners needed to know conditions out here in the “empty” middle of this vast land! And that was Saturday – travelling and learning at its best!

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WITH clear turquoise waters, lush rainforest trails, pristine reefs and rich culture, Samoa is ready to tick off bucketlist dreams for travel bugs.

The island nation is safe, secluded and only a five-hour flight from Brisbane, so with borders set to reopen this month, it’s a handy re-introduction to world travel.

Whether looking for a cultural experience or a chance to unwind and enjoy natural beauty, here are some Samoan essentials: DISCOVER THE CULTURE Samoan culture and traditions are on show at the Samoa Cultural Village in Upolu, with a range of activities including tapa making, traditional tattooing or ‘tatau’, cultural artefact carving, and preparation of the “umu” or earth oven. LIVE LIKE A LOCAL Take a ride on Samoa’s colourful public buses. Board at main terminals in Apia behind the produce market in Fugalei and behind the flea market at Savalalo. LOCAL MARKETS Experience the heart of Samoan culture – food – at the local markets. It’s an opportunity to connect with the community and the workings of daily life.

Waterfront Night Markets boom with culture and connectivity at the Samoa Tourism Fale and Cultural Village grounds in Apia on the last Friday of each month. WONDER AT NATURE The clear freshwater Piula Cave Pool and cave is an old lava tube and one of the top natural experiences in Samoa. JUMP INTO SWIMMING HOLES Samoa is widely known for its breathtaking swimming holes. The 30m deep To-Sua Ocean Trench is said to be one of the world’s most spectacular natural swimming pools. VIEW VOLCANOS Samoa’s volcanic activity has left fascinating landforms, particularly on Savai’i, which has huge lava tubes and spectacularly rugged coastlines of black volcanic rock. SHARE AN AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE Trying a dish prepared in an umu is essential. Synonymous with community, the umu, an above ground earth oven made up of hot volcanic stones, has been used for thousands of years throughout Samoa. For the latest travel updates visit samoa.travel/traveladvice THERE’S no need to head to Europe to find the Christmas spirit, as it’s all right here in the Hunter Valley.

Paul Brockhurst of CT Travel has planned a six-day tour south that will include the Christmas Lights Spectacular at the Hunter Valley Gardens in Pokolbin. As the sun goes down, the gardens come alive with more than 100,000 Christmas lights.

The show is an annual event featuring millions of glittering lights and is recognised as the Southern Hemisphere’s largest light show.

“It’s magical and sets the scene for Christmas,” he says.

The lights illuminate dazzling Christmas-themed displays including the white Christmas scene complete with a snow cave, elves, and snow-capped trees.

The Hunter Valley Gardens has 8km of walking paths winding through 14ha of gardens with more than 6000 trees, 600,000 shrubs and over a million ground covers around waterfalls, statues and murals.

The 10 individually-themed gardens showcase the artistry of gardens around the world and use both native and exotic varieties of plants.

The garden experience is complimented by visits to a diverse range of sites including the Tailor Made barramundi farm which produces 1000kg of barramundi a week.

There’s a stop at Kurri Kurri to see the public artworks covering the area’s history, and at Morpeth, a township that has been frozen in time, right down to the sandstone kerbs and guttering.

Before heading back along the Coast, there’s a drive through a superb alpine region to Comboyne.

Stay in a luxury resort at Coffs Harbour and then head through Casino and Lismore to Murwillumbah to see the majestic Mount Warning.

The six-day Hunter Valley Christmas lights tour November 25, includes a flight to Williamstown and return by luxury coach.

If keen to get going before then, there’s a Flinders Ranges Discovery Tour from October 23 and the 12-day North Queensland Savannah Way Escape to the Outback from September 21. Visit cttravel.com.au

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Karumba to Hobart, there is so much waiting to be experienced along the highways and byways of this vast land. See for yourself the rich and unique landscapes of these regions and learn some of the most interesting history our country has to offer.

2022/2023 Tour Program

SEPTEMBER 2022 Nth Qld Savannah Way (12 Days) OCTOBER 2022 South Australia - Flinders Rangers (10days) Carnarvon Gorge & Wallaroo (7 Days) NOVEMBER 2022 Tasmania (14 Days) Hunter Valley Christmas Lights (5 Days) FEBRUARY 2023 King Island (4 Days) Murray Princess & Kangaroo Island (11 Days) MARCH 2023 O’Reillys Escape (4 Days) Fraser Island Explorer (4 Days) APRIL 2023 Autumn - Canberra (11 Days) High Country to the Murray Delta (11 Days) MAY 2023 Norfolk Island (9 Days) JUNE 2023 Red Centre & Top End (17 Days) Adelaide to Darwin JULY 2023 Carnarvon George & Wallaroo (7 Days) AUGUST 2023 O’Reillys Rainforest Retreat (4 Days) Carnarvon Gorge & Wallaroo (7 Days) Fraser Island Whale Watch (4 Days)

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