Monday, July 26, 2010

Flying Solo

After our last blog you might be excused for thinking that “flying solo” means that Dennis has finally come to his senses and left me by the side of the road. Close, but not quite true. Sadly, Dennis’s father, Matt, had a fall which put him in hospital and this was followed by a heart attack. We had got as far as the Ningaloo Reef when we got the news and decided it was time for Dennis to go home. We madly packed up the tent in a very gusty (and sandy) windstorm and started north, putting Dennis on a plane to Melbourne from Karratha the next evening. While Dennis endured a 10 hour flight via Perth, I was left to get the car to Broome and then arrange for all the various fix-ups needed to cars, fridges etc to enable us to make the final assault.


The good news is that Matt is a stubborn old thing, and went home from hospital on Friday. Weaker than before, but still soldiering on; bless him. Dennis flies back to Broome tomorrow – hurray!  However, we are bracing ourselves for a return visit.

In some ways this whole section of our trip seems like we’ve moved from one setback to another. But I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that there have been highlights and learnings.

Dennis, Tony & Karen at Cape Range
Although we drove all the way to Exmouth and Cape Range National Park and never even got a glimpse of the Ningaloo Reef – the journey was not completely wasted due largely to our coincidental meeting with Tony and Karen – the people that had rescued us from a bog while we were near Alice. We managed to enjoy a lovely meal and a walk at one of the gorges in Cape Range with them before making our mad dash north and it was great to reconnect!! Ironically I just now got a text message from Tony to say they are in Broome, so it looks like we may catch up again tomorrow.

My little camp at Cape Kerraudren
Please note I put up the awning by
myself!
I seem to have managed the whole “living on the road” thing by myself alright – but I must admit that I’ll be glad when Dennis gets back. First, I miss him and second I’ve decided that I was never cut out to be Director of Toys and I would like to be relieved of the position! So far I’ve just about set the campsite alight because I didn’t do up the connection to the gas cylinder tight enough – and I’ve driven off with the solar panels still connected to the car. I have managed to arrange for the various car and fridge repairs so I’m not a dead loss, but nonetheless I feel the world will be a safer place when Dennis retakes his proper position.

Sunset at Cape Kerraudren
The drive to Broome was largely without incident or interest. However, I did stop for lunch in Port Hedland – which somehow felt more livable than Karratha. Older and more established and a hive of activity as the port is right in the centre of town. I also camped in an absolutely glorious spot right on the beach at Cape Kerraudren. The sunset was astounding and the whole experience was very calming after a long day’s drive.

Before I leave Karratha, Port Hedland and the Pilbara behind, I feel I must mention the “two speed economy” that plagues this part of the world. The mining industry, with its very high paying jobs, dominates. People come to the Pilbara for the money, and many don’t even live here permanently choosing to fly in/ fly out. The problem is finding people to work in the “regular” jobs, like retail, restaurants, entertainment and tourism. So, in Karratha the cinema closed two years ago, because they couldn’t keep it staffed. McDonalds actually flies in staff from Indonesia on a “6 weeks on, 2 weeks off” basis. It is not simply greed that prevents people from taking on these lower paid jobs. The cost of living, and in particular the cost of housing, is so high that you can’t afford to live in Karratha if you are working in a “regular” job. I don’t want to get political – but I must say the idea of investing money to provide infrastructure in the “regions” to alleviate pressure on the capital cities makes a hell of a lot of sense in this part of the country.

Now – let’s leave the Pilbara and return to Broome. I’ve been extremely fortunate to be staying at the Broome Bird Observatory most of the time I’ve been on my own. This is just the most fabulous place. There is a lovely big “shade house” which serves as a camp kitchen and general meeting place, so I have not felt alone the whole time I’ve been here. The highlight of the week, and for me, one of the highlights of the whole trip, was today’s “cannon netting” adventure. You might be forgiven for thinking this is some new act of terrorism, but it is in fact a method of catching large numbers of birds for identification and tagging.

Releasing the birds after tagging
Setting up to start tagging
Here’s how it goes. The cannons are set very early in the morning (by someone else thank goodness). Then as the high tide approaches everyone convenes near the catching place and hides quietly behind the beach. As the tide gets higher the birds are pushed back toward the nets and once the birds are positioned appropriately the order is given to “FIRE”. As the cannon sounds and the nets fly, everyone runs down to the beach at breakneck pace and surrounds the net, pushing it and the birds away from the water to ensure the birds don’t drown. Once positioned properly the birds are removed from the net, identified and put into boxes to be transported up the beach to another set of boxes all labeled for the different bird types. There is a real sense of urgency throughout this entire phase as it’s important to ensure the birds are safe as quickly as possible. Thereafter we were broken into teams to identify, tag and measure each of the birds, before releasing them back into the wild. Today we tagged 663 birds – not a bad day’s work.

Later this week we will set off to see Wolfe Creek meteorite crater, followed by the Bungle Bungles. From there we have decided to trek across the “Gulf Country” – ie Gulf of Carpenteria. I’ve been doing the research and expect that it will be a bit of an adventure, with plenty of opportunity for good fishing, and most important, it should be HOT. Our brief brush with the cold in Tom Price and Karratha has persuaded us that we need to stay as far north for as long as possible.

I know that Dennis’s entry will be sadly missed by everyone this time – but worry not, like the Terminator, he’ll be back!


1 comment:

  1. See!!!!!!!!! blokes do come in handy sometimes!!!!!!!!!!!
    Thinking of you Mark & Emma.

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