The Outback starts here!
But not just yet...
Thursday started with a mad (sunny) dash through Perth, buying last minute things for the trip and generally drooling at the various get-ups in hiking and outdoor shops.
Then home, pack, drive to Joondalup where I picked up K from school, only to discover that my car-food-buying-skills leave a lot to be desired. The coke? Yes. The cheese and bacon roll? No. The hedgehog slice? Later. The strawberries? Get lost...
So - we dropped Norma at home, K got changed, we got a taxi and got to the airport with time to kill. Serious time. Thinking perhaps the Hungarian flash-cards wouldn't be enough, I bought a box of 50 lateral thinking puzzle questions, and we settled on the front row of seats, cards spread out on our knees, sharing the hedgehog slices.
The plane trip flew by (har har har) - and K's pronunciation and enthusiasm were fantastic. I couldn't wait for him to spring one of his key sentences on his Dad.
Newman airport struck with the same wonder and isolation and it felt so gloriously familiar. The reddusty smell of Mat's car, the glowing Red Sands sign, the 'baby' dump truck at the visitor's centre and the apartment. I was very happy to be there.
Happier still to be wandering around Woolies among all the miners...it's such a different world.
Our first dinner was at the Capricorn Roadhouse, just over (or under?) the Tropic - steak, of course. And our first trip on Friday was Karijini, where M and I thought we'd explore a different gorge and settled on Hancock, where I'd heard about the Spider Walk and there were pools to swim in. I had no idea then the bravery that would be required of me.
So in sparkling sunshine we hurtled the 170km or so towards the National Park, passing huge trucks, sometimes stopping to let them pass, the trusty Ranger purring its turbo-diesel tune.
The walk into Hancock Gorge ranged from class 3 to class 6 (super fitness and abseiling equipment required). And so we descended. The scrambling over rocks and under shelves and over the creek was fine. I even survived the ladder without screaming. And the dive into Kermit pool, while it knocked the breath out of me, wasn't as bad as the corner climb at the start of the spider walk. On the way there it was still somehow okay, on the way back, panic struck. I never thought I could watch my brain slide into "OHMYGOD"-ness without my control. But I could feel fear in my belly and at the base of my throat and I was gripping the ledge like my life really did depend on it. Mat tried (and failed) not to giggle, but he leaned out and gently took my elbow to which I screamed "don't touch me don't touch me"... and I made it (obviously) and after calming down a little even stepped back to pose for a photo.
Dinner was at the All Seasons - I think as fancy as Newman gets and my prawns in coconut sauce were divine.
Saturday morning - after a wake up call from the local cockatoos we crammed everything into the car and then tried to cram ourselves in. K and I took it in turns to sit in the front because both seats had their element of discomfort. But discomfort was nothing as the wide road spread before us and we headed towards the Kumarina Roadhouse in rising heat and billowing red dust.
Thursday started with a mad (sunny) dash through Perth, buying last minute things for the trip and generally drooling at the various get-ups in hiking and outdoor shops.
Then home, pack, drive to Joondalup where I picked up K from school, only to discover that my car-food-buying-skills leave a lot to be desired. The coke? Yes. The cheese and bacon roll? No. The hedgehog slice? Later. The strawberries? Get lost...
So - we dropped Norma at home, K got changed, we got a taxi and got to the airport with time to kill. Serious time. Thinking perhaps the Hungarian flash-cards wouldn't be enough, I bought a box of 50 lateral thinking puzzle questions, and we settled on the front row of seats, cards spread out on our knees, sharing the hedgehog slices.
The plane trip flew by (har har har) - and K's pronunciation and enthusiasm were fantastic. I couldn't wait for him to spring one of his key sentences on his Dad.
Newman airport struck with the same wonder and isolation and it felt so gloriously familiar. The reddusty smell of Mat's car, the glowing Red Sands sign, the 'baby' dump truck at the visitor's centre and the apartment. I was very happy to be there.
Happier still to be wandering around Woolies among all the miners...it's such a different world.
Our first dinner was at the Capricorn Roadhouse, just over (or under?) the Tropic - steak, of course. And our first trip on Friday was Karijini, where M and I thought we'd explore a different gorge and settled on Hancock, where I'd heard about the Spider Walk and there were pools to swim in. I had no idea then the bravery that would be required of me.
So in sparkling sunshine we hurtled the 170km or so towards the National Park, passing huge trucks, sometimes stopping to let them pass, the trusty Ranger purring its turbo-diesel tune.
The walk into Hancock Gorge ranged from class 3 to class 6 (super fitness and abseiling equipment required). And so we descended. The scrambling over rocks and under shelves and over the creek was fine. I even survived the ladder without screaming. And the dive into Kermit pool, while it knocked the breath out of me, wasn't as bad as the corner climb at the start of the spider walk. On the way there it was still somehow okay, on the way back, panic struck. I never thought I could watch my brain slide into "OHMYGOD"-ness without my control. But I could feel fear in my belly and at the base of my throat and I was gripping the ledge like my life really did depend on it. Mat tried (and failed) not to giggle, but he leaned out and gently took my elbow to which I screamed "don't touch me don't touch me"... and I made it (obviously) and after calming down a little even stepped back to pose for a photo.
Dinner was at the All Seasons - I think as fancy as Newman gets and my prawns in coconut sauce were divine.
Saturday morning - after a wake up call from the local cockatoos we crammed everything into the car and then tried to cram ourselves in. K and I took it in turns to sit in the front because both seats had their element of discomfort. But discomfort was nothing as the wide road spread before us and we headed towards the Kumarina Roadhouse in rising heat and billowing red dust.
posted by BanAnna at 9/27/2010 02:27:00 pm
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