Well, in the beginning …………
Up until I was about 8 years old, I thought Queensland was Australia, all black soil and Brigalow scrub, and the wildlife was just sheep and rabbits.
When I was 9, Dad and Mum took me to WA, to see if they could buy a farm there. The Nullarbor Road (not highway) was all dirt, dust and stretched from the top of one rise to the top of the next rise, with stuff all to see except dirt, dust and Saltbush.
We stayed in Esperance for 2 days and drove back.
After that failed excursion, we then moved further west in QLD, and I found out that Australia was also red dirt, rocks, Mulga scrub, and the wildlife was sheep and kangaroos.
( In 2018, my wife described the drive from Quilpie to Charleville as the most boring piece of Australia she had driven through. At least it is now a sealed road)
When I was 17, I found that if I drove 800km east for a weekend, there was sand and surf, and the wildlife wore bikinis, and drank expensive alcohol.
When I was 19, I joined the RAAF, and spent 21 years travelling at Govt expense, and this was when I discovered that Australia was a lot more than red dirt, sheep, rabbits and kangaroos.
Holidays ? Non existent. What holiday leave I had was used packing up and moving the family from one State to another.
I don’t know why, but Uluru has never really interested me. I understand it is of great cultural significance to our first people, but I always think there are other places I’d like to go first.
Our first real ‘holiday’ was in the late ‘80s, one of those Qantas Getaway packages to Central Aus.
At Alice Springs, they had mountains !
The trip was very much a ‘sampler’, going to all the gaps, gorges, and chasms, Glen Helen, Palm Valley, Ayres Rock, and The Olgas.
At the Rock, there were no out of bounds restrictions, and we have photos of areas that are now ‘forbidden’ to tourists. And the ‘locals’ were sad.
But, that trip changed my perspective of 'The Outback'. Where was all the Mulga ?
We went back in 2014, hired a car, and did things at our own pace. Walked around Uluru, Kata Tjuta Valley of the Winds, Kings Canyon, Mt Connor, plus the usual outdoor dining experiences. Memorable time.
A lot had changed, but the ‘locals’ were still sad, which surprised me, as I thought after nearly 30 years that a new generation would have moved on. Businesses which claimed to be Indigenous owned, were staffed by back packers and FIFOs.
2017, went to see the ‘
Field of Lights’ exhibition, and happened to be there at the same time as the ‘
Statement from the Heart’ conference, and I got talking to a couple of representatives at the bar. Interesting.
They were of the opinion that decisions had already been made, their opinions were not going to be heeded, and it was all a big BS talkfest and publicity, so they were just going to enjoy the free accommodation, free drinks and tucker, and that was it.
Seems that they were right, and the 'locals' were still sad. Who is making all the money, and where is it going ?
Where next and when. Stuffed if I know. I keep looking at my big map of Aus with pins in it, and daydreaming.
After our hastily arranged flight back from NZ last year, the missus has vowed that she will never set foot in an “fkn” airport again.
A problem to be solved ………. in 2023 ?
