CROSSING THE NULLARBOR

The Nullarbor is a vast, almost treeless plain, stretching for about 1100km's from East to West in the southern part of Australia, spanning across South and Western Australia. The name Nullarbor comes from the Latin Nullus (no) and Arbor (trees), describing the vast empty plains first encountered by European settlers in the 1800's.

  

Kimba - half way across the continent

For many modern day Australians, crossing the Nullarbor is one of those must-do items on their things-to-do-and-places-to-go-before-I-die list. With the Christmas holidays looming and our only family in Austalia living on the other side of this great plain, there was really no other option - we will cross the Nullarbor.

A bit apprehensive of what lies ahead

We planned our trip over four days, which is really quite short for such a long trip. But with limited time off work and trying to make the most of the time spent with the family, that's what we had.

Beware of the wildlife

The first part of the trip, from Adelaide across the Eyre peninsula to Streaky Bay, were busy with lots of travellers making their way to the coastal holiday spots, but after that the traffic became quiter with only those in for the long haul still on the road.

Where Australia falls into the Southern Ocean

We spent our first night camping just outside Ceduna, on the dunes overlooking the great Southern Ocean. On day two we made it all the way across the border into Western Australia where we suddenly gained two and a half hours. Seeing that it was  December 21, the longest day in the Southern Hemisphere, we were travelling west - chasing the sun and we just added a few hours to our day - we spent many hours on the road!  

Cloudscapes

But what a beautiful part of the world to spend it in. Before we left I prepared myself for desolation and arid landscapes, but I was pleasantly surprised. The landscape was mostly green and although there were areas that had very few trees, it was hardly the treeless expanse I was expecting. I suspect the fact that we spent 8 years of life in real, sandy desert, helped to made this part of the world look like green pastures.

Remnants of the Gold Rush in Coolgardie

We spent the next night on a delightful farm called Fraser Range Station, 100kms east of the town of Norseman. And to add to the anomaly of the Treeless Plain, Fraser Station is surrounded by the largest hardwood forest in the world, all of which is crown land. It is the most amazing sight - to drive for hours through  a tunnel of eucalyptus trees.

Hardwood forrest near Fraser Range Station

Once we reached Norseman, we were in mining country and back in civilization. We passed the town of Coolgardie, where the main street still features old buildings dating back to the gold rush days.

Royal Flying Doctor Service sharing the road with vehicles

Thanks to the few hours we gained the day before, we made it to Perth in 3 long days. We had a great time spending Christmas and  New Year with the family and then made our way back across the plain to Adelaide.

Sunset at Ceduna

We enjoyed every part of the trip and were pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty of a seemingly desolate place. Our only regret was that we could not spent more time exploring the region and getting to know the people who call this plain home.

Seeing the Flinders Ranges means we are close to home

Tribute to Kathreen Ricketson

It was with great shock and sadness that I learned about the tragic death of Kathreen and her husband Rob last week.

When I started blogging four years ago, she was one of my main inspirations. I first 'met' her and her blog Whipup via the Craft blog, which I had been following for some time. She was creative, fun, helpful and prolific.  Her blog was always jampacked with creative ideas and inspiration. She loved to share and to teach. Her kids magazine Action Pack is testament to her - and her family's - dedication to creating a happy, healthy and wholesome environment for their kids to grow in and learn.

When we decided to travel to Australia in April 2012, I wanted an Australian craft blogger to do a guest posts for me while I was away. Kathreen was the obvious choice. Her post on why she loves Australia can be viewed here. Soon after our visit, our lives changed and we relocated from Dubai to Adelaide, Australia. We became Aussies too. We kept in e-mail and blog contact and when I learned that their roadtrip would take them through Adelaide, I was delighted to have the opportunity to finally meet her.

We met on a Tuesday afternoon in late January, at the Adelaide Central Market, where we had coffee and chatted for an hour of two. We talked about blogs, quilting, travelling and motherhood. I met Rob and the two kids. I went home that afternoon and told my husband that if we lived closer, I think our two families could become good friends. We like all the same things: camping, outdoors, travel, creativity and sharing it all with our children.

I followed their trip on her blog and made mental notes of all the great places they were exploring, adding them to my list of Places We Still Have To See.

Her last post written at Coral Bay starts like this: We are bush camping at a station on Ningaloo reef, Western Australia. A dream come true — is that totally corn ball?

Although this story has one of the saddest endings I ever experienced, and my heart breaks for the children, I am comforted by the fact that they were living their dream. They had several months where they could devote themselves to their children and create family memories that can never be taken from them.

When I think of Kathreen, this is what comes to mind:

Inspired crafter

Prolific writer

Devoted mother

Dear Kathreen, 
it was a priviledge to know you.

* A fund has been established to help support the children. Find the details here.

*Photos taken by Kathreen, cropped and edited by me

Adelaide in Pictures 1: Dolphin Sanctuary

We spent a beautiful, cloudy morning at the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary, exploring the mangroves and the shipwrecks. The sanctuary is in the Port River and Barker inlet, and although it is very close to the city and harbour, once you are on the water, you feel miles away from all civilization.

The water was perfectly still, with only the waterbirds and dolphins breaking the surface.

The sanctuary is also home to a 'shipwreck graveyard' which provides good habitat for fish and water birds. 

This shipwreck lies in very shallow water and provides a great photo opportunity. 

I paddled around the wreck and photographed it from all sides, but I think I still have a few things to learn about photographing from a kayak...

The bottle-nose dolphins came quite close, and although they didn't pay too much attention to us they were very aware of our presence. A few times they swam underneath the kayaks and came up right next to the one where my husband and daughter sat and watched her closely. It seemed like they knew she was only a small child.

Of Beginnings and Endings and the little things inbetween

We left Dubai in July, we traveled through South Africa in August 

and we arrived in Adelaide in September.

We've been living out of our suitcases for almost three months now.

During the past three months we have said "Goodbye", we have said "How nice to see you again" and we have said "Please to meet you". Our four year old has met more new people in the past 3 months than she had met in the previous three years. No more shyness: Every new person is a potential new friend.

We are in the process of settling into a new country. In the past few weeks we have applied for bank accounts, tax numbers, medical aid and driver's licences. We have looked for and found a school, a house and a church. We have made a few new friends, visited a few new shops and figured out our way around a new city.

If all goes well, we will unpack our belongings next week and we will begin to turn our house into a home. And we will turn a new city and a new country into our city and our country.

Life is good.

We are blessed.

(leaves photographed in the Singapore Botanical Gardens)

Dubai in Pictures 19

How do you know the Dubai desert summer is almost over?

Clouds.

Yes, summer has no clouds.  Not one. Not for months.  The sky is a pale, depressing beige colour.  No blue. When the season starts to change, small single clouds appear in the morning and then disappear again in the afternoon.  Until one morning the sky looks like this.  Blue and with clouds.  Rain is still at least two months off, but we can dream...

Dubai in Pictures 17

My children have swim squad practice twice a week, before school in the mornings.  We left the house just after 6 o' clock this morning, still half asleep and with a cup of coffee in hand.

On my way back to the house after drop-off I used my phone to take this picture of the sun rising behind the Jebel Ali Satellite Station. 

Actually seeing the sun rising in the morning changes one's day from mediocre to 'Wow, it's great to be alive!'.

When was the last time you saw the sun rising?

Walking through Namaqualand

I've shown you some of the pictures, now let me tell you the story:

In August my friend Truda and I joined 19 other women to walk 301km through Namaqualand in 10 days. The adventure is called the Namaqua 301 Eco-ultra Marathon and is organized by Frik and Lizette Olwage and their team at  Africa Eco Ventures.

This experience has touched me on so many levels that it is difficult to write about it all in one post. 

Firstly there is the physical challenge of walking 301 km's in 10 days. We did more that 30km's on most days. 

Secondly there is the beautiful, beautiful piece of God's creation where we walked through. The scenery made such a huge impact on me. 

Thirdly, spending 12 days in the company of 20 other women,19 of whom I've never met before, was an adventure all on it's own! 

And finally there is the mental and spiritual impact an experience like this have. It is something which doesn't happen immediately but surfaces piece by piece over time.  Even now, weeks after I've finished walking I still think about it daily and I get these sudden flashes of insight and revelation about myself and my life which I've never had before...   

A typical day was divided in four or five shifts varying between eight and twelve kilometers each. We usually started with an early morning shift followed by breakfast.  After that came two more shifts followed by lunch.  The day concluded with a last short(ish) shift which brought us to about four in the afternoon. By then we were footsore, tired and very glad to get out of our shoes!

My favourite part of the day was the early morning shift or 'breakfast run' as we called it.  We started very early before sunrise. The air was crisp and cold and our bodies were still stiff and sore from the previous day's walking, but the day was awakening, the moon was on it's last descent and the first colours of morning were visible on the horizon. It was an absolutely glorious time to be outside.  Our bodies were warming up, our minds were waking up and Nature was saying "You can do it!" 

My body was behaving much better than I anticipated.  All through my training and right up to the day the Big Walk started I was doubting my fitness. I was worried that I would not be able to complete the challenge. But I surprised myself! My feet were VERY sore. You know, that deep pain inside your feet from, well, too much walking.  I had a few blisters, but not as bad as I expected. The best thing was, from my ankles up I felt great!  I never felt too tired to do the next bit.  I loved the scenery we were walking through, I loved talking and joking with my fellow walkers and I just loved ... walking. 

Our walk started in Pella, in the Richtersveld, on the banks of the Orange River. We were all nervous - not knowing what the next 10 days will bring and already past the point of no return. We started with a 17km walk through the Date Farm, a wonderful oasis in this harsh land. After a hearty brunch back at the guesthouse we continued with another 17km walk through beautiful river beds, rock formations  and huge swarms of gnats(!) to the Pella Mission Station where we were received by the nuns and treated to home-made scones and tea. We completed our first day and walked 34kms! Sore feet could not dampen our spirit - we might actually survive this!

The next two days we walked through the Goegap Nature Reserve and the Skilpad Wildflower Reserve . My legs and feet were finding their rhythm, I was settling into a pace and friendships blossomed.  As each person found their own comfortable pace, we settled into small groups who somehow always ended up together.  Our little group were made up of some great personalities and we giggled as much as we suffered!  These two days' walking were completely overshadowed by the awesomeness of the countryside.  Namaqualand was in full bloom.  There were flowers as far as the eye could see. We stopped a lot and just gawked at the spectacle.  We never even noticed that we climbed quite a few hills and on both days walked more than 30kms.

What we did notice later that evening, back at our Kamieskroon guesthouse, was the wind howling around the corners, rattling the windows and getting us all nervous.  We were preparing to scale the Kamieskroon Pass the next day and were in no mood to fight the wind as well...

Morning came and the wind was still going strong.  Our breakfast run was a 10km fight against a strong and icy wind. After breakfast we started up the pass but was stopped by Frik after 4kms as the wind was literally blowing us off the road!  We then drove over the pass and started walking again on the plateau above Kamieskroon where we were a little more sheltered from the wind. This area was beautiful with little mountain streams and farmsteads along the way. We stopped for lunch on one of the farms where we were treated to homemade 'boontjiesop' and farmbread by the lady of the manor. We couldn't have asked for anything more luxurious and comforting!

The morning of day 5 dawned with the icy wind still howling relentlessly.  We started with our breakfast run in the picturesque little town of Leliesfontein.  The sun was just rising and we shared the dusty streets and quiet awakening of the day with a few children already on their way to school. We walked mainly downhill throughout the day with the wind pushing from behind. We had to 'brake' all the way to stop ourselves from breaking into a run.  It was hard on the knees and very tiring! We walked all the way to Garies, a small town at the bottom of the mountain.  I have never been so happy to see a small quiet country town before!  From Garies we drove down to Vredendal were the next phase of our challenge would start.  We were now halfway, with 150kms under the belt! 

The morning of day 6 started with a breakfast run again, but this time we were walking on a working grape and tomato farm.  The scenery was completely different from the previous few days but still as beautiful as ever. The main part of the day was spent crossing the Knersvlakte. The rolling fields of flowers had now given way to an arid area covered in quartz gravel and succulent plants. It was beauty on a different level. The gravel was difficult to walk on and the end of the day saw as all tired and a bit frazzled.  As usual Frik had something up his sleeve and took us for a wine tasting at the Lutzville Vineyards. Nothing like a glass of wine to ease the pain and soothe the soul... 

The wind saved us from walking up Kamieskroon Pass on day 4, but there was no way of escaping the pass up the Cederberg waiting for us on day 9! Frik set us off one by one. We were going to conquer this mountain on our own - no group support. Slowest walker first.  Guess who that was... 

Here's what I wrote in my journal about the experience afterwards:

"I started off first as I was the slowest, and by definition perceived as the weakest. I did not dwell too much on the Pass in the days preceding the climb. The challenge was lurking in the back of my mind but I never acknowledged it by talking about it or discussing it with others.  I somehow knew it was going to be my personal test. Once I set off, I knew I will only stop once I reached the top.  I will not slow down, look back or doubt myself on the way.  And that is what I did.  I expected people to overtake me, but surprisingly only Rene did, and only very near to the top.  And I cheered her. Reaching the top of the mountain was a personal victory for me.  I felt great!  Fantastic. Literally on top of the world."

The top op the world was only 13kms into the day's walk though, and we had another 22 to go before evening. We had some rain the previous day and could only do 19kms and had some catching up to do. 

.

The last day in Lamberts Bay was a bit of a bittersweet affair.  We had 20kms to go to get to the 301km mark!. We were looking forward to the finish line but were also a bit sad to get to the end of this fantastic experience.  We walked along the coast, the first 10kms in heavily overcasted weather and the last 10 in pouring rain!  What a way to end.  Our shoes were soaked but we didn't care - we wouldn't need them tomorrow...

It has been one of the best things I have done for myself, ever. 

Namaqualand

I'm back in the land of sun and sand after a most enjoyable trip to South Africa. 

 A long and detailed report on my trip through Namaqualand will follow soon... 

But while I'm getting my house sorted and the kids back in school, here's a few pics of Namaqualand in bloom:

More to follow soon..