Aniversary / Vyroci

100 days on the road! Yay!

100 dni na ceste! Hip hip hura!

To Queensland / Cesta do Queenslandu

The way to Queensland wasn’t too pleasant for couple of reasons. Once again we had hundreds of k’s through uneventful desert and also our car wasn’t very happy. Somewhere along the way we picked up some really dodgy fuel and every 200 km or so our car choked on it. Which meant that we had to pulled over, jump out of the car, move the driver’s seat, get the fuel filter out, clean it, put it back in, put the seat back in, jump in the car and go on. Despite numerous tank refills the dirt must have been sitting in the tank as it remained a regular cycle all the way to Mt Isa. Also during one of our repair stops Gordie didn’t close his door and a road train went by and nearly ripped our door off. So Gordie spent the evening aligning them back into position where he can close them. On a more positive note we pulled up at a car wreckers in the middle of nowhere as we saw the same model as our car in the yard. There wasn’t much left of it but it had a decent radiator and they let us have it if we pull it out ourselves. As ours may not have much life in it Gordie did just that and we got ourselves a free second hand radiator. Also thank to the hot weather up here we had plenty of opportunities to test out our en-suite camping option.

Cesta do Queenslandu nebyla nic moc z nekolika duvodu. Opet jsme jeli pres celkem nezazivnou poust a nasemu auto se to moc nelibilo. Cestou jsme totiz nekde nabrali smejdskej benzin a kazdych zhruba 200km se nam na nem auto zakuckalo. Takze jsme museli vyskocit z auta, vyklonit sedadlo na strane ridice, vyndat filtr, vycistit, dat filtr zpatky, dat sedadlo zpatky, naskocit do auta a pokracovat v ceste.  ackoliv jsme tankovali mnohokrat, ta spina zrejme furt sedi v nadrzi a tudiz jsme tento ritual opakovali kazdych 200km celou cestu do Mt Isa. Navic behem jedne takove zastavky Gordie nezavrel svoje dvere a prohnal se kolem nas nakladak. No a vitr, ktery takova obluda pri 130km/h dokaze zvednout nam ty dvere malem urval. Gordie tak stravil cely vecer opravami, aby mohl dvere zase zavrit. Nicmene melo to i sve pozitivni stranky. Cestou jsme minuli vrakoviste aut uprostred niceho a zahlidli jsme tam stejny model jako je to nase. Po kratke domluve nas nechali ho prohlidnout a objevili jsme na nem chladic v slusne kondici. Nas chladic pomalu starne a po dalsi kratke domluve nam spravce rekl, ze pokud si ten chladic vymontujem sami, tak si ho muzem nechat. Zhruba za hodinu jsme odtamtud odjizdeli s nahradnim chladicem zdarma.       V mistnim tropickem podnebi jsme navic meli moznost vyzkouset nasi  mobilni koupelnu.

  Nejodlehlejsi semafor v Australii 

Our new radiator from the blue beauty in the background

Chladic, ktery nam darovala ta modra kraska v pozadi

The result of car frustrations. The book in his hand is the hi ace manual

Vysledek nekonecnych oprav. V ruce Gordie drzi navod k obsluze naseho auta

En-suite van / Auto s koupelnou

Australian outback / Australske pustiny

 

A hranice s Queenslandem

 

Mataranka

The area of Mataranka is probably well know to all Aussies thanks to the book “We of the Never Never” but for those non-Australians I will explain. Northern Territory is beautiful but very harsh place to live even today. Now think back about 100 years, to 1902 and you have pretty much no roads and outside of Darwin no supplies within reach, very few people and even they may be couple of days horse ride away and during wet season the isolation may be complete. Now in that time a lady called Jeannie married a station manager of Elsey station which was in one of the areas with the above descriptions. She refused to back down and spent a year living as the only white woman within 100 miles radius on the Elsey cattle station. Her experience is described in a book she wrote called We of the Never Never – as she describes that harsh and merciless country as a place which

“those who have lived in it, and loved it, and left it, know that our hearts can Never-Never rest away from it” (Jeannie Gunn)

When I realized that we will be driving through that place I read the book and really recommend it. It gives amazing insight into the life of these people “out bush” and it is written with much humour and much love for the place and all the people. There is a movie but I do not recommend watching it without reading the book first as I found the way the film portraits the characters and the life very different from the book. When we got to the Elsey we visited the replica of the station, the cemetery which holds graves of some characters and commemorative plagues of other and also the original site. The site is now only a marker as none of the original buildings are still standing. I was really taken away by the place and I think this is the first time I started to understand what people refer to as the Australian outback and life in it.

Area kolem Mataranky, konkretne oblast znama jako Elsey je Australanum dobre znama nebot se postupem casu stala nedilnou soucasti australskeho folkloru. Je o ni totiz napsana knizka jmenem “My z Nikdy Nikdy” jejzi autorkou je Jeannie Gunn, puvodem z Melbourne, ktera si za muze vzala manazera dobytci stanice. Jeji pribeh je z roku 1902, kdy jedinou osadou v Severnim Teritoriu byl Darwin, za jehoz hranicemi to byla na dnesni pomery divocina. Stanice Elsey, na kterou se Jeannie se svym manzelem vydala, je stovky kilometru od Darwinu, tenkrat ale nebyly zadne silnice a Jeannie cekala drsna cesta australskou busi. Samotna stanice nebyla o moc lepsi – jednopokojovy dum vybaveny posteli bez matarce, stolem a dvema zidlemi a zrcadlem se stal jejim domovem na neco malo pres rok. Nevim jestli knizka k dostani v prekladu a celkem o tom pochybuju, nicmene pokud jo, tak urcite vrele doporucuji. Je to uzasny nahled do zivota prvnich osadniku nehostinnych casti Australie a je napsana s humorem a laskou k tomuto mistu i lidem, kteri ho obyvaji. Jak sama autorka rika,:

“Ti, kdo zde zili, kteri ho milovali a kteri ho opustili, vi, ze jejich srdce nikdy-nikdy neopusti.” (Jeannie Gunn)

Kdyz jsme dorazili do Mataranky, navstivili jsme repliku hlavniho staveni ze stanice Elsey, hrbitov, na kterem jsou pohrbeni nekteri z knizky a mnoho ostanich tam ma pomnicky, a misto, kde Elsey puvodne stala. Tam je dnes jen napis, nebot zadna z povodnich budov se nedochovala.

Nejen tato oblast, ale cele Severni Teritorium na mne udelalo velky dojem. Je to oblast extremu – mesice sucha stridaji zaplavy, i v dnesni dobe velmi zridka obydlena, nicmene ti, kteri se tu naucili zit, to popisuji jako raj na zemi.

Replica of Elsey Station

The original site / Misto, kde Elsey puvodne stala

 

Cemtery / Hrbitov

  

Plague commemorating Jeannie Gunn and her husband’s grave

Pomnicek Jeannie Gunn a hrob jejiho manzela

Edith Falls / Vodopady Edith

Edith Falls is part of the Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park and the finishing place of the famous Jatbula Trail. The campsite is located right next to the falls, however the best swimming you have to walk to. And it’s worth it. After a steep but short climb from the campsite you get the cascades above the main pool and they are quite spectacular. Also smaller and croc free, as despite thousands of years of evolution, crocs are still very poor rock climbers. Therefore this was my personal preferred spot. Mind you – I didn’t know about the snakes. I saw small one swimming close by at one point which caused Gordie to leave the pool at warp speed 5 but from another walker I heard that they encountered one nearly two meters in length.

Vodopady Edith jsou soucasti Narodniho Parku Nitmiluk a mimo jine jsou cilem znameho 5-ti denninho pochodu Jatbula Trail. Kemp je hned vedle vodopadu a jezirka, kde se sice plavat da, ale za mnohem hezcim koupanim se musi dojit. Z kempu vede celkem strma, ale ne prilis dlouha stezka hornim vodopadum a jezirkum a tam je to nadhera. Jezirka jsou mensi, ale za to bez krokousu. Navzdory tisicum let vyvoje jsou totiz krokodyli stale mizerni horolezci a tudiz tohle byla moje volba na koupacku. To jsem totiz nevedela, ze to maji i vodni hady. Videla jsem jen malyho a kdyz jsem ho ukazala Gordiemu, vystrelil z vody jak sip. Pozdejc jsem se bavila s parem z Viktorie, kteri tu udajne potkali pri plavani hada a o delce skoro dva metry. Ani me nemrzi, ze jsem o neco takovyho prisla.

Falls and pool at campsite / Jezirko u kempu

 

Upper Falls / Horni vodopady

 

Upper Falls from the other side / Horni vodopady  z jineho uhlu

Kakadu

Surprisingly lot of people have tried to put us off going to Kakadu (Kaka-don’t as they call it up here sometimes) saying it’s not really worth the time and money. So we went anyway to see it they were right. We actually liked it though. During the season there are lots of free ranger talks and activities which gave us opportunity to learn a bit about the Aboriginal culture and so allowed us to see the place in different light. Unfortunately some places were once again out of our reach as we only have an old 2WD. We did attempt one unsealed road and nearly got stuck in a water crossing. But Betty is a true warrior and got us out but we stayed on proper roads after that. Even so there are heaps of lovely places to visit and for us it is Kaka-do.

Kakadu je nejvetsi narodni park v Severnim Teritoriu a jednim z nejznamejsich parku v Australii. Byli jsme celkem rekvapeni, kdyz se nas od nej snazilo nekolik lidi odradit, ze prej to nestoji za namahu a penize. Presto jsme se tam vydali to omrknout na vlastni oci a nahodou se nam tam celkem libilo. Behem sezonay tam byla spousta aktivit zdarma, tak jsme jich nekolik obesli a dozvedeli jsme se neco malo o aboriginske kulture, diky cemuz  jsme se mohli divat na Kakadu jinyma ocima. Bohuzel mnoha mista nam byla opet nepristupna, nebot mame pohon na dve kola. Pokusili jsme se o jednou prasnou cestu a malem jsme uvizli pri prejezdu jednoho potucku. Betty je ale bojovnice a ven se vyhrabala, nicmene dal uz jsme zadne nejiste tereny nepokouseli. I tak jsme toho celkem hodne videli a nasvstevu doporucujeme.   

Ubirr lookout / Vyhled z Ubirru

  

 

Aboriginal artist at work / Aboriginsky umelec pri praci

 

Tasmanian artist at work / Tasmansky umelec pri praci

 

Rock art in Kakadu / Malby na skalach

Here are of their Creators / Par Stvoritelu

Kangaroo / klokan

Nobody is sure this this one really is but it is called Dance /Nikdo si neni jisty co tahle malba presne je, ale jmenuje se Tanec 

 

Darwin (cesky)

1Nase prokleti co se tyce velkych mest pokracuje. Do Darwinu jsme dorazili pro zmenu behem dostihu. takze opet vsude narvano. Ale aspon jsme se tam dostali v sobotu vecer, nebot v nedeli jsou tam trhy, pres den a pak hlavne v noci, a kvuli nim jsme do Darwinu v podstate jeli. Ten denni trh jsme meli trochu poblem najit ale po nekonecnem krouzeni jsme ho konecne objevili. Spousta krasnych stanku a spousta jidla, takze jsme oba byli celkem spokojeni. Odpoledni hic jsme planovali sravit v kempu u bazenu pred hlavni atrakci – vecernimi trhy na plazi. Zamirili jsme tudiz ke kempu a cestou po dalnici jsme zaslechli podivny zvuk zezadu naseho auta. No ale nic zv;astniho jsme nevideli, tak jsme pokracovali v ceste. Po chvili jsme ale zacli citit cosi zvlastniho, coz se velmi rychle promenilo v cosi odporneho. Tak jsme se rozhodli sjet z dalnice hned jak muzem a jit to prozkoumat. Bohuzel jsme u odbocky narazili na semafor s cervenou a zatimco jmse cekali, smrad v aute se stal nesnesitelny a z jedne nasi skrinky se zacal valit cerny kour. Vyskakali jsme z auta, kde jsme byli a zatimco ja jsem poskakovala kolem auta a volala “hori, hori!”, Gordie popadl hasici pristroj a zmizel v kouri. Mezitim se kolem naseho auta zacali shromazdovat lidi a ja jsem vyhazovala veci z auta. po chvili se opet z koure vynoril Gordie a vsechny shromazdene ubezpecil, ze je vse podl kontrolou. V tom horku se nam roztavil kabel mezi lednickou a zalozni baterii a zacal horet. Ackoliv jsme zablokovali kus dalnice, lidi na nas byli velmi mili a nabizeli pomoc. Teda az na jednoho chlapka primo za nama, kterej nam rukama zpoza volantu zurive naznacoval, at se hnem z cesty. Manzelka ho za to celkem dobre sjela a sla nam nabidnout  asistenci. Diky tomu, ze jsme zacli hned hasit, tak zadna skoda nebyla, samozrejme krome ztraty osudneho kabelu. Zato smrad a bordel v aute byl teda slusnej. Kdo nekdy videl hasici pristroj v akci v tak malem prostoru, tak vi, o cem mluvim. Zbytek odpoledne jsme tudiz misto valeni se u bazenu stravili vyklizenim auta. Nicmene jsme to do vecera stihli a tak sjme mohli vyrazit na vecerni trhy. Gordie trval na tom, ze se cestou musime stavit v McDonaldu, aby si mohl zkontrolovat email (ten den uz podruhe). Bohuzel ten mekac, u kteryho jsme zastavili neme mista k sezeni, tak jsme chteli opet vyrazit, jenze ouha….nebyly svetla. Z nejakyho duvodu nam chciply svetla. Protoze se zacinalo stmivat, vraceli jsme se nejkratsi cestou do kempu. I tak sjme dorazili za tmy a teda cesta ve tme bez svetel nic moc. A navic jsme prisli o trhy. Nastesti nam to dalsi den celkem levne spravili a tak jsme mohli konecne vypadnout z Darwinu.     
Nez jsme odjeli, zasli jsme do Krokodyli Zoo. To bylo fajn, meli tam nekolik tisic (jo, fakt tisic) krokodylu a v cene vstupneho byla prohlidka behem ktere jsme NARKMILA KROKODYLA. Nebylo to sice zdaleka tak roztomily jako krmit delfina, dostala jsem prut, z ktereho na provazku visel kus siroveho kurete a to jsem bimbala nad krokodylima ocima, ktery koukaly z vody. Nic moc se nedelo az najednou PRASK – ctyrmetrovy krokous vyskocil z vody a bylo po kureti. Na konci prohlidky jsme si mohli podrzet male krokodylatko a vyfotit se s nim. Bylo nam vysvetleno, jak je drzet a byli uplne k zulibani. A taky totalne flegmaticky. Teda az do chvile, nez jsem se ho dotkla ja. To se najednou probudil a zacal sebou zmitat jak zbesilej. Tudiz jsem pohotove zpanikarila a bezela za provodcem pro radu. “Jen ho drz” bylo jedine, co mi doporucil. Pak se tak nejak uklidnil, tak jsme se mohli vyfotit a mohla jsem ho predat zastupu, ktery se mezitim shromazdil a kteri chteli “tohodle, protoze je vzhuru”. NIcmene hned jak jsem ho ppredala, tak zas usnul. Tak nevim, asi jsem se mu moc nelibila. 
 

Darwin

Our bad as luck as far big cities continues. This time we managed to arrive during Darwin Cup so once again a bit full town but I insisted on getting here on Saturday as Sunday is the market day. After ages of driving around and trying to find the market we finally got there and it was very cute. Heaps of pretty stalls, stacks of awesome clothes and bits and pieces. The afternoon we were going to spend at the swimming pool in the camp before the main attraction - the Night Beach Markets! Which was the main reason we decided to go to Darwin in the first place. On the way back to camp we suddenly heard this weird noise in the back of our car. Oh well, not sure what it was. But shortly after that we smelled something funny that quickly became something awful. So we realized we better turn off the busy highway and check it out. So we drove into the left lane and the red light came on. While waiting at the lights, smoke started to pour out of one of our cupboards. Obviously no time to drive anywhere we jumped out of the car and while I was yelling:"Fire, fire!", Gordie picked up the fire extinguisher and dived into the smoke. People started to gather around while I was pulling out stuff from the car and shortly Gordie emerged from the smoke announcing that the fridge cable caught fire but all good now. Despite the fact that we blocked one lane of traffic everybody was really nice and offered help except for one guy, who was wildly gesturing that we should get out of the way and who got quite an earful from his wife for that. Because we pulled over so quick and emptied the cupboard the only loss was the cable but we were lucky. It was the cupboard where we keep our DVD  player and laptop and some other bits and pieces. Unfortunately the smell and mess was horrid. If anyone has seen a fire extinguisher in action in such a confined space will know what I mean. So we spent the rest of the day airing and cleaning our van. But anyhow, we were still able to make it to the night markets. So in the evening we set off to drive to the beach for the night markets. Along the way we pulled into a McDonalds to get some free internet as Gordie insisted he has to check his email (for the second time today). Unfortunately this MC was drive-through only so we wanted to drive off again but… the lights were dead. It was starting to get dark so we decided to head straight for the caravan park and even so we got there in near total darkness, so that was a bit scary. And no night markets. Luckily we found auto electrician who fixed it real cheap the next day and we could get out of Darwin.

Before we did though, we went to a Crocodile Park. That was cool, they had thousands (yeah, thousands, not kidding) of crocodiles and the entry fee included a  tour where I got to FEED a CROCODILE! Well it wasn’t as cute or as close encounter as feeding a dolphin as  I was dangling a piece of raw chicken on a string above the croc’s head from safe distance and suddenly WHAC! – the 4 metre croc jumped out of the water and swallowed the chicken while I nearly dropped the stick with the string. Later we all got to hold a baby croc for a photo. We were explained how to hold them and they looked totally adorable. Also total phlegmatic – they just didn’t care. Until I touched him that is. As soon as I took the sleeping creature in my hands he started to move like crazy and I didn’t know what to so I did the only thing I could come with – panicked. And also ran to the guide for help. “Hang on!” was all the advice I got. The croc sort of settled down eventually so I could get my photo taken and then hand I over to all the lined up people, who wanted this one “because he is awake”. As soon as he left my hands he fell asleep again so it must have been something about me he didn’t like. So no Crocodile Anna in the making unfortunately. The info talk was super interesting and I have to say that the saltwater croc’s are seriously scary creatures but really impressive ones as well.