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100 bucks worth of writing
Aug. 4th, 2001 12:43 amThis was the article that won me hundred Australian dollars. In my opinion not nearly as good as some of the short stories I have written, but apparently, as I had hoped, suitable for the magazine that published it last month. So thousands of travellers all over Australia have been reading it lately, I might as well give LJ-land a chance to read it as well. It isn't that bad I guess.
Outback
It is one of the words that everybody thinks off if they think of Australia, but to really know what you are talking about, there is only one way: go there and find out.
So I decided against the major road from Adelaide to Coober Pedy, but took the road through the Flinders instead. However nice and impressive this area is, the trip started for me when I left the sealed road and began on a 500km+ drive over gravel and sand. Hoping my old car would manage the distance I eagerly looked at the map and saw William Creek, reputedly the smallest place in Australia.
But before I was there, there was still quite a way to drive. Having slept in my car the first night, the second day started bad. A flat tire, the first time in my life that I had to change it myself. I surprised myself by applying all the utensils properly and just half a hour later I drove again.
In the end it took me two days to get to William Creek. I could write pages about everything I saw. Deserted ghosttowns, groups of emu's and kangaroos, aboriginal paintings, salt lakes, some cattle stations and plenty of emptiness. I was scared by the amount of tires next to the road and hoped that I would manage with only one spare myself. I was overtaken by four wheel drives all the time and dreaded the flies as soon as I opened the door of the car. And this was autumn, in summer apparently it is much worse.
But most of all I was alone in the outback. As far as I could see it was empty. A few trees, a few bushes and sand. Plenty of sand, even sand dunes, as you see them at the Paris-Dakar race. Apparently this isn't a desert officially, but for me it seemed to resemble one as much as I could imagine. Words can't describe the experience of being in the middle of nowhere. It's something you've got to find out yourself if you're in Australia.
William Creek is a story on its own, I stayed the night in the pub-hotel-camping-petrolstation and drove to Coober Pedy the next day. Less than 200 kilometer on a sand road. It felt easy after the last days.
Outback
It is one of the words that everybody thinks off if they think of Australia, but to really know what you are talking about, there is only one way: go there and find out.
So I decided against the major road from Adelaide to Coober Pedy, but took the road through the Flinders instead. However nice and impressive this area is, the trip started for me when I left the sealed road and began on a 500km+ drive over gravel and sand. Hoping my old car would manage the distance I eagerly looked at the map and saw William Creek, reputedly the smallest place in Australia.
But before I was there, there was still quite a way to drive. Having slept in my car the first night, the second day started bad. A flat tire, the first time in my life that I had to change it myself. I surprised myself by applying all the utensils properly and just half a hour later I drove again.
In the end it took me two days to get to William Creek. I could write pages about everything I saw. Deserted ghosttowns, groups of emu's and kangaroos, aboriginal paintings, salt lakes, some cattle stations and plenty of emptiness. I was scared by the amount of tires next to the road and hoped that I would manage with only one spare myself. I was overtaken by four wheel drives all the time and dreaded the flies as soon as I opened the door of the car. And this was autumn, in summer apparently it is much worse.
But most of all I was alone in the outback. As far as I could see it was empty. A few trees, a few bushes and sand. Plenty of sand, even sand dunes, as you see them at the Paris-Dakar race. Apparently this isn't a desert officially, but for me it seemed to resemble one as much as I could imagine. Words can't describe the experience of being in the middle of nowhere. It's something you've got to find out yourself if you're in Australia.
William Creek is a story on its own, I stayed the night in the pub-hotel-camping-petrolstation and drove to Coober Pedy the next day. Less than 200 kilometer on a sand road. It felt easy after the last days.
