Lost in space

As I was saying, before being inundated and finally submerged by the requirements of my job,  generally speaking the bush is anywhere beyond the city or town.  It is not necessarily part of the outback, although the outback is undoubtedly part of the bush. The term outback is reserved for those areas which are considered "beyond the black stump"(although the exact location of said "stump" has never actually been determined).  It seems to be as much an expression of a concept of remoteness, aridity and emptiness, as it is a geographical location.  It is "back o' Bourke"  and includes the "never-never", as the most extremely remote areas are called, but precisely where it begins, and where it ends, is open to debate. However, it does exist, and, for a wasteland, has a curiously intense attraction.


                         

    

Rounding a crater on Mars to find the city of Milton Keynes nestling behind it, would be an experience only marginally more surprising than the discovery of Alice Springs after a long journey across the red centre.   Following hundreds of miles of parched bush, scrub and sand, out of nowhere appears a fully functional city, complete with air-conditioned shopping malls, restaurants, sushi bars, swish hotels, taxi cabs and all of the assorted paraphernalia of a twenty first century urban centre.  It is astonishing, not in that it is remarkable in itself, any more than Milton Keynes is particularly distinguished, but that it should exist at all, so far from anywhere, and in such an overwhelmingly inhospitable environment.  It is a shock, that one can, perhaps, see mirrored in the faces of the small groups of aboriginals who sit in circles in the park, or on the banks of the waterless river Todd, or who cluster outside bottle shops and on street corners. Their art now framed and for sale in plush galleries on Todd Mall, or used as decoration on tea towels and coffee cups in the souvenir shops.


                         Alice Springs

 

After staying overnight in a backpackers' hostel (where my arrival raised the average age by several years), I joined a small group for a four wheel drive camping expedition into the red centre.  We were to spend several days visiting Mt.  Conner, King's Canyon, the Valley of the Winds, Kata Tjuta, Uluru ( Ayer's rock) and the Garden of Eden.  Camping would  be at cattle stations along the way and at camp sites close to King's Canyon and Kata Tjuta.  We were to cover 1000 km in the round trip, and were to sleep in swags. A swag?!?!





My swag under  a tree.

"Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree"









A swagman was an itinerant farm labourer in the outback, who travelled from farm to farm seeking work, carrying his bedroll, his swag, on his back.  Although swagmen are not as much a feature of Australian life as once they were, the swag is, and is a remarkably sensible piece of equipment for camping in a warm climate where it seldom rains. It  is, essentially, a large canvas bag, which, these days, contains a thin foam rubber mattress. One unzips the sides, places one's sleeping bag on the mattress, climbs in and zips up the sides again.  There is a canvas flap that can be flipped over to cover the head, but the swag is amazingly cosy even  without the flap, and the sensation of falling asleep while gazing up at the stars is really quite special. One can find a quiet spot under a tree, or pull the swag closer to the camp fire and listen to the crackling of the flames...............now, you can't get that at the Grosvenor or the Savoy!



In the trailer, we carried our swags, bags, food and water.  Our initial destination was Uluru  (Ayer's rock), some 450 km away; stopping en route at various cattle and camel stations, and the Mount Ebenezer roadhouse.  The drive was to be completed in daylight to minimise the risk of collision with kangaroos, cattle, camels and brumbies(wild horses); after tiredness, the second greatest cause of fatalities on outback roads. Closer to our destination we stopped to collect firewood, quite literally, from the bush, attacking the dried out remnants of bush and piling the wood on the roof of our vehicle for that night's camp fire.

 

                                                                               Naturalised Australian?