A travel through the Outback of Australia

The Outback

Referat

Welcome on board of our Lufthansa flight 5467 from Buxtehude to Adelaide. Please fasten your seatbelts for an exiting trip.

The people of Australia call their country, as you know Down under. This continent is nearly 8 Mill. Squarekilometeres large and a little bit smaller than Europe. Endless deserts cover 80% of the whole country, but however only 4% of all 18 Mill. Inhabitants are living here, they call it outback.

Please look at the map and let us go by car from Adelaide (Ort auf der Karte zeigen) through the heart of Australia to Darwin. We follow the Stuart Highway (Strecke zeigen). On this 3000 km we get an impression of the real outback.

We leave Adelaide and after 600 km reach Pimba. In Pimba a very small town with 40 inhabitants we find one of these Outback-pubs, a bar full of earthy people. This place, which outback Australians call their hotel, is meeting point for everyone in the vicinity of 100 km and more.

While icecold beers are offered or gas is pumped into huge trucks most of the outback Australians are matter-of-fact because of 40° C and the parching sun.

The Pimba roadhouse was built 30 years ago along a dustroad, on which huge trucks with 3 or more trailers, so called roadtrains, fight their way north. Stuart Highway is the main road, on which these raodtrains (show picture) with a lenght up to 53 m, guarantee the supply of the Outback. Fuel, Food,and most important for Aussies: beer, is beeing transportet and from huge farms they bring cattle to the slaughter-house.

Roadtrains do not stop for kangaroos, cattle or tourists.

5. Lake Torrens Birte

Here you see Lake Torrens. The water level varys a lot. When it's very dry the water evaporte nearly complete. After rain the busin starts to become filled.

We go on to Coober Pedy, a place in which 2000 to 4000 people live in a strange landscape. In the language of the Aboriginals the name means ,, white man in pit".

Right of the highway you find two sees - the Lake Eyre North and the Lake Eyres South. The Lake Eyre is the biggest salt-lake in the Great Artestion basin, one of the regions where it doesn't rain a lot. It covers 9325 Squarekilometers and it is 14 meters under the sea level. It is the deepest place of Australia. The Lake Eyre South is also a salt-lake but it's very small. Behind the sea you find the Lake Eyre N.P.

More interesing is Kulgera, another outback-place, with roadhause and pub, very small museum with zoo and one police-station. In the pub the visitor is informed by sign: ,,Kulgera- 23 people and pets". Next to it the police announces the drinkers: ,, see you tonight". No wonder, as more than half of the population are policemen.

In Erlunda we leave Stuart Highway in direction west and visit the sacred place of the Aboriginals ,, Ayers Rock", a 348 m. high red rockboulder, which Aboriginals call Uluru. (show picture)

For the white population Ayres Rock brings money. 5000 tourists per day can arrive at the airport near the rock and stay there in the luxor resort (luxushotel). But be careful - the 348 meters high red rockboulder don't like ascents (besteigungen) - a lot of climber died already through crashs or the parching sun.

Here in the Uluru natinalpark you also find the Kata Tjuta. Here is a part of a special rock formation, named "the Olgas". Here you find 30 hills, arranged in a semicircle. For the Aborigines is the Kata Tjuta a part of "the place of the heads".

On a red dusttrail we drive to Kings Canyon, a colourfull ravine, which is very impressive.Thanks to a lot of work the trails are marked and stairs of wood easy the ascent and descent along the walls. The Macdonnell Ranges are in the east of Kings Canyon.

Live in the outback is difficult especially for the children. In the outback there aren't any schools. The children have their schoollessons per radio (funk). Their service of broadcasting is called "Schools of air". The "Australian Broadcasting Corporation" send also programs for children in the age of 3 till 6, who can't visit a kindergarden. Only one or two times in the year the pupils meet with their teachers. They meet for five or six day to see each other and to work a little bit. A lot of the outback-families have to drive one, two or even more hours for arriving at their next neighbours. On a outback farm, there are big watertanks and the children often have their own horses.

Back on Stuart Highway we reach Alice Springs, where we find a waterhole in the desert,a cable station, a cultural center for Aboriginals and a lively small town in the red heart of this continent. ,,The Alice"is adapted to tourism. The station of the Flying doctors is here, which is a part of the australian Public Health (gesundheitswesen). The Royal Flying Doctor Service takes care of ill people in the Outback. The Flying Doctor Service don't have only broadcastingstations, they also have a hospital with personal and air-service for the ill people. Each family in the outback has a box with medicaments, who have numbers and in the case of a emergency, the doctor only have to give the number.

North of Alice you will find yourself back in loneliness, only once ore twice disturbed by Emu, Dingo or Kangaroo ( show picture).

In the area of the Ti-Tree-Aboriginals Greg owns a roadhouse named after him. His name is written in the bar, for everybody to see: Gregory Francis Dick, 1945-2045 is printed on the coffin, which is part of the inventory and is supposed to animate drinkers to order drinks with names like ,,corpse Awakener". Greg has already slept in his coffin.

This special tree is called Baobabtree, in German you would say "Flaschenbaum". You mostly find this tree in the North of Australia. The Baobabtree only exist in Australia. He stores water in his trunk. When it's very dry the ranchers cut the trunks in little pieces and feed their cattle with it, so they don't die with thirst.

The Barrow Creek Roadhouse is like a museum. Santa Claus is climbing through the chimney, which is surounded by posters and signs, aboriginal art and gemstones, - and all year long.

Back to our route:the next big town after Alice Sprinbs is Tennant Creek ( 530 km away). And here you find one roadhouse, so you can buy water and fill up your tank. There are many Aborigines, who are spending their social support money for alcohol - this is part of the Outback too.

After 11 hours drive - nearly 1000km - we reach Darwin and the end of our trip through the Outback.

We hope you get an impression of the life in the Outback.