Winter 2019 - OZ 12 Road Stories

2019 - OZ  12   Road Stories

Wonder What He Hit

Our drive was through the very arid area of Southern Australia, but basically there is just one road to drive on and it is hours upon hours of just driving. Driving on the left side of the road, driving and watching out for hopping wildlife that we KNOW appears very suddenly and is totally unaware of the danger it is in. Smack and the wildlife is killed. If it is a bit bigger, like a kangaroo, the car gets damaged, too.

Watch for Camels, Emus and 'Roos

So far we are lucky; we only hit a bunch of birds, their down feathers stuck on the windshield wipers and the grill of the car. I still don’t like the idea of driving and then killing ‘innocents’.

So I drive aware, alert and watchful. 

I don’t know what happened to us around Balladonia in the Nullarbor Plain (Latin: null arbor – no trees). After a day’s drive we stepped out of the car and both of us were totally wiped out. 

A Lot of Nothingness

We were tired to the bones. I was actually woozy and so was Carol. Carol thought it was CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) poisoning, that the car’s exhaust created it, but we checked out the car, no that was not the case. It might have been some other cause, but we hit the bed right after we arrived at the Balladonia Motel. 

Look Up

The area we drove through is …nothing…  No trees, just a few bushes by the side of the road.

IF and WHEN we saw a few scraggly trees, they had a ‘red’ bark, strange trees.

We took pictures of road signs because they were sparsely used, and a bit strange, too.

Australia made some stretches of their highway system into landing strips for airplanes. No, we did not see a jet land but the signs are there to warn you that it ‘could’ happen.

Landing Strip on the Highway

 Gasoline prices were $191.3 per liter in Balladonia. We paid for our small, very basic room $ 160/night. Nothing was included in the room price except it had A/C, a total blessing in this heat.

Bikers Camping

Some folks ‘camped’ in the dirt near the only gas station with nothing around but space, distance, emptiness.  There was just our Motel, the Balladonia Motel, with a gas pump and a restaurant.

Home Sweet Home - For the Night

We were happy to be there, the whole setup was very basic, but we had water, we had food, we had shelter. No, not the fanciest place, but it served us well.

We felt fine the next day, the weariness had left us, and we felt totally OK.

Strange, I wonder what made me feel this way; I have not felt this way since.

Road Train

The next day on the road we were again, greeted by Road Trains. I felt fine driving.
 

Another Road Train

I still wonder why I got out of the car and felt woozy. There might be something in the Australian air that is different.

Winter 2019 - OZ 11 Pink Lake

2019 - OZ  11   Pink Lake

Lake Hillier But We Didn't See It

The advertisement Carol found showed a lake in brilliant pink.  Naturally!

And again, naturally we had to go and see it.  There are, after all, few Pink Lakes, like this in the world. This Lake is supposed to be around Esperance, WA.

Don’t you just love the color?  

So we found this pink lake (Lake Hillier) on line, but that one needed a flight over, too expensive.

Why Is It Pink?

Some local folks told us about a smaller lake that was supposed to be pink, too and we drove around but ‘our’ lake was not pink at all.

According to the internet there are ‘other’ pink lakes in Australia, see the list… but we are not near those towns.

We felt a bit frustrated until I found this story from other folks doing what we are doing… Looking for the Pink Lake near Esperance.

Didn't Look Pink to Us

So our search for the PINK was a bust!   It’s OK, not everything goes according to plan!

Winter 2019 - OZ 10 Field of Lights

2019 - OZ  10   Field of Lights

In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow…

In Albany, Australia

I cannot remember how we came to visit this display to Honor to the War Dead, but we followed, what seemed like a caravan of cars. All cars were looking for a parking spot, even though it was well organized, parking was at a premium. 

I had not a clue what to expect, I had no idea what this display was about but it was very sobering once we entered the area, the park.  The time of day was dusk, a bit after the sun went down. 

A River of Light on Both Sides of the Road

The Exhibition was along a tree-lined avenue and all the lights were set up like a river that flows from tree to tree. It was an Exhibition for pedestrians only. Though children were with the adults the children were all very quiet, and the mood of the masses was hushed. The exhibition was reverential, a no joke display with true honor given to past soldiers.

In a park-like setting were lights, hundreds of them, thousands. All the lights together flowed like a river, and then formed a small lake, a puddle among the trees. Each light representing one life lost during war-time. Any war, anyplace in this world, really, but in this case Australian lives!  A light = a man or woman! 

Yellow, Green and White Colours Keep Changing

A life snuffed out in a dispute about some ideology.

Each light represents a vibrant, young, able-bodied person who once was full of hopes.

Each light was a full life that ended tragically.

Somehow the reasons for the ‘war’ were negligible. 

Many Plaques In Memory of Specific Individuals

Yes, the losers lost many lives.

The ultimate ‘winners’ lost many lives, too. 

War, conflicts or different beliefs should not be solved like that. It just creates sadness, a feeling of loss that, as is shown here, lasts for almost a century.

WW1 was the ultimate war, so it was thought. The Australians supported the British, of course, it was the Empire after all and one has to ‘fight’ for your ‘friends’ right?

So Many Losses

A similar feeling was supported during WW2, more people died!

“How many deaths will it take…?” Is part of Bob Dylan song…   (Blowing in the Wind).

This Exhibition ‘Avenue of Honor’ created for ANZAC Day (National day of Remembrance in Australia and NZ commemorating all who have fought and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations), by the World Renowned Artist, Bruce Munro, is like a really final epitaph, a farewell, but also a hello to the memories of all the people who gave their lives for us.

Colours Represent the Wattle and the Kowhai,
National Flowers of Australia and New Zealand

Rest in Peace!   Hopefully we are ‘learning’ and can listen to the next song:  “War no more”!  (Pete Seeger). 

This Exhibition is a traveling Exhibition; it might come near your town. It is a good visit, go if you can. We could not see it in Uluru, so here is a video of how it was there! (Click on the link above.)