Page 205 - Mit dem Wohnwagen durch Australien 2

way to them was not a conventional road, but a pre historic one. Beat had to use his entire off road driving skills to
negotiate the rocky, pebbly, sandy and watery terrain in a mostly dry river bed. We took it really slow which was a
wise thing to do. We had to negotiate around a stranded Land cruiser whose axle shanks had broken. The driver
wanted to go too fast. A park Ranger tried to get the car drivable to get it out of the gorge.

The MacDonnel Ranges are the most astonishing rock formations in red, changing their colour during the day. They
fascinated me so thoroughly, that I all of a sudden got the urge to start painting them in water colour. Now, most of
you know, that I am the most ungifted artist there is under the sun. But still, I took Beats water colours and dabbled
at a liking. I soon found out, that the Macdonnels pose a really formidable motive. I quickly settled for river red gum
trees and found out, that water colour is one of the most difficult media to be employed, but I really love it. I think I
will get some lessons once I am back home.

One of the strange conundrum of nature is, that now, after record rainfalls in almost all parts of Australia and
abundant water in most rivers, the fire danger will be extremely high this summer. But after some thought, it will
become more logic. The rains result in huge growth of wild flowers, grass, herbs, shrubs; everything is green; At the
beginning.
Then, the sun gets hotter and hotter and the new shoots get drier and drier. So, the tiniest spark can light the largest
Bush fire. That is why, towards the end of winter, controlled cold, meaning low burning, bushfires are lit and small
patches of land are burned. But a little unexpected wind can fan these little bushfires into raging hot fires getting out
of control. This happened near Alice Springs and the highway has had to be closed for a couple of days and thick
black and yellow smoke made breathing rather difficult.

THE END
Back in Melbourne we advertised our beloved Caravan and trusted Troopy on E-Bay. We spread our household
goods in front of the caravan and soon attracted interested buyers. Most articles found a loving new home and
increased our bank balance somewhat. The Troopy and the caravan soon found proud new owners. However, both
buyers came from out of state and were only able to take possession of the vehicles on our last day in Australia, plus
they both wanted to pay in cash. We twice found ourselves laden with a large carton full of cash, tramping to the
bank in Melbourne Airport. They took the money without batting as much as an eyelid. With these amounts back
home we would at least have had to produce a sales contract for the money, and there are still people who accuse
Swiss banks of foul play!!

Finally we are able to take the suspense from our esteemed readers; Beat had no difficulties in ranging the caravan
in the various Campgrounds without mover. On one hand, the camp grounds in Australia are more spacious than
the ones back home, but then Beat has quickly learned to back the caravan very diligently. Last but not least, my
professional directing also played their part, even if I say so myself.

The last two years we have explored Australia from all angles and drove about 55’000 km, spent nights in about 130
different places, made some very good new friends, learned new skills, acquired plenty of new knowledge, saw
amazing sights, went through some daunting experiences and finally fell in love with the red centre. We have had a
magical two years in Australia, the longest we have lived consecutively in any country other than Switzerland. It will
not be easy to leave this miraculous country.