I have been thinking of Australia and gold this week and so went burrowing in my photos to see what I could find! Two years ago we drove for hours and hours north of Perth in Western Australia, well going nowhere really. Miles and miles of straight road sandwiched between acacia trees, banksia bushes [like proteas] and bright red earth it was very reminiscent of South Africa. Absolutely nothing...nothing at all apart from the odd kangaroo. Even the fishing villages were hard to find as the road was 70 kms or so inland meaning it was a long way to even find a garage. After two days we came to deserted Nambung National Park with these unusual limestone rock formations left in a sea of golden sand, After seeing them we decided we really didn't want to drive north for another two days or more if there wasn't too much to see along the way, nor was there anything when we got there so we turned round and drove back to Perth!
It was odd being in that environment again; hot,dry,sunny,clear,endless and childless. The area around Perth is very like the eastern Cape in South Africa and has a similar surfer vibe.The hot dry air and sharp colours brought back our early days before children full of beaches,long long journeys on roads as straight as a rod with the loud noise of cicadas buzzing in the trees. It was good to feel that young again but depressing to realise that those days of hectic physical sports and activities were perhaps past! There is something wonderful about the air in that kind of environment; it is so dry it has a certain smell and the views so endless. Australia seemed to me to be a huge dry continent... golden red in colour with so so much sand. How different to my view here today with its cold damp wet air!
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