Thursday morning saw us on the road before 8am. I now have a terrible head cold so the trip over the mountains caused some problems with my ears. I am beginning to wonder if they will ever equalize. It is a bit of a worry as tomorrow I have to fly. The trip was quick and we met Aunty Meg and Uncle Bruce with plenty of time to spare at a lovely restaurant overlooking the sparkling waters of La Perouse, Sydney. What more could you ask for, a fantastic view, sunshine, chili char grilled octopus and of course great company. We spent a leisurely few hours over lunch and soaking up the warm atmosphere, such a change from chilly Orange. After farewelling mum and dad and catching up with my cousin Andrew I found my self back in my basic little room in the Formulae 1 hotel just by the airport. I am booked to catch the 5am bus to the International terminal in the morning.
After a 4.30am get up, I was soon checked in and then of course time for the obligatory duty free shop. I flew Cathay Pacific and fortunately for all of us the flight was almost empty. This meant that we all had at least 2 seats each, some even had 4 seats. As it was a day flight with only 2 hours time difference I was in no need for a sleep so was happy with my 2 seats. The leg room seemed more as well but that could have been something to do with the actual outside of the seat not reclining - only the inside of your own seat reclined. A much better system so that you do not have someones seat pressing into you.
We circled over Sydney in the early morning light then headed over the blue mountains. The early morning sun painted the cliffs along the ocean orange and then bounced of the ancient sandstone cliffs that are such a prominent part of the plateau that makes up the Blue Mountains. Soon Orange was visible nestled below Mt Canobolas with Lake Canobolas sparkling in the distance. Beyond Orange the soil began to visibly redden as we headed inland and north. I suppose this is what they mean but the Red Centre. Stretching for 1000's of kilometres, streams meandered across a vista of brown desert, flat and treeless.There were a number of dry lakes to be seen however there seemed to be water in a lot of the rivers winding through the dry interior, so it must have been raining somewhere. Pockets of hot air thermals rose to greet us bouncing us over rough dirt tracks replicating what could be seen below.
Before I had a chance to get bored of the vista, we seemed to be about to cross the the Gulf of Carpentaria definitely in the Top End now. You suddenly realise the isolation of the communities out here as you can be literally hundreds of kilometers from your nearest neighbour. I watched an episode of Australian Story the other day where they were talking to a couple who were working with Aboriginal communities in an attempt to improve their education. In such isolation this is no easy task and flying over this area certainly brought the problem home. There is so much that needs to be done to boost education and health in these communities. It is amazing how generous we can be with the plights of those living in other countries suffering from extreme poverty, yet here it is in our own backyard, untreated, unsupported, ignored. There are Communities with over 90% illiteracy rate and preventable health conditions like scabies, trachoma, diabetes, and malnutrition are common. There are classrooms without teachers and medical centres without doctors. Of course the extreme isolation does play a big factor but there has to be more that can be done. These communities are really becoming the forgotten people.
The closer we get to Darwin the sheer number of tiny dirt roads criss crossing the land increases and tendrils of smoke lazily unfurl, evidence of communities becoming more frequent. Suddenly the dry sandy delta meets the sea then the plane turns back across Australia towards Darwin. Take a memo, must travel to the top end. It took roughly 4 hours to get from Sydney to the top of Australia, a total distance of approx 4500km. Now it is time to enjoy some of the Cathay Pacific entertainment as we pass over the islands of Indonesia. Hong Kong and my new life draw closer.
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