Saturday Self Reflections...
G'Day readers...it's been three long weeks since my last confession. During this time we have beat a path in, and out, of the Perth and Peel region, remarkably avoiding the four day snap lockdown. Servicing and maintenance, that would be Cilla, and also welfare checks on our friend Sam who currently lives in the city.
As we watch our family and friends in the UK basking in uncharacteristically warm/hot weather our itinerary has conspired to give us a full blown Winter experience. The original plan had been to follow the sun. Covid19/20/21 has seen off that idea. Rain, wind, horizontal rain, sun, cold, frost, fog, rain, rain and wind....you get the picture!
Within the Aboriginal culture of Western Australia, there are 6 seasons and we are currently in 'Makuru' within Noongar country. Makuru is basically 'Cold & Wet'. In this area it is where the cold front which has been further South makes its way North bringing storms and is the wettest time of the year! Great...
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| Having six seasons certainly makes a lot of sense... |
Suffice to say, like Winter in nearly everywhere in the world, it has a tendency to sap the reserves of positive energy. Before the eye-rolling starts, yes, we are very very very lucky to be in the position we are in. We are in the relatively safe state of Western Australia in terms of Covid, and we are not working (well ok Von a little bit), and we can travel freely. On the face of it not too much to complain about.
Being confined to a 6.3m x 2.05m metal box on wheels, whilst comfortable and cosy, can be a challenge when we (Dennis included) are continuously wet and damp. And whilst we all love each other dearly, there is no escape when the weather is bad! It would be fair to say that the weather contributed to the initial mood as we entered South Western Australia; that, and the apparent unfriendliness for dog lovers and people...maybe it was the New South Wales registration plate. Maybe we had been particularly spoilt in South Australia. You may recall in SA, Von had been beaten several times to her chirpy 'Good Morning' but here, the early evidence is we can barely raise a grunt! It is a work in progress...
So how to lift ourselves out of the 'fug'?
I reverted back to some of my earlier reading during the lockdowns of 2020. Julia Baird, in her book 'Phosphorescence' said:
"In short, when we are exposed to sunlight, trees,water, or even just a view of green leaves we become happier, healthier, and stronger"
"It's not just forests that uplift but, but ocean too.....we hanker for the sight of green and blue"
The people of Japan believe everyone has an 'Ikigai', a reason to jump out of bed every morning.
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| Elephant Rocks, near Denmark, SW Coast of WA |
I also revisited a small Mental Health booklet from the New Zealand Defence Force, which has really resonated during our travelling. Not only has it kept a connection to NZ , it holds true to friends and family throughout the world dealing with various stages of the epidemic.
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| The red line denotes the route and, yes, it meanders... |
1. ROCKS
Oh my goodness, big rocks, little rocks, tall pointy rocks, curvy rocks! 'Awe and Wonder' in bucketloads.
Our favourites have been, in no particular order, Elephant Rocks (photo above) which apparently represent a herd of elephants paddling in the water. Not sure about that, but the huge smooth boulders sitting in the clearest bluest sea, and whitest sand, did undoubtedly produce a wow moment on reaching the end of the footpath. These particular rocks are on all the promotional brochures for this area and, of course, the ubiquitous Instagram photos!
Just before heading coastal we had also visited Wave Rock, another of the WA highlights. It is certainly epic, although we agreed had become almost un-natural due to the application of warning signs everywhere, and metalled fencing and walkways. This was in complete contrast to the 'wave' rocks we had seen earlier in South Australia which had even allowed Dennis to walk on. However, seeing the joy, it was still an amazing rock formation.
Inselberg 'Wave Rock' in Hyden. (15m high and 110m long)
The ultimate Rock extravaganza so far, and I suspect WA will deliver a lot more, is our recent trip to the Pinnacles Desert. I used it in the introductory photo as it has most definitely been the highlight of the last three weeks despite having to off-load Dennis! Not only were the rocks mesmerising, it was the colour of the sand too. Von likened it to turmeric in colour, and add to that the very moody skies which seemed to make the colours ping even more. The rocks even have the scientists baffled with a number of differing theories. The most popular theory is over 400,000 years ago the coastal lime-rich sand dunes inundated a mature forest during the interglacial period of higher sea-level. A hard layer then formed around the decaying trees creating a mould of the trunks and roots which slowly filled with debris and sand. Over the 100,000 years or so erosion removed the softer limestone and left the harder mould of the trees exposed. The pinnacles have then been continuously hidden and re-exposed over the years collecting sediment and toughening them. They reckon they were exposed as we can see them around 6,000 years ago but with the wind and rain, the sand can hide or reveal more.
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| (you can see the exposed petrified roots and included nesting Galahs!) |
We were very lucky to be able to visit during this crazy time, as by all accounts it does normally get very very busy with tour buses. One upside to travelling within the restrictions of Covid! And as many saw on Facebook, the Wildlife and Parks Department have a great free facility to leave your dog, thus avoiding a massive on the spot fine if caught harbouring your furry fugitive in the vehicle.
2. TREES & FLOWERS
The Southern area of Western Australia is renowned for its amazing Forests, most of which are in the National Park area so not easily accessible for us. There is a drive you can do though which finds you in the middle of some very large areas of forestland. They have the hugest straightest trees in them which are a mix of Karri and Tingle. We did stay in a small town which had a great dog-friendly walking trail through some of these trees so we could experience the size, smell, and majesty of them. I had been reading about the phenomenon of 'Forest bathing'. In Japanese it is 'Shinrin-yoku' and is believed to promote well-being and relieve stress. It is simply taking in the forest through our senses of sight, hearing, touch and smell and immersing ourselves in nature. A form of mindfulness and meditation. Stand and breathe it in. We did.
Western Australia is also well known for its Wildflower Season which can be chased from North to South of the State, ideally. We're doing it the other way around due to our route, so a bit early in the Southern region but now we are above Perth on the Western coastline we are starting to see more evidence. It is usually a huge tourist draw so will be interesting to see how that works. It might also mean that Djilba (refer to earlier photo!) is just around the corner.
3. BEACHES
Who doesn't love a good beach? Always good for the soul; the smell, the colours, the sound of the ocean. It is fair to say that all three of us have our hearts lifted at the sight of an amazing beach. We can walk, roll, or run and that's just Von! The Great Ocean Drive from Esperance definitely nailed the brief. An absolutely stunning array of incredible beaches that took away our breath. Winter sees the beaches a little more rough and ready with lots of seaweed, or as we now know it to be, 'Wrack'. But the amazingly white sand coupled with the clearest water is a sight to be seen. I will say though, I have seen some photos recently from folk in the UK in Cornwall, Devon, Wales and Scotland that could rival them.....maybe not the temperature but the view!
We have realised throughout our travels that good Art is also good for our mood and channels our 'Awe & Wonder'. Silo Art and the murals around Australia are in abundance as each small town tries to lure in willing visitors. It's great to see that even though there are no overseas visitors here at the moment the Aussies are enjoying their own backyard when they can. Western Australia doesn't have as many silo's and they're concentrated around the Wheatbelt area. Mmm I suppose that would be where the grain silos are, doh! It does boast the FIRST Silo Art and arguably now the BIGGEST Mural both of which we visited. Their first was not our favourite; that award went to the Silo in Ravensthorpe and its depiction of the 6 stages of Banksia.
Murals abound in WA but I think we have to look at Wellington Dam which was recently completed by Guido Van Helten. We've been tracking BIG Things but this is BIG on a BIG scale. It is 8,000 sq.m and had to have a specially designed movable platform as well as abseiling ropes in order to paint it. It is entitled 'Reflections' and depicts the commonality in how waterways are significant culturally to all people. It took Guido 4 months to paint and is now believed to be the biggest outdoor mural in the world.
5. BRIDGES
We've been across Bridges all over the world and even climbed some, so I always have a great appreciation for architecture, design and build. Our recent trips to Perth found us 'oohing' and 'aahing' over two bridges in East Perth. Both were within walking distance of our friend Sam's apartment so we crossed over them a few times. The first time was at night and so we were also treated to the lighting of each Bridge...maybe it was the Rainbow theme...or, for Von, that one was called Trafalgar?
Either way it was a great introduction to the city.
Trafalgar Bridge was built in 1994 as part of a redevelopment of that area and is about to undergo a covid delayed refurbishment due to the wooden slats becoming unsafe. Dogs and pedestrians alike have been refusing to walk across it (Dennis included), as the gaps between the wooden planks were widening. Sam had even trapped the front wheel of her bicycle between them!
The more spectacular of the two bridges is the Matagarup Bridge. It was completed in 2018 and is quite stunning at 72m high and 400m long. It's deck, at its widest, is 22m and narrows to 9m. It cost around $91.5 million....in pounds a lot! It's central arch is actually the same height as the Sydney Harbour Bridge albeit the deck is much closer to the water.
The name Matagarup, in local Whadjuk dialect, means 'place where the river is only leg deep, allowing it to be crossed'. It crosses over to the Optus Sports Stadium. The arches can appear as ribbons or swans which was the architects vision and symbolises the coming together of different cultures. The steel was sourced from WA supporting local industry and employment.
There are 900 linear metres of led lighting which have 16 million potential colour combinations and can be pre-programmed. It also has sound which is triggered by motion sensors as you reach the middle section. It is music by the Perth Symphony Orchestra and word and readings by local Aboriginal elders. You can now also pay to climb it...we didn't.
6. WHANAU - Friends & Family
Well I don't know about any of my readers, but this has worked wonders for my morale! One of the great aspects of our travel and being able to share our journey with family, friends and fellow travellers is the connectivity. We both love the questions and comments and whilst at times we have felt guilty for travelling when a number of you haven't been able to, we have also been bolstered by even just a laughing emoji. Who knew it would boil down to those little yellow blobs smiling and laughing. Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger all make us feel not so alone. We are really enjoying seeing, in particular, everyone in the UK enjoying their Summer and hope FREEEEEEEDOM continues safely.
The Sun came out today and I came across a word that had, apparently, become obsolete in the English language.....APRICITY.
Apricity meaning the warmth of the winter sun.
Apricity hugged me and I felt warm,
Kia Ora from your eco-warriors, xx
(PS if you receive your blog via the automated email function then I am sorry to say Google is about to cease the service. As an alternative, because not everyone is on Facebook, Von will manually email it out instead. She was able to get the list of email subscribers from the Blog site. If you would like to 'opt in' or 'opt out' of this free service (!) then just let us know at 'vongray1969@gmail.com'.)
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