The Australian adventure is over … Big Mama is already on her way to Africa !

Time flew! 65 days, 18000km and 2700L of Diesel … and here we are, back in Melbourne for 5 weeks.

A month ago when we arrived in Broome (North West), we felt like things would get a bit harder from there on ... Indeed heavy rains forced us to stay three days in a camping ground … A third cyclone was coming close to Australia’s shore. The rainy season was not over yet and dirt roads became flooded and impassable. We had to cancel all the 4wd treks on our agenda including the mythic “Gibb River Road“. In the dry season rivers are as small as little creeks but during the monsoon they can get up to 100m wide in just a few days. Driving northward up to Kakadu National Park, we came across the same road signs again and again: “track closed due to flooding”.

However the asphalt roads still gave us access to many natural wonders: giant termite mounds and wild water falls in Litchfield National Park, cool and crystal clear water rock pools secretly kept in narrow gorges in Nitmuluk, flooded billabongs home to thousands of birds and crocs and aboriginal rock paintings in Kakadu … Australia always seems to have something amazing to offer !

Too much bitumen can kill the adventurer spirit so after that we were looking forward to driving remote dirt roads and trying new bush camp sites. Driving down to Alice Springs in the arid Red Centre we found what we have been looking for. We engaged 4wd for the first time in weeks in the extremely remote Ruby Gap’s reserve. The bush camp site here is one of the best we have found so far and the area gives us the opportunity to explore a couple of abandoned gold mines. On the western side of the McDonald Ranges, we are taking our Big Mama for a 80km slow-going journey on the Finke Gorge’s dry river bed. We will not forget this night under the stars where we cooked a massive roast chicken in our bush camp oven. Absolutely divine !

We then headed off to two touristy but must-see sites: Kings Canyon and Uluru. Uluru is one of Australia most popular icons and we were looking forward to seeing it with our own eyes. Facing the giant monolith is something quite impressive ! A curtain of ochre contrasting with a pure blue sky, 300m tall and according to some theories, as deep as 5km into the ground ! You cannot remain insensitive to such a wonder. However Uluru is not only a big rock. For thousands of years it has been considered as sacred by the aboriginal people who, beyond its unique geological features, see traces left behind by spirits of the Dream Time (period where spirits created the world that we can see today) : a crack would be a mouth, a curve in the rock would be the trace carved by a giant snake …

After the emotion, the action ! We met up with Nik and Leonore in their Land Rover at the entrance to the Simpson’s Desert. We met 10 days before and decided to cross together the biggest parallel sand dune desert in the world ! 500km from West to Est with more than a 1000 dunes to tackle - the highest of which rises 90m above the ground: Big Red ! It will take us more than 3 days to complete the journey … the second day being the slowest going with 110km done in 7 hours of extreme action. There is a saying here that goes like this: « There is only 2 types of 4wdriver: those who dream of crossing the Simpson’s Desert and those who’ve did it ! »

After the Simpson we already had to think about heading back to Melbourne. We did most of the road with our new friends before stopping at the Grampians Natural Park 200km before Melbourne. Big Mama needed a big clean up : inside and outside alike ! Almost non stop rain did not manage to get rid of the mud accumulated over the last few weeks. We had to stop at the car wash and use the high pressure hose in the rain !

Coming back to civilisation in Melbourne is a bit of a shock. Red dirt roads are replaced by black asphalt, canyons by streets, silence by crowd, our internal clock by a watch. We are eating far too much and our shrunk stomachs are having difficulty coping with the rich food again. It was much simpler in the bush ! Your only concerns were to know whether there is enough diesel in the tank, enough water in the jerry cans and enough food in the fridge. The rest of the time is spent living the present moment.

Only 6 weeks before Cape Town …