Deserts have some sort of fascination for me.
There is always something unique and remote and silent and timeless
I did once work in a remote semi-arid location… I loved it
I would like to hear how others feel about this?
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I love it too…
Have travelled across the southern tail of the Nullarbor Plain several times via several different modes :
Train - moved to Perth as a 10 year old in 1972 - came from Sydney on the Indian Pacific - LOVED it!
Train - my dad moved us to Melbourne in late 1975 - and we went by train too…
Plane - too many times I’ve lost count!
Bus - that was a nightmare
Car - drove a car with a co-driver (now my wife) and we drove from Perth to Melbourne in 48 hours (same time the bus takes)
Motorcycle - ridden (rode?) motorcycle across “the paddock” and back, three times - last two times was also to Tasmania (via overnight ferry).
I LOVE sleeping out in the desert with just a swag (it’s VERY cold need lots of blankies and a good sleeping bag). While the Eyre Highway isn’t what most people think of as desert (i.e. no “dunes”), it’s arid for most of it’s length… And - as well as signs warning about kangaroos, emus, wombats (on the South Australian side) - there are also CAMEL warnings - I’ve never seen one - seen plenty of living and dead roos and emus, only ever seen dead wombats… Nullarbor is latin for “no trees” - and yeah - there’s hardly any “trees” as such - there are malli forming eucalypts and acacia (wattles) and shrubs - but no stands of trees taller than about 3 metres…
Rabbits have been all but eliminated from my side of the country (Rabbit Proof Fence - also the name of one of my favourite Australian movies - very moving!) - but when I drove a car over (Perth to Melbourne) in 1984 - it was a constant dudump, dadump, dadadadadump, as rabbits went under the wheels of the car… that was probably Coolgardie to Norseman to the start of the Nullarbor plain - just rabbits constantly!
Also - note : The Pinnacles are just a tad north of where I live - but - I’ve never been there - they’re not in “the desert” however - pretty close to (or on) the coastal escarpment between Perth and Geraldton somewhere…
Summer here in Perth - we get HOT winds blowing in from the desert - so 40 degrees celsius with a hot easterly feels more like 50 degrees - like a fan forced oven… it’s not anything like Summer here yet - in Winter (as I learning in Geography) we get West Westerly Winds in Winter - and that’s what it’s like right now - pretty cold (17) and wet - but it did get to 30 on Monday - so Spring is here…
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There is immense variety, Australian deserts are nothing like the Sahara
Yes, I have done that. 100deg F in day, freezing at night.
I have not been to WA.
I was in the West Darling region of NSW… Barrier Ranges ran right through the middle of the area. As you say, nothing like the Sahara desert… saltbush plains and rocky hills. Dust storms occasionally, and every day mini-tornadoes of red dust wind their way across the flat plains. We had a physicist guy there studying them.
I built a fence that was 4 miles between strainer posts… new technology in an ancient landscape.
Wombats are more common on the coast in NSW. They dig huge holes… can undermine a house. They make a clicking noise when they move about at night.
We had a weekender once up in the hills behind the Hawkesbury River…, they had a burrow under our shack.
So why are people fascinated with deserts? I think it is remote places… like lighthouses … like Mt Everest?
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“willywillies”… They’re even on the Eyre Highway - middle of the road surface - sometimes you can see them - i.e. dead leaves and grass spiralling - and you can feel them as you ride through them on a motorcycle - strange feeling - the most uncanny ones to ride through are the ones you can’t see as there’s no leaves or other detritus to make them visible…
And there’s constant roadkill on the Eyre Hway too - mostly roos, greys and big reds - often with wedge tailed eagles having a feed - accompanied by ravens… I only saw it once or twice, in 2006 - there was a silver coloured “van” with what looked like a “cow catcher” on the front that drives back and forth moving dead roos off the road… occasionally I’ve seen dead wedgetailed eagles that were hit while feeding on roadkill… sad…
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I dont like that. I suppose the numbers can sustain it, but there has to be a more humane solution. Some sort of deterrent in the road surface, maybe.
Even here on the coast near Seven Mile Beach National Park, there are swamp wallabies, magpies, wood ducks being killed every day.
The other type of road kill is humans… people dont drive to the conditions on outback roads. We were always encountering accidents… even a semi that tried to go thru a flooding creek and was washed downstream.
Yes, I forgot the word. The physics guy reckoned they were related to air turbulence… that means it is a Chaos Theory phenomenon… Hot days, rising hot air, fast air movement leads to turbulent flow that attracts dust, leaves etc…
We have Wedge Tail Eagles here. The breed on Coolangatta Mountain. We see them soaring over the paddocks mostly on windy days.
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I have often wondered, what happens to a bike rider if hit by a stone… like when you break windshield?
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I went on holiday with a friend many years back and we chose a nice hotel, pool, meals included spa you name it… during the week the hotel offered a jeep and overnight stay in the Sahara with sunrise breakfast… so we paid our money and off we went.
The tents were cold overnight, breakfast was poor and too early as we needed to leave for the first experiance visit so sunrise was behind us and the guide did not want to stop…
Put me off the need to do it again, so closest i get now to doing this is the sand dunes in maspalomas grand canaries as that is next to the sea.
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Interesting question…
One thing I’ve noticed - when passing over completely squished roadkill - i.e. completely flattened - just a brown smelly stain on the asphalt - they’re still covered in massive blowflies (massive “meat” flies) that actually hurt your legs under your jeans / trousers as they impact - that’s how big these blowflies are - we just call 'em “blowies”… *
I’ve only been hit once or twice by flying stones… never in a vital zone (e.g. eyes or mouth or nose)…
I’ve been hit by “locusts” though - that was worse - 'cause when they splat on your face (or visor) they stink!
* “blowies” - when large ruminants were introduced to Australia - there was a corresponding increase in flies, normal sized, and “blowflies” due to so much ruminant “scat” (kangaroos are nearly as efficient as reptiles) - so dung / scarab beetles were introduced - that was one of the very few successful battles that bionengineering fought, and won (don’t mention cane toads - i.,e. DON’T MENTION CANE TOADS!)
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Warren Zevon summed it up in a single song : “Splendid Isolation”…
I go for rides (mostly e-bicycle) into semi-wilderness - and I prefer it when the weather’s less “clement” because there are less people about…
I’m very fortunate to have reasonably untamed wilderness close by… But even so - there’s also rural stuff close by too - mostly vineyards - but I love riding by a spot, on the river, where across the river, two weeks ago all the vine stems were leafless - and suddenly they’re sprouting green new growth…
Despite being an atheist, I find something deeply spiritual about the cycle of regrowth…
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I think we all have that feeling. In the northern hemisphere Easter and Spring coincide so the biological cycle and the spiritual cycle are in sync. Not sure how it came to be arranged like that but it fits with how people feel.
There is a book by Thomas Merton called “Elected Silence”
I think the song is probably an easier take.
We are surrounded by rural enterprises, mostly cattle. Cattle dont appeal to me, sheep are more interesting, and gentler to handle. There are native timbered areas nearby, but we appreciate them not being too close for fire risk reasons.
I think beaches have an element of this wild escape syndrome too, or at least they used to before they became overpopulated.
I think most people are happy to live on a concrete bunker, as long as they can get out to somewhere … Not everyone reacts as strongly as I do and wants to live out there.
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Fascinating discussion. Thermometer reads 43 this morning (that’s 6 to you upside-down folks) and the sun peeking over the horizon is lighting up the red vine maple and sumac leaves. Fall is just starting and I’m looking forward to two months more of golfing in shorts before the winter rains. Everything is green and tall (like 60 meters tall) here, but the eastern part of our state is high (1500m) desert and unbelievably beautiful. I really enjoy your observations.
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What is rain ?
Have not seen that in our part of France this year… Major problem everything is too dry and water restrictions in place now.
I ride a motorbike with full visor. Coming home one day I was hit in the throat area by either a bee or a wasp which stung me on impact. Yes I was going to fast. Got home which was close by where my cousin was visiting who was a nurse big discussion as to how to treat it but in the end it just hurt like hell for a couple of hours lucky I do have issues with stings normally
6 deg C in shorts? You must be a keen golfer.
Golf is sort of a socialized version of the wilderness effect
That high desert is special. Nothing like it in Australia. You need to go and live there for a period to fully experience the isolation and quietness effect. It will change you.
Beauty is part of it. What makes a thing beautiful to our eyes? Some say Beauty is some sort of artistic quality… ie its maker was creative. Some people feel mathematical equations can be beautiful or maybe elegant? If we admire something, we are admiring its maker.
So if we find wilderness appealing in some way, we are admiring the processes that created it.
To make a contrast, ‘Home’ is another entirely different feeling.
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Can’t quite decide whether ‘beautiful’ is mostly familiar or mostly mysterious. When I cross the Cascade Divide between western Oregon and eastern Oregon, the expanded vision (little or no underbrush, or sagebrush under blue skies) amplifies the mystery over the familiar.
Eye of the beholder, probably.
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Home is familiar and beautiful but not mysterious
The stained glass in our Church is familiar and mysterious and beautiful
A new interesting environment like the pinnacles is unfamiliar and mysterious and beautiful
A crime can be ugly and still mysterious
I think beautiful has more than one shade of meaning.
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one thing you don’t get out and about in a car - is - smells… scents, whiffs and aroma…
sometimes that’s a good thing - 'cause you can still smell putrefaction from obliterated roadkill stains on the asphalt…
but you also get the smell of dry saltbush in the desert, and in winter, wet eucalypt leaves on a motorcycle, or bicycle or e-scooter… and that lovely smell of burnt off Australian bushland…
gimme two wheels and my head in the atmosphere anyday…
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Perhaps we should start a discussion on what do you ride or drive with images and why.
Makes a change from a computer subject
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How about a convertible?
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3 headlights?
I never owned an Austin but have heard they were prone to oil leaks. Modern seals would probably fix that.
I started a separate topic for this… please post your vehicle replies there
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