Dust Storms in the Desert (and our new car!)

Well it's been a while since our last entry - we've been busy working away in a vineyard in Northern Victoria and we've saved up enough money to buy ourselves a car! With our 1993 Holden Commodore wagon we can now travel to more places, stopping to see or do things along the way whenever we want! We're currently staying in the district of Sunraysia - the place with the most sunny days in all of Australia. Nine hours north of Melbourne, the place would be nothing but semi-arid desert if it weren't for the creativity of two Canadians who developed a massive irrigation system stemming from the Murray River about 100 years ago. Now the area is essentially a fertile oasis, surrounded by dust and shrubs. We are staying at the pub in small town called Merbein. After seven straight weeks of living in our tent, this is luxury by our standards! With a big group of working backpackers, things get pretty lively Friday nights in the beer garden!

We're getting used to life here - it's cool if the temperature is below 30, we get dust storms if the wind picks up, and the flies are worse than you could ever imagine. Apparently the aborignal meaning for the word "Mildura" (the larger town nearby) is dust and flies - no surprises there! Eucalyptus trees offer very little shade, but that's probably for the better - walking through the park, we saw warning signs: "Avoid Walking Under Trees in Hot Weather: Branches Falling." It's so hot and dry here that the trees will drop entire branches in an effort to conserve water. We have learned that farmers are the same around the world - the rain never comes at the right time. Despite the decade-long drought, the three days of rain we had recently created havoc for the local farmers, and has had a negative impact on the grape harvest. Thankfully, though, the rain put an end to the horrific bushfires that have savaged a large part of the state. It was quite moving to see the compassion of the Australian people in response to the bushfires - over $100 million dollars was raised within the first couple weeks and the generosity and donation of services continues. Only within the last week have the people been granted access back into the towns which were destroyed.

The hotel owners are fantastic, and have even taken groups of us out on some excursions. We went to the local golf course where we finally saw kangaroos! After being in Australia for three months without a sighting, we were starting to question their existence. Unfortunately, we couldn't get close enough for a good photo, since the whole group went charging towards them and scared them all away; but it was great to watch them hop! After our kangaroo sighting, we went out into the desert to the Perry Sand Dunes. It was amazing! The dunes were massive, and stretched on for miles. The sand was hot, but that didn't stop any of us from dropping our sandals (or thongs, as they say in Oz) and running around, playing in the sand. They also took us to the Irish Pub in Mildura for St. Patrick's Day. Ironically a couple of days before the big event, a bunch of people from Ireland showed up at the hotel; so it was certainly a night to remember!

We took the car for it's first roadtrip - we went out into the Australian Outback! It was exactly as we had expected! The drive to the small silver mining town of Broken Hill, in New South Wales, was flat and empty; with kangaroo skeletons littering the sides of the road and emus and wild goats running around in the distance. After a quick stop at the visitor info center in Broken Hill, we decided to continue further into the Outback, to the ghost town of Silverton. We passed donkeys and cattle wandering loose in the plains, and got to Silverton in time to see a huge dust storm rolling in. Seeking refuge in the Silverton Hotel, drinking a beer and looking at pictures of Mel Gibson filming Mad Max II while the dust storm passed by was truly a unique experience! Once the skies cleared, we drove out to the Mundi Mundi Plains. Barren and desolate, it looked like an entirely different planet. They say you can see tomorrow from the Mundi Mundi Plains. Heading back into Broken Hill, we spent the night at a caravan park, listening to screeching parrots as we drifted off.... In the morning, we made our way to a place called "The Living Desert." We went on a cultural walk, looking at aborignal huts,"story poles" (similar to our totem poles), and kangaroos. We continued our walk to the top of the hill, where there were twelve hand-carved sandstone sculptures, each with it's own story. Before heading "home" we stopped at the GeoCenter in Broken Hill, where we learned about the mining and toured through a restored miner's cottage.

We will soon begin our journey through Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. We'll have about 5000 kilometers of adventure before reaching Perth on the West Coast.

Cheers to everyone at home - spring is around the corner!

Lots of love,

Cass & Andrew xoxo

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