The Aftermath of 9 -11

September 2001 and I’m in Japan. I’m watching a video on the TV that shows a plane crashing in to some sky scrapers. We think it is a cinematic thriller until we realise that it is a live feed. Naturally everyone is very sombre - all the planes have been cancelled for the last two days and my next stop is Australia. At the airport I’m told that the planes are back on schedule, but that's not the only problem.  ‘You can't get on the plane ma'am.  Your visa's no good.  (Trailfinders got it - it's only one of those electronic ones). ‘Why?’  ‘We don't know! '

I have to wait an hour feeling very tearful until the tannoy pages for Suzan Wogers.  Everything is now okay, but no explanation is proffered.  I sleep across three seats (very nice) on the way to Brisbane. A lot of people have cancelled international travel. I anticipate problems on arrival in Oz, but no-one says a word and I’m allowed in. Except that whilst I’ve been in the air Ansett Airlines have gone bust and I have eight flights booked with them round Australia and, next, down to Tasmania.

Byron Bay -The First Bus Out of Town

Trailfinders say try to book more flights, we will refund you at some point. Wow. Both Air New Zealand and Quantas are also very unhelpful. Their business is booming now.   I manage to re-book two of my eight flights, the longer ones, and then resort to buses.  I’ve always fancied emulating the movies, so I get on the first bus out of town and end up in a place called Byron Bay, the hippy capital of Australia. It was named (by Captain Cook) after Lord Byron's grandfather, Vice Admiral 'Foul-Weather Jack' John Byron, a circumnavigator of the globe.

It's very pretty.  Fantastic surf covered beaches, edged by lush rainforest covered mountains, full of parrots, iguanas and other tropical exotica, houses on stilts, spiky bottlebrush trees, a ridiculous supply of good restaurants, surf shacks, New Age shops, naturopaths and massage parlours.  There's a great walk at Cape Byron State Conservation Park, on a headland (the most easterly on mainland Australia) with a lighthouse. I decide I want to live here.  Then I  look again at the average Australian male: shorts, long socks, ruddy cheeks and a beer gut from consuming too much Victoria bitter.  Maybe not. It 's also, serendipitously,  the home town of Damian (see Indonesia). So at least I have somewhere to stay.

We doss on the beach.   Everyone here is on dope, so I  smoke my first joint (is that sad or not?).  I cough a lot and nothing else happens.

Sydney Tour

I’ve joined the student gap year community. A twelve hour bus ride to Sydney, down the coast, The highlights are passing a giant prawn in Ballina and  watching videos. One day in Sydney to re-visit. I stay in a hostel - never again - sharing with three twenty somethings.  Clothes all over the floor, and I have to fight my way in to our cubicle.  My room mates return at 3 a.m. Ugh! 

Retracing my steps round the Victorian buildings of The Rocks, Darling Harbour, the monorail and aquarium, and the Botanical Gardens. Sydney feels the same, but different. Odd. To finish my tour,  a fabulous sunset helicopter flight over the huge harbour, with great views  of the Coathanger Bridge and Opera House. Every type of cuisine seems to be available along Glebe Point Road, though it's difficult to navigate your way through all the sweating joggers.

Canberra, the Capital of Australia, in Two Hours

Another twelve hour bus journey via Canberra. This time we pass a giant sheep, The Big Merino, at Goulburn. He's been dubbed Rambo, by the locals.

Canberra is the capital city of Australia, founded principally to avoid altercation between Sydney and Melbourne, as to which should be chosen. It sits in its own Capital Territory, taken from New South Wales. It had to be at least 100 miles from Sydney. The capital city was founded and formally named as Canberra in 1913, after the name of a local Ngunnawal clan. It it is an entirely planned city, home to the Government of Australia, the judiciary, the Australian War Memorial, the Australian National University, the Royal Australian Mint, the Australian Institute of Sport, the National Gallery, the National Museum and the National Library. and the Australian Defence Not to mention the foreign embassies, international organisations, not-for-profit groups, lobbying groups and professional associations.

Opinion is mixed on Canberra. I've been informed by fellow travellers that it is sedate and boring. 'After sunset it turns into a ghost town'. But this garden city has been ranked among the world's best cities to live and visit. My verdict is that a two hour stopover is just about right to see everything Canberra has to offer, unless you like museums. Other than a multitude of new-ish government buildings there's a flower festival on, so most of the two hours is spent admiring themed carpets of tulips at Floriade. This annual flower festival is in Canberra's Commonwealth Park, on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin (he was one of the architects of the city).

Melbourne

 Eventually, Melbourne, the capital of Victoria State, once capital of Australia, named after British Prime Minister. William Lamb (Viscount Melbourne). It developed on the back of the Australian Gold Rush and has a host of Victorian buildings melding with modern development. It's still synonymous with much that is iconic about the country, the F1 Circuit, the cricket ground, street art, music and theatre.

I'm staying in Melbourne with Sue, who I also met in Japan.  We tour the city, and  its surroundings. The city is neat and business like, with pretty parks. It's tranquil down by the River Yarra, with botanic gardens to wander through, the rhododendrons in full bloom. Though the bustle of modern scrapers looms close by; good views across town to be had from those. The bars and shops are plush. Modern and Victorian is juxtaposed. Flinders Street Station is very Victorian. There's also the indoor markets, the Anglican Church and Parliament Square.

The Mornington Peninsula is  just like being back in Sussex: Brighton Beach, Shoreham, Hastings, St Leonards. Except that there are  mountains and the beaches are golden. There's a good view from Arthur's Seat (now we're in Scotland.) And then off to Italy, with gorgeous Sorrento Beach.

And there's a very Bohemian area, Brunswick Road,  that's good for eating. It's great food again,  I've not had a bad meal yet.  It was Greek last night.  And I manage to get my cancelled flight to New Zealand re-booked. (See New Zealand for this section)

Brisbane

As usual, my travels have veered from one extreme to the other. Back in Australia, a night in Brisbane with Peter, also from the tour in from Japan. He tours me round the botanical gardens, the tower viewpoint. It's nice, but not very happening.

Airlie Beach

Another bus, 18 1/2 hours (effin Ansett) back  up to Airlie Beach. It's a tough journey. I wake at 6.30 a.m. to hear ' It's really difficult to stick my teeth back in on a bus,' wafting down the aisle. 

A bathroom is very welcome - about half an inch of dirt must come off. Then I wander out to sign up on a boat - my goal is the famed Whitsunday Islands and streams of boats offer short cruises there. How to choose from the many touts sitting in their little cabins? The catamaran Avatar, leaving in two days time, seems a bargain. In-between I admire all the chocolate shops, swim in the pool, read The Celestine Prophecy (recommended by a girl in the swimming pool) and go out for dinner with Ray, Bert and Aidan, who I meet in the supermarket. They drink a lot and they're Irish, but you probably worked that out.

Cruising the Whitsundays - with Captain Erica

Then, I get to find out why my cruise was so cheap. Twenty one young things  crammed on board a racing catamaran. Cosy isn't the word. I'm allocated  one bunk, in a hull with Kim, a tiny (fortunately) Korean girl. We sleep nose to tail. Fortunately, she doesn’t snore, though she ends up under me at one point, in a mire of spilled shampoo, suntan cream and orange juice.

The captain is a stocky 23 year old rugby player called Eric, who specialises in painting toe nails. He has a box full of the necessary accoutrements and he’s pretty good at it. It turns out he prefers being called Erica. He puts me in charge of music. My Capital Gold CDs go down well and it's better than hauling on sails. We skim along to the strains of Vienna, battling for sunbathing space on the webbing and squealing when the waves splash through.

The beaches in the Whitsundays are truly stunning - the best in the world? The snorkelling stops are hugely worthwhile, and at least we get some space  off the boat. In the National Park, at Whitehaven Beach, aptly nick-named Paradise, the softest finest, silver sand stretches forever (seven kilometres) and when we do reach the sea, white streaks swirling in the clearest of cerulean water, a school of rays are basking gracefully.

We circumnavigate the whole of the Whitsundays. Snorkelling at Turtle Bay and Manta Ray Bay, past the luxurious Hayman Island Resort. I'm very sunburnt. Erica says we're right under the hole in the troposphere here.

Off to get my bus back to Brisbane, except that my ticket has the wrong time on it and the bus has gone without me. I have to say my good-byes all over again. It's a seventeen hour bus journey back to Brisbane and another overnight with Peter. Someone has left an aboriginal baby alone, on a seat, at the back of the bus.

The Top End, Australia

Then, I find myself on a tour bus travelling across the top and down the side - Darwin (again and more fish feeding) to Perth - with a group of 23 old age pensioners, a young Swiss couple and one 33 year old gay guy. Does nobody my age travel any more?  And we're camping!  What am I doing camping?  Putting up tents, with unwanted help and unwanted instruction  and getting covered in muddy grass.  Being woken much too early, with everyone packed up an hour before we are due to leave. There is red dust everywhere - yes everywhere - and salt water showers and taps that spit frogs at you when you turn them on. There are some pretty gruesome sights in the wash blocks, where my fellow travellers strip off with no hint of modesty.

South to Katherine Town (war cemetery and beautiful trees), Hot Springs (no time to try them) and the red escarpments and waterfalls of Gregory National Park.

The Kimberley

Into the Kimberley, the top most part of huge Western Australia. Despite the wilderness, steep-sided red mountain ranges (Kelly's Knob) and dramatic gorges, this was one of the first areas in Australia to be settled. 

A cruise on Lake Argyle, a huge man made reservoir. More red mountains, and crocodile spotting. There are fish with crimson eyes brazenly swimming alongside them.

A flight over the Bungle Bungles in Purnululu Park (incredible rock formations and tropical coastline and diamond mines), a walk in the Hidden Valley, the odd creek or two. Gum trees, galah cockatoos and a great deal of peeping scratchy  blue hued spinifex contrasting beautifully with the cinnamon desert, as we near the coast. Geike Gorge for yet another cruise with pied cormorants, dollar birds, stunning reflections and coolibah trees. (No prizes for guessing what I'm singing now.)

Along the A1

The bus continues, along the A1 road, which runs all round the edge of Australia. From Kimbolton, past the Murchison River Gorge - yet another amazing view. Then there's a historic baobab tree, used as a prison, at Derby. There isn't a moment that isn't organised on the bus.  It's like Butlin’s on wheels.  There are microphone introductions, as we're going along (even when I'm sleeping) and quizzes and songs with actions. There is even a fancy dress competition.

A late night is 9 pm. I've decided that AAT stands for Ancient and Tragic. Fortunately, Paul is great fun and we wind all the pensioners up by flirting outrageously and sharing a cabin (a welcome respite from the tent), at Broome.

Broome

Broome (population 28,000) is the largest town for many miles. At almost 14 miles long, Cable Beach is spectacular and I'm tour photographer, as the team take camel rides at sunset. This is what it's known for, after all.  At Gantheaume Point nearby, there are spectacular cinnamon red cliffs and rocks, with dinosaur tracks, visible on the beach, at low tide.

West Coast Australia

Paul has to leave here though, so I soldier on, solo. More fabulous beaches (Eighty Mile, which is actually 140 Mile), with turquoise seas. This is where the Great Sandy Desert approaches the Indian Ocean. Lovely at the coast, somewhat monotonous inland, trundling along the Great Northern Highway. And far too many mosquitoes.

Karijini National Park

But then we reach more stunning gorge and waterfall scenery at Karijini National Park. The hues of the spinifex and gum trees contrasting with the red soil are glorious. Photos do not do it justice. You can just see my head in the waters of Fern Pool, with its twin falls, near our camp site. My sunglasses make a bid for freedom, whilst I take a free massage under the cascade.

It's an interesting camp site. Hot water comes out of the cold taps and frogs spit out of the hot taps.

The Tom Price Mine

Kangaroos sprint in front of the coach, as we skirt the Hawksley Ranges and then we tour an iron mine, The Mount Tom Price at Pilbara. The mine is owned by Rio Tinto, one of twelve iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara. The Pilbara operations accounted for almost 13 percent of the world's 2009 iron ore production of 1.59 billion tonnes. That's riveting. Boom-boom!

Emus alongside next and lizards called thorny devils.

Then, as we hit the west coast, marine delights. Ningaloo and Coral Bay. Sadly it seems that no-one is interested in facilitating snorkelling or a visit to the famous fringing reef, so I will have to come back to see the whale sharks. But the sand dunes here make great nests to sunbathe topless and escape the rest of the tour in the bay. And we get the Shotover catamaran cruise round the bay.

Shark Bay has a boardwalk leading to stromatolites at Hamelin Pool. They look like fossils, but these dome-shaped deposits are said to be the oldest life forms on earth -1,000 years. The area also has one of the largest seagrass beds in the world, home to 12% of the world's manatees (dugongs). There are turtles to watch too. As if that isn't enough, there are tool wielding bottle nosed dolphins. They protect their noses with sponges. Further on, I feed  a cheeky little dolphin, at Monkey Mia, supervised carefully by rangers.

Driving south, Shell Beach, in the Francois Peron National Park is covered with shells for a 60 kilometre stretch, to a depth of 7–10 metres. More iron mines (around Geraldton), banana plantations, gorgeous wildflowers, then more endless flat red desert, wonderful sunsets and beautiful weather.  The last stop is the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park. Thousands of weathered limestone pillars. I've been very lucky.

Now I’m in Perth, savouring civilisation and the city.

Home tomorrow. A shower, abed.