Swimming the Grand Sahara

Before I started this life-changing trip overland across Africa in 1974, I thought I might be able to sell some travel pieces to major newspapers.   I wrote some inquiry letters, and got about 1/3 answers back saying they’d take a piece on “spec”, 1/3 that wished me luck on this grand journey, and 1/3 that simply said they had their own writers and so no-thank-you-save-your-postage.

But, optimist that I am, I looked for a theme that would make an interesting piece of journalism/travel-writing, and cranked this out.  Lucky you, you might be the first to see it published, courtesy of the internet!   Yay!  Mission accomplished!

Dateline:  Tamanrasset, Algeria, June 14 1974

SWIMMING THE GRAND SAHARA

The British couple out of the pages of Somerset Maugham sat in the Café Tanezrouft at Reggane, Algeria, waiting for the twice weekly bus to In Salah.  Over a cup of strong mint tea made from the local magnesium-tainted water, they claimed that Algeria since the French left is dreadfully short on amenities.  But they forgot to take into account one of the most pleasant amenities in the Grand Sahara and one not quite as scarce as you might think – swimming pools.

In this country where two million people were affected by the drought in the southern Sahara regions due to failure of seasonal rains for seven consecutive years, swimming the Grand Sahara may seem like a cruel joke.  But water abounds if you know where to find it, and it is found in the same places it has been for centuries, albeit in small quantities now.

The otherwise inhospitable route from Figuig at the Moroccan border to Tamanrasset via In Salah offers at least a swim a day, if you plan it properly.  Whether you go by local transport, Land Rover, or an expedition-laden Bedford truck, a Michelin map is invaluable, for it marks with fair accuracy the water spots and gives some indication of water quality.

One your first day out from Figuig, Bechar is a natural stopping place.  Although the main objective and most time-consuming process best performed in Bechar is to change money (in summer 1974, one dollar equaled 4 Algerian dinar), water is in abundance in Bechar – until 12 noon, that is.  You can have a quick and improvised shower (fully clothed, of course) courtesy of a hose kept running in the public garden in the center of town near the Galerie Algerienne.  If you get there after noon, however, you’ll be out of luck, because the water pressure for the entire town is cut.

Hotel Rym in Beni Abbes, an easy day’s drive away, marks the beginning of genuine swimming opportunities.  There they have a pool almost Olympic in size, within beckon of an air conditioned café with cold drinks available.  Although the water appears dubiously green and murky, jump right in!  Standing water in a 110 degree day seems everywhere to assume that color and consistency.

If the price of a swim and a bed at Hotel Rym is too dear (about 40 dollars a night with full board), brace yourself for an additional two hours drive in the hot Saharan air and stop at Kerzaz.

Kerzaz is significant mainly for a man-made swimming hole located about 100 feet from the roadside.  For a large enough crowd, all paying the one dinar fee, the keeper of the pool will open the valve and add a few inches of fresh water to the seagreen contents of the pool.  He will also sell you vegetables and fruits ripe off the trees in the oasis.

Beyond Beni Abbes you will get your first look at real Saharan sand dunes, and soon see the mesa-like formations that mark the beginning of seemingly endless desert.  The occasional patch of oasis-like greenery is invariably accented by a blazing white mini-mosque at its edge, with gentle breezes whispering an almost liturgical octet through the sparse vegetation.

The most common geological features you are likely to see in the desert are wadis, and they are plentiful.  A wadi, as it is called in Arabic, is one of the fissures in the earth which will channel water off when there is any rain.  Otherwise, the wadi is a dry gully, baked so hard by the sun that the ripples that formed momentarily in the latest muddy flow of water are almost petrified patterns.

The stretch of road to Reggane becomes more and more bleak; your vehicle will soon be off tarmac surface and onto hard graded road, and too soon off that and following a dirt track marked only with occasional piles of stones.

The magnesium-tainted water at Reggane is plentiful, and the tea at the café takes on a uniquely different flavor.  Although there’s no swimming available at Reggane, the next best thing is available:  hot showers for 2 dinar, in the wonderfully refreshing mineral water that flows freely from the taps of the “traveler’s chambers”.

Unless you are a fan of underwater swimming, the water resources one day’s drive from Reggane will disappoint you.  An underground river runs at Aoulef.  It’s a good place to stock up on water for drinking and bathing, but beneath the wells is not the best place for a swim. 

In Salah, as romantic as the place sounds, has indeed lost the famed lustre of its French days.  The humble hotel café in the center of town is the best place to stop for ice-cold beer, a real luxury at this distance from civilization as we Westerners know it.  After your refreshment there, head back out of town and turn onto a road that was last marked “route barree”.  At the end of this short road, you will find a natural spring that gushes from the ground at an unceasingly strong pressure, straight into a pool about ten feet square and three feet deep, and perfect for a dip in the hot afternoon.  The water proceeds out of the pool into two irrigation channels that are important for the region, so please, use no soap or shampoo in it!  Come equipped with a wash basin and do your washing at the side.

After an early morning dip with the sun rising over the oasis, head toward Tamanrasset.  Although the road there is in the process of becoming a magnificent tarmac highway, it is not yet done;  and after some hours on the graded surface next to it, be sure you pull over at the sign that says Tiguel Geuemine, with a note that water will be found 2 kilometers further on.  The two kilometers may be the most rugged terrain you are likely to clamber over in the Sahara, but the walk will be well rewarded.  At the end of a rock canyon that at one time was filled completely with water lies a lovely little lake, surrounded by reeds of the kind that must have hidden Moses, and with a solitary palm tree silhouetted on one side by craggy overhanging cliffs.  When you’re not around, gazelles, rabbits, swallows and other animals drink there.

The Saharan swimming tour now proceeds onward, over a patch of rugged road to Tadjemout, a water spot with a promise of swimming for 2 dinar, but an unpromising looking swimming hole.  If you feel like pushing onward a bit more, proceed to In Amguel, where a small stream good mainly for a sitz bath runs through the oasis near there.  According to a local Touareg turned auto-mechanic, a mere 9 years ago the rains were so plentiful that the In Amguel oasis regularly flooded to the extent that truckers would have to wait a week for water to subside before proceeding.  But lack of rain for 9 years has led to thoughts of seeding the clouds, and rumor has it that this will be done in September.

Tamanrasset, ultimate destination, is easily reached in the next day.  There you’ll find a hotel with showers and a peaceful outpost for rest after your push through the Grand Sahara – the region called the “last word in aridity and desolation” by the first vehicular trans-Saharan overlanders in 1922.

Although the swimming and other kinds of bathing are plentiful if you know where they are, avoid the mental set of regarding the Sahara as the world’s largest bathing beach.  Ten minutes in the sun is enough to give any exposed skin the worst Sunday sunburn imaginable.  And when the sun is up, keep your head covered at all times, in or out of the pool!

Never take water for granted in the Sahara; use the swimming holes and any other water stop to fill up all available canteens and water jerry cans.  Take your drinking water first, before you stir up sediment with your splashes.  Carry sterilization tablets so you can take advantage of even dubious looking water; you may need it desperately if your vehicle breaks down.

The best investment you are likely to make as a Saharan overlander is the three-meter length of gauzy fabric referred to as a cheche or shesh.  Designed to be wrapped around the head as a protection against the sun and around the nose and mouth as a filter for dust, it has innumerable other uses.  It can serve as a light mosquito-deterrent sheet in the hot nights, as a sarong-like wrap for poolside or even in-pool wear, and for a moistened covering to cool water bottles.  Local cost is about one dollar and twenty cents.

Take other clues from the local people in order to conserve precious body water and prevent dehydration.  Wear long-sleeved shirts, and pick up a pair of the Berber style pantaloons, which allow for plenty of air to reach your upper legs and eliminates uncomfortable perspiration in that body region.  Take another important hint from locals and avoid travel at midday.  Get up before the sun to travel if need be, but stay quiet and in whatever shade you can find between 11 and 3. 

And if you think of it, pack some instant iced tea mix.  I wished I had; it would have made that murky water a bit more palatable.

Australia 2018- Up, Around, Down & Across PART FOUR - ACROSS SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA ON THE INDIAN PACIFIC

ACROSS SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA
ON THE INDIAN PACIFIC TRAIN

June 2, 2018:   I got on the Indian Pacific today for 4 days/3 nights all across southern Australia from Perth to Sydney. This great journey starts on the railway platform with a selection of cakes for morning tea while we wait to board. As Pippi Longstocking whispered in my compliant ear, “Well, we might as well start things out wrong 😉!”

Some folks might think that a journey of 4352 km (2725 Miles) on the world’s longest straight stretch of railway track would be boring. But in addition to off-train excursions that are part of the package... look at the wine list! All included, anything you want with their incredible cuisine prepared 3 times a day on the Indian Pacific train using locally-sourced produce from various stops on this transcontinental Australian journey. Good job, Great Southern Rail!  Also hats off to them for many of the descriptions below, provided in their YOUR JOURNEY brochure…

OFF-TRAIN EXCURSION: KALGOORLIE-BOULDER

Located in the eastern goldfields 375 Miles east of Perth, Kalgoorlie-Boulder has an interesting history. In 1893, prospector Paddy Hannan discovered gold on the western fringes of the Nullarbor Plain. Within the week, 1400 hopeful prospectors thundered into town and the incredible wealth they unearthed shaped the city of 31,000 residents to this day, with many magnificent heritage buildings. Kalgoorlie-Boulder is Australia’s largest Outback City, home to the staggering 2 1/4 mile wide Super Pit, the world’s largest single open-cut gold mine, which has operated 24 hours a day since 1989. Australia is the world’s second largest gold producer, accounting for 9% of the world’s output.

OFF-TRAIN EXCURSION: RAWLINNA

Good morning, Rawlinna! After the beautiful sunrise, it appears that not much goes on here, so you kinda wonder what the population of 3 people, a dog, a horse and a house-sheep that thinks it’s a dog, does for entertainment other than watching passengers from the weekly Indian Pacific run who get out for a 6:30 a.m. leg stretch.

This is a popular disembarkation point for jackaroos and jillaroos (cowboys and cowgirls) as this railway siding lies next to Australia’s largest sheep station — the 2.5 million acre Rawlinna Station. Established in 1962, the station today stocks more than 70,000 sheep, with the wool regularly sent to Adelaide for testing and sale. Rawlinna is also the site of a small lime mine; the limestone extracted is mostly used in the gold production process at Kalgoorlie.

OUTBACK POSTAL SERVICE. The young woman postmistress seems able to manage the Rawlinna postal duties all by herself. Apparently the 70,000 sheep in the nearby paddock (ranches) don’t write many letters. I wonder how their BaBa’s feel about that...

OFF-TRAIN EXCURSION: COOK

Sitting on the Nullarbor Plain, a hot and barren plateau twice the size of England, Cook was established to support the Trans-Australian railway which was completed in 1917. Named after a former Australian Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Cook, this outpost was once a thriving Nullarbor town with around 200 residents, its own hospital, school, golf course and shops. With the privatization of the Australian railways in 1997, the town was effectively closed. The desert stretches as far as the eye can see in any direction. The nearest major town is a five hour drive and the local doctor is a 12 hour drive away. Cook has now got a permanent population of four and serves as a refueling station for the Indian Pacific; Pippi enjoyed a chance to stretch her legs despite the heat, dust, and black flies

SCENES FROM MY WINDOW: THE INDIAN PACIFIC, DAY 2.

As we cross into the Nullarbor Plain, the scenery becomes monotonous— unless you look more closely. Ghost towns, abandoned plane hangers, livestock loading platforms no longer used; a dingo runs away from the rail siding, no doubt alerted to the train’s approach a while ago by ground vibration; southern hairy-nosed wombats skitter to their shelters; two Wedge Tail Eagles (the Indian Pacific’s emblem) ride the hot thermals, looking for a hapless rodent; a brownish bird sits on a broken and brittle fence post (is it a Nullarbor Quail or Naretha Bluebonnet bird?) Hard to believe, but Aboriginal ancestors must have walked across these plains on their way to caves on the south Australian coast, carved out from the limestone by saltwater.

ABORIGINAL HISTORY NOTE on the Nullarbor, courtesy anthropologist Shirley Campbell: “ At Allen’s Cave on the Nullarbor,  the ancestors of today’s Aboriginal population looked out over these dry plains with a sweeping view of some 70 kilometers ... 40,000 years ago!” Allen’s Cave is among the oldest occupation sites in all of Australia, with occupation continuing until the recent past. On the map below, look near the coast, and you can see Eucla; although not noted on the map, Allen’s Cave is 50 Miles west of Koonalda Cave. About 16,000 years ago, the sea level fell and the Cave was abandoned for thousands of years as this region became a treeless plain; most likely the people moved south to be closer to the receded coastline. The sea rose again about 12,000 years ago and occupancy of Allen’s Cave resumed.

OFF-TRAIN EXCURSION: BROKEN HILL

Broken Hill, New South Wales (NSW): Known as the Silver City, Broken Hill is Australia’s longest-lived mining city, with extraction of silver, lead and zinc. Apart from its tough exterior, there’s a well-known secret here: in 1994 the Australian film industry thrust Broken Hill onto the world stage when it released the cult-classic drag queen movie, “The Adventures of Priscilla. Queen of the Desert.” So of course Pippi Longstocking and I chose the opportunity to see a Drag Queen performance at the Palace Hotel. Made us homesick for San Francisco 

SCENES FROM MY WINDOW: THE INDIAN PACIFIC, Day 3.

Lush vineyards and rows of white-domed produce-growing greenhouses in the environs of Adelaide rapidly give way to starker landscape with undulating hills. Windy hills, it seems, with the wind turbines on top. From harvesting the wind to harvesting very little else, towns along the rail tracks wither and rust; the newest paint is on the “for sale” signs. The land gets barren of all but scrub, and I wonder at the grain storage building in the middle of the scrub. A ragged Emu has no apparent company, and cactus appears. A rare farmstead sports a motionless windmill. Undulating red hills go on for miles. There’s an arroyo etched into the ground every once in a while; when the wet season comes soon, everything I’ve seen this afternoon will no doubt green up quickly. Temporarily. As the sun sets, the dusky brush turns a sage green, providing a pointillist scheme against the sandy red soil.

MARALINGA

 At 5 in the afternoon on June 4, as the sun was slanting its rays in the farewell descent over the Nullarbor Plain, the Indian Pacific passed through Ooldea, which is a few miles south of Maralinga (note the “Defense Reserve” on the map).

Maralinga is where the British in the early 1950’s conducted atomic bomb tests, affecting local Anangul aboriginal people, plants and animals. The site has since become an enduring symbol for the desecration and pollution of the land. It is also a powerful example of the compulsory displacement of Aboriginal people from their traditional land.

In the realistic treatment of the mother and child sheltering from the bomb blast, the sculpture carries an additional message about the human costs of all wars and instruments of war. (Sculpture/notes in first floor exhibit, collection of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth)

OFF-TRAIN EXCURSION: ADELAIDE

Morning tea, 6:20 a.m. as the sun rises over the land north of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia (SA). Rows of winegrapes peek out from under the wispy but chilly morning fog.

Adelaide, capital of South Australia, is the only city in the world entirely surrounded by parks — 760 hectares of parks (twice the area of New York’s Central Park). Their city transportation system is excellent, and I particularly appreciated the street cars painted with aboriginal designs. Another Adelaide amenity: a golf course near the center of the city, located a short distance from the huge sports stadium “the Oval”. The stadium overlooks a park that borders the sides of the Torrens River.

This is a beautiful city with lots of historic buildings preserved. Produce was a big business here and still is. “Market gardens” are everywhere you look as the Indian Pacific rolls through the outlying area’s. Less than a hour’s drive from the city are the wine regions of the McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, and Barossa Valley.

SCENES FROM MY WINDOW: THE INDIAN PACIFIC, Day 4.

The train on Day 4 moved from Adelaide to its final destination of Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). Towns now dot themselves along the Indian Pacific’s path. Small houses and farming lands predominate. Points of interest: Lithgow, a coal mining area that was dependent on the railway for its growth in the 1860’s. Bathurst, home to an annual V8 supercars race. The town of Orange, known for its green pastures and fruit-growing heritage.

OFF-TRAIN EXCURSION: BLUE MOUNTAINS.

The Blue Mountains are a World Heritage Listed mountain range, 7200 feet high, considered an impassable barrier until 1813.

On June 6, the Indian Pacific excursion to the Blue Mountains allowed us a look at coal mining activities (now ceased) and a chance to ride on the scenic railway, which at a 52 degree incline is the steepest passenger train in the world

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The “Three Sisters“ rock formation is sacred to the Aboriginal peoples of this area near Sydney. Those are the Gundungarra and Darug peoples, and I thank them for allowing me to visit their traditional lands. Here is the story told about this famous formation in the Blue Mountains:  

“Long ago, a clever old man called Tyawan lived in these mountains. He had three daughters - Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo. He also had a magic shinbone that changed him into a lyrebird when he wished. When he went hunting, he would tell his daughters to stay on the cliff top, safe from Bunyip, who lived deep in the valley.
One day Meenhi knocked a rock over the cliff and it crashed into the valley, waking Bunyip, who charged up the cliff toward the terrified girls. Tyawan could not reach them in time and so he changed them into rocks.  Then Bunyip chased Tyawan, who changed his shape many times before changing to a lyrebird. But he dropped his magic shinbone when his arms changed into wings. Ever since, lyrebird has scratched in the leaves, looking for the shinbone to change the girls back into human form.”

SYDNEY – end of the trip!

SYDNEY VIVID ~ Sydney, Australia, the evening of June 6, is alive with spectacular light displays all along their famous harbor... including moving rainbows of color on the famous Harbor Bridge, and also on the many skyscrapers abutting the ferry terminals. The once yearly event is called VIVID and lasts for 22 nights. Beautiful!

WHALE WATCHING AFTERNOON. As I sit in the inside cabin to get a little respite from the chilly afternoon winds, I am surrounded by people throwing up into the thoughtfully provided seasick bags. So it goes with whale watching off the coast of Sydney, where the humpback whales three weeks ago started their northward migration from Antarctica to their calving and breeding grounds in the Great Barrier Reef, and will continue the migration until the end of July. The whale watching boats are not allowed closer than 100 meters distance from a whale, once one has been spotted, and 200 meters from a mother and calf (baby). However, “our“ humpback whale did not know that, and playfully surfaced several times much nearer the boat than that. The whale also did a complete breach out of the water, doing a pirouette in the air about 50 feet away from the back of the boat. I guess that sight, which I had never seen anywhere before, makes it worth all the people gagging around me…

Courtesy Trip Advisor.  I was too busy watching the breach to get a photo!

SAYING “SO LONG” TO AUSTRALIA... Pippi Longstocking and I hate to leave, but we’ll be back. We LOVED our 31 day vacation here, going over, up, around, down and finally the long way back to where we started in Sydney. It’s one of the best trips that the Strongest Girl in the World and her travel companion have ever had. Tonight we said farewell at the architecturally renowned Sydney Opera House and its own fantastic light art display for the VIVID SYDNEY event

DID I MENTION THAT WE'LL BE BACK?

Yep, headed to Tasmania, Melbourne and Canberra in January 2019 (Goddess willing)

By the Way, if you missed 

Part One : Outback and NorthernTerritory, click here

Part Two:  Expedition Cruising in The Kimberley, click here

Part Three: Perth and Western Australia, click here

Australia 2018- Up, Around, Down & Across PART THREE Perth and Environs ~ Western Australia

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

BROOME

The first stop in Western Australia is the town of Broome, where the expedition to the Kimberley ended.  A short tour of this town at the base of the Dampier Peninsula, considered part of the Kimberley district, reveals its history as a famous pearling center.  The traditional owners are often collectively referred to as Goolarabooloo, the Salt-Water People.  The Yawuru people were traditional owners of the lands and waters in an around the town of Broome, and used the giant pearl shells to make Riji, which were worn as public coverings like a loin cloth attached by a band around the waist.  Only men of the highest degree could traditionally wear them; they are incised with sacred patterns associated with water, spiritual powers and healing.  

The story of pearling in Broome has a checkered history. By 1910, dozens of pearl “luggers” (boats) docked here.  Today the pearling tradition continues, although Aboriginal men and women are no longer forced via “blackbirding” to work on pearling luggers as divers.  The advent of plastic for accessories disrupted the mother-of-pearl industry, but the production of beautiful pearls for jewelry continues. 

WA = WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Pippi Longstocking (the strongest girl in the world) absolutely loves it here, and so do I. We are busy enjoying PERTH and its surrounds.

First, some exploration close to my wonderful hotel, the Alex Hotel, which is right in the middle of all the fun of Perth. Here is the sunset over Perth from my hotel window:

 It is a two-minute walk from the Alex Hotel to the museum called the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA).  I didn’t have as much time there as I would liked to have had, but I particularly enjoyed the galleries with Aboriginal art.

GREETINGS FROM ROTTNEST.

This 1988 work by Sally Morgan who was born in Perth in 1951 and whose language group is Palyku, celebrates the great recreational island of Rottnest, but notes that it was built by slave labor of Aboriginal “criminals”, many of them freedom fighters,  who were forcibly removed from their traditional lands throughout Western Australia and imprisoned from 1838-1931.

 

Is it ok to be two things at once?

This 1996 work by Julie Dowling who was born in Perth in 1969 and whose language group is Badimaya, was created because she is so often asked why she identifies as an Aboriginal when she looks “so white”.  This question reflects “the total ignorance of what happened when our ancestors were raped and exploited for generations.  I am the product of the breeding out program.

ROTTNEST ISLAND

It is a short commuter train ride from the central station five minutes away from my hotel to the stop in Fremantle near the ferry terminals serving Rottnest Island.  This beautiful recreational area, a short 25-minute ferry ride away, was so named by Dutch mariner Willem de Vlamingh in 1696 when he noted the “giant rats” … now we know they are a marsupial, the friendly and well-known Quokka. The Quokka are not, however, welcome everywhere… like in the shops!   In addition to beautiful bays all around this island, there are salt lakes in the interior where salt was mined for many years.  Bicycles are the largest means of transport on the island, but a hop-on-hop-off bus plies a circular road that begins steps from the ferry landing.  We thank the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land, the Nyoongar, for permitting us to enjoy their country known as Wadjemup, part of Nyoongar Dreaming tradition.

The day trip to the SOUTH of Perth, final destination being the vineyards of the Margaret River area, started off propitiously with spotting several Black Swans enjoying a tranquil morning swim on the eponymous Swan River. Gorgeous land, with huge wheat growing operations. Other exports: live sheep to the Middle East, wood chips to Japan, and various minerals such as titanium. Again, it is important in Australia to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land. This is Noongar boodja, country of the Noonjar aboriginal people.

MARGARET RIVER WINE REGION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA:

See all those “w” designations on the map? That means.... WINERY. There are more than 100 to visit in this region, which is known around the world for premium wines. I particularly like the Chardonnay and Shiraz.

In the famous Margaret River wine region, the Wilyabrup sub-region is one of the most famous wine producing areas in all of Australia, recognized for excellent Cabernet, Chardonnay and now Shiraz (which we call Syrah in the USA). We visited the Sandalford wine estate, where they are pruning the Shiraz vines. The majority of vines on this estate date back to 1970.  Like Bordeaux, this wine region has generous winter rainfall, frost free springs, subdued summer temperatures, and well drained red brown loamy soils.

CAVE ADVENTURES!  

The Margaret River region of Australia has more than 100 caves, found in the spine of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge. A million years of water moving constantly through limestone carved the Mammoth Cave where 10,000 fossils accumulated over the years, including some Australian Megafauna (giant animals) that became extinct around 46,000 years ago. During winter a stream still flows through the cave.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Where does the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet? Right in front of the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, situated among the wilderness of the most south-westerly tip of Australia. It’s the tallest lighthouse in Australia. Watch out Pippi Longstocking, it’s windy here! Don’t fall into the grass...venomous snakes live in there! 

A day trip to the NORTH of Perth: 

An excursion North took me to Lancelin on the Indian Ocean, home of 3 story-high white sand dunes.  Our truck from Adams Pinnacle Tours  got mired in the soft white sand, but with the use of sand ladders it got going again.  Sand boarding is a big sport here!

The Nambung National Park is home of the Pinnacles Desert.  This park, near the town of Cervantes, is famous for these limestone formations.  The raw material for the limestone came from seashells of an earlier era that was rich in marine life.

NEW NORCIA

About 100 miles to the northeast of Perth in the Outback, the 1847 Benedictine mission to the aboriginal people of the Yuat tribe evolved over time to become a self-sufficient community deducated to the education of outback children.  Later, it became a center for ecclesiastical art and culture in Western Australia.  Today New Norcia is famous for its Benedictine community – you can actually go stay in the monastery for retreats – and it is a living museum.  St Gertrudes, one of the well-preserved buildings there, has a church that is stunningly beautiful; school groups are allowed to stay in the dormitory for cultural outings.  The art gallery contains painting by Spanish and Italian masters as well as manuscripts and religious artifacts.   I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful guide and companion for my day there, Norma Stapelberg; I know she will be a friend for life!

Next part of this wonderful holiday: 
PART FOUR:   ACROSS SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA ON THE INDIAN PACIFIC.   Click here to continue:

By the Way, if you missed 

Part One : Outback and Northern Territory, click here

Part Two:  Expedition Cruising in The Kimberley, clickhere