Nothing much to report from the day. A good morning run. Breakfast. Read my book on the beach. The nets were back up so you could swim in the designated area without fear of jellyfish stings or crocodile attacks. The water is so much warmer than the Pacific on the west coast of America — 80 degrees — so I did venture in, although the net holes seemed large enough to let a stinger through!
All the along the beach at low tide are these amazing artworks of sand pellets… the work of the Sand Bubbler crab, tiny little creatures who rummage through the sand for the nutrients they need and then push the little pellets out through a hole. As you walk along it’s hard to believe that they are random creations of flowers and abstractions.
I do wonder sometimes about this long journey of mine — why do I travel? The obvious answers are about seeing new things and experiencing new places and learning about new cultures. But the other reason is about the people I meet along the way. Usually on the tours I take; I have less luck randomly chatting to someone as I dine alone. But today I was reminded of that benefit when I had emails from two people from my travels here in Australia.
The first was from Valerie, a woman from Dorset, England who I became friendly with on the 4-day tour out of Perth to the southern part of Western Australia. I knew that she had been headed at some point to the east coast, specifically to the Whitsunday islands, and that it was that area which was devastated by Cyclone Debbie. I had emailed her to see if she was okay, but hadn’t heard back until today. She’s at home now, but had indeed landed on Hamilton Island just as the cyclone approached. She was on lock down in her hotel from a Monday afternoon until Thursday night, with rations provided by hotel staff despite the lack of water or electricity. She made it out safely, which is all that matters, and I was happy to hear that all’s well again.
The second email was from Ian, the young Taiwanese man who was on the trip to Ayers Rock. He had flown from Japan (where he lives and works) for 4 days in Australia because he’d seen a video of Uluru and wanted to experience it on his own. His English was better than any of our Taiwanese, and the rest of the group all spoke German when the English was confusing, so that left the guide and me as the primary English speakers! Anyway, he had a massive camera and multiple lenses and a tripod and he carried this kit for all the hikes. What I was really interested in were his photos of the night sky — he set up his tripod and captured the milky way and upside down constellations, and today he sent me some seriously hi-res photos which I will try to insert here. Ian never stopped smiling and it was a real pleasure to tour with him. And he remembered to send me photos!
So that’s why I travel.
From the minuscule to the vast!