As I spent time on the elliptical machine this morning in
the gym I flicked TV channels to get “caught up” on the world we are passing
by. A few things got my attention
One of the most striking was that of distances. We have
sailed over 2000 nautical miles since we left Sydney and have 500 to go until
we reach Darwin. Essentially that tells us a bit about how big Australia is –
we sailed due North (pretty much) until we turned West into the Torres Straits
after Cape York so, without doing the research, that’s not dissimilar to the
North-South dimension of the US or the distance between Cape Town and where I
grew up in Salisbury (Harare).
Much of that distance we were sailing within the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park; which tells you how huge this tremendous natural
wonder really is.
The other striking thing as we sailed over the last few days
has been how close we have been to shore. For much of the time certainly within
a mile.
The coastline for much of the time has dense vegetation all the way
down to the coast and, at night, very few lights can be seen. This is a
powerful reminder that only ~ 22
million people live here; subtract Melbourne and Sydney and clearly the
contrast to the East Coast of the US is even more jarring.
Besides being close to land we are also sailing very shallow
waters – right now we have 20 meters clearance – I hope our captain has learned
from the Costa Concordia experience!!!!
Exploration of the Australian center by white explorers was
taking place in the mid 1800s just as took place in Africa. We watched a movie
called Burke and Wills that dramatized such an expedition from Melbourne north
to the Gulf of Carpenteria. The director of the movie (who is on board talking
about his career) highlighted the wrongheadedness of these poor brave people
who eventually died in the effort.
The most amazing thing to me was the way Burke, in
particular, refused to acknowledge or accept help or direction from the
Aboriginal people who essentially were alongside them all the way there and back
as they starved and died. This was very unlike the African explorers who did
exactly the opposite. The story of Burke and Wills and the other expeditions
are still the stuff of Aboriginal folklore.
Another story that got my attention. The means of transportation
across the Australian center to Darwin. At the time of Burke and Wills it was
walking or horses and camels. The camels came from Afghanistan and ‘Persia’ and
they were tended by people who became known as Afghans (wherever they were
from). Today there is a railway that follows the route – very luxurious – and
it is of course known as the ‘Ghan’!!! Again, with no accurate data to support
it, my guess is that the run from Melbourne to Darwin via Alice Springs on the
Ghan is not dissimilar to the trip I regularly made between Cape Town and
Salisbury.
Maybe one of these days………..
Native Aboriginals still live a relatively undestroyed
existence in the Northern Territory. Our lecturer tells us there is a history
of Aboriginals in this area going back 2500 generations – a history recalled in
legend and in rock art.
Documented in their history and art record are the trading
visits of ships from Indonesia (Macassars) which took place centuries ago; then
the visits by Dutch explorers in sailing ships who were charting the spice
routes and gave their names to Arnhem Land, Groote Island and the area we are
right now – Wessels Island. The Dutch were followed by the British – first by
HMS Beagle (on this voyage without Charles Darwin) who named Darwin after their
absent scientist.
The closest land mass (other than Australia) to where we are
now is Papua New Guinea with Indonesia to the West and only Pacific Islands
like Fiji to the East. During WW2 these were invaded by the Japanese and
represented their farthest line of advance. The top end of Australia was
reinforced by Allied troops – particularly American – expecting an imminent
invasion. Horrendous campaigns by Australian troops in the jungle of New Guinea
and naval successes at the battle of the Coral Sea and Midway eventually turned
the tide but not without Darwin having suffered – more later
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