A Down Under Ending - The Final Blog

Flying back to the US, I finally have a little time to finish the Epilogue for 2021, although, clearly, it is not going to be an epilogue.  Since we have said almost everything there is to say about our last year in our Farewell to India blog, the big finale has been our excursions in the Land Down Under and we are excited to tell you all about that!  It is a truly amazing country, and though we will only manage to scratch the surface, we will have seen a lot in a small swatch of time.  After our short tour up the dazzling coast of Queensland and festive time with friends down the coast during the holidays to Sydney, our pace now has reminded me of our travels in India, the subcontinent, in its intensity, while we worked out the details for the rest our travel plans and let the magic unfold. 

 

Having seen so much beauty on the eastern seaboard, each view more spectacular than the last, it was time to move into the interior.  David’s idea of traveling to Uluru, or Ayer’s Rock, at the quintessential heart of Australia, was the perfect place to visit.  Here we could get a glimpse of the desert-like bushland known as the Outback.  We were able to get a little closer to the Aboriginal Lands and Culture, and learn of the early Pioneers and Missionaries while piecing together some of the history of this immense territory.  Uluru is one of the most recognizable natural landmarks in Australia and is sacred to the Anangu people along with the surrounding areas of springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings for which they are caretakers.  It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park and there are many wonders to see.  But we didn’t stop there, five hours in a car brought us to Alice Springs, where the first thing we noticed was an enormous flat land full of parked commercial planes.  We were puzzled at first, but what a perfect place to ground unused fleets during a pandemic.  And that is exactly what is happening, the APAS storage center has been expanded for additional wide body aircraft in the dry climate which is an ideal place to ‘hot stack’ deployable planes.  Our next impression was that Alice Springs is a real life frontier town located thousands of miles from any major city or coast.  With somewhat limited amenities, it is a simple life, with many of its inhabitants tied to work in the local area but there is a tourism hospitality aspect too, which has been hard hit by Covid restrictions.  A few of the historical sites were closed for the holidays, but we managed to see many points of interest just driving about and found some good meals amongst the locals as well.  A local Art Gallery was kind to oblige me a private showing on a Sunday so that I could buy some quality aboriginal art from two artists in the region.  The pieces are beautiful and it was hard to choose but now we have wonderful souvenirs from this unique place.  

Next was a week in the Blue Mountains because everyone made this suggestion as an accessible place for us to visit in our limited time.  What we were not told was how breathtakingly beautiful the mountainous landscapes are!  The distant ridges as seen from so many lookout points are, indeed, blue in color from many angles.  The gorges are spectacular.  Deep and wide and laden with waterfalls.  It was rainy the week we were there which softened everything with misty air.  The walks in the rainforests were wet and fresh with herbal aromas and adorned by occasional colourful wildflowers.  The towns are full of hippies, (and I say this affectionately of these new generations of free living people), and some well equipped and serious mountain hikers.  Of course there is no shortage of plain ol’ tourists, like us, just browsing around the area drinking coffees and peeking in the many craft and antique shops.  Thank goodness we obtained some local knowledge for a trip to Mudgee, a town we had never heard of and couldn’t find on a map!  (Wrong spelling!) because that was one of the best days of all driving through the valleys of the hinterland and visiting a couple of wineries.  We don’t think any trip to Australia should exclude the views and experience of the Blue Mountains.

Adelaide as a destination on our itinerary drew some blank looks from our Australian friends until we explained why we wanted to go.  David brought the rich full bodied Australian Shiraz into my life early on with Mollydooker's Boxer and its been a favorite ever since.  We couldn't wait to go to the source and try the other wines from this vineyard that have not been available worldwide and explore the other wineries from this region.  We have been sampling the Shiraz since we arrived in Australia and have been spoiled for choice as there are so many good wines on the shelves here.  We are far from being experts but now consider ourselves knowledgeable and the education was a lot of fun!   Driving through the undulating wine regions of Barossa and McLaren Vale was memorable for its sheer beauty and the associated towns were delightful.  Of course we couldn't visit every winery so we chose as much variety as possible and interspersed our tasting with activities in Adelaide.  We found plenty to keep us busy with the Central Market, Museums and Art Gallery.  It was a wonderful trip of lasting memories which we will put to good use buying wine in the future.

After a couple of months traveling on land again, reflecting on how we got here by sailboat seems like a dream.  One long, vivid, fantastical dream of daring adventures and great exploration, contrasting cultures and unlimited horizons all culminating in the exploding, crackling and whistling fireworks display we saw in Sydney for NYE and everyone is cheering and the credits roll and then we wake up in the here and now.  At least that is how I felt watching that night thinking that everything was forever changed and we would never be able to go back to our sailing lifestyle.  Looking back, it was a big chunk of time, three whole years of our lives sailing in two of the biggest oceans and at least three major seas, visiting three continents and 25 vastly different countries and endless remote islands.  Even though David and I have a particular set of skills that made it achievable and seemingly effortless, what it really required was determination.  I have always said that about my travels and with David as a partner we have been very determined to see places we have always dreamt to explore in ways we’ve never imagined.  We will miss the constant challenge our sailing life and the summon of the sea, the demanding passages, the endless starry skyscape and of course, our incredible sailing machine.  When we see billowing white sails out to sea these days we feel a real pang of longing and more than a tiny bit of envy.  But india won’t miss us.  In fact, last time we saw her, she didn’t look anything like ‘our’ india.  Karen and Peter have changed her appearance to suit their approach to ownership appropriate to their dreams.  She has been reinvented, like the rockstar she is, for her exciting new Australian Adventure.

As for us, we are starting to make plans for our life in the UK and can actually make real time plans with the family now.  We are so excited and we think they are looking forward to seeing us around permanently too.  But then our lovely daughter, Louise, has gently reminded us that the last time we told her we were moving to London, we promptly bought a catamaran and sailed halfway across the world!

That is exactly what we did and it was amazing in every way.