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Australia Feb 1997

Travel Blog

contains Festival/Fiesta/Art photography.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo.

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it, to tell the tale." Living to Tell the Tale - Gabriel García Márquez.

"They never taught wandering in any school I attended. ... they never taught the art of writing a book, either. It's all so mysterious."
"Wandering is an art in itself. Wandering and writing don't mix"
"Writing demands commitment and if one thing your wanderer is allergic to is that very quality of commitment, for once one is committed he runs that very risk of failure ..." Wanderer - Sterling Hayden.

"Photography enables you to grasp a place first time round. ... Photography is a means of exploration, it's a vital part of travel, almost as essential as a car or a plane. " - Wim Wenders.

"The worst prejudice we acquire during our youth is the idea that life is serious. Children have the right instincts: they know that life is not serious, and treat it as a game..." , Egon Friedell.

"How far you gonna go. Before you lose your way back home" - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Achtung Baby, U2.

"If you want to be a hero well just follow me." - Working Class Hero, John Lennon.

"When I think of all the things I have done, I know that it's only just begun." - I love you, Lou Reed.

"One does not escape the Sahara - the Sahara let's you go or not" - Touareg.

"Planet earth is blue and there`s nothing I can do" - This is Ground Control to Major Tom, David Bowie.

"Glory for the crazy people/in this stupid world" - Ahmed Fouad Negm.

www.thisfabtrek.com > life-before > australia-1997

Sydney to Alice Springs

The road on the first morning Happy to be finally on the road

After a conference in Sydney I hired a car and drove 5,000km via Broken Hill, the Flinders Ranges, Coober Pede, Uluru and Kata Tjuta and the Kings Canyon to Alice Springs. It was only shortly before that trip that I had bought my F70 and a couple of cheap lenses. I shot on cheap film and without knowing what I was doing. But I still like many of the pictures. I will have to revisit my archives at some stage and dig out more.

Well maybe I drove more kilometres then. I cannot remember. But I remember the spirit of traveling on my own in a this great country. And I will always want to return. Too much is there to be discovered and the vastness of the territory gives freedom a different meaning; that you can experience nowhere else.

All the way I read Bruce Chatwin's (wiki) "Songlines", a must-read for Australian starters. In Alice Springs I discovered Aboriginal Art, especially Emily Kame Kngwarreye and of course VB.

Note added later (Dec 2004): Re Bruce Chatwin: I recently finished reading the Songlines a second time and only now discovered what a great book it is in justifying my chosen live as a gipsy.

Uluru at sunrise Kata Tjuta as seen from Top of Uluru

Road Train

www.thisfabtrek.com > life-before > australia-1997

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