After a hard working farm in Mildura, I returned to Melbourne where he was waiting for my only certainty my sister. Together booked a tour to the heart of Australia, the Red Centre. Fortunately, during the tour I wrote my trepidation, which I reproduce below with great pleasure.
24_04_2009
AGORICHINA: a forgotten place in the middle of nowhere where hot water is available until 7 pm and the light is awake until 11 pm ... That's where I slept last night.
We started yesterday morning with a tour: destination "Red Centre". A group of ten young people with a common passion: the curiosity to explore new horizons. Our driver, as well as driving, shows nice, well organized and knowledgeable of all that surrounds her name is Trevor and is an "original aussi ... understand his language is still a bit 'difficult, but also travels with me my simultaneous translator: my sister! There can be no better company when I'm with you ... Of course, if the other guys were a little 'more full of life would be better, but in any case will certainly be a memorable week!
spend traveling almost entirely on the first day, I think 600-700 miles have passed beneath our feet, or rather, under the four wheels of our bus. A landscape that takes your breath: nothing more than the total bordered by Flinders Ranges, a chain of "mountain" (or perhaps "hilly") that expands into the desert for 400 miles. It 's amazing how the landscape changes all the time: red earth Burnt by the sun, suddenly thousands of evergreen trees and a moment later the real Australian bush. You meet a car every half hour along this endless road that seems to cut exactly in half in the desert.
Kangaroos, sheep, cows, emus and eagles are the final stroke in a perfect picture painted by the painter par excellence, nature.
We stopped for a short walk that takes us to visit an aboriginal site with spectacular views over the endless desert that my mind could have imagined so far. Trevor tells us some split of Aboriginal culture: strict rules that, if violated, can result in death, rites of initiation that send chills; human beings like us, with a life like ours, but are constrained in their choice by a culture that has been handed down for millennia, did not agree to their rules, but which must be observed strictly in order to continue to live. Simply inconceivable to our minds.
Lunch time in a village a few houses, some Staples stores, a gas station and a hospital: it is simply surreal as life can exist after hundreds of miles in the middle of nowhere! Other
three hours of dirt road and arrive at Angorichina, where we stop for the night. A great BBQ for sleep: tomorrow we expect another 700 kilometers of adventure!
25_04_2009
I look out the window, sun-scorched land, a few shrubs that survive despite the hot climate and an infinitely vast sky. The landscape is almost always the same but I never get tired of looking. The second day spent almost entirely in this way, along a dirt road that is leading us in the heart of this wonderful land called Australia.
A brief pause "in the middle of nowhere" where lives a whimsical child outback. Long white beard, more than 60 years of adventure behind him, a dog as the only trustworthy friend and a life dedicated to his plaster sculptures and the study of the meaning of the letters and words certainly do not happen every day to meet such characters! Lunch time in Marree, yet another glimpse of life in the middle of nowhere. In
afternoon we have the good fortune to visit an Aboriginal community. An Aboriginal community that lives in the desert, extreme climatic conditions, 300 people living in 25 homes, 15 people sleeping in the same room. A school, a grocery store, post office, a medical clinic. 300 people and only 30 jobs. A few dirty rags that cover the black leather, the same every day and the skin in place of the soles of shoes. The bare minimum to live, or rather, to survive. This is what my eyes see. I do not know whether these people could be so happy with these four lines that I have just written, or not. If you were asked "what you write in four rows you need to be happy or at least to live fully in your life "... well ... I challenge anyone in the succeeding, even myself. Yesterday I would have written perhaps 100, now I think are enough much less the experience that I am living, but in any case I think four is certainly not enough. For these people this is the norm, were born and raised and so perhaps their happiness is something that we can not conceive. But one last fleeting image by moving the bus suggests to me that there is something that unites us: mom and dad with their two small daughters, sitting on the ground in front of their house, with two toys in her hands ... Here, I believe that happiness is simply universal.
continue to the rhythm of country music and after another 4-5 hours of travel we arrived at William Creek, the country (if you can call it) of South Australia with the lowest number of inhabitants, fewer than 10 people, think a bit '! We settle in the one camp in the metropolis: this night we will sleep directly under the stars!
Before dinner we grant one beer and a game of billiards in the pub most bizarre I've ever seen: the walls are covered with business cards, photographs, identification documents, underwear, university ID cards, driver's licenses (and the more so on and so on!) all signed and personalized by the thousands of fortunate souls who are featured here. Spaghetti for dinner
surprise: if you have never seen the Australian cooking pasta ... well ... lucky you! And avoid it! Usually they throw the pasta in cold water directly and to make matters worse several times breaking spaghetti ... That's a shame! In any case, as my mother says "when everything is ready is always good!"
We sleep on the floor directly in so-called "swag," a subspecies of the sleeping bag with mattress built ... but it does not seem uncomfortable! A starry sky like few I've seen in my life and so many thoughts that frame: my family, friends, my grandparents every day I protect from up there, my present, do not know who to thank for being here and to live each moment as intensely as I have never done before, it does not need anything to be happy and let fall two tears as a sign of gratitude ... It had never happened before ... Thank you Australia, through life, thank you.
26_04_2009
Day Three: Coober Pidy destination.
After a few hours of travel we arrive in this town compared to those previously seen looks like a metropolis! Another curious difference characterizes houses, pubs, restaurants and even the church is underground. Yes, you read right! To survive the extreme temperatures (in the summer heat that exceeds 50 degrees during the day and the cold drops below 0 at night) most people live underground, where the temperature is more or less constant throughout the year (24 ° or so), both day and night. And tonight I'll try to stay underground ... the breeze was alive! Coober
Pidy is also famous for being the capital of Australian opals, and in fact the town is in all respects a work in progress.
The day passes quickly: a tour of the museum opals and later at a site not far from Coober Aboriginal Pidy to my view that gives a breathtaking view. A visual infinity characterized by a set of cliffs that nature has created after hundreds of years of slow and painstaking.
hot shower, nap and pizza party to end the day in the best way. Tomorrow morning the alarm at 4.30 am ... and I can say that I have stayed underground in my earthly life: soooo cool!
27_04_2009 28_04_2009
and "It's time to wake up. The time is 4:30. " The alarm goes off, my body tells me to turn around the other side and continue to sleep, but my mind thinks "I can now finally see Uluru!" ... And then magically are already standing, ready to leave again for a long, long road to travel miles to about 800 today! There are numerous break grant us, so the day passed relatively quickly. In a "game" and a "lesson" here is our guide Trevor finally looming monolith the highly anticipated ... In fact it reminded me a bit 'different ... Of course! It is not the original! Trevor has laid a trap in front of us and told us that that was the Uluru, but it was another monolith that looks like a lot!
Finally just before sunset my eyes can see the original and unique symbol of Australia. I remain just staring, stupefied. His silence, his color, his majesty ... I would stay for hours watching, has some magic that will catch the eye and the mind and makes you think and think and think.
shower, dinner and "bed time stories". Goodnight! Tomorrow we will have a luuuunga walk.
The alarm early today. I get up very good mood as always ... We are facing a must-Sunrise will color the Uluru-red fire.
As expected the show in front of my eyes is nothing short of amazing: every minute that passes the sun's rays are getting stronger and making their way through the clouds surrounding the Uluru with a magical silence. Its color is constantly changing, and it looks impressive catches my attention and my eyes for a long time.
The day's program includes walking around the base of almost 10 km dell'Uluru would like to try some adventurous climbing, but for the Aboriginals, the monolith is absolutely sacred and scale it means invading their spaces, their religiosity. I think it is right to enforce their rules, their territory, their culture, I can not believe how some people come to think "who cares" just for being proud of the climb and for the sake of having a photograph to show off to friends. Ignorant, the only thing I would say. Carry this phrase that I think sums up to 100% what I mean: "The tourist comes here and takes it all with his camera. What get it? Another photo to take home, maybe a part of Uluru. He should use another lens, capable of penetrating the subject of his shots. Then he would see only a big rock. In fact, being able to see the spirit of Kuniya who continued to live inside the rock from the beginning. At that point it could even throw away the camera. "
The walk is not too hard, even if the heat is quite oppressive.
Campaggiamo specific area, but tomorrow we expect another long walk through the Olgas (Kata Tjuta), another sacred place for Aboriginal culture.
and 29_04_2009 30_04_2009
The last two days of tours prove just perfect for the conclusion of this fantastic tour.
Two long walks on the first day of the Olgas and the second in King Canyon. The views are breathtaking as usual: 36 bright red domes with the scent of Aboriginal history and deep, steep walls that characterize the Canyon. Trevor with his precise knowledge tells us more split on the sacredness of these places to Aboriginal culture, Aboriginal people seem to accept the thousands of tourists who visit their sites these days, thanks to the collaboration established with the Australian government. However, some places are still "blind" and not allowed to visit or take photographs. We head
tired but happy to Alice Springs, the last leg of our journey. A dinner together to exchange the usual e-mail and the usual greetings of circumstances. Thanks Trevor and thanks Australia for having enriched my person for the umpteenth time.
My LX200GPS 8 "a great well built instrument mounted on a wedge much more solid as the original, made from me. 
instead This is my new setup, a Sphinx, much more portable, but of excellent workmanship. 
Mosaic twice the Veil Nebula in Cygnus. 
Sadr the star of the Swan range surrounded by a large nebulosity. 
almost an hour to pose for this shot of M31 with the EOS350D and tele EF300F4L 
Summer Camp 2009 at the Balma Prato Nevoso I started with the M16 and Pentax75 Eos350D mod 
Lulin Comet when it was in conjunction with Regulus and just a galaxy Leo1 distamte from Regulus. 
almost an hour to pose for this shot of M31 with the EOS350D and tele EF300F4L 
Summer Camp 2009 at the Balma Prato Nevoso I started with the M16 and Pentax75 Eos350D mod 
Lulin Comet when it was in conjunction with Regulus and just a galaxy Leo1 distamte from Regulus. 
M8-M20 two objects of the beautiful summer sky in a sea of \u200b\u200bstars. 
M8-M20 two objects of the beautiful summer sky in a sea of \u200b\u200bstars. 
B33 "horse head" in the constellation of Orion. 
B33 "horse head" in the constellation of Orion. 
