June 6, 1997

ON THE BUS

The VW bus ride is under way with my new mates MaryAnn and Val. Crossing the outback's 3000 km in the bug bus from Cairns to Darwin will take several days.

Hi, this is Val. I am from that tiny little country in Europe called The Netherlands. We are now about 50 kms from Townsville on our way to Charters Towers, Mount Isa and a whole lot of nothingness called the Australian desert. All of that in a little white VW combi. It is gonna take us a long time to get to Darwin and that is an exciting thought. Being so far away from anywhere is a complete new experience for me and I am looking forward to it very much. At the moment Van 'the man' Morrisson is playing for us and that always helps me. It is nice to be traveling with a couple of people in a car, especially since my travel mate from the last couple of weeks, Anna, has just gone home. Saying good-bye to good friends is always something I have troubles with. I suppose it is just another part of traveling. I Just realized that I have only three weeks left in Oz. Time flies when you're having fun. Luckily I still have Indonesia to look forward to. I feel like we are part of Priscilla, Queen of the dessert.

Outback, here we come!!

June 7, 1997

LIVE FROM THE OUTBACK!!!

Val is slowly going nuts with Mary Ann's 50 mph speed. Even grandmothers out for a Sunday drive are leaving us in the dust. "And they would never tear us apart..." INXS on the radio never helps too much!! Thank god we did 300 kms. over the last 5 hours... AAAAHHHH! There is only one way to cope with this for Tim. Get out the pipe. Guess what? My travel partner Val is wiggling because this girl from Norway is driving sooo sloooowy. I am enroute to Darwin in a VW combi van to hitch a ride to Indonesi.(Maybe by Boat.) I was supposed to hang in the Cairns area for 5 months longer, but I couldn't work in this movie because of work permits. Anyway baking in the desert of Australia.

The roadtrip continues on down the Highway. Val has gained control of the wheel. Watch out kangaroos! After tea in Mt. Isa, we travel into the night to log a few kms. Mt. Isa is a mining town with a population of 70,000. The suicide rate is high because of the doldrums lifestyle. Back on the road again. Stay in touch. Happy Trails, T.C.

June 8, 1997

NORTHERN TERRITORY OUTBACK, AUSTRALIA

Mega areas of nothingness are the scenery we are going through today and last night. It is an incredible feeling for me to be so far away from the rest of the world. That is why I wanted to do this 3000 km trip anyway. I think it is great and a total new experience. Along the way we see a lot of kangaroos that have been killed by the 50 meter long road trains that boom through this area. Massive eagles and crows take care of removing the carcasses of the road. We crossed the border with the NT just half an hour ago, at ten this morning, which means we are now halfway! What you see here is the Australia I came over for. It is great and big beyond imagination. Val.

June 9, 1997

OUTBACK/DARWIN

Nearly there! After being woken up this morning by a very restless Tim (he is sleeping all day in the car, so I never tired during rest hours), we went straight down to the Mataranka thermal springs. Beautiful warm water in a beautiful nature-setting. It was amazing to see how the scenery had changed. Last night we had been driving until 1.00 o'clock, so we couldn't really see much of the scenery in the pitch-black night. From the desert back to the tropics in a matter of hours. Amazing. After that, we had some time to check out the beautiful Katherine gorge. Excellent natural beauty. It's not everyday you see stuff like that in pancake-flat Holland! Now we are on our way to Darwin, some 4 more hours to go with a planned swim stop, at the Robyn Falls on the way. John Lennon's "Imagine" is playing. A can of fourex ("XXXX" on the can for analfabetic Ozzies!) in the hand. The journey is nearly over, 3000 kms. through the desert in four days. Enough driving to last you a year. But a great experience with a couple of new made 'maties'. Excellent. While Tim is preparing his bike for his next heroic efforts, I am quite happily looking forward to my flight to Indonesia next week. Good luck Tim, maybe see you again. Traveling the dreamtime country... The Northern Territory, Australia, 9th of june 1997. Imagine...Val.

Hi Tim,

I wish I knew how to use this thing. Takes me ages to write. Anyway life is still good. I am not going to worry about that. It was very nice meeting you - your OK. WE HAVE HAD A LOT OF FUN SO FAR! Val is a much better writer than me. So, I will not take up much space. Just remember life is all about being happy with what you want. You can do anything that you want to do. We are very close to the end of our journey towards Darwin, only half an hour left to go. The little white kangaroo (car) has done very well through the desert. So far it has done 23,000. km. all the way from Perth down south. I have only got 5,000. km. to go back to Perth. I can not believe that I have manage to go that far without any problems, unreal! Well, thanks for keeping me company all the way from Cairns. Right now there is a very nice song on the radio called "I want to fall in love" with Chris Isack. It is a nice song. Anyway there are so many other things in life that come before that. So do not worry about it, every thing will come to you when you are ready for it. The most important thing is to find out about what you want with your life before you do something stupid. Stay a happy person Tim, then you will please other people and most of all yourself. What ever happens it was meant to be. Take care. Lots of love, Marianne.

June 12, 1997

DARWIN

On to Kupang, Indonesia. I will fly to Kupang on Saturday afternoon to start my Asian assault. The sailboat trip would have been delayed another week due to paperwork from Indonesia. My mind set is more interested in experiencing another culture at this moment.

Australia has been a splendid host to me for the last six months. The country is very diverse in people, arts,and landscape. They all have a bit of tour guide in their personality. Always graciously willing to help with local information. I can highly recommend traveling in Australia. Thanks to all the mates I encountered with in my travels.

As Arnold Swarzenegger says...I'll Be Back!

June 13, 1997

DARWIN

Hot and humid is how I would describe the top of Australia. Darwin, although not the most exciting city in the world, is, in it's own way, full of color and beauty. Backpackers still dominate the town, as is the case throughout Australia, but they seem to add to the town not detract from it.

Vegas is COOL!

Vinnie/Chris

My other roommate has a few words:

Hi! They call me Laura Engals, but I am not. Not really. I am not sure but I think my name is Elina and that I come from Sweden. No, now I remember, I am catwoman. ya. From Gotham city. See ya......

I Have enjoyed the last few days in Darwin, spending some time with my mates Laura Englas/Elina and Vinnie/Chris. It's always a pleasure meeting other travelers for a few days. See ya in Indonesia.