Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 51 - Sixth Week Down

This week has been stressful as well as another of opening our eyes to the majesty of this country. We are just over 7,500km from home according to the odometer, and at probably the farthest point we can be from Smiths Lake.

Its been hot, but not uncomfortably so. Except for Broome there has been very little humidity and even in Broome it is nothing like I suspect the wet season may be. Again, perception has tried to mar our experience. Previously it was Kununurra, where looking to simply pass through, we actually stayed 2 nights, enjoying what that town had to offer, yes there were disappointing aspects but nothing like the manner of issues we were warned about. Halls Creek, although required due to the breakdown of Silver Leader’s Jeep and the time it took to get the part required from wherever it might have been originally, also had its beauty, albeit in small doses, but again had nothing like what was warned.

The hotel in the town adjacent to the caravan park was more than pleasant with a chef who could cook, and it allowed us to settle some of the boredom, but having said that, we made the best of Halls Creek.

Then you compare that with the Horizontal Falls, one of the jewels the north west. Yes, its unbelievably spectacular and the experience is first rate, but its expected to, the rest of the trip we have had the inverse result had we based the result on the rumours of some places. If our experiences to date were any indication, the Horizontal Falls should have been a letdown, but of course it wasn’t, just another level.

And that’s the point, you cannot simply take a book and look at pictures or listen intently to others who have seen things with their eyes and tried to bring it to life for you. It only takes a poor nights’ sleep, an argument early in the morning setting the scene for the rest of the day or simply not feeling 100%, to take the lustre off an experience. Experiencing the places for yourself, in real life, and with, the weather, your family and your own perspectives can be the only way to get what is your experience, good or poor.

We can sit and work, or accumulate vast amounts of wealth, focussing on the money, but it doesn’t cost the world to have an experience. Getting outside and feeling the wind on your face, the sun on your back, is not only healthy, it can actually be good for the economy as well.

We have drought in large amounts of this country, and huge youth unemployment in the bush. Wandering around and looking to take in this country in its splendour, spending a little money here and there, will help to keep the bush going. If we can get the businesses of the bush to take on the marketing initiatives of the Blueprint organisation that’s one thing, but it takes individuals to make a decision and go, spending money that is the key.

It will rain in the drought areas, there will be a wet season in the north, but that is not the end of the issues. Like all businesspeople know, growth takes time and capital. It would be more than helpful if we, the more affluent, spend time and money in these areas while they return to prosperity.

You never know, that anxiety you feel from over work might just be eased with a dose of what this great land can offer.