EXPEDITION
The expedition on board the ultra-new McCormick tractors will be an extraordinary adventure covering 8,500 km across Australia, from Melbourne to Ayers Rock, during which the participants will explore the states of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territories.
A journey through an incredible variety of landscapes and cultures, deep within the boundless territory of Australia.
From the Great Barrier Reef to the desert, facing new challenges each day in full contact with unspoilt nature in the land of the Aborigines.
TRAVEL DIARY
If yesterday it seemed we were travelling in the middle of nowhere, now it is even worse (or better, depending on your point of view). The road started well, but a few kilometers from the roadhouse where we spent the night the asphalt ends and begins a long dirt track, perfectly straight, flanked by the usual vaguely spooky landscape made of withered trees darkened by some old fire. For all the 263 kilometers of today’s leg the road alternates asphalt and dirt sometimes white, sometimes red, but does not meet any towns. We meet a dozen of vehicles, including a huge truck. For the rest just lean cows, termite mounds and several kangaroos crossing the road hopping. Dry wind, dust and silence.
If yesterday it seemed we were travelling in the middle of nowhere, now it is even worse (or better, depending on your point of view). The road started well, but a few kilometers from the roadhouse where we spent the night the asphalt ends and begins a long dirt track, perfectly straight, flanked by the usual vaguely spooky landscape made of withered trees darkened by some old fire. For all the 263 kilometers of today’s leg the road alternates asphalt and dirt sometimes white, sometimes red, but does not meet any towns. We meet a dozen of vehicles, including a huge truck. For the rest just lean cows, termite mounds and several kangaroos crossing the road hopping. Dry wind, dust and silence.
The first surprise of today is the cold: at 6am, at the alarm ringing, the air is definitely cool, but within a few hours everything is back to normal and at midday there are the usual 28 degrees, perhaps slightly more. We drive along a secondary road with very little traffic. Mount Garnet, the tiny village where we spent the night, is the only town in the next four hundred kilometers. The landscape is dead dry, dotted with withered trees and huge termite nests made of red earth. It’s the drought. It didn’t rain for three years – according to an old farmer we routed out of his ranch down the road – and the cattle starts to suffer it. The rainy season should start in November: hopefully this year our friend Don (and everyone else) will get rain… Tonight we sleep in a roadhouse, a kind of inn that combines gas station, restaurant and rest area with a few rooms and pitches for campers. Literally, in the middle of nowhere. We share the area with giant trucks: 3-4 trailers, 18-wheeler beasts. It’s the outback, baby!
The first surprise of today is the cold: at 6am, at the alarm ringing, the air is definitely cool, but within a few hours everything is back to normal and at midday there are the usual 28 degrees, perhaps slightly more. We drive along a secondary road with very little traffic. Mount Garnet, the tiny village where we spent the night, is the only town in the next four hundred kilometers. The landscape is dead dry, dotted with withered trees and huge termite nests made of red earth. It’s the drought. It didn’t rain for three years – according to an old farmer we routed out of his ranch down the road – and the cattle starts to suffer it. The rainy season should start in November: hopefully this year our friend Don (and everyone else) will get rain… Tonight we sleep in a roadhouse, a kind of inn that combines gas station, restaurant and rest area with a few rooms and pitches for campers. Literally, in the middle of nowhere. We share the area with giant trucks: 3-4 trailers, 18-wheeler beasts. It’s the outback, baby!
Today, the last chapter of Xtractor Australia begins. We head back to south, but this time we get away from the coast and lead inland. The endless outback, literally “the behindâ€, covers most of the Australian territory behind the 3,500-km. long mountain chain that borders the east coast and forms a watershed between the green countryside and the desert. We travel for a few hours through pastures and cows along a curvy road that goes up and down through woods and hills, and has nothing to do with the rainforest we’ve seen just yesterday. Then the fields begin to turn yellow, the woods become less dense and suddenly the landscape changes again. The land now is red: welcome to the outback. Steak for dinner as usual, you never run short in this nation of farmers, in a tiny village inn (which sounds quite like a flattery for that one…). The beer flows freely between billiards, eccentric customers with a splash of Aboriginal traits (glad to see them at last!) and a blaring jukebox.
Today, the last chapter of Xtractor Australia begins. We head back to south, but this time we get away from the coast and lead inland. The endless outback, literally “the behindâ€, covers most of the Australian territory behind the 3,500-km. long mountain chain that borders the east coast and forms a watershed between the green countryside and the desert. We travel for a few hours through pastures and cows along a curvy road that goes up and down through woods and hills, and has nothing to do with the rainforest we’ve seen just yesterday. Then the fields begin to turn yellow, the woods become less dense and suddenly the landscape changes again. The land now is red: welcome to the outback. Steak for dinner as usual, you never run short in this nation of farmers, in a tiny village inn (which sounds quite like a flattery for that one…). The beer flows freely between billiards, eccentric customers with a splash of Aboriginal traits (glad to see them at last!) and a blaring jukebox.
Today, finally, a very much needed day off! The drivers can take a rest, do the laundry, walk around the city, take a nap next to the pool. Just relax. Someone goes a bit further: our filming crew, lucky them, leave for a cruise to that wonder of nature that is the Great Barrier Reef. It’s our last chance, tomorrow we leave the coast to head west, towards the red heart of the continent. Towards the end of the day we go to the supermarket to stock up on food. Xtractor shifts into a new gear: desert, we are coming!
Today, finally, a very much needed day off! The drivers can take a rest, do the laundry, walk around the city, take a nap next to the pool. Just relax. Someone goes a bit further: our filming crew, lucky them, leave for a cruise to that wonder of nature that is the Great Barrier Reef. It’s our last chance, tomorrow we leave the coast to head west, towards the red heart of the continent. Towards the end of the day we go to the supermarket to stock up on food. Xtractor shifts into a new gear: desert, we are coming!
Not a very interesting day today. We have breakfast outside, surrounded by rainforest, then take the beautiful road to Cairns. Sun is back after yesterday’s clouds, and it starts to get hot. There is people on the postcard-picture beaches, and somebody even swims, despite the warning signs of deadly jellyfish and sea crocodiles. We haven’t spotted crocodiles so far – which we regret a bit – so we stop in a park where they have 2,500 (they grow them too, to make bags and the alike). They pounce on food, their jaws snapping like steel traps. We are not sure we still want to bump into them…
Not a very interesting day today. We have breakfast outside, surrounded by rainforest, then take the beautiful road to Cairns. Sun is back after yesterday’s clouds, and it starts to get hot. There is people on the postcard-picture beaches, and somebody even swims, despite the warning signs of deadly jellyfish and sea crocodiles. We haven’t spotted crocodiles so far – which we regret a bit – so we stop in a park where they have 2,500 (they grow them too, to make bags and the alike). They pounce on food, their jaws snapping like steel traps. We are not sure we still want to bump into them…
Cairns could even be the tourist center of north Queensland, but it is little more than a collection of not particularly attractive hotels. Cairns is our starting point to push north until the asphalt ends and there is only jungle ahead. We cross the Daintree on a barge, a beautiful forest road leads to the tiny settlement of Cape Tribulation, so named by the explorer Cook who was about to sink right here in 1770. We keep on for a few kilometers along the legendary Bloomfield Track, a dirt track that follows the sinuous profile of the Coast, running in between the green of the vegetation and the blue of the sea that we intermittently spot through the mangroves. Regrettably, there is a steady stream of big trucks and frequent road works, it looks like a motorway under construction… What a disappointment. We give up and finish the day on a forest-bordered beach of white sand which looks set up for Robinson Crusoe. The Road Menders are gone, cell phones do not work, there is also full moon. The perfect evening!
Cairns could even be the tourist center of north Queensland, but it is little more than a collection of not particularly attractive hotels. Cairns is our starting point to push north until the asphalt ends and there is only jungle ahead. We cross the Daintree on a barge, a beautiful forest road leads to the tiny settlement of Cape Tribulation, so named by the explorer Cook who was about to sink right here in 1770. We keep on for a few kilometers along the legendary Bloomfield Track, a dirt track that follows the sinuous profile of the Coast, running in between the green of the vegetation and the blue of the sea that we intermittently spot through the mangroves. Regrettably, there is a steady stream of big trucks and frequent road works, it looks like a motorway under construction… What a disappointment. We give up and finish the day on a forest-bordered beach of white sand which looks set up for Robinson Crusoe. The Road Menders are gone, cell phones do not work, there is also full moon. The perfect evening!
Green, green, green. Today we travel in the green, the bright green of new grass that stands out on the dark tones of the forest. We managed to escape from A1 to take a small country road through plantations of sugar cane and banana. We spot countless large flowers which turn out to be plastic bags, perhaps for protection of the bunches of bananas. The plain is all cultivated, but on the surrounding slopes the nature is lurking, ready to regain its territory. Like in Paronella Park, the estate which belonged to an extravagant Spanish immigrant of the 1930s, relinquished to the jungle and discovered again – almost by accident – twenty years ago. A few kilometres further we find a village bar that looks straight out of a movie, a bit western, a little horror, a little retro. A glimpse of rural Australia so fascinating that we do not want to leave. The whistle of the train carrying the sugarcane cut wakes us up: it’s time to get back to civilization. Pity!
Green, green, green. Today we travel in the green, the bright green of new grass that stands out on the dark tones of the forest. We managed to escape from A1 to take a small country road through plantations of sugar cane and banana. We spot countless large flowers which turn out to be plastic bags, perhaps for protection of the bunches of bananas. The plain is all cultivated, but on the surrounding slopes the nature is lurking, ready to regain its territory. Like in Paronella Park, the estate which belonged to an extravagant Spanish immigrant of the 1930s, relinquished to the jungle and discovered again – almost by accident – twenty years ago. A few kilometres further we find a village bar that looks straight out of a movie, a bit western, a little horror, a little retro. A glimpse of rural Australia so fascinating that we do not want to leave. The whistle of the train carrying the sugarcane cut wakes us up: it’s time to get back to civilization. Pity!