Cervantes to New Norcia
As on every morning on this trip, I got on the
road much later than I had hoped. The good news was that I only had a distance
of about two hours to drive so I was fine to take my time. I was driving to New
Norcia where the monastery I was planning on spending the night at was located.
Seeing I had to vacate the backpackers by 10am, I had plenty of time to make my
way there. I decided that I would go back to the national park where the
Pinnacles were located, and take a look at the beach that ran along the west
side of the park. On my way there I passed a sign for Stromatolites, something
that I thought existed in only one place in Australia. Stromatolites are the
oldest living organisms on the face of the earth. (At least I think they are!)
These it turned out were some of the younger ones. They were only about 1,200
years old, however their ancestors can be found in rocks dating 3.5 millions
years ago. In fact you can thank them for everything you see around you, when
their ancestors covered the earth they were responsible for creating much of the
oxygen that now fills the atmosphere. However when I made my way back to lake
Thetis, where the Stromatolites, there was one major problem they were all
underwater. As you can see from the photo, the rains had raised the water level
far beyond the wood pylons that was the normal viewing platform.
I was just getting ready to leave when another couple pulled up in their truck. We began talking and the boyfriend decided to walk out into the water to see just what these amazing creatures looked like. Well, when you are a thousand of years old I guess you don't have to worry about how you look, because it turns out a Stromatolite looks just like a rock. Well at least I didn't take off my shoes to go see them.
I ended up spending a few minutes talking to these folks. They were a relatively young couple from Melbourne, they had been traveling for the past three weeks and were planning on another 10. They had sold their house, car, and placed everything in storage before leaving. They bought a toyota land cruiser troop transport (we don't have them in the US), bought a camper trailer, and headed west. And I thought I was taking a risk.
As we were sitting there chatting, I saw thing coming out of the water. All I could say was "what the hell is that!" We walked over to lizard that was coming out of the Stromatolite pond and from looking at this lizard I think I may have been a witness to evolution. While according to the Australian couple this was a common lizard in Western Australia, and found itself under more tires on the road than kangeroos. By looking at the lizard's speed it was no surprise, it moved at a snails pace. But it was by far the most prehistoric lizard I had ever seen.
I left the lake and my Australian friends and headed out to the main road, but not before having one more new western australian experience. As I was headed out, I just happened to look out to the left and there on top of the burn was a wild emu. Now granted it wasn't as if I hadn't seen an emu while in Australia, but this was the first wild one that I have seen.
(Wild Emu)
I made my way to the main road and decided to head back to Cervantes for gas before headed for New Norcia. Anyways, I had no idea how long it would be fore I would see another gas station. When I pulled into the gas station much to my surprise a very attractive your lady came to attend to my car. I tried to help but I could see that she wasn't about to let me. She was a local who had lived her life in Cervantes. This was the type of girl I would have pictured would have moved to Perth by now. When I asked her I could grab a quick bite to eat and she told me of the cafe just around the corner of the building. Unfortunately I had arrived at the gas station at about 10am. I was too late for breakfast but too early for lunch. Knowing that I had at least a three hour drive ahead of me, I decided I would try get something. When I walked into the little diner style cafe, there was no one else in there. In fact there was no one behind the counter, or from what I could see the kitchen. There was however a menu board hanging with all my options. For whatever reason a hamburger seemed to really fit the bill. At about that time, someone came from around the back, who seemed just as happy to see me as I was to see her. I tried hard not to think that I was her first customer in a long time. After a few minutes, my hamburger was ready. From the outside this looked like it could be one of the best hamburgers I would ever eat. It was thick, toasted and seemed to have all the fixin's, but I was about to learn that all the fixin's could be risky in a foreign country. When think of a hamburger with all the fixin's I think, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, maybe a little relish, or fancy mustard, however burger took those and kept going. As I lifted bun I was surprised to discover, a fried egg, some very questionable hard bacon, beets, and some sort of special sauce. It was virtually impossible to separate any of these items without causing the whole burger to fall apart at the seems. I tried my best to eat it but made it about half way through when I just gave up on it.
I made it back on the road and headed in the general direction of my next stop. I was headed today to New Norcia. New Norcia is a town that is known for one specific thing. I found out about this place on the TV over a year ago, long before I quit my job, long before I called off a marriage, and long before I had any plans to go to Australia. New Norica is Benedictine Monastery. When I first watched this program and found out about New Norcia, I thought to myself what a neat place to visit, especially when I found out that you can stay with the monks, and if you are male you can eat with them as well. The catch it the monks eat in silence. It all sounded like an interesting idea, but at the time I just filed in away somewhere in the back of my head. As time passed by I all but forgot about New Norcia, but once this trip came together, and the idea of spending some time in western australia became a realistic idea I remembered the "monestary in the outback," problem was that I completely forgot the name of the place. Well, you can call it fate or intervention or whatever, but just a few days before I left for Australia, low and behold, the same program apeared on TV, and thanks to my Keyword search on TiVo it automoically recorded. This time I wrote is down and brought all the details with me. So before I left Perth, I called talked to a nun, and made a reservation to stay (and dine) with monks for one night.
The drive to New Norcia was going to be about three hours, which for out here I guess is considered just around the corner. There really were only two roads from Cervantes to New Norcia, and one involved back tracking so I took the northern road through Moota. As I began to make my way inland towards New Norica I began to see something that I wasn't expecting, color and life. I was after all on my way to the "outback" I was expecting dirt, dust, and the dry bush country. The rain storm that had moved through the night before had really brought the country side alive. As far as the eye could see, the country side was a brilliant green. And where it wasn't green it was bight yellow. Sure we are not talking tropical, it still is a very dry part of the world, however, today, and maybe only for today, it was talking advantage of the moisture it soaked up over night. These fields of yellow continued and everyone was more brilliant than the last. I am not really one for flowers but the contrast to the normally dry countryside was amazing. But here is the funny thing, I later found out, that these beautiful wildflowers that I admiring so, well turns out they are just weeds. That goes to show you my green thumb.
The drive through the countryside was much easier this time, vs. yesterday. There didn't seem to be as many road trains as before, and drive didn't seem as long. I did make one wrong turn thinking I had made my way out to the main highway, when I was actually about two miles short of it, but what do you expect then your major highways are two lanes. I rectified the situation and eventually made my way back to the highway. I made my way north to Moota before I cut back south towards New Norcia. When I arrived in Moota, I felt like I was on the verge of getting lost, so fighting the male code I stopped at a gas station to make sure I hadn't passed the road to New Norcia. When I turned into this tiny little outpost, I saw two young aboriginals sitting on a bench looking like they were waiting for a ride. They were definatly scruffy looking but, I am sure I would be too, if my way to get around western australia was dependant upon hitch hicking. Part of me felt as if I should offer them a ride seeing I had an empty car, but I turned into the gas station to ask or directions instead. I felt kinda bad about that. I went in, bought a bottle of water and a chocolate bar, found out that the road to New Norcia was about 50 yards away, and headed back to the car. When I was just about to get back in the car, I saw the young aborginal man asking a older couple if they would give him a ride. The older man apologized and refused, even though they were pulling an empty camper. As the aborigal walked away he began screaming things at the old man, and waving his hands around in disgust. (I was too far away to understand exactly, but while not threatening the older man directly, he definitley seemed a little dangerous) Seeing how he reacted to the old man, and seeing the girl with him looking at me, I decided I might be the next opportunity and didn't want to be the one who pushes him over the edge.
I hopped in my little yellow car and left the gas station to head in the path I was just shown by the lady inside the gas station. I couldn't help but keep thinking I was being a bad person by not picking up the two aboriginal kids. The way I looked at it, if I was trying to change my life shouldn't I be willing to do things that before I would never do. Yeah, the logic is a little fuzzy I realize. None the less, I was beating myself up over this for quite sometime on the drive. That is until I went flying by a strange object that was on the side of the road. At the speed I was going I couldn't see what it was, but for some reason I decided to turn around check it out. Maybe it was just that I had time to burn, or maybe it was guidance from above. But when I finally made my way back to the object I passed, I was somewhat shocked to find what I did. Along the side of the road, was a small memorial with the name Hayley Dodd. With the description, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Needless to say I started to think a little differently about not picking up the disgruntled aborigines that I didn't pick up.
I resumed my drive down the empty road and made my way towards New Norcia.
It wasn't to long before I made the turn that put me into the town of New Norcia. At first I couldn't figure out where the monastery was, where it began, and where it ended. I drove along side the high wall of a red brick building and turned into its parking lot. The signs told me that this was the monastery museum, so I know I could at least get directions there. I entered the museum and asked the elderly lady at the front desk where I would go if I were staying the night in the monastery. I wasn't even close on my guess. the monastery was across the road over a field and through a gate. I was directed to the entrance which, once I arrived was not exactly jumping out at me either. Its not as if I was expecting a neon sign over the door blinking "OPEN 24HRS", but it was obvious that the entrance to the monastery was meant for only those that needed, or wanted to be there.
Now I have never been to, near, and especially not inside of a monastery, ever in my life. So I felt as if at any point I could open the wrong door, not kneel at the right place, or set off some sort of Catholic alarm that all might result in my toiling the fields for days. I walked cautiously through the alcove entrance through the side of monastery hoping that I could find some sort of reception area. I walked about 15 yards in one direction where I came to a set of doors market private. I turned around to walk in the other direction past what were obviously guestrooms, where I was confronted by another set of doors which I was far to nervous to open. It just so happened that at that time an old gentleman walked out one of the guest rooms. I asked him if he could tell me where the reception was, and he decided he would show me. Now this was no small feat for him, I could tell that this man who at one p
I was just getting ready to leave when another couple pulled up in their truck. We began talking and the boyfriend decided to walk out into the water to see just what these amazing creatures looked like. Well, when you are a thousand of years old I guess you don't have to worry about how you look, because it turns out a Stromatolite looks just like a rock. Well at least I didn't take off my shoes to go see them.
I ended up spending a few minutes talking to these folks. They were a relatively young couple from Melbourne, they had been traveling for the past three weeks and were planning on another 10. They had sold their house, car, and placed everything in storage before leaving. They bought a toyota land cruiser troop transport (we don't have them in the US), bought a camper trailer, and headed west. And I thought I was taking a risk.
As we were sitting there chatting, I saw thing coming out of the water. All I could say was "what the hell is that!" We walked over to lizard that was coming out of the Stromatolite pond and from looking at this lizard I think I may have been a witness to evolution. While according to the Australian couple this was a common lizard in Western Australia, and found itself under more tires on the road than kangeroos. By looking at the lizard's speed it was no surprise, it moved at a snails pace. But it was by far the most prehistoric lizard I had ever seen.
I left the lake and my Australian friends and headed out to the main road, but not before having one more new western australian experience. As I was headed out, I just happened to look out to the left and there on top of the burn was a wild emu. Now granted it wasn't as if I hadn't seen an emu while in Australia, but this was the first wild one that I have seen.
(Wild Emu)
I made my way to the main road and decided to head back to Cervantes for gas before headed for New Norcia. Anyways, I had no idea how long it would be fore I would see another gas station. When I pulled into the gas station much to my surprise a very attractive your lady came to attend to my car. I tried to help but I could see that she wasn't about to let me. She was a local who had lived her life in Cervantes. This was the type of girl I would have pictured would have moved to Perth by now. When I asked her I could grab a quick bite to eat and she told me of the cafe just around the corner of the building. Unfortunately I had arrived at the gas station at about 10am. I was too late for breakfast but too early for lunch. Knowing that I had at least a three hour drive ahead of me, I decided I would try get something. When I walked into the little diner style cafe, there was no one else in there. In fact there was no one behind the counter, or from what I could see the kitchen. There was however a menu board hanging with all my options. For whatever reason a hamburger seemed to really fit the bill. At about that time, someone came from around the back, who seemed just as happy to see me as I was to see her. I tried hard not to think that I was her first customer in a long time. After a few minutes, my hamburger was ready. From the outside this looked like it could be one of the best hamburgers I would ever eat. It was thick, toasted and seemed to have all the fixin's, but I was about to learn that all the fixin's could be risky in a foreign country. When think of a hamburger with all the fixin's I think, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, maybe a little relish, or fancy mustard, however burger took those and kept going. As I lifted bun I was surprised to discover, a fried egg, some very questionable hard bacon, beets, and some sort of special sauce. It was virtually impossible to separate any of these items without causing the whole burger to fall apart at the seems. I tried my best to eat it but made it about half way through when I just gave up on it.
I made it back on the road and headed in the general direction of my next stop. I was headed today to New Norcia. New Norcia is a town that is known for one specific thing. I found out about this place on the TV over a year ago, long before I quit my job, long before I called off a marriage, and long before I had any plans to go to Australia. New Norica is Benedictine Monastery. When I first watched this program and found out about New Norcia, I thought to myself what a neat place to visit, especially when I found out that you can stay with the monks, and if you are male you can eat with them as well. The catch it the monks eat in silence. It all sounded like an interesting idea, but at the time I just filed in away somewhere in the back of my head. As time passed by I all but forgot about New Norcia, but once this trip came together, and the idea of spending some time in western australia became a realistic idea I remembered the "monestary in the outback," problem was that I completely forgot the name of the place. Well, you can call it fate or intervention or whatever, but just a few days before I left for Australia, low and behold, the same program apeared on TV, and thanks to my Keyword search on TiVo it automoically recorded. This time I wrote is down and brought all the details with me. So before I left Perth, I called talked to a nun, and made a reservation to stay (and dine) with monks for one night.
The drive to New Norcia was going to be about three hours, which for out here I guess is considered just around the corner. There really were only two roads from Cervantes to New Norcia, and one involved back tracking so I took the northern road through Moota. As I began to make my way inland towards New Norica I began to see something that I wasn't expecting, color and life. I was after all on my way to the "outback" I was expecting dirt, dust, and the dry bush country. The rain storm that had moved through the night before had really brought the country side alive. As far as the eye could see, the country side was a brilliant green. And where it wasn't green it was bight yellow. Sure we are not talking tropical, it still is a very dry part of the world, however, today, and maybe only for today, it was talking advantage of the moisture it soaked up over night. These fields of yellow continued and everyone was more brilliant than the last. I am not really one for flowers but the contrast to the normally dry countryside was amazing. But here is the funny thing, I later found out, that these beautiful wildflowers that I admiring so, well turns out they are just weeds. That goes to show you my green thumb.
The drive through the countryside was much easier this time, vs. yesterday. There didn't seem to be as many road trains as before, and drive didn't seem as long. I did make one wrong turn thinking I had made my way out to the main highway, when I was actually about two miles short of it, but what do you expect then your major highways are two lanes. I rectified the situation and eventually made my way back to the highway. I made my way north to Moota before I cut back south towards New Norcia. When I arrived in Moota, I felt like I was on the verge of getting lost, so fighting the male code I stopped at a gas station to make sure I hadn't passed the road to New Norcia. When I turned into this tiny little outpost, I saw two young aboriginals sitting on a bench looking like they were waiting for a ride. They were definatly scruffy looking but, I am sure I would be too, if my way to get around western australia was dependant upon hitch hicking. Part of me felt as if I should offer them a ride seeing I had an empty car, but I turned into the gas station to ask or directions instead. I felt kinda bad about that. I went in, bought a bottle of water and a chocolate bar, found out that the road to New Norcia was about 50 yards away, and headed back to the car. When I was just about to get back in the car, I saw the young aborginal man asking a older couple if they would give him a ride. The older man apologized and refused, even though they were pulling an empty camper. As the aborigal walked away he began screaming things at the old man, and waving his hands around in disgust. (I was too far away to understand exactly, but while not threatening the older man directly, he definitley seemed a little dangerous) Seeing how he reacted to the old man, and seeing the girl with him looking at me, I decided I might be the next opportunity and didn't want to be the one who pushes him over the edge.
I hopped in my little yellow car and left the gas station to head in the path I was just shown by the lady inside the gas station. I couldn't help but keep thinking I was being a bad person by not picking up the two aboriginal kids. The way I looked at it, if I was trying to change my life shouldn't I be willing to do things that before I would never do. Yeah, the logic is a little fuzzy I realize. None the less, I was beating myself up over this for quite sometime on the drive. That is until I went flying by a strange object that was on the side of the road. At the speed I was going I couldn't see what it was, but for some reason I decided to turn around check it out. Maybe it was just that I had time to burn, or maybe it was guidance from above. But when I finally made my way back to the object I passed, I was somewhat shocked to find what I did. Along the side of the road, was a small memorial with the name Hayley Dodd. With the description, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Needless to say I started to think a little differently about not picking up the disgruntled aborigines that I didn't pick up.
I resumed my drive down the empty road and made my way towards New Norcia.
It wasn't to long before I made the turn that put me into the town of New Norcia. At first I couldn't figure out where the monastery was, where it began, and where it ended. I drove along side the high wall of a red brick building and turned into its parking lot. The signs told me that this was the monastery museum, so I know I could at least get directions there. I entered the museum and asked the elderly lady at the front desk where I would go if I were staying the night in the monastery. I wasn't even close on my guess. the monastery was across the road over a field and through a gate. I was directed to the entrance which, once I arrived was not exactly jumping out at me either. Its not as if I was expecting a neon sign over the door blinking "OPEN 24HRS", but it was obvious that the entrance to the monastery was meant for only those that needed, or wanted to be there.
Now I have never been to, near, and especially not inside of a monastery, ever in my life. So I felt as if at any point I could open the wrong door, not kneel at the right place, or set off some sort of Catholic alarm that all might result in my toiling the fields for days. I walked cautiously through the alcove entrance through the side of monastery hoping that I could find some sort of reception area. I walked about 15 yards in one direction where I came to a set of doors market private. I turned around to walk in the other direction past what were obviously guestrooms, where I was confronted by another set of doors which I was far to nervous to open. It just so happened that at that time an old gentleman walked out one of the guest rooms. I asked him if he could tell me where the reception was, and he decided he would show me. Now this was no small feat for him, I could tell that this man who at one p
Posted: Mon - September 8, 2003 at 12:24 AM
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Published On: Aug 01, 2004 11:38 PM
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Published On: Aug 01, 2004 11:38 PM