viaggio and freedom

Dopo l'attraversata del Golfo di Carpenteria tra Queensland e Northern Territory nelle acque del mar Arafura e dopo la sosta in Gove, chiamata Nhulumbuy dai locali aborigeni che abitano l'Arnhem Land, il viaggio in barca è durato ancora 10 giorni prima di arrivare a Darwin, o Top End come viene chiamata qui in Australia. Che dire di Darwin a prima vista? Una città carina, non molto diversa da Cairns per quanto riguarda clima e atmosfera (almeno durante la dry season o inverno qui), ma direi più moderna di Cairns, per quanto riguarda le infrastrutture e il centro della città. Il motivo principale di ciò è dovuto al fatto che la città è stata quasi completamente demolita dal ciclone Tracy, che ha colpito la costa del Northern Territory nel dicembre 1974. La sorte non è stata dalla parte della città che anche prima del 1974 è stata distrutta diverse volte: molto traumatico è stato il bombardamento occorso dopo Pear Harbour ad opera della stessa flotta kamikaze giapponese. La ...

Cape York is the name given to the peninsula from James Cook in 1770, but it wasn't until 1848 that the first adventures arrived to Cape York. The expedition was directed by Edmond Kennedy, he intended to to reach the tip of Australia, but unfortunately he was killed by the hand of a local Aborigine. His expedition was unsuccessful because Kennedy lost eight of his men in Weymouth Bay and other four in Shelburne Bay before he was killed. The surviver Jacky Jacky, a young Aboriginal man was the one who achieved to reach the tip of Australia, completing the journey alone, leaving other two survivors behind.  In the peninsula then a telegraph line was built in 1887 by John Bradford. It was connected to Thursday Island via an underwater cable; all the line allowed communication with Brisbane and operated until 1987. In the 1900's Francis Birtles reached the top of Cape York on his bicycle and after that the first car reached it in 1928. Now every 4 WD can access to the unseal...

It is a historic place especially used during the Second War World by the australian and american armies as the base for the air force, the Iron Range Air Force Base, that was operating during the war against Japan in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Before becoming an important and strategic place during the war, it was an anchorage for the Pearling fleets and for Sandalwood cutter in the 1800's and by the 1930's it had been used as a port for the goldfield of Iron Range - a mecca for 4WD campers that incorporates the Kutini Payamu National Park and home of the indigenous Kuuku Ya'u people. It used to have a big jetty, completed in 1938, after the gold rush. Nowadays the place is pretty remote, 6 or 4 houses are around the beachfront and the hill and the community is a small idyllic refuge for people who need relax and tranquillity (maybe too much!!) Crocodiles habit the close mangroves near the beach and they could be sight-seen from the sea, so swimming is...

Cooktown is where the first explorers arrived and were forced to stay for 48 days, in order to repair the boat Endeavour. The captain of the boat, as all the historic books tell, was James Cook. He was steering the boat through the Coral Sea and the boat accidentally ran afoul of the Great Barrier Reef, so Cook decided to take it in the Endavour River (the only river named by Captain Cook in Australia), the name was given to it just because it was the location were the boat was successfully repaired. The first years of Cooktown were characterised by explorations and studies, with explorers discovering trees and tropical species of flowers and fauna. At the visitor information centre it is possible to have a look at the remarkable exhibition of local wildlife recorded by Charles Tanner. Following Captain Cook adventures you'll discover the lighthouse. In fact, Cook had to study a way to leave the bay and keep sailing for his adventure, so he used to hike the hill, where ...

Hope Island is north of Cape tribulation and almost close to Cooktown. It's close to a mangrove island, that is located in the middle between land and Hope Island and considered part of it. It is characterise by coral cay as simile to Low Island. The reef is very close to the island and all around it, some of the corals are located just one meters away from the shore especially during low tides. The island is all wild just inhabited by birds, little butterflies and it's very green. There is a sign that advices to be alert from crocodiles and it's probably not recommended to swim. Just some people can access to the island anyway, because it's not a touristic place and unless you own a boat ……I guess it's not really easy to reach the island… it's possible to sightseeing it from a fisher boat.

Two islands north of Port Douglas out on the reef on the Coral Sea. They are pretty nice, not so touristic as much as Green Island: there aren't human activities on the two island, one is a mangrove island (Woody Island) where no human is recommended to go, while on the other one (Low Island) there's just a lighthouse built in the past by sailers and still looked after by the light keeper and the staff. The Islands that forms the Low Isles are preserved, protected and maintained. Some companies, such as Quicksilver with Wavedancers, Aquarius and Sailaway, take tourist for the day on Low Island to enjoy the isolate and remote peaceful of this place. The number of tour operator that can visit it is limited and there are limits to the size and activities of recreational users. It's explained to tourists that Low Island is a coral cay, where it is possible to relax, snorkel and dive and that the combination of cay and mangrove island, such as Low Island...

Sono ormai 3 settimane che mi trovo su una barca a vela dispersa per zone remote e isolate nel nord-est dell'Australia. Quando ho deciso di partire e non pianificare nulla era proprio perché non volevo farmi mancare diverse opportunità tra cui fare una pazzia e decidere in due settimane di imbarcarmi per un'esperienza che sicuramente rimarrà impressa nei miei ricordi: 6 settimane in barca a vela da Cairns a Darwin. Devo confessare che non è così semplice e così eccitante come avevo pensato: semplice perché devo condividere la barca con 8 persone estranee e nuove per me, eccitante perché a causa del vento ci fermiamo per diversi giorni in posti dove non c'è molta attività e la vita in barca è decisamente troppo rilassante a volte. Posterò un articolo per tutti i posti visitati, almeno per quelli dove c'è qualcosa da scrivere e da raccontare a riguardo. Per ora posso raccontarvi metà dell'itinerario fatto finora: - giorno 1 partendo da Cairns il 12 maggio la...