Australia Challenge

“Letting instinct and destiny guide you, without losing your motivation...”

In March 2017, Cyclone Debbie devastated Queensland in Australia, especially a beautiful coastal town - Airlie Beach - from where a cruise ship set sail to explore the Whitsundays Islands.

The Great Barrier Reef, the largest living species on Earth, which is visible even from space, I was finally able to see it - safely - from Cairns, in northern Australia. The reef has an extension of more than 2500 kilometers and can be visited from different cities.

At dinner before visiting an installation called Field of Light, some amusing old Australian couples, who luckily shared my table, alerted me to the seriousness of an issue. 

I was in the Northern Territory, one of the least populated regions in the world and home to a unique geological formation, Uluru.

In the middle of that desert of red sands stands this " belly button" of the planet, sacred to the natives. 

I was so excited to see that creation of the artist Bruce Munro that -I admit- at that moment I did not pay much attention to that warning...

The British artist, known for his large-scale works, set up a formidable light installation in the middle of the desert and with the rocky monolith in the background. It consists of 50,000 light bulbs illuminated at dusk, creating an optical play of colors in the midst of darkness. 

The area is located at a great distance from the pollution of the cities, so at night you can see the space with extreme clarity.

In addition, the visit to Field of Light includes rich bubbles to watch the sunset from a dune and a meal in the middle of nowhere, already at the time that the constellations appear.

During my stay in Ayres Rock I took many other tours to complete the Aussie Outback experience; thus, I visited archaeological ruins, the other rock formation known as Las Olgas (Kata Tjuṯa), Mount Conner, salt flats of an unusual light pink tone, among others, but none compared to that night of lights in Uluru.

Once en route to Airlie Beach for the long-awaited exclusive tour to see the reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, Debbie got in the way of the plans, everything was turned upside down as it could not be otherwise.

After slowing down the emotions of disconcert, a flight to an unknown destination and falling into a falling star hotel, I was finally able to board a catamaran that was no longer so exclusive, but still offered the long awaited snorkeling on the reef.

Being able to see the vivid and even fluorescent colors of the corals, the giant clams of about one meter, fish of the most varied shapes, turtles and, in general, the marine life, all that justified every call to airlines, hotels and travel agencies.

Although in the middle of the sea, where you can't see any coastline, sometimes in the swimming session, people like me who are not very fond of water can be a little afraid, I promise you that in that place everything is designed to enjoy. As the good Anglo-Saxons that they are, the Australians have everything organized, with schedules to enter the water for snorkeling for amateurs or diving for the most daring, wetsuits to avoid bites from jellyfish. They even count the number of people who make the dive both on the way down and on the way up and have floats available to help you not to sink.

In short, even if a cyclone or whatever modifies your plans, it is wise to adapt and move forward, because something good will always be waiting to surprise you.