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Trip to Australia, 2004
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Here
We are now in the Great Artesian Basin.
It stretches from halfway the continent to
the very north. Thousand meters below is the
biggest freshwater aquifer in the world,
containing trillion litres of water. If you
drill a hole, hot water comes out. It seems
to be very healthy and tastes fine. The
water is 2 million years old. In fact you
drink fossil water!!! We fill as much
containers as we can with this gift of
nature and slowly we revert from soft drinks
to pure fossil water. In the camping the
cold water, apparently directly connected to
the hot artesian water well, is hot as well.
The difference with normal water is that is
feels somehow greasy while showering. The
artesian water was wasted in the past. Now
more conscious, the water is exploited with
care, as it will not last forever. Half of
the bores, yielding artesian water for many
years are now dry. In Lightning Ridge
we buy a set of folding chairs, for half
what the camper rental company charged for
renting a set.
We arrive in Roma and
next morning is is slightly cooler. But if
we return from our morning run, this time
only a run of 35 minutes due to the high
temperature, however, we sweat like animals.
The trip goes in the direction of the
sapphire fields. The trip is very
interesting and the landscape varies from
lush green forest to a savannah type
landscape.
We see here a rare palm, the
Zamia palm (Macrozamia moorei). This is the
most majestic of the Australian native
cycads. They have large leathery frond-like
leaves that radiate from a central trunk.
The leaves are deep green and sturdy. It may
grow 2-8m high and may live to over 400
years.
The pineapple-like seed cones on
female plants are toxic, however the
Aborigines have developed a method to remove
the toxin, leaving a food that is rich in
starch and protein.
The food was available
during the long dry winter when food was
scarce.
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