Counter

Monday, January 18, 2010

Uluru, the monolith

Bookmark and Share
It was 20090602-20090603

From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Members in our tour during the sunset
旅行團團員、日落、烏魯魯


Before arriving Australia, I didn't know anything about the monolith, Uluru. I was aware of it from the mention of Taiwanese who know it because of the Japanese drama called "Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World". In order to see it, I have to spend almost AUD $600 to achieve. Take me as an example: flew from Cairns to Adelaide (AUD $181), took train from Adelaide to Alice Spring (AUD $149) and the three days tour ($275). Another company taking you to Uluru is called "The Rock", the price is $295. During the trip, I met them many times, the places we visited, the food and the accommodation were almost the same.
在去澳洲之前,壓根不知道有這一塊大石頭,烏魯魯。到了當地,聽到許多的台灣人提到它,而他們也是因為看了日本的連續劇「在世界的中心呼喊愛情」才認識它。為了見它一面,至少要再多花一萬多將近二萬台幣的旅費才能達成。以我的情況來說:從凱因斯坐飛機到阿德雷德澳幣$181,從阿德雷德坐火車北上至愛麗絲泉澳幣$149,三天兩夜的旅行團澳幣$275。(另一個很有名的團是叫做 The Rock,團費要澳幣$295,我們在出團的時候都有遇到他們,基本上路線差不多,吃的和住的也差不多)


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Tracks information
步道資訊


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Orange Uluru, sunset
日落的橘色烏魯魯


The Australian call it Ayers rock, the local aboriginals call it Uluru. It's the biggest rock in the world at 364 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower, at lease two-thirds of the rock is beneath the surface, lies 335 km south west of the nearest large town, Alice Spring. You have to drive around five or six hours up to see it. The Uluru Base Walk around the rock takes you three to four hours by walk, the distance of the Uluru Base Walk is 9.4 kilometers. You wouldn't realized how big it is only from the picture. (It took me only around two hours to finish the Uluru Base Walk, and I found the tour guide was sleeping on the trailer)
澳洲人稱它為艾爾斯岩,當地的原住民(Anangu)則稱它烏魯魯。是世界上最大的獨立岩石,高達三百六十四公尺比法國的艾菲爾鐵塔還要高,至少有三分之二的岩體在地表下面,位於愛麗絲泉西南方三百三十五公里,為了看它,必須開車五、六個小時以上。光是繞著石頭周圍的步道走,就需要約三至四個小時,長達九點四公里。只從照片上看,沒有親眼見到它是沒法體會它的巨大的。(我因為腳程較快,只用了兩個多小時,回來時還發現導遊在拖車上補眠)


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Where is our tour guide?
導遊在哪裡?


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Black Uluru, sunset
日落的黑色烏魯魯


As all you know, the law in Singapore is very strict, you might get a ticket for littering. This place is not only the sacred site of aboriginals but also list as the world heritage. Our tour guide warned us many times, he called this place a small Singapore. A AUD $5000 ticket for removing rocks, $5000 for walking on a sacred Aboriginal site and $2000 for taking pictures of the sacred areas. Sometimes you can see a sign on the Uluru Base Walk telling you that taking pictures in this place is forbidden. But it's ambiguous, not clear enough, I have no idea in what places I can take a photo. What I can do was to press the shuttle quickly and moved.
大家都知道,新加坡的法律很嚴,隨便丟個垃圾就會收到罰單。這裡不單是當地原住民的聖地、重要資產也被列為世界遺產之一,導遊再三的警告我們,它把這裡稱做是小新加坡,因為隨意的搬動這裡的石頭罰金澳幣$5000,隨意進入原住民的聖地罰金澳幣$5000,在禁拍區域拍照罰金澳幣$2000。烏魯魯周圍的步道有時會看到禁止拍照的告示,不過整個路程九點四公里,到底哪些地方能拍哪些地方不能拍其實定義的非常模糊,搞的我不管走到哪,都是迅速的按下快門就閃。


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Afternoon tea
下午茶


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Parking area beside Uluru
附近的停車場


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Climb closed
不開放攀爬的標示


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Climb closed (Multiple languages)
不開放攀爬的標示 (多國語言)


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
We don't climb
我們不攀爬


It was winter of Australia in June, the weather wasn't hot at all, and quiet comfortable to stroll on the track without the exhaust gas existing only in the city. These days the weather was bad with dark sky and drizzle. We saw the sign saying "no climbing today" in the entrance of the national park, some of the tourists in the bus felt disappointed. The local aboriginals don't like tourists to climb their sacred place, even though the aboriginals themselves, only one of them is chosen to climb it in their festival once a year. The Australia government don't encourage tourist to climb it but they don't forbid as well. 35 people have died because of climbing the Ayers rock. The authority has strict rules: If the forecast temperature is 36 degrees or above, more than a 20% chance of rain within 3 hours, more than a 5% chance of thunderstorms within 3 hours, wind speed at the summit reaches 25 knots or above, more than 20% of the rock surface is wet after rain, when cloud descends below the summit. In these conditions, the climbing is forbidden. After the middle part of the climbing track, the authority set up special metal poles on the surface to help tourists climb.
時值六月,剛好是澳洲的冬天,氣候並不嚴熱,走起來非常的清爽,也沒有都市才會有的廢氣。這幾天天氣並不是很好,雲層暗暗的還下著細雨。早上進到園區時,看到今日不開放攀登艾爾斯岩的告示,有些同行的遊客都覺得很失望。當地的原住民並不喜歡遊客去攀爬他們聖地,即使是他們原住民,每年也只有在祭典時,從族人裡挑出一位上去。澳洲政府雖然不鼓勵遊客攀爬但也不禁止。已經有三十五位遊客因為攀爬艾爾斯岩而喪生。因此對於攀爬它,當地的單位有著嚴格的規定:三小時入內超過百分之二十的機率會降雨、溫度超過或到達三十六度、三小時入內超過百分之五的機率有大雷雨、艾爾斯岩頂端的風速到達或超過二十五節、下雨後超過百分之二十的岩石表面還是呈現溼的狀態、有雲低於岩石頂端,在這些條件下都禁止攀爬。步道的前半段都還算輕鬆,到了中、後半段,當地的單位還特別設置金屬的裝置,幫助遊客攀爬。



View Basketball court, Alice Spring in a larger map
The people climbing the Uluru, you can see the white devices along the track
正在攀爬烏魯魯的人群


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Climbing track, and metal poles
攀爬步道以及金屬杆


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Parking area beside Uluru, climbing track
附近的停車場,以及攀爬步道


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Climbing track
攀爬步道


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Climbing track
攀爬步道


When I finished the Uluru Base Walk, the entry of climbing track was still closed, but the weather was getting much better than that in the morning. A period of time later, I saw some people were on way to the summit of Uluru, I was astonished to tell our tour guide, seemed that some of our partner in the trip ignore the law here, I really worried for their money. Then, I knew the authority allowed us to climb since the weather was good. I didn't climb for the respect.
我走完環繞步道,攀爬的起點還是關閉沒有開放,不過天氣和清晨比較來的確是好很多。過了一段時間,看到有人開始在攀爬艾爾斯岩,我還真的嚇一跳,跑去跟導遊說,似乎是有同行的遊客不顧法令跑上去玩,還真替他們的荷包擔心。後來才知道,因為天氣好轉,當地的管理單位開放了艾爾斯岩的攀爬。基於尊重,我不沒有爬。


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Uluru
烏魯魯


Yesterday, we enjoyed the Uluru sunset, the sunset we people usually imagine is that the rock and the sun should be in the same side, actually the sunset in Uluru is that we are between the sun and the rock. What we see is the change of the color on the rock. As to the sunrise, the same rule, so the locations for seeing sunrise and sunset are different.
昨天,我們看了艾爾斯岩的日落,我們一般人想像的日落是石頭和太陽是在同一側,但是這裡的日落指的是,我們人介於太陽和石頭中間,看的是石頭上光影的變化。今天早晨的日出也是相同原則,當然,日落和日出的觀賞點就會有所不同。


From 20090603_UluruSunriseMtConner
Sunrise
日出


From 20090603_UluruSunriseMtConner
Prepare our breakfast
準備我們的早餐


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
The Uluru Base Walk
環繞步道


The Ayers rock is not very rigid, I guess, early days, some tourists would take part of the rock home, sand as their souvenir. It's illegal today according to the law. There's a book in the visitor information center collecting lots of mails from the tourists who stealing the sand from Uluru. The mails are about regret and apology. Some of them had bad luck, misfortune after that, such as family got cancer. They mailed for apology, some of them even attached the sand in the mail, and included a picture showing the location where the sand from.
我猜艾爾斯岩一點都不堅硬,早期有許多遊客會從岩體中挖一些沙粒帶回家做紀念,以現在的法令是絕對不允許的。我在遊客中心還看到一本厚厚的冊子,裡面有許多當初偷拿沙粒當紀念品的遊客的信件。他們有不少人來這拿了沙粒之後,家裡都發生了些不幸,有家人得癌症之類的。他們寫信來這道歉,有的人甚至把沙粒寄回來,還附上當初取得位置的照片。


Welcome to Aboriginal land, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Visitor guide and maps
Listen! If you get hurt, or die, your mother, father and family will really cry and we will be really sad too. So think about that and stay on the ground.
Barbaa Tjikatu, Traditional Owner


That's a really important sacred thing that your are climbing... You shouldn't climb. It's not the real thing about this place. The real thing is listening to everything.
And maybe that makes you a bit sad. But anyway that's what we have to say. We are obliged by Tjukurpa to say. And all the tourists will brighten up and say, 'Oh I see. This is the right way. This is the thing that's right. This is the proper way; no climbing.'
Kunmanara, Traditional Owner


Please don't climb Uluru
What visitors call the 'climb' is the traditional route taken by ancestral Mala men upon their arrival at Uluru. The climb is not prohibited, but it has great spiritual significance for us and we prefer that, as a guess on Anangu land, you will choose to respect our law and culture by not climbing.

Traditionally we have a responsibility to teach and safeguard visitors to our land. The climb can be dangerous and over 35 people have died while attempting to climb Uluru; many others have been injured. We feel great sadness when a person dies or is hurt on our land.

When you visit the cultural centre you will learn more about the significance of Uluru in our culture. You should also read the safety information on the back of this guide. Please do this before you decide whether or not to climb.

There are other challenging and interesting things to do at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Read about them in this guide, or talk to our information officers at the cultural centre.


Uluru walks
Uluru Base Walk, Liru Walk, Mala Walk, Kuniya Walk.


Important to know sacred sites
Around the base of Uluru are important sacred areas. Some of these are sacred under traditional men's law, and others under traditional women's law. Viewing or entering these areas is forbidden unless properly authorised by senior men or women. Knowledge of there areas is also restricted. This has been our custom for tens of thousands of years. These sites are cared for by the right people according to Anangu law. They are fenced and registered as sacred areas. It is very important that you do not enter or take photographs of these sacred sites. Please respect our places and do not enter then. Trepassers can be prosecuted under NT and Commonwealth laws.


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
The surface of the rock
岩體表面


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
The black line is where the rain flows on
黑色的部份,是雨水流經的地方


From 20090602_UluruTrackKataTjutaUluruSunset
Uluru
烏魯魯


From 20090603_UluruSunriseMtConner
Sleep in the swag


From 20090603_UluruSunriseMtConner
Tour guide and the other members
導遊和其它團員



Uluru Base Walk



Sunset, Uluru was getting dark



Sunrise

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Road train in Australia

Bookmark and Share

From 20090614_Katherine


We often see this kind of special car in the foreign movie, I've never thought of meeting it in Australia which seems to be high fuel consumption. It impressed me that three trailers behind it, the length was amazingly long, some of them even got four trailers. If you wanna overtake it, lots of details you have to consider, such as to make sure no inbound car coming within 1 KM, the horsepower of your car, the accelerate ability of your car should not be too bad.
常常在外國的電影裡看到這種特別的車頭,沒想到在澳洲也能看見,感覺就是非常耗油的樣子。讓我印象比較深刻的是,在愛麗絲泉的時候,它的後面拖著長長的三節拖車,聽說還有到四節的。要超這種車的時候真的要注意非常多的細節,像是確認至少前方一公里沒有車子、車子馬力、加速的能力不能太差之類的。



From 20090611_0612_OnTheWayToKatherine



From 20090612_Katherine


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_train
A road train consists of a relatively conventional tractor unit, but instead of pulling one trailer or semi-trailer, the road train pulls two or more of them.
公路火車是由傳統的拖車頭,後面拖二至三個貨櫃。

In the 1930s, the Government of South Australia operated a fleet of AEC 8x8 military trucks to transport freight and supplies into the Northern Territory, replacing the Afghan camel trains that had been trekking through the deserts since the late 1800s.
Australian Kurt Johansson is recognised as the inventor of the modern road-train.
1930 年,南澳州政府利用軍事卡車運送貨物和補給品到北領地,以便取代早期的阿富汗駱駝所拖運的火車,這條穿越沙漠的路線從十七世紀末期就開始使用。

Australia has the largest and heaviest road-legal vehicles in the world. Road trains are used for transporting all manner of materials, with livestock, fuel, mineral ores and general freight the most common. Their cost-effective transport has played a significant part in the economic development of remote areas, with some communities totally reliant on a regular service.
澳洲是世界上擁有法律上所允許,最大、最重的公路運輸公具。公路火車是用來運輸各式各樣的材料。它的運輸成本效益對偏遠地區的經濟發展扮演了非常重要的角色。


Overtaking a road train can be quite difficult. Patience, assistance from the driver, and large amounts of either clear road or horsepower are required. On the unsealed outback roads the road trains create huge amounts of dust that need to be reckoned with when overtaking.
要超公路火車的車可能相當困難。耐心、暢通無阻的道路或是強大的汽車馬力都是必須的。在澳洲中部沙漠區,在未鋪上泊油路的路面上想要對公路火車超車,你一定要知道,公路火車是會搞的馬路塵土飛揚。



From 20090611_0612_OnTheWayToKatherine



From 20090611_0612_OnTheWayToKatherine



From 20090611_0612_OnTheWayToKatherine

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Basketball in Australia

Bookmark and Share

From 20090611_AliceSprings

Outside the basketball court
籃球場外



The sport I like most is basketball, I got a small chance to play basketball after arriving Australia. In order to reduce the weight of my luggage, I didn't bring things that are non-essentials such as sports pants and sports shoes. Furthermore, the popular sports in Australia are tennis, cricket and football, it's not easy to find partners, so is the place for playing.
平常最喜歡的運動就是籃球,到了澳洲之後很少有機會能打籃球。主要是為了減輕行李的重量,非必要的東西都盡量不帶,像是運動褲、運動鞋之類的,而且澳洲主要風行的運動是網球、板球、橄欖球,想要找到球友並不容易,場地也不好找。



From 20090611_AliceSprings
Inside the basketball court
籃球場內部


I've ever seen a basketball court in a park of Sydney, none of the players were western people, all of them were Asians. After visiting so many cities in Australia, I only saw a basketball court in Sydney and another one in the desert city which is located in the middle of Australia called Alice Spring, moreover, it's a free and indoor court which is just on the diagonally opposite side of my backpacker.
曾經在雪梨的公園裡看到有籃球場地,一看,幾乎沒有西方人,都是亞洲人。跑了澳洲那麼多的城市,只在雪梨這看過球場,另一個球場則是在澳洲中部的沙漠城市,愛麗絲泉,而且還是個免費的室內球館。它就在我住的背包客棧的斜對面。



View Basketball court, Alice Spring in a larger map
The location of the free and indoor basketball court in Alice Spring
籃球場的位置



From 20090611_AliceSprings

Inside the basketball court
籃球場內部



I haven't played basketball for almost one year, I felt really excited as a result of finding this place. There was one Aussie lady and a group of kids playing inside. Few more balls were just beside the basketball stands, I borrowed one from her with a polite ask. That was really great to play basketball. After returning her the ball, we had a talk, she told me her younger brother had ever worked in Taiwan and the reason she plays basketball is her father was a basketball coach and she ever was a member of her junior high school team.
將近一年多沒打球,無意中發現這裡,異常的興奮。看到球館內有一位澳洲女士在和一群小朋友打球。籃球架旁邊多了幾顆球,禮貌的向她借了一顆球來打。挺過癮的。還她球的時候,還跟她小聊了一下,她說她的弟弟也曾到台灣工作過。然後會接觸籃球是因為她老爸是教綀,高中時有打過校隊。



From 20090611_AliceSprings

Inside the basketball court
籃球場內部




From 20090611_AliceSprings


Inside the basketball court
籃球場內部



From 20090611_AliceSprings
Inside the basketball court
籃球場內部

Port Arthur in Tasmania

Bookmark and Share

The copyright of this picture belongs to http://www.portarthur.org.au
The large building in the foreground is the Penitentiary
右前方的大型建築就是監獄


Port Arthur is located on the Tasman peninsula, around 100km south east of the capital Hobart in Tasmania. On the way to Port Arthur, you'll pass through an isthmus called "Eaglehawk neck" which is the only road connecting Tasman peninsula and the mainland of Tasmania with 30m width.
亞瑟港位於塔斯曼半島上,在塔斯馬尼亞的首府霍巴特東南方約一百公里。在前往亞瑟港的路上會經過一個叫做 "Eaglehawk neck" 的地峽,它亦是塔斯曼半島連結塔斯馬尼亞本島的唯一道路,寬度僅三十公尺。



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
The buildings of Port Arthur are in front of us, moved downhill toward them
走下丘陵前方就是亞瑟港的建築物



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
The model of Port Arthur
亞瑟港模型


This place is surrounded by water, and rumor has it that the waters is shark-infested. In addition to the two advantages just mentioned, "Eaglehawk neck" is the only connection to the mainland, Port Arthur is a nice place to be a prison. The administration of the prison deployed some soldiers with dogs to guard this narrow tunnel which was thought to be the only path to escape.
亞瑟港所在的半島,周圍環海,傳言說周圍海域有許多鯊魚出沒,再加上 "Eaglehawk neck" 地峽是通往本島的唯一路徑,這裡非常適合當作監獄,獄方在此地部屬了帶狗的軍人看守。



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Port Arthur
亞瑟港



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
This wall would collapse if the authority hadn't used a pole to support it
這面牆如果當地的單位沒有用一根杆子做支撐,它應該早就倒了


In the 19th century, this penitentiary prisoned the hardest of convicted criminals from British. The way they treated the prisoners was not only physical punishment but also psychological punishment. The criminals were hooded and prohibited from speaking.
在十九世紀時,這裡監禁來自英國的重刑罪犯。他們對待犯人的方式不單只是身體上的折磨,還包括了心理的層面。頭部使用頭巾罩住,犯人還被禁止說話。



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
It should be a church? Here is quiet secluded, and hard to associate it with the ancient inhuman prison
這應該是教堂吧?這裡非常的清靜,很難將它和古代不仁道的監獄做聯想


In 1804, the population of criminals reached to 1,100, the administration leveraged this man power to operate their manufactories - such as ship building, shoe making, timber and brick making.
一八四○年,犯人多達一千一百人,獄方也借由這些人力,來運作監獄裡的各種工廠,如造船、製鞋、木材、磚頭製造等。



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Port Arthur
亞瑟港


In 1877, the last convict were taken to the other place, Port Arthur was put into auction. After that,   residents settled here one after another. Some old building were gutted because of the fires. The reputation of this old prison didn't decline due to the fires, on the contrary, many visitors came here from it.
一八七七年,監獄裡的最後一位犯人被帶往它處,這裡也跟著被拍賣。陸陸續續有居民來此定居。由於祝融的關係,有許多老舊的建築遭受損毀。舊監獄的盛名並沒有因為損毀而沒落,相反的,有許多的觀光客來此地參觀。



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Broken prison
殘破的監獄



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Broken prison
殘破的監獄



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Broken prison
殘破的監獄



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Broken prison
殘破的監獄



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Broken prison
殘破的監獄



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the prison
監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the prison
監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the prison
監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Guard tower
守衛塔



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Guard tower
守衛塔


On 28 April, 1996, a young person living in Hobart armed himself with  firearm and lots of ammunition. He drove to Port Arthur, strafed and murdered 35 residents. He was therefore sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole. There were lots of debates on the private ownership of firearms in Australia after this massacre. You didn't have to pay for visiting this place before that, and seems that the policy was changed due to this horrible event.
一九九六年四月二十八日,一位住在霍巴特的年輕人帶著槍枝以及大量的彈藥,開車來到亞瑟港。在此處四處瘋狂的掃射當地居民,多達三十五人遭受殺害。他也因此被判終身監禁並不得假釋。這場大屠殺也引起澳洲關於私人擁有槍枝的爭論。原本進去參觀是不需收費的,似乎是因為這件事情發生之後,遊客都要購買門票才能進入。



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Port Arthur
亞瑟港



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Port Arthur
亞瑟港



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Port Arthur
亞瑟港



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Port Arthur
亞瑟港



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Port Arthur
亞瑟港



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Port Arthur
亞瑟港



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
A flock of sheep raised in Port Arthur
亞瑟港裡養的棉羊



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
A flock of sheep raised in Port Arthur
亞瑟港裡養的棉羊



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
The little girl was attracted by the sheep
妹妹也被棉羊吸引過來了



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Map of Port Arthur
亞瑟港地圖



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Separate prison
隔離監獄



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the separate prison
隔離監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the separate prison
隔離監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the separate prison
隔離監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the separate prison
隔離監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the separate prison
隔離監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the separate prison
隔離監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the separate prison
隔離監獄內部



From 20090212-0214_Tasmania
Inside the separate prison
隔離監獄內部


Reference: