Feral camels deadly crashes Can Australia tame its remote Outback Way HEAD TOPICS

Feral camels deadly crashes Can Australia tame its remote Outback Way

10/23/2022 6:56:00 AM

Feral camels deadly crashes Can Australia tame its remote Outback Way

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The Washington Post

Feral camels deadly crashes Can Australia tame its remote Outback Way The Post spent two weeks driving the iconic 1,700-mile route, past struggling towns and booming resorts, abandoned mines and bustling cattle stations. Tourists take in the sunset near Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock. The national park banned climbing on the rock three years ago.As the sun set on Uluru, the pop of a champagne cork rang out. Never mind the “no alcohol” sign nearby. This was a festive occasion for the few dozen tourists gathered on a resort hillside overlooking the magnificent Aboriginal site. One unpaved road goes through a valley inhabited by wild horses and camels; the other offers 300 miles of smooth asphalt, the longest such stretch on the Outback Way. For the people living near each, Uluru represents economic opportunity — with caveats. Read more:
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Jeeze, what more can they get on this piece of…lock him up already and save us from this daily crap!! 😡 Liz Truss: What Can We Learn From the UK’s Shortest-Serving Prime Minister?British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned on Thursday, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in her country’s history. See potential bias and similarities in coverage from Reuters, NYPostOpinion and guardian: LizTruss UnitedKingdom Biden Touts Economic Efforts, Warns of GOP-Controlled CongressSpeaking to reporters on Friday, President Joe Biden voiced optimism for Democrats' chances in the upcoming midterm elections. See potential bias and similarities in coverage from Reuters, USATODAY, and nypost: Trump Stashed 'Highly Sensitive' China, Iran Missile Intel At Mar-A-Lago: ReportLeaked information could have seriously jeopardized U.S. security, sources told The Washington Post. Uluru Alice Springs A road sign near Simpsons Gap shows the colonial names of Indigenous areas, now crossed out, and their Aboriginal counterparts., gives her opinion on how much protein you need post-workout and where to get it.“Beautifully heartbreaking lyrics,” they added.1:51PM ET Joe Raedle/Getty Among the 13,000 documents seized by the FBI during its August search of Mar-a-Lago were highly sensitive intelligence related to Iran’s missile program and to China, the The Washington Post reported Friday. A controlled bush fire burns along a road near Kings Canyon. Tourists take in the sunset near Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock. How much protein should you eat after a workout? "If you are younger, the post-training window for protein doesn't really matter," Lyon explains. The national park banned climbing on the rock three years ago. Valerie Macon / AFP via Getty Images “The chorus started and I felt my eyes water — lost my dad early 2020 and it hit in every way I needed it,” one user said. A road sign near Simpsons Gap shows the colonial names of Indigenous areas, now crossed out, and their Aboriginal counterparts. Translation: In Lyon's perspective, there's no need to pound a protein shake post-exercise in your 20s and 30s unless you want to. A controlled bush fire burns along a road near Kings Canyon. intel officials, compromise intel collection methods, or provide grounds for adversaries to retaliate against the U. Tourists take in the sunset near Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock."As you get older, the blood flow to the muscles increases post-training, and there's. I’m pretty sure this songs about a miscarriage but for me, my brother (25) died 2 years ago,” some else added, proceeding to reflect on their personal tragedy. The national park banned climbing on the rock three years ago. As the sun set on Uluru, the pop of a champagne cork rang out. Never mind the “no alcohol” sign nearby. Also just what could’ve been if we had more time or if I tried a little harder in our relationship,” they said. This was a festive occasion for the few dozen tourists gathered on a resort hillside overlooking the magnificent Aboriginal site. “It’s all about the ’gram,” said a middle-aged man with a beer bottle as he squeezed into a selfie. “Your head is blocking the rock,” a woman complained. “My boyfriend died earlier this year and the emotions are bubbling up too high for me needing to go to sleep. There are two roads from Alice Springs to Uluru — also known as Ayers Rock and, despite its location in the middle of the desert, among Australia’s most popular tourist destinations. One unpaved road goes through a valley inhabited by wild horses and camels; the other offers 300 miles of smooth asphalt, the longest such stretch on the Outback Way. For the people living near each, Uluru represents economic opportunity — with caveats. At the Erldunda Roadhouse, halfway along the paved route, droves of visitors paused for gas, a pie, a pint or a glimpse of the 22 emus in an enclosure behind the building. Sherie Nikolai was at the cash register, frantically trying to get up to speed. It was her first day after flying from Tasmania to South Australia, then taking a 17-hour bus ride to work at the rest stop. “I was up for a change and — hello!” the 51-year-old said, laughing and gesturing to her surroundings. A gas station sign along the Outback Way advertises a bar at the Erldunda Roadhouse named for Australia's flightless native bird. Travelers have a snack at an emu enclosure that is part of an Outback Way roadhouse and fuel stop in Erldunda. Graffiti marks the windows of an abandoned and dilapidated roadhouse in Mount Ebenezer. A gas station sign along the Outback Way advertises a bar at the Erldunda Roadhouse named for Australia's flightless native bird. Travelers have a snack at an emu enclosure that is part of an Outback Way roadhouse and fuel stop in Erldunda. Graffiti marks the windows of an abandoned and dilapidated roadhouse in Mount Ebenezer. More than six months after Australia’s international borders opened fully, Outback roadhouses, resorts and cattle stations are still struggling to replace the foreign workers who stopped coming during the pandemic. A fully paved road would increase business but also could exacerbate the labor crunch. “There simply aren’t as many workers in the country,” said Lyndee Severin, who owns Curtin Springs station near Uluru with her husband, Ashley. Ashley’s parents established the cattle station in 1956. That year, only six people drove down the road. When we arrived, the inn and campground were full of mostly Australian tourists on their way to or from Uluru. But he claimed business was better in the ’60s and ’70s, before the road was sealed, when there were private resorts at the rock. The resorts were moved away in the 1980s, when the Australian government transferred title of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to its traditional owners, the Anangu. Three years ago, the park on the rock. Mount Conner rises in the distance, seen from the Outback Way in Curtin Springs. Lyndee Severin, who with her husband owns the Curtin Springs cattle station that covers more than a million acres, is still working as the sun sets. Severin looks into a refrigerator at the Curtin Springs station's roadhouse. Mount Conner rises in the distance, seen from the Outback Way in Curtin Springs. Lyndee Severin, who with her husband owns the Curtin Springs cattle station that covers more than a million acres, is still working as the sun sets. Severin looks into a refrigerator at the Curtin Springs station's roadhouse. The Severins, who are White, grumble about the changes even as they try to woo tourists going toward Uluru with walking tours and other activities. Finishing the Outback Way project would bring more people and road trains, plus enable the station to send cattle west for export to the Middle East, Lyndee said. Yet the influx would test the station’s already strapped generator and water supplies. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Advertisement We drove into the national park — where Uluru rises out of the earth like a half-sunk meteor — and then continued on, reluctantly leaving it and asphalt behind. Over the next three hours, we encountered only four cars before arriving in Kaltukatjara, also known as Docker River, a town of about 300 people just before the border with Western Australia. A group of Aboriginal women sat on the ground in the rear of the town’s art center, chewing bush herbs and making the elaborate dot paintings for which the community is known. An Aboriginal artist gathers her materials at a gallery in Kaltukatjara that specializes in Indigenous art. Some paintings are sold in the resorts near Uluru or at big-city galleries and art fairs. Despite the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit Uluru each year, very few travel here. The reason: the road. “If they fix it,” Leonie Bennett said as she added white dots to a black canvas, “they’ll come here and buy, buy, buy.” The uncertain future Laverton Kaltukatjara The remains of a feral camel decompose along the Outback Way. The animal appeared to have been killed by a vehicle; such collisions between wildlife and cattle happen frequently. Justin Warren of Western Australia helps a traveler with a flat tire on the rough and often perilous route. A white cross, erected by Aboriginal Christians in 1991, stands on a hill overlooking the Outback Way. The remains of a feral camel decompose along the Outback Way. The animal appeared to have been killed by a vehicle; such collisions between wildlife and cattle happen frequently. Justin Warren of Western Australia helps a traveler with a flat tire on the rough and often perilous route. A white cross, erected by Aboriginal Christians in 1991, stands on a hill overlooking the Outback Way. We drove across dry creek beds and through a sparse forest before emerging in the Gibson Desert, an arid plain the size of the state of Georgia. We passed a wrecked car every few minutes for hours on end, some spray-painted with messages: “Slow Down,” “4Sale,” “Run.” We also saw the occasional camel, either moving through the mulga trees, its guttural bellows audible a mile away, or lying dead, limbs akimbo, where it had been hit by a car. Two hundred miles into Western Australia brought us to Warburton, a predominantly Aboriginal town of 600. There we talked to Angelica McLean, an Aboriginal woman and community leader who is torn over the road’s future. Many young people like McLean leave distant towns like this one. She had moved back after high school in Perth because Warburton was home, even if home was a hard place. That very morning she’d gone to help someone who had broken down on the Outback Way, only to get a flat tire herself. Her car needed a new taillight, which would require a 350-mile drive to Laverton to get it fixed. Like many Aboriginal towns, Warburton is a dry community. But as the road has improved in recent years, more and more outside “grog,” or alcohol, has made its way in. Her best friend lost her husband in an alcohol-involved accident on the Outback Way, McLean said. She fears paving the road would bring more tragedies. Just a few days earlier, a grog run had gone terribly wrong on the road. A group went to Laverton for alcohol, crashing on the way back in a small town called Cosmo Newberry. Two people died. “This place is struggling with alcohol madness,” said Debbie Watson, another worried Warburton resident. “It’s going right through the lands.” Debbie Watson worries that if more of the Outback Way is paved, alcohol will flood her town of Warburton and lead to more tragic deaths on the road. We drove to Cosmo, past an “Alcohol Is Not Allowed” sign, and found a cluster of flowers at the base of a tree where the accident had occurred. Town elder Harvey Murray, whose cousin was one of those killed, is conflicted over the booze and tourists that he expects to follow bitumen. Some already ignore the “no photo” signs, taking pictures of residents “like we’re in a zoo.” Still, he knows that the Aboriginal community — which actually owns a swath of the road, according to a 2017 court ruling — can’t escape change. He is in negotiations with state and local officials over compensation for such future needs as training Aboriginal rangers to keep tourists on the road and away from sacred sites. “This land is still pristine,” Murray said. “We want to keep it that way forever. ” We at last reached the end of the Outback Way in the quiet town of Laverton, where the population hovers around 900. There, at the sole pub, we met the man who a quarter-century earlier had proposed the idea that sent us on our odyssey. “The road was like a goat track,” said Pat Hill, the top local official, as he drank a pint and recalled devising the plan to revitalize the community after its copper mine closed. Other Outback towns quickly signed on, but the federal government was hesitant. “They kept telling us to put money into it, but we didn’t have any,” he said. Trucks head in and out of the subterranean Granny Smith gold mine in Laverton. Pub life in the Outback involves all ages, as seen at the Desert Inn’s pub in Laverton. Pat Hill says good night to his grandchildren at the pub in Laverton. Hill has long been a proponent of fully paving the Outback Way. Trucks head in and out of the subterranean Granny Smith gold mine in Laverton. Pub life in the Outback involves all ages, as seen at the Desert Inn’s pub in Laverton. Pat Hill says good night to his grandchildren at the pub in Laverton. Hill has long been a proponent of fully paving the Outback Way. The goal is to finish paving the Outback Way within five years, but that depends on what happens this month. The government’s nearly $500 million promise was part of a bigger surge in rural infrastructure spending that the last administration hoped would help keep it in power, said Marion Terrill, a transportation expert at the Grattan Institute in Melbourne. “It was a massive injection of money into a road that is not nationally significant, five minutes before an election,” she said. “It was pork-barreling.” Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Advertisement For Hill, the issue remains one of fairness. “Why shouldn’t people out here have what they’ve got in Sydney, Melbourne or Perth?” he asked. Outside, a golden sunset bathed the asphalt that begins near Laverton and goes west all the way to Perth and the Indian Ocean. In the east, darkness was already descending on the dirt. A building in Laverton sits atop a small, red-dirt hill covered with broken alcohol bottles. About this story Story planning by David Crawshaw. Project editing by Reem Akkad. Story editing by Susan Levine. Photo editing by Olivier Laurent. Copy editing by Vanessa Larson. Design and development by Yutao Chen. Additional development by Jake Crump. Design editing by Joe Moore. Map by Hannah Dormido. Story by .