It’s been almost 2 years since I had properly visited my old work site at Lake Giles, so when the opportunity arose to go again I jumped at the chance.
This time would be different. No Internet, no phone and any fuel for electricity generation would be carried by us.
For many people a week of complete outside isolation is seen as somewhat of a challenge or a test of endurance. For me it’s a great opportunity to really wind down and not do very much other than enjoying a nice fire or the quiet rustle of leaves in the wind or sleeping in utter silence or gazing out at a sky so starry it appears artificial compared to even the clearest nights in the city.

A lack of connection to the outside world allows one to reconnect to one’s own and enjoy some of the more mundane tasks, which are normally hastily done, only to jump back online, or leave for the next bus or rush off for a meeting and so on.
Over the course of a week two of us spent a lot of time measuring rocks on site and walking in straight lines through the bush, kilometres from the nearest track, itself a couple of hundred kilometres from the nearest dwelling.

I find the Australian outback to have its own wild charm
and beauty. Though it may lack the grandeur of the high Alps or the striking contrast of New Zealand’s Fiordland the outback truly is and truly feels remote.

Even in the remotest European wilderness you are rarely more than a few dozen kilometres away from the nearest town or shelter or road and chances are you are standing on a trail or path beaten down by hundreds of walkers, mules, carts, sheep and so on over hundreds of years. in the outback everything is accessible and many places are hundreds of kilometres away from anything, there are no trails, other than what the local wildlife has created; and you could well be the first person ever to have ever set foot on that very place in the bush.

Enjoy the short gallery from this week’s trip by clicking below!