Dear Friends:

Happy 2010.

I hope you all had a wonderful end of the year as I did.
Jorg & I took off on December 12 for our annual wilderness vacation to recharge our energy.
We drove over 10,000 kilometres!

Click all photo to enlarge Area Driven shakti & jorg route

Absolutely stunning. We explored so many new places.
Australia is just full of wonders. The land breathes life energy and exudes power.

Just being out there under the million stars feeling the wind and sun on your body and the air whispering secrets to you is the most exhilarating experience.
The milky way seem within reach.  The stars burst out at you.

December 14th was Jorg's 60th birthday and it was a night of wondrous shooting stars with especially one amazing one that shot slowly horizontally through the sky and slowly burnt out.  This will be a good year.

We drove through the Nullarbor Plains which is supposed to be flat. (Nullarbor - derived from latin for no trees) Yes, it is flat and it does not have many trees but within that flatness there is an incredible amount of variety. We could have spent weeks there.  But we had to go on.

Old Nullarbor Road	Lunch in the middle of the road (we did not meet a single car!)	Wombat homes

We saw that there was a cyclone coming up in the North of Western Australia where we were heading to.　 That would mean rain in that region.　(or storm)　 So we decided to stay down south instead.　 We went to　Dundasand camped by the salt lake. 　Then we went to Peak Charles and, as usual, we had the whole 　Peak　CharlesNational Park to ourselves.　 We climbed Peak Charles and hiked around, and sat on the ledge and looked out but could see no signs of civilization.　 We sat there and read a book.

	Peak Charles

Then we drove the back dirt road to Petruder Rocks and Lilian Stokes Rocks.　 These are beautiful rocky outcrops.　 We were the only ones in those places too.

Then we traversed the wheatbelt and headed up north to the Kennedy Ranges.　 Yes, it was deserted too but we were sharing the place with a trillion flies! It was hot and dry. We hiked along the dry gorges climbing up and down the rocks.　 It would have been great if the waterholes had water in them but that only happens in the winter when there is rain.　 But then it would be too cold to swim.

Salt Lake

Next we decided on the spur of the moment to go to the coast on the way to Karijini - a drive of only 500km.　 We went to the 14 mile beach.　 There were people!  Maybe 3 or 4 cars on the whole beach.　 And so we camped at one end where not a soul was in sight anyway.　 We sat on the beach and watched the sea and the sunset and all the little creatures.　 We saw turtles poking their heads and long necks out of the water.　Looked like a submarine.　 We saw sharks, a beautiful turtle swimming in the water, lots of crabs who really got annoyed when I came to take a photograph, dolphins playing in the water, schools of fish and a bright red something which we named "red rag".　 It looked beautiful - like a jelly fish - but bright red with a nice design.　 It looked like it got washed to the shore and was helplessly floating in the water.　 When we approached it it was wary of us.
When the tide was low we found a small coral reef with lots of coral.

14 mile beach Annoyed crab Red rag Live coral Sea turtle

We enjoyed it so much we stayed another day.
We would have stayed longer but we still had so much to do.

We finally arrived in Karijini in our special camp spot to find that a devastating fire has practically burnt the whole place down.　 Luckily our camp spot was left intact. Everywhere else was black.　 But it wasn't ugly.　 It was natural and that is the course of nature. There is beauty in creation and destruction.　 The destruction only leads way to rebirth and regrowth.　 It is the course of life.

We spent the next 3 days in Hancock Gorge and mainly in Kermit's Pool.　 There were hardly any people there.　 We took a book to read, we hiked, swam and relaxed.　 We also took lots of photos and I did some dances there too.　 I think I fit in so well in nature.　 My skin is the colour of the rocks.　 I look like a sculpture from a Hindu temple.　 This is where I belong.

From Karijini we drove down to the Goldfields and on the way explored some places:
Noodamurra Pool, North Pool, and many others.

Noodamurra Pool North Pool Full Moon at North Pool on New Year's Eve

We ended up at Burra Rocks which was fantastic.

View from top of the rocks Shakti by the waterhole Jorg napping

This is another place that we will come back to. Then to Cave Hill. Then we took the Old Telegraph Road east. This time we drove along so many crazy tracks.　 You don't go fast but the drive itself is great!

We spent nights in far away places under the billion stars and saw so many shooting stars and satellites.
(a game we play everynight - who can spot a satellite or shooting star)

Since I am doing "The Woman in the Dunes" for the Adelaide Fringe, Jorg wanted to take me to the dunes.　 His aim was to go to the Bilyuna Dunes.　 We drove through the Nutysland National Reserve on the worst possible track.　 But Nutysland must have just had a huge fire too.　 Everything - everything was burnt.　 It looked sad and eerie.　 But then you see a bright red flower starting to spurt up.　 The strength of nature.

burnt down landscape		red flower blooming in the destruction

We got to the escarpment but that was as far as we could make it.　 We needed probably another spare tire and other equipment to cross the dunes.　 We were not prepared for it.

We stood on the hill and could see the Bilyuna Dunes in the distance rising like a magical and mythical mountain of white sand.　 It was sunset and it was stunning.　 I wasn't disappointed that we couldn't get there.　Just looking at it I could hear it calling to me telling me it will be waiting for me.　 So I know I will get there next time.

The mystical and magical Bilyuna Dunes calling from the distant

We camped on the top of the escarpment with the Dunes in the foreground - but still far far away.
Next day we had to drive the terrible bumpy track back through the burnt out park to the main road to head east.　 Time was running out and we were still a long distance away from home.

We stopped in Eucla National Park.　 More dunes.　 Here again we got to the jetty and coast where we camped.　 We couldn't make it to the Delisser Sandhills dunes but we will next time.

Eucla National Park - the wild Southern Ocean

Our last night we found a lovely conservation park near Streaky Bay.
We were worried that it would be crowded but when we got there we were truly the only ones in the whole Laura Bay Conservation Park.　 We went to the very end - Dog Point - and camped by the sea.

dog rock dog rock jorg with a beer shakti dancing in the sunset

And then the next day we drove back to Adelaide.  I can't wait to go back to all these places.

The earth and water is so powerful.  I feel I belong and that I am part of it.
I hear the dunes calling me. I truly am "the woman in the dunes".

By accepting your fate and becoming one with it you actually transcend it and by doing so eliminate all boundaries.

The shifting sands of time is the time you live in.
My life is perpetual motion in eternity.