Now showing: Australia
OUTBACK | New movie stars a country with lots to offer -- even in the middle of nowhere
PARACHILNA, Australia -- The population of this old Outback railroad town can be counted on two hands. Make that one hand, depending on the season.
"Sure could use some rain," says one of the handful of folks nursing their beers on the front porch of Parachilna's Prairie Hotel. A couple people nod their heads in tacit agreement.
(Courtesy)
GETTING THERE: A good option is to fly from Chicago to Los Angeles, where Qantas makes frequent flights to Sydney and Melbourne -- both of which have connecting flights to Adelaide, the jumping off point for your drive to Parachilna and South Australia's Outback. Qantas has a fare sale through Jan. 19 for travel between Jan. 29 and Sept. 21 at $998 round-trip between L.A. and Sydney or $1,098 between L.A. and Melbourne. Tack on another $280 for the Chicago-L.A. leg. You also can save money with Qantas' Aussie AirPass, which starts at $1,199 from L.A. and includes three domestic Australian flights; www.qantas.com.au, (800) 227-4341.
PRAIRIE HOTEL: The 12-room hotel is in the town of Parachilna, about 290 miles north of Adelaide in South Australia. If you don't want to drive, the hotel owners can arrange an air charter from Adelaide or Melbourne to the rustic airstrip in front of the hotel, or they can line up a land transfer from Adelaide for a fee. Nightly rates start at $122; www.prairiehotel.com.au
SUNSETS, SADDLES & SHIRAZ: The package, which costs about $2,578 a person, is offered in March, May, July and October and includes three nights accommodation, at least one full day in the saddle driving cattle, all meals, wine and beer, live entertainment in the evening and a "wallaby watch" tour. If you don't want to horseback ride, you can follow along in a 4WD; www.prairieho tel.com.au
IGA WARTA: This aboriginal cultural experience is in the northern Flinders Ranges in South Australia, about 30 miles east of the town of Copley. For a full list of tours and prices, go to www.igawarta.com.
MORE INFO: Australia's tourism Web site, www.australia.com, and South Australia tourism's site, www.southaustralia.com, are both full of resources.
The vibe is as slow and lazy as the hotel's silver windmill, twirling above a couple of dusty gas pumps. In the dry, December heat, the hotel's Christmas lights seem out of place -- at least to this Chicagoan.
I'm sitting here with a mix of locals and travelers, waiting for Mother Nature's show to start. And out here, in the tiny town of Parachilna, the Prairie Hotel's front porch is front row.
"It's time," someone yells to the bartender inside. "Play the song!"
Right on cue, the catchy country tune "Parachilna Sunset" streams through the speakers. It's our soundtrack while we watch, transfixed, as the sun sinks into the endless horizon, turning the sky into cotton candy shades of pink and blue.
I start snapping photos -- a little prematurely, it turns out.
"It just keeps getting better," the hotel's owner, Jane Fargher, warns me.
Thirty or so pictures later, I realize she's right.
Fargher should know. Over the years, this mother of two has stood on the Prairie's porch to witness plenty of sunsets -- sunsets stunning enough to inspire a professional musician to record the song we're hearing.
Fargher and her husband, Ross, bought what was a run-down pub in 1991 and transformed it into the Prairie Hotel, one of the best places to stay in the Outback. I'm guessing some might say it's one of the best places to stay in Australia.
The 12-room property is as hip as a Wicker Park cafe but with the warm welcome of grandma's house. People drive great distances -- something that's admittedly routine in the vast Outback -- for the hotel's famous "feral food," such as kangaroo filet, camel sausage and emu pate.
The Farghers also own a nearby cattle ranch. Both properties provide the setting for the couple's latest tourism venture: Sunsets, Saddles and Shiraz. This three-night package aims to give city slickers a little taste of life in the rugged Outback. Guests saddle up to help drive cattle across the Farghers' massive Nilpena Station, the Aussie word for ranch. They spend the night at the Prairie Hotel or make like real cattle drovers and go to sleep in a swag under the stars -- but not before indulging in some shiraz. And a famous Parachilna sunset.
Cattle droving is the centerpiece of Baz Luhrmann's latest big-screen epic, "Australia," starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman -- and the country itself.
Australia tourism officials are hoping the film, which debuted in late November, will serve as a commercial of sorts, inspiring people to visit this far-away land and sign up for travel packages like Sunsets, Saddles and Shiraz.
In fact, the national tourism board is doing more than just hoping. It launched a $26 million international advertising campaign based on the movie, including a couple of commercials directed by Luhrmann. They feature an Aboriginal child encouraging overworked, overstressed adults to "go walkabout" in the natural beauty of Australia. The western version of the TV ads start airing in the U.S. this month.
"Australia as a holiday destination is riding a huge wave of publicity at the moment, which has been generated by Baz Luhrmann's new film," said Geoff Buckley, managing director of Tourism Australia. "Our primary focus is to harness the excitement about Australia generated by the movie publicity and promotions and to create a sense of urgency to visit now."
If the movie doesn't persuade Americans to make the 13-hour flight from Los Angeles, maybe the exchange rate will. The U.S. dollar recently gained a lot of ground against its Australian counterpart. Last summer, the two currencies were almost equal. These days, one U.S. dollar is worth nearly $1.50 in Australian money.
Before shooting the movie, Luhrmann did research by taking part in the Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive, where tourists on horseback herd hundreds of cattle down South Australia's legendary Birdsville Track, not too far from the Farghers' Nilpena Station. The first Outback cattle drive started in 2002; the next one is scheduled for 2010.
"It comes across as a romantic dream, especially for city people," said Gordon Litchfield, 56, who worked on the drive. His son, Adam, had a bit part in "Australia" as one of the drovers.
Litchfield seems a little bemused by the fact that "city people" would want to spend their vacations doing what's considered work to cowboys like him.
"I reckon' they like that there's no stress, no cell phone going off in their bloody ear," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "They think it's romantic, exciting. Some called it a life-changing experience."
A good friend of the Farghers, Litchfield will lead the minicattle drives for Sunsets, Saddles and Shiraz trips, which debut in March. He said people don't need to be expert riders to take part; the trip is slow and steady, just like real cattle work.
Slow and steady is good, because at least half the fun will be soaking up the bush scenery of Nilpena Station, a backdrop for countless TV commercials and films, such as "Rabbit Proof Fence."
Baked desert plains, rolling red sand dunes and patches of green make up Nilpena's 540 square miles. This place isn't just big. It's old. Ancient fossils dating back more than 500 million years can be found embedded in the rocks.
These earlier forms of life are long gone, but ring necked parrots and chalk white cockatoos are alive and well, darting between Nilpena's eucalyptus, or "gum," trees. Kangaroos send puffs of smoke into the air as they powerfully pounce by, leaving an impressive 12 or so feet between their tracks.
Nilpena was a sheep station when Ross Fargher, a fourth-generation rancher, bought it. He swapped the sheep for cattle, but the woolshed dating back to the 1870s remains. This is where Sunsets, Saddles and Shiraz guests will have candlelit, gourmet dinners while being entertained by musician John O'Dea, who wrote "Parachilna Sunset."
Nilpena Station sits in the shadows of the Flinders Ranges, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. Geologists say the Flinders used to be higher than the Himalayas. Today, the tallest point is St. Mary's, reaching a modest 3,825 feet. That's what hundreds of millions of years of erosion will do.
To get the best view of the Flinders ancient peaks, you'll need the help of Ross Fargher's brother, Ian.
An experienced bush pilot, Ian Fargher takes guests on sightseeing flights in his Cessna 172. He also uses his plane to round up cattle and, occasionally, to help search for wayward souls lost in the unforgiving Outback.
"The bones of the earth laid bare," Ian Fargher said, as we flew in the four-seater above the Flinders. He cruised over the natural amphitheater of Wilpena Pound before heading to the massive salt flats of Lake Torrens.
Way down below we could see a long-abandoned homestead -- a common symbol of early settlers' shattered dreams. Many people flocked to the Outback only to watch their hopes dry up before their eyes.
"I pity the poor bride who got dragged down there 100 years ago," Ian Fargher said. "Fifty degree heat [122 Fahrenheit], no refrigeration, flies, snakes. And she probably raised half a dozen or 10 kids there."
It goes without saying that the Outback can be an incredibly harsh place to live. Even so, people have managed to get by here for tens of thousands of years.
Aborigines have called the continent home for at least 40,000 years, making them what some archeologists say is the oldest continuous living culture on earth. That's how Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd referred to these historically nomadic hunters and gatherers last February, when Rudd made a landmark apology to Aboriginies for their mistreatment over the years.
The indigenous population -- and their relationship with white settlers -- plays a big role in Luhrmann's "Australia." Some Aborigines hope this will translate into tourists' increased interest in their culture, too.
About 75 miles from Nilpena Station is the Iga Warta community, where the Coulthard family has been teaching its Adnyamathanha traditions with tourists for 12 years. They lead visitors on guided walks in the Flinders and show people how to craft a boomerang out of cyprus or how to cook damper, an unleavened bread that's quintessential bush "tucker." Around the campfire, tourists listen as the Adnyamathanha tell stories about their "dreamings," stories that explain how a certain creek or mountain came to be.
Cliff Coulthard, 55, said the idea of catering to tourists came from his father, who died before his concept could become a reality.
"He wanted to do what we are doing now, tell stories about this landscape, explain what rock painting is all about, share our culture," said Coulthard, the oldest of seven.
Modern day aboriginal art often consists of colorful dots clustered in bold patterns on canvas. Lots of these abstract paintings hang on the walls at the Prairie Hotel.
But it's another warm, austral summer evening, so we're all sitting on the Prairie's front porch looking at different dots -- millions of them glowing in the dark night sky.
The surrounding blackness and silence are constant reminders that this is the bush, the Outback, the middle of nowhere. The nearest town is more than 40 miles away, but I've felt far lonelier on a crowded L car than I do on this half-empty porch tonight.
I'm drinking my Fargher Lager and listening to a young, fresh-faced scientist talk about his quest to tap into the area's geothermal energy reserves. He's traveling the area with a team of Aborigines who need to make sure potential geo-thermal drilling spots aren't sacred sites.
A local woman who looks to be in her 50s drinks a glass of sparkling Shiraz with her husband. They're celebrating her birthday and she's thrilled about her present: a pair of guns.
"Good for shooting snakes," she says, beaming like most women would over a diamond tennis bracelet.
Funky lounge music wafts out of the Prairie's bar as people -- strangers -- converse like they've known each other for years.
Another spectacular Parachilna sunset finished up hours ago, but like Jane Fargher promised: It just keeps getting better.