6th November 2004 London meeting
A bumper attendance for the November London
Globetrotter’s meeting, with not a chair, table or
bit of floor space left. The audience included Globies
from overseas including Brie Kelly from Colorado. The
crowds had come to hear Globies President Janet
Street-Porter’s talk on the Larapinta Trail that
starts from Alice Springs and the Bay of Fires walk in
Tasmania. Special mention due to Paul Robert’s who
burned the midnight oil to scan Janet’s photos so
that we could see them digitally. Janet did this 8 day
-walk with a group and they were supported by a vehicle
carrying their camping, cooking and other equipment, which
left them free to enjoy the scenery and swat flies. We saw
Janet in a full nylon head net to stop these annoying
critters and later she explained a new use for toilet roll
to stop the flies entering every orifice! It was all worth
it for the great Aussie scenery, the reds and pinks of the
rocks and greenery you wouldn’t normally think
exists. The Bay of Fires walk in Tasmania is mainly on
sand and again we saw some great pictures of her walk.
Janet added on some pictures of a walk she recently did
near Christchurch in New Zealand, where she stayed in some
quirky buildings, one of which enjoyed an outdoor bathtub,
where the water was heated by lighting a fire under the
tub! The forty minutes went way too fast as we listened to
Janet’s commentary.
After the break it was over to Christian Tyler who
gave us another interesting talk this time on the Taklamakan
Desert and Xinjiang Province in China. His five-week
trip began in Dunhuang, famous for its cave paintings.
Christian’s group travelled in the ubiquitous Toyota
Landcruiser and trekked by camel, supported by a Chinese
army lorry. Christian’s journey took him to Miran
and to abandoned cities in the desert. Some of these towns
have been dug out of their sand tombs, we saw parts of
wooden structures which had once been homes and shops.
Christian explained that the cities had been abandoned as
the underground rivers had either dried up or changed
course. We saw other examples such as forests that were
now just tree trunks. Christian’s talk gave us a
rare insight to an area well off the beaten track.
Mark your diary for forthcoming meetings:
Sat. 4 December
Amar Grover – North Pakistan – Kailash Valleys of Chitral
to Gilgit via Shandur Pass
Matthew Leeming -Afghanistan OR Iraqi Marsh Arabs
Sat. 8th January – Four Mini-talks and New Year Party
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland,
Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden
at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no
London meeting in August, but we will be back in
September. For more information, you can contact the
Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit
the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk
Admission: Members £2.00 Non-members
£4.00.