The heart of the outback

The earth changes before us more times than we can count, each landscape creating a new work of art, sprawling out along the road before us.
Although drought-stricken and baron, each scene is as spectacular as the last.
Three consecutive years of drought has sucked the hydration from the land and removed the color from its leaves, yet somehow, its distress brings out a raw beauty, enhanced by the kindness of its people.
The dry earth is like an old drunkard, his cracked skin weathered and stained in the same red hues as the soil, rocks and never-ending stretches of road.
And like the old drinker, beauty lies within his heart.
You see, what has amazed me the most about this trip are the hearts and hospitality of the characters we’ve been so privileged to meet.
The infectious smiles spread across the faces of every local. So genuinely excited, so proud, to show us visitors their section of the outback floor.
I am a born and bred Queenslander, and have been oblivious to this vast chunk of my state for my entire life. Sure, I knew about outback Queensland, but until visiting its sunburnt open plains I have been ignorant of its glory.
..
One evening I took it upon myself to lay my swag outside, look up, and take in the stillness of the night.
It made me feel like I was the only person on earth. And as if someone had thrown a fistful of stars like confetti across a thick, black canvas, I could have lay there for hours, in that moment.
Like magic, the stars dissolved each dawn with a sunrise capable of taking the breath from even the hardest of men.
I’m not sure if it were the colors of the earth that illuminated the rays, but the sky transformed into a silky sea of reds, pinks and purples as the sun peeped its head out of hiding, growing more intense and taking up more of sky as it made its way above the horizon and plopped itself mid-height where it would shine down upon us with intense heat for the remainder of the day.
The sky was like an endless stage show, with a forever changing lineup of acts.
For most part, it was a single shade of bright and solid blue, occasionally interrupted by whispers of smoky white clouds.
The nights were fresh with wind and the days were warm, producing a dry oven-like heat without a trace of humidity.