Australia

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Fri, 22 Aug: At long last, we made it to Oz! We left home on Mon, 18 August, headed to Los Angeles to visit Rich & Brenda. Unfortunately, due to mechanical problems, our flight to Dallas was delayed such that we missed our flight to Los Angeles. American Airlines came through and paid for our hotel and dinner that evening. On Tue, 19 August, we arrived mid-day in Los Angeles. We spent the balance of the day catching up with happenings with Rich & Brenda and enjoying delicious home-made pizza (thanks Brenda!). On Wed, 20 Aug, we enjoyed a leisurely morning. In the afternoon, we went to the Nethercutt car museum funded by the founder of Merle Norman cosmetics. It was absolutely amazing! After a late lunch, Rich & Brenda took us to the airport for our overnight flight to Sydney on Qantas. We enjoyed a great flight albeit one again delayed a bit this time due to thunderstorms in Sydney. Our pilot advised that the plane had actually taken a small lightening hit in the turbulence. Anyway, we did manage to make our flight to Perth (it too was delayed) and we arrived in this beautiful city near 12:00 noon. We then caught the Perth City Shuttle to our apartment hotel, the Brownlea Apartments. We settled in, went to a nearby supermarket and enjoyed our first evening in Perth.

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	Our apartment in Perth
	The dining area/desk (you can see settled in very quickly)
	Ed "cheffing" while wearing his Qantas attire (Qantas gave us each "jammies" for the plane ride to Oz)
	Our friendly neighbor

Sat, 23 Aug: Today we explored the city using Perth’s free bus system, CATS (Central Area Transit). We rode each of the Blue, Yellow and Red lines to get an orientation of the city. Then, we spent time walking along the Swan River and enjoying the beautiful skyline of Perth. We returned to the apartment late afternoon to relax and enjoy a dinner of fresh gnochi. Yum!!

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Sun, 24 Aug: Happy 69^th Birthday Ed!! Today we decided to explore the Museum of Western Australia (the State we’re currently visiting). We walked toward the central business district and then caught the Blue CAT bus to the Museum. We spent time exploring each of the various halls and exhibits. In particular, we enjoyed the “Dinosaurs to Diamonds” presentation. It was very well done! We also enjoyed walking through the former gaol (jail) which is now part of the museum complex. We returned to our apartment mid-afternoon. Then, Ed prepared his own birthday feast of baby octopus, marinated and then grilled on the “barbie” in true Aussie fashion, served on a bed of basmati rice along with fresh cauliflower. A wonderful feast accompanied by fine Aussie wine!

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	The Museum of Western Australia
	One of the many dinosaur bone exhibits
	The jail (of course, it didn't have the umbrella in its original days)
	Ed cooking those delicious baby octopus on the barbie

Mon, 25 Aug: this morning we headed out to the Perth Zoo. We once again took the Perth CAT bus into town and then caught a ferry across the Swan River to the Zoo. It was a real treat. Early in the morning we had the place virtually to ourselves. The zoo is small yet has an exceptional collection. It also has a great bushwalk where guests wander among native animals with virtually no fences and/or separations. It was really fun for Lindy to pet the kangaroos.

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	Baboons at play (among other things)
	A male Asian Rhino
	A Meerkat (we know these thanks to PBS' "Meerkat Manor")
	A Kookaburra (and yes, it laughed a lot!)
	Ed and a reptile friend
	Another symbol of Oz, a Koala Bear

Tues, 26 Aug: Our day was spent in the shopping malls (pedways) in central Perth. The shops often reach over a city block between Murray and Hay Streets and provide great shopping opportunities. Again, for us, it was easy access due to the CAT bus system.

Wed 27 Aug: We decided to venture today to Fremantle, the actual port for the city of Perth. We took a one-hour bus to this historic city. The distance isn’t that far but the bus makes numerous stops along the Swan River. When we arrived, we were amazed at the collection of late 1800’s and early1900’s buildings. The city has been preserved and many of the old warehouses are now apartments and townhomes. It’s truly a vintage location and we enjoyed our visit.

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	Our first views of the Indian Ocean beyond the channel
	The Freemantle Markets
	A typical building built in 1853 and still in use today
	Freemantle's Town Hall

Thu, 28 Aug: This, our final day in Perth (for this visit), was spent once again enjoying the shopping in the central business district. We began at an area called London Town in which the street resembles a Tudor street one might find in London. It’s filled with all sorts of small shops. Eventually it joined the Murray and Hay Street pedways where the city’s major shops are located. We returned to the apartment early afternoon to relax there on our last afternoon before heading out on the road tomorrow.

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Fri, 29 Aug: We previously had arranged to be picked up at 10:00AM to transfer to the airport. There we picked up a rental car (Toyota Corolla) to begin our 14 day driving adventure in the south of Western Australia. Of course, initially it did take a bit of “scenic touring” to find our way out of Perth. Our first destination was Bunbury, a town of about 30,000 people located on the coast south of Perth. Bunbury is known for the dolphins which visit its bay on an almost daily basis. We arrived there late afternoon, did some shopping and thanks to the assistance of some women in the mall, found our way to the hotel without difficulty.

Sat, 30 Aug: In the morning we visited the Dolphin Discovery Center in Bunbury. We watched several videos and enjoyed walking through the informational kiosks. We did walk down to the beach but no dolphins were in the bay while we were there. One of the volunteers said that since the weather was still a bit chilly, the dolphins hadn’t been in the shallow waters as much as they would be as the weather warmed up. Oh well, we still had a great experience. We then drove southeasterly to the timber town of Pemberton. We made plans to visit the national parks and various outdoors sites the following day.

Sun, 31 Aug: Today we enjoyed three national parks in the Pemberton area which highlight the beautiful Karri trees. The Karri tree (eucalyptus diversicolor) grows up to 90 meters (~ 200 feet) tall with an amazing white-colored bark. The parks we visited – Gloucester National Park; Warren National Park; and Beedelup National Park – are part of the “Karri Forest Explorer” drive. The highlight in Gloucester NP was The Gloucester Tree. This 60 meter Karri was chosen for a fire lookout in 1947. It’s still possible to climb the pegs which were bored into the tree and reach the fire lookout on its top. And, no, we didn’t do it (are you kidding?!). In Warren NP we enjoyed walking along the Warren River among the Karri trees. We also visited another fire lookout tree, the Bicentennial Tree. Beedelup NP is home to Beedelup Falls, which drop 100 meters (~300 feet) over granite outcrops. Again, it was beautiful. We truly enjoyed our day wandering in the natural beauty offered in these national parks.

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	The Gloucester Park fire tree lookout
	A Grey Kangaroo on the trek
	A beautiful Western Rosella in Gloucester Park
	Ed on the trail in the Warren NP River Trail Park
	The Bicentennial Tree
	Beedelup Falls
	Beautiful flowers at Beedelup National Park

Mon, 1 Sept: Our final destination for this 1^st day of September was Albany. However, en route we stopped east of Walpole (on the southwest coast) to visit the “Valley of the Giants”. This again is another Karri forest; however, the primary trees here are Red Karri (eucalyptus guilfoylei) and Yellow Karri (eucalyptus brevistylis). The unique part of our visit was taking a tree top walk among these giants. You really get a perspective on how tall (again some 60 meters) these trees stand. Afterwards, we enjoyed the “Ancient Empire Walk” where we were actually able to stand beside and inside (yes, inside) some of the largest trees of the area. These Karri often lose their initial tree base due to fire, insects and fungus. However, the roots remain intact (unless damaged) and the tree will continue to live and grow. Most trees reach a ripe old age of 400 years plus or minus. Simply amazing! After enjoying this wonderful experience for a couple of hours, we continued on to Albany and relaxed for the balance of the evening.

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	A view of The Giants
	Ed on the tree top walk
	A giant Karri tree base
	Ed standing inside a living Karri tree

Tue, 2 Sept: We spent our day exploring Torndirrup National Park which is directly south of Albany on the Indian Ocean. The main attractions in the park are The Gap and The Bridge. The Gap is a break between two high cliffs in which the sea surges in and out making for great waves and spray and thundering sounds. The Bridge is a place where the sea has eroded away rock creating a “hole” over which a natural bridge remains in place. Both were very unique and beautiful. We also enjoyed the lighthouse (now retired) which used to illuminate the way into the bay outside Albany.

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	An island sitting offshore
	The Indian Ocean pounds the shore
	Ed braving the elements on this rocky shoreline
	The Bridge
	The Gap
	The old lighthouse

Wed, 3 Sept: We continued our exploration of the southern coast of Western Australia. We spent the day in transit to Esperance, a small community known for its lovely beaches.

Thu, 4 Sept: We once again enjoyed one of Australia’s national parks. We visited Cape La Grand National Park which is about 50KM east of Esperance. It included one of the most beautiful beaches (off Hellfire Drive) that we’ve ever seen and we had the place all to ourselves. Spectacular! The water was incredibly clear and varied in color (light blue to a brilliant deep blue) according to its depth. Also, the sand was so white it was blinding. While in the park we also visited the beaches of Lucky Bay and Cape La Grand. Those both offered great views of the many islands off the coast but we felt those beaches weren’t quite as exceptional as the one off Hellfire Drive.

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	Welcome to the Park
	Black swans in the waters edge
	The waters along Hellfire Drive Bay
	Frenchman's Peak
	Lindy at Lucky Bay

Fri, 5 Sept: Today we ventured into the interior of Western Australia. We headed due north and spent the day in transit before arriving at the mining towns of Kalgoorlie & Boulder. The towns are sister cities but, in our opinion, Kalgoorlie enjoys the best historic areas. We spent a bit of time on the main street (Hannan), did some shopping and found our motel.

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	The Exchange Hotel in Kalgoorlie
	Kalgoorlie City Markets on Hannan Street
	Town Hall (Each of these buildings shows the diverse architecture in this small town.)

Sat, 6 Sept: Our morning began at Hammond Park. The Park is within the city proper and is a sanctuary for various birds, including emus, and kangaroos. We then wandered along Hannan Street to enjoy the classic architecture of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. We then drove a short distance out of town to a viewing spot overlooking the KCGM Super Pit gold mine. It is HUGE (soon to be the largest open cut mine in the world) and very deep. The mine is 3.5KM long, 1.35KM wide and over 400 meters deep. Annually, 85 million tons of earth is moved to yield approximately 850,000 ounces of gold. It’s an amazing place! We finished the day at the Western Australia Museum of Kalgoorlie and Boulder. The Museum had some great exhibits and a lot of information about the history of these settlements.

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	Emus at Hammond Park
	The KCGM Super Pit
	A closer view of the trucks in the pit bottom which seem tiny
	Ed standing by the tire of one of those "tiny" trucks
	Ed inside one of the shovels used inside the pit mine
	A key exhibit at the Western Australia Museum - gold!
	Let's have a closer look!!

Sun, 7 Sept: Our day was again spent in transit. We left the Gold Fields region and headed back southwest further into the interior of Western Australia. Our quest was to reach the wonderful area known as Wave Rock which is located near the small village of Hyden. We arrived mid-afternoon and then settled into a cabin we had rented for three nights to enjoy this unique location. We took a brief walk to Lake Magic, a salt lake with gypsum shores, which was next to our cabin. On the way back, one of Australia’s many beautiful parrots was having a snack of plant seeds near our doorway. What a treat!

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	Lake Magic
	The parrot that originally was at our door
	The chef is at it again!

Mon, 8 Sept: We got up early and did a morning walk in hopes of seeing wildlife. However, it was a cold morning and nothing was stirring from 6:15A-7:15A. We saw emu tracks and evidence of kangaroos (tracks and dung) but no one wanted to play. We had breakfast when we returned to the cabin and then went to explore Wave Rock and Hippo’s Yawn.

Wave Rock is a granite rock with a huge wave that stretches 100 yards and reaches ~50 tall. On the top of the rock is a water catchment system still used by Hyden and the surrounding communities. Also on top are natural water holes (called “gnammas” by the aboriginal peoples) which provide fresh water after rain. From the top of Wave Rock you can see great distances as the rest of the area is what is known as the “Wheat Belt” with field after field of crops. Down the trail from Wave Rock is Hippo’s Yawn. This formation does resemble a giant hippo’s mouth. It was formed by erosion aided by the minerals from the salt lakes. Just before dusk we decided to once again go in search of animals. This time… success! We saw ~16 kangaroos in total in several different groups. They are very wary as they are hunted in this area. That being said, we did get some video footage and a few shots. It was great to see these beautiful creatures.

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	Wave Rock
	A view of Magic Lake from Wave Rock
	A waterhole on Wave Rock
	Ed at Hippo's Yawn
	A couple of shy Roo's on our evening trek
	Sunset over Lake Magic

Tue, 9 Sept: We once again tried an early morning search for game (albeit about an hour later than yesterday) but no luck again. So, we decided to go for a drive and see Mulka’s Cave. The cave has been used by aboriginal people for more than 10,000 years. The cave contains Western Australia’s largest number of aboriginal drawings – some 452 in total. The cave is named for a legendary aboriginal, Mulka, who was born out of a forbidden marriage. Mulka ate children and even his own mother before being tracked down and killed. Since he was evil, Mulka did not receive a proper burial. Instead, his body was left for the ants (yuk, but he deserved it!).

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	The entry to Mulka's Cave
	Some of the Aboriginal artwork
	A single hand
	"Stick" figures

Wed, 10 Sept: Our day was spent in transit from Hyden to Margaret River. This was our longest trek yet but it was a great drive. For the most part, we were in farm country with amazing views of vivid yellow due to the fields of rapeseed. We arrived in Margaret River late afternoon and settled into our accommodations. We then wandered around the shops on the main streets.

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A vivid field of rapeseed en route
from Hyden to Margaret River

Thu, 11 Sept: Today we drove Cape Leeuwin to see the lighthouse on the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. It was spectacular albeit incredibly windy. The lighthouse was built in 1895 and is still functional today using its original lens. It flashes every 7.5 seconds with a warning light that is visible for over 47KM. Given the seas we witnessed today, it serves a wonderful purpose. While at the lighthouse, we visited the Water Wheel which was used to pump fresh water from a spring for use at the lighthouse. The wheel itself was driven by the power of the sea. On our return trip, we ventured into one of the national forests and got a glimpse of an emu at the side of the road. No photographs for evidence but it was still a great thrill for us. We finished our day at the Colonial Brewing Company just north of Margaret River. It was the winner of the 2007 Australian International Beer Awards. We did a sample of five beers while enjoying some wood-fired chips (potato wedges). Our favorite was the Kolsch Ale and we enjoyed an extra glass of it before calling it a day.

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	The lighthouse
	A view of the meeting of the Indian and Southern Oceans
	The ancient water wheel
	Lindy standing (but just barely, thanks to the wind!) by the water wheel

Fri, 12 Sept: Today we ended our explorations of Western Australia (for this trip). We drove back to Perth (~3 hours) and turned in our rental car. We drove a total of 3,296.1KM (2,048.2 miles) and we barely scratched the surface of this huge State! We then spent the night near the airport in anticipation of an early morning flight to Darwin to begin our adventures there.

Sat, 13 Sept (Happy 13^th!): We left the hotel early and arrived at the airport in time to enjoy the Qantas Lounge for a couple of hours before our 8:20AM flight. We arrived in Darwin at 1:15PM. After collecting our luggage, we took an airport shuttle into the Central Business District where our hotel was located. Interestingly, the city was very, very quiet. We walked in the area near the hotel and found an open Woolie’s so we replenished our stash of wine, beer and snacks for our stay in Darwin.

Sun, 14 Sept: We did a walking tour of the city today. After visiting Mitchell Centre (one of the two downtown malls), we then walked along the Esplanade and visited the Memorial for the USS Peary which was sunk in the harbor in 1942 when the Japanese struck Australia. We then continued on to a Memorial (“Lest We Forget”) honoring those who fought in World War II. Afterwards, we went to storage tunnels which were used to store oil underground during World War II. They contained a collection of photographs from the war which were very interesting. Then, we finished the day at a Chinese Temple. Darwin has a very compact central area and we walked almost all the major streets. Without businesses open, we virtually had the place to ourselves. We’re quite certain that won’t be the case on Monday.

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	The WWII Oil Storage Tunnels
	Inside one of the tunnels
	A pump room
	Darwin's Chinese Temple

Mon, 15 Sept: We decided to venture beyond the downtown area to visit the East Point Military Museum. We bought an all day bus ticket which took us as close as we could get to the Museum using mass transit. We then had a 3.5 mile walk (there & back) during the heat of the day (not too smart on our part). However, the trek paid off because we really enjoyed the Museum. It primarily is housed in a concrete building which was the former “Command Post” for the East Point military. There also remains on site a bunker which contained a 9.2 gun emplacement. While the gun itself is a replica (the original was sold for scrap to of all folks a Japanese company), it nevertheless is impressive. The Museum also houses an amazing amount of memorabilia as well as lots of vehicles. We also watched a neat video containing footage of the Japanese attack on Darwin which followed the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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	A gun battery at the East Point Military Museum
	A mobile U.S. workshop
	An old Willy's Jeep

Tue, 16 Sept: We began our first driving trek in the Northern Territory. After picking up our car (a 4WD Land Rover) we gathered up some supplies (wine, beer & port) and headed into the Outback. Our first stop was at the Wetlands Park. There we learned about the life of creatures that live in the wetlands and billabongs in the surrounding area. The Park building was perched on an outcrop so it offered great views of the area.

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	Window on the Wetlands Visitor Center
	One of the many dioramas in the Museum
	A long-neck turtle on a swim

Next we went on a trip on the Adelaide River aboard the Adelaide River Queen in search of crocodiles. We found one quickly and proceeded to find many more throughout the one hour cruise. Once spotted, the crew used half of a pig’s snout to attract the croc and ultimately get it to “jump” for the treat. It’s amazing how far out of the water these creatures can leap!

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	Our cruise boat, the Adelaide River Queen
	A view of the river
	A croc tempted by the bait
	Having eaten the bait, this fellow seems quite content

After that amazing spectacular, we headed for our final destination for the next two days, Kakadu National Park. We stopped at the Bowali Visitor Center late in the afternoon to plan our next two days in the park. Then, we drove 6KM further to the small town of Jabiru (founded before the area was a national park) to check into our accommodations.

Wed, 17 Sept: Given it is extremely hot in the park this time of year (100 degrees plus), we did the majority of our touring in the early part of the day. Kakadu National Park is a World Heritage Center which is recognized both for its amazing ancient Aboriginal art and its unique and numerous species of insects and animals. We saw art work which is some 20,000 years old making these depictions some of the oldest human works to be found.

We began our explorations at Ubirr. We took a 1KM circuit trek which took us several hours because we really enjoyed viewing the Aboriginal art works. We then drove some 60KM south to visit Nourlangie. There too we saw amazing art works. It’s hard to imagine that something so ancient has survived as well as it has. The sheltered areas in these rock formations really do protect them!

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	The unique setting
	A fish drawing in x-ray style
	A human stick figure with swollen joints
	A long-neck turtle
	A Wallaby and a hunter
	Nabulwinbulwin, an evil spirit who eats women after killing them with a yam (I didn't make this one up!)

Our next stop of the day was at the Anbangbang Billabong. There we saw both amazing Aboriginal art as well as an incredible number of birds. There were also plenty of warning signs for crocodiles so you know not to venture too close to the water. In the afternoon, we returned to the Bowali Visitor Center. There we watched a 45 minute video about the park (and saw many of the sites we had visited). We also enjoyed walking through a display area featuring information about these lands. All in all, a very full and enjoyable day; we were fascinated and amazed at all that we saw.

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	A welcome with various Aborginal art works
	Nabulwinbulwin
	Lightening Man
	The billabong itself
	A view of the birdlife in the billabong

Thu, 18 Sept: We began the morning on the Kakadu Highway which is the entry road into the park from the South. The highlight of the day was walking among some huge termite mounds. We were floored at their size and number! After leaving the park, we once again joined the Stuart Highway. We arrived in the afternoon at the town of Katherine, our home for the next two nights.

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	Lindy among the termite mounds (dressed in traditional Aussie gear)
	Ed's photo op

Fri, 19 Sept: We spent our day enjoying nature in and about Katherine. We began at Nitmiluk National Park. There the Katherine River creates a beautiful gorge filled with its clear, calm waters. While hiking along the river we were lucky enough to see a Wallaby drinking from a pool of water among the trees. Excellent! We also enjoyed Katherine’s own Low Land Nature Reserve. Again, the Katherine River flows through the park and many of the locals were enjoying a cool dip. Our primary reason for visiting the park was to see the incredible numbers of flying foxes (bats) which live in the trees along the river. Their numbers and size were amazing. We estimated the wing span of one of these creatures to be about two feet across. Now, that’s big! We called it a day late afternoon to enjoy the balance of the day before heading out on a long drive tomorrow.

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	A Kangaroo in Nitmiluk National Park
	The Gorge
	The setting at the Low Land Nature Reserve
	Bats hanging in the trees

Sat, 20 Sept: We left Katherine early in the morning as our drive was the longest yet – some 677KM – to the community of Tenant Creek. Our travels from this point until we reach Coober Pedy will be on the Stuart Highway, a route established during the late 1800’s. It’s now a paved two lane road with posted speeds of 130KM/hour and it’s the main thoroughfare for road trains – semi trucks with up to four trailers or tank cars which are up to 150 feet in length. Yikes! Thankfully, you can see a great distance so passing can be undertaken with caution since wildlife (kangaroos) and stock also use the road.

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Midday, we stopped at the town of Daly Waters, just off the Stuart Highway. We began our explorations at its aerodrome which was built in the 1930’s. It came into its primary usage during World War II when both Australian and U.S. planes were stationed at the facility. Inside the hanger, you can still view the original ground-to-air radio communications cabinet with its heavy wires. The airfield also lays claim to being one of Qantas’ first international airfields. A London-bound flight made an unscheduled landing at the field. The 33 passengers (including the founder of the airline) went to the hotel and ate all the bacon & eggs that were in stock and subsequently drank the pub dry (or so the story goes).

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	An original hanger at the Aerodrome
	A photograph of the Aerodrome from World War II
	A ""state of the Art" (at that time) communications center
	... and the wires that made it work!

So, our next stop was the Daly Pub which also was built in the 1930’s. There we enjoyed a refreshing draft beer and chips while taking in the ambiance. And, boy, there was quite a bit of that!

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	An oasis in the Outback
	Enjoying a brew among the bras
	Another view of the pub decor

Sun, 21 Sept: We left Tennant Creek early in the morning. Our explorations began at Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu is the traditional name). It’s an area where massive boulders of granite are precariously balanced on top of one another. According to the natives, the boulders were created by Arranji, the Devil, when he traveled through this area.

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	Ed showing us the size of these Marbles
	Marbles balances on one another
	A closer view

After enjoying this aboriginal sacred spot, we were once again off on the Stuart Highway. We drove approximately 500KM to reach our home for the next two nights – the Bond Springs Outback Station – about a 20 minute drive outside of Alice Springs, the largest city in this part of the region. Bond Springs Station is a working cattle ranch comprised of 1,515 square kilometers and polled Herefords are the key stock. We had a beautiful cottage with a wide veranda and BBQ for our use only. Of course, Chef Eduardo was once again at home having a kitchen and we enjoyed a delicious pasta dinner our first night along with great wine and port. Wow, this bush living could be addictive!

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Mon, 22 Sept: We began our morning by taking a walk with Laura Hunter, our hostess, through the original homestead. Two men, Messrs. Youle and Wilobee, immigrated to Australia from England and settled Bond Springs Station in the late 1870’s. We walked through their original one-room cabin built of mulga wood and plastered inside with mud and straw. Simply amazing that they could survive with so little!

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Next, we visited the saddle room (tack room) with numerous saddles, bridles and other gear still intact. Interestingly, the Station no longer uses horses for any of its chores. Instead, when rounding up the Herefords in its numerous paddocks, the Station uses ATVs, dirt bikes, its own small Cesena and, if need be, a helicopter. The Station can handle some 3,500 head of cattle under optimum conditions (meaning non-drought). We then went into the Blacksmith’s, a stone building housing all the tools of the trade as well as an enormous bellows manufactured in England. To get it here, the bellows was shipped to Adelaide and then brought to the Station via camel which was the main form of Outback transportation until the railroad was operational.

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The next owner of the station was Sir Sidney Kidman who was known as Australia’s “Cattle King.” He acquired the Station in the early 1900’s and employed managers to look after Bond Springs for about thirty years. During this time, a two room cottage was built. By comparison to the original cabin, it was absolutely luxurious.

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The Heaslip Family purchased Bond Springs Station in the early 1960’s and still resides on the property today. All the Heaslip children were educated by the School of the Air. The children had a separate building where they undertook their studies using lessons delivered via the radio whilst being supervised by an adult.

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We found the tour fascinating! It’s wonderful that the Heaslip family has renovated its stockman’s cottages to provide the visitor with all the luxuries imaginable while still having the opportunity to see how life evolved on the Station. It’s a great Outback experience! We both are totally impressed and hope to return again in the future. We highly recommend a stay with the Laura Hunter and Ben Heaslip; please check their website for further details: www.outbackretreat.com.au

During the afternoon, we drove into Alice Springs and then into the East Macdonnell National Park. In the park we visited Simpson’s Gap, a canyon formed through a quartzite rock formation. We were amazed that after walking along an arid trail, when we arrived at the actual gap there was a fairly large waterhole. While the area is known for rock wallabies we didn’t find any among the boulders. However, we did encounter a lovely lizard.

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We ended our explorations again in Alice Springs before returning to the Station. We had a bit of a delay as a storm with winds over 120KMs hit the central business district. We were inside a Cole’s Supermarket when the power went out and the winds blew apart one of the parking covers outside the store. When we did make our way out of town, the damage was substantial. There were broken windows, tree limbs in the flooded streets and, unfortunately, several streets were closed due to trees lying across power lines. Thankfully, the Station runs on power generated by its own diesel so there were no disruptions there.

Tue, 23 Sept: Today we were once again on the Stuart Highway en route to the Ayers Rock Resort directly outside Uluru National Park. We arrived at the Resort mid-afternoon. After settling in, we made a decision to travel into the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to observe Uluru (Ayers Rock) at sunset. Uluru is 348 meters tall and has a girth of 9.4KM. We drove into the park shortly before 5:00PM and stayed there through sunset at 6:45PM. The colors and shadows of Uluru did indeed change as the light diminished.

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	Our first view of Uluru
	We decided to see how Uluru changes in various lighting so.... Uluru at 6:00PM
	Uluru at 6:15PM
	Uluru at 6:30PM
	Uluru at dusk (our final view of the day)

Wed, 24 Sept: We left the hotel early to once again visit the National Park. We began with taking some early morning photographs of Uluru. Then, we visited the Cultural Center. It was very informative regarding aboriginal history and beliefs. However, we were disappointed that there was no information regarding the geological formation of Uluru. After visiting the Cultural Center, we drove around the base of Uluru, stopping at several locations, including a year-round waterhole.

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	This view of Uluru shows where the climb begins (on the right)
	The backside of Uluru (it's amazingly different)
	The year-round waterhole
	Aboriginal artwork near the waterhole

Next, we drove to Kata Tjuta which means “many heads” in the native Anangu language. It’s another geological formation about 44KM from Uluru. Kata Tjuta (or “Mt. Olga” as named by its Western discoverer) is a collection of weathered red domes, the tallest of which stands 200 meters taller than Uluru. It was beautiful and is surrounded by a red sands dune desert.

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Thu, 25 Sept: We drove ~245KM to return to the Stuart Highway along the same route we used to access Uluru. Then, we headed due south to the Opal Capital of the world, Coober Pedy. We arrived in Coober Pedy late afternoon. Our hotel, the Desert Cave Hotel, is partly an underground and partly an above-ground hotel. Our room was perfect, an underground cavern with a great 78 degree temperature year round. We must admit that it’s really, really dark when the lights are out. The hotel also boasts its own underground mining tunnels. We saved that exploration for the following day.

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	Welcome to this amazing city! FYI, the rough for the beautiful opal necklace Ed made for me if from Coober Pedy
	These signs are everywhere; you know it's a real mining town
	Our underground hotel room

Fri, 26 Sept: We began our morning at the Visitor Center which is also the Offices of the City Council of Coober Pedy. After spending a bit of time there, we headed out to see some of the “digs” in the mine fields. Coober Pedy is surrounded by opal mines as well as many would-be mines so the landscape is unique to say the least. Next, we decided to visit the Breakaways Reserve, about 30KM north of Coober Pedy. There is a loop route on 4WD road which provides close-up access to a group of colorful low hills which have “broken away” from the Stuart Range. One of the most spectacular sites is “Salt & Pepper,” a white hill and brown hill immediately next to one another.

While driving throughout the area, we saw some shiny materials strewn about a bit off the road. We went exploring and we found out it was gypsum, variety selenite. The stuff was everywhere! Then, we also found some great fossilized mussels and clams.

Further down the trek, we encountered the 2M high wire barrier known as the “Dog Fence.” It was constructed to keep Australia’s native dog, the Dingo, from having access to the area; in particular, to sheep flocks. Amazingly, the fence stretches 5,300KM across three States. Our last stop in the Reserve was to look at an area of petrified wood. Some type of forest once covered the area as tree stumps are easily identifiable. Again, there was loads of gypsum there too.

When we returned to our hotel, we went exploring again – underground in the mine tunnels. The hotel has turned the area into an information hall dealing with the formation of opal, how it is mined and ultimately how it is polished into the lovely gem we all adore. Speaking of which, the lovely opal that Ed cut and polished into Lindy’s beautiful necklace is pretty spectacular – even compared with some of the best Coober Pedy can offer today. (On an aside, Lindy’s opal came from Andamucka, another Southern Australia opal field where grey-base opal was mined in the past.)

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Sat, 27 Sept: Today was our first entire day spent driving on a dirt trek. We left Coober Pedy and drove east to Williams Creek. Along the entire route it was very, very dry. In some places, we might as well have been on the Moon or Mars as there was nothing but rocks – no trees, grasses or other plants and no animals or birds. At other times, we were driving near sand dunes and had to be careful due to limited vision because of strong winds. It was very hot (~40 degrees centigrade) but thankfully no humidity. Williams Creek is South Australia’s smallest town with a resident population of 12. It is surrounded by one of Australia’s largest cattle properties, Anna Creek Station, which is almost half the size of Tasmania. We spent the night at the Williams Creek Hotel. We will never make that mistake again!

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Sun, 28 Sept: We got up very early because we once again had to drive a dirt road (“The Oodnadatta Track”) for about 300KM before joining a paved road to reach our destination of Parachilna.

The Oodnadatta Track was pioneered by Major PE Burton in 1858 and John McDouall Stuart in 1859. It took true pioneering spirit to tackle this unforgiving landscape (i.e., “these guys had balls of steel” as an Aussie might say). Our first stop along the trek was Wabma Kadarbu Conservation Park. There we saw two mound springs that are permanent water-springs fed by the world’s largest artesian aquifer. You can’t miss these springs as they truly are mounds which rise above the landscape. At Blanche Cup, the mound spring is about 20 meters high. There is a clear blue pool at the top of the mound around which a circle of lush green grass grows (the grass has adapted to the salty water). There were also lots of birds in the area.

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Our next stop was at The Bubbler. It is a pool of fine sand covered by clear water. Occasionally there are eruptions of gas which create various bubbles around the pool. The Bubbler is considered to be a “gusher” because millions of liters of water flow daily from it. Wow, that’s a lot of water in the dry outback!! While visiting The Bubbler, we came across a local resident – a long lizard. Pretty neat! As we continued our drive, we enjoyed running into several groups of emu. It was great to be able to just stop the car on the Track and take photo’s of these unique animals. We also enjoyed some great scenery before arriving at The Prairie Hotel, our luxurious oasis for the night. It was absolutely terrific and just what we needed after a long, dusty drive. We will definitely return here as this stay was wonderful!

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	"The Bubbler" in action
	A close-up view of a lizard near the boardwalk
	Salty land and a "dead" mound
	Welcome to the Prairie Hotel
	Can you think of a better way to get rid of the dust?

Mon, 29 Sept: After enjoying a relaxing morning at The Prairie Hotel, we went back to the dirt track to drive some 50KM to reach the Flinders Ranges National Park. En route, we stopped at the old mining town of Bliman. The Bliman Mine produced 10,000 tons of copper ore from 1862 through 1907. (We never did learn how high this “highest town in S.A.” sits.)

We entered the Flinders Ranges National Park shortly after Bliman and the views were stunning. Instead of immediately heading to the Wilpena Resort Center, we first took a geologic roadside tour through Brachina Gorge. You can tell we’re driving south and away from the central desert region - Ed had to maneuver our 4WD across a flowing stream!

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	The setting as we begin the drive
	Brachina Gorge geological drive
	Note the vertical bedding in the background
	The vertical bedding is really clear here

After enjoying this drive, we once again took another scenic route in the Park through Bunyeroo Gorge. We had the windy, ridge-top road to ourselves and again we got some great photographs. Once more we ran across emu enjoying the lush grasses this area offers.

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	Ed fording a creek to access Bunyeroo Gorge
	The Flinders from Bunyeroo Gorge
	An Emu enjoying the park
	Cockatoos in the trees

We ended our day at the Wilpena Resort where we will be spending the next two nights. Late afternoon we took a walk in search of kangaroo. We found one almost immediately across from our motel but it was a bit put off by the noise in the area and it moved on quickly. So, next we decided to take a ride at dusk to see if we could find any others. Wow, pay dirt!! We came across two guys who weren’t the least bit shy and we got lots of great photographs and video. Ultimately, these guys quit paying any attention to us and began “boxing” one another. We doubt we’ll ever get to see something this spectacular in the bush again!!

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	Contender No. 1
	Contender No. 2
	The contenders meet
	The match begins
	These guys are really intent
	The boxing intensifies
	Wow, what a hit!
	They just won't stop

Tue, 30 Sept: We got up early to walk to Wangara Lookout Hike so we could see views of the inside of the Pound. The pound is a huge depression which looks like a volcanic crater but there’s no lava. It never was a volcano; it is instead a weathered dome with just the bottom of the dome left. En route we met one kangaroo directly on the trail. We (being him and us) both stopped and stared. Then, we were nice guys and hiked up the hillside so he could use the trail. Of course, once we moved the roo took off immediately so no photographs of that fellow. The hike took us to two lookouts offering great views of the Pound. The higher lookout allowed us to see the gorge we had hiked in to access the Pound as well as the Flinders Rangers on both sides of the Pound. After our hike, we called it a day as tomorrow we head to our final destination for this trip in Australia – Adelaide, always a favorite.

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	A kangaroo in the bush
	Look who is in the tree!
	A view of the Pond

Wed, 1 Oct: We left the Wilpena Resort at about 8:30AM. We then traveled south out of the Flinders Ranges National Park and towards Adelaide. We took a scenic route through the countryside, including the Clare Valley wine growing region, rather than take the main highway. We arrived in Adelaide at about 2:30PM. We found the hotel (with only a couple of missed turns), dropped off our baggage and then returned our Toyota Prada Turbo Diesel 4WD to the Hertz office about 1KM away. Can you guess the total “clicks” (kilometers) we drove on this part of our adventure? How about a total of 4,670KM or 2,920 miles to cross Australia from North to South! Now that’s covering some ground!!

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Thu, 2 Oct: After enjoying a leisurely breakfast, we spent the day walking through the Central Business District. Our hotel sits opposite the Adelaide Railway Station and Sky City Casino. Walking along North Terrace, we also saw the State Parliament House and the former Parliament House. The new building is much larger than the original. Next, we wandered through the shopping areas near Rundle Mall. The Mall is a pedway that covers a city block and includes many boutique stores as well as a multi-story mall and several major department stores. Lastly, we visited the campus of the University of Adelaide and enjoyed the great architecture that can be found in its many buildings.

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	The State Parliament House
	The Old Parliament House
	The Adelaide Rail Station
	Typical architecture in Adelaide
	Lindy with The Rundle Mall pigs
	University of South Australia

Fri, 3 Oct: For the first time during this visit to Australia, we awoke to a bit of rain. So, despite the Central Business District being very compact, we decided to take advantage of the free city buy system within it to reach the Central Market. Although we’ve been to Adelaide in the past, this was our first trip to the Market. Wow, what a place! We arrived at the Market at about 9:30AM. It’s a group of vendor stalls (a bit like Arthur Avenue in NYC) and it was filled with throngs of shoppers taking advantage of the opportunities for fresh veggies, breads, seafood and meats. We couldn’t help ourselves; we had to buy some great picnic foods for our final dinner in Adelaide. We purchased smoked tuna from a seafood vendor and then a loaf of ciabatta pugliese from a local baker. Yum, yum!

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	Entering Central Market
	The vendor stalls filled with goodies

Next we visited Chinatown. As it was near the noon hour, there were lots of shoppers in the area as well as many individuals enjoying a variety of Asian foods for lunch. We were very tempted to indulge but decided to hold off for our evening picnic. We did enjoy walking through the various booths.

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We returned back to the hotel in the afternoon and began organizing for our early morning departure the following day (we’re not keen on a 5:15AM taxi to the airport but an early morning flight ensures a decent arrival time in Auckland, New Zealand). Then, our final evening was spent enjoying the treasures we picked up at the Central Market. We began with some great Aussie beer accompanied with antipasto (green olives & pickles). Then we feasted on smoked tuna accompanied by fresh bread and some wonderful Aussie wine and port. A delicious and relaxing way to wind up this part of our adventure.

In summary, we enjoyed another wonderful visit to Australia. We can now brag that we’ve visited every State in this beautiful country! We’ll definitely look forward to returning to OZ during our future travels!!!