New Year's Eve Cairns Queensland, Australia - Dec 31, 2008

Here we are at the end of a rather adventure-filled year, and here we are in the Northern part of Australia. This time last year we were only thinking about this trip – but had so much to do.
As we come to the end of 2008 we think of all the people we have met, and the adventures we have had – Mexico, Ireland, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and now Australia and New Zealand. We are thankful for all our friends and family who care for and about us. We count our many blessings and look forward to the coming year. We are so aware of those we have loved and lost in the past year, and look forward to many more adventures and friendships in 2009.
As for today – a relaxing, getting acquainted with Cairns day. We wandered around Cairns by foot, booked a Reef Tour for tomorrow morning and picked up our rental car.
The walk around Cairns was lovely – we wandered down Lake street (the street on which our hotel is located) to the City Centre – which is a pedestrian area – about ½ block square. We came across several banyan trees which serve as a Flying Fox (big bat) Nursery and watched them try to keep cool by flapping their wings, while still hanging upside down. We then wandered down to the beach – or rather the waterfront and walked almost the full the length, stopping for a coffee break and then later for lunch.
The first part was the Quay, with a lovely swimming lagoon – closed for repairs. Then we walked up to the Galloping Gourmet to pick up something for lunch, but Graham Kerr was away for a bit – too bad! As you can see – this area is so lush, even the dividers in the roadways are lined with beautiful flowers.
The walk was easy except for the 35 C temperature and 100% humidity. There was – however an occasional breeze which made it quite pleasant.
Along our walk we wondered why no one was in the water – that was – until we came upon this sign. If you can’t read it – it says – Warning– Crocodiles inhabit this area! A little further down the walk we came across this group of Pelicans who did not seem at all worried about the danger from Crocodiles! They are a very large bird – it is hard to calculate this from the pictures, but I will bet their necks are at least ½ Meter and the wingspan probably well over 2 meters. If Barb was standing next to them and they were standing as well they would likely come up to her arm pits. Much bigger than the ones we saw earlier this year in Mexico.
We stopped at the Memorial to the soldiers killed in Anzac and Gallipoli in WW I. this was interesting for us as we saw a similar memorial last year in Gallipoli Turkey.
After picking up the car we drove around a bit to scope the directions for tomorrow’s journey, we then booked a table for dinner tonight, sent out some email New Year’s greetings. After dinner tonight we will head off to the beach for Fire Works – that is if it stops raining! I will not likely get any good photos of the fireworks, so will try to post this before supper with a few pictures and then leave the rest for the next entry after our Reef Adventure.
New Year’s Day we are going up to Port Douglas and catching a catamaran to a diving platform on the Great Barrier Reef. We have been told my several people that the Reef is much better a little north of Cairns. So we will be up nice and early to drive the 70 KM to Port Douglas to leave about 9 AM. Should be fun!
We want to wish everyone reading this Blog – a very Happy New Year, and we hope that 2009 is one of your best year’s ever!

Tuesday Dec 30, 2008 - Alice Springs to Cairns

This morning was a relaxed get up, then a lovely continental breakfast at the hotel. It felt good getting both blogs up yesterday, though not sure if the singing dingo video every got added. We ran out of time and I didn’t want to buy any more. Telsat has a monopoly with the hotels in Australia, so can and do charge just about whatever they want.

Anyway – after breakfast we went exploring Alice Springs. It is an interesting town with a great deal of focus on the Aboriginal Community. We opted not to take a tour, but use our feet. We wandered down the Todd River – which, as you can see looks more like a stream. Our guide/driver yesterday told us that it is an ‘upside-down’ river in that, with the exception of very wet times like now, the river is always dry, but if you dig down about a half a meter you find lots of water. The water table in Alice Springs is very close to the surface – hence the vegetation – albeit vegetation that only grows in arid climates. The gum or Eucalyptus trees that grow along the river bank are very old, some as many as 400 years. They are in danger from the changing climate and the increasing levels of salt in the artesian wells below ground.
We stopped in at the local mall where they have a traditional Aussie Christmas display.

After exploring all the gift shops and galleries we had a bite of lunch at the Jolly Swagman Café and then walked over to the Olive Pink Botanical Gardens. Here we saw a wide variety of native plants, and had the opportunity to talk to the horticulturalist that was tending the plants. It was very interesting and hot – 34 degrees. This picture of Harry is with a desert Oak tree that I spoke about in yesterday’s blog. This is a tree somewhere a little over 25 years old. It’s trunk is beginning to fill in, and it is quite tall though still looks like a feather duster. No traditional Oak leaves here!
We headed over by cab to the airport for our flight to Cairns and the next segment of our journey. As we landed in Cairns it was raining, and Barb was thinking – good thing I have my sweater handy, but as we stepped from the plane, despite the rain – it was hot – something akin to stepping into a sauna. Once we got to our hotel – The Balinese Motel it was dark, and we were glad for the air conditioning. We took a wee venture across the street to buy some necessary mix for drinks, and as Harry walked out of the air conditioned Convenience store – his glasses steamed up (and Barb had nothing to do with that!).
We have a rented car for the balance of our trip, have nothing planned after January 2nd except our flight out of Melbourne on the 20th of January. The distance is in excess 3000 km – there are a couple of must sees along the way – but it should be fun! Stay tuned!
By the way – if you had checked out yesterday’s blog earlier, we have subsequently added a wee video – about a Dinky the Singing Dingo – for a good laugh – you might want to click and watch.

Monday, December 29th - Uluru to Alice Springs

Early morning wake-up this morning so we could – hopefully – see a lovely sunrise over Uluru. As we waited our bus to pick us up, we looked up into the sky and had an amazing view of the Southern constellation! Great news – a clear sky.
The trip out to Uluru – sunrise viewing spot took about ½ hour and then we were treated to coffee, hot chocolate or tea and biscuits as we awaited the sunrise. It was truly beautiful as the pictures can attest. At 6:05 we were back in the bus and took a drive to the climb spot – which unfortunately was closed due to high winds. The climb looks somewhat daunting, but Barb was prepared to go, but not altogether disappointed. We were told that it is only open approximately 40 days of the year, and that the Anangu really don’t like people climbing their sacred place.
As a result, we took the bus tour around the base of Uluru, with our driver filling us in on many of the stories that surround the area. We stopped and took the Kuiya Walk into the Mutitjulu water hole. Daniel our guide filled us in on some of the flora and fauna of the area including some of the berries that could be used by the indigenous folk for food. This picture is of the Desert plum. The fruit is about the size of a cranberry or blueberry. We also stopped by a cave that has paintings from some 5,000 to 20,000 years ago. He also pointed out the desert oak which is pictured here, and stays this size for about 25 years until its root system manages to find its way down to the Artesian water table. At that time it begins to develop a larger trunk and many more branches. These trees can live for hundreds of years.
Our next stop was the cultural center which was very interesting and provided us with an understanding of the reverence with which this land is held by the Anangu. Barb was really glad that the climb had been closed, she would have felt very guilty had she desecrated their sacred spot. We were not allowed to photograph the cultural spot, as they believe as do many indigenous people, that the act of taking a picture – somehow takes away from the spirituality of the place.
We arrived back at the resort around 10 and stopped for a bit of brunch and time to relax before the next part of our journey to Alice Springs. While awaiting our transport we had the opportunity to chat with a few of our fellow travellers. They come from all over the globe. We have met couples and families from Nigeria, England, Singapore and Denmark. This beautiful moth was just one of many that had taken refuge for the day around the sign for the Deli at the Centre of the Ayres Resort. There were several different species - al very intricately decorated.
We left Uluru around 1:20. Our first stop was a viewpoint for Connor Mountain, seen here. Neat stop was a transfer shop. When the moved onto another bus for the balance of our trip to Alice Springs. This restaurant was our next stop and we had the opportunity to look at a lovely selection of native crafts. As we approached Alice Springs the land had increased vegetation, and there were a couple of rivers that uncharacteristically had water.
A few interesting points – the speed limit is130, the road is completely straight and there are road trains, (trucks that have 3 or 4 trailers). Our last stop was Jim’s Place where we were entertained by Dinky the Singing Dingo.
We arrived in Alice Springs just after 6 and checked into our hotel. All the cameras needed charging.

Sunday Dec 28th 2008 - Sydney to Ayers Rock

We set out for the airport about 8 AM and checked in for our Qantas Flight to Ayers Rock, or Uluru. We were picked up from the airport and taken to the Resort where we checked into the Outback Pioneer Hotel. After confirming our tours we took time to relax for a few minutes in the pool, then showered and got ready to go.
The weather is interesting – this is a semi arid area – and they have had almost their entire year’s supply of water in the past month, including today. It is about 29 degrees, but raining fairly heavily.
Our tour bus picked us up at the hotel at 3:45 and we immediately went out to the South Viewpoint of Uluru-Kata Tjuta national Park. On the way we learned about the modern history of this national part, which was ancient native land which had been occupied and managed by the government since the 30’s. In 1985 the land was returned primarily to the control of the Anangu who were the traditional owners of the land due to the Cultural significance to their history. These pictures of the park show the results of the recent rains. Normally at this time of year the land is very barren and red, not the green seen here.
Our first sop was the Southern viewpoint of Kata Tjuta the view was quite remarkable, and we got a good though distant view of Uluru from here as well. Then we were off to the Western viewpoint of Kata Tjuta, where we left the bus for over an hour and walked into the Walpa Gorge. As can be seen in these pictures this is a magnificent area with amazing colors – red in the rock(caused by the high iron content), and so many shades of green in the plant growth. The trail was quite rocky and uneven, but the view along the way were worth every bit of effort in watching the footing. This shows the end of the Gorge and the view with the plant life that at this time is so beautiful, but which is usually not present. One could see the many dead plants from past years.
After another quick, necessary stop at the Western viewpoint we made our way to the Sunset viewing point of Uluru. Here we were treated to wine, snacks, the attention of a Crested Australian Pigeon (I think that is right), and a clear view of Uluru. Unfortunately the sun did not cooperate, but even without a clear sunset it is easy to see the different hues in the rock in these pictures taken just 15 minutes apart, the last one at 7:35 PM.
Then back to our room to prepare for an early morning (4:45) departure to hopefully view the sunrise over Uluru and an insight into the many cultural aspects of this part of Australia.

Saturday December 27th 2008 - Auckland to Sydney

We managed a nice sleep in and then headed off to the airport – with a little interpretation regarding Harry’s ticket back to Sydney. No fear – all was well, and we are now safely ensconced in the Ibis Sydney Airport Hotel. We had breakfast in the New Zealand Lounge, and were treated extremely well on the airplane. We had a very smooth flight over, though – perhaps we both have colds, we had some challenges clearing our ears. Not sure if we are yelling at each other or what.
We arrived to a lovely warm day, but by about 4 PM it was absolutely pouring rain, and the airport was closed down because of the thunder, lightening and rain. We were glad to have landed early. Harry in his first class seat - hard to take!
We had a relaxing evening – reading and catching up the blog, then an early morning for a very busy tomorrow – flying into Ayers Rock. We trust the airport will be open by then. As I write, the rain and storm have stopped but the sky still looks a little threatening.