Today we will complete our last day of travel on the tour bus we expect to arrive at hotel in Mitchell St Darwin sometime in the late afternoon. First though we are travelling to Litchfield National Park with the main attractions being unusual termite mounds, four great waterfalls and some curious sandstone formations. We first encountered the amazing Magnetic Termite Mounds all lined up in a North to South row with the highlights being the giant mounds built by the Cathedral termite. We then visited some of the falls that spill off the top of the escarpment including Wangi Falls which has a pleasant rainforest hike which we both enjoyed before climbing the trail that leads up above the falls which has some stunning views. After getting hot and sweaty we walked back down and climbed ... read more

The next morning Ruth and I decided to take a scenic flight over mighty Lake Eyre fortunately for us there was actually some water in the lake which is generally dry. It was certainly a worthwhile experience we were able to see much more of the lake and the landscape surrounding it then we could have hoped for. We departed William Creek after the flight, passing through the dog fence on our way to the partially underground city of Coober Pedy which supposedly means “white fellas hole in the ground”. Coober Pedy is an opal mining town and like any mining town is full of peculiar and often dodgy people live here and a few people have disappeared down mine shafts over the years and bombings are not uncommon. Apart from that for the traveller the ... read more

Didn’t really notice what time we departed, but it was just after 2pm when they fed us – lots to eat, Tony had beef stroganoff & I grilled chicken. They gave us an English magazine about the Ukraine to read, which had lots of articles in it. The pilot had announced during take-off that we would be landing in Baku, Azerbaijan, before heading to Kiev. 5:20pm saw us landing on the tarmac at Baku, following a small jeep that the words “FOLLOW ME” written on the back (!). We had flown over the Caspian Sea & seen many many oil rigs, as many as 15 in one spot – oil had spilled over the water in some areas, creating an ecological eyesore. Flying over Azerbaijan was not much better, a barren, desolate area with hundreds of ... read more

Monday 26th July 2004 We are heading to Osh through the Taldyk pass, a mountain pass of 3615 metres which has some stunning scenery, but we saw nothing as it was pitch black. The road quite bad & bumpy – resigning ourselves that we would arrive in Osh in the middle of the night, we tried our best to get some sleep in our uncomfortable bunks. We are heading to Osh through the Taldyk pass, a mountain pass of 3615 metres which has some stunning scenery, but we saw nothing as it was pitch black. The road quite bad & bumpy – resigning ourselves that we would arrive in Osh in the middle of the night, we tried our best to get some sleep in our uncomfortable bunks. Tuesday 27th July 2004 It didn’t feel like ... read more

Friday 2nd July – Beijing – Ulaan Bataar Our cab driver was waiting for us when we checked out this morning, and we made it to the airport with two hours to spare which was just as well as check-in seemed to take forever, but finally we made it through immigration. Our flight departed at 9.20am & although the plane was small, it was full. Poor Tony got stuck with a large American lady on his right, who wouldn’t stop talking to him, especially about horses. She was a crashing bore. The flight took over an hour, but as Mongolia is an hour ahead of Beijing, it was just after midday when we landed. The usual struggle to get through immigration, customs and baggage ensued, & as we were walking out the airport we got hassled ... read more