Hello again Left Ma for Me - traversed NH along the way. Heavy day in the bus - with jetlag finally catching up with us both. pretty drive tho the beach is more handsomely rugged than beautiful. Weather has been kind to us again although it is getting noticibly cooler as we move northerly. It may aslo be starting to turn. Have seen plenty of autumn colors so far - but for the areas we have been, a couple of weeks ago might have been better. We will see what the next few days bring. The housing here is quite different but attractive in its own way. Mainly wooden shingle cladding. Not quite sure why they do that. Tour company threw on a lobster dinner tonight whuch was brilliant but messsy. We all got extensive lessons ... read more

On the road again! Willie who? After a great trip - where the 28 hours went pretty well - primarily thanks to Air NZ and Premium Economy - we arrived here last night at Midnight. Hotel is fine - and we set the alarm so that the body clocks can start adjusting. Great to be awoken @ 8 after only 7 hous sleep. We hit the road running. After searching some time for breakfast, we settled on Dunkin Donuts would you believe - where Chris had a muffin with egg and bacon and I had a bagel the same - although I gave Chris my cheese in a sign of respect to this shrine of a body!! Pleasingly we were able to substitute the coffee for tea - and the tea was great. After that, hit ... read more

So now we are in Darwin. After leaving the otherwise delightful Katherine - disappointed that we couldn’t find anywhere that had wi-fi, we headed off into Kakadu - not knowing quite what to expect. What is obvious from all of the reading is that it presents very differently depending on the time of year - and the season. Our trusty Lonely Planet tells us that this (the end of the dry) is the optimum time for birdlife - and pleasingly, the best time for mosquitoes. Crossing into the park, several things are obvious. 1. It is very dry - with little evidence of any recent rain, and 2. The Aboriginal practice of burning at this time of the year continues unabated - as there are many fires that we pass right by the roadside. They apparently ... read more

Another great day today. This place is a very pleasant place to visit - maybe especially at this time of the year. Weather is great and there is plenty to do. Today we visited Standley Chasm, Ormiston Gorge, Glen Helen Gorge, and the Ellery Creek 'Big (water) Hole'. Each was spectacular in its own way, and had we had our van, there was great camping at most of them. The pics dont do justice to Standley Chasm, as we tried to avoid others there and taking photos. It really is magnificent - particularly for about 15 minutes at noon with the sun directly overhead and the red rock each side brilliantly lit. Of course, that is also the busiest time. Our main aim was Ormiston Gorge, however that was alittle less spectacular as it had less ... read more

Gday all Time for a closing entry. We have been back 2-3 weeks now, and all are settling back into their 'non-travel' lifestyle - for the moment at least. We have had some contact with most travellers over that time, and all have agreed that the trip was a fantastic experience. We contacted all, in an effort to identify any highlights, and somewhat predictacbly, the responses varied so much, that no 'trend' could be identified. The one exception however, was that most identified the companionship of the group as the stand-out. We have harrassed Doug for details of his fishing trip in Bariloche, and he has let his head go. The result is the attached run-down. I indicated that I wouldn't publish it until we had photographic evidence of the outcome. Accordingly, those are also attached. ... read more