Just got back from an Outback Barbeque and boy was it good! After our lunch break this afternoon we drove out to the old Telegraph Station. Alice Springs was a repeater station for the telegraph from Adelaide to Darwin back in colonial days. The Telegraph master was big man on campus apparently. We saw 3 kangaroos just hanging around the buildings of the station. Next we drove to the Anzac Memorial (Austrialian/New Zealand Army Corps) which is on a hill with great views of the city. Finally, we drove out to the the museum of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The [View Full Entry]

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Dinner 2 nights ago in Cairns was not what you'd call nutrious. H had gone to the grocery store and we dined on smoked Ocean Trout, sundried tomato and feta corn thins (similar to rice cakes), Coco Puffs and Vanilla Almond cereal all bought at the grocery store, a couple of chocolate bars that we'd bought at the crocodile farm and a bag of lime and black pepper potato chips. I love exploring different potato chips when traveling. Haviva went down to the pool at the hotel, but said it was "too fucking cold." As usual when I travel, I've got [View Full Entry]

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Okay, I've only got 3 minutes, so HI! Watched the sunset at Uluru/Ayers Rock last night. It didn't really change color as they say it does, but then again, maybe I just couldn't see it. Off to the airport for a flight to Alice Springs, don't expect another blog until Melbourne. Unless I kill our tour guide first. [View Full Entry]

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Last night we went to Tjapukai Aboriginal Park. It's about a 15 minute drive out from our hotel and when you come in, they paint your face for free. I didn't do it, but Haviva got what I'm calling a starburst on her cheek. After a free drink, they took us back into the theater where we watched the performers put on their face and body paint, then they did creation myth dance complete with a guy in a cool bird costume that glowed in the dark. Next they took us outside and did a fire starting ritual including throwing a [View Full Entry]

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This morning (Wednesday, October 22nd), we went to the Cairns Tropical Zoo. It's small compared to places like the Bronx Zoo, but I don't think the Bronx Zoo has a kangaroo feeding area. The zoo has a bunch of cool birds, macaws and kookaburras and emus and cassowaries. And they have these adorable tamarins, and some nepalese red pandas. Plus, they have dingos (Hi, Paula!), a wombat and a bunch of koalas. Even cute little baby ones! You can have your picture taken holding one, but sorry, not really my style, folks. After that, we went to a crocodile farm. They [View Full Entry]

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Okay, I'm trying this again... I'm having problems with the auto save, so this may look weird. Getting to Cairns was an adventure. Haviva arrived at LAX a little after noon, and we checked in at Qantas slightly after 2 pm (remember this, it will be important later) and got through security quickly. Tom Bradley International terminal at LAX is undergoing renovation and is huge and we walked it a bunch o' times waiting for our LAX-Sydney flight. We were supposed to take off at 10:30, but due to what I believe was an electrical problem we were 1 and 1/2 [View Full Entry]

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Greetings from sunny LA. The first 1/3 of my flying to start the trip went quite well. Of course, me being me, I got up at 4:00 am (after not really sleeping), caught the NY subway at 5:15 to get to the LIRR station. I'm still amazed at how many people ride the subway at ALL hours! And even more amazed by how many people were actually taking the Long Island Railroad at 6 am on a Saturday. Check in went smoothly, as did security (for once I did not set off the metal detectors!). Flight took off on time and [View Full Entry]

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This is just a test. I wanted to send this out so that everyone would realize that I was using travelblog.org for the trip to Australia. Feel free to pass this info on.... [View Full Entry]

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