We got up at 3am, and loaded the car with the assistance of a cup of tea (thanks Anne!). Then off to the airport for 4am to check in before the 6am flight. Cath got randomly chosen to be screened for explosives. (Cath - Can't think why they thought I was potentially explosive!! LOL. ).The plane was luckily fairly empty and we could move around and even use 4 middle seats as a bed. The flight didn't seem to take too long to me, after all it was only 11 hours! We landed at Dubai and got everything off the aircraft. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our last full day in Australia! How quickly the time seems to have passed. We started with a trip to the shops with Anne - to stock up on some food for them and to see what it was like. We had the "help" of Simon driving the trolley which was a little bit of a mixed blessing. After that, we went onto the university and looked around the small animal centre with Anne, seeing all the various rooms and treatment areas. This included x-ray facilities, both for small animals and for horses standing up! We saw a few patients in [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today we started at a more normal time, and went down to Fremantle to the Maritime Museum which included a tour of a diesel-electric submarine. We were accompanied around the submarine by a volunteer ex-submariner who told us all about life on board. We saw the torpedo room, the cramped bunks, a very small kitchen, the control room and the engine room. It all looked quite claustrophobic, and was apparently very smelly after a while as water for showers was limited to once a week. Then we had a look around the rest of the museum seeing various exhibits including Australia-II [View Full Entry]

---

---

Another slow start, and then a trip to nearby wireless park with some good views of Perth. Then after some lunch Anne took us out into the bush to see a reservoir and the dam that we could walk across. We tried dropping some gum nuts into it, and the water level seemed quite low. Then we had a walk around and then suddenly we saw some kangaroos bound by. They were wild kangaroos and we saw a number of them after that, and a one of the local birds too. Then back home to a wonderful roast lamb tea. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Another slow start to the day. After a lazy breakfast we headed off to Kings Park in Perth city. Its quite a large park with lots of little places to stop and do things. We started with an aerial walkway through the trees with some great views of down town Perth. Then on to a dinosaur themed playground, and then after a quick snack for lunch at the cafe, we went on to the DNA tower where we climbed both helices. Then, as the weather was still good, we headed for the beach. Scarborough beach, to see how it compared to [View Full Entry]

---

---

We were going to sleep in this morning, but the children had other ideas. Anyway, we had a very lazy morning doing not much after Anne went to work. We went out to the shops to get a few bits and pieces and had lunch. Then Anne was back from her duties, and we all set off for Fremantle and the beach. We looked around some of the "historic" bits on the coast which included a jail house where Simon got put in the stocks. Then we went along the coast calling in at various beaches, where Simon had to be [View Full Entry]

---

---

This time it was a 7:00am start, as we needed to get to the airport. So that was the time we had to get up to get packed, get breakfast and get to the airport in time to book in. We got a taxi back to the airfield in the middle of nowhere, and got sorted with the luggage. There was free wifi at the airport, but we didn't have too long before the flight, so we only managed a few quick email checks and a small blog. Then, onto the plane - which bizarrely had the same crew on as [View Full Entry]

---

---

So, 4:30am, very dark, reasonably cold, and very sleepy, we all got up for breakfast. The hand powered lights didn't give off much in the way of illumination, so finding all your belongings in the tent was tricky at such a time. Then we packed up the bus, jumped aboard and set off for kings canyon, about 45 mins away. When we arrived it was still quite dark, although sunrise was only a few minutes away so we could see enough to walk. We walked up the start of two walks - one would take 3.5 hours and the other about [View Full Entry]

---

---

So 5:15am came, and Liz knocked on all our tents to get us to wake up. We then ate breakfast, got together a few things (it was still dark) and set off for the Olgas. The Olgas are a set of mountain/hillocks which were formed at the same time as Uluru, but are made with all the big bits of erosion. So they appear like a huge form of concrete when inspected closely. A conglomerate of huge stones and boulders surrounded by a red cement make up these, as opposed to the fine sand of Uluru. We were in time to [View Full Entry]

---

---

So 6:00 am came, and we had managed to just check out of the hotel when the bus turned up. I say bus, but it was actually a lorry chassis with a sort of bus thing stuck on the back. That was the first surprise. Anyway, Liz our tour guide introduced herself, we loaded the small amount of luggage and then got onto the bus. We then spent the next few minutes creeping around the suburbs of Alice Springs picking up other passengers, although one of the new hotels Liz couldn't find as it seemed to be on an unmarked road. [View Full Entry]

---

---