July 17 Tonight I’m the old grandma sitting in a lawn chair while Frank, Riley and Dante swim in the hot springs at Mataranka. I did go in earlier, but once is enough for me. About 100 meters down the pools, freshwater crocodiles are present, but are no danger to adults. Riley seems the right size though, so it is upstream for our family. But, to start with this morning. We woke up to no water in our DELUXE room, so changed our plans for having brekky in our room, and did an early departure. But we never even got out of the parking lot before encountering our first flock of parrots - red-winged parrots. Colorful and with very playful antics. We had a short ride today so no one got a chance to be bored. ... read more

Well, I just discovered some of you were sending messages/comments and I did not know it. But, we have found them all and loved hearing from you. Just keep sending them the way you have and I will be able to access them. I have to go back to my laundry duties for a minute before I go on to today. While I was doing laundry another woman came in to do some as well. I said...Not much of a holiday doing laundry. She said, My mother always said...Just another sink. And, one more thing. I think the chances are good (bad) that we will not be in touch for a week. We are going to really remote places where there is little chance of being connected either by phone or internet. So, don't worry about ... read more

Oh, the joys of multi-tasking. Kids are swimming, Frank on life-guard duty; I am blogging whilst doing laundry. Had breky in the hotel today (kids eat free, so why not?) and then walked to a Reptile Center where every imaginable snake, lizard, skink, goanna, etc., that exists in central Australia is on display. The exciting part was that everyone got to hold the day's victims (surrender to the tourists for an hour). Lots of pictures but I'll just post highlights. If the kids were here they would identify each, but I didn't bother to learn either their biological or pet names. And, don't look for me holding any of the adorable creatures. Someone had to take the pictures. I would have, really, but there were just so many pictures to take. Then, we shopped for lunch ... read more

G'Day Mates: Today was a great day. There is so much to do in Alice Springs, it's been hard to decide what to leave out. And, so much has changed since we've last been here. So, today we slept in - until 7:30 - had a big breakfast, hit the visitor's center and then took the short drive to the Desert Park (new to us). What a beautiful place. It is a multi-acre preserve where native plants and animals are shown in the natural habitats. Lots of the birds are in screened enclosures, but the beauty is that the same birds are flying around free as well. And, they have a nocturnal exhibit where all the night creatures can be seen as well. If it sounds like a zoo, it really is not. The exhibits are ... read more

Just realized this was never sent. We are all holding up well. The kids are getting 8 to 10 hours of sleep plus a nap in the car. Frank is getting about 7 to 8 hours, and Im (no apostrophes) getting 5 to 6. Cant seem to get my internal clock to change to Australian time. But, Im doing ok. Maybe Ill just crash one day. Today we drove through our first real desert. Saw some eagles, roos, and parrots, and a lot of emptiness.. But, the big treat was Lake Eyre. Australia is shaped like a bowl, with Lake Eyre in the center and desert all around it. All of the rain that falls in the north drains eventually into the Lake. On average there is enough rain to fill the lake every eight years. ... read more