Blogs from Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 2

I'm not a fan of camping. I'm not a fan of caravans. So when Steve proposed doing some of our exploring in a campervan, well, I wasn't a fan of that idea either. However, after using up every argument against it I could think of (apparently they come with all mod cons these days) I was eventually persuaded that it was the only way to do certain parts of our trip; it would provide us with masses of flexibility (you've got to be flexible!) and it would be great fun. Not totally convinced but willing to give it a try, we went to collect our campervan from Apollo Vehicle Rentals, just a short-ish walk from our hotel. During the course of Steve's research from home, we'd read lots of horror stories about the poor condition and ... read more

We have two overnight stops before we arrive at Coober Pedy these are purely pull in parks and rest for the night although one at Woomera is famous for being a secret rocket testing station during WW2. We have stayed here before and explored the museum and seen the display of rockets on show so this time we use the park simply as a stopover. Coober Pedy is the Opal Capital of the world producing 85% of the worlds opal.With a fascinating history Coober Pedy has attracted miners from all over the world since 1915 when Opal was first found here. In January 1915 A small group of gold prospectors camped here and were searching for water when the 14 year old son of one of the group found pieces of Opal on the surface, eight ... read more

Just had two amazing days in the Red Centre. We arrived at Alice Springs late afternoon, had a quick swim then went for a walk-about. Not a lot to see or do there, quite an odd little town really as the modern parts have just been built on a grid system with not a lot of style or thought behind them! We went up to a viewing point to watch the sunset and then to the only decent restaurant we could find. All the people are lovely so our stay was very short but pleasant. Early next morning we got a coach to Ayers Rock. That's about 450km so took about 6 hours with a couple of pit-stops for refreshment. No sign of any wildlife except for a few kangaroos and camels in enclosures at the ... read more

21 decembre 2014 ; Lever a 4h00pour aller visiter ce fameux caillou. Nous partons en petit groupe dans un mini-bus, Arrive sur place, environ une heure avant le lever du soleil, on nous offre un petit dejuner, puis du haut de cette petite dune, nous regardons le soleil se lever. Malheureusement, il se leve a gauche de notre Uluru et non pas derriere. Dommage, car avec le ciel couvert que nous avons ca aurait pu etre magique (comme le Machu Picchu au Perou il y a deux ans). Nous faisons ensuite le tour du Uluru avec quelques arrets et les explications de notre guide-chauffeur. Nous nous arretons ensuite au Centre Culturel oun il y a des souvenirs, hors de prix, en vente. Je suis un peu decu, car nous sommes dans le parc Uluru-Kata Tjuta, dont ... read more

20 decembre 2014 : Lever a 5h00. Petit dejeuner puis douche et nous sommes prets a partir. Depart pour l'aeroport de Sydney a 6h00. Avec les embouteillages, nous arrivons a 8h45, pour un vol prevu a 10h30. Impression des tickets a la machine automatique et nous arrivons a la porte indiquee, numero 55, a 9h15. A 9h40, nous nous apercevons que la porte d'embarquement a change, et que maintenant c'est la porte 54. Nous surveillons le tableau en permanence, heureusement, car un quart d'heure plus tard c'est maintenant la porte 53. L'hotesse nous previent qu'il y a un probleme d'ordinateur et que nous decollerons avec une heure de retard, a savoir vers 11h30. Finallement, nous decollons a 11h20. Nous arrivons a Ayers rock a 14h10, soit 13h40, heure locale. Un bus de l'hotel nous attend a ... read more