Blogs from Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 9

What an enormous day. Left Coober Pedy early and headed north, where it became greener and greener. Stock could be seen on either side of the road and water lay by the road. River beds were dry but the trees were big and the countryside just became lusher and lusher the further we were away from Coober Pedy. Arrived in Marla, the supposed geographical centre of Australia and were amazed to find an oasis - lawn everywhere with sprinklers going and 'The Sydney Morning Herald'!! Left South Australia and entered the Northern Territory and it is 130kms/hr speed limit - thank you. This place is fantastic, beautiful! Not at all what we expected and of course this is due to all the rain that has fallen recently. Flowers, birds everywhere. Decided to spoil ourselves today as ... read more

Well where were we on the last blog? Ah yes, Curtin Springs, which turned out to be a great decision on our part. We were about to pull off when two guys who had been camping next to us enquired if we were heading for The Rock, reply, Yes! Question: Would we like these two three days passes to the park, worth $50, with still two days left, guess how long it took us to say ‘Yes please’!!! We arrived at Yalara (Ayers Rock) Resort at 10am, unhitch, make a picnic and were on our way to The Olgas by 10.45am. Oh, and by the way, did we mention what an amazing sight Uluru makes as you are driving towards the resort, even at 30km away…it is truly awesome. We start at the Olgas some 45km ... read more

EXCERPTED FROM MY BOOK: OUR SUMMER IN AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND, AMAZON.COM The camels our group rode were 8 to 10 years old, and very well behaved. After all, considering what they might be made to carry in the old days, we were a very light load for a short ride. An easy day for the camels, so they’d better behave! Our camel was named Ringee,and just our luck, he had an attitude. When first brought to this camp from Alice Springs,300 miles away, Ringee did not like one of the drivers, peed all over him and drove him from the pen. He also refused to eat. The owners, who are camel careerists, and dearly love them,determined that Ringee’s problem was being separated from his friend of many years, so he was on a hunger strike. ... read more

The next morning Ruth and I decided to take a scenic flight over mighty Lake Eyre fortunately for us there was actually some water in the lake which is generally dry. It was certainly a worthwhile experience we were able to see much more of the lake and the landscape surrounding it then we could have hoped for. We departed William Creek after the flight, passing through the dog fence on our way to the partially underground city of Coober Pedy which supposedly means “white fellas hole in the ground”. Coober Pedy is an opal mining town and like any mining town is full of peculiar and often dodgy people live here and a few people have disappeared down mine shafts over the years and bombings are not uncommon. Apart from that for the traveller the ... read more