The Adventure Down Under

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"Travelling in a fried out combie"…begins the song "From a Land Down Under" by Men at Work. That song has become our theme song.



This morning we headed out on our wonderful Adventure Down Under. We plan to travel for just over five weeks through Australia, travelling south from Darwin, through the centre of the continent, stopping at several places including Uluru, one of the most famous landmarks in the world. We will head south all the way to Adelaide and then take the Great Ocean Road and head to Melbourne, Sydney and then Brisbane and the Great Barrier Reef, including all the little towns and beaches in between. Then we will go to New Zealand for three weeks, USA for one week, Hamilton Ontario for 3 days and then home sweet home for September!



We rented a Wicked Van, which uses questionable marketing methods, but whose prices are unbeatable. We nicknamed our van Wicked Wanda, after my wicked friend Wanda. Wicked Wanda has been around the block quite a few times and we are grateful that she has so much experience.



Sleeping in a camper van is fun, mostly, except for the peeing at night part. We both agree that part really really sucks. It also sucks when it's so cold that the shitty propane stove (included with Wicked Wanda) takes about 60-80 minutes to boil a pot of water. Besides that we're living the dream.



We can't wait to see different flora and wildlife: some kangaroos and hopefully a couple of koala bears, camels and emus!



Scroll down for more photos!

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Photos

Wicked!
Meet Wicked Wanda, our combie van (aka two-seater van). Wanda will serve as our transport and accommodation for the next 5 weeks. Good times!

The Proud Peacock
This dude was just hanging around a roadhouse, where we stopped for a bite to eat. He had a lady friend as well but she was camera shy.

Red dirt
The landscape, although kind of drab at first glance, was actually very beautiful. Aboriginal people have an expression that when you spend time in the centre of Australia, "the red dirt will get under your skin", meaning you will never want to leave.

Hot rod mania
In a previous blog titled "Count the carts", I spoke of the multitudes of shopping carts strewn about Darwin. Well, all along the Stuart Highway (central Oz North-to-South), so far there has been an insane number of abandoned, and often trashed, cars.

Cooking on the road
Still very warm up in Katherine...but the cold weather will come as soon as we drive a few hours south. The desert is c-c-c-cold in the winter.

Cooking in the cold
Yup, just a few hours south and we are cold. The weather will be pretty cold for the remainder of our drive down the centre and the South Coast. It will get warmer as we eventually go up the East Coast.

Spinifex pigeon
I was never a fan of pigeons until I met the far more elegant spinifex variety, here in Oz. They hung around our van hoping for food scraps. Majeed couldn't believe it when he saw me tossing them some sunflower seeds. I was surprised myself.

Endearing emu
This lady was the campground "pet" at our site in Katherine, NT. We saw many wild emus during our drive down the centre of Oz. WAY cool!

Clinton Gaykamangu
This guy was a client of Majeed's through the Walkabout Your Business program. He is a fantastic artist and we bought a traditional Aboriginal painting from him. Rockin!

Last day!
This is me on my last day of work. I really loved the energy and the people I worked with at St John's.

Wanda's Rear
You wouldn't believe the number of people who have honked, high-fived, and commented on our Wanda.

The Nassirs
Daughter Barbara (artist) and Mother Joanne (motivational speaker) Nassir were both Majeed's clients also. We bought a couple of small contemporary Aboriginal paintings from Barbara. Can't wait to hang them!

Comments

[Catharine]

jealous
Great pictures! Have fun!

[Ginger]

Cant wait to see you!!
September!?!? Can't wait to see you guys!! Hope you're having a wonderful vacation;)