Blogs from Oceania - page 6507

Hi All, We flew to Alice Springs last week. A bit nervous to not be near water for a whole week. How will we cope! Well we spent the first day working out the town, it took about 5 minutes as it was Sunday and everything was closed. Alice (as the locals call it) is a small country town, which is along a river that never runs! The following day we pick up our tour to the main attractions in the Northern Territory. Our first stop was some camel riding, neither of us had done this, pretty strange, but great! We made our way into the Kata Tjuta National Park to see Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) and the magnifcent Ulura (Ayers Rock) It was a great experience watching the sunset change the colour of the rock ... read more

Jan 12. Drove east. Stopped Traralgon. Spruik. WIN tv 9 filmed for Monday night bews. Melbourne a great metropolis. I love the architecture and art. Went to lunch with Richo nad Lu at old place. Real character. Hadn't been painted in 40 years. City but. Relentlessly urban. Crowds, graphitti, litter. Couldn't help but feel relief at leaving. Small towns, countryside, it just seems easier. To pull into Lakes Entrance, seeing sea eagles, black swans, seagulls, kelp gulls, pelicans and pied oystercatchers. Free parking. Free hot showers. And the spruiking is better, softer, more personal. Of course its just families with kids. That too is special. The parents, the care, the affection, the fun! Jan 13. Chilly overcast. Drove to Orbost. Good response. Drove to Mallacoota. Charming name. Lovely spot. Green hills running SE to corner of ... read more

After my resounding success looking after the farm for one day, John and Gwen confidently set off for Sunshine in Victoria with the fleeces leaving Mum and I in charge at the farm. Their confidence was well founded. The farm ran like a well-oiled machine and they returned two days later with the farm (pretty much) how they left it. A typical day for those not of farming backgrounds went something like this: 3am: Wake up call from Leo the dog. As it turns out his bed is just uncomfortable. Readjust bed only to find Leo sleeping on yours. Ah bless... 4am: Wake up call from rooster crowing or cat jumping on you (I think they have some sort of job-share scheme going) 4.30am: Let cat out 6.30am: Wake up swim 7am: Feed chickens, sweep mess ... read more

Saturday 13th January to Sunday 14th January 2007. The 8.25am ferry from Wellington to Picton set sail out of the harbour in thick foggy mist with a visibility of about fifty yards, so short that we weren't even sure if we'd left port and the journey was just over three hours, the last hour of which, once the mists had cleared was through narrow fjord like inlets with vertical forests climbing out of the waters and which were at times as close as thirty metres away. Half an hour after leaving Wellington I had cause for my latest stress out. Leafing through the car rental details I noticed that the second car was to be picked up in Picton on the 14th. I checked my watch and then checked it again. Today was the 13th. The ... read more

As we were stopping for a couple of nights we could have a fairly chilled day though chilled in 30 degree heat isn't what it could be. After breakfast we went to Gara Gorge, which should have a spectacular waterfall, but owing to drought conditions, was barely a trickle. It was very hot, but we managed to complete a short 5.5 km walk around the gorge. Returned to camp site to cool off in the pool. A lazy afternoon, catching up on e-mails (to avoid afternoon heat) then another barbie in the evening and a couple of beers. Saturday up and away early heading west then south. Stopped in Tamworth - "home of country music Australia's answer to Nashville. Their annual CW music festival was in full swing. Had a wander along the main street several ... read more