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Published: April 6th 2008
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We got on our plane in Tahiti on March 25th...but we arrived in Sydney Australia on March 27...we missed a whole day while in the air!
Sydney, Australia is a wonderful city, and everybody spoke ENGLISH!!!!! You just have no idea how much you feel comforted by the sound of English until you are without it for a few weeks. We got off the plane, cruised through customs (they were ripping everyone else's stuff apart, so we got very lucky!) and headed over to the bank of phone with hotels and backpacker lodgings.
(BTW: for travelers, there are two banks of phones, one for hotels of all ranges and one for hostels and backpackers...so easy to use and very covenient!!!!)
We saw a hotel called "The George" on George St. in Sydney...right where we wanted to be, I mean, how could we pass that up??? It was a great little hotel/hostel right in the middle of the action and an easy walk everywhere.
The best and cheapest way into Sydney is the Shuttle Bus (For travelers: at $12AUS it was cheaper than the public transport rail and drops you at the door -- just hang out at
Sydney's Fruit Bats
Found in the park overlooking Sydney Harbor, these bats "hang" out during the day waiting for the evening hunt of fruit and veggies. THEY'RE HUGE! "The Meeting Place" right outside of customs and the drivers come by asking if you need a lift to your hotel.), which took us right to George St.
We checked in and made great time getting down to the Sydney Harbor and the Opera House. We spent the whole day walking around Sydney seeing the sites. Truly a great city, wish we had more days. The next day we had Dim Sum in Chinatown for breakfast and then we did more of the touristy things; the harbor, the fruit bats (a must see!), the zoo, Manley beach, etc...
Two nights were not enough...but we did get to see Sydney...and now we look forward to a return trip soon. Jessica loved the Hong Kong feel of the city. Lots going on, lots of Chinese food, shopping, the harbor...except again, all in english!
We got up early to catch our plane to Ayers Rock in the Northern Territory on the 29th.
Now Ayers Rock is a massive rock out in the middle of nowhere that is viewed as an Australian "must-see". There is one company that owns the only resort nearby and has a whole range of accomodations
The Dingo...
Apparently a woman at the zoo (just before we arrived) was viewing the Dingo exhibit and dropped her baby... from dorms to luxuxry hotel rooms. We found the place pretty affordable considering that they have to truck in everything. We got two nights for two in a four-person dorm room, which we shared with a great young Canadian couple.
They have a "hop-on, hop-off" service that drops you at the different locations to see Ayers Rock for around $40 per day, per person. We were just about to book that service when we walked over to the car rental company and asked about their cheapest rental car. What luck we had!!! They had a car headed to get repaired in two days with a drivers side window motor problem. If we took it the'd let us have it for half the price that a fully working car would have cost us. So we had our own, very nice car, for the whole two days cheaper than the cheapest tourist service.
There are two major attractions: Ayers Rock and The Olgas -- and both should be seen. Now in the new politically correct world Ayers Rock is not really Ayers Rock it is Uluru. Since none of you have ever heard of that, we will still call it
Ayers Rock. But the other part is that there is a real effort to try to discourage people from climbing Ayers Rock by the native Aborginal tribe that technically owns the land and leases it to the Australian Government (climbing the rock is the whole reason you go to this place in the middle of the desert).
Here is our perspective: The only way to get the true "spirtual" impact of the rock is to see and understand the size and place of this massive rock set in the country that surrounds it -- and the only way to understand it is from the top. The trip to the top should not be missed unless you are physically unable. It will take your breath away (figuratively and literally) and you just don't understand the size unless you make the hike.
And apparently most tourists agree with us...and regardless of the messages all over, it is not dangerous as long as you are not afraid of heights. We started up Ayers Rock mid-morning and it was already very busy with people coming down, we literally passed 100s of people going down the rock. But at the time we started
Thorny Devil
This little lizzard looks scary, but only eats ants. We met him along our 9km walk around the base of Ayers Rock. up it was getting warmer, so very few people started up behind us as I guess most people decided to wait until the afternoon...when we got to the top we almost had it all to ourselves. We sat up there for some time -- just taking in the beauty!
There is no way pictures can give you a clear impression how big the space is when you look across the desert from atop Ayers Rock. But enjoy the pictures.
One thing they don't tell you about Central and Western Australia is THE FLIES!!!! We bought fly nets to cover our heads and they were very valuable when we went and hiked The Olgas...more big rocks. These massive rocks are about 40 miles from Ayers Rock and appear just as out of place as Ayers Rock does in this flat desert.
We made the five mile hike in the heat of the day....but there were plenty of areas shaded by the rock. Again we had the place to ourselves and it was so peaceful. For us, what made the trip to central Australia so memorable was the hikes up and around these natural wonders. For those that roll
Atop Ayers Rock
From here you can see The Olga's in the background. out to Ayers Rock in a big coach, and don't get out and hike around...I think you may miss the whole impact. I think Ayers Rock could be a disappointment to people who just visited the established viewpoints from the seat of a car or coach. You really just twiddle your thumbs after 10 minutes. So if you plan on visitng Ayers Rock...get out and hike up and around, it is sooooooo worth it!!!
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Kathy
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Hi
Love the pictures! And Jessica's hat!