Blogs from Oceania - page 3

Thursday 9 th , DarwinBig4 Howard Springs, Darwin NTCost $44.75 per night with membershipRated by us 7/10Mileage 20079 travelled 0Well we both had a horrible night the humidity rises during the night and it got to 75% last night, the air con coped just but it felt like the air was wet. The towels on the line which are normally bone drive after our showers the previous night were still wet, in fact wetter than when we hung them up. I admitted to G today that I am glad that from here our feet are heading in a homeward direction. I don't want to rush but I am ready to start heading back and glad we decided not to do QLD this trip.Nice drive around Fannie Bay and the gardens down town this morning ... read more

Today we head 300 or so kilometres north- east to Kings Canyon in the Watarrka National Park. But first a quick stop at the Yulara petrol station, where we enjoy the privilege of paying somewhere around 40% more per litre than the current price back in Melbourne. It seems the premium petrol that we’re told our chariot needs is indeed a very valuable commodity out here. There’s a padlock on the bowser, and the sign says we need to go inside and beg for a key before we‘re allowed to pump even a single drop of this liquid gold. I’m not sure we’ve ever seen anything like that before. I can only assume the whole padlock thing is to stop you driving away without paying, but I’m not sure why you couldn’t do that anyway …. ... read more

As I stroll back from breakfast it’s a bit hard not to notice the “do not disturb” sign on the door of the room next to ours. This wouldn't normally be worthy of comment, except it’s been there every time we’ve walked past since we got here a couple of days ago. I guess the inhabitants might be honeymooners. I hope so. I’m not sure I want to think too hard about other possible explanations. Issy’s legs have gone on strike after yesterday’s exertions, so I head off alone to explore Kata Tjuṯa (also known as Mount Olga), Uluṟu’s slightly lesser known neighbour, 50 odd kilometres to the west. It consists of 36 spectacular red granite, basalt and sandstone domes, the tallest of which rises 546 metres above the surrounding plain, and is thus nearly 200 ... read more

Today we plan to take the 10 kilometre odd stroll around the base of the mighty monolith that is the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Uluṟu. But first we must survive breakfast. I decide I must have dreamed I watched a spectacular Uluṟu sunset last night. We just can’t be out here in the back of beyond of our vast homeland; we’re clearly in some mass tourist resort hotel next to Disneyland - screaming kids, and foreign tourists of every colour and creed fighting over a buffet. As I said yesterday we hardly saw a single person on the hundreds of kilometres of road in here …. unless I dreamt that bit as well … and I know I’ve asked before, but where exactly did all these people come from and how did they get here? Anyway, ... read more

So today we’ll be heading 450 kms south-west to Uluṟu, the iconic monolith formerly known as Ayers Rock. It’s Mother’s Day, so I went out dutifully last night and bought my beloved a box of chocolates. I then wished her a happy Mother’s Day and espoused her virtues on our extended family chat … well I thought it was Mother’s Day … until someone pointed out that I was a week early. I hope we can still eat the chocolates. We’re up at the crack of dawn for an early getaway … well that was the plan until we notice that one of our tyres appears to be more than a tad on the flat side. Hmmm. But no worries, we’ve got a spare, and a jack, and a wheel brace, so we’ll be on our ... read more