Blogs from Oceania

It’s Mother’s Day, when our offspring get to shower my beloved with love and affection, and gifts … or at least they would if they were here. As I think I noted previously I thought it was Mother’s Day last Sunday, so I dutifully went out and bought my beloved a box of chocolates before I realised my mistake. Perhaps unsurprisingly they’ve all been eaten, so now it’s off to the shop at the Desert Oaks Resort here in the thriving metropolis of Erldunda, population 25, in search of another suitable offering. I’m not sure packets of chips or spare parts for caravans are quite going to cut it, but all good, my beloved insists that it’s the thought that counts. I hope she means it. Today we continue our long journey home, 500 odd kilometres ... read more

Friday 10 th May, DarwinBig4 Howard Springs, Darwin NTCost $44.75 per night with membershipRated by us 7/10Mileage 20079 travelled 0After another hot and humid night I made the call “I have had enough”, why are we putting up with this when we are not enjoying things and we can find little that we want to do particularly as we we are been restricted with the dog. Darwin is not a tourist town and even a few people on the park are having issues getting dog sitters, we have found them in abundance at other tourist towns. AS my last two attempts at gett6ing us something to do have failed I turned it over to G today and he chose The Military Museum, we visited on our last trip up here but it is worth ... read more

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. And 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 ... read more