Blogs from Australian Capital Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 18

Sunday morning (the 28th) we got to the train station bright and early and settled in for our 4 1/2 hour train ride from Sydney to Canberra (pronounced "CAN-brah", not "Can-BEAR-ah"). It was pretty uneventful...I got breakfast from the dining car and Matt had gotten pretzels and juice from the vending machine before we left the station. I read most of the way and Matt stared out of the window trying to spot kangaroos. We got into Canberra Station around 11:30am and saw Dan, Ali, and Jackson right away waiting for us. Matt told me to go ahead and he'd get the bags so I ran right out and gave Ali the biggest hug I could...without squishing her 8 1/2 month old pregnant belly :) It's been almost 4 years since we've seen each other and ... read more

Well, we decided to do the three towns covered by the Dinosaur Trail. Until recently Australia was not well known for dinosaur fossils but it is now known that most of Australia supported dinosaurs and their fossils can be found where-ever the rock has eroded back to the relevant period rock. The first two towns, Richmond and Hughenden, are known for their marine fossils. The great inland sea which covered a lot of inland Australia retreated about 100 million years ago when sea levels fell the last time, so all fossils in this area are at least 100 million years old. We arrived in Richmond (our first stop on the trail) just as the museum opened and spent quite a while exploring the wonders of Australia's dinosaur discoveries. At Richmond is Kronosaurus Korner, a museum and ... read more

Yes I know, we have been a pair of slack arses when it has come to blogging, but we both agreed that we didn’t have anything to write about, Until a month ago. It was just another normal Thursday, we parked the truck, Caroline went to her building and I went to mine, I’m sure I have told you that though we both work for the same company, but we do not share the same building. From what I remember I was having a good day, when my phone rang, at around 11.30 it was Caroline, I think you are just about to be told you are off to Christmas Island. Because, well, you know I can’t tell you that. Five minutes later, I was off home to pack a case, I was booked at a ... read more

Well it has been a while but we have been out of service range. After leaving Jabiru we headed to Cooinda and the Yellow Waters Billabong. We decided to book a boat cruise on the billabong and thoroughly enjoyed it. After Jabiru we were not as impressed with the camping ground at Cooinda but we eventually got set up and enjoyed our time there. We were tempted to put our own boat in the billabong but I was a bit nervous about the crocs (and there were plenty of them). We did cruise past a guy in his own boat who was just dragging a Barra into his boat but we decided that since we were heading to Daly River from here we would wait. Having left Kakadu, we must say it really did not live ... read more

Well, I have arrived in Canberra our nations capital and it is absolutely frrrreeeeeeezzzing! I can not for the life of me see how people can live in this place and not be bothered by the weather. The RAAF have put me up in a very classy serviced apartment. It is very new and well appointed with not one, but two flat screen televisions, there is one directly in front of my King-sized bed and another in the living room. These guys sure do know how to travel. Beats trying to catch some Z's leaning up against a tree in pouring rain wearing a Gortex raincoat that you share with your weapon. (Only Grunt's and homeless Yokel's know the feeling). Tomorrow I am being picked up in the morning at a leisurely 08:30 hrs to be ... read more