Blogs from Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 5

The morning and afternoon was filled with flying. We left Cairns, flew into Sydney, and then caught our flight to Ayers Rock to visit Uluru. The airport in Ayers Rock had all but1 baggage claim and 3 gates. All of the hotels in Ayers Rock were apart of one resort, we stayed at The Lost Camel and it had a very interesting layout, so interesting we took video footage of it. Upon on our arrival, the weather was very warm and we took advantage of it and toured the resort. We did a bit of shopping and bought some boomerangs and got to see some Aboriginals make and decorate different tools and paintings. Their talent is really quite amazing and their workmanship is something to be admired. For a quick lunch we had a kangaroo panini ... read more

Today we were leaving Melbourne to start our travels!! We caught a taxi to the airport at 5am and enjoyed a coffee and a doughnut whilst waiting to board our plane. We were travelling from Melbourne to Sydney, where we then had to change planes to fly from Sydney to Ayers Rock. Our flight from Melbourne was a little delayed but luckily not by enough to impact the next flight from Sydney. The weather in Sydney was still looking a little miserable when we arrived at the airport but we were glad to see that there was blue skies and sunshine when we arrived at Ayers Rock. There is only 1 resort for accommodation in Ayers Rock, but there are lots of options of hotels/ camping/ motels and hostels within that resort.We were staying in the ... read more

After a couple of nights in Alice Springs stocking up supplies and having a bit of a look around town we headed toward the red centre of Australia to see the big red rock. We were only 130kms out of Alice when we stopped for a wee break and were sizing up the area for an overnight camp possibility for our trip back. There was a couple camped there already and they had a nice little spot in the shade. Clean toilets, covered table and a little bit of water in the river for a swim. All of a sudden the lady stands up and starts to cry out in pain. Her husband tried desperately to calm her down but within a minute he was yelling out to us for help. She had started to convulse ... read more

Kakadu and the ‘Red Centre’ of Australia provide us with our first experiences of Aboriginal life, in various manifestations: culturally and historically significant cave paintings; the sale of indigenous art; informative educational centres and the less appealing sight of underemployed people drinking and arguing with each other in the street. We knew very little about Aboriginal culture, so we couldn’t help but learn every day. It relies upon oral tradition and paintings, rather than a written language or history. The 250 or more languages were not documented until European settlement (one of the few positive contributions to Aboriginal life made by white settlers). The ‘dreaming’ myths that form the basis of the history of the Australian continent are animistic, featuring serpents, birds, yam-headed humanoids and living rocks, among other unusual creatures. We saw plenty of unfa ... read more

Our first Outback adventure took us to Uluru /Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Ayers Rock Resort is only a 20 min. drive from Uluru/Ayers Rock and 45 min. from Kata Tjuta/The Olgas. This Blog entry covers the first two days where we explored Uluru and completed the 10.6km walk around it. The most fascinating part of this circumnavigation was the continual changes in character of both the vegetation around, and the appearance of, Uluru. I hope these shots reflect that. Cheers from Jan & Garry The panorama above was taken from the north east, showing a longer and more streamlined side of Uluru than the tourist carpark view from the north west. If your eyes are good you can just make out the tiny profile of The Olgas at the ... read more