Blogs from Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 6

We spent our first night in the Northern Territory at the Threeways Roadhouse, at the junction of the Stuart and Barkly Highways, 27 kilometres north of Tennant Creek. We were in a motel unit, with shadecloth for a fly screen, a rattly, loud air conditioner and inoperable reading lights as someone had thoughtfully removed the globes. Moving on to our first real stop, we headed south to Alice Springs, with a stop for a quick look at the Overland Telegraph Station at Barrow Creek and a glance at the Devil’s Marbles. There is a huge amount of popular history in the Northern Territory – what with The Ghan, the Overland Telegraph, John Flynn and of course all the early explorers and well-intentioned missionaries. As we approached Alice we also noticed that the so-called red centre is ... read more

It was a big day for us today. We drove from Marla to the Ayers Rock Resort at Yulara. Not an especially long drive, about five hundred kilometres, more that it was part of a dream fulfilled. Not long after we turned onto the Lasseter Highway the magic happened. The landscape became quite beautiful. Soft grass tussocks gently swaying in the breeze, wattles and grevilleas in flower everywhere, and wildflowers of many colours decorated the red sand. As we came around one bend we were struck by the beauty of a huge monolith in the distance. Not Ularu as we originally thought, but Mount Connor. The beauty of Ularu was not to be seen for at least another fifty kilometres. And when did see it, we were in awe. Ayers Rock is much more beautiful in ... read more

We have been at Uluru for 4 days now and have really the more slower pace. Our shoes are covered the red dirt and the clothes don't take long to get dirty. There are many more overseas tourists here. They travel on the buses or hire the vans that you can sleep in. There are rabbits outside the van and little bush hoppers which we first thought were mouse. You see alot of the same people. Last night, Mum met someone from Ormond but they used tomlive in Thomas Street. They are traveling for a year with their children.... read more

Yesterday was a very exciting day because we were heading to Uluru. On the way there we stopped at an Aboriginal art centre. Their artwork was really well done. The art was from a local Aboriginal community and the women came in to paint at the Roadhouse. All money went back ton the community. We bought sone presents. We had tried to visit an Aboriginal community a few days earlier to look at the art and crafts. You are allowed to go in without a permit but you can only visit the art centre and not their homes. There was a school and it had a big fence around it. The Aboriginal kids were playing. We were disappointed that the art centre was closed for lunch. We did not have time to wait the hour and ... read more

OLGAS -Valley winds walk(VOW) and Walpa Gorge(WG) (2929 km to 3037 km) and sunset at campground.(ARC) CADES DIARY We did Walpa Gorge and Valley of the Winds walks.... read more