Blogs from Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 317

Well, it’s my last night in the Territory. What better time to collect my thoughts on the Territory and the traveling lifestyle in general. What better way to end my trip with the Olympic closing ceremony and all. The Olympics have really been an integral part of my trip as they bring together all the different nationalities here in a common ground that everyone can relate to. The ceremony also allowed me to see Australia show itself to the world from Elle McPherson to Slim Dusty and his crazy good rendition of "Waltzing Matilda." The whole backpacker/hostel lifestyle was actually many times better than I thought it would be. You never feel like you're all alone because you are constantly meeting new people coming and going from all directions. That being said, you only get glimpses ... read more

It's Monday night and I'm lying on a stretcher near Uluru. The stars are so clear in the desert sky. At first today I was just bumming about how this tour wasn't like the Kakadu dreams tour and how all the same people weren't hear. But then I realized. HEY FOOL YOU'RE IN THE OUTBACK IN AUSTRALIA. Snap out of it. This is where you have wanted to be for ages. I shouldn't get down about what wasn't, but rather should be stoked about what was. Ayers Rock was just as I suspected. It was a rock. It was there and nice to look at, but Bill Bryson blew out of proportion in his book. Tomorrow we wake up ridiculously early for an early morning walk around it. Note: The Aussie Diaries are a XX part ... read more

September 17th: Day 2 My second day in Katherine and it ain't that bad. I just got back from sitting down and talking with three aborigine brothers. One of them even sung an aboriginal song about the white man's landing at Darwin. Very cool. They are a very laid back people. Sometimes a little frenetic as they get excited in a good way and wave their arms about. The oldest one said that Katherine was their land and that I was welcome on it. I bought them some rum and cola from the off license. I was just going to give it to them, but they wanted me to sit down and talk. It's funny the money I paid for drinks is a 1/4 of the price of the culture tour. So even if that doesn't ... read more

After a bit of a delay in Cairns due to mechanical problems, my flight to Ayers Rock got underway around 9:15 am, and after about 2 hours of flight, and a 30 minute time change (yeah, in Australia they have 30 min. time zone differences) we landed safely in the resort town of Ayers Rock, about 15 km outisde of the National Park. Ayers Rock resort is the only "town" in the center of Australia, and has only one purpose: allow visitors to be close to the Rock and the Olgas and enjoy the magic outback of the red center first hand. The only other access point to the Rock is Alice Springs, about 400 km to the northeast of here. The resort is actually quite amazing... all the land here is owned by the Aboriginals, ... read more

Although it rained again during the night, a climps of hope was at the horizon when i opened the dorm room door in the morning, and saw a break in the clouds... a sunrise afterall . And so i walked up the lookout not far from the lodge, had my mug of coffee in one hand, and the camera in the other and enjoyed the tranqulity of the morning and the beauty of the desert landscape with Uluru in front and the Olga's to my left. Not a bad way to start the morning. Since most people probably got up to join a tour, i was actually the only person on this little lookout and so although Uluru and Kata Tjuta were a bit more distant ( about 20 km to be exact), the sight was ... read more