Week 1

Monday, March 5, 2001 - Sydney

First thing, we headed off for our Sydney Harbour cruise, where we got to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House up close! I couldn't believe my eyes - finally I have made it to Australia!!! WOOHOO!!!!

After the cruise, we dodged some rain by exchanging some traveler's checks. Then we headed off to do some quick souvenir shopping and grab a quick bite for lunch before making our way to the Visitor Center to join our afternoon City Sights tour.

After some time waiting, and seeing Billy Connolly walk by us, we found out that we had been given the wrong information by the travel agent, so we missed our tour. (Thanks a lot UNIGLOBE & GOWAY!) Angry and frustrated, we called home, Goway and our travel agent back home. I can't believe that we traveled 16022 km (9956 miles) and this happens.

Having lost out on seeing any more of Sydney, we decided we would head back to the hotel to try calm down and relax in the roof top pool.

Before we left, Billy Connolly passed by once again, I approached him while he was looking through postcards on a rack. I asked him if I could get a picture with him - he agreed, so Cheryl snapped the picture of us - what a nice guy - check out that smile! Thanks Billy!!!

March 6, 7, 8, 2001 The RED Center

Tuesday, March 6, 2001

Today we boarded our plane to Alice Springs. When we arrived, we had to wait a little to get a taxi to our hotel. Our taxi driver was quite a "colorful" character - I think he was a gypsy! He told us that we should not hesitate to climb Uluru, he's already done it three times. 

We entered Alice Springs through the West Macdonnell Ranges, our hotel was nestled in the foothills of those ranges.

We checked into our hotel then we headed off on the next bus to town. We explored a little, shopped a little and even visited a tattoo parlor, but the blood stains on a chair scared me off!

We had an aboriginal woman come over to sit with us as we waited for our bus back to the hotel. She was an elderly woman that was a little "special!" She sat mumbling to us while chewing on tabacco - ick! Cheryl and I giggled as we tried to figure out what she was talking about - we were happy to see our bus pull up, especially since I was ready to be sick from watching her swish around the chewing tabacco in her mouth!

In the evening, we decided to head off to the casino across from the hotel to have dinner and then gamble. During dinner, we played Keno. After dinner we got into the slots before we headed back to the hotel. (As per usual, I didn't win!)

Wednesday, March 7, 2001

Off to Ayer's rock bright and early. Along the way we enjoyed the scenery as it went from green, to extremely red!

We stopped at a camel farm, where Cheryl and I rode a "Ship of the Desert!" We were hysterical watching people ride the camels, then we decided to go. We would have been put to shame if the 70+ year old woman on our tour did it and we didn't! It was actually a nicer ride than a horse!!!

We continued on our way, smelling like camels, to our hotel in the Ayer's rock resort. We ate some lunch then headed off to Kata Tjuta and Uluru.

Kata Tjuta / The Olgas Kata Tjuta, meaning "many heads" in Aboriginal language, is a collection of 36 massive rock domes located 42km to the west of Uluru. Kata Tjuta is not one large rock but a system of gorges and valleys that allows people to walk around and soak in the quiet and spiritual environment. It is of equal significance as the Uluru is to the Anangu people but fewer stories about it have be told. The tallest rock, Mount Olga, is 546 meters high, which is nearly 200 meters higher than Uluru. There are two major walking trails, namely The Valley of the Winds and The Olga Gorge. The former takes about three hours and leads you to several deep gorges. The latter leads up to the beautiful Olga Gorge and to its deadened cliff face and a rock pool.

Uluru / Ayers Rock Measured at 3.6km long and 2.4km wide, Uluru stands at the height of 348 meters above the plains. It is made from a single piece of sandstone, which extends 5km beneath the desert surface. Uluru is also well known for its immense Aboriginal cultural significance. Archeological evidence suggests that Aboriginal people have lived in Uluru for at least 22,000 years and that both Uluru and Kata Tjuta have long been places of enormous ceremonial and cultural significance to a number of Aboriginal tribes. The traditional tribe owners of Uluru are the Anangu people and they believe that ancestral spirits formed these sites during the creation period. The Anangu also believe that they are the direct descendants of these ancestral beings and, as such, responsible for the protection and management of these lands. The name Uluru means "great pebble" in the Aboriginal language. Uluru is also an outstanding natural phenomenon, whereby the giant rock changes it colors according to the day's weather. The colors vary from bright red to dark gray or black during sunny or rainy days respectively.  (www.marimari.com/content/australia/popular_places/northern_territory/ulurukata_tjuta/main.html)

Had I known we were going to "walk" through the Olgas gorge, I would have worn my running shoes. I couldn't believe how red they were once we arrived. From the distance they looked a bluish-purple!

We walked through the gorge, I left Cheryl behind as I tried to keep up with the rest of the group, climbing up the steep hills looking at the huge boulders that had fallen from the sides of the Olgas, and seeing the vegetation that was growing, being fed from the water running down the sides of the Olgas!

I gave up the rest of the trek into the gorge since my shoes were like slippers and I could feel every single stone I stepped on - my feet had had enough! I trekked back to the place where Cheryl and others were waiting. The leaders of the pack were not far behind me, we were now heading off to Ayer's Rock to watch the sun set on the rock.

Arriving at a lookout point, we all got off the bus and waited around for our glass of bubbly. In just a few minutes, tour bus after tour bus pulled up! We all secured our spots, sipping our bubbly as we waited for the sun to set on the rock. Unfortunately it was quite a bleak day out, so we missed out on the Ayer's Rock Sunset - perhaps tomorrow the sunrise will happen.

As we were being brought back to the hotels, we jumped off the bus at the local shopping court (at the suggestion of our tour guide) so that we could scrounge up some food for breakfast in the morning. Since we would be leaving the hotel before sunrise, no restaurants would be open for breakfast at that un-Godly hour!

The food store was amazing, you can tell that they cater specifically to the people like us - idiots crazy enough to drag their butts out of bed to head off before sunrise! They had muffins and many other individually wrapped pastries, cheeses, crackers, etc... as well as utensils and condiments, they're so brilliant!

We were going to have dinner in this shopping court, but with how crowded it was, we decided to head back to the hotel. What a wait that was. The line for the buses was long, and they arrived so far apart. Since you were in the middle of nowhere, taxis were nonexistent. A couple of people actually trekked through the bush to the hotel, but we didn't feel that adventurous in the pitch black!

Once back at the hotel, we found one of the restaurants closed for renovations. As we walked alongside the restaurant, a mouse ran across my path freaking me out - dancing around like an idiot in a "terror jig," I think I scared the life out of the poor little mouse!

Luckily there was the "greasy spoon" open for dinner - we got some burgers and fries (yumm grease!) and headed back to the room.

Thursday, March 8, 2001

The 3:30 am wake up call was a killer. We had our showers, ate, packed up our luggage, checked out and were at the front of the hotel for the 4:45 pickup.

Some individuals were asking if people were going to climb Uluru, almost everyone but the young kids weren't going to be climbing it. I wanted to see it before I made my decision, but the "tramping on sacred ground" bothered me - if it is a sacred place to some people, we shouldn't be disturbing it just for a thrill! One word - Karma! (Besides, with my luck I'd be the idiot falling off of it!)

This time we parked along a road with all the other tour buses. We stirred about looking for the best spot to see the rock. As the sky got brighter, we were all hopeful to get to see the sun hit the rock and make it glow, but once again it didn't happen - a little disappointing when you get up so early in the morning. Oh well, I guess it just means I will have to go back!!! (How I wish!)

After the supposed sunrise, we headed off to get up close and personal with the rock. The news made it to the tour guide that the winds were too strong for climbing (gosh darn!!!) so no one was allowed up. They seem to reassess the situation every hour or so, so the people that wanted to climb were told that they could wait and see or go on a base tour. One woman wanted to do the complete 9km walk, so off she went. We stayed on for the guided walking tour.

Carlos, our guide, was an amazing story teller (and he had very nice legs - LOL). He told us the aboriginal Dreamtime stories about Uluru. After a few minutes, we were seeing the figures in the rock that were described in his story - very amazing!   

The Bloodwood Trees at Ayer's Rock (for some reason, this is my all time fave pic - very dramatic)

In the afternoon, we made our way back to Alice Springs. On a pit stop, we saw our first kangaroo in someone's front yard - Cheryl didn't believe me at first - so we walked over to see! I guess it was their pet - it seemed to hop around happily in it's enclosure.

Once back at our hotel, we got some washing done, while watching a little lizard and a praying mantis up on the outside wall catching their meals for the evening - I don't think I'd ever see that again!

Friday, March 9, 2001 - Alice Springs to Coober Pedy

Today we made our way to the train station to board The Ghan to take us to Coober Pedy. Shortly after arriving there, we found out more bad news that our travel agent and Goway neglected to inform us about - the baggage allowance for the plane that will take us from Coober Pedy to Adelaide.

Since the weather in Coober Pedy is so hot, the planes cannot carry very much baggage. They would not be able to get off the ground if they did!

We were now in a huge dilemma - since our bags contained scuba gear, they were WAY over the limit. The agent at the train station said that the luggage would follow hopefully the next day, most likely by bus. This wasn't good news since we weren't spending too much time in Adelaide - our heads were pounding. What next?!

Until we boarded the train, we were breaking our heads trying to think of what to do. Then Cheryl came up with a brilliant idea - since The Ghan ended in Adelaide, perhaps we could just leave the luggage on the train, then pick it up once we got to Adelaide.

We asked the attendant if this was possible, and she said she would ask. She came back with a yes - what a weight lifted from our shoulders - now we had to ask if we could get to our bags in order to get stuff out of them. She went and got the keys to the baggage car, as well as new tags for our luggage. I think I could have kissed her feet at that point!

Cheryl and I found our bags in one of the racks. After searching for the luggage keys I dropped (Cheryl could have killed me!), we took out our spare bag and started throwing the bare minimum stuff we needed with us in.

Now we were happy campers! We settled in for the ride to Coober Pedy. The ride was amazing - so relaxing. We listened to our walkmans, played some Boggle and Yahtzee, read magazines and watched for kangaroos in the wild. We spotted only about 3-4. I saw one pretty large one standing in the shade of a tree - I guess that's how they stay somewhat cool during the daylight hours.

After sunset, we watched the moon rising. It was so amazing, several of us snapped photos.

After a little while, the attendants came in to advise us that our stop would be coming up. We gathered up all our belongings and got ready to leave.

Once the train came to a stop, we headed for the door to get off. The attendant kept repeating to everyone to be careful - it was a huge step down. They suggested we came down backwards. I wasn't really paying attention to everything around, I was too focused on not falling down the stairs, so I was completely shocked to turn around and find no station, (I wish I could have seen my face!) just a man in a 4WD with a flashlight, a cooler, setting up a table of food and popping open some bubbly. Thank goodness I used the wild fold down toilet on the train!

Now I fully understood the tour description saying - "weather permitting!" Every time I would look over our brochures, this I couldn't understand! All of us were taken aback - we all kept laughing about it as we ate in the middle of nowhere in the dark night. The stars were absolutely beautiful. A few minutes later the thought of Australia having the 10 most deadly snakes popped into my head - so I asked the man that had come to take us into Coober Pedy if there were any around this area.

"Well, the good thing is you won't see them coming." was his reply as he laughed. Very comforting!!!

It was a very long bumpy ride into town, but great fun. We found out that our driver was also the mailman - and supposedly all the other passengers with us were joining him on his "mail run!" It seems to be a popular thing - the tour is over twelve hours long!!! (Yes, I did say twelve hours!) They cover 600 kilometers on the tour - whew - talk about a lot of bumping around!

Once we saw the town lights off in the distance, we were happy to know we were almost there! We checked into our Underground Hotel room, then had to change it because the room only had one bed. I think we got upgraded because we gave our driver a tip. When we went to the front desk he was there talking to the concierge. The next room was really underground, we had to go down steps!!! It contained two separate rooms - it was definitely a five star room! Talk about wild.

Before heading to bed, we went to have a drink and play some video game machines in the world's only underground bar/gaming room (so they state) - we definitely couldn't pass up that opportunity!

Chances are that if you've heard of opal, then you've heard the name Coober Pedy. Coober Pedy is recognized as the largest producer of opal in the world with an estimated 70% of the world's precious opal being mined in the area. The Coober Pedy Precious Stones Field, from which the opal is mined, covers an area close to 5,000 square kilometers of which only an estimated 10% has been worked. So with all that opal just lying around, it should come as no surprise that most of the 100,000 travelers passing through Coober Pedy try their hand at "Noodling", also known as scratching around in the dust. This is the process of searching through heaps of discarded mullock (rubble removed from a mine) for pieces of opal missed by the miners. Many locals make a living off this method and you too could strike it rich! Permission must be obtained from the claim owner to fossick on his/her claim. The most productive heaps are those excavated by bulldozers where opal may have been crushed or overlooked by careless operators. Remember to take great care NOT to fall in one of the thousands of open mine shafts found out on the fields. If you get the bug real bad and start thinking about your own mine, be aware that you'll need to obtain a Precious

Stones Prospecting Permit (PSPP) from the Department of Primary Industries office at Coober Pedy. With one you can peg a claim of either 50 x 50 m or 50 x 100m, and start digging. One of the more unique dimension o Coober Pedy lies in the proliferation of underground housing, known locally as dugouts. About 70 percent of Coober Pedy's 3,500 residents live underground. It's simple survival, since summer temperatures can exceed 55 degree Celsius. The boroughs remain cool in summer, and warm in winter. Many are former mines, but some are underground mansions, and there's even a dugout church. Trivia buffs should note that the Aborigines refer to the town as "kupa piti", which translates into "white man in a hole". As well as keeping the temperature sane (a constant 23 degrees Celsius), new house extensions are cheap and simple, and there are more than a few lucky opal strikes that have been made while digging out the new guest bedroom! There are even a few dwellings complete with underground swimming pools, the ultimate in chic underground living!(http://www.nomadsworld.com/oz/guide/about/guide_c.html)

Saturday, March 10, 2001 - Coober Pedy to Adelaide

We woke up in complete darkness - a very unusual feeling! After breakfast, we headed off on a tour of the city.

They're not joking about staking a claim - my sister and I were ready to do it!!!! The license prices aren't too bad, the equipment would run you about $20,000+ Australian. Our tour guide has one and took us to see it, and he also showed us one of the big opals he recovered - very beautiful!

On the tour we got to see the beautiful Serbian underground church. On the outside shot, you can see the air vents on the roof that every underground place has. The inside is absolutely beautiful, including stained glass and a balcony where I snapped the photo from!

We got to tour an underground home - very interesting. Here he has dug out book shelves in his living room - quite wild!

I am not sure how come there aren't any Coober Pedy superstar golfers, because this is what their golf course looks like - nothing but sand!!! I think I'd break a few clubs in frustration here - I'd be the John McEnroe of golf - LOL!

We visited an active opal mine field, and an old, dormant opal mine, where we got the chance to buy some opals. In this town you have to be extremely careful with all those holes! Although I wouldn't mind stumbling on some black opals!

We also got to look out over the Breakaways Reserve and Moonplain - the site of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Mad Max III - Beyond the Thunderdome, amongst other films. If you look closely in the second picture, you will almost see an "X" on the hillside. These are trails made by the kangaroos while they make their way up into caves to escape the heat.

We drove through the Painted Desert alongside a tiny fraction of the Dingo Fence (which stretches 5,300 kilometers from Surfer's Paradise on the east coast of Queensland to the Great Australian Bight.) It's purpose is to stop Dingos from traveling south into sheep country. We didn't actually see any dingos - a shame, I would have liked to have seen one!

In the afternoon, we were on our way to the airport to board a plane to Adelaide. We laughed as our barman from the night before was the one checking us in, then was guiding the planes on the tarmac. It turns out that most of the people have several jobs in this town!

This was a big step for me, it was a 19 seater airplane (maybe even less!) I had never been in anything this small - I was nervous. Cheryl and I were almost hyperventilating, the seats were right up against the sides of the plane, making it very claustrophobic - then there were flies galore and a man swatting them so hard I thought he might pop the airplane window out - just a mess!!

We had one stop before arriving in Adelaide. Thank goodness, because we could actually breathe some fresh air!

We arrived in Adelaide close to five pm. We immediately called the train station about our luggage only to find out that the baggage claim was closed until the next morning. More quick thinking to do!

Since we had been in hot weather, we were in shorts and not prepared for the cool weather of Adelaide. We froze as we waited for our lift to our hotel. Of course our jackets were in our luggage that was sitting in the train station!

At the hotel, we had to switch rooms (the one bed thing again!) then we had to do a bit of research on how we would manage to get breakfast the next day, go get our luggage, find a place to store the luggage since our next plane was ever more weight restricted than Coober Pedy. Once all that was settled, we went for dinner, then headed off to bed.

Sunday, March 11, 2001 - Adelaide to Kangaroo Island

Up before the crack of dawn, we had to wake up the couple from the hotel to check out. Luckily we had booked a taxi the night before. We froze as we waited for the cab - we were locked out of our room and had no jackets.

Once the taxi arrived we were off to the train station. We had a bit of a wait, but finally we were thrilled to see our bags again. We grabbed them, headed back to our waiting taxi, then headed off to the airport to find the magazine shop that the airline told us would store our luggage. First stop was the bathroom (luckily they had a separate baby changing room) where we had to re-shuffle clothes and such. Making sure our bags wouldn't go over the weight limit.

We then brought the luggage we'd be leaving behind to the shop for storage. (Thank goodness for side businesses!) We then headed off to the small aircraft terminal to wait for our flight to Kangaroo Island with Emu Air (Emu is a flightless bird - yikes!)

Since we didn't have breakfast, we hoped for a little restaurant, but to our surprise, this terminal was even smaller than the one featured on the TV show "Wings!" It only contained a few vending machines! Luckily we had bought a few things at the store we dropped our luggage off at.

We could have died when the woman at the check-in asked us our weight. There was no lying because a few pounds here or there might throw things off - and there was no way that we needed to jinx a airplane named after a flightless bird!!!

I had a good chuckle at another woman that went up to the check-in and they asked her the same thing. She replied, "Oh no, you don't need to know that!"

When the captain showed up, he called us to board the plane - or better yet planelette! It was even smaller than the previous flight! I was a little less scared, but I didn't feel 100% comfortable flying over Great White Shark infested waters in this little thing! We were almost sitting in the pilot's lap!

This was a 10 seater plane, but it was less claustrophobic than the 19 seater because the seats were not right against the walls of the plane! I was so proud of myself that I got on!

When we arrived on the island, we had to wait for our luggage and another flight before boarding the tour bus that took us on our island tour.

Our first stop on the tour was the Rocky River, the headquarters for the National Parks and Wildlife Rangers. It was a cleared area in the heart of a sugar gum forest. We got the chance to see a few kangaroos and koalas. We only had a short stay here, just enough for a quick peek, a quick leak and to grab a little snack.

Next we headed off for Flinders Chase National Park. We stopped at the Remarkable Rocks - a cluster of granite boulders that have been sculpted by the weather and the ocean that they lie beside. I got adventurous and climbed up to take a closer look. One rock looked like a huge bone to me - something from Fred Flinstone's day! The other rock looked like an eagle's head - very unique rocks - quite Remarkable (ha ha!)

Heading back to the bus, we checked out the "droppings" of several animals as we walked up the long deck. They had signs showing which droppings belonged to which animals - I'm glad someone studies this stuff!

Next we were off to the Cape du Couedic Lighthouse and the Admiral's Arch. The lighthouse that was built in 1906 is not open for tours, but a beautiful sight as you make your way down to the Admiral's Arch - a natural arch formed by erosion from the pounding sea. You can't really see the arch from up above, so you have to walk down, down, down the winding path. If you're not one for the long walk (then the hike back up), you can watch the spectacular pounding water and the New Zealand fur seals that love to frolic in this water. They're quite funny to watch, some sunning on rocks, others diving into the rough waters, playing around.

After taking all this in, it's now time to head off to lunch. We stopped at the Beckwith's farm for a two course Australian country style lunch and a chance to see some kangaroos and koalas. Our park ranger guide informed us that Danny, a 7 year old kangaroo, that used to be allowed to enter the dining area (until he got a little too forceful with the food), lurks close by and takes a liking to the dinner rolls. So of course I had to keep mine aside for him.

At first I was a little nervous, but he was so gentle taking the roll, we followed someone else out of the dining enclosure, to be right there with Danny. He looked somewhat tiny until he stood up - this position frightened me, because I had heard when a kangaroo would give you a kick, he'd roll back onto his tail - kind of like what Danny was doing - but he didn't - thank God! He just waited for more food and he seemed to love being scratched on the neck.

After most people had finished their lunch, the ranger walked us out to go spot some koala bears. As we headed along with the crowd, we spotted a wallaby in the bushes. Further along there was a younger kangaroo lying down, which was something I had never seen before, so we had to go over and see him!

A few minutes later, we rejoined the crowd and were amazed how easily the ranger spotted the koalas in the gum trees. We kept looking and seeing nothing, good thing we had him along to point them out! We came across a mother and baby koala, they were so cute.

Continuing on our tour, we reached the highlight of the day - Seal Bay - the chance to walk along the beach seeing the Australian Sealion's up close (well, six meters away.) We kept as quiet as possible, because most of these sealion's were sleeping. They supposedly feed for three days, then sleep on the beach for three days. The have the unfortunate luck of being a major resource of food for the Great White Shark (we kept looking out into the water for fins), so they need their rest. Some of them actually look dead, but they weren't!

Our guide told us we needed to keep our distance from them for our safety also. They can feel very threatened therefore becoming aggressive. We were happy to comply since some of the bulls were huge. A few fights broke out while we walked along, but the cutest were the three seals in the middle of the bottom picture - each had placed a flipper on the next one - cuddling as they slept - too cute!

We made our way back through the sand - that was a workout and a half, up to the deck, then we trekked up the hill to our bus. Our next stop would be our hotels.

We checked in, then headed off for dinner. We signed up for a night tour to see the fairy penguins.

The guide had a flashlight with special filters so the light wouldn't frighten the penguins or hurt their eyes. I couldn't get over how noisy they are, it's very easy to find some of them in their nests. We saw quite a few before we headed back to the hotel for the night.

On To Week 2

The Wedding Page