Break 2 Days 1 & 2 - Getting to Uluru

The anticipation at the start of a trip is always much more exciting to experience than to review, but for those interested, I'll start with the back story of getting to Uluru (Ayer's Rock).

Friday brought Mike & Pat home. Mike was exhausted from Country Week since he was on supervisory duties each night until all the students settled down then was up very early to head off to the games. He photoed other Pinjarra teams as well as coaching the girls basketball team, so his days were full. The girls team played very respectably, and all were pleased with their convincing 3rd place finish in a challenging division. Had they scored a single point more in the semi-final they would have been in the grand final - against a team that had met and lost to by a single point. Here are 2 (wow a record!!!) shots of Mike - one after their successful win for 3rd, and another with a fellow teacher / volleyball coach - wearing one of the gifts from the team (he also received an Aussie flag signed by the team and a basketball).

We had a bit of a scramble to get Mike a tripod on Saturday morning as Patrick had left a critical piece behind at Gingin. Mike ended up with a new tripod, which isn't so bad since the old one was about 20 years old and missing some newer features. The scurry had us leave a little later than planned, and we arrived at the airport to extreme crowds - having to park in the 3rd or 4th level of overflow parking. Luckily the airline opened up express lanes for imminent flights and we managed to get checked in just in time for our flight to Alice Springs. No Worries!

Alice itself seemed quite similar to our last visit in 1988. Although definitely bigger, it still had the same character, and the residents were just as friendly. People seem to come here to visit and just never get around to leaving. Many people you speak to have been there for 5, 10 or 15 years and had never really had planned on staying, but they just love it there.

Saturday evening we stayed at a hostel and the hosts very kindly drove us to the 'Overlander Steakhouse'. We are almost positive that this is the same restaurant where we shared a fantastic (for 3 of us at least) meal with Dan & Suz so many years ago (with Dan's infamous miniature buffalo steak :-). Although witchetty grub soup is no longer available, we did share an appetizer plate of Emu (quite good - bit oily), Crocodile (bit fishy), Kangaroo (better than WA roo we thought) and Camel (the least favourite for all of us, but still tasty). We all had beef of varying cuts. The portions were large and the accompaniments superb, however each of the 4 different cuts were a bit disappointing given the reputation of Aussie beef. Apparently the very best cuts now are exported, especially to Japan since they can draw such huge profits. Too bad since the beef we had here last time was superb.

We then headed to Coles to do our groceries for the trip to Uluru in the morning. In the morning Mike & I rose early to go get the camper van while the boys were spoiled with a late lie. Mike managed to drive back to the hostel very smoothly despite the size of the beast. It was a bit older than we had hoped for and showing it's age, but very roomy with a cooktop, microwave, fridge, TV with DVD, 2 indoor tables, toilet/shower/sink, toaster, kettle and running hot & cold water. It was a bit later than we hoped by the time we set off, and it was a long drive, so off we headed to try to catch the sunset at Uluru!

The drive was long, but with a speed limit of 130km per hour, we could travel as fast as we wished (which was NOT 130km in Beast). This area is not full out desert, but covered in sparse scrubby vegetation as you can see by a shot from the window.

The first giant formation you come to is not in fact Uluru, but Mount Conner (859m). It is substantially larger than Uluru (348m), but not as much of an attraction. Uluru is more interesting due to it's changing vision in the light, and it's monolithic presence.

We made it to sunset over Uluru just in time. We ate our dinner watching the subtle colour changes. If you peek through to see the colour of Uluru in our family photo here, you can see the difference of the rock colour from the other photo here.

Then it was off to Yulara to check into our campsite for the night before returning for a true visit to the Rock tomorrow.

On the Road Again....Short Update

Quick update as my time here at the internet cafe is just about up. We've been to the Red Centre, and are now up in Katherine Gorge - stopped in here at an internet cafe before we checked into our campsite.

Photoed here is Uluru (Ayer's Rock), Kata Tjutu (The Olgas) and Kings Canyon - the areas we visited last time we were here.

We are now into new territory - no photos yet of the other sites, but here are some travel shots for your enjoyment - including our snug campsite one night, the roadtrains we are sharing the road with, the toilet/shower areas at a campsite and a typical roadhouse with all the memoabilia left behind.

And We're OFF - Red Centre and Top End Route

Well we are off on our second break tomorrow! We have already seen and done and so much (and spent so much I might add ...) that is is hard to believe this is only our second 'break'.

Back in April we travelled up the west coast to Exmouth, and on several weekends we've explored the southwestern coast of Western Australia from Albany back around to Perth. So now we expand our horizons and head east and north.

This trip has been in the planning since before we left Canada - I actually booked the flights for Mike, Kyle and I last year before we left! Since then I have added a flight for Patrick, and modified the itinerary. We will fly into Alice Springs tomorrow (Saturday). We pick up a rather large 6 sleeper camper van on Sunday morning. It is a manual monster - should be entertaining as Mike and I drive this monster standard shifting with our left hand!

I'm including a map to show our approximate route (not a very accurate map in reality) From Alice we will drive down to Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and into Kings Canyon - for about 3 nights. Mike and I did a similar trip back in 1989, so it will be interesting to see the changes.

From there we start our drive up to Darwin, with several sights en route. We hope to see Devils Marbles, Mataranka hot springs, Katherine Gorge and Litchfield National Park.

Once in Darwin, we return the camper and head out on a 3 day 4 wheel drive trip into Kakadu. And after a last day to explore Darwin, we'll head back home - totally exhausted I suspect - for Mike, Kyle and Patrick to get back to it the very next day. And then I can start posting our trip - similar to the April trip I'll try to do a day or two at a time.

In the meantime, several other family and friends are travelling - Marucia (Ma), Derek & Meg, and Jack & Nina (Mum & Dad) to name a few. So travel safe everyone, and we'll catch you in a couple of weeks!

The Monty Birthday Boys and Oh Canada!

For those who know the Monty Clan, you will know that Mike's father and brother share their birthday. Many years ago (47 to be precise), Derek joined his brother Michael on this earth on this day. And many more years prior to that (in 1934), George Larry joined his parents Ralph Pat and Madelaine May on this same day. So Happy Birthday to both the Monty Men from this branch of the clan - missing you both!

Well it appears that Michael has network access at Country Week - he sent me the missing Canada Day photos for posting - so here is a sample of our Canada Day celebrations. We started with a rather wet drive to our hosts home near Perth. There was yet another torrential downpour which left the streets flooded for our drive - this was part of our drive in.

Our Canada Day celebration was actually two fold - it was also a farewell to Cindy who had her exchange from July to July. Cindy is from Barrie also - she lives right around the corner from St. Joe's!!! (You may remember her name from our April trip to Exmouth - we met up with her and her cousin there.) It will be fun to connect back in Canada and share some of our Aussie memories.

As is normal with such celebrations, we had LOTS of good food to share. Despite my fitness spare time activities, I have yet to lose any weight due to such events - that along with the most superb wine!

As part of the now annual event, the Canadians were required to join in a resounding rendition of 'Oh Canada'. And to be honest, I was quite surprised to find that it brought a tear to my eye..

We then in turn requested the Australians to serenade us in return with their anthem, which they quite enthusiastically provided. We ended with an all in rendition of 'Waltzing Matilda', of which we all managed one successful verse. (On closer inspection of the photos, neither team seem to be very thrilled singers :-)

As Cindy's departing gift, she received (as apparently we all will), a souvenir from Kalgoorlie (we go there in August). It is a 'betting stick' (sorry, don't know the real name yet) with spaces for 2 pennies. They are tossed in the air - in a very special motion as being learned/demonstrated here. Bets are placed on the heads/tails landing. I suspect we will find out in August just how much money can pass hands with this simple tool!

Back at home we stopped by the beach to check out the local waterfront with the high winds and high tides. This is an area of the beach we have walked along many times - the tides are definitely higher now. Not being an 'ocean' person, I am quite enthralled by the whole concept of the tides and their variations.

And finally - we will be heading off to the 'Red Centre' and 'Top End' this Saturday for our next two week break. I'm not sure what network access we will have for the break, but stay tuned on our return at the end of July for a flurry of postings with all our outback activities. I'll try to post a map of our planned route before we go.

He's Loving His Footie!!!

First off, Happy belated Canada Day! We celebrated down under with an Aussie hosted BBQ for the exchange teachers and families on Sunday. Unfortunately, Mike has gone off to 'Country Week' (described below) and in the rush he failed to transfer the photos for the blog over to me. So stay tuned for future postings of the event.

I sit here posting this blog in a severe thunderstorm. We have had record amounts of rain over the past week or so. In addition, the tides are at their extremes around now - the sun and moon are all set up for the maximum tides (I'm learning lots of stuff down here!!!) So the volume of rain, high winds and high tides are making for some wet roads, downed trees, power outages and rivers breaking their banks. But the locals are pleased to have the rain to fill the reservoirs. And as we mentioned previously, almost every rain is accompanied by a rainbow since the clouds blow over so quickly. Another one showed up on Friday - this is the view from out our front door.

As mentioned, Mike is off to Perth for the week with the girls basketball team (and all the other school teams) for Country Week. This is a week where all the 'country' schools come together in Perth to compete. Since they are so physically dispersed, setting up games with other schools is difficult. This week allows them all to get together for some competition which would otherwise not be possible. Teams come from the country schools all over Western Australia (which is more than twice the square kilometres than Ontario). Again, stay posted for photos on his return.

As for Saturday this past weekend, Mike AGAIN was off to the footie (with Patrick this time). He is becoming an avid fan and very much a good luck charm for the Dockers. They won again - this time by a huge score (their 2nd largest spread ever) over Carlton. Mike has used his birthday monies to purchase not only the much needed 'sunnies', but also a Fremantle Dockers footie shirt as seen here!

Again for those who like the action shots, here is a selection of shots from the game. I'm starting to think that Aussie Football should be sponsored by an underarm deodorant company - check out the number of armpits in the shots :-) !

Something Fishy at AQWA

Since Patrick has not experienced the reef life here, and he will not get a chance to go snorkeling, we took a trip to the Aquarium of Western Australia just north of Perth on Sunday. It was also great for us to see the same fishes up close and personal, but safely. We did not have to worry the jelly fish swimming around us, or whether the reef sharks were getting too numerous, or whether we were drifting too far and at risk of being pulled out by the rip. So although a bit more sterile, it was much more relaxed.

Michael was able to use his 'good' camera this time since everything was behind glass. You will likely notice the colours are more vivid also since the lighting was much better.

The highlight of the aquarium is 'the shipwreck coast' aquarium. It is 40 metres long, 20 metres wide and 4.5 metres deep and holds 3 million litres of seawater. You can walk or stand on the conveyor belt through 100 metres of tunnel which wraps through the tank and the sealife is all around you. There are several species of sharks (nurse shark here), rays (including some gigantic manta rays), hundreds of fishes as well as turtles and eels. The tank is so large, that it was quite dark however and it was difficult for Mike to photograph.

Having swum over top of the rays up at Coral Bay, it was quite spectacular to be underneath as they swam directly over you in the tunnel. And being so close to the animals, you get a much greater respect for their size. The turtles are massive - you could ride on their backs - and their necks would even impress the Godfather!

Outside we caught the sealion training session. While they do not train them to do tricks for display purposes, they do train them. The keepers need to be able to handle the seals, and they also try to mimic some of the wild behaviours. The seals here were both born in captivity, so they also try to teach them what would be learned actions in the wild. One example is teaching the male to 'bark'. This is not a trait they would do if not trained since they are not exposed to the normal activities which would induce it. Similarly, they teach them to jump which mimics the natural behaviour of avoiding predators (such as killer whales). Not quite the same motivation, but uses all the same muscle groups - kind of like us going to fitness classes!

On the drive home once again we had mixed showers and sunshine. It doesn't seem to stay totally overcast here - it is always so windy that the clouds blow in and out constantly. This type of sky makes for great rainbows, and we have seem many so far. This one (and it was a doubler at times) stayed with us for much of the drive home. It really was quite spectacular - it doesn't translate well in the photo, but it was very wide with the full spectrum of colour.

And oh yeah, as for the rootbeer - they really DO NOT LIKE IT down here. So guess we'll have to suffer through it on our own - wish you were here to share it with us J (I hear you've become a fan also)!!!