Darwin

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

We arrived in Darwin after three days and two nights on the Ghan.   We packed and around 5:30 were in Darwin heading for our hotel and my first shower in days.  No hair dryers on the train and I couldn't bring myself to step on the bathroom floor in bare feet, so I had a good loooong shower at the hotel before we headed to the restaurant for dinner.  We had had some pretty heavy meals on the train, so a Caesar salad sounded good.  It was, but nothing I would have called by that name.  Not much lettuce, plenty of chicken, bacon, croutons, topped with a poached egg and something called a Parmesan crisp, that was far from crisp and so tough you could hardly eat it.  Despite my best efforts, it turned out to be another heavy meal.  We had a great night's sleep in the nicest hotel we've seen so far.  

This is the pool at our hotel.  We didn't use it, but it was definitely inviting.

Darwin is a small tropical city, very warm and humid.  Up until now, we didn't notice heat much in Australia because it was so dry.  It is much more like summer in Florida here than in the dry center!  We spent one day in Darwin.  In the morning, we took a bus tour around the area and then walked around downtown to the waterfront before stumbling into an Internet hotspot.  Nice to be able to check my email.  It's surprising how little free Internet is available in Australia.  At home, most hotels, motels, airports, Starbucks, many grocery stores, and lots of other places offer it.  Here you pay.  It turned out even the free spot I found in Darwin was limited to only one hour, so I didn't quite finish my emails.  I could have another hour if I had waited for six hours, but we'll be in the air by then.  We had a very nice lunch at a busy bistro on the plaza with free Internet.

Darwin is a nice town, however.  We just missed the rainy season when it can rain all day for weeks or be more typically tropical with a mixture of sun and rain.  Lightning capital of the world, they say.  Almost no rain from May to November.

This is a frangipani tree.  We have those in Florida, too, but here they are HUGE.

This is downtown Darwin from across a bay or harbor on our bus ride.

Surprise!  We saw a wallaby from the bus!

This is what the little shopping area we went to looks like.  Very nice and small town feeling, with some nice shops and restaurants.  Around the corner from this spot I found a store selling Australian fabric in aboriginal designs.  My only souvenir shopping!

We walked down to the harbor, which features hotels, apartments, and condos, as well as a nice park and a wave pool.

On the way back, we passed this building with its very nice landscaping.  We have many of these plants in Florida, although they may have different names here.  I recognized what we call sago palms, Mexican heather, and bromeliads.

Darwin's history includes the first overland telegraph line connecting Australia to the rest of the world.

This is the old town hall.  It was hit by a two monsoons and not rebuilt after the last one.  It stands as an unusual ruin and monument to the past.  Darwin was also nearly destroyed by Japanese bombs during World War II, and even today is an important military site with both Australian and US military personnel in the area.

This is another typical building in the area.  We were told that many of these very well built structures were originally built by Chinese laborers, who later asked to stay on in Australia.

Getting out of Darwin turned out to be harder than expected.  The only flight to Singapore each day was on JetStar airlines.  When you mention to Aussies that you are flying JetStar some place, they tend to roll their eyes and sigh in sympathy for you.  Alas, we found out why.  Our flight was two hours late leaving Darwin after a long delay with no useful communication.  Turns out they were adding another entire plane load of passengers to our flight.  That one had turned back because of a mechanical problem.  I'm not at all clear on the story here, but what we were told is that there is only one flight a day, so perhaps these people had been waiting since the night before.  The airline slowly issued new boarding passes for many people--we think the ones from the other flight.  We were all confused as to whether they were bumping us, going to give us new boarding passes as well, or would let us board.  Then they started letting the people with new passes board, so the rest of us got in line to see what would happen.  Amazingly, we were also boarded and there were seats for everyone.  Just why this took two hours is still a mystery.  Just why they never made a general boarding announcement is a mystery.  And just why they couldn't have made a meaningful announcement explaining the entire situation is also a mystery.  Oh well, another entry in the book of reasons I don't like to travel.

Come back tomorrow to join us on our adventures in Singapore.

Katherine Gorge

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

Back on the train for more meals and a night of good sleep this time.  On Tuesday morning we stopped at the little town of Katherine for several hours.  We took a boat tour of the Katherine Gorge, which has some very impressive scenery. 

This is the town of Katherine.  Pretty sleepy, but like all the Australian towns we have seen, it is clean and pleasant.

This is the postcard view up into the narrow end of the first gorge.  The boat tour was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

This is pretty typical of the terrain along the gorge.

This is the highest cliff in the gorge.  Of course there is a romantic story attached to it.  I don't remember it, but if you've heard any romantic cliff story, you can make it up.

The way the tour works is that you take a flat-bottomed boat similar to this one up through the first gorge, dock, and walk along a rocky path to the start of the second gorge.  Then you board a second boat for a tour of the second gorge.

I took this along the path between gorges.  It was rugged and lovely.

This is the second gorge.

The trees in the water are the end of the navigable portion of the second gorge.

This monument is in the area surrounding Katherine and honors the stockmen who were such an important part of local history.

We were back on the train in time for lunch.  Food on the train was pretty good--big meals with names like the Ploughman’s Lunch or the Stockman's Dinner, but you don't come to Australia for the food, do you?

We arrived in Darwin in the afternoon, and disembarked from the Ghan.  It was a nice trip, and I very much enjoyed our excursion through the center of Australia.

Come back tomorrow for a tour of Darwin.

Alice Springs

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 


We had our first long stop at Alice Springs, which is about halfway between Adelaide and Darwin.  We had been in the Alice Springs airport on our way from Ayres Rock to Adelaide, but we didn't see the town.  When we came through on the train we had a scheduled stop of several hours, so we signed up for a bus tour around town.  Nice place, but pretty isolated, and I sure wouldn't want to live there.   Alice is the nearest town to Ayres Rock, "only" three hundred miles away.  No wonder everything is pricey there, with such long shipping distances!   The Northern Territories is big and empty.  Our guide at Uluru told us that most people think NT stands for Northern Territories.  No so, he said.  It stands for Not Today.  Or maybe Next Truck.

Before any train lines or roads were built here, all supplies came by camel, driven by Afghans.  That's the origin of the name of our train, the Ghan.  At the Ayres Rock Resort, you can go on a camel ride if you want.  We didn't see any camels there, but here they are, patiently waiting for us at the Alice Springs railroad station.

This plane belonged to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  This is an essential part of life here in the lonely center of Australia.  The doctors provide the fastest way to get emergency medical in this region.

This is the oldest cemetery in Alice Springs.  This is supposed to be the grave of a gold prospector named Lasseter, a very early figure in local history.  To learn more about him and the history of the region, click here.

An abandoned engine from the old original Ghan train.

We visited the highest hill in Alice Springs, and just outside the viewpoint there we saw these small kangaroos, the only ones we saw in Australia.

Here is a view of Alice from that hill, with another outcropping in the distance

Downtown Alice Springs

The station, the train, and memories of the past

The Ghan

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

After our time in Adelade, we made our way to the station and boarded The Ghan.  We spent three days and two nights on this first class tourist train John came to Australia to ride.  (I came to see Uluru, but hey, he's a train guy, and I'm a destination girl.)   

The train was pretty good, except for the en suite bathroom in our compartment, which I won't go into except to say it was a bit like having an en suite sewer.  The Gahn uses older train cars, and I'm hoping the next train will be a step up from the marine style bath on the Ghan.  Not holding my breath, however.  Well, I am, but that's another story.  Anyway, we boarded in Adelaide around noon and shortly thereafter were given our first on board meal as central Australia went by outside the window.  It was the first of several hearty meals, all good, but as usual, too much food.  We rocked along, reading in our compartment and watching the scenery slowly change as the sun set.  Not much sleep the first night.  I forgot to take a melatonin and John was probably too excited.  LOL.  

Not too long after we left Adelaide, this is what the countryside looked like--dry, brown, pretty barren, windmills, some fencing. We are still in South Australia here.

As night began to fall, little flat-topped mountains appeared on the horizon--similar in silhouette to Ayres Rock (Uluru), but not red.  The soil here is still tan.

Sunset from the Ghan

By the second day, we were in the Red Center, as they call this part of Austalia, and the soil is bright red-orange.  This  region is known as the Northern Territories and is usually dry desert.  They have had so much rain in the last couple of years, that the desert plants are very green.  I wonder what this looks like in a normal year.

I have a neighbor who assured me that having Nicole Kidman drive a herd of cattle to market in the movie, Australia, was completely ridiculous.  "There are no cows in Australia," he said.  The soil is too poor and can only support sheep.  Hmmm.  These sure look like cows to me!

Yup, they are definitely cows.  Actually, we saw lots of cattle, but no sheep at all.  They must raise sheep, however, because there was plenty of lamb on nearly every menu.

This is a holding pen--for cattle.

This is the Finke River, or what passes for a river here.  I suppose water covers all the dirt area we see when it rains, but not today.  You will probably need to click on the photo to see the "river."

This is the other thing we saw in great abundance--huge termite mounds.  Again, enlarge the photo and you should be able to find four of them.  They are several feet tall!

Come back tomorrow to hear about our stop in Alice Springs. 

Adelaide

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 


We spent a day flying from the Northern Territories to our next stop, Adelaide, in South Australia.  A very short flight from Ayers Rock to Alice Springs, then a two hour flight to Adelaide.  So-so hotel.  We had a day to kill revisiting Adelaide, which we saw briefly on a bus tour five years ago when we were riding the Indian Pacific train from Sydney to Perth.


Our day in Adelaide turned out to be a "day of transportation," which John loves and I tolerate.  Our hotel was across the street from the local train station, so we started there by buying day passes that would let us use nearly all the public transportation in Adelaide.  Then we caught the free bus that loops around the central part of the city, got off, caught it going the other way (after a long wait), and got off at what turned out to be the wrong bus station.  A couple of blocks' walk to the Metro info station, and soon we were on a bus that connected with another bus (one of only three per day) to Mount Lofty.  Not a high peak, but as the name suggests, the loftiest peak from which to see the city and surrounding area.  A look around, a quick picnic lunch on top, thanks to Subway, and then two buses back to town.

This is the top of Mt. Lofty--shops and fast food behind us, picnic tables, the monument, and the viewing platform in front.  Helpful maps and signs clarifying the view.

Inside the circle, away in the mist, is downtown Adelaide.  BTW, you can click any photo to see a larger version.

This is a view of Piccadilly Valley, about 180 degrees around the circle from downtown Adelaide.  I think they grow wine here.

Free bus to Victoria Square where we caught the tram to Glenelg, which is the end of that line and the site of the beach at a large bay. 

This is the Victoria Square area, downtown, Adelaide

At Glenelg with our backs to the beach

Here is the beach.  Popular spot!

Backs to the beach again.  

Everyone we asked told us a different name for this bay--Holdfast Bay, Australia Bay, etc, so I'm not terribly sure what it is really called, but the trash barrels were marked Holdfast Bay, so I'll go with that one.

  By this time we thought we had earned a treat, so we had a nice cold Aussie beer, which came with the best fries I've ever eaten.  Thick, piping hot, fried to perfection, and seasoned with herbs and plenty of salt.  Yum!  See where it says, Fish and Chips?  That's the place.  The beach is beyond to the left, and the kids bungee jump is just out of the picture to the left.  I HIGHLY recommend it!

We boarded the tram and headed back to Adelaide and our hotel.  Prices here are every bit as outrageous as they were in Ayres Rock, so we plan to check out Chinatown for dinner. We hope Chinese food will be a little more reasonable, as it usually is at home.  The good news about Australian prices is that John has now realized he probably doesn't want to move here after all if the US election doesn't go his way.  LOL.


Come back tomorrow when we'll be riding The Ghan on the way to Darwin.

A chilly, rainy, lazy day in the desert

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

 Because both our Ayres Rock tours were crammed into one day, we had a "day of leisure" yesterday in which we did laundry and mostly just laid around.  John had a hairspray explosion in his suitcase which soaked a few layers of clothing, so the chance to wash it out was welcome.  It was a drizzly chilly day, temps probably in the 50'sF, the last thing we expected here in what is purported to be desert.  Two years of unusual rains have made the desert green and today we have much colder weather than anyone, even the Aussies, expected.

I love the flora and fauna here.  We see things we don't have at home in the States.  I looked this up in a book on the train, but have forgotten what it is. It might be a Banksia, but I'm not sure.  If you know, please comment!  But how unusual to have the flower and the seed pods at the same time.

More gorgeous seed pods

A rackety flock of these birds was perched outside our room for a little while in the afternoon, another thing I can't name.