the incredible outback

the outback in Northern Territory is indescribable. in words or otherwise. WOW. even flying over was mental. 100s and 100s of km of red. explains why it's called the Red Centre. the area has had the most rain that they've had in a century, so we got the treat of seeing red blanketed with green instead of yellow.

alice springs is a neat little city with a large popn of aboriginal peoples. in all of oz, there are more than 100 homelands, 250 languages, and 700+ dialects. alice and environs are on pitjanjatjara homeland which is people by the anangu. hot hot there! was at least 36C each day.

e and i signed up for 3-day camping trip to the outback. us, our awesome guide jase , and 19 others. a really fun group! we had a total blast. total 1500 km driving in 2.5 days.

day 1: saw kangaroos!!!! hiked around king's canyon. crazy gorgeous red stratified rock plains and surrounding a beauty canyon. and went for a dip at a swimming hole. much needed in that sun! camped on the ground in our swags (kinda like thermarests but with real (i.e., non blow-up) mattresses. neat invention!). really warm at night; hard to sleep when you're worried about dingos though! wicked day.

day 2: drove to uluru-kata tjuta natl park (english = ayer's rock and the olgas natl park)and did 2 hr hike around part of olgas. was 39 in the sun so weren't allowed to hike for much longer. kata tjuta is...... indescribable. wow. learned lots about anangu way of life, and why kata tjuta is spiritually important to them. ate dinner while watching sun set on uluru. slept on ground again at a camping park, so had the luxury of running water. and a hilarious game of eat my box. which i would`ve won if jase hadn`t cheated me!!

day 3: did base hike around uluru. rained a bit, so were treated to waterfalls off uluru. sun towards end. and..... speechless. uluru is an amazingly beautiful place.

while we did our tour, mom did 1-day trip to uluru and kata tjuta. mom was just as speechless as we were. she saw a dingo! and m did a 1-day trip thru the simpon`s range and the aborigine ochre pits. she saw a black-footed wallaby!

on thurs morn, we flew from alice to the perth in the state of South Western Aus. a nicer city than sydney for sure! and nicer than most people told us it would be. fewer people and more laid back than other cities here. a nice place on the swan river.

next destination: perth and the southwest coasts of western aus!

1st photo is of desert flying into alice

2nd photo is us at king's canyon

3rd photo is uluru at sunset

roger that,

t

leonards in oz!!

been forever since we posted! guess we just got into the groove of all 4 of us being together again...

we are in australia!! mom and mara joined us in sydney. yay!! was a nice city but way too big for us. 5 million people; major hustle and bustle and many many skyscrapers and all about the $$. opera house and circular quay were neat. and royal botanics were awesome. parrots and huge fruit bats everywhere! caught 30 min ferry to manly beach, which was a wicked spot to spend the day. beauty sunset over sydney bridge on return ride home.

on good friday, e and m did a cruise of sydney hr on a party boat with 300 other people. which turned out to be a bunch of young 'uns out to get smashed... haha. sunday we went to george st and glebe markets.

saturday did city sightseeing tour by hop-on/hop-off bus. great way to see it all. famous bondi beach was gorgeous! e and i bought new clothes at markets there. gettin tired of old ones.

evening at australian hotel next to hostel; has 100+ aussie beers and delish pizza. first time we've had good food since left canada =). sorry new zealand, but your food sucks.

other diffs btwn oz and nz:

1. accent here much nicer.

2. food here much better.

3. people here not as friendly as kiwis. more like canada. kiwis were extraordinarily friendly.

4. def get sense of grandeur here more than nz. kinda feels more materialistic here.

5. the birding is awesome. so many wicked birds are dirtbirds!!

it for now. off to the outback and extreme heat in the red centre - the deserts of Northern Territory and to Uluru (Ayer's Rock)

1st photo is sydney bridge and opera house

2nd is bondi beach

3rd is boomerangs at the market

tina

nz finale

I continued my journey on the north island while Tina stayed in Wellington for a few extra days. I headed up the east coast, which was,again, beautiful. We stopped at a wildlife reserve and then at the Tui beer brewery, where you can have three pints of beers for 2 dollars. We ended up in Napier, which is a very neat little city. An earthquake basically destroyed the city in the 1930s and it was then all re-built with an art deco design. I explored the city and the beach for the day and just relaxed in the evening.

The next morning we headed into the centre of the northern island, through Taupo. Taupo is a very picturesque town that is known for its amazing skydives. Taupo lake is the largest lake in New Zealand and is a much darker blue than the lakes on the south island. We stopped at a geothermal place and did a little tour. The colors of the water and bubbling mud pools were amazing.

We continued in to Rotorua, where I stayed for the night. Rotorua is the most visited place in New Zealand and there are bubbling mud pools throughout the town.

The town smells of rotten eggs, which is caused by all the sulphur. I was nauseous the full time I was there from the strong smell! I explored the two beautiful parks and gardens they have in the town and walked around the city centre. The town has a very high percentage of Maoris living there.

The next afternoon I caught the bus and headed to Mount Manganui, which is situated right on the ocean and is known for its beautiful beach. We arrived late afternoon but I was able to get some beach time in because the weather was so beautiful. The town was stunning. It is quite a small spot and all the buildings are very modern looking. The beach is expansive with soft sand. At the edge of the town is the mount which gives you a spectacular 360 degree view when you get to the top. Because of how nice Mount Manganui was, I decided to stay an extra day and night. I hung out on the beach and then climbed the mount.

The next day I was back on the bus. Destination: Auckland to meet up with Tina and head to the airport to catch our flight to Australia...so long New Zealand :)

the first photo is me in napier.

2nd is of steamy earth/water in rotorua

3rd is beach is mt manganui

Erin

road trip

e, bryan, a i hired a car on a fuzzy post-paddy's day. corolla for $60/day. headed nw out of welly to nice little city of wanganui on the whanganui river, the longest navigable river in nz. tamara backpackers was the nicest hostel we've stayed at yet; old victorian home on the river.

the 3 of us are feeling blah from travel and people. nice to escape in confines of our own vehicle. spent the eve driving around town and climbed a tower for great views of the area. made curry for dinner and took advantage again of cheap cheap wine from the supermarket. been getting nice bottles of nz red or white for $8 since we've been here!

fri we headed nw to egmont natl park, famous for mt taranaki, a nearly conical old volcano that dominates the region. drove along the Surf Hwy on the coast. detoured inland to dawson falls, tiny town that offers closest road access to mtn. taranaki looms! was cloudy at peak, as was expected. locals say if you can`t see the top, it`s raining, and if you can see the top, it`s going to rain.

got to city of new plymouth by mid-afternoon. blah mood resulted in zero sightseeing. ha! chilled at hostel, made homemade pizzas, had wine with other backpackers, and helped sue from toronto get some online dates.

next day was quite scenic. headed due east along the Forgotten World Hwy which climbs numerous saddles thru mountainous rainforest and valleyed pasture. full day of driving to get to palmerston north, dubbed by john cleese of monty python as the most boring town in nz. he was right. no room in town for us, so continued onward. ended up at tamara again in wanganui by 8 pm.

early rise next morning to have car back in wellington by sunday at noon. bryan may or may not have gotten a speeding ticket =). was good to see western part of north island and be on our own for a few days.

1st photo - wanganui

2nd photo - mt taranaki

3rd photo - huge carrot at ohakune

t