First Post

I finally got around to setting up a blog. No pictures for now, but at some point they will appear. I am currently in Alice Springs, the geographical center of Australia. It is located in the middle of a semi-arid desert, so it is hot and dry and there are a lot of flies. Not so much in town itself, but when you venture out a little further they are all over you. If you only have 50 flies on your back at one time you are lucky. And the little buggers enjoy flying into you eyes, ears, nose and mouth. It is not a good feeling to catch one with your lips as it tries to fly out of your mouth.

A quick recap of where I have been:

Sydney: Very nice town, almost too clean (it's clean like Dallas, where I swear they vacuum the streets every night). Botanical gardens were beautiful, you forget you are even in the city (except for the tall buildings that line it). The Opera House was nice, but a little boring to take a tour of; we basically just walked into a few of its theaters and sat down and stared at an empty stage. The best part of Sydney is I go back there for a few days next week.

Cairns: Again, a beautiful area. Cairns is nestled between the rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. The climate and scenery reminded me of the trip to Kauai. The only problem with Cairns was the spring break feel that the place had. Anyway, the reef was beautiful: vibrant and colorful coral, thousands of fish and crystal clear waters. I ventured into the rainforest to Kuranda, a small little village in the hills. It is a touristy place from 10 am to 4 pm, but after that it is just a sleepy little town. There were many hiking paths that lead through the rain forest to waterfalls, streams and rivers. I took an 8km long gondola ride, apparently the longest in the world, to Kuranda and the scenic railroad home.

I traveled by bus from Cairns to Darwin, stopping at several small towns. I saw a statue of a 28 foot crocodile (named Krys) that was caught in 1957. The bus also stopped off at Lawn Hill National Park. We traveled down a one way dirt road for several hundred kilometers to get there but it was worth it. I canoed down a gorge with fresh water crocs (not man eaters), pythons and giant catfish. Only saw 1 croc, but that was OK. On the drive it became apparent that kangaroos are everywhere. The bus only lost 1 brake pad and one shock on the trip, which the driver said was better than normal.

Darwin: As the largest town in the Northern Territory, it isn't that big; it is about the same size as Toms River. It is set on an enormous harbor and the sunsets are great. It was hot (100's) and humid, making it uncomfortable to walk outdoors from 11am until 4pm. Thankfully I only had two days there.

Kakadu National Park: The park is the size of Denmark. I visited two waterfalls: Jim Jim Falls, which wasn't flowing since it is the dry season, and Twin Falls, which was a trickle. Both required a long hike over rugged terrain to get to, and both were worth it. Jim Jim Falls has a huge basin of water that the falls normally feed. Since it has rocky walls and difficult terrain there is no threat of crocs so we were able to swim. Twin Falls, however, was not well protected and there was the possibility of crocs. Apparently after the wet season, when the plains flood all over the top end, crocs have access to almost everywhere there is water. The lakes and rivers are monitored for the big salt water crocs (the man eaters) before they are opened for swimming. I also went to a site with Aboriginal rock art.

Uluru and Kata Tjuta: Otherwise known as Ayers Rock and The Olgas. These are the big rocks that are in the middle of the outback desert. They are very distinctive in that the landscape is very flat around them. Then all of a sudden you have these two areas of rock that extend 350m above the ground. It is pretty dramatic at sunrise and sunset. Lots of Aboriginal sacred sites as well. Lots of flies.

Next stop is Sydney for a few days and then off to New Zealand.