Red Centre Road Trip

Uluru 

The Flight from Cairns to Alice Springs is 900 miles.  Interestingly, the time change is only 30 minutes, which puts us 15:30 ahead of home. 

We got to the airport and headed into town to collect our hire car (rental).  We picked up a 4 wheel drive, because our plans for the next four days includes heading on some unpaved roads in the outback.  We will be doing what is called the Red Centre Way, which covers some of the most beautiful and remote areas of this huge country.

Since it was Sunday in a very chill part of the world, we took it easy.  We checked out a local market, had a brat, bought groceries and headed to the Desert Park.  There we learned that Australia has over 135 varieties of venomous snakes.

Alice Springs is not a great place to spend a lot of time.  There are problems with drugs and the indigenous population that make crime an issue.

On Monday, our road trip began.  We drove west along the McDonald range.  The range is very old and is characterized by red rocks and vertical rock formations.  Our plan for the day was to drive about 100 miles, taking in the sites along the way.  The road was nice, not busy, and the crowds were non existent.  In fact, all day long we kept running into a German couple about our age at every stop.  They must have thought that we were stalking them.  Most of the stops were geologically significant and stunningly beautiful.  Since it was over 90 degrees and windy, it was great that many had water holes in which to swim.

The first stop, Simpson Gap had Black footed Rock Wallaby’s near a beautiful gorge.

One of four Black Footed Rock Wallabies we watched play in the rocks

The next place, Stanley Chasm  had beautiful vertical cliffs.  We took a short but very vertical hike to find a magnificent view of the Outback. 

Stanley Chasm 

View from our hike

An experienced hiker, no we did not do the whole hike

At Ellery Big Hole we found and oasis like setting.  The water was great in this first of three swims today.

Julie in the swimming hole

Top of another fine hike

At the Ochre Pits, we learned about the importance of this decoration for the original occupants of this area.  The site was still in use with huge fines for people touching or taking the ochre.  In typical Australian fashion, no fences, no guards, no crowds and no one disobeying the wishes of the owners of the land who loaned it to the government for educational purposes.

After another hike and swim we headed to our lodging for the night.  The Glen Helen “Resort” was 100 miles from Alice Springs and the only lodging since the town and for several hundred miles in this direction.  It was a converted cattle station and had the feel of a 1950’s roadside motel (think Bates motel).  We has Chicken Snitzel and Chicken Parmesan on chips (Australian comfort food) for dinner after consuming a couple of Gin and Tonics, all in the shadow of the magnificent wall of red rocks.

Glen Helen "Resort" 

Tuesday was the trip to Kings Canyon National Park.  We had planned  a 200 miles drive across the outback.  We headed out early on because the forecast was for 95 degrees and clear.  We started the day with a 5 mile hike along a gorge and you guessed it, a swim in the water hole.  During the 2 1/2 hour hike we were treated to marvelous views of the valleys and never saw another hiker. 

After a dip and topping off the fuel tank, we headed to Kings Canyon.  After 100 miles, we hit the unpaved portion.  In the entire 100 miles, we saw a total off four vehicles (2 moving and 2 parked).  Despite looking very closely at all the kangaroo crossings, we did not see any.  However, we were saw several groups of wild horses.  The wild camels and donkeys that can be seen on the ride eluded us, but the scenery and horses insured that we did not feel cheated.

Brumbies alongside the road

Our road trip vehicle on the left side of the road 

At sunset we gathered at the resort viewing area for stunning views of King Canyon.  This time, it is a real resort.

Wednesday we woke up early again.  We did a 4 miles hike at Kings Canon called the “Rim Walk.”  It started with a 300 foot climb and continued along the rim of the red rocked canyon.  Besides all the geological grandeur, the “Garden of Eden,” an oasis in the river valley was a highlight.

After the hike and a swim, we hit the road for Uluru (formerly called Ayers Rock) for our last stop on the Red Centre tour.  We had about a 200 mile drive and we were luck enough to see three Dingo’s (similar to dogs) enroute.  We ended the day with a sunset viewing of Uluru   It exceeded all expectations. 

We started our last full day in the outback on a sunrise camel ride.  The 4:30 start was rough, but well worth the effort.  Julie rode Kahn and I rode Muldor   We had a great time.

Julie and Kahn in a camel selfie - camels love selfies 

Me and my ride

After surviving the ride

Sunrise at Uluru 

We are goi finish up the day with a walk and some more pictures, but while I have good internet, I am going to post what I have on our outback adventure.  Our next stop will be the Great Ocean Road, west of Melbourne. 

Port Douglas

We have spent the last three days in the adventure wonderland of Port Douglas, Queensland.  It is an hour north of Cairns and a much smaller resort town at the south end of Daintree National Park.  The area is know for two world famous natural areas.  On one side of you is the Great Barrier Reef.  It is the largest reef in the world and over 8000 years old.  On the other side is the Daintree Rainforest, which is the oldest rainforest in the world.  The town of Port Douglas is a quaint beach town on a peninsula.  A short walk from anywhere in town is 4 mile beach, a beautiful expanse of beach boarded by lush tropical hills and mountains.

We spent our first day getting to know the area.  We did a one hour “croc cruise” on the Daintree river.  The trip was fun with lots of birds, but we did not get to see the fabled saltwater crocodiles.  The afternoon was spent on the beach.  We walked 4 mile beach and took a swim in the “stinger free” enclosure.  The water was a very tropical 82 degrees in the Coral Sea.

Four mile beach 

Daintree River

It was early to bed for us because we has a Great Barriers Reef snorkeling tour planned for the next day.  We got up at 5 AM and made the drive up to Cape Tribulation.  It was a 2 hour drive, including the ferry across the Daintree river.  Once you cross the river, you drive 30 miles along deserted beaches on one side and jungle on the other.  There are few services north of the ferry and all electrical power is from generators.

The tour was on a fast pontoon boat that took us 15 miles out to the reef in 30 minutes.  We went to two snorkeling sites.  The color and variety of the sea life was fabulous.  We swam with sea turtles, all variety of fish over colorful coral structures.  There were giant clams of all colors that were 3’ across.  Some of the other folks saw white tipped sharks, but we did not.  I must say that in all the places that we have snorkeled, this was the best.

The coast near Cape Tribune 

A Cassuary crossing sign

Why it is not such a good idea to swim at gorgeous beaches in Northern Queensland 

For our last day in Port Douglas, we went to Mossman Gorge.  It is a beautiful river flowing through the rainforest.  We took a “Dreamtime” tour with an aboriginal guide.  He told us the stories of his people while teaching us about how they have survived in this part of the world for the past 40,000 years.  It seems like everything in the harsh environment can sting, bite, cut, poison or kill a human being.  Yet, the aboriginals survived and thrived until the arrival of European settlers.

Gorgeous Julie at Mossoman Gorge

Another day, another swimming hole

An Ocre paint demonstration by our guide

A Praying Mantis

A poor example of a aboriginal warroir

After the tour, hike and jump in a swimming hole, we headed back to town.  We had one more jump in the ocean before we headed to bed early in preparation for our 4:30 start tomorrow.  We are headed to a completely different environment in the “Red Center” of Australia.  From Crocodile Dundee to the Thornbirds.

Cairns

For the past three day’s we have been in Cairns, Queensland.   It is a three hour flight from Sydney and 1200 miles.  Although it is north, it is closer to the equator and much warmer than Sydney.  It is considered to be a tropical area.  We have the rainforest on one side and the Great Barrier Reef on the other side of us.

On our first day, we picked up our rental car and I started they process of getting used to driving on the other side of the road.  So far, it is going well.  Living in New Zealand for 5 months (25 years ago) helps a bit.  Having GPS on my phone is of great assistance, also.

Since we had an early start, but wanted to see something, we headed up into the rainforest to a local swimming hole called the Crystal Cascades.  Since it is running fresh water, it was crocodile and jellyfish free (very important around here). 

Croc free swimming hole

Later, we walked down the waterfront esplanade and had a nice dinner.  Cairns is a much smaller town and has a very comfortable feel.

The next day, we headed back to the rainforest.  We headed for a tourist town of Kuranda and went for a short rainforest boat ride.  We saw our first crocodile on the tour, a very small freshwater croc.  Apparently, they are much less aggressive than their saltwater cousins and not a danger to humans. 

The Australian "bush" 

 After the tour, we continued on the savanah like plains of the Atherton Tablelands.  Along the route we saw our first kangaroo in the wild.  We stopped for a nice lunch at the local roadhouse and then went to a lake in a dormant volcano crater.

 There was a 2 mile hike around the crater that we decided to walk.  I did not bring my camera on the hike, but should have.  About half way around the lake on the trail, I saw a snake on the trail.  It was black with red belly and 4-5 feet long.  Since we wanted to finish the hike and he was not going anywhere, we tossed some branches near the snake.  After many attempts, the snake moved off the trail and we quickly passed the spot.  We looked up the snake when we got back to our motel and learned that it was indeed a red bellied black snake and very venomous.

Yesterday, we walked up the the local botanical gardens, which were very interesting.  

We followed that up with a trip the beach.  It was a quaint and quiet beach.  We had to swim in a netted off area, because it is going into summer and it is “stinger season” (jellyfish).

Today, we are heading an hour up the coast to Port Douglas for more sea and rainforest adventures.

Julie enjoying her morning coffee 

Despite the danger crocodiles, snakes and jellyfish we're having a safe and wonderful adventure.

It is Thursday morning here and we would like to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

Bondi Beach

We had a nice beach day today.  We hiked 4.5 miles from the beach town of Coogee to Bondi Beach.  In addition to the beautiful coast, we did get to observe a little of the Aussie beach life.  There were lots of families out enjoying the water.

We took a public transit bus there and back which is a fun people watching opportunity.

We had a nice picnic lunch on the beach and enjoyed watching the locals play frisbie, beach volleyball and kick around soccer and rugby balls.

Right now we are enjoying a gin and tonic and will soon take a ferry to another beach town Manly for dinner.

Update - After I posted this, I read a news article about snakes and sharks on the beach.....


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6402135/Snake-stuns-group-lifeguards-slithering-beach.html

Our route, we hiked south to north

The famous pool on Bondi Beach 

Lots of surfers and a few swimmers , the water and air were about 70 degrees 

Hard to see, but there are children on paddle boards racing on Coogee Beach

Blue Mountains

After the Packers lost yesterday, we took a stroll across the Harbour Bridge.  The sun came out and we got some beautiful views of the Opera house.

We had a kangaroo burger at our hotel and a gin and tonic on the rooftop lounge before heading to the Opera house for the play. 

We had fun at the play called "A Cheery Soul. "  Apparently an Australian classic.  We were still a little tired and if I said that I got the play, I would be lying.

Today we headed west out of Sydney for a tour of the Blue Mountains.  However, it started to rain and the the clouds came in and we could not see anything.

Here we are in front of the Three Sisters in the fog. 

We had our picture taken in the visitor center (in front of a picture of the Three Sisters) but did not think that it was believable 😉

NJ

Fortunately, the clouds cleared a bit and I got this real photo of the famous Three Sisters rock formation.

I got a few more pictures of the Blue Mountain valleys.

On the way back to town, we stopped at a wildlife park.  We had lots of fun meeting new friends.