The Red Centre

I have been to Uluru, the aboriginal name meaning rock, before.  But, I longed to come back to this powerfully spiritual place. As we flew in past this huge chunk of land the emotions stirred.

Hieroglyphics and carvings

The faces of the rock

The first day we walked the 10 kms around the base out of respect for the local owners of the land who have held sacred ceremonies here for thousands of years.  I was pleased to see that there are more spots where you can't even take photos. The trail now goes up close to a pristine water hole where you are encouraged to sit on a gum tree bench and listen to the sounds of the water, birds and 'country'.  I was disappointed to see that, despite discouragement on signs and brochures, people still climb it.

One of the many mouth like crevices

That night we attended a dinner called 'Sounds of Silence' about 20 kms from Uluru but within sight. After the spectacular sunset we were entertained by a Didgereedoo player who shared some local history and yarns (stories).  All the table lights were turned off and we looked up to see the southern night sky. We were shown Saturn, the Southern Cross and many constellations. With the brilliant Milky Way the sky is much more stunning and plentiful than the northern sky.    

Sunset

'Didge' player

I have been reading the book 'Tracks' by Robyn Davidson. In 1981, without any prior experience, she moved to Alice Springs, learned how to ride and care for camels for two years then set off on a trip with 4 of them to cross the Outback, alone.  
Today the four of us saddled up on some noble and friendly beasts and rode on the red sand beside spinifex, gum and mulga trees with Uluru and Kata Tjuta (a rock formation about 50 kms from Uluru) looming in the distance.

Randy and Murphy giving us a ride

A million wild Dromidary camels roam the outback having been brought here in the 1920s to work.  

Sadly, we leave tomorrow.  We'll miss this special place and the magnetic power of the rock. 

Great Barrier Reef 2

We headed out to the Great Barrier Reef for a second day of diving. We had the same dive master, Julia, a Haligonian marine biologist.  We had three amazing dives that included:

Giant Clams

Manta Rays

a one and a half metre long Maori Wrasse

Groupers

Squirrel and Surgeon Fish

and the piece de resistance, a Green Turtle!

The Daintree

We were fortunate to spend a day in the World Heritage designated Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation as well as a few other nice spots.

We travelled first to Mossman Gorge

then by boat down the Daintree River to one of the oldest rainforests 

where we saw iguanas

and 40 metre high fig trees that grow from the canopy down  and are hollow inside

The rainforest extends right to the beautiful beaches

and we were lucky to see the elusive and rare Cassowary beside the road on our way home

Great Barrier Reef

A scuba driver's dream - the Great Barrier Reef.  Andrea the social studies teacher (waving below) says that it's the only natural structure visible from outer space. We dove at three different spots within the Agincourt Reef system. We saw clown fish for the first time and a whole variety of coral, sea stars, giant clams and colourful fish.  Beautiful!

The Blue Mountains

I am on mid-semester break at school and Keith, Andrea and Jason kindly came to Australia to visit. Since it's winter and cool in the south we are heading up north to the tropics and desert.

Day two of our vacation we took a train to Katoomba,  two hours inland and up in the Blue Mountains.  

Once we arrived in the quaint former mining town we travelled by bus, then the steepest train in the world at 52 degrees down to the rainforest floor.

We then took a cable car through the valley back to the top and hiked some of the rock formations.

You can see it is reminiscent of the Grand Canyon, except for the gum trees.

View from the front of the steepest train

The cable car

On the cliff edge

The Three Sisters

Panorama

Sydney

Sydney didn’t disappoint. 

We arrived at our hotel in Manly to find out that the Q in Q Station stood for Quarantine. We were staying at the place where 100 years ago immigrants with smallpox, Spanish Flu and other infectious diseases were kept before being allowed into Sydney Harbour.  

We had our first dinner sitting outside watching surfers and kayakers. 

The next day we awoke to a baby Kookaburra welcoming us outside our rooms.

We went into Sydney and visited the Museum of Modern Art, browsed the stalls at Paddy’s Market, had lunch in Chinatown, walked around the Botanical Gardens and Darlington Harbour, BBQ’d our fish and steaks at a hybrid pub then attended the Sydney Symphony at the architecturally amazing Opera House and enjoyed Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique.   

Remembering Zazu

Our dear companion and family member Zazu left this world on Saturday.

We'll miss his loyalty, he was the first one to greet you and on the foot of your bed when you were sick.
An 'only child' he played with his toys and enjoyed meeting new friends, mostly of the larger size at the dog park.  He thought he was much larger.
He had spunk.
I dedicate this poem to him and to Andrea.

My best friend closed his eyes last night,
As his head was in my hand.
The Vet said he was in pain,
And it was hard for him to stand.

The thoughts that scurried through my head,
As I cradled him in my arms.
Were of his younger, puppy years,
And OH...his many charms.

Today, there was no gentle nudge
With an intense "I love you gaze",
Only a heart thats filled with tears
Remembering our joy filled days.

But an Angel just appeared to me,
And he said, "You should cry no more,
GOD also loves our canine friends,
HE's installed a 'doggy-door"!

From Heaven’s Doggy Door by Jan Cooper 1995