Australia Diary 2001

Australia

Diary of 10/01/2001 to 19/06/2001

15th Jan 2001 Melbourne: So here we are in Australia! Arrived in Melbourne to 35 degree heat which was a bit of a shock! We met up with a chappie who we used to work with - Mr Matt Taylor - and spent 5 days doing bars, restaurants and sports! Saw a one day cricket international between Australia and the West Indies at the MCG which was completely mad. The Aussies won, but the crowd didn't seem to care! They were too busy chanting, bouncing inflatables around, having Mexican Waves that also involved throwing bottles of water in the air and getting soaked (great stuff at 35 degrees, not so chipper when the sun had gone down and it was colder!), having more water fights, having real fights, and being escorted from the premises by the Police! The papers the next day reported 35 evictions - we must have seen 40 ourselves so it must have been more than that! Not your English cricket on the village lawn type affair! We also went to see a Kids Charity Celebrity Tennis day which was a curtain raiser to the Australian Open. This was good fun, with most participants playing with tongues firmly in cheek, but the problem with Australian Celebrity Games was that we didn't know any of the Australian Celebrities!! Still managed to see some tennis stars, including Leyton Hewitt, Mary Pierce, and Anna Kournikova! We will be going to the Open later this week so will see some proper tennis then!
21st Jan 2001 Melbourne: Had a good day at the Tennis Australian Open. We managed to see Greg Ruzedski win his first round against some Russian chappie, Serena Williams cruise through hers, and a great match between Michael Chang and a French chappie! All in luvly sunshine!
Also spent a few days looking around the city itself - Melbourne is a nice place, but it doesn't feel very Australian! With all the gothic buildings and the trams, it feels more like a European capital than the second biggest city in Oz! Spent a few hours at the Shrine of Rememberence which is a very grand, but tasteful memorial to Victoria's soldiers from all conflicts since, and including, WW1.
On a lighter note, we went on an organized day trip to ride the Puffing Billy Railway, and then on to tour 4 wineries. Some very nice wines consumed (and some bad ones too), but the best was the bubbly from Domaine Chandon - the Australian sister company to Moet! They even had a limited edition sparkling red wine! 400 cases were produced as an experiment, and they were snapped up within 3 weeks. The next batch will be 3000 cases!!
We have also been over-indulging a bit while Matt was here, a very nice meal out in a swanky restaurant, and with another friend of ours - Dee from Ireland - we went to the Casino! Not your typical backpackers experience, but Dan did win $150 on the Pontoon so whose complaining?!
We are off to tour the Great Ocean Road and Phillip Island tomorrow. We have hired a car this time - after the hassles in NZ we're not going to buy another banger!!
1st Feb 2001 Phillip Island & the Great Ocean Road: We hired a car - a proper car this time that worked and everything - and spent 10 days exploring the surrounding areas of Melbourne. We first headed off to Phillip Island, a small island to the South East of the City. A small island twinned with the Isle of Wight (!) but with lots of nice beaches and animal type stuff. We first went to a Koala Sanctuary and observed these cuddly creatures close up - sleep for 20 hours a day, eat and scratch for the other 4! That's the life! Another day was spent at the Wildlife Park, seeing all the other weird and wonderful creatures that Australia has to offer. We've never seen such a bunch of ugly animals (except maybe Friday nights in Romford!!!) - Kangaroos, Wallabies, Kookaburras, Tasmanian Devils, Wombats and Emus. And all feeding out of our hands! From Phillip Island we drove on to Geelong - a lovely little city at the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. Spent a couple of days there, lounging on their nice beaches. Did go to the cinema in the evening to see Cast Away. We decided to go Gold Class, which is like First Class on an aeroplane (not that we'd know what that was like!) There were only 24 seats in the cinema, but each were huge comfy armchairs, with full reclining backs and foot rests. All very cosy, but add to that the fact that you get full waiter service bringing you in beers and set times throughout the film! Bloody marvellous. From Geelong, we spent a couple of days travelling along the Great Ocean Road - a very picturesque coastline with many nice little towns, beaches, Light Houses and other sights to see. Returned our car to Melbourne intact - but not before we did a couple of laps around the Grand Prix circuit in Albert Park! We couldn't do the whole thing as they are already building all the facilities here for the forthcoming Formula 1 race in March (and Dan has tickets! Hurrah!)
9th Feb 2001 Hobart, Tasmania: We are now in Hobart, Tasmania. Have hired another car, but this time gone for a cheaper option and rented a 1986 Nissan Bluebird! Not got all mod-cons but so far so good. Fingers crossed and all that. We flew into Launceston in the North, and are working our way anti-clockwise around the island. It's all very oldie worldy as Tassie was one of the first colonised areas in Australia. Full of bloody convicts!
15th Feb 2001 Launceston, Tasmania: We are now in our final destination here in Tasmania, having spent the last 12 days circulating the island. Went to Port Arthur, a huge complex of historic buildings that used to be the prison for those convicts that where naughty again when they were here. We toured this twice - once during the day (8 hours to see the lot!), and once at night on a Ghost Tour. This was a tad spooky - the only illumination available was from the 3 candle lanterns the group carried. Dan volunteered to be Lantern Bearer 1 - and had to go into each pitch black building first to check it out for spooks! We can report no strange sightings, except maybe when passing mirrors!!
Have also done another long(ish) walk, up and down the Hazard Mountain range to Wineglass Bay - a lovely secluded beach with white sands and blue sea, in the shape of a wine glass (clever that!) The old calf muscles are paying for that one now!
Back on the mainland in the next couple of days, and off to the nations Capital - Canberra.
25th Feb 2001 Canberra, ACT: We are here in the nation's capital. Everyone we spoke to said not to bother going to Canberra as it was a boring, administration city full of politicians. Well, we ignored their advice and good job too! We ended up spending 6 days in all! Canberra was only built from the 1920's so is a new city, but very impressive, lots of stunning architecture (if that's your bag), very nicely laid out, and very efficient - buses run on time and everything! Spent a whole day looking around the very impressive Parliament Buidling which is built into the side of a hill, and the Old Parliament House which wasn't built into the side of anything! It was, however, one of the first buildings in Canberra and back in the 1920's shared the area with hundreds of sheep. That would've kept all the politicians quiet anyway! Hired bikes one day - this is the best way to see Canberra as the cycle paths are everywhere - and covered 16km in all, taking in the High Court, National Library, Prime Minister's gaff, various odd shaped embassies, National Capital Museum, the National Carrillon (a big bell tower basically - a gift from the Brits to celebrate Canberra's 50th birthday - they must have been so pleased!), and finally ending up at the Australian War Memorial and Museum. This place is huge, and we spent ages there, before cycling back down the Anzac Parade and home! Phew! Also spent a day at the Questacon Science Museum, a hands on museum that is supposed to teach you all about the science behind stuff. We were too busy playing with all the gadgets to bother actually learning anything about them!
Managed to catch a Super 12 match in Canberra too between the ACT Brumbies and the Canterbury Crusaders, and also an Aussie Rules Football match - or the 'Footie' as the Aussies are keen to call it. Now, to the uninitiated, this just looked like 30 odd blokes running around a cricket oval in tight vests (and tighter shorts) chasing a ball like a group of 5 year olds would playing Soccer! Once you get the gist of it though, it's actually quite a good game and we enjoyed it! Of course, it is just another excuse to sit in the sun for a few hours drinking tinnies, but what can you do!
28th Feb 2001 Sydney / Melbourne: Arrived in Sydney and have spent a few days staying with Nick & Michelle Harris (old work colleague who upped and left Blighty for the land down under), and getting our bearings in Sydney. Dan has now gone back to Melbourne for the weekend to see the Australian Grand Prix, while Tracey has remained behind, staying with other friends - Jo & Andy. Nick and Michelle are flying to Melbourne later to meet Dan. Confused?
8th Mar 2001 Sydney: Dan is now back in Sydney having spent a long weekend at the Australian Grand Prix. Followers of Dan's photography habit will be pleased to note that he took just 50 pictures all weekend, as opposed to the standard 350! Tracey spent her time in Karaoke Bars and at the annual Mardi Gras - a gay and lesbian parade through the middle of the city. A 'Hufty' lookalike took a shining to Trace, and kisses were blown from across a crowded platform!!
Back in Sydney, practically zero sightseeing has been done so far as we have been busy catching up with friends and getting a few things sorted. It was Jo & Andy's birthdays on consecutive days, and then Sean & Caroline are over on their holidays. We have secured ourselves a two bedroom apartment for two weeks for when Dan's Mum and Dad arrive, and we move in on the 13th. Hurrah! We can unpack our bags for once and have our own bathroom! We are in Sydney until the end of March, so plenty time to do all the stuff.
30th Mar 2001 Sydney: Well, we think you could well and truly say we have 'done' Sydney. We spent several days doing loads of adminy stuff and changed our Itinerary a bit. We had a real result with our Round the World flights - thanks to a super helpful lady at Ansett Airlines, we now have added 4 flights within Australia and return flights to Cambodia for just $150 (about 50 quid).
We moved into our apartment and had two and half weeks of luxury - all mod cons including a huge decking patio overlooking Berry Bay, barbeque, TV and video and dishwasher. Sod hostels - this is the way forward!! Ma and Pa Heuston arrived after a 33 hour flight and, after the initial jet lag sent them a bit ga ga, settled in nicely. T'was then that we did the sights - Darling Harbour, Cicular Quay, the Chinese Gardens, Watson's Bay, Double Bay, Manly, Bondi Beach, Bronte Beach and Avalon Beach. We also swung by Palm Beach, home of Home and Away - top Aussie "quality" soap opera. Talking of soap operas, if anyone is a Neighbours fan it is our sad duty to inform you all that Madge has just kicked the bucket over here, dying in her bed at home with Harold and various children that we never knew they had at their bedside. A bit miffed to note that Scott and Charlene didn't turn up to pay her respects!!
Did a few trips out of the city too - a Wine Appreciation tour of the Hunter Valley taught us a thing or two about vino (not that Tracey needs any more tuition on that score), and a drive out to the Blue Mountains provided some fresh countryside air.
Tracey, Dan, and Pop Heuston also did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, a 2 hour walk up and over the bridge arches. We had a lovely sunny day for it and got great views from all around.
We have also been catching up with various chums - dinners, drinks and barbeques with Jo & Andy (who we met in Fiji), Oli (who we toured NZ with), Nick & Michelle (we used to work with Nick at Lloyds) and Sean & Caroline (we used to work with Sean at Lloyds - as did Nick!)
Our final night in Sydney was spent being all cultured and watching/listening to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra bang out a few concertos in the Sydney Opera House, with the assistance of one Mr. Nigel Kennedy. A good experience, but it's not the sort of thing we would do normlly at home. Mr Elgar may well be very able to knock out a decent Violin based melody, but he needs to add a bit more balls! More drums and horns required next time!! Philistines the lot of us, we know.
12th Apr 2001 Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast: With Sydney done and dusted, we headed off to Brisbane. Straight off the plane we were met by cousin Rodney, dumped our bags off at our hostel (yes, we managed to get Ma and Pa to stay in a hostel!), and off to Ballymore for more Super 12 action - the Queenland Reds taking on the ACT Brumbies. Other cousin Richard joined us to make it a real family affair, and a formal introduction to XXXX!
We also popped down to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary for more close encounters with the locals (see Photos), before heading south on the train to the Gold Coast and a stay at Broad Beach, near Surfer's Paradise. We rented another nice apartment there for the duration, spending some time on the beach, and also a day at Wet 'n' Wild.
We then moved on North past Brisbane and onto the Sunshine Coast, staying just outside Noosa Heads on Sunshine Beach. Yet another fab apartment was rented (we are definitely not going to like hostels after this!) overlooking the beach. Took a day trip out on the Everglades, overlooking the multi-million dollar apartments there! Must keep playing the lottery!
18th Apr 2001 Brisbane: Said our goodbyes to Ma and Pa as they went off to visit Rodney in Nanango, and we headed back to Brisbane to stay with Richard & Kylie for Easter. We asked them to show us a traditional Aussie Easter, and it appears that Easter eggs come secondary to Castlemaine XXXX (followers of quality beers should take note that the XXXX here is really nice, nothing like the wet yellow rubbish we get back in the UK!) We spent the weekend doing various activities from Disco Ten Pin Bowling, where the lanes are in ultra violet and all the pins and balls (!) are illuminous, to betting on the Gee Gees (Trifectas and Box Quinellas! If you're not a betting person, don't ask!), to swinging our clubs at the local driving range, to hunting down a huge refinery blaze that sent the whole area into blackout!! All mixed in with lashings of XXXX! We're not entirely convinced that this was a traditional Easter weekend, but who were we to argue!? Our final afternoon was spent in Happy Hour at the local sports club and it was all we could do to escape their clutches and catch our train north to Hervey Bay! Thanks for the weekend Bruces!
23rd Apr 2001 Hervey Bay & Fraser Island: We caught the Tilt Train from Brisbane to Hervey Bay - a very modern train that is exactly like travelling on an aeroplane, without the turbulance! You check your bags on, get reclining seats, videos with armrest controls, meals and drinks served by Trolly Dollies, and even that smart computerised position indicator that tells you where you are on your journey! Right down to current speed, time to destination, and a little computer graphic of the train (no mention of altitude here though!!) Best of all though, is Driver Cam, showing you a driver's eye view of your trip! We never knew going through a tunnel could be so exciting! We're dead chuffed by all this as we have booked a pass to take us all the way to Cairns, far cheaper than the coach fare!
On arrival in Hervey Bay, we booked ourselves on a 3 day trip of Fraser Island, joining a group totalling 11 people in all. We travelled around this great sand island in a 4x4 bus - very bumpy - and just saw stacks of wildlife and nature stuff. As the island consists entirely of sand, the water is perfectly filtered and all the lakes and creeks are really clear and excellent to swim in. We saw snakes, spiders and dingos on land, and in the sea a mass of fish, eels, and a dugong (a rare find apparantly). We also saw dolphins surfing - we kid not - they actually swam parallel with the shore and, when they saw a wave they liked, they'd kick in with it and ride the wave in! Finally, we also saw the reason why you swim in the lakes and creeks, and not in the sea. Tiger sharks, 3-4m in length right close into shore, feeding off the bait fish! Have a lookie at the Photos. We had a great time and were lucky to get a good crowd and top guide.
2nd May 2001 The Whitsundays: Back on the trains from Hervey Bay and on to Airlie Beach - gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. We had ourselves booked on the Anaconda III yacht for a 3 night, 3 day cruise around the islands. It's the largest boat on the Whitsundays with 28 people on board, plus 6 crew, but it was not at all cramped. Our cabin was very small, as all boaty cabins seem to be, with beds just big enough to fit our bodies, and an ensuite toilet and shower (when we say "ensuite toilet and shower" that's exactly what we mean - the toilet room also has the shower head in it, or is it that the shower room also has a toilet in it?! Either way, you could essentially have a wee in the shower without it being unhygenic!!). We sailed around the main Whitsunday Island, to Whitehaven beach (see a photo from a helicopter here), then up to Mantaray Bay for some snorkelling and diving. Dan did two introductory dives here - looking all smart in his wetsuit and BCD - and Tracey did snorkelling. From all accounts, we both saw as much as each other in the fish department - from big blue fish, to huge yellow stripy fish, to fat, green fish (sorry, David Attenborough we ain't), and we also saw some sharks!! Don't panic, they were only biddy ones and harmless. Well, we have all arms and limbs intact, so they can't have been that dangerous!
Sailed on to Black Island to moor for the night and were treated to a free fireworks display! Apparantly, some toff had hired the island for the night for a classical music concert with fireworks, so we kinda gatecrashed that in purely a nautical sense!
We were supposed to sail off to the southernmost tip of the Great Barrier Reef, but apparantly the wind was far too strong and we'd have only seen the Great Barrier Barf!!! Disappointing, but we can still see it up in Cairns. Finished the cruise at Blue Pearl Bay before heading back to dry land (Have a look at this map to get some idea of where we went.) All in all a great cruise, with a nice bunch of peeps and a good crew. The whole trip finished up in the bars of Airlie Beach afterwards, where we all desperately tried to relocate our land legs, failing miserably, and ending up with just our beer legs! Normal service resumed there then!!!
7th May 2001 Townsville & Magnetic Island: More trains on to Townsville and Magnetic Island a wee small tropical island just off the east coast. Had just a fleeting visit there, but Tracey managed to go horsey riding through the bush and in the sea (Dan refused steadfastly to get on anything that does not have a steering wheel or any brakes), and we both then took to the sea on jetskis to circumnavigate the island (Around Magnetic Island in 80 kilometeres! There's a book there somewhere! Call Michael Palin!). We also took a very pleasant walk through the bush to some deserted WWII forts overlooking the ocean, where we saw one wild Koala en route!
Finally, we took a whistle stop tour around the innards of the island in a stretch jeep, driven by a strange lunatic with green hair. This was more of a Butlins on wheels affair, with complimentry water pistols for all and compulsory singing, but - hey - when in Rome, and all that!
(Tip for fellow travellers, if heading for Magnetic Island, do not stay at 'Maggie's' backpackers. It's bloody awful!!!)
20th May 2001 Cairns: At the most north-easterly point of Australia that we'll get to now, here in Cairns - gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Spent the first few days just hanging out along with various peeps from our Whitsundays cruise. Two couples had combi-vans to sell, so we watched them ply their trade and do their best Arthur Daley's down on the Cairns esplanade! Both reported success (vans going for around the $3000 mark here, fact fans!). Of course, we also had a couple of nights out on the sauce with them! Rude not to! We actually ended up with 14 of the whole cruise gang out on one night - ahh, the well trodden backpacker trail!
We then hired a Toyota Twin Cam Starlet, which we believe is Japanese for 'very small car indeed', to tour the Atherton Tablelands and Yungaburra. This is a very lush and green area just outside Cairns, stacked full of water related landscape features. We have well and truly done waterfalls now, having seen no less than 8 of the buggers, plus 3 lakes! We turned up to go on an historic Steam Railway in Ravenshoe, only to find it out of action. On enquiring at the Information Centre, the guide there asked if he could interest us in anything else in the Ravenshoe area. 'Of course', we replied. 'Only we have some lovely waterfalls here', the man informed us!!!!
Back in Cairns, and having had such a good time on the open seas at the Whitsundays, we decided the only way to see THE Reef was to go on a Live Aboard sailing trip. We had a 4 day 3 night trip aboard the S.S. Atlantic Clipper , but just as Snorkellers. The boat is primarily a Dive boat so there were a lot of bubble heads on board, either learning to dive or just showing off and being all certified up already!! Now, we know a lot of you out there are certified divers, but with their little log books, dive charts, and the fishy identification cards, aren't divers just aquatic trainspotters!!?! Our boat was permanently moared out at the Reef (we were transferred out there on a fast cat) and sailed between various points of Saxon and Norman Reefs. We then had various opportunities to get wet and swim with the fishes, starting at 6.30am (!), 10.15am, 12.15pm, 2pm, 4pm, and 7.30pm for night divers. And yes, we did get up for the 6.30am dives. Well, one of them anyway! We saw stacks of fish of various shapes, sizes and colours, plus giant clams, fluffy coral, and turtles that were only too happy to let you swim with them - but no touchy touchy! We also saw and swam with White Tipped Reef Sharks! These are apparantly harmless, so we chased one around the Reef! Hah, JAWS he wasn't, but then one day we saw a bloody big one - over 6 foot long - asleep under a coral overhang thing. Now this one we were happy to leave well alone! Unfortunately, the local Jellyfish population did not share our views on non-interaction and decided to put in an appearance one afternoon. Most people from the boat copped it in some shape of form, Dan ended up with a red neck (no, not a Redneck) but poor old Trace copped the lot - and coming out in a fetching rash the next day all up her arms, legs and neck. She looked like a pimply little teenager! Bless.
27th May 2001 Darwin & Kakadu National Park: Arrived in Darwin, flying via Khundulery (a.k.a. Gove) which was a tiny little airport in the middle of Arnhemland. Whilst this area is pure 100% Aborigine land, it still looked like something from the top early 90s early-Saturday night TV fodder 'The Flying Doctors' !! Darwin itself has not got a fat lot to offer, but we had a good look around the city and fed some fish at the local fish-feeding sanctuary!
The real reason you come here is to see Kakadu National Park - a park the size of Wales (though significantly more useful!) - and full of bush type experiences and Aboriginal culture. We were on a 3 day camping tour with Wilderness 4WD Adventures doing much hiking through the bush, swimming in several (crocodile free) pools, looking at Aboriginal rock paintings that are over 4,000 years old (which is quite new relatively speaking for the Aborigines), and cruising the rivers to see the local crocodile population up close! Also saw some fabulous sunsets as the bush fires tend to turn the sun a dark red as it sets. And yes, we did do real camping! Find a campsite, put up tent, light fire, cook on fire, get bitten by mozzies, pee in the bush, no shower, have wash in natural springs and waterfalls! All good stuff! We are doing a 5 day camping tour of the Red Centre when we get to Alice so this was just a taster!!!
3rd June 2001 Alice Springs & The Red Centre: Here we are back in civilisation, after spending 5 days 'outback' in the Red Centre. Except, because there has been a lot of rain in the middle of Oz, it is more of the Reddish-Green Centre, with a lot more grass about than is normal! We went on the Wayoutback 5 day safari, taking in Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Warraka (Ayer's Rock, The Olgas, and Kings Canyon to the colonialists!), plus 2 humumgous cattle stations, one 160 million year old meteor crater, one valley full of palm trees, and a beach by a lagoon! Only in the outback! Our accomodation for this trip was one 10 seater 4WD jeep thing, one trailer for bags and tucker, and a swag each! These are essentially a great big canvas body-bag that you fill with a nice foam mattress, your sleeping bag, and as many blankets as you see fit. Then simply lie back, zip yourself up so just your peepers are showing, and relax.And bloody marvellous they are to! So comfortable and warm, it was a struggle to get up in the morning. Even more of a struggle considering Ian, our guide, insisted that we're up around 5.30am most days! On the first day we had the option to climb The Rock and, after a bit of deliberation, we did it. Many Aboriginies request that you do not climb it as it is the sacred route that their ancestors climbed, and also because they feel responsible should you croak it on the way up. But the fact that they have the power to stop you and choose not to swung it for us and off we jolly well went! Hard work too - the first third of the climb is very steep and you need a chain to help pull you up and, just when you reach the top of that, you see lots more to do before you get to the summit! We got up in just over and hour and saw the most magnificent views of sweet f.a. you have ever seen! That's the Outback for you! Back on the ground, we supped a bit of shampoo whilst watching the sunset, turning the rock a lovely orange colour for a wee while. Not like you see in all the postcards and stuff, but nice enough!
Up at the crack of dawn literally to watch the sunrise over Uluru, and this was a much nicer sight to see. Except for the millions of other coaches and tour groups all getting in the way of the photographs! Bloody tourists.
Off then to Kata Tjuta, a series of 56 mini-Ulurus, that the Aboriginies believe are the heads of ancients who sat down there for a while and just didn't bother to get up again! Very spectacular this lot too, and we did a nice 6km walk through the 'Valley of the Winds' (leave it!) to get to grips with it from within.
The next day or so was spent on a bone shaking, teeth rattlin' outback safari, crossing the 1600 square mile Cattle Station (you should see the size of the sheep dogs!) to Kings Creek Station, where we embarked on a Quad Bike Sunset Safari. On this occaision, the sun did not set at all, merely fizzled and half heartedly flopped over the horizon, leaving us out on the ranch in the dark with just our Quad bike headlamps to guide us home. Most of us managed nicely, but the tail end of our group managed to get seperated from the front, and a frantic mechanical mustering was in order from 'Bluey', the goatherd (or whatever he was - and what a great name for an Aussie - Bluey!!)
The last of the big 3 sights to see was Watarrka - another early start and we hiked up, along, around, in and out of this canyon, finishing the walk just as most tourists were starting. Except they were all doing it the opposite way around from us, which seemed far harder! Our descent, so their ascent, down 'Coronory Hill' was really steep and we were thankful that Ian took us the sensible way! Indeed, we heard a couple of days later that someone had indeed got to the top and promptly dropped down dead from a heart attack. Nice views from there though!
And so back to Alice Springs, hot showers, and uncomfortable beds! Alice is a really nice town, although it is literally in the middle of nowhere, it has a lot of character, and we were a bit peeved to have to leave so soon. But our coach was booked, and we were off once again to....Uluru! We had to return there as our flight to Perth was from Uluru airport, so we retraced our steps and were able to see another sunrise and sunset over the Rock. We also had a scenic flight in a little cessna booked and, when we showed up, found we had the thing to ourselves (plus the pilot obviously!) To see the Rock and Kata Tjutu from the air just summed our last few days up nicely and put it all in perspective. It was bloody marvellous, and we both agreed that this had been our best experience of our whole tour! Fellow travellers, if you are in Oz, miss Uluru at your peril!
15th June 2001 Perth: And so here we are in our final destination, Perth. And what have we seen here? Absolutely nothing! We've been busy getting all our bits and bobs together for our impending move into Asia and, after such a hectic previous few weeks in the Northern Territory, do not have the energy to do much in the way of sightseeing. Criminal, we know, but you've got to rest some time!! Have been down to Cottesloe Beach and Fremantle though, so we've seen a teeny bit!

And so Australia draws to a close. We have really enjoyed it here, have seen loads of stuff, met loads of really nice people, and covered quite a lot of kilometres. Thanks to all of you that we've travelled with, drunk with, ate with, and stayed with, and we will be back to finish off what we've missed this time around!

3D Animated Flags--By 3DFlags.com