The sun comes very early in the Northern Territory in late spring, so we had to rise early from our campground to catch the sunrise. At this time of year, the sunrise viewing areas are not actually situated to capture much of the sun’s rays, so our tour guide actually took us to the sunset viewing area to watch the sun rise from behind the … Continue reading Day 29: Uluru Day Two
We left Coober Pedy in the early morning and made the long drive to Uluru. We stopped briefly to watch the sun come up along the Stuart Highway. A wedge-tailed eagle sat perched in a tree the whole time, making for a remarkable silhouette shot. After we turned on the Lasseter Highway, named after a man who had claimed there was a reef of gold … Continue reading Day 28: Uluru
After turning off from the unsealed Oondadatta Track, we were driving on the sealed Stuart Highway and seeing outposts of civilization, at least what you might consider civilization when you have been traveling in the vast emptiness of the outback. The miles of desert flatness gave way to small hills with mining equipment and underground homes carved inside. We had reached the remarkable small town … Continue reading Day 27: Coober Pedy
We left the Beltana Sheep station and continued our drive north through more stunning desert landscapes. Our first stop of the day was close to the town of Lyndhurst where we visited the Talc Alf Art Gallery. The gallery is located outdoors in a home that looks like a set for a post-apolycalyptic movie, strewn with automobile and machine parts, slogans, but also filled with … Continue reading Day 26: Talc Alf, the Oondadatta Track, William Creek
This leg of the journey took us deeper into the outback of South Australia. The day was filled with the incredible beauty of this remote part of the world. We started with a hike in Wilpena Pound which began in a dense eucalyptus forest. We saw a few emus along the way. They tend to look like they are drunk when they are running away … Continue reading Day 25: Wilpena Pound to Beltana
Leaving Adelaide, we drove up through rolling yellow hills to Clare where we sampled some wines at the Sevenhill Cellars, a winery that had been established in 1851 by Austrian Jesuits. Before our tasting, we explored the St. Aloysius church, a Gothic Revival structure built from local stone, including the crypt underneath the church. Our wine tasting then got underway. We tried several different varieties … Continue reading Day 24: Clare Valley, Flinders Ranges
South Australia prides itself on the fact that, unlike some of the other Australian colonies such as New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, it was not initially settled by convicts. Instead, it was settled by free, mostly middle-class merchants and farmers from England as well as other countries. South Australia is probably one of the more unsung regions of Australia for tourism, although its praises … Continue reading Day 23: Adelaide
On this day, our group went to the Brambuk Cultural Centre in Halls Gap that told one of the dreamtime stories or creation stories by the local aboriginal population. Dreamtime stories are Aboriginal legends that explain how various land formations such as the Grampians came to be. Sadly, due to the decimation of the Aboriginal people and their culture, the story told at the center, which … Continue reading Day 22: The Grampians to Mount Gambier
As previously noted, the towering rock stacks along the Great Ocean Road are in the constant process of being shaped by the waves. In the morning, we visited London Bridge, which had formerly been a double arch. In 1990, two journalists, a man and a woman, were out on the rock formation exploring, when one of the arches collapsed into the sea requiring a rescue … Continue reading Day 21: The Great Ocean Road to the Grampians
My tour group started out early in morning for a scenic drive along the Great Ocean Road. Melbourne looked like it had a bad hangover after Melbourne Cup Tuesday and was sluggishly returning to work. We made a stop for coffee at the delightful Kobo Cafe in Torquay, a picturesque surfer town, before making our way to Bells Beach. If you’re a fan of the movie … Continue reading Day 20: The Great Ocean Road
Journeying Jeff 