Brisbane was my final stop in month-long adventure in Australia. It’s the third largest city in Australia and the capital of Queensland. It’s a sophisticated and lively city, full of culture and adventure activities to satisfy any traveler, even if it may often get overshadowed by Sydney and Melbourne. American law school friend. She married an Australian and moved there right after law school. Aside … Continue reading Rolling on the River in Brisbane
After touring the desert heart of Central Australia, I flew to Brisbane for a night and then caught another flight the next day to Prosperine for a few days in Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands, a beautiful spot along Australia’s Queensland Coast. The contrast between the dry red landscape that I had been traveling through during the last week could not have been more … Continue reading Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands
We arrived in Kings Canyon in the afternoon after a long drive from Uluru. The day was slightly overcast with some drizzle. We stayed at the Kings Canyon Resort, which is actually a campground relatively close to the canyon. Some of us took a ride on quadbikes through the rolling red hills and around scrubby trees blackened by past wildfires. Up the gradual ridges you … Continue reading Sunrise Hiking Through Kings Canyon
During our couple of days at Uluru, we could often see the incredible rock formations of Kata-Tjuta (also known as The Olgas) off in the distance. During sunsets, its red domes turned pink and purple. On our last morning in Uluru-Kata-Tjuta National Park, we got to see this area up close. First, we watched a spectacular sunrise from a viewing platform. From the Kata-Tjuta … Continue reading Kata-Tjuta
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
Journeying Jeff 