Adventures with Nana and Grandpa

Thursday, February 26, 2015

2/27/15 Uluru to Port Douglas

We got up early this morning (4:30) to catch a ride to the sunrise viewing station. We stopped along the way at the sunset station to view the night sky. The milky way was brilliant and we were able to see the Southern Cross. When I turned back toward Uluru, I was able to see Mercury just over the rock. The sunrise if not as spectacular as the sunset here, but it was still nice to see the rock lit up by the rising sun. We took a walk to the Kantju Gorge and along the Mala walk where we were able to see more rock art in a teaching cave. Our bus driver then delivered us back for an 8:00 breakfast buffet. Dave had skipped the sunrise tour as he was pretty wiped out by the heat yesterday (about 103 in the shade) so he slept in and met us for breakfast. The extra sleep was great for him. We will be leaving here at 10 AM so am trying to catch up on the blog before we leave. Some of the group are going for a heliocopter ride over Uluru. The plan for today is to drive to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and take a walk into Walpa Gorge. We will then return to Yulara Town Center for lunch and a quick shopping before going to the airport for our flight to Cairns and a bus ride to Port Douglas. I am so glad we brought our flynets as the flies are quite pesky - always trying to get into mouths, eyes, and ears.

2/26/15 Uluru (Ayers Rock)

We had a 5:45 AM wake-up call this morning and then boarded a larger coach for our trip to Uluru. We stopped for a bathroom break or as Louise would say "a stop at the Happy House" at a camel farm and four of our group took a camel ride around the paddock. We had lunch at Curtin Springs Cattle Station. We had sandwiches and orange cake while the woman of the house gave us a history of the station and some of the trials and good times on such an isolated ranch. They have 1.1 millions acres and run only 5000 head of cattle maximum. Even though it is green right now due to the rains in January, it is usually much drier. She said they can only count on a good year once in every ten years. They rely on dug wells from 9 feet to 400 feet down. At this cattle station, they make half their income off of tourism now. We continued on and at one point saw what looked like Uluru in the distance, but Louise said it was called "Fool-aru" as so many people make the same mistake. We stopped to take pictures of the great salt flats and arrived at the Outback Pioneer Hotel (more like a motel) around 2 PM and had a chance to throw our bags in the room before going off to visit Uluru. We stopped at the Cultural Center for an introduction to the local Anangu people and their land and customs. We then traveled partway around Uluru with a nice walk from Kunya Piti to the Mutitjulu Waterhole. We saw some indigenous rock art and had a chance to tap the rock, which sounded hollow in some spots much to our surprise. We arrived at the sunset viewing spot and were treated to champagne and orange juice and some cold nibbles. Unfortunately, the sky was quite cloudy so we did not get the full effect of the setting sun, but it was quite beautiful all the same. We came back to our hotel for a quick dinner and then off to bed as we have a 4:30 AM wakeup call tomorrow to view the sunrise on Uluru.

2/25/15 Alice Springs

Dave and I took the morning off to do laundry and relax while everyone else went toThe Desert Park. We had been there eight years ago when we were in Alice so decided to skip it this time. We rejoined the group after their tour and went to visit a third grade class at the Yipirinya School. This is a school for indigenous students. They learn in English and also in their own language and learn their own culture. We read to the kids and some of them were able to read to us. We visited their library and then had lunch in the cafeteria. We all gave them gifts of books, crayons, pencils, and markers to supplment their supplies. The kids were cute and loved having their pictures taken even though many adults do not like to be photographed. When someone dies, their picture is covered or removed from view and their name is not spoken until the grieving period is over, which may be a few weeks, months, or even years. We continued by coach to The Purple House, which is a dialysis unit as well as a clinic. The indigenous people have a propensity for kidney disease and therefore there is a great need for dialysis units. Many of them are in remote areas so that the people do not have to come into town, away from their families to get treatment. Our next stop was the School of the Air. It is a studio where the teachers give lessons and the children in outlying areas tune in from cattle stations, roadhouses, parks and other areas that are too remote for a school. The students only get to come together four times a year for a week at a time for assessments and social activities with other children that they have only seen as icons on their computers. It was all very interesting and we got to see the end of a live lesson and part of a taped lesson. Later, when we came back to the hotel and were in the pool, we talked to two little girls who attended the School of the Air. The family lives on a remote cattle station. They were 7 and 6. The were moving to another remote area in the north and had to wait eleven days for their furniture to be delivered so were taking a mini-vacation in Alice. We had a traditional Aussie BBQ out on the lawn of the hotel - steak, chicken, and shrimp on the "barbie", along with bread and salads. It was all very good.

I am having a hard time finding the time to put pix on, but hope to make up for it at some point.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

2/24/15 Alice Springs

After breakfast, we gathered to hear an Aboriginal man, Lindsey, talk about growing up in the outback region of the country. He spoke of the men's rites and rituals that boys face when they come of age. These included getting a front tooth knocked out to prepare oneself for handling pain and circumcision (with a sharp rock). He also spoke of the Stolen Generation. This was quite a blight in Austratlian history as half-castes were taken from their families and moved many miles away to be brought up by Caucasian families. Apparently, the Aboriginal blood is recessive so the children of mixed parentage are a lot lighter than the Aboriginal parent. This practiced started in the 19th century and continued into the 1950's or 60's. Many of these children were never able to find their birth parents. Some of the children were encourage to both learn "English ways" and well as retain their native language (especially those raised in groups by the Lutheran Church). He also showed us some of his native art and told us the story that was depicted on the canvas. We boarded our bus and headed to the airport for our next adventure.

We arrived in Alice Springs and hour and a half after take-off and it was HOT (about 105). We crossed the Tod River which was completely dry now, but a month ago, there were torrential rains (12 inches in two days - equal to their annual rainfall) and the river was in full flood. We had a bit of time when we landed at our hotel so Dave and I jumped in the pool for a refreshing swim. We walked to the visitor center and museum of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. We were given a talk about the history of the service and shown a short movie. They have over 60 planes and cover most of the country except for the coast where the majority of the population lives and has easy access to good medical care. They service people living in remote areas in both emergency situaltion and as a clinic for non-emergency visits. Each plame has a pilot and a highly trained nurse on board who is in contact with a doctor at all times. It was started in the 1920's and is still going strong today. What an amazing service! We were picked up by coach and driven to the Old Telegraph Station - a repeater station for the telegraph line that ran from Adelaide to Darwin a distance of 1800 miles. The advent of the line allowed news to reach outlying areas in hours rather than months. We practiced throwing boomerangs in a field there. I absolutely stunk at it, but some of the guys (including Dave) had the knack and did have some great throws and returns. We also visited the Anzac monument and got some great views of the foothills surrounding the town. We went for dinner located in the mall area and then came back to the hotel to catch up on email before going to bed.

2/23/15 Adelaide

We took advantage of a free morning and walked down the street to the mall area. Unlike our malls. these are individual shops and beautiful Victorian arcades in a car-free zone. We did a little window shopping and picked up a few things for the grandkids. The weather was in the 80's with a nice breeze. We stopped for lunch and picked up some fresh fruit to supplement our breakfast tomorrow. The breakfast buffets have been lovely, but there has not been an abundance of fresh fruit. After lunch, we met up with most of the rest of the group (three of our single ladies went off on an all day bus tour into the wine region) and took a bus to the Haigh's chocolate factory. The factory has been family owned for one hundred years and we got to see them working on cherry cordials, hand dipped truffles, and the Easter collection. They don't have Easter bunnies here, but Easter billbies along with eggs, chickens, and ducks. We were given samples both before and after the tour so all was good! We met up later and walked to the Red Ochre restaurant for a lovely dinner. Dave had kangaroo, but I stuck with chicken, not being as adventuresome. We didn't get back to the hotel until 10 so it was off to bed.