Sunday Sept 8 to Wednesday Sept 11...Darwin, Leitchfield and Kakadu camping

 

It was time to say, “Good-bye,” to Alice, and after our breakfast we were picked up and taken to the airport.  It was another hot day, and our flight to Darwin was pretty clear and calm.  It was amazing to see out the window…..nothing but red rubble for a long time, then all of a sudden we were over rainforest and the sea.  We arrived in Darwin in the afternoon, and took the shuttle to our hotel…the Value Inn.  What a beautiful city!  The boulevards were lined with frangipani (plumeria), bougainvillea, palms, and wattle trees.  The city is very clean and modern, with a real tropical and laid back feel.  Not a lot of traffic, and the people were very friendly.  The downtown core is right at the water, and there is a buffer of park between the ocean and the street. We got settled, and headed out for dinner and a little exploration of the area.  Turns out we were in the middle of the backpackers’ area, with all the bars and clubs.  Darwin is a place that a lot of military people and workers from the oil/gas industry come for time off. Apparently the ratio of guys to girls is 8:1…..and they party hard, we discovered!!  We were up early to get picked up for our second 3-day/2-night tour…this time to Litchfield and Kakadu parks.  Our guide, Richard, was a park ranger who was taking a break and trying out a new job.  Very nice, knowledgeable, professional…..looked like a younger version of Patrick Dempsey!  We had to stop and pick up more people; one of the stops was at the naval base for a couple of Americans who were in port on an aircraft carrier.  We had to wait for a bit (we were in the wrong place) and had time to see the carrier.  Talk about massive.  You don’t really get how big it is, until you really look and see all the jets, helicopters, and other machines that are on it.  The sunrise from here was beautiful……pinks and purples. Once we had everyone on the bus, we numbered 14, and headed to Litchfield Park first.  It was a drive along the Stuart Highway again.  This time, it was lined with eucalyptus, palms, and ferns.  Our first stop was at the termite “rocks.”  They were really interesting; it was pointed out that they all had the same alignment, and that was not a coincidence.  The rocks were about 6 feet high, and are formed by Magnetic termites.  They are aligned N/S towards the poles so that they avoid the midday heat.  With all the mounds in the green field,  it looked like a graveyard. Magnetic Termite mounds   This is where Pam's camera stopped working and she started using Lori's with Lori's memory card and eventually moved her memory card into Lori's camera......are you mixed up well so am I (especially as I am downloading pictures onto this blog some of the beautiful pictures w took will not download.....sorry)......first on the list when we get back to Darwin is a new camera! Buley plunge pool That's Lori by the falls.....she went in behind too   Florence Falls Next stop was at the Buley Rockhole, which is a series of shallow cascading waterfalls and rockholes.  We went in here for a little dip….the water was unbelievably warm.  We’re so used to freezing cold water at the bottom of falls at home, that this just seemed weird!  After we swam, there was a beautiful 1.5 km walk through the tropical forest to the next stop at Florence Falls.  Some walked, some rode the bus.  Richard walked with us, pointing out different plants and filling us with lots of information.  Just near the end, we saw flying foxes…fruit bats…. dancing around the limbs of the trees.  Florence is a beautiful double waterfall emptying into a plunge pool.  I (Lori) even swam across the pool and under the waterfall.  It was great.  After that, we had 160 steps to climb to get back to the bus.  We had a little detour to attend to some “business,” (geocache!) on the way back.  We then headed to the third and final falls, Wangi Falls.  While we were off exploring and climbing the steps to the canopy platform (geocache!) lunch was being prepared by the Richard.  We stopped for a final plunge, and then met up with them for delicious chicken burgers. It was during  this time Lori noticed Pam's swimsuit......ok ladies you know what chlorine does to the back of swimsuits....yes eats away the fibre so that it looks like you are wearing  nothing.......now a new swimsuit has been added to the Darwin shopping list along with a new camera!!!!!!  Beautiful trail at Wangi Falls  We headed back towards Darwin, and dropped off 10 of the passengers….they were just on a day trip.  That left just us and a couple from Virginia, Tom and Linda, to explore Kakadu.  It was a lot of driving, but we got to our first campsite at Stuart Point before dark.  This time, we were in fixed tents, so we felt like we were in heaven…..cots, pillows, electricity, and a floor fan! I don’t think Tom and Linda were as impressed, but we thought it was great.  There was a large, enclosed mess tent, and we all pitched in to cook a delicious dinner of Thai chicken and salad.  We were visited by a very nice fellow who came to play the didgeridoo for us.  He was very, very good at it.  Pam even gave it a try!!  Our overnight home Didgeridoo lesson We were off to bed early, as we had to get up again at the crack of dawn for a little boat trip to the Rock Hole billabong….home of the most and largest saltwater crocs in the world.  There are also freshwater crocs here.  The billabong is part of the Mary River floodplain, and was huge.   It was early morning, and the river was very calm.  It was lined with huge lotus leaves and gigantic pink flowers.  We even peeled some of the pods and ate the seeds…..they were like sweet peas.  Our guide found lots of crocs for us!  And they were huge!   There were a lot of different birds along the ride as well:  egrets, jabirus, magpie geese, eagles. Crocodile We got back to the bus, and continued East and entered into the park.  We crossed the Mary River at one point, and were told about the young man a few weeks back that was killed by a crocodile at that spot.  He was at a stag party, and decided to swim across the river.  Apparently he made it across, which was a miracle, but he didn’t make it back.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Just before lunch, we spotted a dingo at the side of the road.  He just stared at us, and didn’t run away…..I have to say, he was pretty cute.  We then headed to Ubirr, which is famous for its rock art.  It was really fascinating; most of the pictures were painted over 2000 years ago and they tell stories of food, ancestors, and lessons.  There was a hot and steep hike here as well….with a beautiful panorama view of the floodplains and out to Arnhemland. View over Arnhemland from Ubirr Cave painting Can you see the rock kangaroo? We drove out to Cahill’s Crossing, which is the entrance to Arnhemland.  We had to stop here, as you need special permits to cross over.  The water in the river here is tidal, and was just coming in.  It covers the road, and the crocodiles were just waiting there in the current for dinner….fish being brought in by the tide.  We saw 6 or 7 that were visible, and then three guys came down the walkway and started fishing!  We had been told time and time again to always make sure we were 7 metres away from the water (crocs could get you if you were closer) and these guys were actually wading in there! Croc crossing Those aren't logs! We took a drive up to the Ranger Uranium mine (incredibly huge) and stopped at the Bowali Visitor Centre (great presentation of the area’s fauna and flora) before heading to our campsite at the Coolinda caravan park.  Our tents were a little more rustic here (no power and no fans) but there was a pool.  It was about 34* and we were pretty warm; the pool was a good way to cool down.  Dinner was a barbecue of assorted meats:  beef steak, chicken sausages, and KANGAROO!!  Surprisingly, the roo tasted pretty good.  Another beautiful sunset, and off to bed. At the visitor's centre (I haven't seen a live one yet...touch wood!)   Lori tastes roo! We headed straight out to go see Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls.  We stopped to drop off the trailer we were towing, because the roads were not paved.  It was 40 km of gravel road, followed by another 20 km of a sandy track through the forest.   At this point we were really happy that we hadn’t rented a car, as we would never have been able to get to these beautiful falls.  I would never have believed a bus could get here, either, but it actually had 4WD!!! Both falls involved a hike, and we were now in 36* heat.  To get to Twin Falls, we had to take a shuttle boat first, then we walked along the canyon walls and scrambled over boulders.  You could not swim in this place, because of crocodile danger.  There were traps set all along the way.  But when we got there, it was magical, very spiritual.  The canyon walls were about 100m high of layers of rock.  The falls plunged into a pool lined with fine sand.  When we went to Jim Jim, there were three pools along the way.  We made it to the second, but to get to the third (and the only one you could swim at, because the water was too cold for crocs) we had to do some real heavy-duty boulder scaling, so we stopped here.  Only Tom went the distance….and the falls were dry anyways!  But he said the swim across the pool was worth it. We had to do a crossing through the river each way here in the bus…those vehicles sure take a beating! Twin Falls warning   Croc trap to the falls Shuttle to trail We drove through that! We stopped for lunch at a picnic site, and met up with another tour group from the same company.  We picked up 10 people from there to come in our bus back to Darwin.  It was a long drive back, and of course we could not end this trip without a bit of drama!!  We pulled into a gas station about 90 minutes out of Darwin, and the guide said that we shouldn’t need gas.  But the driver said we were out of gas.  Once we stopped, we could smell gas, and when we got out, there was gas all along the side of the bus and trailer, and it was leaking out under the bus.  A repair (with tin foil!!!) was attempted, but it still leaked.  Apparently it was a cracked fuel pump, but they filled up, and away we went anyways.  A repairman was to meet us at the next gas station.  We were stopped there at the pump, and the mechanic set to work.  Pam and I went to sit on a rock by the giant propane tank, about 40 feet away.  Then a guy comes between us (between the leaking gas and a propane tank) and lights up a cigarette!!!!  Unbelievable. We made it back to Darwin by about 7 pm without further incident.  We picked up our luggage and checked back into the hotel and showered up.   A few of us met at an outdoor bar for dinner.  We were so exhausted and didn’t stay up very late! Thursday morning we got ourselves organized and tended to a bit of business.  Pam needed a new bathing suit and a new camera (hers died on the Kakadu trip) so we headed out to a few stores.  It was hotter still today, and the humidity was 58%.  Can’t imagine what it will be like in the wet season!  Pam was successful on both counts, and we went back and checked out and took our luggage to the shuttle bus office, where they kept it for the day.  We walked around the city, grabbing a few caches.  We were wilting in the heat, and had to quit earlier than we wanted.  We had a little picnic in the park by the ocean, then finished up with some delicious yogurt gelato….mango and passion fruit.  We headed to the airport, and left Australia for a few days.  Bali…..here we come!! Goodbye to Darwin

The tour members

Thursday Sept 5- Saturday Sept 7 

........Under the Southern Cross

The Rock Tour

Thursday  started very early.  We were up at 5:15 for a 6:00 pickup.  Seven people from Toddy’s, including us, were on the 3 day, 2 night camping tour to Kings Canyon, Uluru and Kata Tjuta.   We, of course, were the oldest members of the group of 14 and the youngest was an 8 year old girl travelling with her mom, from Victoria.  Our little group represented Colombia, Germany, Korea, Italy, England, France, Switzerland, the US and Canada.

The landscape towards out first stop Erldunda, about 180 kms south of Alice on the Stuart Hwy, was much like the Cariboo….low bushes, some larger trees, grasses on flat to low rising hills.  It was greener than what we thought but talking to the guide Mark, there had been a big rain a few weeks before.  When we got out in Erldunda. we were attacked by small flies, the flies we had first encountered at the airport only in massive amounts…..and I mean massive.  Lori and I ran across the highway for a cache…which are few and far between  in the outback.  This was a fuel stop($1.80 a litre),  a toilet stop(Aussi for bathroom, washroom)and snacks stop (we had ice cream, which was cheaper here than at Rogers Arena…)  for the next part of the drive to Kings Canyon. During the driving time we each went to the front of the bus to introduce ourselves and then were handed a felt pen that we had to write out name and country and draw a picture on the window we were sitting beside.  Rock music was blaring for the entire trip.  It was pretty much straight-line driving in high heat.  Each time we turned a corner to get a change in the highway, we all had to cheer, hoot, and holler.  (There are only 3 turns!)

At about 1:00pm we arrived at Kings Canyon……it was HOT.  Mark would not let you go on the hike unless you had 3 litres of water.  It is a 3 hour hike….very steep for the first part (called Heartbreak Hill) then flat at and slight up and down over rocks  on the top with no shade  and then of course down again.   Lori looked at the steep first part and thought about the no shade on the top and decided to do the flatter lower trail, about an hour hike.  Two others soon joined her…(maybe I should have too). I opted to go the full route Kings Canyon Rim Walk (6km 3.5 hrs)looking to gather information for the earth cache here.  I did fairly well until the last hour…..the heat was severe….we figured it was about between 32-34.…not my comfort zone.  I was the last one to get back to the bus area….Monika, Mark and one of the Korean ladies encouraging me……I had drank the last of my 3 litres of water in that time.

The hike was beautiful though.  Land and rock formations similar to the Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, in Utah that I visited in June.  Red and yellow sandstone in various formations.  About half way a downward climb on stairs to a beautiful cool waterhole called the Garden of Eden  with lots of vegetation, then of course another stairway back up to the plateau eventually leading to a long downward climb to the parking lot and the air-conditioned bus!!!  It was a beautiful trail if it wasn’t for the heat!

Heartbreak Hill

Emergency phones along the trail

Scrambling over rocks

Stairs from the Garden of Eden

Then because it was now past 4pm when we were on the road again to our campsite….still a good 120-150 kms away.  Along this road, we saw a group of wild horses.  We made a stop just as the sun was setting to pick up firewood from the sides of the road and into the forests and then a “beverage” stop.  This place was so remote, and everything we thought it would be out there!  Old music playing, rednecks with their leather hats pounding back the beer at the bar (sort of zoned out), dim lights, ceiling fans that really did nothing, heat, and flies. We pushed on, arriving to the camp spot at Curtin Springs.  The campsite was a red powder-dust area with only a large fire pit in the middle.  We have never burned donuts in a bus before, but we have now…..in the Outback.  We set up camp, a fire was built, and Mark had supper made for us on the coals in record time (Thai chicken noodles, a rice dish and a veggie dish) even though some of the food that he was expecting was not in the cooler . He was very inventive and quick thinking in an unexpected situation.

A quick dip in a near by pool

When we arrived it was dark.  The sky was AMAZING……there were sooooooo many stars and the Milky Way was so intense……it is just too hard to describe.  There was no moon, and no hills out there, so the stars were visible up from the flat land in every direction.  After dinner we were all so tired that when Mark showed us how to set up our swag and sleeping bag, we all pretty well climbed into bed around the campfire under the stars.  The swag bags were a thick, zippered canvas designed for warmth and protection from biting animals.  Unfortunately, just as we were setting up, a rather large spider was spotted crawling around the rim of the fire!  

Lori in her swag under the stars

Sleeping around the campfire

Friday we were woken up early again….to a fire and breakfast all set up, toast and cereal.   With all the heat and the driving between distances we had to start early and try and get to the first hike before it got too hot. I had a great sleep under the stars but I don’t know about the 2 people on either side of me….I’m just hoping I wasn’t snoring too loudly!  Oh, and no bathroom facilities at this campsite….”When in Rome……”

Breakfast

Valley of the Winds

Our first stop was Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) ….about 50 km west of Uluru….a monolith that was once 10 times the size of Uluru and has been carved over millions of years into 36 huge domes.  We got there it was before  noon and already so very hot.  We all walked together to start (about 3 kms) and then we broke off into the long 7 km and the shorter about 1 more km.  We started the Valley of the Winds  walk but got as far as the last huge rock to climb over and decided we couldn’t attempt it in the heat.and wandered back to the bus to find a shady area to wait.  

At Kata Tjuta

Uluru

We stopped at the place where we were to camp that night, just outside of the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park ( a UNESCO World Heritage site) entrance to drop off our swags and made our way to Uluru.  We did a little walk (about 2 km) around the base of Uluru….Mark telling us information about special caves and areas that are special to the Aboriginal people of the area.  All the while we are gathering information for the two earth caches that are in the area. 

The rock itself is huge and can be seen for kilometers away…..a huge red rock with nothing else around it.   There were people climbing it.  This is a really sensitive subject….to the Aboriginals it is a sacred place….like a church…..they do not want people to climb it…..the parks people do not want people to climb it because of the ecological issues..…but the government will not stop people climbing because it is attracting tourists!   We were told that  many of the tourists DO climb despite signs.  The area that they climb is   very smooth and it would be very hot climbing…..there are ropes up to help people go up and down!!!!  It is crazy……and so disrespectful.

The sign

The climbers

We also learned that Uluru is an “inselberg,” which is like an iceberg, except on land.  The part we can see is really just the tip, and it is believed that the rock actually goes down 2.5 km below the Earth’s surface.

Late Afternoon

After our walk we sped over to the spot where we were to see the sunset over Uluru!    There was at least 400 people from tour buses in the area we were in and there is another area for buses and on the other side of the rock plus parking areas for cars.  Most of the tours do a dinner out there so after the sun went down Mark cooked us supper there.  A chili that he put together with things that he bought at the local store because someone was supposed to meet us and give him meat that he was going to barbeque for us.    Poor Mark, things were not going well for him this trip and we still hadn’t finished!

By the time we finished our meal it was past the 7:30 park closing time so we cleaned up quickly and headed back to the campsite where we had a campfire….tried to show them how to make smores with chocolate that we had and some marshmallows that someone had picked up on the last stop and some cookies!  Some stayed up late partying.  A few of us went to bed earlier, I was so tired I didn’t hear them .  Again we slept around the fire under the stars…..beautiful!

Saturday, day 3.…..guess what! We got up really really early so we could see the sunrise over Uluru.  We packed up quickly and had breakfast while the sun was coming up;  I wasn’t as impressed with the sunrise as the sunset…… maybe we weren’t in the right position, I don’t know.

We then went to continue our walk around the base of the rock.  Yesterday we did 2 kms today some of the group did the entire 9 km around, other including us did the rest of the 6kms.  This was were the next problem started….or rather didn’t start!  We dropped off the long distance walkers and then Mark tried to start the bus…..it didn’t start! So the 6 of us that were doing the short walk had to push!   We drove to the place where he was to drop us off and he left it running.  By the way we saw a little dingo at that area (which is the same area that the famous dingo incident happened  over 30 years ago)

Young dingo wandering about

The water hole

It was a beautiful walk in the morning, cooler and there are shady parts along the way.  My favourite part was the  Mutitjulu Waterhole, as you walked down the path towards it you could free the temperature drop and the air get moister.  Uluru is sandstone and so when it rains, most of the rain is absorbed by the rock and especially in the little crevices, cracks and caves.  We made it back to the appointed area in about an hour and half.  The meeting point was where the people climb…..the first day we only saw a few people climbing the second day …..there must have been about 50 we could see and it was early in the day.

When everyone had finished we started off to Alice Springs…..pushing the bus each time we stopped and then started.   Mark played us some Aussie music on this portion of the road.  “Waltzing Matilda” came blaring out, but we were surprised that we were the only ones who knew the words!!!  (Age?  Cultural?  Don’t know!)  We stopped at Mt Conner lookout and again at Erldunda……where we had lunch and Mark called the office and we waited to see if they were going to send another bus…..we were now travelling with no air conditioning and no music.  The flies were the worst here….in our eyes, ears, noses, and all over our food.  You couldn’t stand still with your lunch, and you certainly couldn’t put it down.  We had seen those face nets  for sale on the first day but,  thinking they were kind of nerdy, we passed on a purchase.  Bad move; we sure could have used them but, by now, there was no point.  We also stopped at a camel farm along the way…..yes camels  Camels were a big part of the settlement of the outback.   They are now kept on farms and people pay to ride on them.  Then we had to push again. 

Alice the camel

We did eventually make it back to Alice, got showered and changed and met the group for dinner and drinks.  Lori and I lasted  til about 9 or so and then got a taxi back to the hostel……we had to be up and packed  the next morning.  The shuttle was picking us up at 10 to take us to the airport for our flight to Darwin.

Mark had told us at the beginning of the tour, that his job was to ensure that we had an Outback experience that we would never forget.  He delivered….big time.  You could see this spectacular area from a posh bus and stay in a fancy hotel, or you can really “experience” it.  Wouldn’t have done it any other way!

Zoom in on this photo...check out the fork!

Spring is

Coming to Melbourne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues Sept 3-Wed Sept 4.…..In search of the 2,000,000th cache in A Town Called Alice

Tuesday we said goodbye to our little house in Reservoir, everything locked up and ready for Joan to come home..  The taxi picked us up at 6:30 for our 8:40 flight, taking all of our luggage.  This time security was a breeze, no batteries needing taping, no tweezers not getting through the x-ray machine, no necklaces sending off beeps…..we only had trouble having the self serve (not our choice) machine not accepting Lori’s  luggage and me having to take all my batteries (not taped) out of my luggage and putting them in my carry-on!!! Airports and airlines!!! Everyone different, accepting different things, security different……expect the unexpected!!!!!

Our flight to Alice Springs was smooth, the view was clear all across the country.  We landed in a little after 11am to summer weather!  30 degrees and lots of little flies.  The airport is really cute and obviously updated.  The shuttle took us to Toddy’s Backpackers (for free, we just had to pay $12 for our return to the airport on Sunday).   Toddy’s is a hostel but has motel rooms too, small but clean.  We chose this because the tour we are taking to Uluru is through this hostel.  We got settled and relaxed for a while in the wifi area until about 4 when it was cooler then we walked down to the Reptile Centre to get our first Northern Territory cache.  It is the closest one to Toddy’s and is called  Snakes Alive! (not my favourite things).  It was an easy cache to find and as we were leaving one of the  employees came out to ask if we found it, then tried to talk us into coming to visit to get over my fear of snakes!!

Alice Springs airport

Todd Mall

We continued on towards town.  I have always wanted to visit Alice Springs. I think I wanted to come here after I read a book many years ago call A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute. I didn’t have any misconceptions about it, I knew it was a small outback town much like a prairie town but rough and in the middle of nowhere. It is larger than what I thought it would be.  The town centre is very pretty , with a pretty mall, a walking only street not shopping centre although couple of small ones of those too.   The area is very dry (it is desert) but there are still the smells of eucalyptus, jasmine and honeysuckle in the air.   Our hostel is about 1.5 km from downtown., so had a nice walk although still warm.  We found another cache at the Todd Mall.  Then since we hadn’t had lunch and now it was about 5:30 we stopped for dinner at Sporties and had delicious large salads.  Saw a store I want to come back to tomorrow and stopped off to get some fruit, lunch food for tomorrow and snacks and water for our camping trip starting Thurs. 

By the time we started walking towards  Toddy’s it was dark and we walked  on the opposite side of the street  and ended up walking about a kilometre past, so when we figured that out  we had to walk back….water and groceries!!! Duh so much for looking at the GPS in the dark!!!  We finally got back about 8, got caught up with the blog and emailing and headed to bed.

Can you guess what kind of store this was in front of?

Wednesday
This was a wonderful day!!!  Even though it was the 4th here, we knew it was the 3rd back home, and school was starting up.......WITHOUT US!!!!!  Retirement is wonderful.  We got a picture on the email of Carter starting his first day of Kindergarten; so nice to see.

We were up pretty early, as we had a mission to accomplish.  This was the day we were to visit the rugged terrain outside of town and claim a find on the 2,000,000th placed geocache.  It's been pretty hyped up, and when it came out earlier in the year, Pam knew this was something she had to do since she was planning on being here anyway.  We have been "watching" it since it came out.  We had an early "hostel" breakfast and decided to get a taxi to take us out to the lookout where we needed to start.  I'm pretty sure the driver thought we were absolutely crazy, but away we went.  It was not a far distance to the cache, but it was down a gully and up the other side.  Even though it was only about 8 a.m., it was plenty hot for us to scale the red rocks.  Lots of scrub was on the ground, with little burrs to make things challenging.  And the flies....oh my god, the flies....everywhere.  We couldn't seem to see a path, so we just picked a line and went for it.  Once we were at the top of the ridge and we came around the corner, we could see over Alice Springs.... and a big kangaroo hopped by!  A real Aussie moment, for sure.  We signed the log and took some photos, and started back down.  Of course we could now see the path we should have been on!  The return was a bit easier physically, but not any more comfortable for Pam's snake phobia.  No surprises, though.

Success! the 2,000,000 cache!

The waiting taxi

We returned to the hostel and rented their bikes for a little jaunt around town.  We collected a few more caches; one involved a short hike and, again, we were greeted by a kangaroo at the cache site.

One of the caches was called "To Become A Local" and in order to actually do that, you must see the Todd River flowing 3 times.  We were up on a pedestrian bridge above the "river."  It was so dry it was hard to believe that there could ever be any water there.

On the bridge over the Todd River!

Even though Winter just ended here, the area is in the midst of an unusual heat wave (just our luck!!)  By 11 we were so hot so we stopped for a drink and ice cream in the shopping area.  It was also the designated time for me (Lori) to connect with Meg and Carter to hear all about kindergarten.  Busted!!  Just as the screen connected, I was enjoying my double ice cream cone!!

Grandma's busted!! Happy conversation with Carter

We shopped in a few of the art stores, and Pam bought a beautiful canvas of Aboriginal design called The Spirit Sisters.   Gorgeous colours and design.  It will look great on her wall.

We came back to the hostel to return the bikes, and just hung around in the shade.  I boiled up some eggs to take on our trip tomorrow, and Pam did some laundry.  We got caught up on some correspondence, and I had a little catnap. 

We got ourselves organized for our Uluru adventure, and walked down the street for dinner at the bowling alley restaurant called the Red Tomato.  The only choices tonight were pizza or the Indian buffet.  We had a delicious pizza, and got them to make us up a salad.

We have to be at breakfast at 5:30 am and off on the bus by 6, so we'll have an early night.  This time tomorrow, we will be sleeping under the stars near Uluru.  We are both excited (and nervous) to see the stars in such a remote place with no cloud cover.  We'll be gone for three days, so we'll be out of range until Saturday night, then off Sunday to Darwin.  We'll catch up sometime Sunday, hopefully.  (If the snakes and dingoes co-operate.....!)

Sunday and Monday Sept. 1 & 2.....Last days in Melbourne

Sunday started off  slow getting cleaned up around the house for our departure in 2 days.  We rode into town about 1:00 for Lori’s first look at Melbourne.  We met up with Curt and Natasha on Degraves Lane.   Then  Lori went off to take the free Melbourne sightseeing bus to explore and C & N and I went off in search of finding some lunch.  

Wait list on the bricks!

This lane had lots of art galleries/studios,but it was Sunday !

In search of the perfect place for art

 

After lunch we strolled the streets and lanes that I hadn’t seen, Natasha looking for places to put some art installations for her art course assignment….finding some nice little nooks and crannies to place them.  She left us about 3:00 to head out for a visit and dinner  with a childhood friend who is moving to Sydney and Curt and I kept walking.  We walked along the river Curt showing me spots where they have barbeques in the summer….they have free barbeques in some of the parks, past the bells that are an art/music piece in the park then across the river and over to the open air theatre in Victoria Gardens Park…then headed back up Swanston St in search of dinner….we ended up having Japanese.

A new view of Melbourne from one of the many bars on the roofs

Bells in the park

Baby lorikeet at the amphitheater

Earlier in the afternoon we had stopped by one of the galleries that was displaying some of the fashion creations of students at various fashion and design schools in the area and we were given a couple free tickets to a fashion show at 8:30.  It was in a beautiful old building the Town Hall….Curt has been there before for concerts and it has a huge pipe organ (which we couldn‘t see for the stage and curtains for the show) and usually it is only open for concerts.  As we walked to our appointed seats we saw that some had bags on them…Curt said hey we might get a goodie bag….I said the tickets were free only the important people (family of  the students) get them….but lo and behold…we each got a large goodie bag full of licorice and chocolate!!! Yum yum!!!!.  The fashion show was about 45 minutes and was a mixture of wild and crazy designs and some more sedate outfits…it was fun! Curt walked me down to the station and we made arrangements to meet on Monday after he got off work.

Fashion week in Melbourne

Lori's Sunday
Lori here......after we met up with Curt and Natasha, I went out on my own while they did family time.  Walked around the centre of town for a bit, then got on the FREE tourist "hop on/hop off" bus.  I like these ones in a city because they usually cover a lot of ground and I like the narration.  From Flinders Station, we drove past the stadium that was just filling up for a game.  Nearby was the tennis facility for the Aussie Open.  The downtown buildings were just magnificent....old but so well preserved.  Along the route, there is really interesting "art" everywhere you look:  sculptures, statues, building designs, bridges, mosaics, lights, flames, on and on.  Definitely a whimsical flair.  The old churches are so big and imposing.  Of course the sunshine made everything so much better;  we have been extremely lucky with the weather.  Although I was planning on completing the tour without getting off, I saw the Victoria Market, and decided to visit!  Spent a bit of money there, and a lot of time browsing.  By the time I got out, the last bus had left that stop for the day.  I walked a few blocks, and got on the FREE tram that does a smaller loop around the downtown core, also narrated.  The tram went around the new Docklands area and along the Yarra River.  There is a walkway all along the river.....lots of busy things going on, and just beautiful views.  I got off near the train station and did a couple of caches.  One I could not find (the GPS has trouble settling with all the buildings) in Banana Alley.  It was dark by this time, and I looked a little suspicious (even in a suspicious area) so I headed home.  Turns out that I had actually touched the cache, I just didn't clue in....Pam set me straight on it, and we made the find later.  Whew!
The transit train is fast and efficient, and I finally got my bearings.  I was SO mixed up.....you travel NORTH to get to SOUTH Morang, and the transit book shows the order of the stops going DOWN the page, which also looks like it's South.  Oh yeah, everything is opposite here!!  The house is only a block from the stop.  It's like Fort Knox......locked doors, alarm, totally fenced (7 feet high) and locked gates.  Pam had left me with a set of keys with instructions on disarming the alarm and a warning to not go through the front door.  I tried all the keys in the big gate lock (except the right one, of course) and after about 20 minutes, I gave up.  I sat down on the sidewalk to wait for Pam....could have been a long night!  However, I did remember a little gate over at the side of the house with a padlock, and thankfully one of the keys worked.  I made a light supper, caught up on some emails, brought in the laundry, and headed to bed to read for a bit.  Needed the electric blanket going this night......yes, ME, needing heat!!
 
Monday was busy getting organized, packing and cleaning, Lori “face timed” Wayne and then Meghann and the grandkids  and both of us  getting ready for our lunch guests.  I had invited Trish and Sherryl over for an early lunch to thank them for being so helpful and welcoming to me.  Grilled cheese sandwiches (my specialty!) and Lori had picked up some pumpkin soup. This was the first time they met Lori.    We had a great visit and said goodbye. 

Then we headed into Melbourne for the last time.  First stop was the post office (Lori bought some things that she was sending to Perth ), stop in to see Curt (but he wasn’t there), checked in to the phone store, found a bunch of caches…..and bought me a new pair of shoes (the hiking sandals that I bought in June are not good once my feet have expanded with all the walking on pavement I’ve been doing  grrrr).  It was dark when we  quit, I was to meet Curt after work at 6:30 but I noticed that he had sent a text saying that he was sick (only a bad cold) and hadn’t gone to work. 

Last day in Melbourne

Lori headed back home and I went over to C & N’s place for my last evening with them.  We had our great dinner at a Mexican restaurant….Mamasita’s, while we were  waiting for our number to be called we went for a drink at a small club that looked out on the Parliament Buildings that you get to by an unmarked door.  I think it was called the Melbourne Club, obviously very established, lovely leather couches and small dinner tables. After dinner they walked me down to Flinders Station. My train was there when we arrived so it was a quick goodbye (mind you they did come in behind the gates and ran beside the train  waving and blowing kisses….crazy)   Curt will be coming for a visit home next spring.  And I am planning to come back in 2 years…..still more to explore in Melbourne and he looks like he is happy there.

Got home and finished packing….Lori phoned for a cab to pick us up at 6:30am……to start the next adventure.