What is all the fuss about a big rock in the middle of the desert? I was about to find out. 30 years ago there was nothing there but a dirt road and some campsites. We boarded the plane in Alice Springs after breakfast and flew for over an hour to cover the 500 miles. … Continue reading Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Nature
I work in ecological restoration in Wisconsin and Australia.
Alice Springs
We flew out of Broome at 8:00 am leaving the Indian Ocean and the beautiful warm beaches behind us. Gary, our pilot, had purchased box lunches for us. We were going to be flying most of the day with a stop for fuel in Hall's Creek. Most of the time we were flying over desert … Continue reading Alice Springs
Darwin to Kununarra to Broom Days 7-10; Australia by Heron Tour.
Day seven landed us in the quiet city of Darwin. This was where the wedding in the beautiful movie "Top End Wedding" was supposed to take place. I caught the entire downtown from the plane. There wasn't any roaring traffic outside our hotel. We had the day on our own and went for a walk … Continue reading Darwin to Kununarra to Broom Days 7-10; Australia by Heron Tour.
Kakadu National Park Day 6 Australia by Heron Tour
We slept well in the peace and quiet far from city streets. We had breakfast at 8:00 and got in the van to the boat at 8:40. The road to the dock was closed to tourists because it was underwater but the tour guide had permission to use it. The van was very high and … Continue reading Kakadu National Park Day 6 Australia by Heron Tour
Cairns
After a 30 minute flight from Undara we landed on the small plane side of the cairns airport and taxied over by the flying doctors hanger. We finally had excellent phone and internet service. If you come to Cairns the thing to do is to take an excursion to the Great Barrier Reef but we'd … Continue reading Cairns
Australia by Heron Day 5, Cairns to Horn Island to Kakadu National Park
This was a very long flying day. We flew out of Cairns at 6:30 am. The sun was just rising in the sky. We flew north towards the Torres Strait Islands 157 islands only 18 are inhabited. The flight lasted for almost three hours. As we got closer I was astounded by the aquamarine color … Continue reading Australia by Heron Day 5, Cairns to Horn Island to Kakadu National Park
Undara Experience and Undara Volcanic National Park
They unlocked the gate of the Historic Quantas hanger in Longreach at the Quantas museum where the airline had its start. Our pilot was waiting. We boarded and flew for almost two hours. Since there wasn't any phone service at the airport the pilot flew low over the resort to announce our arrival. The airstrip … Continue reading Undara Experience and Undara Volcanic National Park
Native Animals at Long Timber
Early in the morning as the sun is beginning to rise above the gravel road and trees in the valley below the kookaburras begin to announce that this is their land. They don't sing alone but answer each other laughing across the horizon. In this video you can hear them laughing with the cicadas singing in the … Continue reading Native Animals at Long Timber
O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat Day 3-4
Birdwalk, Buffet Breakfast with the birds, Animal encounter, The Lost World Spa, and Python Rock If you're an early bird O'Rielly's offers a bird walk at 6:30 a.m. It takes an excellent guide to introduce ten noisy tourists to native birds. Our guide on Thursday was amazing, he was a bird whisperer. The wild birds … Continue reading O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat Day 3-4
O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat Day 2
Surviving the Box Forest Circuit in Lamington National ParkToday's plan was to do the 10 km Box Forest Circuit. We'd go to the left descending downhill most of the way past numerous waterfalls. Huge Brush Box trees dominate this track, hence the name: This is what the little sign said next to the trunk. … Continue reading O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat Day 2
Visions from Two Continents. 