BossClark DownUnder Tour

The Kiwi House in Otorohaunga: 18 November

2010-11-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

One of Ashley's and Ted's favorite stops on the long ride between Auckland and Wanganui was the Kiwi House in Otorohanga, near Waitomo, so of course we had to show it off to Grace. The Kiwi, New Zealand's icon, is a sightless, flightless, nocturnal bird. After the (enormous) egg is laid, the male sits on it until it hatches. The highlight of the stop was seeing two kiwis being fed (their sleep cycles are altered through the use of artificial light.) Our favorite kiwi, Atu, was a female spotted kiwi weighing about 2350 grams (quite large). She was unlike any we had ever seen before: rather than hiding under the bush, she scampered around her enclosure, played games with the keeper, and unlike her compatriot refused to go to sleep!

In addition to the kiwis, there was a large selection of other New Zealand animals and wildlife. We had fun!

Large iguana!

Grace feeding the ducks -- of course!

Old Tuatara. The tuatara is a prehistoric reptile. One of the kids' favorite books was Old Tuartara. The text was simple. "Old Tuatara sat and sat and sat. 'Asleep' says the fantail. 'Asleep' says the fly. . . 'Not asleep' says Old Tuatara [as his tongue flicks out to catch the fly!]"

Volcano Country: Central North Island 17 November

2010-11-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Time for Grace to take a road rrip (and a couple of days off school) with Grandmom and Granddad. Destination: the Glow Worm Caves in Waitomo, the Kiwi House in Otorohanga, and stinking mud pools in Rotorua.

The drive took us up the middle of the North Island, or perhaps we should say through the center of Middle Earth, to the land of the volcanoes. There are three active volcanoes in these parts, Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro.

Mount Ruapehu

The first as we drove north was Mount Ruapehu, 2,797 metres high, the volcano with the highest peak and the only one with glaciers. It is also one of the most active volcanoes in the world, and the most active in New Zealand. The last significant eruptions were in 1995-1996. Spectacular eruptions resulted in the cessation of air traffic over the North Island. Smaller eruptions occurred in 2004 and 2006. Ruapehu played Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Amy is convinced that almost all of the scenery on the North Island is reminiscent of Middle Earth, as you'll see in a moment. For more on Lord to the Rings locations, click here or here.

Mounts Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe

As we continued on the drive north, Mount Ngauruhoe came into view. Mount Ngauruhoe, 2,287 metres, is the only one with a classic volcano cone shape, and can be seen at the right of Ruapehu in this picture. Although Ngauruhoe has shown significant earthquake activity as late as 2008, it is basically dormant at present. It was quite a sight, rising up from the desert floor. The desert is tundra -- not the sandy desert of the Gobi or Sahara.

Mount Ngauruhoe rising from the desert floor

As we reached the southern end of Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand, we cut west from Turangi to Taumaranui, crossing from the Desert Road (Route 1) to the King Country (Route 4). The view back to the mountain ranges put the three volcanoes into perspective. Mount Ruapehu is the snow covered peak on the right. Mount Ngauruhoe doesn't have as much on its west side; it is the conical peak in the middle of the picture. The longer set of peaks to the left (north) is Mount Tongariro. In reality, Mount Tongariro is a volcanic complex with at least twelve vents: Mount Ngauruhoe is technically not a separate mountain but a vent of Mount Tongariro. Nonetheless, people refer to these as three separate volcanoes. They are all part of the Tongariro National Park. For more information, including the Maori legends about the area, click here.

South-west end of Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo, the largest fresh water lake in Oceana, is the crater created by as supervolcanic eruption which occurred approximately 26,500 years ago. It has some of the best trout fishing in the world. The geothermal activity in the area includes geysers, steaming craters, boiling mud pools and some of the largest silica terraces in the world. But more of that when we get to Rotorua!

Grace below look out point on pass between routes 1 and 3.

As we drove further northwest through the area known as the King Country to our destination, Waitomo, the scenery was striking, like something straight from the Hobbbit or Lord of the Rings. It is impossible to do justice to the views unless you are a professional photographer, but we tried below.

On to Waitomo!

Glow Little Glow Worm: The Waitomo Caves 18 November

2010-11-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have not been there, Waitomo is a fairy land. The name comes from two Maori words: "wai" which translates as water and "tomo" which means entrance or hole. Waitomo can be translated as the "stream which flows into the hole in the ground". There are more than 300 limestone caves beneath the hills of the Waitomo region, created by geological and volcanic activity over the past 30 million years. Cave features include the typical stalactites, stalagmites, and running underground streams. The most unusual feature of all, however, unique to the area, is the New Zealand Glowworm.

The New Zealand Glowworm

A glowworm is not a worm at all. Rather, it the larvae stage of a two-winged insect or fly that grows as long as a matchstick and looks a bit like a maggot. The New Zealand glowworm is the arachnocampa luminosa. "Arachno" of course means spider-like; the name refers to the way glowworms spin long silky strings that act as webs catching flying insects like spiders do. "Campa means larva and "luminosa" means light-producing. The glowworm attracts other insects by "lighting up." The light is created through bioluminescence, a reaction between the chemicals given off by the glowworm and the oxygen in the air. The reaction is actually a reaction involving the wastes generated by glowworm. So -- putting the scientific name of the glowworm aside, we began to think of the glow from the glowworm as, in the words of a guide, "shiny maggot poo." The light attracts flying insects such as mosquitoes, who fly toward the light and get stuck in the stick lines spun by the glowworm. Ummm -- lunch!

We got to Waitomo on the evening of 17 November, and at the suggestion of our B&B hosts, took a nighttime walk through the Ruakuri bush. The walk goes along a narrow stream that, at some point in history ran through the bottom of a cave. Over time the ceiling of the cave fell in, so our walk along the stream took us through an area with steep walls along each side. The reason for the nighttime walk: the walls were covered with glowworms! Such a fantastic experience.

Grace at entrance to Waitomo Cave

The next morning, we were the first in line at the Waitomo Glowworm Cave, to take the tour down through the cave, where we boarded a boat and punted through ( and ultimately out of) the cave. The cave was pitch black -- except for the millions of glowworms that covered the ceilings and walls of the cave, with the lights reflected by the black, still water of the river.

We are not professional photographers -- although we did buy a new camera for Gracie that we took with us. But it is impossible to take good photos from inside a black cave, so we let our fingers do the walking and found these photos on the internet to give you an idea of what we saw:

Millions of Glowworms covering the cave ceiling

Glowworms Hanging from Rocks

Closer view of Glowworm Strings

Ruakuri Cave

The Waitomo Glowworm Cave is only one of many caves in the area, and we thought we should visit a second, Ruakuri Cave, one of the newer ones to open to visitors such as us. Over the past few decades, Ruakuri was one of the caves frequented by adventure seekers, who would abseil straight down 35 metres (over a hundred feet), go cave tubing down a river at the bottom of a cave black but for the glowworms overhead, hike the dark in the cave, going by flying fox over chasms, and ultimately rock climbing back out. More recently, they have constructed an amazing circular staircase descending over ten stories. There is a fantastic photo of the staircase, but we think it is copyrighted, so here is the link.

Ruakuri Cave has always been a spiritual place for local Maori, who, amongst other things, originally used the cave as a sacred burial ground (or wahi tapu). The cave was discovered by the Maori 400 to 500 years ago when a hunter was attacked by two dogs living in the cave entrance. The hunter and this tribe tracked the two dogs back to the cave and found a large population of dogs there, whom they caught and killed -- and ate. The name Ruakuri has been translated as with "Two Dogs" or "Den of Dogs". Later, the cave became a wahi tapu (sacred site) for the Maori, who used for burials and for storing important taonga (sacred or precious objects, like Taonga Glass).

By the 20th century the land had passed into the hands of the Holden family, who own it to this day, and the caves were first opened to the public by James Holden. Sometime later, the government nationalized the Ruakuri Cave and others in Waitomo, thereby getting all the revenue from tours operated at the caves. This lead to extensive litigation by Holden, and in 1988 or 1989 the litigation resulted in a decision for the local land owners, not the government, had the right to operate the caves below the land. Today, the owners of the land above the caves, many of whom are Maori tribes, also "own" the caves but lease the land for tourism, getting a slice of the admission charges and providing labor. To the right is the sign that Holden posted at his entrance to the Ruakuri Cave.

The trip through the cave, the longest tour in the area, gave us a fantastic view of the black water rafters tubing along the bottom of the cave. Couldn't photograph that, but here are some of our other favorite pictures.

Stalactitites

Limestone Curtains

Moa bones (black) and fossils (white) found in excavation of Ruakuri Cave

Pipe leading from ground surface to cave, used to dump concrete down shaft during excavation and construction of tour facilities. When workers tried to put metal rods down the shaft (to avoid carrying them in through the river), the rods gained such speed coming down that they penetrated the rock below and went down several meters.

Gracie!

Whanganui River Adventures II: The Return to Pipiriki

2010-11-16T02:22:00.000-08:00

Going

After our 6K hike to the Bridge to Nowhere and back, we boarded our jet boats for the return trip. A few minutes out, however, the jet boat pulled over and unloaded all of its passengers with instructions that we were to navigate on our own -- by kayak or canoe. Gracie, an experienced kayaker, received her own vessel and was the first to set off downstream-- solo. Amy and Roger, quite a bit less experienced, climbed into a canoe together and set off in not-so-rapid pursuit.

Going....


Gone!

Victory over Adversity

Several kilometers downstream, a taniwha struck. [For those of you who do not know what a taniwha is, see our entry of November 12: Kowhai Park (Wanganui)]. The taniwha took the form of rocks and rapids, toppling poor Gracie into the water. As she and her kayak were swept away, Amy and Roger endeavored to maneuver their canoe to (a) catch the kayak, (b) get the canoe and the kayak to shore, and (c) do so on the same bank as where Gracie had come to rest. Arriving the shore, Amy stepped out into what seemed like quicksand: the sand quickly swallowed up her leg to the knee, rendering her motionless (but still vocal, according to Roger). Gracie appeared over the top of some rocks, a bit wet and sandy, but still clutching her paddle. The vision of victory over adversity. Grace and the kayak were reunited and she continued.

A few kilometers further downstream, Gracie succumbed to exhaustion and agreed to accept a lift back the rest of the way. It turned out that she made right decision. Although we had already traveled five kilometers, there was another five kilometers between us and lunch!

Amy and Roger continued in their little canoe. The goal was to reach the lodge where a barbecue was awaiting. Tiring with each stroke of their paddles, our heroes finally saw an end in sight: the other canoes pulling up at a sandy beach. The critical judgment was whether to go right or left in approaching the beach. Unfortunately, they made the wrong call, and while they were on the wrong side, the canoe was swamped by the wake of a passing jet boat belonging to another group. The canoe, Amy, Roger and the camera slowly sank. All survived except the camera died by drowning.

Which is why there are no more photos to entertain you today!

The Whanganui River and the Bridge to Nowhere 13 November

2010-11-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

The Whanganui River was once a major highway to the sea, serving numerous tree milling and farming communities up and down its banks. After World War I, many returning soldiers took advantage of a government offer to establish farms over a hundred kilometers up river from the city of Wanganui. Farming required felling the native forest and replacing it with grass for sheep to eat. The bright future these optimistic pioneers expected was rudely destroyed by three factors: the removal of the forests on the sides of the hills caused massive erosion, and the resulting mud slides destroyed the farm land. A railway was built through the central North Island, opening up land there but replacing the river highway to the point that traffic on the river slowed dramatically, isolating the farmers from contact with the world. Third, these "farmers" were not necessarily farmers; many (or most) opted to move back to towns.

Meanwhile, a road bridge was being constructed inland to connect the farms on opposite sides of the Mangapurua Stream, a tributary of the Whanganui River, over a very steep ravine. This would be part of road system connecting these farms with the town of Raetihi to the east and the Taranaki area to the west. By 1936, when the concrete bridge was completed, the area was almost entirely deserted and the road was never completed. The remaining farms were finally abandoned over the next few years, new forests replaced the grassland, the valley became known as the “valley of abandoned dreams,” and the bridge became reknown as "The Bridge to Nowhere."

In recent years, the bridge has taken on a new life as a hiking destination for tourists. Some hike in (a three to four day tramp); others boat along the Whanganui River to the mouth of the Mangapurua Stream, then hike in 3K to the bridge. We opted for the jet boat from Pipiriki, a small village some 70K upriver from the city of Wanganui and 31K from the Bridge to Nowhere.

Getting to Pipiriki was no mean task: it involved a hairy ride along a narrow, winding road, 15K of which was unsealed and a large amount of which was essentially one lane. Erosion along the road can be treacherous, with the inevitable slips and washouts. Not for the weak of heart!

Along the road is Jerusalem, In earlier days, Jerusalem or Hiruharama (its Maori name), was one of the largest settlements on the Whanganui River. Today, it is a small settlement of houses clustered around the Patiarero Marae. Suzanne Aubert came here at the invitation of the Maori people in 1883. Here the Sisters of Compassion came into being, and were formally recognised by the Catholic Church in 1892. There has been a continuous presence of sisters in the local community ever since. The Sisters (of which there are now three) are privileged to have the status of tangata whenua (native to the area). A famous New Zealand poet, James K Baxter lived in Jerusalem in the 1970’s. He was joined by a number of followers and a spiritual commune developed "to recover values New Zealand's Pakeha urban society had lost." See his Jerusalem Sonnets (1970) and Jerusalem Daybook (1971). (Hemi) Baxter is buried at Jerusalem.

At Pipiriki, we boarded, appropriately suited up (one needs proper safety gear) for the 30K jet boat ride up to the Bridge to Nowhere. (Roger and Amy are getting used to looking like twits!). The journey took us through some spectacular scenery. As we were the first jet boat of a group, the water ahead was quite calm, and acted as a mirror for the surrounding forest and hills.

The hike into the Bridge to Nowhere took us through more spectacular forest growth, on a track maintained by the Department of Conversation (DoC). The track got a lot rougher than the early part shown in the first picture, and included traveling over a lovely swinging bridge.

We finally reached what we thought was to be the highlight of the trip: the Bridge to Nowhere! The three of us, however, decided that perhaps the bridge was inappropriately named. Having listened in the car to dramatizations of two of the books in C.S. Lewis's Narnia series, we decided this was really the Bridge to Narnia. But where is Aslan?

Grace going Nowhere


Did someone say "Narnia"?

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of our Whanganui River ventures!

Kowhai Park (Wanganui): The Best Playground in the Word -- Ever! 12 November 2010

2010-11-12T23:03:00.000-08:00

Roger was born and grew up on Anzac Parade, a lovely street on the east side of the Whanganui River in Wanganui. Roger has for decades proclaimed that "Wanganui" means stinking hole in the Maori language, but the current official word is that it means "large bay" because of the big bend in the river near the city center. It is reported that the big bend was the home of the Taniwha, a being that lives in deep pools in rivers, dark caves, or in the sea. The Taniwha symbol is common in Maori bone carvings.

Across the street from the old Clark Family home, literally a hop and jump away, is an attraction that has entertained Seymour, Melissa, Ted, and Ashley for decades, Kowhai Park. Ashley recently researched the subject (wanting to show her friends what a good place it is) and found a website proclaiming Kowhai Park the "best playground in the world." She agrees. So of course we had to take Grace to see the old family haunts;.

When Roger lived there, it was an empty field which was used to provide overnight accommodations for sheep being driven down the road on the way to have their throats cut at the freezing works. He and his friends often played football (rugby to us) and cricket there. After he went to university, construction began with a whale to entertain children. This was followed over by the construction of a large number of playground structures based on storybook characters. The shoe of the Little Old Lady who lived there, the spider who scared Little Miss Muffet, the Flintstones' dinosaur, Goldilocks's Three Bears, sea serpent swings (say that three times). An old Pirate Ship to play on, a castle to play in, and a Tot Town Railway to ride on. The most impressive wooden jungle gym we've ever seen, and a Flying Fox to boot. Recent additions to the park (not there ten years ago) include a modern Skateboard Park and BMX track.

Since Ashley wants to show off Kowhai Park to her friends, we've include a bunch of photos below, starring Grace. Happy trip down memory lane, Ashley!

A Track and Field Meet! 12 November at Newtown Park, Wellington

2010-11-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

Roger has never met a track and fied meet he didn't like. When it's a track meet in Wellington where his granddaughter is competing, wild horses couldn't keep him away.

Grace along with her team from Roseneath School competed against a number of other Wellington primary schools. Gracie's events were the vortex throw, the quoit throw, the high jump, and long jump. Granddad was so proud!

Grace and Granddad

Warming Up for High Jump

And she's over!

And it's a fair jump!

Australian Sign Update

2010-11-11T02:24:00.000-08:00

We love signs. We collect signs from all countries. (Some of you may be familiar with our collection of Chinese signs on our family website: http://bossclark.com/China2005/Signs.htm.) On the road from Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation, there was two signs we wanted desperately to photograph. One was a warning sign to beware of Cassowaries; we wanted to add it to our collection of Australian warning signs on our blog. The second sign was a "beware of hump" sign (known in the US as a "road bump" sign that had been the subject of graffetti. Our bus driver, however, refused to stop the bus to let us take the pictures! We must admit that the road was narrow and there was little ability to pull over. We were saved in Wellington, however. Kathy Webber, a Kiwi we met here, was kind enough to let us take her picture off Facebook and use it for our blog. Hope you like it!

Wellington: Capital of Middle Earth

2010-11-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

Every time we return to Wellington (and remember, Roger lived here for a decade or so), we are struck by what a picturesque, livable capital city it is. We are not alone: Lonely Planet ranked it the 4th best city in the world to visit (after New York, Tangier, and Tel Aviv). Roger disputes the ranking! Lonely Planet called Wellington the ‘coolest little capital in the world’ – and they’re not talking about the wind chill The prevailing wind is an unpleasant northwesterly but the really nasty southerly comes up from time to time from the Antarctic.

Our daughter Melissa lives near the top of Mount Victoria, one of the many high hills around the city, with a spectacular view of the harbour. At night, the view below is magical.

Grace at Oriental Bay at the foot of Mt Victoria

The irony: when we arrived in Wellington, Melissa was in the States! So while she drove our car, we drove hers. We think we got a pretty good deal, as we had full-time custody of our granddaughter Grace. Dance lessons, drama classes, track meets: we didn't realize how much we missed those activities!

Mount Victoria from Oriental Bay

The hills that surround Wellington present a challenge: for driving, living, parking. You have be a mountain goat to get places on foot, and there are even some dwellings that have private cable cars up the slopes. Imagine using this parking place:

Wellington's coastland is extremely irregular, with numerous smaller bays and peninsulas. Here is a view taken from Mt. Victoria looking away from the city towards Evans Bay (in the foreground) and the channel to the sea (in the background).

Mt. Victoria is, of course, named after that legendary Queen Wikitoria who appeared in statuary (not statutory) form in our prior blogs from Australia. In the interest of comparative studies, here is Wellington's version of Her Royal Majesty.

Farewell to Australia: November 7

2010-11-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

All good things have to come to an end. So our sojourn to Australia had to come to an end. Our last night in Alice Springs we went to the Sounds of Starlight Theatre, which bills itself as a "spell-binding musical and visual journey through ancient landforms, history and space of Australia's Outback." A great show: we never thought we would appreciate didgeridoo music!

On the seventh, we bid farewell to Australia, and took off from Alice Springs for New Zealand via Sydney and across the Tasman Sea. Having been disappointed that we didn't have a camera when we flew into Uluru, Amy made sure she had both a camera and window seat for the outbound flight. It was difficult to really capture what we saw out the window, but we tried. There were so many pictures to chose from, we thought this collage might give you an idea -- bearing in mind that the real thing was 1,000 times better: without the sun glare and windows interfering with a fabulous sight!

Alice Springs: 4 November to 7 November

2010-11-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

Alice Springs is in the heart of the Red Center and in the center of Australia; it sits on the Todd River surrounded by the MacDonnell Mountain Range. The Todd River is dry most of the year (Roger ran in the dry bed, where there are many, many trees!), but in the rainy season (which begins soon) it becomes a torrent. Alice Springs (named after the wife of the Postmaster General of South Australia). It originally referred to a waterhole near the Telegraph Station, but there was never really a spring there. The waterhole is fed by waters that stream off the surrounding mountains, and then collected in a basin area.

Alice is the second largest town in the Northern Territory after Darwin. Even at that, it has a population of only about 28,000 people: about twice the size of Haddonfield. We had to visit the town -- both having read Nevil Shute's famous book, A Town Like Alice and having seen the PBS mini-series starring Bryan Brown over thirty years ago.

The town serves two basic functions: providing needed services to the cattle stations and mining communities in the region (which should be defined in terms of thousands of square miles). Remember the passage vignette from the book: Joe Harmann tells Jean Paget that his station, Wollara, is two thousand seven hundred. Jean replies "Two thousand seven hundred acres. That's a big place." Joe stares at her. "Not acres," he said. "Square miles."

The service nature of the town is best illustrated by its three biggest "tourist attractions:" the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the School of the Air, and the Telegraph Station.

Royal Flying Doctor Service

The Royal Flying Doctor Service was the brainchild of a Presbyterian minister, Dr. James Flynn, who established the service in 1928. It was intended to provide medical services and evacuation services in the Outback. Crucial to its existence were two inventions: the airplane and the pedal radio. According to its website, it now provides medical emergency, primary and preventive healthcare services across more than 2.3 million square kilometres covering South Australia, the southern half of the Northern Territory and, on occassions, areas within Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.

Headquarters

RFDS entrance

Quilt for RFDS

Model of inside plane

Flynn's Grave

School of the Air

The concept of distance education is not new to the internet generation. As the RFDS grew, educators became aware that the radio could be used as a way of reaching children scattered throughout the Outback, and the flying service could be used to distribute books and teaching materials. Thus, the School of the Air was begun in 1951 in a room at the Royal Flying Doctor Service headquarters. Today, it has its own structure, and uses a sophisticated computer system to communicate with its 140 students within a 1000K radius covering 1,300,000 square kilometres. A large classroom! Each student is equipped with as computer, fax, camera, microphone, and communicates with the rest of the class and the teacher through satellite communications. Several times a year there is a face-to-face meeting in Alice Springs. The School only covers primary and middle schools; high school students then go to boarding school in Alice Springs, Adelaide, or other big cities. Dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth and Rolf Harris have visited here.

Middle School Classroom

Primary School Classroom

Welcome to the School of the Air

Telegraph Station

Kings Canyon: 3 November to 4 November

2010-11-06T06:50:00.000-07:00

At the western edge of the George Gill Range, Kings Canyon is part of the Watarrka National Park. The walls of Kings Canyon are over 300 metres high, with Kings Creek at the bottom. Part of the gorge is a sacred Aboriginal site and visitors are discouraged from walking off the walking tracks. Wikipedia states:

Two walks exists at Kings Canyon.The 2 km (return) and approximately 1 hour Kings Creek Walk traces the bottom of the gorge. At the end of the walk is a platform, with views of the canyon walls above. The 6 km (loop) and 3-4 hour Kings Canyon Rim Walk traces the top of the canyon. A steep climb at the beginning of the walk, which locals call "Heartbreak Hill" (or "Heart Attack Hill", due to its steepness), takes visitors up to the top, with spectacular views of the gorge below and of the surrounding landscape. About half way during the walk, a detour descends to Garden of Eden, a permanent waterhole surrounded by lush plant life. The last half of the walk passes through a large maze of weathered sandstone domes, reminiscent of the Bungle Bungle. A slow descent brings the visitor back to the starting point. The loop can also be done in reverse (anti-clockwise), but the National Park Rangers encourage visitors to walk in one direction.

Both of us did the 2K walk, and Roger got up at 5 am to conquer Heartbreak Hill (reminding him of another hill of the same name near Boston). In a show of trans-Tasman solidarity, he had to come to the support of the Aussie tour guide when she became involved in a shouting match with an arrogant French tour guide who was leading a large group of Total/Elf employees on a company jaunt.

Some of you may remember that great movie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert about three drag queens who travel from Sydney to Alice Springs to do a show at the casino there. [We saw the stage version in London this past summer. It was fabulous!] One of the great lines in the show was when one of the queens remarked "I've always wanted to be a jock in a frock on the Rock." When the movie was filmed, permission to film it on Uluru was refused, on the grounds that it would violate the beliefs of the indigenous Aboriginals. Instead, that part of the film was shot at Kings Canyon. Later, publicity shots were taken at Kings Canyon at a place now know as "Priscilla's Crack." If Roger had the camera, he would have photographed it for you. If you don't believe this story, check out Australian Geographic.

Kata Tjuta (the Olgas): 3 November

2010-11-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

The other part of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is Kata Tjuta or the Olgas. This is a remarkable formation of thirty six domes, thought to have once been a single rock many times the size of Uluru.

We entered the the Walpa Gorge from the west, with the sun behind it.

Here is picture of your heroes at the end of the trail, none the worse for wear!

After viewing the Olgas, we set off east to Kings Canyon. Our path gave us a great view of another remarkable formation, Mount Connor, which we had seen from the air and which the literature (sic -- we mean Wikipedia) describes as "a flat-topped and horseshoe-shaped inselberg".

We had to look up the term inselberg too!

Uluru: 2 November (sunset) and 3 November (sunrise)

2010-11-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

Uluru, a/k/a Ayers Rock: a colossal hunk of sandstone rock in the middle of nowhere, yet the most recognizable Australian natural feature and a World Heritage site. We have a big confession. We don't know which of our pictures to post. We could post, for example, the classic sunset picture.

Or, we could post the classic sunrise picture(s).

And then there is the mob of tourists taking pictures of Uluru at sunrise.

Alternatively, we could post the arty pictures that show the grey face of Uluru that is rarely seen.

Or one that shows the orange bluffs highlighted against a blue sky.

Or Amy's arty collage of Aboriginal cave drawings.

The bottom line: Uluru was fascinating. We visited the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Center, with some interesting exhibits on the lives of the Aboriginals and some of their dreamtime (creation) stories. We particularly liked the story of the guy who finished off an emu that had been hunted and wounded by another hunter. He told the original hunter that the emu had fled in a different direction, hiding the fact that he had eaten it. When the original hunter discovered the falsehood, he came in pursuit of the miscreant, who suffered a terrible death. Roger was reminded of the story in his grandparents' town, Devises, in Wiltshire. A woman who had stolen money denied and said "If I am lying, may the Lord strike me down." He did.

We never got to climb Uluru; it was "closed" the day we were there allegedly due to high winds. Thirty six people have died climbing the rock, and many others have been rescued by the Flying Doctor Service (see later). But we did get a picture of the climbing site (hang onto the rail):

We did, however, do the trail to the waterhole of Mutijulu, where we learned the Aboriginal legend of Kuniya Tjukurpa (Python Dreaming): aWoma Python (Kuniya) traveled from hundreds of kilometres east to Uluru, where it lived in the rocks at Uluru and fought the Liri, the poisonous snakes. Signs of the struggle (and of the snake and python) are still evident in the rock.

We also did the Mala walk and learned the story of the Mala (Hare Wallaby) people who once lived at Uluru, and visited Kantjy Gorge, a waterhole and old hunting ground.

But there is never enough time.

Uluru: The Center of Australia 2 November

2010-11-06T01:08:00.000-07:00

We flew west from Cairns, on the eastern coast of Queensland, to Ayers Rock Airport, in the middle of the Red Center in the middle of the Northern Territory in the middle of Australia. "Ayers Rock" itself, however (not the airport) has reverted to its Aboriginal name of Uluru, just as the rock itself was handed back to the indigenous people twenty-five years ago. Shortly before the turnover, all tourist accommodations were moved outside what was to become the national park area, and located about 11K away in the town of Yulara. To call it a town is an overstatement; it is indeed a captive resort town, and today bears the name of the Ayers Rock Resort.

Flying into the area was a treat in itself. We wish we had gotten pictures from the air: the sky was azure blue, the white clouds few and far between, and the landscape below unreal. The earth was a brilliant burnt orange, at points with swirls of white (salt lakes). Rising from the earth we saw what we thought was Uluru -- but was in fact another flat-topped mountain, Atila (or Mt. Connor). If you have never done it, check out the area on Google Earth; the colors are unbelievable.

Flying here underscored the vastness of Australia, and the emptiness of its interior. The Mercator projection does not do justice to the size of the country. It is roughly the same as the continental United States, as you can see below.

The Northern Territory y covers one-sixth of Australia, but is home to only 1% of Australia's population of about 19.5 million. Very isolated and a great introduction to the Outback. But more about that in another blog entry.

We realized when we arrived that this trip has taken us to four of the six Australian States -- Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland but not Western Australia or South Australia. We have also been in one federal territory, the Northern Territory, but not the second, the Australia Capital Territory [Canberra]. For those of you may be interested, there are fascinating comparisons between the Australian federal system (federation did not occur until 1901) and that in the US (but we won't bore the rest of you here).

Tomorrow we visit The Rock..

Cape Tribulation, Daintree and Mossman Gorge: 1 November

2010-11-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

More crocs! This time on the Daintree River. Lizzy (that's her name) was not very pleased to see us, however, and showed her displeasure.

Lizzy

Recall our prior blog about the importance of the Cassowary, the world's greatest fruit eater, to the ecology of the rainforest. Here is documentary evidence of their contributions to the environment by heating and fertilizing the fruit seeds (blue ones in this case) until they are ready to germinate. In other words, this is a pile of . . . .

Cape Tribulation was named by the ubiquitous Jimmy Cook who hit a reef here in 1770 and nearly sank the Endeavour. He also named the surrounding mountains covered with tropical rainforests Mount Misery and Mount Sorrow. What would he have named Hawaii if he had survived? For those who have no idea what we are talking about, check that great authority, Wikipedia.

Mossman Gorge

Beware of stingers!

Captain Cook was here

Sand crab art

Peppermint stick insects copulating

Small red crab

Harvesting those tiny little tea leaves

Great Barrier Reef: 31 October

2010-11-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

Today was the highlight of the trip to date, and what Amy came to Australia to do. We took the Quicksilver from Port Douglas 75 K out to the Agincourt Reef, one of the outer reefs 50 K from shore and 2 K from the end of the Continental Shelf. It was quite a professional enterprise: we docked at a large "eco-friendly" pontoon anchored off the reef that allowed even those who were afraid of the water to observe the wonders it had to offer.

Quicksilver

Pontoon

We took a trip on a "semi-submersible reef viewer" that gave us an incredible view of the reef system and the wide variety of corals that live there. Ted -- we wish you were with us. Here are some of the pictures taken through the glass windows. They don't really do the coral justice, but you get the idea. For the movie version, see Amy's Facebook wall.

Of course, we had to see the reefs "close-up-and-personal." Not being divers like divers members of our family, we settled for snorkelling. Since much of the reef, even out that far, was close to the surface, there was much to see. Amy, the adventuresome one, took the most difficult option and went out with one of the marine biologists on a long guided tour. Too bad she didn't front up money to buy that underwater camera to document the trip! The highlight was the amazing number of giant clams, and the poisonous sea cucumber that the guide prompted to go into defensive position.

Intrepid snorkellers in anti-stinger gear.