September 2008

Danny in Australia with us

Dan, our good friend from Los Angeles came to join us in Alice Springs for a holiday with us.

We did lots of fun things together, travelling, hiking/walking, eating, laughing, talking, drinking, driving and just having a good time.

For Dan it was a bit of a different holiday as he had not been camping since he was a kid, and yes that is over 35 years ago.

At least most of the time the weather was good for it as we were in the desert and by the time we came to Adelaide spring had just started.

Dan arrived in Alice Springs after a long flight from Los Angeles and a stop in Sydney to spend three weeks with us travelling in Australia.

Our first hike together in the East MacDonnell Ranges just outside Alice Springs.

One of us is the camel! We travelled by car from Alice Springs to Uluru National Park a 1000Km return trip with lots of hihlights.

The Olgas, a striking collection of rounded Monoliths. We found them just as captivating as their prominent neigbour Uluru.

We got up at 5 o'clock in the morning to witness a spectacular sunrise at Uluru, a Monolith which is 3.6Km long and rises a towering 348m. from the surrounding sandy scrubland.

Cheers Uluru.

We are still up and it is now "dinnertime" with sunset at Uluru.

Sunset over Uluru, the colourchanges from morning to night were truely amazing.

We celebrated Dan's 50th birthday with dinner under the stars at Uluru .As we had been unable to make it to his birthday party in December.

Sounds of silence dinner in the middle of nowhere with millions of stars and a buffet with crocodile, emu and kangaroo to name a few of the delicacies.

Hope you have good eyes then you will be able to see the "brave" climbing Kings Cannyon (100m. walls) one of the most spectacular sites of Central Australia. Darren and Dan were rewarded with awesome views on the 4 hour 6Km. rimwalk.

Back in Alice Springs, after a few days of eating out it was nice to eat a dinner prepared by the boys from the bbq.

We ate outside our unit on the campground, as it was still warm at night, even though it is just spring.

We are leaving Alice Springs by train, whilst our van travelled by transporter to Adelaide.

The Ghan, our train, it is the centre piece of a saga which started in 1877, when it was decided to build a railway line from Adelaide to Darwin. The train is named after the Afghani cameliers who pioneered outback transport.

Duststorm as seen from the train.

After travelling through the dry desert these fields of mustard were a welcoming sight.

The van had beaten us to Adelaide, we picked it up and set up camp at West Shore beach in Adelaide. Dan is getting his "room" with a view ready.

What do you say to a view like this? It might even make you forget that you do not have a Kingsize bed.

The Adelaide markets in the heart of town, which offer all the fresh produce any chef could just about want, and lots of other "bargains".

Spring means sun and warmth but also wind and rain and.....

as you can see cold!

We are on the way from Adelaide for a few days of sightseeing in the surrounding area.

Spring has arrived in the wine area's around Adelaide. We did a few wine tastings and bought some nice cheeses on the way.

This photo of us was taken by Dan, in Victor Harbour on a little Granite Island which you access by horse drawn tram.

"Final Supper" chinese out of a box!

We have had a wonderfull three weeks together and enjoyed every minute of it. Dan is back in the States and Darren will soon be going to New Zealand to see Christopher and Katherine in the September school holidays. I will be staying in- and around Adelaide as Darren will only be gone for ten days.

September 2008

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