Adelaide City Tour and Glenelg

I will admit that it felt good to arrive in southern Australia, leaving behind the unrelenting summer heat of the continent’s “red centre”. When the winds blow in from the north…the Ayers Rock region…the temperatures are comparable, but when they come from the south, they bring in much cooler air from the Antarctic.

My first day in Adelaide involved a bus tour of the city ending with a visit to a beautiful suburb called Glenelg. Here one can enjoy shopping, dining, and a large, glorious white-sand beach. You can read a more detailed account of the day here.

This first slideshow depicts some of the interesting architecture and a few of the memorials & statues that have been erected throughout Adelaide. I have tried to identify as many objects as possible and, just a reminder, some of the photos were taken from a moving bus.

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This next slideshow is dedicated to Glenelg. First up are pictures of the BeacHouse, a colourful building that offers arcade games, midway rides and of course food & drinks for the youngsters. Following those are assorted pictures that capture the beauty of this amazing little town.

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And finally a mouthwatering presentation from of one of the best chocolatiers in Australia. We were allowed to photograph the retail portion of the store but not the manufacturing area in the back.

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The next post will chronicle my tour of the wine regions of the Barossa Valley and the quaint German village of Hahndorf.

Photo & Video Gallery: Ayers Rock & the Olgas

Try as I might, I wasn’t able to bring the beautiful Aussie weather back to Canada with me. Since my return, most days have been cold and rainy so what better time to re-visit the hot and dry Australian Outback.

If you missed the account of my experience at Ayers Rock Resort, you can read it here. Today’s gallery is comprised of photos and videos of Ayers Rock (Uluru), the Olgas (Kata Tjuta) and the Sound of Silence dinner.

This first set of photos was taken at the Sound of Silence dinner during sunset and following the slideshow, is a link to a video of the didgeridoo player.

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Didgeridoo Player

This next set of pictures was taken at the beautiful Ayers Rock Resort.

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The next series of photos depicts the colour changes Uluru goes through at sunrise and sunset.

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After sunrise, we visited the base of Uluru and while some tourists decided to climb Uluru, my group hiked to the Mutitjulu Waterhole which is sacred to the local Aborigines.

This waterhole, according to info boards at the location, is the most reliable water source around Uluru, making it the perfect location for wildlife to quench their thirst. The vertical rock walls on both sides of the pathway leading to the waterhole provide the perfect conditions for local hunters to trap and kill these animals. The cave also allows young boys to hide and learn important hunting skills from their elders.

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Finally, in the afternoon, before observing Uluru at sunset, we visited the other monolithic structure in Australia’s Red Centre known as The Olgas or Kata Tjuta, which means 36 domes in the local language.

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Kata Tjuta Hike

In the Outback

Sunrise at Uluru

When I stepped off the plane in Ayers Rock, the weather was dramatically different from the Top End and its rain forests. It was hot at 38 degrees but with very low humidity, much more pleasant.

After checking into the Desert Gardens hotel at the Ayers Rock Resort, I had 3.5 hours before the Sound of Silence dinner, so I decided to cool off by swimming a few laps in the pool before freshening up with a shower. I almost jumped out of my skin when I closed the shower curtain because clinging to it was a 2-inch long beetle! I’m so glad we don’t have insects that big in Canada.

Ayers Rock Resort is a small community with separate hotel groupings that form a large circle. Everything residents could need is available including restaurants, bars, grocery stores, hairdressers, art galleries, gift shops, a gas station, police station, and medical center. There is a free shuttle bus every 15 or 20 minutes that goes around the entire resort; residents can shop or dine anywhere in the resort and charge their purchases to their room if they wish.

The only complaint I had about the hotel is the way the buildings housing the rooms are arranged. The pathways are like a maze and signage is sorely lacking; I met several residents who, like me (and if you know me, you know I have the worst sense of direction) had lost their way and were wandering around looking for their rooms.

The Sound of Silence dinner was magical. We started just before dusk with sparkling wine and canapés while being entertained by a didgeridoo master. Then we were seated at our tables, served the beverage of our choice (I must say that the Australian white wines I have tried so far are fantastic), and treated to a delicious buffet of assorted salads, roast potatoes, sautéed veggies, and a variety of meats including lamb shank, barramundi fish and kangaroo.

Didgeridoo Master

While we were dining, we were entertained by Aboriginal dancers, and after dessert, the lights were extinguished, revealing the densely starred night sky. It was truly breathtaking. A stargazer pointed out a few constellations such as Gemini, Taurus, Orion, and Canis Major, as well as the Southern Cross and Milky Way. He pointed out that in the Northern Hemisphere, explorers used the North Star to navigate, but there was no equivalent in the Southern Hemisphere, so they used the Southern Cross and its  geometric relationship to another star to locate north.

It was 11:30PM before we returned to the resort and I had to be up at 4AM to meet the bus for Sunrise at Uluru, so needless to say, I was quite tired the next morning.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t find Uluru’s changing colours at sunrise or sunset as fascinating as the tour operators make it out to be. The colour change is just what you would expect considering its high iron content. I’m glad I experienced it but I wouldn’t do it again.

The Mutitjulu waterhole was the highlight of the Uluru tour. It is a large pond nestled in the rock of Uluru and is used by local wildlife as a vital source of drinking water.

Kata Tjuta or the Olgas, which consists of 36 rock domes, was much more interesting to me. Their colour change mirrors Uluru. We hiked for an hour between 2 of the domes and the scenery was much more interesting. It was quite a workout walking over the rocky terrain…that’s probably why I slept so well that night.

My hotel room in the resort had a veranda and sitting outside in the evening provided a surprisingly unique experience. Unlike urban life where there is always something going on, the desert is very tranquil, peaceful and calming, offering a striking contrast of colours with rust coloured soil and a variety of small trees and shrubs in varying shades of green. Other than the occasional vehicle passing by, the only sound you could hear were birds chirping.

The Sound of Silence.

Seeing, Eating and Sleeping Crocodile

Before I get started on today’s blog post, I forgot to mention a couple of things that I did in Kuranda the very first day.

I decided to visit a bird sanctuary; visitors walk along a path through an enclosure with free flying birds. I got some amazing pictures of some of Australia’s most colorful birds as well as some smaller varieties. There was one pesky little guy who kept landing on the back of my shoulder pulling hair out of my ponytail, to feather it’s nest I suppose. I try to snap a photo but he was too quick and he always seemed to be hidden right behind my ear.

The second attraction was another sanctuary that had assorted Australian animals like kangaroos, wallabies and koalas. I actually had my picture taken cuddling one of the little guys. Their fur is incredibly soft and they are quite heavy for their size.

Okay now on to my next round of excursions.

After the Great Barrier Reef cruise I flew to Darwin. An interesting factoid about Darwin: it has a landing strip about 4 km long and was designated as an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle.

My flight arrived in Darwin around 10:30 PM and after checking into the hotel, I had to immediately pack an overnight bag for a 2-day tour early the following morning. I was lucky if I got 4 hours sleep.

In the morning we set off for Kakadu National Park where we viewed Aboriginal rock art and took a cruise on the Yellow Water Billabong where finally we spotted a crocodile swimming in the water near the shore.

The sun was shining, the temperature was in the low 30s C (sorry to my family and friends back home who are enduring -30C temps), and the humidity was incredibly high. We were in for a really sticky day. I came up with a new description for it: “You know it’s humid when the leaves on the trees are dripping water and it hasn’t even rained.” I can safely say that we were all glad to get out of our clothes and jump in the shower that evening.

Again I took a lot of interesting photos that I will share mid February when I get to my aunt’s house. I had booked an optional 50 minute scenic tour on a small airplane but unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate so the trip was canceled. Bummer! Instead I visited the Warradjan Cultural Center.

My hotel for the night was really unique. The whole building is in the shape of a crocodile, where reception, the gift shop and restaurant are in the head. There are 2 floors of rooms that run down each side of the crocodile toward the tail, and the center part houses a lovely courtyard and garden with a covered swimming pool. Our guide told us that the Aboriginal people in this area (The Bininj) would only allow the hotel to be built if it respected their culture and honored their wildlife.

That night for dinner I ate crocodile for the very first time. It tastes more like fish than game meat and is quite chewy…quite nice actually.

On the 2nd day in Kakadu, we were supposed to tour Ubirr to see more rock art and cruise the East Alligator River, but apparently the road to the area was washed out due to a lot of recent rainfall… it’s the wet season here.

Instead we went to a different area to view rock art that was about 20,000 years old, stopped at the Bowali Visitor Center and after lunch, enjoyed the best cruise to date!

It was on the Adelaide River which is second only to the Mary River for its population of saltwater or estuarian crocodiles. The estimate is that there are between 20,000 and 50,000 crocodiles in this River and they can grow up to 6 meters in length…you definitely don’t want to mess with these guys! Did you know that crocodiles can come out of the water after prey at a speed of 7 meters/second?! If you were standing too close to the water’s edge, you wouldn’t stand a chance.

The company hosting the cruises is Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruises… an all girl outfit by the way. They have trained crocodiles to jump out of the water for pieces of meat, providing awesome photo-ops for tourists. I got some nice still photos but the best ones are the videos I took where I captured several crocodiles jumping out of the water to try and grab the meat. It was an incredible experience and I can’t wait to share the videos with you.

We returned to Darwin that evening where I had a good night’s sleep in preparation for the tour of Litchfield National Park, which is a bit closer to Darwin than was Kakadu.

There isn’t too much to write about Litchfield other than to say that it’s another rainforest and treed savannah area of the Northern Territory. True appreciation comes from viewing photos and especially the videos. We visited 3 magnificent waterfalls – Florence, Wangi, and Tolmer – and you just can’t comprehend their beauty and majesty from still pictures. I have videos of all 3 to share with you.

We also visited another spot that wasn’t on the itinerary called Buley Rock Hole. Here erosion over many thousands of years has carved various swimming holes in the rocks and people come from all over to swim and soak in the warm water. I didn’t have my bathing suit with me so I just jumped in with my clothes and dried out over the afternoon. LOL.

That brings you up to date with my tour thus far. I have an early flight in the morning to Alice Springs followed by a connecting flight to Ayers Rock. I must get down to the lobby now and use my half hour of free internet (how generous of them!) to post this to my blog.

Ta-ta for now.