G'day from Down Under! Our second tour of Australia was considerably longer (and more expensive) than the first! We visited some of our favourite places again (we gave Ayres Rock a miss), and took the opportunity to see more aspects of this wonderful country....
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Perth - state capital of Western Australia. Although we all started our holiday here, Elizabeth and I boarded the Indian Pacific train, which would take us across Australia to Sydney, whilst Alex stayed for a few days of cricket, in the form of the Third Ashes Test at the WACA....
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...one
of the great railway journeys of the world - it takes 65 hours, or 3 days
and nights, to cross the 4352km from Perth to Sydney.
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The
journey takes you through Kalgoorlie - an outback town in Australia's
gold fields, Cook - a posting with two inhabitants....
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...Adelaide
- the capital of South Australia and Broken Hill - a 'Silver City'
in the outback of New South Wales.
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There
is also the chance to see some beautiful scenery - the Nullarbor Plain,
the Australian Outback, the Menindi Lakes and the Blue Mountains...
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...whilst
watching the wildlife - including wedge-tailed eagles, red and grey kangaroos,
and emus.
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My
cricket-companions optimistically bought five day tickets. I thought my
two day ticket would be better value. Pity the man who only had a ticket
for day four...
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Yes, it was England against Australia in the third Ashes test - and after three days it was all over. But we had a good time, and so did the "Barmy Army". Now, what was the score again? |
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Even
after applying an entire bottle of factor 20 sun cream, the top two layers
of my face peeled off after 2 days in the relentless sun - shame the weather
didn't hold for the eclipse...
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| Not long after we all arrived in Sydney (Alex by plane and with a very sunburned nose), we all left again. This time, we were on the Ghan - the sister train to the Indian Pacific - heading for Adelaide with a bunch of Eclipse Chasers. | |||
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A
plane and bus journey later (Elizabeth was not impressed), and we arrived
in Scaele Bay - a beautiful beach on the south coast of Australia.
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We
chilled out here for a few days...
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...it
was absolutely freezing!
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Especially
when we went for a swim with some sealions, where the water was a mere
18 degrees centigrade...
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The main reason for our return to Australia this particular time, was to spend some more time in the shadow of the moon - 32 seconds to be precise, in the total eclipse of the sun viewable from South Australia. Let's face it - you can watch England lose in cricket anytime, but eclipses are rare events! Our eclipse site was a few miles from the main viewing sites in Ceduna, but we wanted to get away from the coastal cloud and Japanese tourists, and so we found a nice bit of outback just up the road. We set up camp at around lunchtime, and settled down, waiting for totalilty at 7.40pm.... |
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| ...but we had to make a rapid exit a few hours later, as it became clear that the cloud cover wasn't going to shift! So, we headed another ten miles further inland, but still on the centre line of totality, and set up camp by the side of the road... | ||
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...as
the moon started to eclipse the sun, the sky started to get darker....
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...the
birds started to roost, and still the sky became darker and darker...
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| ...until the point of totality was reached, when the clouds parted just in time for us to see the sun slip completely behind the moon... | ||
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...Bailey's
Beads, diamond ring effect - we managed to see it all. But very briefly,
because 32 seconds later, the sun started to peek out from behind the
moon and totality was over. Until the next time... 2006 in Turkey? 2008
in China? Or 2016 in Balikpapan???
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Along with most of the Eclipse-chasers, we headed up to Cairns... |
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...for
a taste of the Great Barrier Reef and tropical Queensland.
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On
day one, we donned our swimming gear for a boat cruise to the reef - Alex
and I enjoyed a spot of diving (sorry, but it just didn't seem as good
as Indonesia!) whilst Elizabeth had a splash about on deck.
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On
day two, we joined 'Uncle Brian's tours', for a day of adventure in the
rainforest - and with chocolate bars, puzzles, singing and waving to anyone
we saw, it was a truly wonderful day.
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Although
we left our swim suits behind, Alex still managed a 'Tarzan swing' into
a cool lake, a record breaking team-waterslide, and a wee swim in the
Milla Milla Falls, better known for the 'Timotei' advert.
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| But the best part of the whole day, was cousin Mike, who taught Elizabeth how to wave - thanks Mike!! |
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Finally, after nearly three weeks on the road, we made it to Sydney. In true meteorological style, the heavens had opened, and the first proper rains for months were busy putting out the bush fires, and drenching us! But the sun came out the next day, leaving us to enjoy everything that Sydney has to offer... |
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...Bondi
Beach...
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...Manly
Beach...
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...Coffee
- on the Rocks...
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...Climbing....and climbing...and climbing... |
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...the
steps of Sydney Opera House...
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...hanging
out in the Botanical Gardens...
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Until
finally, we watched our final Australian sunset, and bid farewell to the
land of the Southern skies....until next time!
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