March 15, 2019
I haven't added a post since my trip to Australia. I would like to make at least one more trip to France--my 16th--while I still have health that will allow such a trip. I attempted to put together for May of 2020, but it didn't make. I will keep thinking about it, and perhaps I can come up with a plan that entices more travelers. My last plan was for 5 day in Paris and 3 days down south to visit the newest recreation of the cave Lascaux. I think I had about 4 people interested, but I really need about 15 in order to get the price offered by the travel agency.

I'm sitting in the Yulara Airport waiting to board a plane to Sydney where we'll spend the night before boarding a plane to Houston. The trip from Houston to Sydney was 17 1/2 hours. The trip back to Houston from Sydney is only 16 1/2 hours--tailwind. This small airport is full of people. We didn't immediately find 3 seats together, but finally lucked out.

I have been singled out to be scanned on the way as well as again today. I'm beginning to wonder if I look dishonest. I suppose grandmotherly types might be the ones drug smugglers would use to carry their contraband into the country. 

We're all packed and just sitting here till we need to check out at 10:00--a couple hours. Our plane doesn't leave until 2:00, so we have a lot of down time. Everything is so expensive here. The hotel, for example, offered us a take-along breakfast for $38 Aus, which consisted of cereal bars, a piece of fruit, and a bottle of water. We declined, and went to the grocery store and bought the same stuff for a lot less. The hotel offers sit-down dinners for $49. We have not taken them up on that either. We've eaten several PBJs for lunch, shared a pizza one night, etc. One of the reasons that food is so expensive here is that food service people are paid a living wage, and tipping is not necessary. I did see a "tip" jar at the place where I bought some fish and chips (we call them fries.

This is our last night at Ayers Rock Resort. Tomorrow we take a plane to Sydney, spend the night there, and fly home May 21st.

This morning I took a bus trip to Kata Tjuta, sometimes called the Olgas. The most famous attraction of the Kata Tjuta National Park. It's a sandstone monolith that is world renowned for being a symbol of its indigenous culture.


Kata Tjuta (The Olgas

We also stopped near Uluru, otherwise known as Ayers Rock. For the geologists, it is an insulberg, which is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. The guide says that only about 1/3 rises above ground, about 2/3 is still below ground. I almost forgot to mention that the guy who drove us around is called Snakebite. He had a very strident voice, and he told us about several aboriginal myths, then proceded to spout poetry. One was "The Man From Snowy River," but I didn't catch the titles of the other two. Of course, I could only understand about 2/3 of what he said. In fact, I have trouble understanding some of these Aussies, 

Barbara and Herb walked 3/4 of the way around Uluru, which took about 4 hours. If I remember correctly, I have already posted something about Uluru. I'm ready to go to bed.

Friday, May 18 (Error yesterday)

Carol Webb

Just now · 

I spent the day at Kings Canyon--about 4 hours from the Ayers Rock Resort where we're staying. On the way, we saw a herd of wild camels--probably 15 or so--and one wild horse. The country doesn't change much between here and Kings Canyon--lots of scrub brush and fine red dirt.One of highlights of the day was a helicopter ride. Barbara and Herb chose to walk the rim of the canyon--about 7 miles. I chose to walk the bottom of the canyon, which is a dry river bed--very rocky. We're going to Ayers Rock tomorrow. It's a huge sandstone monolith, several miles around the base:

ULURU-AUSTRALIA.COM

About Ayers Rock - Uluru (Ayers Rock) Australia

Uluru (Ayers Rock) is one of the most impressive landmarks in Australia. Learn more about Australia's iconic Ayers Rock.

Thursday, May 18
I'm just back from a camel ride. My camel had a muzzle on her. Her name was Taz. Thirteen camels were all linked together, and the one I was on was third from last. The most interesting part was the getting up and the getting down. The camel was lying down to start with, and once I was on, she started with her back legs, and I had to lean back. Same when it was time to get off. The ride lasted over an hour, and I was ready to get off about 15 minutes before it was time to get off. We'll see if I'm sore tomorrow.

I looked up Kakadu: This is what Wikipedia says about it: Kakadu National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km southeast of Darwin.It is the second largest national park in the world. It covers an area of 1,980,400 ha (4,894,000 acres). The Aligator River runs through it, and I took a boat ride on it. Ironically, there are no aligators in Australia, only crocodiles, and I saw several along the way.

Today is the day I go for a camel ride. I'll give a full report if I survive.