Well my Australian adventure is almost complete and I thought that I would write to you and let you all know how I am doing. Any comments by my tour guide, host (David) will be in Italics.

I arrived here on Tuesday September 10. I was nervous getting off the plane, wondering if I would recognize David or even find him in the airport. But he was very easy to find. He was the tallest one there ... wearing a CAT jacket, cap and looking very tough ... and a POLICEMAN accompanied him. I was trying to figure out whether I should just disappear into the crowd at that point . But he spotted me - came over and gave me one huge bear hug. We went to a lounge and had a coffee/diet coke (Sue used to like Diet Coke at this stage) while his friend the policeman checked me out. His friend cautioned me that David might look scary but to just take him in stride. Hmmm .. David .. scary? I think not. I may be a foot (or two) shorter than him but he doesn't scare me a bit.

We drove home along Great Ocean Road and I could not get over the scenery. The 12 Apostles
 

are breathtaking and I can understand why this section of coastline is the most photographed section in the world. ( Don't forget Lochard Gorge )

I spent the next few days at David's house to get used to the time change. David gave me a tour of Warrnambool, which is a beautiful seaside town. The people here are all so friendly and I think David knows every person in this town. There are about 28,000 people living here and I can walk to the shopping area and the beach from David's house. Ok. I admit it is a long walk (especially with such short legs) to the beach but it can be done .

During the first few days I was in Warrnambool I suffered from culture shock. People driving on the wrong side of the road (Hmmmmmmmmm) .. roundabouts at intersections (I will never get used to them) ... bland cheese ... and NO ONE knows how to make a good pizza. I introduced David to nachos and he introduced me to salad rolls. By Friday we were ready to head off on our "adventure". I was not impressed when he packed a spade in the ute
and told me that that is the emergency toilet! ( Dunny )
 

The first day we went to Adelaide. Adelaide (for my North American friends) is a beautiful coastal city. Adelaide is Australia's fifth largest city and many of its early citizens were religious dissenters escaping from persecution in their homelands. As a result there are many beautiful churches in Adelaide. A friend of David's told us to stay in "Elizabeth" cause it would be cheaper than staying in the city. We drove and drove ... looking for this bloody suburb. By the time we found the place we were suffering from hysteria. But the motel was nice and they consented to keep the dining room open for us so we could have "tea". We spent the rest of the evening laughing ... just saying the word "Elizabeth" still sends us both into fits of laughter.

The next day we drove to Port Augusta. We spent the afternoon at the Wadlata Outback Centre. That is a very interesting place which features a giant model of Akurra, the dreamtime snake and displays explain Aboriginal bushcraft and Flinders Ranges creation myth. Displays telling the tales of hardships suffered by 19th century explorers Eyre, Sturt, Stuart and Giles are most informative. In fact the Stuart highway starts at Port Augusta and continues all the way to Darwin. ( A Bloody Long Road It Is too) This is the highway we followed up to Kakadu National Park.

The next day we drove and drove through the most interesting countryside. One second the land was lush .. next it was rocky totally devoid of any life. We stopped for lunch at "spuds roadhouse" and to be honest here, I was really starting to wonder what I had gotten myself into. David pointed out the outdoor dunnies (toilets) at the roadhouse and he basically had to drag me over the threshold of the restaurant. Once inside though (and once my eyes got used to the dimness of the building) I found we were greeted by a half dozen friendly faces all turning to say g'day. A cold Fosters sure tasted great right then! I have to admit that they served great tucker there and the friendly people made me feel so welcome. (Typical Aussies)

After lunch we drove to Coober Pedy which to be honest, does not live up to its tourist promotions. Coober is a harsh outback town, bleak, dirty and dusty. There is very little greenery here. The area receives a small amount of rainfall every year and as a result wasting water here is criminal. Solar panels and experimental wind generator supplement power to the town. Tourist brochures say the residents live underground but in fact, only a handful do. There is a church built into the side of a cliff, and several motels are built underground. Coober Pedy is the opal capital of Australia but I didn't buy one. I found the opals to be very expensive.

The landscape is bleak, and has been used in films such as Mad Max. There is not much to it, just conical pink slagheaps filling the plains. Old trucks litter the town and the landscape and warning signs are posted everywhere. Apparently tourists try to take photos of the plains and fall into deep mining shafts. ( Bloody Tourists !!!!!!! )

We stayed in an underground motel that was extremely beautiful. The rooms are cooled naturally but it is kind of spooky when you first enter your room cause it is so dark being underground. The rooms were dug out by mining equipment and you can see the different colours of the rocks in the walls.

The next day when we tried to fill up with autogas and petrol David noticed a leak in the gas line. So we had to go to a garage to have it fixed. David was not impressed, because he is a mechanic by trade and hates having to pay for auto repairs when he can do it himself. But we were miles from his shed and he had to rely on someone else. To be honest, it had to be one of the funniest mornings I ever spent. We end up at this garage in Coober Pedy where everyone was named Dave. We had Dave the mechanic looking at the engine, Dave the helper, Dave the electrician and David the ute owner. (Bloody Good Blokes them Dave's ) Every time I said David everyone replied! No one moves quickly in Coober Pedy .. they all looked at it and agreed something had to be done. It didn't help when another customer drove up to the garage and said .. "where is my car?". It seemed someone had stolen the car during the night. Everyone jumped into cars leaving David and I alone at this garage. Trusting lot . They found the car at the local pub and all came back and finally fixed David's car. One interesting side note here though, I discovered that Aussie men (at least the ones called Dave that were in Coober Pedy that day) all use the F-word constantly in sentences. It certainly seems to be a versatile word! (An excellent descriptor for everything and everyone) 

Just north of Coober Pedy is the dingo fence, which runs east, and west from one side of Australia to the other. This fence keeps the dingoes out of sheep territory, which is south of the fence. I guess the cows that are kept north of the fence are tougher to kill!

We left Coober around lunchtime and headed north to the territory. We continued driving to Uluru (Ayers Rock). It was quite late by the time we got there so we decided to stay in a motel as opposed to in the tent. There was not much choice cause we were there quite late and we ended up with rooms facing the rock. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep and I finally woke David around 5 am so he could see the sunrise on the rock. To be honest, there are no words to describe the majesty, beauty and magic of this place. Uluru ( Ayers Bloody Rock Sue, how many times I gotta tell ya ) is a single piece of rock that rises out of total flatness. The sunrise and sunset enhance its striking orangey-red hue. We drove around the rock which has a 6 mile base. Several times we parked to get out and touch the rock. Several areas of the rock are sacred to the aboriginal people and are blocked off. They have requested you do not climb the rock, apparently over 200 people are critically injured there every year but there are still stupid people who climb all over this magical place.

We decided to spend another night here but the cost of the motel rooms was outrageous so we pitched the tent at the campground.

We spent the afternoon looking at the cultural centre and the Olga's (another rock formation) which is about 12 miles away. There are many aboriginal people in the area and in fact the rock is on aboriginal lands. These people still live as nomads as their ancestors did.

We went back to the rock for sunset (and got totally blown away by the view of the monolith changing colours) then spent the evening back at the resort shopping.

At night the stars were so beautiful. There are no clouds in the desert and I could see the Southern Cross and the Milky Way. The stars were so clear that I felt I could reach up and touch them. I was totally at peace, I could hear the dingoes in the distance, the wind rustle through the gum trees and I fell asleep listening to the billy boil over the fire as David sat outside making himself coffee.

HEY .. BIG QUESTION HERE FOR MY AUSTRALIAN FRIENDS. Why didn't anyone tell me about the flies over here? (I notice they unny worry the International travelers though, you know, Canadians, Japanese, Germans.. bloody pommies) Man oh man .. once you get inland, like at Ayers Rock, Coober Pedy and Alice Springs (more on that place later) you get covered in these bloody flies. David kept offering to buy me a net but I refused .. I am not a wimp . .but geez .. these flies crawl all over you .. up your nose, in your mouth when you talk .. I am used to them now and have become proficient at the Aussie wave BUT ... do something about those flies!!! Yuck.

The next day, after going back to Uluru to touch the rock one last time we headed north for Alice Springs. We spent the night there and continued the next day to Mataranka Springs.

The drive to Mataranka was so interesting. We stopped at the Devil's marbles to explore this marvel of nature. We also were amazed at the changing landscape and the huge termite mounds at the sides of the road.

We saw so many wedgetail eagles (BIG buggers they are too ) along the roadside lunching on road kill. I was starting to believe there were no live kangaroos in Australia. We seemed to see lots of dead ones but to this point I did not see a live roo. I laughed and laughed when we drove at the road signs. There are cattle crossings, camel crossings, wild horse crossings, emu crossings, kangaroo crossings, koala crossings and lizard crossings marked all over the highway. I found it so amazing that in the territory there is no speed limit and you can be driving along at 140 km an hour only to have to stop suddenly cause there are cows standing on the highway. And these are BIG cows.

We were told to go to Mataranka Springs by a friend. We arrived there quite late at night because of all our roadside stops during the day. We drove through the dark forest.. the Springs is just outside Katherine in northern Australia. It is a lush area full of palm trees, gum trees, birds, crocs, snakes and spiders. We decided to get rooms at the "budget" motel there. The room looked so nice ... could have slept a half dozen people cause there were two bedrooms and a bathroom. We went to the pub which was delightful. There amid the palm trees and soft breezes was some guy singing "New York .. New York". It was too late to go for a swim in the thermal pool (But a Beer went down bloody well) cause the spring is not lit at night and I sort of wanted to avoid the snakes ( Never seen a snake the whole bloody trip ) that come out at night. So I headed to bed, totally exhausted from the heat and the long day of driving. I slept like a log, but got up around 5:30 am to use the "dunny". I settled back in bed .. looked over and there was a COCKROACH on my bed. I screamed .. David came running ... terror in his eyes (Not in my bloody eyes, you shoulda seen yours) ... till he saw why I screamed and he laughed and laughed and laughed. Totally disgusted I decided to go swimming. Of course I hit him with the stupid cockroach before I left the room. MEN.

The spring is a beautiful thermal pool surrounded by palm trees. The water is crystal clear, warm and relaxing. It was paradise because not many people are up at that hour. After an hour of vegging out we decided it was time to leave for Kakadu. We were anxious to get to Jabiru to see Barb (ANTW .. Ce_Nedra on MSN).

We drove through the most beautiful countryside, beautiful mountains, palm trees, gum trees, flocks of cockatoos and galahs swooping along the roadside and lizards sunning themselves on the rocks. Kakadu National Park is a unique area of unspoiled wilderness and is on UNESCO's World Heritage list. (Crocodile Dundee was filmed there.) The park is 20,000 square kilometres in size and is home to a large crocodile population. At all the waterways large signs warn you about the crocodiles.

Much of the park looked burnt but that is the aboriginal way of managing the land. They light small controllable fires as an aid to hunting and to stimulate new plant growth. These fires also help to kill dangerous snakes (and the natives then eat the cooked snake). ( Sorta like a ready made barbecue ) I kind of like that approach .. ok . we know there is a snake ( Or Twenty ) living in that area .. Let’s have him for dinner . ( Or Lunch, or Tea )

We arrived at the world famous Crocodile hotel and David phoned Barb & Tony only to find out that Barb was in the hospital in Darwin. I spent the next two days fighting a flu bug while David fussed over me like a mother hen. By Sunday I was feeling better and we went to the pub for lunch. I was dying for pizza. But .. horrors .. pizza would not be served till 5 p.m. so I had a sandwich instead. It was there I introduced David to two of my favourite pastimes. I taught him how to play air hockey (and beat him twice) and how to play pinball. I had to drag him away when it was time for us to go on our cruise.

We went on the Yellow Waters boat cruise and that was fascinating. We saw so many birds, jabirus, egrets, Jesus birds (called that cause they look like they are walking on water), sea eagles, galahs, cockatoos and so many more. We also saw wild horses grazing along side the water and tons of crocs. The biggest one we saw was about 7 feet long and it was munching away on a huge fish (barramundi). The tour guide kept telling us to keep our hands in the boat so the crocs would not bite it .. unfortunately that gave David an idea. Behind us in the boat was a know-it-all man named Roy. Well Roy was very annoying. He kept pointing out birds and in a highbrow voice would give the entire boat all the information about the bird. (Every circus has a clown; we had bloody Roy he had to be the best cure for constipation yet discovered he gave everyone the shits.) The tour guide kept correcting Roy but Roy just kept plodding on. David was getting totally pissed off (now how many of us can imagine that ). By the end of the cruise I was terrified for Roy's life. Roy kept standing up in the boat and hitting me in the head. Luckily for Roy the boat docked and I hussled David away. Unfortunately I think the tour guide pushed Roy in the water. I just heard a big splash as we were walking up the ramp. (Even the crocs would have spat him out though. Bloody jerk)

We hurried from the cruise to get back to the hotel cause we were meeting Barb and Tony. She had been released from the hospital that day and we were having dinner together. It was funny ... I recognized her right away even though I never saw a picture of her. We looked so beautiful dining in this fancy dining room in our matching sarongs. We laughed and chatted all through dinner ... Tony was the only one who ate Kangaroo meat though. (I ate Prawns, lots of em )

The next day Barb and I went to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre where I did more shopping. I loved David's look of total resignation as he tried once again to find space in the ute for my packages. I guess he is trying to tell me that I shop too much. ( Gonna cost heaps for the extra petrol to fly all the books home )

We left Barb's in the afternoon and headed south. We stopped at Edith Falls .. another totally magical place where the waterfalls over a tall escarpment. Even though there were no beware of the crocs signs David and I passed on swimming there. We just were eager to head south.

We spent the night at Mataranka Springs again (going for rooms without cockroaches). Once again we spent the evening at the pub .

The next day we headed south to Alice Springs. We decided to really push on so we could get back down south to see the rest of our MSN friends. But about 100 km from Alice Springs the unimaginable happened. The engine in the ute "shit itself" (term David used to explain it to me.. sounds very technical to me). The ute was dead. David said .. "don't worry .. someone will come by soon". WELL ... EXCUSE ME .. There is no one in central Australia!!!!! We sat on the highway for two hours before a car went by. It was pitch black .. all you could see were the stars (which thankfully were plentiful that night). I could hear the sounds of the outback .. dingoes howling, wind rustling through the gum trees, roos jumping, snakes slithering .. I was very happy just to wait in the ute, thank you .

Finally a car went by and they promised to call it in as soon as they reached mobile phone range. So I made a dinner of nachos and salsa (gourmet feast on the side of the road) and we waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally a truck pulled up. It was a well driller who was just passing by. He offered to tow us to Alice Springs. They hooked the ute up to the truck and we were off. (Swinging off the back of a twelve foot tow rope at one hundred clicks per hour ) Ten minutes down the road and a huge truck pulled up behind us. It was the outback recovery vehicle that had been dispatched from Alice Springs. He towed us in the rest of the way and dropped us off at a motel on the outskirts of town. ( That’s when Sue got to see her first "LIVE" Roo's trying to commit suicide in front of the truck. Luckily the brakes worked real good )

The next day we took the ute to a garage (actually it was towed). Horrors .. the engine was totally gone. AND ... it would take at least 2 days to get a new one. So we figured .. fine .. we get it by Friday .. hit the road again Saturday but things didn't quite work out that way. The engine came in late Friday and Australia totally closes down on the last Saturday of September for some footy game . ( The AFL Grand Final Sue, geeeeeeeez ) So in an attempt to make a long story a bit shorter .. we finally got the engine working by Tuesday night.

But you have no idea how little there is to do in Alice Springs. We played monopoly. We watched dust storms so violent that you could not see your hand in front of you. We spent a day touring a train and transport museum. One magical afternoon was spent hand-feeding wild kangaroos at a nature park. The down side was the security guard at K-Mart knew us by sight and I think he would have had us over to dinner if we were there one more day. We were both thrilled by the time we left Alice Springs. (David had even more trouble packing the ute by the time we left though ... I did go overboard there)

So now we're back Warrnambool. Unfortunately because of the delay in Alice I will not be able to visit everyone I wanted to visit but I promise I will be back. This is a wonderful country, so full of friendly people and magical places.

Speaking of wonderful, David has been a terrific tour guide. It made everything so special being able to explore this wonderful country with my very best friend. ( And it wasn't half-bad for me too, the Canuckian sheila adapted to the bush and being in a "real" country pretty good . She even got the lingo down pretty good and can communicate enough to get petrol and tukker now, oh, and books.)

PS. After this letter was emailed out we spent a few days in Warrnambool before I had to leave. David showed me his backyard. I loved Tower Hill, a nature preserve for Koalas and Kangaroos (and as you can see from the pictures … EMUS). A sight I will never forget are the Southern Right Whales playing just off the coast in Warrnambool. I also enjoyed Hopkins Falls, Port Fairy and the entire area.

I spent the last day in Australia with a good friend of David (and hopefully mine), John Basham and his wonderful wife Jess as they gave me a tour of Melbourne. After stopping for a coffee at McCafe we had to leave to have dinner with another good friend, Rob (Mando from MSN). There I spent a most wonderful evening laughing and enjoying my friends. Hey Rob .. you can make dinner for me anytime!

I was very very sad to leave the next morning. But someday I will return to Australia … the country and the people have gotten found their way to my heart. ©