You really know you are in the outback as when you arrive at the airport the first thing greeting you in the entrance way is this huge spider web with this gargantuan spider in the middle as well as a million flies all around your face...yuck, get me out of this place!!! And they are real...no fake bugs here.
After getting over my bug phobia, I purchased a hat and flynet to start my travels in Alice Springs. It is really interesting how people live here. Like we went to their School of the Air (not in the flying sense but in the internet..formerly ham radio sense). The students are so spread out that they use mail and the internet along with skype to do their lessons. We also traveled to the Royal Flying Doctor Service....as that would be the only way a doctor and nurse can get to you or fly you to a hospital in an emergency.
Went on a three hikes today on different trails with my friends the flies. Saw Simpson watering hole, Stanley chasm and various fauna as well as animals mainly lizards and wallabys.
Learning a lot about the aboriginie people...they really do look like the guys in the geico commercial...sort of caveman-like features. They are very private and not very approachable. Their art is primitive but tells stories passed down from generation to generation as they have no written language. In fact, at the School of the air they talked about how many aboriginie children are learning English as a second language...strange to think that in 2010 in a country that speaks English their indiginous people would not know the national language.
Last night we went to a cattle station for a barbeque and had an astronomer point out all of the constellations to us. In getting to the cattle ranch, as we go out of town a little way the paved road ends and there is just dirt roads for miles and miles. I guess they don't have too much tax revenue as there is a lot of land with a little amount of people. It was cool to point out the Southern Cross which is on both the Australian and New Zealand flags. Also Orion's belt was easy to spot, but he is upside down in the southern hemisphere. I did not see the Big or little dipper as they do not appear down here till about 4 am. But it was the first time I really saw the Milky way....all the stars in the sky and planets such as saturn and mars....it was truly magnificent.
Tomorrow we will be on our way to Ayers Rock to view Uluru...the big red rock that is in many photos of the outback. So along with my fly friends I'll be traveling on my way to see Uluru at sunset tomorrow.
Take care and stay safe and healthy.
Love,
Gloria
After getting over my bug phobia, I purchased a hat and flynet to start my travels in Alice Springs. It is really interesting how people live here. Like we went to their School of the Air (not in the flying sense but in the internet..formerly ham radio sense). The students are so spread out that they use mail and the internet along with skype to do their lessons. We also traveled to the Royal Flying Doctor Service....as that would be the only way a doctor and nurse can get to you or fly you to a hospital in an emergency.
Went on a three hikes today on different trails with my friends the flies. Saw Simpson watering hole, Stanley chasm and various fauna as well as animals mainly lizards and wallabys.
Learning a lot about the aboriginie people...they really do look like the guys in the geico commercial...sort of caveman-like features. They are very private and not very approachable. Their art is primitive but tells stories passed down from generation to generation as they have no written language. In fact, at the School of the air they talked about how many aboriginie children are learning English as a second language...strange to think that in 2010 in a country that speaks English their indiginous people would not know the national language.
Last night we went to a cattle station for a barbeque and had an astronomer point out all of the constellations to us. In getting to the cattle ranch, as we go out of town a little way the paved road ends and there is just dirt roads for miles and miles. I guess they don't have too much tax revenue as there is a lot of land with a little amount of people. It was cool to point out the Southern Cross which is on both the Australian and New Zealand flags. Also Orion's belt was easy to spot, but he is upside down in the southern hemisphere. I did not see the Big or little dipper as they do not appear down here till about 4 am. But it was the first time I really saw the Milky way....all the stars in the sky and planets such as saturn and mars....it was truly magnificent.
Tomorrow we will be on our way to Ayers Rock to view Uluru...the big red rock that is in many photos of the outback. So along with my fly friends I'll be traveling on my way to see Uluru at sunset tomorrow.
Take care and stay safe and healthy.
Love,
Gloria
I need to see a picture of you with that hat!!! Spiders, lizards and flies... oh my...
ReplyDeleteThe sky sounds magnificent...what a sight to see. Glad to see you continue to take it all in.
The stars sound spectacular... I've been bombarded by moles here - almost want the snow back. Keep on exploring, Dora!
ReplyDelete