Australia

30 Mar: Cairns

We left Rocky Creek Memorial Park in the morning to continue our drive towards Cairns. We stopped at Barron Falls on the way to see the impressive gorge and waterfalls. After a short walk on a boardwalk through a rainforest we came face to face with the stunning falls. We also saw the Kuranda scenic train pass through the gorge.

When we arrived in Cairns we went straight to the tourist information office to try and book a scenic flight and possibly a snorkelling session on the Great Barrier Reef. We must have spent almost an hour looking at different options; small aircraft flights, seaplane flights, helicopter flights, cruises and various combinations - there's so much on offer! We finally decided on   a day trip for the next day by boat to a platform on the outer reef, plus a 10 minute helicopter flight over the reef from the platform. We spent the afternoon in Cairns at the lovely lagoon on the foreshore, updating our Internet pages, sunning ourselves and swimming in the beautiful pool . Gaelle learnt to swim backstroke! We spent the night at a campsite in Cairns, eagerly awaiting our reef experience!

Barron Falls	The lagoon at Cairns

31 Mar: The Great Barrier Reef

Today was a glorious sunny day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky; our bad luck with the weather on tours seems to have changed for the better! The big catamaran left Cairns Marina at 10:00 to take us out to the outer reef. Fortunately it's not high season, as the boat can take up to 370 passengers... That must be a real nightmare! Today we were a modest 118... We arrived at the reef platform at about 11:30 and our first activity was our scenic helicopter flight. After a security briefing, we were whisked away by boat to a helicopter platform and bundled into the aircraft. Before we knew it we had as bird's eye view over the magnificent coral reef. The coral is not a continuous barrier, but rather sporadic  clusters of coral that join head to tail for over 2500 kms!!! Mind boggling!!! The flight was an unforgettable experience which allowed us to get a very different perspective of the reef than from in the water.

After a buffet lunch back on the catamaran, we took a semi-submersible vessel tour followed by a glass-bottomed boat tour. We saw some beautiful coral from both vessels, but the coral reefs appeared surprising small and dispersed. We unfortunately had a novice driver that ran the vessels too quickly over the magnificent corals and spent over half of the time between coral clusters . There were surprisingly few fish, however we were lucky to spot a small turtle. Then it was our turn, dressed in our stinger suits and equipped with masks, fins and snorkels, we jumped into the water to discover the beauty of the reef for ourselves. The variety and colour of the coral we saw was fantastic and we saw coral reef fish such as Napoleon, parrot fish, clown fish, snappers, surgeon fish, etc... We also saw several giant clams, measuring up to 1 metre in length! A great snorkel!

After a pleasant cruise back to the marina, we arrived back in Cairns at 17:30. For the sake of convenience, we returned to the same campsite as the previous night. We got the girl's homework out of the way before having a refreshing swim in the pool in the dark. Tomorrow night will be our last night in the campervan; a strange feeling as it's been our home for the last 8 weeks...

The catamaran moored against the reef platform	Scenic helicopter flight over the Great Barrier Reef	The family in the helicopter (Sophie & Gaelle look a bit squashed as they're sharing a seat!)
The outer coral reef viewed from the sky	Jenny and Sophie on the catamaran	François and the Australia marine flag

1 Apr: Crystal Cascades

Today we decided to visit the Crystal Cascades to the west of Cairns. We ate a picnic lunch at the creek and then wandered up to the falls, before returning back down stream to have a refreshing dip in the river. The water was less inviting than Little Crystal Creek in the Paluma Ranges and the kids were disappointed that there were no rock slides... but still it proved a welcome dip. Afterwards we decided to head back to Cairns to another campsite closer to the campervan hub, where we spent couple of hours by the pool before heading into Cairns. We enjoyed a pleasant ale on the foreshore Esplanade overlooking the sea and the lagoon. The girls did their homework before we returned back to the campervan for dinner and a packing and cleaning session. It was a squash getting everything back in our travel bags, we'll have to prepare a parcel to send back home when we get to Sydney...

2 Apr: Alice Springs and the East MacDonnell Ranges

We had an appointment at 8:30am to return the campervan. We were all quite saddened at having to leave it behind, but we knew that new adventures awaited us in the Northern Territories. The flight out of Cairns was lovely. We had a great view of the coast and could even see the Great Barrier Reef in the distance. The views over the deserted and barren land up to the MacDonnell Ranges east of Alice Springs were great too. We arrived in Alice Springs early afternoon, picked up our 4WD, a Nissan Patrol and headed straight to the tourist information office in town. We picked up some brochures, purchased a permit to travel the unsealed Mereenie Loop Road and booked accommodation for the 4 nights following Alice Springs. The accommodation possibilities along the tourist drive down to Ayers Rock are extremely limited and very expensive if one's not camping... Near King's Canyon, the cheapest available option was a 4 bed backpacker's dorm, without a bathroom, for $175! We seriously considered buying a tent and we definitely regretted not having the campervan, but the 2400km drive would have been too much...!

We still had most of the afternoon ahead of us to drive into the East MacDonnell Ranges. We stopped off at Emily Gap first. The gap was worn by a creek  through the MacDonnell Ranges and the walls are beautiful tones of ochre and red. The site is significant to local Aboriginal people whose ancestors left a couple of rock art drawings of caterpillars from their Dreamtime period. The ranges represent a caterpillar according to Aboriginal beliefs. We then went to Jessie Gap, fairly similar to the previous with a caterpillar  stylised on the rocks too. Then a short walk around Corroboree Rock, a sacred site for Aboriginals, however no one can remember just quite why...! ThenTriphina Gorge with its sheer cliffs, gum trees and sandy creek bed. And finally a 300 year old ghost gum tree, a symbolic outback tree with white bark.

We arrived back in Alice Springs and checked into our backpackers 4 bed dorm. It had 2 bunk beds, a shower room, a small equipped kitchenette and a terrace. Backpacker's luxury!. We ate out at a nearby pizza restaurant which served very decent pizzas and bought a few provisions from a local grocery store for the following days' breakfasts and lunchtime picnics.

At Emily Gap, equipped with head nets to keep the flies off	Driving along the East MacDonnell Ranges	A white gum tree with the East MacDonnell Ranges in the backdrop

3 Apr: West MacDonnell Ranges

We topped up with Diesel as getting fuel stops will be few and far between from here on. Then we headed to Simpsons Gap in the West MacDonnell Ranges. We went on a short walk to the gap and spotted 3 rock wallabies in the red rocky boulders on the way. One had a joey in its pouch and the adventurous baby wallaby stuck its head out of the pouch whilst it's mum was grazing. Our first real glimpse of a baby wallaby!

Next stop was Standley Chasm, a towering corridor through the rock with red cliff faces 80 metres high. We walked to the first chasm and then scrambled over rocks and up tree trunks to get to the much less accessible and hence much less visited second chasm. The scenery was lovely and reminded us of the gorges at Petra. We ate a picnic lunch before heading off to Ellery Creek Big Hole where we took a dip in the large waterhole, before heading to Serpentine Gorge. After a fairly long walk along the dry sandy river bed, we arrived at a waterhole blocking the gorge's entrance, where swimming is forbidden. The girls were beginning to get tired of walking in the heat with the flies to see gaps and gorges which all look alike... At the Ochre Pits, Jenny went alone to see the coloured cliffs (shades of white, yellow, orange and red) which were used as a source of paints for the A boriginals. Next on the itinerary was Ormiston Gorge, an impressive gorge and probably the nicest waterhole in the West MacDonnell Ranges. We didn't stay for a swim however as the kids voted to have a swim in the hotel's pool instead. We made one final stop at a 300 year old ghost gum, the region's symbolic white barked gum tree before arriving at the Glen Helen Resort. There were about a hundred school kids camped out in the open air without tents at the entrance and the pool had been emptied of water... Tantrums were avoided by taking a dip at Glen Helen Gorge, a swimming hole only a 10 minute walk from the resort.

In the evening a didgeridoo show was laid on for the school children. We tagged along and listened to a local Aboriginal star, who travels around the world with his Aboriginal paintings and didgeridoos, tells stories and plays the indigenous instrument. François even went up on stage with some children to try and play a didgeridoo! It's harder than it looks!

A rock wallaby at Simpons Gap	Standley Chasm	Scrambling back down rocks from the second chasm at Standley Gorge
Ellery Creek Big Hole where we all took a refreshing dip	Serpentine Gorge	Ormiston Gorge

4 Apr: The road to King's Canyon

Today we continued along the West MacDonnell Ranges to Redbank Gorge, a beautiful deep gorge accessible by a 20 minute walk alongside the dry creek bed. The next turn off was at Roma Gorge. Roma Gorge is one of central Australia's best sites to view Aboriginal rock carvings, but it's only accessible by a rough 8.5 km 4WD track and there's very little publicity made for this site. François was in his element here! He thoroughly enjoyed driving us along the dry, sandy and pebbly creek bed in our Nissan Patrol; it was the first and only time we had to use the 4WD! The rock carvings were estimated to be up to 6000 years old. There were lots of concentric circles, representing waterholes, boomerangs and many other symbolic drawings of which not all the meanings are known.

In the afternoon we stopped off for a look at Gosse Bluff. A comet, estimated to have been about 600 metres in diameter, crash landed here some 140 million years ago and left behind a crater 20 kms wide. Today after having suffered 2kms of erosion, only the inner impact crater is visable, but it's still an impressive 5km wide, with walls roughly 100m high above the surrounding plain.

Afterwards we had the long drive around the unsealed Mereenie Loop Road. The gravel and sandy road was in fairly good condition and we were surprised to be able to drive between 90 and 110km/h, completing the journey in less than  2 hours. We arrived at Kings Canyon Resort in the middle of the afternoon. The girls wanted a swim in the pool, but only stayed in for 2-3 minutes; i t was freezing and the water was really murky and not at all appealing... After doing their homework, we watched the sunset over the Gorge Gill Range before eating dinner at the resort's restaurant.

François and the girls at Redbank Gorge	Redbank Gorge	Aboriginal carvings at Roma Gorge (see the hunting boomerangs on the RHS)
Looking at the rock carvings at Roma Gorge	The 4WD track to Roma Gorge	Gosse Bluff (comet crater)

5 Apr: Kings Canyon and Ayers Rock

We set the alarm for 6am in order to attack early the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, before it gets too hot and the flies too abundant. The rim walk begins with a steep climb up to the rim of the canyon and then follows the rim, through spectacular scenery and fascinating geological curiosities. We saw fossilised remains of water ripples, jellyfish and a shell in the sandstone rocks. There are hundreds of rock sculptures resembling beehives which are stunning and the criss-crossing rock layers are unusual to say the least. About half way around the walk is the Garden of Eden, a beautiful area of waterholes and vegetation, quite a surprise to find in a desert canyon. The girls walked well and we completed the walk within 3 hours.

Afterwards we drove the long 300km drive to Uluru (Ayers Rock). The road was good and we arrived nice and early in Ayers Rock Resort also called Yulara. In fact it's more than a resort, it's a small town in the desert with a handful of hotels, restaurants, a campsite, a supermarket, Aboriginal souvenir shops, a tourist information office and a petrol station; one huge monopole!

We drove into the park to get our first glimpse of the mythic Ayers Rock. It's overwhelming to see it with your  own eyes; an enormous block of sandstone rising to 348m above the surrounding plain with a girth of 9.4 kms and glowing a beautiful reddish-orange colour  in the afternoon sun. We drove all around the monolith, stopping off at a few indicated points to walk up to the rock and get a closer look. We saw what looks like a giant footprint carved in the rocks, a waterhole and some Aboriginal rock art. We watched the majestic rock as the sunset (6:41pm) from the sunset viewing area and then rushed back to the campground for a quick dinner. The alarm was set for 5:45am the next  morning to watch Ayers Rock at sunrise (6:56am).

Gaelle walking the Kings Canyon Rim Walk	Overlooking Kings Canyon	Fossilised water ripples in the sandstone
On the rim of Kings Canyon	The Garden of Eden at Kings Canyon	Kings Canyon
Uluru - Ayers Rock	Mutitjulu waterhole on the south side of Ayers Rock	Sunset at Ayers Rock

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