Sydney with mum and dad

Even though I've been to Sydney quite a few times at this stage, I always see or discover something new every time I visit.  This time it was a guided tour of the old Government House in the Botanic Gardens, a new part of the old Rocks area and a perfect spot for a cold drink close to the Opera House and just by the water!

Mum, dad and I had a lovely couple of days with a lot of walking and sightseeing.  Here are some of the things we got up to.

A perfect spot for a picnic in the Botanic Gardens

Dinner at a rooftop restaurant in the Rocks

Dad admiring the view

The old Government House

Walking over Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Rocks

Darling Harbour

Alice Springs

Driving from Ayers Rock to Alice Springs was such an experience!  We left Ayers Rock in the morning and spent most of the day driving.  I'm still amazed at the open, flat, dry (at times burnt) landscape with absolutely nothing for miles and miles.  How anyone can live like that baffles me.  The only thing we saw were dead kangaroos on the side of the road, one or two little villages (consisting of one or two houses) and the odd burnt out car.  In 100 km we only saw about 10 cars on the road.  Stuart Highway turned out to be a one lane (in each direction) road, pretty narrow at times with the edges crumbling.  Roads that we thought were at least paved turned out to be dirt roads... Our rental car without 4WD did good though and we arrived safely in Alice Springs in the afternoon after a few detours.

Alice Springs was so much more than we expected.  This tiny little place, literally in the middle of nowhere has a lot of charm.  We only had a day and a half but tried to do the most of it.  Alice Springs has a big indigenous population which you don't see in places like Sydney and Newcastle.  There are a lot of art galleries selling beautiful Aboriginal art, painted by talented local artists.  On the down side, the Aboriginal people in Alice Springs (and in a lot of other places in Australia) are to an extent marginalised and struggle to find a place in the community.  It's sad, but I guess not uncommon in a lot of colonised countries.

Thanks to the town being so small with most of the sights being within walking distance, we managed to see a lot including the Royal Flying Doctors, Anzac Hill lookout place and the Telegraph Station, the first white settlement in Alice Springs. 

Wyatt is now back in Newcastle working, and mum, dad and I are staying in Sydney until Friday and are slowly getting accustomed to being in a big city... 

 Mount Ebenezer, on the way to Alice Springs where we took a break. Nothing more than what you see in the picture!

 In the middle of nowhere

 Alice Springs Saloon

 Selling art in the background

 Sunday Market in Alice Springs

 The Royal Flying Doctors

 The main street in Alice Springs

A big lizard out at the Telegraph Station, we (read Wyatt) managed to get really close

The Red Centre

Sorry about not updating for a while, but we've been busy travelling!

The last 3 days have been absolutely amazing with loads to take in.  Our trip started early Thursday morning when we took the train to Sydney to catch our flight to Ayers Rock, NT.  Since then, we've been on the go.  We've seen Ayers Rock (Uluru) in sunset and sunrise, both breathtakingly beautiful, gone on a guided hike along the base of the rock to learn more about the Aboriginal culture (the Anangu and Mala people) and hiking in and around Kata Tjuta, another ancient rock formation in the area.  The landscape here is so different to what I'm used to from back home.  Some parts look a little bit like the Canadian prairie (apart from the red soil), so Wyatt might feel a little bit more like home!

We've just arrived in Alice Springs after a long drive through the outback, and are getting ready to explore this little town.  We've taken tons of pictures, it's hard to pick only a few, but here are some.

Uluru in sunset

Uluru in sunrise

Breakfast!

A morning stretch

Uluru up close

Woomera, an aboriginal multi purpose tool used to throw a spear, cut up dead kangaroo and carry fire!

Cave paintings, thousands of years old

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta in the distance

 Hiking in Kata Tjuta

 A well deserved dip in the pool after a long day

Cards and beer!