The first day of the journey...

Can you believe we drove 845 km on the first day? Here we are in Coober Pedy.... the Opal Capital of the World.

The Northern Territory...

Here's Huge at the border between South Australia and the Northern Territory. Huge and I joined Kim and Patrick, our American friends, to drive this lovely silver Outback through the outback...

Uluru (The Rock)

Massive...and changing colours in the sunset. It's everything one expects.

'nuff said?

The Climb...

It took about two hours. There was no way Huge was going to do it without me! What a view!



















On the way up, it was summer. At the top? Brrr!

Modern dance...

While we were at The Kings Canyon Resort... we took in steak and entertainment at a true Aussie BBQ! The performers were The Roadies. Their gig is all about good ol' Aussie tunes and audience participation! Huge had his debut...interpretive dance to Home Among the Gum Trees... I was so proud!

Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon is spectacular. With 100m walls, it makes for an exhilarating 6km hike... the steep climb up the cliff face left us pretty breathless but feeling alive! The view all along the canyon's rim was amazing...especially in mid-jump!

Alice Springs...

Our Outback trip came to its conclusion in Alice Springs. Here we rested up, did a bit of shopping and went to a didgeridoo performance. I had my public debut here and Huge bought a didge too! Unfortunately, neither of us thought to photograph him with it before arranging to have it shipped home to Canada!

Below, Huge is standing in the middle of the Todd River!

Tropical Queensland...

A picture speaks a thousand words?!?!?!

Here's how Huge and I felt about getting away from Adelaide's frosty winter temperatures...

Coffee anyone?

Huge and I are coffee lovers! Without a doubt, we were going to have to go tour a coffee plantation here in Queensland. Brilliant! Unlimited tastings went with the guided tour...not just coffee, but coffee liqueur and chocolate as well. Wow! After our 10 a.m. tour, we were certainly fueled for the day!!!!

Visiting with trees...

The Strangler Fig trees shown here are tourist highlights in the Atherton Tableland. One is the Cathedral Fig, and the other is the Curtain Fig. Amazing things...looking like they stepped out of The Lord of the Rings! They are around 500 years old. The aerial roots that hang down eventually kill the host tree underneath. Incredible!

Atherton Tableland...

We call this part of our adventure the Waterfalls Circuit....some of the most picturesque waterfalls in Australia! (Also, steep mountain roads, dairy farms galore, more stunning views...and home to the Tree Kangaroo!)
We drove into the highlands southwest of Cairns with every intention of swimming in these lovely settings... every intention! It was just too cold!

Queensland wildlife...tourists warned..

There are warning signs all over Australia. Everywhere we go! The funny thing we've noticed? They always suggest what might happen to you....sometimes quite humourously! They don't request that you NOT do something.

We didn't have to worry about the jellyfish, as they're not lurking around during the winter.

We were on the lookout for the Cassowary...a rainforest bird...endangered now. Apparently, this flightless bird is as tall as a grown man, has three toes, a blue and purple head, a helmetlike horn and scraggly black feathers sort of similar to an emu's. Unfortunately, we didn't catch a glimpse of one in the wild. They are important because they're the only creatures capable of digesting and passing, and therefore distributing, the larger seeds from many species of rainforest fruit trees. Precious rainforest poo!

Northern Queensland...

We drove up to Cape Tribulation, which is located in the Daintree National Park. As we drove north toward the Cape, out of Cairns, we noticed the agriculture. The sugar cane, shown here on the left, grows all over in this part of Australia.

This is the safari tent that we called home for a few days. We dubbed our little rental vehicle, "Sugar Cube" for fairly obvious reasons! (We rented from Sugarland Rentals.)


We were about a minute's walk from the beach. The waves lapping on the beach kept rhythm while Huge played his little baby.














We listened to the surf all night... and caught this one sunrise...absolutely beautiful. This is where the forest meets the sea!