more cute animals

Whale watching--unsuccessfully--but what a rainbow!


Emu at Tower Hill Nature Reserve


Cutest koala ever! Just wish I could get her photo rightside up . . .

Not a very shy kangaroo.

Yarra Valley to Great Ocean Road

We spent a day in the Yarra Valley tasting Pinots and Chardonnays.

Then on to the Great Ocean Road and the beautiful Twelve Apostles.








"London Bridge"

Little Aire Falls in the Otway National Park

Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon is a 3 hour drive from Uluru. Another beautiful rock formation and a nice hike.
Where's Duncan?

Kata Tjuta

Eileen wanted some record of the rather brutal hike we completed at Kata Tjuta. Part of the same national park as Uluru.


The English named it "The Olgas", which it is often referred to, I think mainly because it is easier to say.

Closeups of the Rock

Uluru

Uluru, as it was named by the Aboriginals (the English renamed it Ayers Rock, but most people now refer to it as Uluru), is a big monolith in the middle of the Australian outback. It is a National Park and has it's own tourist resort and airport, as it is a 3 hour drive from the nearest town of Alice Springs. It has great spiritual significance for the Aboriginal community.
There is a climbing path up Uluru but the Aborigines ask people not to climb it out of respect. Strangely up to a third of visitors choose to climb it.

The previous 4 photos were at sunset, the one below the next day's sunrise (so, naturally, on the other side of the rock).

Sydney

Riding the ferries in SydneyOutside the Opera House
Taking the Opera House Tour
Kookaburra!
In the Botanical Garden near the Opera House

Arlie and Eileen in Oz!

First order of business in Melbourne--go to a Footy game! Unfortunately the Cats suffered their first loss of the year--boo!We took the trains . . .

and trams . . .
and walked through some alleyways.