Uluru

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A portion of Uluru viewed from the base walk

A portion of Uluru viewed from the base walk

Of course the main draw of central Australia is Uluru – one of the largest bornhardt formations in the world and a sacred site for the local aboriginal people. I decided to do a 10-day group tour from Alice Springs to visit Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, Devils Marbles, Katherine Gorge, Mary River, Kakadu NP, and Litchfield NP, finally ending in Darwin in plenty of time to begin my new job. While I would have loved to do this trip on my own as a massive road trip, after adding up all the costs I just couldn’t justify it – it would have been nearly triple the price to do it alone. Of course there are benefits to the tour – being able to sleep during long drives, not worrying about getting lost or finding an appropriate place to sleep, etc., but I definitely realized that my personality and travel style does not lend itself well to being in such close quarters with so many strangers for such a long time. It was a massive relief to be done with the tour and back in a private bedroom, despite how beautiful and exciting everything I saw was.

Anyway, the first stop on this 10-day tour was the magnificent Uluru. We did a little bit of walking around the base (of course we did not climb up it) and heard creation stories about different features on the rock.

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Olive Pink Botanic Gardens

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White Flowers on Meyers Hill at Olive Pink Botanic Garden in Alice Springs

White Flowers on Meyers Hill at Olive Pink Botanic Garden in Alice Springs

After my amazing two months traveling and working in Queensland, I flew to Alice Springs – nearly in the dead center of Australia. The dry weather and dusty environment almost instantly started to bother my skin and respiratory system, but I bucked up and did a bit of sightseeing around town. One of the best things I saw was the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens – a surprisingly colorful spot despite the arid desert setting.

There are loads of bright birds, including galahs, babblers, grey shrike-thrush, willy wagtails, and ringnecks. Of course, there are tons of flowers and trees as well! It’s well worth an hour or two to walk around, but make sure you wear good shoes! The pathways are not flip-flop friendly, as I learned the hard way.

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Diving on the Great Barrier Reef: The Final Post

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A pair of anemone fish in a bright red anemone

A pair of anemone fish in a bright red anemone at Steve’s Bommie on the Great Barrier Reef

Finally, here is my last batch of diving photos from the Great Barrier Reef. These photos come from Christmas Tree Bommie, a relatively deep, small bommie that is visited less frequently than a lot of the other sites up in the Ribbon Reefs. There’s also a final group from Steve’s Bommie, whose photogenic qualities never cease to amaze.

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Diving on the Great Barrier Reef – Take Two on Taka!

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A cute spotted sweetlips at Clam Gardens on the Great Barrier Reef

A cute spotted sweetlips at Clam Gardens on the Great Barrier Reef

I loved my Great Barrier Reef diving trip on Taka a couple of months ago so much I wanted to do it all over again, but alas, it’s obviously not cheap! In Cairns it’s relatively common for dive companies to offer “hostie” gigs – room, board, and a handful of dives in exchange for washing dishes and doing other odd jobs on the boat. I jumped at the chance to do it with Taka this past weekend so I could go back to the Ribbon Reefs.

It was much, much harder work than I’d expected and honestly I’m not quite sure it was worth it. If I’d taught English for the 25 hours I spent working on the boat, I would have made enough to pay for the trip outright and then enjoyed it a lot more  (and spared my hands a couple of burns and cuts – those industrial dishwashing machines aren’t messing around!). However, it was definitely a different experience than anything I’ve done before and I’m glad I did it, if only so that I’ve gained a new appreciation for people who do that kind of work full time.

Now, on to the diving. I did 8 wonderful dives this time around but only brought my camera on half of them as I wanted to really focus on breathing and maximizing air efficiency. Of course, the dives where I saw sharks, a Maori wrasse, awesome eels, and stingrays I didn’t have the camera. Murphy’s law, I suppose. This batch of pictures comes from Steve’s Bommie and Clam Gardens.

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Sightseeing in Cairns

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Gigantic estuarine crocodiles at Cairns Tropical Zoo

Gigantic estuarine crocodiles at Cairns Tropical Zoo

I spent about six weeks total in Cairns, mostly working with teens at language schools but also doing a fair amount of hiking and other activities with a Meetup group, which as usual was filled with lovely, happy people. I was also fortunate because the school programs I was teaching for combined classroom hours with excursions, so I got to go on trips like taking the famous Kuranda Scenic Railway and visiting the Cairns Tropical Zoo – and get paid for the pleasure! It was certainly a departure from my typical budget-minded sightseeing style, and I was glad to be able to see so much.

It’s hard to believe my time there is over. Six weeks is the longest I’ve spent in one place in a long time, and it actually started to feel a bit like home. Of course it’s the nature of the traveler to move on, and my next Australian adventure lies in the Northern Territory!

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