Litchfield National Park

The area of Northern Territory where we are is very flat and apparently everything floods during the wet season.





Termites are able to survive by building giant mounds which protect them from the 100 degree heat in the dry season, and the floods in the wet season.








We hiked a short distance along a trail in one of the creeks in Litchfield NP. Some trail-side instruments showed the temp as 37 ( 98) and the humidity as 100% (is that even possible on a sunny day?). The main attraction of this park are the swimming pools (croc-free) at the base of some major water falls. Needless to say these are very popular being free of crocs, flies, and with a water temp of about 70. Tomorrow we leave this hell-hole (actually our lodge is very comfortable with pool, ac, free internet and a butterfly garden) and fly 1000 mi south to Alice Springs.

more on Kakadu

We spent 3 nights at Kakadu lodge, and then drove 150 mi sw to Batchelor, which is near Litchfield National Park, our next destination. We will spend 2 nights here and then fly 1000 mi south to Alice Springs and Uluru in the Red Centre.

Above is a beautiful example of aboriginal art from the Nouralangie site. It is believed to be about 2000 yo. Some art is claimed to be 20,000 yo. The pigments seep as much as a 1 cm into the sandstone, and thus enable the work to survive 1000s of years.


Below is red-winged parrot spotted at a nearby billabong.








Blue-eyed honeyeater.








Sunset over the South Alligator River seen at the end of boat tour.

Kakadu

Kakadu is a very large National Park in north central Australia, consisting of savannah, open woodlands, the flood plain of the misnamed Alligator River, which is filled with very dangerous salt-water crocodiles but no Alligators, rock outcropping and cliffs containing very extensive aboriginal art, some dating back 20,000 years, and very abundant bird life.

Kakadu has a hot dry season, and a hot wet season. We are at the end of the hot dry season, with daily temperatures in the mid 90's, which is actually claimed to be a good time to visit because the billabongs (water holes) are shrunk in size, and the birdlife is clustered there. In addition to the insufferable heat, there is a pestilence of small, non-biting, flies which seek every available body orifice, or alternatively just crawl across one's face. When I asked a ranger if there was anyway to deal with the flies, she answered, "Be grateful that your not here two weeks from now when they are ten-times worse." But we are seeing part of the 0utback most Australians never see.

In addition to the very impressive aboriginal art, there is an abundance of wildlife, wallabies, crocs, and many, many species of birds. On of the highlights of Kakadu was a boat tour on the South Alligator river which yielded close-up looks at very large crocodiles, and an abundance birds.

The river was nice and cool and fly-free.

The billabongs are quite amazing filled with thousands of Magpie geese, whistling ducks, storks, egrets, with sea eagles and kites overhead. Walks through the adjacent woodlands yielded views of many birds, some of which like the red-winged parrot, and blue-eyed honeyeater are very exotic.

Darwin

Thursday we flew 2000 miles from Sydney to Darwin on the north coast. Darwin is very tropical...only a few 100 miles from Timor and Borneo. The Esplanade across the street from our hotel proved to be an amazing birding site with about 20 new species seen in a few hours. We beat the mid-day heat with a visit to the North Territories museum which had wonderful exhibits on aboriginal art as well as native fauna. Today we drive to Kakadu National Park where we will be for the next few days.

 
 
 
 

A few photos from Monday's tour in and around Sydney with Byron. (More realistic photo of Byron than the last one posted.)

Scenes from Sydney and Bondi Beach

 
 
 
 

A few photos from around Sydney. Our Hotel is very close to the Botanic Garden, and not far from the Opera House and Circular Quay. We have now mastered public transport and used buses and tube to get around.

Sunday we had dinner with Byron and Belinda, a 40-yo couple who were on their honeymoon when we met them 2 years ago on our kayak tour in BC. Byron has a well-known radio host, and Belinda works for HP as program manager. (that is not Byron on the left)It was a very enjoyable dinner, and they were very amused by all the "unconventional" knowledge of Oz Nan has acquired reading Bryson's "Sun Burnt Country". They assured us we would probable never see a snake, and that death by crocodile is very rare.

Monday Byron took us for a tour of some beautiful locations on the north side of Sydney harbor, including Manley Beach, North Head overlooking the harbor and the Pacific, and remarkable view of Sydney from the base of the Harbor Bridge.

The forecast for today is rain, but at 7 AM the sky is brilliant blue.

 

Venice Beach photos posted at: http://picasaweb.google.com/bob.olshansky09.

First full day in Sydney

I woke up at 3:30 AM.  Down to the lobby at 4:30 for coffee, newspaper, and review photos from Venice Beach...many look very good...soon to be posted.  Then at 6:00 AM a long birding walk thru the Botanic Garden spotting quite a few exotic birds such as Laughing Kookaburra, Sulfur-crested Cockatoo and many more.  The Garden is becoming overrun with 1000's of Grey Flying Foxes, a very large, impressive bat with a wing-span of a meter.  (photos to come).  Back to hotel at 8:30.  Nan is up and we head off to Starbucks for breakfast.  

It is a beautiful day in Sydney. We spend a very leisurely day, Botanic garden, viewing the famed Sydney Opera, strolling around Circular Quay,  and visiting the Australian MOCA. 

Our Aussie friends, Byron and Belinda, who we met while kayaking BC in 2007, have invited us for a barbie on Sunday.  Should be fun.

Sydney !

Morning fog ay SYD diverted us to Brisbane and 14 hour flight became 18 hours. We flew on an Airbus 380, even larger than 747. Flight was full, but plenty of leg-room and great free in-flight entertainment - movies, puzzles, games....so plenty to do. The flight was not all that bad and we both some good sleep.

Are spacious room at the Sydney Marriot overlooks the Hyde Park and is a steal at $125 US/nt. I love Priceline!!

Nan is napping. I'm about to buy a cell phone, and then do some birding in the park.

D-Day in LA

Today we leave for Sydney at 10:30 PM. Unfortunately we woke at 6 AM (PDT).

Today's plan: morning biking and then photos along Venice Beach boardwalk; pack and checkout of hotel at noon; head to J. Paul Getty Museum, and then some late afternoon birding at the very beautiful Malibu Lagoon, followed by
late lunch in Malibu. Then back to Santa Monica for a stroll and photos along the beach, the Pier, and the very active 3rd Street promenade. Then to LAX.

My flight plan: Quantas will serve a late dinner. My plan for the 14 1/2 hr flight is to stay awake for the first several hours (maybe to 2 AM ), sleep for 8 hours with the aid of pills, and then have only 3-4 hours remaining before arriving Sydney at 6 AM.

We are VERY excited.

Two-days in LA

Uneventful flight from BOS to LAX. After hotel check-in, Nan snoozes, and I head off to Venice Beach for photos of the crazy Sunday PM boardwalk scene .

We meet my cousin Kristin, Stephanie's daughter, for dinner in Corona. I haven't seen Kristin since she was about 10. She is remarkable woman. Married, 45, two beautiful young boys, Vicente and Miguel, and a McMansion in Temeculah. Kristin is a very successful marketing VP at Arbonne.


Monday, Nan and I tour LA, including the very dramatic Frank Gehry concert hall, which is impressive, but not nearly as spectacular as Gehry's MOMA in Bilboa (which we saw Bilboa on our honeymoon). Then a visit to LA MOCA, mostly for a Robert Frank photo exhibit, and then a drive along Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Ave, Gruman's Theatre, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive.

Back to hotel just in time to catch the last set of the US Open and then last ten minutes of Patriots' amazing victory over Bills. Dinner in Santa Monica and walk along 3rd St promenade.

 

Our first night in LA, we met Kristin, Stephanie's daughter, for a very enjoyable dinner. Kristin lives in Temeculah with her husband and two beautiful boys, 4 and 6. The last time I had seen Krsitin she was 10.

Packing for 6 weeks...

Packing for 6 weeks is not that that different than packing for 1 week,  except we need hot weather (low 90's) clothes for Darwin and Alice springs, and colder weather clothes ( 50's/60's) for Tasmania.  There are a few special items for Australia...a snakebite kit (Nan has been reading about all the deadly critters ), electrical adapters which hopefully fit,  and an Australian bird guide.  

What are we forgetting?   Kayaking clobber is staying home.  Between salt-water crocodiles,  jellyfish with excruciating stings, and deadly stingrays, kayaking has lost its appeal

Sunday we leave for LA, spend two days at Venice Beach, and late Tuesday get the 14 1/2 hour flight to Sydney.

.................................

ps  For anyone interested in the sorry saga of my Sony camera, it arrived from repair yesterday with new CPU and new circuit board.  As the mirror box had been previously replaced,  it seems like all major parts are now new.   I couldn't stand the thought of being in Australia without a working camera so I did buy a back-up. :-(

Getting Ready - 2

Bought an Asus Eee PC travel, $309 !!!  160GB Storage/1GB RAM ..10" x 7"..3 lbs.  Amazing.  

Used Priceline to purchase $100/night at the Marriot in Marina del Ray for our 2-day stop in LA enroute to Oz.  I'm getting to be a big fan of Priceline

 Cousin Jon Samet and Connie will not be in town (LA), but we plan to meet Stephanie's daughter Kristin, whom I haven't seen since she was about 10 yo. 

Getting Ready for Australia

Just returned from wonderful two-week vacation at Woods Hole with Art, Jean, Beth, Don and all of our collective offspring, their spouses, our grandchildren, and a few friends. Nan and I are now totally psyched about upcoming trip to Australia, including two-day stop-over in LA, where we hope to see my cousin Jon Samet and Connie, and cousin Stephanie's daughter Kristin.