From Darwin i flew to Alice Spring, my friend Rina came there from Sydney and together we had 3 days bus tour through outbacks of Central Australia, it is a spectacular red coloured desert landscape with panoramic view of the hills and rugged terrain, highways are in top conditions, we visited camel farm and i had a camel ride,

 

we came to Ayers Rock or Urula [aboriginal name] which  is a   a huge huge red  monolith  in the middle of plains, same as  the Olgas or Kata Juta but it  has shapes of  many many domes, we had rangers guided walks, watched sunrise and sunset when rocks change colours within minutes from red to orange ,purple, black, it is realy very magical and for aborigenes is very spiritual and they perform a lot of ceremonies there,

 

we had breakfast, dinner,champaines and listen to sounds of silence at these mystical places on our planet Earth, we stayed  at the lodge   Outback Pioneer which reflects the Australian past,

 

planning a trip down under?   Central Australia is a must, not only coastal areas

 

it was an unforgettable experience,

 

Australia's history divides in 2 categories- aboriginal and european and you see it everythere.

  

My last stop is Melbourn, i stayed there with a wonderful russian jewish couple who hosted me as a friend  of a mother of their son's friend,   got it ?  they love Melbourn  and showed me with a passion, the center-old and modern, beaches, parks, botanical garden, casino, art museums,

 

i also visited  a cottage of a great British explorer, astronomer and navigator James Cook who discovered Australia, who had 3 very long and extraordinary voyages and none of his seaman died from scurvy [at that time it was unusual] because he had  a dietary regime of herbs, fruits and vegetable, now all of them are in the garden behind the cottage,

 

Melbourn has amasing War Memorial- Shrine of Remembrance to 19 000 Australians killed in WW! in Galipoli- Turkey, museum is full of people and students  learning their history,

 

i had a tour of a working farm- fed kangaroos, sheep, watched koalas on the trees and a lot of birds, in the evening we drove to Phillip island and watched famous parade of the smallest pinquins- nightly ritual of getting out of water and marching up the beach to their nests, thousands of people are watching  them and they just walk around, it is so cute, so touching.

 

Australia is  taking very good care of nature, almost no plastic bags, conserve water- toilet flush has 2 buttons for half and full flush, very clean , no dirt, no garbage around,  very modern, beautiful country but mostly flat.

 

Now -to New Zealand

 

love to all      Inna