Outback Adventures

The Outback was Awesome…. We spent two days and had a great time.

First day:

What a day!!! We saw sunrise AND sunset WITH Champagne at both… LIFE IS GOOD!!

2:30 am was pretty early to start the day, but necessary to be able to get out in the middle of nowhere (OK, the Outback) in order to get to ride a hot air balloon to watch the sun rise. It was FREEZING (who’d of thunk.. NOT us as we were there in our “life is good” t-shirts and shorts). It took a while for the HUGE balloon to fill and while they lit the propane flames to heat the balloon it was like being next to a campfire in the middle of a cold night.

There was a smaller balloon being inflated next to us and our balloon ended up going up first (which made it great to have in front of the sunrise). There were 17 of us that were able to fit into one very large basket. There are no doors to the basket and it was a little challenging to climb up into the thing.

We choose the closest part to the middle as it was right underneath the flame thing that helped make the balloon rise. It went up pretty fast and smooth. The sky was just beginning to light and we were able to see the distant mountains/hills. Beautiful! We were up for about a half hour which was perfect timing to see the sun rise over the Outback before we landed. The landing was pretty rough as we ran into several large bushes before we ended up sort of sideways. Pretty fun.

We headed back to the resort and had a champagne brunch. It was outdoors (still a little chilly) and we sat on small stools and were served finger types of courses. Chicken legs, quiche, cheese and crackers, fruit and chocolate cake… oh, and plenty of Champagne. All before 6am. Life is Good!

Just before lunch we headed into town and stopped for a tour of the dispatch center for “The Flying Doctors”. Since there is so much remote farm land in the Outback (one “farm” is the size of Florida), many of the people do not have access to medical attention (emergency or not). These doctors will go out to the people and provide medical services or transport them to a hospital facility. All paid for by the Australian Government with the exception of the plane maintenance which is funded through donations.

Next we headed into town for lunch and shopping. After lunch, Carol’s walking pace sped up while Joan’s slowed down…motivation versus NOT. We flew to Ayers Rock which was only an hour flight where it’s still desert like in the Outback  .

We only had about an hour to rest up and then headed to the “Rock” and were greeted by servers with Champagne, h’orves. It was a beautiful evening and we watched the sun set on Ayers Rock which was really pretty. It doesn’t get much better than that!!

Second day:

The day started with sunrise (no champagne) overseeing Uluru Rock (aka Ayers Rock). We met a couple of friends at 5:30 and headed to an overlook point. The “rock” does not look as bright as we have all seen in pictures, but it is a magnificent sight just the same! The sky had some pretty pinks, reds and had some really cool tree’s that we could take some nice shots with.

After breakfast, we headed out for a 3 hour tour around Uluru, which is a distance of 9km (I’ll let you convert). We had front row seats, which was an extra bonus…(the tour rotates seats to make sure everyone gets a fair shot at the front and back of the bus) We saw some beautiful Outback country side views of the very big rocks and cave drawings and rock formations that equated to Aborigines Dreaming (Fairy Tales). Although it is requested to not be done, some people climb the rock which is said to be a great challenge. However, today the path was closed because the temperature reached over 100F. (NOT that we even would consider it!)

After our tour and lunch, we headed to the airport to head for Cairns (pronounced by the Aussies like “carns”). This is “The Gateway to the Barrier Reef”. We arrived around 6:00pm and are to meet the bus in the morning at 6:00am (bags at 5:00am.. Arrgg) to head to the Hayman Island Resort. Too bad this is just a night’s stay as the hotel is beautiful with a room overlooking a bay with sailboats and several piers. This is a rainforest area… it’s crazy to think but in this area it can receive more than 21-23 FEET of rain per year. Our next stop is a 3 day stay (thank goodness) and will be a top-shelf experience! This is where Joan hopes to get several scuba dives in!