Nov 24-26 Adelaide

After days of set agendas and complete itineraries, Adelaide arrived without a plan or a program. We felt a little bit lost! Never fear though, after a quick deak out for a small indulgence at Mickey D's, Dad came back with the food and Mom returned with the tourist brochures and we all began to formulate the next day's plan of attack over french fries on the floor. The kids were a tad punchy having been dragged to things that were more for mom and dad and so we were determined to find something a little more kid-friendly. The museums would have to wait!

Enter the Beach House in Glenelg. What a find! Only 20 minutes away by car, Glenelg is a quaint seaside community right on the ocean. The Beach House is a brand new indoor playground with water slides, mini-golf, bumper cars and a million and one arcade games - it was the perfect tonic for the boys who were craving a little good ol' fashioned fun. Not to say that mom and dad didn't have a little fun, too! Being a weekday, we had the place to ourselves and enjoyed the very cool water slides - with screams and laughter all around. Bumper cars a cool indoor climber and mini-golf rounded out a really good morning.

Because we had also decided to explore the Mclaren Vale wine region which was about one hour from Glenelg we had rented a car from Avis for the day. It was a full-size Ford Falcon with all the fixings and a lot of fun to drive. It also made the day much easier as it allowed us the chance to dictate our own pace of travel. The driving went smoothly and allowed us to get our bearings a little bit for when we are back here with my mom and dad in January.

After the Beach House we wandered around Glenelg eventually finding a great pizzeria called the Good Life. It's a wonder how a perfect meal can not only settle your stomach but your mind and this lunch did just that. It was a very content and happy family that enjoyed munching on the tasty pizza that day. I love when we have such a fun and relaxing family meal. Soon we were back outside strolling the strip and looking for a shark experience that we soon discovered had closed. We then wandered around the local museum which was very well done. Back outside we checked out a fisherman catching cuttlefish (squid) off the gorgeous pier and walked along the beach enjoying the sun and sand. Glenelg is one of the popular places Adelaidians (?) go to cool off and we could see why - I would recommend it to anyone coming to the area.

Back in the car we were off to find McLaren Vale. This was not a particularily popular choice with the boys - which was understandable. However, we (the parents, the adults) were determined go and both Lint and I trotted our fairly stern speeches about it being "Mom and Dad's turn to have some fun". Once you climb over the hills that line the coast you immediately descend into beautiful rolling countryside with vineyards as far as the eye can see. This was the home to Rosemount Estates, Chapel Hill and countless other large and small wineries. I think we counted at least 20 names of vineyards on the posts in the village of McLaren Vale. Not really knowing our arse from our elbow in terms of the best place to go, we opted for two we knew that were close to each other - Rosemount Estates and Chapel Hill. Both were fun to explore and we bought some cellar door stock that tasted good or seemed a little bit different. Colin joined in the experience while Al sulked in the car with his Nintendo. I have to admit, at six years old and visiting a winery, I might have wanted to stay in the car as well!

The rest of our time in Adelaide was spent wandering around Rundle Mall a huge pedestrian shopping area a mere 5 minutes from our hotel. When we had arrived we discovered or were reminded that there was no pool in our hotel to which Alex declared 'This is the worst hotel ever!" Without that bonus distraction of hotels past, we were required to do a little more wandering and window shopping than on other legs of the journey. There is plenty to see in Adelaide but we were running out of museum and zoo energy. Some of this subsequent window shopping culminated in a last minute Toys-R-Us purchase, "just because". On another one of these walking sojourns we strolled down a fairly seedy part of Adelaide and were delighted to see that Miss Nude Canada was in town - that was not something we tried explaining to the boys. Perhaps we were running out of our super-tourist-parent steam.

And thus I will end this instalment with this final thought. It's a wonder what "we" do as parents in the effort to have fun with and in the hope of raising successful, healthy children. We set up rules and routines, plan programs, guide, counsel, play, harrass, monitor, nurture, protect and love all in the best way we know how hoping that some of the good things will stick. At the same time you attempt to coat your child with enough sense and smarts so that the bad things will slide off and away. When traveling away from "home" it is very hard to stick to the rules and routines because of the novelty of the adventure and the fact that home has been wedged into a suitcase. As Adelaide and much of the past 12 days has taught me, there are times when it is important to relieve oneself of the guilt of falling off the wagon in terms of good eating, good parenting, or even being a "good" tourist. What's more important is that you are together with your kids, seeing and experiencing new things while at the same time building a base of wonderful memories - whether on a beach, in McDonalds or even in your hotel room. To sweat the small stuff in the middle of the Australian outback is to completely miss the point as to why you're even there.

PS - The "mo" was a momentary experiment in honour of Movember!

Nov 23-24 The Ghan

I had been looking forward to this leg of our journey for a long time. So much so that I was already declaring it the highlight of my trip before we had even rolled out of the station. Named in part for the Afghan migrants who ran camel communication networks in the Outback, The original Ghan train began running in the late 19th century and is legendary within Australia. I believe within train enthusiast folklore worldwide the Ghan train also has a special reputation - though perhaps not quite as famous as its cousin the Indian Pacific that runs from Sydney to Perth. Running north from Adelaide or south from Darwin it bisects the country right through its heart with Alice Springs acting as the halfway point. In season, the train runs once a week, leaving Adelaide on a Wednesday and returning to Adelaide on a Monday, taking roughly three days to make one leg of the journey - provided the tracks aren't washed out - which has happened. There are several different coach classes and we were travelling on the red service which meant we had two small cabins with seats that turned down into beds at night. I think what I liked so much about the idea of travelling by train is that we would all be together in the cozy cabins with nothing to do but stare out the windows and watch the outback go by. We were really hoping the boys would enjoy it.

After the longest two kilometre bus ride of my life and a few nervous moments thinking we were sitting for 20 hours with the backpackers (not that there's anything wrong with that) we found our cabins and settled in. The boys were climbing off the walls poking their heads into every nook and cranny and putting the tables up and then down and opening and closing doors, then screaming and laughing and fighting...one moment we were telling them to be quiet and then the next letting them have fun and be excited. When I say cabins, they were more like closets but when you got everything stored away they were all you really needed.

The scenery as I had hoped was at first mesmerizing, though after a few hours it began to all look the same. Most of the land is used for cattle and every once in awhile you would see the "track kill" of some unlucky " little doggy" who didn't quite "git along" fast enough. There are few fences. After recognizing the same sort of similarity in the landscape as I had, the boys spent their time drawing, playing games, checking back and forth between our cabin and theirs and generally being busy. Consequently, Lint and I were back and forth breaking up the fights, serving up food, taking trips to the loo and generally being busy as well. There would be no curling up with a good book on this trip!

The diner car was right beside ours and we had two okay meals there. The best part about the diner car was not the food but the view. It was bright and spacious with windows on both sides so you could get a really good sense of the size of the view. We "enjoyed" our dinner watching the sun start to set and sharing the diner with several aboriginal kids who were travelling down to Adelaide to see the ocean as well as a family from Pickering, Ontario who were visiting their son at the University of Brisbane.

At night we figured we would split up so that bathroom breaks, fear of the dark etc. could be divided and conquered. As it turned out, the boys both slept soundly throughout the night and Lint and I were the ones with the full bladders and insomnia. Sleeping on a train was not quite what I had hoped and came with an endless supply of creaks, rattles and bumps. I'm not sure what I was thinking but I guess I thought I was going to be gently rocked into a deep and peaceful slumber. Not! We stopped dead several times during the night, once for at least 45 minutes and just as I would start to doze, the train would jerk forward and begin to move. Another time we obviously got onto a siding to let another train go by and I swear it sounded like a jet plane was about to clear all 20 cars of us right off the tracks as the other train came hurtling by. Of course, being on the top bunk and with the night light on for Allie, I couldn't actually see any of this - I just had to go by "feel". Another time I spent 20 minutes or so trying to sleep with my foot wedged against a light fixture so that it would stop rattling. I was sure they weren't having these problems in the gold service cabins!

As is always the case, my deepest and best sleep came right before Alex decided it was time for us to wake up. I was proud of him having slept through the complete marching band of sounds that had plagued me throughout the night. He seemed refreshed while I felt disgusting. The same could be said for Lint and Colin with him rarin' to go and Lint claiming painfully to have been "up all night". Oh well, it was only one night and in a few days, weeks and hopefully years to come it would be a great memory and a night to remember for all of the good reasons.

As we got closer to Adelaide we travelled more slowly, at first an hour behind schedule and then miraculously back on time. We began to see the ocean as the train swung down through Port Augusta and suddenly there was civilization where before there had been nothing. The train pulled into the station in Adelaide a few minutes early and I can't say I wasn't eager to disembark. Our cabins, though cozy had become a little claustrophoic and the boys were in need of "a run". Regardless, the Ghan would still be the highlight of the trip for me. Train travel is a unique though not inexpensive way to see Australia. If not for a few too many "bumps in the night" I would have looked back on the past 20 hours on the Ghan as travelling perfection.

Nov 22-23 Alice Springs

The next couple of days involved two longish legs of the trip - a six hour bus ride back to Alice Springs and then a 20 hour train down to Adelaide. This truly was shaping up to be a planes, trains and automobiles adventure. I was really looking forward to the overnight train ride as I still have some fond and romantic memories of riding the train to Matisse as a kid. We had to get through the bus ride though and once again our planning involved keeping Alex's stomach happy.

As we boarded the bus in Ayers Rock, Linton and the boys stormed the front seats thus ensuring Alex a place where he could see the road. This was perhaps not as necessary as it might have been on the earlier leg of the journey because as far as I could tell, the road to Alice Springs was going to be straight and then straighter! Unfortunately, just as we pulled out onto the highway we were told that anyone going on to "Alice" would have to change buses because our bus wasn't working properly. After an hour or so - one in which we dodged cows and wild horses wandering all over the road - we got on another coach - without the front seats - and headed on to Alice Springs.

I loved the signs on this part of the journey where gas was "the last gas for 300 kms". Maps also talked about not leaving the road without enough drinking water and if you get lost, "never leave your car". All of these warnings were for more adventurous types than us. Those not reclining in their air-conditioned coach watching a movie and playing Nintendo. Yet we were still "doing" the outback, smack dab in the middle of this enormous continent and the hours of endless scrub and rolling red plains made the place feel remote and possibly, even a little bit extreme. A pee break in a place called the Desert Oaks Resort will make me question the use of the word resort forever and again. A glorified gas station with a bar attached this place had suprisingly clean toilets - no need to condemn - and a giant echidna and frilled lizard. Bizarre stuff. If you had wandered in off the desert you might truly think you were hallucinating.

Although advertised as a six hour drive, time seemed to fly by and without even a gurggle from Allie's little tum and soon we were slowing down in the outskirts of Alice Springs. Another place named after someone's girlfriend and for a pool of water that was not actually a spring, "Alice" is a large town of 28,000 that was originally founded as a telegraph station. Mining interests and the US military have also made it home and its number one industry is tourism. I was surprised with how green everything was but I also had to remind myself that just a week prior they had had flooding deep enough to bury some roads.

We were staying in the Crowne Plaza which proved to be a very big, very nice, but very empty hotel. Once again the boys were in the pool before you could say "Extra towels, please". I set about securing some beverages for mom and dad (pictured) and ordering some room service Thai food. We would leave our exploration of the town for morning.

The next day, our train to Adelaide was departing at 3:00, so we had loads of time to hang out and explore "Alice". To be honest, we both felt that we were not quite the right demographic for the town as the museums and galleries catered to adults, older children and those interested in doing some serious outback trekking. Nevertheless we walked around Todd Mall which is the main shopping area and actually bought a small piece of aboriginal art that we both liked and was sold by a very funny and helpful salesman. He was selling me big time but in a way that was fun, respectful and informative. I pretty well had to buy something! There were in fact many, many interesting stores and cafes and I spent quite a bit of time pricing digiredoos. I think I want one, but I'm not sure why.

The rest of the morning was spent in the pool, and checking email with these very convenient computers that gave you 10 minutes online for a two dollar coin. A veritable steal. But with all of the seeming luxury of internet and swimming pool, the experience in Alice was one of stark contrasts. While we sipped our lattes and admired our clever art purchase, I watched as a very dishevelled aboriginal man in barefeet (they're almost all in barefeet), ask a cafe waiter to open a can for him. I don't know what was in the can, I hope beefaroni, but off he went with a fork stuck in the can presumably to have lunch. The now dry river bed that snakes through town played host to numerous campsites of half clothed aboriginal kids and women. My assumption is that they camped right on the river having come into town from the outback, because the river didn't technically belong to anyone. So there was less chance of getting kicked off. There were no tents. No sleeping bags. Just people, and stuff scattered everywhere in the cool shade of the trees. Quiet, shy, reserved or simply tired of being stared at, I didn't exchange a single word with any of them and yet, I couldn't shake a deep feeling of dismay for the way many of these people have been forced to live their life. I'm not sure what they would prefer, but this can't be it - can it?

Nov 21 - Ayers Rock (Uluru)

Morning (and Linton's birthday!) came early today, really early, as our wake up call for 4:30 am roused us all into action. Well, sort of. As we wearily traipsed out to meet our tour in front of the hotel we were met by, I kid you not, Bruce - our tour guide. This guy was the real deal. With tattoos running the full length of both arms and gold hoops in both ears, Bruce could not have been more "Aussie" if we had designed him oursleves. To top it all off he was a friend of Steve Irwin, an expert in snakes, and had been adopted into several aboriginal families. If he couldn't teach us about Uluru then no one could. His tour partner and our driver was Fiona another friendly Aussie and together they would provide us with an excellent four hour exploration of the culture and history surrounding the area and its very famous rock.

After picking up some more people from the other resorts in the area, we made the short drive into the National Park and to an area that is reserved for tour groups to watch the sun rise over Uluru. One of big things to see is the change of colours on the rock as the sun rises or sets. We had chosen a sunrise, thinking the kids would be more into it, once they woke up. The day was slightly overcast and as a result the colours were not spectacular; however, I posted two pictures of virtually the same part of the rock taken minutes apart to show how the colours can change. When the sun does hit the rock it explodes into colour and with every change of angle there is a new hue.

We had breakfast along the side of the road with many other tours and tourists with all of us staring at this enormous rock. It's a fascinating picture when you realize how far people travel and how much money they spend just to stare at this big chunk of sandstone. As you can see, Allie really enjoyed the Corn Flakes, too! To give you an idea of its size, Uluru is 9.4 kms around the circumference, runs 5-6 kms deep into into the earth and would take four hours to walk around. It is 348 metres high and made of sandstone full of feldspar which gives it its red colour. The Anangu people treat the area as a sacred place and though it is not illegal to climb Uluru, there are many signs and appeals not to do so. The climb is weather dependent and looks quite scary as it is consistently steeper than 45 degrees. 35 people have died climbing Uluru over the years. There are also several places that you are asked not to photograph because of their sacred significance. Of course, some people couldn't resist.

The rock was "discovered" by whites in 1873 by a man named Gosse who named it after his wife's father - a Mr. Ayer. In fact the Anangu people have called this area home for thousands of years but only recently, 1985, was the rock and surrounding area handed back to the control of the aboriginal clans. As we walked around and listened to some of the stories about the Anangu and then watched some of the residents in places like Alice Springs, I began to understand how our cultures are so incompatible. These people live such simple lives tied so closely to the land. There is no hint of a need for things like money or material wealth. It looks and feels like poverty to me but I think there is happiness where I can't see it. It's no wonder they have been so profoundly affected by the irrepressible "progress" of the west. I have found new perspective for out inexcusable treatment of native Canadians.

After the sunrise stop we checked out the place where people start to climb the rock. Many years ago an enterprising Aussie who saw an opportunity to make a buck on tourism, jack hammered about 200 posts right into Uluru creating a sort of handrail up the face. Apparently he went up and down one post at a time and there are almost 200 posts! Even a younger man without kids, I would not have risked it. We then drove around the opposite side to check out a water hole and some ancient cave drawings. All were expertly explained by our trusty tour guide Bruce who mixed in several aboriginal stories and myths to help elaborate on the significance of the place. The boys did well despite the seeming lack of traditional amusements and it was neat to see them take in Bruce's stories of ancient serpents or monsters that could be found "living" on the rock. Then we were off to the cultural centre which furthers the explanation and ones understanding of the Anangu culture. Bruce told us about how they would hunt with spears and boomerangs as Linton and I kept our eyes open for an appealing piece of original art. It is everywhere and not to everyone's taste - but we had agreed to try and find a small original that might find its way back to Toronto. The trick was finding something under a thousand!

As we were making our way back to the hotel, Fiona pulled the bus over rather quickly so Bruce could rescue a thorny devil lizard sunbathing in the middle of the road. I don't know if he actually pulled it out of his pocket and I am sure they do it for all the tourists, but it was a nice touch especially for the kids who were the youngest on the tour by about 30 years. In fact, Bruce spent much of the tour talking to Colin and Alex and making sure they were having a good time. It was heart felt and appreciated and I tipped Bruce accordingly. It was an excellent tour.

The rest of the day we lounged by the pool, explored the town centre, had another swim in the pool of a neighbouring hotel and tried to catch up on lost sleep. For dinner we walked to a lookout to try and watch the sunset over Uluru but it was a tad overcast for anything spectacular. There was a fun family moment as Alex had us all playing a game of his own invention. Linton's second birthday dinner was another hotel where you could buy your own meat and cook it on the barbie. For the adults we bought two plates that included crocodile, emu, and kangaroo. We loved the croc, found the roo a bit tough and could not stomach the emu - but at least now we knew. This was a fun place that boasted of some real, live Aussie music but everyone was so tired we couldn't make the first song.

We walked back to our hotel along a sandy path in the dark and once again I was overcome with the feeling that today had made some memories that would last and shape us all, forever.

Nov 20 - Sydney to Uluru (Ayers Rock)

As I write this entry Linton is winging her way into Hong Kong for a five day visit with cousin Sheila. The boys and I are "baching it" back in Melbourne so there will be a lot of tv dinners, hanging out in our boxers, and watching of sports on the telly. But back to our last trip.

The flight from Sydney to Alice Springs is about 3 hours and no sooner had we reached our cruising altitude and flown over the Blue Mountains than we began to see the outback and the reason for its nickname as the Red Centre. I never realized how such a dry place can be so beautiful. I spent a lot of time at the window snapping pictures furiously. I love the one picture here where you see the little white cloud and directly below it is its little black shadow. It was the only cloud for miles. I was also surprised at the amount of water there is in the outback. We were arriving after an abnormally wet few weeks and from the air many rivers seemed full and flowing.

We arrived in Alice Springs with a two hour lay over before our 50 minute flight to Ayers Rock so we grabbed some lunch and had a good laugh at Alex who demanded to talk to a grandparent right there and then and spent the next 20 minutes telling Nannie everything under the sun. I've never seen him so animated on the phone.

Once we were back in the air it seemed like only minutes before we were descending again and Uluru came into sight. It was quite a moment. Personally, I never thought I would ever see it in person and to realize that we had manged to get ourselves out to what I have always thought of as a very remote part of the world was quite cool. In point of fact the area is quite developed and boasts several resort style and five star accommodations. Regardless, I was proud that we had made the effort to get here and see a place that many Australians told us they had never seen.

Our hotel, The Desert Gardens, was a full-fledged 4.5 star hotel with everything you could ever want. Most importantly as far as the boys were concerned there was quite a good pool in the heart of the compound and we had barely turned on the lights in our room before we were back out the door and into the pool for a good soak. At this time of year Ayers Rock can be 40 degrees and we had seen some forecasts before we left Melbourne that were edging up that way. Thankfully, while we were there, I don't think we had anything over 35. It was hot but as they say it was hot without that life-draining humidity so if you can find shade it is quite bearable.

We had booked a sunrise tour of Uluru for the following morning and we had to get up at 4:30am so we relaxed by the pool and in our room for the balance of this day. Dinner was special though as we celebrated Linton's birthday in the Arunguli Grill Restaurant and even got a candle onto her piece of creme brule. The 40's have been pretty good to Lint so far as 40 found us in Disney World and 41 at Ayer's Rock. I look forward to where we might be for 42!