The following pictures were taken between June 13th and July 25th on what I've been calling my Australian Safari. Their aim is to show you what I saw with respect to terrain, oddities, etc. while driving around the eastern half of Australia.
The Long and Not-so-winding Road+
Look at this picture long enough and move your head into and away from the screen and you'll not only look weird, but you'll see exactly what I saw while driving. Straight, empty road peppered with caravans, road train's and kangaroo roadkill in the Outback is common. In fact, the majority of Australia's national highway system is only two lanes wide.
Every Road has a Train?+
Big deal, right? A semi. Well, this and most road trains are actually 3 and 4 trailers long and love to kick up a ton of dust and gravel. I had a blast scaring the shit out of Kathy when I tried to pass them.
Bushes with a Side of Brown Dirt+
In most of the Outback, the soil was dusty and quite rocky. In spite of it's looseness, vegetation actually thrives and in some places, namely the area around Uluru, is actually quite lush.
Red, Green and Flat+
A majority of the really brick colored dirt was located near Uluru and contrasted nicely with the forest green vegetation. Since Uluru was the first place we actually pitched a tent, shitloads of this stuff ended up on our clothes.
Grassy Tree Plains+
This photo was taken in the Northern Territory just South of Darwin. The Northern Territory has two seasons: 'The Dry' and 'The Wet'. During 'The Wet', it basically rains 24/7 and everything floods. During 'The Dry', it never rains and everything that grew during the wet gets parched. So, it basically has all of the bad weather that Seattle, New Orleans, Houston and Arizona have, all for the price of one!
A Mountain out of an Anthill?+
Yes, this is an anthill. One of literally hundreds of thousands that you see while driving in the Northern Territory. Most of them are 3 - 8 feet tall. In areas where bushfires have burned away the vegetation, the anthills stand tall.
Birthday View+
So what did I do on my birthday? Spent it in the small town of Cloncurry, a popular rodeo and cattle town, of course. This was the view we had from the deck of our cabin. Unreal, huh?
Good Ole' Alice+
Here's the lovely car I used to travel around Australia, a beige 1985 Ford Falcon station wagon. I named it Alice because when I drive it, I always think of those Brady Bunch vacation episodes. Anyway, the Falcon is actually the best selling car in Australia with the station wagons being popular with the backpacker contingent as an uninhibiting means of transport.