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Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
December 05, 2005
Group Photo - Scuba Diving – Great Barrier Reef, Australia
During the 3 day and 4 nights scuba diving excursion, I completed 12 dives. The dive excursion easily ranks within my top ten activities of my trip. The group was excellent. The diving was excellent. The boat staff was excellent. The food was excellent. I've posted a few underwater pics. I also have a DVD of the trip's highlights, but the blogsite doesn't have the ability to handle videos.
November 29, 2005
Whitewater Rafting – Tully River, Queensland, Australia
The Tully River is located two hours south of Cairns. Its rapids are grade 3-4 level which means moderate technical rapids with the need to hold on at times and the continuous need to maneuver the raft. The rapids in Tibet were also a grade 3-4. The difference was the rapids on the Tully need much more technical maneuvering, while the rapids in Tibet were much faster.
Can you find me in the raft?
November 23, 2005
Kakadu National Park - Australia
Kadadu National Park is a natural marvel encompassing a variety of habitats, a mass of wildlife and significant rock-art sites. Within the park's boundaries are about 25 species of frogs, 51 freshwater fish species, 60 types of mammals, 120 types of reptile, 280 species (one-third of those entire native to Australia) and at least 10,000 kinds of insects. Most visitors, including us, see only a fraction of these creatures in a visit since many are shy, nocturnal or few in numbers. Nevertheless, I was impressed by what we did see.
November 22, 2005
Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park– Australia
Pictured is a giant termite hill. They speckled the national park. Nitmiluk National Park is comprised of 13 gorges, separated from each other by rapids and carved out by the Katherine River, which begins in Arnhem Land. The gorge walls aren't high, but they are rugged and sheer. Father downstream the river becomes the Daily River before flowing into the Timor Sea at a point 80k southwest of Darwin.
Usually the only crocodiles around Nitmiluk are of the freshwater variety and seen more often in the cooler months. However, while we were there a salt water crocodile was spotted in the river. Salt water crocodiles have been known to kill humans, as a result we were not able to swim or canoe in the gorges.
November 21, 2005
Thermal Pool – Mataranka, Australia
This crystal clear thermal pool located in the rainforest was a great place to revitalize after my morning jog. The only downside was the trees were filled with thousands of fruit bats (a.k.a. flying foxes). They were a bit eerie. You can see some of them hanging upside down in the trees. Picture in upper right quadrant. I have the Uncle Fester look going these days in the lower right quadrant.
November 20, 2005
Karlukaru – Australia
The area is known as Karlukaru by the local Aboriginal people and Devil’s Marbles by the colonialist. According to scientist they are the granite remains of molten lava after millions of years of weathering and erosion. This area is particularly beautiful at sunset when the boulders exude a rich glow. However, on the day that we visited the area the sunset was blocked by an emerging storm. The strength of the wind prohibited us from erecting the tents. Instead we slept under the clouds and stars. Our group leader said it almost never rains in the outback. When it started to rain the majority of the group scrambled into the bus to sleep. I crawled under the bus with my sleeping bag and ground cloth, and slept.
November 16, 2005
Mode of Transportation – Australia
Our mode of transportation while in Australia. The trailer attached to the bus was used to carry are luggage.
November 14, 2005
Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia
From Sydney we boarded a plane and flew to the center of Australia near Uluru. Nothing in Australia is as readily identifiable as Uluru (Ayers Rock), the world's biggest monolith. Australia's favorite postcard image is 3.6k long and rises a towering 348 meter from the surrounding sandy scrubland (867 meter above sea level). It's believed that two-thirds of the Rock lies beneath the sand. If your first sight of the Rock is during the afternoon it appears as an ochre-brown color, scored and pitted by dark shadows. As the sunsets, it illuminates the Rock in burnishing orange, then a series of deeper and darker reds before it fades into charcoal. This picture was taken at sunset.
The entire area around the Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park is of deep cultural significance to the owners, the Aboriginal people. In the mid-1980 land the park was returned to the Aboriginal people, after being taken from them during the colonial period. The national park is leased to Environment Australia (the federal government's national parks body), who administer it in conjunction with the traditional owners.
November 12, 2005
Opera House – Sydney, Australia
The postcard-perfect Sydney Opera House is dramatically situated on the eastern headland of Cicular Quay. Its construction was an operatic blend of personal vision, long delays, bitter feuding, budget blowouts and pusillanimous politicking; Construction began in 1959 after a Danish architect won an international design competition with his plans and construction budget of $7 million. After political interference the architect quit in disgust in 1966, leaving a consortium of Australian architects to design a compromised interior, at a cost of $102 million. Finally completion in 1973, it was lumbered with an impractical internal design.
Sydney Harbor Bridge – Sydney, Australia
The Sydney Harbor Bridge is largest single span arch bridge in the world. The sweeping span over Sydney's famous harbor is 503 meters long, 134 meters high and 49 meters wide. Flanked by four towering concrete and granite pylons, it is the crucial center piece of Sydney's transport network. The weight of the steelwork alone totals 52,800 tons and includes an extraordinary six million rivets. The bridge officially opened on Saturday 19th March 1932 and has become an enduring international symbol of Sydney.
Bridge Climb – Sydney, Australia
A group of us climbed the Sydney Bridge. The climb is organized by a company that provides each climber with a "BridgeSuits", communication equipment and "BridgeHarness" linked to a static line throughout the climb, and a climb leader, who escorts the group to the top of the Bridge. From the top of the bridge we experienced an awesome 360 degree view of one of the world's most beautiful harbors.
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