Saturday, November 14, 2009
Low Isles
November 14th--Today was a wonderful and a great way to finish up our time here in Port Douglas. When we got up this morning, we had sunny skies. The kids had done so good at snorkeling in the rain on Thursday, we decided to spend another day on the barrier reef...this time in the sun. We booked another tour with Quicksilver, but this time on their sailing catamaran. We left at 9:30 on the shuttle bus to the marina and boarded the Wavedancer. We sailed for about an hour out to one of the small islands located within the Great Barrier Reef known as the Low Isles. The weather was gorgeous today which made the sail very pleasant. We arrived at the island a little after 11:00 and had to pick out our snorkeling gear at this time. The Wavedancer ties onto a platoon out in the water and then there was a shuttle boat that took us to the island. So, we took the shuttle boat out to the island and got our snorkeling gear on. We all really enjoyed snorkeling around the reef. There were times when the tide got so low that we barely made our way over the reef. Right before getting out of the water for lunch, we found Nemo. There were 4 little clownfish swimming around an anemone. It was so neat to see them in their own environment. It is definitely better than seeing Nemo at an aquarium. After about an hour snorkeling and being on the island, we took the shuttle boat back to the Wavedancer for a buffet lunch. On our way back, our driver helped spot a turtle. It was pretty big and staying with the theme of Nemo, we named him Crush. The lunch was really good and filling. So, after that we shuttled back to the island to do some more snorkeling. At 2:30, we had to catch the shuttle boat back to the Wavedancer for it to depart back to Port Douglas at 3:00. We all laid out on the deck of the catamaran and enjoyed the sail back to Port. We arrived back at the marina in Port Douglas a little after 4:00. We told that the shuttle bus wouldn't leave until 4:55 so we had 30 minutes to kill. We decided to sit down and have a snack at one of the restaurants by the marina. After we finished up, we went to get on the shuttle only to find out that it had already left and would be back in 10 minutes. At this point, the kids were getting hungry for dinner so we made an executive decision to go back to On the Inlet for dinner, hoping that George would grab the bait this time. We arrived at the restaurant just as they were starting the feeding. George was a lot more active tonight, but still didn't clamp on successfully. I'm starting to think that this George thing is just their way of getting people to come eat at the restaurant. At least the food is really good too. Anyway, after a long day and an early dinner, we returned to the hotel for showers and bed.
Friday, November 13, 2009
George the Groper
November 13th--Today we just hung out around the pool area again. Abby and Austin spent most of the day playing with their friend Jessica from Sydney. The weather had improved from yesterday, but it was still mostly cloudy. It started to clear up after lunch. Again, it didn't stop us from having a good time on the beach and in the water. Around 3:00 we went inside to clean up to head to the Marina. We did some shopping at the Marina shops before heading to On the Inlet Restaurant. The Sydney couple and their daughter were there and had recommended it. We got to the restaurant around 4:45 in order to see the 5:00 feeding of George the Groper. This restaurant is known for feeding a huge groper that lives under the restaurant. A man attempted to feed George for about 15 minutes. He put a big fish head on the end of a thick rope and tried to get George to bite on, but he didn't want any part in it today. The anticipation was fun enough though and the food we enjoyed afterwards was wonderful.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Great Barrier Reef
November 12th--Well, I'm pretty sure weather wise, we didn't pick the best day to go to the Barrier Reef. It was a rainy day today. However, I'm not sure what we would have done in the rain anyway. We signed up for a trip to the Great Barrier Reef through Quicksilver. The bus picked us up at 9:30 and took us to the Marina where we boarded the Quicksilver, a 3 story boat. We were immediately informed that there would definitely be some "motion in the ocean" today. So, Abby and I headed to the medicine area on the boat. Abby took a ginger tablet while I took a Travelcom. It seemed to help both of us. On our one hour and 30 minute boat ride, there were many people that got sick, but Abby and I did great. So, the medicine worked. The boat docked at a large activity platform on Agincourt ribbon reef, on the outer reef. We arrived at the platform about 11:30. We got off the boat and grabbed a table on the platform to put our things at. Then, we rode the semi-submersibles boat for about 15 minutes around the reef. We were able to see many different fish and a lot of the reef during this time. After getting off the boat, we decided to eat lunch. After lunch, it was time to go snorkeling. The kids were really excited to get this opportunity. We got all our gear on including a lycra suit. We thought the suit would provide two things: keep us warmer and keep us from being stung by jellyfish. There was a man that was working there that was very helpful to us with the kids. He even let Austin borrow his goggles because Austin didn't really care for the snorkeling mask. So, Mike and Austin entered the water first and off they went in the water. Abby and I followed shortly after. The kids both had on life jackets which helped us a lot. We still had to hold onto them because there was definitely a current today. Anyway, Abby did great at snorkeling. She put her face in the water and really enjoyed what she was seeing. While snorkeling, we got to see parts of the reef and many fish. Cloudy, rainy skies and all, the reef was still amazing. Anyway, after a while of being in the water, we all made our way back to the platform and quickly dried off. The kids had had their fill of snorkeling for the day. So, Mike and I took turns going back out in the water. It's definitely easier when you don't have to worry about a child. Before we knew it, they were blowing the horn indicating to get back on the boat. We were lucky to find a spot inside the boat and on the couch. We were sitting across from 2 nice older women from England that we visited with on the ride back to Port Douglas. On the boat ride back, the crew had a man overboard drill. That added a little excitement to the ride. We arrived back to the marina around 4:30 and boarded the bus back to the Sheraton. We got back to the hotel about 5:00 and all showered off. We then ate dinner here at the hotel before going to bed.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Port Douglas
November 10th--First things first this morning...a very long shower. After using campground showers for a week now, there was definitely the need for a good, long shower for everyone. We then got dressed and headed to breakfast. After eating breakfast this morning, we spent some time catching up with family on SKYPE. Since we had been off internet for a week, we had a lot of catching up to do. After getting off SKYPE, we all went to the pool. Actually we hung out at the lagoon. The Sheraton Hotel that we are staying at has a pool, but there is also 5 acres of saltwater pools that are presented in a lagoon way around the hotel grounds. The lagoons have been created with white sand beach areas at some of the entries into the water. It definitely gives the ocean feeling without having to worry about the 'stingers' that are present now in the ocean. So, we hung out and swam here all day long. The kids made friends with another kid, Jessica, from Sydney. We did get stuck in a short rain shower about noon, but it didn't last long at all. After a long day being in the sun, we got cleaned up and took the shuttle bus into the town of Port Douglas. We ate dinner at the Surf Club. It was recommended to us because it has an outdoor playground. The food was wonderful and so was the atmosphere. We were able to sit outside overlooking the ocean while the kids played. After dinner, we went to the grocery store for some drinks and snacks for the week before heading back to the hotel for bed.
November 11th--Today was more of the same as yesterday. After eating breakfast, we booked a trip to the Great Barrier Reef for tomorrow. It was a little rainy when we first woke up, but it cleared off for us to enjoy the water and sun one more day. We hung out meeting several families from Australia. There aren't a whole lot of people at the resort because it is off season right now. It's amazing to think that it's summertime here, but the beach is off season. A lot of the off season is because of the ocean water. It contains a lot of jellyfish during the summer months. Anyway, today we didn't stay at the lagoon as long as yesterday. We went in about 3:00 to get ready to go back into Port Douglas. We headed in to do some shopping, but quickly realized that stuff in Australian is just expensive. So, we settled on an early dinner at the Ironbar and again had great food. We then headed back to the hotel for bed.
November 11th--Today was more of the same as yesterday. After eating breakfast, we booked a trip to the Great Barrier Reef for tomorrow. It was a little rainy when we first woke up, but it cleared off for us to enjoy the water and sun one more day. We hung out meeting several families from Australia. There aren't a whole lot of people at the resort because it is off season right now. It's amazing to think that it's summertime here, but the beach is off season. A lot of the off season is because of the ocean water. It contains a lot of jellyfish during the summer months. Anyway, today we didn't stay at the lagoon as long as yesterday. We went in about 3:00 to get ready to go back into Port Douglas. We headed in to do some shopping, but quickly realized that stuff in Australian is just expensive. So, we settled on an early dinner at the Ironbar and again had great food. We then headed back to the hotel for bed.
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Red Centre
November 4th--We got up at 6:00 a.m. again this morning. The good thing this time was our stuff was already all packed up from the day before. We left the hotel around 7:00 and made the 10 minute drive to the airport. (I guess it was meant for us to be flying out of the Sydney airport at the same time as Britney Spears was arriving at the airport for her Australian tour.) We were able to get some food and drinks inside the Qantas lounge before our flight departed. Our flight left Sydney about 8:20 a.m. this morning and we were on the coolest looking plane. The outside of it was all painted in an Aboriginal style. The kids thought it was really cool. The flight to Adelaide was a little under 2 hours and we had about a 30 minute layover there. We then got right back on the same plane that headed to Alice Springs. This flight was about the same, a little under 2 hours. We arrived a little before noon and literally landed in the desert. All that was around us was a flat land of red dirt. Our luggage was the last to arrive out on the carousel so we were the last in line for a taxi. We decided that there were only about 4 taxis in the whole town of Alice Springs. :-) Once we finally did get into one though, we had him take us to Britz to pick up our RV (or Hummer Home as the kids call it). We watched a quick video on how everything on the RV worked and off we went in the Hummer Home. We stopped by McDonald's for a very late lunch. We were all so hungry at this point. Then, went by the grocery store and stocked up on food/drinks for the week. We got back in the RV and started towards the campground. On our way, Abby started screaming the door is open. Apparently, when we made a turn, the side door flew right open. We were laughing hysterically and quickly reminded to always lock the door. We arrived at the MacDonnell Douglas Holiday Park (campground) and found our spot. We started to get everything all set up and organized. Mike got everything connected outside except for the waste hose. When I say waste, I mean gray waste water not sewer waste. The sewer waste apparently goes into a holding tank that has to manually be emptied. So, we were advised by Mike that the bathroom in the RV is off limits. Anyway, he wasn't able to find the waste hose and a family pulled up right beside us so he decided to ask them. The guy came over to help Mike, but they quickly realized that Britz hadn't given us a hose and Britz was already closed for the day. So, we all got to talking to this family next to us. They are from Bern, Switzerland and had 2 boys (ages 5 and 2). The kids were instant friends and played the remainder of the evening. The kids played so hard that they were very dirty and needed to take a shower. I had used the restroom at the campground earlier and was surprised at how clean they actually were. So, I took both kids in there to shower off before bedtime. After putting the kids to bed, we sat outside pretty late talking with our new friends. It was really neat to be able to talk to them about Switzerland especially since we loved the country so much and the lady, Petra, has traveled all over the States. They are spending 3 months traveling all over Australia. While sitting outside with them, we actually saw a kangaroo come through the campsite. I tried to get a picture, but it was too dark and the kangaroo was too fast. We said our goodnights around midnight and settled into the RV. Mike and Austin slept in the bed above the driver seat while Abby and I slept in the bed "downstairs".
November 5th--We got up this morning and started getting the RV ready to travel. I had my first campground shower experience. I was actually okay with it...not too bad. We left around 10:00 and had to go by Britz to pick up a hose. After getting the hose, we headed out of Alice Springs. The minute we pulled out of the small town, we saw nothing but dessert. As far as we could see was red clay and flat land. We had no radio stations to listen to and nothing to look at. We passed only 2 gas stations along the 5 hour drive. There was a point in the drive where Mike and I ran out of things to say to each other. A little later, Mike said he was even bored with himself because he had run out of things to think about. We laughed just from being bored. The kids were really good though...they played their Leapsters and napped. We did stop halfway at a rest stop to eat lunch. Now rest stops here aren't like the ones you find in the States. They are basically just an area to pull over and literally rest. There are no bathrooms. We finally arrived at the Ayers Rock Resort around 4:30. So, it was about a 6 hour drive with an hour stop in between. We got the RV all hooked up and headed to the pool for a little while. After swimming, we grilled hamburgers for dinner. The kids watched a movie before bedtime. While they were watching the movie, Mike and I sat outside enjoying the pleasant evening. It's amazing how hot it gets here during the day and then how nice the evenings and mornings are.
November 6th--This morning we headed out to Uluru-Ayers Rock. It's about a 10 minute drive to the entrance of the park and then about another 10 minutes to arrive at the rock. We stopped off at the Culture Center first to pick up a map of the area. We decided to do a kid friendly walk on the base of the rock. The Mala Walk was about an hour long and parts were shaded. Ayers Rock is owned by Aboriginal people and is a very spiritual place. The funny part about this area is the flies are so bad. They land on your face and then try to go into your eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Yuck! So, we had bought fly nets to wear over our head and they were definitely needed. There were times when all you could see were flies on the net. The people that didn't have nets spent most of their time swatting at the flies. Anyway, at the halfway mark of the walk where we turned around, there was a gorge and it was really pleasant there. We actually stopped for a snack and some water before heading back. When we got back to the RV, we made lunch and enjoyed it in the RV at Ayers Rock. After lunch, we drove back to Ayers Rock Resort. (Oh, by the way, I use the word "resort" very loosely.) The resort does have a small shopping center that we stopped off at to look around some of the shops. Then, we returned back to camping spot and went swimming for the afternoon. The temperature is very strange here because it's hot, but very dry. The pool feels cold and when you get out of the water, the air feels cold too. Totally different than Texas hot. After swimming, we all took showers. I cooked dinner at the campsite before heading back to Ayers Rock. We headed to Ayers Rock to watch the sunset. Once we arrived at our spot, we ate dinner in the RV and then sat outside watching the rock change many colors as the sun set on it. It was a sight that is indescribable. After the sun set, we drove back to our campsite. We were surprised to have other people in our spot when we returned. So, it's dark by now and we are having a language barrier with them. We tried to explain to them that this was our spot, but they kept saying it was there. The thing is they had 4WD vehicles not campers so we knew they were in the wrong spot. I finally just walked back up to the reception office and asked for help. The lady told me they were from Italy and they were supposed to be on the lawn because they had tents to set up. Luckily, a guy that worked at the resort came to escort the Italians to their proper location. We quickly got back in our spot and got it all set up for bedtime. The kids went to bed pretty immediately after a busy day. The adults weren't far behind tonight.
November 7th--Being that we had spent plenty of time at Ayers Rock, we were ready to depart the resort by 9:00 a.m. this morning. We left out on another desert drive to King's Canyon this morning. Mike and I got smart about the drive this time and figured that we could listen to our ipods while driving. So, we shared an ipod and put only a headset in one of our ears. It seemed to help with the boring drive. Today though we managed to find ways to be entertained by the dead kangaroos all over the road. The other day, we were amazed and disgusted by them. Not today though, we started to analyze how long we thought they had been there (hey...it's really a boring drive). We arrived in King's Canyon right at noon. We had known that we were going to cross paths with the Switzerland family again. So, when we went to find a campsite we pulled in right next to them. We were all thrilled to see each other. After lunch, their oldest boy, Jonah, came to our camper to watch a movie while their youngest one, Enea, took a nap. After nap time, we all went to the pool for a couple of hours. After swimming, we got dressed for dinner. We had all decided to go eat at Outback BBQ which was located on the resort. Before going to dinner though, we went to one of the sunset platforms to see the Canyon. It was a great view! At the Outback BBQ, we kind of felt like we were back in Texas. There were long picnic benches, live music and Australian BBQ. Mike and I had our first taste of emu, kangaroo, and crocodile. The emu and kangaroo were made into sausages. The crocodile was on a skewer and tasted similar to chicken. They were all surprisingly good. After dinner, the live band invited the kids up on stage to join them for a couple of songs. They also got to entertain the crowd up on the stage. Abby and Austin both had their first solo performance. Abby sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" while Austin busted out with "The Boys are Back" from High School Musical. They were very cute. Mike and I also had our turn up on the stage. So, the whole family was involved in the entertainment. We got back to our campsite around 9:00 and all put the kids to sleep. Then, we set outside talking with Petra and Pascal until late. We had a great night of conversation with our new friends. While sitting outside, we saw several dingoes which is an Australian wild dog and can be very dangerous if approached. If you leave them alone, they leave you alone. Right before going to bed though, we looked right up on the canyon and saw a bright light. At first, we thought it might be a fire, but quickly realized that it was the moon coming up over the canyon. It was a beautiful sight. Also, the skies are so clear around here at night as there is almost no light pollution. The skies are just full of stars.
November 8th--We were up early and said our goodbye's to the Oegerli family. Before leaving though, Mike and the kids were filling the RV up with water. This had always been a successful experience up until today when the hose flew out and sprayed everybody. It had a lot of pressure so it was flying around spraying water as Mike tried to catch it. It was very funny. After leaving the campsite, we stopped at the gas station to fill up. When we started pulling out of the station, we heard a horn honking. We kept trying to figure out who was honking at us. After the horn kept honking every time we moved, we finally figured out that was the RV's way of telling us the emergency brake was on. There have been many moments we have felt like Chevy Chase in a version of Vacation! So, after releasing the brake, we headed to King's Canyon and arrived around 8:30. We decided to do an hour long walk along the dry creek bed at the base of the canyon. It was hot this morning. By the time we got back to the RV at 9:30, it was already 33 degrees Celsius. We drank a lot of water before heading out on the road again. We headed out for our drive back to Alice Springs. We stopped about halfway for lunch and the temperature had gotten up to 40 degrees Celsius by then. We just watched the temperature rise as we drove back to Alice Springs. We even saw a dirt tornado along the road. We arrived back at Alice Springs a little after 3:00. Mike took the kids swimming while I did laundry. Doing laundry at a campground was a fun experience. The best was there is this big drying area where you can line dry all your clothes. Well, with the heat and the little bit of breeze, the clothes are dry in no time. In fact as I was hanging all the clothes out, a guy came by and said "By the time you get done putting all that up, the first ones are going to be dry". He was close to being right. It didn't take long at all. In the meantime, the kids had finished swimming and were bouncing at the Jumping Pillow. By the time they were done, it was dinner time. We made spaghetti again and then started cleaning up the RV. We spent some time trying to get our stuff organized and packed up before going to bed.
November 9th--We got up this morning and enjoyed our last morning of eating breakfast outside. Mike made us all pancakes this morning. After breakfast, we finished packing up before pulling out of the campground around 10:00. We drove into town to shop at the Todd Mall. Our guidebook says that Alice Springs is the best place to look at/buy Aboriginal art and crafts. After looking around for a while, we went to eat lunch at KFC (Abby's choice). After lunch, we did some more shopping before turning our RV back in. We got to Britz around 2:00 and checked in the RV. It was at this time that we found out that we had driven 1341 kilometers which converts to about 833 miles. It was an easy process to check it back in and get in a taxi to the airport. We arrived at the Alice Springs airport with plenty of time before our flight. Our flight left at 4:15 and arrived in Cairns (pronounced Cans) about 6:30. It just continues to amaze us that on such a short flight we were served a meal. Upon arriving in Cairns, we retrieved our luggage and got on the Sun Palm shuttle bus to Port Douglas. It was about an hour long drive to our hotel. Unfortunately, it was dark out otherwise it would have been a really pretty drive along the coastline. Austin actually fell asleep on the drive and never woke up until the next morning. I carried him inside and put him in bed. Abby and I went to find something to eat before heading to bed.
November 5th--We got up this morning and started getting the RV ready to travel. I had my first campground shower experience. I was actually okay with it...not too bad. We left around 10:00 and had to go by Britz to pick up a hose. After getting the hose, we headed out of Alice Springs. The minute we pulled out of the small town, we saw nothing but dessert. As far as we could see was red clay and flat land. We had no radio stations to listen to and nothing to look at. We passed only 2 gas stations along the 5 hour drive. There was a point in the drive where Mike and I ran out of things to say to each other. A little later, Mike said he was even bored with himself because he had run out of things to think about. We laughed just from being bored. The kids were really good though...they played their Leapsters and napped. We did stop halfway at a rest stop to eat lunch. Now rest stops here aren't like the ones you find in the States. They are basically just an area to pull over and literally rest. There are no bathrooms. We finally arrived at the Ayers Rock Resort around 4:30. So, it was about a 6 hour drive with an hour stop in between. We got the RV all hooked up and headed to the pool for a little while. After swimming, we grilled hamburgers for dinner. The kids watched a movie before bedtime. While they were watching the movie, Mike and I sat outside enjoying the pleasant evening. It's amazing how hot it gets here during the day and then how nice the evenings and mornings are.
November 6th--This morning we headed out to Uluru-Ayers Rock. It's about a 10 minute drive to the entrance of the park and then about another 10 minutes to arrive at the rock. We stopped off at the Culture Center first to pick up a map of the area. We decided to do a kid friendly walk on the base of the rock. The Mala Walk was about an hour long and parts were shaded. Ayers Rock is owned by Aboriginal people and is a very spiritual place. The funny part about this area is the flies are so bad. They land on your face and then try to go into your eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Yuck! So, we had bought fly nets to wear over our head and they were definitely needed. There were times when all you could see were flies on the net. The people that didn't have nets spent most of their time swatting at the flies. Anyway, at the halfway mark of the walk where we turned around, there was a gorge and it was really pleasant there. We actually stopped for a snack and some water before heading back. When we got back to the RV, we made lunch and enjoyed it in the RV at Ayers Rock. After lunch, we drove back to Ayers Rock Resort. (Oh, by the way, I use the word "resort" very loosely.) The resort does have a small shopping center that we stopped off at to look around some of the shops. Then, we returned back to camping spot and went swimming for the afternoon. The temperature is very strange here because it's hot, but very dry. The pool feels cold and when you get out of the water, the air feels cold too. Totally different than Texas hot. After swimming, we all took showers. I cooked dinner at the campsite before heading back to Ayers Rock. We headed to Ayers Rock to watch the sunset. Once we arrived at our spot, we ate dinner in the RV and then sat outside watching the rock change many colors as the sun set on it. It was a sight that is indescribable. After the sun set, we drove back to our campsite. We were surprised to have other people in our spot when we returned. So, it's dark by now and we are having a language barrier with them. We tried to explain to them that this was our spot, but they kept saying it was there. The thing is they had 4WD vehicles not campers so we knew they were in the wrong spot. I finally just walked back up to the reception office and asked for help. The lady told me they were from Italy and they were supposed to be on the lawn because they had tents to set up. Luckily, a guy that worked at the resort came to escort the Italians to their proper location. We quickly got back in our spot and got it all set up for bedtime. The kids went to bed pretty immediately after a busy day. The adults weren't far behind tonight.
November 7th--Being that we had spent plenty of time at Ayers Rock, we were ready to depart the resort by 9:00 a.m. this morning. We left out on another desert drive to King's Canyon this morning. Mike and I got smart about the drive this time and figured that we could listen to our ipods while driving. So, we shared an ipod and put only a headset in one of our ears. It seemed to help with the boring drive. Today though we managed to find ways to be entertained by the dead kangaroos all over the road. The other day, we were amazed and disgusted by them. Not today though, we started to analyze how long we thought they had been there (hey...it's really a boring drive). We arrived in King's Canyon right at noon. We had known that we were going to cross paths with the Switzerland family again. So, when we went to find a campsite we pulled in right next to them. We were all thrilled to see each other. After lunch, their oldest boy, Jonah, came to our camper to watch a movie while their youngest one, Enea, took a nap. After nap time, we all went to the pool for a couple of hours. After swimming, we got dressed for dinner. We had all decided to go eat at Outback BBQ which was located on the resort. Before going to dinner though, we went to one of the sunset platforms to see the Canyon. It was a great view! At the Outback BBQ, we kind of felt like we were back in Texas. There were long picnic benches, live music and Australian BBQ. Mike and I had our first taste of emu, kangaroo, and crocodile. The emu and kangaroo were made into sausages. The crocodile was on a skewer and tasted similar to chicken. They were all surprisingly good. After dinner, the live band invited the kids up on stage to join them for a couple of songs. They also got to entertain the crowd up on the stage. Abby and Austin both had their first solo performance. Abby sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" while Austin busted out with "The Boys are Back" from High School Musical. They were very cute. Mike and I also had our turn up on the stage. So, the whole family was involved in the entertainment. We got back to our campsite around 9:00 and all put the kids to sleep. Then, we set outside talking with Petra and Pascal until late. We had a great night of conversation with our new friends. While sitting outside, we saw several dingoes which is an Australian wild dog and can be very dangerous if approached. If you leave them alone, they leave you alone. Right before going to bed though, we looked right up on the canyon and saw a bright light. At first, we thought it might be a fire, but quickly realized that it was the moon coming up over the canyon. It was a beautiful sight. Also, the skies are so clear around here at night as there is almost no light pollution. The skies are just full of stars.
November 8th--We were up early and said our goodbye's to the Oegerli family. Before leaving though, Mike and the kids were filling the RV up with water. This had always been a successful experience up until today when the hose flew out and sprayed everybody. It had a lot of pressure so it was flying around spraying water as Mike tried to catch it. It was very funny. After leaving the campsite, we stopped at the gas station to fill up. When we started pulling out of the station, we heard a horn honking. We kept trying to figure out who was honking at us. After the horn kept honking every time we moved, we finally figured out that was the RV's way of telling us the emergency brake was on. There have been many moments we have felt like Chevy Chase in a version of Vacation! So, after releasing the brake, we headed to King's Canyon and arrived around 8:30. We decided to do an hour long walk along the dry creek bed at the base of the canyon. It was hot this morning. By the time we got back to the RV at 9:30, it was already 33 degrees Celsius. We drank a lot of water before heading out on the road again. We headed out for our drive back to Alice Springs. We stopped about halfway for lunch and the temperature had gotten up to 40 degrees Celsius by then. We just watched the temperature rise as we drove back to Alice Springs. We even saw a dirt tornado along the road. We arrived back at Alice Springs a little after 3:00. Mike took the kids swimming while I did laundry. Doing laundry at a campground was a fun experience. The best was there is this big drying area where you can line dry all your clothes. Well, with the heat and the little bit of breeze, the clothes are dry in no time. In fact as I was hanging all the clothes out, a guy came by and said "By the time you get done putting all that up, the first ones are going to be dry". He was close to being right. It didn't take long at all. In the meantime, the kids had finished swimming and were bouncing at the Jumping Pillow. By the time they were done, it was dinner time. We made spaghetti again and then started cleaning up the RV. We spent some time trying to get our stuff organized and packed up before going to bed.
November 9th--We got up this morning and enjoyed our last morning of eating breakfast outside. Mike made us all pancakes this morning. After breakfast, we finished packing up before pulling out of the campground around 10:00. We drove into town to shop at the Todd Mall. Our guidebook says that Alice Springs is the best place to look at/buy Aboriginal art and crafts. After looking around for a while, we went to eat lunch at KFC (Abby's choice). After lunch, we did some more shopping before turning our RV back in. We got to Britz around 2:00 and checked in the RV. It was at this time that we found out that we had driven 1341 kilometers which converts to about 833 miles. It was an easy process to check it back in and get in a taxi to the airport. We arrived at the Alice Springs airport with plenty of time before our flight. Our flight left at 4:15 and arrived in Cairns (pronounced Cans) about 6:30. It just continues to amaze us that on such a short flight we were served a meal. Upon arriving in Cairns, we retrieved our luggage and got on the Sun Palm shuttle bus to Port Douglas. It was about an hour long drive to our hotel. Unfortunately, it was dark out otherwise it would have been a really pretty drive along the coastline. Austin actually fell asleep on the drive and never woke up until the next morning. I carried him inside and put him in bed. Abby and I went to find something to eat before heading to bed.
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