It’s a long two-day drive from Alice Springs to Cairns, so we spent the night in Mount Isa, then hit the road at dawn.

Andy is always on high alert at dawn and dusk, since that’s when the roos are likely to be on the road. I was just enjoying the glorious morning light until it was bright enough for me to get a decent photo of termite mounds. These in the distance were seen while speeding along the day before …

Zoom in (or wait for the next shot), but I love this blue and green. I couldn’t get closer, because you do NOT walk through tall grass in Australia–too many dangerous critters. We were waiting to see some close to the road. And voilà!

Some are enormous, way bigger than these, and some are even dressed in t-shirts or other garb. I guess you find your fun where you can.

Our route took us along part of the Dinosaur Triangle, so we took a break at Kronosaurus Korner in Richmond. Brittany was enthralled and paid the hefty entrance fee for the museum. I peeked through the glass door, shopped for gift t-shirts, then headed outside to the restrooms, labeled “preHIStoric” and “preHERStoric” with a T-rex on a sign that read, “COULDN’T WASH HANDS … NOW EXTINCT.”

After Richmond, we could have gone to Townsville, then north up the coast, but opted instead for the green, hilly, twisty route through Atherton. Gorgeous.

For the last bit before Cairns, we were in jungle and stop-and-go traffic. Storms had washed out half the road at places, so we had to alternate with westbound traffic. Finally we were clear but behind a SUPER-slow, crazy-cautious driver who would not pull over even when he had the opportunity. GHAAAAA! It was already dark by the time we made it into Cairns.

We found our lodging, barely cleared the max-height bar in the underground garage, and lugged our gear upstairs to a spacious apartment with a broad, ocean-view deck. Then next door for fish tacos and a stroll around town. AHHHHH!

We woke to this …

Perfect setting for my last stop with Brittany and Andy.

Praying for all of us: patience when things don’t go our way, and many, many glowing dawns and sparkling evenings. More AHHHH than GHAAAA.

Grace and peace to you, as always.

After our night at Uluru, we made a super-quick early-morning stop at Kata Tjuta (more huge, impressive red rock), where this was my favorite shot. 😉

Then we were headed back to Alice Springs for a couple more days. On the way, we saw this. Outback Roadside Decor

Abandoned cars — in various states of disrepair — are a standard feature of roads in the Outback. I made Andy stop. I loved the blue against the red Uluru dirt. Most are less picturesque. Pro tip: do NOT leave your car unattended in the Outback. Not for long, anyway!

By Friday afternoon, we were back in Alice and I survived my third CrossFit session with Brittany, her coworkers and friends. I was actually starting to feel kind of empowered. Woo-hoo!

Saturday, we packed up for two LONG days driving to Cairns, Andy at the wheel as usual. We managed to fit in dinner at Brittany and Andy’s friends’ place, where we weren’t the only ones having dinner:

This couple rescues orphaned kangaroos and other wildlife until they are eventually able to head back out on their own. I’m the one holding the other end of the bottle. What an experience — I couldn’t stop smiling.

Early Sunday morning we were on the road again, headed north, then east…and more east…to get to the coast and Cairns to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. It’s almost as far as driving from Denver to DC. But no worries. It was beautiful.

This place is called Karlu Karlu or Devils Marbles:

Even the burned areas had their own beauty:

Mostly, there was a lot of green and sometimes water, even on the road. There was so much rain in early 2024, the Todd River “regatta” was canceled because there was actual water in the river. Google or click here for more on the Henley on Todd Regatta, “Flintstone-style boat races” on the dry riverbed.

And then suddenly–okay, not suddenly at all–we were in Queensland.

Fuel and other necessities are few and far between. You pretty much take advantage of any roadhouse. We stopped in Camooweal long enough to get this shot:

Kind of a cool Wild West vibe for my farewell to the Outback.

One more shot from the Alice Springs bird show earlier in the week:

Wishing you beauty and interesting companions along your route, wherever you’re headed!

After one night in Coober Pedy, we packed up our finds–mostly the worthless white common opal called potch, but also a few stones with embedded slivers of flashing color. Then we were again headed north for a few days in Alice Springs.

Brittany and Andy took me to a local wildlife park, including another cool bird show and lots of lizards and terrifying venomous snakes, fortunately all behind glass. I love the glam pose of this one.

Then we rushed out to a place called Angkerle Atwatye, but mostly called Standley Chasm since few can pronounce the name the indigenous people use. I asked, was told, repeated it–sort of–but couldn’t quite get it and forgot immediately, and I LOVE trying to pronounce other languages correctly. It’s just very much NOT English. The place is on ancestral lands of one of Andy’s coworkers and is gorgeous.

We were trying to catch the sun in the middle of the gap, but we weren’t the only ones with that idea. It’s very popular, both with humans–there was some sort of photo shoot hogging all the best spots while we were there–and the little moisture-seeking flies that attack eyes, nose, mouth, even ears. We’d left our fly nets in the car and the girls in cute hats didn’t seem to be going anywhere soon, so we grabbed what shots we could and hiked back out to have lunch in the cafe. Still. Worth the heat and flies.

A couple days later, we were back on the road south, then west to Uluru. 

We did NOT forget our fly nets . . . 

We hiked around up close for a while . . .

then staked out our spot for this:

As the sun sets on our Northern Hemisphere summer, I’m praying for you beauty (despite heat and flies literal or metaphorical) and a few moments to appreciate it in the midst of All. The. Things. I know. I’m praying anyway. 

Grace and peace to you, as always.

Time has gotten away from me, but there’s still plenty to tell about my adventures in Australia. If you missed the beginning, it starts with the Sydney post. Here’s the next installment:

After Kangaroo Island we were headed north to the Outback.

After one night on the road, we arrived in Coober Pedy, the “Opal Capital of the World.”

It’s a bit more than halfway to Alice Springs so was a good place to stop, and it was surprisingly cool for a place extensively covered in heaps of dirt. I shot this sign from the back so instead of the trucks in the parking lot, you could see the dirt hills in the background, remnants of previous searches for opals.

A lot of the most beautiful places here are underground.

Before we checked in, we had a tour booked at an opal mine. Even Bega was included and had a special doggie hard hat, in pink as the princess prefers. Very interesting and, of course, there was a gift shop selling gorgeous opal jewelry.

Then we were offered sieves and trowels to “noodle” in the dirt pile outside. We did find a few bits of color and had to pry Brittany away from the place, she was having so much fun.

But it was time to shower off the dirt and find drinks and dinner. Our host recommended this place, Big Winch 360…

There was live music, delicious food, and a massive terrace for watching the sunset.

The next day we were on the road again, for a long day up to Alice Springs. Sights like this kept it interesting…

Here’s wishing you interesting adventures and moments to be treasured, even if it sometimes feels like all you’re doing is sifting through a massive pile of dirt!

Grace and peace to you, as always.