Day 138 - Fri 24th July: Somewhere in the middle of Australia

Quite a bit of our time was spent on the bus today as we continued on our way up to Darwin. Here's a pic of some flowers I found growing by one of the (many) petrol stations we stopped at.

Day 137 - Thurs 23rd July: Devils Marbles

More red stone today....this time in the shape of the Devils Marbles, a result of millions of years of erosion.

Day 136 - Weds 22nd July: West MacDonnell Ranges

We had a spare day in Alice Springs and one of the bus drivers offered to take us out to the West MacDonnell Ranges on his day off. Here's an artsy photo that would make an IKEA canvas print salesman happy. Also one for DOF fans.

Day 135 - Tues 21st July: The Reptile Centre, Alice Springs

Popped along to the Reptile Centre today and handled some snakes and lizards. Here's a pic of a snake getting friendly with one of my bus buddies, Michael.

Day 134 - Mon 20th July: Kings Canyon

Went for an awesome guided walk around Kings Canyon today, learning about all the plant life and how the Aborigines used them to live of the land. Great views too, but here's a pic of tour guide Jules pretending to fall off the edge of the canyon. Don't worry, he was fine...there's another ledge below.

There was a long drive to Alice Springs today, but the time passes pretty quickly when you play bus cricket. Possibly the best driving game ever.

Day 133 - Sun 19th July: The Red Centre

Look how red the sand is here -that's oxidising iron on a big scale

Day 132 - Sat 18th July: Uluru at sunset

Perhaps not the best picture I took all day, but def one of the most iconic and cliched.

Picture of Uluru at sunset? Done!

Day 131 - Fri 17th July: The Tour Group, Coober Pedy

Saw a salt flat and visited the opal mining town of Coober Pedy today, but I thought I'd share some pics of people in my tour group. It's a cracking little group, with 10 of us (plus the driver, Jules) on the bus. I'll be putting a photo montage up on here when I get access to a computer with suitable software.

Day 130 - Thurs 16th July: Mount Olsen Bagge, Flinders Ranges

Shock horror! Another picture of me on the blog. Today we did another hike, this time to the top of Mount Olsen Bagge.

Day 129 - Weds 15th July: Dutchmans Stern, Flinders Ranges

Today was the start of a 14 day Adelaide-to-Darwin outback tour and we hiked up a big hill called Dutchmans Stern (so named, because the hill looks like the stern of a dutchmans boat), where you can get some great views of the Flinders Ranges. Bit of a cloudy day though.

Day 128 - Tues 14th July: South Australian Museum

After a couple of weeks offline, the blog is back!

Adelaide isn't the most happening of places, so went down to the museum to check out some history on aboriginal culture. The museum has a t-rex skeleton too. Raaaaargh!

Blog Updates...

...will happen one day soon. I haven't had much access to the internet lately (I was on an Outback tour) and the computer I'm on at the moment appears to have a nasty habit of wiping pics from memory cards. Luckily those lost were backed up; but I don't fancy taking my chances on the ones that haven't been backed up yet.

Day 127 - Mon 13th July: Adelaide by night

Mmmmm.....Adelaide's not proving to be the most inspirational place to take photos. This evening the hostel owner drove a few of us up to this cityscape lookout point.

Day 126 - Sun 12th July: Boroka Lookout, The Grampians

The weather was still pretty poor, but we thought we'd try one of the lookouts in the Grampians. Couldn't really see much because of the cloud and mist. You could say we 'mist' the views of the Grampians on this trip. Ho-ho-ho.

(Jim - I stole that pun from the old guy at the Hollywood sign when we went there in 2003)

Day 125 - Sat 11th July: The Grampians

The weather was shocking today as it was tipping it down all day. There was no chance of us getting out and having an explore of the Grampians area, so we settled down in the hostel to watch a couple of videos. We watched Spinal Tap. And turned it up to 11.

Day 124 - Fri 10th July: The Twelve Apostles

The jewel in the Great Ocean Road's crown - the Twelve Apostles, a series of limestone stacks slowly getting eroded away by the waves. I couldn't quite get the 'postcard' picture as the weather wasn't up to much today. Here's a pic of me with Yuval.

Day 123 - Thurs 9th July: Airleys Inlet, The Great Ocean Road

Another hire car, another road trip. I've hired a car with my friend Yuval and we're driving from Melbourne to Adelaide, taking in the Great Ocean Road along the way. Here's a pic of me by the light house at Airleys Inlet (yes Dad, it's a pic of me in front of the camera for a change!)

Day 122 - Weds 8th July: State Library of Victoria, Melbourne

Ned Kelly: bush ranger, folk hero, bank robber, outlaw and bushy beard grower. At the State Library of Victoria they have his famous bullet proof armour on show, which weighs in at 44kg.

Day 121 - Tues 7th July: Webb Bridge, Melbourne

Crazy bridge design down by the Docklands in Melbourne

Day 120 - Mon 6th July: Scienceworks Museum, Melbourne

The Scienceworks Museum has a special exhibition on at the moment which shows how some of the science fiction in Star Wars could becoming a reality in the near future (hover cars, robot limbs, etc). It also gives them an excuse to show off some props and costumes.

But the best fact I learnt today though was: Lance Armstrong has a heart 33% larger than the average man for his height. What a FACT!

Day 119 - Sun 5th July: Flinders Railway Station, Melbourne

I thought I'd pull out another Melbourne cliche picture....Flinders Railway Station again (see Day 108)... this time by night.

Day 118 - Sat 4th July: Finlay Alley, Melbourne

There's loads of good graffiti/street art around the side streets of Melbourne. The tourist info office can provide you with a guide to all the hot spots. This Hitchcock one was one of my favourites.

Day 117 - Fri 3rd July: NGV Ian Potter Centre, Melbourne

Look! It's me! In another reflection! In another gallery! (Well, they are free to go to)

Day 116 - Thurs 2nd July: Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania

I decided not to do the Short Round "strong wood" test on this bridge down at Cataract Gorge; the bridge was bouncing around enough just by walking on it.

Day 115 - Weds 1st July: Bay of Fires, Tasmania

Lonely Planet has named the Bay of Fires the world's hottest travel destination in 2009. It does look a load better in the sunshinen though: http://pinnacletimes.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/binalongbay01.jpg

Day 114 - Tues 30th June: Natureworld, Tasmania

Why is it, no matter where you go, there's always a queue for the ladies room?

Also at this park I saw some Tasmania Devils. They're quite excitable at feeding time.

Day 113 - Mon 29th June: Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park, Tasmania

Ridiculously picturesque coastlines in this national park - even on a winter's day

Day 112 - Sun 28th June: Mount Wellington, Hobart, Tasmania

Over the next few days I'm off on a mini adventure around the east coast of Tasmania. Another hire car, this time something a little more retro: this tasty turquoise Madza 121. It struggles slightly with hills - but gets there in the end. (Oh! And the views from the top of the 1250m mountain/hill were pretty good too - I was above the clouds!)

Day 111 - Sat 27th June: Salamanca Market, Hobart, Tasmania

The apparently world famous (mmm....I'd never heard of it) Saturday market, Salamanca Market in Hobart has loads of different nic-nacs for sale. This guy sells hand made salt'n'pepper shakers. He tried his sales pitch on me...it didn't work. I don't think he'd cut it with Sir Alan on The Apprentice.

Day 110 - Fri 26th June: Federation Square, Melbourne

More art from Melbourne - here's some lights in Federation Square, from a display called 'Volume'. Why 'Volume'? Well it plays some music too (see what they did there?).

Day 109 - Thurs 25th June: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Excitable and enthusiastic security guard + reflective art box thing = interesting photo?

Day 108 - Weds 24th June: Flinders Street Station, Melbourne

Here's one of Melbourne's architectural icons - the Flinders Street train station

Day 107 - Tue 23rd June: Melbourne, Victoria

Here's a pic from an expensive mirror and lighting shop in Melbourne. Upon reflection, I reckon it's a pretty good pic (and a bad pun).

Day 106 - Mon 22nd June: Phillip Island

Not much happening on Phillip Island today, so I went down to Woolami Beach for a little bit. Here's another surfing pic.