Australia 2

Melbourne or at least the centre of the city is in the process of being re-developed - when finished it will be even more attractive than it is now with very modernistic architecture such as the footpath over the railway station. This leads to the very flash Telstra Dome sports complex.

We were determined to get the most out of our trip and paid a little extra to fly to Darwin via Alice Springs where we landed on a brilliant day in a comfortable temperature.
Our flight to Alice took us right up the red middle of central West Australia and the views from the plane were awesome
The vast open space is broken by lonely outback tracks (roads), by dried up rivers and enormous lakes - some with water including Lake Eyre and some just dried salt pans. We could also see what appeared to be folds in the earth like wrinkles which were probably small hills.

From Darwin airport we took a shuttle to the pre-booked Luma Luma hotel. The hotel is in the middle of town making it possible to walk to most places although a low cost shuttle service was always available.
I had been to Darwin in the early 1950's whilst serving on a New Zealand Cruiser (warship) and at that time it was a very small settlement still recovering from being bombed by the Japanese navy during the 2nd world war.

Since then it has been destroyed by Cyclone Tracy and re-built making it a very pleasant modern city and it is obvious that its future probably lies in the tourist industry. There are a number of high rise hotels and apartment buildings either completed or near completion. It is spread out with beautiful parks and gardens making for pleasant "people friendly" places to enjoy. It faces the Timor Sea with East Timor and Indonesia only a stones throw away.
We visited and enjoyed the pearling exhibition and the tiny struggling war museum as well as most other places of interest. Our stay was very enjoyable and we would happily return for another visit.

May 3rd was the day we collected our campervan and "took off" on our big adventure and very long drive. We were very relaxed and ready to try out the campervan taking turns to drive. We soon discovered that driving comfort was not going to be a problem - the cockpit was equipped with 2 armchairs and handling the vehicle was a breeze for both of us.

The vehicle was equipped with all the comforts of home and the cockpit air - conditioning was soon being appreciated as the outside temperature was up in the 30's.