Singapore...

Singapore...the world's marketplace and the west's gateway to Asia

Parliament House with City Hall in the background (dome). It is hard to believe that this is such a small nation. Singapore is the second most densely populated country in the world after Monaco. It's population is 4 million and it is a true city-state. For those of you that do not know, Singapore is a small island at the very bottom of the Thai-Malay peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is also one degree above the equator, making the humidity here outrageous!

The famous Raffles Hotel. This old building is the temporary home to the most wealthy and luxurious travelers to Singapore...which is very evident by the car park in front: a circular ring of vehicles that all cost more than a large, American home. Raffles is also famous for inventing the Singapore Sling, a refreshing, mixed drink.

The Merlion...the lion is the symbol of the city. There is a plaque near here with a lovely story explaining how the merlion reresents how so many diferent people can come together on the island and prosper...which they have done quite well. Singapore is an extremely wealthy nation. The government is in control of almost everything, and the whole country is run like a corporation. The people suffer slightly from this in the area of personal freedoms, but from what I have seen so far, they don't mind at all and are quite happy. Last month, for instance, the government did quite well with its investing and was able to give a S$400 cheque to every Singaporean citizen...I wouldn't complain too much about that. Also, for Singapore's brightest minds, they can attend school wherever they want around the world totally cost free thanks to the government...only trick is that they have to work for the government for 6 years when they are done...but from what I heard, if you get this privelege, you are set to go and stick in there. Brilliant ideas like this one are direct results of having the nations most intelligent people working government jobs....how interesting is that?!? Singapore is also highly westernized...English is one of the four national languages and most people speak it fluently. Because of this, Singapore would make a great starting point for anyone that wants to see Asia, but is a little too intimidated by some of the massive cultural and language diferences.

Yet another example of the wealth and amount of money here in Singapore...this massive complex is just one of the many massive hotel complexes in the city, all of which cater to the thousands of international business travelers. Singapore was historically, and still remains a massive international market. Everywhere you go here, there are malls and shops and stores and restaurants and promenades...it is a massive consumer market of both international and domestic buyers and sellers.

Street in Chinatown. There are four primary districts in Singapore: CBD (central business district), Orchard St. (tons and tons of shopping...I cannot accurately describe just how much shopping there is on this one street...let alone all of the city), Chinatown (famous historically for its gambling, brothels, and opium houses), and Little India. It is possible to walk from area to area, and if it weren't for the oppressive humidity, walking the city would be an absolute joy!

Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown. This is the oldest Hindu national monument in Singapore. I love how complex it is with all the incarnations of gods.

Freo...

I love this place...

AFL (Aussie Football League) game at Subiaco Stadium, Perth. This is a rugged sport...it is kind of a hybrid of soccer and rugby, and for those of you familiar with Irish football, it is very similar to that. Like rugby, the players have no pads at all and they hit each other full force at high speeds. Like soccer, a team scores by getting the ball through posts at the opponents end of the field. I'm pretty sure there are 18 players on each side! Lots of guys out on the field, which is massive by the way. That '50' line in the picture is a 50 meter (almost the same as 50 yards) distance marker from the center of the posts...note that you cannot even make out the 50 line on the other end of the field. It's a highly entertaining game and I've been hooked on it! I'm going to have to subscribe to Fox Sports World so that I can catch the odd game when I get home!

High St, one of Freo's main drags. Along here, you can find a ton of little shops like second hand bookstores, art galleries, and even an army surplus place!

Yes, they have beaches too...just the icing on the cake and another reason why Freo is one of my new favorite places in the world! This was my fist glimpse of the Indian Ocean. The water was chilly but crystal clear!

Building at Freo's city center

This was Market St, aka Cafe Strip. The street was lined with cafe's and bistros and bakeries...sooooooooooo awesome. Freo is often related to a Mediterranean town...if thats the case then I need to go to the Mediterranean! In the background, right before the tower, is Freo's main market. Inside were shops with goods from all over the world, tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses, baked goods, and anything else you can think of too! I could easily be entertained all day just wandering the market and divulging in all the colors, smells, and tastes.

Beautiful B+B on one of the side streets between Market St. and Freo's massive park area. The courtyard behind the gate was amazing. I will definately stay there when I return later in life (later in life meaning earning more money, of course)

Yet another beautiful building in Freo...seriously, all the buildings in city center are like this...can anyone name the style???

This was actually taken in Alice, but it goes with the next two concerning Aussie skies

Sunset at the entrance to Fremantle Harbour

There is just something so different about the Australian sky...it seems so much bigger yet distant.

Perth, Fremantle and now...Singapore

Hey everybody, sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have had some trouble recently finding an internet place that will let me plug in my camera!

I'm currently in Singapore visiting a friend from uni, Rakhil. Rakhil is working here in Singapore now, and has been gracious enough to let me stay with him while I am here.

As for an update, I spent four days in Fremantle, which is a small city just outside of Perth on Australia's west coast. Fremantle was amazing; it is one of those places that just made me feel immediately at home. My first day there, I went to an Aussie rules football match to see the Fremantle (Freo) Dockers play against the Melbourne Kangaroos. Freo dominated the Kangaroos, which just heightened the atmosphere, since the locals really love their team.

Fremantle itself is a beautiful old port city. You will have to wait and see the pics of the buildings there, but the entire city center has streets lined with these short buildings made in this amazing Australian hybrid style. By hybrid, I mean that the buildings look like a combination of Victorian, Mediterranean and several other building styles. Anyway, the whole town is just stunningly beautiful and pleasant. The best part about it is the local lifestyle. They are right on the Indian Ocean, so there are beaches with this amazingly clear blue water; there are also tons and tons of cafes, bistros, used bookshops, art galleries, and various other really interesting shops. There are also two massive stall markets...genuine, local markets too. I wandered those for ages in the various shops...everything from a Tibetan goods store to a didgeridoo store that gives free lessons to anyone interested (and let me tell you those things are quite difficult to play). A lot of the people there lead this really bohemian lifestyle, which I love. It reminded me a lot of Boulde, Colorado; Fremantle is definately a place in which I could see myself living very happily.

Perth was nice too...I wandered around city center on one of my days there. However, my recommendation to anyone that goes there is this: Perth is worth checking out, but Fremantle is worth getting lost in.

So, when I get the chance to update with pictures, I will do so, and I will also write more about Singapore then. I'm learning a lot about this little island city-nation...and it is extremely interesting! More to come!

Oz's Red Centre

The famous Ghan railroad at my stop in Alice Springs, Australia. Alice is right in the heart of Australia...the Red Centre as it is called here. And red it is indeed....the very sand that makes up the outback here is a bright red that is just amazing seen in dunes against the blue sky. The next group of pics are devoted to the last 5 days here where I was one of a group on a camping tour through this amazing region to see several of its wonders. The camping was incredible too...being in such a hostile environment and sleeping in swags (thick canvas bags) under the outback stars was indescribable. I have some great stories but I cant tell them all on here...if you really want to know...ask me when I get back!

Uluru...what we westerners once named Ayers Rock...it has since been changed back to its original Aboriginal name...the one they called it for tens of thousands of years before westerners ever saw it.

Uluru as seen from the road. Check out those contrasting colors...you truly cant take your eyes away from it in person. Uluru is one solid rock...the world's largest monolith. It is over 300 m (1000 ft) high above the surrounding ground and plunges over 6km (3.5 miles) down underground!!! One rock...not a bunch of rocks piled up...ONE rock.

Valley leading to a watering hole. When it rains, the rock totally changes in that the thing is covered with waterfalls that run down all the grooves in the massive rock...supposedly it is just as beautiful as seeing it in full daylight.

Beyond words...

The rock face was broken in certain spots revealing a porous...almost marrow like... interior. It really is like the rock is a living being. This pic also shows the amazing contrast of colors with the red, yellow, and blue.

Looking up one of the sides. The rock looks like the skin of some massive alien being...it is red (redder than the pic shows) and mottled...sooooo cool and surreal.

Ok, get out the magnifying glass because there are people on the Rock in this shot...on the second to highest ridge on the left of the rock you will see a white splotch...that is a person. There are also some on the way up. Despite being highly disrespectful and offensive to the Aboriginal religion...some visitors still climb the monolith. It's kind of like going to Japan and peeing on a Shinto shrine....needless to say I didn't climb it. The 9.4 km (6 mi) walk around the base was good enough for me.

Moon over the outback near Uluru

Even though everyone offered to take a pic for me...I had to take my now patented arms length portrait shot!

I couldn't stop taking pictures of this thing...it holds you in a trance, as if temporarily hypnotized and sent to another plane of consciousness, when you see it in person and you just want to capture that for everyone else.

The Rock glows red in the setting sun's light... it is so easy to understand how this monolith is so sacred to the Aboriginees.

We got pretty lucky with a nice, almost-full moon rising just before sunset...over Uluru too :)

Clouds at sunset over the outback

Join this with the next pic for a total panoramic view of Kata Tjuta...the other massive formation that, along with Uluru, make up the national park. Kata Tjuta was called The Olgas for a while by westerners, but recently, like Uluru, its official name has gone back to what the Aboriginees have been calling it for thousands of years.

Allign this pic on the side of the last pic and that is all of Kata Tjuta...which translates to "Many heads" from the native tongue. There are 37 of the massive "heads" in all.

Uluru seen from Kata Tjuta (from almost 50 km = 30 mi away!!!)...and to think that that is ONE SOLID ROCK!!! Mind boggling...

The Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta. As Neisha (our guide) describes it, "It's like something from Jurassic Park...you just expect to see a dinosaur walking down there in the valley"

More of Kata Tjuta...the highest of the mounds is over 500 m (1500 ft) high above the surrounding flatland. Another neat thing about them is, unlike Uluru, the mounds are like a cement in that they are formed from a bunch of smaller stones and sand that has been mixed up and dried. Looking at them up close you can see this hetergeneous mixture...and credit for this beautiful bit of nature can be given yet again to glaciers and their recession at the end of the last ice age...THANK YOU GLACIERS!!! Oh yea, and like Uluru, these masses go down 6 km (more than 3.5 miles) down into the earth!

This is the valley in the middle of Kata Tjuta, so standing here, one is totally surrounded by the massive red mounds. This is a very sacred spot for the Aboriginee men, and fortunately, unlike Uluru, it is no longer legal for visitors to climb the mounds.

How cool is this...so I have gone on a bit about how the blue sky, the red rocks and sand, and the yellow grass all contrast so amazingly well (better than the pics can show of course)...but around Kata Tjuta, you can even find rocks with all three of these colors in them!!! The red is expected, but yellow and blue...thats just unreal!!! Aboriginees in the area traded these rocks for use as chalk in rock paintings, and these rocks have been found at sites all over the continent even though the yellows and blues can only be found in Kata Tjuta...wild.

Me on the rock overhang lookout point at King's Canyon. This was the last day of the tour, and it was just as amazing as the other two! I wasn't expecting too much, but I was blown away by the landscape and scenery on this hike! In the middle is this fertile area where the water is protected from the sun by the veritcal canyon walls on either side. We went swimming in a water hole along the way...it was freezing but still a lot of fun! The whole day was just amazing and a great end to our tour. I made some great new friends on this 3 days of camping and hiking, and it was quite sad to see them go. We had a great time!

Looking back from the top of the canyon...those white dots in the top center are the various tour BUSSES!!! Just for a sense of scale of course.

Our awesome tour guide, Neisha, laying out on the rock overhang...a foot thick slice of rock hangoing out over about 1000 ft of air above the bottom of the canyon! It was so cool!!!

The crazy landscape of King's Canyon. All of these domes were formed from what was once a solid plane of sand...neat eh!?

Looking at the rock face across the canyon...note the size of the people in the tour group on the other side....yea...its big and there is absolutely nothing stopping you from plunging over the 300+ meter cliffs...and the ever present wind is a constant reminder of that too!

Some more of the crazy landscape of King's Canyon. It stretches as far as the eye can see with those little dome mounds of layered sandstone. As with many of the other places I have seen in the last few days, it is like being on an alien planet!

Oz's king brown snake, or mulga snake. One of the top five most deadly snakes in the world of course and found all over Oz. These guys can get up to 3 m (9 ft) long and are able to stand up to the height of most humans...that would be a nice little suprise to come across in the outback eh?? Fortunately, here, at the Alice Springs Reptile Center, I found out that most of Australia's deadly snakes have very small fangs! Long pants such as jeans often can save your life from the serpents deadly venom! One of the reasons that so many die from snake bites in Oz is because of the remoteness of most bites...but the crafty Aussies have come up with a solution: the Royal Flying Doctors...Dr's that can reach anywhere in the country by flying planes!!! Really cool (and great to know). Also good to know, right now most of the snakes in the country have gone into hibernation! That is why we didn't see any on our stay in the outback (thank you God). I did enjoy the various deadly specimens at the center though.

The Taipan: what snake experts reckon to be the most deadly snake in the world. They of course, are found in Oz as well.

A thorny devil. These lizards were incredible, and despite their name, they are really pleasant and timid. They are really really thorny though.

Me holding little Frank at the Kangaroo Rescue Center in Alice Springs. The amazing owner rescues kangaroo babies (joeys) from mothers that have been killed by cars and trucks on the highways. The joeys are often left alive inside the mother's pouch to starve, or sometimes worse, eaten alive by carrion birds. Many people in Australia nurse these kind of joeys back and then raise them to be released back into the bush. Amazing people...but I see the benefits. The kangaroos are soooooooo nice and as you can see, adorable beyond reason. Frank here is using his tail as a pacifier...how cute is that?!?! They are kept in sacks that work like the mother's pouch. Visitors to Alice can come in and see them at the rescue center. I'm addicted and will be returning every night that I have left here. I will also never eat kangaroo again either.

The three little guys get to hop around to stretch (and scratch) themselves every once in a while. I don't blame them after being in the "pouch" for hours on end...but when it was time to get back in they were very happy to do so (for the warmth mostly...or maybe just the lounging)...and it was about the cutest thing in the world; the owner holds the bag open at his knees...the joeys put their arms in and bend over, then they do this little summersault into the bag! It was adorable.

The Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road

This rainbow was ginormous (gigantic + enormous = freaking huge)

A nice ocean inlet at the start of the Road: a small surfer's mecca called Torquay.

To get any real appreciation for most of the pictures in this blog...I suggest copying and pasting in order to view the full screen image...these are just way too small otherwise.

It is quite funny that they need to add the "in Australia" at the bottom...the signs were a comforting reminder though

It was slow driving with so many amazing views just around the bend.

The trusty little rental car showing some of the amazing scenery...all from the road too as I didn't have enough time to venture to far from it on foot. Check out the sweet license plate letters too...

Pictures do so little justice...

A nice view that doesn't have the ocean in it. This was still taken from just beside the road though.

There is a large part of the road that goes through a heavily forested area...really pretty as well. I didn't have time for it (I want to come back later in life with about 5 days to devote specifically to this amazing stretch of highway)...but there are some short hikes you can do away from the road to a variety of waterfalls and other spectacular sights...I need to come back with more time. I barely even got a glimpse of the amazing towns that the road goes through...each had what looked like to be incredibly nice b+b's and guesthouses as well...I won't even mention how good the surf was.

The best part is...those signs are serious.

The beginning of the Shipwreck Coast; over 80 ships have been lost in this stretch of cliff-lined jagged coast.

The Twelve Apostles rock formations. It was quite dramatic seeing them on such a dreary day...and it really sunk in the feeling of the Shipwreck Coast (no pun intended)...but what these must be like when the sun is shining bringing out the contrast of the yellows and reds in the cliffs to the bright blue of the water must be beyond words.

This bit jutting out will eventually become another apostle. The ocean will continue to hammer away at the rocks and an arch will be formed beginning to separate the tower from the main cliff...then at some point the arch will collapse totally disconnecting the tower from the mainland. You can't make it out here...but if you zoom in on this you will see a small black spec in the center of the soon to be apostle (out at the end of the jutting out part). This is a person.

Scale shot: those tiny black dots at the top center of the cliff seen in the picture are people. These cliffs and towers are hundreds of feet tall.

The Blowhole. Cool story: so this is another location along the Shipwreck coast. When the Loch Ard (a ship) sank (a long time ago)...11 bodies got pulled into the tunnel that connects the ocean to the Blowhole (dark spot in back)...the bodies stayed down in there as they could not be pulled out due to the violence of the turbulent water within. The eerie part...at night the Blowhole actually glowed purple after the wreck because of phosphorous flares that were also trapped inside. Wouldn't that be terrifying to see at night...11 bodies being slammed by the waves in this eerily glowing pit where the ocean's power was focussed and unleashed sending huge spouts of water and foam up the hundred or so odd feet to where one was standing...I thought that was an awesome story.

Just another beautiful seascape...

Near Torquay...the surf coast.

Fitzroy and the Melbourne Museum

The Melbourne suberb of Fitzroy and its Brunswick St. This is the artistic and bohemian (aka hippy) area of Melbourne, and I loved it! There are tons of book shops, which are supposedly just as popular on a Friday night as the multitude of bars on this street...and all are open late! The street also is home to a great many stores that specialize in weird and unique things. This is also a great place to get some great cheap food! The university is nearby so it is also a prime hang out area for students. Really, really cool street...and the reason it is so cool is because it quite honestly isn't trying to be that way!!! It just is what it is.

Another pic that needs some zooming in to understand, but that big red banner reads "Totally Weird Shit!"...I thought it was quite funny...almost as funny as the next pics subject...

A popular ice cream treat here in Oz...it's ok to laugh...that is just outright hillarious.

The Melbourne Museum...easily one of the best museums I have ever been to. They had four huge exhibits dealing with Science and Life, Australiana, Aboriginal Peoples and Culture, and The Human Body...there was also a massive forest INSIDE...and a blue whale skeleton...incredible place.

Eastern grey kangaroo shown on its hind legs...this thing was tall...taller than me. Now I know a lot of you are saying...well taller than Drew really isn't saying much...and I say, '[*expletive deleted*]!!!' ;) But honestly, this thing was tall. This is also the type of kangaroo I got to see hopping along by the train on the way to Adelaide from Sydney.

Some of Oz's venemous snakes. Nature didn't mess around when it got to Australia. Of the world's top 25 most deadly snakes, 20 of them call this country home! The biggest one in the picture here (remember that that is about a foot behind glass and perspective is making my finger look a lot, lot bigger than it really is) is the King Brown snake and is quite feared in the outback. Supposedly, if you get bitten by one of these and you are more than a half an hour away from anti-venom then you are just supposed to sit back, relax, and start writing your final goodbye and will...fun eh?!?

This is no trick of the camera ladies and gentlemen...and those are real dead animals in there too. You are seeing it correctly...that crab is much much larger than that penguin (which stands just under two feet tall). Missy, this is the crab species that I told you about...it is a Tasmanian crab...and it is absolutely massive...I saw one of these alive at the Sydney Aquarium...they really are that big. You could make a great meal from just one of those claws...

This was their LIVE specimen of the Huntsman spider. This is commonly found crawling around in Aussie households...wouldn't that be a lovely surprise. Good news is that they are harmless to human beings (other than the odd heart attack victim). The spiders to really watch out for are the Redback (a much larger version of the Black Widow) and the stars of the next picture...

This was one of my favorite parts of the Science and Nature gallery...Australian Funnel Web spiders...arguably the most nasty and deadly form of spider on the planet...and a pretty common beastie in the Sydney area! Their venom is extremely dangerous to humans, and they have two massive fangs that are so long and so powerful that they can pierce a leather boot!!! If you look closely at this picture you can see the fang pouches as the two largest things on the spiders "head". The museum had tons of dead specimens and several live as well!!! I have some demented interest in this particular form of spider so I was just in spider heaven!

Beetle anybody??? Some of their static insect displays were done up in neat patterns like this...I'm telling you this museum was amazing. They even had one of the very rare giant squid specimens! Another part of the insect world exhibit consisted of entirely live ant colonies. One of them had a big plastic bubble that allowed you to stick your head up and INTO the middle of the colony...another was a colony of Australian bull ants...these nasty creatures are about and inch long, have mandibles that can draw blood with one bite and a stinger with a venom that can cause temporary paralysis in a limb....once again proof that nature meant some serious business when coming up with Australian creatures.

In addition to the native Aussie spiders, the museum also had several large tarantulas...but don't worry folks...these spiders seen here with my hand are really just the shed skins of the live tarantulas. That is actually a bit scarier considering the the live ones were even bigger now. They had tarantula species from all over the world that had been confiscated at the border! Smugglers were trying to get the spiders into the country to sell as pets...and they got caught...and the museum got some live spiders, which are kept in a specially quarantined area since they are not native species.

One of the four main exhibits was on Australia's Aboriginal peoples. I love their artwork almost as much as their music. This is just one of the many works I saw on showcase.

The museum also had a huge exhibit on the human body. This was an interesting work of art showing a bunch of pictures of the human heart put together into the shape of a heart...gory but cool.

City of Melbourne, Australia

This one needs some blowing up too to really appreciate that I was trying to get the building in the middle (with Melbourne written all over it) as the intro to this next post. anyway, here I am in Melbourne. I have met up with my Aunt Susan, who is here on business. She has been incredibly nice enough to let me stay with her in the Grand Hyatt Hotel. After hopping from dorm to dorm for the last month and a half, this is a HUGE relief and has totally recharged my batteries! That may be one of the reasons why I have taken such a keen liking to this city after my first day of walking around...but who knows! The city has really appealed ot my taste and I really like it so far! Anyway, hopefully my excitement comes out in this post...Melbourne seems to be an amazingly beautiful and truly unique city! And thanks again Aunt Susan for letting me stay with you and everything else...meeting up with you and being here in Melbourne has already become one of the highlights of my trip!!!

One of the many amazing buildings in Melbourne. The city has combined very old, European- style buildings with those that are very modern and unique as well. The city designers have done it in a flawless way though that appears so natural. Its really hard to describe, but it is such a cool feeling to have such incredibly different styles together everywhere you look.

This was in this beautiful (and much bigger; it is the upper level to the square seen in the first picture of this post) square down from city center, close the river. The bricks on the ground had an incredible pattern to their colors (which of course didnt turn up in the pic) and the crazy looking building in the background is just a small part of an even bigger and crazier looking building out of picture to the left. There was also a park behind the square (see ferris wheel and trees), a huge video screen showing live views of the square itself (the kids just loved dancing around and watching themselves in it), and a massive underground information center (with amazingly helpful and resourceful staff). This city is really amazing...its uniqueness, individuality, daring, and inginuity have defined a whole new standard for what I will now hope to find in other cities.

Ok, this is another one that takes some zooming in...or you can just take my word for it. So Burger King....first off, I'd like to point out that it is an English company (from England that is), not American...which was news to me. Secondly, I have so far seen them in England (of course), Fiji (yes...and McDonalds too...so sad), and New Zealand. Strange thing is, that when I get here to Australia, I see the ever familiar Burger King "burger sign," but instead of reading Burger King, it reads Hungry Jacks. Why Hungry Jacks and not Burger King?? I do not know, but supposedly it only goes by that name here in Aus...weird, but true. So yea...just wanted to throw that random bit in there.

Some of the awesome architecture lining the Bourke St. Mall. Bourke St. has some of Melbournes best shopping and is a pedestrian and trolley only street...kinda cool I must say. Any shopaholics beware...Melbourne is a dangerous city for people like you, for your bank accounts that is.

A little pedestrian-only side street (just off of the mall) with a ton of cafes and quirky shops...these yet another reason why Melbourne is such an awesome city. Melbourne is famous for its cafe lifestyle. People watching here over a cup of coffee is practically a way of life. So after the market (see further down), I decided I needed a...

coffee break: some time to reorient and plan for the rest of the day using the Rough Guide.
Oh and the coffee was really, really good too.

Inside the Queen Victoria Marketplace. I spent the first half of my day wandering the endless rows of merchant's stalls in this massive market. It is only open Tues, Thurs, and weekends, but easily holds some of the best bargains I have found in Oz (Australia) yet. It is part flea market, part food market, part clothing outlet, part art show. The place is huge and the prices are great! It is a bargain hunters form of heaven for sure. Even I got into the shopping mood, which for me is quite rare!

View from the Hyatt (Aunt Susan thank you soooooooooo much again...you are amazing). That is Melbourne's Yatta River with some of the sporting arenas to the left. On the far left, you can just make out the lights of the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Grounds), which is the local stadium for major sporting events such as cricket, Aussie rules football, and my favorite, rugby. I'm hoping to possibly catch an Aussie rules game there Friday night...no guarantees yet, but we shall see.

Ok, so hopefully at this point you are saying to yourself, right I don't quite think that is in Melbourne. If you are (please, please I hope you are), then you are very correct. These were some pictures taken from my 37+ hours of train rides between Sydney and Melbourne. This was taken between Sydney and Broken Hill (an Outback town)...please see a map for location as I am too lazy at the moment to put one up. Anyway, so this just shows the vast, surreal, and very dreamlike state of the Australian Outback. And supposedly, this is nothing yet. My trip to Alice Springs, dead smack in the middle of Oz, will reveal even more of this vast, flat, dry landscape to me. The only real way to describe it is like something out of some amazingly surreal dream. What really does it are the ways that the blue of the sky contrasts with the reds and reddish browns of the earth and also, how the clouds are at such low altitudes. You really must see it to understand; as always, pictures = no justice to the real thing. High note, I also saw my first wild kangaroos and emu...about a dozen, hopping (as opposed to the lazily lounging, zoo form) kangaroos and one lone emu from the train! It was awesome, but I couldn't snap a shot as they were in the distance and we went by too quickly.

One of the few...but surprisingly there were quite a few... houses in the middle of knowhere in the Outback. What, other than extreme isolation in the middle of a desert, these people are looking for by living here...I cannot say. It is so wild; there are these lonely dirt roads leading off beyond the horizon to who knows what kind of Outback town, which must serve as the only lifelink to these people for food, water, gas (because without a vehicle of some sort, there is no way these people could survive, and we all know vehicles need gas), and lets not forget medical assistance. I would LOVE to meet someone that lives out in one of these places to ask a few important questions such as: what do you do for a living? do you get very lonely? what do you do for social interaction? what do you eat? what do you do for entertainment? My mind has already come up with several answers to each question (I mean come on, with thousands and millions of acres of desert, it's easy to think of some things to do right?!?), but I would love to hear some real answers from someone who really lives out there...as I said, wild.