Tropical Flowers

Frangipani is blooming here in the Top End of Australia.  They grow to about 5 to 6 meter high and don't burn unless there is extreme heat.  The most common colour is white with yellow centre.

The second photo I have no idea what flower it is.  Both photos were taken at Government House in Darwin.

Termite Mound, Litchfield NP, NT.

We went to Litchfield National Park (NT) on Wednesday where it was 35 deg C and that's the Winter temperature here in the Top End of Australia.

The park is about 350kms from Darwin, round trip. There is one shop/cafe only within the large park, so we had lunch at the Cafe, and not one rubbish bin in site with many people.

Our first important 'thing' to see was the Termite Mounds (more photos when home) there are thousands if not more up this way.

Yes, that's me. Swollen feet and ankles in the heat...yes had plenty to drink! Water that is :)

You can read on the photo below a little regarding the Mound.

Longest Fence!

Here in Australia there is a long fence.
The fence was built during the 1880s and finished in 1885.  Now this fence is the longest in the World!

The fence stretches 5,614 kms (3,488 mile) through thousands of kms of arid land.

Main reason for having this ever so long fence is to keep the dingoes out of the fertile land of our continent to protect the sheep in many areas.  This has been partly successful, though dingoes can still be found in parts of the southern states of Australia.

We visited this fence at Coober Pedy where it's very arid.

The Jigger!

To get away from photos of travelling our journey, it's something different this time.

We bought a Wi-Fi 'thing' called Telstra 4G My Pocket WI-FI Lite which connects up to 10 Wi-Fi Devices. It's Pre-Paid, and I bought $140.00 worth of credit with 16GB of data for 2 years.  After I had it activated yesterday I discovered there was a bonus of 4GB to be used within a month....so happy surfing the Internet for us for the next month for free.

We both love the Internet and technology plus what we can learn and read.

We have many TV channels here in Darwin but not much on the blessed thing.  So a change from reading and crocheting, the Internet is always welcome in the evening time.

Camping near Uluru, NT

We are now currently in a lovely Caravan Park in Darwin, called The Top End, The Tropics of Australia. 
The winter temperature is 30 deg C most days, sometimes a little higher.
So far we have travelled 5,000 kms from home.

So way back down the highway I'm showing two photos of how barren the country is on the way to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and back to the main highway, the Stuart Highway.
More photos in the future.

There were a few cattle along the way but not much for them to feed on.  We saw about 5 dead bulls on the side of the road due to road kill along this stretch of Highway, the Lasseter.  Many of the properties (Stations) have no fences as the properties themselves are very large.  Read below.

The above is a large paddock belonging to Curtain Springs Station, a working property approximately 100 kms from Uluru - Ayres Rock.  In this paddock a lot of caravans park, tents are erected for a free campsite.  There is no water or power to this paddock. There are showers and toilets and washing machines.  The washing machines one has to pay to use, the remainder is free.

There is a Shop, a Hotel (Pub), a Restaurant plus fuel. Accommodation if available.
Curtain Springs Station has over 4,000 head of cattle and is over 1 million acres in size.
Some statistics of the property.
1,608 Square Miles
1,028,960 Acres
4,164 Square Kilometres
416,410 Hectares
or 100km long x 40km wide

No houses on the way or towns.  There is another Caravan Park back on the Highway at Erldunda 150kms away.  Of course there is a Caravan Park at Uluru but it's always full unless you book well in advance.

The closest town to Curtain Springs Station is Alice Springs, just 360 kms south.

Airstrip

In between Glendambo and Coober Pedy there is an Airstrip in the middle of the road.  250 klm of no phone but emergency phone in two rest areas between the two towns.

The terrain is 'Saltbush' a few sheep can be seen, but they are scarce as hens teeth :) also about three Stations and the Homesteads with most of them 50klms from the Highway.  The people that live in the Homesteads, live in the middle of nowhere.  It takes special people to live and farm in such areas.

The photos taken with my phone of the Airstrip in the middle of the road.

Water at Coober Pedy, SA

Coober Pedy is a unique place about 840 odd klms north of Adelaide in the State South Australia.
The town is known for it's opals plus underground living.
We stayed at Coober Pedy for a couple of nights therefore giving us enough time to tour the town.
The Breakaways are situated some distance from the town and it's there in that area that Mad Max 3 was made.  More on the Breakaways and Coober Pedy when I get home.

Water is scarce in many areas of Australia and at Coober Pedy the caravan parks have no water, only drinking water, so it's good to be self sufficient and carry your own.
On leaving the town we filled up with water as one does with petrol or diesel.  The cost is 20c for 30 litres of water.
There are 4 hoses connected to two pumps.  The photo below is a photo of them.

Port Augusta, SA

Back down in Port Augusta there were some Gahahs who were very tame enabling me to get close to take their photo as they fed.

Where the sails are is the supermarket in Port Augusta, SA

The bridge that joins south Port Augusta to North Port Augusta.

At the Alice!

Today we arrived at Alice Springs which is about the middle of Australia.  We have done about 3,500 klm at this point.

We haven't had a phone signal for several days, only at some towns, nor have we had water apart from what we carry ourselves.  Water at Coober Pedy was 20C for 30 litres, and you line up in a que to get water from the pumps just like you do for diesel/gas...feels odd having to do that.

Last two days we spent near Uluru here in the Northern Territory, and was fortunate enough to see the sunset on the 'Rock'.  We estimated there were about 500 people there doing the same thing.

Below is one of my photos of Uluru at sunset last night...

Where we will travel with Distances!

The first map with distance is from Lauceston in Tasmania, Australia to where it says on the top of the map.  These are the places we are going to and of course more kms and miles will be done.  It's estimated we will do approximately 14,000 kms about 9,000 miles.

The last map of Australia in full showing our travel path.
Please read carefully and if needed click on the image to make it larger. 

Above - Launceston, Tasmania to Glendambo in South Australia (SA)

Above -  Launceston, Tasmania to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the Northern Territory (NT)

Uluru (Ayers Rock) to Darwin NT

It's in Darwin we will stay for a week of two.

Darwin in the NT to Broome in Western Australia (WA)

Broome to Port Hedland WA

Port Augusta to Hamelin Bay WA

Port Augusta WA to Marion Bay SA

Marion Bay SA to Lauceston, Tasmania.

The black is where we are going.

Distance from New York to Los Angleas

How far We have come/Distance in Australia

I have included maps of where we are now in kms/miles.  Next post will be the distances we are travelling with maps.

Australia is a large country, Australia fits into America, just amazing!  Most of Europe fits into Australia so that gives you some idea.  I did a post in 2014 which I am doing again.  This is to help those who are following where my husband and I are travelling in Australia.

Please read carefully!   Thank you - Margaret.

Size!

Australia consists of two land masses: mainland Australia and Tasmania. It lies on and extends south from the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere between latitudes 10°41' and 43°39'S and longitudes 113°9' and 153°39'E.

It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Indian Ocean to the west, the Afarura Sea to the north, and the Southern Ocean to the south.

The nearest neighbour is Papua New Guinea, 200 kilometres to the north. Timor Leste is 640 kilometres to the north west, New Zealand is 1920 kilometres east, and Antartica is 2000 kilometres due south.

Area

The area of Australia is 7 682300 square kilometres. Australia is about the size of the mainland United States excluding Alaska, and approximately 24 times the size of the Brittish Isles.

Distances

Mainland east to west, 3983 kilometres, north to south, 3138 kilometres. Coastline including Tasmania and off-sure islands, 36,735 kilometres.

There are many sites on the internet showing maps and comparisons from other countries to Australia. I hope the ones I chose are correct or near enough!

 The first map is how Europe first into Australia.

Second map is how Australia fits into the USA.