A Joey Good Time

January always seems like such a long month.  Winter settles in, making herself at home.  Morning light arrives late and evening's dark comes far too early.  I wish the days could remain long with light, but I guess Mother Nature needs to rest in this part of the world as she works hard in the Southern Hemisphere.

 It's hot hot hot in Australia now.  I'm glad we visited in their late spring.  

I thought I'd post some random images of folks enjoying the outdoors. 

I know we sure did!

The next 7 images were captured on 

various bike trips from the University to the 

Indian Ocean and then down to

Fremantle, 

about a 9 mile bike ride one way.

The little building below sits in the Swan River.  

I'm unsure of its purpose, but there were always people stopping 

to be photographed on its boardwalk.

I might have mentioned that our trip to the Outback produced very few sightings of kangaroos.  

We were told if we wanted to see kangaroos, 

we should go to Pinaroo Valley Memorial Park, 

a well kept cemetery with lush grounds and gardens.  

Well, we were not disappointed!

There were dozens and dozens and dozens of 'roos' and their 'joeys' hanging out.

Or in some cases, 

wanting to get out of the paparazzi's sight.

But there is always one in the crowd

who wants to be a star!

Love those 'roos'!

Later, my friends.

(And we're halfway through January!)

Outback camels and roos, oh my

A visit to Australia must include a visit to the Outback.  Of course, when we spoke of going to the Outback, locals chuckled at us and asked exactly WHERE in the Outback since the Outback refers to any area outside of urban areas.  Specifically, we were headed to the barren Northern Territory of Alice Springs where we rented a car and drove for 6 hours to Ayers Rock to view the local Aborigines' sacred rock, Uluru, and the Olgas, two major sandstone rock formations rising above the landscape.

When we rented our car, we took out extra insurance.  Apparently, many kangaroos are hit along the stretch of  highway to Ayers Rock and can cause much damage to a car.  So when the below 'roo' bounded across the highway in front of us, we became even more cautious during our drive.  It must have been a common crossing for the 'roos' based on the tire tread marks on the highway at that point.

Another fascinating fact was that Australia is the only country where there are feral herds of camels!  I never associated camels with Australia but apparently they were brought over back in the late 1800's for transport across Australia and now total more than a million.

 Needless, to say, it was fascinating to see them grazing along the highway during our drive.  They too were a bit curious of us as we stopped to capture their image, but soon went back to grazing.

Below are some images from the area that include Mount Connor, Uluru and the Olgas.  Of course, I had to include a bird.  I miss my backyard birdies!

Hope you enjoyed.  Coming up ... Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef.

Later, my friends,