Dear friends be warned. We have pictures of rock.
Below is just a selection.
I should be pleased to show all 200 to anyone who asks!
We arrived on Sunday at noon and went to see the sunset. We had a wonderful sky, but the recent rain had washed all the dust out of the atmosphere and so we did not have the lurid reds you sometimes see.
This skink made advances to Jo, got half way to her knee! He's about 3 inches nose to tail.
Wildlife here is well hidden, we have not seen anything beyond the odd bird....to hot to show itself?
Then arising the next morning, today is now Monday 4th, at 0430 to catch the van at 0530 to drive to Uluru to catch the sunrise at 0645!!! We circumnavigated the rock on foot,12 km, not a bad Walkabout!
The predawn glow.
My long shadow attests to the early hour.
The warm dawn glows on the rock. We were too close to see the whole rock in one image.
For those interested, it is a sandstone strata bent into the vertical position. The erosion patterns reminded us of those we see on the Gulf Islands.
Some places on the rock are held special by the local natives and you are asked to refrain from photographing them. This is not one of them!
As I said I have many more .....just ask.
My goodness, it rains here too!
Everyone had gone back to work and we had Pat's beach place to ourselves....and the weather changes. It really bucketed down. Windows were streaming.
But in the afternoon, things returned to normal.
To the few who might be interested in pictures from Australia.
We went to an "Open Garden" at the home of a former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser. It started at 1000, we were there at 1030, and the line of cars stretched for a kilometre.
Looking at other peoples places is called 'sticky beaking'!
The flower children, my sister Pat and Jo.
The modern gardener has no need to remember plant names when she has a smart phone.
Later at lunch we find the magpies' begging for food a little too persistent, a bit like a scene from "The Birds"
Melbourne Symphony holds outdoor concerts in the summer, in the botanical gardens. You have to arrive early, 1700 to get a good place for your picnic and the concert at 1900. Best of all you can have a spot of wine with the picnic.
Can you spot us?
There we are.
To the east of Melbourne we visited the Blue Water Lotus Garden, a nursery for water plants and a show garden for water lilies and lotus'.
The weather to date has been very hot generally. The natives remark on how wonderful it is for the time of year, but to us 35 degrees is hot!
This is the bay side of the Mornington Peninsula.
They have sirens here too!
We have seen some wildlife. A possum!
We believe this to be a White Footed Dunnart, or perhaps a mouse! About 2 inches long in the body.
There have been stunning sunsets.......
Until today, Feb 26. It has started to rain!!! At least we are free of the fear of fire, the landscape was very very dry and there was smoke in the air a week ago from fires out in the country.
