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In the Outback!

We are flying over a barren red swirling landscape on our way to Alice Springs almost in the middle of the Australian continent.  It is odd when I see a rainbow below and only one lone dirt road with an occasional crimson tendril snaking off.  I don’t see asphalt almost until we land! Officially, we are in South Australia Northern Territory, but everyone calls it the Northern Territory.  When Australia was divided into states, the NT was given its own time zone…1/2 hour behind the eastern part of the country!  Some said this was to give cricket players an extra half hour of daylight to play. Alice Springs airport is the largest in land mass in Australia.  During COVID, it was covered with parked aircraft.  Airlines sent fleets here since the isolation made it inexpensive and the dry environment wasn’t damaging to the planes. 30,000 people currently live in Alice Springs.  In 1970’s, the US took advantage of this  landlocked city to build a l...
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A Spiritual Moment!

“Palya”! Or… Welcome, and it’s another busy day in Australia with an early wake up alarm again at 5:00 AM.  We are heading for sunrise at Uluru, the heart of Australia! This 11,000’ red sandstone tower, taller than the Eiffel Tower or the Sears Tower in Chicago, a World Heritage and UNESCO site, towers above the desert floor commanding your view and respect.  A sacred place and also the site for their Creation Story multiple ceremonies are conducted here for aboriginal men, women, and young children. We see the pink and orange glow of impending sunrise as we near Uluru.  It stands quietly sentinel…waiting…as I walk to the lowest viewing area.  I want to see Uluru from the bottom looking up among the shrubs and grasses as generations of people have done before me.  I want to be still…and just be. It is difficult to explain how I felt or even write about it.  It was a spiritual moment, and even though I have loved every moment and adventure of this tr...
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Australia…Here I Come!

I am finally awake after 34 hours of travel spent either in the air or in airports.   According to the clock, it’s been 48 hrs, but there is the 14 hr time difference between home and Melbourne.   It’s difficult to write coherent sentences with the comatose feeling of jet lag.   Here are my thoughts so far… Michael & Kaitlyn downloaded an app for me called “Timeshifter” which they used to deal with jet lag on their honeymoon to Thailand.  It tells me when to sleep, when to use caffeine, when to nap, and when to be in bright sunlight.  The science sounds good but sometimes it’s difficult to implement.  I’m suppose to be napping, but babies are crying on the plane in stereo, I lost my eye mask on the first of three flights and a replacement in Fiji was $45 US….I didn’t buy it!…and bright sunlight without using sunglasses hurts my cataract afflicted eyesight!  I’m trying though, and after 11 hrs of sleep last night…too much according to Timeshifte...
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