FIRST RTW TRIP - PART II

AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 1992

The pictures are not a great deal, as most of the investment was made on the video recordings. It's particularly a pity that there are no photos of the Great Barrier Reef, as well as from Cairns. The Great Barrier Reef is undisputed as one of the world's most important natural assets. It is the largest natural feature on earth stretching more than 2,300km along the northeast coast of Australia from the northern tip of Queensland to just north of Bundaberg. An unsurpassed beauty.


"PORT DOUGLAS - Depart for the Great Barrier Reef"


"WINDY - The catamaran runs very very fast..."


"BACK FROM A DAY AT THE REEF - It was the first time we were snorkelling. After what we have seen there, no other snorkelling area we've been to is comparable"



"THE OLGAS - The Olgas (36 individual domes, the tallest - Mt. Olga - being 200m higher than Uluru - that is - 546m) are located 48 km from Ayres Rock, and 30 Km from Uluru. Their Aboriginal language name is Kata Tjuta which means the place of many heads. There are two walks that you can take around the Olgas. The Valley of the Winds Walk - photos - is a 7km track that circles several of the Olgas"


"REST - The eat and the walk justifies the pause"


"THE OLGAS - The other walk is the Olga Gorge"


ULURU - Uluru is set within the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and holds deep Aboriginal significance to the Anangu people. Many stories are told as you wander around the base, where you can find numerous Aboriginal paintings, along with descriptive boards explaining the paintings. Some areas of the rock are sacred. Read Chatwin's «The Songlines»"



"ULURU SUNSET - The rock changes colours, an amazing experience"


"SHERATON AYERS ROCK - Built in the early 80's by Sheraton (it seems it was sold later to the company that now owns all the hotels), was renamed Sails in the Desert. It had (and keeps) a large outdoor swimming pool; when we stayed, there were eleven people at the pool; nine were Portuguese... No wonder, people of navigators, travellers!"