Little White Rock Reserve

POF (Plenty of Fish) update: I actually found someone who sounds pretty cool. We will see. Haven't meet him in person yet. His profile says he is into: boats, bikes, planes, beach, ocean. He says he has done all the things that my profile talks about except for playing the flute. So, that must mean he scuba dives! He wanted to take me on a ride on his Harley up to Mt Mee over the weekend, but, I suggested we just meet for coffee next week, first. before planning to ride off into the sunset. Will let you know how it goes...

Here is a lovely nature reserve just 25 minutes or so from my house, called: White Rock. These pictures aren't dramatic, like the outback, but, still worth sharing...

Verman Bushland

POF:   Check out this profile of an admirer:

Let's see.   He's married, he does drugs over 3 times a week, he smokes often, he is a welder by trade, yet he has a master's degree (interesting).    The rest of his profile says that he is from:  Kuala Lumpur Tasmania.   Ok, I was a bit confused by this, because Kuala Lumpur is in Malysia, so, where does the Tasmania fit in?

Right'O!   Another POF winner!!!

Australia has many reserves where they have mountain bike and hiking pathes.   These reserves are not as beautiful as the National parks made up of rainforests with waterfalls and lush folliage, but, they are more conveniently located.  So, if you just want to go out for a morning hike or ride, they are perfect.   This one is 25 minute drive from my house:

Verman Bushland Reserve

New Feature: On-line dating adventures

I am venturing back into the land of on-line dating....Too cheap and not taking it seriously enough to pay for a REAL dating site, I have signed up for Plenty of Fish (http://www.pof.com/).   I know you never would of guessed the profile name:   YankeeGalInAustralia, check it out, if you feel like it. 

Here is my profile picture.  I probably should update now, with a more current, fat picture. 

For your amusement, I will post the day's most idiotic email, comment or profile that I see, at the top of each new blog entry.   

Here's an example - a profile of someone who contacted me  (by the way, "root" means "have sex"):

Interests


     bikes & bitches

About Me

     Good looking, tattooed, and adventurous. I like to ride my motorcrycle and drive my VE SS commodore, I like fishing and . I like to party I like to have fun, and do exciting things with women who enjoy the same.


First Date

root, I like to get to no the person, I like to have a connection, I like to go out high class restaurants and wine and dine.



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or from another highly eloquent speaker with excellent spelling skills:

      hi im hugh ,hope to here from you

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or another message - now, don't hold anything back......

     hi babe its john you are so hot and so so curvy wow wow wow my number is 04xxxxxxx  .

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I will also keep you entertained with any dating disaster stories...so, stay tuned......

Alice Springs - Uluru and KataTjuta National Park

Kmart guy who saved the day....

As you know, I had no camera batteries, which means no ability to take pictures on my trip to Uluru the next day.   The minute I returned from the Larapinta Trek to Alice Springs, I was on a mission to find some batteries.   Of course, the first stop was the bottle shop, (hey, a girl's got her priorities!), much to my dismay, they did not sell camera batteries at the bottle shop.  :-)   So, I asked the bottle shop worker when Kmart closed (as I had heard a rumor that there was one somewhere around there.   They said "5:30, I think".  Shit!   It was almost 5:30 now!   but, then another worker corrected him, and said "Nope, it's 6:00".  So, then I went to the grocery to get some snacks, as well as one person had suggested that they thought the grocery had camera batteries,, and asked the same thing.   This time the answer I got was "7:00 pm".   On the way to Kmart, I stopped at the News Agent to see if they had batteries (as getting to Kmart meant walking through the creepy part of town), and they said, "5:00.  Sorry, mate, It's already closed".   Not to be deterred, I walked to Kmart anyway.   My lucky stars were shining down on me, because Kmart was still open for another 15 minutes!    

My deluxe hotel....  :-)

My deluxe hotel room....  :-)

Out for Thai food with the ladies on our last night together.   First time we've seen each other with our hair combed and not reeking of sweat....

Our boss picked us up at 5 am sharp.    It was a bit embarrassing riding on this big ass bus, especially with only 8 people or so, on our tour.....what a waste of petrol!  I felt like SUCH a tourist.  :-)

http://www.emurun.com.au/

Vivid colors....orange sands, blue skys

The first place we went to was the Olgas - Aboriginal name is: Kata Tjuta

Here you see Kata Tjuta off in the distance...

Me at Kata Tjuta

Look at the magnificant colors of the Kata Tjuta walls...

The first camel in Australia was imported from the Canary Islands in 1840 by Horrock. The next major group of 24 camels came out in 1860 for the ill-fated Bourke and Wills expedition. The first time the explorer Giles used camels he travelled 220 miles in 8 days without giving water to the camels. He later went from Bunbury Downs to Queen Victoria Springs (WA), a distance of 325 miles in 17 days and gave one bucket of water to each camel after the twelfth day.

Camel studs were set up in 1866, by Sir Thomas Elder at Beltana Station in South Australia. These studs operated for about fifty years and provided high class breeders. Working camels bred in Australia were of superior quality to those imported. Imports continued until 1907 from Palestine and India as there was a need for large numbers of cheap animals.

An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 camels, imported into Australia between 1860 and 1907, were used as draft and riding animals by people pioneering the dry interior.


Central Australia used camels in the construction of the Overland Telegraph line, the supply of goods to Alice Springs and to cattle and sheep stations, missions and Aboriginal communities. Camels hauled wagons loaded with wool to the railhead at Oodnadatta, pulled scoops and ploughs to build dams or perform other heavy jobs.
Most of the camels were released in the mid 1920s, when motor vehicles began operating in the central areas of Australia. They established free-ranging herds in the semi-arid desert areas of Australia.

In the late 1960s renewed interest occurred in camels and by 1970 Australia had two camel tourist businesses both operating in Alice Springs. 1971 saw the inaugural Lions Club Camel Cup race in Alice Springs. There are now several camel races held around Australia. These races are over about Ikm as compared to the long distance races (10km+) in Saudi Arabia.   The slaughter of camels for human consumption commenced at Alice Springs in the 1980s.

Uluru from a distance - viewed through the front window of the bus...thus the squashed bugs in the view.  :-)

Kata Tjuta off in the distance

Time for some dinner...

Celebration!

Now, time to pack up and go home.....

Larapinta Trek - Day 7 - Final trek

Ormiston Pound Walk

The Ormiston Pound offers some extraordinary scenery and wild life.   Our final wlk explores the upper reaches of the Gorge and the chance to see the many Rock Wallabies as they scamper about the imposing cliffs.

Wallabee sitting on a rock.  

Where we are headed....yes, way down there!   that snake of blue is the river where we are headed...

The red arrow...

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Crossing the Creek.....

Our Group