“Lake Hart is a popular stop over for travellers going Adelaide to Darwin. Its a DRY lake,mostly Salt Flats and is surrounded by Bright Red Desert Sand Dunes” – quote from Youtube.
When I visited Lake Hart with the ducks in December 2010, there was water in the lake with a salt crust edging. I managed to walk out on the salt crust to be able to put four of the ducks in the water for a photo op. Very unstable surface but worth it.
For me, no trip to Melbourne is complete without a meal at Guiseppe Arnaldo & Sons at Southbank.
Pictures here are Travel Duck next to the salumi case – made specifically to Robert Marchetti’s recipes for the restaurants; with the mascarpone and raspberry tart – to die for when raspberries are in season as in December; and hanging around on the coffee machine as the coffee is sooooo good!
While driving through South Australia, I took a small detour to visit the famous Coonawarra wine district and of course the ducks were with me.
These two are pictured inside the Wynns cellar door. And, yes, I purchased several bottles to be shared with the friends I was visiting on my trips. The Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot is one of my favourites.
The ducks underground in Cooper Pedy, South Australia, the opal capital of the world.
A majority of the houses and businesses in the town are located in ‘dugouts’ due to the harsh physical conditions of living in this hot, arid remote place. Surprisingly, for one who is slightly claustrophobic, these underground living and working spaces have a spacious and open feel.
The ducks have never been to the Rock (Ayers Rock) so how could I not do a 500 KM detour in 42 degree heat to snap some photos of the ducks seeing the Rock for the first time. This was my fifth visit and it still amazes me with its majesty.
Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies 335 km (208 mi) south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; 450 km (280 mi) by road. Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area. It has many springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site. More on Wikipedia.
At the beginning of my trip through the centre of Australia, relocating from Darwin to Canberra, I stayed a night with friends at Noonamah, south of Darwin. While I slept in, they took these pictures of my ducks in their wonderful tropical garden.
This is Gorgeous duck (in orange) visiting her Lanco cousin (in the santa hat) in Canberra earlier this year, checking out the pumpkins at the bottom of the garden.
Christmas Day in Australia is about sun, friends and family, seafood and barbecues. Boxing Day is about cricket. A tradition in our family for many years is watching the Boxing day cricket from the MCG. If in Melbourne, we might be at the MCG. 2009 Christmas the family travelled to Darwin and so we watched the cricket on TV. The ducks seemed to enjoy this as well.
