• The overland telegraph line
• Ewaringa rock carvings (ancient Aboriginal)
• Fossils
• Chambers Pillar, upon which the early pioneers engraved their names when passing through
• Hugh River, which is normally completely dry
• The Ghan (if it runs on the day you take the tour)
• Rainbow Valley
• Some cattle stations
• One funny gate
• Lots of great stories

A much shorter excursion can be made to the local Royal Flying Doctor Service museum. It gives a nice overview of RFDS activities and equiment through the years. Even better is the bookstore: you can get "A Son of the Red Centre" by Kurt G. Johannsen here. Johannsen was one a true inventors, improviser and pioneer of the road train concept before there were even any roads! My copy was autographed by the author himself :-)

A quick flight in an almost empty aircraft (one stewardess per passenger) took me to Uluru. That's Ayers Rock for the less politically correct. Hotels are enormously expensive there, as everything that is needed to keep the modern tourist happy (such as water, bread and the like) needs to be trucked in by road train. Ayers Rock being a somewhat corny attraction (people seem to like walking up and down more than looking at it), I opted for an excursion to the Olgas (that's Kata Tjuta if you're PC) and King's Canyon. The schedule included a view of Ayers Rock at sunset. By the way: the flat-topped clump of rock in the bottom row is Mt. Connor, not Ayers Rock!

Another short flight takes you back to the civilized world (ahem), i.e. Sydney. Yet another big city, saved by a nice bridge and a creative opera house. The real highlight of Sydney was a look inside a Russion submarine (Foxtrot class).

A somewhat longer flight with stops in Bangkok and London took me home again after three months Australia. Little did I know I would be back within two years...

Back to part 1