Merry Christmas Oprah!

Merry Christmas Oprah!
I hope you have a lovely day tommorrow and enjoy yourself thoroughly.

Thank you for visiting Uluru and seeing for yourself why it's so special. I know that you will want to come back to visit it again - hopefully next time you will be able to stay a little longer and gain a little more depth into the stories behind Uluru and also explore a little futher afeild.
You could visit Cave Hill and learn the stories of the Seven Sisters or visit Mount Conner and you MUST get out to Kings Canyon. The whole region is brimming with history, beauty and stories.

So for your next trip, I will leave you with some images to think about for when you visit Australia again. Let me know and I can help out with your travel arrangements into some of the most remote and special places in Australia.

(NB: I took all the photo's myself...and I can't wait to get back to take more!)

 Yellow Waters - Kakadu

Kakadu Waterfall

Brolgas at Feathers B&B in Darwin

Stanley Chasm

Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

Sunrise at Uluru

Sunrise at Uluru (look at the colours!!!!)

Storm over Goss Bluff

On the road again - Alice Springs to Uluru

Storm heading our way - Alice Springs

Ahhhh but then the sun broke through the storm clouds (Alice Springs)

Having fun in Kings Canyon!

Arnhem Land.....simply majestic, magical and amazing

Meery Christmas Oprah and happy New Year! May you come and visit the Outback again soon! (and hopefully I can get out there many more times in 2011 also!)

Oh Alice, my dear Alice, you have my heart....

Hi Oprah,
I'm writing this to you from the heart of Australia in the lovely Alice Springs. I had to travel to Alice Springs for work this week and I practically jumped at the opportunity. I've been to this lovely outback town (or city depending on definitions) quite a few times and each time I visit I think I grow more and more enamoured.
I know I recently told you about Alice Springs from the perspective of the book that I was reading at the time. I felt that one of the main characters summed up the place pretty well. However this time, I would like to let you know in my own words.
I arrived at lunch time in the hot midday sun on a Tuesday. There was a slight breeze as I followed the yellow lines on the tarmac from my Qantas flight to the airport terminal. Unfortunately for me, I was then whisked away to our office on the other side of town. It's the bonus of my job and also the downfall as all I wanted to do was to go straight to the Todd Mall to see what was happening, as at the Todd Mall, there is always something happening...
You see, it's a pedestrian street that is littered with Aboriginal Art galleries, outback clothing stores, a few pubs with tourists and locals meandering the street alike.
When you one day visit Alice Springs, don't be drawn into simply visiting one or even two art galleries thinking that they are all the same. Trust me, they are not. The art galleries look after different regions and communities surrounding Alice Springs. As the town is pretty much in the desert, the immediate region around the town covers a lot of land. Therefore when you go into Mbantua Gallery, you will find artworks primarily from the Utopia. Whereas at Gallery Gondwana, you will find art primarily from the Central and Western Deserts. You can take your time in these galleries and if you ask the staff, they will take you on a small guided tour and explain the differences between the paintings and the stories they tell. You will always find at least one painting that you think is yours and you need to buy it and take it home straight away. I do this every time, but unfortunately I can never afford the one I want. One day Oprah....one day...
Each morning I have been getting up early and going for a jog along the Todd River. My friend and I run the same way each morning but we have always had something new happen to us. On Wednesday we saw wallabies and lorikeets’ plus we were almost giddy with the clean fresh air. As we both live in Sydney, I can describe the feeling of pumping pollution free air through our lungs as almost light headedness. We almost felt invincible as we jogged along describing "how great is this!" in between breaths. This morning's run was probably the best one as a storm is heading our way. The colours seem more brilliant as there are dark brooding skies against flaming red horizons, white river gums and presently the green river bed (there has been a fair bit of rain recently over the winter, so it's greener out here than normal). We stopped quite a few times to simply absorb the view. I must admit we had that little smug feeling that all our colleagues were sleeping, getting up and going to breakfast, whereas we were lucky (or smart) enough to experience this beauty.
Another part of the town that I love is you can dine and drink in the bars and pubs and experience it with the people who live there. You gain access to the locals and the ability to glean a small insight into what it is actually like to line in Alice Springs.
And finally, it is here that you wander the streets and you share them with a strong Aboriginal population. As I have been working in Australia Tourism for many years, the feedback I usually have from travellers from overseas is that they have no or little interaction with Aboriginal people. Well in Alice Springs, you have the chance to be among them and have access to extremely authentic tours where you can meet the people, ask questions and gain understanding of their culture.
Oprah, I really must implore that you visit the lovely outback town as I know, that it will steal your heart just as much as it has stolen mine.