Spending …

… most of our time in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and loving every second of it.

Uluru/Ayers Rock is definitely a presence. So fat, tho, we’ve explored more of the Olgas/Kata Tjuta. (Pics below.) Did a short hike into a gorge area Monday afternoon, just to get our feet wet, figuratively. No water to actually get wet in, but the results of summer rains are very evident in all the flowering desert plants. One, called the upsidedown plant, has a lovely dark red flower at the base of the plant rather than at the top. And the desert oak that Penny mentioned in comments yesterday is pretty abundant. Nothing like the oaks I am used to – needles and pods similar to pines.

After a leisurely and lovely breakfast Tuesday, we spent some time at the Cultural Center in the park – fascinating, sad and hopeful history of the land and its people. Back to Kata Tjuta and the Valley of the Winds walk. Definitely windy in areas between the big rocks, other spaces were still and potentially deadly hot in summer. We scaled rock strewn mountain sides, scrambled over boulders and generally hiked hard with lots of ups and downs to see the constantly changing beauty of the interior of Kata Tjuta. Ate lunch at the second viewpoint which was at the top of the gap in perhaps the windiest, coldest spot on the trail. And met fellow hikers from literally all over the world. A gal from Scandinavia was knitting socks at one stop.

One of the stories we heard (from a fake park ranger – good fun!) was that the rounded peaks of Kata Tjuta were seven sisters who wandered the earth. Hopefully will get the full/real story today.

Also today we plan to spend time with Uluru. This morning dawned clear and lovely (see pic of moon and morning star/planet) so we expect another lovely and warm day. Off to enjoy it!

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Alas, having trouble uploading pics! Sorry!

Time …

… at Alice Springs was a blur of activities, people and sights.

After an hour delayed flight from Melbourne, i connected with Janet dB and Phil H. Janet and I did the whole walking tour of the Alice Springs Desert Park – some very interesting displays of birds, nocturnals, plants/flowers and kangaroos.

Phil co-emceed the Eco-Couture Fashion Show Thursday evening that showcased 6 regional artists with their current recycled/reworked clothing. Some very cool work seen in a very cool setting (temps and ambience) as the event was held in the current airplane museum – the actual plane hangar from which they had to push out three small planes while the runway wound under the wings of an old DC3.

Friday dawned cool and sunny and we jumped into Beanie Festival activity early by attending the sponsors’ coffee inside the beanie competition exhibit space. Some wild creations! (See pics below.) And a quick look thru Beanie Central proved to be overwhelming with amount (7,000), color and variety of styles, shapes and sizes.

Janet and I then made our way to downtown Alice Springs, strolled through the mall and hiked to the Pink Botanical Gardens where we had a lovely lunch.

A quick trip back to the Art Centre and I was teaching a random basketry class outsied under the trees. A great group of ladies and they all created wonderful work. We hung around for the official opening of the Festival. Had a deluxe meal (grilled sausage, potato salad and saurkraut all piled into a huge hot dog bun) from one of the outdoor booths.

Saturday was full-on with bookmaking, mudcloth and rust dyeing classes during the day. Phil and I took in the view of Alice just at dusk on top of Anzac Hill, viewing the Macdonald Mountain range that curls around Alice.

Sunday was another busy day with repeats of rust dyeing and bookmaking with the addition of a soft book class. Turns out I have a groupie! One gal came to the Festival just to take classes with me and wound up in three of them. Too funny! Love it, Anne!

A predawn pick-up by a tour bus on Monday heading to Uluru, southwest of Alice Springs. The desert is lush right now due to summer rains and a big storm earlier in the fall. The first large rock formation seen was Mt. Connor which is larger and older than Uluru.

More adventures to come in Uluru!

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Leaving …

… New Zealand in the wee hours of the norning. Well, actually it will be just about daylight when the flight takes off, but the getting up and driving to the airport for the required 2 hours before international flights happened in the wee hours. I must say, traffic was a breeze!

It has been a delight getting to know Mark, sharing his home/family/work/life. And a real adventure in papermaking during the wet, chilly weather we have been having.

The rains continue with short windows of sun. Low lying areas are still underwater which I am told hardly ever happens. The Southern Alps have their first crowning of snow and they are lovely. A nor’easter came through this morning with a welcome warmth – hopefully the plane will lift off before the strong winds that accompany that warmth start up.

Just two quick days in Melbourne to do laundry, reorganize and repack luggage and have a last (for this trip, anyway) outing with Anne. Then on to Alice Springs where I will be busy teaching a bunch of small classes during the Alice Springs Beanie Festival. (You might want to check out the festival’s site – looks like a lot of fun!) I am looking forward to the Red Centre’s desert dryness!

Here comes the sun …

… and I am loving it!

Using that wonderful solar power, we got laundry almost dry in one day, the rest of the dozen of huge papers pulled, most of those sheets dried, and my feet warmed up! Of course, having a thick pair of woolen socks helps, too.

Movie night sort of fizzled out when we couldn’t get the DVD player working, but folding Matthew’s circulars for his new paper route filled the time sufficiently with a good amount of joking around. The boys are fun to be around – brings back good memories of my three growing up.i

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Rain again today …

… but it did not keep us from getting things accomplished. Although, without the floor heaters I doubt there would be anything dry. Paper flowers pulled last Friday were finally dry enough to pop off their wire moulds. Paper leaves made just Tuesday in the rain were also dry – these had the advantage of being pressed, so that helped the process. The inside of the studio was jerry-rigged to handle three different drying stations. Still have a few more flowers from last week drying out and then all that will be finished.

The really large sheets that Mark started pulling during Tuesday’s intermittent showers are still waiting for the sun – promised for tomorrow. And we will pull at least 6 more of the big ones. (See pics below for some of the process.)

The sun is being counted on for all sorts of drying tasks tomorrow – we have two loads of laundry that need to dry, too! And the yard really needs to dry out as we are starting to make some muddy messes with our gum boots.

The best part of the constant cloud cover has been the fact that the temperature has not gone below 40 degrees F (nor has it gone much above 45 F – my hands and feet can attest to the damp temps!). With clearing skies, freezing temps will return at night.

We’ve had plenty of hot water (heated by the wood/coal stove), very hearty and healthy meals (including freshly made bread and desserts) and my hands/feet are currently warm – so all is good!

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