Mon Oct 11th 2010 --- And it's off to Lismore! A bit of a slow and lazy start this morning… mostly for Simon who needs to learn how to say "no thanks" when offered a drink!He just can't keep up with the Aussie blokes' drinking! While Simon was recuperating for the previous night, mom, dad, Jan, Cathleen and I went for a wee drive to check out the flooded roads and closures caused by the storms.We stopped at a really cool beach town where we picked ...

Sun Oct 10th 2010--- Rain Rain Go Away! The bad weather seems to be following us wherever we go!I feel so sorry for Simon; he's getting such a warped version of Australian weather.The poor guy hasn't even spent much time on the beach yet because it's been rainy everyday! We were planning on exploring Surfer's Paradise and beaches along the Gold Coast, but change in plans!This morning we picked up Jan's mother (Else) from the nursing home (like they do every...

Sat Oct 9th 2010--- Time for a little "Sparkle" Today the Marshall family said goodbye to Alice Springs which was quickly becoming a busy town as the town is hosting the Masters Games, a friendly athletic competition for those over 35 years of age.We flew to Brisbane cruising at 37,000 feet above on a Qantas 737.Here we were welcomed by a torrential downpour as we landed.The rain made for an interesting ordeal as we picked up our rental car and attem...

Fri Oct 8th 2010--- The Last Full Day in the Outback Today was a pretty lazy day.We all slept in and began packing up preparing ourselves for our flight the next morning.In the afternoon we went for a wander through the town.In the evening we took advantage of the free shuttle from our hotel to the Memorial club for dinner.Australia loves "clubs" --- footy clubs, rugby clubs, surf clubs, RSL (Returned & Services League) clubs, etc.I guess I have ...

Thursday, Oct 7th 2010 --- Kings Canyon Today we didn't have to get on the bus until 9am because we had to await for the tour bus from Alice Springs to arrive in Erlunda.Brekky was served at the roadhouse and then we were off on our second part of the emu runs tour.The majority of tourists just do the one-day large coach tour to the rock and back which we did yesterday, however a couple of others stayed on to explore Kings canyon today.Today we rode in a small...