We departed the UK on 25th Jan 2000, once we were sure that the long forecast millennium disasters were not actually going to come about. We were flying to Perth but had arranged a 24 hour stop-over in Kuala Lumpur where we made sure to get a picture of the Petronas Towers which was the tallest building in the world, at that time. The following day we arrived in Perth in the early hours of the 28th Jan and were well looked after by long lost relatives with whom we spent a considerable number of hours reminiscing over our dim and distant childhoods back in the UK.
The cities of Perth and Freemantle were a pleasure to visit and the picture here was taken from King's Park, overlooking Perth with the temperature hovering around 37 oC.
After a couple of days being wined and dined by the 'relies' we flew on the Adelaide. During the flight we were presented with a bottle of Champagne to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.
Following an overnight stop in Adelaide, we boarded 'The Ghan'. The celebrated central Australian rail link to Alice Springs. This line has now been extended all the way to Darwin, at the 'Top End' but in 2000, it terminated in Alice. The journey took some 19 hours but was mostly during the hours of darkness. However, we were travelling first class so thoroughly enjoyed the trip anyway, sampling kangaroo steak for the first time and finally arriving in Alice Springs at 09.00 on the 1st Feb.
Welcome to Alice Springs
A view of the golf course
Alice Springs Water Hole
I will post a few more pictures next time but I must report that for the 2010 trip, I have now firmed up the intention to visit New Zealand and have managed to confirm bookings for all flights. Starting from Manchester to Hong Kong on Friday 27th and arriving in New Zealand on Tuesday 31st August. I will provide further details later but I can confirm that I have been granted the necessary Australian visa to cover my stay in that country.
See you next week.
