• Map of our travel route in Australia. We began and ended our travels in Sydney. The straight lines were by air and the curved lines were by car.

• We began our tour of Australia's Red Centre in Alice Springs

• All of our flights within Australia were on Qantas. They were all enjoyable flights, more like air travel used to be within the USA. By the way, the name Qantas comes from the airline's original name: Queensland and Northern Territory Air Services.

• Our hotel in Alice Springs. We had a wonderful dinner with John and Chris at Hanuman Restaurant on our first night.

• The pool at the Crowne Plaza. It is an excellent hotel and we would definitely recommend it if your travels take you to Alice Springs.

• Alice Springs Desert Park provided an excellent introduction to the different desert habitats in the Red Centre. Highly recommended!

• A very knowledgable ranger at Alice Springs Desert Park

• One of the 'performers' in the Desert Park bird show. I think this is a southern boobook, the Red Centre's most common owl.

• Another 'performer' in the Desert Park bird show. I think this is a brown falcon.

• This Australian eagle is swooping in to dine on the emu egg. Yes, that is a real emu egg!

• The eagle hurls a rock at the emu egg to break open the shell.

• The reward. Dining on the emu embryo.

• At the Desert Park

• At the Desert Park

• At the Desert Park

• The Prickly Face of Australian Deserts

• Spinifex grasses are an important part of the Red Centre flora and food chain.

• We saw many of these termite mounds, both at the Desert Park and in many other parts of the Red Centre.

• Blue Mallee information

• Blue Mallee

• Desert Oak information

• These are young Desert Oak. As they mature and establish a root system that reaches the water table, they grow a larger canopy.

• White-faced heron at the Desert Park

• Flowers at the Desert Park

• The Royal Flying Doctor Service in Alice Springs

• The Royal Flying Doctor Service in Alice Springs

• Adelaide House - Central Australia's First Hospital

• Adelaide House - Central Australia's First Hospital

• The Alice Springs Telegraph Station was important in bringing European settlers to the Red Centre.

• Stationmaster's Residence

• Stationmaster's Residence. The stone and white metal roof construction was very common.

• Stationmaster's Residence

• A 'foot shot' at the Stationmaster's Residence

• Alice Springs Telegraph Office

• Historic Engineering Marker

• At the Alice Springs Telegraph Station

• At the Alice Springs Telegraph Station

• At the Alice Springs Telegraph Station

• This waterhole was important in the siting of the Telegraph Station.

• The Original 'Alice Spring' information

• John and Kathy in the dry river bed. Supposedly water flows under the surface even in the dry season.

• Another view of the dry river bed

• Another view of the dry river bed

• Near the Telegraph Station

• An overview of the Telegraph Station from a nearby hill

• An overview of the Telegraph Station from a nearby hill

• John Flynn was the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. His grave is just outside of the town of Alice Springs.

• John Flynn's grave

• The grave marker

• Map of our route (in red) from Alice Springs to Yulara. The segment from West MacDonnell National Park to Watarrka National Park through Mereenie (232 km/144 miles) includes the famous Mereenie Loop, about 93 km/58 m of dirt road with much 'corrugation', as the Aussies call 'washboard'.

• The highway out of Alice Springs. Note we are on the left side of the road! Thanks so much to John and Chris for doing all of the driving on our travels together.

• Our first stop on our one-day drive to Kings Canyon.

• On the walk into Standley Chasm

• On the walk into Standley Chasm

• Chris admiring a branch of a large gum tree on our walk into Standley Chasm

• Standley Chasm

• Standley Chasm

• Standley Chasm

• Standley Chasm

• Ellery Creek, our second stop of the day.

• Ellery Creek waterhole

• Doug at Ellery Creek waterhole wearing his new Akubra hat.

• Ormiston Gorge, our third stop of the day

• We walked up to the Ghost Gum Tree and back.

• A view of the Ghost Gum and Ormiston Gorge from along the 'track' or 'trail', as we commonly call it in the USA.

• Climbing the last stretch to the Ghost Gum Tree.

• Chris, John, and Kathy on the track

• Chris and John on the climb

• At the Ghost Gum Tree ridge

• Peering over the cliff at the people on the floor of the gorge. Aussies are not into guard rails!

• Ormiston Gorge from the Ghost Tree Lookout

• The famous Mereenie Loop road, 58 m/93 km of dirt, gravel, and much 'corrugation' ('washboard').

• Scenery along the Mereenie Loop

• Feral camels along the Mereenie Loop

• Traffic sign as we approached a curve on the Mereenie Loop

• Traffic sign as we exited the curve

• Our excellent and fearless (except for the camel in the middle of the road fright!) drivers.

• Our rented Nissan Patrol 4WD. We named her 'Patty'.

• Our lodging at Kings Canyon Resort

• Our room at Kings Canyon Resort

• The view a few steps out of our front door at Kings Canyon Resort

• A dingo along the highway

• Kings Canyon is in Watarrka National Park. We walked the tracks shown in the upper right of this sign.

• There were a number of warnings posted for the walks in the Red Centre. Our mid-winter timing gave us beautiful, comfortable weather. In summer, temperatures often exceed 104 F/40 C.

• The GPS track (in blue, 9.8 km/6.17 m) of our Kings Canyon Rim and Creek Walks superimposed on a Google Earth map. This was a spectacular and gorgeous walk. Highly recommended!

• The first steep ascent on the Kings Canyon Rim Walk. There were groups of tourists from tour buses also taking the walk.

• Kathy bringing up the rear.

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Kathy, John, and Chris on the track

• A Meeting Place of Desert and Ranges information

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• There were signs like this (and radios!) on a number of our desert walks.

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Chris and John on the track

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Kathy and Chris admiring a gum tree

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• A track marker along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Looking across the Canyon

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• The people on the left are atop Cotterill's Lookout on our side of the Canyon. The people in the center are near the cliff on the opposite side of the Canyon.

• A view toward the mouth of the Canyon

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Cotterill's Lookout sign

• Chris atop Cotterill's Lookout

• Chris looking out over the Canyon from atop Cotterill's Lookout

• A view of the new Cotterill's Bridge from atop Cotterill's Lookout

• A view down the Canyon from Cotterill's Lookout

• A view across Kings Canyon from Cotterill's Lookout

• The track down from Cotterill's Lookout, back to the main rim track, crossed this small crevice.

• Near Cotterill's Bridge

• John introducing us to Lamingtons (mmm good!) at our morning 'smoko', an Aussie term for a tea or coffee break.

• A 'foot shot' along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk. Overall on this walk probably 95 percent of our steps were on solid rock!

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• A dead sea's ripples information

• Ripples in the stone

• Ripples in the stone

• Ripples in the stone

• 'Lilliput' rock formation

• Gum tree with a cliff as the backdrop as we entered the Garden of Eden

• Chris, John, and Kathy on the walkway down into the Garden of Eden

• Across the Canyon

• A view into the Garden of Eden

• The steps into the Garden of Eden

• A gum tree along the track

• Kathy, Chris, and John on the bridge across the Canyon at the Garden of Eden

• The Garden of Eden sign

• The Garden of Eden

• The Garden of Eden

• The waterhole in the Garden of Eden

• A heron at the waterhole

• A reflection in the waterhole

• Looking up from the Garden of Eden

• Looking up the Canyon from the Garden of Eden

• Rock Domes information

• Rock domes and the steps

• John at the top of the rim

• Doug photographing John

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• Along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

• A view from the bottom of the Canyon. Yes, that's a person at the top of the cliff!

• John, Chris, Kathy, and Doug at a lookout on the floor of Kings Canyon

• The Roadies making Chris and Kathy look silly

• The Roadies making John and Doug look silly

• Curtin Springs - on our way from Kings Canyon to Yulara

• Arriving in Yulara on the Lasseter Highway

• Lasseter Highway marker

• Ayers Rock Resort, where we stayed at the Desert Gardens Hotel

• The Desert Gardens Hotel

• A view of Uluru from the Desert Gardens Hotel. Uluru is the native name for what the Europeans called Ayers Rock. Thus, 'Uluru' is to 'Ayers Rock' as 'Denali' is to 'Mt McKinley'.

• Our rooms at the Desert Garden Hotel

• Our rooms at the Desert Garden Hotel

• Crested pigeon

• Chris and John enjoying sparkling wine during sunset at Uluru

• Doug and Kathy enjoying sparkling wine during sunset at Uluru

• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

• Doug taking sunrise photos at Kata Tjuta

• Doug, John, and Chris viewing and photographing Kata Tjuta at sunrise

• Kata Tjuta at sunrise

• Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta

• The GPS track ( in blue, 8.5 km/5.3 m) of our Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta superimposed on a Google Earth map

• The Valley of the Winds track at Kata Tjuta

• At the 1st Lookout

• This sign is also located at the 1st Lookout. We walked the Circuit Walk, which included the 2nd Lookout.

• Kathy on the Valley of the Winds walk

• Valley of the Winds walk, Kata Tjuta

• Valley of the Winds walk, Kata Tjuta

• Valley of the Winds walk, Kata Tjuta

• Valley of the Winds walk, Kata Tjuta

• A 'foot shot' at Kata Tjuta

• Valley of the Winds walk, Kata Tjuta

• Our lunch box

• Doug, Kathy, John, and Chris at Kata Tjuta

• A walk around Uluru, formerly called Ayers Rock. Uluru is to Ayers Rock as Denali is to Mt McKinley.

• The GPS track (in blue, 10.5 km/6.9 m) of our walk around Uluru superimposed on a Google Earth map

• A picnic area at Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Chris and John at Uluru

• Chris and John at Uluru

• A 'foot shot' at Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• A view of Kata Tjuta from Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Kathy and Doug at Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• John and Chris at Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Anangu Paintings information

• Anangu paintings at Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• A 'footprint shot' at Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Along the walk around Uluru

• Young Desert Oaks at Uluru

• Mature Desert Oaks at Uluru

• Uluru - A classic view