Alice Springs Desert Park and East MacDonnell Range

Stepping outdoors in Alice Springs this morning was like arriving in Australia all over again – different climate, different topogropahy, different flora and fauna. Unknown bird songs filled the air...

To the Red Centre – Townsville to Mount Isa

At sunrise, Vilis and I departed from Townsville, our destination Mount Isa near the western border of Queensland, approximately half way to Alice Springs. We headed inland on the Flinders Highway, th...

The Ill-fated Burke and Wills Expedition

In Sarah Murgatroyd’s book The Dig Tree: The Story of Burke & Wills1, a black-and-white photograph taken around 1911 shows the sprawling trunks of a coolibah tree. A section of the tree̵...

Alice in the Rain

In the darkness before dawn, rain like none Vilis and I had heard since the depths of the Wet pounded down onto the metal roof of our rental house. In first light, I saw flooded raised beds and patios...