Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Outback Australia

Back in June Mark and I spent two weeks in outback Australia.  Mark's dental office has a contract with the Australian National Health Service to do dentistry out of van in remote aboriginal settlements a few times a year.  When this offer came up, Mark did not think twice and was ready for the adventure.  At 25 weeks pregnant I had to think a bit about if I really wanted to be riding around on dirt roads in the middle of nowhere.  But then I looked at my husband with that excited twinkle in his eye and could not say no!  On a sunny Saturday morning we flew to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to meet up with our new dental assistant Linda, and an outback Dr. who would give us the lay of the land.  For the next two weeks we would explore the outback landscape and get to know two different aboriginal communities.  I could write chapters on this experience and there is definitely a lot to say about Australia and it's treatment of indigenous populations but for now I will let all the photos speak for themselves.  An amazing experience but we were glad to be home.  This first blog will be dedicated to the landscapes of outback.  The second will focus on the communities and dentistry.
hiking in the bush

sunset at Uluru


supplies for two weeks

outback roads

our Outback-mobile



Linda (our fabulous Dental Nurse and new BFF) and Mark

Linda chases camels..

there are over 2 million wild camels in the Outback



and it seemed like just as many car corpses as camels

sunrise at Uluru

the climbing path on Uluru (Ayers Rock)

the path around Ayers Rock, 10 kilometers



The Olgas