July 27th, Australia Day 156

These are the photos I took on my first day of touring in the Northern Territory.

This was the dawn sky in the Northern Territory on the first day of my tour. 

This is the sun rising over soem surrounding hills near our first stop that morning. 

This is what the terrain looked like as the first rays of sunshine crested the ridges and lit up the ground. 

This is one of the ranch's dromedary camels saddled up and ready for tourists. 

This is the Dingo, a dog native to Australia. It is also the ony breed of dog which can't bark; it can only whine and howl. 

This is the ever-popular Kangaroo, one of the faunal symbols of Australia. 

This is another symbol of Australia, the flightless Emu. It and the Kangaroo are on the Australian coat-of-arms because neither creature can walk backwards, symblozing Australia's resolve to never back away. 

This is a typical Dromedary Camel as seen in the morning light. 

This is the view from the top of a Dromedary Camel should you ever go riding on one. 

This type of scrubland is typical throughout the Northern Territory until you reach the Top End. 

A few kilometers in this direction is the geographic center of Australia. The Erldunda Petrol Station, Restaurant and Motel is as close as you can get by car. 

This is one of my favourite photos from Australia, as it really captures the scenic beauty and total isolation of the Red Center. After leaving Erldunda, we turned onto the Lasseter Highway on our way to Kings Canyon and when we stopped to pick up fire wood, I took this photo.

When the tour stopped for lunch, I wlaked a little distance, climbed a sandy hill and took this picture of the surrounding terrain, which is typical of the area. You can clearly see red, iron-oxide rich sand as well as the small tufts of rough spinifex grass. The trees are plentiful having adapted to the arid conditions to make the whole area an arid savanna region. 

This road leads to the mouth of Kings Canyon. 

This is the entrance into Kings Canyon. 

Upon entering and climbing up the mouth of the canyon, this is the terrain that can be seen. 

These are typical walls and rock formations around the canyon. 

This is an inhabitant of the canyon, a species of lizard known as the "Military Dragon". For a name evoking such power, it is quite anticlimactic as the creature is no more than 10 centimeters long. 

The canyon was formed by the cracking of the faults and joints in the surrounding rocks which eroded and formed it. Where these weaknesses were can stil be seen in some places as the sheer walls that line the canyon. 

This stream runs through the canyon. 

This is the gorge which makes up most of Kings Canyon. 

When the first European explorers made their way to Kings Canyon, they were especially impressed by this area at the bottom of the canyon and they called it the "Garden of Eden". They named it so because it is an asis in the middle of a desert, filled with green foliage and it is protected from the sun's rays by the high walls surrounding it. It is a very pleasant place to stop and get out of the sun. 

These are the cliffs which surround the Garden. 

This is the pool of water located within the Garden of Eden. 

These domes, the product of wind erosion over the millenia, are plentiful around Kings Canyon.