Australian Update

Sorry folks, just a quick blog this time. We're in the "wilds" of northwestern Australia, and don't have time for internet (when we can find it).

We made it to Darwin where we met up with Ben's brother Tom and his girlfriend Nicky. We were very lucky to be hosted by Fernanda and Henry who were extremely gracious about having the four of us crash in their house for a week while we did our last blog and Tom and Nicky bought a car (which was an experience, let us tell you). We loved our week in their tropical abode! Here's a shot of the six of us(minus photographer Ben).



We have scrapped our prior plans of returning through the center of the country in favor of teaming up with Tom and Nicky for a convoy trip through Western Australia (WA). Since leaving Darwin, we hit a lot of Northern Territory national parks before heading west to Broome. Since the Kimberly section of WA is still a little wild (well, a little too wild for our old Ford Falcon), we're renting a 4WD for a week trip. An adventure! And, best of all, it has airconditioning!! (The typical daytime temperatures are approaching 40 deg C - just over 100 deg F - which is brutal to drive through with no AC or hike in).

After this, we head down the west coast to Perth. Hopefully we'll find some decent internet prices there to post the thousands of photos that Ben's been taking over the last month. We're doing well, drinking lots of water, and having a great time!