Australia, my favourite Country

There was movement at the station as the word had gone around, that my 2 sisters were coming for a visit. This was good news indeed - we were going to "do" things together.
Both had been to Sydney before, but not together. I had planned to take them to the Northern Territory, to the Red Centre and then to Darwin. We flew to Alice Springs, hired a car and voila` we were tourists. I had been with my mum to the Alice some years before and knew my way around town. (This is not really hard as there is only one main road -  in and out of town.) 
I like Alice Springs and whilst there we had a ball. One restaurant went completely OZ. We not only had to sing for our supper, but were served a plate of meat made up of  the following animals. Kangaroo, Emu, Camel, Water Buffalo and Crocodile. It  all tasted delicious.
There is a place near Alice Springs which I visited with my mother and was made famous by the aboriginal painter Albert Namajira; it was known as the "Twin Gums". These were two gum trees growing together in perfect symmetry. So we went looking for the spot. I drove around and around again, I could not find it. We finally stopped and asked two men who happened to go past. Both gave me a very funny look - like are you not quite there or something -  then pointed behind me. No wonder I did not recognise the gums. One had died and the other was on his last legs. B i g  disappointment!
We drove to King's Canyon, fantastic spot, watched the sunset and spent the night. The next morning we explored the Canyon,  then pressed on to Uluru.
Every visitor to Australia has to see the sunset at Uluru. The big sandstone rock in the centre of our country is famous for the changing colours at sunset and sunrise.
We went early for a good parking spot and waited for the sunset. Us three, more tourists and 5 million ants. They did not leave us alone. Hey I am glad to share, but be reasonable. We tried the Aeroguard, we tried cream, we used the lot - no luck. We were hopping from one leg to the other - watching the people around us do the same.  Ants are not my favourite bugs.
Next morning we drove to Kata Tjuta, the Olgas. This time we had to share the place with millions and millions of flies. And again - these little critters have become immune to any kind of bug spray and we gave up after swallowing a few of them by accident. (just kidding)
Darwin was different. We had the heat and on top of that - humidity. Lucky us! Thank God for air conditioned buses and hotel rooms. It was the end of the rainy season and most of Kakadu National Park was still under water. Our lady bus driver told us of a guest in one of the hotels who opened the door after a knock. Outside stood a 2 meter Crocodile! Slammmm!!!!!!! goes the door. This is a true story and made the papers.
One of our outings was to the Litchfield National Park. The Waterfall Tour. The feature of this tour - we could actually sit in the water by the fall.  We could - we did.
When we arrived at the waterfall it was raining. And as we all know from the movie "Legally Blonde" you must not get your hair wet after you've had a perm.
My sister had one and she did not want to get her hair wet. Made perfect sense to me! We carried umbrellas! When the next bus arived loaded with Japanese tourists, they saw the following.  3 ladies in their swimmers sitting in the pool by the waterfall with umbrellas over their heads.
Were we photographed a lot? You bet!

Introduction

I do not  remember when I was bitten, but when the attack finally came it was vicious. Travel has always been part of my life. I went on overseas holidays with my husband every year. We travelled around Europe, stayed with family and friends in Germany and it was nice, but this was different. I did not just want to go to a place and stay there - I was yearning to go to far away places. What was wrong with me?
The bite might have happened a long time ago, and "the poison" from it has been developing and multiplying ever since. I remembered as a child, I was maybe 10 or 12 years old, I saw a documentary on TV about the Incas in Peru. Those huge stone walls they built. How they fitted together that not even a pin would fit in between the stones. In the documentary they were talking about one stone in particular and it took my fancy. It was appr 1 m square and had 12 corners. All the other stones around it fitted perfectly into the corners of that one stone, which was part of a big wall. At the time I did not know where that wall was. (More about that later) And then there was Machu Picchu, high up in the Andes. How did they built that? I was fascinated, I wanted to go and see it. So I promised myself - one day - one day I am going to see that.
Then all of a sudden - there it was, the effects of the dreaded bite. It broke out like a cold sore. You don't know where it came from, it just is there one day. And I could not get rid of it. Every time I saw a picture of a far away place - I wanted to go. Watching travel shows on TV became a menace because I started to pack my bags. I had to do something. And I did! I started to travel.
So why don't you come with me on a journey to some really cool places and let's have some fun.
I must add here - I am a senior citizen, which to me is very fortunate as I can now say and do whatever I like and nobody takes me seriously. Seriously!