A few days after the disaster a packing case washed up in the gorge. It contained a life-sized Minton pottery peacock destined for the Melbourne Great Exhibition of 1880

The Outback is the arid sparsely populated interior of Australia.

It makes up almost 85% of Australian landmass. Very few humans live out there.

It is also sometimes called "Beyond the Black Stump" .

The Australian Outback is both harsh and breathtakingly beautiful. It's like nothing else anywhere else in the world.

A ROAD TO NEVER-NEVER

In the outback you can travel for days without meeting anyone. This is why it is sometimes called the Never-Never: the never ending landscape; the never ending horizon.

The land is unforgiving to the careless and foolhardy. You can die of dehydration within hours if you are not careful.

A STATION

Yes people actually do live in the outback.

Cattle and sheep are grazed on huge tracts of land called Stations (what might be called a ranch in the USA). There are Stations in the outback that occupy more land than some countries. Helicopters and small planes are usually used to round up stock (the sheep and cattle) and to check fences (dingo and rabbit fences).

A person who rounds up stock is called a Stockman.
A person who works at a Station is called a Stationhand.
The owner is called a Station-Manager

THE PEOPLE

The vast distances have forced people to adapt to their isolation (some people being more than a day's drive from their nearest neighbor). A two-way radio and an airstrip are vital to any outback station.

Because of the great distances some children in the outback cannot attend regular school. They learn from the School of the Air which is a special school where the teacher and student interact via a two-way radio.

Here is a fascinating school in the outback run by the Mupuru aboriginal community . Its really worth a visit: The Mapuru Homeland Leaning Centre

The Royal Flying Doctor Service operates a fleet of airplanes outfitted as flying ambulances and clinics. They visit these remote locations to provide medical services. They also provides advice over the two-way radio.

ULURU

Uluru: Is a huge rock (called a monolith) that sticks out in the middle of the flat desert. From a distance it looks like an impregnable fortress built eons ago by some mythical warlord.

Uluru is over nine kilometres (6 miles) around and over 348 metres (1000ft) high. It is believed to be about 600 million years old and was once part of a huge mountain range. The mountain range has long since disappeared - eroded away by rain and wind.

With each passing hour as the sun moves across the sky the rock changes colour - changing from delicate mauve, blues, pinks, browns to fiery red.

It is a sacred place to the Pitjanjara Aboriginal tribe.

DEVILS MARBLES

Devils Marbles: These massive boulders are scattered along the Stuart Highway near Alice Springs. They glow red in the sunset. Aborigines believe they were left by the Rainbow Serpent of the Dreamtime.

WAVE ROCK

Wave Rock: Is a huge granite rock that looks like a huge wave that has been frozen in time and turned into stone. It has been made this way by the wind and rain water running down its sides.

KATHERINE GORGE

Katherine Gorge: Is one of 13 gorges in Nitmiluk National Park. They began forming about 23 million years ago as torrents of water flowing through tiny cracks in the earth slowly eroded away the earth and rock creating these huge gorges.

It is rich in Aboriginal art, with rock paintings representing the spiritual 'dreaming' of the Jawoyn people, the traditional owners of the land.

Apart from boat rides through the Gorge, with its sheer towering walls, there are also over 100 kilometres of walking tracks and numerous aboriginal rock paintings to visit

THE OLGAS

The Olgas: Are enormous domes of red rock located about 32 kms from Uluru. You can walk into valleys and gorges between the 36 rock domes and feel the eerie mystery around you. The Aborigines call it 'Kata Tjuta'. It has great spiritual significance to them.

The Peoples of Australia

We came from all over the world.

Australians are a very friendly open sort of people. We love our sports, our family barbecues and the beach. We are very urbanised - most of us living in the larger cities along the coast. Almost 94% of the population are of European decent and as a result we have a western outlook and culture. In general Australians are very tolerant of other people and their customs.