It wasn't a horse, exactly, and it did have a name. It was a big, bright red bus, and it was called the Desert Venturer. Its mission was to carry us from Cairns to Alice Springs, through the desert of Eastern Queensland and Australia's northern territory.
The one thing you notice most about driving through the desert is the absence of scenery. There is just flat grassland, kilometre after kilometre, with an occasional kangaroo to break the monotony. The other thing you notice about the desert in Queensland is that it is not a sandy desert, but rather comprised of dry grass, small bushes, short trees (not enough to give shade however) and lots of dust and flies. At every stop, we would be surrounded by little black flies, buzzing excitedly round us, as if glad to have company in their boring little fly lives.
The tour took three days in all, stopping at places such as Kronosaurus Korner, in the town of Richmond. this town of 600 people boasts a dinosaur musuem, with a collection of dinosaur bones and fossils that rivals the collection found at Harvard University. Apparently, millions of years ago, Australia had a vast inland sea, and fossils are still being discovered throughout the country. We visited the Devil's Marbles, a natural gathering of oval shaped rocks that lean against each other in funny patterns. Mostly we rode on the bus, watched Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, played bus bowling, and learned about Australian history from our tour guides. We were on the road by 5 or 5:30 every morning, watching the sun rise over the desert and the kangaroos venture out for breakfast.
One of the most curious things we saw on the way were the little green frogs appearing in the toilet bowls at every rest area. apparently it was the only source of water in the desert area. the strange part though was that they were only in the girls toilets, and never in the boys toilets. needless to say, all the girls continued using the bathroom on the bus, not out of squeamishness, but out of feeling sorry for the poor frogs if they should get peed on!
