Word: deserts
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Imagine a jet engine that doesn't pollute the atmosphere, flies at seven times the speed of sound and doesn't carry any fuel. Sound like a blue-sky pipe dream? One day last July, 300 km above the South Australian Desert, that dream became a reality in the form of the HyShot scramjet. A scramjet (that's top-gun shorthand for "supersonic ramjet") is a jet engine that is powered by oxygen it scoops out of the air as it flies, so it's not weighed down by a fuel tank (though it needs an initial boost...
...Rounded up on motorbikes and redomesticated, camels now provide visitors to Australia with everything from stately rides out for dinner to serious re-creations of the desert treks of the past. They're on menus and in museums, and camel racing draws large crowds to tiny towns whose individual populations usually struggle to reach three digits. There's no better way to get close to the outback than on camelback...
...group of about 12 tourists accompanies him on a slightly different trek?ensuring that his clients get a unique trip, and he a chance to fill in the blank spaces on the map. Gee's guests ride through some of Australia's most austere terrain, participating in the full desert trek experience?much like the original European explorers...
...encounters with Australian camels involve one-pot dinners cooked on campfires, going unwashed for four days or sleeping under the stars. At the town of Alice Springs the ships of the desert bunk down in the suburbs, where Frontier Camels runs its Take a Camel to Dinner tour, which includes an hour-long ramble to a rustic restaurant and camel museum; click on cameltours.com.au for more info. The menu features excellent kangaroo sausage and bush tomato pesto, along with a selection of camel cuts. Despite my growing affection for the ungainly beasts, I must admit that smoked camel goes down...
...DESERT DELAYS "You're coming on the Ghan?" said the people I had to meet in Adelaide. "Well, we'll allow for you being a little late." I was taking the train down from Alice Springs and was somewhat mystified by their comment. "I don't know why they said that," remarked the train manager in mock surprise. "It only happens about 99% of the time." But comfort rather than speed is the point of the rail trip?most berths on this overnight run cost more than a business-class seat on Qantas. The cozy sleeping cabins are plainly...