Day 35 - Homeward Bound - Thanks for the Memories

Days 34 and 35 - Homeward Bound, Thanks for the Memories

We have reached the end of our trip. Today you get two, two two days in one. We are picking up a day going home, so this is a one day/two day blog.

We are at the airport ready to fly away home - business class again.

What a journey: 35 Days - - 27,000 miles

We slept around

14 hotels
3 private houses
1 igloo (not really, just a VERY COLD room)
2 boats two mini rooms
1 castle
1 townhouse
1 train

We schlepped around

12 flights
6 cars
2 trains
1 monorail
2 subways
1 gondola
2 ferries
4 boats
19 coaches (and buses) back and forth, to and fro, hotels, tours, airports

We were high up in the mountains and low under the water.

There were highlights:

New Zealand scenery
Southern night sky
Great Barrier Reef diving

And some lowlights:

This was no Italian food fest
Lots of airport screenings

And we continued our almost 10 years of gin games.

Not once did we hear Waltzing Matilda and only one museum (not necessarily a proud thing, just another statistic), however we did see two great exhibitions at the Sydney Library, one photographic (school kids' work), and Aboriginal tree carvings.

Tired? We are. But it was great.

Now on to our photographs.

Green Snake at the Yellow Water Cruise

New Zealand Scenery

Rotorua, New Zealand

New Zealand Wine Country

Okarito Misty Morning

Dunedin Castle Staircase

Yellow Eyed Penguin

Maddi and a Wallabe

Darwin Sunset

In Flight

Aboriginal Stone Paintings

Ayres Rock at Sunset - with wine

Okarito Lagoon

Okarito Lagoon

Koala

Okarito Lagoon (yup it was that pretty )

Souther Cross 

Day 33 - Take the A Train

Sorry - no images today - technical difficulties.

Our last day in Sydney, Australia and our trip. Our first day, waaaaay back then, was lovely, the next two were crummy (rain rain rain), the next was cold and windy and there was sun for the next 30 days. These last few days have mirrored the first few. We landed in Sydney to beautiful 70 degree weather. Then boom, came the rain, wind, and crummy weather, two days of misery walking about. But we had things to do, places to go and had only today to do it. Braving the wet and wind, we headed out for the Great Synagogue. We took the subway, which is always an adventure and fun for us. But alas, today was not a tour day at the synagogue so we couldn't go in. Go figure. Then we had along walk to find the Jewish Museum. Quite a nice place, well done, Sydney.

From there we took the subway again to the Monorail to Paddy's Market, which we thought would be an interesting food hall a, but noooooo, it was a shlock place from top to bottom. However, we were hungry and on the top floor we found a dim sum restaurant that had mostly Asians in it and was great. Lovely lunch!

Then on to the free shuttle bus to finally get to the Opera House for our tour. Wow, what a place. It is magnificent inside and out. We sat in one of the theaters, the concert hall and the opera/ballet theater. To reiterate, MAGNIFICENT.

Our final thing to do was take the ferry to Manly. On a nice day, Manly is said to have great beach. The weather was still bad but the ferry was on our list so off we went. We got on the ferry with the intention of doing a round tip without getting off the ferry and that's just what we did. By the time we got back it was dark, we had dinner and prepared to end our 35 days Down Under.

Day 31 and 32 - Harbor Lights

After a walk to the beach in the morning (we were at a beach resort and thought we should at least SEE the beach), we were off to Sydney. Another travel day. A word about airlines and airports. Not once during our multitude of flights in New Zealand or Australia did we meet a security guard, flight attendant or anyone else connected with an airport or airline who wasn't pleasant, accommodating and just plain nice. Patricia beeps each time she goes through security compliments of her brand new knee. In NY they can be a bit cranky and not very pleasant in the body search. Here when she said she would beep, each person asked "hip or knee" with a smile and then proceeded with the scan. And for domestic flights there is an allowance for full water bottles. And last but not least you can leave your SHOES ON (as long as you don't beep!)

The airlines, especially New Zealand Air but Qantas as well were superb. Service, food, you name it, was a superlative experience. And we don't think it was because we flew business class because that was only one flight. We are going back on United so we shall see if there is a difference. We mean a 2 to 3 hour flight at a little after one pm, in coach, came with a hot lunch and a frozen ice bar just before landing. Put that in your pretzel bag American!

Clouds (Patricia)

On to Sydney. We arrived and checked into our hotel, again right in the middle of the area one wants to be in. Nice room, facing the back as they all have, but we only care that there are two beds and a bathroom.

It gets dark fairly early, but we took a walk to the waterfront to see where we were in relationship to the Opera House for possible night photography. We will need our tripods and the Harbor Bridge and The Rocks are all walking distance ... like ten minutes. The waterfront looks like a great place for night photos, lots of lit buildings, the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge as well as all the ferries that travel across the harbor. We had a simple (and relatively cheap) dinner, then a bit of a walk ending up back at the hotel. We watched some TV (been able to watch Big Bang Theory several times) and to sleep for a whirlwind tour of the city tomorrow. Taking the Hop on Hop off bus.

Day 32

We were up early for brekky and caught the hop on hop off tour bus (senior rate of course) across from our hotel. We decided to ride upstairs on the open top of the double decker and almost froze. It was not terribly warm in Sydney today, sun shining but very breezy up top. We braved it and took the 90 minute loop until we returned to our stop where we got off, went back to the hotel and got jackets. So all prepared for the chill we set out .. of course at that point it was just beginning to rain, which it did for most of the afternoon.

Older Architecture 

Sydney is a lovely city. The new architecture has been done to fit beautifully with the old architecture and both are well worth viewing. There is a very interesting mix of skyscrapers, tall apartment buildings and older colonial buildings. As in other cities they are saving the exterior of some of the older industrial buildings and refurbishing the interiors.

So we saw the Opera House, The Rocks, The Tower, the bridges, the harbor and most of the neighborhoods. There was a recorded tour which should have been individual ear buds. We were on the bus four times and after the third his voice and his information wore a little thin, we could have given the tour ourselves. Of interest was the bureau of births, marriages and deaths that they call Hatch, Match and Detach.

Bondi Beach (Patricia)

At the harbor there is a building whose purpose is to assign berths for the ships as they come in. They call it The Pill! Get it! Berths, Births!!!!!

We got off at several spots the second time around, one being the library which had two very interesting exhibits, one on photography and one on Aboriginal tree carvings. We then changed buses (all for the same price -whoop de do-) and direction and set off for Bondi (long I) to see the famous Bondi Beach known all around the world. (do you know it, you should!) We saw it, it was raining we did not get off the bus but it goes on the list of things we were supposed to see so we don't have to see it again. We stopped at Central Station to see the big clock, took a photo or two and waited in the rain for the last leg of the on/off bus.

Here we are in Sydney - photo credit some guy passing by

It stopped raining as we got closer to the hotel so we got off the bus and walked back trough the harbor. This was a terrific part of the day. It was just getting dusky, the clouds were breaking up and the light was lovely, so we shot some really nice images of the Opera House and the ferries going back and forth across said harbor. We went around the corner and took some also of the great looking buildings in The Rocks.

Sydney at Dusk

That was our day, we will find someplace for dinner that will not require most of our portfolios and head out again tomorrow for our last day. If the weather is nice we are heading across the harbor to Manly Beach because we are supposed to! In either case the tour of the opera house will be item one!!

For those of you who are chocolate fans, there are two Max Brenner restaurants in Sydney.

Day 31 - Lazy Day

Today was another rest day!  Seem to be more at this end than at the beginning.  Got up late, had a great brekky at Lure in Port Douglas.  Then to a market, Sunday is market day in Port Douglas, at ANZAC Park, think 77th Street and Columbus Avenue, but not so interesting!!!! Actually they had some lovely things but the prices were astronomical.

Next a walk up the main street to make an appointment for a late afternoon massage, then back to the room to sit at the pool for a few hours before the massage.  We walked back through town, each had a fruit smoothie and then our fabulous hot stone massages.

After the massages we went back to the room to write our blog and rest up from our restful day before dinner at Salsa (which when we were told about it thought the guy said Seltzer, we thought a weird name for a restaurant, but you never know).  Tomorrow we are off to Sydney for three days.  No photos today, nothing to photograph.  TTFN.

Day 30 - Up, Up and Away

The train

Also the train

Not much to say about today. We booked a tour of the rainforest, going up to the top, a town called Kuranda, in an old fashioned train, open windows and all. Pretty ride, beautiful rainforest, but nothing at all interesting or different from other forests, rain or otherwise. No birds, just green. Best part of the journey was an 8 month old little tow headed boy and his parents, spent more time photographing him than the scenery.

Got up to the top, went into town. Our first real tourist town of the journey, shop after shop, after restaurant, after food place.

AFW

Had lunch and went back down via a gondola over them tops of the tress into little valleys, stoping twice to get off and see the waterfall and a gorge. There was 2 1/2 hours in between the drop off of at the train and the pick up of the gondola; we were hard pressed to use up that time ( we didn't). However, just before the gondola set down at the last stop, an eagle flew past the window and soared around us for a minute or two. We did get some shots of it, gorgeous bird.

Eagle from the Gondola (Photo by Patricia)

We still had 1 1/2 hours before we met the bus back to the hotel. Didn't have our reading material, didn't have our cards, and the gondola stops did not take a lot of time, so we sat in the cafe and read the guide books on the shelf. Are you excited so far?

We returned to our hotel, cancelled the day trip for the next day, another rainforest trip (the famous one of the region, but not for us).

Took a walk into town, had a lovely Italian dinner, repacked our suitcases for the nth time and watched TV. We will see what tomorrow has in store for us. The Sunday market in town, a ferry ride across the bay, sitting on the beach or at the pool. Stay tuned.

Day 26 - 29 - Under the Sea

Cabbage Coral - hard as a rock - Photo by Patricia

Today started with a free morning in Cairns. That's pretty much all we have to say about that. We actually got to sleep in a bit before our morning explore. It rained a bit all morning with the sun shining,you know -sun showers. We went out for breakfast, checked out of our hotel and had to kill 3 hours until the bus for the dive boat picked us up. So we went to lunch and briefly walked to the seaside. Went back to the hotel and spent 2 hours using their free Internet while we waited. We each took our small suit case and camera stuff on the dive boat. We left our big bag and our new UGG boots in their own separate bags at the hotel. The day before we had free time as well - this can be a very dangerous thing for us. Our casual walk generated several purchases including UGG boots. We learned way back in New Zealand that UGG is a type of boot and that an American company stole the name because it cannot be copyrighted (not going any further than that.) and that the boots we know in America as UGGs are made in China and are not the "real thing." Anyway we now have real Australian ones and we need to carry them through passport control in Sydney make our purchase for use outside the country legal. OY!!!!!

We were picked up by the dive company, filled out all the necessary paperwork at their office,
and were taken by bus to the dive boat. There are only 12 other people on a boat that holds 32
so it was going to be nice and comfortable. The group was us, a family of four from California, a couple and two young women cousins from Canada, 2 from France, 1 guy from Sweden and another guy from New Zealand but lives in Sydney, so a well rounded group. We of course brought the age level up considerably. All pretty young but a nice group, very into diving which neither of us really is. Maddi is a new diver, and although Pat has been certified and diving for years she has fewer dives than the two kids on the boat, way fewer.

Anyway, we were put in a twin cabin at the bottom of the boat that the two of us could not be in at the same time, unless one was on the bed. More importantly, the facilities were up a flight of steps and out on the dive deck. We were thrilled! Luckily, there was an empty en suite cabin on the top deck, which they upgraded us to. Turns out they upgraded some others as well but ours was a bit more complicated. (Somewhere down the road someone is probably going to pay for it, but that is somewhere down the line.) This was the second time our travel agent screwed up.

Photo of Patricia and a Sea Cucumber (looks like a loaf of bread)

A word about the on board food. Scrumptious!!!!!!!! The chef was French and had a way with a small kitchen not to be believed, fab-u-lous!!!!!

Great Barrier Reef - Photo by Patricia

The diving was pretty terrific with different corals, different fish from what one sees in the Caribbean. We don't know a lot of the names but cuttlefish, yellow snappers, shark, cod and a gazillion others. One of the dives called Steves Bommie was amazing. Several very experienced divers on the boat said it was one of the best they ever saw. There were 10 dives in total, we each did 4. Pat's underwater camera does not take the best underwater pictures but we are attaching a couple so you can see we were really there. We arrived back in Cairns and almost immediately left for Port Douglas, about an hour up the coast where we will be spending the next few days.

We arrived at our hotel and the reception clerk was wonderful. She booked a couple of tours for us and we went out to get some food for breakfast and see the annual Carnivale parade they have when the wet season is officially over. There is absolutely nothing more to say about the event!

We have internet so look for us regularly the next few days.

Days 23-25 - Lazy Bones

Sorry no pix today - free and SLOW internet.

Today was our R and R day. We did a whole lot of nothing really. We each found a quiet spot either in the back of the room or by the pool, read, listened to music, did some math puzzles and played cards. We went over to the Kakadu bakery for lunch and to buy our dinner (one night of 30 dollar fish and chips in the hotel was enough), which we ate in the room. Food here is extraordinarily expensive and not really very good. Even the natives think everything here is expensive, which it is and the dollar to dollar is in Australia's favor by about 20%. So a quiet cheap day. Tomorrow we are off on our last tour of Kakadu, which it seems may be the German word for Cockatoo, go figure.

A bit of back story. We received a phone call in Darwin that our tours in Kakadu had been cancelled due to the fact that the rains had not subsided enough to travel inland. We called our travel agent, she found out for us that it was just the one Saturday tour. That's why we had a day of rest. Since there were some changes we were to get new vouchers and a new schedule before we left Darwin, which we didn't. So Sunday comes and we are up early (again) to meet our guide at 7:15. While we are waiting we are told the pick up is 7:50. For us morning is not the best time of day to make things earlier than they already are. To add insult to injury, when all these changes happened, we asked for some "compensation" for our inconvenience. They agreed to upgrade us to the "first class" hotel ( quotes important here) and to add breakfast which has not been included at all. We had a lovely breakfast on Saturday and went back on Sunday, AFTER which we were told it was not included for both days - just one. Guess who was not happy. $27.00 PER PERSON AU which is about 30US. Pat had a bowl of cereal and some tea. We think it worked out to 25 cents a flake!!! So now we are discussing this issue with the travel agent. On to more exciting things.

We were picked up at 7:50 in a large 4 wheel drive vehicle and set off for a lovely day in the park looking at Aboriginal rock paintings which are amazing and taking a two hour cruise with an Aboriginal guide to see more crocs, which we did, and learn about how these aboriginal people use nature. We ventured as far as Arnhemland, which is the part that was under water so we couldn't drive in on Saturday. Long day, wine and cheese at sunset and then a long bus ride back to our downtown hotel in Darwin for the night (they should have put us up at the airport). The only thing we got to do was get cleaned up, repack a bit, get some sleep (not enough) to get up at 4:30AM to catch a 6:55AM plane which we are still waiting for at 9:48
(yes still AM - not that bad - yet). We should have had a good part of the day in Cairns but who knows when we will get there. We do have most of tomorrow before they pick us up for the dive trip.

Northern Australia is not pretty like New Zealand is, but it sure is majestic. Australia in general is not a pretty country, but the escarpments that make up a good part of the national park are truly majestic, just as Ayers Rock and Kata Tjuta are in the Red Centre.

There may be another chapter before we leave for the dive trip. If not, will report on Thursday, hopefully with some underwater photos of wonderful creatures.

You all be well until we meet again!

Day 21, 22 - Leavin' on Jet Plane and Sittin' on Top of the World

Day 21 -

Today was a travel day. We were heading North to "The Top End." That is what Darwin and points around are called. Darwin was named by the captain of the Beagle after his friend Charles Darwin. It sits on the Indian Ocean in the Bay of Timor at the top of Australia. Beautiful harbor.

Two flights and a twisty turny bus ride later we arrived at our Novotel hotel, which faces the beach, but of course we had a city facing room. Well actually our floor was so low we had a parking lot facing room. No matter, it was only one night now and one at the end of our trip to the Kakadu National Park, and maybe we will get a higher floor. This being Thursday, there was craft/food fair at Mintil Beach. We took the shuttle bus to the fair and there we were on Broadway, Columbus or Amsterdam Avenues in the Spring/Fall, except this was on the beach. All kinds food and crafts booths. It was quite a treat for Maddi to be on the other side of the E Z up tents. There was a verity of international foods many Asian, we settled on Vietnamese and found a seat on the beach to watch the sunset, and a beautiful one it was. This may have been one of the least expensive and tastiest meals we had in a long time. Just two days earlier it cost us 25 bucks for ONE box breakfast of a breakfast bar, muffin, apple, OJ, a croissant, and a small bottle of water. For under 20 we feasted on two summer rolls and two boxed meals with spring rolls and some meat and rice noodles and greens with a terrific sauce. There was some kind of sports event going on all over Darwin and some were on the beach, relay races were what we saw.

Darwin Sunset

We returned to our room to prepare for a 5:00AM wake up call for the trip inland to the national park. Oh, and because we could, we did laundry.

Day 22 - Sittin' on the Top of The World

Ladies and gents, another spectacular day. Although we had to be up at 5 and on the bus to Kakadu National Park at the crack of dawn it was worth it. It was a long drive with 11 people on a 47 passenger bus. Most people on the bus were day trippers, we are staying through Sunday with an actual day off in a warm place tomorrow.

Our Kakadu Hotel - shaped like a croc - OY

A day off, you muse. How can that be? Because the wet season has not dried out, our Saturday tour was cancelled so no Jim Jim or Twin Waterfalls (known to be spectacular). No matter, we took an optional scenic flight over the park today, which included a fly over both falls. The flight, in an 8 seater plane with just three of us, flew all over Kakadu Park. Not only did we see the falls we weren't going to see tomorrow, we saw three other falls as well, the escarpment and so much more. There we were up in the sky just clicking away.

Egret

From there we took a cruise (use the term loosely) on the Yellow River which starts as a billibong and becomes a full fledged river before becoming too narrow to traverse. Crocodiles, egrets, both great and medium, bee eaters, cockatoos, kites (the bird type), and the Jabiru, an odd looking bird with a red beak and red stilty legs and for which the town is named, all kinds of interesting flora. The trip took about an hour and it was lovely to be outside in the warmth and sunshine.

Aboriginal rock painting

After lunch we went to see the aboriginal paintings at Nourlangie Rocks. Very interesting aboriginal art. What can we say. Off to the Crocodile Hotel for an evening and day of R and R. You may not hear from us tomorrow, we expect to be basking in the sun by the pool. So, see you in a couple of days.

Day 19 and 20 Wheels on the Bus, Rock of Ages and Sounds of Silence

Day 19 and 20  - The Wheels on the Bus

6:25AM off we went to Ayers Rock and the Red Centre. Looking in the guide book the area seems to be a place one could visit for several days, taking in all the crevices, hills, gorges and of course Uluru. We will be there 2 days.

On the road - great vegetation

Red Center plant life

The trip from Alice Springs takes 5 1/2 hours with three stops for food, bathroom and some photo stops. The bus driver, Adam, was also the guide and we tooled along for about an hour and a half, stopping first at a camel farm. They don't raise camels but give camel rides, have toilet facilities, a restaurant ( which was good because we left before breakfast), some kangaroos, emus and a dog.

Outback Tour Driver - not ours

The next pit/food stop was at an aboriginal center, a restaurant but this time had aboriginal art instead of animals. Maddi found her mint Magnum ice cream bars there just like the ones in China and Namibia.

The third stop was to transfer some passengers to another bus for their trip to Kings Canyon (wherever that is).

The final leg of our trip took us to Ayers Rock Resort, our home for the next 2 days.
We checked in around noon, had ridiculously expensive Caesar salads for lunch and at 2:15 were off for our first journey to the Rock, Uluru in aboriginal. Much of this land is aboriginal and reserved for them (reserved sounds a lot like reservation to us). Our afternoon tour consisted of several walks, viewings of aboriginal art on the walls of the rock, a visit to the cultural center and a final stop at the Sunset

Aboriginal wall writings

viewing area. Talk about a crowded little area!! We set up our tripods and took a whole lot of photos of the sunset and incredible night sky. Our next and last stop of the day was an official Australian outback barbecue which included steak, shrimp (yes - on the barbie) and kangaroo meat which was okay. Being out in the middle of nowhere with no city lights the night sky is amazing. Being in the southern hemisphere made it all the more interesting. After dinner we had an explanation of the Southern sky. Our sky guide pointed out the Southern Cross, Leo, Sirius, Gemini, Virgo, and of course Orion ... very interesting. We got back to the hotel at 8:30, Pat was asleep at 8:45, Maddi a bit later for a 5:00 wake for the next journey, sunrise at Uluru. We did get a message when we got back to the room that there was a problem with our trip in Kakadu.

Sunset

As this is one of the first times we have traveled for any length of time in a group we actually met some people to chat with. Of interest, at least to us, was a very elderly woman and a much younger man. It turns out she is 90 years old, he is her butler and she goes all over. He was wonderful to watch with her, good fun on the bus rides and told us he and she had an extended trip to the US planned for next year.

Day 20 - Rock of Ages or Sound of Silence (readers get a bonus ... This is a 2 song day)

Tree with white bark - at the hotel (Patricia)

We awoke at 5:15 and set off for Uluru for sunrise. Neither of us was impressed with the sunrise on the rock, although the sunrise itself was quite lovely. From there we went to The Olgas, Kata Tjuta in Aborigine, for a walk at the god awful hour of 7:15AM. For some time management reason we had our early walk, when the sun is golden and the light spectacular on the opposite side of the rocks where the sun would not get to for several hours. These are very impressive structures, millions of years old and way larger that Ayers Rock. From there back to the hotel at 10:30AM when we both took a long nap. Had the afternoon free so we took a walk to the Town Centre (read shopping mall) on the grounds of the resort, had lunch, went to the supermarket and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in our little back patio playing cards., the gin game that has been going on for almost 10 years.

Kata Tuja (Patricia)

There is much history here. Some is aboriginal folklore and some in geologic past, all of it intertwined. It seems that this whole area where Uluru is was a huge water basin thousands of years ago and the aboriginal tribes of the area have many tales of how this last evolved to the outback we know today.

Sunset at the Sound of Silence Dinner (Patricia)

At 5:15PM we left for the Sounds of Silence dinner, which brought us back to Uluru for sunset, this time in a beautiful location with champagne and hors d'oeuvres before dinner. The menu was a little different but also included grilled kangaroo. We sat at a table with some people we had been on tour with that morning and the previous day and dinner was great fun. After dinner there was a minute of silence, not quite what we expected, but the wine kept flowing, along with the tawny port and another explanation of the southern sky. There were two telescopes set up for incredible viewing of Saturn and the moon. We returned to the hotel at around 9:30 to pack for the next day's journey to the north and Darwin. FYI by now the issue at Kakadu has been sorted out after some communication with out rep in Australia and an E mail to our contact in the US.

Days 18 and 19 - Ticket to Ride

Day 18 - Ticket to Ride

Another day up at 6 to get to the airport for our flight to Adelaide for our train trip to Alice Springs. It's exhausting just writing about it.

The Flight was uneventful, up and down, an hour, but a half hour difference in time. So we picked up a half hour on you all.

We took a taxi and arrived at the train station with 2 hours to spare. The train is The Ghan after the Afghan Cameleers who first went out to Alice Springs. Who would think a train would have more strict rules for luggage than a plane - 20 kilo and that be all for any single bag. When we checked in Maddi had to take 1 1/2 kilo out of her suitcase, which gave her another thing to carry onto the train. Pat had her purse, large bag and camera bag plus the roll-on suitcase for carry on, Maddi her backpack, the item she took out of her suitcase, her camera and her roll on suitcase. Ring and Gilman Sherpas Inc. They are VERY strict about the weight allowance of checked baggage. Something about not having the trainmen hurt themselves!!!!!

We were booked in a twin compartment with washing facilities (toilet down the hall) and access to the lounge and dining cars, meals being extra. Since we had so much time to kill we decided to check out an upgrade. We upgraded to the Gold level, which is a compartment with an upper and lower bed, but en suite facilities and meals included. You only live once, right!!!

The compartment was small but compact, the "en suite" was very cleverly designed. The sink and toilet ware pull downs, so they stow flat one on top of the other. What fun flushing!!!!! The shower was the whole room, with the drain in the floor, (all hotels have the drain in the center of the bathroom floor). The lounge was lovely and the dining room very pretty but
food - not up to snuff for these New Yorkers. Everyone else on the train seemed to love it, so much for taste.

The views were okay, waiting for the Outback which we are to be in in the morning.

Repaired to the compartment after dinner and that was it for us. Once again, the night owls were done in by 9:30! Pat in the lower bunk and Maddi upstairs. Moving around with the suitcases and the upper bunk ladder made getting ready for bed a comedy of errors.

Day 19 - Alice's Restaurant

Today we slept in - 7AM. We awoke to the Outback, a huge expanse of short green trees and red earth. Along the way a cow or two and some birds. It was a vey relaxing 24 hours. We read, photographed out the window and got in several games of gin. We have a travel game we started 10 years ago. Then off the train in Alice Springs and went to the "resort" into which we were booked, dragged our suitcases up a flight of steps (no help it seems) and checked in. Not what we would call a resort, but we can deal with our travel agent later. Best thing is it is 70 degrees and sunny, way better than the weather down south.

Unloaded in our room and went for a walk to the centre of town. Went into several souvenir shops since that's about all there is to do, bought a few things and came back to the room. Since we have to get up very early again tomorrow, it will once again be an early night.

Day 17 - The Magic Bus

After a long and comfortable night's sleep, we are off to see the Blue Penguins, Koalas, and other native creatures near Melbourne on Phillips Island.

What a day!!! If this day is any indication of things to come, we are in for a great time in Australia.

Maddi and her Wallaby

Patricia and her Koala

First stop was an animal reserve where we saw the following: Koalas, Kookaburra, Emu, Wombat, Pukeko, Dingos, Cockatoos, wallabies , Tasmanian Devil, Barking Owl, Gray Heron, Cape Barren Goose. Upon arrival at the Reserve we were greeted by a gentleman with a snake, which Pat had wrapped around her. Cool. Pat also had the treat of petting the Koala, see picture on Facebook as well as here. We both petted a wallaby. Soft and furry and cute.

Our first kangaroo

Cute little Wallaby

From the reserve we went to the Koala Sanctuary where the Koalas are free (more or less) and you walk on a boardwalk and look in the trees for them. And they were there, balls of fur up in the trees. They sleep 20 hours a day high up in eucalyptus trees. We saw at least five of them.

Moving along down the island there was a visit to what looked like an old wild west town. There was a demonstration of herding dogs, sheep shearing and whip snapping. The sheep shearing was pretty interesting and there were several animals to photograph.

Next stop was an overview of an area of fur seals and penguins, of which there were none, but a beautiful view of blowholes, the sea and sunset.

Wonderful Shoreline - but no seals

Finally, the piece de resistance. It's called the Penguin Parade. At dark, the Little Penguins (Blues in New Zealand) come marching out of the sea to go to their burrows for a few days rest. They are the smallest penguins in the world, about 12 inches high and weigh about 2 pounds. They have blue backs and white bellies to protect them from predators. When they swim their blue backs camouflage them from flying predators and the white fronts make them blend with the sky when viewed from below. They are very social within their groups but not so much with people. There is no photography allowed because it disturbs the penguins. The guide told us that the penguin population in the area doubled when they stopped the flashing and clicking of cameras. One would need to use flash, which probably wouldn't work anyway, they are pretty far away when they come out of the water.

We waited sitting in stands at the beach. At first one or two penguins came out of the surf, stood at the edge of the beach near the water and seemed to be waiting. All of a sudden there were 10 or 15 more on the beach. (this happened in several spots along the water's edge) They gather together like a group hug and march off across the beach towards their burrows. They know which burrow is theirs and their mates are either with them or will be arriving soon. These little guys mate for life. Once they marched off the beach, we followed them from a boardwalk as they walked towards their burrows. It may have been one of the coolest experiences of our travels.

Off to Adelaide tomorrow and The Ghan, which is a train that runs from Adelaide to Darwin in the north. We are only taking it as far as Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayres Rock). We will be out of computer range for a day or two, but look for us at Uluru for some images of the rock at dawn.

Day 16 -Down Under

So begins our second leg of the journey. We reluctantly left New Zealand at the crack of dawn (the reluctance applies to both New Zealand AND the crack of dawn) and flew, once again, on a great airline New Zealand Air, to Melbourne. Shuttle bus took us to our hotel in the heart of downtown Melbourne. A little shabby but nice. The bathrooms seem to be the best part of all the places we have stayed so far, even the igloo in Arrowtown.

So we arrive and discover we are here for two nights. We were thinking we had to rush through Melbourne, but we didn't. For 2+ weeks we worried not about how may nights we were where. Time to take charge of our own stuff now. Anyway after the glorious countryside and small towns we acknowledge we really don't like big cities. After all we live in the best of them in the world. So what to do on the second day. The Melbourne information center is great. We picked up a few day tour brochures and booked a trip to see the Blue (or Little, as they call them) Penguins and Koalas at a reserve near the ocean with several stops along the way at different beaches, not to swim (it's quite cold here) but for some sites we will report on tomorrow. If we had realized we had two days here and no days in Adelaide, we probably would have split the difference and spent a day/night in each. (A note to trip planners: when you plan a trip 18 months in advance, check it a few months before you go so you remember where you are going in case you want to change something!!!!)

Tram 

Great Architecture

Of course we wandered around the city for several hours and found it to be very eclectic in it's architecture, some quite modern, some quite traditional, all quite nice. Too many people. Having come from NZ where there are no people, this was culture shock even for us New Yorkers, and all the young people wandering here and there, on the phone, on computers in the hot zones, rushing home from work or out for the evening.

Old Baths

Street Sculpture

Melbourne has a huge Chinatown, about a block from our hotel, we ate lunch there and took half of it back for tomorrow's dinner since we will be coming back from the penguins late. The room has a fridge and a microwave and plates and silverware. With that and the chopsticks we packed with our leftover "take away" we are all a set.

We were going to book an opera for the evening, they are doing La Boheme (Pat said that was a good one for opera novice Maddi), but we were exhausted so we went back to the room, got our computers, marched over to the free internet hotspot, posted our blog and, like many of our other days, were asleep by 9!!!! On the first trip back to the room we did find something that cities offer more than other places. There was a wonderful group set up on the street playing Gypsy Kings music. We listened until they packed up and it was as good as much concert music one might hear.

Great street music

Not the most exciting day of the trip but onward we go.

Oh, and the exchange rate sucks.