Brisbane Arrival

   Well, for those of you still following this saga. . .  today is our last day in Australia (or, as the locals refer to it, Oz). And it is the land of Oz. We are both sad to be leaving and are nostalgic already. It hit me yesterday as I was driving and thinking about everything we've done. Believe it or not, it just went too fast! We both agreed we should have even made the trip longer because there is so much to do and see, but, at the time, we thought 6 weeks was pretty hefty. Anyway, today it all ends.
   We are heading out this morning to cram in more stuff before we have to spend some time reorganizing our suitcases. I'm not sure I mentioned it, but we had to buy a duffel bag several weeks back to use as a place to throw a bunch of the warmer clothes we didn't need while driving around (that way, we didn't have to carry it into each hotel room at night). Now we're glad we have it to pack and even out the load we are each carrying.
   The drive yesterday was long (6 hours) but uneventful. We went through some interesting country towns, including the "sapphire capital of the world" (who knew?). A lot of the late 19th-early 20th century stone /brick buildings in these towns have been preserved and maintained - often as museums or libraries. After arrival here, we turned in the car to Hertz and walked along the Queen Street mall. Dinner there last night, and back to the hotel. Our hotels have been of varying standards, but all have been extremely well located for touring.

Old buildings in Warwick

Queen Street Mall, Brisbane

   But back to our day today:  we're going to take a short river cruise on the Brisbane River followed by another visit to a koala sanctuary (I love those little guys!). Then we'll finish up (or maybe reverse the order and start with) a ride on The Wheel. It's a huge ferris wheel situated downtown from which you get a 360 degree view of the whole city. It has air-conditioned cars (like cable cars) with a sound system explaining what you are seeing. It's kind of like the one in London although we've never gone on that one.
   Then we're off to the airport tomorrow morning for a flight back to Fiji, a 4 hour lay-over, and then an 11 hour flight back to L.A. We'll spend the night there and fly to Phoenix the next day with a shuttle ride back to Flag. We're waiting to hear whether our house is finished yet with the renovation but I'm guessing it won't be. We're not too pleased about that as I was wanting to drive up the road and see it all complete. Guess I'll have to look out at the dumpster again for a bit!
   Will try to post again tonight, but last night the wireless connection here was really creeping, so we'll see.

Sydney to Armidale

The Queen Victoria Building mall, Sydney

QVB mall interior

    Only two more days to go and this amazing vacation will be over. It's so hard to believe because we have immersed ourselves in Australia -- so much so that when a man asked me yesterday where we were from, I answered "Australia" without thinking!
   Today we started off visiting a Koala Hospital. The stories about how these little guys happened to be wounded, sick, or hurt was heart-breaking. Apparently they are attacked by dogs frequently (they don't move at lightning speed), are hit by cars on the road, or are subject to a couple of major physical complaints: conjunctivitis at the top end and runny bottoms at the other end. One currently in the hospital had such bad burns on her feet that she will never be able to be released. Her home was burned by a bush fire, which is another threat to these animals. Anyway, it was fascinating and neat to once again see the animals up close.

At the Koala Hospital, Port Macquarie

   It rained fairly heavily off and on for most of the day as we traveled north heading to Brisbane along the Waterfall Highway and through the Gondwana Rain Forest,. We went through the Dorrigo, New England, and Guy Fawkes National Parks. We stopped to view waterfalls several times, as this is the area for them. Being in the rain forest during the rain was apropos. The fog was so heavy at times that I had to slow down to a crawl because I couldn't see oncoming cars.

Gondwana Rain Forest

Dorrigo - note wide streets, typical of many country towns

Dangar Falls near Dorrigo, 30m high

 

Driving in the clouds

Upper Ebor Falls, Guy Fawkes River N.P., 115m high

Lower Ebor Falls, 600m high

   We're staying tonight in Armidale, a beautiful town on the New England plateau with many lovely old buildings. It advertises itself as the highest city in Australia (at 1000 meters!!!). We turn the car in tomorrow evening in Brisbane, after adding over 4000 kilometers to its odometer (plus the 1200 we put on the camper in the Outback)! I'm ready for some limousine service!!!!
   There will probably only be one more post as we arrive in Brisbane tomorrow evening, then we have all day there to reorganize and repack, and we leave for the airport on Sunday morning. We'll be gaining a day on the trip back but will stay overnight in L.A. - we should be back in Flag on Tuesday.

Last Day in Sydney

   Yesterday was our last day in Sydney, and we were sorry to leave it. We spent a good part of the day shopping for gifts, including a return visit to the QVB (Queen Victoria Building), a fabulous 3-story indoor mall housed in a block-long 19th-century building.A great place for shopping but maybe not for buying, unless you must have Gucci, Piaget, Armani, Versace, etc. The David Jones department store nearby wasn't much further down the scale either.
   For more realistic entertainment, we attended the matinee of the Cole Porter musical, "Anything Goes", at the Sydney Opera House. Very reasonable ticket prices, all things considered, and a fun show. The script was pretty true to the original - dated references to Ovaltine, Gertrude Ederle and Jimmy Durante, among others - but looking at the age of the audience, I think most people got the references. The star was Caroline O'Connor, a singer-dancer-comedienne apparently big down here - she has also done shows/movies on Ethel Merman, Edith Piaf and Judy Garland, so she could really belt out the songs. Her character here was definitely Ethel Merman, and she did a great job. Lots of classic group tap-dancing routines too. A very civilized venue - wine before the performance and during the interval, and barrels full of chocolates scattered around to sample.
   Today the weather finally cooled down significantly and we even got sprinklings of rain on the drive up to Port Macquarie, north of Sydney. We'll spend the night here and then drive through the waterfall region and "Little New England" tomorrow before reaching Brisbane on Friday. It's almost over, and it's been a wonderful experience.

Sydney: Opera House and Taronga Zoo

Flowers in Leura, Blue Mountains

    Sydney is hot!! And this is still spring! Temperature hit 97 degrees today. We stopped for ice cream several times - we had the perfect excuse today.
  The morning wasn't too bad. we took the Opera House tour - very interesting construction history and amazing interior architecture.The concrete, wood and metal interior structure is art by itself. We were so fascinated by the beauty of the stages (which we unfortunately couldn't photograph as they had sets installed) that we bought tickets for the matinee performance tomorrow of "Anything Goes", the Cole Porter musical currently playing on the Joan Sutherland stage. (There are at least three main stages at the Opera House).

Interior architecture, Sydney Opera House

Entrance, Taronga Zoo

"What's going on?" Taronga Zoo

Tasmanian Devil, Taronga Zoo

   After an ice cream, we took the ferry to the Taronga Zoo on the north  shore. The heat had built up by now, so we moved from shade patch to shade patch. It's a magnificent zoo with natural habitats. We focused primarily on the Australian animals and still spent several hours there. As it was the last day of school break, there were lots of kids there (and lots of strollers). We were finally wiped out, so we headed back on the ferry, had some more ice cream, and came back to the hotel.
   Doing laundry now - almost finished - so it's time to go look for a restaurant. More tomorrow (maybe).

Jervis Bay, Sydney, The Beaches, The Blue Mountains

   We're still here -- just been very busy!! We got into Sydney last Wednesday after a morning in Jervis Bay dolphin and whale watching (we saw both). We drove to our friend's house in the most amazing traffic only to be told that the traffic wasn't really that bad because it was school holidays! I'd hate to see it when it's busy!

Dolphin, Jervis Bay

    Since arriving in Sydney, we've been sight-seeing every possible minute, it seems. Our friends have taken us all over and even after we came into the city to stay at a hotel these last 2 days, we've met them somewhere to drive out of the city for more exposure to all things Sydney. Two days ago, we visited the beaches north of Sydney and had a lovely lunch in a seafood restaurant in Manly. (I had fish & chips and Jay had oysters and BBQ prawns). We had a wonderful trip to the Blue Mountains with them yesterday, where the temperature is 20 degrees cooler and the flowers and views are beautiful. Lunch at the historic Lilianfels Spa at Katoomba. This is the first morning that we'll be on our own so we'll be heading out soon.

Manly Beach

The Blue Mountains

   This is an amazing city and I really like it. The weather instantly turned hot so that was surprising. It's supposed to be in the 90's today and we'll be out walking all day! But I love this place. My friend, Dale, grew up here and she has an amazing memory for names, area stories, etc. Anywhere we're driving, she's telling us all kinds of info about the place. We're heading back to the opera house today for a backstage tour because it was so crowded when we were there last week. We're on our own today, so we'll go at a more leisurely pace! I am amazed at the demographic of the city. . .  it seems to be mainly Chinese! Second to that would be Indian. Of course, the Australians have some thoughts about that and I think we've heard them all, but it does seem to be a concern in terms of balance of population.

Sydney Opera House from Manly Ferry

Sydney Bay Bridge

    Anyway, we're going to head out to get something to eat so we can go back to the opera house before all the crowds. It's a bank holiday today and is also the last day of a two-week break for the school kids, so traffic will, apparently, get even worse, which is really hard to imagine. We will be heading north on Wednesday and it's beginning to worry me about getting out of town! Our car is parked in the garage until we leave!! We'll take off on Wednesday morning heading slowly to Brisbane for the flight back. I can't believe it's almost over. . . what an amazing trip!
   More later!!!

Photos, Mornington Peninsula to Mallacoota

In The Maze, Mornington Peninsula

Squeaky Beach, Wilson's Promontory N.P.

A Wombat

A Kangaroo!

...more kangaroos!

View from our guest house tonight in Mallacoota

Melbourne to Mallacoota

  Yes, Virginia (and Cheri), there ARE kangaroos!  We finally saw then at Wilson's Promontory National Park (henceforth referred to as The Prom).
   But first, let's back up. We carefully planned our trip out of Melbourne for Cheri to avoid problems. We drove about 200 yards and encountered a DETOUR. We followed the detour, which led us into another detour. (Apparently they do their roadwork here on Saturday). So much for the plan. We left the central downtown and discovered that the quickest route from there was a very short toll road, for which we didn't have a pass - we'll be getting the bill from Hertz for that. Interestingly, you only encounter the toll road when you leave Melbourne, not when you enter it.
   Anyway, we finally got out and then toured the Mornington Peninsula, not too far south. We first visited a chocolate factory, then did a couple of mazes in a wonderful garden there, and finished with lunch on the seafront in Sorrento (no, not the Italian one). Then on to Phillip Island, where we quickly checked into our hotel and then rushed over to see the Penguin Parade. It was just like the photos. Although the penguins stay well clear of the crowd when they come ashore (in large and comical bunches), they proceeded to their burrows along the boardwalk, only a few feet away from us. At one point, the walk had to be cleared so they could cross in front of us. It was a rare opportunity (as it was for the other 800 people there).
   Yesterday we headed for The Prom, a pointed chunk of land sticking out into the ocean. We took several walks along the beaches, and then, determined to see animals, we stayed in the park until later. About 4:30 we saw our first kangaroo. We then moved to a wildlife walk area where we encountered our first (live) wombat - up close, as they don't appear to be concerned about people at all, and couldn't really get away if they wanted to - they're very fat and slow.
   We walked a few hundred yards into the bush. In the distance we saw what appeared to be a number of brown rocks, but, as a qualified geologist, I knew there were no brown rocks in the area. Shortly one of the 'rocks' raised its head - a kangaroo! Then another! There were probably about two dozen within a few hundred yards of us, along with 3 emus. At last, Cheri was satisfied! We had now seen the Australian collection: koalas, wallabies, wombats, kangaroos, and emus - and, oh yes, an echidna which we saw crossing the road that morning. We made it back to our hotel a few minutes after official sunset without hitting anything, so all was well.
   Today we had a long drive to Mallacoota on the southeastern corner of the continent, preparing for our dash to Sydney. We're staying at a lovely guest house overlooking the bay, with parrots and other colorful birds all around. There is the (unlikely) possibility that we might see a sea eagle here, or even the rare lyre  bird. If so, you'll soon know.
   Photos to follow when we have time!