Day 10: Road Weary

Well it happened one day earlier than we wanted it to. We were hoping that tomorrow would be the resting day. We would arrive in Brisbane in the early afternoon and have the rest of the day to vegetate and rest up but we didn’t make it.

The morning started productively enough with some laundry being done for the second half of the trip and then we headed off to Luna Park to ride the rides we didn’t get to do last night. This time we took the train over the Harbor Bridge rather than walking it and it was much faster.

Luna Park was fun. The views of the bridge, the opera house, and the skyline are great and the atmosphere is really wonderful. It’s a great caricature of the Coney Island of old which it was always emulating. We rode the Wild Mouse first, my 211th and Kirsten’s 95th. It was fun and one of only a few left in the world that are made of wood. The cars were placed high up on their suspensions and would tilt outward a little on each hairpin curve but aside from that it was a pretty standard wild mouse. From there we went into their funhouse appropriately named Coney Island. In it they had the usual funhouse gags like a mirror maze, shifting floors, a rotating barrel, and some very steep slides that you rode down on in a sack. They also had a social mixer, or a joy wheel which basically acts as a centrifuge and riders sit on the wheel and the wheel rotates at greater and greater speeds and throws riders off and into the padded walls that ring the wheel until there is only one left. I’m not sure what usual operations are like but kids had taken over on this one today and we didn’t dare try to bully our fat American selves onto it. I’ve seen videos of them running with adults on them though and they look like a rough and tumble (and completely fun) time.

We also rode the ferris wheel with a twerpy little kid who ran ahead of us as we were getting onto the gondola and jumped in. The ride operators were as befuddled as we were but sent the three of us along even though we made it clear that he was not our child. Kirsten was annoyed and I just ignored him. He just ignored us too and instead shouted down to his PaPAA! PaPAA! The entire ride. I don’t know if they necessarily knew he was up there either.

After Luna we took the ferry back to Circular Quay and that’s when we unraveled. We poked around in the Rocks some more with every intention of heading back to the Quay and catching one of the ferries that left for Manly Beach and walking around in the Botanical Gardens looking for the flying foxes. We even canceled our dinner reservations for a steak place that night after getting hamburgers and deciding we needed a break from eating out. So instead of doing all of that and getting a feel for Sydney outside of the downtown area we found a supermarket and bought a kangaroo steak and a bottle of wine and took it back to the hotel to cook in our kitchenette. The kangaroo is a little gamey and tastes very similar to venison. Good, but not the best steak I’ve had. Very tough though, you’re gonna need some jaw muscles to chew it up. Kirsten would like to note this may also be her fault since it was her first time cooking kangaroo and may not have done the best job but I think it turned out just fine.

Tomorrow we leave for Brisbane and what was supposed to be our resting day. We’ll see if we stick to that or if we find something to do while we’re there. We definitely have to surrender to Greater Sydney though; we’ll have to save any outer activities for a different visit far in the future.

Day 9: Introduction to Sydney 101

Ah Sydney, you’re a somewhat familiar face, with your Opera House and your Harbor Bridge. We sort of slept in and got a late start this morning but eventually we got out the door of our hotel, Napoleon on Kent. It’s called that because it’s on Kent Street and it’s short, squat, and lurks under the freeway, just like Napoleon.

We had our usual breakfast of champions in the hotel but wanted to get an early lunch before our afternoon activity. So we walked up to an area called the Rocks which is under the downtown approaches to the Harbor Bridge. This is the original Sydney settlement and it’s called the Rocks because the buildings and streets are built on terraces hewn out of the rock. Like I said, Sydney is hilly. We ended up at the Baker’s Oven where we both opted for a second breakfast. It was filling but not exactly tasty. Kirsten’s bacon was the best part of the meal. Oh and the two tropical birds that were hanging around looking for handouts. We walked around in the Rocks for a bit after eating and wandered through a little market that was going on before we walked around the inner harbor to the Sydney Opera House where we had tickets to today’s matinee performance. What did we see?

We saw the Sydney Symphony Orchestra perform the music of Star Trek (and 2001 and Transformers). It was incredibly nerdy and incredibly fun! And what better way to see the Opera House than to see a show there. Although technically we were in the concert hall and not the opera theater but what are ya gonna do?

The Opera House is beautiful and very small. It looks enormous on the outside but that’s all vertical space. The actual auditoriums are tiny. I was surprised that for the interior, the architecture has held up well and is not showing its age and overall, the place has been very well maintained. Interestingly, the shells on the outside lose their delicate appearance when viewed up close. They’re made of thick tiles overlaid on a very serious concrete structure.

After the show we walked around the downtown area a bit stopping in the two Victorian arcades they have here, the Strand, and the Queen Victoria Building which was the better of the two. We actually managed to do a little shopping while we were there too.

After we dropped off our loot at the hotel and changed clothes for the chilly evening temperatures, we headed out to Cockle Bay (or Darling Harbor – it seems to have two names) for a dinner at a Malaysian place with good reviews called Chinta Ria. It was pretty good, but we’re getting a bit tired of Asian food. We’re going to try to track down an Australian place tomorrow night although they’re surprisingly difficult to find.

After dinner we walked over the Harbor Bridge to Luna Park, which is the local amusement park. Along the way we saw that Sydneysiders seem to prefer the 80s miniskirt as the eveningwear of choice and are already pretty blasted at 8:30. Perhaps it’s the young drinking age, but holy underwear, I haven’t seen this many young drunks since tailgating in college. Anyway, Luna Park is located in North Sydney and we mistimed the walk and got there too late to actually ride anything but the lights were very pretty and we ended the evening watching some fireworks that were going off across the harbor at the Opera House. We’ll go back again tomorrow to ride the rides and this time we’ll take the train rather than do the long walk again.

Day 8: North to South

Not a whole lot to report here from Sydney. Today was a travel day and in the order that we did things, here we go:

Woke up, Kirsten is feeling almost recovered.

Walked down to the beach for one last opportunity to soak it all in before we take the Greyhound back to Cairns.

Riding in the greyhound I had my forehead pressed against the window hoping for a glimpse of the elusive cassowary and just as we were leaving the state park that surrounds Mission Beach I saw one walking along a path leading into the forest! It was very pretty and exciting! I clapped my hands.

I also saw an emu standing in someone’s driveway.

Cairns is a tourist trap and we’re glad we didn’t stay there. My ravioli at Pasta Fasta was pretty good though but I burned the heck out of my tongue on Kirsten’s soup. And the nice European lady at the Didgeridoo Hut showed me how to play a Didge. The circular breathing is very tough. But yeah, Cairns is like Miami.

Burger King tastes a little better here than back in the states. Although here he has been stripped of his royalty and is known as Hungry Jack. Who knew that the Burger King’s name was Jack. King Jack to us Americans!

Virgin Blue is only mildly better than Jet Star. Nothing at all like Virgin Atlantic.

We’re glad to be in Sydney, it’s hilly! We will do laundry here and many other fun things, starting tomorrow.

Day 7: My Solo Voyage

Sometime between the excitement of the reef and this morning, Kirsten came down with some sort of stomach bug that had her unable to participate in today’s rafting. Fortunately it was probably the choice day to get sick as the rafting, while very cool, paled in comparison to the reef or even to the Road tour a few days ago.

So I set off on my own to join Raging Thunder’s Xtreme Team of morning rafters on the Tully River. The guidebooks say that it’s the best guided rafting in Australia and possibly the southern hemisphere. They also all consistently said that the Xtreme tour was worth the extra few dollars as you are able to get ahead of the rest of the tour groups and get to participate in a few side activities. More on that later. Once again I was the token American, although there was a solo Canadian from Vancouver also on the Xtreme tour. I didn’t get the nationalities of the other two rafts but mine consisted of two Frenchmen, two Aussies, myself, and our guide, Mauricio, a self-proclaimed Patagonian. In my ignorance I don’t recall which part of South America that’s in, Chile or Argentina. Something to look up when I get home.

The bus ride out to the launching point was a trifle alarming. The guides put on a ruse about how they were the worst rafters and that’s why they were put in charge of the Xtreme team, because they were so bad (and dangerous). That’s fine, I can go for that kind of ghost story around the campfire stuff, but when they started talking about the saltwater crocodiles, I started to get some apprehension going. They pointed out the warning signs posted along the road warning about estuarine crocodiles being present and said that while they had only seen them a handful of times, they did seem attracted to the rafts and new exactly how to flip them over. Moreover, they didn’t have a plan on how to deal with them other than not to be the last person to shore. Ha. That’s a riot. Suddenly I was a little glad Kirsten was back at the hotel and I had to remind myself that if it was too dangerous, these guys wouldn’t be doing it.

I had been whitewater rafting before in Tennessee with my Dad and sister 14 years ago on the Ocoee River – the same river they used for the rafting competitions in the 1996 Olympics so naturally I would be comparing the two experiences. We got in our rafts and paddled around a bit and got familiar with Mauricio’s commands. Forward, Stop, Backpaddle were all pretty easy. We also mastered Hang On which meant grabbing the oh no ropes and ducking into the raft as well as the Jump Up and Down command which involved a lot of bouncing in place to get us over rocks that had beached us. The command instructing us to move around on the raft such as to the right or left or front or to squat down on the floor proved a little tougher but we managed.

Then we were off. The rapids came at a pretty relaxed pace with just a bit of paddling to get us into position for each one. The stretches in between were either placid pools or gentle rapids require no paddling. It was actually pretty relaxing compared to the furious paddling we were constantly doing on the Ocoee. It gave me ample time to enjoy the scenery. The river started out in a normal forest but descended into a rain forest. At times we were going through deep canyons that seemed to be hewn out of one solid black rock. I think I read somewhere that this was all basalt. Whatever kind of rock it was it was very impressive. The greenery was very pretty and impressive as it towered above us. We coasted along like this with a few points where the guides invited us to jump off boulders into deep pools and to shoot the rapids on our backs relying on our lifevests to keep us afloat. The first half concluded with a dip under a waterfall before we stopped for a hamburger and hot dog lunch on the banks. Australians like to eat their burgers with beets and carrots.

The second half of the day was similar to the first with the exception of a few water dragon sightings. They look like iguanas so anytime a city boy like myself sees a big ol lizard is pretty exciting! So it was a fun trip and the rain forest was stunning – even when it rained. All things considered though, I think I would have rather had a second day on the reef. Thankfully no crocodiles were seen.

Later that evening when I was out running errands for my sick wife I walked along the beach for a bit and saw some Bluebottles, or Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish washed up. They are such a vivid shade of blue they look like party streamers attached to a tiny bubble of cling wrap. I’m glad we never went swimming as they have a very nasty sting.

Day 6: Cuttlefish, stingray, and shark, oh my!

Swimming at the Great Barrier Reef is like visiting a different planet.  Everything is perfectly normal until you put your eyes underwater.  One second you see the sky and the boat and other people on the boat and the next your eyeball to eyeballs with a school of fish.  And beyond that is another school.  And beyond that another.  And beyond that is the reef itself.  It was like being in the tank at the best aquarium in the world – although I suppose that is exactly what the ocean is.

We went with Calypso Diving which is a snorkeling and scuba outfit here in Mission Beach.  Since this is the low season we were only with 18 other people including the crew.  There was one other American couple from Chicago and the rest were German, Japanese, and Australian tourists and was pretty evenly split between the snorkelers and the scuba divers.  The reef is actually quite far out in the ocean and when we reached their selected location we could not see any land.  They gave us snorkelers a few instructions.  The best coral is over there, the best fish are over there.  Don’t go over there because that’s all dead coral.  Don’t go out to where the waves are (an impossible distance), and DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!  Alright, now off you go.

So that’s how we came to find ourselves with our first shocking encounter with the invisible ocean world just underneath the surface.  We decided to check out the coral first since the tide was going out and Nigel, the instructor, said it can get tight over there.  Now we had heard from other sources that took reef tours that left from the regional capital of Cairns (pronounced “cans”) that when you snorkel the reef it is still a good 20-40 feet down and the only way you can get closer is to scuba dive.  That was not the case here.  The coral here was so shallow that we really had to flatten our bodies against the surface of the water to get by in some stretches.  Some people didn’t make it and came back to the boat with scratches from the coral which looks soft and fluffy but is actually razor sharp.  It went on and on for as far as we could see and we swam pretty far out from the boat.  And it’s so pretty!  We saw so many different varieties of coral and sponges and anemones and starfish and sea cucumbers and giant clams, as well as millions of tiny little reef fish and a cuttlefish.

After an hour or so out over the reef we swam back to the boat for a sandwich and pasta salad lunch provided by the outfit.  We ate, we swapped stories, we reapplied sunscreen, and then we jumped right back in.  This time we decided to go check out where the fish were which was along the reef wall as it descended into the lagoon we were calling base.  The lagoon itself was probably 60 feet deep and had a sandy bottom so there was a lot to see.  The fish over there were a lot bigger.  The funny thing was though that the bigger fish were more skittish and kept a wary eye on us as we swam by while the schools of smaller fish were very curious.  There were times when I would be completely enveloped in small fish, many of them peering into my goggles.  These were not your run of the mill, brainless goldfish!

Kirsten and I would drift apart and then come back together again before drifting off again.  It was during one of these apart phases where I watched a line of larger fish getting a tune-up from the little surgeonfish that clean off their dead scales and such.  Some were even allowing the fish to swim into their gills and their mouths!  I swam back to find Kirsten and we both burst excitedly into the air.

“I saw a shark!”

“I saw a. . . wait, what?”

“I saw a reef shark, it was like three feet long and it was just swimming by!”

“Awesome!”

“Yeah!  What’d you see?

“Um. . . some fish getting cleaned by other fish.”

“Oh that’s neat too.”

“Yeah.”

But then later I saw a huge stingray rise up from the lagoon floor and flap along until it found another resting spot where it promptly covered itself up with sand and disappeared.

It was an absolutely amazing day and I would do it again in a heartbeat.  The whitewater rafting has some big shoes to fill if it wants to keep up with the Great Ocean Road and the Great Barrier Reef!  We’ll give you the lowdown on Raging Thunder, tomorrow, same bat time same bat channel.  Sponsored by: Kellogg’s Nutri Grain cereal.  Once you try you won’t be able to live without it!  And by Vegemite, it’s like putting concentrated beer spread on your toast!  You’ll learn to like it, young whelp!

Day 5: It Gets Better

4:30 is just way too early. Not only is it an ungodly hour, it is too early for hot water, breakfast, and public transportation as well apparently. We were forced to take an early morning flight to Cairns in order to catch the Greyhound buses leaving for Mission Beach which is our next stop. This is ending up being an expensive day. Since the buses weren’t leaving we had to get a cab to the airport ($70) and our flight to Cairns was about Jet Star which despite its slick logo and attractive flight attendants, is the same as the nickel and diming Spirit Airlines in the US.

My tone is cranky because we were told at the gate that our backpacks were too large to fit in the overhead bins and we would be charged $80 each to check them. Nice. I could fit one of these many three year old children whose parents are allowing them to run up and down the aisles playing tag or something while we are in midair into the overhead bins with no problem. Every five or ten minutes or so one of them trips and faceplants and then screaming ensues. After that the cycle begins again. Nevermind the five dollar drink, when do we land!?

Okay so we landed and disembarked through the very strange Cairns airport campus. The building containing the jetways was separate from the building where the passengers wait which is separate from the arrivals hall which is separate from the baggage claim. And by separate I mean we had to go outside and walk around on pathways. Welcome to the University of Cairns International Airport! But once we got our bags and caught our taxi to the center of Cairns and were seated aboard the Greyhound bus I finally felt the grumpiness start to lift. And after an hour and a half of driving through corn and banana farms (yeah I didn’t know they could co-exist either) we arrived at Mission Beach.

Mission Beach is, as advertised, a very sleepy little beach town. Actually a lot sleepier and rural than we were expecting. We were kind of expecting a little beach town nestled on a few blocks between the beach and the rainforest sort of like what can be found on the Lake Michigan coast (minus the rainforest) or even like the coastal towns we drove through yesterday. Mission Beach is much more rural – more like what I imagine coastal Maine would be like – as in, there isn’t hardly anyone there! But no matter, we went and checked into our hotel, the aging but beautiful Mission Beach Resort that is a throwback to the Motor Lodges of the 1950s. Our room opens up into a private patio on a grassy common area with a natural rock swimming pool/hot tub as a centerpiece. Coconut palms are everywhere!

After getting settled and doing some grocery shopping we walked down to the beach which was a little bit of a hike but not bad at all and it was through a quiet neighborhood. The beach is tremendous. It stretches in both directions as far as you can see and there are maybe 20 people in sight. The water is warmer than the air which is breezy, the waves are gentle. Bali Hai is off across the bay in the distance. Actually it’s called Dunk Island but when I first saw it I immediately thought of the musical, South Pacific. Bali Hai, my special island. . . .

We walked along the beach barefoot through the gentle surf until we reached the next little neighborhood where we got dinner at some Greek/Malaysian place that was just alright. But the people were very friendly and there was a cat named Sookie who kept us company while we waited.

There are also a lot of birds here! The owner of the restaurant pointed out to us the butcher birds that were making a huge racket. We heard something that sounded like a monkey laughing. I think it’s a laughing kookaburra because I just love to say “kookaburra.” We also saw what looked like a curlew? Gonna have to check the books on that one. No cassowaries yet though even though we are apparently in the thick of their habitat, which is exciting since they are supposedly more rare than giant pandas or Bengal tigers. We’ll keep our eyes peeled.

A great finish to a stinky beginning. I guess that evens out to a good day, right? So tomorrow, let’s see what this Great Barrier Reef is all about.

Day 4: Wow! Just wow!

Today we woke up bright and early for an all day bus tour of the Great Ocean Road.  If you ever find yourselves in Melbourne, make sure you schedule in a day for this, it is absolutely phenomenal and is easily the best thing I have ever done on any vacation to date.  We went with Go West tours who came highly recommended and were environmentally minded (carbon offsets and all that) but it seemed that there were many other tour groups that stopped at all the same places.  We can say that Go West did provide a solid tour though and we highly recommend them.  Our group was limited to twenty passengers and the driver, Stu, was very engaging and humorous and had a very thoughtfully picked out soundtrack that he played over his ipod.  Also thoughtful, was the fact that they handed out foreign language translations on ipods to the non-english speakers on our tour.

A little background, the Great Ocean Road is similar to the Pacific Coast Highway in California in that it runs along the very dramatic coast of the Tasman Sea and the Southern Ocean in the Australian state of Victoria.  It was built by returning veterans of World War I and then continued as a sort of WPA type job during the Great Depression years of Australia’s history.  If I remember right, it was finished in 1939 and essentially links Melbourne and Adelaide.  Since then, more efficient roads have been developed and this one is relegated to the tourists now.

Leaving Melbourne you actually have to drive a ways down to Torquay and through the city of Geelong which is home to the Australian Ford factory.  It was surprising to see that they are still manufacturing cars in an Albert Kahn era factory rather than a modern plant.  But anyway, the first stop was Bell’s Beach which is famous for its surfing and annual surfing championships.  Even though it’s winter down here and the sea was a nipply 10 degrees Celsius, there were still quite a few surfers.  The scenery was spectacular both on the beach and in the parking lot as several surfers changed into and out of their wetsuits right in the parking lot.  Modesty is not so much in the lingo I suppose but the tourists were all agog!

From here the road hugged the coast which got progressively more and more impressive.  The hills started out rolling but soon became mountains draped with greenery and the road cut its way along the side at times high up on a cliff and other times down at beach level.  At one point we began chasing an intensely bright and sharp rainbow for at least 20 miles that, depending where we were facing on the road, seemed to hover a couple miles ahead to just a few hundred feet in front of us.  In these close encounters, everyone was straining to see if the end of the rainbow perhaps really did exist.

In the hour and half before lunch it’s hard to remember what order things came at us, but in this short span of time we witnessed a whale playing out in the surf doing somersaults and backflops and spouting away in the waves.  We drove through a eucalyptus forest where we saw several koalas hanging out  in the trees.  We stopped at a roadside dinner where colorful tropical parrots had congregated and alighted on our arms, heads, and hands expecting to be fed birdseed.

Giddy with our experiences we stopped for lunch in Apollo Bay – a charming village stretched out along the road alongside a crescent beach framed by two forested headlands.  We ate at a little sandwich shop called Nautigals.  It’s a pun, get it? Nauticals?  Naughty Gals?  Funny right?  Forget it, I’m telling a story here.  We had very tasty foccacia bread sandwiches and then walked down to a little bakery and bought a large cupcake that would cause most cupcake crazed New Yorkers to keel over in a heap, i.e. it was really really good.

After Apollo Bay, the road turned inland into the Great Otways Forest which started out as a eucalyptus forest but soon became a cold temperature rainforest.  We got out and took a half hour hike down into the thick of it and marveled over how the landscape kept changing so fast as we drove along.  Little did we know. . . .

After the hike we had about an hour’s drive through the rest of the Great Otways Forest and then past rural Victoria which is almost completely used as grazing land for sheep and cattle.  When the road reacquainted itself with the coast the topography had changed dramatically.  Instead of rolling mountains, we were now driving through desert scrubland which terminated in an unbroken line of sheer limestone cliffs that dropped 500 feet or more down to the ocean below which crashed and churned with more fury than we have ever seen.  At times the waves would break against the cliffs with such force that the spray would reach halfway up the cliff face.  The name Shipwreck Coast seemed to be well deserved.

We stopped at three locations along this stretch of coast that were named, in a national park sort of way, for their sculptural appearances.  The Twelve Apostles were a group of rock sentinels standing out in the ocean that had been separated from the rest of the land by being stronger than the surrounding limestone and eroding at slower rate.  There were many more than twelve and they extended for miles in each direction down the coast.  We were able to walk along a boardwalk at the top of the cliff and look out at the Apostles and watch the waves and feel the wind.  At this point the island of Tasmania was no longer forming a protective barrier and these winds were coming across thousands of miles of unbroken ocean from Antarctica – and they felt like it too!

The Loch Ard Gorge was named for a ship that sank near it called the Loch Ard and featured a fjord-like gorge that was shaped like a funnel with the narrow end being the entrance to the sea.  The water blasting through that opening was unbelievably violent.  We took stairs down to the beach in the mouth of the funnel from the top of the cliff and sat and watched.

Finally, we stopped at a location called London Bridge which looked very uncannily like the London Bridge with its series of natural arches but today only one of these arches remain as the others collapsed in the early 1990s.  It was a very spectacular sight as well and was the perfect way to end the tour.  From there we turned into the interior of Victoria and drove for about an hour past the cattle and sheep ranges to the town of Colac where we stopped for a quick fast food dinner.  Asian again, Kirsten liked hers better than I liked mine.  We returned to Melbourne at about nine that evening and were dropped off at our hotel.

Tomorrow is a travel day and we have to catch a 7:30 flight to Cairns.  It’s going to be a very early morning.

(Again, I think we are behind on the photos, check back later on for those).