Well, these are the last few days left in Australia. We are checking out all the things you would never see if you only stayed for 3 or 4 days. Nina calls it "going to the lizard museums"!
We went on a long ferryboat ride today and got off to see an old homestead further toward the mouth of the Brisbane river. It was called Newstead Farm and was the first private residence to be built in the area after they closed the penal colony. Very beautiful. We then took the bus back into the city and that took about 1/8th of the time to return because the wending of the river for the ferry ride is deceptive as to the real distance. Then, went to see an old old building the Cimmiseriat (part od the penal colony buildings) in the downtown core. They had a historical exhibit about the very early penal colony days, before Queensland was a state unto itself.
All these little tootles, with lunch in between took us from about 10am to 4pm. The sun was (again) very hot even though the temperature was not overly hot. I don't understand other than the thin ozone? Wearing all the sunscreen, I probably have no tan at all, nothing to show for so much time in the "Sunshine Coast".
Tomorrow, we try to find a market in the morning, just for the fun, find a lovely brunch with delicious coffee, then visit another historical site. We save one more historical site for Sunday, then wend our way to the airport via a train and we will be leaving OZ.
The climate in this city is very much like San Diego in the winter, just warm enough during the day for very nice comfort and cool/cold at night for sleep. I think this temperate part is fairly short before summer kicks in and it just gets blisteringly hot and a lot more uncomfortable to deal with. Houses with tall ceilings and fans, for ventilation, houses on stilts to catch the wind and every conceivable form of shade making for windows and yards
Wellington will have a few side trips for me. Masterton one day, as the train ride is rather nice. Paekakariki Beach another day, because that is one fantastic beach. It will probably be rainy and cold, but never mind, I will be back in Canada's summer in a few days, so I can take it. Then the Wellington Zoo!
The zoo here in Brisbane is not very reachable even by train. You have to transfer to a bus after a long ride. Not good for getting young families there who do not have a car. But I suppose Toronto is really no better because the Rouge Valley is quite far from downtown even if the place is reachable by bus.
There were two American Navy ships in Brisbane over the last week or so and busloads of sailors all over the place. I spoke to one and he said they were helicopter carriers.
I have been enjoying travelling and all the incidental stuff that goes on in what is never just "a day". There is always some small thing that affects me with either a memory or a surprise. I've been reading boks by Australian authors and it certainly makes their descriptions clearer to me, having seen the country and even some of the cities they describe. Even a particular street!
I have a lot of work ahead of me. I need to sort what will be over 1600 photos. Work up sketches from some of those picks as it was too difficult to di a drawing there and then. Work on a few serie ideas I have. I think I will be busy over a very very long time.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
A whale of a good time
Whales!
We had success seeing whales!
We were about 4 miles offshore from Surfer's Paradise (yes, that's a real place), working from the reports of other sightseeing boats and finally found 2 animals who were moving along and slowed down to fool around a little bit for us. These were Right or pilot whales, I'm not sure... small fin on back, great big long arms type of whales. One big flop on the water, some fin waving and lots of outbreathing. I was so touched that I got the opportunity to see them!
I was afraid of getting sea sick so when they offered some ginger pills, I took them and I was okay! Nina took them too, but was feeling a bit punky by the time we got back to shore. It was a beautiful low wind day, but the sea waves are big enough even in a calm sea and you don't just go up and down but rock sideways too sometimes all at the same time, especially when they slow the motor down when they are near the animals. Very exciting! I think I saw a sea turtle when we were on our way out to sea, but I can't be positive.
It is 5:40 as I write this and I have been up since before 6 this morning. They are doing some construction project down the hill from the hostel and seem (for the moment ) to be on a 24 hour work schedule. So, not only was the overnight construction work waking me up with the beep beep backup truck, but I was also worried about waking up on time to get to the meeting place for our ride to Surfer's Paradise.
The boat tour took the morning and then we had 2:30 hours to kill on the beach or the crazy Las Vegas La Jolla strip of high rise towers and swank shops. The beach was beautiful, white silica sand and all the appropriate waves. Lifeguards and all their equipment dots the beach. The strip was incredibly obnoxious, boasting meter maids in gold bikinis. Pictures to prove it too!
The coast from Brisbane down the Gold and Sunshine coast is littered with high rise appartments, condos, hotels and posh houses. When we were way out to see, you could follow it like weird white cliffs. They go on even past the line into the state of New South Wales
The place is about an hour's drive from Brisbane, so we got two things done today. Nina really wanted to see Surfer's Paradise, I wanted to see the whales and we found a tour that did both.
Tomorrow is rest day.
I am tired now, lots of sea air and too little sleep.....................zzzzzzzzzzz.
We had success seeing whales!
We were about 4 miles offshore from Surfer's Paradise (yes, that's a real place), working from the reports of other sightseeing boats and finally found 2 animals who were moving along and slowed down to fool around a little bit for us. These were Right or pilot whales, I'm not sure... small fin on back, great big long arms type of whales. One big flop on the water, some fin waving and lots of outbreathing. I was so touched that I got the opportunity to see them!
I was afraid of getting sea sick so when they offered some ginger pills, I took them and I was okay! Nina took them too, but was feeling a bit punky by the time we got back to shore. It was a beautiful low wind day, but the sea waves are big enough even in a calm sea and you don't just go up and down but rock sideways too sometimes all at the same time, especially when they slow the motor down when they are near the animals. Very exciting! I think I saw a sea turtle when we were on our way out to sea, but I can't be positive.
It is 5:40 as I write this and I have been up since before 6 this morning. They are doing some construction project down the hill from the hostel and seem (for the moment ) to be on a 24 hour work schedule. So, not only was the overnight construction work waking me up with the beep beep backup truck, but I was also worried about waking up on time to get to the meeting place for our ride to Surfer's Paradise.
The boat tour took the morning and then we had 2:30 hours to kill on the beach or the crazy Las Vegas La Jolla strip of high rise towers and swank shops. The beach was beautiful, white silica sand and all the appropriate waves. Lifeguards and all their equipment dots the beach. The strip was incredibly obnoxious, boasting meter maids in gold bikinis. Pictures to prove it too!
The coast from Brisbane down the Gold and Sunshine coast is littered with high rise appartments, condos, hotels and posh houses. When we were way out to see, you could follow it like weird white cliffs. They go on even past the line into the state of New South Wales
The place is about an hour's drive from Brisbane, so we got two things done today. Nina really wanted to see Surfer's Paradise, I wanted to see the whales and we found a tour that did both.
Tomorrow is rest day.
I am tired now, lots of sea air and too little sleep.....................zzzzzzzzzzz.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Brisbane City exploration
Brisbane is a very busy city!
It has a very concentrated CBD (Central Bus. Dist) so is very easy to get around. They have a marvellous transportation system that allows travel from the city right out to the coast, back the 30kms and onto any other train or bus, all day, for 4.25$. Deal of the century! I have taken advantage of many different routes and directions to get to see some of the more distant sights, or just as a means to not walk both ways.
We have been putting on the miles and our feet must be a half size bigger for our trouble.
The city was host to the '88 Worlds fair and it was the launching point for a lot of renewal. A great deal of the architecture is from that point forward and they have redone or built new parks, lots and lots of condos and public places that date from that time and since.
For a time of recessiion, this city has an incredible amount of construction going on.
There are Museums galore, with visiting exhibitions and also lots of street markets everywhere. Closed to traffic walking malls with an enormous amount of people using them makes it a very vital place.
Now, for the suburbs, it must be said that they extend in a radius around this city that goes on for over 60kms. The Gold Coast and Surfer's Paradise extend the solid inhabitation by more than a 100 kms. Endless vista of houses in every form of design you can imagine!
Tomorrow, we go to sea! To see the whales, of course!
I'm hoping I can get a fluke on film, not heave my breakfast and totally not get sunburnt. The sun is relentless here.
We have the rest of the week to whittle away our list of the must do's and then it's back to NZ for 5 or 6 days before I head back to Canada.
It's hard to believe that almost two months has passed.
Our first week in OZ was so jammed with things to do that it took us the rest of that time of our visit to wind down and just enjoy being and seeing.
We have been cooking in the YHA's and that has also been part of our trip experience. Some lovely food has been made (or sometimes bought when we were tired) and we've enjoyed most all our meals in restaurants.
Well, early to bed as they say, as we have to be out of the hostel for the trip to the whales by 6am tomorrow!
It has a very concentrated CBD (Central Bus. Dist) so is very easy to get around. They have a marvellous transportation system that allows travel from the city right out to the coast, back the 30kms and onto any other train or bus, all day, for 4.25$. Deal of the century! I have taken advantage of many different routes and directions to get to see some of the more distant sights, or just as a means to not walk both ways.
We have been putting on the miles and our feet must be a half size bigger for our trouble.
The city was host to the '88 Worlds fair and it was the launching point for a lot of renewal. A great deal of the architecture is from that point forward and they have redone or built new parks, lots and lots of condos and public places that date from that time and since.
For a time of recessiion, this city has an incredible amount of construction going on.
There are Museums galore, with visiting exhibitions and also lots of street markets everywhere. Closed to traffic walking malls with an enormous amount of people using them makes it a very vital place.
Now, for the suburbs, it must be said that they extend in a radius around this city that goes on for over 60kms. The Gold Coast and Surfer's Paradise extend the solid inhabitation by more than a 100 kms. Endless vista of houses in every form of design you can imagine!
Tomorrow, we go to sea! To see the whales, of course!
I'm hoping I can get a fluke on film, not heave my breakfast and totally not get sunburnt. The sun is relentless here.
We have the rest of the week to whittle away our list of the must do's and then it's back to NZ for 5 or 6 days before I head back to Canada.
It's hard to believe that almost two months has passed.
Our first week in OZ was so jammed with things to do that it took us the rest of that time of our visit to wind down and just enjoy being and seeing.
We have been cooking in the YHA's and that has also been part of our trip experience. Some lovely food has been made (or sometimes bought when we were tired) and we've enjoyed most all our meals in restaurants.
Well, early to bed as they say, as we have to be out of the hostel for the trip to the whales by 6am tomorrow!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Long time no post!
I see that my last post is a bit of time ago.
We have left Earlie Beach to travel to the next stop on our Itinerary...Hervey Bay.
To get there, we were booked on an overnight train from Earlie to Hervey. We had a sleeper car berth. This consists of three bunks stacked on top of each other. They are so close together, you feel like you must be in the bunk of a submarine. You had to roll on your side to wiggle out of it, since you could not sit up. Our third bunkmate was a Korean woman who was on her "Big Trip". She slept from before we got on, right through till after we were up and dressed the next morning. She was travelling the full 32 hours from Cairns to Brisbane! Yowza, that's a long trip. It's partly why we broke up our trip, so we wouldn't get exhausted with just travelling. The train is not a fast one, going an average speed of about 50kms and hour, sometimes faster, mostly slower. In the daylight, it's great, because you really get a chance to see the landscape. A very dry and cooked looking one it is too. The earth that shows under the grass is sometimes a most unreal colour of red, or a dry sand white that is deeply eroded.
We left at about 9pm and sat in the darkened car, just to watch the nightime landscape and a most unbelievable starry sky! The milky way was super bright and came all the way down to the horizon. The Southern Cross was right there too!
I've noticed as we travel south, that the sunset comes a little earlier with each 400kms. We saw sunsets at 6ish in Cairns and in Brisbane by 5:30ish aty the latest.
We arrived in Maryborough at about 11am the next morning and travelled by bus to Hervey Bay, since the Bay is about 30km from the train line.
Our hostel was GREAT! cabins amidst a sub topical garden, very nice amenities and friendly patrons.
We had great walks along a 16km Esplannade and some great meals. You meet the most surprising residents. A Swedish couple who were running a most lovely cafe where we had a great Charcuterie lunch.
There were a great deal of Scandinavians who settled this particular area, so seeing their pioneer museum had several layers of interest. Boy, people had to work sooooo hard just to eke by!
We bused into Maryborough one day and visited their historic sites. We took a riverboat tour with a Captain that surely was Santa on his summer job. A little questionable taste on some of his jokes, but fun nonetheless.
I got to see dolphins swimming in the bay about 40meters off shore! A pelican walked out of the water almost beside us and posed very graciously for me.
We moved on from Hervey Bay after 3 days and came down to Brisbane, the last stop on this train trip.
We were in a YMCA Brisbane for three days and have transferred to the YHA. The first three days was for the luxury of our own bathroom and control of the TV. The rest is for the room and that there is enough to do without worrying about the TV. There seems to be the Simpson's on at any time of day here.
We have tons of things to do in this culturally active city.
More later.
We have left Earlie Beach to travel to the next stop on our Itinerary...Hervey Bay.
To get there, we were booked on an overnight train from Earlie to Hervey. We had a sleeper car berth. This consists of three bunks stacked on top of each other. They are so close together, you feel like you must be in the bunk of a submarine. You had to roll on your side to wiggle out of it, since you could not sit up. Our third bunkmate was a Korean woman who was on her "Big Trip". She slept from before we got on, right through till after we were up and dressed the next morning. She was travelling the full 32 hours from Cairns to Brisbane! Yowza, that's a long trip. It's partly why we broke up our trip, so we wouldn't get exhausted with just travelling. The train is not a fast one, going an average speed of about 50kms and hour, sometimes faster, mostly slower. In the daylight, it's great, because you really get a chance to see the landscape. A very dry and cooked looking one it is too. The earth that shows under the grass is sometimes a most unreal colour of red, or a dry sand white that is deeply eroded.
We left at about 9pm and sat in the darkened car, just to watch the nightime landscape and a most unbelievable starry sky! The milky way was super bright and came all the way down to the horizon. The Southern Cross was right there too!
I've noticed as we travel south, that the sunset comes a little earlier with each 400kms. We saw sunsets at 6ish in Cairns and in Brisbane by 5:30ish aty the latest.
We arrived in Maryborough at about 11am the next morning and travelled by bus to Hervey Bay, since the Bay is about 30km from the train line.
Our hostel was GREAT! cabins amidst a sub topical garden, very nice amenities and friendly patrons.
We had great walks along a 16km Esplannade and some great meals. You meet the most surprising residents. A Swedish couple who were running a most lovely cafe where we had a great Charcuterie lunch.
There were a great deal of Scandinavians who settled this particular area, so seeing their pioneer museum had several layers of interest. Boy, people had to work sooooo hard just to eke by!
We bused into Maryborough one day and visited their historic sites. We took a riverboat tour with a Captain that surely was Santa on his summer job. A little questionable taste on some of his jokes, but fun nonetheless.
I got to see dolphins swimming in the bay about 40meters off shore! A pelican walked out of the water almost beside us and posed very graciously for me.
We moved on from Hervey Bay after 3 days and came down to Brisbane, the last stop on this train trip.
We were in a YMCA Brisbane for three days and have transferred to the YHA. The first three days was for the luxury of our own bathroom and control of the TV. The rest is for the room and that there is enough to do without worrying about the TV. There seems to be the Simpson's on at any time of day here.
We have tons of things to do in this culturally active city.
More later.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
relaxing in Paradise
As I told you before, being a tourist is a job. The biggest job seems to be choosing what you will spend your money on and to whom you are handing it all. This town has the highest proportion of travel arrangers I have ever seen. They all have "Specials" posted on boards outside their shops and all you need is your wits about you to see if this is something you haven't done yet.
Sea rafting, hmmmm, going in an inflatable raft at the speed of light over even small waves is like riding a scrubboard. diving...snorkeling...skydiving.....paragliding...bungy jumping, it goes on and on.
These last few days have been more for relaxing, reading, swimming and drinking great coffee.
We've visited the small sugar processing town of Proserpine, about 26 km inland from this coast. A very interesting history of struggle and hard work in a blazingly hot sun and high rain and humidity.
It's been pretty hot and humid so far, but I am assured that in the summer, it's pretty intolerable.
We move on to Hervey Bay in a couple of days. We will travel by train, but during the night, so in sleeper cars. It will be sad to miss the landscape we will be passing, but I think it is mostly sugar cane. Arriving at the crack of dawn will be interesting, as we have a bus transfer to our hostel, from the train to the coast.
We may go inland on a tour to see some of the outback from there, but have not commited ourselves to anything.
Brisbane will be our stop by the 20th. There is a lot to do in the city and we are looking forward to that. It will be after resting for almost two weeks and our energy will be a lot higher.
We are going to do a sunset walk over the top of the bridge in the harbor. We will travel out to the country for some of the weekend markets. Go whalewatching, as this is their time of year to be in the vicinity.
So, more to come.
Sea rafting, hmmmm, going in an inflatable raft at the speed of light over even small waves is like riding a scrubboard. diving...snorkeling...skydiving.....paragliding...bungy jumping, it goes on and on.
These last few days have been more for relaxing, reading, swimming and drinking great coffee.
We've visited the small sugar processing town of Proserpine, about 26 km inland from this coast. A very interesting history of struggle and hard work in a blazingly hot sun and high rain and humidity.
It's been pretty hot and humid so far, but I am assured that in the summer, it's pretty intolerable.
We move on to Hervey Bay in a couple of days. We will travel by train, but during the night, so in sleeper cars. It will be sad to miss the landscape we will be passing, but I think it is mostly sugar cane. Arriving at the crack of dawn will be interesting, as we have a bus transfer to our hostel, from the train to the coast.
We may go inland on a tour to see some of the outback from there, but have not commited ourselves to anything.
Brisbane will be our stop by the 20th. There is a lot to do in the city and we are looking forward to that. It will be after resting for almost two weeks and our energy will be a lot higher.
We are going to do a sunset walk over the top of the bridge in the harbor. We will travel out to the country for some of the weekend markets. Go whalewatching, as this is their time of year to be in the vicinity.
So, more to come.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Earlie Beah on the Coral Sea
This is BEACH CULTURE!
We had a nice low key day so far. It's now around 5 in the afternoon and I have made sure Nina and I have done as little as possible. We are here for a week and that will be good.
We walked down by the shore of the Coral sea this morning and saw...Dolphins! A school that was touring the bay and the boats, shopping I guess.
We saw tons of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. A whole mob of crows. These crows caw sort of like the ones at home, except they draw out the last few caws into one long gurgled noise. Tons of lorikeets and herons, small grey birds with blue bills (have to look up the name) and a weird bird that looked like it was not well, because it had no feathers on its head, but that's the way he's supposed to be! We had Oz turkeys walking on the front lawn of the hostel this morning!
I ran into an interesting problem today in thet the Oz bsnk in this little tourist town would not change Traveller cheques! I had to go to an exchange place to do this.
Laying around in the shade and reading and resting was the order of the day till later when we went shopping for what we would get for our dinner. Chicken breasts today, with a light thai sauce with corn, peas on cous cous. Oh yes, and salad too. We really enjoy cooking up these little feasts in the evening. There is always a rush on the kitchen between 5 and 7 for all the kids to go eat then rush out to party. I've never seen so much pasta being cooked in one place in my life. It is the lifeblood of the young and broke.
The kids are all pretty serious partiers here though I think it is a school holiday right now, sort of like March break.
There is a Saturday market tomorrow morning that we will go to after breakfast. The coffe culture is good here too, but not to the same degree as in NZ.
We are going to go watch the sunset tonight on the beach. Sunset in the tropics happens about 6:30, so then we will have dinner after that. I am feeling a nice dopey feeling. Getting into the relax thing I guess. I get so addicted to doing things that it's hard to give up and really do nothing.
The train trip from Cairns to Earlie Beach was really interesting. It was a long day, starting at 9:15 in the morning and getting off at 9pm. The bus into Earlie Beach took 25 minutes and when we had settled our stuff in our room, we went for a walk. This means we went to bed after ten, fairly unusual for us. But we both slept well, so that was good.
On the train, I got to see the landscape of Australia change, ever so slightly. We went from Tropical rainforest to a Sub-Tropical type of climate. It's stil warm but not as blistering. The woods are very different too. The trees are more separated from each other. The mountains of the Great Divide are lower still and we see more flat land with estuarial floodplain stuff going on. It looks a lot drier too, when it comes to looking inland. I saw a whole bunch of kangaroos in a field with the Brahma type cattle they run here.
There is so much sugar cane here. I think it is the third largest export in Oz, but don't quote me.
We've seen tea plantations and I've even seen coffee being grown. Lots of fruit farms and banana plantations and this is only what I could see from the train.
The next leg of the journey, which will be from Earlie Beach (Proserpine train station) down to Hervey bay. We will do that leg on the night train, with a sleeper! How exciting is that? I haven't done that since...I can't remember when!
Before all that though, I'm hoping to do a tall ship day trip. I think.
We had a nice low key day so far. It's now around 5 in the afternoon and I have made sure Nina and I have done as little as possible. We are here for a week and that will be good.
We walked down by the shore of the Coral sea this morning and saw...Dolphins! A school that was touring the bay and the boats, shopping I guess.
We saw tons of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. A whole mob of crows. These crows caw sort of like the ones at home, except they draw out the last few caws into one long gurgled noise. Tons of lorikeets and herons, small grey birds with blue bills (have to look up the name) and a weird bird that looked like it was not well, because it had no feathers on its head, but that's the way he's supposed to be! We had Oz turkeys walking on the front lawn of the hostel this morning!
I ran into an interesting problem today in thet the Oz bsnk in this little tourist town would not change Traveller cheques! I had to go to an exchange place to do this.
Laying around in the shade and reading and resting was the order of the day till later when we went shopping for what we would get for our dinner. Chicken breasts today, with a light thai sauce with corn, peas on cous cous. Oh yes, and salad too. We really enjoy cooking up these little feasts in the evening. There is always a rush on the kitchen between 5 and 7 for all the kids to go eat then rush out to party. I've never seen so much pasta being cooked in one place in my life. It is the lifeblood of the young and broke.
The kids are all pretty serious partiers here though I think it is a school holiday right now, sort of like March break.
There is a Saturday market tomorrow morning that we will go to after breakfast. The coffe culture is good here too, but not to the same degree as in NZ.
We are going to go watch the sunset tonight on the beach. Sunset in the tropics happens about 6:30, so then we will have dinner after that. I am feeling a nice dopey feeling. Getting into the relax thing I guess. I get so addicted to doing things that it's hard to give up and really do nothing.
The train trip from Cairns to Earlie Beach was really interesting. It was a long day, starting at 9:15 in the morning and getting off at 9pm. The bus into Earlie Beach took 25 minutes and when we had settled our stuff in our room, we went for a walk. This means we went to bed after ten, fairly unusual for us. But we both slept well, so that was good.
On the train, I got to see the landscape of Australia change, ever so slightly. We went from Tropical rainforest to a Sub-Tropical type of climate. It's stil warm but not as blistering. The woods are very different too. The trees are more separated from each other. The mountains of the Great Divide are lower still and we see more flat land with estuarial floodplain stuff going on. It looks a lot drier too, when it comes to looking inland. I saw a whole bunch of kangaroos in a field with the Brahma type cattle they run here.
There is so much sugar cane here. I think it is the third largest export in Oz, but don't quote me.
We've seen tea plantations and I've even seen coffee being grown. Lots of fruit farms and banana plantations and this is only what I could see from the train.
The next leg of the journey, which will be from Earlie Beach (Proserpine train station) down to Hervey bay. We will do that leg on the night train, with a sleeper! How exciting is that? I haven't done that since...I can't remember when!
Before all that though, I'm hoping to do a tall ship day trip. I think.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
What weather!
Well, it sounds like I've missed the 1st July celebrations and fireworks, but I got the great weather, so that's alright!
It's been not only consistently sunny here, but also very hot. 30 is not uncommon. It makes for very early (sunrise) visits to the beach and then hide in the shade until the later afternoon. The sunscreen I've been using is very good and I have been lucky to not make a big mistake in forgoing it or forgetting it.
I wear my little scrunch hat all the time. It's now decorated with a large assortment of Oz pins. Train lines, animals and country shapes. Lots of crocodiles, which I can claim to have seen in the wild!
I found a long sleeved shirt that is an spf 50 protedtion against the sun. It's very light, so not too hot during the day, but good for when you feel a little cool too. I like it a lot! It will be my garden companion at home.
We have been visiting the town of Cairns, taking in all we could before leaving tomorrow.
Galleries, museums, shops and Nina even visited a Casino! just looking.
We have only been here 8 days, but because we did so much in those 8 days, it feels like a lot longer. It takes some time to wind down from all that busy-ness.
I finally reached a rested and not too distracted state where drawing is what I feel like doing. Trees seem to be the most compelling things to me, so they have been the subject of pretty much all of the drawings I have done so far.
I bought a book on the birds of Australia, and I have been able to mark off a great many, including a sacred kingfisher today! Small and green, very beautiful. My favourite is a bird called a Willy wagtail. A black bird with white eyebrows and a long tail that he wags whenever he sets down.
We leave tomorrow morning for a place called Earli Beach, apparently a surfer paradise. We chose it because it is a long train ride to get there, we rest for a few days or so, then take the overnight train to our next stop, so hotel and transport as one. People watching should be the great amusement there.
The next stop will be Hervey Bay, if I remember correctly, for the Whitsunday island area. I may find an outback experience there if I am lucky, or do that from Brisbane, as we will be there at least two weeks.
Well, This YHA is very nice, but has a continuous music track that urges us all to get up and dance, so that is what I will do!
It's been not only consistently sunny here, but also very hot. 30 is not uncommon. It makes for very early (sunrise) visits to the beach and then hide in the shade until the later afternoon. The sunscreen I've been using is very good and I have been lucky to not make a big mistake in forgoing it or forgetting it.
I wear my little scrunch hat all the time. It's now decorated with a large assortment of Oz pins. Train lines, animals and country shapes. Lots of crocodiles, which I can claim to have seen in the wild!
I found a long sleeved shirt that is an spf 50 protedtion against the sun. It's very light, so not too hot during the day, but good for when you feel a little cool too. I like it a lot! It will be my garden companion at home.
We have been visiting the town of Cairns, taking in all we could before leaving tomorrow.
Galleries, museums, shops and Nina even visited a Casino! just looking.
We have only been here 8 days, but because we did so much in those 8 days, it feels like a lot longer. It takes some time to wind down from all that busy-ness.
I finally reached a rested and not too distracted state where drawing is what I feel like doing. Trees seem to be the most compelling things to me, so they have been the subject of pretty much all of the drawings I have done so far.
I bought a book on the birds of Australia, and I have been able to mark off a great many, including a sacred kingfisher today! Small and green, very beautiful. My favourite is a bird called a Willy wagtail. A black bird with white eyebrows and a long tail that he wags whenever he sets down.
We leave tomorrow morning for a place called Earli Beach, apparently a surfer paradise. We chose it because it is a long train ride to get there, we rest for a few days or so, then take the overnight train to our next stop, so hotel and transport as one. People watching should be the great amusement there.
The next stop will be Hervey Bay, if I remember correctly, for the Whitsunday island area. I may find an outback experience there if I am lucky, or do that from Brisbane, as we will be there at least two weeks.
Well, This YHA is very nice, but has a continuous music track that urges us all to get up and dance, so that is what I will do!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Cape Tribulation and MORE....
Well, we are exhausted by now with it being the 6th day of our tour in Tropical Queensland. We are toured out! We have literally done everything one should do here other than ride in a helicopter!
Today was the Billy Tour rainforest expedition. A truck... Toyota landruiser high up on 4 wheel drive truck picked us up and we were off to Daintree national park and Cape Tribulation. It was awesome!! The park is spectacular, with wooden walkways and the guided tour was wonderful. I got pictures of him and though he looks the quintissential part of the Aussie outdoor guy in his Blundstones who knew all kinds of stuff about a lot of things and was loads of fun. We were dropped off at a riverboat station and ferried up the Daintree river seeing real Crocodiles on the shore. We saw lots of tree snakes and I got to see a Black Kite, a large bird of prey. I also got to see lots of Mangroves (there are 60 varieties).
Then we reconnected with the truck and drove up to the National Park and were guided trough by the driver. Then on to lunch (which the driver cooked.. he worked hard!) of the biggest steak I have eaten in years, perfectly cooked. Barbecues are a flat cook surface, not the grills we are used to seeing here. On again to a beautiful part of the park, well off road (hence the need for the truck) to a wonderful stream. Some people swam, but the water was decidedly cool, so I passed and instead, did a drawing.
We had "billy" tea, not recommended, as was the wine that was served with the exotic fruit was not good, but the fruit itself was good. Several kinds I have never heard of or tasted. Chocolate pudding fruit, a kind of Persimmon, was very nice indeed.
We were shown a couple of other nice spots, like a fruit farm that made ice cream with those fruit. They also had tea bushes. We were dropped off on the beach to look at the Coral Sea, and also a great lookout from quite a way up to look at the mouth of the Daintree river. Whew! Isn't that enough for one day? We are done.
We've decided to stick around Cairns for another day or three, to rest up and then take the train outta town heading south. I'm looking forward to some R&R!
Today was the Billy Tour rainforest expedition. A truck... Toyota landruiser high up on 4 wheel drive truck picked us up and we were off to Daintree national park and Cape Tribulation. It was awesome!! The park is spectacular, with wooden walkways and the guided tour was wonderful. I got pictures of him and though he looks the quintissential part of the Aussie outdoor guy in his Blundstones who knew all kinds of stuff about a lot of things and was loads of fun. We were dropped off at a riverboat station and ferried up the Daintree river seeing real Crocodiles on the shore. We saw lots of tree snakes and I got to see a Black Kite, a large bird of prey. I also got to see lots of Mangroves (there are 60 varieties).
Then we reconnected with the truck and drove up to the National Park and were guided trough by the driver. Then on to lunch (which the driver cooked.. he worked hard!) of the biggest steak I have eaten in years, perfectly cooked. Barbecues are a flat cook surface, not the grills we are used to seeing here. On again to a beautiful part of the park, well off road (hence the need for the truck) to a wonderful stream. Some people swam, but the water was decidedly cool, so I passed and instead, did a drawing.
We had "billy" tea, not recommended, as was the wine that was served with the exotic fruit was not good, but the fruit itself was good. Several kinds I have never heard of or tasted. Chocolate pudding fruit, a kind of Persimmon, was very nice indeed.
We were shown a couple of other nice spots, like a fruit farm that made ice cream with those fruit. They also had tea bushes. We were dropped off on the beach to look at the Coral Sea, and also a great lookout from quite a way up to look at the mouth of the Daintree river. Whew! Isn't that enough for one day? We are done.
We've decided to stick around Cairns for another day or three, to rest up and then take the train outta town heading south. I'm looking forward to some R&R!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Port Douglas and the reef, the rainforest.........
I wasn't able to get to a computer yesterday because we had a long day. We were picked up at the hotel by the cruise bus shuttle and taken up to Port Douglas (1 hour) and into PARADISE.
Port Douglas is a resort town of the first water and is lovely. We were dropped off at the marina for the boat ride out to the reefs. Wait till you see the pictures of the boat. An enormous catamaran. We were well over a 150 people ferried out to platform on the reef, about twenty miles out to sea. An incredible thing seeing the reef up close. Big and little fish, turtles a shark (very small) tons of every type and colour of coral. Went in a semi submersible for a ride around in the reef and then Nina convinced me to go in the water. You are all suited up in a lycra suit so you don't get sunburned or scratched by the reef. I didn't stay in long as I am not hugely happy of bottomless pools, but the big fish were wonderful and they are quite used to people because they are fed, so they swim around you all the time. Grouper like things and lovely little blue fish. I got a ton of pictures.
We were returned to shore around 5:30 or so and did some grocery shopping for our room which has a kitchen. The room is gorgeous!
the porches even have fans because it must be so hot in the summer. It is just getting into their high season so we are lucky because it is not too busy.
Today was our day off and we walked to a bird and animal safari place to have breakfast with the birds. It was fun watching the small parrots (lorikeets) slide onto the tables to see what they could get from people. There were all kinds of egrets, cranes ducks swans and huge parrots. I got some great pics of... a kukaburra! The photo possibilities are endless.
It was an hour walk out there and we walked part of the way back but it was too hot to go all the way and we took a bus. Had some smoked crocodile Caeser salad for lunch and Nina and I shared a beer!
I'm going to go rest now, because I am tired and tomorrow is another big tour day which will get us back to Cairns late in the day. Then we have one free day to make whatever arrangements for our train ride and off we will go. Maybe we will rest two days, I'm not sure. We will see.
Port Douglas is a resort town of the first water and is lovely. We were dropped off at the marina for the boat ride out to the reefs. Wait till you see the pictures of the boat. An enormous catamaran. We were well over a 150 people ferried out to platform on the reef, about twenty miles out to sea. An incredible thing seeing the reef up close. Big and little fish, turtles a shark (very small) tons of every type and colour of coral. Went in a semi submersible for a ride around in the reef and then Nina convinced me to go in the water. You are all suited up in a lycra suit so you don't get sunburned or scratched by the reef. I didn't stay in long as I am not hugely happy of bottomless pools, but the big fish were wonderful and they are quite used to people because they are fed, so they swim around you all the time. Grouper like things and lovely little blue fish. I got a ton of pictures.
We were returned to shore around 5:30 or so and did some grocery shopping for our room which has a kitchen. The room is gorgeous!
the porches even have fans because it must be so hot in the summer. It is just getting into their high season so we are lucky because it is not too busy.
Today was our day off and we walked to a bird and animal safari place to have breakfast with the birds. It was fun watching the small parrots (lorikeets) slide onto the tables to see what they could get from people. There were all kinds of egrets, cranes ducks swans and huge parrots. I got some great pics of... a kukaburra! The photo possibilities are endless.
It was an hour walk out there and we walked part of the way back but it was too hot to go all the way and we took a bus. Had some smoked crocodile Caeser salad for lunch and Nina and I shared a beer!
I'm going to go rest now, because I am tired and tomorrow is another big tour day which will get us back to Cairns late in the day. Then we have one free day to make whatever arrangements for our train ride and off we will go. Maybe we will rest two days, I'm not sure. We will see.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Off to Oz!
Well, it's 6pm Australian time (more like 8 to me, I'm SOOOOOOOOO screwed up timewise) and it's been a real day!
We were up and out of the house by 5:15 am this morning. The flight to Auckland was uneventful and our flight to Cairns was delayed by an hour, so we got to sit around enjoying ourselves till it was boarding time. A full flight to Cairns and we flew for 5and a half hours. I started to see reef type atolls about an hour out of Oz. We saw the reef as we were descending into Cairns and the colour of the water is incredible.
Our shuttle was a small bus with a little trailer for the luggage. He dropped us off at a very nice hotel with pool, internet, beer I can take to my room and an easy walk to a large shopping center in the center of the town. It's a small place but is it full of birds! Parakeets, some kind of crane or ibis on the verges of lawns, miniature doves, mynahs and parrots. I'm sure I will see lots of other things too. It is nice and warm, so off with the boots and on with the sandals and the sunscreen. We had some curry in the mall foodcourt as we were hungry and bought some nasharay (I invented the spelling as I have no idea how it should be spelt) to have in the room. I bought a beer (my first since I left Canada, as it is too cold in Welly to even think of having one). As we were walking back to the hotel, we could hear this amazing cacophony of bird sound and saw what looked like (I thought) parrots, but I realized they were bats! HUGE BATS! They filled two trees and must have been waking up to go out and find fruit. I'm guessing thats what they are anyway.
I've gotten pictures of them and a great deal of other plants too. Stuff Nina hasen't seen yet either. Amazing!
This is a beach town, full of hotels and churches. There is a church for the Polynesians two doors down and Nina and I have been treated with the most amazing singing you have ever heard. The whole congregation in harmonies that only they can do.
Our day tomorrow starts at 7:25 with a train trip up into the rain forest, game reserves and a few other things that will probably exhaust us entirely. Same the next, but it will all be fun as we get to go out on the Great Barrier Reef. I'm sure this will be a venue for a lot of picture..
We were up and out of the house by 5:15 am this morning. The flight to Auckland was uneventful and our flight to Cairns was delayed by an hour, so we got to sit around enjoying ourselves till it was boarding time. A full flight to Cairns and we flew for 5and a half hours. I started to see reef type atolls about an hour out of Oz. We saw the reef as we were descending into Cairns and the colour of the water is incredible.
Our shuttle was a small bus with a little trailer for the luggage. He dropped us off at a very nice hotel with pool, internet, beer I can take to my room and an easy walk to a large shopping center in the center of the town. It's a small place but is it full of birds! Parakeets, some kind of crane or ibis on the verges of lawns, miniature doves, mynahs and parrots. I'm sure I will see lots of other things too. It is nice and warm, so off with the boots and on with the sandals and the sunscreen. We had some curry in the mall foodcourt as we were hungry and bought some nasharay (I invented the spelling as I have no idea how it should be spelt) to have in the room. I bought a beer (my first since I left Canada, as it is too cold in Welly to even think of having one). As we were walking back to the hotel, we could hear this amazing cacophony of bird sound and saw what looked like (I thought) parrots, but I realized they were bats! HUGE BATS! They filled two trees and must have been waking up to go out and find fruit. I'm guessing thats what they are anyway.
I've gotten pictures of them and a great deal of other plants too. Stuff Nina hasen't seen yet either. Amazing!
This is a beach town, full of hotels and churches. There is a church for the Polynesians two doors down and Nina and I have been treated with the most amazing singing you have ever heard. The whole congregation in harmonies that only they can do.
Our day tomorrow starts at 7:25 with a train trip up into the rain forest, game reserves and a few other things that will probably exhaust us entirely. Same the next, but it will all be fun as we get to go out on the Great Barrier Reef. I'm sure this will be a venue for a lot of picture..
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