From Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays, the drive up to Cairns (our final stop!) was another 8+ hours. It was a beautiful drive past sugar cane, mango, and banana farms, and the terrain most definitely had a more tropical feel. Lush, rainforest-covered "mountains" were in the distance all around us on our drive up the coast. This beautiful scenery ALMOST made up for the ridonculous delays due to road construction that we encountered the whole way north. No sooner had I set the cruise control to 100 km/h than the sign appeared that there was construction ahead. All. Day. Long. To be fair, this wasn't just a North Queensland phenomena. In a few years, I reckon, the whole of the Bruce Highway (think TransCanada) will have been improved/replaced!
Our final YHA was right downtown Cairns. This was nice because we could walk everywhere -- a bonus after all the driving of the last few days. I really didn't expect much from Cairns and I had heard some sketchy reviews of the city, but I enjoyed our three days there. I was glad we didn't do our GBR experience from there because the tours were most certainly over-crowded, and I can't imagine the diving would have been anywhere near as enjoyable as what we did at Lady Elliot. Diving at LEI it was just Jack, Bill, and I and Nick-the-dive master. That certainly wouldn't have been the case in Cairns.
So instead of diving, Brody and I went to visit Kuranda Village on the first day. We drove up a winding road through the rainforest, up a mountain. This time road crews were not only working on the road, but also cutting back the growth of the trees lining the road. I would imagine this is a never-ending job in much of TNQ! It was a beautiful drive, and Brody kept the ipad ready to catch a shot of a passing cassowary, but to no avail. We had really hoped to catch a glimpse of the World's Deadliest Bird in the wild. In spite of cassowaries, we had a fun morning exploring the hippy market that was in a series of huts right in the rainforest (hemp, incense, herbal tea, palm-frond baskets, tie-dyed everything -- you get the idea), and the regular market across the street (Chinese-made Aussie souvenirs, didgeridoos, Indonesian/Indian clothing and jewelry, and some real Aussie-made items). We also went to a butterfly sanctuary which was a nice way to end the morning. We grabbed some lunch and headed back to town to meet up with Bill and Jack.
The city of Cairns is quite touristy, but not without some local smaller-city charm. For example, there are a number of hotel pubs which cater to the local crowd, a cast of colourful characters to be sure! Next door to the YHA was the Grand Hotel. At any time of day you could find labourers (they all wear the same neon shirts regardless of where they work), interesting older men sporting stockman's hats and often long braided beards (truly), and a host of people a little worn for wear who were undoubtedly "regulars". The bar was a long, carved crocodile -- pretty cool. I suggested to Bill that it reminded me of the "Laff" (Chateau Lafayette) in Ottawa, and he said, "Yeah, without the hipster university students." I'm hoping that paints a vivid picture for some. And I'm not saying a few Laffs is a bad thing...just the opposite. These pubs add character!
We spent a lot of time wandering the streets of town and exploring the shops and cafés. At the waterfront was a really beautiful, humongous "lagoon"/pool (still stinger-filled ocean here!) where all the tourists hang out, including us. These lagoons are really an essential part of the northern communities where it is just too hot to be outside all day without a place to take a plunge. It is sad that you can't just jump in the ocean without a stinger suit, but you can sit in the lagoon and gaze at the ocean. In fact the lagoon has sandy beach right into the pool at some parts. The little kids loved that.
Another awesome part of downtown Cairns is the trees, or more specifically, what's in the trees. Quite by accident, the boys and I stumbled upon a whole block of trees surrounding the city hall that were filled with thousands of flying foxes, ie fruit bats. It was incredible to watch them hanging upside down and waving their wings in front of themselves, just like a vampire! Some crawled along the branches and just looked creepy. I could have watched them all day, if not for the stench! Later that afternoon, shortly before dusk, we saw thousands (no Aussie exaggeration) of my favourite rainbow parakeets descend upon another cluster of trees right in town. You wouldn't believe the screeching coming from those trees!
A final Cairns experience was going to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Centre with the kids. After going to the Maori village in New Zealand, I really wanted the kids to experience and learn about the Aussie Aboriginal culture. At the centre, they provided us with a schedule of event times, and we walked through the rainforest from hut to hut learning about different aspects of the Aboriginal culture. All the people giving the talks and demos wore traditional body paint and enough clothes for modesty! We learned about bush tukka and medicines, weapons, didgeridoos, and had spear throwing and boomerang throwing lessons. We also saw a traditional dance show, did stone story painting and played didgeridoos. It was a really educational and fun day.
On our last day in Australia, we went to the lagoon then ventured to the shops in search of uggs for a very special person who looked after our princess, Miss Bandit, while we've been travelling. Before coming to Australia I didn't know anything about uggs because I personally think they're uggly, but I respect others' enjoyment of them. "Ugg" actually refers to the style of boot. They were first worn by surfers in Australia in the 60s, then caught on with surfers in California. Now, it seems that only bogans wear them in Australia. That means regular shoe stores don't really stock them, tourist shops do. And tourist shops are selling mostly made-in-China uggs with names like "Genuine Aussie Uggs" and similar. Even some big brands have lines made in Australia and lines made in China. If you ask if they're Australian, some of the Asian shopkeepers will say, "Yes, Australian sheepskin" and others will confess that they are made in China from Australian sheepskin. So, we quickly discovered most Cairns uggs sellers are a little sketchy, but I found one vendor at the mall who seemed trustworthy and sold a brand I knew they had at the airport in Melbourne when we passed through. So, Special Person, expect a surprise.
The last thing we did was leave our mark on the graffiti wall at the YHA.
I'm now in the Qantas check-in line in Brisbane, having left Cairns at 6 this morning. Bill woke us up before 4am because he's a little hyper and stressed and excited to go home. YAWN! I suspect this will be my penultimate post, the the final one will have to wait for jet lag to subside!
After flying back to Hervey Bay from Lady Elliot Island we decided to do the epic drive to Airlie Beach all in one day. We left at noon and pulled in to our YHA at close to 11pm. It was a loooong day of travel, but the Whitsundays was on my "Must See" list and it was on the way to Cairns from where we are departing. Funny, we don't think twice about driving to Halifax or Florida, but Australia just doesn't share that culture of binge driving. In fact, there are road signs everywhere warning of the dangers of driving fatigued. Good policy!
The next day we had the chore of selecting which tour company we would go with to make our journey through the islands. I really wanted to go to Whitehaven Beach which is supposed to be one of the nicest in the world. (Have I mentioned the Kiwi and Aussie propensity to claim to be the World's Best pretty much everything? In this case, I think others agreed.). Well, the problem with taking a boat tour is that Brody isn't big on boats, or more specifically going over waves in boats. So, we settled on a mid-sized, fast boat with an interior cabin that would take us from place to place in a hurry and stopped at Whitehaven. There were literally dozens to choose from, but the YHA receptionist suggested the one we went on would be best.
My knees at Whitehaven
So, the next morning a bus picked us up along with our fellow passengers and we headed off on our adventure. The boat was crewed by Captain Dan (the owner), Cozzie, and Asher. Cozzie and Asher were both clowns with a bordering-on-offensive Aussie sense of humour, but they seemed to have our safety and enjoyment at top of mind -- always a good thing! The boat was fast and powerful and the waves were pretty massive. I was so glad that we didn't choose either the leisurely sailboat or the white water rafting type of boat. Brody would have died!
A friendly goanna
Our first stop was Mantaray Bay for snorkelling. We've been spoiled at Lady Elliot, so we thought the snorkeling was "just OK", though other passengers loved it. The issue wasn't just less-than-abundant and less diverse number of fish than we saw at LEI, but something much worse! Tropical North Queensland is home to some nasty stinging, and potentially lethal, jellyfish! Although they told us the jellyfish die at colder than 26C and the water was now 24C, we weren't about to take a chance. So, our only option was to wear stinger suits, which are rather like morph suits. You will see no photos.
From there, we hopped back in the boat and travelled to another island for a bush walk. It was a pretty easy hike up to the summit of the island from where we saw the stunning swirling sands. There are multiple pictures in my movie. It was exceptionally beautiful, as you can see.
The Swirling Sands
The third and final stop was Whitehaven Beach, which did not disappoint. There were several yachts and a couple tour boats in the bay, but the beach was far from crowded. The sand was pure soft silica, like flour, and the squeak-factor was high! We had time to explore, chill, and have a great Aussie-style barbecue before heading back to Airlie Beach just at sunset. It really was a lovely, relaxing day!
We spent a week in Noosa following our week in Bogangar/Cabarita Beach. In short, it was my favourite beach town!
Noosa Shire is actually a blanket name for a collection of tiny communities or neighbourhoods all in the same area. The Noosa River winds through the shire on its way to the sea. We stayed in Noosaville, essentially condo-land on the river, and Noosa Beach, a three minute drive away, was the 5-star boutique hotel area on the ocean. The area feels like it is isolated in the middle of bush land (and I guess it is), and all of the roads leading to surrounding communities wind through bush for kilometres before you suddenly come across more civilization. It's a little disorienting as you never really have a sense of where you are or which way you're going.
The town itself was quite quaint. Small shops and cafés lined the main drag, most of which were on the ground floor of those fancy boutique hotels I mentioned. It was a curious mix of surfer chic and just plain wealth! Bush turkeys run the town and walk unhindered through shops and restaurants! There are even bush turkey water bowls set up on the sidewalks.
Besides going to the beach, we rented a boat and cruised down the Noosa River. Beautiful mansions lined both sides of the river, and we had fun trying to peek inside the homes and taking inventory of the toys they had (yachts, surf boards, kayaks, and so on). We also dropped the anchor a few times to try our hands at fishing, but only Bill had any success. He caught a porcupine fish! It was pretty exciting!
This is to be the highlight of our trip! One week on a teeny little island at the southernmost end of the Great Barrier Reef: no television, no internet, no telephones. And no cooking or cleaning either since meals are included. LEI is protected by the GBR Marine Park, and so everything is done to minimize environmental impact. The resort is very much a "no frills" establishment, but it's one of a kind.
As you can see, the waves break beyond the lagoon on the windward side of the island, making an exceptional snorkeling pool, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Though we were hoping for Mr. Rourke and Tattoo, Andreas the manager and Fabrice the resident marine biologist greeted our plane. As our luggage was taken to our room, Fabrice gave us a tour and explained the ground rules. Basically, we were warned to avoid touching anything in the sea and to always wear reef shoes when exploring during low tide. There are poisonous venomous stonefish and stinging corals, so that made good sense to me! Also, the island is a bird sanctuary and home to some pretty rare species, so we were advised to steer clear of them too. Not a problem.
We were shown the activity board where all the daily events were posted. Besides diving, just about everything is included in the price, but I'll discuss that as we partake. We saw that there was a fish feeding within an hour or so, so we explored the lagoon's beach while we were waiting.
As you would expect, the beach was very coarse sand and broken coral. No bare feet this week. We had brought our own water shoes, but they had plenty available to borrow. As we walked the beach we saw plenty of sea cucumbers, vibrant blue sea stars, and many fish right along the shore.
Finally it was fish feeding time. Fabrice came out to meet us with a small bucket of fish food. He explained that before the government took over the island, the lighthouse keeper blasted the "fish pool" area with dynamite in order to give his children a safe place to play without getting scraped up by coral. The kids soon got in the habit of feeding the fishes there, and the fish soon got in the habit of hanging around for food. So when the Marine Park took over, they decided to continue feeding the fish a small quantity of fish food, but just a little treat and not enough to make them dependant. And the tourists love it! Fabrice pointed out all the different varieties and let us have a turn too. Great fun!
After that, we walked across the runway that divides the island in two to explore the other side. Besides being considerably less windy, the leeward side is home to the big critters like manta rays and sharks (friendly ones). We saw that there are two clear entry points along the beach. Depending on the tide and current, you start at one and drift snorkel to the other. We walked that distance, then crossed back over to the other side (obeying the flashing 'watch for the airplane' lights) to wait for dinner.
Dinner was very good. The kids enjoy a good buffet, especially the dessert part! Afterwards we watched a sea life DVD and went to our room.
Our eco-accommodation is an eco hut. Basically, it's a yurt with a wooden floor. We have a double bed and bunkbeds, a fan, and that's it. The problem is, it's incredibly windy out here in the middle of the ocean and the canvas walls flap all night long. I got very little sleep the first night, so as I type this I have earplugs in and I'm feeling pretty confident l will get some sleep tonight. There is no washroom either, and it's a bit of a hike to the communal one. Fortunately, our tent is the last one and we have no neighbours on one side. Wink, wink.
This morning we were very excited to eat a big buffet breakfast and get out to the lagoon snorkeling. Call me cynical, but after I had talked up this trip so much to the kids and Bill, I began to fear it wasn't going to be as awesome as I said it would be. Not to worry, it was!
Literally the very first creature I saw upon entering the lagoon was a sea turtle about 20" across its shell! It was incredible. We flew with the current through the lagoon and saw more varieties of fish than I can count, several sea turtles (including one as long as Brody), an eel, anenomes, urchins, many varieties of coral, and more! It was better than I could have hoped for. We spent our whole morning making tours of the lagoon, starting at one end, drifting through the lagoon, and then exiting at the other end. We would walk back and do it again, and it was a new experience every time and better than any amusement park ride I've ever been on.
Between swims, we went to the dive shop and booked our scuba refresher class for Bill and I (it's been about 15 years since we last dove) and a Discover Scuba class for Jack. The guy at the dive shop said he could just do us all together, which is great. That's on the agenda for Monday morning. The rest of the day was dreary and rainy, so we had to cancel our plans to snorkel the other side of the island. Like Jack says, "we have all week". We did go on a guided reef walk with a biologist from the island, and she showed us some cool stuff through our reef scopes and let us hold sea cucumbers and sea stars.
Nick, our dive instructor.
Besides us, the resort is currently home to just a few other tourists and a bunch of students from the University of Georgia. They've been attending lectures, doing research, and, according to the staff, eating a LOT of ketchup! They ran out, and groceries aren't so easy to come by!
Monday
I had an excellent sleep in my earplugs, but woke up feeling kind of lousy. I tried to put it out of my mind, so as not to ruin our plans for the day.
After a very large breakfast (lunch isn't included, so we max out on breakfast -- yup, we're cheap), we attended our dive lesson. The instructor just gave our refresher at the same time as the Discover Scuba lesson, which included Jack and an Aussie couple. It is amazing how much I had forgotten in 15 years and a couple things had changed, but before our pool lesson was over I was feeling comfortable and Jack was doing great. We didn't realize that they had booked us for a dive this afternoon. So, we ended up having a small lunch since we were going to be burning extra fuel, and we weren't sure our mega breakfast would sustain us. That, and the kids really wanted a cheeseburger.
I'm not impressed by something
At the dive shop, they gave Bill and I the option of diving with other certified divers, but we decided to stay with the beginners because essentially we are beginners. Since we're certified, we were responsible for getting our own gear set up, and fortunately I didn't forget anything since the morning.
The dive boat was able to pull right up to the shore and we all climbed aboard. In addition to those of us from our class and our instructor Nick, another instructor was going to be joining us, so we would be well cared for. It was just a short ride out to our dive spot and one-by-one we took our "big step out" and descended to the bottom. The reef was quite literally a "Coral Garden", which was the name of our starting point. It was a thick, lush and bountiful garden just teaming with life. We saw a small reef shark almost immediately and soon after saw a massive sea turtle whose shell must have been at least 5 feet in diameter. It's head was bigger than mine and it's legs were as thick as trees. I was quite shocked! I had no idea they could get that enormous. Additionally we saw some other sea turtles, a huge stingray, and about a billion fish of every variety. I saw some species that I was specifically looking for including anenome fish (Nemos) and a few coral rockcods which are a big orange fish with bright blue spots and big, fat lips. In short, it was spectacular and just like swimming in an over-populated aquarium.
One other item of note during the dive is that Jack's weight belt fell off below his hips TWICE! It's a good thing we had two instructors with us to manoeuvre him back into it. Because we were only 12 metres down it wasn't really a dangerous situation, but a little deeper than that and it would have been because you must decompress before surfacing.
The three of us were led back up with one of the instructors, and as soon as I got aboard the boat, I knew I wasn't well. I sat down and chatted with Brody and the boat driver for a minute, then announced that I was going to throw up! She quickly got me out of my gear, and up came my lunch over the side of the boat! How embarrassing! Barfing helped a bit, but not entirely and I still felt rotten afterwards. I've never been seasick before and I've been on boats most of my life, so I think I was just regular sick. Maybe my stomach was just too full! I had a diet Coke while the boys had celebratory ice cream and/or drink. As we were celebrating, we realized it was nearly reef walk time, so we hurried back to the cabin to get our shoes. One of today's reef creatures of note were four sea hares (kind of slug looking things with two "rabbit ear" antennae), three of which ejected a purple dye into the water when Bec the biologist tried to pick them up. She left the fourth alone! We also saw abalone, urchins, anenomes, and a tiny little Nemo who was not very funny for a clown fish.
Tonight's Night Stalkers' Walk was cancelled due to rain, but we signed up for a glass-bottom boat tour and snorkeling trip for the morning. I'm sure the boat driver will be just thrilled to see me again!
I'm now in bed at 8:30 (with my ear plugs in), ibuprofen ingested, and waiting for sleep to come.
Tuesday
This morning we went on our complimentary glass-bottomed boat tour. The boat actually goes just off shore on the leeward side of the island. After we looked for manta rays but had no success, we all jumped off for a snorkel. I took along the disposable underwater camera in the hopes of catching some great pics of fishes. I guess we won't know until we get them developed. How did we manage before digital cameras? Oh, and I didn't barf, so I guess it wasn't seasickness yesterday.
The moments of note were seeing another sea turtle who allowed me to hang out with him for a bit. They are pretty awesome creatures -- such friendly faces! We also saw some massive type of camouflaged cod that must have been about 4 or 5 feet long and at least 60 or 70 pounds. Big, fat, and ugly! Other than that, more of the same beautiful tropical beauties we've seen all along.
After the boys had some lunch we snorkelled through the lagoon once again. Brody and I found a playful clown fish (anenome fish). He would come out of his anenome when Brody dove down to see him or when I wiggled my fingers in front of him. He was so cute! Now that in know where to look, I saw many more little Nemos in the lagoon. In the meantime, Jack and Bill saw a 2 metre black-tipped reef shark -- lucky boys! Unfortunately, we left our lagoon snorkel a little late and the tide was going out. I was rather nervous about getting scraped up while gliding over the coral, so we cut it short.
Bill and I went back over to do the snorkel trail on the other side of the island. Again I saw some species that I hadn't seen previously, and some were quite unique. My favourite was big and fat, black with large white polka dots all over and yellow fins. Stunning! I feel like I've now seen all the GBR fish in Jack's "Fish of Australia" book! In fact one I saw one especially awesome specimen today, the Maori Wrasse, that was featured in an Ocean Geographic magazine we picked up after dinner. Apparently it is endangered, and yet it is being hunted with cyanide (to stun it) in South-East Asia for the live reef fish market. Not only are they killing the Maori wrasse, but also the coral and smaller fish around it, not to mention the harmful effects on the uninformed people eating the wrasse. I've taken the time to learn about sharks and the senseless shark hunts, but this was the first I'd heard of the use of cyanide to hunt fish. Once the coral is dead -- that's it. It's akin to chopping down rainforest, but worse. Humankind is so stupid sometimes. I'm getting closer to vegetarianism every day.
The wind has finally died down and it is a breathtaking star night. Not much light pollution here in the middle of the ocean!
Wednesday
Last night Bill and Brody attended bingo night with two other guests and a couple staff members. They won us two free drinks and two free ice cream cones, all to come later today!
These tree frogs like to hang out in the washrooms
After breakfast we rented a wetsuit for Brody and headed out to the coral garden for a snorkel. Today's highlight was swimming with a school of hundreds of trevally which are medium-sized, sleek silver fish with big eyes. Brody thought it was great fun circling around and around with them. While we were doing that, Bill spotted a white-tipped reef shark who then leisurely swam right among us and our trevally friends. Even knowing these sharks are quite harmless, it's still a rush to have them swim alongside you. The boys kept their cool though! I was impressed. I'm hoping they'll now be life-long ambassadors of the reef.
Today's low point: We stayed in the ocean too long and Brody got cold in spite of the wetsuit. We need to find a fur-lined model.
After a light lunch, Bill and I went for another snorkel in the lagoon and the boys went on the Historical Tour of the island. Bill and I saw a collection of ten sea turtles together and a black-tipped reef shark. So cool. I also saw some pretty huge sea urchins. We're now sitting in the bar having our free beers while the boys are at the daily fish feeding. Yes, we are loving these daily organized events and are taking full advantage!
We also went on the Behind the Scenes Tour given by the resort's manager, Andreas. We saw the island's desalination plant, "poop farm", and solar power plant. It was all very impressive. Andreas explained that the island has gone from using 600L of diesel each month to only 200L as a result of their solar energy production. He also showed us the additional panels that they were waiting to install, which will obviously improve their production even more. All food waste is composted on the island, and other recycling and landfill is shipped off the island on the barges that come every three months. Fresh food is brought in by plane usually with the passengers, but sometimes on its own chartered flight. After going through the poop farm process, the remaining waste product is sprayed on the runway as fertilizer. All in all, the island is doing a really good job of being as self-sufficient and eco-friendly as possible. It was nice to hear that all revenue that is brought into the island is going right back into improving the island. The resort is the owner's passion project and Seair, the airline that brings passengers over, is his business. He's a lucky, lucky man!
Another highlight of the day was the Night Stalk Tour during which we were introduced to the ghost crabs on the beach, the bright red strawberry hermit crabs in the garden, the green tree frogs (who we had met previously in the washrooms), and the ghost story of Susannah, the original lightkeeper's wife who apparently walked off into the ocean never to be seen again. Fortunately there is a picture of Susannah in the bar (a handsome, plump lady), so if you tell her that she's beautiful then her ghost will leave you alone. We all obliged her, and slept soundly all night!
Thursday
We snorkelled three times and saw sharks, and fish, and sea turtles. Hurray!
On to the highlight...
Lots of sea turtles come to Lady Elliot every year to lay their eggs. Although we had been told that they had all already hatched and gone to the East Australia Current to spend the next 18 years, there are in fact a few more nests on the island. Early this morning someone found five hatchlings on the runway who had gotten confused by the lights of the resort and walked the wrong direction. Instead of heading to sea, they headed to the resort. So, Emma the biologist had collected them in a bucket and at 7:30pm, we headed out to the beach to set them on the right course. They were so tiny and so adorable! The scurried right down the beach and into the water. We wished them each luck as they entered the ocean as only one in a 1000 actually survives to adulthood. Would you believe they stay in the East Australia current floating around the world for about 18 years before finding a safe place like Lady Elliot Island to stop to hang out and eat. Then they continue on to their place of birth, but not until they are sexually mature at age 35! It is important that the hatchlings march themselves into the water because this is how their place of birth is imprinted on their brains. If you just plop them into the ocean, they will not find their way back. Nature is so cool!
On the way back from the beach, two more hatchlings were found and Jack (and I) got to carry one back down to the beach to release. His name is Lucky.
Friday
This morning Bill, Jack, and I went scuba diving again. It was an early start, so it was a bit of a struggle to get up for breakfast beforehand. I didn't eat too much just in case. ;)
At 7:15 we were at the dive shop to get suited up and before long we were out on the boat heading to our dive spot. Mantas had been spotted near the lighthouse bommies, so that's where we went. Unfortunately, the only manta we saw was from the dive boat. By the time we jumped in, it was gone. Boo! We did, however, see a pair of flirting white-tipped reef sharks plus a couple more, which are pretty awesome every time you see them. As with every dive/snorkel, I saw some species that I hadn't seen previously. I find that pretty amazing because we see such a huge variety with every outing.
Today's dive was better than our previous one because we were all much more relaxed (and I wasn't sick). Jack and I were able to stay down a full 14 minutes longer because we used that much less air. That's about a 50% improvement! (32 minutes vs 46 minutes). We also went down a little deeper, which is a thrill too.
By the way, Brody stayed ashore looking for turtle hatchlings to rescue. He didn't find any.
We all attended a lecture on humpback whales before lunch, and another one called Amazing Marine Animals in the afternoon, and finally Sharks and Rays in the evening. So great staying in a place staffed by such knowledgeable people. Oh, and we played bingo and won free drinks again!
Saturday
This morning Bill and I got up extra early before the dive boats went out to go snorkeling in search of mantas. LEI is called Home of the Manta, but we'd just seen the one from the boat yesterday. Well, we weren't disappointed. We swam out to the light house bommies and there was a manta having its morning cleaning with the assistance of all of the parasitic fishes. Woohoo! Our trip was complete. It was just the one and it was only about 2m across, but we were not disappointed.
After lunch, we had time for a final lecture on mantas before catching our flight home. I have a sneaking suspicion that we will be back one day! It's now 8:40 pm and we're driving 10+ hours up the coast to Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays. Only a couple hours yet to go!
While at Manly Beach our friends Sherri and Paul were kind enough to arrange accommodation for us through their timeshare company for two weeks in two different locations up the coast. This was a tremendous gift for a couple of reasons. First, it meant I didn't have to do a lot of planning, and trust me, it's not as easy as you might think. Second, we were going to be spending full weeks in two locations; we are all getting tired of one or two night stands. And third, we were going to get to stay in two bedroom condos for less than the cost of staying in a hostel -- hallelujah!
Jack's bum and the Port MacQuarrie beach
Before our first condo, however, we had a week to spend travelling through some beachy towns on our way north. Remember, this is the Southern Hemisphere and it's the middle of autumn, so temperatures are dropping in the south. We needed to get moving north to more tropical climates, or buy another wardrobe!
Based on the advice we received from all of the Aussies, we first stopped at Port MacQuarie and booked the Ozzie Pozzie Backpackers YHA. I had booked two nights knowing that would mean only having to spend one full day at what I suspected was a surfers' party spot. We arrived at around dusk, and so we didn't really get a good feel for the place until the next morning. Our room was well equipped with ample storage space and we had an ensuite -- a big plus! The next day was raining, so we stayed in most of the day. Fortunately there was a pool, ping pong table, fooseball table, and pool table to keep the boys entertained, not to mention a rainbow lorikeet named Cheeky (hard to believe these creatures weren't painted by a 4 year-old!). The hostel seemed to be a few bungalows that had been joined together into a little compound with gazebos and covered patios. There was lots of outdoor seating and lounge areas, and everything was painted in colourful pinks and yellows and turquoise. It was very surfer chic. The other guests were well behaved and cleaned up after themselves, so we decided to stay another day to give the town a chance in the sunshine.
I would like this lady's job
The weather was nice and we were enjoying ourselves so much we stayed for four nights all together in Port MacQuarie. The beaches were lovely, and the Ozzie Pozzie loaned us boogie boards to take advantage of the surf. A little trivia side note: for some reason, and maybe a science teacher can help me out, the sand squeaks on the Pacific Coast. In bare feet or in shoes, it's like you're dragging your feet on a super clean kitchen floor. I never would have thought sand could do that! In addition to our beach days, we visited the Port MacQuarie Koala Hospital for a tour of the koala enclosures during their feeding time. Most of these cuties were being treated for complications due to chlamydia. (Oh, the humiliation!) Others had been burned in bush fires or had been hurt in car accidents. They were all so sweet, and the volunteers were doing some great work.
STIs don't discriminate.
From Port, we travelled a couple hours north to Coffs Harbour for two nights. Really, it was much the same as Port -- a gorgeous beach town. This time, we went to a strictly swimming beach so there was no risk of surfers hitting us, and the swimming was great. In fact, it was just the lifeguards and us for most of the day! We swam, floated down a real "lazy river" into the ocean, and had a picnic. It was a gorgeous day.
The boys and no one else on the beach at Coffs Harbour.
To be fair, I haven't yet seen a beach in Australia I didn't love. They are all quite beautiful. Some are more crowded than others, some have a bigger surf than others, but they are all as nice as the next. The water is warm (about 22C now) and clear and the sand is soft and white. (Sorry Canadian friends, I really am livin' the dream)
As a painful but nostalgic shot of reality, a high school group booked into the Coffs Harbour YHA for our second night. I witnessed teachers collaborating about which students needed some extra supervision, the teen drama queens, the malnourished-oh-I-feel-faint girl; I was the target of nicky-nicky-nine-doors, and we were kept up late listening to them giggling away in the halls. Yes, it was like being back at home at BHS.
The next morning, it was finally Friday and time to head to our first condo.
The timeshare was located in a teeny beach town called Bogangar. This is pretty funny to Aussies because "bogan" is the Aussie slang term equivalent of redneck or trailer trash. We quickly discovered that Bogangar prefers to be called Cabarita Beach. It's the same place. He he he.
While Cabarita Beach was pretty to look at, it had signs posted saying there may be sharks and stingers (poisonous jellyfish) present. Needless to say, the boys had zero interest in the beach after reading that. So, besides spending a half day lounging around in the squeaky sand, we entertained ourselves OFF the beach.
This frog rock is about 10' tall!
Bogangar has only a grocery store, a surf shop, a bakery, and a handful of other stores, so we definitely didn't spend our time in town! The resort was quite nice and had a pool and tennis courts and mini golf to keep us amused, but strangely there were no other people around. I know others were staying there, but I don't know where they were. It was a little creepy. The grounds were very well kept, and we discovered that passion fruit grows on vines and has amazing smelling flowers. We backed on to a nature reserve and we listened to cookaburras laughing and watched cockatoos and rainbow lorikeets among other cool birds that I can't identify.
On Sunday, we went down the coast to Byron Bay, an ultra-cool, ultra-hippy, surf town down the coast. Next to Bondi, Byron Bay is THE surf spot. We were there on market day -- we love market day -- and after scouring the whole town we finally found a parking spot and made our way to the market.
If you are need of candles, or batik or hemp clothing, or tie-dyed shirts, or seashell jewellery, or organic herbal teas, or -- oddly -- dream-catchers, then the Byron Sunday market is your place. We might have been the only non-tattooed, dreadlockless, synthetic-clothing wearing family there. Regardless, it was a fun excursion and we had a fantastic vegetarian lunch before heading out to explore the rest of the town.
A couple days later we left Bogangar/Cabarita and went north to Tweeds Head. The Tweed is a fairly large suburban town at the southern tip of the Gold Coast region which is about an hour south of Brisbane. We walked the beach, watched the surfers, and went to a funky cafe with an amazing art gallery adjoining it. I loved everything they had on display! This again was a beautiful town -- one I could actually live in. It was big enough to have all of the conveniences of a city, but still had a fun, beachy vibe without being touristy like Byron Bay.
Our final day trip from Cabba was into the hinterland to Springbrook National Park. This was a real Australian highlight rivalling the Blue Mountains in my opinion. It was a gorgeous drive up a 'mountain' and through the rainforest to our picnic/hiking spot. From the top of the mountain you could see the coast in the distance, just beyond what I think was the city of Surfers' Paradise (yes, that's what it's called). Even the kids were impressed. We had yet another great hike through the rainforest to see some pretty spectacular waterfalls, a couple of which we walked behind. The towering gum trees were monstrous and Tarzan vines were hanging from tree to tree while others had shaped tree trunks and branches into tight corkscrew configurations. My favourite part was the flock of bright red parrots we saw on our way in and again on our way out. We stood and watched them eating on branches right over our heads for several minutes. I just can't get over the rainbow colours of these Aussie birds. I get very excited every time I see them!
Very quickly, the week was over and it was again time to move on another three hours up the coast into Queensland. Next stop: Noosa.
Our trip to Sydney seemed like several mini-trips, and in many respects it was. All of our experiences were great!
On our way from Canberra we drove directly to Bondi Beach, likely Australia's, and definitely Sydney's, most famous surfing beach. On our Qantas flight over, Jack watched a whole season of a program called Bondi Beach Rescue, and we all became fans of the show. It is a reality tv show about the lifeguards of Bondi, and it shows the guards' responses to the bone-headed activities of the tourists on the beach. So, the boys were star-struck when the first person we saw on the beach was our favourite lifeguard, Harrison the Kiwi (aka Fush & Chups)! He came riding by on his atv and stopped right beside us to talk through his megaphone to some careless swimmers. Jack wouldn't let me ask for a photo. He said it was because Harrison was working, but I know it was because he was too embarrassed to have his mom ask. I managed to stealthily snap a couple photos anyway.
Fush & Chups in his ATV
We began our stay in Sydney with a couple of nights at a YHA right in the CBD. It was located in what was formerly a train sorting station. Some people actually stayed in train cars, but we had a regular room -- much to the disappointment of the kids. I suspect the train cars were either dorm rooms or private singles, in either case, not for us! We quickly discovered that with large hostels in large cities, like Canberra and Sydney, comes anonymity. That means that people didn't clean up after themselves in the kitchen, making it a challenge to find fridge space and adequate clean cookware and dishes. We dined with another "mature" couple one night (from Brisbane, visiting their adult children), and when we were doing our dishes the woman told me she had emptied three dish racks before dinner and by the time we finished eating they were all full again. She began drying and putting away yet again. I just kept my head down: Bill and I were not about to clean up after other people's kids!
We really made the most of our first full day in Sydney. We bought a 5 attraction pass to some of the more popular places to visit with kids, and that day we saw the SeaLife Aquarium (where we saw a platypus at last), Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, and WildLife Zoo (where we saw a cassowary). Fortunately, they were all side by side in Darling Harbour, a really lovely part of the city. We also visited the best kids' playground we've ever seen (absolutely massive!) right at the harbour. We had a thoroughly exhausting and really fun day!
Easter egg painting
The next day, Good Friday, we decided to return to Bondi Beach for a swim before heading to Manly for our week-long rental. To be honest, there were so many swimmers and surfers all concentrated between the flags that I didn't find the swimming enjoyable at all. I was too worried about crashing into a kid or getting whacked by a surfboard. And though we didn't recognize any of our lifeguards from TV, we did witness an intense search of the beach and ocean for a missing child. We left before he was located, but didn't hear anything on the news.
Finally, the boys couldn't stand the suspense any longer and we left to find our place at Manly Beach.
Here's Sydney up until this point:
We had rented a house in Manly Beach with my old BFF Sherri, her partner Paul, and their two dogs. Manly is a very nice, higher-end, more suburban beachy area of Sydney. It's a 20-ish minute ferry ride across the harbour from the famous Opera House, and the drive from Bondi was easy and scenic.
Easter brunch
As we were driving there, we received a text from Sherri that Will, Kate, and baby George were due to be at the Manly Beach Surf Life Saving Club that afternoon. That explained why we were unable to find a place to park on the street of our rental! By the time we were unpacked and fed, we were too late to see the royal family, however. No big loss. Although if I had known just how close we were, I might have made more of an effort.
Before long Sherri and Paul arrived. It was Sherri's 33rd birthday (because Brody knows I'm only 32 and Sherri was born the same year), so we baked a cake and attempted to make pizza in the wood-fired pizza oven in the backyard. Well, the kitchen oven was only marginally better than the pizza oven (numbers worn off the temperature gauge and incoherent symbols on the bake/broil/convection/etc setting knob and, oddly, no on/off switch -- truly bizarre and European), so when the pizza-oven pizza was a disaster, we made the rest inside and followed it up with slightly burnt cake. In the end, we were all pleasantly satisfied. The Aussie wine helped...a lot.
The famous picnic
The rest of the week went by far too fast. We sort of mastered the pizza oven and more or less figured out the kitchen oven (enough to get by anyway). We drank much wine and yummy cappacinos (I'm quite addicted), and ate like royals. (Sherri brought enough food and wine to feed a large army). The boys fell in love with the dogs and played countless games of fetch in the yard and accompanied Sherri and Paul on walks at the neighbourhood dog parks, particularly once pancakes and chai lattes joined the routine.
Blue Mountains
Sunday was Easter. It has always been our tradition to have a big Easter Sunday brunch, so we moved that tradition to Manly. We all decorated eggs in the backyard, and I made my now-traditional (since last year, but requested by the kids) Italian Easter bread. The Easter bunny spoiled everyone, for brunch we made eggs Benedict, and we ate too much chocolate! Later we ate steak and prawns for dinner. Ugh! But, Super delish!!
One afternoon the four of us took the ferry back over to Sydney. We saw the breath-taking, (Danish-designed) Sydney Opera House, walked halfway across Harbour Bridge, explored The Rocks district, and met up later with Sherri and Paul, and another old friend Ian and his partner, Grant. Ian, an Aussie, and his family had lived in our neighbourhood for a few years when we were all kids. Ian and Grant took us to the best place in Sydney for a sunset picnic, and I'm not even exaggerating like an Aussie! We were in the Botanic Gardens, sitting below the two oldest trees in the city, right in front of the Opera House and overlooking the Harbour Bridge -- and no one else was around. We sipped wine, ate cheese, chatted, and watched the sun go down. Really lovely! We were joined by another friend from Whitby, Jim, and his partner Christina, and we went to a small club overlooking the harbour for a cocktail. Ian and Grant gave me some great tips for our trip up the coast, and we all shared some adult conversation. It was a great evening! As we were leaving, we learned our server was from Guelph, and the manager was from London, ON, though his parents were from Glace Bay, NS (Bill's mother's hometown in Cape Breton)! Small world.
The four of us took another day trip to the Blue Mountains region. (They're called "blue" because of the bluish eucalyptus mist coming off the gum trees.) We went on a great hike and admired some really breath-taking views. It was a worthwhile sidetrip, and we burned off a few Easter calories.
Another day, Bill and Jack took a surf lesson. Please enjoy the video below.
Before long, our week was up and it was time to say goodbye. Sherri and Paul took us all out for an incredible breakfast first, and then we went our separate ways. It was a perfect week, just at a time when we all needed to see some different faces and have a sense of family...doggies included!
We were pretty excited to leave Thredbo in sunshine to begin our trip to the nation's capital, Canberra. We had booked three nights at a YHA in the middle of the city specifically because it had a pool and spa. After our rainy days, we needed that badly! Bill was so excited and in such a hurry in fact that he had the (mis)fortune of meeting one of NSW's finest on the freeway to Canberra. We had heard the fines for speeding were outrageous, but this kind officer reduced Bill's by over $200. Phew! A warning would have been more generous, but we will take kindness wherever we can get it.
We were able to check in early, and waiting in the lobby when I arrived was a familiar face from Albury. (Note to Facebook friends: not THAT one, but the other one. Nevermind, Mom. All is well)
After some walking around town, we met up with an old friend, Sherri Lake, and her partner Paul.
Sherri was my first friend when we moved into the house where my parents still live. We hadn't seen each other since high school, but Sherri generously helped out with our Australia trip planning via Facebook and emails. We had plans to rent a place together for Easter week, but first got acquainted in Canberra where she lives. We went out for some great Mexican food followed by desserts at a local icon, Gus'. Sherri and Paul introduced us to sticky date pudding, another Aussie icon. We thought it was yummy, but Sherri insisted it wasn't authentic, and so she is currently seeking out a better source!
The boys and I spent the next couple of days seeing what Canberra has to offer. We had been told it was a rather dull city, but our two days were quite filled with educational sightseeing and souvenir shopping. The kids loved Questacon. It was a very hands-on science centre. I made them both learn a little about Gallipoli at the National War Memorial and we saw a Last Post service (a regular, if not daily event) honouring a soldier who passed in WW1 (attended by surviving family members and several US Major Generals).
By the way, the YHA pool AND spa were BOTH freezing!!
From Melbourne we drove north to Albury. It rained for two days. We saw The Lego Movie ($72 for just admission!). Stuff happened and we got upgraded to a cabin from the lodge.
We drove to Thredbo in the Snowy Mountain region. Pretty drive...in the rain... Couldn't really see the top of the mountain for the clouds. Rained next day. Rained the day after that. Watched muddy mountain bikers descend from the top of the mountain. Went swimming at the Thredbo Leisure Centre.
Thredbo River
Village of Thredbo is very cute.
Learned Aussie chilli powder isn't like Canadian chilli powder. It is just ground chillis. Bought some cumin too, and made some really good chilli. It's that kind of weather.
And that's all I have to say. Don't worry, it all gets much better! That was over a week ago.
Our first task in Melbourne was to drop off Gretta the Jetta and pick up Bruce the Outlander. It was nothing personal against Gretta, in fact we enjoyed her, but the cost of a one way hire was much cheaper from Victoria than South Australia. Plus, Bruce is bigger! The kids have a little more room to breathe now!
In Federation Square
The roads through Melbourne are very confusing, especially when you have no sense of where you are going at all, and there are several toll routes. We relied heavily on Sheila the GPS who, for all her faults, got us everywhere we wanted to go. We have no clue what kind of toll charges we will be paying once the MasterCard bill comes in. The rental company's transponder just automatically forwards the charges to us! Convenient, I suppose, but a little scary too!
Our accommodation was in the outskirts of town, close to the airport. Fortunately that was where the car rental places were, so we didn't have a whole lot more driving to do. We stayed in a Big 4 Holiday Park in a cabin with its own washroom and kitchen. Bill and I decided we actually prefer living in hostels to these cabins. In a hostel you can usually find a place to get away from each other, but in the cabin you're together all of the time. We all still like each other fine, but we all need quiet time. By "we" I mean Bill and Jack and me; Brody would prefer to all be together all of the time. This park had a good playground and a heated swimming pool, so the kids were thrilled. They immediately hit the pool, and I dove into The Lonely Planet.
Cool Melbourne building
The next morning we found the City Circle Tram that takes tourists in a loop through the CBD for free. It was very handy because we didn't have to drive right downtown, and the tram gave us a tour by pointing out the highlights along the way. We got off at Federation Square, the hub of the city and began our walk through the city.
Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave.
We quite liked Melbourne. They've made an obvious effort to make the city aesthetically pleasing. The architecture is an interesting mix of Victorian and modern, and there are artistic elements all over. Even some of the highway overpasses are artistic. I suppose they are competing against Sydney and it's beautiful opera house!
Live sculpture.
Our walk took us past the Melbourne Comedy Festval stages, through Chinatown and the Greek district, and up to the Victoria Market. The boys have grown quite fond of markets...and their food stalls. Bill took the kids to find food and I headed off in search of treasure.
I started with some Filipino pork and chicken skewers (super-delish), and then walked through the aisles. The market was huge and covered, which was nice because it was a hot and sunny day. As is the case in many markets, most of the stalls were run by Asian people selling knock offs. There were also a lot of Chinese-made Australian souvenirs. I looked, but I can't bring myself to buy what I know is crap! There is a lot of "aboriginal" art, that I just can't believe is authentic given what they're selling it for. If it is authentic, some poor Aborigines are getting the short end of the stick. Either way, I couldn't do it. I left with nothing. I have some regrets for not purchasing a couple things, however.
After the market, we went to a footy match. That is, an Australian Football League game: North Melbourne vs. Port Adelaide. Melbourne is the home of the AFL, and houses two stadiums. None of us had any clue about how footy is played. The field is round, the ball is like a football, and it seems like a cross between soccer, football, volleyball, and quidditch. There are a bunch of referees in bright yellow, a bunch of trainers in bright pink, and a lot of players. There seemed to be very few substitutions, so these guys did a lot of running around. Even between the first and second and third and fourth quarters, all of the players stayed on the field. The trainers ran out to give the players water from time to time, and the clock never stopped. By the end we had a little sense of how it all worked, but we mostly just followed the crowd and reacted as they did. We cheered for whomever was winning, so we likely annoyed everyone around us! It was a good time! Bill's note of interest: "And one person could buy 4 beers for $30." No two per person limit like at home!
The next day we explored St. Kilda, one of the trendy districts of Melbourne. The kids played at the Adventure Playground with some cool, hipster kids while we waited around with the cool, hipster parents. (Side note: People should not dress their toddlers all in black. It's just wrong.) We explored the trendy shops and the trendy pier and then we went back to swim at the Big 4, decidedly unhip and not trendy. It was another nice day, but threatened to be our last for a while!
