Bonorong

When we first arrived at our resort, the rooms weren't ready. As we were waiting I was reading the local paper, and there was an article about how they were recruiting wildlife carers. They get a lot of orphans from roadkill, and as we traveled to Port Arthur and back I did notice a lot of roadkill, which was sad, but Bonorong ended up being very educational about the entire issue.

First of all, Bonorong is built around rehabilitating wildlife and re-releasing into the wild whenever possible. They may not always have all species represented, depending on what is happening, but we got to see a lot, and our guide just taught us so much about Tasmania and each of the animals and about conservation.

One thing that he did not spell out, but I realized while we were there, is that having the mammal population be marsupials is what gives you the high incidence of orphans requiring care. With regular mammals, if you hit the mother the babies are probably hidden somewhere in the woods, and you will never find them so they will either survive or not without human interference. In Australia, the babies are on-board.

First of all, you can do things to avoid hitting wildlife. Watch out for areas near water, where there are clearings in the woods, and I believe at dips in the road. These are likely animal crossings, so reducing speed and keeping your eyes open is a good idea. The other hazard is roadkill. There are scavenging animals that will come to clean up, and if dinner is in the middle of the road, that puts the diner in danger too. So, if you do hit something in the middle of the road, please drag it off to the side.

If you kill an animal, scoop the pouch and check for babies. The best thing you can do for them is keep them warm, and putting them in your shirt may be the best way to do that, as it will be the closest thing to Mum. At this point there are numbers you can call to figure out the next step, including calling Bonorong. If I lived there I am sure I would become a carer, but generally without that training you will probably not be able to feed them well, so call someone who knows and keep them warm until them.

Those numbers can be useful if you non-fatally injure an animal too. The grimmest part was that he was explaining that if you fatally injure but do not kill an animal (so it is going to die, but hasn't yet), the kindest thing you can do is a solid blow to the back of the head. This seems to have scarred Maria, because later on Kangaroo Island she saw an orphaned echidna puggle at a wildlife center and she kept worrying they were going to kill it. Since they were in the process of rehabilitating it, and letting people see it, I think her worries were groundless, but she really feared for its life.

Anyway, I'm not sure if we were different because we came in a group, but we went in, got our little bags of food, and the guide (pictured with the wombat, Pixie) went through the different pens telling us about each animal. He truly had an encyclopedic knowledge of them. He went over their unique characteristics, what their rehabilitation is like, similarities to the other animals, and habits in the wild. We really learned a lot. We found the wombat information especially interesting, maybe because we just hadn't known much about them before. Then we got some free time to wander around.

Possibly the best thing he told us is that you can pet the kangaroos on the head or back, and they won't mind, but they will think you are telling them to be off. What they really love is being scratched on the chest.

It may be breed specific, because the kangaroos at Maru (Phillip Island tour) did not seem to care for it, but this mob loved it. I would take some food from the bag and put it in my left palm, letting the kangaroo eat. Then, as it was finishing, with my right hand I would start scratching the chest, and the kangaroo would just bliss out and lean into my hand, and it was amazing. Obviously, this took both hands so I have no pictures of it, but it is the best!

Obviously, more pictures are up on Shutterfly, but here we have a koala, wombat with keeper, a devil, Cape Barren Geese, and an absolutely adorable little kangaroo joey. (I had always thought of joeys as baby kangaroos, but it looks like that term is for all infant marsupials, and puggles is for all infant monotremes and one poorly advised dog mix).

In case anyone knows that koala are not native to Tasmania, and wonders why they are at this rehabilitation place, a sanctuary on the mainland had a fire, and Bonorong took in a few to help. That's one thing right there-- it is an amazing place to visit on its own, but you can also really feel like you are supporting something worthwhile.


http://www.bonorong.com.au/joomla/index.php

A Tale of Two Cadbury's

We visited the Claremont Cadbury factory on an all day tour that also included a lunch cruise on the Derwent river, Bonorong Wildlife Park, and the historic town of Richmond. On the day we toured the Dunedin factory we went all over the Otago peninsula, including Sandfly Bay, Penguin Place, and Larnach Castle. I feel like it makes more sense to treat the two Cadbury locations together, and cover the other locations separately.

Claremont was highly recommended for Tasmania, so we had always planned on going. One thing I noticed in the guidebooks was that pretty much every city of note in Australia has at least one candy factory, zoo, botanical garden, and antarctic exploration-themed attraction (well, the last one may be more in the Southern part of the country). Going to all of them would be silly, so you need to look for the better, more highly-recommended ones. I wouldn't have minded checking out the other fudge factory around Hobart, or even Haigh's Chocolates in Adelaide, but only Claremont was must-see.

I love bringing food as souvenirs, because I have a natural antipathy towards more knick-knacks and dust collectors, especially for a trip that you didn't take, but was merely taken by someone you knew. With food souvenirs, you eat them, ideally you enjoy them, and then they are gone. (Flowers are also good. You enjoy them for a few days and then they die.)

We thought bringing back chocolates for people would be good, but then we had a concern. One of our tours had a limit of 15K luggage per person. We were just below that with our clothes and toiletries, so stocking up on chocolate in Tasmania could put us over, and carrying it all over the country for another two weeks did not sound like a great idea anyway.

By pure chance I noticed that there was another Cadbury factory in Dunedin, so while setting up our south island of New Zealand tour I asked our guide to arrange a stop by the store, no tour necessary. He said we should probably go for the tour, which was fine, so our plan was to stock up on chocolate there, and we would only have to port it around for two days. We did not realize the vast inequality between the two factories.

First of all, Claremont does not really have a tour. They used to, but stricter safety and health laws made it too onerous, I guess, so now they just give you a talk, and you have access to the gift shop, the chocolate shop, and a cafe. That being said, it was a great talk. I suppose it depends on who your guide is, but ours had so much personality and she knew everything about Cadbury and chocolate-making and consumption. Also, they had Freddo there. The picture of the cow (source of the cup and a half of milk that goes into every bar) and of the frog are from Claremont. (Our guide is in the picture with Freddo, though it is blurry.)

Also, the store is amazing. It is huge, they have all sorts of products we have never even heard of here, and they have specials on different days, where even though the prices are generally pretty good, some prices will be better. You can buy a five kilo box of chocolate for $40.00 that would be a $100.00 value. (They will mail it for you, but I was sure that would be expensive, and this was between me losing my wallet and getting money transferred.) On your way in they give you a chocolate, and on your way out you get a parting gift of a box of favorites that basically allows you to sample everything. It was really a wonderful experience.

There are ways in which the Dunedin factory is more set up for visitors. They have all sorts of displays and a film, and you can actually tour the work floor on week days. (We were there on a Saturday, so that was not an option for us.) However, it just wasn't as interesting. It was our guide's first time, so maybe we are not being fair, but you did not get as many interesting facts, they handed out some candy but not as impressive, and the store was much smaller and more limited. Also, they make a big deal of the chocolate waterfall, but it was kind of overrated. I thought it would be a constantly flowing fall, but what they do is take you into one of the big silos pictured and turn it on so a big rush of liquid chocolate flows down in front of you and then stops.

Regarding the stores and gifts, at least with the Dunedin factory there is a strong focus on distributing what is made locally. This makes sense, but what they make in Dunedin is apparently the Perky nana (imagine banana-flavored Laffy Taffy covered in chocolate), Chocolate Fish (strawberry marshmallow covered in chocolate), and Crunchie (it's a bit like Violet Crumble in texture). Their candy is gross. We didn't end up getting many people souvenirs, and checking every store to try and find more Cherry Ripes. They were everywhere in Australia, but quite rare in New Zealand.

Now, seeing the work floor might be interesting, so if I were ever to be in Dunedin on a week day, I would probably go for it, and certainly if I am ever in Birmingham, England I will give that tour a shot, because I am nothing if not open to new experiences, but for now, Claremont is the best, and you should buy a lot of chocolate given the chance.

http://www.cadbury.com.au/
http://www.cadburyworld.co.nz/cadburyworld/home.html
http://www.cadburyworld.co.uk/CadburyWorld/Pages/CadburyWorld.aspx

http://www.weblogoz.com/20030618080557375.htm
http://www.hiba.com.au/
http://haighschocolates.com.au/factory_tour/visitors_centre.html

The Eco Cruise

We checked out of the inn Wednesday morning and waited for our bus pickup. We had a different driver, but the one who had dropped us off had called her to make sure she knew exactly where to get us, and again we were just getting great service. While they were rounding up the rest of the passengers she sent us into a sort of restaurant/bar where we could get free tea and coffee and use the facilities. Well, this time when we went to buy water they comped us for that since we hadn't taken any tea or coffee. Yay!

They had two boats, and we ended up on the Silver Gull. Cold weather gear was available. Used to colder temperatures, we declined it, and it was nice that it was not mandatory like at the Bay of Islands. We did wear our coats and gloves, and there was a breeze, but it felt pretty good to us. If we had wanted it, there were jackets, pants, and I saw one person wearing an ankle-length coat.

One of the pictures above shows our sister boat, so you can see the set up. It has some surface similarities to the Excitor in the Bay of Islands, but we were much more sheltered. Maybe it was the covering or a difference of the prow-I don't know enough about boats to say. It was definitely a more comfortable ride. There were still bumps and spray, but they were fun.

I took a lot of pictures trying to capture the beauty of the place. I'm not sure how much justice I did, but there are a few here. At first I was mostly impressed with the striation. Clearly these were sedimentary rocks. Then I started noticing different outcroppings jutting out. I kept thinking of cathedrals with spires and buttresses and pipe organs, and realized I wouldn't have been a good explorer because I would have just kept naming everything Cathedral Rock over and over again.

Actually, not everything looked like a cathedral. Two of the more unique formations are shown above. You can probably guess which one is the Candlestick. That is a sensible name for this narrow shaft stretching up between thicker cliffs (though you could still call it the spire or the bell tower). What did not show up is that there is a rope stretched out from the cliff on the left to the Candlestick, because people climb that thing. When our captain told us that, I could only think that it was crazy. Isn't rock climbing exciting enough without it being over rough, cold water?

The other one shows the middle in a group of three rocks. Actually, they are all connected so it is really just one rock with three peaks. Anyway, it kind of looks like a basset hound face. Actually, the rock on the right is a little bit similar, but not as well defined. The rock on the left looks nothing like a basset hound, but maybe it could be the middle rock's rump.

We also found several caves and went in to a few. If you check out the full collection of Tasmania pictures, you will notice that there are bits of the boat and people's heads in almost every picture, but you get the idea.

We got to see many seals and gannets, but the definite highlight was when we saw the whale. At that time of year, there were no guarantees, but suddenly the boat stopped, and people were pointing, and there was the tail of a whale waving back and forth.

I imagine that often with whale watching someone will glimpse a fluke or a side, and if you are looking at that moment you see it, otherwise too bad. In this case, he just kept bringing the tail up, waving it, then taking it back in the water, I don't know how many times. That should have made it possible to take a picture, but my timing was off, I guess, so I gave up and just watched. The important thing is that everyone got to see, and we were just spellbound by it.

I guess you could call it magical. I remember at the time thinking that it was something, and settling on the word sacred. Right as I thought that, I heard the captain talking to another passenger and say it was really special. I'm still not sure what the best word is, but we were there, and so close, and there is a feeling of connection that is outside of the every day. Eventually, I saw the back of the whale (it appears to have been a humpback) kind of come up and then go back under, and it was gone.

The captain joked that now he needed to charge us extra, but then later he was saying he really wanted the trifecta. We had seen seals, we had seen a whale, and he needed to find us dolphins. He was not able to find us dolphins, but I still have to think he did okay.

We came back into Port Arthur, and the rest of the passengers were going to tour the historical site, but we had done that already. I suppose they could have easily left us on our own for a couple of hours, but our driver took us to Eucalypt for lunch, and then she drove us over to Maingon Bay so we could look around a bit there.

Maingon Bay is home to Remarkable Cave. What makes it remarkable is that it is somewhat in the shape of Tasmania. I swear I saw it, but I could never get the angle quite right to photograph it, so my pictures don't complete the outline. Nonetheless, kind of cool.

When it was time, we headed back into Hobart, but since we were going through Seven Mile Beach our driver dropped us off there, saving us a good hour of public transit (and at least $9.00 AUD).

We traveled by some wonderful scenery on the way. We had been surprised by the calla lilies on the prison site, but they were growing all over the countryside. We also got our first glimpses of frisky lambs running around in meadows (we would be seeing a lot more of those). The most surprising thing for me was probably seeing cockatoos in the wild. Here they are exotic anyway, but if you imagined somewhere they could be native, you would think more tropical. In Tasmania, they were kind of like crows or ducks.

That day was also the first day we had run into any other Americans. On the bus back there was a couple from California. They were nice, though he was a bit of a know-it-all (he worked at IBM, but I'm sure that's unrelated). We would encounter more Americans the following day, but it was also interesting how many of the tourists were Australians there. Generally we were running into people from Europe and Asia everywhere else. We did see a group from the Middle East at Eucalypt whom we had earlier seen at the Rainforest Habitat. That was our biggest travel coincidence until we found John and Maria from Cairns in Queenstown. (Otherwise, seeing people from a bus one day at the airport the next day was happening all the time, and there was one group of three men who followed us all over Kangaroo Island.)

Regardless of travel coincidences and demographics, I have to say that it was just a really good day. I don't know that I had ever thought of granite as particularly beautiful, but it was. Great scenery, great wildlife, and absolutely excellent customer service.

One thing we did not get to see may be worth checking out. I saw signs for a place called the Tessellated Pavement. We did not go there, but I asked our first driver about it, and he explained it is a part of the coastline with geometric designs. I am posting a link for a picture that may not be a particularly good representation, but it's something.

http://www.tasmancruises.com.au/tours_cruise.php
http://harristravel.shutterfly.com/259
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadlyphoto/2328810335/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TessellatedPavement.jpg

Port Arthur

I have to say, we had wonderful weather for our trip to Port Arthur. It had been so rainy and gray the day before that we weren't sure what we were in for. It was definitely cool when we left (and we left early), but the sky was blue, and rain wasn't even an option.

We took to public bus to downtown Hobart, and then a tour bus from Hobart to Port Arthur. Fortunately both drivers were really nice. We were worried we would need to transfer to get to the right spot, but the first driver told us exactly what we needed, and even recognized us the next time he saw us, which was basically three days later.

People were nice, and they were also very trusting. I had communicated with the company by e-mail, and asked about payment, and they just said to do it when we got there. That morning we were leaving before the office was actually open, but the driver said we could pay in Port Arthur. We did go to the office there to drop off the other people on the bus, but he said they were busy, so we could just pay the next day, and he would take us to our hotel. (We did finally convince someone to take our money the next day.)

He dropped us off at the Port Arthur Comfort Inn, and we checked in. We had just brought overnight bags, travelling as light as we could. The Inn has a gate that lets you right on to the Port Arthur property. This is where the second issue of people being really trusting came up.

Our package was for the Ghost Tour, plus dinner, the night's lodging, and breakfast the next day. This was booked separately of the Eco-Tour, which was the ground transport to and from Port Arthur plus the boat ride we were taking the next day. We hadn't booked day access to the site with anyone. So there we were on the grounds, not having paid. We intended to pay, so we started heading off to where we thought would be the spot, only we ended up going in the wrong direction. I talked to one of the volunteers there, and he pointed us in the right direction. He also said we should look around first. We felt like that was kind of him, but we were not really comfortable. Perhaps we should have said that out loud, and he might have explained the issue.

The issue is that the site is enormous. There are more than thirty buildings on over forty hectares (just under a hundred acres). after walking to one corner of the property, then reversing and pretty much going to the exact opposite corner, we were pretty done for. So, we paid our admissions, but did not take the included walking tour which would have been good for the information. If we had gradually wandered about the property, making our way there while checking out the various buildings, we would have gotten more out of it, and I am pretty sure no one would have stopped us.

We did go on the included boat ride around the harbor. For extra you can get off on either of the two islands, which we did not do, and we also skipped the interpretive center. We still saw a lot, just not as much as we could have if we had been wiser.

The other thing the one volunteer had mentioned was that we needed to see the separate prison no matter what, as it was the basis of the modern penal system. From the map we saw that it was near the other cafe.

There are two places that sell food on the property. One is where we paid our admissions, and we had gotten a snack and a drink there. Since the other was near the separate prison, and closer to our hotel, we decided we would eat lunch there, and at this point we would have been all over the property even if we did not go in all of the buildings. The only problem was, we simply could not find it. We found things that seemed like they should be near, but we couldn't find the separate prison or the cafe. We decided to go back to the hotel and eat, but then we found out that the restaurant is only open for limited hours, and there is no store, and we were finally in an area with no Domino's. Wouldn't you know, my blood sugar was low. (If we had made it to the store the night before, we would have gotten some power bars or something, but we hadn't. We aren't usually that irresponsible.)

I ended up eating the complimentary chocolates that came with our package, and just resting. It seemed more productive than hiking back and trying to find food, then have the other hike. Really though, it was a beautiful day, and a beautiful site, and the chocolates were good, just not ideal nutrition.

We made it to dinnertime, and it was pretty good. Basically, it is a three course meal, but you choose three items off the menu and they are not too fussy about sharing or which specific areas of the menu you order from. The dining room would have a great view, but it was already quite dark by 6:00.

Our tour started at 8:15, so we headed over and waited for things to get started. The tours are pretty flexible for the guides. There are several buildings they can choose from, and a time frame, but not a set route. We started at the church, then went on the the vicar's house, the doctor's house, underneath the surgeon's house, and then ended up in the separate prison, so we got to see it after all. And no, I did not suddenly understand how we missed it.

It is a ghost tour in that they do tell you about things people have seen and heard, but they aren't really established stories, like this is the legend of old so-and-so. They will tell you the history of the specific building, and what type of haunted activity is normally reported, and then usually give examples of things people in their own tour groups have told them. Sometimes they will tell stories from other guides, but for our guide at least, there was really one story from someone else that she shared.

What was interesting is that it is usually not everyone seeing it or hearing it, but someone coming up later and sharing something. For example, one night a man came to her and said he did not believe in ghosts, but while she was talking in the church he saw a shadow of a man bend down behind her. Another woman heard him say this and said "Yes! Did you see him pick up the tool?", which he had not, but the interesting thing about that was that there were two deaths during the construction of the church. One was a fall from the roof, and the other was one convict striking another with a tool. She had not told them that story.

I personally have no sensitivity to ghosts. I certainly don't deny the possibility of anyone seeing or hearing anything at any time, but I am not going to see or hear it. So, finding out that even if three people in a group heard footsteps, and some did not, was interesting. It may relate to the size of their front temporal lobes and electromagnetic fields in the area. I don't know.

The thing that was very important for them, and they kept stressing, is that any other ghost tour in Tasmania they will have costumed characters and special effects, and they don't do that. She kept repeating, these are real people and real stories and we don't want to mock that. Since in most cases they are stories that were told to the guide by someone they had guided, and often someone who had been very frightened by it, I can see that and the respect is good. So, I shall not tell the other stories I remember (but I know them!).

I can't say that the tour was ever scary, though some of the stories certainly would be scary if they were happening to you, but it was interesting and that is usually what I'm going for.

That was pretty much it. We hiked back up the long trail, went to bed, and were up early to have our breakfast and check out, ready for our Eco-tour. However, I think there are some important lessons for whoever goes next:

1. Have some food on hand.
2. If you are going from the Inn to the site, don't go straight! Hang a left to get to the main building and buy your tickets, then head through the interpretive center, join your tour, and take your boat ride. Stop at buildings along the way and pace yourself. There is just a lot to see.
3. For the Ghost Tour, it is not a bad idea to have a flashlight. They have lanterns during the tour, but on your way to and from the tour it is not well lit. Honestly, I think they just don't think too much about people coming from the hotel, so they don't really plan for that.
4. I made a point of reading "For the Term of His Natural Life" before we got there. The site does not seem to have a high opinion of the book, but it's still a pretty good yarn and I suspect there is quite a bit of truth to it.

http://www.tasmancruises.com.au/tours.php
http://www.portarthur-inn.com.au/
http://www.portarthur.org.au/

Under Down Under

Every time I thought the name Tasmania, I would mentally break into the theme for the cartoon. The cartoon was okay (not as good as Animaniacs, or even Tiny Toons, but still okay), but the Tasmania it showed is nothing like the one we found.

I have to say, it was one of our favorite places, and one of the first spots where we truly started to feel homesick. The trees and sky and weather was so similar to Oregon that we started to feel a few pangs.

One thing that was kind of funny for us was that whichever region we were in, people would make fun of the other region. When you get out of North Queensland you find out that they are all drug users, and the Southerners are too busy and unfriendly, and out West they are just weird, and not really Australian. (Once you get to New Zealand, the Kiwis just make fun of the Australians as drunkards, and not too bright. Maybe only people from North Queensland go to New Zealand.)

Anyway, as we were waiting for our shuttle to the airport to go to Tasmania, the desk clerk was telling us that Tasmania was really rough, and people take the law into their own hands, and everyone has big fences to keep out the Tasmanian devils, which are the size of pit bulls. However, the guy at the airport was telling us it was all great seafood and wine, which excited us terribly. No, no, yes but not because of that, and not even close to that big. (Now, our shuttle driver to the airport was pretty rude and inefficient, so that fit in with our pattern of finding transportation in Sydney to be frustrating.)

Regional pride was strong in Tasmania too though, as the north and south fight. One notable fact is that it is the only state to have two expos because they aren't willing to share. We stayed pretty much south, but we felt bad about that when we found out that near Launceston (up north) there was a Platypus House and Seahorse World. On the return trip to the airport we were telling our cabbie we felt bad to have missed the north of the island, and he told us we were not missing much (being a southerner). However, when we told him why, he admitted that he had been wanting to go there too. So regional rivalry is strong, but must still make way for seahorses.

Tasmania is actually quite different from everywhere else though. I think I would say it is more English than Australian. I don't know if I can say that, because I have never been to England, but it just seems less Oz.

We were staying a stone's throw away from Seven Mile Beach, a beautiful place where you might see whales and dolphins and platypus, although we did not. We did hear something rustling in the bushes one night, which might have been a wombat, but I don't know.

There were a lot of vacation homes in our area, as you have the beach with biking, fishing, and horseback riding, but there are regular residents too. Students do tend to wear uniforms, and they ride the public buses to school. Teenage girls still seem to get in pairs and shun one, and boys roughhouse, so I guess sharing the bus with commuters and tourists doesn't spoil their fun.

Once again it was a Worldmark resort, so we were fairly removed from things. Our first day we tried walking to the store, but it turned out to be more like two miles away than two blocks (or a block is a mile) and it started to pour before we had gotten very far. The houses actually had nice big golfing umbrellas in the closets, but we had not noticed. I guess it was funny. So many times the previous week I had been tempted to just dump my coat, and now I found myself wearing it and the gloves. We did make it to the store, but in the end we were there for four nights and we had Domino's deliver to us for three of them. The other night we actually stayed in Port Arthur, and dinner was part of the package.

I will be going over the different areas in other posts, but here is the itinerary. We arrived on a Monday, got wet trying to get to the store, so ended up watching television and ordering Domino's.

The next day we had one tour take us over to Port Arthur. They are normally a day tour, but we wanted to do the Ghost Tour at Port Arthur, so we booked a package with that and overnight accommodations (that included dinner, so no Domino's), and hooked back up with our other group on Wednesday.

That tour involved a boat tour around Eaglehawk Neck, and then we got to go to Maingon Bay, eventually landing back in Seven Mile Beach. Our tour driver courteously let us off at our resort instead of taking us into Hobart. We had taken the bus there the previous day.

Thursday we bussed back into Hobart for a tour that started with the Derwent Cadbury World, took us for a lunchtime harbor cruise, then headed over to Bonorong Wildlife Park, finishing up in the historic town of Richmond.

Friday we left the resort at 4:00 AM because our flight was at 6, but the airport was small we really could have put it off. In fact, security was not even open when we got there. From there we took off to Adelaide.

It is a beautiful island, with nice, friendly people who don't seem at all lawless. There are fences, but this seems to be to keep domestic animals in, and the devils are about cat size. They have enormously strong jaws like a pit bull, but that's about it. We really need to make it to Launceston though.

http://www.platypushouse.com.au/
http://www.seahorseworld.com.au/

A Night at the Opera House

I believe I made it fairly clear that when we grabbed the cab to the Opera House, we were pretty tired, hot, and just not feeling great, or even particularly fond of Sydney (and this is before my wallet was stolen). However, things quickly took a turn for the better.

The Opera House is right on the water, and there is a bench that runs all along the sea wall. We had about two hours to kill, so this gave us time to cool down, write out some postcards, and just relax. In front of us was the Opera House itself, to the left was the Sydney Harbor Bridge with Luna Park right below, and to our right was the Sydney skyline. We watched the sun go down and the people come and go.

One reason we had made sure to eat before heading over was that we had been told that there was a restaurant right there, but got the impression that it was rather expensive. Actually, the area appears to be full of restaurants and clubs. Based on the dress, most of them are rather upscale, but there were lights and laughter and pretty clothes, so it was a great place to people watch.

Actually, we were getting pretty nervous about the pretty clothes. I thought we should dress up, but Julie read on the web site that casual dress was acceptable, and this meant we did not have to go back to the hotel. Well, we did not see much in the way of casual clothes. We quickly realized that the group that was making us feel the worst was really a wedding party, but still most people were a little dressy.

Now, there are really eight performance halls, so on any given night you will see people who are not going to the same event as you, and to be fair, we did find other people who were dressed casually--some worse than us. Nonetheless, we were in the minority. We got a few looks, and one woman even called upon deity as she stared at us. So, it is true that casual dress is allowed, in that it does not get you kicked out, but I don't really recommend it. I have to say, once the music started I didn't really think about it.

Before I get to the show I should talk a little about the building. We did not bother taking the tour because we were attending a show, but that probably would have been worthwhile just to see the entire thing and learn some history. Looking up the link I see that the architect, Jørn Utzon, just died last month.

I believe it is common knowledge that the design of the building is meant to evoke the sails of the ships in the harbor (mostly not sailing ships now, but you get the point). The actual design came from sections of orange laid out. The nautical theme continues inside. The restroom stalls (at least in the ladies room) curve in and out like waves (weird sinks though), and the roof of the concert hall was hung with clear rings reminiscent of life preservers. Apparently you are not supposed to take pictures inside, but I thought they just meant not to take pictures during the performance, so I did snag a few interior shots. My interpretation makes more sense.

I remember calling the Opera House ugly once, greatly offending Brian who thought it was beautiful. I think it is somewhere in between. There are certainly places that I find more beautiful, but it is striking, and it does fit in with the harbor. Also, the acoustics are good, which really is important.

The show was wonderful. I have told many people how complicated planning the trip was. Partly that was due to trying to get the best fares and spend the least time in the air, but some of it was also trying to work it so that we were being efficient but still ending up in Sydney on the 20th. We knew we wanted to attend a performance, and there were a lot to choose from, but this one was the most appealing of all.

Gianluigi Gelmetti (linked to our own James DePreist via the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra) had been with the Sydney Symphony for fourteen years, but was stepping down. This was his farewell performance, filled with his favorite pieces. The clincher for me was that he was going to conclude with Bolero. I know it has its detractors, but it stirs something in me, and I was thrilled to get to hear it.

I don't actually make it to the symphony that often here. I do a lot of opera and ballet, so I am hearing the pieces live, but as the background to singers or dancers, where they are hidden in the pit. It is something to be viewing the performers, and focusing on them, especially in a piece like this that starts off with just a few musicians, more gradually joining, until it is a symphony of bows gliding and fingers plucking and mallets descending. And there was no smoke or flashing lights or any cheesy stagework dressing it up--it was just the music in its purity. (I'm dissing Andrew Rieu there.)

Now, going in, along with the "Arrivaderci, Maestro" sign, I did notice the net full of red, green, and white balloons suspended overhead, so I was expecting those to fall at the end. I did not see the confetti cannons. So, there is that powerful buildup, crescendo, and BOOM! Suddenly the air was full of confetti and streamers everywhere. I had garlands of it around my neck. I mean, we were in the fourth row, but it seemed to go everywhere. Still primarily the red, white, and green color scheme, but there were also silver streamers and some purple and gold confetti mixed in. People were swatting the balloons around, and everyone was just kind of into it and having a good time. And then Gelmetti came back and did an encore with the William Tell Overture. That's a fun piece.

So that was pretty much it. We had to wander out quite a ways to get a taxi back to the hotel. This is not because they don't come down there, they do, but there are so many other people also hailing cabs that you need to get ahead of the crowd. We made it okay.

The rest of Sydney was already covered, so when I write next we will head to Tasmania.

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianluigi_Gelmetti

Welcome to Sydney

Sydney actually got off to a bad start and had plenty of problems. Nonetheless, we had one of our nicest evenings there, and we would go back.

The real problem was logistics. When we were planning the trip, things looked very walkable, and for some people it might actually have been walkable, but we found that it really wore us out. Our travel plans may have been too ambitious, at least for the budget we wanted to keep. It was definitely the area where our plans least matched our reality.

The first bad start was that we encountered a really rude taxi driver who refused to take us from the airport. He was at the front of the taxi rank, so we were directed to him and then he started pitching a fit about how there were too many of us. I will admit, he did have a smaller car, with a smaller trunk, but I think the real issue was more one of style. It was more of a town car than a cab, and based on how he was dressed I think he has this image of himself as more of a chauffeur, picking up wealthy businessmen with one bag for the trunk, and one briefcase for the seat, and excellent tips. Anyway, he was arguing with the airport person in charge of the taxi rank, and we're thinking that we really don't want to ride with him at this point, and finally she directed us to another car. He'll be lucky if he doesn't get banned from the airport, because they will remember that attitude, and airport access is very important for cabbies.

The other driver was fine, but we did not give him a large tip because he took three wrong turns getting to our hotel, and we kept watching the fare get higher while this was happening, so we were just not off to a good start. In addition, we were finding that Sydney was huge and traffic was bad. We didn't think we would need a cab again until we left Monday morning, but we turned out to be wrong about that.

You see, not only is Sydney quite large, but it is built upon many hills, and unfortunately we started each day with pointless uphill walks. Friday night, when we arrived, we did not see any restaurants around and we were tired, so we ordered in and it was really expensive. We wanted to eat cheaply after that, so for breakfast we tried to find a McDonald's. The guy in the mini-mart with internet seemed to know where one was, so we started off in that direction, and climbed up and up and up without finding any food, but suddenly finding ourselves in an area of rainbow flags, manpris, and no other females. Nonetheless, we did find a Hungry Jack's here, and we just went for it. (Hungry Jack's is Burger King, but someone in Victoria owned the name, so they just call it Hungry Jack's, even in the other states.)

That out of the way, we started towards the waterfront. On the way down, we found another Hungry Jack's, so that whole uphill trek was completely useless, but we didn't know. So we kept on walking, made it to Darling Harbour (where we found a McDonald's, but too late), and started getting back to our original plans of going to Taronga Zoo. Our plan was to visit there, then explore the Botanical Gardens, including sitting in Mrs. MacQuarie's Chair, and then head over to the opera house, where we were attending the symphony. It was all on the waterfront, so seemed feasible. We were so very wrong.

We did make it to Taronga, and I highly recommend it. The reason it was on our list is that it has the widest selection of native animals that we found. Everyone has koalas and wallabies and kangaroos, but if you want to see platypus and echidna it gets a bit less likely, and it was one of only two places where we saw dingoes. The nocturnal exhibit has lots of smaller things too, like quoll, possum, bandicoot, and bilby of multiple types. You can't necessarily get the best looks at them because it is very dark in there, but still, we did see them.

In addition, the set-up itself is quite interesting. "Taronga" means good view, and the entire place is built on a hill. You can get there by bus or boat (or car, but boat is the way to go), and the Sky Safari carries you up to the top of the hill, where you then work your way down. On your way up, you have an amazing view of the harbor, including the opera house and the bridge. All in all the zoo visit was pretty good.

As we made our way back to Darling Harbour, we realized we were in no way up for walking to the gardens. The coastline is not smooth, so walking from Point A to Point B is not done in a straight line. If you followed the coast, you would be wasting a lot of steps. As it is, you can go to the main road, follow that to the finger you need, and then go out, but somehow it did not appeal.

We had not really looked at the Sydney Aquarium before, but it had gotten good reviews, and it was right next to Wildlife World, and if you bought a pass to both you could get discounted admission, and they were right there, so that's what we did. We went through the aquarium that day, and we were going to save Wildlife World for Sunday. This was good, because it was becoming clear that we were not going to do the bridge climb.

I had started worrying about it on Thursday, and was just getting a bad feeling of dread about trying it. I know a lot of people had recommended it and said they were fine doing it, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we shouldn't go. I hadn't really said anything to my sisters, but they ended up being on the same page. I don't really know what that was about, but I eventually started thinking that maybe my blood sugar would have plunged at some point while I was up there, because that happened a few times on the trip, but never anywhere that would have been as bad as halfway up the bridge. They probably could have gotten me down safely, but possibly have ruined the climb for others. Also, I might not have caught on right away, because generally my low blood sugar symptoms are that I feel weak and break into a sweat, and I might have thought that was just the climb. Anyway, we didn't go.

I'll do a separate posting about the symphony, but basically after the aquarium we hiked up to the street and found Golden Arches, ate there, then just grabbed a cab to the opera house, and took one back.

Our useless hike the next day was to try and find church, at which we failed, but there is a whole saga with church going there that should be treated separately. We headed down to the harbor again, did Wildlife World, and we should totally have forced ourselves to go to the gardens then, but we were tired and there was an IMAX theater right there, so we decided to try that instead. That's where I lost my wallet.

So, for recommendations, I think the first thing would be to stay on the waterfront if you can. Most of the attractions are there, and so logistically you save a lot by being there. It's probably more expensive, but I'd at least check that out.

Taronga Zoo is definitely must see if you want to spot the different types of animals. It is the best place for it, and the sky safari may only be a short ride but it is awesome. The Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World are okay, but not spectacular. If I were to choose only one of the two, I would go for the Aquarium.

For transportation I would seriously recommend looking into the train system, which probably would have helped us a lot. Or just bring plenty of money for taxis.

We probably could have asked our concierge to point us towards transportation and restaurants, but when they welcomed us they were very helpful in directing us to shopping that was very expensive, and I guess we just didn't want to see the horror in their eyes as we asked where to find Mickey D's. I know it's not exactly good food, but sometimes cheap can really be valuable, and it is tasty.

When we were hanging out before the show, my sisters were saying they would want to come to Sydney again, and I was surprised because we'd had the most trouble there so far. However, I think their point (which I don't necessarily agree with) was that we gotten a pretty good view of Port Douglas, Cairns and the Reef, and Ayers Rock, and so they didn't feel a need to revisit there. I think they felt like Sydney was unfinished, or at least that it could have been done better.

One thing we discussed was coming back and trying the bridge climb again, but I realized that I don't really want to. I can see where it is cool, but it seems more like something that is cool to have done than would be cool while you were doing it. Of course, I am horrible going uphill or upstairs, and even getting much fitter I think I will still kind of be that way. I'm not ruling it out, but it is not a priority.

I would want to try for the gardens and the chair again, and also we found out about a tower that would give you a good view and also has this attraction that I think would be something like Soaring Over California, only it would be over Australia, and I would like to try that. However, it is not a city that I fell in love with, and I don't think that will change.

http://www.darlingharbour.com/
http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/
http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo.aspx
http://www.sydneytower.com.au/

Mt. Conner Safari

This was really one of our nicest tours in Australia. Your tour guide can make a huge difference, and if you go you might not be lucky enough to get Leroy, who only does this part time (we actually got him on his last day before heading back to his other gig, radio host and proprietor of the Greenhills Hotel and Condah Pub in Condah, Victoria). However, it is a good company, so probably their other guides are good too, and the scenery was amazing. With this post more than any of the others, I hope that you will check out the other photos on our Shutterfly site, because a lot of them came out really beautifully and I can only choose five for the blog postings. They are mixed in with the Ayers Rock Resort photos under "The Red Centre".

Leroy picked us up at the resort at 2:00 PM. Mt. Conner is about 88 km southeast of Uluru, and is not part of the national park. Instead, it is on private property, part of the Curtin Spring cattle station. Perhaps because of this, there is less of an effort to change habits of referring to it by the English name and going back to the aboriginal name. However, we did ask and you can also call it Attila. Leroy said the natives called it the land of the ice men, and as it was once part of Antarctica, they seem to know what they were talking about.

Since you are on private property, we had to stop off at the station to pick up the keys, and there is a gated entrance that you need to go through. At the station there is a roadhouse, restrooms, and camping, and they have some cages with various native birds. I said "hello" to one white cockatoo several times, having been told he would greet me, and he just kept looking at me and said nothing. Then, as I started to walk away he began saying, "Hello! Hello!" I guess he takes a little while to warm up to you.

Just to be clear, the cattle station itself is very large, but most of it is just land for the cattle to roam over, along with assorted wildlife, and occasional corals and watering holes. You can buy land for a dollar an acre if you will buy a million acres at a time, but in country this dry, I suppose you need a larger spread to support enough food. Where we stopped is right near the road, and I imagine may be the only buildings on the entire spread, though you could probably roam around for days without being sure. Anyway, if you are into camping, that could be one way of seeing the area without staying at the resort, and it looks like they have rooms too.

Anyway, we picked up the key and got in through the gate. All this time Leroy was talking via radio with the other driver, Brady. He mentioned something about spending an hour at the lake, so I had in mind that we would be going to a lake, only I was surprised that there might be a lake in such a dry area.

As we got closer, I noticed a low, flat area that I thought was it, only it seemed awfully white, and bright. The temperature surely wouldn't have allowed for freezing, so what was going on? As we got there, it was just a sheet of salt.

There was water there once upon a time, but below the surface there were salt deposits and a layer of porous black mineral. When rains come now, that combination causes the water to leach more salt up to the surface. I imagine it's a lot like the Bonneville Salt Flats, but I have never been there.

Leroy told us that it's official name was Lake Swanson, but there are also references to the Amadeus Salt Lake Chain, so that may indicate that there are more of these lakes around. It was pretty impressive, and makes a great backdrop for pictures. Maybe it's gross, but I did feel compelled to break off some salt crystals and taste them. It was salt all right.

We headed out for some kangaroo spotting, and saw two. Granted, we had already seen kangaroos at the Rainforest Habitat, and we were going to see more in every zoo and park on the trip, but there is still something cool about seeing them in the wild. One of the pictures up there has one of the kangaroos, but it is pretty tiny. I still had not discovered the zoom feature yet.

I had mentioned earlier how the crocodile spotting was a bit reminiscent of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, only real. This was a bit like the Indiana Jones ride, only real. There are parts where the road is quite smooth (and notice how red it is), but as we started heading up to the lookout it kept getting rockier, and rougher. We kind of like it that way, and were laughing a lot. The really rocky pictures are from up at the lookout. It's good that there are all of those rocks around, because Mt. Conner is just slightly shorter than Uluru, and Mr. Severin's wish is that by the time he dies it will be taller. They are working on a cairn at the top, so every time they go up, they grab some rocks on the way to add to the top. I bet with Hugh Grant they could finish in a day.

There was still a lot of plant life everywhere. The most populous was probably the mulga, but we also saw a 400 year old desert oak (which is a type of acacia, nothing like an oak as we know it, except that it is tall and strong).

Our next stop was an old homestead from the original settler. The current family, the Severins, have been there since the fifties, but there were two families before that. The first guy started out in a hole in the ground that is still there, and I suppose we could have poked around, but I just know it was full of snakes-probably extremely poisonous ones.

We drove to the top of the hill where the house once stood, then wandered at our leisure down to the old windmill, corral, and water tank. The other vehicle joined us, so we got to talk to the other passengers a bit. They were a couple from the Isle of Wight, and a family of three (two parents and a young daughter) from Melbourne. Our guides set up tables where there were drinks and snacks while we watched the sun set. Brady also did some demonstration with a whip, and if I had known we were going to get a chance to try it I would have paid more attention. I did not do well.

There was wine, of course, but also some juice. The food was bread that you could dip in olive oil and then these crushed seeds. I think they were wattle seeds, and the name for them as a dish was something like woogamooga, but I am just going to call it bush tucker.

After sun set we drove back to the station for dinner. They started us off with pumpkin honey soup, which was excellent. We were served pumpkin soup in many places afterwards, but this was the first time we had it, and I thought it was the best we had (that was the honey element). Then we had steak, and finished off with a choice between bread pudding or I think lemon something. Almost everyone had the bread pudding so I can't really picture the other one.

We finished off by looking at the stars for a bit, then headed back to the resort. You can't really stop and look at things at night, but the animals are a lot more active. I think I saw five kangaroos and a dingo, but everything was just whizzing by. I could see where camping out there at night would be great, though I'm not sure how safe it would be.

Throughout the trip my sisters and I would discuss where we would go again, and a lot of the best experiences would be ones you wouldn't repeat, because they were great and they were done. It would not make sense for us to take this specific tour again. However, there is a lot more that we could do in the area, with more hiking and camping.

I definitely recommend seeing it at least once. There is a wild beauty with lots of variety, and so far I would have to say it is like nowhere else on earth.

http://harristravel.shutterfly.com/161
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Connor
http://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/mount-connor-safari/
http://www.curtinsprings.com/

Greenhills Hotel and Condah Pub
5205 Kenly Highway
Condah, Victoria (between the Grampians and the Great Ocean Road

Ayers Rock Resort

Just so you know, you may need to click on the sunrise pictures to see any detail of the actual rocks.

I hope you can see that it is an extremely beautiful place. There is a high iron content in the soil and it is just red sand, everywhere. Since it is dry and sandy, I guess it is desert, but there is nothing deserted about it. There are trees and shrubs everywhere. The whole place is teeming with life, though it does become more obvious after the sun goes down.

People come primarily to see Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. The rock is important in the dreamtime folklore for the local aboriginal people. There is another large rock formation nearby, Kata Tjuta, also know as the Olgas, but really, people come for Uluru. Because of this, there is an airport and a resort and tour companies and buses, all of the local industry focused on that tourism.

The two formations are part of a national park, but everything tends to revolve around the resort. Even the locals who work in the area frequent the restaurants and bars of the resort. There are a few things that the resort does well. For one thing, there is a free transfer between the airport and the resort, and there is also a complimentary shuttle between the various areas of the resort (there are five different accommodation options, plus a shopping area), the camel farm, and the park. Different tour groups pick up at the resort, so while you are there transportation is not an issue.

The downside is that everything is very expensive. Of course, everything has to be brought in from miles away, so that accounts for some of it, but the lodging prices are pretty bad, maybe running about triple the price of what you would pay for equivalent lodgings elsewhere. Oddly, the food prices are where I would have expected to be gouged more, and they weren't as much higher, proportionally. We tended to find food and beverage prices pretty expensive anyway throughout the entire trip.

So, if you can pack some non-perishable sealed foods when you go, it can be a good thing. Fortunately, you can see everything in a relatively short period of time. And you definitely should go. It is beautiful. You probably just don't need to spend very long there.

We stayed at the Outback Pioneer Lodge (the only one cheaper than camping). You can reserve individual bunks in rooms of twenty or four, with restrooms similar to what you would have at a campground. If you don't mind hostel living, that should work for you. We ended up with a private room, which was four bunks and our own bathroom. It was better than the bunks, but still not great. However, Outback Pioneer is entertainment central if you want live music or something, and they do have one of the most interesting restaurants.

At the Pioneer BBQ and Bar, you can purchase meat and grill it yourself. That is somewhat innovative, but it is really the meat selection where they stand out. In addition to your normal beef and chicken, you can also purchase kangaroo, crocodile, emu, or barramundi.

We never ate there. Julie was always worried that various things were going to make her sick, with Maria not being much better. I am a bit more adventurous, but I have my limits. If there had been a buffet where you could try the different items cooked by someone who knew what they were doing, I would have tried them all. As it was, food was too expensive to risk blowing your budget one something you wouldn't be able to finish. Also, everyone warns you that if you overcook kangaroo it gets really tough, and as a first-timer I would be almost guaranteed to overcook it.

I will say, we found mixed views on eating the native wildlife. Some people would point out that kangaroo meat is much healthier, with no cholesterol, and it controls the population, all of which is true. At the same time, others who admitted the point about cholesterol would admit that they still couldn't bring themselves to eat "Skippy". Oddly, I think all the ones for eating kangaroo were men, and against were women, but we didn't poll everyone.

For tours, you can book through the Voyages site, but you may find some crucial information missing. We had an issue with this where we had planned on going on a camel tour and it did not work out. You may wish to look up the actual tour provider and try and get more information through them.

You will see a broad selection of sunrise and sunset tours, because that is how people really like to see the rock. We did not book one of these, and I was glad later upon talking to some people on our Mt. Conner tour (next entry), because they said it was pretty but you were with 2000 other people jostling for position. However, this is one thing that was great about the Outback Pioneer Lodge. There was a lookout in the middle of that area of the resort, so I decided to try it.

The day were were leaving (we only stayed two nights), I got up in the dark, pulled on some clothes, and grabbed my camera. Julie and Maria each took turns waking up, telling me not to do anything stupid, and then falling back asleep. (It's not exactly synchronized nagging because they were at different times and neither heard the other one.)

I headed up the path, and with a very short climb I had an excellent view of both Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The only sound was birdsong. Eventually another couple joined me, followed by one lone man, but we didn't disturb each other so we were able to watch the sunrise in peace. Sure, if everyone starts doing it that won't be any good either, and I don't know if the other areas have similar views, but it's worth a shot.

http://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/
http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/uluru/index.html

Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

I mentioned that we had a beautiful drive into Cairns, but there were a few difficulties, mainly caused by our being on the extreme outskirts of town. Our driver told us on pickup that we would have to pay another $16 each (which took every last bit of our cash), and although we passed all sorts of businesses and restaurants in Cairns, by the time we got to our location there was nothing nearby, and the office was closed.

After ringing the phone outside the gate several times, we were able to get a voice over the intercom directing us to a lockbox where we could get the keys. With the keys was a note asking us to come in during office hours the next day to officially check in. Unfortunately, our next day's excursion meant leaving before the office opened and getting back after it closed. Then, the following day we would have to leave for the airport before office hours.

We were worried about this, but the immediate concern was getting some food. There were two menus in the room, but one restaurant was closed Mondays and the other did not actually deliver to our location. We finally called Domino's, and that would be the first of many times we had to rely on them. (I got really sick of pizza. Domino's isn't that great anyway, and the cheese and toppings tasted funny there.)

Actually, most of the Worldmark locations were kind of out of the way. We have a friend who has a membership, so we got a good deal, the rooms were nice, and having laundry in the room was wonderful, but they are definitely better for people with cars.

I made one more foolish mistake, which was that I had not brought my e-mail confirmation with me. So far no one else had asked for one, and there did not seem to be any crucial information on it, but it would have been helpful. The bus that picks you up is taking people to multiple different tours, so that can help keep you straight. The rule ended up being that if I had it I did not need it, but if I did not have it someone would ask, so just always have it with you. Fortunately, we were on the manifest and it did not end up being a big problem.

So, yes, we had lodging and transportation and organization issues, but the boat ride was great. It was a nice little sixty-foot sailboat, and I have to say that our crew really knew what they were doing. They were fun and funny (Louise's orientation talk was a lot of fun, but still told you everything that you needed to know) and they really took good care of us. Moreover, it was just beautiful.

I have three different pictures posted that show water, and I'm still not sure that I have done it justice. It was this incredible blue green that just kept getting bluer. Our skipper Gordon saw me looking at the water about midway and told me that it gets progressively bluer as you get out. At first I thought he said aggressively bluer, and I like that-this is a really in your face blue!

I think I've stated before that I love being on boats, and it's still not getting old for me. I don't know a lot about them really, but he seemed to me that he handled the boat very well. This was especially evident on the way back. We were able to go almost the entire distance without using the motor, only trimming the sails as we got into the harbor. For most of that, we were riding at a 45 degree angle, and it was perfectly comfortable and fun. As cheesy as it sounds, my cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much.

The reef is about three miles out from Cairns. This particular cruise goes out to Pinnacle Reef, and you can either snorkel or scuba in the morning. They feed you lunch and then start taking people over to Green Island in the tender. How long you can spend on the Island depends on whether you want to go back in the water in the afternoon, but that is an option. Lunch is included, along with mornings snacks, afternoon fruit and cheese, and then they brought around a tray of cakes. This is good, as being in the water takes a lot out of you.

(One thing that was frustrating, but it was everywhere, is that pop and water are never included. Almost everyone gives you free tea and coffee, and a lot of tours, including this wine, also serve free wine, but never anything that we drink.)

In terms of our experience level, I had sort of snorkeled before in Hanuama Bay, but Julie and Maria never had. To further complicate things, Maria could not go in the water that day. This is where their exceptional service really came through. Louise towed Julie and another first-timer, Marie, around the water for pretty much the entire session. They held on to a life preserver and Louise dragged it around while pointing out fish. In addition, Gordon gave Maria her own private ride in the tender to use this periscope-type thing and view some of the fish for herself. He forever won her heart by calling her "sea kitten".

(Actually, he had already won both her and Julie's hearts by playing some Duran Duran and, when they mentioned their appreciation, letting us know that he has sailed on Simon's boat, Drum.)

I actually got towed a little myself. I jumped in the water and started waiting for Julie, and she just never came and never came, so I went to her. I had promised to stay by her, but since Louise had it covered, she didn't need me, and I could swim a bit on my own.

I thought the snorkeling would be one of the highlights of the trip, but that part was not great. My mask did not fit well so I kept getting water in it, and then when I would try and get it out a wave would usually wash over me in the process, and the first time that happened I had my mouth open, resulting in a salty coughing fit.

At the Bay you just waded into the water, and it was pretty sheltered, so I find that works better for me. Here it was deeper, and there was more current, and I think that is probably better for scuba than snorkeling. Also, before I go again I should probably just by my own mask and get it fitted so I know it will be right. That being said, there is still just something magical about seeing those brightly-colored fish flitting about. Flitting out of camera-view, actually. I have no talent for underwater photography, and you will notice there are no fish photos here. You can wade into the water from Green Island, but that would mean you are staying at a very pricey resort.

One reason that we chose this particular cruise was because of the stop at Green Island. The book A Town Like Alice is a family favorite, and Joe and Jean visit the island in the book. At the time, it was just grass huts and beach, and a chance to go out in a glass-bottomed boat. I'm afraid that time is long past.

Now there is the expensive resort, with expensive restaurants and shops, and Marineland Melanesia, kind of a theme park (no rides, just crocodiles). It's pretty small, but the island itself is small. You can walk around the entire thing, and if you go, that would probably be the best use of time.

We had several errands that we were trying to accomplish. First off, we wanted to find a place to change clothes so that Julie and I would not be in our swimsuits for the rest of the day. We did find a changing room, so that part worked out.

We also needed to try and contact the office of our resort to work out checking in and checking out. We found a pay phone, and were able to work things out there too. We were going to need to leave a little bit of cash for phone calls (there was a charge for local calls pretty much everywhere), but we could put that and the key on the counter, and it would be fine.

That meant that the last errand was that we needed cash. I had $200 US that I was hoping to exchange, but the hotel exchange rate was highway robbery. Okay, we were at sea so I guess it was piracy. Regardless, I think that day it was $1.20 AUD to $1.00 USD, and they were offering something like $0.87 on the dollar. No way. However, there were also no ATMs. We ended up having to charge our drinks on the boat and wait for cash until we got back into Cairns, making small purchases to get change. Really, there just is not much in the way of amenities on Green Island, at least not cheap ones.

Anyway, at least we were dressed again, we had all seen the reef regardless of individual difficulties, and we could just enjoy the trip back. I already mentioned that it was a nice cruise, with good wind and water, but there was more unexpected fun with our crew. Gordon got a phone call, and his brother John (visiting from Glasgow) told me that it was the captain of the company's other ship (Ocean Freedom). He seemed more interested than would be expected, but he knew what was coming.

Louise started passing around the leftover cheese for ammunition, and we were warned to be ready to fling as the other ship came along side. I remember wondering if this was really going to happen, but in fact it was. Ocean Freedom met up with Ocean Free, and we threw cheese at each other.

Ocean Freedom had several advantages over us. They were bigger so they had a better trajectory, motorized so they could go faster and, with more passengers, they had more cheese and more cheese flingers. I regret to say this still did not prevent them from using the serving tray to launch the cheese rather than flinging by hand. I consider this to be cheating.

They took another pass before heading back to port. We came through okay. John took some cheese to the head, but was not badly hurt.

One other caveat about Cairns-the sun is ferocious. We applied and reapplied sunscreen and we all still got burned. For Julie and I it was definitely in the water. Maria had part of her face in the sun. It was funny because Peter told her she was halfway to lobster, and normally that would be that you are pink on your way to red, but for her, it was really that half her face was burned. Basically, you will burn in eight minutes, and they are not kidding. When we arrived at Ayers Rock the next day people asked if we had just come from Cairns.

In summary, loved our boat, loved our crew, the cruise company was good, but don't really know anything about Cairns, found Green Island disappointing, and still working out snorkeling. I will probably never try scuba, but you just never know.

http://www.oceanfree.com.au/index.html
http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/