Enjoy the picture albums -
Part I - LA, Sydney, and Cairns
Part II - Spirit of Freedom - our Liveaboard dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef
Part III - Daintree, Cape Trib, Port Douglas, Mossman, Brisbane, Australia Zoo, Warrnambool, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, the Otways, Torquay, Phillip Island, and Melbourne
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
A day in the other “Melb’n” -- Saturday 04 July 2009
The drive to Melb’n was a bit longer than I anticipated and luckily the directions I had were very straight forward, but when we arrived, we had to drive down to a parking garage at least a quarter mile away and then lugged our stuff back over the Yarra River and to our hotel.
Luckily, even though it was only noon, they allowed us to check in early. Our hotel was neat but tiny. Pretty much you could be in the bathroom – which had a glazed door which with the light on silhouetted whoever was using the toilet…, you could stand beside the luggage at the foot of the bed, or you could crawl onto the bed. …Pretty tiny. It reminded me of our cabin from the liveaboard.
However, tiny traded in for excellent location. We grabbed a map from the front desk and headed to the Queen Victoria Market – which really was pretty awesome. It was probably the biggest market I’ve ever been to and was an incredibly eclectic, ethnically diverse flea market that ran into a gigantic farmers market that ran into a huge meat and fish market that ran into a cobbled together, delicious food court. All of it was packed and full of men and women shouting in different languages selling their wares and it really reminded me of the images you see of the market streets in Asia and Daniel’s stories about shopping in Hong Kong. It was really neat. We managed to find the rest of the gifts for our family and had luckily looked at souvenirs enough to tell junk from decently legit and were able to pick our good deals. We also had a great Middle Eastern meal and I introduced Daniel to souvlaki and I enjoyed a really good falafel.
After hitting the markets, we dropped off our goods at the hotel and then headed out to explore some more. We walked the south bank along the Yarra and then cut back across the river to Federation Square – a city landmark known for its extremely unique and contemporary architecture. We enjoyed a drink on the square and then headed back to the room to pack before going out for dinner. We wanted to get the heading-home-packing done before it got late and wanted to go out and enjoy our last evening. So after wrestling with our bags and putting the hand scale Daniel’s mom got be for my birthday to good use, we decided we were actually going to be able to make it back with all of our stuff – and really, we did pretty well keeping luggage down on this trip.
So we headed back down to Southbank for dinner – I really wanted kangaroo steak and we had spied a restaurant down that way that had it on the menu. We had tried roo steak on the boat and really liked it and I was amazed at how tender it is – it’s really good. So we enjoyed our last meal and strolled back – the Crown Entertainment building (which was a massive movie theatre, bowling alley, casino, beer garden, and about eight other things) had these propane powered towers that did a fire show that was pretty neat to watch and the city of “Melb’n” was really pretty at night.
We decided we really like visiting cities – there’s so much to do and see and wander to and discover. And after a nice stroll back – and seeing that the bar in our hotel was offering a US Fourth of July special – that included Bud Lights, Hooter Shots (if you provide the hooters), and XXXX beers (which btw we discovered is the really gross cheap bud/miller version of Australian beer). The specials just made us laugh…and gain an appreciation of what they consider an American special. Kinda sad.
And with that we headed to bed – bracing ourselves for our eternal July 5th.
Luckily, even though it was only noon, they allowed us to check in early. Our hotel was neat but tiny. Pretty much you could be in the bathroom – which had a glazed door which with the light on silhouetted whoever was using the toilet…, you could stand beside the luggage at the foot of the bed, or you could crawl onto the bed. …Pretty tiny. It reminded me of our cabin from the liveaboard.
However, tiny traded in for excellent location. We grabbed a map from the front desk and headed to the Queen Victoria Market – which really was pretty awesome. It was probably the biggest market I’ve ever been to and was an incredibly eclectic, ethnically diverse flea market that ran into a gigantic farmers market that ran into a huge meat and fish market that ran into a cobbled together, delicious food court. All of it was packed and full of men and women shouting in different languages selling their wares and it really reminded me of the images you see of the market streets in Asia and Daniel’s stories about shopping in Hong Kong. It was really neat. We managed to find the rest of the gifts for our family and had luckily looked at souvenirs enough to tell junk from decently legit and were able to pick our good deals. We also had a great Middle Eastern meal and I introduced Daniel to souvlaki and I enjoyed a really good falafel.
After hitting the markets, we dropped off our goods at the hotel and then headed out to explore some more. We walked the south bank along the Yarra and then cut back across the river to Federation Square – a city landmark known for its extremely unique and contemporary architecture. We enjoyed a drink on the square and then headed back to the room to pack before going out for dinner. We wanted to get the heading-home-packing done before it got late and wanted to go out and enjoy our last evening. So after wrestling with our bags and putting the hand scale Daniel’s mom got be for my birthday to good use, we decided we were actually going to be able to make it back with all of our stuff – and really, we did pretty well keeping luggage down on this trip.
So we headed back down to Southbank for dinner – I really wanted kangaroo steak and we had spied a restaurant down that way that had it on the menu. We had tried roo steak on the boat and really liked it and I was amazed at how tender it is – it’s really good. So we enjoyed our last meal and strolled back – the Crown Entertainment building (which was a massive movie theatre, bowling alley, casino, beer garden, and about eight other things) had these propane powered towers that did a fire show that was pretty neat to watch and the city of “Melb’n” was really pretty at night.
We decided we really like visiting cities – there’s so much to do and see and wander to and discover. And after a nice stroll back – and seeing that the bar in our hotel was offering a US Fourth of July special – that included Bud Lights, Hooter Shots (if you provide the hooters), and XXXX beers (which btw we discovered is the really gross cheap bud/miller version of Australian beer). The specials just made us laugh…and gain an appreciation of what they consider an American special. Kinda sad.
And with that we headed to bed – bracing ourselves for our eternal July 5th.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Phillip Island – Friday 03 July 2009
I try to squeeze every ounce of good out of my vacations. But some days really just don't go as planned. Today was kinda one of them. The penguins were really awesome, but everything else was...well...
1. We woke up early, packed, and as we were ready to leave Daniel discovered he couldn’t find his wallet. After much searching I found it in his backpack – but he had already headed out in the car to search the restaurant which was the last place we had been last night and used it… and disappeared fora good forty-five to sixty minutes of hard core searching before returning to the hotel to discover I'd found it...oh if only for cell phones...
2. We had a 3.5 to 4 hour drive to Phillip Island. And I’m getting a little tired of being a passenger in a car. At least today was a lot of straight roads, but I’m getting a little antsy.
3. We arrived at Phillip Island and were all excited to see nice clear (still cold), but sunny weather, only to learn that our Seal Rocks boat tour was cancelled. Rough seas from high winds. Boo. I was really excited about seeing the seal-ies.
4. I was really excited about this hotel and it’s a complete opposite of what I expected…which happens very rarely. But it’s not a great one and I’m bummed. Okay…it’s pretty crappy.
5. We indulged in a tourist trap. It was a really bad tourist trap. But! We did go out and see the penguins! And we had great seats!!! The fairy penguins came up out of the water in “rafts” (groups) of 20-40 penguins…we saw four or five rafts of penguins come up on shore and waddle up the beach and past our seats where they then split directions – some going up the penguin-worn path hill to their different cubby holes, others up the main path to find other cubbies. They move pretty fast when they want to! Some took their time and even stopped in the spot light and groomed themselves. It was really neat and we were really glad Daniel splurged and got the “Penguin Plus seats” (eye roll on the tourist trap again). Kristina, you really would have loved it (minus that absolutely freezing part), they were really cute when they waddled up!!!
6. It was realllly cold and they don’t let you take pictures/video. We snuck a few, but still. Boo.
So today had ups and downs…it wouldn’t be as big a deal if it wasn’t the second to the last day of the trip – we woke up wanting to make the most of it, and things kept fizzling out on us… but tomorrow’s another day – hopefully a great one! We’ve had an awesome trip too! It’s just always a bummer when the things you anticipate aren’t quite what you expected.
Tomorrow we’re off to Melbourne and then we’re flying home!!! We leave at 10 am from Melbourne, Australia on July 5th and then gain our day back as we arrive in LA around 7 am on July 5th and arrive in Orlando around 5:45 pm on July 5th and hopefully make it back to OUR Melbourne by 7 pm on...again, July 5th… our July 5th is going to be like forty hours long!
We’re flying Melbourne to Melbourne! (close enough). We’ll post lots of photos once we return home. Happy Fourth of July to everyone – enjoy some fireworks for us!
Cheers!
1. We woke up early, packed, and as we were ready to leave Daniel discovered he couldn’t find his wallet. After much searching I found it in his backpack – but he had already headed out in the car to search the restaurant which was the last place we had been last night and used it… and disappeared fora good forty-five to sixty minutes of hard core searching before returning to the hotel to discover I'd found it...oh if only for cell phones...
2. We had a 3.5 to 4 hour drive to Phillip Island. And I’m getting a little tired of being a passenger in a car. At least today was a lot of straight roads, but I’m getting a little antsy.
3. We arrived at Phillip Island and were all excited to see nice clear (still cold), but sunny weather, only to learn that our Seal Rocks boat tour was cancelled. Rough seas from high winds. Boo. I was really excited about seeing the seal-ies.
4. I was really excited about this hotel and it’s a complete opposite of what I expected…which happens very rarely. But it’s not a great one and I’m bummed. Okay…it’s pretty crappy.
5. We indulged in a tourist trap. It was a really bad tourist trap. But! We did go out and see the penguins! And we had great seats!!! The fairy penguins came up out of the water in “rafts” (groups) of 20-40 penguins…we saw four or five rafts of penguins come up on shore and waddle up the beach and past our seats where they then split directions – some going up the penguin-worn path hill to their different cubby holes, others up the main path to find other cubbies. They move pretty fast when they want to! Some took their time and even stopped in the spot light and groomed themselves. It was really neat and we were really glad Daniel splurged and got the “Penguin Plus seats” (eye roll on the tourist trap again). Kristina, you really would have loved it (minus that absolutely freezing part), they were really cute when they waddled up!!!
6. It was realllly cold and they don’t let you take pictures/video. We snuck a few, but still. Boo.
So today had ups and downs…it wouldn’t be as big a deal if it wasn’t the second to the last day of the trip – we woke up wanting to make the most of it, and things kept fizzling out on us… but tomorrow’s another day – hopefully a great one! We’ve had an awesome trip too! It’s just always a bummer when the things you anticipate aren’t quite what you expected.
Tomorrow we’re off to Melbourne and then we’re flying home!!! We leave at 10 am from Melbourne, Australia on July 5th and then gain our day back as we arrive in LA around 7 am on July 5th and arrive in Orlando around 5:45 pm on July 5th and hopefully make it back to OUR Melbourne by 7 pm on...again, July 5th… our July 5th is going to be like forty hours long!
We’re flying Melbourne to Melbourne! (close enough). We’ll post lots of photos once we return home. Happy Fourth of July to everyone – enjoy some fireworks for us!
Cheers!
The Great Ocean Road – Wednesday and Thursday 01 and 02 July 2009
Day 1: Warrnambool to Port Campbell to Apollo Bay
We woke up in Warrnambool and enjoyed a nice, relaxing, slow morning. In Europe we were a lot less bound to schedule and had missed that freedom many of the mornings of this trip, so we indulged and took our time and had a breakfast of Rice Bubbles and milk (Rice Crispies…with Snap, Crackle, and Pop on the box…just called Rice Bubbles instead) and were on our merry way.
The weather was not fabulous, but it wasn’t raining every minute, so I bargained with the rain fairy and told her that if we could get some pauses in the storms when we reached the lookout points along the Great Ocean Road then we could still be friends.
First stop was Logan’s Bay, the nursery area for the Southern Right Whales…only after standing around for over half an hour and getting colder and colder, we gave up. From there it was nearly lunch time, so we decided to start our Great Ocean Road drive and to visit “Cheeseworld” when we came to it…a cheesy name I know… ha. So as we reached Cheeseworld, storm clouds were brewing and we visited the local wine and cheese shop as we waited for lunch to start being served. After we ordered our food and sat down at our table a torrential downpour with very high winds hit and we were most glad to be inside, warm and cozy, and not in the rain. It’s been in the 40’s and low 50’s and is very wet and extremely windy. Gross weather.
After Cheeseword, we left with a small scoop of ice cream (for me) and a sizeable chocolate malt milkshake (for Daniel) who had not anticipated how large the milkshake was going to be – it tasted like pureed whoppers and was delicious…but I thought the boy was going to jump out of his skin after he drank it he had such a ridiculous sugar rush…he had some funny rain man impressions and was very entertaining for a good hour as he coped with his sugar surge…
And finally, we reached some of the look out points along the Great Ocean Road – which was absolutely beautiful. The rocks are made of a softer kind of rock, sandstone, clay, etc and jut out of the water, but are steadily being worn away –some of the bases of the rocks are teeny tiny and you can tell the whole tower jutting out of the ocean will soon topple. Sometimes the water carves out arches, sometimes caves, sometimes it just eats away at the base – but it’s all very pretty because the ledges have distinctive layers and coloring. The wind was extremely high and the seas seemed very powerful, cold, and menacing. My favorite two views were the Bay of Martyrs and the London Bridge. The way it works is you see a brown sign, you pull off, you walk the marked trail to the lookout and then can enjoy your view and take pictures. You strongly acknowledge and believe the signs that say “wandering off the path is dangerous and sudden subsidence may occur” or the ones that say “cliffs may crumble without warning, stay on marked path” -- the wind is gusting, the sea is mighty and swelling with fury, and on the other side of the ledge you’re standing on is Antarctica – you’d listen to the signs too!
So we spent several hours doing the following routine – we’d see a sign and pull over, we wait and see what the rain looked like, if we thought we had time we’d make a break for it, we’d take lots of pictures, brace ourselves against the wind, enjoy the view, scurry back to the car, and then try to gently wipe all the salt water from our lens.
Now the wind. At some of the stops the wind was really really STRONG. We talked to the guy at the lighthouse yesterday and he said that there were sustained winds of 120 kilometers during the afternoon – not including the wind gusts – there was one walk we did that was ridiculous – we fought the wind the entire time and avoided one of the trails because the wind was picking up mist from the water and drenching one of the walking paths. The Twelve Apostles is the most famous of all of the lookouts – and there was a wind tunnel like experience there. I’ve never been in winds so strong…there were times when we lost balance trying to walk towards it and walk the boardwalk ledge! We took some video to try to illustrate the strength…it really was impressive. We really had a lot of fun ducking in and out of the lookouts and enjoying some of the amazing views - it really was a great day!
The Twelve Apostles was the last major stop we had, so from there we drove through Great Otway National Park and the Otway ranges and made our way towards Apollo Bay, a pleasant, sleepy town on the water’s edge. Our accommodations were very pleasant and had a very nice “order breakfast to your room” option that came with a ten dollar credit. It was nice and cozy and we found a great restaurant just down the road that had a delicious Mediterranean chicken dish and kangaroo steak.
Day 2: Apollo Bay to Lorne to Torquay
We had another lovely, lazy morning in Apollo Bay and enjoyed our “room service” breakfast. After that we doubled back a bit and went down to Cape Otway to visit the lighthouse – which is where we were assured that the previous day was a pretty windy day, but were also told that in really stormy weather they had recorded gusts of 180 and 190 kilometers. Crazy.
After the light house we started our drive northeast on the Great Ocean Road – this time instead of high cliffs with lookouts that had land that was falling away at the edges, we saw lots of hard rock ledges that were lower to the water and great surfing swells. We stopped at a few of the lookouts and enjoyed the view, but again were playing the dodge-the-rain-game. We had initially planned to go into the forests and hike and then do the vineyard at Otway Estates – but one, it was really cold and rainy and would have been an absolutely miserable hike and two, Otway Estates would have been a four hour plus detour. (It’s a lot easier to figure out things once you’re actually there). So, we ditched those efforts and enjoyed the Great Ocean Road views instead.
We stopped for lunch in a little town named Lorne and I got a great pasta dish and Daniel enjoyed a nice lamb curry. We also found a bookstore where I could pick up another Janet Evanovich book to keep me occupied on the plane trip home. (What better way to pass part of the 20+ hours of flight time home, right?) I actually feel MUCH better knowing I have the book to read on the way! From there we hit the road again and after many winding, curvy roads and beautiful rocky beaches, we made our way to Torquay. (Pronounced Tore-key…almost like turkey)…and Warrnambool is Wah-nah-bool. While we were on the live aboard I asked the girl from Melbourne (Mel-bun) how to say everything so I didn’t embarrass myself too much. That seems to be the rule of thumb in Australia – point at the word and ask a local. Daniel’s been drafting a rules of pronunciation, but it’s getting pretty complicated. Q’s and R’s have a lot of rules it seems…
So, we reached Torquay and discovered that our hotel was another B&B – we didn’t like the last one, so we cringed, but this one was woooonnnnderful. We loved it – very nice, not overbearing people, a heated Jacuzzi (thank God, because I was freezing), beautiful rooms and very comfy bed, billiard room, fire place area, view of the water from some of the rooms – much nicer. And, we had robes to wear to the Jacuzzi, fresh tea and coffee in the room, and fresh biscuits in a jar waiting for us. (BTW – Australia is very British…biscuits are whatever you would have with tea – brownies, cookies, etc.)
We crashed in the room and thawed for a bit and then went exploring. We shopped a bit in the downtown area and then ate at a nice restaurant named Growlers. We had a bunch of starters and called it a night. We hit up the Jacuzzi and I finally got warmed up (there’s a car conflict with the AC versus nothing versus low heat) and spent a nice relaxing evening back at our hotel.
We woke up in Warrnambool and enjoyed a nice, relaxing, slow morning. In Europe we were a lot less bound to schedule and had missed that freedom many of the mornings of this trip, so we indulged and took our time and had a breakfast of Rice Bubbles and milk (Rice Crispies…with Snap, Crackle, and Pop on the box…just called Rice Bubbles instead) and were on our merry way.
The weather was not fabulous, but it wasn’t raining every minute, so I bargained with the rain fairy and told her that if we could get some pauses in the storms when we reached the lookout points along the Great Ocean Road then we could still be friends.
First stop was Logan’s Bay, the nursery area for the Southern Right Whales…only after standing around for over half an hour and getting colder and colder, we gave up. From there it was nearly lunch time, so we decided to start our Great Ocean Road drive and to visit “Cheeseworld” when we came to it…a cheesy name I know… ha. So as we reached Cheeseworld, storm clouds were brewing and we visited the local wine and cheese shop as we waited for lunch to start being served. After we ordered our food and sat down at our table a torrential downpour with very high winds hit and we were most glad to be inside, warm and cozy, and not in the rain. It’s been in the 40’s and low 50’s and is very wet and extremely windy. Gross weather.
After Cheeseword, we left with a small scoop of ice cream (for me) and a sizeable chocolate malt milkshake (for Daniel) who had not anticipated how large the milkshake was going to be – it tasted like pureed whoppers and was delicious…but I thought the boy was going to jump out of his skin after he drank it he had such a ridiculous sugar rush…he had some funny rain man impressions and was very entertaining for a good hour as he coped with his sugar surge…
And finally, we reached some of the look out points along the Great Ocean Road – which was absolutely beautiful. The rocks are made of a softer kind of rock, sandstone, clay, etc and jut out of the water, but are steadily being worn away –some of the bases of the rocks are teeny tiny and you can tell the whole tower jutting out of the ocean will soon topple. Sometimes the water carves out arches, sometimes caves, sometimes it just eats away at the base – but it’s all very pretty because the ledges have distinctive layers and coloring. The wind was extremely high and the seas seemed very powerful, cold, and menacing. My favorite two views were the Bay of Martyrs and the London Bridge. The way it works is you see a brown sign, you pull off, you walk the marked trail to the lookout and then can enjoy your view and take pictures. You strongly acknowledge and believe the signs that say “wandering off the path is dangerous and sudden subsidence may occur” or the ones that say “cliffs may crumble without warning, stay on marked path” -- the wind is gusting, the sea is mighty and swelling with fury, and on the other side of the ledge you’re standing on is Antarctica – you’d listen to the signs too!
So we spent several hours doing the following routine – we’d see a sign and pull over, we wait and see what the rain looked like, if we thought we had time we’d make a break for it, we’d take lots of pictures, brace ourselves against the wind, enjoy the view, scurry back to the car, and then try to gently wipe all the salt water from our lens.
Now the wind. At some of the stops the wind was really really STRONG. We talked to the guy at the lighthouse yesterday and he said that there were sustained winds of 120 kilometers during the afternoon – not including the wind gusts – there was one walk we did that was ridiculous – we fought the wind the entire time and avoided one of the trails because the wind was picking up mist from the water and drenching one of the walking paths. The Twelve Apostles is the most famous of all of the lookouts – and there was a wind tunnel like experience there. I’ve never been in winds so strong…there were times when we lost balance trying to walk towards it and walk the boardwalk ledge! We took some video to try to illustrate the strength…it really was impressive. We really had a lot of fun ducking in and out of the lookouts and enjoying some of the amazing views - it really was a great day!
The Twelve Apostles was the last major stop we had, so from there we drove through Great Otway National Park and the Otway ranges and made our way towards Apollo Bay, a pleasant, sleepy town on the water’s edge. Our accommodations were very pleasant and had a very nice “order breakfast to your room” option that came with a ten dollar credit. It was nice and cozy and we found a great restaurant just down the road that had a delicious Mediterranean chicken dish and kangaroo steak.
Day 2: Apollo Bay to Lorne to Torquay
We had another lovely, lazy morning in Apollo Bay and enjoyed our “room service” breakfast. After that we doubled back a bit and went down to Cape Otway to visit the lighthouse – which is where we were assured that the previous day was a pretty windy day, but were also told that in really stormy weather they had recorded gusts of 180 and 190 kilometers. Crazy.
After the light house we started our drive northeast on the Great Ocean Road – this time instead of high cliffs with lookouts that had land that was falling away at the edges, we saw lots of hard rock ledges that were lower to the water and great surfing swells. We stopped at a few of the lookouts and enjoyed the view, but again were playing the dodge-the-rain-game. We had initially planned to go into the forests and hike and then do the vineyard at Otway Estates – but one, it was really cold and rainy and would have been an absolutely miserable hike and two, Otway Estates would have been a four hour plus detour. (It’s a lot easier to figure out things once you’re actually there). So, we ditched those efforts and enjoyed the Great Ocean Road views instead.
We stopped for lunch in a little town named Lorne and I got a great pasta dish and Daniel enjoyed a nice lamb curry. We also found a bookstore where I could pick up another Janet Evanovich book to keep me occupied on the plane trip home. (What better way to pass part of the 20+ hours of flight time home, right?) I actually feel MUCH better knowing I have the book to read on the way! From there we hit the road again and after many winding, curvy roads and beautiful rocky beaches, we made our way to Torquay. (Pronounced Tore-key…almost like turkey)…and Warrnambool is Wah-nah-bool. While we were on the live aboard I asked the girl from Melbourne (Mel-bun) how to say everything so I didn’t embarrass myself too much. That seems to be the rule of thumb in Australia – point at the word and ask a local. Daniel’s been drafting a rules of pronunciation, but it’s getting pretty complicated. Q’s and R’s have a lot of rules it seems…
So, we reached Torquay and discovered that our hotel was another B&B – we didn’t like the last one, so we cringed, but this one was woooonnnnderful. We loved it – very nice, not overbearing people, a heated Jacuzzi (thank God, because I was freezing), beautiful rooms and very comfy bed, billiard room, fire place area, view of the water from some of the rooms – much nicer. And, we had robes to wear to the Jacuzzi, fresh tea and coffee in the room, and fresh biscuits in a jar waiting for us. (BTW – Australia is very British…biscuits are whatever you would have with tea – brownies, cookies, etc.)
We crashed in the room and thawed for a bit and then went exploring. We shopped a bit in the downtown area and then ate at a nice restaurant named Growlers. We had a bunch of starters and called it a night. We hit up the Jacuzzi and I finally got warmed up (there’s a car conflict with the AC versus nothing versus low heat) and spent a nice relaxing evening back at our hotel.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
From Brisbane to Warrnambool, a day of travel – Tuesday 30 June 2009
We are EXTREMELY excited to announce that we have arrived at a location that has HIGH SPEED internet!!! And finally finally!! we can upload some of our photos -- so...scroll back as far as Cairns to check everything out. We've put up some photos and several albums - enjoy!
So today was definitely a travel day. We woke up early, showered, repacked, and headed to the airport. Returned the car, made it through security, enjoyed another airport breakfast, and then hopped on our flight from Brisbane to Melbourne. The other Melbourne is a very windy and blustery city so far - as we discovered in the last forty-five minutes of our flight. But we got here okay, rented another Yaris and were headed for Warrnambool! It was a good 3 to 4 hour drive through rolling countryside - we counted lots of cows, survived a solid rain storm, and saw a few delicious looking vineyards along the way.
We have safely reached Warrnambool and are very pleasantly surprised at how welcoming and "warm and fuzzy feeling" of a town it is -- some of the towns we passed through seemed cold, distant, and falling apart. This one seems vibrant, even if a little rough around the edges. This one has some of the strongest and most varied downtown areas we've seen.
Tomorrow we are hoping to see some Southern Right Whales and get some beautiful views from the Great Ocean Road and maybe a hike in at Port Campbell National Park. We're hopping each day now, but it should keep us very busy the last few days.
Happy early fourth if we don't get to post to anyone between now and then!
Cheers!
So today was definitely a travel day. We woke up early, showered, repacked, and headed to the airport. Returned the car, made it through security, enjoyed another airport breakfast, and then hopped on our flight from Brisbane to Melbourne. The other Melbourne is a very windy and blustery city so far - as we discovered in the last forty-five minutes of our flight. But we got here okay, rented another Yaris and were headed for Warrnambool! It was a good 3 to 4 hour drive through rolling countryside - we counted lots of cows, survived a solid rain storm, and saw a few delicious looking vineyards along the way.
We have safely reached Warrnambool and are very pleasantly surprised at how welcoming and "warm and fuzzy feeling" of a town it is -- some of the towns we passed through seemed cold, distant, and falling apart. This one seems vibrant, even if a little rough around the edges. This one has some of the strongest and most varied downtown areas we've seen.
Tomorrow we are hoping to see some Southern Right Whales and get some beautiful views from the Great Ocean Road and maybe a hike in at Port Campbell National Park. We're hopping each day now, but it should keep us very busy the last few days.
Happy early fourth if we don't get to post to anyone between now and then!
Cheers!
An Awesome Day at the Australia Zoo – Monday 29 June 2009
Click below to check out pictures from our day at the Australia Zoo!
This was by far one of our most anticipated - and in actuality, one of our favorite days of the trip! We really tip our hats to the efforts and opportunities of the Australia Zoo!!!
Okay, so today was an awesome one!!! I have a lot of raving to do! First of all, the Australia Zoo may not have the largest variety of animals in it, but it has by far the most phenomenal enclosures, the most loving animal keepers, the most interactive exhibits, and the healthiest, liveliest looking animals – we LOVED it and had a truly wonderful time!
We arrived early and were sent directly to the information desk to finish our paperwork for our tiger photo shoot and organized our day with the office. We spent the next hour checking our amazingly happy, healthy looking wombats – who really are like furry pigs crossed with guinea pigs…or something… they had huge, expansive enclosures. We checked out the snakes – with captions that read just like Steve Irwin would have said them. And we visited the aviary that had just fed the birds – so they were all crowded round, front and center. We visited some of the crocs and read the different stories of how Steve caught them or saved them in various situations and then we headed back to information for….!!! Our tiger shoot!!!
So! We were met by a photographer who took us by golf cart through all the “personnel only” gates and brought us back to the Tiger Temple – where we waited in the wings for Singha – a five year old female adult Sumatran tiger. They briefed us on how to approach her and what to do and then sent me in to pet her and start taking pictures. Singha did not really agree with what was going on and was very restless, so the keepers would try to occupy her as you slid into the shot, make sure she was calm, the keepers would back out for a millisecond while they clicked and clicked pictures and then keepers would dive back in with grass to bribe her if she moved. Daniel and I each managed to get a quick quick individual shot, but a shot of us together was not happening, we kept having to stand up and move back. You would think we might be annoyed – but really it was awesome – it showed how tremendously respectful the keepers and the zoo is of her “wildness” and her potential power that they were so careful and that it didn’t go “as clockwork” to me, proved the naturalness of all of it…
So they decided to switch gears and bring out a different tiger – so really, we got to pet two! Bashii was a two year old male who was a cub of three who had been brought to the zoo from Indonesia – and was the first set of cubs to be sent out of the region in about 30 years. He was must calmer and more docile. They said that in general female tigers are much more energetic and restless, but that Bashii is very chill. So, we moved in for our couple shot and got to spend a good bit more time petting him and taking pictures – they even gently lifted up his tail and had us feel that too. It was really cool. And the entire time, the other two cubs were moaning and yelling….as if “why don’t we get whatever our brother’s getting too?!?” very jealously.
So, after the tiger shoot we headed into the Crocoseum for the show – since it was a local school holiday, Terri, Bindi, Robert and Wes performed the show!! It was pretty neat! They were working with a croc named Monty and things didn't go entirely as planned – the croc moved extra fast and wasn't very cooperative, so it was really fun to watch them “make it work” and roll with it – very fun! According to Terri “Unky Wes” even taught the kids some new words (when he cursed) – quite funny! After some tense moments with Monty they ended the show with clear messages against croc farming and buying croc products because most of them are derived from inhumane croc farm processes, etc.
The whole first half of the day I continually found myself a bit choked up – and Daniel yet leaning in and saying “this is really sad” – it’s still very devastating that Steve Irwin died and so heartbreaking – although his family and crew are doing a phenomenal job preserving his legacy and using it to continue the zoo’s message and direction.
After a quick lunch in a nicely varied food court that overlooked some of the croc enclosures, we met up with the photographer for the red panda shoot and were again whisked away for another amazing encounter. The red pandas were absolutely awesome! Even Daniel keeps saying…they really were pretty darn cute… The encounter has only existed for a few weeks so the fellas are still being trained. The goal is to feed them by hand, not from the bowl, and to keep them separated while they eat (if the were trying to get food from the same person they started getting feisty and might fight each other…which somehow I ended up in the middle of toward the end!). We were allowed to pet them, coax them into our laps, etc!
So, we entered the enclosure, and I sat on a bench along with a teenage girl doing the encounter and Daniel volunteered to sit on the ground. We were each handed a bowl full of fruit pieces – pears, apples, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, grapes, etc. and were told to feed them. Yoda went to Daniel instantly and was very friendly with him and Pasang eventually made his way to the other girl and started working with her. Once Daniel ran out of apples, Yoda made his way to me and I managed to scoot over and try to get him to jump up on the edge of the bench and then walk into my lap (their claws are really sharp, so if they use your legs to jump up it’s bad). All the while we got to pet them, feed them, look at their cute faces, and turn when the photographer asked so we could get some good pictures. It was really awesome! I had a few tense moments – Yoda lunged for the bowl at one point and I had to pry him out of it and as Pasang finished the particular fruits he liked out of the other girl’s bowl I found myself with two red pandas in my lap lounging from my hands and the bowl I was holding, but it was a lot of fun – they’re adorable critters and have really cute, expressive faces! They’re soft but also have thick, slightly bristly fur. The whole thing was really cool – it was something I had persuaded Daniel into at the last minute and he had caved and whenever it’s come up since he’s agreed that he’s really glad we did it! : )
We spent the rest of our afternoon feeding the ridiculously afternoon siesta lazy kangaroos and wallabies who at that point were pretty well fed and in mood for a nap. We patted another koala in the open koala walkabout space – and actually saw a koala drop down from a limb, walk across the sidewalk and hop into a different tree!, I discovered the Cassowaries are intrigued when you make a clicking noise and come out for photos, we saw the tiger play show in the Tiger Temple and watched the trainers play with the tigers as you would play with a kitty and yarn – only these guys jumped six or seven feet in the air to go after the milk cartons taped to sticks or dove across the pool to catch the plastic baggy stick toys, and we watched the trainers feed the adorable Southeastern Asian Otters who baaed and yelled for their every nip of food and eat up to eight times a day.
It was really a wonderful day – we loved how open the exhibits were, how healthy and happy the animals seemed, and the overall message of the zoo. It was just an awesome and inspiring day! Kudos to the Australia Zoo and the wonderful Irwin Family! : )
 |
| Australia Zoo |
This was by far one of our most anticipated - and in actuality, one of our favorite days of the trip! We really tip our hats to the efforts and opportunities of the Australia Zoo!!!
Okay, so today was an awesome one!!! I have a lot of raving to do! First of all, the Australia Zoo may not have the largest variety of animals in it, but it has by far the most phenomenal enclosures, the most loving animal keepers, the most interactive exhibits, and the healthiest, liveliest looking animals – we LOVED it and had a truly wonderful time!
We arrived early and were sent directly to the information desk to finish our paperwork for our tiger photo shoot and organized our day with the office. We spent the next hour checking our amazingly happy, healthy looking wombats – who really are like furry pigs crossed with guinea pigs…or something… they had huge, expansive enclosures. We checked out the snakes – with captions that read just like Steve Irwin would have said them. And we visited the aviary that had just fed the birds – so they were all crowded round, front and center. We visited some of the crocs and read the different stories of how Steve caught them or saved them in various situations and then we headed back to information for….!!! Our tiger shoot!!!
So! We were met by a photographer who took us by golf cart through all the “personnel only” gates and brought us back to the Tiger Temple – where we waited in the wings for Singha – a five year old female adult Sumatran tiger. They briefed us on how to approach her and what to do and then sent me in to pet her and start taking pictures. Singha did not really agree with what was going on and was very restless, so the keepers would try to occupy her as you slid into the shot, make sure she was calm, the keepers would back out for a millisecond while they clicked and clicked pictures and then keepers would dive back in with grass to bribe her if she moved. Daniel and I each managed to get a quick quick individual shot, but a shot of us together was not happening, we kept having to stand up and move back. You would think we might be annoyed – but really it was awesome – it showed how tremendously respectful the keepers and the zoo is of her “wildness” and her potential power that they were so careful and that it didn’t go “as clockwork” to me, proved the naturalness of all of it…
So they decided to switch gears and bring out a different tiger – so really, we got to pet two! Bashii was a two year old male who was a cub of three who had been brought to the zoo from Indonesia – and was the first set of cubs to be sent out of the region in about 30 years. He was must calmer and more docile. They said that in general female tigers are much more energetic and restless, but that Bashii is very chill. So, we moved in for our couple shot and got to spend a good bit more time petting him and taking pictures – they even gently lifted up his tail and had us feel that too. It was really cool. And the entire time, the other two cubs were moaning and yelling….as if “why don’t we get whatever our brother’s getting too?!?” very jealously.
So, after the tiger shoot we headed into the Crocoseum for the show – since it was a local school holiday, Terri, Bindi, Robert and Wes performed the show!! It was pretty neat! They were working with a croc named Monty and things didn't go entirely as planned – the croc moved extra fast and wasn't very cooperative, so it was really fun to watch them “make it work” and roll with it – very fun! According to Terri “Unky Wes” even taught the kids some new words (when he cursed) – quite funny! After some tense moments with Monty they ended the show with clear messages against croc farming and buying croc products because most of them are derived from inhumane croc farm processes, etc.
The whole first half of the day I continually found myself a bit choked up – and Daniel yet leaning in and saying “this is really sad” – it’s still very devastating that Steve Irwin died and so heartbreaking – although his family and crew are doing a phenomenal job preserving his legacy and using it to continue the zoo’s message and direction.
After a quick lunch in a nicely varied food court that overlooked some of the croc enclosures, we met up with the photographer for the red panda shoot and were again whisked away for another amazing encounter. The red pandas were absolutely awesome! Even Daniel keeps saying…they really were pretty darn cute… The encounter has only existed for a few weeks so the fellas are still being trained. The goal is to feed them by hand, not from the bowl, and to keep them separated while they eat (if the were trying to get food from the same person they started getting feisty and might fight each other…which somehow I ended up in the middle of toward the end!). We were allowed to pet them, coax them into our laps, etc!
So, we entered the enclosure, and I sat on a bench along with a teenage girl doing the encounter and Daniel volunteered to sit on the ground. We were each handed a bowl full of fruit pieces – pears, apples, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, grapes, etc. and were told to feed them. Yoda went to Daniel instantly and was very friendly with him and Pasang eventually made his way to the other girl and started working with her. Once Daniel ran out of apples, Yoda made his way to me and I managed to scoot over and try to get him to jump up on the edge of the bench and then walk into my lap (their claws are really sharp, so if they use your legs to jump up it’s bad). All the while we got to pet them, feed them, look at their cute faces, and turn when the photographer asked so we could get some good pictures. It was really awesome! I had a few tense moments – Yoda lunged for the bowl at one point and I had to pry him out of it and as Pasang finished the particular fruits he liked out of the other girl’s bowl I found myself with two red pandas in my lap lounging from my hands and the bowl I was holding, but it was a lot of fun – they’re adorable critters and have really cute, expressive faces! They’re soft but also have thick, slightly bristly fur. The whole thing was really cool – it was something I had persuaded Daniel into at the last minute and he had caved and whenever it’s come up since he’s agreed that he’s really glad we did it! : )
We spent the rest of our afternoon feeding the ridiculously afternoon siesta lazy kangaroos and wallabies who at that point were pretty well fed and in mood for a nap. We patted another koala in the open koala walkabout space – and actually saw a koala drop down from a limb, walk across the sidewalk and hop into a different tree!, I discovered the Cassowaries are intrigued when you make a clicking noise and come out for photos, we saw the tiger play show in the Tiger Temple and watched the trainers play with the tigers as you would play with a kitty and yarn – only these guys jumped six or seven feet in the air to go after the milk cartons taped to sticks or dove across the pool to catch the plastic baggy stick toys, and we watched the trainers feed the adorable Southeastern Asian Otters who baaed and yelled for their every nip of food and eat up to eight times a day.
It was really a wonderful day – we loved how open the exhibits were, how healthy and happy the animals seemed, and the overall message of the zoo. It was just an awesome and inspiring day! Kudos to the Australia Zoo and the wonderful Irwin Family! : )
A day of travel – Daintree to Brisbane – Sunday 28 June 2009
Sunday was mainly spent in transit, so not much to mention. We woke up before sunrise to shower and finish up our suitcases and headed off to the airport. We drove from Daintree to Cairns (just under 2 hours) and then returned our car at the airport. Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, checked out the shops, and were delighted to discover we had exit row seats. We arrived in Brisbane early, got our luggage, were upgraded when we went to the rental car counter, got fairly miserably lost in Brisbane which is a hellish city to try to navigate, and then checked into our hotel – the Ibis in downtown Brisbane.
We spent the afternoon hunting down a lunch restaurant, walking the botanical gardens, and finally, finally, guiltlessly crashing. We knew we’d be busy at the Australia Zoo and then need to be ready to go to fly to Melbourne the next day, so we crashed early and called it a day and fell asleep ready to pet a tiger!
We spent the afternoon hunting down a lunch restaurant, walking the botanical gardens, and finally, finally, guiltlessly crashing. We knew we’d be busy at the Australia Zoo and then need to be ready to go to fly to Melbourne the next day, so we crashed early and called it a day and fell asleep ready to pet a tiger!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)