From the flies and rain of the outback to the ocean scenery of the South.
Southern Oz
February 25th
From Darwin, we fly to Perth, and pick up our rental, a Toyota Corolla Seca... it's small, but good on gas. we meet an old colleague of mine from the old days of EA, pass off the wine we got from Air New Zealand, and some EA games I brought for him. It was good to catch up, get some pointers on our travels, and make some more room in our luggage. We will catch up again when we are back in Perth.
We get started on the drive up to Monkey Mia, a very special location on the western coast. Once we are out of Perth, the road becomes much more rural, small towns and roadside diners and motels. As it is getting later we stop in a 1 block long town called GinGin to see if a room is available... $20 a night, but only singles were available, that's ok, it looked like it was out of the "Deliverance" movie anyways... hillbilly central. We call ahead on a payphone and end up at the Cataby Roadhouse... no phone, no tv, it does have a/c, and some weird weird bugs. It's a small step up from the infamous Polson Park motel in Vernon. After stomping the critters we could see, we climb into a bed that slopes to the middle, and we'll be out of it early in the morning. Get back on the road, and out of that room.
February 26th
40° celsius (112°)
It's a long day of driving, we cut off the highway and drive 60km to check out Kalberri,
a beautiful spot right on the ocean. Not seeing any warning signs, we waded in the water to cool down, then drove the scenic drive
along ocean coves, crashing waves and overhanging cliffs.
The heat and flies along this stretch were unbearable, so aside from a few photo stops we kept going.
We re-stocked on water, and continued on to Denham... apparently we should have bought gas too.
It is a long way to the next petrol station, and we are almost empty by the time we get to the next gas station at Billabong Roadhouse, the warning light was on. Worried about gas consumption, I turned off the AC for the
last few miles. I didn't want to find out what it would be like to push a Toyota Seca in what anybody would officially consider scorching hot.
After fueling up we drive non-stop to Denham, which is about 15 minutes from Monkey Mia.
45° (122° farenheit)... that is hot.
February 27th
41° (114° farenheit)... it's cooling down 8-)
We get to Monkey Mia at 7:30am after a delay checking out because the girl didn't know how to use a VISA card, and we had to wait for someone else to show up. Monkey Mia, located in Shark Bay, is one of those unique locations where the Wild Dolphins come in to the shore and interact with humans.
You have to work your way past a giant Pelican and sea birds to the water, and we wade in up to our knees, and they come swimming in, a pod of dolphins, circling, brushing past us, letting us stroke their sides. Some other people try to touch their faces, and the dolphins create a big splash and dart away. The other dolphins would come over to see what the commotion was all about... very interesting to watch how they act when not penned in or trained, and we watched them for a couple hours. The ranger let some people feed a few fish to them, enough to keep their interest, but not enough to make them dependant on humans, and shortly after their little snack, the pod of dolphins head back out to Sea.
After our amazing experience we head back towards Perth ending up in a quaint seaside town called Geraldton. After cooling down in the surf, we watch the sunset, and then are tormented for most of the night by a cricket that has snuck into the room. We finally pull out the stove and kill that chirping bug, only to find there must have been 2 of them. Damn crickets!
February 27th
The next morning we pile back into the Toyota, and take the coastal drive to Cerventas, another unique locale, where the Pinnacles are. The Pinnacles are thousands of hoodoos and rocks poking through a desert landscape, and you can drive your car right through them.
We drive around through the Pinnacles desert, and come out on beautiful white sand beach. A nice little break before we find our way back in the Vancouver like city of Perth. Perth is an ocean side city with a modern port feel, they even have Burswood Dome that looks like a mini version of BC Place.
Back in Perth, I call my friend Jim, he invites us to dinner and gives us directions, we get lost... we drive all over the foothills of Perth, first right past the creek... what creek? Turns out the creek is actually just a small ditch. Several hours later we arrive and meet his wife Peta. They have an amazing spot with acreage, and often have kangaroos wandering through their backyard. We have a very late dinner, a few drinks and talk late into the night. They tell us about their adventures, and also tell us horror stories of redback spiders hiding in their shoes.
The next day we spend in the nearby historic port city of Fremantle, it's a cross between Steveston and Granville Island with its public markets and shops,. We do some craft shopping and head back to Perth. After dinner we explore the hillside views of Kings park and watch the sun set on Perth.
March 2nd
Today we flew to Adelaide, there is a 2.5 hour time difference, so by the time we get the car it's already 5:30pm. We only have enough time to have dinner and drive around town a bit. We have a Kangaroo Island tour booked for the next morning, so we try to make an early night of it.
March 3rd
We didn't need an alarm, our old hotel was noisy, the noisy elevator was going all night long, and apparently a band was staying on our floor, yelling, laughing, and wandering the halls. We were supposed to stay a 2nd night there, but we checked out after complaining to the manager. He didn't seem to care, maybe he was partying with the band all night?
We took a Ferry across to Kangaroo Island, where we boarded a bus for our tour. Sitting right behind us... Puking kids... apparently the bumpy boat ride.... oh the aroma. We make our first stop and the family with kids get back on and their baby has loaded it's diaper... oh the aroma gets better! Then the kids start crying and screaming, reminding us that maybe children aren't in our future. Luckily an elderly couple moves and we get to put a bit of space between us and the family from hell. The old folks moved because the view is impaired, but a blocked window is better than a pukey-pooh smell!
The Island temperature was at least 5° less than the mainland,
normally 19° celsius would be ok but it's very windy and we are in t-shirts and shorts.
The first stop is the tourist shack, where we pay steeply for a pair of sweatshirts. You pay or you freeze! Seemed like a no brainer.
Kangaroo Island is a unique wildlife location, it is larger than Singapore, but remote enough that it has not been influenced by civilization much. More than half of the Island is designated a nature preserve, and because of it's seperation from the mainland, it has a unique variation on it's wildlife.
Our first wildlife stop is Seal Bay conservation park, home to the Australian Sea Lions. After 3 days of fishing, and avoiding Killer Whales and Sharks, they come to this beach to sleep. We could walk right up to them, but no touching was allowed. The baby Sea Lions are left on the beach until mom returns from her fishing trip, but if she doesn't make it back, other sea lions won't take care of them, and they are left to fend for themselves or perish. A tough life for baby Sea Lions.
A short drive up the road leads us to another conservation area, suitably called Koala Walk. We wander through the trails watching the Koalas lazing in the trees, apparently they have done so well here that they have had to perform vasectomies on many of the males.
While wandering around looking up, we happened to glance down and spot a small wallaby. Blending into the color of the dirt is the smaller, cuter cousin of the kangaroo. They are hiding throughout the trails and grass in this area, shyly sneaking a peak at us, and then hopping away.
Our next stop at Weirs cove has a number of highlights, but none more so than Remarkable Rocks, a unique collection of massive rocks that have somehow stayed on this point. Weather and Ocean worn, they are colorful and strangely shaped, all nestled together in this one spot.
A short walk from the Remarkable Rocks is the picturesque Cape de Couedic lighthouse overlooking the ocean and rocky shores that are covered in New Zealand Seals.
The viewpoint is a perfect location to watch the New Zealand seals, but around the corner is the famous Admirals Arch which gives a unique, yet eery, perspective of the crashing waves, and the seals that call it's sheltered cave and rocky shore home.
Our final stop was a small park called Rocky River, where we encountered one of the most unusual of the wildlife on Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo Island Kangaroos are very different from the various breeds of kangaroos throughout the mainland, they are a little smaller, and they have long chocolate brown fur. Visually very stunning in comparison to the greys and reds of the 'normal' kangaroos. They are also much less shy than the other kangaroos, whether that is because of the isolation from hunters and humans trying to move or harm them, or whether it is because they have some kind of amazing fixation on ice cream. They are right in our laps, poking, prodding, climbing all over us, reaching up and trying to steal the Ice Cream that we bought at the snack bar. They are the cutest things, and so soft to pet... they seem to thrive on the attention they get from all of us.
Dragging ourselves away from our new furry friends, we take the ferry back to Adelaide, far away from our pukey-poohey friends and find a Budget Motel for the night.
March 4th
Australia is such a big country, and there is so much to see. This was a day to make up time, and we drove all day to Stawell, we were closer to the scenic Great Ocean Road we so wanted to see.
March 5th
A country drive on the way to Melbourne brought us to the Grampians, and the Silver band falls. The Grampians is a national park containing sweeping farmlands, mountains and desert like landscapes. A short hike takes us to a lookout... and another short hike provides a view over Halls Gap which has a firepost watch. It's basically a human somke detector, a ranger in a cabin with big windows that can see forever in all directions, and he sits there watching for smoke. The highlight of the area is the Balconies, a 900m high rock cliff protrusion that overlooks nearly the entire Grampians region.
The next hike took us to Broken Falls... it was less than a km of fairly flat hiking to see a series of connected falls. We looked, took a picture, and then it was down, down, down 1.6 km to McKenzie Falls. A steep hike down, but the impressive and colorful falls were well worth the hike to get there, but then we had to climb back out, that wasn't as nice.
In 1910, a beekeeper named Walter Zumstein came to The Grampians and was blown away by its beauty. He settled on the MacKenzie River and soon shared the area with a menagerie of native birds and animals. He found nectar for his bees and the companionship of the wild creatures he loved. The animals he loved are not afraid of humans, and can still be experienced at Zumsteins. Kangaroos abound in large numbers to be hand fed by eager visitors. Kookaburras and Currawongs are all around cleaning off the picnic tables, occasionally koalas or echidnas are seen there too. There are signs forbidding feeding of kangaroos, but the kangaroos can't read them, and they hang out in the parking lot waiting for handouts they have received since they were 'Joeys'.
Our last hike of the day in the Grampians was an area known as the Grand Canyon, our goal was the Pinnacle lookout. It's a 2.1 km hike uphill the whole way. You hike and hike until you are in a a narrow crevice called Silent Street, there is no wind and no noise, even the wildlife is silent. At the end of Silent Street you climb out onto large pieces of ruck jutting out over the valley, no more silence as the wind blows hard, you have to hold onto your hat as you lookout across the valley...
It's a 2 hour round trip, but we slow down a bit on the way back to make sure an old man, that left his wife in the parking lot, gets back alive. It was pretty hot, and a steep winding climb, we didn't want to read about him in the newpaper later in the week. All our hiking done we jump in the car and drive to the town of Warnambool.
March 6th
After the previous days hiking, a drive along the Great Ocean Road was a welcome change.
The first scenic area is the Bay of Islands, large ocean worn masses fill the bay, creating a unique contrast between the blue/green water and the red/gold layers of sand. As we are walking along back to the car we spot an Echidna in the grass, and meet a Canadian couple from Victoria. They are traveling in a VW van with a baby duck and a baby lamb, they had bought the duckling from a farmer as a companion, and say they found the lamb abondoned on the side of the road. At the end of their journey they will sell the van and give their cute little friends to a small farm or zoo.
As you drive along the Great Ocean Road, it is drive, stop, drive, stop, drive, stop... there is so many scenic overlooks, the famous Australian version of the London bridge, the Loch Ard Gorge, and probably the most photographed location of the drive, the 12 Apostles. Twelve stalagtite like formations along the shore, each one representing one of the apostles.
It was a long day of driving and stopping, we found out our reserved room had been given away at Moonlight Head, so we stopped in Geelong, about 70 km from Melbourne. We are both badly sunburned as we check into our Budget motel, so we get out the Banana Boat burn cream, and apply liberally.
March 7th
We drive into Melbourne, wander around the city and then make our way 140 km to Phillip Island. Phillip Island is home to the Grand Prix, and a Koala Sanctuary/conservation center, but mostly it is famous for it's native animals... the Fairy Penguins. The Koala Sanctuary is great, as we see Koalas climbing and running around, and small Koala babies in the trees, but the show that starts at 7:00 at Nobbies (tall rocks in the ocean) is what we came to see. They have a protected area with special lights and stands for the public to watch the Fairy Penguins. At 8:00 they start emerging from the Sea, one at a time, and then in small groups, little penguins waddle up the sand to their nests, holes dug through the sandy dirt. People are told by rangers not to use flashes as they are light sensitive, but people are stupid. We sat in the sand watching with amazement, and they continued coming out of the sea until 9:45, and then it was back to our room for more Banana Boat sunburn cream.
March 8th
We are up early and on our way to Canberra, with a brief stop in Snowy River. We saw the movie, so we stopped at the historic farmhouse, and bought a souvenir spoon. Canberra is the capital city of Australia, it is a completely planned city, and mostly vacant as it's all politicians, it's not a reccomended stop, but they were going to have a hot air balloon festival the next morning. After watching the Sunset on Mt. Ainslie overlooking the city, we went to bed early, because we had to get up early, and there was really nothing to do in Canberra.
We were up at 6:00am for the hot air balloon festival, perched on the slopes of Mt. Ainslie, a perfect view of the area where the balloons would launch from. But it was overcast and windy... 6 balloons inflate and then deflate again, the weather conditions are no good, and the amazing festival of Balloons was a dud. We gave up the incredible photo opp, had breakfast and drove to Sydney.
Once in Sydney again, we spent some time wandering the shopping and tourist area of Darling Harbour. The highlight is the Aquarium where we can walk through a glass tube with very large sharks all around us, a little freaky. We head to Sydney Tower for dinner, a revolving restaurant with a great view of the city.
March 10th
The next morning we wander to Mrs. McQuarrie's chair, a park area with a great view of the harbour, and here's a guy fishing right off the walkway, he even caught a large fish. Not many cities would you want to catch and eat a fish caught in its harbour.
We jump into our car and head to the Blue Mountains, a famous area where the haze makes the mountains appear blue in color. There is many beautiful lookouts including Wentworth falls, and we stop at each of them, including Katoomba... which has a scenic skyride, scenic railway, and the 3 sisters rock structure. We check out other sites including Blackheath and Echo point, the lower falls, a lookout at Govett's leap, and our last stop, Mount Tomah botanical gardens, but it's closed, so it's back to Sydney and our final Australian meal at the Hard Rock Cafe.
March 11th
We are up at 5am for our flight to Auckland and then are delayed there. We find an empty lounge, and catch a few hours of sleep... hobo style. When we finally are getting ready to leave we run into our old Ottawa friends from the Blue Lagoon cruise, Richard and Margaret. They are on our flight to Raratonga, and staying in the same area of the island as we are.