Our first taste of the tropics

OK, lets back track for one moment here. The last post ended with Jenn and I arriving in Queensland. I missed a few moments along the way. When we came out of the outback we arrived in Townsville and then made our way up to Cairns.

As we drove over the low peaks of the Great Dividing Range, which separates coastal Australia from the Outback, we were suddenly immersed in a tropical paradise. Grassy scrubs became ancient rainforest filled with palms. We were very excited to explore the area. We decided our first stop would be at the Billabong Sanctuary just outside of Townsville. But it was getting late, so the Billabong Sancturay would have to wait for morning. We spent the evening swimming in the ocean with the world's most deadly creature, the box jellyfish. Luckily, there were special netted areas for swimmers. Although I later learned that the most deadly of the box jellyfish species, the Irukandji, is only about 2 cm in length. The netting protecting us from these deadly sea creatures appeared as if it would allow such a tiny animal to easily slip through. It's in situations like these that its best to leave your better judgement aside and just do as the locals do. So, into the ocean we went, greatly enjoying the 26 degree Celsuis plus water of the tropics. (Jenn's note: We were later informed that the locals don't swim in the ocean in Townsville, because the water is a murky brown. Made me think of Mooney's Bay in Ottawa, where the locals generally don't swim.)

The next morning, we awoke early and drove to the Billabong Sanctuary. Being the eager young tourists that we are, we were the first to arrive at the interactive zoo, so we each recieved a complimentary bag of seed with which to feed the animals. The Billabong Santuary was a wonderful experience. Many of the animals in the area are allowed to roam free, so Jenn and I were able to hand feed kangaroos, which was very enjoyable. During our time at the sanctuary, we also became aquainted with some more fearsome creatures - such as the saltwater crocodile (aka, "salties"). Watching the rangers feed these ancient killers is an incredible sight. But, the highlight of our time at the sanctuary was when we were allowed to hold the cuddly creatures. I held a Wombat and Jenn had the pleasure of holding a real live koala! (At the cost of AU$10/hold. They sure gouge tourists for money!) There are lots of pictures on the web albums, check them out.

As we drove north from Townsville, we decided to check out a few areas mentioned in our Lonely Planet travel guide (kindly leant to us by Chris and Laura). The first stop was Little Crystal Creek. We detoured a few kilometers off the main highway into the mountains. The further we drove from the coast and the higher we climbed, the more the rain came down. I had a white-knuckled death grip on the steering wheel as I drove our little rental Kia up the treacherous, winding, rain-slicked road. We arrived at the carpark for Little Crystal Creek in a torrential downpour. Luckily, within a few minutes there was a break in the rain. It was only a short walk from the car to an area under a bridge where several small waterfalls ran into rock pools. It was beautiful.

When we went down to the rock pool for a swim we met a group of local twenty-somethings from Townsville that used this area as their hangout. They were a great bunch of people and they showed us the best areas for jumping off rocks into the water. I pulled off a front flip from a rock that stood about 20 feet above the water. The Aussies were pretty impressed. After a few jumps into the water the rain came back, so we hung out with the Aussies under the bridge and talked for a while. They informed us that the area was notorious for flashflooding and that we should keep an eye on the waterfalls upstream for any sudden changes. It was around that point in time that we decided we should pack up our stuff and move on. (Jenn's note: swimming in Northern Queensland requires tourists to be quite attentive. Saltwater and freshwater crocodiles reside in stagnant water pools, and there are jellyfish in the ocean. Waterfalls with rock pools are usually safe, though - the crocodiles aren't fond of running water.)

Our next stop was a little further north and required another detour off the highway into the forests of the Great Dividing Range. Our destination was Wallaman Falls, Australia's highest single drop waterfall. When we arrived at the carpark, we walked to the lookout for the falls. The massive valley below us was filled by the sounds of water plunging more than 260 meters. Unfortunately, the valley was also full of clouds formed by the water vapour produced by the falls. We couldn't see a thing. So, we decided to take the walking trail down to the base of the falls to see if we could get a better look.

We soon came across a sign posted along the walking track that warned about the "stingy tree". The stingy tree is a small tree with non-threatening heart shaped leaves that happen to be covered in fine hairs. When touched, these fine hairs release a deadly neurotoxin that has the potential to paralyze or kill you. At the very least, brushing up against one of these trees would leave you with an experience of such severe pain you would be unlikely to forget it in this lifetime. I was curiously unphased by this warning sign. I think I was beginning to get in touch with the Aussie frame of mind: when everything in the country can kill you, it's not worth worrying about it.

When we arrived at the base of the falls, I was awestruck by the sight before us. Two hundred and sixty metres above our heads, the river lept from the side of a cliff and plunged into the valley below. Feeling the mist and wind from the falls against my skin was like a religious experience. Imagine seeing Niagara Falls without all the touristy garbage that litters the area. It was unbelievable. I have a video and several photos on the web album.

After the falls we drove north and arrived in Cairns. Our adventures there and beyond will be the subject of the next post.

G'day

5800km later

Well, we've certainly put a lot of distance behind us since our last post. We ended up having to rent a car in Adelaide for 12 days in order to see the outback. This option ended up costing us about the same amount as that damn car that blew up. Too bad we didn't look at renting in the first place.

This leg of our trip was the our first time getting far away from the coast and the populated areas of Australia. Let me tell you, the outback is definitely a lot of empty space. Our first destination for our drive in the outback was the Flinders Ranges, about a hundred km's outside Port Augusta (where our other car died). This was the first place where we got a feeling of just how red the "red centre" really is. As the sun set on the mountain ranges around us, the mountains faded to a wonderful rusty red colour. It was amazing.

We awoke the next morning and drove to a site where there was a walk with aboriginal paintings. The paintings were very faded but it was pretty incredible to see artwork that could have been 100's of years old, painted by people who would not have been aware of the rest of the world at that time. When we got back to our car after the walk we noticed that one of the tires on our car was not fully inflated. Just our luck. We drove about 70km to the nearest service station and reinflated the tire. It was another 100km before we reached a mechanic that was able to look at the tire. A woman checked it out and said everything was OK. So we continued on our way.

Now its time for a funny story. When we rented our car the very first thing written on the rental agreement is to NOT take any vehicle on unsealed roads. The clerk working the desk at the rental facility told us that we could make the entire drive through the outback on sealed roads. Well, that clerk must not have realised that we were planning on detouring to the Flinders Ranges. Because after we got about 200km's outside the park to the small town of Marree the sealed road abruptly ended. We had arrived at what is known as the Oodnadatta Track, an approximately 550km straight shot across the desert on rocky dirt roads. Now we had a decision to make, would we backtrack the 400+ km's to Port Augusta to get back on the sealed route through the outback (losing about a day's travel time) or would we put our Kia Rio to the test? The decision was to put the car to the test. With our windshield, tyre, and headlight insurance on our rental we ventured on to the Oodnadatta Track. This was an adventure out into nothingness, literally, nothing. The only place to stop was at the William Creek road house, about 300km's from anything in all directions. The feeling of isolation was liberating, and slightly terrifying. When we arrived at William Creek, we decided to stop for a drink and take in the locals. When we got out of the car we discovered that our tyre was again slightly deflated (Uh oh...). We had a local check out the tyre. He found a small leak from a nail that had punctured it. Luckily, he had the tools to patch it up for us. So $50 later we had a repaired tire and continued on our way.
It was nightfall by the time we reached Coober Pedy, the opal mining capital of the world. The Kia had been run through hell and come out clean on the other side!

Coober Pedy was a very interesting town. This was mainly because most of the people in the town live underground. You see, it's about 40 degrees in Coober Pedy on an average day so rather than wasting money on air conditioning, the people of this town dug their houses about 20 feet into the earth where the temperature is naturally cooler. It turns out there is a city of mole people after all. We spent a couple hours in town where we toured an underground house and poked about in some of the opal shops. After the Coober Pedy experience, we continued onward through the outback toward Uluru.

Before we drove to Uluru we took a small detour to King's Canyon. When we arrived at the King's Canyon carpark we had our first full on experience with the flies of the outback. About 2 seconds after getting out of the car we were encased within a living black cloud of tiny flies. Luckily we had bought a couple fly nets beforehand; they kept the little buggers out of our eyes, ears, and noses. Kings canyon had some spectacular sights. At the opening of the canyon there was a grotto where I jumped in the water pool to cool off. It was pretty cool to go swimming in the middle of one of the driest areas on earth. Next stop: Uluru.

The famous red rock of Australia. The subject of thousands of Aussie postcards. You can barely turn your head in Australia without seeing some tour offer that travels to this spot. Being such a famous area you have certain expectations of what your trip to Uluru will be like. After seeing so many pictures of the area, I was expecting the actual sight to be a little anticlimatic. Well, I can now attest to the fact that Uluru lives up to the hype. The sheer size of the rock is mind boggling from the first sight as you drive into the park. Up close, the rock is just as incredible. The formations formed by thousands of years of erosion invoke the power of the gods that make this rock so sacred to the Aboriginal Australians of the area. (Jenn's note: even more incredibly, Uluru is like an iceberg: it is estimated that 2/3rds or its full size are underground! And its aboveground 1/3 is massive, to begin with. Another note: there is actually a larger rock, found in Western Australia, which is 2.5 times the size of Uluru.)

After taking in Uluru we moved on to another, lesser known, rock formation called Kata Tjuta (or 'The Olgas'). This grouping of rocks was also very impressive. We walked through the "Valley of the Winds" where we had some stunning views of the area. When we left Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, I thought we had nothing left to do but drive through the flat immensity of the Outback to Cairns. But man was I wrong...

A couple hundred kilometres outside of Uluru we ended up in the Outback's largest city, Alice Springs. We did not spend much time in Alice, but I'm sure if we had the time the city would have had plenty to offer. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Alice is simply that a city of its size exists in the middle of the outback. (Jenn's note: How does a city with so much pretty greenery end up in the middle of a desert?)

Another couple hundred km's after Alice, we ended up at a seemingly unremarkable roadhouse known as Stuart's Well. It turned out that stopping here would be one of the highlights of our trip. When we walked into the bar area of the roadhouse, we noticed an old piano pushed up against one wall with several newspaper clippings around the piano. Upon closer inspection of the news clippings, we learned that we were at the home of Dinky, the famous singing dingo! It turns out the owner of the Stuart's Well roadhouse had a pet dingo with a rather special talent. We asked to see Dinky immediately, but we were told we would have to wait a while. We were on the edge of our seats with anticipation for about 30 minutes as Dinky prepared. As we waited patiently, we talked with the locals hanging out around the bar (more about them later). Before long, the time was upon us! Dinky had emerged! Dinky's handler gave us some information about the wild dog. It turns out Dinky was saved by the owner of the Stuart's Well roadhouse as a pup. Dingoes are generally considered a nuisance in outback Australia, and are shot or poisoned as a result. After the brief intro to Dinky it was time for the show! For the show a volunteer was needed from the audience to play the piano. Jenn had this once-in-a-lifetime honour! As Jenn sat at the piano and began to play, Dinky jumped up on the keys and began to play and sing (or howl) with Jenn. It was one of the most hilarious sights of my life, as Jenn pounded the keys along with Dinky. (Jenn could have made a nicer sound, but was instructed to pound the keys like a two-year old. So she did.)

After the show with Dinky, we hung around and had a few drinks with the locals. These were true outback Australians. Two of them were cameleers. They had travelled Australia's largest deserts on camelback in the past. These days they hunt wild camels, which they provide to the local Aboriginal tribes for food. We were also told stories of the nearby American Army base that isn't supposed to exist. The locals all have a good laugh when they meet an American in the area with a trademark army brushcut. When asked what they do they always answer that they are janitors. For a good laugh, the local Australians venture near the base and set off security alarms.

Anyways, this blog is getting long and the Internet is expensive. The remainder of our time after Stuart's Well was fairly unremarkable. We had to change the tyre on the rental car after it went flat again. But that's about it. We arrived in Cairns. Our outback adventure was complete! We have had many great advetures since arriving in Cairns. But those stories are for another post.

G'day!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

I'm writing this blog post on a public computer in a library in Port Augusta, South Australia. Unfortunately, I cant put a photo at the top of this post.

Since our last post we have had some big adventures. The drive from Melbourne to Adelaide was amazing. The Great Ocean Road had many sights to see. There were beautiful beaches along unique limestone coast with magnificent rock formations. We also had the very good fortune of having sunny skies for the entire drive. So our pictures turned out very well.

We arrived in Adelaide feeling pretty tired after sleeping for two nights in our rental car. But we decided to skip sleeping and go out to see the city. It was the last day of the Adelaide Fringe Festival and also the final day for a grand touring car race in the city (Clipsal 500). So the city was very busy. We wandered down a street where we took in a few street performers that were in town for the Fringe festival. One of the performers, an acrobat, used me as a volunteer. It was a little unnerving when he had me and the other volunteers lay on the street and cover our crotches, "just in case". I came out unscathed, thankfully, after the performer did several back flips over a row of us lying on the ground. It was a fun experience.

For our second day in Adelaide, we went on a wine tour in the Barossa Valley. The area is a 1.5 hour drive outside Adelaide and is famous for producing Shiraz. We tried some very unique wines and bought a couple of bottles. We had one particularly good wine called a "Shiraz Rosé". It was like drinking the nectar of the gods.

We spent a couple more days slumming around Adelaide without too many adventures to speak of. It was getting out of Adelaide where our real adventures began. (Jenn's note: We actually did a 38km bike ride around Adelaide and surrounds, on one of our days there. The city offers a free bike hire (rental) service, using a piece of i.d. as a deposit for returning the bikes at the end of the day. It was pretty awesome and was an ecologically- and budget-friendly way to get around!)

We were considering several options for leaving Adelaide to go see the outback and the famous rock known as Uluru (or Ayers Rock). The first option was to take the bus. A 10,000km ticket would have cost about $1800, would only be good for 30 days, and we would have had to pay nightly room fees and food costs separately. Not to mention that the bus runs through the red centre at very inconvenient times. The second option was to carpool. We tried several people who were offering trips our way. But they were all full. So we moved on to the third option. To buy a cheap car and use it both as transportation and accommodation. We found one for private sale in a suburb just outside of Adelaide, and decided to take a look. The car was a 1983 Mitsubishi Sigma station wagon with 116,000km on the motor. We took the car for a test drive and it seemed to run pretty well. It was by no means perfect. But it ran, and everything in the car worked. It seemed like an incredible deal. Only $650, much less than the bus option. We should have expected something when we were pressured to buy the car before someone else took it (there were, apparently, others interested in the deal). So we took the car on good faith.

The problems with the car began after the first night of driving. It took a good two minutes of cranking the car over for it to start. A sinking feeling began to grow within me. After the troubled start, I noticed that the temperature gauge in the car was beginning to rise. The car had begun its downward spiral, and now, it was only a matter of time. As the temperature needle continued to rise we pulled over and let it cool off. Steam was billowing from under the hood. All hope was now lost. We allowed the car to cool off and drove 5 more kilometers to the small town of Port Augusta. The car managed to limp its way to a wrecking yard in the town where we had a mechanic check the car over.

The blokes in this wrecking yard were a rough bunch. Beluga fat bikers complete with swastika tattoos. Oh, how lovely. They checked the car and gave us the diagnosis. Blown head gasket. For those not mechanically inclined, that's like a person having a diagnosis of a massive heart attack. The car was dead. We were now stranded 300km's from Adelaide. My reaction at first was rage, followed rather quickly by a feeling of being used and now, at the time of writing this, I find it pretty funny in a way. It will make a great story in our future. Jenn is understandably a little more upset; I seem to be able to shrug things off a little more quickly. Perhaps too quickly. Trying to get Jenn to laugh about it before she was ready to wasn't a great idea. (Jenn is now ok about it; she just requires more time to get over things.)

Luckily, a phoenix has risen from the ashes. We were just contacted by a group of travellers who are able to pick us up in Port Augusta on their way through to see Uluru.

So in the end all is not lost. The car experience left us with a $680 expense that took us only 300 km. Our pride has been shaken but our spirits are not broken. This trip is still one of the greatest experiences of our lives.

G'day

Into the wild... Tasmania

The attitude of mainland Australians is that there is nothing worth going to see in Tasmania. Even travel guides tend to gloss over Tasmania without paying much attention.  Since no one really sees any good reason to go to Tasmania, it remains mostly untouched by the hand of modern man.  There are no mega-cities with towering glass and steel skyscrapers, no super-highways, no sprawling suburban areas with row upon row of cookie-cutter homes.  Where modern humans would have placed the aforementioned items, there stand instead lush old growth forests teaming with unique wildlife and breath-taking coastline. Travelling to Tasmania is like travelling back in time.

Our first stop in Tasmania was in the capital city, Hobart, on the south eastern coast of the island state.  Hobart is a beautiful city situated on the bank of the Derwent River with amazing views of the 1270m Mount Wellington.  My first thought when I saw this mountain was that I had to climb to the top.  The mountain looked so close I thought it would be a short walk to the base, but I soon learned that it was about fourteen kilometres outside the city center. So Mount Wellington would have to wait, for now.  

Jenn and I spent our first day in Hobart touring the harbour.  While we were there we spotted a rather ominous looking black ship named the Steve Irwin.  It was an old naval ship flying what looked like a pirate flag; so, of course, we had to take a closer look.  When we walked closer to the ship we saw a sign offering tours.  We learned that the ship belonged to group called the Sea Shepherds.  This group is a non-profit organization committed to policing the world's oceans against questionable fishing and hunting practices.  The ship was in port in Hobart to refuel and resupply after spending several weeks in the Antarctic ocean, chasing Japanese whaling ships. During our tour of the ship, we were shown a video of the Steve Irwin colliding with a Japanese whaling boat and nearly being capsized. The evidence of the collision was easily visible in a giant indentation on the bow of the ship.  The crew member who gave us the tour was a Canadian (the daughter of the founder of Greenpeace, actually).  

I remain highly questionable of the tactics used by this group.  But they are helping to protect the worlds whales from purposeless slaughter that the Japanese call "scientific research".  You may remember hearing of this group in Canada.  Another ship in their fleet is named after the Canadian author Farley Mowat.  This ship was confiscated by the Canadian government after videotaping the annual seal hunt off Canada's east coast.  As you can see, this group is involved in some pretty controversial stuff.  It was interesting to hear their views.  We spent the rest of our day looking around the harbour.  

For our second day in Hobart, I was dead set on summiting Mount Welllington.  I haggled with a bus driver to give us an all day student fare for about five dollars total for Jenn and me, and then we were on our way.  We took the city bus to the small town of Fern Tree at the base of Mount Wellington where we began the day's hike.  It took us the entire afternoon, but we did it. We walked all the way up and down Mount Wellington, which, according to most locals we talked to, no one does.  There's a road to the summit, so most sane people drive.  But driving tours are ninety dollars or more, and we did the whole thing for five bucks (with the exchange that's about four dollars Canadian).  During our walk up along the trails, there were a couple of cenotaphs commemorating lives lost on the mountain in freak storms.   It was a stark reminder to always remain respectful of Mother Nature.  After conquering Mount Wellington, our time in Hobart was over and we would push forward with our Tassie adventure the next day.

So began our first WWOOFing experience, and man, what an experience is was!  WWOOF stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms. It is a members-only association that provides the contact information for organic farms, so that travelers can get in touch with the farms and stay there in exchange for labour. We found our first WWOOF hosts in the small town of Derby in northeastern Tasmania.  So with no more information than a small web posting from these people saying they needed some help building, we were off on our way to Derby, a historic mining village and home of the annual gum-boot toss.  Luckily, there was a bus that went to Derby, or rather, it was actually more of a large van with a trailer attached, that acted not only as the bus but also the postal delivery service.  The passengers on the bus were a motley crew to say the least.  There were two characters of particular interest sitting toward the back of the bus.  One was a man you could tell was mentally ill; he wore a suit and gold chains and a strange black wig (a sort of crazy Mr. T I suppose).  He constantly rocked back and forth and mumbled to himself.  His wrinkled face was hidden beneath a big black beard, and he had thick rough hands; both of which spoke of a hard life.  I felt sorry for him but also a little afraid; I can't explain why.  Another man started up a conversation with him.  I listened in, interested in what the bearded man had to say.  His speech was confused, something about "moving in mysterious ways". It was all rather strange.  The man talking to him gave him some pills,  I felt like I should say something, but I didn't; I decided it was none of my business.  Anyway,  we travelled along winding mountain roads looking out at faraway mountains and huge sheep and cattle farms. That was our bus ride to Derby.  When we arrived in Derby, one of our hosts, Terry, met us at the bus stop (we would meet his partner Chris (Christine), later).  We hopped into his ute (pick-up truck) and drove a short distance out of town along gravel roads, up a hillside, to what would be our dwelling for the next two and a half weeks.  Our dwelling was "the mudbrick house".  It was a hillside shack constructed completely of salvaged materials by a man named Neil, who builds cabinetry in boats for a living.  Terry's description of Neil was rather interesting. Apparently Neil doesn't like the cold so he has shacks in different places around the globe that have allowed him to live in perpetual warmth for the last 15 years or so.  The mudbrick house had no electricity, the water was heated by an old wood stove, and heat came from a large open fireplace (DIY fire). We had to stoke a fire to cook our food on the woodstove, and the fire in the woodstove also served to heat water for the shower. We woke and slept with the natural light of the sun. It was great; I loved the rustic lifestyle.  

Now, I have to introduce our hosts Terry and Chris.  This is going to be difficult, I could go on forever about them, they were incredible people.  Terry was filled with many stories. I hope I can remember some of them so I can tell them in person when I get back to Canada.  He had one story in particular about a friend being molested by an old smelly goat in Derby named Big Bill, and it was so hilarious that I don't think I will ever forget it.  Anyway, I best start with a general introduction.  Terry and Chris are old-school hippies, or, as they seem to call themselves now, alternatives.  They both grew up in Sydney. Terry was from a poor working class family and Chris was from a more affluent family.  Terry spent his younger days working as a tow truck driver and had some connections with hardcore criminals in Sydney, but was never involved in crime himself.  At some point in time, Terry took up an interest in mining, and at another point in time he travelled with some American hippies in Australia who introduced him to drugs and the green way of life.  So Terry and Chris ended up in Derby as tin-mining hippies. Seriously.  More specifically, Chris and Terry were "tin scratchers"  meaning they didn't work for the big tin mine. They worked their own small operations along the river, mining tin. Apparently they made a good living at it until the tin market fell through some time ago.  

Terry is also a big-time music enthusiast.  He has a pretty good knowledge of sound engineering and he has a great sound system in his house.  His all-time favourite band is the Grateful Dead, and he could talk about them for hours.  But he also really likes bluegrass, and has a unique music collection that we were able to listen to while we worked at their house.  So that's Terry in a nutshell.  

Now for Christine.  Simply put, Chris is probably one of the most positive, empathetic people on Earth.  She feels for people and them makes them feel better about how they are feeling.  Jenn could vouch for this after coming down with nephritis during our stay, and being taken care of by Chris.  

Now, back to the actual WWOOFing.  It's odd, but Chris and Terry don't have an organic farm. They live on a property that used to be a farm and they have an organic garden, but no farm and no farm work.  What we actually ended up doing was building a covered porch on the side of Chris and Terry's house.  The porch was built from timber salvaged from houses Terry had pulled down in the past.  Most of the porch was built to my design.  I hope it doesn't fall down...

An interesting note about old Tassie timber.  It's extremely hard wood. I was barely able to put any nails through the wood without predrilling a hole first.  Anyway, I worked with Terry to build and cover the porch, and Jenn worked painting and cooking with Chris.  We had three days a week off.  Now it's time to tell you what we did with our days off.

On one of our days, off Terry and Chris took us four-wheel driving in their two-wheel drive ute to the top of the Rattler Range near Derby.   During our drive we visited an old mining dam and heard lots of stories about mining in the area.  Jenn took her first ever drink of water from a fresh flowing stream. And we saw ants and snakes that could potentially kill you.  The views when we reached the top of the Rattler Range were fantastic.  We could see for hundreds of kilometres in all directions. (Jenn's input: "We could see for miles, and miles, and miles...." 

PS: The Rattler Range is not named for rattle snakes. In fact, I'm not sure about this, but there may not even be rattle snakes in Tassie. Rattler Range name origin: unknown.)

Our other big day off was on Jenn's birthday.  Terry and Chris drove us out to Mount William National Park along the northeastern coast.  We drove most of the way from Derby along dirt tracks to Eddystone Point, a sacred Aboriginal site.  There was a lighthouse at Eddystone Point that I decided to climb up using the ground wire running along the outside. I got a little ways up and then people thought I was being too unsafe, so I climbed down.  My lighthouse climb just happened to give me a vantage point from which I could see over the Bay of Fires Beach. (The Bay of Fires got its name after explorers travelling by ship along the coast saw many small fires burning along the beach.  These fires were lit by Aborigines who had set up camp along the beach where they hunted for shellfish.  It was definitely the most beautiful beach I have seen so far.)  The sand was paper white and stretched along the coast for miles.  After seeing it from the lighthouse, we decided we had to walk over there.  Stepping onto the beach was a surreal experience.  I have never seen sand so white.   It was instantly apparent why this was a sacred area for the Aborigines.  The Aborigines not only came to the beach for its beauty, they also came for the vast supply of shellfish in the coastal waters along it.  There are giant mounds along the beach up to 16 feet high. Although they may just seem like another sand dune, some are actually giant mounds of seashells, called middens.  The Aborigines who harvested the shores of the Bay of Fires for thousands of years left all the shells of the creatures they ate in piles. What a strangely tidy people.

Sadly, after almost three weeks with Terry and Chris, our time together had to come to an end. We left Derby for Launceston on Friday.  We only spent one night in Launceston, staying with a friend of a friend of Terry and Chris', but it was very interesting.  We had our very own private banjo concert (performed by a neighbour), went to a lecture on the future of our planet presented by ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) broadcaster Phillip Adams (one of Australia's 100 living national treasures), and we were accused and then acquitted of stealing a man's wallet.  I wish I could go into more detail, but this post is too long already.  I had to take lots of details of our Tasmania trip out of the blog so it wasn't too long, so there will be plenty of new tales to tell in person in the future.   Once again there are lots of pictures to go along with the words above.  So check out both our web albums!

We are back in Melbourne for a couple days now.  We will soon rent a car and drive along the Great Ocean Road toward Adelaide.

G'day!

Welcome to... "Mel-buhn"?

First things first.  Jenn and I would like give a monumental thank you to our fantastic hosts Nancy, James, Dylan, and Greg during our time here in Melbourne.  Their knowledge of the area made our stay here everything we could have hoped for. (Jenn's comment: more than we could ever have hoped for! They have been so welcoming and hospitable, and we are extremely grateful!)

Secondly, we have an important note on pronunciation for all the non Aussies out there. Melbourne is pronounced "mel-buhn", not "mel-born".  You see, the "r" is silent. It is also spoken quickly as a monosyllabic word, as in, "Melbuhn". Failing to properly enunciate this word will win you nothing but looks of contempt from the locals.  They will laugh at you.  Laugh and point.

Thirdly, a warning.  This post may be spun into yet another epic linguistic yarn.  So prepare yourself.

There seems to be a running tally here in Melbourne as to which city is better, Melbourne or Sydney.  It was the first question from every person we talked to who knew we had visited both places.  The question may stem from what I have come to think of as the "Melbourne complex". I think the locals here feel overshadowed by the international knowledge of Sydney.  After all, when you think Australia, the first city you think of is Sydney, not Melbourne.  Melbourne is the eternal runner up.  So the question remains, which city is better?  This is not an easy question to answer.  Both cities have so much to offer. But I have a certain inexplicable magnetism toward Melbourne.  There was just something about the vibe of this city from the moment we stepped off the bus.  I'm not sure what it is, the colourful architecture of the buildings, the back alleys filled with unique shops, the surrounding parks with their interesting wildlife.  There's just something about Melbourne that I preferred.   Jenn would disagree with me on this.  She preferred Sydney. 

[Jenn's note: I found Sydney to be much prettier, and bountiful green spaces near where we were staying. It was clearly well maintained and clean. I know I'm opening a can of worms here, but it's like comparing Ottawa and Toronto, Sydney being like Ottawa (more scenic and well kept), vs Melbourne, like Toronto, very large and busy, with lots going on. Both are awesome, but I still sway towards Sydney. Sydney has more of a feel for everyone (families, seniors, and younger folk), while Melbourne is the 'hip' place to be. Musicians and artists, take note: Melbourne is more likely the place for you!]

Our first day of touring in Melbourne consisted of a visit to the local rowing clubs.  The rowing clubs here are lined along the banks of the Yarra river which runs through the heart of the city's downtown core.  We walked along the row of boat houses and I decided to drop into one of the clubs to talk to a coach and see if I could come out to observe a practice from a coach boat.   The club I walked into was the Melbourne University Rowing Club.  It turns out this club was Australia's oldest and it was also the center of training for elite athletes focused on making the national team (boy I sure can pick 'em!).  I walked upstairs into the erg room where there were two men talking.  Deciding not to interrupt, I wandered around looking at the various trophy cases.  When the two men finished talking, one spoke up and asked what I was doing wandering around.  This guy stood about my height, with legs that could easily be mistaken for a couple of tree trunks, with an unmistakable "take-no-shit" demeanour.  He was the head coach.  I instantly understood why this was the elite training center.  Simply standing in the presence of this man made me want to jump on an erg and pull until my eyes rolled back in my head in some vain attempt to appease the goliath.  (Jenn felt the same way!) I explained to him that I was a rower from Canada and that I would like to come out for a morning practice if I could.  He wasn't interested due to the fact that they had state championships coming up in two days.  But he said I could probably come out the following week.  Unfortunately, I didn't find the time to go back to the club and take him up on his offer.  That little visit certainly made me miss rowing.  C'est la vie...  

On Valentine's day, Jenn and I visited the botanical gardens.  Jenn would have to write about this stop to do it justice.  These gardens were better than the Sydney gardens.  There were many couples picnicking in the shade and a few weddings happening.  We went on a free tour where we learned about a rather intriguing gum tree that always feels cool to the touch (children hug them on hot days).  After the gardens we visited the Eureka tower.  This skyscraper holds a couple records.  It has the highest viewing platform in the Southern hemisphere and it is the tallest residential building in the world  (I can't imagine what the price tag on the penthouse would be).  The elevator ride to the viewing platform was a bit of a trip. Speeding along at 9 metres per second makes you feel rather heavy at the beginning of the ride, and makes you feel light at the end of the ride.  The views from the tower were stunning. Melbourne (again, "Melbuhn") is a beautiful city from the air.  You can also see out past the city where the bushfires were burning.  Some of the fires seemed pretty close.  We stayed on the viewing deck for a couple hours and enjoyed the brilliant red sunset (thanks to all the smokeand ash from the bushfires) and enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine.  We took lots of pictures.  Check out the web album.

Two days later we rented a car and drove out to Phillip Island for the world famous penguin parade. It was our first time driving here in Australia and it was a bit of a learning experience. Navigating round-abouts and driving on the left side of the road with all the controls inside the vehicle on the opposite side of the steering wheel takes some time getting used to.  I kept on turning the windshield wipers on every time I wanted to signal a turn, and reached for the door every time I wanted to put the car in gear.  The 2 hour drive to Phillip Island gave me plenty of time to learn the ins and outs, though.  We arrived on the island at about 11am, where we picked up our three parks pass which permitted entry into all the major tourism sights on the island. We started the day with a quick visit to the mainland jetty (docks) to see the local fishermen feed the pelicans.  After the pelicans, we headed to Churchill Island for a tour of the historic farm that still operates there.  We fed a goat, saw a blacksmith make horse shoes, and milked a cow!  It was lots of fun.  After that we headed to the Koala Conservation Centre.  It was really cool.  A section of forest on the island is maintained by local rangers to keep the koala population healthy.  We saw our first wild koalas!  About ten in all.  There are videos and pictures on the web album, check them out.  

After the koalas we headed down to a corner of the island known as the Nobbies, where we observed Australia's second largest fur seal colony.  There was an island off shore that was completely filled with fur seals.  Our binoculars were an asset for this part of the tour (thanks Brad and Laurel).  After the fur seals, dusk was approaching and it was time to head to the famous Penguin Parade.  We travelled to a small area of beach on the island where the penguins come in after fishing during the day.  As the sun fell below the horizon, the little penguins began popping (Jenn's note: emerging) up out of the surf along the beach.  The penguins were very nervous about being exposed on the beach at first, so they waddle in and out of the water checking for predators.  Once the first penguin gives the all clear, a group of 5-10 penguins will pop out of the surf behind the first one and waddle across the beach into their burrows on the shore.  It was all very cute.  You were not supposed to take pictures at this site, but I had my camera hidden in the sleeve of my jacket and snuck in a few photos and videos.  They are not very good. But they are on web album as well.

Last but not least, for our final full day in Melbourne we went to an Aussie rules football ("footy") match. This sport is a hybrid of rugby and soccer, played on a large oval field.  It was an absolute blast to watch.  

Tonight, we fly to Tasmania.  We are hoping to find an organic farm to work on for a bit (our first WWOOFing experience, look it up if you are wondering what that means).  We'll keep you updated.  

G'day!

Fires, Floods and Wine... It's paradise!

The photo above is from Ninety Mile beach at the town of Lakes Entrance along the South Eastern coast in the state of Victoria. The black lines are charred leaves and ash that have washed up on shore from the massive brush fires that are raging throughout the state. I'm sure you have heard lots in the news about the fires, so I won't write much about it. Needless to say we are still alive and well despite all the natural disasters plaguing this country. You may not have heard quite so much about the monsoons in the North. A record setting rainy season has left many areas flooded. Mosquitoes (or mozzies) are now breeding out of control in the water and outbreaks of dengue fever are occurring. The areas of Australia that are not on fire or under water are just really, really hot. Anyway, on to happier news...

We have covered quite some distance since our last post. Our first stop after leaving Sydney was in the sleepy little fishing village of Narooma. The continental shelf is only 11km off shore which makes this town an ideal location for deep sea fishing. We had the pleasure of meeting up with a local in the town who was trying to catch some bait. The sight of this man was peculiar at first. He was wiping the beach with fish carcasses on a string. When we saw this our first thought was to steer clear, as this man must have been quite insane. But curiosity got the best of us and we decided to ask what he was up to. It turns out that he was "beach worming". Wiping the beach with the dead fish caused worms in the sand to peek their heads out and when they did this he would pull the worm out of the sand. Now, these worms are not your typical Canadian dew worms. These worms are man eaters. Measuring up to a meter in length, the slimy, hairy (yes, hairy), red and clearish worms are pretty repulsive. But we were assured that fish love them. After our beach worming lesson we went for a walk along the coast and discovered that this sleepy fishing village had a big secret. It turns out Narooma is a hidden beach paradise. The managers of our hostel suggested we take a small dirt trail hidden behind the towns cemetery to a secluded beach area known as Broken Glass Rocks. Words and even pictures cannot do any justice to how beautiful these beaches were. Deep blue ocean water and giant sand stone monoliths along perfect white sand beach. It was incredible. And most incredible of all was that no one was there. We had this paradise all to ourselves. There were no people, no houses, no stores. Just beach, ocean, Jenn and I. It was an otherworldly experience. Neither of us wanted to leave. But, of course, their were other sights to see.

Our next stop was further South along the coast at a town called Lakes Entrance. We had left paradise for the Wasaga Beach of Australia. This former paradise had been discovered, packaged up and sold off to the lowest bidder. Strip malls, trailer parks and cheap motels lined the main street. It wasn't all bad, though; this town had a few saving graces. First off the beach was very nice.  Known as Ninety Mile Beach, the sand stretched for as far as the eye could see.  Their was also a organic ice cream shop that was really great.  Jenn and I shared a chocolate "thickshake"; we had died and gone to drinkable ice cream heaven.  This stuff certainly put Dairy Queen to shame.  Lastly, with the overrun tourist industry there were plenty of cheap day tours available.  We decided to indulge in one of the wine tours.  Our tour consisted of a boat ride to a local winery followed by lunch at the winery and a boat ride back.  For the duration of the tour you could have as many wine samples as you pleased.  We boarded the (sea worthy?) vessel "The Corque" at 11AM.  The captain (who referred to himself as "The Corque's Crew" har har) was a very pleasant fellow with plenty of stories to tell.  We immediately began sampling the wine and were on our way.  The wine was palatable, but I suspect it may have been laced with antifreeze; it was a bit of a chore to swallow. However, the alcohol had a rather pleasant effect.  We arrived at Wyanga Park Winery after about 35 minutes on the boat where the owner met us in his van and drove us the rest of the way to the winery.  The owner, Jeff, immediately recognized our Canadian accents and asked us if we might know his Canadian cousin.  Yeah right, we thought, just another Canadian stereotype that everyone knows everyone.  Well, turns out his cousin (quadruple times removed?)was Adrienne Clarkson, the former governor general.  You could tell this was a story this man enjoyed telling every Canadian he met.  We had a long chat with him and he had us sign a map of Canada indicating where we were from.  While we were at the winery we were able to sample all of their varieties, and not every one of them tasted terrible.  Although most of them smelled funny.  The Sauvignon Blanc was quite nice.  That was the wine I selected to have with my lunch.  And, lunch was delicious. Jenn had a macadamia pesto pasta dish, and I had locally caught fish and chips.  Overall, the tour was well worth it.  We met some very nice people and got nice and tipsy.

I still have plenty of stories to tell, but I will stop myself here for now.   We are now in Melbourne, visiting with a friend of a friend of Jenn's parents.

G'day!

  

Futurescapes and El Caminos

It's Thursday February 5th here in Sydney, and its Wednesday February 4th back home. So I guess you could say I'm sending this message from the future. So heres' a few notes on what the future is like. First of all everyone drives on the wrong side of the road here. Now, that may seem like a minor difference, but when your crossing the street on foot and looking the wrong way... watch out! Second, do any of you remember the El Camino? Its like this half car half pick up truck that was around in the 70's in North America I think and it wasnt very popular. Well, here in Australia it must have been a big hit, because there are modern El Camino type cars driving aroung EVERYWHERE! Anyways, those are the two strangest thing I've encountered in the land of Aus so far. Now on to the regular stuff...

We have now been in Sydney for three days (I think.... the jet lag has me a little messed up on time still) and we have seen the major sights. Let me tell you, Sydney is one beautiful city. On our first day we walked through some gorgeous city parks filled with all sorts of interesting flora and fauna. Hopefully the pictures will do them justice. Let me tell you we have TONS of pictures of the local plant and animal life. Jenn has a rather strange obsession with taking no less than 3 pictures of every critter and plant see sees. I think shes up to 300 already. But I digress. After our walk through the park we arrived at Sydney Harbour where we saw both the Sydney Harbour bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Both structures are architectural masterpieces.

On our Second day we to Taronga Zoo. It was really amazing too. We saw all sorts of rare Australian wild life (It seemed Jenn was shooting pictures every few seconds). Touring the zoo took the entire day. But it was worth it.

Finally, today we woke up very early (once again, I blame the jet lag) and took a bus to Bondi beach to see sunrise. It was a pristine night sky and the sun rise was gorgeous. Once the sun was up I went for my first swim in the ocean. Some rather large surf was rolling in, but I thought I could handle it. Well, the first wave hit me like a freight train and forced what seemed like a gallon of salt water down my throat. I emerged from the wave coughing and sputtering with a terrible taste in my mouth. I thought I was fine at this point but then Mother Nature gave me another lesson as the wave pulled back from shore and took me on a little ride along with it. It was a frightening but fun experience. For the remainder of the day we walked along the coast of Sydney. Once again, the sights were breath-taking. You will have to see the pictures.

Tomorrow we head out from Sydney towards Tasmania.

G'day!