March 18 -- Homeward Bound

By the time anyone in CA reads this, we'll be home.  It's been an incredible experience for me not only because of seeing such an amazing country but also because I was able to do it with Jay.  He's a great traveling partner and I know he's enjoyed the experience as well.  But now it's time to go home.  And, we're ready.  Living out of a suitcase is no fun for an extended period of time.  And most importantly we're anxious to see our friends and loved ones.  You'll have to pardon us if we're still grinning when we get off the plane and perhaps for days and weeks ahead.  It's been an experience of a lifetime and it's been fun sharing it with all of you.  But don't let this blog be simply a vicarious experience for you.  Find a way to get to Australia to see the sights and meet the people.  You'll not regret it.

G'day.

March 17 -- Great Barrier Reef

Headline:  Australian Icon Found!

We didn't have to look too hard to find perhaps the most famous part of Australia -- a massive coral reef that runs some 2000 km off the coast and is in fact the largest living thing on earth.  There was a time on our trip when we weren't quite sure we'd make it to the reef despite it being one of the modern natural wonders of the world.  Today, we're so glad we worked it into our grand tour and it was a fitting capstone to an incredible trip that just kept on getting better.

We hooked up with a reef tour company recommended by our concierge at our hotel in Palm Cove and after an early pickup we were whisked off to Port Douglas about 45 km up the coast from our hotel.  With little delay we were escorted aboard an 80 foot, three decked catamaran and outfitted with our snorkeling gear.  Ninety minutes later we made our first stop at the reef.  Despite partly cloudy skies, spirits were high amongst the 35 snorklers and handful of divers.

Into the water we went and the sights just below the surface were incredible to behold -- all shapes and sizes and colours of fish.  Small inch long little darters swimming in tight schools to large tuna sized fish that lumbered near the bottom portion of the reef.  There are over 1500 species of fish on the reef, each with it's own unique colouring and marking.  Besides the fish there were amazing specimens of coral, anemone, giant clams, sea cucumbers and all kinds of sea life I don't know the names of.  It was the live production of Finding Nemo.

We took an underwater camera with us so hopefully when we get the prints developed we can add them to the blog.

It's been a long day and I'm lacking time and energy to fully describe the experience today.  I just know that it would have been truly unfortunate for us to have missed the Reef.

March 16 -- Day of Rest

Had the luxury of sleeping in today since we had no activities scheduled.  Around 9:30 I found my way down the esplanade for my morning flat black and muffin.  Strolled around town and down to the beach and walked the pier and watched the ocean.  What we look out upon is the Coral Sea.  Today is has been windy and the Coral Sea has a fair amount of chop going.

Watched a guy fishing on the pier for a bit.  He'd caught a small shark -- 24" perhaps -- that was going to be on his barbi tonight.  Seeing the shark was a reminder that swimming is risky business here because of sharks but also because of the box jellyfish (stingers) and crocodiles.  It's a minor risk but the warning signs are quite explicit about the risk by not only saying there is a risk but also having extensive first aid instructions posted on the lifeguard station.  The risk is mitigated (and the tourists lured into the water) by netting off a large area (perhaps 50 yards square) to keep the undesirable wildlife separated from all the tender tourist bait.  Jay went in for a swim.  I didn't choosing instead to save my strength for our snorkeling trip on the reef Saturday.

I feel very isolated here.  For all I know there could be thousands of people tucked away in these 4-star places.  But the streets, shops, and restaurants are nearly empty probably because it's been mid-week but more likely because it's not high-season.  In high-season, I suspect this place is a very busy destination location.

But strangely and sadly, it doesn't feel like Australia.  Palm cove could be any ocean-facing resort community in the tropics -- Kauai, Mexico, Naples (Fla.), or Puerto Rico.  Just change the signage and replace the Aboriginal art store with (you pick it) native art store and switch out the tee shirt stock and the beer selection and you're no longer in Australia.  To add to the isolation, the only people you see are the other tourists who may be from Australia but are as likely to be from anywhere in the world.  The only locals are running the stores and restaurants and I'll bet not a one can be found in Palm cove after closing hours.  Don't get me wrong.  Palm Cove is a lovely tropical retreat that is probably a favorite of may Australians and internationals, but it lacks a personality that is uniquely Australian.  Now maybe if I saw a crocodile sliding across the lawn or a stinger (other than a drink in the bar) I'd feel differently.

All this just reinforces how wonderful the time spent in Sydney, Melbourne and the GOR were.  I'm counting on our trip to the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow to make this time in Palm Cove less disappointing and be a terrific final Australian experience before we head home.  Other than that, I have no expectations.

March 15 -- Kuranda

Rolled out early on Thursday morning to go to the rainforest and Kuranda as part of our pre-paid tour with Down Under.  The tour features a ride on a skyrail -- six passenger ski-lift type gondola -- that's over 7 km long which is one of the longest in the world apparently.   The skyrail takes you over the top of the rainforest and offers two stopping points along the way to get out and walk on wooden walkways amongst the trees and plants.  One stopping point provides views of the Barron River and gorge and falls -- well, more of a cascade.

Kuranda is a combination of Aboriginal village, tourism shops, restaurants and San Diego Wild Animal Park.  That's overstating it a bit...there were only butterflies, birds and koala available for viewing.  The best part was the Butterfly Sanctuary and Birdworld.  Both were reasonably large, enclosed facilities that you entered through secure double doors and featured both native and non-native species.  The butterflies were a delight to watch and try to capture on film (on digital?).  Wish I'd had access to this place when I was making my insect collection in 9th grade.  The birds too were spectacular with more than 60 varieties from tiny finches to the huge, and very strange looking Cassowary which looks like...words fail me...see the pics when they get posted.

After a couple of hours in Kuranda, we headed back down to the bottom of the skyrail to have lunch at Tjapukai and get an intro to Aborigine culture, history, and experiences.  We watched dances, heard songs and stories and a talented didgeredoo player, saw a movie about the local Aboriginal history, and took our turn at throwing a boomerang and a spear.  It was a fun and enlightening and a very genuine experience.

March 14 -- Palm Cove Arrival

Our flight from Adelaide to Brisbane was delayed for two hours by mechanical troubles with the steering mechanism.  Ended up on a different plane which is a much better solution than simply finding a less finicky pilot.  Still managed to catch our connection in Brisbane and arrive in Cairns on time despite the delay.  After a 30 minute shuttle ride to Palm Cove, got checked  into our room by retrieving our key from the reception after-hours safe since the place was deserted.

Mantra Amphora is one of perhaps a dozen upscale properties that are a mix of condos, apartments, and short-term (hotel) rentals.  Our room is nice but not spacious.  The place is by far the most upscale of any of the hotels we've stayed at on our trip and boasts a lovely manicured grounds, a large lagoon-like pool, and it's right across the street from the beach.  At high tide, there's not much beach and it's not nearly as pristine as those we visited on the GOR or at Manly.   There are a fair amount of shops, restaurants, and tourism and real estate "info center" storefronts along the esplanade as well as a pier for walking, fishing, or boat docking.  It's balmy and palm trees are everywhere.  We're in the tropics of Queensland.

March 14 -- Games, Games & More Games

Our visit to Adelaide coincided with the World Police and Fireman Games.  There were cadres of young, athletic-looking men and women wearing official looking badges and decked out in athletic warm up gear boasting their country name and colours.

Not sure where the concept of vocation-oriented mini-olympics got started but it was thriving here in Adelaide -- at least for the police and firefighters and their entourages.  Didn't see anything on whether this was the 1st or 10th (or whatever Roman numeral would be appropriate) edition of the event but I was pretty certain these games hadn't been around as long as the original Olympics.  All in all, the games sound like a great opportunity to form a team, travel someplace exotic to compete with others who also had a team and liked to travel.  It's also a good excuse to meet people from all over and drink beer.  Come to think of it, it's not unlike some softball teams I've been on if you consider Akron, Ohio, and South Bend, Indiana, to be exotic places.

I don't see any reason this concept of vocational-centric games should be limited to Police and Firefighters.  So, I'm thinking of organising a World Games for English Majors.  But all that training and preparation to get ready for some dashing and jumping and kicking of balls might be too much especially for those who have an MA in English.  We definitely lost our "on field" edge somewhere in the stacks in a library whilst having our nose deep in a book.  So maybe if I do organise this, we'd feature some spelling, parsing of sentences, and explicating of poems.  Afterwards, we'd go have beer.

March 14 -- Adelaide

There's no chance of mistaking Adelaide with Melbourne or Sydney just as there's no mistaking San Jose for San Francisco or New York.  In fairness though to Adelaide, we really were limited in our opportunity to explore this South Australian city.  We stayed in city centre only a few blocks from a scenic river park similar but on a smaller scale to Melbourne's Yarra River area.  We also visited the State Library of South Australia which was a bit more like a government building lacking the interior and exterior architectural appeal of the State Library of Victoria.   There was a very large bank of internet/email terminals which were available for general usage and all with neatly organised signs indicating the proper purpose for each and that "sign-up" was required in advance.   We signed-up and waited our turn but only used the terminals b briefly since longer durations required reservations of 24 hours according to the signs.  I got the feeling that Adelaide might just be a bit more Victorian than Victoria.

The main attraction seemed to be Rundle Street and the adjacent Rundle Mall which were a section of the CBD that had been converted to a pedestrian mall no doubt to invigorate an aging downtown economy and to increase tourist appeal.  However, it lacked the panache of Melbourne though it did also have the similar European charm to it.  Adjacent to the CBD was Adelaide University which looked interesting from the fringes but we didn't have time to explore the inner campus.

I'm sure Adelaide has many virtues that went undiscovered during our brief visit.  Too bad we didn't stumble into our cricket buddies we'd met earlier or find a pickup Aussie rules football game.