Last Waltz

Today was my last day in Australia so I got the last of my shopping done and got in some final animal fixes.

The day started at the Rainforest Dome at the Cairns Casino Hotel. Mostly birds, including a couple of very friendly cockatoos. I also got another chance to pet a koala.

After a filling bacon and eggs breakfast and saying bon giorno to the same Italian family I've seen every day since I've been here, it was off to the bus for Palm Cove. This was my one shot at public transport and the experience was a good one. The bus was clean and comfortable and I was let off right at my destination.

The destination in this case was the Cairns Tropical Zoo. When I thought about what I wanted to do on my last day in Australia, the animal stuff really came to the surface. It didn't hurt that it was a lousy day for almost anything else due to wind and occasional light rain. Once at the zoo, I ran into some other people I'd met before. Guess the zoo was the thing to do on a rainy day in Cairns.

The zoo is a fairly small one, focusing on Aussie animals with a couple of exceptions. They've joined a breeding program for red or lesser pandas. I fell in love with these little comedians when I went to China. The animals here are a little different in that they're Himilayan rather than Chinese, meaning that they're a bit bigger. The other foreigner was an American alligator. Every animal place seems to have at least one, probably for comparison to the crocs. There were a couple of nice aviaries, some cooperative cassowaries, a couple of disinterested dingos, and some kangaroos and wallabies that were so well fed that they didn't want any of the food I had bought. Of course there were koalas. I chose to go to the zoo because they let you hold one for your picture. Compared to what I got at Kuranda, this was a great deal. The price was cheaper, included getting the pictures on CD, and they offered to take some shots with my camera as well. There was no rushing because there weren't any crowds. It was such a pleasure that I went back for the next session and got some video that time.

There were other photos taken as well. I finally got to get up close and personal with a wombat, in this case a southern hairy-nosed wombat named Piggy. She was surprisingly soft, even after getting a bit wet in the rain. I also had a picture taken with a tiny croc. You can imagine my mixed feelings about the fact that his mouth was taped shut. I just hope he got untaped soon after I left.

From the zoo, it was a short walk to a good opal store where I also found the sapphire earrings I'd been looking for. Being completely parched, I was very grateful for the complimentary iced tea they provided. Then it was across the street to the bus stop where the bus and I arrived at the same time. Now I'm back in Cairns for some final Australian retail therapy, a good meal and packing.

It's going to be very hard to leave. I certainly want to return to some of the places I've been and visit others I couldn't include in this trip. In all my travels, I've never been anywhere outside the US west coast that I felt I could live so happily. More than the language (which is somewhat close to English), more than the animals, more than the scenery, it's the people that make this place so special. Speaking to Australians on their own vacations, I've found they take great pride in their country and really want visitors to enjoy it. Other than they guy in Sydney who was selling ivory, everyone has been beyond pleasant. I've never experienced such thoughtfulness and willingness to do whatever it takes to make a visitor happy. From the guides and marine mammal staff at Taronga Zoo to Diane Bell and Karen Karochke in Victor Harbor to the crew of Whalesong in Hervey Bay to the entire staff on Heron Island to meter maid who gave me directions in Cairns, I've been overwhelmed with warmth and kindness. The meter maid case is a perfect example. Her job is called "public liaison officer" and she said it's really meant to educate people and try to keep visitors from getting tickets. What a difference from the quota attitude in the US.

Home to the girls and PhotoShop tomorrow. Will let you know when and where pictures are available. Advance Australia Fair!

Two For the Price of One

Tonight's posting will cover the last two days. They were full, exciting days.

Yesterday was my aboriginal culture day. The daytime was spent at Kuranda, a small community in the rainforest. An old train takes you up, stopping at a pretty waterfall on the way. The village is full of tourist trap stores. It does have a cool butterfly sanctuary where I got some good shots. That and some macadamia nut ice cream cone were the highlights of that part of the tour. From the village, a bus took us to Rainforest Station where we spent most of our time. It started with a good buffet lunch with a very special dessert. I got to hold a koala! I had to pay to have my picture taken to do it, but it was well worth the cost. Such a sweetie!

After lunch, we were taken on an amphibious tour into the rainforest. The highlight was seeing a rat kangaroo (not to be confused with a kangaroo rat). Most of the time was spent learning about the flora rather than the fauna.

Next, we finally got to the aboriginal stuff. There was a dance performance that was truly impressive. The culture has a lot to do with connection to the planet and its animals and the dances reflect that. My favorite dance, which I've now seen twice, is about kangaroos. After the show, we were taken by an aboriginal guide for digeridoo and spear throwing demonstrations and boomerang lessons. I passed on participating in the last.

The tour ended with a walk through an animal park. Not very exciting after my other experiences. Touching a wallabie? Been there, done that. The return trip was via Skyrail, an arial cable system that takes you up above the rain forest. The highlight of that for me was seeing cockatoos.

After a quick change of clothes, I was off on the second tour of the day: Tjapukai. This is a great operation, owned and managed by aboriginal people. First there was a sound and light show on dreamtime. Then we were led outside for a fire lighting ceremony in which we all participated by using rhythm sticks and dancing. After a buffet with an amazing array of choices, there was a dance program (hence my second kangaroo dance). The whole program was very well done.

Today was my second trip to the reef. This was a more traditional reef trip where a boat takes you to a permanent platform. The conditions were pretty rough and lots of people were sick. The snorkeling was tough because of the chop, but there were some very cool fish. Several of the species I wanted to see were checked off the list. A short glass-bottom boat tour showed me that what I had thought were giant clams were mere shrimps. The clams out there were about three feet across! I hooked up with a lovely older couple from Perth. The husband was originally from Liverpool and, yes, he knew the Fab Four before they were Fab. His insights were really interesting and he promised to send me something I'll post about if it actually arrives.

I'll miss the reef, but I won't miss the wetsuits. I did finally find ones my size, but they're still a pain.

Dinner tonight was an amazing seafood feast at a place recommended by a guy from my hotel. Lobster, crab. yabbies, Moreton Bay bugs, prawns, and mussels accompanied with nicely done veggies. The meal, which cost under $50 included lobster bisque, ice cream, and coffee. The last came with the best biscotti I've ever had.

One more day here. Can't believe how fast the time has gone. Tomorrow will be a low key day to finish shopping and try for one more koala cuddle.

A Killer Day

This was a great day. An early start got me on my bus to Port Douglas to go out on Wavelength, a boat that one of the travel guides recommended highly for snorkelers. It's a great boat, very comfortable, taking only 30 snorkelers and no divers. One of the naturalists is a whale person.  The captain and I had actually sailed together before because he's friends with some of the folks I used to work with in Santa Cruz.
The first dive spot was my personal favorite in that it had a huge variety of fish, including many I wanted to see. The clarity was amazing and the temperature good in the well-fitting wetsuit they provided. I got some really good pics. The end of that stop was amazing. Unfortunately, I was the only one to see it and I didn't get a picture, but a large (non-dangerous) white-tip reef shark swam right under me.
It was at the second spot that I met the gentleman pictured (not one of my own shots). Killer is a humpbacked Maori wrasse. He came right up to the boat as soon as we got there looking for the squid they feed him. He's much more beautiful than this picture suggests. He's also very friendly and I got to give him a pat. After spending a good while with Killer, there was a guided snorkel tour on which I saw a blue spotted reef ray. Next there was a hearty lunch with huge prawns (shrimp) and cold cuts.
At the last stop, I found Nemo. I also found soft corals like I've never seen before and some huge giant clams that made the ones at Heron Island look puny. The final treat was seeing a red-lined trigger fish. Just beautiful.
Back in Cairns now and well fed. Dinner was souvlaki at a popular Greek restaurant. Excellent. Now it's time to go across the street to the gelato shop for dessert and then back to the hotel. Tomorrow will be an even longer day and I probably won't blog. It's aboriginal culture day and night.

Paradise Lost

I leave today for Cairns. While I'm excited about getting to that part of the reef and warmer water, it's hard to leave this place. It's somewhere between a summer camp and a Rock Resort and the people are incredible, both staff and guests.

Yesterday, I did two snorkels. The morning snorkel was from the beach and was the best I've had yet. The depth was just right, the fish were plentiful and varied and the clarity was great. I even got some good pics. The afternoon was from the boat. It was an incredibly low tide which made the clarity less than optimal. The highlights were seeing dolphins on the way out and some huge angel fish. I thought I heard some whistles and clicks, but convinced myself that I was imagining things. When I got back on the boat, they said the dolphins had been really near me. If only...

Right after the afternoon trip I had a massage. It was the most relaxing massage I've ever had. Not terribly therapeutic physically, but left my mind completely blank.

Dinner was an incredible feast. They called it a seafood buffet, but it was much more than that. On the seafood side, there were coral trout, salmon, crab, yabbies (crayfish), Moreton Bay bugs (somewhere between a crayfish and a slipper lobster), shrimp, and octopus. Then there were pork, lamb, and beef roasts with sides of potatoes, noodles, and veggies. Next, it was the fruit and cheese table. Australian cheeses are very good. I haven't had one yet I didn't like. Finally, there were several dessert options including Pavlova and chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup. By the time I left, I was waddling.

All that's left to do before I leave is check out. Laundry got done last night and I'm all set for my days in Cairns.

Catching Up

Sorry the blog has been so sparse lately. As I said, there is only one machine for Internet access here and it is usually in use and has a line of people waiting.

Here is Heron Island, one of the Capricorn Islands. It's about 30 miles off shore and contains a resort, a research station, and a national park. The resort is an interesting mix of rustic comfort, summer camp atmosphere, and incredible service. My room looks out over the reef and the sounds of the waves and the nobby terns are the only ones I hear. The guests run the gamut from singles to newlyweds to young families to older couples. They come from pretty much all over the world. Food is of mixed quality. Breakfast is lousy. Lunch is pretty good. Both are done buffet style. Dinner is good and dessert better. The chef has a way with chocolate. The first night there was a rich chocolate creme brulee and yesterday's lunch had a chocolate mousse worthy of Julia Child.

Accommodations are in small buildings. The lowest level rooms are in small one story buildings with two units per building. These are about 200 yards from the beach. My room is on the second floor of a two story building. It's fairly comfortable, but far from luxurious. The only TV on the island is in the bar. The bar does some really good alcohol-free drinks. Yesterday I had a mintlip: crushed mint, lime juice, gingerale, and soda water. Probably the most refreshing drink I've ever had.

The main attraction of the island is the reef. On Thursday, I went on a snorkel trip. Mask trouble made it less than spectacular. I did see many kinds of fish I'd never seen before. Yesterday morning, I took the semi-submersible and it was great. We saw a turtle, a couple of manta rays and uncountable eagle rays. Tons of fish and coral as well. In the afternoon, I went on the very informative reef walk.

My new obsession is clams. The ones here are nothing like the ones in the US. These look more like giant scallops. Each one is different and the range of colors is amazing. I've been taking tons of photos of them so someday you'll see what I mean.

A couple of side notes. The drive up from Hervey Bay was a long non-scenic trip. The bright spot was a general store that had a very sweet Siamese kitten. Last night, I had a chat with an Aussie couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. We came to the inevitable topic of toilets. Yes, they do twirl clockwise here. These folks had been to the US and said that the first few days they were there, they thought the toilets were all broken. When Australian toilets have that much water in them, it means there's a problem. These folks didn't know what to do. Should they stand on the seat? Should they call housekeeping?

Last night's star gazing was cut a bit short by the brightness of the full moon making it impossible to see most of the constellations. We did see Scorpio, Libra, Chiron, and, of course, the southern cross. The woman who did the talk was very knowlegeable and lots of fun. The highlight was seeing a star that seemed to go by forever. It was almost like a comet dragging a long tail.

Today, I'll go for a beach snorkel and an afternoon boat snorkel. The water's cold enough that I'll be wearing a wetsuit. Rather uncomfortable and very unflattering, but the only way to stay in for any length of time.

Tomorrow will be taken up with moving on to Cairns. I'll try to write the day after when I get back from my trip out to the outer northern reef.

Hanging on Heron

Just a quick note to let you all know I'm alive. There's just one Internet access point on Heron Island and it's is very popular.

Having a great time. Did my first snorkel yesterday. Took semi-submersible today and saw some huge manta rays. Finished morning with a wonderful spa treatment. Off now for a reef walk. Will try to post more later.

Thar They Blow

It's been a fun couple of days in Hervey Bay. Lack of blog yesterday due solely to problems with Internet access. Tonight, someone finally knew where to find an Internet cafe. Took me to a part of town I didn't know existed that's filled with restaurants. Will try one as soon as this is finished. Please excuse spelling errors tonight. For some reason, the spell check option isn't available tonight.

Yesterday morning, I walked over to the Whalesong to take my first whale watch here. The people were just lovely. The whales were plentiful and a couple came right up to the boat. These are humpbacks that are like those of New England and California. The main difference is that the southern hemisphere humpbacks have much more white on their underside. Many have flukes that are nearly all white. Photo identification must be tough here. I'll find out when I send some of my photos to the researchers. I saw my first humpback spy hop and got a decent photo.

The trip also gave me a chance to see some of Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. Given that it's sand, I was surprised at how much vegetation there was. Most of the island seems to be forested. Fraser is one of the few places where there are still pure-bred dingos. In most other places, they've interbred with domestic dogs.

In the avro (afternoon), I went on a flight to see dugongs. No great pictures, but fantastic memories. There were tons of them, including at least one mother-calf pair. We also saw dolphins, a ray, and one very small shark.

Dinner was fantastic. The restaurant seemed a bit snooty at first, but when the waiter sat down next to me, I knew everything would be OK. The seafood medley included a couple of things I really wanted to try. The local scallops are fairly small, but very tasty. The real treat was having a Moreton Bay bug. This is a pretty famous crustacean similar to a crayfish. Very yummy. There was also some coral trout which was very good along with pranks and calimari. What I don't understand is why they served fries with the dish since there were potatoes in it. Dessert was a pavlova, a well known Aussie specialty. It's usually a baked meringue with a fruit filling. This one was different in that it was very soft and was a roulade rather than a mound. The berry filling was very good.

Walking back to the hotel, I met Tiger the chihuahua. A very good doggie who gave very nice nose kisses. When I went over to the wharf this morning, there were Tiger and his mommy again. We had a nice chat and I got more kisses. Tiger clearly remembered me and tried to climb into my arms. Even the Australian dogs are friendly.

Back on Whalesong this morning with very different conditions. The wind picked up overnight and what had been totally flat seas were very choppy. Unlike the day before when the boat was very crowded, it was only about half full. About half of that half was people from the Netherlands and I actually used a bit of Dutch.

The rest of the boat was Australians. One of the things I've noticed here is that the people spend a lot of time traveling within their own country. Campers (caravans here) are very popular and people take extended vacations to explore different areas. One person I talked to was covering about half the country in one trip.

I continue to be amazed by how friendly and open the people here are. For example, the photo shop has someone taking pictures of people as they board the boats. Yesterday, I waved the person off. This morning, I decided to have the picture taken since I was wearing my Red Sox World Series shirt. When I got on the boat for the afternoon, it was the same photographer and she really wanted to take my picture so nobody else would back out. When the boat docked, she gave me that picture as a gift.

The morning trip was OK, but not spectacular. With all the chop, the crew and I hoped for a lot of surface activity. We didn't get it. There were plenty of whales, though.

The afternoon boat was the Spirit of Hervey Bay. It's a bit bigger than Whalesong, definitely faster, and has underwater viewing areas. The crew was as nice as any I've met, but the naturalist had some bad information.

This was a spectacular trip. The surface activity we missed in the morning was in abundance in the afternoon. The first whale we saw was breaching. Then we had pectoral fin slapping, tail lobbing, rolling, and close approaches. There was a spy hop, but that was when I foolishly went below hoping for an underwater view. There was one aggregation of at least five whales that was clearly competitive. Although I got some great shots, there were many I missed because I was so busy enjoying the view.

Now, it's off to dinner. My departure tomorrow will be very early in order to get to Gladstone in time for my boat to Heron Island. I can't believe how little of the trip is left. It's just blown by.

Crikey!

The day did not start out all that well. After leaving for the airport at 5 am, I picked up a paper that said there were whales seen in Victor Harbor yesterday. If only I hadn't left for Adelaide so early!

Once I got to Brisbane, all was better. I got directions to Steve (Crikey) Irwin's Australia Zoo that were perfect and arrived in time to take in the free-flight bird show and the tiger show. Leaving before the crocs came on stage, I wandered the zoo until it was time for my tour of the koala hospital. More kangaroos and wallabies, including a couple of white ones. One wallaby really took to me even though I didn't have any food for it. The dingos there were nowhere near as much fun as the ones in Urumbirra. No puppies. I did see my first cassowary. Several years ago, I had a strange dream that someone gave me one as a gift and it attacked me. Seeing the size of it's feet, I'm glad it was just a dream. In one of the many koala exhibits, I struck what I thought was gold with a couple of baby koalas clinging to their mothers.

Little did I know what true gold is. For the koala hospital tour, I was the only guest and I suspect I got to see some things not usually on the tour. There was a sweet koala who had lost a leg and couldn't be released that I got to pet. Then there were two babies smaller than any I had ever seen. Heart-breakingly cute! One was just poking his head out of the pouch.

From the zoo in Beerwah, it was a 3+ hour drive to Hervey Bay where signs led me straight to my hotel. The room looks out over the marina and the boat I'm going out on in the morning. There will be whales!

The Best Laid Plans...

The last two days haven't gone exactly as planned. No real problems, but a couple disappointments.

After yesterday's blogging session, I poked around Victor Harbor. It's a pretty typical summer town, sweet shops every half block. There are also a couple of casinos (slots only) and I actually netted a bit over Au$20. A stop at the South Australia Whale Center revealed that at least one whale had been spotted the day before and another two days before that. Thus, my hopes were high for my own sighting. Shortly after 11, I called my hotel to check for messages because the person from the whale watch company said he'd call before 11 to let me know if he was going out. Finding no message, I called the company and was told their boat was out of commission. This was not a bad thing. Karen had told me that the boat I was supposed to go on was noisy and unpleasant. One more call and Diane and I were booked on another boat leaving just half an hour after the one for which I had originally planned. Diane showed up exactly on time and we took the horse-drawn tram across the causeway to Granite Island. All the way over, we talked about how bad we felt for the poor Clydesdale pulling the tram. I found out today that they only do three trips a day, one day a week. Not as bad as I had feared.

The whale watch started out well enough. Our first stop was at Seal Island which lived up to its name with a large contingent of Australian Fur Seals. That was the only wildlife of the trip. Soon after we left the seals, the wind picked up. Everyone ended up fairly wet. Diane and I were the only ones properly dressed, but we still ended up with wet butts. The scenery was fascinating with lots of steep cliffs, but it wasn't really what I was hoping for. Apparently, the whales left a bit early this year.

Back on shore, Diane took me to a real pub dinner. We both had the roast (the most traditional pub meal), which this night was pork served with white and sweet potatoes and steamed veggies. Then the real fun began. Diane had to buy groceries and we headed to Woolworth's. There is nothing like exploring a grocery store in a foreign country accompanied by an anthropologist. We talked about brands (P&G uses their British brands), local specialties (good feta and lots of pasties because the Cornish miners came in right after the New England whalers), and the universality of young, low-energy cashiers.

Back at the hotel, I was awakened a couple of times by the howling wind. There was no way an additional day in Victor Harbor would have brought a chance of whales. Karen picked me up to go to the ferry to Kangaroo Island and took me through a wonderful nature reserve. Lots of cool birds (including my first rosellas). Best of all, mobs and mobs of wild kangaroos. I didn't think I'd get to see them hopping at full speed, but I saw plenty of that today. A couple were even boxing, but they stopped before I could get the camera up.

When we got to the ferry dock in Jervis Bay, we were told that the weather conditions were expected to worsen. I could take the ferry over, but there was no guarantee I could get back. There wasn't going to be a bus to Adelaide until that night and it would get cancelled if the ferry didn't run. This sent Karen and me back to Victor Harbor where I rerented the same car I'd had and drove to Adelaide. Karen's directions were perfect and the car rental office was right across the street from my hotel. I was so early that my room wasn't ready yet, so I checked my bags and went for a walk. Adelaide is a pretty city, but not quite as clean as Sydney. One interesting thing is that it's ringed with parks. Karen explained that the military man who was in charge of the original settlement set things up in a grid system for easy deployment of his forces. Then he shot off cannons from the outside edge and left open space between the cannons and where the cannon balls fell. That way nobody could fire into the city. Apparently, there was a fear the Russians would attack. In any case, the city has maintained the parkland and it makes a nice buffer.

Now that I'm settled in at the Hyatt in Adelaide, I hope all will be back to normal. My flight to Brisbane is very early tomorrow and then it's off to Australia Zoo enroute to Hervey Bay where there had better be whales.

South Australia

An early morning flight to Adelaide took me to my first experience driving in Australia. My car was a Hyundai which is much more popular here than in the US. Cars here are US-sized, not the supercompacts of Europe. It works well as the roads are nowhere near as narrow. Getting back to driving on the left was a bit of a challenge off the highways, but not too bad.

From Adelaide, I drove to Finiss, a town barely on the map. Here, without a wrong turn despite going through some very small towns, I found the home of Diane Bell, mother of my friend Genevieve. What a gorgeous place to live! Acres of land just above a river that flows into the Murray. All kinds of plants, including fruit trees. Birds galore, especially in her little walled garden. Saw my first gallahs, cockatoo-type birds with rosy chests. Also saw parakeets.

Diane is wonderful and we hit it off right away. Her home is a small log cabin with a small detached studio where she writes. A new house is about to be built that will give her incredible views. Diane made me my first Aussie barbecue, hamburger and wonderful chicken sausage made by the local butcher. Sides were tabbuleh (sp?), great local multi-grain bread, and a mix of white and sweet potatoes. For dessert there was a cookie made with oatmeal and golden syrup. It was all wonderful.

After lunch, Diane set me off in the direction of Victor Harbor where I arrived just on schedule. The Whaler's Inn is in a great location, on a bluff overlooking Encounter Bay (where English and French explorers encountered each other). The property itself is so-so. The room is a large studio with views of the bay. The bed, however, is soft and saggy. There are stairs everywhere, so many that I decided to put what I needed in my small suitcase and check my large one at the office.

Then the real fun began. Karen of Banksia Adventures picked me up right on time. Rather than joining another group, I was getting a private tour. Our first stop was Urumbirra Wildlife Park, a small, family run park which has native animals and does rescue work as well. Nearly everything is open, except for a few enclosures. The first animals I saw were the free-ranging guinea pigs. Some had been brought in to feed to other animals and they reproduced faster than expected. Every year kids come in and get to take one for about 50 cents.

Several types of macropods and micropods were also roaming free. Macropods (big feet) are kangaroos. Micropods (little feet) are wallabies. Karen and I both had bags of feed pellets and the animals knew it. They'd hop right up to us for a snack, some of them being a bit pushy. All of them liked a rub on the chest which I was all to happy to provide. Several had joeys (babies) and I got a good look inside the pouch of one mama.

The visit with the koalas provided what I expected to be the highlight of the tour. I got to pet one of the cuties. So soft! The fur is almost like wool, but not as course. Karen took a picture of me touching it.

The real highlight was the dingos. I got puppy kisses from some 9 week old sweeties and one of their parents. The whole pack, puppies first, came right up to the fence to see us. The puppies were such fun to watch, romping, playing, exploring. Then a wallaby came into view and the whole pack went off to look at it through the fence. The puppies didn't seem to know what the fuss was about, but the adult male jumped up against the fence and howled.

Another treat was that I saw my lizard. It wasn't labeled as such, but Karen told me when I was looking at a pair of Rosenberg sand monitors. This is the only animal I know of with my name. None of the lizard research folks I found knew the derivation of the name.

For our whole visit, Karen and I had the place to ourselves as it was after hours. Such a special experience! Karen knew all the animals individually and told me the histories of some like the kangaroo some people had tried to keep as a pet.

Next it was off to Granite Island which is connected to the mainland by a long causeway. Karen has a special permit that let her drive right out to the island. The penguin interpretive center is very funny. First, there's a talking penguin that welcomes you. Then there's a room with a touch table and a kid's dress-up area. The costumes took some time to figure out. What looked at first like a reindeer turned out to be the famous local leafy sea dragon, a kind of sea horse. The shark had a pink trim with white triangles that went around the face. Guess they would look like teeth to a kid. After a while, doors opened and we went to see the audio/visual presentation. Although very educational, this was just too funny. Two life-sized penguins stood by eggs. Then a tiny holographic ranger showed up and talked. The best part was when she ran her hand a couple of inches from one of the penguins and a holographic feather fell out.

The main event was the tour to see the penguins. These are little blue penguins, also called fairy penguins. They come ashore at night to their burrows. About a foot tall, they're very cute. The trip from the shore to the burrows is pretty long and a lot of it is vertical. Very tough for a little penguin. The sounds when they get to the burrow are amazing. Whistles, chirps, clicks all very loud. We also saw a ring-tail possum like I had met at Taronga Zoo.

After Karen dropped me back at the Inn, I went down for dinner. After a tough choice between beef filet with bernaise sauce (I'm a sucker for bernaise) and a local lamb dish, I decided on a breast of chicken stuffed with a local brie. Very yummy. Dessert was an incredible chocolate pudding with macadamias. This was the English style pudding, really a steamed cake. So good!

This morning, I've been out trying to spot the right whale people have said hangs out in the harbor. No luck. I went as far as Port Elliot, the next town over, which gave me a chance to get a close look at an aboriginal whale sculpture given by the local people to the town in thanks for a reconciliation. I've returned the rental car and now have a few hours before meeting Diane for a whale watch trip. Other than enjoying this internet cafe, I will poke around town and visit the South Australia Whale Museum.

It may be a couple of times before I blog again. Karen is picking me up early tomorrow to give me a lift to the ferry to Kangaroo Island. She has some places she wants to show me on the way. It will be late by time I get to Adelaide and I fly out early the next day. Then we reach the slow, leisurely part of the trip!

Up Above Down Under

Today, as planned and needed, was a low key day. I never even had a cup of coffee. I did, though, have a juice drink. They do good things with juices today and today's mix was watermelon, pineapple, and cantaloupe (what they call rock melon). Yummy. As with most transactions, it included a lengthy, friendly chat.

When I finally left my room some time after 10, I went into the jewelry store next door. Too expensive to buy from, but worth the visit to see the Aurora Australis, the largest black opal ever found. Just beautiful.

Then I took a cab up to the end of the retail section of Pitt Street. My hotel is at the other end. Found a couple of shops I was looking for. Checked out a Woolworth's which was much like the ones I remember in Germany with general merchandise on the upper floors and a grocery in the basement.

Next stop was the Queen Victoria Building or QVB. While photographing the statue of the queen outside what used to be the city's central market, I heard a recorded voice. Looking around, I saw a fountain with a statue of a small dog. He was the one who was talking. His name, he said, was Islay and he was the favorite of the queen. If I would throw a coin in the fountain as a donation to a humane society, he would thank me. Like most dogs, Islay knew a sucker when he saw one and I was rewarded with, "Arf. Arf. Thank you."

Lunch was in the Sydney Tower. Like other revolving tower restaurants, the food wasn't great, but in this case there was good value because it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Nothing spectacular, but a good variety. Cold seafood (explaining the finger bowls), various roasts, a few Asian foods, and a variety of desserts. The view was spectacular and included the Olympic Stadium and Botany Bay.

Walking back to the hotel, I stopped at one last opal store. This one advertises that it has a opalized dinosaur and they tell the truth. It may be a fairly small dinosaur, but it is nearly completely opalized. Just amazing.

It was very cold here today. I've been told however that it will be warmer down south which doesn't exactly make sense to me. We'll see. Internet access may not be as easy, so don't be surprised if my posts become more sporadic.

Rockin' Rocks

Today, I played tourist to the hilt. In the morning, it was a harbor cruise. In the afternoon, a bus tour. In between, successful shopping and fish and chips.

What a difference an hour makes. The 10am cruise I took had about 10 people. When we got back, there were at least 50 waiting for the 11am. The 10 of us had a huge boat all to ourselves, but we tended to cluster in the leeward spots. It was very windy and cloudy enough for some dramatic shots. Not much I hadn't seen before, but some new angles.

Back on shore, I headed to The Rocks, the first area settled in Sydney. Convicts tented there until more permanent housing was built. Today, it's the major tourist shopping area. Store after store of the same souvenirs with the occasional gem thrown in. In one place, I found some gift items nicer than I'd seen elsewhere and for a third of the price. In another, there were dirt cheap pieces of boulder opal that will make great pendants. The bead shop was a major disappointment, carrying nothing special and outrageously priced.

Next, it was a short walk back to Circular Quay for lunch. My craving of the day was for fish and chips. Not the best I've had, but pretty good.

The day's final adventure was a bus tour. More of The Rocks and Darling Harbor. Interesting tour though the city itself with pass-by's of the major buildings. Then we went to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, a famous point for photo ops. Back on board, we headed to famous Bondi beach. Unfortunately, there was no surf which meant no hunky surfers. Drat! There was a good coffee shop where I got coffee affogato which was a shot of espresso with a scoop of gelato. Yum.

Probably the most interesting part of the tour was going through the residential areas. The most common building style is what they call "terrace houses." These are small row houses with second floor terraces enclosed with wrought iron work. A square cut version of the buildings in New Orleans. Brick is the most common building material, but most homes are plastered over and many are pastel. We also saw some of the nicer areas. In these, architecture ranged from up-scale versions of the terrace houses to faux gothic to modern compositions. Most of Sydney seems to have been built in the Victorian era which is clear in government, business, and residential buildings. Along the way today, I spotted a statue of "Good Prince Albert," a reflection of just how Victorian the city is.

The main supermarket chain is Woolworth's and the graphics suggest this is the same chain that was our 5 and dimes. US chains have settled in with Starbucks, McDonalds, and Happy Jack's (Burger King) all over. Restaurants cover the gamut with over a hundred nationalities represented.

Despite this cosmopolitan atmosphere, it was small-town Massachusetts that brought me some of my greatest fun. There's a jewelry store in the hotel that sells some really unique opal stuff. As I spoke with the owner and contemplated buying a couple of pieces, it came out that we had a lot in common. We both design jewelry, albeit at very different levels. We both love animals and work to end whaling. The strangest thing was when I found out she once lived in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. With this we truly bonded. Go Sox! The more we talked, the deeper the discount went until I ended up paying 30% below retail on two special pieces and getting a third piece for free. I had been ready to buy at 20% off the lot!

A couple of cultural observations. Sydney is slightly more British than most of what I've experienced of Canada, but the American influence is strong. Much of TV is American programming and many of the ads are straight of US broadcasts. Kirstie is still on Jenny Craig and Target is hip. What I've seen of Australian TV is bad soaps, low-quality versions of US news shows (complete with the same cheesy music), and sports. Lots of sports. There's some big cricket competition with England going on. On top of that, the track and field World Championships are given lots of coverage. It may just be the channels the hotel gets, but every time I turn on the TV, there's a baseball game on at least one channel.

Tomorrow's my last day in Sydney and I'm not sure what I'll do with it. At least part of the day will be spent shopping. My backpack is falling apart and won't last the trip. I should have known better than to depend on an Intel freebie!

Taronga Zoo

This was one of those magical days where everything falls into place and dreams come true. Although I knew I was in for some special treats, my day at Sydney's famous Taronga Zoo far exceeded expectations.

A 15 minute ferry ride from Sydney, Taronga is known as the zoo with a view. In part, that's due to the zoo being high up on a hill. A bus takes one from the ferry at the early hour I arrived for my tour. The Skyfari cable cars wouldn't start for another half hour.

Tour check-in brought the first couple of surprises. There would only be five of us on the tour with two guides. The other four were a lovely family who live about 15 minutes from me.

First stop was the education center. In what I feared was a bad omen, we got the room with reptiles and insects. A few snakes, two blue-tongue skinks, a couple other lizards, some turtles and a few unattractive insects were shown and often brought out for us to touch and photograph. The fun started when the possums, Mr. and Mrs. Larry were taken out. Such sweet creatures! Incredibly soft fur, too. Then we were off into the main zoo before the hoards of school children took over the building.

The tour covered Australian animals only and was quite extensive in doing that. We saw everything and were up close and personal with several species. To the envy of other visitors, we got to go into an enclosure with koalas. Although we couldn't touch, we could go as close as we liked and take as many pictures as we like. Then we went in with some echidnas and quokkas. Echidnas are the only close relatives of the platypus in that they are both monotremes (egg-laying mammals), but the two species couldn't look less alike. While playtpus (which I saw more of at the zoo) are sleek aquatic creatures. echidnas look a lot like hedgehogs and walk with a pekinese-like waddle. Quokkas are small marsupials in the kangaroo family. Although very shy, we got to tempt them into touching and photo range with their favorite flowers.

In another area I made a new friend. There's a section of the zoo with kangaroos and wallabies that people can walk among. There's also an emu, as I discovered when I noticed something looking over my shoulder. After rubbing against me, he followed me around for several minutes setting the tour group and others into fits of laughter. He lost interest as I got engrossed in watching a wallabie and her joey. The baby was going in and out of the pouch which I'd never seen before.

Other treats on the tour were seeing two kinds of dingos, seeing some wild kukaburras (sp?) that had flown in looking for food, watching dilbies running around, and meeting a baby wombat. The Tasmanian devil wasn't acting very devilish. Turns out that much of the name comes from its devil-red ears. There were lots of very small marsupials and rodents whose names escape me at the moment.

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting. A review of my pictures will help fill in some blanks. I'm still having trouble getting pictures up with file size being the current issue. A few from yesterday are posted on my yahoo site, but most will probably wait until I get home.

After the tour, I told one of the guides that I was supposed to meet up with someone from the marine mammal team. Of course, the correspondence with that person was the one thing I forgot to print out. She got on the radio and said everything was all set. "All set" was quite an understatement.

The guides took me up a back stairway to the marine mammal facility where I was greeted like a long lost friend and introduced to the team. Then I was introduced to the animals. I never thought I'd be so close to Australian and New Zealand fur seals or an Australian sea lion. The poor California sea lion must have felt quite ignored. After a general review of the animals, a male Australian sea lion came out for a visit followed by a male Australian fur seal. Both were incredibly well trained and friendly. These were species I saw for the first time yesterday and today I got to pet them.

There was one more pinneped treat. Taronga Zoo is the only zoo in the world with a leopard seal. This is the result of a rescue. In what was no disappointment, I only saw this animal from a distance. Leopard seals are not a species I'd ever want to get really close to.

From the seals, it was on to some primates. The orangutan exhibit is lovely and one of the residents was particularly cooperative with my camera. First it demonstrated how it used a stick to get food out of a hole. Then it came closer for some beauty shots. The success of Taronga's gorilla program was evident by the babies. One is only a few months old.

Taronga is truly a magnificent zoo and the entire tour party was in agreement that it is better than San Diego. Everything is beautifully done and the range of species is amazing. The breeding programs are very successful. For example, Taronga is the only zoo to have successfully bred platypus.

A few other notes. Hands were washed frequently. All lenses for my still camera got use and I got some great video as well. Food was some better-than-expected Asian noodles.

When my feet could take no more, it was back to the ferry, this time via the Skyfari. The best views yet of Sydney Harbor and its landmarks. On arrival back at Circular Quay, I stopped for some vey yummy gelato at the same place I had gotten my morning juice mix and the guy there remembered me. On the short walk back to the hotel, I met my second Aussie dog. This one was very friendly. The one yesterday came running when our eyes met, but he was a bit mercenary, guiding me into his owner's shop and then barking at me.

Tomorrow morning will be a city tour and then maybe a harbor cruise. With nothing scheduled for the rest of my time here, I can play it as it comes.

Down Down Under

Touched down in Sydney less than 24 hours ago. Having a blast and ticking (checking) things off my list faster than expected.

The hotel is lovely and service top notch. My first view of the Opera House was from my room last night. In fact, that was my first Australia photo. Can't post pictures yet as the ancient Compaq they have here doesn't even have a USB port. Will see what I can do from the Internet cafe across the street.

This morning started out cool and I was rather glad my sail had been cancelled. After walking all of 1 1/2 blocks to Circular Quay, the hub for nearly all Sydney transportation, I picked up my Smartvisit card and hopped on a ferry to Darling Harbor. The ferry stopped right outside my first destination: Sydney Aquarium. The Smartvisit card got me right in without having to wait in line. A turn to the right, a jog to the left, and there I was. Platypus! Two of them. About half the size I thought they were, but cuter and far easier to see (and photograph) than I expected. Like most exhibits in the Aquarium, the platypus lived in a very natural setting with the company of other critters in their eco-system, in this case fish, lizards, and turtles.

The Aquarium is huge and beautifully designed. The signage is great and the flow takes you through the various habitats with no uncertainty. Unlike other places I've been where they make a big deal out of the one underwater tube they have, Sydney aquarium has at least three underwater passages. My favorite gives you an good look at the seals and sea lions. I can now add four new pinneped species to my list. The other tubes go through tanks with various sharks and rays. It was amazing to be down under all that cartilage.

The Aquarium has certainly benefited from the whole Nemo craze. The last section before the gift shop is the reef with tanks focusing on Nemo, Dory, and other critters from the film. From there, you go straight into the portion of the gift shop dedicated to the same theme.

After the Aquarium, I took a loop on the monorail to get a feel for that end of the city. To my surprise, the trip was narrated which made it much more enjoyable. The cars need a bit of refurbishing, but it's a great way to get around.

The ferry ride back to Circular Quay provided the opportunity to take the iconic Sydney photos. Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Opera House, the Opera House through Sydney Harbor Bridge. There were lots of little ants waving from the top of the bridge. They were taking the famous bridge climb, something I will not be doing.

Lunch was at Doyle's, a very famous seafood restaurant. Scallops Mornay done perfectly. One of the things I have to get used to here is that tipping is just becoming part of the culture. Charge slips have the line to add a tip, but nobody seems to expect one. That included last night's taxi driver and even the bell man.

A quick change of clothes and I was off for what was probably one of the stranger bits of my trip. I had arranged to have coffee with a friend of a friend of a friend who had contacted me through one of those community Internet sites. While I knew he was a recruiter, I did not realize he saw this as an interview. There he was with my resume, asking me how interested I was in moving to Australia. It was a great experience as it gave me some insight into the business world here and took me to a neighborhood I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Surry Hills is a lot like SoMa in San Francisco, well past its prime, but coming back as a very hip part of town. Lots of bistros, hair salons, and loft office space.

So, that it is up to now. Well, there is one more thing. I've spent an inordinate amount of time looking down toilets. Several people asked me to confirm the stories of the water in toilets spinning in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere. A full day and several toilets later, I still don't know. The toilets I've used here have very strong suction, and the water just goes down. No spinning. The search for truth will continue.