The last days!

Ok, this is the story of a man named Brian, who went with his girlfriend to the arts town of Montville.  No, there was no Texas T, black gold, or oil but there was some wonderful paintings and sculpture.  And some was priced more than a barrel of oil!!

Montville is an arts town located in the Blackall Range Mountains north of Bribie.  This is the range that have Mt. Mee and the hills of Ballina in them.  The town is quite small with only one main street going up and down through it.  Like most of the towns that we have seen, it’s very pedestrian friendly so we parked the car after the hill climb and walked the town.

Like most arts towns, there were the chintzy shops that had decidedly amateur work, there are some galleries that are “modern” but a couple of galleries had some very nice works from talented local artists.  The subjects were very Australian, featuring Kookaburras, Koalas, and still-lifes of the beaches.  Some of the paintings featured Queenslanders which is the local architectural style.  A Queenslander is a house made out of wood siding, Victorian points and gables and built on stilts even though it is not anywhere near water.  The thought was, in the days before central air-conditioning, the stilts provided air-flow around the house to help keep it cool on the inside.  It’s a nice design for a house, very English.

There were shops with lots of other things, most of which we could live without.  We did manage to get a small print of a painting that we thought was particularly nice.  The painting was done by a self-trained local artist and was of a very high quality.  It was on discount, offered at a mere A$9,500.  A bargain, to be sure, and available to you in time for Christmas.  We have the address of the gallery for those who are interested.

Lunch was had at a local café and, for me, sealed my love of things Australian.  Lunch for many Aussies is in the form of a pie.  Not just any pie; no apple or cherry, but meat pies.  Fresh baked with a flakey crust and curried chicken or beef on the inside and mashed potatoes on the top of the crust.  In the case of the unique Montville pie, it had mashed peas and gravy on the top.  All pies are served warm and are nothing short of delicious.  Every town has a bakery.  No Krispy Kreme, or Kroger.  An honest to goodness bakery.  With all of the warm bread smells to entice you to an ever increasing waist-line.  All of the bakeries have pies of various flavors.  All are fresh baked that day with fresh ingredients.  The crust is flakey and firm but not burned.  The insides are deliciously mingled flavors that run right through the last bite.  A lunch of a pie and a drink is completely filling and wonderfully satisfying.  Especially when the drink is a milkshake.  Not one of the thick, eat with a spoon milkshakes that come from Sonic.  This milkshake is thin and drunk easily through a straw.  The vanilla flavor is good but not overpowering.  It’s a sweet drink without making me thirsty like ice cream makes me.  Other unique delights to the Australian bakery?  Cream buns (sweet bread like Hawaiian King rolls) that have been cut down the middle and filled with a sweet whipped cream and finger buns that are long sweet bread with icing on the top.  Oh, and here is our dining companion, a Chinese Water Dragon.

Again, this was a short trip that had rain on either side of it (trip up and trip down) and that brings me to Christmas Eve.  Right now, it’s raining and we’re calling today a “stay home” day.

Merry Christmas to all, from (mostly) sunny Australia, and I miss everyone there.  I think this will be the last post since we are mounting Sir Richard’s Virgin for the return on the 26^th.  This has been the trip of a lifetime for us and the best part has been meeting Jacq’s family.  Her mother and father have been so open and welcoming to us.  Jan is a delightful hostess, feeding us regularly with Australian delights (due to unforeseen circumstances we did not enjoy chili crab) but her cooking is five star quality.  Not only that, she has kept up with a house that is loaded with 12 people.  Magically, my clothes show up clean and folded every morning.  I’m not exactly sure when she is able to do that.  Jacq’s father is a larger than life figure.  And that is not joking.  He is easily 6 feet 6 inches tall!  Full of good humor and jokes he makes everything entertaining.  Eddie is extremely generous, having hosted us for the last two weeks.  His gift of telling jokes and entertaining is only surpassed by his sailing ability.  He’s very knowledgeable about history, and geography so that any question I had about Australia had an answer.  Jacq’s sisters, what a crew!  Donna and her partner Jason are very outgoing free spirits with kid hearts.  Jason is a volunteer surf-lifesaver at the Woorim beach and was formerly a professional soccer player.  Of course he and I had nothing to talk about  At All.  Nothing! Donna is on Christmas break from her job as a teacher in the local school.  Their kids, Max, Georgia and Tim were a lot of fun and included Sarah in everything that they did.  By the way, Max and Austin absolutely pummeled me in a game of golf.  They are quite the golfers.  Chris and Myles came in later and have been great fun.  Myles and the other guys all went and attempted to catch crabs to make Chili Crab.  Not a single crab was found.  Myles was a good sport and tried hard to lead us to the crab den but, alas, they must have known we were coming.  Their kids, Sydney and Makensey, have been great friends with Sarah, which is remarkable since they never met any of us until they got here.  The whole Edstein clan has been nothing short of a second family while we’ve been here.  I don’t have the words to express my gratitude to them for opening their home to a couple of Yankees on holiday down under.

A Journey to the Aussie Bush!

There are no photos for my next foray into the Australian Bush, a trip to the top of Mount Mee.  As you may have seen from the other posts, the Geology around here is one of high rolling hills descending into the sea.  This trip would take me into the higher hills west of the beaches.

Eddie and I departed on a cloudy and rainy morning.  In three weeks of being in Australia we have only had three rain days.  This was one of them.  We headed into the hills and I was enamored with them right off the bat.  Steep inclines with gum trees (eucalypts) spread out on them.  The trees are far enough apart and the leaves are at the very end of the branches so that grass grows on the hill sides.  This is the true Australian Bush.  Everyone thinks of the Outback as the bush but it’s not.  The Outback is just that, the Outback.  The Bush is the rural areas that have the occasional farm with cattle, horses and sheep.  The farms are not the huge 5,000 acre sheep stations, they are 100 acre family farms on the steep hill sides.  Since Queensland is in the grip of a flooding rains, all of the grass was green as emeralds.  This is also the home range of the Koala.  We did not see any in the wild, but, they really don’t do much so it would have been difficult to see them anyway.  Some of the territory reminded me of the hills of southern California so I asked about fires.  Eddie said that there are enormous fires in the area during the dry season which happened to coincide with the last seven years of drought.  The gum trees are very oily with turpentine-type sap.  When the fires come, the trees burn very easily and the Koala, not known for being either fleet of foot or exceptionally bright, runs to the top of the tree.  Not exactly where you want to be when the tree is on fire.

The twists and turns of the Mt. Mee scenic highway led to the top of the mountain and some of Australia’s wine country.  While not the Bourassa valley, there were several small wineries at the top.  I also got the privilege of showing Eddie some of my instrument navigation skills because the top was completely socked in with cloud and rain.  The fog was so thick, that we could not see more than 50 feet in front of the truck.  Normally, when the rain is not in, you can see all the way to the coast and Bribie Island from the top of Mt. Mee.  The flora and fauna is decidedly tropical.  There are plants growing in this part of Australia that are not seen outside of the far north part of the country, which is in the tropics.  The environment is truly unique.

It was a quick trip, not more than a couple of hours so there is not much more to say about it.  I did get some photos from my next foray away from Bribie, Montville.  Stay tuned….

Valley of contrasts

Hello All—

It has been a couple of days since my last post and you all have my sincerest apologies.  We have been doing a lot here and, at the end of the day, I’m not always up for a post.  I’ll try to make amends today with a lot of detail about what we’ve seen and done.

We have been splitting up the last couple of days and Tuesday Austin, Jacq and me headed south out of Bribie Island toward Lismore.  It’s a scenic drive that runs through some world famous beaches with names like Broken Head, Lennox Head, Byron Bay, Ballina, Surfers Paradise and Shelley.  The scenery is nothing short of spectacular.  There are rolling hills that rise 1,500 feet or so in the air and then run right down to the sea.  One beach, Shelley, has golden sand with several flat, rounded rocks on the shore.  The rocks are small and the surf is large, about 6 feet, and the rocks are broken off from the basalt formations that form the ledge where the large Pacific rollers turn into a surfers dream.  The rocks get tumbled and rounded just like the rocks in a mountain stream.  Lunch was had on the beach at Shelley and consisted of a tradition burger with the lot.  That is Australian for a burger with the lot, translation: Pineapple, lettuce, onion, beets, bacon, egg, cheese tomato, mayonnaise, mustard and tomato sauce (ketchup).  Quite tasty, and an argument can be made that it is the best burger in the world. 

  I will have to travel the world in an attempt to verify.  Now back to the landscape, there are basalt formations in the beach itself and they have pools built into them.  The water is changed twice a day with the changing tides. 

At Byron bay, there are two headlands that protect a crescent of golden sand with very mild and predictable surf.  We saw one youngster who couldn’t have been more than 10 years old surfing and surfing well.  He could get up and ride the wave all the way to the beach.  We climbed the headland and looked out toward a rock formation in the bay.  Julian’s Rock is probably 3 miles off-shore and boasts great diving and snorkeling opportunities.  It also boasts a good number of shark attacks.  We didn’t find out firsthand about either one.

 Further down the road was Ballina where the Richmond River joins the Pacific.  It was a first for me to see that kind of estuary.  In the southeast US, the rivers join the sea through a series of marshes and bays.  A very slow and sedate melding of waters fresh and salt.  Here was a very different story.  There are two rock jetties that protect the mouth of the river so that trawlers and other boats can leave the inland marinas.  However, the journey is not for the faint of heart.  The same rollers that were creating 6 foot surf at Shelley, create 7-10 foot surf that breaks dramatically on the jetties.  The tide is pushing hard enough against the downstream flow from the river that surf breaks in the middle of the river.  We were able to see about 20 surfers (crazy) riding waves along the jetty and the river’s mouth.  And guess what?  The area is known for its shark attacks.  We have some photos of the area but, like the pictures of the Harbour Bridge, they really don’t convey the size of everything.  It was all very dramatic.  The water color was so very clear and changed from a crystal blue color to more jewel tones as we made our way done the coast line. Watching the surfers carve their way through some of the large waves was really impressive.

From the beaches at Ballina, we headed into the town of Ballina.  First stop was Shaws Bay which is a small bay off of the entrance to the Richmond River.  Again the water is changed twice a day when the tide comes in to the bay.  Along the side is Shaws Bay Hotel which was owned at one time by Eddie and Jan Edstein.  We hoisted a pint in their honor while at the bar.  Well, I hoisted a pint of XXXX, Jacq hoisted Lemon, Lime and Bitters and Austin hoisted a lemonade (Sprite).  From the hotel, it was off to downtown Ballina where Jacq grew up and went to school.  We got to see her high school, town park/swimming pool and other local attractions that were very nice to see.  Now some of the stories that she has been telling me make sense having seen the “scene of the crime” so to speak. 

From Ballina we travelled a bit inland to take the back roads into Alstonville (pronounced Austinville) to see another town where Jacq spent some of her misspent youth.  The roads up to Alstonville were small, twisty and beautiful.  There was a bit of trepidation on crossing the one lane wooden bridges that had boards sticking up, but we made it none the less.  There are several farms on the way into town that grow everything tropical, sugarcane, guava, avocados, pineapple and macadamia nuts.  One of the farms is the former residence of the Edstein clan where they raised Clydesdales and other live stock.  The farm is still there (a little smaller, 40 acres down to 10 acres) and for sale for the sum of A$850,000 or so.  Just make an offer.  The hills are rolling all around the farm with lots of green pastures and the occasional tree.  The neighboring farms are growing some type of fruit because all of the trees are covered by black netting to keep out the fruit bats.  Which, by the way, are about 3 feet from wing tip to wing tip. 

The farm led into downtown Alstonville.  It is situated in top of a bluff and has commanding views of the Pacific Ocean.  The house that the Edsteins’ owned after the farm was one of the ones with a great view of the pacific.  The steeply rolling terrain gave way several hundred feet from the back door so that when they were on the back porch, they could see the rolling farmland, the beach and the ocean.  Quite a view!  The town of Alstonville is quaint with a small main street forming the commercial district.  There were a couple of “odds and sods” shops and the necessary parts of any town in Australia, the pub.

In all of the towns we have visited one thing they have in common is the RSL club in it is sort of like a one stop shop for veterans and the general public who purchase memberships (veterans are free).  The vets can socialize, gamble, drink and take care of whatever business they may have with the government.  The members of the public are limited to socializing, drinking and gambling.  Food is served and entertainment acts are brought in.  Of course pubs in Australia are true English style pubs and serve the same purpose as the pubs in England.  Everyone has their “local” (where they always go) where they go for a “shout” (round of drink) after work.  It is a very open, light and airy place not at all like a of the halls back home. Also they have Golf clubs, lawn bowls clubs, all where people meet and greet to socialize.

After Alstonville, we headed back toward Bribie and decided that dinner would be had in Surfers Paradise, otherwise known as Surfers.  Where Ballina, Lennox, Broken Head and Byron were quaint, small typical surfer towns.  They really are like the stereotype, lots of VW and Toyota microbuses with the “come as you are” clothing and, I suspect, lots of “herbal lifestyle choices” being made.  Surfers was the exact opposite of that.  The surf is spectacular and, as the name implies, it is really good for surfing.  However, the city (definitely not a town) is anything but small and quaint.  It is populated by high rises and international restaurants.  Bright lights and big sounds.  If you want it, it can be had in Surfers.  As a matter of fact, we walked past a building that billed itself as the tallest residential apartment building in the world.  332 meters high with 11 elevators.  And this building was not more than 2 blocks from the beach.  There was the Chinese restaurant that was filled with nothing but Chinese.  We dined at a Thai restaurant that was delicious.  All of the restaurants were inside/outside dinning with patrons sitting on the sidewalk and the restaurant itself having the entire front open to the sidewalk.  A very big city, international experience that was not more than 1 hour 30 minutes from the rural vistas of Alstonville.

We drove back to Bribie on the M1 from Surfers since it was late and we had already seen the sights along the beach.  On the drive we enjoyed the ever so efficient Queensland Roads and Transport Administration (RTA) system of motorways.  In Australia, there is liberal use of speed and red light cameras.  Ordinarily, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.  Everyone drives the speed limit or a ticket shows up in the mail a couple of weeks later.  But, the Queensland RTA decided that the night we were driving back to Bribie, they needed to change the lights along the motorway.  The M1.  The main drag up and down the East coast of Australia.  So, in true efficient fashion, the changeable speed limit signs had all been changed to 60.  60 kmph  Which translates into roughly 35 miles per hour.  On an 8 lane motorway.  Since the Aussies are so efficient, we noted no more than 6 guys standing around watching each other standing around.  But the 60 kmph signs were everywhere, along with big brother and his pen.  I’m a police officer and I think that the whole camera

More fun down under

Hello again from sunny Australia.  The past two days saw our intrepid band of Americans/Aussies venture out of the cozy confines of Bribie Island and head toward Marcus (Mahcus) Beach and and  to Mooloolaba.  That will be the new field sobriety test for the Irmo PD, pronouncing the word Mooloolaba.

At Marcus Beach we met with friends of Jacq's the Palmers (Palmas) and had lunch.  They have a beautiful house that is on the bluff overlooking the beach and the Pacific ocean.  And I think that its the entire ocean that you can see from the Palmer's house.  The view is like something from a travel brochure.  Lunch was a delightful combination of a fruit salad with Chinese Gooseberries, Apricots, and other local fruits; sliced watermelon with cheese and onion; and chicken.  After lunch we chatted about things while keeping a wary eye on the cricket.  The Ashes are being contested and in Australia that is much more important than anything else, including nuclear war.  The Aussies are up at day two of the five day game but have struggled with the bats.

After dinning we regretfully took our leave of the Palmers and headed down the coast to Mooloolaba.  There is a place called Underwater World.  Its an aquarium that specializes in the local favorite, sharks.  Austin and Shannon were signed up for a cageless swim with the nasties so we made our way to the tank.  About the same time, a real cracker of a thunderstorm showed up and threw everything but the kitchen sink at us.  The kind of storm that would have had the wife-beater wearing, trailer dwellers talking about the freight train that just ran through the yard.  Since they don't get tornadoes here, all we got was lightening, thunder, rain (buckets) and hail.  That being said, power was lost at the aquarium and the dive was off for the day.  Giving our erstwhile explorers another 24 hours to ponder the toothed wonders.  We headed out with our heads hung low and returned to Bribie to wait out the storm.  But not before both Sarah and Michayla received a fishy, whiskered kiss from a Aussie seal named Porsche.

The next day dawned bright and clear and our party split up for activities.  Jacq, Shannon, Austin and I headed back to Mooloolaba and Michayla and Sarah headed to the mall with Jacq's sister and niece.  The trip back to the aquarium was very quiet, all were thinking of the possibilities that come from swimming with the apex predator of the area.  We got to the aquarium and the appetisers got ready for the menu by putting on a wetsuit and taking a quick scuba class.  They learned how to breathe through their mouths and clear their masks.  Also, how to ask for help once in the water.  The most important instruction?  Keep your hands to yourself.  The sharks are hand fed so when your hands come away from your body, its lunchtime.  That's the kind of information that is key to having a good time.

Into and out of the training pool and our young explorers were deemed marinaded and ready.  They headed around to the top of the large ocean tank and Jacq and I headed down to watch the festivities.  The tank is similar to the one at the Ripley's aquarium in Myrtle Beach.  A very large tank with an acrylic tunnel for the public to go under the water.  It was in this tunnel that Jacq and I waited.  Into the water went our dynamic duo along with two other swimmers.  At first, the fish, rays and sharks were wary of the interlopers but they gradually became interested.  Finally, after about 10-15 minutes, all of the nasties were swimming around the brave explorers.  Finally, after many pictures and a bit of video (hat tip to Sarah Buck who loaned us the Flip video camera) all survived the swim and returned to us with all of their fingers and toes.  Shannon and Austin were delighted with the swim and both are thinking of learning how to scuba when they get back.

We left the aquarium and stopped by the Ettamogah Pub on the way home for a bit of authentic Australia.  Of course the cricket was on while we had a couple of drinks at the table.  Then it was back into the car.

At early evening we weathered another thunderstorm.  I am beginning to realise why Queensland is a sister state to South Carolina, and one of the reasons is weather.  Afternoon thunders just like summertime in South Carolina.

Finally we made it back to Bribie where all of our bravery (its not easy watching family swim with sharks) was rewarded  by Jan with a repast of no equal.  Steaks, Rissoles, Salad, Fruit with Rice Pudding and Banana Cream pie where on offer and all were exquisitely prepared.  Today is Saturday and we are headed to the beach for a relaxing afternoon in the sun (with the requisite sunscreen).

I have to swap computers to upload photos so check back later to see all the great shots!!!


Cheers!

Bribie Days...

Hello All--  Its been a couple of days and I didn’t want you to think that I forgot about posting to the blog.  Here is what has been going on.

Yesterday was a round of golf at the local club with a foursome of Eddie, Austin, Max (Austin’s cousin) and me.  Suffice to say that there is no danger of me being asked to play in the PGA anytime soon.  The course was beautiful, if a little damp, with a great number of birds.  The laughing Kookaburra earned its name every time I hit the ball.  Austin, Max and Eddie are very good players; Austin and Max have great games and are a pleasure to watch.  They are the type of players who make the game of golf look deceptively easy.

While the boys were on the course, the girls had an afternoon in the shops and then leisure time at the pool.  They are all very relaxed and working on tans to impress their friends when they return to South Carolina.

Shannon, Eddie and I went to the local airport on the island at Bongaree.  It’s a great little field with all grass runways and a wonderful little museum for old airplanes.  Inside the hanger were an SNJ, Neiuport, Wirriway, and a Mustang.  The SNJ and Mustang were flyable and for a mere $1,200 a pilot would take a willing passenger for a trip around the circuit.  As you can imagine, we passed.  A first on this side trip, we saw kangaroos in the wild.  There are two grass runways with a stand of woods in between them and the ‘roos live in the woods.  They are relatively smart animals and will clear the runway when a plane is coming or going.  Otherwise, they eat the grass and keep things neat.

The crowd got back together for dinner which consisted of authentic Australian fish and chips.  Cod, scallops and calamari were on offer along with a heaping pile of chips (steak fries) wrapped in paper.  

Today we were up and about early for a trip to Australia Zoo, the home of the Irwins.  What an amazing place.  Lots of things for us to see and do in the zoo.  Many pictures were taken of all six of us doing various things.  Of course there were kangaroos and koalas to be seen, touched and photographed.  The kangaroos are like deer in South Carolina.  While they are unique to Australia, they are everywhere here.  The ‘roos at the zoo were mainly the large red kangaroos.  They are left in a large compound with open spaces and a creek that runs through the middle.  There are double doors , as in an aviary, and the ‘roos are free to walk around.  More importantly, the guests are free to walk around and approach the ‘roos.  The zoo even supplies “’roo food” to feed them!  Of course we all had ‘roo food and went right in to see them.  Very tame animals that just laid around and let us pet and feed them.  Their fur is incredibly soft to the touch.  I was quite surprised by that, I expected it to be course to fend off bugs. They also have long claws and their front arms are quite strong.  They also tend to keep their eyes about half shut so that they have a perpetual “too cool to care” look.  How amazing it was to be able to walk right up to one of the icons of Australia, sit, feed and pet them just like an average domesticated pet.

Here is the peanut gallery that laughed at me while playing golf.  Actually, this is a laughing Kookaburra and it really does sound like it is laughing.

Of course we also were able to touch and hold koalas.  Their fur was not nearly as soft as the ‘roos.  But they are very cute and photograph well.  All of us had our picture taken holding a koala.  They really are kind of smelly, strange animals, but, it was great that we were able to hold another icon of Australia.  By the way, little known fact about koalas; in order to digest the leaves of the eucalyptus tree, they have one of the largest appendixes in the animal kingdom.  Also, they have to eat special “poo” from their mother at a critical stage of development in order to obtain the necessary bacteria that will in habit their appendix to digest the leaves.  Talk about a specialized niche in the animal kingdom…

 

A trip to the Australia Zoo would be incomplete without seeing salt water crocodiles.  They had them on display and did a show demonstrating their, um, capabilities.  They are quite powerful animals and exceptionally big in stature.  However, all of the demos in the stadium didn’t mean as much until we watched them cutting the grass in Agro’s display.  Agro is the largest and most aggressive of the salties in the zoo, he is the one that has eaten four lawn mowers.  The water in his area is brown, as it would be in the wild.  He slid off of the bank and into the water where we couldn’t see him anymore.  Then, one of the guys working in the display tapped the wall and WHAM! Out of the water and after the pole in a flash.  Had the pole been a person, it would have been over in less than a second.  Absolutely amazing.

We also were able to watch many other displays; birds, snakes, elephants, tigers and more.  Impressive was the amount of time the keepers spent allowing the public to see, touch and interact with the animals.  Something that is unique to me. 

Upon exiting the zoo we went to the wildlife hospital. Ten baby fruit bats had been dropped off earlier that day. They were swaddled and had tiny little bottles feeding them. There were also eight koalas in the hospital in various stages of wellness and one possum. It is a wildlife sanctuary like none other, they are conservationists as well as a teaching zoo. It was a great day and we head back home.

By the way Eddie seems to feel that I should be driving while I am over here so I drove the family to Beerwah where the zoo is about 45 minutes from the island. Can’t say I’m used to it, have trouble not looking to my left on a right had turn. Wipers and blinkers I’m doing better at and I think I’ve mastered the round-a-bouts. When I get back to the house after driving anywhere, I feel like I did when I had finished an instrument flying lesson.  Brain-drained.

We arrived home safely and I threw Jacq in the pool with the encouragement of Eddie!

Jacq’s Mum has been super putting on a spread for us every day and night. Every time we turn around there is something available for us to eat or drink. I ate half a cow for dinner, an Aussie T-bone steak, medium well. Aussie style means that the fillet is still with the T-bone.  It had to be half of the cow.  She really does a great job of coordinating everything that we have going on and is quick to give us something that is very Australian to eat.  It has been a great introduction to dinning in style.  After dinner I lost in grand style at Yahzee.  Tomorrow is Wednesday and while the good golfers are on the course, the rest of us are headed to the beach and then the men are going to be manly and challenge the wind in the sailboat.

Day one in Sydney

Ok.  Where did I leave off?  Rushed details on the flight and a little about first impressions.  Now that I have a little more time maybe I can do a better job.  This time, I’m going to type out what I want to say and then upload it to the blog and add pictures.

Here is the Yankee crew as we prepared to leave the wintery confines of Columbia:

 

And since I was unable to load photos into the last post here are some from our Virgin Australia Airlines plane:

And the first sight of land was this…

Off the plane, on the train and into the Quality Inn Cambridge.  Nice place, but definitely a European feel to the rooms.  Small, small hallways and small lifts (elevators, I’m trying to learn the language).  Very nice staff who were accommodating to a couple of yanks right off the plane.  Cleaned up and out the door into the city, fighting the Jet Lag monster.

Out of the door and first impressions about the city.  No sirens, traffic going the wrong way and that extends into the sidewalks.  Stay to the left on the sidewalk to let everyone by, just like the roads.  It takes some adjustment for me but seems to work out well for pedestrians.  It doesn’t help me at all with the roads.  Our first stop is Hyde Park.

A cool oasis in the middle of the city is Hyde Park; with tall eucalyptus trees and manicured grass with bright flower beds.  Of course, at eight-something in the morning, there are not a lot of people in the park which made it that much cooler and quieter.  We are moving together through the park and savoring the brilliant sunshine and cool breeze.  We figure the best way to beat the Jet Lag monster is to head right out and see what’s about in the city and what we can do on the spur of the moment.  Snap shots are in order with more posed photos tomorrow after we’ve had a sleep and cleaned up a bit.  Here is a fountain with an Aboriginal design: 

And here is another shot of Hyde Park showing the eucalyptus trees and palm trees: 

The park is several blocks long and leads all the way to the Royal Botanical Gardens and to the waterfront.  Many fountains and sculptures are in the park representing figures from the history of Australia. 

Next to Hyde Park is St. Mary’s Catholic Church a Gothic designed cathedral that is one of the largest churches in Australia.  It is open to the public but no photographs are allowed inside the sanctuary which is a shame because is really is not cathedral-like on the inside.  I’m used to the inside of cathedrals being dark and foreboding, kind of a “You really want to keep the homeowner happy” kind of place.  The inside of this cathedral is not like that at all.  It is very bright and airy with lots of natural light coming through stained glass windows and regular windows down both sides.  The building is situated on a vague North-South orientation so the long sides of the building are on the East and West letting in lots of sunlight.  Here are some photos of the church:

A quick aside, here is a monument to the Irish potato famine.  I thought it was unique because the design incorporates the former barracks where the immigrants first stayed and is made with names etched on glass:

 

On the way to the shoreline and Royal Botanical Gardens, we stopped for a quick dose of good luck by rubbing the hogs nose…

 

Here we are walking into the Gardens.  This sculpture is located near the entry  and is Captain Authur Phillip the first governor of Australia.  The following are photos from the Royal Gardens.  An amazing location in Sydney right near the Opera House and Circular Quay (language note, pronounced “key”.  Don’t ask).  The grass is cool to the touch, the flowers are incredibly bright and the pathways are neat.  I think that someone is taking care of the gardens with hand tools, scissors and the like.  The views of the surrounding areas are magnificent. 

Lunch was had during a Harbour cruise.  One of the first things that strikes you in the Harbour is the immense size of both the Opera House and the bridge.  We will take a tour of the Opera house on another day and I’ll post more information about it then.  But, I’m completely taken aback by just how big everything is.  Here are some photos from the lunch cruise.  

 (and the first victim of Jet Lag).

That about wraps the activities for day one of our Australian adventure.  We struggled back to the hotel about 6 or so in the evening, thought that we’d take a nap and head out for dinner.  That just didn’t happen.  Jet Lag monster beat us down and it was 7-8 in the morning the next day before we were up.

Bribie Island

Our arrival at the airport was, um, unorthodox.  Apparently guests without a ticket can go to the gate to pick-up passengers, like the good old days in the States.  Well, Jacq's dad was waiting at the gate (all 6'4" of him) wearing a Bob Marley wig, mirrored sunglasses and holding a sign that said "Welcome Sarah and Ryan"  (misspelled on purpose). Under a very colorful vest was a t-shirt on which he had written "I hate cops."  All in all it was very funny and a great introduction.  Eddie is quite a practical joker and we all had a good laugh, especially when three real police officers strolled by us.

Off to the car park and then on to Bribie Island.  It is about an hour drive or so from the Brisbane airport to the island, and a chance to see some of the country on the way.  It is a very tropical area, lots of lush green plants and mountains in the background.  Bribie Island is dominated by a national park with a very small portion set aside for development.  The house is situated on a system of canals that connect to the passage between the island and the mainland.  I was allowed to ride in the front and received instruction on the driving system here in Australia.  It felt very strange to sit on the left side of the truck and not have a steering wheel, and, to see all of the cars on the wrong side of the road.  Lots of "round abouts" (traffic circles) and not a single traffic light to be found.  The key to remember is "stripes on your right."

The short drive from the airport to the island led to the Edstein estate.  We took the luggage inside and then sat and chatted for a bit.  Then, we loaded onto the yacht "Love It" captained by Eddie Edstein for a sunset cruise.  We motored around the inlet for a bit, watching the sun set and looking at the Glass House mountains in the background.  Here is our erstwhile captain:

The Glass House mountains got their name from Captain Cook who, when he first saw them, said that they looked like the chimneys from the glass making houses in England.  They are just barely visible on the horizon in this picture.  Its a bit warm and humid making for a bit of haze so its difficult to get a good picture of them.

And here is our captain and well qualified first mate:

The next day dawned bright and clear, with a fairly stiff breeze continuing from the day before.  We decided to load into the car and head to the beach. 

The beach is situated on the passage between Bribie and Tangalooma and is more of the golden sand for which Australia is famous.  In typical fashion, there are many lifeguards on the beach and designated swimming areas.  There are also blackboards where known hazards are posted.  Today is was bluebottle jellyfish.  Very colorful and somewhat painful, depending on how big they become.  The rule of thumb here is, the more colorful the fish, the more painful the sting.  Anyway, we headed to the beach and stretched out in the sun.  The Aussies take the sun much more seriously than Yankees do.  Everywhere we went, the motto is "Slap, Slop, Slather" for "Slap on a hat, slop on a shirt and slather on sunscreen."  Which we all did.  Jacq's sister is dating Jason who, along with his son Tim, is a volunteer lifeguard for the beach.  So, he offered to "rescue" Michayla and Sarah.  Here is Michayla being brought to shore...

And here is Sarah being "rescued" and then brought to shore....

Both of the girls were thrilled that they had been saved from what was a certain demise by such well trained Australian lifeguards.

Its was back to the house and into the pool to clean up a bit before dinner at the golf club.  During that time, we were treated to an Australian thunderstorm, very similar to the ones we have in South Carolina.  Hot and humid in the morning, then all of the water falls in the afternoon just to do it all again the next day.  Dinner was lamb shanks (I decided to skip the breaded brains) and then sticky date pudding for dessert.  Wonderful dessert that is similar to bread pudding but made with dates and a cinnamon, nutmeg flavor and then drizzled with a syrup topping and covered with heavy cream.  Decidedly low fat and cholesterol free.

I'm uploading photos to the other posts so go back and check them out.  All for now, will be back soon.



Last Day in Sydney

 Not exactly our last day in Sydney, but, I left out a day of activities that we did prior to the Police Museum and Yum Cha in chinatown.

We carried on the touristy activities and boarded the ferry to Manly beach.  Sydney has the best public transportation that I have come across in a long time.  A ferry system that can take us anywhere in the harbour that forms the center of a 3-4 million person metropolis.  The boats are on time, clean and safe.  We departed circular quay and headed toward the Pacific.  The natural harbour runs East and West with the headlands on the North and South sides of the harbour.  As we made our way to the North headlands we were able to feel some of the swells that were rolling in from the Pacific.  The winds were from the Northeast at about 20 knots so the swell was noticeable.  I'm sure that its been/will be worse but when our 1,000 passenger ferry was rolling, the waves were a good size. 

Arriving at Manly was like stepping back 30 years in time.  The streets had a decidedly English feel, narrow with curious zig-zag markings.  The signs referenced chemists and surgeries for drug stores and dentists.  There were a lot of young people milling around the open plaza that went from the wharf to the beaches, all of whom were tanned and in various forms of bathing suits.  A short walk from the wharf through the plaza led to Manly beach with one small stop along the way.  I met and spoke with Luke, the constable in charge of the Anti-Crime unit for the Manly beach area.  He has worked in policing for 20 years always with the New South Wales police department and has been stationed several different places prior to Manly beach.  We traded shop talk a bit and I finally asked him what he thought of the job.  "What's not to love, Mate?  I work in paradise.  The beach is here, the sun is shining? What do you think, Mate?"  I thought that it was a very Australian answer to my question.  He was not insulted, nor was he condescending to me for asking.  It was, I thought, a very honest friendly and open answer with a matter of fact tone.  One of the things that I have consistently been amazed about while here.  Everyone has the attitude (at least the people that we have talked to) of "of course things are great here, why wouldn't they be".  What a pleasant way to go through life.

Manly beach is like no other beach that I have seen.  The Pacific rolls right on in with good size waves, all the better for surfing.  Along the beach between "ocean boulevard" and the water are enormous fir trees.  It is an amazing sight.  A short walk along a paved pathway took us from Manly beach along some sandstone rocks and cliffs to Shelly beach.  Another crescent of golden sand among Norfolk pine trees and eucalyptus.  It was a wonderful place for the afternoon. I didn't even "come a cropper" seeing my first topless sunbather!

We regretfully headed back to the wharf to catch the ferry back to Sydney.  An ice cream along the way powered us for the return trip.  On the boat, we made the turn from the North headlands back into the harbour and saw an amazing sight.  The entire harbour was filled with sailboats.  Big, 24 footers and larger along with small, blazing fast, skiffs.  Sails were everywhere.  The ferry had to stay to the extreme right side of the channel to make it back to the wharf.  The Australians take sailing very seriously and follow it with the same sort of passion as some college football fans in the States.  Now I have a better understanding of the passion that Australia has with the America's Cup and 12 meter yacht racing.

Docking at the wharf meant that we needed to get our act together for our evening adventure, climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  The bridge was constructed during the Great Depression and is gargantuan.  If I remember correctly, only 16 people were killed while it was being built.  One man fell from the bridge and lived.  An Irishman, he threw his spanner (wrench) into the water just before he hit, breaking the surface tension.  He landed feet first (with boots on) and used his arms and hands to protect his face.  He suffered broken ribs and returned to work two weeks after the fall.  he also had some minor surgery to remove parts of his boots from certain parts of his body.

We had our training session, suited up in a jumpsuit that has lots of "attachment points" and put on our safety harness.  Then it was attach-up and out of the door onto the cat walk.  We exited the south tower a hundred or so feet above street level and our first challenge was to climb a series of ladders to the top of the span.  Probably one of the more difficult parts of the trip.  After the ladders, we walked the top of the span that is closest to the Opera House to the very top of the bridge, where the flags are.  We were 1,000 or so feet above the water, taller than the Opera House and looking at the upper floors of the skyscrapers in downtown.  It was dark, with a crescent moon in the sky and I was simply amazed at just how big the city of Sydney is.  It covered most of the horizon.  90% of the population of Australia lives in Melbourne and Sydney and I can believe it.  We have pictures that the tour guide took (nothing of our own is allowed on the bridge, it seems that dropping something has dire consequences) that I hope to post later. Over 1,400 steps in total.

We finally got down from the bridge and changed into our regular clothes.  When we walked out of the business at the foot of the bridge, it was nearly 11 PM.  We were exhausted so we succumbed to temptation and stopped at Maccers for dinner (McDonalds in the local parlance).

Stay tuned.  Now that we are in Brisbane, I plan on going back and posting in pictures to prior blog posts.  Its now 9:15 AM and time for some brekkie.  Hoo roo for now!