Total Disappointment Avoided in the Whitsundays

After three straight chilly, rainy days in the Whitsunday Islands (and endless games of cards), the sun finally poked its head out our last day and, determined to make the most of it, we booked a day at-sea on a huge catamaran called the Camira.  We’d been talking about this day trip since before Brisbane so we were both really happy we got to do this while we were in the Whitsundays and it was an awesome day!  We left from Airlie Beach, where we were staying, early in the morning and enjoyed breath-taking views as we sailed through the Whitsunday Islands while the sun was rising overhead. 

Our first stop was near Hook Island for snorkeling (my first time!).  We geared up, donned stinger suits (basically just a light protective wetsuit) and hit the reef.  I really enjoyed it because we saw lots of fish and some huge corals that I recognized from when I tried, unsuccessfully, to have a salt water aquarium a few years ago.  Alex was less impressed because the water was cloudy from the previous days’ storms and he’d seen better diving back home but it was fun nonetheless.

From there we sailed, across some choppy waters, to Whitehaven Beach – one of the world’s Top Ten beaches (and where the beach scene in the movie Fools Gold was filmed).  Alex and I were both blown away by the gorgeous sand and clear blue waters.  The sand on this infamous beach is pure silica from a nearby ocean vent and it was pristine.  Because it was pure silica the sand never gets hot from the sun so it was the perfect place to stop for the afternoon.  The entire area is a national marine park so it is illegal to remove anything from the island and, fun fact, our host shared with us that the only time sand has ever been allowed to be removed from that beach was to make the glass for the Hubble Telescope. 

On-board the catamaran, we were treated to great sailing, informative hosts, a surprisingly delicious lunch and a few good drenchings from waves crashing into the boat whenever we least expected them.  The waves were no joke, early on in the day I had an epic wipeout on the wet deck, that Alex thankfully missed, but of course everyone else on the boat saw (yep still just as graceful here in Australia).  The journey back was much smoother so we enjoyed ourselves sitting on-deck enjoying the island views and ocean breezes, happy we were able to get at least one day to explore the Whitsundays! 

Despite the rain the previous few days, we were determined to make the most of our time there.  One afternoon we rented a car and drove out to Cave Creek Falls.  We were warned that the popular swimming hole was ‘just a trickle' because they had gotten any rain in the area since early March (the irony of that was not lost on us) but we had nothing else to do so off we went.  The rental agency only had one-seater scooters and Alex didn’t trust me to drive one myself after my mishap with his scooter in Bermuda so we rented a smart car that I’m pretty sure was a clown car in the circus in a previous life…  It was hilarious, Alex was bigger than the car and it sounded like it was going to blow up over speeds of 100km/hr but he drove it with pride. 

Once out at the Falls, we were quick to note that this attraction was anything but.  There were no falls because, again, prior to our arrival they hadn't gotten any rain since March (haha, bad timing on our part!) and the swimming hole had shrunk to half its size.  We hiked a bit and watched a few fearless travelers jump off the cliffs, despite some pretty clear warnings indicating it was not a good idea (see below), then headed back.  We only drove 100km (roughly 62 miles) round-trip but it still cost $11.30 to fill up the tank of the teeny-tiny smart car (that was still showing a full gas tank), another sign that train travel is the best option for us to get around Australia!

Sorry It's Been So Long

Surfers Paradise and my last post seem like so long ago but I guess it’s only been like a week.  I hope all the wonderful Moms I know had a terrific Mother’s Day!  Here’s what we’ve been up to…

We ended up spending six days in Surfers because of the plethora of activities and our nice accommodations.  Of all the parks we visited, Wet’N’Wild was my favorite and Alex & I were like two little kids running around from ride to ride.  Since it is now “winter” here, the park was empty so there were no lines and tickets were super cheap.  I had to laugh, in Chicago “winter” means freezing temps and snow, in Surfers it was more like 80 and sunny but the locals were still bundled up in fleece jackets and long pants.  That was the easiest way to spot a tourist; they were in swimsuits at the beach (or in our case, the water park).  I was quite proud of myself; I braved a bunch of crazy rides all day despite my fear of heights and rides, though I did draw the line at AquaLoop.  The ride started with the rider standing up in an enclosed three-story high tube then the floor dropped out from beneath them and they were flushed two stories before inertia threw them back into a gravity-defying two-story loop – might sound like fun to someone (aka. Alex), but not me... 

We also went to Movie World and Sea World; both were a bit disappointing but amused us for a day nonetheless.  Sea World had a SpongeBob SquarePants theme that cracked me up, and was very interactive with the marine life.  You could pet stingless Sting Rays, snorkel the reef exhibit and one very shocked young woman was proposed to after she was pulled on-stage during the Sea Lion show.  Unfortunately (for Alex) both rollercoasters and the water rides at Sea World were closed because it was the off-season and they were doing repairs, so that cut down on our options for stuff to do there.  As a result, we had plenty of time to wander about the exhibits and saw almost every animal show they had throughout the afternoon.  The dolphin show was very cool (I took photos of the dolphins while they leapt out of the water but it didn’t capture the magic of the show) and the SpongeBob parade was awesome because all the little kids and their parents vacated the exhibits and we had the whole park to ourselves for an hour. 

All Alex talked about ahead of Movie World how much he was looking forward to riding the Green Lantern coaster and, just his luck, it was closed for maintenance the day we went there.  Luckily there were other coasters for him to enjoy and I even braved the ScoobyDoo Spooky Coaster (though I was misled by Alex into believing there was only like one five foot drop – had I known that you were dropped three stories backwards it probably wouldn’t have happened).  My favorite moment that day was at the end of the Wild West Falls ride (your typical theme park water ride – the one where you float around a lazy river in a boat then get ratcheted up a hill so you can ride down and splash into the pool below).  On our way into the ride some former riders had left their two ponchos hung over the rail for others to use so naturally I grabbed one and put it on.  Alex immediately made fun of me.  Did I look ridiculous?  Totally.  Did I care?  No, I just didn’t want to get wet.  Alex thought it was hilarious and insisted that we get a photo when the ride was over.  Hahaha, well the joke was on him because, when the ride was done, I might have looked foolish but he was soaked and had to walk around the park wet for the rest of the day! 

We spent the rest of our days in Surfers wandering around enjoying the scenery, beaches and the amenities of our resort.  We had a pool, hot tub, sauna and exercise room at our disposal and, believe it or not, the exercise room was the one we used the most.  It was nice to be settled somewhere again for a week but by the end we’d done everything there was to do within a ten mile radius and were ready to continue north to Brisbane.

Everyone had great things to say about Brisbane but we had no idea what exactly we were going to do there.  It seemed a lot like a smaller version of Sydney and many of their attractions were things we’d already done.  Alex read good things about a walking tour of Brisbane and we went to the Visitors Info center upon arrival to get that map so we could spend one day there exploring.  The walking tour was awesome but another ten mile day for us (thankfully we both brought good walking shoes).  We saw interesting artwork, beautiful parks, countless water features and funky architecture.  It was amazing to me how much art there was everywhere.  From the scrap metal kangaroos outside the 7-11 (by far the coolest street art so far) to the purely aesthetic details on all the buildings, no small detail was overlooked and it made for an engaging walk about the city. 

The trail along the river in the artsy area was 2km of nature interlaced with art.  The entire path was lined with flowering bougainvillea vines growing on a sculptural metal trellis and it was absolutely gorgeous.  Equally eye-catching were the number of miscellaneous stops dotting the walk; there was a beach and pool fully equipped with beach lifeguard and surf board, boutique shopping and dining center, giant ferris wheel and zen garden temple.  We walked for nearly five hours straight and it passed like a second. 

We had originally planned to only spend two days in Brisbane but we weren’t able to get seats next to each other on the train the day we wanted to depart so we stuck around for an additional night, which gave us an extra day and a half to explore.  We spent the first afternoon touring the XXXX (pronounced Four X) brewery and sampling their beers.  The tour was interesting and we learned that the used yeast, once it is no longer good for brewing beer, is sent to Kraft where it’s the main ingredient in Alex’s new favorite snack, Vegemite.  Sadly, even that couldn’t explain the nasty taste or why Australians love it.  We spent our bonus day in Brisbane at the free museums and saw everything from dinosaur bones to weird modern art before boarding a train for the 14 hour ride to the Whitsunday Islands. 

This was our first trip on the Queenslander railway and the train was even better than the one we’d taken in Sydney – the seats are ridiculously spacious and each one has its own TV.  We’re 13 hours in as I write this and it hasn’t been too bad, which is good since we have at least 12 more hours on this to finish making our way up the coast later this month.  Our first stop, the Whitsundays, is located at the south end of the Great Barrier Reef and marks the start of our oceanic endeavors.  We’re going to snorkel here and explore the island shores for a few days before continuing north to Townsville early next week. 

Update: On our last day in Brisbane, Alex was like, ‘Wow, it hasn’t rained in like three weeks’.  So naturally, it’s been raining since we got to the Whitsundays and we haven’t been able to enjoy any of the beaches or reefs we wanted to explore here.  It’s disappointing and we leave tomorrow so we may be stopping by here again on our way back down the coast later this year...

This One is For Alex’s Friends & Family

Ever wonder what Alex would look like without facial hair?  The answer: ridiculously young and I have the photo to prove it! 

I’d been jokingly asking Alex what he looks like without facial hair ‘cause he’s had a beard ever since I met him, and he said he didn’t know because he’d had facial hair in one form or another since he was 13 and hadn’t shaved it all off since he was 16.  To satisfy my curiosity (and I think a little of his own), he said when we started this adventure that he’d shave it all off sometime during our trip.  Even the forewarning didn’t prepare me for this baby-faced look when he walked out of the bathroom yesterday morning… 

Traveling Up the Coast

While you guys were sleeping on Thursday night, Alex and I were enjoying a scenic eight-hour train ride bound for Coffs Harbour.  Taking the train was surprisingly pleasant and a great way to travel.  The people on the train were more upstanding than I expected, until the last stop when a lady and her two out of control children got on our car but, the scenery up the coast was beautiful and we were able to relax, play cards, read and take it all in.  It definitely beat driving and having to worry about traffic, directions and paying for gas!

Sadly, Coffs Harbour didn’t exceed our expectations like the train and we were stuck there for two days because our next destination, Byron Bay, had no reasonably priced hotel rooms due to an annual Ocean Swim Classic being held that weekend.  We made the best of it though; we walked outside of town to see the Big Banana theme park (fun fact: Coffs Harbour used to be the largest banana producing region in Australia), it was a huge letdown but we got a photo of Alex with the Big Banana, which made it worth the eight mile round-trip walk.  Well I guess it wasn’t really four miles there since we stopped at one point for directions and half a mile later a little old man and his wife, who’d overheard us at the gas station, pulled up beside us and offered us a ride to the Big Banana.  Would I have gotten in a car with strangers?!  Hell no!  But Alex was like, ‘Aw thanks’, and climbed right in…  They were a sweet couple and we lived to tell the tale but I informed Alex that we wouldn’t be taking anymore rides with strangers – no need to push our luck any further on this trip, ya know?! 

We also checked out the Jetty (read: pier) and its Sunday Market (for those of you from home reading this, it was the Pec Thing on a beach – very weird), then wandered onto Mutton Bird Island (which wasn’t really an island) and saw a baby mutton bird close-up, taking its first steps.  Yep, those were the highlights, pretty lame compared to everything else we’ve done so far…  I wouldn’t call it a highlight, but I did stay in my first youth hostel and it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting.  But Alex has a cool app on his Thrive that allows us to find cheap accommodation wherever we’re going so, since most low-end (but decently nice) hotels here are priced reasonably close to what a private room in a hostel would cost and despite my first experience being ok, we probably won’t be regulars at the YHAs anytime soon. 

Sunday afternoon we continued our train ride north a few hours to Casino where we caught a bus to our next stop, Byron Bay.  We arrived late and I wasn’t feeling well from the bus ride so we didn’t get up to much our first night but we awoke the next morning to explore and were pleased to find that this beach oasis was more like what we’d expected (though nothing like the Byron I grew up in).  The town was quaint with a four block square of shops and eateries, everyone was very chill and the beach was pristine.  Ok, maybe it wasn’t exactly like we expected since it was like we went back in time forty years but it was beautiful.  There were hippies everywhere; dreadlocks, no shoes, no shirts, just tan relaxed people in no hurry to do anything.  Every night on the beach they congregated around three guys playing the same beat over and over again on the drums and hippie danced – it was beyond comical, to the point where I felt like I was in an SNL skit. 

Our first afternoon, we explored town and took long walk down the beach.  The waves were coming in and the surfers were out in full force, the sand was so soft and the water was crystal clear and finally warm enough we could walk with our toes in it.  We stopped for a bit, then, after Alex spanked me at cards, we decided to walk up and check out the lighthouse.  The coastal walk took us past another gorgeous, less busy beach, and up around the cliffs south of town.  The lighthouse itself was ok (another fun fact: Byron Bay is the eastern most point in Australia), it wasn’t open for us to explore, but it had great views of the ocean and surrounding beaches.  By the time we got back down to the beach the sun was just starting to set and the sky was on fire with pink, red and orange hues (the photo , while pretty, sadly didn't do it justice).  It was stunning and we sat enjoying the sunset for over an hour. 

Over the next few days, we went back to the beach, did some more exploring and relaxed and took in the ambiance of Byron Bay.  Again, I feel I’ve not done a good job of conveying how awesome this place was.  It was just captivating; from the random inlaid tiles in the sidewalk to the painted electrical boxes to the crazy hippie outfits, there was always something new to catch your eye.  And I don’t know why but it seemed like life there would be easy.

Despite my affinity for Byron Bay, last night we took a late bus to start the next leg of our journey in Surfers Paradise.  It didn’t take long, even in the dark, to realize that, even though we’d only traveled a few hours, we were worlds away from Byron Bay.  High-rises dotted the landscape and the word quaint was long longer applicable – it felt like we were back in Fort Lauderdale.  This morning we awoke to find out we weren’t the only ones who recognized the comparison, one of the beaches here is named Miami and the resort across from where we are staying is called Florida… 

Yet, it’s still beautiful with miles of beaches and lots of tourist attractions to keep us busy.  We’ve already bowled and played mini golf (both of which I lost, boooo) and got tickets for Sea World, a waterpark and a movie theme park.  Originally we were only planning to stay here for three nights but upon our arrival we discovered that our cheap hotel room was actually a rather nice suite (yes suit, it even has a laundry room with washer and dryer in it) in a lovely resort so we’ve decided to spend a few extra days here since it’s affordable and there is so much to do.  Pretty much the only thing this place doesn’t have is free internet so email responses after today are probably gonna have to wait until Sunday when we’ll be back online to say hi to our Moms for Mother’s Day.

What's Next

Sydney has been a blast and a wonderful place to get acclimated to Australia but our time here has come to a close.  Our three weeks were awesome and much needed (as we were able to get bank accounts, cell phones, get used to Aus & over our jet lag, etc) but we are excited to continue exploring.  We bought six months unlimited travel train tickets so we're going to make the most of them and travel about the entire country. 

This wasn’t our original plan but we can't leave to see anywhere else until Alex gets a new passport which has unfortunately been a challenge.  In order for him to be issued a new passport, someone with an Australian or British passport who has known him more than two years has to sign his application stating that he is who he says he is, so, since no one here meets that criteria, we had to send his paperwork back to Bermuda for someone there to sign and send back to us before we can submit it here, then wait another 6-8 weeks for his passport to be issued.  And since we don’t have a permanent address, or know where we’ll be when it’s issued, it’s getting sent to Bermuda then couriered back here, as such, we've got time to kill in Aus before we can check out Thailand or New Zealand so the train tickets were ideal.

We're starting by heading up the east coast with stops in three beach towns (Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay & Surfers Paradise) over ten days on our way to Brisbane (a bigger city) for a few days then continuing north towards the Great Barrier Reef towns which will probably take another week to ten days.  Once we get all the way up to Cairns (as far from Sydney as Miami is from Boston), we're going to spend a week on a boat scuba diving - which I am super excited about (though I need to learn how to scuba dive first)!!  

And then after that, who knows??  We’ll probably stick out the first few winter months in the north because it’s warmer and we’ll be able to enjoy the beaches and outdoor activities but, because we can travel for free (man, I hope I enjoy train travel b/c it seems we’re going to be doing a lot of it), we want to take a scenic trip on the famous ‘The Ghan’ railway out to Western Australia so that’s on our agenda before our tickets expire, with stops in Melbourne and Adelaide along the way.  Originally we planned to spend the latter half of our time here in Melbourne but we’ve enjoyed Sydney so much that we’re not even sure about that anymore.  It’s weird (and a bit out of my comfort zone) not to know where we’ll be in six months but Alex has assured me that we’ll figure it out eventually and I’ll keep you posted.

I’m not sure how easily accessible internet is going to be as we work our way up the coast so please bear with me if it takes longer than usual to respond to emails or if the blog goes a few days or a week without any updates.  Hope you are all doing well and having a great week!

Taronga Zoo

In one final awesome outing before we left Sydney, Alex & I spent Tuesday at the Taronga Zoo.  The Zoo is across the bay from Sydney with beautiful views of the city and a lot of animals you don’t see at the Zoo back home.  We got there just before lunch and started at the bottom of the Zoo slowing working our way to the exhibits at the top of the hill.  We immediately noticed the numerous creepy spiders looming overhead and I was very cautious about walking too close to the edge of the paths from then on.  We were able to walk into the kangaroo enclosure and check them out up close with no fence in between us, which was really cool.  The koalas and red pandas were really cute too, though we weren’t able to climb in with them.  They had snow leopards, tahrs, wallabies, pandas, zebras and kangaroos plus your regular zoo fare elephants, giraffes, and tigers in addition lots of other animals and reptiles that kept us busy all afternoon.

Love was in the air at the Zoo and we got an eyeful on several occasions.  When we were watching the chimps, the alpha male with a giant red rocket went after one of the females but she was already getting some action from a different guy and, when she rejected him, he proceeded to chase her all around their enclosure with a big stick – much to the amusement of Alex and all the children watching.  I’ll spare you his commentary on this because it’s ridiculous but seriously this is people watch the Nature Channel, it was entertaining!  The crocodiles shared an equally amorous encounter right next to the glass, leaving me wondering how they felt about an audience taking photos while they were getting down to business (yes, I took a photo too…).  Fortunately for the girl croc, it was a relatively quick encounter then she sunk back under the water away from all the attention. 

I got a new Ipod Nano the day before (b/c mine, which was relatively new, stopped holding a charge pretty much as soon as we got here) and it came with the Nike Fitness application that can track how many steps you take, how far you’ve gone and how many calories you’ve burned just by you wearing it.  It was cool (I wish we’d had that when we were in Katoomba) and, between walking to and from the ferry plus wandering around the Zoo all day, we walked another eight miles that day. 

Tonight we’re headed back to The Rocks area of Sydney for one last dinner before we head out tomorrow…  But first, here's a bonus photo of me and a giant stuffed koala at the Zoo!

Katoomba

The morning after Anzac Day, Alex & I boarded a train for the two hour ride to Katoomba – a quaint town in the Blue Mountains and home to the famous Three Sisters rock formation (to my left behind us in the photo above).  We stayed in a historic hotel (and I use the term hotel lightly) that was gorgeous but antiquated (there were shared bathrooms on each floor – one for men, one for women).  We dropped off our bags as soon as we arrived and headed down the hill towards the Visitor’s Center, conveniently located right next to the Three Sisters viewing area.  The Three Sisters were pretty cool but the view of the valley was magnificent. 

We decided to get in our first hike before sundown and headed down the Giant Stairs – a 1,000 step path straight down into the valley – towards the trails.  We walked a couple of miles through the jungle checking out the scenery and enjoying the hike when we came upon the Scenic Railway – an easy option for getting back up the mountain except that, at 52 degrees, it’s the steepest incline railway in the Southern hemisphere and there was no way I was getting on that (check out the photos, it looks like a death trap masquerading as a rollercoaster but it played the Indiana Jones theme song every time it took off, which redeemed it slightly).  So we went back a few hundred meters to the Ferber Steps, another 1,000 step path back to the top.  Along the way we crisscrossed Katoomba Falls and had beautiful views of it as well.  Once at the top we were going to take the cliff walk back to Three Sisters before heading back into Katoomba but it was closed due to fire so we had to walk back along the road up three huge hills on our way into town.  After cleaning up, we the best Thai food I’ve ever had at a restaurant the guidebook recommended, Chork Dee, then called it a night.

Up bright & early, we left our bags at the hotel and headed back out on the trails for a hike Alex was SO excited about to the ‘Ruined Castle’.  Full disclaimer, they didn’t claim it was really a castle, just rocks, but it looked like it would have an amazing view.  And it should have since it was a six hour round trip hike.  When started our walk, there were clouds in the valley and the sun was reflecting beautifully off the rocks, our enthusiasm was going strong.  We encountered such varied terrain on our way there, it was like we were in different worlds – the first third was Australian jungle, then a bit that was more like Arizona with its rocks & barrenness followed by a section right out of Twilight with its Pacific Northwest forests and the final leg was full of ferns and could have easily been mistaken for the country in Illinois.  After a few hours of hiking, we arrived at a sign that told us we were only 600m from the ruins and we eagerly scrambled the rest of the way up the hill where, much to our disappointment, all there was were a few large, spider-covered rocks and no view.  Alex was crushed, saying the only thing ruined were his hopes and dreams, as we sat enjoying our Subway lunch and, despite our plans to enjoy a quick rest there, it wasn’t long before we were on our way back.  The hike back was easier since we had landmarks to indicate how much further we had to go and we made good time. 

We came back to the city on the train that night feeling exhausted and dirty but also a sense of accomplishment.  It was a quick, fun detour in our Sydney time but one I really enjoyed.  I don’t think my descriptions did it justice so check out the photos so you can appreciate the beauty of it all.