Week 5: Winter in AUS

Happy Winter Solstice!!  That's right...while all of you at home are enjoying the LONGEST day of the year, and hopefully the beginning of a warm summer, we are in the Southern Tablelands of New South Whales where it is the shortest day of the year and in fact winter.  I'm sure you're wondering "How bad can winter in Australia really be?".  Well, since we are traveling South, it can be equated to winter in Vancouver.  The days can be quite mild, if the sun is shining, but the temperature can dip to zero in the evenings.  Don't forget, we are camping!!  Thankfully a quick shop at K-Mart for the necessities, such as a thicker blanket, cozy pants and hoodies, has made the evenings a bit more comfortable.

Captain of the Hippie

But we won't devote any more time to complaining about the weather because we really are happy we made the trip through this part of NSW.  We specifically came to visit the Blue Mountains, Katoomba Mines and Jenolan Caves.  We had a beautiful, sunny day at the Blue Mountains and the mine.  We rode down the mountain in an open rail car on an old caving line.  It is the steepest incline railway in the world, and again, a little too close to a roller coaster drop for Andre.  We also rode the Skyway, a cable car 270m above the the ravines and waterfall in the the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountain Ravine

A beautiful sunny day

The "Three Sisters"

The Scenic Railway

One of the old Mine Furnaces

The Ravine and Three Sisters

The Skyway

The view of the Waterfall from the Skyway

After our hike down to the falls

We spent another day a little further in the mountains at the Jenolan Caves.  The  drive to the actual caves is around 8km of narrow, twisting road up the side of a mountain at an average speed of 30km/h.  There are 11 cave tours available, each around 60-90 minutes long.  The caves were discovered in the mid 1800's and the first tour we did was a large open cave that was the initial discovery of Jenolan.  We then took a 90 minute tour of the Orient cave...one of the most amazing things we have seen!  It was well worth the white-knuckle drive :)

Aside from our tourist side trips, we have spent much time on the road as we make our way to Melbourne.  We plan to be in the city in the next 2 days and spend 4 or 5 touring the area and driving the Oceanic Highway.  The weather reports call for higher temps in the Melbourne area, so we may even take in an AFL game.

Photos from the Jenolan Caves:

That's all for now...more to come in a few days!

Week 4: Theme Parks, Amazing Views and Ongoing Threats of Rain

Although it's only been 10 days, our sunny days spent sailing the Whitsundays seem far, far away...

We spent a few days making our way to the Gold Coast, stopping in Rockhampton and Brisbane.  On the Gold Coast we kept ourselves entertained with the 3 famous theme parks.  We were able to feel like a couple of kids for a few days enjoying rides, movies, water slides and petting rays at the Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet n' Wild, and Sea World.  I was able to convince Andre to go on the WB version of Splash Mountain and Scooby's Spooky Coaster (from the outside it looked like a kiddie ride!), but no luck with the Super Man roller coaster.  All was fair when we got to Wet n' Wild on a cool, rainy morning...I just didn't have it in me to get into a swim suit and wait in line for some of the scariest water slides I've seen.  I definitely got off easy!

Pier at Rockhampton

3 Little Fishermen Setting Out

That's Right...Bat Man

Penguins at Sea World

We were able to pet the Rays, they came to us only cuz they thought we had food...it was still cool!

Byron Bay was the next star on our map and we found a caravan park on the beach and booked in for 7 nights.  We had a beautiful day enjoying the beach and scoping out the shops downtown.  The weather cooled off by 4pm, chasing us back to camp to put on sweats and sweaters...but nothing would have prepared us for the 5 days to follow.  We awoke to dreary, gray skies and a modest 10 degrees.  We were hopeful it would pass...  By day 3 spent huddled in the van playing cards, reading and watching movies we had cabin fever and HAD to get out.  We went to Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D, a much welcome 2 hour break from the van and the cold.  Our last day in Byron was sunny and we took advantage by taking a long walk, souvenir shopping and visiting the lighthouse at sunset.  I know, it all sounds very romantic...but after 5 days in a 4x1.5 meter van, we were lucky one of us wasn't already on a plane home!!

Beach Art at Byron

The Artist

A storm brewing

Voila! Lighthouse at sunset

Sunset on the Bay, just made it before the rain started again

Now, more good news!!  Today is our first day back on the road and, you guessed it, we are faced with rain again.  This time, it has held us up just 2 hours outside of Byron Bay.  We are now in Coffs Harbour, where we will stay until the rain and flooding stops.  The fields along the highway on our way down were quite wet and we learned from the information center that another 100km south the highway was covered with water and closed for the next 24-48 hours.  The good news is Coffs Harbour is a beautiful place and the van park is well equipped with a huge indoor kitchen/rec room to enjoy (and free internet for downloading movies and blogging).  Maybe not the most ideal circumstances, but we are making the best of it.

The next stop for us is Sydney, and hopefully we will get there in the next few days as we have only 2 weeks remaining with the van rental.


Wish us luck!!

Week 3: Setting Sail on the Whitsundays

An absolute "must do", as has been the advice of anyone and everyone who has visited Australia's East Coast, is sailing the Whitsunday Islands.  We took the advice of those of you who encouraged this expense (because it is probably the most expensive splurge while visiting AUS), and would recommend you add it to your bucket list if you've never been.

We had initially inquired into the different options for a sailing trip at an information agent in Townsville.  Thankfully they wouldn't make our booking as they felt we could negotiate a lower rate or perhaps sail on stand-by and save some money.  Once we arrived in Airlie Beach, we visited a local Whitsunday tour agent and inquired into the option of booking a trip on stand-by.  Due to the time of year and limited tourists, all of the trips are basically stand-by.  So, we chose a 2 day, 1 night trip on a boat that would take a maximum of 14 passengers, and a 25% discount.  The next day we learned there weren't enough bookings, so the trip was canceled.  Although a bit short notice, we went back in and were upsold to a 2 night sail for a few more dollars.  Since we had already spent the better part of 2 days waiting for the previous trip to be canceled, they offered us a free upgrade to the best boat on the water IF this trip canceled.  So...no extra money, guaranteed departure, and not just 2 nights, but 3!  We were sold!!  We paid our money and crossed our fingers....

In the end, we ended up on the Pacific Sunrise, and she did not disappoint.  We were astonished that we paid only half of the regular price for 3 nights aboard a huge sailboat that was only 50% capacity.  We had a great group of 8 other people, 3 couples and 2 gals from Tourism Queensland on an experience sail, and all 25-35ish.

We boarded late Sunday afternoon and made our way to a bay near Whitehaven Beach where we would anchor for the first night.  We had our first of many 5-star meals prepared by an amazing young chef...another perk of this boat...and enjoyed spending our first evening under the stars on the top deck.  We were up early in the morning, a very clear and sunny day to be spent visiting Whitehaven Beach and turtle watching and snorkeling in the bay.  Whitehaven is the most amazing sight with the bluest water surrounding the white silica sand beach.  We have some great pictures, but I'm not sure they do the real thing justice.  The crew kept saying it was one of the best days they've seen on Whitehaven in a long time, so we are now very thankful for the delay of our trip.  We saw many turtles, huge bat fish and a manatee in the bay.  The next day was spent kayaking and snorkeling in another bay.  We were the only ones in a small bay filled with fish, as it is a fish feeding area.  The First Mate, Luke, took us out in the little tinny and as soon as we were in the water, he started feeding.  It was one of the most amazing experiences...so many fish, big and small, and every color that we had yet to see, surrounded us for the better part of an hour.  There were also some very large fish that came to feast on some of the smaller one's we fed.  We all learned to help out a bit on the deck with the sails...I'm not sure we actually helped much, but it was fun to learn.  After all of this, it was back on the boat for more amazing food and a friendly game of Texas Hold 'Em.  Andre didn't make it very far, but I lost in the last hand.  Beginners luck, I say.  

The Pacific Sunrise

First evening on the deck

On the front deck

Sunset at Sea

Our group at the Whitehaven Lookout

White sand....so beautiful

One of the Rays at my feet, there were about 30 in all

At the private beach

More splendor!

Nice pose :)

Our group and crew the last morning

Our last day was spent traveling back to the harbor...and that brought our trip to an end.

Week 2: Townsville to Airlie Beach

The days continue to fly by, even while "on the road".  We spent 2 nights in Townsville and drove approximately 300km further South to Airlie Beach, where we stayed for 3 nights.


Townsville is primarily a small city centre, not really a touristy town.  We took a full day to visit the Billabong Sanctuary.  One of the most informative stops we've made so far.  There is a full day program that runs from 10am until 2:30pm, providing a fully guided tour of the sanctuary.  We learned about many of Australia's animals, whether they are pests or protected, they can probably be found there.  We fed birds, turtles, koalas and wallabies and watched the guides feed both salt water and fresh water crocodiles.  The best day!! 

Wombat

Feeding the young kangaroo

An awake Koala - a rare occasion

The baby Croc

A lucky photo op, he didn't stay still for long

"This is boring. I'm going back inside!"

The large male kangaroo, he was too aggressive for me. I stayed clear and fed Momma and her Joey

Feeding time for the turtles

We weren't allowed to feed the Crocs though...thank God...I'm not sure how I'd have kept Andre away!

This is why we are behind the fence

A good lunch, no doubt.

Another beautiful park with the Hippie!

Although there wasn't a great deal to be seen between Townsville and Airlie Beach, nothing could prepare us for the amazing view that would be awaiting as we came down the hill to the harbour.  AMAZING!!  More to come about that and our incredible 3 day sail through the Whitsundays.

Abel Point Harbour, Airlie Beach