ONE OF THE 7 WONDERS

March 31, 2011

YES a wonderful day it was as we snorkelined ont he Great Barrier Reef.  This 1300 mile long coral reef is truly magnificient.  The cloudy day didn't keep up from jumping in the water with the critters.  And hurrying us along was the desire to hide the lovely 'smurf' suits we were wearing.  Why?  Because this is jellyfish season and they are stinging.  Rather that test their stinging accuracy we decided to don the head to toe...LITERALLY...blue suits.  We were a sight to be seen.  Pictures available at a price!

But once in the water...no one looked at anything but the fabulously colorful coral and fishes.  We swam among them for over an hour...got out for lunch and then went back in.  A luttle sunshine would have made them slightly more colorful but still the day was listed in the "win" column.

Another fine American invention....we found McD with free WIFI and  also had a taste of home for dinner.  No we didn't have fish!

CROCS to CATTLE

Mar. 30, 2011

We began the day with a meeting of our group, since the rest of the tour has now joined us.  We are now 42 strong…or sort of strong, this is an old group!  We boarded the bus at 8:45 for a crocodile farm and nature center.  Duncan, our local guide talked about the crocs they have in their lagoons and we saw the farming process they employ.  A croc, with good skin can be worth $1000 for skin and meat.  The prime time for sale is 2.5 years before the skin gets too thick and the meat begins to toughen.  From egg to ‘sale size’ there were about 40K of them.

We also took a pontoon boat ride in another lagoon where they fed some of the crocodiles by stringing chicken heads on long bamboo poles and showing us how the crocs can jump out of the water.  It was easy to see why Captain Hook so feared the croc.  When they closed their jaws trying to catch the chicken, the sound reverberated like a shot.  Very loud!  We were also able to feed some kangaroos by hand – but they didn’t seem too hungry.  We finally saw some kookaburras  – but not in the old gum tree.  The highlight may have been the koalas sleeping on the branches.  We were able to have our picture taken with one of the handlers holding a koala.  Sad to say that these animals too are in jeopardy as diseases are running though the wild population. 

Back on the bus with a stop in Port Douglas – which is a seaside resort.  A cute little resort town is often enjoyed by international luminaries,  The Fondas have been spotted there.  Interesting note, on 9/11 President Clinton was vacationing here.  Quite a bit of drama getting him out of town.

Our next stop, a bit of an added surprise, was up in the hills at a small town (pop. 250) for a Golden XXXX beer.  A small glass of beer is called a pot – so we ordered a “pot of gold”.  The pub and hotel were a step back into the early American west, as we can only imagine.  Rooms rent for $40/nite.  Mismatched bed covers and furniture and the ‘separate’ baths down the hall just added to the charm.  The pub owner gave us a little background on the town and the pub and regaled us with stories of snakes that find their way into the pub.  From the many pix on the walls, this seems like the place to be for any celebration.

We continued on the Wetherby Station – a working cattle ranch.  Owner John met us on horseback and explained the operation and the history of the station.  These are all grass fed beef – nothing artificial used to promote growth.  Most of his beef go to Japan and Indonesia for consumption.  After his talk, we were invited to the large veranda that surrounds their home for dinner.  We had roast beef, marinated chicken thighs, potatoes, salad and the most wonderful desserts.  They had an apple/peach crumble, ice cream and a Pavlova cake – which was a decadent combination of whipped cream, meringue, and fruit.  We had a 1 ½ hour ride back to our hotel, and they showed us a DVD about life in a “family” of kangaroos.   After a hot and humid day, a shower and a drink in our room topped off a great day.

ON TO CAIRNS

March 29, 2011

Today began with a trip to visit another of the sacred rock formations named Kata Tjuta.  This is a series of 36 various sized well eroded mounds of conglomerate forming a circle.  Both Uluru and Kata Tjuta are not places the Aboriginal tribes lived, but tribes came to these areas for special ceremonies.  We also visited a cultural center and we are amazed at the survival skills the natives developed to survive in this desert climate.  They were hunters and gatherers, moving across the lands, with a unique social structures, designed to avoid inbreeding, while still maintaining rather closed tribes. 

This afternoon, we are flying to Cairns for four days and to meet the rest of our travel group.  Our small group of 14 for the outback has been a delightful and fun group.

Our flight to Cairns was a true delight.  The flight was so empty that the 14 of us could have each had our own row.  But it was a good opportunity for us to chat and talk more with new people. 

Arriving in Cairns was like arriving in southern Florida or Hawaii.  The mostly outdoor airport was open and tropical in feel.  Moving from a dry desert to a tropical coastal area has sure stressed our bodies.  After a quick check-in and opportunity to see our rooms, Andrea led the group on a short walking tour of the immediate area, identifying the Bottle Stop (yeah) and ATM and the myriad of restaurants.

We haven’t yet mentioned the most notable thing about Australia…..the expense!  Everything is so expensive.  Many of our meals are provided on our GCT plan but there are times when we are on our own.  Dinners are regularly $25-29 for not much of anything…a little chicken breast…some pasta…or maybe a small steak.  We have a breakfast buffet with each hotel stay but the menu reports our breakfast as costing as much as $33 in some of the hotels.  Steaks and eggs?  Hardly!  A very traditional English breakfast…eggs, bacon…beans….baked tomatoes and sautéed mushrooms. Today was a pleasant surprise with the addition of pancakes.  We have been drinking local beer and wine as most of the other liquors are heavily taxed.  At the bar in our new hotel…frozen daiquiri…$15.  I don’t think so!

I’D WALK A MILE FOR A CAMEL

March 28, 2011

Today began with a coach ride from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock.  Along the way, to break up the six hour bus ride, we made several stops.  The first stop was a camel farm, where Jane and Deedee rode a camel around a track.  These were one-hump dromedaries, and both were thankful the ride only lasted about five minutes.  (Those Bedouins must be on something to ride those things all day)  We also saw a few wild camels along the roadside.  Camels, kangaroos and rabbits have overrun the country and culling them creates quite the debates.  Roos are native here but the others were imported.  Quite a surprise for us that there were so many ferrel camels here.  Seems these “ships of the desert” were brought here is the early settling period to provide transportation across the continent.  Once the Ghan railroad (named for the Afghan camel handlers) was developed and there was no need for the camels the handlers were instructed to take them into desert and kill them.  Having grown attached to the large beasts of course they could not and turned them loose.  So over the last 100+ years the camels have done what they still do best…populate.  The biggest problem is that they eat the grass that the cattlemen want for the cattle.  Competition for food with no natural predators creates a hard life.

Our next stop was a traditional Aussie road house called Mt Ebenezer.  We had lunch and everyone tried the meat pies – sort of like a pot pie and the typical lunch for the Aussies and Kiwis and for desert lamingtons…sponge cake covered in chocolate and coconut.

 Our final break was at Mt. Conner – a large red rock formation with resembled a toothbrush.  We also were able to see the salt lake, which actually had water in it.  This area had experience a 12 year drought, but the rains this past year have greened-up this normally barren desert. 

ROCK OF AGES

This evening, we experienced the sunset at Uluru (Ayers Rock was the British name).  Because this is sacred ground to the Aboriginal people, areas of the rock are off limits and photography is prohibited in of some areas.  The Aboriginal people have shared some of their history, but much of what Uluru means to their culture is their secret.  We did visit a cave area where paintings are visible, a watering hole, which is unusual in the desert, and the area that is available for climbers (weather permitting).  Uluru was part of the inland ocean once inhabiting this area 500 million years ago.  Uluru is a monolith, made of red sandstone (a fun fact for you geology geeks). 

After touring the rock, we drove to a viewing area to watch the sunset.  While the changing colors are subtle, we felt like Oprah as they treated us to cheese, crackers, canapés and champagne!  Once the sun set, we went to the small town in the resort area for dinner.

The downside of the outback is the pesky little flies.  They attack your eyes, ears and mouth – so wearing a fly net on your head is essential.  The nets do stop the flies, but made drinking the champagne a challenge (which we seemed to overcome)!  We sooooo overcame it that Andrea, our CGT guide, told us she had never had a group that finished all of the champagne before. (she also never met the travelin’ trio before)

WALLABIES to the MILKY WAY

March 26

Saturday night brought a unique experience as we were able to feed rock wallabies from our hands.  They are like a small kangaroo only about 2 feet in height.  They come down from the rocks at sunset to feed.  (kind of reminiscent of watching bears at the local dump).   After we fed them, we had dinner at the local Alice Springs restaurant, Bojangles, where we sampled crocodile, buffalo, camel kabobs, venison sausages and of course kangaroo.  Each of us had a different favorite but we all agreed they were quite delicious but we don’t believe you will see any of these on the Mickey D menu anytime soon. 

We visited a Desert Park on Sunday morning.  Our visit began with a short film on the Australian Outback.  As the film ended, the screen lowered to reveal the beautiful scenery we were about to explore.  This magnificent ending was done in true Disney magic fashion but the scenery was real and natural. Walking throughout the park we saw an aviary show, red kangaroos, emus, and a large nocturnal house with displays of the snakes, rodents and marsupials that populate this area.  Really cool to see these animals up close and personal.  While they were behind a fence to keep them in place, we were too.  Had they been moving around we could have come face to face with them.  But alas it was a Sunday morning and most of the animals were in weekend mode.

We had free time this afternoon and caught up on email, as well as spending some time at the hotel pool.  We are at 23 degrees south latitude, the Tropic of Capricorn, so the sun was particularly hot.  A little red color adds some life to our skin tones. 

Tonight we were blown away with a fabulous optional experience.  This could remain as the highlight of the trip.  With a short bus ride we arrived in an abandoned quarry for a BBQ and informational show.  Denny began the evening with a demonstration of boomerangs, (Ho Hum) but the evening definitely went uphill from there.  Denny continued his portion of the evening talking about life on the cattle stations as he humorously made Damper (bread dough) from only flour and water and then cooked it over an open fire.  Don was next on the agenda and he enthralled us with some history and culture of Aboriginal life, as it was and it now.  Even with the delicious smell of our steaks cooking, we were a captive audience.  Dinner was a delicious assortment of steak, salad and baked potatoes. As we completed dinner, Jeff rounded out the program serenading us and leading us in sing-a-long with some traditional Aussie ballads.  Dessert was served as well as “billy” tea, referred to in Waltzing Matilda which I guarantee most of us never knew were the lyrics and definitely what they meant. The highlight of the night may have been when they turned out all of the lights and we explored the heavens on a perfectly clear night.  Don returned and identified many of the heavenly bodies that we seldom get to see in the Northern Hemisphere. And of course the stark darkness with no light pollution was an unusual experience for most of us.  The Milky Way was amazing and we saw the Southern Cross, as well as numerous other constellations, stars and suns.  This was one event that definitely ended too soon.

Outlook on the OutBack (no blooming onions to be found)

 March 26

An early morning wakeup call started us off on our day’s adventures.

A 2 hour and 20 minute flight to Alice Springs and our first ever 1.5 hour time change.  (You figure that one out) and we are officially in the Outback.

The Outback even today continues to be a very large, remote inland desert.  Used chiefly as cattle stations and for some recreation, ‘homes’ are few and far between.   Being so spread out it is obvious that there are no ‘services’ provided and each location needs to be self serving. Generators are used for electricity which may only be available for 1 hour a day.  

First stop, the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service.  Started in 1928  it provides health care to the remote locations throughout the Outback.  Always on call are a doctor, flight nurse and pilot so a patient can be reached within 2 hours. These life savers provide emergency care as well as routine preventative care to these distant locations.  Patients often describe their symptoms remotely where the Drs determine the course of action from simply prescribing from the ‘stations’ on site medicines, to a visit, or to an emergency air evacuation.  This particular station, one of 16, covers an area with a 400 radius. Even with today’s modern medical treatments this service is necessary to the people’s well being in this remote land.  Had a quick bite to eat and we’re off again.

Next stop the Alice Springs School of the Air.  This unique school is the largest classroom in the world covering an area double the size of Texas, 521,000 sq miles.  Established in 1951, it provides distance education via radio and now Internet/satellite communication to students from ages 4.5 to 14 in remote area.  This particular school serves 116 students with the furthest student 800 miles away. To these retired educators it sounds like a piece of cake…no bus duty…no lunch duty…no hall duty…no dances to supervise…no discipline problems..no dress codes.  The downside of course is that you have multiple grade levels and ALL subjects. The students regularly finish in the top 10% on national tests.

Spent a little time walking through the ‘downtown’ area of Alice Springs.  This quaint town is truly there for the tourist with it multitude of shops housing souvenirs and original Aboriginal art. Many native aborigines were evident throughout town and along the roadside, many selling their art directly and many more just “there.”

We finished the day’s regular program with a visit to the telegraph station which was the original site of the town.  The overland telegraph line was constructed from 1870-72 which allowed Australia to communicate with the rest of the world.  Alice Springs was the mid way point between Darwin and Adelaide so it grew in importance.  This well preserved site is currently a tourist attraction and is still used by schools for a 3 day/nite experience.  Students dress in period clothing, cook in the manner of the 1800’s and attend classes in a large hall.

Back to the hotel.  We are spending the next few days at a Casino Hotel.  Lots of perks being here, some of which include a swimming pool in this lovely 80 degree weather.  Off tonight to feed the wallabies and experience some local food.

More to come.

March 25th

Day 2 and we are starting to get into the travel mood.  We boarded the "little" bus at 9:00 this morning for a tour of Melbourne and visitied a WWI memorial, a beautiful cathedral and a huge market with everything from clothing, appliances, fresh foods, a meat market and a food court.  We are enjoying the wondeful sites in Melbourne and the lively people. So nice to be traveling and 'understand' the people,.  I use the term understand loosely.  We have been informed that they are speaking the 'Queen's Englkish"  I don't know about that...not my English.

On our walk back from the free City Circle tram, we spotted a small cafe with free WiFi for customers.  Happy to report that we are sacrificing ourselves drinking a beer to bring you this report.  Taking advantage of it with email, blog and some skyping too.

Off to dinner soon.  Early flight tomorrow to Alice Springs wihich is typical outback.  Lots planned to experience the flavbor of the country.

The phrase for the day is obviously 'no worries'  It isn't a joke. EVERYBODY uises the phrase and they LIVE it.  We haven't heard a honking horn yet in what can be considered very typical big city traffic.

We are hoping to get some pix posted at the next stop where we have fee andf unlimited WiFi.

G'Day Mate!

A PS from yesterday....luggage arrived.  Jane said she was so happy that she wouldn't see us in the same clothes again tomorrow.  Actually D2 and Linda awere just going to exchange clothes and no one would be the wiser.

Just the beginning.

March 24, 2011                  DOWN UNDER, ALL OVER & NO WORRIES

Linda and DeeDee arrived at O’Hare on Mar. 22^nd for their 5:45 flight.  Check –in and security were uncrowded and slick, so we had time for a bite to eat in the United food court where Deedee proceeded to spill chicken noodle soup on her white shirt.  Our plane was late arriving from Philly so we sat for an extra 2o minutes waiting to board.  After boarding we spent about ½ hour waiting for ground services to confirm how much fuel was loaded before departing. (This was a good thing)   Finally in the air, we decided a glass (or two) of cabernet sounded good before dinner, which Deedee proceeded to spill down the same white shirt.  Blame it on the turbulence – at least that is Deedee’s story and she is sticking to it! 

We arrived at LAX about an hour late – which lead to the lack of an open gate and another hour sitting on the tarmac.  Now…we have less than an hour to find the right counter and get to our flight and anyone who flies knows that does not work and we missed our flight to Melbourne.  We were able to make a later flight to Sydney with another connecting flight back to Melbourne.  After a delightful 14 hours in a metal tube, we arrived in Sydney with about an hour to clear customs, catch a bus to the domestic terminal and catch our short flight to Melbourne.  Not finding our promised GCT agent, we hopped a shuttle into town and our hotel.  While we reached our destination …our luggage did not. Quite remarkable that this is the first time this has happened with all the traveling we’ve done.   Quantas was quite accommodating and offered us each $100 to purchase the missing ‘incidentals’  The downside was that we had to walk about ¾ of a mile in the rain to get to the Quantas office from the hotel.    Our luggage is promised for tomorrow and if not….well it’s back to the Quantas office for another payment. We did find a Target store and bought a few things we were missing.

This evening, we met with our tour leader for an orientation, followed by dinner in our hotel with 12 of the 14 travelers participating in this pre-tour of the outback.  Seems like a nice group of seasoned travelers even though many are GCT virgins.  Time will tell.

Eagle-eye Linda had spotted a liquor store across from our hotel and we are enjoying a glass of Shiraz before turning in for the night.    Our bodies are very tired but it isn’t 9 o’clock yet and who wants to be up at 3am.

Off tomorrow for a bus tour of Melbourne…More to come.       

T minus one day

Yup the trio (plus 1) is off again. A shorter trip than we are accustomed to but excitng none the less.  Hopefully we'll find enough connectivity (at a reasonable price) to share our adventures with ya'll.  We know the sites will be fab.  Check back with us.  Leaving Chicago Tuesday...arriving Melbourne Thursday.  That sucks!