Memories of our trip

 




Lounging by the pool. We had the whole pool to ourselves that afternoon.  October seems to be a quiet time.

 Adrien and his two friends.  He really got excited when he saw Lightning McQueen.

 

  Walter and me - aka the Grey Nomads.

We're now back home, after going up the I-75 from Florida to Ajax.  It was a wonderful trip, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Spending time with Chris, Jes and Adrien was a treat.   It was a wonderful holiday.

Another Disney Day

Adrien and his compass fron the Tortuga Tavern.

 

 

 Adrien and the evil space villain Zurk.

 

 Chris at the race track.  Adrien is in the car with him, but Adrien's head is barely visible above the steering wheel.

 

 

On Thursday, I went with Adrien, Jes and Chris to the Magic Kingdom.  Walter opted to stay at the condo and spend the day relaxing.  Above are a few snaps from our day at Disney.  Adrien had a great time.  We saw Tigger and Winnie the Pooh walking along the street.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to take a photo before they disappeared.  We did Big Thunder Mountain, the Astro Glider, Pirates of the Caribbean, Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Peter Pan's Flight, Winnie the Pooh's Ride and several more before we finished for the day. Lots of fun.

 

Central Florida

On Wednesday, Walter and I decided to explore a bit of central Florida while Chris, Jes and Adrien were enjoying Disney.  After dropping the kids off at the Magic Kingdom, we set out for Polk County.  Our first stop was a lovely hidden gem, Bok Tower Gardens, located in Lake Wales.  The gardens are set in 50 acres and include ferns, live oaks, palms, banana trees, pines, azaleas, camellias, magnolias, just to name a few of the varieties.  There is also a wild bird sanctuary, that is used by several migratory birds.

The gardens were set up by Edward Bok, and dedicated in the 1920s by then President Calvin Coolidge.  Mr. Bok was a very interesting man, who had among his acquaintances P. T. Barnum, Charles Darwin, Frederick Douglass, Rudyard Kipling and FDR.  He bought the land for the gardens, sitting on top of a mountain (actually only 290 feet above sea level but still the second highest point in Florida).  We found the gardens to be like walking into a 'Gone With the Wind' setting.

In the middle of the gardens, Mr. Bok has a 205-foot tower constructed, made of Georgia marble and Florida coquina, and housing a beautiful carillon of 60 bells.  The carillon is played every 15 minutes.  What a beautiful sound! The tower also a beautiful art deco grill work.  It really is something to see.

After the park, we headed to Lang Sun Countrey Groves.  This citrus fruit producer also has a cafe called Taste of Florida, and is known for its grapefruit pie.  The cafe makes great salaes and sandwiches, and the grapefruit pie was worth the trip.  Not too sweet, and completely refreshing.  The refreshing.  Lang has been owned by three generations of the same family - from grangmother, to mother to daughter.  The server we had gave me the recipe for grapefruit pie, and I will defintely be making it once we get back home.

 Close up of some of the flowers in the garden.  The colours were beautiful.  The guide told us the best time is late February/early March when the azaleas are in bloom.  But there is plenty to see in October.

 



 My favourite man.  It was a cool day - only about 67F - but sunny.

 

 The tower.  It's surrounded by a moat and can be accessed by going through decorative wrought iron gates to bridges over the water.



  Me - in front of the tower.

 

 An orange laden tree.  The park is surrounded by orange groves.  The trees, like this one, are so heavy with fruit, that the oranges in some places are touching the ground.



Disney Magic

 Chris, Jes and Adrien at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. 

 

  Cinderella's castle, or as Adrien called it, the Disney Castle.  He was so excited when he saw it.  We were lucky enough to be coming up Main Street just as a show was starting.

 

 The stars of the show - Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

 

 Chris and Adrien with Tigger. 

 

 Adrien and Eeyore.

 



 Granpa and Adrien with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater.

 

Yesterday, we spent the day at Disney with Chris, Jes and Adrien.  In a way, it brought back great memories.  Adrien is four, and the first time I took Chris to Disney World, he was four.  It was wonderful to experience seeing it all again through the eyes of a four-year old.

 

We started off the day in the Animal Kingdom, a park that I had never been to.  The safari ride was a real treat - over bumpy roads through various parts of 'Africa'.  Saw rhinos, gazelles, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, and hippos, to name a few of the animals.  For me, that was the highlight.

 

In the afternoon, we were in the Magic Kingdom.  Arien was so excited to see the Disney Castle, and we were lucky enough to see a show that included Goofy, Donald Duck, Mickey and Minnie, Peter Pan and Wendy, Snow White, Cinderella, Princess Aurora and their princes, Captain Hook and Mister Smee.  More rides, the Haunted House, Pirates of the Caribbean, and pictures opportunities everywhere.  Adrien loved the rides and is absolutely fearless.  He loved going higher and higher.  If he could have gone on the rides over and over again, he would have.  Every time he got off a ride, all he said was 'again, Nana'. 

 

We finished the day with supper and the fireworks display in Epcot.  A fabulous pyrotechnic display over the lagoon.  Disney certainly knows how to entertain.  A very long day, and very happy one.  And another set of great memories.



 





 





In Florida

We arrived in Florida.  Monday was taken up with relaxing after three days of driving.  Actually Walter did all the driving and I did all the relaxing, so I definitely got the better part of this deal.  Luckily for me, Walter likes to drive (which I don't), and doing it over three days meant that there was no driving at night.  We both agreed it was a good way to make the trip. 

Tuesday morning we were back at our favourite golf course in the area.  The weather was good, and we hit some great shots.  Truth be told though, I hit more goofy shots that good ones.  I guess that's what happens when I only play twice a year and don't practice.  Still, we both had a good time, and that's what counts.  We're never going to make money at playing golf, but we always have a good time.

Today, we went to Melbourne Beach on the Atlantic coast.  The area is beautiful, and much less developed than central Florida.  We had lunch at a road house place called the New England Eatery. Didn't look like much from the outside, but had great fish and chips and delicious blackened shrimp.

Walter relaxing with a coffee on Monday.

 

 

One of the fairways on the Lake Orlando Golf Course.  No alligators this time.

 

At Melbourne Beach.  It was virtually deserted.  Cocoa Beach, up the coast, is more popular and developed.  The surf was quite heavy.  I love the sound of the waves against the shore.

 

 

 Sandpipers on the beach.

 

  Me on the beach.  Even with polarized glasses, I'm squinting so much, it looks like I have my eyes closed.

 







Chickamauga

  Chickamauga Creek

 

 

We decided to see the site of the Battle of Chickamauga before resuming our journey down the I-75. The battle took place in September 1863, and was the second bloodiest in the US Civil War after Gettysburg.  It was well worth the visit.  The battlefield is spread out over a few miles, and while some of the fighting took place out in the open near the Chickamauga Creek, much of the fighting was in the woods surrounding the creek.  And that made it difficult for commanders on both sides to see their own troops and the enemy.

  The Louisianna battery.  The guns faced the union guns from an Illinois battery about 300 to 400 yards away. 

 

 

  The old plantation house - now the Visitor's Centre.

 





Walter in front of the memorial from the State of Georgia to its fallen soldiers in the Civil War.

 

 The woods surrounding Chickamauga.   Although these are new growth, they are typical of what the Union and Confederate troops would have had to march through.  There are monuments every few hundred feet in portions of the woods, marking the various units of regiments from both armies.



On the way to Florida

We're on our way to Florida, down the I-75.  Yesterday, we stopped in Bowling Green, Ohio.  A great university town - home of Bowling Green State University.  The largest employer by far.  The town itself is quite pretty.  Lots of beautiful early 20th century clapboard houses, many of them renting to students.  Also several fraternity houses along Wooster Blvd, known as fraternity row for about two blocks.  I think I counted five fraternities in that two block space.  Don't know about the sororities, although I'm sure they are around as well.

The weather is Bowling Green was cool - around 59 Fahrenheit, and windy.  We had supper at a restaurant called SamB's (see the photo above).  Decor was a bit dated, but the food was great, and there was lots of local art for sale.

This morning we left Ohio for Chattanooga, Tennessee.  It was cold and rainy when we left, but by the time we got to Kentucky, the weather was starting to clear.  Once over the mountains in Tennessee, the sun came out.  What a difference - 21 Celsius and sunny.  On the way down, the display of colour in the leaves was spectacular.  A riot of gold, oranges, red, umbers, ochres, interspersed with dark greens from evergreens.  A beautiful sight, especially in Kentucky and Tennessee.  Tomorrow, we move on the Florida, but first we'll stop to see a Civil War battlefield - Chickamauga.  Looking forward to seeing it.

Margaret River

The Margaret River wasn't what I expected. I'm not sure what I expected really, but what we found wasn't it. It turned out to be quite different, and quite exciting. We spent as much time climbing to the top of the lighthouse, and going into underground caves as we did visiting wineries and tasting wine. There are over 90 wineries in the area - everything from the big internationally known ones to small boutique wineries, and we visited a random selection of them. In addition, there are olive oil producers, great restaurants, lots of local art galleries and museums. We could have done more, had we more time to spend in the area.

The wineries share land with the karri forests. Driving down the main roads, if you didn't know there were wineries behind the trees, you'd miss quite a few of them. There are vineyards along the roads, but most of them are further back. Beaches, forests, caves and eco tourism are an important part of the Margaret River area. The town itself is nine miles inland from the Indian Ocean and is part of the Leeuwin (pronounced LOO WIN) Naturaliste Ridge.

Walter and I visited the lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin - the most south-westerly point in Australia. It's where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. We could actually climb to the top of the lighthouse and look out over two oceans. Awesome! The lighthouse was opened in 1896, is the tallest on mainland Australia, and is still in operation today. Things were certainly built to last in the 1890s. The walls at the base of the lighthouse are two metres thick, tapering to one metre at the top. Our guide told us that there are about 30 days per year where the wind can exceed 100 km per hour - hurricane force. The staircase (which was made in England) to the top is the original metal narrow one, and spirals its way to a narrow door (even I had to duck to avoid hitting the lintel) before stepping outside just underneath the light. The spare parts for the stairs, also from England, are still in the storage room at the bottom of the staircase ready to be used if ever needed.

One of our fellow tourists asked the guide why lighthouses are still in use, in this era of GPS. Our guide, Paul, replied that each lighthouse has its own frequency. By determining the frequency, and referring to the appropriate chart, anyone can determine where they are. Ships' power can fail from time to time, and when that happens navigational equipment is useless. And lastly. GPS' can sometime be misleading. I can attest to that, as ours (we call her Martha) sent us along a dirt toad to the back gate of Xanadu winery! At least we saw kangaroos on that detour. All was not lost, as a reference to the local tourist map showed us how to get to the front entrance on a paved road. Just goes to show that old technology isn't always obsolete technology.

We visited three of the caves in the area - Jewel, Mammoth, and Lake Caves. Jewel Cave was discovered in the 1960s, and is the largest limestone cave in the area. Lake Cave is the deepest and is right under the main road. Over 300 steps down, and 300 steps back up. Talk about a work out! It was originally discovered in the 1800's (I don't remember when) by a young girl out riding on her horse. The horse stopped and wouldn't go any farther. When the girl dismounted to find out why, she discovered the cave. She went back to tell her family. Unfortunately, the area was difficult to find again, and it became somewhat of a family joke - the cave that doesn't exist - until about thirty years later when one of her family members stumbled across the cave entrance! The guide told us that the first two formations were only 2 1/2 metres inside the cave. They are called Headache and Splitting Headache. In other words - duck. The ceiling is so low that anyone entering needs to duck or crouch down (and this while we're still going down stairs). A bit of a contortion, as we had to keep that way while descending over a dozen steps, but definitely worth it.

After four days, we returned to Perth and flew back to Sydney on the following day. It's been a great trip, and as much as I like to travel, I'm now looking forward to going home.

Cottesloe Beach

Cottesloe Beach is one of Perth's most popular attractions. There are several restaurants and bars along the coast road, and the beach itself is very beautiful. Sunsets over the Indian Ocean have a lot going for them, especially when they inspire romance!

Perth and Fremantle

On March 17th, we flew from Sydney to Perth in Western Australia. I've always wanted to visit the western part of Oz, and didn't have an opportunity on our last trip, so this was exciting. Perth and Fremantle, the entire west coast that we saw, did not disappoint.

The first thing we noticed is that it's hotter and drier. It was about 30 degrees when we arrived in Perth - and that was at 9:40 in the morning. The air is much clearer because it's so dry. Also smells different. That could be because of the ocean breezes. Perth in the third windiest city in the world, after Chicago, USA (#1) and Wellington, NZ (#2), according to our B&B host.

We drove up the coast a bit to see what we could see. Unlike what we've seen in NSW or Queensland, there are huge sand dunes along the beaches. From the road, it's not always obvious that we're near a beach. But the beaches are beautiful. The Indian Ocean is very blue farther out, and a brilliant turquoise near the shore.

We spent Sunday, March 18th, in Fremantle. The cities are really one metropolitan area. The big difference is that Perth is a newer, more modern city on the Swan River, and is the financial centre of Western Australia. Fremantle has kept many of its 19th century buildings, is more laid back, and is a major sea port on the Indian Ocean. Getting from one to the other takes about 20 minutes.

A brief explanation of the pictures I've posted, mainly because I posted them backwards. So here goes. The first picture is part of the fishing fleet in Fremantle. We could see these boats from our restaurant on the wharf. Some of the best calamari I've ever had (and I couldn't finish it all!). The cute thing about this picture? The third boat is the Mis Perception.

The next picture is the old town hall in Fremantle. Beautiful building now part of the tourist info centre.

The picture after that has Walter with a tray of beer glasses in front of him. No, he didn't drink a whole bunch of glasses full of beer. But..... he is fond of a pale ale made by Little Creatures, which just happens to have its brewery in.... you guessed it..... Fremantle. I had a glass of wine (they didn't make ginger beer), and Walter had a beer tasting. Each glass contained about two ounces of beer, everything from the pale ale to a dark beer, and a sparkling cider. The verdict was the pale ale was still the best. The idea was that once you've done the tasting, you can go up to the counter and order a pint or a schooner of the beer you liked the best. Walter said after finishing the tasting, that was sufficient.

The next photo - Walter with the bronze bathing beauty. The artist who did this lives in a house near the old round house. There are examples of his work all over Fremantle. One is a huge mermaid. You can see the sand dune in the background. There are paths everywhere in the dunes leading to the various beaches, which are all public.

Then we have Walter sitting on a large concrete sofa. Ouch! This was in the old insane asylum, now the Fremantle Arts Centre. The sofa looked interesting, but definitely uncomfortable.

The next two photos were taken in Kings Park in Perth. From the top of the hill on one side of the Swan River, you can see across. The whole downtown core is fairly new as cities go - most of it from the 1980's and onward. Everyone we talked to said that mining in WA is booming, and WA is growing. The Perth area apparently is getting about 1100 new people a month. There is construction everywhere.

The last picture is an old boab tree. This tree is very old - around 750 years - and was moved in 2008 from the Kimberley area in the northern part of WA to Kings Park in Perth, a distance of 3300 km. The tree was in the way of the Great Northern Highway that was then being built, and rather than it being destroyed, the local indigenous people made a gift of it to Kings Park. The park, in return, will use its seeds to grow new boab trees that will be replanted in the Kimberley area.