Australia zoo

We spent the day yesterday at the Australia Zoo. If you've ever heard of the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, this was his baby. The zoo was founded be his parents, but everywhere, there are reminders of Steve. All the explan'ations in the various exhibits have 'Crikey' in them somewhere. We hd an opportunity to feed the elephants, pet the koalas, pet the kangaroos, and observe from a very safe distance the crocodiles and alligators. The best part for me, though, was that the zoo had red pandas - I know - they're not native to Australia, but are they ever beautiful.

The zoo started out being mainly about crocodiles (no surprise, after all Steve Irwin was the Crocodile Hunter), and then expanded to include other species native to Australia. The zoo has examples of the most poisonous snakes in Oz, but I studiously avoided that exhibit!! The latest expansion includes animals from Asia and Africa. Right now there is a Madagascar Island being built which will have a cheetah run when finished.

It was a great day. I've posted a few pics. Cameron the crocodile is a great photo op, and Walter, Jon and Lex took advantage of it. Cameron is obviously a replica, and is an example of what an adult male salt water crocodile would be under ideal conditions. We would be just a snach for him. The crocodile in the other photo, though, is real.

On the Noosa River

Yesterday, Walter and I took the ferry along the Noosa River. The ferry goes from Noosa Heads to Tewantin, which was originaly a logging town. The trip takes about 55 minutes in total. The nice thing, though, is that there are five stops along the way, and we could get on and off as many times as we liked for the price of an all-day ticket. Each stop has its own attractions - beaches, shops, and restaurants. Everything from take aways to fancy restaurants with white linen table cloths and view of the river.

From Noosa Heads to Tewantin, there are about 1000 boats on the river, according to the ferry captain. Several of the boats are houseboats, where people live all year round. Some are pleausure boats for the river only, and a few are ocean-going craft. However, there are only 100 moorings, Many of the moorings belong to the houses on one side of the river. These are million dollar homes, with huge glass frontages to take advantage of the river views. Mixed in with them are the more upscale holiday homes that are let, or rented, out when not in use. Threre are also a few holiday resorts. On the other side of the river, is the Cooloola National Park, a beautiful undeveloped area. In the middle, in one section, there is a big sand bar. During the busy season in summer, there would be up to a hundred people on it, enjoying the river. Now, as the busy season is over, there are only a few if any. There are other sandbars, not visible above the water, and so anyone on the river needs to pay careful attention to the channel markers to avoid being grounded on a sandbar. Looking back from Noosa Heads, where we boarded the ferry, we could see a huge sandbar in the distance, and the surf from the sea, coming across Noosa Spit into the sound.

We got off the ferry at Big Pelican, and wandered around the shops for a bit before having lunch at a local Indian restaurant. That was followed up by a walk along the beach, and a treat of ice cream (mango, mmmmmm good) before we boarded the ferry again at T-Boats for the trip back to Noosa Heads.

Relaxing in Noosa

We've spent the last two weeks relaxing in Noosa. Our days have been taken up with going to the beach, lounging by the pool, relaxing on the patio, and exploring the area.

This part of Queensland is a mix of temperate and tropical, so that we have plants and animnals from both zones. One morning, there was a lorikeet, on our patio, looking for food. Walter managed to snap a picture of it before it flew away. The picture doesn't really do it any justice - the bird's plumage was brillant green, red, blue and yellow.

We've been to the markets here. The Sunday market is mostly fresh fruit and vegetables. You can also get fresh bread, homemade ginger beer (non-alcoholic), flowers, herbs and spices, and various kinds of brekkies. Everything from bacon butties to malaysian crepes. We found one stall that had locally made cheese, modelled after the cheeses of Switzerland. We bought a cheese called Snakebite. It was really good - nice and sharp. The big market on Wednesday is in a little town called Eumundi - about 15 minutes from Noosa. Food is available for sale, but the big attraction is the local arts and crafts community. Everything from handmade soaps and jewelry to clothes and decorative items. I found a nice top that I bought and have worn three times already.

I've posted a few pictures: Jaime and Jon relaxing on the patio, Lex in his new swimsuit, the lorikeet, me, Lex, and Jon in the pool.

Noosa,Queensland

We arrived in Noosa Heads on Friday, February 17th. We were a day early, so we stopped in a motel at Noosa Junction for the night. It turns out that the motel was only a few hundred metres from our resort, where we checked in on Saturday. Jaime and Lex joined us on Saturday afternoon, and Jon will be coming up on Friday. We're here for two weeks, to relax and explore.

Being retired means that you don't pay much attention to time - after all, it's not like I have to be anywhere in particular at any given time. We'd been in Queensland since Friday morning, and it took us until Saturday afternoon to realize that we're in a different time zone. And that was only because I questioned the time on the microwave clock. Walter said the time was wrong. I checked with one of the staff, and lo and behold, our watches were wrong. The clock on the microwave was correct. Queensland is an hour behind New South Wales.

Noosa Heads is a beautiful area, and is popular with tourists. The area has several communities with the name Noosa - Noose Heads, Noosa Junction, Noosaville, Noosa Springs,and Noosa Civic - they all tend to run together in my mind, so I think of them all as Noosa. There are ocean beaches - like Castaway Beach, Sunrise Beach, Sunrise Beach to name a few. And then on the bay side, there is Main Beach. The head, or point, is in the Noosa National Park. Walking trails abound - both inland through rain forest, and along the coast. There are also riding trails, boating, fishing, sailing, surfing, parasailing, and just about any other water sport you can think of.

This area is much more tropical that Sydney. Rain forest gives way to gum tree forest in the interior and the coast is generally a surfer's dream. Aquamarine clear water laps onto sandy beaches that end in rain forests. The sun here is much stronger - daytime temperatures usually reach 30 with a good deal of humidity. Sunscreen, a hat and a full water bottle are a must when we go outside. Even with that, by 11:00 am my hands, arms and face are glistening.

On Sunday, Walter and I set out to walk the coastal trail in Noosa Provincial Park. There are signs everywhere that indicate walkers should not leave the trails. Within a few feet of the trail, the sound of the surf disappears to be replaced by the constant hum of insects and songs of birds. It would be so easy to get lost. If you've ever read Robinson Crusoe, or watched any of the Disney pirate movies, this place could have served as a location for them. It is indescribably beautiful. I've posted a few picures, but they don't begin to do the scenery any justice.

Today, we walked along the shore of Main Beach and then doubled back through some of the parkland. Along the way, we say some wild turkeys and managed to get a photo of a baby one.

The notion that we are in a tropical area was reinforced by the rain that came this afternoon. The rain came in mid-afternoon. First high winds, then a gentle rain that quickly turned into a driving hard rain. It came down so hard, that we could no longer see the ocean from our balcony. In rained in waves for almost three hours before it finally stopped. When we checked the new on TV, the newscase indicated that it was a bit of tropical storm, and some residents were saying it was the worst in twenty years. I don't know about that, but I can honestly say that it was worse than anything I'd seen in South Carolina or Florida.

Stroud to Ballina

Along the Pacific Coast Highway, there are tourist drives that provide detours into some very interesting and beautiful places befor joining the highway again. We took one of the tourist drives into the interior. At first, I thought this was a mistake, but I was so wrong. There were several large cattle farms, covering valleys and hills, with spectacular views. The only drawback was that we usually found the scenic lookouts as we were driving by them, and so missed several opportunities for pictures.

We stopped in the village of Stroud for lunch. The village was founded in the early 1800s as part of the wool industry. From Stroud, we continued on to Gloucester where we joined the highway again. A little further down the road, we took another tourist drive that led us to Part Macquarie. The port is named after Governor Macquarie, and was founded in 1821 when three ships with 60 convicts and 40 soldiers of the 48th regiment arrived. It remained a convict town until 1847, although it was opened up to free settlers in 1830.

We stopped in Port Macquarie for the night, and treated ourselves to a good meal in a very nice restaurant along the Hastings River. The restaurant is located where the river meets the ocean. In the distance, we could see cranes gliding along the water, and dolphins playing in the distance.

The next day, Thursday, we started off again. Our first stop was the Smokey Lighthouse in the Hat Head National Park. The point or head on which the lighthouse sits was discovered by Captain Cook, and was called smokey because the aboriginal people in the area kept a fire burning at the point. It is a steep climb up to the top of the hill. So steep that I had to stop twice. But it was definitely worth it. The views are spectacular.

From Smokey Lighthouse, we went to see the Trial Bay Gaol. The jail was originally established with a group of hard-core convicts who were supposed to build a breakwater. However, after several years, the work on the breakwater had not advanced sufficiently, and improvements in transportation overland and by sea meant that it was no longer necessary. The gaol was next used as a detention centre for German Australians during World War 1. It was abandonded after.

Heading north, the landscape changed again. Instead of dairy or beef farming, there were a few rice paddies, palm tree farms and then miles and miles of sugarcane. Huge, flat, lush, green plains as far as the eye could see with mountains, blue and misty in the background.

Mirrors and things

On Wednesday, February 15th, we left Maroubra to go to Noosa Heads in Queensland, anticipating that it would take us three days to get there. Actually, it took us only two, but more about that later.

Our first stop was to get a mirror to replace the one on the driver's side that fell off. The one that fell off was supposed to replace the one that got smashed by another motorist. Did I relate that story? If not, remind me and I'll do it later. Anyway, a mirror is one of those things that come in handy when driving, and Walter thought it would be a good idea to get one before we set off on a 1000+ km trip. Now, a mirror for a 2001 Ford Escape isn't that easy to come by. It seems you just can't walk into an auto parts shop and get one off the shelf. Walter and Jon had scouted out a particular auto parts shop the night before and Jon felt that we might be able to get a replacement.

Unfortunately, no. The fellow in the shop told us it had to be ordered, and would take about a week to be delivered. He suggested that we use one of those flexible mirrors that can be cut to shape, We didn't have scissors, so he offered to lend us a pair. There we were - in the parking lot of an auto shop in Sydney cutting out a flexi-mirror to fit the driver-side mirror holder. Guess what? It works - can't see exactly 100% clearly, but enough to know that there is a very large object (car, bus, truck) coming up on the driver side - and that, really, is the point of having it.

Having got a mirror, or at least a reasonable facsimile of one, we programmed the GPS and off we went. We crossed the Harbour Bridge to the north side of Sydney - much more traffic and congestion, and finally got out of the city. Heading north into the country, the first thing we noticed is that the mountains, I think they are the great dividing range but I'll have to check, are continuously on our left. We drove through some of the foothills. Very interesting. In some places, the road has been cut right through the rock face. If you've ever travelled the 401 around Kingston, you'll be familiar with how the highway was cut through the rock. Think of that, only rock face about three times taller, and absolutely sheer (at least it appeared so from the highway). We drove through high hills and steep valleys which gave us a glimpse of what was on the other side of the mountain range. The skies were interesting, too. We were on the divide of the weather - stormy, dark, rain-laden skies on the left, and sunny blue skies on the right. We drove through heavy rain (actualy Walter drove, I just sat there thinking 'thank you, Lord, better him than me') that was so bad, we couldn't see the car in front of us, alternating with brilliant blue skies, alternating with fine mist. Luckily the rain only lasted a little bit.

Driving in Australia is not like driving at home. Although the speed limit on the 401 may be 100 km per hour, it's often viewed as a suggestion and most drivers do around 110 to 120. Here, the posted speed limits - 110 on the motor routes - are taken very seriously. We were in the passing lane (on the right, which also took a bit of getting used to), and stayed a bit too long in it. The GPS had fallen off the windshield. Walter and I were trying to fix it. Wouldn't you know it - we got pulled over because the speed was up to 127. Walter apologized and said that we weren't paying attention because of the GPS. The cop was very nice, and said that they do cut some slack but not that much. So, we got a ticket. On the upside though, he didn't say anything about our wacky mirror. And we did manage to get the GPS thingy back on the windshield. And that, folks, was the start of our trip to Queensland.

Maroubra and Botany Bay

We took a break from sight-seeing, and helped our kids move from Bondi to their new place in Maroubra. Lots of packing. cleaning, unpacking and more cleaning till everyone got settled in.

We also took the time to go to Botany Bay, where the first ships that came to Austrlia landed. The narrows made the bay an ideal harbour from the sea. There are the remains of a fort at the narrows. The guard tower still stands, but not much else. The original settlers (and convicts) didn't stay there for too many years, because a steady supply of fresh water was a problem and had to move up the coast. The rock formations at Bare Island, at the narrows, are amazing. Today, Botany Bay has a huge freight seaport, so there are ships continuously going through the narrows. The airport is also close by, and planes are frequently flying overhead.