Wrap-Up & Kudos

To summarize the whole trip in one entry would be impossible, but needless to say we had a great time. It was the trip of our lives, we saw amazing new places and tried some exiting new things. But best of all were the people we met. A place is just a place, what makes it really special to me is the people...and we met many memorable people in Australia. Our Couch Surfing/Global Freeloader hosts, the bus drivers, tour guides, even the locals on the street, all made our trip a great one. We need to thank so many people. Lets try chronologically starting with my Mom and Johnny, for driving us to/from the Airport (and washing our filthy car! Obviously embarrassed of it sitting in their driveway). Leave it to a mom to drop everything for her kids.

Next, Sandy and Tony...our first friendly faces in Sydney, who got up at a very early hour to pick up two strangers up at the airport, and invite them into their home. While they were accustomed to the "freeloading " experience, Stephanie and I had no idea what to expect. Needless to say we would have never expected the kind of warmth, and hospitality they offered. Sandy's wonderful home-made vegetarian lasagna, Tony's kickstart coffee, rides into town or the train station, meeting their kids and great stories of their trips to America...started our trip off right. Thanks.

Next, Tom in Katoomba. Again great hospitality. We arrived in Katoomba with a vague idea of where he lived, we called to get confirmation and next thing we knew he was pulling up to the curb. He lives just a tad bit out of town, but the view more than makes up for it (and this way we were closer to some of our planned activities). Partly because we weren't actually staying in his house, and because we kept pretty busy, we did not get to spend as much time chatting with Tom. Steph did get to go up one night and hang out, while Gregg took a nap. Tom was great, even let us borrow a couple of bikes ! Good luck Tom, enjoy your adventures.

From Katoomba we made our way to see Loren and Yvette (and Kya). They also helped to make our trip the best possible. From picking us up from the Airport, to driving us down the Mornington Peninsula, taking us to their favorite restaurants, a bike ride for Gregg and thanks to Yvette taking Stephanie to the chemist several times. We were very lucky to see so much of them, with Yvette still recovering from her shoulder surgery, and Loren having a somewhat flexible work schedule, we had a great time staying with them. (and hope to meet up with them on their next vacation, wherever that may be...)

That brings us to Shane and Fiona, the horse people. Stephanie met them through one of the global freeloader sites, and we were honored to be their first guests ! They welcomed us in and made us feel at home. They are very nice couple, and so very active. BOTH were very accommodating and took time to drive us wherever we needed to be. I learned the basics of cricket, and Stehanie pet a goat and we had fun playing with their dogs. Good luck selling your place, and on finding the ranch of your dreams.

We need to say a special thanks to Dad and Ielean for watching Demi while we were gone. We left for vacation knowing she was in very good hands. Demi is of course spoiled, and we were worried how she would adapt to a new home and a different schedule. Apparently she did fine, even learned a new phrase " go to the beach?". We still need to get over to their house and get the whole story. Despite being slow to recognize us when we got back (to be fair we did smell very different) she has adjusted quickly to her regular routine. She does however keep a little closer watch on our movements, like when Stephanie was recently packing for a business trip to Philadelphia...but that's another entry alltogether.




It was great to meet and stay with Australian families.

Australia ~ Hoo Roo, Australia

Getting back to Tokyo Village Youth Hostel late Tuesday night meant it was tough getting up Wednsday morning. ( does staying IN a youth hostel mean you're young ? I hope so ). But we checked out with time to walk to Darling Harbour for breakfast. Darling Harbour is one of our favorite spots in Sydney. It was a area of run down docks and abandoned wharehouses for years. But in 1984, after about after 150 years of industrial use, the NSW State Government decided to redevelope the Darling Harbor area and to "return it to the people of Sydney". It is now a vibrant combination of boat docks, shopping, outdoor parks, museums, resturaunts, hotels, the Sydney Aquarium, Chinese Gardens, IMAX....and a wonderfull 104 year old swing-span bridge. One of the oldest electrified swing-span bridges in the world, it once carried thousands of cars a day, but now is a pedestrian walkway with an elevated monorail track. It still opens on weekends several times a day. Sydney has great public transportation; trains, busses, monorail and the trams (but only a few, most were removed in the 1960's....Melbourne wisely kept their's and now the monorail is one of that city's most famous landmarks). We ate breaky sitting at a second floor cafe overlooking the harbour...perfect. Hopped the train to the Airport, boarded the plane, and settled in for a 13 hour ride (thats just to San Fransisco) then a couple hours layover, and a final flight to Portland. Coming in for landing at PDX Stephanie looked out the window at the grey drizzle and said "Despite the weather,I really do love Oregon" We were both glad to be home...living out of your suitcase for three weeks starts to get old.

Australia~Back in Sydney

Tuesday morning Loren drove Stephanie, Yvette and I to the depot just in time to catch the train to the airport. Quick goodbyes. Yvette was going up to Wollongong to see her parents (Loren would be coming up later) and was even on our same flight. When Steph and I got into downtown Sydney, we walked to a Youth Hostel where had reservations. It was very hot, and we were carrying our full load...you can imagine our feelings when we arrived at their doorstep and were told to come back in a few hours. While it is normal for Hostels to close mid-day, we had specifically asked if we could come by to drop of our bags before going into town for our Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. So we had a bite to eat and did a little reading. At 4:00 we got checked into our room (3 flights up), and left for the harbour. We had 5:15 pm reservations to climb the Harbour Bridge, and did not want to be late. LOOK CLOSELY AT PIC...SEE THE PEOPLE ? The Bridgee climb starts in The Rocks district, Sydney's oldest and most historically intact. Narrow cobblestone alleyways and old stone buildings are nestled on a small hill looking down on the harbour and up at the bridge. We checked in for our climb, signed waivers, took the requisite breathalyzer test (we passed!) and suited up. After donning the snappy jumpsuits, we walked through a metal detector, to insure no foriegn objects that could be dropped were brought along (no cameras allowed). We then put on our climbing harnesses and radios. Lastly a quick practice climb on a simulator to check the gear and we're off. The walk was great, with some behind the scene looks at the bridge and its construction (for example did you know the large concrete pillars under the bridge are just for looks? the steel span is completely self-supporting) As we are standing 400 feet above the water below, our guide Simon starts telling us about how many construction workers died...(only 16, and 6 of those were not actually ON the bridge when they died) or the story about the one worker who fell 150 feet into the water and lived. By making himself as small as possible and landing feet first he survived. But the impact burst both his eardrums and the soles of his boots had to be surgically removed from his feet. They gave him a gold watch. We got down the regular way and recieved nice certificates and a great picture. By the time we got down it was dark, and we were hungry. Luckily we found The Orient, Sydney's oldest pub. Great food and plenty of old world charm. The perfect way to end our last night in Australia.

Australia~ Great Ocean Road

An early start (6:30 am) was necessary in order to get through Melbourne before traffic, and because it was going to be a long day of driving (for Loren). The Great Ocean Road awaits. The first couple hours was just to get from the east side of the bay, through Melbourne, to the west side where the Great Ocean Road starts. Combine the Aussie driving style with a curvy road and then sit in the backseat...I'm getting a little queasy just thinking about it. Stephanie brought ginger tablets, sat in the middle, and we took frequent rest stops. Luckily the coastline was quite beautiful and distracting. First stop was at Bells Beach, a world famous surf beach. No big crowds, just big waves. At one point the road curved inland a bit to climb a large cape. Amazing how the quickly the foliage changes from beach to rainforest. A short detour brought us the to Otway Fly, an catwalk 75 feet off the floor of the rainforest. Walking along 75 ft off the ground among the giant trees was amazing. A spiral staircase took us to a small observation tower 135 ft high, and the trees were still towering. It swayed a bit, and the tight spiral coming down was harder on the tummy than the car ride. The trees are truly amazing, only the Californian Redwood grows taller. The area is home to platypus and echidnas, the worlds two only egg laying mammals...not that we saw any (they are nocturnal). Back on the road, we reach our destination...an amazing collection of limestone rock formations up to 100 feet high. The Twelve Apostles, Razorback, Island Arch, The Blowhole and London Bridge ( used to be a double arched peninsula, one arch collapsed back in 1990 leaving some tourists trapped 50 feet from shore, 40 feet above the sea. They were rescued by helicopter) to name a few. The Australian south coast has been responsible for many shipwrecks, one of the most famous was the Loch Ard , our final stop. Only two people survived, a small graveyard on the bluff holds the few recovered bodies. At this point we need to get heading back, its getting late. Up to the Princes Highway for a more direct return trip to Melbourne, and we're home by 9:30 pm.

Australia~ Mtn Biking & Melbourne

Sunday morning Gregg (Me) and Loren got up to go mountain biking. Of course it turns out to be the ONE day it rains...Loren had borrowed a Specialized Epic from his friend Marcus, who was also gracious enough to toss in some clipless shoes and helmet. We drove about 30 minutes to Lysterfield Park, the sight of the upcoming Commonwealth Games Mountainbike Race. There we met up with Loren's buddy Jason. Since they were both riding singlespeeds, I tried to be fair and match their gear size, (but still shifted occasionally). The trails were rolling, twisty, and lots of fun. Kangaroo hopped and lounged nearby, most were hardly bothered by our presence. And despite the drizzle, it was so warm I had to ditch the light jacket. Some say no ride is complete without a little blood...Loren complied with a quick fall on the loose dirt, resulting in a scraped-up elbow and calf. Didn't look too bad, but then I didn't have "Grid-Iron" (American Football) practice after the ride like he did.

Getting back home, Loren made the mistake of mentioning we saw Kangaroos. Stephanie was a little jealous that I saw 'roos in the wild, so while he went to Football practice, Yvette took Stephanie and I back to Lysterfield Park for a hike. The rain had stopped, but the 'roos were hiding. We walked some trails and on the return loop we finally found some hangng out in the woods. They were very casual, just laying around and not jumpy like deer.

Australia ~ Grape Grazing in the Yarra Valley

Yesterday we decided to do some wine tasting in the Yarra Valley, about an hour from Melbourne. There was an organized event, so several of the wineries had live entertainment, and were offering food. The first winery was really nice. Not too crowded. We tasted and liked the some of the wines ... but I wasn't ready to committ at the first winery, and we headed on to the next. Chandon. A favorite of Yvette's. Chandon was so crowded we could barely get in, and they weren't actually offering any wine to taste. You could buy by the glass, but you couldn't try it first. So we went on to another winery. And another. We got pretty tired pretty quickly of the huge crowds, so we went out to the nether-regions of the valley and hit a winery that wasn't so centrally located. Finally, we had some peace, and we had lunch while we listened to some jazz. The wine was really not very good at all, but it was excellent to get away from the crowds.

In the end we decided to shelve the passes and festival glasses, and go to the wineries that weren't on the tour. We found a couple of pretty good wines, had some time to talk to the people at the wineries, and had a much better time of it. And the Yarra Valley is really very beautiful.

Australia ~ back in Melbourne

The return trip on the ferry was uneventful, and we managed to smoothly make one connection after another to get back to Mordialloc. Yvette was out walking Kya, so she met up with us and walked us home. After we got settled in, Yvette drove me back to the chemist (pharmacy) to have a look at the creepy rash on my leg. The chemist looked pretty horrified (and yet professional, all at the same time). He gave me a topical cream, told me to keep taking the antihistamine that I'd gotten for the earlier reaction to a bunch of bug bites, and told me to either stay out of the bush or to wear long socks and tie down my pant legs with a rubber band.

We took it pretty easy during the day. Later in the afternoon we all piled into the car and drove up to the Dandenongs. We stopped briefly at the William Ricketts Sanctuary. It's a great combination of cool and a little creepy. A short hike through a rainforest area, with Ricketts art placed throughout the paths.

After touring the sanctuary, we drove on to Sassafras. We were arriving at closing time, so we had a little trouble finding a place to have some scones. We finally tried the church at the top of the hill. Brother Jon's Holy Scones, I think? Anyway, it was manned by a cute old Scottish guy. It is a church, but it's also a restaurant? It looks like it's permanently set up for a wedding. Brother Jon (I'll correct the name later if it's wrong) was dozing at the counter when we arrived. I asked him if he was still open, and he looked at the time and said yes. I think he was really closing, but hadn't gotten around to it since he was dozing, and since we were there ... a very nice old guy. I asked if he had iced coffee, and he said not really, so I said just water. So he made up an iced coffee for me. He brought Loren's tea without the teabag (yes, a pitcher of hot water), and when Loren said something he said "Oh, good lord ... Scottish tea", and laughed, and went off to bring back the teabag. Gregg and I had never had the Devonshire Scones experience, so it was pretty cool to try something new. And the view couldn't be beat. We decided to bus our own table ... poor guy seemed a little shaky after his nap, and we were a little concerned he might trip over one of those steps. Anyway, he invited us to tour the gardens out back. Very well manicured and maintained, and very Brittish looking. There's probably a lot more to see in the Dandenongs, but it would definitely mean renting a car and staying in B&Bs, and that sort of thing. It's a very nice getaway though, and very near Melbourne.

Australia ~ The Penguin Parade

Gregg and I had read up on the Penguin Parade, and have seen several comments in various locations that put this event down to a tourist attraction that can easily be missed. We both disagree.

For one thing, the difference between the $17 admission and a $27 dollar admission can take you from stadium seating for 2,000 to a smaller boardwalk seating for 150. And if you get in early you can be within about 3' of the penguins as they walk by. True, there are a lot of other people there with you. And it's also true that you're in the cage, so to speak. It's almost like the penguins are visiting the people zoo. But there's a very good reason for that. Since Phillip Island became populated with people, and status of the little penguins have been documented, the number of locations where penguin colonies come ashore have decreased from 20 to 1, and another source says that the number of colonies have decreased from 10 to 1. Either statistic indicates that contact with humans has been been very dangerous for the little penguins. So I think it's quite all right that in this case the penguin has the right to come and go, and the people are kept behind a rope.

And it really is a remarkable experience to see the waves of little black and white bodies coming in from the ocean. To hear the chicks on the hilside start chirping when their parent is coming near. And to see up close the interplay between the penguins ... all of their sounds and behaviors. It was well worth the $27 each. Although, I'd recommend bringing a blanket ... it gets a bit windy while you're securing your seat and then waiting for an hour for the penguins to show up.

Australia ~ Phillip Island ... No, wait, that's not right!

Shane and Fiona have to get started pretty early, but Shane has arranged to take a break and drive us to the pier at 8 am to catch the Ferry to Phillip Island. So, we're all packed up, and ready to be tourists on a touristy island when Shane picks us up. We make it to the pier just in time, and Gregg runs to get tickets while I hold the ferry. Perfect timing. There aren't very many people on the ferry, which isn't a huge surprise to us. We'd already figured out that with the ferry schedule from Stony Point (the peninsula) to Cowes (Phillip Island) being what it is, and the fact that there's a bridge on the other side of the island, most people come over on bus tours or by driving their own car.

The ferry trip is really pretty short ... maybe 20 minutes or so. When we get off the ferry we're a little surprised to see dirt roads and only one building off in the distance. We'd already been told that there was really nothing much on the island, but we have to be honest ... we expected a little more than the nothing we were seeing. Anyway, we figure it's a little walk to town, so we get to walking. Almost simultaneously, Gregg sees a sign, and I see an address on the side of a vehicle ... we're on French Island! Where's that ferry now?! We realized pretty quickly that we were stuck until the next ferry arrived ... at 4:30 pm.

You may notice that the population of the city of Cowes on Phillip Island is about 4,000, while the population of the entire French Island is closer to 70 people. It's a 3 km walk (with our luggage) from the ferry terminal to the General Store, where we finally sat down, had a cup of coffee, mailed off a postcard (that postmark is a gem, Bethany ... hope you get it), and spent some time talking to Denny, a German guy we met up with. The woman at the General Store let us leave our luggage behind the counter. Since we had a day to kill, and there's nothing on the island but hiking trails, we wanted to take advantage of the moment. Denny had already gotten some advice on a good path, so we followed along after him. It was actually a really enjoyable day, after the initial trauma of course. We saw two koalas "in the bush". Much better than seeing them at a zoo or wildlife park. And the island is very pretty.

By the end of the day though, my "touristing" shoes weren't holding up well with the hiking we'd been doing, and I had massive blood blisters on both heels. And another horrible rash on my legs. I'm clearly allergic to something here. Apparently, in Australia at least, I'm meant to be more of an urban person than a country person. I've spent half the vacation with various bites and rashes. Hasn't prevented me from having a great time, and usually I can manage to just ignore it, but it's a puzzle to me.

Anyway, when the evening ferry came Gregg explained to the nice ferry guy that we'd gotten off too early (apparently in the morning the ferry went from Stony Point to French Island to Phillip Island). He very kindly let us get to Phillip Island (this time it was French Island to Stony Point to Phillip Island). Just to add to the confusion a little, on the return trip the next morning we went from Phillip Island to French Island to Stony Point. So, in our defense, the printed schedule indicates that the ferry goes from Stony Point to Phillip Island, and doesn't indicate that it also stops (sometimes first) at French Island. There is no sign once you land on French Island telling you where you are, which seems the least they could do. And the route itself is a little inconsistent from morning to evening, and day to day. I think that the only people who take the ferry are locals, so they figure that anybody on the ferry already knows where they're going, and they don't need to bother with details like signage. Anyway, he didn't make us buy another ticket. Very nice of him.

We got to Phillip Island later in the day, around 6 pm I think, and walked up the hill to our lodgings at Amaroo Park. We knew the general direction of the place, but about halfway there we stopped in at a little bakery to ask for details on finding the park. We recognized one of the patrons from the ferry, and when he saw us he said, "You're looking for Amaroo Park" ... lucky guess? ... when we asked how he knew where we were going he said "Everybody with a backpack is looking for Amaroo Park". We were lucky to get a cabin to ourselves, with our own bathroom and kitchen. After crashing on the bed for a few minutes to catch our breath, we took showers and got ready to catch a taxi to the Penguin Parade.

Australia ~ Mornington Peninsula

Yvette decided to take advantage of some free time, and drive us down to Mornington Peninsula to go to the U-Pick strawberry farm, and one of the wineries down there.

The winery was beautiful. We picked up a bottle of Muscat (Uno), and then went across the road to the strawberry farm. The U-Pick part of the farm was closed. Maybe. We were getting some mixed messages from them, so I'm not sure about that, but they also said there weren't many berries right now. So we bought a few already picked, and also bought a bag of freeze-dried, chocolate-dipped strawberries. Strange. But not bad. Yvette then drove us over to Hastings, where we were scheduled to meet up with Shane & Fiona, our hosts.

Shane & Fiona are self-employed, and work on a horse ranch (is that the right term?) where they breed, raise, and break race horses. They're both very easygoing, very easy to talk to, and don't seem to get too worked up about much. We really enjoyed their company, and their home is just beautiful. Our timing has really been pretty bad everywhere, and the realtors were coming over while we were there to view their home. It's their hope that they can make enough profit on their current home to buy more land up in the mountains outside Melbourne, and build a strawbale home. We had a great time talking with Shane about the area they're hoping to live in, the lifestyle they hope to have, and their dream to build their energy efficient home in the mountains. Not too unlike our dreams.

Before we'd arrived in Australia Shane had suggested that we might want to swim with dolphins. What a great idea! So we signed up with Moonraker Charters for a half day of swimming with Seals and Dolphins. Turns out that, as usual, Gregg takes to any sport ... and I'm not such a great snorkeler. I had a lot of trouble getting the mask to seal properly, and couldn't keep my mouth wide enough to make a seal around the snorkel. Yummm. Sea water. But we both had a great time. The dolphins weren't as playful on the day we were out, but we did manage to see them jumping and playing in the wake of the ferrys for quite a while, and I did manage to get in the water near a dolphin. It was pretty amazing to see them so close.

After the dolphin swim we walked up the hill to Sorrento, a quaint and very small tourist town, and found a little pizza place to eat and relax. Floating around in wetsuits is hard work. We wandered around and found a phone booth and a place to have dessert and coffee, and we got caught up on a little reading while we waited for Fiona to pick us up again ... a 40 minute drive for her each way! We've had the most generous hosts here in Australia!

Anyway, after a little more time in the evening chatting with Shane & Fiona, we decided to head to Phillip Island the next morning, and stay overnight. Ferries are not as frequent as we first imagined they'd be. The last ferry leaves the island at around 5 pm, and the penguin parade happens late in the evening. Being the middle of the week in the shoulder season though, we decide to wing it, and find lodging once we get to the island.

Australia ~ Arriving in Melbourne

The flight from Sydney was quick, easy, and really pretty economical. It makes a lot more sense to fly than to take a bus. Loren and Yvette met us at the airport, where they were dropping off Yvette's parents for their flight back to Sydney. We rode with them back to their home in Mordialloc.

After throwing our stuff in the spare room, and playing with Kya (their border collie) for a bit, Yvette grabbed a bottle of wine and they took us in to Melbourne to eat. One of the things I've loved about Australia are all of the restaurants that allow BYO. We sat outside at a nice little Italian/Pizza place, soaked up the ambience, and got caught up with each other. After dinner they took us to a dessert/coffee restaurant. The place was absolutely packed. Of course with the variety and quality of desserts, and the location in downtown Melbourne, it's no surprise.

Loren had quite a busy schedule for the next few days, with his workload AND football practice, so we decided to take a few days to head down to Mornington Peninsula.

Australia ~ More on Katoomba

Leaving Sydney we took the train up to Katoomba, a small mountain town with lots of outdoor activities. Our Couch Surfing host Tom, picked us up in town and drove us out to his place. His home has been converted into a guest house allowing him to rent rooms to travellers. But special guest like us get private accomodations: a pretty rustic trailer, with a million dollar view.

Although a short walk to town, Tom's place is just across the road from the areas major attractions, adjacent to the Blue Mountains National Park.

Our first day in Katoomba was intended to be an "easy" day, so we visited Scenic World. We took the Scenic Railway down, walked some trails and the boardwalk through the forest, then took the Cableway back up. After a little lunch in the revolving restaurant, we took the Skyway across the canyon to Echo Point, where we had a great view of the rock formation called "Three Sisters". From Echo Point we were a reasonably short walk to town, where we chatted up all the local guide businesses that provide abseiling adventures. We decided to sit on it for the evening, and make a decision the following day. And we spent the evening chatting with Tom, and tuning up a couple of his bikes to borrow the next day.

So, next day (I lost track of days after about day 2) we started the day by going for a very short mountain bike ride toward Narrow Neck Plateau. Then we rode our bikes to town, made reservations with the Australian School of Mountaineering (ASM), did a little laundry and grocery shopping. After returning from running errands, we bicycled the Cliff Drive to nearby Leura. It was a very warm day, and we were both pretty sweaty and tired well before it was over. So the "iced" coffee we had in Leura was exceptional! (And around here, Iced Coffee means Ice Cream, rather than Ice Cubes. Yum!).

After talking with the ASM people we had decided to sign up for a canyoning adventure at Empress Falls, instead of just the abseiling alone. (The linked photo is an unrelated person, but photo is of "our" falls). I just can't begin to tell you how much fun we had. The first half of the day was learning to abseil. Our guides, Cameron and Dave, were absolutely fantastic. Cameron is something of a comedian, and they both made it a super enjoyable, and totally non-threatening endeavor. Between the three Germans, one Polish guy, the Brittish girl, and us, we had absolutely no experience abseiling. They start by taking you on a weeny abseil, maybe 6 or 7 feet. Then on to a big old 18 to 20' rock. And finally on to a 35 or 40' practice wall. After a drive to the Empress Falls location, and a big lunch, we packed up our drybags and packs and hiked down to the stream that eventually becomes the falls. When we got to the stream we pulled on our wetsuits, repacked our packs, and started hiking down the stream. Almost immediately we had to jump from a rock into a pool of cold water a few feet below. We did this ... walking over and around rocks, hiking in the water, and leaping into pools ... for about half an hour before coming to the top of the falls. After all that training in the morning, they weren't about to let us set up our own equipment. So Cameron went below to man the end of the rope, and Dave stayed up top hooking up our descenders and carabiners. It's absolutely terrifying to look down a 100' waterfall and know that you're headed straight down. At least that's how I felt. I think Gregg was just purely excited. So, Dave hooked me up and told me to go, and I went. And then the rock face gets more complicated, and my feet are beginning to slide around, and I'm not sure where to go next (and I'm still about 60' above the water) ... and suddenly I realize that all that whistling and yelling coming from Cameron (down below) is meant for me. So I follow his instructions and go far to the left before heading down again. And then, about 10' above the water, there's a huge cutout in the rock below, and I'm not sure what to do again ... and Cameron yells "Jump ... Just let go of the rope!" And once again I have water in my ears and my nose, and I'm completely submerged for a moment. Huge, huge amounts of fun. And I highly recommend it to any able bodied, somewhat adventurous person. I believe they do the same thing in the Utah, and probably in other areas of the U.S., so you don't have to come to Australia to do it. But if you do come to the Sydney area of Australia, you absolutely must come to the Blue Mountains, and go canyoning with the ASM guides.

A couple of days have passed since Katoomba, but no time to get you all caught up just yet. We'll tell you all about Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula another time.

Check the photos link ...

Unedited purging of the camera means a lot of time for your computer to load up, and some of the pictures are total crap. I'll let you know when we've had a chance to do some final editing, well after we've returned I'm sure.

Australia ~ Katoomba & the Blue Mountains

This is just the quickest of updates to let you know we're still doing well, and having a great time.

We're in the Sydney (domestic) airport now, waiting for our flight to Melbourne to meet up with Loren and Yvette. We'll fill in all the details later ... tonight or tomorrow.

One major highlight of the Blue Mountains ~ Canyoning at Empress Falls with the Australian School of Mountaineering. Hopefully we'll have some reasonably decent photos (disposable camera, that may have gotten wet) of the abseiling and canyoning adventure we had while there. We abseiled over a 100' waterfall, jumping the last 10' to the pool at the bottom. Canyoning is just great fun.

Anyway, more later.

Australia ~ More on Sydney

After a few days of sleep and activity, I think I can speak in full sentences again. So, recent highlights ...

Met a very cool guy on the flight over from LAX. Greg is from Phoenix, and is planning on spending a couple of months in Australia, hopefully doing some web design work. And after introducing him to the whole GlobalFreeloader/CouchSurfing, he's invited us to stay with him in the Phoenix area some time. Although he's warned us away from the summer months. Can't wait for our northern Arizona & ... roadtrip!

Sandy and Tony were a couple we met through GlobalFreeloaders, and were our first "freeloading" experience. So we had no idea what to expect. They were incredibly friendly and down-to-earth. We felt instantly comfortable with them, and their teenage kids were great and a lot of fun to talk to. I really think all the little things they did ... a ride from the airport, coffee and shower, little tips and advice, and just the friendly conversation ... helped us to get adjusted to the time difference, get over the jet lag, and really appreciate Sydney.

After the very helpful shower and coffee at Sandy & Tony's place, Gregg and I took the train and bus to the north of Sydney, and hiked the Manly Scenic Walkway (description). Not sure how long it took to walk, but I made the error of walking in the water early on in the hike, and then rubbed my feet raw on the rest of the hike. But, the hike couldn't have been more beautiful, and the trail was exceptionally well maintained. So what are a few blisters and a little blood?!

Once at Manly we took a few moments to eat and check email, and then hopped on to a ferry to return to Sydney. The view of Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House were fantastic! After walking the Quay ("key") for a bit we hopped back on the train, and to Sandy & Tony's place. Sandy had put together a feast of vegetarian lasagna (the creamiest veggie lasagna I've ever had), complete with mushroom appetizers, served with some excellent (many awards winning) Australian wine, and topped off with a lemon meringue pie. And naturally she made everything from scratch ... even the pasta! She claims it's very simple, but we'll continue to leave that sort of thing to the experts for now.

The next day (Sunday), they drove us to the Darling Harbor area. We toured the Powerhouse Museum, and after a little lunch walked the scenic restored harbor area to the Sydney Aquarium. That whole area has been re-done beautifully, with fountains and brick walkway everywhere, and a very long pedestrian walkway (Pyrmont Bridge) over the harbor. It connects the Maritime Museum, Aquarium, Powerhouse Museum, Chinese Garden, and many more downtown sights. By far, this was my favorite area of downtown Sydney. Sandy & Tony met up with us later, and we shared dinner at a seafood restaurant. We had the best seat in the house ... outside, perfect weather, the nearest seats to the harbor. Gorgeous! After dinner they drove us over to their favorite gellato joint, located in Newtown. We both found the area very interesting ... lots of restaurants and entertainment, and a really diverse crowd of people. Probably worth a look when you're in the area :)



Monday was quite a bit warmer. I don't actually know how warm, and it really doesn't matter, but neither of us drank enough water. After walking all over downtown ... first touring the Australian Museum (I really enjoyed this one ... very informative for the non-Australian ~ local birds/snakes/wildlife, and history), trekking around the area searching for the restaurant that our guidebook recommended, then searching for someplace to eat (losing faith in the guidebook), and then hiking around the Botanic Gardens ... we were both exhausted. A quick-ish bite to eat at a little cafe downtown (fantastic roasted vegetable rissoto!), a train ride back to the house, propping my feet up for an hour, and then crashing in bed ... and that's a wrap.

We woke up pretty early today, and hitched a ride with Tony to the train station. We're finally getting lucky with the public transportation. With very little trouble, and very little waiting, we took the train from Miranda to Katoomba. Had a quick stop downtown to have a little breakfast. I'd heard about the cheap and good meat pies to be had in the area, but being a veggie wasn't interested. Turns out they also have a fantastic vegetable pie! Yummy! Then to Blacktown to visit the Featherdale Wildlife Park. We spent a few hours there, feeding Kangaroos, petting Koalas, listening to the Kookaburra laugh, and just generally touring and photographing all kinds of Australian animals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. It was fantastic. Back at the train station a couple of local teens noticed us looking lost, and jumped in to help us out with directions, and probably saved us half an hour! People here are so friendly!

Australia ~ Day 0

The night before we leave for Australia, and we've had a few questions about the details.

We're very sad to be leaving Demi for all this time, but we're happy she'll be staying with Dad & Ielean at the coast. She loves being with them, so we're hoping she'll settle down quickly and have her own holiday while we're gone. She's been pretty anxious since I left for Chicago. She's started to settle down a little, but she's super clingy right now. Anyway, we'll meet Dad & Ielean in Salem, hand off Demi and her things, and then hitch a ride with mom & Johnny to PDX.

We leave home at 8:30 am tomorrow (the 2nd), depart PDX at 3:10 pm, arrive in LAX at 5:25 pm, leave LAX at 8:35 pm (3:35 pm in Sydney, on the 3rd), and finally arrive in SYD at 6:15 am on the 4th (11:15 am Pacific time on the 3rd). So how does the math work out? We arrive in Sydney about 27 hours after leaving home, and about 20 hours after leaving Portland. We arrive in Sydney about 15 (real) hours after leaving the Pacific Coast, but the time in Sydney is actually 32 hours later ~ 15 hours of flight time + 17 hours of time difference.

So basically, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Best go to bed then.