Gary and Manuela Travel

Before I get started on Thailand I just want to say that from now on in the blog postings I will have all the writing first and then the pictures will follow.  WordPress is not an easy program to work with in that respect (at least not for me), and even with our friend Tim’s help and advice I am still challenged by it.  It has been taking me too long to get postings out and I’d like to try and get them out more frequently.  Here’s Thailand……….

 

Okay, so us and our friends Christine and Paul arrived in Bangkok on New Year’s Eve day at our lovely hotel on the river.  New Year’s Eve was quite spectacular especially since the hotel had it’s own amazing fireworks right on the river.  We were all awed by the light show – lots of oohs and ahhs.  I spent the time in Bangkok fighting a cold that finally caught up to me and it was quite nasty – don’t remember the last time I felt like that, so (and I know a number of you will laugh) I was not feeling much like drinking alcohol at all.

In Bangkok we visited one amazing temple and the grand palace, via the public and tourist boat system (the former being much more exciting for various reasons: 1) no English was spoken; 2) one nearly choked on the fumes every time the boat stopped at each stop; 3) standing room only with lots of sweaty bodies (ours included).  The temples in Thailand are amazing.  In Bangkok we just loved the reclining Buddha (just chillin’ out) but the crowds were absolutely crazy insane.  I can’t say I’ve ever experienced anything quite like it; okay, maybe at a rock concert in general admission when I was very young.  Apparently the first 6 days in January the Thai people take time off and it was obvious.  There were tourists and locals alike.

As mentioned in the previous blog posting, Christine and Paul left for Toronto, via Hong Kong, on January 3.  We had a great visit together!

Gary and I stayed on in Bangkok for one more day, which was great for helping recover from my cold (I was pretty much horizontal for a full day), before getting on yet another plane to fly to Chiang Mai, 700 km north of Bangkok (we had planned on taking the train but someone recommended we not do so – it takes appx. 9 hours by train and flying was around the same price and only 1 hour away).  We spent 6 days in Chiang Mai – a couple of those days put aside just for viewing the temples – it claims to have over 300 temples in the city.  And I’m sure that’s accurate.  They were really beautiful.  Lots of sparkly, shiny stuff!

We had a lovely visit from someone from my studio.  Karyn came to Thailand to meet her daughter, Adele, who had been traveling with the bike tour company she works with (she and the group she was with rode from Shanghai to Bangkok, approximately 7000 km).  We had a lovely dinner with them both in Chiang Mai and then a couple of days later spent the day with them.  We hired a driver and thought we would be creative in our itinerary (who wants to do all of the touristy stuff like visit elephants, tigers, monkeys (no monkeys for me) , zip line, bungee jump, etc.?  NOT US!)   So our poor driver was truly at a loss and had no idea where the caves that we wanted to visit were.  When we saw the road sign for them we were so excited, but not our driver.  The sign said 1.5 km, and every time we got to another cave sign it yet again said 1.5 km., but finally we saw the dirt road which apparently would get us there.  We don’t think our driver had ever driven off a paved road before, by his reaction.  Anyway, he was willing to try and went along a bit of the road but eventually we all suggested he wait for us there (we didn’t want to agitate him since he was driving us back) and we decided to walk and hope to see a sign.  Oh, we saw signs alright…………they looked to be about 30 years old.  But we kept trudging up the stairs, through the overgrown pathways.  Adele was “stoked” (her word), and finally, VOILA, a cave.  Thanks for your perseverance, Adele!  Gary walked through into it with his phone flashlight and we were all hopeful that he would come out through the other end, and so he did.  Adele and Gary decided to also take the other path further up to another cave but Karyn and I decided we’d seen enough and headed down.  On the way down we met a group of about 6 young Auzzie men.  Huh, we thought, we’ve already conquered the cave!  The Canadian flag is up.  When we finally made it to our driver I got the feeling that not only did he think we were crazy, he was also surprised to see us, without any bodily damage.

We then went further down the road to one of his tourist picks, the village of Karen tribes people (The Long Neck Tribe), but none of us could go into the village – first you had to pay $20/person, and then we felt we would just be invasive (after some research I learned that most of the money never makes its way directly to the tribe).  When we got back in the car our driver was really baffled this time.  We couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind.  For sure “these crazy, lunatic tourists.  They don’t want to go to any of the touristy things, not even a village that everyone is dying to go to, but they’ll visit a cave that no one has been to in decades” (and that he didn’t even know about).

Now, having said all that we did visit Doi Suthep Temple (The Temple on the Mountain) which is situated on one of the peaks 15 km west of Chiang Mai city centre, with great views, and lots of other crazy tourists visited here as well.

On our second day in Chiang Mai I came across a brochure for a spine/postural balance class using a stability ball, which was terrific.  It was a “beginner” class to learn the moves and then repeat it for 5 days so that your muscles could remember the movement of when your body was naturally centered (it was Yoga based but you wouldn’t really know it).  The Japanese man teaching the class was so good and sequenced the class in such a way that you could feel and understand how your spine could truly correct itself.  He had the best posture I’ve ever seen.  Karyn joined me the first day and then the second day her and Gary came as well.  For those who have done a stability ball class with me, that was baby stuff compared to what we did in Thailand.  A lot of the time was spent with our feet off the ground (or at least trying).  I couldn’t do most of the exercises very well (or at all), but it felt like I was retraining my body all over again from those teeny, tiny little stabilizer muscles that I used to talk about endlessly in my classes.  I went for 4 days and wished that I could continue.  Anyway, it got me thinking about work, sure, sure!  And I realized how much I miss teaching – REALLY!

The next day we took a bus to Chiang Rai, 3 1/2 hours from Chiang Mai.  The bus held a smattering of locals, tourists and a couple of monks – a very comfortable ride.  We had originally thought we would cross the Thai border into Laos from here and take the slow boat to Luang Prabang, Laos but we changed our minds and decided to return to Bangkok, spend a couple of days there and then fly back to Cambodia, Phnom Penh this time (we had already booked this flight before entering Thailand in order to have an exit ticket at customs).  We will fly to Laos after Cambodia.

In Chiang Rai, we used the time to relax and book a couple of flights and hotels (this is always very time consuming for us).  There are a lot of touristy things to do in Chiang Rai but the town itself is a bit lacking, except for the crazy Clock Tower.  We did visit one very touristy structure (temple) called Wat Rong Khun (The White Temple) that was designed/built by the same artist that did the Clock Tower.  The temple looked like a very elaborate gingerbread house sprayed with snow from a can.  It was really bizarre.

 

 

 

 

 

We flew into Siem Reap, Cambodia with Christine and Paul on December 28th to visit the temples of Angkor (most well known is Angkor Wat).   Our visit was only for 2 days and then we headed to Bangkok, Thailand for New Year’s Eve.  After a great trip with them for about 18 days, Christine and Paul have headed home.  Gary and I will be returning to Cambodia after spending some time in Thailand (we’ll have a Thailand post soon).

The city of Siem Reap has built up over the last few years due to the popularity of Angkor Wat.  Gary and I have visited a few UNESCO sites and wonders of the world in past travels, but I have to say that Angkor was absolutely amazing, and the most vast, so far.  It is said that it is the largest religious site in the world.  The four of us started the day with a sunrise visit to Angkor Wat.  And although it was spectacular I had no idea that there would be thousands of people there as well (and with their selfie sticks to boot).  It was a sea of people and not the spiritual moment that I had expected.  But awe-inspiring just the same.  After sunrise, we spent approximately 7 hours at various temples on the site.  An exhausting but amazing day.

The Cambodians are such lovely, lovely people.  They have the most beautiful smiles and a fabulous sense of humour (I do love that!).  Amazing considering historically what they went through with Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.  We enjoyed the old part of the city of Siem Reap (sorry, no photos to show).

Here are some photos of Angkor and area:

 

 

Happy Holidays!  Better late than never.

We met up with our friends, Christine and Paul, in Hong Kong on December 16th.  The city had a lot going on – some of it extremely fast-paced and at other times so tranquil and meditative.

We took a day trip to Macau, which used to be a Portuguese colony from the mid-16th century up until 1999.  It is a gambler’s haven with lots of casinos.  And although very small compared to Vegas, it generates the most revenue from gambling of anywhere in the world.  We were told that many of the HK residents make the trip to Macau for the shopping and better quality products, even milk which is imported from Europe due to poor quality in China.  The trip there and back alone was an experience.  It takes an hour by ferry but you go through customs.  And because of the casinos the ferries run 24 hours a day.  Although we were told that no one any longer speaks Portuguese you can still see the evidence with the street names and the beautiful stone sidewalks in places.  The day we were there visiting the church ruins we could hardly move because of the volume of people.

After 4 days in HK we flew into Hanoi, Vietnam.  Really enjoyed Hanoi, and although it’s quite hectic you don’t get the sense that people are rushing around like in HK.  The people are really lovely.  One day we took a little guided tour with an organization called Hanoi Kids.  They take you to sites of your choice or they will suggest a tour.  We picked The Temple of Literature, which is the oldest university in Vietnam (not running now) and the prison.  The two guides, Lee and Joy, also took us through the streets where the veggie markets were.  This was free; you only had to pay for their transportation back to where they needed to go.  The streets in the old quarter were absolutely fascinating.  You could buy pretty much anything – there was the “Christmas” street, the “bag” street, the “barber” street (Gary contemplated getting his hair cut on this street, right on the street), the “flower” street, “car mechanics” street, and the list goes on.  Speaking of streets, crossing the street was the greatest challenge but somehow we managed.  And no one actually wants to hit you (like in other countries) so they will do anything in their power to avoid doing so.  Whew! Temple of Literature with our young guides, Hanoi[/caption]

After 4 days in Hanoi we went to HaLong Bay for an overnight cruise on December 24.  It was absolutely magical, and it was a full moon which apparently hasn’t happened at this time of year for about 30 years.

We then flew a little further south and spent 3 nights in the beautiful village of Hoi An, one of many UNESCO sites in Vietnam.  This is the place where you can also have just about anything custom tailored.  The four of us could not resist.  You get measured one day and the next morning you go for a fitting and then you pick it up later that day.  We all couldn’t wait to pick up our linen clothing.  It was like Christmas presents.  Until we went to get fitted and nothing seemed to fit.  In the end we all had some clothing but unfortunately Christine wasn’t as fortunate (they really messed hers up and she didn’t take any of it).  The rest of us weren’t all that thrilled with ours either.  Oh, well, live and learn – we were all in the moment of it.  Then we went on to looking at some scarves and other clothing items already made, and our favourite label was “100% silk feeling”.  Before we had seen the label I was asking if it was real silk or nylon, and I was assured that it was Vietnamese silk.  I think we should have done a little bit more research, but oh well.

Here are some quirky Christmas pictures from our travels in general.We’re heading to Bangkok, Thailand on December 31st, so see you soon.

 

We arrived in Bali on November 30th after a short 3-hour flight from Australia, and as hot as it was in Indonesia (33C, with 80% humidity) , it was quite refreshing to be in a country that challenges what you are comfortable with, i.e the language (although most people speak at least a little English here), the culture, the driving (not us!), the bartering for goods, being asked if you want a massage, a taxi, a boat ride, food, etc., constantly.  And then on top of all that you have to watch where you’re walking so you don’t trip due to uneven sidewalks (or lack of sidewalks), or fall in any holes, or trip on wires………  Talk about sensory overload.  Did I say refreshing?

After having been in Western-world countries for the previous 2 1/2 months, we really welcomed the differences and challenges.  We started off in Sanur (southeast part of Bali), a quieter area than the west but the beaches weren’t as nice.  The Indonesian people are so kind and lovely, and they have a wonderful sense of humour.   One day after lunch on the beach one of the many “massage ladies” gave me a neck/shoulder/arm massage (there are so many women giving massages here – I imagine during busy times it must be a sight on the beach with all of the massage tables lined up for the full-body massages – it was quiet while we were here and I think business was hurting).  I just couldn’t barter this one and she didn’t ask for a certain amount so I just gave her way too much for Bali standards.  Anyway I got a great hug and a kiss and a lovely smile and I’m good with that.  What’s $10 out of my pocket (just so you know, you can get a full-body massage for less than $10).

Our hotel room in Sanur was simple but the exterior was so elaborate and lovely as you can see from the photo above – it looks palatial, but it really wasn’t.  The pool right outside, although not very cool, was very refreshing in the humidity.   We spent 4 days in Sanur, with a little side trip to the Seminyak beach area (crazy, busy party area – but fairly quiet the day we were there, and the beach is quite nice) and then went to Ubud for 4 days as well.

Ubud is inland and lush with lots of temples, and it’s the arts and cultural centre of Bali.  It was quite different from being in the area of beach resorts.  Green and lovely.  You may be familiar with Ubud if you read or saw Eat, Pray, Love.  I believe it may have made it more popular.  We visited 3 great temples just outside Ubud, but I wouldn’t visit the Monkey Forest Temple – no way, not me, NO MONKEYS, thank you.  Apparently they even have a medical clinic just outside the temple area – hmmmm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some temples and rice terraces in and around Ubud:

Four days later we were on a “fast boat” (that’s what they call them) to The Gili Islands, which are right next to Lombok (another island almost the size of Bali) and approximately 1 hour from Bali.  This area is predominantly Muslim, and we found it all very interesting and really enjoyed our stay.  We were on Gili Trawangan (Gili T) which is the largest of the three northern Gili Islands, but still only 8 km around.  There are no motorized vehicles here, only bikes and cidomos which are horse-drawn carts.  I didn’t feel great about using one but we really had no other choice when we decided to change accommodation and couldn’t walk there with our luggage.  The small horses really get worked here.

We made it around the island on bikes one day and although an easy, flat ride, it was HOT, HOT, HOT!  I don’t think I’ve ever sweat as much as I did in Indonesia.  Did I say refreshing?

Here are a few more miscellaneous photos:

We enjoyed marking our 3-months away in Indonesia.  We’re heading to Hong Kong on December 15th to meet our Canadian friends, Christine and Paul (can’t wait to see you guys!), to join us on the next leg of our trip.  We’re then heading down to Hanoi, Vietnam and staying at the house of the sister of someone (Shannon) we know from Toronto.  Shannon’s sister, Kristi, has been so kind and generous in offering us her house while she’s in Toronto for the holidays.  Thanks Shannon for connecting us; and thanks so much Kristi!

 

 

 

 

 

Well, here we are in our last stage of our journey in Australia – Perth and surroundings.  Bill and Moira welcomed us into their home in North Perth and showed us around.  On our first full day Bill showed us the great local coffee shop (no offence Melbourne, but we liked the coffee in WA better), and drove us around to do some errands, and then drove us around their old haunts from when Gary lived here.  Memory lane……….for those that don’t know, Gary lived in Perth between the ages of 6 and 12.He lived in a lot of houses and went to a lot of schools.  Now I can see clearly why he likes the sense of moving and traveling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On day two Gary and I walked into the city, approximately 1 hour’s walk away and explored a bit.  Gary got his second haircut of the trip, and then we had a yummy lunch in an old post office (telegraph) building and then walked back to Bill and Moira’s.  We really enjoyed Perth – it’s much more low key than most of the other cities we’ve been in but with lots of great little coffee shops and restaurants and a nice vibe.  A nice waterfront, and Kings Park has lovely views into the city and out to the water.  Actually, we both enjoyed WA more than the east coast.  The east coast was too touristy for us, or maybe it was the wonderful hospitality from Bill and Moira for the 2 weeks we crashed out at their place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill and Moira were kind enough (and trusting) to lend us their 4-wheel drive and so we drove south to Pemberton where Gary climbed a REALLY big tree (not me – he wasn’t going to take me out of my comfort zone this time!).  We stayed at a fabulous cottage with the forest right at our doorstep, where the only sounds were of the multitude of birds, the wind, and kangaroos thumping their tails – really, you can hear them.  We had one of the kangas visiting right outside our front door – shy and friendly at the same time.  There were bunny rabbits too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed southwest to Augusta and Cape Leeuwin (most southwesterly point in Australia), where the Southern Ocean (the Antarctic Ocean as North Americans know it) and the Indian Ocean meet.  Reminded me of Cape Reinga in New Zealand’s most northerly point, where the Tasmin and the Pacific met – anyone remember that?  Cape Leeuwin was really fantastic and we loved the lighthouse which we took the tour of and went up with a guide – BEAUTIFUL!  A highlight for sure.  And hardly any tourists; just like we like it (selfish, I know).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then on to Margaret River – some of you will recognize the name from the wines you may drink.  We visited Jewel Cave that was the most recently discovered cave in the area, in the 1950’s.  That was really cool (lots of photos below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our drive back to Perth we drove on Caves Road which is a beautiful tree-lined road where most of the area vineyards are, and we stopped off at the Yallingup Cheese shop where Janni a former colleague of Gary’s from The Big Carrot in Toronto now works at making cheese.  She had no idea we were traveling and definitely didn’t expect us in Australia, let alone in her cheese shop, so it was all quite exciting.  We had a nice little visit, and we tasted a number of cheeses and decided on three – a curd (which was a beautiful cream-style cheese with a slight tartness to it); a lovely camembert; and another creamy cheese called St. Julian – oh so devine!   Thank you Janni for our “friends and family” discount – those cheeses in Toronto would have cost us a small fortunate.

Then further up the road there were the most spectacular beaches we’ve seen in a while.  We stopped off at Sugarloaf Rock at Naturaliste National Park.  We then stopped off at the “other” lighthouse – Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse.  Then on to Bunkers Bay.  The weather was perfect, the water pristine, so we decided to go for a swim (the water was calling).  And then…………we stuck our feet in and that was a SHOCK!  It felt like we were at the Atlantic instead of the Indian ocean.  Gary, who usually would be the one to march on, wouldn’t go in with the water that cold, but the water kept calling me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then returned to Perth with our cheese and a multitude of wine to share with Bill and Moria, for a couple more days and then on to Bali, Indonesia – that’s if we can fly in; the volcano has decided to act up again.  We may have to fly elsewhere or just stay put until it’s clear.

So after 4 domestic Australian flights, plus one flight in and one flight out (OZ is big like Canada), and 6 weeks later, we’ll see you somewhere soon.

We didn’t actually see any real Tasmanian Devils – this one was in a museum, stuffed, but we thought he looked less vicious than the photos we’ve seen.

 

Loved Tassie!  Six days was nowhere near what we should have spent here.  Reminded us of New Zealand and Canada’s east coast. Very laid back, great local food and wine – just about every restaurant we visited did the local thing.

Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 162,000 convicts were transported to the various  Australian Penal Colonies (Tasmania was one of them), by the British government.  Many of the convicts didn’t commit major crimes, sometimes just stealing a loaf of bread, or other necessities, and of course others did commit murder, etc.  Many of the towns were built by the convicts and now they are historic towns with beautiful stone buildings.  We stopped off in Richmond as well as Ross, and the most prominent and quite impressive, Port Arthur.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We flew into Hobart on November 12, stayed one night in this beautiful city.  Unfortunately for us we couldn’t see Mt. Wellington that day for the clouds but we saw it at the end of the trip from various perspectives.  Hobart is situated in such a beautiful setting and apparently it has the second deepest port in the world, next to Rio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a night in Swansea which is just northeast of Hobart on the eastern coast, had lunch along the way at the beautiful Frogmore Vineyards.  We had a lovely view from our hotel (cottage) room overlooking the bay and mountains of Freycinet National Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we drove to Launceston, another lovely city with great architecture, in the Tamar Valley wine region.  Spent 2 days/nights here to relax a bit in the Clarion City Park Historic Hotel, and although you can’t see the detail in the third photo, there was stained glass all around the top; enjoyed another amazing winery lunch at Josef Chomy Vineyards (wineries have been our best lunches – always local food, cooked to perfection), and the wine was pretty darn good too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the highlights in Launceston was the gorge right in the city.  It was so beautiful.  We hiked in, very easy, flat hike, but stunning views, and then we hiked up to a look out – not so easy but really beautiful.  Then ‘we’ took me out of my comfort zone again by crossing the gorge in a chair lift.  I thought it would be fine, and if you didn’t know me you would have thought that all was well, but Gary knew better.  You’ll notice in the photo that I’m all smiles but personally I think the smile looked a bit phony (scared!).  I have to admit that it was beautiful.  I don’t mind heights if I’m completely enclosed and prefer that my feet aren’t dangling in space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were trying to make it further to the west coast where the real mountains are but we realized that we had already been driving for far longer than we wanted to so we headed back down to Hobart to spend our last two days.  We couldn’t get accommodation right in town so opted for another historic property about 10-15 minutes from Hobart city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hobart has a wonderful art gallery, MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), on an absolutely spectacular setting, with a wonderful view.  The exhibits were also very interesting and I couldn’t help but include some photos here.  The ‘rain’ exhibit at first looks like there is a stream of water falling, but on closer look you realize that only each word is raining – really remarkable.  There was even a vineyard on the property and a trampoline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as mentioned previously, the main convict/prison attraction was Port Arthur village.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flew into Perth on November 18.  Talk soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We marked our 2 months’ travel while in Melbourne.  Hard to believe.  The last time I traveled this long I was 18 backpacking in Europe for 2 1/2 months.  LONG time ago!  And although traveling lighter this time, not backpacking.  Our one experience at a Backpackers’ Hotel was enough.  So to mark our 2 months away, we assumed that the fireworks outside our hotel room the first night were for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We really enjoyed Melbourne.  We spent 5 days and could have spent a few more – so many restaurants, so little time.  And although it’s a large city, approximately 4.4 million people, it had a smaller city feel to it.  Lots and lots of small neighbourhoods.  We couldn’t believe the number of restaurants and cafes, in all shapes and sizes, that Melbourne accommodates.  We had some of our best meals here.  Thank you to Christine, Christian and Kiera for showing us around and extending the Aussie hospitality our way.  They introduced us to two of their favourite restaurants (and now our favourite too!).  Christine is the sister of a friend of ours, Ric Glowienka, from Canada.  Thanks Ric for connecting us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The city has so many laneways, some of them are just what most of us think of as laneways, i.e. a place to deliver goods or take a piss in (not that we would ever do that), and others are graffitti lanes – really amazing – and then others are packed with cafes, restaurants, etc.  You could walk around forever in these lanes, never mind all of the other sights around the city.  The city also had wonderful shopping arcades.  The most lovely one was The Block Arcade with beautiful floor tiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those AC/DC fans out there, there was even an AC/DC laneway (after all they are Australian).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent some time in the city’s Southbank and the district of St. Kilda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of Melbourne’s great architecture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The city’s wildlife (not in a zoo):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop:  Tasmania

Please excuse the spacing of some of the wording and some of the photos; WordPress can be a bit of a pain.

The outback from the airplane:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before we visited I could understand why most Australians don’t visit Uluru/Ayres Rock, sacred rock of all rocks (I’m sure there are many such rocks in the world, but it just sounded good) – it’s damn far away from everything and damn expensive to get to.  Hell, it’s even known as ‘The Centre of the Centre’; it’s right smack in the middle of Australia.  But since visiting, I now think everyone should visit if possible.  I’m not sure any words I put into this blog will do it justice and either will the photos (as good as Gary is at taking them), but I’m going to try anyway.  It was one of the most spectacular things we’ve done.  It was also a very emotional experience for me, and more so since we left the area.  I’ve been thinking about how aboriginal people and people native to a country get treated, and not just in Australia but something really affected me here.  I’m not ready to attempt to express this yet, but possibly in a later post.

Although neither of us like organized tours, we decided to book through an agent and it was a good way to go for sure; it was just taking us too long to piece all of the bits together.   The tour comprised of 3 days and 2 nights in luxury (not really) permanent tents, guided hikes, meals, etc.  We arrived in Alice Springs and spent a night in a Backpackers accommodation on our first night there and then again one night at the end of our 3 day tour.  The drives were long – anywhere from 4- 6 hours each day in the outback.  The temperature was well over 30C (our 3rd day was 39C).  Hikes were from 1.5 to 4 hours long.  And although the focal point was Uluru/Ayres Rock, the other visitation points were equal highlights.  Hard to believe most people probably haven’t heard of the other places:  Kata-Tjuta, Kings Canyon.

The Outback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve included lots of photos and if I haven’t labelled them just assume that it’s the same rock/mountain/area as the previously labelled photo.  Here’s how it went:

Day 1

Arrived in Alice Springs and checked into our luxurious Haven Backpackers Resort (the name is so deceiving); had a quick bite in Alice (as the locals call it) since most everything was closed by the time we ventured out.  Later we had dinner in Alice at the best restaurant, for Alice that is (one of only 2).  After all this is the outback.

Day 2 (official day 1 of the tour)

Woke up at 5:15 a.m. to get ready for our pick up, and drove for approximately 6 hours (with stops along the way) to our camp, had lunch and drove to Kata-Tjuta also know at The Olgas which are in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park http://www.australia.com/en-us/places/red-centre/kata-tjuta.html.  They are certainly overshadowed by Uluru but quite spectacular.  Then back to our luxurious camp (not really, I would have preferred a real room) with our permanent tent, relaxed a little then a 20 minute drive to Uluru for our sunset viewing and a glass or two or three of bubbly, and then off to bed.

Our camps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The landscape was quite incredible in itself.   Although the colours pretty much stayed the same, the terrain and textures were constantly changing.  We also loved the smell of eucalyptus in the air when the wind blew through the trees.

 

Day 3 (official day 2 of the tour)

On the bus by 5:15 (no ifs, ands or buts) and off we went to our sunrise viewing of Uluru.  Another amazing moment.  I should add at this point that Uluru is a very sacred place for the aboriginals from this area, and as a matter of fact there are sections that we were not allowed to photograph.  We spent about 4 hours here in the morning, walked around the entire rock (appx. 10 km) and even had a very passionate and political aboriginal guide by the name of Vincent walk us around a certain sacred area and tell us the ‘story of creation’, and how their children are educated (loved it!).   When I asked Vincent about the comparison of the struggle and challenges with the Canadian native people and Australia’s aboriginal people, he thought that Canada had made huge communication headway in comparison, and that at least we had open dialogue.  That says a whole lot.

Flies, flies, everywhere flies.  They were quite distracting and annoying and I wish they had handed out head netting as part of the tour.  They hand out snorkles, masks and fins when you go on a snorkelling trip, so why not head nets.  Many of the people had brought them so obviously more up on things then we were.  They were small flies but with a constant buzz around the ears, nose, mouth; you can imagine there was little talking going on at first.  I did get one in my mouth but was able to spit it out before going down my throat.  We’ve included a couple of pictures with flies in them (but they didn’t tell the true story).  There could be 20 in and around your face at one time.  And we figured out that they seemed to like black and at times there would be at least 100 on someone’s back or knapsack.  And the buzzing, oh my, enough to drive you to pull out your hair.  On a positive note, they didn’t bite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4 (official day 3 of the tour)

Another early rise and on the bus at 5:30 a.m. to get us to Kings Canyon.  I’m not going to say anything except that it was fabulous – I’ll let you see it for yourselves.  We did the 6 km canyon rim walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on that note, see you in Melbourne.

The Aussies use short forms and acronyms for just about everything.

After leaving Bill at the Brisbane airport we flew to Cairns, picked up a car and drove to Port Douglas about an hour north of Cairns.  This is GBR (Great Barrier Reef) country and of course you have to go snorkelling.  So I just have to tell everyone that I’m not an avid snorkeller at all and would prefer not to, but we are in snorkelling territory.  And although Gary acknowledges my unwarranted fear (after all I am the better swimmer of the two of us), he also thinks I should go, regardless.  So off we went to the ‘baby’ reef – the Low Isles as they’re known, instead of the Outer Reef (for the big people who don’t have melt downs like me).  Anyway………..we only did a short morning instead of the all-day excursion, and part of that time was taken up in the glass bottom boat (children and elderly people, oh yeah, and Gary and I) and then the beach and on came the fins and the goggles and snorkel.  And that’s when I felt the melt down coming.  But I got over that and Gary gently coaxed me into the water.  I’m sure it didn’t look very graceful in the backward walk into the water and continuously falling due to my fins getting caught in the sand, but eventually it all came together and the coral was really amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These photos look like I’m having a great time – smile for the camera!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although Port Douglas was a quaint town (or at least it probably was a few years ago), it was very touristy (everything is about the tours and packages, and they all cost a fair bit).  I think everyone, except for maybe the restaurant/tour company industry (and even many of them were on work visas) was a tourist there.   Besides snorkelling there is the rain forests and gorges.  We drove to Mossman Gorge in Daintree National Park and had a lovely, easy 2.5 km hike, and then drove to Cape Tribulation (don’t you just love the name) – that took almost 2 hours to get there.  It’s probably only 30 minutes worth of kms but the winding roads and speed bumps and ‘watch for cassowaries’ signs and the ferry that crosses the river……….but it was all worth it.

I love this sign entering the beach at Port Douglas.  It sure made me want to swim, NOT! (double click for a larger look)  At least there was a bottle of vinegar in case you got stung by a jelly fish, although if I remember correctly, someone in one of my classes once said that you can urinate on the sting (same idea – ammonia, I guess).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to try a little taste of local Australian food – I don’t actually think the Aussies eat it – Crocodile croquettes (croc croqs) and Kangaroo steak, and I can tell you why they haven’t become world renowned – a bit boring.   And I know this isn’t Australian, but we both tried snails for the first time.  I’ll try most things once but I usually encourage Gary to get it as his meal so that I’m not stuck with it if I don’t like it.  Snails, probably like crocodile and roo meat, are really all about the sauce.

After 4 days in Port Douglas we headed back south to Cairns where we spent 3 days.  We both liked Cairns although quite a bit bigger than Port Douglas but it had local people in the city as well as tourists and some art galleries and restaurants that weren’t just surviving because of the tourist industry (locals ate there too!).

If you’ve been following us on our travels you’ll know that we like botanic gardens, so we couldn’t resist visiting the one in Cairns.  And we also love markets and the one in Cairns was a bit more interesting then some because of it’s Asian influence, and it was also quite bohemian as it seemed to also cater to the backpackers.  There must have been at least 5 local varieties of mangos – YUM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and did I mention the bats here?  Huge!  Unfortunately we didn’t get a photo that would show their size, but they had at least 2 feet wing spans.  They flew around in a colony in the evening right in the middle of town.  YIKES!

Stay tuned for our next post – we’ve booked a 2-day/3-night tour to Uluru (Ayres Rock) on November 3.  Flying to Alice Springs from Cairns and then flying from Alice Springs to Melbourne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Australia!  And Happy Halloween!

After a short 3 1/2 hour flight from Christchurch, NZ we arrived in Brisbane, Australia on October 20th.  A large business-focused city with a lovely river area and a botanic garden.  The jacaranda trees were in full bloom and so beautiful, although not native to Australia.     Gary loves visiting cathedrals and so we popped into St. John’s Cathedral and we were shown around by either a volunteer or employee there, and it was magnificent – I’ve never found church history so fascinating and he was such a compassionate person, that it truly was a spiritual experience.  The church was completed in stages over 100 years, but you would never know it as each stage blended in to the other beautifully.  I loved how inclusive the church was:  there were ESL classes going on right in the entrance; and they made sure that they opened up the dialogue so that their patrons could question things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a couple of days wondering around Brisbane and then met up with Gary’s brother, Bill.  The three of us drove up to the Sunshine Coast and spent four days being guided and chauffeured by Bill (commentary included – sometimes welcome, and sometimes with a little eye rolling from me – but always appreciated).  He was an excellent guide!  Here’s how the itinerary went (loosely, don’t want to bore everyone with all of the details):

Day 1

Lunch at The Spirit House – an absolutely sublime experience.  Not only was the rain forest setting magnificent, but each and every bite was exquisite, and the dishes were presented beautifully – have a look at the whole fish – so yummy I wanted to lick each plate but Bill wouldn’t let me; lucky for me he had to visit the restroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to see Bill and Moira’s old haunts (they lived for a short period of time on the east coast for a few years) – one of their homes had been right in the rain forest and completely off the grid.  We stayed in the town of Coolum just north of Brisbane in a lovely apartment.  The ocean was just across the street and it was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2

Went to Saturday Eumundi Markets in the quaint and lovely town of Eumundi – AMAZING!  It was a combination of handmade artisan crafts, local fruit/veg and food stalls all in the centre of town; it felt like the entire town was part of the market.  We picked up some lovely cheese, chorizo, bread and olives for dinner.  But prior to that we had lunch at Gusto, a fabulous cafe in the town of Noosa.

 

Day 3

Walked on the amazing beach.  Visited the Macadamia nut factory and then across the street to the Ginger factory.   Drove up to a lovely rain forest and did a short hike, then lunch of course at a great organic grocery store.  Drove to another rain forest and a beautiful hike with a waterfall, and then a view of the Glasshouse Mountains before heading home to plan our own itinerary after leaving Bill.  Bill found it extremely painful watching us book our hotel and car rental as we used most of the mega bites that we were entitled to in our apartment, and went back and forth, and back and forth from car rental agency to car rental agency, from hotel to hotel………..we’ll be flying to Cairns, picking up a car and using Port Douglas as our base for the Great Barrier Reef and other excursions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4

Another great hike in the rain forest (Bill’s keeping us busy), and another lovely lunch looking out into the ocean.  The temperature was perfect, the water sparkling and the food delicious.  Laundry day (yes, we still have a few domestic things to do while traveling).

 

After spending four days together with Bill he still said “it was fun” – that’s good since we’re going to be spending some more time together later when we get to Perth and staying with him and Moira.

 

And thank you Bill for upgrading us to Business class from Brisbane to Cairns – we could certainly get used to that.