Australia
28 October - 17 November
28 October - 17 November
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Australia—A Wonderland
Being in Australia is like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. Fish start their lives as females and end up as males. Female birds have no maternal instinct; the males raise their chicks. Insects and reptiles grow to huge sizes, but mammals are small. Everything we thought we knew about the natural world is upside down here. Plants and animals that are indigenous here occur naturally nowhere else. As you go south, the weather gets cooler; it gets warmer as you travel north. Some parts of the country are on daylight savings time; others are not. Time zones vary by ½ hour in some areas. Traveling north to south can incur a time change, but east to west may not.
View of Darling Harbour Sydney from hotel room
28 OCT
After 13 hours on a plane from Beijing to Auckland, we took a Qantas flight to Sydney, arriving on Friday afternoon. Although tired from travel, we couldn’t resist a walk along Darling Harbor after checking into our room. It was such a refreshing experience to be back in a familiar feeling environment. We had a good dinner; Dave was ready for a steak, which we hadn’t had in months, and Renee was starved for salad, which we also hadn’t had in a long time. We came back to the hotel with a sense of well being and comfort, and we looked forward to Saturday’s visit with our nephew, Seth, a college student in the Sydney suburbs.
Sydney Opera House at Sunset
29 OCT
Seth met us at our hotel in the morning, and we spent a pleasant day together exploring the harbor area of Sydney. Renee had previously been here 42 years ago when the Opera House was under construction, so our first stop was a tour of the finished product, which was really beautiful. The Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge are the major icons by which Sydney is recognized.
We returned to the hotel in the evening and turned on the TV. On the Australian news was a really big story—Qantas had grounded its entire fleet of airplanes both domestic and international due to a labor dispute. Uh oh!! We were supposed to have a Qantas flight on Monday morning to go to Ayers Rock (Uluru). So, what to do? Although we have American Express Travel Insurance, they were not helpful after we finally reached them. The representative mentioned that she was staffing the emergency line (due to the time difference between the states and Sydney) and was unable to even access our policy. There was no way to reach Qantas, even though they had a toll free number. A recording would come on followed by a disconnection. There was no useful information on their website, either.
30 OCT
We had hoped that the government of Australia would have ordered the airline to resume flights while working on a solution to the labor dispute. After all, this situation is an economic disaster with a domino effect that ripples through the whole economy. But, that didn’t happen. We’re staying an extra day here in Sydney, followed by a flight to Cairns a day earlier than we were originally supposed to go. After our stay in the Cairns area, we hope we can continue with our original plans since the other flights are with a subsidiary of Qantas that is still operating.
Today was another beautiful day, even though rain was predicted. We spent the day at the aquarium and the adjoining wildlife center. The highlight of the center was the koalas, especially a baby one that was clinging to its mother.
Koala - Sydney Wildlife CenterThe harbor area where we are staying is a virtual hub of activity day and night. The Sydney Rowing Club had a rowing competition in the harbor today. Hundreds of rowers and their boats took part in the event. The rowers were of all ages, young and older. We believe people who live here get out and enjoy the fresh air and athletic activity. They work 8 hours a day and then leave work to enjoy their lives.
31 OCT
Today was our ‘bonus’ day in Sydney, due to the flight cancellation. So, we decided to go to the Royal Botanic Gardens. What a beautiful park! Immediately upon entering the gardens, we spotted a gorgeous white cockatoo feeding in the grass. We knew that cockatoos were from Australia, but we didn’t expect to see one so quickly and in the city. As we walked farther, there was a lot of bird song and activity in the large, old, multi-branched sprawling trees. The next birds we found were the rainbow lorikeets; we’d previously seen them in bird parks, but, again, we didn’t think we’d see so many of these multicolored beautiful birds in Sydney. As we walked through the park, we came upon a really spectacular sight—large flying fox bats hanging in several of the trees around the park’s café. We started to photograph them, and after a few minutes it occurred to Renee that today was Halloween. Quite an appropriate sight for this day! Some were even flying in the middle of the day. As we watched them fly, we could see the sun shining through their translucent wings, revealing bones and blood vessels.
Flying Fox Bats Royal Botanic Gardens
We meandered around the park for several hours, enjoying the sun and the beautiful trees and landscaping. Around lunch time, hundreds of office workers put on their walking and running shoes, left their offices and went to the gardens to exercise. Some were even doing push-ups in the grass. The thing that was most evident was the fact that people living and working in the city use and enjoy this marvelous place.
1-2 NOV
We arrived in Cairns on a Virgin Australia flight from Sydney. Several Australians with whom we have spoken feel as frustrated as we do about Qantas, and many of them won’t even fly the airline anymore. Many are predicting the airline’s demise by the end of the year. After an hour and a half drive north along the east coast, we arrived at our new destination, Port Douglas. This small town is a resort area where tourists come to explore the rain forest and the Great Barrier Reef. Of course, we intend to do both.
Note: Along the drive, we saw several signs which said, “Don’t Spread Electric Ants”. We have to find out what that’s all about!
We started our orientation to the area with the local Wildlife Sanctuary, home to many regional birds and animals. Australia is home to so many beautiful, colorful birds and indigenous animals (marsupials) found nowhere else on earth that it’s wondrous just to observe it all. We enjoyed seeing and photographing parrots, cockatoos, herons, cassowaries, lorikeets, and many other birds.
Blue Damselfish-GB Reef
3 NOV Great Barrier Reef
Today was a special day! We experienced another wonder of the world. We cruised out to the Great Barrier Reef in the morning, snorkeled 3 reef systems, and enjoyed lunch and snacks on the boat. Each reef site was a little different, but all were beautiful and colorful. The coral was varied—boulder, brain, stag horn and mushroom corals. Different colors in the coral are a result of algae growing inside it. Some of the blue hues made the coral look like blooming flowers. The lavender coral was really pretty and different.
The fish are even more colorful than the coral--electric blue, neon green, brilliant sunny yellow, orange—so many species of such beauty and colors that it would be hard to describe them all. If you can imagine the most beautiful aquarium that the world could offer coupled with the most gorgeous fish and coral in it, well, that’s what we were swimming around in. It was a marvelous experience!
4 NOV Daintree National Park
Today we took a tour north of the town where we’re staying. We went to the Daintree Rainforest and then continued north on a gravel road to the Bloomfield Waterfall. The Daintree rainforest is the oldest continuous tropical rainforest in the world. We found this fact a bit misleading. To us, ‘oldest’ means really old trees, very big, like Borneo. In fact, most of the trees are not so big. ‘Oldest’ in this case just means that the rainforest has existed uninterrupted over eons of time. Most of the species of trees and plants are very ancient. We followed a coast road through the rainforest with occasional views through the trees of the beach and water. The rainforest meets the ocean here. There are wide beautiful beaches fringing the forested mountains. All of the beaches we’ve seen are nearly empty; you can have a good walk and not see anyone else. Amazing! Sweeping vistas of beach, mountain, and ocean with occasional mangrove trees thrown in for effect comprise the scenery along our route.
At a certain point, we left the asphalt road for a gravel road and continued on to the waterfall, passing an indigenous community en route. There was a sign indicating that it was illegal for anyone to bring alcohol into the town inhabited by the aborigines. It was explained to us that they have a low tolerance for alcohol, and many are alcoholics. Supposedly, the village council appealed to the government asking for help, and the outlawing of alcohol resulted. We since heard on the news that some of the tribal chiefs are angry with the government for renewing the alcohol restrictions into a future time frame. We’re not sure what the truth really is in this matter. The waterfall was scenic, and we enjoyed it.
NOTE: We asked today about the electric ants sign. Electric ants are insects that the government is trying to stop from spreading to other areas. They are asking people not to carry soil from one place to another, etc. So, now I have my answer.
Another aspect of life in Australia that is interesting is the standard of living. We have noticed that prices in restaurants, grocery stores and clothing stores are extremely high. Most things cost at least double what we would pay in the States. When I asked a couple of Australians about it, they mentioned that salaries of workers here are huge. $70,000 per year equates to poverty wages; $150,000 per year salary is needed just to make ends meet, and $200,000 and above is considered comfortable. A waitress makes over $75,000 per year, and Australians don’t tip—that is their salary. Qantas pilot captains make about $400,000 per year and are complaining to their union. Oh well, guess we won’t be moving here on our retirement earnings any time soon!! In a later conversation with Jen, our daughter and financial analyst, she indicated that there isn’t a lot of oil in Australia. It all has to be shipped a long way, which is very expensive and probably contributes greatly to the cost of goods. We believe she is right, since gasoline is about $6-$8 a gallon, depending on where you are in the country. This fact would explain the high cost of food and other items, too. Couple the oil situation with the high wages of the workers and you have an expensive cost of living.
Uluru
6-7 NOV Uluru and Kata Tjuta
The first view of Uluru we had was from the airplane coming in. At first, from the air, it didn’t seem that impressive. We checked into our hotel and were happy to discover that our room had a balcony with a view of Uluru. Our first foray at the site was to photograph the sun setting on the massive monolith. As we got a bit closer to Uluru, we were truly awestruck by the size of the actual sight and its inherent power that makes it a very sacred sight for the Aboriginal people. We drove around Uluru and then parked in the car park designed for sunset photos. We thought it would be crowded, but there was plenty of space for everyone. It was a spectacular sight watching the colors on the rock change as the sun set.
Since we have now driven around the area at different times of the day, we have noticed many changes of colors, hues and the movements of shadows. Some facets of Uluru in the afternoon shadows make it look completely different from the sunshine of the morning. The colors change dramatically—not just Uluru but the soil and the other massive structure here, Kata Tjuta. At one interval, the ground looked ochre, in the bright sunshine it took on a coral color. Colors range through the entire spectrum of reds, oranges and browns and change with the movement of the sun.
For us, it’s another one of those great wonders of the world to be here and see this magnificent icon of Australia. As you drive around Uluru, each area is different due to the way the rocks have weathered and eroded over time. One side might be pock marked with holes and caves, while another area might look as though someone has carved intricate sculptures. There are striations and undulations in the rock that are so parallel they appear to be etched with a ruled pencil.
Although this is the desert, the great red center of Australia, it is remarkably green. There are green grasses called spinoflex; there are trees, some evergreen and some deciduous. There are also many blooming plants with yellow, pink and purple flowers. As you fly over the area, you notice many hues of greens and blues, not bright, but subtle and pastel. A note in the hotel room indicated that there had been a lot of rain lately, so we’re guessing that’s the reason for the relative luxuriance of the terrain.
We left the hotel the next morning at 5:00 AM to catch the sunrise at Kata Tjuta. This sight is about 30 miles from Uluru. It is composed of the same sandstone as Uluru, but instead of a monolith, there are several mountain-like domes close together in the same area. We arrived in time to see the sun rise, which was beautiful. As the light came on to the rocks, colors became more pronounced and vivid. A great photo opportunity!
We also did some hiking around both sights, but by 10:00AM, it was extremely hot and getting hotter. We finished our visit with a tour of the cultural center, which details the history of the aboriginal tribes living here. After that, it was back to the hotel for breakfast and a siesta! We’re glad we were finally able to rearrange our tickets to include this visit which was originally cancelled due to the Qantas grounding.
White Cockatoo - Kakadu NP
8-12 NOV Kakadu National Park
After arriving at the Darwin airport at the top of Australia, we drove out to Kakadu National Park, which took about 3 hours. On the way, we saw many birds—lots of hawks in the trees, water birds in the wetlands and when we went to get our park passes at the office, a huge flock of white cockatoos were cavorting, squawking, and feeding in the trees around the park building. Bird life is one of the major reasons people come here to visit.
After arriving at the Darwin airport at the top of Australia, we drove out to Kakadu National Park, which took about 3 hours. On the way, we saw many birds—lots of hawks in the trees, water birds in the wetlands and when we went to get our park passes at the office, a huge flock of white cockatoos were cavorting, squawking, and feeding in the trees around the park building. Bird life is one of the major reasons people come here to visit.
Next morning, we took a sunrise cruise on the Yellow River. It was a great photo opportunity, with lots of birds and crocodiles. The crocodiles are very dangerous here; they’re large and aggressive. Signs are posted everywhere warning people not to go into the water or even get too close. The boat guide emphasized to us that if we wanted to keep our arms, we shouldn’t put them outside the boat, but use our zoom lenses instead. Ok!! Message received!
Other activities here included visiting the wetlands to observe and photograph the water birds. The wetlands here are what ideal wetlands should be—shallow water and shoreline that is packed with honking, squawking birds: hundreds of geese and ducks, as well as some stilts, spoonbills, egrets, ibises. Even the cockatoos visit the shoreline to feed. The sound of all of these birds is practically deafening. And as you watch in the early morning, hundreds more geese and ducks fly in to take their places with the others. As we walked the trails around the wetland, kangaroos hopped in the bush, sea eagles perched in the treetops, and hawks patrolled airborne in great arcs waiting for an opportunity to secure a meal. The wildlife is really amazing here. We even saw a dingo in the hotel parking lot.
Aboriginal Rock Painting - Nourlangie Rock, Kakadu NPKakadu National Park is a traditional home of the Aborigine people of Australia. As with Uluru, they now own the land but lease it back to the Australian government for National Park use. We visited one of the sights of their ancient rock art. The artwork is as vibrant today as it must have been thousands of years ago. Colors of ochre, white and black are the principle hues used in their paintings. Some of the figures are x-ray figures, meaning that they show the bone structure of a human (skeleton). Others are drawings of fictional characters or animals such as kangaroos. The Aborigines of the era that the rock and cave art (thousands of years ago) were produced were said to have been more advanced than their European counterparts (Cro-Magnon man) of the time.
We have really enjoyed Kakadu despite the hot, humid weather and the onslaught of flies every time we park the car and open the doors to get out. The flies are relentless. They fly beneath your sunglasses to harass your eyes, they fly up your nose if you don’t swat them away, and they would fly into your mouth if you opened it. They swarm around you and land on every part of you. Their only redeeming virtue is that they don’t bite. Stores sell nets that you can put over your head or hat to keep them off your face. We thought about getting the nets, but when we saw them for sale, we only had one more day left here.
Jabiru Storks
On our way back to Darwin for our late night flight, we stopped at a birding hotspot called Fogg Dam. It is an earthen dam surrounded by wetlands. The amount and diversity of bird life there was astounding. Many different kingfishers, brolgas (cranes), jabiru storks, ducks, geese, egrets, herons, and other water birds inhabit the wetlands. But along the way, the trees were full of other birds, too. Parrots, cockatoos by the hundreds, bee-eaters, kookaburras and more, help to make this area a bird paradise.
Kanagroo spotted on Night Ride
13-17 NOV Kangaroo Island
Yes, there are kangaroos on Kangaroo Island! Our first adventure on Kangaroo Island was an outing to see the nocturnal animals. We learned that most of the animals on the island are nocturnal and not usually seen during the daytime, including the kangaroos and wallabies. So, off we went in a van with a guide to see what the night would bring. We first viewed wallabies, followed quickly by several kangaroos. Next, we went to a fairy penguin colony to see what was going on there. The adults go to sea during the day to fish for their food, leaving the young ones behind in the nest. Most nights, the adults return to feed the chicks. In one rookery, we could hear the penguins but couldn’t see them. So, we went to a second location where we saw a couple of chicks. The parents don’t always return the same day; sometimes, they stay away a couple of days. On this night, the parent birds were not there. Apparently, the penguin colonies are decreasing in numbers rather rapidly due to predation by the seals.
Koala Kangaroo Island
The next morning, we went to the west side of the island. We stopped at a location known to have koalas to see if we could see them. Koalas are not endemic to the island, but when their numbers plummeted on the mainland in the early 20th century, they were introduced here in an effort to save them and increase their numbers. So, now there are about 1,000 on Kangaroo Island. We searched the eucalyptus trees to find the little brown furry balls sleeping within the branches. We saw several, along with parrots and pink cockatoos called galahs. There were bird feeders in the area which attract the parrots. Actually, the pink cockatoos are everywhere. We were surprised to see them shortly after we arrived on the island, and since then, we have viewed them wherever we’ve gone, especially around our hotel.
Our next stop was Flinders Chase National Park. The park encompasses a vast area of the western part of the island. It’s famous for its wildlife, magnificent coastline, the Remarkable Rocks (see photos), Admiral’s Arch, and lighthouses. Along the way, we saw an echidna (Aussie version of a porcupine) crossing the road but couldn’t get a photo quickly enough. We’ve also seen many goannas, which are lizards that grow up to 3 feet long. The scenery and views were absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, especially the Remarkable Rocks. As an added bonus, when we stopped at the parking lot for lunch, out popped a gorgeous little blue fairy wren. Dave grabbed the camera and got the lucky shot of the day.
Blue Fairy Wren
Seal Bay was another interesting destination. Along the south coast, Seal Bay is a protected area for Australian Sea lions. We joined a park ranger sponsored walk along the beach to see the seals. As you descend the path to the beach, the first thing you must look out for are the tiger snakes. The weather is warm and they are on the move, but we didn’t see any. These are highly venomous snakes that populate the island. Approaching the beach, once again you are awed and amazed at such a beautiful view. Before you is a wide, white sandy beach framing the multi hued turquoise and deep blue ocean which is populated with sea lions and many, many birds such as little terns and sooty oystercatchers. The seals are lying on the sand, basking in the warmth of the sun. Some are surfing in the water as they come in from feeding. The mature males weigh about 400 kilos, which by my calculation is about 800+ pounds. Is that even possible? We learned that their numbers are declining rapidly, too. They are one of the bellwether species that signal the health or ill health of the ocean. Although this is another sad story, we couldn’t help but feel good that at least a large area of beach, bluffs and dunes has been set aside for them to live and reproduce.
To round out the day, we went hiking at the largest lagoon on the island. The first thing we saw was a large kangaroo grazing on the grass. Apparently, no one told him that he was supposed to be nocturnal. There weren’t too many water birds, although the one that is seen all over the island is the black swan. We’ve seen hundreds of them wherever there is water.
Pennington Beach
We concluded our time on Kangaroo Island with a visit to some nearby sights, including Pennington beach. Again, this is another sight that would knock your socks off. How many colors of blue and turquoise can you count in the water? Many, many!! We stood at the top of the bluffs looking down at the multicolored sea, the waves gently washing ashore onto a wide, white sandy beach. The beach was empty, save for a couple of fishermen. It was a great beach walk on a beautiful beach.
We have really enjoyed our stay in Australia. It’s a gorgeous country with so much to offer. For us, the wildlife and birds were the main attraction, and we were not disappointed. We’ve seen so much and done so much in just a short time of 3 weeks. People here are friendly and cordial. However, we have found that service at hotels and restaurants leaves a lot to be desired. Housekeeping does a minimal job most of the time. Service in restaurants is very frustrating. Sometimes, you feel like the invisible couple. Doesn’t anyone see us? Don’t they know we’ve been waiting 20 minutes to have our order taken? Why is it taking an hour to get the food? Why does it cost $7 or $8 just to get a skimpy plate of bread to munch while we wait for the food to come? Or maybe we’re just getting tired of eating in restaurants after 4 months of travel? More and more, if we have a room with a minibar, we’re going to the grocery store and buying things to have for breakfast and lunch, instead of hassling with restaurants. Now, if we can just solve the dinner dilemma!
Now off to New Zealand!
Pictures: Due to the additional number of pictures we wanted to post for Australia, please view them at our photo website below.
