Cairns, Australia - The Great Barrier Reef

We saved the best for last.  No Australia trip is complete without seeing the Great Barrier Reef.  One of the best places to catch a boat out to some of the inner and outer spots to dive or snorkel is Cairns, Queensland.  To add to the challenge, we also rented a car for our few days there.  I never got the chance to drive on the left in the UK so it was fun to finally test it out.  I'm pretty sure Jolene was more freaked out by the experience and she was just the passenger, but there was a traffic circle every half a mile so anybody not from New Jersey would most likely be nervous.

Cairns is essentially a beach town with a strong dependence on tourism of the reef and the nearby rainforest.  They have made a great public lagoon for people to swim in because you are not allowed to swim in the ocean next to town due to the frequent saltwater crocodile sightings that don't play well with others!

The morning after arriving, we went out with Reef Excursions and snorkeled at two different outer reef locations.  We opted against taking any under water photos because it honestly took all our concentration to not swallow any water while trying to breath correctly with the snorkel.  Jolene did convince me to wear a wetsuit to protect me "just in case" but as far as water temperature it was a little cool but not bad.  By the end of our first drop off I had made progress on the breathing and was able to dive down and swim with the various schools of fish and even had a chance to swim side by side with a hawksbill turtle and even various schools of fish in the ravines created by the different parts of the reef.  Just the simple fact that there were so many different types of bright coral and fish easily kept you mesmerized in a dead float near the surface looking down.  I never did sight the infamous clown fish but I did have an altercation with a couple monstrous wrasse fish.

The next day we stuck to land after a boat ride back that was a little choppy.  Unfortunately for Jolene, the Gillie highway up into the tablelands is the most curvy 19 km of paved surface I've ever been on. (While this put Jolene's stomach on edge it was the Japanese kid behind her that eventually lost his cookies).  We went with a small group into the tablelands to search for Australian animals in their natural habitat and even do some walking through the rainforest at night to spot some of the nocturnal animals you'd not ever find otherwise.



Exploring next to an old Cathedral Fig Tree

Armed with binoculars we were guided around by a German-Spanish gentleman (Tappy) with a doctorate in environmental biology from Venezuela that had an immense knowledge of everything we ever wanted to know and more.  He knew of the best spots to see these animals and had a good eye (g'dye) for spotting them in the dense forest during the afternoon and again once we were hiking around in the dark that evening.


Night Time Rainforest Animal Sightings

We got a chance to spot a ton of animals (green ring tailed possum, lesser silty owl, brush tail possum, musky rat kangaroo, northern ringtail gecko, huntsman spider, agile wallabies, flying foxes, platypus, and tree kangaroos).


Flying Foxes (actually bats)

There are definitely great stories that go with all of these, but the colony of mating flying foxes, and sneaking down the edge of a wooded pond to watch the active platypuses were quite memorable.  Also, we broke off from our group temporarily at Barrine Lake (crater lake) and with Jolene's help spotted a musky rat kangaroo ourselves.


For our final day in Cairns we explored by ourselves and let me test out my driving on the wrong side of the road.  We ended up taking the skyrail across Barron Gorge National Park up to Kuranda.  This included amazing views of the gorge and the canopy of the rain forest.  Once in Kuranda we enjoyed our day in their various animal parks and exploring the small shops.  We were able to get up close to all sorts of local animals and we tested out our unofficial fear of birds as well.  It was only appropriate that we got a quick strong rain shower (while in the rain forest) but we ducked into the Frog Café and enjoyed the view until it passed.




Kuranda Rainforest Walk



Jolene, Lanna, and Mike

This was also our final chance to allow Jolene to truly cuddle with a Koala.  Her name was Lanna and let's just say Jolene has not stopped talking about her.  While the official handoff of the koala was an event, she soon settled in and decided Jolene was her new/favorite tree.



If your trip to Australia is meant to see the truly amazing diversity of it's flora and fauna, then Cairns is a great place to go as a jumping off point.  It definitely helped us get up close to what is still there and needs all of our help to protect it for the future. 

Northern Territory, Australia - Uluru and Kata Tjuta

No trip to Australia is complete without at least a solid effort to learn about its history.  One very long and critical part of that story is that of the aboriginal people of Australia who have been there for tens of thousands of years.  A great place to hear some of those stories and try to get a feel for some of that culture is at Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the surrounding area.  The giant red monolith has become another famous icon of Australia even though most of us know nothing about it.



 The entire Uluru-Kata Tjuta area was returned to the Anangu people in 1985 by the Australia government and they now currently manage it and lease some of the land to the government.  The area is amazing and the geological causes along with the Dreamtime stories that have been shared with outsiders make it all that more fascinating if you are willing to slow down and take it all in.















We signed up to go on a small group camping trip that guided us through the national park to see Uluru the first day along with a memorable sunset, and then Kata Tjuta the next day.  Hiking around both rock formations brought about a lot of interesting views and also allowed us to take a look at some old aboriginal art as well as we discussed the local flora and fauna.  Camping under the stars in a swag (Australian sleeping bag for the bush) was by far the most memorable part.  We listened to songs around the camp fire sharing local port and beer with the others in our group (who were mostly visiting from Germany).  While the temperature dropped quite a bit since it was the winter, it was no match for the cozy swags.   Jolene and I both ended up waking up in the middle of the night and were able to see the Milky Way and watch shooting stars zoom across the speckled sky.

Jolene took immediately to the camping life.  Helping wash the group's dishes and sweeping up our campsite. 

On our final day, we stayed in the Yulara Resort area and were able to sit in on a great talk from a local descendant of the aboriginal people.  He talked through the various weapons they used for hunting and protection.  He did an amazing job of story telling as he explained hunting techniques while holding various types of boomerangs and spears.  He would emphatically end each lesson on how many animal legs would be broken or if any additional pouncing or smack over the head was needed to bring down the prey.  This final talk before we began the next part of our journey really helped solidify the importance of this area to humankind.

A special thanks to Rhett from Wayoutback Tours for guiding us through this amazing area, sharing what you've learned, and also communicating and supporting the requests of the Anangu as we visited their land.

Melbourne, Australia - The Second City

View from hotel window (Grand Hyatt)

When discussing our trip with friends who have traveled that way, there was one city that kept getting brought up as a must visit.  This cemented in the need to make it down to Victoria to visit the state capital.


Hosier Lane - Great Graffiti

Melbourne had more hustle and bustle than Sydney and also has a developing foodie culture that does not disappoint.  It was impossible to pick from the large range of restaurants and not be pleased with the outcome (A couple near by our hotel which were great: Chin Chin, Yak, Lucy Liu's, Jin Dumpling and Noodle House).  While touring the city, wandering the Yarra River, and enjoying the food, we also made sure to make it into a few of the old cathedrals (St. Patrick's/St. Paul's) along with an epic visit to the Old Melbourne Gaol (former prison).  We not only got to see inner workings of the prison and hear about some chilling stories (that happened all the way up to 1997) but we also got to go through the activity of being detained, questioned, and locked into dark holding cells with fifteen other confused tourists (not sure I'd sign up to do that again!).





Old Melbourne Gaol















As usual, we also used our free time to journey outside of the city to see the wildlife and countryside. 

One day we took a trip out with Christian and Yarra Valley Wine Tours (Yering Station, Domaine Chandon, Rochford, and Yileena Park) to taste an incredible variety of wines centered around Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and sparkling wines.  We also did a cheese and chocolate tasting while in the valley.  At the final stop, at a very small vineyard run by a private couple, we were tasting in their upstairs tasting room and could spot a mob of 50+ wild kangaroos hopping quickly across the hillsides (can't beat that).

Domaine Chandon - Yarra Valley

Our other day trip which was completely planned by Jolene (and I believe was on the top of her list) was heading down to Phillip Island for the Penguin Parade.  This is getting a chance to sit on the coast and watch a colony of Little Penguins (no longer to be referred to as Fairies) storm the beach as they return from fishing in the open waters.  They come up onto the beach and group before doing a hurried waddle through the few annoying gulls and right past us up the hill into their rookery for the night.  This was truly an amazing natural process that is not to be missed.  With good advice from our guide we got great views.  We also had the chance to wander the island ourselves to catch some of the other wildlife and great views of some of the rocky coastline.  This is also the trip we met Yung and Jeremy from Canada out on their month long honeymoon.  We accidentally ran into them a few more times during our travels by coincidence and it was always nice to hear some of the things they saw or heard that we may have missed out on.

Definitely a great time and a special thanks for those of you who convinced us to not skip out on this region of the country.

Sydney, Australia - The Emerald City

The city that was all but unknown to most Americans until the 2000 Olympics and home to Utzon's Opera House was nothing but splendid.  This is especially true if you have the enough luck to stay in Circular Quay.  The Australian people at the in restaurants, hotels, tours, and on the streets were nothing but pleasant and helpful.

The shells of the opera house truly do slowly win you over as you exit the train station, enjoy a boat ride, or enjoy a sunrise/sunset.  I can still easily picture it today after all the times it snuck into view while we were there.

One of the first things we did was find a way to the Taronga Zoo.  It's not just because we have an addiction to visiting foreign zoos but also due to the great reviews we had read and our need to find a koala in the worst way.  Taking a boat to the zoo and taking a sky rail to the entrance as we glided over some of our favorite animals brought flashes of Jurassic Park to mind immediately.  Jolene of course tracked down the koala sanctuary immediately and was like the paparazzi as she tried to capture them at the right angle moping on their favorite tree nooks.

The zoo trip also helped lead me into the purchase of all day boat tickets which led us to Darling Harbour, and to Manly Beach for a daring touch of a Pacific Ocean wave and of course the salt and pepper calamari dinner that Jolene will not soon forget.  This led to her ordering the same dish no less than four times during our trip.

Our favorite area within the city was The Rocks.  It's the oldest neighborhood in Sydney with amazing weekend markets, and narrow streets with good restaurants and fascinating pubs sitting around every corner.  While Jolene will always remember the pumpkin gnocchi at the Pony Lounge, I will remember the pint at Fortune of War (city's oldest pub) or the many at Hart's Pub which serves Rocks Brewing Company's ales lead by 5th/6th generation convicts.

While darting through the waterways was refreshing, we did want to make sure to get outside of the city as well.  We went with a small group to hike part of the Blue Mountains and see the iconic Three Sisters.  We took the cable cars to the valley floor and walked through the rainforest spotting lyrebirds and a couple old coal mine entrances.  This is where I first had to clarify with Jolene that most things in Australia will kill you so you can't just touch plants or just about anything else without knowing what you are doing.

While many well traveled people will tell you Melbourne is the place to be, I am willing to put my name in the hat to back Sydney.


Eastern Gray Kangaroo

Cassowary



Tasmanian Devil

Wallabies

Quokka

Australia Trip (via New Zealand)

As are most things in life, it's not about the end result but the journey you took to get there.  The trip we have been waiting for so long has finally happened. 

It took us on the longest trip we've ever done together in both distance and duration.  It included flights across the US and over the Pacific.  It also included quite a few other flights, van rides, boat rides, and hikes within The Sunburnt Country. 


Let's just say that the trans-Pacific flight, Gillies highway in Queensland, and the fast boat ride back from the outer Great Barrier Reef almost got the best of us (one of us more than the other).

While there were those few challenging pieces, the majority of our travels were a breeze as Jolene did the majority of the coordination.  There is something about traversing a country where everyone speaks your primary language, has a solid infrastructure, and is full of helpful, pleasant, outgoing people that makes everything seem nearly effortless.

We decided to be clever and take advantage of the long travel by utilizing a long layover to cross another country off our list.  We had about 12 hours in between our morning arrival in Auckland, New Zealand and evening departure to Sydney so we made the best of it. (I had read about someone taking advantage of long layovers to enhance a trip so I made an attempt at it).  While our bags stayed at the airport, we were able to take a bus downtown early that morning and enjoy a day in the city.  While the day started with a little bit of rain it quickly cleared after breakfast and we were able to go to the top of a Sky Tower to get a great view of the lay of the land and the harbor.  We also visited Albert Park, Kia Ora (Art Gallery), the maritime museum, and had a great lunch at Degree on Hobson Wharf where I got to cook my own meat out of all local ingredients.

After Auckland our route was a clockwise journey through Sydney, Melbourne, Uluru, Cairns, and then back to Sydney.

Let the journey begin.