Road Trip Outback

Two Years Later- Tundra Roadtrip in the American Midwest

2010-02-03T13:13:00.020+10:00

Naturally, I would love to be updating this blog with yet more trips across Australia, but that is not yet in the cards. Meanwhile, I have been doing some travel that may be blogworthy: 16 university campuses in 6 states in 9 working days. Funny that I was in the South this time last year. So this time around I traded the grits and soul food of Charleston, South Carolina and Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a more (ahem) "acquired taste" - howling winds and blowing snow. Picture the Deep North in Queensland and aim for the exact opposite. How did you celebrate Australia Day?

I celebrated January 26 by boarding a redeye flight to Chicago, landing at 5:10am, and driving to Notre Dame, Purdue, IUPUI, and Indiana University. Mind you, I am not complaining. It was time well spent and an agenda that I drew up.

You not might think that a sheer lust for tourism placed me in a rental car, careening across the great icy flat spot that I grew up in and around. In fact, I did. Let me say this, I had a great time visiting more glamorous spots like Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, and London for work trip last summer. The photo below would imply as much (note, I have wifely approval to post this, so don't infer more than I implied!):

The thing is, I really do like everywhere I go and just about everyone I meet. It is admittedly easier to like strolling down the Esplanade in Cairns as the warm humid embrace of an evening breeze joins the up-tempo beat of live music than it is to like hurrying not even

two blocks from your parked car to the Illini Union as the biting wind causes you to lose feeling in your fingers while encouraging altogether too much feeling in other exposed surfaces like your ears, nose, and neck. The thing is, I have heard good things about these places. I fully expected that I would like visiting schools like Indiana, Penn State, and Wisconsin for the first time - and I did.

So what was the agenda? I flew into Chicago and visited Notre Dame, Purdue, IUPUI, Indiana, Washington University in St Louis, Illinois, Penn State, Washington & Jefferson College, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, Duquesne, Ohio State, Marquette, Wisconsin, U of Chicago, and Northwestern. The map below of the Big Ten (an athletic conference of major midwestern universities and yes, they have had 11 members for about 16-17 years now) gives a nice outline - I skipped the two Michigan schools and the two farthest to the West (Iowa and Minnesota), but spent time at all the others. Specifically, I went to fairs at Indiana, Ohio State, and Wisconsin (the three red ones if you're looking at the map), did an info session at Illinois, and met with administrators at all the schools.

The best part of most travel involves things that go wrong, so let me start with the rental car: the "Check Oil" light was blinking the whole time, so I never saw the odometer except when the key was in but the engine off. Shortly into my trip a fuse went out, so I am not sure what other indications I was supposed to get on the dash. The window takes about 15 seconds to go down and when it goes up it does not close properly, so at highway speed it was as if I had my window down by the smallest possible amount. The folks checking me in were a

little surprised to see I'd put 2687 miles on the car and despite these many but minor flaws, I certainly got good value for the firm (less than 10 cents/mile).

My confidence in the Dodge Avenger was never terribly high, so it did not surprise me when the Dodge's perception of my speed did not equate to that of the Illinois Highway patrol. It's not as if I don't ever speed, I just can't abide by getting caught for speeding when I am not. Fortunately, much like in Western Australia, I was pulled over for speeding and I was given a warning instead of a ticket. In Oz, the oncoming policeman did not see where the speed limit had been raised leaving a construction zone (nor did he notice the car tailgating me, the driver of which was apparently frustrated that I was doing the speed limit). In Illinois, I believe the radar granted me the credit for the speed of a larger vehicle passing me. To complete my vehicular lawlessness, I was given a parking ticket for parking

where I thought the Illinois Business School people told me to go - "we've reserved some spots with the hoods on the meters - park there (pointing)." I did, but I apparently picked the wrong hooded meter, reserved by some other department, so I got a ticket that was subsequently waived.

Before I start singling anyone out for being exceptional, please know that they are all lovely schools and if/when I am back in the area I will surely visit all again (except Duquesne).

Indiana is known as being a nicer campus in a classic college town, Bloomington. It had a broad selection of restaurants in town, a quaint town square, and an all-limestone campus that was somewhat reminiscent of my alma mater, Virginia Tech. Looked like a pleasant place that would be really attractive if I had visited when the trees were green. Nice folks and a ton of students studying foreign languages. It is unusual to find college students who speak foreign languages in bulk. Even those elite, foreign-affairs skewing schools tend to be small. This was a huge school with lots of foreign-language-speaking US students (good for business).

Several folks who graduated from Illinois are friends of mine - a neighbor who played on their '83 Rose Bowl team, a childhood friend who went there and now lives out here in the Bay Area - so it was good to go there. We did an info session and I was impressed how many students attended. Thursday nights are notoriously heavy drinking nights on college campuses, yet despite limited advertising, quite a few students fought the cold and eschewed (or at least delayed) the social temptations to listen to me talk about how they could pay to go abroad. I dropped in an Irish place to get something warm and I realized that after having Irish food about once every other year for most of my life, I had just been to Irish restaurants three nights in a row: Bloomington, St Louis, and Urbana/Champaign (OK, that last one was more of a tavern but the first two were definitely restaurants, not just bars).

That reminds me, in the first one, some guy wanted to strike up a conversation. Now I am a social guy, traveling solo, so I am normally game to talk to passing strangers. Hit it off with a guy at the airport when I flew back, but this is not one of those stories. The first night, I had gotten into Bloomington with almost no sleep the night before, I'd had a long day and driven to four schools, and I just wanted to eat and go. Additionally, even fully rested, this was not the kind of person I would want to talk with too much. He starts in with some weak, pointless poem. 30 seconds? 2 minutes? I couldn't say.

I was kind of tuned out and did not want to encourage him. It was delivered as if it was a pearl of wisdom and I thought "just don't look at him, he'll get the point." Having received no feedback and presumably thinking he should elevate his game, he paused about 2 minutes then said another one notable only for having a few rather unambiguous lines on politics - I had concentrated on not listening closely, but even for those who sympathize with his views it would be a best practice to not make what he said the second thing you say to a total stranger. The better you know me the less you can probably picture me saying this - but I turned and asked, "Are you going to do this all night or are you about done?" Within about 2 minutes he picked up his stew and his beer and moved to a different seat. Solid.

Some older buildings on these campuses are just really strangely laid out. One at Penn State had these odd, sort of House of Escher drawing half floors, but the most unusual was at University of Pittsburgh (known as Pitt). Try to follow these directions: "Go to the third floor, head down the hall that way (motioning East), at the end of the hall, go up a few stairs to room 209". So you go up from the 3rd floor to room 2-something? Yeah.

Now that I've made fun of it, let me note that - surprisingly - one of my favorite campuses was Pitt's. It's surprising because I grew up in Pittsburgh and even took a Spanish class one summer at Pitt, but I was not a fan of the campus at the time. Partly because I live in a city I'm a bit more amenable to city campuses and partly because I've been to 63 campuses in the past year and a half for work, Pitt measures up much better.

There are several architecturally interesting buildings, but the signature building is the Cathedral of Learning. The outside looks like something from perhaps one of the Batman movies, some envision a dreary Eastern European monstrosity from the communist era, I've always felt that it looked a little like it was melting. Some people describe the inside of the Cathedral of Learning as something from Harry Potter - I can't really say, but it is unique (here is my poorly filmed 16 seconds of the Cathedral of Learning at Pitt).

Madison, Wisconsin, home of the University of Wisconsin, is another classic college town with a great reputation. It's this cool college town set between two (frozen) lakes and it is also the state capital. Turns out the reputation was well deserved. All the schools were I met students had very good ones: Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, and Wisconsin. I did not exactly hang out at the frat parties, so I saw the business game face for most. The quirk here was that the fair ran until 8pm. Mind you I have no "bar stories" from the Australia portion of the blog because I was touring with my son (pictures of whom make the blog readable, I know). I got back to the hotel, dropped off my things, and headed out around 9pm expecting to be crushed by thousands of drunken Badgers. Nothing of the sort - I'm grabbing a quick bite and a brew in this mildly crowded place near my hotel called the Nitty Gritty. Then a few minutes before 10pm students start queuing 5 deep on either side of me but not ordering. There's a quick announcement that 10pm is the Power Hour, everything is $1, and it was on - mass mayhem as everyone orders something on the order of 4 rum & cokes and gets change for their $5 bill. Even in the best of places, acquiring and consuming large volumes of mixed drinks is a recipe for, shall we say, people becoming inconsiderate. That just was not the case here: people could not help but bump you (and I did move to the side behind a pillar for faster drink processing for the others), but they all apologized as if it was their fault and a few struck up conversations (vastly superior to the aforementioned Bloomington bar bard). I left within 20 minutes, so I can't say what an hour of high volume, low cost distilled beverage did for their collective considerateness (is that an adjective?) at the end of the hour, but their reputation was certainly in tact.

Wrapped things up in Chicago visiting two premier universities and our language school. I've left out the more personal meetings because travel is usually about discovery - I am not sure I can make meeting up with an old friend in Chicago, another one in Pittsburgh, my mom in Pittsburgh, or alumni of our program in Indianapolis, Bloomington, and St Louis all that interesting. They were interesting to me, but I am not sure that they are to you. Good times and I'll wrap it up with a photo of the cute kid and the very cute wife that I saw when I got home.

A year later - Road Trip Southeastern US

2009-02-07T16:10:00.035+10:00

Well, here we are a full year later and I still love thinking back on my 2 months in Oz. About this time last year, a charming young lady in Perth walked up to me and Alex and offered to buy him an apple juice. Next thing you know, we are in the middle of the Friday evening starter bar experience with about 7 folks just escaped from their place of work. Since then I have had a fantastic year - still happily married, still happily fathering, and happily employed. So the last couple of weeks for work, I went on an epic tour of universities in the Southeast. First off, I took a 3-day trip to Colorado in December. Love that place. Here's some Colorado State imagery to keep you warm. I need to go to a different continent to get any snow on this blog. On the plus side, I have pretty good access to this continent, so I've got some more snow for ya. If you look at our spring tour, you'll see I'm hitting several college campuses (is the plural of campus campi? maybe Campari?) well, here's the list (not all me, thank goodness) http://www.intraxinternabroad.com/locations - I did some work in case it looks like I just hung out and ate food. First thing I did on this trip (like Colorado in December) I found more snow in North Carolina. Here's snowy NC State University.

Then for the first time since I graduated (1992, for any keeping track), I saw my alma mater Virginia Tech play basketball and it happened to be the #1 team in the country, Wake Forest. Nice timing - for the 3rd time in history Virginia Tech beat a #1 team in basketball and I was

there. Sometimes you're just on a roll. Next thing you know my home town Pittsburgh Steelers won yet another Super Bowl.

Then I went down to my grad school alma mater South Carolina. It was a wonderful homecoming. I must confess to being a bigger fan of Virginia Tech sports and I go back there more, but my 2 years at Carolina were maybe more fun than my 4 years at Tech (OK, all 6 were good, but it was more concentrated at Carolina). The graduate business school at South Carolina treats me very well and they even highlighted this blog in the alumni magazine. So going back to South Carolina was wonderful. Good for work, good in general.

I was going to meet up with a guy I've known of since high school but only recently got around to liking - he's a prof at Carolina. Unfortunately he was sick this trip, but I'll be back. So the tour was good and I realized - just as I would find vegemite within a day or two of arriving in Australia - that I really wanted some grits when I was in South Carolina. I had grits every day thereafter. If you live in the South, you take Waffle House for granted. If you don't, you realize that easy access to grits and hash browns that are splattered, smattered, smothered, covered and diced is a luxury to enjoy. Anyhow, 15 years after graduating from the place, I still enjoy going back to the University of South Carolina.

Moving on, I drove down to Charleston - arguably one of the most beautiful cities in America - and continued on to Savannah. Wow. I just love this section of the South. It is hard not to love the place. Charleston and Savannah both have so much history and beautiful architecture. Not a bad couple of places to wander around, either.

Next in line I saw Florida, Florida State, Auburn, and Alabama. No complaints about Florida and FSU, but I must say I liked the Alabama schools better. Tough to say exactly why - good folks at all the schools - but the Alabama schools were almost universally helpful.

Here are some images of Toomers Corner (popular spot in Auburn- decorated with toilet paper) and the Delta Zeta house at Alabama. Why are you taking a picture of a sorority house, amigo?

Good reason: my Mom was a DZ at Alabama many, many, many years ago so I took a photo of the current version of the place. Toomers Corner is where Auburn fans celebrate big wins. They saved their toilet paper by not winning many football games, so they are using their stored up celebratory rolls on other sports wins. Folks around here love every sport, but none as much as football. The dollar goes a little farther here: I put a quarter in the parking meter and it gave me an hour. In San Francisco, a quarter buys you enough time to legally put in the next quarter.

Virginia Tech was wonderful as ever and the University of Virginia - our mortal enemy - was pretty darn good too. I might start liking those guys if I'm not careful. I got Alex a Tyrod Taylor (VT) jersey. At least nobody else at the Steelers Super Bowl party was wearing a Virginia Tech jersey. The students at Tech - who had no idea I was an alum or in any way worthy of extra effort - were simply the most polite, thoughtful people I met on the trip. Much like Carolina, the people at Tech certainly make alums feel welcome. Great to go home again.

Good times in the South. I think I'd still rather be in Queensland or Western Australia (or Darwin or the Barossa or Southbank or Darling Harbour), but it was great to go back to the South and see all the highlights.

Helping Folks get their own Australia experience...

2008-10-31T14:25:00.007+10:00

You may be wondering what I have been writing lately. As promised in an earlier post, I am now doing marketing on a global scale. Gotta love actually achieving a dream - I work at a great place with multilingual people who promote cultural exchanges. I am the Director of Global Marketing for Intrax Cultural Exchange. That means I am promoting Study Abroad among American & Canadian high schoolers and Intern Abroad among North American university students. Pretty fun, all in all. Net net, if you like my writing style, you can get the homogenized version at intraxinternabroad.com and to a lesser extent at intraxstudyabroad.com. While the nature of the job is to promote cultural exchange rather than explain my travels, I am still talking about the same sorts of things: few things can change your life for the better like immersing yourself in another culture. I've been to 30-some countries and you can be sure that I am helping people get to experience their own, personal version of Australia (along with about 20 other countries). With any luck I'll get back to Australia for work next year. A year ago I told my old employer that I was leaving in January '08...man, I am so glad I went.

Oh, one thing I re-wrote in our overview of Australia was that the national sport is cricket - I wrote that the national sports are cricket, Aussie-rules football, and (in deference to NSW) rugby. Half of my visitors are Australian, so if you believe that cricket is alone atop Australian sports, let me know. If cricket, AFL, and rugby are the main sports (in your mind) let me know. Rarely does one have the option of directly influencing how foreigners write about you, but you have it here.

Also, this post would be incomplete if I did not thank the many folks who have visited over the past year. Along with visitors from Iran and North Korea, I've had visitors from most of the US, Europe, Canada, NZ, and Australia. To those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, I jealously wish you a lovely summer. As for me, not only do I have enough vegemite in the office to keep me going, there are co-workers who also eat it.

Last point, I just just got back from my 20th high school reunion in Pittsburgh. If any of you are thinking about going to your high school reunion but are not sure, go. It was a great time. The people you liked are still friendly and the people you did not like have evidently forgotten why they disliked you. I am not sure if all the annoying people changed or if I changed or if the only people who went were the ones looking to enjoy themselves, but everyone there was all set to have a good time.

Yet another "news of the odd" update: Mt Isa

2008-08-20T02:07:00.003+10:00

Mt. Isa is on the western edge of Queensland, a mining town where I have heard stories of people earning $90-100k for above ground mining jobs. In short, it is a boom town in an area that visually resembles Barstow, California. Sort of a high desert spot - nothing special. The highlight of the skyline is a smoke stack, although the city did not look "polluted" as I drove through it. My Mt. Isa experience was limited to getting fuel, changing a diaper, and getting a sandwich. Of course, I did not see fit to take a picture either (the photo is from a few km north of Cloncurry, about 150km to the East of Mt. Isa). Cloncurry's fame is being the site of the hottest temperature ever recorded in Australia - something like 125 degrees F.

Anyhow, this mining town has quite a few more men than women, like most mining towns and this story could have come from Karratha, Port Hedland, or several other places I drove through. But the story comes from Mt. Isa. (What story?) This story:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.phpid=080818074532.7wyoh5kf&show_article=1

Apparently the mayor was getting grief that there were not enough ladies to go around, so he said that Mt. Isa was a town where "ugly ducklings could flourish into beautiful swans". Now, everyone is afraid that their city will be known for ugly women and that anyone who would have moved there would think "I'm not ugly, so I'm not moving to the Isa." Oh well, the mayor makes a reasonable point that ladies who find Bondi Beach or the Sydney bar scene rather competitive could find that they are in high demand among the well-paid, fully employed men of the Isa (they call Mt. Isa "the Isa" so I am going with it). On the other hand, generalizing about the appearance of women can be very dangerous and making an overt appeal to "ugly ducklings" is rarely a vote-getter. Let's just hope everyone finds happiness and the air conditioning holds up.

Memories of Aussie Starbucks

2008-07-30T04:04:00.009+10:00

Now I rarely report news on this blog, let alone financial news, but this one fits. Apparently Starbucks will be closing down most of its stores in Australia, concentrating on Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. Admittedly, those are good markets to concentrate on and they are already packed with Starbucks locations (especially Swanston Street in Melbourne, with about 4 in a three-block stretch), but that's going to mean that the good folks running the Starbucks in Adelaide and Port Macquarie - each of whom I got to know on several occasions - will be looking for work.

The first image above was the Starbucks in Adelaide that I had joyfully anticipated for about 10,000km. It was the site of Alex's first "baby-cino" (milk foam, a little chocolate), which is now a staple purchase whenever Alex joins me in a coffee shop and a gateway drug towards his future coffee addiction. That baby-cino is pictured in that second image from a tram ride to Glenelg Beach. By the time I got to Port Macquarie, I was sufficiently caffeinated to stop photographing the Starbucks locations, but it was right by the water on the main street. From the first photo below, it was about 50 meters behind me (on the left) on that same walkway. Anyhow, both Starbucks were staffed with bright, friendly, capable individuals who helped make our trip as wonderful as it was. I wish them well.

Thoughts on the Logistics

2008-06-13T05:09:00.006+10:00

Recently I received a comment on the logistics of the trip and figured it might make a good topic.

By the way, if any commenter wants to e-mail me on more specific questions, just post a comment starting with the line "Do not post" and you can build in your e-mail to the message. Comments are moderated, so I can read, reply to, and delete your comment, thus keeping your e-mail private.

So, as far as planning, the first thing is you plan the date range. Depending on how big your window is, you can shop for fares accordingly. Summers are hot, humid, and wet, so do not plan for the summer in the North if you are not up for that (I was and the little guy was fine with it). A quick search on Qantas and United will tell you what the fare range is for your target date, but know that Qantas and Australia Tourism sometimes have deals. If it is close, Qantas has higher service levels. My son got more "kid stuff" on a domestic Economy flight on Qantas than upgraded to Business on United International.

Then you've got to figure out where you're going to go. At first, I was going to do Adelaide to Cairns. Then it was Perth -Cairns. Then it was Darwin - Cairns (skipping the area with the greatest perceived combined risk of flooding and remoteness - western Queensland). Then I figured I'd do the whole thing. Had I missed the remote parts of Australia between Cairns and Perth (Via Darwin & Broome), I would have missed a big part of the soul of the country. However, I understand that few people have the time or the tolerance for long days and empty roads.

Prices are high and it is not just the weak dollar. Australia's booming economy has had some inflation and Australians complain a little about it as well. One benchmark item that I like to use is a cup of your favorite espresso drink at Starbucks. I like a Grande Americano (Long Black). In '01 and '03, the US price was US$2.10 and the Australian price was A$2.10. With a US$.55 = A$1 exchange rate, that was a deal! This summer ... er, winter... this January it was US$2.25 in the States and A$4 in Oz. With US$.90 = A$1, that was pricey. Food and beverages were accordingly expensive - maybe 50% more than California. Whether eating fast food (in cities), diners, pre-packaged food, or restaurants, assume a premium of 30% to 100% over US prices at current exchange rates. Living on groceries in the car or at a property with a kitchenette, you can get by on $20 per day per adult. Eating out it is more like $50-75 per day per adult.

The next bit of pre-planning is to book the rental car. There is a maximum charge for child seats, so whether you're there for a week or two months, the car seat is $50. Don't worry about driving on the left, you'll adjust fast (the drive from the airport to the hotel is harrowing, then you are fine). If you start in a more remote city, you can get started with fewer ...ummm... traffic opportunities. I am glad I started in Cairns and not Sydney on that count. Note, the car seats do not necessarily have the clip at chest level, so you may want to bring your own clip. Hertz was the least expensive option for me in Cairns, oddly enough, but price shopping here is important and attention to the fine print on unlimited mileage is essential. Gas (say "fuel" when you're there) was between A$1.22 and A$1.71 per liter (3.8 liters per gallon) with a weighted average of about A$1.35-1.40 when the world price was about US$90-100/ barrel. It is now US$135 and their taxes go up with price increases (US taxes are per gallon, not a percentage of price), so their increase should be greater.

I booked the starting hotel in advance, but booked others as I went along (as I had a better sense of when I would arrive in various cities) and left the rest to chance. In most towns, I drove in and figured it out. The Information Centers in most towns have all the prices and someone to speak with. On only one occasion did I get "shut out" - Karratha had no rooms and I had to get on down the road to a roadhouse. If you are traveling in a high season, you may want to plan a little further ahead either online or at the Info Centers (they are generally very helpful even if they don't know the places 500-1000km down the road). Roadhouses, pubs, and cheap motels were no less than A$75. Roadhouses are fairly basic - a bed, a light, a cheap TV, and a functioning AC. Some have toilets in the room, some have a common bathroom. You can stay a couple nights in those places, but you want to shake things up with a nicer place here and there or the travel will become tiresome. Chain motels are generally a big step up in cleanliness & insulation from nature (Best Western is everywhere) and you can do that for the longer term typically for A$90-120. I stayed at three roadhouses and a pub - I recommend that you stay there for the experience a few times, but the chain motels were more comfortable. The resorts (when available) are sometimes not that much more than the chains (A$150+). Places that I would definitely stay at again if back in the neighborhood (and recommend) include the Cairns Hilton (location and staff are tops), Darwin Esplanade Holiday Inn, the Mangrove Resort Hotel in Broome, the Fortescue River Roadhouse south of Karratha (only if you talk with the guy who owns it, it truly is a Spartan property), Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort (memorable, but one day is enough if you're driving through), the Albany Best Western (good staff, nothing special about the property), the Conrad Jupiters on the Gold Coast, and the Brisbane Hilton. Those last two can be pricey. I used points for most of the Hiltons. I added extra days as I went a couple times - after one hour at the Darwin Holiday Inn I knew I wanted to stay two nights. In most of the bigger cities I scheduled 4-7 nights and I scheduled it a week or two out. There is something to be said for having a home base and taking day trips or taking it easy. I did this in Cairns, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Port Macquarie.

The View for $75 (Fortescue River Roadhouse)

The View for $130 (Darwin Esplanade Holiday Inn)

The View for $220 (Cairns Hilton)

As far as thinking about where you want to go, Google Earth and all the photos that exist of all the places you are considering is a great tool.

Internet in the hotel room is simply outrageous for an American used to $10/day whether you're at Starbucks, the Best Western, or the Westin. It is A$30/night in most places. Plan accordingly.

As for things to do with the kids, every town with three people or more has a playground. It was good to stop and play for 10-30 minutes and let him run around. They were interesting, well-maintained, and for public use (that is they are generally not school playgrounds). As for things to do in the car, Alex had several intricate toys that he liked to play with in the car seat (a card with holes and a string was his favorite). We also spoke quite a lot and we listened to his music every day. I had mommy's voice talking on a CD and he liked that sometimes as well. If you are traveling with mommy, that may not be necessary. Outside of Melbourne, we were not.

Getting back to the commenter, I hope his wife goes for it. Australia is a developed first world country, so things should be fine as long as you take precautions. As far as persuading his wife, I wish him luck. Be aware of the risks and prepare accordingly - phone service, food, and water for remote areas, awareness of funnel web spiders in yards around Sydney, and of course caution for the more exotic wildlife in the jungles up north, etc. Be aware but don't overdo the description for your wife if she is like mine. You don't get many chances to do something big and memorable like this, so I strongly recommend it.

Key Takeaways (What I got from it) - Part II

2008-04-16T15:48:00.011+10:00

Summary: scoping the post, small changes, shameless plug for an experienced executive, activating the old Lewis & Clark DNA, carpe diem with reptile visuals.

So what did I get out of this? I mean most vacations give you a chance to slow down and reflect. The difference is that you usually get back within a week or two instead of taking a couple months to internalize the slower pace. There is a huge danger of being too introspective in a chapter like this, so I will keep it concise and tangible. I've ignored the blog for a couple weeks to allow the lessons of Oz to sink in, but it is time to get on with it and post something before you all forget the site. Quick aside, I have also turned some of this into a powerpoint, but it does not seem to want to load onto the site. When I can figure it out, look for a summary photo post.

Naturally, I find myself thinking about the trip. Australia really is a fantastic country with a pair of world class cities and a few more wonderful cities worthy of visiting. The trip really did go smoothly. While I'd love to credit my planning, the reality is that Australia is simply an easy place to visit (once you get there). Still, there was something cool about selecting an objective, planning it, getting it done, and returning with everyone in tact. Alex has quickly returned to the swing of things as well, but he is talking much more in all three of his languages. Naturally, as the sunny days get longer, we are enjoying the fact that we are about to go right back into summer.

Well, I have made a few changes personally. People tell me I look younger - maybe I am smiling more or maybe I need to keep losing weight, but I am not one to question compliments. For one thing, I am certainly driving slower. This is not to say I am an angel or that I was previously a freeway combatant, but I've been back for nearly a month and I am driving within 5 mph of the speed limit - that is just the most obvious symptom of me embracing a more relaxed approach. I've made a few other changes on the margins - going from a Treo to a Blackberry, going from a PC to a Mac, going from really short hair to longish hair (not rock star long, just an extra inch or two). In keeping with the "life is too short" theme, I am making some changes on the professional side too. I've spent 15 years developing marketing programs and helping companies make marketing decisions, but mostly from a role one step removed on the sales side. Now, I want to get in the arena and be the one doing the marketing. Additionally, as you can tell from this trip, I've always had a passion for knowing and doing all things international (my Master's is in International Business), but since the bulk of my work has been domestic this knowledge and my foreign languages have been mostly a hobby. That's going to change now. Although it would be easier to get another role involving sales to the marketing/advertising industry, I'll be doing something more purely marketing with an international angle. Potentially, I could do sales with an international skew and go from there to international marketing or I could do domestic marketing and go from there to international marketing. I am taking two different Spanish classes right now and looking for a way to do what I should be doing. By the way, if you know anyone trying to develop markets in Europe, Latin America, or Australia (or people from those places trying to develop the US), let me know.

Many of you have asked - in polite terms - "what kind of freakish genetic defect would cause you to want to wander across an empty continent with a toddler?" This question was asked before, during, and after the trip. Usually the word "brave" is used (thank you, my diplomatic friends), with the word "crazy" following shortly thereafter with a smile. You know who you are and you may have a point. One of the things that I have learned since returning from Australia is that my genes would be in favor of the trip. I have an ancestor famous for actions a couple centuries ago, but it is not the ancestor I thought it was. Since childhood, I had heard that I was a fairly direct descendant of Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner - but in fact I am not. In a twist of fate that entirely makes sense right now, I have learned that I am a pretty direct descendant (8 generations back, 1st cousin) of Meriwether Lewis - as in Lewis & Clark. That's not a bad trade. Good to know that I am not the first person in the family to wander off into the lightly populated wilderness with a wingman. We both met some nice locals en route, but my wife did not grant permission to pick up any squaws en route (as in Sacajawea). Then again, I did not know to ask. On the other hand, Lewis & Clark did not get to sleep in road houses, drive on smooth well-marked roads, or experience their travels in an air conditioned Camry. Regardless, we probably saw about the same amount of oncoming traffic for much of our trip - I went whole days without passing or being passed by cars going in the same direction.

Some people experience life-threatening events and respond with something of a carpe diem attitude. Well, I had a trip that was essentially flawless for two months, but I have emerged with a similar attitude adjustment. Steve Irwin had that attitude and made his impression on this world (thus the first photo, above). No doubt the person who captured the croc depicted above ("Krys" - the 8.6m reptile from Normanton, Qld that might eat a person without needing to chew) was also "seizing the day" when this massive crocodile showed up. Without a doubt I am on the same page, as mentioned above in the professional sense. Alex and I had the trip of a lifetime and our lives have been impacted accordingly.

Thanks for joining us for the trip. Future posts will come, but in irregular intervals.

Key Takeaways (News You can Use) - Part I

2008-03-28T01:09:00.013+10:00

Summary: format for these key takeaways, what I'd do again, what I'd change, other questions, best practices

So, what did I get out of this? I'm going to take two parts to answer that: 1) Key takeaways (that others could use), and 2) what I got personally from this. That second one may take more time and this first one may be more useful for others in their own travels. Enjoy.

What I would do again (and recommend to others):

1) Renting a normal car. Given the length of the trip, buying a used car in Cairns and dumping it upon my return to Cairns was not an unreasonable option. Still, for a little less than $3000, I had a quality vehicle (Toyota Camry with 12,000 km) and the support of the national Hertz network in the event of car problems. Additionally, given that I was traveling in the wet season, some expected that I would rent a 4 wheel drive car. No need. At no point did I think "gosh, if only I had a 4wd vehicle". I stayed on paved roads and when those roads flooded (10 days and 3 days, respectively, after I passed through towns like Kununurra and Fitzroy Crossing), they flooded in a way that one more spinning axle would not have overcome. For example, Kununurra's road was under 3 meters of water (according to a radio report I heard 10 days and a couple thousand km later in Perth). Either way, I would be hanging out in the hotel and waiting for the water to go down. These were not flash floods, just heavy rains and rising rivers. Likewise, in Fitzroy Crossing, which flooded a couple days after I was there, the road was under almost a meter of water. Even if the water was not moving, would you drive your kid through 3 feet of water in a Land Rover? Me neither. There are Land Rovers outfitted with breathers that go up above the vehicle - we saw them all the time - but "cheating death" (and driving underwater in croc-infested regions counts as cheating death for a few reasons) was not part of the plan. Additionally, whether thinking of road noise and general comfort or looking at fuel prices of $1.22 to $1.81 per litre (typically around $1.40), I would rather drive a car. (Note: A$1.40/liter translates into about US$5/gallon)

2) Starting in Cairns and going counterclockwise. Since I knew that it was summer (and wet season), I knew that the likelihood of a delay due to weather was greatest on the top side of the continent. Thus, it was best to go into it first because if there was going to be a delay, I wanted time to make up for it. While it was in fact hotter this way, it allowed me to see the sparsely populated part of Australia early. As such, it allowed me to get used to driving (and being) in Australia without too many other vehicles being involved. This was good not so much for remembering to drive on the left (I had that part) as just getting used to the roads. A good example is that I learned about Australia's stringent following of speed limits before I got to where all the speed cameras were. Going at my own pace (fast, in this case) across those more sparsely populated areas also allowed me to take it slow in places like Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, and the Gold Coast. Going the other way, I would have been forced to *hope* for good weather in order to make my flight home.

3) Staying in hotels, motels, road houses, and a friend's house instead of camping. There are many great things about Australia, but the idea of intentionally allowing a toddler (and myself) to sleep out in the elements where the spiders, snakes, or even just mosquitoes and rain could get to us just does not make sense. I know the odds of a snake bite or spider bite making him sick (or worse) were low, but I just would not sleep soundly in the wild. (Yes, I am a city person) There were enough insect noises in a few of the motel rooms across the top - no need to get closer to nature at night (the accommodation in Cairns, Darwin, and Broome had no bug issues). The variety of lodging added quite a bit to the trip. The great places were great (Hilton Cairns, Westin Melbourne, Conrad Jupiters Gold Coast, Adelaide Hilton, and Brisbane Hilton above all). Good thing we had hotel points, because that would have cost an awful lot. Still, some of my best experiences were at places like the Fortescue River Road House "near" (and I use that term loosely) Karratha, WA, the Albion Pub in Normanton, Qld, the Best Western in Albany, WA, and the Carlton Pub Hotel in Geelong, Vic. While none of these places were deluxe resorts, all had memorable characters that made them worth highlighting. Still others, like the Mangrove Hotel in Broome and the Holiday Inn on the Esplanade in Darwin were lucky finds - great places where I would happily stay at when I am back there. Anyhow, those hotels allowed for contact with people after long days of travel. Additionally, just showing up and figuring it out (rather than booking ahead of time) led to plenty of good choices and the ability to judge on the site.

4) Seeing the sparsely populated parts. It would have been easier and understandable to fly to Darwin & Perth and do my driving from Adelaide to Cairns. I would save 10,000 km of driving and nobody would blame me. On the other hand, I would have missed out on several of the experiences listed above and I would wonder about those missing corners of Australia. Seeing towns like Cloncurry (QLD), Daly Waters (NT), Kununurra (WA), Carnarvon (WA), and Eucla (WA) really gives you a different view of this country. The same could be said of the US: seeing Longville, Minnesota or Roanoke, Virginia or Fort Collins, Colorado would show a visitor to America something different than the usual stops on the New York-Washington, D.C.-Orlando-Las Vegas-Los Angeles-San Francisco circuit.

5) Touring with Alex at this age. First off, the bonding was great. He and I are on the wavelength more than ever (as you would expect). He may not directly remember this, but had he been older he might have been bored senseless at the driving. He played with various toys, asked questions, sang with music, and told me not to sing with music. Even so, he did ask that we stop the car and get out a few times. Had he been 5 or 7 or 10, he would have done so much more (or just played a Gameboy or something comparable and never looked up). He will see the contents of this blog enough that he will have a good chance of remembering parts of this trip that were photographed. As for the worry of him getting sick or injured while we were in a remote location - yes, I was concerned. What mitigated it for me was that I was aware of the risks and prepared accordingly. From likelier risks - don't drive at night to avoid hitting large wildlife and wearing sunscreen - to those less likely yet existant risks - carrying a compression bandage (for snake or funnel web spider bites) and wearing deet (for mosquitoes that could carry the Ross River virus). Not to be too much of a control freak, but I tried not to be surprised by anything on this topic. We also had enough food & water to last a few days when traveling in the remote parts, not that there was really any chance of being stranded for days anywhere since we stayed on paved roads. Above all, no first world country has more experience and systems in place to manage things like that. The competence that I saw in Australia's doctors only reinforced that confidence.

6) Watch very little TV. Maybe the reason I think Australians are upbeat is that I watched the news about three times in two months. Now I still heard news on the radio and read it in the paper, but TV news is generally more sensational, melodramatic, and crisis driven. Likewise, I saw a little TV programming to get a feel for local shows, but I did not come to Australia to watch reruns of Friends. Of course, when you're not watching TV, you're doing something (likely) more memorable.

7) Missing the things I missed. In a future visit, I will go to Tasmania and Uluru (Ayer's Rock). Exmouth and the Ningaloo Reef are also interesting destinations that I hope to see in Western Australia. They've got a cool wave rock in the southern end of the state, but I just don't see that I would make it out there if I missed it this time. While it may not have seemed like it, I did skip a few noteworthy wine regions in South Australia and Hunter Valley, NSW. There are plenty more things that I could have visited, naturally. The point is that you can't get to it all, even in two months. Had I missed Darwin, Monkey Mia, Penfold's Grange in Barossa, or the Great Barrier Reef (this one was a bit of a challenge to do with Alex), I would be kicking myself and rationalizing it to you. I am not kicking myself or rationalizing. The tradeoff of an extra day or two in the car (or a rushed flight to and from Tasmania) did not seem worth it at the time - or in retrospect. I'll get there, Tas.

8) The Trip. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. When I got to Cairns, I wanted to take a left and do another lap around the continent. Seriously. This experience was amazing. More on this in Part II (but hopefully not too self indulgent).

What I would not do again:

1) Purchase the same Satellite Phone plan. While I would still bring a sat phone, I would have gotten the most basic plan: Go for the cheapest phone rental, not cheapest per minute outbound or (in my case) free incoming calls. First off, the quality of the calls is not very good, so it is better to call (outbound) from pay phones with a calling card. Second, reception only works with a clear view of the sky, so you are not going to leave the phone on or carry it around like a mobile phone because it does not work indoors (or even in the car, from what I could tell). Third, the size makes it a little prohibitive to just carry it around. Fourth, the rate to call sat phones is obscene. For some reason, I thought the pricing would be like international calls, but it was more like $10/minute. Free incoming calls meant nothing in that case. I would still have brought it because in the event of an emergency (automotive or otherwise), I would have really needed it. Depending on how available I wanted to be or how many calls I planned to make, I might have considered a mobile phone (primarily for use from Adelaide to Cairns).

2) Have Sprint PCS as my phone service in the US. I told Sprint that I wanted to put my phone on the most basic plan (just keep my phone number and v-mail) starting Jan 25. On Jan 24, my last day in the US and the last day to wrap up odds and ends, my voicemail stopped working. Additionally, my phone stopped receiving calls (people just got a busy signal). Nobody at Sprint could figure it out for the first three calls to customer service, but on the fourth they did. So, my last day in the US, I was completely out of reach. I still have the same phone number, but I am now with T-mobile.

3) Communicate better ahead of time. We have a friend in Perth that we missed because I was ahead of my "target" schedule. I reconnected (via e-mail) with a guy I was friends with growing up about 10 days after I was in his area (Geelong/Melbourne). Would have been nice to have coffee with both.

Other burning Alex questions:

How did Alex really handle the whole thing? Missing Mommy etc? Also, why was Alex smiling the whole time? Was he that happy or were you editing heavily?

Actually there is only one photo that was left out because Alex was not smiling.

Here you have a meltdown photo from Melbourne. Bulgarians will recognize the "Martinichka" red & white charm for the first of March, which is when this was taken. One thing is that I was rarely inspired to photograph him (or anything) when he was visibly unhappy. Another is that he really was happy most of the time. Third, he loves seeing himself on the computer, so he generally smiled for photos. (He made the connection himself) He would get whiny now and then, but rarely unhappy and the bad mood never exceeded 30 minutes. A few of those moods (mostly in Sydney) were traced back to a tooth coming in. He mentioned mama, asked for mama, and asked for a certain song about mama to be played sometimes (especially right after Aneta left Melbourne). Otherwise, we did look at photos of her and other familiar friends and family most days. It may not be fair to assume that this would apply to other kids, but this particular kid did really well with her absence.

Best Practices for a big trip:

1) Planning...

Have a big picture idea of where you want to go without a set itinerary for flexibility
Think through what you need, what to buy here, what to buy there
Use the internet to check a few prices so you can budget realistically
Pack Light (no, lighter)

2) Traveling...

Embrace it and try to live like the locals where practical - read local papers, listen to non-news radio, be outgoing (yes, I am addicted to vegemite and I drive the speed limit for now, but I'm over meat pies)
Let yourself fall "out of the loop" to allow you to keep your mind on the present (i.e. not work you just finished, what to do on your return) - I called the Muse and wrote this blog daily, but only minimally followed the news, sports teams, or any other gossip
While saving money is important, pace yourself and mix in a nicer place here and then when feasible - everything about the place you're visiting seems better if you really like the place you're staying (even if just for one night)

Yeah, I know, blog entries are better with pictures.

Last Day with photos - Mar 24

2008-03-26T06:36:00.021+10:00

Summary: the full-sentence version of the last two posts and a preview of coming attractions

Going into the 24th, we had the choice of sleeping in, taking it slow, and getting to the airport a little before noon, or getting up early, taking a train into town, and seeing Sydney one more time. Naturally, we did the latter. I knew we'd be couped up together on planes and in airports with little change of scenery and I think Sydney is one of the most amazing cities on earth. Real tough call there.

It was about a 10 minute walk to the train station. The mist was light. We took our train from Mascot (where the airport Ibis was) to the downtown loop. There were a number of places to get off on that loop, but we chose St James (church, next to a big park) it would allow us to see the center of the city. We'd seen the bridge, opera house, circular quay, and The Rocks, but only driven through the city center. While it is home to many tall buildings, it does not feel nearly as intense as many downtown areas (New York, Chicago, or even San Francisco or Toronto). Traffic is not as aggressive, people a little less hurried. Note, I am stating this based on normal weekday experience, not my 7-10am Easter Monday experience. By the way, there really are quite a few things closed on Easter, Easter Monday, and Good Friday, unlike the US. The touristy things are open, but don't let that fool you - the dress store at the strip mall or the hardware store in your local suburb was closed. Friday and Monday are days off, and not just for schools and post offices. Anyhow, it was pouring and we were hungry. We enjoyed Starbucks and when we finished, it was just drizzling.

This particular neighborhood are is where all the nice hotels are (Hilton, Westin, Sheraton) and where most of the shopping is. Some of the walk-through arcades were open, some closed, but most every store that did not have the word "Cafe" in its title was closed. It was attractive and there were not many people to bump into. Seemingly every building had an awning, so we were not getting wet except when crossing streets.

Anyhow, having already summarized Sydney a few times, let me be brief. We walked around this area, then a couple blocks over to Darling Harbour. We walked all around Darling Harbour then went to the monorail. This first photo below was taken so that my memory of this specific spot would not be of Alex having a meltdown last time (new tooth inspired, I later figured out).

So we rode the monorail around this end of town and got back on the train to go back to the hotel. At this point, things went from very good to flawless. The train went by Circular Quay and in the time it took for us to walk downstairs and get on a train, the weather cleared entirely (below). The photos of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House look a little brighter than the others. We walked to the hotel from the train station. To this point, there has always been a line of people checking into or out of the hotel. At that moment there was none. We checked out, went upstairs to get our luggage, came down and caught the shuttle in four minutes. Then, we checked in and were told that I was upgraded (complimentary). On a 14-hour flight, this is a very good thing.

United put us in the Air New Zealand lounge, which had a really good kid's area. They also had lunch. It was a really nice lounge and a very good way to allow Alex to spend some energy before he got on the long metal tube. And as you can see from one interim post, they had internet as well. The flight was uneventful, but it was great to have such a good seat. Alex fell asleep before his meal came and he was a little grouchy towards the end, but all in all he did very well. Below, you see Alex in the "normal" part of the Air New Zealand lounge, then in Business Class.

Lots of people wondered about driving on the left, but few wondered if I could still walk/drive on the right. I had a dream (set in San Francisco) when I was in Australia. I realized halfway through the dream that the cars on my street in San Francisco were driving on the left. When we cleared customs at LAX, I automatically walked on the left. Jumping ahead to today, I drove OK but I turned on the windshield wipers with most turns and reached for the seat belt on the wrong side a couple times. Back in LA, we were able to use the Red Carpet club because we're Premier Exec with United and it was part of an international flight. I am not a member of the Red Carpet club, so if I was just flying LA-SF, I would have been out of luck. Just to make sure I had my bearings, I did ask the guy at the United Lounge "Is today a public holiday?" "Well, yesterday was Easter, but no." Glad I cleared that up. Welcome to the US - Our Stores are Open. I must admit I miss the concept of things closing now and then, but then when it happens I want them to be open. Here he is in the United Lounge.

So we boarded the final flight. Alex now has a habit of asking repetitive questions. He asks "What's your name?" and "What time is is it?"(second "is" in the original - every time). So on this flight, he asked again and again that we sit upstairs. Naturally, a 737 has no upstairs. He is now spoiled for life.

We landed in San Francisco a little early and got our luggage. TSA inspected one of my bags between customs at LAX and its arrival at SFO. Of course they picked the most tightly packed bag and showed that they are better at unpacking than repacking, because it came down the belt unzipped and in its own plastic bag. Oh well. Aneta showed up with a new hairstyle and some highlights. For once, I had the awareness to say "hey, you colored your hair!" One time, a friend of mine (who shall not be named, but he shares a name with Alex's penguin) mentioned her highlights before I did. I have not yet lived it down.

So what's next? Am I going to just shut this thing down? Not yet. I am going to write a little series on key learnings and major takeaways that others could use if a) visiting Australia, or b) taking a long trip. Then I will try to figure out if this can be published - even if just a few copies for some friends. Foreshadowing one of those key learnings, I am off to get a new mobile phone service.

Interim Update from LAX - Mar 24

2008-03-25T03:10:00.002+10:00

Well, after a full day and a long flight, it is still the morning of the 24th. The sun rose, set, and rose again and it is still the 24th. The seats were awesome - enough room to move and stretch out. We sat upstairs in the first row behind the pilot. The movies were pretty good. The amenities kit is not what you imagine when you say "Trans-Pacific Business Class". Clearly seniority plays a role in getting staffed on these flights and one flight attendant was very good. Alex was good, for the most part - sleeping in the early portion of the flight and a bit whiny as I tried to sleep. Now I am in the United club and there is no kids room here - oh well. Almost home now. Bleary eyed but more refreshed than if I had sat in Economy (thanks to the upgrade), we are just about done with this grand adventure. What a great trip. Thanks for joining us for it and we look forward to seeing several of you in the days to come.

Interim Update from Sydney Airport - Mar 24

2008-03-24T11:29:00.004+10:00

Hello from the Air New Zealand lounge. This morning was flawless- got up early, walked through the mist to the train, arrived in Sydney, mist was downpour. Had breakfast at Starbucks across from the train station (not aiming for Starbucks but it was open, known, and takes credit cards). Walked around middle of town that we missed last time through. Rain gave way to clouds as we walked a lot - to Darling Harbour. Took monorail, then took train back as clouds went away altogether. Arrived at hotel as shuttle to airport was about to leave - flawless departure as we made the shuttle. United had upgraded me to Business but when the realized I was with Alex, they called around and ... YES! we are both upgraded and sitting upstairs on the flight. United's club is closed so we are in the family center of their Star Alliance partner Air New Zealand's lounge. I'll upload photos when I get back. Life is really good right now. It's like I am calling in the last of my elitehood between Hilton and United. See you in the US!

Easter Morning at Palm Cove - Mar 23

2008-03-23T21:02:00.015+10:00

Summary: hot humid and happy at the Hilton, splish splash, Palm Cove, hey do you notice something?, successful car return, back in Sydney

We woke up relatively early, had our breakfast, finalized the packing, and were strolling the cheerful streets of Cairns by 8am. The lady who manages the executive lounge in the morning is just wonderful – we enjoyed meeting her at the beginning of our trip and it was great to see her again (not picking favorites - the woman working the evenings is delightful as well). Despite being an early Easter Sunday morning, the dock was jammed with people taking the tour we took yesterday. There were joggers out on the boardwalk and parents taking their kids out for some sun and activity before it got too hot. It was well on its way - it reached 30 degrees before 10am and the humidity meter was reading “yes, very”. It was perfect tropical paradise weather.

Our packing did involve some decisions of leaving a few things behind: the cooler (esky), the laundry detergent, and the remaining Cholula (if customs is going to get me, it will be for open vegemite, not a spice I brought into the country). Hopefully the Hilton staff will divvy up the goods rather than tossing it. By the way, the folks at the Hilton all greeted us by name the entire visit. If nothing else, it certainly keeps you on good behavior. The guy who helped us with our bags was the assistant manager, I think. Anyhow, as I mentioned, that room was very nice. The valet, who had not seen us since January instantly recognized us and asked how our drive around Australia was. At times I thought they must have thought I was someone else (since of course I look like Brad Pitt but with tighter abs), but then I figured out that the service here is just off the charts great. I miss the place already.

So, I had seen that Cairns had a nice playground at the end of the Esplanade, so with a couple hours to kill before the flight, I figured we’d check it out. I am glad we did. It is (yet another) waterfront, prime real estate playground. They have lots of water park type things to keep the kids cool and entertained. It was not quite as nice as Townsville’s, as I did not see any big contraption dumping water and giving them a slippy slide, but it was quite nice. Memo to every town across the Southern US – do this.

With Alex drenched and the day heating up, I saw that we still had enough time to go to Palm Cove. Palm Cove is a collection of resorts along an idyllic, palm-lined coastline about 25 km north of Cairns. It would be a good place to get a spa treatment, have a nice meal in a bistro with light wood upscale décor and a ceiling fan lazily spinning overhead, or take in the kind of scenery that you think of when you hear the words “tropical paradise”. It was all that. We walked up and down the beach a little and grabbed some ice cream. Naturally, no paradise is complete without a vinegar station (see photo). This is not to add zest you your baby greens and alfalfa sprout salad, although I am sure someone has done so at some point. The vinegar is for jellyfish stings – not exactly a cure so much as something to make the pain more bearable (i.e. keep the victim conscious and make the scars less noticeable). Tropical Northern Queensland does keep you on your toes. We drove past the enclosed part of the beach, where there are nets to keep the jellys out. While nothing is foolproof, this is the safe spot – about 30m by 40m - and nobody swims outside of it. Seriously, nobody was touching the water outside of it. After almost an hour, it was time to head for the airport.

We were listening to the radio as we drove the short stretch to the airport. As we drove past Trinity Beach, the DJ had on someone from the Queensland Lifesaving Surf Rescue. He asked her how her Easter morning was going after she had her chocolate eggs. (Digression – it seems that Easter is the kid candy season comparable to Halloween). She said that some swimmers in the enclosure at Trinity Beach had “noticed” that a crocodile had gotten into the enclosure. “I can imagine that they noticed it, how big was it?” queried the DJ. “About 3 meters” she replied. I just love the use of the word “noticed”. You’re swimming in the one safe spot on a beach just outside of a city and a 10 foot croc shows up in your enclosure. Since nobody got hurt they could laugh about it. Surely there is a joke in there about Trinity, Easter morning, and a confused yet devout Christian crocodile. While I was tempted to go look for myself (a developing news story 2 km away), I figured there was probably nothing to see and we might as well get on with it.

Returning the car I was nervous for two reasons. 1) Our rate was changed to something better when we had picked up the car two months ago, but the rate they changed it to would charge per km past 5,000km in a month. The agent had written in “free unlimited km”, but you always wonder if the computer will agree or if you’ll need to debate it. Result: no worries - $600 saved. Yeah Hertz! 2) Australia has clearly invested heavily in speed cameras and they have a willingness to actually send out fines for “speeding” that is within what I consider to be the margin of error – 3 or 4km over the speed limit. For example, if a total angel sets their cruise control at 98km in a 100 zone and they go down a slight incline, they can get to 105 pretty easily. By comparison, in the US it is pretty broadly accepted that if you are speeding by 5-7 mph (8-12 km) over the limit, you’re probably fine. My experience in Germany had been the same several years ago. Not so here. I became aware of this little fact in Perth. Thus, I did half of my drive playing by a different set of rules. And even once I was aware of the rules sometimes you can miss a spot where the limit changes or not decelerate fast enough – somewhere in an 18,732 km journey. Fortunately, the speed cameras must be distributed by population and they must not have been looking when I was sinning, because Hertz says I did not get a single ticket.

With that load off my mind, we checked in and Alex went about charming every woman in a Brazilian tour group flying with us from Cairns to Sydney. Qantas does a great job and the flight attendant spoke about how life changing it was for him to wander around the US after 13 years as a draftsman. Anyhow, we arrived at our hotel out by the airport. The Ibis does a good job for what they do. This isn’t a resort, so even perfect marks will fall short of where I’ve just been, but the front desk was helpful and the restaurant was good enough. They are part of the Accor hotel group and it shows – the rooms like exactly like what I would expect in continental Europe. The comforters on the bed, the layout – it’s tough to put a finger on it, but this looks like something I would see in Germany, not Australia (or the US or even the UK for that matter).

Tomorrow, we’ll get up early, take the train into Sydney, walk around and do about as much tourism as we did today (2-3 hours), take the train back, walk back to the hotel, take the shuttle to the airport, check in, weasel our way into the United Red Carpet Club (elite but not a member is close enough on international flights), and then head on home. March 24 starts in 2 hours and ends in 43 hours.

Great Barrier Reef – Mar 22

2008-03-22T23:27:00.022+10:00

Summary: misdirection early in the morning, Green Island, on the reef, check out this room, causing trouble again

Our last full day and we are going to the reef. Cool. We got up early, grabbed breakfast, and headed out for our trip. This trip might have a few things we can’t do, but I figured we would do enough things to have a memorable time. I was right.

The folks at Great Adventures did a great job on the trip, but in places they did not have their directions straight. Example 1: this company had two boats – a small one on the right and a larger one on the left. We were told to take the small one on the right at the ticketing desk, then when we got to the jetty and were about to board, we were told to take the larger one on the left. Example 2: I knew that the tour went to an island and the reef, but I was not sure what order. The announcement said if you are going to the reef stay on the boat at the island, but we were actually all supposed to get off at the island. They mentioned that in a later announcement after we told them we weren’t sure we heard the announcement correctly. Those two hiccups aside, the tour was flawless.

First thing we did was go to Green Island. This is a little coral reef that grew up and grew plants on top. We went snorkeling on the beach. Alex was game for snorkeling until water became part of the scene. Then he was game to play on the beach with the goggles while I swam. Nothing much to see, actually - just some seaweed. Still, if I were to be stuck on a desert isle, this would be a good choice. We walked around the island – half of a boardwalk, half on a beach. Pretty place with interesting little birds. They have a croc farm, but I had a feeling we had seen enough crocs. They had a gift shop with a shirt about driving around Australia and hitting all the cities, so I had to get it (names the cities, then says "16,000 km - bloody long way"... and Alex is modeling it, with sunglasses on). On the ride over we met Yulanda from Melbourne – nice person who liked Alex and was enjoying a few days in Tropical Northern Queensland. We bumped into her on the way back to the boat. It is fun to meet fellow travelers and Australians are (just about) all really proud of their country and love hearing good things about it.

Most of the tour passengers were Japanese, with the rest appearing to be Australian. This was noteworthy as every announcement was in English and Japanese. They loved Alex – this might be because (natural) redheads in Japan are rare. Just as some women wish guys would notice that their eyes are about a foot higher than the guys are looking, Alex probably wondered why they were looking a couple inches higher than his eyes.

Anyhow, after a couple hours on Green Island, it was off to the platform on the outer reef. Great Adventures has a platform right off a reef where you can snorkel, dive, drive these James Bond-like underwater motorcycles, view the underwater observatory, or take the semi-submersible submarine around the reef. All the photos above are from the semi-submersible. None of these photos are as good as other photos you’ve seen of a reef and the color in these photos does not do justice to what I actually saw in the sub or snorkeling. It was awesome: every shape and form of coral you can imagine, fish large and small… just wow. By “large fish” I mean about 50kgs or 100+ pounds.

So it was time to snorkel. It was funny - the Japanese all rented wet suits to prevent jellyfish stings and none of the Australians did. Seriously, it was about 100% in both cases. True to form, I rented one for Alex (not wanting to explain on the blog that Alex got stung because I was cheap), but not for me (if Australians are not worried, neither am I). Actually, between the two of us, we had a full snorkel outfit: Alex had a life vest and wet suit (that was about the right size for an 8 year old) while I had a snorkel, goggles, and fins. At first, Alex did not enjoy going out into the water as the salt water tended to splash a little and get in his eyes, but then he got into it. He especially liked hanging onto the cage. I don’t like the life vests because it is harder to swim down to the coral and fish. The photographer took a photo of Alex hanging onto the cage and I bought it. I never buy those photos, let alone take pictures of a picture, but he looked cute in the water. Anyhow, he would hang onto the cage or stand on the platform and tell me to leave. I would lurk, then sprint to the reef (30m), look back to make sure he was not doing anything questionable (like wandering off to dry his hair), dive down amongst the coral, and head back. We did this for about an hour. You’d have to have been there, but it was really an ideal situation. Good times. Really good times. Alex had a blast and I actually got to snorkel a little. I never did find a clown fish, but there were a few anenomies. It was simply beautiful.

We got back to the hotel and checked into the premier suite. Wow, what a room. Life is good. I wish Alex’s mom was here. The Muse found a way to be somewhere that the water swirls like it does here, but not be anywhere near us. Somehow, she is working (and perhaps checking out some tango places) in Argentina this week. I'll save a commenter the effort - "at least she's working!" Well, we can all catch up on the mail together. Anyhow, we swung by the lounge and had some appetizers, then walked around the Esplanade again. The city was once again alive with people enjoying the waterfront. Neither of us was hungry, so we walked around for a bit longer and went back.

The executive lounge was still open and the night was beautiful, so we stepped outside and spoke with a few people smoking outside. They liked Alex immediately and he broke out some of the Aussie phrases he’s heard and is allowed to repeat: good on ya, g’day, how ya going? He has also repeated “what the hell?” in the way that I have …um…blurted it out a few times. I have said it just a few times, but he doesn’t need much repetition as the Phil story attests. Aside: you can’t bring food out where you are allowed to smoke. We heard this once before at the lawn bowling club in Coolum Beach, but I thought I had heard it wrong. It is not that you can’t smoke where people eat. No, you can’t eat where people are allowed to smoke. Somehow, the group of people outside that we were talking with rubbed the server the wrong way (either laughing too loud or the doors - which were hard to open and close - slammed one time too many). Anyhow, it was a lovely evening with smiles all around until right at the end. Sometimes it is easy to miss tension between people when you’re getting along with both. Odd, but a fine night nonetheless.

Alex was in the mood for Finding Nemo for about the 100th time since we left Sydney, but so was I. With a little help, we played it on the big screen. It really is amazing how nice things – things you’ve seen a few too many times – look on a high end TV.

What a great way to finish.

Next: I will try Palm Cove and a playground in the morning, go to the airport, and get down to Sydney for our last night.

Good Friday to drive to Cairns - Mar 21

2008-03-21T23:17:00.032+10:00

Summary: Crocs on the riverbank, Australians can drive fast, strolling through the sugar cane fields, sometimes a plan really does come together, reunited with the penguin

Maybe it was the rush to upload three days of photos in one hour (before my time expired), but I forgot to mention that – driving over a sandy creek – we saw a couple crocodiles laying in the sun just off the water on our way to Mackay. Nice little reminder.

Today we really got an early jump on things. The car was full and we had had breakfast (I really like the McCafe) and played on the McPlayground. It was 6:45 and we were ready to roll. So were a few other people. For the first time, my driving the speed limit did not make me one of the fastest people on the road. Either there are no speed cameras between Mackay and Townsville or there is a speeding amnesty on the morning of Good Friday, but people were flying. Maybe it was having the whole family in the car (every car was whole families driving, not individuals, but shouldn’t that make you want to go slower?) or the kind of people who leave at 7am are mission oriented, but this morning was out of character with every other day on the road. It sure wasn’t lack of police presence, because they were out in force today. At least the fishermen knew the fish were coming.

The drive today was much prettier – more sugar cane, more bananas (now I am sure), more citrus, more beautiful mountains. If you have never seen sugar cane, it looks kind of like corn or wild bamboo. The photos may help. It is really beautiful when the wind is blowing, but maybe it is the fact that it underscores how lush and tropical this area is. Sugar cane fields are the best place to find the Coastal Taipan. Now the Inland Taipan is the deadliest snake in the world, with enough poison to kill a football team. The coastal one is pretty toxic too, but only enough to take out a basketball team. Thing is, the Taipan is pretty shy in general and runs from humans when given a chance. They love sugar cane fields because the dense growth of the cane allows for little varmints to live in there. Taipans eat those varmints. So Alex and I saw a place where the cane field came up to a river and figured we could see up close and personal either a croc or a taipan – or maybe both. So we walked down and Alex almost stepped on this one snake. It was a water python – not poisonous, but not good to step on either. Anyhow, we got down close to the water’s edge and…

Got you. Yes, I am kidding, but this is my last chance to do so. The muddy water and the cane fields are exactly the last places I would go in Northern Queensland. Those “muddy” photos are from the croc-free Sunshine Coast, I did not have time to upload them last night. Here are some others.

Getting on with today, we did drive through another award winning town. I’ve noticed that the superlatives are dwindling a little. The South Australia/ Victoria had the tidiest towns in the country. A couple days ago, we went through the friendliest town in Queensland. Today, we learned that Home Hill is the Cultural Heritage Award winner for Northern Queensland. This is not to say that they are not clean or friendly or competitive on a national or statewide level, just to say that the scope is getting narrower with every town.

Townsville was an excellent stop. Like most every town, the commercial district was closed down. Aside, growing up in the United States, I recall that on Christmas or Thanksgiving everything was closed. Maybe the fuel stop was open, but that was about it. Now, the non-retail businesses close, but it seems that many retailers (restaurants, grocery stores, etc) work shortened hours. Australia is more like the US was in that respect. Everything was working shortened hours or closed altogether today. Ditto for tomorrow. Most everything will be closed altogether on Sunday and Monday. This caused a bit of trouble as we are about out of diapers and we’ll be on a boat, and island, or a reef all day tomorrow. (luckily, the Mobil station mini mart had nappies this evening) Where was I? Townsville! Good looking city center, looks like it would be a great place to spend time. There is also an entertainment area between the city center and the beach. But we spent our time next to the beach. (Next to because nobody goes in the ocean this time of year thanks to the jellyfish) Depressing? Not remotely. They have the greatest magnet for kids ever. First, like every town in Australia they have a playground next to the water (on “the Strand”). It is bigger, nicer, and more varied than most. But then, they have a water park/ playground right there. Mind you this is free. It is just a nice place for every person who wanders up to kills some time and stay cool. It was packed with kids from teens to Alex’s age. The whole time, it looked like Alex was bracing himself for more water, but he absolutely loved it and did not want to leave. This place was perfect. Any town trying to get people to come back downtown should call the Townsville town council.

The drive from Townsville to Cairns was absolutely beautiful. The mountains were higher, the jungle lusher, the views better, and the traffic was calmer. It was wonderful. Then things got better.

We checked in for two nights. One is free, one is paid. The room types are different, but we’d rather stay in the same room (of course). First thing, they gave us a great room with an even better view than last time (facing the city and the festivities going on this evening on the Esplanade – fire dancing). Second, the manager said that they will give us the absolute premium deluxe suite tomorrow night (nice send-off, eh?). They’ll move our stuff while we’re out. Third, the on-site planner was able to set us up on a wonderful day trip tomorrow to an island and a reef. Availability was expected to be a challenge, but they were able to hook us up. And Alex was free. There will be things for Alex to do in both locations, as he is not exactly an elite swimmer. His favorite movie is Finding Nemo, so we just may find a clown fish. As I mentioned, I filled up the tank and got diapers, averting some challenges on the way home. We had a great dinner on the Esplanade and found the city even better than the first time (about 10 degrees C cooler), thus more lively. There are lots more tourists – mostly Japanese and more than a few Germans. Alex also found the hot tub at this hotel, which he loves.

Last, and certainly not least, Alex was “reunited” with his Phillip Island penguin Phil. Yes, after disappearing at the Nobbies visitor center in Phillip Island, the folks at Phillip Island’s Info Center were willing to sell and mail another to this Hilton. Alex had seen Phil for about 4 hours and not seen (or spoken of) Phil for almost a month. When he opened the package, that first photo shows him saying “Phil”. Quite cute - quite worth the effort. Yes, he is happy and he does not want to let that thing go.

In summary, things are rolling. Yes, I miss you all, but I really don’t want to leave here. Tomorrow we are on the water. Sunday we’ll do something in the morning (something that does not rely on anyone working) and fly to Sydney in the afternoon. Not wanting to impose on the M&Ms or subject them to Sydney traffic (crossing town four times in 24 hours), we’re staying at the airport. Monday morning we may go into Sydney for a couple hours. It may not be worth it if everything is closed. Then in the afternoon we’ll fly to LA. It will get dark, get light again, and it will still be Monday. Then we’ll fly to San Francisco and land about 3 hours before we left. If you’ve ever had a Monday that seemed to last 41 hours, you know what we are in for.

Drive to Mackay - Mar 20

2008-03-20T23:10:00.003+10:00

Summary: Fruits, skip Gladstone next time, how ‘bout Cairns?, arrive in Mackay

The day began with us driving through a bit of rain, then through an assortment of fields: sugar cane fields, citrus plantations, and what appeared to be a banana plantation. Like many farmers, the suspected banana growers put bags around the fruit to protect it from various animals. For that reason, I am not 100% sure it was bananas. Anyhow, the scenery was relatively constant with a lot of cane fields and mountains as a backdrop. Anyhow, it was cloudy and humid but not oppressively hot. Good driving weather.

For lunch, we took a detour through Gladstone in hopes of finding a good selection. Yeah, well, Gladstone appears to be the mining/manufacturing/smelting capitol of Queensland. After driving through the city centre, Subway looked like the best bet and I don’t regret that choice at all. Surely Gladstone has its good side, its fun part, its interesting district. I just know it must have one. I am equally sure we did not find it.

There were more goofy town names, but I don’t want to run that concept into the ground. Too late, you say? Sorry about that. Gin Gin was Queensland’s friendliest town a few years ago. I guess with South Australia cleaning up all the Tidy Town awards, these guys went with friendly – I like the strategy. Having Gin in your name twice surely helps with the smiling part.

As we continued north, I jumbled around in my head whether we want to take a short day and drive to Townsville tomorrow or just get on up to Cairns and maybe do something fun on our last full day (I am picturing a boat, water, and a reef – possibly of the Great Barrier variety). After a short internal discussion with my editor, navigator, and joke-writer, we settled on Cairns.

But first we needed to drive to Mackay (pronounced “muh-KY’”- rhyming with “uhh Sky!”, not “Mac-Key” or “McKay”). Mackay looks like a reasonably fun place downtown. I could be wrong, but it is lined with hotels (bars), outdoor tables (hinting at outdoor eating), and lots of plants (as in, they’ve made an effort to make Victoria Street attractive). However, we got in a little late and the only property downtown that looked appealing was sporting a “no vacancy” sign, so we are staying out where all the other motels are at a Best Western. We had dinner across the street at a little bistro (on the back of a bar) – really good food. I had never had spicy Indonesian noodles, but I like them now. Getting back to the lodging, as I go further north, I am trying to stay at brand name brand in the hope that they are less likely to provide us with little tropical six-legged roommates.

In short, today was uneventful when compared to the last few days. We drove north. Not much in the way of photos either, just the front on one of the Ford pickup cars with the roo bars (trying to evoke that “rednecky” vibe that I alluded to). On the plus side, you’ve got plenty to read from the last few days. Speaking of cars, you know how I said Noosa had all the German cars. Yeah, that was it. None in Central Queensland. I think BMW, Mercedes, etc made the same decision as Starbucks – if it isn’t between Adelaide and (greater) Brisbane, never mind.

Tomorrow: Cairns

Australia Zoo and the Sunshine Coast - Mar 19

2008-03-20T23:04:00.028+10:00

Summary: killing time in Beerwah, Aussie Zoo exceed expections, news & notes, Sunshine Coast scene, blowing hot air

We got up a little early, so we had to figure out how to kill a couple hours before the zoo opened. First thing we did was drive to Beerwah. Landsborough’s one market did not have diapers for toddlers, so if I was going to restock, it would be in Beerwah or somewhere else. We hit the grocery store and the café next to it. Several high schoolers joined us, as coffee in the morning is apparently a morning ritual with at least a few of Beerwah’s best and brightest. We then drove up to the Zoo to sit around for a few minutes. Nobody else was tailgating before the opening of the zoo, so we kept our chocolate milk and diet coke fest subdued. We did play some Metallica (Enter Sandman), as if we were going to a football game, but otherwise we kept it cool until we got with the other animals.

The Australia Zoo was all it was supposed to be. Sometimes these places fall short, but this was not one of those times. They are doing a little construction, so the folks working there feel like it is not 100%, but this zoo at 95% is still excellent. We saw all the animals we could hope to see (tigers, cheetahs, elephants, echidnas, Tasmanian Devils, kangaroos, koalas, lots of birds, snakes of all types,… oh, and the crocs). There are more saltwater crocs, freshwater crocs, and alligators than I hoped for. It was really great. There must have been 25+ saltwater crocs, 10 freshies, and 10 gators. Steve Irwin’s image is everywhere. There is a continuous video of him, a statue of him and his family, a cardboard cutout, and several places to have your photo taken. This place was his vision so he deserved to be there and the zoo does not dwell on his death, just his passion and enthusiasm. What a great guy. Anyhow, Alex celebrated by breaking one of those glass things with snow confetti inside that you shake. They would not let me pay for it, but we did get Alex a little crocodile and a t-shirt. This must be the most sparkling, glittery crocodile ever. Maybe that Elton John “Crocodile Rock” in the background had a subliminal influence. Most of the time, we walked around to the countless well-done exhibits. We did take in the signature show at the Crocoseum, but one part went awry. No, nobody lost an arm or anything, but it definitely did not go as planned. They released some birds which were supposed to come back and land on a few willing guests’ arms. The birds just took off to the north and the trainer ran out of the arena carrying two bird cages. If the birds came back, they did not come back to our arena. Otherwise, things were flawless and impressive from the snakes to the crocs to the other birds. There were several school groups there. The kangaroos are interesting in how relaxed they look and how easily they interact with people. Naturally Alex liked the bouncy house and the merry-go-round/ teacup ride part the best, but I am hoping he will like the photos of other things as he gets older. It was about 5 hours very well spent.

As an aside, these guys have been in the news a bit lately. Steve Irwin’s widow Terri supports the idea of expanding the park to become a bigger attraction with rides and so forth. Steve’s dad Bob Irwin does not, so Bob has backed out of the enterprise. It is a shame to see them having trouble, but both have good points and seem to want to resolve it amicably. That said, you either expand it like Disneyland or you don’t, so somebody has to “win” this disagreement. Anyhow, this zoo has done a lot for this area and animals in general, so you can’t help but wish them well.

So we drove from the zoo to the Sunshine Coast. The drive was attractive. This area is more a string of smaller beach communities than the Gold Coast, which is much more built up. While there are certainly things to do (see the Australia Zoo), the biggest contrast with the Gold Coast would be the number of options. Whether you prefer the broader entertainment options of the Gold Coast or the more laid back beach-centered Sunshine Coast, that high-rise vs. small town dichotomy would be the central difference. The exception to the “small town, beach community” vibe is the area around Noosa Heads. With Alex asleep, I drove up to Noosa and took a look around. The natural beauty is there (see photos) and the development is certainly there. Noosa is still a small town, but while the other towns might resemble assorted beach towns that get a little less traffic (like New Smyrna Beach, Florida or Half Moon Bay, California) Noosa is small town about like Tiburon is or Santa Barbara (sort of) is. It is a small town with all the German cars that do not exist from Cairns to Perth (along the northern route). Living here, it may be a good idea to join the yacht club, the golf club, or at least the tennis club to be in the social scene. This is not a knock, it is just a really upscale place. It is also apparently a great place to surf. It is “small town” in the lots of espresso and a good wine list sense, not the “three bars, one Lutheran church, and one Catholic church” Wisconsin sense or the Jessup sheep farm has been having coyote trouble/ “potential setting for Footloose II” sense. In other words, this San Francisco writer felt quite at home.

Nonetheless, as gentrified and caffeinated as Noosa is, we found ourselves a wonderful little hotel on Coolum Beach about 15 km away. Cute little town, big waves, a creek running into the ocean, a hotel pool contoured like a lagoon – good scene all around. They are located right near a creek that goes into the sea. We went to it and the creek looks like the kind of place crocodiles would nest if we were about 300km to the north. The owners were a couple parents our age managing three kids. The Sea Cove – recommended. Anyhow, the owners suggested a lawn bowling club in town for dinner and it was a good choice – good food and very good pricing. The members there were very engaging, so we enjoyed it.

Otherwise, the town names continue to keep you guessing. “Coolum” sounds good. Bli Bli sounds like “bling bling”, so that’s alright. There are a few unpronounceable ones.

Well, for the first time I was pulled over for a breathalyzer. Actually, every south-bound car on the road was stopped, so I did not take it personally (or maybe I was just seeing double). It must be that Easter weekend, which appears to have started today – on a Wednesday - is a rather festive weekend. Easter is a bigger deal here and you don’t need to be here for it to know it. For the past two months, I have seen many places say (or state on signs) “open weekends and holidays except for Christmas Day and Easter Day”. In the US, I would say that Easter does not have that parity with Christmas for mass public holiday. Anyhow, in this case, much like when I was pulled over in Western Australia, the policeman and I were in agreement on my score. The difference this time is that we were also both clear on me being below the limit. Much like golf, lower scores are better so my score of 0.00 is considered to be pretty good. As an aside, that is also my golf score for the past few years.

In short, we loved the zoo and the chilled atmosphere of the Sunshine Coast
Next: drive north to Rockhampton or Mackay.

Gold Coast to Landsborough - Mar 18

2008-03-20T22:49:00.015+10:00

Summary: self portrait issues, rednecky car coming to America, Surfer’s Paradise view from the top, XXXX, odd sweat pattern ya got there, Landsborough primer, Sunshine Coast preview
Last night, I was dressed up for probably the last time in Australia – hey we were at a sweet resort, it was a holiday of sorts (St Patty’s Day), nice dinner options abound… it was worth going for it. So I thought, let’s take a photo. First off, when you are the only adult in the group (and the only awake one), any smile will look fake or drunk and despite my Irish heritage & the spirit of St Patrick, I was not the latter. Then there is the issue of taking the photo at arm’s length vs. with a timer. Lastly, when you use the timer, where do you set the camera? Yes, that is the bathroom. Throw in the expression (fake smile or laughing at the situation, you decide). Let’s just say this was my only and hopefully last self-photo session.

As proof that the major car companies are reading this blog, I read this morning that Holden’s “utility vehicle” SS version will be exported to the US. No sooner do I describe the pickup cars as “rednecky” and Pontiac will be selling them back home. Looks like I better take more photos and we can look for Ford Falcon pickups too.

This morning, we fit in as much as we could before checkout time: free breakfast, monorail, beach walk, playground, hot tub…all well before 11am with time to spare. The photos give you the view from the monorail and more lizard shots. We then went to the Q Deck at the Q1 Tower. It was cool. The Q1 is the second building in Australia that claims to be the tallest residential tower in the world. Not sure if that is possible. We had some fish & chips and appreciated the statue on another beach just the other side of Surfer’s Paradise. That town name has a story worth retelling here – it was a town with yet another name that sounds like Yorkshire or whatever and the town council agreed years ago to switch it to “Surfer’s Paradise” on what became the burgeoning Gold Coast. Lo and behold, it was the center of the Gold Coast and the city name that people were drawn to. Now, instead of a string of surf shops and cheap restaurants it sports major high rises. Marketing matters – I love proof.

Anyhow, we drove up through Brisbane and Alex suggested we tour the XXXX Brewery. Brilliant move. The tour was far more detailed and fact-filled than most brewery tours (most can be summarized as “here’s the process, let’s drink some beer”). The thing I loved is that from the videos to the tour itself, they actually used the word “alcohol” unashamedly and happily pulled out old TV ads about how much more a man can do “with a few beers behind him”. You just don’t see that at home. My photo of an old print ad gives you a sense of what I mean. I’m not saying they support bad behavior, their tour just isn’t devised by lawyers as a drink driving sermon with 5 minutes on the actual beer making process. They’ve also got a cartoon “spokesmen” of sort named Mr Fourex who would be a hit in the US. School groups come through here as well, they just don’t get the tasting card with four X’s to punch. Sadly, with another 80km ahead of me, I did not get past halfway through any of the four. Fun fact - They produce over 2 million beers per shift not counting the kegs (this is in a country of 20 million, and based on what I’ve seen they are not the market leader outside Queensland, which has 4 million people). We got to see every detail of the packaging cans, kegs, & stubbies, labeling, packaging, and out the door – just like the old Laverne & Shirley intro in the 70’s - but no photos of that part are allowed.

Warning: graphic parental images in this paragraph. After the hour plus tour, we were just about to taste and I had been holding Alex the whole time (like a Koala). He was napping when we arrived and rather clingy throughout the tour. Background: he wears these thinner “Cool Alert” diapers to let him know he is wet so that he can hurry up and get as tired of wearing diapers as the rest of us are of changing them. The downside is that these diapers do not hold in excess moisture beyond a certain point. You know where this is going. We are just about to walk into the tasting room and his pants went from light green to dark green while everything south of my rib cage on the right was soaked. Eww and dammit! I think one person noticed, the others probably just thought I was sweaty from carrying him while walking around in 30 degree weather. That may also explain why I was rather concise with my tasting.

Southwest Australia had the tongue twister towns. There is a stretch of Queensland that has the funny names that are simply amusing to read. I can tell we are entering that region as we drove past Burpengary this evening – sounds like a bad nickname. There are lots more names like that to look for in the coming days. We also passed through another Virginia but I have long since given up on counting the personalized plates in Australia.

Anyhow, after four half beers (does that make my XXXX a Dos Equis? Sorry, my jokes don’t improve), we drove up from Brisbane to Landsborough. The drive was nice and then we got off on Steve Irwin Drive. This is a scenic road through the Glass Mountains and attractive in its own right. The Australia Zoo is actually between Beerwah and Landsborough (mailing address is Beerwah, but we’re talking 3 km away). The Landsborough Pines where we’re staying at is nice enough (little cabin, a duck pond, lots of birds on site) – mostly a caravan park but the units are fine. The one photo from here does deserve some explanation – a rather sedate looking family has rented a van with “Dirty Sanchez” written as bold as can be. Something tells me nobody has told them what it means – heck, I didn’t know until two loyal readers of this blog informed me a couple years ago. (theater types, what can I say?) There are lots of vans for rental (the company name escapes me) with carpe diem type sayings or song lyrics scrawled across them, but this one stands apart. Don’t google or wiki the term, just assume you don’t want to know. The walk into town for dinner was also a trip. It is a short walk, but it goes past this huge tree (maybe 25 meters) where every bird in Queensland meets up at sunset. This was so loud you could hear it well before you see it and we could see it for a ways. We had a very good dinner at the Landsborough Pub. This is a tiny country town on a humid late summer night like you’d find all across the South or the Midwest in the US. I think I have made it back into small town Australia and that should hold the rest of the week.

South of Brisbane is the Gold Coast. Due East of Brisbane are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island (my spelling may be off), making the Eastern suburb beaches less wavy and apparently less of a tourist destination. North of Brisbane is the Sunshine Coast. Above the Sunshine Coast, the tourism monikers seem to disappear. This may be because once you get north of the Sunshine Coast (and then Fraser Island), people who enter the water can disappear. “Crocodile Coast” and “Box Jelly Bay” do not sound as good to most people planning a vacation. (then again, several Queensland regions do have names like Deception Bay and Cape Tribulation) That’s OK, we like Queensland just fine. Just bear in mind that the water wants to kill you. No worries.

Next: Australia Zoo and get a room on the Sunshine Coast. Then kiss the water goodbye and sprint up to Cairns.

St Patty’s Day on Broadbeach – Mar 17

2008-03-17T21:59:00.013+10:00

Summary: you look familiar, red flags & flying crocs, Irish balloons, observant lizards, pre-football, and a newsbreak.

Last night, while uploading yesterday’s blog entry in the lounge, I met a guy whose path crossed mine several times over the years (from San Francisco to Nashville). We had never met, but it is certainly a small world. He was a doctor giving a talk here at the hotel who shared my appreciation for Australian style. He recounted a James Bond themed reception he had enjoyed the previous evening. It occurred to me that as much as I am enjoying this tour, I do wish I could have spent a bit more time hanging out with Aussies past 8pm.

The plan today was to spend as much time around the resort and on the beach as possible. The first thing we saw was one of the many lizards just out sunning himself. We took the monorail across the street to a shopping center next to the beach. Finally I took a photo of their lottery – here in Queensland it is called the “Golden Casket”. This is yet another case of "that word you keep using, I don't think it means what you think it means", but I don’t know what they call the box you bury someone in. I got Alex one of those sun-resistant wet-shirts for playing in the water. At the very least Alex can look like a surfer in his RipCurl gear. We went out onto the beach and spent a good bit of time playing in the sand (and at the playground occupying prime real estate next to it). The playground had a place to pour water for dogs (or the birds) and a boat for Alex to practice rowing into the surf. All I know is that it gave me a chance to read an Economist magazine from a month and a half ago. It was a little rainy today – it really did not rain that much, but it was cloudy and very windy the whole time. Thing is, it may look dreary in the photos but the temperature was perfect. The red flags were flying on the beach so we could not swim in the ocean and the rain forced us indoors a couple times. There are few feelings more ridiculous than chasing a shoe (one of Alex’s Crocs) about 50 yards. It was windy.

For lunch, we stopped by some appropriately named Irish restaurant (Sean Patrick O’McFitzgerald’s or some such), where Alex got a balloon. He really is easily amused – I love that. So my little leprechaun can play with the Happy St. Patrick’s Day balloon on resting our ceiling.

Quick aside from nap time – the room has a wonderful wall-mounted flat screen TV with a DVD player. “Finding Nemo” has a feature where you can have one of several aquarium scenes as a permanent background along with sleep inducing underwater sounds. Throw in the low pressure from the rainy weather and Alex has been out for over 3½ hours.

We hit the hot tub again and were observed by yet another of the lizards, perched up above us the whole time like a lifeguard. From there, we went back over to the shopping center. We wandered around and heard some live music, but the only place Alex wanted to stop was the Starbucks. OK, twist my arm, it’s probably my last Australian Starbucks. Got some dinner at the hotel and that was that. Last aside here, we watched rugby as we ate dinner. I am now certain that if I lived here I would be a fan of Australian Rules football (AFL). If you are American who has not watched rugby, imagine a paleo-football without the forward pass. The running game (for both teams) was just power running – no attempts at avoiding tackles, just running into the tackler and seeing if any extra yards could be gained going through the other guy (answer: no). It was an impressive display of machismo at first, but it got redundant very quickly. Sorry, I know I have alienated a portion of my Australian readers with this (and maybe I'd feel different if I was at a game), but if I ever become Australian, you can count on me as an AFL fan.

The local news is interesting. A Northern Territory 14-year old earned a medal for saving his 11-year old little sister from a saltwater crocodile. The incident was in 2005 - she was pulled under water and he figured out what was happening. He dove in and punched the croc in the head again and again until it released her. Another bit of news was that a sunken German cruiser (the Kormoran) was discovered off the coast of Western Australia’s Shark Bay (remember Monkey Mia?), then they found the Australian warship it had sunk, the HMAS Sydney. Essentially they sank each other. It was known that they had a confrontation and sank in 1941, but the location was just discovered this weekend. It is significant because it was the largest loss of life in a naval confrontation ever for Australia. Personally, I did not realize that the German navy crossed the Indian Ocean to fight off the Australian coast in World War II.

Next: I will take full advantage of this resort until we have to go. We’ll get to that Q deck tomorrow, then drive up to stay the night a few kms away from Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo. Not sure when I’ll have internet again, so let me summarize that we’ll stay just outside of Beerwah tomorrow night (18th), the Sunshine Coast the next night (19th), then two more nights up the coast in Queensland, and the 22nd where we started in Cairns. We’re just a week from heading home and I am really going to miss this place.

Gold Coast - Mar 16

2008-03-16T21:02:00.023+10:00

Summary: cruising on the Brisbane River, loving the Gold Coast

Brisbane is about as active on a Sunday morning as any town can be. There was lots of action in the coffee shops. Some marketplace open with various stands selling everything from furniture to clothing over by a nearby pier, but our plans were pretty clear: walk around a little, get the river cruise booked, maybe get a motel booked for after the Gold Coast, and get to the Gold Coast. And that is what we did. Drink the free espresso at the Hilton, walk around the pedestrian mall behind the hotel, take the boat cruise, and go down to the Gold Coast. The cruise was great. We saw the rest of the city and learned quite a bit of history. Brisbane has just under 2 million people and is the fastest growing capital city in Australia (it sure looks the part). There is a rather blue collar history to Brisbane, but much of what was in the past (wool warehouses, power plants) has been remodeled and made beautiful. Apartments were built on the waterfront in front of the warehouses and the old power plant (next to a huge park) is now restored with everything down to the old graffiti preserved. There are nice new neighborhoods along the river between the city and the sea. There is one picture of houses (below) – one had a mermaid (as if from the mast of a ship) on the top deck. The cruise was wonderful – Alex was happy to be on a boat and he could not get very far away. He was entertained and I was educated about the city. Life is good. It rained a little, but stopped when we returned to the jetty. So we walked back, Alex played with some kids on the walk back (chased by a girl, actually), we checked out, the valet twisted a balloon into a koala hat, and we were off to the Gold Coast.
I may have overdone it with judging Aussie cities as more European or more American or more Australian. If you visit them, you should be able to see what I mean (café culture vs. skyscrapers), but they are all Aussie through and through – it is really about influences and layout. Regardless, Brisbane fits right up there with Australian cities that get it right. Between the pedestrian mall (forgot the street name - parallel to and north of Elizabeth), the South bank area (museums, piers, restaurants, cafes, a public pool, playgrounds etc), and the botanical garden, Brisbane makes a great impression on a visitor from the start. What little I’ve seen of Brisbane is enough – I could drink coffee and eat lunch around here for about a week and still be clear that I like this city and its offerings. That said, I went to the Hilton lounge that I have access to (thanks to work travel in ’07) and doing breakfast (and practically do dinner) for free, so I can’t really review much about the food offerings except to say it looks good.

The Gold Coast is a great region. The beaches look great. Fantastic hotels line the coast (with more built all the time – two are being built between the Conrad Hilton and the water right now). I was mistaken in thinking that there was no natural beauty close by (in my preview) – there are great-looking mountains about 15 miles away and a few islands just north of us. There are a ton of amusement parks around here, but we just don’t have the time (and I do not have the inclination) to go to Sea World (which includes Elmo & his Sesame Street henchmen) and seventeen other parks. California has theme parks and they won’t confuse Alex by having Elmo say “Oy, ya billiken! Throw another shrimp on the bahbie and stop ya whinging!” (what? Aussie Elmo doesn’t say that? Then never mind)
We just took some time walking around this property – the Hilton is its own island, shaped like a pyramid, and set up for conferences, gambling, and shows. Think of it as a Vegas casino – stage for live music, 4-5 restaurants, gambling floor, a dinner show – set in Ft Lauderdale/ West Palm Beach. Nice place really. Funny thing, I booked the hotel with points online. My profile should be all over this reservation, but they looked befuddled when I asked about the concierge lounge (as in, “well, yes, but you have to be elite”). Net net, we got a sweet room. Anyhow, the pool is epic – 2 hot tubs, 4 pools (two with fountains in the middle - all connected with little waterfalls). Alex loved it because he could push the button to turn on the hot tub, but the highlight could be that they have lots of lizards and dragons running around the pool area. I’m talking foot-and-a-half/ two foot long lizards running around. It is really cool and not remotely scary. Met some people in the hot tub (Alex is a bit of a conversation starter) – Australians originally from Serbia and Sri Lanka. Everyone really loves and is proud of this country (with good reason, as this blog has attested). They feel “lucky” or blessed to be living here and for the good fortune that has come Australia’s way over the years. Many have been to the US, most would like to go soon. As we left a guy from the San Francisco area arrived (I spotted his Yank accent at a distance). Anyhow, the rain came back and we noticed that our stuff was soaked, so we went back upstairs to the Hilton lounge for appetizers. As usual, Alex was his outgoing self and the woman running the lounge was wonderful. She (and all the people here) really like kids. This is not always the case in a concierge lounge or a casino hotel, but it is true for sure here. They also appreciate his ability to say “g’day” and “good on ya”. We had a great time, but the food theme at the hotel this month is Mexican. I have wanted to try Australian Mexican food, maybe just to see if Australia can pull off Mexican food to make a Californian homesick. The Mexican food/ brick oven pizza restaurant in Port Macquarie did not seem a good candidate, but these guys did. Well, the food was good & relatively spicy, but let me just say I don’t think the cook’s name is Jose. I would recommend it though. A band came around playing Mexican music and they enlisted Alex’s help. Anyhow, it is a good scene here.

Tomorrow, we are just going to enjoy the resort, take the monorail across the street to the beach, and maybe go to the observation deck at the Q1 (I think that’s the name) after nap time. Regardless if I got the name right, it is hard to miss – this 80-story building to our north is a good place to look down on the beach and all. There is a lot that I will miss on the Gold Coast and I have accepted that. If I had a week between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, I could get around to a lot more. But I don’t. As a consequence, I will miss many things that I would love to see & do this time. Still, I know when I have found a good place for a vacation. I was a little unsure before I left for Australia– it seemed a little cheesy and prepackaged before I got here. There are lots of beaches on this earth with resorts next to them – there was nothing to lead me to believe this would be better. Now that I am here, it just seems pretty well done.

Next: sand, monorail, observation deck

Brisbane - Mar 15

2008-03-15T22:20:00.025+10:00

Summary: nice drive, good fish, tropical fruit, Brazil, thoughts on Bris-Vegas

After a relaxing week in Port, we were ready to get on with it to our last real city – Brisbane. Our 7am departure gave us a head start on somebody, but the road was still full of fellow travelers. Our first destination was Coffs Harbour, home of the Big Banana. The banana was not all that big, but the drive up really underscored that this is a relatively thinly populated area (by US standards, not Australian) in absolute paradise. There were great views, mountains all around, beaches a-plenty, and not all that many people. Real estate speculators reading this blog – you know who you are – there is a case to be made that the beaches between Sydney and Brisbane are among the finest on earth and are not overdeveloped* (*The last 100km south of Brisbane might be, but the NSW portion looks relatively open). While the construction delays were annoying and I have never seen so many speed traps in my life, the landscape off the road was among the best I have seen to date.

We stopped for lunch just north of Byron Bay and found, yet again, that playgrounds go well with water and prime real estate. It may look like beer, but it was sparkling apple juice. I also discovered fish’n’chips in which the fish was grilled. It was great fish and a cute little town. (something Heads)

As we got closer to Queensland, there was nothing that could stop us. Nothing could slow us down – full stomachs, full tank of fuel, Alex was satiated, I was mission-oriented… but then a little sign said “Tropical Fruit World”. As someone who has not met a tropical fruit that I disliked, this was really unfair. A force beyond my control steered the car left onto the exit, left into the mountains, and within 5 minutes left into a parking spot. Zombie-like, I arrive much to Alex’s delight in an orchard of every possible fruit tree: from coffee and banana to names that nobody can remember. I learned that there would be a fruit tasting in about 25 minutes. We walked around, didn’t buy anything, from the gift shop or fruit stand, but I was intrigued. As someone who had spouted out lines line “I am getting hints of strawberry and citrus” in various wine regions across this lovely nation, maybe I could say “I am getting hints of ‘Cab Sav’ and Shiraz” while eating some oblong spikey juicy thing. We skipped the full-on tour, as I really did want to get to Brisbane, but the fruit tasting was well worth the price of admission. We waited around by some exotic cacti with a Mexican theme (maybe Mexico is exotic here), but then we were told the tasting was ready to go (and we were the only customers). The woman doing the tasting (pictured somewhere) did a great job of introducing the fruits and highlighting how they were utilized in various oils and creams (available for a reasonable fee). Interesting stuff. About a fruit and a half into our tasting a couple showed up. Without revealing any details, let’s just say that they made me and the woman doing the tasting uncomfortable. She did a great job of managing the show, but I was impressed at how seamlessly she did so. We tasted Jack Fruit, which can be upwards of 70lbs per fruit and the seeds, fruit, and skin all have good uses (and the fruit tastes like bubble gum). We continued on with an exotic Mexican (sorry, I just love that thought) cactus fruit that Alex and I both loved, a fruit that tastes rather like champagne, some fruit you know, and some Brazilian grapes that Alex adores. She actually gave us the rest of those grapes.

Speaking of Brazilian (wow, the blog could go in a few directions here)… there has been a recurring theme of broadcasts in Portuguese (put down the razor, you didn’t see this coming did you?). In Cairns, Darwin, Broome, Perth, Esperance (!?), Adelaide, Melbourne, and again now in Brisbane, we have radio stations in Portuguese. Portuguese means my ear initially thinks it is Spanish, but when I try to listen in I understand none of it. Whether this is for Indonesian expats or what, I am not sure. It is not one constant channel, so I do not think I am picking up Indonesian stations. Thoughts? Suggestions? What am I getting and why am I getting it? It sure looks like there are more Mandarin or Cantonese speakers. All the Brazilians are driving cabs in San Francisco, so what is it?

So, Alex and I drove north to Brisbane. As soon as we crossed into Queensland, traffic picked up and there were buildings all around. Tweeds Head (great name for a band, by the way), is the last stop in New South Wales and yet another place I would have liked to have stopped. Everything from Byron Bay up looked good from the freeway, but we were on a mission. We could see the skyline from 10-15 km out. Brisbane has quite a few skyscrapers. Note: there is a night and day version of the view from our room facing West.

We pulled into our hotel and were struck by exactly how good this city looks at ground level. Sydney is the best looking city on earth. Brisbane is a smaller version: Beautiful tall buildings, pubs, people on the street, statues, oldish looking buildings, a river – what I have seen impressed me. According to the sign on the way in, Brisbane is considered Australia’s most liveable city. Pittsburgh is America’s most liveable city (1984, 2007) and that must be good. (I’m from the ‘burgh for those wondering how I’d know that) I can see why: warm weather, great beaches, and more playgrounds than Alex could play on. Alex and I checked into the Hilton, but not before passing an Irish bar that wonderfully says “Drinking Consultants”. Oh, and there are about 4 other Irish looking bars withing 3 blocks of the hotel. I don’t know if it is a St Patricks Weekend effect or we have found some “little Dublin”, but every bar says “Sean”, “Mc”, or “O’ ”. Throw in that even the Thai bars have a Guinness special running and Alex’s red hair might get me a discount somewhere (he’s asleep now, but I am not above carrying him around in his pajamas). The Irish Club is across the street. Not sure if the Irish exported a lot of criminals back in the day, but Brisbane has more Irish pubs than Nashville did when I lived there, and that is saying a lot. (Note to anyone offended: kiss me hind parts, I’m Irish too as the red haired co-pilot might indicate).

Anyhow, we pulled in, checked into our room on the 23rd floor, and got on with walking around. The concierge said that a loop with south bank would only take a half an hour. I am not sure which branch of the Special Forces he was with, but Alex and I took it in just under two hours thanks to focus and dedication on our part. The Google Earth version (and every map) shows this area as green. It is green, but let us be clear, it is fully developed: museums, cafes, restaurant complexes, hotels, prime real estate playgrounds, …did I mention cafes? It was amazing (take Darling Harbour Sydney and plant more trees). Even the main walkway is lined with flowers (that photos could have been taken for about 2 km). First off, every other person in Brisbane got married this weekend. That is just a fact. Second, they all have photos that accidentally include us in the background. (Aside: I have found that if there are a lot of local newlyweds having their picture taken, you are in an attractive part of town) This area also has a large public pool, comparable to Cairns’ lagoon (was that this year?). We walked over a couple bridges and through a Botanical Garden on the “city” side, but our little walk told me all I needed to know. This place is really attractive, warm, and has lots of outdoor dining options. It is not as “European” as Melbourne, it is strait up Australian with a side of Asian. I can see how Australians see it as their city. If Adelaide and Melbourne are “European” and Sydney is American (come on, a rugby player got shot at – I’m claiming it as ours), Brisbane is more purely Australian than any other big city (Perth has a legit argument with my reasoning here, but they are not here right now). The walk also took us over some mangroves as the photos show. Brisbane has exceeded my expectations on one night. We went out walking on the pedestrian mall behind the hotel – it was packed. When we got back and did a walk at night, it was still packed (although the retail stores were closed) and the people were in that 18-35 age range.

Next up: Gold Coast for 2 nights.

The Crazy Maze and Last days in Port - Mar 14

2008-03-14T13:04:00.005+10:00

Summary: Crazy maze, healthcare, head shaving and Auspelling

This morning we finally went to the Indoor Crazy Maze. America must have these types of facilities, but in Australia they are extremely common. They are essentially indoor climbing places with pits full of balls. The guy owning this one was almost apologetic about how small his is, with only three stories of safe, padded, netted climbing and slides and so forth. To me at least, it looked like a fantasyland for kids Alex's age. And it was. He played with other kids and played on his own. He took the slide, face planted in the ball pit, climbed into a cylinder with controls and a steering wheel, and he did several other things that I could only vaguely see for about 2 hours. Good value on $8. Having a country that is sunny and hot as blue blazes for most of the year provides an incentive to keep those little ones indoors and in the air conditioning, so I can see why they exist. Many of the playgrounds (and pools) have tarps over them to shield from the sun while still providing an outdoor experience. Sorry the photo is nothing great, but he didn't really want to pose.

Prior to my trip, I really had no intention of being a product tester for Australia's healthcare system. However, whatever I had in Perth I have again. Recognizing it sooner and seeking to have it eliminated before it could really impact my three days in Brisbane/Gold Coast, I did what I ought to do and went to the doc again. Third trip (between me and Alex) - third experience of relative speed, efficiency, and fair prices.

Instead of getting lunch out and about, we went to the hotel for a barbecue supporting the World's Greatest Shave. This is a big leukemia fundraiser going on all over the place (not sure if it is international, but I've seen promos for it before and something else is going on in town today). You could have your head shaved or colored. I was chicken, but Alex went for the head shave (sorry, honey, but he looks cute). The other thing I noticed with the leukemia fund raiser is that it seems that when they are not reversing letters (centre) or using an improbable combination of letters for a word (gaol = jail), these guys (and the Brits, and the Canadians) insist on adding one letter to nearly every word: aluminIum, coloUr, laboUr, leukAemia,...not everything America does is better, but I really do prefer our simplification of English. Oh, and no I did not shave Alex's head.

Next, we went downtown to see how things looked on a Friday night. Not a lot going on early and we were not staying late, so we headed back for dinner and a hot tub. Chilled out day - looking forward to a nice drive up to Brisbane tomorrow. Alex has been in a fun mood most of the day and we're enjoying ourselves... not good for photography, but a good wind up for the last week.

Next: Brisbane (the last Aussie city) then the Gold Coast

Lake Cathie - Mar 13

2008-03-13T14:40:00.026+10:00

Summary: Lake Cathie, Macadamia Farm cafe, the least convenient winery ever, more beach time, more Aussie oddities, very long time no see

Lake Cathie ("Cat Eye") is a really cool lagoon. The water is literally salt water tea. There are tea trees nearby that color the water like tea. We waded the whole way across (behind Alex on that first photo) to the beach on the other side, which is on the ocean. Most of it was ankle deep, but the deepest it got was waist deep. The only problem with waist deep is that you can't really see your feet or what is at your feet. I stepped on a thing that felt almost like a hose. It was a branch or vine, and I am not willing to consider any other theories on that, thank you. Seriously, there were lots of fish in the lagoon. Apparently there are skates and rays in the deeper parts (away from the ocean). High tide comes in to replenishe and clean it. Also, in our continuing series of playgrounds on prime coastal real estate, this one fit right in. Anyhow, there were some moms (and a grandma) and their kids, so it was a very kid-oriented place. They were very friendly and Alex had a great time playing with their kids. This is the kind of lagoon that is apparently very common on Fraser Island - too bad we can't take a few days there. The beach on the ocean was absolutely beautiful. Soft sand, perfect waves... like most beaches around here. I am very glad we went and I am also amazed this place is not better known (probably too small to accommodate hundreds). This is the definition of a local jewel.

We drove further south and the scenery was wonderful. There are mountains to the south that overlook it, but we drove up to a Macadamia nut farm. Having enjoyed one in Hawaii, I figured it would be fun. I was barking up the wrong tree. They are nice enough and will answer questions, but nut tasting or educating people about Macadamia nut plantations or the history of Macadamia nuts in Australia is clearly not their business. You can walk amongst the trees (we did), you can taste a few nuts (check), but this is a cafe and the farm is the backdrop. Lunch was good and the drive out there was beautiful. It looked like the New River Valley in Virginia (with a few stray tropical plants) and had an odd street sign (see below).

Next up, Alex slept and I went to the Bago Winery (OK, one of us slept in the back, the other one tasted wine). I had heard of this winery and from the map, it looked convenient. Thing is, it is down a few dirt roads. You would think it was a meth lab given how inconveniently located in the back woods it was, but when we got there it was a beautiful scene. After driving several km off the main road through forests and past ponds there is a big opening planted with grapes - it really is a picturesque setting, I am just glad it wasn't raining. Their wine was very good and they have an interesting varietal that handles the warmer weather here called Chambourcin.

We got back and there was no further sleep for Alex. We walked over to the beach and this time I brought the camera. Alex brought a bag of cooked pasta (don't ask). As you can see, the pool is calm and placid - with a gentle rise and fall to keep things interesting. Met a local couple with their kids. Their two kids are younger than Alex, but both were very comfortable with the water in that little lagoon. This is clearly a great place to raise kids. Relaxing pace, growing area, close to Sydney and Brisbane... and a Starbucks. What's not to like?

As promised, you now have a photo of the car-like pickups. It was probably unfair to call them rednecky, but they do look a little unusual. This one is probably the nicest and newest one I saw today. I may add a photo of one that is a bit more "country" in the coming days when I see an older one with the roo bars. The next sign is the closest thing to the German Autobahn unlimited speed limit sign I've ever seen outside Germany. So what does it mean? I don't know. My guess: no real limit but use your discretion. It was back to back with a speed limit sign (80) and clearly was meant to indicated speed. More interesting things from Australia include "Ginger Beer". I wasn't really sure whether to expect something close to Ginger Ale. If I did, I was off, but root beer is directionally closer.

One last surprise. On a lark, I Googled a guy I had gone to elementary school with who moved back to Australia when I was 10. Turns out he is a musician - with CDs and the whole bit. The pictures looked like they could be of him, but who knew? Of course, I didn't do this in the US or earlier in the trip, so I've already passed where he lives (Victoria), but there was an e-mail option on one of the pages. Not expecting anything from a recording star (or fully expecting it could be a different guy with the same name), he responded within a few hours. Pretty cool, but I wish I had thought of it earlier, we could've grabbed a coffee. Still cool either way - looks like he is achieving a dream and you gotta love that.

Next: last day in Port - maybe a victory lap for the highlights plus the crazy maze

Cruise on the Hastings River - Mar 12

2008-03-12T15:20:00.017+10:00

Summary: Beach, Billabong Wildlife Park, River Cruise, more random Aussie items.

Today was the day we've been looking for. The weather has been perfect all along, but today both Alex and I were rested and ready to get out there and do something.

Quick note from the first image - boats use different colored Aussie flags. A normal Aussie flag has a blue field (you knew that). The naval vessels run with a white field. Non-naval vessels all go with a red field. I've asked two people, they don't know why. One of our Aussie readers could comment and let us know, or the mystery will stay with us.

We kicked it off by walking to the beach. Our little lagoon was a bit more violent at high tide, but the ocean was fun regardless. He is getting more and more comfortable with the surf - I think the warmer water makes me more comfortable too.

After that, we had to go check if our cruise was on track. There were only 11 of us booked for the cruise, so there was a chance that it would be canceled. Anyhow, it was on and we continued on to the Billabong Wildlife Park. This place is known for the koala petting and we did do that (sorry, I figured two sets of koala petting photos might be enough). What was different here was that you come into a koala area with 9 koalas visible. Most places only have one or two. They were all sleeping teddy bears when we came in, but they woke up when the group swelled from us two to about 35 people. They say the only way you can tell the difference between a sleeping koala and a dead koala is that the dead koalas fall from the tree. Weak joke, but it appears to be popular among koala handlers between here and Adelaide.

The rest of the wildlife park - away from the koalas - was quite good. They had some spider monkeys that were fun to watch. They had an area to walk around with and interact with the wallabies and kangaroos. Great bird exhibit, including a cockatoo that kept saying "hello" in the sweetest Aussie accent. Their reptiles were pretty good too. We'll leave the animals alone for a few days until we get to Steve-o Irwin's Australia Zoo in Beerwah just north of Brisbane.

The image above will resonate with parents who've seen "Finding Nemo" a few times. Right near the boat we took, the seafood co-op was cleaning some fish and the gulls were getting the lion's share while the little ones said "mine" (kidding) and fought like crazy with one another for their bits of fish guts.

Next up, we took a boat trip up the river from Port Macquarie (up the Hastings River). It was a lunch cruise. Alex endeared himself to the staff (as usual). One woman wants him to bring her home in his suitcase, but Alex is not yet willing to part with the needed stuffed animals to make space. The lunch was very good, but the highlight of the cruise was when they lowered the boom net. (see photo below) Sadly, I did not have the foresight to ask someone to photograph us in the boom net, but we were among the first to get on. Maybe having a toddler do it without crying shamed a few people into giving it a go. Alex liked it quite a bit and we rode back there for about 10 minutes in brackish river water. He loved it. In the interest of reassuring his mother, I asked "there aren't any salties in New South Wales, right?" I asked this after we got out but I did not really get an answer. No worries love, we won't do it on the Daintree River!

So what are some of the odd things in Australia that I have not mentioned yet? Not really odd, but ...you know... different. People drive these car/pickups like the old El Camino (if you can remember that). They look kind of rednecky to me - especially when they have roo bars, but I imagine that our full size or even smaller pickups look like overkill to these guys. They are surely useful to people who need to haul stuff and they look like normal cars in traffic until you see the back of them. What else? The M&M kids called drinking fountains "bubblers". Outside of Wisconsin, we don't call it that in the US, but it is a minor one. Oh, the power outlets all have cutoff switches. I guess the ability to easily deactivate each outlet is a good thing - just one more set of buttons for Alex to push. Maybe it uses less energy. That would be good. As an aside, this is one country where alternative energy can make a huge difference. When it comes to electricity for 20 million, you've got an entire continent where solar panels could work everywhere year-round and wind farms can work in many regions. I like them for the US too, but wind farms don't work in many places and offend somebody in many other places. Solar panels in the Northeast? Useful once a week. Oh, and 300 million need a lot of energy. Back to oddities - the toilets have an interesting innovation that the rest of the world should consider: a half flush and a full flush. I won't explain what merits a half flush, but this makes more sense than the low flow toilets we get in the US (creating a black market for Canadian toilets). Much like Europe, their toilets don't swirl, they just force the water out. Things do swirl clockwise and you see it in the bath.

That's about all for now. I'll look for some images of the local El Caminos tomorrow. I will also get down to Lake Cathie (pronounced "Cat Eye", not "Kathy") and maybe go to the Indoor Crazy Maze.

Camels and Timbertown - Mar 11

2008-03-11T17:28:00.021+10:00

Summary: playgrounds and bats, Captain Outback and the Co-Pilot hit an eatery, never mind the Bullocks, beach

Yesterday finished a little better than it started. Alex was on good behavior and although my headache got much worse, I got some meds. We drove out to see the camels, only to learn that rides start at 9:30 and 1:30… and when the line goes away, the camels do too. So we took a few photos of lighthouse beach (where we would ride the camels) and got on our way. We also found that 4:00 is a little late to book a cruise for a later date, because most of them have closed up. So we did some walking, hit another playground, got some pizza, and wrapped things up at the pool. A few things: 1) Australia has an unusually large amount of good little public playgrounds all over the country (i.e. not just attached to schools or pre-schools), 2) many of those playgrounds are located on prime oceanfront property (Port Macquarie has at least three that I have seen so far). While I on tangents, when was the last time anyone reading this (from outside Australia) saw a bat? Responses like “never” and “once in Mexico” come to mind. The skies of much of Australia are as active at night as at day. Port Macquarie is no exception as we play in the pool or sit in the hot tub at night and look at bats flying around. They don’t come close to us, but you can’t help but notice them.
Today we set some ambitious goals. We started early, walked around town a little, and booked our boat ride tomorrow. Then we got down to the camel place, run by a couple former Americans and an Australian. It was a good time and we did not see any of that ill temper that camels are supposedly known for. Now their teeth – yeah, that was ugly – but the rest of it (smell, temper) was just fine. It was fun and worth the effort.
This coast has beautiful beaches. Esperance (WA) had beautiful beaches because of landscape and clear water. This area has the beautiful landscape, but replaces clear water with violent surf (and clear water where it pools).
We went to a place called Ca Marche for lunch - a very nice upscale restaurant that just happens to be attached to the Cassegrain Winery. Referencing my headache above, I was not really in a wine tasting mode but we were in the area and I had read about it. The wine was good but the lunches were quite large and very much on the serious chef side (where word like "presentation" are used). We split an appetizer (called entrée here, but “entrée” does not mean main meal) and a side item and we are still full.

Next up, we went to Timbertown, an old west town. Actually, there is nothing old west or wild west about a place on the east coast. It is a pioneer town that recreates how the timber towns in this region looked from about 1890 to 1910. Now this could be dreadfully dull or be a theme park set to an 1890 lumber theme, but it was neither. It was really meant to be a historical town and it does a rather good job of that. The train was interesting for Alex, as he likes every mode of transportation that does not feature seat belts. The highlight was the Bullocks Show. Fortunately, that word does not mean what I thought – it is the name for emasculated bulls that pull the timber out of the bush in teams of 8 to 20. They were very well trained and their handler seemed to be the real article (that is, he is the kind of guy who could get bulls to pull trees out of the forest, rather than a performer working with trained animals and at this job they happen to be bulls minus some parts). Anyways, Alex loved the show and it was time for the ritual daily discussion about why we take naps. This time he won that discussion. Any parent knows that you don't let the kid get 10 minutes in the car or your won't get any more sleep.

We did wrap things up with a trip to the beach across the street (and then the pool). The water was wonderful and around the rocks it was especially interesting - sort of like the Muse, the water is both fun and a little dangerous. There is a little pool that goes up and down by about half a meter with every wave, but if you stand at the right place even Alex can manage it alone (not that he got the chance, for any other parent of his reading this). The beach is such fun, too bad we have to cut it short because we burn so easily.

Next: beach, boat ride, maybe the indoor crazy maze

slow day so far in Port Mac - Mar 10

2008-03-09T16:33:00.013+10:00

Summary: Nap time taking out a perfectly good Sunday afternoon, Aboriginal culture (long paragraph), lazy sick day in PM but with Starbucks

Views like this one below make you wish the naps were not in the middle of a perfect afternoon. Sadly his nap started late and ran real late. Nothing else to report but dinner and pool time.

Several commenters have asked about Australian Aborigines and I have not said all that much (aside from writing about Rudd's "Sorry Day"). It is a difficult subject to bring up, but it needs to be covered. I'll do my best, but bear with me. In many ways it is a difficult topic to discuss because it is complex and has its fair share of mine fields. On the one hand, they are the first Australians, the oldest culture on earth, and a civilization (or, more accurately, many civilizations) adapted to living in the harsh conditions of this continent. Their DreamTime stories and legends are common throughout Australia and their tribes' words can be found in many, many town names. If a town name does not sound like a London suburb or like someone was telling a joke ("Hat Head" is just north of me), it is almost certainly Aboriginal in origin (that's my guess on Wee Waa, from the comment yesterday). You can also find didgeridoo music (live and on CD) throughout Australia. On the other hand, by most measures they have not adapted especially well to the circumstances of modern Australia. Reading the newspapers or just looking around (especially in the northern half of the country), it is reasonable to say that they have higher rates of alcoholism, violence, and unemployment. There is an iconic image (to me, at least) of Aboriginals in many Australian movies all hanging around cars with every door, window, truck (boot), and hood (bonnet) open. Every time I saw it in a movie, I thought it was odd and wondered what it referred to. Driving across Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia (north of Monkey Mia), I saw this at least once, typically a few times every day. I figure they do it because it keeps the car cooler than leaving anything closed (engine and truck included). There are not many Aborigines in total in Australia - estimates put it around 300k and that sounds about right to me. They seem more common in the North, but that has something to do with how uncommon people are in general. Driving through a town in mid-afternoon (Normanton, Camooweal, Halls Creek, etc.), it was very common to see Aboriginal kids riding their bikes while other kids presumably stayed inside (it was 40 degrees C or 105 Fahrenheit), but I never saw them working at the fuel stations (and I stopped at every one, it seemed). There were groups of Aboriginal men hanging around on the Esplanade in Darwin on Saturday afternoon, but Aboriginal families were more prominent in smaller towns than the bigger towns. Anyhow, they have challenges that may sound familiar to Americans who live near American Indian (a.k.a. native American) reservations - higher crime, unemployment, and alcoholism rates than the general population. In fact a remote pub ("near" Normanton, as in within 300km) that was inspiration for a song may have to close because there are new limitations on how much alcohol you can sell at one time - their primary consumers (according to the Melbourne Age article) are vacationing fishermen and members of an Aboriginal tribe 150km away. Since it is inconvenient to go there and back, both groups tend to load up when they buy. The law wants to stop this, so the pub may close. This may sound flippant, but it is not intended to be -there are no casinos to raise the incomes and employment levels in these communities. It is a topic of some discussion but very little debate (at least I believe so) because people do not want to say something that is misunderstood and casts the speaker in a negative light, although the letters to the editor in several newspapers from Perth to Sydney said things that nobody was saying on the TV or radio. People here are of good will and are upset and/or embarrassed at things that happened in the past (such as taking the children away), but not necessarily clear on how to better integrate Aboriginals into modern Australian society. I need to mention that they have a flag that I expect we will see more of outside Australia in the years to come - it looks like a German flag if a German had the self-awareness to say "Hey, pretty much every European flag is three vertical lines or three horizontal lines. Maybe we could put a circle in ours." (see below)

The net of all this is that one can be exposed to Aboriginal culture every day with placards of legends and town names, but you do have to go out of your way to be in direct contact with Aborigines.

Moving on... Port Macquarie has a Starbucks. No idea why - maybe it makes sense to put all the distribution between Adelaide and Brisbane, but they do. I pulled up and Alex saw it and said "coffee!" - I had not mentioned that I needed coffee but he has known Starbucks for a while. We also went to the Info Center in town to figure out what we're going to do here. Anyhow, here are a few photos around there and the town center. We drove by a couple beaches buy today has been a very slow day. I have had a headache since my wrestling match with Alex at naptime yesterday (now I have a fever, so I guess it is bad form to blame him for that). These last two photos below are of Flynn's Beach - a 3 minute walk from our room.

So Port Macquarie is a pretty chilled out place, but there will be enough for us to stay occupied for another 4 days: Koala park, wild west stuff, Lake Cathie, camels, river cruises, maybe a trip inland to the mountains.

Next: one of those things I just listed

Port Macquarie - Mar 9

2008-03-09T13:37:00.008+10:00

Summary: Rainforest Walk and “go back to bed”

Well, our tropical morning started with rain, which went well with sleeping in on a Sunday.
Along the lines of “moving into the tropics” from yesterday, we went on a rainforest walk. On Sandy Beach (clever name, huh?) at Sea Acres Rainforest Centre, there is an elevated walkway above the rainforest. I like my bushwalking on elevated platforms – what can I say? I am a city guy who prefers not to become familiar with words like “anti-venom”. Pretty walk and Alex loved it. After running ahead of me the whole time (instead of asking to be carried), he stopped by the one stream and is throwing every leaf he can find into the stream (that last photo above). The water is not muddy, but tea-colored. In other words, it is clear but brown (the photo did not really show it). Nice walk, great people running the place. Side note, the big smile on the opening photo came from asking him to say "baba" (grandma). I]m sure she'll want to know that. They’ve got a little café attached to the walk, so I could get myself a skinny strong flat white and a baby-cino for Alex to keep him involved.

Right now, we are negotiating nap time and will hopefully get to the beach today. Either way, I will build that into tomorrow’s write up.

Next: there are several options in the region, but I think we’ll do the camel ride sooner than later.

Nelsons Bay - March 8

2008-03-09T13:21:00.009+10:00

Summary: M&M’s go over and above the call of duty, landscape discussion, first impressions of Pt Macquarie.

What a great family. For our last night, M&M’s family from Canberra came to Sydney for the weekend. Alex had a great time playing with the kids (as illustrated in yesterday’s entry). More kids = more fun. We had dinner and chatted until rather later in the evening. Both of the M&M parents value sleeping in on weekend, but I said I was planning to leave relatively early because I was hoping to get to Nelson Bay en route to Port Macquarie. Unbeknownst to me (until I woke up), they got up early to make palachinki (Bulgarian crepes). Oh, and they packed a lunch for us. They did not just make a sandwich, but cleaned and cut a cantaloupe. Wow. They are kind of shy or their photo would be featured. Needless to say, I did not want to leave. But we had to and noon would not have been any easier, although the M&M’s could have slept in (had I known their plans).

So, with our departure from Sydney, we are leaving the last “familiar” of Australia, although it all seems pretty familiar and quite normal now. That is, I had been to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide/Barossa, and Perth/ southwestern Australia before this trip. Now that I have left Sydney, all the rest will be new to me until my last two days (back in Cairns and overnight near Sydney Airport).

Sydney is not only a beautiful harbor and a top class city on every level, it is surrounded by amazing nature. To the East, there are the Blue Mountains. To the south is the Grand Pacific Drive, yet another spectacular ocean road with cliffs and curves that I would have taken had my route not swerved inland to hit Canberra (and had I not just taken the Great Ocean Road before Melbourne). As I drove north, I saw still more beautiful mountains and rivers. I was less complimentary of the Australian Alps, but these mountains looked like some of the best of the Appalachians. Comparable to I-24 from Nashville to Chattanooga (Tennessee), I-77 north of Wytheville (Virginia), or most of West Virginia (including the New River Gorge), the drive from Sydney to Newcastle was pretty on its own. No one amazing view, just a succession of peaks and valleys. We passed the Hunter Valley (much as we’ve skipped Yarra Valley, Gippsland wineries, and the wine region around Geelong in Victoria). I mention this primarily for the Muse’s benefit, in case she thinks I’ve hit every wine region in Australia.

It also occurred to me on the drive that we have gone from the cool south to getting into the tropics. There was a lightening storm our last night in Sydney and now it is back over 30 degrees and humid in northern NSW. Just like an old friend, it is time for heat and humidity to resume their role on this trip. The scenery north of Newcastle looks much more like Cairns – fairly dense deeper green forest with palms and other jungle trees taking a bigger share. The coastal mountain range makes for a beautiful backdrop of the drive – a little lower than the Australian Alps and the mountains between Sydney and Newcastle, but attractive for sure. There are also “fauna overpasses” over the highway for little forest dwellers to cross the freeway. Too small for a kangaroo or even a wallaby, they look more appropriate for a koala (if they were that active) or echidna (marsupial porcupine). Anyhow, it is kind of odd to see an enclosed cage-like walkway strung across the roads like a power line.

Just past Newcastle, we took the turnoff for Nelsons Bay. Nelsons Bay is the port town and Port Stephens is the bay. Oh well, we park on driveways and drive on parkways, so that inversion of titles is OK. Near Nelsons Bay is a series of huge dunes perfect for sand boarding. I was not sure if Alex would like it, but he did. We took a high-riding troop transport type vehicle over the dunes (some water had pooled from last night's rain, in case you notice it on the photos) to a big slope. The view straight down might scare one of our loyal readers, so I have no photos of that. Still, the slope across the way gives you the idea - about a 20-30 meter drop sitting on a wheel-less skate board. Alex sat on my lap and sand got everywhere on both of us, but it was a rush. Then you walk back up the dune and do it again. We could have stayed as long as we wanted, but time was not on our side as nap time and lunch time were bearing down on us. As a result, we kept it brief but it was very fun.

So we arrived at our timeshare property – the Wyndham Flynns Beach in Port Macquarie. Nice place, about a block off a really nice. Cool unit with the sleeping capacity for about 6 so Alex not only has his own bed, he has his own room. We drove around the area and downtown. The town seems nice enough – beach town in small town Australia. There is a Starbucks, which is kind of funny given that Perth, Darwin, and Cairns don’t have one. We got actual cook-able groceries since we have a kitchen. Mmm – pasta.

Next: rainforest walk and beach time

Bondi Beach - Mar 7

2008-03-07T15:34:00.017+10:00

Summary: Beach time, but first one more pass through Sydney (OK two more), Bondi, and the family

This is a day I have been looking forward to for a while - I've been to Bondi Beach once on a coldish morning, so I wanted to see it in its full glory. Well, I did. Today was overcast but it never rained on me today (although a few photos may lead you to believe that it did, it was just hazy). The clouds parted when we went onto the beach and reappeared when we left it (literally, the wind kicked up and the skies went from blue to grey in the span of walking to the car). Bondi is one of the nicest beaches in the world (according to the Travel Channel, Conde Naste Traveller and others) - it is a beautiful little cove, soft sand, great waves, and very close to one of the world's great cities.

First we drove through downtown, up and down a few streets. It is a very good shopping city and has several parks & fountains (and so forth) throughout the central business district. In other words, even if it was not next to a beach and warm, it would belong in the same conversation with London, Paris, Chicago, New York, DC, and Boston on the "worth a visit" scale. I could have parked and walked around there, but I've done that before (a few times) and wanted to just see it without carrying anyone.

Then we drove through King's Cross. King's Cross has this rough, seedy reputation as a good place to buy drugs, get a tattoo, or get shot at. Others say it just a fun place to go out and it has more than its fair share of backpackers (perhaps "a hippie trail full of zombies", as Men at Work would say). Of course, it may look tamer at 10am than 4am and I was not rolling with my posse of rugby players (see a couple days ago's post if that makes no sense). Anyhow, it looked pretty normal as bar districts go - much closer to North Beach than the Tenderloin in San Francisco terms. Of course, that recommendation only goes for daylight hours.

Finally, we drove through the upscale eastern suburbs to Bondi. If I were to move to Sydney, I would want to live near here - Beautiful area, beautiful beach, great scene. Some places hae trouble living up to the hype, but this one is laid back and beautiful. The photo just above is of the Bondi Icebergs Lifesaving Club - nice location on the water with a pool sometimes getting splashed with ocean water. We had a good lunch, walk on the beach, a little bit of time in the water but mostly playing in the sand. I drove back by the cliffs and through Sydney. Thanks to Friday afternoon traffic, I had lots of time to take in the sights. Still, the traffic is not that bad - they are the friendliest big city drivers you could ever hope for. I'm glad I don't commute in it, but I don't want to paint it as miserable. Just get an eTag if you live here. No, they don't wave like the folks in the lonely parts of Australia (that would get old during rush hour), but imagined traffic slights are not taken personally and responded to with a horn either. The non-beach photos are from the drive back.

I keep seeing that I get hits on this blog from Crows Nest, so I figure I ought to mention that I drove through Crows Nest (North Sydney) on the way back from Bondi. Alex thought it looked great:

So tonight will be our last night with the M & M's. Alex loves the kids and I very much enjoy the parents, so I hate to leave. Their kids are very bright and friendly and have been very welcoming to Alex.

That's all for now, catch you in Port Macquarie!

Blue Mountains - Mar 6

2008-03-05T16:41:00.028+10:00

Summary: Alex's hot night, Blue Mountains, popular streakers

Last night did not end especially well. Alex has had a fever apparently from his teeth coming in, that is also why he has been a bit edgier lately. Last night he was sick in the graphic sense (no photos on that). He also had a rather high fever. We took care of the fever, he went to sleep, and I was planning to take him to the doctor this morning. He woke up happy and cheerful (and cooler). We did laundry, watched some TV, bought some groceries, and took it very slow this morning. He seemed fine, so we headed up to the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains take their name from the blue haze that comes off the eucalyptus trees - a few of those photos attest to it. The most famous natural feature in the Blue Mountains is the Three Sisters - which appear several times in these photos. There is also a photo of Alex in front of a bronze naked woman - a rendering of one of the three sisters (I would have chosen a different one, but Alex picked this one). We took a skyway/ cable line down to the forest, walked around on a boardwalk for about half an hour, and took a nearly vertical "train" back. One photo of Alex, you can see a blur behind him that indicated the slope of the ascent. On the cable line, I was presented with different senses of space - there was a whole tour group of older Koreans. They were polite, smiling, waving at Alex, but were clearly comfortable crushing to the front of the cable car. Just a difference - no judgements here, but I wanted space once I got out onto the forest boardwalk. Also, there are beautiful waterfalls at Wentworth Falls. The photos tell most of the story here, but I can add that Alex was back on his game today. We walked down to a lookout and he did well, aside from trying to climb out onto the ledge a few times (unsuccessfully, let me add).

I left out one interesting bit of news - a little news, a little sport. A streaker ran onto the field during a cricket match a couple days ago up in Brisbane. One of the cricket players just leveled him and there was concern that the player would get into trouble. The player was not suspended and the streaker was asked if he would pursue legal issues. He used an Australian turn of phrase to colorfully say (in effect) "Of course not, you blooming idiot reporter". This has endeared him to every reporter who didn't ask the question. The fact that he was not a model for the Michelin man but was in fact quite fit and well-endowed has also made him a topic of conversation. He drank too much and showed his wares to all the ladies of Brisbane (and anyone watching on TV or YouTube) and was smart enough not to sue the player who tackled him. For the price of a $1500 fine and no criminal record, this guy may never have to buy another drink the rest of his life (that could be a bad thing, but I expect his social life will pick up).

Alex had a blast with the kids tonight as his energy was back on full and Mikaela made sushi, so I was pretty happy too!

Next: back in Sydney, hitting Bondi

Sydney's Manly Beach - Mar 5

2008-03-05T15:29:00.014+10:00

Summary: Santa Manlyca, it's 4am - do you know where your rugby players are?, Manly, Ferry to Sydney

Today was an easy, short, lazy day. We took a bit of a long way to Manly past some of the beach cities north of Manly. Manly has a bit of a surf culture and a bit of a Bohemian culture. First off, the geography is unique and quite interesting. On one side of a narrow isthmus, it is a marina facing Sydney Harbour. On the other side, it is a beach on the Ocean (Tasman Sea if you believe my maps). The first thing that hit me was that I wondered what it would take to put a little, interesting neighborhood like this in Canberra. (Canberra could use some street gangs too, but maybe that's taking things a step too far) On initial impact, this reminds me of Santa Monica. None of these American comparisons are spot on and this might be the most inexact. You can't go to Santa Monica without meeting a panhandler asking for money, often with a pre-made sign admitting that the money will be used to buy beer. There are not as many panhandlers in all of Australia as there are in Santa Monica and I did not see any in Manly. If you put that aside, it has a surf culture, a cool promenade, and separately an attractive waterfront. The promenade is nice, but the parallel streets are a little more shady. This is where I am seeing Santa Monica. I also get the feeling that the houses are outrageously expensive (leading one to the think of the end of SM closest to Malibu). Glad Dave liked the photos in Sydney Harbour - it is more of the same beautiful waterfront homes in Manly too. Just amazing the whole way around the harbour, really.

Quick aside before I get on with my story - the big news in Sydney this week is about a few rugby players shot at in King's Cross (the shady side of town) at 4am Monday morning. While Aussie Rules Football is The Game in Victoria, up here in New South Wales it is Rugby. Anyhow, half of the radio call-in shows are spending their time talking about the players' responsibility not to go out late at night while others are saying that you ought to be able to walk the streets at any hour and not get shot at. It certainly exercises a lot of people here. The other big news was a death because of bad medical care and a lot of finger pointing. Sad case, really. Anyhow, that is what has Sydney talking. Radio stations in Australia do not have the sort of political or even sports opinion content the US has. For the most part, it is just the facts. Any "talk" format would be morning or evening drive time with jokes and news. One guy here in Sydney has something that resembles opinion talk, but his opinion is that whoever he is interviewing (left, right, or otherwise) is a jerk who thinks we are all idiots. Funny for the first segment, but pretty quickly you find yourself rooting for whoever he is interviewing, such as the Labor NSW Tourism Minister (for example) this morning. Then you go back to music. Oh well, I didn't come for the talk radio.

I came (at least in part) for the beaches. Manly delivered. We walked out onto the beach, put down our towel and went straight into the water. By the time we left the place was pretty full for a Wednesday morning in March, so I can only imagine what Saturdays (in January) are like. (Yes, I know the photos do not really look packed) The water was a little cold, but the waves were good (not too much for Alex) and the surfers were mostly about 100 meters away. Nice clean sand, clear water (especially for an ocean - with real waves), great cliffs on either side of us, and cool little coffee-shop / kebab-stand laden street behind us - it was a good scene. After a short time in the water, my "24" clock was clicking in the back of my head. No matter how much sunscreen Alex and I put on, time at the beach has to be concise. Another thing is that when you are in the water with a child watching your backpack on a popular beach, you don't exactly relax much. Anyhow, we had our fun in the sun and we went through the town. Neither of us were hungry and a ferry to Sydney beckoned. Alex likes boats, I love Sydney, and he can't get into too much trouble on a big ferry. No slight on Manly, just the parental impetus to keep moving and throw one bag in the car. So we took the ferry, Alex loved it, and the views were good. There was a sincere ocean swell crossing the open area exposed to the ocean, then we were going back through familiar sights of Sydney Harbour. What an amazing, beautiful harbour. Anyhow, we landed, walked up to the Rocks, found a German place, and had our lunch. (the first two photos below are of The Rocks) Actually, I had our lunch. Alex mostly let the mushrooms - that he normally eats too fast - run through his fingers as he played with them. It was not really what I had in mind, but it did make the Paulaner Wiessbier taste even better. We walked around a bit more, but I could sense that we were on the verge of a nap (or a prolonged whining period), so we took the ferry back. He whined then slept on the drive back. We did play in a playground for a little but he was mostly done for the day.

Manly is a good beach and will become a regular feature on future visits to Sydney. It is less overtly trendy than Bondi if I remember correctly, and that is a big part of the appeal. Yes it is a tourist spot, but it is not overrun with cliche tourist traps. It has a good vibe and is well worth the visit if you are in town for a few days. Most visitors won't have a car, so it is quite convenient by ferry from Circular Quay downtown (next to the Opera House). And the ferry is quite cheap as well, which I appreciated.

Tonight, Alex will spend time with the kids and I will try my darnedest to help with dinner (for once). Anyhow, should be a fun relaxing evening (for me, anyhow).

Tomorrow: Gotta figure out a morning program, then Bondi in the afternoon after I drop off Alex with Mikaela (if you notice my spelling changing, just remember the original name is in Cyrillic letters so you can get away with freelancing a little). I MUST figure out what she would like.

Sydney's Darling Harbour - Mar 4

2008-03-04T17:24:00.028+10:00

Summary: Local wildlife, Melbourne expanding faster than Sydney

We started the day a little late - sleeping in and heading down to Sydney for a day on the water and around Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour is an upscale, tourist-friendly entertainment district - it has the Maritime Museum, Sydney Aquarium, IMAX theater, shopping, cafes, restaurants, etc. There is also a massive playground that we hit coming and going.

We started the day looking for a bay cruise. One had just left but (unlike Canberra) the next one was in 20 minutes. Given the lead time, Subway was our culinary selection in a place where much better choices were on offer. (someone is going to comment on it, so I may as well start the bashing) The cruise was on a tiny little boat which was great because you really felt like you were on the waves. This was fun for me and especially fun for Alex, but might have a negative effect on the photos (notice when the water is not horizontal). When given a chance, Alex say on the other side of the boat from me and hung onto the handle. Anyhow, it was a fun ride.

From there, we went to the Sydney Wildlife World. It is attached to the aquarium and a good time - you can directly interact with the wildlife: pet a scaly skink, pet a koala, pet a python, be surrounded by more butterflies than you can imagine - fun. We left and Alex had his second epic meltdown in two days. No photos of that, but he is two, it was nap time (see the koala photo), mama just left, and he has a bit of a fever, so I will chalk it up as "normal". We went back to the playground, he was asleep within five minutes of getting in the car, and he's fine now.

Although I took a few pictures of creepy crawlies at the Sydney Wildlife World, I did not think any would make the blog. These two photos, however, are of an exotic spider that makes its home in the Sydney suburbs – an exotic place known as the M&M’s front yard. Surely someone will tell me it is the famous Maneating Jumping Spider of Wirra Wirra that scares off the Funnel Web Spiders and has enough venom to kill off several busloads of sumo wrestlers. I'm not saying it is so, but there are no saltwater crocs in Sydney and this spider could be the reason. My zoom was not doing its thing, so bear with the photos…

Because Sydney had overtaken Melbourne and has a little more hustle bustle going on, I thought it was growing faster than Melbourne. Not so, apparently demographic trends put Melbourne back ahead of Sydney before 2020. You heard it here first – Melbourne is the once and future biggest city in Australia. I heard it on the radio (ABC is kind of like NPR – publicly funded and broadcast in the occasionally hushed serious tones), so it must be true. One interesting thing as it relates to cities' growth rates is that immigrants who move here are required to stay in certain cities (Perth, Adelaide, Canberra) for a minimum of 4 years, then they are free to move elsewhere. The idea being that enough people are moving to Melbourne and Sydney as is, so let's encourage new arrivals to get settled elsewhere.

A few other things - I had meant to comment that Victoria has more graphic signs about wearing seatbelts and more reminders not to drive while sleepy than several continents. Yes, it is good to wear a seatbelt, obey the speed limit, and drive awake - no question. It just gets a little bit nagging when you pass the 76th sign to that effect in a single day. Victoria also shares a common Australian trait of not putting signs on main roads. After all, if you're on a big street like "Toorak", you probably already know. Right? More than once I triangulated off of short alleys which street I was on. We'll put up signs for this alley off the main road, but signs for the major streets were often hard to find in Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne - slightly better in Sydney so far.

And that is my first day in Sydney. Love the place!

Next: Manly – the beach

Canberra - Mar 3

2008-03-04T16:57:00.007+10:00

Summary: those Alps look a little different from the ones in Switzerland, Canberra - the world's nicest office park, roads that take a toll on you, great welcome to M&M's

We left Lakes Entrance fairly early and drove up to Canberra. The Southeast corner of Australia had the densest forest we had seen since the Southwest corner between Margaret River and Albany. A poet might describe the morning light dancing through the trees, but someone driving a car would use terms like “blinding” and “aggravating”. Anyhow, we mercifully turned north at Cann River and found next to no traffic for much of the way into Canberra. The mountains did appear after Cann River, but if they are representative, the Australian Alps should consider the moniker Australian Appalachians. Note: I did not see Mt. K, but I did see a lot of ski rental places, so I was not too far off the path. There is a reason that the Winter Olympics have more Austrians than Australians. I am sure it is a delight to visit in season because it would have lots of Australians, but much like most East Coast (US) skiing, it serves a local audience.

Canberra has a well-deserved reputation for being beautiful. It is a beautiful capital city with enough monuments – modern and classic chiseled stone – to satisfy anyone’s desire to see monuments. We wanted to catch a lake cruise, but just missed one and the next was during nap time. My favorite memorial is below - the War Memorial. There are also many museums (on the lake) and universities. It really is a beautiful city – spacious & park-like. The road net makes sense and is big enough to handle much more traffic than it has. On the down side, it really is colorless. I believe that by hitting it at noon on a work day, I saw it in all its glory as office workers poured out to grab a sandwich. Think of Canberra as the most beautiful office park you’ve ever seen – lakes, sculpture, and a certainty that everything closes by 6pm. It would be the coolest office park in Orange County or Silicon Valley or maybe south of Denver. There's one on a lake in Foster City near Oracle (Twin Dolphin Drive) that resembles Canberra, but without having a government on the lake. Additionally, I would love to send Alex to a university there as I cannot see how he could get into any trouble at all.

In other news, Alex and I have now been to every Australian state and territory besides Tasmania. Not that this fact kept him from throwing a monumental tantrum for about half an hour. This is rare, so I’m trying to figure out what the deal is.

We got into Sydney and found that Sydney has more toll roads than Melbourne. Imagine driving in LA, but discovering that some of the freeways were toll roads which needed to be pre-paid via some mysterious system. There is no rhyme or reason as to which ones are one way and which the other (say “M” roads or single digit numbers have tolls), you just find out when you get there. (The M&M’s tell me I can call a number after the fact and driving on it and “post-pay”, if I can find the number posted on the freeway. If I don’t find it, Hertz will receive and pass along a bill with penalties). Either way, I cut across the Western suburbs using surface streets, which was not ideal.

Still, I am here and I couldn’t be happier. The funny thing is that I arrived a little early, so I hit a coffee shop near their house after a full driving day and demanding screaming from the co-pilot (sorry to call you out, Alex, but that was not the A-game). Guess who walks in? A familiar-looking, smiling, clearly Bulgarian woman (if you’re married to a Bulgarian, you can spot them at a distance). It was Michaela picking up some things for dinner. She welcomed us to Sydney and their beautiful, leafy, green suburb of Cherrybrook. So we headed to the house, hung out for a while, fed the kids, put them to bed, and had a great dinner (traditional Bulgarian fare). This is going to be a great few days here.

Next: Sydney’s Darling Harbour and Wildlife World

Gippsland - Mar 2

2008-03-04T08:06:00.013+10:00

Summary: Dinner in Melbourne, packing with coverage, Melbourne wrap & off to Gippsland, great experience in Sale, Lakes Entrance

Well, yesterday wrapped up well. After the cool Melbourne Food & Wine Fest BBQ, we met up with a friend of Aneta’s from university who lives in Sydney. He (Marian) drove all the way from Sydney, picking up his nephew Boyan in Canberra on the way. Boyan is a senior in high school and just moved (along with his family) to Australia 2 months ago. We met up and went to a playground and Alex just could not get enough – we were there for maybe 2 hours. Next, we met up with Marian’s Melbourne friends (also from Bulgaria) – Kamen and his wife Ivaila ("Eva"). Nice folks, it was funny because they would share what they loved about Sydney and Marian would share why he likes Melbourne. Maybe they could switch houses. Anyhow, we had a very good dinner and enjoyed their company quite a bit. Marian, his wife Michaela, and their kids Michelle, Mark, and Max will be hosting me and Alex for four days in Sydney, so it was great to meet him ahead of time. Yes, their last name begins with M as well, so I assume that they like M&M’s.

This morning we got up and took turns packing while the other one entertained Alex out front at Brunetti’s. That really is a good coffee shop. Anyhow, we got out kind of early and stopped in the Italian neighborhood on Lygon for breakfast on the way to the airport.

We went to the airport, kissed goodbye, and were on for our next stage. It was really great to have Aneta with us – at the very least it was sort of an air of normalcy in this adventure. More to the point, I love spending time with her. Yeah, Alex likes her too and I think she likes him (first born and all), but it was cool to spend a week of city vacation with her in one of our favorite cities. Melbourne has a European feel to it, as the oldest and most established Aussie city. It has a great sidewalk café culture and is absolutely cosmopolitan. On the other hand, it is laid back and friendly like anywhere in Australia. Getting back to Aneta, I think she enjoyed seeing us too. She is on her way and will endure a very long Sunday (43 hours since Melbourne is 19 hours ahead of San Francisco). Alex has already asked for her more times than he can count since 11:15am (estimate – 15 times).

Now I don’t mean to be a bore with this complaining about Australian road networks, but the country is otherwise extraordinarily efficient. Melbourne does at least have a few highways (or dual carriageways, if you prefer). There is one highway from the northwest corner of downtown to the airport, but it is a toll road requiring prepayment half the way. If you don’t have the foresight to know the road is a toll road and go find a place to buy a DayPass in advance, you’re out of luck. Even those toll roads don’t go through town, just to it. Second, their ring roads don’t go all the way around, so taking the bypass “Western Ring” which becomes the “Metropolitan Ring” just leaves you stranded in some village in the Northeast corner of town, 50km on winding county roads from where you want to go. The net result is that the most efficient way to get from the airport to the road East to Gippsland is right through the heart of downtown stoplight traffic (note: this is true whether you’ve got the DayPass or not, you’re on surface streets through downtown). For that reason, on a relatively light traffic Sunday morning, it took more than an hour to get from the airport onto the freeway on the other side of town and I drove right past my hotel to do so. There has just got to be a better way than burdening the city center streets with “through traffic”. I hear Sydney has “the bad traffic” and I’ll get to experience it like a local from an inland suburb on weekdays, so expect more whining (or “whinging” as we say here) on the topic.

In the interest of getting to East Gippsland before too long, we took the more direct Princes Highway rather than the more coast-hugging South Gippsland Highway. The scenery was quite good and unlike certain portions of Australia, this region looked very familiar. Rolling forested hills, wide valleys with mountain ridges on both sides (especially the North), this could pass for Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley or central Pennsylvania or various parts of Germany if you didn’t look at the trees too closely. Somewhere around Traralgon (easy for you to say), the road went from a divided highway with 2 lanes in either direction to what I’ve seen in most of Australia (2 lanes, dotted line), but with more overtaking lanes than previously.

We had a great experience at Sale’s info center (it is pronounced like it looks, FYI). I was curious if they had a way to contact the Phillip Island info center to get Alex another “Phil” (reminder below). They took it one step further, they called the folks there and the Phillip Island folks were willing to ship it to the Cairns Hilton for $5. We’ll have a reunion as Alex’s missing stuffed penguin Phil “migrates” to Cairns for the fall. Should be cool, I’ll have the camera handy. They also booked this place in Lakes Entrance – the RSL Glenara.

The hotel is basic but a great value. The motel is right across from the marina and a floating seafood restaurant (The Ferryman’s or something like that) where we had a very good meal this evening. The town – really this whole region - is a nice little vacation destination. The Gippsland Lakes are salt water but not quite deep enough to call a bay or harbor and the shorelines are too distinct to call it a marsh or swamp. Very pretty and great for yachting around if I judge by the boats I see across the street. Anyhow, Lakes Entrance is where the sea and this network of lakes meet. We wanted to go to Raymond Island, as recommended by Kel (this blog’s authority on all things Gippsland), but it was late in the day so the timing just did not work out. Still, Lakes Entrance is a right good destination on its own. The bridge in the background of Alex in one of the pictures (just below) is the bridge we crossed to get to Ocean Beach. For the first time in my life, I realized I was not sure which ocean it referred to (and I am actually still not entirely sure). I’m essentially in the southeastern corner of continental Australia. According to the map, the ocean is the “Bass Straight”, running between here and Tasmania. On one side is the Tasman Sea on the other is the Southern Ocean. My guess is that Tasman Sea would be the correct answer. All I know is that those were legit ocean waves.

Like I mentioned, the place we are staying is clean, inexpensive and basic. But it has one tremendous selling point – the reception is open until 11pm - later than most any motel in Australia. Why does that matter? Well, the room next to me is empty, but the alarm clock went off at 8:30 or so this evening. In most places, that would mean I was doomed to a subtle, distant, yet insistent “beep beep beep” throughout the night. Not so here – I just told the manager and …ahhh, there he just got it (I waited on that elipse for about 3 minutes).

My preconception that this place was a tiny little never-never land have been replaced by “great place for people in Melbourne and Sydney to get away for a weekend or a week, maybe own or rent a boat, maybe have a place (on the water) to get away from it all and get out on the water”. “East Gippsland” still sounds remote – and I am in it. Still, I wish we could spend another day or so getting out on the water.

Next: drive to Sydney via Canberra. Suspected highlights include: driving near Mt. Kosciusko (tallest mountain on the continent at 2228m or about 7000 ft – the shortest tallest mountain of all continents) on the Snowy Mountains Highway (no idea if I’ll see it, I turn off for Canberra 60km away from it), seeing the visually attractive Canberra without enduring its legendarily bad nightlife, getting to M, M, M, M, & M M’s house in Sydney.

Botanical Gardens and Food & Wine Fest - Mar 1

2008-03-01T13:51:00.014+10:00

Summary: Botanical Gardens, Food & Wine Fest, goodbye Melbourne

First off, please feel free to add any comments. Am I missing anything you're wondering about? Your comments will post as soon as I am back online. This morning, we went over to South Gate (sorry I’ve been calling it South Bank – it is the south bank of the Yarra and there is a South Bank there, but the district is more properly called South Gate) for breakfast. We saw that they were setting up for the Wine tasting of the Melbourne Food & Wine fest, but it was early. We walked up the Yarra to the Botanical Gardens – really pretty and they had a kid’s garden with jungle trails and things to do. We got back to Fed Square and caught the food portion of the Food & Wine Fest – it was sponsored by the meat folks and their slogan and materials just left me smiling: “RED MEAT – We were meant to eat it”. Not sure how much security they would need to hire to protect an event with that slogan in San Francisco, but the food was awesome – lamb, chicken, beef, pork, scallops, salmon …more than red meat prepared by the best restaurants in Melbourne. The photos give you a sense of the scene along the river and the live music was great (swing & jazz). We never did get to the wine part. Oh well, I got to a bit of wine in the past couple weeks before Melbourne.

I had meant to get to St Kilda but the weather was cold & rainy at times and I had meant to get back to that Italian part of town on Lygon. Either way, Melbourne has been great - anywhere would be great with Aneta, but Melbourne clearly is a world class city.

Next: I am posting way early because our friend will visit (then we stay with him and his family in Sydney), then we pack up and drop off Aneta tomorrow midday, Alex and I are off to Lakes Entrance or so in East Gippsland, then via Canberra to Sydney, so I am not sure when I will post again.

Are you ready for some Football? - Feb 29

2008-03-01T13:29:00.015+10:00

Summary: dinner with Flynn, shopping, Fed Square again, AFL Football

On the night of the 28th, we met up with a friend of Aneta’s from work who lives in Melbourne. Flynn took us to a very good sushi place a couple miles from downtown. Alex got a little restless, so I took him for a walk while they paid the bill. Interesting little eclectic neighborhood with trendy bars, art galleries, dance studios, Taoist doctors, kebab places, and a bar with live music across the street (the Blue Tile). Alex loves live music and I told Aneta we would go over there, so we stood in front of this place for a song or so. Realizing that they knew where to find us, we went in and caught the show – bluesy rock and it was very good. Alex loved it, as long as I kept my hands over his ears. When they finished their set, we went back to the sushi place and they were catching up. Flynn just got engaged and they were discussing his fiancé and her family. Good time for all of us. By the way, Aneta had made this image of our trip and I kind of like it as an update.

Today Aneta had more work to do, so Alex and I went walking around the immediate neighborhood. First thing we did was go to Brunetti and yes, they are higher end than Starbucks and Hudson’s. Good stuff and the photo of Alex with the plate is our documentary evidence. I had a strong skinny flat white, which is now my favorite drink in Australia. In American, that would be basically an Americano with two shots of espresso and steamed skim milk. We stopped by the Adidas store. First, Australians (at least the ones working there) pronounce it like Germans (AHdeDAS), not like we do in America (ahDEEdas). Second, their pricing in Australia was about like the US, which was welcome news. We did get a cute Aussie t-shirt with the well-known Australian seal (featuring a roo and an emu). He loves it and looks good in it.

Aneta, Alex, and I went to Fed Square for lunch – good lunch at a place called Time Out. They gave out their card, so now we can show it to Alex as something of a red card from soccer when he needs a time out. We went next door to the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image). Cool place with independent, student, and indigenous videos, video games, and so forth. Then they got upset we took Alex’s photo for fear of copyright infringement (sounds like somebody else has too many lawyers). In our continuing effort to follow in the lawless footsteps of Ned Kelly (or is it Ned Flanders?), I am posting that illegal image right here.

Tonight’s game is actually a semifinal! It was a great time. First off, we found perhaps the first bargain in Australia - $15 tickets to a Pro Football game. Second, I walked around the stadium (Telstra Dome) - Nice modern stadium with a retractable roof (open). The concessions are a little behind the newest stadiums in the US (basic selection, no garlic fries or sushi or high end brats) but comparable to many pro stadiums. I checked out the apparel, but didn’t get anything. I had made up my mind to root for (whoops! make that “barrack” for) Essendon vs. St Kilda. Both are from Melbourne, both are black and red, so neither geography nor color could help, but “St. Kilda” sounds like a private school and the Saints does not sound like a winning team based on seeing the New Orleans Saints over the years. They did play “When the Saints come Marching in” a la Bourbon Street, which was cool. Still, the Essendon Bombers have a rather cool logo (we’ll see if I can find it online - ah yes, below! from official web site) and “essen” means “eat” in German, so it appealed to me on a rather basic level. Actually, the common color was a bit of a problem to follow right away - you don't know which fans are which but one team has vertical stripes and one has diagonal. The stadium was a neutral field, so there were no cheers led by the stadium sound system, but the fans of the two teams gathered in opposing endzones. The rest of the stadium was mixed and had quite a few kids – much more like baseball or college football than NFL football back home. It was general admission, so I could wander wherever I found a seat. Since it was preseason, even though it was pretty full, there were seats in any section. In the stadium, there is a club area which is essentially a sports bar inside the stadium where we could watch the cricket match vs. Sri Lanka before the football game got going. There, I struck up a conversation with a supporter of the Essenden side – Andrew – and hung out with him most of the game. He had come directly from work and was happy to talk with a foreigner and share any insights on his team or St Kilda. Great guy, very informative. Essenden’s real rival is the Collingswood Magpies. Several teams have great names: Mapgies is a good one, but Adelaide is known as the Crows because South Australians have the derisive nickname of “crow eaters” because the early settlers there liked to eat crow (not known whether it was necessity or choice – they even tried calling it the South Australian pheasant, but I am way off course here). Sadly, none of the Western Australia teams went with “Sand Gropers”. Sort of steering into the skid, like calling a team the West Virginia Couch Burners or the Cal Protesters. Most of the teams in the league are from Melbourne, so it is an exaggerated version of early Major League baseball when the New York Yankees, New York Giants, and Brooklyn Dodgers played in a league with fewer teams.

The game itself was thrilling. I’ve figured out what creates which score, which is more than I can say for cricket. There are 18 players on the field for each team and they run like crazy and jump in the air for kicked balls. I am amazed that there is a single non-Australian punter in the NFL, because these guys can kick with accuracy, distance, and touch while being hit. There were a few rules in place for the preseason – like 50 meter “super goals” worth 9 points instead of 6. St Kilda won in the last minute 94-91. St Kilda is considered the more experienced and better team, whereas the Bombers just got a new coach. Essendon played very well and the fans were happy with the way their side looks for the season. I may have to watch this stuff when I get home.

Next: Last full day in Melbourne, meet up with friend from Sydney

Aquarium and Skydeck - Feb 28

2008-02-28T15:26:00.025+10:00

Summary: rain in the AM, then the aquarium, then the skydeck

It was a drizzly morning, so we played go up and down the escalator with Alex for some time while taking turns sipping coffee. Aneta went shopping at her favorite store in Melbourne while Alex and I took on the aquarium. We all caught a so-so movie and then went up on the Skydeck. We're going out for sushi tonight with friends, but anything from that will post in tomorrow's story. I'll narrate a few photos, otherwise I'll let you figure it out.

Alex was in the open air section of the tallest building in Australia

Plane crash image at the aquarium

Aneta looking fashionably Asian

observation spot inside tank, for kids to pop up heads surrounded by fish

Our room, as viewed from a km away

Federation Square

Next: more in Melbourne

Melbourne Night Market - Feb 27

2008-02-27T14:16:00.010+10:00

Summary: in town, ready for some football, yet another great time with no pictures, Night Market

Aneta had some work to do, so today Alex and I were on our own - at least until nap time. One activity he enjoys is laundry (thank goodness for small blessings) and we were due for it. We asked the concierge where to find coin op laundry and he pointed us to one in Chinatown (yes it sounds like a cliche - no laughing out there!). I thought coin-op laundry was all the same until I started doing it every week or so - this was a nice place near some other shopping to keep us entertained between cycles. We ate en route and shopped in between - even had an amusing discussion with a guy trying to get me to sign up for a credit card - it was a good way to start the day.

Although the Aussie Football season does not start until Easter, their pre-season is well under way. Although the preseason means nothing, they still have a playoff and a quarterfinal is this Friday at the Telstra Arena - in Melbourne. I'll be there.

Yet again I left my camera in the room and yet again I was made to regret it. On our first day I was in some street performance - no pics. Yesterday early in the morning, Alex and I went for a walk while Aneta was on a call and giant hot air balloons flew right over us. I did not feel too bad as it was not fully light out, so the photos would not have been all that good. This time, Alex and I went to grab a quick lunch at Federation Square (all of 2 blocks away). What am I going to do, photograph him eating (again)? That's when a giant marching band of bagpipes comes down Swanston (the main street) followed by a trail of exotic cars and concept cars (think Ferrari and giant solar panel cars plus a dune buggy made by a well-funded engineering team). This parade was promoting the Melbourne Motor Show International - maybe the largest car show in the Southern Hemisphere and it starts tomorrow. Said parade turns towards us right up into Federation Square with the Lord Mayor of Melbourne (gotta like that title) in the lead car. Mayor jumps out and starts shaking hands and kissing babies maybe 15 feet away and there are not all that many people. I hung back, but you can be sure I would not have been shy and retiring had I brought the camera. Telling the story, I feel like a cross between Forrest Gump (stumbling into big things) and someone who claims to have seen a UFO (bagpipes and a mayor, huh?). Oh well - I do have a receipt from lunch, does that count?

On the way back from Fed Square, Alex fell and smacked his head on the sidewalk. He cried, he has a big bump on his head, and I am feeling guilty for turning down his request to be carried. Hopefully I will have no updates from that. He has been fine since his nap, but I still feel bad.

So Aneta rejoined us and we headed for the Suzuki "Night Market" - this is a series of weekly events in which the Queen Victoria Marketplace is open from 5:30 until 10pm every Wednesday of the summer from November 28 until February 27 - so we caught the last one. The event bills itself as world music, world food, and weird & wonderful wares. It more than overdelivers on food. Wow. Great time. We walked around eating great food and it was packed. The music was ...um... contemplative. Picture a coffee shop in Berkeley or Phoebe doing "Smelly Cat" on Friends. Either way, the drummer for the next act warming up was better. Note: The guy on the right next to Aneta, Alex, and the balloon appeared to be a photographer and he took a few pics of Alex rockin' out to the drummer, so maybe we'll be in the Age tomorrow morning or on some tourist guide we don't see next year. I can't wrap this up without saying that Alex walked the whole way back. He always asked to be carried at least part of the way, but he walked easily a kilometer (10 blocks?) on his own, playing with that balloon. In a related story, my shoulders feel great.

Next: got to get to that aquarium and tower on the South Bank.

Phillip Island - Feb 26

2008-02-26T22:33:00.036+10:00

Summary: Queen Victoria Market, March of the Penguins, Nobbie non sequitur section, compare and contrast, the Legend of Phil, espresso yourself

Today we walked around town some more, went to Queen Victoria Market, and drove out to Phillip Island (in Gippsland!) to see the Penguin parade. First, Queen Victoria market is an amazing open market of everything from fresh fish and fruits to hats (preview of coming attraction) to t-shirts... you name it. Interesting place, must see as a tourist. We also took the tram around town (another free means of transport!)

Next thing you know, we are off for Phillip Island. Phillip Island is known for penguins and it also has several other attractions. Let me begin with the penguins. We can't take photos of the penguins (that's the rule), let me just say that it is a fascinating experience to sit in pseudo amphitheater seating with maybe 400 people as these 1 foot, 2 pound little penguins show up on the beach in teams of about 7, merge up with other comparable teams, and slowly walk from the water's edge to the grass and scrub of the dunes. They have deep blue backs and white bellies, which is great camouflage in the water, less so on the beach. So they wait until sunset and charge the beaches very cautiously, heading back to their nests. Some of the penguins had gorged themselves with enough fish to last 17 days as they molt their feathers, so they were so fat they fell over every 2 or 3 steps. It was extremely funny and cute to watch. I have a few photos of penguins, but they were taken in the daytime at the nearby "Nobbies", where all the other images are of the rocks in violently turbulent water. The Nobbies has an unusual visitor center with a great children's play area and headlines of every depressing thing that has happened there. Seriously, most of it is about the location and animals - the birds that nest there and the fish that swim there - the things you'd expect. Then it has this wall with a victorious picture & newspaper article of a smiling man who killed a Great White shark at Phillip Island along with a clear message that this is a bad thing. Then it has a photo of a guy smiling and a big wave in the background washing some people off a rock and apparently killing one of the people pictured. "that observation area is no longer available to visitors." Along with this there is a little note to the effect of "while the photographer asked her subject to smile for the camera, a man in the frame was being killed". No offense Nobbies, that is just odd. Seriously, it was a great place to visit and a "must see" while on Phillip Island, just don't do anything that could make their wall while on the island. We also had a little picnic, tasted some local wine (not entirely my idea this time), and hit the beach next to Cowes (pronounced like a very rare steak).

Everybody loves comparison pictures, so here are a few:

Jim with "wild Outback" hair or "genuine Aussie" hat

Time lapse as recorded by Aneta as Jim and Alex leave for Ice cream vs. return with ice cream

Alex eating Ice Cream or wearing Ice Cream? - do not adjust your screen, his bubblegum flavored Ice Cream was a radiation fallout shade of green (the color apparently will not fade as it passes through him - for the non-parents out there, let me promise that there will be no further updates on this matter)

Cute cuddly penguin molting its feathers or annoying yet attractive bird stalking us as we picnic, hoping to get a few crums?

Scary great white shark with cute, fluffy great while doll or cute, fluffy real penguin?

Next up, sultry model on yet another exotic beach photo shoot or harried executive fighting a losing battle with a crackberry addiction?

Cute kid standing on beach with big smile or slightly less cute dad standing around on the same spot looking like he's pretending not to notice the camera?

Alex annoyed at having to hold hands with mommy on the rock or happily running on the soft sand at the base of the rock?

Finally we offer contrast within one picture - which way to go? (I picked the Football Club, but that's just me)

One of the sadder stories of the trip was the saga of Phil. Phil was our Phillip Island penguin purchased at the Info place upon our arrival into town for a mere $10. Phil squawked kind of like a penguin and captured Alex's heart until we walked into the Nobbies tourist center. Somewhere along the line Phil was lost and was not to be found despite some effort on our part. Alex was not pleased with this outcome, nor was he impressed with the pricier (yet differently squawking) penguins at the Penguin Parade center. When we go back to the Queen Victoria market and again when we drive through Gippsland, we'll keep our eyes open for Phil's little brother. Otherwise, Phil will be reincarnated as a frog or koala or platypus between here and the Australia Zoo outside of Brisbane.

I want to ensure that I take Kel's advice to heart(Kel is our resident Gippslander and Melburnian commentator) and make it to a first rate Melbourne coffee shop. Believe me, the Starbucks in Adelaide was essential because I had missed it for a month. In Melbourne I have only swung by once even though it is attached to the hotel. I've seen Brunetti's and will make a point of getting there. I love that Lygon neighborhood (for those following at home, it is quite comparable to San Francisco's North Beach - great authentic Italian neighborhood).

Next: Melbourne aquarium, botanical gardens, who knows what else?

Melbourne Intro - Feb 25

2008-02-25T16:26:00.011+10:00

Summary: jetlag via casual contact, brekkie and a bus around town

Have you ever heard of someone “catching” jetlag? I nearly did. When the whole team goes to bed at 2 or 3 pm and you’re the only one to call it a nap and wake up a couple hours later, then the whole team wakes at 4-something am... Anyhow, I think I have avoided it by drinking lots of fluids (sorry Alex, you weren’t drinking that juice box) and getting up while others sleep. Not as easy as it sounds.

We hit the streets at the first signs of light. There is a Starbucks attached to our building. Now, I am not going to go to Starbucks every day because Hudson’s is perfectly fine, but it is always a good sign to be near the Starbucks when the whole country had something like 20 of them back in 2003 and we’ve only seen four so far (Adelaide and Glenelg Beach, in front of the hotel and the Carlton neighborhood today) so it is fair to say they have not overrun the place yet. It was cold and looked like rain at first, so we doubled back, put on heavier clothes, and went to Southbank for a proper breakfast ("brekkie"). We also planned our week. You can look for a trip to Penguin Island, museums, gardens – you’ll see it when it comes.

There is a free tourist bus that takes you around Melbourne and shows the sights. You can hop on here and hop off there, so it serves for info and free transport. There is also a free cable car that circles downtown and we’ll take that later. We hopped off at the museum, which had a fun kids play area, a nice rainforest walkthrough, a fascinating simulation for how water goes from evaporating to raining to groundwater and to your drinking fountain, and a truly depressing set of exhibits on the mind and on anatomy. Alex played and played then we had lunch at a rather authentic Italian restaurant in the Carlton neighborhood (great name!). We hopped back on the bus and it was nap time. At this moment, I do not know if the story ends here. If it does, I am going downstairs for dinner. Cheese, crackers, and Toblerone from the mini-bar are a far worse dinner than vegemite, crackers, and “Pepsi Max” (Diet Pepsi) have been when Alex dozed around lunch time more than once.

I am just now realizing some Aussie that has crept into my vocabulary. "No worries" has fully exported to the US, so that doesn't count, but "How ya Going?" is the replacement for "How you doing?". I like it and it may go home with me. Ditto for "good on ya" - nice job, good for you (without any sarcasm). One other odd point. To date, I have seen Foster's in one bar (restaurant, pub, whatever). I knew it was less than popular, but geez. Then I realized that the most popular national beer, VB (Victoria Bitters - it is everywhere) is from Foster's, so the national distribution that would support Foster's supports VB (same great company that makes the fine wines that I loved at Penfolds, Wolf Blass, ... heck Beringer back home). It always pays to read the beer in the mini-bar (while sticking to wine to pair with the cheese and chocolate).

Now you get the daytime views from our room

They did awake and we had a nice dinner on the river, but no real notes to add except that as soon as I wrote that nobody has had Foster's since week 1, our restaurant had Foster's - that's ok, the point stands. Just a couple more photos.

Next: the weather will determine it a bit - drizzle and we meander around town, maybe hit the aquarium, clear and we go to Phillip Island.

Aneta lands! - Feb 24

2008-02-25T16:17:00.007+10:00

Summary: McDonalds – I’m lovin it, is a United flight from Sydney domestic?, Hey – you’re the first familiar adult I’ve seen in a month, dusty Camry bootlegger at the Westin, there are no small roles, the blogger never sleeps

Today is the day – the day I see a familiar face not attached to Alex. We woke up relatively early. Let’s just say that the Carlton was in full swing when I was posting on Saturday night, not when we departed on Sunday morning around 8. My plan was to dawdle around Geelong then get over to Melbourne Airport. With a bike race going on, much of Geelong was cordoned off. Thus, our tour de Geelong (meant to be short) was quite short. We did drive by the waterfront park, which has a playground and a beach. Maybe we’ll be back. Anyhow, we stopped at a McDonald’s for an espresso. This was my first stop at a McDonald’s Australia but it won’t be my last. There are two counters – the familiar one with happy meals and the McCafe one that looks like a normal coffee shop: espresso machine, overpriced baked goods, ceramic coffee cups. We never made it to the normal McDonald’s counter, but the coffee shop part was fully functional. Oh, and then there was the little playland that extended our visit from 5 minutes to about 40. The imagery around the restaurant was not like our US McDonald’s – more like the material my company (Iconoculture) publishes – smiling multi-ethnic, multi-generational faces listening to music. It was something of a running question among prospects why my presentation insisted on having people in their 70’s surfing or wearing headphones. I digress. Australia even makes McDonald’s attractive – that is the key takeaway.

Well, we needed to delay a bit more and the local freeways helped with a dose of construction delays (without anyone actually building a freeway on a Sunday morning, just the construction speed limits). The map said that there was an International Terminal and Domestic Terminal and I was hit with a bit of panic. A United flight from Los Angeles via Sydney – where would you go? Well, the map overstated things as there is one parking lot and the terminal looked about as big as Portland (Oregon, not Victoria) or maybe more like Seattle, so it was not hard to figure out where to go.

And then we saw her (about 5 seconds before she heard us). Much joy, much fumbling for a camera to create an image for the blog, hugs & kisses...it was cool. Still is, although I am the only one who could not sustain an afternoon nap past 8pm. We drove downtown past a big street fair (should we stop? No, let’s drop things at the room, eat, then double back…yeah, that last step is still up in the air 8 hours later). The check in was flawless and as a bonus I discovered that every missing German car in Australia has been valet parked at the Westin. We are right in the heart of Melbourne and can see the Yarra River from our room. If I could post a long video, it would be a hidden camera of the Westin staff unloading my dusty Queenslander Camry. No, they did a fine job, I just get the sense that they’re more used to removing Gucci bags from Teutonic than emptying dusty Camrys packed with bags of night time diapers (built for extra …um… just extra), so much wine you’d think I had been to five wine regions (why, as a matter of fact, I’ve been to six - I am just showing restraint), several normal looking bags, and a big old Coleman cooler to anchor the luggage trolley. Add to that, Aneta thinks I look a little wild and Outbacky. She has threatened to post lots of comments to that effect - and my willingness to feed Alex those little mints from the Adelaide Hilton, allegedly a choking hazard. Let me head things off by saying I do not (yet) sport a mullet nor have I let Alex play with a pocket knife or (more appropriate for Swan Valley, Margaret River, the Great Southern, McLaren Vale, Barossa, or Coonawarra) a corkscrew.

We walked across the Yarra to the South Bank for lunch. This is a walk down memory lane as Aneta had a study here several years ago and grew quite familiar with the center of Melbourne. Good times, although Aneta was hit with the prices the way I was (yeah, prices are way higher in A$ terms and the US$ exchange rate is far lower). Example: in Melbourne in 2003, a long black (Americano) at Starbucks (which in the US was US$2.10) was A$2.10, which translated into about US$1.10. Now (at least in Adelaide) it is A$3.60, which translates to US$3.25. Anyhow, coming out of lunch, everyone not authoring this blog was rubbing their eyes but we stopped by a street performer – an American named Arizona Jones with a rather elaborate routing involving fire, whips, and jokes. Next thing you know, I am one of eight people (2 were Australian, the rest of us were international tourists from quirky, exotic locations like the US and Canada) holding up a pole as this guy is standing 17 feet in the air waving a flaming whip around for an audience of well over one hundred. I held a rope and he lived, so I figure played a central role. Actually, he was a very good performer and the first one I have ever given more than a dollar to – too bad I thought lunch could be accomplished camera free. The images would be good.

We got back and spent well over an hour getting an exhausted, eye-rubbing, tired toddler to sleep in the presence of his heretofore missing mama. As a reward for our efforts, afternoon nap time will be followed by breakfast and I am raiding the mini-bar for cheese and crackers for something resembling dinner. (a few night views from the room for ya)

Lastly, in response to Dave's comment, I have no idea what that pastie brought to mind but I was thinking the same thing when I saw a big sign advertising pasties. "Nice pastie you got there" was the first thing I thought of when I walked in the store, but I was not sure where to point.

Next: not really sure, probably a day walking around Melbourne

Great Ocean Road Part II - Feb 23

2008-02-23T19:51:00.030+10:00

Summary: Oh that's what that button does, Katrina pricing, astoundingly beautiful scenery, great value in Geelong

First off, apologies for sending those you who subscribe to the blog my random notes - I hit "enter" when the cursor was on the title. Whoops.

We took our time getting down the road - visiting most turnoffs and seeing cool things like the Blowhole, Thunder Cave, the site of a shipwreck with a good story, the Twelve Apostles(opening photo), and several towns. Somewhere along the way, my camera's batteries ran out. Then I remembered that just as my camera takes videos, my video camera takes photos. That is a good thing, because that sweet little old folksy General Store was charging $22 for 4 AA batteries. There is surely a charming Australian term for "highway robbery", but I forgot to ask them. Well, if you are taking one day on the Ocean Road and your camera doesn't work, you'll pay it.

Anyhow, it was a great drive - the rain was on and off - but it was never heavy. I spotted a wallabie on the road. The towns were very attractive and oriented to tourists. I think I scared the folks at the pizza place by putting too much chili paste on my pizza. Anyhow, not much to narrate here - just beautiful scenery to drive through. Airey's Inlet has another nice playground next to the water (last photo before the next paragraph). There is a nice video that I may be able to post down the line. Still, the pictures tell the story.

With Aneta flying in tomorrow morning, I wanted to get close to Melbourne. On the other hand, staying a week in Melbourne it makes sense to stay somewhere else. The choices were the last town on the Great Ocean Road (a good choice) or the first city off of it - Geelong. Well, G'day from Geelong (pronounced "J'long"). It is a little town that seems to have a pretty good city center (and more playgrounds).

Most towns and all cities in Australia have a tourism info center that you can go to in order to see what there is to do or book reservations. The town is pretty booked up because there is a bicycle race and some other event this weekend. The lady at the info desk here did not think a guy and his son would want to go to this motel where I am because it is a little too rough and ready - there is a pub downstairs and it is starting to get loud on a Saturday night. Well, we've stayed at a few roadhouses and a location in the center of town is a selling point to me. The Carlton Central is an inexpensive downtown hotel that caters to people whose age is exactly halfway between mine and Alex's - backpackers & college students - plus assorted savers. Well, I am an "assorted saver" even if I am checking into the Westin tomorrow. Second, my middle name is Carlton, so I am positively inclined towards anything named Carlton. And guess what? The service is great, the internet is FREE (and photos upload...and I have a few photos). I'm a block from the $250/night places and the downtown shopping centers... For less than $70? Since the manager knew I had a kid, he got us a room with two bedrooms (and our own bathroom like we've had all along). Yeah, this is value. That's why Alex is just laid back, downing some juice out front.
Next: pick up Aneta and do things around Melbourne for a week

Great Ocean Road Part I - Feb 22

2008-02-23T18:59:00.028+10:00

Summary: Tidy Oz, nice pastie you got there, Great Ocean Road, big night in Port Campbell

I typically write these blog entries every night and then post them when I can get online. While I had seen 20-25 Tidy Town contestant signs, I really had not seen a single sign highlighting a victory in this Tidy Town contest. When I wrote that the ’95 tidiest town lurks around the corner, I had no idea. The first town we got to was Mt. Gambier, the 2005 Tidiest town. My fist thought was “why did I stay in Penola? The only town around here NOT to win!” Quickly we crossed from South Australia into Victoria and the next town was Heywood, which had a sign out front with maybe 15 Tidy Town awards in the past 20 years. It was like a sign with how many times Florida State had won the ACC in football since the 80’s (before Virginia Tech joined that conference and dominated from day 1). Either Australia gives out more than one Tidy Town per year or 18 of the last 20 awards have gone to one little corner of Australia along the southern South Australia – Victoria border.

A few days ago, I asked what was in a Pastie (a meat pie apparently with some veggies) –after replying that it had what any other pastie would have, he was astonished to learn that meat pies are not at all common in the US. He replied, “You can have your TV and movies – we’ve got pies.” Yes, technically we have meat pies, but let’s face it – finding British (er, Australian) food in the US is about as common as finding Somali food. I recalled that there were ads for “pasties” in Northern Michigan, but I had never eaten one. Apparently securing our independence from the UK a couple centuries ago has cost us this British culinary delight – I gotta admit I love ‘em. Alex is generally on board, but his vote is a little less clearly pro-pie than mine.

Today was a short driving day – just a few hundred km. We went through a series of small towns then hit the Great Ocean Road. There are a couple photos from Portland and let me clarify that Portland is a nice town with a great little string of restaurants and coffee shops (kind of like the Oregon Portland), but the best photo was this massive platform on the port. Then we went through Port Fairy and Warnambool (seaside playground and artillery).

Getting back to the Great Ocean Road - this is one of the most beautiful, scenic drives on the planet. Just a few km into the Great Ocean Road, I have passed the following sights (in order of the photos): the Martyrs, the Grotto, the Arches, London Bridge (a natural bridge that just collapsed one day about 2 decades ago, stranding someone and no doubt making them glad that they were not on it when it fell into the ocean)… if nothing else, you’ve got to love the names. All the scenery is dramatic. Alex was disappointed that the Grotto in no way resembled stories he’s heard about the Playboy Mansion (that's why his mouth is open as if to say "uh, where are the bunnies?"). The sign about driving on the left is fully 4.5 hours from Melbourne Airport (assuming no stops), so while I guess they have had problems (or they would not have put the sign up) it is worth noting that someone has to drive a long way to get to that sign. The next photo with the river, town (Pt Campbell) and ocean reminds me how much this looks like the California coast north of San Francisco.

After watching some Monsters Inc (see photo below), we found our way to the hottest restaurant in town tonight, on the beach about 4 blocks from our hotel. It was a good meal, great view, jam packed with a global all-star team of travelers, and it featured a downpour the whole time we ate. We had to make a bit of a dash for it, as the rain stuck around even after Alex finished my meal (while ignoring his). I’ll get a photo from there in the AM (done - see below).

Next: another leisurely drive up the majority of the Ocean Road to Geelong

Coonawarra - Feb 21

2008-02-23T18:40:00.008+10:00

Summary: why Coonawarra, dual carriageways finally show up, tidy corner of South Australia, we're in the small-town espresso belt, Coonawarra review

Driving with focus, grit, and determination, we could doubtless get from Adelaide to Melbourne in a day. We have driven with focus, grit, and determination a few times this trip, but we are going to take it easy this time. There are benefits to running ahead of schedule. We’ve had 5 nights in Adelaide and it is time to move on. Australia has many fine wine regions, but three really stand out to me: Barossa, McLaren Vale, and Coonawarra. The remaining one that I yearned to visit is Coonawarra, which is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon. (actually, I would now rate the wine tasting in Margaret River ahead of Coonawarra, but that is beside the point)

We left Adelaide and as soon as we got away from the traffic, we got onto one of those dual carriageways. I don’t mean to overdo a topic, but Adelaide would truly benefit from having its highways in and around the city (vs. well outside the city). Having one on the way out is like saying “now that the road is empty anyhow, here’s an extra lane – hope you liked the gridlock to this point”. Anyhow, it was a nice ride out.

Most of the drive was along the coast – actually it was along the intercoastal waterway. There is this shallow channel between the road and some dunes (probably dangerous when the tide rolls in). I mention this only because if you look at my photos from Albany, Esperance, the Nullarbor, and when I get to the Great Ocean Road, you may become convinced that the entire Southern Ocean coast is one long cliff. One of the funnier items we came across was a massive lobster. Not sure if Kingstown is known for lobsters of if a lobster was deemed an appropriate animal to make people stop. From there, we headed west towards Naracoorte, where we would go south through Coonawarra.

Many towns in Australia have had signs on the way in indicating that they are competing for Australia’s tidiest town. This is not some niche competition – we had seen this all over and apparently it is a big deal to more than a few town councils. Finally, we entered one which had won tidiest town. In 1993. It almost seemed like some town in Texas boasting a AA State Championship from a not-at-all forgotten decade long ago. Lucindale still looked pretty tidy, although no more tidy than most towns in Australia. There was nothing that especially placed Lucindale ahead of Georgetown, Queensland or Pine Creek, Northern Territory or Carnarvon, Western Australia… but I must confess that I do not know what the requirements are for tidiest town and it could well be that those other towns have invested heavily to follow Lucindale’s example. At the very least, Lucindale’s size did stretch the idea of what qualifies as a town. This is not meant to downplay the award, as many towns have signs just indicating that they have entered themselves and candidates for tidiest town ’08. I just know that when you’re still living off an award from 15 years ago it means a) it was a really big deal, b) there has not been much going on since then, c) someone forgot to take the sign down, or d) some combination of the above. Since I give all of Australia the benefit of the doubt, I’ll go with “a)” until I see otherwise. Regardless, I smiled, knowing that I had been part of history, passing through Australia’s tidiest town a mere decade and a half late.

That smile turned to a full on belly laugh about 20 km later when I entered the next town – Naracoorte. Naracoorte was Australia’s tidiest town in 1994. Apparently the days when both the Barry Bonds-led Pittsburgh Pirates and Ace of Bass were belting out hits were the glory days for this little sliver of agricultural South Australia as well. No doubt the ’95 winner lurks on the horizon.

By the way, I should note that for the first time, small town Australia resembles what those of us in San Francisco think of when we think of small towns – tiny villages typically on the coast or in wine country packed with souvenir stores and coffee shops with wireless internet and espresso. To this point, small town Australia has meant a pub and a gas station (more often than not in the same building sharing a common cash register). Now I am seeing something more familiar from day trips out of San Francisco - a really scaled down version of the part of a city next to a tourist attraction. This is not a knock on the region, just a recognition that the area between Adelaide and Melbourne is built to serve tourists from Adelaide and Melbourne, not strictly locals. I mention this because I did not pay for an espresso drink until Perth. In Cairns and Darwin it was included with the room and I did not see it available anywhere else before Perth (several places in the Southwest). After all, I can get a cappuccino or latte (if I so desire) in Longville, Minnesota. Now I can get one here too and I suspect that will hold up the rest of the way. In a related development, drivers have stopped waving.

So we got into Coonawarra around 2pm. Coonawarra is a place where most of Australia’s best Cabernets are from. Several of the bigger wineries have their Cellar Door (tasting room) somewhere else (for example Penfolds is in Barossa although Penfolds Bin 128 uses Coonawarra fruit… Penfolds’ parent company does have a multi-brand tasting room, but I digress), but the wineries here were good as well. As always, the tasting room staff was generally helpful and engaging. I especially liked Yalumba and Balnaves Wineries. The photos are from Balnaves. We got several recommendations for where to stay in town (Penola), but went with the cheap option and are happy so far.

Tomorrow, we will go down to the coast, cross into Victoria following the Great Ocean Road (one of the great drives on earth) and stopping somewhere scenic.

Adelaide and Animal Parks - Feb 20

2008-02-20T07:57:00.026+10:00

Summary: Going to the beach on a rainy day, wildlife park, heading to Melbourne

First, let me answer some burning questions out there. Yes, the pool hall bistro was a total shock - like some chef hoping to be discovered (or most waitresses in LA). Second, the wines I did buy were unavailable in the US: a Barossa Pinot Noir and a Gewurtztraminer from Penfolds, a E-Bass Shiraz at Barossa Valley Estates (almost all of their wines have musical themes), the Greenock Shiraz and "The Futures" Shiraz at Peter Lehmann. Third, had I gone wine tasting with Tony (one of the anonymous commenters) I would have spent more (and he would have spent a whole lot more).

Well, Plan A for the morning was to go to the beach. A cold front with rain moved in, so the high would be 24 and the actual morning temp was 17. We haven't seen any rain yet and 17 is still not as cold as it sounds, but those temps are nonetheless colder than 39. Not one to let facts on the ground interrupt my plans, we went to the beach anyway. Actually, my thinking was that if it was a gloomy day in LA, I would still want to visit Hermosa Beach or Manhattan Beach. I'm glad we went. First off, Alex likes any form of transportation that does not require a seat belt and the tram fit that bill. Second, Glenelg is a cool little neighborhood. Third, it was as good a way to spend a morning as any. Probably more fun at night out with buddies, but a good time nonetheless. You are looking at Alex drinking a "baby-cino" - foam with some chocolate. Perfect gateway drink!

We got back and stopped by Hog's Breath on Gouger. Gouger is that street with all the coffee shops, restaurants, and other assorted night spots next to Victoria Square (the center of town). The guy driving us to the wildlife park said there are 157 establishments in 400 meters - seems a little high, but who am I to argue? Part of the same BBQ/Cajun restaurant chain that liked our South Carolina coozie in Darwin, the manager Jason was quite pleased to get one and asked us to join them as they will have some of the drivers for this weekend's race tonight. I'll let you know if drivers in Australia are also all name Dale, Rusty, and Wade.

So we went to the wildlife park and it was a good time. There was a snake missing from the brown snake tank. Other than that, it was cool to go around petting quokkas, kangaroos, koalas, emus, wallabies, etc. OK, we only actually touched the koalas, but we could have touched more.

Dinner at Hog's Breath was good, especially as they have a play area. It was (for an American) much like going to Outback Steakhouse must be for an Australian. Think about BBQ with Colorado or Minnesota license plates - authentic American but not exactly BBQ states. Jason had put out the South Carolina stubby holder.

Next: Coonawarra, Great Ocean Road, pick up Aneta!

Barossa - Feb 19

2008-02-20T05:26:00.007+10:00

Summary: great drive, more vino, back in town, Adelaide

This time we drove up to Barossa via Adelaide Hills and Eden Valley. Beautiful drive, but someone is going to have to explain to me how a wide open straight flat road with no people (the Nullarbor) has a speed limit of 110 and a seriously winding mountain road through wine regions has a speed limit of 100. I’m not normally one to say the speed limit is too high, but I never got to 100 on that road. It was hot again, but we did get to a playground in the morning.

Not to come off as a wino (too late, mate!) but I love Australian wine and I believe three of the 5 best wine regions in the world are in South Australia: #1 Barossa, McLaren Vale, and Coonawarra (Thursday). Unlike Napa or Sonoma, I don't really get much chance to visit them. That’s why they are getting four days together. I took one Barossa day to taste Penfolds, but there are easily ten others I would like to visit. Sadly, I gotta drive, so those ten were cut to four and at those four I tried almost exclusively Shiraz (and did a few other things to stay well within the limit). They were all good, but at Peter Lehman and Two Hands every wine I tasted was outstanding. Peter Lehman had one wine (Greenock) in which the vines are grown near eucalyptus trees, so the wine has a really unique taste. Anyhow, I could go on, but the trip was quite good.

We got back to the Hilton, hit the pool (no ducks), hit the concierge lounge, and walked around by the row of restaurants (somebody was juggling a torch and knives by one of the NASCAR-type cars in Adelaide for a race this weekend). Anyhow Alex is in great spirits and he will have a blast tomorrow.

From driving around Adelaide, I can see that it is a pretty sophisticated, upscale city. I love the way the downtown is – basically 4 blocks by 9 blocks ringed with parks (good way to keep property values high). Very attractive, lots of trees, low rise, sort of European in its appearance – there are lots of old churches but I get the sense that people still attend them (in contrast to Europe). This was one of Australia’s earliest cities and had more relative influence in Australia’s earlier days (Sydney and Brisbane have grown in influence more recently). With all of that said, I think some divided highways (“dual carriageways” as they are quaintly referred to here) would be nice to improve traffic flow.

Tomorrow: Glenelg Beach in the AM, Cleland Wildlife Park in the PM. Thursday we drive to Coonawarra and on to Mt. Gambier. Then we cross into Victoria, take the Great Ocean road, wrap it up in Geelong, and pick up Aneta in Melbourne on the 24th.