I really haven't been able to find time to sit and write. Made it to Sydney on the 30th. Did a harbor cruise the next morning, and NYE celebration on "The Pontoon" in Sydney Harbor. It was an amazing evening with 3 sets of fireworks over the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. On New Year's Day we tried to go to the Jewish Museum, but after walking half way across Sydney, found out it was closed (we were assured by the concierge that it was opened). Saw the ANTZAC WWI Memorial, and the Botanical Gardens. That afternoon, we took the ferry to Watson's Bay and ate at the iconic restaurant there, Doyle's. Food was great, but I no longer have an arm or leg. Spent the day today in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Journey home starts tomorrow night. Plan to see the Sydney Opera House and Jewish Museum before we leave. Then to Honolulu overnight and home on Sunday.
I'll try to do some writing on the plane if I can't sleep.
Day 27 Strahan-Gordon River
I was tempted to get up early again to do one last platypus
hunt at the People’s Park, but thought better of it since I had a long day’s
driving ahead of me. Instead, we
had a leisurely breakfast at the B&B and walked over to the boat dock. In the Harbor, we spotted Rich and Suzanne’s
fishing boat (though the boat name painter took some license with the
spelling). Also found some geese that had eaten more than we had on this trip.
Our boat, the Lady
Jane Franklin II is a catamaran, 100’ long with a 28’ beam, and decked out
beautifully. We were on the
Captain’s Deck where there were big, comfortable, reclining seats along huge
picture windows. There was also
plenty of outside deck space.
Standing on the bow going 27kts with a 25kt headwind was pretty exciting
and great for my hairdo.
We initially cruised through Macquarie Harbor to Hell’s
Gate, the tiny opening to the Harbor to the Southern Ocean. In the 1890’s this
area was engineered with a 3km “training wall” to create a giant funnel that
caused an increase in the speed of the tidal current in the area which
effectively kept sand from filling the channel. It took 300 men two years to complete, packing in several
thousand tons of stone mostly by hand. This has prevented the need for constant
dredging of the harbor. Hell’s Gate was so name by convicts passing through on
their way to the most dreaded of the penal settlements situated in the middle
of the harbor, Sarah Island (more about that later). As we passed through
Hell’s Gate the true fury of the Southern Ocean could be felt with high waves
and wind. Our wave height was
about 25 feet, though waves of 60 feet are not uncommon. The catamaran, though, was very stable
and none of us had to use the bags.
We turned around and passed back through Hell’s Gate and
across Macquarie Harbor to the mouth of the Gordon River. As soon as we passed
into the river, the water and wind became very calm and the temperature rose
several degrees. This also is the
start of the Gordon River Tasmanian Wilderness Area, a designated World Heritage
Site. There was a major battle here between environmentalists and the
Australian government. The
government planned to build a dam for hydroelectric power which would flood the
Gordon and Franklin River valleys. Protesters were jailed including some
politicians. The dispute
eventually went to Australia’s supreme court, where the judges ruled against
the government, and the area was designated as a wilderness area in
perpetuity. 20% of Tasmania’s land
mass is now Wilderness World Heritage Areas. We travelled slowly up the serpentine river lined by a wide
variety of trees and other flora.
One of the more interesting trees is the Huon Pine, indigenous only to
Tasmania. This is the 2nd
oldest living organism on earth (the 1st is the North American bristle-cone
pine) some living over 3,000 years.
It contains oils that prevent it from rotting, making it a great wood
for boat building. Timber that has
fallen and laid on the forest floor for years is still suitable with no
evidence of rot.
The boat made two stops on the trip. The first was in the wilderness area
giving us an opportunity to see some of the plants up close and personal. We saw several Huon pines including a
2,000 old tree (they grow 1mm/year), as well as the Leatherwood (source of leatherwood
honey which was delicious), Myrtle Beech (one of the plants to evolve on the
supercontinent, Gondwana),
Blackwood, Sassafras, and Celery-topped Pine.
Our second stop was Sarah Island.
This was named by the explorer James Kelly who was the first
European to visit the bay.
It was
previously known to the Aboriginal people as Langerounerene. The island became known as the worst of the worst of the penal colonies. The original governor of Sarah Island
was sadistic and corrupt, sentencing inmates to 100’s of lashes for relatively
minor offenses. Escape attempts
were rampant. The story of one
daring successful escape has been converted into a play which runs nightly in
Strahan, “The Ship That Never Was”.
Sarah Island was a shipyard in which the convicts worked. Ten men stole a small ship that they
had just completed, and sailed it from Tasmania to South America. Unfortunately for four of them, a few
years into their freedom they were recognized by a visiting British official and
brought back to Hobart to be tried for piracy. One of them, the ringleader, was hanged while the others
escaped the noose (good lawyering). The rest of the group lived their lives in South America,
free men. Conditions were so bad
that some men would commit murder in order to be sent to the gallows. Others
would opt for the ultimate escape, suicide. In 1829 this all changed when Commandant Lt. Cuthberton was
replaced by Commandant Captain Butler. He felt that the convicts would be more productive if they were
treated more humanely, and given the opportunity to learn a skill. They were given much better living
quarters, better food, and they were taught skills (related to shipbuilding). Violence and escape attempts on the
island dropped almost immediately, and the island became the most prolific shipyard
in Australia producing 130 craft in 5 years.
Our guide on the island was very interesting, quite the
actress. In fact, she was heavily
involved with theater, as an actress in (and possibly director of) the play,
“The Ship That Never Was”, and as the director of a children’s theater company
in Hobart. She also happened to be
the daughter of the individual who had done years of research on Sarah Island,
and was its first manager as a tourist destination.
With the Strahan Harbor again in view, we completed our
cruise and hopped in the car for the final drive back to the Hobart
airport. We had miscalculated the
time to get back to Hobart, planning on three, which turned out to be more like
five! The roads were again very mountainous and tortuous, slowing our progress
considerably. I had made it this
far, with no driving mishaps, and didn’t really want to start now. I was a bit concerned, though, about
our fuel situation. We started out
from Strahan with just under ½ tank, and planned to get gas in Queenstown,
which I thought was pretty good size (I was equating it with Queenstown, New
Zealand) and sure to have several gas stations. Wrong. We blinked and there went
Queenstown. I started to panic,
realizing the next named town was at least as far as we’d already traveled and
we were now down to ¼. I also
realized it was Sunday, and fast approaching 5pm, and feared that if we found a
station, it might not be opened. Agida for naught. Derwent Bridge was quite the metropolis with 2 service
stations, and they were both opened.
We landed on fumes and, after fueling the car and ourselves, made the
final push to Hobart. We had hoped
to stop at “The Wall”, a group of giant wooden sculptures that we were told
were simply amazing, but when we reached it, we found the gates shut tight,
closing at 5 on Sundays. I had
also hoped to drive near the Hobart
docks to see some of the finishers of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race
(started on Boxing Day), but due to the late hour and our approach to Hobart
(which brought us nowhere near the center of Hobart) that didn’t happen either. The winner had arrived yesterday, and ,
unbeknownst to us, many boats had to drop out because of extensive damage
sustained during storms that crippled the fleet. We read later that these damaged boats had to stop in
several areas that we had been to in Freycinet, Triabunna, and Maria Island
just days before. Fortunately, no one was killed, though there were a few
injuries.
So, direct to the airport hotel we went for fish and chips
and a beer and R&R after the long drive.
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| Franklin Manor B&B |
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| Franklin Manor B&B |
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| Strahan Harbor |
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| Lady Jane Franklin II |
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| Hell's Gate |
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| Atlantic Salmon Farming |
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| Gordon River |
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| Tiny Cones of Huon Pine |
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| Arrive Sarah Island |
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| Made It! |
Day 28 Arrive Sydney
Left for the airport to drop off the rental and fly to
Sidney. The Hobart airport is a bit like the Lebanon airport, very compact.
Milt and I dropped off the ladies with the luggage (and the car’s bulge,
fortunately, went back to normal) and took the car around the corner to the rental
drop-off lot. There were signs for various rental car return areas. We searched the lot and finally found
Budget. There were two signs (too bad I didn’t have my camera) bracketing a
single spot “Budget->
<-Budget”. Milt and I
cracked up! We decided to just leave the car in an open spot and let them worry
about it. Aussie’s, we found, were
pretty loosey-goosey. Dropped the
key and thankfully said goodbye to driving on the wrong side, at least for a
while.
The flight to Sydney was uneventful. Flying within Australia is a lot
different than in the U.S. No one
checks I.D.’s, so you could let someone else use your ticket. Food (debatable whether airline food should
be called something different) is served on all flights independent on seat
class and length of flight. Also,
any flight after 5pm serves unlimited beer and wine (the Aussies do like to
drink and party). Lastly, you don’t have to take out your liquid explosives.
Overall, a lot easier than in the U.S.
Sydney is much further north, and consequently much
hotter. We left Tasmania
in cloudy 60’s and arrived to sunny hi 80’s. Jeri was thrilled! Our hotel was the
Marriott at Circular Cay, an ideal location. We were a 5 minute walk to Circular Cay with the Opera House
and the Rocks (the original settlement on the opposite side of the wharf from
the Opera), as well as ferries to anywhere in or near the harbor. We walked to the other major hub of
activity, Darling Harbor, about 20 minutes away by foot. Here we picked up our tickets for our
boat (the Pontoon) for our NYE party tomorrow night. Darling Harbor is packed
with restaurants, tour boats, The Sydney Maritime Museum, and a variety of
other tourist traps. All of
Australia is on vacation (the kids just got out for their 7 week summer break),
so the harbor was packed. We found
the Pontoon, and got our tickets, booked a harbor tour for tomorrow, and
fled. On our way back to the
hotel, we passed the Sydney Tower and decided to get a bird’s eye view of
Sydney for orientation. We waffled a little when we found out it would be about
a two hour wait on line, but decide finally, that since we had little else to
do but drop a small fortune for dinner, we would give it a whirl. We had the option of seeing a 4-D (I
believe the 4th dimension is time, according to Einstein, which this
did not involve) movie about Sydney and a trip to the 1000 ft indoor
observation deck, or we could do an outside walk several stories higher with ropes, tethers, and harnesses.
This was similar to the Sydney Bridge Walk (which we also decided not to pursue). We opted for the tamer choice. The evening was clear, so we were able
to get great views even as far as the Blue Mountains to the west.
Tomorrow is going to be a really long day, so early to bed.
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| The Pontoon- Our NYE Boat |
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| Darling Harbor |
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| Jewish Boat for the Light Parade |
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| Sydney Tower |
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| Views from Sydney Tower |
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| Dinner At Golden Century |
Day 29 Sydney Harbor
This morning we had a cruise of the harbor scheduled. By 9 am, the crowds had already started to get quite dense for the fireworks tonight.People were camped out all over Circular Cay as well as every other space along the shoreline for miles. I ran over to the Opera House before the cruise left to score a couple of tickets for a tour of the building for Jan. 3, the day we were going to leave. Almost couldn't get there because of the crowds as well as limited access to the Opera House (prime location to view the fireworks from shore-pricey tickets fort the party). I was fortunate to get the last 4 tickets for that day (our last chance).
The tour left from Circular Cay and went all around the Harbor passing several areas of huge expensive homes (including Russell Crowe’s home), marina after marina with varying sizes of yachts, several bay’s and beaches (Watson’s Bay, Manly, Bondi), and two nudist beaches (photos of which I discretely left out- all guys anyway L). The boat got all the way out to the narrow opening of the Harbor to the Pacific Ocean with high bluffs to the north and a lighthouse to the south. The cruise was listed as a coffee cruise. They also served a variety of cookies and cakes including Lamingtons, which we had searched high and low for in Tasmania. Rhonda was in all her glory, pronounced these the best of the Lamingtons that we had found.
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| Crowds |
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| Crowds |
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| Crowds |
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| And More Crowds |
Day 29 NYE Celebration Sydney Harbor
We decided (after being told by our concierge that the crowds were going to be terrible) that we would give ourselves plenty of time to get to Darling Harbor. We didn’t want to miss the boat. We were supposed to board at 6:30, and left our hotel at 5ish since we were told it could be an hour walk at this time of day due to all the revelers. The crowds were unimpressive and with multiple road closures to cars, walking was no problem. We got to the boat in less than 20 minutes and then had to sit out in the hot sun. Our boarding time was postponed a couple of times and after getting there at 5:30, we didn’t board until after 7. It did give us time, though, to do some serious people watching. Some of the outfits that people were wearing were unbelievable from bright plaid pants, and kilts for men, and the shortest skirts I’d ever seen for women.
Once aboard, the food and drink was in constant supply, and I’m pretty sure there were quite a few on board that were drunk before we left the dock ( I think between the four of us we may have had 1 bottle of wine the entire night). The food was surprisingly good, but that wasn’t what we were there for. The fire works came in three waves, the 9pm show, a short 10:30 show and the big finale at midnight. Our boat was decked out in lights along with another 30 or so as part of the “boat parade”, and we were lucky enough to be stationed right between the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge for the fire works giving us a great vantage point. Near midnight, we had the countdown and then the sky exploded into daylight with fireworks filling the harbor. Pyrotechnics were shot from the roof of the Opera House for the first time to help celebrate this 40th anniversary of the opening of the Opera House. They were also coming from Darling Harbor and the bridge itself. The bridge effects looked as if fireworks were pouring off the bridge like sheets of water. The secret symbol on the bridge was a giant winking eye. It was quite a spectacle!
At the end of the evening (actually morning), we returned to Darling Harbor and amused ourselves on the walk back to the hotel at 2 am by watching the partygoers stagger around the streets. Exhausted, we plopped into bed for a well-earned rest.
Day 30 Sydney and Watson's Bay
After multiple assurances from our concierge that the Jewish
Museum was opened on New Year’s Day, we walked there only to find the doors
bolted shut. It was quite a long
walk (30 minutes or so) but we salvaged the day by stopping at the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) WWI
monument and the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens.
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| ANZAC WW I Memorial |
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| Royal Botanical Gardens |
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| Botanical Gardens |
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| Botanical Gardens |
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| Botanical Gardens |
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| Botanical Gardens |
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| Mrs. Macquaries Point |
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| Mrs. Macquaries Point |
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| Mrs. Macquaries Point |
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| Mrs. Macquarie's Chair |
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| Dessert at Guylian's Chocolates |
The weather, we have found, is even more changeable here than at home. Within an hour, we went from beautiful sunny skies and warm temps to overcast with occasional drizzle. Weatherman said 0% chance of rain today. We had reservations at the iconic Sydney restaurant, Doyle's At Watson's Bay, so we decided to take the ferry out early to explore, and hope for another quick change in the weather. The rain held for the most part, but we failed to get to see the sun again today. Took a nice walk up around the bluff in an area known as the "Gap". This area is less than a mile south of South Head, the southern headland at the opening of Sydney Harbor. There is a dip in the elevation here that, from the sea appears as the harbor opening. Many ships have made this mistake only to be dashed on the rocks below. One famous wreck was that of the Dunbar in 1857 with the loss of all but 1 of its 122 passengers and crew. Fatalities included the wife and children of the lighthouse keeper returning from a vacation.
Doyle's was excellent, but very pricey (I think there food is laced with gold here). After dinner, we ferried back (in the rain), but by the time we got back to Circular Cay, the sun was coming back out. Very strange weather.
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| Leaving for Watson's Bay |
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| Sydney Opera House |
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| Harbour Bridge |
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| Sydney's Circular Cay from the Water |
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| Arrival at Watson's Bay |
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| View from Doyle's |
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| Waiting for Our Table |
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| View from the "Gap" |
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| Entrance to Sydney Harbor |
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| Anchor From the Wreck of the Dunbar |
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| Sydney Viewed from the Gap |
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| Dinner at Doyle's |
Day 31 Blue Mountains
Our last full day in Australia was centered around a trip to
the Blue Mountains 1 ½ hours to the west of Sydney. Our guide for the day, Nicko, picked us up at 7:45 sharp in
order to beat the throngs to Katoomba.
Nick was a great guide and a wealth of knowledge about birds and plants
(having been a grade school teacher and botanist).
The Blue Mountains area is densely populated by
oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. The atmosphere is filled with finely dispersed
droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapor,
scatter short-wave length rays of light that are predominantly blue in color.
The Blue Mountains had been inhabited by the Gundungurra People for
several thousands of years prior to European settlement. European settlers
initially considered that fertile lands lay beyond the mountains, and were
running out of farmland around Sydney.
The scarcity of good farmland east of the mountains created a
strong need for the early Australians to find a route across the Blue Mountains
to what they had hoped would have been large tracts of good farmland. Several people tried and failed until
1813 when
Gregory Blaxland, William
Lawson and William
Charles Wentworth made the crossing successfully. A year later, on 7 July 1814, construction of a road across the mountains was
begun by
William Cox.
30 convicts and 8 guards completed the road on 14 January 1815 taking only 6
nonths. This opened the west for
settlement.
The Katoomba
Scenic Railway, is considered the steepest railway in the world and
was used transport ore from the mines constructed between 1878 and 1900. It
descends 415 meters through a rock tunnel with a maximum gradient of 52 degrees
(steepest double diamond is less than 45. Also, at this location is the Scenic
Skyway, a glass-bottom aerial cable car that traverses an arm of the Jamison
Valley, and the Scenic Cableway, the steepest aerial cable car in Australia. We took the Skyway down to the
rainforest floor to avoid the massing crowds. On the way down, we fort great views of the Katoomba waterfall, which is high, but a little wimpy this time of year, and of the iconic Blue Mountain rock formation, the "3 Sisters". Walking though the rainforest,
Nicko spotted a Lyre bird, a large dark bird with a feathery, peacock-like
tail. We pressed on further and came across another rare sighting, a boobook
owl at noon! After continuing the loop we took the train back up to the parking
lot.
We stopped at several beautiful lookouts (Australia certainly is not
lacking in that department) and finally at Leura (the town our young friend was named for) to stop for lunch. We had tandoori chicken and savory
chicken pies (meat pies are a traditional Aussie lunch) at the Leura
Bakery. From here, we stopped at a
lookout that has to be the windiest area like it in the world. Thermals come straight up the shear
cliff face and spill over the plateau leading to 30-50 mph, blowing hats,
glasses and even small people around.
In all seriousness, there was a climbing death nearby last week and
there were flowers planted in pots
near the.
The last stop on the trip was Featherdale Wildlife Park not too far
outside of Sydney. We saw a huge
variety of birds, including Rhonda and Milt’s favorite, the Bower bird who
collects bright blue objects to create a nest to attract the female. Also got
to see several other mammals that we missed including my favorite, the bilby, a
small marsupial that looks like a cartoon character.
We said good bye to Nicko and invited him to spend a couple of days
(which we hope he didn’t hear as months) with us when he takes his next round
the world walk-about. The ferry terminal to get back to Circular Cay was close
to the remains of the 1960 Olympic park, so we wre able to see that as
well. Many of the sports
facilities are still in use (but not as much as back then, which is probably
why Aussies are getting fatter).
Speaking of getting fatter, we had a
reservation at a restaurant on the harbor for dinner. We were seated at a nice table near the water and started to
peruse the menu. Between the
thoughts of eating yet another big and very expensive meal, we took a vote
(after some waffling, unanimous) and decided to take a chance at getting a
table at a small Italian restaurant around the corner that Rhonda’s friend had
suggested. Turned out to be
perfect. We shared some salads,
pasta, and a crocodile pizza (wasn’t too bad). After dinner, we stopped next door at Guylian’s Chocolates
(see the photo 1st day of Sydney), where we took out pastries and
ate them with espresso (for me only) in the Marriott’s lobby bar. I was surprised that we got no raised
eyebrows. We were nice to them,
and bussed our own table.
Tomorrow the Jewish Museum (if they are opened)
and the Opera Hose tour before saying goodbye to Milt and Rhonda and our flight
to Hawaii.
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| The Three Sisters |
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| Lyre Bird |
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| Lyre Bird |
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| Boobook Owl |
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| World's Steepest Railway |
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| Three Sisters |
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| Miner Bird |
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| Honey Eater |
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| Devil's Head |
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| Welcome to Leura |
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