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Published: November 17th 2005
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It's hard to believe that our Australian adventure has come to an end. It's sad in a way, but we're also happy not to be living out of a suitcase anymore! Nathan was excellent the whole way home - I think he's gotten so used to our nomadic lifestyle that nothing phases him anymore. The plane rides were uneventful (which is always good) and fortunately we were able to go to Nancy's house in Vancouver for our five hour layover between flights to sleep, eat and freshen up - that was definitely a lifesaver - thanks Nancy! It was also nice to catch up with her and let her know how the last part of our trip went.
As for the last part of our trip, we ended up staying an extra night in Narooma - we were enjoying the relaxed atmosphere (and our cabin on the water) too much! Besides wandering around Narooma taking in the sights, Chris and I also decided to take a four hour boat tour to nearby Montague Island. The island houses an old lighthouse and is now a national park due to the extensive wildlife that inhabit it (different types of gulls and terns,
fur seals and fairy penguins). Since we couldn't go on the trip together (because we didn't want to take Nathan out on the open sea) I decided to take the morning trip and Chris the evening one. Now both Chris and I are very prone to seasickness, however, I thought that since the island was only a half hour boat ride away there was no need for Gravol - I would be fine (or so I thought). I didn't realize that we were going to do some whale watching for 1.5 hours on the way to the island while the sea tossed our little boat to and fro. At first, I felt fine, but after fifteen minutes of watching a whale through my camera lens trying to get the perfect shot, I started to get that woozy feeling. I sat down at started to stare at the coast (which is supposed to help you feel more grounded). It started working and I felt better, but then I made the crucial error - I heard the captain announce that the whales were only fifty feet from the boat and it looked like they were dancing for us, so I thought I
felt well enough to take some more photos. Well, that did me in - one of the crewmen saw me looking pale and gave me a bucket. I pushed it aside and said that I had never actually vomited from seasickness. I spoke to soon and was soon scrambling to find a quiet corner at the back of the boat to empty my stomach into the bucket! I sat there alone on the floor at the back of the boat as everyone else was at the front watching the whale. Then, luckily for me, the boat/whale moved and it was near the back so I could watch it through my peripheral vision as I continued to stare at the land on the hoizon (how pathetic!). I decided to suffer the consequences and take two more photos of the whale (which turned out really well actually). Seasickness is the most horrible feeling - at one point I really hoped the boat would capsize so that I would be out of my misery! Finally, the boat started to move and we took a quick look at the seals on the island (again I took two quick token photos) before we landed on
Montague Island #1
Humpback whale migrating to Antarctica. the island and I almost kissed the ground! Chris, learning from my experience, took Gravol before his boat ride and had a great time! He saw fairy penguins on his tour as they only come onto the island in the evening.
We finally bid adieu to Narooma and headed for Canberra through the Snowy Mountains. It was a beautiful drive - the landscape changed from lush forest to barren grass plains.
We stayed in Canberra for two nights. Canberra wasn't exactly what we had expected. Hearing that it was a small government town with lots of greenspace and trees, we expected it to be a lot like Ottawa, but it really wasn't. It is very spacious and has tons of greenspace - but maybe even too much! As we walked around, Chris and I kept asking each other 'is this downtown - it can't be there's nothing and nobody here'! We did eventually find the core downtown area and it wasn't much to see. It is almost as though the city was built for several million people when only 300,000 live there. There are huge multi-lane boulevards that are almost devoid of cars. We went to meet Sheryl
and Gord at the Parliament buildings for a tour and the walk took almost one hour through the heart of the city and we hardly saw anyone or any buildings. Now don't get me wrong, we love greenspace, but it's also nice to have houses and shops around where people can congregate. In the end, we agree that the city has a lot to offer, but will probably feel more alive once a million or so people move there (not sure how likely that is!). If we had've had access to a bike, I'm sure we would have enjoyed the space a little more. We did enjoy the tour of Parliament we took - very informative. Also it was great to see Gord and Sheryl again (they happened to be in Canberra for an orienteering competition) and it was nice to meet their friend Tracey who we had heard a lot about.
After Canberra it was back to Sydney for our two last nights. We stayed in the Woolloomooloo area (in the centre of the city) and came away with a much better impression of the city than we had the first time. We really enjoyed walking around the
Montague Island #3
Cool shot of a seagull. beautiful botanic gardens, Hyde Park and the Rocks area with all of the old historic buildings. We ended up meeting one of Chris' colleagues who was just recently posted to Sydney for three years at the Canadian Consulate General. Originally, we had planned on taking the ferry to Manly Beach, but after my seasickness incident (which was fresh in my mind) and due to time limitations, we decided that we'd save that for the next time we were in Sydney.
All in all, the trip exceeded our expectations. Before we went, we had very low expectations as to what we'd be able to do with Nathan. Worst case, we thought we'd just hang out on the beach for six and a half weeks. But Nathan ended up being a super baby traveler and we were able to do tons more than we expected. We really got to see a lot of the east coast and enjoyed every minute of it! Australia has so much to offer - we highly recommend it to anyone! If we had to pick a favourite moment, both of us agree that it was diving in the cave at South West Rocks - that was
Lookout
Driving through the Snowy Mountains on the way to Canberra. absolutely magical! As for favorite foods - Tim Tams (a type of cookie), meat pies, and the seafood of course (the coral trout was particularly tasty). If you're planning on going to Australia or are just interested in its history, I would highly recommend the book 'The Fatal Shore' by Robert Hughes. I am about half way through, and even though it seems daunting (it's 600 pages), it's very well written and really gives a good overview of the convict beginnings of Australia - you can picture what it would have been like to be a convict (it wouldn't have been pretty!).
The trip had such a great balance of seeing friends and family and traveling on our own that it seemed like multiple trips in one. Too bad Nathan won't remember any of it, but even so, we know that he had a great time too - he especially enjoyed his sand eating tour of the country!
As I sit here watching the snow fall, I almost feel like the trip was all a dream. It's hard to believe that only a few short days ago we were slapping on the sunscreen! We are actually very happy
to be home - we had a great reception at the airport last night from our families (they were very happy to see Nathan and see how much he had changed since we left). Well, I guess that's it for this blog...hope everyone enjoyed it - we definitely enjoyed writing it! Now the adventure of life continues in Ottawa...
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Suzanne Trepanier
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Welcome back
Welcome back Chris, Sarah and Nathan, I am glad you had a wonderful trip. It was fun ready your material and seeing pictures. Ron and I would love to go to Australia one day. Looking forward to our next to get together again. Suzanne