Advertisement
Published: January 15th 2007
Queensland We left the big city of Brisbane in order to get in touch with nature. Our first stop was the Australia Zoo, accompanied by Brian, Natalie, and their wonderful nephews and niece (hi Corey, Tayla, and Jarod!). We were excited to experience the zoo with kids, but most importantly, I was pumped to see Mr. Irwin's creation. In case you don't know this already, I was a Crocodile Hunter super fan. You can read about my sadness when he died by stalking me on MySpace (read the blog). For now I'll just say I'd been a fan for a while, I think Steve was an awesome dude who cared "heaps" (I'm learning from the Aussies) about animals and who succeeded in creating awareness and compassion for them. I won't argue with you if you say he was ridiculous, but you can't deny he was effective. I should also say that I usually avoid zoos because they depress me (especially the one in Saigon/HCMC), but I
needed to see Steve's hood, and I wanted to learn more about Australia's animals.
The zoo was perfect. The staff was more like a small, happy family. Some people we've met have complained about
Us at the Top
Yes, we're disgusting.the small size of the zoo and its focus almost solely on Aussie animals, but I thought the limited number of animals enabled the staff to have more personal relationships with the animals and gave them more room to live. I was able to pet a koala before even purchasing a ticket, and throughout the day we pet kangaroos and more koalas (both are soft, koalas have a bit more oil in their fur than 'roos, and the koalas here did not stink), fed elephants, spotted wombats (my favorite Australian animal), received free face painting (at least Tayla and Kate did), and watched Bindi and Terri perform. Yes, you read that correctly. We got to see Bindi and the Croc Men shake it. Kate was smitten by Troy, the dancer with extra flair. Terri and Bob (now called Robert) sat in the VIP section of the audience, bopping along to Bindi's performance, and it was a precious family moment. I had to stop myself from crying at least 5 times during the show (I got teary before we even entered the zoo), reminding myself that I was with children who would think I was insane. Terri and Wes (Steve's BFF)
Dinner in Melbourne
Fiona is in purple/pink. did a demonstration with one of the crocs, managing to get him to do 4 death rolls, something we've been told is amazing. Terri's dead husband jokes made us squirm, but her stage presence was much better than the other two hacks who'd been running the show up until that point. There was a huge memorial to Steve, so I quickly strolled through after the show, indulging myself, before returning to normalcy. (The five hours of sleep I had the night before may have been connected to my vulnerability.)
That evening Brian's parents took us to Bribie Island for fish and chips by the water at sunset, which was lovely. We woke up early the next morning to climb Mt. Beerwah. It was my first time rock climbing, and I loved it. I might be hooked. Climbing down may have been more difficult than the climb up, mainly because the sun had risen, the rocks were getting hot, and it's a lot scarier when you're looking down at the height from which you could fall. We survived though and enjoyed a pleasant brunch in a tiny town. Afterward Brian and Natalie took us to the fancy beach town of
Noosa where we took a dip and strolled. We left our lovely hosts and headed south to Melbourne.
Victoria After a day of hibernation in our dorm room, Kate and I spent a pleasant day in the city. I loved Melbourne. It had a pulse, felt lived in. Our first stop in the city was the Australian Center of the Moving Image where we watched two episodes of
Astro Boy and the first episode of
Kimba the White Lion. Tezuka Osamu must be a sad dude. Kate and I wanted to cry after the first episode of Astro Boy. Dark stuff for kids, man.
Next, we visited the Melbourne Museum for
Just Add Water, a special exhibition on Australia's relationship with water and tactics for dealing with the constant drought problem. It was quite interesting, and I will begin preaching to all of you about water conservation upon my return to the States. We also spent a chunk of time playing in the Mind & Body Gallery, and overall we both gave the museum our approval.
After enjoying a Greek dinner and dessert, we were retrieved by our new friend Fiona. Annemarie, one of our hosts in Brisbane, had kindly called Fiona a few days before to ask her if she'd host two strangers at her home for a few days, and Fiona said yes. Gotta love the Aussies. Fiona announced her plan to take us to the Great Ocean Road, and we said "Rad!" We spent the next day on Jan Juc beach in Torquay, Kate going for a short surf and me napping because I'm lazy. Fi drove us to Bells Beach, the famous surfing spot best known for its prominence in
Point Break. After preparing a delicious barbeque, we camped out at the home of more kind strangers.
We hit the road in the morning, ready to see all the Great Ocean Road had to offer. It was beautiful. It's a road that winds along the water, so you get to gaze at clear water, steep cliffs, and swanky houses. Parts veer into bush land and rain forest, so you can witness the variation of climates within small distances from each other. We stopped at the plush, mossy Erskine Falls, saw a koala on the side of the road (wildlife in action!), and gaped at ridiculously talented kite surfers. Eventually, we reached the Twelve Apostles, famous formations of limestone near the Port Campbell coast. They were beautiful. Then we drove to
Loch Ard Gorge and learned about a ship wreck that created the most romantic love story that almost-was.
Back in the suburbs of Melbourne that evening, we met up with Tim O'Hara who was in town for the Australian Open and headed to a delicious dinner at Lentils As Anything (correct name?), a restaurant set in a former convent that allows you to pay what you want for the meals. We stuffed ourselves full of food (it's organic! must be good for you!) and passed out. The next morning Fi, Kate, and I rode bikes to a local organic market and bought the ingredients for a scrumptious lunch. I dug the hippie/organic/vegetarian scene in Melbourne and especially enjoyed preparing my own food. Plus, I'd been begging Kate to take a bike ride for a while, so now she won't have to hear me whine for a while. I miss my bike though.
New South Wales We called our favorite Aussie celeb Dr. Chris (yes, ladies, the vet from one of our Newcastle posts whom you thought was handsome) hours before flying to Sydney, and he kindly agreed to house us. Kate vomited several times on the plane ride, so I experienced Bondi Beach nightlife alone (well, with the superb company of Chris and Pauline, a fellow pad crasher). Fringebar was excellent- a dance party with DJs and a live drummer playing along with the hits. Pauline and I giggled as we watched the babes line up to talk to Chris. Good fun.
Yesterday Kate recovered in Bondi while I hopped on a bus bound for downtown Sydney. I took the tour of the Sydney Opera House and strolled through the Royal Botanic Gardens. The Opera House looked different in person (sturdier, less white), and the inside was far different from what I'd expected (more sparse, guaranteeing greater focus on the performance). It's an impressive structure, and I'm curious as to how it will look after the upcoming interior overhaul. The Gardens were beautiful. I love the use of public space for parks in cities, and this park is one of the best I've seen. Sydney's harbor is clean, the day was warm and breezy, and I therefore got caught up walking around and failed to make it to the free museums in time. Oh well.
Once we had all returned to Bondi, Chris offered to walk us to the water to watch the surfers at sunset and then show us his favorite Thai restaurant. The beach was pretty, and the food was yummy. Dr. Chris is a gracious and talented host.
We leave Australia tomorrow, bound for New Zealand. Oz has been very kind to us; the people are just as warm as the weather. To everyone who played host to us: we know entertaining can be stressful and draining. We appreciated every second you spent with us and hope you seriously consider visiting New York soon, so we can return the favor.
My four-month traveling anniversary is in two days. Time flies on the road...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.124s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0437s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
PAT
non-member comment
Your dream
I know that Australia has always been your dream, and I'm happy that you got to experience it so fully. I know that the Steve Irwin memorial must have been very emotional for you. It's been all over the papers here that Bindi proclaims she, "will follow in Dad's footsteps". So time passes on and the torch is passed to a new generation. I know about the world-wide water crisis beciuse I read the book "Water" by Marq De Villiers, I recommend it to anyone concerned about the planet's future. rock on Dudes!