Goodbye Australia

We arrived in Sydney after a long bus ride from Byron Bay through the night arriving into Sydney around 6:30 AM. Our hostel was great located near the bus terminal and with free breakfast we dropped of our bags, grabbed a bite to eat and were off to see the city! Our first stop was Hyde Park and St. Mary's Cathedral located beautifully along the park. It was the first Catholic Church in Australia; opening in 1928. From Hyde Park you could get great views of the Sydney Tower; the highest observation deck in the city and the southern hemisphere. Heading closer into the citycenter we were able to see the State Theatre built in 1929, the most modern theatre of it's time and the Queen Victoria building which was built in the 1890's. Orginally a fruit and vegtable marketplace it was threatened with demolition in the 1950's and went under a $75 million referbishment in 1986, becoming a popular shopping center in Sydney. In the afternoon we explored Darling Harbor and got our first views of the Sydney Harbor bridge and Sydney Opera House. Day two in Sydney started with a stroll through the Art Gallery of New South Wales on the way to the Royal Botanical Gardens. Located along the harbor the gardens have been researched, grown, and conserved for over 200 years. It is a beautiful area; and is home to many creatures including bats! The large bats that are in Australia are incredible with huge wing span's and furry bodies! Just up from the gardens are is the Sydney Opera House, architectural concepts starting in the late 1960's it is a marvel that finally was finished in 1973. A must-do for the "locals" is to hit up the moonlight cinema; outdoor movies shown in various locations around the city. We decided hit up one on sunday evening; a great idea. We needed a change of pace on the third day, so we headed to The Blue Mountains. Located about 1.5 hours from the city, The Blue Mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range the third largest mountian range in the world. However, they are techincally not mountians only raised plataues with a series of gorges and valleys, which is incredible. The name is true to the character as well when the oil from the eucalypt trees combines with the particals in the air it looks blue, which is how they got their name. Stopping at several lookout points, waterfalls, and walking trails we were always captivated by the beauty and peacefulness of the area. The day also included a look at the 2000 summer olympic games park which was just outside of Sydney and a harbor cruise back into the city. We were able to get e some pretty incredible pictures from the cruise and the walk we took after arriving back into the city over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. On our last day in Sydney we went to Bondi Beach. Located just outside of the city center it's also a nice change of pace. The water was alot cooler than it was up north, but we still enjoyed a swim in the ocean before taking the costal walk from Bondi to Coogee. A beautiful walk along the ocean it had many great lookouts and small beaches along the way taking about two hours. In the evening we went out in King's Cross a popular spot and found some live music, which was great.
We left Sydney and headed back to Victoria, going to the small town of Wodonga. About twenty years ago my parents traveled to Australia and met two couples whom they still have kept in touch with. Now both living on hobby farms, it was great to get a feel for bit of the outback in Australia. The first couple have a great little hobby farm right in the heart of Allensflat which was part of the gold rush in the late 1800's. We enjoyed seeing the sights around their home visiting Rutherglen, Chiltern, Beechworth and Yackandandah. All gold rush towns, they are known as tourist desinations for many and are kept in true form for the period. Their farm sits beautifully in the valley, with an amazing garden, orchard, a few cattle and chickens. Victoria has been plagued with a draught for the last ten years, so the landscape is incredibly dry and quite dusty. Which with the warm weather temperatures reaching 44 degrees celcius while here; Reg & Pat were very concerned about the possiblities of bush fires.
We then traveled to Kyabram, another small community with orchards, vineyards, beef and dairy cattle farms in the area. The landscape here was much more similar to home, flat open land a few scattered trees and farms here and there. We had such a great time with Kaye & Wayne here seeing koalas and kangaroos in the wild, meeting their pet White Crusted Cockatoo named Cocky and seeing an orchard in the area. We were able to meet with the owner and discuss the general operation along with the current problems with the hot weather. The fruit is literally getting burnt on the tree which will cause a ten percent loss, possibly more. Another highlight was the Southern 80 a waterskiing race that is held on a windy river, the boats reaching speeds up to 80 km per hour while pulling two slolum skiers!
History was made and we were there when Victoria reached it's highest tempurature of 47 degrees celcius, which was heat like I have never known. It was as if you stepped straight in to a sauna with a fan blowing the heat on you, the winds mading it seem even more hot and dry. It also was the start of the bush fires that have hit Victoria so hard; several of the towns hit are places we were only days before and areas we had visited earlier in our trip. On our way back to Melbourne we drove though some the areas that had been hit by the fires, homes would be still standing with everything else burnt around them and some that weren't so fortunate were to the ground. We only saw a few like that, but many towns were not so lucky and about 180 lives were lost here so far. The bush fires and threats continue, the recovery and cleanup will take months to complete.
Back in Melbourne we took our last look at the city by visiting St. Kilda and Chapel Street. A similar feeling to Soho in New York, we had a great time going in and out of shops. The fashion here is relaxed with a clean edge, nothing to trendy or "tricked out" which is incredibly refreshing. St Kilda has a great feel to it we loved it. Another great part about Melbourne is the way they use their waterfront making it very acessiable to everyone with walking and bike paths, beaches, and docks. In the harbor here, we came across a ton of kite surfers which is like wake boarding without the boat; the kite pulls you with the wind. It was incredible to see them hit a wave and then just coast ever so gracefully into the air. It looked easy; but I'm sure it's not!! We said goodbye to our friend Paul and to Australia today... now the adventure begins in New Zealand!

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