A few days in Australia...


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Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Brisbane
October 29th 2005
Published: November 28th 2005
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Most people want to hit me over the head when I tell them I only allotted 6 days to Australia, but can I just say- I agree! One day when I have more time and money, I will dedicate at least 6 months or a year to this big island, but for this trip it must remain as a stopover to New Zealand. Luckily I managed to cram in a few irreplacable events in my Ozzy days, starting in Brisbane.


Some of the travellers that I've met along the way have offered me their couch for my journey, but more often than not, they're not on my route. Lucky for me, I was able to take Deb (from Laos) up on her offer. I met Deb for lunch in downtown Brisbane and having filled my belly, I opted for a walk in the botanical gardens. I then laid down on the grass and soaked up the hot rays of sunshine. What a joy to have no more humidity on my travels for the next little while! The purple jacaranda trees above me swayed in the wind and soon enough sent me to the land of zzzz's. When I came
Brisbane Botanical GardensBrisbane Botanical GardensBrisbane Botanical Gardens

The numerous and beautiful jacaranda trees
to, I managed to find my way through the mangrove walkway over to the 'city cat' river ferry service for a look at how the locals live. Well, those that can afford the riverfront property!


That evening, Deb and I had a chance to gossip and have a laugh at some of the photos from our time spent in Laos. Reminders of the beautiful green country, and reminders to most definitly go back there one day. Time flew by and sleep was needed, so much so that I forgot to capture Deb on film on Ozzy soil. How unusual for me! In the morning, I joined Deb for her power walk to the train station followed by a leisurely coffee in the center of Sandgate. The caffeine alerted my senses, although did not put me in the rush mode as it did back in the working days! I strolled over to Brighton beach, isn't it funny how familiar place names keep popping up! Having lived in Brighton the UK, I must say it was just as enjoyable although very different! The sand reached far far out into Bramble Bay and several people ran along the edge of the waves. Dogs raced in front of their owners, gulls soared in the bright white skies above. Then there were the sandcrabs; I was mesmerized by these things! I had been walking along the edge of the sand at this point but when I looked over to my right I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. The sand was moving at the same pace as me, and in the same direction. Looking closer I realized that these tiny tiny critters ran from my shadow in their clusters of thousands. If I got too close they managed to curl into the sand within a few seconds. I felt like a kid again as I ran in circles and tried to fool them!


Having relaxed in suburbia I then ventured over to a tourist activity, The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. They have hundreds of koalas, young and old so it was a great chance to see the cuddly little creatures up close, I even held one for a few moments. Whilst exploring the rest of the grounds I was entertained by the kangaroos that decided not to go for the motel room. No shame in their business! I saw a wombat hiding in a log and a tasmanian devil snoring under a tree. Not quite as speedy as the cartoon version. Having taken in the joys of the beach and the cuddles of the koalas, I raced to the bus station and made my way down to Byron Bay.


After settling in in the hostel, I ambled along the streets and found a beer and a meal. A bit of window shopping afterwards, as opposed to joining the queues for the clubs. Even closed, the shops can tell you so much about a place. Rows and rows of bikinis, crystals with insense burners, and notice boards advertising yoga classes were all sandwiched along the two main streets in town. When I continued my walk in the morning I saw more dreadlocks than I have ever seen in my life. It was definitly a 'chilled' town defined by the beach that sat at the end of the high street. I was at one with myself sitting on the sand, watching everybody else between the lines of my book. For my second night in town I joined the hostel crowds for a bar-b-que and a few cocktails around the pool. I don't think the management quite knew about the drinks, but one of the lads filled the lifeguard role quite happily so I promise you we were safe!!


I finally managed to get in touch with some Irish cousins, just my luck that they were based in Brisbane. But family is family, so I returned to Brisbane and met up with the girls. The irony in meeting the Dunns was that the childrens' names are duplicated in my family (mom, aunt and myself). A few laughs and lots of silly photos followed by an absolutely cracking home cooked meal. Having travelled herself, Dorien knew of the missed comforts of life on the road! Did I say thank you? Wow, I'm still recalling the flavourful pleasures! In the morning I only had time for a walk along the seafront including a bit of family gossip, before I dashed for my plane down to Sydney. Repeating my time keeping prior for boarding planes, I literally had one minute to spare-but I made it! Brisbane had been such a joy for me, both times!


Sydney on a Saturday afternoon; I should be used to big cities by now but I continue to teeter with the love/hate relationship. After checking into the biggest YHA hostel I have ever seen in my travelling life, I hit the pavement. Shops, people, and fast food joints tucked into the maze of streets that I passed. Nothing grabbed me more than sinking into a comfy chair with a tub of popcorn in front of a big screen, so a movie it was.


When I pulled back the curtains in the morning, I saw nothing to cheer my numbed sense of exploration. But as drizzle should hardly be an excuse to miss the sights, I dug out my waterproof and circled the sights to see on the map. So what has Sydney got to offer? What hasn't it? It's a naturally beautiful modern city set amongst many bays of the harbour. I spoke to an old family friend that urged me to check out the beaches in Manly, and had the sun been out, I most certainly would have explored this and the famous Bondi Beach. But the wet skies kept me near the shops in 'The Rocks'. The buildings here have survived the last 100 years of expansion all around them resulting in Victorian charms poking out of the rooftops. After touring through the shops, past the Opera House arches and under the Harbour Bridge, the pages of my book and the visualization of soaking in the rooftop jacuzzi drew me back to the hostel. Yat another day is gone.


For my final day in what most people assume to be Australia's capital, (it's actually Canberra) I had to sort a few ticket issues out with my travel agent. A very boring few hours confirming dates etc. for the second leg of this 12 month tour. The day had cleared up a bit so I searched the pamphlets for action options for the afternoon. Hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmm, what might be a unique and exhilerating option to make up for a couple of dreary days? Seeing a photo of a few famous faces climbing over the arch of Sydney Harbour Bridge was enough for me. Afternoon action was born.


Arriving out of breath and with hot rubber under my soles, I slipped into the back of the group to listen to the instructions being given. A little regretful that I cooked with the extra garlic cloves the night before, I then had
The Dog WalkerThe Dog WalkerThe Dog Walker

I shared Brighton Beach with just a few others
to blow my sweet breath into a breathalizer machine. I suppose having a drunk on the top of the bridge is definitly a bad idea, so I didn't complain. I then had to strip down and jump into some sexy blue overalls, the kind that I thought I had left with the electricians from my past. And then to top it off, I had to walk through a metal detector so they could be sure I wasn't hiding any electrical equipment in my pants. (CAMERA'S are not allowed, what were you thinking I had to hide!!) For fear of anything dropping on people or cars below, I even had a hair scrunchi taken away from me! They gave me another one that actually clipped onto my dungarees. We then locked into the track that runs along the entire walkway ensuring that we didn't decide to take a giant leap of faith. It's a great system, and hearing the story of the man who started the company was quite inspiring. He spent 12 years working a way around all of the reasons he was told he couldn't do it, thus I got to climb to the top of the largest steel arch bridge in the world. The views were of course spectacular, the climb was in fact very easy. There were a couple of surprise views for me, as I hadn't expected to poke my head over the top of a ladder and find myself between lanes 7 and 8 of oncoming traffic! On the way back down one of the ladders I was also passed by a commuter train. The historical commentary from our guide was entertaining, I think there were only 15 people that died in building the bridge back in 1932. Bizarre how I seem to remember the death statistics! All in all it was well worth the $$ and a great way to kill my last afternoon in Australia.


But it's time to pack up again, this time bound for Christchurch on the eastcoast of New Zealand's south island. Five weeks in one country is definitly a record for me, but there is a lot I'm looking forward to experiencing in "KiwiLand". (and I'm sure they all hate me calling it that, so apologies ahead of time!!)











Additional photos below
Photos: 33, Displayed: 29


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One Gull...One Gull...
One Gull...

....or two?
Millions of crabsMillions of crabs
Millions of crabs

The funny little ozzy buggers
Sunglasses SagaSunglasses Saga
Sunglasses Saga

I have come to the conclusion that all glasses have a self destruct option that I seem to trigger too quickly
Mama Koala Mama Koala
Mama Koala

Probably one of the most photographed moms' in Australia


28th November 2005

HI from Oz
Giday Fiona, Loved your commentary of Oz. Looks like you packed a whole lot in whilst you were here. Look forward to having you back some time. Just about ready to quit my job and head off myself (I wish!). deb x
29th November 2005

great post
The crabs and the bridge are scary. Both for different reasons.
1st December 2005

lookin good
hi.....when you go back to Australia for 6 months i'm coming with you....it looks too good to be true. You seem to be shrinking again so keep up the good work and how many more months are you away for....it already seems like a year....by the way did i tell you that Daniel is the new James Bond? if i have sorry but i can never remember to whom i have told what....lots of love and i mean it...me
19th July 2006

Just to prove i've been reading
Hey, good to see pictures of sydney again, it is a very good place i assume you were staying in the big youth hostel at the bottom of george street, my god that one's very exspensive. A lot better than my one bedroom in balmain. It's a big place and needs at least 1 month to see all it's charms, even then you'll miss bits. Ron (well done on the blog, it's very good)

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