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"The girls"
Small clawed Asian River otters. They were the animals having the best time at the zoo!! Here they are anxious to please their trainer and get some FISH!! I may have gone overboard with all the animal photos in this entry, but our visit to the Australia Zoo showed us so many new animals that neither of us had ever seen!! So we hope you enjoy the pictures of koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devil, kookaburra and more!! I also want to give Randy credit as the photographer, which he is and has been for almost all the blogs (except the ones with my parents). If you would like to see more pictures from our trips, please look at his album on www.picasaweb.google.com/rhaxelrod
I was lucky to have another 6 days off (love this work schedule!), and since we have seen most of the South Island of New Zealand, it seemed a good time to branch out and start exploring Australia, locally known as "Oz" or "Ozzie". As Australia is a mere 1500 miles across the Tasman sea ("hopping the ditch"), we picked up a discount fare from Jetstar airline (carry on luggage only!!) and caught a 6 am flight to Brisbane. This meant we had to get up at 2 AM to drive the 2 hours to Christchurch to catch our flight, so by the time we
How about a little snack?
Would you sell this guy life insurance? arrived in Australia we needed a wee nap to get through the day!! We immediately set out north of the city, and stopped for lunch at a cute seaside town called "Redcliffe" where I had the Jewish version of Eggs Benedict: a kosher (??!!) bagel topped with smoked salmon, poached egg, and hollandaise on baby spinach with sun dried tomatoes!! After checking out the promenade we continued to explore the seaside towns on our way north to our destination, "Noosa". It was lovely to be in the sunshine and warmth as winter is rapidly creeping up on the South Island. Travelling on highway M-1 was odd as it was the first high speed road we had experienced in months!!
By 7:30 pm we were both exhausted, so we settled into our hostel in Noosa Heads and fell asleep. It was good that we decided to retire early, because just before 3 AM we were suddenly awakened by a large CRASH/BANG and the sound of running feet outside in the hall. As I sat up I was aware that our room was filling rapidly with dust, and I thought perhaps there had been an earthquake and that the walls
Kookaburra
you know, "Kookaburra lives in the old gum tree.." were crumbling around us. I vaguely heard Randy say, "What? Are they fumigating the room?" and in my confusion I couldn't figure out why he would think that at such an hour. It seemed like it took a long time for me to find my robe and slippers, but it couldn't have really been more than 90 seconds until we made it out of the room. As the light went on, I noted a white dust swirling so thickly in our room so that I could barely see in front of me. Expecting a ruined mess as the door opened, we noted with surprise that the building was still standing, and a fire extinguisher was on the floor in the hall---then the fire alarms went off. As the hostel awakened and filed out into the parking lot, we realized that some joker had shoved the hose from the fire extinguisher under OUR door and discharged the entire canister into our room!!! How lucky can you get? Recovering my suitcase, which had been left open, I discovered all my clothes were coated with the powder, not to mention all of ME-which is how my hair turned totally white in the night!!!!
Wombat alert!!
This guy is genetically related to the koala bear!! Have a look at his face.. Ultimately we were transferred to a lovely one room studio in an oceanside resort, and we took it as an omen and stayed at the SeaHaven Resort for the next 2 nights!!
Over the next 2 days we explored some of the countryside outside of Noosa, spent some time at the beautiful Noosa national park(where we saw a koala in a tree and a goanna lizard) and walked the 3 hour "Coastal Route". It seemed like there were birds singing everywhere we went, and I hadn't realized how used to the NZ birds I had become, but these birdsongs were all different.
We also spent a morning at the famous "Eumundi Market" in a neighboring town, which Randy and I agree was the most incredible market we have ever seen. My favorite food stalls were "Topless Tarts" and the "Paella Fella" but there were tapas, Dutch pancakes, local cheese and yogurt, and more!! There were also some pretty high quality craft items. My favorite thing,however, was a life-size dog puppet show, and the puppeteer played guitar and made up dog-friendly lyrics to popular songs. It was a riot!!
The next day we even got
Snuggly Koala
After a eucalyptus snack, time for a nappy in a half day at the beach. I managed to get into the water in about 5 minutes, record time for me, but within another few minutes both Randy and I realized that we were getting itchy. We got out of there and soaked in the pool until the itching stopped and were later told that there is something called "sea lice" that floats in there occasionally. YUCK!
The town of Noosa and surrounds is quite upscale and the waterfront properties around the canals look just like Florida!! There is an oceanfront area and a family oriented riverside park in Noosaville. (Do you think Dr Seuss made that name up?) All around the Queensland area (of which Brisbane and the "Sunshine Coast" are part) the parks have FREE GAS BARBEQUES!! Can you imagine how long they would stay in working order in the States??
As we made our way south to Brisbane, we spent most of the day at the amazing Australia Zoo. I think they did a very good job of maintaining natural environments for the animals while permitting the best viewing by guests; a tricky thing to do well. It seemed that a lot
Tasmanian Devil
This endangered species is very shy and seems pretty cuddly. I was told the name is due to the fact that his ears turn bright red when he gets upset!! of the emphasis was on conservation and saving the endangered species while allaying the fears of most people when faced with snakes and crocs.
A brief stop at the Glass House Mountains afforded us a very good look at these interesting volcanic plugs which are 9 odd shaped mountains arising from the flat plain. (Dr Seuss at work again?)
Neither Randy nor I are big city fans, but we were both very impressed with Brisbane itself. The city is modern, clean (we saw no trash on the streets, no graffiti!), felt very safe and had excellent public transportation. The city has a population of about 4 million, which is the same as the whole population of New Zealand, but it didn't feel terribly crowded. The Brisbane River forms an "S" shape and the city is built on both sides of it, so the ferries crossing the river are a major route of travel. We took the ferry end to end for entertainment and sightseeing ($5), and we were amazed at the sheer number of waterfront properties lining the river!!! This city seems quite wealthy. Also, we couldn't figure out where the "wackos" were. We saw about
Koala snoozing in tree
....which is pretty much all they do!! 3 homeless people, no beggars, no drunks, no muttering mentally ill as is usual in all American cities. Do they just pack them up and send them somewhere? Or do they know something that we Americans don't? Now that I think of it, I have seen virtually NO poverty in either NZ or Australia during my 10 months here!!!
Please be sure to look at the notations under all the photos for the full story, and notice that there are 3 pages of photos to view. If you double click on a photo you can see it enlarged.
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Elizabeth
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pictures
Lots of beautifuk picturs- but where are the ones with your white hair?? would love to see that:))