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Been here a week now. Overwhelming impression of the New South Wales countryside is that everything is sunbleached. The locals say that they desperately need rain, but that doesn't account for the earth which is ochre at its darkest, the sand which is unremittingly white and the rock which is beige, or lighter. The rangeland, which is what most of New South Wales is, is brown, no more like tawny. The ubiquitous eucalyptus ("gum") trees lose their bark as they mature so their trunks are white; their leaves are a strange silver-blue. The occasional conifer is a welcome sight! There are very few towns or even villages as you drive in the country - and we're not talking about the outback here. Even along the coast the roads are eerily empty and houses are few and far between.
Arrived in Sydney a week ago and spent the first three days there. Stayed at a hotel on the beach in the suburbs, a 40 minute bus ride from downtown. Even better surf than we found in NZ. Explored Sydney by monorail and foot. Really enjoyed their botanic gardens. It's home to over 8000 fruitbats (aka flying foxes) which can have wingspans
of over a metre. Saw many hanging upside down from the tops of trees trying to get some shut-eye but only saw a couple flying. Spent over 6 hours in the Australia Museum learning about all things Australian. Since then we've spent two nights exploring the coast south of Sydney, seeing many, many Eastern Grey Kangaroos. Went to Canberra and had a tour of the Australian parliament building - new in 1988. The actual rooms for the House of Representatives and the Senate are similar to the Canadian equivalent but otherwise the place is very different. We went up on the roof and got a great view of the whole city. Canberra, being a planned city, has many (too many?) great wide boulevards, but with no shops, it's strangely sterile. Presumably they're tucked away in malls in the residential area - we never found any. Did find the National Zoo - and got to see various marsupials we had never seen live before like Tasmanian Devils, Wombats and Koalas. They didn't have any platypuses though so we are still waiting to see our first of those strange beasts. Drove through the "Snowy Mountains" (didn't see any snow - no harm done) and right down to the south coast in Victoria. Spent time hiking near the harbour at Lakes Entrance and saw the Penguin Parade at Philip Island. They have a great big grandstand set up so you can see the Little Penguins (aka Fairy or Blue Penguins) waddle in from their day in the ocean, across the beach and into their burrows in the grass. Quite the spectacle. Running out of time here... more later...
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anonymous
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Ubiquitous Eucalyptus
I am going to use this phrase in conversation someday, if it takes me years. I am going to have to practice saying it though. Any chance of seeing an Aussie Rules Footy match while in Victoria? If so you'll have to explain the game to me. I have watched a couple of times on TV - looks like a great game. Cheers! Dave - Dave Dennison