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Published: March 12th 2009
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We have been to Adelaide several times and always enjoy exploring this beautiful city. The port is large and located a fair distance from the city. The main exports of South Australia are the 3 Ws—wheat, wool and wine. This trip we went with Mary and Suzanne in their private van to the Adelaide Hills to visit the Cleland Wildlife Park where we saw kangaroos, dingo dogs, koala bears and Tasmanian devils. I think the koala bears were designed by Disney as they are so cute and cuddly you can hardly stand it. We saw mama kangaroos with their little joeys peeking out from mom’s convenient pouch. We happened upon a park attendant who was carrying around a huge snake of the constrictor family. I didn’t hang around long enough to find out the snake’s lineage or get a friendly squeeze.
We went to the Handorf Hill Winery which is a boutique winery in the famous Barossa Valley wine region. Australia has made a name for itself in the viticulture world and now is producing and exporting top rated wines. They are called “new world wines” and are noted for their freshness and unique flavors.
This area was settled
A Day in the Park
Suzanne, Penland, NC and Mary, Juno Beach, FL by Germans fleeing religious persecution in the early 1800s. They brought their winemaking skills along with their architecture and food style with them. The village of Handorf was the first settlement of these immigrants and they prospered in their new homeland. Now Handorf is a favorite tourist stop noted for its quaintness and artsy atmosphere. You could probably even stumble upon a tasty wiener schnitzel if you were in the mood for one. We were all thinking more in terms of Asian food, so our guide took us back to Adelaide and dropped us in Chinatown where we had a super lunch of roasted duck and noodles.
We had a smooth, if chilly crossing of the Great Australian Bight. It seems the “bighting” wind was coming directly from the South Pole. We had a very short stay in Albany so we had to cover some ground quickly. Albany is one of the oldest settlements in Western Australia and was originally a British penal colony. It became a whaling center and flourished for over 100 years. It was the last bit of Australia the troops saw before going off to fight in the Great War. Now it is a pretty
Monty Python
Really....he won't hurt you....much! sleepy market town where we are always greeted like long lost relatives by the local populace. They even set up a crafts market in our honor or at least to honor our wallets. But they weren’t as much interested in selling their wares as they were in just talking to us visitors. When we stopped to chat with Steve and Karolyn, a newspaper reporter asked to talk with us about our trip and took our picture for the Albany Advertiser News. Apparently the arrival of a ship is a newsworthy item in this remote part of the world. When we cruised out that afternoon, we could see all the coastal roads lined with cars filled with residents to see us off.
After leaving Albany we turned the corner on southwest Australia and entered the Indian Ocean and warm weather and flat seas. Upon our arrival in Fremantle we were picked up by our friend Ann who lives in Perth—which is just a hop, skip and a jump up the Swan River from “Freo.” Fremantle was the sight of the 1987 America’s Cup Race and is still a very active port for both recreational boating and fishing fleets.
We
ANN
Our Perth Paddle Partner have known Ann for several years having met on the paddle tennis court on board the Voyager. She is a successful businesswoman, bridge player and has a wicked tennis backhand. Ann has one of the most unusual homes we have ever visited which she pretty much designed and decorated herself. The original building was a store house in downtown Perth which Ann converted over to a lovely home right out of Architectural Digest. The combination of native wood, original brick and wrought iron all blend to create a very pleasing décor.
After strolling around Fremantle, which is a very picturesque city with its old buildings and markets and cafes, Ann drove us up to Perth. The city is built around the Swan River and is laid out in a very organized fashion and filled with parks. Ann treated us to a fresh seafood lunch at her home and then it was back to Fremantle for our departure for points north. As much fun as it is to visit Ann in Perth we can’t wait to cruise with her again. We missed seeing our other friend Joan who is the sister of our Sydney friends. With such a short time
in port it is tough to do everything that we want. Several years ago we had an overnight in Perth and Joan treated us to a wonderful dance show held outside in a former quarry. It was a stunning setting for a night under the stars with the music and lights resonating off the quarry walls.
Our final stop in Australia was in Exmouth. This tiny outpost on the edge of Australia is about as rural as you can get. The town was founded in 1964 and has a population of about 2000 hardy souls who mostly work in the dive business during tourist season. The downtown consists of a prefab square of buildings with about 10 shops and that’s it. We had read that there was a Chinese restaurant in town, so we asked a few residents if they would recommend it. None of the people had ever even tried the restaurant. When I asked them why, they just shrugged their shoulders and said they weren’t interested in doing such a thing. I found this quite odd as there are only three or four restaurants within about a three hundred mile radius—so there aren’t a lot of choices
for social outings. I would think that if you lived here you would at least give it a go once or twice just for the sake of something different to do. As it turns out half (two) of the local restaurants were closed for the season including the shunned Chinese café.
The tour book describes Exmouth as hot and charmless. The bus driver said that in summer the temperature often reaches 130 degrees for days on end. It gets so hot that often you can see kangaroos wading in the ocean waters, just to cool off. We saw a number of wild emu seeking shade under the few trees scattered about. Many of the passengers took the shuttle to town and turned around in ten minutes retreating back to the comfort of the air-conditioned ship. Exmouth is a long way from Sydney both in miles and in way of life.
We had a sail-away party planned for the outer deck, but with the thermometer pushing 100 degrees we decided to take it inside. We love visiting Australia because it is such a varied, exciting and interesting place. But mostly we enjoy renewing our ties with our good Aussie
friends.
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