Return to Oz

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As we write Australia seems a million miles away but lets go back for a quick round-up of the Oz leg of the 'down-under' part of our journey, otherwise we won't have done it the justice it deserves ...

In Sydney, basing ourselves at a hotel in Darling Harbour, we made full use of a 3-day travel pass by travelling just about all the ferry routes from Circular Quays as well as hopping on & off the Sydney & Bondi Beach Explorer buses at will. We ambled through the Botanic Gardens twice - on separate days - mainly because we liked them so much & because they're on the way to some stunning views (tip: photos best mid-morning) of the Bridge, Opera House & the downtown skyline. We walked across the Bridge, went swimming & sunbathing on the beach at nearby Manley and met up with one of Pete's genealogy contacts who lives near Rose Bay (he & his wife - with whom Pete shares a commmon ancestor - entertained us to supper & not surprisingly the chit-chat majored on family history stuff!).

On Sunday 13th November we flew out of Sydney & north to Cairns at about the same time as the new Airbus A380 flew into Sydney for the very first time (... just as well the male in our party didn't know this at the time!!). Anyway, we descended on the Williams's - Pete's aunt lives in Cairns - & all the family gathered for a BBQ & to catch up. The following day was taken at leisure (apart from a quick trip to the Babinda boulders) before we started a 750km 2-day round trip which saw us heading up to a place called Laura on the Cape York peninsula (Oz's 'sticky up bit' as Liz would describe it) - we climbed a nearby hill in rather hot conditions to view some impressive aboriginal rock drawings / paintings - and then on to Cooktown where our fellow countryman, Captain James Cook, first landed in Oz over 225 years earlier. On the second day we returned to Cairns to start with over some pretty dodgy terrain (the 4WD vehicle proved its worth) & then on down to the Daintree river crossing.

Next followed an early morning climb with 2 cuzs (yes,climb!) up Walsh's pyramid, a local hill & landmark near Gordonvale, then a full day out on the Great Barrier Reef (OK, so we've done it before but it still rates as one of those 'must dos') where Pete got more sun on the back of his legs than he should have done (... known as snorkeller's knee by the locals - think about it!). We topped off our visit to Far North Queensland with a trip up onto the Atherton tablelands where we took in a swim in Lake Eacham (a volcanic crater lake), viewings of the Cathedral & Curtain fig-trees (both gigantic, aptly named rainforest features) and a stop at Yungaburra cemetery where Pete's maternal grandmother is buried.

After a week in Cairns it was time to move on with a flight half way across Australia to the 'Red Centre' - here in little over 24 hours we saw sunset at the Olgas & sunrise at Ayers Rock (Uluru) as well as benefitting from a couple of good walks around the bases of these immense rock oddities, & being shown some live specimens of local fauna (snakes, spikey lizards,etc!). Our visit to Ayers Rock will also be partly remembered for our pre-booked package coming unstuck but with very helpful staff at the airport / Lost Camel hotel / AAT Kings tours the disaster that could have been wasn't.

After the short stopover at Ayers Rock, we arrived in Perth, Western Australia where a quick call at Qantas main office removed any disquiet about the next leg of the RTW trip (instead of the originally intended stop in Jakarta for 3 days we were now going straight to Hong Kong - a big thank-you to the Qantas man!). Now we had 4 days to see some of South Western Australia (the small 'chin' south of Perth & Freemantle) - probably best known for the excellent wineries around the Margaret River area. Whilst we did partake of the juice of the grape in small measure, we spent most of our time deep in the Giant Karri forests both walking in the treetop canopy (yes!) & at ground level, we also walked the 1.8km out into the Indian Ocean on Busselton pier and viewed the arresting sight of whales spouting just off Cape Naturaliste.

Australia had certainly lived up to our high expectations.

Next instalment coming shortly ... watch this space for our adventures in South East Asia!

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