Started off early with a walk down the beach and around the town of Port Macquarie. It’s a sweet little beach/lake/port town, and we’d really like to spend more time here. But, today, we are headed out to the Sydney area to tour the Hunter Wine Valley and then the Blue Mountains.
Headed out about 8 and found our way south to the Hunter. Made it there just before lunch time and gathered tons of information from the main info center in Cessnock. Mapped out our strategy to hit a few wineries and the cheese factory. The Hunter Valley was just lovely. You would have thought on a Saturday in the fall, with perfect weather (70 degrees and not a cloud in the skies) that the place would be packed. It wasn’t.
The little lanes that run in and along all the vineyards had few cars on them. They were all 2 lane little country roads with picturesque vineyards on each side. Tall trees lined most of the roads, and it was really a lovely, relaxing drive through the hundreds of wineries. We chose to visit Pepper Tree, which is a beautiful little vineyard with their processing center right on sight. I liked their wines the best – they have a Verdelho varietal that is excellent. Their Semillon is also very good. After Pepper Tree, headed to Lindeman’s (of course, they are one of my favorites). Tasted a bunch of wine, Semillon and Verdelho – but nothing as good as Pepper Tree. Did have some cheese samples there as well as fudge (oh boy, was that good – step away from the fudge!!! Remember you’re going on a cruise where you need to fit into your ball gown!!!).
Next stop was the cheese factory, where all the buses were! Yep, we found the tourist hub. Original plans were to buy some cheese, have a snack somewhere along the route and then head to Blue Mountains. Ended up just tasting all the cheese they had (brie was excellent and the marinated feta the best!), then leaving without buying. Filled up on the samples and figured we didn’t really need any more!
Headed out to the Blue Mountains the “back way”. Instead of re-tracing our steps through the Hunter, we went out through Broke – and into the Yunga National Park. Road was brutal – turns, switch backs, rocks jutting out of the sides of cliffs onto the road, motorcycle demons flying up and around you at any given time. Beautiful through the mountains, but really tough on Ed driving. It was the most direct route from where we were, but it was a tough drive.
Finally made the turn onto the Great Western Highway toward the Blue Mountains. This area is also a weekend retreat from Sydney. Beautiful mountains that have a blue “sheen” to them from reflected sunlight, loads of small mountain villages (now turned touristy), lots of scenery and nature walks. We arrived at our hotel/apartment early and walked through tiny little Leura to get our bearings. A handful of boutique gift shops, bottle shops and restaurants. Quaint and cute.
Tired of the 30 Aud entrees and 18 dollar salads, we decided to go Chinese tonight. Had two excellent combinations – one sizzling (kind of sweet and sour) and one satay (ginger/peanut). Very good, quick, and filling. Back to the hotel for TV and reading, then bed. Off to Sydney tomorrow! Our Australian adventure is almost done – can’t believe that we’ve been here this long already.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Early morning, long day (4/13)
Made it up and out at the crack of dawn, well before dawn actually, to the airport and onto our 6:30 am flight! Yuk! But we knew we had a huge day in front of us driving half way to Sydney from Brisbane. It was a very long day, but it was great driving down the coast through all these little seaside towns and farm country. The coastland is lovely, but it quickly turns in to farmland. Then the farmland turns into semi-tropical pine forest that also has banana plantations scattered through them! After a while the road then follows a river around for kilometers – just a hugely varying landscape the whole day.
There are great signs all along the roads- watch for Kangaroos, Koalas Wombats. Signs telling you that there is “crossing stock” on the road. A kilometer didn’t go by when I wasn’t on a Koala, Roo or Moo lookout! Fortunately we didn’t see any – live or road kill.
One thing we did notice here is that they are big time serious about speed limits, fatigue and “drink” driving. For speeding they use cameras that take your picture and then your ticket just shows up in the mail. People pay attention, that’s for sure. We have not seen hardly anyone speeding, or driving crazy. They all go the speed limit or a little above. And rightly so, most of the time the speed limit is 100Km so it’s not like they want you to go slow!
The fatigue thing is big here – we guess because the country is so huge and you do so much driving. Everywhere on the road are big signs tell you to stop every 2 hours to rest, revive, survive. They even have driver reviver stops where you can get free coffee. Big banners are placed up and down the road asking you to “Please slow down”.
Also drink driving is under intense scrutiny over here. Every day there are articles in the newspapers about offenders, on TV there are shows about it. Apparently Easter weekend is a huge drinking holiday here and they stepped up the media because of it.
The schools are all out for 2 weeks this time of year too, so there are lots of folks out and about on holiday. Not too crazy the places we’ve been, but people have said that it’s been very busy.
Other things we’ve seen on our drive: The Big Prawn (huge prawn in the lawn of a restaurant of the same name); The Big Banana (huge banana over the entrance of the Big Banana gift shop); Big Rock (a restaurant that had a roof that look like a huge rock). They like BIG things here!!!
Arrived in Port Macquarie after our all day drive. The hotel was awesome. Huge one bedroom apartment looking right out at the water and the small beach in town – it’s a shame we’re only here for one night. Wandered through the little shopping town and hit the bottle store (OK – Maggi and Richard stop reading) – found the deal of the century on box wine. Lindeman’s no less, 4 liter boxes of wine for 7.99 Aud – that’s like $6 US. Yeah, I stocked up! Hoping to find more bargains like that to keep me in wine for the entire trip!
Dinner at the restaurant downstairs at the hotel/apartment complex, salt and pepper calamari salad to start, then mahi mahi with garlic parsley sauce and Mixed grill which had enough meat for both of us – lamb chop, filet, prawns, sausage, bacon with a seeded mustard sauce that was so good I had to ask for the ingredients. All excellent – we shared everything and were very happy.
Oh – another thing now that we’re in New South Wales, lots of restaurants have BYO where you can bring your own wine and pay a small fee (4 Aud at this restaurant) and drink your own. You also have to look out for restaurants that aren’t “licensed”, they are BYO only.
That’s it for our long day’s drive. Tomorrow the Hunter Wine Valley and Blue Mountains.
There are great signs all along the roads- watch for Kangaroos, Koalas Wombats. Signs telling you that there is “crossing stock” on the road. A kilometer didn’t go by when I wasn’t on a Koala, Roo or Moo lookout! Fortunately we didn’t see any – live or road kill.
One thing we did notice here is that they are big time serious about speed limits, fatigue and “drink” driving. For speeding they use cameras that take your picture and then your ticket just shows up in the mail. People pay attention, that’s for sure. We have not seen hardly anyone speeding, or driving crazy. They all go the speed limit or a little above. And rightly so, most of the time the speed limit is 100Km so it’s not like they want you to go slow!
The fatigue thing is big here – we guess because the country is so huge and you do so much driving. Everywhere on the road are big signs tell you to stop every 2 hours to rest, revive, survive. They even have driver reviver stops where you can get free coffee. Big banners are placed up and down the road asking you to “Please slow down”.
Also drink driving is under intense scrutiny over here. Every day there are articles in the newspapers about offenders, on TV there are shows about it. Apparently Easter weekend is a huge drinking holiday here and they stepped up the media because of it.
The schools are all out for 2 weeks this time of year too, so there are lots of folks out and about on holiday. Not too crazy the places we’ve been, but people have said that it’s been very busy.
Other things we’ve seen on our drive: The Big Prawn (huge prawn in the lawn of a restaurant of the same name); The Big Banana (huge banana over the entrance of the Big Banana gift shop); Big Rock (a restaurant that had a roof that look like a huge rock). They like BIG things here!!!
Arrived in Port Macquarie after our all day drive. The hotel was awesome. Huge one bedroom apartment looking right out at the water and the small beach in town – it’s a shame we’re only here for one night. Wandered through the little shopping town and hit the bottle store (OK – Maggi and Richard stop reading) – found the deal of the century on box wine. Lindeman’s no less, 4 liter boxes of wine for 7.99 Aud – that’s like $6 US. Yeah, I stocked up! Hoping to find more bargains like that to keep me in wine for the entire trip!
Dinner at the restaurant downstairs at the hotel/apartment complex, salt and pepper calamari salad to start, then mahi mahi with garlic parsley sauce and Mixed grill which had enough meat for both of us – lamb chop, filet, prawns, sausage, bacon with a seeded mustard sauce that was so good I had to ask for the ingredients. All excellent – we shared everything and were very happy.
Oh – another thing now that we’re in New South Wales, lots of restaurants have BYO where you can bring your own wine and pay a small fee (4 Aud at this restaurant) and drink your own. You also have to look out for restaurants that aren’t “licensed”, they are BYO only.
That’s it for our long day’s drive. Tomorrow the Hunter Wine Valley and Blue Mountains.
Walking in the Rain…..Forest (4/12)
Once again, started out the day walking down the beach and to the marina in Yorkey’s Knob. Very warm and humid – but – hey – we’re in the tropics! And we’re reminded of that every morning about 6 am when this bizarre bird starts singing – if you can call it singing. Sounds like a sick monkey!
Decided once again not to go to the Reef. While it appeared the wind had died down on shore, we weren’t certain about out on the reef, so we just chalked it up to bad luck and headed north to Daintree and the Rainforest.
Took us about an hour and a half on a fantastic drive up the coast. Beautiful scenery, twisty turny roads again, but well worth it for the views and the rainforest. We arrived in Daintree, which is a small little tourist outpost with a few gift shops, 2 restaurants and booking windows for all the different river and rainforest tours available. We had read about a rainforest walk called Tranquility Tours. Husband and wife team, walk through the forest to a waterfall, learn about the history of the property, etc. Sounded really fun – there was a 10:30 and 1:30 tour available. Unfortunately the 10:30 was sold out – we didn’t really want to wait for the 1:30, were thinking about going back into another town about 30 km away to walk a gorge, but then the tour booking agent talked us into a package deal where we got a Daintree River tour, lunch and the rainforest walk for a package price. Figured, when all the shooting was done, we got the lunch for free so we took it.
Turned out to be a great day in Daintree. The river tour was very fun – saw 2 crocodiles, learned all about them in the process: their body temperature controls everything, stomach, energy, reproduction, you name it; the females hold up better than the males because they don’t fight as much (go figure!); they are called salty dogs (so now I know where all those beach restaurant names come from!). Just a fun trip on the river. Came back for lunch which was really good – pan fried Barrimundi and the Daintree Delight – Crocodile wontons (yes, crocodile – and it tastes like chicken – what did you expect?), barrimundi spring rolls and sugar cane prawns. Both were excellent –and gave us our energy for the rainforest walk.
As it turns out, it was just the two of us on the tour. They didn’t have anyone else, so we ended up with a private tour with Di, one of the proprietors of Tranquility Tours. Di and her husband Craig bought about 100 acres of rainforest about 8 years ago to farm and to open a rental cottage (what they call self-accommodation). A few years later, while researching some information they found out about the original owners of the land, they decided to add the rainforest walk to try to impart their historical knowledge as well as teach people about the rainforest and the ecosystem.
It was a fascinating tour. The original owners of the land was a family from Paris who moved to Australia after being bilked by a con artist selling property in Papa New Guinea. They landed in Sydney then somehow sailed up the Daintree and purchased this property. The family lived on the land for quite a few years, but crop failure from floods, and pestilence, illness which took the lives of a few of their children and Maori attacks forced them to move back to Sydney and abandon their land. During the walk thought the forest, Di relayed the story as well as pointing out where the Chinese workers houses were located and the main family home. They’ve found quite a few artifacts from the family and are researching the details through a couple books a daughter and the wife have written.
In addition to discussing the history, Di also shared a lot of rainforest facts. Different vines, how they grow, ferns, edible plants, the oldest plant in the rainforest, the original Red Pine that started the entire development of the Daintree river and rainforest. It was a fabulous walk – it poured rain a couple times – it is a rainforest after all – but that just made it even better. We arrived at their waterfall at the end of the walk – it was just mind blowing! This huge waterfall on their property where Di swims every day. Just amazing to think that someone could own that! We could have stayed there all day.
As Di drove us back to our car down a 10km long gravel road through the farmland, we came upon a baby calf that had just been born that day. It could barely walk and still was wet from birth. Right on the side of the road walking (or trying to walk!) with it’s mom.
Left Daintree and headed back to our home away from home in Yorkey’s Knob. Went to dinner early as we knew we had to be up at 4 and out by 4:45 to catch our early morning flight to Brisbane. Went to the Marina which has a huge bar and restaurant. It’s a semi-fast food type place (which seems to be the rage over here). You walk in, grab a menu, sit at any table. When you are ready, you go to the counter and order and pay for your meal. They give you a number and you go back to your table with your number and they serve you when it’s ready. Drinks are ordered in the same way, but you take them away with you. Great meal, but kind of odd since you do half the work! At any rate, we sat outside under a huge tent and watched it pour down rain (that’s what you get when you come to Australia in the wet season!), and had a great time.
Decided once again not to go to the Reef. While it appeared the wind had died down on shore, we weren’t certain about out on the reef, so we just chalked it up to bad luck and headed north to Daintree and the Rainforest.
Took us about an hour and a half on a fantastic drive up the coast. Beautiful scenery, twisty turny roads again, but well worth it for the views and the rainforest. We arrived in Daintree, which is a small little tourist outpost with a few gift shops, 2 restaurants and booking windows for all the different river and rainforest tours available. We had read about a rainforest walk called Tranquility Tours. Husband and wife team, walk through the forest to a waterfall, learn about the history of the property, etc. Sounded really fun – there was a 10:30 and 1:30 tour available. Unfortunately the 10:30 was sold out – we didn’t really want to wait for the 1:30, were thinking about going back into another town about 30 km away to walk a gorge, but then the tour booking agent talked us into a package deal where we got a Daintree River tour, lunch and the rainforest walk for a package price. Figured, when all the shooting was done, we got the lunch for free so we took it.
Turned out to be a great day in Daintree. The river tour was very fun – saw 2 crocodiles, learned all about them in the process: their body temperature controls everything, stomach, energy, reproduction, you name it; the females hold up better than the males because they don’t fight as much (go figure!); they are called salty dogs (so now I know where all those beach restaurant names come from!). Just a fun trip on the river. Came back for lunch which was really good – pan fried Barrimundi and the Daintree Delight – Crocodile wontons (yes, crocodile – and it tastes like chicken – what did you expect?), barrimundi spring rolls and sugar cane prawns. Both were excellent –and gave us our energy for the rainforest walk.
As it turns out, it was just the two of us on the tour. They didn’t have anyone else, so we ended up with a private tour with Di, one of the proprietors of Tranquility Tours. Di and her husband Craig bought about 100 acres of rainforest about 8 years ago to farm and to open a rental cottage (what they call self-accommodation). A few years later, while researching some information they found out about the original owners of the land, they decided to add the rainforest walk to try to impart their historical knowledge as well as teach people about the rainforest and the ecosystem.
It was a fascinating tour. The original owners of the land was a family from Paris who moved to Australia after being bilked by a con artist selling property in Papa New Guinea. They landed in Sydney then somehow sailed up the Daintree and purchased this property. The family lived on the land for quite a few years, but crop failure from floods, and pestilence, illness which took the lives of a few of their children and Maori attacks forced them to move back to Sydney and abandon their land. During the walk thought the forest, Di relayed the story as well as pointing out where the Chinese workers houses were located and the main family home. They’ve found quite a few artifacts from the family and are researching the details through a couple books a daughter and the wife have written.
In addition to discussing the history, Di also shared a lot of rainforest facts. Different vines, how they grow, ferns, edible plants, the oldest plant in the rainforest, the original Red Pine that started the entire development of the Daintree river and rainforest. It was a fabulous walk – it poured rain a couple times – it is a rainforest after all – but that just made it even better. We arrived at their waterfall at the end of the walk – it was just mind blowing! This huge waterfall on their property where Di swims every day. Just amazing to think that someone could own that! We could have stayed there all day.
As Di drove us back to our car down a 10km long gravel road through the farmland, we came upon a baby calf that had just been born that day. It could barely walk and still was wet from birth. Right on the side of the road walking (or trying to walk!) with it’s mom.
Left Daintree and headed back to our home away from home in Yorkey’s Knob. Went to dinner early as we knew we had to be up at 4 and out by 4:45 to catch our early morning flight to Brisbane. Went to the Marina which has a huge bar and restaurant. It’s a semi-fast food type place (which seems to be the rage over here). You walk in, grab a menu, sit at any table. When you are ready, you go to the counter and order and pay for your meal. They give you a number and you go back to your table with your number and they serve you when it’s ready. Drinks are ordered in the same way, but you take them away with you. Great meal, but kind of odd since you do half the work! At any rate, we sat outside under a huge tent and watched it pour down rain (that’s what you get when you come to Australia in the wet season!), and had a great time.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
The Reef? Not in 10 foot seas! (4/11/07)
Well, the headline should say it all. We jettisoned the Reef today as there were 10 foot seas and 20-30 knot winds. While I told Ed I’d brave it out, we decided it would not be a fun trip for either of us if I was either green or sleeping the entire time. So – Plan B. To the Atherton Tablelands to explore the rainforest and the outback.
After walking on the beach for a while (very pretty, very “Lost”-like) we headed out early to the Tablelands. Went first through the mountains on a switch back road that took us past Kuranda (the tourist spot for aborigine and rainforest visiting), and on to Mareeba. The little town is very cute and old school (think Mayberry) with diagonal parking on each side of the road and little cafes and hardware stores and the like. We stopped at the info center where a very nice girl gave us all the information we would ever need to find our way around the tablelands.
After a coffee and cappuccino at the local lunch spot, Natashi’s, we decided to head out to the outback. Although it was a 2 hour drive, we thought it might be the only chance we’d have to see it this trip since we are sticking pretty close to the coast. Headed out to Chillagoe on the “Wheelbarrow Way”. Signage here is EXCELLENT btw! We are so happy to be able to follow all the route signs, etc. Haven’t made a wrong turn yet – watch – that will jinx us for the Gold Coast!!
Anyhow – the Wheelbarrow Way gets it’s name from the Gold Rush when all the miners looking for a stake would walk down this route pushing all their belongings in a wheelbarrow. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Mareeba which is a 30 minute drive from Yorkey’s Knob. So a long way to go – but so worthy it.
Once out of Mareeba, the scenery turns to farmland. A 2 lane road through sugar cane and coffee tree fields. As you approach Dimbulah, a small outpost on the road that reminds you of the old west (blink and you miss it, a bar, a general store, a hotel and a board walk just like in John Wayne’s heyday!!). the scenery becomes more scrub like and desolate. There are thousands of sandstone looking towers – like anthills or termite hills – all over the fields. We couldn’t figure out what they were – and there sure wasn’t anyone to ask! We wouldn’t see a car from kilometers. Maybe saw 5 cars the entire time we drove out to Chillagoe.
The road turns narrow at a little town called Petford – and there are cows all around, sometimes in the middle of road just looking at you as you come barreling down lonely stretches at 100 K, Brakes are a very important thing to have in the Outback! Then once past the cows, the road turns to gravel – yep – that’s right – on and off for 30 kilometers – it is gravel and rocks and red clay. And us American city slickers are being passed by the 5 cars we’ve seen at astonishing rates. These guys just barrel though these roads! When they say 100K, they aren’t kidding!! So – we just ate their dust and kept on driving.
We crossed one lane bridges that had no railings just a concrete track across the water. You could see where the floods hit all around. We drove through scrub and termite hills, around limestone outcroppings. Just amazing. And marveled at the fact that every truck had a snorkel on it! Obviously the engines are sealed and the snorkel is attached to the air filter so the truck can go through 3, 4, 5 feet of water and still operate! I want one!!! Just think what that would have done for the old truck during Isabel!
We finally arrived in Chillagoe – and it was all an outback town should be. A general grocery with you name it, and a very friendly owner who told us all about her trip to Minneapolis in the February and how she wants to go back in the summer. The inevitable tourist information center where you could book any tour you wanted – and of course the one cross road in town. So isolated, but such a community.
Stopped for pictures, apples and a soda, then headed back to the coast. Drive back was a little quicker as we were more familiar with the roads so we could drive a little faster. Had wanted to detour and see some old historic towns along another “Wheelbarrow Way” route, but the turn off was all dirt and we decided our Hyundai was better suited for paved roadways. Did decide to go back to Cairns by way of Atherton and Yungaburra which was a good detour. Yungaburra is a cute little community with a ton of restaurants and trendy shops, but for us, the best part was the Curtain Fig Tree. This tree was amazing (yes, we’ll figure out how to post pictures soon!). It started out as one Fig tree, then scavenger trees attacked it and started growing on the original tree, which of course killed it. Over time, the scavenger trees keep multiplying and finally the whole tree system fell over, so now the roots of all the trees are in the air searching for the ground so it’s like thousands of roots forming a huge curtain. Well, you’ll just have to wait for the pictures, because it’s too hard to explain!
The Curtain Fig Tree rounded out our sightseeing adventure. We then headed into Cairns proper. The city is an adorable beach town, right on the water with a huge esplanade that runs the length of the bay. A wonderful “lagoon” is at the center of the esplanade where you can swim during the day. It’s basically a pool at the edge of the bay, but It’s very artfully designed to appear as a lagoon or infinity pool. Along the town streets there are travel/tour agents galore as well as trinkets and souvenir shops and restaurants.
We walked the esplanade and then chose a restaurant that had a 25% discount if we were seated by 6 and “vacated” by 7. Worked for us!! Called Mangostino’s, the menu was perfect for us. More seafood than Italian, outdoor seating so we could look over the Esplanade and the bay. We ordered the Seafood platter for one, and the Mangostino’s basket. Both came with Prawns, barrimundi, scallops, calamari and Moreton Bay Bugs! I finally had my bay bug!! The bay bug looks like a lobster but tastes like a cross between lobster and a large crayfish. Excellent! Between the 2 of us we had 4 to share, we were in heaven! Finished dinner and headed back to the hotel in the nightly down pour. It’s definitely the rainy season here – don’t go out with out your brelly after 5pm!!
Tomorrow we head for the rainforest. More from there…..
After walking on the beach for a while (very pretty, very “Lost”-like) we headed out early to the Tablelands. Went first through the mountains on a switch back road that took us past Kuranda (the tourist spot for aborigine and rainforest visiting), and on to Mareeba. The little town is very cute and old school (think Mayberry) with diagonal parking on each side of the road and little cafes and hardware stores and the like. We stopped at the info center where a very nice girl gave us all the information we would ever need to find our way around the tablelands.
After a coffee and cappuccino at the local lunch spot, Natashi’s, we decided to head out to the outback. Although it was a 2 hour drive, we thought it might be the only chance we’d have to see it this trip since we are sticking pretty close to the coast. Headed out to Chillagoe on the “Wheelbarrow Way”. Signage here is EXCELLENT btw! We are so happy to be able to follow all the route signs, etc. Haven’t made a wrong turn yet – watch – that will jinx us for the Gold Coast!!
Anyhow – the Wheelbarrow Way gets it’s name from the Gold Rush when all the miners looking for a stake would walk down this route pushing all their belongings in a wheelbarrow. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Mareeba which is a 30 minute drive from Yorkey’s Knob. So a long way to go – but so worthy it.
Once out of Mareeba, the scenery turns to farmland. A 2 lane road through sugar cane and coffee tree fields. As you approach Dimbulah, a small outpost on the road that reminds you of the old west (blink and you miss it, a bar, a general store, a hotel and a board walk just like in John Wayne’s heyday!!). the scenery becomes more scrub like and desolate. There are thousands of sandstone looking towers – like anthills or termite hills – all over the fields. We couldn’t figure out what they were – and there sure wasn’t anyone to ask! We wouldn’t see a car from kilometers. Maybe saw 5 cars the entire time we drove out to Chillagoe.
The road turns narrow at a little town called Petford – and there are cows all around, sometimes in the middle of road just looking at you as you come barreling down lonely stretches at 100 K, Brakes are a very important thing to have in the Outback! Then once past the cows, the road turns to gravel – yep – that’s right – on and off for 30 kilometers – it is gravel and rocks and red clay. And us American city slickers are being passed by the 5 cars we’ve seen at astonishing rates. These guys just barrel though these roads! When they say 100K, they aren’t kidding!! So – we just ate their dust and kept on driving.
We crossed one lane bridges that had no railings just a concrete track across the water. You could see where the floods hit all around. We drove through scrub and termite hills, around limestone outcroppings. Just amazing. And marveled at the fact that every truck had a snorkel on it! Obviously the engines are sealed and the snorkel is attached to the air filter so the truck can go through 3, 4, 5 feet of water and still operate! I want one!!! Just think what that would have done for the old truck during Isabel!
We finally arrived in Chillagoe – and it was all an outback town should be. A general grocery with you name it, and a very friendly owner who told us all about her trip to Minneapolis in the February and how she wants to go back in the summer. The inevitable tourist information center where you could book any tour you wanted – and of course the one cross road in town. So isolated, but such a community.
Stopped for pictures, apples and a soda, then headed back to the coast. Drive back was a little quicker as we were more familiar with the roads so we could drive a little faster. Had wanted to detour and see some old historic towns along another “Wheelbarrow Way” route, but the turn off was all dirt and we decided our Hyundai was better suited for paved roadways. Did decide to go back to Cairns by way of Atherton and Yungaburra which was a good detour. Yungaburra is a cute little community with a ton of restaurants and trendy shops, but for us, the best part was the Curtain Fig Tree. This tree was amazing (yes, we’ll figure out how to post pictures soon!). It started out as one Fig tree, then scavenger trees attacked it and started growing on the original tree, which of course killed it. Over time, the scavenger trees keep multiplying and finally the whole tree system fell over, so now the roots of all the trees are in the air searching for the ground so it’s like thousands of roots forming a huge curtain. Well, you’ll just have to wait for the pictures, because it’s too hard to explain!
The Curtain Fig Tree rounded out our sightseeing adventure. We then headed into Cairns proper. The city is an adorable beach town, right on the water with a huge esplanade that runs the length of the bay. A wonderful “lagoon” is at the center of the esplanade where you can swim during the day. It’s basically a pool at the edge of the bay, but It’s very artfully designed to appear as a lagoon or infinity pool. Along the town streets there are travel/tour agents galore as well as trinkets and souvenir shops and restaurants.
We walked the esplanade and then chose a restaurant that had a 25% discount if we were seated by 6 and “vacated” by 7. Worked for us!! Called Mangostino’s, the menu was perfect for us. More seafood than Italian, outdoor seating so we could look over the Esplanade and the bay. We ordered the Seafood platter for one, and the Mangostino’s basket. Both came with Prawns, barrimundi, scallops, calamari and Moreton Bay Bugs! I finally had my bay bug!! The bay bug looks like a lobster but tastes like a cross between lobster and a large crayfish. Excellent! Between the 2 of us we had 4 to share, we were in heaven! Finished dinner and headed back to the hotel in the nightly down pour. It’s definitely the rainy season here – don’t go out with out your brelly after 5pm!!
Tomorrow we head for the rainforest. More from there…..
The Next Leg of Our Journey – Cairns (4/10)
Up and out early to the Parklands – then to the Queens Street mall to check email and waste time. Don’t have to leave for the airport until about 1 pm so we have plenty of time to waste. Checked in without a problem – totally different world flying domestic over here. No need for the liquids in a baggie – don’t think they ever even checked our i.d.s. Flight went off without a hitch and we were in Cairns by 5:30. Collected our rental car in the heavy drizzling rain and headed out to Yorkey’s Knob.
About 15 minutes outside of Cairns, Yorkey’s Knob is a cute little bedroom beach community wth an IGA, post office a couple of restaurants and not much else. The main road through the town is a broad 2 lane street with houses on either side. Our hotel, The Golden Sands, is located off the main drag in a cute little subdivision of other lovely hotels and single family homes. The hotel itself is very pretty, white stucco with balconies for every room (two for ours). It has efficiencies and one bedrooms – we have a one bedroom that is huge. The living area is bigger than the condo at Sanibel. All white tile floors, new tile bathroom and almost full kitchen (no oven, but a microwave). Owners Brian and Qi are very friendly and helpful. Knowledgeable about everything there is to see and do around the area, Brian talked to us for almost an hour on our arrival.
After settling into our room, we made a quick run to the bottle store for beer and wine, then had dinner at the restaurant that is located on the property adjacent to the pool. Named Jai’s on the Beach, it was a charming introduction to Cairns laid back life. All outdoors with a very attentive wait staff, we shared a Caesar salad with fried proscuitto (for some reason the salads here are really expensive – anywhere from 12 to 20 AUD – very odd – so we end up sharing one just about every night), then for our mains – Ed had the Curry Seafood which he really enjoyed and I had the Rib Filet with Lemon Garlic Mushroom. It was excellent. Australia is beef – land (where as New Zealand is lamb) and their beef is very good. Haven’t gotten to the Kangaroo or Croc yet, but, the beef is excellent!
Dragged ourselves back up to our room, watched a Grey’s Anatomy episode and fell asleep early.
About 15 minutes outside of Cairns, Yorkey’s Knob is a cute little bedroom beach community wth an IGA, post office a couple of restaurants and not much else. The main road through the town is a broad 2 lane street with houses on either side. Our hotel, The Golden Sands, is located off the main drag in a cute little subdivision of other lovely hotels and single family homes. The hotel itself is very pretty, white stucco with balconies for every room (two for ours). It has efficiencies and one bedrooms – we have a one bedroom that is huge. The living area is bigger than the condo at Sanibel. All white tile floors, new tile bathroom and almost full kitchen (no oven, but a microwave). Owners Brian and Qi are very friendly and helpful. Knowledgeable about everything there is to see and do around the area, Brian talked to us for almost an hour on our arrival.
After settling into our room, we made a quick run to the bottle store for beer and wine, then had dinner at the restaurant that is located on the property adjacent to the pool. Named Jai’s on the Beach, it was a charming introduction to Cairns laid back life. All outdoors with a very attentive wait staff, we shared a Caesar salad with fried proscuitto (for some reason the salads here are really expensive – anywhere from 12 to 20 AUD – very odd – so we end up sharing one just about every night), then for our mains – Ed had the Curry Seafood which he really enjoyed and I had the Rib Filet with Lemon Garlic Mushroom. It was excellent. Australia is beef – land (where as New Zealand is lamb) and their beef is very good. Haven’t gotten to the Kangaroo or Croc yet, but, the beef is excellent!
Dragged ourselves back up to our room, watched a Grey’s Anatomy episode and fell asleep early.
Cuddling Koalas and feeding Wallabies (4/9)
Beautiful morning in Brisbane – skies clear, temperatures cool and breezy. Woke up early – yeah, that’s a surprise! - went out for our morning walk and found the most amazing park right behind out hotel. Called the Roma Street Parklands, it’s an oasis of rainforests, gardens, lakes and fern gullies right in the heart of Brisbane by the train station. It was truly beautiful and a great hour long walk that really made us feel better after our flying ordeal the day before.
After cleaning up, we were back on the streets and heading toward our river cruise and koala encounter. We were scheduled to board our river cruise for the Koala sanctuary at 9:30 – of course, we were early, so we took a stroll down the boardwalk on South Bank. Fabulous walk down the river side with lots of parks, open spaces and restaurants/cafes. Heading back to the pier for our cruise, we passed a Nepalese Pagoda where a film crew was setting up. One of the producers called us over and asked if we’d mind walking into the Pagoda, looking around then walking out for the cameras. Hey – we’re hams! So of course we agreed and – so now we’re famous! LOL – anyhow – look for us on NBC or AOL when they start to air Australian Travels!
Made it back to our pier and boarded the Mirimar, the oldest wooden hull ferry ship still working today. Cruise took 1 ½ hours and was a great learning and visual experience. We got to see Brisbane by the river, including an island with thousands of flying foxes (otherwise known as fruit bats!). That was something, let me tell you. All of those little bats hanging there from the trees making that lovely screeching noise. It really was amazing – all bat grossness aside!
Once we hit Lone Pine Sanctuary, we headed straight for the Koala cuddling. Line wasn’t too bad and we managed to get through it in under ½ hour. The koala was just adorable. His name was Neon and he actually smelled really good – like Eucalyptus which is the only thing they eat. He was like a lump of warm fuzz – a big old warm blooded stuffed animal. Too cute. They take very good care of the Koalas here too – they have special dispensation to allow people to hold the animals – it’s illegal everywhere else in Australia. They have over 100 Koalas in the preserve and they switch them out frequently. They are only allowed to cuddle for 40 minutes every 4 days. Keeps them from being totally domesticated.
You can go here to see a picture of our Koala cuddling:
www.koala.net/photo/0904021495.htm
After cuddling, we proceeded to feed the wallabies and Kangaroos. They are all kept in huge open compound that you can walk through. They go hopping around – in front of you, away from you, it’s really quite amazing. We fed them a whole bag of food – then wandered over to the other Koala enclosures. The sanctuary separates the Koalas by age and sex. They have Kindergarten for the babies, Bachelors and Brides for the reproducing set. Retirement home for the oldest koalas. Just seeing them in their natural habitat was really cool.
Oh – and Steven – we did see the dingos – but they didn’t eat any babies!
Finally watched a sheep herding show where the border collies ran so fast you could barely see them. Then for the finale, one of the dogs actually climbed up on the sheep’s’ backs and walked across the top of all of them. Then he laid down on their backs. That was pretty wild!
Back to the ship, cruised back to Brisbane and walked all though South Bank, across the Goodwill bridge, through the Botanical gardens and to Eagle Pier. Must have walked 10 miles – looked at all the restaurants trying to figure out dinner and ended up heading back to the hotel with nothing in mind. Everything was either closed (closed on Mondays or public holidays, which this was – Easter Monday?) or really pricey (I mean really pricey!!).
After resting and cleaning up – we headed out to a place called the BrewHouse, but ended up next door at Ashala’s – mostly because the maitre d’ was a hustler and really impressed us. Plus the menu looked really good. Sat outside and shared a chili encrusted Calamari dish for starters. Ed had the Snapper special which was a huge portion of fried Snapper with French fries. I had the Barrimundi wrapped in Nori with champagne hollandaise. Really, really good!!! (Ok – so it’s the foodie journal – what can I say?) Everything was great – except the bill which had a 15% holiday surcharge on it. We’ve noticed that here – virtually everyone charges a holiday surcharge up to about 20%. Nice way to inflate the bill!
Back to the hotel to prepare for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef!!!
After cleaning up, we were back on the streets and heading toward our river cruise and koala encounter. We were scheduled to board our river cruise for the Koala sanctuary at 9:30 – of course, we were early, so we took a stroll down the boardwalk on South Bank. Fabulous walk down the river side with lots of parks, open spaces and restaurants/cafes. Heading back to the pier for our cruise, we passed a Nepalese Pagoda where a film crew was setting up. One of the producers called us over and asked if we’d mind walking into the Pagoda, looking around then walking out for the cameras. Hey – we’re hams! So of course we agreed and – so now we’re famous! LOL – anyhow – look for us on NBC or AOL when they start to air Australian Travels!
Made it back to our pier and boarded the Mirimar, the oldest wooden hull ferry ship still working today. Cruise took 1 ½ hours and was a great learning and visual experience. We got to see Brisbane by the river, including an island with thousands of flying foxes (otherwise known as fruit bats!). That was something, let me tell you. All of those little bats hanging there from the trees making that lovely screeching noise. It really was amazing – all bat grossness aside!
Once we hit Lone Pine Sanctuary, we headed straight for the Koala cuddling. Line wasn’t too bad and we managed to get through it in under ½ hour. The koala was just adorable. His name was Neon and he actually smelled really good – like Eucalyptus which is the only thing they eat. He was like a lump of warm fuzz – a big old warm blooded stuffed animal. Too cute. They take very good care of the Koalas here too – they have special dispensation to allow people to hold the animals – it’s illegal everywhere else in Australia. They have over 100 Koalas in the preserve and they switch them out frequently. They are only allowed to cuddle for 40 minutes every 4 days. Keeps them from being totally domesticated.
You can go here to see a picture of our Koala cuddling:
www.koala.net/photo/0904021495.htm
After cuddling, we proceeded to feed the wallabies and Kangaroos. They are all kept in huge open compound that you can walk through. They go hopping around – in front of you, away from you, it’s really quite amazing. We fed them a whole bag of food – then wandered over to the other Koala enclosures. The sanctuary separates the Koalas by age and sex. They have Kindergarten for the babies, Bachelors and Brides for the reproducing set. Retirement home for the oldest koalas. Just seeing them in their natural habitat was really cool.
Oh – and Steven – we did see the dingos – but they didn’t eat any babies!
Finally watched a sheep herding show where the border collies ran so fast you could barely see them. Then for the finale, one of the dogs actually climbed up on the sheep’s’ backs and walked across the top of all of them. Then he laid down on their backs. That was pretty wild!
Back to the ship, cruised back to Brisbane and walked all though South Bank, across the Goodwill bridge, through the Botanical gardens and to Eagle Pier. Must have walked 10 miles – looked at all the restaurants trying to figure out dinner and ended up heading back to the hotel with nothing in mind. Everything was either closed (closed on Mondays or public holidays, which this was – Easter Monday?) or really pricey (I mean really pricey!!).
After resting and cleaning up – we headed out to a place called the BrewHouse, but ended up next door at Ashala’s – mostly because the maitre d’ was a hustler and really impressed us. Plus the menu looked really good. Sat outside and shared a chili encrusted Calamari dish for starters. Ed had the Snapper special which was a huge portion of fried Snapper with French fries. I had the Barrimundi wrapped in Nori with champagne hollandaise. Really, really good!!! (Ok – so it’s the foodie journal – what can I say?) Everything was great – except the bill which had a 15% holiday surcharge on it. We’ve noticed that here – virtually everyone charges a holiday surcharge up to about 20%. Nice way to inflate the bill!
Back to the hotel to prepare for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef!!!
Where did Saturday go? (4/7-4/8)
Boarded the plane, which was very nice, with roomy seats and great service. Took off on time, all was well, until the 2 year old behind us decided to scream her way to Auckland. No offense to our friends with children, but we've decided there should be family only flights on overnighters. The child screamed intermittently for almost the whole 9 hours. The father tried to calm her and took her to the lavatory, but still didn't help the sleeping part of the journey. So, not only did we miss Saturday, we also missed a night's sleep as we arrived in Auckland on Easter Sunday.
Flight to Brisbane was blessfully silent. Only 3 1/2 hours - nice smooth ride with lots of entertainment. Must have had 50 movies to choose from. Arrived in Brisbane and to the hotel by noon - then took off to explore the CBD (Central Business District). Walkable town, downtown walking mall jammed with people. Shops and restaurants all open. We had drinks at one of the open air restaurants then dragged back to the hotel for a nap.
Headed back down to the mall for dinner since there were quite a few restaurants to choose from - being Easter Sunday we had had our concerns, but all were open and serving. It was funny though - all the menus of all the restaurants are formatted exactly the same, and most had the same menu items, just with a different theme. One was Seafood, one Asian, one Italian and one British. They were strategically placed every 100 or so yards apart in the middle of the Mall and we decided they were all owned by the same people and that there was a tunnel underground where they shared the food and cooking!!! After looking at all the menus, we chose Il Milano - for the chicken ceasar salad since we really weren't that hungry.
Headed back
Flight to Brisbane was blessfully silent. Only 3 1/2 hours - nice smooth ride with lots of entertainment. Must have had 50 movies to choose from. Arrived in Brisbane and to the hotel by noon - then took off to explore the CBD (Central Business District). Walkable town, downtown walking mall jammed with people. Shops and restaurants all open. We had drinks at one of the open air restaurants then dragged back to the hotel for a nap.
Headed back down to the mall for dinner since there were quite a few restaurants to choose from - being Easter Sunday we had had our concerns, but all were open and serving. It was funny though - all the menus of all the restaurants are formatted exactly the same, and most had the same menu items, just with a different theme. One was Seafood, one Asian, one Italian and one British. They were strategically placed every 100 or so yards apart in the middle of the Mall and we decided they were all owned by the same people and that there was a tunnel underground where they shared the food and cooking!!! After looking at all the menus, we chose Il Milano - for the chicken ceasar salad since we really weren't that hungry.
Headed back
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