What I Did Today

Since we arrived back in December, there's one thing I've really, really wanted to do. Today, I finally got to do it. I got to PET A WALLABY AND A KANGAROO!!!

Larry and I headed to Featherdale Wilderness Park where the wallabies and kangaroos (at least the not endangered ones) hop around freely.  What a sight to see!  We of course purchased the food, served in ice cream cones, and braved the compound.

Wallabies are simply adorable.  And the Koalas....! Well, take a gander at these shots.  Yes, the Koalas in the picture are real.  And yes, my husband is rabbit-earing the Koala.

As adorable as the wallabies, kangaroos, and koalas were, the Cassowary was aggressive.  I leaned on the fence to take its picture, and it lunged for the park map in my hand. Yes, it lunged, as you can see from this picture:

After it grabbed the map, it pecked at it a bit then swooped it up from the ground, folded it in half with its beak, and swallowed it down whole.  Couldn't believe my eyes.  Hope it doesn't get sick from it.

The Tasmanian Devil ran around in circles, over and over again, lap after lap, in the track it had been working on for quite a while, judging from the track.

We admired the dingoes, the dozens of birds, and the reptiles.  We saw some of the most poisonous snakes in the world, safely behind glass.  I hope I never see them anywhere else!

Club Med and The Whitsundays

After 5 days in Airlie Beach with an exciting excursion out to the Great Barrier Reef, we headed out into the Whitsunday Islands for a stay at a Club Med Resort.  We love the all-inclusive vacations:  plenty of games and activities for Larry; lots of teens for Nicole; and a supply of beach chairs for me.  Club Med Lindeman Island did not disappoint.

From arrival to departure, we caught only glimpses of Nicole as she spent most of her time with the Teen Club.  Larry hiked the island paths.  They both tried their hands at the trapeze.  We sailed one morning and played bocce.  We taste tested the cocktails and mocktails of the day.  At night, we enjoyed the evening's entertainment, put on by the resort staff.  The best show was their take on Cirque du Soleil - truly amazing to see the tricks up close.

The Whitsunday Islands are gorgeous, stunning scenery.  There are 74 islands, only 8 are inhabited, and they are part of the Great Barrier Reef protected area.  If you get a chance to visit the area, be sure to choose an Island resort as your base to visit the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea.

Vacation Critters

We continue to enjoy the wildlife Australia has to offer.  Our holiday in Queensland brought us into contact with a few new critters.

The Great Barrier Reef: More than Great

We arrived home Tuesday evening to find Sydney airport in the  middle of a security breach!  After reflecting on the ease of domestic transport (didn't even have to show a photo ID to get my boarding passes), it was unexpected to find that they had evacuated the entire terminal of all staff and passengers.  Everyone had to be re-screened because 14 or 16 people had gone through security without proper screening.  The airport was "chokkers" with people, and the airspace filled with planes unable to land because of lack of gates and/or ground crew.  An interesting end to an otherwise flawless family holiday.

Starting in Airlie Beach, we enjoyed picture-perfect weather, which has been rare in Queensland this year.  (You may remember they've gotten quite a bit of rain and experienced overwhelming flooding.)  We rented a Moke and drove up the coast.  Kudos to Larry for driving a Very Stripped Down vehicle that maxed out at 80kph and had the gear shift on the left-hand side.

We drove the Moke to Cedar Creek Falls.  Along the way, we felt very adventurous as we drove over a slightly flooded causeway to reach a secluded and stunning waterfall.  We proceeded to break our camera on the rocks lining the falls - thank goodness for camera phones!

Large, striped lizards greeted us in the parking lot. As far as I can tell, they were monitor lizards (aka Goanna lizards), and they were more afraid of us than we were of them.  As soon as you started approaching, they moved rather quickly into the woods.

We also drove up to Bowen to see Horsehoe Beach, a lovely little beach where we ate our lunch with a view of the Coral Sea.  Why is it called the Coral Sea?  Well, along with sea shells, little bits of coral are strewn across the beach.

The next day was our Big Adventure Day.  We boarded the FantaSea Cruises boat and headed 40 miles out to sea where their ReefWorld pontoon awaited us.

Fortified by 2 immodium, a dramamine, and a Xanax, I not only survived the 2-hour boat ride but donned a bright pink stinger suit, goggles, and a life jacket to snorkel with the denizens of the deep.  (I looked like a giant Peep in the pepto-pink stinger suit.)  After mastering the art of breathing through the snorkel, I floated along like a giant piece of seaweed, admiring the flash of blue and green darting around me.  I was most impressed with the giant clams with their brightly-colored "mouths" that opened and closed rhythmically. (Okay, so I didn't take the following two pictures, but what I saw looked exactly like these photos.)

Nicole made her first scuba dive, and the instructor called her "a natural." She positively glowed when she returned from her dive and wanted to go again.  Good onya, Nicole!

The trip out to the Reef was definitely the highlight of our Airlie Beach stay - then it was on to Club Med on Lindeman Island.  Watch for that update on the next post!

great barrier reef vacation part I

today is day four of our first family holiday in the southern hemisphere and we picked a great time and location for it. getting here by air was easy. as an american i have gotten so used to all the security from removing shoes and jackets to segregating my liquids. flying within australia hearkens back to the pre 9-11 days when you could see someone off at the gate or greet them with flowers. it was completely refreshing to fly.

once in ailie beach we were pleasantly surprised by the resort. our 2 bedroom apartment was clean well sstocked and on the pool for great views and convenience. not to mention the view of the coral sea from our terrace.

the highlight so far has been the great barrier reef. fortified by a dramamine, a xanax, and two immodium, i not only survived but thoroughly enjoyed the day. once i stopped hyperventilating through the snorkel, i just floated in wonder at the sights. the best moment? when nicole returned from her first scuba dive ever with an indescribable look in her eyes. she loved it and wants to do it again.

today we are enjoying the airlie beach

This Week's Adventures

Most exciting moment?  Being completely lost in Sydney.  So lost, in fact, that I momentarily considered parking the car and taking the train home so that Larry could go back and get the car.  But then I dug deep and reminded myself that I am a 45-year old, college-educated, 21st century woman.  We began ignoring the GPS (which is what caused the lost-ness) and intuitively back-tracked over the bridge.  We simply went home.

I was supposed to be driving Nicole to her Classics Dinner at a boys' school in Summer Hill, an inner-west suburb of Sydney.  According to the GPS and Bing Maps, this drive should take 28 minutes (it's only 12-14 miles away).  With a targeted arrival time of 6:45, we left the house at 5:45 to allow for traffic and getting lost.  Instantly, the GPS changed our route because of a "traffic incident" on our path.  It proceeded to change our route every 2 minutes and eventually had me doing u-turn after u-turn until we ended up in a cul-de-sac somewhere in either Willoughby or Artarmon.

At 6:30, we finally crossed the Sydney Harbor Bridge at approximately 10 miles per hour.  To avoid yet another "traffic incident," the GPS directed me to take the East Suburb exit and then instructed me on how to drive through Sydney to get to the West.  Then, the GPS got really confused.

Once we were buried between the skyscrapers, the GPS signal intermittently failed.  First, it said we were on Elizabeth Street.  Then, we were on Market Street.  First, I was supposed turn left.  I dutifully put my signal on and get on the left-turn only lane.  Stopped at the light, the GPS changed its mind and told me to drive 60 meters and turn right.  Only the presence of my daughter and my conscience prevented me from swearing like a sailor.

It was now 6:50.  Nicole was going to miss the social time and would probably be 30 minutes late for the sit-down dinner.  We conferred, and she agreed that the Classics Dinner wasn't mandatory and she'd be okay with missing it.  At that point, all I wanted to do was go home.  We did.

Ignoring the GPS completely, we turned left and left again to retrace our steps and, hopefully, find the Bridge.  In a city where the Bridge is the dominant landmark, it was thankfully fairly easy to get back on the right path to home.  We went back over the harbor and found the Pacific Highway.  Continuing to ignore the GPS' instructions to turn on various side streets, I stuck to Pacific Highway like a white on rice through North Sydney, Milson's Point, Waverton, Artarmon, Chatswood, and ultimately, blessed Roseville.

One hour and 20 minutes after backing out of the garage, we three pulled back into it (we picked Larry up as he walked home from the train station).

I have a very understanding daughter with a tremendous sense of humor.  She and I cooked dinner together, and we all sat down for American Idol.  Not the dinner we were all expecting, but Classic in its own way.