Snow White and the City of Angels... and Pictures!

What does a day look like when you go to the City of Angels? Looks like Val and I took a run around the neighborhood, saw a breath-taking view of the mountains and ocean from the top of a hill, met some cool old tortoises at her neighbor's house, and Steve cooked us pancakes for breakfast! That's a pretty good start to the day if you ask me!
And then we were off to Los Angeles! Traffic wasn't that bad, since we left Val's house at 10:30, and we made it to town in just under an hour! First stop: Hollywood Boulevard! We definitely got stars in our eyes heading down the Walk of Fame. Namely Snow White, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astair, Humphrey Bogart, Kermit the Frog, and many, many more! Pictures to follow!
We found our way to the famous Chinese Theatre, the one with all the hand prints in the concrete. We found a few of our favorites, but one question remained... Who is Sid? All these famous people wrote to Sid when they left their marks, but who was he? Sidney Grauman, The owner! He built several theaters all over California, but the Chinese was his last, completed in 1927. It's been a prime place for film premiers ever since! And stars of these movies left their mark, which we still see today! We continued down Hollywood Blvd taking pictures with our favorite stars, but I hadn't seen my favorite... Shirley Temple! We decided to look it up over lunch and find it afterward.
So where did we do lunch? At Musso and Frank's Grill, Hollywood's oldest restaurant! It's been around since 1919, and it's still decorated the way it was then! We decided to split the Flannel Cakes (flannel, not funnel!), which are like crepes. We also wanted a full meal at a Thai place, so we split something small. And it was like having dessert first! We googles where to  find Shirley, and it turns out, she's not just a star on the sidewalk, she's got her mark at the Chinese, and we missed it! Got to go back!
Next up: Val wanted to stop in an old theatre/film bookstore, which was actually pretty neat! There were actors' biographies, books about movies, books about being a screenwriter, movie posters, etc. We stopped in a dress shop where all the clothes are inspired by Bettie Page. For a reformed pinup girl, she sure had cute and modest taste in real life!
Now, back to the Chinese! I needed to see Shirley! And there she was! I don't know how we missed her the first go around, but now we got her! Her imprints were left there in 1935. :)
We hopped back in the car and drove to the Thai place because Shirley's star was closer to there than where we had been. The food was a little hot for me, but it's fun to say I had Thai frog and beef liver for lunch today!
Next up, the search for Shirley's Star! We started out in the direction we thought was correct. We saw Cary Grant and others we like, we even met a nutty earth-hugger who wanted us to sign a petition for something, but there was no Shirley to be found! Oh well. At least I got to see her imprints at the Chinese!
And for our next tourist event, up into the hills we went to see the Hollywood sign! This was the one thing I asked Val if we could do while I was here--get our pictures with Hollywood! The best place to see it is from Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park--in Beverly Hills! Check that one off the list, too! The drive was a steep one, but Val's Mazda SUV (named Memphis, because she's blue!) took us up, up, up the mountain with fervor. We were apparently not the only folks who wanted to get a glimpse of the iconic sign. There were runners, bikers, hikers, walkers, and other drivers, all headed up and down the mountain and hills. How the bikers and runners got to the top is beyond me! It's steep! We found a parking spot and set out in search of a good photo-op. We could see the sign clearly, but it looks very far away in pictures. Oh well! You can still see it in most of the pictures!
The Griffith Observatory itself is quite impressive! You can see all of L.A. proper, Hollywood, etc., even through the fog. There's also a museum inside, including a pendulum that knocks down a pin at the top of every hour. Picture below:

Down, down, down the mountain we go! We saw some beautiful homes not he way down, and that's how we knew we were in the Hills of Beverly! We could tell which ones were the stars' homes... They were the ones with big gates and over grown bushes and trees for privacy. =) 

Next and final stop in L.A.: Rodeo Drive! Neither Val nor I had any interest in shopping, but it was cool to see! We drove up Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, and not only is that a good way to avoid L.A. traffic, it was a beautiful seaside drive at sunset! It also goes straight through Malibu! It was a bit cloudy, but as the clouds cleared while we headed north, the sunset made the remaining clouds a beautiful pink, yellow, and orange. It was gorgeous! 

And then we were home! Steve cooked again--I'm becoming spoiled--and we watched the movie "Jobs." I stayed up till 10:00pm, which was quite the feat for me! 

And for our next trip: Ojai and Santa Barbara! Please join us! 

Tuesday's Adventure: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100203066101228.1073741842.52700845&type=1&l=164051a9e5

Wednesday's Adventure: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100203803917638.1073741845.52700845&type=1&l=014792d512

The Blowhole!

Hello one! Hello all! Quick Whit is back for a whirlwind 2014. For our first trip: Southern California with my Gal Val! Valarie was the first friend I made in DC, and she just moved to Camarillo, CA, a few months ago. Hence the need for a little Bachelorette trip! 

Monday morning came early at about 5:00am. The temperature was a warm 34 degrees--the warmest morning in weeks! The windchill was 23 degrees. Brrr. Off we go to warmer lands! I packed my last-minute items, took out my trash and the house recycling, ran an errand, and drove out to Steve's by 7:45. A quick drive to the airport and a few goodbye smooches later, the cold temps and threats of ice and snow were behind me! Just under 6 hours on the plane and I was in San Francisco, and another short plan ride later, I was being picked up at the Burbank airport by Val and her fiancé, Steve! (I know, so cute, we're both marrying Steves this year!) Burbank was sunny and 72! It was like a little taste of bliss!

Monday evening was spent catching up and seeing their property, including orchards (more on those later!), and a good night's sleep was had by all! 

Tuesday morning dawned beautifully. Steve made us breakfast, Val and I packed our lunches and a change of clothes, and off we went to board a boat bound for the Channel Islands National Park! 

The boat ride to the islands was chilly--though I shan't complain of weather here!--but quite lovely! The water is teal, and you can see very far down. We saw a stellar sea lion, who is quite a ways south of his Alaskan homeland, lying on a sunny buoy. The boat company said they don't see stellar sea lions terribly often, so that was a real treat! Next we saw harbor seals and California seal lions popping up to say hello and to warm themselves, and dolphins raced us! Some people were fortunate enough to see whales, but they seemed shy today, so not many came out to show off. 

And then the islands came into view! We docked and departed onto Scorpion Island and headed straight to the kayak headquarters--we had much to see! Val and I were joined by another couple, Lee and Lindsey, who had just gotten married on Saturday! We all opted for wetsuits and kayak jackets to help us stay warm, and we donned the mandatory helmets and PFDs (personal flotation devices). 

Our guide, Laird, was fantastic! We received instruction on how to carry and row in a kayak, how not to tip over, how not to flip out if we do tip over, how to get into the kayak on land and in the ocean (in case we tip over), how to row, how to do basic maneuvers, and loads of other details! Val and I decided to do a two-person (or tandem) kayak, and we were warned that this could cause a huge rift in our friendship without proper communication! Since Val has loads more on-water experience than I, I told her she was in charge! I'll respect her orders! 

And we were off! Laird helped us all into the water before getting in himself, and we set out to find some sea caves and wildlife! The Channel Islands National Park is home to 15 of the top 20 largest sea caves in the world, including the second largest! The tide was too low and the water too choppy to go into all the caves we saw, but we did get to go inside one! 

Aside from caves, we saw coral, sea urchins, anemones and starfish in all colors of the neon rainbow! We learned about a type of kelp that grows here that's like an underwater tree, and Laird even made a digeridoo from a similar, but much larger, type of the kelp! We glided over these things as if we were zip lining over the rainforest. They waved at us from below and just brushed the surface with their "air bladders," which allow the plant to stay close to the surface so the leaves can get sunlight! We use the slimy stuff in which they're covered for many things, including toothpaste! 

Onward we go! While making our way around, Laird spoke with us about the history of the island (which of course I was very excited about! And I actually was the one asking him to talk about it!). The chain of islands has been called the American Galapagos because there are so many endemic (unique to the island) species! For instance, there are island foxes on each of the islands, but they all have slight variations because of the way they've evolved and adapted to their immediate surroundings, and they've not been able to move from island to island to keep things mixed up! There used to be pygmy wooly mammoths on the islands, and some of the very oldest human fossils have been found there! 

Next we came to the namesake of this post... THE BLOWHOLE! We had just started toward the east side of the island, and ... Thar she blew! The conditions were just right today to create blowholes in the sea caves! Water rushes in, pushes out the air, which creates a vacuum. Then it explodes like the blowhole of a whale! Laird said those were the biggest ones he'd seen in his years of doing this, and we sat watching it happen again and again for at least 15 minutes! It was fascinating, and I'd even call it majestic! It also looked like a water ride at Disney World. ;) 

Val and I have a long history of getting ourselves into very precariously interesting situations. And this day was no different! We got swept onto a rock and ended up at a 45-degree angle before another wave came to sweep us free! Teamwork prevailed, however, and I'm happy to report that we did NOT tip the boat or fall out! I'll freely admit I thought we'd fall out and go under, but Laird's expert training and Val's water mastery got us through on top! =) 

Onward ho! We saw lion's mane jellyfish, which look like plastic grocery bags floating around in the water, and Val got stung by a teal and purple anemone! We got out of our kayaks when we came to a sandbar and explored a part of the island called shipwreck beach--oh dear! Apparently there was a shipwreck there several years ago, and some of the pieces are still scattered about! 

Back into the kayaks and back to the beach! We had been out on the water for over 2 1/2 hours, and it was such fun! I can highly recommend the experience! We got back to the boat in plenty of time and headed back to the mainland a few minutes early. The boat stopped at the blowhole that we kayakers had discovered so everyone could see! People ooohed and ahhhed, and then a big one came a drenched the onlookers on the boat! And then it happened again!  

More dolphins came out to play on our ride back to the mainland, and some folks even saw a whale! I'm so bad at sighting anything, but I'll sure take people's word for it! Now we're back at Val and Steve's house, and Steve is making us supper! Today's adventure may be complete, but tomorrow's adventure is coming! 

Tomorrow… L.A.! I already told Val I feel like a foreigner coming to America for the first time! I'm going to L.A.! 

Pictures and Our Last Days Down Under... For Now!

Happy Thursday! Time for breakfast! We wanted to try the “Australian Brekkie” (Australian breakfast), but the place where we saw it advertised looked shady to me. So we carried on to the Esplanade. We found a place with a buffet and tried that out. Their breakfast buffet reminded me of Ireland’s breakfast because it included baked beans. I guess perhaps that’s a UK thing. Also on the buffet were stewed tomatoes with herbs (Italian herbs, so it tasted like spaghetti sauce), eggs, sausages, bacon, two types of pasta dishes, yogurt with honey, fruit, cereal, toast with jams, Vegemite, and/or peanut butter, juice, coffee, tea, and… I think that’s it. Quite the feast! I stuck with sausage, eggs, tomatoes, toast, and coffee. I’m glad we got all that fuel, because our next stop was maybe four kilometers (a couple of miles) away!

I didn’t realize quite how far away the Botanic Gardens were from the Esplanade, but that’s all right. Steve and I both like a good walk! We got there with about 15 minutes to spare before the guided tour began. There were about seven or eight other guests on the tour, and it was quite informative! We got more information about the rain forest and saw many beautiful flowers, including the largest flower in the world and the oldest and biggest tree in the Botanic Gardens! The most interesting take away for me was the discovery that vanilla is an orchid! It has no natural pollinators, so it has to be pollinated by hand—that’s why it’s so expensive. The particular type we saw was from Mexico.

After the tour, we started back to the Esplanade—we had a ferry to catch! We made it down to the wharf with plenty of time to spare and loaded the boat to Green Island. This is the one we read about most in our tour books. We signed up for a glass bottom boat ride so we could see the coral, and all we had to do was step from our boat onto the other—easy!

And what an easy way to see the Great Barrier Reef! Our tour guide and boat driver took us just a few meters away (a few yards), and though her boat was only about a meter (just over a yard) deep, we got up-close views of beautiful coral! She pointed out all sorts. They really do call some of it “brain coral,” and other types are all named similarly—by what they look like. She pointed out hard coral and soft coral (the stuff that moves, like the anemone Nemo and his dad live in), sea cucumbers, sea grass, and lots of fish! She even fed some for us so they would come close enough for us to see. After about 20 minutes, it was time to get back to land. Next stop? The beach—with sand!

We laid out for a bit (we had about an hour and a half on the island) and got ourselves nice and sunburned. I took a walk along the shoreline. It was very peaceful, and there were fish, just sitting in schools only a couple of meters from shore, so those were fun to watch! We started back to the boat, but we had to wait a while. We looked out beside the jetty and what did we see? Sea turtles coming up for air! They’re so cute. =) Back on the boat, Steve and I decided to ride up at the top in the open-air section. The water and coral and islands are so beautiful to see! Steve even saw a whale breech!

And then we grew hungry! I’d seen a place on the Esplanade called The Raw Prawn, and I’d asked Steve earlier if we could go there for dinner. They have bugs on the menu! So that’s where we went. Steve got the Cairns Duo, which included prawns (face included) and barramundi with asparagus and potatoes. I got the Bugs and Prawns Combo! Bugs are really just another crustacean, like shrimp or crab or lobster. It was certainly worth trying! I liked it—they tasted just like shrimp to me. We even got dessert this time. Steve let me pick because he’s wonderful, so we got the chocolate torte—yum! It was delicious. We made a pit stop into a souvenir shop on the way back to the hotel and just got a couple of things. The next day we were scheduled to fly back to lovely Sydney.

Friday morning we took it easy. Check-out was at 10:00am, so we left then and had the owner call us a cab to the airport. The Cairns domestic airport is quite small, but we found plenty to keep us busy while we waited for our plane! We both picked up lunch for the plane ride back, and Steve wanted to look at every shop there, just because there weren’t that many and we had the time. =) So he did that while I picked up a couple more post cards, wrote them, addressed them, stamped them, and gave them to the lady at one of the shops to post for me. Then I began to blog, and then we got on the plane—so exciting! =)

Once we landed back in Sydney, we got our train tickets back to where we’re staying, checked in once we got to the hotel, and set off on our last grand evening in this beautiful and iconic city! Steve said it seemed so familiar—like we’ve already lived here for years! He knows the city even better than I, since he goes running every morning. It’s a beautiful place to see at all times of day!

We picked up a few final items on our way to dinner. Steve asked me where I’d like to eat, and I said any place with a view of either the Opera House or the Bridge. We chose a seafood place with a view of the bridge. It was quite a lovely and enchanted evening. Tomorrow we fly home. Back to reality and back to the Northern Hemisphere—where toilets flush the other direction and people drive on the right side of the road.

And so ends our Australian Adventure: Quick Whit’s 28^th Birthday Extravaganza. I told Steve I’d never be able to give him something like this, and I can’t possibly thank him enough. If I say “thank you” again, it’ll begin to lose its significance. He said I’ve already thanked him, and he wished me a happy birthday once more. He doesn’t seem to mind I can’t give him a big trip somewhere he couldn’t simply take himself.

Thank you all for joining us on our Grand Adventure! Perhaps we’ll venture out together again soon! 

As promised... pictures!
Australia 1:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100106895941998.1073741830.52700845&type=1&l=1f1351890e

Australia 2:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100106896570738.1073741831.52700845&type=1&l=c1427d817c

Australia 3:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100106897643588.1073741832.52700845&type=1&l=f84cd420f5

Australia 4:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100108114774448.1073741833.52700845&type=1&l=6a5c5dc52a

Australia 5:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100108806039148.1073741834.52700845&type=1&l=3f498faf1f

Cuddly Koalas and the Vegemite Experience

Wednesday, Steve and I were in for quite a treat—koalas and exploring the rain forest! We took and excursion up to Kuranda, which is a former hippie village in the rainforest, just above Cairns. The bus was a bit late, but everything seemed to be running late that morning, according to the bus drivers (we had to change buses a time or two). We got dropped off at the Skyrail station (like a ski lift, where you’re in a little closed in car hanging from a cable), and up, up, up the mountains we went!

We got to see the rain forest from a bird’s eye view before stopping at a boardwalk about a third of the way up. We got out and went on a little nature walk with a guide who explained about how the rain forest works. The rain forest us actually a rough environment for the plants that seem to thrive there. Plants, even trees, don’t live very long there. Rain forest trees live around 120 years, if they are fortunate, where as trees in other areas like the Redwood Forest in Northern California can be literally THOUSANDS of years old! And actually, the only way to tell how old a tree is there is to do carbon dating; you can’t cut it through and see the rings because… there aren’t any! Trees don’t grow at a regular rate there, and they don’t stop growing in the wintertime like trees in temperate areas. I didn’t know that’s how trees get their rings… they stop growing in the winter, and when they start growing again, there’s a line between the growth spots. Does that make sense? I think that’s how I understood our guide to say it, anyway. And the roots don’t grow very deep. All the nutrients are close to the surface, so the root systems are spread out but don’t go very far down. Lots of trees look like the roots are on the outside, and there are great big “buttress” roots that are long and stick out from the tree to give it more stability. It was fascinating. The only big surprise to me was that we didn’t see many big, beautiful, vibrant flowers like I thought we would.

Back onto the Skyrail! Over and across the forest we flew. Eventually, we saw a beautiful, deep gorge with a series of waterfalls leading to it. They’ve made a reservoir further up to the water source, so the flow of water isn’t as massive as it once was, but it’s still quite pretty. We got off at one more stop where we could walk around the rain forest a bit more and get some good views of the gorge. We saw a bird of some sort—black with red and yellow around its face—and some very beautiful plants, got a couple of good shots of the gorge, and piled back into the Skyrail once more—next stop, Kuranda!

While it used to be a “hippie” town way back when, it’s now a tourist village. Many artisans sell beautiful things like jewelry, pottery, paintings, soaps, woodworking, kangaroo fur items, and the like, but our primary objective was to see the animals! Kuranda Koala Gardens is sort of a small zoo. There are crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and turtles to see from a distance or behind glass, wallabies and kangaroos to pet and feed, and of course, koalas to cuddle and hold! This was certainly a highlight for me!

So, we got ourselves ticketed to enter the Gardens and got a pass for me to hold a koala. Steve was more interested in watching. =) Koalas are even more precious and lovable in person than they are in pictures! There were four of them hanging out in the trees just in front of the koala holding area; they’re just so precious! We got lots of pictures, of course. When it was my turn, the girls taking the koala holding pictures called me over and showed me where to stand and how to hold the koala. When you hold the koala there, the left arm curves against your stomach, and that’s the koala’s seat. The right arm curves in front of you, just below your chest, to support its back. One of the girls brought a female Koala over to me and set her in my arms, and her claws dug right into my shoulder! Ouch! But completely worthwhile! She was so sweet and laid-back it seemed. I’m sure they’re used to this by now. I got my picture with the koala with their camera, but I was surprised when they told me Steve could use my camera to take pictures as well! And even more surprised when the girl said Steve could come over with me and the two of us could have our picture together with the koala, too!

Day: Made.

We grabbed some wallaby food and headed over to the petting area. So cute! One of the kinds of critters was resting, but the kangaroos and wallabies (like small kangaroos) were up and about, some laying on their sides, just waiting for people to feed them. Oh, just precious.

Next stop, reptiles! So, the difference between turtles and tortoises, I may have mentioned before, is that turtles go in water and tortoises live only on land. There were a couple of turtles in the habitat at Koala Gardens, many snakes, and several lizards. There were also about 10 crocodiles in their own place… I hope they aren’t good climbers!

Aaaand, lunchtime! All that koala cuddling and overwhelming preciousness is enough to make a girl famished. There’s a restaurant conveniently right at the top of the Koala Gardens, so we found a seat and looked at a menu. I just about had my heart set on some sort of barramundi fish, but at the last moment, I saw there was a combination appetizer of crocodile, emu, and kangaroo—yes, please! Crocodile is white meat, and the other two are red meats. Emu was my favorite because it was very tender and absolutely delicious! Steve got a HUGE barramundi burger. We were both quite satisfied. When that was done, we set our sights on souvenirs. We had another hour and a half or so before we had to board the train, so we took our time to mosey that direction. Neither of us got much.

When we made it back to the train, we got our tickets and waited to board for “One of the most scenic train rides in the world.” We had been looking forward to it, but in all honesty, we were unimpressed. There were a few scenic views of the water from up on the mountain, and one waterfall view, but we wouldn’t recommend it. The Skyrail was much better.

Next stop, grocery store! I needed to try out this thing called Vegemite. The train station is right next to a mall with a grocery, so we searched, found it—it comes in a jar like a spread, though I’d always heard people compare it to spam—and walked back to our hotel. Too easy! Steve had already bought some bread back in Sydney, so I figured then was as good a time as any! I opened the jar to see what looked a lot like hot fudge, but smelled a lot like a hot salty mess. Here we go! Steve didn’t want any, but I grabbed a spoonful and spread it on the bread. I took a picture, took a bite, and… UGH! I don’t think I’ve ever had to truly stop eating something once I’d started, but this was truly the exception. Quite the nastiness, that Vegemite! I suppose if you like salty things, it might add something to your life, but not I! I had to eat a big spoonful of apricot preserves to get that taste out of my mouth!

And now… onward to the lagoon! For those who want the beach experience without leaving the land, there’s a lovely lagoon—saltwater, of course—just next to the Esplanade. Steve and I took a dip, but the evening was growing quite cool. After an hour or so, we started back to the hotel and stopped at The Coffee Club (a chain of coffee shops in Australia) for hot chocolate (with marshmallows for me!) and a cookie. What a full day! Holding koalas, trying new things, walking to and from town. It was quite the big day! We booked an excursion to Green Island the next day to take a glass-bottom boat ride, and it was time for bed!

Tomorrow—a walk to the Cairns Botanic Gardens and a couple of hours at Green Island!  

Cairns: Tropical Paradise and the Secret Fear...

We're here! Cairns (pronounced "cans") is in the northern-most part of Australia in the state of Queensland--whose nickname is "The Sunshine State!" As soon as we walked off the plane, we felt the wonderfully warm temperature: 26 degrees! (79 degrees F) I love it, but Steve was less enthused. ;) 

We had decided to check our bags on the flight from Sydney to Cairns because we were on a different carrier than usual (Virgin Australia), and we were unsure of bag requirements. We were quickly reminded of why we like to not check a bag while we waited at the baggage claim for nearly half an hour! Oh well. We picked up our bags, grabbed a cab, and set out for Koala Court Apartments! Getting a two bedroom apartment was less expensive than a hotel, and we have SO much space! We also have a kitchen and a living area as well. It's so cute! 

We checked in, got a map, and out we went for the Esplanade! Our hotel (apartment, whatever) is about a 20 minute walk from the Esplanade, or boardwalk, is the main drag, if you will. That's where most of the restaurants and shops are. There aren't a lot of beaches in Cairns, as I anticipated there would be. Instead, it's a "jumping off point" for excursions such as hot air ballooning, boating, train rides, rain forest adventures, helicopter rides, and of course the big finish: The Great Barrier Reef! 

Steve and I stopped for lunch at Barnacles Bill's Seafood Restaurant where I tried the barramundi fish they have everywhere--it's like tilapia--and Steve got the prawn pizza. We organized our afternoon plan of attack over lunch: Steve would go for a run and stop at the grocery, and I would go to the Cairns History Museum and plan out itinerary of excursions for the week. Ready, set, go! 

The Cairns History Museum was quite interesting. There were artifacts ranging from Aboriginal culture, farm life, Bush Pilots, daily life, immigrants (lots of Chinese culture, as you may imagine from the proximity), sea life, etc. The city was very instrumental in WWII, and the museum covered a lot of that. Apparently there were many naturalized Australian Italians prior to WWII, but nearly all of them were sent out during the war. American soldiers were stationed in Cairns, and the Australian men were all quite jealous of them because they got all the girls--American soldiers were exotic and exciting! ;) 

There was a lot of information crammed into just a few small rooms upstairs in the building that houses the museum, but the volunteer who was running the place says they are expanding! The museum will close and the end of this month or the middle of next, and it will be renovated and updated for the next 15 months! I can't wait to come back and see what they do with the place. =)

Next stop... Excursions! I went into one of the dozens of tour offices around and spoke with an Australian girl who set me up with some great adventures! We decided to do the hot air ballon ride and ferry trip out to Fitzroy Island on Tuesday, and the train ride through the rainforest to Kuranda village on Wednesday. What fun! 

And now for New Zealand Naturals ice cream. :) I got some sorbet made with tropical fruits--quite the treat for an afternoon stroll in the tropics! 

Steve found me reading a cultural sign at our meeting point, and we walked back to our hotel. The next morning was to start at 3:30! We had to be ready for a 4:15 pickup to make our sunrise hot air balloon ride!

Hot Air Ballooning

Yep, morning came early this fine day! Steve and I were ready and waiting for our bus pickup at 4:15. The driver was a sweet Japanese man. He got our information sheet that the woman from yesterday's tour office had given me and let us on the bus. We made several more stops, and around 4:50, the driver said we'd be heading up a mountain to a small village called Mareeba, where the balloons take off from. It's an hour drive! And so we began winding our way up the mountain, down a bit, up some more, through emu and kangaroo territory (road signs here really do warn of kangaroo and emu popping out onto the roads, just like deer in the States!), and round and round we went... 

Observation: Steve and I were the only white folks on the bus, everyone else was Asian. A large portion of out busmates were from China, so our driver gave instructions in English AND Chinese! 

The balloon ride was very serene. It's so calming to be up high above the hustle and bustle. We saw the beautiful sunrise, fog settling over the Atherton Tablelands, islands rising above the water in the distance--beautiful! I think Steve liked it pretty well, too. We even saw a bunch of wallabies hopping around through the trees on the way back down! What interesting to me about hot air balloons is that they are truly guided by the wind. the pilot can make the balloon go up or down and in circles, but not in any particular cardinal direction. But we did indeed land where he thought we would. There was virtually no wind up in the sky, but the pilot let us down enough to catch a southerly wind below us and get us to an open landing field. Any hot air balloon landing is really just a controlled crash, which I find humorous! This landing was smoother than the one I experienced on my balloon ride in Turkey a couple of years ago. For the landing position, you face backward, hold on to the designated rope loops, bend your knees slightly, and there you go! The pilot said on windy days, the basket sometimes tips over, but not today! 

Another group was waiting to go up after us, so our group (only 16 people plus the pilot in this balloon, as opposed to 60 per balloon in Turkey, which are the biggest hot air balloons in the world!), awaited instruction on how to exit and let others on without letting the balloon take flight again prematurely! Steve was the first out, a new person got in, and then I got out, and a new person got in, etc. they did that over and over until we were all switched out! Once it almost got off the ground, but someone climbed in quickly so it wouldn't float away! 

And then it was back to the bus and down, down, down the mountain. Next up, the ferry to Fitzroy! 

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The Secret Fear

What a lovely ferry ride! The water here is a beautiful bluish-green, and you can tell by the dark spots in some places that reefs are there. The day is a beautiful one here, and made more so by the contrast of the blue sea and sky with the green of the islands betwixt. There's something addictive and contenting about being on the water. 

When we got to the island, we made a beeline for the bookings shop (rental place) to pick up our snorkels and fins! 

Most of the shore on Fitzroy island is not sand, but dried, dead coral. It's been bleached white by the sun, so from a distance it looks like sand. We found a locker to rent for the day, took only our towels to the coral shore, and in we went to brisk South Pacific!

I have a great secret to confess to each and every one of you who has ever commented on my bravery... I am, and have always been, afraid of swimming in the ocean! I so wanted to go to the Great Barrier Reef, but would I be capable of mustering the courage? Could I possibly allow myself to miss this much anticipated, first-time ever opportunity? Let's find out together, shall we?

I had intentionally avoided thinking about the possible dangers. For months I fought the urge to let my mind run away with me, but there we were on the ferry, reading through the information we were given about the day, and Steve said it: " Oh good, it's not ray season," meaning stingrays and other rays. Now my mind just couldn't stop itself... There are poisonous, lethal things in and among the reef. Oh dear.

So we got our gear, found a spot to lay out our towels, and started toward to water. Steve dove right in. And I stood there, knee deep, fretting! 

The water was cold, so I let Steve think that was the reason for my slow decent. If I admitted to anyone I was scared, I might not do it! So in I went, put my face in, and there it was! 

The Great Barrier Reef! 

It's beautiful! It's all colors and shades of neon. It's big. It's small. Parts of it look like a brain. Parts of it look like intestines. Fish of all kinds glide right through it. It's close the the surface. It doesn't look real, but there it is! 

You're not supposed to touch it--don't worry, I didn't! Though it's gorgeous, fascinating, interesting and unlike anything I'd ever seen before, I truly felt respect toward it and even responsible for it. I wouldn't have wanted to touch it even if that was allowed. It's peaceful and serene, even with the loud colors. I wouldn't want to disturb it, and I hope others feel the same. 

After about 15 minutes of swimming around less than 10 yards from shore, I was done! My goggles kept fogging up anyway. I swam to a spot where I could sit in the water but still be on shore, took off my gear, and enjoyed the scenery from above the water for a while. Steve, who was the much more adventurous one of us today, swam over to check on me. When he saw I was fine, he decided to swim further around to see more. I'm so glad he enjoyed it so much! He told me later it was a primary highlight of the trip so far! 

I confessed to him later that I am afraid of swimming in the ocean. :) We sat on our towels on the hard coral shore for a while, enjoying the sunshine and each other's company. The rest of our day was spent hiking around the island, taking in views of the ocean, and taking another quick dip into the South Pacific to wash away the day's grime. Tonight we dined on pizza--seafood for Steve and Australian for me, which included "bacon," which in American terms is thinly slices ham, tomatoes, cheese, and egg. And for my next trick--time for bed! 

Tomorrow's big adventure involved a train ride through the rainforest and potentially holding a Koala! 

Impossible Dreams

G’Day, mates! Today’s adventures had Steve and me high on life and lookin’ fancy! This was so close to a perfect day, I think I could relive it over again and never tire of it. First stop, The Sydney Tower!

Really the first stop was the computers in the business center of the hotel. In all, I got close to 100 birthday wishes on Facebook! What a wonderful thing to wake up to! Now to find breakfast… Nothing too fancy, but I did have a fantastic latte and a delicious bacon and cheese bread thing from a bakery in the Westfield Mall food court. Fuel for the day! Now the fun can truly begin. Off we go to the Sydney Tower Eye!

Of all the places I’ve been to the top of—Washington Monument in DC, Eiffel Tower in Paris, Tokyo TV Tower, Empire State Building, Space Needle in Seattle—I’d have to say the Sydney 360-degree view from up top is one of the most breath-taking! Pictures will come soon, no worries! Since we did our viewing around 9:30 or so, I think we really got some perfect morning light. The Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge are quite dramatic against the water, there are lots of green patches around the city, we even saw a monument and a couple of other points of interest that we didn’t even realize were there! Steve and I both like to go up high to get a good view of the places we go. =)

Next up: The Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb! Steve has done it before, about 5 or 6 years ago, and he’s the one who suggested we do it. What a fun and stunning experience! Our guide, Nick, was a lot of fun. I could tell that all the guides we saw enjoy their jobs. They were cracking jokes with each other, with the tourists, etc., and they just seemed to truly be having fun—and in turn, we tourists all had fun as well!

To do the Bridge Climb, you have to sign a waiver, of course, and you have to really suit up with loads of gear, including a jumpsuit, hat, hankie (not sure why!), harness, radio and earphones to hear the tour guide, a knitted cap, sunglasses strap (if you’re bringing sunglasses), key around your neck for your locker, and… I think that’s it. I think. Anyway, we geared up, trained on how to use the steep steps (like a ladder)—one person at a time, three points of contact (i.e. two hands and a foot, or one hand and two feet), and watch your step! There were about 14 of us, plus Nick the Tour Guide, and off we went! Nick helped us connect our harnesses to the safety wire, and we started our trek to the top! There are over 1,400 steps, I think Nick said, but it was really an easy “climb.” Nothing too treacherous. We got to hear bits of information and interesting anecdotes about the bridge and Sydney in general throughout the 2 hours or so of our journey, and we got to take lots of time to stop and take in the view at four or five places along the way up and back down. The way you do it is, from the main part of Sydney, you go up on the right side, the same side as the Opera House, across the tiptop of the center of the bridge, and back down the left side. The views from all over the Bridge were absolutely magnificent. I think this certainly had to be one of the most memorable and worthwhile activities from the trip. What a way to spend mid-day!

Next up, lunch! Steve and I were both quite hungry, as it was after 3:00 pm by the time we got around to lunch. I got a “chicken burger,” which was a chicken sandwich, but Steve got a more Australian sandwich that included Australian beef and a fried egg! If you’ve never tried fried egg on your sandwich, don’t turn up your nose. It’s quite delicious!

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for the thing I was looking most forward to and the first thing that entered my mind as a “must-do” for this trip… an opera at THE Sydney Opera House! Steve, of course, was less enthusiastic about going to the opera, but he said we could do anything I wanted. If we did nothing else, I wanted to do an opera—ANY opera—at the world-renown, iconic venue. Mom brought me my favorite dress when she came to visit me a couple of months ago, so I had it altered to a high-low hemline (it needed a bit of updating), and I even bought heels to go with it—and most everyone knows I don’t wear heels, but for this, I made an exception! Steve brought a suit to wear, so we looked like quite the fancy couple!

We saw the opera called Don Pasquale, set in 1940s Italy, about a man named Don Pasquale who decides to marry to prevent his nephew from inheriting his fortune when he dies. Unfortunately, he falls prey to an elaborate scheme involving a false marriage to his nephew’s girlfriend (unbeknownst to Pasquale), who fools him into thinking she’s a shy and sheltered girl, but once she’s trapped him in marriage, she spends lots of his money, redecorates his house, and wreaks havoc for him! In the end, the nephew marries his girlfriend, Don Pasquale allows the nephew to inherit, and all is well. Most operas end in tragedy and are many hours long (three or more), but this one was light-hearted and only two hours. See? I’m a pretty nice girlfriend. I didn’t make him suffer too long, and he even said he was looking forward to it more than he thought he would—even enjoyed it! The opera was performed in Italian, but most of it was translated into English with surtitles (at the top, as opposed to subtitles at the bottom of the stage). We took the train back to the hotel and were pooped by the time we got there! What an experience!

Sunday morning, we went to breakfast at a little café on the corner before a member of the church picked us up for services that morning. We went to mass the night before (Steve is Catholic, for those who didn’t know already), so Sunday we went to my type of service. The group there is around 40 people, and they were all so friendly! We were dropped off for lunch at Circular Quay and spent a relaxing afternoon there before heading out to Manly Beach. Supposedly it’s so-named because the first European sailors to come in saw the Aboriginal men there and said they looked very “manly.” =) We didn’t get in the water or even go out on the sand, since it was pretty cold (don’t forget it’s winter here Down Under!), but the view from the shore was quite beautiful. It’s the South Pacific!

On the way back to the ferry that would take us to Circular Quay, Steve and I stopped for hot chocolate at a place called “Chocolate and the Bald Man.” It’s such a neat concept! There are hot chocolates of many kinds (Steve and I both got the Danish Toffee Chocolate), strawberries with your choice of chocolate for dipping, chocolate-banana pizza, tarts, cakes, brownies, cookies, even your own choice of chocolate to eat straight. The hot chocolate was just right for a chilly evening.

And back to the hotel for the evening! We were there just after 8:00, and I don’t know about Steve, but I was out cold by 9:00! This morning we met in the lobby to check out around 6:15, and off we went for the airport! Next stop, Cairns, Queensland, in the north! Great Barrier Reef, here we come! 

The Australian Birthday Extravaganza!

And we’re here! Our plane found the sunrise just half an hour or so before we landed, and it was every bit as beautiful as Wednesday’s sunset. Breakfast was quite the feast, with two types of eggs, sweet rolls, fruit, yogurt, juice, and coffee. We landed right on time and went through customs like a breeze. We showed our passports, got stamped, gave our entry cards (the ones we filled out on the plane) to the appropriate customs agent, and off we went! Neither Steve nor I ever check a bag, so we didn’t have to wait at the baggage claim or anything. I like traveling light!

We found the trains that would take us to our hotel and bought our tickets. Much to our befuddlement, we couldn’t get out of the exit gate from the train station! Luckily for us, a couple of kind Australians let us through on their tickets. What did we do wrong? We have no idea! We just know these things happen when you travel. =)

Next stop, the Bayswater Hotel. It’s nice enough, but Internet is 10AUD (Australian Dollars) per device, PER DAY! This causes a bit of a problem, but luckily there are a couple of computers to use in the lobby that are free. That doesn’t help me with blogging or putting pictures online, but I’ll make do when I can! Perhaps our hotel in Cairns has free Wi-Fi.

Back on track! The guy at the front desk said one of our room was ready then, and the other would be ready around mid-day. So we left our luggage in the room that ended up being mine, and off we went—next stop, Opera House!

We took a scenic walk through a little neighborhood, down by the water and a naval shipyard, and I got a beautiful shot of the Opera House across the water. Seeing it for the first time was like seeing a postcard come to life! We made it to our scheduled 9:00 tour with about 15 minutes to spare. We could see the Sydney Harbor Bridge from where we stood waiting for the tour to start, and we saw some people doing exactly what we were scheduled to do the next day—climbing the bridge!

And then began our tour of the most recognizable building in the world! Our tour guide, Mary Ann, was a true delight! She was funny, full of hard facts and humorous anecdotes, and she’s had four cups of coffee before the tour started—two at home, one on her way to work, and one waiting for her when she arrived. ;) She was loads of fun!

So, the project was started in the 1950s, and a Danish man, Mr. Utzon, won a world-wide contest to be the architect. The project was supposed to be completed in 3 years, with a budget of 7 million AUD, but that’s not how it went down… In 1963, 16 years and 102 million AUD later, the Sydney Opera House was completed and opened in a ceremony with Queen Elizabeth of England!

I had read online that the 9:00 tour gets to see more of the opera house than all of the other tours, so that’s why we chose it. We saw three theatres, including the one where we are to see Don Pasquale, the opera, the following night! Usually you can’t take pictures of any of the theatres, but Mary Ann allowed us to in the concert hall! It’s beautiful—large, over a thousands seats “in the round,” the seats are hot pink and white (yep, done in the 60s!), and the light fixtures are gorgeous. Pictures to come!

We finished up our tour a little after 10 and set out for our next big adventure… the Taronga Zoo! We rode the ferry over (I love a good ferry!) and took the “ski lift” up to the top of the mountain, where the zoo entrance is. First things first—to the koalas! Koala bears are so cute I almost can’t stand it! There were at least 4 sleeping in the trees at that first exhibit. They are so sweet and cuddly-looking. We also got to see a couple of sleeping Tasmanian devils, rock wallabies (that hop like kangaroos!), birds like I’ve never seen before, lizards, dragons, turtles, tortoises, wombats, etc., etc., etc. I didn’t get to see a platypus, but perhaps I’ll still get a glimpse of one before the trip is through!

Back on the ferry, we marveled at just how beautiful Sydney is, especially right on the water. From there we walked back to our hotel to freshen up and get Steve checked into his room. We left out again around four in search of dinner. Since it was my birthday, my wish was to eat at a seafood restaurant at Darling Harbor with my darling, Steve. And we did just that! I’d planned to get straight-up seafood, but the kangaroo fillet with prawns captured my attention instead! Still a bit of seafood, but also with an almost exclusively Australian flare. It tastes like beef to me, but gamier—sort of tough. But I enjoyed it! Steve got the salmon, which also tasted quite delicious!

With no room for dessert, we caught a cab back to the hotel—which was quite a feat. They have some system for their cabs that has to do with a light being off or on at a certain time. We were too jetlagged and full to try and think too much about figuring it out at that point!

Steve walked me to my door to wish me a happy birthday once more. I tried and failed to figure out the heating system in my room, took my shower, and collapsed into bed. Tomorrow, we’ll take in the view from the Sydney Tower, climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and enjoy the opera at the world famous Sydney Opera House!