Rememberances

I just occurred to me that Nov. 30 was the 12th anniversary of my dad's passing and it made me rather sad to think he's not here to share our lives with. He's missed T growing up and becoming a really amazing person. He's missed E pretty much all together. K and M are now adults with lives of their own. He'd be proud of M with her military service, and K for her independence.

I'd post a photo of my dad, but I don't have any digital of him. I need to get a photo scanner so I can make my hard copy, film photos accessible online.

Anyway, Dad, I'm thinking of you and missing you.

The best laid plans

I had every intention of getting a Christmas tree today and getting the house decorated. Alas, did not happen. I think tomorrow will be tree day, though.

I wanted to mop all the floors and put a coat of wax on them before bring the tree into the house and stuff. But, I got a bit derailed and only about 1/2 the floors are done. I'm peeved since I did not derail myself; I was derailed by another. Sigh.

I'm also having to face the reality that my dear puppy girl is not doing so hot and, although she is 15 years old, I'm not ready for her to leave. The vet said her heart is strong and the antibiotics he gave her should make her feel better, but she's not eating much and does not have as much of a spring in her step as she has.

Grrr, I hate when I'm maudlin.

It's Sunny in Portland...at least for now

Happy December!
We have little bit of a bright day today and I can't complain about that.


I also can't complain about this totally cute video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1kOXt5cLew

I picked up a beautiful pair of earrings and matching necklace while in Sydney and I really like the work of these artists http://www.mondorondo.com.au/page7.htm. I also fell in love with this painting http://www.artery.com.au/painting.php?catalogue=4222 that has now sold. So sad that it will be in someone else's living room and not mine.

I fell for little jars of mayo and jam while in Australia, too. I think most other countries have little bottles and jars of products that we seem to only get in the industrial size. I'd like smaller options at the grocery store. I also think instant coffee and milk in a tube is brilliant. I wanted to get some before leaving, but the local grocery did not have it. I might have to go in search of it on line. I think it's a Nestle product.

I've got photos to sort through from the trip, laundry to do, floors to mop, and Christmas prep to get rolling.

A few pix

Last day...

We are wrapping up our last day in Sydney. We had a slow morning, which I think we all needed. Jer and I bought a new hub cap for the rental car since we lost one when we got a flat tire driving over some unpaved roads out in the boonies a few days ago. We also ran the thing through the car wash to wash off the telltale signs of our offroad excursions... these were real roads on the map, they just did not tell us that 15 km down them they would turn into dirt and gravel.

After our chores, we had lunch at a good Thai place next door to our hotel in the 'burbs (Burwood) then we went into Sydney proper to check out a well respected Aboriginal art gallery where I coveted an amazing painting but could not bring myself to purchase it for $2000. I did get a really pretty pair of earrings and matching pendant, though.

Then we went to watch the bats take flight at the Botanical Garden. That was cool. They did not take off the way the little bats do in Austin, but they are amazing to watch.

Last was our final dinner. Most of the trendy areas are (surprise!) packed and there's hardly any parking to be had, so we made our way back to Burwood and their main drag where we had our choice of Chinese. MMMMM.

Jerry and I are doing our final pack up ... okay, I'm posting stuff on the blog and he's packing. But, he's better at that than I am!

Home tomorrow.

Hope everyone has, is having or has had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Blue Mountains

We stayed at the AYH in Katoomba for the past couple of nights. It's really very nice and not a party hostel at all. There's a really nice common area with couches, tables and chairs, and a nice big common kitchen. It's been socked in with fog for the past 2 days but we are getting sun today. Yippee.We are going to take the long way around the mountains and head toward
Sydney area. Hope to take a hike or two, too.

Coast to Blue Mountains

We tootled down the coast after a little swing inland and are now heading from Nelsons Bay toward Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.
It's cooled off after some very hot days and some thunderstorms are expected.
More soon!

Big Sky Country

We headed out toward the hill country today through the Granite Belt. It's pretty countryside with rolling hills, meadows with cattle and sheep, big white puffy clouds and small towns, some so small you don't even have to slow down as you pass through.

We went up the Bald Rock National Park and hiked up to Bald Rock -- It was totally cool and really beautiful, Not as hot as in Brisbane, but plenty warm and not a lot of shade. We took the long way up that was not as steep, but took the steep route back down.

On our ghost walk the other night the guide said he thought Australia was in some ways like America's little brother. I think he's rather correct. There's McDonald's, KMark, Target, Starbucks, Century 21, ReMax, KFC, izzler, Ford and lots of other US companies. This is not the most "foreign" trip we've taken. We're having a good time, but this is a lot like the US in many ways. There are distinctly Australian things, too but US culture is extremely evident here.

We are cutting back toward the coast tomorrow aiming for Port Macquarie. Not sure what we'll find along the way.

Brisbane

Brisbane is a very pretty city. We took a scenic tour today, but it was very hot -- 41 deg C or about 103F. The city reminds me of Seattle a bit, sort of hilly and with nice architecture. It's more sprawling than Portland. The Brisbane River snakes through the city and it has a bunch of bridges, some dedicated to pedestrians and bikes only. Traffic is not too bad, but parking is a killer. Expensive if you park in a garage and street parking is virtually unavailable.

Jerry and I are taking a Ghost Walk tonight to find out about haunted Brisbane...the most haunted city in the world. We'll find out!

Our hosts at the Paramount Motel and Apartments are very kind and helpful. We took a swim in the pool to cool off after our hot day in the city.

I think Italian is on the docket for tonight.

Here and there

Super clear creek at The Boulders

Pretty pastoral scene


Yup, we actually get out of the car and do stuff. At the Boulders.

Pretty

Hi!

More Pix

Great Barrier Reef
Rainforest from the gondola returning from Kuranda.

The scooter with it's own gondola car

Waterfall overlook on the train ride to Kuranda

In our own private train car going up to Kuranda

In

Photos!

A little update first. We are in Brisbane. We went to the Australia Zoo today, which was pretty interesting. It's the one established by Steve Irwin. He's kind of a hero around here.
We've been driving south and have had several nice stops. We stayed in a little caravan park right on the beach where the kangaroos hang out in the evenings. It was pretty cool. By chance we found an absolutely beautiful "cottage" to stay at in the hills outside Cooroy around Noosa.

I know it's taken a long time to get pix posted, but here you go.

Sydney Opera House

Bats in the trees in the Sydney Botanical Garden and a Jacaranda tree through the door of St. Mary's Church.

Now for the pix...

Atherton and Chillagoe

We took in the rainforest area west of Cairns. Got rained on...really rained on. Hmmm, it's a rainforest, right?
There are a ton of National Parks, so we wandered from on to the next. Stopped at a place called the Golden Pool that was crystal clear and super calm. You could clearly see the reflections and in photos it's hard to tell sky from water. Just beautiful.
We wound up in the outback in Chillagoe and visited a limestone cave system. Cool.
The sunset last night was amazing.
Back toward the coast and southward today over an unpaved road.
See you on the other side!

Kuranda and Great Barrier Reef

On Thursday we took the historic train from Cairns to a little village in the rainforest called Kuranda. The train ride was really cool, right along the edge of Barron River Gorge. Some really lovely views. Kuranda is kind of an arty little town and it was fun to peruse the shops and markets.
Jerry, Bob & Mary went to the Butterfly Sanctuary, while I opted out. To get off the mountain, you can take the train or the Skyway Gondola. We took the gondola for a different perspective. Mary's scooter (aka buggy or cart) got it's own gondola car since it would not fit in with us in ours. It was kind of a funny sight. The gondola goes right over the rainforest canopy, which was impressive.
Today, Friday, we took a reef tour and went snorkeling. Bob tried but the water was very choppy and made it difficult for a 1st time snorkeler. When we left this a.m. from Cairns it was rainy and overcast. It was a little better out on the reef at about 40 miles out, but it never really cleared up and it poured for a while when we were out. I think if it was less choppy and a little warmer it would have been a nicer trip. The tour company has a semi-submersible boat -- kind of a glass bottom type idea -- so both Bob & Mary could see the coral and the fish. Jerry and I snorkeled and had fun. There were a lot of fish and most were fearless of people -- not surprising. We've snorkeled in Florida and Hawaii, and I think this reef is on par with Hawaii as far a color and variation goes, but it was more like our Florida trip when it was a bit rough and out in deeper water.
We are hoping to try again from one of the islands further south since on some of those you can just walk into the water from the beach. I think Bob will have an easier time that way.
We are having a nice time and getting the hang of Australia. I surely hope that the weather improves and we are not rained on for the next 3 weeks. That would stink.
I still promise pictures soon!

We're Here!

After only 15 hours from LA, we arrived in Sydney on Monday morning.
I had forgotten then we would drive on the "wrong" side when we got our rental car, so had to get adjusted to that and then drive in the city! Did pretty well, but have the habit of hugging the left side a bit too much. I'm sure I'll work it out in the next several weeks.
Found out hotel and had two small unfortunate surprises -- we were under the impression that parking was included and that there was wi-fi available. Well, $22/day for parking and $20/day for internet. We chose parking over internet the last few days. Apparently, Sydney and now Cairns are not especially big on free wi-fi! Grrrrr. We had better luck in Vietnam!

That aside, we are having a nice time. After a shower and settling in in Sydney, we tramped around through the heart of the city and down to the Opera House. I think we trudged about 4 miles on Monday. It was cooler, maybe mid-70s and a bit overcast. We had some lunch at a Korean BBQ place that was good and hit the spot.

We walked through Hyde Park, which was quite nice and there's a WWI Anzac memorial there. It's being renovated so we could not go inside. Then over to St. Mary's Cathedral. It has a beautiful wooden Gothic ceiling and small flying buttresses outside. The rose windows were also quite lovely. Onward, we found the Botanical Garden, which started out as a vegetable patch for the first settlers. There were a ton of large fruit bats just hanging around in the trees. It was wild. There are also a bunch of noisy, ill behaved cockatoos and some green parrots, I think.
We strolled down and around to the Opera House then up the Circular Quay. We enjoyed an ice cream at Baskins Robbins.

We decided we were getting pretty pooped, so we took the train back up to our hotel. There's a train, light rail, monorail, buses and ferries. The whole system is pretty cool, but a bit disconnected and difficult to decipher. With some help from the gal at the kiosk and some locals we managed to get 4 tickets.

We had Indian food from the place around the corner from the hotel then promptly feel asleep around 9:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, we had a tour of the Opera House planned and that was very fun. We were the only people on the tour, so we had the guide all to ourselves and she was a hoot. The Opera House is pretty amazing. Since we were down at that end of town, we decided to ride the ferry somewhere and randomly chose Watson's Bay as our destination. I can see why someone would want to live on Sydney Harbor. Beautiful and some amazing houses.

We were up early for our flight to Cairns today, Wednesday. We are going up to Kuranda on the train tomorrow then out on the Reef on Friday. It's been overcast, but humid and warm. It might be a bit choppy on Friday. I hope not too much, though.

So far, I'm enjoying Australia. The pluses are that the people are lovely -- happy, helpful, friendly. The weather is not too bad, if a bit muggy. There's a lot of good food to choose from and much of it is Asian -- Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. The minuses -- it is EXPENSIVE! I don't think any of us expected it to be this expensive. We had lunch and it was $60 US. Ice cream at Baskin Robbins was $22. We chatted up a fellow and asked about places that locals go to that would not cost an arm and a leg, and he was kind enough to make a couple of recommendations. We also met an American expat in Sydney who recommended a Greek restaurant to us, where we had dinner Tuesday evening. It was very good and relatively reasonable. I know that cities can be expensive, but geez this is crazy. At least double what we would expect at home and more than what we'd expect to find in places like San Francisco or Chicago.

Anyway, we are trying to find some cost effective solutions and at the same time have a good time. It seems that once out of Cairns the prices will drop a bit, as this is a big tourist town. I'm looking forward to that.

I will try to post some pix in a day or so.

The countdown continues

We are only three days from departure for Sydney. I think I'm the least organized/planned that I've been for a trip in a while. I'm sure everything will fall into place once we are on the ground in Australia, but I'm always afraid that I'm going to forget something important...like our passports or visas or the plane tickets.

My to do list has not really gotten any shorter and I keep thinking of things I should do before we leave. J has asked a couple of times if I want to deal with the tomato plants in the basement and I keep putting it off. I'm going to have to suck it up here in the next couple of days though, no matter what.

*Sigh*

Brand New Day

I hope to unscramble myself.