Monday, December 12, 2005
DAY 100: Australia
The trip to Australia started out a little rough, with an 8 hour layover in New Zealand where we were exhaustively questioned in customs (who wouldn't think 12 countries in 80 days is sketchy?) and had our hiking boots washed for us by Quarantine. But thanks to the Air New Zealand Lounge, we spent the time reading free magazines, eating free food, and posting the Korea update on free internet. Yes, we are begining to realize that we have low funds and are entering "expensive" countries once again.
So we landed in Sydney and I fell in love - as I imagined I would. We arrived in Sydney late at night, and having had no sleep the night before on the plane (the movie selection was quite enticing), Meridith called it an early night while I met up with some fellow American travellers whom we had met earlier in China. During the days, we mixed sightseeing with just relaxing in the sun. We toured the Sydney Opera House, wandered around "The Rocks" area where Sydney was founded, sunbathed, hiked and burned on the beaches, and visited the local markets, of course. We also took in a day of soccer, watching the Australian women's team tie China, cheering on the Sydney FC team as it beat Melbourne and getting IDed for beer in a country where the drinking age is 18 (Mer was jealous they didn't stop her). After 5 hours, it was enough for even the most avid soccer fan.
For our evening entertainment, we attempted a "night lights" tour of Sydney Harbour, only to be drenched in a downpour getting there in time for our pre-paid tickets (just proof that planning ahead only leads to trouble), freezing the entire ride, and wondering if the lightning storm could electrecute boat passengers. It was... an expeience. We gave each other one night off (from each other that is), where I went to a choral performance at the Sydney Opera House and Mer dined on pizza at the beach. The Australian Girls Choir turned out to be a glorified recital and it was pretty funny being wedged between parents who were constantly searching for their daughters in the sea of hundreds of girls. And with a popular bar directly below our hotel room, nights out were convenient entertainment (considering that Mer and I have different expectations of a "night out").
After our 4 days in Sydney, we rented a car and started the 3 day journey down to Melbourne. (Yes, I too worried about Mer driving, let alone it being on the opposite side of the road and from the opposite side of the car. Thankfully, the extra insurance we paid for ended up being needless.) The highlights of the drive were Hyams Beach (which has the whitest sand in the world), Pebbley Beach (with kangaroos resting in the shaded areas), and Buchan Caves (an alienesque world of limestone stalagtites and stalagmites). Best of all were the wildlife sightings including kangaroos (the equivalent here of deer in New Jersey), wombats, giant lizards, tye-dye looking birds, big squirting sea blobs that looked like rocks (yes, that biology degree served Mer well), and a variety of interesting roadkill.
The most exciting part of the road trip were our small town adventures. (We thought Mendham was small, but Australia completely redefines the meaning of "small town".) By small, we're talking slow-down-on-the-highway-for-20-seconds-and-you've-just-passed-through-the-center-of-town. It did provide for interesting rest stops though. One night we spent about an hour driving around the town trying to find a hotel that was still open for business (it was 9 pm), finally questioning the locals that were still up and about (all two of them), and resorting to calling an after-hours number. The next night, learning from our previous night's adventure, we stopped before 8:00, only to discover, when questioning the attendant at the gas station, that the "town" written so boldly on our map consisted of what basically came down to the gas station, a tavern, and the rooms for rent above the tavern that came with a complimentary can of insecticide. Needless to say, we ended up hurrying to a hotel in the next "town", where we were greeted with a "have you eaten yet, because Chooky's is going to close in about 10 minutes?" Ahhh, yes... small towns. We practically peeled into the empty parking spaces in front of Chooky's and delighted in our choice of menu items that could be cooked on the one remaining burner that was still ignited. Yum.
Finally arriving in Melbourne, we met up with our friend from elementary school in northern California, Jessika, who has been teaching there for about 3 years. It was great to again have a place to stay and even though it had been over 10 years since we'd seen each other, the old camp songs and stories had not been forgotten. While Jessika was finishing up her school year (yeah - Christmas in summer is a hard notion to understand. "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" isn't the same when you're in a tank top), Mer and I took advantage of the absence of a check-out time and explored a little of the city. With Jessika on summer vacation, we spent the days picnicing at the beach, wine tasting in the vinyards (I have a nose for picking out "an essence of orange and perhaps a mild oak" while Meridith prefered the grape juice to the actual wine), watching the "Penguin Parade" where we got a "Discovery Channel"-like look at some frisky birds, and going out with Jess's Aussie friends.
With a few days of prepatory driving under Mer's belt, we set out to New Zealand to tour both the north and south island in record time.
So we landed in Sydney and I fell in love - as I imagined I would. We arrived in Sydney late at night, and having had no sleep the night before on the plane (the movie selection was quite enticing), Meridith called it an early night while I met up with some fellow American travellers whom we had met earlier in China. During the days, we mixed sightseeing with just relaxing in the sun. We toured the Sydney Opera House, wandered around "The Rocks" area where Sydney was founded, sunbathed, hiked and burned on the beaches, and visited the local markets, of course. We also took in a day of soccer, watching the Australian women's team tie China, cheering on the Sydney FC team as it beat Melbourne and getting IDed for beer in a country where the drinking age is 18 (Mer was jealous they didn't stop her). After 5 hours, it was enough for even the most avid soccer fan.
For our evening entertainment, we attempted a "night lights" tour of Sydney Harbour, only to be drenched in a downpour getting there in time for our pre-paid tickets (just proof that planning ahead only leads to trouble), freezing the entire ride, and wondering if the lightning storm could electrecute boat passengers. It was... an expeience. We gave each other one night off (from each other that is), where I went to a choral performance at the Sydney Opera House and Mer dined on pizza at the beach. The Australian Girls Choir turned out to be a glorified recital and it was pretty funny being wedged between parents who were constantly searching for their daughters in the sea of hundreds of girls. And with a popular bar directly below our hotel room, nights out were convenient entertainment (considering that Mer and I have different expectations of a "night out").
After our 4 days in Sydney, we rented a car and started the 3 day journey down to Melbourne. (Yes, I too worried about Mer driving, let alone it being on the opposite side of the road and from the opposite side of the car. Thankfully, the extra insurance we paid for ended up being needless.) The highlights of the drive were Hyams Beach (which has the whitest sand in the world), Pebbley Beach (with kangaroos resting in the shaded areas), and Buchan Caves (an alienesque world of limestone stalagtites and stalagmites). Best of all were the wildlife sightings including kangaroos (the equivalent here of deer in New Jersey), wombats, giant lizards, tye-dye looking birds, big squirting sea blobs that looked like rocks (yes, that biology degree served Mer well), and a variety of interesting roadkill.
The most exciting part of the road trip were our small town adventures. (We thought Mendham was small, but Australia completely redefines the meaning of "small town".) By small, we're talking slow-down-on-the-highway-for-20-seconds-and-you've-just-passed-through-the-center-of-town. It did provide for interesting rest stops though. One night we spent about an hour driving around the town trying to find a hotel that was still open for business (it was 9 pm), finally questioning the locals that were still up and about (all two of them), and resorting to calling an after-hours number. The next night, learning from our previous night's adventure, we stopped before 8:00, only to discover, when questioning the attendant at the gas station, that the "town" written so boldly on our map consisted of what basically came down to the gas station, a tavern, and the rooms for rent above the tavern that came with a complimentary can of insecticide. Needless to say, we ended up hurrying to a hotel in the next "town", where we were greeted with a "have you eaten yet, because Chooky's is going to close in about 10 minutes?" Ahhh, yes... small towns. We practically peeled into the empty parking spaces in front of Chooky's and delighted in our choice of menu items that could be cooked on the one remaining burner that was still ignited. Yum.
Finally arriving in Melbourne, we met up with our friend from elementary school in northern California, Jessika, who has been teaching there for about 3 years. It was great to again have a place to stay and even though it had been over 10 years since we'd seen each other, the old camp songs and stories had not been forgotten. While Jessika was finishing up her school year (yeah - Christmas in summer is a hard notion to understand. "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" isn't the same when you're in a tank top), Mer and I took advantage of the absence of a check-out time and explored a little of the city. With Jessika on summer vacation, we spent the days picnicing at the beach, wine tasting in the vinyards (I have a nose for picking out "an essence of orange and perhaps a mild oak" while Meridith prefered the grape juice to the actual wine), watching the "Penguin Parade" where we got a "Discovery Channel"-like look at some frisky birds, and going out with Jess's Aussie friends.
With a few days of prepatory driving under Mer's belt, we set out to New Zealand to tour both the north and south island in record time.
# posted by Mer and Les @ 8:13 PM 
