Australia Travel Journal

[DavidS]

Originally posted by annettehala:
Japanese doctors being what they are

You mean like the Japanese gentleman studying to be a Mohel who dropped out because instead of the ritual knife he kept using Karate chops?

[OperaTenor]

Originally posted by annettehala:
No, that's a guy thing.

Aw, c'mon! Don't limit yourself!

[annettehala]

Saturday, May 14
We left the Grampians and headed to Ararat. There was a train museum there but it turned out to be closed so we continued on to Ballarat. We got in early so we went to Target in the mall. We shopped for two hours and then went to Donut King. After that we went to the tourist information center and they booked us our own private house for the night. The owner let us set our own price! (a benefit of having an empty place at 4:00PM) On our way there we needed groceries and we saw a strip mall with a “Big W.” We had no idea what it was so we decided to take a peek. It was Wal-Mart! Our Australian friend told us they didn’t have Wal-Mart there, but they just didn’t realize it was the same store. We picked up a few things there. The house turned out to be a lovely Victorian home completely furnished. At dinner time we went out on what we were by now calling “the endless search for food.” We got lost in the dark but finally found a grocery first and then a Chinese restaurant. We ordered take-away and ate it in the comfort of our own little house. After dinner we watched the second to the last episode of Survivor Palau.

Little Victorian House
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwAAABATDmo5Do8ReAP8FTrteV5ELlT48rkAUVUlaQ7ix83IwBbW!zR0PGTw3cCbzwqSNYLi!J6cuAnqDZsjFyU61!BDOj6TdQJKdbjLodE/DSCN1326.jpg?dc=4675529857036078420" alt=" - " />

[annettehala]

Sunday, May 15
We slept in until 9:00! We packed the laundry we had done the night before and purchases from the day before, easier said than done, and left at noon. On the way back to Melbourne we stopped at a pay phone and made reservations at a hotel near the airport. It turned out to be on the edge of a bad neighborhood and we had to walk up a block to find an internet café. When we came back from there we had to go find dinner. The desk clerk told us where to go. It was a street of sidewalk restaurants, cafes, and pubs. They looked busy, and I figured that we would end up reading menus for ages trying to decide. It was already after 7:00 and we had to pack for an early flight. We drove around and around the parking areas and I noticed some fast food type places down a street we passed. I suggested we go there, so when we finally found a space we walked down and went in KFC. There wasn’t much seating in there and they were drilling up the floor tiles. We looked out the window and saw Subway across the street. We left and went over there instead. They ended up being out of practically everything. We scarfed down whatever we ended up with and left in haste.

(No pictures!)

[annettehala]

Monday, May 16
We got up early and left for the airport to catch our flight to Ayers Rock. The traffic was fast and we had extra time so we got sweets and coffee there. We arrived at Ayers Rock early in the afternoon and rented our car. There really is nothing there except a little village of hotels. Our $200 hotel room turned out to be two bunks, a tile floor, and no TV. They have a minimum of two nights stay. After a visit to the information desk we decided to drive out to the Olgas. They are the rock formation out there that nobody knows about. We had no idea at least that they were there until we arrived. The rental car gives you 200Km free and then you pay 75c for each additional. That is only enough for one trip to the Olgas, and one trip to Ayers rock. We went to the first Olgas lookout and as soon as we stepped from the car we were swarmed with flies. We walked quickly and fanned ourselves, but we only stayed out for a couple of minutes. Some of the other tourists had fly nets for their heads. If we had known we would have gotten some before heading out. They were especially attracted to my dad for some reason. We took the short walk into the Olgas. It was hot, the flies were all over, and the path was rough. We made record time getting that done, then we headed over to Ayers rock to take pictures of it at sunset. Everybody stayed in the car, and I got out every five minutes to take a picture. The sun was behind some low lying clouds so at first it wasn’t very spectacular, but then it got lower than the clouds and it the rock turned bright red. The clouds also made for an amazing sunset. We went back to our hotel after dark and then looked for some food. They don’t have any fast food out there so we ended up at a nice restaurant, the Gecko Cafe. The food was good and in large portions and the bill was $100. After our trip we decided that was the going price for a decent meal anywhere. After we ate we went to the grocery and did some souvenir shopping. We were planning to climb the rock the next day and needed some bottled water, etc.

The Olgas
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCNAg4Tnmk5Do8ReAP8FXOjKe5fulVUxgnFlPvDnWDE5tw5CR3sfhISMqek7Ex!rMhhS967PrT19Lb5Hq24OgOm2QWIb3qiiBTy6Xz56sA/DSCN1360.jpg?dc=4675530659716264805" alt=" - " />

Walking into the Olgas
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCbAhMTwGo5Do8ReAP8FbuqSEdOarMcyoVlGtW0xRNWNN9djmhjHPM8YClCW49npki6pNP6CppODsCSLPkyJR35BMMq8WRcHva2zWNe1k4/DSCN1365.jpg?dc=4675530660291704524" alt=" - " />

<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCbAhQT!mo5Do8ReAP8FWiUfixxecc6aeOZ3bMhk!!MyevgWzEcfykZ!NcWRUuGS24wMpY9Lcq8mjgdK5a9kgsmPDtFf5qd3m5LM2U1Usk/DSCN1366.jpg?dc=4675530660293963358" alt=" - " />

Walking out of the Olgas
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCbAhQT!2o5Do8ReAP8FVq7QYu95vpXiS9PJeHPPq1cMg8V6cOLzr*0FyFby9SxoCshl*QqbtrwnsJNR*LKmG3GfUSk*xtutq0c6pt0A*Y/DSCN1375.jpg?dc=4675530660297644305" alt=" - " />

Setting Sun
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCfAhkTHmw5Do8ReAP8FVIvbsXpxZ3nKWDpJYMoDITreP0Qy1UZWbNfyL6fdc1ABUhd4dKLfJB19wfnjqYNhLSNe5D58RalrC2dAWvzx2k/DSCN1389.jpg?dc=4675530659719964840" alt=" - " />

<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCRAhgT5Ws5Do8ReAP8FRQohmyUbqmQhh3e*9qPLBz7ffKcmH5BlCcEbbvFtCom*TOdXImCgntYeeCIvGvlF7gublmoKtvxNfBBDP1ANsk/DSCN1397.jpg?dc=4675530659723671238" alt=" - " />

Sunset
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCNAg4Tm2k6Pohih!kBBqrFGSRGOuABRol4F!bfAPYrzJeKAbWNghVo6sD1q*XdirGxnaOpdhcHji1PMTph2TcGeZX3SSc9YMoeOJEg8Nk/DSCN1414.jpg?dc=4675530659727277420" alt=" - " />

[ai4i]

Ayers Rock looks a lot like Uluru!

[annettehala]

Haha!

[dai bread]

All those pictures you see of typical Aussies in the Outback with their wide-brimmed hats with corks dangling are not jokes. Those corks do a very good job of fly-removal.

[DavidS]

Originally posted by dai bread:
All those pictures you see of typical Aussies in the Outback with their wide-brimmed hats with corks dangling are not jokes. Those corks do a very good job of fly-removal.

Are they covered with something that sticks to the flies' legs so they can't get away, or do they work like horses' or cows' tails?

[annettehala]

As far as I know they aren't stickey. I didn't know the fly repelent thing though.
Maybe dai bread is just pulling our legs. [ ]

[annettehala]

Tuesday, May 17
We arrived at the rock a little after 9:00. We had wanted to get there earlier, but the room was so cramped it took a lot longer than usual to get ready. Our mom stayed at the bottom and we started the climb. If you knew how far it was to the top and how dangerous it is you would probably reason yourself out of the climb, but you can only see about 1/3 of the climb and it doesn’t look that bad from the bottom. It was an incredible challenge and I’m glad we did it, even if we couldn’t walk for days. We got back down at about 12:30. Since it was past lunch time my blood sugar was low and I was feeling weak and shaky so I came down much faster then the others. I knew the longer I took the worse it was going to get. As soon as we were all down, we went to the cafeteria at the cultural center and got lunch. That was where April and I discovered PowerAid. Good stuff. From there we went back to our room. The plan was to go to the pool. Our dad went ahead of us, it only takes him a few seconds to get his swimming trunks on, and he came back after only a few minutes to say that the water was freezing and if you were out of the pool the flies covered you. We all took showers and fell asleep on our bunks. We woke up at supper time. We walked to a nearby sand dune and watched the sunset and then headed off on the “endless search for food.” There were only a few things to pick from so it shouldn’t have been that hard. Our hotel had a buffet and we went over there only discover it was $42 per person. We were starving but my dad said no way to that price. We had already gone over the allotted mileage on the car so we decided to take the free shuttle to another hotel that according to the guide book had a café. We had to wait half an hour and finally took it over there. The café was only open for lunch! They also had a buffet there for $46 per person. We weren’t going to wait half an hour for the bus again, so we had to walk to the area where we had eaten the night before. It was pitch black dark out there and we weren’t sure where we were going. It might have been the first time I have ever had to truly walk by the moonlight. The stars were great though. I was actually able to take a picture of the Southern Cross with my camera! There were only two choices there for eating, the restaurant from the night before or a “sandwich bar.” I had burned a few hundred more calories than I could afford and was so hungry I could have eaten a horse. We decided on the sandwich place. We should have gone back to the Gecko Cafe from the night before. The sandwich place was out of everything. We got the last four ¼ chicken pieces. We had to eat them outside in the cold and dark. The bill was over $60. We could have gotten two large pizzas from the first place for that! We went and waited for the bus and then put our aching bodies to bed when we got back.

Preparing to Climb
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCfAhATD2o6Pohih!kBBuEpg6im!hWpFWOPhtLgKn5hcjkyR5uOT0r3!3FON594e2kVwBE*7RyrwK3e0qRn0h7EeKwDbsFSElkK0NynIgA/DSCN1416.jpg?dc=4675530659732892692" alt=" - " />

On the Way Up
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCbAhETSWo6Pohih!kBBmHiPItyRa2h772bbe3I!8gMOgVIQJG*T*FGkRUkGXmIo8mfJwvU2*TZyqG*ACQjWRdaeSRDW7OKhJ9Q1AsFGIU/DSCN1417.jpg?dc=4675530659739282649" alt=" - " />

<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCfAg0TYmk6Pohih!kBBo2OJ3Z3o7pwuH2OXTPPOzTfImjWFAaC4YldS4eJj2X0jpkBiJGixRwl9D0jRckOUl8PZps5!A9hQMgKB!q*tCg/DSCN1422.jpg?dc=4675530659817524227" alt=" - " />

Traversing the Top
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCRAhQT!Go6Pohih!kBBjKCfKIsMXiuWBSGF71K2AncFL6n8FQpWbu2jsDVGmEOUoerWprZP0nGUZqpJr6uHnP!kszASaQua6VON91BuDQ/DSCN1429.jpg?dc=4675530659823314479" alt=" - " />

<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwAAAA8T12k6Pohih!kBBm0R57bmKddnOLjK3hh4Kem2eFOFFiYpt!ocS8ZNOhOAqFDu1tbGGCOYMxBN*tdkrVK*BmLGmCBetXHy8*2WdiQ/DSCN1433.jpg?dc=4675530659827445601" alt=" - " />

<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCfAhATEWo6Pohih!kBBs8sh9dR3IYCwQhV542uDBpG7O!o8FwhpXdGYUJJdP6LhRlY57MX03XUpYxepiKviNsqY5NOL7BAWnocP3aZJko/DSCN1434.jpg?dc=4675530659830722502" alt=" - " />

At the Top
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCNAhQT!Wo6Pohih!kBBvjccTgU2sk3nw!Hw0c4bOsND22LJ8JAXbFTPcapwr23ZBKFePDHCOxX!PhYCR!abMQIM437lTkvbEEynIShGvw/DSCN1438.jpg?dc=4675530659834949068" alt=" - " />

[annettehala]

Sunset
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwAAABcTqms6Pohih!kBBjogWLTJE6VJaiL35vpRkPNLCtuoTy4m4ETkDBurSE6iRhLgE3Xq2wnfMQvt*51sg!*flcekN60Yn*DrVIAN7lg/DSCN1468.jpg?dc=4675530659842053262" alt=" - " />

Dusk at Ayers Rock
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwDdFxETT2o6Pohih!kBBiJplMmCrq5oa*lVI72n1lLtsBtu4cpSwUxnTSHwzHst!TUT!UN29EDoxTNlanYCOlzR59mqaTwpPLMpGUw*9No/DSCN1471.jpg?dc=4675530659845261762" alt=" - " />

[Serenity]

Thank you Annette for sharing your pictures. They are beautiful, inspiring and many are worth publishing in National Geographic(!).

[dai bread]

Originally posted by annettehala:
As far as I know they aren't stickey. I didn't know the fly repelent thing though.
Maybe dai bread is just pulling our legs. [ ]

No I'm not. All you do is flick your head, and the corks act like a horse flicking its tail.

[annettehala]

Wednesday, May 18
We got up very early because of our slow start the day before. We couldn’t be late for the plane. We packed the bags and made much better time. Dad was gong to go put gas in the car but he couldn’t find the keys. We searched everywhere. We all remembered our mom having them to open the glove box when we got back from climbing the Rock the day before. She couldn’t find them anywhere. Finally our dad went out to the car and discovered it unlocked with the key on the drivers seat. When he came back we drove the five minutes to the little airport. Nobody was there. There was a sign on the rental desk to drop your contract and keys in the box on the counter. We flew to Alice Springs and then after a three hour wait we flew to Sydney. In Sydney we rented a car and then tried to find our way out of town in the dark at rush hour. At this point we had also unpacked our nesting suitcases because of souvenir purchases, so we had to ride with one on the back seat. We were staying in Penrith outside of Sydney, but when we got out there we were lost in the dark trying to find the place. When we did get there, we checked into the very nice hotel and then went to find a grocery and dinner. The three of us mountain climbers were really needing hot baths, but this hotel only had a shower and no hot tubs. Go figure!

Goodybe Outback
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwDrAgATdGk6Pohih!kBBtc4ck9IfqIAtyJ1olZhOYIxaL9gOHZDuVeh7eeJXGWKxdC7C1I0Jsl!ybmUMjMHML6JjYQMoGV5aTu*vuwfYzE/DSCN1476.jpg?dc=4675531359868289936" alt=" - " />

Red Dirt
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwCrAv4SAWk6Pohih!kBBp!m3PI43LwZ77NWDkU8!FEcji6S6jEfvZnCuLK9ZPG5Fl6YlysV4B8HBFzlSeeC0HDL09D2oDGxDCOWKNvZMHs/DSCN1483.jpg?dc=4675531359871646373" alt=" - " />

Mountain Ranges
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwAAAAETr2k6Pohih!kBBq4F7tlIH6PThvefS0xcQm*YkUW44xgUzX6nvRyGsJ6WMtXtcbzdagZtbAW2rEuD!Dx0xzCYB4WaK8ROsvFcpE0/DSCN1486.jpg?dc=4675531359875352771" alt=" - " />

Sydney
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwDvAvcSZWet58hOy1BIEm!gErfc7aCgymB7mfOH5bk1IUleNNhHGh2hr3t4JIPBOMElCe*56FE**C6KW*eJKDJNF3EbStdoJicMQP2qP28/DSCN1503.jpg?dc=4675531359880793063" alt=" - " />

Rainbow over the Bridge/Opera House
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwDvAvsSTWit58hOy1BIEtggDKBuD1ZmORi9bBrTDWt1O4ATM3mOs45J4g7S*D12eQH5OfE!Q2uNdB4SON1DAmFuk1ZE8FVaiy5y98mxn!w/DSCN1507.jpg?dc=4675531359884049284" alt=" - " />

[annettehala]

Sorry everybody,
I've been a little slow the last week. I will get this done. I mostly haven't put it on because my sister made off with my journal!

[barfle]

The last couple of times I went to Sydney, I was actually in Penrith, since that's where the company's office is located.

They put me up in a hotel associated with a sports club and casino of some sort. I started my first evening doing a bit of channel surfing, and found several channels of dog races. Betting on greyhounds seems to be a major pastime there!

As I recall, Penrith is about an hour and a half from Sydney. The last time I stayed there, the office manager got me tickets to see Fideleo at the Sydney Opera House, and we just barely made it before the curtain.

[BigJon@Work]

Anything having to do with gambling or sports seems to be a major pastime there.

<small>[ 07-22-2005, 06:34 PM: Message edited by: BigJon@Work ]</small>

[annettehala]

Thursday, May 19
We drove out to a Blue Mountain lookout. Part of it was a dirt road. On our way back down the mountain our car started making a screeching noise. The brakes had been squeaky all along, but this was a terrible screeching noise. Our dad is tone deaf to some high pitches so he couldn’t hear it. We were trying to describe it to him all the way down since he’s the auto mechanics person. We decided to call the Hertz help number when we were back in town. We used a phone at a gas station. They told us to wait for about an hour for somebody to come. We were supposed to be sightseeing! A guy finally came. It turned out that the help number sent the road-side assistance crew. There was absolutely nothing he could do. He didn’t even know if there was a Hertz place in town. We looked it up in the phone book and found one on the map. We managed to find it. It was a tiny place with about three cars, but they just happened to have one we could use. We traded cars and then were finally on our way. We were taking the tourist highway. We drove along and our mom read out the things we were passing from the guide book. We didn’t stop to see any of them. We didn’t really have time. When we got to the Three Sisters we went to the information center and they booked us a room in a B&B for the night. We checked in and then went to find dinner. We found the main street and walked along looking at the shops and restaurants. As my sister and I were walking we passed two girls smoking outside a store and one of the whispered audibly, “stupid tourists.” We ate at a Thai place and then went back to the Three Sisters because they were supposed to be flood lit at night. It was freezing, and I think the flood light must have been a desk lamp because you could hardly see anything. We went back to the room and our parents went to the hot tub while April and I took hot baths. I watched the Amazing Race on TV. I was hot and cold all night and felt sick. I was afraid I had a fever.

<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RQANA78TIJit58hOy1BIEr8k9LFa!3P*OH5hW6Tpm6Ah!2NsGNK*JejL4uWT8JBit3l2dSg0ygDpJh9JOHrFz4MiVt0xzxU6V*!ThIXjDsQ/DSCN1517Cr.jpg?dc=4675531914774035263" alt=" - " />


<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RQANA8ATXJit58hOy1BIElMFBi8f5gg!G87cS9oEKFeLqB5OV5VftcHmx6eZaqxIYA4fwuFzt5Wo6BBwBm2fhBxoLitxpeOwsH3lbiijP7I/DSCN1518Cr.jpg?dc=4675531914780943798" alt=" - " />

<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RQAlA70TqZet58hOy1BIElmOyA2fUHGqOe1Q1CoubsP!wUtTItoKXymm5QzwNvz1wKcIvjMJD*Y3RbtQS6exwIxQuaSvZiOr31JZKuJuP6Q/DSCN1524Cr.jpg?dc=4675531914785520324" alt=" - " />

The Three Sisters
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QwAAAA0Tlmqt58hOy1BIEgh4mQ3Urra6Afm!Jjd7CvfuBsaETLi4TvNV5tpf0PyESkicQToJlE7we!5RLL5aeO*QOBdF88yECUgmj4AgiCg/DSCN1529.jpg?dc=4675531914191080943" alt=" - " />

[ai4i]

Did you ever find anything of interest from the convict days of early OZ? Also, I'm not sure, but I believe the white thing at the north end of the green thing in the centre of the following URL pic is another view of the Opera House.

<small>[ 07-23-2005, 10:18 AM: Message edited by: ai4i ]</small>