ken's korner of the wwworld

Australian Animals

2006-03-18T02:17:00.000-08:00

I was lightly reprimanded by my friend Dave wondering where all the Australian animals are in my photos. Well, i guess i really wasn't thinking too much about them because i've seen them so much. Unfortunately, most of them were at a zoo or sanctuary. I guess everyone is probably awaiting the same thing whereas i like showing the photos of great landscapes and buildings. I was also waiting so that i could post the better pictures of each as i've seen these in multiple spots around Australia. I did see some of these in the wild but i was either not fast enough or too far away to get decent photos so the penned-up ones will have to do. Also, i did not get any good photos of a platypus. They just never stay still and the lighting is always dark in their tanks at the zoo so you can't get good photos when you're not allowed to use flash photography.

So here's a few characters to tickle your fancy:

The ever symbolic "skippy" whom i must say taste pretty darn good if i don't say so myself! Kangaroos are sort of treated in Australia as we treat deer in the US. Their populations need to be controlled so they are hunted.

The wallaby is a cousin to the kangaroo. This is a Rock Wallaby in the photo. Wallabies are quite a bit smaller than kangaroos, have shorter ears and snouts, and seem to be more populated as i've seen them wild in a number of situations. It's not always easy, though. Like kangaroos, wallabies are most active during the dawn and dusk and shelter themselves from the heat of the sun during the day.

The ever-lovable "drop bear". Contrary to popular belief, Koalas are not bears and they do not randomly drop from trees. They are also not constantly high from the eucalyptus leaves either. If they drop, it is a rare accident. Koalas seems slow and high and sleep about 16 hours a day as they need to conserve energy as they do not get much from there diet of eucalyptus leaves. I must also say that i did not see a single wild koala even though we were told they are all over the place and we also went on walks specifically looking for them.

The wombat is a lot bigger than i'd expected. It's about the size of a small beagle but is much rounder and has a denser body. They seem to be quite tame animals too and also sleep quite a bit. One guide i've had said he's heard a story where a wombat wandered onto the highway in front of a car. The car rode on top of it, overturned, and got wrapped around a tree killing both passengers. The wombat walked away. We did see one of these in the wild done on Wilson's Promontory.

The dingo is not a native dog of Australia. It is believed to have been introduced by visitors from the mainland of Asia or the islands of Oceania a few hundred years before Europeans discovered Australia in the late 1800's. Supposedly, all dingos stem from the same gene pool so it is believed that there were only a male and female released. The dingo is responsible for drastically decreasing the numbers of native animals. I saw one wild dingo on Fraser Island in a total of three days camping though we were extensively warned about them.

The Tasmanian Devil is now only native to the island of Tasmania. These were all killed off after the introduction of the dingo onto the mainland of Australia. They are carnivores, tend to sleep a lot, and they do a 180 degree turn as they pace to and fro which is probably how the cartoon character we love got his trademark. I didn't hear them bark but they sure can tear at raw meat. It totally takes away from the cuteness.

"Kookabura sits in the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he..."

Cousin of the kingfisher family, these are some weird looking birds. They almost look like they could be mentally retarded with wide staring eyes long akward beak. I did hear a few kookabura laughs and saw many of them in the wild.

Lorikeets are very colorful birds. I think they may be related to the parakeet because of the name similarity but they are very colorful like a parrot. I've seen these in the wild all over the eastern coast. This photo is taken at a sancturary where they bring out a bunch of seed and the birds go nuts. Australia also has the largest variety of parrots in the world which is news to me as i was always under the impression that most came from South America.

The emu is similar to the ostrich. It is the largest flightless bird in Australia. These things are kinda mangy looking to me, though. They also have a very creepy, evil look when they are approaching you. I've eaten some emu in the form of a sausage. It was quite good but i can't be completely sure because i believe i was tasting most of the sausage spices rather than the meat.

And this is the ever-elusive cassowary. This is the second largest flightless bird of Australia and is considered close to being on the endangered animals list. It is slightly smaller than the emu and inhabits the tropical and subtropical rainforests of the eastern coast. While i was in the Cairns area, our tour guides were always reverent to keep on the lookout for cassowaries in the bush. Didn't see a one. Luckilly i got to see this one at a sanctuary east of Brisbane. The blue head is even more so bright in real life rather than how this photo presents it.

Sydney: Deja Vu + Outro

2006-03-18T02:08:00.000-08:00

18 March - 21 March

Well, I was supposed to get picked up by the Oz bus on 19 March which was two days later than what i wanted because i wanted to spend a few days in Sydney before getting back on the plane and crossing the huge pond between here and California. So i got a Greyhound Australia ticket for $26 and left and told Oz they did not need to worry about picking me up and that my trip with them was complete.

As soon as i got into Sydney [now the 4th time arriving and no wonder why it feels like home], i started thinking about all the things i didn't get a chance to do before and what i could cram into the next 4 days. Then i had to give myself a little mental slap. I have done so much since i have been here and really have not taken a proper relaxing vacation. So my plans are to do a few things as i feel they work into my relaxation schedule. My utmost concern is to spend some time on the beach as soon as we get good weather as it seems to be overcast a lot of the time that i've been here.

Manly Beach: supposedly named because the European explorer saw a nude Aborigine stading on the beach and thought he appeared "manly". Let your imaginations run wild.

This is a public art display on Circular Quay opposite the Sydney Opera House which is sponsored by Unicef. There is a painted bear to represent every country of the United Nations. Australia actually has several bears. Here are pictures of an Aussie bear and a USA bear. Guess which is which.

And my last view of the Sydney Opera House. bye bye

Canberra: Australian Capital Territory

2006-03-18T01:08:00.000-08:00

15 March - 17 March
Canberra

The Adventure Tours Australia (Oz bus) was a scheduled 4-day trip of the same group from Melbourne to Sydney. The beauty of the bus, though, as i mentioned in my second posting is that you as a rider are allowed to hop off the bus at any major stop along the route and stay for a longer period of time. You just need to complete the whole trip within 6 months.

So i followed with the group until Canberra an then i hopped off. I was second guessing because the group was so great. It was 10 English people and me (as well as the two tour guides/drivers). They were just a fantastic bunch. I bet they got back into Sydney and all went out that night to a bar and had yet another great event as i was getting drenched in the downpours of Canberra and sitting in a theater watching "The Constant Gardener" because i was too worn out to do anything else.

Canberra, for those unaware, is the national capital of Australia. It is located in the state of New South Wales and has been there for a mere 93 years. National affairs prior to this were carriered out in Melbourne (in the state of Victoria) as it acted as the capital. Canberra, therefore, is an extremely young city. The city plan was designed by an American architect, whose name i don't recall at the moment. He planned the city in a radial-type pattern around Lake Burley Griffin. This type of city plan was made famous in Paris and then Washington, D.C. was based on that also.

Parliament

This is a new Parliament building that was completed in 1988. The Old Parliament is located in front closer to the water and is currently being used for other functions. The Parliament building is located to the south of the lake and there is a WWI/WWII memorial and mall reminiscent of the D.C. National Mall to the north of Lake Burley Griffin. These align on an axis with the mountain peak beyond (see War Memorial photo below). Grass slopes up from the ground floor to on top of the roof of Parliament. This was done to make it representative that the government is accessible to all people. Access to along the slope to the roof has since been fenced off since 9/11.

World War I / World War II Memorial Building

This is at the waterfront looking south toward the Parliament Building. If you look close enough, you can see the flag pole in the bright spot under the footbridge at the center of the photo.

This is built-up earth with a building below and a void at the center to create a forced perspective and reiterate the access between the Parliament building and the War Memorial across the lake. I must say that i'm a damn good photographer too!

I have a ton of other photos from Canberra but i don't want to bore everyone. These are a good overview. The other really awesome building is the Australian National Museum. Here is a photo of it that does not do much justice at all. You really need to be there and walk around and through the building. If you are into
tradional buildings, this one will surely make you a bit unsteady. The amazing thing i found is that most of these museums in Canberra are free to get into. How cool!

The walkwalk leads north from the ANM and then begins to crinkle and curls up on itself. I had to get some sort of shot here.

Back on the Wagon [the Oz bus that is]

2006-03-10T22:04:00.000-08:00

Actually, i got onto the Adventure Tours Australia bus. This is the company that owns Oz Experience. Oz does the bus tours between Sydney and Cairns and ATA does the rest of the country. Same type of bus and experience, though.

12 March
Wilson's Promontory / Foster

The major stop off point on the first day was Wilson's Promontory. This is a and national park and the southernmost part of mainland Australia (not the photo, though). It is basically a huge sand peninsula. There is a lot of native animals here. The photo is of Squeaky Beach so-called because the high silca content makes it white and it also squeaks when you walk through it. We stayed the night at a campsite in mobile home-type cabins. They were pretty damn nice for a camp ground.

13 March
Ontos in the Snowy River High Country

We stayed at a small ranch that is operated by monks. I don't think any of us saw the monks, though. It was a really nice place for being out in the middle of nowhere. We had a great vegetarian meal and then drank beer around the campfire. Actually, we did not last too long as we were all whipped from early morning rising and walks during the day.

14 March
Jindabyne near Australian Alpines

We came into Jindabyne which was quite a bit bigger of a town than i expected especially from the accommodation we'd had earlier. The group took a long walk (about 12 km) to the top of a mountain/hill (see photo). From here we could see Mt. Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia. We decided not to go to the top of that because it would have taken another four hours. I didn't post a photo of Mt. Kosciuszko because it's just not that interesting. This one is much better showing the vista of the range. We spent the night at a Hotel-Motel in Jindabyne and pissed the night away at the places restaurant/bar/pool hall. It was a great time.

Melborne: 7 March - 12 March

2006-03-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

I flew from Sydney to Melbourne on a short hour and a half flight. I was really looking forward to staying in "Marvelous Melbourne" as it is the second largest city of Australia and is supposed to be in a very competitive psyche with her older and larger sister city of Sydney.

Melbourne is much cooler than Sydney. During the day it is quite warm if the sun is out but on the day of my arrival, it was overcast and quite chilly. Now this weather and plant life reminds me a lot of the San Francisco Bay Area minus the mountains and many hills we have there. Melbourne and the surrounding area just seems quite flat and spread out with farming plots. Actually, i visited a small local exihit on the history of Melbourne and the lady said that Melbourne has the third most extensive suburban sprawl behind Mexico City and Los Angeles. I'm not sure of that but she is a local so she may know more than me. I just would not expect that from a city of only 3.5 million as compared to the many larger cities like NYC, London, Tokoyo, for example.

Well, being the architect nerd i am, really my only reason for coming to Melbourne was to see Federation Square. And it was so worth it. This is basically a media complex and exhibition space with a couple bars and restaurants and then there is a large open plaza in the center with a huge LCD screen continually playing film shorts. Embarrassingly, though, i actually don't recall the architects who designed this but i know they are awesome. This photo is actually not even the that telling of the entire space but it gives a good view of the outside.

The other great reason to visit Melbourne is to take the trip down to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade. This was a day tour where we stopped at a winery to get a little buzz going on, then to an Australian animals [no]petting zoo (man, i'm so bored of looking at captive koalas and kangaroos), a stop for some pretty good pizza, and then to Phillip Island. At least at the petting zoo i did get to finally see live Tasmanian Devils. This is a photo of me at Woolamai Beach. I think it is on the east side of the island.

These are refered to as The Nobbies at the western end of Phillip Island. Very nice but very windy and chilly.

The Penguin Parade happens close to here. Basically, we waited until after dusk to watch all these little penguins emerge from the ocean in the dozens at a time onto the beach. They would wait to make sure things were safe and then wobble up the beach into the beach dunes and grasses to burrow and mate. The penguins were so cute. I expected them to be larger, though. These ones were about the size of the seagulls on the beach.

I've been in Melbourne now for 5 nights and i still haven't come to find why it is so marvelous. It does have a fresher spirit and a younger population than Sydney, i guess, as it has many newer modern buildings with bouts of experimentalism and flamboyance.

Sydney Reprise 28 Feb - 7 March

2006-03-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

So i think i got some good photos i'd like to share on the blog now but i have many that others can see once i get back home. Here are a few things i did for my second week in Sydney. Not necessarily in chronological order.

I did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. It was pricy but still a good experience. I didn't get any photos from the bridge because they would not allow us to take anything that could be dropped down onto the cars speeding by below. I got this good photo, though. They did take photos, one which was included and one that i purchased extra.

I took the behind the scenes tour of the Sydney Opera House. The normal tour is $23 dollars and just walks people through the regular Opera House for an hour. This tour i took was $140 for a 2-hour tour through all the back areas, on stages, and in the orchestra pit. It was quite nice. The tour also began at 7:00 am so i had to be awake by 5:45 am in order to walk over there. The tour ended with an included breakfast in the "green" room where all the actors and workers hang out.

The Sydney Aquarium was interesting. They have done a fairly good job at exhibiting the animals and there is a good variety. This is where i finally got to see a platypus. Apparently they are not often seen because they are only out in the very early morning before the sun comes up or just after the sun goes down. My photos did not turn out too well, though, because it was too dark.

Mardi Gras was a nighttime parade on 4 March. It is predominantly gay & lesbian i guess cuz they make it a lot more fun. This parade was much more fun than the San Francisco parade also. I met up with one of my Outback campmates and his friends that live outside Sydney. We stayed for about 3/4 of the parade and then went to a bar to hang out.

Aurora Place is a set of buildings designed by the extradordinary Renzo Piano. Here is a upshot of the buildings through the tension cable-stayed glass canopy over the plaza. I got a bunch of photos before the security guard came out and told me to stop. Hey, I didn't know.

Tarongo Zoo is across the harbour from downtown Sydney but it is still part of the city. Unlike a lot of cities divided by a major waterway, Sydney envelopes the entire harbour rather than have different cities on opposing shores. The zoo was good but not a mind-blowing experience. Most of the animals there, i have either seen in the US zoos or already in Australia. This was the first time i got to see an echidna. I've wanted to see live examples of all the major marsupials. The Tasmanian Devil was not in the zoo unfortunately as that is the last of the major ones i wanted to see. This is actually the second time that the Tasmanian Devil was not an active exhibit.

Sydney Reprise

2006-03-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Well, after 6 weeks of intensive touring and such and last week being the most extreme with trekking through the desert, I am spending several days in Sydney to just chill out. When I was here initially, my goal was to walk the entire city to get a feel for it completely to understand where everything is and how it is associated. It's the urban planner in my heart. It's a lot about curiosity, though.

Now that I'm back for about a week, my goal is to actually do things within the city. Tour the Sydney Opera House, go to the Sydney Aquarium, go up the Sydney Tower, walk across and climb on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, visit the Tarongo Zoo, go to a few museums, visit some bars and restaurants, and whatever else may happen. It sounds like a lot to get done in eight days but i will try. I may post more photos of my Sydney Reprise stay but i haven't decided yet.

Then I fly down to Melbourne on 7 March and continue my Oz Experience tour. I will be traveling north for 2 weeks though this last leg of the trip is not as instense or long as the Cairns - Sydney one was. I will be staying 5 days in Melbourne and 3 days in Canberra so that eats up a week and then i have 3 more towns to visit. I will actually get back to Sydney the night before i leave back for San Francisco.

Outback Campout

2006-03-01T02:57:00.000-08:00

21 Feb - 28 Feb
Alice Springs & Outback Campout (Uluru/Ayers Rock)

One the the major icons of Australia is Uluru (the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock). There are many tour companies and different types of experiences you can buy. After discussing with a couple travel agents and a guy i met up in Cairns, I decided to to the long Outback trip of 5-days. Most of the others are day trips, 2-day, or 3-day. I am so glad i chose the longer trip and chose the tour company that was recommended because it was utterly excellent.

Most people fly into Alice Springs which is about in the center of the Australian continent, in the state of Northern Territory. Keep in mind that it is the middle of summer and we were camping in the desert. Actually, it is a semi-arid desert. There was a lot more green there than i expected. It is quite different from the American West.

I stayed in Alice Springs 2 days before and 1 day after the camp trip with Wayoutback. I got picked up outside my hostel at 6:25 am (I was the last of 9) and we hit the road towards Uluru. The desert is amazing. The sand is so [iron oxide] red. So basically, our group did the typical tourist attactions for the first two days of Uluru and Kata Tjuta which are relatively close to one another. The last 3 days we saw other rock formations and water holes that a lot of people do not get to see. Some of the places cannot even be reached without a 4x4 vehicle.

So basically, we looked at large masses of red rocks, walked for hours, sweated are butts off, drank lots of water, sweated more, contantly shooed black flies away, looked an more rocks, then set up camp usually near some place to swim for the night. We slept in what they call a swag. It is a canvas bag each that zips up on either side and has a body-size cushion inside. We slept under the stars for 4 nights. It was great. The first night i was really drunk; the second night i had nightmares are poisonous snakes, the third night i woke up in the starlight thinking there was a snake at the foot of my sway; and the forth night, i slept well with the aid of a few beers and a couple cups of wine. For three of the nights, we were in decent walking distance of a toilet and shower.

On the forth night, i made s'mores for everyone. No one had heard of them as i was the only American so i thought it would be a good experience. They weren't real s'mores because i could not find grahm crackers or Hershey's bars but i made do. Everyone seemed to like them but i didn't think they really tasted like s'mores. Oh well, i was a good time anyhow.

On the fifth day, one of my group buds, Jin, and I went in a helicopter ride. It was AWESOME!!!

Here are some highlight pictures from the Outback. I took so many photos, though. I was getting dubbed as the "Japanese tourist".

Cairns to Sydney (Oz Experience)

2006-02-11T02:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a very busy couple weeks. I've flown from Sydney up to Cairns. Cairns is a tropical environment. It reminded me a lot of Florida except that there are rainforests and mountains. It is the rainy season so I didn't see sunshine at all for the 3 days i was there. I am on a package deal with a tour company called the Oz Experience. For some reason that i don't understand, everyone refers to Australia as Oz except that Aus does sound like Oz. Anyhow, this bus has many routes all over Australia and you can purchase segments of it or the entire deal if you are really ambitious. They basically transport you from city to city but there are several site-seeing stops between which is really nice instead of sitting on a bus for 6 hours and not seeing anything other than the cities. The bus stops in each location every two days generally and you can hop on and off as you wish (with a reservation nonetheless). You basically get a pass based on the package you purchase and it is good for 6 months. The most i am staying in anyplace is 3 days as i don't have as much time as many others to visit all these places. It is a really good time. The drivers and great and really educated about native Australia which makes it that much better.

26 Jan - 30 Jan
Cairns
I went on a rainforest 4x4 tour which was really nice. At a place we stopped for lunch, we got to feed some kangaroos that they had in captivity (haven't seen a wild kangaroo yet). I also went on a full-day boating trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. They had a resort island near where we docked. I did some snorkeling and also did a 30 minute dive (about 10 meters deep). The reef was really cool. The pictures i took do it no justice.

30 Jan - 31 Jan
Mission Beach
This is just a sleepy little town on a beautiful long beach. The beaches in Queensland are empty now during the summer because of the stingers (box and irugandi jellyfish are deadly) are near the shores for mating. You are advised not to go into the ocean without a stinger suit. Fortunately for people visiting Australia in the winter can use the beaches because there are not stingers in the waters.

31 Jan - 1 Feb
Magnetic Island
This is a smallish island with a couple little towns on it. It's claim to fame is that it [supposedly] has more koalas living on the island than people. This was exciting until i never saw a single koala. I went on a bushwalk/boulder climb myself and only saw a rock wallaby. We did a full group bushwalk the day we left and guess what, no koalas anywhere to be found. Oh well, the island is really beautiful and i got some nice pictures.

1 Feb - 5 Feb
Airlie Beach /
Whitsunday Islands
Airlie Beach is just a small town that simply caters to the tourists wanting to take cruise/sailing trips around the Witsunday Islands or the Reef. This is basically at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. Airlie is just about partying. There is one road along the shore and it is full of hostels, hotels, bars, shops, and eating places. I was on a 3-day sailing trip with a total of 18 tourist people and 3 crew members. I think most of them were younger than me. It was fun, though. Sailing around groups of islands during the day, docking and swimming in the ocean at points during the day, and then sleeping on the boat.

5 Feb - 6 Feb
Kroombit
All i can say is that this was a blast. It took about an 11 hour bus ride to get there and we only stayed overnight but it was a bunch of fun. Kroomit is an area with the highest concentration of beef farms. Let me tell you that we were completely in the sticks. We slept in rooms that looked like horse stalls with 3 sets of bunk beds in them. At least we had air conditioning, though. There were two Oz bus groups there at one time (there's a bus on a south circuit and a bus on the north circuit). At night, most of the groups took a try on the mechanical bull. I lasted for 43 seconds which was the third best out of a group of about 25 people. It was funny because a few people (girls) flopped off on the first buck which let me tell you is quite strong. You have to really try hard to get through that first buck then it is ok until your legs get too weary from holding on. We spent the rest of the night doing some group games and this coin trick which i will have to show you in person cuz it is a bit freaky.

At the ass crack of dawn the next morning after this weird-sounding rooster crowed, a girl from Orange County, CA, and I paid to do a horse ride/goat mustering. We got on our horses and with our bus driver and a lady horse person we walked through some acres of land basically herding about 100 goats into a large group and then herding that group to a pen where we would use them later in the day for more fun. So after a little brekky (breakfast), the southbound Oz bus went out to goat pen and learned how to throw a lasso and how to rope a goad and do a mock branding of the goat. There were also other things we could pay extra to do such as shooting clay pigeons or taking a dirt bike ride but no one was interested.

6 Feb - 10 Feb
Hervey Bay / Fraser Island
Hervey Bay is on the mainland where we stayed the night before and the night after Fraser Island. It is a typical suburban town.

The fun part was going to Fraser Island. I believe the is the largest sand island in the world. I don't know all the details off hand. It is deceiving, though, because the island is covered with rainforest and bush forest. Even though, there is almost nil organic top soil. If you dig just a few inches, there is just sand. We were told that if a fire was to burn down everything, the entire island would be washed away by the ocean because all the tree roots are holding the sand together. I'm not so certain to believe this, though, because there are some very high sand dunes on the island. The island is gorgeous.

What we did is we were grouped into 4x4 trucks in packs ranging from 9 to 11 people. There were a total of four 4x4 groups that went from our company that went to Fraser Island at the same time. We got to drive the trucks ourselves. There was no tour guides. We got the trucks in Hervey Bay and then took a ferry over to Fraser. The company provided us with camping equipment, a map with places to visit on the island, and a base camp to return to each night around 5 pm. An no, this was not like hauling ass on sand dunes. It was basically driving down sandy tracks and along the beach. I unfortunately (or fortunately) did not try to drive. I figured that since i have only driven a manual vehicle twice in my life (and not too well) and the fact the the steering wheel and shifter is completely opposite in Australia than in the US, it was best not to test my luck of burning up a clutch. Oh well, i had a great time nonetheless cuz i don't like to drive much anyhow. My group was awesome. We got along really well and partied on the beach under a 3/4 moon on two nights. It was magnificent.

10 Feb - 14 Feb
Brisbane
I've spent a day and a half in Brisbane. I regret that i'm not spending more time. This is a really nice city. It seems to be quite modern and cosmopolitan. The first night i had a decent seafood tempura dinner and then danced my ass off at a club until 1:30 am. The second day i've spent doing computer stuff, laundry, trying to organize the next parts of my holiday, and walking around the city and taking pictures. Glamorous life, right? Yes i did do laundry prior to this but it was interspersed while doing other things.

14 Feb - 18 Feb
Byron Bay

It was all hyped-up to be at Byron Bay. I just did not like it as much as most others did. Maybe it just seemed like a little town of tourists coming and going on a daily basis. The fun part was stopping in Nimbin before reaching Byron. Nimbin is basically a really small town where a bunch of hippies gathered in the 1960's and never left. Now it is well know for elicit use of marijuana. It was quite interesting. Byron Bay is supposed to be a mix of the hippie culture and beach culture.

The area is beautiful, though, as is every other place also. The beach sand is so soft. I didn't go swimming here because there were a lot of blue bottle jellyfish in the waters. These are deadly but they will sting you and leave a very itchy hurting mark on you. I did go ocean kayaking, though. This was fun. We got to go quite a ways out. The water was crystal clear and you can see the sandy bottom about 20-30 feet down. We got to see 3 pods of dolphins swimming around too. These weren't kept or trained dolphins either. Some came pretty close to our kayaks to check us out. Two swam under my kayak. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of this. I wasn't about to pay $23 for another underwater camera and then $10 to get the photos put on a CD-R.

Byron Bay is famous for being the eastern-most point of the mainland of Australia at Cape Byron. This is a picture of me at Cape Byron. I'm not quite all the way to the end but close enough.

18 Feb - 19 Feb
Arrawarra (1-day Surf Camp)

Surf Camp was pretty good. We arrived in the afternoon, unloaded our bags, got on swim clothes on, and headed to the beach to learn to surf for about 3 hours. It was not too hard as the waves were not massive and the water was not too deep because we were on large sand bars extending from the beach. It was definitely easier than the first time i tried with my friend Dave down in Pacifica, CA. I don't think i successfully stood up once then. Here at Arrawarra, I was getting up by the end of our session on the first day. The next morning we got up and headed for the beach. This time there wasn't extending instructions. We got in the water and went. I'd like to think that i did quite well. I had about a 95% success rate for the entire morning session. We left for Barrington by 11:00 am.

19 Feb - 20 Feb
Barrington

Barrington was another one of these places off the beaten track. It was about 4 hours inland within some nicely rolling hills/mountains. It was sort of like Kroombit but much greener and not so dusty. We stayed at a little stone structure called "The Steps" at Barrington which was right next to a river. The thing to do here is the night kayaking down the river. Supposedly, this is the only place in the world where you can raft down a river at night or at least that is what we were told. Nine people from our group went on the kayak excursion. We were give a kayak, paddle, life jacket, helmet, and head lamp. We were dropped off with two guides about 3 km upstream and then we just went down. There was talk about rapids and such but I wouldn't say they were rapids, just some shallow spots with water running over the rocks. There were two guys and seven girls so there ended up being a lot of pile-ups. Actually, the guides said that was the first time he had seen an entire group get stuck all in one spot. I was good times, though. Afterwards, we went back to base and ate homemade, wood-fire cooked pizzas, drank, and relaxed in the hot tub. I don't know if i can take much more of this vacationing stuff. Ok, maybe a bit more.

First Week - Sydney Photos

2006-01-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

Beaches along East Coast Australia
View from airplane as flying into Sydney

Sydney Opera House
(had to see this on the firstday here, of course)

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Anzac Bridge

Views on coastal walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach

Sydney Tower from Hyde Park

Hyde Park

Anzac Memorial Hyde Park

Water feature in Tumbalog Park

View in Royal Botanical Gardens

First Week - Sydney, Australia

2006-01-25T02:33:00.000-08:00

As most are aware, I have decided to take an extended vacation from the work world and spend several weeks along the eastern coast of Australia. I have begun this blog to post pictures and to give updates to all who are interested. As my computer access is limited, there may be bouts of a week or more before i post anything. I will try to post some highlight photos also as i go.

(photo at left of me before leaving San Francisco Internaltional Airport thanks to my good friend Dave)