Alice Springs and Kakadu, Australia 2008

June 27, 3008.  Ate another big buffet breakfast this morning.  Gotta stop eating pancakes.  Starting to feel fat!

Took the tour bus to meet Kahn and his aborigine friends.  We met out in an open area and sat under a simple covered pavillion made out of tree trunks and sticks.  The aborigines sat on blankets across the way and spent the morning painting new works of art.  While the Aborigines were painting, Khan told us a bit about the history of the Aborigine in Australia.  He told us about their origin, life expectancy (20 years less than non-Aborigine Australians), poor hygiene, 8 family names and the history of the "lost generation" of Aborigine children.

Khan then served us a cup of tea and some "spotted dog", which was much welcome since it was rather cold out.  Afterwards, Khan had his Aborigine friend cook us up some Kangaroo tail and even though I don't eat beef or pork, I did try just a bit of the Kangaroo tail (just to try it).  It didn't taste so bad!  We also tried some seeds that the Aborigines particularly like to eat and they tasted okay (but not great).

Towards the end of our visit, we walked over to the Aborigine artists, who were sitting on their blankets painting.  They had a series of paintings laying on their blankets for us to look at and purchase.  All of the paintings were lovely and I would have purchased them all if  I had brought enough money with me.  I hated having to choose between all of the paintings but I finally narrowed my choice down to two paintings (one for me and one for some friends).  The painting that I bought for my friends was painted by a young Aborigine girl.  I felt that they would especially like having a painting that was created by a young person and supported their artistic pursuits.

Next, we were off to the airport to fly to Darwin.  And of course, Quantas fed us a meal and I, of course, ate it like the little piggie that I am!  The Darwin airport was quite swanky, compared to the airports in Ayers Rock and Alice Springs, but it to was small!  After landing in Darwin,  it took us 3 hours by bus just to get to the hotel in Kakadu. 

The Gagudju Crocodile Holiday Inn is s billed as the only crocodile shaped hotel in the world!  You can't see that it's shaped like a crocodile unless you are viewing it from way up high in a plane, but the front of the hotel did look like the head of a crocodile (beady eyes and all)!  After eating another buffet dinner (with deserts of course), I made good use of the hotel's stairs and ran up and down the flight of stairs 20 times before running around the hotel a couple of times.  I would have had to run around the hotel 1000 times before making up for all of the calories that I had eaten thus far!!!

Alice Springs, Australia 2008

June 26, 2008.  Alice Springs Airport is another small airport.  I am getting used to embarking and disembarking an airplane by actually climbing up and down the stairs.

Our first stop in Alice Springs was the Telegraph Station Historical Reserve.  Established in 1872, the Telegraph Station in Alice Springs was part of the Overland Telegraph Line from Port Augusta to Darwin (approximately 3000 kilometers), which was built to establish morse communication between North, Central and South Australia.  We spent the morning touring the original stone buildings, which include a blacksmith shop, kitchen mess room, school room, harness and buggy sheds, stationmasters room, and battery room.  All of the buildings have been restored back to their original state, and it was fun looking at all of the original pots and pans, telegraph equipment, blacksmith tools, wagons, buggies and such.

Next, it was off to Anzac Hill.  They have a lovely monument to all of the men and women of Australia and New Zealand who have lost their lives in major wars.  You can see a lot of Alice Springs from up there also.

  

My favorite place in Alice Springs was the School of the Air, which was established in 1951 in order to provide educational lessons to children living in the outback, hundreds of miles away from the nearest town.  Back then, teachers used radios to communicate  with the students, but today the Australian government provides computers to students who use the services of the School of the Air.  Now SOA students who live in isolated parts of Australia can use cutting edge technology to communicate with their teachers and participate in educational opportunities that were not available to them in the past.  

We toured the Visitor Centre and learned all about the history of the correspondence school and how it has progressed over the last 50 years.  We watched a neat 10 minute video that chronicled the history of the school and then we spent a few minutes looking at all of the student-made artwork and the old radio equipment that was used back in the 1950's.  It was really cool!

Believe it or not, the day was not over.  At 5:30 p.m. we left our hotel to go out for a "Bush Dinner."  Our hosts, Khan and his wife set up a lovely little eatery of sorts out in the middle of nowhere.  Khan entertained us with a humorous demonstration of how he makes "Spotted Dog" (a bread type of desert with blueberries) and Skip played guitar and sang Australian folk songs while we dined on chicken and potatoes, steak, tomato soup, bread, vegetables and "Spotted Dog."  Skip even recruited Cory and me to accompany him as he sang "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport."  We played two strange home-made instruments (mine was a piece of cardboard that I had to flap to make noise...).  It was a hoot!  It was rather cold, once twilight set in, so I spent a lot of the time by the fire.  I smelt like a chimney stack 

once the night was over!

Later that evening, Khan turned out all of the lights and we were amazed by all of the stars that we could see in the sky.  I had never seen that many stars before.  We couldn't see the Big Dipper down under, but we did get to see some stars that we can't see back home in the States, like the Southern Cross.  That was cool!

The "Bush Dinner" adventure was a lot of fun and we all had a great time.  Khan and his team put on a great show and they are very gracious hosts.  It was a lovely experience.

Uluru/Ayers Rock, Australia 2008

I love the rustic, small airports in Australia.  For example, the airport that we flew into, Ayers Rock - Connellan Airport, is a 1-2 landing strip airport that requires you to depart the plane by using the plane's stairs and actually walking on the tarmac to the terminal.  It was a strange feeling. Here in America, the airlines consider walking on the tarmac a mortal sin and they would rather keep you hostage on a plane for hours on end rather than let you walk down the stairs of an airplane and walk on the hallowed tarmac...

On Wednesday, June 25, 2008 we went to the Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park to see Mount Olga/Kata Tjuta (aka "The Olgas") and Uluru/Ayers Rock. Our first stop was to walk through "The Olgas" on a path made up of red sand and rocks.  The hike through "The Olgas" takes about an hour round trip and the hike is most pleasant when you go during the months of June and July.  The weather was practically perfect, nice and cool without a cloud in the sky.  The domes turn a beautiful shade of reddish-orange when the sun shines directly on them, otherwise, they're more of a brownish-purple color when in the shade.

                  

Next stop, Uluru/Ayers Rock.  Considered one of the great wonders of the world, Ayers Rock is probably Australia's most famous and recognizable natural icons and is listed as a World Heritage Site.  It's a massive sandstone rock formation that stands 1,142 feet high and 5.8 miles in circumference.  We stopped to look at some of the Aboriginal cave drawings before walking around part of the rock.  It is an impressive sight to behold and I did get some pretty cool pictures.  There were people climbing the rock, but I chose not to, since the local Anangu request that visitors not climb the rock.  The fact that more than 35 people have died climbing the rock was also a contributing factor to my decision not to climb the rock!!!  

Later in the evening we returned to Ayers Rock to watch the sun set on the rock.  Now that's a really cool sight.  Our tour group joined other tour groups for an Uluru/Ayers Rock tailgating party.  The buses were parked far enough away from the rock so that we could see the rock in its entirety.  Then our tour guide hired a catering company to set up a table with champagne, soda and cheeses and crackers.  It was a fun time!  I took pictures every 5-10 minutes and the way the colors of the rock change with the setting sun is pretty amazing.  

Kuranda and Cairns, Australia 2008

Tuesday, June 24, 2008. After another fattening, but great buffet breakfast, we boarded the bus to go to Kuranda to ride on the Skyrail Rain Forest Cableway.  There I got on one of the gondolas and rode up the mountain and over the tropical rain forest, stopping two times to walk around the boardwalk to view the trees and vegetation and take pictures and video.  The trees were enormous and the view was amazing.  Lots or beautiful mountains to gaze at and take pictures of while riding up the mountain.  There was a lovely waterfall as well as the Barron River to be amazed by.  I would definitely recommend this experience if you ever have the chance to go to Cairns.  

On the way out of the Kuranda terminal there was a little Kookaburra bird walking around on the ground, just waiting for me to take his picture.  He didn't sing or laugh, darn it, but he

did pose quite nicely, and then he joined his friend, another Kookaburra on the fence to pose for more pictures.  He was very accommodating!

http://www.skyrail.com.au

I had the option of being dropped off in downtown Cairns, so I went for it and spent the afternoon walking around and perusing the different shops and coffee shops.  Cairns is a lovely city with lots of interesting buildings to look at.  I really liked the tree-lined streets that separated some of the city blocks.  I came across a cheap Internet shop, so I stopped in for an hour and finally emailed family and friends, letting them know that I had arrived safely! Internet isn't always so cheap in Australia, so I only emailed family and friends when I could find a free wi-fi spot or a relatively cheap Internet shop.

I stumbled across a mall that from the outside just looks like your typical department store.  It was pretty cool.  Found a coffee shop that made a mean chai.  And they give you a free piece of dark chocolate with your chai.  How cool is that!  What a treat!!!  The malls in Australia are interesting also.  You'll find that I use the word "interesting" a lot when describing some of the sites here in Australia!  Australia is so similar to America and England, but then at the same time, it has its own unique flair, which you are constantly reminded of.  This mall had lots of neat little souvenir stores, shoe stores, clothing stores and such, but then it also had a Target (yes, Target has infiltrated Australia, along with Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, and Subway) and a grocery store.  I don't think that I have ever seen a grocery store in a proper indoor mall!

After leaving the mall I walked around downtown Cairns and found a used bookstore.  I tried to find books written by Australian authors who based their story within Australia, but that wasn't so either.  After more than 30 minutes of hunting, the used bookstore owner found some Australian books for me to purchase.  Almost all of them were crime dramas.  I read one and found it so disturbing that I gave it and the other crime drama book to Janice.  For some reason, I can watch murder mysteries on TV but I can't read them without being emotionally traumatized.  Go figure!

After buying a couple of souvenirs, I hopped onto bus 1X to take me back to my hotel in Palm Cove.  The bus ride took about 45 minutes, so I spent the time chatting up some of the lovely Australian citizens who were in Cairns for a little warm weather fun.  Two of the couples were from Melbourne, and they had come up north to Cairns to escape the winter cold.  They were the Florida equivalent to snowbirds (without the attitude...)  We compared notes on the differences between American and Australian terminology.  First thing I noticed when I arrived in Australia is that they don't make biscuits here.  Oh they have biscuits all right, but the Australian biscuit is actually a cookie!  I tried to describe the southern biscuit to them.  The floury dough, baked to perfection, covered in butter and then melting in your mouth, but they didn't know what I was talking about.  Tried as I might to describe what a biscuit was (without benefit of a picture), they just stared at me with blank faces and shook their heads back and forth.  If they ever come to America, then they must head on over to Alabama and try some good old-fashioned biscuits and gravy.  They'll never want to leave!!!  So after accepting that Australia doesn't have southern biscuits, we continued talking about some of the terms Australians use to describe various items of clothing and other things.  Like a jumper is what we Americans call a pullover or a sweater, and a Chemist is actually a pharmacy.  I like that one.  I prefer chemist to pharmacy.  It sounds more scientific... And though they call McDonalds, McDonalds, they also refer to it as "the American Embassy" which always makes me chuckle.  And finally, chips are actually french fries.  Not the thin fries that you get at "the American Embassy" but the big steak fries that you normally find when you order a steak!

 

I made it back to the hotel safely, thanks tho the nice bus driver.  I wanted to try the chips so I shared a bucket of chips with Marty and Mary.

Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, Australia 2008

Monday, June 23, 2008.  The buffet breakfasts that the restaurants serve in Australia are quite interesting.  Of course, they include the standard scrambled eggs, pancakes, fruit, muffins, bagels, cereals and such, but they also include baked beans, sliced tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and vegemite.  I was not adventurous enough to try the baked beans for breakfast, but I did enjoy the tomatoes and mushrooms with my eggs.  The vegemite is certainly an acquired taste and you really have to know how to eat it properly in order not to gag and vomit.

After eating a hearty breakfast, we all boarded the bus to the wharf in downtown Cairns to catch the Catamaran to the Great Barrier Reef and Green Island.  The seas were really rough and yours truly started to feel very sea-sick.  I was wearing my sea-sick bracelets, but they weren't enough to combat the really rough seas.  The boat ride to Green Island took around 45 minutes, so after arriving on the island, I chose not to go on the glass bottom boat to tour the Great Barrier Reef. One more minute on the ocean would have probably been the death of me. Instead, I found a lawn chair under a tree to lay down on.  There I rested for at least 50 minutes before venturing out to find some food to eat in the hopes that my stomach would calm down some.

I started feeling a little better once I ate some lunch, so I decided to walk around the island. There were definitely some interesting things to see on the island.  One part of the island was covered with jagged rocks that you had to walk past carefully, while another part was extremely windy.  The wind had to be gusting 30 miles an hour or more on this side of the island.  The nature trail was interesting to walk through. There were lots of signs describing the different plants and trees along the trail.  Since it was winter, I chose not to go swimming in the ocean.  I did stick my big toe into the water justto say that I touched the water of the Great Barrier Reef, but that was it. A few members of the group went swimming and snorkeling, but not me!  I was the Great Barrier Reef wimp of the group!!!  Of course, most of the other members of the group are from much colder climates, so they're used to swimming in cold water.  None of that for me, thank you very much!!!

For dinner, a small group of us walked from the hotel to the Palm Cove Beach front, where there were lots of restaurants and shops.  It was quaint.  Most of the restaurants in Palm Cove closed at 7:00 p.m. which made dining out somewhat difficult, so we headed back to the hotel and shared a pizza that we ordered from the outside bar.  It wasn't too bad!

Afterwards, I retired to my room to shower and watch a little Aussie television, which isn't as easy as it sounds.  Most of the shows that air on the Australia networks are American shows. Very disappointing!  I guess that they don't have much of a television industry here.  So, I watched the cricket match for a bit before falling asleep.

My Trip Down Under in 2008

I had the extraordinary opportunity to take a tour of Australia and New Zealand this summer, so I jumped on it right away.  Of course, my travel agent, who also happens to be my Aunt Lissa, made all of the arrangements.   She worked with the tour company and made all of the flight arrangements as well.  There were 16 different plane flights involved in this trip, so needless to say, I would be lost without her.  And, I am geographically challenged.  Aunt Lissa threatens to disown me quite frequently due to my poor geography skills.  

After many months of discussion and searching, we finally agreed on the Collette Vacations Complete South Pacific Tour.  Twenty-seven days of touring through Australia and New Zealand between the months of June and July fit perfectly with my summer vacation days off. The only downer was the fact that it would be Winter Down Under.  In my book, that's a big Downer!!!  However, I only have 8 weeks off during the months of June and July, so those are the dates that I have to work with.  I can't complain though.  My sister, Grace, barely gets one week off during the summer (Yuk)! I would die!!!

So, after sending my Aunt Lissa the monies needed to pay for the trip, I packed my bags and boarded a plane on Friday, June 20, 2008.  The plane took off from PBIA in West Palm Beach, Florida at 2:45 p.m.  Two hours later, I landed in Charlotte, North Carolina in order to board another plane heading to Los Angeles.  Charlotte International Airport is quite lovely.  It has lots of interesting things to see (like a cool airplane mobile hanging from the ceiling) and lots of restaurants and stores.  Next to PBIA, it is now one of my favorite airports.  However, I can't say the same for LAX in Los Angeles, California. Now that airport has to be the ugliest, non-user friendly airport in the entire world (not that I have been to every other airport in the world, but I can't imagine an uglier one)!!!  Thanks to a very nice chaperone for People to People, I found the International terminal at LAX (after walking for what felt like a mile...) with barely enough time to check my luggage... Without her help, I would have missed my flight to Brisbane, Australia for sure.  

Thankfully, I boarded the plane to Brisbane, Australia safely and we departed Los Angeles at 11:20 p.m. (PST).  The plane was humongous.  There were 10 seats (maybe more, I can't remember)

 in each row.  My seat was on the right side of the plane, and I was fortunate enough to be sitting next to a lovely little 7 year-old girl (Emma) and her Grandmother (Gail).  They were flying back to Perth, Australia after spending a few weeks with Gail's daughter and her children.   Emma was a real trouper.  The flight to Australia is a long one (approximately 13 hours) and little Miss Emma never complained once.  And then, she had to board another plane to Perth (on the opposite coast from Brisbane) as soon as we landed.  With such a long flight, I had lots of time to learn all about Gail and her 5 kids and Grandchildren.  

Quantas Airlines has to be the best airline in the world.  Their airline staff is quite hospitable and attentive and they feed you lots of food and drink (my number one criteria for giving an airline an excellent rating)!  They have a great entertainment selection, too!  Lots of new movies, tv shows, and music to choose from.  The seats weren't too bad either.  They didn't recline and turn into a bed like they did in the movie, "The Holiday," but at least they weren't so close together that you felt like you were sitting in the lap of the person in front of you.

After 14 hours, we arrived in Brisbane, Australia.  I was tired, but at least I wasn't hungry. Quantas served us both dinner and breakfast and lots of tea and soda.  The Brisbane airport was a bit strange.  Nice, but strange.  After going through customs and getting my luggage, I had to catch a train in order to get to Quantas' domestic terminal.  The train only comes every half hour, so Gail and Emma almost missed their flight to Perth, due to their plane leaving just a few minutes after the train was scheduled to arrive and take us all to the terminal.  Thankfully, they made it just in time.

The flight to Cairns was quite exciting.  Lots of turbulence, so the plane was bouncing all over the place.  Children were crying and the ladies next to me were definitely not happy campers!  I was confident that the plane wasn't going to crash, so I thought that it was kind of fun.  I would have tossed my cookies had the plane continued to emulate a roller coaster, so thankfully it didn't last too long.  

The Cairns airport was small and rustic.  Nothing like any airport that I had ever seen before.  The terminal was more like a small warehouse.  Our tour guide, Jim, met us at the baggage terminal and he guided us all to the bus that would take us to our hotel.  Jim was very nice and more important, competent.  I felt very comfortable knowing that he would be taking care of us all for the duration of our vacation.

The Palm Cove Resort in Palm Cove (between Cairns and Pt. Douglas) was nice.  My room was big and comfortable, overlooking the pool.  The weather was pleasant and balmy.  We were only a short walk from the ocean, so there was always a warm breeze blowing.  I took a short two hour nap before meeting the other members of the tour group.

There were 15 people in my tour group.  Marty and Mary were the youngest adults (44 years of age), while their two teenage girls, Allyson and Corey, were the only children in the group. Jim and Janice, and Fleur and Jerry were all from Phoenix, Arizona.  Debbie and Maurice were from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, while Joyce and Joanne were from somewhere up North.  Edith and Eddie (our oldest members) were from Washington, D.C.  Jim, our tour guide, was my age and hails from Boston, Massachussetts.

After meeting everyone and getting our calendar, we all met at the hotel restaurant "Canecutters"  for a buffet dinner.  It was quite good.  Lots of food to choose from and lots of deserts.  And the meal was paid for (part of the tour package).  My kind of meal!

I went to bed fairly early, since we all had to meet for breakfast and leave for our first tour of the Great Barrier Reef at 9:00 a.m.  With the exception of the two hour nap, I hadn't really slept in more than 31 hours, so it was past time for me to retire to my nice, comfortable bed!

Grace's Wedding

      

      

         

      

         

      

      

      

       

My beloved sister, Grace, married her fiance, Josh, on Saturday, May 24, 2008 in Orlando, Florida, at the Omni Resort.  Since I was the maid of honor, I didn't get to take as many pictures as I normally would have, but I did get to take some pictures of all of the maids of honor getting their hair and make-up done.  I also gave my camera to my Uncle Frankie and he took some pictures of the rehearsal.

The rehearsal was outside but the actual wedding had to be moved inside due to the possibility of rain.  The wedding went off without a hitch and the reception was lots of fun.  My family's table won the song contest by singing the "Barney Song!!!"  We rule!!!

It was tons of fun getting to see my Grandmother and Aunts and Uncles.  Grace's Aunt Marie and cousin Tommy and his family were there also and it was great to see them.  Tommy's sons are just adorable and as sweet as they can be.

Brittany brought Makala to the wedding and she was a cutie-pie the entire time.  Makala got to play with Josh's niece, so they had fun.

I finally got to meet Josh's brother's wife and children.  They were all lovely and it was a delight meeting them.  I look forward to seeing them again when I fly up to Boston to visit Grace.  Josh's parents are moving to Cape Cod, so I will get to see them also.  

Makala Turns One!!!

    

    

    

    

          

    

        

      

      

    

       

    

     
  
     

     

     

      

Makala celebrated her first birthday at my house on Saturday, April 26, 2008.  Brittany, Mother, John, Debbie and Diane (Brittany's Godparents) all came over to watch Makala open her gifts and eat cake and ice-cream.  Makala surprised us all by taking her first steps independent of any help, which was really cool.  Of course, I documented this momentous event in her life with my camera and video camera.