Australia Take 3, Phase 3

So we managed to find our way back to Sydney, all 4 of us in first class. We made sure to drink enough champagne along the way to make the trip worth the effort. We got ourselves checked into the hotel, and did a little shopping. Today's big plan was to meet one of W's friends from work for dinner. We had a nice take away meal and enjoyed just hanging out with some regular Aussies. It was a nice addition to our experience. The following day was my Birthday. W and I took off for our third ever trip to the Sydney aquarium, because I wanted to check out the dugongs. Of course I went to see snooty a million times, but had never been face to face with a dugong. What's the difference you ask?

1. Cool Dolphin tail



2. Manatees can eat off of the surface, a dugong only eats down

1. Dugongs only live in salt water

1. A name that is far more fun to say

We also paid a visit to the sky tower, something I've been trying to get done since my first visit. and the must do part of a trip to Sydney, a visit to see our old friend Ruby at Bombay Bloomers. We were joined their by Paul and Carol after a little bit of bus riding misfortune (Traveling by bus at rush hour is weird anywhere in the world). As usual the food was amazing and Ruby brought us a pepper wine. It was easily one of the most interesting things I've ever tasted. Sweet with a slow burning heat, served in a small glass with an ice cube, it was a hit. I don't think I'd recommend a whole bottle in one sitting. That pretty much brings this aussie adventure to a close. We flew business on the way back, watched more summer blockbusters and I returned to life in a jobless wonderland. The real lesson here, is don't wait so long to blog, you forget everything, especially if you violated your own policy of writing in a journal during the trip.

Melbourne Day 4

So we learned a few lessons in day 3, the most important being that if we're going to be late for dinner time, we're probably not going to want to chase dinner down. So we started the day by getting some take out Indian food from Nirankar and leaving it in the fridge, so it would just be waiting on us upon our return. What would we be returning late from today? Quite possibly the cutest day of tourism allowable. Our day would be a trip to phillip island for a perfect trio of koalas, seals, and fairy penguins. We started with the Phillip Island koala conservation center, which let's you get really close to koalas in a really natural environment. You walk along a path and on a boardwalk, so you're basically eye level with them, while they do their half dazed daily activities. It turns out they don't move around a whole lot, so they're pretty easy to keep confined to the area without fences or walls or the other ugly stuff you'd associate with a zoo. We spent a lot of time there, just kind of hanging out with the koalas, watching the little ones hang on their mothers, and spending a lot of time just admiring their cuteness. Next we were off to the Nobbies Center to check out the seal colony. It's not exactly the up close seal experience they make it seem like, as the colony is way off shore and only visible with binoculars or the high powered video feed in the center (which requires coins to use) I do recommend stopping in for a coffee though, and the views are very good from there. From there it was off to the main event, the Penguin Parade. Their policy on photography is strict and well enforced, so you'll have to follow the link, but the experience of watching these little guys cautiously waddle up the beach is really more than any still camera is going to bring you. We just went for the general admission ticket and waited around close to the front of the line to get good seats. Of note here is the penguins were late the night we were there, so the tour-bus groups saw a few come in and then left early leaving lots of good seats for those who were patient. In other words, don't panic if you're not in those very front seats, you'll get there eventually. Even cuter are the little babies who come out of the nest at night and greet their parents when they arrive. If I could have gotten a few in my pocket without anyone noticing I would have. We took the drive back into Melbourne, and enjoyed our delicious take out Indian, and got ourselves ready to head back to Sydney the next day.

Melbourne Day 3

Our third day in Melbourne meant it was time to get up early, and go rustle up some wheels. We rented a little something from National via Europecar, so that we could do a little road tripping. It's important to note that we were in town for the weekend of Melbourne cup, so things were marked up a little extra and probably a little busier than they should have been. The upside of Melbourne cup is that all the parties call for 1920's style dress and fancy hats for all. It was really fun to watch. The downside was that they didn't have the GPS I ordered. That of course meant I had to count on 2 back seat and one passenger seat navigator, and a giant stack of maps. So we jump in the car around 9 a.m and head out towards the Great Ocean road. A stick shift convertible two seater is probably what's really called for in these types of situations, but fitting 4 large people and luggage for 2 of them who have been traveling for 2 months doesn't really work in a car that size. Instead we depended on a large 4 seat Nissan with a surprisingly spacious trunk. So we drive, and drive and drive, and there's lively debate about how frequently to stop and take pictures. The good news for me: the guy behind the wheel always gets the deciding vote. We found a great little spot along the road right down by the beach to stop and have lunch. and kept moving toward the best part of the show, the Twelve Apostles. Why cross out twelve? It turns out the ocean is a cruel mistress, and they're not all standing anymre, and you have to take the helicopter tour to see all of them at once. The ones you can see are beautiful, and worth the effort to get half way around the world for. The pictures from the beach below the cliff require one heck of a stair climb, but I won't soon forget the sight of those pillars and the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks and echoing of the cliff wall. I'ts really a spectacular place. Once we got out to the London Bridge area, we decided to work our way back towards Melbourne. It was almost uneventful, except for the DUI checkpoint we got stopped in. I'm not sure what convinced me to skip beers with lunch, because I always have a drink with a meal while traveling, but you should have seen the look on the officers face when I blew a zero. He looked like the saddest little puppy. He must have figured he'd scored himself a nice batch of tourists to intimidate or charge, and instead had to forlornly wave me through the checkpoint. I knew I'd had nothing to drink, but I won't lie, I was still real nervous. When we got back to melbourne it was late, and we had trouble finding anything good to eat, so we ended up buying up a bunch of food, including some barbecue pork buns, and having dinner at the apartment.