Greetings from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It's been 18 days since I first arrived in Australia and I've covered a lot of ground. I just got done watching an amazing fireworks display at Darling Harbour and now it's time to go home. First, an update on my whereabouts and journeys.
Originally, I was supposed to fly from Christchurch to Cairns; however, Cyclone Yasi had other ideas. As it turned out, this was quite fortuitous, because Yasi made landfall just south of Cairns as a category 5 cyclone, by far the strongest landfalling cyclone is Australian history, with a measured wind speed of 290 k/mph (175 mph)! Needless to say, the damage was extensive and severe. Incomprehensibly crazy weather is an Australian staple!
Since I couldn't get to Cairns, I had to stay in Brisbane. This was like winning the lottery. I just assumed since the delay was weather related, the airline wouldn't be responsible for my accommodations. Boy was I wrong. Virgin Blue put me up in the Ibis (a lower end Marriott is a good comparison) in downtown Brisbane for two nights, with cab vouchers for transportation to and from the airport, an AUD$50 food credit, and allowed me to just cancel my round trip flight to/from Cairns for an AUD$250 credit. Not bad at all. Brisbane was OK but not terribly exciting for a city of 2 million people.
In Brisbane, an attractive Sheila (what they call women in Queensland) convinced me to go south to Byron Bay for 3 days. I hadn't planned this portion of my trip, but I'm glad I went to Byron, because it was a great time. Byron is a hipster/party/beach town just south of the Gold Coast area. I met some Canadians from Vancouver Island my first night there and ended up hanging out with them the next few days. We hit up the pubs, the beach, the weekly Byron hippy market (awesome place), the old train station, and made a hike to the Byron lighthouse; the most easterly point of mainland Australia. The hike was especially fun as I always find lighthouses fascinating and I got to see dolphins and stingrays (RIP Steve Irwin) in the water below. I also watched the first half of the Super Bowl in Byron before I had to board a greyhound bus bound for Bellingen.
I ended up in Bellingen basically the same way I ended up in Byron; a pretty Sheila at the hostel told me to go there. I read NOTHING about Bellingen before going, so I had absolutely no clue what I was in for. Bellingen, population 2,811, turned out to be a great stop. Located in the middle of the Dorringo rainforest, it was the ultimate hippy location and full of interesting things to do; albeit not interesting by city slicker standards. My first day, I hiked into the rainforest in an attempt to get lost yet not lost at the same time to get a panoramic view of the town. As you probably realize, I didn't get lost and the views were nice. I visited an old butter factory which had interesting machinery and boutique shops in it. I also made a trip to Bellingen Island to see the famous flying foxes. Flying foxes are a type of bat that gets hyperactive at dusk and puts on a great show for anyone daring enough to brave bat guano for the chance to see them squeal at each other and "fly" through the trees. Awesome experience and one that I will not soon forget. On day two, I signed up for a rainforest tour. The tour was cool and we got to see two waterfalls, but I'm pretty waterfalled out after Iceland and New Zealand. We did get to take a dip in the river though and that was fun.
After Bellingen, I made my way to Sydney for a few days. My first experience in Sydney a few years ago was a good one, but I really felt like the city lacked the same charm that Melbourne had. This time around, Sydney exceeded all my expectations; admittedly they weren't that high. I stayed in a suburb called Glebe which is about a 45 minute walk from the CBD. On my first day when I was making the journey downtown, I stumbled upon the Sydney Fish Markets. This was a life changing experience. The market is the actual offload point for fished fishies in the Sydney area. The place was full (more like overrun) by Asians. The food was out of this world good! BBQ octopus seriously was one of the best things I've ever had. The fish market was so great that I went back three times in two days. The rest of my time in Sydney involved lots of walking. I walked across the Harbour Bridge, one of the most famous bridges in the world, took a picture from every conceivable angle of the Sydney Opera House (I'm slightly obsessed with this Danish icon), walked to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"), walked through Hyde Park where it appears they have removed the world's most famous chess board, did some shopping on George Street, went to Darling Harbour, went to the Bay Street mall and found Austin an awesome birthday present, visited the Asian markets at Paddy's Market, and ate some amazing Thai food in Glebe. All in chronological order! All of these places are famous Sydney stops which should be a part of any trip to the city.
I left Sydney on Saturday the 12th of February for Launceston, Tasmania. Tasmania as it turns out jumped in Doc Brown's DeLorean and rather then go back in time or visit the future, decided to perpetually stay stuck in 1985. Launceston is pretty boring without much to do, but there are two things I loved about it. First was Festivale which is held in the city park each year and hosts live bands, food, and wine. It's an in interesting cultural event since people pour into this town of 100,000 from all over Tasmania. It was an interesting mix of characters. The second highlight was Cataract Gorge. This place was amazing and I'd put it just behind Cinque Terra as far as favorite hikes I've done. The Gorge runs for miles and the hiking trail takes you about 3 km's into it through an old hydroelectric power station. I loved it because it was completely wild and "the trail" wasn't so much a trail as it was following the sound of water and hoping not to get lost. I saw my first wild wallaby while wandering around in the bush (think of the bush as anything non-urban in Australia). The old power station was completely unrestored and had old equipment laying around; most visually impressive were the turbines and penstocks. The trails on either side of the Gorge are combined by a rickety suspension bridge which was pretty cool. It was quite impressive and definitely worth the 5 hours of exploration.
I spent 2 full days in Launceston and upon leaving, I took a bus to Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. Hobart is a town of around 200,000 and felt like a bustling metropolis compared to Launceston. Hobart sits on a sheltered bay in southern Tasmania and was the world's epicenter for whaling for a brief period of time (the oil capital of the world prior to Tulsa claiming the title). One of my favorite locals interactions happened here on my first day. The conversation went something like this:
Cute girl: Do you mind helping me with a survey?
Me: Sure (this question at home draws an automatic no but she was cute and I'm not a local so I was hoping for something funny).
Girl: How often do you go bushwalking?
Me: Um...never been.
Girl: Never?
Me: Never. I'm not from these parts.
Girl: Well what about at home?
Me: We don't have "bush" at home.
Girl: Seriously?
Me: Yes.
Girl: Oh...well then this might not be the survey for you.
What amused me about this interaction more than anything was her "seriously" shocked response. I just assumed that Australian's knew they live in a place that nowhere on earth (aside from a few places in Africa) knows of such isolation. Apparently not. Anyway, on day two in Hobart I boarded a cruise bound for Port Arthur, a famous convict settlement which now lays in ruins. Port Arthur was interesting from a historical perspective, but I wasn't really enamored with the site or the ruins. I think my perspective has been skewed by Pompeii and the Roman Forum. The cruise itself was incredible though. A pod of dolphins swam several miles with the boat which is something I've never experienced. The coastline is ruggedly beautiful too. Day 3 was spent in the botanical gardens (excellent) and walking along the coastline of Hobart's bay. For day 4, I booked a tour before heading back to Launceston to catch my plane back to Sydney. We started by going to a wild animal park. Apparently it was the same one Oprah went to on her Australia trip, because it was jam packed with old white women acting a fool. I've done the kangaroo feeding thing before so that wasn't terribly interesting, but the Tasmanian devils were crazy. They snarl, snare, and snap (alliteration for the win) at the littlest things. It's not so much a provocation as it is a territorial defense mechanism. Anyway, it was the highlight of the park. Next stop was the largest chocolate factory in the southern hemisphere operated by Cadburry. The "factory" tour was actually just a presentation, but the Cadburry store made up for it with cheap chocolate bars. The final stop was Mount Wellington, located just 20 kilometers west of Hobart. Unfortunately, nothing could be seen from the top due to cloud cover. The tour was kind of a dud, but our tour guide saved the day when he noticed that I looked like a very famous footballer (Australian Rules) named Matthew Knights. I have still not seen a picture of this good looking fellow, but apparently the resemblance is uncanny. Anyway, our guide started introducing me to people at our stops as "Knighty" and my fake Aussie accent was good enough to sign a few autographs, pose or a few pictures, and I may have even kissed a baby at one point. Definitely one of the more interesting highlights of my travels. Too bad the show must end in Australia as nobody watches or plays the sport outside its borders.
It's been a grand time traveling. In total, I've been gone 129 days, been to 17 countries, and seen 59 different cities. I wish I could continue, but I feel like now is a good time to go home. It's good to know when to walk away from a good thing and I'd rather error on the Seinfeld side then the Favre side when it comes to ending my travels (and use of my camera phone...)
Cheers!
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