Gee, But It's Great To Be Back Home!

Hi, All!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived home safely and right on schedule! It was quite a drive from Rooty Hill to the Sydney airport -- thank you, Marg, for the warning! Probably a bit over an hour and a half, but fortunately, we left early and were in plenty of time. L-O-N-G day -- Sydney to Auckland, about 2 hours layover there, then 12 1/2 hours to LAX. From there, transit to Southwest (but we landed at terminal 2, and only had to walk to terminal 1, so that was no problem; glad of the exercise!) and another 2 hour wait; managed to sleep to Tucson, and neighbors Bob and Steward were right there to pick us up!!...so left our hotel at Rooty Hill at 7 a.m. (AU time) arrived at our front door at 5 p.m. (AZ time)...somebody else who isn't jet-lagged can figure out how long it took us!

So! Thanks to everybody for their comments along the way! We've enjoyed blogging; hope you enjoyed reading!

Much love (until the next trip!)
m

Back to Sydney once again!

G’Day, Everyone!

Well, here we are back in the suburbs of Sydney, getting ready to go to the airport tomorrow. Had a very nice, albeit overcast, drippy and rainy kind of day. We were up early and heading out before 7, needing to get to Narooma by 8:30 to meet Norm and Marg. Made it with 20 minutes to spare, and Norm was early, fortunately! We followed him to his brother Alan’s house, and it is just beautiful! Alan and his wife Riis are really wonderful folks, and have retired to Narooma after working in the States and Canada for some years. Their house is amazing, perched on top of a hill with beautiful views of the lake. Alan does wonderful wood carving and painting of birds, and they are displayed around the house. Riis and Marg made a wonderful breakfast that we had on the veranda – and we were visited by some wonderful birds, including a friendly crimson rosella and a pair of rainbow lorikeets! (The picture of me is AWFUL, but it’s not too bad of the others … thanks so much, Dear…)

We visited for an hour or so, and then hit the road North. The weather was pretty misty, and we started really picking up traffic north of Noorma. Made it as far as Nowra, where we had lunch…McDonald’s, but it was more to chase the taste of the hamburger from Keith away!

As there was so much traffic along the coast route, we decided to cut across country to the motorway. Wild drive!! VERY rainy and VERY curvy road, but at least we lost most of the trucks! Took us awhile to work our way to the motorway, but after that it was fairly plain sailing to Rooty Hill. Found the Holiday Inn and checked in. Funny room – HUGE, with a double Jacuzzi tub in one corner! And, it turns out that the hotel is actually attached to the RSL – the Rooty Hill Retired Serviceman’s League Club!! A HUGE casino-like operation, complete with buffet!! We went down and had a glass of chardonnay, then had dinner at the buffet – good! Now we’re up in our room, repacked and ready to head to the airport!

So, more when we reach home!!
Take care; much love!
m

A few more miles...

G’Day!

I didn’t think that I’d be blogging today, as not much to write about – but actually, there is!

First off, we left The Windsor Hotel in Melbourne right about 7 a.m. Even with morning traffic, it wasn’t too bad getting out of the city – R did a FABULOUS job navigating – and I even managed to avoid getting hit by or run over by a tram! (And that’s an accomplishment, believe me, if you’ve ever been to Melbourne!) Then came the LONG, and I mean LONG drive to Merimbula. I know I’ve said this before, but OZ is a truly HUGE country – and it takes a lot of time to get from place to place! Today’s drive was 8 hours; somewhere about half-way between Melbourne and Sydney. Stopped for lunch in Orbost, which calls itself the Snowy River town … from the movie, I’m thinking! Had decided that if the choices were as limited as Keith, that we would move on, but found a café and R had yet another steak sandwich (this time without beet root!) and I had a beef and veggie pie; just fine for lunch!

We were almost to Merimbula, about 3 p.m., when we were pulled over by a police person by the side of the road – and they were doing random sobriety checks! How odd! Fortunately for us, I’d been existing all morning on Coke and something called Soto Lemonade – so I passed with flying colors! Scary though! But not sure how many folks they were thinking they’d catch at that time of day, especially as there was absolutely no wine country in the area!

Made it safely to the Best Western Fairway motel, and checked in. Nice room; second floor, lovely balcony overlooking the pool and spa; full kitchenette. The owners have a watch golden lab who guards the doorway – a real cutie! Dropped our things and then headed the mile or so into town. Visited the combination aquarium/restaurant (?!) and looked for places for dinner. Unfortunately, with the combination of Monday night and slightly off-season, there weren’t many choices! Decided to try the golf club across the street – and it was GREAT!

First, there are TONS of kangaroos all over the golf course!! We stopped counting at 35, as they were bouncing all over the place! Big ones, little ones and in-between ones! And the golfers still playing just walked right through them, and nobody seemed concerned at all! The restaurant had a spectacular view, so we could just eat (and drink) and watch! We both had avocado halves with wonderful fresh prawns in sauce. Then for main course, R had fried prawns and chips and salad, and I had a fried ham steak with pineapple, chips and salad. On our way out, I wanted to look at the “pokie” machines – had never really seen them before; they’re electronic slot machines. I wanted to play, as they had 1 penny machines!! We both tried a dollar each – neither of us having a clue as to what we were doing!! And I won $22.50!!!! How ‘bout that!! So, the evening wasn’t terribly expensive after all! Still have no idea what was going on, but fun just the same!

Back to the motel for this posting, and an early night – another long day tomorrow, but we’re meeting Norm and Marg at 8:30 a.m. for coffee, so it will be nice to see them! Then on to Sydney!

So, for now –
Take care and much love!
m

A couple more pictures...

Still more pictures -- not much from Melbourne, but a few!
Love,
m

From K.I. to Melbourne!

G’day, All, from cool and cloudy Melbourne!

To catch up! When last we blogged, we were extolling the virtues of Kangaroo Island…only problem was internet access – where we had to drive 45 minutes one way to the “big” town of Kingscote to log in … Well…decided on Friday to enjoy the day and NOT make the drive, so did a catch-up posting last night when we got to Melbourne.

First thing in the morning we headed to Seal Bay to do the boardwalk and tour on the beach of the Australian sea lions. They were WONDERFUL! The beach is a wonderful refuge for them, with a wide beach area and lots of sand dunes where the sea lions can go if/when it gets cold. Most of the little guys are about 5-6 months old now, and their moms are going out to sea to find food for three day stretches, leaving the little ones alone to look after themselves! Several were playing in the surf with friends, and occasionally a sea lion would come in – and immediately go to sleep on the beach! R likes their life style too, but figures that he has more in common with a koala.

From Seal Bay we headed to Kelly Hill Caves, and the tour there. I was a bit apprehensive that I would have a problem being in a cave again, but fortunately, all was well – which was good, because the goofy gal who gave the tour 1) talked about the earthquake they had several weeks ago, and 2) turned out ALL the lights so we could see how dark it was! (Answer: Very. A Brit on the tour told her friends just to wait a minute and their eyes would adapt … hmmm…) The cave was fine, but was a dry cave (means it’s not still growing) and not nearly as spectacular as the caves we saw in Western Australia.

From the caves, we decided to head back to the cottage for lunch … and never left! Used up some wonderful tomatoes that we’d bought in Adelaide for a sliced tomato with parmesan cheese salad. Then, figuring that we’d seen everything that was a “must see” we decided to take the rest of the afternoon off – and had a perfectly lovely time, drinking wine, reading, and taking naps! Where did the time go?? And how neat is that?? We did take a drive down to the beach at sunset; just spectacular! Then back for left-over beef tips over rice for dinner. We’ve actually managed to use almost all of the food we bought, which is good! Did leave one onion and some garlic, as well as the remaining parmesan cheese…and donated the spice collection to the inventory already in the cottage.

The wallabies came up to check out the front yard – they are so incredibly cute! Wish we could have taken pictures of them, but it was too dark and we didn’t want to startle them by using the flash. Also the possum. Possums in OZ are SO much cuter than American possums! Lovely, long FURRY tails; cute eyes and ears. The resident possum here is so tame that he comes up on the porch looking for food! Glad that the caretakers left us “official” food to feed them, so we wouldn’t give them scraps or bread. Would hate to damage their digestive systems!

Fairly early to bed, as we needed to be up and out by 6:45 a.m. to make the ferry at Penneshaw. Of course we were up by 4:45 … what is wrong with us, I wonder? Got the house cleaned up and ready to go by 6:15. We actually drove for over 45 minutes before we even SAW another vehicle! R wondered aloud if the island had had been evacuated the evening before, and no one bothered to tell us! Seemed like it; REALLY deserted! Made it first (surprise!) to the ferry, with LOTS of time to spare before check-in. Did the cliff walk in Penneshaw, but all the penguins were already out to sea for the day, and the flies were FEROCIOUS! Decided to risk the 9 mile (45 minute) crossing without Kwells, as it was fairly calm and we had a LONG way to drive. Crossing was good – some porpoises followed us for a bit; looked like they were having fun! And we started off on the mainland right about 9:30 a.m.

It’s a LONG drive from Port Jervis to Melbourne…we’d been told anywhere from 8 – 10 hours, and it worked out to be almost exactly 9 hours for us. We followed the coast around a bit, working our way to one of the main highways. LOTS of “schoolies” haunting the beach town of Victor Harbour; they were EVERYWHERE, and it looked like some of them were camping out in a park – small pup tents all over the place! As we were driving from Penneshaw to Duke’s Highway (to Melbourne), we needed to cross the Murray River and – SURPRISE! NO bridge! Ferry only!! Didn’t know how long we would have to wait, so headed up river a bit to Jervois, hoping for a bridge – but guess what? NO bridge there either! This time we decided to wait for the ferry – which actually arrived just a minute or two later. Turns out the ferry is on a cable, and just goes back and forth, taking a maximum of about 6 cars each trip! No kidding!! So across the Murray, and then hitting the main highway to Melbourne.

Stopped at Keith for lunch … and, while they had a lovely cricket pitch (R is currently watching a one-day match, NSW vs. the Tasmanian Tigers) the restaurants were few and far between. Decided on the Morning Loaf Bakery, and I ordered a hamburger PLAIN (vs. “the Lot”) and R ordered a plain steak sandwich. Well…remind me to avoid country hamburgers in future…it came with tomatoes, cheese, lettuce and, of course, the ubiquitous beetroot … can only wonder what “the Lot” would have included!! Obviously a frozen patty; ugh! Give me McDonald’s anyday! We also had chips – which were GREAT, but R was asked if he wanted regular salt or “chicken” salt on them…hmmm…They did have Magnum Classic’s though, so my meal was salvaged!

Back on our way, and R drove for the next several hours. Of all the roads we’ve been on to this point, almost all of them, even the cross-country major roads, are two lanes only, one each way, with periodic passing lanes worked in. The scenery was absolutely incredible – very dry, and lots of farm land, but some beautiful areas of trees. The closer we got to Melbourne, the more beautiful things became – especially once we got near the Grampions National Park and into Ballerat. Oh! The Giant Koala! This is truly an amazing country! And, freeway!! How neat!

This being election day, we started getting return results about 5 p.m. – anxious to get to the hotel so we could watch on TV!

We got into downtown Melbourne about 7, and R provided brilliant directions to get us right to our hotel’s front door! We’re staying at The Windsor, one of the oldest hotels in town – big, grand, just beautiful, and wonderfully located right across from the Parliament building; fully refurbished back in the 1970’s. Pulled up in front of the hotel; lots of traffic; two wedding receptions going on inside. Fortunately, the valet offered to take the car from there (Yea!!) so we took what we could and headed into the hotel, the valet promising to bring our bags up later. Checked in, and found we’ve been upgraded to a Deluxe Room – 344. It’s lovely! HUGE room; high ceiling; marble bathroom; huge walk-in closet with mini-bar. Starting settling in, but where was the luggage? R actually had to make one trip downstairs, and two phone calls, but eventually, it was located and brought up. Our friend Joan Mould called right after we’d arrived, and we’ve been invited to their daughter’s house tonight for a BBQ! It will be great to see them!

By this time, however, we were firmly ensconced in front of the TV – watching John Howard and his Liberal Coalition go down to defeat. We had barely any idea who was being interviewed, or where certain places were, but all very interesting nonetheless. Realized that this is the second national election we’ve been privy to – France in the spring being the first! And an interesting thing – here in Australia, if you DON’T vote, you get fined! What a concept! Does make for big voter turnout!

So, needing food, we ordered from room service – and it was GREAT! I ordered chicken tikka masala; very spicy, came with rice and pappadum and chutney. R had a fabulous steak with fries and salad. A lovely ending to a great day! I was asleep by 10; not sure what time R turned in, but when I woke up about 6 and looked out the window, there were 4 hot air balloons going overhead! Wow!! What a place!

We went out about 8 a.m. looking for breakfast; not wanting to pay $30 AUD each for breakfast here. It being Sunday, many things were closed, but we found a Pancake House, and had a terrific breakfast of pancakes and bacon. (Interesting note: It was actually cheaper to order a breakfast with pancakes, eggs and bacon and say “hold the eggs” than to order items separately!) Then back to the hotel to change, as it was a bit cool for shorts. Purchased a Sunday Saver pass for $2.50 AUD for transport all day on all trams, buses and metro. Took the free City Circular Tram all the way around, enjoying the tourist commentary. Got off near the Victoria Market, and headed there first – and found some wonderful t-shirts! Wandered around – saw some lovely meat stalls, and R enjoyed looking at the fish. Again, we would have LOVED to have this market with a kitchen handy, but looks like we’re done cooking for this trip! Oh well!!

Took the t-shirts back to the hotel and once again headed out, this time for lunch at St. Kilda, which is on the beach. Got off at Luna Park, and decided on the Vineyard for lunch. Wild place! Think we were by far the oldest people there – and probably the only ones without piercings or tattoos!! LOTS of young people! Had bruschetta with tomatoes and three dips – guacamole, hummous and capsicum (red pepper) with bread, along with glasses of sauvignon blanc. Really good, and it was fun. Decided to head back to town for a nap before meeting Joan and Jeremy at 4:30. Took FOREVER getting home on the tram – think EVERYONE wanted to head in to town right then, and there are hoards of Christmas shoppers everywhere!

Joan picked us up at the hotel at 4:30 and took us on a lovely scenic ride through town. Stopped first at their place – really lovely home in the suburb of Richmond – VERY close to town center! From there we headed to Yarra River Park – with thousands of grey-headed flying foxes (fruit bats)! They were everywhere – and as it was late afternoon, they were starting to wake up, as they head off each night at dusk; very active colony; really neat! (Although VERY pesky flies!) From there we went to their daughter Helen’s house, also in Richmond. It’s a beautiful place – and Helen and Tom are expecting their first child at the end of March! SO nice to be able to spend some time visiting; a truly lovely evening! Dinner was grilled lamb with roast potatoes and a lovely salad, followed by ice cream and fresh fruit for dessert – YUMMY! Also, lots of Australian wine for those drinkers in the crowd … just took ibuprofen as a preventative … we’ve got a long way to go tomorrow!

Take care; more later!
Love,
m

Pictures Continued!

Still more pictures to come! I am now officially two days behind, but since most of today was driving, I can catch up fairly easily (famous last words)...So, here are a few more pictures of our adventures on Kangaroo Island!!

Love,
m

An Amazing Day!!

G’Day, Everyone!!

Ever have one of those overwhelmingly, truly wonderful kind of days??? Well, let me tell you, that’s what today has been – (and hopefully will continue to be, as we leave in half an hour for Kingscote, where we hope to see fairy penguins coming ashore!) So…where to begin!

Got up fairly leisurely, round about 6:30 a.m. and showered…Now, when was the last time you washed your hair in rainwater??? Do you know how SOFT that is? My hair feels wonderful, but is WAY too soft to do anything at all, and traveling without any of the gels or whatever, my hair is just flying away! Oh well!!

Were out the door by 7:45 a.m. and heading to Hanson’s sanctuary and their koala walk. Driving down the highway, a few km from Vivonne Bay, stopped as there were two kangaroos on the road!! A car was coming in the opposite direction, and I tried to signal them – blink my headlights, but managed instead to turn on the windshield wipers … oh well; other car slowed down as well, which was good, because the roos managed to cross the road in front of us, hop a few yards in our direction, then darted back onto and across the road in front of the other car! Whoo! Made it safely to Hanson’s. Nobody else there when we arrived (one other car pulled up while we were there) so we paid our $2 AUD each (on the honour system!) and walked right in. SO nice having the place to ourselves! And talk about camouflage! Those gray koalas against the gray trunks of the eucalyptus – really hard to spot! Finally found one – WAY up in a tree; looked like a furry blanket almost! Found 7 in all!! Including THREE in one tree, two of them actually awake! (Apparently they sleep 19 hours a day … R says it sounds good to him…) SOOOO cute!

From Hanson’s, we drove into Flinders Chase National Park, which occupies the entire end of K.I. Stopped first at the visitor’s center to buy passes and check out the exhibits. Exhibits weren’t much, but they also had a café! We each had a pasty – (is that spelled correctly??) It’s like an empanada, and these were stuffed with onion, carrot and beef – YUMMY! Perfect for breakfast! We then headed out for our first “sight” in the park, called Remarkable Rocks. (See Picture!) They are TRULY remarkable! They are part of a granite dome that split into blocks thousands of years ago and have been weathering ever since – which makes them have such interesting shapes. We read that this is the same kind of thing that happened to form Uluru (Ayers Rock), but without the sea and wind to cause erosion. At any rate, really beautiful!

From there we drove to the de Courbec lighthouse on the southwestern tip of the island, and a place called Admiralty Arch. This area is home for a huge colony of New Zealand fur seals – and they’re all over the place! There was a wonderful wooden walkway down very close to the seals. They were having such a terrific time! (The ones who weren’t sleeping, I mean!) Several groups of them playing with each other; lots of activity! There was one group that was splashing in a large cutout in the rocks that was filled with water – like a Jacuzzi! Wow! SO neat to watch!!

R then wanted to look for platypus – have no idea what the plural would be! So we headed down yet another dirt road for 30 km or so to a platypus pond overlook area. We were VERY quiet (and the only folks there!) and watched for quite a while, but no luck! I think we’d really need to be there either at dawn or dusk to try and catch them … and R says they is NO WAY he is going to be out there then, as WAY too many critters would be out then!

From there, we continued down the dirt road another 20 km or so, to the turn off the Cape Borda lighthouse … which was then another 17 or 18 km but this time, it was on a main unsealed road, other than a secondary unsealed road … both were awful to drive on; don’t see what the difference was! Arrived at Cape Borda after passing the Lighthouse Keeper’s Cemetery; talk about a miserable existence…We were a bit early for the 2 p.m. tour, so spent the remaining time looking at some artifacts from bygone days. The tour guide/National Parks caretaker was a wild-looking long-haired blonde bloke who, I am sorry to say, must have been hit in the head by his surfboard a few times too many … full of lots of stories; we were supposed to try to figure out truth from fiction! The lighthouse is still in working order; very short, as the cliff it’s perched on is very tall. Went through it and listened to the stories … interesting, but we do prefer the seals!

From there, drove back another 50 or so km on washboard until we FINALLY reached pavement, right at the edge of the park! Picked up three Goanna at various points along the road (see picture). (Note: By “picked up” I mean SPOTTED – NOT touched!!) An amazing looking lizard – the largest we saw was about 2 ½ feet long! And with a tongue to match!! YECK! Also, a WONDERFUL echidna!! He was walking right across the road, so we stopped to watch as he disappeared into the brush…a monotreme!! And one of my favorites!! Headed this time for Kingscote, as it was getting late, we were hungry, and still needed to do email and post the blog.

Arrived in Kingscote about 4:30 and settled in (yet again! I’m sure they’re loving us!) at the Ozone Seafront Hotel’s bar. I posted the blog then went for a wander through the neighboring souvenir/Hallmark shop; R did his business. The nice people at the Ozone took pity on us and we were able to get a toasted foccacia sandwich filled with roasted veggies – it was yummy! R had a toasted cheese and bacon sandwich, followed by several schooners (small glasses!) of beer. From there, headed for home, timing ourselves so we would know how long it would take us to get back to Kingscote for the penguin viewing.

Once home, I put in (naturally!) a load of laundry (need to get it started, as no dryer!!!). Quite an interesting machine; lots of buttons to push, but don’t forget to 1) turn on the electricity to the machine, and 2) turn on the water taps!! Glad I checked, otherwise it would have been a VERY interesting wash! Also started yet another batch of beef tips over rice … like R got sick of his French chicken in mushroom sauce, I’m getting VERY tired of BTOR! This will actually be our last chance to cook, as we are in a hotel in Melbourne for two nights, and then one night in Merimbula and our last night in Rooty Hill before we head out of Sydney next Wednesday! Just had time to finish the BTOR – wash was STILL going around and around … and we headed out the door for the drive back to Kingscote to see the penguins. Got there just as the Marine Center opened their doors at 8 p.m. It’s a very small operation (miniscule, if you compare it to the one on Phillip Island!) but they had some nice aquariums and interesting exhibits…including one on the night sky…but unfortunately, at 8:30, it wasn’t dark enough to point out any stars!! (And besides that, I have my own astronomer if I want to look at the sky!!) We then headed out on the penguin walk. There were 48 of us in total, and we were divided into two groups to make viewing easier.

The Marine Center in Kingscote, along with a large group of volunteers and the State of South Australia, have joined together to completely redo the penguin habitat and viewing areas. They have a lovely new boardwalk that provides the penguins with easy access, and the cliffs have been terraced and relandscaped and nesting boxes provided. Our young guide with a BIG flashlight with a red lens (apparently penguins are color-blind, and the red light doesn’t disturb them) walked us first along the beach and then along the boardwalk. There were quite a few penguins in or around the boxes or the cliffs; either they hadn’t gone out today, or were already back. We saw others coming out of the ocean and starting to make their way up the beach. They are truly wonderful birds to observe, and we SO much preferred this environment to that of Phillip Island, where hundreds and hundreds of people actually sit on bleachers to watch the penguins come in; this was MUCH more up-close-and-personal! Tour was over by about 9:30 p.m. and we then had to make our way back home…carefully…

Took us almost an hour, as we traveled at fairly low speeds. Didn’t see much wildlife, though, until we got back to our house – and there were the wallabies waiting for dinner, as well as a wonderful possum, who actually came up on the front porch and right to the door! So! All in all, a truly incredible day of wildlife spotting and scenery watching, all on America’s Thanksgiving… for which we are well and truly thankful! Can’t wait to see all the pictures!!

Take care; more later!

Love,
m

Pictures Again!

Hi, all!
We are FINALLY back with the rest of the world, and are enjoying high speed internet access in our wonderful hotel in Melbourne; sadly, left Kangaroo Island this morning!

So...I've got a post to do, but pictures first. These were taken several days, but as I hear pictures are the best part of my ramblings, here they come!!

Much love,
m

Wonderful Kangaroo Island!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

Hard to believe that it’s getting cold in parts of the U.S. and that everybody is now contemplating turkey, all the fixings and naps! Oh well…as R says, we’ll do our own Thanksgiving dinner when we get back!! (and caught up on sleep…and chores, etc…)

We were invited next door to Miriam & Ray’s for dinner last night, and went over there about 6. This is, of course, between loads of laundry and needing to pack so that we could be out of the house by 6 a.m. you understand, to catch the ferry at Port Jervis. Lovely dinner; lightly breaded fresh whiting with veggies; really good! (and you know I’m not a fish person…); lovely meringue with strawberries for dessert. This did, however, throw a spanner into the works, as R was going to make his famous pasta sauce last night … no time for that, so decided to just transport everything to Kangaroo Island (locally known as K.I.) We managed to get home around 10 p.m., which was REALLY late for me, considering we’d been up to midnight the night before! However, got everything done and the bags all packed by 11 p.m. And, like when we have to get up early to catch an airplane, I was probably up more of the night than asleep, as I kept looking at the clock to see if it was time to get up yet! Finally up at 4:45 a.m. and we were ready to go, everything cleaned and put away, and in the car by 5:30 a.m.

The drive through Adelaide and down to Port Jervis was really lovely! Not much traffic at all, even in town, but once we were past the airport, there was practically no one on the road! And even some lovely views as we drove down the peninsula, occasionally catching glimpses of the water. I was thinking that we needed to fill the car up with gas, and that for sure there would be a gas station somewhere along the way…wrong! After we left the city limits of Adelaide, there wasn’t much of anything at all! A few VERY small “towns” mostly consisting of resort cottages for rent, and perhaps a craft shop – but made it all the way down to Port Jervis and no gasoline available at all! In fact, nothing much there in the way of services – no stores, grocery or otherwise, to speak of, at least that we could find! So, we drove to the ferry terminal; got there about 7:15 a.m. (and were the first in line…surprise!) The boat was there waiting for us, but that was about it! The office didn’t open until 8, and boy, the wind was blowing something fierce, and of course our jackets and sweatpants were all comfortably packed in our suitcases…We did manage to remember to each take a dose of “Kwells,” the Australian equivalent of Dramamine or Bonine. It’s only a 45-minute trip; approximately 9 km, but we didn’t want to take any chances on getting sick, especially as the water was so rocky!

The doors opened at 8 as promised, and we were able to check in with our reservation number. They do something we both found odd – ONLY the driver can drive the car onto the boat – any passengers MUST board through another door! That was a trifle tricky for me, as I don’t much care for driving on to big boats, but R hadn’t driven this particular rental car, and with the manual transmission on the other side, he preferred to remain a passenger. So…I was the first one on (fortunately!) and made it successfully on to and parked on the ship. Then headed upstairs to find R; very confusing, as they hadn’t started the walk-on passenger boarding yet!! Was nice to be first, though, as we were able to get great seats right at the front of the ferry; great view!! The ship carries approx. 350 passengers and 50 vehicles per trip, and while the vehicle deck was certainly full (including a couple of semi’s) there were probably only about 100 people in total heading over. (There is a bus that brings down folks from Adelaide, which makes it very convenient to get there.) Lovely (albeit rocky!) crossing, right to the jetty at Penneshaw, and again, drivers only on the vehicle deck – which really made for a mad scramble as cars drove off – people running across the streets, etc. I’m really surprised someone hasn’t gotten hurt in the process! And, we were able to get gas at the only gas station in Penneshaw … resolution: Will top up whenever possible, to avoid running out of gas! Further note: This is a BIG island; very surprising! Probably something like 100 miles long and 25 miles across. Not that easy or quick to get from place to place!

We decided, as we had food in the car, to head to our rental cottage first, in Vivonne Bay. We weren’t scheduled to check in until 2 p.m. but figured that if we could at least get the groceries into the fridge, that would be a help. It took an hour and 10 minutes from Penneshaw to Vivonne Bay; will need to remember that when we leave here on Saturday morning, at 8:30 a.m.

Found Island Breeze (interesting name…) cottage very easily about 11:30, and all was ready for us, so we moved right in. I was really exhausted by now, and R still had to make pasta sauce, so I went to bed for a nice long nap, and R made dinner! The cottage is very nice; two bedrooms, one split bathroom, and laundry room (but no dryer!!) and then one L-O-N-G room in front, with living room, then kitchen, then dining room. Great wrap-around balcony all around the house, so lots of windows and plenty of light. Obviously furnished by the same folks who did the Adelaide condo! (I recognized some of the pieces; must have bought in bulk!) NO TV reception, however, and a VERY poor selection of movies…unless you like westerns, which are definitely not my movies of choice! Also, we were unable to hook up with the internet, as the landlords have limited the access on the phone, so R unable to call the nearest Earthlink number… bummer… will need to find someplace else for access! Also, interestingly enough, it seems that most of the houses on the island, ours included, are hooked up to ENORMOUS water storage tanks, and there are pipes on the gutters directing all the rainwater into storage! So, we need to be VERY careful how much water we use; good practice generally, but here, specifically!

I finally dragged myself out of bed, and boy, did the house smell good!! LOTS of garlic! Yum! Decided that we needed to do some exploring, (and see if we could find some internet access) so loaded the computer into the car along with binoculars and camera, and headed out to Kingscote, supposedly the largest town on the island…we’ll see…First stop, though, was down at the end of our road, to see Vivonne Bay beach – and to say it is spectacular is truly an understatement. Apparently it has been voted the #1 beach in Australia recently – and we could certainly tell why! See the pictures! Drove from one end to the other, and then headed out, stopping first at Vivonne Bay Grocery, which is a small (very) combination of gas station/take-away food/hamburger stand/general store. The two ladies who run it (one the store part, the other the cook) were just terrific! When we asked them what they recommended we see first, brought out a great KI visitor guide book which they gave us, pointing out lots of things to see – hard to figure out what to do first! Oh … and they also carry Magnum Classic bars, so you can be sure we’ll be stopping in their fairly frequently!

It took about 45 minutes to get to Kingscote – roads really good; no traffic at all to speak of! R doesn’t have to worry about there being too many people here – we went almost 65 km without passing another car!!

Kingscote is a nice small town; two banks, one hotel, one small grocery store that’s not too bad, two gas stations and then miscellaneous other services. We headed first to the Ozone Seafront Hotel (what a name!) and R was able to find wi-fi in their restaurant/lounge/bar. Fairly pricey--$11 AUD for 45 minutes, but as it’s most likely the only game in town, figured it was worth it! R checked email and did business, while I wandered through the general store and then picked up a few more groceries. He was finally finished, and we decided to take the “long” way back to Vivonne Bay, which is through the rolling hill country on the north coast. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL drive. This is INCREDIBLE country; hope the pictures do it justice!! Most of it was on dirt roads; some in great condition, and others very washboard-y – but we basically had all the roads and all the beaches ALL to ourselves! R spotted some kangaroos – And Katy, they were K.I Kangaroos, which is a subspecies of the Western Grey Kangaroo; real cuties! It took us hours to get home, but we’ve now covered a fair amount of the island, and have a plan all ready for tomorrow on where to go and what to see! Had planned on looking for the Fairy Penguins tonight, but ran out of steam and decided to head back to the cottage for dinner!

While R finished up dinner, I put out some of the “approved” animal pellets that were provided in the cottage – and was disappointed when I didn’t see anything! However, as we were sitting down to eat, I suddenly needed some fresh air (U.T.E. (unplanned thermal event) … and if you don’t know what that is, don’t even ask!) when I opened the door, and voila, there they were! The cutest little wallabies!!! There were four of them grazing – we were able to walk out onto the deck and they were right below us! Katy – they are Tammar Wallabies; extended viewing opportunity! Supposedly we should also get some possums, but haven’t seen them as of yet…

So, dinner over, I’m needing to finish the blog, as R has some “real” work he needs to do. So, wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving, more later!!

Much love,
m

More Pictures!

Hi --

Margaret is off for her nap but has more pictures for the blog. (Remember, the blog program let's her load a maximum of five.) So, here they are. Do you have any idea how long it takes to load five pictures at 48 k/sec?!

Robert

It's NO fun wine tasting alone!

Howdy, Y’all – (no, that is not in honor of the fact that we’re in “South” Australia; just a change from “G’day”!)

When last we blogged, we were comfortably ensconced in our wonderful condo in the suburbs of Adelaide – and had yet to walk out on our patio – and meet Miriam and Ray, our next-door neighbors! Have to say, I think Aussies must be the friendliest people on the planet! Before we knew it, we were enjoying several wonderful bottles of Australian wine and having a lovely evening! So much so, in fact, that by the time we came in, it was after 9 p.m. and I still had to make dinner! So…actually solved the problem by doing what we do occasionally in Tucson – call for delivery pizza! And found a Domino’s in the phone book! Pizza came in record time – something like 15 minutes (remember when they promised to get it to you in 20 minutes or less??) – two “large” pizzas – the biggest they supposedly have – although to be honest, I’m not sure it’s not the ONLY size they have! At any rate, ordered 2 pepperoni/mushroom pizzas, which was good as they were only about 10” each!! So not much leftover for breakfast, let me tell you! And, as a parting shot, I invited Miriam and Ray over for dinner … as R says, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!! Not sure…

Woke up to a lovely day in Adelaide, and took a nice long walk along the lake; scullers rowing away; day fairly cool at this point, but with the promise of heat later on. So, decided that, as the sun was shining, we would head up to the Barossa Valley. However, as I was still a little spooked from seeing the police road-check in Margaret River, it was agreed that I would drive, and R would taste; not a very pleasurable option, but one that would keep us out of trouble at any rate! The drive was indeed lovely. It doesn’t take long at all to get out of Adelaide and up into the hills. And, while it was VERY dry all around, there were several reservoirs and lakes that we past which were lovely. We stopped in Tanunda for lunch in a café – got out of the car, and almost melted from the heat!! R had a sandwich of prosciutto, pesto and cheese; I had a leek and cheese quiche with greens; both excellent! Then off for a bit of tasting. We tried Saltram, Stanley Lambert and Penfolds – the last of which was the only one I’d ever heard of before! All nice tasting rooms; very nice people – and it’s the PITS not being able to taste! But just like in Margaret River, one of the ladies told us that just the day before (Sunday) there had been some special events in some of the wineries, and the police were picking off the cars one by one as they drove through town! So, not a bad decision, but not very conducive to wine tasting…We bought 6 bottles total, as we’ll have 5 more nights to drink them…including having company tonight!

Got back to the condo around 4 (needing to stop at Cole’s to supplement groceries and pick up a dessert for dinner!). R put the cricket (still Sri Lanka vs. OZ) test match on TV, and I made dinner. Fortunately, a very well supplied kitchen! Lots of dishes and utensils to choose from! Ray and Miriam came over about 6:15 – complete with two bottles of wine! Made beef tips over rice, with green beans and salad; cheese and crackers to start and carrot cake to end…and we drank LOTS of wine … and they didn’t leave until after 11 p.m., which is WAY beyond this little pumpkin’s bedtime! And we still had to do dishes! Finally finished clearing away (thank goodness for the dishwasher…) and got to bed around midnight…whew! And we’re invited over to their place for a BBQ tonight! Can we keep up this pace? Fortunately, we won’t be able to stay too late, as we need to be up at 5 tomorrow morning to get everything packed up and be on the road by 6. We’re told that it takes 2 hours to get from here to Port Jervis, where we catch the ferry for Kangaroo Island, and it leaves at 9…So…

Up this morning a bit later than normal – I actually didn’t get up until 8, which is unheard of for me! And it looks like the low pressure center has struck yet again! YEA!! VERY cloudy and overcast, and a very fresh breeze coming through! Actual raindrops here and there outside; just wonderful! I’d been wanting to take the bus into Adelaide, rather than drive and have to hunt for parking, so we caught the bus just down the street from our condo; incredibly convenient! Took about 45 minutes to get us into town, but a lovely trip! Lots of neat houses to see and things to look at – was a nice change for me by not having to drive. I really do love public transport!

Got off in downtown Adelaide, which is really lovely. Quite a combination of old and new buildings. First went down Rundle Mall, which is a pedestrian-only section of town to look at the shops; stopped at a Starbucks so R could have coffee; told him we should have brought the computer! Then we headed a block north to North Terrace, where many of the public buildings are located. Strolled past Government House and through the State Library to the South Australia Museum. Very interesting place. They had a large section on aboriginal culture; lots of interactive exhibits and information. Some very, very sad stories about the forced separation of aboriginals from their families in an attempt to “civilize” them by placing them with non-aboriginal families. Reminded us a bit of an exhibit we saw at the Herd Museum in Phoenix, about American Indian children being sent off the schools for basically the same purpose…

As it was now approaching lunchtime, we decided to see what was on offer at the SA Museum’s restaurant – and it was GREAT! R had a prawn and green mango salad with lemon squash to drink, and I had their “spud of the day” – which was a HUGE potato filled with chunks of chicken, zucchini, capsicum (red peppers), and topped with cheese and LOTS of sour cream and chives – then the whole thing was baked in the oven until the cheese toasted – it was GREAT!

From there, headed via the wonderful little central tram, a bit further downtown to the Central Market, which Miriam recommended. SO glad we’d already eaten, as it was easier to walk around the stalls with a full stomach – some WONDERFUL shops; lots of cheeses, fruits, coffees, chocolate – you name it, they probably had it there! As I say, good thing we weren’t hungry…We then took the tram back to Rundle Mall and walked a few blocks to our bus stop. Caught another bus (there are 3 that go past here to the City, and this one’s route followed the coastline; lovely pier in Henley!) and greatly enjoyed the ride back to the condo! Am now doing – yes, friends – yet, again, more LAUNDRY! Am NOT looking forward to packing up yet again, but at least we don’t have to make anymore airplane trips until we head home a week from tomorrow!

Oh! And while I’m thinking of it, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of our American friends! Much love!
m

From Dunsborough to Adelaide!

G’day, All!

We are now in the sunny and warm suburb of Adelaide, called West Lakes. But as my last posting came from Dunsborough, I think I’d best start there to avoid confusion and keep everyone up to date!

Yesterday morning (Saturday) was our departure day from Dunsborough Beach Cottages … which we REALLY hated to leave! Had a leisurely wake-up, followed by a walk along the beach to get in some daily steps; out via the paved walkway fronting the beach, and then back along the shore itself. The tide was really in, and it makes such a difference to the view! (Editor’s note: The moving low pressure center struck again this morning, when we woke up to clouds and rain in Freo …all the way to the airport. And now, after weeks of sunshine and record heat here in Adelaide, looks like Tuesday they’re predicting RAIN! How ‘bout that?! I seem to be able to end droughts just by visiting!) We then packed everything up and cleaned up all dishes, etc. before one last trip to the office to do our daily round of email and blog posting. I’m sure those wonderful folks are REALLY glad to get rid of us and get their office back! At any rate, the second test match, OZ vs. Sri Lanka, was in its’ second day, and we stayed and watched until almost 10 a.m., when we had to leave.

Nice drive up the coast route through Bunbury, towards Fremantle (nicknamed “Freo” by the locals.) Not nearly as lovely (or deserted) as the Perth-Albany road, but nice nonetheless. For some reason, there are very few roads right along the coast, such as Highway 1 along California; mostly the roads are a few miles inland, with side roads off it to beaches and communities; makes the drive not nearly as pretty, but probably makes more sense from a construction point of view.

Got to Freo around 1:30 and found our place, Quest Harbour View apartments, right on the tip of the peninsula, facing the harbour (quelle surprise!). Our unit, #6, had a nice location; two floors, with front door opening into a large kitchen/utility (washer/dryer) area and then stepping down into the dining room and living room. High speed internet access – YES!! Then upstairs, there were two bedrooms and the bathroom, split with toilet and small sink in one room, and large sink/shower/tub in the other. Lovely balcony off the master bedroom with chairs and table … perfect to sit and enjoy a glass of wine!

After settling in, we drove into town (not really necessary, but we wanted to look around first) and found the shopping and eating areas.

Also found the Maritime Shipwreck Museum, which was our first stop. Great place! There have been so many ships wrecked along the coast from Cape Leeuwin to Perth, and the museum works with teams of divers and technicians to discover and then salvage what is left. Their principal find has been the remains of the Batavia, one of the first Dutch ships through the area (sunk sometime in the mid 1600’s), with an incredible story. An entire portion of the ship was salvaged and preserved, along with 37 HUGE stone blocks that were to form the portico of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company’s headquarters in Batavia (Jakarta). Really amazing!

After the museum, we walked around town, including the HUGE covered central market area. Didn’t buy anything, but lots of stuff to look at! Wanted to sit and have a glass of wine, but found an interesting fact: In WA (Western Australia), most restaurants are only able to serve alcohol if they’re also serving food! Only pubs have licenses to serve without eating! Wow! May be all of Australia is like this; don’t know; but after checking several places and being told the same thing, we decided to head back to our apartment and drink on our balcony, as the view was GREAT! Walked out for dinner around 6 p.m. as we hadn’t made any reservations and wanted to be able to find some place nice. Checked out various places on the harbour, but most were of the fish-and-chips variety. Finally found a place called Mussel Bay that could seat us immediately, provided we could be finished by 8 – NO problem! Lovely corner table, right on the harbour; wonderful French waitress from the Loire Valley, living in OZ for a year and enjoying it very much; GREAT fun to speak French again! R ordered mussels in garlic and cream for his starter. I had the beet root salad with feta cheese and roasted tomatoes on greens. Both were excellent! R then had King Snapper as fish-of-the-day served on a bed of veggies (asparagus; yams; potatoes) sprinkled with dill seed; he loved it! I had beef fillet with garlic butter served on a bed of scalloped potatoes with snow peas; also ordered a side of garlic mashed potatoes, which I did NOT share; ate the entire serving, and LOVED it! Waddled back to the apartment in the twilight. To bed for me around 10; R worked several hours on Caltech business.

Up around 5:30 and it was RAINING! How nice! Got organized (always have to repack when we’re going on a flight, as things tend to get transferred around … you know, those liquids!) and headed to the airport around 6. Checked in and had almost two hours before our 9 a.m. flight. Had some breakfast in the terminal, then on to the plane. Again, really enjoyed being able to watch cable TV on the airplane! [Comment from R: Must be a VERY long cable!] The flight from Perth to Adelaide was 2 ½ hours; very pleasant; lovely view flying in over the ocean. Luggage came IMMEDIATELY … when was the last time you could say that by the time you arrived in baggage claim, that your suitcases were already going around the carousel?? Avis rental car right there as well, and we found our way out of the airport very easily. (Manual transmission this time, which is nice! Had been driving automatics previously, even though I’d requested manuals! Apparently automatics are more common in OZ!)

Our home for the next three days is a condo in West Lakes, a northern suburb about 5 miles out of town. Easy drive; lovely place! Beautiful location on one of the lakes; private garage area, leading to front of condo. Immaculate place. Large living room (no cable TV though…or broadband…oh well, still have dialup!) and dining room, compact kitchen with all of the essentials, including dishwasher! Downstairs half-bath and big laundry room. Nice walled-in patio area with table and chairs and BBQ off of living room, including gate leading out to common area fronting the lake! Two bedrooms upstairs, both with walk-in closets and one bath, again divided into toilet room and separate shower/tub/vanity area. Also, about 2 minutes from a major shopping plaza, containing both Coles AND Woolies! Got organized, then headed there to get things for dinner…back for a nap (yes, again … these early flights and troop-movements of luggage are exhausting, and after all, we are on holiday!)

So, that about catches up with what we’ve been up to! Tomorrow we’re heading into Adelaide to do the sights/museums, etc. and thinking the Barrossa Valley wine country on Tuesday – may depend on the weather!

So, more later!

Much love,
m