Feb. 14, 2009 …..Our schedule called for Sydney Australia as the next stop but the weeklong forecast predicted rain and lots of it! Michelle made some phone calls and “wala”, schedule change was complete. Our next stop had now changed to Tasmania, home of the Tasmanian Devil.
I’m sure all of you are aware, but just to fill you in….Australia has been hit with one of the worst tragedies in its history. A major fire is wreaking havoc in the south, while the north is being flooded with monsoon type rains. It has been an inspiration to watch the people, businesses, and government agencies pull together to support the fire victims of Victoria and offer assistance to the flood victims up north. Last night a local newscast broadcasted firemen from the USA coming over to lend a hand to the Aussie’s. We felt very proud to be American and watch as our people came to help.
Tasmania! I only know it from watching the Bugs Bunny cartoon, but I have come to know it in a much different light during the 10 days of exploring its land and people. Hobart is the largest city in Tasmania. It’s nestled up to the Pacific Ocean with all kinds of fresh sea food eateries and beautiful old world architecture. We were here only for one night, but got to enjoy the Hobart Triathlon, a fantastic night of sleeping on the most comfortable bed ever (and on this trip, we’ve slept on many…!) and a very nice conversation with a local human rights attorney. We bought some warm weather clothes so that we could “rug up” and began our journey.
We got our first car rental and I was forced to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road. Everything is reversed on the car except for the pedals….thank GOD! Let me tell you, this is something that you have to get used to.
From Hobart, we traveled south and learned about the history of the island. We went to the town of Port Arthur. This was a prison built by the prisoner for repeat convicts from the kingdom of Great Britain. In the early 1800’s, England would
ship off their “bad folk” to Australia. In fact, if you are a native Australian today, you are probably either an aboriginal (similar to an American Indian) or the off spring of convicts. If you ended up in Port Arthur, it was because you did not repent and continued breaking the laws.
People who spoke up against the British as political advocates, children who stole bread from a market, thieves etc, were sent here to Australia to serve time and rehabilitate. If you didn’t do it right, off you went to a place like Port Arthur.
We took in a Night time Ghost Tour of the Prison Grounds. Lots of strange stories and unsettled spirits in the ruins of an old prison. Our hotel was on the prison grounds as well and after the tour we were a little creeped out while we heard the Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, and wallabies moving around outside our hotel door. The next day we went back for more viewing. We saw the penitentiary and viewed the living quarters, commandants quarters and just read up about the history of the island of Tasmania and the penal system of the British. We left the ruins at noon and pushed up the eastern coast from south to north, checking out the little towns along the way.
The country here is stunning, raw and untamed with red rocks and granite cliffs merging into the ocean.
Most of the roads around the island are two lanes, and easy to handle, even while driving on the other side.
Our next stop was Freycinet, A national park with gorgeous sea views, white sandy beaches, and tall green cascading mountains for mountains. We took 3 hikes with amazing coastal views. Afterwards, we explored the beaches of the town of Bicheno. We found a motor coach park with free year long camping facilities. We started thinking about retirement and the crash of the stock market. If all else fails, Tazzie here we come!
That evening we went to a rockery. This is an area where penguins live, mate, and mulch. Did you know penguins walk the way they do because they don’t have knees? Go tell that one to Batman! After two days in this area we needed to move on and head northwest to the city of Launceston. We didn’t want to leave because there was so much more to explore, but we had to stay true to the circuit that we had established if we didn’t want to abort the rest of our travels.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
A bit Down Under - Byron Bay, Australia
Feb. 7, 2009 –
It was here that we hooked up with 10 other friends boy did we have a fun time! We stayed in apartment like facilities a block from the beach. Byron Bay is sort of like Santa Monica, but 50 years ago. The scene was surfer young with long sandy beaches, warm waters, scrumptious food, shopping and fabulous waves.
Debbie Hart, Michelle’s dear friend, set up a fun filled itinerary for all. We started with a bus tour to Nimbin, Steve’s favorite place on earth. It was an hour ride from Byron, through luscious green hills and towns with beautiful Victorian homes. The bus was an alternative tour in which the ride was synchronized to music. It was fabulous!!! Nimbin itself is an alternative town, feeling like a place right out of the 60’s during the Berkeley era. It was filled with tie dye and all the other accoutrement's from that era.
Day number 2, had us kayaking out into the ocean. We went through the waves to get outside the surf and there they were, a school of about 25 dolphins, coming so close that we could almost touch them. We watched for about 30 minutes and rode back in to land on one great wave. I was so excited. As we were riding in and paddling with the surf, I yelled out, “We’re doing it!!!” Then we tipped at the shoreline and came up laughing like two year olds.
Day number 3 was a real treat. A group of us took surfing lessons with the 1965 World Champion surfer, Rusty Miller. His daughter helped with the lessons, but not until Rusty himself, worked with Michelle was she able to ride the wave. Boy was she happy.
We celebrated Stevo’s birthday with a delicious gourmet dinner and yummy birthday cake. It was a fabulous day of relaxing and enjoying. We made up fun loving chats to honor Stevo AKA Stoney.
On day number 4 we were able to slip in a walk to the lighthouse, a 5 mile loop to the most eastern point in Australia. Some of us stayed and played on the beach. We didn’t realize it at the time, but this would be our last opportunity to truly enjoy the beach scene the way we liked. A Northern Monsoon was on it’s and the rains came and came and came. After three days of rain, we were sad to say goodbye to our friends but the time had come. We had so much fun celebrating Steve’s special day (or week) but our journey was calling.
Plans were to head off to Sydney but rain was predicted for the full week (due to the monsoon). Michelle went into work mode and made some last minute arrangements taking us to the land of the Tasmanian Devil, Tasmania Australia. It was here that the weather forecast was much more pleasing. Let’s see what this next adventure brings.
It was here that we hooked up with 10 other friends boy did we have a fun time! We stayed in apartment like facilities a block from the beach. Byron Bay is sort of like Santa Monica, but 50 years ago. The scene was surfer young with long sandy beaches, warm waters, scrumptious food, shopping and fabulous waves.
Debbie Hart, Michelle’s dear friend, set up a fun filled itinerary for all. We started with a bus tour to Nimbin, Steve’s favorite place on earth. It was an hour ride from Byron, through luscious green hills and towns with beautiful Victorian homes. The bus was an alternative tour in which the ride was synchronized to music. It was fabulous!!! Nimbin itself is an alternative town, feeling like a place right out of the 60’s during the Berkeley era. It was filled with tie dye and all the other accoutrement's from that era.
Day number 2, had us kayaking out into the ocean. We went through the waves to get outside the surf and there they were, a school of about 25 dolphins, coming so close that we could almost touch them. We watched for about 30 minutes and rode back in to land on one great wave. I was so excited. As we were riding in and paddling with the surf, I yelled out, “We’re doing it!!!” Then we tipped at the shoreline and came up laughing like two year olds.
Day number 3 was a real treat. A group of us took surfing lessons with the 1965 World Champion surfer, Rusty Miller. His daughter helped with the lessons, but not until Rusty himself, worked with Michelle was she able to ride the wave. Boy was she happy.
We celebrated Stevo’s birthday with a delicious gourmet dinner and yummy birthday cake. It was a fabulous day of relaxing and enjoying. We made up fun loving chats to honor Stevo AKA Stoney.
On day number 4 we were able to slip in a walk to the lighthouse, a 5 mile loop to the most eastern point in Australia. Some of us stayed and played on the beach. We didn’t realize it at the time, but this would be our last opportunity to truly enjoy the beach scene the way we liked. A Northern Monsoon was on it’s and the rains came and came and came. After three days of rain, we were sad to say goodbye to our friends but the time had come. We had so much fun celebrating Steve’s special day (or week) but our journey was calling.
Plans were to head off to Sydney but rain was predicted for the full week (due to the monsoon). Michelle went into work mode and made some last minute arrangements taking us to the land of the Tasmanian Devil, Tasmania Australia. It was here that the weather forecast was much more pleasing. Let’s see what this next adventure brings.
Bali - Another New Frontier
Feb. 1, 2009 - We left lovely Thailand for Bali, Indonesia. Bali is one of the many islands of the Indonesian chain, a chain with more land mass than anywhere in the world. It is certainly a beautiful island, filled with lush vegetation and lots of beaches.
We arrived late in the evening. We had pre -arranged transportation to our hotel in the beach town of Sunur (friends we met later on said they call this town Snore, which was to be proven….).
The taxi driver/tour guide seemed to take us under his wing and told us the do’s and don’ts of Bali. Right off the bat he told us not to let anyone know we were American since the Bali people don’t like Americans. We thought if they don’t want us here, we don’t want to be here, but it turned out that there is nothing further from the truth.
This particular guide had a horrible demeanor and actually argued with us about taking us to the places we wanted to tour. He had made so many references to natives disliking Americans, we finally got rid him and found that the Balinese were incredibly grateful for American support and tourists. We even had one native tell us how much he appreciated America and its generosity. It was so nice to hear.
One night we went up to the Hindu temple overlooking the sea and got to enjoy a traditional fire dance with exotic costumes and fun loving theatrics. It was a real introduction to Balinese Culture. Classic, traditional, beautiful and FUN!
It was tough to find our zone here in Bali. It was rainy season and the rain kept coming. After three days of it, we decided to take in some diving. It doesn’t matter when you get wet if you are under water. We went to a village on the East side of the island called Tulemben. We had a dive wreck about 100 ft. off shore, right in front of our hotel, but under the water.
Back in 1945 the American supply ship named “USA Liberty” was anchored off the coast of Lombok. The ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo. No one was hurt but the ship went down. Since then, fish converge on the boat/ reef, which is about 60 feet under water.
We spent three days diving and enjoying the small town, relaxed atmosphere and non tourist vibe. Finally, we took off to the mountain city of Ubud, the cultural center of Bali. We stopped at the King’s swimming pool. It is said that holy water comes from a natural spring which feeds the pool. It’s a beautiful water garden filled with plants and trees. We hired a guide, a deaf man who met us at the gate. Michelle’s background came in super handy while she communicated with our guide. He had everything written down, but he and Michelle were signing up a storm, so much so that we didn’t need to read his standard tour book and we got an extra special version.
We finally arrived in Ubud and once again, it was raining. We checked into the Honeymoon Guesthouse. The room seemed dark and Gothic and the windows which were carved in Balinese fashion had no screens. This made me very uncomfortable about mosquitoes. We decided to move to a lovely hotel which was bright and airy that overlooked the famous rice fields of Ubud.
Super Bowl was played during our time in Ubud. We were so lucky to have the opportunity to watch it live with the rest of you at 7:30 AM on Monday morning!!!!. While there, we were fortunate to meet other Americans and party the game away, drinking morning tea and coffee. One of the people we met was a So Cal boy. We really enjoyed his company and ended up hanging with him and his wife (Ron and Lena) the rest of our time in Bali. They are regular travelers and LOVE the Bali scene. They also seemed tired of the rain. Michelle shopped lots, I was sick with a cold, so we were happy to leave when the time came to do so although sad to leave the fun loving couple we met.
Bali was our last stop in developing countries for a while. On we went to Byron Bay, Australia for the infamous Festevo and the celebration of our traveling partner, Steve Hart’s 50th birthday.
We arrived late in the evening. We had pre -arranged transportation to our hotel in the beach town of Sunur (friends we met later on said they call this town Snore, which was to be proven….).
The taxi driver/tour guide seemed to take us under his wing and told us the do’s and don’ts of Bali. Right off the bat he told us not to let anyone know we were American since the Bali people don’t like Americans. We thought if they don’t want us here, we don’t want to be here, but it turned out that there is nothing further from the truth.
This particular guide had a horrible demeanor and actually argued with us about taking us to the places we wanted to tour. He had made so many references to natives disliking Americans, we finally got rid him and found that the Balinese were incredibly grateful for American support and tourists. We even had one native tell us how much he appreciated America and its generosity. It was so nice to hear.
One night we went up to the Hindu temple overlooking the sea and got to enjoy a traditional fire dance with exotic costumes and fun loving theatrics. It was a real introduction to Balinese Culture. Classic, traditional, beautiful and FUN!
It was tough to find our zone here in Bali. It was rainy season and the rain kept coming. After three days of it, we decided to take in some diving. It doesn’t matter when you get wet if you are under water. We went to a village on the East side of the island called Tulemben. We had a dive wreck about 100 ft. off shore, right in front of our hotel, but under the water.
Back in 1945 the American supply ship named “USA Liberty” was anchored off the coast of Lombok. The ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo. No one was hurt but the ship went down. Since then, fish converge on the boat/ reef, which is about 60 feet under water.
We spent three days diving and enjoying the small town, relaxed atmosphere and non tourist vibe. Finally, we took off to the mountain city of Ubud, the cultural center of Bali. We stopped at the King’s swimming pool. It is said that holy water comes from a natural spring which feeds the pool. It’s a beautiful water garden filled with plants and trees. We hired a guide, a deaf man who met us at the gate. Michelle’s background came in super handy while she communicated with our guide. He had everything written down, but he and Michelle were signing up a storm, so much so that we didn’t need to read his standard tour book and we got an extra special version.
We finally arrived in Ubud and once again, it was raining. We checked into the Honeymoon Guesthouse. The room seemed dark and Gothic and the windows which were carved in Balinese fashion had no screens. This made me very uncomfortable about mosquitoes. We decided to move to a lovely hotel which was bright and airy that overlooked the famous rice fields of Ubud.
Super Bowl was played during our time in Ubud. We were so lucky to have the opportunity to watch it live with the rest of you at 7:30 AM on Monday morning!!!!. While there, we were fortunate to meet other Americans and party the game away, drinking morning tea and coffee. One of the people we met was a So Cal boy. We really enjoyed his company and ended up hanging with him and his wife (Ron and Lena) the rest of our time in Bali. They are regular travelers and LOVE the Bali scene. They also seemed tired of the rain. Michelle shopped lots, I was sick with a cold, so we were happy to leave when the time came to do so although sad to leave the fun loving couple we met.
Bali was our last stop in developing countries for a while. On we went to Byron Bay, Australia for the infamous Festevo and the celebration of our traveling partner, Steve Hart’s 50th birthday.
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