We made it home just fine--I sure do hate those tiny airplane seats, though! On the good side, on both the first and last legs of the trip, we had three seats for the two of us, and an exit row on the last one. Neither of us slept at all on the 30-hour trip, so we were pretty exhausted when we arrived home close to midnight Saturday. Gary got up in time to go to a church meeting, but I slept around the clock; Gary had to wake me at 12:45 p.m.!
Lots of laundry to do, mail to sort, groceries to buy, and luggage to put away, but it was a wonderful experience. And I think the long plane trips are sort of like labor--painful to endure but once completed you think maybe it wasn't so bad! :-)
Australia is a beautiful country/continent, at least what we saw of it. If you have the chance to go, please do so (but if you can afford to go business class or 1st class--as if any of us could--that will improve the trip even more!). Beth and Dan were wonderful hosts, even giving up their own bedroom for three weeks, and we were blessed to spend so much time with them.
Thanks for sharing all of this with us. We hope that our next adventure will be to The Netherlands, since Beth and Dan are moving there in September.
Jan
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Friday, 8 June 2012
Things I'll miss
A few things I'll miss about Australia:
Grass trees--these are wonderful trees and come in all shapes and sizes; they are indigenous to Australia (unlike the many palm trees out here, which came from who knows where!)
The ocean--wish I lived closer to a big body of water; the Kishwaukee River just doesn't do it for me!
Tim Tams--to die for!
Caramel and rocky road slices--also to die for!
No tipping--not the cabbies, the restaurant servers, the hairdressers, anyone!
No pennies--just round to the nearest 5 cents. Pennies really are a waste, don't you think?
No tax--well, there is tax, but it's included in the price. Why can't the States do that?
Here, most of the pedestrians obey street lights; however, I will not miss the fact that pedestrians really have no rights here. You take your life into your hands if you don't see a car coming when you're in an unprotected crosswalk. Really. It's a rare thing for a driver to stop to let you cross the street.
Beth and Dan, of course, and most of all!
Grass trees--these are wonderful trees and come in all shapes and sizes; they are indigenous to Australia (unlike the many palm trees out here, which came from who knows where!)
The ocean--wish I lived closer to a big body of water; the Kishwaukee River just doesn't do it for me!
Tim Tams--to die for!
Caramel and rocky road slices--also to die for!
No tipping--not the cabbies, the restaurant servers, the hairdressers, anyone!
No pennies--just round to the nearest 5 cents. Pennies really are a waste, don't you think?
No tax--well, there is tax, but it's included in the price. Why can't the States do that?
Here, most of the pedestrians obey street lights; however, I will not miss the fact that pedestrians really have no rights here. You take your life into your hands if you don't see a car coming when you're in an unprotected crosswalk. Really. It's a rare thing for a driver to stop to let you cross the street.
Beth and Dan, of course, and most of all!
Well, that's about it; next time I post, we should be back home. Thanks for joining me on this vacation!
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Cape Leeuwin and Mammoth Cave
On our way to the southwest tip of Australia, we stopped at Conspicuous Cliff along the Southern Ocean. More sea views and some interesting vegetation--and some kind of chicken that must have escaped a nearby farm!
Then we headed to Cape Leeuwin and the lighthouse there. Cape Leeuwin is where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet each other. There were many people there with binoculars because June begins the whale-watching season. We did not see any, but June has just begun!
An interesting sidebar: there is a very Dutch influence here because so many Dutch Royal Navy ships sailed to and from Australia. Cape Leeuwin, for example, was discovered by the crew of the Dutch ship Leeuwin in 1622, whose captain named it "The Land of Leeuwin." In 1627, it was named Cape Leeuwin.
And, of course, the touristy thing to do is to have your photo taken where the two oceans meet (this is the closest we could get).
We stayed that night in Karridale Cottage; no television or phone reception, so a quiet evening of reading was had by all--all the small towns close down (except bars and some restaurants) at 5:00, so unless you want to spend your evening at the local tavern, you go "home."
This cottage was one of four on 47 acres of land. We heard possums on the roof at night and were advised to keep the doors closed because a possum had gotten in to one of the cottages sometime previously, and it was "not pretty." The cottage was really lovely, and we wished we could have stayed longer and explored more of the property. We did enjoy playing with the owners' puppy, Doug, though.
By the way, possums in Australia are not at all like the opossums in the States. These are actually cute (not my picture, by the way):
The next day we headed to Mammoth Cave, which was discovered in 1850 but not explored until 1895. Tours were led by the first explorer, using only candlelight and kerosene lamps until 1904, when electric lighting was installed. Ours was a self-guided tour, using MP3 players to give us various facts about the cave. Los of stairs to climb, including 160 at the end. My knees did surprisingly well!
Stalactites grow from the top of the cave and stalagmites from the bottom. Both are formed by dripping water. When the two join in the middle, they form columns.
Entrance to the cave:
Here are various stalactites and stalagmites--our favorite is the elephant trunk:
After that, we headed back to Perth. It was a great trip in our little Toyota Corolla Ascent. We logged over 2000 kilometers (about 1400 miles) in the 12 days that we had the car.
And now we're just about finished with this vacation. I think Beth and Dan are ready to have their apartment back (and begin planning for their move to The Netherlands in September), and we're gearing up to head back home. We had hoped to visit Rottnest Island, but rain is predicted for our last days here, so that probably won't happen. All in all, though, we have seen so much and have gained a new appreciation for this fabulous country.
Stay tuned!
Then we headed to Cape Leeuwin and the lighthouse there. Cape Leeuwin is where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet each other. There were many people there with binoculars because June begins the whale-watching season. We did not see any, but June has just begun!
An interesting sidebar: there is a very Dutch influence here because so many Dutch Royal Navy ships sailed to and from Australia. Cape Leeuwin, for example, was discovered by the crew of the Dutch ship Leeuwin in 1622, whose captain named it "The Land of Leeuwin." In 1627, it was named Cape Leeuwin.
And, of course, the touristy thing to do is to have your photo taken where the two oceans meet (this is the closest we could get).
We stayed that night in Karridale Cottage; no television or phone reception, so a quiet evening of reading was had by all--all the small towns close down (except bars and some restaurants) at 5:00, so unless you want to spend your evening at the local tavern, you go "home."
This cottage was one of four on 47 acres of land. We heard possums on the roof at night and were advised to keep the doors closed because a possum had gotten in to one of the cottages sometime previously, and it was "not pretty." The cottage was really lovely, and we wished we could have stayed longer and explored more of the property. We did enjoy playing with the owners' puppy, Doug, though.
The next day we headed to Mammoth Cave, which was discovered in 1850 but not explored until 1895. Tours were led by the first explorer, using only candlelight and kerosene lamps until 1904, when electric lighting was installed. Ours was a self-guided tour, using MP3 players to give us various facts about the cave. Los of stairs to climb, including 160 at the end. My knees did surprisingly well!
Stalactites grow from the top of the cave and stalagmites from the bottom. Both are formed by dripping water. When the two join in the middle, they form columns.
Entrance to the cave:
Here are various stalactites and stalagmites--our favorite is the elephant trunk:
After that, we headed back to Perth. It was a great trip in our little Toyota Corolla Ascent. We logged over 2000 kilometers (about 1400 miles) in the 12 days that we had the car.
And now we're just about finished with this vacation. I think Beth and Dan are ready to have their apartment back (and begin planning for their move to The Netherlands in September), and we're gearing up to head back home. We had hoped to visit Rottnest Island, but rain is predicted for our last days here, so that probably won't happen. All in all, though, we have seen so much and have gained a new appreciation for this fabulous country.
Stay tuned!
Southwest Western Australia
We've just come back from four days in southwest WA, spending time at the ocean(s), in the rain forest, exploring a cave, and seeing lots of nature (Gary even saw a kangaroo in with a field of cattle, but I was not able to experience that, much to my disappointment.)
The first day we drove about five hours and ended up at Greens Pool on the Southern Ocean. It was a beautiful place, with great rocks to climb/walk on. All the time we spent at the ocean was really my favorite of all things.
That night we stayed at Bay River Cottage in Bay Bridge. There were Alpaca grazing in the pasture in the front yard. We had a supper of cheese and crackers, a glass of wine, and chocolate (of course). Then we had some rousing games of Dutch Blitz.
The next morning we headed to the Valley of the Giants, "giants" referring to the Tingle trees, which can grow nearly as tall as Sequoias and Redwoods. Tingle trees rot from the inside out, from the bottom to about 1/3 of the way up the tree. They have almost no root structure, but are able to grow so tall because as the bottom rots out, the trees get a hole in the middle of the bottom of the trunk, forming a buttress, so they can stand firmly:
As the Valley of the Giants became more and more of a popular visiting area, people would stand under, camp in, and even drive through some of these trees. Eventually, because of the small root structure, the trees started falling down. So a group got together to propose a tree top walk, so that the trees could be enjoyed withough damaging them. Now you can walk among and above the trees (you can also walk through some of the trees, but they have walkways to protect the roots).
As many of you know, I am terrified of heights, and this walk was no picnic! It swayed with the wind--and it was a fairly windy day--so that you could "feel as if you really were like a tree." The railings on the walkway are very smooth, testament to the many hands that have gripped them tightly! Several deep breaths and a little panic, and I made it. Afterward, Dan and Gary walked it again and could take their time. :-)
Later that day, we visited the Elephant Rocks, very near Greens Pool. Again, we did some more rock climbing/walking and enjoying the Southern Ocean.
The first day we drove about five hours and ended up at Greens Pool on the Southern Ocean. It was a beautiful place, with great rocks to climb/walk on. All the time we spent at the ocean was really my favorite of all things.
That night we stayed at Bay River Cottage in Bay Bridge. There were Alpaca grazing in the pasture in the front yard. We had a supper of cheese and crackers, a glass of wine, and chocolate (of course). Then we had some rousing games of Dutch Blitz.
The next morning we headed to the Valley of the Giants, "giants" referring to the Tingle trees, which can grow nearly as tall as Sequoias and Redwoods. Tingle trees rot from the inside out, from the bottom to about 1/3 of the way up the tree. They have almost no root structure, but are able to grow so tall because as the bottom rots out, the trees get a hole in the middle of the bottom of the trunk, forming a buttress, so they can stand firmly:
As the Valley of the Giants became more and more of a popular visiting area, people would stand under, camp in, and even drive through some of these trees. Eventually, because of the small root structure, the trees started falling down. So a group got together to propose a tree top walk, so that the trees could be enjoyed withough damaging them. Now you can walk among and above the trees (you can also walk through some of the trees, but they have walkways to protect the roots).
As many of you know, I am terrified of heights, and this walk was no picnic! It swayed with the wind--and it was a fairly windy day--so that you could "feel as if you really were like a tree." The railings on the walkway are very smooth, testament to the many hands that have gripped them tightly! Several deep breaths and a little panic, and I made it. Afterward, Dan and Gary walked it again and could take their time. :-)
Here we are at the highest point--no, I don't want to do it again!
Later that day, we visited the Elephant Rocks, very near Greens Pool. Again, we did some more rock climbing/walking and enjoying the Southern Ocean.
They look like the backsides of elephants, don't they!
We stayed in the same cottage a second night, then headed to the southwest tip of Australia, where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. More on that in the next post.
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