Day 07 - Eating Emu

Location: Sydney --> Cairns
Weather: 30 degrees C / 86 degrees FSubtitle: You’ve GOT to be kidding me!
Well, if we missed out on the beach time yesterday, we sure made up for it today! Let me start at the beginning. When the big bang exploded, it caused all the matter in the universe … oh wait … too far back … I’ll start TODAY!
We got up this morning, got all our things together and rushed out of our Sydney Hotel (Central Park Hotel). We took a cab to the airport ($10 cheaper than the trip from the airport, proving that our cabbie we had earlier went the wrong way and over-charged us).
We got on a short flight to Cairns (2.5 hours) in economy class next to a guy who smelled like smoke and took the whole armrest from Hilary.
When we got off the plane, we took a short cab ride to the pier and ate pizza! :) It was a thin crust Italian style (Very tasty with Brochette)

We hopped on our ferry to Green Island, discovered by Captain Cook. So far, there hasn’t been an island he’s discovered that I haven’t liked! Our ferry ride was short (45 mins) and windy from the upper level! We could barely keep our sunglasses on! The whole area reminds me so much of Hawaii! It’s gorgeous! On the ferry, we met a Netherlands couple who used to live in Andover, Massachusetts. I have to remember that part of the fun of traveling is finding out about those who are around you. It’s amazing how small this world becomes once you start traveling. They lived right around the corner from where we stayed in Amsterdam a few years back. I wonder if we passed them in the streets 4 years ago.
When we arrived on Green Island, we just stared with our mouths hung open. The Island itself is not that big, yet there is so much to do! (It’s only about 37 acres).
We checked into our room at the private resort. After we recovered from fainting, we took a few pictures and ran around the place, screaming “you’ve got to be kidding me!” (that’s where I got the title of today’s entry, in case you haven’t noticed). Our bags were already brought to our room for us, so we cracked them open, changed into our bathing suits and headed for the beach! After a short walk from our room to the reception area, we exchanged our key for some beach towels from a 6’9” man behind the reception desk who looks just like Mongo from Blazing Saddles! (I’ll try to get a picture before we leave).
Another short walk later, we picked up some snorkeling gear and attempted to snorkel. I’m very proud of Hilary! She didn’t give up! And before she knew it, she was snorkeling right next to me! We saw a few sting rays and plenty of Sea Grass. There were a few good patches of some brilliant coral (brain coral, forexample). Alas, my camera doesn’t perform well underwater, so … no pictures. We’re hoping to see more tomorrow. We ended up snorkeling for over an hour, though!
Afterwards, we went back to the room to drop off our gear in the room and we partook in some complementary champagne and chocolate covered strawberries! There was a huge tray on our room waiting for us when we arrived!
After gulping down some champagne, we went to the dock (the only dock on the island) to see the 5:00 fish feeding! It was great! All these huge tropical fish (2-3 feet long) were clamoring for food. (It was like watching me at a Sizzler buffet!) There was even a small shark, but the tropical fish were bigger and had better eye sight, so they ended up chasing the shark away.
We saw a giant turtle, too!
After the feeding, we explored a few of the paths and booked our day’s activities for tomorrow. We met on the sunset side of the island to have a drink and watch the sunset. I had a Castlemain XXXX (read “four ex”). It was very good! I think I like Australian beer. Victoria Bitter was a good brand, too.
We felt like we were in a Corona commercial. We laid out on the beach until the sun went down.


After watching the sunset, we went to get cleaned up for dinner. It was included in our package, so we didn’t know what we were in for. Luckily, it was very good! Good thing, too , because it’s the only place to eat on the whole Island! Emeralds is its name. My pen ran out of ink, so now I have to use a blue one.
I can now tell my friends and family that I have eaten kangaroo, crocodile, and emu! We washed all that down with a few mango daiquiris. Our waitress, a native from Brisbane was very nice, but it was her first week on the job, so she didn’t know anything about the food yet. She talked with us a little about the country, though.
After dinner, we ran to get our torches (or flash-lights as we call them) and went on a nature walk. Our guide showed us all the local trees and the nuts they produce. There was a cheese-tree fruit that actually smelled like cheese (and apparently it acts like a laxative). There were sweet almonds, too.
Afterwards, we went to the beach, where he showed us a ghost crab. It only comes out at night and in the morning, the beach is covered with their tracks.
We turned off our flash-lights and looked up at the stars and there were so many! We were hoping to see the southern cross, but it sets at 7:00 (along with the sun) so it’s tricky to see. I would have taken a picture of the star-lit sky, but my camera’s flash only goes 8 feet. :)
Another interesting fact we learned on our nature walk: We kept feeling a spritz of water as we walked through the island. We were wondering if it was some kind of sparkler system. In a way … it was. It turns out the cicadas are out this year (and deafeningly loud, too) and they like to pee on tourists from America, apparently. Yelch! In a way, it’s like a refreshing ocean mist. Ocean water evaporates, rains back to the Earth, plants and trees soak up the rain water, cicadas eat leaves from the trees, and the cicadas piss on the American tourists. Circle of life.
After our nature walk, we walked along the pier and looked at the stars and tried to find fish with our flashlights. We found another sting ray! At around midnight, we got tired out and went to bed.

Day 06 - The Blue Mountains

Location: Blue Mountains National Park
Weather: Cloudy with some blue sky
We woke up earlier this morning (at 7:15) so we could catch our tour bus to the Blue Mountains! The only problem was that we couldn’t find the hotel where the bus was supposed to pick us up! It was getting down to the wire, but finally, Hilary spotted the bus and we flagged him down. Phew!
We went to their central office, switched busses to our tour bus and began our journey. Our bus driver / tour guide was great, telling us stories about how Australia was colonized and about the recent and ancient history of this huge island continent. He told us the origin of Billy Tea.
It was made in discarded beef tins which were imported from France. Prospectors in the gold-rush era would put handles on the tins and boil water for their tea.
And now, I’m on the bus, writing in this journal. Hmm … I’m all caught up … read more later. Here … I’ll give you a pause button

We just had a little Billy Tea and Anzac biscuits (or cookies as we refer to them) and walked down a whole bunch of steps to go to an amazing overlook.

We could see the Wentworth Falls, took a few pictures, and marched all the way back up again. There was a lot of vegetation in the area and we were attacked by a fine variety of flies. :)


We took another 10 minute photo stop overlooking the mountains. There were no cookies this time, though. :( Everything is beautiful that we’ve seen, but we haven’t seen the blue in the mountains, yet. I took a bathroom stop and ran back so I wouldn’t miss the bus. It’s a good thing I’m writing this as the day goes on, because otherwise, everyone would miss out on this level of detail I’ve provided.

Our next stop was a scenic world! We’re still in the Blue Mountains, but we got a good look at the rock formation called the 3 sisters.
We waited in a long line with our boxed lunch, and went on the steepest train in the world (with a 52 degree incline). They played the Indiana Jones theme music as we descended. It felt almost like anelevator (or a roller-coaster). It used to be a coal transport system, but now, it transports people!

We walked along the nature trail at the bottom of the track and saw more of the historical uses of the area. Hilary had flashbacks of riding a horse called “Studly” through the Waipio Valley! On the trail, there was much wildlife and trees we’re not used to seeing, like Eucalyptus trees.


After our walk, we went up the cable car to the top area again.


They had some statues of “the three sisters” who apparently are naked and so was the aboriginal man who turned them to stone.

Before getting back on the bus, Hilary bought some white chocolate M & Ms! They’re sweeter than I was used to! Also, they call “Diet Pepsi” “Pepsi Light” and they call “Burger King” “Hungry Jacks.”

We took a tour of the Olympic Stadium. It looked like they were trying to offset the $200 million loss they incur every year by building real-estate and putting more tourist attractions in the space.
We got dropped off (last) at our hotel and then got ready for the beach! Manly Beach! It got its name from a governor who passed by and saw an abundance of Strong-looking aboriginal men. So he called it “ Manly Beach.”

When we got on the ferry, we saw clouds gathering overhead. :( It started to drizzle. We arrived and tried to make the best of things. We walked up “ Corso Street” and ate fries (or “chips as they call them here), sitting on the edge of the beach. There was a little girl drawing stars in the sand and the mother told her to stop drawing them because they might be offensive. She was drawing stars of David. She said, “But that’s how I draw a star!” Later, her father said, “Come on, rich bitch. Let’s go.” Perhaps the parents should have been more concerned about their own language. Or perhaps they don’t have the same negative connotation for the word “bitch” here. Hmmm …
Then, we were getting cold, so we went walking back up “ Corso Street.” There was a bevy of store signs with puns in their title all next to each other. We tried a meat pie. It tasted like shepherd’s pie, and then split a “Fuel” burger. It was a fast-food chain with healthy(er) options, like multigrain whole wheat buns with low fat mayo and beats for toppings!
Afterwards, we were looking for a coffee place, “Candy’s Coffee” but we couldn’t find it, so we ducked into an internet café and emailed our friends and family back home.
On the way back to the ferry terminal we had some gellatisimo-brand gelato and waited. So, what we lacked in good weather, we made up with great food!

Day 05 - Sydney Opera House and Fish Market

Location: Sydney
Weather: Partly cloudy and warm
We slept in late this morning until around 10:00 AM and then took public transport to the Sydney Opera House to take a quick tour. It’s beautiful outside! We met the guide in the lobby of this huge structure! Everyone says that the architecture is based on sails in “mid-billow” in the wind, but I have to say that I still don’t see it! Call me crazy! I never realized that the opera house is actually three separate structures. It was funded publicly and through an international lottery system.
While we were in the HUGE main concert hall (sorry, pictures weren’t allowed) a tourist came in and started snapping pictures! The tour guide threw a fit and charged the man down (which was quite humorous because the tour guide looked like a self proclaimed “galloping granny”), and forced him to delete each picture of the inside hall.
The acoustics were very wet and there was a 2.7 second echo to every sound. The seats in the concert hall were specially made to absorb sound similar to the way human bodies in the seats absorb sound for a consistent sound. The inner structures of each of the three buildings were entirely within the outer, visible structures.
By the time the tour was over, we didn’t have enough time to go to the beach. :( Looking back, we shouldn’t have slept in as late as we did. So, we headed back to the hotel, changed out of our bathing suits, showered up, and left to go to the fish market. It was a nice little district where they sell fish (duh :) ). Many of the stores were closed because of New Years, but the seagulls didn’t know that! (“Mine? Mine?”).
We ate a sample platter of fried fish and it was amazing. Very fresh! I wish we didn’t eat thatmuch, though, because there was other things to try like sashimi and sushi.
After our fried fish binge, we got some ice cream and sat near the wharf.






We saw a few pelicans feeding on some of the fishy leftovers.
We walked around some more of the other stores and went into a place where they were selling fresh fish. We saw some fresh lobster in a tank in the back, so we thought we would take a look at their struggle for survival. We walked back just in time. Someone had chosen a lobster! The man at the tank reached in his net, grabbed one, pulled him out of the water .. but as he did, the lobster fought for its life and splashed lobster tank water all over us! It got on my face and shirt and in Hilary’s hair and ice cream cone! We decided it was best to get rid of the ice cream cone at that point.
We had dinner reservations at Doyle’s on the beach at Watson’s Bay, so we wiped the lobster tank water off our face, took a bus and ferry ride and made our way to Watson’s Bay. It was Gorgeous! (Pronounce like the crocodile hunter).
There was a large open park (where they didn’t allow dogs. Can you tell who planned this trip? :) )
The park overlooked downtown Sydney and had breathtaking views from a cliff that we walked up.


We took many pictures here, since it was so beautiful.
After our walk, we strolled back down through the park and got seated early for dinner. We were hoping for an outdoor table, but we got one with a window that was very nice. At the beach below, some local children were running naked through the water and the beach.
The meal was incredible! We had a Paella but it was fish in a type of tomato & herb sauce. It had octopus, crab, muscles, and loads of calamari with rice on the side.
We watched the sun set on Sydney from our table. Overall, it was a wonderful, relaxing evening. Then, the ride home happened. Because it’s New Year’s Day, many ferries are not running after certain times. For example … ours. So we had to take a bus back to downtown Sydney. No problem! It turns out we were picked up by the knight bus from Harry Potter. We were driving fast and going around corners and starting and stopping suddenly. The plane ride over here had less turbulence. We were so exhausted (and a little nauseous) so we went right to bed. We had an early start planned for our next day’s journey to the Blue Mountains!