Australia - Sydney to Melbourne - April 2025

On the next part of our Australia trip we drove from Sydney south towards Melbourne.  Along the coast for a while then cutting inland to the Snowy Mountains before returning to the coast near the Mornington Peninsula before arriving in Melbourne.

I got a reasonably early start on the road from my cousin Jane's house and drove to pick up Diana at her cousin Branco's house in the Warwick Farm suburb of Sydney.  It was morning rush hour but thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad.  I was still trying to get used to the rental car and to driving on the left side of the road so I was taking it very carefully.

Ocean Road near Coledale

After picking up Diana, we headed towards the coast near Stanwell Park.  It was a lovely sunny day, unlike the previous rainy day, and the views along the coast road were quite beautiful.   There was a new section of road with a nice modern bridge near Coledale. 

Coledale Beach

In Coledale we stopped for coffee and cake in a nice artsy coffee shop.  The beach in Coledale was lovely too with beautiful golden sand.

Wollongong Lighthouse

Driving further south we entered Wollongong and stopped to look at the lighthouse there.  In the next town, Port Kembla, here was a lot of industry - a steel works and huge silos for the export of grain.  

The Blowhole at Kiara

At Kiama there was a blowhole on the rocks near the beach.  We stopped to see if the tide was right for some blowhole action.  There were intermittent moderate spouts of water but I wouldn't call it epic in any way.

Mollymook Beach

In the late afternoon, we stopped in the small coastal community of Mollymook.  There was a lovely sandy beach and a couple of kids were surfing.  We bought coffee in the small beachside cafe to sustain us until the evening.  It is remarkable that every small shop or cafe here can produce a pretty good latte  or flat white at any time of the day.

We arrived in Bateman's Bay as the sun was setting and drove through town looking for a hotel.  We found a nice one, the Esplanade Hotel, overlooking the Clyde River as it flows out into Bateman's Bay.   In the evening we dined in a restaurant at the marina just south of the hotel.  We had a nice fish and chips dinner and then i noticed the desert menu featured Christmas Pudding.  That was a little strange in mid-April but as it is one of my favorites I had to try it.  Indeed it was good.

View of Clyde River at Bateman’s Bay

The next morning, Wednesday, we had breakfast at a restaurant by the Clyde River estuary - a rather large bacon and egg sandwich.  Fully fueled, we continued our drive south along the coastal road, the Princes Highway.  

Tilba

We took a diversion of the main road to look at the town of Tilba.  This small community was turning itself into a bit of a tourist town.  There was a lovely old Post Office, an old hotel, and plenty of shops selling bric a brac, t shirts and antiques.  We were shocked when it turned out that one small 1 bath house in Tilba had a listing price of $1.2 million Australian (around US $ 900,000).  Property is not cheap in this part of Australia.

The next town on the road was called Tilba Tilba.  It should be twice as nice as Tilba, but in actual fact there is not much there, just a couple of houses.

Bermagui Beach

The Princes Highway ran a little ways inland so we took a diversion towards the coast and drove through the coastal town of Bermagui.  A fairly plain little town but it had beautiful sandy beaches.   The forests around Bermagui were quite luxuriant - large ferns, yellow mimosa and of course lots of eucalyptus.

Following the minor coastal road was quite slow so we eventually turned back to the Princes Highway, and continued our way south to the town of Bega.  We had been advised by Andy and Jane in Sydney that the prettier road south was through the Snowy Mountains so at Bega we turned west off the Princes Highway onto the Snowy Mountain Highway.

Numbugga on the Snowy Mountain Highway

The countryside was beautiful - lots of cattle and sheep farming.  In the small town of Nimmitabel we stopped for coffee and cake in a cafe.  The coffee was great as was the rock cake.  There was an interesting elephant sculpture in the yard next to the coffee shop - what that was doing there I do not know.

The Elephant in Nimmitabel

We drove on through lovely countryside to the town of Cooma where we filled up with diesel.  Cooma is  larger town, the largest in the area.  I like the style of the old Australian streets, the buildings all have verandahs and there is a lot of decorative ironwork.

The old Kiandra Courthouse and Gaol

We drove further along the Snowy Mountain Highway through Adimanaby.  We stopped to look around the deserted gold mining town of Kiandra.  There is not much there now, just an old courthouse and police station with a gaol.  Since the gold ran out and all mining stopped it was repurposed for a while as a ski chalet.

Kosciusko National Park

The road continued on through the Kosciusko National Park.  The area is sparsely populated but the scenery is very beautiful.

Kangaroo by the Snowy Mountain Highway 

It was getting late in the afternoon and as the sun was getting low it was the time for Australia's wildlife to come out.  Up to this point we had not seen a live kangaroo or wallaby in the wild, just lots and lots of dead animals by the roadside.  But here in the late afternoon the kangaroos and wallabies were getting active and finally we got to see these strange marsupials in the wild.  Lots of them just minding their own business grazing on the grass.

It appears that the wildlife here in Australia is not that smart when it comes to avoiding cars and trucks.  A significant proportion of all cars and all trucks are fitted with heavy duty bumpers, so called Roo Bars.  The wildlife is more active from dusk to dawn and they seem to be drawn to the road where they become mesmerized by the headlights.  The collisions never end well for the wild life and the vehicles don’t do well either unless they have their Roo Bars.

As the sun was setting we drove into the town of Tumut and we searched around for a hotel.  There weren't a lot of hotels to choose from but we did find one close to the center of town and in reasonable shape.  Food choices in Tumut were not great either.  We ended up at a Pizza Parlor that was staffed by young kids under 18.  Since at that age they were not allowed to serve beers, we had to go to the fridge ourselves and take out our own beer.

We had planned to go to Burning Man later in the year, and the lottery for tickets opened on this day,  I got up before 5:00 am to get on line and get in the queue for tickets.  I got on the website at 5:00 the exact time the lottery opened in the US and I waited and waited and waited.  After 25 minutes of watching my web browser spin, I got through and secured the tickets - very nice.

Outside Tumut

We were on the road again by 8:30 in the morning.  We joined the motorway that runs between Sydney and Melbourne for a while.  As we sped along this major road, the landscape looked very similar to the California landscape - sheep, cattle, golden-brown grass with the occasional green Eucalyptus tree or Golden Poplar tree.

The Submarine in Holbrook

We turned off the highway in Holbrook where there is a full size submarine mounted in a park in the middle of town. The town used to be called Germantown but when World War 1 broke out it was thought that Germantown was not an acceptable name for a town so they changed it.  They chose to honor the name of Norman Douglas Holbrook, a submariner who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in the Dardanelles campaign in 1914.  The name was retained after the war and when a submarine became available in 1995 there was a fundraiser to buy the submarine.  That is how a huge submarine now sits in the middle of a park in this town way off the beaten track in New South Wales.

Holbrooke had a few other things going for it too - a Woolpack Museum and a Pottery Museum.  Unfortunately, neither of which we visited.

The Corny Biscuit

We left the highway in Albury, a larger town where we had coffee and a corny biscuit (so called because there are corn flakes on the top of the biscuit).

Controlled Burns in the Kiewa Valley

We drove on towards Wodonga and the Kiewa Valley.  The country side was beautiful - eucalyptus everywhere, sheep, cattle, what looked like very good agricultural land.  They were carrying out controlled burns so there was a bit of smoke in the air.

Mt Bogong, Victoria 

Somewhere along the way we left New South Wales and we were now in Victoria.  We passed by Mt Bogong, the tallest mountain in Victoria at 6,500 ft.  We also went through the town of Beauty, and the adjacent Mt Beauty.  As the name suggests it is quite nice.

We then drove up a very twisty road up the hill to Falls Creek.  At Falls Creek there was a ski resort.  There was no snow at this time but it was above 5,000 ft so there was a chill in the air.  The trees were quite stunted and sparse at this high altitude.

Rocky Valley Reservoir

At the top of the pass above Falls Creek was the Rocky Valley reservoir, a large man-made lake for water storage.  It was a bit bleak up there so high.

Between Omio and Bairnsdale

From Falls Creek and Rocky Valley we dropped down to the east and the lower lands below.  The road downhill was quite scenic and we passed through the small towns of Anglers Rest, Omio, Doctors Flat, Bairnsdale, Bruthen and eventually Sale where we were staying for the night.  It was evening and we encountered wallabies in the road.  You have to be careful driving at night.

Our hotel was a little unusual, it was more like a gated community of town homes.  It was late and there was no one in reception but there was a machine that was supposed to dispense keys for your reservation.  Of course that didn’t work for us.  A phone call finally got someone’s attention and they manually opened the machine to give us our key.

The next morning we had a quick breakfast in the hotel and started our drive towards Melbourne.  Our goal was to be in Melbourne that evening.

We had been told of a winery in the Mornington Peninsula where there was a rather fine sculpture garden, the Point Leo Estate, so we decided to stop off there.  It was about a 3 hour drive to get to the winery.  Surprisingly for a very popular wine growing area we did not see many vineyards.  The vineyards must be well hidden behind the eucalyptus trees.

Queensland Bottle Tree

At the entrance to the winery there was a beautiful tree - a Queensland Bottle Tree - such an unusual tree.

Pumpkin by Kusama

Hare by Flanagan

The sculpture garden was pretty amazing too.  Some 16 or so acres of land with over 70 sculptures and nice views of the ocean.  My favorite pieces were the Kusama Pumpkin and the Flanagan Hare.  That’s probably because I had seen a Kusama Pumpkin in Japan and a Flanagan Hare in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.  

Sculpture by KAWS

We spent a pleasant couple of hours walking around and then went into the restaurant for a rather nice lunch.  We tried the Chardonnay and the Pinot, the two wines they are most known for - both were excellent.

Cape Schank Lighthouse

From the winery we drove on to Cape Schank to see the lighthouse.  The lighthouse sits on the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula with great views out into the Bass Strait.  In the grounds of the lighthouse there were a couple of kangaroos grazing on the grass - unusual because they are usually not active in the middle of the afternoon.  They were completely uninterested in us and just kept on nibbling the grass.  After seeing so many dead kangaroos by the side of the road it was nice to see some alive ones.

Portsea

We drove on to the north side of the peninsula  and the towns of Sorrento and Portsea; these face the bay and the city of Melbourne.  They were nice towns, probably second home towns for the people of Melbourne, but not that remarkable.

As the sun was setting we drove into Melbourne.  We were doing well with the driving until we came across the Melbourne Hook Turn.  This is a confusing (to newcomers) way of turning right (remember they drive on the left there) by moving to the left side of the road and waiting for a green light that lets you move across traffic and make your right turn.

The Treasury on Collins Street

We checked into our hotel, the Treasury on Collins, a very fine old financial building. The room was great with a nice balcony and a view of the city.  Unlimited free snacks and drinks so we didn’t need to go out for dinner that night.

Fresh Fish at the Victoria Market

The next morning after breakfast at the hotel we set off to turn our car in and explore the city.  The Europcar rental office was nearby the Victoria Market so after dropping the car off we went to the market.  It was a most wonderful market - all manner of great product - fish, meat, fruits, vegetables and all sorts of clothing, hats and trinkets.  I have never seen a market in the US or the UK with such a wonderful selection of produce.

The giant thumb at the National Gallery of Victoria

From the market we walked down Flinders Street, through a heavily Chinese and Asian neighborhood to the Flinders Railway Station.  The area around the station is quite the center of activity in Melbourne - the station, churches, museums, the river.  We walked over the Yarra River to the National Gallery of Victoria.  

Dancing Pumpkin by Kusama

In the main lobby of the museum was another Kusama Pumpkin, this one a dancing pumpkin.  The gallery has a great collection of works - aboriginal art, Australian art, and even European art.

Camp Sovereignty, Kings Domain, Melbourne

After the museum we walked over the street to the Queen Victoria Park and the Kings Domain where there was a small group of Aboriginal people with a huge sign identifying the area as Camp Sovereignty.  It is an ongoing demonstration asserting Aboriginal sovereignty and self determination and it has been going on in the same area since 2006.  Other than the big sign it was quite low key.

Headless King George

In the same park area there was a statue of King George V.  Unfortunately, someone had chopped off George’s head - it was a headless statue.  The whereabouts of the head are unknown however it did show up on the side of the stage at a recent concert by a Northern Irish Hip Hop Group.  The Northern Irish have similar complaints to the Aborigines in this case.

Shrine of Remembrance, War Memorial, Melbourne

Further along in the park was a large and very impressive memorial built to honor the dead of World War I.  Australia have a lot of memorials to the dead in World War I. 

Wiper Statue, Melbourne

There is also a statue of 2 soldiers from that war - the Driver and the Wiper.  The Driver is a statue of a horse handler in WWI, the Wiper is a soldier from the front lines.  Wiper being a derivative of the Belgian city of Ypres where one of the more significant battles took place.

We next walked through the splendid Royal Botanic Gardens - majestic trees and beautiful plants and bushes.  This led us to the Yarra River and to the center of town from where we took a tram back to our hotel.  One of the nice things about Melbourne is that the trams around the Central Business District are all free to everyone.

Yarra River, Melbourne

We sampled some more Australian wine at the “free wine hour” at our hotel.  Their wines in this part of the world are particularly good.  Later in the evening we went out for a nice meal at Bistrot d’ Orsay, a nice French restaurant just down the street from our hotel.

Block Arcade, Melbourne

The next morning, Easter Sunday, we walked down the Collins Street from the hotel and explored some of the old arcades that have been preserved.  A particularly nice one was the Block Arcade.  It had beautiful old shops.  One was a cake shop that had the most wonderful display of cakes in the window.  

Tea Rooms, Block Arcade, Melbourne

Trumpeters Clock, Block Arcade, Melbourne

That same arcade had a clock with two trumpet players on either side.  When it was time to strike the hour, the pipers lifted their horns and moved into position while horn music was played.  Quite wonderful!

Graffiti, Melbourne

We  then stumbled on an area with lots of graffiti.  We spent an enjoyable 30 minutes or so photographing the interesting and clever graffiti.

Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria

Next we visited another facility of the National Gallery of Victoria, a gallery primarily devoted to Aboriginal Art.  Another wonderful exhibition. 

Outside the Gallery is the Federation Square, a nice pedestrian area full of people and restaurants and coffee shops, all surrounded by very modern buildings.  A nice place to spend some time relaxing in the city.

Vintage Tram, Melbourne

We next took a tram on the circular route around the center of the city.  This route is serviced by older more historic trams and of course it is free.

Royal Exhibition Hall, Melbourne

We got off the tram outside the Royal Exhibition Hall.  A wonderfully ornate Victorian era building with a domed roof built in 1880.  

Mural, High Street, Northcote

Next stop was High Street in Northcote.  We had read that this street had been designated as the coolest street in the whole world.  That is an impressive title so we had to take a look.  We took and Uber out there and walked the street for a while.  To be honest, we didn’t find it to be that cool.  It was a bit bohemian maybe but it was also quite shabby.  Maybe we didn’t find the right part of the street but we were not impressed and took an Uber back to the city.

State Library of Victoria

We stopped in the State Library of Victoria.  A nice old building with a wonderful central reading room.  We walked up to the 6th floor from which there is a great view down to the reading room below.  On the ground floor there is a glass cabinet containing the armor of Ned Kelly, Australia’s most infamous outlaw.  The armor must have been quite heavy and while it did protect him from a fatal shot, it likely restricted his ability to escape from the police.  They tried him and found him guilty and he was hanged in Old Melbourne Gaol.

Ned Kelly’s Armor, State Library of Victoria

We took the tram back to our hotel and indulged in the wine hour.  Then we went out for a great meal at La Reine et La Rue, a restaurant in an old bank building near the hotel.  What a great environment for a restaurant and a great meal.  A little expensive but well worth it.

Bank Building/Museum

The next morning, our last in Melbourne, we went out for another walk down Collins Street.  We visited the bank in the same building as the previous night’s restaurant.  While it is still a working bank it is also a museum showing off what splendid building the bank was in its heyday.  

Manchester Insurance Building

We also looked inside the old Manchester Insurance Building.  It is a little shabby now, but there were glimpses of its splendid art deco past.

By mid morning we were back in the hotel to check out and take an Uber to the airport for our Jetstar flight to Hobart, Tasmania.  Melbourne is indeed a very fine city.

Australia - Part 1 - Sydney to Cairns - April 2025

After spending a few days in Hong Kong, we continued our Australian journey by flying through the night from Hong Kong to Sydney.  We arrived in Sydney at 08:00 am.  It was a relatively easy entry into the country.  The Customs Officers didn't even want to see the Travel Authorization we had applied for and paid for online.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

We negotiated through the airport and got on the subway into the city center.  We were staying at a hotel near Circular Quay and it was quite a short ride, some 15 minutes, from the airport to the Quay.  Exiting the station at Circular Quay you look one way and you see the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you look the other way and you see the Opera House, and in front of you all the ferries are to and fro-ing between the various parts of the city.  It is quite a spectacular location.

Sydney Opera House

Our hotel, the Sir Stamford, was just up the hill from the Quay.  It is a nice older hotel, named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the British East India Company official who founded Singapore.  I don't think that it has any relationship to the Raffles Hotel in Singapore though.

At that early hour, we couldn't check in so we left our bags and went off to explore the city.  We walked through the Botanical Gardens which were opposite the hotel and went down to the Opera House.  There are many amazing buildings in this world but I struggle to name one that is more iconic than the Sydney Opera House.  It is truly amazing from whichever side you view it from.  The architect, Jorn Utzon, did a remarkable job.  It stretched the abilities of the civil engineering world back in the early 1970's when they building Utzon's design.  

The Sydney Harbor area is really quite wonderful.  You look one way there is the Harbor Bridge, the other way the Opera House, the office towers of the CBD (Central Business District) and all the time there is a constant stream of ferries running back and forth from Circular Quay across the bay to the various Sydney waterside neighborhoods.

The Cruise Terminal

It was a beautiful sunny day, warm, almost a hot day.  We walked over to the west side of the Quay to an area called The Rocks.  This area is full of tourist shops and restaurants nad is adjacent to the Cruise Terminal.  Unfortunately they allow seriously large cruise ships to dock, right in the heart of the city.  There was a cruise ship in that day, Carnival Line, I think.  They really dominate the area dwarfing everything else in sight.  Why would a city allow such a thing?  Probably because they bring in a lot of money, that's why.

Aboriginal Art on Bark

We had a more modest breakfast/brunch of coffee and pancakes before visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art.  A nice Art Gallery on the waterfront, where we got our first introduction to Aboriginal Art.  We both really like it.  

Feeling a little jet lagged by the afternoon, we went back to the hotel for a little nap.

In the evening, Diana's school friends, Zlatica and Nesima, from Zenica came over to the hotel and met us in the bar/restaurant of the hotel.  Yugoslav exiles left their home country for all corners of the world and it seems like many of them stay in touch with each other.  Having escaped such a terrible time in their own country I think there is a bond that is a lot deeper than just school or university friends.

The Bridge at night

After Zlatica and Nesima went back home we took an evening stroll down to the harbor and wandered around some more.  The Bridge, Opera House and City Center are all lit up and make for a wonderful sight.  We had pizza and beer for dinner at one of the restaurants next to the water.

The Bridge and Opera House from the Botanical Gardens

Next morning, I got up early and went for a run, or at least I call it a run but it was more like a sightseeing run/walk with a lot of photo breaks.  I ran through part of the Botanical Gardens down to the Opera House.  I ran around the Opera House and then back through the gardens to the hotel.  What a delightful place in the early morning.

The first thing on the agenda for the day was the purchase of an Opal Card.  This card is used to pay for all bus, subway, train and ferry travel in the city (like London's Oyster Card).  With the card we got on the ferry over to Manly, one of the suburbs on the North East side of the city.  The journey across the bay is wonderful with great views back towards the CBD, the Opera House and the Bridge.  

Manly Beach closed

In Manly we walked through the town and over to the beach.  It is a beautiful beach but it is also a little tricky for swimming.  The beach was closed because the currents were too dangerous.  

We walked along the beach and over to the next bay, Freshwater Bay.  This is a beautiful bay and there were a few people swimming and surfing in the ocean.  

Duke Kahanamoku, Freshwater Bay

We walked across the bay and up to the next point where there is a statue to Duke Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian Surfer,  He is recognized as the guy who brought stand up surfing to Australia (he did a surfing exhibition there in 1914).  Subsequently surfing has really caught on.  We took the bus back to the town of Freshwater (using our Opal Cards).  While we were waiting for the bus the lifeguards at the beach were announcing that the currents were too dangerous for swimming and that everyone should get out of the water.

In Freshwater town, we stopped for a coffee and cake at a bakery.  Wonderful meat pies, sausage rolls and lots of sweet pastries and everyone can make a good latte or flat white.

We caught another bus back to Manly for the ferry back to Circular Quay and our hotel. 

Diana's cousin and family

After cleaning up and having a rest we took the train out to a suburb called Warwick Farms to visit Diana's cousin, Branco.  Warwick Farms is a nice suburb, lots of new multi-story flats.  I met Branco and his daughter Ariana and her two sons.  After Diana and Branco had a chance to catch up we all went out to a local Italian restaurant in the Liverpool neighborhood for dinner.  I had baramundi, a popular Australian fish that I hadn't tasted before.  A nice meaty white fish.  After dinner we caught the train back to Circular Quay and our hotel.

Government House, Royal Botanical Gardens

The next morning, Sunday, I went out for another run.  Again through the botanical gardens and this time out past the Government House to Mrs McQuarie's Chair.  This is a rock that overlooks the harbor below.  Mrs McQuarie was the wife of an early governor of New South Wales and apparently she used to go out to the rock and sit there watching the ships from England arrive in the port.  

We had the nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and then walked down into the harbour and the Rocks area.  There was another massive cruise ship docked in the harbour, a different one to the previous day.  We walked up from the Rocks to the old  observatory, on the appropriately named Observatory Hill.  There is a nice view of the water and the bridge from there.

The old General Post Office, now a Hotel

We walked into the city admiring the old buildings like the Post Office, the Strand Arcade, the Victoria Building, the Sydney Town Hall.   These old 19th Century buildings built out of the local sandstone rock look very impressive.  We went inside St Andrew's Cathedral and, it being Sundasy, there was a service going on.  We sat and rested and listened to the sermon while admiring the grand interior.  Sorry to say we were not converted.

The ANZAC Memorial and Reflecting Pool

Next we walked over to Hyde Park and the ANZAC Memorial and reflecting pool.  A very nice park that merges into another park called the Domain which then continues into the Royal Botanical Gardens making for a lot of green space in the middle of the city.  We walked past another Cathedral, St Mary's, where there was also a service going on (I think perhaps it was Easter Sunday).  The sound of the organ playing as the congregation left the church was wonderful to hear.

Aboriginal Totems

We next visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales.  An excellent gallery and free, like all Art Galleries should be.  The aboriginal art was great but there was also a nice sample of more traditional European art (even a Canaletto).  On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at the State Library of New South Wales, another wonderful old building with a vast reading room and a small art exhibit on the upper level.

We then retreated to our hotel for a nap before going out in the evening - the jet lag was beginning to catch up with us.

In the evening my cousin and her husband (Jane and Andy) came over to the hotel and we went out for dinner.   We walked down to the Circular Quay and caught a ferry to Darling Harbour.  It was an impressive ferry ride, past the Opera House and under the Harbour Bridge, stopping off at a couple of other spots before dropping us off in the very busy entertainment district around Darling Harbour.  So many restaurants and bars, so many people out drinking and eating.  

We had a nice meal in an Italian restaurant and then walked back to a train station and caught the train back to Circular Quay and the hotel.

The next morning, Easter Monday, I had another run, this time over the Harbour Bridge to the other side and back.  There were great views from the height of the bridge of the city below.

Sydney from the Bridge

After breakfast, we explored more of the city.  We caught a bus out to an area called Paddington and walked around the very nice gentrified neighbourhood.  Most shops were closed because it was Easter Monday (they observe religious holidays more in Australia than we do in the USA).   We could both live in Paddington, I think.  However it is not a cheap neighbourhood, the small homes were all over $ 1 million Australian.

Bondi Beach

We next caught another bus to Bondi Beach.  I had always heard of Bondi Beach as the quintessential Australian Beach so I really wanted to swim there.   I bought a towel from one of the shops along the beachfront and changed to go swimming.  There were some serious waves but it was most enjoyable.  Diana did not join me.

After showering at the beach and changing we boarded the bus back to Circular Quay.  We again explored the area on the west side of the Quay, the Rocks and then went back to the hotel for a rest.

Nijinsky Cast, Sydney Opera House

In the evening we had tickets to the Opera House to see a ballet, Nijinsky.  I am not a huge ballet fan but I must admit it was very good.  The ballet tells the story of the brilliant but somewhat troubled life of Vaslav Nijinsky.  It was a treat to see such a lovely performance in such an iconic venue.

The next day we had arranged to meet my cousin and her husband and they would take us to the Blue Mountains.  Instead of them driving into the city we took the train out to the suburbs, to Beecroft, where they picked us up and we drove into the mountains.

The Blue Mountains, near Wentworth Falls

The weather was not great as we drove out of Sydney.  There was intermittent rain and it was cloudy.  We stopped first near Wentworth Falls and walked the Wentworth Falls Trail.  It was a lovely loop trail down into the canyon and along the cliff side.  We had our first experience of the colorful bird life in Australia, a Crimson Rosella, a beautiful bright red bird.  

Crimson Rosella

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

We went back to the car and drove on to the town of Katoomba.  The raid got a little more serious for a while so we stopped for coffee in Katoomba.  We had another encounter with bird life - a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.  They are apparently quite common and they are quite a pest - they are noisy, they steal your food and they damage things.

Three Sisters, Katoomba

The rain abated and we drove to the parking lot for the Three Sisters rock formation.  These are three pinnacles of rock overlooking the Jamison Valley.  Quite a beautiful rock formation and a great view across the valley into the distance.  We could see the rain clouds moving across the sky in the valley below, but we were fortunate to have a brief respite while we were at the viewing platform above the Three Sisters.

With the weather not welcoming us, we drove back into Sydney.  Andy dropped us off in Hornsby where we took a train into Sydney.  The train system in Sydney is very good - there are many stations, there are frequent trains, they run on time, and they are quite affordable.  In fact the entire public transport system in Sydney is great.  Hardly a need for a car.

In the evening we had dumplings at a nice Chinese bistro near Circular Quay.  The rain was still on and off and it was sometimes quite heavy.  We returned to the hotel and prepared for our departure the next morning.

After breakfast in the hotel we checked out and took the train out to the airport for our flight up to Cairns.  We were surprised to find that no one asked to see a passport or ID to board the plane - all you needed was your boarding card.

We had assumed that like in the USA, a carry on bag is a carry on bag, but that's not the case in Australia, at least not with their low cost carrier Jet Star.  As we waited at the gate, a Jet Star lady came by with a weigh scale and asked to weigh our bags.  Apparently we were only allowed 7 kilos per bag.  Ours were 13 kilos so we had to check them (even though they would have fit in the overhead).  What is worse is the cost for a gate check is double the normal price - we paid Australia $80 for each bag.  That did not leave a good taste in my mouth.

The Esplanade, Cairns

The flight up to Cairns was about 3 hrs.  We arrived early afternoon and took an Uber to our hotel, the very nice Crystalbrook Bailey.  After checking in we walked down to the harbor to confirm where we should go for our boat to the Barrier Reef the next morning.  Barrier Reef trips are a huge business in Cairns and there are many, many boats.  We identified ours and confirmed we had a valid ticket.  The beaches are not very remarkable in Cairns, they are really mud flats, and, because of the deadly box jellyfish, no one swims there.  There is a man made salt water lagoon in the park by the harbor where people swim or at least cool off but it is not very inviting.

Swimming Pool - Cairns

Diana's back was becoming an issue for her so she went to rest while I walked around town.  It is not a very large town.  I walked to the railway station (4 trains per week to Brisbane, daily tourist trains to Kuranda) and then back to the hotel.

We had a nice evening meal by the harbour and followed it up with gelato for the walk back to the hotel.  

The next morning after breakfast in the hotel (a great buffet), we walked over to the harbor for our boat, the Silver Swift.  We boarded at 8:30 and were off to the Great Barrier Reef.  Our destination was the outer reef because on the inner reef there are still box jellyfish and those are quite deadly (within 4 minutes apparently).  The boat ride was about 90 minutes.  The sky was grey and it was windy so the boat was moving around a bit.  I was doing fairly well for a while then I started to feel a little sick.  As we were arriving at the reef I was called to the back deck to be fitted with my scuba gear.  I started to feel worse and just as we arrived on location I threw up in a spectacular fashion.  There was no time to get me a sick bag, and there was a lot of content in my stomach.  Fortunately on the back deck there were plenty of hoses and the crew were very adept at hosing down the deck, their dive equipment that was near me and myself.

Ready for the dive - post vomiting

All a little embarrassing but fortunately after I had purged my stomach I felt just fine.  I was kitted out with snorkel, fins, air tank, BCD and a stinger suit (a thin body suit that would hopefully fend off any nast jellyfish or whatever).  I hadn't scuba dived in 30 odd years so I was a little rusty.  It sort of came back to me but I was a little unsure at first - I couldn't quite get my buoyancy right and instead of adjusting the BCD, the guide kept adding and taking away weights.

The undersea world at the Barrier Reef

What wonderful undersea world it was.  Many colors of coral, even more colors of fish, an incredible experience.  I think we went down to about 30 ft and we were out for 45 mins.

Diana did not scuba dive, she snorkeled and after I had finished my dive I joined her snorkeling.  In actual fact the colors of the coral and fish are much brighter at the surface so snorkeling is in some ways more impressive.

We went back onboard the boat for lunch.  Fortunately the weather was now calmer and the sun was shining so there was no risk of me losing my lunch.   In the afternoon I dove again and then joined Diana in snorkeling.  Truly a spectacular experience.

The ride back to Cairns was uneventful.  We cleaned up at the hotel and then went out for dinner on the harbor.  Again we made a stop at the gelato shop on our way back to the hotel.

The next morning, Friday, we had booked a trip on the tourist train that goes up the hillside to the rainforest town of Kuranda.  We walked over to the train station and boarded our train.  The carriages were beautiful - quite old with plenty of wood paneling.  The railway line was built in various stages from the late 1800's up until completion in 1915.  It is now run as a purely tourist attraction.

The Kuranda Railway

As we pulled out of Cairns we passed a parade for ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corp Day).  Lots of people paying respect to the armed forces and the war dead.

Barron Gorge Falls

The train ride up the hill was quite scenic.  There were waterfalls, rainforests and 180 degree curves where you could see the engine ahead.  At the second waterfall, at Barron Gorge, the train actually stopped to give us all a chance for a photo op.   It was quite a spectacular flow of water down from the Atherton Tablelands down to the Cairns Coastal Plain below.

The Kuranda Railway in Kuranda Station

After 15 or 20 minutes we all boarded the train again for the short ride into Kuranda.  The station in Kuranda has been well preserved.  The signal box is still manually operated with direct physical links to the tracks below.  It was good to see the signalman operating these levers to switch tracks and change signals - it reminded me of my youth in Staveley.

The Signal Box at Kuranda

We walked into the town of Kuranda which is now comprised mainly of tourist shops selling aboriginal art, hats, t-shirts and other paraphernalia.  We bought a very small piece of art on a piece of leather.  The artist's name was Bungan.

There was not much else to do so we visited a small "zoo".  Sleepy koalas, sleepy wombats, sleepy fresh water crocodiles (freshies) and more active kangaroos and wallabies.  

The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

For the return to Cairns we had a booking on the cable car, the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.  It takes you all the way down to the coast through the rainforest with a couple of stops along the way.  The first was another chance to see the Barron Gorge Falls, this time from the other side of the river.  The next stop was a chance to do a little loop walk through the rainforest.  We marveled at the size of the Queensland Kauri tree - immense trunk and branches and a beautiful smooth bark.  

Kauri Tree

We also saw a python sliding through the undergrowth below the viewing platform.

Python, or a part of a python

The cable car provided excellent forest views as it skimmed the treetops on its way down to the coast.  What an incredible mix of trees and ferns in an impenetrable landscape.

Back in Cairns we debated whether we should do another Barrier Reef trip.  We had originally thought that we might go further north to Cape Tribulation or somewhere but the Barrier Reef was so wonderful we wanted to do it again.  We went out to the harbour to find another boat that could take us.  Most were fully booked but we did find one that would take us out to a floating pontoon from where we could snorkel.  It was more expensive but it turned out to be a better trip.

The next morning we had an early breakfast in the hotel and then walked over to the harbour and our boat.  We also rented a GoPro camera because we wanted to try and capture some of wonders of the reef.

The Reef Magic Pontoon

The boat was larger than the previous day's boat and it was a much more professional operation.  It transported to a floating pontoon permanently moored on the reef.  We transferred to the pontoon and were given our stinger suits, masks and flippers.  We then had a lovely morning swimming around a marked off area around the pontoon.  The GoPro was not so easy to operate, particularly with the small screen and my lack of reading glasses under my mask.  Still we got a lot of nice memories recorded.

We were back on the pontoon for lunch and then we paid a visit to a submerged viewing area at the back of the pontoon to watch the swarm of larger fish being fed.  Pretty amazing.

In the afternoon we had signed up for a so-called Snorkel Safari.  They took about 8 of us out on a launch to a separate part of the reef and then we all got in the water and a guide took us around the reef area.  There were impressive reef walls that sharply dropped off to the very deep water outside the reef.  Somehow the guide managed to talk to us and we managed to hear her while we snorkeled around in the water.  We loved the snorkeling so much we were the last ones back on the boat and we didn't want to leave.

After showering on the pontoon, we all got back on the boat for the ride to Cairns.  It was nice to see that there was a very thorough counting of the passengers so that we didn't leave anyone behind (that has happened).  On the way back to shore, there was a short presentation where a couple of aboriginal crew members talked about their culture and history and demonstrated their didgeridoo music.  Quite informative and the music was great.

Back in town for the evening, our last one in Cairns, we had a nice dinner and the mandatory gelato desert before collapsing exhausted into bed.

We had an early flight the next day, so we were picked up by our Uber driver at 5:30.  I had pre-paid for the checked in luggage this time so we weren't caught by the carry on police at the check in.  A simple boarding process, again without any ID being shown, and we were on our way to Sydney.

Central Station, Sydney

Back in Sydney we caught the train into the Central Station and left our bags in luggage storage.  Then we went on to Circular Quay and caught a ferry over to the zoo, Taranga Zoo.  The zoo is on a hillside adjacent to the water.  You start at the top and then walk down through the various animal exhibits to the exit near the ferry terminal.

Taronga Zoo, Sydney

We were able to see quite a wide range of Australia's animals.  Kangaroos, wallabies, wombats of course, but also the very cute koalas, the spiny echidnas, the weird looking platypus, the beautiful dingos (they look like they would make wonderful pets), and a blob of black fur that was allegedly a Tasmanian Devil.

Koala Bear in Taronga Zoo

A Dingo, Taronga Zoo

There were also beautiful birds in the aviary, though the Cassowary was somehow hiding.  We skipped the African animals, we didn't need to see those.

We took the ferry back to Circular Quay and walked up George Street into the city.  We had lunch in the Fullerton Hotel which is housed in what once was the main Post Office.  Then we went to pick up our bags and we went our different ways - me to my cousin Jane's and Diana to her cousin Branco's.

Jane and Andy picked me up at Hornsby station and we drove back to their house.  Andy is quite the cook so we had Toad in the Hole with mash and gravy - a fine English staple.

Queen Victoria Building, Sydney

The next day, I had a restful morning with Jane and Andy before going to the train station for the train into the city where I was going to pick up a rental car.  It was a rainy day so it wasn't conducive to exploring too much.  I did go inside the Victoria Arcade and marveled at the stained glass windows and the elaborate clock hanging from the ceiling above the arcade.

The Hanging Clock in the Queen Victoria Building

I picked up the car from the Europcar office in one of the hotels.   I got a bit of an upgrade to a small SUV.  A nice surprise.  With the aid of Google Maps I very carefully drove back to Normanhurst and Jane and Andy's for the evening.  The next day I would be leaving for our drive to Melbourne.