Well, it is official - we have done Australia. Kind of. We flew from Honolulu to Melbourne on 11/7. The excitement started when we got to the Honolulu airport at 5:15 a.m. and got to the counter only to be informed that we needed a visa to enter Australia. All my research and reading had not surfaced this small detail. The plane was leaving at 8:30 a.m. and we were freaked out. Well, there is an app to fill out the visa application and get approved within 20 minutes. But we are 70 years old and totally flummoxed by phone apps! After fumbling with the wrong website and not being able to take photos of our passports, we panicked and went back to the counter agent. He sent us to the service desk where a kind and patient agent walked us each successfully through the process and we got our Australian visas with plenty of time to spare. Disaster avoided! We do depend on the kindness of strangers.
We spent 3 days in Melbourne, then on to Sidney (4 days), and Cairns (5 days). We had no idea how big the cities are: Melbourne's population is 5,150,000 and Sydney is a little larger at 5,370,000. It is a bit of a cliche to say that Australians are friendly, but we found that it is true! From the airport to the tram to on the street the Aussies were talkative, helpful, and informative. We liked them and the country immediately.
In Melbourne we stayed in the suburb of St. Kilda, which is an active area with lots of restaurants, shops, bars, and bakeries (three within a block of our stay!). What I did not know, or perhaps remember, is that St. Kilda is a well known beach town. Bonus! We watched three lovely sunsets on the beach with lots of young folks running around the beach and lots of sunset watchers. On our last evening there were 9 volleyball nets set up with games going on all of them. A lot of fun.
The only negatives is that we only had three days planned in Melbourne, which is too short, and we did not get to see the fairy penguins on the beach. Susan was so disappointed. The pier where the penguins hang out in the evening is under reconstruction and there is fencing all around the area so the penguin area is not accessible. Maybe next time?
Melbourne skyline. Nice city!
Another gorgeous sunset - St. Kilda beach
Melbourne was named (by whom?) Australia's "most livable city" for 2022, and the 10th most livable city in the world. It felt clean, safe, with great transportation. We went to the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and wandered for nearly two hours. Absolutely wonderful. We went to the Shrine of Remembrance (WW 1 and WW 2 memorial) mainly for the view from the balcony but were struck by the somber and beautiful interior of the building and the seriousness of purpose to remember all those who died in these wars. The USA did not win these wars alone.
Some of the Botanical Garden Plants.
And we talked to locals - one couple in the Botanical Gardens wanted to talk US politics. When we told them how much we liked Melbourne and the country , they said, "don't worry, Australia is only 20 years behind the USA" in the partisanship and right-wing politics. Another gentleman on the beach was an indigenous citizen, a boxer who had traveled all over the world to fight in front of very wealthy people at small clubs. It is a big world with more going on than I will ever imagine. But the Aussies we talked with did seem to be aware of the goings-on in the USA and were curious and appalled to an extent.
We walked downtown Melbourne for half a day. Visited an indigeous people's art gallery. Ate well. Prices seem high here but you have to remember the Aussie dollar is worth about 65% of the US dollar. We negotiated the buses and trams as we have in most cities, thanks much to Susan's Google Map skills where she finds the schedules and routes. Finally we took a 2 hour boat ride up and down the Yarra which showed us more of the city, its industry, and the continuous extensions of the harbor as the city grew.
Very low bridge on our boat trip. Standing in the back deck we had to duck to avoid hitting our head. NOTE: The white plane under the beams is the top of the boat.
Susan found an indoor pool adjacent to the beach and swam four about an hour. She came back feeling great. She does miss her swimming and exercise routines. And all the friends with whom she excercised and swam.
Then on to Sydney. We stayed in the Glebe suburb, which is an easy ferry ride away from the CBD. Very cool to hop on a boat instead of a bus or tram. Our first morning we walked around the big curve of the Sydney Harbor, under the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge and eventually to the Opera House. We were disappointed that the tours of the Opera House were sold out for the week, but Susan decided we should attend a Symphony Concert the next night, so we bought tickets and planned the next day to end up at the Opera House. Then we took the ferry to Manly Beach where we walked the coast around one of Sydney's more famous beach areas.
Harbor Bridge and Opera House
So the next day we hit the Sydney Zoo so we could at least see some of the animals that Australia is famous for, including the Tasmanian devil (smaller than we thought), kangaroo, and the cassowary. We then hit Balmoral beach and the hot weather turned cool and cloudy within 45 minutes. Welcome to Sydney's weather. Actually, we were probably fortunate to be chased early from the beach so we got to the Opera House in time. The scene at Circular Quay where our ferry came in and the 4 block walk to the Opera House was insane. If anyone in Australia is worried about Covid, they were not in any of the packed bars or restaurants along the walk from the ferry. We were lucky to get seats at the Opera House Bar for dinner and glass of wine before the music started.
We heard a Beethoven piece with solo violinist James Ehnes (amazing) that was good. And a Brahms piece we both liked. But the first piece, "Release", was by a young Latvian composer, Emma Macens, who has studied in Australia and now resides there. A modern musical sensibility with a classical form (whatever that means). All we know is that she had us within the first four notes and we found her on Youtube and played her music for the next several days. And hearing the music in the fabled Opera House was pretty special. The hall had just reopened, having been under renovation for nearly two years, in part to improve the acoustic quality. It sounded great.
We also spent time walking the Sydney CBD which has some great buildings and shops. Our last day we walked around Glebe which has many nice old home and blooming Jacaranda trees with several good bars and restaurants. And we did the Sydney Museum for a few hours in the morning before jumping on the plane to Cairns.
Fun with public art in Sydney
Opera House at Night
And then on to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef where we had booked a two night, three day snorkel trip. We hopped on the boat on Tuesday, 11/15. The room on the boat was comfortable, with a small bathroom. The schedule was to snorkel at 6:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:15 p.m., and 5:15 p.m. We never went out more than 4 times in a day, but that is a lot of snorkeling. And there were lots of fish!! And some enormous clams and some wonderful coral.
The good news is that the reef has recovered a bit recently after years of bleaching due to warm waters. The overall health prognosis of the GBR is not good, with continuing temperature rise in the oceans, storms, and natural threats which are active. But take a little good news and hope the coral continues to show resiliance in the face of the threats
We saw a number of reef sharks (left) and lots of humphead mowrie wrasses (below). These are purchased images. I still have to figure out how to download underwater images from my GoPro. Another old dog trick. Susan followed an ornate wobbegong shark for nearly 10 minutes. Very cool. And lots of other fish including parrot fish which are incredibly beautiful, angelfish - also beautiful, and triggerfish which we were cautioned were quite aggressive. I got attacked but swung the GoPro and the guy
swam placidly away.
The beauty and peacefulness of swimming and watching life under the water is simply amazing for us. There were lots of folks on the boat who were scuba diving but we were very happy with what we could see and prefer the simpler equipment -- and it is much cheaper. The colors of the fish could make me believe there is a God who just likes to make things beautiful and interesting.
The boat held about 24 guests with 10 crew. The crew snorkeled and did scuba with the guests, acting as guides as well as ensuring safety. The food was good given a small kitchen and preparing 3 meals a day for everyone. The crew was wonderful and would do just about anything you asked, including swimming with us when Susan felt a little poorly after a night where she did not sleep well. The crew were all young (under 30) and having a ball with a job that would give them stories and memories for a lifetime. The boat moved to a different reef location each day and it was like different neighborhoods with many of the same fish at each but often some new ones and different coral. The scuba gang got very excited when they spotted a large hammerhead shark, which is apparently a rare sighting on these trips.
Windblown on the back of the boat.
No question, this was a bucketlist item and it lived up to our hopes. Worth doing and we would think about perhaps doing it again some day.
After the snorkle trip we spent a day in Cairns, which is a city of 150,000 focused on the water and the reef. Everyone we met loved living there. There is a long Esplanade walk that leads to the harbor, with good restaurants and shops. Our first night there we finally found some local music and stayed up late drinking a beer under the stars. The last day we went to the Cairns Lagoon, which is an enormous swimming complex. The highlight was meeting some Fijians who were grilling dinner and offered us a sip of Jack Daniels as we talked about life in Fiji. Kind of wonderful.
On to New Zealand the next day. And Susan made sure we applied for the New Zealand visa, which had not been necessary the last time over.
This has been a long post. Australia was a revelation for us. But we also know that today is Thanksgiving in the USA. We hope you all are with people you love and eating whatever traditional meal you enjoy on this day. We do miss our friends and family despite the fun of this journey and we look forward to being back with you next year. Cheers!!
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