23:45 15 March 1996 Melbourne, Victoria, AUS Temperature around 70 F. The day was sunny.
If anyone tells you of the joys of long jet flights, they're sick, lying or rich enough to fly first class.
Wednesday 3/13 at 17:05 CDT we were leaving the gate at DFW. Thursday at 17:05 CDT we were in the lobby of the Melbourne airport where it was 10:05 Friday 3/15. In between was not a lot of fun and Thursday got lost. It started with a three hour flight to Los Angeles; a 1:30 layover; a 11:55 minute flight to Auckland, New Zealand; a 1:30 layover; and finally a 3:30 flight to Melbourne.
Fortunately, the 12 hour leg was not on a crowded plane. But it was night the entire 12 hours.
We really didn't do anything today. We're trying to catch up on sleep. My feet swelled during the flight; especially the left one. I spent a couple of hours with my feet up letting the blood drain from them.
We had fish and chips for lunch and then discovered that there is legalized gambling here. We should have planned on more cash. Janet finds the slots very entertaining.
There is very clearly an influx of peoples from other Asian countries. I'd say there are as many Asian ethnic people as there are English (European) people in Melbourne. Janet is rather amazed at the difference from when she left here.
If you want to receive this by e-mail, send message to address below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 16 March 1996 Temperature around 70 F. The day was partly cloudy with rain.
------------
We took a boat tour of the Yarra River in downtown Melbourne, picked up a rental car and spent the afternoon exploring CBD Melbourne finding a record store with ABBA.
In the evening we visited old friends of Jan's - Bruce and Glynis Kelley - who live in a Melbourne suburb. It was an interesting evening. This family is going to be visiting the Southwestern US in a couple of weeks. We were able to help each other out in addition to reminiscing about old times.
Sunday, 17 March 1996 Temperature in upper 60s F. The day was partly cloudy with rain.
----------------
ABBA hunting in the morning in another suburban area was followed by a visit to St. Kilda beach Sunday Arts Festival. It was very pretty along the beach.
In the afternoon we boarded a Tour Bus and tripped to the Dandenong hills. It is a very pretty forested area with tall Eucalyptus trees, interesting ferns and Lyre birds.
Monday, 18 March 1996 Temperature in 60s F. The day was cloudy with rain.
---------------
This was animal preservation day. First we went to the Healsville animal reserve. Jan was delighted to see the platypuses and a wombat. The whole experience was quite enlightening and fun.
Then driving off to see the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. This was somewhat disappointing since it is moulting season and the number of penguins was drastically reduced.
Note that I have sent pictures to my home page, but they won't display correctly. Help from any source on what might be causing the problem will be gratefully accepted.
Tuesday, 19 March 1996 Temperature in 60s F. The day was rainy.
------------
Checked out of the hotel in Melbourne and drove a couple of hours to Ballarat. After getting our hotel, we visited the site of the 1851 gold rush at Ballarat today. Janet panned for gold and actually got a few specs. But she got wet in the process.
20:30 20 March 1996 Warrnambool, Victoria, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 20 March 1996 Temperature in 50s F. The day was mostly sunny.
------------
There was frost on the pumpkin this morning in Ballarat. The pumpkin being our gold colored rental car.
After having a Big Breakfast at McDonalds, we traded the Hertz for an Avis and headed out for the Great Ocean Road. We found it and the deep blue waters of the ocean looking out toward Antartica. It is very picturesque. It reminded me of driving along the Pacific coast in California.
We had fish 'n' chips again for lunch. I am really a fish 'n' chips kind of guy. I could eat them all the time.
So far the motels have been very nice and reasonable in cost. And all the roads have been 'sealed'.
This was the last full day in Victoria. Tomorrow we cross into South Australia heading for Adelaide.
20:00 21 March 1996 Kingston, S.A., AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 21 March 1996 Temperature in 70s F. The day was sunny.
------------
Morning delays in Warrnambool. First we lock the car keys in the trunk of the car without unlocking the car. One call to the RACV (Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) follows. Those anti-anxiety pills are needed to get me thru it all. The mate from the RACV arrives and does his 'I can get into any car routine'. Then he takes my AAA card with the expired date (we couldn't find the current one before we left) and is off after telling us where we still might get breakfast since it was now nigh unto 11:00 by now. But no sooner had he left than we discovered the car would not start. Yet another call to the RACV was needed. I'm not sure the innkeeper thought he would ever get rid of us by this time. Yet the car lives once it is jumped by a different RACV guy who doesn't even want any payment since we'd paid them once all ready. He checks the battery and pronounces it 'bad'.
Now it's time for a call to Avis. Avis directs us to have the battery replaced. So it's off to BeauRepairs. We have a late breakfast/early lunch while the repairs are being done. I get to have fish 'n' chips for breakfast!
By noon we are off for the day. We have a leisurely drive along the coast and then into South Australia. This section is very agricultural. It struck me how much agricultural areas seem to be similar. Were it not for the Eucalyptus trees and the 'Koalas 5km' signs we could have been in Tennessee or Sweden or the English Midlands.
22:00 22 March 1996 Adelaide, S.A., AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 22 March 1996 Temperature in 70s-80s F. The day was sunny.
------------
This was a leisurely day. We started out late and then took a side trip along a washboard road in a place called the Coorong. This is a rather unique geological and hydrological environment with a unique ecology.
For lunch it was fish 'n' chips again in a little town along a large lake. We were surrounded by several score gulls who clearly watch for easy marks like us who feed them chips.
Then into Adelaide where we stopped and called Janet's friend Barbara who is providing our accommodation while we are here. It turned out we were within a few blocks of her house.
23:30 25 March 1996 Adelaide, S.A., AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 23 March 1996 Temperature in 70s-80s F. The day was sunny.
------------
We drove downtown and spent a leisurely few hours finding out about bus schedules to the 'Center', playing the Pokies and ABBA hunting. Then back to the Radclift's to do laundry and have dinner.
The climate here is quite pleasant. The locals describe it as 'Mediterranean'. It seems an apt description.
Sunday, 24 March 1996 Temperature in 70s-80s F. The day was sunny.
------------
We spent the morning and early afternoon driving thru some of the hills surrounding Adelaide. We had lunch in a little German town called Hahnsdorf.
It is amazing to me that in Adelaide there are tropical plants growing with citrus in the back yard, yet in the hills only twenty miles away there are apple orchards. There is never a frost in the city, but there is in the hills.
In the late afternoon and evening we spent some time with old friends of Janet's who worked with her at the university here.
Monday, 25 March 1996 Temperature in 70s-80s F. The day was sunny.
------------
This day was spent with some other old friends of Janet's - the Dallows. It was enjoyable just to chat. Janet was very happy.
20:40 26 March 1996 Adelaide, S.A., AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 26 March 1996 Temperature in 80s F. The day was sunny.
------------
We went to downtown Adelaide and made arrangements to take the bus to Coober Pedy and Alice Springs. While we waited for the confirmation, we trucked across the street to the Casino. It was a profitable venture. I netted $250 off the Pokies.
23:30 27 March 1996 Adelaide, S.A., AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 27 March 1996 Temperature in 80s F. The day was hot and sunny.
------------
Well I've lost track of the day since beginning of vacation and I don't want to figure it out. Probably a good thing.
We visited two groups of Janet's old friends. In between we went ABBA hunting.
Musings:
On visiting - It's been good just visiting people. One gets to have a different feeling for the country than just flitting off on tours to see the local attraction. It'll be back to that soon enough when we leave here on Friday and head to the Center.
On urinals - The urinals here are different. In the States we have private urinals - one ceramic piece of furniture per guy. Here all the urinals are more communal - one long piece of stainless steel along the wall. I'm not sure of any social significance, but I think I prefer the way they are here.
Signature applies. All opinions are strictly mine.
21:30 1 April 1996 Alice Springs, NT, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 28 March 1996 Temperature in 80s F. The day was hot and sunny.
------------
We spent the last day in Adelaide getting ready to leave. We spent the afternoon by taking the tram to Glen Elg and had lunch on the beach. The evening was spent having dinner at a Australian Cuisine restaurant called Red Ochre with several of Janet's friends.
Friday, 29 March 1996 Temperature in 80s F. The day was hot and sunny.
------------
Traveling day. Bus trip from Adelaide to Coober Pedy.
Saturday, 30 March 1996 Temperature in 60s F. The day was cool with rain.
------------
A cold day in Coober Pedy. Evidently, this doesn't happen very often. Learned about opal mining and houses built into the side of hills. Janet had a chance to 'noodle'. Will have a picture of her 'noodling'.
Sunday, 31 March 1996 Temperature in 80s F. The day was hot and cloudy.
------------
Overnite change from daylight savings to standard time provided more time for an early morning departure from Coober Pedy to Ayres Rock. Arrived in Yulara in time to do do afternoon site seeing tour of the Olgas. This ended with a sunset viewing of Ayres Rock, called Urulu by the Aborigines. It was very beautiful. It definitely is worth seeeing.
Monday, 1 April 1996 Temperatue in 80s F. The day was hot and sunny.
------------
We both skipped the early morning climb of Ayres Rock. We did do a walk around part of the Rock, followed by a tour of the new Culture Center. This is now part of the Aboriginal Reserve and jointly run by the local Aboriginal Council and the Australian National Park administration. The afternoon was spent traveling on to Alice Springs.
23:15 2 April 1996 Alice Springs, NT, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 2 April 1996 Temperatue in 80s F. The day was hot and sunny.
------------
Spent day easy. Walked around central Alice Springs in morning. Afternoon spent doing laundry and resting. In the evening we went out into the country side and had a 'bushman meal' and looked at the Southern sky.
22:30 3 April 1996 Alice Springs, NT, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 3 April 1996 Temperatue in 90s F. The day was hot and sunny.
------------
We went on a kind of hop-a-bus around to some of the sites in Alice Springs. We've had damper and billy tea for two days in a row now. I learned how to throw a boomerang and had a good time checking out the narrow gage railroad train that used to traverse between here and Adelaide.
In the evening, we went to the local casino and entertained ourselves gambling.
There won't be any new pictures until we get to Sydney next monday. Calling Compuserve is a looong distance call from here and from Cairns.
22:00 5 April 1996 Cairns, Queensland, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 4 April 1996 Temperatue in 90s F. The day was hot and sunny.
------------
We toured the MacDonnel Mountains in the morning and in the afternoon prepared to leave The Alice. I bought a didgeridoo which has to shipped back to Texas (by boat). It'll take several weeks to get home. Then all I have to do is to learn how to play it.
Friday, 5 April 1996 Temperatue in 90s F. The day was hot and sunny in The Alice. The day was hot and rainy in Cairns.
------------
This was a travel day. A treasure discovery was made in the Alice Springs airport bar. All you Aussies need to stop by there is partake of the American gourmet drink called 'Iced Tea'. Real Iced Tea in the center of Australia.
22:00 7 April 1996 Cairns, Queensland, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 6 April 1996 Temperatue in 90s F. The day was hot, partly cloudy and very humid.
------------
Tour of the rain forest area north of Cairns. This is very interesting. It is purported to be the 'oldest' rain forest in the world. During the river cruise on the Daintree we saw a very large crocidile.
Easter Sunday, 7 April 1996 Temperatue in 90s F. The day was hot, partly cloudy and very humid.
------------
Trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. Tour on the Yellow Submarine allows close up viewing of the coral. Very glad we added this place to the itineray.
21:30 9 April 1996 Sydney, NSW, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 8 April 1996 Temperatue in 90s F. The day was hot, partly cloudy and very humid in Cairns; warm and sunny in Sydney.
------------
Travel day. This was the end of the Easter holiday in Australia. The flight (a 747) was very crowded and the taxi queue at the Sydney was an hour long even after Qantas couldn't make up its mind what carousel to put the luggage on.
Tuesday, 9 April 1996 Temperatue in 70s F. The day was warm and sunny.
------------
We took tour trip around Sydney to decide what things we want to see more of. After lunch a walk around the Circular Quay area with visit to two museums. The Coca-Cola museum and the Museum of Contemporary Arts. The latter had an exhibit of CD-ROM art. This was multimedia art on Macintosh Computers.
23:00 10 April 1996 Sydney, NSW, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 10 April 1996 Temperatue in 60s F. The day was pleasant and sunny.
------------
Janet fell in the bathtub in the morning, gaining a nasty cut on her forehead which required several stitches. She stayed in the hotel room for the day. I went to the Australia Museum in the afternoon. In the evening we ventured to the Harbor Casino for supper and an evening of gambling.
22:30 12 April 1996 Sydney, NSW, AUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 11 April 1996 Temperatue in low 70s F. The day was rainy and partly sunny.
------------
Janet rested in the morning while I went to the Powerhouse Museum. In the afternoon we took the boat ride around Sydney Harbor.
Friday, 12 April 1996 Temperatue in 70s F. The day was partly sunny and rained in the evening.
------------
In the morning we took the Bondi and Bay Explorer bus around the Eastern Suburbs. Had lunch at Bondi Beach. Afternoon was spent ABBA hunting.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at wes@gaiges.net
This page was last updated 21 November 1997