Quick Report

I'm back in Sydney after a flight down from Cairns. A pleasant flight, not especially good or bad.

I'm haven't got an exact plan between here and the flight for New Zealand, but will try and pack some interesting things in.

For the moment I'm reviewing the pictures taken on my journeys up the east coast of Australia - so expect to see some picture updates in the Grande Tour Photostream at long last.

One question - freebb.com who have been hosting the Grande Tour Forum seem to have been out of action for a considerable amount of time. If anyone knows what's happened to them can you let me know?

Adventures on the Barrier Reef

Another glorious tropical day (lots of sunshine and warmth). Time to head for the Great Barrier Reef on the Passions of Paradise twin mast catamaran, with a great crew and two sparkling destinations. The reef and Upolu Cay (a tiny sand island just barely rising out of blue ocean).

I had a dive planned and on the way out hit a snag. I have considerable scarring. Actually it's serious spinal scarring. Here's the hitch. There was a high chance the scaring would have dumped large amounts of nitrogen bubbles into my blood as I ascended from my dive. The dive was off - the risks were just too high. Could still snorkel and play in glass bottomed boats though, so that was ok.

Second snag when I went to pick up my wetsuit for the day. During changing I became overwhelmed with sea sickness and was quickly rushed to the back of the boat for a loud and fast loss of my breakfast. I never stopped feeling sick after that and it dogged my day. This is the first time I've ever felt sick on a boat and it came as a total surprise. Fortunately staring out at the horizon at this location was incredibly pleasant. Warm fun, water that was just too many colours of blue. Incredible.

Time to snorkel. Snorkelling quickly became a 1 flipper affair. I didn't lose the flipper, I dumped it. My right foot runs at a funny angle. The only flippers big enough to fit where huge and whale sized; just the right size to make me corkscrew. Still once properly equipped I drifted over the reef. and wow. I thought the rainforest was diverse. The reef challenges the forest on that score. The shapes and colours of the coral, seeing tropical fish and giant clams up close. Incredible. I will have to admit to only limited snorkelling. I was swimming in something like and 4 - 7 foot swell and kept getting mini bouts of sea sicknesses when snorkelling. Worth it for every minute spent over the reef.

Also took the chance for a glass bottomed boat tour (with more accompaniment from my now empty stomach). The view from one of these is different, still bright and spectacular.

During the day it's true I was ill, but that could not detract from where I was. Fortunately the crew were sympathetic, and a travelling couple from Cork helped me out with a motion sickness pill.

After a day like that I got back, salty, tired and happy. Treated myself to a big steak.

The plan for today was to head back out to sea for some kayaking and more snorkelling. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I woke up feeling quite ill. All my time on deck and getting dehydrated from the vomitting had left me not at all well (mild case of sun stroke - nothing serious). So today I'm resting up; tomorrow night I fly back to Sydney.

One important thing - after my experiences out here - I definitely want to get a boat when I get back. Seasickness it seems isn't enough to put me off that idea.

Sending the boys round

It's a true tropical day. Balmy temperatures, a light wind waving the fronds of palm trees. What a day to see the rainforest on!

The plan - simple - a pickup by bus that would transfer me to the Kuranda Scenic railway. The railway would lift me up high up into rainforest covered mountains where I'd explore the scenic town of Kuranda and then return via the Skyrail (ok cable car).

The weather was with me, but nothing prepared for the views. The trains carriages were recently restored and took you back in time to when passengers journeyed on leather covered benches and everything was made of varnished wood. The platforms where all at a lower level than the carriages so getting on the train meant climbing a 3 rung ladder. All aboard and the train wandered up the mountain. Just about clinging to the slopes. Passing through 15 tunnels, and when there was no tunnel it bridged the edge of deep gorges. The rest of the time there was just a near vertical drop into dense and luxurient forest. A highlight stop was at Barron Falls. An enormous collection of falls and plunge pools. Winter is the dry season here so the falls were not in full force, but still looked amazing.

Soon after the falls we reached Kuranda.

These days Kuranda is a tourist visit village. Full of shops, markets, restaurents, bars and most of all digeridoos. If Japan is in trouble if the toilets get organised, then the Aussies will be serious trouble if the Didges form a revolutionary party! Greeting us to Kuranda was the handle bar moustached owner of the biggest bar in town (an ex World War II field hospital), who liked to lean over some railings and pretend he was in the film Titanic.

Still Kuranda is a nice place to visit.

Then it was time for the skyrail.

On the way everyone had spotted just how HIGH! the skyrail went. In the queue to get onboard one of the tiny bubble shaped gondolas there was not one confident face. Just a lot of scared people. I have to admit to some nerves.

Fortunately it was just too fascinating and spectacular an experience to be scared. A shared my carriage with a couple from Western Australia and the three of us became amazed and the scale and diversity of the rain forest canopy, the birdsong that came up from it, and sheer complexity of the rain forest. There are also stops on the way down where you can take a board walk into the forest. By the end of this journey I was simply stunned.

Which is where the title of this blog comes from. I've always believed in the preservaton of forests and rainforests alike. Now that I have been in a rain forest there is only one thing to say. "Put down the chain saws - or we'll send the boys round". Seriously once you get close to a rain forest there can be no justification in the wanton destructions of there marvellous and essential wonders. This will be one of the memories from the tour that I'll not be able to forget.

Treading Water

In Cairns.
More relaxed about public terminals (I've gone into the local Backpackers travel - in Oz Backpackers Travel has a well built Internet service. It may use windows - but their custom PC cleanup software keeps everything rock steady. That's how it should be done - get the right hardware / software combination. Windows needs tender care, suppliers who don't know that - well don't get me started!

Rant over.

A quick update on the grande tour forum - Freebb who host the forum appear to be experiencing extended downtime. If it's working ok for you then that's cool and I've just got a local problem in Australia. Otherwise my apologies. When I get word on this I'll post an update.

Meanwhile over in Cairns. I'm booked up for diving, kayaking, reef and rainforest exploration. Alas the bad weather of the last few days has kept things quiet. Not a problem I've caught up on some mailing I've wanted to do and explored the city, it's muesuem and galleries. I like the small independant galleries in Cairns - they host some very impressive work. Cairns itself is a peaceful and laid back city. Even in the rain it's climate is lovely; and everyone here is very friendly. Still I'm shortly to start the adventures I came here for - and cannot wait.

Other news - I have a new quest. In Japan it was cream deodorant. In Australia it's become socks. I need to replace some socks but can only find toe coverers laced and cut with nylon and polyester. I'm fussy about socks due to my toe depletion problems and I'm therefore determined to find ones made of nice non sweaty natural (or hiker special) materials.

I think a special mention to my cheap hotel here. Price is nice. Especially considering that the main area is built of wood with tree trunk pillars holding up a tall wood. Very South Seas, very melanesian. I like it. Room is nice - stone tiled floor for keeping toes cool in the hot.

I've also been checking out underwater cameras ready for my dive. Don't want to get to the reef and find I can't use the camera. Fortunately - no problems there.

On the pictures front - I know it's a long wait for the next batch of photos to go on line. Please be patient. It will be worth the wait.

That's all for now. Next entries should (all going well) be much more interesting.

Cairns

I tried a blog update yesterday, unfortunately windows crashed I lost my work and money. At the moment I type very much faster than this machine can respond to. It may be virus ridden. Will people please stop using Windows for public access terminals. It is no longer up to the job! Use something not ravaged by bugs and viruses!

The good news was my first walk into Cairns where upon I was smacked in the nose by a host of tropical perfumes as I hit the esplanade. Wow!! Most incredible. For some reason the rest of Austalia had not readied me for this. Simply wonderful. Walking along the front I ran into signs warning me of the presence of crocodiles in the water. Ok so no paddling on the main front in Carins. Interestingly a bunch of tough looking no nonsense pelicans where by the waterfront; however they looked able to handle themselves. Try imagining a pelican staring at a croc and saying "Are you feeling lucky punk; well are you" and you'll get the idea.

Cairns itself is the expected mix of souvenier shops, boats and places to book tours; plus a very high population of art galleries. Mostly stocked with reef and aboriginal art. Cool.

So far not much has happened. Primarily because of the weather. Cairns is experiencing heavier rain than usual and I've had to put back my reef adventures until later in the week. Don't worry though no matter what I am determined to commune with tropical fishies!

Brisbane to Cairns

Ok I made it out of Surfers Paradise on the late bus; leaving about 1 and a half hours after the bus station closed; so all bus passengers had to wait on benches outside hoping the rain didn't get anyworse. By the time I reached Brisbane all was fine.

Next day and a chance to look at Brisbane itself. A small, pleasant, and reasonably European looking city. I'll admit I spent a lot of my time here confirming my onward train (or leave the next day or wait another 4 days for a train with a seat), and booking somewhere to stay in Cairns. The bookings took a while, but I still managed a look at the city - nice park if small city square.

Next morning - I attempt to get a BBQ breakfast at the hostel / hotel (one of these inbetween placed, quite nice though) and ... rain but it off. Since I was travelling by train I trotted down to the transit centre and had a decent breakfast (small place alongside the McDonalds that did really nice scrambled eggs, really cheaply) and then found the train. After considerable walking found my carriage. This was a long, long train, and my home for the next 32 hours. Yes that's right 32 hours by train from Brisbane to Cairns. So in terms of duration and I think miles my longest train journey yet.

At least I got to see a lot of the countryside. After we escaped the city we hit alternating scrubland and farmland. This was obviously cattle country but the scene didn't stay the same forever. We had bits of forest and lots more open land. Ant / Termite hills. The bigger the more northern we got. The largest topping off at around the 4 - 5 feet tall mark. There were rivers a plenty. Most big and swollen. One or two dried up. The more northly things got, the more tropical things got. Cattle giving way to banana and sugar plantations. Gum tree clusters and woods being relaced by soirees through the start of the rainforest. Probably the best sight though was dawn on Friday. Dawn broke as we moved through very open country. Big country meant a spectacular transit from night to day.

My fellow passengers were a mixed bunch. Mostly the old, the injured or those taking children on a long trip. Funniest moment was the train crew declaring lights out at around 10pm on Thursday evening, something that nobody took really seriously.

Still I'm now in Cairns. Hotel has palm trees everywhere. The rain has followed me, but now it is warm. Time to get out and really see the town, beaches, cays, reef and rainforest.

Surfers and Seaworld

Two days in Surfers Paradise. One of them spent in Sea World.
The good news was that my cheap accomodation in Surfers Paradise was spectacular. I'd gotten one of the cheapest holiday apartments I could (cheaper than a hotel). Around 10 minutes walk from the centre of the town, but still only moments from the beach. The place was family run and felt like a B&B. A 28 story B&B with big clean apartments instead of dodgy rooms. I'd ended up on the 22nd floor in my biggest place to stay to date. A huge living room, dining area, balcony, kitchen, bathroom, laundry room of a place. Nice. Views - incredible. Especially in the morning. It's called Surfers Century and is well worth a look.

The town itself is all high rise holiday homes and traditional seaside resort values. Or lots of shops and lots and lots of takeaways. Not to mention places selling tickets for attractions and theme parks.

It's the sea that is incredible not the town and the famous surf did manage to summon me in. I've not been in the for a few years due to my serious infection problems. However in the all clear I decided that I had to try Surfers or regret it. After all the surf didn't look that tall. Well when I got on the beach it rose about 3 feet over the swell. What I didn't notice at first is the power of the surf. It blasts in at and incredible rate, and that's only the start of it. As it breaks and hits the beach the rips and currents are massive. Pulling in all directions, so much so that sometimes spray is thrown up in the direction of the current. Fortunately the beaches are well patrolled and safe areas (quite small) clearly marked. Absolutely exhilerating. Really yearning for a kayak now. However I kept the exposure short. Why? Because I want to avoid damage for later and greater plans to come.

Next day saw me in Seaworld at around opening time (very good bus transfer from my digs). Seaworld seemed smaller than I expected. However that didn't matter at all as during the day I got quite close to an assortment of Dolphins, Sharks, Polar Bears, Fish, Dugongs and assorted aquatic beasties. The habitats provided for the animals were fabulous. The exception being some fairy penguins. I'd been amongst a wild fairy penguin reserve in Melbourne and in comparison the sea and rising hill and cliff dwellings there this small enclosure seemed very small. The sharks were treated better in a vast man-made lagoon. The dolphins had the most room and seemed to be continually enjoying themselves. I did get to see the famous dolphin show - and that was a sight to behold. Overall - seaworld was pretty fantastic and worthwhile.

The evening saw me back in Surfers, resting up my aching ankles after a couple of very busy days

One quick note - sorry for the lack of pictures - I seem to have taken hundreds but my Internet access is restricted to renting space on a keyboard only. At the moment I have no means to load up the new images. I will do as soon as I get a chance.

Turtles Denied

My last entry saw me Whale watching in Byron Bay with a plan for snorkelling with turtles the next day. Unfortunately the plan couldn't occur. High offshore winds (the turtles live near some rocks 2.5km into the sea - sorry can't remember the Km to miles conversion) meant that it would not be safe to go.

Instead a day of relaxing in Byron Bay was called for. A very easy thing to do since that seemed to what 99% of everyone else was doing (including those working - this is the most Aussie place visited to date in that respect).

Caught my late bus to Surfers Paradise, while waitng chatted to a couple of guys from Oxford and Sunderland who travelling more randomly than myself.

Others waiting for the bus - were busy reading the newly recent latest Harry Potter installment. Even on Australia's most easterly point there is no escaping Potter

Cap'n Here There be Whales

Morning - early the weather was overcast with rain in the air. Not the start of what would turn into a truly auspicious day.
I was booked into a morning Whale watching session with the local dive school.
The start was simple we all arrived, got kitted out in waterproofs and driven down to the beach in a rusty old landcruiser with our boat in tow (a big inshore dive boat - think in shore lifeboat for design and size). With the crew of 2 there would be 9 of use on the water today.
First job - help launch the boat - or to put it another way - once it was in the water - push it out until it floated and jump onboard. By this point we'd already spotted some dolphins playing nearby. Just a hint of things to come.
The boat headed out, stopping soon for a quick briefing on spotting Whales and dolphins and a chance to take a quick look for those playing near the surf. Then out of the bay we went, bouncing over the waves.
Today we were more than lucky. Things got spectacular. The first sighting of a whale plume was followed by it breaching the water. Some distance out but still spectacular. So we headed on in that direction.

A quick note - all the whales seen were humpbacks. All the dolphins - bottlenose.

It turned out that we'd stumbled onto some young humpbacks taking a few minutes to mess about in the sea. A few cheeky dolphins were playing with the whales and riding the whales bow waves when the big beasties were moving and not jumping.

A quick note on scale - these were humpback whales - 2 - 3 times longer than our boat, maybe weighing in around 40 tonnes each.

We were getting quite close. The plan was not to go closer than 100m for both the whales peace of mind and ours.

Our skipper started to shadow the whales from the safe distance. A dolphin started surfing the bow wave of our boat, jumping out of the water occaisonally. Circling us if we stopped or went too slow. It wanted to play.

Tailing these whales we got to seem them jumping, diving, bashing their fins against the water and just plain swimming. There are two sounds not to be forgotten. The sound of a humpback crashing into the water near you is incredible. Even more so the sound of it breathing - especially when close; which is what happened next. The whales decided we were worth looking at and came straight at our boat, with their friendly attendant dolphins alongside. In the sea when a whale comes straight at you - you give way. Sharpish. Still they got to within 20feet (6m or so ) of the boat. Forced to move away more we picked up three dolphins all intent on playing around us. Watching dolphins swim just barely below the surface or jumping out just ahead is amazing beyond belief.

We stayed with the whales and dolphins for over an hour. Before the whales started moving on and we had to head for home.

So we blasted at full speed back to shore. Spray everywhere, bouncing over the waves - fantastic. Briefly halting near some rocks to try and get a look at some turtles (no luck, be there was maybe a reef shark in the area - a fin broke the surface for an instant and then vanished).

Eventually it was all over.

Did I get pictures - well maybe. I fired off quite a few pictures, but I'm pretty sure that I got nothing really special. Certianly nothing special compared to what I'd seen. I've not checked the shots yet - but if I do have anything I'll post it. Today I was using the small compact camera. There wasn't space to handle the big SLR on this boat. Not really the cameras fault. Whales move faster than you'd think and only break the surface from time to time - and you don't see a whale in it's whole - they are that big.

An incredible experience though.

When we got back - the cloud cover had burned off and it was a glorious day.

The plan for tomorrow - snorkelling; with sea turtles!

To Byron

I'm at Byron Bay. A discovery regarding Australian Trains enroute. Actually it was something I got 'warned' about let me explain\
The trains I've taken are rebadged Intercity 125's. Yep how un-Australian is that. However the carriages have that ribbed aluminium design that I always associated with the USA. Wait it gets crazier. Inside the carrigae all seats point in the direction of travel, and can turn around should the need arise. Just like the train seats in Japan. The service on the trains however is very good (in British terms) with cheap hot meals available. How can I put this, the trains here are a mix of to me Britain, America and Japan. Must be in Australia! However just to keep me comfortable - most the seat coverings are pretty tatty in places. Just like home.

A couple of hours out of Sydney spotted a wild Koala in a tree.

First port of call - Port MacQuarrie - a gentle seaside town, all campsite, hotel and retirement home. I'd a nice little wood cabin hired for a couple of nights. Close enough to the sea that I could hear the surf pounding. Only one day there - but enough time to take a boat trip, visit an Oyster farm, feed some mullet and see the town. Did try I see some wild dolphins - but no luck there.

Next day - 12 hours of combined waiting and travel saw me in Byron Bay. First a quick note - as the train stopped in stations I noticed a small sense of occaison. Then I realise some places only see a train once a day, sometimes a lot less often than that - so the arrival of a means to travel does still have some occaison. Don't tell the UK rail authorities that. I'm sure they'll try and include it in some stats to say that they are good!

Some I'm in Byron Bay. The weather is hot but very comfortable. Pretty Idyllic if you ask me. The beach and sea look beautiful. I've truly left the Aussie winter behind me. First impression - apart from being totally seaside orientated it looks like a total mish mash of counter culture, beach culture and the main stream. Think Glastonbury, with surf boards and a hint of Bognor Regis.

Haven't found a place to upload a pictures yet. This is a shame as I think I have some good ones in the camera for you.

Getting ready to travel

Today is a day of catching up with things online (and getting plenty of net access). Over the next few weeks as I travel to Cairns it looks like I'll only have limited net access (the Internet doesn't seem all pervasive as you leave Sydney). Hopefully I can get some blog entries and photos online, but I'm not sure how much I can do or how often. Hopefully it'll be enough - if not - my apologies but I'll try and make it up.

In the meantime there are some more fun polls in the Grande Tour Forum.

Thoughts - A v J

I'm about to prepare for the big Journey north, stopping off at some choice destinations along the way. If a journey is to long to do in one push - the best thing I can do is use it to see more of the country.

Before I go I'm wondering what the differences between Japanese and Australian Intercity trains will be. Certainly the Japanese trains are the faster. I think the only passenger service on rails faster than the shinkansen is the French TGV (very nice by the way). That's gotten me thinking apart from the trains what are some of the other noticeable differences between Japan and Australia. I'll ignore language - it's obvious and ridiculous to make a point about.

I'll start with toilets, all westerners when thinking of Japan think of toilets so it's a good a place as any to start. Australia's contribution to toilet technology is the dual flush running backwards. Ok so it's really just a half and a full flush. The running backwards thing is solely due to hemisphere but sounded good in the description. Virtually all Australian toilets deliver a water in an environmentally sound half or full measure - up to you of course to choose what you want to use. The Japanese have techno toilets, they have toilets that would fit nicely onto the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. They have toilets with buttons and remote controls. Of course they also have hole in the ground squats, but even some of these have cool chrome plated buttons. The real difference though is not design. It's availability. It's easier and faster to find a toilet in Japan than Australia. Much easier. I have a theory about this. Australia is a great sporting nation, and Japan isn't. I think part of this comes from the Aussie need to run in order to reach a toilet. The Japanese don't need to run. Ergo - the Aussies are fitter and better at sport. Interestingly the Australians have nearly (but not quite) the number of coffee shops the Japanese do. But the Australians don't put toilets in coffee shops anything like as frequently. They'll sell you a powerful diuretic but then you have to seek the place to expel it yourself. This has to be one of the hidden secrets in the Aussie Olympic training program.

Food is a big difference. In Japan getting fish, rice or cakes is easy. In Oz, getting any cuisine from almost anywhere is easy. When it comes to food and choice Australia is a land of plenty o'choice.

Even with massive globalisation, Japan wins on design. Everything and I mean everything has cool artwork and design principles on it. Australia is a strange mix, bits look British, bits look American, some has an Asian feel to it. Yet everywhere there are design and art right out of the seventies. Whilst Australians go about their business loaded with mobile phones, and paranphenalia of the 21st century so much of the country seems seventies in bound. In Japan the only thing that seems trapped in a time warp is the pop music - which steadfastly refuses to leave the '80's.

I'll think again on this and come up with more ideas - probably after I've spend time on trains. I think that will be a cathartic experience.

London

I've been trying to find a good way to express sympathy for those in London during the recent bombings and the hope that those responsible will be caught soon. Then an old friend of mine put down the words perfectly in his blog. Please take a look.

Fun with Polls

I thought that it was about time that I put the Grande Tour Forum to some additional use.
Since the start of the Tour the Forum has existed as a place to chat and talk back about all things GT. Whilst not heavily used there are some fun conversations on there.
Recently I realised that I'm the not really making the most of it so here's the plan. I recently added a short (daft) poll on the forum and over the next few days as I get ready to ride the train north I'll add more. I suspect the result will be a combination of serious and ridiculous questions. The hope is to generate more involvement and hopefully everyone involved will get more out of the entire Grande Tour Concept

New Pictures

At last; new pictures of the Grande Tour.
I've just uploaded the first pictures from my trip to Melbourne into my Flickr account.

I'm now preparing for the next part of the trip. My staged train ride from Sydney to Cairns.

Boats, Boats Everywhere

There boats of all sizes, dinghies through to yachts. Hardly any water though. Except for one large tank where some new kayaks where being demo'd. What's so revolutionary about Kayaks. These were pedal powered. Work the pedals and two flaps under the kayak flap - like the wings on a manta ray. Very fast too.

I was at the Melbourne boat show.

I've always had a thing about boats and haven't spent enough time on them for too long. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to check out was new and cool in Australia. One island nation to another and all that.

Well the big thing is that the Aussies like their motors. They like open boats. They like to enjoy the sun and they love to fish. There was a serious amount of fishing kit on sale. That and a whole lot of gear for water skiing.

The boats were gorgeous. Some really nice little day cruisers and runabouts. Some really nice big yachts. Some really fun looking catamarans and canoes. But it was the current generation of canoes of Kayaks that really made me sit up and notice. I really like the new designs

Maybe I should think about getting a boat after the tour...

And then..

Saw an exhibition of portrait photographs. Some very interesting work. Unfortunately a lot of it featured Aussie celebrities (I think - I never was one for celeb spotting), so most of it went - nice shot ; Who?.

Most disturbing picture - Thom Yorke of Radiohead (and someone I actually recognised - Yay!). Somehow - that fits!

Wine, Wombats and Squawks

When I planned my trip to Melbourne it was in hope of seeing the Little Penguins of Philip Island. Every night large groups (over a evening quite easily in the hundreds) of the penguins come ashore to roost in the hillside burrows. The little penguin is the only penguin in the world to come in only just after the sun has set. It promised to be spectacular. In turned out that the tour I had picked included plenty of other treats.

Leaving Melbourne and headed into Asparagus country to make our way to a picnic lunch at the Gurdy Winery. So named after nearby creek; Hurdy Gurdy creek, that according to local legend got it's name after a circus carousel got stuck in the creek during a particularly bad storm. The winery was high on an exposed hillside with fantastic views. The wine was an odd mix. A delicious chardonay, and a truly bad selection of red's that were made up of some really nice fortified wines. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed, the mix of wines interesting and everyone on the trip (all 14 of us), got to know each other.

Our guide then whisked us off with wine related music playing in the background. All the music on this tour was via an iPod and some truly cheesy themed playlists accompanied us each step of the way. Every time we left a location; we were hit with music relating to that place.

With the day warming up it was off to a wildlife sanctuary to see some of the indigenous beasties. Here we met a Dingo that thought a disposable camera was food (the camera was unwrapped from it's foil packet in front of an increasingly interested and expectant Dingo). Wilma the wombat was a big hit. Wilma had been hand reared and was just starting to turn wild again (oddly a hand reared Wombat is tame - until it reaches maturity then it's genetic heritage kicks in and it suddenly understands how to survive in the wild again - which means reintroducing them to the wild is very successful). Still we were able to pat the wee beastie - which is a very odd experience. It's quite hard to describe the short fur of a wombat. Kangaroos are a different matter. Kangaroo fur feels like rabbit fur. I always find Kangaroos (in Australia) - to be quite like giant bunnies. No recitals of "Kill the Wabbit" here. I was face to face with 4 - 5 foot tall grey kangaroos. Who were all after the cones of Kangaroo food I was carrying, and looked like they could pack a punch. Actually I quite like being among kangaroos. It's really nice to hand feed and pet one these odd looking animals. One enterprising 'roo (no dullard this one) had the sense to grab my hand holding the food with both paws. Must have been an experienced beastie.

We also had a chance to see assorted birdies, koalas and a great white shark. Well okay the shark was a bit of a cheat. It was a 5 metre great white that had been giving a fish farm a hard time (shark thought it was a take-away), so the shark had been caught and sadly mounted in formaldehyde. So instead of a huge tank and a swimming shark, we had a shark encasing glass case. A strange greenish liquid and a chance to walk around an unmoving great white. A very strange slightly creepy experience.

Then we were off the the coast for tea and biscuits on top a cliff looking down onto a black volcanic coastline. The hard black rocks being battered by the sea was a cool look. Also there some penguins here desperately trying to avoid any fuss. A look onto some offshore rocks - The Nobbies and the location of a seal colony.

Finally down to the penguin viewing area. A splendid penguin park has been built. In order to keep the people and the pingos separate viewing areas to watch the wee birdies coming ashore are restricted to boardwalks and a concrete stand. So onto the stand we are settled, a cold wind blows in off the sea and the lights are raised. Flood lights have been installed to help us see the little penguins (about a foot tall - 30 - 33cm). The lights go on just before the penguins are due and seem to have no effect on them at all (except perhaps to make finding the way home a little easier). So it's time to sit and wait quietly. Camera's are banned as the flash can hurt the penguins eyes. We sit and wait. The surf roars in and the light dims. We wait and slowly notice that some of the surf isn't receding - it's standing up. Penguins have surfed in and are checking the area out. First it's just one or two then a bigger clump of penguins (maybe 10 or more) has formed and suddenly they are off and scarpering over the beach to find there way onto the grassy hill. Up and down the beach penguins are checking the beach out. Some heading back into the sea, some rolling up and down in the surf - looking for an appropriate bunch of friends to cross the beach with, The penguins always cross in groups. Never alone. Even with penguins ashore it was not over yet. Going back up the boardwalks there were penguins tottering alongside us, or sitting in the undergrowth, chattering and squawking to their friends.

It's quite and incredible thing to see. Watching these little seafaring birds do something they have been doing successfully for ... well a very long time. It really makes you feel connected to something incredible The whole sight is very heartwarming and makes you realise just how many incredible sights are probably hidden just out of view in the world.

An amazing day.

The terrible absence of Pictures

I do have plenty of shots of Melbourne for you all to take a look at. However I only have very limited Internet access in Melbourne. So please bear with me - I'll have a nicely expanded gallery for you in a few days time

In Melbourne (Aussie Rules)

If you know me sit down.
In fact if you know me sit down and have a drink by your side. A good stiff drink would be preferable.

Went to see a football match last night. Well no not "soccer - (blagh!!!)". I went on a match tour of the Telstra Dome in Melbourne. A small tour three of us (there was a drop out), and our footy mad guide. We met at all hotel for drinks and snacks , had a chat about the stadium and the rules of Aussie Rules Football (there are actually rules!!! believe it or not), had some of the best seats in the house (on the halfway mark at pitch level - just a few feet from the action (nearly got hit by a wayward ball). During the match there was more drinks and food, a personal commentary and afterwards - a chat back at a nearby bar and a drop off back at the hotel. The end result .. Aussies Rules - well Rule. Seeing a match live was a lot more fun than I'd expected - and I suspect a lot more fun than watching most team sports. The thing that makes Aussie rules so different is the way it is designed to cover a lot of ground very fast. The ball can move in any direction at any time and all 18 players on each team cover the whole pitch to try and setup goals. Oh yes and each team has 3 goals to defend not the measly one as in most sports. I enjoyed the experience. I went as a personal challenge - to do something different and out of character and had a really good night, My thanks the guide and the tourist info volunteer who suggest I give it a go.

Today was a day to explore. I had considered boat rides, but ended up going for a long walk around the river; but before that. Sitting on a river bridge, taking some photos, rowers sculling past below, trams sparking and humming by to my back there was a a slight smell of ozone in the air and up behind me crept a man. A conservatively dressed who quickly whipped out a small bright pamphlet and started quoting from a bible. Yep a Jehovah's Witness and no handy door to close in his face. Actually his consideration of the text from Daniel was quite scary. This man earnestly believed in removing all other politics and beliefs in order to create a singular ordered and controlled society. Was a talking to Hitler or perhaps a Dalek. He certainly didn't sound like a man of peace. Fortunately my camera provided an excuse to escape fast. it did leave me wondering one point. What would Jehovah's Witness Daleks actually be like. Anyone out there have a script?

I spent most of the day taking pictures and exploring around the river - Melbourne has very nice river frontage. Eventually staggered back to my room - so that I can get ready for the big outing tomorrow. A trip to Philip Island.