Outlying

We got to Melbourne around midnight, having taken the cheapest flight we could get from Adelaide. The next morning, Aidan and I went out exploring and found some interesting buildings and artwork by the harbour.

That's not an invading alien, but rather a Ferris wheel taking shape in the background between the two buildings. It is actually their second. The bus driver explained they had already created one, meant to rival the famous London Eye, but within a few weeks it was deemed unsafe and had to be dismantled at a huge cost. They decided to start over though, so we wish them luck.

This is a square cow stuck in a tree. Naturally.

And some interesting wooden sculptures to explore.

Some pictures of the city taken from the famed Federation Square and thereabouts.

More strange creatures in strange places...

Sunset on the south bank.

Notice on the tallest building, on the left side about 1-2 floors below the very top. Looks like a notch. That's part of the "highest observation deck in the southern hemisphere". More on that later.

And some of the fancy "arcades". Every city seems to have at least one of these older, ornate merchant buildings in the heart of town. Pretty cool to walk though.

The legal district. Yes, that is a powdered wig.

Fancy building.

... with discount parking.

One of these things just doesn't belong...

A mill in a mall. Actually, it's a shot tower, where they used to turn lead into buckshot and other grades of gunshot by dropping molten lead and letting it form uniform balls as it cools and falls. Now enclosed in the great cone atop Melbourne Central. Below ground is Melbourne central train station. Above is about 300 shops, movie theaters, and restaurants. I didn't buy anything.

But I did use the bathroom. Sharps containers were common in our travels. I think for use by both diabetics and others with a need to dispose of needles. So why did I take a picture of a sharps container in the men's room? Take at look at the name of the company: Sweeney Todd Biomedical Wast Disposal. Awesome.

And to the aquarium, where my enthusiastic companions showcase the awesome penguin habitat.

They are incredibly fast, nimble swimmers. The penguins, that is.

Especially at feeding time. Those are small fish being thrown into the tank causing a feeding frenzy. And yet, no collisions.

Strange creatures in strange places.

Sunset on the South Bank

This was either a gas a leak or some well planned pyrotechnics. Balls of flame in front of the Crown Casino. Quite a show. (Definitely planned.)

A church I passed on my way back to the hotel.

Lygon Street. Famous Shopping corridor. And more bathroom shots. I just thought this was different and interesting. Public rest rooms that you enter by climbing down stairs that are located on an island in between lanes of traffic on the street.

On to the beautiful campus of the University of Melbourne.

Apparently, old house repair is as lucrative in Melbourne as it is in the United States. Go Trev!

Some rocks.

A park.

A fountain.

This fountain is at the Royal Exhibition Building. We got lucky and hit it at just the right time of day. I may have taken too many pictures. But I was not alone, I assure you.

The next day, Aidan and I were off to the "highest observation deck in the southern hemisphere".

That shadow stretching into the park is us.

Insisted on having his first Mars bar 88 stories above the ground. I think the candy bar cost about $132. Give or take $128.

It was a great trip. Can't wait for our next one

Hi All,

To quote Led Zeppelin,

"Been a long time since I shot a roll."

(As in a roll of film. Of course, I am using a digital camera, so it's really just a figure of speech.)

"Been a long time since I got real droll"

(Droll -- adjective 1. amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous; waggish.)

"Been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time."

Actually, it hasn't been lonely, but it has been busy. And though we've been on adventures and I've taken many pictures, I just haven't gotten enough gumption or time to post any in a long time, a long lonely, lonely, .....

But, that all changes today!!! We're about half way through our Australian experience and the thought of so many great trips and places and adventures remaining unshared is abhorrent to me. And after we're home in Pennsylvania, it's going to feel pretty weird writing blog posts about our trip to Australia. (Though I am thinking it will be nice to review the pictures circa February of 2013 when we're in the middle of our first real winter in 2 years.)

Aidan, and every other student in Australia has had the last 2 weeks off from school. (Literally every other kid in Australia. The school holidays are the same for ALL students in all parts of Australia.) So, as is our habit and our wont, we managed to put together a last-minute trip to see more of this great country. This time we were off to 2 cities, Adelaide in South Australia, and Melbourne in Victoria.

In the words of North Carolina crooner, and legendary misogynist, Ben Folds, "The world could turn and crash and burn and you would never know it. The air is clear, there's better beer, Adelaide. ... A voice says, why Adelaide? You could go anywhere, and I say, because I want to, because I want to. I really really want to." Yes, Adelaide is a great song, and as it turns out, also a great place. As you will see.

While in Adelaide, we stayed at a hotel on Hindmarsh Square. This is a picture from the balcony of our hotel, showing a very large and very bent tree in the middle of the park.

This is the fountain in the Rundle Mall, a famous pedestrian mall in Adelaide.

Beware of shady characters on the mall.

Here's a bit of whimsical street art that we found.

From Adelaide, it's just a 20 minute ish trolley ride to Glenelg. Glenelg is great because it is at once a palindrome, a beach, and a nice place to hang out and watch the sunset.

By the way, that kid dangling in midair is attached to a bungee. There are 4 bungee set ups on the street here, where kids can bounce on trampolines and do flips and stuff.

Here's an action series. I wish you could flip through them like in a slide show, but I'm not sure I can set that up on this blog. In any case, Aidan generally hates to be pictured and will not perform juggling in public, but since he's in silhouette here, he consented.

Some more pics of the awesome sunset.

Here's another view from our balcony.

And now some pics from the Botanical Gardens of Adelaide. Aidan and I dragged our sorry tired butts there the last day we were in town. I was glad we did. (Aidan says he was bored, but I think he ended up enjoying it despite himself.)

There is a beautiful fountain in the gardens, which the parrots like to bath in as it turns out. You might have to look closely, but you should see some feathery critters alight, awash, and on the wing in the next few photos.

This (I believe) is a kookaburra. The kookaburra is my favorite bird in Australia. You know that jungle sound that you always thought was monkeys? It's actually the kookaburra. Have a listen here. And you can read more about them here.

Here's a kookaburra and a kook.

These are the biggest lily pads you will ever see. This is the "Amazon Waterlily Pavilion" at the gardens. Pretty cool, huh? It looks like you could just walk right across water on them, doesn't it? Turns out, though, you're not allowed to. How was I supposed to know!? They should really post a sign or something instead of going on and on about how it's a "precious exhibition" that took "years to prepare" and how they'll be "pressing charges".

And some more interesting bits of the botanic.

We caught a nice dinner before our 11 PM flight to Melbourne, a new city and more adventures.

I've got lots of shots from Melbourne too. So I'll try to get those up sooner rather than later. Right now, I'm late for sleep.

Cheers,
Greg

Yesterday we took a driving tour of the eastern beaches with Ming.

Here I am in my cheap, but very effective sunglasses, consulting with my trusty tour guide. It was awfully nice of him to take time off from his Saturday and show us around. Some of you have enjoyed the same tour with Ming, but he says the first part, at the South Head of the mouth of the harbor is new. Those of you who have had the tour in the past will have to come back and take in the this new vista; it's quite spectacular.

Here, Ming is keeping a watchful eye over my son, Aidan, who is determined to climb on anything and everything he can. There are lots of places to fall to your death on this short hike. Ming has not lost a customer yet and is determined not to start now.

See what I mean?

Here's a ship coming into the harbor. Most cargo traffic uses another harbor to the south called Botany Bay. That's where the airport is as well. We are standing on the south head of land. The North head is off in the distance and together they form the mouth of the huge Sydney Harbor.

Looking over Watson Bay, inside the harbor, toward the city.

And on to the beaches. There were several and all were beautiful. My pictures don't really do them justice, but here's some anyway.

Most beaches around here have salt water pools where they pump in sea water. We're not sure how or why that started, probably a way to enjoy the ocean without worrying about being pounded to a watery pulp by the surf or eaten by sharks? In any event, this one at Coogee Beach (not a typo) is one of the nicer ones.

Lunch was at a RSL club at Maroubra Beach. Every town has an RSL Club. They seem to be primarily for gambling and I think the government gets some money from the deal. If you are from the town, you have to pay a membership fee, but if you from outside a 5 Km radius, you can get in for free. I still don't really understand the concept, but there is one right next to Aidan's school and I always joke with him that he should wait outside while I pop inside and double our money. He just rolls his eyes and says "stop telling that joke dad, it isn't funny". I beg to differ. In any case, I think the message has gotten through because Aidan took a picture of the "Casino" sign and all you can make out is "no". Clearly an indication that he has learned about the dangers of gambling.

This giant sculpture turned out to be part of a drainage culvert that someone had painted to make it look less industrial and more whimsical.

Finally, here is an island in Botany Bay. When we went to the bridge, they were taking wedding photos on it. It's protected from the surf and there's no boat traffic so it's a popular place for snorkeling and scuba diving. I saw a hyper 15-year-old in a wet suit with his finger on a harpoon gun and we were out of there.

That's all for this trip. I still need to post photos from our Australia Day adventures, such as they were. So hopefully I'll get to that soon.

Cheers!
Greg

Hi All,

Well, this post is a little overdue. A week ago last Friday, Aidan and I hiked the "National Pass". It was amazing. You can't believe all the work that went into making this incredible track down the cliff face, crisscrossing the waterfall, across the cliff and then back up next to another waterfall. (There are lots of waterfalls around here.) I don't know what's more breathtaking the views, or the thought of all the work that went into making this one-of-a-kind track. (Track means hiking trail around here by the way.)

In any case, I will stop there and let the pictures tell the rest of the story. See if you can spot our new friend.

Best to all!

It's true. The bus that took us to this cave actually drove right through a huge rock archway that also serves as the entrance to dozens of interconnected caverns. And if I remember the tour guide correctly, this set of caves was designate was designated as the first Australian national park about 4 years before the US created it's fist national park, Yosemite.

First of all, I have to say that the Australians have put tons of work into making their scenic wonders accessible to people. The Jenolan caves are a marvel of concrete steps and iron railings, weaving their way through cavernous openings and claustrophobic crevices. And 3 days ago, Aidan and I hiked the National Pass, which is a step set of stairs and a trail carved in the side of a huge cliff face. I'll share some photos of that soon.

So here is one of the large caverns in Lucas Cave, featuring a set of old stone steps leading up to a stalagmite that we were told had been used for years as a pulpit for Sunday services. Televised I think. In any case, they also hold musical concerts in that cavern. Pretty wild.

And in the same cavern, this is a ladder they use to work the lighting.

This would be a tight squeeze on your belly to get through here. Not sure how they got the lights back in there. By they way, without any lights, the space is completely, 100%, not a trace of light, pitch black. They showed us this by turning all the lights off and having us wave our hands in front of our faces. Lots of people, including me, thought they could see a faint shadow of their hands. But it was a illusion. Your mind plays tricks on you in total darkness.

Looks like goop, but it's solid rock!

Winding through the cavern. Look through the opening and you can see the line of folks exploring the further reaches of the natural tunnel.

Spooky.

More long and winding paths.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (Discovered the "fish eye" effect on our new camera and decided to try it out.)

Our guide pointed out that the many openings to the cave do present somewhat of a hazard for the local wildlife. Here's an unfortunate wallaby that fell into the cave many years ago.

Here's what one looks like in it's natural habitat, which turns out to be snacking on vines by the side of the road.

Later we checked out the Orient Cave. The different caverns in this one are named after countries like Persia, China, and India. By this time, my main camera had run out of battery life, so most of these were shot with my cell phone. None of the pictures really convey the feel of either of these caves. They are just awesome to experience. Here is the granddaddy of the stalagmites, Hercules.

Orient cave is probably the most spectacular in terms of formations and dazzling crystals. It is also a lot tighter than Lucas Cave and they are more strict about not touching the stone. (Oils from your hands can discolor the crystals.) She made someone take out their gum before we started. I felt like I was back in school for a moment.

They call the wavy band-like formations shawls, ribbons, or sometimes bacon because of the stripped appearance. The stripes are bands of deposits that contain more iron. Not completely clear in this photo, but trust me, they look delicious.

And finally, here is some of the beautiful countryside we saw from the bus. If you look closely at the large plateau off in the distance, you can almost make out the band of cliff face toward the top that makes this area so remarkable. The town called Katoomba, and our temporary home away from home away from home, Leura, are up on top of that plateau.

Quite a day. Not sure but we may have also spotted a couple of kangaroos from the bus. Though Aidan insists they must have been wallabies. I think they were kangaroos.

Well, it's Monday morning here. Vaca is over and it's time to get back to work. Best to all!

-Greg