AUSTRALIA!!! Mate!

Deadly Boxer Jellyfish, stinging plants, huge crocodiles, oh my!  Welcome to Australia!  Julia and I went from the big city of Singapore to 4 nights in tropical beauty in the small town of Port Douglas-city of approx. 4,000 about an hr. north of Cairns. We arrived to find my cousin, Todd, at the local hostel and grabbed some lunch on the main drag-already loving the waitress's strong accent and laid back attitude.  Julia and I enjoyed a sunset walk on the lovely Four Mile Beach-lined with palm trees and mangroves with a back drop of mountains covered with rainforest sloping down to meet fields of sugarcane.  Signs warning of crocodiles and stinging jellyfish greeted us, but we had no fear-not until we saw the crocodile show the following day!  Really though, no worries (as the Aussies say), as there has not been a croc sighting on the beach for over one year now and there was a net out in the water to block the deadly jellyfish (although we decided to save our beach swimming for further down south w/out these potential dangers;). We grabbed groceries and a local rum and Todd joined us on our patio for happy hour including cheese, fruit and bread (which became a staple snack/meal over the next few days as AUS is pricey!).  We stayed at Bay Villas Resort and really enjoyed the cozy little hideaway.  It was right down the street from Todd, the main street and the beach.

Following day we rented a car and Todd was our lovely driver. Checked out Hartley's Crocodile Adventure where we met Paul and other crocs with back stories of eating water skiers, etc, and due to croc protection laws put in place around 1974, they had found their new home here. Saw Koalas and pet many wallabies among other marsupials-even saw a mom with her baby hanging his cute little head out of her pouch-SO adorable!  Learned about the most poisonous and elusive snake in AUS (the guide resembled Neil Young as a snake enthusiast) and watched him squirm all over the guide's arm, making me quite nervous. We took a boat ride into the croc infested lagoon on the grounds with a crocodile-dundee-wanna-be type who kept saying he was "38, divorced, and loved home-cooked meals", thinking to ourselves he should work on the beer belly that made him look 48 if he didn't want to stay single. He held out a long wooden stick with chicken heads tied to the end as we oohed and awed at the crocs leaping from the waters for a chomp-very exciting and creepy to watch!  We also watched this at a "Crocodile Atrack" show where the man was actually in the pen with the beast...the sound of those jaws slamming shut still haunts me!

Following am we all went down for some exercise on the beach (I was on croc watch the whole time after our previous day's activities as Todd and Julia left me in their dust!;) and then set out for our Daintree adventure. First stop was Mossman Gorge, a rainforest river valley that was absolutely stunning. Did a long hike through the forest admiring the huge bromides high up in the tall tall trees and all of the different varieties of moss, ferns, fungi were so fun to find and see. At one point we were reading a sign about one of the trees and how the Aboriginal people utilized it back in the day, when as we looked up, we locked eyes with a very pre-historic lizard with yellow, white, and black markings We came across another one of these later in the trail that ran right by Julia and looked at us for a bit before scurrying off on his hind legs. We swam in a crystal clear and croc free swimming hole on the way back. What a magical place it was...learning about how the Aboriginal people utilized these towering trees and plants, seeing the butterflies, hearing the birds and streams and little waterfalls here and there, realizing that you were walking through the oldest rainforest in the world, approx. 135 million years old, dinosaurs had walked this land, so amazing!  

We continued our drive on north towards Cape Tribulation, stopping for a picnic lunch of cheese and fruit of course, sweating it out in the humidity and listening to the birds sing their jungle songs. The cape was a cool point to reach (no pun intended;)...fairly quiet, long stretch of beach where the rainforest meets the palm fringed coast, and said cassowaries roam the area (so wish we would have seen one-road signs everywhere saying beware and I loved the way our Crocodile Dundee described them-as Emus in drag-ha!), and also read in my guide book that 6 meter crocs hid out in the nearby creeks (I did get nervous every time Todd got close to the mangroves with his photos-at one point I couldn't see him for a bit and thought he may have been someone's lunch!). We wondered, checked out a huge spider that a lady who used to be a guide pointed out to us (and said that the webs were so big and strong you could bounce back if ya ran into 'em;), admired the cut outs in the sand from the creeks draining into the Coral Sea and the lone mangrove trees out on a sandy point reaching for the ocean.  We hit the local ice cream factory on our drive back with their orchards and the mountainous forest in the backdrop. Julia was all about it and we saw a letter posted a child had sent in that said "Thx for your ice cream shop. It was my favorite part. Otherwise The Daintree would have been boring" and we said Julia could have written it. We enjoyed diff local flavors including wattleseed, passion fruit, and the usual coconut but with chunks of the flesh mixed in-yum!

Next day time for diving the Great Barrier Reef.  We went out on a Calypso boat (one of those bigger operations, so dives were somewhat shallow and short-but still awesome!) to a spot of the reef called Opal reef about an hr.+ from shore. First dive I was a little nervous as I hadn't been since our trip w/ my fam to Roatan in 2010, but Todd was there, my own personal instructor and dive master and it was so great getting to dive w/ him again!  We did two dives at approx. 60 ft. and saw giant clams the size of me with florescent "lips" from the algae!, a small 1 meter white tipped reef shark, a sand colored w/ powder blue spotted sting ray, TONS of brightly colored big and little fish, lots of sea cucumbers the size of my legs!, a HUGE wrass fish that was always hanging under the boat as you surfaced (word was the crew drops him some roast beef on occasion;), a large barracuda, and the most beautiful healthy coral and reef formations which I feel I did see a lot of in Roatan, but this was of course on a grander level-such a trip to another world, I could have stayed underwater all day. We also snorkeled one spot, since the dive was going to be so shallow, they call "The Fish Bowl", and that was def. the right call.  Again, reef was amazing with all of the colors and tons of fish. Julia ran back into that shark-ha!-as she was somewhat away from the group-and lived to tell of the encounter;). It was a fantastic day on the boat and one of the best lunches I might add!  Talked with crew some as Todd talked shop w/ em (he works out on Truk Island taking serious divers deep for ship wreck diving) and then saw them out at the only Irish pub in town as we ventured out for some Guinness beers that night in honor of St Patty's day. So fun getting to hang with my cuz.

On to Sydney...day one we walked all over town. The Royal Botanical Gardens were just that, royal and HUGE.  It was so nice walking through the roses, herbs, succulents, gigantic fig trees, etc. with the harbor on the other side. We had some nice views of the bridge and opera house, as well.  Of course these were the first things we checked out upon our arrival;). We stayed at the Glenferrie Lodge just across the harbor in north Sydney. It was dormitory style, but awesome location for the price and in a cool old building in the middle of a very nice neighborhood, Kirribilli Warf. We just walked across the street to a ferry station and could be at the Circular Quey w/in 5-10 minutes.  We also were only a 15 minute walk to the train station and only another 20 min. from there to walk across the bridge, and then there you were, looking right at the beautiful sailboat-like (or the artist's original idea steamed from orange peelings) grand Sydney Opera House. We had an intimate evening with it as we both saw our first opera there that night and it was oh so wonderful!  Saw La Boheme, sang in Italian of course, with the words streamed on a small screen above, and even though you could read the cheesy things they were singing to one another, it was just so romantic. The costumes were great, especially for this act where they were in a cabaret (there were even several ladies topless-Julia didn't even notice!). I also noticed just how long they could take to belt out only a few mushy words-it was a fabulous evening kicked off w/ dinner of salmon with fennel salad and a glass of sauvignon blanc at the "Opera Kitchen" sitting on the bay watching the sun set behind the Harbour Bridge.

We had an equally intimate evening with that Sydney Harbour Bridge. On our last night we "climbed" the bridge!  It took 2.5 hours which most of that was suiting up. We wore these goofy body suits equipped with anything you could ever need clipped and double clipped onto your industrial-type belt; a fleece zipped up in a bag, safety hooks, hat, bandana and your sunglasses were harnessed as well. It was quite the process!  Our guide, another Todd, was quirky and fun with the best bad jokes ever. He took us to a cool old hotel bar down the street afterwards to share some libations, chips and pizza (I tried croc pizza-bit fishy, but had to try some sort of strange Australian meat!;) with his fellow bridge climbing gal pals.  They were young and crazy. They couldn't believe we were 30-something and wanted proof!  Loads of fun to chat and laugh with them and Julia even made a new FB friend;)-oh nutty Chantelle Shenanigans!

That day had been a special experience with a connection of Julia's. Her friend's aunt (American-an Okie!) and uncle (a Sydneysider) were so sweet to meet us and treat us to some Aussie hospitality. David picked us up, treated us to coffee on @beach, and then proceeded to drive us all over the harbor side admiring the amazing homes, sparkling harbor views, quaint little neighborhoods, and MANY BEAUTIFUL beaches and cliff-side views. This included a stop at the famous Bondi Beach with it's men flexing, babes tanning, banana hammocks;), crystal clear water and bohemian feeling surrounding neighborhood. We all enjoyed a refreshing swim, Julia and I played in the waves, and we soaked up some of that intense Aussie sun (apparently there's a hole in the ozone layer so you slather the screen on wherever you go).  Then we had a yummy lunch on Bronte Beach with stunning views. I had this lentil/veggie curry burger that may have been one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. He also drove us out to @ where we could look across from the south head to the north head where the Pacific trickles into Port Jackson/the harbor-so magnificent. Rock formations were so cool and you suddenly felt so small amongst the vastness of this opening.

The next day we had the pleasure of meeting his wife Lisa (she had been out of town) and they again treated us to breakfast on Neilsen beach, I believe it was called, where sharks lurk and an old steel post still sits from back in the day when a shark net didn't do much good. They even offered and took us to the airport. Such sweet, generous, and neat people. Felt so fortunate to meet them and really enjoyed their company.  Told 'em to come boot scootin' at the Broken Spoke on Austin soon and we'd show 'me a good time.

Another top highlight of this trip was our hike from Manly Beach to an area they call the Spit (you then can catch a bus back to Manly). It was the most gorgeous hike with each lookout surpassing the last-couldn't believe how beautiful it was and felt so blessed to experience all the nature at it's finest. Almost 10 km hike along the harbor coast, through the Sydney National Park, up and down hills, steps, over and under rocks, along small tidal pools, on sandy beaches, some roads/paved ways, through residential parks and lovely exclusive neighborhoods...enjoying cliff views dotted with sailboats and water all shades of blue, a remote Greek style lighthouse at Grotto Point still in use w/ waves crashing on the rocks below, sounds of birds and things scurrying in the brush, (finally heard a kookaburra!), saw lots of pretty brush flowers and water dragon lizards that at times would catch you by surprise, and spoke with some nice locals. Afterward we treated ourselves to sunset, sashimi and beers at an awesome microbrewery called 4 Pines on Manly Beach-such a wonderful memory. Then ferry ride (which is such a great and beautiful experience in itself) back through the harbor back home-only about 30 min. ride.

Before moving on to Melbourne, I do want to document in my little journal that we enjoyed a drink at The Lord Nelson Brewery in The Rocks in Sydney and also remember my scary hair cut and color experience that was very Asian in Singapore;), high tea at the famous Raffles hotel in Singapore, $25 Chimays, night out at neighborhood bar w/ our little Singaporean lesbian friend, visiting the bird sanctuary with the tallest man made waterfall in the world in one of their aviaries and our last night in Singapore enjoying Asian cuisine on the river.

Day one of Melbourne we arrived late afternoon and were just pooped!  We stayed in the room for a bit to catch our breath, and were actually staying in a really nice comfortable place. It was a historic hotel called The Rendezvous celebrating it's centennial year. I appreciated the old tile floors, stained glass and we had our own bathroom-yea!;). It was located across from Flinder's Street Station (another grand lovely building that was the train station) in the heart of the city-the Central Business District (CBD).

That evening we stumbled upon one of the bustling "lane ways", where an alleyway is basically transformed into a row of busy happening bars and restaurants come nightfall, and I had prawn risotto.  Next day we learned that that one was one of the most popular lane ways in the city. Melbourne definitely felt more like an urban city with an energetic vibe, people everywhere all of the time, all ages and ethnicities, although did see a lot of young adults and backpackers on our street (as backpacker lodges and a university were down the way).  I like to see the grungy side of cities and liked the rawness here.  The suburbs were becoming more gentrified and were filled with funky quirky boutiques and cafes-reminded me of Austin with the laid back people who were just living and enjoying life, not trying to impress anyone. The city exhibited a lot of culture with great expressions of art in all kinds of ways all over this interesting city. It's a city of approx. 4 million and has the Yarra River running through the CBD with of course a trail and the Botanical Gardens around it. Again, reminding me of Austin.

Following day we had a free walking tour that was excellent. The visitor's center was huge and very well done. You could tell they prided themselves in making it important to share their city.  Our guide was probably in her 60's, a very classy and nice lady, who had been volunteering for the city for 8 yrs. We had a Singaporean couple in our group that was in town to see their surgeon son compete in a ball-room dancing competition! and another student couple in town from Hong Kong for a convention. The guide shared all kinds of stories behind the city's street art, history of being founded around 1835 and w/in 20 yrs. having grand buildings due to the gold rush (they were mining a ton of gold per week!), And the amazing architecture including many beautiful buildings, arcades, an old hardware store and churches from the 1840's and Art Deco masterpieces of the 1920 and 1930's.  We saw secret hideouts for pop up coffee shops and stopped for a flat white (coffee with milk;) our selves at the old post office (which was turned shopping center-SO MUCH shopping here!).  Lastly walked down the Yarra River edge admiring the eucalyptus (Gum) trees and discussing the nearby Art Museum of Victoria which Julia and I visited the next day (saw interesting exhibit of several people acting out performances they had seen on YouTube simultaneously-very cool, weird and hilarious!  A gal was doing improv and asked me to share some things about myself-then proceeded to act it out-I was dying laughing-wish I had it on video...also saw an exhibit focusing on Christ in art which was appropriate for the Easter Season and saw lovely Orthodox icons from the 16th century). 
Afterward Julia wasn't feeling so great and went home for a nap, so I went on the check out the funky suburb of Fitzroy. Like I said earlier, reminded me of a SoCo on steroids. Quirky cafes, boutiques and people everywhere. Ate at a place called "Grub" for a dog and cider beer while watching people with their dogs sip coffee and catch up. Inside you could watch the cook chopping vegetables on a huge butcher block type table in a big open dining room-chandeliers hanging from above along with several baby dolls-keepin' it weird!  Down the street I bought a vintage leather purse, and just wondered the streets and neighborhoods. On Smith street I found this cute boutique where the lady and her mom were so sweet. They sold me a great turquoise and sequin dress that I'll prob wear for my cousin's upcoming wedding in CO designed by a Sydney designer.  Later had a HH cocktail and watched the red lipstick, crazy outfits and tattoos and then home to my sweetie.  We ate at a happening Italian place in the CBD we stumbled upon and I had a delicious mushroom lasagne started off with caramelized cauliflower with pine nuts.

Following day Botanical Gardens after maneuvering through a huge race that was going on, it was not as spectacular as the one in Sydney, but lovely morning none the less. Went to art museum as I said above, then checked out the multi-cultural festival on the river, sampling Caribbean and Turkish food, had an elephant siting (people dressed up on all fours on stilts!) and listened to a honkey tonk band that made me think about home;).

That afternoon/evening was the Penguin Parade and another top highlight of our trip. About 2 hr bus ride outside of Melbourne was Phillip Island famous for it's waves and the little guys. Used to be called "Fairy Penguins", but to be politically correct their name has been changed to the "Little Penguins". They are the smallest in the world and only weigh approx 1 kg.  People have been coming out to watch them come in from the Tasman Sea since the 1920's.  They have burrows on land all along the hillside lining the beach and you were able to watch them for over an hour wonder up to their homes, watch them defend their place, copulate, saw baby chicks, heard them squawk and chirp, and saw about 500 come out of the sea and waddle across the beach. They form "rafts" of several of them 100 meters out from shore, then groups file in at different times.  Just when we thought the parade was over, another raft would pop out of the water, looking cautiously for any predators. It was just so cool to see and the spot was of course gorgeous as we watched the sunset beforehand.  Also saw wallabies all over the grounds with one even hopping across the beach while we watched the parade!  Also want to mention I saw a cockatoo hoping around as we parked the bus-white with a light pink head-fun to see in the wild;).

Next day I checked out Chapel St. and Saint Kilda while Julia went to Fitzroy. Chapel St went from fancy boutiques and eclectic cafes becoming more funky as you headed south. Had coffee, bought a dress on sale, and then wondered the streets of the Prahran district.  Had one of the best lunches-vodka and lime cured ocean trout bruschetta with fennel, dill and grapefruit at a place called St. Edmonds.  All of their food looked excellent and it was fun watching the locals come in and grab their flat whites for take away.

St. Kilda was nice to see as it had that great feel all beaches do, although it was not the prettiest beach. Luna Park was down there which is/was famous for an old wooden roller coaster with re entrance a somewhat creepy clown head in which you walk through his mouth. It was closed that day, otherwise I would have taken a ride. I walked down the boardwalk and their were lots of people out for a Monday. Apparently an Ironman had taken place so a beach bar I stopped at for a bit had a lot of nice guys to watch;). I walked through the little main drag famous for it's cake shops dating back to the 1920's. Windows were piled high with cakes, pies, cookies, macaroons with all kinds of colors and textures to observe, lots of Easter goodies, too. I also stumbled upon a huge community garden that reminded me of the one in Austin. Saw a very large pumpkin, chicken houses, interesting scare crows, a mouse scurrying through, a cage of parrots...it was so random and awesome!

That night Julia and I ate at a place on the river across from our hotel. Had a drink on this floating bar under the bridge first that was happening. I had a fabulous wagu beef burger with truffle aioli and chips (fries;), the place was known for their meat and they definitely had an impressive meat case. We were amazed by how many people were out and about...loved the energy of this city...a city with a soul.

Following day we checked out the Queen Victoria Market for some travel munchies and coffee. Bought double cream Brie (that was later snagged by customs :-/) and olive bread. The market was beautiful with all of the baked goods, Easter hot cross buns, colorful fruit and the meat section was impressive (we laughed about the comparison to Bangkok where it all began-raw meat hanging out in the elements vs. meat in an actual case and refrigerated). Bought soaps from a local little shop for gifts and the man who probably owned the place was friendly. He asked about Thunder basketball after asking where we were from-really have enjoyed the people here.

Later that afternoon Julia went to go see St. Kilda and I explored some more of the architecture in the CBD off of Collins St.  I stopped in a busy and delicious Japanese restaurant called The Purple Pea.  A local on her lunch break shared a table with me and it was fun chatting with her.  I sat in the sun with people laying out on their lunch break on a lawn in front of a big business building, then went down the road for a much needed pedicure.  Found a cool cafe inside a neat old building on my walk back toward the hotel and was able to catch Megan by phone and talked for an hour.  So great to catch up with her and hear about the wedding stuff, etc. 

That night Julia and I ate at a wonderful Italian restaurant called "Trunk".  It was listed in my guide book and definitely was special.  It was in an old Synagogue and the food was delicious!  I had the bolognese and tried the Tasmanian Pinot Noir and we reminisced about our amazing trip.  What an awesome time we had and we did so well together for all of that time!  Such special memories to last a life time!

Next day Julia flew to LA to visit Rosie and I was off to New Zealand!  Ready to take on country number seven!  NZ has been absolutely stunning thus far and I will have to update agian soon about all of the crazy things we've been doing!