Australia
June 2018
Day 1: Holly and I flew separately from Mary, she had found a different flight using her credit card miles. Mike dropped off me and Holly in New Orleans for our short flight to Houston. We had a long layover in Houston before our 9:00 pm flight. We lucked up and had a vacant seat in between us for the 17 1/2 hour flight to Sydney, so we had more space than usual. On the flight we had a few drinks and watched several movies while dozing on and off, trying to get some decent sleep. When we finally landed it was 6 am on Monday, we had left Houston at 9 pm on Saturday, so we missed Sunday (and Father's Day) completely. When we got to the airport we quickly went through customs and me and Holly went to grab our bags. As we were trying to leave the airport we saw Mary running up to us (she had landed about 10 minutes before us), telling us that her bags didn't make it...but Chris Hemsworth was on her flight! We had to do some investigating to figure out where to report Mary's missing luggage... We were all a bit delirious, but we finally found the Qantas help desk. They apologized to Mary and gave her some pajamas (that were so thin they were see through) and some toiletries (including men's deodorant). Next we exited the airport to wait for a taxi...it was cold and rainy. Because Mary didn't have her bags, we were able to fit the three of us and the bags we did have in a regular size car. We were headed to our hotel in Woolloomooloo (it took us about 2 days to be able to pronounce it). We found this sign to help us remember....
We got to our hotel and we were pleasantly surprised by the space and the view at the Woolloomooloo Water Serviced Apartments. We knew we had to stay awake all day, so we couldn't stay there long or we would fall asleep (15 hour time difference). We were all hungry at this point. Having your last three meals as airplane food (one meal which I missed because I was sleeping) will do that to you. The guy at the front desk told us about a great brunch place just a couple blocks away, Charlie's. It was a Mediterranean place and we had never heard of anything on the menu except a burger, so we ordered that, but the guy behind the counter said "you can get a burger at home, you have to try a gozleme. We were so glad we did... It was delicious!
After brunch we walked into town to try to find a store for Mary to buy some necessities. We stumbled upon a pub (Hyde Park House) and Holly and I had to try a local beer, then were on our way to find a store. We ended up at the Queen Victoria Building and found a Victoria's Secret. We did a good bit of walking then it started raining so we Ubered to The Peanut Butter Bar. Holly had saw a video from Facebook, and we knew we had to try it. They have peanut butter on TAP people! We each got a treat, but Mary's apple crumble was the best.
We thought it would be fun to take a public bus back to our hotel, so we each bought an Opal card and added $10. Little did we know how confusing the bus systems would be. At first we tried to get on a bus that turned out to be a school bus. Then, with the help of some locals we were given better directions and helped us get closer to our hotel. We still had to walk a good ways to get back and were exhausted. We arrived back at the hotel at 5 pm, showered and went to sleep.
Day 2: We woke up around 8 am the next morning. Got dressed and headed to Sienna Maria for breakfast, then Ubered to the Harbor Bridge for our climb. We were given a breathalyzer, plenty of instructions, gear and we were off with our guide. It was not ideal weather for climbing...50°℉ and raining. Right after we got geared up their was a bit of a lightening storm so we had to wait under the bridge for a little while. After about 20 minutes we were off and climbing. The bridge is 134m high, 1,149m long, made of 52,800 tons of steel and 6 million rivets, and had the most wonderful views.
After the bridge climb we had lunch under the bridge a the Harbor View Restaurant and had another couple pints of local beer (150 lashes, which became our favorite). We then walked through the Rocks and Circular Quay to finally reach the Sydney Opera House. We bought tickets for a tour and were on our way. The Architect Jorn Utson won the competition to design this "national opera house." His design estimated it would cost $7 Million and take 4 years to build. In actuality it cost $102 Million and took 14 years to build. Midway through the project he was fired. In 1966 architect, Peter Hall was appointed to design the interior and Utson returned to Denmark, never to see the completion of the project.
After our tour we walked over to the Australian Hotel in the Rocks for dinner and drinks. Just so happens it was also trivia night! Mary wasn't thrilled because she was ready for bed, but we stayed to finish out the game coming in 4th place out of about 10 teams.
Day 3: The alarm went off at 5 am and we began to get ready for our Blue Mountains day trip and River Cruise. We had a ten minute walk to our tour meeting point at the Holiday Inn. We met our guide Trys and later stopped for breakfast and tea/coffee. On the way to the Blue Mountains he shared some aboriginal history with us. The Blue Mountains were sacred to the aboriginal people because this is the place they brought their young to teach them. After several hours on the bus we finally got to the Blue Mountains. Named that because they look blue due to all of the Eucalyptus in the air from the trees. We first took the sky rail over the valley, seeing the famous "Three Sisters." On the other side of the mountain we boarded the world's steepest train to get to the valley, explored a bit, then took the cable way back to the top station at Scenic World.
We stopped for lunch then on to Featherdale Wildlife Park where we got to hand feed Kangaroos, wallabies, "pattymelts" as we called them, and more. We got a picture with a Koala. In NSW it is actually illegal to hold a koala, but we did get to pet it. Later in the trip in Cairns, Holly did get to hold one.
Day 4: we had a "free day" so decided to sleep in... at least Holly and I did. It was still cold and raining so we took an uber to another restaurant we had heard about for lunch. Burger Point, where they dip everything in nacho cheese. It was a bit out of the way, but we didn't have any other plans so why not.
After lunch we uberd back to Circular Quay to take the ferry over to Manly beach. We had no idea what to expect and still no plans when we got there. When we arrived Holly and I found the 4 Pines brewery and stopped for a quick pint. Then we walked to the beach and watched the surfers for a while and did some shopping. If it wasn't so cold we would have taken surfing lessons... maybe next time.
On the way back to Sydney the views were stunning...
When we returned we joined up with a "Free" walking tour of the Rocks Holly wanted to do. It wasn't quite what we expected, but we learned more about the history of the area and got to see a lot of the area that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. After our tour, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant and headed back to the hotel.
Day 5: The next morning we packed our bags and checked out of our hotel and headed to the airport. We boarded a 12:30 pm flight to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. We landed and thankfully we all three had our bags. We got in a taxi and headed to our hotel, the Mercure Alice Springs resort. It was a short walk to town to exchange some money and grab dinner before headed back to the hotel for our 4 pm pick up to the Kangaroo Sanitary. On the short bus ride, we watched the start of Kangaroo Dundee, a TV show that aired on the BBC for 3 years. When we got off the bus, Kangaroo Dundee himself welcomed us to his place. He explained that during the dry season in Australia the grass is greener by the highways (due to the pollution from cars), and often times kangaroos get hit by cars while looking for the green grass, but sometimes the joey inside the mothers pouch survives the impact which leaves the joey abandoned. Kangaroo Dundee made a sanctuary for these kangaroos. He "mothers" them for about a year then sets them back into the bush. However the kangaroos that were injured or he didn't think would make it in the wild stays at this huge sanctuary. One of the kangaroos he is currently fostering is named Maxine. We got to hold her, but were given strict instructions. Then we set off into the bush to find the adults.
We skipped dinner that night and went to bed early due to an early wake up call the next morning.
Day 6: By 6 am we were checked out of our hotel in Alice Springs and left our luggage with them. We had only a backpack we could bring for the next three days on our outback camping trip. Our guide Matt picked us up promptly at 6 am and we got on the bus. It was cold... the indoor thermostat read 1℃ (33℉) we picked up a couple more people and we quickly realized that their is NO HEATER on the bus! This was going to be a long morning of driving.... We stopped for a bathroom break at a working camel farm. When we went inside to use the restroom we found a fireplace and all huddled around it for 15 minutes or so, never seeing the camels. We stopped again about an hour later at a service station and they had wool lined sweatshirts and Holly and I both bought one. It was expensive, but we were freezing! After another couple of hours we made it to camp and took a short hike to a lookout point. We ate dinner (chicken wings, couscous and salad). After lunch we got back on the bus and made our way to Kata Tjuta. After our walk we got back on the bus and headed to the iconic Uluru (Ayers Rock). We arrived right before sunset and we helped Matt unload some snacks and champagne. We had cheese, crackers, sausages made out of kangaroo and emu, and Emu pate. I stuck with the cheese and crackers and champagne of course. We watched in awe as the sun set upon Uluru and we watched the colors change from a rust to a pale pink to bright orange. It was breathtaking to watch. We headed back to camp to eat steak dinner under the stars. After we all had a couple glasses of champagne and a couple glasses of wine at dinner we were all really getting to know each other. We hung out by the campfire before heading to our tents. Mary and Holly shared a tent and I had my own. I was very thankful because my tent had extra blankets for the empty bed that I was able to use. It got down to 37℉ that night and I slept in almost every piece of clothing I brought.
Day 7: We woke up and had breakfast and headed back to Uluru before sunrise. We hiked around the base of Uluru for about 2.5 hours, stopping to watch the rock change colors again during sunrise. Uluru/Ayers Rock is a sacred to the aborigine people. There are some areas of the rock that we weren't allowed to take pictures of. As we walked the group thinned and some people teamed up... after a bathroom break Holly and I were walking with a nice British gal, Amber. We walked and talked for a while but was glad to see our bus which meant the end of our walk. When we got there, we noticed that we were the last of the group to arrive... except Sybil. No one knew where she was so Matt when on a hunt to find her, while we got to hear from a local aborigine woman, Joann (with the help of a translator) explain to us the hunting and gathering methods used and also explained many of the cave drawings. We joined up with a different group and was planning on meeting Matt, our guide, back at the visitors center. We found him and asked about Sybil, then he realized that she never made it back to us after he found her and directed her to our group, and was lost again! His exact words were " oh bloody hell..." Come to find out Sybil was planning on hitch hiking back to the visitors center, but luckily a different tour guide offered her a ride and we were all reunited. We had several laughs after we found her!
Day 7: We woke up and had breakfast and headed back to Uluru before sunrise. We hiked around the base of Uluru for about 2.5 hours, stopping to watch the rock change colors again during sunrise. Uluru/Ayers Rock is a sacred to the aborigine people. There are some areas of the rock that we weren't allowed to take pictures of. As we walked the group thinned and some people teamed up... after a bathroom break Holly and I were walking with a nice British gal, Amber. We walked and talked for a while but was glad to see our bus which meant the end of our walk. When we got there, we noticed that we were the last of the group to arrive... except Sybil. No one knew where she was so Matt when on a hunt to find her, while we got to hear from a local aborigine woman, Joann (with the help of a translator) explain to us the hunting and gathering methods used and also explained many of the cave drawings. We joined up with a different group and was planning on meeting Matt, our guide, back at the visitors center. We found him and asked about Sybil, then he realized that she never made it back to us after he found her and directed her to our group, and was lost again! His exact words were " oh bloody hell..." Come to find out Sybil was planning on hitch hiking back to the visitors center, but luckily a different tour guide offered her a ride and we were all reunited. We had several laughs after we found her!
After our adventurous morning we got back on the bus to head to a different campsite at King's Canyon. We drove for a while (the whole time we were looking for dead kangaroos, because Holly volunteered to search it's pouch for a joey... and we would name Tabasco), stopping to get a glimpse of Mt. Connor and also Australia's largest salt lake and gathering firewood for the night's camp. When we were close to camp Matt dropped us off at a bar while he went back to set up camp/dinner. The group consisted of us three sisters, two friends from the Netherlands (Ray and Lotte) a British lady (Amber), her travel partner from Philly (Sybil), a funny older German lady (Kirsten), two from China. that now live in Singapore and Faith (originally from the Philippines) and her boyfriend from Australia.
After a night of plenty of wine/beer and laughs, we called it a night.
Day 8: We had another early wake up call before sunrise. We were headed to hike King's Canyon. They had different options of hikes you could take. The "Dutchies," Amber, Kristen and myself opted for the not so strenuous hike. I thought it would have been a bit easier than it was. The young Dutchies hiked pretty fast so Amber, Kristen and myself kept each other motivated to finish. They were great company and Amber even spotted a couple kangaroos in the wild coming down the canyon.
After our hike we headed back to camp for one final time for lunch and to get packed up. Then we drove for what seemed like forever back to Alice Springs where Matt dropped us back off at our hotel and we said goodbye to everyone. We skipped dinner, took a hot shower and climbed into bed.
Day 9: We woke up thinking we had a late flight to Cairns and plenty of time to repack, then realized that Mary looked at the wrong flight time and we had an hour to get packed and to the airport. We threw everything into bags and called the front desk to call us a cab. We quickly got to the airport just in time to find out our flight had been delayed. At the airport we saw the Dutchies (Ray and Lotte) and the Thelma & Louise gals (Amber and Sybil), we were all on the same flight to Cairns. We made it to Cairns later that day and took a shuttle bus to the car rental place. When they brought our car around we thought "there is no way all of our luggage will fit in there..." well, it was tight, but we made it fit! Poor Holly got crammed in the backseat with most of it.
We made our way to our place in Trinity Beach. Mary was driving (wrong side of the road and wrong side of the car), everything was backwards... every time she went to put on her blinker she would turn on the windshield wipers, EVERY TIME! We unpacked, enjoyed the view from our balcony, then headed to dinner right outside the resort, then walked a couple blocks to the beach. Then finally to sleep.
Day 10: We woke up early again because we were nervous about navigating to the boat terminal for our Great Barrier Reef snorkel/scuba tour. We made it there with no issues and even had time to spare to grab a coffee before we got on the boat. We got on the boat and the captain immediately welcomed us and asked if we were all sisters. We chatted for a minute then we realized that even though we were not certified to scuba, we could go with an instructor. We decided to go for it. On the way out of the reef we had to go over safety/scuba instructions and found out that we would have to pass a couple under water tests before we would be allowed to go down. We finally got out to the reef and we jumped in a glass bottom boat to look around, then we grabbed our snorkel gear and headed out. Holly has always had a hard time with snorkel gear so she had brought her own mask.
Day 11: We had a pick up at 8 am to bring us to the Sky rail up to the Daintree Rain forest. The sky rail has a couple stops on the way where you can get out and walk around before continuing up to the rain forest. At the top of the sky rail is a small town called Kuranda. It's a really cute town with plenty of markets and another wildlife park. It's legal in Queensland to hold a Koala and that was Holly's mission...
After we shopped and went to the wildlife park we went to ride quad bikes around the rain forest. We had a great time, although I did wreck the bike, clearing out a couple trees once.
Then we went to the mall so Mary could buy another piece of luggage (hers was overweight, so needed a second). Then we headed down to the Esplanade in Cairns for dinner and a night market.
Day 12: Our last day in Cairns. We slept in, then had breakfast at the place next to our resort (I had the best mozzarella and potato donuts), and walked to the beach for a quiet afternoon. Since we had time to kill, me and Holly played a trick on Mary and moved our car. She had a slight panic attack and went and asked the front desk if we had been towed. We hid behind a column and laughed. We then headed back to turn in our rental car and waited for our flight back to Sydney.
We got to Sydney late and assumed we could walk to our hotel since it looked like it was right across the street. It was cold and we had lots of bags, but we finally made it to our hotel!
Day 14: We got to Houston, had a small layover then arrived in New Orleans. Home Sweet Home.