Parting Comments from Down Under
Thursday, February 28th, 2008First of all, I realize I spend a lot more time composing my blog in my head from various and sundry hotel rooms, than I do actually writing it. Frankly, it sounds so much better in my head. And then, when faced with the blank space on the computer screen, all of my wittily observant comments just fly away and I sit here thinking- now how to amuse them today? (NB- that’s a quote from one of my favorite poems, by A.A. Milne- I think it’s titled “Sneezles”. Further NB- A.A. Milne is the author of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, for those who need clarification. Further further NB- you see what happens when my intellectual exercise is limited to- Do you want sugar in your latte?)
Need to give a quick rundown on the cities that I missed after Alice Springs.
Already gave the basics on what I did (and didn’t do) in Cairns. Cairns is a little town that thinks it’s a big city. Very touristy- not suprising as it’s the jumping off (or should I say diving down?) point for the Great Barrier Reef. Also- very hot and steamy in the summer. And can be wet- since summer is the rainy season. I did experience rain there- but it only poured for about an hour, as opposed to Club Med Lindeman Island (Whitsundays) where it poured for 3 days. (Or Sydney, for that matter, where it poured much of yesterday. The curse continues!)
I really didn’t book myself enough time in Cairns. That’s been a big problem for me on this trip. When I traveled through Europe and South America, the most ahead I booked was a day or two. Here I have booked everything ahead, with reason, since many of the cities don’t seem to have enough hotel rooms. If you are reading this blog from the beginning, you already know of the disaster I had in Melbourne. Similar problem here in Sydney since I managed to plan my visit to coincide with the 30th annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. I was able to snag a room for 6 days at a reasonable price (amazing that after 4 weeks in NZ and 6 weeks in AU, I think $100 is a reasonable price. Pray that the costs go down in Asia!) but there was no vacancy for tonight, my last night in Sydney. So as soon as I finish blogging I’m off to my new room at a ritzier, more expensive hotel in downtown Sydney.)
So, back to Cairns. Got there at night and checked into my hotel (which looked a whole lot closer to the CBD on the map). Room was hot! (as was Cairns) Went down to discuss this with the woman at reception and she told me to open the balcony door and turn on the fan and that this would pull out the hot air from the room, and then the A/C would kick in. Should have known better. By the time I realized that this plan was not working well, reception had closed for the night. Changed rooms the next morning.
I had only planned out 2 full days in Cairns, and since I slept away the first morning, and then had to change rooms AND decide what tour(s) I wanted to take, this only left me with 1 full day. I figured I had to see the Great Barrier Reef and booked that tour. Also booked the evening performance and dinner at Tjupakai (pronounced a bit like Chappaqua), an Aboriginal center. Interesting, but nowhere near as good as the Maori evening I did in Rotorua, NZ. The food, while good and certainly plentiful (hey, my dad’s voice was in my head telling me to eat my money’s worth), it bore no relation whatsoever to Aboriginal cuisine- although I suspect witchity grubs would not go over big with the tourists. Moreover, where the Maori hangi had all 200 or 300 of us sitting at long tables, here you got 1 table per booking. Which means I had a delightful table for 1. When I raised this with the hostess- something along the lines of “Wouldn’t it be more friendly…?” she responded with something about how awful it would be if I had to sit next to someone I didn’t like. Weird view of tourist travel. There were 2 women at a table next to me who invited me to pull up my table, and another solo traveler invited herself over as well, so all’s well that ends well. The performance was a lot hokier than the Maori one but, all in all, an enjoyable evening.
As to the Great Barrier Reef, can’t say I saw that much. The weather wasn’t terrible- it wasn’t raining, but there had been a lot of rain and there was still a lot of wind, so the water was on the murky side, and the glass bottom boat and semi-submersible boat did not go out that far. File this under “been there, done that” (have recently learned that’s an American expression- who knew?)
Then, on to Club Med. Club Med is Club Med wherever you go- God bless ’em! At $200 a night it was “good value” (an Aussie expression) and hardly much more than I’ve been paying if you consider that this was a quality room with all you can eat and drink, plus people doing their damnedest to entertain you while the floodgates continue to open. The Club was mostly Australians (GOs and GMs- or staff and guests for those who need an explanation) and this was probably a very good thing. If the guests had been Americans, everyone would have been bitching and moaning about the rain and how it was ruining their vacation. The Aussies seemed to take it all in stride. I was even told how Australia needed the rain. (Talk about looking on the bright side.)
As noted in a previous post, I did get the opportunity to perfect my Texas Hold ’em, which I first learned in Club Med Bora Bora (also as a rainy day activity). The balance of my visit was eating (worst Club Med food I have ever had- geared to the Australian way of eating- which sucks! Potatoes and other starches in 27 different styles, no veggies except basic salad greens- lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers… Fish, but mostly fried, and sauces on everything) and drinking- well that was fine, and lots and lots of conversation (God I miss having people around to talk to. On the road, you get to talk to lots of people, but real conversation, interesting conversation- not so simple) with lots of people. Got to see the whole Club (which is actually built vertically) the day I arrived when it was only drizzling; didn’t know there was a beach until the morning I left when the rain was stopping. But it was Club Med and I love Club Med. So there.
Then on to Brisbane. As opposed to Cairns, Brisbane is a big city that thinks it’s a small town. It’s the third largest city in Australia and seems to be growing at a rapid rate. Construction everywhere! Walked around and saw the whole city. Had dinner with Lindy, someone I met in Tahiti and it was nice to sit down for dinner with a friend. Liked Brisbane but don’t have all that much to say about it.
Then Byron Bay. Not much of a city or town, but what a beach! If you are looking at my photos you will see the first set of surfer pictures. (Enjoyed doing that so much, I went for another few in Sydney.) I really got into taking pictures on the beach. Also, the food started to improve- Besides being known for its surfing, Byron Bay is home to a lot of new age-y body stuff- spas, etc. Maybe the body-consciousness lends itself to fresh fruits and vegetables, and fish that isn’t fried. Unless you are involved in water sports there is not much to do in Byron Bay but go to the beach. So I did.
Initially thought I would take a bus from Byron down to Sydney, my last stop. Figured from the map, and from the bus ride from Brisbane to Byron, that it would be another 8 or 9 hours to Sydney, a lot, but doable. Wrong! Forgot to factor in the regular stops every 2 hours which make the journey 14 hours and definitely not doable. So back on the internet and booked a flight. Unfortunately the cheapest flight was out of Coolangatta (known as the Gold Coast airport) which is 1 hour away. The good news was that Coolangatta is in Queensland and Byron Bay is in New South Wales and they are on different time because one of them is on daylight savings time and the other isn’t. So the taxi picked me up at 8 am and had me at the airport before 8 am. This would have been terrific except Virgin Blue cancelled my 9 am flight for technical problems. So back on the internet for another 2 hours.
Sydney is a magnificent city and I could definitely contemplate living here. Their beloved harbor is gorgeous, although I’m not sure their bridge is as beautiful as they think it is. I’ve explored almost every nook and cranny in the past week and none of it is disappointing. Loved Bondi Beach and I’m thinking of finishing my stay here with a ferry trip to Manly Beach so I can see the harbor from a different view.
This entry got way out of hand, but I have said just about all I have to say about Australia. Tomorrow, on to Asia. Pretty excited about this. A little nervous but I’ll keep all of you faithful readers posted.
Speak to you soon.
myra_n