Taking a breathilizer in Oz!!!
Well, first to apologize for waiting 2 weeks to do a blog entry but hey, we’re on holiday here!
Sydney was great, and coming from someone who isn’t normally fond of big cities that is saying something! We had originally booked 2nights at the Glenferrie Lodge in North Sydney and extending for 3 more nights. It was a 78room huge old victorian house that they made into a lodge with bathrooms down the hall and complimentary breakfast (which, of course, just means we paid for it in the price of the room!) The best thing about it was the location. It was about a 3minute walk to the ferry terminal and then a 5minute ferry ride right to Circular Quay in Sydney harbor with the Opera House on one side and the Harbor bridge on the other. Right at The Rocks for bars, restaurants, shopping etc and a main hub for the train / bus to other parts of the city.
The one big thing we wanted to do was the bridge climb on Habor bridge because we’d heard how wonderful it was. Well, it’s not. It cost us $225 USD per person and took about 3 1/2 hrs and was, sorry to say, really anticlimatic. Basically, you’re just getting a slightly higher view of exactly the same thing as you see just walking across the bridge. Big bummer. But, other than that we did enjoy Sydney. We spent one day out at Bondi Beach, some time in the Kings Cross area…sort of the backpacker hub of the city, lots of times at pubs around The Rocks, went to the zoo which is great… right on the harbor with a great design. And, we walked and walked and walked. Other than the 1009 steps we did climbing the bridge we walked a good 4-5 hours a day along with lots of stairs. Our dogs were feeling it by the end of our Sydney stay!
We had been unsure what to do around the area that wasn’t horribly expensive and pretty close to the city. Other than Blue Mountains we just weren’t too excited about anything except Melbourne which was too far and too much money. So, we once again extended our campervan and changed our flight to fly up to Brisbane on 10Oct.
This time we rented a Hippie van and boy, is it different than the Maui camper we had in New Zealand. It’s basically just a van with a small fridge and sink when you open the back door. Very tight quarters and, unfortunately, pretty cheaply made…with plastic blinds instead of fabric curtains, for instance. We knew instantly that it was not going to cut it for the month but… we didn’t want to pay to upgrade to a bigger van with more room so decided to make the best of it and just occasionally throw a few hotel nights in with our campground stays. All part of the joy of traveling!
We drove south first, to Byron Bay for 3 nights. Byron is an old hippy hangout and a very chill spot. The campground was on the beach and right next to town so really easy to get around. We did not much of anything except swim, read, and hang out.
Then, we decided to start heading north towards our final destination, Cairns. First stop was Bribie Island for 1 night before our 3 nights booked into Jim’s parents timeshare at the worldmark on Golden Beach. It was a fairly short drive and Bribie is beautiful. Lukewarm water, no waves and a cute little place.
On the way to Golden Beach we stopped at Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwins, “Australia Zoo”. It didn’t have nearly as many animals as the Sydney zoo but was really nicely laid out and very cool in that you could play with the kangeroos, pet the koala’s, hold a snake, etc. And, yep, some enormous crocs live there!
The worldmark resort was a nice break from the camper …right on the beach with a pool, ensuite bathroom AND tv…oh yea, we were living large! HA HA., Now, we’re at Hervey Bay a bit futher north. On the way today we stopped by the Wednesday Eumundi markets wanting to browse and get some fresh produce for dinner. We didn’t think it would be too busy being a Wed. afternoon but it was PACKED. This is one big market, over 200 booths, lots of food stalls and masses of people. Very fun.
We’re at the campground here in Hervey for 2 nights. Oceanfront space which is great. The facilites at this camp are not fantastic but we’re just going to chill out on the beach tomorrow and see how much the ferry is over to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. We’d love to do a 2night trip out there but 4WD is required and it’s pretty spendy to do a tour so we may just try and take the passenger ferry over for the day.
So far, got to say it, I’m a bit underwhelmed with Australia. We did love Sydney and I’m sure we’ll love the Great Barrier Reef and seeing our friends. But, the rest of it is just ok. We’re going with a positive attitude and hoping we get a little more enthused. If nothing else…hey, it’s way better than being at home and work!!
I’ll do my next blog in a more timely manner! Cheers – Jim & Rhonda
Tags: Travel
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Hello from the land up over… just wanted to say keep the blogs coming… and well my prediction of ” I knew a croc would get’em” must not of happened. Sounds like you two are whopping it up in grandios style. Just wanted to let you know that Timberline is opening this weekend the 26th of Oct… getting boat loads of rain, which means snow on the mountain. Would have to agree that what you both are doing sure beats the heck out of work… glad you are having fun and wish I were there. Keep the blogs coming as it gives me fodder for my work day and passes the time with Jim and Rhonda most excellent adventure…. miss ya!