More details than you want to know about my trip... -- ABCra XYZee

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Date Posted: 22:33:35 06/30/05 Thu
Author: C
Subject: More details than you want to know about my trip...
In reply to: C 's message, "I'm off!" on 11:23:58 06/15/05 Wed

My vacation down under was surprisingly like most other vacations I've taken "home" for the last few years. For me, the homeless, I go where my parents go. We (they) have lived in three states and now Australia in the last 6 years. I'm really flexible as long as I have a couch to crash on.

I flew to San Fran and then to Aus. International flights to many places leave at night for a reason---your arrival is well timed for the am hours of your destination. So for my 15 hour flight that left at ten something, it's easier to schedule life on the plane so that people are awake and fed breakfast before leaving the plane at six am.

After arriving in Sydney, we headed to Port Douglas, which is a popular spot for whale watching. Right now the humpbacks are migrating from Antartic waters up to the Great Barrier Reef area. They come close to the land mass because the East Australian Current (Finding Nemo reference...) runs in the opposite direction--so the whales move further inland in order not to swim against the currant. They've had a summer of good feeding and are strong enough to do this. In the warmer waters they relax and give birth. In the summer (Nov/Dec?) they head back down to Antarctica and float in the current. So, animal behavior lesson over, we did see several whales. The first pair we came upon (in a boat) were moving unusually fast (8-9 knots). The boat had to keep running in order to follow them. There are rules to protect the whales, and usually when a boat comes upon some whales they kill the motor and use the sails. Anyway--because the whales were sprinting, they were coming up for air more often. I'm afraid I had a good tail shot that I deleted from my camera. I should have kept it just in case the quality was better than I thought it was. Bad me. But I do have a few good pics of the backs and mist from their blow holes. We also went dolphin watching. Port Douglas has one of the only (maybe THE only) permenant community of dolphins in the world. They live in the harbor year round.

We went walking in a Koala refuge and did see one resting in a tree. We were told by other hikers that there was a baby too, but we didn't see it.

My dad had meetings in Sydney and New Zealand after my arrival. So after two days in Port Douglas, we drove back to Sydney for a few nights in hotels. The bad thing about hotels is there is no "me time." At least there isn't when it's just mom and I. We shopped a lot. Except she didn't want to shop from her list, and I didn't want to spend her money, so mostly we walked around. Kilometers around. I bought a pedometer just for kicks and we were walking about 10k a day. Which tired us out just a little. It was kind of boring. She's a read-a-holic now (blames it on her kids) and I only had a few books for the plane ride. Anyway--it was kind of normal time with my mom. We did walk to the Opera House which was under some construction. Maybe sometime in the future we'll take a tour or something. We took a ferry to get there (went past Luna park, for those JAG fans), and that was fun. On my last day in Sydney we went to the Taronga Zoo which is on the water across from Circular Quay ("key" which has the Opera House). I have a few cute pics I'll share when I get them to decent monitor size.

After Sydney we drove to Bathurst, where my parents live. It's a small town. It's west of Sydney past the Blue Mountains.

Unfortunately, once I got to Bathurst, I had sinus troubles and came down with a sore throat, then the sniffles, and now I've downgraded to a mild cough. I sat on the couch a lot reaing, and my mother waited on me. Pretty much four or five days of normal laziness on my part. Dad and I did drive past a field of kangaroos.

I spent Monday at a local elementary school. That was an eye opener for me. Not only are they in school less, but the classroom I was in was very worksheet drive. I was surprised. The kids are also outside more than mine are, and the behavior of students is such that only a few teachers are on duty to supervise the whole school at recess and lunch (unlike me, where I'm with my class the entire day).

Coming home was good. Again, the flight left at a time allowing for the plane to land in the morning, after breakfast. I seemed to be on an alcoholic flight coming home. I think it could have been because people were more awake (we left in the afternoon). I sat next to a woman who went through scotch and Diet Coke faster than I drink water. I'm just glad she we were both in the middle, so that she didn't have to climb over me to get to the lavatory.

Someone asked me what the strangest thing was about Australia. Two things tie--their roads (the lanes are skinnier than ours), and my mom's dryer. The lint trap cannot be cleaned in one fell swoop by peeling up the lint, but it's in sections you have to scratch out. And the dryer buzzes to let you know to clean the lint trap--about four times a load--and it's not usually full. Kind of crazy.

Any questions? I'm sure I forgot stuff. I'm planning to go with my sis for a week at Christmas. We'll be walking the Harbor Bridge and doing other stuff--I'm hoping it will be a bit more fun because my sis is cool.

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[> [> Thanks for the story! I enjoyed this! I don't even go to Nashville very often and it's only 60 miles away! So I'm living vicariously through your travels. So the students were better behaved? -- PB, 20:21:28 07/10/05 Sun [1]

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