Camels and Koalas

After enjoying the fruits of the Hunter Valley and a few of its delightful vineyards, our next stop was the coastal town of Port Macquarie. A cople of hours drive north of Sydney, it is a resort town with miles and miles of beaches. Roni and I explored a few, stopping at various viewpoints such as lighthouses, headlands, and cliffs. Along one particular stretch a tour operator was offering camel rides along the beach. How could I refuse?

Raymondo on his new ride, Obama!

Let me tell you about this big boy. Over six feet tall, you can clearly see that he is truly U-G-L-Y! With stained and protruding teeth, gangly legs, and bony joints, his temperament is no better. Ornery to the point of exasperation, stubborn, and grouchy, he is quite a handful even for the most skilled of handlers. He's foul-breathed, and often farts and burps simultaneously, giving forth thunderous and obnoxious belches! It's no wonder people want to stay upwind of him.

But what about the camel, you ask? Obama was aquired just a few weeks ago, thus his name, and was once a wild camel. Apparently there are over a million wild dromedaries in this country, the only place where one-humped (dromedary) camels still run free. He's actually quite well trained, although the guides keep a close watch on him. After our half-hour ride, we had become quite good friends. So now I can claim to have ridden a camel. Next up, an elephant, although not likely on this trip.

Port Macquarie is also home to Australia's Koala Hospital. Apparently these sweet little guys sometimes run afoul of cars, dogs, falls, and disease and most don't survive these challenges. A group of volunteers have formed this organization to assist by nursing these animals back to health whenever possible and then releasing them back into the wild. Koalas spend most of their time high up in eucalyptus trees, feeding on the leaves. Quite a few live in urban areas, where most of the hazards they face exist.

Roni and I watched this little girl being hand-fed. She loves having her tummy rubbed and her back scratched. She's obviously very cute and cuddly, with a sweet and gentle disposition. Just like Roni.

Goodbye Sydney, Hello Blue Mountains

On March 18th, after celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a brew or two in Paddy's Market, we picked up our rental car and headed to the hills. In this case, they are called the Blue Mountains, which aren't really mountains, nor hills, but eroded tablelands. They get their "blue" moniker by virtue of the oils given off by the dominant eucalyptus trees which appear as a blue haze. Some of the blue haze is also caused by bushfires and coal-fired electrical stations, but it is more politically correct to credit the eucalypts.

First though, allow me to share the excitement of driving on the left side of the road. Every time I turn on the signal lights, the windshield wipers come on! Is that cool or what? Those Aussies and their sense of humour! They also look pretty funny when a Canadian approaches them head on in their own driving lane! What a laugh! I only did it twice though - don't want to wear our welcome for all the Canucks yet to come. There are other drivers like me. Yesterday afternoon I noticed another bloke signaling with his wipers - a dead giveaway that you are from North America!

We are driving a Mazda Tiida. I didn't recognize it either.

You may recognize this though. Not exactly Alberta's Castle Mountain (formerly known as Mt. Eisenhower), but at least you can look down on it. Near Katoomba, the "Three Sisters" is illuminated at night. The lights attract insects, which attract bats, so it's a really good place to watch bats at night too. Note the blue haze in the distance, caused, of course, by the oils given off by the many eucalyptus trees.

This morning, we departed Katoomba for a tour of the caves at Jenolan. Now these are really impressive caves. Too many stalactites and stalagmites to count. This particular photos shows a cavern room perhaps 20 meters in height with a variety of cave formations. Those spelunkers amongst you will recognize many. These particular caves are thought to be a couple hundred million years old, although I think the electric lighting is a more recent development. All in all, a good experience.

This last little beauty pictured above is a "flat white". Ordering coffee in Australia is a bit more complicated than saying "double double to go". Here, most cafes make you choose between a long black, a short black, a cappuccino, a cafe latte, a macchiato, mocha, and of course, a flat white (coffee with some milk and frothy stuff on top). If you want sugar with your flat white, you add it yourself later. You'll note the flat white even comes with a little heart.... awwwwh.

Matt, if you are reading this, order one of each and put it on your dad's Visa card. Each one will set you back about AUD4.00. Call it "educational expenses for comparative cultural investigations".

Speaking of Matt, we were thinking of him as we left Sydney. We know you didn't come all the way to Oz to visit with your Auntie and Uncle, so hope your mum booked you into one of those backpacker hostels in King's Cross. There are lots of people your age there.

Speaking of wildlife, we've not seen any live kangaroos yet, but a few dead ones along the road, so we know they are about. We've also seen some wombat and red fox roadkill. Looking forward to actually seeing some live ones.....

Tomorrow, we are off to the Hunter Valley, the center of Australia's wine growing district. Apparently there are lots of wine tasting tours to be had, and with luck, we may see some pink elephants too! After that it's Port Macquarrie, (if you're following along), Coffs Harbour, and then Surfer's Paradise. Cheers!

Thunder from DownUnder

As you can see, we made it! This doesn't seem anything like the weather we were experiencing last week. I have to keep looking at the image of me on the Skidoo to remind myself what it was like just a short time ago.

Thanks to Lenore for suggesting this postings' title. We did have a bit of a light shower today, but no thunder.

Upon our arrival in Sydney, we bought a travel pass, so since then we've been riding the trains, busses and ferries to dozens of places. Tonite we ended up at the Sydney Rowing Club for drinks and dinner. We did have to make out a membership card though. Seems they've had a couple of dozen Olympians come out of that club in the past few years..... As owners of a conveyance that requires rowing (well, paddling anyway) we felt welcome and quite at home.

Roni says my red face is the result of too much sun and not enough sunscreen. I see things somewhat differently. My theory is that since we're "down under", that redness is just the result of the blood running to my head.

We're looking forward to more good days like the last few.

Next Week things might be different....

On Tuesday, Roni and I went snowmobiling at Sandy Beach. It was a great day, -5C, little wind, and we only tipped over once! The trail gates were open so we were able to visit a couple of surrounding lakes and bushland. A half-dozen white-tailed deer watched us carefully but nobody got too excited. Returning to the cabin, we had lunch on the deck and watched the chickadees, blue jays and magpies visit the suet feeder.

Here's Raymondo on the Skidoo at the cabin

The snow drifts this year are as big as I can remember them.

Two days later is a different story. The wind picked up overnight to near-gale force, the temperature dropped to -15C on the way down to -25C tonight, and the highway is no place for man nor beast with the falling and drifting snow. We're hoping that in a week's time, and some 10,000 miles from here, we'll be buried in sand on one of Sydney's beaches. Stay tuned.