A Visit to Grandma's House

There are few things more pleasant than a visit to Grandma's house. We made that stop on our way back home after a recent visit to eastern Saskatchewan.

Much to our delight, we weren't the only ones with that thought. More than doubling up on the pleasure, we got to visit her with Doug and Lenore, as well as Paul and Kim and their delightful crew.

Naturally, the art gallery picked up a few new acquisitions. The gallery also witnessed an enthusiastic game of hide-and-seek.

Some of the contributing artists in a photo op with Grandma C.

Grandma also had time to show off some of her newly refreshed interior decor.

The back entry is a bit brighter these days...

.... as are the front rooms.

Good neighbour Ron S. stopped in while walking his dog and we were all proudly introduced. Commenting on how nice it was to have a good portion of the family for a visit, including two of her three sons, Grandma Clara said with a sigh, “If only Ted were here it would be perfect. Oh well, I suppose two out of three is better than nothing”.

Love you Grandma! We'll visit again soon!

Last Day in Oz

In less than 24 hours, we will be on our way back home. I thought I'd leave you with a few images of our last day spent in Palm Cove and environs.

Palm Cove's uncrowded beach

The Nunu Restaurant

This one's for Laurel ... the upscale Nunu Restaurant's logo.

This one's for Ted

Didgeredoo Player and Dancer

Ray's Retro look

A Rainbow lorikeet on our table, a "Breakfast with the Birds" guest

Kookaburra

Anyone need a new battery?

We went on a tropical wet rainforest boat ride along the Daintree River yesterday. Saw a couple of salt water crocs, a few birds and lots of different types of tropical trees. We had expected to see a few of those big bats - flying foxes they call them here. They have a wingspan of around a meter and bear a strong resemblance to small foxes with wings. They are usually active around dusk when they go searching for their favourite food, fruits like papayas, grapes, melons etc. Unfortunately there were no flying foxes to be seen on our cruise.

Driving home later, we found out why there were none along the banks of the Daintree River. They were all hanging out beside the golf course at Port Douglas!

One of several trees with "batteries"

These guys were making an awful fuss, screeching and fighting with each other, and constantly moving to new perches. They paid little attention to this Canadian who was pretty fascinated to see several hundred of these big boys in one spot.

Uncropped flying fox image just above a telephone line

For those of you who are perhaps a bit skittish about sharing your space with bats this size, well, just think of how many fewer flying insects there are around thanks to these guys and their cousins. Altogether not a bad trade off, no?

Palm Cove - a little slice of heaven ...

We are staying at a community north of Cairns called Palm Cove. It more than lives up to it's name. The beach is fairly narrow, maybe 50 meters wide, and runs for kilometers in both directions. The edge of the beach is fringed with coconut palms, and a variety of other tropical pines and broad-leafed trees. This band of trees is shallow, maybe 30 meters wide and borders the Esplandade, Palm Cove's main street.

Palm Cove beachfront

This two lane street is cobblestone/brick, and a vehicle passes along maybe once every 30 seconds. You can usually find a place to park wherever you like.

The Esplanade walkway

On the other side of the street are restaurants, shops, apartments, hotels, bars, and even a few detatched homes; none are low end and a few are quite high end. None of them are taller than four stories, by local by-law. You have to actually walk in to them to see how lovely some are. It's clean, uncrowded and safe.

Ray out for a stroll

We love it here. As Roni described it, “tranquil with a casual sophistication”. I'm heading out right now to sit under those trees in the top photo and to do some reading.

No Barriers On Great Reef Experience

Yesterday we stroked a couple of items off the bucket list.

Seastar Reef Cruises took Roni and I from Cairns to Michalmas Cay and Hastings Reef on the outer Great Barrier Reef. The fast catamaran took about one hour to make the trip. Before we even had the anchor down, a green sea turtle cruised by. The 20 or so guests on board donned snorkeling gear and dove right in.

I think this might be Nemo, the clown fish....

Now, Roni and I have snorkeled in some lovely places, but none could remotely compare to this. It was amazing! Something to lie awake at night and recall with wonder. Every few feet brought a new variety of coral or a new type of fish. Reds, greens, yellows, blues, whites, oranges and so on through the spectrum. All sizes and shapes. It's an unfair assault on the senses. No wonder it's a world heritage site.

The water was warm, around 28C, the surface was calm, winds were light, skies clear – idyllic. Visibility underwater was maybe 100 feet or more. Probably more. We were so lucky to experience this. Wow!

The second item on the list was that I got to try SCUBA diving! Yes, even an old goat like me can still float well enough to try new things. I hope Ted and Colleen are proud of me.

In we go!

....and out again!

A lot of my energies and attentions were taken up in clearing my mask, and trying to maintain proper buoyancy, but in between those challenges, I got to touch a giant clam and swim through schools of fish and someone's bubbles. With practice, one would surely be able to spend more time on the experience, and less on the process.

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.