TravelStream™ news feed for member avedawg314 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/avedawg314 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:33:47 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1184739300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1184739300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1184739300/tpod.html Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:33:47 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Auckland, New Zealand

to do later
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1182515280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1182515280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1182515280/tpod.html Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:02:01 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Sydney to cairns, Australia

Hello All!

In my last travelpod entry I was leaving Sydney up the East Coast with a final destination of Cairns (gateway to the largest living thing on earth: Great Barrier Reef). I planned to spend about 3 weeks in total getting to Cairns. Well guess what? I spent about 2 months and made it farther than Cairns (up to Cooktown to be precise). That should not surprise any of you who know how Ave can get excited, distracted and sometimes obsessed about the little things...such as Green tree frogs, crème filled hot dog looking donuts in Cooktown, mile long ant colonies, interesting road kill (including 12 foot python snake), rescuing bird life along the road, examining rainforest moss and bark (and then photographing it), Green tree frogs, photographing rusting cars in junkyards, killing cane toads (poisonous pest in Australia), meeting random travelers and locals, eating lots of mangoes, did I mention playing with Green tree frogs.....yada yada yada. My trip of course included most of the important stops and activities of the East Coast: seeing the Big Banana in Coffs Harbor (way too touristy for me), learning how to play Lawn Bowls (game for old people where you try to get a ball close to a central white ball by rolling it straight along a well groomed lawn) in Broomshead, Byron Bay for a quick browse (too touristy for me but well situated along the coast), strolling along the hippy street of Nimbin and talking to the locals (one guy in particular named Steve was quite an interesting fellow...he was a hippie mineral collector who believed that minerals ward off electromagnetic fields that tv watchers and city goers are exposed to...I wasn't quite convinced but could have been had I been there longer and taken some of the "magic cookies" that the locals were selling), several markets along the way including good ones in Marybourough and Byron Bay where I bought a couple interesting souvenirs (one for my dad which I cannot mention or it will spoil the fun), Mt. Garnet Rodeo, Fraser Island (very cool...largest sand island in the world...it even has more sand than the Sahara Desert due to the depth of Fraser's sand...I went on a 2 day 4wd bus tour here which was quite interesting...the best parts were when we got bogged in the sand twice, spotted sharks and manta rays atop Indian Point, floating down Eli Creek in the crystal clear water, taking a bath in Champagne Pools (natural sea spa with crashing waves behia large rock wall), losing my sunglasses on one of the tracks and then begging the manager of the tour company to take me back to look for them stating "they are my favorite pair of sunglasses...I have never found a pair like them....I am willing to miss the next activity to find them...it will really mean a lot to me..with several smiles and puppy dog eyes I convinced him and this time we got to go 4wd driving in his wrangler as opposed to a massive bus to look for them...quite fun....luckily I found them in the middle of the track...and because the group had gone on to the next activity I had time to spare on the beach where I learned how to catch blood worms in the sand from a couple locals....really good bait but damn hard to catch....very fast little buggers who only peek their little head up from their 5 ft long body under the sand)), white water rafting the famous Tully River, several national parks full of cool rainforest walks, driving around the hilly Atherton Tablelands and stopping at several beautiful waterfalls, red claw(type of crayfish) potting at Lake Tinaroo in the Atherton Tablelands (followed by several feasts of the red claw), diving the Yongala Shipwreck off Ayr, exploring Cairns and the quaint rainforest town of Kuranda, a week long diving trip out on the Ribbon Reefs and Osprey Reef (one dive was a shark feed where we witnessed several reef sharks voraciously eating tuna just meters in front of us...note: reef sharks are not a threat to humans like tiger or great white sharks are so it was quite safe and well monitored), playing and feeding my 7 temporary green tree frog pets in Cooktown (see photoshoots of them...there are heaps), Cape Tribulation and Daintree (one of my favorite spots because of its lush tropical rainforests, cool critters (including frogs, cassowaries(very large dangerous endangered flightless bird), boyd's forest dragons), hikes, fishing, and friendly locals).

So those are the major points of interest of my East Coast Trip...I hope you could understand that giant run on sentence of a paragraph....(I don't like to use periods rather just lots of dots..........). So if I had to rate my 4 favorite activities/places they would be: rafting the Tully River (I did it twice!) Cape Tribulation/Daintree Rainforest, Cooktown (because of my frogs), Scuba Diving the great barrier reef. Check out my pictures for a better idea of my trip...there some awesome pictures and of course several pics of frogs. For those of you who don't know frogs are my FAVORITE animal and this East Coast trip just solidified my love for them. I in fact found about a frog hospital in Cairns where I delivered one dead frog and one sick frog (both white lipped green tree frogs) for inspection. These frogs were from the Daintree Rainforest, an area that had not been studied too much with regard to frogs. The dead frog is still to undergo a basic autopsy (but unfortunately cannot be sent off to a lab for thorough testing because it was not found within minutes of death). The live frog was suffering from a respiratory problem and a fungal disease (caused by local toxins) and has since been put on medication. Call me crazy but I love frogs and so should everyone else because not only are they cute (note how I kiss them in my pictures....with eyes closed too...haha) but they are very important environmental indicators. They are very sensitive to changes in water quality, air quality etc and help us to understand changes in the natural environment that can be deadly. And did you know that much research is being done on frogs with regard to human cancer research. Yes these little buggers have medicinal qualities. So love them like I do. FYI: there are no poisonous frogs in Australia. So when you see me kissing my frogs in the pictures, don't fret.

So enough of this entry...you get the gist of my east coast trip. I am tired of writing. And guess what? I am already in New Zealand (for one week now) and am excited to write about my time here so far. (So much for updating this travelpod thing on time so people can actually vicariously travel with you...oops...but I must tell you its not easy to find time or cheap internet...and you need to be in the mood to write and reflect...blah blah blah...) Yes so stay tuned for a New Zealand update...this place is very cool and full of natural wonders. For those of you wondering I will be here in NZ for 4 more weeks then fiji for a week, cali for 1.5 wks and then home to NY on Aug. 20. These next few months are all going to happen super fast. Ta ta for now.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1166288820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1166288820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1166288820/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:19:07 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Sydney, Australia

Where in the world is Avery ?
Alive, well and in still in Australia. Currently I am in Sydney for a brief stint to get organized, update this damn travelpod and mail a suitcase home. My apologies for not updating this in *sigh* over five months. Finding a computer, cheap internet and time is difficult...finally I have my laptop back and free wifi at my friends house, so Booya Ave is back in business.
A LOT has happened since my last update...I got engaged to a truck driver and am pregnant with his brother's twins....just kidding!....a lot has happened as far as my travels go silly!...so for ease of understanding I will break up this MASSIVE update into several entries with photos attached for each entry...this specific entry includes pictures from my last few months in Sydney...I know a bit belated....I actually had uploaded them back in December and never opened them up to the public or wrote anything about them... silly me! And boy did I upload heaps of photos back then... I must have been really bored. So this entry includes pictures from: bday party!, Bondi Beach (cool surfer beach in Sydney), a beach walk (bronte to coogee beach), botanical gardens in sydney (check out those bats!), fish market, sydney food festival, pearl jam concert (amazing concert...and there is a typical avery story attached to this concert where I got to meet Eddie Vetter), U2 concert (what a performance). And the pictures from "cow wkd" are from a weekend when I worked at a cattle show outside Sydney. My main job was to "catch poop" in a bucket and to clean the cow beds (yes another poop job for Ave). A cattle show is basically an advertisement for farms...cows are judged on look, bone structure, their walk etc. And based on these ratings other farms might want to buy babies from the winning cows or perhaps their milk will be sold to a new wholesaler. So yes it was a very exhausting (and dirty) weekend of waking up at 430 am to mooing cows...but interesting nonetheless.

Guess what? (go to next entry to find out)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167133620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167133620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167133620/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:56:27 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Darwin, Australia

well nothing really...i just wanted to see who would actually go to the next entry...and I must warn you there is lots of reading from here as its been months since my last update....but you won't be bored reading...and the pictures are fabulous and just might make you jealous...ps--feel free to respond to any of the entries using the message board
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So I finally escaped the black hole which I call Sydney and jumped on a plane for Darwin-3917KM away from Sydney. You might be wondering why I choose to go all the way to Darwin instead of perhaps doing a logical loop north or south from Sydney? Well it is because I wanted to avoid the infamous wet season (typically October to March) which was weeks away from letting loose in Darwin and the surrounding "top end" area. The wet season involves considerable rainfall (3m worth of water!), spectacular thunderstorms and crocodiles meandering throughout the forests from overflowing creeks; all of which make several of the worthwhile hiking tracks and roads into Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks inaccessible. And I of course wanted to see these national parks to their fullest extent. Perhaps subconsciously I also wanted to avoid the wet season in Darwin as I had already experienced my own wet season in Sydney (hint: fire sprinkler)

So my first visit was a day trip to Litchfield National Park with a small group of other backpackers and an amiable Danny DeVito lookalike guide. The day was action packed with a bushwalk through a monsoon forest, swimming in several natural water holes, climbing waterfalls (Ave and other backpacker), termite mound sight seeing and random stops in the van when the guide spotted a "frilie" (frilled neck lizard) along side the road. Learning about the various termite mounds and species of termites which inhabited them was quite interesting. We saw three different types of termite mounds in the park: magnetic (built north/south axis to catch heat of morning and afternoon sun), cathedral (mound takes 50-70 yrs to achieve maximum height of appx. 10 meters), and pipeline (termites hollow out a tree which then is often used for making a digeridoo (typical Australian wind instrument of indigenous people). Most termite mounds are made using termite saliva, vomit and dirt. YUM!
Fact: Termites are blind. Wood termites use vibrations of the wood to identify if a species of wood is suitable for them.
Fact 2: There are over 4000 species of termites. WOWSERS!
Fact 3: These termites in the Northern Territory are not like the pests found eating your floor boards in the house. These
are significant detrivores, (found in subtropical and tropical regions),and their recycling of wood and other plant matter is of considerable ecological importance.

The day at Litchfield National Park also involved the sampling of several local delicacies including termites (tasted like pepper), green tree ants (tasted like lime gummies) and wild pig (which Joey the guide had shot a few days prior.)

After my Litchfield trip I went on a 3 day 4wd camping trip to Kakadu National Park with 5 other backpackers and a hilarious guide named Jamie who took immediate liking to my "Crazy New York" personality.
FYI: Kakadu is a world heritage listed area for both its natural and cultural importance (very rare distinction). Much of Kakadu is Aboriginal (indigenous) land leased to the government for use as a natural park. There are still several existing Aborginal settlements. The rock art found in Kakadu is some of the oldest in the world. Most of Kakadu is Savannah woodland teaming with 60 types of mammals, 25 frog species, 51 fresh water fish species, 280 bird species, 10,000 insect types and 1000 plant species. Unfortunately we didn't see heaps of wildlife as only a fraction of these creatures reveal themselves to visitors, since many are noctural or few in number. But we did see the major animals: several crocodiles on a billabong tour, a running dingo (feral dog, descendent of Indian Wolf), St. Andrew's Cross Spider (http://www.amonline.net.au/factSheets/st_andrews_cross.htm) , heaps of water birds, Kookabarra (famous Australian bird known for its echoing human laughter babble).

So the 3 day camping trip involved hiking, lots of flies, several hikes to water holes (one of which had underwater tunnels), a crocodile tour, visiting aboriginal rock art, lots of flies, viewing a sunset from atop Nardab Lookout (360 view overlooking wetlands and Arnhem Land-similar landscape to Lion King...breathtaking) and heaps of random hilarious moments one of which is worth mentioning. Connie a sweet but heavy set girl from Vancouver Canada got stuck in a very deep water hole where the only exit was an under water tunnel.
She had followed my lead and me being a good swimmer was able to swim the 10 feet to the water tunnel which exited into another water hole (very cool...kind of like when Mario goes down the pipes into another warp zone). Connie unfortunately could not physically swim that deep thus leaving her stuck in this water hole surrounded by 10 foot tall rock on all sides. We thus had to hoist her out which took a big effort from 3 people (me on the other side of the water hole trying to yank her into my side by her arms and two others pushing her from behind on the other side). It eventually proved successful and a funny story. Connie was a good sport all along and ok with us laughing with her. (I think).

Besides the two trips to Kakadu and Litchfield other highlights to my Darwin stay included a day at the Museum and art gallery of the Northern Territory where I saw a large exhibit about Cyclone Tracy (1974-60% of Darwin destroyed, wind speeds of 266kmh) and a 15 foot long stuffed crocodile named "Sweetheart" who became a Darwin personality after several encounters with fishing dinghies. I also went to Crocydlus a Crocodile farm where I saw heaps of huge crocs (males and females separated because crocodiles are very territorial), baby crocs and alligators (not from Australia). I learned lots of cool facts about crocodiles. Do ask the Ave sometime.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1175656500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1175656500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1175656500/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:07:21 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Melbourne, Australia

I spent about 2 weeks in and around Melbourne. This included a 3 day tour to the "Great Ocean Road" which is one of Australia's great scenic coastline drives west of Melbourne. Hugging tightly to the coast, the road offers outstanding views of Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. The section near Port Campbell covers some of the most scenic coastline in the world, because of its striking and dramatic natural rock formations. These formations include Loch Ard Gorge, the Grotto, London Bridge (renamed to London Arch in recent years after the 'bridge' partially collapsed), and most famously The Twelve Apostles. I took a helicopter ride up to see the Twelve Apostles and what a birds eye view we had...this was my first time in a helicopter. And it felt almost like we were floating...I wasn't even scared despite the flimsy plastic door separating me from safety and a watery death below.

The other trip outside of Melbourne worth mentioning was my day trip to Philip Island to see the Penguin Parade (hundreds of penguins come marching in at dusk after a long and tiring day of fishing...they head up to their burrows in the hills). Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs of these cute little penguins waddling up to their burrows (the flash damages their eyes).


So in the city of Melbourne I saw the major highights...Melbourne museum, Fitzroy garden, Yarra River, Queen Victoria markets and St. Kilda Festival (a full day event with bands, rides, market stalls, skating competitions etc.). One random activity worth mentioning was Bogan Bingo. This was Bingo not for grannies in nursing homes but for "young adults". Bogan btw is another word for "redneck or hick". This was a very interactive sort of Bingo with 2 hosts (dressed in Bogan attire) and several audience members in full costume (flannel shirts, bleached 80's jeans, flurescent work shirts). Each number that was called out had an expression or song attached to it (For ex. the host would call out "sweet 16" and then say "never been kissed"...the audience then responded "pigs ass" (pigs ass=what a lie) or any number ending in 1 the audience responded "up your bum" or if 19 was called out the host played a song about a boy who "was only 19"). If someone got bingo they had to scream out "fu*king bingo" and go on stage to spin the "wheel of death" which was a wheel made up of all dead famous australians (including Steve Irwin, Harold Holt(prime minister of Australia who drowned). Whoever the bingo winner landed on, they received some sort of momento having to do with that person. For example, if they landed on Harold Holt they got a cheapo scuba mask (because he drowned...not very PC). During random intervals the host declared "air guitar contest" where members from the audience would go on stage to compete as best air guitarist(they won based on audience's approval). So yes def. a new bingo experience for Ave and hilarious as ever.

PS- Guess where I go next? (Hint: devil)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1168413360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1168413360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1168413360/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:06:41 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Perth, Australia

After Coral Bay we covered some serious K's (kilometers) stopping occasionally when we saw something interesting off the road like a large pink lake (turned out to be a beta-carotene lake where I think the pink panther lived) or leaning gum trees (literally growing sideways because of the intense winds).

Our last stop before Perth was at Kalbarri National Park where Ave learned how to catch rock lobster (using a pole with a noose at the end) and spear fish. I had an absolute blast in the freezing cold water...Tony and I were a good team. I was quite good at skin diving down a couple meters to spot the lobster or big cod hiding under rock ledges and in cracks. I would then alert Tony of my finding and he would do his thing. I actually spotted a massive octopus which Tony tried to catch using the noose....thankfully the octo (octopus) fought back hard wrapping his tentactles around the pole using some serious suction action...he/she strategically escaped by backing up into a small hole. Phew!

I should mention that while Tony and I were in the water exploring, Susannah the German bitch was collecting shells on the beach refusing to come in the water because it was too cold. She then started to complain that she was bored and wanted to leave. The nerve!!! We ignored her and continued to fish for dinner.

On the scenic drive out of the park we stopped at a couple spectacular coastal lookouts. At one of the lookouts a group of dolphins was swimming by which was an awesome sight.

We finally arrived in Perth late at night. The car was a disaster but that was a job for the morning as we were all tired. Susannah the GB (German bitch) and I crashed at Tony's house in Rockingham (suburb of Perth) that night and for a couple days thereafter. The major attraction near Rockinham was Penguin Island, which was what a sounds like...an island full of the cutest little penguins (they are actually called little penguins--in fact they are the worlds smallest penguins). As you can see from the pictures attached to this entry I was a bit of a shutter bug at penguin island and especially for the penguins. At penguin island there is a "penguin sanctuary" which houses rescued penguins. That is where all the penguin pictures from this entry were taken. And do note that some of the penguins look fatter than others as those penguins were going through "moulting" which is a period when the penguins shed their feathers to grow a new coat...but it is s a very stressful time for these little penguins as they don't eat or sleep much. So before this moullting period good old instinct kicks in and the penguins beef up....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139680/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:01:25 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Coral Bay, Australia

Scuba diving in Exmouth sadly came to end. I was hoping to wait several months to snorkel with the whale sharks (migrate to exmouth March/April to rest and feed) but I had continue on down the coast towards Perth. I caught a ride with my friend Tony (An abnoxious prima dona German girl named Susannah joined us...she begged Tony for a ride and he felt bad and included her. The stingy girl refused to contribute any money towards fuel for the entire trip! That really pissed me off and I totally told her off which didn't help so much as relieve my frustration...) On the way to Perth we stopped at Coral Bay which is another snorkeling paradise but a bit more touristy than Exmouth. We were only there for one day and in that time I got offered a job as a snorkeling guide...unfortunately it never quite worked out as the boat I was supposed to work on broke down....very sad. The best part of Coral Bay was off roading in Tony's 4wd in the sand dunes. At one point we got stuck up hill on a large sand dune leaning heavily to one side. I thought the car was going to roll over and was well quite scared. To Tony it was no big deal...he just told us to get out and start digging sand out from under the tires (which we did very dutifully). After that he just let out air from the tires and wollah the truck slowly but surely made it up the hill.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139620/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:56:24 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Exmouth, Australia

After Broome I hopped aboard a tour bus to Exmouth where I would learn to scuba dive and become one with the underwater world. En route to Exmouth we were meant to stop at Kalbarri National Park but unfortunately there was a massive bush fire (very common in Australia because it is so dry) in the park. So our only stop before Exmouth was "80 mile beach" which is what it sounds like...80 miles of isolated beach. The beach though did not look that beautiful to me that day as I was hungover from one crazy last night in Broome and the temperature was too damn hot.

Oh Exmouth how I miss thee. The town itself is quite ugly, the nightlife non-existent, the sun is burning, the screeching cockatoos in the palm trees are damn annoying and the emus well they are everywhere and walk across the road knowing that the cars will stop... but the scuba diving (and snorkeling) kids is amazing. My first day in Exmouth was spent at Turquise Bay, snorkeling-we had the entire beach to ourselves and I was in the water the whole time exploring. The entire bay is full of balmy coral and tropical fish...and you literally just walk in the water and wollah there it all is...quite unique. I also managed to get the worst sunburn of my life that day and could not sleep for two nights...since then I have learned not to mess with Australian sun. In fact 1 in 3 Australians get skin cancer.

I spent that week in Exmouth with my German friend Doreen getting my PADI scuba diving certification. This included 3 days of theory and pool training and 2 days of diving on the Ningaloo Reef. Luckily our dive instructor, Junko, was very helpful and patient and the other students learning to dive were easy to get along with and team players.
My very first dive at Labyrinth on the reef was a bit difficult at first as I could not equalize my ears and they were hurting a bit (being hungover did not help) but after ascending and then descending again I was able to equalize...and boy was that dive amazing....we saw several wobbegong sharks (flat sharks with a 1970's carpet pattern and frill hanging from their mouths as camoflauge), a big green turtle (so cute!), a blue spotted lagoon ray, coral cod, a massive estuarine cod and heaps of other vibrantly colored fish.
On the second dive of the day at Blizzard Ridge we saw a huge olive sea snake squirming through the water, banded coral shrimp, ranking cod, sailfin catfish and coral trout. The other dives out on the reef and at the Muiron Islands (part of the Ningaloo Archipelago) were almost as good as the first couple dives. Other interesting creatures I saw included: a school of white tipped reef sharks, a well camoflauged scorpion fish, pretty nudi-branchs (great for underwater photography), Moorish idols, scorpion fish (very venomous!) Christmas tree worms (so cool....bold colored little "Christmas trees" that attach to certain types of balmy coral...when you put your hand in front they got back into their little hole), more adorable sea turtles, unicorn fish, bat fish, box fish, triangle fish (just kidding they don't exist), yellow trumpet fish.
All in all the diversity of marine life I saw was incredible and inspiring. I am quite intrigued how each species has uniquely adapted to its environment and evolved to protect itself (fake eyes, camouflage, bright colors, spines etc.)
To know that such a colorful alive intricate world exists underwater is amazing and I cannot wait to scuba dive at any opportunity.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1167139560/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:54:40 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Broome, Australia


So after Darwin I traveled down the West coast of Australia with the first stop at the pearling village of Broome.
In the 20th century pearling peaked in this small remote town to the extent that the 400 luggers supplied 80% of the world's mother of pearl. The industry declined with foreign competition and the invention of plastic. While in Broome I went on a pearl tour at Willie Creek Pearl Farm which included a boat trip out to see the oyster lines. The farm was in a beautiful isolated location with the most beautiful turquoise blue water. After the boat trip we had brekkie (breakfast) of damper (Australian outback soda bread-made with wheat flour and beer...delicious!), fresh mangoes and coffee. This tour to date has been one of the best I have gone on...informative, beautiful, good food and all with a very knowledgeable guide. I came away with in depth pearling knowledge from how to judge the value of the pearl to why pearling was such a dangerous job to how different shaped pearls are actually formed within the oyster. And did you know that many holograms (including the one on your credit card) is made using mother of pearl shell.

While in Broome I also rode my first camel on Broome's famous Cable Beach. This was a very serene experience as we rode at sunset on the beach and in the sand dunes. My camel whose name I forgot was not very cooperative as he stopped every 4 feet to eat some bush leaves...I thought it quite hilarious....The poor fellow was hungry and needed to store some food in his big ole' hump.
(Random: Did you know that in Ethiopia camel milk is considered an aphrodisiac.)

The major excitement in the town of Broome is the outdoor movie theatre which is actually the oldest outdoor movie theatre in the world. I had the unique opportunity to watch Little Miss Sunshine there, while eating fresh take away fish n' chips. Now you can't get much better than that kids.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1175671560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1175671560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/avedawg314/australia-nz_06/1175671560/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:42:57 -0400 Avery's Australia/New Zealand Adventure

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Melbourne, Australia

After Tasmania we went back to Melbourne...Reinder and I stayed with one of the ozzies from the hiking trip and his family. They were very gracious hosts. In Melbourne we had an "Overland Track Reunion" picnic by the Yarra River. That day was part of the week long "Moomba Waterfest" where all activities are centered around the Yarra River. We got to see the famous "Birdman Rally" where participants try to fly off a platform using homemade flying devices (no motors allowed..absolutely hilarious...most people plummeted directly into the water without any real flight time) and several waterskiing events.

While in Melbourne that week Reinder and I visited Ballarat, an old gold mining town west of Melbourne. All of the staff at Ballarat are dressed in costume and the entire town is essentially frozen in time...back to the 1850's gold rush. Each building was open to the public for perusing. The visit included a trip underground to an old gold mine which was quite different. The day was exhausting but very interactive and fun. It reminded me of a trip to Williamsburg Manor I took with my grandma when I was younger.

So what else did we do in Melbourne? Well lots more...mostly of the touristy nature. But the one other trip worth mentioning was our 3 day hiking trip down to Wilson's Promontory which is a beautiful section of wilderness south of Melbourne. Wilson's Promontory is unique in that it combines the ocean with forest. Several parts of the track border the turquoise waters of the Bass Strait and the camping grounds sit just several meters from the beaches. Because of the Overland Track, we were pros at packing light and efficiently. The hike itself was quite interesting as some parts were lush and others a bit more barren as a major bush fire swept through the area 2 years ago. It is surprising though how much regrowth happens in 2 years...the burnt trees and green undergrowth make for a very interesting contrast. We saw heaps of wildlife in (Of course we went snorkeling) and out of the water at the promontory. On the land we saw several beautiful native parrots, a cobra snake, a white lipped snake, wallabies, echidnas.


Gosh this has been a lot of writing. So after Wilson's Promontory, Reinder and I headed back to Melbourne where I caught a plane a few days later for Sydney. And that is where I am now but not for long!
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