Good bye Australia

If I ever went back to Australia, I'd see a platypus and the penguins again. Kuranda was fun. I'd try to go to the Outback. BYE AUSTRALIA!!!!


Pam/Mom says:

The next day we headed to the airport to return home. Although, we were happy about going home to see Jack & Colby. We were sad to leave. There was so much more to see and do. And I was relieved that Chad hadn't succumbed to some poisonous creature! We'll miss Amanda, too, but she'll follow us home in early Dec. I truly hope we get back to do some more exploring. I've always planned on Chad & Colby doing a semester aboard in college - so here's hoping! It was a great experience and I recommend it for any and all. Yes, the flight was dreadful, but oh the payoff!

If you're interested in learning more about Australia, check out Amanda's blog at http://amandasaustraliatrip@blogspot.com. She was there from July to early December as an exchange student w/Penn State and traveled very extensively.

While we were in Australia, we kept track of different words and little oddities. Here they are:

Maccas = MacDonald's
Milk Bar = Cheap Fast Food (I 1st thought it was chocolate & then I thought it was a WAWA type store - they do have 7 11's & woolworth's there.)
ta = thanks
No worries = a common response to many requests
nasties = general term for all the venomous creatures
stingers = jellyfish
lemonade = lemon soda w/actual lemon juice
mozzies = mosquitoes
cossies = swimming costume = bathing suit
biscuit = hard cookies (like an ANZAC), but there are no American biscuits even at the KFC's here
lots of pumpkin, but no pumpkin pie
lift = elevator
koala = Aborigine for "no water" They meet their water needs from the leaves
kangaroo = Aborigine for "I don't understand" after the English asked, "what's that?
they add o's to lots of words, ie aggressive = aggro
Melbourne is pronounced Mel-bun.
Philly = cream cheese
FAIRY FLOSS!!!! = cotton candy
Period (as in punctuation) = full stop
rice bubbles = Rice Crispies
tomato sauce = ketchup
tea = can mean tea or a meal
bin = trash can
coke is any soda
Aluminum is pronounced very differently and I think only children can pronounce it both ways. An adults' brain won't let you do it both ways.

All school children wear uniforms which include a hat for sun protection.

People sit in the front of a taxi with the driver!!!!! Especially when there's only 1passenger. I was absolutely floored by this. I can't imagine any New Yorkers doing that.

The water swirls down the drain clockwise & in the US its counterclockwise.

The Penguin Parade

Chad & the penguins! The excitement is building!

The Nobbies

They don't exactly encourage you to swim.
Today we went to see penguins. First, we got on a bus and picked up other people. Then we transferred to a big bus. Our first stop, I got a pizza. Turns out it was pineapple and ham. We gave the bus driver my pizza. After that we drove to a winery. I sat outside with the dog. Then we drove to other stops then the PENGUINS!! We watched them come in and they were so small and cute. After that we drove home. I got a PSP. Penguins are better than PSPs!

Weather: Sunny in Melbourne, cooler as we headed south.

Mom/Pam says:
Chad & I set out in the morning to find opals for his grandmothers. They were back in the states doing all the hard work taking care of Colby & Jack, so we could have this great experience. After a few missteps, we finally found Lightning Ridge Opals. It's named after the town where they mine opals. The owner actually used to mine the opals. He gave us a short lesson on opal cutting & quality. He left me to shop, while he showed Chad his backroom of venomous spiders, scorpions & blue tongued lizard. The owner was quite complimentary of how Chad handled himself. It was nice to hear. After some successful shopping, we headed out for our longest trip yet. Chad choose to sit outside in the warm sunshine with the dog and some beautiful rosellas (birds) and not listen to the boring wine tasting. He also stopped at a little zoo. The poor keeper dropped a baby wallaby in front of our group & was quite frazzled after that. I thought we discovered a new animal here "an albeeno," but they were actually talking about the albino wallabies. Quite funny. The we headed to a town for an early dinner, a beach and then the Nobbies. Alas, we only saw 1 seal & 1 penguin there. The place was overrun by seagulls & their babies & their poop, but it was very scenic albeit smelly. On our way to the Parade, we saw our 1st wild wallabies! Finally, we were off to see the fairy penguins, now called little penguins b/c little is more correct b/c they are the littlest penguins. Their biggest threat is foxes and 2 men have the job of making sure no foxes get out to Phillips Island. They are just so darn adorable. No pictures are allowed, so it's all in our heads. You can YouTube them. They come in from the ocean every night at dusk and nest in the hills. They're barely a foot tall & noisy & just adorable as they waddle about - you can't help, but want to pet 1. We were that close. Seeing the penguins was truly a highlight of the trip. Then it was 1 long trip back to Melbourne.

Note from Aunt Amanda

Just to update everyone - I said goodbye to Pam and Chad today as they headed off to the airport so they will be home soon! A combination of late nights and early mornings caused us to get a little behind on Chad's Australia Blog. Keep a lookout for updates over the next week when they get a chance to make additions :O)

Shopping Day

Chad at the entrance of Luna Park.

Today we went to the markets. First the Maker's markets, then the Vic Markets, next the St. Kilda markets. At the St. Kilda Markets we went to Luna Park. I went on some pretty cool rides. After that we ate and went home.

Weather: It was warm and sunny.


Pam/Mom says:

Yes, it was a tortorous day for Chad. Lots of shopping to be done. The Maker's Mkts were great - lots of quality crafts and some with an Australian theme. Vic Markets not so great. Endless rows of merchandise in no apparent order w/treasures mixed in, if you had the patience. We didn't, it was hot & crowded. So after lunch we headed out to St. Kilda's Mkts., they were great, too. I'm regretting not buying more & getting there earlier to see more of the booths. St. Kilda's is a beach area & it was packed b/c it was a beautiful day. We took Chad to Luna Park which is a small amusement park. It was here I discovered my favorite Australian word, "Fairy Floss" which is cotton candy. I think it is such a more magical word to describe eating pure sugar. I vow to use it from this day forward. We then headed to dinner which was a trial in itself. Amanda wanted Mexican, but we couldn't find the restaurant she knew of. The nearby Mexican restaurant was not basic enough for Chad. So we decided to pop into a book store & look up some reviews. We chose a spot nearby & immediately left upon seeing brains on the menu. So we picked a nice Italian spot down the street. Then I bought some delicious pastries to take back for dessert & breakfast. The place used lots of rhubarb and it was all good.

A word on food in Australia, it's not very different from here. It definitely has an English & Asian influence. But oddly, no oatmeal for breakfast. Sometimes, they'd serve cold muesli in milk that had been soaking for awhile - very unappealing. They have meat pies and sausage rolls for take away that are quite good. They have plenty of coffee shops, but no 1 carries their coffee around. I think they must just down the scalding liquid right in the shop. And the apples are all very small. The chocolate is excellent and plentiful. Pavlova was created in Australia.

Politics: It was quite surreal to be away from home for such a huge election. We went to bed on Tues night & the 1st American poll hadn't even closed yet. I've traveled a bit and I was usually chagrinned at how much other people know about US politics and I often couldn't name their president, prime minister, king, etc or even the type of leader. And in the past, many had an opinion regarding Americans. But, this was unbelievable. People were as fascinated/obsessed as Americans were. At the time of the election, we were still in Sydney & we ate breakfast & dinner there in the Exec Lounge. Many of the conversations there were all about McCain & Obama. One man actually told me, he thought the Obama/Clinton primary was more interesting and a better race. I was astounded. Who follows other countries' primaries?! People would actually offer me their opinion on the election, once they realized I was American. I missed both the acceptance & concession speeches, but plan on YouTubing them.

Great Ocean Road

Today we did the Great Ocean Road. We took a bus to Bell’s Beach. It’s a famous surfer beach. After that we ate cookies. I slept till we ate lunch at Apollo Bay, but Mom and Aunt Amanda saw wild koalas. After that we stopped at a rainforest and I went bare foot. At the end I had numb and sore feet. After that we went to the twelve apostles. Me and mom took a helicopter. Mom was really freaked out and I sat in the front seat. After that we went to look at a gorge and then London Bridge. After that we went home. We saw our first wild Echidna along the road and stopped to look at it.

Mom/Pam says:

The Great Ocean Road hugs the bottom of the Australian coast in Victoria. It reminds me a bit of the coast road from LA to San Fran. It's very windy with 1 view better than the next, but it definitely can make you a bit carsick. Melbourne is a huge city - very spread out. It's in the top 5 cities per square miles. The Great Ocean Road was built after WWII, when there was no work for the returning soldiers - so the government started this project to give them work & help build a tourist future. It is not built up at all. The weather seemed to be against us - the sky would clear up when we were driving. But as soon as we got off the bus, it would begin to rain/spit. The koalas were cool to see. Our guide was a bit of a hippy and suggested we walk the rainforest in our barefeet. I passed on that. The forest was definitely different from the 1 in the north. Greener, w/more ferns and much bigger trees. It reminded me a bit of the redwood areas in SF. Yes, the helicopter flight was terrifying. I didn't really want to do it. But, Chad has been a trooper with all the travel & tours, so I in a weak moment I told him he could do it. But, then I realized if his helicopter crashed, it would be a bit difficult explaining to Jack - it seemed safe enough for Chad, but not me. So I swallowed my fears and screams and joined him. The views were spectacular, but the rain & wind just made me want to land. Luckily, it's not even a 10 minute ride. The 12 Apostles were once known as the "Sow & piglets," but the tourist industry realized that wasn't such an attractive and changed it to the 12 Apostles even though were only 8 and now there are 7. One collasped a few years ago. The London Bridge is steeped in many legends regarding the collaspe of the 1 arch. My favorite is that there was a 3rd person on it who ran off Indiana Jones style with the arch collasping under his feet. All in all lots of spectacular scenery. We soon headed back to Melbourne via inland roads. We saw lots of bird life, rabbits & 1 echidna. The driver had to turn around to see it. And it had scurried into the brush, Amanda tracked it down despite the million poisonous things here. The other people were a bit taken aback by her boldness bushes. We had fish'n chips for dinner. Amanda & I shared barramundi - a quite delicious Australian fish. They even battered and fried Chad's hot dog. Quite funny b/c we didn't recognize it.


Weather: Windy and cool, it was little rainy and a little sunny



Echidna which is the only other monotreme besides the platypus. Basically, it's a egg laying furry mammal.

London Bridge Falling down - the 2nd arch fell in the 1990's stranding 2 people.

The 12 Apostles

Our helicopter!!!

Bell's Beach made famous in the movie, "Point Break" which was filmed in CA. Alas, no big waves like you see in the annual Rip Curl surfing event.

To Melbourne

Today we’re going to Melbourne (Mel-bun), but first we went down to the Aquarium to buy platypus stuff. After that we walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 16 men died making the bridge. The bridge was finished in 1932. Mom would not let me go near the edge which has a huge metal rail to prevent us from falling. We hit the worse traffic getting to the hotel so we walked. We panicked that we’d miss the plane. We had 45 minutes before the plane left when we got to the airport. We did get on the plane to Melbourne. After that we went to Aunt Amanda’s college. Which is a dorm called the doughnut. It’s called that because it’s shaped like a doughnut. After that we went gift shopping. Then we went to eat, the waiter showed me three cool riddles. After that we went to Aunt Amanda’s dorm and slept there.

Pam/Mom says:
Yes, the bridge was scary. You can even pay to climb it on the top. Luckily, Chad isn't 14 so we didn't have to deal with that. Although, we did meet 2 elderly women in the lift, who said it quite invigorating. We felt like such cowards.

Despite the fact that it sounds like it rains every day in Melbourne, they're in the 12th yr of a drought and it's quite obivious. It's very brown & dry. It just seems to spit alot, but the rain amounts to nothing. I did notice quite a few prickly pear cactus. Amanda told me they were imported at 1 point & they basically took over Melbourne to the point you couldn't build in some areas. They couldn't get rid of them & resorted to dumping arsenic on them. Finally, they brought in a moth that lives off the cactus & eventually kills it. So now everything is nicely balanced. It makes sense how strict Australia is with their imports - they have had lots of problems with non-native species. Rabbit, foxes, a European cod, etc. have all overtaken various parts of Australia pushing out natives. The foxes are a particular problem and are threatening many of Australia's smaller kangaroos, wallabies, birds and possums.

A word about Whitley College - Amanda actually attends the University of Melbourne, but lives in Whitley. The College is not a college as we imagine w/classes, etc. It's basically a co-ed dorm (even the bathrooms) with lots of amenities a cafeteria, college store,library, computer room, etc. The Colleges are very active - sort of like a fraternity. We slept there 1 night. I wanted a cup of decaf tea before bed and her friends laughed at me saying, "DECAF!!! This is AUSTRALIA!" We also admired all the beer bottle caps that she has collected for the boys. They pretty much stretch around the room.

We headed off to a local mall via the tram to look for gifts. It's quite expensive & I wanted gifts that said "Australian", so not much luck. But, we did see Santa in the big dept. store in Myer - several building spanning several streets. Then we headed over to the "Little Italy" area for dinner & Melbourne's best gelati. After that we hit a grocery store to load up on Australian chocolate & cookies. I love shopping in foreign grocery stores - I think it really gives you insight into the country. In fact, Australians love Philadelphia cream cheese - they call it Philly and it comes in many forms & flavors than here. We loaded up on Tim Tams - an awesome cookie rumored to be sold in Target in the US. Here's hoping! Many an Australian story involve a Tim Tam... I was watcing the news, reading, TV...and having a Tim Tam when...

Weather: Nice in Sydney, Rainy in Melbourne and cold



Me and mom on the bridge

Animal Day

Today was animal day. We saw a lot of animals. First, we went to the zoo. We took a boat to the zoo. We had trouble with the locker to put our bags in. Eventually, we got it. So then, we walked around and saw the Tasmanian Devil. His name was Tex. Tasmanian devils have one of the most powerfulest jaws. There was a zookeeper talk about Tasmanian Devils. He said that they’re dying from disease. The disease is a tumor on the their face which prevents them from chewing and eating. So they die of starvation. Then we went to look at the Koalas. They were all sleeping except for one. There was one baby koala sleeping! It was really cool. Then we went into the reptile house. We saw lots of cool snakes, turtles, geckos, and lizards. We saw Australia’s most dangerous: The Fierce Snake. When we got out we saw a crocodile and a really funky turtle from South America. Then we found a place to eat called the Taronga food markets. I had a cheeseburger. Then we saw a seal show. It was cool, but short. We saw a very pretty duck, in the Asia exhibit. We also saw a red panda. It was really cool. We also saw MEERKATS! They are AWESOME! They’re so cute. Then we went to the dingo. We think it saw something, because it ran along the wall of its cage. At the end, we looked for penguins and leopard seals, but they were off exhibit. Then I napped on the boat back to the hotel to eat and after we ate we went to the aquarium. First, we saw the platypus. It was so cute and cool. It kept doing barrel rolls and squirming on the glass. Did you know that males platypuses are poisonous? We saw another salt water croc. Then we went in a tube. There were GIANT turtles, sharks, and rays. Sadly, the Sydney Harbor exhibit was closed and sadly that part had the seals. We did lots of cool things in the great barrier reef. We saw the big blue fish that we saw snorkeling called the Humphead wrasse. There was a cool glass floor exhibit. After that we left and went home in a cab and went to bed.

Pam/Mom says:

The Taronga Zoo is a great zoo! You get there by ferry & then take a cable car to the top of the zoo. The views of Sydney from the zoo are spectacular. Today was the better beach day by far, but we still enjoyed the zoo. Sadly, the platypus exhibit was closed for repairs. The T. Devil is suffering from a contagious cancer. Since they fight amongst themselves so much, it's spreading rapidly. They've isolated quite a few of them to protect and hopefully, keep them alive. It was a good thing, Chad fell asleep on the ferry ride back b/c the captain decided to give us an impromptu tour of the Harbor all the way to the ocean. On the way there and back, we passed by the nudist beach. Sydney must not get a lot of high water/tides b/c all around things are built very close to the water's edge. They also talked a bit about sharks & the use of nets to protect beach goers. Evidently, good things such as turtles, get caught in them & die. So some people would prefer to swim @ their own risk, since sharks don't attack that often. And immediately after that point, the guide tells a true story of a fisherman trying to pull in a large fish and a shark jumped out & ate it - right in the harbor! I'll stick to the pools! There are lots of bizarre stories in Australia. All children learn to apply pressure bandages in grade school. It helps keep the death rate down. Seriously!
At the Aquarium, we finally saw a platypus. So adorable, small and more than a bit hyper. We were able to identify a lot of the fish we saw on the reef.

Weather: Very Hot and Sunny.


Pretty ducks

Clouded leopard having lunch.

Chad & the Taronga zoo mascot.

S. American turtle.

Tasmanian Devil - note its red ears that look like horns.



Platypus playing at the Aquarium.

Meerkat!

Another pretty duck

Pretty Bird!

An Asian bear cat animal.

Nemo!

We're glad we didn't see that on the Reef!

Bondi Beach

Today we took tours on a double decker bus around Sydney. We also took one to Bondi Beach. First we took one to the museum and looked at a lot of cool stuff. Then we walked to another bus station and I got a snack. It was Maxibon Bits (Dibs) and a Raspberry soda. After a while we got on a bus to Bondi Beach. We ate at Gabby’s Café. Then we took a million mile walk (not really but it felt like it). I had to go pee the whole time. When I saw the bathroom I thought it was the fastest I ever ran. Then we walked to Bronte Beach. There were lots of precautions. There were huge waves. Some surfers were actually surfing the waves that were huge. Then we walked back. After that we got on the bus back home. I felt sick. I took a nap on the bus. Then we had to transfer to another bus. We waited a while and then the bus came and then we went back to the hotel.

Pam/Mom says:

Sydney reminds me with a lot of San Francisco with all the boats in the bay, the bridge and the hills all rolling down to the water. We stopped at the Australian Museum b/c we thought it would tell us why so many of the Australian animals are deadly. It didn't. But it did have this cool interactive table with some of Australia's biggest threats and a saltwater croc jumps out at you. After that we took a short walk to catch the Bondi Beach Bus. It was way too cold to swim. So we took the sea-sculpted cliff walk to Bronte Beach. At Bondi & Bronte beach, they have these pools built right into the cliffs which are filled w/ocean water. The waves crash right into them. The surf was rough & high this day. It was an unbelievable sight. This is where the kids take lessons, swim team practices, etc. The scenery was awe inspiring - it changed every few seconds.

Weather: Around 70 degrees F, overcast and VERY windy. It didn't feel 70 at all.



In cliff pool @ Bronte

Bondi's cliff pool

To Sydney

Today we flew from Cairns to Sydney. The hotel is awesome! First we went to the botanical gardens. We saw a possum with its baby on its back. We saw cockatoos, bats, and kookaburras, we also heard them. Then we went back to the hotel and went in the pool but it was too cold for mother.

Weather: Cool, windy and partially cloudy – around 68 degrees F

Pam/Mom says:

It was sort of sad to leave our little tropical paradise. The setting was so relaxing. When we got to the Marriott - we checked out the Executive Lounge where we watched the "Melbourne Cup" which is a horse race similar to the Kentucky Derby. They say Australia comes to a standstill for those 4 minutes. It was very exciting and came down to a photo finish. The Botanical Gardens are huge and we saw quite a bit of bird life. The fruit bats aka flying foxes are just gross & there so many. The cockatoos remind of sheep - they graze in small herds. We saw some magpies attack some other tourists. They're quite nasty and people actually wear these hats with pipe cleaners, etc. sticking out so the magpies can't attack their head/face. We walked to Mrs. Macquarie's Point to see a beautiful view of the Opera House & Bridge. We also saw the Wollemi Pine. A recently discovered ancient pine in the Blue Mountains. There was also a beautiful purple tree, a jacaranda, which smells wonderful.


Possum with its baby

Large tree that randomly drops branches.

Magpies

Scary, but harmless fruit bats

Ducks in the waterlily pond

Hanging with a cockatoo

The famous Sydney Opera House & Bridge

Great Barrier Reef

Today (Monday) we went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. It was lots of fun. We went to Upolo Cay for the 1st stop on the boat. I saw tons of fish. We moved to a new spot & then we ate lunch; I ate too fast & felt sick. After a little while, I went back in the water. Then I saw a BIG (I mean BIG) blue fish. After that we rode back home.

Weather: Same as Sunday.

Mom/Pam says:

The reef is huge - it's the only living structure on earth visible from the moon. It's bigger than the UK. The reef itself is actually made up of 3 things: mineral, animal & bacteria. The 1st spot we snorkeled at was a cay which was literally the smallest sand bar - I had ever seen. It was much more colorful and many more types of fish, clams, corals, etc. We saw a few Nemo fish ie clown fish. The water was much rougher & deeper. While snorkeling you could hear a faint tinkling sound - it was the fish munching on the coral. Amanda dove down to pet a giant clam. Then we moved a away from the cay & snorkeled some more. The giant fish they saw was a humphead maori wrasse. I missed it b/c my mask was leaking & went back for a new one. Alas, no turtles today. I did see the very poisonous rock fish which did scare me. They're camouflaged very well & I only saw it b/c its eyes were open. I couldn't find it when I tried to show it to Amanda. The whole experience was really fascinating.

Green Island

Today we went to Green Island and snorkeled. First, we went to Green Island on a boat. Then snorkeling we saw lots of fish. This 1 type of triggerfish bit mom twice not bad, and Aunt Amanda once badly. Then we ate and went back to snorkel on another beach. There were barely any fish. So we went snorkeling on the other beach. And then at the end, we saw two sea turtles!


Green Island



The Rails with some babies

Weather: Hot and humid. More clouds in Cairns than on Green Island. Around 32 degree Celsius.


Pam/Mom says:
Yes, we were bitten and Amanda is ok. Just a little bite to her calf, but it did bleed. My bites didn’t bleed. We later learned that fish was protecting a nest and is quite aggressive. I didn’t even see what bit me, but my 1st thought was “Piranha” which I’m pretty sure are nowhere near here. One tried to bite Chad later, but Amanda charged it & we got him out of there.

Green Island is a coral cay with a resort on it. It’s quite small – you walk around the whole island in less than 45 minutes. It’s very picturesque. It started out as a coral sand strip and then a few seeds grew and voila – it’s now an island. It also has these cute little birds - rails - on it. Several had little dark brown chicks – very adorable. After lunch, we walked the little vine-forest trail around the island.

Chad really took to snorkeling. He’s quite a natural at it. He really got into finding fish – we saw butterfly fish, triggerfish, silver fish & sea slugs & sea cucumbers. We’re very excited about tomorrow. It should be much more colorful & lots more fish. The turtles were so beautiful to see. We were just about to call it a day & we were sitting in the surf when Amanda spotted the turtle, she took off motoring in her flippers. It was & we were off, too. Chad had taken off his flippers – so there was the panic of trying to snorkel & get ready at the same time. She kept tracking it. We finally caught up to it, but it didn’t want anything to do with us. We watched it for a bit and just as it went off, another showed up and was just gracefully swimming along nibbling on this and that. It was so graceful and the shell was beautiful. Amanda said they were green turtles.


We've added two new sections to the blog - First is the weather for each day and second is a comment section for Mom/Pam on our experiences. These updates may come after the original post - so occasionally check the old ones for new additions! We've also discovered Aunt Amanda can get pictures off mom's camera - so keep an eye for new pictures too!

Billy Tea's Adventure into the Daintree Rain Forest!

Today we did the Billy Tea’s Tour. First we got on a bus, our first stop was at Mossman. There were markets. I bought a Milo, it is chocolate ice cream with chocolate in it. Then we got on the bus again and we went to the river cruise where we looked for crocs but there were none. Then we went back in the bus and went somewhere to take a walk through the rainforest. We saw a wild Cassowary that are very rare. Next we rode somewhere to eat but before we got to eat we got to feed wallabies and kangaroos. Then we ate and then went back in the bus and we went to go swimming. We also ate exotic fruit, some were called star apple and papaya. Then we went back in the bus and went to a beach and walked along it. Then we went back in the bus to go home.


A tree frog


Aunt Amanda, Mom, and me at the rainforest lookout

The wild cassowary

Me feeding one of the wallabies

Aunt Amanda and me standing inside some giant tree roots

A wild dingo eating something along the creek where we went swimming

Weather: Sunny, hot & humid. Around 32 degree Celsius. It did rain a bit going up the coast. Our tour guide told us that the clouds are beginning to build for the rainy season. Cairns gets an average of 3 meters of rainfall a year. The rainforest gets 3 to 10 meters of rain a yr! They’re also about to enter their cyclone season. Cyclones are exactly like a hurricane except the winds swirl in the opposite direction.

Pam/Mom says:

We had 1st wild kangaroo sighting on our way to Mossman. There was a whole group that came off the mountains were grazing with horses. We saw lots of sugarcane, too. It takes 7 tons of harvest to produce a ton of sugar. We tasted paw paw fruit at the Mossman markets – quite good. In Mossman, there were these huge rain trees covered with ribbon fern. They were quite impressive. The rain tree had a flower similar to our mimosa trees. The cruise was a bit of a disappointment, but we did see the green tree frog which is sort of symbol for the rainforest and surprisingly not poisonous. Seeing the cassowary was definitely cool. They’re actually a pretty ugly flightless bird with a blue head that looks prehistoric. After seeing the cassowary, Chad spotted a “blue egg.” It turns out it was cassowary plum seed. The cassowary eats fruit whole such as mango and poops out the seeds keeping the rainforest growing. In fact, some plants won’t germinate unless they go through the cassowary’s digestive tract. At the kangaroo feeding, I was pretty nervous that the kangaroos were going to start kicking or punching Chad maybe because I watch too much America’ Funniest Videos. At the creek where we swam, we saw a dingo eating a bone of something. Seeing a dingo is also quite rare. On the way home from the beach, Chad locked himself in the bathroom under a large spider & its web. After the guide got him out, he noted it was a Golden Orb Spider which wouldn’t kill him, just make life unpleasant. They spin the world’s largest webs and they’re almost as strong as Kevlar.

Rainforest facts: The Daintree Rainforest is named after an English scientist, not a tree. It’s the oldest rainforest in the world around 110 million yrs. old and is part of the Wet Tropics. It has survived unchanged by ice ages, etc. The Daintree has 12 primitive species of trees. The Daintree houses ½ of Australia’s animal and plant species. It was quite lush and has some of the biggest ferns and palms, I’ve ever seen. It is also home to epiphytes which are plants growing on trees, but they don’t kill the host tree. The basket ferns get huge and sometimes when they get soaked, they fall, hence, the name widowmakers.

Platypus: I always thought these animals were the size of a large dog. I’ve come to learn they’re the size of a small duck and the males are venomous. Who knew?

In Cairns

Yesterday we met Aunt Amanda. Then we ate at Hungry Jack’s. Which is Burger King. They call it Hungry Jack’s because there was a little place called Burger King. So they changed it to Hungry Jack’s. But then Burger King closed. Then we got on a plane to Cairns. After that we went to the hotel and in the pool. Then we went to a place called reef teach. Where they teach you about the reef. I can’t tell you about it because I slept through it.

Today we went to Kuranda. We came their on a skyrail over the rainforest. I got to cuddle a Koala. The Koala was very heavy. I also got to feed wallabies and kangaroos. We saw birds and we got a Galah to come on our arms. I got a red –tailed Black Cockatoo to come on my arm too. They are rare. We saw butterflies and we decided the Ulysses were the best. We came back on a train.

We saw the real muddy on the Cairns' mud flats.

The playground was really cool.

This is the really cool manmade beach because

you can't go in the ocean because of the crocs.

On the Kuranda skyrail going over the rainforest.

Chad holding a fat koala.

And feeding a wallaby.

Weather in Cairns: Very hot and humid. Around 30 Celsius


Mom/Pam says (for Cairns):

Money Facts: Australians have no pennies or dollar bills. They don’t have names for their coins: it’s just 5 cents, 10 cents, etc. Australians have and use $1 and $2 dollar coins. All their bills are very colorful, different sizes and have different shaped clear windows. Because there are no pennies, but yet things are priced in cents – the bills have a subtotal and then a rounding line to the nearest 5 or ten cents. Things are rather expensive here. Amanda says that’s because minimum wage is $13/hr. Luckily, the economic fallout works in our favor and $0.70 US equals about $1. AUS.

It was quite funny when Chad fell asleep in the Reef Teach class. As we were nearing a break, Chad loudly snorted in his sleep and the instructor said, “I don’t blame him.” Reef Teach was very interesting with lots of facts about fish, coral and how to pet some fish and the millions of poisonous things not to touch. My paranoia of killer jellyfish is at extreme now.

Weather in Kuranda: Hot, sunny & humid. It did sprinkle once or twice. The rainy season officially starts on Nov. 1, but the rains usually start in Dec.

Pam/Mom says:

Since our body clocks are messed up, Chad & I were up at 5am. Luckily, Amanda is an early riser, too. So, we were up, dressed & out the door by 6AM. We walked down the Esplanade (boardwalk) for breakfast and did a little exploring. The tide was out we saw lots of sea life including these little bug-eyed fish that were able to come out of the puddles. We were thrilled with our “unique” discovery until we came upon the Muddy’s playground, statue, restaurant and realized, the fish are quite common. The birds here are quite amazing - lots of parrots, lorikeets, pigeons, pelicans, etc. Chad also played in the huge man-made saltwater lagoon which is there because saltwater crocs are known to be in the area.

On the way to the skyrail station we saw 100’s of fruit bats in trees. Right there in broad daylight – hanging upside down, moving and flying around. And they were big and evil looking. I gave a little scream when I saw the 1st one flying. The skyrail is made up of little gondolas that you up the mountain for 4 ½ miles over the rainforest. It’s beautiful, you can see all the way to the bay. At the 1st stop, we went on a little guided tour. I kept smelling something citrussy and finally asked the guide. He didn’t smell it. Finally another tourist admitted it was her bug spray. Kuranda is a cute little tourist town with lots of craft markets. We didn’t have long to see them because we went to see Bird World, the Butterfly Sanctuary and the Koala Gardens. Then we took the steam train down the mountain and back to Cairns. The ride was a bit hairy. We passed the Barron Falls, but they were low because much of Australia is in a drought.

Water info: Australia is fairly “green eco-minded” country. So most of their toilets have a half flush or full flush option. We haven’t been able to tell if the water swirls counter-clockwise because the toilets don’t swirl. Also all the signs say “Toilets” not restrooms. Some people refer to a toilet as a “dunny.” Amanda’s university actually gives out timers for taking 4 minute showers.

Koalas: The leaves they eat are low in nutrients and high in toxins, so they need to restrict their energy level. So they sleep about 20 hrs./day. And they have a small brain about the size of a walnut. They’re not a bear, they’re a marsupial.

They don’t really celebrate Halloween here. It’s more of holiday for the adults. There are no decorations or jack-o-lanterns anywhere. No trick-or-treating for Chad this year.

We're here!

We had to ride a lot of planes to get to Australia . Our plan was to ride from Philly, to Chicago to LA to Brisbane. But the Chicago flight got cancelled so we had to go to Dallas instead. The LA to Brisbane was really long- 13 hours! And we still have to fly to Cairns.

Weather: Brisbane: Very warm & pleasant.

Mom/Pam says:
The flight was brutal. We left Chad’s school at noon on Tuesday and arrived in Brisbane at 4:00pm on Wednesday US time. But it was 6:00am Thursday here. The flight from LA to Brisbane was just over 13 hours. We were right next to a baby, but he actually was very, very good. Chad slept very little preferring to play his DS and the video games on his personal TV screen.

Australia has very strict import laws. You’re not allowed to bring in nuts, fruit, cheese, wood, jerky, etc. We had some apples, jerky and nuts with us. We decided to throw out the apples and declare the other items. While we waited for our luggage a cute little beagle sniffed our carry-ons and sat down letting the inspectors know we had illegal food items. So I gave the inspector the nuts, etc from my bag and showed him my customs declaration card. He felt better just throwing it all out, so we did. But the dog kept sitting there because the apples had been in Chad’s bag – so that was searched, too. What a nose – he could smell the apples even though they were gone! Luckily, it’s not illegal to bring in Reese’s peanut butter cups because we were stocked with those for Aunt Amanda. Australia doesn’t sell PB cups or PB candy of any type.

The Night

Tonight is the night before my trip. I feel very nervous and excited. It's very chaotic. We have 60 lbs. of candy for the 2 day trip.

Getting ready

I'm going to Australia with my mom to visit my Aunt Amanda who's there studying through Penn State. I hope we see Tasmanian devils, whales and kangaroos.