The End

Waaaaa, it's over.

Time to get back into regular life routine now that our fabulous Australian vacation is finished.  It was all great, beginning and ending with the people we met.  We know some of them will be visiting us this year, and we're already looking forward to it.

There won't be any more posts on this blog, but I won't shut it down.

Flying home

The Good News:

There were kiosks scattered throughout the Sydney airport with free internet. So we were able to send a couple of emails and tell our friends the Bad News.

Photo of the Bad Plane

The BAD news:

“Your flight has been cancelled,” said the clerk at the check-in counter with a friendly smile.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, your flight has been cancelled due to mechanical problems.  Don’t worry,” she continued, seeing the stricken look on my face.  “I’ll get you on another flight.”

And she did.  We’re now flying home on Quantas, which will probably be a much nicer flight since I know it was more expensive, not that we have to pay the difference.  United still flies old planes, with the movie screens hanging in the center aisle.  Quantas has the better planes with the screen in the seatback in front of you, so you can choose what to watch.

We didn’t get an upgrade to Business Class, though I asked, just in case I got her in a weak moment.  But Quantas is already an upgrade and that, coupled with the free internet access at the airport, is already making this a good day.

And now, the Sequel.

Qantas is indeed a more comfy plane.  Unfortunately, though, this plane too had a minor mechanical problem.  Something electrical wasn't working and so we were slightly delayed.  The captain came on the PA to explain that it was fixed and we were now ready to take off.  They revved up the 4 engines and hurtled down the runway when suddenly there was a loud noise, the plane skewed and fishtailed, and the brakes were being vigorously applied.  Then we sat there while the fire engines arrived and covered the smoking engine with foam.

Qantas had a flame-out, the captain explained to us, and we taxied back to the terminal.  I thought it was a blown engine and really, I'm not sure what the difference is.  One of the passengers behind the engines said he saw a 30 foot flame shoot out from the engine, though there might be some hyperbole there.

As we were preparing to deplane, the captain announced that they were bringing a fresh plane to the terminal and making it ready for the flight, so we didn't have to worry that we would be continuing on the same defective plane.   

To help pass the time in the terminal, which was 4 hours, we were each given a $30 food voucher good at any restaurant.  Hans and I only needed one voucher, which bought a glass of wine, a glass of beer, half a ham and cheese baguette, and  small plates of tapas.  We gave our second voucher to a dad with his young daughter who were just heading to one of the food courts.

So we were only 4 hours late arriving in LA and of course missed our connection from LA to Phoenix, along with lots of other people too.  Qantas was very well organized and where we picked up our bags in LA, the ground agent already had information on the flight we were to take to Phoenix, so we just had to haul our 3 big suitcases and Hans' golf clubs one mile down the sidewalk to Terminal 7, which was the very last terminal.  I huffed and I puffed, but we got there and saw with dismay that all the United check-in counters were packed with people.

"Our plane leaves in an hour," I said to a United lady directing passengers hither and yon.

"You'll have to get in this line," she said and opened the gate for us.  There were many in front of us, and only 4 agents working.  All the other terminals were for electronic tickets, and we didn't have one. Just a voucher stating we were to get on this particular flights.

It was very stressful as it seemed each person lined before an agent had a serious and long-winded problem to discuss and time was ticking away.  We finally got to the counter.

"You'll be on standby for this flight," said the agent.

"What!  United cancelled our flight out of Sydney, Qantas blew and engine, we've missed our connection, we've been travelling for 24 hours and we're on standby???"

"I'll put you on Priority Standby," she amended, and that was that.

To make this already long story a bit shorter, we did get on the plane, but Hans' suitcase did not.  And we had a scant 5 minutes to call our friend in Mesa to let him know what flight we were going to be on so he could come and pick us up.

We've come home, and hopefully, so will Hans' suitcase.

Hunter Valley Gardens

The gardens have something to appeal to every age, as you can see from the last photo.

The first white men thought that these trees had been written upon by the Aborigines.  The answer is much simpler.  It’s some kind of worm whose larvae crawls under the bark and leaves these marks.

Koala crossings

Finally!  Got a photo of the nets going over the highway that the Koalas use to cross the road.  At least the smart ones use those nets.

We're okay!

We're okay, but it's absolutely dire north of us in Brisbane, but we're about 6-7 hours south of Brisbane.

We got away in good time from Gold Coast (about 1 hour south of Brisbane) -and there's sun here at Soldier's Point.  It's on a peninsula by Nelson Bay, just east of Newcastle, and we're definitely okay. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning for Sydney. 

Thank goodness we remained one step ahead of the flooding.  It seemed as soon as we left an area, it got cut off but we're safe and dry and ready to head home on Saturday afternoon.

We may have internet tomorrow in Sydney .  Right now I'm at an internet cafe just checking on friends we've met in the flooded areas.

Toowoomba is in a bad situation

There's MORE bad flooding just west of Brisbane in Toowoomba.  The water rose 2 meters in 20 minutes, catching many people off guard.  It was like a tsunami sweeping through the city.  In fact, that's what they're calling it.  It's an extreme event.

We're south of Brisbane now, about 4 hours and heading further south and east today, opposite Newcastle on the coast in a place called Solider's Point.  I hear they have sun...  So while it's raining a bit here, we're okay.

While normally we wouldn't let weather affect our pleasure too much, it has rained a bit on many the days we have been in Australia.  Often that made no difference, and when we were north it's a tropical rain which is warm and not even unpleasant, just like in the Caribbean.

A beautiful evening at our hosts' in Gold Coast which, I learned, is a City, not just an area.  And it's a big city (100,000) with many, many high-rise condos.

Dinner on the outdoor patio where we were gently cooled by the evening breeze off the lake.

Above and below, daytime views from the patio across the lake.  You can fish and kayak or sail, but no motor boats allowed.  It was heavenly.

A walk along the breakwater.

 It was a pretty cloudy and rainy day, but the rain held off long enough for us to take a walk and watch the surf kick up.  The ocean was wild that day.

This cute little fellow was wandering around the golf clubhouse where I was waiting for Hans.  He was such a cutie, and so friendly, I couldn't resist getting his picture.  Apparently there are two of them that hang around and they're totally harmless and even cute.  Sort of.

This is part of the clubhouse at the Emerald Lakes Golf Course where Hans finally got another game after being thwarted at so many other place due to the rain.  He took the umbrella with him, and it did rain on him a couple of times but there was no lightning so he didn't have to come in.  Meanwhile, I enjoyed a long, uninterrupted read of my book and a glass of wine.

Temporarily out of touch

Just a note to let you know that we'll probably be offline from Tuesday until at least Friday.

Heading out to meet friends in Soldier's Point where they have no internet access, so hopefully no one needs to get in touch with us.

We left Hervey Bay on Friday morning, apparently in the nick of time as they got 300 ml of rain (12").  That's a LOT!  And, the road is cut off!!!   So had we stayed longer, we would now be stuck.  Luckily, we went to the zoo instead, which was a bit further south and though it pelted down on us there, off and on, we weren't cut off.

Hopefully all will go well until we're in Sydney around Friday, leaving Saturday for Mesa.  Yay!  It's been great, but it's time to come back.

Snakes!

More than 40 brown snakes (yes,  they're venomous) and one taipan (VERY venomous. It is in fact considered to be possibly the most venomous snake in the world) have been killed in the waters around the Rockhampton airport.

Taipans are what they call a two-step snake.  You're bitten, you take 2 steps and drop dead.

The BEST Best Western

We're in Caboolture, not too far from the Steve Irwin Australia Zoo.  Gypsy, our GPS lady took us the fastest way, which turned out to be the slowest since part way into our journey, the road was closed due to flooding.

We backtracked to the last little town which was very close and got alternate directions, which happily took us exactly where we wanted to go.

After we checked in, the lady at the desk said, "There's a complimentary drink for each of you.  What would you like?"

"Champagne," I replied immediately, expecting Coke or maybe coffee.

She shrugged, "just wine or beer."

"Really?!  Well then, I'll have wine," I said, caught completely off guard but in a good way.

"Red or white?"  We even got a choice.   What a great way to welcome your guests!  I'm sure we could also have had a Coke.

Crikey! Danger! Danger!

Spent most of the day at the Australia Zoo, which was started by Steve Irwin's family and then he expanded it when he took it over.  It's quite amazing, and we had a great time.  Didn't get to hold a koala though, unless I wanted to get a professional photo taken for $$$, and I didn't.

Freshwater crocs.  Apparently, not maneaters and not considered dangerous to humans.  You can even swim with them said the sign.  No thank you.

Taking his pet python out for a swim.

 Another python being brought around to us in the stands for a close-up view.  At this size, they are no danger to people.  But they're still creepy.

 Terri Irwin, feeding "Digger," one of the larger salt water crocs.

 This demo is a warning not to let anything hang out over the side of a small boat when you're in croc infested water.  They can lift almost their entire bodies out to leap at something hanging from a tree, or catch a bird in flight.  Not a good idea to trail your fingers through the water as you sail along.

Feeding the croc by flinging meat chunks at it.

a HUGE python, behind glass thank God.  Hans is shown beside it to give you an idea of scale.  This one could kill you, but probably wouldn't eat you unless you were a small child.

A replica of the size they can reach and they speculate that there may be a few around in this size, though none have been seen this big since crocs were seriously hunted as recently as the 1970s.

Yum.  Dinner time.

Don't you just love that face?  Mama and her little joey.

Awww.  Having a nap.

Hallelujah!

After 5 days of the internet being down in our motel, it's back!

We went to dinner at the Rotary Club tonight to do a makeup meeting and when we got back, we were delighted to discover that the internet has been restored.

So, keep those e-cards and e-mails coming folks!

A day at the Bay

The mozzies are too fierce at the golf course, so instead today Hans did a little practicing.  With his sore neck and shoulder, he's had to alter his swing but that turned out to be a good thing.  All his shots were amazing straight, right down the center.

He can't believe it himself.  No hook, no slice.  This frozen neck/shoulder has been a blessing in disguise, though it is annoyingly painful.  But his golf has imrpoved.

Just an interesting sculpture.  And the boat looks nice too.

We were on our way to the Rotary Club of Hervey Bay City when we passed this, so stopped to take a photo.  It's already getting dark, and it wasn't even 6:00 p.m. Night falls quickly in Queensland.

Undercover parking

You would think that undercover parking would be most needed in Canada where we can get so much snow.  But here in Queensland it’s much more common.  Most shopping centers have undercover parking to keep your car a little cooler, and it works marvellously.  When we’ve had to park in the sun…well, you can’t even sit down or touch the steering wheel on a sunny day.

Xplornet.com

(Written a couple of nights ago before we found this much nicer, cleaner internet place where I am right now.)

I’m in a seedy bar, on a porn site.  How on earth did that happen?

The internet at our Best Western has been down all day so this evening we went to a public internet place which happened to be in a bar.  We’re not going there again.  The crowd was pretty drunk and rough, but worse than that, the public terminal was the worst one I have ever used.  The metal keyboard was built into the table, the letters were etched into the keys and some of the etching had worn down…and not all the keys were in the usual places.

The screen was so jiggly it was impossible to see what I was typing.  The keys stuck.

To check our mail, I go to xplornet.com which, as I was startled to learn, comes out as xpornet.com if you somehow drop the ‘l’. 

And there was I was on a porn site. 
In a public bar.   
Very awkward.

Miscellaneous Musings

It’s hot and muggy.  This temperature suits my mood, which is quite lethargic.

We’re slowly sinking into some lazy days here in Hervey Bay.  Yesterday and today I spent hours down by the pool alternately working out (briefly) and reading (lengthily).  The beach is just across the road but…today the water’s kind of brown, churned up by the rains and pounding surf so right now the pool is more alluring.

Hans got in a long-awaited golf game this morning after two weeks of no opportunity, and feels much better about everything.

A local bookstore is selling off new, unsold books for $3, so we picked up Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” as well as 3 others.  While the books are new, other than Sarah Palin the authors are mostly unknown to us but what the heck, at $3 the books are a bargain and we’ve run out of reading material so we bit the bullet and took a chance.

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but things in Australia are generally more expensive than Canada and the U.S.  Eating out is one of those more expensive pursuits and Hans and I don’t like to eat fast food.  But we’ve found a fairly decent way to eat out, which is dinner at a local RSL club (Returned Serviceman’s League, I think).  The clubs all have ‘pokies’, the local term for one-armed bandits, and other ways to gamble away your money.  Because they are private, members only clubs, we have to sign in but there’s no cover charge, it’s just a legal formality.  And of course you don’t have to gamble, you can just go in for dinner.

And for some completely unrelated trivia, P. L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, comes from Maryborough, just a few kilometers down the road from Hervey Bay.

Grocery shopping

“Are you American?” asked the fellow behind me in the supermarket checkout line after we had been chatting for a few minutes.

“Oh no!” replied the cashier.  “She’s Canadian.”

“I am Canadian,” I confirmed at the same time, and then asked him in turn, “Are you from New Zealand?”

The cashier bubbled over with laughter as she nodded her head.  She got it, but the fellow remained puzzled as he explained that no, he was an Aussie.

*sigh*  Not everything at the beach is hunky dory.  Sort of sad, really.

 You can see Hans in the background, enjoying his daily news fix.

This is what Hans would see if he were looking up from the newspaper.

Hervey Bay is a sensory feast.  It sounds like colourful birds, feels like a hot bath, tastes like champagne, looks like a garden and smells like tangy salt. 

It’s another beautiful day, perfect for going to the beach.  We stopped at a seaside café this morning for a cool drink and to buy the newspaper before heading back to the motel to get ready for a swim.  And for a change, in the paper I see the word “its” without an apostrophe when it should actually have one.  “Though its (sic) still a delicacy…” 

In other news, the ocean just looks so inviting this morning, with a broad sandy beach and gentle waves rolling in from a blue and bright sea.  The air is filled with salt tang and shrieks of pleasure from the kids.  People having fun.  I can’t wait to join them.

Rotary Friendship Exchange (RFE) photos

 I copied some of Gary Marshall's photos (Gary was our Team Leader on the RFE) and printed them below.

This is my favourite sign!!!  I would really like to have one like this in my garden. 

In Port Macquarrie they had these on every table at dinner and we took this one, which is shown sitting on the dashboard of our team bus.  Hans and I took it at the end of the trip and I'm bringing it home.

Hans giving the team presentation at one of the clubs.  Could be in Port Macquarrie.

Dick and Lou bought these hats for each of us, and we wore them with great joy and panache.

A frontal view of my dolphin kiss.  I'm obviously enjoying it as I even closed my eyes.

Back to Hervey Bay

This is the only flooding we encountered on our drive back to Hervey Bay.  And see that blue sky?  First blue sky we've seen in two weeks!  Actually, we had lovely weather yesterday at the Reef, but other than that, it's been very, very rainy.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/residents-evacuate-as-flooding-grips-much-of-queensland/story-e6frf7l6-1225977082293

Whew!  We're in Hervey Bay, back in the same Best Western we stayed in over Christmas and we're going to settle in for a week here.  We have free internet (a real bonus) and we're across the street from the beach, though I can't see it from our window cause there are too many trees and a park between the street and the ocean.

A little further down the road I noticed a Rotary Park which appears to have grilling facilities, so we may make use of that later on in the week.

It's SO GOOD to be out of the rain.  The last two weeks have been pretty wet and we've just been one step ahead of the flooding.  Our Rotary friends in Forster had recommended we come back from Cairns (where we never went due to the weather) via an inland route, taking us through Emerald...Obviously, that was out too as to date, Emerald has been the hardest hit and is totally evacuated because it's completely under water.

For the last 36 hours I've been itching to leave Mackay but we had booked a day on the Great Barrier Reef for Thursday, the 30th and I'm so glad we did that.  It was fabulous!  The weather there was great, the first sun we've seen in two weeks, and the snorkelling was outstanding.  The stinger suits...not so outstanding.  Thankfully, there are no pictures.

So when we made the decision to leave Mackay this morning, we left pell mell taking only a few minutes to head down to the internet shop and make sure that there were no urgent messages and also to check that the Best Western in Hervey Bay had a room for us. 

We got through Rockhampton by the skin of our teeth.  One of the roads was already down to 1/2 a lane (see photo above) as the second lane was under water and the remaining lane was slowly sinking, but we just followed the traffic and we all got through okay.  It wasn't deep yet, so no problem really.  Just slow.

On our way up 4 days ago, we had forded some deeper water north of Rockhampton and that had miraculously ebbed so other than the little portion I wrote about above, we drove through no water but the radio was full of dire warnings that the Bruce Highway would be closed this weekend, probably Saturday and possibly even this afternoon.  So we felt fortunate to get through when we did, which was around noon.  I was already mentally preparing myself to be a "helper" if we got stranded at an evacuation center in Rockhampton. In my fantasy we made it to the local TV news as Canadian Rotarians, on a visit to Australia, now stuck in the flood and lending a helping hand at the shelters.  Just as well that fantasy didn't come true.

I was feeling a little pressured to get south as quickly as possible, but then I'd sober up and remember that had we been stranded, it would only have been a small inconvenience.  Those poor people all through Queensland who have been flooded out, I can't even begin to imagine what that must be like.

So here we are, warm and dry in a nice little 'apartment' unit at the Best Western with fridge to chill our midnight champagne, which we'll have with strawberries, pate and crackers.  It feels good to be safe.  And dry. We even have a mike to heat our barbecued chicken because after driving for 8 hours, Hans would just like to relax and drink some wine and not have to go back out for dinner.  I'm all for that myself.

Happy New Year everyone.

Ninja Snorkellers

Because snorkelers lie on the water with their arms and legs spread and their face just under the surface, it isn’t actually possible to tell which people are snorkelling and which are dead.  Those turquoise blobs you see are live snorkelers and one has hot pink fins. 

It’s hard to tell while underwater, but we were covered head to toe. There were racks of colourful lycra bodysuits in every size and we were required to pick one and squeeze into it before heading into the water.  Because, you know, there are stingers in the water.  That’s jellyfish, in case you’re wondering.  Most are harmless, however a sting from a jellyfish known as the Irukandji can require emergency medical treatment.  What they don’t tell you is that the emergency medical treatment may save your life, no guarantee, but you’ll certainly suffer unbelievable pain. For days.  And days. And you could still die.  So no one argued about putting on the stinger suit. 

The suit had a hood and idiot mittens with thumbs.  And they don’t come in black.  Our choices were various colours from pale pink to hot pink, turquoise or blue.  Hans and I each chose a turquoise one and let me just say, if you think pulling up your wet bathing suit is hard, try pulling up a skintight body suit that’s still slightly damp from the previous day.  We wrestled ourselves into our suits which is much like stuffing a sausage casing with ground meat,  pulled on our hoods, and then Hans and I decided to each don a lifejacket.  I was glad I did because occasionally, the water was quite cool and the jacket made a huge difference in keeping me warm.

I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a hand touches my foot.  I swallowed a lot of water.  But I did see some fabulous things, some I’ve never seen before and even those that I had, these were bigger.  Enormous.  For example, we saw huge clams the size of a small car, with fat indigo lips that pulsed open and shut.  Vast areas of blue-tipped staghorn coral, the tips as pale blue as a robin’s egg and coming to life under the sun’s rays.  Large mystery fish, striped lengthwise in many colours and being groomed by tinier fish.  And schools of pencil thin silver and blue fish that flashed in the sun and disappeared as they abruptly changed direction.  It was absolutely magical.

This is the pontoon against which we docked, and where we picked up our snorkelling gear.

There’s a semi submersible sub that will take you around another part of the reef so you can look at the fish without getting wet.  We did this after our snorkel and there was a tiny little black and white striped fish that fitted itself against our window and drafted in the sub’s wake.  It’s little tail was vibrating a mile a minute and I swear it was enjoying itself. 

Oh, and the gourmet tea that I referred to in an earlier post?  It wasn’t.  But we had a pretty decent lunch:  thinly sliced grilled steak, chicken skewers, sausages, caramelized onions, and several salads.  Later in the afternoon they served chocolate cake and cheese and crackers with tea.  So it was okay.

We had a great time.  The snorkelling was terrific!  If we come here again, we’d do it in June – their winter – when there’s no danger of stingers and we can snorkel without wearing those hideous Ninja suits.

George the Groper.  This fish is HUGE.  You can read how big they get and this was just a little fellow, probably the size and weight of a man.  Very impressive.