Sydney to Burbank after a couple hundred wrong turns ...

Thousands of years ago the island continent of Australia separated from the super continent Gondwana. Australia's animals began to evolve in isolation from the rest of the world, where today over 80% of its plants and animals are found no where else in the world. Over the past few weeks, Patrick and I caught sight of a pack of kangaroos, wombats, flying foxes, skinks, shinglebacks, snakes, wild cockatoo packs, and koalas, to name just a few. My camel, however, was the result of Europeans introducing a new mode of transportation in one of the world's harshest climate - the Outback. And trust me, they didn't import the sweetest of camels. Mine was clearly a spitter. Look at him ... This is my camel in Noosa, Queensland. Patrick wasn't very excited about taking a horse ride along the beach, but the camels lit a little spark in his eye ...

We hit the Croc Hunter's Australia Zoo a few days before where Patrick and I couldn't wait to visit its snake house. We knew Steve had 16 venomous snakes and only 2 or 3 non-venomous ones. What surprised us was their habitat almost always included the whole of Queensland - exactly where we planned the majority of our honeymoon. Not only that - but if we didn't run into a venomous snake, just as common as ordering a Shamrock Shake at McDonalds, we'd run into the killer box jellyfish, poisonous cone snails, bird-eating spiders, angry cassowary birds, the largest salt water crocs in the world, or just the plain fact that if your car should break down in the outback, there's a good chance you won't be found until the next wet season; you're quite likely toast.

The most exciting part of this trip was that we knew every day would include something that made you forget about just how grey a cubicle was back at your 9-5 job. You learned that the world, nature, and other cultures can be more energizing than any 'long coffee' you would ever be able to order in a cafe. It really didn't matter how many times I gave Patrick the wrong directions in downtown Sydney, because it led us to parts we were dying to explore. I'm not quite sure just how many times Patrick's picture was taken on the Sydney Harbour Bridge for not paying the toll, because we we're just completely off course, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough in the mail.

After mining for Sapphires in the outback, Patrick and I left around noontime. It was maybe 15 seconds after the jeweler at Pat's Sapphires told us that our handful of muddy sapphires could be refined for $20.00 but only worth $5.00, we took off for Caloundra for the next few nights, back to the timeshare. Back to hot water on purpose.

We made sure we visited the Ettamogan Pub friday night from 5-6. Not only did they have happy hour of Patrick's favorite brew, but they barbequed free sausages & onions for everyone. We bought 20 tickets this week (for about $10.00) and instead of winning a frozen chook like last week, we moved up. We're now the proud owners of a plastic beer-funnel hat & an old bottle of wine. We both thought it was quite nice to look around at the pub - no one had cell phones, just a good old aussie time.

By Saturday afternoon, we piled into the used-to-be-white toyota and headed south to Sydney. This was my first time behind the wheel ... I thought Patrick was too tired to sleep - but apparently me driving was enough to wire him right up.

We landed in Coff's Harbour after checking out Emerald Beach and Sandy Beach. Little towns that close at 6pm. You'd see one or two folks walking, but once the sun set, these towns turned in. Smooth beaches dark night clouds & not a soul in sight.

Coff's Harbour was a little larger - we stayed at the Bentleigh Inn for about $60.00 and found ourselves walking over to the The Plantation for some more prawns & crocodile. You mine as well eat it while you're in the outback... Patrick was quite excited about this. This is one of the few restaurants open in Coff's at night - so it made sense that it also had a band and a dance club all in one. After a loaded lady kept asking me to dance, Patrick and I decided to turn into our little inn for the night.

The following morning, we took RT1 south, stopped for kangaroos, pulled over to a little diner on the river for breakfast, ordered the worst bloody mary known to man, and finally hit Sydney around 4pm.

4:00 is important because Sydney isn't such a large town, but it's full of one-ways, no right-turns, which could easily send you to Tasmania if you weren't looking. We decided to stay in the Darling Harbour section - right next to a casino according to my little scrappy map. However, Harbour Boulevard is one way - and we kept hitting it at the wrong end... which sent us accidently over the Darling Bridge to East Sydney, then back and somehow over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to North Sydney... then back over to get Patrick's headshot taken by the toll booth. It's hard enough to drive on the other side of the road and not look like an idiot; it takes a genius to also throw in enough change in a little square tin while cars are careening all around us. Patrick opted to smile and drive through.

The Holiday Inn was about $250 for the night, but we found The Novatel Hotel across the street for less than half. I booked the room while Patrick took nice directions from the bellhop on where to return our rental car at Budget. It was apparently a 5 minute drive.

It was a 2 hour drive for Patrick and I. Wrong ways - tunnels - bridges - all over again. And when we finally got to William Street in King's Cross, the Budget office had closed. So please add another hour to get back to the Novatel. I think it takes about 10 minutes walking ... maybe 5 by subway...

And then add another half hour to park. I forgot to mention that it was an off-site parking facility on a one-way towards the fish markets. Patrick was out of his mind.

A good thing was that we accidently took a U-Turn infront of the New South Wales Fire and Rescue Barn, where I jumped out and Patrick parked on the curb. The downtown Sydney Fire Department was happy to give me a free shirt for my Mom. Okay - back in the car. Back to hoping I understand the map for Patrick.

Finally we made it back to the Novatel and we orderd Patrick a martini right away. This was the first place in our whole trip that knew what a martini was. Most bars are beer & Bundabergs & rum. My thoughts are that a martini takes too long to make for the Aussies, when a beer pours half as fast. Smart! We're sure Nils would agree.

We sacked out in the most beautiful room ever. I think Patrick spent aobut 5 minutes counting all the different towels and sizes, then was amazed that our hotel carried more than 5 television stations...and passed out.

We started early the next morning at 9am. We were quite determined to get straight to Williams Street to take our second stab at returning the rental car. It was a simple "L" on the map - so no worries, right? Our Qantas flight was scheduled to leave at 1:35 out of Sydney. With a little coffee & OJ, we had a lot of hope.

Until the one-ways, mixed with the smushed-torn-faded map of Sydney that we had left, topped with "the no-right turns, but here's a tunnel just for the heck of it" surprises, we finally found Williams Street at 11:00. My happy husband was completely on edge - and is all I could think was, "he's going to kill me if I read this map upside down again ... okay .... lets guess ... take a right?"

We get to the Budget place to meet a nice mate who told us to just return the car at the Airport. Which is what we would have done all along, had the other Budget rep not told us we'd get a fee for doing that. Matt the Budget Rep was glad to waive our fee.

Back in the car we went. Driving in Sydney is nothing like anywhere else in Australia. You have no time to think "left turn on left?" before a metro bus runs over you. Dodging kangaroos and little packs of camels, road trains, suddenly seems like an icecream sunday to this madness.

Thankfully, the ride to the Kingsford Airport was the smoothest. We dropped our dirt-covered Toyota off in the lot and returned the keys inside. Patrick's color began to return, and we were on our way with the heaviest packs ever.

Its strange to know that on Monday we left at 1:35pm and landed in Los Angeles at 9:30am, a few hours before. Kurt was there to pick us up and by noontime, we were completely asleep.

Patrick was over jet-lag by the next day, but it hit me until Thursday. I returned to work Tuesday morning and would find myself staring at the fiftieth excel sheet of the day, thinking about the hard outback rains, packs of roos, trying to order a regular coffee, and hearing 'how ya goin, mate.' There's something cool about finally understanding why every other country except the USA gets crazy about rubgy. And finally figuring out they can only pass backwards.

Its been a looong week at work. Not hard, but long. I'm hoping to bribe Sheri into driving from Sydney to Perth while Patrick looks at Japan with Kurty. I just can't wait to return.

I'll write by every friday of every near-death experience in Australia that Patrick and I stumbled into. Lots of places, the internet was closed by the time we could write, so please keep checking back at the end of the week, when even you're tired of work, hopefully I can get you to the weekend, and a nice frosty stubbie.

Caloundra to Townsville & back

Well, we arrived just fine to Caloundra to the Worldmark hotel on Golden Beach, which is part of the Sunshine Coast. The hotel is really nice - comes complete with a free laundry room. Which I thought was really cool until I was told I had to also wash my own towels ... no new towels unless you're here for two weeks. Hmmm ....

We also wondered why no one was swimming on the kazillion beaches we saw - which are sooo pretty. That's because apparently this area has killer tides and will just suck you out. We weren't too excited about getting sucked out ... so we opted for the outdoor pool & hot tub.

It rained all weekend & was supposed to continue through until Thursday, so by Monday, Patrick and I decided to make a mad dash for the Great Barrier Reef. It's about 1000 kilometers north from here (maybe more ...) , so we packed up our dinky Toyota Corolla and took off north for the sun. We figured we'd be away for about three days max, but we'd see Nemo :)

We found a neat little town on the map named Mackay, north of Rockhampton & Bundaberg (Bundaberg Rummmm!!) so we decided at about 11:00 pm we'd make a night of Mackay and see what is there. In Queensland, it seems the majority of hotels, restaurants and stores close once the sun sets, so we were pretty limited by 11pm. Which lead us to the fabulous Mackay International Hotel!

Which sounds pretty good, right?

Well, apparently a 'hotel & accommodations' in this neck of Queensland generally means a bar & brothel. Me, pretty excited to find a room at about 45 usd, took it, not knowing the room right next door was 'occupied.' Patrick and I went to the little hole in the wall bar below and met some coal miners that were on strike. They were pretty excited to meet us, and kept giving Patrick Bundabergs & Cokes. So, while Patrick was hanging, I decided to return to the room 105 & hit the sack.

Which is when I saw the mini-cockroaches running around on the pillows ... about 20 or so. Having a little party ... on our pillows.

The more concerning part for me was the hotel clerk asking me "where they the big bugs or just the small ones?"

So I asked for another room (while Pat's at the bar) and got room 106. I inspected the pillows - no big or little bugs - but grab my digital camera to get a good picture of the large bloodstain on the curtain. Seems someone wasn't very lucky there a week back?

I brought the camera to the bar & showed it to Patrick, his 3 new coal-mining bloke buddies, the lesbian bartender with half a tooth, and another guy who had just bought $100 worth of drinks for everyone. They were quite amused, and somehow the bartender got us the "executive suite" in room 206. This basically meant that there was only one bug on the pillows as opposed to 20. So by 2:00, I finally went to bed wearing everything I owned - including my flipflops. Patrick wasn't quite as bothered as me, but then again, he had three bundabergs that would make any guy think he's in paradise :)

But before we hit the sack - we did learn that the 'hotel' was a brothel - but only had 4 prostitutes, mainly on the first floors (the 100's ...) because to have more than 5 you'd have to pay for a license. We were lucky apparently ?

So we took off the next morning, and after a long drive up the AU 1, we finally hit Townsville and stopped in a little Bed & Breakfast that was fantastic. The innkeeper even let me see the room first to make sure there were no bugs :)

The hotel was also on the Australian Haunted list - apparently the owner had died in 1911 in a large shipwreck ... so we had our eyes peeled :) We had a fantastic supper & met lots of locals. The next day we took a reef tour for the full day & Patrick scuba'd while I snorkled. The reef was about a 2 hour boatride out. Lots of fun. We also met a couple from London who recently moved to Townsville with their three kids. They just bought a huge house w/ tons of land (and unfortunatley it came with a few poinsonous snakes & bird-eating spiders) for aobut $150,000. Which is considered quite alot - but nothing compared to flats & apartments in London.

He told us that if we wanted to stay a few more days, that he'd take us out with some mates of his to go fishing in the mangroves. Apparently, they go out in little tin-boats fishing, with crocs everywhere, catch fish, then sleep in the boat overnight for fun.

He said that all through the night, crocs bump the boat, smack their jaws and fight on the banks... and apparently you've drank enough beer that you laugh through it?

So we passed ... and mentioned that we're driving inland to some towns called Emerald, Sapphire & Rubyville where you can mine your own gems. We were a little worried when he said to make sure we bring 2-3 gallons of water 'just incase.' Just incase we break down, chances are in alot of places in the bush, you won't see a car for another 6 hours easy.

A little apprehensive, we still decided to hit the road once the boat docked at 5. Townsville is great - its a small town of maybe 50,000 residents. All along 'the Strand' there are showers to rinse off from the salt water, so Patrick and I jumped in, dried off, and took off into the bush.

Of course, it started to rain. And it rained harder than I've ever imagined. I cam-corded some of it. We got to a town called Charter's Towers and filled up. The lady there was adiment that we don't drive down to Emerald, especially at night. The Aussie Road Trains usually run at night - delivering coal and meats inbetween towns. Apparently a road train is a tractor trailer with about 4-5 trailers. And this particular route - the only one we could take, was large enough for one car only. There were no two lanes - so of course if a road train is coming at you, you have to get off the road. And its raining, so she was convinced we'd just sink if we pulled off the road.

Neither Patrick or I was excited about only going a few hundred km's since we wanted to get to Emerald & then back to Caloundra as soon as possible, so we took the word of a local cop in the Red Rooster that we should be fine. He apparently thought Patrick was a strong enough bloke to push the car out of the mud if we got stuck .... HA !

So off we went - and this was the scariest ride i've ever been on at night. We were looking out for kangaroos, wild Camels, rain, and road trains now. We'd easily see a pack of roos every 10 kilometers. And since we didn't take the extra insurance on the rental, Pat couldn't hit one. I can't tell you how many times my eyes popped out of my head .... the road trains almost blew us off the road. Thankfully, we met the majority of them while the road was still a 2 lane road. Still crazy.

By 1 am, we pulled into a little town called Clermont to the Road Train resting spot, pulled our little car next to their monsters, and took a snooze. We cracked the window and I ended up being bit about 100 times by mosquitoes. They didn't like Patrick, because he has yet to be bitten. Makes me think ....

So we arrived to Emerald & Sapphire. We picked up our buckets & shovels and started sifting for Sapphires. Personally, both Patrick and I thought we were doing pretty good. We were covered with mud head to toe, and managed to find about 30 pieces. Which beat everyone else there. Until we went to check out. All but one had some sort of crack or couldn't be cut for some reason or other. The only one that could be cut would be worth maybe $5.00. Patrick just got a little ziplock, and we decided to make a dash back to the time share in Caloundra.

That was noontime & we finally arrived here last night at about 9pm. Pat still doesn't dare let me drive, so he took the whole route. I just stayed awake as the navigator, gingerale supplier, and Starburst candy girl.

So we've had alot of fun so far - tomorrow we check out and head down to Sydney. We're not too sure of our route, but it may be more inland than on the coast because Surfers' Paradise & the Gold Coast is all jammed with the Indy 300. I'm sure there are a few more towns we can visit, grab a little Toohey's New beer, and sit with the locals & play a few pokies.

I'll pop in before Sydney & keep you all posted. Patrick and I couldn't for the life of us find an internet cafe in the bush & outback, so sorry for the delays in posting!

Miss you all!

~ Kristin

Surfer's Paradise just south of Brisbane

We made it to Surfer's Paradise ... (about 800 kms north of Sydney) which is basically a bunch of high-rises under construction on the coast. I'm finally getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road and no longer want to barf.

Apparently Surfer's Paridise is getting ready for the Indy 300 races literally through the town so we were awakened at 6:00 am with the sounds of hammers & drills while they're lining the streets with small stadiums.

Our hotel can be described as 1960's Austin Powers. I've never seen orange & pink shag carpet before ... w/ plywood for a ceiling. Not too bad for $40? We have pics I promise. Last night Patrick and I did our pub tour, ordered some XXXX Bitter beer (Queensland beer) and a few Toohey's New (New South Wales Beer) and were quite happy.

On the way here, we stopped off at the Billabong Koala Park and we got to pet a koala. I can't believe they were actually awake while we were there. Patrick got majorily attacked by an Emu trying to feed it some corn. That is the ugliest bird I've ever seen! We then got to hand feed Kangaroos - they would just jump up to us - a few of them had little kangies in their pouches. Lots of screaming lorikeets and crazy parrots - and that was it for that nature park!

Today we're going to pass through Brisbane an because we're a day early to the time share, we're thinking of driving inland inour little white Corolla mini-car into the outback. We've seen some wild kangaroos hopping around, so we're off to find more. Alright -- off to find a meat pie & some coffee. Take care & we'll write soon !

LA to Sydney to Port Macquarie!

Well this is the first internet cafe Patrick and I have found, sorry for the delays!

We landed just fine in Sydney yesterday at 6am. At the airport, I realized that I didn't print up the itinerary, and just guessed that we were taking off at 11:30. Apparently, I was about an hour and half off. The plane began bording at 9:30 so we were completely late. None the less! We made it to the plane, in our little can-opener seats, and before we knew it, 14 hours passed. Qantas rocked by the way. Patrick's chocolates got us alot of free champagne ...

From the Kingsford Airport we bought a day-pass for $15 that covers all trains, boats and busses for the day. We hopped a train to Central Sydney and found a local hostel, but neither of us was excited to spend $90 & share a room with another couple. We slapped our packs on and took off to Circular Quay on the train to the Rocks, an area of Sydney that's alot like the Old Port but lots of haunted history! We landed in a little bed and breakfast, room 12. From a Haunted Rocks tour we grabbed last night, we learned that room 8 is haunted by a sailor and in the early settling days of Sydney, it used to be a prostitute hotel. Ha! The Rocks is located a short walk from the Opera House & the Sydney Harbour bridge, which Patrick and I trekked across. To climb it was $165, so we passed.

We then grabbed a ferry to Watson Bay, which took us all through Sydney harbor. We're both pretty sunburned! We returned at 5 for a short nap, then took a ghost & beer tour that night. We met alot of people from Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. Everyone loved giving us their little taste of what to see - so Patrick's been great, leading us to the next cool spot.

This morning we checked out of The Russell Bed & Breakfast and grabbed a rental car in the King Cross section of Sydney - an experience that is worse than bungy jumping in my opinion. Not only hvave Patrick and I never driven on the opposite side of the road, but we had to learn dead center in Sydney. My 'passenger air brake' didn't even know which foot to use! I was completely carsick & no help to Patrick. Thankfully, he got the hang of it right away and we took off up the coast.

We're now on Route 1, the Pacific Coast highway and tooling north to Brisbane. We've seen lots of koala signs but haven't seen any hanging from the trees. We stopped at a sweet little winery and picked up our first bottle of sulphite-free wine! Yeahh! The coastal route is lined with little outback farms and is incredibly green. But it's still completly wacked to drive on the other side of the road ...

So we've stopped for the evening at a little motel in Port Macquarie. We had some fish at a little shop and are headed out to the bars in town to scope out the locals. We're soo excited and this has already been a wild two days. We can't wait for more!

Till the next cafe ... :)

On Our Way

Whoo hoo!

We're taking off for the airport at 7 tonight. Patrick wants to get there in plenty of time so he can bribe the Qantas air attendant for an upgrade with a box of chocolate. He calls it his "11.00 investment." I called about upgrading, and was told it would just be the difference in fare from economy ($900) to business class ($10,600). So I think chocolates are a great alternative :)

And since it's 5 and I have yet to pack, this entry will be pretty quick while Patrick is off hunting down Lonely Planet Australia books at Barnes and Noble...

We both are ditching luggage for two internal-frame packs from REI. They're awesome. Of course, the only one that fits me is in an ugly rust color, but atleast Patrick will find me easy among the crowds. It'll be easier tooling around in Sydney for the first week with packs instead of rolly luggage. And hopefully we'll get ripped into shape!

We've packed our new Sony W7 digital camera so we promise lots of cool pictures. As well as the digital camcorder.

So check back when you can and Patrick & I will have updated this on our latest adventures down under...

The Itinerary for Oz

Sorry for the delay in posting! I do expect to update this site daily from Australia, of course, as long as we're not stuck in the willywacks with only a payphone and no internet connection...

We're flying out of LA this Sunday, Oct 9th, direct to Sydney & arriving at 6:50am on Tuesday, Oct 11th. Its about a 15 hr flight though - so kinda like flying from Boston to Alaska? I'm soo excited. Can't wait.

Our plans are kind of sketchy, but we figure we'll do the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Rocks, Opera House, downtown... We're thinking we'll spend the night or two and take off the following evening up the coast of Australia to Brisbane (about 400 miles) We have to be in Brisbane by Saturday to check in to our hotel. On the way up, we plan to stop in little outback towns, hang w/ kangies, kiwis and drink beer. We thought about taking a bus or train, but there's really nothing like winging it on our own.

While in Brisbane, we'll check a few local wineries, check out the rainforest, swim w/ dolphins, hit the Australia Zoo. I'm fascinated by the Whitesunday's, about 180 miles north of Brisbane, which apparently have pristine beaches ... and snorkeling snorkeling snorkeling.

We may have to rule out the Great Barrier Reef for this trip & catch it the second trip. The normal reef access points are about 800 miles north of Brisbane to Townsville or Cairns. The trip would unfortunately suck up alot of time while our stay in Brisbane is free & we'll have to pay to stay in Cairns. Especially when we fly out of Sydney on the 24th. If we included the reef, it would be 1200 miles there in total from Sydney, then 1200 miles back in a little rental, which would mean divorce most likely.

Maybe we can take a quick hop on a plane... we'll see.

I'm amazed about the size of Australia. The reef is about a 30 minute boat ride off the coast of Cairns, but if you get it on the southern end near the Whitesundays, however its about a 3-4 hour boat trip to reach it. Coming from the deep North Atlantic region, when after the little islands off the Maine coast have passed, one would next expect to find nothing until the UK. To know there's a living, breathing reef that's about 800 miles long just waiting for you is incredibly tempting. We'll see how the rental car does ...

So trip two - we'll hit Uluru, the Reef, and maybe the western coast?