TASMANIA – Oct/Nov 2024

We ran into some VISA issues in September and were not sure it would be wise to depart Australia again this year. Nothing serious, just a matter of not being able to get back into Australia if we left. Australia cannot keep you here but they can refuse you entry or re-entry. That being the case and having a fairly big gap of time to fill with travel, we elected to go to Tasmania, or Tazzie as the Aussies call it. We have always wanted to go there and this was the opportunity we needed to make it happen. We had three options regarding travel. One; we could fly to Hobart, rent a car, drive around Tasmania, fly back home. (yawn) Two; we could take our caravan, camp all the way down to Geelong (the port the ferry to Tasmania sails from), take the caravan across on the ferry, caravan all over Tasmania, take the ferry back and caravan all the way home. (Hmm $$) Three; we could drive down to Geelong, making the trip in two days and staying in a hotel at night, take us and the Tucson (our car) on the ferry across to Tasmania, drive all over Tasmania seeing the things we wanted to see and do, take the ferry back and drive home. also give us the opportunity to do some touring in southeast Australia on the way back.

Flying and a rental car did not appeal to us. That is the way we normally go to far away places and it did not appeal to us this time. I guess because Tasmania is not that far away. Taking the caravan nearly doubled our time on the road because of the reduced towing speeds. Gas mileage also gets cut in half so the expense of gas, campgrounds, and time ruled that one out. So we went with number three.

The Trip … Blue on the way down, green on the way home. Each way was about 1800 kilometers

We chose the two different routes because the inland route has less traffic and fewer tourists. It allowed us to make maximum miles each day … our goal was to get to Geelong. The way back was following A-1 or M-1 all the way home. The M designation is for motorway where it is upgraded to be an interstate type highway. The A designation means its often two lane, undivided, with access from all sides. Both ways were very interesting. We didn’t know how fast we wanted to return home after getting off the ferry on our return so we had no hotel reservations on the way back. We would decide where we wanted to stay each day. We had no idea how we would feel or what the weather would be like when we got back to Australia so we left it all open.

A quick note about the pictures. They are worse than usual because my camera was acting up. It’s gone now (the camera) but I can’t retake the pictures so you will just have to put up with these.

The Ferry

We spent a pleasant evening in Shepparton and a great dinner at the RSL (like an American Legion Club except very nice, well attended, great meals). We were tired after two very long days so we hit the sack early. The next morning we sort of slept in because we only had about a hundred and fifty kilometers to go to get to Geelong and the ferry. That was the way we planned it to ensure we had time to deal with any delays before boarding the boat. We took our time and got to Geelong and the ferry terminal just after noon. The ferry didn’t board until three thirty or so which gave us some down time. At three thirty we started boarding the ferry and by four thirty we were parked and on our way to our cabin. The crossing departs at six PM and arrives in Devonport, Tas around six AM. You don’t have to get a cabin, they have lounge chairs you can sleep on, and cinemas for movies. We decided to get a cabin and get some sleep. All this had been reserved a month ago with firm dates and no changes allowed. Our schedule was centered on the ferry crossings, both ways. Only traffic problen we had was meeting OVERSIZED loads. Some filled up the entire road … both sides!

We arrived in Devonport, Tasmania at six in the morning of 26 October. We had enjoyed a good nights sleep with the gentle rock of a smooth crossing and were ready to go. Here is our plan for our two weeks in Tasmania:

Blue arrows driving the direction of the arrow, red arrows, boat travel.

We drove off the ferry and headed out for Launceston. From there we proceeded to Scottsdale, then over to St Helens where we had a hotel room booked for the night. The trip was about three hundred and fifty kilometers but was over many small mountains with steep roads and curves.

It was our introduction to Tasmania and it was quite remarkable. The first thing that hit me was how green it is. Because Tasmania is so far south, the temps never get that high so it has a pleasant moderate climate. It gets cool but snows and freezes mostly only in the mountains. The rest of the country enjoys pleasant weather and ample rainfall … thus green, everywhere. Where we live in Queensland, everything is brown most of the time unless you come across a large area that was burned off in the last year or so. Even that browns out during the hot dry summer.

Many cattle and sheep stations, farming, and small communities. Because the land is so lush, ranchers can put many more head of livestock in an area than other parts of Australia. Consequently, you see much bigger herds of cattle and sheep. Here are some shots from along the way. As the map shows, we drove from Devonport (upper left corner, to the east coast via Launceston and Scottsdale.

When we arrived at St Helen’s we were delighted to find our room was ready and we could check in even though it was just shortly after noon (remember we started a six!). We made dinner reservations at the hotel, moved some of our stuff in, and decided to see Binalong Bay where the rocks were on fire and the sand was like sugar. We drove along the bay, got out several times and walked on the rocks and beaches. We drove all the way out to the tip of the bay and back. Everything they said about the area is true. The rocks along the beach are covered with an interesting red alge that makes them look red hot. The beaches were pure white where the sand had pushed back the rocks providing beautiful places for people to sun and swim.

We wound our way back to our hotel in St Helen’s for a bit of cleaning up and reading befor dinner. There was some interesting scenes behind our hotel.

The area behind the hotel was partly marshy and it turned into a harbor for the city. Many kinds of water foul in the marshy area.

We enjoyed a pleasant evening with a delicious dinner at the hotel we stayed at. A young couple from Chile ran the bar and restaurant. They worked very hard and made everyone’s evening enjoyable.

The next day we were up, had some breakfast, and headed south. Our destination was a small town called Swansea. We had booked a room there so off we went. Here’s the route and some scenes from along the way.

The trip to Swansea. The arrow looks straight but we followed the beach road, went over some small mountains on gravel roads, and saw a great deal of country. We stopped at Freycinet National Park and hiked up and over the mountain to see Wine Glass Bay. Seen only from the mountain viewing platform or helecopter/

Our drive was very interesting. We wanted to stay near the ocean (The Tasman Sea) so we stayed on the scenic byways. One turned into a gravel road as it crossed a small mountain. The road was steep and curvy but we did fine. Many farms, many forests, some seashore, little towns … an interesting drive.

One the way we diverted to Freycinet National Park. It is a peninsula that forms a large bay. Very nice. There was a hike out to Wineglass Bay that we decided to take. Took several hours but was very scenic, steep in places, many steps (400) carved into the rock, but we made it. Even passed some younger folks.

So here’s the drive, the hike (two actually, the second was a short hike out to a light house) and the place we stayed in Swansea.

Freycinet National Park is one of Tasmania’s most famous and best cared for parks. The hike was challenging but very rewarding in the views and terrain we enjoyed. We left the park and went on to Swansea, checked into our little Chalet, had dinner at a local pub, and go a good nights rest. Hiking will help that happen.

The next morning, after a leisurely cup of Joe, we loaded up the car and headed south. The plans for today are to get to Hobart, Tasmania’s largest city and Capitol, and divert over to Port Arthur on the way. Here’s the plan:

Again, it was not that many kilometers but slow narrow roads. We made it to Port Arthur late in the morning, parked and started our visit.

Port Arthur was one of the early and main prisons where they sent people from England as punishment. It was actually a sadistic plan by the crown to get cheap labor to the new areas of the realm. No one wanted to go to Australia or Tasmania, so the crown sent them to Tasmania for whatever crimes they could cook up. Once there, they were used as slave labor to cut trees and harvest whatever else the crown wanted shipped back to England. Anyhow, we decided to visit the old prison site.

We finished up our tour, had a bit of lunch, and drove off to Hobart. We have several days booked at Hobart because there are several things we want to see there. The trip from Port Arthur ro Hobart was uneventful, we had an apartment right on the marina so we were downtown but away from the traffic and had a nice view.

One of the things that was recommended to us was The Mona (Museum of Old and New Art). It was supposed to be in an impressive building on the shore of the Derwent River which Hobart sits on. Right across from our room was a pair of snazzy looking ferry boats that took people to the Mona providing an viewful trip with snacks and cocktails served. We arrived in Hobart late on a Monday so we planned to go to The Mona the next day and take advantage of the ferry. The next morning we were not feeling like a ferry ride so we decided to drive out to The Mona and have a look what all the excitement was about. We were greatly surprised when we arrived that the Mona is closed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. We were leaving on Thursday so the Mona came off of our “Must See” list. We later found it was a modern art kinda place and while we don’t do many museums to begin with, a modern art one is even lower on the priority list. Instead we decided to drive to the top of Mount Wellington, a very big 4,200 foot high mountain next to Hobart. Off we went. We also wanted to see a wildlife sanctuary Nancy had read about so we could eye ball some of the interesting species of animals they have in Tasmania only. Lastly, we walked about the city, the marina and port mostly, just to see what was there. Interesting place. Here are some pictures of our adventure:

The shelter was a bit of a disappointment. The few animals they did have were very difficult to see. I understand giving animals their space but it would have been nice to at least see them. It was like trying to read a book without opening the cover. Some you could spot amongst the grass and brush but it was difficult to get a picture of them. Lots of kangaroos though.

Our last full day in Hobart we decided to take a break and just hang out for the day in our apartment. It had a washer and dryer so Nancy did a load of wash so we didn’t have cart our dirty laundry around … plus I didn’t want her to get out of practice! We walked to a nearby coffee shop and enjoyed a couple of Flat Whites with a sweetie. We walked around the marina and explored the shops and other establishments.

While we were in Hobart we ate at several places. They were all good. Abundant seafood, great Mexican, then conventional Aussie food at the Brick factory which once was the location of a factory that made bricks, and the Ball & Chain which was built by prisoners (they didn’t become restaurants until later). We found Hobart to be a pleasant place with welcoming people and a mild climate. It is notably cooler this far south. Tasmania is only the size of West Virginia and is a little farther south of the equator as West Virginia is north. Plus it is surrounded by waters that flow up from Antarctica. The Seafarers Mission I mentioned is a world wide organization dedicated to providing a welcoming place for the crews that come in on the ships. Kinda like our USOs are. There are 200 of them located in fifty different countries around the world. I mentioned it because I volunteer as a driver at the Seafarers Mission in Gladstone near where we live. The big ships that bring in coal and oar to the smelters here and haul off the Alumina and Aluminium, as well as other freight like grain, beef, etc all have very international crews. They are paid very little and don’t get much time off. The Mission runs a center here that provides books, clothes, CDs, Movies, and a small rec center for them to relax in. We also transport them to a nearby mall where they can do some shopping. You can google it if you want to know more. The next day we left for Strahan on the west coast of Tasmania. There is a famous water fall along the way that we want to see. It is in Mount Fields National Park. There is a short hike out to it and back.

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As I have said before, It’s not that far across Tasmania but the roads are narrow and mountainous so we are planning to use the entire day to cross the country along with stops at Russell Falls and other spots. Here we go:

That road got us to Strahan in mid afternoon. We checked into our hotel, found where our cruise was leaving from, had a beer and some early dinner, and settled in for the night. We came to Strahan because of an ad I saw for Gordon River Cruises. It’s a nine hour cruise (includes lunch) that takes you all over Macquarie Bay and the Gordon River that feeds it. One of the earliest prisons were establish here on Sarah Island. The men were forced to harvest trees and make ships. It was closed down when the prison at Fort Arthur was opened. We got up the next morning, found a coffee shop and had a bit of breakfast and prepared to board “The Big Red Boat”. The Big Red Boat is a modern tour boat with two levels of seating with comfortable chairs. The engines drive thrusters rather than props so it is much quiter. The Captain narrated much of the trip and also gave us time just to look and enjoy what we were seeing.

That was our cruise. Very pleased we did it. Extremely interesting and entertaining. When we got off the boat we spent a few minutes looking at the saw mill and goft shop. Nancy bought a nice piece of Huan Pine that we are going to do something with. I think make a car … when you step on the accelerator it will go “wooden, wooden!” I make joke! Anyhow, after we finished shopping we dove around a bit to make sure we had not missed anything. Low and behold we discovered another waterfall with only a two kilometer walk out to see it. Off we go!

We walked back to the car, had dinner in the only pub in town and got ready to shove off in the morning. Our next journey takes us from the southwest corner of Tasmania to the Northwest corner of Tasmania, via the interior, to a small town named Burnie. The western part of the state is far more undeveloped than the east. Mostly forests and mountains it is thick and quite tropical even though the weather is so cool. A few shots from the drive:

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Burnie is right on the ocean and had a long sandy beach with rocks along the back side where the land starts. This beach and these rock are home to a unique breed of Penguins who live here. The adults all go out every morning into the ocean and don’t return until the sun is setting and twilight is approaching. The penguins are known as Little Penguins (how original is that?) in Tasmania or Blue Penguins in New Zealand and Fairy Penguins in mainland Australia. They are the worlds smallest species of Penguins and stand just 10 or 11 inches high. When we got to Burnie we turned west and went along the coast a little ways just to see what it was like … Rocky and sandy with beautiful water. We then returned and checked in and took a walk on the beach. Cold and windy but sunny and fair. We found where we could see the penguins later that evening. As it started getting dark we walked out on the boardwalk to watch for the Penguins. They live in little burrows amongst the rocks above the tide line. The chicks hatch and remain in the nest while the adults are gone all day. They get hungry towards evening so you can see them peeking out to see if Mom is coming yet with dinner. All the talk about dinner made me hungry so we had dinner and waited for it to get close to dark. Then we walked out on the boardwalk looking for little penguins.

When the adults get together with the chicks, the chicks assault the adults looking for food … it’s a real food fight once Mom starts burping up the fish she has been eating all day. Anyhow, that was it. Something you can see only in Burnie, Tasmania.

Our next destination is Cradle Mountain.

Burnie to Cradle Mountain

One of the highest peaks in Tasmania and a very popular hiking area. We had reservations at a lodge type resort and spent one day and two nights there. Unfortunately it was raining the entire time we were there. To make it even worse, there was a heavy fog that hung over the mountain so you could not even see Cradle Mountain. We did see it the day before driving in but that was it. Here’s the trip to Cradle Mountain and a small hike we took close to the resort.

It was a nice stay. Bit cold and rainy but you can’t have sunshine all the time. From here we are headed back to Launceston for a couple days. We booked the ferry some time ago and have three days before we depart so we will be exploring in the Launceston area and getting some rest.

Cradle Mountain to Launceston

On the way to Launceston I wanted to stop at Tazmazia (not misspelled) & Lower Crackpot Village. It was advertised to have miniatures of famous landmarks and an amazing maze. We got there early and it was still closed but looking through the hedgerow it became obvious to me it was for little kids. I swallowed my disappointment and we visited a lake that was not too faraway that was a training camp for international rowing competitors. No one was there but it looked like a nice facility. We pressed on to Launceston.

We made it to Launceston right around noon because we didn’t spend any time in Crackpot village. Our room was ready so we moved in and decided to take a tour of the James Boag’s Brewery. The tour was very interesting but much like many other brewery tours we have been on. Beer is made pretty much the same way everywhere. What was interesting was the history behind the brewery. Every brewery has an interesting history so that’s why we go on the tours. Best part was the sampling after the tour. There was just one other couple on the tour, a couple from Canada so we visited and enjoyed the different kinds of beer James Boags makes.

We ate dinner in a downtown restaurant that evening. Actually, we had dinner at a downtown restaurant all three nights we were there. Two were great, one was marginal. The next day we decided to take a river cruise on the Tamar River. Actually it was just a harbor cruise that lasted about ninety minutes. We did get an interesting history of the city and some good ideas where to go next. The next place was a place called Cataract Reserve Gorge. We were not sure what it would be like but decided to check it out anyhow. It was great. The pictures, first the Harbor Cruise:

That was our river cruise. The guide talked about the Cataract Reserve Gorge so we loaded up the truck and headed out that way. What a great place!

That was it. We had a lovely time, took a long walk, had a coffee and a sweetie, enjoyed the flowers and peacocks. Well worth the visit. That was our morning. We decided we wanted to drive north all the way to the sea along one side of the Tamar River, come back down to the bridge that crosses it, drive back north on the other side to a Platypus place, then a distillery, then back to Launceston. So we did.

Our Day Trip

Interesting drive. First time we’ve actually seen real Platypus plus they had some Echidnas which were very entertaining. Then we stopped off at a wine cellar door to sample some wines, followed by a tour of a distillery, (very little consumption at either), then back to Launceston. Quite a day. Here’s the pics … order is kinda screwy but from two cameras … just enjoy the pictures.

That was our day trip. Very enjoyable. the next morning we left for Devenport and our ferry. Again, plenty of time to get there. No new pictures for this part. Just the route.

Final leg in Tazzie

The trip back across was just like the one coming. We had a cabin, had something to eat on the ferry for dinner, listened to a guitar player for a while and turned in. Soon the lady was announcing it was five O’clock and we should be getting ready to disembark … so we did.

The trip back to Tannum Sands (where we live) from Geelong was interesting. It was foggy when we left the port and was still foggy when we drove through Melbourne. Fortunately it was early so there wasn’t much traffic. The next day we drove through Sydney, it was Sunday so again, not real busy. The rest of the way was a piece of cake. We stayed in three different places. All coastal towns with beaches and resorts (they all kinda look the same). We were going to stop in Byron Bay but it was another rainy, foggy day so decided to press on. Made it home safely. One interesting thing we saw along the way was nets and posts they put along the road for flying squirrels. Most of the area we drove through was either coastline or forests. we kept seeing these narrow little nets strung high above the road but from one side all the way to the other. Curiosity got the best of Nancy so she googled it. The nets and posts are put there so Flying Squirrels can get across the highway without becoming crow food. Here’s a couple pictures. One is the net and the other is a set of three posts that the squirrels jump from one to the next.

That concludes our trip to Tasmania. I again apologize for the quality of some of the pictures. I have discarded my camera and will use my iPhone from now on … promise. Hope you enjoyed Tazzie as much as we did. It was a great adventure.

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Theater & Wave Rock in Perth – September 2024

Our Granddaughter, Samantha, is finishing her degree at Western Australia Academy for Performing Arts (WAAPA) this November. Part of her graduating requirement is for the everyone in the class to produce a short play and present it. Each student is either an actor or part of the production staff for two of the plays (an actor in one and a production staff in the other). The students are teamed up partly by themselves and partly by the faculty. There were two five play programs that ran for four nights each with a three day break between the first and second program. Nancy and I wanted to see both of the plays Sam was part of so we bought tickets to the last night of program one and the first night of program two. We booked a flight and flew to Perth the day before the last night of program one. Sam was the director for one of the plays in program one and her play was the last play of the evening set of five. While we did enjoy all five of the plays, we had a vested interest in the last one and enjoyed that the most.

Before we flew out, Nancy did some research regarding things to do in Perth. Wave Rock was one thing we decided we wanted to see, then maybe a winery and, a must when in Perth, the Chocolate Factory. This was how we were going to fill the three day break. As these plays are the finals for her course, Sam was quite immersed in getting ready. She did spend some time with us one day and we had a great time.

First, the school and plays. WAAPA is a well known and difficult to get into school. They select only twenty six students each year. The class attends all the classes togather and each year another twenty six people are added. The program last for three years. Their most notable graduate, at least in my opinion, is Hugh Jackman. We are all very proud of Sam for being selected and now for graduating. The plays:

So that is what we came to Perth for.

During our three day break we went out to the Wave Rock (350 Kilometers each way). It was an interesting a pretty drive as it is Spring here now and all the wildflowers are blooming. It was also the first time we saw large herds of sheep.

As I mentioned, there were many interesting things to see along the way.

That was our day long adventure to and from Wave Rock. An interesting place. You can always google “WaveRock western Australia” if you want to learn more about it.

That took care of one day. The next day we decided to explore Perth a bit. Plus Sammy had a day off and spent it with us. Perth:

We walked all over Perth and ended up in a Belgian Beer Hall. We tried a few beers, ate some junk food and called it a day after taking Sammy back to her school.

The third day we drove out to the Swan River and visited a winery, did some tasting, had a very nice lunch, and went to the chocolate factory.

The day of Sam’s second program, Nancy and I just took it easy most of the day, then walked over to the theater Sam’s plays were at. We met Sam for an early dinner, wished her a broken leg, and sent her off to get ready for her play. She did great!! We are very proud of her. No pictures of any of the plays … photo’s were very prohibited. Sorry.

The next morning Nancy and I flew out, got to Brisbane at five PM, checked our car out of the parking garage, and did the six hour drive home. We would have normally spent the night in Brisbane but the next day was our daughter-in-law’s birthday and we didn’t want to miss that.

That’s our Perth story.

Bits & Pieces Campout – August 2024

The church we attend in Tannum Sands has a group of active people that do some sort of social activity each month. The group is called “Bits & Pieces”. Various people in the group volunteer to head up each month’s activity. Nancy and I were on deck for the annual fall campout. We have been attending this church for over a year and a half now, have attended and participated in many of their monthly social events, so everyone figured it was time we took the lead for an event. We like camping so that’s we volunteer for. Not being overly familiar with local campgrounds and not being sure how far people wanted to travel we ask some of the longer tenured members for recommendations. Cania Gorge Tourist Retreat was one of the recommendations and after seeing where it was and discussing a group event with the owners we decided that’s where we were going to go. Have a look: caniagorgeretreat.com.au A big feature of the place was that it offered small cabins as well as Caravan and tent site. The sites were with or without power so everyone could choose to camp as they liked, or stay in a nice cabin.

Nancy and I, as well as our family, celebrated the 4th of July there as a test run to see how things went. Everything went well so we pressed on with signups and information posts. We had everyone make their own reservation so they could get exactly what they wanted. The event lasted from Friday evening to Sunday morning. There were some scheduled events and a number of activities people could participate in if they chose. There was no hard and fast program.

To kinda get ahead of the crowd Nancy and I went out a day early. We arrived early afternoon on Thursday and set up our caravan.

The add-on is kinda new so it takes us a couple minutes to get it set up. We had a nice day and everything went well. We finished early so I told Nancy I would take her out to Cania Lake. She had not seen it before so we drove out there.

Friday afternoon people started rolling in. We had twenty people who signed up and came so it was a comfortable group.

Friday evening everyone brought something to the camp kitchen and we all had a pleasant dinner. After dinner everyone had a chance to tell their favorite joke or story or displany any special skills they had. I demonstrated my Hooey Stick that responds to voice commands. Many folks told jokes or interesting facts. One lady played the Ukulele for us. A fun time.

Saturday was open for people to do whatever they wanted. Some people hiked, some did sand painting, some played horse shoes, some just sat around talking and enjoying the nice weather.

Saturday evening one of the members who had rented a cabin hosted an informal late afternoon tea. Then people wandered off to prepare their dinners. Some ate in the kitchen, some in their cabins or caravans. Later everyone wandered over to one of the caravans that had pleant room and we all sat around a big fire enjoying the evening and each other’s company.

One of the highlights of this campground is the bird feeding at four PM. The owners wife is a Bird whisperer and when she brings out the bird treats, birds show up by the dozens. She hands out food and who ever has some gets visited by birds … lots of birds.

Everyone enjoyed the encounter.

As evening set in, after everyone had finished eating, we gathered around a big fire. No pictures of that as it was rather dark.

Sunday morning we had a little worship service on one of the front decks of the cabins. People had to be out of the cabins by ten and the campers gone by noon so after the service we all broke up, packed our gear and headed for home.

All in all a very pleasant weekend. No injuries or problems. The Camp ownership are very accommodating so everyone had a good time. Hope you enjoyed the story.

LUMINUS – Gladstone’s incredible light spectacle, Tondoon Botanic Gardens – July 2024

Every year the Tondoon Botanical Gardens in Gladstone decorate the entire park in lights. Trees, displays, light shows, light art, you name it, if it has to do with light, it’s there. Nancy and I went there to see what the hype was all about and we were amazed. I took a few pictures but they fail to capture the beauty and effects of the hundreds of thousands of lights, reflections, and effects presented. There was something for everyone but definitely attracted children. We had a great time, enjoyed everything and plan to go again next year.

So that was just a small sampling of what there was. An amazing event and show. Hope yoou liked it.

Camping over the 4th of July at Cania Gorge Tourist Retreat – 4 July 2024

Nancy and I were put in charge of organizing a group campout for our church this coming August. One of the areas or campgrounds suggested to us was Cania Gorge National Park. There is a small campground there where our church has camped before. I looked it up, talked to the folks who run the campground and booked it sight unseen. Feeling I needed to check it out, we invited our family to join us for our annual 4th of July celebration at the park. Andy didn’t get any time off (I guess the Aussies just don’t recognise the significance of our Independence Day!) but managed to take a day and a half of vacation. So, we all trooped out there on the 4th, set up and commenced to celebrate the 4th. First thing I would like to point out is that we are in the middle of Winter here in Oz so it was not real hot. The second thing is we usually get rained on when we camp over the 4th. Getting the picture here? Cold … wet. Okay. Here’s our camp, all set up:

Comfortable campsite, firewood, shelter .. Can’t see it but we have a heater in the awning and in the Caravan (Aussie for Camper).

We got set up before dark. Got a fire started and Nancy, Candy, Sammy, and Christian all started with the 4th of July fireworks … that would be sparklers and light tubes … all they allow here.

Before it got dark we did have the traditional meal of hotdags and hamburgers, potato salad and beans … all served on red, white, and blue plates, utensils, and napkins. It felt so patriotic!

The next morning we all decided to go hiking. Cania Gorge is a spectacular gorge with steep rock walls, big trees, and plenty of vegetation. There were many trails to choose from so we picked several short ones that linked up and did them. No one in the group is a serious hiker but we do like hiking and seeing nature. There is a great deal to see but in pictures it’s just rocks, and trees, and dirt so I’m not going to point out which is which. Our walks:

That night we enjoyed relaxing and recouping by a bonfire and some yummy chow. It didn’t rain much so we escaped that part. The hiking was fun. Incredible views once you got up above the floor of the gorge.Australia has very rugged terrain. The valleys and gorges are steep and deep, usually covered in heavy vegetation.

Saturday morning I drove out to Cania Gorge lake to do some fishing. Didn’t catch any fish but I did take some pictures:

The campground also has a kitchen that provides a fridge, stoves, a microwave, and tables if anyone camping needs these facilities. It also provides a place you can wash you dishes, pots, and pans.

You can’t see it but there is a quite a bit of seating available there as well.

One of the neatest features of the camp is the bird feeding. Every day at 4 PM the hostess comes out with a bunch of corn and bird feed. King parrots, Lorikeets, Apostle birds, Magpies, Crows, and Cockatoos all pile in for the feast. They eat from your hands, stand on your head, and enjoy the feast. An interesting sight indeed:

That was it. We woke up Sunday morning to a nice warn sun, took down the camp and went home. A successful 4th of July weekend.

Hawaii By Ship – June 2024

Nancy and I first visited the Hawaiian Islands when I we met there during my R&R week from Vietnam in 1971. We had five wonderful days together and I went back to finish my tour and Nancy returned to Wisconsin. Since then we have been there a couple of times either on vacation or some sort of business. We did fly to a couple of the Islands on past visits but decided we wanted to see the major islands all in one trip. Norwegian Cruise Lines offers a week long trip that takes you to four of the Islands with stops and a chance for an excursion at each stop. As we hate packing and unpacking, flying, finding places to stay and places to eat so we thought a cruise would solve most of those problems. So, we booked a seven day cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. We did not pre-book any excursions. We wanted to see what was offered at the time we got there, and we were not sure if we were even going to take any. We were going there to relax. Here’s what the cruise looked like:

And, here is what you are supposed to see, at least on O’ahu:

So that’s basically what we did. We went there with an “Aloha Attitude” so we were determined not to try and do everything there was to do at every stop. We ended up getting off the boat twice and had a very relaxing and enjoyable time … in spite of being on a cruise ship.

The Spirit of America (Norwegian Cruise Lines) has been doing this trip since 2015 … every week, all year long. It is one of the few ships doing passenger cruises that is registered in the United States and consequently, by law, crewed by a majority of American citizens. Now, if you have been on other cruises you probably found most cruise ships are crewed by non-Americans. Also, if you have spent any time in America, especially near a tourist activity (except Disney World) you have noticed a difference in attitude between the foreign cruise crews (yes, a homonym) and American service personal. Same thing on this cruise. Service was good, could have been better. Servers were good, could have been better … at least by cruise standards. That said, because we are not fussy people and are perfectly competent to care for ourselves, we did fine, had a good time, and saw what we wanted to see.

Because we travel a great deal and have been disappointed several times by airlines not getting us to where we were going when they said they would, we booked into Hawaii a day early and spent our first night there in Honolulu. Yes, that does add to the cost of the trip but not as much as missing the first day or two of a cruise and being bounced around and wind up on an abbreviated cruise all stressed out and fatigued. We arrived in Honolulu early but by the time we went through immigration, got our bags, found a taxi and rode to the Hotel, it was close to noon. The hotel was gracious enough to allow us to check in early so we did. We ditched out stuff, put on some comfortable clothes and walked down to Waikiki Beach. It’s Winter here in Oz and while there is no snow, it is cool, relatively speaking. Waikiki was warm and sunny. We spend most of the afternoon walking along the beach front, looking in stores, watching the surfers, and enjoyed a nice dinner. Our hotel was close to the beach but our room was a “mountain view” so we looked the other way. Not bad but not the beach. Here are a few interesting views:

We had a pleasant arrival, nice dinner, and turned in early ready for our trip the next day.

So, here we are at the next day. Took a cab to the port and boarded the ship. Boarding was quick, easy, and simple. Everyone was pleasant and we were aboard just after 12. What they don’t tell you is that when you board early to avoid the rush, you wait for hours for your cabin to be ready once you are on the ship. As we were in our “Aloha Attitude” we just said “No Worries”, got a couple of Tequila Sunrises, found a deck chair, and vegged out till our room was ready. Easy Peasy!

While you are waiting for your Tequila Sunrise and cabin, I will show you a couple pictures of the ship and our cabin:

Our first stop was in Maui. We didn’t get off the ship. Too popular means too crowded. Remember, we came here to relax … Aloha!

Next stop was Hilo … didn’t see anything on the itineraries that interested us so we continued Chilling on board … but we did find going into the harbor interesting:

When we got to Kona we decided to get off the boat and see what there was to see. We disembarked and took a taxi to the local market. Interesting … yes, Nancy did find things to buy there, I was shocked!! We walked and shopped for a couple hours and headed back to the ship. Kona:

It was an interesting trip. Nancy got to buy some “Souvies” and we were back on the ship. As you can see from the picture of our itinerary, we now have a long trip to the North and Kuau’i. While we were enroute we decided to do a trip to the Waimea Canyon State Park when we got to Kuau’i. Waimea Canyon may look familiar to you as parks of “Jurassic Park” were filmed there. When we docked in Kuau’i the next morning we filed out and got onto out bus. This is the part I really dislike about cruises … excursions by bus! I don’t like big crowds of people on a tour … more than four is a big crowd. Here we had about 25. The thing that save this one for me was the “Rogue” bus driver. He said he had been in trouble several times for going “off track” on his tours but he was going to do it again. Loads of useless but colorful information as we drove along. He grew up here so now we know his life history … interesting. The tour was good. Here’s the Canyon:

The driver took us on a quite a tour to supplement the canyon tour but, I must admit, it was interesting and scenic. No one else on another excursion got to see all we did. I’m okay with that.

So then it was back to Honolulu. We pulled in the next morning and prepared to disembark. That also went quite well with no waiting in some holding place till it was your turn. If you didn’t have checked baggage from the night before, you could walk off any time. We only had two roller bags so we didn’t turn them in the night before, had a nice leisurely morning, and walked off at about 10. Caught a cab to the hotel, and checked in. Due to connecting to Australia we needed to stay overnight and catch an early flight out the next day … Boo Hoo! Same hotel but the Waikiki side. More pictures from Waikiki (mostly from our balcony:

We found it to be ironic that “our” ship was doing one more turn around Hawaii as we were preparing to leave. It was even more ironic it was right at sunset with the sun right behind it. The perfect ending to an interesting cruise. Hope you enjoyed coming along.

Camping At Coolum Beach, Queensland (22-26 May, 2024)

A shorty here. Nancy and I decided to try taking the Caravan out going a ways on the first day, setting up, staying there for few days, then going back home. We have never really camped like this as we are usually on the move every day with only an occasional longer stay. We decided to try caravanning as the Aussies do and spend more time at one place and less on gas. We picked Coolum Beach because it was a nice drive south of where we live, we had not seen that area before, and it sounded interesting. Also of interest was meeting a couple friends we had met on our 2022 Christmas cruise around South America. So we made reservations at a Caravan site next to the ocean and off we went.

We got a leisurely start on Wednesday morning. We had packed everything we thought we would need the night before, I had hooked up the caravan and all was ready. We had some coffee and took off South to Coolum Beach. It was about a 5 hour trip (450Km) with our usual stop for a bakery sweetie and coffee (a flat white) at our usual place along the way in a little town named Childress .. they have a great bakery there.

We got there early enough to get set up with daylight to spare. Another reason we wanted to spend a few days in one spot is that we bought a patio for our caravan and wanted to learn how to set it up in a campground. We put it on once at home but that’s under ideal conditions. We wanted to practice the real thing. We got the patio because the caravan is quite small and if it’s raining or in the evening and we need to stay inside it get pretty confining. The patio is completely enclosed and adds about 80 Sq Feet of living space hooked right onto the caravan. Not a lot of pictures here but you might be liking that.

There might be a couple more pictures of it later. Meanwhile, the next morning we decided to take a walk on the beach. We are still on the lower edge of the Coral Sea.

That was exciting. We had a luncheon date with our friends that we met on the cruise so we polished our shoes and headed north to Noosa Heads where they live. We had a wonderful time and spent all afternoon talking and catching up. They have a beautiful home right on the green of one of the holes of the golf course they live by. The fairways drives straight up towards their home so you can watch players from tee off to putt. Great time, great people.

So we spent the remaining days just relaxing and practicing taking it easy. Not a normal thing for us but we are learning. Here are some random shots around the campground of different Aussie camping getups. Some are quite unique.

We were forecasted to get rain and it did. We were worried about taking everything down in the rain or when it was still wet. Fortunately Saturday was sunny and breezy so in the late afternoon we took everything down, packed it up, had a quiet evening, and left Sunday morning. Trip home was uneventful and we logged in another successful campout.

See, I told you it was short! Next up is our cruise around Hawaii. See you there.

A Mini Cruise – The Curtis Island Ferry – May 2024

I call this a Mini Cruise because it has all the properties of a big Cruise but was on a small ship and didn’t last very long. We were on a ship, we were in big waters, we made several ports of call, we had entertainment, and we had drinks. We also had a cabin but shared it with about fifteen other folks because there was just one cabin. So, what kind of cruise was this?

We took the Curtis Island Ferry from Gladstone Marina out to Curtis island. The ferry runs on a published schedule nearly every day and serves those people who live on several of the small islands off the coast of Gladstone, campers who wish to camp on the south tip of Curtis Island, and trades people who go out to the islands to build, repair, maintain the buildings that are on the various islands. We took the ferry just for the fun of it. We wanted to see where it went, what the Gladstone harbor was like, what the islands were like, spend an afternoon doing something different, and getting some salt air and sunshine.

The cruise lasted about three hours, had five stops, and we had a great time. The ship was a fair sized ferry that could haul maybe ten cars or so, had an upper cabin that had seating for about thirty people, and surrounding open deck space where yuou could enjoy the sea breezes and sunshine.

I’m not going to provide much more narrative. The pictures and a few captions should pretty well explain everything. I think there will be a wrap up at the end. Here we go:

That was our cruise. While we didn’t have a meal, Nancy did have a Corona and I had a Bundaburg Rum and Coke on the way back. We spent most of the time out on the upper deck, me taking pictures and Nancy enjoying the breeze and views. We had a delightful time and went to the Auckland House for dinner. All in all a good day in Gladstone.

Here’s a little info from Google about Gladstone harbor and the Islands we went to:

Gladstone Harbour is a locality in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Gladstone Harbour had a population of 29 people.  There are three towns in Gladstone Harbour, all on Facing Island: Northcliffe, Farmers Point and Gatcombe.

Although predominantly water, the locality includes Facing Island and Quoin Island (both of which are partially developed) and a small undeveloped part of southern Curtis Island which may be a separate unnamed island at high tide.

Facing Island is 14.2 kilometres (8.8 mi) long and protects the harbour from the Coral Sea.  There are two passages from the harbour to the sea. The North Channel exits the harbour between the south of Curtis Island and the north of Facing Island, while the Gatcombe Channel exits the harbour to the south of Facing Island and Boyne Island.

There are three small towns on Facing Island:

  • Northcliffe at the northern tip of the island 
  • Farmers Point at the north-west of the island 
  • Gatcombe at Gatcombe Head at the southern tip of the island

None of the towns are fully developed with typically half the blocks being undeveloped.  Nonetheless the number of houses on the island is still high relative to the population, suggesting many houses are not permanently occupied but are “weekenders” or holiday homes.

The actual harbor at Gladstone is actually quite significant. More from Google:

Gladstone’s primary industries are mining-related. The Port of Gladstone is the fifth-largest multi-commodity port in Australia and the world’s fourth-largest coal-exporting terminal.  The port consists of a number of wharves and terminal facilities. Boyne Wharf is used by the Boyne Island aluminium smelterand was opened in August 1982.  The western harbour basin has been expanded, primarily to allow increased exports of liquified natural gas (LNG). Furthermore, in 2016, a plant was constructed on Curtis Island to produce and export LNG, a construction project that contributed heavily to city’s population and housing boom. Major exports include coal, alumina, aluminium, cement products, sodium cyanide and ammonium nitrate.  Each year 50 million tonnes of coal passes through the port, making up 70% of the total exports.

Gladstone harbour is within the World Heritage Area of the Great Barrier Reef and has historically supported a thriving seafood industry.  In August 2011, a Fisheries Queensland spokesman said they received reports of fish with milky eyes.  A spokesman from the Gladstone Fish Markets claimed that diseased fish were still being caught in large numbers in November 2011.  Losses to the local seafood industry have been estimated at A$36 million a year.

Gladstone is also a tourism destination, with cruise ships regularly docking at the port.

Sorry about the commercial but we are pleased to be part of Gladstone and have enjoyed our first year here. Looking forward to more. Thanks for coming along.

An Outback Sortie,  (April 2024) Caravanning to Longreach – Capitol of The Outback

Winter is coming so the north is starting to cool a bit.  Time for the Grey Nomads to start touring the northern part of Australia.  Still seems backwards to me but that’s the way it is here south of the equator.  During the late Spring, Summer, and Early Fall, any travel north of the Tropic of Capricorn is considered foolish, especially if you don’t have air conditioning in your caravan.  We do, thank goodness, so our trip last December up to Cairns was tolerable.  Our sailing adventure in the Whitsundays, much farther south, was hot, even on the water.  Now that Winter is approaching, we have decided to take the caravan out to a town that we have come to admire as a stepping off point to the Outback … Longreach.  Our plan is not to proceed past Longreach, but get there, spend a day, and return using a different route.  Here’s our route.

We traveled out to Longreach some 9 or 10 years ago with a rental car just to do some exploring.  We were visiting our family for a couple months and decided to give everyone a break and Nancy and I took a week off and take a trip.

Our first stop will be in Emerald.  Emerald, and the small town of Sapphire just beyond it, host the largest natural gem field in the Southern Hemisphere.  People come here for a day, week, month, or years of “FOSSICKING” (looking for gem stones).  Some people come out here and file a claim and stay for years.  We just want to see the area and maybe pick up a Ruby or a Sapphire that’s just laying around waiting to be picked up.  So Emerald was our first day’s destination.  We got a good start out on Wednesday morning. took the Dawson highway through Calliope and when we got to Biloela we turned north on the A5 to catch the A4 west to Emerald and Longreach.  We were in no particular hurry but made good time and arrived in Emerald early enough to do a little exploring after we unhooked and set up the caravan.  There’s a big dam and lake just south of the city, Fairbairn Lake and Dam, so went out and eyeballed that a bit.  Then we went back into town to find a huge easel with a picture of some flowers.  Van Gogh has a couple of these around the globe, one in Goodland Kansas. It’s 80 feet tall, and atop it rests a 32×24-foot representation of one of Van Gogh’s“Sunflower” paintings. It’s about a half-mile off of I-70 and the others are in Aries, France.  This one, apparently the folks of Emerald decided to be original, is of a bouquet of Sun Flowers, also by Vincent Van Gogh.  We did find it and it is nice … and very BIG.  From there we went back to camp, freshened up and went hunting for a place to eat dinner.  We did that, turned in early and got a good night’s sleep.

The next day we proceeded west to Sapphire looking for Jewels. Quite a small town, lots of junk laying around. Mostly mining claims. People come in. stake a claim and start mining for jewels. We decided to take a shortcut and found a place that would sell us some aggregate that we could sift and pick the jewels out of. It’s a tedious process and the jewels are quite rock looking so you need to know what to look for. We spent a couple hours with a pleasant lady who talked and helped us through the process. We ended up with some jewels that we found. Quite a few of them really but discovered it was only the first step we had taken.

So I bet that was disappointing. Here’s the rest of the story. In addition to the one container of jewels you saw, we had several more of different sizes and types. What we need to do now is to ship them to a jeweler in Thailand that will cut and polish them for us. Some that had inclusions or cracks we will just tumble and make shiny rocks out of that look like jewels but not cut to Jewel specifications. When we have this done, I will add them to this post so you will be able to see the before and after of our efforts. I think we collected several hundred thousand dollars worth of jewels once they are cut and polished … we’ll just have to wait and see. Right now they just look like gravel to the untrained eye.

After spending the better part of the morning there in Sapphire getting rich and learning all about Fossicking (you can Google “Fossicking” and learn all about Fossicking in Australia) we left and pressed on westward to Longreach. We arrived fairly late so we set up camp and drove downtown looking for dinner. Here are a few pictures of downtown Longreach.

For dinner we went to the local RSL, (The “Returned and Services League” of Australia, known as RSL, RSL Australia and RSLA, is an independent support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force.) much like the US American Legion, which serves a fine meal and operates a nice tavern where many people go to eat and socialize. They are found in many communities and are open to the public to stay solvent. After a pleasant evening that included a great dinner we went back to the campground and turned in. that night we both dreamed of the riches in store for us once we get the jewels we found tidied up.

The next day we decided we were going out into the outback and finding a place they called “Starlight Lookout”. It was about 60 kilometers out into the outback so we took along an extra cup of coffee and off we went. As expected, about two kilometers out of town the pavement stopped and we were on various kinds of dirt roads. Not to be deterred we pressed on, past the herds of cattle, bands of Emus, and loads of nothing. About five kilometers from the location we ran into some flooding across the road. The advice in Australia regarding going through flooded areas is this. “If you have not crossed here before and there is water across the road, turn back.” It can be hours or even days before someone comes along to help you of you get stranded and there is no cellular service anywhere near. The condition of the road can be changed substantially by the water running over it so you never know what is going to happen once you venture out into the water. Even with posts marking the side and depth gauges (I have pictures of them in other posts) you have no assurance you will make it. Most locals have a SATCOM telephone or at least a long range UHF radio in their vehicles. We had neither so, we turned around. Here’s the trip.

To abate your disappointment I am posting some photos I lifted off the internet of the Starlight Lookout.

Once you get out into the outback, just like any other remote area, you have no ambient light and millions of stars come into view, the milky way looks milky and the sky is beautiful. We imagined the starry night that follows the sunset here at this spot must be quite spectacular. There are a quite few pictures of this place on the internet. Just google “Starlight Lookout, Longreach” for a peak.

That evening we had dinner in a different tavern … and before you all think we are drunks and live in taverns, that’s what they have in most towns to eat at … Taverns. Most of them have a bar, a bistro or restaurant, and the pokies. (Pokies are the room where they have all the slot machines that you “Poke” money into). This tavern had a dining room they called the Captain Starlight room. We thought it might have something to do with the spot we tried to get to that day so we read about it. It turns out that Captain Starlight was a cattle rustler named Henry Readford who stole about a thousand cattle near Longreach and drove them south nearly two thousand kilometers to South Australia where he sold them. He avoided detection and capture by driving the cattle at night using the stars for direction … a skill he had learned form local Aboriginals. The story can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Readford The men who accompanied him were so impressed he could navigate by night that they named him … “Captain Starlight”! Just like our western lore, there are thousands of stories of life in the outback. Anyhow, we enjoyed a nice dinner and returned to camp to get some rest before starting our trip back home.

We planned to use a different route going south from Emerald to a town named Rolleston, then catching Highway 60, or the Dawson Highway, east to Biloela and home. Our plan was to spend the night in Rolleston which was about half way. We got a couple coffees to go at the local bakery after we packed up the caravan and headed east to Emerald. It was a nice day and everything was going well and we made good time. We made a couple pit stops and a couple for gas and soon we were headed south out of Emerald towards Rolleston, our destination. I started raining … it was till early … I asked Nancy how she felt about spending the night in a damp campground listening to the rain on the caravan roof … we started coming across areas that had flooded and looked like they were about to be flooded again … once an area floods, all you can do is stay where where you are at until the waters recede … we put “home” in the GPS and saw we could be home by seven that evening … we decided to go for it and pressed on. We made one last stop for fuel in Banana and were home just after seven. The rain had continued most of the way. We went directly to “our” local tavern, parked on the grass across the street, and had dinner there. We were home a little before nine and slept in our own beds that night and after the 980 kilometer dash home, we were ready for a good nights sleep.

That was out rip to Longreach and the outback. It was a fun getaway and we will do many more like that now that it has started to cool off a bit. Stay tuned.

OMG !!!!! I almost forgot!!! After we got back from our trip out to Starlight Lookout (almost) we drove around Longreach a little just soaking up the local flavor. If it wasn’t so far from anywhere I would move there. As they say, “It’s not in the middle of nowhere, but you can see nowhere from there!”. Anyhow, one of the things we checked out was a little museum at the airport. We didn’t actually go into the museum (if you read my intro, we are not museum people) but I did take a couple of pictures. Few people know that Longreach, little ole Longreach way out in the outback, is the birthplace of Australia’s biggest airline, Quantas. Yup …. you can look it up right here: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/about-us/our-company/our-history/early-years-1918-1938.html

Here are a couple pictures I took. I took them only because there was a Boeing Aircraft there … my favorite aircraft maker (despite recent problems.

Okay … that is it. No more Alibis.

Nepal (March 2024) Kathmandu, The Himalayas and a Quick Stop in Bali, Indonesia

One last time we entered the New Delhi International Airport, processed through all their security points and boarded our airplane. It was a short ride. When we arrived in Nepal we agin went through all the security stations as well as the Immigration point. Again, I had completed most of the work on line before we left home so we didn’t run into many problems. Then out the door to find our driver that the hotel had sent. First, I would like to share a photo of the motorcycle parking lot at New Delhi airport.

So we flew to Kathmandu in Nepal. We were met by our driver and had an interesting drive to our interesting hotel.

We checked in, walked around a bit, Nancy discussed tours with the manager, had dinner, a good night sleep, a tasty breakfast, and we were ready to go.

Again Nancy had hired just a car. We were going to a chairlift in the hills, a couple temples, and an old part of town. The driver was a young man, very polite and knowledgeable, who provided all kinds of information as we toured around. Off we go.

Kathmandu is someplace I always thought would be a cool place to visit. It is. Most people come to Kathmandu to either trek in the hills around the city or as a staging point to go to a Base Camp and some eventually to Mt Everest. You cannot see Mt Everest from Kathmandu. It’s about 150 Kilometers to Base camp from Kathmandu and another 80 Kilometers to Everest. You can drive only part way. It was not our intention to see Everest, and we didn’t. We did take the lift to the top of a large foothill and enjoyed the view of the mountain range surround Kathmandu, which sets in a very large valley. Here’s our ride.

From here we went to a couple of temples. Many, many monkeys at one, the other had some artwork that caught Nancy’s eye. So, the drive there, the temples and square. ***Hang in there, we are almost finished!!**

Ok … Those were the temples. Now the downtown old square. This was a historical part of town with some temples and a museum. Our Guide encouraged us to go through the museum so we did. That was also the end of our day.

Interesting drive back to the hotel. We spent the night and had a late checkoout because our flight to Bali was in the early evening. We just kinda vegged out till we went to the airport. Our Driver had called in sick and some other guy showed up who spoke very little english so we decided we didn’t need to see any more temples. Here’s the drive back, the departure and Singapore Airport.

At last, we get to Bali … we got in early so we had to wait for a while to check in. We took the opportunity to take a stroll downtown for old times sake … little has changed but the little shops come and go. We had dinner at Gracie Kelly’s which is an Irish pub affiliated with the hotel we stayed at. The dinner marginal but the beer was good. The next day we were there it rained in the morning so we had a slow start. For the afternoon we reported to the pool and hung out enjoying the sun and warmth and good service.

Well, we didn’t surf and the flight was good. On time and no hassles. Got back to Brisbane, bailed out our SUV, drove home. The trip was over, we declared it a big success and now I have the website updated. Life is good.