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Trip Report
Australia with Brittsy & Inga
10 December 2000 to 20 January 2001
Daily reports
9 December, 2000
Brittsy & me to HK airport, my flight (Philippine Airlines via Manila to Sydney) ? canceled ? BUT ? fantastic ? they get me onto Cathay direct flight ? great. Sat with Fiona & Steve Bradley, will email them ? fionabradley@hotmail.com - good flight.
10 December, 2000
I arrive Sydney about 07:00am ? wait for Brittsy?s Quantas flight (apparently very cheap, crap) at 09:00am ? organize Hertz car ? drive into town ? miss Darling Harbour Furama Hotel (got very close, but then found ourselves careening over the Harbour bridge). Got back Ok, check in and Inga arrives ? out to lunch around Darling Harbour (very warm). Ferry to Manley, walk through town and along sea-side beach ? very busy ? back to Hotel and out for dinner in Darling Harbour.
11 December, 2000
Check out of Furama, drive to Blue mountains ? 3 Sisters lookout/Echo Point, can see Skyway thing where Wombat/Judy got married and steep railway thing ? didn?t go on. Then Putty Road to Singleton in Hunter Valley ? Brittsy enjoyed the pink moon as we were driving, did we buy the CoolBox (Esky) this day?? - Motel very clean/nice.
12 December, 2000
Cruising around Hunter Valley ? visited Pepper Tree Vinyard & Convent Hotel ? same as before ? except MERLOT car registration is now on a Holden rather than a BMW (bad couple of years??). Hunter Resort winery tour ? very hot day ? up in the 40?s ? lunch at another place where there were coachloads of old people ? we got the only free table, checked into Tuscany Resort next to Hunter Resort ? walked to Hunter for dinner ? very nice, back in room ? spiders visible but left them alone ? didn?t see any kangaroos that were supposed to come to pond for water in the evening ? kids went swimming in pool.
13 December, 2000
To Cessnock, Newcastle, Myall Lakes ? got well lost here ? but after driving along an ever dwindling Point ? came to a Ferry (he came back for us ? otherwise we had a 30 minute wait). Lunch at cabin place other side of the Ferry ? pelicans on water, Great Lakes Rd to Forster, small cheap motel near Sails Resort.
14 December, 2000
To Port MacQuarie for lunch, then Coffs Harbour (not much there), into a motel, and dinner was down main street, Italian, had to get BYO wine next door.
15 December, 2000
On Route 1, stopped for lunch at funny Italian place ? had a museum and Aboriginal art shop, but it all felt like Country Hicks all inbreeding with not much to show, then Byron Bay ? great ? up to Lighthouse, Hang-gliders just launching from road up to lighthouse, also dolphins and rays in sea below ? out to most easterly point of Oz. Into town ? very busy backpacker place ? got into Holiday Inn Motel, dinner at Hogs Breath Rest ? good fun.
16 December, 2000
Again on Route 1 ? completely missed Surfer?s Paradise, new Freeway takes you around it, ended up with kids asleep and me trying to navigate into central Brisbane ? got lost in Shopping Mall, then into Brisbane, Ilmondo Motel in Kangaroo Point (very much more built up now than last visit ? lots of blocks of flats), ferry across to city center, lunch at Riverside, then Citycat up river ? very smooth ? dinner on street in Kangaroo Point.
17 December, 2000
Had to visit Australia Zoo ? Steve Irwin ? he gave the croc feeding demo ? very good ? Agro was the name of the big croc ? 5 most poisonous snakes ? Fierce Snake is worst ? but sometimes called the ?Grey? Taipan, Taipan was up there ? but also Brown Snake and ?Tiger?. On to Noosa Heads, kids liked it immediately ? parked car, walked along beach, onto high street and checked into Ocean Breeze Resort, me upstairs, nice place.
18 December, 2000
Easy day in Noosa, breakfast on High Street, kids onto beach, I walked around Noosa National Park ? got well lost crashing through undergrowth (bit scary), great views of beaches and rocks, nudist beach ? early to bed.
19 December, 2000
06:20 waiting outside Motel for 4WD Land Cruiser for tour of Fraser Island. Andrew, was driver, nice guy had given up Local Govt position to ?retire? ? along 45 Mile Beach ? fantastic ? driving at 120 Kph, the occasional other 4WD coming in opposite direction ? can see them miles away ? when they get close ? each indicate left, and pass on that side ? it?s a ?gazetted road?, so all laws/rules apply ? including drink/driving. Some people camping along beach ? very wild/remote, past wreck of ship, up on beach, rusting away, coloured sands in cliffs ? tea stop ? met other Americans in party, 5 minute Ferry across to Fraser Island, then 45 mins driving up 90 Mile Beach, at Eurong, go inland to Mackenzie Lake ? very blue/white/green, lots of people ? I walk around part of lake, kids sunbathe & swim, rainforest trail, big trees, clear sandy creek, back along beach (tide coming in, couldn?t go all way to ferry ? fun listening to two-way-radio chat ?can we get to 18Km road, or should we get off at 11Km road???, through Cooloola National Park ? lots of fir forests and some kangaroos, great day ? dinner at Berados ? white place near Hotel.
20 December, 2000
All driving (had got a bit behind schedule), to Yeppoon (dorp), Motel right on beach front ? Receptionist appeared on stage later as Country & Western singer ? but very cheap!!
21 December, 2000
To Airlie Beach (starting point for people wanting to go to Whitsunday Islands ? we didn?t) ? nice place, but a bit quiet.
22 December, 2000
Got to Cairns ? nicer place than I?d imagined, checked out airport (where to return car etc), tried to get into Holiday Inn ? too expensive, but nice Coral Tree Motel round back was fine. Italian meal upstairs along bay front/esplanade.
23 December, 2000
Returned car ? had driven 3,628 Kms, Colin was Sheraton shuttle bus driver ? waited for other guests arriving from internal flights, along coast for about 1 hour, to Sheraton ? very impressive, nice rooms (kids didn?t like smell of theirs, so changed), cannot swim on 4 mile beach ? jellyfish danger, I walked along it to town. Later we got a taxi (which turned out to be a stretch-limo) into town for dinner.
24 December, 2000
Chilled out, kids had only returned from last night?s bopping, at 06:00am. Dinner in Macrossan Restaurant ? met Tori for first time ? she is Maitre d?.
25 December, 2000
Christmas Lunch in Macrossan again ? we started with bottle of shampoo, then I had special Degustation lunch ? which basically means ? a different wine with each course ? OK?ish but prefer to have 1 wine with whole meal ? I was in bed by 18:00, kids carried on!
26 December, 2000
I walked into town, along road, via Marina, then back along beach, kids were by pool. Coffee Shop and Loagoons.
27 December, 2000
Hit a bucket of balls at Golf driving range (Country Club) ? into pond/lake! Not very impressive results!! Tori was in sandwich place on way there ? arranged to meet her with kids for dinner ? met up at Marina ? very noisy, silly evening ? I left them in town.
28 December, 2000
Checked out ? kids hungover, got 4WD hire car (99$ per day), to Mossman Gorge ? kids swam in river, Daintree Forest, then spotted grassy lawn, drove inside ? fantastic ? Daintree Wilderness Lodge, cabins in the forest ? have to walk along wooden walkways ? no TV, no A/C, no electricity after 23:00 ? got very warm ? all in 1 room ? not a good night ? owner was Anna Graham, lovely lady ? www.daintreewildernesslodge.com.au. Very impressive, but too dark underneath the canopy, no view.
29 December, 2000
Driving in Daintree Forest, up Tower ? great views and really close to big trees, walk through forest on boardwalks, silly river cruise ? saw 2 crocodiles ? both about 12 inches long, back to Port Douglas ? into Beaches/Terraces Resort apartment.
30 December, 2000
Chilled out ? Chinese dinner in town.
31 December, 2000
Diving Great Barrier Reef ? first dive was great at Phil?s Reef ? 65 Kms along coast and out from Pt Douglas ? Mal was instructor ? I think there was a strong current on second dive ? tiring, wanted to stop and breathe deeply. Saw 2 small sand sharks, giant clam, silly American guy kept getting in way and kicking coral. I enjoyed the snorkeling after the dives ? more ? Thai dinner, bed by 23:00, kids out until 02:00 and 04:00am.
01 January, 2001
Chilled out, windy day, kids stayed in ? I went for Cheeseburger at backpacker place/bottle store ? talked with English/Oz couple.
02 January, 2001
Into town ? booked Melbourne, down High St ? walk along beach (couldn?t get far ? creeks too deep), windy, rainy ? pizza delivery.
03 January, 2001
Brighter day ? but still windy, did nothing.
04 January, 2001
To Cairns (free resort shuttle bus), fly to Melbourne ? via Brisbane ? Ansett ? arrived there late ? taxi into city ? Kenyan guy ? suggested Victoria Hotel on Little Collins St ? got there by Midnight ? Ok.
05 January, 2001
Noted campervan rentals ? www.britz.com and www.maui-rentals.com. Trammed it round Melbourne ? down to St. Kilda ? checked out next hotel ? met Huw ? Inga?s friend whist tramming around ? Italian dinner in city, just up from hotel ? couldn?t find McGinns in telephone directory ? there were 6 ? but none with B as initial ? and no indication of Mr/Mrs.
06 January, 2001
Moved to St.Kilda Motel, walked around ? main High St ? very busy (but a bit tacky I thought). Met Inga?s friends after our dinner, then they went on?until 08:00Am
07 January, 2001
Watched TV all day ? kids dead until 16:00.
08 January, 2001
Hired another Hertz car, to Geelong (walked around Shopping Mall for some reason), along Great Ocean Rd, Lorne (was very busy ? let?s get out of here), couldn?t find hotel/motel until Otway Junction ? very high up, great views ? but I had to have a caravan ? very cold night.
09 January, 2001
All along Great Ocean Rd ? 12 Apostles, very impressive, but too many flies, inland to Hepburn Springs ? old hotel ? well done ? but expensive ? waiter was Bass played in band called Ice Cream ?Hands?
10 January, 2001
Heading inland to try and get round Melbourne ? crap map ? got to Hanging Rock ? great clambering all over it (hot) ? Kangaroo crashing about in undergrowth scared Inga. Via Ballarrat to Mt Dandenong Reserve ? stayed in Tuscan Motel ? no A/C ? warm night, but great view.
11 January, 2001
I had nosebleed when checking out ? more driving round Melbourne ? great view of the city down on the plain 10-20 miles away. William Rickets Sanctuary was closed because Rangers had to go off and do some fire-fighting. To Lakes Entrance ? Motel on waterfront.
12 January, 2001
Mostly driving in Snowy River and Alpine Parks ? very remote ? and twisty dirt roads ? only saw 4 other cars in 150Kms. Wild down by the Snowy River ? then into Jindabyne ? which I liked ? big man-made lakes. Dinner in Italian rest by Swim pool & kids Roller Blade rink, nice motel.
13 January, 2001
Into Thredbo, nice but small, up Chairlift, then walk 4Km to Mt Koskiosko Lookout ? fantastic easy, alpine meadow walk ? along eco-friendly walkways ? but bloody flies were a disaster!! Saw some snow patches ? height about 7,000 feet. Then drove to Canberra ? boring place ? Motel in town (Kythera), dinner was up the Telstra revolving tower ? very nice ? and then Brittsy had booked us into the Canberra Observatory to view Venus/Uranus etc.. through 14 & 16 inch telescopes ? not too brilliant for me!!
14 January, 2001
Drove to Kiama on coast, Ok little town ? I?d been there before with Kim Dinh ? to see the Blowhole in Rocks ? nothing spectacular.
15 January, 2001
To Sydney, roved around a bit Doyles Restaurant, then to Bondi Hotel for 5 nights. Big wind and storm which we viewed from terrace.
16 January, 2001
Drove north through Tunnel to Hawkesbay River area ? slow quiet day.
17 January, 2001
Returned car in Kings Cross area ? 2,290 Kms driven. Walked around, cold, rainy, through Botanical Gardens ? bats etc.. Opera House, taxi to Bondi.
18 January, 2001
Walking around Rocks, then 2 hour Captain Cook Coffee cruise.
19 January, 2001
I walk up Sydney Harbour Bridge ($117) ? cold, rainy big storm most of the way up ? good fun though ? good pics - middle pic - me, back row, second from right.
20 January, 2001
Say bye to kids at about 08:00 ? shuttle to airport for me ? they walk along to Noahs Backpackers Hotel. My flight delayed 2 hours, and I sit next to simple minded Marionetto. Get to Manila 1 hour late, they?ve delayed my connecting flight until 19:00 ? home by 21:00 ? down to Ralph?s for BBQ.
Costs
HK$
Car Hire - 8,938.56
Cash - 20,000.00
Air Fares - 10,457.59
Hotels - 46,713.08
Meals - 20,053.59
Others - 5,532.09
Total 111,694.91
In UK Pounds that?s ? ₤9,712.00
Ecology
What we saw/liked about Australian Eco initiatives:
 | All toilets were Half/Full flush ? saves water/money |
| Lots of signs/adverts about being Eco-aware ? also in multi-language for tourists |
| Rainforest/Daintree/Fraser Island/Mt Koskiusko etc ? boardwalks to prevent soil erosion |
| Solar powered emergency phones along roadside |
| Daintree Wilderness Lodge ? only cut down 4 trees to build whole complex |
| Great care not to damage Coral at Gt Barrier Reef |
| Great care not to damage Stalactites/etc in Caves ? don?t touch etc.. |
| Don?t feed the animals, guides stressed this |
| Lots of ?don?t kill? warnings on things like snakes/spiders/crocodiles etc? protected |
| Not many shark nets, seem to be a waste of time/money |
| Lots of beach/sand dunes protection, awareness notices |