I just wanted to let everyone know I'm home again! It took about 30 hours, my flight in Brisbane got delayed twice, but I landed in Atlanta at 7:00 PM on Saturday night. It was an awesome trip - thanks so much for everyone I got to see while I was there and everyone who commented here - it was really fun to have you guys along with me. :)
Originally, I thought I wouldn't plan to do anything today. I had a few hours of nothing yesterday and the day before and that was more than enough, so my better judgment prevailed and I decided to make plans. I ended up deciding to go to Green Island.
Green Island is a small sand island about 45 minutes (by boat) from Cairns. There's nothing too remarkable about it I guess, but I picked up a book by Nevil Shute called A Town Like Alice in Alice Springs and some of the characters go to Green Island and it sounded pretty idyllic. When I discovered there were day trips from Cairns, I decided to check it out.
The day started out rainy and cloudy, and once again seasickness bags were handed out on the way there. Once we got there however, it cleared up pretty nicely. There was a nice little sandy beach where I rented an umbrella and spent a while reading. There was also some decent snorkeling in the area - I saw a lot of little fish in the reef areas just off shore. Here's a picture of the beach area from the pier:
Partway through the day I took a ride on a semisubmersible boat. It's kind of like a glass bottom boat to the extreme - the sitting area is completely underwater. We saw all kinds of fish, but it was hard to get a good picture. Here's one I got of a big group of fish that swam by. If the water had been clearer I'm sure we'd have seen more, but it was still pretty cool.
And another of a ramora (I think). They have suckers on the top of their heads and on the way back, one of these latched onto the window!
Then it was time to come back. Here's one last picture of me on the pier at Green Island. I look a little goofy because the sun was in my eyes, but oh well.
Tomorrow I head home. A bus will pick me up at 4:00 AM to take me to the airport, I'm on a flight to Brisbane, then another to Los Angeles, then a final one to Atlanta. I worked it out and starting from my 6:30 AM departure in Cairns, I'll be on planes or in airports for the next 26.5 hours. I think it will be a long time before I want to see an airplane again!
Thanks for following along and leaving comments - it's been really fun keeping this blog while I was gone! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now - check back in a week or so and I'll have added a bunch more pictures. After that...who knows. :)
Kuranda is a small mountain town near Cairns - its main attraction is that you can get there via a scenic railway trip or by a 7.5 km long cable car ride. When I booked my tour, I learned that the railway wasn't working because of a landslide, so I opted to take the cable car instead.
Here's the view from the car going up:
It stopped twice - once you had to get off and switch to a new car and the other was so you could walk through the rainforest if you wanted to. It was a really neat way to travel - so quiet you could hear the birds and so high you were looking down on the trees.
Kuranda has several things to do - I visited a "Venom Zoo" that had some of the most poisonous snakes and spiders in the world, traveled around through the shops, and stopped at the Butterfly Sanctuary. The had a large greenhouse filled with plants and butterflies, and it was pretty cool. I've never really been a huge fan of butterflies, but our guide was and she told us all about them.
I wandered around a bit more and then took the cable car back down. By now, the weather had turned to rain and it was extremely cloudy and foggy. This time it was a little freaky riding the car down!
Still really cool though!
I headed back into town and then spent the evening tracking down dinner and repacking my stuff. I also found something to do for today, which I'll explain in my next post.
Wednesday was my day to visit the Great Barrier Reef. The bus picked me up bright and early, and after making sure everyone still wanted to go (high winds, choppy, etc etc), we were on our way. We arrived in Port Douglas, about an hour north of Cairns, and boarded our boat, the Silversonic. It took us out to the Agincourt Reefs. Everyone kept telling me the outer reef was much better, and this was about as far out as you could get!
The ride out was very choppy. I felt my stomach drop over and over again and I was a little worried I might get seasick for a few minutes. But then we were there! I really wanted to get certified to scuba dive before coming here, but I didn't have the time, so instead I signed up for an introductory dive. I debated about whether or not I should even write about this, but I've been pretty candid about everything else so I wanted to be about this too.
I got all dressed up in the scuba gear and got in the water, but I didn't go on the dive. The feeling of only being able to breathe through my mouth made me feel claustrophobic, and when we got in the water it was so rough I felt like I couldn't breathe. The last thing I wanted to do was freak out on the bottom of the ocean, so I returned to the boat, feeling more than a little embarrassed. This is one of the only things I can remember trying to do and not going through with for a long time. Anyway, I have promised myself that I will take a class so I can get used to the feeling of all the gear in the safe environment of a pool and return to dive the reef sometime in the future. I felt a little better when one of the other introductory divers also canceled out of his dive - a little less like it was all in my head.
Anyway, I spent the day snorkeling instead, and it was excellent! There were a lot of different types of fish swimming about - some were quite large - and many different kinds of coral. I was so close to most of it that I could have kicked it with my flippers if I wasn't careful! I didn't buy an underwater camera because I wanted to just enjoy it and not worry about taking pictures, so sorry for no pictures! After the first stop, we went to a second place called Turtle Bay. I made it my mission to see a turtle while we were there, and I did! I followed him around for a little while, but he could work his flippers better than I could work mine! I also saw a four foot long reef shark in the area! That was pretty cool too.
On the third site, the wind had picked up and the current was so strong it was virtually impossible to swim anywhere, so I didn't get to see much there. I did get to hold a coral that one of the dive instructors brought to the surface, and that was pretty cool too.
We returned to the boat and back to the hostel, where I had a bit of dinner and promptly fell asleep!
They're closing down the computer area I'm in, so I'll have to post about yesterday and today sometime tomorrow! Until then!
I arrived in Cairns Tuesday morning and after a bit of trouble finding my hostel (it doesn't actually have a storefront on the street where its address is!), I settled in. Almost every hostel has a tour desk where they help you book your activities, so I went straight there. I planned Cairns as my last stop because I thought it would be a good place to relax - kind of like a beach vacation within my overall vacation.
Cairns was not in the mood to cooperate however. It has been "unseasonably" rainy, windy, and overcast since I've been here. It's set to be this way until at least Saturday, so I won't have the chance to wait it out. However, I decided not to let it deter me - if the boats were going to the reef, then so was I!
In the end, I booked a trip to the reef for Wednesday, a trip into the mountains to see a town called Kuranda for today, and left tomorrow open, potentially for another trip to the reef. That left the rest of the day Tuesday, so I decided to go to an Aborigine cultural center to learn more about them.
It was very similar to the Maori cultural center. It started with a bit of a show inside. Several Aborigines taught a crowd of tourists the beginning of a fire ceremony and then they actually lit a fire in the traditional way - similar to how the Native Americans do it with rubbing sticks together.
Then we went in to the buffet. While we were there, they did another show on a little stage. One man played the didgeridoo while the others did a few traditional dances and a little skit. It was really interesting and also quite entertaining. The Aborigines have the oldest continuous culture on the planet, which I think is pretty fascinating.
Anyway, here's a picture of me with one of the main performers after the show (in what else - the gift shop)!
This morning, I took a train out to:
Like the sign says, this is Steve Irwin's zoo. His presence was everywhere - if his spirit is still around, it's got to be haunting the Australia Zoo. His sayings and his picture are on all of the little plaques describing the animals, and you get the feeling that he's still there. It must be strange for his family to be there. In fact, the only indication you get anywhere in the park that he's not still around is a touching display of some of the many things that people from all over the world sent in after his death. I don't think I've ever actually seen an episode of The Crocodile Hunter, but I'm a bit more interested now that I've seen what else he and his family have accomplished.
The zoo was very nicely done. There were a lot of animals in nice little habitats and there were public feedings throughout the day. You could feed elephants, kangaroos, and farm animals or pose with dingos, (small) crocodiles, or snakes. I had my picture taken with a giant Burmese Python, but my camera batteries died so I only have the printout they sold me and no digital copies. It was one huge snake though! I did manage to take a few pictures before my batteries went - here's one of me with a giant croc they have on display. This isn't an actual crocodile, only an indication of how big one could grow if left on his own in the wild with no interference whatsoever. Most only grow to much less than this.
The highlight of the day was the live animal show in the "Crocoseum". This is a 5000 seat stadium that was built specially for the crocodile show. Here's a picture of what it's like.
Animal handlers came out and showed everyone snakes, falcons, cockatoos, and other colorful birds. They put on a very nice show. Then it was time for the crocodiles! We got a bit of luck - Terri Irwin (Steve's widow) was there to do the show herself! Here she is:
Steve's "best mate" also came out to do the show. They talked about the dangers crocs face in the wild and also told us a bit about the nature of crocodiles. Then they fed him several pieces of meat, while jumping out of the way of his jaws themselves! Here are a few action shots I got before my camera died.
This one was to show how high a croc can jump out of the water - about half it's body length!
And that was about it for the day! I walked around a little more and then caught the train back into the city. Tomorrow I head out to my last destination - Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. My plan is to go to the rainforest one day and visit the reef on the others. I'm there until Saturday, when I begin my epic journey home. Hopefully, I'll be able to update a few more times before then!
To my dismay, because today is both Sunday and Easter, the trains didn't start running in time for me this morning. I bought a ticket on the Skybus to take me back to the airport, but the pick-up was a little over 1 kilometer away. Did I do the smart thing and call a cab? No, of course not. I strapped on my backpack, told myself it wasn't that far, and huffed and puffed my way down the street. Well let me tell you, when you have 21 kg (46 lbs!) on your back and 7 kg (15 lbs) on your front, it is one helluva long way. I finally made it (and learned a lesson too) and was on my way to the airport.
The first plane we were on had a malfunctioning fuel panel, but they quickly got us on a new plane and we were off. I arrived in Brisbane at 11 AM, checked into my hostel (this one has individual bathrooms for each room - hallelujah!) and headed out again. My plan for the day was to go see some of these guys at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary was excellent. They had all kinds of native life in easy to access enclosures. I saw cassowaries and wombats, in addition to many of the other animals I've seen in other places, plus lots of new bird species. I took a picture of this dingo because the Humane Society told my parents their dog is part dingo, but I don't really see the resemblance, except that he also looks kind of dopey.
One of the big dras to this place is that you can hold a koala! I found out they are not very heavy (although they are the heaviest tree based mammal without a tail, in case you were wondering) and they are very soft. I asked the handler if they were smart, and she told me no.
The other really neat thing about the Sanctuary was the kangaroo enclosure. You could buy food and feed them, and they were really tame. Much more timid than those goats back in Queenstown!
The last thing of the day there was a sheepdog show, which was really cool. It made me want to watch Babe again. Here are the dogs chasing the sheep around.
Later, one of the dogs corralled the sheep into a pen and then sat on them. It was kind of odd.
And that was pretty much it for today! Tomorrow I'm going out to Steve Irwin's zoo, the Australia Zoo. I'll let you know how it goes! Oh, and for one last picture, in case you were wondering how far the Lone Pine Sanctuary (and Brisbane) is from a variety of places all over the world, I thought this little display was interesting.
For Saturday activities, Kerry offered to show me around the city. I met her at the Melbourne Museum, which had some very nice exhibits, and then we went to lunch. After lunch, we walked down to the National Gallery. There was this really neat wall that was kind of a sheet of water, and we discovered that the buildings behind it were actually made of legos! There were kids there making new buildings when we walked through.
After looking through the museum a little bit, we went back to Federation Square in search of drinks. This is a very striking area - neat architecture and a large outdoor sitting area. The International Comedy Festival is in Melbourne right now, so we sat and watched a little outdoor show before continuing on our way. Apparently, the design of Federation Square was quite controversial when it was built, but I quite liked it.
We went to the ANZAC Memorial and walked through the beautiful Botanic Gardens before catching a tram out to St Kilda, which was absolutely lovely. 
There weren't a whole lot of people about, but the area was kind of like Little Five in Atlanta - lots of neat little stores and interesting restaurants. We had dinner at one and then browsed through a bookshop before having some excellent dessert at a nearby bakery. One the way back to the tram, we stopped at Luna Park for what Kerry said was a classic St Kilda picture!
I might have nightmares about that giant illuminated head!
We went back to my hostel and then Kerry went on her way, but not before getting the guy at the desk to take a quick picture!
After that, I went straight to bed - I had an early flight to Brisbane to catch this morning!
I arrived in Melbourne around 9 on Thursday night. Kerry (Kerewyn) came down to meet me at my hostel and we went out dinner. They city was buzzing with people - Good Friday is a national holiday here, so it was like a Friday night. We went to a little cafe that Kerry found earlier and had a delicious dinner.
For Friday, I had booked a day tour to a wildlife reserve and to see penguins on Phillip Island. Unfortunately, I was the only one interested in the wildlife part, so my full day tour got cut to a half day. I wandered around Melbourne until 3, and then my group left for Phillip Island. We stopped once to take some pictures, and it was quite a lovely shoreline with waves crashing all over the place!
Phillip Island is a natural habitat for penguins, and in recent years the government has been buying back land to make it more hospitable for them. It's also a big tourist attraction. Every night at dusk, the penguins gather off shore and then come up on to the beach in groups of about 20 or 30. They then waddle off to their burrows. They do it in the same place every night, so there are grandstands built on the beach so people can watch. With my tour, I got the "Penguins Plus" package, which got me in the part of the stands where almost all of the penguins stop to rest, so I got to be about 10 feet away from them for the whole "Penguin Parade". It was great! The penguins were Little Penguins, the smallest breed, and they were less than a foot tall. They would come waddling up, making all kinds of noise, and then pause to shake themselves off just a few feet away from where we were. It was really cool, and quite amazing that they keep coming to the same places and don't see us as a threat. You couldn't take any pictures of the penguins, so I don't have any, but I did get one of this awesome sign on the way out of the parking lot. 
Then it was back to Melbourne for the night.
I found some cheap internet here in Brisbane, so get ready for some updates! :)
In the last post, I was talking about hiking through The Olgas. The next day I woke up and drove back to Alice Springs. 
It was a long lonely drive, but I made it back with no troubles and went straight to the Desert Park. If you've read Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country (over here it's called Down Under), he talks about the park in there.
It was a really neat park. It had three or four different areas that showed the different kinds of desert there are in Australia. The Aboriginal people managed to figure out ways to successfully live in the desert thousands of years before white men got here and started going out and dying in it. There was an audio tour that talked about how to find water - what plants will be nearby - and how the life that lives in the desert survives. There are actually quite a few living things that thrive or survive in the desert. There was an excellent nocturnal house that had many endangered species in it. One of Australia's banes is imported animals - the cat and the rabbit have done a great deal of harm to the native life. Some of the animals only live in captivity now. I had the pleasure of seeing the bilby (the audio tour told me that there have been campaigns to replace the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby, some neat hopping mice, the echidna (the other egg-laying mammal along with the platypus), and a host of other lizards and snakes.
And I finally got to see one of these!
The enclosure for the kangaroos was fenced in, but you walked into it to see them, so you could pretty much walk right up to them if you wanted to! I guess they're pretty docile when they're well fed. The didn't really do anything but lounge around, but at least now I could say that I saw one!
After the Desert Park, I found my way to the hostel, had dinner, and stayed in for the rest of the night. I was tempted to go to a movie, but there was talk on the radio about assaults that had taken place near where I was staying (although they said there were suspects in custody) so I didn't want to take any chances.
The next day I drove around Alice and went to a variety of small museums. The first one was the School of the Air. There are about 16,000 people that live in the outback, including families on cattle farms and indigenous Australians. Instead of sending their kids to boarding schools, they are able to do distance learning. They get packets in the mail and have lessons over the internet (used to be 2 way radios). They do that until they are 13, and then they can continue distance learning with another school or go to boarding school. It was really ingenious, and apparently over 80% of the kids go on to university, although many of them return home to help run the cattle farms afterwards.
The next place I went was also uniquely Australian - the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Those 16,000 people also need medical care, so the doctors fly out to the communities and have clinics, as well as airlifting out emergencies. Each of the large cattle stations is required to have an airstrip so that the plane can land if it needs to. There are always nurses on call and a doctor can be almost anywhere in under an hour.
Just down the street from the Flying Doctors was the Pioneer Women's Museum. It was deserted, but I was right there anyway so I decided to check it out. I was really glad I did! There was a little old lady behind the counter who told me they had only recently moved into that building, which was the old jail that was about to be torn down. She also explained that the intent of the museum was to show case women who were the first to do anything, not necessarily "pioneer women". Inside the museum, there was a lot of information about both "pioneer women" (the first women in the outback), but also on pioneering women throughout Australian history. One of the things about the small museums here that really gets me is that you can imagine the people who put it all together - especially after getting the explanation about how they had just moved - I could picture the little old ladies deciding what to put into the museum. I guess all small museums are like that, but I felt it strongly here and also at the ANZAC exhibit in Sydney.
So anyway, I found the little museums quite charming. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for any more of them because it was time to go to Melbourne!
Well, it turns out my full day tour got turned into a half day tour because I was the only one booked for it! I called this morning to find out when we were leaving and they told me it wouldn't be until 3! It's been good though - I've had a chance to wander around Melbourne and do some window shopping. Unfortunately, since it's Good Friday, a lot of things are closed. I'm still really enjoying the feel of the city though!
Back to a few days ago, I believe we were up to Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, I got up at about 5 AM, hopped on a bus, and then hopped on a camel! I took a sunrise camel ride to see Uluru. It was awesome! The camels were a lot bigger than I thought they were, and a little intimidating. They were tied very close together, so I could just turn and pet the one behind me. She didn't like being petted too much, although she did nose me several times throughout the ride! The girl in front me developed a close relationship with my camel, whose name was Gonzi. I was fine with that until he got tired of her touching him and started to fidget! Apart from the hard saddle, the ride was very pleasant, and the sunrise was spectacular.
Here's me on my camel:
And here's Uluru at sunrise:
The Olgas looked really cool too - they started out almost black and then gradually lightened up. Here's a picture of them.
Today, my plan was to hike through the Olgas. I went back to the hostel and slept a bit, and then I went back to the park to start my hike. The guide book said it was a 7.4 km walk and that it was "steep in places". They weren't kidding! This trail was much more exhausting than the base walk around Uluru, but it was also more rewarding to me. The Olgas (Kata Tjuta, but I can't really pronounce it, so in my mind they're still the Olgas) are higher than Uluru and consist of about 34 domes. The trail wound through some of the domes and then out a bit to give a little perspective. I found it stunning!
Here I am, about 1 km in.
The Olgas are made up of a different type of rock than Uluru, so it has a different look. A lot of it looks like larger rocks smushed together. I'm not sure you can tell that from these pictures, but here are two pretty typical views from the walk.
By the end, I was exhausted. I headed back to the hostel to clean up and have dinner, ultimately going to bed quite early. I did see my favorite street sign so far on the way out of the park though (and then several times after that!).
I didn't actually see any kangaroos on the road, probably because they were all hiding from the heat in the shade. I did see some the next day in Alice Springs though!
I spent the day visiting small museums in Alice Springs, and then caught a flight down to Melbourne. Kerry was nice enough to come out and meet me and we had a nice walk around a bit of the city and a very good dinner. Thanks again, Kerry!
I'm going on a full day tour to Phillip Island (to see penguins!), so I probably won't be able to update again for a day or two. See you then!
After arriving at the Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara, I had one of the best burgers I have ever had (in spite of its exorbitant price tag), listened to the nightly band, and crashed early. In the morning, I was going to see one of the most recognizable images of Australia - Uluru, aka Ayers Rock.
I first stopped at the excellent cultural center and learned about some of the history of the area. It was very well put together and I enjoyed the exhibit. One of the most interesting things in it was the "sorry book", which is a book of hundreds of letters that people have sent along with rocks or dirt they took from the area. Uluru (and The Olgas or Kata Tjuta) is a place of religious significance to the Anangu (Aboriginal people of the area). It was so interesting to see all of those letters from people who took rocks and then regretted it enough to send them back. Some felt the rocks had brought them bad luck.
Then I continued on to the car park for the rock itself. It is pretty amazing. It's such a strange thing to have this huge rock towering in front of you. Here's the first sight you get:
That sign on the bottom left is asking people not to climb, and all those people are climbing it anyway. I read in my guide book before I went that it is not really appropriate to climb the rock, and everything throughout the park comes just short of begging you not to. I decided before I left the cultural center that I wouldn't climb, but I won't say I wasn't tempted when I saw all those other people doing it.
Instead, I set out on the base walk around Uluru, a 9.4 km walk. It was longish but fairly flat - the only difficult part was the heat. Oh, and the flies, which were incessant. I was swatting them in my sleep that night! Some of the most spectacular areas of Uluru are off limits to photographs because they are areas of special significance, but I took several pictures of the other areas. One of the neatest things about the rock is its texture - from the ground, the sides look like skin. I felt like if I reached up and touched it, it would feel like an animal. It's even more reinforced by the areas where the facade has been chipped away and you can see through to the tunnels under the surface - it's like a whole organism is enclosed within the rock. I'm rambling, but it really was neat.
After the hike, I went back to the hostel for a bit and then returned for sunset. It was quite lovely - Uluru changed from its characteristic red/orange through a variety of darkening colors. Just as the sun finally set, the moon rose.
I went back to the hostel and attempted to cook my own burger, which was a bit of a farce. (At this hostel, there was a place where you could buy a variety of meat and then cook it yourself on outdoor grills. All while listening to a local man perform on stage!) Then I went to bed early because I was getting up for the sunrise today.
Unfortunately, technical difficulties are going to force me to make you wait for the part of the story that involves camels! Until tomorrow...
I have had two very lovely days here in central Australia, but I can't get any pictures up to show you just how lovely. Everything is ridiculously expensive here (tourists here are the definition of a captive audience), but on top of that many of the services are lacking. For example, I could use my computer in one of the hotels for ONLY $25 PER DAY. Or I can use the internet kiosks for the low low price of $0.20 per minute, which is what I decided to do, but I just found that the card reader is broken, so I still can't upload pictures!
Happily, my frustration with the "resort" I'm staying at has been outweighed by the excellent days I've been having. I will be in Alice Springs tomorrow night and will make a full update then, but for now I will just say that in the last two days, I've walked 16.8 km through some of the most interesting places in the world. Oh, and I rode a camel into the sunrise, but you'll have to wait until next time for details! :)
I flew into Alice Springs today, hopped into my rental car, and got on the road to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. Since the airport was on the south side of town, I managed to see absolutely none of Alice Springs! I'll be back to see it on Wednesday though, so no big deal.
Flying over the landscape was really awesome. It was like nothing I have ever seen before - I am going to try to look on Google Earth later to see if I can find some good pictures.
Driving was really strange. I saw about 15 cars in the first hour! It felt so deserted. I guess I am not cut out to live way out in the country (much less the bush/outback). The landscape was really interesting - trees here and there, lots of red earth, a few cows. I'm on an internet kiosk right now, so no pics at the moment, but hopefully later. The most surprising thing has been the bugs - they are everywhere! Worse than anywhere I've ever been before.
My room tonight is like a barracks - at least 20 girls will be sleeping in there. Should be interesting! Tomorrow I'll head out to see Ayers Rock or The Olgas, the other cool geological formation around here. I should have some good pics after that!
This morning I again woke up early and got on a train, this time to the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are about 2 hours outside of Sydney (by train). They get their bluish color from all the eucalyptus trees that grow there. I was going primarily to see a geological formation called the Three Sisters.
The first part I saw was this lovely little waterfall. 
I hiked through the foliage for about half an hour. Then I went and did the few touristy things that are out there - a skyway, a cable car, and a very steep railroad (used to be a cable transport system). This picture on the ralroad struck me as very funny - and then Indiana Jones music started playing as we plunged almost straight down!
A few minutes walk away were the Three Sisters. Here's a few pictures of them and the surrounding landscape:
It was really beautiful out there. Before I caught the train back, I saw an IMAX movie about the area, and it turns out they found a prehistoric species of tree there not long ago - there are only about 40 of them, but the species dates back to the dinosaurs!
Then I caught the train back into the city to go to an Australian Rules Football game, or Aussie Rules or Footy, as they call it here. It was awesome! It's very fast paced - no pausing, no timeouts - and really exciting. I had the rules mostly figured out by the end, but even not knowing what was going on I was really into the game. It was almost like extreme soccer if you could use your hands. I can't describe it. I bought my tickets early, so I was only three rows back!
In any case, the game was between the Sydney Swans (Swannies!!!) and the West Coast Eagles. The Eagles played a lot better than the Swans for most of the game, but in the end they won by only one point. It was thrilling!
I have some other cool pictures of the game, but my computer died last night before I could upload them. I'll try to upload them later, if only for the sake of my dear old Dad, who loves Aussie Rules!
Yesterday was a day of stairs. Everywhere I went, from the train station to the opera house to the harbor bridge was nothing but stairs. I'm getting ahead of myself though.
My plan for today was to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I woke up a bit late but made it just in time to get all suited up. They give you a jumpsuit, a climb belt, a neat little device to attach you to a cable running up the bridge, and a radio. Then you start climbing steps. I couldn't take my camera, but I got these shots later that will show you where I was. We went all the way to the top, across, and then back down. The weather was gorgeous, and the views were incredible. It was a totally exhilirathing experience, and I highly recommend it!
Here's the bridge, and then a closer shot of the people climbing it.
After I climbed the bridge, I went over to the opera house to have the tour that came with my sunset cruise. It was really neat to be able to get inside the symphony and opera halls when they were just setting up. I have about five million more pictures of the exterior of the opera house, but in an effort to be interesting, I'll show you the interiors. Here's an example of some of the woodwork:
And here's what the main symphony hall looks like:
They were working in the opera hall, so I still wasn't able to get a good picture of it.
Since the day was clear, I decided it would be cool to go to the Sydney Observatory for the night tour. I had some time to kill first though, so after a quicky dinner, I whizzed through the aquarium. I got to see lots of great Australian fish and sharks, plus a gigantic crocodile and even a little platypus.
I made it over to the Observatory and took the night tour. I'll admit I was quite exhausted from the day and it was hard to concentrate. However, we did get to look through the telescope, and I got to see Betelgeuse (a star in Orion), Saturn (so cool!), the Moon, Alpha Centauri (the closest star to us, actually two stars), and a constellation called the jewel box. It was awesome to be able to see all those things, so in the end I was glad I went.
**Darn - I wanted to update about today too, but I'm just about out of internet time, and since I'm leaving here today, I don't want to buy more. I promise tales of mountains and football tomorrow!**
