Saturday, January 17, 2009

Sydney & Canberra

Sydney & Canberra

(Episode 4 of our Ozzie trip
The famed Bondi beach at Sydney is very clean. Since we got there at noon, it wasn't exactly fun to prance around the sand. 

The sights around Sydney were good.. the tower from which we got to see the entire city landscape is a must visit. 

The opera house is also another must. 

Canberra

was mildly interesting.. the parliament house was good, and the visit there included an introduction to Australian govt., and how they're organized. The war memorial, and the embassies of various countries are interesting to look at. 















Cairns

(Episode 3 of our Ozzie trip)

Cairns is where the great barrier reef is. We did a submersible trip, spent a lot of time getting burnt snorkelling, saw a bunch of salties ( Australian monster crocs ) and huge turtles. The coral reefs are out of the world. I thought I'd seen enough in Lakshadweep, but this was something else. Fishes, huge starfish, all kinds of whacked looking corals are out there. 


From Australia-Sep-2008
We also visited the Kuranda rain forest. The forest is so thick you traverse it from the top using a cable car. A very memorable ride. The native aboriginals called the Tjapugais put up a show for us. It was pretty interesting listening to their songs, see them make fire, blow the didgeridoo..etc. 





From Australia-Sep-2008



They also had a boomerang throwing session - but they cheated us there. It was supposed to be 3 tries a person, but seeing our group size, they cut it down to one throw a person. It was ridiculous, but it was still interesting to see them throw the boomerang. 

Next: Sydney & Canberra

Brisbane/ Gold coast

Brisbane / GoldCoast


(Episode 2 of our Ozzie trip
This is the equivalent of the LA / Vegas circuit in the US. Lots of beaches, amusement parks, water activity.. generally lots of entertainment stuff. We visited the amusement parks mainly.. Movie world and Seaworld. If you've been to the ones in the US.. there's not much you'll gain here. But the kids will have fun for sure. 


Next: Cairns (The great barrier reef)
From Australia-Sep-2008






Melbourne / apostles / penguins

Melbourne

(The initial days of our Ozzie trip
Melbourne city was nice, but probably remarkable only to those who've never seen a city in a developed country.

Day 1 : Only time to visit the crown casino after dinner. Its the biggest casino in Australia, but its just filled with slot machines/gambling tables with no sense of beauty. Surely don't expect Las Vegas when you enter here.
Though they don't allow kids into the casino, there's a different kids area with lots of video games and other activities in the building. Your guide may not know about it.. but just ask the guys at the door.

Day 2 : Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was the highlight of the day apart from the city tour. The city tour was lame, but MCG was something else. Did you know that they use a mix of two kinds of grass on the ground ? Cooch & Rye, the guide said. One is better for summer, and the other for winter. 

Phillip island was awesome. You wait for a while, everybody gets a little restless with the nippy air... and then you see the penguins. Just the sight of those things changes the entire atmosphere. :)

They keep trying to build up the courage to cross the beach into the hills. They come on to the beach, waddle a few steps, and then go back into the water with the next wave. They also swim to different points in the beach picking the right point. You'd think they're at Dunkirk. As more join the group, their courage grows. Finally they waddle across in a big hurry. They probably think they're doing the 100m sprint, but you get plenty of time to watch them.


Next, they climb the hill slowly in a line. Often in pairs/twosomes or more.
Then you have the bunch of them yelling at each other, claiming territory and generally being very busy. :)
Too bad we couldn't take some pictures and scare them with our camera flashes. :)

Painted glass in St. Patricks Cathedral :From Australia-Sep-2008

Melbourne war memorial: From Australia-Sep-2008
Day 3: This was a long & well worth drive to see the 12 Apostles ( 8.5, really ). The helicopter ride is a must. On our own, we'd probably have skimped on the helicopter ride seeing the 100+ dollars/ person tag; glad it was already paid for.


Next: Brisbane/Gold coast



From Australia-Sep-2008