Island Hopping

I arrived at Kangaroo Island late and had trouble finding a hotel room.  For $110 I stayed in a dump but it had free internet.

I did not know much about Kangaroo Island but I figured they would have kangaroos and I am bit obsessed with them.  Kangaroo Island is a 45 minute ferry ride from the mainland and is near Adelaide.

My first stop in the morning was an animal sanctuary.  Where they keep local wildlife.  I specifically went to feed the Kangaroos and was not disappointed.  In a huge pen are around 20 small Kangaroos.

For a dollar you can buy a bag of feed made up of corn and sunflower seeds.  The Kangaroos gather around you like small children.  They grab your hand while they eat and they have sharp claws.

They look like a combination of humans, dinosours and rats.  They do not seem real and resemble creatures from a movie.  Special effects guys must have studied them to create imaginary animals.

In another pen I saw a mother with the baby in the pouch.  I forgot to mention that most of these kangaroos were abandoned or injured and that is how the sanctuary receives them.

kookaburra

After feeding the kangaroos I walked around and saw other animals and birds.That include the Kookaburra made famous by a children's song and also known by its call which sound like laughter.

Emu

There were also emus which are like ostrichs.

Remarkable Rocks In The Distance

The next stop was almost an hour drive all the way across the Island and is called Remarkable Rocks.

This is a rock formation on the edge of a cliff.  From a far and up close you would have thought that this site was a commissioned sculpture.

 The formation was created by the sudden cooling of lava thousands of years ago.

The next stop was Admiral's Arch very close by.  It is a natural arch in the rocks that is also a seal colony.  You can smell the seals from far away.  They enjoy frolicking in the water.  An interesting thing I have found that the seals always seem to be near an incredibly beautiful place.  Not sure if this is a coincidense.

My final stop is a bit of a drive and is called "Little Sahara.". Down a dirt road with huge puddles I come upon huge sand dunes out of a movie.  Incidentally, I am crazy for sand dunes and visited a bunch when I lived in California.

There were a bunch of kids who were sledding and surfing down the dunes like snow.  I hiked them up and down barefooted taking pics on my trek.

This was a pretty incredible day.

The Great Ocean Road

I rented a car in Melbourne and drove the Great Ocean Rd. to Adelaide.  The Great Ocean Rd.  Is famous for its rock formations and the most famous called the Twelve Apostles.

On my way I saw people stopped by the side of the road so I stopped.  There in the trees was a koala Bear. The koalas pretty much only eat eucalyptus leaves and are stagnant around 16 hours a day as eucalyptus leaves do not have much protein.  Now all I need to see is a kangaroo.

That night I had trouble finding a hotel. I stopped at a gas station right before a huge installation of a lobster.  The gas station served food and lobster sandwich  was on the menu.  It was the  best gas station food I have ever had.

The next day  I head to the Grampians, it is a mountian area but when I get there it is closed due to flooding.  They showed me pictures and entire roads were washed out.

The lady at the information center gives me an alternative route to Adelaide.

On the trip I see waterfalls, a pink lake blue lake ate a Vegemite sandwich with cheese.

Vegemite is a salty spread that it is a staple in Australian homes.  I guess the equivalent in the US would be peanut butter.

The pink lake is right by the road and looks very shallow.   The pink color comes from carotene producing algea. Carotene is used as a pink dye.

The blue lake is at Mount Gambier and resides in a dormant volcanic crater. They are not sure exactly why it is so blue.  It is a combination of calcium and the pitch of the sun.  In winter time the lake turns grey.  The water is the reservior for the town, adjacent to the lake.

There are also beautiful views of the ocean and lots of beach life, including para surfing.

Melbourne to Run

View of Pedestrian Bridge to Strain Station

I arrived in Melbourne by train and stayed withing walking distance of the train station. My hotel was very nice and I arrived at around 7:30 PM.  I asked the hotel clerk where I could go to get something to eat and he said around the corner.  Around the corner was a huge stadium with a lit up video screen.  It looked like a rugby game going on.  I asked someone and they said, it was an Australian football game.  There was no stopping me.  For 16 dollars I bought a general admission and sat on the fifty yard line.  The field is twice as big as an NFL field and it is almost as long as it is wide.

Hari Krishna Girls On Street

Please note, I did not have my camera much on me in Melbourne and most of the pics are taken with my cell phone, which is an old blackberry.  Incidentally,  I have an international cell phone plan.  Where I get email and internet.  Instead of using the Verizon plan to make calls, both in Australia and New Zealand I bought pre paid plans with SIM cards.  I am able to take the Verizon card out of the phone and put in the host countries card.  So it is like having two phones in one.

Melbourne Looking Very Chicago Lik

Melbourne is like Chicago.  It is clean, modern on a river and you can tell the city cares for its people.

Federation Square

There is a huge gathering are called Federation Square, which has shops and restaurants and an open area to hang out. 

Melbourne is vibrant.  There are a lot of people moving about and big change from bucolic New Zealand.  It is a fun city to just hang out and walk around. 

The old train station handles the city trains as well as has shops and is place to hang out.

Melbourne offers a free vintage cable car ride around a good part of the city.  It is interesting that in Christchurch the same ride was $20 a person.

On the outskirts of Melbourne is a flea and fruit market called Victoria Market with clothes, souvenirs and crafts.

The Australians love to eat anything, and treat food is very in.  Including our own American donuts.  There was a line 30 deep of people waiting in line for donuts.

In the middle of the city is China Town and I happened to be there during Chinese New Years.  There are lots of Asians in both Australia and New Zealand.  In fact you will see a lot of Cleveland, Indians caps.  The Koreans follow cleveland outfielder Sin Soo Choo.

Kendell New Zealand Model

In one of the shopping malls near the trains station, I see a familiar face.  The girl in the window is Kendell, the model I shot in New Zealand.  Melbourne has a number of amazing shopping malls.

View From My Train Window Sydney To Melbourn

 I was in Melbourne twice.  Both times I arrived by train.  The first trip from Sydney I booked a first class ticket and had a cabin all to myself.  It was a bit "daggy," (Australian slang for dingy).

 I was able to lie down and sleep as it was a 12 hour train ride.  My second trip in to Melbourne was from Adelaide.  I went normal fare and had a bunch of seats to myself.  On that train they had tea time and I was treated to one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. I bought from the food car a hot scone and tea.  I put cream and a package of jam on the schone and it was absolutely delightful.

I was in heaven on my train ride to Melbourne.  The little unexpected treats and happenings is what have really made this trip special.

Bridge Down Under

My Ship In Sydney Harbour

I awoke my first morning in Sydney and walked out my balcony to see the famous Harbour Bridge on my left and the Opera house on the right.  This was one of the many unexpected spectacular treats that I have been privileged to enjoy on my trip.

Incidentally I got to cross over the bridge by foot as well as attend the Opera the barber of Seville.  My first Opera.  I bought obstructed seats as I am on a bit of a budget and they turned out to be great.

Sydney reminds me a bit of New York.  Wandering around the city I went to a high fashion mall under the Sydney Tower.  Seattle, Auckland and Sydney all have these space needle type towers.

There are many designer high end designer boutiques at the mall from all over the world.  Included are such Australian designers as Zimmerman and Tiger Lilly.

Oyster Bar At Mall

Besides the fabulous stores at the mall under the tower there was also  food court which included sushi bars, oyster bars, gourmet sandwiches and salads and cooked food for take home.

Savory Pies

 Being a port city.  Seafood is very popular including mussels and oysters.






You also can get the traditional fair of savory pies including, meat and cheese, chicken and mushroom, lamb curry and vegetarian. 

 And don't forget a little chocolate.  Australians are very in to Chocolate.  They both make their own and import it.  There are several chocolate oriented restaurants including Max Brenners.

Adjacent to the mall was an outdoor mall pedestrian mall and off that mall were a number of arcades.  One of them reminds me of the arcades in downtown Cleveland.

Turkish Ping Pong Friends at Pedestrian Mal

On my first day, I incidentally bumped into my two Turkish friends from the cruise.  It is amazing how many times I have bumped into people I have known on my trip.

Sydney has one of the most beautiful harbors in the world.  There is an area called Darling Harbor.

It is a very touristy area that includes museums, IMAX theater, restaurants and an aquarium which I attended.   There is a monorail that connects Darling Harbor with the rest of the city. 

The Aquarium includes indigenous sea life, penguins and is complete with a walk beneath shark tank. 
 

There were a few tanks with  illuminated Jelly Fish which looked like pieces of art. 

Ferry

One day I took a ferry across the bay to Luna Park, a famous amusement park and then walked across the Harbour Bridge.

Luna Park

Luna Park was closed the day I went and had to sneak around a bit to take pictures.  They eventually kicked me out.

 On the other side there was more of a village feeling.  I spotted a bunch of young girls in uniform, that I assumed worked at some attraction.  They actually were school girls in uniform, that look like they are from the turn of the century.  Australia, still has a lot of old world charm and customs. 

View of Sydney From my Walk on Harbour Bridge

Ships Log

Through my travels in New Zealand I past lots of forests as well as logging trucks.  This shot above is from the port of Dunedin, my third stop on the cruise

Please note:  the blog is around 5 weeks behind and am planning on catching up completely within two weeks and will blogging every day for the next week to ten days.

With a heavy heart I leave my home for the last three months.  I am also a bit melancholy as my parents were supposed to meet me but my Mom got sick.

I boarded the Diamond Princess en route to Australia.  I was able to take my parents suite on the back of the ship.  Besides the huge size, the long balcony, the spa tub, finger sandwiches and unlimited mini bar, my favorite part was the free laundry and dry cleaning.

The ship is huge and immaculate. They have a large screen tv by the pool, which they show movies.  They have a gorgeous spa area with different styles of steam rooms and hot ceramic lounges.
Entrance was included with the suite.  I had a great massage too, a 90 minute for the price of an hour.

I played a lot of ping pong  with and befriended a couple of young guys from Turkey.  I also was friendly with an English couple he was a Jew originally from Egypt and had to flee after the Suez incident in 1956.  He owned a chain of fish and chips stores.  The people that you meet and finding out about their unique lives, is another perk of traveling.

Highlights of the cruise were the Milford Sound, which the ship cruised in directly and Tasmania Australia.  It rained during our tour of Milford, the ship enters the sound and turns around.  The other stops were in New Zealand and I have already covered in the blog.

 Tasmania is very quaint and was a former prison colony.  I heard awful stories on how they treated the prisoners, many of which went insane.  There was a tour of the prison of which I had no interest in visiting. I enjoyed walking the streets and would have liked to have spent more time there.