NORTH ADELAIDE AND WINE TOUR OF BAROSSA VALLEY

We began today with a leisurely breakfast.  At about 9:30 Mary Anne Kennedy came and picked us up for a tour.  We began in North Adelaide. Our first stop was a look back over the river at the cricket grounds (the Oval - supposedly the most beautiful in Australia)

The North end of town was settled by the British with lots of interesting stone houses, iron grill work, and some cane fences.  Lots of old churches, many of which have been turned into everything else you can imagine - restaurants, salons, eateries.  A unification church dumped together the Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians - not so intense about religion here, I guess.

The houses above (behind the reed fence) were built as single family houses for the workers (mostly from Greece and Italy) that the British hired to work for them.  The workers came over single, lived in single row houses, then married and moved into small houses like those above.

We then began our wine tour.  We drove through a beautiful canyon up into the hills.  As we drove along a road, Mary Anne told us we might see Koalas - sigh - I didn't, but it was hard to keep my eyes off the trees.  We did see kangaroos from far away.  Our closest view of wild life was in an enclosure close to one of the wineries - kind of a wine tasting/animal view.  I did see some Gullas close up.  They are pink breasted parrots.  Supposedly if someone calls you a Gulla, you should be annoyed - they are very dumb.  They are also really pretty.  Here's a few.

We had lunch at our first winery, Jacob's Creek.  The wines were very nice.  We had lunch there as well. We tried Whiting, a sea, white, fish that was great. All I kept thinking of, of course, was Alice in Wonderland "Will you walk a little faster, said the Whiting to the snail...." Now I've eaten one.  The Barossa valley has some great Rieslings that aren't like those that we've tried before.  They're dryer and crisper.  Then drove to a second which was a little smaller, Artisans of Barossa.  Most of the wines there were also quite good.  This was a place that had several small wineries together.  The best of which was named John Duval.  He had been the wine maker from Penfold's winery, top of the line around here.  Here's some winery buildings.

We stopped at an overview of the Barossa Valley.

After our overview, we tried some cheese tasting - the shop specialized in soft cheese many of which were great.  More than a bit difficult to stuff into a suitcase, however.  Then onto our last winery, Torbrek, again with lots of great wines. Unfortunately, our favorite was a $275 bottle of Shiraz they called RunRig - it smelled good, it tasted better.  Mary Anne had gone to college and studied wines, so she was also fascinating to talk to.  She had grown up on a small farm about 3 1/2 hours outside of Adelaide.  We came back to the hotel, and now need something small for dinner.  Tomorrow onto Kangaroo Island.

Before I forget this.  For the last day or so, since we've turned up in Adelaide, we keep seeing stone angels with their arms extended.  I've been afraid to Blink.........

ADELAIDE NOW WITH NEW IMPROVED - PHOTOS

We arrived in Adelaide this afternoon about 3 pm.  We easily caught the bus to the airport in Uluru.  They have an incredibly efficient system.  Buses take you from the airport to the resort, then buses take you from the resort to the airport.  Little buses take you to all the activities, big buses to the major activities.

Last night we went to "Sounds of Silence" dinner.  There was a HUGE crowd of people waiting for the bus (it took 3 buses to get everyone out of there).  The good news was that each of the three buses went to a different site, so there wasn't an overwhelming number of people at any one place.  We drove to a slight rise in the desert, where they had cleared brush and ringed off a circle.  We were served canapes (crocodile with mango, kangaroo on toast, and for the fearful, smoked salmon.  They served both soft drinks and champagne.  Then after  generous rounds of drinks and canapes, we wandered down to tables for the evening meal.  Although it was serve yourself buffet style, it was elegant and, again, very generous.  It got dark as we ate.  By the time dessert came around, we were stuffed.  They turned down the lights, and we could see the sky filled with stars.  Nothing like a dry desert to see stars - but here it was amazing.  The Southern Cross is the only one I really knew.  I didn't know it consisted of 5 stars (I should have been paying more attention to the Aussie flag).  To the left of the Cross is Alpha Centari and Beta Centari.  To the lower left is a dark region known as the Coal Sack.  The whole thing is sitting in a huge swath of the Milky Way.  On the horizon we could just see the handle (upside-down ) of the Big Dipper (the dipper part was below the horizon).  They had set up two telescopes so that we could see Saturn and its rings, and the Alpha Centari which is actually a binary star (really 3 but who's counting).  I really could have sat out there looking at the sky for much longer.  When we were driven back to the resort, Charlie and I took a short walk out in the dark to see the spectacle just a bit longer.

This morning on our first flight (Uluru to Alice Springs) we had a chance to see the Outback near Alice Springs.  There are the weirdest set of mountains (curved and twisted) that I've ever seen.  We found out later they are called the MacDonalds.  It looks interesting - a place to return to.  Then we took the flight from Alice Springs to Adelaide.  On first impression, Adelaide is like a small LA.  Mountains to the East (not north) and water to the West (kind of LA).  The central area is only 6 or 7 blocks square.  We had a great Chinese dinner.  Tomorrow we go out wine tasting.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for some bottled water, and I spotted my favorite candy bar a Violet Crumble - MUCH better than it sounds.  They used to sell these at the Rialto in South Pas when it was functional.

Hasta Manana.

DAWN AWAKENINGS

Since we've bought some computer time, even though the day is only half over, I thought I'd tell about our morning adventure.

We got up at 5 am and hopped on a bus at 6.  It was still dark.  We drove through the bush from a two lane road, onto a one lane road, and eventually onto a one lane dirt road.  Charlie explained that Gene Shoemaker died on a one lane outback road.  We survived and ended up at a dune.  We had tea, orange juice, a breakfast sandwich, and a scone while we waited for the sun to come up.  The sunrise on our dune revealed Ayers Rock (Uluru) and a host of weird birds.  An Australian mocking bird and a quail like thing.

We then drove close to the rock, eventually driving all around it.  We stopped at several sites.  The first, a climbing site.  I wasn't really interested in climbing Uluru, but after looking at the chains leading to the top (it was blowing about 25 km/h to boot) I was REALLY not interested.  The local people view Uluru as a sacred site and aren't happy about people tromping to the top.  So I was not a coward, I was respectful.

Our second site was a close up of the rock (it's sandstone covered in wonderful lace like etched areas and caves).  We got a bit of Aboriginal folklore, and a peak at teaching-paintings on the inside of a cave.  There was a large pool of water nearby as well.  We've learned a lot about hunting kangaroos as well.  From the first bunch, rub some people smell on a boomerang, toss it up wind of a group of kangaroos.  They think your on the upwind side and run towards you.  Clever!  Today we heard that as the kangaroos pass on the way to the water hole, you count them.  Then, when they leave, count again, and kill the last one out.  That way, they don't realize that the slow poke got gacked, maybe he was just lost, and they'll return to the water hole.  Clever again!

We stopped at a cultural center.  We only had a half hour which really wasn't enough time, but interesting as well.  The locals stop by when they feel like it, so no one is really sure what will be explained, if anything.  We listened to a woman explain the local seeds that she collected, and what they were used for.  One of the most interesting pieces was her mortar and pestle.  The rock for the base could be any rock around, but the grinding stone she held was precious and was handed down mother to daughter.

Back to the bus, and one more "post card" shot of Uluru in the morning.  We had some fruit as a treat.  Back to the hotel, and here we are writing of our adventures.  Tonight we go off on the "Sounds of Silence Tour".  We'll get dinner, an Aussie-miscellaneous-animals-to-eat Bar B Q.  After dinner we'll get a talk about the Southern Sky.  I'm really looking forward to that, although, I'll probably freeze solid and not hear it.  It was extremely cold this morning, and not all that warm now.

ULURU AKA AYERS ROCK

We had breakfast in the hotel, and then got our ride to the airport in Cairns.  Our flight was almost empty, but very nice.  As we flew a bit away from Cairns, we began to see the red desert of the Outback.  For some time it looked like we were flying over Mars - red, flat, nothing.  As we approached Ayers rock, there seemed like there was some vegetation on the ground.  While we were landing, I was surprised to see trees - quite a few trees.  Some thin some regular none huge.  More vegetation than I expected, but we were told later that there has been an exceptionally wet fall here (and to watch out for centipedes - peachy).  After we checked into the hotel, we found our room wasn't ready, so we marched across the street to explore a bit.  Our internet connection here is a bit wonky.

Our room looks out at Ayers Rock.  We decided to buy a couple of beers and sit and watch the sunset from our porch.  We added several layers of clothes AND jackets for our scenery watching - it got cold when the sun went a bit low.

Tonight we wandered over to a restaurant and had dinner.  This place is one large resort with several hotels connected together.  We're in Desert Garden.  On the way back from dinner we gaped at the stars.  Amazing view of the southern sky.  Tomorrow, we're supposed to get some explanation of what the heck we were looking at tonight.

Until the next internet connection

SUNDAY IN THE RAIN FOREST

We left the hotel this morning and headed toward the Tjapukai Cultural Center.  The tribe of Aborigines nearest to Cairns are the Tjapukai, and their center was our first stop.  Before we got there, I was fearing the corniest, golly-like embarrassing show on the planet.  Fortunately, I was wrong.  There were several stages, the first one, and really the best, had a guy playing and explaining how to play a didgeridoo.  We've been hearing them a lot and had a lot of questions.  1.) how do you make the noise - vibrating you lips  2.) how do you make other odd noises while playing - sticking your tongue out at various moments and various angles  3.) how do you keep playing on and on without breathing - you DO breath, just while you make the odd noises, you breath in (somehow).  We saw a performance about their creation myths, about different weapons, about dances, and about local foodstuffs.  A lot of what they eat would be poisonous raw, but they soak the nuts/seeds/ whatever in the river for three days, then when cooked, you don't die.  Here's a few photos.

After our boomerang shooting attempts (I was told I throw "like a girl" - good thing dinner doesn't depend on my shooting) we went over to the gondolas that left the valley floor, and eventually ended up in Kuranda.  Here's a few more photos.  The sharp rise and cold air caused it to rain on the upslope, and caused it to be a bit damp in our gondola.  We stopped a couple of times.  The first was at "Red Peak" where we had a ranger tell us about the forest and a few creatures.  Here's a basket fern.

Once we got to Kuranda, we had lunch (WONDERFUL meat pies) and strolled around town a bit.

We decided to wander a bit into the forest again, stopping at a Flying Fox rehabilitation station -

The fern like plants (proto ferns?) have thorns on the back of their leaves in order to cling to trees and make it through the forest floor to the light above.  They looked very much like the type of plants I imagine dinosaurs munched on - this is one of the oldest rain forests on earth.

At three we went to the Kuranda Rail Station and took the Kuranda train from the top back to the valley floor.  Views from the train are spectacular - a few that are as good as I could get.

We got back to the hotel at 6, got our boarding passes for tomorrow's flight, then wandered into Palm Cove for dinner.  Tomorrow - off to Ayers Rock.

AS CLOSE TO CAIRNS AS WE'RE GOING TO GET

We had a great dinner for our last night in Sydney last night.  We asked the concierge at the hotel for suggestions, and he recommended "Fish at the Rocks".  Most of the restaurants we had walked past on our hikes have beautiful views of Sydney Harbor and ridiculous prices - like $20 for a caesar salad.  A quick note:  The Australians called appetizers "Entrees" and call Entrees "Mains" - lends itself to some confusion.  The area around the arched bridge is called the Rocks - that's where our hotel was.  We walked along the wharves, climbed three sets of stairs and reached Kent Street.  There was a famous pub, Lord Nelson Brewery, clearly a popular place filled to the brim with people.  We went outside and found seats along the sidewalk - quieter than inside and had our Australian version of British bitter - quite good - name unknown.  Unfortunately, so many people were squashed in and around the place, the pub pickup boy kept asking people to go inside "We can't have people standing on the sidewalk drinking, it's against a public ordinance"  We then walked over to the Fish at the Rocks.  I had baby Baramundi - excellent, despite the baby part of its name.  Charlie had grilled prawns - he decided it sounded like shrimp on the barbie.

This morning after breakfast, we got a ride to the airport and took our Quantas flight to Cairns.  Warm, tropical, beautiful, if a bit windy.  We're staying at a place called The Spa Temple Resort and Spa at Palm Cove.  I'm really not a fan of resorts.  The last time we went to Cairns, many years ago, I really liked it and was looking forward to getting back.  To get dumped 25 km away at a resort seemed annoying.  But, as it happens we are traveling way off season.  The suite of rooms that we ended up in is absolutely bizarre.  We have a full kitchen, living room, dining room, bedroom, lanai, and to top it off, up a curvy ladder we found a hot tub and a huge bar B Q.  Good grief.  Here's a few photos of this place.

Once we got settled we set off to find the local "town" called Palm Cove.  Somehow I keep thinking of Murder She Wrote.  It's a tiny seaside place with restaurants, a pub, a post office, and a gorgeous beach.  Here's some photos of our walk and the town.

In town, we stopped at a pub, Apres Beach Bar and Grill, and had coffee and cake. Both were excellent.  I'm not sure I'd call our cake, "cake".  Imagine an apple tart without the crust.  That may not sound very good, but it was delicious.  Coffee has funny words associated with it around here too.  Here's a few:
There are the usual cappucinos and lattes.  Flat white, if no one had told me I would have assumed it was a cappucino, but it really is outstanding coffee.  Long black, expresso with water.  Short black, expresso without extra water.  I'll keep adding to my Australian dictionary, as I learn the words and translations.

Tonight we're having sandwiches for dinner.  We had bought them because our flight today was over lunchtime.  Who knew that Quantas at home provides meals onboard as part of the travel?   Until tomorrow.....

FRIDAY IS, APPARENTLY, FISH DAY

We spent most of today walking, walking, and then, some more walking.  Our first goal was to find the Aquarium.  I remember going a number of years ago, but the aquarium here has improved vastly.  What a great place.  Here's a few photos.

There were a number of fabulous lego structures in the aquarium, here was our favorite

These were actually constructed in the Checzck republic - all were amazing.

From the aquarium we wandered over to the Fish Market.  We should have just used our sense of smell, but the wandering was fun too.  Here's some photos there.

On the way to and from our main attractions, we wandered past some other nifty things.  The ironwork along the road to the fish market on local houses was wonderful.

Once we got back home and rested a bit, we wandered back out to the Botanical Gardens, met up with some odd birds - really - then went back to the hotel for a rest.  Along the "rocks" the pathway near our hotel along the bay, we saw the Moon Park exhibition.  It has the creepiest "moon" ever - verging on clown scary!

After our strolling about, we went to a restaurant recommended by the concierge - The fish at the Rocks -.  The Rocks is the part of Sydney located under/near the arched bridge across from the opera house. It's a wonderful walking area and VERY close to where we're staying.  After our couple of days marching around, we really feel like we know Sydney.  It's a little like San Francisco down under.  Urbane, clean, fun, open, We obviously like it a lot.

Until tomorrow and Cairns......