Hinchinbrook Island

Hinchinbrook Island is a large island National Park, with a very small resort at one end and hiking trails with a few campsites.

Tuesday
We needed to drive south 2.5 hours to Cardwell to catch the 9am ferry to the island, so we had to get up at 6am. We were the only passengers on the ferry, so the captain, Phil, and Emma gave us a nice introduction to the island. There is a colony of about 300 Dugongs at the island. These are almost extinct and thus protected. We saw some surfacing in front of the boat, so Phil stopped for about 15 minutes to let them pass and we got a good look at them, although at a fair distance. They surface only long enough to breath, so I didn’t get any photos. We also saw some turtles and Garfish in the water. The Garfish are long thin fish that jump out of the water and skim along with only their tails touching the water, leaping again and again into the air.

Phil giving Tara a spin at the wheel of the ferry


Phil remarked that the weather had been stormy for quite a while and this was the first sunny calm day. At the dock, he introduced us to Sly, a huge Grouper that has lived there for 22 years. They feed him a couple 1 lb fish each day. This guy is huge, over 300 lbs and six feet long.
(picture of Sly)

Dave the manager met us at the dock and gave us a short tour and explained that the object here is to relax. We have Beach Cabin #1, the closest to the resort, yet far enough away to be quite private.

We swam in the pool, and later tried the sea kayaks. Unfortunately, a wave caught Kate’s boat and pushed it hard against her leg, cutting her shin and banging up her ankles. Dave provided first aid. The food here is first rate. There is only one other couple here that we have seen. I imagine we are getting the treatment of Double Island for 1/100th the cost.


Wednesday
We decided to skip the snorkel trip due to Kate’s leg, but she was up for a hike. They have a ferry tour that took us through the mangrove estuary. This is full of salt water crocodiles. You wouldn’t want to swim here, as they grow to 5 meters long! But they are shy and hide when they hear the boat coming so we didn’t see any. They dropped us at a dock and a short hike across the island to a beautiful, isolated beach. This is the non-crocodile, non-stinger side of the island. But we are still too cautious to venture far into the water. So we collected shells for an hour then went back to the boat.
Kate’s leg was feeling good, so we opted to get off at the Macushla camping area and took the 5km hike back to the resort. We had backpack lunches, so we ate those at the first beach we came to (on the crocodile side, so I was on the lookout but saw nothing). About 1km later, we were back on the “safe” side of the island. We had another 2km long beach all to ourselves to explore. We tried some body surfing although there really weren’t any breakers thanks to the great weather. The water was literally as warm as the air, about 85 degrees. At 4pm, we did the final 1km walk through a tropical forest with several micro climates.

After reaching our cabin, we went swimming in the pool for at least another hour, then ate dinner at 7:30. It is like we have the whole resort and island to ourselves. We all agree that this is probably the highlight of our trip.

Thursday
A family had sailed their boat to the island, so Tara played with a girl about her age in the pool for a while. Meanwhile Kate and I took a two-man kayak out. The weather is even calmer today, so we went out around the point. We found ourselves surrounded by sea turtles. They were surfacing within a few feet of the kayak. Unfortunately, I hadn’t brought the waterproof camera.

The resort's beach was used in the movie "Nim's Island"

After lunch, Tara and Kate returned to the pool. I took a mask down to the beach, but there was something out in the water, probably just a turtle, but I couldn’t bring myself to risk the stingers, crocs, and sharks on our last day.

We checked out at 3pm, and since there were no other passengers, the ferry left immediately. We saw a school of 6 Garfish skimming along the water, a large sailboat from Newport (probably Rhode Island). Phil told us that the movie “Nim’s Island” (coming out April 4th) was shot on Hinchinbrook, so that is definitely something we will have to go see.

In Cairns, we did our last minute souvenir shopping, and found a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Very rare for Australia, but surprisingly good. I was finally able to find an Outback hat just as the store closed.

We stayed in a hotel very close to the airport, but got to bed at about 11pm, setting the alarm for 4:30am.

Friday
We got to the airport on time, but went to the domestic terminal thinking that is were a flight to Sydney would be. However, our flight was from the International terminal because it is a connection to international flights. We were still on time, just at the back of the line as they boarded.

Qantas Dream Time plane

We got up at 4:30am and were back in Portland at 5pm the same day, thanks to the international date line. Jet lag will not be kind to us, however.

Rain greets us at PDX

Epilog
I took 885 photos in Australia. It took about 2 hours just to upload the photos to my computer. It will take me at least a week to get the slide show up on Picasa.

Cairns

pronounced “Cans” (Australian r’s are very soft to non-existent)

Saturday evening
We drove to our beach-front cabin with no problems (Kate and Tara chanting "Stay left" the whole way). Our view when we arrive is of a beautiful full moon over an offshore island. Later, I learn this is Double Island. For AU$20,000 a day, you can rent the whole island.




Sunday
Easter day

Almost nothing was open, so we hung around the cabin and beach all day.

We ate breakfast at a small café on the other side of the road from our cabin. We ate takeaway for lunch (Australian meat pie), and we cooked steaks for dinner on the “barbie”.

Tara got a travel kit for her Nintendo DS-Lite from the Easter Bilby. Her charger is US-only, so she'd had no way to recharge in Australia.

There was a swimming area with a shark/stinger net and lifeguards only a few hundred yards from our cabin. We all swam in the ocean in relative safety that day.

Because it is a four-day holiday, Tara met and made friends with several kids that were staying in the cabins for the weekend. One of the girls gave Tara one of her large chocolate eggs because Tara didn't get much candy. Tara went to a beach bonfire that evening and played with her new friends. Kate and I walked on the beach, watching Ghost Crabs run from our flashlight.

Tara learning to play cricket

Monday

We scheduled a snorkel excursion on the Great Barrier Reef for Monday. We caught the boat at 9:30am in Cairns for a 1.5 hour ride out to Michaelmas Cay, which is a tiny sand island. The boat was full of Japanese tourists – I believe they are all from a single tour group. Many of them got seasick on the ride. We chatted with a couple from England that have been touring New Zealand for a couple months.

I rented stinger suits for us, and right after that there were a lot of people renting suits. The Japanese tourists got all of the small fins, so Kate had to go with a mismatched pair. A small boat ferried us 28 at a time over to the island, where we got a short snorkeling lesson and then about 30 minutes in the water before we had to head back for lunch and a “semi-submersible sub” tour of the reef. The weather was completely overcast, so there wasn’t much light for seeing fish or underwater photography. It also rained for about 10 minutes while we were snorkeling.

I had a 28-shot, disposable, underwater camera. I think my shots will come out about like this.

Later, we returned for another hour of snorkeling. Kate and I were the last two out of the water and joined about 8 others on the last boat off the island.

That night we shopped in Cairns near the wharf for souvenirs.

Alice Springs

AKA “The Alice”

Wednesday
We arrived at 11am, but our room wasn’t ready until 2pm, so we went shopping at the Todd Mall. A lot of things in Alice springs are named after the Todd River, which is a dry riverbed running along the south edge of Alice Springs. We stocked up on bottled water, swam in the hotel pool, and watched Underdog on pay TV.

Thursday
Our first stop was the Alice Springs Desert Park, just outside Alice Springs. This is a really nicely done park showing the outback's habitats and animals. There is a walking tour through the park where you carry an MP3 player and listen to the appropriate talk based on signs along the walk. The park is divided into three outback ecosystems: Desert River, Sand Country, and Woodland. Plus there is a “nocturnal house” where you can see animals that are normally only active at night, such as the Bilby and Mala (almost extinct).


We enjoyed this so much we spent most of the day there. We attended a Bush Tucker talk where an Aboriginal woman described how they could feed themselves in an environment that appears desolate. Unfortunately, the guy that does the hunting talk took the day off.


It was hot, upper 90’s, so we drank a lot of fluids and spent time in their air-conditioned café.

Tara loading up on fluids

We ate dinner at the Outlander Steakhouse. Kate tried the Kangaroo and Emu. But Tara and I had beef steaks.

Kangaroo and Emu dinner

Friday
Good Friday is a major holiday in Australia so most places are shut down. As planned, we drove into the West MacDonnell Range. We missed a turn and ended up 100km off course at Hermannsburg, an Aboriginal community. Australia is big, and not many road signs, so it's easy to get off course and not realize it. This is doubly true in the outback where there aren't many landmarks. I’m glad we were at least sticking to the paved roads!

The Outback

We retraced our steps and got to the Ellery Creek Bighole at about 11:30. Tara and Kate swam across the the swimming hole, which is a very deep, small lake. The water is surprisingly cold for being in the middle of the Outback, but there are cliffs on either side that keep it shaded from the sun’s heat. The water is cold, but still warmer than most Oregon swimming lakes we are used to. Meanwhile, I took a 20 minute walk out on the Dolomite Walk. The MacDonnel Ranges are actually the east and west sides of a former mountain range that has been worn down to almost nothing.


We then drove on to Glen Helen Gorge, another swimming hole. Tara and Kate swam this one also.










That night, we ate Barramundi, a popular (and tasty) Australian freshwater fish.

Saturday
We went on a “Dreamtime and Bush Tucker” tour in the morning. In Aboriginal culture, they focus on today, not yesterday or tomorrow. Dreamtime is how they describe history (legends) and the future (where and when to go for seasonal foods). The Bush Tucker food was: Billy Tea – tea made in a pot over an open fire, Damper Bread made in a dutch oven, Kangaroo tail (only Kate tried it), and a Witchitty Grub. No one on our tour tried THAT! You can check out someone on Youtube eating one.










We also learned to throw non-returning boomerangs. These are about 3 feet long, and have only a short bend in them. They are meant to be thrown at the legs of a kangaroo. Returning boomerangs were invented for sport and to scare up birds and animals.





At the end of this tour, there were four Aborigine women selling their Dreamtime paintings. We bought one about rain and lightning. Note that Aborigine life expectancy is only about 50 years (in the bush it was about 35 years). These women were 52-62, but looked 70-90. Very sharp ladies when you talked to them though.



We flew on to Cairns that afternoon.

Our picture and the artist

Adelaide

Monday

We did visit a wildlife park on Kangaroo Island before we left. It was 40.5C (104F) – very hot! Tara fed some kangaroos and saw an echidna, which she thought was cuter than the koalas. We weren't the only ones drinking a lot of water…

We went to catch our 5pm ferry and arrived at 3pm. No one was serving lunch or dinner, so we had takeout from the only place open in town. After the ferry ride, we drove up the coast to Adelaide, had a quick dinner, then drove on to Adelaide Hills. Driving in the city (on the left) is much more stressful than Kangaroo Island!

We didn’t get to Adelaide Hills until dark. Google Maps directions failed completely in Adelaide, as it directed us onto a freeway that switches directions morning and evening to favor the commuters. I bought a map and with Kate’s navigation and a lot of luck, we found our accommodations at about 9pm. We stayed in Lofty Station, a railway station converted to a bed and breakfast. Yes, six trains went by that night, three of those after we had gone to bed.

Tuesday
Our plan was to visit some wineries. What I didn’t know is that they have restricted the number of wineries in Adelaide hills, so there aren’t very many, and only two that we could find were open for visitors. We could see that many vineyards were in the process of being harvested. We tasted a bunch of wines at Petaluma, one of the largest Adelaide Hills wineries. They even have distribution in the US. The second place we visited was a very small winery that only has 14 acres of grapes. They practice Biodynamics, which happens to be what the winery I sell to also prefers to use. The new owners were formerly the winemakers at Argyle Winery in Oregon. I saw them removing bird netting (widely used in Australia), but the owners were too busy with harvest to chat.

We also went to the Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary. This is 35 hectacres that was formerly a dairy farm, now protected with a predator fence and terraformed with water features and plants. The animals inside are free to go where they like. They have kangaroos, wallabies, emus and other birds, bandicoots, bilby’s, potoroos, possoms, quolls, etc. The highlight was the platypus guided tour that night.

Kangaroo Island

Friday
A quick flight to Adelaide in the morning, then a "crash" course in driving on the left. We drove down the peninsula through some wine country to the ferry. It reaches 102F - Adelaide is having a record heatwave this summer.

Kangaroo Island Ferry

Saturday
We took a short bike ride, spotting some kangaroos and another winery.
Then we drove to Emu Bay. The beach was covered with seaweed. Then on to Stokes Bay. The beach is covered in shells. By going through some rocks that form a cave and some tight squeezing, we come to a beautiful sand beach with a couple people surfing. Tara worked on a sandcastle with a boy from Portland. The tide was pretty high so we had to race the waves through the tunnel as we left.



Stokes Bay


Sunday
We took a long drive across the island. We stopped at a sealion sanctuary and walked out on the beach with a guide and stood amongst the sealions. Lots of photos here. Then on to Flinders Chase National Park. Unfortunately, they had some terrible forest fires in December, so all of the nature trails were closed.

We continued on to Admiral's Arch where there is a colony of seals, and then to Remarkable Rocks. These rocks are indeed remarkable. Made from the same process that created Ayer's Rock.


Australian Sealions


Admiral's Arch




Remarkable Rocks

On the way back, we stopped at a Koala sanctuary. We were able to spot about 7 of them asleep in the trees. We also got very close to some Kangaroos and Wallabies.


Kangaroo


Wallaby


Koala(?)


Koala

That night, we took a guided tour of a Fairy Penguin colony. No photos there. These little guys weight just over a kilo, and about 35cm high. Quite cute, but not enough light and flash is not allowed.

Monday
Today is just starting, the plan is to visit an animal park and then take the ferry back to Adelaide.

Sydney

Monday
We arrived in Sydney in the morning after a very long flight. The Qantas flight was about as comfortable as an 18 hour flight can be. We were in the front of the coach section with window seats, the food and snacks were good, and every seat-back has its own TV with a large selection of movies and other programs. They even managed to find a tailwind to cut the flight by over an hour.

While standing in a 20 minute long line or "queue" for the taxi, Tara asked for a soda from a vending machine strategically placed next to the line. When I explained to Tara I didn't have any Australian dollars yet, the young lady in front of us gave Tara $4 for the machine. This was just the first example of the friendly and helpful Aussies we have met.
The rest of the day we spent shopping and getting settled into our hotel.

Tuesday
We rode the ferry to the Toronga Zoo, passing the Sydney Opera house which offered me my first iconic snapshot of Australia.

The iconic Sidney Opera House
This is a big zoo, and world-class. All of the exhibits are natural settings. We got our first look at koalas and kangaroos.

Toronga Zoo Koala

Wednesday
We are staying in Bondi Junction, a short bus ride from the famous Bondi Beach, so of course we had to go there. We were not disappointed. The beach is beautiful, and not too crowded in the middle of the week. The water is clear and not too cold, which is refreshing when the air is around 90 degrees.

Bondi Beach

Thursday
We took another ferry ride this time to Manly. We spent the morning at "Oceanworld Manly", which is a small aquarium with lots of local sealife, including several nurse sharks, which are viewed by walking through an acrylic tube through their tank. A very helpful guide gave us a nice tour. Later, we attended their reptile show and Kate and Tara petted a salt water crocodile. Note that Australia is home to 11 of the 15 most venomous snakes, a very deadly spider is found in yards around Sydney, there are deadly salt water crocodiles that grow to 5 meters long, and sharks and jellyfish. Nice place to visit, but you could die here!

(sorry for the lack of photos. My hotel's $5/hour "high speed Internet" is about 56Kbits/second. Photo uploads are taking forever. I will try to add some later if I find a better connection.)

(edited to add the photos)

The route

This is the story of our family's trip to Australia in March of 2008.

We leave from home (North Plains, Oregon, USA) in the afternoon on Saturday, March 8th and land in Sydney on the morning of March 10th. We return on March 28th, leaving Cairns early in the morning, flying to Sydney, then back to the US and arriving home in the afternoon the same day. Crossing the international date line causes us to loose a day on the way over, but gain a day back on the return flight.

We are also visiting Kangaroo Island and Adelaide in the south, Alice Springs in the Outback, and Cairns and Hinchinbrook Island at the Great Barrier Reef.

Here is a Google map showing where we will be visiting.


View Larger Map

It is still 3 days until we leave, but we are already packing!