4 weeks of Australia

Here is the abbreviated version of the pictures from my trip to Australia. I say abbreviated because I've picked the best 241 of them for you, out of 351 candidates. After all, I figured you wouldn't want the ones with my finger in them. These were just the ones that I took with my Olympus C-2100 UZ digital camera; there are others, especially the disposable underwater cameras from snorkeling on the reef(s), but I haven't seen those yet.

Step One: Getting there

This was my first time to ride on a flight of this magnitude, so I was fascinated for the first 20 hours or so. In the end it only took about 38 hours to get there. First it was a 4:45am CST taxi to the Memphis Airport from my borrowed accommodations in Southaven (thanks LWR). Then, Airtran from Memphis to Atlanta to LAX, arriving at lunch time. I had to leave the airport to go make some ticket changes at the travel agent's office, which was a good way to kill some of the 10 hour wait in the LAX airport. It was interesting to see Santa Monica, especially since I had never been to California. It took me a little while to figure out the public transportation, but the sky was mostly blue, and the temperature was a wonderful 65 or so. I think it was somewhere along the second bus that I began to really understand that I had too much stuff, considering that I was going to have to carry it around everywhere I went. If only I could have realized this, I could have made it to a post office to repent, but alas- experience is something you get right after you need it.

I made it back to the airport at about 1700, after a nice relaxing snack in an outdoor cafe on the promenade. I only had to wait about another hour before I could check my bags and be free of the chains of a thousand... no, I mean free of the luggage. I was riding with Air Pacific on flight 811 to Nadi Fiji, with a stop there for 3 hours, and then flight 911 to Sydney. By 2000 I was finished with the lines, and waiting at the gate for a 3 hour wait. We boarded and I was pleasantly surprised to have a seat behind the bulkhead, with first-class leg room, pleasant neighbors, and a requested window seat. The flight attendants gave us a little kit that included a toothbrush, a little eye-patch, and even a change of socks- now I know when I can say that I've really made it big. So I made use of the complimentary pillow and blanket and took a quick nap.

When I woke up, I heard one of the flight crewmembers say that we had begun our descent into Honolulu, and I thought about how much trouble he would probably be in with the boss for calling out the wrong destination on the radio. We sure had made good time, it was still dark, but we were scheduled into Fiji at 9:30 in the morning. A few minutes later, the crew apologized for having to make a stop in Honolulu, and I started to wonder. It turns out that while I was asleep there was a passenger with a medical emergency, so they elected to stop to take care of it. They didn't tell us any more than that, but I remember from prior work experience that stopping on that scale can have explicit costs in the $10k range, so it must have been important.

After a few hours on the ground in the plane there, we were back underway and I was back under my soft complimentary blanket. I guess the good thing about getting used to the low-cost carriers is that it doesn't take much to really impress a regular Airtran customer like me. When I woke up the next time, the sky was starting to glow on the left side, so I walked around to find a good window. The sunrise over the Pacific was as lovely as one would expect, and it was even prolonged. The sky took on the usual red, orange, pale pink sequence at a much slower pace due to our westbound heading, and after breakfast I had enough light to make a nice picture through the window. As the day finally began to catch us, I took a few pictures of the clouds.

I was amazed with how I could see the reflections on the water underneath the cumulus clouds down low. It reminded me of flying at those altitudes, and how from our vantage point in the mid 30,000s, that 3000 ft doesn't have the same effect. I wonder what it must have been like to be out in the midst of those bumpy clouds in the days of the PBYs and other ferry flights. But then I was distracted as I started to think about how long I was going to get to wait in Fiji, since we were running late enough for me to miss my flight to Sydney.

So finally we made it to Fiji. The Canadian couple I was sitting with was about my age, and they were going to spend some time there before going on to Brisbane. The island chain includes something on the order of 70 islands, but there are two main ones. As we got closer, I took these pictures of the smaller islands, and then of the approach and landing. It was nice to see the weeds in such a tropical place. The palms and flowers looked like the gardens in any other place that I had been. The haze hinted that the humidity was incredible, and we were indeed able to experience the "open the oven" phenomenon as we left the plane for the terminal.

It turns out that I was going to make my flight, since it was on the same airplane. That's the nice thing about an airline with 2 747s. We waited for a little while for the servicing of the plane, and then it was back on for a 4 hour hop. That would be easy, after our 10 hour turned 13 hour leg previous.

I made it to Sydney, and I had a bit of hassle in getting my supposedly pre-paid ride to the Hostel. In the end, they told me to catch a shuttle bus and they would pay me back. So I set out to catch said shuttle bus, only to find a guy with a ticket book and a semi-official uniform patrolling the sidewalk. He said it would be $8.00, so lukily I had some AU cash thanks to Amanda and Mrs. Helen. I gave him my beautiful blue $10 note (they really have some pretty money) and he gave me a goldish coin about the diameter of a nickel and about the thickness of 2 quarters, and the reality began to sink in. I was a long way from home; for all I knew, he could have given me a 10 cent piece. Luckily, the good folks at the Australian mint thought of this, and they printed $2 on the coin so that people like me could figure it out. But either way, I soon realized that the guy on the sidewalk was selling the tickets because the driver of the bus wasn't too comfortable with English. She did well though, at least much better than I would have been able to do with Chinese. I made it to the hostel and found my tour guide, along with a much overdue shower. I had finally made it, and was ready to see the sights.

Sydney was a big city. It accounts for about 25% of the entire population of the continent, putting the metro area around 5 million. Interestingly enough, for those first few days, you could have just as well put me in LA and said "So here you are, what do you think of Sydney?" and I would have said "It's very nice!" Luckily TB had things figured out, so we went to enjoy the beautiful weather. Since it was summertime down there, and since Sydney is about the same latitude as San Francisco is for us, the temperatures were usually around 70-80 during the day, and in the 50-60 range in the evening. It rained each afternoon with a convective downpour that anyone from MS can appreciate. That afternoon we went to the opera house and botanic gardens. These were wonderful places, and a great place to take pictures. One interesting aspect of the Australian birds is that they are more like our pet-store birds here. And in the gardens, there were these bat-like creatures that they called flying foxes. For everyone who hasn't seen one, take a household cat, give it wings of about a 3 foot span, and let it fly around for a little while. I don't know why I didn't get any decent pictures of them... I certainly thought I had.

We also spent some time riding the ferry to Manly beach, which is a nice ferry ride across the harbor. TB had scouted it out as a neighborhood to live in, and we wanted to go find a place. We found one, and the next morning we relocated our Jacob Marley bags to our new flat, whose title included the word "budget." So how budget wasget, you ask? Let's just say you won't hear me complaining about the white fluffy pillows at the comfort inn. It was a good thing that TB had brought sheets, and we were able to do without the rest. It was convenient to be in one place for the week, which included a kitchenette, our own bathroom, and a 5 minute walk to the beach. I should clarify that our 2 star accommodations were not the only option, just the only option in our price range. After all, we were in a popular place during the peak season. We did enjoy the occasional ferry ride back into town to take care of various business items, including plans for the remainder of our stay in the country. The harbor is a wonderful place, especially on the weekends.

On Australia Day (much like our 4th of July) we walked around to a place called Freshwater beach (not really fresh water) to see what we thought would be a rowing regatta. TB is in to the fresh water racing, so it would be neat to see how they did it in the waves. In fact, they have a very popular sport over there called surf lifesaving, and there were teams from all of the different suburbs competing in several events, with the rowing part just being one. There were also running races in the sand, events that involved swimming, paddling on surfboards, and one that was a very choreographed saving of a simulated drowning person. There were lots of colors and lots of local sponsors.

Over the course of the week we enjoyed the crystal clear water and the fun surf. On our last day in Manly, we went on a walking adventure and I took lots of pictures. We also did a little bit of snorkeling, which was a first for me. While there wasn't any coral, there were lots of fish and plants, and of course the water was wonderful.

Before we set out, we had some fish 'n chips, and took a picture of the map in case we got lost. The hike was very nice at first, with paved trails. We switched to dirt paths, and followed the coastline from one rocky point to the next, enjoying cliffs about 50 feet above the water. After an hour or so of that, we came to a giant stone wall with signs marking the entrance to a protected area. When we went through a hole, we were surprised to find that the landscape was charred. It turns out that a month prior they had intentionally burned away some of the undergrowth. It looked very eerie, and made for some interesting pictures. I was especially impressed with the flower that looked like corn on the cob, and the healthy tree with no bark. It looked like a piece of furniture, except for the green leaves.

The grass plant is very common, and the one in the picture is about three feet tall. As the sun went down, we realized that we might not make it all the way to our vantage point to see the city skyline across the harbor. We decided to go home, and by this time we were walking on a road. A car stopped ahead, and we were going to ask them for a ride, but it turned out to be a young couple who had stopped to offer. It is really interesting to find people as kind as we did there. That was probably my favorite part of the trip; spending time with very generous people who helped us out along the way. It made me think a lot about what kind of person I am in my life at home with regard to that kind of thing. This couple actually drove us up the point to get a nice view, and then dropped us off about 1km from home, which was a saving of about 2 hours walking. That made the trip much more reasonable!

The next day was our last in Sydney, since we had plans to catch a night bus to Melbourne. While we were waiting for the bus, we took a train across the bridge and walked back across, enjoying the views and the weather. There were several people walking home from work, and on the other side of the bridge, the pedestrian path was limited only to bicycles, since there were lots of people commuting that way too. We enjoyed the passing boats, and even a sightseeing flight that passed pretty close to the bridge. As far as Sydney sightseeing goes, the bridge and the opera house are certainly staples.

After our bridge adventure, we went to the bus station for an overnight ride to Melbourne. We made a quick stop in Canberra, the capitol, and then later on for "lunch." The great thing about night busses is that they give you a free night's accommodation... sort of. Our first adventure was to pick up the rental car and drive out to the start of the great ocean road. This was easy enough, since TB already had a little bit of practice with driving on the other side. We made it to the first of many tourist information centers and stopped for a break. We found the site to be manned with very nice volunteers and enough color brochures to fill up the car. We told Clive, our volunteer, that we were planning to drive the great ocean road for 3 days and 2 nights, and that was all that we had planned. He began to tell us about all sorts of wonderful places, and how we should spend at least a day here, and a day there, and another few days at that spot, oh, and be sure to go up here for cheese- it will only take an extra few minutes. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he had just given us a 4 week itinerary, but I did ask if I could borrow his pen. We were able to get a rough idea of a route to use, and some nice places to camp for the two nights on the road. Our next step was to find a shower, since that had not been included in our previous night's accommodation. We found a pool that let us use theirs, and then we set out for lunch. There are most of the familiar fast food restaurants over there, but we ate at one called Red Rooster, which was not familiar to me. Imagine KFC with baked chickens instead of fried ones. Next door was a Hungry Jacks, which had a familiar look. Apparently the Burger King name was already taken when they made it to Australia.

The drive along the great ocean road was as great as we had expected it to be. As you can see from the pictures, it was km after km of breathtaking scenery, with beaches and mountains alternating. We stopped occasionally for pictures, and to enjoy the nice weather. Late on the first day we stopped for a short walk through the woods, which are actually more like rainforests. Since driving tourism is so popular in that neck of the woods, we saw several of the signs like the one below. On our first night we had to stop a bit short in a place called Laver's hill. It is one of those places where the road turns inland to enjoy more mountain views and fewer beaches. We found the caravan park that we were looking for (it became easy when we learned that "caravan park" was what we were looking for) and set up the tent. The weather was very wet, with low clouds and mist. we were glad to find a nice indoor place to eat, and the tent stayed dry in spite of the rain. This was also our first experience with the R2D2 birds. Do you remember what he sounded like in the Star Wars movies? There are birds that sound just like that. More on that later...

The clearing sky and bright sun were a pleasant surprise the next morning, and we were able to dry out and pack up for another day of adventures. Our first stop was a 45 minute detour to a treetop walk. We had both heard about these before, and were excited to see one in action. The company that runs this one is new, since they just opened to visitors last fall. I don't remember how high the catwalks were, but they did give us a sincere appreciation for the height of the native trees. The hillside that looks like a cemetery is actually little trees growing inside of protective cardboard. I thought it was a nice ironic touch for new birth and reforestation to look so much like a burial ground. The plants were amazing, especially the big fern trees.

We drove back to the road and continued on to the area of the 12 apostles. I'm sure you've seen them before, whether you realized it or not. Go to a store that sells church paraphernalia and look for a picture of astounding rock formations and cliffs of crashing waves and golden sand, with that inspirational poem superimposed in white italic letters, and you'll know what I'm talking about. This is one of the more publicized areas of the road, so there were frequent helicopter and airplane overflights, and a steady supply of people. It really was a lovely place, with great views of swirling currents that were scary just to wade in. The rocks and clay didn't look as much to me like apostles as they did giant rock formations, but the color of the rock was very soft and intriguing. There were also a few interesting sections of debris that had washed ashore, which I thought would make a nice computer wallpaper picture.

We were way behind schedule, which wasn't all too bad, but there were a few other sights we wanted to see. We realized that even the schedule we had condensed from the 4 week itinerary was going to be a bit too ambitious. After a few consultations with the aforementioned visitor centers, we were back on track to make it to the Grampians to sleep. We stopped in Warnambool to get gas at .93/liter. That's about $4 per gallon for you and me. Half of the tank in our little compact rental was 25L. One of the stops that we did decide to keep in was well worth it; it was the Tower Hill wildlife refuge. We decided to stop there because the guides promised we would see native wildlife roaming freely. As we pulled into the entrance, it was an interesting place at a slow pace. The reserve is in what was a volcano a long time ago, so it is shaped like a bowl with a rim around the edges. There are some lakes and a little island in the middle, and the terrain of the whole place must make it easier to control the natural predators that feast on koalas everywhere else. We drove down the one-lane road through grassy patches broken with brush and eucalyptus trees with a restroom high on the priority list. We had a very rough map that noted a little ranger station, so when we came to an information board, we wondered if that was it. While we were out of the car waiting, we heard something shuffling in the grass, and looked up to find two kangaroos. They were about as tame as deer would be in an equivalent reserve in the US. In fact, they are much like deer in many ways. People there are worried about hitting them with cars, and they compete with grazing animals for food. One big difference is that the kangaroos are protected, so they can't be hunted the way our deer can. As we were getting back into the car, TB looked up and saw the koala in the tree above where we were parked. He was taking a nap, as I hear that most of them do for about 23 hours per day.

We did find the ranger station and the restrooms, and then went on a nice walk up to one of the higher points. We saw many more kangaroos, and a total of about 4 koalas, which were much more rare in other parts of the country than kangaroos. The birds are magpies I believe, drinking water from a dripping tap. It was one of those times that a picture just didn't get the best of it, but I didn't think it was worth a video. Those are about the size of large crows, and it turns out that they are the R2D2 birds, but they also make many more noises. We finally left the reserve, which was certainly one of the best parts of the drive for me. As we left the sun was low, and we were still about 2 hours from the campsite.

As we drove, I enjoyed the sheep. Where I'm from, we don't have sheep. I had seen them on TV, but never in person like we did there. We did find a great game, which became known as beepus-sheepus. You see, if you honk the horn very quickly as you go by a field full of them, they all (with perfect choreography) turn to see what you want. On the other hand, if you beep a little longer, they all turn (once again, with synchronization only true herd animals can have) to a new heading, exactly parallel to a line between you and them, and run as though there is just no reason to stop. The best part is that they all do it... as far as you can see, sheep running away in a radially spreading pattern, all starting from your present location. It's a fun game, beepus sheepus, and I don't think we ever got tired of laughing at the fun of it. The sunset was very nice, as you can see, but it did mean that we were watching the day say goodbye before we were ready to set up camp. The Grampians all seemed to have that interesting hook shape, though I don't know why. As we got closer to the proposed campsite, the kangaroos came out of the woodwork. Just as everyone said they would, it was hard to drive and look for them at the same time. We decided to stop at the first campsite we could find that had restrooms, so we did. There was only one couple there, and we set up and went to sleep.

Late in the night I woke up to the sound of what I thought must have been a small coffee grinder. It made a grinding growling noise, which became intermittent at the end. I was wondering what our neighbors were doing grinding coffee while it was still dark, over and over again. I poked at TB to see if she heard the noise, but she didn't really seem to wake up. It turns out that the night before, she had gone to the outhouse, some distance away, and while enroute, had heard the same noise. She was convinced that a heard of angry (herbivore) kangaroos was conspiring in the bushes, preparing to pounce on an innocent target. She tried turning off the flashlight, but the sound didn't change. When she made it back to the tent she spent a few minutes of terror as she went back to sleep, just waiting for our little tent to be overcome by the thrashing of razor-sharp claws. Luckily, that didn't happen, but needless to say, she wasn't interested when I woke her up a few hours later and asked her about that growling noise.

That morning we made it up to Halls Gap, which is the town of the Grampians National Park. Imagine a place about the geographical size of the smokeies or so, with less rugged terrain, and less tourist activity. We stopped for ice cream and saw a few interesting birds, including our first kookaburra. We drove to a few places to hike a few kms to some wonderful views, as you can see. There were a few hikes to waterfalls, so we did those too. We had to be in Melbourne for supper, so we were able to see a few sights and be underway. We drove back via the express road, which took 2 hours instead of 2 days. We did stop at one of the many local wineries, where we told the proprietor about the growling. He told us that we were lucky to have heard the koala bear in the wild. That's right, that little furry thing that moves slow enough to put you to sleep watching made that ferocious sound of death and destruction.

At this point you have to be a bit creative, because my camera batteries were dead, and because we were too exhausted to bother taking pictures. We drove to Melbourne, and met up with TB's friends there. The best part of the trip for me was staying with Australian families, and this was a perfect example. Deb and Bill had three children, from middle school to high school, and they were all extraordinarily nice. She cooked a lamb roast with vegetables and gravy that was exquisite, but before she served it she semi-apologized for serving lamb to us. She thought that Americans didn't eat lamb because we didn't like it; we were quick to remind her that we didn't eat lamb because we can't afford it! The house that they had was very clean and modern, and they gave us sleeping quarters that were the best we had seen in weeks. It was a bit unfortunate that we had to leave them so soon, especially since the young ones were fun to play with too. The next morning we rushed to the airport to get on Virgin Blue's flight to Brisbane and then to Proserpine. In Melbourne they have an interesting toll system- after driving on the roads, we had a 3 day period in which we were to call a number, and pay our toll. There was not a place to toss in the quarters; instead, computers photographed your license tag, and since we had signed an agreement with the rental car company that we wouldn't just pretend like we didn't notice, we figured it would be good to pay. To drive across town on Friday, and then to the airport on Saturday cost about $10, which was a small price to pay for the five star accommodations that we were able to enjoy. I'm glad that TB was able to find so many good friends before I got there!

So now the pictures go to a place called Magnums. We took the flight to Proserpine, once again to experience that "open the oven" sensation that only summertime at 20 degrees latitude can do for you. It turns out that they really don't have summer there, just wet and dry seasons. It turns out that we were able to experience the entire splendor of the wet one. A 20 minute bus ride to Airlie Beach brought us to a small community that exists primarily just to get people on and off of boats that go to the Whitsunday Islands. The hostel where we stayed was one such place marketed at people who act our age. There was a boardwalk with lots of alcohol, along with pool tables, food, and an internet cafe. We checked in and were free of our chains of a thousand slaves in bondage- I mean our luggage- long enough to take a stroll. We were required to check in with our sailing company, Prosail.

The problem with taking a cruise in the Whitsundays, well, one problem at least, is that there are lots of operators to choose from. The one we chose was one with a good reputation and a price that fit it. We checked in with them, and got our stinger suits and packing checklists. If you haven't seen a stinger suit, imagine a full-body lycra leotard with just enough color patches to make people look like they are from Star Trek. That time of year they are a must, since there are a handful of deadly jellyfish gleefully swimming around waiting to release their neurotoxic wrath. We found a great place to eat, which featured lamb shanks on mashed sweet potatoes, and the best part, a drink fountain. Most of the places in Australia don't use fountain drinks; they use bottled drinks. This is an exact opposite of home for me, where fountains are the norm. The downside is that they seldom have complimentary water, which would compete with the bottled expensive stuff. This place had no problems with fixing up a nice cold pitcher on the house, and we enjoyed a few.

The next morning was an early one so that we could store our dreaded anchor luggage and catch the shuttle bus to the harbor. Representatives from the sailing company gave us briefings about what to expect, and eventually we all filed onto the boat. After a few words from the crew during a gathering below deck, we were on our way to 3 days of fun. The boat was the Iluka, which was 71ft. On the first day we had a fine lunch with prawns and then did some snorkeling. We stopped a total of 3 times to snorkel, and the first was the best. On the first night, we anchored to watch the sky get darker and the water get smoother.

Here was our crew- an experienced and witty skipper, and two mates to help with the rest.

On the next day we went past Whitehaven beach, and then around to anchor and go ashore to see it. It was just as nice as the pictures seem, and while the waves weren't big, the sand was pretty. So aren't you glad this is the abbreviated version of the trip?

When we finished our adventure, it was time to go back to the boat. There were rain showers approaching, but it was nice to check out the ground while we waited. Instead of being composed of gravel, it was coral that had washed ashore. It was a busy place, with lots of boats coming and going. The rain finally arrived just as we stepped onto the boat.

Here it is, the Iluka.

So now you have to be in imagination mode again, so skip ahead a bit. When we finished the sailing trip, we still hadn't done any scuba diving, which was a priority for TB. We had a few extra days in Airlie Beach, so we decided to pursue a separate dive trip. After a day to recover, we shopped around and found that only two carriers went out to the outer reef, and only one of those was going on the day we needed. We went with Fantasea on a trip to their platform out on the reef. We should have known better as we listened to the agents specifically ask each person in the line in front of us if they were sure they wanted to go. "It is very rough out today, and we can change your ticket to another day. Are you sure you want to go?" So of course, we said yes. After all, what did 2 meter seas mean to us? Well, lets just say now we know. Imagine having a plate of snacks on your lap. Imagine holding the plate firmly, and yet still having trouble keeping the food on it. Of course, there was over an hour of this during the open water stretch. The snorkeling was against strong currents, and while the reef wasn't as scenic, the fish were larger and more abundant than on the shallow reefs we had seen before. Our next leg was to go to Brisbane to start our inland adventure, so off we went. This is the town square area. Brisbane was a lovely place, since it was smaller than Sydney was, and much more garden oriented. I think it would be a wonderful place to live in that it has a slower pace than the other big cities, but is still big enough to have the amenities like public transportation, etc.

One of the gardens had an area set up as a tribute to Asian culture, and there was a wooden pagoda with interesting carvings (wouldn't you say so, TRB?) The lizard-type creatures were wild, just running around doing the same thing that a squirrel would in our parks. I didn't see any squirrels over there though.

Another great thing about Brisbane was Linda and her family. On this time through Brisbane we stayed with Linda, whom TB had met while traveling. In addition to going out of her way to put us up, she was a fantastic hostess and gave us a nice tour of her parts of town. TB had lived there before and had some orientation, but Linda's view was interesting too. We were planning to go inland to visit with the family that TB had worked for, and luckily, Beth's parents were passing through town and offered us a ride. Since the town of Inverell is fairly small and not on a highway, it is a bit of trouble to get there on commercial carriers. Even in a car it was over a 4 hour drive, so we were glad to have insightful company and a ride. We drove across the great dividing range while we heard about Australian geography, farming, politics, and all sorts of wonderful subjects. The couple we were riding with had participated in some agricultural exchanges over the years, so they were especially aware of some of their cultural differences, which they pointed out for us. The countryside was fairly homogenous, but not boring by any means.

The expressway turned into smaller and smaller roads, until it was one-lane roads like the ones in the picture. Instead of building bridges on the small creeks, they usually relied on driving through the shallow water to get across. When we arrived at their farm house, it was a lovely place. The veranda covered much of the exterior, and there was an abundance of plants that were tropical by MS standards. They had two kumquat trees and a grape vine in addition to the more familiar tomatoes and others. We weren't able to stay long, since we were on the way to Tim and Beth's house for a few days.

Tim and Beth let us visit their farm, which is around 3000 acres of cattle grazing land. The trip inland was certainly a high point of the Australian adventure for me, since it combined the best part of the trip, the families that we met, with land that seemed more familiar to me. We were sleeping in a building that had been a barracks at one time, but they had transformed it into a wonderful guest house. The days were slow-paced at the farm in that we stayed primarily on the property, but things were busy in that between the cattle and the children, something was always going on. Since the farms are fairly remote, they count on well water (bore water as they call it), and they use big collection tanks like the ones below for drinking water. The yard was wonderful, and the farm house was interestingly similar to places I had been in Mississippi.

One of the most amazing things to me about the cattle farming is that with 3000 acres and hundreds of cattle, only 2 men keep the operation going on a full-time basis. I figured it would take much more than that, but except for special occasions, they keep everything on track. Tim gave us quite a nice tour and told us all sorts of things about his business and the cattle industry in general. Interestingly enough, most of his cattle are intended for export to the US.

Keeping with the all-too-wonderful level of hospitality, they took us out to eat at a fancy place while we were there. This particular place was important for its historical significance. Tim's mother was born in this house, which was certainly out of place as a concrete castle in the middle of cattle pastures. The building is now part of the King's Plains Bed and Breakfast, but at one point it was the heart of a 30,000 acre property that belonged to Tim's ancestors. Over the years it had been split up by the various generations, and recently one of the cousins had sold it to the operators. It was sad to see that it was no longer part of the family, but it was well on the way to preservation and restoration by the B. and B. operators. As you can see, the garden was wonderfully groomed, and the wild birds were a sight to see as they munched on the apples in the trees.

Here are a few pictures of the property that Tim runs, as seen on the tour he gave us. The area is renown for sapphires, and the pictures of equipment are the site of a mine that is still producing. The grasses on their property are not planted, but rather just native plants that they nurture by controlling weeds and subtle fertilizing. This is quite a contrast to the grazing around home, where planted rye grass is much more common. While the area is rural, it isn't the outback- that is another 4 hours or so inland, and the landscape is much more barren so they tell me.

After a really pleasant stay with such a nice family, it was time to move on to the next step, which would be the last before going home for me. (whew, you say... this was starting to get a little old!)

We went back to Brisbane via two separate bus lines. The first was called the Black and White, which took us to Glen Innes. It ran 20 minutes late, but I guess when you are the only line in town, customer service just doesn't matter much. From there, we were on the major highway again, so we rode with a big bus line back to Brisbane. This time we stayed with Linda's parents, who were just as nice as she was. Joanne had been a flight attendant back in the day, so she had lots of great flying stories to share. Their house was circa 1920, so it was very interesting. While they didn't have air conditioning, they didn't have window screens either. They didn't seem to need them, and it gave the house a really open fresh-air kind of feeling. The weather in Brisbane while we were there was just about like it is at home in June, but they say it usually isn't quite that hot.

Joanne was also nice enough to give me a ride to a local airport, where I was able to get a tour of the Royal Queensland Aero Club. They are a flight school and have been in business since 1919, so it was interesting to see how they do things. In general, their rental rates were much higher than ours, to account for the fuel prices and the exchange rate. The hull values were amazingly low though, since they were about the same numerical price as ours, only in Australian dollars instead of US.

So then it was off to Sydney to catch the flight home. I spent one night there and then went to the airport, to reverse the process. February 14 was the longest day of my life, at about 42 hours. Since I left Sydney on 2-14 at lunch time, and then left Fiji just before midnight, I made it to LA at lunch time on 2-14. Then it was America West to Atlanta, a quick visit with TB's family, and Amtrack back to Mississippi.

In the end I was left with a spectacular trip, a few bills, and my first case of jet lag. It was nice to come home though, since I was coming home to get ready for my new job.

Feel free to save and distribute these as you would like; just don't sell them, and don't tell someone else that you took them (unless you did, and in that case you know who you are).

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This page last modified 03/27/09