One Big Trip Down Under

[LSKahn]

This one began on July 10th when I began speeding westward to my eventual destination: 3 home exchanges in Australia.

On the 10th, by the way, I had the second day for the CNN shoot for a piece on home exchange. Since I do not have CNN where I am, you might see it long before I do. Basically, CNN contacted IT and IT referred them to me. I spoke to the producer and then she asked if I knew anyone leaving on a home exchange. When I told her I was leaving in 10 days, my home exchange became the one featured. They filmed the Aussies coming in and then interviewed all of us as I was trying to leave for the airport. Maybe that is why I forgot to pack a bathing suit! I always forget something.

I arrived first in Nadi, Fiji, the morning of July 12th (losing the 11th due to the international date line). I spent 3 nights in Fiji at the Rendevous Surf and Dive "Resort". Calling the place a "resort" was a misnomer. It should be called a "camp" because that is really what it was. In Fiji you stay either high end--$400-500 a night--or low end (where I stayed--definitely well below the high end amounts). I knew about the fact that the toilet and shower was shared. What I did not know is that there was no hot water. When I asked about the hot water, I was told that it worked "sometimes". "Sometimes" did not include while I was there. I would not use Fiji as a stop over again. The whole idea was to sleep off the time change before heading on to Australia and the serious part of the trip. On the other hand I did get to do some nice snorkeling. Having said that, if there is a next time, I would go right through and forget Fiji. If you want a resort sort of vacation, you can go to the Caribbean from the East Coast (I live in the DC area). Once you get off the resort islands, you can see desperate poverty. There have also been a lot of political problems in Fiji leading to the educated people leaving.

OK, on July 15th I flew to Sydney and landed right in the middle of World Youth Day (a misnomer because it is exclusively a Roman Catholic event for young people). I knew about this but forgot when I booked. I was there for dates that exactly coincided for this mega event. It was very crowded and I ended up staying at Olympic Park (well west of downtown Sydney) because I could not get a room. Had I waited, I would have gotten one right downtown. Lots were set aside for the event, but most of the kids slept on the floor in schools and similar places (Australian school children were on break), not in expensive hotel rooms. In the end hotel rooms were deeply discounted--and went begging. I couldn't switch as I had booked the Ibis Olympic Park on priceline. Such is life.

While the hotel was west of the central city, it was fine. The mega event meant more commuter trains and fewer stops into the city. It ended up being just fine. I went to "Don Giovanni" at the Opera House. While it was an excellent production, jet lag put me to sleep at the end of the performance. I kept fighting it and then realized I slept through the last half hour. I also went to a Beethoven concert a couple of days later and stayed awake having put jet lag behind me.

Other things I did were the Taronga Zoo (for the Australian animals), Manly (took the ferry under the Harbor Bridge), Maritime Museum, Opera House tour, the Rocks (walked around, visited the weekend market), and went up in the Sydney Tower (fantatic view, but, then there are fantastic views everywhere). I have probably left some things out. I covered a lot of ground in what were 4 full days in Sydney.

On the 20th, while the kids were saying mass with the Pope at the racetrack, I left to fly to Brisbane. My second set of home exchangers met me at the airport. Unfortunately, CNN was totally uninterested in filming them, but did film me at the house north of Brisbane. The shoot finished up with me walking along the beach on the Pacific Ocean. I felt like those old photos of John F. Kennedy along the beach at Hyannis. That was today, July 20th.

I will keep you updated as my two month trip abroad continues to proceed.

[LSKahn]

OK, I have to admit I haven't done all that much here. In my defence, I have had pouring rain the last two days. This is supposed to be the Sunshine Coast! Must have something to do with me being on holiday, no? The rain has come in torrents.

I did make it out to the Australia Zoo. It was $52!! As Steve Irwin would have said, "Crikey!" I did, of course, see the crocodile show. It was more of an environmental show than one full of crocodile wrestling like Florida shows. Crocs can be a lot larger than American alligators. I did get to pet a koala and a kangaroo, but I did not pay to have my photo taken doing it.

I also located the Kawana shopping center (very near where I am staying) and did some food shopping and picked up some items I needed. Australia's lifestyle is very similar to the US. Anything you forget, they have. I picked up some Metamucil without a problem. Hey, on vacation, keeping the plumbing in order can be important. Today I am off to do something despite the rain--even if it is to find the closest movie theater--uh--cinema.

[soliteyah]

$52 for a zoo!!! WHOA! Was it worth it?

Your observation about Australia being similar to the U.S. is interesting -- I found the same thing to be true about Scotland when I was living there. There were definitely some differences, but I was expecting a lot more culture shock than I actually experienced.

I enjoyed reading about Sydney. I have a friend living there who absolutely loves it, and I'm dying to go!! Someday...

[LSKahn]

Yeah $52 for a Zoo. The problem is that Steve Irwin's zoo is on everyone's "to do" list. The big attraction is the show with the crocodiles. No, it wasn't worth $52 if you ask me, but I did get to pet a koala and a kangaroo. There is a lot more hands on than at a conventional zoo (I fed an elephant as well) but the price is very steep--especially when the National Zoo in Washington, DC (where I live), is free (well, OK, we pay for it with our taxes every April 15th but it does not cost anymore).

My impression is that Australian life is a lot more like that in the US than life in Scotland is. For example, Scots, as with all Europeans, live in cramped quarters compared to the US. Australians have about the same amount of space as we do. My first home exchange is filled with all sorts of electronics. The second apartment--which I viewed today--has fewer bells and whistles, but, then, it is IN Brisbane where there is a lot more to do than at the first house. It is the similar trade off Americans make between living in the city and living further out to get more space.

If I need something here, I just go to the nearby mall and ask for what I need with the same name we use at home and there is generally no problem getting it (Metamucil is Metamucil, etc.). Due to the larger roads here (and the larger size of parking spaces compared to Europe), I have had no problems hitting the left wheel to curb such as I experienced in the UK driving on the "wrong" side.

[LSKahn]

I have been busy running around the Sunshine Coast and need to update my saga.

I had some really bad rainstorms which led to a couple of days off spent reading because it really wasn't practical to drive around in that sort of weather. On a long trip you hardly notice days doing nothing as there isn't the sort of time pressure you feel on a much shorter trip. After the bad weather cleared out and went to New Zealand, I resumed my schlepping around. I went to Moloolaba and went whale watching. Once the boat hit the open ocean there were plenty of whales but "sickies" way out numbered those who felt like looking at the whales. I was, unfortunately, in the "sickie" category.

The next day I spent several hours at Underwater World--on The Wharf in Moloolaba. It is a very nice acquarium with a cute seal show. I really liked the tube you walked through to see all the fish. It made you fell almost in the acquarium. It was nice to see all the tropical fish. I always say the tropical fish business is the best in the world. They all die and you have to buy more. Of course, acquaria are better equipped than most so the fish don't die with as great a frequency. I always wonder how they keep them all from eating one another. Knowing which ones to put in which tank must be an art form.

After exiting the acquarium, I got a kick out of a sign that said that one of the meal items was "bugs". In Australia, I found out, that meant lobsters not insects. LOL.

Three days ago I threw some clothes in a bag and set out not really knowing where I was going to go. I started by going to Noosa Head. It was another beach location with insufficient parking and the usual shops and restaurants. I headed out to the lighthouse and got some photos and then left. Many beach locations have the same sort of personality and, there is nothing to hold me once I have seen one or two on a holiday. The Pacific Ocean, by the way, is 5 minutes by car from where I am staying. It looks pretty good there. I don't need to run from place to place looking for the beach. So, I set the car in motion for my first longer drive. I went to Hervey Bay.

Hervey Bay is known for its whales. Yes, I went whale watching again. No, I did not get sick but there were no whales. We did see some dolphins and manatees. It was sort of boring without the whales. They absolutely stuffed use with food on the boat though. The company was Whalesong.

Whalesong had a package deal with a company that does tours of Fraser Island. I did a day tour there that was wonderful and really is the best thing I have done on the exchange so far. Fraser is off the coast and is entirely sand. You take a ferry over there and the ferry dumps you off right on the sand. There is no dock and there are no paved roads. They have these 4 wheel drive buses. Having seen what passes for "roads" on Fraser, I would strongly recommend that you take an escorted tour there and NOT rent a 4 wheel drive vehicle. There are accidents all the time with visitors. I wouldn't want to get stuck in the mud there and not know what to do. Unless you are very experienced at 4 wheel driving in very bad conditions, do not do it! The buses take you speeding along right along the beach and then, all of a sudden, an airplane lands on the beach and for $70 you can take off from the beach, fly around the island for 15 minutes and land right next to the bus (in its next location). I could not resist the chance to take off and land on a beach (when would I get a chance to do that again?) and it was money well spent. When the tour was over, the challenge is to get back on the ferry without getting wet feet. Proper technique is that you wait til a wave just recedes and then get on. This tour is highly recommended!

I stayed at the Chamomille Bed and Breakfast in Hervey Bay, which I also highly recommend. It was within walking distance of the harbor (although all the tour companies pick you up) and the hosts could not have been nicer. One room has a private bath. I was in one room with the shared bath. There are a few rooms arranged around two lounges and you could even cook in the B&B if you were so inclined. The second night I was the only one there (remember it is Australian winter) and had the whole place to myself. The breakfast was excellent.

On the way back to Kawana Waters, where my home swap is located, I drove through Maryborough. I didn't have time to stop, but there are some Victorian buildings there that create a nice atmosphere. P.L. Travers, who wrote the Mary Poppins books, was born there. I never knew she was Australian! Travel teaches you much.

Coming back to Kawana Waters I successfully filed the car with both gas and petrol. "Petrol" here is what we call "gasoline" in the US. "Gas" is pressurized gas such as that used for barbecues in the US. The car I am using has two separate gas tanks. You cannot always find "gas" (also called "LPG") when you need it, so a back up system is needed. You have to manually switch to regular gas--uh, petrol--when the LPG runs out. If you get a car like this, it is an adjustment but LPG will save you a lot of money over regular gas. LPG seems to be the way Australians deal with increased gas prices. I have only seen two hybrids here. Someone told me they are becoming a lot more popular but I guess that is relative. Australians seem to be just as much in love with giant off the road vehicles as Americans--although Australians have much more use for them with a lot of unpaved roads. There are only 20 million Australians as opposed to almost 300 million Americans. In a lot of places there is just not enough traffic to justify paving all the roads. There are still a lot of wide open spaces here because much of Australia is desert.

[LSKahn]

Time for a trip update again:

I have been to the Glass House Mountains (lookout point), Ettamogah Pub, Landsbourgh Museum, Big Pineapple and the Eumundi Saturday Market. None of these are what I would call 5 star attractions. They are local places in an area that does not have much in the way of that sort of thing. That sort of thing, Florida style, is located in the Gold Coast area south of Brisbane. I am in the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane where plenty of the locals come to relax on the weekends.

The Glass House Mountains were the best of the most recent things I have seen. They are spectacular volcanic formations. I drove to a lookout point but, unfortunately, the road turned to dirt and gravel after that and that ended my drive. I then meandered home via the local museum in Landsbourgh. I ended up stopping at the Ettamogah Pub. It is famous as the typical Aussie pub featured in numerous cartoons. I have to say its much advertised hamburger was mediocre and left me pining of Joe's Burgers in McLean, VA. However, the decor of the pub was hilarious (especially the doors to the toilets; you have to see those; everyone takes photos).

Today I got started lated and went to Eumundi Market in (where else?) Eumundi. There were lots of stalls for food and crafts, but I only bought a book and had some lunch by ordering food from a variety of stands. The bratwurst was excellent. I then decided to stop at the Big Pineapple on the way home. There are two "rides" there (more like tours). You go around the macadamia nut area and then the Pineapple plantation where they have a bunch of Australian marsupials. You can feed them if you want, but I did not bother with that having seen two zoos already; there is a time when one has seen enough kangaroos and koalas and the like. Macadamia nuts, by the way, originated in Australia. They were imported to Hawaii where they are now an entire industry. I had no knowledge of that before this trip.

I ended today with a glass of wine and piece of cake at the Island Cafe walking distance from my exchange house. The cake was a bit over the top with chocolate and I didn't finish it. That cafe has turned out to be my favorite place to eat but the desserts aren't the strong point. The Cafe is in Kawana Waters for anyone who is interested and next to the Montego Bay Restaurant. I will try the restaurant before closing up shop here next week and moving on to Brisbane City.

Still on the list are visits to some of the local towns around here that I have not "checked off" my list before moving to my next home exchange in Brisbane in a week or so. The time periods are such that I have overlaps and can choose when I move without time pressure. The move will be made when the first house is ship shape. Cleaning up is always the downside of exchange, but it is not too bad if you don't do a lot of cooking. You wash the sheets and give the bathroom a wipe up and the carpets a vaccuum and that's that. I always leave the house as I found it.

[LSKahn]

I ended up going to another "zoo"--The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary just outside of Brisbane. Why visit so many zoos? Well, I am in the tour business and would love it if someone hired me to execute an itinerary in Australia in, say, January or February when the work in Washington, DC, is virtually nonexistent. I liked Lone Pine better than the other places I have seen an it is what I would recommend if you just want that photo of you and a koala (I didn't have mine taken, by the way, as it costs and I didn't feel I needed it). Taronga Zoo in Sydney is traditional zoo with a lot of animals that are not Australian. Similarly, Steve Irwin's zoo, called the "Australia Zoo" is a general zoo--not just one devoted to marsupials. I don't need to see tigers in Australia. I can go to the zoo in Washington, DC, if I need a general zoo fix. Also, Australia Zoo, costs way too much for what you get. It is $52 and for that you get some shows but the shows are not a big deal (even the crocodile show isn't much; the croc just moves around the pool; no crocodile wrestling). I would definitely recommend that anyone doing his own trip to Australia do one of the local places that has koalas. Believe me, if you want a koala photo, they all open it.

Having said that I am done with zoos for this trip. Lone Pine, by the way was less than half of what Australia Zoo charges.

I have just returned from a side trip to Toowomba. Toowomba is the largest inland city in Queensland. It is up in the Great Dividing Range and I wanted to go there to (a) get away from beach scenery to which I am currently immune. I mean how much sand and surf can you stand. It all looks the same after awhile. So, I drove to Toowomba and went to the Cobb and Co. carriage museum there (worth a stop but not a destination museum). The real reason for the trip (aside from the mountain scenery fix) was to see the Jondaryan Woolshed site northwest of Toowomba. As some of you may know, the Australian economy was heavily based on sheep at one time. At Jondaryan there is a site where they have moved a lot of old buildings including a huge old woolshed. I watched someone shear a sheep and learned a lot about Australian history. I recommend this place! I also had bread there called "damper" that was traditional stockmen food. It is cooked over a wood fired oven. The Australians put cane syrup on it (no maple trees here but plenty of sugar cane). I stuck to butter. Yum!

The driving back and forth to Toowomba was heavily on mountain roads. I drove two different routes and timed the drive home to arrive before sundown. However, a car accident stopped all the traffic on one of the roads for awhile and I had to just turn off the engine and wait it out and then drive some of the route in the dark (not recommended for those faint of heart--or for me!). Eventually, I returned to my home swap safe and sound.

[LSKahn]

OK, I realized I left something out of my saga--my trip to Montville. Everyone kept saying to go there and they certainly were correct. I drove up there on more "interesting" mountain roads (which means you should not be on them after sundown) and was greeted by a charming town on the top of the Mont devoted to craft and souvenirs. The highlight was a snack at a cafe with a view to die for (sorry I forgot the name but it is on top of the Mont; just ask). I can't remember what I ate but the view was the star of the show.

Yesterday I began house clean up and drove to Caloundra (another beach town) just to see. I also restocked the house replacing items I had used. Today it is laundry and some local driving around--and reserving a seat on the bus to Brisbane and a taxi to get to the bus (always something to master when you are not staying in a hotel). I have made the Greyhound Bus reservation and have called the cab company. The cab company told me no need to book more than a couple of hours in advance. While I have enjoyed my time here, I will be glad to get into Brisbane where there is a lot more in the way of a cultural scene. This area is basically into beaches and (along with the koalas), I have seen enough of them at this point.

[LSKahn]

Sorry for such a long hiatus. The internet connection in my Brisbane home simply will not connect. I get error messages about the modem. Using public computers, I have not had enough big chunks of time to do anything but essential email.

I have spent a lot of time exploring the museums of Brisbane and the cultural life here. While it is nothing like what Washington, DC, has to offer, there is plenty available if you look. I have seen a musical version of "The Mikado" where the emperor is played as Elvis. I think it was based on a similar show on Broadway. It was great even if the dialogue was sometimes difficult to catch. It was at the Queensland Performing Arts Center on the South Bank. Also at the QPAC (pronounced "Que-pac"), I saw "Traveling North", a play about seniors who retire to the Northern areas of Australia (NORTH is where it is WARM here; remember everything is backwards down under). The play could easily be about retireds in Florida. I also saw a play called "The Narcissist" about Australian politics (one of the politicians had sex with a minor). For some things the issues are identical. The most "Aussie" show I saw was one called "Busting out". I doubt this one could be done in DC. The ladies take their tops off and do silly things with their breasts--and that is putting it mildly. Gotta check out the local culture!

There is a great Picasso show here at the Museum of Modern Art. I have also learned about Australian Art at the regular art musem. They have a small collection of old masters, impressionists, etc. It is nothing world class but the Sidney Nolan exhibit taught me all about Ned Kelly. Kelly is a bushranger (sort of a highwayman) who is a legend here. My exchangers left me a film about Kelly which helped as well. I was much more able to understand Nolan's art (he has a fascination with Kelly) after seeing the film.

Additionally, I attended a Sunday morning classical concert at The Customs House (now owned and run by the University of Queensland music school). Less successful was the Bulgarian folk music concert at the City Hall (well it was free).

In the low brow culture department, I did go to the Ekka (an agricultural show analogous to an American county fair with judging of far events, etc. I also attended an Australian rules football game (and got a souvenir scarf to prove it) and the Australian Outback Spectacular (the concept is obviously borrowed from Disney's Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and Australianized).

Before someone asks: Yes, I did ride the CAT (the high speed catamaran that runs along the Brisbane River). I rode it to both ends of the line as well as used it for transport. One day I took it to Riverside and then hopped another ferry across to Kangaroo Point for a show put on by aboriginies (very good and highly recommended). I went to a lot of craft markets here as well and finally bought a nice piece of boulder opal to put on a chain as a souvenir. Aside from that and the football scarf, souvenirs have been mostly the usual t-shirts.

I have continued my travels in the car going to O'Reilly's for lunch in Lamington National Park (what a road), Byron Bay, Currumbian Nature Preserve, Tamborine Mountain, a couple of wineries (driving I will not do more than one of those in a day for obvious reasons).

In minor disasters, some idiot dented the car in a parking lot and, of course, drove off (I am leaving the deductible for my exchangers even though the dent is not my fault because it happened when I had the car) and some emergency back up travelers' cheques have disappeared. I had to email the bank on that one because I did not enter the numbers into my IPAQ. I looked in the IPAQ in the travelers' cheque file and it was empty. Not good especially since I did not notice the loss for several days. Well, on a long trip like this not everything will go like clockwork.

I have had some nice meals at The Customs' House restaurant and at Thumm's Winery (attached restaurant) but most of my meals have sort have been grab and go. It is expensive here. I got a very nice haircut at the neighborhood hairdresser for which I was charged $75. At least the rule here is NOT to tip unless in a very expensive resturant. The hairdresser did not get a tip!

I saw a lot of the Olympics featuring Australian athletes. It was really just the same as at home with the nationalistic overtones. I did get teased about the number of Australian medals--especially when they beat the Americans. My answer to all of that was the same as it always is: I was happy that they all did their best. Actually, because Australia has only 20 million people and the US has almost 300 million, it was nice to see the Aussies win sometimes.

I am getting ready to go to New Zealand and hopefully will have less computer problems there.

I was very impressed with Brisbane as a city. In the future it will turn into Australia's largest city because people will move here for the good weather. A cultural life with some depth will take more time to develop as the numbers of folks that will patronize such things (as in pay for tickets) increases.

[soliteyah]

Enjoying reading along, as always!

[LSKahn]

Just a few concluding words about my Australia trip before I move on to the New Zealand portion (which will be placed on the NZ board):

For those of you interested in having your photo taken with a koala (which seems to be a tourist obsession), there are places that do that all over Australia. Having said that, in my view, if you have seen one koala, you have seen them all.

Australian drivers often have very short fuses. I remember making some driving errors because I did not know what I was doing. Well, most of the time, some idiot would roll his window down and start cursing loudly. It could have been because I was driving a local car and the idiot doing the cursing thought I was, therefore, a local. Most of these were young people.

Aside from the drivers with short fuses, the Australians I met were always helpful if I had a question.

Outside of the main cities, Australian cuisine tends heavily towards the fish and chips thing. You have to look around to find more adventurous cuisine, but it does exist. It is easier to find more adventurous food in Australia than in New Zealand (based on the places I visited which did not include the South Island or Wellington).

Do try crocodile or kangaroo if you get a chance. I regret I only did it once at a buffet in the Blue Mountains. I just never got around to it.

Remember Australia does not have a lot of historic sites. You are there to see the different animals and plants. You want historic sites, go to Europe. Australia did not even get started til 1788 (when the first ship of convicts came). NZ got started even later.

Australia is HUGE. In 6 weeks there I feel I hardly saw anything of the country, but was able to somewhat sample a slice of Australian life.

The plane trip over (and back) is very strenuous (especially if you live on the East Coast of the US or Canada). Quantas as an airline has a lot of problems. My flight returning home from Auckland was hours delayed. In fact, I don't know whether it ever left because I had them reroute me. They were nice about it but, then, who wants that stress? I arrived at the airport in Auckland and the flight was supposed to leave at 5:55pm and the estimated departure time was 11:30pm (it was posted as 12:20am by the time I left on an earlier Air New Zealand flight). There were plenty of empty seats on Air New Zealand, so I was lucky (I even got the much coveted exit row seat with all the leg room without asking!). So plan extra time in your schedule for these things. If it happens to you, do not do a war dance. Just go over to the appropriate counter and ask politely. Please note this is not like rerouting in Europe as there are far fewer flights. They will do what they can for you, but there are, of course, no guarantees.

Having said all of this, I am definitely glad I went. I was embarassed about how little I knew about both countries. For example, I did not know the name of the prime minister of either country (I do now). The NZ government fell apart while I was there an election is scheduled for Nov. 8th. Do you know that NZ has its SECOND woman Prime Minister? NZ also was the first country to give women the vote. I read a brief history book while I was there. Information about Australia is widely available in the US, but you go find books about NZ. I looked and there was precious little.

Funny fact: New Zealanders refer to Australia sometimes as "The Western Island".

By the way, the dent on the second Australian car was an old dent, so I didn't have to pay for car repairs. It should have been pointed out to me by my exchangers. All is well that ends well. Well, at least in Australia it did. In NZ, well, my exchangers had to repair my car because they were in a fender bender (someone backed into the car). At least it was not me.

[LSKahn]

Please note I did a formal trip report on the Australia-New Zealand trip on IT's trip report section. There are more details on the New Zealand leg there.

In Australia it's koalas and kangaroos. In NZ it's Maoris. If you've seen one koala/kangaroo/Maori show you've seen them all.

Have fun down under!

[Dougo in Oz]

Hi,

I’ve just found this forum and have read your posts – you certainly got around so well done. Most tourists we see down under can only spare a couple of weeks so it’s great to see someone spending more time.

Just a couple of observations if I may – when you took the ferry to Manly, you could not have sailed under the bridge as Manly is in the opposite direction, ie, you have to go out of The Heads, ie the entrance into the Harbour, to get to Manly.

“Australia Zoo. It was $52” – Australian dollars – readers may think it is US dollars and as the exchange rate is in your favour, it makes it a little more affordable. Having said that, I don’t think I’d pay $AUD 52 for a zoo anywhere, but Zoos are a full day’s entertainment and when you compare that price for full day's visit to say a concert ticket, then it’s not bad value.

I would agree that our lifestyles are somewhat similar, but there are cultural differences, particularly with regard to tipping. I would never tip my hairdresser and nor would she expect it, and neither would I pay $75 for a haircut – I pay $25 for my haircut. She used to charge me $85 for a cut, colour, streaks, wash, and blow dry, so either you went to a city salon (rents are higher hence prices are higher) or you got ripped off !!! You are right about the tipping tho’ we don’t have a culture of "expected" tips, tho’ it does seems to be getting a little more prevalent, particularly amongst the younger crowd. But generally speaking, we tip in restaurants / cafes for good service and if the food is good too, but generally in more casual cafes we may just round up $$ without working out a “percentage” as such. Up to 10% tip seems to be the consensus for good service/good food, or a bit more if you really wanted to if everything was outstanding. I don't think anyone would be berated if they didn't tip!!!

“I got a kick out of a sign that said that one of the meal items was "bugs". In Australia, I found out, that meant lobsters not insects” – no they were not lobsters – in Queensland, these are Moreton Bay Bugs - a shellfish. In Sydney, we have “bugs” which are similar but they are called Balmain Bugs and quite small – I think the Balmain Bugs are a waste of time eating them as they are too hard to get at the meat !!

“Many beach locations have the same sort of personality and, there is nothing to hold me once I have seen one or two on a holiday.” – ooohhh – disagree with you here. Noosa is an upmarket area where houses cost lots of money. More a place for couples to holiday or families with older kids where as at Mooloolabar, more family orientated IMO. There’s a ton of things to do in and around Noosa – day trips to Fraser Island, the Tewantin Sands, an Everglades cruise etc. Yes parking is a problem, but let’s not forget that’s a huge income earner for local authorities when tourists overstay their parking time here – lol.

The “Victorian buildings” buildings you saw in Maryborough were possibly elevated timber houses ? If so, we refer to them as “Queenslanders” because it is a specific style of housing that used to be built in Queensland and built in an elevated fashion to capture cool breezes underneath, thus cooling the house in summer.

When you went to Toowoomba and ate Damper, you would have had “Golden Syrup” which we use instead of honey sometimes but I tend to use it in baking slices etc. Damper is usually cooked in a heavy based pan called a “camp oven” I think and traditionally cooked over an open fire out in the bush, tho’ if living in a house, it certainly would have been cooked in a slow combustion stove or a wood fired oven.

I’m glad you liked Nolan’s Kelly paintings, I think I’ve seen almost all of them. The National Gallery in Canberra curated an exhibition of the Kelly series and they were really wonderful to see altogether.

“I was very impressed with Brisbane as a city. In the future it will turn into Australia's largest city because people will move here for the good weather.” – lol – oh dear !! Actually you’re sort of right in a way. Lots of retired people move to Queensland because the warmer weather is better for their arthritis !! But then eventually they are replaced with a younger retiree !! Some retirees find that after they’ve moved away they want to move back to where their families are, so the exodus starts again – but in reverse – lol.

“Australian drivers often have very short fuses. I remember making some driving errors because I did not know what I was doing. Well, most of the time, some idiot would roll his window down and start cursing loudly. It could have been because I was driving a local car and the idiot doing the cursing thought I was, therefore, a local. Most of these were young people.” Actually, younger drivers are the idiots and have short fuses. I think that they think they are "bullet proof", and therefore that gives them the right to drive anyway they wish including speeding and breaking the rules. For those idiots, you were probably either not driving fast enough or didn’t know the road rules...according to them. The same thing happens the world over, not just in Australia !

“Remember Australia does not have a lot of historic sites. You are there to see the different animals and plants. You want historic sites, go to Europe. Australia did not even get started til 1788 (when the first ship of convicts came). NZ got started even later.”

Hhhhmmm – where to start. Yes we are a young nation – but we are a young nation of white settlers. Prior to 1788, the land was inhabited by Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years. Their history is in their dreamtime and a small part of their culture is evident in their rock paintings. That is history and the sites that you can see around Australia are older than many of the items you’ll find in museums anywhere in the world.

So much Aboriginal culture is tied to the landscape and the features that make it uniquely Australian. Maybe next time you could come back and see that and gain yet a different perspective about Australia.

Australia is a large country, almost as big as America. It is a country of contrasts – one end of Australia is vastly different to the other end of Australia. For example, Far North Queensland, has so many differences in landscape alone – from rainforest to the Great Barrier Reef, from the Outback and Savannah lands to ancient volcanic lava tubes. From cities and towns to the the Tablelands with waterfalls and remnants of old rainforests.

You've indeed made a great start, but as you say, barey scratched the surface. I hope you'll come back one day and see the outback and many more sites that are nowhere near the beach - lol.

[LSKahn]

Just a few words in response from Finland--where I am currently finishing up this year's exchange. I did ask about "bugs" and an Australian told me they were lobsters. I have no idea, of course, because I did not eat them.

Australia Zoo is way too expensive for a zoo and really is not, in my opinion, a full day's entertainment. I thought it would sort of be like Sea World (you have one of those but I did not go there because we have jumping dolphin shows in the US). It wasn't. It was a slightly gussied up zoo but the shows were definitely not worth it. I would never advise anyone to go there. I thought it was a total rip off. Remember, most people going to Australia want to see Australian animals. I don't need to see elephants and tigers in Australia as we have zoos for that at home. By the way, the National Zoo in Washington, DC, where I live is totally free. Other zoos in the US generally cost but nothing like the US equivalent of $52 Australian.

You know the US has indigenous people as well as Australia, but US history really does not start until the beginning of the 17th century because the indigenous people left little behind (except for the Southwest where there are cliff dwellings). Unless you go to the north of Australia or the deep outback, you probably will not meet many aborigines. That was actually a disappointment for me, as I had hoped to see more of that than I did. My comments in my trip report were not meant to be critical of Australia for not having ancient history. That is a fact--as it is for the US. For ancient history, you visit other countries but certainly not the US or Australia.

I am interested in returning to Australia some day but not returning to the areas I already visited. I would like to go to the Great Barrier Reef, Darwin, Tasmania and perhaps Melbourne and Adelaide. I would not mine Alice Springs and Uhluru either. I would not turn down a home exchange in Perth although it is not way up on my list. It is just so far from everything else.

[Dougo in Oz]

Hi again
Thanks for your quick reply - please understand that my comments were merely to clarify a few things from an Aussie point of view and BTW, I didn't take your review as criticism of Australia at all.

I do agree that $AUD 52 is a lot of money to see a Zoo (or any Zoo for that matter) and as I said, I haven't been - apart from the distance (more than 1,000km away), we usually go to Qld to see family a few hours south. But taking a stab at the entry charge, I guess the entry fee not only funds the Zoo, and their rescue work of wild and injured animals but also their huge commitment to conservation of native animals and animals in other countries where their habitat is being destroyed (eg Orangatangs) that was started by Steve Irwin and is being continued by his family. So in that sense, as high as the price is, it is being channelled to worthwhile projects, not just a corporate bucket if you get my meaning.

Although I am aware of the native history in the US having done studies at Univeristy about some of the indiginous people of North America, I can tell you in Australia, you don't have to go into the Outback to meet Aboriginal peope, as many live in urban areas as well as the Outback. It doesn't surprise me at all that you say that didn't meet any Aboriginal people and it's a comment I've heard from several of our friends from the US. But the simple truth is, you may well have met them in a shop or elsewhere - a person of Aboriginal heritage can have very mixed ancestry and if they have only one connection to a person of Aboriginal heritage, my understanding is that they can identify themselves as an Aboriginal. The population of people who identify as being Aboriginal is quite small in comparison to the rest of the population. Having said that, there are lots of Aboriginal peope still living in communities where they have always lived, ie, urban areas as well as the outback, so their history is a living one if you like - handing down traditional dances and dreamtime stories, language, and culture down from one generation to the next.

There are many Aboriginal historic sites not only in the outback, but also in urban areas where you can still find rock art, for example, however it's not that well publicised in order to preserve it. Australians recognise that "white" history did not commence until settlement in 1788, but we also recognise that Aboriginals are the original owners of the land and in doing so, we acknowledge their history, their dreamtime stories etc, that have been here for tens of thousands of years. I can't tell you how excited I felt when I first saw rock art in Kakadu knowing that it had possibly been there for thousands of years.

When you come back to Australia, please let me know if you have any questions that you think I may be able to help you with.

Cheers !!!

[LSKahn]

If you look at my trip report, I think I did mention I saw an aboriginal show done by aborigines in Brisbane. It was not a big commercial deal but something set up by some aboriginal guys themselves and it was excellent.

When I said I did not see large numbers of aborigines, I didn't. This was aside from the aboriginal performance and some guy selling tapes of the digereedo (spelling?) by the docks in Sydney. You would not see many American Indians either if you just stuck to the East Coast of the US. Now if you go to Arizona or New Mexico there are loads of them. I did have limited time and mainly stuck to areas around the locations of my exchanges to minimize costs.

I went to Australia Zoo for the same reason many do: Publicity about Steve Irwin. Basically, that is how they make their money. For people looking to see marsupials, I would recommend a smaller place just focussed on that such as Lone Pine in Brisbane or Currubian (spelling?) on the Gold Coast. The smaller places can show you what Australia is famous for at a much more reasonable coast--and the croc show at Australia Zoo is a big bunch of nothing. I thought it would be like one of those alligator wrestling shows in Florida, but the crocs are too big (and dangerous) for that sort of thing. The croc moves from one side of the pool to the other and then moves back. That's it.

Insofar as what they served with the damper I ate, you probably were right about that. What do I know?

Seeing Australia is like seeing the US. You can only do bits in one trip if you expect to see anything. Flying around insures you see airports but not much else. I hate that sort of trip when I am on personal travel. Whatever I don't see is certainly not going anywhere.

By the way, glad you joined IT, Dougo, as too many travel sites are focussed on the same few places that receive the bulk of Americans traveling outside their own country (Paris, London, etc.). My take on this is that the farther you go, the more interesting it will be. I return from Finland to the US (and, alas, work) this week. Who knows where I will exchange next year? It could be Australia or anywhere.

Thanks for posting!

[Dougo in Oz]

If I can help you with any questions about Australia, let me know and I'll do my best !!!

[LSKahn]

Just to let you know Dougo, that I am coming back on another home exchange in Australia in 2010. This time it will be Melbourne for a month. I plan to do the Great Ocean Road and am debating if I should go home via Tasmania (winter down under, I know) or swing by Cairns on the way home. I did not do the Great Barrier Reef last time so Cairns is attractive. I have started a thread about my Melbourne exchange to gather information, so you might want to look there.

I am open to all suggestions as I obviously have not been to Victoria before. The trip will be in either July or August 2010 depending on my home exchanger's needs. He is planning an involved very long trip with perhaps more than one home exchange. I am just planning one in Melbourne this time. Of course, if someone offered me one in Cairns (or some place else I have not been), I would rethink my simple one home exchange deal.

It's a big continent down under and you can't see everything in one fell swoop no matter how long you stay.