Category: Australia

Hi All,

I think I left you when I first arriving in Canberra. Canberra is the capital city of Australia, not Sydney as most believe. Canberra is much like Ottawa; it was full of amazing sights but most of them are boring. We went to the War Memorial: very immense and definitely the best war museum I have ever been to. I learned a lot about the Australian’s involvement in WWI and WWII. We then proceeded to the Parliament Hill, toured the building and promptly got lost. Canberra is made up of a bunch of semi-circular roads that get very confusing on foot. Looking at a map they are all pretty and well organized but in person they are difficult to navigate and the distances between attractions were huge.

Continue reading “Aussieland Trip – Digest #8”

Hi,

I think I last left you guys as we arrived in Robe, our first stop outside of Adelaide. Robe was a very nice little sea-side town, much reminding me of town in New Brunswick or PEI. We had dinner at a hotel (pub) and then took a walk along the beach to collect shells. There was a wide variety of shells and plant life but nothing was as impressive as the algae. The algae growing on the seaweed gave the plants both red and blue colours. It was quite neat and colourful. Continue reading “Aussieland Trip – Digest #7”

Hello,

I know it has been a while since my last update; I have been busy recovering from a very busy and stressful couple of weeks. I think I left you off just as we were on our way up to Darwin, somewhere in the outback.

I believe that I forgot to tell you about a few things that we did before we left for the great journey to Darwin. While we were waiting in Sydney for the container to be released, we made a trip to the Blue Mountains. An interesting fact is that the Blue Mountains are one of the very few places in Mainland Australia that gets snow. Apparently some of the southerly towns may get a light sprinkle of snow, but usually it disappears in less than a day. We stayed in a city called Katoomba, a nice little town that kind of reminds me of some of the smaller cities in the Rockies. Nothing like Banff, but it was still quite nice. The main attraction of Katoomba is the Three Sisters. The three sisters are a rock formation that has an aboriginal story attached to it. I do not know all the details but it has something to do with an aboriginal father that sent his three daughters into the mountains because some evil people were coming into their region and he was scared for their safety. In the end, the daughters died while trekking the mountains and the legend says that he created the stone formations to represent them. Continue reading “Aussieland Trip – Digest #6”

Hi,

It has been quite a while since my last update. Unfortunately there has not been much to report.

Brisbane is a dull city. I wish that we didn’t stay there as long as we did but unfortunately we had to wait in Brisbane in order to pick up a rental truck that will tow our trailer with the solar car in it. There was not much to do in Brisbane other then walk; and so we did. In fact, we walked for 10 hours on one day and 6 the next. The other 4 hours of that day were spent getting on and off the river ferry system they had and watching the movie “Superbad”. Contrary to the title, the movie is not super-bad, but rather it is a comical look at the last few weeks of high school when everyone is trying to get laid before going to college. I did, however, manage to get most of my souvenir shopping done in that time. On Monday, October 1st 9AM we picked up the truck and got the fuck out of that damn city. Continue reading “Aussieland Trip – Digest #5”

Hi all,

I know it has been a while since my last update. I assure you that I am alive and well, it has just been hard to find a reliable internet source (or at least a cheap one). If I remember correctly, I left you guys off when I first arrived in Brisbane. Well one thing is for sure, the time since then has been amazing and fun!

We did not stay in Brisbane very long; we arrived one night and left the next morning for Noosa Heads. I know Noosa Heads sounds like a weird place to visit but we went there for two reasons: 1) Eric’s uncle lives very close to there and 2) It is known for its celebrity population, so we thought we would give it a shot. I am glad we went; it was home to one of the nicest hostels we stayed at. The rooms weren’t the greatest but the rest of the place was beautiful. The hostel itself was located on a hillside and looks a lot more like a bed and breakfast than a backpacker’s haven. It had balconies on every room and even a restaurant and lounge that rivals even some of the fancier hotels I have been to. Furthermore, the view from the hostel lounge was amazing with the “Glass House” Mountains in the background and an array of winding rivers in the foreground. Continue reading “Aussieland Trip – Digest #4”

Hello!

The past few days have been relaxing and I think I managed to improve my tan by at least 3 shades! I left you guys last at our first night in Byron’s Bay. We have now traveled about a sixth the way up the eastern shore of Australia! We are now in Brisbane, a beautiful inner city.

Byron’s bay definitely lived up to its reputation, a surfer’s haven! The beach was beautiful and definitely wavy. The sand was soft, so soft, in fact, that it squeaked when you walked on it. Yes, I said squeaked. Not like a little squeak, but a clearly audible and loud squeak. I do not know what causes the squeaking, but I have to say that it is mind boggling. Other than the squeaky sand, we did not do a whole lot other then sit on the beach. Continue reading “Aussieland Trip – Digest #3”

Hello again,

Since my last update I have seen and done a lot. From the beautiful beaches of Sydney harbour to the rain forests of Doringo National Park, I had a blast.

On Sunday, we took a ferry over to Manly Beach (about 15 minutes by jet boat). Manly is just a name, but I have to say that is probably an antonym for the description of the place; there were women everywhere! Not only were there women, but there were women in skimpy bikinis playing volleyball and surfing. The men were wearing, to my disgust, equally revealing swimwear, even ones that really should not be. My other complaint is that the commercials that advertise trips to Australia as beaches full of HOT men and women are false. Sure there are a few hotties, here and there, but the vast majority are just plain looking people. Continue reading “Aussieland Trip – Digest #2”

Hey Mates! (Translation: Hello)

The last few days have been interesting; From our 30 hours of flight to seeing the Sydney Opera house it has been an amazing adventure. Having done a bit of solo traveling already, I have gotten over the anxiety that seems to overwhelm some people when traveling, either alone or not. It all started when I got dropped off in Pearson, some three hours before my departure time. I breezed through baggage drop-off and only had to wait 3 minutes to clear customs and security only to wait two and half hours at the gate for boarding. I still do not understand why they tell you to be there three hours early, I mean every time I have gone on a flight, I arrived the recommended number of hours early but I always end up waiting about 90% of that time at my gate. Some people would claim that it is “just in case” but I say that is bullshit (pardon my French). They just want you to wait there for two hours looking for something to do because, ultimately, you are going to buy something and that something is going to be ridiculously overpriced. Even those “Duty free” shops are expensive; so expensive, in fact, that it would probably be cheaper to go out of the airport and pay the damn fees to bring it on the airplane with you. Let’s not get into the shit they try to sell you on the plane. Enough of that, let’s get on with the story. Continue reading “Aussieland Trip – Digest #1”