Christmas Memories: Melbourne 2016

The arcades in Melbourne are always decorated for the season. It is just like being in, say, England, except it warm outside (and the accent is different, the age of the building is much younger, etc.).

The Superb Lyrebird

I came across this video of the David Attenborough talking about and listening to the Superb Lyrebird and I couldn't resist posting it for those you have not yet seen it. These animals are truly amazing.

Lake Eyre in Flood

You may recall that when in Australia, we had a plane flight over Lake Eyre. Follow the link for a reminder of what this place looked like.

Once you have set your notion of what a salt pan in the desert looks like, have a look at this video from the ABC News about where all the water from the typhoons that hit northern and eastern Australia went. The change is not only remarkable, it is dumbfounding. The roadhouse shown in the early part of the video is one we visited and had lunch in.

Makes us what to return for another visit.

Pied Currawong Behavior Finally Explained

I finally have an answer to a question I first posed back in August of 2016. We visited the Japanese Garden in Toowoomba, QLD and spied a pair of Pied Currawongs engaged in a rather strange behavior. The original post and the the photos are found here.

A Little Housekeeping

Now that we've had some time to reflect on our Australian adventure and relax a while, we've generated a bibliography of the many things Australian we found to be helpful, fun, and interesting.

In the sidebar on the right of the blog, you'll see that I've removed the no longer useful clock with the time in Australia and replaced it with an updated list of web pages associated with the blog. Have a read through the bibliography to find a list of books, films, and TV that are about Australia, set in Australia or are written by Australians.

Enjoy

By the way, this incredibly clear stream in the photo is on Fraser Island. Quite drinkable.

Sailing a Tall Ship

To take in the full Sydney experience, we booked ourselves onto the wooden sailing ship Soren Larsen. She was built in 1949 as one the last cargo carrying wooden ships Soren Larsen & Sons in Denmark. She was chosen to be the flagship for the First fleet re-enactment for Australia Day in 1988 (200th anniversary).

Lounging about the Eastwood Market

We took another turn about the local market area to buy a couple things and exercise little Fox. No visit to a place filled with asian food would be complete without a vide of duck and chickens hanging in the window.

Fox

Its been a while since I brought you photos of one of little charges, so I thought it time to introduce you to Fox the little doggie we are caring for while in Sydney.

Blue Mountains

Sydney has a wonderful light rail system and great regional connections. We took advantage of this to ride out to Katoomba to see the Blue Mountains.

Eastwood Market

A short shopping trip closer to home took us past a few places here in Eastwood that were interesting. Above is the local fish market filled with fresh fish. I know they were (mostly) fresh since the smell was much less than I expected.

A Night at the Opera

We splurged and bought some good seats to see The Merry Widow at the Sydney Opera House. It just so happens that our visit coincided with Elizabeth's birthday. Imagine that happening!

Hop-on Hop-off Tour of Sydney

On a warm summer's day, we took the train to the Circular Quay and bought ourselves tickets for the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour. There are two routes visiting different parts of the city. By changing buses a couple times, we rode the entire route and simply watched the city scroll past us.

Queen Victoria Building

Our latest trip into the city took us the the Art Gallery of New South Wales to see a traveling exhibition from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Lots of really great paintings on display. I must say it was way better than the MONA in Hobart. That was just weird.

Afterwards, we headed to the Queen Victoria Building. On the way we passed the Unknown Street Performer.

St. Mary's Catholic Church

After leaving the shopping district, we headed down toward St. Mary's Catholic Church. Along the way we passed the old mint building. This is the oldest public building in Sydney. Clearly, it is no the mint today but you can tell it is old from the wooden shingle roof.

Shopping

Our trip into the city took us again to the Central Train Station. The main hallway above seems to be the main exit to the street. Perhaps this used to be the waiting room in days of steam trains.

Haymarket and Chinatown

Not far from the Central Train station is the Haymarket market. This large covered market is a combination of produce, T-shirt, and junk sellers and a multi-story mall. Very interesting.

Sydney

Once back in New South Wales and settled into our house sit in the Sydney suburb of Eastwood, we bought a couple train passes and headed into the city.

Not far from the Central Quay train station is the famous opera house and the cruise ship port. up the hill a bit from the water is George Street and the oldest pub in Sydney, the Fortune of War.

Cattana Wetlands

Just north of Cairns, we stopped in to have a look at the Cattana Wetlands. This is a park of several small lakes set aside for the wildlife. here we saw a few feathered friends.

Above is the Green Pygmy Goose.

Mossman Gorge

After our private trip along the Daintree River, we headed back toward Port Douglas. Along the way we stopped in Mossman and investigated the gorge created by the Mossman River.

Daintree River Cruise

On our second full day in far north Queensland, we drove to the Daintree River for a sunrise cruise. This was really special. There was only the two of us with the pilot, his wife, and dog in a solar powered electric river boat. A glorious morning on the river looking for wildlife.

One of early finds was the 9 month old saltwater crocodile seen above. One of the great things about touring with a person passionate about the river and who is on it everyday, is we learn who the animals really are. There's no way to know the age of this creature except by watching it grow.