Australia Gallery

Welcome to my photo tour of Australia. In a scant 3 and a half weeks, Julia, her sister Janna, and myself traversed much of the continent of Australia. In our tour, we hit Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Cooper Pedy, Alice Springs, Ayer's Rock, Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef, Brisbane, and Sydney.

Keep in mind when viewing these pictures that this was my very first attempt with my first SLR (and only a smidgen of experience with any sort of pictures before that), so the results are spotty and uneven. This is not to be construed in any way as an endorsement of my current level of skill (which is generally poor), it is just a statement that these pictures are even worse. Thanks for taking a look anyway.

The Pictures

The Journal

Thanks to Janna, we have a journal of the trip. This will help to put some of the pictures shown here into context. So without further ado...

Dear friends,

Just thought I'd send out a summary of my trip to Australia. For those of you who don't know, I just spent the past month traveling around down under with my sister and her boyfriend. Below is a day by day account of the trip. I know I have a tendency to tell stories in real time, so I'll try to be brief.

12/12 Missed flight to Los Angeles. Thank goodness we had planned for a long layover in L.A. so I got there in time for my flight to Sydney.

12/14 Arrived in Sydney, immediately drove to Canberra (despite all the guide books advising against driving right after arriving because of jet lag). Luckily Nadim (Julia's boyfriend) was willing to be the first to try driving on the left hand side of the road. In Canberra we went up the Telstra Tower, went to the science museum, and went to the art gallery. Canberra reminded me a lot of D.C. -- it's its own separate entity and, despite being the capital, it's not the biggest city in the country.

12/15 Drove to Melbourne through a way cool forest. Got lost. Nadim and I saw our first kangaroo while Julia was in the bathroom. That was really cool because we were wandering around the woods when we came across the 'roo (actually a swamp wallaby) and it was pretty close to us. We saw more kangaroos on the side of the road as well as seeing a dingo. We also got enlightened about the local "greenies" (environmentalists) when we stopped for dinner.

12/16 -12/17 Melbourne was a cool city but very crazy. Thank goodness Nadim was willing to drive in the city because they have all sorts of funky driving rules in Melbourne. Some of the streets not only have service roads running along each side, but they also have trams running down the middle. And the two lane round abouts were crazy. We didn't know the rules about putting on your blinkers in roundabouts and and came close to getting in an accident. They also have this weird rule about making a right hand turn from the left lane. Basically, you sit in the left lane with your right blinker on and wait until the cross traffic has a green light and then you turn before the cross traffic goes. Even the Aussie's in other parts of the country agreed that driving in Melbourne is insane. There were also pedestrians everywhere, including one lying in the middle of the road who had just been hit by a car. Luckily she wasn't hurt and luckily it wasn't us who hit her although we had just rubbed side view mirrors with a taxi. Their lanes are much narrower than in the States. While in Melbourne we did the typical tall tower, art museum, sort of things but we also went to Phillip Island and saw the fairy penguins come in. That was really cool -- actually really, really cold! Quite a contrast to the over 100 degree weather we would experience later. Matt and Elizabeth took a twelve hour bus trip to meet us in Melbourne. That was really cool because not only did it extend our time to visit with them, but they could also answer all our stupid American questions about Australia. They showed us around Melbourne including showing us the HUGE fruit bats that live in the royal botanical gardens and taking us around to a few pubs.

12/18 Thank goodness we got an upgrade on our first rental car, because otherwise all our luggage plus Matt and Elizabeth would not have fit. We drove to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road which was undescribably (is that a word?) gorgeous. We saw the Twelve Apostles which are twelve rocks sticking up out of the ocean but are really incredible, mainly because of the contrast with the blue/green water. Elizabeth drove most of the way and had to stop for a huge kangaroo standing in the middle of the road. We also saw an echidna (a hedge hog type animal) and some koalas. Elizabeth was quite a trooper to drive, especially because we didn't arrive in Adelaide until about two in the morning. We all kept her awake, though, by solving the problems of the world.

12/19 Elizabeth showed us around Adelaide and took us to a wildlife park where Nadim got to hold a koala (he tried to steal one to take home but it was too big to fit in his backpack) and we all got to feed and pet kangaroos. We met Matt later on for drinks and had a fun time hanging out.

12/20 Matt and Elizabeth had to get up way early to catch their plane to the States. Julia, Nadim, and I slept in and finally got up to drive to Coober Pedy. On the way, we stopped off and checked out some salt flats. We also saw this gorgeous pink lake where Nadim accidentally stepped in sewage.

12/21 In Coober Pedy we stayed in an underground hotel. Most of the city is underground because it's so hot most of the time. It's very dry and flat and is often used as the setting for movies like Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Some new movie coming out is set in Coober Pedy, but I forget the name of it. Ironically, Coober Pedy's only movie screen (a drive-in) was blown down about a month ago and it doesn't look like it's going to be fixed anytime soon so they won't even be able to see the movie when it comes out. Coober Pedy is known for its opal mining and we did some noodling (looking through the leftovers for missed opals). We found some opals, but most of what we found was potch (worthless opal). We also got addicted to playing pokies (poker machines). That night we drove through the Breakaways (a cross between mountains and big mounds of dirt) and ended up exploring the outback by foot and by car, both times going off the beaten track. We saw the dog fence, the longest fence in the world built to keep the dingoes from raiding the sheep on the South side of Australia.

12/22 We drove from Coober Pedy to Ayers Rock. We made sure we kept plenty of water and gas, especially after reading the paper about some tourists dying in the Outback earlier that week. Along the way we saw these tremendous wedge-tailed eagles munching on some 'roo kill. We camped out at Ayers Rock and tried to ignore the noisy gallahs (pink and grey parrot like birds) and cockatoos. The night sky was incredible, but it freaked me out everytime I looked up and saw Orion upside down. We also saw the Southern Cross, of course.

12/23 We got up at 5:30 to see the sunrise over Ayers Rock (aka Uluru -- the aboriginal name). We had to get up early anyway to climb the rock because they don't let anyone climb after 8 am if the temperature is predicted to get over 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Then we went to the cultural centre and learned about the aboriginal culture and read all about how climbing the rock violates the religion of the local Aborigines. Around one pm, we decided to do the death march around the base of Uluru. Several factors made it quite a grueling hike. Not only was it the middle of the day (therefore no shade), we also only had about half of the recommended amount of water. Five minutes into the hike we were cursing the hole in the ozone layer. If it weren't for the emergency water station along the way, some wedge-tailed eagles would have been having us for lunch.

12/24 We went to the Olgas, similar to Uluru but several big rocks instead of just one. The Olgas don't have the same religious significance as Uluru, but were cool just the same. After doing the Valley of the Winds hike, we were all very glad to sit in the car and drive to Alice Springs. When we got in Alice Springs, we walked around trying to find somewhere to eat on Christmas Eve. The only place we all could agree on was Pizza Hut. When we returned to the hotel, I read the story of Jesus' birth out loud.

12/25 We had to turn in our luxurious rental car and fly to Cairns where we checked into the local Backpacker's Inn (like a youth hostel). That was quite interesting sharing a room with three strangers and showering in a unisex bathroom. That evening we drove along the coast to Port Douglas, which was a beautiful drive, and we had a great seafood dinner in Port Douglas.

12/26-12/27 Live aboard -- we spent two days living on a ship, scuba diving, and snorkeling. We saw all sorts of incredible sea life while scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef including: giant clams, a black-tipped reef shark, a piranha, a cuttlefish, parrot fish, and lots of other multi-colored fish I don't know the names of. From the ship that night we saw lots of Bronze Whalers which are huge sharks that Elizabeth told me are known to be very aggressive and are the ones who are most likely to attack humans. Luckily we didn't see any when we did our night dive. We wanted to stay an extra night on the ship, but we had plans for the next day so we booked a room at a real hotel (we had had enough of communal living at the Backpacker's Inn).

12/28 We took the sky rail (cable cars) through the rain forest to Karunda. From Karunda we did this tour called rainforestation where we saw huge crocodiles, saw an aboriginal dance, and tried our hand at throwing a boomerang. Nadim bought a didjeridoo (an aboriginal instrument) and soon will be quitting his job to join a band (just kidding). We took the train back into town and got off on the wrong side. Boy we looked like idiots standing in the middle of that field. That night Julia and Nadim went gambling while I went to the night market where I met someone who is currently at Duke. He and I had a long conversation comparing Duke now to Duke then. I felt so old.

12/29 We flew from Cairns to Brisbane where we walked around the South Parklands (a large park with a replica of a rainforest and a beach along with all sorts of other stuff). At this point in the trip we were all so tired we just wanted to sit and be entertained so we decided to go to the movies. Julia talked me into going to see "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" by convincing me part of it was filmed at Duke. Even though there wasn't a single scene from Duke, it was nice to be off my feet for a couple of hours.

12/30 In Brisbane we went to the Australian Woolshed and saw some sheep being shorn and some sheep dogs herding sheep. We then did the typical art gallery, museum, and bell tower thing as well. That night Nadim gave Julia and me stick shift lessons. We didn't do too badly, although the next day I stalled the car several times.

12/31 We drove through the mountains to Sydney. Julia and I got to practice driving stick shift. We arrived in Sydney just in time to see the fireworks over the harbour. Thanks to Julia being smart enough to pick up a paper earlier at a gas station, we knew where to go to have a great view.

1/1 Our first full day in Sydney we spent at Darling Harbour. Between the aquarium, the water ski show, the markets, the IMAX 3-D movie, the laser show, and the street shows, it was quite a full day.

1/2 We went to the Taronga Zoo which was an all day excursion. Saw lots of animals as well as beautiful views of the harbor. We all got to pet a wombat but I accidentally dropped my sunglasses in his cage when I leaned over. Luckily Nadim's arms were long enough to retrieve them.

1/3 Julia and Nadim went to the Jenolan Caves while I walked around Sydney. I wore out the soles of my shoes walking to the different art museums and going souvenir shopping.

1/4 More walking around Sydney. I met Julia and Nadim at the Powerhouse museum which was absolutely huge. Afterwards, we checked out the Sydney Opera house and did a cruise around the harbor.

1/5 Flew back to L.A. Because of the time difference, we landed in L.A. four hours before we left Sydney. We had an eleven hour layover in L.A. where our brother Jason was kind enough to take off work to show us the sights. We went to Griffith park and saw a beautiful view of the sunset (enhanced by all the pollution over L.A.) He took us to a way cool restaurant on Melrose Avenue and filled us in on all the news we missed while we were gone. We took the red eye back to the east coast where the pilot announced it was sixteen degrees in Charlotte (quite a shock after leaving Sydney where it was 97 degrees the day we left). After a little fiasco trying to find my car when I returned to Atlanta, I finally got home safe and sound. I've only accidentally driven on the left hand side of the road once since I've returned. Now I've got to return to reality. I really miss being down under where the national motto is, "No worries, mate!"

Janna

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