The Great Aussie Adventure Part 2

Here begins part II of our adventure in Australia. 

Day 8 - This would turn out to be one of the best of our days in Australia.  We started the day walking through the Sydney botanical gardens getting views of the harbor and opera house. The weather was lovely and even in the winter, the gardens were lovely and lively.  So lively apparently that a number of trees had a metal collar to protect them from the climbing critters who want to eat them. 

After our stroll through the gardens, we took a ferry over to the part of Sydney with the aquarium.  The aquarium was nice but pretty standard until we got to the sharks.  The treat there was seeing the nurse shark receive a vitamin shot.  It took a team of two divers in the tank and two spotters standing under that tank in the tunnel walkway to accomplish this task.  The first diver inserted the syringe but the shark wasn't interested in hanging around so it swam off with the syringe still in its back.  Fortunately the shark made a wide circle back to the second diver who finsihed the shot and recovered the syringe.  It was all very entertaining to see the nurse shark getting nursed, a shark with a syringe in its back and the excitement of the caretakers until they recovered the syringe.

Also at the aquarium, Kimber was able to spend a long time observing the very active platypus.  The exhibit was quite nice, and the platypus was very active in swimming and burrowing around for worms.

We still had lots of time in the afternoon and an all day pass on public transportation in Sydney so we decided to take a ferry to Cockatoo Island and see what was out there.  We had heard it was just some old buildings but that the ride out to there was nice.

What an incredible find!  Cockatoo Island was a former convict prison, industrial school for girls, and major dockyard and shipbuildng facility.  Submarines and large ships were refurbished and maintained there until 1992.  In the mid-nineties, the facilities were closed and a number of buildings demolished.  But much remains and is being restored and has been made available to the public. We spent several hours walking around the island looking at old buildings and equipment.  There has been a huge effort to describe what each building was used for and the equipment still present.  There are several well designed self guided tours you can do as well. 

But we were in for even more of a treat.  Sydney was holding thier Biennale of Sydney and the venue was Cockatoo Island.  The biennale is Australia's larget contempory visual arts event.  The venue of old buildings and equipment made an amazing background for some incredible contemporary art.  There were interactive exhibits, amazing large exhibits which took up entire rooms of these buildings, and very simple but interesting exhibits.  It was amazing and we stayed until nearly dark.

Dinner that night was pies, including the kangaroo pie.  We'd stopped on the way into Sydney at a place called Fredo's pies (which was mentioned in one of the travel guides) and picked six from the selection of over forty types in the case.  We also want looking for and saw bushy-tailed possums after dark and got buzzed by an owl walking home. 

Day 9 - We started the day with a big breakfast of ham and hash browns.  Afterwards, Kimber cleaned up and started the pack-up while Kirk and Sidney did a little walk around the park.  They saw some ducklings they had seen a day or two earlier, as well as several cockatoos.  Seems like the further south you go, the more cockatoos you see.  On the way back to the camper, we stopped where a lady was feeding some loraceets and some of them landed on Sidney's head.

We departed Sydney after a bit of a relaxing morning and headed to Canberra.  It was a nice mountain drive across the Dividing Range, but Kirk had to fight the wind a lot of the way.  As we got close, we stopped at a winery near a lake that is situated on a fault line.  The lake apparently fills and runs dry depending on seismic activity, and while it had been several feet deep just a couple of decades ago, it is a dry plain now.

The winery was a bit weird.  It was run by a seemingly dysfunctional family that bickered most of the time we were there.  The wine was good, and we did end up buying a bottle, but the best part was that Sidney got a fudge cupcake and we all warmed ourselves beside a nice fireplace.

We left the winery and headed on to our campsite, which was located just outside Canberra.  We checked in, then took our bus into town to buy groceries, being sure to visit the fruit and veg market, bakery, butcher and bottle shop (Kimber gets her wine, Kirk gets his beer) before going into the Woolworth's for regular groceries.  We got sausages some meat and pastry pinwheels made from lamb, beef and chicken (separate, not together) at the butcher.  The bakery yielded bacon and cheese buns (similar to the pizza buns we used to get in Norway, but with bacon and cheese instead), and little pizzas.  Sidney also got a bacon, cheese and pickle roll that sounded interesting.

We went back to camp, and after dinner did laundry before turning in for the night.

Day 10 - We started with the Science Museum in Canberra.  We have been to science museums on several other trips in other countries, so it was actually kind of nice to go into one that was all in English.  It provided a much clearer understanding of some of the displays.  The museum was very interactive.

One of the exhibits was called Free Fall, which was basically a 30 foot slide designed so that the first several feel actually have you free falling.  You put on a jumpsuit, then climb stairs to the top where you scoot over the edge while hanging on to a bar.  You hang in mid air, then let go, falling until the angle of the slide meets you and you end up sliding to the bottom.  It is really weird, but fun.  This was Kimber doing her free fall.

There was also a "collision" show with a museum staffer named Svea (who is originally from Sweden.)  She was quite a character, and was able to teach science to the audience members in a fun and interactive was, though her sense of humor was a little goofy.

After the science museum, we walked into a very stiff wind across and around the lake to the National Museum of Australia.  It was filled with lots of exhibits on Australian settlement and convict history, aboriginal arts and modern history.  The exhibits were nicely done, and the introduction to the museum itself was a treat.  It was called CIRCA, and was a film displayed in a rotating theater that gave you an overview of the museum in a relaxing and entertaining way.  We also too part in a science for kids portion where we "designed" our own spaceships on a computer, then got to watch them fly around an animated world in a 3-d film.

We walked back to our camper after a few hours at the museum and drove around the Parliament building and saw a few more sites in Canberra.  It wasn't and exciting city, but is understandably mostly a government center, but it was certainly more easy to navigate and drive around than most country capitals.  There were also a lot of traffic circles and city circles.

Dinner back at the park was sausages, brussel sprouts and very spicy potatoes.  More Olympics, then bed.

Day 11 - Drove out of Canberra and toward the coast again.  The mountains run right down to the coast, and our last little bit before reaching the coast followed a pretty river that fed into the sea at Bateman's Bay.  There was a little park just off the road with a nice playground right on the river, so we pulled in for some leg-stretching.  Kimber went for a run while Sidney played, and Kirk fixed a picnic lunch of cheeses, crackers, salami and fruits.  We ate outside on a picnic table, then got back on the road to find our next stop.  We were looking for a cheese factory mentioned in one of the guide books, but couldn't locate it.  Tried another place and couldn't find it either.  Then tried to find an aboriginal heritage area, but it was closed.  We finally went to Bega, which had a really nice cheese heritage center across from the factory.  We walked through the museum and gift shop, then tasted several cheeses, including some that made them famous as an export product.  We also had some ice cream made from their dairy milk.  We bought a rather large block of their sharpest cheese, which was delicious.

We then headed on to Pambula, where we decided on a whim to stay.  The park was probably the best of the whole trip.  During their summer months, they have up to 2000 people staying in their over 400 campsites and cabins.  Most are kids.  However, there were probably only 75-100 there when we stopped in, and we had a great campsite just over the dunes from the beach.  The camp had a bouncy pillow, miniature golf, three trampolines, outdoor pool, heated indoor pool, three wheeled bikes, playroom, organized kids' events, nice showers and camp kitchens, and was huge.  There were kangaroos roaming all over it at will.  The beach was also amazing!  We watched the sunset cast beautiful colors across the sky as gentle waves came ashore and Sidney played in the sand.

The camp was so nice, we decided that night we would stay an extra night there.  We had a dinner of several different leftovers from our other meals, and Sidney told us she would make her "schedule of activities" for the next day in the morning.  Oh, and since we haven't shown you the camper van yet, here it is.

Day 12 - Kirk got up to watch the sunrise over the Tasman Sea this morning.  The water was very calm and the beach was very clean and empty.  Only a few people out as far as you could see, which was about 4 miles.  The sand was very soft and white.  There were some loraceets and other birds out, but the roos were still sleeping.  Sidney and Kimber got up, and then it was the usual morning of coffee, breakfast and the Olympic recap from the night before.  We walked the camp a little bit, then Sidney and Kimber took turns on the trampoline, with Kimber actually completing several flips (mostly.)  Sidney then went off to kid's camp for a couple of hours while Kirk and Kimber packed a few things and caught up on some email.

We picked Sidney up from Kid's Camp, then had a nice lunch and walked up to the river mouth, where clear turquoise water flows into the sea and there are very pretty protected beaches.  It was a nice little walk, and here you see Kimber walking up the beach a little.

After getting back Sidney and Kirk spent some time on the beach making sandcastles while Kimber walked up the beach for a few miles.  We then all went to the heated indoor pool for the afternoon before having our dinner of the meat and filo pastry pinwheels which were super.

We spent some time and enjoyed watching the kangaroos.  They were very entertaining and somewhat social.  It was really funny watching on mother and joey in particular.  He was quite large and on the edge of wearing out his welcome in the pouch.  He would climb in and out at will, and hang his head out to eat grass while his mother bent down to eat.  He was so big that her pouch nearly dragged the ground when he was in it.  He would also box at her if she tried to push him away, and he would run through the herd like crazy just to burn off energy.

It was a nice relaxing day, and we could certainly see why this would be a popular vacation destination for Australian families!

Day 13 - This was a long day of driving, and the weather wasn't very cooperative.  We drove into Victoria from New South Wales.  We stopped in to see a museum in Orbost but it was closed.  We were able to spend a little time at a park with a playground though, and all stretched our legs before a light lunch in the camper.  There were some signs in the park that mentioned some of the aboriginal stories of the tribes in the area, as well as some of the birds that were specific to this lower part of Australia.

We drove through the Snowy River area, which is the location made famous in the 1982 film "The Man from Snowy River" and its 1988 sequel.  The film was based on a poem by an Australian poet that was written in 1898, before Australia actually became an independent nation.  It would have been an interesting area to investigate a little further, but the weather was turning pretty sour.

We drove through an area that has been affected by a forest fire less than a year ago.  The odd thing is that the trees were very tall, but has all sprouted lots of small, leafy branches all along their trunks.  Maybe to compensate and gain more energy for recovery?

We got to our campsite and set up the camper in a pouring cold rain and wind.  Unfortunately, the forecast called for more of the same the next day.

Day 14 - Drove in to Melbourne and found a campsite on the southeast side of the suburbs.  It ws more of a retirement village that true caravan park, as most of the sites were cabins or permanently placed caravans.  There were only 6 actual campervan sites in the park.

There was a small cafe and store that made nice, simple homemade food, and we got lunch before heading into Melbourne on the train.  It was a bit of a walk to the train station in the rain and wind, but an easy ride into the main train station downtown after we got there.  The main train station was also a very nice building.

After getting into Melbourne, we caught the free tourist bus that takes you all over the city, pointing out major sites along the way.  It was a great way to get a really good, quick tour of Melbourne from the comfort of a dry bus, and it was free.  Our driver was also very impressive maneuvering the bus through the crowded streets of Melbourne without incident.

We took the train back out to our caravan park, noting along the way that the waves coming into the beach seemed quite large and rough due to the weather.  This did not bode well for our ferry crossing over the Bass Strait between Melbourne and Tasmania.

We got back to the campground and picked up hot drinks from the cafe, then went and had dinner before finishing up our pack-up of the camper for turn in the next day.

This is the end of part two of the Great Aussie Adventure.  The next post, part three, will be the last, and will cover Tasmania and our return trip home.  Stay tuned!