Last leg Sydney

Last leg Sydney

On to Sydney. We’ve been flying on JetStar which is Qantas’ budget airline. They charge $5 for a tea or coffee. The only food or beverage that is free is tepid water. However they don’t charge for exit row and the rest of the plane is pretty cramped. We try to remember to ask. 

Now where in Sydney. I believe we tell you told you how nice the Australians are. Let me give you two examples. Today we tried to take a bus but we didn’t know the process and we’re clearly messing up. David is the bus driver how much do we owe you and he said no worry I may just get on. But that isn’t the best thing that happened to us. It was not David‘s fault but he left $100 in Adelaide at our hotel. As soon as he realized that he left the money he texted the whole hotel and they texted back let us know where you’ll be in Sydney and will express post the money to you. I was a bit skeptical but is soon as we got to our hotel in Sydney there was $400. I’m not sure that would happen in the states

We started off today at the Sydney opera House where David’s friend Ed gave us a tour. Then we had tea in the green room which was pretty exciting for me the opera house is every bit as amazing as one would imagine it would be. Then back to the botanical gardens for a tram ride and guided tour. Then up to Chinatown for Yum Cha. We call it dim sum but that’s not what the Chinese Australians call it. Anyway it was delicious and then we went on a two hour ferry ride around the harbor. I was soaking up the sun before I head back to Ithaca. There’s a tiny island in Sydney bay where they used to bring criminals. Those were the days where if you stole a loaf of bread in England they shipped you to Australia. It was decided not to build a prison but to chain the prisoners to boulders on the Island. Once a week they would deliver bread and water. The water around the island is shark infested. The survival rates were low. 

Now we’re struggling with American Airlines trying to get our boarding passes and they kicked me off so I have no  seat from LA to New York. Ps I have a seat now 

Sounds of silence David will post pictures

Sounds of silence

This was pretty amazing and I wasn’t expecting it to be so amazing but first a little crankiness. So it started at 6:30 when it was still 100°F and we walk up a incline for quite a while in the heat and the first thing they did was to serve champagne. OK you really don’t have to be a healthcare provider to know that hundred degree heat and champagne is not a good idea. No I did not drink the champagne I only had water.

 Now to how great it was. Next they had a Didgeridoo  player who was amazing. David will post a video of him. Next we went to dinner and at our table were two Canadians, two Chinese, two Japanese and an east and west German couple. This made for a wonderful conversation especially when our new German friend mentioned that the wall did not work well for them and probably wouldn’t be a great idea for us. The food was exceptional there was a desert bar which honestly I didn’t touch because I was quite full. This was all outside and they turned off the table lights/candles. Then our star expert gave us a talk about what we were saying in the sky. We saw the Milky Way and this was David’s first time seeing the Milky Way since he was 13 years old. What was interesting is we could see some of our constellations such as Taurus and Orion but they were upside down. For the final act they had two telescopes set up and we could saw 2 dwarf galaxies. Quite a night. 

uluru and Kata Juta

Uluru and Kata Juta David will add pictures in the future 

First I need to apologize for the Homer Simpson remark about Kata Juta. Both Uluru and Kata Juta are sacred to the Aboriginal people   Today we visited both   In 105 degrees F temperature. I didn’t make the entire hike but went back to the bus and downed 1.5 L in 15 minutes. David will add information and pictures. These 2 mountains began millions of years ago when this area was under water. This was, of course, before the dinosaurs. They are both sedentary rock. At some point Uluru tipped back 88 degrees so it stands tall and Kata Juta only rose 15 degrees. This happened over millions of years. The Aboriginals have been here 350,000 years. Currently in the national park where we are staying and touring there are 200 Aborigines living here. 

More quick crankiness. Sometimes I tire of water and all of Australia’s drinks are carbonated. I hate carbonation. 

Tea facts. This country knows how to serve tea. And unless I’m at a take away on a bus trip they serve a pot at a time. I don’t have to ask for milk not cream it automatically comes. What is curious is, although, they serve many Indian teas no one serves Darjeeling. I must find it out why when I get home. Trish didn’t know. By the way Trish trusted me enough to allow me to make tea. Of course she watched my every move. When I didn’t heat the pot by pouring in hot water and throwing it out I got a dressing down. She’s a hard taskmaster. 

Have I mentioned when. I go to the washroom the soap is hot. Not meant to be hot just is from sitting in the heat

At 915 pm we left to see the Field of Lights. It was still 96 degrees David and I were both underwhelmed. To me it looked like we were ants or maybe wallabies and there was a room the size of a casinos show room filled with robot heads from I Robot. The most interesting fact was we kept hearing beeps from the field. David thought it meant a bulb was burning out and it was a way to locate the bulb. Turns out it was a snake repellent. When we got back to the hotel at 11 it was down to 90 degrees 

Alice Springs

Alice Springs 

We’re in the middle of the country. For the first time there seems to be a significant population of Aboriginal people. 

Interesting that in Australia north is hot and the weather cools off as we go south. Last night after dinner we decided to walk home from the restaurant since it cooked to a balmy 92 degrees. There is a river in Alice Springs  called the Todd River which has been totally dry for 18 months 

 

We lucked out re the train. Originally we were going on the Ghan the week before. But because of our Tasmanian friends 
schedules we had to book for the time we 
actually went. Last weeks train was 
cancelled due to a train de-railed . Other comments about the Ghan We loved the apple and mulberry juice. 

The gnats in the Northern territory are relentless. They look for liquid everywhere. Primarily they look for liquids in people’s noses and mouths. Very very unpleasant 

  

On the 5 hour drive from Alice Springs to Uluru the driver kept up an interesting commentary. Of course I hoped to nap and did. But when I was awake found out that the biggest cattle ranch in So Australia has 8 million acres run by 12 people 

 He told us about a problem with truancy in one of the Aboriginal community. They had the community come up with a solution. They asked the  government to build a pool. Once that was done kids needed a wrist band (color coded) to get into the pool. Truancy rate dropped from 95% to 5% in 3 weeks. That’s what’s called action research. Having the consumer come up with the solutions. It works. 

Just stopped at a place 100 km from Uluru that has a mini plateau/mountain that looks like but is much smaller than Uluru. The locals call it Fooluruu

Australia has free university for all. Then when you graduate and get a job you pay back on a sliding scale. The scale starts at $50k. Interesting system. 

Also found out about the health care system, which Trish and Jim talked about also. There is universal health care but if not emergent there’s a wait. For a knee replacement it’s about 4 years. However there’s also private health care insurance. You can go to the private hospitals and get care immediately. Trish and Jim said if it’s anything big they’d still go to a public hospital because that’s where the good docs and care are. Big would be a knee or hip replacement. Or heart attack. To be clear if people have a heart attack they don’t wait. If Trish goes to a public hospital for her knee replacement she gets to go to the head of the line since she has private insurance. It’s like the Canadian system. 

The hotels etc are owned and run by the Aboriginal people. 

Just saw Uluru. One end is older than the other by 50 million years. Puts things in perspective 

The bus driver had the best explanation of dehydration and why you should be drinking 1 1:2 liters of water every 1 hours. Ended up saying listen to me or you’ll have a large bore needle and a plastic bag hanging over you in the Alice Springs hospital 

We saw a dingo while driving   Thank goodness Zack is in NYC so I don’t get why I sat “the dingo ate my baby”

We were brought to our hotel room in this gorgeous resort. We get to our door and the bell person tells a passing maintenance man to remove the bat from our door before we enter. As soon as our bell person/she leaves he looks at us and says oh oh. I say I’ll remove the bat, he’s tiny but David moves me away and moved the bar. What a man 

We’re on our way to an outdoor dinner and to see the stars. It’s 630 and still 100 degrees. He just passed a rock formation known to one and all as looking like Homer Simpson lying down. 

Sent from my iPhone

Ghan part 2

Gahn 2

Just returned from a delightful lunch with Michelle and Jeff who are from California and just finished a 45 day cruise on which they were ballroom dance instructors.   We need to find a new skill to move towards our new careers as grey nomads.  Let's see, three paid for cruises a year, well timed to allow us to rent out the house, and who needs retirement incomes? (Melanie- David feels our career should be me being a cruise nurse)

(David-certainly more marketable than cruise bassoonist or clarinet tech)

Dinner was another excellent meal with a couple from just out of Melbourne. They are doing train trips in various parts of the world. They've done the BC train, Vietnam Nam, South Africa.  Sounds interesting.  David is certainly more open to the idea than he was before this trip. Also got to see grey vs red kangaroo as we ate supper. 

Upon return from dinner the "berths"had been made up and David's ladder for the top bunk was in place. We slept surprisingly well. Wake up was a 6 for "some" of us to disembark to watch the sun rise over the dessert. A couple of fires were built, coffee tea and breakfast sandwiches distributed and it was fun to see the Southern Hemisphere stars

.  Alpha Centauri was extraordinary. 

Always nice to see a little American industry represented. 

The Ghan We’ll come back to last week next week

The Ghan

This morning(Sunday the 24th)  started with a bang/ literally.  Thinking she'd take a quick showers before we took off for the train, the slick marble floor got the best of Melanie and I ran in to find her on the floor saying "I'm not hurt- I can't get up

I ran down and got some ice from the stunned housekeeper and was relieved to find that Melanie had gotten back to the bed by the time I returned. But Uber was on the way so we packed up and headed out. Only when I had dropped the key in the key return and we were out on the street did I remember the $100 bill I had laid out to get converted.  

Time will tell if we get it back. But now off to the Ghan. Ghan is short for Afghan reminiscent of the camel drivers (no matter where they came from) that worked the outback in the 19thC century. 

  

  

   

The train is a kilometer long and reminiscent of a former age. 

  

After checking in at the station we were treated to champagne and mimosas and a singer.

 

Very civilized - Met some friendly fellow travelers and then got to our cabin. Small but comfy and very reminiscent of an Orient Express movie. 

 

No internet for at least two days. Whatever will we do?  Waiting now for the steward to escort us to lunch and book our dinner. 

The roos

The more

So the local animals are starting to catch on that there sometimes treats to be had if they stop by.

Tasmania unzoo and more

There is just so much here. On treat was the unzoo. It’s a way station for Tasmanian devils at the end of their lives.

 

 

 

Actually a contagious cancer which is appeared in the Tasmanian devil community. It’s quite the mystery and so they’ve taken steps to isolate Uninfected animals from the general population.  There are actually gates which clothes over bridges at dusk and there is an active breeding program. Animals in the breeding program moved to the unzoo  after the reading days and  at the ends of their life.  They also have an interesting program where they try to incorporate whatever animals show up on a particular day. For example the bird show started out with a Bird that just happened to be sitting on a railing.

The Farm

The farm

It's fairly common for the middle class Australian family ( at least on Tasmania) to have a "shack".  Sort a vacation spot to get away to weekends and time off.  Jim's family already had a shack so when Trish and Jim wanted a "shack" of their own they had to find a different name so they call it  

 

Its a delightful cottage on farmland with a view. A neighboring farmer uses much of their land for grazing and In exchange mows and keeps an eye on the place for them. Great views with decks on the front and the back.

 it is located on the penninsusla about hour or so from their home in Hobart. This was our headquarters for the next few days. From here we did run outs to the "unzoo" various parks and beaches. The incredible food and drink continued with bubbly from Verge and this select vintage 

Their property has a variety of eucalyptus (of course) as well as some other more unique items. 

Tasmania day 2/3. We’re just not sure what day it is.

.  

So today it’s off to the farm. But first a stop in Salamanca for a spot of tea and coffee. This is the artsy part of town.

 While pulling Melanie in and out of gift shops I noticed a luthier sign down one small alley.

I strolled down and walked in and then the man at the workbench took one look at me and said “I know you!”

Turns out our booths were next to each other at the IBS Conference in Ithaca last year.

More Tasmania day 1

 Tasmania is a world in itself. We spent the first couple of days in Hobart. Here is a shot from the top of Mt Wellington which overlooks the city.

In the far top of this shot you can make out Penninsula where we are heading tomorrow to Jim and Trish’s farm

O

 but today’s other treat was seeing the critters at a local refuge.