New South Wales
November
2-24
Written by PeteThredbo and Climbing Mt. Kosciuszko
We left Melbourne on Friday, Nov 2, in the late morning. Headed NE to the Rutherglen wine region only 160 miles (about 200K) away. We arrived in time to stop at three "cellar doors" to sample some wines, sparkling wines, and ports. Karen enjoyed one champagne so much that she bought a bottle. We only stopped at three places not because we were trying to moderate ourselves, but because we ran out of time. The "cellar doors" close around 5 pm. We had six wineries lined up (one more than our drunken binge in the Barossa wine area) on the map. But alas we were saved from ourselves. No worries! We hit one more in the morning on our way out of the region. Nothing like some wine to chase down your morning cereal.The next day we stopped at the Albury Show in, you guessed it, Albury. Essentially it was a county fair with carnival rides, a small circus, and an equestrian competition. The Show also had a health awareness booth for men so I got my blood pressure and cholesterol checked. Both were beginning to top the charts before we left the States in March. I was curious to see if our new lifestyle and the loss of over 40 lbs helped to bring my blood pressure and cholesterol back into the acceptable range. Blood pressure was back to normal (126 over 82), but cholesterol was still "high". Rats!! The Aussies use a different type of scale to measure cholesterol so I was not able to compare it for improvement, but they assured me that my numbers are "high".
In this part of the country we are moving away from the coast and into a mountainous area. If you can call these small hills mountains. One night we managed to find a place to camp right next to a rushing river full of trout with fly fishermen along the banks. Our next town, Thredbo, is located in the Snowy Mountains at the base of Oz's highest peak, Mt. Koscuiszko (6,684 feet or 2,228M). This is the same place that "the man Snowy River" came from. Absolutely beautiful countryside.
Our plan was to summit Mt. Koscuiszko but
first we tackled the bobsled ride. The ride is a 700 yard luge track. We bought
unlimited day passes and had a blast. We had individual carts and controlled
our speed with a brake. The cart hooked onto a cable which took us up the
mountain then we slide on a metal chute with at least 10 curves to get to the
bottom.On the first run, I pushed it to the limit and didn't use my brake at all. I wiped out in the third turn but somehow managed to roll back onto my cart before Karen could run me over. Karen braked before every turn for the first run. By run four, both of us weren't using our brakes and discovered how to balance our bodies to stay on the cart through all the twists and turns. We began to pretend we were Olympic bobsled/luge contestants, while chasing each other down the track. Since we had bought unlimited day passes for the ride, we were on it for quite awhile. Since it was the off-season we didn't have to fight any lines. We pretty much had the track to ourselves all day.
That evening we drove a few miles out of town and camped along
side another river. We had a fire and roasted marshmallows so we could make
somemores (graham cracker, chocolate & a roasted marshmallow).
Delicious!!The next day we attempted the summit. Yesterday we had seen snow (yes snow, remember it's still just spring here) on the top of the mountains so we dressed warmly. We had to take a chairlift to the start of the trail. After we had bought our tickets, the saleswoman asked if we had boots on. I had my boots on but Karen decided not to wear hers because they give her blisters. The lady then informed us that the snow is knee deep on the last 1/2 mile to the summit. Bugger it. We're already committed so we set off.
The lift is a little over one mile long and climbs 1,680 vertical feet. It took us at least 10 minutes to get to the top.
The guy
at the top of the lift asked us if we have food, water, and more clothes to
wear. We replied yes, which was true. He then told us the forecast was for rain
in the afternoon. He recommended that we get to the summit as soon as possible
and then walk back at a more leisurely pace. We met another couple, Michael and
Vicky, from Melbourne and walked with them. The whole track is above the tree
line and most of it is a metal walkway about 1 foot off the ground.
Very
easy walking. Not much of a "summit push". The walkway was built to reduce the
environmental damage. Parts of the walkway are covered with snow and we
followed the footprints to the next clear portion. After 3 miles, we make it to
Rawson's Pass (altitude is 384 feet below the summit) where a sign states its
1.4 KM to the summit. Unfortunately we are now in the clouds and visibility is
close to zero. We can hear people talking but we can't see them. Then there is
a break in the clouds and we can barely make out their silhouettes. None of us
can see the summit or the path to get there. At this point most of the ground
is covered in snow and slush. Due to the weather conditions, we decide to turn
back. The four of us walked back to the chairlift and had lunch then took the
lift back to the base of the mountain where it was sunny and clear.
Canberra
In 1912 Walter Burley Griffin, an American landscape architect from Chicago, won the international competition for the design of the future Australian capital. Canberra reminded me of Washington, DC. The Molong river runs right through the center of town. There are two major traffic circles on either side of the river; one of which encircles capital hill where the Parliament House is located. There is a large grassy promenade from capital hill to the war memorial. All of the embassies are located near Parliament House.We took a tour of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). All the tours are led by a resident athlete. The idea to create the AIS emerged after the country only won one medal (silver) at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. The AIS was created in 1981 with the goal to develop more world-class athletes. Half of Australian's medallists at the Sydney Olympics trained at the AIS. We saw the gymnasts, swimmers, volleyball players and archers practicing.
Parliament House is the most symbolically designed building we have ever been in. The building, designed by Romaldo Giurgola, was opened in 1988 (Pretty new eh!). Visitors moving through the building experience a journey symbolic of Oz's history. The forecourt, with its mosaic dot painting, recognizes the long history of Aboriginal culture in Oz. The Aboriginal art closely resembles the Dotism art movement. The foyer with its European marble and timber provides a link to the arrival of Europeans to Oz. The Members' Hall is at the heart of the building and links the Senate and House of Representatives chambers (Yes, they borrowed those terms from the States. In fact, the Aussies, being a newly formed country, built their government from examples of democratic governments around the world). Behind it is the Main Committee Room representing the future of Oz, as the work of committees affects the future of the nation. The House of Representatives chamber is decorated in shades of green that occur naturally in Oz; mainly the eucalyptus trees. While the Senate chambers are decorated in shades of red, mainly the color of the dirt in the interior, much like Ayers Rock. It truly is a beautiful building.
We also visited the Deep Space Communication Complex, which is run on behalf of NASA. It was originally built back in the early 1960s when the US started its space program. The complex transmitted details of astronaut Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon to scientists at NASA. The complex communicates with interplanetary spacecraft at distances up to 7.6 billion miles from Earth. They have four huge antennas at the site. The largest is 70 yards in diameter!
We were real tourists in Canberra. Among our hit list we visited the National Art Gallery, which was quite small; looked at the Embassies, which had many people protesting in the form of fasting in front of the Chinese embassy due to human rights issues; and toured the Mint, where we were able to mint our own coins. At the cost of only $A2 we could mint a $A1 coin. What a deal!
Of course, we also went to a movie, window shopped, and stopped by the casino. Not to gamble, but to pick up a few chips for my growing collection (and some for Karl and his dad too).
Young and Jervis Bay
On our way to Sydney we detoured to Young and then Jervis Bay. Young is Aussie famous for its cherries and strawberries. Young produces 80% of the Aussie cherries and Karen LOVES cherries. The idea was to pick some cherries for major consumption. Bummer, we were a couple of weeks too early to pick our own cherries, but just in time to pick some strawberries. No worries. We picked several kilos in just a few minutes and then bought several more kilos of already picked cherries. And to top it off we bought a cherry pie too. These were all gifts to our friends in Jervis Bay that we would be staying with. Unfortunately for our friends, half the cherries were eaten during the next hour of driving. Lucky for them the rest of the cherries were in the back of van and out of reach.
At Jervis Bay
we visited Peter and Norelle and their two youngest children, Sam and Kate. We
had met them at Aggie Greys Hotel in Samoa. They gave us their names and
address and said when we get to Oz to look them up so we did. We stayed with
them for four days and had a wonderful time. We all enjoyed the strawberries,
cherry pie, and remaining cherries. MMmmm!
One day Peter and Norelle
took us to Ulladara where we experienced Aussie meat pies for the first time.
Pies are sold everywhere in Oz. If Oz had a national dish this would be it. We
ate at a picnic table overlooking the harbor.When Peter and Norelle found out we had not seen wombats yet; they resolved to show us wombats. Norelle's sister and her husband own a camping area in the mountains about an hour drive away from Jervis Bay so we went there. We arrived in the late afternoon when wombats come out to eat. We were able to get close enough to pet one of them.
Sydney
We reunited with a sailing friend, Don from Sir Swagman who we first met in Panama.
After
nine years of sailing around the world Don and his wife, Gera, have returned
home to Sydney. They were nice enough to let us stay on the boat for a few
days. Gera was staying at their daughter's house because she had just had baby
#3 so we were only able to visit with Don. It was nice to catch up with him.
They plan to sell their boat and buy a mobile home to tour Oz and then the
States. We'll probably see them again, but this time in DC.On one of the few dry and warm days we were able to enjoy in Sydney we toured the famed Sydney Opera House, which took 15 years to build.
Interesting fact it's covered with about 1 million tiles, which
are cream color, not white. The bright Aussie sun gives the appearance of the
tiles being white. Also we walked around town and rode one of the harbor
ferries. Very scenic and pretty city from the water. Of course, we visited the
casino for chips.On another dry and warm day we took a ferry to Manly (famous beach area for surfing and swimming) and spent some time on the beach where many women sunbath topless.
We also stayed with Johanna and Jessica, daughters of Stu and Diana from Melbourne. They let us stay with them even though Jessica was right in the middle of college exams. Unfortunately, during our time with them a mini-cyclone decided to sit right on top of Sydney for about five days of cold, wind, and rain. In fact the wind blew out one of their windows. We left Jess alone while we read and ran errands.
Good-bye Van
Five days before we were scheduled to fly out of the country, we put the van up for sale at the Backpackers International Car Market, which we discovered from our Lonely Planet guidebook. It is located in the second level of the Kings Cross Car Park, an underground garage. The Kings Cross area is much like the 14th street area in DC about 20 years ago - full of adult book shops, XXX films, and hookers. A very interesting part of town that backpackers seem to stay in because the hotels are cheap. Sellers pay to park their vehicle in the market and the guys running it help facilitate the sale and clear up the confusing registration and insurance issues/questions from both the buyer and sellers. It was an interesting experience.Every time a vehicle is sold under strict tradition the seller buys a case of beer and shares it with the other remaining sellers. On the first day there were 15 vehicles in the lot and by the end of the day we enjoyed three beers and some pizza. A Dutch couple felt it was too cold to buy beer so they bought pizza for lunch. No complaints from anyone. We heard of people selling their vehicle anywhere from their first hour to 36 days later. We met one couple, Miranda and Frank from England, who had already been at the market for 12 days trying to sell their van. Aime, a Frenchman, in a poptop van much like ours had been there three days already with only two days before he had to fly home. The vehicles in the market were an odd collection of mostly junk that only backpackers would buy. We were in the right place.
On the first day we had at least 10 people look at the van but no offers. Two people did ask for our phone number but they didn't call that evening. After checking out the other vehicles, we felt our van was in the best condition and it was the highest priced. We felt confident that we would be buying beer very soon. The next morning as soon as I parked the van a Spanish couple approached me and immediately offered to buy the van. After a quick test drive and some slow English/Spanish communication issues about registration and insurance, which the Car Market blokes helped to answer, I was handing out beers with a smile. We sold it for $A900 more than we paid for it. Yeah!!!
Here's the overall breakdown of buying the van. We bought it for $A3600; invested another $A2400 in repairs; then sold it for $A4500. Having not recovered $A1500 still makes the option of buying the van worth it. We saved much more than that by not having to stay in youth hostels, buy bus tickets or having to eat in restaurants. During our whole time in Oz we ate out only six times not counting the meals we ate while being hosted by friends.
Good-bye Oz; Hello Kiwiland
On our last night in Sydney Jo and Jess (along with Jo's fiancée and Jess's boyfriend) and we went out on the town. It was a late night, which made getting up at 6 am (with a bad hangover for both of us) very tough. This was our first time in an airport since Sept 11. No problems and we landed in Auckland without an issue. John and Jean, who we met in Samoa, picked us up at the airport and showed us around town. We have been very lucky to meet such friendly people on our trip. John and Jean and many others have welcomed us into their homes and no matter how long (or little) we stay they always seem to be genuinely disappointed that we are leaving "so soon".Our first order of business will be to buy a van. More to come…