Today was a relaxing day aboard the good ship Orion. We set our clocks ahead last night but I was not about to let the clock people get away with stealing an hour of sleep. I just stayed in bed longer.
In the morning it was very rainy. The ship was a little rocky but my trusty scopolamine patch and I are doing just fine.
We ate several times and played cards.
The show tonight was by the Viking singers and they performed a series of songs from the ABBA collection. They were very good.
We are off to see the wildlife sanctuary. We may get to see the devil of the Tasmanian variety.
I am very glad that everyone who leads us pays tribute and thanks to aboriginal people who were here when the Europeans arrived here in 1856.
Tasmania is one of the six states that make up Australia. The residents are often asked when was the last time you got to visit Australia. Their answer is they live in Australia.
The island state is 240 kilometers south of the Australia mainland. It has a population of 579,000 people in the entire state. Hobart, the state capital, has a population of 265,000. In 1975 the Tasman bridge collapsed after being hit by an ore carrying ship. They still talk about it around here.
Our first stop was the town of Richmond. It was here that convicts from England first landed and the prisoners were placed, men and women, in the oldest jail in Australia. The good folks spell jail like this: gaol.
It was difficult to consider the cruel punishment that the prisoners endured.
From Richmond we drove to the Bonorong wildlife sanctuary. The island is crowded with lots of wildlife and there are cars. Many animals are struck with cars and are in need of care. And here they find that care.
I had a great time seeing the animals in their care. It is not a zoo. The goal of the organization is to treat and return the animals to the wild. Some are not able to and the sanctuary becomes their new home.
I got to pet a kangaroo!! Fun times had by me.
Tasmania county sideTasmania farmTasmania vineyardIn Richmond the first and still standing convict built bridgeOkay. Do you give up? The sign says Richmond Jail.Two new convicts ready to serve their timeIt isn’t a sleep number bedI am not sure how well cellophane tape will substitute for duct tape for this repairGrandma just called this the wringer on the washing machine that was on the back porchThe ManglerSadsolitary was not a very large spaceNote any differences between women and men offensesNote any differences between women and men offenses
WW I MemorialsnakeRainbow parrotCockatooBlue ParrotBlack parrotDevil of the Tasmania varietyJeanette and the kangarooRay giving the kangaroo a neck and chin scratchKangaroo close uptawny frogmouthShort beaked echidnaBlue tongue lizardFrank the lizard
After my accidently set alarm woke us up at 6:00 I went back to sleep (Penny did not). Woke up at 7:00 and prepared for this day at sea. We are heading for Tasmania to visit Hobart.
We ate breakfast in the world cafe. I arrived first and found a table. I texted the others where I was. “I am sitting starboard near the bow.” I was trying to communicate with Frank our resident Naval veteran. I was half correct I was on the starboard side the right side as you face the front of the boat. My mistake was the cafe is at the stern not the bow. We all found each other.
At 10:00 we partook in a tour of the laundry facilities. I am always amazed at organizational skills of this operation. They have to do laundry for everyone on the ship. This includes the 400+ crew members and the 900+ passengers. Then there are the towels, sheets, pillowcases,tablecloths, napkins, washcloths, bath robes and everything else made of cloth. There is an amazing machine that you put in a clean and washed tablecloth or sheet or napkin and the machine dries, presses and FOLDS the item and it comes out ready to deliver.
Lunch today was a taste of Tex-Mex. It was actually pretty good. There were too many items with cilantro but I enjoyed the tortillas soup and the burritos.
Dinner this evening was at Manfredi’s Italian restaurant. It was delightful. I ate too much but it was hard to say no. I had a seafood with linguine. There was a langoustine in the mix, I had never had one. It looked like a huge prawn or a tiny lobster. The tail meat was very very good.
The show tonight was the Viking singers doing duets from pop to show tunes. It was great.
Tomorrow we may see kangaroos and devils of the Tasmanian type.
Tons of folded laundry ready to be put to useFrank and Jeanette very attentive to our laundry master
Some stains are stubbornclean and ready to be used
Today we are in Melbourne, Australia which is the site of our red folder disappearing act. We had hoped that the lost property folks would have possession of said folder by this date. But contacting the gentle folks in the lost property office proved impossible. I called several times today and each time the phone were not answered and it went straight to voicemail. I was encouraged to leave a message and the nice voice promised to return the call by close of business tomorrow. We will be out at sea tomorrow and we will be untouchable.
I have mulled over the don’t answer the phone ploy and have come to a few theories.
1. They are enjoying looking at Penny’s masterful organizational accomplishments and are unwilling to forestall this guilty pleasure.
2. They are truly so busy with the other travelers and their lost property that they cannot answer the phone.
3. They may have closed the office in celebration of Australia Day. Today Monday is the legal holiday since July 26 fell on a Sunday some people may need the Monday to recover from the revelry of Sunday
Nevertheless the red notebook will not be joining us for the remainder of our trip.
We set off for our morning tour at about 8:30. Our guide was very good. He began by telling us that there are 3 important dates in Australia’s history.
1835 was the year that the first European’s arrived in Australia. Soon after the government of Great Britain began transporting convicts to Australia. It was the height of the industrial revolution. I often think of this as a wonderful time of progress but the reality was that 10’s of thousands of people lost their jobs because they were replaced with machines. Many of the convicts that were shipped to Australia were guilty of things like stealing bread.
1851 was the start of the gold rush. This influx of free migrants and convicts from England resulted in wealth for many communities and a change of attitude towards convicts.
1901 Australia became federated as the Commonwealth of Australia.
There is still a majority of Australians who recently voted to remain a part of the British commonwealth. The Australia constitution sets out the country as a constitutional monarchy. The elected prime minister is head of government. But there is also an elected Governor General who answers to the British Crown. The Governor General has the authority to sack the prime minister and has done so in the not too distant past.
Our tour this morning included a bus tour of the city. Being a holiday the traffic was not bad.
We saw several places that were built for the 1956 Olympics and are still used today.
Our first stop was the botanical gardens. It was a beautiful place. We had a volunteer guide for the gardens. The weather was heating up but the shade provided by the lovely trees was refreshing. Today’s high as 105 degrees (that is fahrenheit, 105 celsius would make my blood boil).
We then went to the remembrance center. Having become a country in 1901 the citizens of Australia have served in every war since then.
It was very moving to see the people who had given all for the fight against the evils in the 20th century.
We returned to the ship and had lunch. Then some of us may have rested our eyes for a while.
After dinner we played some cards: Trash and then 3 up 3 Down. Lots of laughs.
A good day.
Our guide told us that this is a pharmacy company that does indeed sell prescription drugs at a lower cost to the pubic.A house where they sell tea.A trolley.Royal exhibition center that is a Unesco world heritage site.A monument to the labor movement.Tree ArtDoes this remind you of a certain whomping willow on the grounds of Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter movie?water liliesYou have been warned!Here they are!Aeonium ArboreumThese topiary bushes were designed by the children in Melbourne.Shrine of remembranceHard-tack indeedRememberCity of MelbourneMelbourneFour of these birds stand against the stereotype of being bird-brained. The sun was very hot.A very old roller coaster where a person has to control the speed of the coaster va a hand brake.
Australia Day “marks the 1788 landing of the first fleet and raising of the Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a small bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbor.
In the present, the government and Australia Day Council organizes events that seek to recognize the contributions of Australians to the nation, while also encouraging reflection on past wrongs including towards Indigenous Australians and also giving respect and celebrating the diversity and achievements of Australian society past and present. The presentation of community awards and citizenship ceremonies are also commonly held on the day.”
Frank and I went to hear the lecture of our Resident Astronomy professor. He expertly provided a lecture on the history of astronomy. It was very interesting.
We were told the universe is stretching as opposed to expanding. Seems to be a distinction without a difference.
I kind of pride myself to believe I am not a complete moron when it comes to the science of astronomy and astronomy physics. But even though I have had it explained to me a few times, I still can’t understand the Big Bang. I get that all matter came originally from an infinitely small and dense point. But where did that point come from? How does nothing produce something that was the origin of our universe.
The second thing I cannot wrap my head around is if our universe is expanding into what is it expanding?
Oh well, the history of our planet stargazing is remarkable. And that the early history of understanding the sky was made by people who were not idiots to believe that the solar system is geocentric. The sun and planets revolve around the earth. He challenged us to imagine trying to explain how the earth is not the center of the solar system. It is not easy to dismiss the notion that the sun circles the earth. It certainly appears to.
We took a tour of the kitchens. It was amazing that the kitchen workers do everything from scratch, no prepackaged foods are ever served.
They feed three meals a day to both the 900+ passengers and the 450+ crew.
We had dinner at the Chef’s Table restaurant. Tonight’s menu was the food of Great Britain. Having lived in England on two different occasions I can confirm the cuisine was pretty much spot on.
We had 5 courses. The appetizer was a Scottish egg. This is a soft boiled quail egg wrapped in a breaded wrapper and deep fried.
The first course was traditional fish and chip. I had only 3 chips. But they were all delicious. Of course it was served with smear of mushy green peas. The peas were amazingly tasty compared with the multiple servings I have had over the years. Often the peas are just bland.
The palate cleanser was a gin and tonic icee. Mostly an icee.
The main course was Yorkshire pudding and brisket. Pudding always throws Americans for a loop as they are expecting a pudding and get a small baked bread (eggs, flour and milk) served with roasted beef and gravy.
The dessert course called a Whim-Wham. It was a traditional English trifle and was very good.
Tonight we are sitting and waiting for the 9:00 show by the singers and dancers.
The show was very good. They performed a number of songs from the late 1960’s and from the 1970’s. They knew their audience. Many of the guests are from that era. I really enjoyed songs from my teen years.
A good day at sea.
The horned Lizard – we had the cousin of this animal in the panhandle of Texas in the 1950s and 1960sWhat are you looking at?They really did abuse these animals in this way for a few years.It is a Kangaroo that lives in a tree.An animal designed by a committee.Sometimes called a spiny anteater because it has spines and eats ants. Go figure.This is not the little fellow from the Saturday morning cartoons in the 1950s and 60s.very cutemore of the animals from Australia that are members of the cute animal club.Biologists defined swans as a white bird until these were found in Australia.Very gentle and cute.Our head chef.The head baker.Desserts are ready.Preparing for dinner.
Today we traveled to the Blue Mountain National Park to see the mountains which are blue. Why, you may ask are the blue? Well it seems that a majority of the trees in the forest are Eucalyptus trees and further the Eucalyptus trees leaves secrete eucalyptus oil (duhh). The moisture and oil combine and create a bluish green sheen. Personal I did not see it.
Our first stop was the observation area to see The Three Sisters in the Jamison Valley. The sisters are three rock formations that can be seen from across the valley when the clouds are not blocking the view. How did they get that name?
The Legend
“The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, ‘Meehni’, ‘Wimlah’ and ‘Gunnedoo’ lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.
These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.
The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.
As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.
There are three sisters in monument valley Arizona on the Navajo reservation. The stories of how they came to be are somewhat different
* Some say the Three Sisters look like a Mother Superior, a Sister, and a novice walking towards a cathedral �
* Others say the Three Sisters are three sisters who loved each other very much and were never separated
While I was taking pictures from the top I saw that a path led down to a lower level. Being the consummate photographer I started down the steps and paths. The trip took about five minutes. But the clouds had other plans. The sisters were totally obscured by the clouds. And I did not see them again until I climbed back up.
We stopped for Lunch at 10:45 in a hotel formally known as the Hotel California. When they told me that there was no possibility of me remembering the current name.
Our next stop was an abandoned coal mine area which just happens to be in a rainforest that is full of plant species that have been in existence since before the age of the dinosaurs. They have created a boardwalk through the rainforest and placed mechanical dinosaurs along the path with lots of hands on activities. Lots of four year old kids all talking in different languages but all clearly saying “Look, Mama, a velociraptor!”
It was a great 1 hour stroll through a rainforest on a boardwalk.
Leura was our next stop a very small town with tree lined streets and a lovely Teapot museum/ store.
We made our way back to our ship by five and on the way our bus driver Phil played the music that lost the competition for the Australia tourism theme song back in the 1970s. In case you are wondering why it lost take a listen
The 2000 Olympics were held in Sydney
Window pictures
The Three Sisters rock formation
3 sisters and 2 friends = ?
The offending cloudsI hope her majesty had better weather.the rainforestflowers in the rainforestFred. From the Barrett tv show from the 70’sAn ancient fern treeSaw BanksiaThe brother of the three sistersPink chair ladies at the hotel where we had lunchKatoomba fallsKatoomba fallsKatoomba fallsFern tree
There be dinosaursthere be dinosaursAnd a horse memorial from the coal mining eraThe sisters are still thereLaying back to ride up the world’s steepest cog railwaysailing out of SydneyLeaving the mouth of Sydney Harbor
Our last day under the gentle and funny care of Dan the leader of the Koala’s. He has been ever so helpful and knowledgeable. We woke up in Sydney this morning and after we saw that our luggage was down from our room, Dan took us on a walking tour of the area around our hotel. We were taken into Hyde park. Being part of the British commonwealth the good citizens of Sydney found it much easier to name places in Australia with the same names as in Jolly ol’ England. The morning was very pleasant.
We visited the fountains and cathedral.
We saw a species of tree that was only discovered in 1994. Wollemia nobilis, commonly known as the Wollemi Pine(though it is not a true pine) which was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales. It is thought to be one of the oldest genus of tree in existence.
We saw the part of town known as the rocks. Many of the buildings foundations were built on sandstone that were constructed by the prisoners who were sent here by England in the late 1800s.
We got to eat ice cream for lunch. (It is good to be old.)
We were given a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House. The history and stories of its building are pretty amazing.
We then got on board our home for the next 14 days. The good ship Orion. I may or may not have slept through part of the port talk and the history talk about the mini submarine attack on the harbor of Sydney during the second world war.
A good day was had.
Fountain in Hyde Parkand anotherSt Mary’s Church
The Bells of St. Mary. Bing Crosby was not spotted anywhere.A very westernized painting of St Mary and JesusSt Mary’s NaveSt Mary’s out side of the chruchin the parkdo you think this automobile belongs to a man or woman?another picture of the opera houseThis is what happens during a rock concert in Sydney.Wollemia nobilis, commonly known as the Wollemi Pine(though it is not a true pine) which was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales. It is thought to be one of the oldest genus of tree in existence. Chicago has a bigger one.our guide at the Opera Housebehind the scenes at the opera houseThe roof of the opera housebehind the scenes at the opera housebehind the scenes at the opera houseGentle men in the streets of Sydney
Today was a major contrast between the heat of the Outback small town of Uluru and the indigenous community and the cool breeze of Sydney and a dinner cruise in the Sydney harbor.
The flight took us over much of the heart of Australia. It is truly a giant Country and it is basically barren.
Arriving in Sydney we boarded a coach and it took us to the city harbor and we enjoyed a lovely dinner and an even lovelier harbor cruise. Sydney harbor is indeed one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. Hong Kong harbor might give Sydney a run for first place.
Tomorrow we will take a walking and bus tour of the city and will enjoy a tour of the Sydney opera house before we go on board our ship. Tonight we are staying in a very nice hotel the Marriott Bonvoy.
We saw the rock up close, at sunset and at sunrise. Aw we leave the outback this is from above.The Exchange, the 6,680-square-metre building is the first completed building of Kengo Kuma and Associates in Australia. The circular building includes a mixture of programs: market hall, public library, a child care and food and beverage units. Located in Darling Harbour in the center of Sydney’s downtown district.
I thought it looked like a stack of giant paper plates.
Australian White IbisThe boat on which we took our harbor dinner cruise.On board the dinner cruise. Jeanette told Penny a funny. Frank was not amused.The Crown Hotel and casinoThey do look lovely.The Harbor bridge and opera houseSydney starts the Batman SignalThe down town along the harborI thought this was quite cleverMarriot hotelMarriot hotel
Another early morning. We were off at 5:15 to experience the sunrise at a different spot than we experienced the sunset. This was necessary because the sunsets in the west and rises in the east. This is true even though we are in the southern hemisphere in order to see the effect of the setting and rising sun on the appearance of the rock known as Ayer’s rock or Uluru. It is a giant sandstone structure that is more underground than above. It has been a large part of the indigenous people’s story, who have lived in this area many thousands of years. Or if you ask the indigenous people how long their cultures go back in time they are likely to tell you that they have been here since the beginning of time.
After the sun came up at 6:14 we returned to the hotel and had breakfast. After breakfast we boarded our couch and our driver and guide took us around Ulura and we were regaled with the stories from the aboriginal people the link below is pretty much the same story that Andrew told us.
Information about the rock.
1. It is a part of a ginormous sand stone rock. The natural color of the sandstone is a light beige color (also known as the color of sandstone).
2. The sandstone is not pure. There is a fair amount of iron. Thus when it rains it rusts. Thus it appears a deep red color (also known as rust color)
3. Sandstone is one of the most porous rocks and thus when it rains (fyi this part of Australia is not a desert the annual average rainfall is just a little too much to qualify for desert status. It is an arid land.)
4. We were taken to the watering hole on the eastern side of the rock. There was a trickle of water coming out of the rock. The pool is not always full of water but it is a fairly reliable source of water for people and animals.
5. Climbing Ulura was permanently banned October 26, 2019. The main reason was the objection of the aboriginal people. The rock is important to the Yankunytjatjara, Pitjantjatjara and Anangu people who have lived here since the beginning of time. The rock itself is not sacred. Rather it is the stories of the people that are forever linked with Uluru.
We visited the cultural center of the community. They asked us to not take photos or videos of the center nor the contents so I did not. There was a short video of how the people learned to gather and prepare food from the very harsh places where they live.
This evening for dinner we were driven a ways outside of town to the fields of lights. This is a field of lights .. duhh (50,000) stuck on sticks in mostly random patterns. I confess that I did not catch nor understand the significance.
They did feed us a meal on tables with tablecloths sitting in the red sand. The food was some foods that I would not have ordered including kangaroo. Several grilled or sautéed vegetables but they were served cold. There was a generous supply of beer, sparkling wine and soft drinks.
After the sun set we had a star talk guy come and point out some of the constellations visible in the southern hemisphere. He did this with a powerful laser where he could easily point to various stars. My favorite thing to see was the southern cross. I had just been listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and their hit aptly named Southern Cross. You should listen to the song.
Frank told me of a cool star app that lets you identify any star or planet that you point at with your camera.
It has been a dream come true to get to visit this part of the world. We have seen two sunsets and one sunrise. My plan is not to see the sunrise tomorrow.
We are flying to Sydney tomorrow. It will be nice to get out of the heat, it was 109 today and arrive in a high of 73 degrees in Sydney.
It has been a good but long day.
The sun is going to come up.Jeanette and Penny are readyJeanette and FrankMorning sun on Ulura (the original name for Ayrer’s rock)So as you should know, we ae not alone out here.
This is the Australian salute. Done when not wearing a fly net over your headThe sun is peeking to see if it wants to come up.The Sun also RisesPlant life and life on the plantA small ParrotThe other side of the rockSometimes things breakOne of many cavesAnother of many caesThe watering hole. People and animals come here.Andrew our bus driver and guideJeanette and Penny waiting for a busThere be dead limbs hereSunset looks a lot like sunrisethe field of lightsThis is a very famous shrub. You can tell because it is always in the spotlightup close field of lights
As promised we started the day quite early. We met downstairs at 5:45. The luggage ferries had taken the bags from the hall to the lobby.
They provided continental breakfast. It occurs to me that no one ever specifies which continent is being referenced when describing said breakfast. Since Australia is pretty much the entirety of the Oceanic continent I suspect this continental breakfast is just another Australian breakfast. I did get a pretty decent cup of coffee.
The koala’s and wombat’s were loaded on coaches and we bid fare thee well to Port Douglas and made our way to the Cairns airport. (As a side note the word Cairns has two silent letters. The ir is unnecessary. The city is pronounced “Cans” like two cans of green beans.
We arrived at the airport to catch a chartered flight on Air North Airlines. It was nice not to have to worry about how much my bag weighed. I felt a bit like a professional football player taking a chartered flight to the Super Bowl.
We are flying to Ulura, this small city is near Ayer’s rock. Pictures below.
The flight was pretty much uneventful. We arrived and the luggage ferries loaded our bags and off we went to the “Sails in the Desert” hotel. We had a nice salad buffet lunch. After lunch we rode the free shuttle to the town center and inspected the local IGA grocery store. There used to be a chain of IGA stores in the states which stood for international grocery association. Here it means international groceries of Australia.
We bought and consumed apples. Then we caught the shuttle back to the hotel and discovered it was just a 5 minute walk.
At 6:30 we boarded the coach and drove into the national park that has as its main attraction the Ayer’s rock. It is very big. We were told that the setting sun changes the hues of the rock. They served us sparingly wine and snack food out by the bus parking lot. As the sun went down the temperature became somewhat bearable as it was 108 degrees when we arrived. It was fun. There were some aboriginal ladies that were selling their artwork. It was quite lovely.
After returning to our hotel Frank and I opted to walk to Imalung lookout. It is a Brett’s high dune that is pretty much light free. I took some photos of the stars.
It was a good day. And tomorrow begins at 5:00 so we gather the matching bookend of seeing the sunrise.
The sea shore drive on the way to Cairns airportThe rare Australian walking blackbird.The Outback is pretty much way out back.hail hail the gangs all here! Ray, Penny, Jeanette, FrankAyer’s rock 1 Ayres Rock 2 a little darkerAyers rock 3 a little darkerAyers rock 4 a lttle darkerthe setting sunThe Australian stars at night are big and bright
Traveling with Ray Owens 