Hello
Well we are on the final leg of our journey. I am sitting in "the Wing", Cathay's First class lounge sipping Krug ( won't ever be able to go back!)
Hong Kong was a very pleasant surprise. A very clean and orderly city. I expected it to be more overwhelming. There are lots of people and noise, but they are very orderly and polite. The streets are neat, and people line up and wait politely, what a change. There are back to back shops with neon signs everywhere. I would hate to see this place if the power failed. It is a shopper's paradise, all the designer brands, real and fake. Lots of shops, malls and markets. There is a guy (east Indian, not chinese, selling tailor service and fake watches). The people work ridiculous hours, 10-13 hrs per day 5-7 days a week.
The city never sleeps. We had a wonderful room at the Sheraton with a view of the harbour. It is quite a sight at night all lit up. They have the symphony of lights where the buildings co-ordinate their lights to make a light show to music. We watched it from the sky lounge, very nice.
Sorry have to go catch our flight. Picture to follow
Kim and Dan
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Red Dirt and Crickets
Greetings from the NSW outback. Not as orange as Queensland, more towns along the long drives between them. As we travel south, less red, more cattle and now planted fields. It looks like short corn with a dark seedy head, about 2 feet tall. Not sure what it is, but alot of it is planted.
Lots of cattle grazing on the grass, not as much water, the creeks and rivers are not as full here.
We spent last night in Bourke, which is known as the back o' Burke, which means in the middle of nowhere, and yes, that describes it well. A nice town which services the cattle industry. We found a nice little oasis in the middle of the fields. The campground had cattle grazing in the campsites and eating the roses. It had some lovely gardens. WE had a rainstorm, common on these hot afternoons, followed by a rainbow and a nice outback sunset. Lots of birdlife too. After dark, thousands of crickets came out, they were everywhere! You had to practically shovel them out of the shower stalls. Hundreds of frogs came to feast on them, green, brown, grey and a few toads. Lots of geckos too. No lizards to see. The poor cleaning lady has to clean the cabins everyday, even if they are not used as the crickets get everywhere. Had a few in bed with us until we did a bed check!
Stopped at the Brewarra fish traps which are natural. They are pockets where the fish swim into and cannot get out. They are trapped and the aboriginals can scoop them out with their hands. We watched a bunch of kids "fishing" today. They just scooped them up and put them in a holding pond. A few of them were quite a size, several pounds.WE are now in Dubbo, yes, Dubbo, the fastest growing inland city. They have a really nice zoo, where the animals are in large fields. It has 15 km of tracks, Dan already told me he is NOT walking it.
Kim and Dan
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Outback
Good evening
Ah, the Aussie outback, the aroma of mosquito coils and rid with a background of frogs and road trains. Seriously, it is a truly magical place, especially when its green. The night skies are clear and the milky way is amazing, so clear and so many stars. Hopefully we will make it to the Charleville observatory. Dan is entertaining himself with minature frogs this trip, geckos have taken a backseat.
This area of Australia, Queensland, usually does not get alot of rain. Lake Eyre and the channel country are still getting rain, so it is quite a sight. Lake Eyre is usually dry, but not this year.
The outback is like our prairies in many ways, although not as fertile. Lots of flat grazing land and cattle, but it takes 100 sq miles to make a cattle ranch work. Usually not very lush grazing. This year, lots of cattle and lots of cattle to market traveling in double decker road trains. The locals say they have never seen this many cattle trucks.
We travelled inland from Townsville back to Charters Towers, an old gold mining town and visited the Venus Battery which was one of the 27 gold processing batteries in the area in the late 1800's. This one was different as anyone could use it for a fee. Most of the batteries were owned by the mine owners and were on site as it took 1 ton of rock to produce an ounce of gold (if you were lucky). The rock had to be transported by horse and wagon to the battery. The gold was underground and the rock had to be brought up from underground then crushed, mixed with mercury to form a pudding. They did this for the first 20 years and threw the tailings in the river. It was then discovered that there was almost as much gold in the tailings and it could be extracted with cyanide. They then dug up the river. this continued for a while until the gold ran out. After the cyanide process was discovered, they sent the tailings to a vat and mixed it with cyanide and removed more gold. Men had to jump into the vats and shovel them out. I am sure there are lots of job vacancies. Most of these men did not live past 50. There are still gold mines in the area, as the techniques have improved and the price of gold has skyrocketed. A faster process was discovered in the 1950's and the cyanide, which was recycled in the early part of the century, was then just dumped into the river. Apparently the locals used to swim in the river, but never put their heads under. It is interesting to see all the shafts under the town, they are several hundred feet deep so the town is not in danger of collapsing.
We then headed to the thriving town of Hughenden, where dinosuars where discovered in Oz. We then travelled up to Porcupine Gorge which is their version of the grand canyon. Very pretty with red, yellow and black rocks. The gorge is quite beautiful and deep. We trekked down to the creek to take a look at the lovely sandstone formations, and the gorge which was carved thousands (milliosn?) of years ago. The banks of the river are sandstone and have amazing formations carved into them by the water and the rocks. The pyramid, which the park is famous for, is a pyramid shaped cliff of sandstone and basalt ( and other stuff, which I cannot remember the name of ).
PORCUPINE GORGE
The pyramid in Porcupine Gorge national park.
Off to Longreach, which is a real outback town. It is famous as the birthplace of Quantas and the founders museum is here. A very interesting place, the Aussies are very proud of their heritage and there are many museums and monuments to their achievements. The outback has many small towns, and I mean small, most have a pub and little else. There is even a tour of outback pubs. We found this great little pub in Prairie, which is just outside of Hughenden. The owners are a young family, the father could be Simon's aussie twin. The town has 10 people and the pub is the only real establishment. It is full of neat old memrobilia like saddles, hats, etc. The owner had to open the ice cream freezer with pliers as his 7 yo daughter had broken the latch trying to get into it. You have to wonder at the people who inhabit these isolated places, they are really fun to meet. All of them are so friendly and willing to sit and chat.
A typical road (highway) in the outback.
"Capt Dan" sitting in the cockpit of the Quantas 747 in the Founders museum in Longreach.
I sitting under the big sky, a sliver of a moon and the milky way glistening above me, listening to the Magnificent Seven theme sipping Aussie wine, life is good .
good evening and happy travels
Kim and Dan
Ah, the Aussie outback, the aroma of mosquito coils and rid with a background of frogs and road trains. Seriously, it is a truly magical place, especially when its green. The night skies are clear and the milky way is amazing, so clear and so many stars. Hopefully we will make it to the Charleville observatory. Dan is entertaining himself with minature frogs this trip, geckos have taken a backseat.
This area of Australia, Queensland, usually does not get alot of rain. Lake Eyre and the channel country are still getting rain, so it is quite a sight. Lake Eyre is usually dry, but not this year.
The outback is like our prairies in many ways, although not as fertile. Lots of flat grazing land and cattle, but it takes 100 sq miles to make a cattle ranch work. Usually not very lush grazing. This year, lots of cattle and lots of cattle to market traveling in double decker road trains. The locals say they have never seen this many cattle trucks.
We travelled inland from Townsville back to Charters Towers, an old gold mining town and visited the Venus Battery which was one of the 27 gold processing batteries in the area in the late 1800's. This one was different as anyone could use it for a fee. Most of the batteries were owned by the mine owners and were on site as it took 1 ton of rock to produce an ounce of gold (if you were lucky). The rock had to be transported by horse and wagon to the battery. The gold was underground and the rock had to be brought up from underground then crushed, mixed with mercury to form a pudding. They did this for the first 20 years and threw the tailings in the river. It was then discovered that there was almost as much gold in the tailings and it could be extracted with cyanide. They then dug up the river. this continued for a while until the gold ran out. After the cyanide process was discovered, they sent the tailings to a vat and mixed it with cyanide and removed more gold. Men had to jump into the vats and shovel them out. I am sure there are lots of job vacancies. Most of these men did not live past 50. There are still gold mines in the area, as the techniques have improved and the price of gold has skyrocketed. A faster process was discovered in the 1950's and the cyanide, which was recycled in the early part of the century, was then just dumped into the river. Apparently the locals used to swim in the river, but never put their heads under. It is interesting to see all the shafts under the town, they are several hundred feet deep so the town is not in danger of collapsing.
We then headed to the thriving town of Hughenden, where dinosuars where discovered in Oz. We then travelled up to Porcupine Gorge which is their version of the grand canyon. Very pretty with red, yellow and black rocks. The gorge is quite beautiful and deep. We trekked down to the creek to take a look at the lovely sandstone formations, and the gorge which was carved thousands (milliosn?) of years ago. The banks of the river are sandstone and have amazing formations carved into them by the water and the rocks. The pyramid, which the park is famous for, is a pyramid shaped cliff of sandstone and basalt ( and other stuff, which I cannot remember the name of ).
PORCUPINE GORGE
A typical road (highway) in the outback.
good evening and happy travels
Kim and Dan
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Driving in Australia
G'day
Paronella park lit up at night. It was built in 
Grasshopper in Cape tribulation
We are currently in Barcaldine in the outback. We had some interesting drives to get here. We left the far north, Cape Tribulation, on sunday to beat the weather. They were calling for more rain and lots of it. This is the wet season, but this amount of rain is incredible. A few places got 14 inches of rain in 24 hrs and that was after receiving alot of rain previously. And it's still coming! There is flooding in the north again, areas hit by Yasi like Tully and Cardwell and getting flooded again with all this rain.
We left at a good time as it started to rain when we hit the Tully area and we were watching the water rise in some of the creeks and at the side of the road. North of Townsville, you could see the water lapping at the edge of the highway and the fields beside the highway ( I use the term loosely) were flooded and about to overflow. The highways in Oz are like our secondary highways or roads. Bitumen (tar and gravel) and look like patchwork quilts, they are been patched so many times. I wonder when the last time one was totally resurfaced. The Bruce highway is the main highway around Australia is like highway 33, but not as good. It floods often and has been underwater or closed over 700 times in the last two years. Its closed again in many spots due to the flooding, we got out just in time!
We then headed inland where to forecast was a bit better, showers instead of rain. It is amazing how many ways the aussies can think of to say rain-showers, rain, storms, etc
It has been hot and sunny and we have hit a few of the hot spots for Queensland, 33-34 deg C. Again, traveling along the roads is an adventure. One road started as a two lane bitumen road, pink, from the granite that they use, to a one lane track to a two lane red dirt road. Road trains travel this road and we had the pleasure of meeting 3 of them along this dusty track, its was a "red out". Had to sit still for a few minutes until the dust settled. It then became a two lane bitumen road again, then dirt, then single lane, etc. I am not sure why they don't seal the road all the way. Many of the dirt roads are impassable this time of year (the wet) and the tire ruts are quite impressive.
We have been traveling on long straight stretches of road which go for as far as the eye can see. the road and hydro poles fade off into the horizon. It is nice to see this area green as it is usually brown and dry. Lots of grass plains with some trees and lots of red dirt.
You see these signs at all the rivers in the north
Paronella park lit up at night. It was built in 1930's by a Jose Paronella as a leisure centre.
Grasshopper in Cape tribulation
A beach side campground north of Cairns in the tropical rainforest. You can see that the rainforest comes down to meet the sea.
Cheers
Kim and Dan
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Rainforest
Greetings from the steamy north Queensland
We have spent the last couple of days in the rainforest, boy its hot and humid. You sweat just standing still! The rainforest is beautiful, thick lush growth. Its amazing how many types of vegetation can survive in such a small area-trees, shrubs, heaps of vines climbing-several on one tree. Lots of butterflies, some birds, but not as many as usual due to the cyclone. Apparently alot of the birds have travelled inland. We took a cruise on the Daintree River, its lovely just floating along looking a the forest and listening to the sounds. It is amazing how loud the sounds of the forest are-birds, cicadas, frogs (mostly at night). We saw a salty sunning himself at the riverside-he didn't take much notice of use fortunately. We did a rainforest walk and climbed to view it from above, all the vegetation competing for sunlight. Beautiful butterflies-electric blue wings, black with yellow spots. Have found a few freshwater swimming holes to cool down in as its so warm and the ocean is like bath water. Also stingers in the water and crocs in some of the rivers, so the swimming holes are the best bet. Lots have waterfalls, very nice way to spend time.
We made it up to Cape Tribulation and are now heading down the coast again, trying to avoid the rain. A hard task as its raining everywhere in Queeensland today. We just visited Paronella Park which is an old leisure park built in the 1930's. It is ruins now, but quite lovely with ferns and moss everywhere. We did a night tour which lit up the ruins and the falls, pictures to come. It was the first place in the area to have electricity, by almost 20 years. They had hot and cold running water and sold ice cream, a real treat back then. There was a cinema and a dance floor with a "disco ball" which was quite rare in the 1930's and cost more than the land. We were treated to a tropical storm complete with thunder and lightening and heaps of rain. It comes down so heavy that you can shower in it and comes down heavily for over an hour. Lots of flooding.
We just drove through Tully which is one of the hardest hit by Cyclone Yasi. It looks like a bomb went off, trees totally denuded, broken, bent. Debris strewn everywhere. Roofs ripped off, walls torn away and signs bent over (I mean heavy highway signs bent over to the ground by the wind). It has been 1.5 months so a lot of repair has been down, but still a lot to do. It is amazing how fast the vegetation grows. All the vegetation we are seeing is since the cyclone. Lots of new shoots, and growth.
Not sure where we are heading next
road train which can be up to 50 m long. A real bugger when you a driving an automatic diesel campervan.
Kim and Dan
We have spent the last couple of days in the rainforest, boy its hot and humid. You sweat just standing still! The rainforest is beautiful, thick lush growth. Its amazing how many types of vegetation can survive in such a small area-trees, shrubs, heaps of vines climbing-several on one tree. Lots of butterflies, some birds, but not as many as usual due to the cyclone. Apparently alot of the birds have travelled inland. We took a cruise on the Daintree River, its lovely just floating along looking a the forest and listening to the sounds. It is amazing how loud the sounds of the forest are-birds, cicadas, frogs (mostly at night). We saw a salty sunning himself at the riverside-he didn't take much notice of use fortunately. We did a rainforest walk and climbed to view it from above, all the vegetation competing for sunlight. Beautiful butterflies-electric blue wings, black with yellow spots. Have found a few freshwater swimming holes to cool down in as its so warm and the ocean is like bath water. Also stingers in the water and crocs in some of the rivers, so the swimming holes are the best bet. Lots have waterfalls, very nice way to spend time.
We made it up to Cape Tribulation and are now heading down the coast again, trying to avoid the rain. A hard task as its raining everywhere in Queeensland today. We just visited Paronella Park which is an old leisure park built in the 1930's. It is ruins now, but quite lovely with ferns and moss everywhere. We did a night tour which lit up the ruins and the falls, pictures to come. It was the first place in the area to have electricity, by almost 20 years. They had hot and cold running water and sold ice cream, a real treat back then. There was a cinema and a dance floor with a "disco ball" which was quite rare in the 1930's and cost more than the land. We were treated to a tropical storm complete with thunder and lightening and heaps of rain. It comes down so heavy that you can shower in it and comes down heavily for over an hour. Lots of flooding.
We just drove through Tully which is one of the hardest hit by Cyclone Yasi. It looks like a bomb went off, trees totally denuded, broken, bent. Debris strewn everywhere. Roofs ripped off, walls torn away and signs bent over (I mean heavy highway signs bent over to the ground by the wind). It has been 1.5 months so a lot of repair has been down, but still a lot to do. It is amazing how fast the vegetation grows. All the vegetation we are seeing is since the cyclone. Lots of new shoots, and growth.
Not sure where we are heading next
Kim and Dan
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Atherton Tablelands
Greetings
We have had a busy couple of days checking out some of the natural wonders in the area. We are inland from Cairns. We headed inland to avoid the flooding and so far, so good. We spent the night at the Undara Lava Tubes and toured them this morning. Amazing, what nature can do. 190 millions years ago, this area was covered with volcanos, 164 of them. The Undara volcano erupted and sent millions of cubic metres of lava flowing over the area. The lava takes the path of least resistance, river valleys etc. As it flows the lava on top hardens and insulates the lava flowing in the middle and hence, a lava tube is born. This one was over 100 km long, but only a few lava tubes are left or accessible. Not many countries have them. They are like big caves with basalt walls. Two of the tubes ( or should I say, part of the tube that are remaining) had water in them and it was possible to walk through the tube in the water. We followed the boardwalk to the end where there was no natural light and it was silent except for the sound of dripping water, very eerie. Bats live in some of the tubes, but generally they are uninhabited.
We then meandered along the savannah and stopped at the hot springs. They are natural "hot" springs 73 deg F that bubble up beside the creek. Unfortunately, the creek was flooding, so the springs were small but warm. Waded in them, should have younger looking feet!
Then on to see several beautiful waterfalls, which are quite impressive as the rainy season has been quite rainy, It started early and a lot of rain has fallen. There is a lovely scenic drive which stops at several waterfalls. It is hard to believe that we are in Queensland, its more like New Zealand. Beautiful green rolling hills with lots of dairy cattle grazing, rolling hills and mist covered "mountains" in the background. Very lush and lovely. The waterfalls were teaming, and very loud, not hard to find them! The water is very cool and refreshing. We also visited a water filled hole which was created by the build up of gases from the volcano. The pressure built up and blew a hole in the rock to form this "hole" which is now filled with water and travels for several hundred metres underground.
Lava tube with water, see the walkway, can walk to the end, but up to arm pits
The crater at Mt Hypipamee
Kim and Dan
We have had a busy couple of days checking out some of the natural wonders in the area. We are inland from Cairns. We headed inland to avoid the flooding and so far, so good. We spent the night at the Undara Lava Tubes and toured them this morning. Amazing, what nature can do. 190 millions years ago, this area was covered with volcanos, 164 of them. The Undara volcano erupted and sent millions of cubic metres of lava flowing over the area. The lava takes the path of least resistance, river valleys etc. As it flows the lava on top hardens and insulates the lava flowing in the middle and hence, a lava tube is born. This one was over 100 km long, but only a few lava tubes are left or accessible. Not many countries have them. They are like big caves with basalt walls. Two of the tubes ( or should I say, part of the tube that are remaining) had water in them and it was possible to walk through the tube in the water. We followed the boardwalk to the end where there was no natural light and it was silent except for the sound of dripping water, very eerie. Bats live in some of the tubes, but generally they are uninhabited.
We then meandered along the savannah and stopped at the hot springs. They are natural "hot" springs 73 deg F that bubble up beside the creek. Unfortunately, the creek was flooding, so the springs were small but warm. Waded in them, should have younger looking feet!
Then on to see several beautiful waterfalls, which are quite impressive as the rainy season has been quite rainy, It started early and a lot of rain has fallen. There is a lovely scenic drive which stops at several waterfalls. It is hard to believe that we are in Queensland, its more like New Zealand. Beautiful green rolling hills with lots of dairy cattle grazing, rolling hills and mist covered "mountains" in the background. Very lush and lovely. The waterfalls were teaming, and very loud, not hard to find them! The water is very cool and refreshing. We also visited a water filled hole which was created by the build up of gases from the volcano. The pressure built up and blew a hole in the rock to form this "hole" which is now filled with water and travels for several hundred metres underground.
The crater at Mt HypipameeMillaa Millaa falls
We saw a fair bit of wildlife, wallabies, roos and beautiful birds. Lots of butterflies and dragonflies.Kim and Dan
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