Sydney, Australia

Sydney Opera HouseSydney Harbour Bridge Manly Beach Surfer

Joe Bill & Tanja (new German friend)

Pat, Joe Bill & Martha (New Irish Friends)

Bondi Beach

Mexican Restaurant (Murray, Trish, Sandy, Joe Bill, Daina, Benn)

We touched down at Sydney (city population 4.3 million) airport at 5pm yesterday (Monday) and took the 30 minute taxi ride to our accommodation on the outskirts of Sydney - it was a 25 minute walk from the CBD. After the high 44.6C (112F) temperatures in Sydney the day before we arrived, we were relieved to find a cool change had passed through by the time we arrived.

This morning we decided to jump on a double decker bus and do a tour of Sydney and Bondi Beach - the overcast and drizzly conditions weren't ideal for sightseeing around Sydney Harbour and the beach, but we enjoyed our day and had lots of laughs. The first bus we hopped on was a bit a of worry - we wondered what we had got ourselves into as the engine in the back was louder than the speaker giving the commentary. Fortunately our first stop (Opera House) was not far up the road and the next buses we caught were great - what a relief. On our last leg we met a lovely Irish couple - Pat & Martha. Once they knew Sandy & Joe Bill hailed from Arkansas, they entered into a lively discussion on Bill Clinton.

The Opera House is a World Heritage site and is an iconic building and one of the world's greatest performing arts centres. It has 2679 seats and on the roof are 1,056,006 white and cream tiles. When you stand on the steps of the Opera House, you look across the harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge - a stunning view. After walking within the Opera House, we made our way dodging the puddles to catch a ferry for the 30 min ride across Sydney Harbour to Manly, a suburb north-east of Sydney CBD. Joe Bill & Sandy tried a bit of Aussie culture by eating an authentic meat pie for lunch. They have now witnessed all aspects of our classic advertisement for Australian Holden cars that goes: "Football, meat pies, kangaroos & Holden cars" - We ate dinner at a football club last night, they had a meat pie today, they patted kangaroos at the Australian Zoo and they saw a Holden car at Manly today. They can tick all of those boxes now!

Back on the bus and off we went to Bondi Beach 7 km (4.3 mi) east of Sydney. The beach is 1 km (0.6 mi) long and a beautiful beach on a sunny day. Despite the poor weather conditions today, there were a few hardy surfers riding the surf, and Joe Bill managed to grab a board and hug the owner! We had a 30 min wait for our bus connection, so we walked to the pavilion on the edge of the beach, and enjoyed a coffee and muffin, served to us by a lovely young lady from Germany. It has been very interesting to find that nearly every cafe or restaurant we visit has staff from overseas, all here on working holidays - Switzerland, Germany, Sweden are just some of the countries I recall they were from. Back to our hotel for a shower and rest, before walking up to a nearby Mexican restaurant where we were joined by my son Benn and his girlfriend Daina for a pleasant dinner. We left them with a plan to meet again tomorrow night at a German restaurant at the Rocks, the area that was the original settlement at Sydney harbour.

Aboriginal Culture

Aboriginal Cultural Park Cairns
Boomerang Joe
Corroboree

Ferry Operator on Daintree River

Thala Beach Resort Pool

View of Coast from Daintree Rainforest

As I mentioned in the previous blog, Sandy & Joe Bill visited an Aboriginal Cultural park yesterday. From all accounts they had an interesting morning and were amazed to compare similarities between the Australian Aborigines' history and that of the American Indians. Joe Bill showed the Aboriginals a few nifty steps they could add to their traditional corroboree dance, and both Sandy & Joe Bill learnt the skills involved in throwing a boomerang and having it return to them. Enjoy these photos of their cultural experience plus those of our travels further north into the rainforest.

Sadly, while we were enjoying the beauty and cool dampness of the rainforest yesterday, Australia experienced its worst ever bush fire tragedy with 108 confirmed deaths and over 750 homes destroyed in towns north of Melbourne in the state of Victoria. Meanwhile, record floods have been occuring in a major city 3 hours south of us here in Cairns.

Cairns-Port Douglas- Cape Tribulation

Cairns north to Port Douglas, Daintree and Cape Tribulation

Thala Beach Resort

Joe Bill don't climb the coconut tree!

Port Douglas Beach

Bulls, Kangaroos & Sandy

Well, we sure have packed a lot into our day today. It started with Sandy & Joe Bill spending the morning at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park while Murray & I sat having coffee & pancakes while reading the paper on the ocean front at Trinity Beach. Joe Bill, shy & retiring as he is, told us he was dragged kicked and screaming to join in with the aboriginal dancers in a traditional male dance (corroboree). However, anyone who really knows Joe Bill would agree he probably paid them to call him up! The photos should reach the blog by tomorrow...watch this space.

After they finished with the Australian indigenous people, they were ready for lunch, so we made our way 45 miles (40 minutes) north from Cairns to Port Douglas. We made a quick stop to check out the highly recommended view at the Thala Beach resort before reaching Port Douglas by 1pm. Can you believe that Joe Bill's 'boy' Bill Clinton & his wife Hillary chose Port Douglas as the only vacation stop on their 1996 historic visit to Australia. They were there again, dining at the Salsa restaurant (that we would have eaten at except they had no airconditioning and it was so hot) , when he was advised of the 9/11 attacks. He subsequently returned to the United States the following day. It's not hard to work out why he singled out Port Douglas - it really is a lovely location.

Lunch finished, we were back in the car and decided to continue north to the World Heritage Listed Tropical Daintree Rainforest, the largest continuous area of rainforest in Australia. At over 135 million years old, it is the oldest rainforest in the world. It has 13 species of birds that are found nowhere else in the world. Sadly just out of Daintree we took a ferry over the flooded Daintree River hoping to continue north to Cape Tribulation, only to hear that a 5 year old boy had been taken by a crocodile there this morning. His family ran a business on the river, and the boy had been walking with his 7 year old brother and his dog. Apparently the dog entered the flood waters and the boy went in after him and disappeared. His brother saw a large crocodile where his brother disappeared. As we crossed in the ferry we could see the emergency workers continuing their search along the river. Truly a sad and sobering sight. This is our last night in Cairns as tomorrow we fly to Sydney.

Cairns Tropical Rainforest

Boarding the Skyrail

Tropical Rainforest Boardwalk

What do you think Sandy?

Waterfall from Train

Tropical Butterfly in the Wild

Pool Competition

At 10am a shuttle picked us up at our hotel and dropped us at the Skyrail for a 50 minute enclosed 4 seater chairlift ride up the mountain to Kuranda. After 20 minutes of tranquil riding above the tree canopy we embarked at a stop where we walked along the boardwalk amongst the tropical rainforest and viewed the gushing Barron Falls; a waterfall that provides 60 megawatts of electricity. Back on the ride for another 30 minutes and we reached our mountain top destination of Kuranda. We were very fortunate with the weather - although overcast, the rain stayed away. Joe Bill had his eye on a Drizabone (oil slicker coat) which is the traditional Australian cattleman's outerwear for wet weather gear. At this stage I broke away and spent time in the butterfly enclosure while Sandy, Joe Bill & Murray visited an authentic aboriginal art gallery. We all met up again in time to catch the train, and I noticed Joe Bill had a big smile on his face, a slimmer billfold and he was carrying a large brown bag - yep, he had bought his Drizabone! Thanks for helping boost the Australian economy - we promise to come to America in March and reciprocate!

For the ride back instead of taking the skyrail we took the skytrain. It was a very scenic 90 minute ride down the mountain - through tunnels, past waterfalls and amongst the tropical undergrowth. As we got further down the mountain we could see Cairns nestled in the valley with the ocean behind it and a mountain to the south. Rolling grey clouds looked ominous, and sure enough, just as we started out to walk a few blocks to dinner, the rain came bucketing down. Fortunately we were only one building from our hotel, so we returned, got in our hire car and drove to dinner instead. Just as well as the directions we were given were way out, and we would have been walking for hours in the wrong direction and never have found the place. Once in the car, we stopped a local and refined the directions, and arrived at the Cock & Bull Tavern that proved to be a very popular dining spot. After our meal Murray & Joe Bill had 2 games of Pool and they won a game each.

Snorkelling: Great Barrier Reef, Cairns AUSTRALIA

Off to Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
No, not Sandy, but it is the Great Barrier Reef
Donning Wetsuits

Disembarking at Cairns Marina
Beautiful Cairns

OK Murray, what steak will we have? Decisions, decisions...

Outback Jack Rack (Ribs & Bibs)

We woke to a humid, overcast morning with low lying clouds shrouding the nearby mountains. A new cyclone is brewing, but that didn't stop Joe Bill & Sandy putting on their bathers and packing their bag for a day trip to snorkel the waters of Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world. It is 1200 miles long and is home to 400 species of coral and 1500 species of fish. At 8.30am we accompanied them to the marina and waved them off, and we were there at 4.30pm when they berthed. They had a great experience and saw the colourful coral and vibrantly coloured fish and met some lovely people. Needless to say they were very relieved that the cyclone stayed away.

Tonight we dined like kings at Outback Jack's restaurant not far from our hotel. Just as well, as the monsoon rains were fairly heavy at 6pm. The delicious ribs were not enough for our hearty appetites, so we wandered down the street and each ordered a different flavoured gelato. Yum!

Day 3 & 4

Watch out fish, here we come!North Arm Richmond River, Ballina, Australia

Australian Outback Spectacular - Yee Haw!
Could you help me with my camera?

Joe Bill & his Bride at Dangerous Palm Cove

Wednesday was a beautiful day in Ballina, so Murray & Joe Bill went to the sand bar on the river and got some yabbies to use as bait. Sandy & I sat on a bench and watched them for awhile, and timed it just right to witness Joe Bill pull in a small whiting fish. We then took a drive into the country, accompanied by my 85 years young Aunt, and had lunch at a delightful restaurant called Eltham Pantry. We then drove 1.5 hours north to have afternoon tea with my younger sister Loretta and her husband Peter who live on the Gold Coast. A late decision saw us getting tickets to attend the Australian Outback Spectacular (Aussie version of the Dixie Stampede) and we donned our ten gallon hats and took our seats in the arena. The background scenery of the Australian bush was beautiful, but then I am prejudiced of course. The horses put on a great display and the riders were very talented. I loved seeing the riders wearing their Drizabones and looking very much like our traditional stockmen and women.

After the show we drove up to Brisbane and checked into a motel which was only 15 minutes from the airport for our flight to Cairns this morning. As we drove into the grounds of our motel late at night, Joe Bill thought he was experiencing deja vu. The motel reminded him of Bates Motel in the movie Psycho, and he was a bit wary, but did not mention his concerns until this morning. Fortunately he had no complaints. Cairns was a very smooth 2.15 hr flight away and despite the recent cyclone and residual tropical depression, we were greeted by blue skies amid the threatening clouds. Our motel overlooking the ocean is spacious with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a kitchen & laundry. Our taxi driver recommended that we catch a bus to Palm Cove to enjoy the lovely beach. Well, none of us thought much of the beach for a start, but when the female lifeguards said it was a very dangerous beach due to deadly jellyfish, we were glad it was windy and spitting with rain and therefore we had not been tempted to go in for a swim! Joe Bill espied a pretty young Japanese lady and quickly came up with an excuse to chat with her - he thought he had a Japanese Nikon camera and went over to seek her assistance, but she pointed out it was a US Kodak camera! Oh dear, Joe Bill!! But yes, she was cute....

Gold Coast, Australia

DAY TWO Speedo Mate in Caloundra
Grant, Audrey, Murray, Trish Sandy, Joe Bill

Murray, Audrey, Grant, Trish, Joe Bill, Sandy, Tony, Yudian at Mt Tamborine
Joe Bill and Sandy in Surfers Paradise

Overlooking a beach south of Byron Bay

Scarlett & Betsy Help...they won't give me time to do up my blog! Day two of the Meador visit and we started with breakfast overlooking the sea inlet. As we walked outside a guy wearing his speedos offered to take a photo of us all, but we took one of him instead! Just under an hour south and we were at the Gold Coast - Joe Bill and Sandy stood in the entrance of the tourist capital - Surfers Paradise. We then called in on friends Audrey & Grant who have a stunning 1 acre property with their own billabong (waterhole) and picturesque view. From there, we drove up into the hinterland to Mount Tamborine to have lunch with Audrey, Grant, my brother Tony & his wife Yudian. The view back to the Gold Coast with the Pacific Ocean behind it was delightful. A kookaburra (bird) flew in the show off to our US guests, but as he didn't laugh for us, Audrey gave them a realistic demonstration instead.

After a pleasant sojourn we said goodbye to our lunch companions, and drove down south of the Gold Coast to check out the view from Crocodile Dundee's hotel on the ocean front at Byron Bay. The sun was getting lower so the view was muted, but beautiful. We drove past the chaps playing cricket on the oval, then checked out the lighthouse above the million dollar homes overlooking the ocean. After we drove through Lennox Heads we saw the surfers sitting on their boards waiting to catch the waves. Didn't see any dolphins today though. We arrived into Ballina around 6.30pm and we were ready to relax, so just picked up a rotisserie chicken and some fresh bread rolls and sat on the verandah and had a quiet dinner. After some discussions on our itinerary for the following day, we went to bed to rest up for another day of activities.

Visit to Australia Zoo

Joe Bill Rescues his Darling from the Jaws of the Croc

Sandy meets Aussie Hunk

Our Arkansan friends Joe Bill & Sandy flew into Brissie today, touching down at the airport at 7.45am after 13 hours 55 mins in the air! They had a good flight on Qantas, were rested and ready to see the Australian sights. We thought we would start of with Australia Zoo, so a one hour trip north and we were there - that was after Joe Bill went to sit in the passenger side only to find Murray was behind the steering wheel on the right hand side of the car. Being in a car driving on the left hand side of the road took a bit of getting used to. We had a very pleasant day patting kangaroos, seeing a baby koala on his mother's back, fighting crocodiles (thank goodness Joe Bill was there to rescue Sandy from the jaws of this huge croc) and and checking out dingoes and Tasmanian Devils. There were platypus there too, but as they are nocturnal, the staff have them in a separate enclosure slowly converting them into diurnal creatures so that they will be awake during some of the day.


While we were visiting Joe Bill & Sandy in Arkansas in August last year, we had about 3 days of heavy rain as a result of a hurricane Gustav in Galveston. So guess what, they arrived in Queensland to hear Cairns was hit by a cyclone earlier today - as part of the tropical depression in this area, we had a shower of rain so decided to call it a day at the Zoo and head to our overnight accommodation at Caloundra on the coast. Sandy met a very nice young man and he was keen to take her for a ride on his wind surfer, but she hastily declined. Joe Bill made a sigh of relief as the wind had picked up and he was thinking he might never see his Sandy again if she took off with the young hunk! We had a lovely meal overlooking the ocean, had an icecream at Baskin Robbins, then returned to our apartment for an early night. So endeth their first day in Oz!

Beach Scenes

Young lads surveying the surf
Our car and 'our' seat by the beach
Shelley Beach

Many people ask me how I fill my time now that I am retired. I cannot believe how much fun stuff there is to do now that my 38 years of working 'for the man' and raising 3 kids are behind me. Most days involve a walk to the local library to read the day's paper, and then I might think of some book to look up, or a DVD to borrow. Yesterday I read and worked my way through a few modules of a book writing course in the afternoon and again in the evening, and didn't turn the computer off until it was almost midnight. I am also spending some time surfing the internet looking for interesting things to do while our American friends are visiting. Other friends of ours from Florida are hoping our next RV itinerary can fit in with an RV trip they are doing to Charleston, South Carolina, so I have been working out distances and dates to see if that will work - I have a bit of juggling to do for the first 3 weeks after we arrive in the US, but we have now sorted our dates for South Carolina, and even identified the park where we will park side by side for a week. My friend was going to book the park this week.

Each day in retirement is a bit different for us here in Ballina, but the first thing I do when my feet hit the floor is to give thanks for the fact that I have actually woken to another day! Another day to have a crack at those things that always seemed to be put off until I retired and had some time, like writing! Whether I will actually write a book I have no idea, but it sure is fun trying. It is also a bonus to be able to read until you want, which is something I could not do when I was working full time and needed to set the alarm for 6am. We are also keen to do some voluntary work and enquired in a soup kitchen in the CBD, but we are coming and going so much in the coming weeks (up north to Cairns, down to Sydney & Melbourne) that we can't get that organised at this time.

Yesterday Murray & I decided to check out the view from a small country golf course a few miles away. They have a cafe overlooking the first tee and the green stretches out several feet below - a moderate gradient to get down to play the second shot. We had a coffee there and enjoyed the vista. On the way home we drove though a seaside town and as it was Sunday and holiday season, there were huge numbers of board surfers out catching the waves. A beautiful sight. We continued on to Shelley Beach which is a few miles up the road from our place and decided to park the car and do a brisk walk along the sand. I am very keen to improve my general fitness level. When we finished our walk we sat on a seat overlooking the beach and just enjoyed watching the waves and the cloud formations. Things we never had much time to do until now. Just as we were about to leave, two young lads (about 15 years old) turned up and surveyed the waves before choosing the area they were going to body surf. Next minute they were running down to the water and we watched them bobbing in the waves before we hopped in our car and drove home.

This morning I had a CD to post off to my brother in Japan, so I walked about one and a half miles to the post office, then walked along the river to the library to read today's newspaper. I noticed the high water level in the river (close to the sea mouth) which reminded me of reports that tonight the moon would be the closest it has been to earth for 15 years, and so the tides were supposed to peak as well. Although it was 2 hrs past high tide, I walked home, had a health smoothie for lunch with Murray, then I jumped in the car and drove to the same beach where we were yesterday. The waves were really rolling in, and I went into the water to take some photos back towards the headland for you. I then went and sat back on the same chair as yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, the same two lads turned up again to survey the waves; so I took a picture of them for you!

I had arranged to drop in on my sister, so we sat at her place and chatted for awhile before I invited her to join me for a quick foray to the grocery store - we are preparing dinner for friends up on the Gold Coast tomorrow night, and I needed to pick up some supplies. Now I am back home and thought I would add an entry to the blog before doing some more work on my writing modules - or will I read a few chapters on my new book on Digital Camera Photography or shall I design some bead jewellery for a market stall I plan to have in America? Decisions, decisions...After dinner this evening when it cools down a bit, my sister and I are doing a brisk walk on the path along the river.

Odyssey 2009

Andre Rieu Concert in Brisbane

Sister Loretta (Ret) & cousin Claire at Andre Rieu

Murray & my daughter Kim

Me with Kim at the beach

Son Mark, me & Kim out Christmas shopping

Wow - over 1 month has passed since I last blogged...so much to do, so little time. I never thought retirement could be this busy nor this enjoyable. Who would have thought I would get to have front arena seats at an Andre Rieu concert in Brisbane and share the evening with two of my sisters, my niece (who generously donated my ticket) and my brother-in-law. Wonders never cease!

In December my girlfriend Caren who worked at the hospital where I did my nurse training in 1970 drove down to Ballina and spent a night at the motel across the road; we had a nice evening to chat and catch up. Just before Christmas our friends Bev & Ross left for a year or two (or three) sojourn in Canada renting a stunning property in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Ross is there stuydying at uni and has started up a blog which will bring their adventures alive for their friends. I have no doubt some nice bottles of red wine will loose their corks when we drop in on them during our upcoming US/Canada RV trip.

Christmas was very exciting for me as I had 2 of my 3 kids home for the celebrations. I knew my youngest son Mark was flying down from Darwin, and I knew my eldest son Benn was one of the pilots on a Qantas flight to Los Angeles and had planned to spend the day in the snow at Big Bear Mountain, but I was very pleasantly surprised when my daughter Kim (who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada) arrived in Ballina, as a surprise, the week before Christmas. Benn and Kim had contrived to get her here as a surprise, but she had to spill the beans a few days before her flight in case I read about it on her Facebook! My last remaining Aunty joined the 4 of us for a special Christmas lunch. The next day my mum, 2 brothers, 2 sisters, a sister and a brother-in-law, Aunt, Kim & Mark joined Murray & I in a family Christmas celebration at my sister Ret's place on the Gold Coast. Murray also had the pleasure of catching up with his 3 kids in Melbourne in early December - we will see them again in March before we fly back to the US. While he was in Melbourne Murray also got to spend an evening with an American friend of ours who now lives in Melbourne but was leaving a few days later to fly back to the USA to visit family. Hope you had a great time with them Scott! Enjoy the snow there as it is hot, hot, hot back here in Oz.

A few days later my girlfriend Jen who I did my general nurse and midwifery training with came to visit with her husband. They stayed a night at a Ballina motel and we had afternoon tea and dinner together, then her & I sat on a bench by the river and chatted until midnight. It was gerat to see them again. No sooner was Christmas over before the New Year was upon us and we watched the fireworks explode at midnight on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Then 16 hours later, the ball dropped in New York City.

Tomorrow my girlfriend (a nurse who entered the Air Force on the same day as I did 20+ years ago) is coming to visit and will stay the night at the motel across the road (they are getting a bit of business out of our visitors). We saw Heather when we first got back to Oz, but I am looking forward to seeing her again.

An exciting start to the new year included news that friends of ours from Arkansas have decided to make a visit downunder, arriving on 2 Feb. We are looking forward to showing Sandy & Joe Bill some Australiana - first stop is the Crocodile Hunter's (recently departed ) Australia Zoo - we have never been there before, so that will be a first for them and us! I am sure there will be further accounts of their visit in a later blog. Until then, I trust your new year is starting on a good note, and that I have lots more wonderful adventures to add to this blog...