Down Under | |
Ever since my days of scuba diving for Lobster and Abalone off the coast of San Diego, I've had a
desire to go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. For my 50th birthday, my wonderful
wife-unit, Pam, planned a trip for us down to New Zealand for a week, and then over to Australia for two weeks. It was quite an added treat that my brother Bill and his wife Joanne were able to Join us for a few days in
Sydney as a trip they had planned crossed paths with ours. |
Blue Mountains, Just East of Sydney, Australia
More of the Blue Mountains
The Three Sisters at the Blue Mountains
Pam, Joanne & Bill at the Blue Mountains
Sydney Harbor Bridge | |
Bill and Joanne were able visit us in Sydney for a few days. They went with us to the Blue
Mountains, just West of Sydney and walked with us around town for some more sightseeing. My surprise, since it
was my birthday, was that Bill and Joanne were going to treat me to the Sydney Harbor Bridge walk. Awesome! It
was a rainy day, but because our time was limited, that wasn't going to stop us. Pam, being elevation-challenged,
decided to go the Sydney Zoo that afternoon. The view from up top was spectacular even though it was rainy, the hike is a little spooky at times because
you're hiking over expanded-steel and can look down between your feet. You're hooked-in to a rail, though, so
there's really nothing that can happen to you. My scary incident happened when I was climbing down one of the
ladder sections and a train went flying by me almost within arms reach. I had been warned, but that still
doesn't quite prepare you. |
The Sydney Harbor Bridge Prior to Our Rainy Hike to the Top
Bill, Joanne & Rich Hamming it up on the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Bill Joanne & Rich on the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Bill & Joanne were able to meet us in Sydney for a few days.
Bill & Joanne were able to meet us in Sydney for a few days.
Joanne, Bill & Rich on the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Sydney | |
Sydney is a jumping city. The day we flew into Sydney airport, waves were literally crashing onto the
runway and some even got to the jet. In fact, it was raining most of the time we were there. Sydney
was experiencing the worst storm they'd had in over 70 years. The harbor was closed to the taxi
boats a couple days because a wave had crashed over the bow of one (inside the harbor) and broke it's
windshield. That's heavy water. We experienced a bit of that ourselves during our bridge walk. |
Sydney, Australia
View of the Bridge From the Water
Pam in Front of the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Skyline
Sydney Park Fountain
Painting: Defense of Rorke's Drift in the Sydney Art Museum
Heading North to Brisbane: | |
Headed up the coast to Brisbane along the Gold Coast. Along the way, we saw many nearly deserted beaches. |
Heading North to Brisbane
Heading North to Brisbane
Heading North to Brisbane
Heading North to Brisbane
Heading North to Brisbane
Brisbane: | |
Brisbane's climate is very comparable to San Diego's. It's a beautiful city with lots of statues commemorating
their military heros from WWI and WWII. Unfortunately, the British were very famous for using the Australian
and New Zealand Auxiliary Corps. (ANZAC) soldiers as bullet catchers. Gallipoli was one of the more famous
incidents of this. It was moving to see that the Australians had honored their soldiers in so many ways. |
Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane
Cairns: | |
We headed back to Sydney through Australia's wine country and flew up to Cairns (pronounced "cans").
Seemed to have lost the wine country photos. We would be staying in a little town called Palm Cove, just West
of Cairns. While there, we took the train to Karunda where we saw Aborigines tossing spears, throwing
boomerangs, and dancing. In Karunda, we also took an amphibious WWII DUKW tour through the jungle and on the way back to
Cairns from the jungle, we took the treetop tram for about a 5-mile ride. More on that later. |
Palm Cove - View From our Balcony Into the Courtyard
Pam on our Balcony at Palm Cove - Great View
The Kuckaburra Birds Woke us Every Morning
The Kuckaburra Birds Woke us Every Morning
The Train to Karunda
View From The Train to Karunda
Train to Karunda
View Looking Down Towards Cairns From the Train
Train to Karunda
Aborigines Demonstrating Spear Chucking in Karunda
Aborigines Demonstrating Spear Chucking Using a Whip to Gain Distance
Our Aborigine guide had a typical native outback tribal name - John.
Our Aborigine guide had a typical native outback tribal name - John.
John Demonstrating the Digereedoo
WWII DUKW Tour: | |
I would love to restore my own WWII DUKW (pronounced "duck"), but I'm married to a beautiful lady that
seems to take things like "Logical" and "Practical" at face value, so that won't happen. That being said, whenever we go somewhere
where there's a DUKW tour lurking near us, we try to hop on.
|
The Karunda WWII DUKW Tour Through The Jungle
The Karunda WWII DUKW Tour
The Karunda WWII DUKW Tour
The Karunda WWII DUKW Tour
The Karunda WWII DUKW Tour
Karunda Sky Tram: | |
The Karunda Sky Tram is one of the options back down to Cairns. Karunda is up in the mountains and the only
way up and back is the Train and the Sky Train. There's a road somewhere too, but not the best option for
visitors. The option we chose, was to take the train up and the Sky Tram back above the jungle treetop line.
Perfect! The ride is about 5 miles long. It makes a few stops on hilltops along the way
so you can disembark, walk around for photo-ops, then jump back onto another tram to continue. |
The Sky Tram Above the Jungle at Karunda
The Sky Tram Above the Jungle
Better Run Above the Jungle - Credence
The Sky Tram Above the Jungle at Karunda
The Sky Tram Above the Jungle
The Sky Tram Above the Jungle
The Sky Tram Above the Jungle
The Sky Tram Above the Jungle
The Sky Tram Reaching the End (Dropping Back Down Toward Cairns)
Going Down
First Floor: Furniture, Appliances, Kangaroos, Crocodiles......
First Floor: Furniture, Appliances, Kangaroos, Crocodiles......
Cairns: | |
Cairns is a nice city. Not too big, but it has a very relaxed, tropical flavor to it.
Unfortunately, we were so busy driving around the area, hiking the beaches, or doing the diving
thing that we didn't actually sped much time in Cairns. Palm Cove had so much charm to it that
we found ourselves spending all our spare time over there. |
Cairns
Cairns
Cairns
The Great Barrier Reef: | |
Well, this is one of the reasons I wanted to come to Australia - to dive on the Great Barrier Reef, the
largest living conglomerate organism in the world. It's beautiful. The pictures don't really do it justice.
You have to be underwater to get the full affect. The water was warm, currents were mild and I even got a picture with my face at the end of a giant clam.
Don't worry, though. Unlike hollywood's exaggerated depictions of these things, it would take about an hour
for a clam to shut. They mostly just sit there and collect plankton. Living, eating, pooping, and never having
to move - priceless. Reminds me of my friend Mike's mantra: "Eat 'till you're tired, sleep 'till you're hungry". We had booked a boat trip out to a large diving barge that's permanently parked out over the reef. From there,
I would make my dive, Pam would take a glass-bottom boat tour and afterwards, we would be taking a helicopter back.
On the way out, there was a salt-water Moccasin swiming along side the boat, but I didn't see anything dangerous
where we were diving. No sharks, no jellyfish, no lawyers. |
Heading Out of Cairns to go Diving
Looking Back at Cairns From the Boat
Great Barrier Reef - From Under the Diving Barge
Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
That's Me at The End of The Mouth of a Giant Clam (About as Big as a Couch)
I think I heard this clam say to another clam:
"Oh boy, a diver - I hear they taste like chicken".
I think I heard this clam say to another clam:
"Oh boy, a diver - I hear they taste like chicken".
After the Dive - One Happy Camper (Thank You Dear!)
Helicopter Ride: | |
After drying off, we left the diving barge and took a helicopter back to Cairns. I love helicopter rides.
Ever since the free one I got from the scene of the crash in a desert race to the El Centro hospital... never mind.
Anyway, this trip back included some more fly-over of the Great Barrier Reef. It's so big and distinctive, you
can see it very clearly. I'd like to do this day over again sometime, and again, and again. |
Helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef
Helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef
Helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef
Helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef
Helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef
Helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef
Helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef
Helicopter Heading Back To Cairns
Helicopter Heading Back To Cairns
Helicopter Heading Back To Cairns
Landing in Cairns
Down Under, Over Under, Under Over: | |
Well, all good things come to an end. Thanks to my beautiful wife Pam, my brother Bill and his
beautiful wife Joanne, and all the wonderful people we met in Australia and New Zealand, this has truly been a
memorable trip. Let's do it again. If you haven't been there yet, check out
our New Zealand |
PDF Guides to Major Australian Cities | |
Just some files I grabbed off the internet and made handy. |
Main Page:
Send an email message to Rich King, by clicking here.