Sydney has one of the great natural harbors in the world. Two iconic symbols of the city sit by the harbor, the Sydney “coat hanger” bridge and the Sydney Opera House with its white sails. We sailed into Sydney before … Continue reading Trusting Google in Sydney
About 185 million years ago, during the Jurassic Era, as the supercontinent Gondwanaland broke up magma forced its way through sedimentary rock and cooled slowly to form dolerite columns. These columns guard the entrances to Port Arthur. Cape Raoul on … Continue reading Organ Pipes Redux, Cape Pillar.
Van Diemen’s Land was the was one of the most notorious penal colonies in the British Empire. In 1642 it was named by Abel Tasman, a Dutch Explorer, for his boss, the head of the Dutch East India Company. In … Continue reading A Terrible Beauty, Port Arthur
The Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary started as a wildlife park, an attraction for tourists. Greg Irons had his 7th birthday party there and decided “one day I’m going to own this place.” He went to school, and then to work at … Continue reading Saving Wildlife
I had no plans for Hobart except to visit Euan Hills at the Art Mob Aboriginal Fine Art shop. While the shop is right next to where the ship docks, we passed it outbound because we knew we would buy … Continue reading Thinking of Pop in Hobart
By the time the ferry arrived back in Melbourne from Portarligton after our visit with Peter and Deryn we had missed the last tram back to our hotel so we took a cab. The driver warned us that it would … Continue reading Zorba ’till You Drop
I got an email from Peter asking, “Would you fancy a ferryboat ride?” I’m always up for a ferryboat ride. Peter is an Australian broadcaster who had been on Raven Radio New Year’s Eve program for years reporting on festivities … Continue reading There’s Cruising and then there’s Cruisin’
“The Traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” G.K. Chesterton I used to spend hours reading tour guides and history books planning everything we wanted to see. but we kept getting … Continue reading Travelers
While the Indian Pacific is a relative new train, starting transcontinental service in 1970, one of the oldest inter-capital trains in Australis is the Overland, between Melbourne and Adelaide. That run started in 1887 as a sleeper train. It was … Continue reading The Overland
The Belfast Bar Band is performing in a circus tent for an audience of Aussies. The leader announces the next song as the unofficial Australian National Anthem. Everyone thinks: “Waltzing Matilda.” The band breaks into “A Pub with No Beer.” … Continue reading Adelaide Fringe
We arrived in Adelaide about four hours late. We didn’t arrive at Parklands train terminal but rather at Adelaide International Airport. And we didn’t arrive on the Indian Pacific train but rather via the Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service, … Continue reading We Arrive in Adelaide, without the train.
In my last post I promised a gallery of pics shot from the window of the Indian Pacific Train that didn’t make it across the continent but gave us a great ride and an experience. Continue reading Window Scenes from the Indian Pacific.
There’s a game our family likes to play called Australian Rails. It has a map of Australia with cities, each with things that they sell or buy and players build railroads with crayon across the continent trying to earn revenue. … Continue reading We Pull a Hazard Card in the Train Game.
Boulder started as a separate mining town from Kalgoorlie. Now both townships are part of a unified municipality but some people in Boulder don’t feel that way. Chunky (Kin Gent) is a local character and woodworker in Boulder. His workshop … Continue reading No Stoplights, no McDonalds, must be Boulder.
In Kalgoorlie water is more precious than champaign. It was the site of one of the biggest gold strikes in Australia, but to develop its full potential it needed water. The answer was The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme or “Golden … Continue reading More Precious Than Champaign… Kalgoorlie
Note to Naval Architects. It is not a good idea to put the sick bay in the bow of the ship. It’s the place that pitches the most. I am a notoriously hard “stick” when drawing blood. Moderately heavy seas … Continue reading Freo Checkup
…and Mardi Gras trumps Ash Wednesday, at least on Zaandam. Tuesday was both Lunar New Year and Fat Tuesday. Holland America makes a big deal out of both. But how can you make a big deal of each when they … Continue reading Chinese New Year Trumps Mardi Gras…
After we pulled into Broome in Western Australia Cruise Director Rebekah came on the PA saying that it would take some time for us to dock because of the wind, please don’t gather near the gangways. A few minutes later … Continue reading Unexpected Sea Day
…But HMS Beagle was. In 1839 the ship was on a survey mission to Northern Australia. Both the Captain and Lieutenant remembered Charles Darwin fondly so they named the bay Port Darwin. The city that grew up around the bay … Continue reading Charles was never in Darwin…
We began our four sea days between Cairns and Darwin with sail out along Trinity Inlet with the city on one side and mangrove on the other. We grabbed dinner from the lido and stayed on the aft deck for … Continue reading Explaining Transubstantiation to Cannibals
I booked this tour because I’m a train nut. But in the event, it was the gondola ride down from Kuranda that caught my fancy. The gondola holds six people but they only put in four. It flies over and … Continue reading Sky Rail Down
“Be Mindful of the gap” shows a more relaxed Aussie attitude to rail travel than the British commanding “Mind the Gap.” Or perhaps the mindfulness movement has just taken off more completely in Australia. But if the Kuranda Scenic Railway … Continue reading Be Mindful of the Gap
The tour out of Cairns (pronounced cans, as in an Andy Warhol painting) was advertised as “Green Island Eco Adventure.” This is the second time we have tried it and we found, blessedly, that this time it was much less … Continue reading Green Island Redux (Cairns)
During the Second World War cargo cults developed in Papua New Guinea. Isolated local tribes saw airplanes arrive with unimaginable goods, some of which trickled down to the locals. Then they left. Some leaders preached that if the tribes imitated … Continue reading We Are the Bank, Kiriwina