Nancy's Travel Journal

The Adelaide YHA is my first experience in a youth hostel ( a bit of a misnomer since about 25% of the guests are definitely over 30).  We have a private room with a balcony overlooking a park and our own bathroom, but no TV or phone (who needs them!).  In the lounge/kitchen/dining area, upbeat music from an itunes playlist (Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson are heard from time to time) keeps the atmosphere lively.  We labeled our perishables in bags and shared refrigerator space with the other guests as well as having our own cubbie for non-perishables.  More on the YHA later.

On our first morning in Adelaide at the YHA we bought Bill a breakfast of ham, 2 eggs, hash browns, tomato and toast for $5.  The catch is that we had to cook it! I treated him that morning, but here he is the next day doing his own.

Of course I had my usual fiber cereal (found at a nearby health food store), soy milk, orange juice and banana.  The coffee is instant, but surprisingly good.

After breakfast, we checked in with the in-house travel agent who booked us a wine tour for Wednesday, then struck out to explore and do a little shopping.  Our first stop was Cosmic Pages, so named because of all the meditation and inspirational material there.  It was a very peaceful place.  Sam Chapman would love it.  In the fiction section, I found, among other books, The Education of Little Tree, The Life of Pi, Mutant Messages From Down Under and other familiar titles.  It seemed only right that Bill should have his picture made here.

It might not be obvious that Bill doesn’t have his raincoat with him.  That is because it is still in his closet in Metter.  So our next stop was the same store where he bought a polar fleece jacket the last time he was here when it was really cold.  He found a nice one for a reasonable price.  Our trek continued to Rundle Mall, the Lenox Square of Adelaide, complete with Borders, Sunglasses Hut, etc.  Because neither of us can hear the alarm on my new clock from REI nor do we don’t know what time it is when we are wandering around, it seemed that a watch with an alarm would help our situation.  Well, I now have the watch, but the alarm is even softer than the clock.  Oh well, we will worry about that when we have to meet the next bus at 6:30 AM on Saturday.   Not much charm or originality in the mall, but we did find this fellow checking out the trash.  Actually he is part of a group of bronze piggies along the mall walk.

Having eaten at restaurants for so many days, we decided that we could find something at Central Market and cook at the YHA.  One of the largest produce markets in the southern hemisphere, Central Market is full of local foods, including meat, fish breads, cheeses, and old-fashioned lollies (candies).  Our choices were a container of lasagna and sauce and a small loaf of garlic bread.  For less than $10 we had ourselves a gourmet dinner complete with a red shiraz chosen at the same market.

Quite ironically, as we returned to the YHA, what should be parked in front of the building, but this truck.  Polly, we didn’t see the “pool man”, but wondered if he drives a Harley or if he is good-looking and single.  Tell Larry he has a bit of competition.

For a while after dinner, we sat in the commons area of the YHA listening to music, reviewing our trip so far, and watching the other guests.  It was a mellow evening.  Later, as we drifted off to sleep, our thoughts were of the wine tour to Barossa Valley coming up the following morning.

Sunday, September 9 (Sept. 8 in USA)

I got up earlier than Bill to take a walk on Manly Beach.  Not getting my usual exercise is making me restless.  Despite the weather being a bit iffy, I took off for a walk beside Manly Beach.  There is a path all the way up to a lookout on the rocks above Manly.  Surfers and brave kayakers in wet suits and early morning joggers took a chance on the weather and were rewarded for their efforts.  (insert picture later)

As the clouds began to roll in, I decided that it was time to turn back.  Shortly before reaching Manly Lodge the rain began to get serious.  Luckily we had a dryer in the lodge, so I was able to dry my clothes before leaving for the bus terminal and our 22-hour bus ride to Adelaide.

Since we had several hours before our bus left for Adelaide, we spent some time having coffee and people-watching at the ferry terminal.  APEC was still a factor as we reached Sydney, so we didn’t spend too much time around the Opera House and ferry terminal, but headed up toward the Rocks (the area where the first convicts and guards first landed) to wander a bit.  The original settlement, destroyed many years ago, has now become a trendy place to shop and eat.  We found a delightful restaurant, Pony, where we sampled grilled bread with eggplant spread, spiced olives (for Bill) freshly roasted almonds, and a delicious pumpkin and basil frittata.

Finally, it was time to work our way to the bus station, by way of the local train (Sydney’s answer to MARTA).  We had to walk several extra blocks to the train station because of security.  At one point, we could not even cross the street until a gate was opened to let us through the fenced-off street.  Guards were everywhere!  After some anxious moments, we were able to board the train for a five-minute ride Central Station.  The bus station is not quite as bad as most in the US.  But, we did see our share of homeless folks before boarding our bus.  Thank goodness it was not very crowded, so later in the evening Bill and I had two seats each to spread out and try to sleep.

After leaving Sydney around 4:00 PM, we stopped at the airport to pick up some more passengers.  A young man on the bus (in a long black coat-get the picture?) got off, had words with the bus driver and got back on.  In no time, four security guys called him off the bus for a “chat”.  He was much subdued when he got back on the bus.  About 8:00 we stopped in Canberra for a shared dinner (consisting of 1/2 chicken, tomato, and avocado sandwich) with Bill.  Not much to choose from in a bus station!  We changed drivers here and were off again about 8:45 PM.  Sometime in the night we stopped for another short break before having breakfast around 6:30 AM at a truck stop.  I ordered poached eggs and a scone with jelly.  Well, what I got was two poached eggs on toast and two open-faced biscuits with jam and heavy cream!  Did the best I could with that meal before we were on the bus again.

Our route took us mainly along the Stuart Highway and into the Barossa Valley, home of many Australian vineyards, including Penfolds, whose wines we have sampled in the US.  After stopping at one more gourmet truck stop restaurant for lunch, we arrived in Adelaide around 3:00 PM.  Thank goodness the Adelaide Youth Hostel was only a block away.  I will save the rest for yet another post, and insert some pictures later.   Bill wanted me to experience this type of travel, so I did.  But, now I am ready for a bit more luxury!

Bill and I are relaxing on our third day in Australia.  After the long flight and all-day tour yesterday, we decided to take it easy in Manly. where we are staying.  It is a short ferry ride away from Sydney and not affected by the APEC madness in Sidney.

Upon the advice of a tourist office, we left Sydney yesterday for an adventure in the Blue Mountains.  After an early breakfast at a local deli, the tour bus picked us up at our hotel, proceeded to pick up other passengers around Sydney, and whisked us out of town before 8:30 AM.  There are three stories about the Blue Mountains.  The first is the name.  The Blue Mountains are so-named because of the the oil that drips from the eucalyptus tree and reflect on droplets of water, creating a blue tinge to the mist.

On the way up, we stopped for tea beside a river that supplies much of the water supply for Sydney.  There were 20 folks on our tour.  One young couple was from Nashville, TN.  He was in Sydney on business.  I spotted a great sign beside the road…”Remember when your kids threatened to run away from home?  Retirement is payback time.”  Loved it!

The second story is about the various water falls.  While none are as dramatic as many in the U.S., they are all spring-fed.  So they continue to flow, no matter how dry the weather becomes.  This brings me to our first stop, Wentworth Falls.  The weather was not very cooperative, but we did manage to hike down to a platform to view the falls.  Bill opted to stay at the top of the trail while I went down with some of the folks.  The walk was not nearly as strenuous as we were led to believe.

As we drove on to our next stop, it seemed as if all of Sydney was escaping APEC.  The roads were clogged with traffic.  Fortunately our bus driver was familiar with back roads.  So we wound our way through quaint villlages on our way to Scenic World, the third most visited spot in Australia, after Ularuh and the Great Barrier Reef.  This brings up the third story of the Blue Mountains, the Three Sisters Legend.  It seems that there were three young Aboriginal maidens who caught the eyes of three young men from another rival tribe.  Not wanting this romance to happen, the father of the young maidens asked the witch doctor for help.  He cast a magic spell on the young maidens, turning them to stone until the young men gave up their search and went home.  Unfortunately, the witch doctor was killed before he was able to reverse the spell.  Thus, the young maidens are forever cast as stone pillars and can be seen at Scenic World.

Scenic World is in the Katoomba, a former coal and shale mining town.  Started in 1880, the mine was operative until the 1930’s. A railway was built to haul rocks to the top of the mountain.  Often hikers would get to the bottom of the gorge and convince the miners to give them a ride back to the top in the coal cars.  When the mine closed, the owners had the idea of turning the site into a tourist attraction.  Thus, Scenic World was born.  It is still privately owned by the same family who started it.  The Three Sisters are depicted in bronze at the visitors’ center.  The second picture you see are the sisters cast in stone.

We took the cable car to the bottom of the canyon and walked through a beautiful rain forest.  There we were able to see remnants of the mining days as well as beautiful trees and ferns, some of which were over a hundred years old.

So, if we rode the cable car down to the rain forest, did we return the same way?  Nope, we took advantage of the “renovated” railway from mining days.  With a 52 percent grade, it was quite a 5-minute ride back up to the top (looking down from whence we came!!).

After an uneventful lunch in and delectable desert at a chocolate shop in Leura, we were off to our final stop before returning to Sydney.  The tour guide promised us an up close and personal view of the Easter Gray Kangaroo in a small state park.  While the park was a bit disappointing, we were able to get close to the kangaroos.  If you look closely at this picture, you will see the joey poking his head out of the pouch near the mother’s foot.

Finally, we were on our way back to Sydney.  After a quick ride through Olympic Park, site of the 2000 Olympic Games, we caught the ferry back to Circular Quay.  From there, Bill and I boarded the Manly ferry back to our hotel.  Exhausted when we got to Manly, we had a gourmet meal at Subway before fallling into bed for the evening.

Today, we have relaxed aroung Manly, a delightful beach town.  Unfortunately, the weather is a bit cool for having fun in the water.  The last picture is the Steyne Hotel, Bill’s favorite spot from his former trips.  We couldn’t stay here because it is no longer a hotel, but several pubs.  It has been a relaxing day.  Tomorrow afternon, we are off to Adelaide.  More later.

Hello All,

We made it to Sydney at 6:00 AM on 9/6/07.  Flights don’t land before 6:00 AM because the noise would disturb residents near the airport!  We have found that mindset of kindness typical of Australians so far.  They go out of their way to be helpful.  But, wait, I am getting ahead of myself.

Polly took us to the Savannah Airport on Tuesday (9/4).  After a plane change in Atlanta, we flew to Los Angeles.  From there we took off for Sydney at 10:30 PM PDT (1:30 AM in Metter).  Crossing the international date line, we completely lost September 5th.  How does that happen?  We figure we spent about 13 hours enjoying two small seats and a few fitful naps on Quantas before landing in Sydney.  But, all was not lost, since we got two reasonable meals and great service from the staff.

Going through customs was a bit of an experience.  I had taken some trail mix consisting of nuts and dried fruit in my back pack.  Realizing that this was a no-no coming into Australia, I discarded the package before entering customs.  While waiting for our bags the sniffing dog came checking out my backpack.  He alerted on my bag.  There must have been some remaining scent of the dried apples.  I explained the situation to the agents.  They were most accommodating.  (yet another of Aussie hospitatlity)

We took the Circular Quay ferry to Manly, where we will stay for the next four days.  When we got off the ferry, we stopped for some coffee near the harbor.  When I ordered a coffee, the guy asked if I was American.  He told me that coffee in most shops here (with the exception of Starbucks) is not brewed like ours.  I should always ask for a “tall black” if I wanted something resembling our coffee.  Then he told me he was from Colorado.  After walking around Manly and leaving our bags at Manly Lodge, our home for the next few days, we went back to the ferry area.  While sitting at a table near the coffee shop, the same young man came over with another cup of coffee and told us to enjoy our stay.  (More hospitality)

As I write this, I am at an internet cafe at Darling Harbor.  It is about 1:00 PM here.  We have been told that it is best to stay awake until normal Aussie bedtime so we will sleep well.  We are taking in the sites around the Sydney waterfront, because tomorrow the area is in “lockdown”.  Some of you may know that Bush and other world leaders are here for the APEC Conference.  You would not believe the security around this place.  Everywhere you look there are police, water patrols, security on the ferries and swat teams visible on top of buildings.  The Opera House is off limits, as are other places we wanted to see downtown.  We will have to catch those places when we come back through on our way home.

Tomorrow we are off for a day trip to the Blue Mountains.  Tour information centers are suggesting alternatives for the next few days.

Not sure when I can post again.  We will be off to Adeliade on 9/9.