Next Stop: Cairns - The Great Barrier Reef Oct. 2

We flew the next day from the center of the continent to the northern part of the east coast, Cairns. Each of our visitors has been here. Ross has been here. Now we get to be here!

We checked in to a funky hostel (aren't they all? but they're affordable!) and were welcomed by rain. Wait a minute. We're boarding a boat tomorrow for three days of snorkeling. It can't rain! But it was. So we tried to keep a stiff upper lip, spend time shopping for souveniers and enjoying the free hostel spaghetti meal up the street. It was a contrast to go from hot, dry desert to moist, drippy rainforest along the coast!

Our tour boat drove us out-the next day in the sunshine-2 hours to the "host boat" anchored out on the Reef. We were able to eat a scrumptious lunch (which settled my very queasy tummy), set our bags into our cabins and then get right into the water for our first snorkel experience. The color of the water is magnificent. Turquoise, aqua, blue, green. We snorkeled again before dinner.

Each day we had 5 chances to go out in the water. Between the different swims we were able to see sea turtles, fish of all kinds, coral, coral and more amazing different shaped/colored coral, anemones, and even a White-Tip Reef Shark (harmless I'm told (but not convinced)).

Inbetween the swims we could read on the deck, "sunbake," as the Aussies call it, and watch the fish swimming around the boat.

I think I speak for Pat as well when I say that we feel extremely lucky to have this chance to see an amazing part of the world and spend it with our family. The time we're spending with each one is gold.

Uluru/Ayers Rock and Alice Springs, October 1

After the guys climbed the rock and we rocked with taking their photos, the bus took us to watch the sunset from a view point. 17 different colors are said to show on the rock as the sun makes its descent. It was beautiful. We stood with our cold beers while Mulga whipped up a stew out the back of the trailer. We took turns photographing each other with the spectacular background and sharing the climbing stories with our tour mates. The swanky tour groups arrived to champagne glasses on tableclothed picnic tables, the people all fresh and showered (we still hadn't . . . ), the waiters standing unimpressed and seemingly inconvenienced. I think we had the better vibe! Smelly and all!

We camped that night with real live showers, but again, sleeping just with our swags on the ground under the stars. My favorite.

When we got up the next day, Pat and I climbed the mound to watch the sun rise at the Rock. After coffee, Weet Bix in a mug and more pb and bread, we went back for a chance to walk around the base of Uluru.

The guys were finished with heroic deeds, so Jolyn and I were left to attempt the serious hike around the base. I'm telling you. Flat. And wide. And beautiful. Only true athletes attempt such a feat, and we succeeded! Everyone was duely impressed, as they should have been. Our finish photos tell it all. In all seriousness, I learned I have a powerwalking buddy! Two hours and we could have gone on longer. We certainly had another hour of conversation in us, at least!

We loaded up and drove back to Alice, stopping at Curtain Springs for a trip to the loo and road-side lunch from the trailer. Once back into Alice we were able to get cleaned up before meeting everyone back at the pub for dinner and farewells.

Ayers Rock Climb

Jolyn, Diantha, Aaron & I, with our tour group, had been on a pretty hefty hike thru the Olgas, about 25 miles west of Ayers Rock, early in the day. We drove to Ayers Rock only to find the hike route to the top was closed due to high winds. So, we took a short hike around to a beautiful pool of water at the base of the Rock, then back. At about 330pm, Mulga, our guide, had started up the bus to head for the resort. We were sitting in the bus, exhausted, when Mulga said he thought the hike route to the top was going to be opened & if it were, we should go ahead with the hike because it could be closed tomorrow, that he would wait if we wanted to go up. Sure enough, the park rangers opened the gate. Aaron & I looked at each other & said, 'we're going'!!! So 8 of us from the tour started out up the rock face trail.

The first 50 yards is easy enough, geting you to a chain posted all the way up the trail. The chain is a good thing, great to hang onto when taking one of several breathers up the steep face of the rock. Obviously, it didn't look that steep from the bottom. When we finally got up past the chain, a white dashed lined continued for us to follow. We passed small pools of water, bunches of wild flosers during our ascent. The top by definition was the top, but it was an indulating top, up and down thru rock troughs and ripples. All you had to do was follow the white dashed line to the top. Aaron & I were the 4th & 5th to get to the 865 meter summit. Very magnificent view, to the east Mt. Conner, often mistaken for Ayers Rock, & the Olga Mts. to the west. At the top, is a monument with a brass, octagonal plate atop it identifying Ayers Rock, Geodetic Station, Australian National Survey, established in 1958. We hung out up top for 15 minutes or so, had our pictures taken, then started our decent. Much easier getting back across the rolly top going down. We hit the chain on the face and headed down.
This was a hike I would not have missed. Aaron & I had about 2 liters of water when we started up & had finished it before we got back to the bottom. We also had very good climbing shoes, which were a definite must for traction and balance. Hats, sunscreen & camera a must as well & we didn't hesitate to take frequent breaks going up the face.
The next day however, Aaron & I elected to check out the cultural center while Diantha & Jolyn hiked around the base of the Rock. We were done with hiking for a while!!!!

Ayers Rock, Northern Territory - Sept. 30

After our sunrise wake-up in the bush, and our hike through the Olgas, we felt we'd had a full day (and one without a shower . . .). It was windy, and our next stop would be Ayers Rock. We were hoping to climb it, but the park folk will close it if the wind is too high. Our fingers were crossed. The temperature was climbing, so after our hike, some salami and cheese sandwiches and plenty of water, we made our way across the desert to the Rock itself.

p.s. $25 per person entry fee to come into the National Park of Ayers Rock. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, once at the base of the rock I saw two things. First, it was closed due to wind. Second, there would have been no way I could have climbed up, for reasons everyone is well familiar with after reading this blog. The rock is exactly that, a rock that shoots straight up. There is a chain that one hangs on to to go up. My hands are literally sweating just typing this right now! No boulders on the "pathway." No brush or bush along the "pathway" to break a fall. Just sheer cliff drop off if you dropped. Sweat, sweat. Not for me. But the guys, at least were disappointed. Jolyn was quiet in the seat behind! Was she shaking her head to Aaron? Whispering, "I don't think so?" Mouthing, "Darn, I'm disappointed?" I didn't know. I just knew I wasn't going up for nothin'!

To appease his tour group, Mulga took us on a walk along the paths at the base of the rock nearby to sacred areas and discussed mystique and lore surrounding the amazing rock. It is truly incredible, jutting out from the earth with miles and miles and kilometres and kilometres to go before reaching anything in any direction (except for the Olgas and Kings Canyon, but they dwarf in comparison).

We walked and took photos, but it was really hot. We'd hiked the morning, the rock was closed, and we were ready for the visitors' center and a Coke. We loaded up the bus, settled in to make our way for the quenching drinks and necessary postcards.

The rangers turned the signs around and opened the Climb.

Pat and Aaron practically leaped over us to clamour their way out the bus and up that rock. They were among the first of any of the tourists (most had driven on, as it was now 3 p.m or later). They were beat by Mulga's son, Tiger, aged 10. He made it up and down wearing Crocs plenty ahead of anyone. Little Ruby hung back with us, making sure the bus was safe. She'll climb it next year when she's 8. Diantha and Jolyn were the support team and photographers . . .

Now, I'll post some photos, since it's a-maz-ing. But I'll let Pat tell the story. Let's just say Aaron and Pat's faces in the photos say it all!

Random notes for the moment:

Just because it's occurring to me, I thought I'd share. Two things you won't find very easily here, but they'll humor you if you ask: Napkins and ice. First of all, they're called 'serviettes' which I find funny (and they do, too, naturally) because that's French, and they're all originally convicts from England, or here for thousands of years speaking other languages. It's typical for me to politely ask/rummage through cupboards at school or at someone's house to find a paper towel or some napkin to wipe my messy hands on from the goodies I've been eating . . .

Ice, forget it. You get cold water from their lovely bottle in the fridge, no problem. Ice in the restaurant, sure, but only if you ask.

And another thing. The pool was beautiful today, first day since last summer/March. Ross and I tried it last week, but we were absolutely ice upon entry. Not even the kind of Pinecrest ice that gets better if you stay in. This just got worse. But today it's officially usable, once again!! Hooray!!

And one more thing. I have to include a photo of fabulous Pat doing our washing. He is the domestic god around here, and there is a real Australian art to hanging washing on the line, we've learned. The neighbors have been secretly laughing at us all year, they've now admitted. But dryers are only used on those rare rainy weekends. Otherwise, every back yard has a rack and everyone hangs wash. A friend at school has family in Northern California. She was amazed to hear that NO ONE has a laundry tree in the back yard. Amazing.

Still another, pumpkins are now in the grocery store. That is orange, traditional, jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Except that it's Spring here. Halloween is apparently becoming more popular, but most think it's a weird American-ism that we can do without here.

Last thing. We do have a due date back home. We will be coming into Portland December 30 in the evening. There, I said it! Bitter sweet. Yes! Fantastic to be back with our family and be back in our beautiful town and home. Fantastic to see our friends again and hear more about what everyone's been doing. Oh! It will be so very hard to say goodbye for now to our amazing friends we've made here. Hard to leave this beautiful climate and darling town. Sad to think our afternoons walking on the beaches after school or hearing the kookaburras laughing wildly in the trees out back will be over for now. We'll visit again. But it is truly a dream come true, and I'm a real sap when it comes to things ending!!

Now that's all I'll say about that!

Good Morning, Sunshine! Sept. 30

We woke up to the sun, cozy in our swags on the ground. A quick trip to the bushes, yummy Nutella on bread and coffee in a mug, roll up the swags and we were off to see The Rock. All on board (well most) were hoping to climb it today if it wasn't closed for wind, spirits or the like.

First stop, though, The Olgas. The rocks in this region are the result of a crater in the earth being filled with this rocky conglomerate. As time has passed, they have shifted. In the Olgas' case, they shifted at a 45 degree angle, somewhat. In the case of Ayers Rock, it has shifted a complete 90 degree angle! In the photos, the ridges you see are the layers of earth, tipped!

So we hiked for the day going through these beautiful rocks. There has been record rainfall in the country this year, and the entire area was lush with growth and particularly wildflowers, which many haven't seen in perhaps 25-30 years. Good for us in the campground that morning . . .

Meanwhile, back in Vietnam . . .

While we are dodging Mulga Pythons and petting Thorny Devils, Ross was exploring in Vietnam.

The question before he left was, had he decided whether or not to eat dog? He was undecided at departure.

In any case, we did know he was visiting Hanoi, doing Tai Chi in the early morning with the locals around Hoan Kiem Lake. They hired cyclos (tandem bikes?) for a day to sightsee. They dodged traffic to cross the very busy streets, and shopped for souveniers. At one point they took an overnight train and slept three bunks high. That night their train hit another, due to floods, and with a few bumps, they made out fine. Ross claims it was safe because he was sandwiched into his bunk, feet up on his backpack at the foot, head on whatever at the front, sleeping like a V, with no where really to budge to. This is why mothers aren't allowed to go along, too.

They visited with local kids who met up with them acting as vendors and tour guides. Ross now chats with at least one on Facebook. Of course!

We did get one email midway that said he wished the trip would never end. Another reason why moms don't go . . .

The Fish Was How Big, Pat??

Pat's blog entry of fishing in Australia is down the list here on Sept. 5. If you're wanting to hear from him, check it out!

Alice Springs, Northern Territory - Sept. 28

If you look on a map, Alice Springs in almost exactly in the very center of Australia. It's called the Red Centre for a good reason. The dirt is red. Beautifully red. The rocks are red, orange, grey, depending on the hour of the day and the direction of the sun. It's home to the Mulga Python, Thorny Devils, and camels, of all things. Kangaroos and wallabies are big out there, too, but that goes without saying.

We checked into the Youth Hostel and spent the day poking around the town. Early the next morning we were on our camping trip tour with Mulga, owner of Mulga's Tours. His employee called in sick, so he threw his two kids in the bus, packed a box of chips, lollies, and kids books (I was impressed!), and picked us all up for the 3 day tour. Mulga is like a 2010 version of Crocodile Dundee without the actual "knoife." He began his career doing Australian Outback Tours, "mostly doing outback survival," and has now retired from the the actual camping group part - except for us. So we got the real deal. He could spend as much time as he wanted with us, gave us his version of the Aboriginal art on the rocks and 'Dingo Took the Baby' story. He was very knowledgable, down-to-earth, quirky and hilarious, as usual.

At one point, out in the middle of nowhere, he slowed the bus down and stopped. We all strained our necks to see what he could be stopping for. He said, "Watch the road!" We looked, we looked. He backed up a ways, then got out. He reached down and picked up something in his hands. He climbed back into the bus with a Thorny Devil. Just like that. It was the size of Aaron's hand (I know cuz he held it). People passed him up and down the bus until we got out to collect firewood (while we're stopped). Some tried to pet it. I mean it's a Thorny Devil people! It's prickly! We collected firewood, although, we watched carefully for snakes! We didn't see one, but you can't tell me they weren't watching us!

We drove out to Kings Canyon and hiked the rim and down to the water hole called Garden of Eden. Pat swam, as did others, but the frigid water felt just fine on our toes, we decided! Because there has been record rainfall in Australia this year, lakes are full that haven't seen water in 30 years. In the Red Centre this means there are wild flowers that some have never seen. The desert was actually lush with growth and greenery, which is different than many pictures I've seen. I am not complaining, just re-thinking what the Northern Territory can look like. We did see random abandoned cars along the highway **I'll write more on this later!!** that were thoroughly rusted and dated, perhaps, back to the 50's.

At the campsite, Mulga whipped up spaghetti out the back of his trailer, like a pioneer wagon. We ate seated on our rolled-up swags. Swags are sleeping bags with a pad on the bottom and a canvas cover over the whole thing. Mulga had even brought marshmellows, which the Aussies didn't really know how to deal with. The kids in the group attempted to burn down the outback with the 'mellow flames at the firepit, but we didn't have the heart to tell them that's not really how it's done. In Australia, if you show or say that you know it all, they'll cut you down with a laugh and a joke. "The Tall Poppy Syndrome," they call it (don't let one poppy grow taller than the rest), and they'll tell you, "We'll take the p*%@ outta ya! Ha Ha!" We mentioned how one can roast it brown and gooey, but the kids had more fun watching the melting flames, so we smiled along with them!

We unrolled our swags and climbed in right there near the fire.

That night I didn't want to close my eyes. The stars were incredible! Here we see the Southern Cross, and Venus is bright as ever. Sunrise the next morning was surreal, and the colors of the earth were fantastic. No facilities, or much privacy, if you can imagine in the desert, but we managed just fine without any close snake encounters in the bushes! That's my second reference to snakes. Can you tell what was on my mind??

September 24 - to Sydney

We landed in Sydney and found our first youth hostel of the trip. Welcome to budget travel in Australia, Team USA! As all of our American visitors have learned, Australia is very expensive! Hotels are easily $300 per night. So, we've opted for the backpackers' lifestyle! We share a bunk room, share a shower room down the hall, make coffee in the central kitchen with other international travelers, and use our own towels! Pat and I have grown to prefer this type of traveling, anyway. We've met all kinds of random folks, watched a variety of cultures make their morning and evening meals, and saved cash while we're at it. Even still, a bunkroom in Chinatown runs us $90 per night. Not exactly Motel 6 prices!

Sunday we jumped on an all day tour to the Blue Mountains. This is a beautiful area just west of Sydney. We stopped first at a wild life park to see the koalas and emus up close. We saw dingoes, Tasmanian Devils, crocs, roos, quolls, and more. Pat re-united with his former flame, the Brolga. Last visit with Barbara and Natalie in April was hilarious when Pat decided to flirt with the ostrich-sized bird. She'd been most flirtatious back. This time I was ready with the video camera for their reunion.

He walked up to her, fluttered his arms a bit, and she swayed, side-stepped, and bobbed her neck with him. She did her dance up the back to her little hill, stared right at him, and waltzed back down to meet him at the fence again. Unfortunately, she was not as enraptured with him, and their encounter was brief this time; perhaps she sensed the Other Woman with the video camera. When he left, I moved in front of her and waved my arms seductively at her. She was nonplussed.

At the Blue Mountains we did a great hike down through the rain forest. The tour ended with a ferry ride back into Sydney proper with the sun setting.

Monday we drooled into our Starbucks cups, licking and lapping up every delectable morsel of caffeine and frothy milk yummi-ness. Then we hopped a bus to Bondi Beach to have a look around. Evening flight to a quick overnight in Melbourne - then on to the Red Center!!

A Welcome American/Aussie BBQ

Invite them and they will come! Friday night we hosted a great night to welcome Aaron and Jolyn. Pat and the guys put snags, burgers and chicken on the barbie. Everyone came to have a great time, as usual! The Aussies arrive with their "eskies," their coolers with what they like to drink. They also brought "potato bake," a barbie staple, like our potato salad might be, but we would call this Scalloped Potatoes. They also brought "a pav," or "pavlova," another Aussie beautiful dessert, made with merangue and cream with fruit on top, such as blueberries and passion fruit. We threw in watermelon and baked beans for Kate, my boss' daughter, who wanted to see for herself "a real American barbeque!" I also made a birthday cake for the masses celebrating their birthdays all week long. I think we counted 12 birthdays represented, so I wrote "Happy Birthday Y'All" for good measure!

Many who came have traveled to the U.S. either recently (just two weeks back, Chico, California, believe it or not!), or in the past (3 month road trips, etc.). My boss and his family made the trip last April, including staying in Corvallis, in our home with Maureen and Rod, so there were lots of travel stories and laughing at each others' cultures! We're learning to do that very well - particularly at our own!

No time to lose, so our next morning we were up and packed ready for our two week holiday!

September 23 - "The Kids" Arrive!

Well, they aren't kids, but they are "our" kids, so that's what we call 'em! Aaron, our oldest, and Jolyn, our future daughter-in-law, arrived on Thursday, straight in from Portland, LAX, Sydney, and into Coffs Harbour. Pat scooped them up and within their first six hours here, they had seen roos in the park, caught Pippis in the sand, seen a 5 ft Carpet Python on the road, heard the Kookaburras going off, and watched a huge kangaroo bounce through the water at the Urunga boardwalk! Oh, and we had lasagna.

Just when they thought it was safe to go to bed at - what time is it anyway??, the doorbell rang, and the first of our many amazing friends here dropped in, wine bottles in hand, to say hello and welcome the Americans! Debbie and Graeme Rose, Caroline and Wayne, and their son Ben and sweet friend Mel came by and gave the "kids" a warm Aussie welcome!

It's so good to have them here!!

Pause

We've paused on the blog for our two week holidays! We'll update in the next few days. Think Sydney Opera House, kangaroos and koalas, sleeping under the stars in the Outback of the Red Centre, and three days snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef - with Aaron and Jolyn!! We're so lucky!! We'll catch you up after we get a load of laundry started!! Make that six!!