Christmas Down Under

Christmas in Australia is not a very big deal – I have seen few homes with any decorations, and the radio airtime spent hyping Christmas sales and Christmas Caroles is minimal.  It gets about the same amount of press as Veterans Day does in the US – maybe even less.  The stores are all closed, but that is about it.

Which is just as well for me, since it hardly feels like Christmas when the temperature is in the high 70’s and the sun is shining in that sky that is so blue it almost hurts to look at it!

I’ve been on the move since my last post, so to catch you up…

Once we arrived in Sydney, we put the boat on the mooring for the owner and – for the first time in 10 weeks – slept in beds that were not moving.  The owner’s daughter has a house high on a cliff over the water north of Sydney and we stayed there for a couple of days while Bill and the owner did a bit of work on the boat.   

From there, Bill took off on another delivery and I was invited to the owner’s home in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney.    

Hunter valley

They run cattle on 450 acres in a very pastoral area.  I woke up to the chatter of kookaburras in the morning, learned how to rustle cattle the Australian way  (with a truck, not a horse), and saw my first kangaroos in the wild, bounding across the paddock.  I hated to leave, but I had a lot more sightseeing to do.

Moving cattle with the truck

Kangaroos hang out in the countryside

From Sydney, I took the Greyhound bus (which is quite deluxe in Australia, not like its US counterpart) to Canberra, the federal capital.  Unlike Sydney, where 18^th century homes stand chock a block with glass and stainless skyscrapers, Canberra is a planned city, a bit sterile and dull. 

Art installation outside the National Gallery

However, there is an amazing National Gallery with exhibits of traditional and modern indigenous art, as well as some stunning modern art (a Pollock, a Rothko, a few Warhols and Picassos, to name a few).  It's a bike friendly town, so I rented a bike and cruised along the (planned) pond, capturing some of the local  birdlife.

 I also spent most of a day in the War Memorial Museum, which documents Australian war efforts from the Boer War to Afghanistan.  Although I knew that the Japanese had bombed Darwin in WWII, I did not realize that their submarines had made it to Sydney Harbor.  A fascinating perspective on history from Down Under.

Australian war dead are listed on a large wall inside the memorial

War memorial - note the impossibly blue Australian sky

View of the capitol from the war memorial

From Canberra, I boarded a bus/train combo to Melbourne, arriving 90 minutes late since it was so hot (105) that the train had to run slower.   Melbourne is a very hip, vibrant city, reminding me in many ways of Portland – very cosmopolitan, liveable, wired, easy to navigate on public transportation and chock full of interesting little places to eat.  A foodie haven. 

I only had a couple of days there before I rented a car and headed down the Great Ocean Road to do the circuit of the state of Victoria.

There are many reasons it’s called the Great Ocean Road…first, it borders on a daunting stretch of water that was the scene of scores of shipwrecks in the days before GPS and radar, many of which are still visible.   
Second, because it was a real feat of engineering in its day, constructed pretty much by hand by soldiers returning from WWI as a way to give them gainful employment (much like our CCC during the depression).  And, finally, because it is, quite simply, stunningly beautiful – mile after mile of azure water, crashing in endless breakers against gold and ruby cliffs, which are themselves crowned with shrubbery of every shade of green and emerald.  It took me twice the estimated time to traverse the distance as I was stopping for photos at every lookout.   

 
And, where the road dipped inland, there were lovely walks in the rain forest among ferns
that arched overhead
in bowers, or in glades of eucalyptus replete with 
adorable koalas.   







I had been told that the koalas would be hard to spot, but, in fact, it was quite easy because wherever there were koala you would find cars pulled over to the side of the road and telephotos pointing them out!  Unlike the kangaroos, they move VERRRRRY SLOOOOOWLY so it is easy to get good shots of them!

 
 


In each town there is a story of the shipwreck that happened off that village.  During the Gold Rush in Australia, there were 100 ships a day passing any given point, and that stretch of ocean is particularly treacherous, given the fog, the shallow seas, and the winds that can shift suddently to an onshore gale.  

I spent a couple of days driving along the coast before turning north into the Grampians, a hilly national forest known as the site of many aboriginal cave paintings, and a very well done aboriginal cultural center.

I’ve learned a lot – between the museums and the cultural centers – about the history of the aborigines in Australia, which, sadly, follows the general pattern of native peoples being dispossessed on the arrival of the white man.   Their art is enjoying a real renaissance at this time, and it was fascinating to learn more about their mythology and ways of portraying it.

  I’ve also learned much about Australian social mores and politics – many interesting differences from the US.  Australians have very strict gun control laws – they actually surrendered their weapons when the law was changed some years ago.  Voting is compulsory – if you don’t vote, you get a significant fine, and tickets can be issued on the basis of a camera that sees you going too fast.  Each ticket turns into demerits; after 10 demerits you lose your license for some period of time.  No excuses.  The minimum wage here is over $16/hour, even for McDonalds workers – this means that meals are generally more expensive, but tipping is not the norm here, so it kind of works out even for a traveller here.

Driving on the left took a few minutes to get used to – trying to get out of Melbourne was a bit nerve-wracking, but now I am used to it.  I have to remind myself to stay on the left each time I get into the car, but otherwise, it was an easy transition.   Clearly not everyone remembers that it is different down under, because there are signs on all the tourist-travelled roads to remind you!   



 
As well as signs to remind you of OTHER hazards of driving in Australia.  In fact, when I was at one tourist information office, seeking information about my planned trip into the Grampians, the person behind the counter reminded me that I should plan to get to my destination before dark, as the kangaroos and wallabies and emus tend to wander the roads at night.  And I did see several of them, right around dusk.

Why did the emu cross the road?

 












 The Grampians provided an interesting contrast to the Great Ocean Road...a rugged, rocky forested area, replete with waterfalls, wildlife and a world-class indigenous cultural center.  Getting out of the car for a hike to the falls was a welcome diversion. 

Tomorrow (Christmas Day) I fly to Hobart, which will be my base of operations for the next 10 days – visiting Tasmania and watching the yachts come in on the Sydney-Hobart race.  I am expecting to be back in my jeans by then, as the weather is getting steadily cooler as I move south – a bit like the NW in May – hot one day, cool the next.  I am glad to be out of the tropics.

Bright lights and big Australian Cities

From Cairns, we have been moving steadily southward, holing up on occasion to wait out the next south-easterly, as we did when we put into Mooloolaba last night.  The glow of the city lights that we can now see each night signal that we are arriving back in 'civilization,' where Ken and Bill's cell phones are able to get a signal.

The passage has pretty much been uneventful.  Overnight passages seem to alternate with nights in port, and Ken and John have been using the nights in port to train me in the intricacies of 500, a card game that was new to me.  In the process I am learning 'the Australian way' to deal cards, and to drop my 'r's when they come at the end of a syllable.  I keep trying to explain that I am the one who has no accent (:-D), and, of course, they think that is quite funny.

The weather is getting better as we move south (at least, to me), feeling much like summer in the PNW.  The humidity is dropping as well, which - for me - is a welcome relief.  The first few weeks in Malaysia and Indonesia were very uncomfortable - I have decided that the tropics are a nice place to visit, but not the place I would be able to stay for long periods.

As we pass Brisbane, the plan is to keep moving when the winds allow, and, based on the weather forecast, we expect to arrive in Sidney on Sunday or Monday.  I'm very much looking forward to a few days there, since I had to cut my visit short last year.