June30, Thursday.  In front of the hotel in Chch before 7 am,waiting suitcases and all,  for the bus to go to Mt. Cook, NZ tallest mountain.  By 1:30 pm I arrived at the Hermitage, the national park resort.  Approaching my destination, I was awe struck by the scenery.  These are called the alps of the southern hemisphere, and are aptly named.  Everyone has mentioned that they are having an unusually warm winter, no snow, snow on the mountain tops, but none at the mountains base.  My room faces Mt. cook thru a huge picture window.  Ate lunch in the sunshine thru the glass wall of the dinning room.  What a change, warm sunshine, after all of the rain in Sydney, melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Auckland, Rotorua and Wellington. and I was tired of being wet every time I went out to see the sights.  It's  in the lower 50's, but sunny, nice.  Went for a long walk to the base of a mountain on a well graveled trail, an hour later I was ate the trails end, at the mountains base, with glaciers almost down to the brock strewn base.  In the quiet, several times I heard the rumblings of avalanches from just around the corner of a foothill adjacent to the mountain.  Sounds like a train without any of the metal wheel or rail components, just a rumble, rumble down the mountain side. And I get four meals like that: lunch thru lunch for the 26 hours I am here.   My meals are pre-paid, and they are really something, delicious, linen tablecloths, ordering from a menu, classy.  Well that's about it for today!

Akaroa NZ and harbor!

I lost several posts, something was wrong, but what????  Can't remember those two posts contents, so as I remember them I'll stick those reflections in when I do.  Today I was on a bus tour to Akaroa, a French founded town, but they didn't know that the Brits had beat them to NZ by a month or two, so after they discovered they had a French town in a British colony, they remained, and the Brits allowed them to exist like they did in Quebec Canada, so there is a French town in English speaking NZ.  The streets are Rue, the police station is Gerdairams (French word for police).  It is quaint, sea port, tiny village, now a resort destination for NZ folks and tourists alike.  Had a harbor boat tour, cliffs really remarkable, penguins, dolphans, other sea birds...  and white specks high up on the grass cliffs with sheer drops a thousand feet to the rocks or sea below, between the rocks and trees, these were grazing sheep.  The captain of the tour boat explained that the NZ sheep farmers are breeding their sheep with the left front and rear legs shorter than the right legs, so the sheep can stand level on the 45 degree or steeper pastures.  A side effect is that the sheep can't double back to get away from the farmers on the steep slopes, when they are rounding them up at sheering time, saves a lot of time.  But when the farmers put those sheep on flat land he gets lean mutton!

Having problems with internet, this is a test blog to see if it records this entry, after two previous blogs failed to post, and totally disappeared.  Here goes!

Christchurch

Damn!  Lost a two screen blog??????
Kiwi's abbreviate this town name as Chch.  Much shorter.  Five years ago there was a severe earthquake here, and an equally bad aftershock some time later.  The 150 year old cathedral was severely damaged and in danger of collapsing so they quickly put up massive steel bracing to hold the front wall and bell tower in place.  Then that bad aftershock came, and they both fell so the steel is bent but still standing holding up air, cause the front wall and bell tower are rubble about fifteen feet deep n the church's front steps.  I was told by the shuttle driver that thousands of buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, so as to need almost complete rebuilding.  There is rebuilding everywhere in the greater downtown area, except for the cathedral which is the subject of a huge debate whether to tear down and rebuild, which is probably cheaper, or to restore the historic building... no decision yet, the same scenariois going on for a number of historic buildings, including the oldest building in Chch.  There are fenced off buildings everywhere downtown, they are bordered up, and standing there, or under construction with cranes hovering above them.  The big department store here has been in business for well over a hundred years and part of it fell in the earthquake, the part of the building that remained standing has been repaired, except for the back part which fell, where they have attached a barn like pole building to the restored part of the building and the two inside are a glamorous whole, now.  Even the outside has been doctored up to look glamorous.  This store is like Marshall Fields and Younkers looked like, and had better merchandise before being bought out and cheapened.  Really classey, even with the pole building's east end.  So many stores were out of business that they came up with an ingenious solution, they used shipping crates, fixed them up, with store display windows, some are one crate big, some are double deckers, some are connected in an "L" or ,"U", shape or other configeretions.  Where they had to tear down a couple of square blocks of destroyed buildings, they built this mall with the shipping  crates.  There are comic art works, plantings... many of them, benches, out door meeting areas.  This new mall looks great, it is do innovative.  I would think it should be a permanent fixture of the new downtown area.  There are square blocks, in a few places multi-square blocks of grass fields where buildings have been removed, one huge multi-block area is across the street from this hotel.  One square block has been converted from destroyed buildings to a great children's playground with a large number of playground structures... really nice.  Talked to a lady from the next hotel down the road, and she just gushed about the playground her kids played in much of the afternoon.  Her hotel seems to have been remodeled since the earthquake and had a three or four story half arch leaning against the whole side of the building and has small shops on both sides of the arch and a nice pedestrian mall, with the tram track down the middle.  The tram is a hop on/,off tourist vehicle running around the downtown in the repaired and boarded up sections as well as the under construction areas.  They have (present tense) a huge ww1 memorial arch in a big open area next to the shipping crate mall, on closer observation there is a picture taken maybe in the forties or fifty's with large buildings, stores and office buildings all around the arch.  All those buildings are gone, but the memorial to the doughboys is still standing all by itself in a big open area.  This was/is a beautiful city with mall's, plazas, streets intersecting at unusual angles, curvy streets, narrow alleys with store fronts and the single tram track down the middle of the pedestrian alleyway.  Really pretty.  The major Plaza in a sort of capital T shape in front of the cathedral with dramatic art works, seating areas, trees and a large "temporary" "tent" structure in front of the fence surrounding the almost destroyed cathedral's front wall with plants covering it and signs begging to save the historical cathedral, and to not tear it down and replace it with a new building.  Chch is a livable city, and even with all the damage, is still a vibrant, peopled city, not crowded, but far from vacant city, it's on the mend!  I happened to be walking down a street about five pm which has many buildings under repair, and the workers from three or four buildings were leaving work for the day and both sides of the street was a sea of yellow construction helmets and vests.  Even with all the non-functioning buildings, I've been on the streets two nites and there are people everywhere, not an abandoned city at all, far from it!

Hobbiton

Sunday, June 26th, Wellington NZ.  Flew from Rotortua to Wellington, got into hotel.  Went to national parliament buildings, got a one hour tour with about a dozen other people.  NZ has no written constitution, it's condition is precedent of prior laws.  Their voting is done twice on each ballot: the vote for the person they want to represent them in their house of representing, and the vote for the party whose policies they feel best represents what they want in government.  The Percentage of people voting for that party, get appointed representatives by that party's chair in addition to the elected representing.  And if the appointed representitives don't vote the way the chair of the party he/she can replace them anytime the chair wants.  The tour guide said that this is the model that the Allies forced Germany to have after WWll.  The mnp model.  It's purpose is to prevent any one party from gaining control of the Parliament like the Nazi party did in the thirties, but it's not working as intended in NZ, because one party has control of the Parliament today.  Good tour, fantastic government building for prime minister and his cabinet, the beehive, which is just what it looks like, a beehive. Had a venison burger, really good.

A display kiwi bird,

 A Mouri dance

Facial tattoos left side represents his mother's heritage, the right side of his face his father's.

Wednesday, June 23rd, Auckland, NZ.  Arrived about 8pm, felt grubby, showered, washed clothes, ate at Denny's, to bed.  Thursday the 24th, city tour, the ferry ride in Auckland harbor, then follow up trip to Devonport, a small town, suburb of Auckland, across the harbor, which has strict laws against external building remodeling, so everything is Victorian, houses, stores hotels...  very quaint, interesting.  On the Friday the 25th I was up at 5am, ate, bus at 6:15, on road south.  Got to Hobbiton, home of the movie Hobbits.  Spent four hours, including lunch.  One description that made a lot of sense was the differing sizes of the Hobbit hole-homes.  They ranged from two or three feet high, some taller, and a few were seven feet tall.  That's so when the actors were supposed to be small, they performed in front of a taller Hobbit hole, and when an actor was supposed to be tall he acted in front of a smaller Hobbit hole.  A few of the Hobbit holes were identical, but came in various sizes, so a tall actor stood and did his acting bit, in front of a small Hobbit hole, but when he went to enter, the cameras shifted as he turned to go inside, but not just the actor but the location changed to a larger hole, so he could enter.  None of the internal shots inside a Hobbit home were shot in Hobbiton, they were shot on a regular movie stage, where each Hobbit home's internal rooms were designed and built.  All in all enjoyed it very much.  Got lots of pics, most on camera, but a good choice of shots on this tablet to share with you.  The NZ weather changes more than Iowas, in five minutes from a downpour to bright sunshine,  this variability is due to the proximity of the ocean winds and weather.  So we were all wet by the time lunch was served from the intermittent rain.  Later we went to a glow worm cave and underground river.  In the boats under ground in the caves, we floated down the river entranced by the caves ceiling of glow worms, magically we were in a cave with a star speckled cave top.

Saturday, the 26th, and less than a month before my vacation is over, I'm home July 25, about noon when I land in Des Moines.

 Arrived at Rotortua,  NZ about 8pm Friday the 25th, next morning at 6:45 am i was on a city tour, saw a sheep show, sheering....  a volcanic boiling mud pools, mini guizers, at least while we were there... then a nature preserve, the highlight was to try to see the national bird of NZ, the kiwi.  It is being saved from extinction, it is a nocturnal bird, so lives in the daytime in dark enclosures with windows so hopefully we could see them.  But like seeing Mars in Uluru, where I couldn't see the red color, here I couldn't see the kiwis here either, too dark.  Later on at another stop, they had kiwi's too, and I did see one scurrying around, but not clearly at all, a very fast moving blob.  Last night went to a Mouri village, saw a show of their dances and, bits on their culture, climaxed with a dinner cooked under ground.  Was good.  The Moori are naturally humorous, at least all the ones I met!  Great way to live life, laughing all the time.

Wednesday, June 23rd, Auckland, NZ.  Arrived about 8pm, felt grubby, showered, washed clothes, ate at Denny's, to bed.  Thursday the 24th, city tour, the ferry ride in Auckland harbor, then follow up trip to Devonport, a small town, suburb of Auckland, across the harbor, which has strict laws against external building remodeling, so everything is Victorian, houses, stores hotels...  very quaint, interesting.  On the Friday the 25th I was up at 5am, ate, bus at 6:15, on road south.  Got to Hobbiton, home of the movie Hobbits.  Spent four hours, including lunch.  One description that made a lot of sense was the differing sizes of the Hobbit hole-homes.  They ranged from two or three feet high, some taller, and a few were seven feet tall.  That's so when the actors were supposed to be small, they performed in front of a taller Hobbit hole, and when an actor was supposed to be tall he acted in front of a smaller Hobbit hole.  A few of the Hobbit holes were identical, but came in various sizes, so a tall actor stood and did his acting bit, in front of a small Hobbit hole, but when he went to enter, the cameras shifted as he turned to go inside, but not just the actor but the location changed to a larger hole, so he could enter.  None of the internal shots inside a Hobbit home were shot in Hobbiton, they were shot on a regular movie stage, where each Hobbit home's internal rooms were designed and built.  All in all enjoyed it very much.  Got lots of pics, most on camera, but a good choice of shots on this tablet to share with you.  The NZ weather changes more than Iowas, in five minutes from a downpour to bright sunshine,  this variability is due to the proximity of the ocean winds and weather.  So we were all wet by the time lunch was served from the intermittent rain.  Later we went to a glow worm cave and underground river.  In the boats under ground in the caves, we floated down the river entranced by the caves ceiling of glow worms, magically we were in a cave with a star speckled cave top.

Sunday, the26th, and less than a month before my vacation is over, I'm home July 25, about noon when I land in Des Moines.

 Arrived at Rotortua,  NZ about 8pm Friday the 25th, next morning at 6:45 am i was on a city tour, saw a sheep show, sheering....  a volcanic boiling mud pools, mini guizers, at least while we were there... then a nature preserve, the highlight was to try to see the national bird of NZ, the kiwi.  It is being saved from extinction, it is a nocturnal bird, so lives in the daytime in dark enclosures with windows so hopefully we could see them.  But like seeing Mars in Uluru, where I couldn't see the red color, here I couldn't see the kiwis here either, too dark.  Later on at another stop, they had kiwi's too, and I did see one scurrying around, but not clearly at all in the dark, a very fast moving blob.  Last night went to a Mouri village, saw a show of their dances and bits on their culture, climaxed with a dinner cooked under ground.  Was good.  The Moori are naturally humorous, at least all the ones I met!  Great way to live life, laughing all the time.

Another blog catch-up!  At Sydney airport waiting flight to Auckland new Zealand.  Last two days were at Adelaide Australia area.  Had tour of kangaroo island, Tasmania is Australia's largest island, second largest is in far north, and it is just slightly larger than kangaroo island which is third in size.  Two hour bus ride to port, an hours trip on ferry to island, then two hours by second bus to first tour destination, a seal colony on the southern ocean (the bottom ocean under the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, surrounding the Antarctic continent).   We didn't just look at the seals, but we walked on the beach amount them.  Usually very hum-drum, but while we were strolling on the beach by circling around the seals so as not to get too close to them, which they usually tolerate and just ignore the strollers...us. there is a flattish beach with maybe fifty seals, with only two huge beach masters which we were not near,  when down the hill thru the underbrush crashed a third huge male, apparently on his way to challenge one of  the two beach master dominant males with a harem of female seals.  But our group of tourists were inbetween these two huge, maybe 400 pound, seals, the forest ranger and bus driver-guide got us moving but fast.  We'd had a cautionary lecture on beach safety, and the what ifs this and what if that occurs what we were to do.  #1, stay in a group in order to make a large mass of people, and not to become separated, one by one, because when the bulls are enraged they are very aggressive and get rid of anything in the way to his goal the other male.  But these two guides broke that rule and separated the group to make a space for the raging bull to go between us on his way to his opponent.  Two thirds of us with one guide went further away up the beach, and a third of us made a hasty retreat back to the wooden stairway.  And the bull just continued his charge down the beach inbetween .  We had strung out a little and were in a line, rather than in a huddle together.  That's why the pette female guide split us up, to make a hole for that charging bull.   After he roared past the other part of the tourists made a dash for the stairway.  And walking on sand, you don't have great footing, it is slower going than on packed earth or a pavement.   All were safe.  The beach guide from the park service, said later that we had done very well and listened to her commands.  Truthfully, I never heard or saw him til he was roaring down the beach, and I just followed the bus driver guide to the stairway.  The park guide before hand and afterward had been telling us the different signals the seals give to show their emotions, snorts, facial whiskers up, head positions....   upon reflection the park service guide had already been bunching us up into a group rather than a line just before the attack!   She really was so happy no one had gotten hurt.  She hadn't had an encounter this potentially dangerous in years, and this incidence was one of the worst she seen or had heard of.  The rest of the day was more anticlimactic after the bull incident.  I didn't see it myself, but the bull on the beach rose up and the Challenger coming downhill ran off at a tangent.  I was so intent at looking at the people in our group that I never noticed the after math with the bulls.  From start to finish I doubt it took a full minute, but I never noticed the time while the action was going on.  Then we had a great lunch, visited several rock formations on different parts of the sea shore, viewed the burnt results of a huge forest fire eight years previous.  The climbs down the beach, with the fierce winds, and sea spray to see the admirals arch and some ancient granite rocks right on the shore, with the ocean side wet and slippery from the pounding waves was dramatic too.  We visited an animal reserve for kangaroos and koalas, and I got pretty good pictures of both, even though I was soaked to the skin while pursuing the kangaroo pictures, a cats and dogs rainfall came down for less than ten minutes, but those were the ten minutes I was several blocks from the bus.   the following 'breezes' on the previously mentioned sea shore rock viewing dryed me off pretty quickly.  We rode buses, and ferry's for nine hours, leaving the hotel at 6:15 am and returning at ten to eleven pm.  Didn't see much of aidelaide, except for the stroll I took looking for dinner the first nite, and the rides on the bus through the city.  Oh saw a Target, Kmart and Woolworths.  The first two are clothing stores, and the Target had better styles than out Targets, but had nothing else but clothes and bedding. Didn't get into the Kmart, but Woolworths is a food store not too different than our HyVees.

Sunday, June 19, tour of Port Arthur the Tasmanian prison colony for Britain's prisoners.  It's on a Peninsula, not the most southern, but close to being the most southern point of Australia , and as close as I'm gonna get to the most southern part of Australia, like I was at Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope.  the  first prisoners arrived shortly after the conclusion of Americas war for its independence, about 1787.  Britain's goel's were full to the brim, so when Britain's inability to send prisoners to America, she began to send them to Australia.  And Port Arthur was the equivalent of  today's maximum security prison, a goel(jail) for second offenders, or third and fourth offenders too.  These were the worst of the dredges of humanity as perceived by British court system, some were murders, but many stole a loaf of bread when they, or their family was hungry, and off they went to Australia.  Sometime after WWll, Australia's image of its history changed from being ashamed of their criminal heritage to being cocky and proud of their rebel ancestors, so that was the time that the Australian government began to save, and reclaim it's true history and rehabilitate it's remaining prisons of the nineteenth century goel's.  So that is what I visited all day today, including about four hours of driving to and from.  The buildings are partial structures, no roof, maybe not even four walls were left standing, but enough was still intact to be able to see what had been there.  For those prisoners in solitary confinement, they had to attend church, hell fire and domination sermons, were an integral part of the then modern prison theory.  So if in solitary confinement, when they went  to hear the preacher in church, they still had to be in solitary confinement, so the pews were six foot tall boxes, with about eighteen inches of floor space, and the back and sides the boxes were enclosed to the top with a wooden ceiling, but the front of the boxes had an opening just big enough so each prisoner could see the expressions and gestures of the preacher giving the prisoners the weekly Christian hellfire and domination scare therapy session in his sermon, but the prisoners in the tiered boxes could only see the preacher and not one another, thus maintaining their solitary confinement, even when in church. The prisoners were smaller than are men today, but these boxes were so small there was no way I could even attempt to enter one of them.  A smaller, thin woman in the tour tried to enter one box, but she failed to get in either.  They were coffin sized with an opening at head level to see the preacher, if that big.  Took a boat trip to the Isle of the Dead, a cemetery island, where these men, the lowest of the low, would be buried in unmarked graves so they would be unidentified in death, as they had been in jail life being prisoner number 43875 not John or Jim.  Such bleakness was also the most modern prison reform theory of the day, at that time.  However the governor of the colony prison lived in a then mansion built by the prisoners.  Also the governor had a beautiful garden for the various civilian and ranking military officers, so that these privileged folk's morale would be improved, for themselves and their families.  A happy worker is a better worker, was the governor's theory.  Sure makes a guy relieved today that he was never caught in stealing a candy bar, and eligible for such justice.

Got to Hobart Tasmania Australia, but the hotel is a gambling resort, so without a car, you are stuck here, so won't get to see the city, it's forty dollars from here by cab, to the city round-trip. No shuttles.  Resort is nice, but set up so you stay here and spend your money here.  Walked around the grounds, got here after 3:30 pm, so not enough time before dark, about 5:30 pm, to use bus to get to town.  It is nice, but isolated, preferred to be in town.  Beautiful view from room window of very wide section of the river, with sail boats, and hills on both sides of the river with homes climbing up the hills.  At nite the hills are filled with window lights up and down, back and forth.  Pretty!  Tour of Port Arthur area tomarrow from eight to five, and a cruise to Isle of the Dead, gotta find out what that's about!

Tasmania

On way to Hobart, Tasmania, but about melbourne, it rained lightly or misted whole time here, but because all the trams (streetcars) are free in the central business district, a pretty big area in Melbourne, I used them a lot to get around.  Also took the circle route to see the city and what's where.  Helped orient me.  So wasn't drowned.  Beautiful city, eight million in metro.  Lots of public places, and retirees get the 'concession' rate or free, like at Melbourne Museum, which has great Aboriginal history wing and the early history of Melbourne history, and an excellent area on the brain/ mind...very interesting indeed, also the usual dinosaurs, and other animals, fish and pouched animals like kangaroo...  city tour ended with me getting a free pass to the top of Eurika Tower, Scarry near edge and the windows--floor to ceiling windows, didn't give any feeling of safety.   Didn't get to see gardens I had on my list, too wet, so did dryer things.  The archecture in Melbourne is really unique, dramatic artwork incorporated into the building structures, colors, shapes, different styles on one side of the buildings, accent stripes , buildings with overhangs, pertrubances, angles, all types of surprising shapes and variences.  a really unique style of buildings.  Since the trams in the central downtown business area are free of any charges, so every chance I got to use it in the direction I was going, I hopped on to  stay dry.  Had a great dinner on a tram restaurant, was so full, that there were three cars of diners with each tram car moving independently of one another, and the food was really good.

dinner trams inside and out, blow up the city view to see building details.

Back at Alice Springs, didn't blog at Uluru because I was on the go, on tour, sleeping or something or other.  Had a good time, except for the expense I could have stayed a week there to see and do all there is available.  Got there Monday afternoon about three, got quickly settled, registered for the Outback Southern Skies experience after dark, ate, walked around, and really liked the astronomer he really knew his stars, planets, and and was so interesting!  Saw the rings of Saturn, the moon's of Jupiter, Mars, double stars orbiting one another, and he showed the effects of too much atmosphere by aiming one telescope at a star just above the horizon.  The atmosphere distorted the light waves from the star into multicolored flickering, blinking light, pretty, interesting.  Also saw the southern cross, and the false southern cross.  Saw more but that's what impressed me, and what I remember most.  Up at 4:45 am to get on the bus for the sunrise viewing of Uluru....  was pretty, after a little while, the 10 or so busses full of tourists spread out and I got some nice pics.  It glows red-orange.  We learned a lot of geology, Aboriginal lore about their beliefs about the rock Uluru, history of tourism here...  walked a gorge in (tarki .....) all pamphlets in luggage so can't spit out the name properly but  it is another holy site to the native folks, some miles away, again with a lot of lore...  all the way the guide is telling us stories, and some of the aboriginal beliefs...  the Australian government after a century of protests... gave back ownership of Uluru, and related areas to that clan of the aboriginal folks, and they signed a ninty nine year lease with the government to allow tourism, but under the rules established with compromises made by both sides by a board of directors of twelve people, four Aboriginal women, four Aboriginal men, the government parks minister, a tourism expert, and a geologist.  So the aboriginal folks really control what goes on in the park.  One main contentious item is the continuing practice of allowing tourists to climb the rock.  But the numbers are declining year by year and they hope that soon they can prohibit the climbing of their sacred site.  Saw the climbers strung along the ridge line, a long thin line of ant sized people snaking up the rock, and a good number on their butts, carefully trying to not slide down the steep ridge line uncontrollably, for these folks the climb proved to be too steep for them.  Some parts of the ridge line are pretty steep.  Had less than three hours before my sunset tour began, so grabbed a sandwich, changed some USA dollars for Aussie dollars, and mailed a bunch of pamphlets and books home, then had to hussel for the sunset tour which included another walk on the other side of Uluru to see more ancient cliff wall paintings,and under a cliff over hang, a water hole at the base of the rock wall.  Went to the cultural center viewed their displays, much of which the guides had relayed to us already.  Then to a tourist bus restricted location in front of the west side of Uluru for the sunset display.  While waiting for that the tour company had wines, beers, pop, and Aussie lemonade which in America we call sprite, plus cheese, crackers, and dips.  Nice end to the tour.  And like the sunrise on Uluru the sunset made the orange.reds more dramatic.  Was surprised how quickly the sun move from full light to twilight to pitch dark.  bet it wasn't fifteen minutes.  got back to the resort about 7:30 or 8 pm, and was still too stuffed to have dinner from the canapes.  So just got my luggage together for the two plane trips to Melbourne in the morning.

sky just at sunrise, Uluru, the other spiritual site for the aboriginal folks, and one of the walks we took at the second site (when I get to the pamphlets I'll fill in the proper name for the second site.).  It and uluru are the only high rocks, or hills in the flat Outback of central Australia, with the exception of some basically east. west ridges in the outbacks flatland.

Monday, June 13th, and I'm at the Alice Springs airport, waiting at. gate nine, for my flight to Uluru.... with over an hour til we load, so a good time to blog.    My last blog was from the Cairns airport after my visit to the great barrier reef and tropical rain forest, and on my way to Darwin.  Landed there about 9:30ish, and followed my instructions to get the shuttle to my hotel in Darwin...  following my instructions, I exited the main airport doors, turned left, went a short way and found the shuttle stop sign, but no shuttle. I waited, and waited, and waited some more.  No telephone number on my instructions, or on the sign, nor did anyone I asked knew anything about the shuttle, but repeated person after person that the shuttle shows up after flights where they expect arrivals needing transportation to the city, and the next flight expected was the one from Melbourne at 1:30 am,  on three hours.  So I hopped a cab for the expensive way into the city.  The folks at the desk had a complete explaination, the shuttle company went bankrupt six weeks before, and refunds were to be processed thru the booking travel agent.  There was another company picking up the shuttle business, it was the tour company I was scheduled to be on a day tour with the next morning, and the desk folks made a reservation for me.  Next morning I showed up in the lobby at 5:58 am and there was a smiling fella from the tour company, and I was his first pickup from eight different hotels.  Those were done quickly, and we met a second coach were told from both coaches switched according to which tour they were taking.  Five minutes later we were on our way to Kaduru Natl Park...    the guide was talkative explaining what we were going to see, what we were passing at the time etc.  The land is quite different from my expectations.  Everything was green, but mostly stunted trees and under brush, not all brown, dry, and desert.  This is far northern Australia, which floods annually and then is dry the rest of the year.  So everything was still enjoying the water in ground, but the dry season was well underway.  At every river crossing under the highway were bright yellow signs, all identical, instructing those who left their vehicles of the dangerous existence of crocs at all waterways.  At the park we visited an Aboriginal cultural center/ museum for twenty-five minutes, I was the last one out, a couple minutes past the deadline, and I didn't read everything, but was reading and looking at the exhibits longer than most other folks.  This museum required at least an hour, if not more time to do it justice... that's my opinion anyway.   So for the next couple of stops I tried to be one of the first folks back to the bus.  We had an hour and a half boat tour with an Aboriginal guide, who was funny, energetic, !knowledgable, and enthusiastic about HIS land, customs, history, food...  he covered all topics and showed us crocs, plants, trees, birds, flowers, and eatibles.  So interesting, could have stayed on his boat all day...but the tour schedule prevails, you know.  We walked along cliff overhangs where Aboriginal drawings still existed because of the overhang protecting the cliff drawings from the weather.  Had a good lunch, included, and I was surprised that people used the tour busses for transportation, to jobs at hotels and various other sites, to the regional airport for flights further afield and also for tourism flying...  was a good day, from six am to eight thirty pm.  That was my stay at Darwin, arrival at tenish pm, sleep, whole day tour, eat and sleep, then pick up at 5:45 for the airport.  

Have to look at my watch, not only for the time but also the day of the week, everything runs together, and I have to get orientated.  Yesterday, Friday, went on an all day trip to the tropical rain forest, a native Australian reserve with a gorge and river running thru it, also had a brief explanation about their customs before the British arrived.  Wanted much more, but got a smattering, couple more chances though in Darwin and uluru.  Went for longer bus ride into the jungle, crossed a river in a boat ferry, walked a pretty beach where the jungle meets the great barrier reef, understand that it is the only place where two World Heritage Sites touch each other.  Warning signs about crocs... uck!   Had barbeque in the forest after a walk thru the jungle up and down stairs, over board walks, stoney paths... was good, fish, steak, sausage, and a huge diverse salad.  Surprised myself, I enjoyed a boat trip on a tidal river with crocs, the guide is an engineer who was made redundent ( laid off), and is keeping busy giving river tours.  He was emphatic that crocs only eat stupid people.  A lady was eaten two weeks before I got here by a croc while swimming in the river alone at 10pm at night.  His repeated emphasis on telling us that this is croc territory, and we have to be careful and use good judgement when in their homeland.  He pointed out the dominant male crocodile resting and getting warm on the bank of the river.  In winter (now) the water is too cold, so they have to warm up when the sun is out, they are mainly nocturnal hunters, when they become cold, and have to warm up on the banks in the daytime.  But it doesn't mean you can put your hand or arm in the river, the crocs have very acute senses, so you are asking for trouble if you do.  Saw a Juvenal croc swimming toward us a little later, and he submerged just before we got near him.  Also saw baby crocs hiding amount the mangrove tree roots, out of reach of bigger crocs.  The biggest threat to crocs is bigger crocs.  Most crocs are female (70%) and the sex is determined by the temp of the eggs while they are hatching.  Still don't like them, have a visceral fear of them, but after listening to the guide I understand them better.

mangrove roots where the little crocs hide from their papa, and other big crocs.

the river and river banks in croc home lands, all the pics of the crocs ate on my camera not on the tablet...easier to zoom in on the camera.

Thurs, June 9th,9pm.   Swam in Pacific Ocean over part of Great Barrier Reef.  Way out there, took hour and half in very fast catamaran.  In some places the reef is only three feet or so beneath the surface of ocean, at low tide.  Had to be very careful not to kick flippers and hit coral.  Other areas twenty feet down plus and minus.  Where the reef is healthy it is a lot of yellows, greens, blues, reds-mauves... beautiful, of various shapes and sizes: fans, 'rocks' , deer like horns. Antlers, waving in currents, or ridged and unmoving in the ocean.  Many types of fish just like you'd see in a tropical fish tank, and some I've never seen before.  Fish tooth pick sized, others four feet +/-, of many colors and shapes.  Surprised me of the sizes, and colors.  Some only appear in pairs, and if one dies the other stops eating and dies too, according to a lecture by the marine biologist.    Really breathtaking.  But global warming is visible very strongly, there are huge patches of 'dead looking' corals in greys, whites, and grey-browns.  Now that winter is starting down here, the water is cooling off, and if the coral hasn't been too badly, or too long bleached-deadish, there are very small signs of the color peaking thru the grey browns, maybe 10% renewed growth with glimmers of color coming back, but 90% deadish or dead white, grey, grey.browns. so I hope with the cooler water it will reverse significantly.  when swimming the water is comfortably warm, but when you first get in it is a cooler warm on your skin, but in thirty seconds it is a comfortable temp to swim in.  swimming around it is basically luke warm, but every once in the while there is a current of much cooler water, not cold, but cooler.  boy! It's something to see the effects of global warming right in front of your face, it's frightening.  The buffet dinner last nite at the resort was $65.00, so I went to the bar and had a chicken burger and chips (fries) was really good, and filling.  So tonite after we got back to the resort, I hopped on the free bikes (one of the few things that are free-included in the room rate), and did find the Tin Shed a restaurant recommended by the monograms host.  Price was much better, $25.00, and I had a beef dish with an Aussie name, but it was good old corned beef, red cabbage, a different type of brockley, and crushed yellow potatoes.. excellent dinner, and healthy to boot.  Beautiful sunset as I was eating on the porch of the restaurant, porch had 80% of the seating, very few tables inside.  Different way of getting food.  You go to the counter on the right and order and pay for the food, then you go to the counter-bar on the left side and get your drinks and take them to the table yourself.  The dinner is delivered to your table, because you have a large number on a metal rod you brought to the table after you paid for your food.  Left in day light, b but it was pitch dark by the time I got back to the resort on the bike...I'm an old hand by now in navigating the routes from town to the QT Resort where I'm staying.  Got to say Diana at Allied Travel made good choices in picking the resorts, not five star so affordable, but very nice places.  Tomarrow I'm  going to see the tropical rain forest, north Australia is closer to the equator, so warmer, but its winter, so was only in mid-80s or so, but humid, but no where as uncomfortable as Cairo, Dehli or Kathmandu, there it was just HOT and humid!

in the right fin of the catamaran

in the semi-submerrsible

views out of the windows...x 3

Wed June 8th, at airport waiting flight to cairns and great barrier reef.  Yesterday went to Blue Mts west of Sydney.     Cold, rainy in afternoon.  Pretty area, did the hop on/off bus to see sites.  Whole area to mts is elongated suburb of Sydney.  Fantastic train SERVICE, fast, comfortable, quiet, and all seats in our car full.  Rode cable car up and down mt. Great views of waterfall over various levels, and three sisters rock formation....  Sydney beautiful city, has vivid festival going on now.  See previous pics.

Wed June 8th, at airport waiting flight to cairns and great barrier reef.  Yesterday went to Blue Mts west of Sydney.     Cold, rainy in afternoon.  Pretty area, did the hop on/off bus to see sites.  Whole area to mts is elongated suburb of Sydney.  Fantastic train SERVICE, fast, comfortable, quiet, and all seats in our car full.  Rode cable car up and down mt. Great views of waterfall over various levels, and three sisters rock formation....  Sydney beautiful city, has vivid festival going on now.  See previous pics.

Sydney's VIVID!

Got to Sydney Friday about five, took metro from airport to hostel across the street from train station.  Only trouble was about four roads intersected at that point, so I did have a little difficulty finding hostel on which of the six corners, but it was there OK, but with a non-prominent sign .  But across the street from train station it was.   Was in a room with five other guys, I am older than any three of four guys together, the fifth was 35 so I couldn't count hi in the mix.  He had arrived into the room half hour before I did, so we went out for dinner.   Before dinner was over it started to rain, at first a drizzle, then a moderate rain, then a down pour, which continued Saturday and Sunday too at a steady down pour.  Flooding, power outages, sopping wet clothes, and umbrellas turned inside out in the wind gusts.  But Monday morning was dry til about noon then drizzle again for an hour or so, then sunshine, and twenty degrees cooler in the lower fifties.  Friday nite I walked the main streets just to see part of the town.  Saturday I went about ten blocks to the Barracks, which houses prisoners, for twenty years males until were assigned their labor site, about half worked for the colonial government on building roads, buildings, sewers, fences, and the prison barracks, the rest as farm laborers, town merchant assistants...   After the first twenty years newly arrived males were assigned quickly, or in housed in temporary locations, because the Barracks were needed to house female prisoners or free females until assignments were made, and a fair number arrived pregnant even if they weren't when they boarded the ships in England.  So much for voyages of two to six months duration.  After almost a hundred years the Barracks were used as judicial offices and courts until the mid -1970's.  Now it has been restored to its original condition, and is a museum about early history in general, and the history of the prison origins of the early population to Australia.  Now it is a badge of honor to have prisoner ancestors, and not shameful at  all as it was in the previous fifteen decades.  Australians like being mavericks!  So that visit took most of Saturday, and I was wet to the skin when I got to the museum, and wet to the skin when I got back to the hostel.  Sunday morning I moved into the Australia tour hotel, and even though it was only five blocks from the hostel, I took a cab,even then my backpacks were really wet just going from doorway to cab and cab to doorwsy.  Sunday still pouring down rain so I just walked around where ever it was dryer.  Today we went on a city tour of the high points of the city, there were trees down everywhere, and pools of water in most of the low spots.  Saw bondi beach, walked along a path on the cliffs next to the ocean high up in the cliffs, saw the botanical park in the heart of the city, the opera house, harbour bridge, saw people climbing on the walkway high up in the bridge's steel superstructure, too high up for me!  Tour was over by noon, so I stayed downtown and walked  around, and went to see the maritime museum.  Again about the prisoners, and history, from the maritime perspective, including the sending thousands of 'orphans' to Australia to help populate the country.  The museum has a working replica of Captain Cook's ship the  Endeavor.  It has sailed as many miles as the original, before it sank (?).  And has a schedule for future ocean crossings coming up.  The London navy offices have the records of how the original was built, and then remodeled before Cooks voyages, so the replica is an exact copy.  Got thrown out of the museum at five after seeing the Endeavor, an Australian destroyer from the late twentyth centruy. And a submarine of the same vintage,as well as about thirty smaller vessels of historical note.  Then I walked my feet off, and waited for six thirty to see Sydney's Vivid, a city wide light show.  See attached pictures, and these are not all in one place, then there are street entertainers, musicians, acrobats all over.  This 'vivid' is all over, from small? Two by two foot displays to building sized displays: the Marriott hotels varied colored lights on its whole face, moving designs on the Sydney opera houses roofs.  Tomarrow im going to the blue mts two hours by train away, then hop on/off buses.  The tour company has a two hundred and some dollar tour, the hostel has several blue Mt tours for about a hundred or a little less, but the tour guide told me just to hop on the train, then the busses, for about fifty bucks to see the same things... I'm gonna try that and see how it goes.

Friday June 3rd I'm at Perth airport waiting for flight to Sydney.  Got here Tuesday may 31st, late.  Biked three plus hours with free hotel bike, beautiful river bank with five mile trail out and cross river, and five miles back.  Downtown is bigger than DSM but feels similar.  Yesterday tour of area: a wild life preserve, petted a wombat, kolala, and fed kangaroos.  Saw mysterious pinnicals near Indian Ocean rising two to fifteen feet in air, thousands of them, source undefined.  Sand skied down hill three times, with a good tumble at bottom each time, another item off my list, well honestly it was never even thought of, til I got to bottom of hill.  That's it for Perth.