26 December 2014 – 24 March 2015
Australia Photo Gallery – Part One
posts
Wild Life!
23/1/15
No, Mr. Emu! Wrong Way, Go Back!
Yesterday, I saw my first koala in the wild! For that matter, I also saw my first wild emus, incuding triplet babies.
I had been traveling along the Great Ocean Road when I saw a sign for Tower Hill State Game Reserve. I turned off, actually thinking it would be a nice little place I could use as a rest stop. Though it was more extensive than I realized, I decided to continue on to the visitor center, since it was quite scenic.
Before I had even approached the main area, I stopped because I saw a giant bird in the bush by the side of the road! I did a double take. Yup, it was an emu! Just hanging out, eating in the bushes. I pulled over for a couple pics.
Emu family picinic!
When I got to the visitor center, I was more amazed to find out that there was a set of triplet babies walking around with what I found out was their father. Emu males sit on the eggs and then raise the young! After building the nests with the males and laying the eggs, the females just go on their merry way. Clearly, this little family wanted to go for a picinic!
I saw that there were several bushwalks around the reserve, and decided to go for a little hike. The reserve is on an old volcano, and there are small “islands” in the center of a large crater. One of the island was called Fairy Island and was supposed to have some koalas on it. I’d not seen one yet, although I’d passed several warning signs on highways.
Kevin the Koala
Look up to see Kevin…
I decided to take that walk but before I’d even gotten out of the picinic area I saw some people looking up and saw a koala in the tree above! There was another in a tree nearby. Clearly this was his favorite tree, as he had been given his own sign. (Love that he’s named Kevin!)
I went on the walk, hopeful that I’d see more koalas, now that I knew what to look for, but didn’t see a single one. I did run into a few more emus, however! And some beautiful birds.
When I returned to my car, one of the Koalas had woken up (not Kevin) and was looking for his breakfast, which was pretty cool to watch.
After leaving the reserve, I headed towards another area of the coast back on the way towards Melbourne that I’d heard had koalas in abundance. There was also a lighthouse or something, but….
When I got to that area, it was nearly dusk. As I approached the coast from the highway, I had to brake for a kangaroo. I also, looking up, saw a koala in the trees! I was pretty excited about it. I stayed in a camp there called Bimbi Park, which apparently means land of many birds. There were, in fact, many birds (even wild cockatoos), but the koalas were the stars of the show. There was one in a tree right above my campsite! I even saw a possum in the tree as I was getting ready for bed.
Triplet Falls, Great Otway National Park
This morning, as I drove out (via the lighthouse) I saw many more of the cute bears in the trees. Apparently, it’s best if that’s where they stay. I hear they can be quite nasty if provoked. Luckily, they’re usually just curled up and sleeping during the day. At night they wake up and eat and eat and eat, just to maintain enough energy to…um, sleep, then eat again. Exciting life….
This afternoon, I was hiking up at a place called Triple Falls, still in Otway National Park – damn, this place is beautiful! – and saw a sign about platypi. Man, it would be beyond incredible to see a platypus. They’re very reclusive and rare to see, but they can be seen on occasion, and only here in Australia! I’ll keep my eyes open, and my fingers crossed! Maybe I’ll see more amazing wildlife as I keep traveling.
Camper Chef
23/1/15
Me and Mel
It’s funny. Once, my brother commented to me that our father really likes to talk about meals. Food might be one of his favorite topics, we realized. Whenever we talk to him we usually end up finding out what he had to eat in the last day or two, particularly if he went out to a restaurant. If the meal was in any way noteworthy, he tells us what he had.
My father is quite a phenomenal chef, actually, so it makes sense that he likes to talk about food. And it’s one of his ways to check up on us and see if we’re doing alright too because the conversation is usually two-sided and we get to tell him what we’ve had recently or made to eat or where we’ve been.
No room at the inn…
Luckily, I stopped a little early tonight. This meant, however that I didn’t stop in a town to get any food supplies like I’d planned. But I figured I always at least have tuna and I’d gotten some olive tampenade that goes good with it spread on crackers. After setting up my site though, I remembered I had half a jar of spaghetti sauce and had found some pasta in the bag of utensils that came with the camping gear…so I ended up making a tuna pasta sauce for the fettuccini. With the black olive for flavor, it was so good! It rememded me a little of the dishes they served at Rasta Pasta, a Jamaican fusion restaurant back in my hometown.
Eating it here under the stars, listening to the Pink Floyd someone is playing at another campsite, with the sounds of nature and animals in the background, I felt like a super-chef! I was especially proud since I’d started with so few ingredients to cook with! I’ve been trying to buy things in smaller amounts, or a few items at a time. I don’t need to purchase for meals I might make. It’s better to only buy for ones I know I’ll make in the near future. I know a month or more sounds like a long time to be in a country, but suddenly it’ll be over and I’ll have built up a nice little larder that I have to get rid of! It’s tough, though because there are certain staples I end up having to get in nearly each country I want to cook in. Ah, the joys of a wandering budding chef.
Then, belly full, reminiscing over my amazing meal of moments ago, I remembered a particularly good garlic spinach I’d made earlier this week with pieces of bacon in it. (I had combined a couple leftover pieces of bacon from breakfast with store spinach and garlic.) I gave myself some props for that awesome meal I cooked as well.
Wouldn’t my father be proud.
On Libraries and Lap Lanes
Feb 6, 2015
Today, I got up and my main goal for the day was a hot shower. It’s interesting how sometimes it’s the little things that become important when you’re traveling with not many things. I’d been taking cold showers at beaches and such for the most part when I traveled the Great Ocean Road. I had a hot one when I paid to stay at a campsite once and it was GLORIOUS! I decided to try for another one when I left Sydney again and I stopped at a trucker’s rest stop where you can pay 4 bucks for a hot shower. I was very happy to do so and it was awesome. It had been a couple weeks by then since my last one (hot shower, not any shower). I am someone who LOVES to take scalding hot showers. At the rest stop, I fogged up the mirrors in the whole bathroom! I almost felt bad, but I did pay for the shower, so that thought quickly assuaged my guilt.
Anyway, even though that was only a few days ago, I’d felt so great afterwards and it’s been raining every day since (not exactly beach weather), so I decided to see about a repeat. I asked at an information center here in Ballina and they suggested the local Swim N Gym. A great idea. I’d actually thought about going to a rec center and paying for the pool so I could use the locker room myself.
Jellyfish horror show near Ballina, Australia
I was using the library yesterday and stayed til it closed, which meant the Swim N Gym would be closed as well, so I got up first thing this morning and headed over to the gym to see what was up. They only charged 5 bucks to use their pool facilities. I’d already planned on swimming as well. The last couple days it’s been either cold when I’ve thought about swimming at a beach, I’ve not been in the mood, or the beach has been littered with jellyfish. And when I say “littered with jellyfish”, I mean, it looked like a jellyfish horror movie. I’ve never seen so many. And they were HUGE. I’ve been driving so much lately that I haven’t been as physical as I like to be, so I thought a few laps would be great.
I was pleased to find out that they were going to be having a water fitness class within an hour of when I arrived at the pool too! I thought about possibly joining the class because I’m a big fan of aqua aerobics. I used to go to classes regularly shortly after college and enjoyed the way you can use the water to increase resistance and change the difficulty of the class to suit your needs. I think it’s unfortunate that it’s gotten a rep as an old person’s activity, because it can be quite enjoyable. And also, when you sweat, you don’t get all sweaty!
it’s really big!
Anyway, as I was swimming laps, a lady struck up a conversation with me. She was a local (yes, a senior citizen), and we had a nice talk during which she asked if I was going to come to the class. When the class started, a large group of special education children was just leaving the pool and I realized that I probably didn’t want to go to the locker room at that point in time anyway due to the chaos factor. A perfect excuse to go to the class…
It was quite well attended, over 20 people, mostly geriatric. All female but one. I had a great time, though. Several of the women introduced themselves to me. They were so sweet, many of them hoping that I was a new resident in town. It was so nice. There was such a small-town vibe, I really enjoyed it.
Nonetheless, I’m moving on from Ballina tonight. I woke up this morning at a rest stop/reserve where I slept and was just about to get up when I realized a ranger was pulling up in front of my car. Damn. Most of the places I’ve been camping are borderline (or not-so-borderline) illegal. Signs say no camping, but not no sleeping in cars. Some signs say no car sleeping, though. I try to avoid those places. Some counties or “Shires” as they’re called here have signs everywhere and will fine people. This ranger was super-nice, though. He gave me a warning and told me I could get a fine of 110 dollars if I was caught again. He also mentioned that apparently it’s not illegal to park your car on the roadside of a city…. Good info. I plan on doing that tonight! I hear they’re really strict in Byron Bay, which is the next Shire to the north…so fingers crossed!
Serendipity
Mar 2, 2015
Kim at our meeting point
I met the greatest lady yesterday! I had stopped in a cul-de-sac on the top of a hill so that I could clean out my car. I’d spent the morning at the library, but it was a Saturday, so it closed at 1230. So, before deciding where to go from there, I figured I would get my “house” tidy. As I was driving along, I saw the little pull-off and as I came to the top of the hill I was stunned. I could see the ocean to one side – all the way out to the Byron Bay lighthouse. On the other side, the hills stretched out into the distance. It was a spectacular view. As I was enjoying the scenery and brushing out my car, another car pulled into the cul-de-sac and a lady got out to walk her dog.
We started talking – she was really nice! Somehow we got on the subject of showers – I mentioned that I’d stopped at the Swim ‘N Gym for a shower earlier this week and she suggested somewhere nearby I could go to get another hot shower. (It’s surprising how it’s the little things, like a hot shower, rather than cold, that become so delightful when you live in your car!) As we continued talking, Kim suddenly said maybe I should just come to her house and take a shower. Although I said I couldn’t possibly and that she was too kind to offer, she told me to think about it while she took a quick walk with her dog and while she did so I realized I’d be an idiot to refuse the offer. Plus, it’d be nice to meet some more actual Australians. Many of the people I’ve met here so far have also been foreigners, like me, especially as I started out staying at a hostel in Sydney.
Brunswick Heads Library is adorable!
So I headed back to Kim’s house with her and met her husband David and their eight-year-old daughter Natascha. They also had a friend visiting with her two children. We all chatted for a while and then after I took a (wonderful, hot) shower, we went into Brunswick Heads (the nearby town where I’d just been to the library) for dinner.
The Italian joint we had planned to go to was super full and not inclined to fit us in; but we ordered for the kids and went around the corner to pick up a couple pizzas for the adults. We really enjoyed the evening. By then, they’d also talked me into staying at their place for the night. I assured them I’d be fine in my car (as I do have a very comfortable double bed back there), but it was such a delight to have access to the toilet and not worry about rangers giving me fines for camping illegally! Plus, by then, we were fast friends! They’ve both done a lot of traveling and we have a lot in common. After Lyn and her kids left, Dave and Kim and I stayed up talking until the wee hours! They’re great!
David, Kim with Oscar, and me
Natascha
Today, we slept in a bit and have been having a lazy Sunday. Kim and I went to the beach and hung out for a while. Oscar (her dog) came with us and had a blast digging holes – he dug one directly under Kim which eventually collapsed and almost caved in on him! They’ve talked me into staying another night. In the morning, I’m going to make an appointment to see a local doctor so I can get some prescription refills. The pharmacies here in Australia won’t take my US prescriptions, so I need new ones to get my meds refilled. It’s great that Kim is willing to help me out with this and should hook me up immensely. David’s been helping me add to my quickly growing list of Aussie-isms that I’ve been making. I’m enjoying my time with an actual Australian family!
more pics and posts coming soon!