Visit to NZ, Fiji and Australia  Part 3 

April 2015

Just the final leg of the journey remained now and we were very refreshed after a couple of days in Fiji.   At the airport, however, Fiji airlines gave us a hard time.   Trying to fit in the hand baggage into a seemingly tiny box was a skill that has to be learned.   Even if the dimensions are perfect, the wheels did tend to get stuck.   Forget about overloaded bags, people had to literally dump clothing in the garbage to conform.

We headed for Melbourne first and our drive from the airport to the hotel was not that impressive.   However, the city showed its real character on the following day when  we were taken to view some of its famous landmarks.   We indeed had a full day of sight-seeing planned and all of it was very exciting.  We checked out from outside the imposing Parliament House, the financial district and were able to go into the bluestone cathedral of the St. Patrick’s church.   As with many other churches all over the world that were built several centuries ago and well preserved, we were impressed with the  beauty and serenity inside the edifice.  The next stop was Pitroy Gardens which was unique by way of the pathways converging in the shape of the Union Jack.   Captain Cook, that world traveler was also immortalized with his re-assembled cottage on view, some locals dressed in authentic period costumes adding to the charm.

The star of the show of course was the Melbourne Cricket Club, the famous MCC.    If you can believe that a non-sports enthusiast like me could be highly impressed, it has to be something!   As for the husbands who had been waiting to savor this visit, there was no disappointment.   We had a detailed tour and possibly saw every inch of the huge space, with a most enthusiastic guide, all dressed up in a striped blazer!  Okay, some hard facts – there is a 20 year wait for the club membership and the yearly charges around $650 we were told.   Many privileges go with membership including use of the enclosed viewing  galleries where no doubt white gloved waiters serve dainty sandwiches!  The audience capacity is 100,000 and believe it or not, every year the pitch which rests on a concrete slab with several inches of mud under it, is physically removed by a flat bed truck and stored.   This is so that other users of the arena do not ruin it with rough sports.   To keep the grass green on the other side where the sun does not quite reach,  special lamps are used!   And if you wonder why the Australians are so good, their practice areas are complete with every convenience and technology, even imitating the pitch of world players.   Promising young players of school age are given opportunities to practice in indoor areas at the MCC.   Our group spent quite a bit of time inspecting the names and statistics engraved on the World Cup boards, savoring all the Indian names.

So much so, we could only pass by the Rod Laver arena where the Australian Open is played.  It comprises of 22 tennis courts we were told.   We were driven to see the beautiful park and monument of the Shrine of Remembrance honoring all those who died in various wars.   Hundreds of beautiful medals on colorful ribbons were displayed in glass cases along with other memorabilia.   We had been Down Under for so long and still not seen a koala or kangaroo up close and that desire was fulfilled finally when we visited the Koala conservation center where we viewed the cuddly animals perched on tree tops in their natural habitat.    We could film them as they slowly walked up and down the branches.   Slow yes, but considering they sleep 18 hours a day, we were lucky to see any movement!  They do look a little funny with no tails, as such.  Wallabies, somewhat related to kangaroos  and similar looking, were also there  behind a simple fence and we could see and appreciate their hops.  This was a good place to pick up some stuffed animal souvenirs and contribute to the conservation center at the same time and we all did.   We had also opted to view some tiny penguins and found out that after a long drive to the Philip Island beach, we had to sit quietly on the bleachers for over an hour.  We were told the penguins came home after dark when danger from predators was less.  While we expected about a thousand  to waddle out of the ocean (on some days the statistic was for 1,400), on that specific day we may have seen a few hundred in small groups of about 10-20. A bit disappointing!  No photography was allowed either!  However, on our  way out as we walked over the wooden boardwalks, the little ones were below us, chirping and making their way to their own nests in the sand dune burrows.  The diminutive penguins, less than a foot tall,  were cute and inquisitive, not afraid to stop and stare at us as we did at them.

Animals unique to Australia — Koala, Kangaroo, Kookaburra, Dingos,  

The next morning we were refreshed and ready for another adventure, which of course (what else is new?) involved a long bus ride!   But this time the scenery along the Great Ocean Road was breathtaking at every bend and honestly I can give my opinion that I will remember Australia not by its Great Barrier Reef, but by the spectacular sandstone formations along this coast and the famous Twelve Apostles. It is not to be missed! We were told by our driver/ guide that the road itself was built by soldiers.   The rocky coastline, the picturesque seaside towns and the true blue sea, not turquoise, gave us a different flavor of Australia.  With a stop for a simple lunch and a little browsing at a seaside small town store for snacks, we were ready to move onwards.   Soon we were at the rock formations., overlooking the sea and the “apostles”.   These are natural rock formations, actually the sea has created them by whittling away the soft stone.   Reminded one of the twelve apostle peaks in Cape Town.   Only eight remain now in Australia, others having collapsed into the sea.   So this is a sight that may not last forever.   We were lucky to have seen them, they were very inspiring.  From our vantage point, it was fascinating to see the layers of rock and the ocean darting in and out, playing with the cliff along the coast, sculpting with a mind of its own.   We walked around a bit, admiring this fascinating feature.  They had cute names too, like “salt and pepper” and did look like giant shakers.

Spectacular Formations in the Ocean, Helicopter Ride views

A short drive brought us to the Port Campbell National Park area where,  to our delight we found that there was a helicopter ride for a reasonable rate.   Everyone opted to go and it was also one of the best decisions we made.   The ride, though only about 10 mins gave us a totally different perspective.  We were taken out to the sea and could view the etched stone edifices along the coast.   It was beautiful!  We then made a smooth landing after passing over some green meadows and sheep.  Our only regret was that having driven all that distance, we could only spend a short time there.  We even missed walking down to the beach and viewing some of the formations up close due to time constraints.  Port Campbell is certainly worth a stay over.

Cairns was the next destination which was but a short flight away.   Having reached, we went straight to the Kuranda rain forest area and up the steep mountain in the sky rail.   The view was spectacular and the rain forest mountain very impressive with its flora and fauna and rare plants.   We were even allowed to make stops to walk around and view the waterfalls.   We had expected a demo of aborigine skills like throwing a boomerang, but at our destination all we found was a  gift shop.   The aborigines are to be found only in the interior of Australia.  Our hotel was facing a very large lake with ample walkways along it and we were able to exercise our legs and enjoy the bird action taking place!

The Great Barrier Reef

Now the Great Barrier Reef  may be listed as the only living structure visible from the moon but what we saw (or were shown) seemed fairly tame.   Though none from our group did scuba diving, many did take the semi submerged submarine ride and all of us the glass bottom boat ride after taking a stomach churning speedboat ride to an island and reaching the “edge of the continental shelf”, we could only view very little of the exotic corals or sea life.   I mean there was plenty of coral formations, only not that colorful or impressive, pretty similar to what we had seen before in Fiji or say, Aruba.   Later at the Sydney aquarium we saw samples of the real deal and said to ourselves, “oh, that’s what it must have been like or must still be on some parts of the ocean floor.”    In the evening we drove over to the Cairns night market and did some precious stone and silver jewelry shopping.   Very nice kiosks, set up like an indoor flea market.   The Indian dinners continued to follow us in every town,  actually we should not be complaining but be thankful that we did not have to experiment tasting local vegetarian fare which may  have been hardly palatable.   Indian restaurants both in NZ and Australia were well above standard, providing predictable, but tasty food.

Sydney, a beautiful city, the famed Opera House

Sydney was our last stop of the Australian tour and provided plenty of activity.   It is a beautiful city and the Darling Harbor area which houses the Opera House has everything from a wax museum to a full fledged zoo and aquarium.  We started our stay with a showboat dinner cruise which gave beautiful views of the Harbor Bridge, Opera House and night skyline.   We also had great entertainment on board, including a Bollywood number performed by their locals!  After a restful night, we woke up to a perfect morning for viewing the sights.  Starting with The Rocks area which gave us views of the bridge and opera house across the water, ideal for pictures.  We were taken up the Sydney Tower, a very tall structure giving us panoramic views.   However, the activities at the Darling harbor were extremely rushed and as everything closed at 6 p.m most of us could do only two out of three activities and had to skip either the wax museum or the aquarium.   The animal exhibits in the Wildlife World zoo we all loved, being able to see many unique natives like koalas, wallabies and kangaroos and birds unique to the region like the Kookaburra.   Some in our group could even feed or pet the kangaroos.

The Opera House itself was nothing short of amazing, its history and story of how it was built even more so.  It was designed by a Danish architect, Jorn Utzon,  but due to the vicissitudes of fortunes, he worked on it off and on and was not in charge at the end and  never able to see the completed project.  In 1955 there was a worldwide competition to select the architect.   His “sublime masterpiece” was viewed by many as a white elephant that could never be successfully built.  But suffice to say, after 350,00 man hours and over ten years in the making, built at a cost of $102 million Australian currency,  it was finally inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth in 1973.  By this time Utzon had resigned and refused to come back, though invited and he was awarded a gold medal.    Looking beautiful like the wings of a sail or the petals of a white lotus, only a close look can reveal its multitude of secrets, like the triple glazed off- white ceramic tiles coating its wings which came from Sweden, its lovely glass windows from France.   The inside did not disappoint either.   There are so many beautiful auditoriums allowing several shows to go on at the same time, a royal purple carpet lining its foyers.  The wood floors and walls in some of the halls provide awe inspiring acoustics we were told.  It is built to last, huge, a modern day wonder and using Danish simplicity and clean lines. This is the 40^th anniversary of its completion – check out 40 interesting facts about it on the internet. Definitely worth seeing in person.

Port Stephens and Sand Dunes

To give us a break from city sights, we were scheduled for a bus trip to Port Stephens.   On the way we saw some interesting specimens of snakes, small alligators and even tarantulas  at the Reptile Park.  For the first time we saw some Dingoes which really looked like friendly dogs with their wagging tails.   Our run with good weather seemed to be nearing an end and light rain followed us on and off.  The next morning after a lunch on board a large boat, we were taken for a dolphin sighting ride.   We did see a few that seemed to be trained to follow the boat, but not too many otherwise!  Next morning we only got a glimpse of the sand dune adventure in Stockton promised to us,  due to rain.   We were taken to one of the largest moving sand dune beaches in the world over 32 km long and 2.5 km at its widest.  The clean sand, constantly shifting, had been sculpted into huge mountains.   Youngsters were actually enjoying sandboarding.    The ride in the 4 x 4 vehicles was heart stopping too as it climbed over the steep dunes.  We spent a few moments by the ocean as well, braving stiff winds.

Back in Sydney we did our last minute shopping of candied ginger (delicious!), chocolates and believe it or not, tomato soup packets which had been a light and  tasty treat when we played truant from our Indian dinner!   The weather was turning worse (heaviest rain in a decade) and at the airport we found our flight had been cancelled but thankfully we were transferred to a Qantas flight!   The service on it was great and after some inconvenience at LA where we had to drag our baggage to another terminal along the sidewalks, book on another connecting flight, we finally made it back home.   Now, looking back, it all seems like a dream, but so is every experience in life after a lapse of time.   Sweet Dreams!