Aussie Land 2020 Chapter 1

Aussie Land Chapter 1

Planning for this trip began in the summer of 2018 when I approached some friends with a great deal I had found for a cruise from Vancouver to Sydney. It turned out that the posted date of departure was wrong, and it was such a great deal because the cruise was commencing in only a few weeks. The same cruise in September 2019 was substantially more expensive. However, the wheels of planning were set in motion. By Christmas 2018 it had morphed into a two week cruise out of Sydney to the South Seas islands, with a visit to Tasmania thrown in. Despite gloomy reports of how the Great Barrier Reef, “GBR“, was bleaching, I felt a trip to Australia would be incomplete without at least visiting this marvel. Bookings began in January, 2019 leading to a long year waiting to go.

Waiting became more difficult in the last months. Nightly news reports of the devastating wildfires and regular demonstrations and rioting in Hong Kong, where we had layovers on the way to and from Aussie Land, did not help. Then the corona virus hit, sending panic about travel to China, Hong Kong and nearby airports. If that was not enough, health issues in the family added to the stress. I had reoccurring issues with my arteries and was hospitalized for six days in November. A few friends and family members began battling cancer and another was waiting for surgery to determine if she had the dreaded disease too. Somehow, life went on and the day finally arrived.

January 25

We boarded our Cathay Pacific flight for Hong Kong and left Vancouver at 1:30 pm; Jo and I, friends R & C, Jo’s sister W and her friend S. (I do not identify misfortune souls who may end up in my blog.) The 14 hour flight was half full. I had an empty seat beside me but it was soon taken over by the woman on the other side, who attempted several times to lie across the two seats, pushing her purse into me to create a border, and then almost lying on my lap. I did learn that turbans can be removed and they hold their shape. Despite this, and the fact that I may have slept about 20 minutes in about 4 instalments, it was a good, but very, very long flight. The food and service was excellent. Good start.

Loosing the better part of a day by crossing the IDL, our flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne left at 5 minutes after midnight on Monday, January 27, a 4 hour layover. A few things to note from our extremely limited exposure to HK, was that the vast majority of Asian’s wore masks. Also, despite the fact that we arrived on Chinese New Years, there was little evidence of it except a few displays. The Melbourne flight was a red eye and most of the 8 hour flight was quiet with the lights out. For me it was very successful. I believe I may have slept almost an hour in a row, plus several few minute nod offs. That left plenty of time to begin this blog, in the dark, a place where some may feel my blog belongs. On a final note before I retreat and await the final 2 hours of this fight, I should say that I personally don’t consider iPhones cameras, although the latest ones may have improves zooming capabilities. Therefore, between Jo and I left, not including phones or iPads, we were lugging around  5 cameras which really is a bare minimum. A good camera each with a long lens for capturing wildlife, smaller pocket cameras for regular stuff that doesn’t need zooming, and then a water camera each for capturing the world under the water. Let the clicking begin!

January 26 Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne at about noon local time, and everything ran very smooth. We could walk from the airport to our hotel, and even though I had downloaded a map of our walking route, it was not needed because there were signs and arrows at every turn directing us there. It was an Ibis Budget Hotel, the operative word being “budget”. It had the basics but not much more, but you know what they say, “Location, location, location.”  And the weather was superb, sunny, 21 degrees with a gentle breeze. 

With an afternoon and evening to kill, we walked back to the airport and caught the skybus, an express bus that went right downtown. Downtown was further away tha I thought. Along the way we saw our first wallabies in a field. We looked forward to walking along the waterfront, having beer at a nice patio bar, checking out all the restaurants and enjoying exotic Melbourne. What we found was quite different. The place was deserted, and there were few eating establishments around, and those that were open had few customers or ambiance. We discovered that it was Australia Day and therefore most things were closed. We were in the central business district so it was even more deserted. The only thing going on was a cricket match between Melbourne and Brisbane playing at the stadium by the bus station. This game was also on every TV in eateries and pubs. I don’t believe we were in the best section of the city for tourists, but nevertheless I was glad we saw a part of the city.

January 28 Launceston, Tasmania

Due to still being disoriented time wise, everyone went to bed early last night and woke up early. I was in bed at 9PM, something that hasn’t happened in about 40 years, and I was awake by 5:30. When I checked everyone in online for our flight to Launceston (pronounced Lon-ses-ton), the ticket said that we should check in our luggage at 45 minutes before our flight, which was at 8:20AM. We leisurely went to McDonalds for breakfast and arrived at the airport at 7:30. There were few signs for how to check in, so we joined the lineup for baggage checkin. When we got to the front of the line, we learned that this was just for 1st class passengers, and we should have gone to a machine to print off luggage tags, and then take them to a conveyor belt ourselves. I played the ignorant tourist card and the attendant said she would help us anyway. She checked in our bags and we proceeded to our gate. The screen said it was in final boarding, and when we got to the gate, we were immediately let through onto the tarmac and into the plane. A few people came behind us, and within 5 or 6 minutes the doors closed. The luggage cart arrived and I saw that our bags were on it, so they got to the plane in about the same time as it took us to get there. We were on the runway ready to take off in less than an hour from when we arrived. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Our 90 minute flight went very smoothly and when we got off, we immediately found Michael, our chauffeur for the next 6 days. He took us to a local winery to taste their white wines, Tassie is known for its white wines. I did see a few birds that an may have taken a few pictures.

After that we went to a local gorge, Cataract Gorge, where you could take a short chairlift ride across the river, wander around on the other side, and walk back, crossing over on a suspension bridge. At the other end were a number. Of wild peacocks, including several peahens with chicks. Right near the exit of the lift was a group of wallabies, our first close sighting of marsupials. We had some coffee and dessert at an outdoor restaurant there, and were entertained by a peahen that snatched up S’s piece of cake off the table in a moment of distraction. There were signs warning of this. After our walk, we checked into our hotel, The Best Western Plus, which was right in town. We spent the afternoon wandering around town, and going through a local park. Michael had made reservations for us at a steak house, the Jailhouse Grill. It was good and seemed expensive until you take into account that all taxes are included, there is no tipping and the AU $ is less than the Canadian $. A great day! On to the quoll!

January 29 Quoll Patrol

As usual, we were awake early and after a buffet  breakfast, we strolled around town for a while. At 11:00, Michael picked us up. It was a sunny 27 degree day. We drove to our next stop, Scottsdale and to our B&B, Beulah Heritage House. It was truly a wonderful, old house dating back to the mid 1800’s. There we had lunch and were picked up by Craig and Ben from Pepper Bush, the tour we had booked for the day. Their excursion is called the Quoll Patrol. After visiting a number of local ponds looking for platypus, we headed for Ben Lomond Park. We learned that platypus are very dangerous. They have a stinger that injects venom. Craig told us that the pain is very high, and no pain killers or medicine overcomes it. It can take weeks for the pain to go down and you are immobilized. A man he knew got it and after a week died because his heart could not take the pain.

Ben Lomond was beautiful. It is the highest mountain in Tasmania. We drove up a steep mountain road. The face of the mountain is columns of rock. There was a very little ski village at the top with a handful of chalets. Around the town we found many wallabies. We also came across a wombat with a baby. That was cool, From there we had a long drive to get to the Pepper Bush (named after the leaves of a local tree that excretes a strong pepper flavour used for cooking. ) Craig grew up in the bush all his life and had a passion not only for wildlife but for trees. We learned of every tree on our way. We travelled in two vehicles. The other vehicle found a echidna along the side of the road but we did not. 

Our destination was a small cabin in the middle of a acres of grass fields. We saw numerous wallabies along the way, and a kookaburra. Kangaroos, wallabies and pademelon (a type of wallaby) grazed in the fields, and a large number of them came right up to the cabin, where they were the kangaroos in particular were very used to people, and we could feed them and scratch their chins. Very cool, because they are still wild and free to go anywhere. We had dinner which included wallaby burgers, which were very good, and Tasmanian salmon. As darkness set in, new critters arrived. A number of bush tail possums showed up, a few wombats wandered by and finally a quoll woke up from under the cabin and scurried around. It was a very cute critter, perhaps the size of a kitten, with a flowing while tail, spots, and long nose. It dashed around and was almost impossible to photograph (I did get one). On our drive across the field to head home, we saw several more in the field. Driving home in the dark was unreal. We must have seen at least a hundred wallabies, bounding across the road, hopping along the side or just sitting in the middle of the road. We had at least ten times when we came within inches of hitting them. Wombats also trodden along and we saw several more animals, including a number of quolls in our headlights. We arrived back at about 10:45PM. A long but amazing day!

January 30 Cradle Mountain

After another good sleep, we had breakfast together in the dining room of the house, yogurt, assorted fruit, cereal, toast and eggs with bacon, we got picked up by Craig from Pepper Bush, who drove us 5 minutes out of town to a pond along the road. We found 4 platypus swimming around and enjoyed some times taking picture sets. A quick stop at the liquor store for wine, and we were off again with our driver, Michael for a 5 1/2 hour drive to Cradle Mountain, including a stop for lunch in Sheffield, a quaint town known for its mural paintings on many buildings. It was a hot day, with temperatures in the low 30’s. We were fortunate enough to see an echidna along the highway which we stopped for. We were dropped off at Cradle Mountain park gate where we bought our park passes and took the shuttle bus to Dove Lake. Because it was hot and one of the people in our party was having a little trouble with long walks, we chose to limit our walking to start  jaunts along either side of the lake. It was gorgeous. Along the path we did come across a deadly black tiger snake. W had spotted it and I was the last to walk to where it was. Apparently the look on my face was entertaining when I saw this snake slithering in my direction and I had to get past it on the path, only a foot or two aside from it. We all made it alive. Snakes are common in Tasmania and their three main snakes are all highly poisonous. We got back to our home for the night, the Cradle Mountain Lodge, by about 4:30, in time for a drink before dinner. It was a very nice lodge but because there was little else there, everything was very expensive. They offered a la cart or buffet dinner, but reservations were recommended for both. We found we were quite happy to stay in the lounge and ordered food there. Everyone raved about their dinner. We relaxed and got together for a nightcap. Another top notch day. 

January 31 The Coast

After a good evening I slept longer than planned and had to hurry to get in my bird watching stroll before breakfast. I walked along the boardwalk into the woods and heard many new bird sounds, but only managed two sightings, one high in the tree canopy. We had a continental breakfast because the prices were very high here. Toast and jam it was. By 9:30 we were off again heading for the coast. We stopped at Strawberry Hill, a berry farm that specialized in chocolate covered raspberries. Very good but rich. Most of us enjoyed a fruit smoothie, and then we were off again. We stopped in Ross, a small heritage town and had lunch. Then we were off again. A long day of driving. We got to see a great deal of the Tassie countryside and huge farms, mainly Angus beef and sheep, often merino wool. Interestingly, these sheep tend to want to huddle together. If there were 100 sheep, there might be 5 groups all jammed together to form a large wooden ball. 

By the time we got to Devil’s Corner winery, near our destination, the temperature had climbed to 42.5 degrees, and the air was Smokey from fires which had flared up. We enjoyed a wine tasting and a bottle tasting before arriving in Cole Bay at about 4PM. Our accommodations were travel trailers in a camping ground across the street from a beach and a few kilometres from Freycinet National Park. We shared a unit with R & C and got the bed, while they got the room with bunk beds. Scored!  After eating at the local pub, the only place to eat, we did a long stroll on the beach before retiring to some more wine and socializing. A lot of driving but a good day nevertheless. The intro pamphlet suggested doing a search for possums after dark, but that fizzled.

February 1 The Devils

Plans for the day were on the fly, partly due to uncertainty about the weather. Rain was in the forecast and the temperature had dropped from the 40’s to low 20’s. By dinner time is was only 14 degrees. We did encounter showers during the afternoon. First we ate at a local restaurant where I finally saw some variety of birds, parrots and others. Then we went into the park and did the lighthouse walk, a 20 minute stroll with nice views of the coast. Other walks in the park were too much for some, so we chose to limit ourselves to this one. Then we drove 1.5 hours to Bicheno, where we went to an animal rescue centre. We saw many Tasmanian devils as well as a large assortment of Australian wildlife. I especially enjoyed the wild birds that flew in and were not captive. We proceeded a little ways farther down the road to a brewery for lunch. The wind picked up and not too long later, the first rain drops fell. The smoke was out of the air though. We finally drove down to Bay of Fires and did a nice walk on the beach before rain drove us back to the vehicle. We drove back and came home at about 4PM. Another day of long driving but nevertheless we did see some nice stuff. I also found a few parrots next to our trailer. At night it was too cold to sit outside so we drank inside.

February 2 Goodbye Tasmania Hello...?

It was an early start, leaving at 6:40 for the Launceston airport for our 10:25AM flight to Sydney. Traffic was light for the two hour drive. We even had time for a leisurely breakfast at the airport. Strangely, while ZI am not sure if I have gained weight on this trip so far, my suitcase did. It was now over 24 Kg. When all I bought was a shot glass and tshirt. The limit was 23 Kg. I was not charged anything though. The flight went smoothly and we took the train from the airport to the station by our hotel, The Travelodge Wynyard. Our hotel was kiddie corner from the Wynyard Park, a hangout with lots of white ibises running around. After settling in and having a drink, after all, we had begun Jo’s birthday month, we found a Bottle Store to get some wine for later. Then we walked through town and down to the waterfront. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and watched a cruise ship leave, thinking we would be on one in a few days. While eating, it began raining very hard, changing our plans for the evening. Furthermore, at the end of the dinner R looked at his emails and muttered and expletive. We got an email from Royal Caribbean saying that anyone who had gone to, from or went through Hong Kong less than 15 days prior to the cruise would not be able to board, as part of their plan to battle the coronavirus. We travelled through Hong Kong only 7 days ago, even though we never left the security area of the airport. That not only shocked everyone, but put a major damper on our day. 

We were left with a lot of questions, what ifs, etc. Will we get our money back? We are only booked in our hotel until Wednesday. What happens then? Will the cruise line pay for extending our stay? Can we even travel at all? Are we stranded in Sydney? Can we find accommodations on such short notice with other people in the same boat? Do we try to fly home if the airline will let us on, and how much would that cost us, since Jo and I had already paid a huge premium because we had to change the original booking? We all felt lost, sad, maybe a little angry, even if unjustified, and stranded with no way of knowing what was to become of our trip. It poured rain after we got back to our hotel so plans to see the opera house by night were scrapped and we sat in our room with our wine and Australian Open Tennis final and grumbling about our predicament. I did find a lot of bats in a tree next to the hotel, and at least that was a good distraction for a few minutes. They were very big. We went to bed with a lot of uncertainty.