Australia 2006-2007

A YEAR WITH A UTE

THE BANANA INDEX PLUNGES WHILE TENT NIGHTS RECOVER

First impressions of Oz included "this ain't Kansas, Dorothy", they drive on the wrong side of the road, they speak loud and funny, everyone is your mate and they all want to know "how's it goin?". They have done away with pennies and we ran into a couple of dudes walking barefoot in Sydney airport. We are going to like this country!

Our culture shock was eased because we stayed with Jeff & Julie in the western Sydney burbs. Julie was incredible, helping us through car regos and insurance, and introducing us to the Ozzie retailing landscape. Jeff shined when he explained the finer points (actually the basics) of rugby to Glenn at a Super 14 match that left Hurricane supporters chuffed with the result and Glenn as confused as ever.

We left Sydney with a full tank of petrol and food supplies all in our Toyota Hilux ute (a.k.a. bakkie or pick-up truck) with a vague sort of plan to head towards the centre of Australia. the ute was christened "Dusty" after our first series of gravel roads north of Broken Hill when we discovered the canopy would require some further sealing: it had clearly never strayed off the comfort of asphalt. Dusty was in for a change of lifestyle.

Mutiwenji National Park was our first mult-day stop; you never forget your first campsite with roos as neighbours and emus romping across the plains. At Silverton, large flocks of Major Mitchell cockatoos made a racket and the Interceptor featured in Mad Max II hit the road. A couple of cold winter nights (our water bottles froze in Carrieton S.A.) kept us dropping in on "op shops" (opportunity or thrift stores) for additional layers of clothing and bedding.

Over at the Flinders ranges, we clambered around the scenery, the remote Chambers gorge featured aboriginal rock art while the North Flinders offered isolation and more emus for the dollar. That led us onto the Oodnadata track where camp nights offered even more stars and absolute silence interrupted by the howl of dingos.

Along the way, we crossed the world's longest fence (not visible from space and easily missed by the casual motorist) that has kept some of the dingos out of farms to the south. We visited Australia's smallest town of William Creek (others make similar claims), bought petrol at AUD 1.70/litre at the Pink House in Oodnadata and enjoyed a salty shower on a remote cattle station. The cattle transport truck was in; that's bad news if you are beefy and the cattle sure knew it.

From South Australia, we entered the Northern Territory on dust-free asphalt and we convinced Dusty that 2WD could manage a "4 wheel drive only" track detour. East of Alice, we walked the Macdonnel range and explored the ghost town of Artlunga in a gold area which boasts plenty of hard-life-hard-luck stories. Alice (Springs) is a regional supply town where black footed wallabies descend into the Heavitree Gap each evening for hand-feeding by tourists. They are beautiful creatures. Although Central Oz winter temperatures are ideal for the energetic, we have set our sights on the Top End where 30C temps beckon.

FOR THE RECORD

Banana Index : less than 1 per USD

Ozzie kilometres driven: 4,000

Vehicle punctures: nil

Bicycle punctures: 2 (we brought a couple of mountain bikes)

2006 tent nights: 31 (200 in '06 is a definite possibility)

Kangaroo/wallaby species spotted so far" Red, Eastern Grey, Western Grey, Euro, Yellow footed wallabies and black footed wallabies.

Heading North from Alice Springs, we crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn. the thermometer inched up and termite towers thrusted upwards. They come in all shapes including sand castles, melted snowmen and erect penises. Further north the magnetic termites build towers in the shape of 2M tombstones. The spinifex termites are not to be outdone: building booms have resulted in fields of Cathedral termite towers reaching a staggering 7 metres in height.

We pressed onto Tenant Creek which is our current sizzle leader (highest sizzle to steak ratio). We continued north with a steady northern flow of retirees pulling caravans looking for the same thing that we sought, warmth. Just past well named Three Ways, we slipped into the seasonally wet Top End of Australia. Mataranka and Elsey National Park offer warmth, thermal pools and plenty of wallabies for your dollar. There are plenty of freshies (freshwater crocs) in the Roper River and the park rangers can "almost" guarantee a saltie-free (the ones you don't want to encounter) swim.

Somewhere in the transition from the arid zone to the seasonal wet, the flies that love to explore human nostrils and probe human eyes declined. They were replaced with a more varied assortment of bugs including red flies, mozzies and mostly hungry midges with occasional pockets of ferocious ants.

At Nitmilik National Park (Katherine Gorge), we left the comfort of Dusty and our furniture for 5 nights to hike parts of the Jatbula Trail and the Southern Gorge. The snake count and Sheila practised the back-step (it's Ladies first in reptile country) accompanied by "that's a big #*&@ snake!" (Australia has a near monopoly on very poisonous snakes). This was our first introduction to rock pools, better known as Plunge Pools. we single out the campsite at the Eighth gorge as one of best ever camping; white sand beach, 20 metre wide swim hole (no crocs), waterfall and cabbage palm & Meleluca trees.

Litchfield National Park is known for its termite towers, but more importantly it has some awesome plunge pools and plunge we did. The 4WD track to the "Lost City" was closed to vehicles and the sandy track proved a minor challenge to Glenn's Raleigh Tomahawk bicycle (deflate those tires!) while Sheila stayed behind and kept on plunging. The Lost City is a natural jumble of sandstone rocks that resembles Ankor and Tikal but it could have just been the effects of the tropical sun. Over at Walker Creek, each campsite had its own private swim hole and we had our own bandicoot host. The bold marsupials are impressive breeders and are born just 12 1/2 days after conception.

Darwin is a great little city with plenty of parks and quiet beaches (might be the crocs or jellyfish?). During winter, the climate is sublime. The museum houses a 780kg stuffed croc and the Botanic Gardens include a nice collection of Malagasy baobab trees.

Kakadu National Park is about the size of Wales and its cliff country, wetlands and woodlands kept us busy for a week. The Aboriginal people residents ate well and had plenty of time to paint every available rock face. Jim Jim falls is a park icon and a Kakadu paradox as it's normally runs dry when the roads are passable. Everyone told us that we must have a 4WD to access the falls so we pressed on with 2WD Dusty. The first 50km of road was comfortable gravel. Dusty was happy to rest up while we pushed and shoved our way through the last sandy 12 km on bicycles. We did heed the warnings and resisted a plunge into the inviting waters. Seven salties have been pulled out this season and the authorities were not sure if they were all cleared out yet.

The South West of Kakudu features a few croc-cleared plunge pools. Snorkeling in the freshwater unveiled an assortment of fish including freshwater long toms, archer fish (the ones that spit at unsuspecting overhanging bugs), good sized barramundi and primitive saratoga fish. Snorkeling is all the more interesting when you are not 100% sure if all the crocodiles have been removed!

At the border of Northern Territory and Western Australia, we walked the enchanting trails of Keep River, put up with the squawking of 100's of black cockatoos. We gorged ourselves on our remaining fruits and vegies as vehicles are strip searched on entering WA (looking for produce/fruit flies and stowaway cane toads). Rumour has it that there are 4AUD/kilo bananas to be found here in Kununurra....

FOR THE RECORD

Kilometres driven: 7,500

Punctures (vehicle/bikes): 0/2

Bananas consumed: nil

Consecutive days without rain: 58

YTD tent nights: 63

Snake Count: 15

More Kangaroos species seen: Agile Wallaby, Black Walleroo, Spectacled hare wallaby, mala, atillopine walleroo, short eared wallaby

Although the Ord River district produces some fine bananas, their rock melons (cantaloupes) are divine and if you are within 10,000 km of Kununurra, you should head straight there. Continuing through the Kimberly region, sandstone rocks gave way to Devonian limestone. We admit that we were a little rocked-out at the time. If you are ever asked to see our Australian (rocks) photos, we suggest that you excuse yourself in favour of something more pressing such as cleaning the attic (even if you don't have an attic).

Despite best intentions, Glenn did not go swimming in Wyndjana Gorge, largely due to the 70 plus supposedly harmless freshies (crocs). Out on the coast, we spent time at Roebuck Bay and the world's most fertile mud flats. 100,000's of migratory wader birds arrive there each summer to escape the Siberian winter. We were there during the quiet winter season with only 10,000 plus lazy birds on site. It was something to mingle with birders and talk beak lengths. Birders can be passionate, so much so, that they have been banned from visiting the Broome sewage treatment ponds. A birder was once caught there wading in the ponds rescuing an injured bird.

Further south in Karajini NP, nothing prepares you for the incredible scenery within the gorges. Thrills abound. If you have not done the spider walk or ventured chest deep through 15C water, you have not been to Australia.

Along the coast, the Ningaloo reef provided further surprises. There, you can snorkel right off the beach in the turquoise coloured Indian Ocean. There seemed to be a disproportionate number of fish in the waters. It was impressive. We stayed at a small campsite in Cape Range NP behind the dunes and we joined the grey nomads each days for cocktails late each afternoon. Further down the coast at aptly named Coral Bay, the Peoples Park Caravan Village intrigued us. Alas, it did not feature propaganda blasted out at 6:00 am nor communal Tai Chi sessions, but the snorkeling was terrific nonetheless.

The Quobba coast features waves, humpback whales, beaches, surfing and blowholes. The tiger sharks can be a bit of a concern in the deeper water but snorkeling is safe in protected areas with octopus gardens, fish pools and turtles to see. Although there are only reef sharks in the bays, Glenn admits he felt somewhat uncomfortable with ten reef sharks circling around him at one point.

Carnarvon sits in a banana growing region and it represented our best chance at improving the Ozzy banana index. The local supermarket was selling nanas for $12.95/kilo. However, a trip out to the growers yielded 2 tiny bananas to the dollar. The local landmark "Big Banana" lacked stature. So gals, beware of men of Carnarvon boasting about the size of their bananas.

Although Monkey Mia in Shark Bay gets lukewarm reviews from many tourists, we thought the experience was amazing and educational. Tourists from all over visit, some obviously expecting to hug a dolphin. It must be a letdown for some because the rangers wisely control the wild dolphin feeding. The large initial tourist crowd trickles away through the morning leaving a small lucky group to continue enjoying the arrival of wild dolphins at the beach.

The gravitational pull of Perth took us further south and meet up with friends. Sonia & Perry (Calgary 1996) welcomed us to their home in Dunsborough (SW corner of WA) and broke our almost 3 months of consecutive tent and TV-less nights. We visited plenty of awesome beaches and it all happened a little too fast but we do remember the chip sandwiches, lots of AFL football culminating in an evening of Australian Idol. Perry's week-day pad in trendy Subiaco was an ideal launch pad to explore Perth and Fremantle. Currently, we have shifted to the Darling escarpment on the eastern edge of Perth. Nyani (India 1973), Fiona and Teya's place feels like a comfy tree house with plenty of noisey birds out back. We are quickly softening and the hard sleeping ground of the desert will be a shock.

The Great Central Road (1000 km of dirt road) will lead us to Ulhuru (Ayer's Rock) and we have received plenty of advice on the route including "don't do it", "you'll enjoy it" and "don't abandon your vehicle if it breaks down". What a country!!

FOR THE RECORD

Oz kilometres driven: 11,500

Punctures: Ute nil, bikes 3

YTD Tent nights: 97

Tim Tams consumed: too many

Snake count:17

It is 2,000km from Perth to the Red Centre (Olgas) via the Great Central Road. It took us about 5 days.

We did an overnight hike in and out of Kings Canyon. It can be done as a day hike, but we set out late in the day for an evening out in the bush.

We spent a few day looking around the West Macdonnell ranges including hiking to the summit of Mt Sonder (1400m) and jumping into some very cold plunge pools.

We walked a further three days on the Larapinta Trail where water was scarce (sometimes in water tanks at campsites)

It was time to hit the road again. First through Three Ways and then later through Four Ways in Northern Queensland.

Mt Isa was the first large community we reached, but we we quickly returned to the back of beyond.

In Cairns, we signed up for a 5 day live-aboard diving trip, priced at half-price, plus a room upgrade. It included a flight to Cooktown where we boarded the Nimrod III.

North Queensland is sugar cane country; cane is grown from Mossman, Qld to as far south as Grafton, NSW.

The Mission Beach area, about half way between Cairns and Townsville was to our liking.

We arranged boat transfers at Cardwell to hike the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island. It was our favourite Australian overnight hike.

It was back to the mainland for more waterfalls, rain forest and beaches.

We left the ute behind and took our bikes on the ferry to Magnetic Island and stayed for three nights.

Airlie Beach is a major terminus for sailing trips through the Whitsunday Islands. Oddly enough, we had the nearby Whitsunday Great Walk all to ourselves. Advertised hazards included venomous red bellied black snakes, sting trees (a mere brush with it can cause extreme pain), scrub ticks and jumper ants with their wasp-like sting. It did not live up to the billing of "Great" but the rain forest did not disappoint.

Over at South Molle Island, we were treated to awesome Whitsunday views and there was the mighty thump of music brought to us courtesy of sailboats on overnight trips. Unlike an earlier Thai experience when our boatman failed to pick us up, our Ozzie boatman returned a day early and we sent hem back away from our beach paradise.

Inland (outback) Queensland was next. The name of the game is to travel through as much dry and dusty country as possible, swat flies and then visit a gorge or two and swat more flies. Remnant rain forest (Jurrasic) at Carnarvon Gorge is sure to impress. However, the big attraction at Cania Gorge was the night time visitors; bettongs. If you guessed that bettongs hop (most ozzie critters do) then you are right! They are energetic wallaby like critters a little larger than the evil rabbit and they are part of the potoroid family but unrelated to the Polaroid family (no flash please!). they lack table manners.

Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island (120X15km) and most ordinary people tour the place in a 4WD vehicle. We did it the hard way; on foot. While driver's grinded away along roads reminiscent of Botswana (but no elephants), we sauntered in a parallel universe along rain forest tracks through magical forest and along crystal clear sand lakes. McKenzie Lake is like the Taj Mahal, in that arriving tourists immediately reach for their cameras in case it suddenly disappears. the sand is so white, you could get snow blindness. We camped in gated communities as some hiker campsites are fenced to keep the scavenging dingos from developing bad habits.

We had a ripper of a day at the Australia Zoo; it's the best zoo experience we have ever had. It is where capitalism and conservation meet to provide plenty of educational entertainment. It's hands-on and even the animals are switched on. Crikey, at croc-o-clock, there is plenty of khaki clad staff feeding crocs at the crocoseum.

Over at Brisbane, they were at level 4 water rationing and all swimming pools must be equipped with water saving devices. So we did our rain dance and brought the good folks there level 4 flooding. Our old tent took a beating, we drove soaking pedestrians with our wake and then we went where Brisbane people go when they are no at the beach: shopping malls.

In nearby Lamington NP, we were treated to one of the world's best rain forest walks (Tooloma Creek) with its waterfalls and lush vegetation. The heavy rain paid further dividends, bringing out famished leeches out in force. We pulled hundreds of them off in a few hours. Pademelons surrounded our tent and cheeky camp birds invaded our ute looking for food. Pademelons are not an exotic fruit, but another member of the kangaroo family.

In the Byron Bay area of NSW, we were treated to incredible Ozzie hospitality at Ken & Marilyn's place. Only problem with living in an area like theirs is, where do you take a holiday? We took out their indestructible kayak and tried unsuccessfully to crack it up in the surf of Watego Bay. Surf wear and the associated scene is well and truly entrenched in Oz. Just about everyone wears Billabong, Ripcurl or QuickSilver on at least one article of clothing. Glenn strode onto the Byron Beach wearing his Adrenaline wet suit and a kid's boogie board with Clifford-The Big Red Dog inscribed on it. We don't see any resultant shifts in Australian surf wear just yet.

FOR THE RECORD

Oz Kilometres driven: 22,000

2006 tent nights: 175

Banana Index: no score

Snake count: 31

SHEILA SLIPS WHILE THE BANANA INDEX BEGINS A RECOVERY....

We left the coast with Sheila kicking and screaming and then set out for the rain forests of the Dividing Range (Washpool, Gibraltar, New England and Dorigo National Parks). Sheila established a personal best for the standing long and high jump. She was admiring the 60 metre high blue gums trees, then looked down at her feet. 2.5 metre long snake #32 was coiled at her feet. It turned our to be a beautiful but lethargic carpet python that was digesting a meal with the "I ate too much meat" feeling.

* Over at Washpool N.P. the resident Satin Bower bird scoured the campsite for anything blue. We donated a blue clothes peg. He had quite a blue collection at his bower (love nest) but the female seemed typically unimpressed. Also, the Superb lyrebird and its fanciful tail feathers put on a song recital. Most of its songs are impressive mimicry of other bird calls. Lyrebirds that live near farms sometimes imitate the sounds of farm machinery.

* New England N.P. rises 1500metres a.s.l. As we admired the great coastal view, a little southern quoll sneaked up on us. Quolls are spotted, carnivorous marsupials so he may have had bad eyesight but when he got close to us, he must have realized we were a little to big to handle, so he scurried off. Quolls are one of the few Australian marsupials that do not hop. Over at the campsite, it was a regular quoll party, including table dancing. Weeks later, we met an experienced ranger who has never seen a quoll in the bush; you just need to know where to look.

Back along the impressive NSW coast, we hopped from beach to beach mixing snorkeling, boogie boarding with hiking along rocky heads and over sand dunes. When kids at coastal towns get out of school for the day, many of them head for the beach to play in the waves. If you have younger kids, we suggest that you start packing and emigrate to Australia. Your kids will be forever grateful.

A staggering number of east coast landmarks were named by James Cook in 1770. An aboriginal gathering caught Cook's attention at "Crowdy Bay". Nowadays, campers enjoy the beach while Eastern Grey kangaroos trim the camp grass. The roos wait for camper's inattention so they can hop away with a free meal. At Pebbly Beach, we had a roo part way inside our tent and another contemplating jumping into the back of our ute. Metre long goannas (Strine for "iguana") are never far behind. Kookaburras add to the circus atmosphere, dive bombing the goannas.

Allan (France 1998) joined us for a few days on his brief stopover in Australia. On his first night he was exposed to some raucous male koalas, then on the following day we tried to drown him in the Pacific Ocean. We then headed up high on dry land (Barrington Tops NP) for an unofficial competition to attract leaches along the forest paths. Al won. Glenn chased off a possum that marked its territory inside the cab of the ute. We are not sure if that will keep future possums away or attract them to the truck.

We skirted central Sydney this time around but did stop in with Tony & Irene (Bangkok 2005) who are masters of economic living. Tony rescued and repaired a surf board for us. Now we are armed and dangerous.

We dodged the on-going windy and showery weather of the coastal NSW summer that seems to have sputtered out. We topped up our photo collection of beaches, headlands, and roos at Meroo, Pebbly Beach, Depot Beach and Congo before Christmas and fled inland while the Christmas crowds invaded the coast.

The sun returned on Christmas Day to the Budawang range (Morton NP) as we moved through wombat dung (they are prodigious poopers) and shivered in the below freezing conditions. Some parts of Australia had a white Christmas. If you saw TV shots of thousands of people enjoying the warmth on Bondi Beach, Sydney this Christmas, don't believe it. It would have been a hoax.

On Boxing Day, Sheila slipped, fell and fractured her right ankle. Glenn hiked out in record time to set up an air ambulance. It was all very exciting and Sheila was winched up into a helicopter; the flight crew was pleased as punch in performing mountain rescue rather than their standard hospital transfer. Sheila's ankle is in a cast for 6 weeks and it looks like her budding surf career will be delayed. Bummer. Oddly enough, the rescue did not make the national news as choppers were also busy plucking yachtsmen out of the Tasman Sea during the Sydney-Hobart race.

Canberra itself is a lovely small, multi-cultured city chocking with parks and world-class museums. It's a city designed for humans with the best pushy (bike) paths this side of Holland. Canberra has it's own vibe and feels like another country, though in fact some of the city roundabouts are the size of small countries. We the rainmakers/drought-breakers have brought impressive daily thunderstorms to the region. A rainstorm was intense enough to damage and close the open-ever-day Australian Museum. Now, that made the national news.

FOR THE RECORD

Kilometres Driven: 28,000

2006 Tent Nights: 216

Snake count: 35

Banana Index: improving, 2-3 per USD

Some people think Canberra is a dull place. Even the current PM, who is not exactly Mr Personality, chooses to commute to the capital from Sydney. In early January, the "Summernats" (sort of a revhead or motorhead convention) livened things up in Canberra. there were horsepower competitions, burnout masters, high performance and street car contests, a tattoo competition, a Miss Summernats contest, band playing Guns n' Roses tributes, a wet t-shirt and an exotic dancing review on the grandstand stage. With parliament in summer recess, the PM, John Howard, didn't know what he was missing.

Between Canberra hospital appointments, Glenn dragged Sheila off to the Snowy Mountains. While Sheila manned the base camp, Glenn set out and attempted to climb the highest mountain on the continent. It was a solo climb and he reached the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko successfully, unaided by Sherpas, oxygen tanks or even a helpful chairlift. It is one of the world's "seven summits". So it is only 2228 metres asl, but you can climb to the top and be back at the base for lunch and an afternoon nap. Civilized mountaineering.

We made a dash for the Melbourne region. Victoria has been very hard hit by the on-going big Dry and we fittingly crossed into the state at 40C. It's the kind of travel where you don't want to get out of your air conditioned vehicle without putting on a space suit. We stayed with Peter & Margaret; the last time Glenn had seen Peter was at school 35 years earlier (India 1972). Healesville is a nice country town, separated from Melbourne by the Yarra wine region but the real attractions were the possums dancing on their roof each evening. We also stayed at their caravan on the coast south of Melbourne. The caravan park was over flowing with Aussie culture with the kids on their summer break with kid's cricket games around every corner and the air was thick with smell of the Aussie barbecue.

Melbourne itself is a terrific, very livable city. It is the Australian version of Toronto so naturally it also features palm trees and tidewater beaches. A bike is handy to explore the many different neighbourhoods but Glenn found the street tram drivers lacked the killer instinct never once nudging him off the road.

We travelled along the surf coast and the Great Ocean Road. The latter lives up to its name and we were very impressed with the eroding rock formations though they are not often visible from the road. You actually have to get out of your car and walk to see them. We met up with another great couple (Kakadu, Northern Territory 2006) at their place behind towering dunes of the south coast. We watched the brightest comet to be seen in 42 years from their balcony. The McNaught comet put on a magnificent display for southern hemisphere observers with the tail stretching 30 million kms from the head out to space (roughly 15 degrees of the night sky).

The ferry crossing from Melbourne to Tasmania was lively but there were plenty of emergency baggies on board for land lubbers. Sheila borrowed a wheel chair for the journey but she found the heaving of the boat to be a little tricky on four wheels. Glenn was not of much help as he was too green to take leisurely strolls around the ship. Mark and Margie (Red Centre of Australia 2006) spoiled us when we stayed at their beautiful home overlooking the sea in Devonport. Sheila was able to catch up on some day-time TV when we stayed at their "shack" on the East Coast of Tasmania. Beautiful white sand beaches and sparkling clear water appear tropical until you jump in. Glenn has been wearing two wetsuits to snorkel the rocky kelp coastline with plenty of fish and eagle rays.

Next stop was Mt. William whose namesake towers over the plains at 200m. It's the Serengeti of Australia with a huge population of grazing marsupials (Narawpnta is the Masai Mara of Oz). We often heard the growl of Tasmanian devils at night (heard but never seen). A persistent possum caught or attention at 1:00 am. the little fellow really wanted to get into our food stashed away inside the ute and he seemed intent on scratching his way in. Glenn tried dousing water on it to no avail and he resorted to sprinkling Perry's Queensland grown chili peppers on the bumper to preserve the vehicle's paint job.

We dropped in to see Andrew, the goat farmer (Western Australia 2006), who was still recovering from a car crash. With his banged up face, broken wrist and knee, he had rigged up a handicap set-up for goat milking that allowed Sheila to fulfil a lifelong dream. Our hospital tour continued at the Launceston Hospital: Sheila's cast came off but the ortho team prescribed a further 6 weeks of no weight on the ankle. We moved onto Plan B and rented a wheelchair. sheila got wheely good with the chair but discovered that the handicap access world is largely limited to asphalt and concrete surfaces. She also delved into the alternative medicine supplements of magnets, comfrey, fish oils, eye of newt, etc. and found that instead of her ankle healing in three months, it took 90 days.

Tasmania is suffering from drought. while the lack of rainfall is particularly tough on dairy farmers, it made touring the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair area and west coast a breeze. Glenn reached the impressive summits of Cradle Mountain and the Acropolis on clear days. We found a couple of "handicap access" beaches on the west coast - why walk when you can drive a car on the beach? Warm temperatures continued and we cooled off in the 29C Queenstown swimming pool and were "relieved" to see the signs "Please use the toilet before entering the swimming pool".

After Mt Field and its nocturnal animal circus, we were smitten by Hobart and the massive views from Mt. Wellington that towers above the city. In Hobart, we watched a 3D antarctic picture show and a replica of Cook's Endeavor cast off from the delightful harbour. Further south, on surprising Bruny Island (amazing shear water colony), we found more evidence of Cook's great journeys at the Captain Cook Caravan Park and discovered why Bligh's crew must have mutinied; the captain was feeding succulent abalone meat to the on-board pigs.

Sheila was swept off her wheelchair by electric buggy rides around the atmospheric Port Arthur historic site (former colonial penitentiary). Then a series of magnificent South Tasmanian coastal views culminated in the Cape Pillar hike where Glenn was almost swept off his feet in awe above the 300 metre high cliffs.

Sheila, wheelchair and crutches made the journey over to the vehicle-free Maria Island National Park. the island is a Noah's Ark that is overflowing with critters especially possums when it comes to unguarded food. Freycinet Peninsula is yet another feast for the eyes with its beaches and granite outcrop backdrops. So whilst the Tasmanian coastline and charming villages appealed to us, the main reason we liked it so much was the absence of Country & Western music on the radio. We'll be back!

The reported Tasmanian water temperature was 19C, but that must have referred to the top millimetre of water in a sunny sheltered bay. Snorkeling in Tasmania is all about how much rubber you can squeeze into. We saw plenty of kelp forests, eagle rays, sharks and assorted fish but alas the weedy sea dragon eluded us. Maybe next time.

Sheila is back on both feet, rebuilding her ankle and other leg parts from lack of use. According to Sheila, the doctor said that lots of ice cream and roller coaster rides will enable the healing process (more on the latter in the next missive).

FOR THE RECORD

2007 Tent nights: 62

Australian Tent nights: 267

Times snorkeling in Tasmania: 10

Snake count: 51

Oz kilometres driven: 34,000

Banana Index: 3 per USD

With a full Aussie year under our belts, we can bluff our way through most anything here. We know what your mate means by "dooner", "arvo", "dags" and "potaroo". Don Bradman's lifetime test batting average is a gimme and the outlaw Ned Kelly's last words won't stump us either. Answers in Travel Notes.

Melbourne is a terrific city. We stayed over with Miro, the great Slovakian tiler, before heading to Luna Park, The roller coaster was built in 1912 by the Coney Island Amusement Park developers. It is a nostalgic experience and it features the only brakeman (a brake woman when we rode it) operating on the carriages. However, a brakeman is self-defeating on the rail terror index. that is why they call them roller coasters and not roller breakers.

The coastal scenery at Wilson's Promontory is second only to the wombats that run amok by night. Our ute hosted a nocturnal convention of little furry creatures (apparently not mice but carnivorous marsupials) that left the ute tray smelling like a pet shop each morning.

The Aussies make a wonderful practise of shortening words and Croajingolong National Park in Victoria is no exception. The original aboriginal name was Krowathunkooloong. We spent the better part of a week exploring the massive coastal park with its dunes, vast beaches, lagoons, shipwrecks and perched fresh water lakes. It was the best dressed dog show in nearby Mallacoota that stole the show.

We made it to Eden after Ben Boyd National Park in southern New South Wales. The temperatures were cool enough to wear more than a fig leaf in the evenings, the snakes were red-bellied black snakes (naturally venomous) and the apples were a mere 2 dollars a kilo at Bi-Lo. Nice as it was, it was the bad 70's music on the local radio that drove us out of Eden.

Later, we left the coast (gosh, Mimosa Rocks was sweet) with Sheila kicking and screaming and we headed into central inland NSW (Orange, Bathurst and Mudgee). The motor racing track at Bathurst is considered a public road on non-race days, so we put Dusty the ute to the test. She handled the course well. Ok, so the posted speed limit was 60 kph, but no one passed us on the track.

We inched towards Sydney with a Blue Mountains exploration. The Bluies are the splendid remains of an eroded plateau. They are inverted mountains, in that they are approached from above, by road, and the best views are taken in from above so there is no need to huff and puff your way to the top. They are very motor vehicle friendly.

Sydney and its always magnificent harbour was our last stop. Between the aquarium, the zoo, botanic gardens and a couple of good picture books, we could have saved ourselves a lot of time and driving. Where did the year go? Jeff (Malaysia 1964) and Julie are taking care of the ute; we plan to return later in the year.....

FOR THE RECORD

Oz tent nights: 304

Kilometres driven: 37,000

Ute flat tires: none

Snake Count: 53

Millilitres of 30+ sunscreen: 2,800

Number of days over 35C: 3

No worries mate