The Great Barrier Reef - Part 2

Rise and Shine!

It's time to head on down to "Lady Musgrave Cruises" for a day at the "Great Barrier Reef"!

However, even though I called in advance regarding weather conditions and the certainty of being able to cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef today, and confirming the same yesterday.....there will be no cruise to the Reef today. Due to weather conditions. Rats! They have however guaranteed that we will sail tomorrow. Hmmmm, we are leaving tomorrow. Now this is where flexibility in plans plays a big factor in your travels. See, today is now Tuesday May 12, and Sharon and I had planned to leave 1770 on Wednesday so that we would have all day Thursday to prepare for our flights on Friday.

But we have to see the Great Barrier Reef! We didn't come all this way not to snorkel in those beautiful blue waters and see the coral and marine life that lies beneath, now did we?

So it is agreed that we stay one more night. We also decided that we did not want to stay at the Sandcastle 1770 for the next two nights. We wanted a little more adventure in our accommodations than just your average hotel room on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the pool with views of cockatoo's flying from tree to tree.

Yes, we want more!

So we cancelled our reservation for tonight and drove down the road and booked a little cabin in a woodland setting for the next two nights at a place called "Captain Cook Holiday Village" .

How cool is this! After we settled in it's decided to take the little walk from our cabin right down to the beach and try to enjoy what little sun there was today.

After a few hours of having the beach completely to ourselves we decide to head on back to the cabin and get ready for dinner. Where shall we dine tonight? Well since we had so much fun last night at the Saltwater Cafe, we head on over there to see what tonight's menu will be for dinner.

Seems it is Curry Night!

After ordering our meal and enjoying another great bottle of Australian wine we take a look through Sharon's book "1,000 places to visit before you die" and know that we have made the right decision to stay one more night and make sure we see the "Great Barrier Reef"!

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just click here "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "Great Barrier Reef Part 2"

The Great Barrier Reef - Part 1

Sharon and I had such a great time Saturday (May 9) with Helen exploring Byron Bay and being able to see so many beautiful sights. The Cape Byron Lighthouse, the Coastal Rain forest, the most Easterly Point of the Australian Mainland are certainly sites we will never forget.

But today (May 11) we are headed to a place that most people dream about seeing. One of the world's seven natural wonders, and we are going to drive there! The Great Barrier Reef!

We start our 7 hour drive to the north at 7 am in the morning, but not without first stopping at Australia's version of Starbuck's, Zarraffe's Coffee. I have become a big fan of their White Chocolate Mocha over the last two weeks and there is no way I was starting this long drive without one!

Our first stop is 3 hours later in a little town called "Gympie". We found a great little cafe where I had a latte along with an apple strudel and Sharon had an English fruit cake with a cappuccino.

As we continued to drive north we came across a little place selling opal's. So how excited are we to be able to shop for some genuine Australian opal's. Seri of Wind Song Opals in Gunalda QLD was an absolute sweetheart, helping us to decide on just the right stone. I ended up with 2 rough cut opals and a beautiful sodalite bracelet and matching earrings.

I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the Australian road signs that we saw along the way. You know these warning signs had us keeping an eye out for a Kangaroo that might just jump out in front of us or see a Koala munching on some eucalyptus!

We finally make it to our destination, the Town of 1770.

1770 is a small (very small) seaside village which was the second landing of Lt. James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour in May 1770! This is where we will be staying before heading to Lady Musgrave Island to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef!

After we check into our hotel, "Sandcastles 1770" (which is really in Agnes Waters) we decide to check out where we will be boarding our boat to head out to the Great Barrier Reef in the morning. We stopped in at "Lady Musgrave Cruises" and found out that we need to be here bright and early in the morning because the boat will leave at 7:30am!

Well it's time for some dinner. Now of course Helen had recommended this great spot with outdoor dining overlooking Bustard Bay, so guess where we had dinner? That's right, "Saltwater Cafe & Pizzaria". This was the perfect place on the waterfront with an open air bar and dim lighting.

It's been a long day and I need some wine! So Sharon headed up to the counter to order us a glass of wine while I was taking some pictures. She was informed that she had to go to the counter to the left and order it there. By now I've joined her and no one is here. But there is this sign that reads "Ring the Bell". Sharon did just that and who shows up but Anna, the girl from the counter to the right who told her to go to the counter to the left!

But we can't order a glass of wine. What!! Good news.....we can only order a bottle of wine. I love this place! It seems that they only have a license to sell the wine, not serve it. We decide on a $19.95 AUD bottle of Crouchen Riesling, an Australian wine (of course) from Brown Bros. Winery in Milawa.

We then claim our spot at one of the candle lit tables and settle in with our wine and then it dawns on us that this place does not have any menus. How do we know what we want? Well it seems that the menu is posted every night on a chalk board. Tonight is "Pizza" night.

So pizza and wine it is! Since we couldn't make up our minds, we ordered a pizza that was half Banks and half Endeavour.

A toast to good friends, pizza, a bottle of wine, and the adventure we are about to experience tomorrow....The Great Barrier Reef!
If you would like to see more pictures of our journey today just click here "Where's Debbie" and then see the album "Great Barrier Reef - Part 1"

There's a Lighthouse at Byron Bay!

The great thing about home exchanging is that you meet some really wonderful people that are always happy to share information with you about where they live. They love to give you tips on the best places to eat, which typically are not in any travel book. And they love to tell you what "must see" places you should visit.

Helen has certainly made my trip to Australia an unforgettable one! With all that she has to do to prepare for her 9 week trip to Europe, during dinner last night she can't help herself but to offer to take Sharon and I to Byron Bay!

Why I'm I so excited about this little excursion today? There is a Lighthouse there people! And for those of you who have been following this blog and reading about my travels, know very well how excited I can get about a Lighthouse.

What a beautiful drive to Byron Bay which is about an hours drive south of Surfer's Paradise on the Pacific Highway.

Helen decided that it would be great to see the Lighthouse from a distance first. What a great idea! And apparently this is also a great spot to wake up in the morning and brush your teeth.

Okay, I'm ready to get closer to that Lighthouse you see in the background of the picture above. Helen dropped Sharon and I off at a lower parking lot of the Lighthouse so that we could enjoy the views as we walked up to the Lighthouse.


Helen opted to drive around to the other side and walk the trail up from there and meet us at the top.
The Cape Byron Lighthouse was built in 1901 and stands 22 meters (approx. 72 feet) tall and has the most powerful light in the Southern Hemisphere.
After taking pictures from every possible angle, we decided to take a closer look at the little cottages that you can rent. We then came across someone selling ice cream and decided it's time for an ice cream cone! Mmmmm, nothing better than fresh mango ice cream on a hot day walking around a Lighthouse.....life is good!

It's time to start taking the trail down the other side. On the way down I am breathless by the views of the ocean, the coastline, the Lighthouse! And then to top all this off, the trail takes us to the "Most Easterly Point of the Australian Mainland".

Well I say "Let's get down there so we can say we stood on the most easterly point of the Australian Mainland!"

As we continued walking along the beach to get to where Helen had parked the car we came upon some surfing competition.


We make it to the car but Sharon and I decide to continue to walk along the path that will lead us to where Helen will once again meet us. It's time for some lunch now and we decide on a great little restaurant, The Byron Bay Cafe which is located right on the beach. So you know what this means....lunch outside on the deck!

As we were enjoying our lunch we noticed that a triathlon was taking place just a few yards down the beach.

The time has come when we have to start thinking about heading back to Surfer's. So we decide to take a little walk through the streets of Byron first and check out some of the sites. It was pretty exciting to see "The Beach Hotel". Why? Because it is owned by Paul Hogan, you know "Crocodile Dundee"!

Now the next thing we come across might not seem to exciting but I have never heard of an organic donut. So you know I had to try one!

This was such a great day and we will never forget all the amazing sites that we saw today. The Lighthouse, the most Easterly point of the Australian Mainland, surfing competition, a triathlon and Crocodile Dundee's hotel.
 

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just go to "Where's Debbie" and click on the album "Byron Bay"

So Many Wineries, So Little Time

When I went up to Tamborine Mountain for my second hike into the hinterland I was so happy to see that there were wineries all over up there. So you know I had to get back up there to sample the Australian wines!

Sharon hasn't had the pleasure of seeing Tamborine Mountain and when I suggested we make today (May 8) a day of wine tasting, it was a race to the car.

Our first stop is St Bernards Hotel. No this isn't a winery but we had our first glass of wine here because I knew Sharon would love the views. But what I really knew was that she would fall in love with Leo the St Bernard.

Okay, let's get to those wineries! We had picked up a little brochure at St. Bernards Hotel that mapped out where all the wineries were located. "Follow the boutique wine trail" it read, so we did just that.

However, on our way we spotted a great little antique store "Vintage Frills" located at 92 Main Western Road, and we decided to take a peek.

I love poking around antique stores and what a treat to be able to do this while I'm in Australia and see what types of antiques and vintage items the Australians have to offer. We were finding pretty much all the typical items like glassware, jewelery and furniture. And of course Sharon loves vintage clothing and she was having fun trying on boots and looking through the bed jackets when she calls out to me "Debbie, you have to see this".

Because I work for Ann Taylor part time I thought this was hysterical! The only thing I can say that's vintage about this would be the price! $25.00 AUD converts to about $20.80 USD. These days you can't even get a cami from Ann Taylor for this price!

Okay, I need some wine! As we continue on Main Western Road we see our first winery, Witches Falls Winery

As we walk towards the entrance we see a magnificent poinsettia. And it wasn't in a pot! I had no idea how big this plant can get until I saw my first one in Okinawa and then in Africa. So of course we had to have pictures.

I love Australian wine and how great to actually be able to visit an actual winery. We had so much fun hearing about the region, the grape, the process. But what we really loved was tasting the wine!

We even had the opportunity to meet the owner.

We decide now that it is time to grab a bite to eat so we head to an area called "Gallery Walk". This is a street lined with some great shops where art, handcraft, books and antique shops abound, as well as some quaint little restaurants. We chose this great little place called "Amore Cafe" because it had outside dining. And if you know me, when at all possible, eat outside!

I decided on a chai latte......

and then some Bread and Butter pudding while Sharon had the garlic flat bread .....YUM!

We got to chatting with our waitress and discovered that she was leaving in the morning to Brisbane to try out for "Australian Idol". She wouldn't give us a sampling of her singing because she wanted to save her voice for the audition. We're looking forward to seeing her hit the charts and say "We knew her when".

We didn't want to eat too much because we had a dinner invitation tonight to Helen and Grant's and we needed to be there in just about 2 hours. So we decided to shift gears and do a little shopping. It was fun to see some other countries represented on the "Gallery Walk"......... Cuckoo Clocks from the Black Forest in Germany.............

.....and I think this one speaks for itself! I miss you Stijn!

Time to head off the mountain and fore go the wineries....Rats! But we were rewarded with a spectacular view when we reached the bottom.

What a treat to be guests to an Aussie Barbie!

Helen cooked us up some chicken on sticks with different marinades, along with some Kangaroo. No it doesn't taste like chicken.

What a perfect way to end our day of wine tasting and exploring. Good food, good friends and more good wine!


If you would like to see more pictures of our day on Tamborine Mountain check out "Where's Debbie" and click on the album "Tamborine Mountain"

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

The day has finally come when I get to hold a Koala Bear and see some Kangaroos!

I had been to Australia once before while on my very first home exchange in December 2006 to this very same place on the Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise. But as unbelievable as this may sound to you, I NEVER got to see a Koala Bear or a Kangaroo. Well I wasn't letting that happen again, so today(May 7th) Sharon and I headed to the Wild Life Sanctuary in Currumbin. The Sanctuary is home to the world's largest collection of Australian native animals. It's not a zoo but a research and conservation facility with a collection of over 1400 mammels, birds and reptiles.

We wanted to make sure that we would get there in time to hold the Koala's so we left about 9am for the 30 minute drive down the I2 Gold Coast Hwy. Within 5 minutes of paying our $39.60 AUD admission we were holding a Koala Bear! His name was George and he was handed to me by one of the sanctuary employees. She first made sure I had my hands in the right position, then she placed a towel over my hands before she put George in my arms. What was the towel for you ask? Well it seems Koala's just keep poop'in and they will do so during the split second that you get to hold them. I was surprised how heavy George was and I was informed that he weighed about 20 pounds.

After Sharon got to hold George we noticed all the other Koala's nestled in the trees still sleeping. It's amazing how they do this and don't just fall out of the trees.

Okay, where are the Kangaroos! On our way to see the Kangaroo's we stop in to check out the Australian reptiles, some of which seemed to be pretty friendly.

We happened to meet a very nice sanctuary employee who was sweet enough to walk with us in the direction of the Kangaroo's and share some information about the sanctuary and some of the shows that would be going on throughout the day. We came to a fork in the road....Kangaroos to the right, Dingo's to the left. Hmmmm. Well Sharon is a big dog fan so we decide to detour to the left and catch a glimpse of a Dingo. On our way we come across some more Koala's hanging out in the trees munching on some eucalyptus leaves.

Of course we spent entirely way to much time here taking pictures. Somewhat satisfied that we have taken pictures from every angle possible, we wander around a bit trying to decide which way to the Dingo's but we can't seem to figure it out. We did pass a spot where the Wombat's hang out though, but they were nowhere to be seen. Alright then, let's get to the Kangaroo's.

I realize I am a bit obsessed with seeing the Kangaroo's but it comes from a picture that was taken when my son was in this very same place in 1997 and he is kneeling beside a Kangaroo! I was so impressed when I saw that picture and thought what a great experience. And now I have the chance to do the same thing. Who knew!

When entering the area of the Kangaroo's it reminds me of taking my children to a petting zoo. Minus the goats of course. There are Kangaroos everywhere! This was so cool because you could just have a face to face conversation about life in Australia.....

or just lay out together and work on your tan.

Well it's time to get something to eat so we decide to buy a sandwich and we settle in at a table that wasn't occupied by an Ibis.

Then Sharon decides that she needs some of those little mustard packets for her sandwich. So she leaves her sandwich behind certain that it would be there when she returned. No I didn't eat it. But within seconds an Ibis swoops down on our table, snatches her sandwich and then boldly lands just steps away from us and proceeds to eat it. I guess this happens a lot here because her sandwich was replaced immediately.

We then bought an ice cream cone and decided to take the little train ride that takes you through the park. But when it arrived at the front of the park, which is where we started, it stopped and the conductor annouced that it would not continue on because the bird show was about to begin. Bummer! So we decided to walk back in the direction of those Dingos! This was the better choice as we were able to see so many more animals. We saw crocodiles, tree kanagroos, wombats, red tailed black cockatoos, emu's, a cassowary, black winged stilts and several other types of birds, and lizards. We were unfortunate though and did not get to see the Tasmanian Devil. But we did see that Dingo!

This has been a full day of being one with the animals of Australia. So what better way to top off this day then to drive just around the corner and be back at the Viking Surf Club. We enjoyed a glass of wine while looking out over the waves crashing against the rocks and tried to wind down from the excitement of our day at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

If you would like to see pictures of all the animals we saw just click here "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary"