July 2009
- Having been back to the
- My friend Nitin has lived in
- What do we know about
- That's all true, but that's not all. Armed with Fodor's Australia travel guide, and Let's Go Australia, a backpacker's guide, I began my study of the continent/country. I started with a list of places to see/things to do, and asked Nitin for his input. Also, one travel agent sent me a sample 21 day itinerary describing in detail what one could do in that time frame.
- Most of
August 2009
- Flying to
- When I actually started planning, that itinerary just wouldn't work out - from the days we wanted to fly, time to spend at each place, etc. Accidentally, I stumbled up on the Air New Zealand deal of US$404 round trip (US$681 including taxes.) We could then plan our domestic flights as we wished – for about the same $1000 total.
- We flew to AKL on Friday, August 21 night. From AKL (
- AKL and MEL (
- Our plan was to make
The itinerary was as follows:
- Aug 24-26
- Aug 27-28
- Aug 29 back to
- Aug 29 - Sep 6 - sightseeing in and around Melbourne (Phillip Island, Penguin Parade, Cape Schank, Great Ocean Road, Grampians, etc.)
- Sep 7 -11 Tasmania (Launceston, Bakers Beach, Cradle Mountains, Lake St Clair, Mount Wellington, Mount Harz, Airwalk, South Cape Bay, Port Arthur - Eaglehawk Neck, Hobart) (4 days)
- Sep 12
- Sep 13 return
On average, we walked/hiked about 12-15 KM per day, so having a break every 3-4 days worked out well.
Sun August 23, 2009:
Though the flight was on schedule leaving AUK, and the weather was fine for the most part, high winds near MEL delayed our landing by a few minutes. That gave us a chance to see the entire metropolitan area from a bird's eye view. Sprawling on all sides for miles, and the bay to the south, Melbourne is nicely laid out - not unlike any other metro areas.
Getting through immigration was a breeze. There was no discussion about our visas (ETA.) Both Kedar and my passports are several years old. Looking at my passport photo, the immigration officer commented "looks like you have lost some weight." Later, looking at Kedar's, he said "and looks like you have gained some." Whatever you may think of the comments, I was happy to see that he was in a good mood, and there wouldn't be any hassles with immigration.
Customs was another interesting experience. For some reason, the bags were delayed and we were all waiting. The customs form was confusing - if you had ANY food with you, you had to check YES. Also, if you had any soil INCLUDING on your shoes, the answer was YES. Not knowing how picky the customs were going to be, OR what they would do with either the food or the soil, we (other passengers also) were bracing for some hassles. But then, even before our bags arrived, the customs officer came walking around checking our forms. When we told him that the food we have is some candy and cereal; and glancing at our shoe soles, he signed off our forms. Customs completed! Of course, there was a long line to return the customs form and get out of the customs area after we got our bags.
In the end, we got out about an hour after landing. My friend Nitin was waiting for us. Being a Sunday, there was no traffic driving back home. We drove past downtown Melbourne, and then further east to his home.
That day being Ganesh Chaturthi, Nitin's wife had prepared a special feast with all things we like. The day was spent chatting, and catching up on 30 years of life events. At night, we went to one of their family friends' for religious celebrations, and of course, more food.
The next day, we had an early (6 am) flight to catch from Melbourne (MEL) to Cairns (CNS), with change of plane at Brisbane (BNE). Because of jet lag, getting up early didn't make a difference for us, but our friends had to get up way before their normal waking time. The taxi showed up on time, and for $95, we got dropped at the airport an hour before departure. (You don't have to tip in Australia for cabs, restaurants and hotels!)
Mon August 24:
To Cairns: Being a domestic flight, passengers showed up just a few minutes before departure (Virgin Blue DJ 303/779). Since we weren't familiar with it, we followed the airline rules - be there on time, carry-on should be of a certain size and weight, no free check-in bags, etc. As it turned out, no one checked your bag size or weight. People were carrying coats, pillows, laptops, shopping bags in addition to their carry-ons. There was no restriction about taking liquids (e.g. water bottles) on the plane, but they did check the aerosols - even the shaving cream. No one asked for our IDs - ever. The airlines had strict rules about NOT substituting passengers in less than 24 hours before the flight; but again, no one checked.
The day was clear for the most part, the weather was fine. Planes fly higher in Australia. My first photo of the trip was sunrise from the plane - the sun peeking through clouds - was at 40000+ ft. Later, I noticed that most flights went from 39000 to 44000 ft. Considering that the lack of air traffic in general, I suppose fuel efficiency must be the reason.
We were about to land at Brisbane, when at the last moment, the pilot changed his mind and kept on flying. Later, he explained that there was a rather large piece of rubber (tire, I assume.) on the runway. When he looked at it up close, he decided not to take a chance and aborted landing. After making one loop, we landed 15 minutes later. That gave us another bird's eye view - this time, of Brisbane.
Australian airlines follow the same ticketing structure as in Europe. At the bare bones level, your ticket just gets you from point A to point B. Everything else - checked bags, extra weight, assigned seat - costs extra. They don't even serve water on the plane. You can purchase it (or other beverages and food, of course.) There are no water fountains at the airport either. No restaurants will bring water unless you ask for it; some carry ONLY bottled water. When we realized that we were permitted to carry as much as 5 liters of liquid, we started carrying water from then on.
Our next flight was in 90 minutes. The layover passed quickly, and we were off to Cairns. The distances between cities are quite large. MEL (Melbourne) to BNE (Brisbane) and BNE to CNS (Cairns) are about 1500+ kms each. On the way back, CNS to SYD (Sydney) is 2000 kms and SYD to MEL about 900 kms. Outside these major cities, there is hardly any population. Driving or riding trains would have been interesting, but too time consuming.
CNS Airport is just 6 KM north of the city. City buses go everywhere, but not to the airport. Cabs do their primary business to the airport. For A$18, we got dropped off at our hotel. It took may be 10-15 minutes. We got our room. A nice large corner room, with a balcony overlooking downtown on one side, and mountains on the other. We could also see the sun setting in the evening.
After settling down, we left to explorer the town - and to find a place to eat. We happened to be on the streets where we didn't find many choices. Finally, we went to the only casino in town and had lunch there. Prices seemed high, quantity of food limited, and also limited choice. Afterwards, we found everything we were looking for - the library and internet cafes, restaurants including McDonalds and Subway, Ice cream shops, and Reef Teach.
Reef Teach is highly recommended BEFORE you visit the Great Barrier Reef, if you want to know what you will see there and recognize the fish you see. From 6-8 PM, ocean experts do a slide show presentation. Unfortunately, they are closed on Mondays; and we were going to the Reef the next day.
We also checked out where we needed to be the next morning for our boat cruise to the Barrier Reef. Jet lagged, we returned to the hotel and slept early.
Tue August 25:
Ocean Spirit Cruises is one of the larger companies to the Reef. They were the only ones who included all day cruise to the Reef on a catamaran, snorkeling at two different locations, and one free introductory scuba dive for one low price. Light breakfast, lunch and evening champagne are also included. Competition does drive down prices.
We reached the dock by 8 AM. After registering for the intro dive, we had some breakfast and tea. About an hour into the boat ride, all the divers were gathered together for instructions and demonstrations. Being inexperienced, most of us were beginning to feel worried about the dive. But everyone did join. We were given dive times - we were free to snorkel until then. We were recommended not to eat until after the dive.
We went near the first location. After docking the boat to permanent anchors already in place, all of us were asked to go snorkeling. One lifeguard was circling us in a raft, making sure we were not wandering too far.
Swimming in the ocean water is really easy. The water was very calm, hardly any waves. Not letting the salt water go in your snorkel/mouth is the toughest part. It is hard to imagine how salty the water is, and how little water it takes to make you feel queasy. Once you get beyond that, you can really enjoy the Reef. The water was very clear. The ocean is shallow - may be 25-30 feet deep max. The coral is piled high on white sand - in places, we could almost touch them with our hands and fins. The ocean appears blue where the sand is, and green where the reef is. It is such a colorful, intricate world of corals, and fish - small and large - are everywhere. We saw EVERYTHING we had seen in the brochures - turtle and starfish as well. Hundreds and thousands of them. A true awesome experience - almost like looking in to an aquarium - except much larger!
Our dive time was 11:30 AM. On the dive deck (which is at the water level), we wore our body suits (A$5 extra), and then were equipped with the compressed air tank and lead weights to help us sink easier. For one group (of four divers,) there is one instructor/guide. We jumped in the water - after which the weights didn't matter - and were led to the handle bar on the side of the boat. After rehearsing how to breathe through the air tank, how to take out and put back the mouthpiece, how to remove water from the mask, etc., our instructor led one person at a time to the handle bar 5 ft lower, and then another 5 ft lower. She made sure that we were able balance the inner ear air pressure. Diving is the exact opposite flying - change in altitude causes air pressure imbalance, until you pop your ears. Of course, water pressure is much higher, so the experience can be painful. After several tries, Kedar couldn't get his ears to pop and wasn't able to experience the scuba diving.
Our instructor, Claire, had two women on her right and I was on the left. She was constantly checking and adjusting our gauges, so we could concentrate on our dive. Underwater cameraman took our pictures. Claire then guided us to a nearby coral where we saw Nemo in soft coral - just like in the movie. She then took us to a giant oyster - may be 2-3 ft long and a couple of feet round. She asked us to gently land on our knees in the sand around the oyster. The oyster was open, until Claire touched the inside of it, when it quickly shut. Claire then took us around some more and then brought back up. The whole experience was about 20 minutes, but it was mesmerizing. I felt like I was in a trance.
Felt a bit shaky after I got out of the water. They asked if we wanted to go snorkeling again, or go inside and have lunch. I wanted to do neither. Already feeling a little bit of motion sickness, and add to that the salt water I had swallowed. They had environmentally friendly sickness bags available at the counter. Many people needed to use them - me included. After using, we were asked to twist it shut and toss it overboard. "Fish Food" they said.
I felt much better after a little while. I had some lunch - but it didn't taste good.
The first location was aptly named Oyster Reef. Here the water was deep enough for the boat to park almost on top of the reef. The second place, Upolu Reef, was shallower. The boat was parked about a 100 meters from the reef. Of course, we had to go snorkeling again. We could have done another scuba dive, but none of us were ready to do it again. We had good chunk of time to snorkel, but after some time, I started to feel nauseated again. So I came out. Kedar stayed in until they called everyone back. That was a good, long, enjoyable experience of the reef. We were satisfied. The rest of the trip back was restful. Most everyone was tired, the wind was getting cooler, and at the same time, the sun was beginning to burn. Half the people didn't even take the first glass of champagne.
This is a daily routine for these cruise companies. It was off season, yet there must have been 25 boats from different companies taking tourists out to different locations. They all leave around 8 AM, and return around 4:30 PM. So as we were heading back, all the boats were lined up 100-200 meters apart - like the airplanes landing at a busy airport.
After returning to the dock, we picked up a pizza and milkshakes, and walked back to our hotel. We were flying out to Sydney the following evening, so I went out to print boarding passes and check emails. We were tired and still somewhat jet lagged.
Wed August 26:
When I started planning for Cairns, I was looking to take day trips to different places. After speaking with a friend who had just been to Cairns, I realized that we can do them on our own, at our own schedule. So we took the city bus from our hotel to the Skyrail to Kuranda. Kuranda is a town about 30 KM by road/train, but only 7 KM up by skyrail. This gondola service runs continuously from 8 AM to 5 PM. During peak season, they recommend pre-purchasing tickets for specific time slot. Many people (and the tours) take the scenic train from Cairns to Kuranda, which stops at a couple of scenic stops on the way up, and take the Skyrail on the way back, which also stops at a couple of points. The common stop for both is Barron Falls. The train leaves only twice daily. We therefore decided to take Skyrail both ways for time flexibility. http://www.skyrail.com.au/
The gondola normally seats six during peak season. We were just the two of us in ours, so we could take plenty of pictures in all directions. As we climb up, we see Cairns far off, and ocean right behind us. We climb just above the tree tops - some times within feet - observing how the forest changes with change in elevation and rainfall amounts. Their pamphlet is very informative. (http://www.skyrail.com.au/brochures/skyrail-english.pdf) It shows the entire terrain from one end to the other. Each support tower is numbered. The pamphlet tells you what you'd expect see in that tropical rainforest. At the first stop, you walk a boardwalk through the rainforest. At the second stop, you visit an interpretive center and a view of the Barron Falls. Since the dam is built on the river, Barron Falls are more like a trickle these day; though during rainy season, it has more water. We could see the train stop on the other side of the river valley, which had a much better, closer view of the falls. We decided to hike to it from Kuranda.
Kuranda village has two main shopping areas - about 10-15 minutes away. A free shuttle bus takes you there. There is also a koala park, butterfly sanctuary and bird aviary. On the other side of the Skyrail/Train station, there is boat ride through Barron River. And of course, there is shopping. Not being interested in any of those, we hiked along the Barron River, through the rain forest and then surface streets to Barron Falls. The hike was longer than expected, but well worth it. From the train stop at Barron Falls, the view was much nicer. On our way back, we ran into many hikers like us trying to find their way to Barron Falls.
Back in Kuranda, we had lunch at the famous pie place, watched candy making, and walked back to the Skyrail. We had to be back in time to pick up our bags and go to the airport for 7 PM flight. We took more pictures on the way back. The previous city bus was running late, so we got it within 5 minutes of getting to the bus stop. Otherwise, we would have to wait for half an hour.
Well, we got back too early. We had time to sit by the ocean for a couple of hours, have dinner and back to the hotel to be picked up by airport shuttle. Shuttles charge A$10 for the first person, A$12.50 for two. Another thing about Australia is that there is two people discount at many places, and even more for family (2 adults, 2 children.)
CNS airport is being remodeled. So you end up getting dropped off at one place, then check in bags / get boarding pass at another place (one building), then walk to another building (gates.) Since the gates are also being rebuilt, you have passengers getting off by ladders and then walking through scaffolding and construction zones to enter the arrival /departure lounge.
Our Virgin Blue flight DJ 1428 left on time at 7 PM, and reached Sydney a little before 10 PM.
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