Leaving Sydney in the Rear View Mirror

So our last day in Sydney started with a Bondi Beach walk, again, because you can never get sick of a beach walk, but to the South end this time. Probably a total of 4 km round trip. We found a man-made jetty, turned ocean swimming pool, it was cool. There are alot of swimming pools along the beach walk, all made of ocean water of course. In fact, Sydney is pretty good at keeping its people active with free outdoor sports. (swimming, volleyball, basketball, walking, running, boardwalks, exercise stations everywhere, it was crazy awesome!). We all took a swim in the jetty.

Not my best side, but Todd said i owed him since i called him Jules Mooseknuckle!

The afternoon was spent driving around Sydney along the coast area to check out more watery areas.

 

And we decided to stop for a refreshing beverage along the side of a road, at yet another beach.

We decided that we needed to have a fabulous dinner nite out downtown where we had to "dress up". Wanda and I decided we both needed new dresses for the event and pitstopped at the market to purchase said garments. Jules Mooseknuckle googled "O" restaurant which was located on the 47 floor of a round building, and the restaurant rotated so we could see Sydney all lit up at nite. This sounded perfect, away we went. Had a lovely meal.

 By day 6, we were sick of downtown living, the crowds and big city life, we were all looking forward to head north out of the city. Sydney was good, but it was time to move on.

We loaded up the car, red neck style, and moved the wagons north up M-1, Pacific Coast highway (which is the QE1). 

Getting on the highway, we were impressed with a few Australian road works including: rest stops every 10 minutes (with flush toilets! and covered picnic tables), U-turn lanes (U-turn bays), and unimpressed that we couldn't speed due to excessive photo radar on every corner. We had no agenda for the day, other than go north. As we drove through torrential down pours sheets mixed with dry/clear spells, back to blanketing rain, we stumbled on a hidden gem called Seal Rock. This was located on the very far east tip of some national park. It was off the beaten path, off a narrow windy road and dead ended at a lighthouse perched upon a wicked rock cliff. It was pouring rain, so we donned the raincoats and climbed up to see this cool site. The lighthouse still operated a functional conventional turny light. You could rent a room at the lighthouse, if you planned ahead, but we were foot loose. We back tracked a couple of km's to a campground type park, which offered cabins and camping sites. We inquired to see if anything was available and they had a fully equipped cabin with a beach view.

 

We were a little excited about the beach! The sand squeeked when we walked on it.

When we woke up in the morning and looked out the front window, there was a pod of dolphins swimming right there. It was amazing! Todd, Wanda and Brent suited up in snorkel gear and headed out to go swim with them. Epic fail. They could hear the dolphins screaming in the water and saw stingrays instead. An epic fail, but success for swimming in ocean with sea creatures. Much more to come with northern travels....

Jules Mooseknuckle

 We headed into the Blue Mountains again on Friday, hoping to see all the cool things we missed the first time around like the Three Sisters, some amazing lookout views, some fabulous short hikes and the general viewing of the blue mountain valley. We awoke at 5, left at 6 and arrived at visitor information at 8:45, where, it was so cloudy and overcast, we found out that our planned day was an epic fail. So we consulted with the information lady and she sent us to the Jenolan Caves. So we drove about 70 minutes along a gorgeous secondary highway, where the last 10km was winding road, just like the road to Hana (those familiar with the Maui road know what i'm talking about). Just before we got there though, we came across this...

We were pretty frickin excited!

The final drive into the caves was just like driving into Radium, but better! We signed up for the 11:30 tour of the Lucas caves. Take a look...

Of course, it wouldn't be a true Donovan adventure without some kind of hike or climb.

and one more

We stopped for a picnic lunch and saw these gorgeous birds.

And then we came home. Got stuck in rush hour traffic.

Some random notes about Sydney: women are very tall here, no one is overweight, the city of 4.5 million can really move people with ferries, buses, trains, bridges, tunnels and we think the city of Calgary needs to take a few pointers from this place. Also, it is very clean for the amount of people that are here.




So you may be wondering why I called this blog post Jules Mooseknuckle, well before we left on this holiday, Todd researched every inch of travel information to plan the trip and itinerary for the rest of us; therefore, we thought it was appropriate to call him the male version of Julie - the Cruise director; hence Jules. And then, last night we went for a fancy dinner where we all had to dress up. So Todd put on his Dockers that he probably hasn't worn in 5 years, and you know, they were a bit tight in all areas surrounding the jewels, hence Mooseknuckle.

Blue Mountain Boot Camp

Day 3: we were up early again, before sunrise, simply amazed at where we are. The sunrise is awesome, and we never want to miss it.

We ventured out of Sydney today, west to the Blue Mountains. On the journey, the first pit stop was at "pie in the sky" for mocha's, coffee and the most DELICIOUS sausage rolls EVER (according to Brent and Todd). So much for losing 20 pounds on this trip.

Our trip to the Blue Mountains was a bit spontaneous and unplanned, which as we found out, was not a great idea. Our navigational tools failed us epically, we ended up with no definitive plan and no idea where we were or what we should be doing. Its kinda like going to the banff gate, and randomly driving down the highway not knowing that the town and all its greatness is around you. So we stopped for fuel and found a local tour magazine and quickly figured out our days purpose. We headed to Evans lookout; this was our first experience at the Blue Mountains, and we were awed!

The reason they are the Blue Mountains has something to do with water particles and dirt in the air and your eyeballs transform them into a blue haze (or something like that); hence blue mountains. We got back into the car and headed down the Great Western Highway to Wentworth Falls. In the tourguide magazine, we saw a hike rated 5-6 hours with a difficulty of "hard". In true Donovan fashion we thought, "yes, we are ALL IN!" and away we went. This hike started with a moderate downhill walk to the upper falls.

Walked around the bend...

and then saw this...

And then we walked down a few sets of stairs.....

Actually, it was about 15 sets of stairs, at a 65 degree angle, carved by hand, in the 1860s to bring us down to the mid-basin of the falls.

After this beautiful falls, we expected that we had seen the Wentworth falls and all its greatness, and then we came upon a junction which allowed us to go back to the parking lot, OR take us down to the next set of falls, which said for experienced hikers only, and since we were experienced West Coast Trail Veterans, hey, we were up for the challenge! This is old hat for us.

When we finally got to the very bottom, the waterfall was not anything we had originally imagined.

From here, we weren't quite sure where to go, back up? Oh man, 1000 feet straight up did not sound like a good plan.
We were very uneducated about this hike and second guessed ourselves, but decided to follow the signs out through a different path. Every aspect of this trail reminded us of the West Coast Trail. Let me tell you, that the humidity in Australia is not something we are used to in dry Western Canada. Although it was only 22 C, the humidity was 87%, which made it feel like 40 C, we were definitely sweaty beasts.
Eventually, we started to gain altitude out of the valley, and FINALLY met other hikers coming from the other way, and we thought ok, we are headed in the right direction. Throughout the next 2 hours, we "ran" into about 10 more waterfalls, just as great as the first one, but we stopped taking pictures, and kinda thought, hmmmm, whatever, who cares! We were spoiled with the first set of falls, that it didn't matter anymore what we saw, it was so old news.
It was hell, let me tell you, hiking back out of this pit in the bottom of the earth, our legs, thighs, asses, and everything in between, on top of, or beside, ached and sweated like never before in our lives. It was super shitty,  but we sucked it up because we were in AUSTRALIA DAMMIT!

Eventually we made it back to the car, and we all concluded that despite the pain and agony, this was the most amazing waterfall and hike we had ever done. period. end of story.

And then we went to the mall. All sweaty, salty, sore, disgusting, to buy groceries and beach towels for the next adventure.

Day 4: Oh man, did our legs hurt today,and we are old and out of shape! Thought we should keep up with exercise and left early this morning to do the Bondi Beach Walk. Heading north from the condo, for magnificent ocean views....

And after a lovely walk, had to jump into the ocean to cool off, at 9 am. Again, 20 C and 87% humidity is hard to adjust too.
After showers and lunch, we headed downtown to the harbour tour, which was a tour of a bunch of wharfs in the Sydney Harbour area. (and holy cow, this is a very big harbour). We caught the boat at Darling Harbour (pronounced dah-lin-ah-bour) Here are a few of the fabulous sites...

It was worth it. Great to be on a boat, enjoying the sun, water and freedom.
That's it.

In the land down under....

Wow, that was one helluva long flight. 15 hours from Vancouver. Upon arrival at the airport we had to get a SIM card, get the rental car and a trip to Costco before we checked into the condo. By the time we arrived in Heaven at Bondi (pronounced "bond-eye") we were exhausted.

We, of course, had to dip our toes in the ocean, with 10,000 other people on the beach! That had to be a record number of people we've EVER seen on the beach. There were so many lifeguards, you couldn't drown a toad. Below is the beach, which is about 400 metres from our condo.

After our first night, it was early to bed and awoke around 6 am to the sound of waves, birds and warm weather urging us to get up and explore Sydney. So we went down the Bondi Beach walk to the south end. Its a geological extravaganza, according to Wanda and Brent. We realized how pedestrian this area is as EVERYONE was on this pathway, but no one likes to say "good morning". And there are no overweight people here.

So after the 3 hours walk, we thought hey, what better way to see the city on our first day so lets get on the double decker bus! The on and off bus took us through Bondi and downtown Sydney areas. The city is a cool mix of old and new and super clean! We learned a lot and Todd said it was educational as it was a good introduction to the history of Sydney.

We celebrated Brents birthday on the tour bus day! Happy Birthday to Brent.

This morning we awoke and it was Todd's birthday in Sydney (and Brents birthday in Calgary, so hence it has turned into a 3 day merged birthday celebration, and they are milking it big time!)

So Todd's birthday wish was to go on the Sydney Bridge Climb. For those of you who aren't familiar with this activity, you basically walk on top of the bridge 134 metres above the ocean. This was VERY COOL and we all highly recommend this activity, even though it is very pricey. After an hour (yes an hour) of safety talks, safety gear attachment and ugly uniforms, we finally got to step out onto the bridge for some of the most amazing views of Sydney! We weren't allowed to take our own camera, and were forced to purchase their pics, so all we have is what i've got here: lovely viewage of Opera house and then the angle of the climb. We all agreed this was a very cool day, we, again, learned ALOT, for example: how many hot rivets did it take to build this bridge: 6 million, 16 men died building this bridge, it was built from both sides at the same time and held with cables and when it came together it was out by 5 mm (which is amazing considering it was all done manually with no computers), the two pillars on each side of the bridge are fake, they have no structural purpose as they put them there for esthetic reasons.In today's dollars it cost 2.5 billion to build. It is the longest freestanding single arch bridge in the world and we effing climbed it!(on our birthdays says Todd and Brent!)

Final end to the day was beers at the Australian Pub, one of the oldest pubs in The Rocks, Sydney.
(The Rocks, was the area where the first prisoners and inhabitants of Australia settled- see how smart we are!)

G'day mates!

Tick Tock Tick Tock - Countdown to Australia.

So Todd and I are heading to Australia for 2 months which will be the the trip of our lifetime! I hope to keep you all up to date on our adventures as we go along. Departure date is March 28, 2014.

It's all about the journey?!

D: So I am pretty behind on updates, as I am in Cambodia and still posting about Bali, but here is a guest post from Patricia, who I have been traveling the last few weeks of the trip with. Travel days are definitely NOT glamorous!
A little background: we had lined up a private driver to take us from Siem Reap to our next stop in Cambodia (Kratie), which is 7-8 hours by car, with a stop to check out Beng Melea (an out of the way temple that we had heard was really cool). At 10 pm the night before we were going to go, he cancelled on us. The bus station was closed, so we decided to get up early and check out the bus options.


P: At 6:30 am we asked the hotel manager if we could still catch a bus to Kratie. She makes some mad panicked arrangements, organizes bus tickets, calls for a tuktuk and tells us the bus is being held for us as we have a 40 min ride to the bus station to accomplish in 25 min.
End of chapter: 10 min bus ride, $4 overcharge on bus ticket and $2 overcharge on tuk tuk. Oh... And we missed out on our complementary breakfast.
Our bus looks pretty decent from the outside. Air conditioning sort of OK. Some seats broken but we find a decent pair.
As we drive, water is leaking from multiple spots from the overhead compartments; Interesting challenge to dodge the drips, some locals putting towels over their heads as if they've done this before.
The Video screen at the front is playing loudly either the most annoying half chanting comedians or the most twisted, badly produced Bruce Lee/ Jackie Chan/ Sylvester Stallone style nightmare movie possible! All in the Khmer language.
And they keep stopping along the way for more local passengers. Three to a seat or sitting on portable footstools. Danni and I figured our butts were the equivalent of four locals so we were already doing our share!
And then it happens...bus abruptly pulls over and smoke (or steam) is pouring from the rear bus engine compartment. The locals on the bus become panicked and frantically yell and push and shove to get out of the bus. Danni and I aren't too sure what's going on ( it smells like radiator to us so no big deal ... yeah right...in the middle of nowhere) so we manage to squeeze ourselves into the panicked throng and get off, not before I have all my belongings of course! :) I inspect the action at the bus rear. A big knife is used to cut all the AC belts and the bus is pronounced as "problem solved".
End of chapter two: We drive in 35+ degrees with windows and bus door open! A 5 hour bus ride becomes 9.
We are now looking forward to switching to a minivan for the last 3 hours of the trek.
The White Mini Van - obviously picked over in a junkyard and then shipped to Cambodia for further use. Not one of the seats actually belonged in it, nor were properly bolted down. Mattresses on any floor space without seats. Danni, myself, and a Swiss doctor really didn't know what to do except get in! The smell of rotting carcass assaults us unbearably (vicks vapo rub anyone?) and only eases after a local woman takes her two grocery bags off 2 hours later. As the front seat passenger climbs in, the whole seat tips backwards before he catches his balance. We then pick up a number of local people who squeeze in. And finally...the last male passenger climbs in with the driver and they share a single seat together!! No seat belts whatsoever, just in case your wondering. No AC. 15 people for an 8 passenger White Mini Van
End of chapter 3: We arrived safely! A beautiful sunset greeted us coming into Kratie, a pretty decenthotel with a river view. Now a shower to get rid of rotting-carcass-smell!

D: AND an update, 2 days later another travel day in yet another minivan:


P: Imagine our pleasure this morning when a clean fairly new looking 12-passenger WMV showed up at the curb. Seats bolted down. No obnoxious odours. Cargo space to stow our backpacks. Two brown bobble-head horses on the dash. No AC, no seat belts but still very tolerable.
Well... Okay....15 people piled in...just a little snug.
First pit stop - major redesign of the cargo space in order to add 3 crates of chickens, 3 pigs, 5 tires, and miscellaneous sacks and bags.......and 9 more people! We are now 24 people in a 12-passenger WMV.
Five more stops for pickups of miscellaneous packages and people!
At the last stop, a middle-aged German lost his temper stating that he had paid for two tickets and should be guaranteed adequate space for leg room. Sounds pretty logical in theory.
He got his leg room! The rest of us just squeezed a little tighter.
We travelled for over 5 hours in a 12-passenger van: 12 backpacks, 3 crates of chickens, 3 pigs, 5 tires, multiple sacks and packages and 35 people!!!!!
For extra good measure, the driver poured several gallons of water over the engine before we left. Nice that maintenance is important too.

Interviewing Those Girls

Ok, so this blog is called Those Girls Travel... so I thought I would give you some information about some of Those Girls! If you read this blog (hey Dad! Hi Karen!), then you know the original 'Those Girls': Danni and Jill. On my current SE Asia trip there are a few different faces, so here is a little about about the first one: My cousin Rhiannon!
Rhiannon and I have now traveled together twice: a two week road trip up the west coast of the US last summer, and most recently for a few weeks in Bali. Due to the success of our last few trips, and also the fact that Rhiannon takes even more time to get ready in the morning than I do and makes me look low maintenance, I'm sure that there will be more to come!
Thanks Rhiannon for doing this interview!

1) Tell everyone a litte bit about yourself - where are you from/what do you do/are you a crazy cat lady?
Hello everyone (who are you??) I am Danni's cousin Rhiannon. I am from a small town in the-middle-of-no-where Alberta called Forestburg (AKA- "the Burg"). I am now working in the mental health field in a small city nearby the-middle-of-no-where. Am I a crazy cat lady? ....Well in theory, but not practice. Although if you ask my brother, he would say that I am only one bad relationship away from having 30 cats. (For the record- I currently have zero cats).


2) When did you first fall in love with travel?
I always liked car rides and road trips (probably as a result of living where I did- see above). But I think I fell in love with travel when I went to the Dominican in around 2005-ish.


3) What is the best food / meal you have ever had on your travels?
Truthfully, I haven't travelled a lot, so my responses are limited. I had some delicious crab at The Crab Pot in Seattle, Jerk Chicken in Jamaica, and some awesome sushi in Bali, but I think Crispy Duck in Bali has grown on me most. I had it 3 times while I have been here.


4) Have you ever had a "those girls" moment while traveling? (e.g. Everyone seemed to know who you were, or had heard about something you did before they met you)
I think I have had a "that girl" moment (probably more) while I have been in Bali. It was the day Matt and I visited the Holy Water Temple and opted to bathe in the holy water fountain with the locals. I have never been so aware of my white skin in all my life. We were the only non-local people in the water and the place was packed! I don't speak Balinese, but it was very clear that people were staring, talking about, and laughing at us. Good thing awkwardness is something familiar to me in my daily life!


5) Do you have an embarrassing travel story?
Hmm, the first thing that comes to mind is a wine tasting tour we took with a great lady in California. On a pretty empty stomach the wine had gone down too quickly and even after calling it an early night, the wine decided to come back up - over and over (and over!). It truly defied the laws of gravity :s


6) Tell us about a great travel souvenir you have bought / aquired?
I am really digging my new jewelry that I made in Ubud, Bali at a Silversmith class I took. I enjoyed it so much, I went back a second time. 


7) Is there one thing you never travel without?
I never travel without make-up. Those who have camped with me can attest to this.


8) What is the nicest accommodation you ever stayed in?
The nicest would have to be the Gran Bahia Principe in Jamaica. 


9) How about the worst?
The worst... I think it was called the Western Inn in Utah. It was an on-the-fly selection on our road trip last summer. The lobby was adorned with many fixins right out of the 1970s. Think browns and oranges, flowery patterns, and grandma’s crafts. There was a large wooden cowboy to greet you at the door. And the rooms! Some vintage wood paneling with the old school lamps on the walls above the beds. And to top it off, the brown rug had a sort of hunters' camouflage pattern in it, not naturally, but in patches of various stains. (Some of those could have been from the 70s too!).


10) What's the coolest place you have ever seen the sunset?
In Bali. Although, in the rainy season this is difficult to do, I have seen it set in the layers of clouds and it is still beautiful.


11) What do you do to keep busy on long trips?
Sleep! And my Ipod! Those are the essentials.


12)Do you have any travel vices?
Desserts! I also like rocks, feathers, and shiny stuff.


That's me... . Nice to meet you!