Doug’s two-wheel epilogue

Chad, one of the three Aussies I cycle-toured Canada with in 2007, drove the 900 km from Brisbane to Sydney to pick Pat and me up and take us to the airport, where Pat took the flight to San Francisco. Chad and I continued to Canberra (another 300 km – tip o’ the hat to Chad for doing that huge distance) to link up with Tony and his friend John for a two-day bike ride into the dry and rolling country surrounding the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Our destination was Goulburn (pronounced “Gull-bun”). Chad and I, not having ridden long distances for some time, had a bit of a struggle on some of the uphills to start with, but we managed to keep up once our legs got used to it. For a while we rode on the shoulder of the divided highway, which for me took some adjustment, but we soon found quiet country roads where we could admire the golden hills dotted with gum trees and populated by all manner of wildlife, including a kangaroo who hopped across the road in front of us.

After the requisite stops to adjust equipment, have refreshments and meet our biological needs, we arrived in Goulburn with the odometer clicking on 120 km. We had afternoon tea at The Green Grocers, a unique store that features fresh fruit and veg, a deli counter…and a bike shop. Then it was off to answer the siren call of the motel showers to wash off the effects of more than six hours on the road.

The city has some charming Victorian-era buildings, including the impressive courthouse (pictured) and Saint Saviour’s Anglican cathedral. We dined downtown at the Paragon Café, where the huge meals they serve defeated all but John. Sleep that night came swiftly.

The next morning was chilly, and we fuelled up at The Green Grocers with eggs, yogurt and coffee while anxiously watching to see if the headwind we bucked yesterday would become a tailwind for our return trip. For once the wind gods were with us, and we sailed right along.

On the way out of town we encountered the giant merino sheep, a statue symbolizing a major industry in the area. Unfortunately, the wool washing station in town had closed, and the effects of the prolonged drought are putting Goulburn through some tough economic times.

Including bio and refreshment breaks – one at a charming rural coffee stop at Lake Bathurst – we arrived back in Canberra by early afternoon. Odometer reading: 113 km.

Next morning Chad drove me to the airport in Sydney where I bade farewell to the Antipodes and headed for San Francisco and my lady love.

So long, Australia, we'll be back!

Sydney: last three days

March 5 to 7

Mystery minute: The photo of the porta-potties in an earlier entry? Temporary loos set out by the Sydney train station while they fixed their permanent ones.

And, before we forget again, Pat's mom just turned 92 a few days ago. Way to go Mom!

How better to follow the opera than with a small-group bus tour of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney? In fact a series of sandstone escarpments, the Blue Mountains get their name from the blue haze created when oil droplets from gum trees combine with dust particles in the air. Our guide Scott provided skilful driving through some rugged country and a ton of information about this huge area, a national park about the size of Belgium. Highlights included a close and personal meeting with some kangaroos, a hike to a breathtaking cliff-top outlook (no guard rails, 900-metre drop!), and a bowl of delicious and spicy potato wedges at a cosy restaurant in the colourful village of Leura.



On Friday (Mar 6) we took the city ferry to Manly, on the northern arm of the mouth of Sydney Harbour. Next to Bondi, this is the place to be, especially if you’re young and buff – and in the case of some female sun worshippers, topless (sorry, no photos). Again we were amazed at the number of people with deep tans, in spite of all the publicity about the dangers of skin cancer under the brutal Australian sun. Hard to break that myth of the “healthy tan”, maybe. Pat, water lover that she is, took the plunge in three different places: the calm Shelley Bay end of Manly, the salt water pool nearby, and the surf on the main beach. Lots of surfers and beach volleyballers were out under the bright sky. One thing Manly has that Bondi Beach doesn’t? Shade. Doug the landlubber took refuge under huge palms along the beach promenade, so everyone was happy.





Treat tip: the Royal Copenhagen ice cream is to die for.

Saturday morning we had coffee with Laura Morrison, an ex-pat Canadian and daughter of Lynne Current. Laura has returned to Sydney, where she spent about five years before a two-year pause and reflect back in Canada. She has decided Oz is where she wants to work and live, and should be able to secure Australian citizenship over the next couple of years. After breakfast, Laura kindly dropped us off at the market in The Rocks area where we poked through the stalls and enjoyed a musical interlude by a group of local musicians jamming under a shade umbrella.

Then it was back to the hotel to re-organize our bags in preparation for Pat flying out to San Francisco on Sunday, and for Doug taking off back to Canberra for a two-day bike tour with two of the three Aussies he shared the road with on the Tour du Canada in 2007. Then he hops a flight to SF to rejoin Pat and see some long-neglected in-laws.

Our last evening in Sydney was spent taking in the preparations for the Mardi Gras parade, part of the gay and lesbian celebration that takes over Sydney for about three weeks. The parade had about 35 floats representing every region in Australia and a whack of countries around the world. We didn’t stay for the main event (not big on standing for almost four hours on an empty stomach), but it did draw its usual crowd of 500,000 onlookers. The party went on until well after sunrise, according to the news reports.

So…..except for a postscript of Doug’s cycle adventure, this is IT for Macs Down Under. We hope you have enjoyed the Blog because we have sure enjoyed the experience. We fully expect Ottawa to be in the full bloom of SPRING when we return! Not?

Sydney, days one to three

March 2 to 4, 2009

What a wonderful city! What a wonderful harbour!! After settling in at our hotel, the new Ibis near Darling Harbour, we boarded one of the London-like double-decker buses
for a general overview of downtown. Well, let us tell you there were a lot of ‘Oh, my gods!’ going on as we rounded various corners. Don’t know how many pictures we have taken of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge but everyone is going to be really tired of them. This is a busy, bustling city with a combination of older Victorian type architecture sitting among the newer skyscrapers. On all sides weaving in and out is the harbour with ferries and cruise ships running here and there.

March 3 we got up early and grabbed the double-decker again, this time for a trip out to Bondi Beach, one of the most popular swimming and surfing beaches in the area – check that: the world. The fact that a surfer had been bitten last week by a – ahem – shark didn’t seem to faze anyone because it was well used. There are markers, guards ready and airplanes patrolling. After Bondi (pronounced “Bond-eye”) we walked through Hyde Park and into the Queen Victoria Building, one of the most incredible shopping concourses you can imagine. Built in the late 1800s, also as a shopping centre, it was almost demolished in the 1920s. Someone with courage and foresight prevented this happening, and today the QVB is an eye-popping mass of shops and eateries.

Still with energy to spare The Intrepid MacDonalds strode north and after a drink in Sydney’s oldest pub, took a tour of the Sydney Opera House. Wow! Designed by a Danish architect, the building cost well over $100 million and houses concert and opera auditoriums side by side with three theatres below. There is quite a bit of construction now since they are updating inside and putting in conveniences such as escalators. Until now anyone not able to climb the hundreds of steps has had to go in the stage door and be taken up by freight elevator.

Day three (March 4) began with a walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens to Mrs. McQuarrie’s chair, followed by a stroll around the bay back to the Opera House where we picked up our tickets to the production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly before walking, yes walking, over the dizzyingly high Harbour Bridge, fondly called the Coathanger by locals, and travelling back by ferry from the North Shore.

Well, as for the opera, it was not only well-sung and well-acted, it was a sumptuous visual presentation, with simple but effective special effects such as floating candles in a shallow pool surrounding the central stage. Imaginative scene changes and clever lighting made the tragic story of Cio-Cio San all the more powerful. There were more than a few tears shed at the end. Following the show we struggled to figure out the local bus system in order to get home at (for us) a late hour.

Are you tired yet? We are.

We're in Sydney!

Arrived by bus, and immediately checked out this impressive view. More later.

Canberra

Well, here we are in the National Capital of Australia staying with our friend Tony this time, another of Doug’s Aussie buds from the Tour du Canada. Like Terry and Kathleen in Melbourne, he is going all out to feed and entertain us while we are here. Sadly, friend Virginia is off and about working in Viet Nam, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka (poor thing!) while we visit.

Canberra is built around a huge artificial lake with the new Parliament built on a hill overlooking it. We visited and were impressed with the beautiful architecture and views. Tony works for the Canadian High Commission so we of course wrote our names in the book and took a tour.

Like Ottawa, galleries and museums abound! We have visited the National Library, National Museum, National Gallery and the new National Portrait Gallery, and the War Memorial and Museum, all worth hours of inspection. We have also been to daughter Sally’s place for dinner where we had “prawns (not shrimp) on the barbie” (finally!) and to the local stadium to watch the Brumbies rugby team take on, and unfortunately lose to, the Western Force from Perth.

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In addition to being fanatic sports fans, Australians are a coffee drinking nation; a pleasant pastime here is sitting at one of the many cafes overlooking the water.

Like Ottawa, Canberra has a great network of bike paths and a lot of our time has been spent on bikes. Tony’s friend Bridget loaned a town bike to Pat, and Doug has been tootling around on Tony’s second Bike-Friday (the kind you can take apart). An early morning ride here is quite pleasant as was one with friends around the lake and up the river. By noon, though, the sun is quite hot and one afternoon Pat felt sure she was on the road to heat stroke – see the post-ride “recovery” picture for your enjoyment.

Canberra sits in a valley half way between Melbourne and Sydney, a decision around 1900 to appease both cities. What someone once described as a “waste of a really nice sheep station” is really quite an interesting city.

Hello to Melbourne

February 23, 2009

When we left Alice Springs a few days ago, we were used to seeing vast stretches of empty, rust-coloured landscape. A couple of hours later our airliner set us down into a bustling city of several million people. At the airport to greet us was Terry, one of the three Aussies who rode with Doug on the cross-Canada cycle tour. Through roaring freeways and confusing back streets he drove us back to his house where we made the delightful acquaintance of Kathleen and their two boxers, Harvey and Lonnie.

Their home has been our base ever since. Well, it’s perhaps more a place to pause as Terry and Kathleen have taken us to see wonderful sights in and around Melbourne (quick lesson on the pronunciation of place names: Australians call it “Melbin”).

On our first full day we did a walking tour of the downtown, taking in such things as the striking Flinders Street railway station, the trendy Southbank area, and the impressive reading room of the public library. We took the free tram that circles the downtown, hopping on and off as we saw something of interest. One of the most curious was the cow in the tree, a sculpture near the waterfront in the city’s Docklands area. Don’t ask.

For the next few days we visited the gorgeous beaches and little towns along and near the Great Ocean Road west of the city. Many of the towns in the area are swollen with vacation homes, some quite precariously perched on the bluffs high above the rolling surf. Built in the Depression as a make-work project for soldiers returning from WWI service, the Great Ocean Road offers absolutely stunning coastlines and vistas. Small wonder it is among the premier tourist attractions in the country.

We popped into a local winery, Scotchman’s Hill, for a tasting of their products, trying to look knowledgeable about what we were doing. After that, we went to another winery for lunch, the blue waters in the bay below us, and the skyline of Melbourne off in the distance.

We pulled off a kind of coup on the trip when Pat spotted a koala in a tree beside the twisty road we were travelling. Terry doubled back and we got out to take pictures, only to discover about five or six more koalas in the tall eucalyptus trees. Terry and Kathleen were impressed, because this was their first ever sighting of koalas in the wild. Other creatures like kangaroos and wombats have eluded us, so we’ll fill that gap with a trip to the Melbourne zoo.

Tony, another crazy Aussie from Tour du Canada, and his partner Virginia joined us for a delightful Sunday cycle around the city on municipal recreational paths. Terry and Kathleen cut a fine figure on their Bike Friday tandem. The trip of course included lunch and people watching by the Yarra River. Whenever the ladies made shopping forays into shops and markets, the men kept watch over the bicycles and tried their best to look like fearless hunter-gatherers.

We have to say something about the serious bush fires that you have probably read about. Yesterday was a national day of mourning for the over 200 people killed in outlying towns. Because of the dry brush and eucalyptus trees and the isolation of some of the outlying towns, many people were trapped and could not get out in time. Sad.

The Outback

Rules for the Outback:
1) Make sure you take your fly net because those little suckers will love your face. We felt like Charlie Brown’s friend Pigpen.
2) Don’t take your mistress. We were sitting in the resort at Uluru (called by its Aboriginal name now instead of Ayers Rock) and a voice said hello Doug and Pat. It was Savoy friend Sue Hall and family. The world is a small place!

More answers to questions:
1) The water circles counter clockwise here when it goes down the drain.
2) Aussies don’t eat shrimp. It’s prawns down under….they do say barbee for barbecue.

We first visited the Olgas (Kata Tjuta in Aboriginal parlance), rock formations not too far from Uluru, went out and took the requisite walk. Those of you who have visited the American southwest and Bryce or Zion will understand the redness of the rocks here.

Uluru was quite amazing, one of the sites to see before you die. We watched it at sunset (they even served wine) and sunrise and then toured up close and personal to some of the caves of the area. Climbing the rock is allowed but unwelcome by Aboriginals who consider it sacred. While we were visiting, no one was allowed up on it because of the winds.

Our tour took us next to King’s Canyon to do some trekking up the canyon early in the morning. We chose the wussie walk along the canyon bed, mainly because we didn’t want to get up at 5am again. Distances here a long and the bus ride into Alice Springs took most of the day. The land is interesting with red earth, very blue skies and foreign to us shrubbery. They use controlled burning to keep fires from destroying large areas and it is amazing how quickly areas grow back.

Yes Emily, Kate, Jasmine and Zoe, Grandma and Grandpa (Papa) rode on camels, just so we could send you a picture. Mine was quite a nice old lady as camels go and enjoyed her head scratch.