Australia
July 13, 2005 - August 12, 2005
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7/13 & 7/14 Flew from Syracuse to Chicago to San Francisco to Sydney. Took about 30 hours. Read "Songs of Distant Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke. Excellent book. Also read "Tricky Business" by Dave Barry which was ok. Movies shown on the flight included Miss Congenality 2 which was terrible, Melinda and Melinda which was ok and Dear Frankie which was pretty good.
7/15 Landed in Sydney at 6am. My goal was to stay awake as long as possible. I rented a car from Hertz and received a 350 page street directory of the Sydney region. That turned out to be extremely useful. Driving on the left side of the road wasn't hard, even tired and driving a manual transmission car. I did keep turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signals, and for the first day I kept looking the wrong way for the rearview mirror.
Funny moment... I turned on the radio in the car and the first song I heard was the old 80s hit "Down Under" by Men at Work.
After dealing with heavy traffic and confusing roads, I ended at Coogee beach. Went for a nice hike along the sandstone cliffs north of the beach. Was preparing to take a picture of an interesting sandstone formation when a Sulfur Crested Cockatoo landed right at the pinnacle of the cliff. It turned out to be one of the best photographs I took the entire trip. The other nice thing about the hike was finding a bottle washed up on shore. No genie inside, but it did serve nicely as a pee bottle. Each time I moved to a new city in Australia the first thing I'd do is find a discarded bottle which would become my pee bottle for that city. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
From Coogee I went to check out world famous Bondi beach. There were surfers here and more development, but it was still basically a beach. I continued into downtown Sydney and found two gear shops. There I enjoyed talking with some local climbers and learning a bit more about the climbing scene in Sydney. Of course, I had already done lots of research on the web, but talking to real people gave me warm fuzzies about the climbs I had selected. Also bought two bolt plates which are used for clipping hangerless bolts (though I never did need them) and maps of the Blue Mountains and Royal National Park.
Leaving the gear shops I took an inadvertent driving tour of downtown Sydney. Reminded me of driving in NYC, which I hate. Finally made it across the harbour bridge and on to Manly beach. As I reached Manly it was 4:30pm and there were light showers coming down. I was exhausted, so I did some grocery shopping and found a quiet cemetery in a residential area away from the beach. By 6pm it was pitch dark and I was sound asleep in my cemetery.
7/16 After 12 hours of sleep I woke just before sunrise and hustled off to Sydney Harbour National Park. I was on North Head, the northern opening to Sydney harbour. There I took some sunrise photos of the ocean and downtown Sydney. Then back to Manly to explore a bit. Manly is a true resort destination -- volleyball courts, surfing, tours, OceanLand, walking trails, etc. It is on a thin isthmus and has beaches on the ocean side and harbour side (the two beaches, plus the fact that there were two Coles stores within a block of each other, caused me navigation issues until I understood the lay of the land). I went to two of the outdoor markets (bought some tomatoes) then stopped in a store to buy some Vegemite. This Australian delicacy has the texture and flavor of congealed soy sauce. Jeff gives it two thumbs down!
I went for a long hike along the trail south of Manly. The area to the north is mostly closed to humans to protect the Little Penguins which breed there -- only 60 breeding pair remain. The trail south ran along the harbour, past small beaches, expensive homes, and a city park, then into an undeveloped part of the National Park. The trail is popular with locals walking their dogs or having an afternoon picnic (free electric grills appear occasionally along the path). I walked about 10km total, turning around at Reef beach. This beach is reasonably isolated and contains a preserved midden. The midden is a pile of fish remains left by the aboriginal people over centuries. It is important to researchers investigating life in Australia prior to the arrival of Europeans. Most interesting is the discovery of the remains of fish which are no longer found in the waters around Australia.
After the long walk I drove back south across the harbour bridge and back to Bondi. There I snuck a free, cold shower in the beach changing room. Then drove off to South Head to take some night photographs of Sydney. I slept in my car in an isolated parking lot on South Head.
7/17 Awake again at sunrise to take another photo or two, then drive back to the airport to meet Lauren and fly to Townsville. My short stay in Sydney gave me the opportunity to see almost everything I wanted to see in Sydney (which wasn't much), though I was sorry to miss the Royal Botanical Gardens which are supposed to be quite nice.
Turns out there are free, hot showers in the Sydney airport. I was seriously regretting that cold shower on Bondi beach. Lauren's flight was late, and we had to hurry from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. The terminals are quite far apart and require a $4 bus or train ride unless you are flying Quantas which provides free transfers to passengers. Luckily, Virgin Blue was very efficient at ticketing, security, and boarding so we made our flight with several minutes to spare.
We landed in Townsville and took a bus to the center of town. There we ate a quick meal at a very nice Indian restaurant, and then set out to climb. Carrying all of our gear we hiked up to Castle Hill, the large granite lump in the center of Townsville. With my full Arcteryx Bora 95 and golite daypack, I was carrying about 75lbs. up the path. The weather was too hot for this sort of exertion and I was getting tired fast. Luckily I managed to find a climb just as my ability to hike came to an end. There are quite a few bolted lines on Castle Hill. I selected what I thought was Macca's For Breakfast (12) a very easy climb to welcome us to Australia. It turned out I had selected Eye Of Ra (21/22) which would be a 5.10+/5.11 climb in the USA. Oops. No worries. Both Lauren and I managed to get up the climb without any falls. Though we did stem off the route a bit at the cruxy parts. Whatever gets you to the top. From the top we rappelled down. "Our first abseil," as Lauren put it. The sun had set by the time we reached the ground and packed our gear. So we hiked out in the dark, back to the city of Townsville.
Lauren had a grant which paid for a hotel the night before and after her playwriting program. So we checked into the first hotel that we walked past and gratefully set down all of our gear. Unencumbered, we walked across the Victoria bridge to Ross Island and ate dinner at a very mediocre Asian restaurant called Benny's. After that we returned to our hotel and I enjoyed my first hot shower in Australia.
7/18 Setting out again with all of our gear we took the bus to James Cook University where Lauren was to spend two weeks as part of the Interplay program. After much walking around the campus we finally found the program... right next to a bus stop. Doh! With Lauren finally settled, I was able to leave all the gear that I wouldn't be needing for the next two weeks. I also discarded some clothing I had brought on the trip specifically to trash. I had some old clothes which were too far gone to even donate to charity. So I wore them for a few days traveling to Australia, around Sydney and climbing Castle Hill. Then they went in the trash. I think this is a good strategy for traveling light, so I'm going to try to always have a supply of similar clothing at home. Come to think of it, most of my wardrobe qualifies.
With a much lighter pack, I took the bus back to Townsville. There I went to the local clinic and received an exam to clear me for scuba diving. That chore out of the way, I hiked up to the top of Castle Hill. People commented on the large pack I was carrying, but I was glad to only be carrying half the weight of the previous day's hike. After shooting photos of the sunset from the top of the hill, I walked back down to Ross Island and checked into the Globetrotters Hostel. I really liked the owners who were getting a constant supply of food from the local farmers which they would put out in the common areas -- everything from tomatoes to peanuts to liche fruit. Globetrotters also honored my Hosteling International discount card, and provided discounts on local attractions and ferry rides. On top of all that, they had free breakfast in the morning and the free food shelf was reasonably full of decent leftovers. That night I met John, my bunkmate, and we had the first of many very unique conversations. Actually, the same unique conversation over and over again. Overall, I highly recommend Globetrotters, though the owners are planning to sell the place (so they can travel more) and there is no way to know what changes the new owners will make.
7/19 Still waking early, so I took a walk around Townsville. At 9am I caught the bus to the Billabong Animal Sanctuary (and continued my policy of sitting up front to chat with the driver and obtain local beta). My original Australia plan had been to not visit sanctuaries or zoos, but to see all the animals in the wild instead. I'm glad I changed my mind. I saw more animals in one day at Billabong than the entire rest of my trip combined. At least land animals... more fish scuba diving... but that comes later. Anyhow, Billabong seems like a well run facility and many of the animals there are rescued animals who can't live in the wild. On the bus to Billabong I met Anna from Germany who is studying psychology at JCU. We spent the day together, and it was great to have a friend to share the experience. I was also able share with many of the younger kids at Billabong. For some reason kids seem taken with me when I'm outside of the United States. I noticed the same effect while in Korea. Don't know if the difference is the kids, me, the situation or some combination, but children like me more when I'm abroad.
Returned to Globetrotters that night thoroughly happy. Met Maria from Germany and Toda from Spain. We ate dinner together and discussed Australia touring, international politics, and European geography. I'm having a good time in Australia so far. I like the fact that people are friendly and smoking is prohibited pretty much everywhere.
7/20 Raining this morning. I walk to the Townsville library to research my planned rainforest trek. Get an hour of free Internet while I'm there. Took the car ferry to Magnetic Island. It is a few dollars cheaper than the passenger ferry and has free internet in the Townsville terminal. A real money saver would be to hitch a ride with someone taking a car across. They are allowed two passengers at no extra cost. I didn't figure out that trick until after I had purchased a ticket.
Arrived on Magnetic Island in the pouring rain and had to walk 2km to my hostel. XBase Backpackers. A real party place (ugh) and they lost my reservation (ugh) but they fixed that mistake quickly (yea) and the whole place is very clean (yea) and I really liked my room (yea) and the people I met (yea). Overall I was happy with XBase. I've heard that Forest Haven in Arcadia is cheap and quiet. A different hostel in Arcadia (forgot the name) is supposed to be filthy.
Jeff's hostel tips:
- Bring ear plugs. They can be reused a few times if sterilized with alcohol
but will be ruined if washed in soap and water.
- My 1.3 ounce mesh slippers are lighter and more compact than flip-flops.
- Bring a small lock. With any luck you will stay in a place that provides
lockers (though I never did).
- Check the free food shelf often, especially around checkout time.
- When you finish a book, trade with other travelers.
7/21 Met Ross, from Newcastle England, my roomie at XBase. We got along great. Fun conversations. Took a bus tour of the island with Isabella from Essex, England. We saw some huge Banyan trees and beautiful Kapoc trees.
Started my scuba class. The swimming pool is freezing cold and breathing underwater is a bit disconcerting, but I'm getting the hang of it. My instructor is Divin' Ivan. He taught PADI for 12 years and SSI for 2 years. He isn't a physicist -- he told us about how light molecules refract when they hit water molecules -- but he is an excellent diving instructor.
7/22 Took a morning walk through the Nelly Bay Habitat Reserve, a littoral rainforest (littoral = seashore). Walked to Rocky Bay and checked out the climbing potential. Scrambled back to XBase along the shoreline. More scuba classes. We finished all the lecture and pool practice. After scuba I finished the book "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke which was mediocre. At that point I traded all my reading material with Ross. Favorite new book is "Unscathed" by Philip Ashby about the civil war in Sierra Leone. Got some pictures of the possum that tended to hang out in the tree just outside my door. XBase held their monthly Full Moon Party which was so loud it overpowered my earplugs. The party ended at 6am, which was apparently one hour earlier than scheduled. Ugh.
7/23 Scuba class was cancelled due to high winds and zero visibility underwater. I took another hike along Rocky Bay and Picnic Bay. Then took the bus to the fort trail on the NE side of the island. Magnetic Island has a huge population of wild Koala -- estimated to be around 2,000 individuals. The fort trail is known for providing excellent opportunities to spot Koala. It did not disappoint. On the walk, I met John from Perth who had retired and was traveling around Australia with his wife. He told me stories about Western Australia and other parts of the country that I didn't get to see myself. Finishing the walk, I took the bus back to where Rock Wallabies are known to hang out and beg for food. Then walked back to XBase, spotting more Koala in trees near the local school. The full moon caused a large tide. Much of the shoreline was exposed and the shore birds with yellow faces were having a field day in the mud flats.
7/24 Did my four open water dives today. Visibility was very low, which didn't matter much because we were just practicing skills. But visibility was low because the water was rough, and rough water makes me nauseous. By the end of the fourth dive I was nauseous enough to puke on the beach. And that was with one mecklazine (anti-nausea drug) in me. I took a long shower and started to feel better. Lauren arrived in the evening with the entire Interplay group. This was their one break during the two week program -- a whirlwind tour of Magnetic Island. They were socializing all evening. I hung out for a bit, but was mostly feeling like going to bed early, which I did.
7/25 It is sunny and very hot. Lauren and I went bouldering early in the morning, trying to beat the heat. We went to Rocky Bay which has some of the best climbing on the island. It is also a nude beach, so I felt compelled to try a bit of nude bouldering (though I did wear my climbing shoes). The heat and our low energy levels meant that the harder boulder problems were beyond our grasp. We didn't manage much on the attractive Whale boulder. We did ascend three easy cracks. We were also able to climb Why Aren't They Naked (15) but not the harder variation (21).
It was too hot to climb, so we went kayaking instead. Interplay's large group purchasing power gave them free access to the sit-on-top kayaks that XBase normally rented for some outrageous fee. The surf was not bad today, but there was enough that most kayaks were getting trashed as they tried to launch from the beach. I gave Lauren my 30 second paddling lesson and we launched... flawlessly... through the waves. Quite a triumph. After paddling for an hour we hung out on the beach with other Interplay folks for a bit, then they had to depart for Townsville.
Also departing this day was Ross. He didn't leave the island, or even XBase, just our little shack. Turns out Ross was able to buy a nearly new tent for $15 from some departing backpackers. He was staying at XBase indefinitely, and moving into the tent reduced his lodging bill from $15/night to $10/night. So the tent would pay for itself in three nights. I had the shack to myself that night. Not that I could really take advantage of that situation.
7/26 Did two fun dives on the fringing reef around Magnetic Island. Visibility is much improved over two days ago. Diving with Kat and Michael (both from Germany) we saw lots of gorgeous blue tipped coral and tons of marine life. This is a big improvement over not being able to see my feet and regurgitating my breakfast -- the two mecklazine helped, but being active and having things to see probably helped more. Met a guy from Russia at dinner. After learning I was a vegetarian he spent quite a bit of time telling me that vegetarians have shorter lives and more health problems. He was certain that there were plenty of scientific studies proving his point. It was the second weirdest conversation I had the entire trip (John at Globetrotters being the weirdest). I'm digging antibiotic ointment out of my first aid kit. A rock punctured my foot a few days ago, and the wound has become infected. I'm treating it as carefully as possible so that I don't end up on prescription medication for the rest of the trip.
Got on the internet to learn that Lance Armstrong had won the Tour de France for the seventh time. Amazing. Met Felix (Germany) my new roomie. His English is better than mine. Felix is the first person I've met on this trip who is obviously an intellectual. We have this free ranging conversation that starts with European unification and ends several hours later with techniques for visualizing lifetime goals.
7/27 Time to leave Magnetic Island. I'm a bit loaded down -- the free food shelf always had something new and I'm leaving with more food than I had when I arrived. Took the shuttle to the ferry terminal and met the first other American I've seen on the trip. Not many Americans travel in Australia. Besides Australians, I've met lots of English, German, Spanish, Canadian and Dutch citizens.
Back in Townsville. After some time enjoying the free internet at the ferry terminal I head to Globetrotters and discover it is full. I walk to the bus terminal and score a room at the cheapest hostel in Townsville -- the Downtown Motel, only $12. You have to book it at the bus terminal to get that price. It is $15 if you go to the reception desk without a reservation. Met Mica from Germany. She was jet lagged having just flown in today to start a program at JCU. I gave her Anna's contact info so Mica would know another German girl at JCU. Walked the two kilometer strand. Townsville has done a great job developing this area, there is even a children's waterpark.
7/28 Loaded up all my gear and began the 8km walk to the airport where I had a rental car waiting. There are no busses to the airport... some sort of scam to help the cab drivers make a living. Everyone told me to get a cab, but it was a flat walk that took about 2 hours. No big deal. Walked the entire strand again, scouted the climbs at Kissing Point (the only place in Australia I saw prickly pear cactus), walked through the Soroptomist park (nice and quiet, seems to attract mostly locals), then on to the airport. With my Hertz discounts, the car was no more expensive than taking a bus to Miriwini, and it gave me somewhere to stash a bit of gear that I didn't need while backpacking. Drove the car North out of Townsville. Saw a huge bike touring group heading North on the Bruce Highway. Looked like fun. Also passed gizillions of acres of sugar cane. Made it to Wooroonooran National Park and started the Mt. Bartle Frere trail with about one hour of daylight left. That was just enough time to hike in 3km to Big Rock which is the last water at the base of Mt. Bartle Frere. This was the only place I went during the trip which required a permit ($4/night) for camping. While laying out my bug bivy and making dinner, I met Horst a German living in Sydney. He was camped right nearby. We enjoyed watching the fireflies which were really out at night.
After all the hiking and driving, I was tired. Happy to climb into my sleeping bag after dinner, I didn't take precautions with all my food. Just minutes later I regretted this laziness when a native rat chewed into my bivy to get at some trash. The rat was quite startled to find me in there and started running around frantically, but was unable to find his original entrance. So I opened the bivy to help him out. He promptly ran to the foot end of the bivy. I finally grabbed him and tossed him outside. Horst had come over to see what I was cursing about and was amused to see a rat come flying out of my bivy. With the rat gone, I carefully hung all my food and trash and cooking materials, placed some duct tape on the hole in my bivy, and fell back to sleep.
7/29 Woke early to make breakfast. Rats had managed to jump to my trash bag which was strung about 8' in the air between two trees over 10' apart. Pretty impressive. Though they didn't get much before they fell off the bag and decided to go for easier prey (that would have been Horst's food).
After packing my gear, I began the steep part of the hike. The trail climbed 1km in the next 4km. A 25% grade with no switchbacks. Shortly after leaving Big Rock, around 500m in elevation, the mist closed in and reduced visibility to a few dozen feet. Around 700m in elevation the mist coalesced into rain. The hiking was tough and the scenery was obscured. After about three hours of hiking I emerged from the rainforest into a cloud forest environment. Nearby is a helipad which is the landmark for the final 500m to the summit. From here there is a long section of 3rd class scrambling on very wet, slippery rocks.
I reached the summit at 1622m in elevation and took the obligatory photos. Then started down. Hiking down the slippery rocks and 25% grade was nearly as hard as hiking up. I did see the most amazing sight... two yellow birds with some black on top appearing out of the mist, flying past my head, and disappearing again into the mist. Many birds were audible all day, but only visible that one time.
Met Nicolas, a professional photographer from France who is spending a year in Australia. It was a pleasure to be able to hang out with a professional and watch him work. Nicolas always uses a tripod (Galen Rowell's books and every other book I've read has recommended the same thing). In the dim light of the rainforest, and shooting ISO 50 Velvia, Nicolas had exposures as long as 10 seconds just to get a shot. He was disappointed by the dim light and lack of water and constant lens fogging, but my guess is that he managed to get some great shots anyhow. In any case, I'm definitely inspired to start carrying a tripod on all my trips.
Worse than the mist and rain and rats and steep trails were the leeches. They were everywhere. All over the trail. After walking for five minutes there would be a dozen crawling up your shoes and on to your legs. The moment they pass the shoe barrier, they burrow into your socks and attach to your skin. Picking them off the shoes every few minutes is the only way to stay free of them. I had at least a dozen attach to my skin and bloat up with my blood. By the end of the day my socks and pants were dark with blood. Nicolas had two tone pants -- white above the knee and red below. Leeches, Ick!
Over dinner Nicolas told me about life as a professional photographer while we shared antibiotic ointment which I spread over all the leech wounds as well as the infected hole in the bottom of my foot. This trip has been hard on the feet.
7/30 Nicolas went off to photograph the creek at Big Rock and I hiked the trail out to Broken Nose, a lower peak at 962m which is supposed to have spectacular views of the coast, rainforest and Atherton Tableland. Of course, the hike was extremely steep without switchbacks, the mist closed in around 500m and the rain started to pour down above that. I didn't see a darn thing.
Hiking out I met Clive, an Australian, and his two daughters. The girls were seriously, strenuously, stringently avoiding the leeches. Clive is the only Republican I met the entire time in Australia. When he learned I was American he told me what a good job Bush was doing. I replied that he was the only person I've ever met in Australia or America to think that. Clive did give me some good beta on places to see wildlife in the region -- Etty Bay and Eubenangee Swamp. And he invited me to paddle with his outrigger canoe club later in the week.
At the trailhead I met Nicolas and we did the short hike to Josephine Falls to take some pictures. We saw wild turkeys, skinks, and waterfalls. Nice. We drove to the Biggs Recreational Area which is a nice little park at the base of Mt. Bartle Frere. Nicolas discovered that his camera had stopped working. This is not amusing to a professional photographer. He worked on it as much as possible, but couldn't resolve the problem. I was giving him a ride to Babinda, and we placed the camera on the dashboard of the rental car and I cranked the defroster. By the time we reached Babinda the camera was working again, so the problem was just the incredible, oppressive humidity of the rainforest.
After dropping of Nicolas I started to head back South to meet Lauren. I stopped at a farm stand on a banana plantation and bought a huge bunch of Paw Paw bananas, the local variety, for $1/kg. Also went to a grocery store and bought some Tim Tams. If you go to Australia, see Koala and Kangaroo, dive on the Great Barrier Reef, and eat Tim Tams. You won't regret it.
I drove to Edmund Kennedy National Park and saw my first wild Kangaroo -- a mother followed by a baby. It is a nice park, very swampy, lots of birds. Camping is free, but I'd be nervous to stay overnight since there are crocodiles in the park. I walked in the arboretum until the mosquitoes became unbearable around dusk.
Continued to drive towards Townsville, listening to Australia's public radio. There was an excellent interview with an Aboriginal artist who has spent his career trying to portray the plight of the Aboriginal people. There was also a politically correct version of Waltzing Matilda which was quite funny. I reached the rest area just outside of Townsville and spent the night sleeping in my Nissan Pulsar (a very comfortable bed with the seat fully reclined). Saw two shooting stars as I was getting ready for bed.
7/31 Off to JCU early in the morning to get Lauren. I remembered to celebrate a decade of good times today. Hmm... how many reading this get that reference? Lauren let me use her free internet access while we did laundry. All the blood came out of my pants and socks... and went right into Lauren's clothes. Ooops! Not sure exactly why laundry works that way. Poor Lauren had to spend the rest of the trip wearing blood spattered t-shirts. I really did feel bad. Scored a free lunch from the JCU cafeteria. The plan was to go climb, but we ended up taking a rest day instead. We hung out with Lisa, Lauren's roommate from the program. We saw "The Island" which was a pretty mediocre movie. Then we joined a bunch of Interplay people for dinner... at Benny's, the same mediocre Asian restaurant we didn't enjoy last time. It hadn't improved. Using Lauren's grant, we stayed at a hotel which had loose windows that banged in the wind all night. Though that was nothing compared to the front end loader which started digging a ditch at 6am literally three feet from our banging window. Overall, this was probably the worst day and night of the entire trip. Certainly I would have rather been climbing, especially since...
8/1 ...Rain! This rain would last for four days all up and down the entire North Queensland coast. Dry season? Sunshine State? 300+ days of sun a year? I don't believe it. The worst part is trying to get a forecast. At best you can find a forecast for that day. Trying anything beyond that yields a conversation something like this:
Jeff: Excuse me, do you know where I can find a weather forecast for the next few days?
Australian: It is usually quite nice this time of year.
Jeff: No doubt, but I'd like to find an actual weather forecast.
Australian: Oh, it will probably fair right up.
Jeff: Yes, but doesn't the government or someone actually try to predict tomorrow's weather?
Australian: Don't know. Maybe the telly? It is usually quite nice this time of year.
I had several conversations similar to this. The radio never had anything but the current day's forecast. The newspapers would show a weather map of the entire continent and maybe some vague weather map with what tomorrow might be. Never found a good web site with forecasts by city. Mostly people just assumed that the weather would clear up tomorrow. They would state this with some authority even though they didn't get the information from anywhere and they were, in fact, wrong.
Anyhow, we couldn't climb. So we drove to Paluma National Forest and traversed the Mt. Spec road. Went for a 3km hike through the rainforest, then cooked lunch (which I managed to burn pretty badly -- my worst food error of the trip). We had a decent dinner in Innisfail, then drove to Etty Bay to see wildlife. At night there were numerous animals visible, but hard to identify. Saw a bunch of wallabies (I think) and many possum (or what looked like possum). We spent the night in the car on the Bruce Highway.
8/2 Drove to Eubenangee Swamp. Did a 3km walk to the small hill in the center where we could see lots of birds and one crocodile. Even at a distance those things are terrifying. I can tell you that I was walking very carefully in and out of the swamp. We planned to go canoeing with Clive, but it was pouring rain and canoeing seemed undesirable. Drove to Yarrabah. Of 14 Aboriginal communities in Queensland, Yarrabah is the only one you can just drive to like a normal town. All the rest are only accessible via tours. It looked like any other middle class town. Only unusual features were the horses wandering the streets and the fact that most people choose to go barefoot. Went to the town's museum. The volunteer curator was very pleased to see us. From the register it looks like they normally get one busload of tourists a day, and that is it. He gave us a private tour of the small collection and really appreciated my question, "which piece is your favorite?" He showed me the town's timeline which he had helped put together. The town is very isolated and all contact was by sea until the road was built in the 1960s. The town received limited independence in 1985, though they were only allowed to start voting in national elections the month before we arrived. No alcohol is allowed in the town. This is a Queensland state law, but the curator thought is was a good idea because so many of the residents have drinking problems. Most of the people in town are on the dole, and are required to work two days a week at government projects to earn their check. We discussed similarities with the native populations in North America and the joke of "terra nullius" a legal doctrine which claims land as unowned. When the Europeans first came to Australia they declared the entire continent to be unowned and therefore they claimed it for themselves. This claim is still used and supported in the courts today as a defense against Aboriginal land claims.
Leaving Yarrabah, we drove to Cairns and ate dinner at an excellent Korean restaurant. I remembered enough of my Korean to attempt conversation with the waitress, only to learn that she was Japanese. Cairns is a big city. From what we could see there is a huge tourist industry and not much else -- though we were only in the center of town and it was night. After dinner we continued North to Port Douglass. We attempted to spend the night in a rest stop, but were rousted by a friendly cop who sent us North to fairgrounds in Mossman where we could stay for free.
8/3 Woke early to the laughter of Kookaburra. Drove back to Port Douglass where I embarked on the Poseidon, my dive ship. Lauren spent the day walking around Port Douglass, but I went diving. This was the most amazing day of the trip. We went to the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs on the Outer Great Barrier Reef. There we did three dives in three different locations. There was also excellent snorkeling for those who didn't dive. I saw at least a hundred species of fish. The visibility was over 30m (it was easy to see the full length of the 24m boat) and they had a -4.50 diopter mask for me to borrow. I saw amazing coral, lots of rays, two reef shark, a huge grouper, clown fish, huge clams, gorgeous Black Moorish Idol, Chevron Barracuda, Clown Trigger Fish, and many, many more. We also heard whales, but never saw any. The final dive was a drift dive which was scary because we had to get into the water while the boat's engines were running. Just swim away from the propeller.
After the last dive we went back to Port Douglass and everyone silently checked out the other boats to see if ours was the best (I think it was). Funny to observe human behavior. I met up with Lauren and we ate dinner at a Sri Lankan restaurant we had seen yesterday in Cairns. It was quite good. We also bought a box of ice cream drumsticks, and had to eat the entire box since we had no refrigeration. We drove back to Townsville that night. It was a long drive and I was very tired, but doing all the driving at night meant that we had time the next morning to...
8/4 ...climb. The rain finally stopped and our flight to Sydney didn't leave until 1pm. So we did a quick climb at Kissing Point. We climbed Swinging in a Sunday Sea Breeze (21) which is far and away the hardest climb at Kissing Point. It is also the only one that doesn't look like chossy crap. I got up the climb with two hangs. I also used a stick clip for the first bolt and held a draw for safety at another bolt. So it was no onsight, but I was happy enough with the effort. It felt like it would be a 5.10c/d in the States. We took free cold showers at one of the beach changing rooms on the strand, then drove to the airport for our flight to Sydney. Got a new rental car in Sydney, did some grocery shopping, ate 'nutmeat' for dinner (which tastes like cat food), and drove to the Blue Mountains. We spent the night at Murphy's Glenn, about 5km from the main highway.
8/5 Woke early to see many birds. Decided that sleeping in a Toyota Echo isn't nearly as comfortable as sleeping in a Nissan Pulsar. From now on we will go to the trouble to set up the bug bivy and sleep outside each night. Explored Murphy's Glenn a bit, including the large slickrock area about 1.3km from the paved road. It reminded both Lauren and me of the slickrock expanse where we camped in Arches National park overlooking Clover Canyon. We went to Honeymooner's Point and Echo Point which have beautiful views, but are jam packed with tourists. We drove out the Mt. Hay road to the Lockley's Pylon trailhead and hiked the trail for a few km enjoying the deep reds cast by the setting sun. Continuing in the car, we drove to the end of the road. It was 15km of "4WD only" road. Apparently the road is usually groomed for 2WD vehicles, but they hadn't fixed it since the last rainy season and there were many signs telling us that the road was limited to 4WD vehicles. I decided that if caught there was no way I could pretend to have not seen the signs, so I was going to have to pretend that I thought our tiny Toyota Echo was 4WD. Playing the dumb American usually works one way or the other.
The view at our campsite was amazing. It was a cold, clear night and the stars were spectacular. Even the lights of Sydney, 100km distant, were visible and muted enough to be pretty.
8/6 Our first night with temperatures below freezing. We woke at 6:30am just as sky turned from black to a brighter black. We were chilled, even wearing all our clothes. We were hiking at first light. Soon the sun was up and the day promised to get much warmer. We hiked and rappelled down into the canyon for 2.5 hours to reach the base of the climb Margarine Ridge. The climb is over 1100' tall and is classically done in 14 pitches. I had beta to link pitches and do it in 9, with about three of the pitches being nearly 60m long. The climb was only rated 13, which is about a 5.6, but it is very remote, poorly protected, and on weak sandstone. I'd say every pitch was R or X rated. That was not what I had in mind, but it was very difficult to bail since climbing was how we planned to get out of the canyon. The climbing was never harder than 5.6, but I was afraid of breaking a hold and taking a long whipper on marginal pro in weak rock. With luck and very careful climbing that didn't happen to me, though Lauren did pull a large rock on to her shoulder during the climb.
Besides the terror, the climb was spectacular. The direct sunshine, warm temperatures, cloudless sky and lack of wind had me very warm. And regretting the large backpack full of winter clothing I was carrying. I got off route at one point and had to do an extra pitch to get back in the right location. We ended up doing 10 technical pitches and about 4 third class pitches to reach the top of the canyon. I hauled my big SLR camera the entire way, but rarely took it out for photos because I was feeling rushed the entire time. Would have liked to get a shot of the giant lizard that was hanging out about 600' above the canyon floor, but I knew the sun would set promptly at 6pm and wanted to be done with the climb by then. I was climbing quickly, and adopting a somewhat alpine style: belays were usually one sling thrown around a tree on a ledge. Around 3pm I was looking at the top of the canyon, and I could see we were getting very close to the top. At that point I did some mental calculations on the remaining pitches and realized that the tallest climb at the Gunks was shorter than the climbing we had yet ahead of us. We did finish just as the sun was setting. It was at this point that I nearly fell. The climb does not top out gradually, there is an edge where the 1100' vertical canyon meets the surrounding terrain. I reached the last move and excitedly put a hand on the 90 degree edge at the top of the canyon... and nearly slipped off as the dirt and sand reduced my friction. How embarrassing would that have been to have blown my onsight at the very last move?
Eleven continuous hours of hiking and climbing. Exhausted, we were glad that the climb finished just a 20 minute walk from the trailhead. Back at the car, we were down to our last liter of water. We enjoyed the spectacular stars for a bit, then decided not to cook dinner -- just eat some peanuts and go to bed. It was cold and windy at night, but exhaustion helped us sleep reasonably well.
8/7 The drive out was pretty easy for the Toyota Echo, and I have to admit to having fun negotiating the road. In any case, Lauren and I agreed that it was far less terrifying than Margarine Ridge had been. I'm very glad to have done the climb, but can't really recommend it to anyone. Part of the problem was that I had a limited rack. One set of nuts and a few small cams. I think the climb would have been easier to protect with two full sets of cams, but I'm still not convinced that many of the placements would actually hold a fall.
We drove to Royal National Park and started backpacking North on the costal trail. Saw deer, kangaroo and lots of birds. The terrain and view are always changing and always dramatic -- from littoral rainforest to beach communities with no utilities. Went to North Era beach and spent the night in a bivy on the beach near a huge midden. Had the tarp out for protection against fierce wind. No matter how tightly it was guyed down, the tarp flapped all night and kept me awake.
8/8 Our original plan was to do a two day loop through the park, but we enjoyed the costal trail so much that we decided to return on it as well. Saw a herd of deer. Met some volunteers who try to remove invasive species and plant native flora. All August the temperatures have been much warmer than average for winter. It is 22C, sunny, clear and calm today. We were feeling in desperate need of a swim, so we went down to the nude beach near the trailhead and strolled into the ocean. The water was cold, but we managed to stay in for a while. We brought a bit of fresh water to rinse the salt from our bodies. Nearly as good as a shower. The light was gorgeous and the beach nearly vacant, so we spent some time taking nude beach pictures (no, you can't see them). Hiked out as darkness fell.
Back in the car, we drove South. Lauren was starting to feel ill, so we stopped in Wollongong for groceries and cold medicine. Continuing South, we reached Nowra and found a spot to bivy under power lines near the Babylon cliffs.
8/9 Lauren is still feeling ill in the morning, and I'm starting to catch whatever she has. We decide to climb anyhow. Nowra is a Mecca of single pitch sport routes, and we have a long stick for clipping bolts! We head to the Descent Gully Walls at Thompson's Point. We climb Santa's Little Helper (three stars, grade 15, 15m); Butthead (three stars, grade 17, 15m); Hang On (three stars, grade 17, 15m); Samurai Pizza Catz (three stars, grade 18, 15m); Layoff (two stars, grade 20, 15m); and Beavis (two stars, grade 20, 15m). That is 16 stars of climbing! I was able to onsight all of the climbs except for Layoff where I had to hang at the 2nd bolt while figuring out the hand-foot match. The short climbs meant we did less than 100m of total climbing for the day, but still a very good day. Lauren was content to mostly belay, but she did follow Hang On and Beavis. The former is a particularly fun climb that moves through three successive ceilings.
This is a fun area to climb. Easy access and right in the middle of a large town, but the cliffs are just isolated enough to stay quiet. We saw lots of kangaroos, brilliant parrots, and a horse wearing a cow-print blanket. I shoot some of my best kangaroo shots here. Even saw two roos boxing, though I don't get a picture. They struggle with their tiny front legs, then lift up entirely on their tail and kick with powerful back legs.
After all the work climbing, we went for some ice cream and back to the powerline cut. Lauren remarked on how funny it was to think of a utility tower as home. There was ferocious wind in the treetops, but our spot on the ground was well sheltered. Lauren was starting to feel better, and I was feeling much worse. Sucking down cold medicine, I was able to sleep well even with the howling wind and my congested sinuses.
8/10 I'm still sick in the morning, but starting to feel better. Lauren is doing well. Seems to be a 12 hour virus which we have passed between us. Went back to Thompson's Point. It is windy and colder, but we are still able to climb Korca (two stars, grade 18, 24m); Vanderholics (three stars, grade 18, 25m); Diddy Kong (three stars, grade 18, 24m); and Gun Barrel Highway (three stars, grade 19, 25m). I was able to onsight all of the climbs and Lauren followed all of them. Vanderholics was easily my favorite with great moves as it wound around a huge cave. We then went back to Santa's Little Helper and Lauren did her first outdoor sport lead. She had no problem with the climb and I was thrilled to clean since it put me on toprope for the first time this trip.
At that point the wind was getting stronger and an obvious cold front was moving in. We were ready to claim that we had climbed out Australia and start heading home. We decided to splurge on a motel so that we could shower and repack our gear before flying out the next day. We drove North and stopped for dinner at a rest stop on the side of the road. My alcohol stove was struggling in the strong wind, and a rat actually crawled up my leg in an attempt to get at our food. Probably the same rat from Mt. Bartle Frere following me for 2000km. We wrapped up dinner and continued North to Kiama where we got a motel. Kiama is famous for its blowhole which can spout water up to 60m. It was supposed to be an excellent night for the blowhole since the wind was strong and the surf was up. We got some ice cream, drove to the blowhole, and saw nothing. What is it with me and water phenomena? At least the ice cream was good. Back to the motel to shower and repack gear.
8/11 & 8/12 Time to depart Australia. Perfect timing. The cold front has arrived, dropping the most snow in a decade on Victoria. We were glad to have perfect weather during our time in NSW, and to have it end as we are ready to leave is even better. Sort of like how your day of scuba diving is much improved if you spot another dive boat which obviously doesn't have fresh water showers.
We drive to Sydney and return the car. I dump all my cash on the Hertz counter and put the rest on a credit card. Now I don't have to exchange money or try to spend it before leaving. Good thing because I'm amazed by the prices in the airport. What is it about the words "duty free" that hypnotizes people into thinking they are getting a bargain? Actual prices (in Australian Dollars, $1AU = $0.77US) I saw in the airport: $16 for a pair of batteries and $10 for a newspaper. One true bargain to be had... free Internet right by my gate. A shout out to Samsung for providing the three terminals in return for a bit of advertising (I do my best to help with that part because I like the free Internet). My flight is delayed, but with free Internet I consider that a good thing. I manage to get exit row seating the whole way home. In the 747 from Sydney to LA, that means literally 8' of leg room. At one point I lie down on the floor in front of my seat and there is still room for someone to walk past me. In addition to exit row seating, I've got a few other airplane tips:
My only other tip is for non-vegetarians... bring some roadkill. I don't know why, but the flight attendants keep talking about "carrion" items. Everyone is always cramming their carrion in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of them. Surprised the plane didn't stink with all that rotting flesh on board.
And speaking of bad jokes :-) the movies on this trip were a mixed batch. Kicking and Screaming, which is quite possibly the worst movie I've ever sat through (I walked out of Pee Wee's Great Adventure, but wasn't in an airplane at the time); Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which was disappointing because the books were pretty funny, but the movie was mostly dumb; A Lot Like Love which was tolerable; and Million Dollar Baby which was excellent, and I'm not a fan of boxing or Clint Eastwood.
Landing in LA was quite a shock. The terminals were nearly at riot stage with huge lines, frustrated passengers, and officious TSA employees. I remember something similar the last time I was in the LA airport. Oh joy, I have a 12 hour layover here. I walk the entire airport to stretch my legs, then spend the rest of the time napping in the best location I can find, a corner of the international terminal.
Finally I fly to Chicago and then Syracuse. My MP3 player resets itself in Chicago, so I can't listen to the end of "Why People Believe Weird Things" by Michael Shermer (an excellent book and quite timely given the recent nonsense about teaching 'intelligent design' in schools). In Syracuse, Melissa picks me up and takes me to campus so I can immediately drop off my film for processing. I walk home from campus and see rabbit, deer, cardinals and a monarch butterfly along the path. Reminds me why I love Ithaca. Over 40 hours from when I left Kiama, I'm home.
Epilogue
My luggage, which never made it out of Chicago despite a 4 hour layover, is delivered by the airline later that same day.
Australia is huge. I would have loved to see the entire continent, but that just isn't feasible. Some locations are better in summer, some were too remote from where I was traveling, and some I just didn't know about. The list for my next trip: Tasmania, Kakadu National Park, the Outback, Araplies, New Zealand, more of the Great Barrier Reef, and maybe Royal Botanical Gardens. Next trip... I like the sound of that.
Trip Stats: