OZ-2006

 

By Tony Holt 

 

 

 

 

The following is an account of our trip to Australia (OZ) to meet our daughter, Kyle Hopkins, and her family, husband Doug and daughters Eliza and Abigail.  The Hopkins family had left Connecticut in October 2003 on a journey around the world in their 32 foot sailboat, Estrela.  This will probably be a journal of interest only to family and close friends and will not be a candidate for the internet.  Regardless, here goes:

 

Monday-2/6/06

 

The plan for getting to Brisbane, Australia was for Kay and me to fly from Boston to Los Angeles where we’d spend a night to break up the trip.  Then we’d fly to Auckland, New Zealand on 2/7 where we’d meet up with son George, his wife Deb and their son Colin who would arrive from Manchester, NH, via Philadelphia and Los Angeles.  Then the five of us would fly from Auckland to Brisbane to meet the Hopkins. Our United Airlines flight from Boston to L.A. was made bearable by the fact that we had eaten a great meal at a Legal Seafoods restaurant before leaving.  The airline meal was an unimaginative salad of iceberg lettuce and several small, dry hunks of chicken breast, for which we had to pay $5 each!

 

In Los Angeles, we stayed at a delightful B&B named Inn at Playa del Rey.  Our magnificent travel advisor, Andrew Collier, had scored another winner for Kay and me.  This is a 22 room B&B set beside a large bird sanctuary and three blocks from the beach.  Our room, with balcony, looked out over the huge, marshy bird sanctuary.  The inn more than passed inspection by Connecticut innkeeper, Kay Holt.

 

Tuesday-Wednesday-2/7-8/06

 

This was a day (“A” day because, during it, we crossed the International Date Line) of long waits and less than comfortable flying.  However, the day started well at Playa del Rey as the breakfast was excellent, featuring an egg-based casserole with choices of cereals, fruits and breads.  Because Playa del Rey serves many more people at breakfast than do we at The Fitch House, theirs was self serve; and Fitch House specialties, like individually cooked omelettes, would not be practical.  We liked it very much, however.  One feature of the inn stood out and that was the kitchen/reception area which is one, open room and in the center of the main floor—a sort of nerve center of the establishment.  We enjoyed our short stay and will be back during our return trip.

 

As our flight to Auckland wasn’t until evening, we walked the surrounding neighborhood including a close-up to the Pacific Ocean and pounding breakers.  We were in an area of Los Angeles called Manhattan Beach, which is fifteen minutes from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  We found a delightful Italian restaurant, Caffe Pinguini, which had been suggested to us at the inn.

 

Just before we boarded our 7:45 PM Air New Zealand flight to Auckland, we encountered, quite by chance, George, Deb and Colin Holt arriving from Manchester, NH; and they sent us off, their flight to Auckland leaving two hours later.  Our flight was full and we found the seating in the Boeing 747 to be about as tight as we’ve experienced.  The service and food were, however, quite good, much better than that on the Boston to L.A. flight.

 

Thursday-2/9/06

 

We landed in Auckland, New Zealand, at 5:15 AM, Auckland time.  Then, it was clean up time while we waited for George and family to arrive on a later flight.  They made it and, at 9:30 AM, the five of us boarded our flight to Brisbane, Australia .  There, after the usual, lengthy scrutiny by Immigration and Customs officers, we burst into the waiting area to be greeted by Kyle, Doug, Eliza and Abigail.  Kyle and I immediately dissolved into tears.  The rest were only somewhat less emotional in their greetings.  ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!

 

 

 

 

A “Maxi Taxi” took all nine of us, plus incredible quantities of luggage, to our lodgings, Milton Motel Apartments, where Kay had arranged for us three great apartments.  Milton is a section of the beautiful, modern city of Brisbane.  Once at the apartments, we relaxed, ate and began thinking about the next day’s schedule.  Kyle showed off her cooking skills with a magnificent beef stew.  It had to be easier in the apartment kitchen than in Estrela’s compact galley.

 

Friday-2/10/06

 

This was a day devoted primarily to the young folk’s desire to beat the heat (90+degrees F.) by staying submerged in water.  The motel has a small pool on the property, and I took the three kids there for a “before-breakfast” swim.  The temperature was climbing steadily to, and beyond, 90.

 

The Brisbane River makes a large “W” as it runs through the city which, by the way, is the capital of Queensland, one of the Australian states.  There is a ferry boat system which takes advantage of the “W”.  High speed boats traverse the length of the “W” while there are smaller, slower boats handling traffic around the city center.  There are also rail and bus lines and our apartments are next to one rail station, Milton , on the Ipswich Line.  We walked to the nearest ferry dock, which was actually some distance away, perhaps a mile.  It was quite hot.  We took the high speed boat to an area called South Bank Parklands.  There are museums here and what we think is a college, Griffiths by name, which features arts and music.

 

The draw, at South Bank Parklands, is a totally unique public beach and pool.  The whole area is full of tropical plants and palm trees with pathways meandering over and around boulders, sand, trees and the water.  There is a beautiful bougainvillea arbor through which you walk on the way to the pool.  Lined with sand, the pool is huge and irregularly shaped with a normal beach; but, on one end of the pool, the water stretches out to become a rocky brook with many shallow swimming holes for younger children.  We loved it all.  And we spent most of the rest of the day there.  I have noticed that the Aussies seem to like tattoos.  At the pool we marveled at the ingenious placement of the tattoos, particularly on the women.  ‘Nuff said.  Dinner was home cooked at the Hopkins ’ apartment.

 

Saturday-2/11/06

 

This was to be Koala Bear day.  Unfortunately for the whole group, I had come down with a stomach virus that night and spent the whole day in bed.  My family decided not to go on the tour to see the Koalas until I could go.  Instead, the family went back to South Bank Parklands for most of the day after having walked through the City Botanic Gardens.  That evening they went to a rugby match between Brisbane and Sydney.  I watched it on TV at the apartment.  Rugby is a brutal sport and, not knowing the game, I could discern no meaningful flow.  The cheerleaders, however, made up for the lack of “flow” on the field of play.  (Incidentally, we read in the next day’s papers that the cheerleaders had been told by the city fathers to clean up their act—more clothes and fewer bumps and grinds.)

 

Sunday-2/12/06

 

I woke up fully recovered but massively hungry.  This became Koala day and I am thankful that my family waited for me.  It was a blast—for young and old alike.

 

We took a city bus to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, which advertises itself as “The World’s First and Largest Koala Sanctuary”.  It is up the Brisbane River from Brisbane .  It is one of the most interesting zoos that any of us had ever seen.  It features animals, reptiles and birds unique to Australia ; but all centers on the Koala bear, a small (Teddy Bear size) cuddly animal which lives in trees, eats only eucalyptus leaves and sleeps, in trees, for about 18 hours a day.  Lone Pine has a population of 130 Koalas and they are mostly segregated according to age and sex, there being an area for boys, an area for young females, an area for mothers with young and even an old folks home for Koalas over 12 years of age.  There is a petting (or cuddling) area where visitors can be photographed with a Koala.  All of this is in a jungle-like setting which works to make the cages less obtrusive.  It rained, off and on, all day and this only served to enhance the jungle-like feeling.

 

There was a large meadow on a hillside dotted with tame kangaroos and wallabies, in which visitors were free to wander, feed the animals and just commune.  We were able to touch, hug and lie down next to these gentle creatures, which George promptly did.  The meadow was liberally sprinkled with kangaroo droppings and the management had thoughtfully supplied shoe brushes, like you’d see on a golf course to keep spikes clean. There were many other beasts on display, including wombats, many wild birds, reptiles, bats, dingoes and more—all unique to Australia.

 

 

 

We saw several interesting demonstrations.  One was of shepherding by sheep-dogs.  I never knew that the sheep-dogs actually walk over the backs of tightly packed sheep.  Another demonstration was of trained birds of prey, including several types of owl and an eagle.

 

All in all, it was a terrific day, enjoyed by all.  Dinner was again at the Hopkins ’ apartment, where George, Deb, Doug and Kyle took turns cooking great meals after Kay, kids and I shopped for food at a nearby IGA store.  When we felt that it was our turn to cook, Kay and I would generally opt to take everyone out to a restaurant.

 

 

 

Monday-2/13/06

 

Just when we thought it couldn’t get better, it did.  Today, we journeyed by private bus (“Croc Connection”) to Australia Zoo, about 75 miles from Brisbane .  This is the home of Steve Irwin of Animal Planet (Crocodile Hunter) fame.  His parents started the zoo in the sixties as a refuge for crocodiles and it has expanded to 75 acres housing a huge variety of wild animals, not just those native to Australia .  Crocodiles dominate but there are reptiles, birds of prey, tigers, elephants, Koala bears and a 175 year old Galapagos land tortoise named Harriet, who was captured by Charles Darwin.

 

Australia Zoo is different from Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and it’s not a question of whether one is better than the other.  Lone Pine was much more low key and jungle-like, though this may have been the rain.  Australia Zoo demonstrations were much more organized and the whole operation is well geared to handle huge crowds.  The homes of the various residents, from crocs to otters, were very jungle-like.  In short, we’ve been treated to two days of absolutely fascinating contact with wild life.

 

After departing the bus we visited Harriet and then went to the “Crocoseum”, a 5000 seat outdoor arena, for the 11 o’clock shows which numbered four, in 20 minute segments.  They were as follows: reptiles, tigers, birds of prey and, finally, crocodiles.  All were fun though I found that watching handlers swimming with tigers to be somewhat like watching an Olympic men’s downhill race.  You’re fascinated but dreading the possible disaster.  Actually, the best part of the show occurred when the park employees were killing time while the fences were being changed for the birds of prey.  A contest was conducted with the crowd to see who could do the best job of imitating any wild beast of their own choice.  My daughter, Kyle, jumped to her feet and did a very loud and realistic monkey act before about 2000 people.  She won and the prize was a free photograph to be taken with the wild animal of her choice.  The readers of this will get a Christmas card next year with a photograph of the nine of us with a huge python draped over us.  This was definitely the high point of the day for the grandparents.  The kids, however, seemed to be more captivated by patting a wombat and a Tasmanian Devil as well as feeding the elephants.

 

We saw countless other interesting things but a description of all would be too much.  Again, it was a great day.

 

 

 

A few words about the grandchildren are in order.  Abby, Colin and Eliza have been a delight.  They get along together very well and interact intelligently with their elders.  At dinner this evening, in a fun pizza restaurant, there was a lively discussion with all but one of the group participating with knowledge.  The topic was Harry Potter and the particular items of discussion were these:  Is Dumbledore really dead and is Snape a good guy or a bad bloke?  The one lightweight in the discussion was this journal’s author who had not been a follower of Harry.  No one was impressed when he bragged that he had read all of the Hobbit books.  When conversation turned to other subjects, Colin excused himself from the table, went into the bar where the TV was showing a soccer match, commandeered a table for himself and promptly went to sleep, face down on the table.

 

Tuesday-2/14/06 (Valentine’s Day)

 

This was to be a laid back day, no rush and lots of time for kids to do homework.  After lunch we walked downtown, about 1 mile away, and went to The Queensland Museum and Science Center.  Most of one floor was devoted to the Aborigines and that was provocative, there being so many similarities in the way that native Australians, our native Americans and our black Americans have been treated over the many years.  There were also the usual airplanes hanging from the ceiling and many wildlife exhibits, but we spent most of the afternoon in the Science Center.  The Science Center has a multitude of interactive exhibits of interest to kids, but we adults enjoyed them too.  One item of particular interest to our sailors was the real (no replica here) smallest sailboat to circumnavigate the globe.  This was done in 1984 by an Australian sailor who did it alone over pretty nearly the same route as the Hopkins are taking.  The boat couldn’t have been longer than 15 feet.  Eliza didn’t think that she’d like to try that boat.

 

 

 

Wednesday-2/15/06

 

Beach day!  The only problem was that it had rained and we expected it to rain intermittently all day.  We went anyway.  Our destination was a city named Surfer’s Paradise, about 1½ hours south of Brisbane and on what is known as the Gold Coast.  We traveled by train and bus and were loaded down with food, water, sun block and three boogie boards which George and Deb had brought from New Hampshire .  As we mounted the steps to the train platform, we were blasted with an immense thunder clap.

 

Surfer’s Paradise, and really the whole Gold Coast, is one continual high rise hotel and resort, all sitting right behind the wide, and very beautiful, beach.  It is like a Fort Lauderdale with surf, and it was hard to imagine what the beaches would look like on a sunny weekend day when all those high rise buildings disgorged themselves onto the beaches.

 

Today, the beaches were sparsely populated, probably for two reasons.  First, the weather was threatening, but it actually only rained a bit and was sometimes bright and sunny.  Second, for the past week or so, we had been reading about shark danger brought on by schools of bait fish moving closer to shore than usual.  There was surf and people were surfing, but it looked kind of choppy—not the best of surfing conditions.  Nevertheless, it was a grand beach day.

 

Our family, inadvertently, had considerable interaction with the life guards during the day.  These life guards, incidentally, were not teenage college kids; but, rather, they were tall, incredibly fit and tanned mature gents in their forties.  Very impressive and really very nice in spite of all our mishaps.  First, George and I, not understanding the meaning of the myriad of flags at the water’s edge, entered the water outside the designated swimming area.  The guard came over and moved us to the correct place.  Soon, Kyle stepped on and was stung by a jelly fish and got help from the life guard.  She and Doug got into a conversation with the senior guard who was most interested in their trip.  Later in the day while the kids were swimming, the little ones, Colin and Abby, began to get caught in a rip tide.  The life guard was in the water and snatching them up before anyone knew what was happening.  Later still, George and Doug, on rented surfboards, drifted into the swimming area and got a bull horn warning from the life guard.  Kay, feeling left out because she hadn’t met a life guard by the end of the day, went over to have her photo taken with one.  We all survived our first day at a surfing beach and it was a great, fun day.  Tomorrow we leave for Sydney.

 

 

 

Thursday-2/16/06

 

This was more than just a travel day.  It was the birthday of both Colin (8 years old) and his aunt, Kyle (42 years young).  To be sure, most of it was spent getting nine of us and huge quantities of baggage form Brisbane to Sydney .  We arrived at our new digs in Sydney in the afternoon.  Woolloomooloo Waters Apartment Hotel is our home in Sydney and it seems very nice.  George, Deb, the three kids, Kay and I are in a two bedroom suite with pull-out couch and two baths.  Kyle and Doug were allocated the honeymoon room.

 

We had a birthday dinner for Colin and Kyle complete with gifts, popping favors,  candles, cake and games.  Great fun!

 

Friday-2/17/06

 

We awoke to many options for the day’s activities, but a glance at the four day weather forecast, great today but with increasing chances for rain, convinced us that this was a beach day.

 

We purchased five day transportation passes for each of us.  These passes allowed us to go all around Sydney by bus, rail or ferry.  We took the ferry to Manly which is on the north side of the entrance to Sydney Harbor and on the ocean.  It is one of the best beaches near Sydney; and, when we got there, the surf looked to be good, not real high but not choppy as it had been at Surfer’s Paradise.  It was warm (90 degrees F.) and very sunny.  In spite of lathering up with prodigious quantities of sun block, Kay and I really felt like we were burning up; and, as a result, we left earlier than the rest.

 

The ferry trip over to Manly and back gave us a real good idea of the layout of beautiful Sydney Harbor , and Doug showed us where they had been when they entered the harbor aboard Estrela.  On our return trip, we passed the QE II leaving the harbor.

 

While on the beach, we had enjoyed the surf; and I even tried, with George’s help, to ride a surf board.  This was not successful as I kept sliding off the board.  George, on the other hand, had great fun.  The kids, naturally, had a great day.  I saw Colin get a spectacular ride on his boogie board.

 

Dinner tonight was at Sienna Marina, very near the waterfront and our apartments.

 

At this point, some words about Sydney are in order.  Frommer’s describes Sydney as “sunny, sexy and sophisticated”.  It certainly is sunny and it seems to be a very alive city.  The public transportation system, previously described, works well and is well used.  On weekdays or weekends, there are people everywhere; and, for the most part, they seem to be happy.  The Australian people seem to be more similar to Americans, loud and brassy, than to the British.  Doug and Kyle tell us that New Zealanders are much more British. The city sky line, seen perfectly from our Woolloomooloo Waters apartment, is modern and beautiful; but the soul of the city is the large, active harbor with its famous Harbor Bridge and the Opera House.

 

 

 

 

Saturday-2/18/06

 

Today we started slowly.  After a leisurely breakfast, the kids did homework until we were ready to leave for the Australian National Maritime Museum .  We got there by bus and ferry and got to see more of Sydney Harbor and places where Estrela had been.

 

We spent our museum time visiting three ships: the submarine  HMAS Onslow, the destroyer HMAS Vampire and the replica of Captain Cook’s ship HMB Endeavour.  Onslow was in commission from 1969 to 1999 and did not ever fire a torpedo in anger.  It is propelled by electric motors, submerged or on the surface, and uses diesel engines (massive machines by Rolls Royce) to keep batteries charged.  We all agreed that submarines are confining.  Vampire was the last big gun (4.5” guns) destroyer in the Australian Navy before the introduction of guided missiles.  It was in commission from 1959 to 1986.  I particularly enjoyed touring a ship similar to the DER on which I served in the fifties.  Our guide, Bill, had been in the Royal Navy, on destroyers, during WWII and was great fun to talk with.  Endeavour was marvelous.  It is a replica of Cook’s ship, but everything works and it does go places.  We particularly found interesting the facilities for bodily functions—two one-hole seats on either side of the bowsprit and funnels along the main deck rails.

 

After leaving the museum, Kyle and Doug bought an astounding assortment of fresh fish which Kay turned into a tasty bouillabaisse with Doug as her sous chef and floor cleaner.

 

Sunday-2/19/06

 

Everyone did their own thing today.  George and Deb, who have seen more of the city than anyone on their morning runs, headed out again while Kay, Eliza and I went to the Opera House to pick up the tickets for our Monday night evening at the opera.  Eliza and Kay also visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales to see an exhibit of paintings by Pissarro.  Kyle and Doug stayed with Abby and Colin who were doing school work.  Later in the day, George and all of the kids played rugby in the Botanical Gardens while Deb went for a walk and Kyle, Doug, Kay and I went to the old section of Sydney called The Rocks.  In all of this activity, we never did get the opera tickets as the box office, the opera telephone operator and the opera information desk all had different ideas as to when the box office was open.  The Rocks was interesting with its old buildings.  We had a beer at the Lord Nelson Hotel , the oldest building in the city.  All of these activities were followed by dinner next door at the second floor restaurant of The Frisco Hotel.  We were seated on an open balcony overlooking the street below.  Fun!

 

Monday-2/20/06

 

Today was OPERA DAY.  First, there was the need to get suitable clothes for Doug and George who didn’t have jackets and ties, which Kay deemed to be necessary for opera attendance.  (As it turned out, there were men at the opera dressed in tuxedos, but the usual male attire at Australian opera is considerably more low key than in New York or San Francisco .)  Doug, Kyle and I spent the morning at Salvo (not Brooks Brothers or Henry Miller).  Salvo is Aussie for Salvation Army.  The two blue blazers we purchased for $32 total were OK even though one needed much Lysol spray in the armpits.  Both jackets will, I’m sure, be left in Sydney when we leave.  Then it was off to the Opera House to pick up tickets, though we stopped on the way to see “Mystic India” at the I-Max Theater.  Very interesting and impressive!

 

George, Deb, Kay and kids went to the Sydney Aquarium.  Highlights, according to kids, were very cute harbor seals, sharks and tropical fish in three separate tanks.  The tanks were designed with a glass tunnel through them, through which viewers walk.  “Really cool!!”, according to Eliza.  There were also scuba divers in the tanks cleaning the tanks and feeding the inhabitants.  The kids also liked watching the loggerhead turtle snap up a fish, chomp on it and drop small pieces of fish, which were an instant attraction to all the colorful reef fish.  They also liked the one foot long duck-billed platypus.

 

That evening we dressed up like you wouldn’t believe and went by bus and foot to the Sydney Opera House for an opening night performance of Mozart’s “Magic Flute”.  This was, to those of us who had seen this opera in different places, a unique production.  There were acrobats on stage as lions or just stage hands who fit into the action.  And there was action, no static scenes with just singing.  The voices were great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Opera House is, as everyone knows, a unique and incredibly beautiful design, both inside and outside.  I’ve never seen concrete structures as artistic as the many in this theater.  The exterior is sheathed in white tiles that seem to make it glow both night and day. 

 

The kids stayed awake and loved the whole performance as did all of us.  Kay was in seventh heaven.

 

Tuesday-2/21/06

 

After leisurely breakfast and many good-bye hugs, Kay and I took an airport shuttle to Sydney Airport and boarded our United flight to Los Angeles .  Luckily, the plane was not full and we shared three seats.

 

We crossed the International Date Line and arrived at L.A., on the same date, where we returned to the Inn at Playa del Rey for a nap, dinner out and a good night’s sleep before flying off to Boston tomorrow.  We had dinner at a great, little Italian restaurant, Caffe Pinguini, where we had lunched two weeks ago.

 

Wednesday-2/22/06

 

Our flight home was spartan, another United Airlines feast of boxed snacks.  We finished off the trip with a great meal at “85 Main”, in Putnam.

 

This trip was one of the very best, in a long line of ski trips, hikes through France and the like, that our family has taken.  For us, the most important results of the trip to OZ were a much increased comfort level, on our part, with the Hopkins’ journey around the world and a chance for our family to be together for one glorious moment.