Sailing the Whitsundays

And now it was time for Dejan to enjoy Nives’ gift for his 40^th birthday – sailing trip in Australia. We opted to charter a sailing boat in Whitsunday islands. One of the guide books even said that if you don’t like it there you don’t have a pulse.

Well, we can confirm we have one. It really is beautiful. Green tropical islands with powder white beaches in the blue seas. Pretty much heaven on earth. Except for the water. This is the time of jelly fish in Australia and you cannot go in the water without the stinger suits. And those would be whole-body lycra suits. With hoodies. And gloves. Dresses all in black we decided to answer only to Ninja 1 and Ninja 2. No more Dejan and Nives… Is it annoying? Extremely!

But we did not let this minor detail ruin our holiday! 2 weeks of pure sailing were amazing. Our dame Zigzag got us safely around in no winds and tropical storms (we had up to 34 knots of wind!). We sailed narrow passages and turquoise waters of long sand beaches. Enjoyed the sun and stars. Peace and quiet and company of other sailing boats. Just beautiful…

And two weeks passed quickly and our time in Australia was up. Next step – New Zealand.

Some more pictures here.

Diving the barrier reef

Finally! Time for some serious fun. Or so we thought…

Although we did not win the lottery (although it is soooo expensive you feel you should have), we booked the premium Australia diving holiday: 4 day dive trip to the outer Coral sea. It is actually so far that you fly back to Cairns as they do not have time to drive you back (yes, baby!). Also, no diving on the inner Barrier reef (heaven for discover scuba and open water diver courses, for non-divers this means ruined coral and less fish), only outer (the real stuff).

Needless to say, we were pretty hyped up. By the time trip started we were so eager to go under we were practically seeing sharks walking the Cairns streets. But afraid Barrier reef did not live up to our expectations. Yeah, we know – two moaners again… Here it is why. Visibility was not what we were hoping for and fish life was far from what we believed it would be. By no means it is bad diving by any standard, but it is also not top world class (or even best in the world) as it is usually presented to be. And when you think of the price, it probably has really bad value in ‘what you get for the price’ box. And at one point it looked the whole thing will be a complete flop.

During out trip wind was blowing from the side it never blows from (our weather luck is really starting to annoy us!!!), so we could not do the usual shark feed (we could not approach the site due to high seas). This is the place they do it with all the security precautions in place. Everybody was really down. So, dive guides decided to drop the tuna head in the water within the lagoon eager to “tick the box” and stop the mutiny, but really not expecting anything. Safety speech was about 30 seconds long, guides didn’t even bother to go into the water – this did not sound like safety obsessed Australia. Nor did it look like shark feed safety bonanza we saw on previous tour video. To our amazement sharks did come and we could be really close to them during the feeding frenzy (very smart, right?). Fist row seats in the one of the best nature cinemas. One of the guys on the trip was a return guest and said this experience was far superior to the ‘regular’ one. Is our luck finally changing?

Diving time passed quickly (as it usually does) and we were already on a small plane back to Cairns. This was amazing! Flying so low and close to the reef you could see schools of dolphins and manta rays. Just beautiful! Definitely should do this again when we win the lottery for real.

We did not have a lot of time in Cairns – just to grab a rent a car and go quickly to the south. Yongala, here we come. For non-diving community this is one of the most famous wreck dives in the world, arguably the best one. Wreck is on the sandy bottom with nothing for miles around. Which will bring down the visibility just to a few meters close to bottom. As expected it has abundant fish and coral. Dare I even say it has one of the biggest fish density we ever saw. When we were about to jump in dive guides started rushing us as there was a sea-snake on the surface (To Nives’ horror). We were in quite a few minutes later when snake disappeared. This being Australia, all penetration is forbidden (5000AUD fine) – here we go with that safety again. Is it our favourite wreck dive? Definitely not. But still worth doing, we feel. Especially the fish side of it.

And that was that for diving in Australia. As planned, we did not do a lot (way too expensive). It is safe to say we expected more, but in the end still pleased we did the lot.

Some more pictures here.

The Great Outback

We have been really looking forward to next leg of our journey. Our plan was to drive thru red hot centre via Uluru from South Australia to Queensland, which is thousands of kilometres of nothingness (4500km according to google maps). Unique experience to Australia. Weather forecast was promising 45c and we did a quick “don’t die air-con” dance. Looks like we outdid ourselves on planning again. No wonder summer is low season in these parts.

Well, Outback it definitely is, no doubt about that. But Great? Well, if it was meant as large, than great it is. Mile after mile after mile of nothing. Definitely not a place to have a flat tire. Hard to believe that there is anything living here. Not that there is much, make no mistake. Well, to be seen anyway. We were hoping for more kangaroos and it was fine to hardly see any snakes (as a road-kill is perfectly alright). Petrol stations every few hundred kilometres or so. With double the prices than elsewhere. But you can’t really negotiate, can you? Mining towns as well – not that they were anything we would have been sorry not to have ever seen. And all this in scorching heat that we actually enjoyed after Melbourne climate. Only gem on the road was Uluru and Kata Tjuta national park. But let’s start from the beginning.

We started in Port Lincoln after diving with The Sharks. First few hundred kilometres till Port Augusta passed quickly. We had our minds set on staying in a “…charming outback town” Coober Pedy. Well, according to the guidebook anyway. Don’t really know what we expected the outback town to be like, but not this. What do we think? We definitely want whatever the writer was on when he was there. To say it is a sh**hole is definitely an insult to all sh**holes we have ever been to. Desperation on level never seen yet. This place is just forgotten, even by God, Allah or Buda  themself. Only people on dusty sun bleached streets were drunk locals, mainly indigenous people, knocking on our car demanding money. We drove past hundred empty opal stores (all of them offering deals of a life time), dozens of derelict accommodation options and miniature surface mines (size of plot is limited, so no big corporations here). It almost felt like a tourist trap, but really not sure who gets there and actually stays there. Guess, no need to explain any further, we filled up our petrol tank and pressed on towards next town. Nothing can be as bad as this! Or so we thought…

Our accommodation for the night was Kulgera Roadhouse. You see, rest stops in Australian outback are called roadhouses. Usually a petrol station selling precious liquid at extortionate prices and a rusty old motel. Occasionally a small shop. And if you are really lucky a beer tap. This one was all that, but with loads of charm. It was a no brainer – place to kip. It even had a pool! And best pub in the outback according to the owner. And this time, we wholeheartedly agree. Actually, probably best pub in Oz. This being proper outback the bar was totally empty. Heaps of charm and character thou. So, we decided to hit the shower and then hit the beer. And this is when this lovely outback tale turns to horror movie. As you can guess, one of us had a pretty disturbing experience in the shower. After good inspection of the premises some relaxing time under the stream of warm water with closed eyes was just what the doctor ordered. Until the eyes were opened and screams echoed in the Great Outback. Spider the size of fist was slowly crawling up the right leg. Guess who it was? Well, only thing we can say is that she was properly shaken. Definitely time to hit the bar. Obviously, first question to the barmen was if there are any snakes around. With complete astonishment in his eyes (for this kind of question to be asked) he said not to many this year. This did not improve the fragile status of mind (Caroline, Ewart, remember Kruger again?). Short visit to the loo that boasted sign “No light, closed lid, no surprises” clenched the deal. Time to freak out. This is the reason you will not be seeing one of the best photos. This pub actually boasted with number of local snakes preserved in jars. With antidotes next to them!!! Dejan decided that in the best interest of everyone present it would be good idea to keep this find to himself until we were far away. Such a smart decision…

Early next morning we then went to Uluru and Kata Tjuta. And this is where the scenery turned to stunning. Red earth, blue skies, occasional tree. What we hoped for. Just inhospitable, dangerous and breathtakingly beautiful. And then Uluru itself. Big red rock in the middle of nothing. It is much bigger and more impressive then on the photos. Close to it is another rock formation Kata Tjuta. Possibly not as majestic, but at least as stunning. And we haven’t even mentioned The Imposter! Just before Uluru you will see first grand mountain and assume this is the real thing. But hold, it is not. This is actually Mount Conner. Very unlucky it is so close to the more famous spot as it deserves a lot of attention. Guess what we did: took dozens of pictures that we then had to delete afterwards of course… So, we did what the tourist do: visited the center, went for a ranger walk, and have I mentioned the sunrise and sunset? Sunrise was probably more special (when you wake up in the middle of the night it better well be!). Judgement could be influenced by lack of coffee and obvious brain inactivity at that time as well. But in our case we had a special view – a rainbow. Yes, we know what you are thinking – this is desert and for rainbow you need rain, they must be in the heat too much. Wrong, we had rain at Uluru! Obviously, our weather story continues…  We definitely learned more about the indigenous people here. They lived in the same way for thirty thousand years before white people came!

After Uluru it was time for a bit of R&R in Alice Springs. Nothing to write home about this town except the wonderful experience of feeding wallabies. Local rock wallabies descend from the local hill every evening and expect to be hand fed and caressed. Such a great experience!

Night in a hotel did the trick and we were on the road again. All the way to Townsville there was nothing to tell you about. We continued our usual 2 hours on 2 hours off driving routine. And passed one road train after another… If you are wondering what that is, it is a colossal truck with up to four trailers. A proper monster to pass in the dark!

And sun and hot air almost all the way to Townsville. Yes, we said almost. Close to the east coast started raining. And we mean raining heavily! Quick check with the locals and we found out we were catching a tail of a cyclone Oswald. This area had a massive rainfall – some were even saying biggest in the last one hundred years! Hmmmm… typhoon, heat wave, cyclone… it can’t be us, right?

Some more pictures here.

Face to Face with Great White

Well, not strictly speaking. There was a steal cage in-between. Minor details…

Yes, we decided to go for the cage dive again (previously done in Gansbaai in South Africa). Not a lot of places in the world where you can see great whites and every opportunity should be used to maximum. So we got on board the boat at 6:30 am and got ready for long drive to cage dive site –  that would mean taking anti sickness pills. We did this before and we knew better. Most people were heroic thou and said they were never sea-sick. That would be until the boat started it’s left to right little dance on the water. Soon enough, most of the people were hugging white plastic bags and retching their guts out. Above and under the water.  And we were so nice we did not say we told you so…

We were there at 10 am and in the water by 11 am. Yes, we were the first one to jump in, would you have really expected otherwise? But only thing we saw was blue ocean and occasional trevally. What a disappointment! And this would be in a freezing cold water. But then an hour or so later we were in the water again (a lot of people decided not to try yet). And then it came. Apex predator of the sea. We can verify it is as magnificent as it looks. And what an experience to see it emerge from the blue to slowly and menacingly circle the cage. No joking with this one, that is for sure. After three passes it went back into big blue. Exhilarating! Groups went in and out of the cage until everyone was able to say they saw the sharks. And then we got another go. This time not one but two sharks appeared. Didn’t go close to surface at all, just came from the deep circled the cage few times and went back. Experience not to be missed.

Capitan then took us on a drive around the seal island (on Dejan’s request actually). What a site! Seals lounging in the sun, swimming in shallows, pups playing. Absolutely cute! Hard to remember they are favourite food of the great whites. But that would be nature…

How do we compare this sightseeing to one in South Africa. Different. Here we saw sharks really well under the water (visibility was more than 20 m), but they did not breach out of the water at all. So, no teeth counting. Both experiences are amazing and should be done. And possibly repeated. You never know…

Some more pictures here.

Barossa Valley

According to our alternating driving schedule it was Dejan’s time to sample while being chauffeured around. And he did not take his task lightly. After all, this is Australia’s best wine region. Project plan was created and lengthy list with of less than 7 wineries summoned up. And off we went. Conclusion: this is the best place for wine in Australia. We sampled some really good vinos. Dejan even went for a tasting of fortified whites and reds (we are sticking to European tradition and not calling them sherry or port), which were matched with different food (he got small canapés). It was a real treat.

We were pretty delighted – so much so, we decided to stay another day. This was an excellent news for Nives – her time to hit the tastings. So, we had some more good wine next day. We even tried the legendary Penfolds Grange (50 AUD  for a tasting and 700 AUD for bottle). It is an iconic Australian wine. Yes, we can confirm it is a good wine (being Shiraz this is a big compliment!). As were few others from other producers (couple of hundred AUD a bottle). So yes, there is some really good wine here. However quality to price ratio is totally out there. Spending hundreds on one bottle is just crazy. But all in all, we really enjoyed the experience. And finished off Australia wine tasting on a really good note. Next one will be in New Zealand. 

Some more pictures here.

Melbourne

Major highway between Sydney and Melbourne was closed most of the time due to bush fires. But we managed to go through on one day it was open. Road was pretty empty. We could see torched areas and on one section we could smell the smoke as well. Talking of bush-fires apparently we made it in the worst heat wave in the last 40 years. And this is after typhoon in Palau after 50 years. What is next? Volcano eruption in New Zealand?

Anyway, back to vino. We passed through Rutherglen and Milawa. First one famous for bold reds and fortified vines, second dubbed as a gourmet region. Reds were actually pretty good. We tried a new grape – Durif and liked it. Not loved it, but liked it. Fortifieds were nice. They even call them port here, which is probably not very legal. Interesting, Australians not sticking to rules? Milawa had some nice cheeses and local vines, but not sure if we see it as a gourmet place. So, we figured we should cut this short and make a detour to only high mountains in Australia to see the only ski Area on the continent. Guy from the guidebook who said these were Australian Alps hasn’t obviously ever seen the real thing. No magnificent vistas at all. So, we turned back to another vine region known for best bubblies. Needless to say Nives’ mood had lifted instantaneously. So, Yarra valley. Nice scenery, decent bubblies. Similar to Slovenian or Italian ones. No comparison with real stuff thou for Nives – still swears by proper champagne. And again, we noticed that winemakers here call their sparkly wine champagne if it is made with traditional method. French are probably preparing protests as we write.

Best gem of the area was the chocolate factory on route to Melbourne. Absolute best chocolate ice-cream ever. Yum!

Melbourne. Felt a lot like home. Bit warmer than Dublin (not by much thou) and with brutal sun (that you had to avoid at all cost), but similarities were there. Relatively low, mainly green suburbs to live in and friendlier people (not comparing to Irish! Just on Australian level). And with great coffee culture. What we liked was the mix: European, Middle-eastern, Asian… all together. Neither as good as the real deal in our opinion, but all together was a treat. What we missed was any Australian native scenery. Aboriginal museum was closed for weekend (while we were there). It is almost as time began with English in every-day Australia and we feel this is wrong. Reminded us a lot of America that way.

So, we strolled the streets and enjoyed the buzz. Even went for a market and cooked a proper feast: oysters, barramundi, Tasmanian salmon, beef, spring lamb and kangaroo. With copious quantities of wine – we had to clear the cellar before heading into best wine region in Australia – Barossa valley. Meal to remember…

As luck would have it we happened to be in Melbourne during Australian Open. Obviously, this is due to meticulous planning (roysh) and not a chance. Anyway, we saw few matches and really enjoyed the experience.

And it was time to leave. For a scenic drive this time. Yes, we are talking about Great Ocean drive and 12 Apostles. Beautiful postcard scenery – eroded cliffs between the sand beaches and blue ocean. Huge waves (probably the biggest we have ever seen) were softly rolling on the horizon, until they broke on the coast with mighty thunder. If only there were no be aware of snakes signs (to put it mildly Nives was freaked out) and flies that were a nuisance on a new level.

And right after the drive we went to the Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve as well. Goal was to see koalas in their natural habitat. Nives was on the mission. Dejan was on a verge of desperation (Caroline, Ewart – remember Kruger?). But believe it or not, we saw them. Yes, that would be correct – them. Not one but two! Downright cute. They were sleeping (apparently this is the most time consuming activity in a life of your average koala) huddled between the branches on eucalyptus trees. We also saw ostriches – loads, even young chicks. No pictures taken thou. Seemed not really Australian thing. Until we got back to the car and read that these birds were no ostriches, but emus, native Australian birds. Felt very proud of ourselves, indeed we did. Duh! Armed with good luck we pressed on – goal was Adelaide and then Barossa. And to our astonishment we saw loads of kangaroos next to the road close to sunset times. What a beautiful creatures. There was even a small pup hiding in his mum’s pouch. So sweet! What a day…

Some more pictures here.

Sydney – Some More

After New Year’s eve we went to Blue Mountains, a national park close to Sydney with one of the Oz landmarks – Three Sisters’ rock formation. It is a very nice area with a lot of holidaymakers and tourists. Nature is beautiful, but nothing really that we haven’t seen before (similar). Still, we enjoyed our few days or R&R in the nature and even managed few bbqs (not proper coal, but even electrical ones were good). And then we went back to Sydney for a few days.

Well, city is still beautiful. We really liked the harbour and new architecture (and in fairness all is pretty much new). But people were funny. Not very friendly, but not something you really count on in big cities, so ok with that. However, we realized that whole wellness thing was not in Manly only, this was a widespread bug! Everybody was doing some sort of exercise all the time. We have never seen so many outdoor gym classes in the parks! At midday! Or muscular bodies and plastic boobs (ok, we know they are a fashion accessory these days, but still!). Downright disturbing. Dejan was intrigued, Nives irked to high heaven.

And we haven’t even started on whole surfer dude thing. Dejan digged this and even joined the scene few times (with limited success). Nives definitely irked again.

So, no surprise there that street food culture in actually absent. And this was a shock after Asia.

We still enjoyed our few days in Sydney and soon it was time to leave. 

There were some nice beaches and vistas south of Sydney, but again pretty much same to ones north of the city. And it was getting cold next to the sea. We are not talking a bit chilly here, but downright cold! And you can’t be in the sun at all as it feels like giant X-ray machine. A little heat and a lot of cancerous radiation. So, we decided to go inland and visit few wine regions instead.

Here are some more pictures from Sydney and New South Wales.