We woke to a beautiful sunny day so after we had breakfast and checked out of our hotel we drove back up to Mt. Ainslie to see the view we were denied the day before.  And it was definitely worth the trip, with a lovely sight line straight down the Anzac Parade route from the War Memorial to both Houses of Parliament.

We left Queanbeyan at 11:15, stopped for a picnic lunch along the way down the mountain and arrived at Batemans Bay at 1:15. The road to Canberra may only be 130 km but it is certainly not a fast road; steep and winding.  There is a direct route west out of Sydney that will take you to Canberra in about an hour, but we used the southern route inland from the coast.

From Batemans Bay we continued on our way west along the coast road and stopped at Mogo where there is a zoo for endangered animals and primates.We spent most of the afternoon there.  It was an awesome place; the animals all had large, natural enclosures, there were ropes and nets for the primates to climb, and lots of space for the critters.  Cottontop Tamarin

Golden Lion TamarinEmperor Tamarin

The Sumatran Tiger gave birth to triplet cubs in August 2010 so they were not even a year old when we saw them. Meerkat

The zoo is home to six white lions which are no longer found in the wild.                                Tapir

                                                                                                                Siamang After we left the zoo we made a brief stop at Tuross Head to see the view.Stopped also at Bega Valley Lookout and then drove directly to Eden where we planned to spend the night.  It was lovely countryside with lots of dairies and farms.  Everything was very lush and green with all the rain they had that year.  After 10 years of drought Australia was suffering with floods in many places, especially the east and north coasts  but I am sure the farmers and ranchers in the south were happy to get the rain.

We drove over 300 km that day, which is a lot further than we have driven some of our other days.  We had reservations for Cowes, Philip Island just south of Melbourne three days away and had only 500-600 km to get there so we still had some meandering time.  Which was a good thing as we like to meander, and divert, and detour.

From Batemans Bay we turned inland onto the Kings Highway (Highway 52) and drove 130 km up a winding mountain road (great for motorcycles) to Queanbeyan, a town 13 km from Canberra, ACT (Australian Capital Territory – like the USA the national capital city is its own place; not located in any of the Australian states).

After we checked into our hotel in Queanbeyan John called his mother’s cousins and we arranged to get together at 5 o’clock.  Since it was already after two that left little time to go exploring in Canberra so we took the afternoon off and did some walking around and grocery shopping.Robyn and Charles were lovely people who gave John a bad time for not letting them know we were going to be in the area, but nonetheless graciously insisted on taking us into Canberra the next day to see the sights.  The very pleasant surprise for John was discovering that his mom’s cousins lived in the family home of Formula 1 race car driver Mark Webber.  John is an F1 fan and never misses watching a race so he was stoked to learn that Queanbeyan was Webber’s home town.

The next day we were picked up at our hotel at 9:15 am and before we left for Canberra Robyn took us over to City Hall and showed John one of Mark’s early driving suits that is on display.

Our second stop was the top of Mt. Ainslie to see the panoramic view of Canberra but the clouds were so low we only saw white so we headed back down and into the city.  We had told Robyn the places that were on our ‘must-see’ list and she chauffered us to every one of them.

First was the Australian War Memorial.  This huge multi-museum complex is dedicated to those who have fought for Australia and the world’s freedom.

Robyn picked us up after two and a half hours and even with all that time we only saw the WWI museum, had a semi-quick look at the WWII museum, and a walk through the airplane museum.  I think if we ever get back to Australia I will plan to spend the entire day there.  The museums and memorials were beautifully done and contained many interesting dioramas, exhibits, and stories.

Like Canada, WWI was a major ‘coming-of-age’ as an independent nation for Australia (and New Zealand).  All three nations were still considered by many to be colonies of Great Britain at the time of the Great War, and as members of the Commonwealth, when Great Britain declared war on Germany, they were automatically at war as well.

Canadian troops saw action and were victorious in some very key battles during the First World War and the Anzac troops from ‘down under’ displayed their mettle heroically in many as well.  All three nations were recognized for their bravery and courage during the war, not as British soldiers, which, technically they were; but as Canadians and Australians and New Zealanders.  The world looked at all of these countries with different eyes after the war.

As we were going to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier we noticed a lot of uniformed people from different branches of military service, several people in suits and a film crew.  We found out that a survivor from the sinking of the HMAS Perth in Burma 69 years before was being interviewed at the Memorial for a TV special to be broadcast on Anzac Day April 25.  Inside these colonades are engraved the names of every Australian lost in the fights of every war, battle and engagement undertaken by the country, up to and including, the present day.I found this brief synopsis on  the internet: “On 25 April 1915, the armies of Australia and New Zealand had their first battle of the First World War at Gallipoli, Turkey.  Australia had only been recognised as a federal commonwealth for thirteen years, and many Australians were sympathetic to the United Kingdom – they saw it as the motherland.  The volunteer armies were therefore keen to fight so they could secure a safe passage for allied navies.  Upon arriving, the Anzacs were met with immediate gunfire, and fought for eight months until a stalemate was forced. Eight thousand soldiers lost their lives before the Allies ordered an evacuation. Although the operation itself wasn’t a success, the courage and determination shown by the Anzacs was immediately celebrated in Australia, London and even the Allies’ camp in Egypt in 1916, with parades and ceremonies held in their honour. By the 1920s, the date had become a way to remember the sixty thousand Australian soldiers who lost their lives in the war.  A decade later, all Australian states were marking Anzac Day with celebrations.”  All these figures are mosaics created with small tiles.  They were huge and beautifully done.  All the designs in the domed ceiling were mosaic tiles as well. The stained-glass windows depicted all the branches of military and support services. As we were leaving the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier a man who was standing talking to another fellow asked us where we were from.  We told him and chatted a bit about the museums and memorial.  He then invited us to join him and his friend for lunch.  How nice was that?  Aussies are a friendly hospitable people.  Unfortunately Robyn was picking us up in a while so we had to decline.  I still remember his friendly kindness 6 years later.

Robyn and Charles took us to the Yacht Club where we ate the picnic lunch she had brought along. After lunch we went to the Old Parliament House and the New Parliament complex. Canberra is a planned city and there is a straight line of sight from the Australia War Memorial to the Old and New Parliament buildings.   The pillars in the New Parliament entrance are made to look like the bark of eucalyptus trees.  It was a beautiful building.  We sat in on Question Period in the House (just as much silliness and posturing as goes on in Parliament in Canada) and also listened to a Senate meeting.  The big topic for discussion was a proposed carbon tax .(Now where have we heard that before?) Our final stop of the day was the Australian Mint where they print the country’s stamps and coins and, for obvious reasons, no photos were allowed.  Then it was back to the hotel and a rest before bed.  We had an awesome day in Canberra and really enjoyed meeting John’s ‘rellies.’    (Australians shorten just about everything.  Relatives are rellies.  Firemen are firies.  Politicians are pollies.  Universities are unies.  Pedestrians are peddies. A ice cooler is an Eskie (short for Eskimo box).  Mosquitoes are mossies.  Sunglasses are sunnies.  An SUV is a ute for utilitiy vehicle.  Food is tucker.  Bushtucker is food found in nature or cooked in open fires.  They speak English, but it is a whole new language.)

By the time we checked out of our hotel, found breakfast, and walked to a nearby mall to buy a new card reader suitable for both of my cameras and bought an Australian cell phone that we loaded with minutes to call home it was 11:30 and time to hit the road.

Not too far out of Wollongong we drove up Hill 60 to see the view.  The hill is a very popular hang gliding jump point and there were quite a few people enjoying the currents. There was a beautiful view of Wollongong beach.  Australia certainly has some gorgeous sandy beaches.We re-joined the highway south of Shell Harbour and drove to Kiama to see Blowhole Park.

After lunch at the park we decided to drive directly to Bateman’s Bay as it was getting late in the afternoon.

We did however make one detour seven kilometers toward the ocean to Lake Conjola; a salt water lake. There was a campground at Lake Conjola and some kangaroos were hopping about feeding on the grass. It was after 6 pm by the time we got to our hotel so we checked in, had dinner and spent the evening getting the phone and the card reader working before reading emails and sorting photographs.  We had a lovely sunny, warm, and interesting day.  The distance from Wollongong to Batemans Bay is 191 km (118 miles) and you can drive it in two and a half hours.  We did well.  It only took us 6 1/2.

By 9:30 am we were checked out of our hotel and dragging our luggage a half mile down the sidewalk to the rental car agency.  We picked up an almost new white Toyota with 7,800 km on the odometer and headed out of Sydney.  The rental car people gave John good directions for a quick and easy way out of the city and we were soon driving down coastal Princes Highway on the Grand Pacific Drive.

John adjusted quickly to driving on the left side of the road.  He had driven in Britain before so the experience was not totally new.  His biggest problem was the windshield wipers which were located on the right side of the steering column and he kept turning them on whenever he wanted to indicate a turn.

We had made a tentative time line for our trip and had a couple of reservations pre-made that we needed to meet but for the most part we could meander at will; within reason.

There were several stops during the day.

First was a walk into a nice cove with a rock cliff that was a popular jumping spot for the local young people.  The rocks were carved into interesting shapes by the tidal waters and were a gorgeous gold.   There was a lovely ocean view from Otford Lookout.  And we got our first – albeit distant – look at the Sea Cliff Bridge that we would cross awhile later. There was a short stop in Helensburgh to see the Hindu Temple. The small Kellys Falls necessitated a little hike.  And the way the rocks and pathway were positioned you could hardly see it anyway – sort of similar to the sign.The Sea Cliff Bridge is a balanced cantilever bridge that joins two coastal villages, Coalcliff and Clifton.  It was completed in 2005 at a cost of $52 million.  The bridge was named by an 11-year-old school girl in a “Name the Bridge” competition in the area primary schools.  It is one of only seven off-shore parallel to coast bridges in the world.

We arrived in Woolongong and checked in to the Best Western Wollongong Golf Club Hotel.The view from our room.

After dinner we walked out to the Flagstaff Point lighthouse before returning to the hotel for the night. We had a wonderful first day for the beginning of our south coast drive.  And travelled almost 100 km (62 miles) in the process.

Our last day in Sydney was semi-lazy.  After breakfast we spent most of the morning in our room sorting photos.  About 11:30 we walked through Hyde Park again and went to the Barracks Museum, where we spent the majority of the afternoon. Hyde Park Barracks Museum covers the history of the buildings themselves.  The complex was built between 1817 and 1819 to provide secure lodging for government assigned male convicts.  From 1819-1848 there was an average of 600 men sleeping in hammocks in 12 rooms.   During the day the convicts would go out to various places around Sydney and work on roads, bridges, and buildings.  The Barracks contained a bakehouse, kitchen, mess-rooms where the men ate their meals, storerooms, cells and some apartments for the Deputy Superintendent and his assistants.

The murals in the entrance hall were well done. Betwen 1848 and 1886 the Barracks was the immigration depot for single females – mostly Irish girls orphaned during the great famine.  In a country like Australia that was very short on females it was a way to get servants as well as brides.  They altered the central dormitory and iron beds replaced the hammocks.  During these years there were also offices on the grounds such as the Government Printing Offices, the Vaccine Institute, District Court and the NSW (New South Wales) Volunteer Rifle Corps; plus more.

From 1862-1886 the top two floors of the complex was a new Government Asylum for aged, infirm and destitue women.  They had access via an outside staircase to the courtyard for laundry, kitchens and a bathouse.  About 399 women were cared for. The Government set up offices and law courts from 1887-1979 after a major overhaul of the buildings was completed.  Two large courtrooms were attached to the eastern end of the main building and others were remodeled for smaller courts or other legal entities such as the Patents, Coroners, and Weights and Measures departments.  Over time other government bodies used the space as well; such as the Industrial Courts, the Public Trustee, the Master of Lunacy, Legal Aid and the Parole Board.

For more than 185 years the Barracks has had 50 different user groups, 28 of them legal or government departments.  By 1904 there were plans to demolish the Hyde Park Barracks but no action was undertaken and in 1935 the suggestion that the complex become a museum was first broached.  It took until 1975 for a decision to be made to keep the Barracks site and a team of architects, histrorians, archaeologists and museologists began working on the plans for a museum.  The work began in 1980 and by 1984 the new museum of social history opened its doors.  Six years later the Barracks were put under the control of the Historic Houses Trust and refurbished as a museum that presents the history of the site itself.  The stories of the buildings and the experiences of its inhabitants are told through changing exhibits.

After three hours we wander across the street to Hyde Park and watched people while we ate some lunch. The Wine Festival was starting soon and workers were getting things ready; including a really long line of port-a-potties.While I did some work at the internet cafe to get more photos uploaded to my photosharing site John scoped out nearby restaurants for somewhere to eat dinner.

After dinner we returned to the internet cafe to use up the remainder of our purchased time and then headed for our hotel and bed.  The next day we began our Australian Adventure in earnest.

We decided to take our extra bags to the storage unit so that would be done as we only had two more days in Sydney before we headed out to see what we could see of Australia.  It was over a mile walk which isn’t bad unless you are pulling a full, large suitcase on hilly sidewalks through thick crowds.  But we made it and the gal at the unit gave us a deal on our two month’s storage costs so it was all good.

We decided to walk over to Circular Quay (the cruise port) and catch the ferry across the bay to North Sydney and visit Taranga Zoo.  We spent the entire afternoon at the zoo.            The beautiful and iconic Sydney Opera House.                                                    I think this is the fattest bird I have ever seen.  Komodo Dragon from Indonesia.  This one (above) is not real; it’s a sculpture.  This one (below) is alive and well. A female Nyala antelope from Africa. The males have longer hair and are greyish brown with less defined white stripes.

We spotted this baby elephant from the gondola on our way into the zoo and it was fun, later on our walk around to watch it investigate the water pond.It wasn’t sure about the water at first but once it discovered bubble blowing it had a great time.                                                           Golden Pheasant

                          Meerkats

                                               Snow Leopard                                         Tapir

A stop at the Jackson Sports Bar on George Street for some dinner and a rest for our feet gave us the energy to walk back to the hotel; with a brief internet cafe stop along the way.  The news on the TV was all about the earthquake that had struck at Lytlleton, New Zealand the day before.  There were 75 deaths, 300 missing and over $12 billion in damages.  Our ship had been docked right at the epicenter less than two weeks earlier.  By the time we got back to our hotel is was 8:30 and time for a reading break before bed.

Other than spend a bunch of time in the evening at an internet cafe uploading photos and sorting images, the only other activity this day was to wander through the Australia Natural History Museum.

There was a large exhibit of a national photography contest showcasing all the winners and runners up in the various categories. That took awhile to go through before we checked out Surviving Australia – about animals past and present, harmless and venemous.    As a courtesy to those who do not like snakes – even pictures of snakes – I will post the two placards of information without the snakes that accompanied them.

It was a pretty slow day compared to some we have had lately and a nice change.

We arrived in Australia at last (well, technically we arrived the day before but that day was still part of the cruise we used to get there).  The first thing we did was waste $35 (AUS) and an hour of time by my taking the wrong bag from the cruise port to the hotel.  Thankfully part of the disembarkation paperwork included where you would be staying once you leave the ship so they sent a message along to the hotel that we needed to return the bag.  John took a taxi back to the port, exchanged bags and returned to the hotel.  We put our luggage in storage at the hotel (check-in wasn’t until 2:30 pm and it was only 10 am) and went for a walk.

Hyde Park was a block behind the hotel and the AnZac Memorial is located at the near end. We continued through Hyde Park to the Sandringham Garden. Then to Archibald Fountain

And finally to St. Mary’s Catherdral

A late lunch took us to check-in time at our hotel.  We re-sorted our luggage to thin it out some more so we would have less bags to drag around with us, and then went back out to find some groceries for breakfasts.  We also located the luggage storage place and the rental car agency so we knew where we would need to go when we left Sydney.  Dinner and early to bed rounded out our first day.

The ship docked in the fabulously beautiful Sydney Harbour in the early morning.  The intineray for the 2011 World Cruise had two days in Sydney.  We only booked the first leg of the cruise which was 45 days from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Sydney which included the first day in port.

When we stopped in Sydney on the 2009 World Cruise we had chosen shore excursions that took us out of the city.  Since we were staying in Sydney for 5 days after we disembarked we decided to take advantage of the ship’s excursion to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It took an hour in a sweltering hot concrete block room to get ready for our climb.  First there was the safey talk, then we got suited up, then we did a ladder climb test.  By the time we finally got outside I was very glad to be in the open air.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was officially opened in March 1932 after eight years of construction.  Until 2012 with the opening if the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver, the Sydney Harbour bridge was the widest steel arch bridge in the world at 48.4 meters (160′). At the time of the opening of the bridge there were only a dozen or so residences on the North Shore, yet the designer and government of the day had the foresight to make a bridge with 6 lanes of vehicular traffic, 2 lanes of tram tracks (now used for cars and trucks), a lane on one side for bicycles and on the other for pedestrians, plus two railway tracks.  The bridge connects the Central Business District with the North Shore which is now a prime residential area.  Interesting facts: all the stone for the pylon pillars was quarried in Tasmania and shipped to Sydney and there are 6 million Australian made hand-driven rivets in the bridge.

Since the harbour bridge has a constant flow of vehicles, bicycles and people on it night and day you are not allowed to have anything on your wrists or in your pockets as you climb: no watch, hat, cell phone, camera.  Everyone is given a one piece suit to put over your clothes, if you wear glasses or sunglasses you are given a strap for them that is clipped to your suit.  You are provided with a hat which is also clipped to your suit.  The top of the bridge is 134 meters (440′) above the water and the deck is about 91 meters (298′) from the top of the arch so anything that dropped would do serious damage and possibly cause collisions.

It took our group of 14 people about 2 hours (and about 1300 steps on catwalks and ladders) to climb the bridge with the various stops.  Once we were back on land we walked to the base of the bridge and climbed the 250 steps inside the pylon to the lookout.  From the top you see the same 360° view as from the top of the bridge. After we returned to ground level once again we did a walkabout in The Rocks; the tourist and historic area of Sydney.By then our weary legs wanted a rest so it was back to the ship for our final dinner with our tablemates and farewells to the crew. Before we left the ship to begin our adventures in Australia we booked the 2012 Grand Mediterranean Cruise – 64-days round trip from Ft. Lauderdale.  (Another blog to write another time).

We loved our leisurely cruise to Australia.  We saw many new places and experienced many new things while making new friends.  The whole trip was much better than 16 hours stuck in the seat of an airplane.  If we ever to go Australia again it will also be by cruise ship.

During the night the ship sailed 90 miles along the Tasmanian coast to Port Arthur, dubbed Australia’s premier convict site. The ship anchored off shore and tenders ran all day to and from the old prison pier.  We had a morning tour to the Tasmanian Devil Park for another chance to see critters.  The Devil Park used to be a farm and is now dedicated to protecting and breeding some of Australia’s treasured animals.  Once the bus dropped us off at the entrance we had two hours to wander wherever we wanted; which I like much more than being in a group and guided here and there.  On our own we could watch an animal that we found interesting or move around to get better photo angles.  So much better than being herded. Tasmanian Devil’s are endemic to Australia.  They used to roam widely all over Australia, but are now only seen on Tasmania.  They are meat-eating marsupials and snap and snarl and fight each other at feeding time to try be the one to get the last morsel of meat or bone.  Tassies are not quiet, nor gentle.  Here at the park there is also an extensive breeding program to protect the species in the event all of the devils in the wild die from the transmittable cancer that is decimating them.

We encountered another meat-eating marsupial – the Quoll.  I had never heard of it.  We saw white-spotted black ones and white-spotted brown ones.  They are primarily nocturnal and spend their days curled up in a den.

There were many birds at the park, as well as wallabees and kangaroos and Cape Barren geese.

And they had a raptor show as well that we had enough time to watch. The bus dropped us back near the pier but we stayed in Port Arthur and spent the afternoon wandering around the old prison grounds.  It was a lovely setting for such a sad place.

One of the reasons that Britain (and other countries) sent their convicts to their distant colonies was to get communities and a citizenry established.  The prisons in Britain and France were overflowing due to the harsh penalties for even petty crimes. For years prisoners had been held in old ships floating in the harbours because there were not enough jails.  When the idea was presented to send them to far flung territories and colonys of the motherland it was jumped on with enthusiasm.  A prison shortage issue could be resolved and the prisoners could be used as labour to build their new prisons, the warden and officer’s housing, roads, bridges and town buildings for settlers.  When their sentence was completed the prisoners had to stay the same number of years in the colony again before they could return ‘home.’  Assuming they would ever get enough money to pay the passage home.  Most of them were lucky to just survive their jail time. The most heartbreaking part of the old prison was the Separate Prison.  This was a punishment/rehabilitation experiment.  Troublesome prisoners were kept in solitary confinement and there was no talking allowed.  Ever.  Even the guards communicated with hand signals.  For 23 hours per day the inmates were kept in their cells, keeping busy with work – cobbling, tailoring, making brooms, etc – and for one hour they were allowed outside in a small exercise yard where they must walk briskly around and around the entire time; no stopping or leaning against the walls.  The idea was to prevent criminals from sharing their bad behaviour with others.  It was felt that if they were given work, taught trades, and schooled; allowed only bible reading and wholesome sermons, they could be re-trained to be good citizens.  What it turned out to be was a case of sensory deprivation that often drove inmates to madness.                                                   The exercise ‘yard’.

Even during church services the prisoners were prevented from seeing each other by locked partitions.  Of course, being resourceful, desperate men signals and low voiced messages were passed along during the loud boisterous singing of the hymns.

Once we had done all the wandering around we wanted we walked over to the pier and boarded a tender back to the ship. After dinner as the ship was making its way along the Tasmanian coast the Captain ordered slow cruising past the amazing basalt cliffs.  The Giant’s Causeway on the northeasten coast of Northern Ireland has ‘stepping stone’ columns like these, but not nearly as many, nor as tall.

Port Arthur, Tasmania was our last port of call before we arrived in Sydney.  We had a day at sea after leaving Tasmania that was spent getting disembarkation information and packing.  Since we were going to be driving and flying around Australia for almost two months we sorted out all our dressy clothes and put them in the largest suitcases which we stored in Sydney until we got back to the city in mid-April.