Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 8: Sydney (day 4)

I found out in 2011 that Zenbu had closed a few years before. And in 2002, they didn't have Skype or any of the VOIP internet phones, so we had to use calling cards. The view of the Sydney skyline from Taronga Zoo is one of my favorite images of my whole trip. The rest of the pictures from today are here.

Sunday, September 29: Sydney
Koalas, Sharks, and a Zenbu (oh my!)

Happy Birthday, Mom. Although when I wake up at 9 a.m., it’s still 6 pm on the 28th, so I have to wait til tomorrow my time to wish it to her in person. She doesn’t know that I’ve arranged with Dad to call her at home at 10 pm on the 29th (Houston time, which is 1 pm on the 30th in Sydney). In preparation, I bought a phone card that gives me international calls for just 50 cents a call plus 4.9 cents a minute. Thanks to the “backpacker” culture that exists in Australia (and all over Europe too), there’s a large infrastructure here that caters to the extreme-budget traveler, in the form of hostels ($10 per night, as long as you don’t mind sharing a dorm-style room in bunkbeds with several other people – though that’s a good way to meet people), special tours, discounted meals, internet cafes, and phone cards. For $10, I get a card that gives me about 3 hours of talk time to use over the next 48 hours or so.

Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 7: Sydney (day 3)

There's a point in here where I mention my then-new digital camera and how I had to empty the flash card daily to make room for the next day's photos - it only held 190 pictures, and at the size I was taking, that means it was a 64MB card. With my current camera, I'd get maybe 30 pictures. I still copy all my day's photos onto my computer today, but that's for fear if I lose the camera I don't want to lose everything (and I did lose my camera in 2009 in Hong Kong, but that's another story).

Photos from today can be found here.

Saturday, September 28: Sydney
On the Waterfront

Saturday is the day to sleep in, at least in my house. So I slept all the way til 9 a.m., which is like 3 hours before I usually get up at home. But there were places to go, things to see, boats to catch…

Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 6: Sydney (days 1-2)

Day 1 in Sydney was lost due to the late flight from Yulara, but I got to walk around at night. On Day 2, I wanted to do the Bridge Climb as soon as possible, but in retrospect I should have done the hop on/hop off bus tour that was included with my Sydneypass early instead of waiting til the last day (when I realized that I hadn't done it yet). In Cairns, I was on the boat pretty much the whole time, and in the Outback I had put together a series of small tours, but Sydney offered me the opportunity to do what I wanted, when I wanted to, and as a result I ended up making some real-time adjustments to my pre-planned itinerary.

Photos accompanying these two days can be found here.

Thursday, September 26: Sydney
From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans

Finally made it to Sydney for the second time this trip, but this time for more than an airport transfer. I picked up my Sydneypass, which allows unlimited use of the public transport system (ferry, bus, train) and the special Bondi and Sydney Explorer tour buses, plus a round-trip on the Airport Express. I got a 7-day pass, as they offered only 3, 4, and 7 days (I figured I’d be there parts of six days so I’d get a 7-day pass). But because we got in later than scheduled, and because the bus had to make its way through rush-hour traffic, I didn’t get to the hotel until around 6:30 pm. So much for my day in Sydney.

Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 5: Yulara

After three nights in Alice Springs, my tour package took me to Yulara for two more nights. The first day we toured The Olgas, the second day was Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Sounds of Silence dinner. Unfortunately, the flight left at midday on the third day, early enough that I couldn't do anything in Yulara and late enough that I lost the daylight in Sydney.

Tuesday, September 24: Alice Springs to Yulara
From the mountains to the prairies

Tuesday starts early as the bus picks us up for the long ride to the town of Yulara, where the Ayers Rock Resort is. In fact, Yulara is the Ayers Rock Resort, as there’s nothing else to the town except for the resort (it’s got its own post office, bank, and supermarket). It’s about 350 km (220 miles) from Alice Springs to Yulara, so we’re in a nice coach (bus). It’s still early, though.

Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 4: Alice Springs

From Cairns (CNS), I flew to Alice Springs (ASP) in the Outback for three nights.

Saturday, September 21, 2002: Cairns to Alice Springs
From the Tropics to the Desert

Flight 1949 is officially a QantasLink flight, a BAe146 Avro RJ plane. I lucked out and got seated in row 3, just behind first class, which meant that I had extra foot room, and there was nobody in the middle seat.  Flying out over the Outback reminded me a lot of the US desert Southwest, with the mountains and colors and few signs of civilization.

Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 3: Great Barrier Reef

Spent my next few days on a liveaboard dive boat, the Nimrod Explorer run by Explorer Ventures (who no longer operate out of Cairns). This was a 4-night, 5-day trip from Cairns up to Cooktown, with a flight back to Cairns at the end. Tuesday night we left Cairns and voyaged overnight to our first dive spot for Wednesday morning. Then we did several dives per day: 4 on Wed., 5 on Thurs., and 4 on Friday, flying back to Cairns (CNS) from Cooktown (CTN). I did 11 dives over the 3 days, skipping the last 2 on Friday due to my early flight time from Cairns to Alice Springs the next day. Here's a map showing locations of Cairns, the Reef, Cooktown, and Lizard Island.

Previously: Part 2, Cairns

Wednesday Sept. 18 to Saturday Sept. 21, 2002: The Great Barrier Reef
Diving the Reef

The crew of the Nimrod consisted of Ian, the captain; Klaus, the mechanic/first mate; John and Shiori, dive instructors; Molly, the hostess; and Jen, the chef. Jen was formerly a professional chef so we were treated to some outstanding meals during our time aboard ship. A typical day started with wakeup at 6:30 a.m., breakfast at 7:00, dive #1 at 8:00, dive #2 at 11:00, lunch at 12:30, dive #3 at 2:00, dive #4 at 4:30, then dinner.

Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 2: Cairns

Flying from Honolulu to Sydney (HNL - SYD), then catching a connection to Cairns (CNS). I had the rest of that day free, and then the rainforest tour the next morning before meeting my shipmates for my dive trip on the night of the second day in Cairns. At the time, the exchange rate was considerably in my favor, the Australian dollar was worth only about 55 cents USD. Here's a map showing the relative locations of Cairns, Kuranda, the Tjapukai Center, and my dives over the next few days.

Previously: part 1, Houston to Honolulu

Monday, September 16: Honolulu to Sydney to Cairns
Planes, planes, and automobiles

Breakfast was at 5:30 – an omelette, a sausage, yogurt, and fruit. The movies (which I slept through) were “Changing Lanes”, “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”, and “Life or Something Like It.” I had an emergency exit aisle seat on this 747-200 (an old one, one of only 3 in the Qantas fleet), which was nice for the legroom (but since it was over the wing, there was no view out the window. When I checked in at Honolulu, I thought of asking for a tall blonde Australian woman to sit next to me. Astonishingly, even though I didn’t ask for that, I got it anyway. I should have asked for a single woman, though. This six-foot blonde Aussie was a PhD professor at the University of New South Wales in the Environmental Management program. We didn’t get to talk all that much due to the overnight sleeping, but I did get some suggestions on things to do in Sydney.