Exploration

December 19, 2001-Insider Info
(photo:Dingo)

I must mention something about travel here. I’m a somewhat reluctant adventurer. I’m usually pleased as punch after we’ve gone off on a jaunt, but I can get a bit put off along the way. An example of this was our arrival at the Kingfisher Resort on Fraser Island. The weather was cold & rainy. I told David that if it were up to me, I’d go home the next day unless the weather cleared. Fortunately, the weather did clear up & our day of touring was done in sunshine & warmth. There was no way David would have cancelled for anything short of a cyclone. I know that if it was nasty, I would have tagged along, been miserable, & then, somehow remembered it as not being so bad after all. What I’m saying is that when you travel you should always have an optimist along.

Another piece of information you may or may not want to know is about how these emails get written. I carry a piece of paper & pen with me wherever I go & take teeny, tiny notes. It may be a word or two to jog my memory. When I have time, I write it up, read it to David, & send it to you all. While on the road, I usually write at the end of the day. It takes me about 1-1 ½ hours to decipher my notes, organize it, & write. I imagine I will have written around 200 by the time we return. Writing it all down helps clarify the experiences in my mind.

Dang Dingo

Getting back to last night, we decided to have a casual dinner at the café. I passed on the banana, prawn, avocado, & artichoke pizza & had a chicken, eggplant, red capsicum, feta, & mozzarella one. David had the bargain of the day. His lamb dinner was $A 8.25. We think it was left over from the Aussie buffet the night before. On the way over to the café, we ran into a family with two small boys. The older one, about 9-years-old, asked if we ‘d seen any dingoes. We said we hadn’t, but I had an idea of how to see one. I suggested we leave him on the road alone & that the rest of us hide in the bushes until a dingo came along. Then we could all jump out & rescue him. His parents thought that was a good idea. Fortunately, the kid had a sense of humor. On a more serious note, earlier in the day we passed what appeared to be an infant in a stroller next to a pathway. The baby appeared to be alone. After we looked around a bit, we saw the mother on the far side of a playground with a toddler. With all the warnings about dingoes, I can’t believe some people are so careless. If a dingo wanted to, it would have that baby & be gone without the mother knowing anything happened.

After dinner, we took a walk on the pier. It was a clear night &, with the help of a young couple, we finally saw the Southern Cross. It ‘s been eluding us since we’ve been here. We’ve either been too early to see it, it hasn’t been visible, or no one was around who could point it out to us. At last, the perfect night sky arrived & a knowledgeable guide was handy.

We headed back to the lodge only to pass the ranger guided night walk heading out. We tagged along, & am I glad we did. Out we went on the pier again, but this time we were with the ranger who had a powerful torch & knew what to look for. The water was clear & we could see stingrays feeding. We found soldier crabs on the beach & a couple of cane toads in the bush. Our last stop was the frog pond where the cacophony was so loud it was hard to hear what the guide said. As she shined the light around, it seemed the littlest frogs were making the biggest noise. But, the piece de resistance was at the main drive to the lodge (not far from that playground). There was a dingo out for a night hunt. We saw it, the ranger put the light on it, it looked at us, & loped away. That was it, our dingo sighting. At least now we can say that we had an authentic Fraser Island experience.

It was still early when we walked into the lobby, so we ordered some Drambuie & Khalua & settled in to watch a video about animal life on the reef & on birds in the area. David said that all nature studies dealt with was food & sex. This was no exception. We have now seen birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. No, that’s a song. Well, you get the drift.

Wending Our Way

We met two couples from California at breakfast this morning. When the younger ones left, the older ones & we established that we were both Jewish. Later that morning, David ran into the younger couple & they noticed his Temple Israel t-shirt. They too were Jewish, & David knew the man’s mother. She was president of the United Jewish Fund.

We left on the first catamaran for the mainland & began our return trip home. We decided to keep with the ultimate tacky tourist theme so stopped at the Ginger Factory. It couldn’t rival the Big Pineapple. There was no huge statue of a ginger root, but there was a 15-minute video we managed to sit through. Guess what? Ginger is planted, harvested, washed, cut, sorted, & packed. I bet you could have figured that out without the video.

I found myself craning my neck to find unusual road signs that depict odd animal crossings. Remember the echidna? I almost made David stop & turn around so I could take a photo of a sign warning of a very rare animal. Luckily I identified it before I asked him to do the maniacal tourist u-turn at which he has become quite proficient. As it turned out, the sign showed the graphic for a speed bump.

We decided to go through Montville again & walk through the shops. It looked like such an appealing place when we drove through it the other way. This time, we took an easier route up into the mountains & were rewarded with endless views of green, rolling hills that could have been in Wisconsin. The difference was that the hills ended at the ocean which was visible from where we were. We ate at the Poet’s Café. It was described as being an art nouveau building in Fodor’s. It had what seemed like endless wrought iron railings around the decks. We ate overlooking a rainforest (what else) with a view of the sea through the canopy. It was stunning!

We made our way home through the town of Burpengary & fought the Brisbane rush hour in time to get to our favorite kebab stand for dinner. Our itinerary for New Zealand was waiting for us at home. It still needs some tweaking, but it’s almost finished. I’ll speak to the travel agent tomorrow & finalize it.

December 20, 2001-Aussie Xmas

Everything is now organized for our trip to New Zealand with Akron friends. I went to see the travel agent today & she asked what we’d be doing for Xmas. I told her of the typical Jewish Xmas day. It involves going to a movie & a Chinese restaurant. She put a wrinkle in our plans. The theaters in Australia are closed for Xmas. I guess it’s video time for us. I’ll have to check on the restaurants.

December 21, 2001-Milestones

There is a major push for safe driving during the holiday season here. They have spot checks all over. Last night, David was stopped for a breathalyzer check. They asked him if he’d been drinking & he said he hadn’t. They had him blow into a tube that went into a meter. He was stone cold sober. He did say it looked like they were changing the tubes each time.

We had lunch in a town near here called Burleigh. We’d heard of a restaurant overlooking the ocean. It was right on the beach & we enjoyed the waves breaking on the rocks below. Surfers were out trying to catch that elusive perfect wave, the wind was blowing up a gale, & the sun was blazing away. Yummy food on a yummy day.

Speaking of surfers, there was a full page in the newspaper devoted to the Surf Rage meeting in Byron Bay. There’s a hot debate between those who say the rules should be written down & those who want it to remain an oral tradition.

I hope the weather holds for tomorrow. That’s our 38th anniversary. We plan to stroll over to the casino for a show & dinner.

Toby