Month: May 2009 (Page 2 of 2)

There is a huge market in Melbourne called Queen Victoria Market. It is similar to Pike’s Place market in Seattle, but about 10 times as large. So, we wanted to go to the Market and one of the trams in Melbourne is a free city tram. It makes a circle around the city center and anyone can ride the tram for free. Considering all the walking we had done the previous day Bryan and I decided to take the tram up to the market, the only problem was figuring out which tram was the free one. So, we walked to the closest stop and I asked the first tram driver that stopped. He told me that only specific ones are the free ones, and that they don’t start till later in the morning. He also said some confusing stuff about the trams not stopping at the newer platforms and that the free tram was purple. So, I gave this encrypted message to Bryan and we were more confused than when we had no information. So, Bryan asked the next tram driver for more information. He was told that the tram didn’t start until 10:00 AM and that you could catch it at the station that we were at and that it was a brown color. Considering that it was 9:00 AM we decided to start walking. Also, we had the problem of figuring out what color it really was, brown or purple? (It was actually a maroon color. I posted a picture of the tram below so you can decide what color it is for yourself.) We didn’t want to risk getting on the wrong one because it was a $200 fine if you didn’t pay the fee for the regular tram. The market ended up being closer than we thought and the walk was made even better by a coffee break. Once we got there we browsed the different sections of the market. They had a delicatessen, bakery, meat/fish, fruit and vegetable, and a craft section. We spent the most time in the craft section looking for souvenirs.

After we left the market we went to a building called Melbourne 360. It’s a high rise in the heart of the city that has amazing views. We went to the top and took lots of pictures. The bonus was that we got free entry to come back that same evening and see the city all lit up at night.

In the afternoon we ate some gelato and visited many art museums. My favorite art display was the aboriginal display. We didn’t know the story behind their art until we visited a gallery in Sydney but they use such vibrant colors and different shapes that each piece of art was different and very original even thought they all used the same style.

After dinner we went back to the Melbourne 360 building and saw the amazing city at night. Below I posted some of the awesome pictures that Bryan took of the city.

Bryan and I had an amazing time in Melbourne. We walked, and walked, and walked all around the city. It has become a big joke about how much we walk on vacations, and this vacation was no different. The first morning we walked about 4.5 miles.  We walked through the city, along the Yarra River and to the Royal Botanical Gardens. The gardens were filled with native Australian plants as well as some plants from around the world. The gardens had a lake in the middle which housed many different birds. We saw a momma goose with her babies and they were so cute.

That evening we took the tram outside the city for dinner. Melbourne has a huge tram system that goes to different places within the city. The trick was getting on the right tram and getting off at the right spot to catch the connecting tram. Thankfully we made it to our intended restaurant. I was also glad that we were able to get on the right tram to get back into the city. I had heard of a bar that was on top of a building where you could sit and have a drink and look out over the city; so after dinner we found the bar and had a drink. The place was by far the seediest place I have ever been. After we got there I couldn’t believe that I had actually recommended going there. Needless to say, we only stayed for one drink. However, I do have to say that they did have a nice view of the city at night.

One of the main reasons why we wanted to visit Cairns was to see the Great Barrier Reef. Great doesn’t even begin to describe our day at the reef. We visited one of the outer reefs called Thetford Reef. The trip to the reef was about 20 miles, but it took us one and a half hours to get to the reef because the water was very choppy. Almost everyone in the boat was sick; however, Bryan and I didn’t get sick and we were able to enjoy the trip out to the reef.

Once we got into the water we were amazed. The variety of coral and fish were abundant. The first site we visited was absolutely amazing, but after lunch we visited a second site and somehow it was even better. I saw giant clams, puffer fish, many different starfish, clownfish, many different varieties of fish I can’t name, and so many different types of coral. I had one of those under water disposable cameras to take pictures with but the pictures didn’t turn out that well and they definitely didn’t do justice to what we saw. However, I posted some of the pictures below to give you a glimpse of what we saw.

On our third day in Cairns we drove around in the Atherton Tablelands. It is an area of farmland and rainforest just east of Cairns. After we had breakfast in a little cafe in Mareeba we drove through Atherton and to Mt. Hypipamee National park. It was there that we saw signs to be on the lookout for the infamous cassowary birds. A cassowary is a very large bird (third largest on the planet). Bryan was dying to see one in its natural habitat; I however, was terrified to come across one. If they are disturbed they will kick you and their kick can easily break bones or even be fatal. We never ended up seeing one on the trail, or even driving through the rainforest in the car. A friend told us that they are very rare and they are hardly ever seen. Thank goodness!!! At Mt. Hypipamee we saw a large crater that had been formed by a volcano and we also saw beautiful Dinner Falls.

After we left the park we stopped at the Millaa Millaa lookout. It was a high point overlooking the beautiful tablelands. Bryan took a bunch of pictures and stitched them together to make one long panoramic picture of the view we enjoyed. The view was absolutely incredible.

Next we drove around the waterfall circuit where we saw Millaa Millaa Falls, Zillie Falls, and Ellinjaa falls. Around the circuit we saw many bush turkeys.

Then we drove to Yungaburra where we ate lunch and saw the famous curtain fig tree. At the fig tree we learned how a seed is deposited in the host tree’s crown. Once the seed germinates it starts to grow roots to the ground and roots that encircle the host tree. The roots eventually strangle the host tree and cause it to die. In the case of the fig tree we saw the host tree actually fell over onto another tree and the fig tree then grew vertical roots down to the ground forming a curtain like affect with the roots. It was such an amazing site to see. Also in Yungaburra we walked along the Peterson Creek walking circuit. At the beginning of the path we walked along a very shaky bridge. On one side of the bridge there was even a sign saying that no more than 10 people should be on the bridge at one time because it wouldn’t hold the weight. On the other side of the bridge Bryan found a huge spider. Then we walked down the path and saw many lizards, butterflies, dragonflies, and birds. At the end of the path there was a platypus viewing platform; however, there were no platypuses to be found there. On the way back along the trail I spotted a baby platypus playing in the water. I called Bryan over to see it and within 30 seconds the platypus spotted us and swam away. Apparently it is very rare to spot a platypus in the wild because we talked to people who had lived in Australia their whole live and have never seen one in the wild. So, we felt very lucky to have seen one. Unfortunately, we only saw it for a short time so we weren’t able to capture a picture of it.

In the late afternoon we went to Lake Barrine and walked along a rainforest trail. We really enjoyed seeing all the flora and fauna that was native to the area. The trees in that area were so unique and grew in strange ways. By chance Bryan spotted a lizard hiding in a log. I couldn’t believe the way it just sat there and let us come close to take pictures. After we finished the trail we were exhaustd and went back to Palm Cove.

Our trip began on the afternoon of Friday May 1st. We flew on a three hour flight from Seattle to Los Angles. Then on a 14 hour flight from Los Angles to Brisbane (pronounced Bris-bin).  When we landed in Australia it was actually 6:00 AM on Sunday May 3rd. Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of our flying for the day, we still had a two and a half hour flight from Brisbane to Cairns (pronounced Cans). Our flight from Brisbane to Cairns was beautiful. We flew along the coast and Bryan was able to get some great shots of the Great Barrier Reef. 

When we landed in Cairns our first travel obstacle began; driving. Australians drive on the right side of the car and on the left side of the road. Fortunately, Bryan picked it up rather quickly but we had some unnerving times when we both saw the oncoming traffic and panicked that we were on the wrong side because it was so unnatural to us. It was funny to observe him driving because everything was totally different. The windshield wipers and turn signals were on the opposite sides as well so every time we went to turn Bryan would accidently turn on the windshield wipers first then the turn signal. Bryan did very well driving considering he had been up for 32 hours. He only drove on the wrong side once; fortunately, it was in a residential area and he caught himself rather quickly.

We stayed outside of Cairns in one of the northern beaches called Palm Cove. We really enjoyed Palm Cove because it was a quiet beach town and not as touristy as most of the larger reef towns. Our hotel was on the beach and we enjoyed walking down the beach to dinner.