Here is a convenient summary of the latest travel blog posts. However, for better viewing, please go to the menu item Itinerary > [location] > Travel Blog., where location is the City or Location within the itinerary.
- Arrival in Melbourne
After a very long flight, we arrived in Melbourne. The flight was supposed to take nearly 16 hours from Los Angeles to Melbourne, but we had favorable headwinds, and actually arrived quite early — it was more like 14½ hours. We were met, as arranged, by our Tour Director, Matt. He gathered five of us… Read more: Arrival in Melbourne - At the Hotel
On arrival at our hotel — the Pan Pacific Melbourne — I checked in, and immediately went up to my room to take a shower. After a very long flight, that was absolutely necessary! This is what my room looked like: Really quite nice! - Initial Explorations
After my very refreshing shower, I met up with the other four fellow travellers, and we decided to go exploring Melbourne. We were relatively fresh, despite the long flight, because we had managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep on the flight. Matt recommended that we take the City Circle tram to get a… Read more: Initial Explorations - Tour of Melbourne
On this day, our tour guide Matt took us on a bus tour of Melbourne. We drove through parts of the city, seeing lots of interesting features and architecture, and some upper echelon shopping areas. Then we were taken to St. Kilda’s, a beach community that apparently is both popular and high end. In particular,… Read more: Tour of Melbourne - Shrine of Remembrance
The Shrine of Remembrance honors Australian and New Zealand military members who died during WW1, WW2, and other conflicts. It is a very impressive memorial; a moving experience. From the top we found a wonderful 360 degree view of Melbourne. The city is impressive, not least for its varied and innovative architecture. - Lunch at Jardin Tan
Right opposite the Shrine of Remembrance is the Botanical Gardens, and a restaurant called Jardin Tan. We had lunch there, and it was an absolutely incredible meal! Both presentation and taste were exceptional! Here is an approximation of what we ate (different dishes presented in a similar fashion). - The Botanical Gardens
After lunch, we strolled through the Botanical Gardens. Very scenic and interesting. After that, back to the hotel for a rest, and and an included dinner at the hotel. - Flying to Uluru
Very early (wake up call for 4am!) the next morning, we flew from Melbourne to Uluru, via Sydney. We experienced sunrise in the air. I managed to get a good photo over Sydney, as we approached our landing there. Our flight to Uluru from Sydney was delayed by an hour, but aside from that, it… Read more: Flying to Uluru - Arriving at our Hotel
We waited a while for our baggage in the single room that contained everything needed in the airport: car rentals, baggage claim, check-in, etc. Then, we boarded our bus, which took us to our hotel, Sails in the Desert. This is luxury, in an unconventional way. Here’s what my room looks like. Throughout the hotel… Read more: Arriving at our Hotel - Sunset at Uluru
After a bit of a rest, we all went on the bus to a viewing area, where we could see Uluru at sunset. Uluru is certainly impressive, but the sunset didn’t cooperate, and we didn’t get a great show of color. But still it glowed… And on the way back we were treated to a… Read more: Sunset at Uluru - Dinner at the Ilkari Restaurant
That evening, after an orientation from our tour director, Matt, we ate dinner at the Ilkari Restaurant in the Sails in the Desert hotel. We all agreed that this was a superb meal. The highlight was the lamb chops (‘lollipop’ style), but everything else was great, too. Our bus driver has told us that this… Read more: Dinner at the Ilkari Restaurant - Walks in and around Uluru
Breakfast had to be early the following morning (6:30am), because we set out early at 7:20am to go on our two walks, to beat the heat. We are having an unusually hot spell at Uluru, a high of around 104F, so we don’t want to do anything except stay in the air conditioning at that… Read more: Walks in and around Uluru - Uluru at Sunrise
We arose very early (on the bus at 5:45am!) to see sunrise at Uluru. The bus took us to a specific viewing area, where there were lots of other buses, and then followed a trail to a set of viewing areas, with throngs of other people. The sun was starting to rise, and as it… Read more: Uluru at Sunrise - Kata Tjuta
We checked out from our hotel, and the bus took us to Kata Tjuta. Uluru is the largest sandstone monolith in the world. But it has a much lesser known little sister, Kata Tjuta. Perhaps little sister is a misnomer. Uluru is 1,140 feet high, and about 6 miles in circumference. Kata Tjuta is a… Read more: Kata Tjuta - Flying into Cairns
The flight from Uluru to Cairns takes only about 2 hours and 30 minutes or so. Qantas, probably the best airline I’ve ever flown, served us a small lunch, in my case a beef sandwich. When we arrived in Cairns, it was like going from one extreme to the other. Uluru was 104F, and very… Read more: Flying into Cairns - Our Hotel
Our hotel in Cairns is the rather fancifully named “Shangri-La The Marina”. It certainly is a luxurious hotel, and it is located, as you might guess from the name, right by the marina. But, when you arrive at the hotel, it appears more built-up than the above photo suggests. And it took me a surprisingly… Read more: Our Hotel - Daintree Rainforest
After breakfast, we hopped on our bus, and headed north to the Daintree Rainforest, namely Mossman Gorge. We drove up the Captain Cook Highway, past many fields of sugar cane. Apparently, Australia grows a large amount of sugar cane. We drove through the town of Mossman, and arrived at the Mossman Gorge Visitor Centre. There,… Read more: Daintree Rainforest - Lawn Bowling In Mossman
After our Rainforest experience, we drove back through the town of Mossman, to the Mossman Lawn Bowls Club, where we were to experience a typical Australian pastime: Lawn Bowls. I was familiar with the concept of the game (they also play it in the UK), and also the concept of a social club centered around… Read more: Lawn Bowling In Mossman - In Search of Trousers
I had discovered that I had not packed as many pants/trousers as I had thought, so I decided to try to buy some in Cairns. So, soon after we returned from the Daintree Rainforest, I set out for the Cairns Central Shopping Centre. Fortunately, a fellow traveller had rented a cab, and she shared it… Read more: In Search of Trousers - Dinner at Ochre
I needed time to recover from the trousers escapade, but after resting a bit, I decided to venture out for dinner. Originally, I was planning to eat at Dundees (Crocodile Dundee — get it?), but they said I would have to wait an hour for a table (I was alone). So I looked elsewhere, and… Read more: Dinner at Ochre - All Day on the Great Barrier Reef
So, finally, we get to do what most people come to Cairns to do: The Great Barrier Reef. At 8:15am, we were led by Matt to the jetty where we boarded the Reef Magic boat, and set out for the Great Barrier Reef. It was quite a long to get there: 90 minutes, or so,… Read more: All Day on the Great Barrier Reef