Boog's Blog

Harbor cruise day. A classic. We got a perfect day. Calm sea and good visibility. Friday some of the cruises and ferries canceled due to rough seas.

Obligatory visit to the rocks, part of the harbor and a main tourist area. Had a Sunday market. Decent.

As a small adventure we took a local bus ride to the very large,their largest park. Quest to see parrots.

Early sighting of a sulfur created parrot. Not sure if it was a lesser. Many Rosellas feeding in the trees. Spoke to information at park to inquire as to the best parrot birding areas.

A snack at the cafe. Again, lots of food and table scraps but no birds foraging. None. Impossible to understand.

Much success! Flock of bare eyed toos in the trees and on the ground. Flock, well several, sulfur crested in the palm ferns, many tweeting Rosellas or lorties,Aussie quail, and a fine collection of tree bats.

Walked back from the park and to dinner near the Rocks at a good Thai restaurant, sailor Thai.

Rain day! At times very heavy.

Bit of a rest day. Wander the city in the rain, duck in and out of shops.

Sikh festival celebrating the birthday of their founder.

Some fine afternoon tea and scones.
Interesting plunger tea setup. Disposable plunger.

Good and different bird captured in Hyde park.

Dinner. At Din Tai Fung again

Morning adventure. Another guided cultural walk at or in Mossman gorge.

http://www.mossmangorge.com.au

Similar walk to the others, OK comparison to other guides. Got a
Good lesson in the four types of playing the didgeridoo.

One style has continuing playing using the cheeks as an air bag and the nose for air. Says he could go on forever.

Anyone know if a trumpet player can do the same.

Adventures in airport security by Sharon.
Security guy: "you have a scissors in your pack."
SD: "nose scissors."
Security: "may I look in your pack ma'am"
SD: (thinking get a warrant pal) "go ahead"
Rummaging through toiletries bag for some time. Finally locates miniscule blunt tip scissors.
Security: " madam you told me you had no scissors in your pack yet here they are."
SD: (loudly and pointing to structure under glasses) "not no scissors. I said nose scissors. N. O. S. E. scissors."
Security: "oh. Well that should be okay madam."

Dinner. Din tai Fung. We are three times at this Taiwanese chain when we were in Shanghai. Made this our first stop in Sydney. There is one in Los Angeles and many other large cities. 30 minute wait at 20:45.

Two guided walks, local culture.

Aboriginal culture walk.

Walk in the mud flats to spear fish for crabs and fish. Got several varieties, the guide got most as well as a John Dory from a few meters away. QB thanked the crab she speared. Photo evidence to be presented.

Then through the red and gray mangrove forest to get the abundant shell fish.

A good chance for cultural information gathering as well as lessons on medicinal as well as practical use of the local plants. There were only us two on the walk.

Crabs, fish, shellfish in hand of to get them cooked in a broth of butter, home made coconut oil, garlic and local chillies fermented in a brown vinegar not seen before.

Fresh, flavorful and delicious.

A short nap later, heat and humidity is draining, we are on a guided bush walk for a couple of hours. Finished in the dark with flashlights. Bit awkward as one hand is lost foot gripping over the steeper bits. Good explanations of the first Eco system. Different of course from the temperate forest. Mounds and epiphytes abound.

In especial abundance are the bugs. Lots of mosquitoes and sandflies. We provided a real feast. QB ran almost screaming into the shower.

Great barrier reef day.

Noticed at breakfast that the birds tweeting and chirping in the forest did not come to share our full buffet fare. Too much good stuff without bothering to get handouts? On boat out to the reef no following gulls. Maybe the same reason. Very strange.

Vessel to the reef platform. Put on Lycra suits to protect from sun and theoretical stingers in the ocean. Flippers masks snorkel gear and plop into the coral. Lots of Gogh to see, mostly near the entry point from the platform which is anchored here. We then hoped on a submersible.

Views from the glass windows excellent. Lots of life. 1500 species live on these reefs. Everyone pays a small Eco tax. Fish ignore the people and the boat. Could easily have touched the fish when snorkeling.

Water temp 28 degrees.

Back on land to do the first of the forest walks, short one, but lots of diversity. Very different than the temperate first. A noisy bird mocked me most of the way. River waterfall boulders mud and yes bugs. Had it all.

Reef and forest well represented on flickr.

Morning flight to Cairns. Taxi rip off to start. Added 10% fit using a credit card. Then virgin air soaked us for luggage, apparently we had carry on only fare.

Rented a car and headed up along the world heritage highway, cooks highway, windy road with coastal views. Water a very different color here. Gone are the turquoise bays replaced by silvery or colorless water.

Lunch in port Douglas. Looks like key West of a generation ago. Waiter explained I could legally drink two beers and continue at one per hour. I had trap water.

Foot in water edge. Three Swedish women were careful to point out the no swimming sign, crocodiles.

Bookstore cafe for a break. Asked if bookstores could and do thrive here. Yes. Less so in the big cities but still OK there also.

Hot and humid, like Vietnam, it is the start of their season. Southerners come up North.

Hotel is in the train forest. Spectacular setting. View from room is onto daintree river with maybe 10 meters of forest in between. River view room.

http://www.silkyoakslodge.com.au

Ellen talked us into coming to see and stay in the forest. So fat looks like an outstanding suggestion.

Tasmanian oysters, three different and fine preparations. Shooters, raw with citrus foam, encrusted and baked. Main of nannygai and grilled prawns.

http://www.fishsa.com/nannygai.php

Last night here. Then off to the rain forest.

Today is penguin day. Philip island, south east of the city. Has a rookery, maybe the only accessible one after the bust on Bichino.

http://www.penguins.org.au

Will not be a good penguin photo day, not allowed. Other wildlife permitted.

Philip Island population 5000 grows to 50000 in season. Churchill island working farm. Sheep herding, Scottish long haired cattle, heritage turkeys being herded by a sheep dog. Gr@yL1n3

Then to the koala conservation center. All of Philip island is an eco center. In the trees and far more active than expected. They sleep 20 hours a day. One galah spotted. kangaroos, swamp wallabies

The island rookery I'd home to about 40000 of the little penguins.

No photos so… We are sitting in a grandstand viewing area, small bay with steep sides on one side. Moderate surf. Rangers are on the beach which is approximately fifty feet wide. Hundreds of people sitting and waiting for the little beasties to waddle ashore. Nippy weather, fortunately we have our quilted jackets. QB put a poncho on top for added protection.

They come up each night between the grandstand.

Outstanding!!! Hundreds waddling and pairing and waiting for another. Surprisingly noisy. Great big ball of string.

BSLDU wandering the coffee culture

Warm and partly sunny,occasional light sprinkles

Newspapers, large format print variety, remember them? Still common and still awkward to read. These are larger than the NYT format ones which had their own art to read on the new York subways. These are not set up with right easy to read columns. Articles sprawl across the full width.

High tea. Tried yesterday at the Tan but fully booked until next week. Looked like a good tea service. Hotel, at prices that make Fortnum's appear as a discount place, also sold out.

Sunday a good shopping day. Merino wool and ultra lite stuff for future travels.

Cold brewed coffee was a bust. Expected it to be but wanted to experiment. The fresh roasted stuff would likely have been good.

Overcast and threatening to rain.

Off to the Royal botanical gardens.

http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Botanic_Gardens,_Melbourne

Queenstown has a lot of roses, not so here. Excellent trees and walking paths.

Over to the MCG, Melbourne cricket grounds. Afl game today but able to talk my way in to see the stadium and take a few shots. Actually gave me a guide.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Cricket_Club

Raman Ya for dinner. Tonkatsu with shop made noodles, add Kim chi and beer, then float away.

Fun walking around Melbourne on the evening. Lots of activity, interesting mix of evening cloths and California casual. Bright lights and food everywhere. Heavy on the Asian and traditional Australian meat and fish places. Few European choices other than pasta shops. At least in the CBD.