Australia Journals

Sydney

Hunter Wine Valley

Cairns: Our Hub for the Great
Barrier Reef

Cape Tribulation in the Daintree
Rainforest

Sailing the Whitsundays

Cloudy Days on the Sunshine
Coast

Brisbane

Adelaide

Exploring the Wine Regions of
South Australia

The Great Ocean Road

Happy Christmas to Me

Melbourne
-----------------------------------
Photo Albums
Sydney

Cairns, Daintree Rainforest and
Port Douglas

Whitsunday Islands - Captions yet to
be added

Sunshine Coast (Noosa and
Brisbane) - Captions yet to be added

Adelaide (and Barossa Valley,
McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills) -
Captions yet to be added

The Great Ocean Road and
Melbourne - Captions yet to be added
Links relating to
my trip
Accommodations:

Pensione Sydney - The
hotel we stayed at in Sydney.
Very reasonable and good
location.

YHA - The youth hostel
company that I stayed at in
some of the cities I visited.

Parrotfish Lodge - This is
where I stayed in Port Douglas.


Other Sites:

Bridge Climb - This is the
company that is used for
climbing the Harbour Bridge
in Sydney.

Southern Cross Sailing -
The company I used for my
Whitsundays trip.

Prime Mini Tours - I would
recommend this company to
anybody who wants to do wine
tours out of Adelaide! Both
tours were incredible!

Wayward Bus - The company I
used for my Great Ocean Road
trip.

Greyhound - The best way to
get around different parts of
the country.

Ravesi's in Bondi

Lilli Cafe in Darlinghurst

Bill's in Darlinghurst

The Pier in Cairns

M Yogo in Cairns

Perrotta's in Cairns

Haigh's Chocolate
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My Australian Experience...

Highs: Doing a night Bridge Climb in Sydney; hanging out with Ari and Monique; Whitsundays trip;
Noosa; wine tasting trips out of Adelaide; the Great Ocean Road; sparkling red wine.

Lows: The extremely high prices of everything in Sydney; being completely hungover on the last day
that Monique, Ari and I got to spend together; having beetles falling into my hair and clinging onto my
clothes in the rainforest; no platypus sightings.

Best Moments:  My trip around the Whitsunday Islands; getting to hang out with friends in Sydney;
wine tasting outside of Adelaide in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale/Adelaide Hills.

Craziest Moment: Monique getting kicked out of two different bars one night (sorry Monique - but it
was one of the funnier experiences along the way!!!); seeing a scene of cops and television reporters in
Adelaide next-door to my hostel as they were attempting to evict a 'madam' whose brothel was there -
her husband was trying to get them away by throwing a fire extinguisher out of the window at them (thus
breaking the window).

Smells: Wines; salt water; fish 'n chips; grilled meats and fishes; chocolate at the Haigh's chocolate
factory; pizza on Christmas night.

Sounds: Rainstorms in Cairns; the indescribable sounds in the rainforest of different birds and insects;
rainbow lorakeets; fishies eating underneath the water; wind flapping against the sails of a boat.

Sights: Darling Harbour; Hunter Valley; Sydney Harbour; Harbour Bridge; Oxford Street; Great
Barrier Reef; Darlinghurst (in Sydney); Bondi Beach; Manly Beach; Cairns; dolphins; turtles; Noosa
National Park; a Christmas window of a department store with an Australian nativity scene (with
kangaroos, koalas, etc.); Barossa Valley; McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills wineries; Penfolds Magill
Estate; the Great Ocean Road.

Activities: Bridge Climb ($189 AD); diving in the Great Barrier Reef - 2 guided dives ($190 AD); Cape
Tribulation/Daintree Rainforest trip ($129 AD); wine tasting in the Hunter Valley ($130 AD);
Whitsundays Island trip ($500 AD); wine tasting in the Barossa Valley ($75 AD); wine tasting in the
McClaren Valley ($99 AD); Great Ocean Road ($350 AD).

Tastes: Wines, cheeses and chocolate in the Hunter Valley; Indian food on Oxford Street; octopus;
brushetta with prosciutto, gorgonzola, poached pears and hazelnuts; bruschetta with roasted pumpkin,
gorgonzola, pomegranate syrup and sliced almonds; barramundi with sweet potato mash; saltwater (while
snorkeling); sweetlips; Haigh's chocolate; sushi; fresh yogurt with a variety of toppings.

Street Food: Kebabs; fruit.

Fun Food Finds: Dark chocolate mint Twix; honeycomb Kit Kat; cookie dough Kit Kat; banana Milky
Way; McOz burgers at McDonald's; Cadbury's 'Crunchie' ice cream.

Western Companies Out Here: McDonald's; Starbuck's; Gloria Jean's; 7-Eleven; Target; K-Mart.


Other General Info...


Visa needed? Yes. I obtained this online.

Type of currency? Australian Dollar. About 1 Australian dollar equals $0.80 US.

Wallet Friendly? No. Not at all. Australia is a pretty pricey place to dine out or even go to a cafe. A
breakfast is close to $15 AD.

Things Australia Is Known For: Kangaroos; koalas; Great Barrier Reef; kind people; amazing
scenery; the 'Red Center' (Uluru aka 'Ayers Rock'); boomerangs; Steve Irwin - aka the Crocodile Hunter;
cricket; Tim Tams; vegemite; Steve Irwin (aka 'The Crocodile Hunter').

Religion: Christian (this is probably the majority though everything goes out here).

Costs: So far $3000 - eek!
Australia...
December 2 - 29, 2006
Sailing around the Whitsundays.
View from inside the Opera House.
A little koala.