Australia – Same Same but Different

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

When we landed in Brisbane we picked up a rental car to spend 2 weeks working our way from Brisbane to Sydney – road trip style.  The freedom to stop at any roadside discovery and the perk of only hauling our packs to and from the car all sounded pretty inviting!  This is only the 3rd time we’ve rented a car, the last time was Namibia back in February, so this was definitely an everyday thing that we were seeing with new eyes.

Passing time on the open road it was fun to check out the local radio stations.  Australia’s radio proved to be quite entertaining.  The DJs are funny and the music was  from the 70’s, 80’s and a splash from the modern era.  Apparently they missed out on the decades in the middle, or maybe they are just around the corner.  We kept thinking we landed on a niche radio station with the classics, but nope, all of them seemed to sport that same mix.  This sense of time travel lent itself well to the Drive In movie theater we found outside of Brisbane.  It was a kick with a very Americana 1950’s style diner, the old steel speakers that hang in your window and you can play the audio by tuning your car radio.  We wished we had a pickup truck and sleeping bags, but sitting in the car with the windows fogging, munching on candy through a double feature late into the night was a blast.

Shia was passionate to do another wildlife caregiver experience and we found a zookeeper for the day program at Australia Zoo.  Heidi is a huge fan of Steve Irwin, to the point that at some point in college she made a croc costume and convinced Chad to dress up as Crocodile hunter.  It was easy to convince him to wear the normal clothes while Heidi played the fool.  (On top of that everyone mistook Heidi for a T-Rex).  At Australia Zoo, we learned a bit more about the bloke who called it home.  It is where Steve grew up, his parents opened it and it remains a family owned zoo.  When he took it over he grew it from a reptile center to the world class zoo it is today.  Steve Irwin might be Heidi’s favorite conservationist.  The passion, excitement, and education that he brought to the masses was unbelievable.  There are plenty of brilliant animal lovers who preach to the choir of other animal lovers.  But Steve Irwin broke the mold with his crazy antics and unbridled passion to reach millions more.  Now, the Irwin family continues to run the zoo, with Bindi stepping into the spotlight.  And this is a zoo exactly how we think it should be done.  It is brilliant.  The animals have great enclosures and local wildlife is celebrated and they inspire local conservation.  The focus on Steve’s belief that folks want to protect what they love, so the zoo allows interactions that will inspire love and education.  Shia did the zookeeper experience solo because Liam got sick that day.  She loved it as she fed a Bearcat, met a white Rhino, and checked out the wildlife hospital where rescue and rehabilitation occurs.  A few days later when Liam was better we all went back to see the exhibits.  It was the end of school holidays so the Irwin family was pulling out all the stops.  We got to see the whole family during the wildlife show with Terri, Robert and Bindi all doing the croc feeding and Bindi opened with a song and dance show.  The interactions that we loved was the free roaming kangaroos that we could pet and feed and the kids did a Koala cuddle visit.  Roos have fur that is soft like a puppy’s fur, and the Koalas felt more like a sheep, and when they cuddle they hold on with their substantial claws.  The show ended with this Crocodile hunter tribute that I wanted to share (link below).  It is a great reminder of his passion.  What a loss, he passed at 44 years old, a bit close to our ages for comfort and his son Robert was born the same year as Shia.  Rest in Peace.

Continuing south we drove up to an even chillier altitude at Lamington National Park.  It was a new experience to bundle up to enjoy a rainforest, but that’s what we did.  We splurged a bit on staying at the O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat.  It had an beautiful mountaintop location and deep roots, with the family who owns it celebrating their 90th year in business.  They came to this spot to farm (didn’t go well) and then lucky for them Australia created the first National Park around their land.  One of the brothers became the first Australian Park Ranger and in time their homestead became a hospitality hub for all the park visitors.  Needless to say, they are “grandfathered in”.  We’ve spent a healthy amount of time in rainforests around the world and knowing this was the last one for this adventure was bitter for Heidi.  She could write a whole blog about the thoughts and emotions running through her mind.  But it was a beautiful array of waterfalls, birdsong, plant textures, and dappled light.  The kids traipsed ahead of us the whole way and we realized that they have had a parallel trip that we haven’t been privy to. They have had so much time in hotels, on buses, boats, trains, without us, just being kids. On this hike they made a raft to set loose down the river, raced each other, clambered on the massive tree roots and swung from vines.  I hope they remember this friendship and have inside jokes to span a lifetime from our adventure.

O’Reilly’s also offered our favorite thing in a rainforest, a great naturalist guide.  We booked the night glowworm tour.  Allow me to stray but, the rainforest is confusing because while it houses such amazing diversity of life, it is so hard to see much of anything!  Having a great guide to share the backstory and fascinating adaptations of any of the inhabitants is a treasure.  Our guide Cat did just that.  We walked in the dark to visit a wall of glowworms and learn all about them.  Fun fact: they glow in the larval stage to capture food and after  a very long 9 to 12 months of this they molt into a fungus gnat and then they only live 2 or 3 days more.  They have to hurry up, find a partner and lay eggs for the next generation in that short time.  We also learned about the perks of living up higher since they pack any leftovers and waste into slime balls and drop them down below.

Next stop Byron Bay – heavily touristed in summer by beachgoers and in winter by whales.  Since it is winter, we came for the whales.  Since we failed to spot a whale on our nearly guaranteed whale watch boat in Sri Lanka we decided we needed a new set of luck.  So, we signed up for dolphin kayaking, where they sometimes encounter whales.  We were picked up and greeted with “Well, you picked the coldest day of the year.”.  As we geared up our joyful guides were trying to keep our chilled spirits high by having us shout “It’s warm!” and telling us that good things come to those who put themselves out there in less than desirable circumstances.  He also referred to the exciting swell that we can enjoy, which we later learned meant that getting those kayaks out past the surf breaks was likely to dump most of us in the sea.  As soon as we got out we saw surfers on a break to the right and Liam and his guide spotted a whale to the left.   Typically humpbacks are the visitors during their migration but we found a Southern Right Whale.  It was fun to see the sheer joy of our guides as they had never seen this type of whale in the Bay before.  And it stayed close the whole time.  We kept our respectful distance of 100 meters, but they chose to come in closer at times putting them only 30 meters away.  It was amazing to see a 15 meter whale so close.  Of course, the imagination had to fill in the gaps of what lied beneath the water, but we came back and looked up pictures to help complete the image in our minds.  Dolphins came nearby too and the kids got a good look as they were each paired with one of the guides.  Surfing the kayaks back in and feeling that wave pick us up and propel us was a kick too!  What a feeling.  It was a magical day and worth all the shivering afterwards.

We kept working our way south a little each day on our way to Sydney.  Next stop was a bucket list item for Chad and Heidi, in ’02 we discovered pub rooms from the early days when the only rooms to rent were upstairs at the local pub. We found a cool one along the Clarence River which has stayed so true to its 19th century roots that it has been used a few times as a set for shows set in the early 1900’s. It was Friday night and we got pub seats early and watched the pub fill to standing room only as the weekly cash prize raffle kicked off.  We didn’t find any new friendships but overhearing the humorous Aussie chatter all around was fun. In the Bill Bryson book too we read about a Prime Minister who stayed in these pub rooms when traveling, and just like us, he used the shared bath at the end of the hall to get ready in the morning along with all the other guests. Love this country.

Next was a find on Air BnB.  The price was refreshingly inexpensive after our splurges and it boasted great fishing and lots of nearby nature.  One the flip-side, it only had an outdoor kitchen and was called Tuff Buggers, we hoped we were tough.  It turned out it was in a riverside trailer park and the trailers were circa 1970’s trailers to which they added a room and a porch for extra space.  It was a funky space and was loaded with games, bikes, skateboard, canoe etc.  We played some ring toss and cards, watched The Adventures of Walter Mitty and Liam was thrilled with the skateboard.  And then it was time for the final push to Sydney… to be continued.  Cannot believe this crazy wild adventure is winding down to a close.

It wouldn’t be a trip to Oz without a Vegemite taste test.  They eat this spread on toast for breakfast.  We recall seeing Aussie travelers in Argentina who had a jar of this they busted out at breakfast.  God forbid they live without this delicacy.