Australia – Steps to Anywhere

Wrapping up the Journey

Posted on April 15, 2018 by Ted Thorpe

Our last dinner in Honolulu was at Tony Roma’s and it brought back memories of a birthday dinner in Burlington more than 20 years ago. Some of you may remember. For those who weren’t present here’s the short version. Dinner plans began with four celebrating my birthday and one other. It ended with a group of more than 20 in attendance as a result of contacts made throughout the day with friends who shared Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) as a hobby.

Our flight from Honolulu to Vancouver was delayed more than an hour because of a needed tire change on the Boeing 737 that was transportation. A task that should have taken half an hour, according to the initial announcement, took much longer. They seemed to have difficulty finding a suitable replacement. By the time the replacement wheel had been installed there were three wheels under the airplane, the original and two potential wheels that didn’t fit. After that, the trip was uneventful but we arrived in Vancouver about two hours later than scheduled.

The Culprit Tire

Honolulu Tire Change IMG 3189

After a night of sleep we returned to the airport for our flight to Toronto. There were no delays with this airplane, in fact we arrived in Vancouver 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. It turned out to be irrelevant as did our quick clearance through Canada Border Security thanks to NEXUS. The luggage handlers didn’t get suitcases onto the carousel for nearly 30 minutes. We did get lucky and our bags were among the first group to arrive. Kevin picked us up promptly and we started the drive back to Burlington.

We picked up our car from Kevin’s home, transferred our baggage and collected groceries for our next breakfast, however, we still needed to have dinner. A quick call to friends Chris and Marie found them ready to share a late evening table at Kelsey’s. The trip home continued after an enjoyable meal and once home the suitcases were virtually abandoned until the following morning.

We have no plans for another trip although I am nearly certain there will be another and when plans are made the journal will again become active.

Thanks to all of you who followed our 2018 journey we, Gail and I, hope you found something of interest in the commentary and posted photos. Another thank you for the comments made on many posts. I have now added the nearly 1000 trip photos and videos to the gallery which can be accessed directly at the link Australia 2018. You will also find the Photo Gallery menu item above and link to the photos from there. There is also an Australia 2018 link on the sidebar of this page. Not all of the photos are captioned but that should cause no trouble.

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Good-bye Australia

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Ted Thorpe

We spent a very leisurely final full day in Burleigh Heads. After arranging transportation to the Gold Coast airport for Wednesday April 4, we grabbed a bus to Burleigh Waters, a nearby area. We had a quick lunch, picked up something for dinner then returned. My TRANSLink GO card had a balance of $5.23 and the fare was $2.60 each way. The plan was to end up with a 3 cent balance but they fooled me and counted our return trip as a transfer so I end up with a fine balance of $2.63. We spent some of the afternoon walking in the sand as the tide went out. The waves are quite unpredictable. One moment we were walking on wet sand. The next moment the wave can bring the water knee high then try to drag our feet back seaward.

Wednesday morning found us packing the final bits for the flight back to Sydney then collected the remainder of our groceries to leave with our hosts John and Ubon Thomas. By 10:45 all was ready for John to take us to the Gold Coast airport. John very graciously drove us to the airport where checkin at this pleasant little airport was quick and efficient. After a quick hamburger lunch we awaited our airplane.

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We were to board about 12:30 but were delayed until 1:30 PM because one of the cabin crew had become ill and required paramedic services. Of course a replacement had to be found. Our departure was about 2:00 pm and our flight was uneventful and we landed about 3:30.

There were plenty of taxis at Kingsford Smith airport so there was almost no wait. Unfortunately, the delay resulted in the trip being made during the beginning of rush hour traffic thus raising the cost slightly. After checkin at the hotel we ate at the hotel, not our favourite restaurant but the meal was adequate.

We recovered the large suitcase left in storage at the hotel and began repacking for the next leg of the journey. Packing was completed, more or less, on Thursday morning. The large suitcase now weighs half a kilogram less than the 23 kilogram maximum but will not need to be opened until we arrive home. The three smaller bags were packed for expected activities in Honolulu and, fortunately, we are able to check four bags at no cost on our Qantas flight.

We made another stop at a nearby pharmacy to replenish Gail’s diabetic supplies then zipped down to the opera house and found a t-shirt that interested Gail. After lunch at Circular Quay we returned to the hotel for a while then started our last excursion. The plan was to travel once again to Watson Bay by train and bus then walk another part of the cliffs. We expected to take a ferry back to Cockle Bay for dinner but our plans changed when we discovered that the Government Ferries stopped just after 4 pm and we missed it. There is always an alternative so we found a bus that brought us back to our hotel.

After dinner I checked in with Qantas and printed our boarding passes. Earlier we became somewhat confused about our departure time. One document had our departure time at 10 pm while another indicated 7:15. The boarding passes say 7:15 and that’s good enough for us.

Ready to go!!

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Gold Coast Good-bye

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Ted Thorpe

As I start this post I want to acknowledge the comments I have received both directly to the posts and some by email. Although I may not reply I read and appreciate them all. Anyone can read the comments added to any posting. The remainder of the post includes a few more or less random thoughts and a few summary photos.

Our Apartment Entrance

Apartment rear entrance DSCF4791

Easter weekend has been quite busy here in Burleigh Heads. If you plan to eat at any of the restaurants that have table seating you should make reservations early. They have all been full Friday and Saturday evenings. The swimming areas of the beach have been noticeably busier but there is so much beach it is easy to find unoccupied sand. We preferred the quieter days.

A Light Day At The Beach

Low Tide DSCF4781

Our Saturday afternoon visit to the beach came to a sudden conclusion when Gail’s iPhone took an unplanned salt water bath. We have been taking it into the surf in a waterproof plastic sleeve on a lanyard. Gail began using a continuous glucose monitor just before we started the trip. The sensor transmits by bluetooth to her phone, thus the reason for keeping it close. Well, it was this day that the ziplock style seals on the sleeve decided to fail. When we came back to the beach the phone was quite dead. Perhaps it might have recovered from a fresh water bath but not salt water. Once the post mortem cause of death was confirmed, Gail’s first question, “Is there an Apple Store nearby?” There was!

When, after a 25 minute bus ride to the Robina Town Centre shopping mall, we arrived at the Apple Store there was only 90 minutes until closing time and we were told that an appointment at the Genius Bar was unlikely. We began talking phone upgrade with a sales rep when we were given an immediate appointment and offer of a reduced cost direct replacement. Fearing my explanations might be too clinical, Gail did all the talking to the Apple folks. Her heart rending explanation of why she needed the phone as a medical necessity seemed to work. I was there only to provide needed login credentials for her accounts. Less than 60 minutes later we left the store with a replacement phone. It wasn’t free but a reasonable alternative to a new phone at full cost. My evening was spent restoring the phone from an online backup using the very slooooooow internet service here at the apartment. Before bed time all was working again and the new phone was in its new Life Proof watertight home. Never a dull moment here.

Public Transit Trains

Over the past few days we have used public transit quite a bit. Even though we are in a holiday weekend the longest wait at a transit stop has been less than 15 minutes. Most of the busses have been on a 15 minute schedule and for some destinations accessible on multiple bus routes wait times are only 5 minutes. The trains and trams seem to operate on 30 minute schedules and are within a minute of schedules. There is also an iPhone app that provides minute by minute information about schedules and transit vehicle locations. Colour us totally impressed.

Easter Monday began with rain. A second wave of rain showers moved in as we started walking along the beach but we took cover in one of the many picnic shelters along the beach walk. The beach was busy again as the Easter weekend came to a conclusion and we found our time on the Gold Coast coming to an end. That also means our visit to Australia is also nearly over.

Some ideas just turn out to be a lot better than others. We decided that when we arrived in Australia we would activate one of our cell phones on a local network. We had no specific reason to do so, it just seemed like a good idea. I had investigated Australian mobile offerings briefly before leaving home but the language was as obscure as every contract. We ended up talking to a young fellow in a JB HiFi store and asked for a package that included the ability to telephone to Canada. I was referred to Pay-as-you-go package from Telstra that offered international calling to Canada, USA and numerous countries along with unlimited texting and 50 Gb of data service for the magnificent price of $30, plus the $2 for the SIM card.

It is now four days before we depart Australia and there is still lots of data service available and the phone has been invaluable. The unlimited texting was worthless. I never did figure out how to text home but with Facebook Messenger available it was irrelevant. Although not strictly speaking essential, we have called friends and family back home with no need to consider the cost. We have called Canada for technical support with Gail’s continuous monitor, called Hawaii to arrange airport transportation, friends in Brisbane to organize our visit, the Apple store at Robina and numerous other calls. Years ago, before we had mobile phones or the internet how did we arrange things. I suppose many of these tasks were once accomplished by travel agents who could be reached by traditional telephone services. We still value the services of a travel agent who is now accessible by telephone and email. Some of the posts to this journal have been created and uploaded using the data services offered by this Telstra data service. The Telstra service expires in five days, we leave Australia in four days. I love it when a plan comes together.

Pretty Birds

In earlier posts I have mentioned the Rainbow Lorikeets in the area. They are as noisy as they are pretty. Apparently they travel 30 kilometres or so morning and evening between feeding or nesting areas and nightly roosting areas. Burleigh Heads is clearly a roosting area. I am unsure how many birds use the Norfolk Pine grove near the beach but they are typically 10,000 birds and may be up to 50,000. The noise of their screeching is very loud indeed and, for those more technically inclined, I have measured the racket at 90 decibels 10 metres below their roost. Every evening we can see them pass our balcony in groups of up to several hundred.

Noisy Birds

Rainbow Lorikeet Murmuration

As great as this area and beach has been it is apparently not the best beach on the east coast. Although it seems unlikely we shall return here we know there would be more to see if we did. Bye-bye Gold Coast.

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New Friends and Brisbane

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Ted Thorpe

Thursday, March 29, began with the arrival of a couple of welcome but uninvited guests. A pair of Rainbow Lorikeets landed on our balcony and posed for pictures. This was actually the second time I had seen them but I guess the first pair were camera shy and left before I could record their presence. Today’s pair posed repeatedly before flying off to the west.

Around 10 AM we set out on a TRANSLink bus bound for a transfer point called Varsity Lakes Station. The bus trip took about 15 minutes and we found the Airport Train waiting for us to board. The trip northbound to Altandi Station took another 40 minutes. When we left the train we found Noel waiting for us on the platform. After a 15 minute drive we arrived at Noel’s home where Sarah was waiting for our arrival.

We met Sarah and Noel on the Queen Elizabeth sailing from San Francisco to Sydney, in fact, they were two of our table companions. At least once a day for 22 days we shared a meal and conversation. When we were to disembark the ship in Sydney we exchanged email addresses. They remained on the ship for two more ports, disembarking in Brisbane which is their home. Once we were settled in Sydney and we knew they would be home I sent them the promised email advising them of the timing of our planned visit to Burleigh Heads and the Gold Coast and my Australian phone number.

On Wednesday, March 21, we were sitting in the apartment when my cell phone rang unexpectedly. It was Noel inviting us to visit them in Brisbane. After a couple more phone calls and email exchanges the date for our visit was confirmed as March 29 with an overnight visit.

Sarah had tea and cakes ready for our arrival, a snack far greater than we really needed but a wonderful, tasty surprise. After a bit of conversation, we went to a nearby pub for a lunch special. We are just starting to get accustomed to the Aussie pub system. Table service as we know it in Canada is rare. More commonly orders are placed and paid for at the bar or other kiosk. Orders are subsequently delivered to the table. Some places use numbered tables, some provide a numbered flag to take to a table and others figure it out without table numbers. The amount of food delivered for a $10 lunch was once again more than adequate.

Later in the afternoon Sarah and Noel took us for a drive to see some of the district and we found ourselves surrounded by kangaroos in the wild. It was an area of bushland near two of Queensland’s prisons. The fields outside the prison walls were fenced but were no challenge for the kangaroos. They really didn’t seem bothered by our presence or passing cars and bounded across the roadways pretty much as they pleased.

We were able to see some of the country side which was very lush and green. We had experienced frequent rain while in Australia which is apparently unusual for the early autumn. We returned to their home as the sun was setting.

Noel and Sarah are from Ireland and immigrated to Australia some years ago and have children and grandchildren nearby. They have traveled extensively and particularly in North America where they spent a year touring by motor home. For hours, until bed time, we enjoyed hearing of their travels and talked about places we knew and that they too had visited.

After breakfast Friday morning the four of us took public transportation into Brisbane. It was merely a three block walk to the bus stop. The 22 kilometre ride into Brisbane took about 45 minutes at a cost of $3.17. The bus circulated through the residential area then took and express route on a roadway that paralleled a major highway but was for the exclusive use of TRANSLink busses.

We emerged from this road near the Brisbane River at a bus terminal, our destination. We walked through a lovely park area known as Southbank. We expected it to be packed with people since it was the Good Friday holiday but were surprised to find it just the opposite.

The park extends along the Brisbane River and hosts several facilities. There is a large ferris wheel and an extensive network of wading and swimming pools one of which includes a stretch of sandy beach. Of course there are a bunch of fast food services and souvenir shops throughout.

It’s Me, with Sarah, Gail and Noel over my right shoulder

The park is sandwiched between the river and commercial buildings which include part of a university campus. We continued our walk across the Victoria Bridge into Brisbane’s Central Business District which was nearly deserted.

Gail did find a couple of items of interest in a souvenir shop along along Brisbane’s Queen Street pedestrian mall then we went below ground to the bus terminal. After a return bus trip Sarah prepared another lovely lunch and Noel returned us to the Altandi train station. An hour and a half later we were back at the apartment having completed the 80 kilometre trip at a cost of $8.37.

We had a truly enjoyable couple of days with a couple of very special friends we didn’t even know two months ago. It just points out that strangers are just friends you haven’t yet met.

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