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Roos and Koalas and Emus! Oh My!

I figured I would make up for not posting by posting a long one, so bear with me and maybe get a cup of tea ready for this one.

Dzido and I set about the long drive from Sydney down to Geelong to meet our friend Rhi, a girl we met in the Czech Republic. She is from Geelong (just outside of Melbourne, which I discovered is pronouced "Mel-burn." Aussies find it funny when you say "Mel-born") and who offered to show us the Great Ocean Road. Here we are setting off with the Ipod. The picture seems to indicate that Dzido lost control of the left side of his face for the day, but I don't recall that.

Our first stop was actually not too far down the road at a golf course that is infested with kangaroos. Apparently the area used to be a popular spot for them and they were not going to let a bunch of golfers deter them, so they just hang out around the course. I should note that these are pretty vicious animals at times. They have very strong legs and can attacks humans if they feel threatened, especially if they have joeys (baby 'roos). These ones were used to people and didn't seem too interested in attacking. In fact they were as lazy as these pictures suggest. They just lay there in the shade, acting like we weren't even there.

Now I thought the roos were lazy, they were no match for what we found a little ways down the road. After driving along the sides of cliffs and through some really nice seaside towns, we noticed that there were some cars pulled over by the side of the road and people looking into trees. We pulled over and found the forest was full of koala bears. When I say "full" that gives the impression they are walking around and filling the area with action and merriment. That is not really true. They mostly just sit in the tree and do nothing, though they are very cute when they do so. This is an animal that is so lazy that is smells like pee because it just goes wherever it sits. Cute...but smelly. Kinda reminds me of Dzido and I in the van in a way. (Just to clarify- I mean we are cute but smelly for lack of showers, we don't pee on ourselves.)

After admiring the bears, we headed down to road, dancing our way to some Australian music provided by Rhi. Australia has some very talented bands. Eventually we came to the rockier park of the coast. This part of Australia (much like England which I described earlier) is being eaten away by the ocea. Huge waves crash into the coast and make for some really great views. The one pictured is called the Twelve Apostles. Actually only about 10 are still standing, but the name sound better than, say, the Ten Goats. The twelve are actually spread over some distance, but the picture shows a few of them.

We stopped several times along the coast at various other rock formations. The geography of the region is so diverse that is also contains a small area of natural rainforest. In a country that is suffering from severe drought, I thought this was pretty impressive. Luckily I was with my Polish botanist who informed me that the trees overhead made for a canopy which locked in the moisture and allowed moss and other things to grow where they nomally wouldn't. I impressed by this but moreso by the fact that Dzido knew this. Here is a picture of a naturally growing pair of Aussie undewear that was hanging from the trees.

We spent the night at a carvan park and for the first time in the van we had a house guest. Rhi got top bunk while Dzido and I continued to share the bottom. We just can't be split up. The next morning we had a beautiful breakfast. Sure it was just cereal and coffee, but when do you get to have those things with a view like this? The cove was perfectly protected from the sea and the sun was bright. Perfect.

We got right back on the road for out second day along the road. We visited an extint volcano, which one would think would be the highlight. It was neat, but Dzido and I spent most of our time playing with the emus. We had seen these crazy birds in the zoo, but there ones were just wandering around. We were walking through some trees when we rounded a corner and all of sudden came face to face with a bird that was almost as tall as we are! I read on one of the signs that if an emu comes at you (and they are even more vicious than roos) the thing to do is stick your hand straight in the air and pretend you are a bigger emu, which will scare them off. I walked up to this one to give it a try and as soon as my arm went up the thing bolted as quick as it good. Nice job by Dzido to take the picture just in time. Rhi was mortified by our behaviour as most Aussies see emus as pretty common creatures.

Even more uncommon was what we almost hit a little later down the road. We were driving along when something that resembled a porcupine tried to cross the road in front of us. Its actually called an echidna. Along with the platypus they are the only mamels that lay eggs, which they deposit into their pouches to incubate (like kangaroos, but with eggs). The one we saw ran to the side of the road and went into defensive mode by hiding his face and pointing his needles at us. Cute in a "touch-me-and-die" sorta way.

We then headed back to Geelong and got ready to do the long drive up to Broken Hill through the outback. The drive up proved to be 11 hours and about 1000kms. Broken Hill was a boomtown back in the mining days. The streets are all named after minerals (like Hydrogen Road etc). But the best part of the area was the old mine that was visited. Located very close to the absolute middle of nowhere, we had to drive a dirt road in the van to get there. Must have been a funny view for those around us, but since it was the outback there was no one to see. The mine was one of the first silver mines in the area and was started in the 19th century. The tour was run by a guy who knew everything about mines and the region. He described in detail how it was constructed and about the lives of the workers. They would work 12 hours days, 6 days a week in dark mines and then spend their nights taking opium and sleeping. Simplier times. The tour was very authentic as we had to dress up appropriately. I think Dzido looks like a missing member of The Village People.

We didn't want to stay around Broken Hill too long. There is really nothing to do there. So we started the 2 day drive up to Sawtell to see Ema, Shannon and Karole, 3 people we worked with in Weymouth. The drive was eventful in that we came close to hitting a pair of kangaroos that made a headlong dash for the front of our car. Only Dzido's quick reflexes and my girlish scream prevented Kanga and Roo from becoming dinner. I have tried roo meat and I liked it, so we would not have wasted it. We spent a fun couple of days with those guys up in Sawtell, but it soon became apparent that my services were needed elsewhere. So without telling anyone back in Canada, I boarded a plane and headed home to see my mum. She was quite suprised that I turned up at the door when she thought I was in Australia. I do love suprises.

So I have returned to the ice and snow of Canada. Its about 50 degrees cooler than it was in Australia and I have not seen snow yet this winter. Combined with not having been in the country for the last 8 months and living out of a backpack, I have a lot to get used to. I was driving the car today and instinctively went to the wrong side of the road and tried to change gears in an automatic car. But I will adjust back soon enough. I suppose this also means the end of the travel blog, a thought that pains me more than the end of the trip for some strange reason. Thanks to all who have been reading. Keep following Dzido as he is sure to get in more adventures. It has been great fun and I look forward to the next trip where I will certainly be blogging away. Thanks for reading!

Paul

Special Post

Just a quick one. This is a special post for you Mum. A reminder that no hair is still the coolest way to go:

Ahhhhh so much lighter :)

Lots of Fun- Aussie Style

Still alive here in Australia (despite not having Killers tickets). Had a really good Australia Day with the BBQ and the party. It amazes me how accepting the people I have met have been. Dzido knew two guys here that he worked with in Banff 5 years ago, and they have welcomed us both with open arms. Even their friends are great and invite us out for beers, or to watch tennis or to surf with them. I guess that is why we are still in Sydney (its been 11 days)- we just love the lifestyle!

I have also discovered surfing. Yesterday I took my first lesson. It was fantastic. The instuctors were really cool. Exactly how you would imagine surfing instructors on Bondi beach (where we went) to be. Tanned, long hair and lots of sunscreen. The class was for beginners and as a result most of us were tourists. Everyone supported each other, laughed about the falls and cheered each other on when we caught waves. I shouldn't overstate it- neither of us are not movie-style surfered yet (though we do look great in wetsuits!) For the lesson you use longboards that are made of hard foam. The longboads are 8 feel long, making it much easier to balance on than the more traditional short boards. The hard foam is so that you don't kill the other surfers if you hit them in the head with your board. In actual fact I have only hit one person, but I have hit myself repeatedly. OUCH. The board is tied to one of your legs so that it can't get too far away from you.

With some good teaching and a very large surf board, I was standing most of the time during my first lesson. We didn't get out too deep and the waves were not huge, but they were big enough to pick up some good speed. It is such a great feeling when you catch the wave, feel the accelaration and actually stand up. I guess it is like learning anything new- you get really excited at the small successes.

Today we went back to the same place we had the lesson and just rented two of the big boards and tried it out for ourselves. Initially it was a bit frustrating because it was hard for us to tell where the good waves were, but once we got that figured out, it was a great time. The ocean was a lot rougher today and I had some great falls. Once or twice I tried to fight the laws of natures and try to breath underwater- turns out those laws are still very much enforced. A pair of gills would be rather useful.

There are a couple of pictures that I wanted to post with stories. This first one is a picture of the massive acorns that fall off the trees around here. Dzido and I were walking when heard a huge BANG. It was one of these things landing on the roof of a car. We could have been killed! In fact I think people have been killed by these things. Its larger than a baseball, heavy, hard and spiked. Mother natures fights back yet again!

Life in the van is still going well. We are currently parked on a residential street that has homes worth 3 million dollars. I am sure that they love us. But it is right in front of our friend Nate's house, so we are allowed...I hope.

And by popular demand, here is a picture of a Kangaroo from the zoo and another of a wallaby. Now you can all stop bothering Dzido about them! But we hope to get some more pictures of them when we drive though the outback next week.