All Beaches Now Tuesday 3/4/08
With only a couple exceptions we are done with inland Oz and will spend the next 1500 miles traveling up the east coast, eventually reaching the great barrier reef. We have had way more than our share of sunny days in the 70’s, but they are not about to end now. Mary opens up the cottage patio doors and there is our neighbor kangaroo enjoying the morning, but he skips into the trees before John gets a peek. Just as John is accusing Mary of wine induced hallucinations, skippy comes tearing back across the end of the yard, across a field and back into the woods. A fine performance to get the day started. After John does another egg scramble this morning we will have about four hours on the road north and east back to the coast. This was a nice alternative property even without some of the services we would have appreciated.
We take our normal backroad routes and reach lake and ocean views by 1:00. We have packed up the rest of our rotisserie chicken and salad and that becomes today’s lunch at a picnic table on the edge of a lake. We have spent the morning driving through eucalyptus forests, over streams, around ponds and through pretty desolate hilly terrain with no critter sightings to speak of. We have to settle for a fish that keeps jumping well out of the water right in front of us as we eat. A good day for fly fishing.
The little coastal towns remind us of the panhandle of Florida with nice beaches, busy business areas and some fairly high condo buildings with water views. Everything is well maintained and there might be a slightly over-average median age among the population. Our stop for the night is Port MacQuarie which is about a third of the way up the coast between Sydney and Brisbane. We are in a small apartment about a block off the water and there are a bunch of little kids in the pool--obviously a family destination. We go for a walk around the town beach and a walkway that runs one kilometer up the river to the town green. The sea wall is a collection of boulders and those along the walk are all painted with names, dates, memories and greetings. Apparently you can apply for your own "rock" and decorate it however you see fit, within guidelines of course. Organized grafitti that everyone can have fun with. We wander around town a bit, grab some fruit for tomorrow's breakfast and don't get back to our room until 6:30.
During the drive today, Mary pointed out a soliciters' (lawyers) office sign with the partners' names "Vile and Bile." This evening we saw a sign for a meeting on "Black Butt Road." Mary saw another soliciters' office sign with the names on the door, "Lift, Handle and Push." We think we may be starting to crack up.
Our desk person here recommended the "Bowling Club" for dinner which is two blocks down past the beach. They have a buffet every night, but tonight is the special $15 night so that is definitely the spot. She told us that we could go into town and spend twice as much with only half the variety. Notice that there is no mention of quality in that statement. This is lawn bowling and there are several nicely maintained pitches around a very large building. We sign up for our temporary membership (and are accepted) and go up to the dining area which is mostly long tables. It does overlook a half dozen lighted tennis courts where a mixed doubles event is going on for our entertainment. The buffet is "casino quality" which is pretty good with a lot of cold shrimp and mussels, the normal roasts and plenty of pastas and asian stir fries. It does turn out to be a good value until we walk back downstairs and Mary discovers the "pokies" (slot machines) and we have suddenly spent more than we would have elsewhere. It is a lot like a casino.
We watched the end of the Aussie vs. India cricket match on TV when we got back. We were listening to it in the car since lunch time, but of course they had to stop for lunch intermission and tea interval. The Indians have won for the second game in a row and there won't be a third that had been scheduled for Adelaide. Damn! The big excitement was the ever-present streaker who ran onto the field and was promptly dropped by an elbow from Aussie star Andrew Symonds. Vile and Bile are probably on the phone to the streaker right now.
Today's local headline: Woolongong Council Sacked Sydney Morning Herald (State Parliament had taken the unusual step to fire the entire city council in light of kick-back charges)
With only a couple exceptions we are done with inland Oz and will spend the next 1500 miles traveling up the east coast, eventually reaching the great barrier reef. We have had way more than our share of sunny days in the 70’s, but they are not about to end now. Mary opens up the cottage patio doors and there is our neighbor kangaroo enjoying the morning, but he skips into the trees before John gets a peek. Just as John is accusing Mary of wine induced hallucinations, skippy comes tearing back across the end of the yard, across a field and back into the woods. A fine performance to get the day started. After John does another egg scramble this morning we will have about four hours on the road north and east back to the coast. This was a nice alternative property even without some of the services we would have appreciated.
We take our normal backroad routes and reach lake and ocean views by 1:00. We have packed up the rest of our rotisserie chicken and salad and that becomes today’s lunch at a picnic table on the edge of a lake. We have spent the morning driving through eucalyptus forests, over streams, around ponds and through pretty desolate hilly terrain with no critter sightings to speak of. We have to settle for a fish that keeps jumping well out of the water right in front of us as we eat. A good day for fly fishing.
The little coastal towns remind us of the panhandle of Florida with nice beaches, busy business areas and some fairly high condo buildings with water views. Everything is well maintained and there might be a slightly over-average median age among the population. Our stop for the night is Port MacQuarie which is about a third of the way up the coast between Sydney and Brisbane. We are in a small apartment about a block off the water and there are a bunch of little kids in the pool--obviously a family destination. We go for a walk around the town beach and a walkway that runs one kilometer up the river to the town green. The sea wall is a collection of boulders and those along the walk are all painted with names, dates, memories and greetings. Apparently you can apply for your own "rock" and decorate it however you see fit, within guidelines of course. Organized grafitti that everyone can have fun with. We wander around town a bit, grab some fruit for tomorrow's breakfast and don't get back to our room until 6:30.
During the drive today, Mary pointed out a soliciters' (lawyers) office sign with the partners' names "Vile and Bile." This evening we saw a sign for a meeting on "Black Butt Road." Mary saw another soliciters' office sign with the names on the door, "Lift, Handle and Push." We think we may be starting to crack up.
Our desk person here recommended the "Bowling Club" for dinner which is two blocks down past the beach. They have a buffet every night, but tonight is the special $15 night so that is definitely the spot. She told us that we could go into town and spend twice as much with only half the variety. Notice that there is no mention of quality in that statement. This is lawn bowling and there are several nicely maintained pitches around a very large building. We sign up for our temporary membership (and are accepted) and go up to the dining area which is mostly long tables. It does overlook a half dozen lighted tennis courts where a mixed doubles event is going on for our entertainment. The buffet is "casino quality" which is pretty good with a lot of cold shrimp and mussels, the normal roasts and plenty of pastas and asian stir fries. It does turn out to be a good value until we walk back downstairs and Mary discovers the "pokies" (slot machines) and we have suddenly spent more than we would have elsewhere. It is a lot like a casino.
We watched the end of the Aussie vs. India cricket match on TV when we got back. We were listening to it in the car since lunch time, but of course they had to stop for lunch intermission and tea interval. The Indians have won for the second game in a row and there won't be a third that had been scheduled for Adelaide. Damn! The big excitement was the ever-present streaker who ran onto the field and was promptly dropped by an elbow from Aussie star Andrew Symonds. Vile and Bile are probably on the phone to the streaker right now.
Today's local headline: Woolongong Council Sacked Sydney Morning Herald (State Parliament had taken the unusual step to fire the entire city council in light of kick-back charges)
I noticed you said your tour guide was called Neville in yesterday's posting, It is a truism that when in doubt in Australia if you call males Nev, Kev, or Trev there is good chance you have got it right, that is unless of course happen to be a Bruce which with those four names you have covered about 80% of the male population. Now that I have given you this insight I want to know if you think I am correct. The girls are likely to be Roz ( I see you came across one), or Sharlene aka known as Shar and there are also a lot of Betty's. We are thoroughly enjoying your journey. I will be in Melbourne, in 10 days, but you will be moving north faster than I will, so I won't catch you... and remember you have to be able to score 100% on this test by the time you come home otherwise we wont believe you actually went to Oz : http://smartasses.org/quiz/index.php?quiz=strine
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Bryce