December 31, 2018 New Years Eve Port Douglas

Today was mostly a travel day.  We had a shuttle pick us up at the house and ended up having it all to ourselves, which was great.  Our flight was uneventful which is ideal, and our shuttle driver was waiting for us at baggage claim.  Another private shuttle, we were scoring!

 

Ah, to fly in Australia where I can get little bottles of Bundy!  Ken tried another new beer but wasn't a fan.

However that’s when we started to get some not ideal news….the Cyclone was turning around and coming back!  Argh!  Our shuttle driver shared some information about that and I checked my email and sure enough we’d received emails from our fishing charter asking if we wanted to cancel, or if not, if we could go fishing in the Estuary instead of the Reef.  And the other email was from the snorkel charter who suggested strongly that we cancel, even assuming they do sail, which they said was only a 50% chance as it was.

We opted to try fishing the Estuary, so we’ll see what happens.

The view towards Port Douglas from the shuttle

We did cancel the snorkel charter.  Boo.  But when looking at the Coral Sea all you can see is dirty water – it isn’t pretty blue – so we probably won’t be missing much.  Now we’ll need to figure out what else we can do on Wednesday.

The view of the apartment pool as seen from our balcony

The living room of our apartment - a 2 bedroom unit

Walking back from the grocery store with the essentials

World War I memorial to the Port Douglas fallen soldiers

We found a nice place for dinner – Rattle and Hum – and walked out to the beach to watch fireworks at 9pm (in case we didn’t make it to midnight) but when our watches said it was 9:20pm and no fireworks we looked it up and turns out they did an 8pm fireworks show, not 9pm.  So we walked back towards our apartment and found a really nice bar on the way.  Ken had a Sazarac and I had a Good Times 2.0 – both really good craft cocktails.

A great craft cocktail bar

Ken ordered the Sazarac - bottom left side of the menu

 Happy New Year to all!  Fun to experience it earlier than at home.

December 30, 2018 Australian Pool Party

This morning Greg went shopping at Costco before it opened (the benefit of being an employee) for the food for the pool party, then we all headed over to Yolanda’s Mom’s house to visit.  We hadn’t seen Jan since the last time she and Nick were in San Francisco, so it was good to visit.  Her home is lovely, and her garden is beautiful.  She has quite the green thumb.  We exchanged greetings on behalf of Bob and Toni and Pam and Randy and they were reciprocated.  Wishing we all could have been there together but we were emissaries at least.

Since we needed to be ready for the pool party, we stopped at Dan Murphy’s bottle shop.  Have to say it’s better than Bev Mo or Total Wine, but that could be because of the whole shelving unit full of Bundaberg Rum or the giant display of VB (Victoria Bitter)….why, oh why, can’t Ken and I get our two favorite beverages in the States?!?!

But one of the weirdest things was when we pulled in the parking lot of Dan Murphy’s Ken pointed out the Ettamogah Pub which turns out to be the exact pub that we saw back in 1994 on our drive out to the Blue Mountains. 

Backstory - yesterday on our drive out to the Blue Mountains I kept saying to Yolanda that I was certain that the road we were on used to be a two-lane road and that there was this building along the road that had an old Model A type car on its roof.  She kept saying that the ‘road’ we were on hasn’t been a two-lane road for a lot longer than 1994 because it was the Great Western Highway.  Being me, I said, “ok,” and proceeded to think to myself that “sure, I must be right and she’s wrong” (really should teach me to think that way, because when I think these things invariably, I’m wrong).  What kept going through my head was that I remembered this two-lane road through zillions of Eucalyptus trees and a flash of building (I don’t think we stopped) with a car on the roof.  And yesterday while going to the Blue Mountains I kept hoping we’d see it.  But we didn’t. 

So now it’s today and we’re in the middle of town, pulling into the bottle shop (aka liquor store) and what the hell do you know…there’s the damn building from my memory!!!  I quizzed Greg and Yolanda and it turns out Windsor Road used to be a two-lane road through the 'middle of nowhere.'  (Hot damn! My memory was slightly correct - who knew!)

You can be sure I texted this picture to my Sister in law – “remember this?” 

All this was before 1pm when the guest arrived.

The pool party was lots of fun.  The same people who we met at the baseball game yesterday, came today.  

Ken and I throw a pool party just about every year and it was great fun to attend one that we weren’t hosting.  Even more fun to hear the Aussie and New Zealand accents and talk horses (Thought driving 3 hours was unusual?  What about flying from Sydney to New Zealand to ride your horse?!?).

And of course kids are kids everywhere - Dads throwing kids into the deep end...and 

Canon Balls....

Greg cooked up some very tasty chicken and giant hot dogs that were eaten in buns that were real bread rolls.  (I'll just say Ball Park buns are blah once you've had this real bread roll that you pull apart to fit your hot dog in).

After everyone left Ken and Greg threw a baseball around for a bit.

 

Greg and I did our packing (yes there is VB and Bundy packed) in prep for the next leg of our journey.  When all chores were done we sat and laughed hysterically while watching Ellen DeGeneres’ Relatable and speaking in Swedish accents about Lundehunds (you had to be there).

Next up...we fly up to Cairns and Port Douglas.  A Cyclone is due, and we've just heard that we won't be able to fish in the deep reef waters but instead will fish the estuary.

December 29, 2018 Blue Mountains

This morning we went out for a nice breakfast.  I had a B + E or Bacon and Egg sandwich (their bacon is more like Canadian Bacon) with Tomato Sauce (which is basically ketchup) and from there we drove out to Greg and Yolanda's home in Quakers Hill.  Today was the first day I got to see my brother in his own home - a first since he's moved here.  We were sorry to say goodbye (for now) to Ian and Melinda because it was so lovely to visit with them.

Greg and Yolanda have a lovely home and the gardens are lush.  The pool in the back yard is like an oasis and we were looking forward to a dip later.  But first, because they live relatively close to the Blue Mountains, we opted for a drive out to see the Three Sisters.  Ken and I and his sister Debbie did a tour back in 1994 and saw them then, and I wanted to refresh my memory.  So off we went.  It was about an hour drive and when we got close to Katoomba I used Yelp and found a restaurant - the Station Bar & Woodfired Pizza.  Turned out to be delicious pizzas and salad so if you're ever in Katoomba I recommend it.  We all shared three different pizzas and a garden salad.  Ken tried a new beer, Young Henry's Newtown, and I tried a new rum - Stolen Rum.

Ken and Greg are all smiles

We made it to the Three Sisters vista point after lunch and the crowds were intense but luckily Yolanda dropped us (Greg, Ken, and me) off to check it all out so we didn’t need to find a parking spot.

Greg helped us take a few photos

we walked down the pathway to the lower viewing point and even though it was bloody hot (it was 102 at their house and probably high 90’s even up there) we got some fabulous views

The memories were refreshed, which is what I really wanted.  1994 was a long time ago and I’m very happy we got to see it again in 2018.

We drove back home and spent a bit of time floating around in the pool and catching up.

Our day wasn’t done though.  It was time for Baseball!  We got to meet a few of Greg’s baseball teammates at the Sydney Blue Sox baseball game – yes, American Baseball. 

 It was an exciting game.  The Brisbane Bandits put up an early lead and the Blue Sox came back in the bottom of the 9^th and the final batter had a very long at bat in a pitching duel.  He won by getting walked with the bases loaded and the winning run scored.  A great ending to a wonderful day.

Greg even saved Yolanda's life (only a tiny exaggeration) when one of the outfielders threw a ball to us and it made a beeline to Yolanda's face.  She and Greg were sitting at a table eating and Greg looked up and reached over with his bare hand and snagged this ball literally one foot in front of Yolanda - it would have smashed her in the face!  Great job Greg!

December 28, 2018 Sydney

Yesterday evening, after our walkabout, we stayed home and spent the evening on the deck overlooking the yard and harbor.  Melinda put together a tasty cheese plate and Ian ran out to get a pizza, both of which we all enjoyed while sipping beverages (of course!).  We spent a few hours having stimulating conversations before we moved inside for dessert.  And speaking of dessert, at the market on our first day, Melinda picked up a few Mangoes and told us that we were in for a treat because Mangoes in Australia are no comparison to those in the states.  They are what we ate for dessert.  She was correct.  Amazingly sweet and scrumptious!

Our cheese plate and pizza

Today started early (for me) at 6:30 when Ian, Ken, and I went fishing.  Ian picked up our fishing licenses before our arrival and last night he'd shown me how he ties his lines, and it was fascinating.  I'm going to try it out for sure.  So much easier than what I've been doing my whole life.

The light as we walked on the rocks before 7am was so warm

A marker point in the rocks

Can you imagine living here?!?

Ken and Ian 

This was probably about 7am - warm, sunny, and the beach was empty except for two kids fishing (There is a 4 - yes four - rod limit for fishing!)

Proof that I was fishing – I had a couple nibbles and did have one fish on my line (love it when the line goes sideways with those tugs that mean a fish is on!) but it spit the hook, darn it!

Peaceful, this is looking in towards The Spit

Ian on the rocks

Can't really see it here, but there is a puffer fish near the rocks - probably only 4 inches long

Nice moorings - it was about 9am when I decided to take a swim.  The water temp was about 21c Ian said (74 to us F folks)

When we were done fishing we came home and Ian had some mince (ground meat) for his resident Kookaburras.  

We got an earful and I took a short video just to hear their sound.

I'm on the deck above looking down on the Kookaburra 

Melinda and Ian's cats Stripey and Spot - very sweet cats

Kookaburra

We then headed out for a drive along the coast to look at the different beaches and coastal scenery.

We stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant on a harbor and Ken tried another Aussie beer and I had an Australian Mojito with an Australian Rum (I don't remember the brand).

We happened to stop on the side of the road for a second and a Water Dragon was sitting right there!

Looking north along the coast

I'm pretty sure this was Palm Beach - but we saw a lot of beaches and I lost track of which was which.

This coastal cliff is called Lion's Head - and I can certainly see why.

After the drive along the coast we went home and relaxed for a bit before going to dinner in Mosman at The Fernery which is the restaurant inside The Mosman Club.  The food was excellent!  We started with two share dishes - flatbread and Kingfish ceviche.  For my main meal I had prawns (which are probably 8" long!) and Linguine. Wonderful!  All four of our meals were excellent.  The atmosphere was a bit unexpected for a rooftop bar/restaurant on a Friday night - many families with small children running around and jumping off chairs - and it was pretty loud.  But I'd go there again, that's for sure.

As we were leaving the sun was setting over Sydney Harbor so we grabbed a quick picture and you can see the bridge in the background.

Tomorrow we're all heading over to Greg and Yolanda's home.  It'll be great to see them on their home turf.