Triabunna to St. Helens

After Triabunna, we stop next in Bicheno.

Wineglass Bay in nearby Freycinet National Park is usually mentioned when someone decides to rattle off the top ten beaches in Australia. It is reached by a four-hour hike. We procrastinate and choose a drive-up lookout and the ten minute walk to Sleepy Bay as activities for the afternoon instead.

A Bicheno company offers a penguin watching tour but someone tells us to just go near the boat ramp after dark. The opportunity to encounter penguins causes particular excitement for one member of our party. We do see penguins and at close range too. You will have to believe me - they don't like camera flashes.

The next it rains and we are forced to drop Wineglass Bay from the itinerary.

Tasman Peninsula

Hobart feels like it is twenty years behind. This would certainly explain the selection at the car rental agency. We putter off.

The Richmond Bridge is the oldest bridge in Australia that is still in use, albeit almost exclusively by ducks.

Port Arthur has a notorious history, as one can read here. You can wander the remains of the settlement grounds or take a ghost tour. Unfortunately, the weather peaks at mixed and is downright uncooperative at key decision-making moments. For extended periods, however, the weather is suitable for making and eating pancakes.

Remarkable Cave lives up its billing, funnelling waves onto unsuspecting visitors. The other attractions on the Tasman peninsula pale in comparison, bottoming out with the Tesselated Pavement which is about as interesting as regular pavement.

The road to Triabunna is unpaved and the journey conclusively proves that I worry too much.

Still Sydney

Offered for completeness: Adam, more Coco Locos, lots of Yanif, and a jilted beach.

Current Yanif Score

Maike: 3516
Steve: 4149
Last win: Maike

Sydney Again

Sydney is two parts. I start in Sydney Central with Matt, Kirk, and Drew. Kirk is from a place in England, but not Manchester or London so I immediately forget. Matt is from Sacramento. Drew is from Niagara Falls. Drew is 18 and away from home for the first time and terrified.

We see the Sydney sights which I have seen before but Kirk's enthusiasm makes them new.

The Minus 5 Bar is an attraction that Andrew and I declined in Auckland but Kirk will not be denied. For thirty dollars, you can spend thirty minutes inside and a free drink is generously provided. A second drink is ten dollars and this one contains a detectable amount of alcohol.

The Australian Open is wrapping-up in Melbourne at this time. Lest Sydneysiders forget that membership has its privileges, one sponsor has put up an open-air theatre for its customers. As credit infidels, we and two thousand others are limited to watch from the more-than-adequate opera house steps. The men's final pits the world's number one player against a young Cypriot upstart. There is some early drama when the underdog takes the first set, but Federer soon gets his act together and shows his opponent who his Bagdatis.

Darwin Again

My flight to Sydney is at 12:30am. I spend my last day in Darwin on cricket and beer. It is this day that I realize that Simon Katich is not the contributor that he first seemed.

"You stink, Katich!"

Litchfield National Park

Batchelor is the gateway to Litchfield National Park. On the day we arrive, the gate is guarded by a swollen creek that crosses the main road. "You'll be alright if you go slow enough," a local tells us. He doesn't stick around to see Maike's crossing attempt but does prove to be right.

Batchelor has the best hostel that I have visited to date.

One of the big attractions in Litchfield is the magnetic termite mounds. The termites build these mounds on a north-south axis as it allows more efficient temperature regulation. If you don't believe me, more credible persons have documented it here.

Litchfield also contains a number of waterfalls such as Florence and Wangi and countless instances of Wet Season Water taking revenge on Dry Season Plants.

Our departure from town is uneventful - the creek is subdued.

Katherine Gorge and Adelaide River

Katherine Gorge features a hike to a lookout and a waterfall.

Camels line the side of the road, watching cars suspiciously then eating.

We overnight in Adelaide River at a horse farm, which at the time is playing host to a meteorological research project. Every three hours balloon with a transmitter is released and its trajectory and environmental data is tracked. Either the researcher who gives us a tour of the control room is a bit vague on the point of it all or I am a poor listener. Or both. Apparently, the project is being documented by the Discovery Channel. Please look to them for additional details if you are interested. I think that it was the Discovery Channel...

Katherine

Springvale Homestead was established in 1879 but later abandoned -- its residents perhaps moving on in search of somewhere more interesting. Kangaroos line the side of the road, watching cars suspiciously then bolting.

One of the main roads in the town of Katherine is underwater, so residents sit on the bank of this new river fishing and watching their children swim. We have been told that alligators can be anywhere, but the presence of local children swimming indicates a safe spot. I consider this advice but as I am unable to spot a child who appears to swim more slowly than I do, I decide it best to stay out.

Pine Creek

Pine Creek is notable in that the cafe there sells Wimmers Double Sarsaparilla - my candidate for Worst Beverage Ever. Imagine drinking root beer while brushing your teeth...

Kakadu National Park

Summer in the north of Australia is referred to as The Wet. Rainfall routinely floods roads, cutting off attractions and therefore limiting the number of visitors. Maike gets there a day before me and determines that Darwin has little to offer. We rent a car and set off for Kakadu National Park.

Ubirr is the top site in Kakadu for aboriginal rock art. Our timing is unfortunate, however. The water in the area is too high for driving but too low for boats.

We do take a cruise on Yellow Water Billabong. Apparently, Yellow Water is a recent name for this location -- the name was changed to make it more appealing to visitors.

Your joke here.

The area is a floodplain for the South Alligator river and is rich with wildlife. We see flying foxes and sea eagles but no alligators.

Nourlangie Rock is another rock art site and it can be reached. This spirit was particularly feared for good reason.

Nourlangie also features a hike to a lookout.

Rain washes away the rest of the day.

Yellow Water Billabong

Report: Adams Declares Tokyo Unloafable

Recent transplant Rob Adams expressed dissatisfaction with his new hometown, citing it as a poor environment for idling and goofing. “It’s so hectic here,” he complained. Adams may have to adjust, however. City officials make no mention of improving local dawdling facilities in recently published planning reports.

Watch. Nutella. Together at last.

Other Perth Notes

Some notes omitted from the Perth Again post:
* I leave my hipster PDA at an Internet cafe but to the discredit of its critics (you know who you are) it is assessed as 'not garbage' by the operator allowing its subsequent retrieval.
* Just prior to hitting the sheep, I ask a gas station attendant about the risk of animals on the road. "You might want to watch your speed...", he begins.
* Fremantle Prison was once the scene of a hostage-for-baked-beans exchange. The hostage was captured by inmates in the 1988 riot mentioned here. There is no record of how the beans were captured by prison authorities.

Report: Important Birthday Instructions Not Received

Instructions related to this year's birthday celebration were not received by the necessary date, resulting in mild confusion. The cause of the delay or breakdown is not yet known. The instructions, usually provided by Colleen Wong, describe both how to party and what to sip. The missing communiqué was also to contain information on what one would call barrumundi that is not yours and a statement of the type of animal that Fozzie Bear found on Rottnest Island.

Perth Again

I make better use of my time in Perth on this visit.

We see the zoo where the red panda is shy, but the meerkats are not. As my assistant will tell you, meerkats have developed a number of noteworthy behaviors, all of which would be described as 'goofing off' if you were to do them:
* "...one or more meerkats will stand sentry...while other members are foraging or playing in order to warn them of approaching dangers."
* "Meerkats have been known to engage in... what appear to be wrestling matches and foot races."
* "More than one field researcher has reported witnessing meerkats in some sort of singing ceremony they compared with yodelling."

Researchers are now studying how these animals behave in the presence of a foosball table.

We rent a car and drive north to see the Pinnacles Desert.

The trip takes two hours each way if you don't get lost. That I have sunset photos from the highway speaks to the performance of the navigator, who will remain nameless.

In Australia, rural driving as darkness falls can be dangerous. In addition to the ever-present threat of roaming domestic stock, wildlife is most active at this time. Animals are often confused by the sound of a vehicle, running towards the sound instead of away from it. As a result, some car rental companies will not offer insurance for dusk or night use. Thankfully, we have no trouble. Our excellent policy covers the damage incurred when I bounce a sheep into the ditch at full speed. Maike drives the rest of the way back to Perth as I start seeing animals in every shadow and shape by the side of the road.

We never get to Rottnest Island. If someone goes, please let me know what I have missed.

Take Care!

Albany to Perth

Out of time on my car rental and in slight compliance with my plan for the southwest, I leave Albany. Maike needs to get back to Perth too.

Ducks are quicker than you think.

My iPod Has Arrived!

Question 3

Why is it called Kangaroo Island?

Value: 88 blerns less 4 blerns for each day that the question remains unanswered.

Current Standings:
Andrew B: 73 blerns
Gord B: 26 blerns