Tag: Australia

  • Sydney Skyline

    As Viewed from the Taronga Zoo (October 1997) After twenty hours of flight from the east coast of the United States, we reached Australia, and arrived in Sydney with fourteen hours of jet lag to make up. We took this photograph from the north side of Port Jackson at the Taronga Zoo Sydney. From that…

  • Along Sydney Harbour

    Within the Royal Botanic Garden (October 1997) My wife sat on a wall along Farm Cove in the Royal Botanic Garden on a beautiful Spring day (map). The Sydney central business district formed a great backdrop behind her. Weather reports from home told of an unusually cold and rainy Autumn day back in the States…

  • Australian Brewery Coasters

    Coasters Collected in the Wild (October 1997) Anyone who knows me understands that I like fine tasting beers. Naturally we had to visit brewpubs and breweries, and try as many different varieties as available. Lord Nelson The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel bills itself as the oldest hotel in Sydney, dating back to the 1840’s (map).…

  • Australia’s Blue Mountains

    The “Three Sisters” Rock Formation (October 1997) The Great Western Highway left Sydney and headed up through the Blue Mountains. Echo Point laid perhaps an hour and a half from Sydney near the town of Katoomba. This offered excellent views of the Blue Mountains and the “Three Sisters” rock formation (map). Every tourist who travels…

  • Jenolan Caves

    Australia’s Blue Mountains (October 1997) We pushed further into the Blue Mountains to the Jenolan Caves complex (map). The park offered several cavern options and we chose an “adventure” tour. I was a little skeptical. I figured it couldn’t really be all that adventurous. Boy, was I wrong. We both considered this activity one of…

  • Brisbane at Sunset

    Queensland, Australia (October 1997) Next we flew up the coast to Brisbane, Queensland. We stayed with my wife’s friend who used to be her co-worker before she decided to move to Australia. However, I won’t post her name on the Internet because she might not appreciate it. We never would have gone to Australia if…

  • Atop Mt. Coot-tha

    Atop the Summit (October 1997) My wife and I rented a car, and drove the short distance from Brisbane to Mt. Coot-tha. An overlook provided excellent views of Brisbane. It also offered a convenient place to grab a cup of coffee. Later we drove out further to Mt. Nebo, then down through the Samford Valley,…

  • Noosa National Park

    Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia (1997) We drove 160 km north of Brisbane to Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast. This town served as a gateway to the spectacular Noosa National Park with its rugged shoreline and abundant native Australian wildlife (map). Hastings Street provided access to the popular Headlands section of the park. We found…

  • Glass House Mountains

    Sunshine Coast, Queensland (October 1997) The Glass House Mountains became an easy detour on our drive back to Brisbane from Noosa Heads. Gently rolling plains surrounded the mountains which appeared to poke up randomly from the terrain. It’s not really a mountain range, but several volcanic plugs with the surrounding land eroded away. Our friend…

  • Tweed River & Mt. Warning

    Along the Water (October 1997) Our next adventure took us south of Brisbane, through the “Gold Coast” and Surfer’s Paradise, and back over the border into New South Wales (map). When we left Sydney earlier in our trip, New South Wales and Queensland were on the same time. However in the meantime, New South Wales…