Farewell to Mom&Dad

My parents have flewn home to Germany. Everything went well, they returned their rental car and made a one-night stopover in Sydney where we could say goodbye (for the next 4 months).



They greatly enjoyed their holiday here and (despite the rain) got some good allover impressions. Here are some of the photos they took on their Queensland trip.




They also met the cute Rock Wallabies at Granite Gorge, Atherton Tablelands. You may remember the place from my visit last year.





And this funny sign shows what comes from machine translations. :D (Explanation: a marine stinger, or just 'stinger' for short in Aussie slang, is a type of jellyfish (Nesselquallen) that you do not want to touch -- their sting is dangerous and very painful. They can 'be present' but they are certainly not 'a present'.) The French, by the way, is said to be no less funny than the German...

Cyclone Ului

You may have heard the news: this weekend, further north, a cyclone named Ului came from the Pacific and hit the Queensland coast.

It looks like my parents should be in safe distance. Ului did most damage in Mackay and has lost strength. My parents are further south, in Bundaberg at the moment, and have booked a tour for tomorrow at Fraser island. They may see some high sea though.

Addendum (Wednesday 24th): They are in Noosa now (Sunshine Coast) and have beautiful sunshine, so everything's fine.

Patonga

This weekend I went out of town and into nature, which was great.

I went together with my housemate Anna to camp at Patonga beach, which is located 1.5 h drive north of Sydney at the mouth of Hawkesbury River, surrounded by two big National Parks, Brisbane Water NP and Ku-ring-gai Chase NP.

I love the name of the place -- Patonga! It sounds just like a South Sea island. The beach is a serene spot, with calm sea, good for swimming, and a lovely view. In the distance you can see Barrenjoey Head (with the lighthouse on top, at Palm Beach) -- some of you might remember I climbed this headland last year in the very last trip I made with my campervan.

I still haven't bought a car (but I still plan to buy one), so we hired a rental car and shared the cost, and Anna had bought herself a tent, so we could go on a campsite. It was very full on the campsite, being a late summer weekend, not raining and close to Sydney, but luckily the beach was not overcrowded.

The weather was sunny and hot -- 31 degrees or so. We spent most of Saturday at the beach, and in the evening we went on a walking trail to a spectacular lookout high above the sea.

On Sunday we went separate ways. Anna took a ferry to Palm Beach. I went on a river cruise from Patonga to Bobbin Head, going through the ramified (vielverzweigten) river and creek system. The waterways are sea water: they are drowned river valleys, also known as rias. They were valleys in the last Ice Age when the worldwide sea level was 120 metres lower than today, and were flooded when the sea level rose again to its present level. I think Sydney harbour must have looked similar before the location became a city.

Sorry, this is a long post, but I have another two photos I want to show you. First is this beautiful shot made in the evening light. I love these warm colours.

And the last picture for today is this super-iridescent beetle, which I found sitting on our tent as we unrigged it this morning.

North Sydney

Today I share with you a photo of North Sydney, which is the suburb where I work. The old building with the clocktower is the Post Office, from 1854. The modern skyscrapers were all built in the 1970s and later. You can't see my office building on this picture, but it's just behind the towers in the middle. The street is Pacific Highway.

This week brought real pleasant weather and I went out after work three nights in a row, with Lucy, a new friend, Anna, my housemate, and Gaetano, a colleague from my office. Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day and we had a good evening at an Irish Pub with nice live music -- vocals, guitar, fiddle and flute. (I got to buy a guitar again too!)

My parents in Queensland are heading South towards Brisbane. They called me from Rockhampton last night, happy to have made a good distance, and said the weather is gradually getting better.

More renovations

This weekend I painted the wall in my room (plain white), and also hung up two pictures. It's good to make little improvements.

Sunday afternoon finally offered the opportunity of regeneration. I tested the beach nearest to my house, Greenwich Baths, but it's not very nice, so I don't think I'll go there often.

My parents are seeing Cairns and surroundings. I wish I could join them. Although they have bad luck with the weather in Queensland, it rains there every day at present, which is a pity.

Monday

On Sunday afternoon it started to lightly rain again and we drove on to the coast to Batemans Bay, and stayed overnight in a motel near a town called Ulladulla. That motel was surprisingly nice, they had a sauna and a good swimming pool which we used before sleeping.

I had taken one day leave this Monday, so I had an extra day to spend with my parents, which was really good. It greatly enjoyed showing them "my" Australia and explaining all the things I've learned last year! It's their first visit to Oz and through their eyes I can see it all again like a first impression.

We had no rain today, it was cloudy and later became sunny again. In the morning we did a bushwalk along a walking track above the cliffs of Ulladulla, starting from the lighthouse. Then we drove back to Sydney, which we reached in the afternoon. We had a brief visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens and, being quite tired, skipped the rest of the City.

Tomorrow early morning I'll drive them back to the airport, where we can return the rental car, and then they'll fly to Cairns and I'll go back to my work.

My parents in Sydney

Inspired by my adventures in Australia, my parents have come to visit Oz on a three-week holiday trip. They safely arrived yesterday in Sydney and will be here until Monday, then fly on to spend the rest of their travel in Queensland.

On Friday it was raining hard in Sydney. My parents went into the City, saw the harbour on a ferry ride, visited Circular Quay, Darling Harbour, the Maritime Museum, and in the evening I joined them for dinner and showed them the Opera House.

On Saturday it was sunny and hot. We hired a rental car and drove out of town, visiting Featherdale Wildlife Park where they could experience a close-up and hands-on encounter with all the typical Australian fauna, such as the Koala.

We then drove on to Murrumbateman to our friends from Country Guesthouse Schonegg. It was a happy reunion! They all welcomed us with greatest warmth and hospitality and we had a lovely dinner, then a relaxing night and a good breakfast at the recommendable Pear Tree Cottage (we couldn't stay at Schonegg as all their rooms were booked out), and ended our short visit with a fantastic Sunday barbecue lunch (beef, lamb and kangaroo!).