Sydney Oct. 22

Our last full day in Sydney was a "weather day". At 6 in the morning it was sunny, by 9 there were a few showers, and the wind was starting to pick up.
The plan was to take a ferry to see the Torango Zoo. This zoo is situated across the harbour from downtown Sydney, on the side of a hill. When you get off the ferry there is a sky tram that takes you to the top of the hill, where the zoo entrance is located. By the time we reached the top the wind was very strong, it was raining, and the wing had all the flags flying horizontally. There was an announcement that the sky tram was no longer running, because of the winds.
The zoo store did a great business selling umbrellas and rain gear. It was so chilly, mainly because of the wind, that some people bought fleecies.
It rained for an hour, on and off, then the blue skies returned. The wind never stopped, all day.
The zoo does not have a huge number of different animals, but what it does have is very well presented and maintained. The other nice thing is that many of the animals have large private quarters, and on a cold day, like yesterday, they were happy staying inside. To help the public to see the animals they schedule feeding times. Food will do it every time.
This way we had an opportunity to see the gorillas, orangutans, and chimps, up close.
The enclosures for these animals are huge. The apes, for example, have a play area, about the length of a football field, and half its width. The indoor facility is the size of a small house. There are lots of climbing equipment.
I was amazed by the size of the apes. The male gorilla was eating a head of lettuce, and it looked like an apple in his hand. The male orangutan was huge, and his fur hung on him like a long hairy fur coat. It was an amazing sight.
The birds are also amazing. Pigeons the size of wild turkeys, and lots of brilliant colours, iridescent blues, greens, and purples. Truly a wonderful sight.
The other lovely feature of the zoo are the great views of the city, as you walk down the hill.
On the way over the ferry guide pointed out the area, along the harbour, where house prices were in the 20 to 30 million dollar range.
One of the memories I will always have are the birds. Cockatoos, flying wild, or just pecking on the grass as I walk in a park. At this moment, while I am writing this blog on our patio, there is a multi-coloured parrot, green, blue, red, yellow, pecking at the seeds of a tree, not 3 meters away.
The sun is shining; Life is good.
Till the next trip
Ralf

Sydney Oct. 21

Sandy and I did part of the Coast Walk today. I don't know how long the whole walk is, but the part we did was about three hours. The path is well maintained, but there is a lot of up and down. It follows the coast line, so you start at a beach, and the walk goes up to the rock reaching out to the sea. You turn the corner, and you go down to the next beach. Then up around the next cliff, and so on.
It was cloudy today, which made it a bit easier.
The scenery is spectacular. Wind and water have carved out intricate pattern into the sandstone. And the ocean is always there, large waves crashing into the shore. There are lots of activities on each beach; we saw races, beach volleyball, and lots of swimmers and surfers.
This being Sunday there were a lot of hikers and joggers. It seems only the fit are allowed on the walk and the beaches, because there were few overweight people.
Not only was it a Sunday, but, starting last Thursday, and continuing for the next month, there is a special "Sculptures By The Sea" exhibition along the walk, between Bondi Beach, and the beach adjacent. There are about a hundred pieces of sculptures, along the trail. Everything from soup to nuts. The crowds along this part of the walk were huge. For parts, around some of the more spectacular pieces, it was like being in a lineup at the supermarket.
We did make it to Bondi Beach, where we enjoyed a great coffee, overlooking the beach. It is a beautiful spot, and it was neat to see all the surfers, and there were dozens.
I must admit, even though the prices are higher the quality of the coffee is much better than we are used to in Canada. Tim Hortons wouldn't  cut it here, except that at 2.50 for one doughnut, it could afford a better brand of coffee.
One more day, and we head home!
Ralf

Sydney Oct. 20

We spent the day in the Blue Mountains, that is, if you count the two hour train there, and two hours back, as part of the day.
The Blue Mountains are "Ontario" mountains, not "Alberta" mountains. It would be similar to our Collingwood area, and is a popular destination for weekend getaways for Sydneysiders, as they call themselves. Pretty scenery, lots of hiking trails, parks, and small villages.
We visited the main scenic area at Katoomba, one of the villages. Tourism is the main industry. The lady at the info desk told us that they had a snow storm a week and a half ago. The roads were closed, and nothing was open. Hard to believe!
It is a very scenic area, deep valleys, and some interesting rock formations, the "biggie" being The Three Sisters. We did some hiking to get views of the rocks and the valleys.
We also took a cable car across a gorge, and by a waterfall. The next part was a ride down a very steep incline on a cog railway. It was steep, 52 degrees, most of the way. The railway was built to transport coal from the mines in the valley to the top. Coal mining was started here in the 1890's, and continued until1940. They have done a beautiful job to make this a really nice attraction. There are displays of mining history, and also several walks through the rainforest, at the bottom of the valley. The walks are all along very well constructed boardwalks, about 2 m wide, and railings all along. No steps, just inclines, so baby carriages and wheel chairs can be used. It is quite an extensive system, covering several kilometers.
There are some gorgeous trees, huge and very impressive. Lots of varieties of eucalyptus trees. One of the reason for the blue coloring of the sky is that the trees give off an oil vapor, that refracts blue light more. ( The science lesson of the day)
The highlight of the walk was that we saw a lyrebird, which is quite shy and rarely seen.
After the hike through the rain forest we took a cable car back to the top.
Before we boarded the train back to Sydney, we walked through the village of Leura. It is very pretty, lots of flowers, and lovely, upscale shops.
As we were walking back to our home, we passed a noodle shop, and had soup for supper. I had trouble finishing my bowl; it was the best soup I have eaten since my trip to Vietnam.
Great way to finish the day.
By the way, the weather.....another perfect day, high 26, clear and sunny. I could get used to this.
Only two more days!
Ralf

Sydney Oct. 19

Another beautiful day in Sydney. 26, sunny and a nice breeze.
We went back into the city, and started out by visiting the Museum of Contemperary Art. First positive comment...it's free. In addition to that it is very interesting. I'm the first to admit modern paintings don't appeal to me, and this gallery hasn't changed my opinion.
The amazing thing weren't the paintings, but all the other examples of creativity. It was truly amazing, and I loved it.
There was an exhibit, by an Australian couple that dealt with house and homes. One exhibit, which was shown, using a photograph, was of a home that was being demolished. They carefully removed the roof and all the walls, so that all the was left were the floors of the rooms, showing the various tiled floors.
Another was of a small airplane that they cut up into pieces small enough to be shipped by mail. They then sent all the pieces, by mail, to San Francisco, where they loosely reassembled it. The pieces were not packaged, so each piece had addresses, and postmarks. At the end of the exhibition every piece was sent back to Sydney, again by mail. So, what you have is a loosely assembled plane, each piece showing that it was sent by mail.
There were also some interesting videos, quite good.
As I said there was a lot of very creative exhibits on display.
There were also some native bark paintings, which were better than anything I have seen.
After our visit to the MCA, we toured the Rocks, which is the area which was first populated by the English exiles that first colonized Australia. The sad thing is that there is very little known about the natives that lived here. They lived in clans of 20 to 60 people, had no written language, and only a primitive culture. The only things we know are some written records, by the colonists, all from their point of view. If you think our natives were mistreated, the Australians were worse. Aboriginals didn't get the vote until 1967.
We also visited Hyde Park, another lovely park in central Sydney. At the moment there is an exhibition of photographs, showing everyday life in Sydney. The photos are blown up to a 3 m by 2 m size, and suspended along the main path through the park.
My impression of Sydney is that it is much more cosmopolitan than Melbourne. The people downtown dress more smartly, there don't seem to be as many obese people, and the pace is faster.
All in all another great day in Sydney

Sydney Oct. 18

We took the bus into the city, a 35 minute ride, ending at the harbour.  Sydney has a population close to 5 million, and the CBD is very similar to downtown Toronto, tall, striking office and apartment buildings. Sydney has a very ragged coast line. Lots of bays and coves, so there is a lot of varied coastline. The central harbour is beautiful. The world renowned operahouse sits right at the tip of one of the "fingers" . The large Botanical Gardens are next to it. The harbour is deep enough so that huge ocean liners can come right into the city.
This is also the area where the first settlers lived, so there are many historic buildings.
We decided to take one of the "hop on and off" bus tours. It was a pleasant way to see the various parts of Sydney. The city has a curious mixture of buildings. There are structures from the 1860's nect to modern office buildings. We saw some areas, that were mainly cottages from the 30's and also spectacular homes overlooking the city. There are quite a few hills in the city.
It is a very clean city, lots of parks, and I didn't see one homeless person.
One of the stops we made was the Sydney Fish Market. It is, supposedly, only second to Tokyo, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. It must refer to the commercial side, because what we saw was not that impressive. There were about a dozen individual stores, that had an astonishing selection of fresh seafood, and quite a few restaurants. We had a seafood meal at the market. I still am not a fan of oysters and calamari.
Before we headed home we walked around the opera house. It is very impressive, and the views are great, especially the view of the Harbour Bridge, another Sydney landmark.
Tomorrow we plan to do more walking.
Ralf

Sydney Oct. 17

We had another early, 6:45 am, flight from Cairns to Sydney. Everything went smoothly, and we arrived at our apartment by noon.
Our hostess is a gem. She is originally from Poland, but has been in Australia for 20 years. She volunteered to drive us to do some shopping, then drove us around to show us the neighborhood. She is very enthusiastic about Sydney, and rightly so.
We were blown away by the coast line. Sydney is right on the ocean. The shore is made up of small coves, with many rock outcroppings, so there are many small beaches, separated by rocky "fingers" reaching out into the water. The local government has constructed "rock pools" that are man made swimming pools, right by the ocean. They are fed by the sea water, but you don't have to worry about waves. The beaches are beautiful sand beaches, very clean.
Our beach is about three or four beaches down from Bondi Beach, which is famous for its surfing.
After we unpacked Sandy and I walked down to the beach closest to us, about a 20 minute walk. It was lovely. Nice and warm, and sunny. All the beaches are connected by a a walking trail.
There are also a lot of parks. We watched kids skate boarding, and there were quite a few surfers. What a great way to spent your time after school is over.
It is interesting to see every school having school uniforms.
Tomorrow it's time to visit the Big City.
Bye for now
Ralf

The Great Barrier Reef Oct. 16

Another early morning. Up at six, caught the 6:42 bus to central Cairns and were at the boat at 7:30.
Our boat was the Seastar, a large yacht, room for 35 passengers. It prides itself at being the first boat to Michaelma Cay, about an hour from Cairns. Speed comes with a price!
To get there first you have to fast. Going fast in choppy water causes sea sickness, as I and a few others discovered. They do provide great barf bags.
We were the first to the Michaelmas Cay though. This Cay is also a bird sanctuary, which explained the presence of a few bird watchers on this tour. You can identify them by the size of their equipment. The phrase "well hung" comes to mind. Nikon and Canon can be proud.
What is a Cay. It is a sandbar, about 100  m long, and narrow. Because it is the only thing that sticks above the water, within many kilometers, it is a great place for birds to nest. There were several hundred of them, the problem being they all looked the same to me. I was told that there were some "small" boobies. They're the same as the other boobies, only a smaller bill.
Even in the aviary world size counts.
We did get a chance to snorkel. Let me tell you about snorkeling. I have tried it in a swimming pool, and I coped quite well. Snorkeling in the ocean, with good-sized waves, and salt water is nothing like that.
It's like comparing shooting layups in a gym, all by yourself, and shooting layups in a game.
First there is the problem with putting on the flippers. They told us it would be easier from the beach. I don't think so! Pulling on those tight rubber thingies while sand is swirling around, and the undertow is pulling like crazy is not my idea of fun. But I eventually succeeded.
I could not get the breathing right, I took in a fair amount of sea water.
After all that I did get to snorkel, by holding my breath, and looking down through the glasses. What I saw was spectacular. There are a great number of different corals, all sizes, all shapes, many different colours. They don't move, but the movement of the water causes the soft corals to sway, as if they were dancing. At this cay there weren't many fish, but I saw a sea turtle, and a glimpse of a small shark. My favorite was a huge clam, almost a meter in size, with scalloped edges. One of our guides dove down, and as she approached, it closed up. Neat.
Another clam, about half the size had a brilliant blue interior. It was really great.
After lunch, and I actually did eat lunch, we went on the Hastings Reef. Most of the reefs are completely underwater. You can spot them by the fact that the colour of the water changes from a brilliant blue to turquoise or green. You are in the ocean, without anything visible, but the reefs are there.
The boat stopped, and most passengers snorkeled. The bird watchers, all men, played with their equipment, and compared the size of their lenses.
This reef was spectacular. I hadn't imagined that it would be this beautiful. I put my flippers on on the ship. Much easier. I then spent a half an hour or so, drifting around, and looking underwater. This reef had coral that went much deeper, almost like underwater canyons, and a great number of different fish. Unbelievable colours, and a great variety of sizes. There was one school of tiny fish, no nore than half a centimeter, in brilliant iridescent blue, flitting around me. I came across a good sized iridescent blue fish, that changed to iridescent green as I drifted closer. It was just like the movies. I even saw some Nemo fish.
There was also a glass bottomed boat, for those that didn't snorkel. It was neat seeing the coral, but the motor scared away the fish, so there weren't many to be seen.
The trip back took one and a half hours, and wasn't quite as bad as the trip out, but I have to admit it was a long day. Swimming for about an hour was tiring, and I was sore. I have a good sun burn, and everything I wore was covered with salt, from all the sprays.
I must say though that it was very worthwhile. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef was always one of my dreams. It was right up there with Macchu Piccu. I think it would have been a lot easier twenty years ago, but I'm not complaining.

Cairns Oct.15

Flew to Cairns today, to visit The Great Barrier Reef.
We had fun at the airport. There is a 10kg limit per person for carry- on luggage and also a 10 kg limit for checked luggage. Our two checked bags totaled 24 kg. Our carry-on was well below. The penalty was 25 dollars per kg. 100 dollars, almost the price of a ticket. We were allowed to rearrange our suitcases, so that the checked ins were 20 kg. we put it in our carry-on bags. Now does that make any sense? The total baggage we took on was exactly the same! Do you really save on fuel costs by having 4 extra kg in the overhead compartments?
The company was a economy flight company, bare boned. Everything was extra. The one thing I did not check was the toilet paper dispenser.
The other thing was that the plane was a new Airbus 320. It has the new seats which have no metal parts, and they are thinner in the back. More rows. They were quite comfortable. There were also front and rear entrances, making getting on and of more efficient.
The weather in Cairns was very different from Melbourne. 16 in Melbourne, 30 in Cairns.
Cairns is a pretty little town, surrounded by good sized hills, very lush, and right on the ocean. Tourism is the main industry. There are at least 3 travel agencies on every block, selling tours to the Reef, to the tropical jungles, to the interior.
Cairns reminded me of an old west town. The sidewalks run under the balconies of the buildings lining the streets. Very laid back.
The water front is beautiful. A lovely esplanade along the beach, and a fantastic swimming pool, right at the edge of the ocean. There are yoga classes at 6 every morning.
Tomorrow is the BIG DAY.

Melbourne Oct. 13

Our last trip into Melbourne.
Weather is still cool, chance of showers. We were lucky, actually had some sunny breaks. It didn't rain, a few showers, until after we got home.
We spent the day at the art gallery.
Beautiful modern building, very light and spacious. The collection of paintings is nice, but not overwhelming. There is sort of one of everything; a Rembrandt, lovely, Monet, Manet, and a lot of other names. The room showing the Impressionists is very nice.
There are some smaller exhibits that realy appealed. In one small room there are a dozen photographs that are very striking.
A large room has a collection of Pacific art, from Polynesia, New Guinea; masks, used in religious ceremonies, shields, paintings. Most are not very old, but very different from anything that we see in Canada.
I'm not sure what the connection is, but there is a collection of glassware and furniture from a Vienna workshop from the early 1900's, before WWI. It is early Art Deco, and I liked it. I guess the Austrian connection.
There is also a room that has a great collection of early printed books and prints. The books were printed before the Reformation, during one of the many wars. Times were grim; there was no escaping the war.
The main theme is very pessimistic, but the representation by the artists is beautiful. There is a great number of prints by Duerer, who is fantastic. We spent almost an hour in that room. It was captivating.
We finished our visit by enjoying a great cup of coffee in the elegant museum cafe.
People in Melbourne are coffee connoisseurs, and there are numerous coffee bars. On the trip back from Adelaide we grabbed a cup at a MacDonalds, and it even that was very good. Coffee is one of the higher priced items, 4 dollars is the usual price, for one cup, no refills.
Before we went home we also visited the Victoria Market. In addition to great food they sell just about anything. Ugg boots with Swarovski crystals. You got it!
There are also various team paraphernalia. I like some of the team names. There are the usual, but there are also the Kangaroos, the Magpies, The Crows, and my favorite, the Swans. I haven't seen any Koalas. I guess an animals that sleeps 18 hours a day does not inspire athletic prowess.
Tomorrow is our last day at our "Australian" home, and will be house cleaning, laundry, car washing day.
Have fun
Ralf

Melbourne Oct. 12

Cloudy, cool, a couple of drops of rain, but not enough to stop us from walking along the Yarra River. Melbourne is situated where the Yarra River flows into Port Philip Bay.
There is a lovely walk along the river. Nice shops, very peaceful. It's hard to believe you are in the center of a modern city of  4 million people. Nothing like the hectic pace of downtown Toronto.
The more I see of Melbourne the more I'm impressed. It is very clean, very visitor friendly, and very appealing. It doesn't have that "canyon" feeling Toronto has. It is much more pedestrian friendly.
Within a 20 minute walk there are large parks, including the Botanical Gardens, which are outstanding. It's like having a couple of High Parks, right in the center of Toronto.
There are also a large number of public art pieces on the streets. Some are quite whimsical. There is one white office building that has two huge golden bumble bees, adorning it.
There is a bridge that has ten large structures showing various stages of Australian history.
Sports is a big thing in Australia. The main ones are cricket and Austalian Rules Football. Rugby isn't far behind. Melbourne also has professional soccer and basketball teams.
There are three large stadiums right downtown. The largest is the cricket stadium that seats over a hundred thousand. It's record is 136 000. Next to it is the Rod Laver Tennis Stadium, that seats almost 15 000. ARF, the most popular sport, is played at the Etihad Stadium. This stadium has a capacity of 54000.
All three are within walking distance of the center.
In addition to that the Immigration Museum, the Ian Potter Gallery, and the Victoria  Art Gallery are all there.
The other amazing thing is that the gardens and museums are all free.
I don't know why, but, this week, seniors travelled free, on all public transports.
My kind of city!!
As I said before, the transportation system is fantastic. The Metro is a train system, like our Go trains, that has 16 lines into the CBD, on 830 km of track, above ground. Almost 700 000 passengers use it every weekday.
Melbourne also has the largest tram system in the world.
Toronto eat your heart out!
One thing I have observed is that Australians are close to Canadians, on the obesity scale. It's interesting, I have met a lot of Australians, wherever I have travelled, and they have all been fit and slim. I have discovered that the average Australian doesn't travel, either that or there is a Phys Ed test you have to pass, before you get a passport.
There are just as many "hefty" people here as in Canada.
Only two more days left before we leave Melbourne. It's been a pleasure.
Ralf

Melbourne Oct. 11

Wet and showers; high 13, low 8.
I just noticed that the gods of the Internet gobbled up my blog from a couple of days ago.
The main story line, on that day, was my success in fixing the GPS. I was very proud of myself.
The problem was that gremlins in the glove compartment, turned off all the maps, while we were enjoying the wildlife sanctuary in Healesville.
I spent about an hour on the net trying to get an answer. One site guaranteed an immediate answer, so I spent ten minutes typing in all the information. THEN they tell it will cost me 46 dollars.
Those of you that know me are aware of my financially frugal nature. No way I was parting with that amount of money, unless a beautiful woman was involved.
So back to the Internet, and I hit pay dirt. I wasn't the first person who has had that problem, and after four clicks I was back in business
The score.     Ralf 1. GPS 0
Anyway, back to today. It was the perfect day to stay indoors so we visited the Ian Potter Gallery of Art. This gallery is right downtown, very modern, very beautiful. The main attraction is their collection of aboriginal art. This art is unique, I haven't seen anything like it. It is very abstract, and concerns itself with the myths of the original people of Australia. The paintings are very colourful, but, without a description there is no way to tell what you are looking at. Actually, even with a description, there is no way of telling whst you are looking at.
The art very striking, certainly worth the visit.
In another part of the gallery there were paintings on bark, that were wonderful. I also saw some lovely decorated totem poles. Because of the nomadic culture few original pieces have survived. All the paintings we saw were created only recently. I guess this is similar to the art work of our Inuit.
The gallery also has a large collection of Australian art through the years. To be perfectly honest most look like second class European art works. The one exception was the modern section, photography, sculptures, and some paintings. There are some original works which are very striking.
I still can't get over the absence of high rise building in most of Melbourne. Melbourne has a population of over 4 million, but the only high rises are right in the center. It would be as if you take the Go train from Burlington to Toronto, and the first office tower or high rise apartment building you see is in downtown Toronto. Its as if you were to draw a circle of radius one kilometer from Union Station, and once you cross that boundary there are only 2 or 3 story buildings. It feels surreal.
There are some very interesting towers in the CBD. The most impressive is the 88 story Eureka Tower.
It's not the only one, but it is the tallest and the most impressive.
Only three more days before we move on!
Ralf

Melbourne Oct. 10

The weather has been changeable. Mornings are cool, but very sunny. By noon it starts to get cloudy, and the sun is gone all afternoon. It did rain one night, but not during the day.
We drove, about an hour, to Ballarat. This area is famous for being the center of the Australian gold rush, that started in the 1850's. It lasted longer than the California gold rush, and produced a lot more gold. People are still finding good sized gold nuggets.
During this time the Tapai Revolution was taking place in China, and a lot of Chinese tried to find their fortune in Australia. This led to a lot of racial tensions, and mistreatment of the Chinese. The number of Chinese immigrants led to the "White Australia" policy of the first Australian Constitution in 1901.
Sovereign Hill is a tourist attraction that recreates a mining town from that period. It's like one of our pioneer villages.
One of the neat thing is that school groups stay here for a two day "pioneer experience". They wear period costumes, experience what school would be like in those days, and get a chance to pan for gold.
Sovereign Hill does show the Chinese experience, and explains it well.
There is a mine that you go down, with holograms of live size miners, and the proper sound effects.
It doesn't just cover the early days of the gold rush, but also the later years, by which time shafts were down much lower, and steam engines were an important part of the mining industry. I really enjoyed this part. No electric motors, everything is powered by steam, and there are huge pulley systems to work the machines. It was impressive.
There are also demonstrations, but each one is on only once or twice a day, so it's difficult to see them all.
I must admit that one of my problems is that we went to Colonial Williamsburg in July, and the way Americans  represent the history of their period is, by far, the best I have ever experienced.
Sovereign Hill was interesting, and I'm happy we saw it.
There is also a Gold Museum, but, after 4 hours of walking around the pioneer site, it was a bit dry.
All in all it was a good day, and the GPS worked perfectly. He actually sounded less stressed, now that he had his maps back.
Have fun
Ralf

Melbourne Oct. 8

This has been the shortest summer I have ever see. It was 28 one day last week, but that was it. Back to highs around 15, lows at 5. My thermal underwear is getting a real workout.
George, our GPS, is still on strike. It is amazing how dependent one gets on these gadgets. We went to Philip Island, which is about a two hour drive south of Melbourne, but you have to drive right through the city. The GPS kept telling us we were on a non-existent highway. The map showed us in the middle of a field. Luckily I had checked our route, on the iPad, using Google maps, and I had written out the directions. Coming home was more fun, no Google maps.
It was a lovely day, although there were some showers, and a cold wind.
Philip Island reminded us of PEI. It's not as big, only 29 by 9 km, and it has a more rugged shoreline, but the same green hills, fertile farms, and isolation. It is the most southerly point of the mainland. South, in the distance, is Tasmania.
It is now a nature preserve, and noted for its wildlife. There is a colony of small penguins, that, every night, returns from a day of feeding in the ocean. So at dusk there is a parade of little penguins, that come on the beach, and waddle by the tourists, to their nests. We saw the same thing in New Zealand. It's quite a sight.
There are also two seal rocks, about a kilometer offshore. It is the largest seal colony in Australia. There are 16 000 seals. Today 15996 of them were on holidays, and I'm not sure whether we saw the other four. Even with good binoculars it was a bit misty, but I think we saw four lying on the rocks.
There are lots of birds, such as herons, pelicans, and others, that we had no idea of what they were.
The scenery was lovely. Rocky shorelines, green hills, very pastoral.
Made we want to get out of the car, and run naked through the fields, anything to get away from George and his "recalculating"

Melbourne Oct. 7

Yesterday was our first rainy day in Melbourne. It wasn't a hard rain, but it was on and off all day.
Nice day to relax by the fireplace.
A first for me was that I "borrowed" an ebook from the Hamilton Library. Isn't technology fantastic. Here I am on the other side of the globe, reading a book that I just borrowed. All on my iPad. Amazing!
We did some house cleaning, just to see what will be involved when we leave.
Daylight savings time arrived in Australia today, so now we are 15 hours ahead. That means I have to wait till Tuesday afternoon to find out who won the Monday Night football game. Life is tough.
It was cool today, high of 16, and cloudy. We visited the city again, and found out that for the next week, seniors travel FREE on all city transports. What a nice present.
Australia is amazing with all the free offerings. The Botanical Gardens are free, so are all the museums and National galleries.
Today was the last day of the Spring School break, and there have been all kinds of free performances. We toured the Docklands today, and caught a great show by an Australian rhythm and blues guitarist and singer, Lloyd Spiegel. Just a drummer, his acoustic guitar, and his voice. It was great. I don't think I have seen, or heard, a better guitarist. He was amazing. He even sang Ronnie Hawkins' "Who do you love". A very enjoyable hour.
Another nice feature, for visitors to the city is a free tourist bus that takes you on an hour and a half tour of the city. It's a nice way to see the main points, and there are 13 stops, where you can get on and off.
There is also a free city loop trolley which circles the inner city, which is also on-off.
I still have to rave about the trains. The are like our Go trains, but much more numerous. There are 12 different lines into the city from various directions. Some come from so far out that it takes an hour from the terminal station to down-town. That would be like 12 Go train lines into Union Station. And the maximum is 7 dollars a day, 3.60 for seniors. Wouldn't that be nice. And they are fast!
I should make a correction about the cost of food. Meat prices are reasonable, lamb is a lot cheaper here. The quality of the meat products, eggs, cheese and milk is superior to Canada. I don't get the impression that there are factory farms, everything is much more local.
Fruit is more expensive, and so are baked goods, and coffee.
But the quality is high.
Have fun,
Ralf

Melbourne Oct. 5

Sunny, high of 17.
A perfect day for visiting the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne. There are a series of large gardens, starting right in the center of the city, and going south. One of these gardens is the Botanical Garden. It's quite large, about 90 acres in area. The location is along the Yarra river, which flows through central Melbourne.
It was created in 1846, mainly for non- Australian trees and flowers, but has been expanded to include most Australian species. It's a great place to stroll, and enjoy nature. There are many sections, and educational exhibits along the way.
There are over 700 species of Eucalyptus trees; all only found in Australia and some nearby islands. They have adapted to the poor soil conditions in Australia, and the dry climate here. The leaves are small, glossy, and waxy, all characteristics that reduce water loss. During the dry season, some will drop all their leaves, and hibernate during this time.
What impressed me the most was the size and shape of many of the trees. Giants of the plant world.
Sandy got a kick out of seeing flowers that she recognized, and that we have at home. Without our winters many here are much larger, and the flowers have more brilliant colours.
I was more impressed with the exotic varieties.
The gardens are a bit hilly, and there is a large lake. It's a peaceful place, very quiet, considering its in the middle of a large city. The most noticeable sounds are the many birds, including varieties of parrots.
All in all it was a lovely way to spend a gorgeous spring day.

Melbourne Oct. 4

High of 29, sunny skies, no humidity.
The temperature isn't the only thing that went up. Gas went from 1.35 to 1.47 again. I can't figure out any logical reasoning, except the it jumps every time I have to fill up.
We spent a few hours at the Immigration Museum.
The building is wonderful. It is right in the CBD, and was, originally, the Customs House. This was a very important part of government. Ships arriving in Melbourne were inspected by customs officials, and they determined the customs duties of the merchandise. Before the creation of income taxes custom duties provided 80% of government revenues.
The building has been restored and is one of the landmarks of Melbourne.
The exhibits are excellent. There are full scale replicas of accommodations for passengers sailing from Europe.
Back in the 1840's it took 4 to 6 months to sail to Australia. A family would have a berth the size of a queen size bed, to live in and store all their belongings.
The museum is very honest and points out the mistreatment of the aboriginals, and also the racist policies of governments, over time.
There was a large influx of Chinese in the second half of the 19th century, because of the large Australian gold rush of the 1850's, and a great resentment by the whites to the success of the Chinese gold miners.
In 1901 Australia joined the Commonwealth. Part of its constitution was a "White Australia" policy. This allowed the government to determine who could immigrate to Australia. Non-whites were greatly discouraged. Something unique to Australian policy was the "Dictation Test". This was applied to people landing in Australia, who were considered "undesirable". The test could be given in any European language. It was basically a way to keep non-whites out.
In a celebrated case, a Czech communist who wanted to attend a conference, back in 1934, was given the test in several languages, but finally failed when Gaelic was used. This led to a court case, that threw out the outcome.
The Dictation Test wasn't officially discontinued until 1958.
In many ways immigration and the treatment of minorities was similar in Australia and Canada. The treatment of Chinese labourers in British Columbia was like the treatment of Chinese labourers in Australia.. In, both Australia and Canada, there were internment camps, during the World Wars, for Germans and Japanese, in WWII.
The Austalian government prides itself, that, in recent years, it has accepted refugees from Somalia, the Sudan, Kosovo, and other troubled areas.
I have to say that there seems to be more of a "White Power" mentality here than at home. Immigration policies are one of the hot topics in Australian politics.
Australia is not as diverse as Canada, there a high number of Orientals, but some could have been here for several generations. There are few Africans, and a small number of Muslims, but nothing on the scale of Toronto.
To be honest, I prefer our attitude.
Enjoy, Ralf

Melbourne Oct 3

The weather has been perfect the last couple of days; high 22, low 12, and sunny.  I haven't worn my thermals for two days.
We drove to Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday. It was a lovely one hour drive through the Yarra Valley. Rolling hills, very green, and full of wineries.
We arrived in Australia just at the start of their 2 week Spring Break for schools, so we have seen many students. I have to say they are better behaved than Canadian teens. On trains and buses they have offered us seats, without being asked. They are just as boisterous as teens back home, but I have not heard the F.... word in public yet.
The problem was that when we arrived at the sanctuary it was at the same time as numerous families and school groups. It took us 45 minutes before we were able to buy our tickets. I was concerned that it would be chaos once we got inside, but the sanctuary is so big that there was little crowding. Like the Adelaide zoo the concentration is on wildlife conservation, and protection of native species.
There is a hospital, on site, where they raise babies which have been abandoned or have medical difficulties. While we visited they were doing an operation on a bird, which we could watch on a big screen TV. The baby koalas, wombats, and Tasmanian devils are so cute.
Another highlight was a "Spirits of the Sky" show where you sit in an arena and hawks, owls, parrots and eagles show their skills. They fly around, no nets, within a meter of the heads of the audience. Great Show.
We also saw our first platypus. I always pictured them as big as a beaver, but they are smaller than an otter, but just as graceful a swimmer.
My highlight was seeing a Tasmanian Devil, awake and moving. All the others that I have seen have been asleep, as they are a nocturnal animal. This one was going to another zoo, and the keepers were trying to trap it. For about 15 minutes we watched it evading the trap. The keepers were not chasing it, they waited patiently until it entered a baited cage. The Tamanian Devil is the size of a opposum, black, with white and red markings. Quite a cute animal.
The trip home was a nightmare. I felt I was in a movie, "The Revenge of the GPS". George, our GPS had a nervous breakdown; a complete one. As soon as we left Healesville it went nuts. It showed us in the middle of a field, and gave us direction to turn onto non-existstant highways. As I said, it was a nightmare. It was as if we were driving from Barrie to Hamilton, via downtown Toronto, at rush hour. There was a stretch in the middle of Melbourne, where I timed that it took 10 minutes to drive 1 km. We went by a cemetery and, I swear, the headstones were moving faster than we were. This car saw parts of Melbourne it has never seen before, or will ever see again.
George also decided to change his suggestions. Instead of saying "Turn left on James Street", it would say "Turn west on Highway 6". Not too many streets in the center of a city show their highway number, and, unless you are a real good boy scout who knows where east and west is in the middle of a city.
It took us 2 hours, and an extra 30 km to finally get home.
I almost had a religious experience when I saw a landmark that I recognized.
True to form as we were 50 m from our house George said "Recalculating" followed by "You have reached your destination".
A trip to remember!!

Melbourne Oct 2

A sunny warm day!
And what to do on a sunny, warm day? Go to the beach. Which we did.
We went to Brighton Beach the southern suburbs of the city. I am amazed at the public transport  in  Melbourne. As a senior, for the price of 3.60 I can use as many trains, trams, and buses as I want to. And the system would be the same as covering from Oakville to Ajax. There are about a dozen different lines going in all directions. It is fabulous.
Brighton Beach is well known for its beach cabins. There are 82 cabins all lined up along the beach; and it is a beautiful beach. Each cabin is the size of a small hut, smaller than a one-car garage. They are lined up, side by side, no space between, no back yard. You can't own the cabin, you can only rent it. The astounding thing is that it costs almost 200 000 dollars (That's the right number of zeros) to be able to rent one. There is also a yearly fee of 500 dollars. No water, no electricity. There is a long waiting list to get one. Figure that out.
They are very colourful though and a pretty sight.
I am sure there is a web site that shows them. Try Brighton Beach beach houses.
After Brighton Beach, we took the train back into central Melbourne. They don't call it downtown, they call it CBD, Central Business District, where we walked through some of the narrow lanes. Graffiti is an art form here, and quite a few of the lanes are dedicated to this art. It is quite a sight. Some gorgeous art! I don't know how they control it, but it is impressive.
The only downside to the day was, that when we arrived at the Victoria Market we discovered it closes at 2.
Luckily we have enough supplies, so that we don't starve.
A little side line. Some Australian restaurants have interesting slogans. There is "The Lord Of The Fries", and a steak house called "The Stag", that advertises itself as "The Worst Vegetarian Restaurant in Australia".
Cute.
Till tomorrow
Ralf

Melbourne Oct. 1

Getting back to yesterday.
As I mentioned we left Monarto Park at 2 pm for our drive back to Melbourne. It was just over 600 km, and it took us 7 hours.
I must say I am impressed with the drivers in Australia. I haven't come across one yahoo, who tailgated, or drove like crazy. The speed limit on the highway is 100 or 110, and nobody drove more than 10 over the limit.
There were a couple of radar traps as we went through towns.
The only multi-lane roads are near the big cities, Adelaide and Melbourne. The rest of the major highways are two lane roads. One nice thing is there isn't a lot of traffic, everyone drives sanely, and there are passing lanes every 5 to 10 km.
The highways do go through every little town along the route. I guess it's like our secondary roads, like Highway 6 or 5.
We didn't see any vineyards, but there were many canola farms. They are the most gorgeous brilliant yellow, especially in large fields.
The ministry of transport seems to have an obsession about drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Every 15 minutes, or so, there is another sign.
"Open your eyes; Fatigue kills" I wonder how you read that one if your eyes aren't open.
"Stop every 2 hours, for a rest".
"Feeling drowsy; have powernap"
My favorite though.  " Drowsy drivers die".
I feel like adding; " So does everyone else"
The rest areas along the road are called "Powernap Areas"
Another small difference between the cars here, and the ones at home is that the turn signals are on the right side of the steering column, the windshield wipers are on the left.
For the first few days this is what happened whenever I turned:
Turn on the wipers
Say a bad word
Turn on the signal
Turn off the wipers.
But I am learning.
Today was another Day of Rest. Sandy did the laundry, some grocery shopping, catching up on email, lots of reading.
Tomorrow is back to being a tourist.
Ralf

Sept 30

We left our B&B after a great breakfast of toast, eggs, fried tomatoes, bacon and a cappuccino.
On our way back home, we stopped at the Monarto Zoological Garden. This is associated with the Adelaide Zoo, and is mainly concerned with breeding and conservation of endangered animals. It's a large site, 10 square km, that's 23 times larger than the  Vatican State, for those of you into trivia facts. More animals, fewer cardinals.
It's a great experience.
There are several viewing platforms, where staff feed the animals and give short talks. Buses, with guides, take you around, and you can get on and off whenever you want. We were extremely lucky, because we hit three of the talks and feeding time for giraffes, white rhino, African wild dogs and lions. There are only two talks per day, and one feeding time.
The animals have lots of room, but you could get very close to a lot of the animals, because of the feedings.
There is a large chimp area, about half the size of a football field, and also in indoor area, the size and height of a two story house. I was surprised at the size of the chimps. In the movies they are small enough to be held, something like a three year child. In reality, a grown chimp is almost 1.5 m tall, and 45 kg; the highlight was a new born chimp. Chimps only give birth every 5-6 years, and a mother will look after a baby for 4-5 years.
Next we visited the giraffes. There is a herd of 9 at the park, and they come quite close for feeding. They spend 16-20 hours a day grazing, and, according to our guide, never sleep. They are big, up to 6 meters high, and 1500 kg. When a baby giraffe is born it is 2 m tall and weighs 70 kg. It is born with the mother standing up, so the baby drops 2 m to the ground, as its initiation to the world.
The next stop was my favorite, the White Rhino. It came right up to the fence to be fed, and we could touch and "pet" it for about 15 minutes, while the keeper talked about it. I don't think it felt much; its skin is 1.5 cm thick. But it is huge, the second largest land animal. The male we were meeting weighed 2500 kg, and his shoulders were over my head. It is strictly a grazer, no meat. Just goes to show that you don't have to eat meat to get big and strong. They are surprisingly agile, and can reach speeds of 50 km/h. That's a lot of momentum!
We also timed our visit to see the feeding of the African wild dogs, a very colorful creature, and the lions.
Our visit lasted over 4 hours, and it was great.
The down side was that we left the zoo at 2 in the afternoon; we faced a 600 km drive back home.
More about that tomorrow,
Ralf

Adelaide Sept. 29

First, the weather report. Cool, sunny and windy, but we have electricity. High of 15, but a cold wind.
We started out by visiting an Opal store. Opal is the national gem stone of Australia, and there are mines in South Australia. We listened to quite a lecture about opal and the different types and qualities.
Next we visited the Museum of South Australia. It has the largest collection of Aboriginal items. Ancestors of the Aboriginal people landed in Australia 50 000 years ago, and, to be honest, little seems to have changed. It was a stone age society, hunters and gatherers. There were no animals to herd, no agriculture. Food consisted ofnuts anf fruit, and anything they could hunt. The only large animals were kangaroos and Emus. They lived in small family groups and had  no permanent settlements. Australia doesn't have a lot of fertile land, so life was tough. Fires were started by rubbing sticks together, and they hadn't developed the art of making pots. Meat was cooked over an open fire. It is amazing to see how they did cope, but they didn't progress much in  their time here.
The museum also has a fantastic Pacific Cultures section. Genetically these people, from places like New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, are the same as the Australian aboriginals, but their development was much further advanced, in terms of tools, art, boats, canoes and housing. Some beautiful crafts and art.
It is the first time I have seen stuffed Birds of Paradise. They are very special. Check them out.
I did learn why the kangaroo and the Emu are on the national insignia of Australia. They are the only two animals that can't walk backwards. Learning important facts like that makes the whole trip worthwhile.
In the afternoon we went to the Adelaide Art Gallery. The paintings were not very impressive, not compared to many European galleries, but they do have some smaller galleries that were very interesting. Topics such as Indonesian art, Japanese works, and some modern items.
Before we left the city we went back to the market and bought some more of a delicious cheddar. Can't forget the stomach!
Our final night in Adelaide was spent at the pub that overlooked Adelaide. It was too cold to eat outside, but we did have window seats. The view was great, and the goof excellent.
Adelaide was a great side trip.
Have fun
Ralf

Adelaide Sept 28

It rained quite hard during the night. By the morning the rain had stopped, but the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees from yesterday morning.
Our host, Phil, told us that there were kangaroos that frequently visited his 15 acres, so I went for a short walk. No luck with the kangaroos, but I heard some lovely birds and saw some beautiful flowers. Calla Lilies grow wild along here; very beautiful.
We spent most of the day at the Adelaide Zoo. It's been around for over 150 years and has some interesting exhibits. The highlight features a pair of Giant Pandas. The economics are interesting. The pair is on loan from China. The cost is 10 million dollars for 10 years!!! If they breed successfully the babies belong to China. Breeding pandas is not easy. The female is in heat only 2 days a year, so there aren't a lot of romantic evenings where Wang Wang is going to get lucky.
The zoo isn't very large, but what they do have is very well presented.
The feature I liked best is that they divide the zoo into six regions, and there are guides for each region that take you around, point out the various animals, and provide a lot of information. You learn a lot from their expertise. Great idea.
The weather was kind to us. There were only a couple of brief showers, but it was cool and windy.
Our evening had a bit of excitement when the power went out at about 5. We cooked over a Coleman type stove, ate by candle light and kept warm sitting in front of a real wood burning fireplace.
Very charming.
Another lovely experience in Australia.
Ralf

Adelaide Sept. 27

Another gorgeous day in Adelaide.
The high is 26, nothing but sunshine, and no humidity.
I drove right into the center of the city. Hurrah for me! It wasn't bad, and Adelaide is much smaller than Melbourne. Just like Melbourne the only high rise buildings are right in the centre; no high rise apartments anywhere else.
Adelaide, seems to me, more laid back than Melbourne. Lovely pace, and lots of green space. The Botanical Gardens are right downtown.
We started out by visiting the Central Market. It is similar to the St. Lawrence market in Toronto, in setup and quality of food. Great selection of different foods. It is an indoor market, where the stalls are permanently set up, and very stylish. There are lots of veggie stalls, butchers and  delis, but I don't think they are the farmers growing the stuff. A lot less hectic than Victoria Market in Melbourne.
There are a lot of original buildings left in Adelaide. A common style is one where there are beautiful iron rail balconies. It reminds me a lot of New Orleans. Very attractive.
We also spent a few hours in the Botanical Gardens. The flowers are amazing. There was one plant, that Sandy has in a pot, which comes in in the winter. Well here it is a 20 foot tree.
The gardens are well laid out, and it was nice to see so many locals wandering through the gardens and having picnics. Entrance is free.
There was also a special exhibit of aboriginal art, and an interesting display of how they used plants for everything from eating to making clothes, baskets, their homes and canoes; and all with stone tools.
Adelaide has another nice feature. There is a Central Loop Bus, that is free, and circles the downtown area. We greatly appreciated it, because it saved us a 40 minute walk back to the car.
We had dinner with our hosts . Jill is a part time caterer and teaches cooking classes. The meal was excellent; lamb roast with home nade mint sauce, with a lovely wine.
They also have six Boer goats, the "girls", who roam the property. All six are very pregnant and are due to give birth in the next couple of weeks. They are quite popular as pets and none will end up on the dinner table. They are attractive animals with white bodies and a black head.
One of the joys of this B&B is to just sit outside and enjoy the sounds of nature, lots of birds, cicadas,  and frogs in the pond. All that's missing are the loons.

Adelaide Sept. 26

The drive from Port Fairy to Adelaide was pleasant. The highways are good two lane, but there is little traffic, and Australian drivers are courteous. I haven't come across one that goes more than 10 km/ h over the limit. There are also fewer trucks, and lots of passing lanes.
The country side is quite flat, lots of  beef and sheep farms. We also passed through wine country. The state of South Australia is the center of Australia's wine regions. The vineyards are huge; they dwarf our Niagara farms.
We stopped in a small town, Keith, and had the worst cup of coffe I have had in a long time, and it was 4.50. Where is a Tim Horton when you need one?  We also bought a couple of bananas, at 1.50 a pound.
Sandy spotted our first kangaroo. A group of 4 were hopping among a herd of sheep.
Australia has a human population of 23 million.
There are 50 million kangaroos.
A female kangaroo is always pregnant. She carries fertilized eggs, which are "frozen".
 A kangaroo baby is the size of a lima bean when it is born.it has to crawl, on its own, from the birth canal, up the belly of the mother, and attaches itself to the teat, in the pouch. It spends 9 months there. As soon as it leaves the pouch the next fertilized egg is "unfrozen" and the process is repeated. Very efficient.
There are 110 million sheep.
There are also 9 million feral camels. These were brought in as work animals, in the 19 th century. Once machines took over the camels were left on their own, and adapted very well. They are competing with cattle for food, and are now considered a threat. They also reproduce at a good rate. The population doubles every 9 years.
And then there are the rabbits. An English gentleman brought over 24 from England I the 1800's, for the purpose of hunting. By 1920 there were 10 BILLION of the little creatures hoppping around. A major extermination, using a virus, reduced the population by over 90%, but some rabbits were immune, and at this time all we know is that the population increased by a few thousand, while I am writing this blog.
The native species are declining, mainly because of the competition for living space and food.
So much for the science lesson of the day.
Within a half hour , or so, of Adelaide the country side became quite hilly, and very lush. The B&B, where we are staying is on one of the hills, callerd Adelaide Hills. It is a few km outside of Adelaide. The setting is beautiful. The road in is tricky. 2 km of one lane dirt lane, just like a lane into a cottage up north. I really don't know what would happen if you met someone. The house is a 150 year old building. The owners have a modern addition, we have the entire old cottage. Beautiful!
There is pond on the property, and the gardens are lovely.
For dinner we drove out to a local pub. We ate on the balcony, which has a gorgeous view over Adelaide below. It also faces west, so we had a great view of the setting sun. On top of that the food was gourmet.
A great introduction to Adelaide.
Ralf

Port Fairy Sept 25

Monday was a day of rest. I still haven't got used to the time change. I stil wake up at 4 every morning. Sometimes I can get back too sleep, but not usually.
Today was a great experience. We drove the Great Ocean Drive. This is a, approximately, 200 km drive which follows the southern shore of Australia. Spectacular scenery! There are small towns along the way, which are touristy; very tidy and attractive.
This part of the coast is known as shipwreck alley, very dangerous currents and lots of rocks. It makes for pretty viewing, huge waves breaking continuously.
Nowadays it is mainly surfers that take advantage of the waves.
The shoreline is made up of soft rock, so the waves have carved interesting shapes into the shoreline.
The most well known are a group known as The Twelve Apostles. They were originally known as "Sow and her piglets", but the new name is more dignified, although it takes a lot of imagination to see 12, and any resemblance to human figures. But you could say the same about the piglets.
On a religious note, I did see a bumper sticker "If he could walk on water, why did he need a boat?"
On the one side of the road is the ocean, usually, on the inland side there are farms, but also National Forests. We stopped at one that was a rain forest. Beautiful setting, no one else there. The highlight though was Sandy spotting a koala up in a tree. They apparently sleep 19 hours a day, so it was nice to see it raise its head. There also lots of beautiful birds, brilliant reds and green, and very tame.
The drive was gorgeous, but tense. Left hand drive, narrow roads. Luckily the traffic was light. Also there were no trucks, not even large tour buses. There were a few tour buses, but there were all mini buses, mostly Oriental tourists on a day trip. The driving was slow. It took 7 hours to drive the GOR.
We spent the night in Port Fairy,  a lovely small town, one main street, 2 blocks long. Very quiet, very charming.
We looked for a place to eat, and even some of the restaurants were closed. I asked a couple of elderly ladies where to eat, and they suggested the old hotel. From the outside it didn't look open, but once inside it was a hive of activity. It was almost like speak- easy; and it was busy. There were more people inside than on the streets. Very homey, lots of families, good food. The steak was huge!
One thing to get used to is that the price includes everything, tax and tips. A 25 dollar steak seems high, until you realize that in Canada that would be 18 dollars, before tax and tips.
Hoping for a good nights rest,
Ralf

Melbourne Sept. 23

I think jet lag has caught up to me. I feel as if I did a 5 km portage.
I appreciate the train even more today. They did some rail work, and we had to take a bus halfway to the city. What the train covered in 20 minutes, took the bus an hour. We did see the city in a more leisure way.
The only high rise buildings are in central Melbourne. It's as if you drive from Oakville to Toronto, and all you see are one or two story homes, until you get to the Lakeshore. Amazing.
Another neat thing is the language. Auto Body Shops are called "Smash Shops". Very appropriate!
We took a tram to St. Kilda, a beach area near the city. On Sundays there is a market where local artists display their works. There were some lovely jewelry on display.
St. Kilda also has a very old amusement park, circa 1960's. A wooden rollercoaster, where the attendant stands between the cars is the highlight. I can't see that in one of the modern a rollercoasters. They would go through a lot of attendants every day.
Traveling by tram does allow you to see the city at a more leisurely way. Melbourne has a lot of parkland, and everything looks well cared for.
The weather continues to be great. The morning was cloudy, but nothing but blue skies by noon.
There was one bit of a shock today..the price of gas went from 1.35 to 1.49 a liter; and I complain, at home, when it jumps 4 cents.
Well, maybe tomorrow it will drop; the eternal optimist.
Till then
Ralf

Melbourne Sept. 22

I slept in till 8 this morning. That's 16 hours after I went to bed; but I was up for a couple of hours during the night.
It's Saturday, but I missed Thursday completely. Poof, it's gone.
Today was a beautiful day, high of 20, nothing but sunshine.
There is a train station at the mall near us. The train into downtown, or the CBD (central business district), as they call it here, takes 35 minutes, and costs 4 dollars for the day, and that includes all forms of transportation. It stops at Flinders Station, which is a beautiful old building, like Union Station in Toronto, only nicer.
There is also a Circle tram that loops around the CBD, and  gives a commentary as you travel. And it's free!
The tourist bureau is the best I have seen, anywhere. Very efficient and friendly. There are even tourist guides at some of the tram stops, offering assistance. Very impressive!
We spent some time at the Victoria Market, which has a great selection of sea food, meats, veggies, and fruit. Prices for veggies are high here. Half a pint of blueberries cost 4.50 dollars, one bunch of green onions 1.50, a head of ice berg lettuce, 2.00.
The meat selection is great; if I only had recipes for fresh goat or kangaroo.
Some of the stalls have staff yelling out their daily specials. It can get pretty noisy. One stall had a sign "We sell, not yell"
Food prices are generally high. A foot-long sub, at Mr. Submarine is 10 dollars. The one that really got me was the price of ONE donut at Crispy Cream was 2.50 dollars...for ONE donut. But you save if you buy a dozen for 19.95.
The cappuccino for 3.60 felt like a real bargain...and it was good.
We also visited the David Jones department store. It's like a real department store, think of an upscale Eatons. The first floor was nothing but perfumes, just like in Paris. Beautiful stuff, but I resisted the temptation of the 500 dollar sweater. It was interesting seeing the Christmas decorations. It's hard to think of Christmas in the middle of summer. Santa in red shorts.
My first impression of Melbourne was as a lovely cosmopolitan city. There is quite an Oriental presence, but few what we would call Afro-Americans. Lots of people on the streets, street performers, and lovely architecture.

Australia Sept 21, 2012

Well, we arrived in Melbourne!
We left for the airport on Wednesday, at 1:30 in the afternoon, and arrived in Melbourne at 10 am on Friday. Long trip, but actually, pleasant. Air  New Zealand is excellent. Even the food was good! The new personal entertainment features are great, although the choice of movies is not to my taste. I watched TV shows and listened to music.
The weather, in Melbourne, is similar to home, high of 18, mostly cloudy.
We are doing a home exchange, and it is great. The neighborhood is upscale, no monster homes, very nice, quiet, lots of gren space. It helps that spring has started, and lots of flowers. Our new "home" is very spacious and clean, and has a lovely garden.
The couple we are exchanging with left lots of provisions. An interesting feature is that there is no basement.
After we unpacked we decided to do some shopping. It's been a while since I have driven on the left side. Both of us started out by going to the wrong side of the car, but being university grads we solved that problem in no time.
The mall we visited is huge, twice the size of Lime Ridge. The big supermarket is Woolworth. We checked the store, but decided to shop after looking around. When we got back, both of us felt disoriented, because things weren't as we remembered them. I knew we hadn't slept much in two days, but this was weird. When we checked out I asked the lady if there were two stores, and there are two Woolworth supermarkets, close to each other, in the same mall!!
I was in India for over a month, and I only found a total of two small grocery stores, and here there are two big supermarkets in the same mall!!
I like this country.
After our shopping we, of course, couldn't find the car in the parking lot. What do you expect! Two sleep deprived tourists looking for a silver Mazda, license plate not remembered, in a huge parking lot. We did find it. Our other choice was to wait till everyone had left, and take the car left over.
Luckily it didn't come to that.
We drove home and I went to bed at 4, and slept till 3, when I started this blog.
It been great so far, and we are looking forward to our first trip into Melbourne later today.
Have fun
Ralf

Feb 15 My last full day in India

I spent the day sightseeing in Udaipur. This is a lovely way to finish the trip. Udaipur is the cleanest city I have been to in India. Having said that it is also the first place where I stepped in a cow patty. There goes my record, 25 days without stepping into one of those.
Udaipur is the home of the Marahana of Mewar, the name of the local ruling family. He can trace his lineage back to the 6th century, making this the longest ruling dynasty in the world. They have done well. Over the last few years he has converted his palaces into museums and luxury hotels.
The City Palace, part of which is his residence, is huge, 250 m long, and it is very opulent. It still has a lot of the family's furnishings and art works. It is very impressive. There is a Crystal Gallery, showing his collections. There is even a bed made of crystal. The great hall has seating for a few hundred people, and has three 1000kg chandeliers.
Udaipur is located in a pretty setting, there is a 4km long lake, and it is surrounded by hills. One of the palaces takes up an entire small island, and is now a luxury hotel. Prices start at 750 dollars a night, and go up to 3000 dollars a night. Those suites have their own lotus shaped swimming pools.
It was also a setting in the James Bond Movie, Octopussy.
I had lunch at a restaurant called the "Edelweiss". Imagine an Austrian restaurant without slabs of cheese and meat. It's like a brothel without women..an oxymoron.
This is probably my last entry, so I should leave some final impressions.
-Registering in any hotel, no matter how much of a dive takes time. There is a huge ledger, 18 by 30 inches. The usual information, name, address in Canada, sex, age, passport number, Indian visa number, but also when these documents were issued, when they expire, and where they were issued. Exact  time of arrival at the hotel, what city you came from, what city you will travel to next. One place even asked for my father's first name. Once that is filled out there is another register that repeats just about everything.
-Coke and Pepsi still is served in bottles
-Stores still sell rolls of Kodak film. I wonder what the "Best to use" date is on those
-You can still buy 256M photo cards
-Even though a guide book can give you the name and street number of a hotel, it is completely useless, because there are NO street signs, and I have yet to see a street number on any building. The only way to get anyplace is to ride a tuk-tuk, and even they sometimes have to ask for directions.
-I have never seen a speed limit sign. Outside of Delhi I have yet to see a traffic light.
-Streets and public urinals are the same thing.
-You do see a lot of animals on the street; dogs, buffalo, cows, oxen, donkeys, goats, monkeys, camels, and even elephants. I know that one of the questions on the customs form when I get back to Canada is whether I have visited a farm. I can honestly say no, but I won't mention that the farm was with me the entire trip.
It will be quite an adjustment getting back to the Canadian way of life, but I have to say I am looking forward to the change.
I hope you have enjoyed my musings. It has been quite the experience.
Auf Wiedersehen

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone

When I talked about how comfortable this trip has become I spoke too soon.
Sunday I got sick to my stomach. Not pleasant.
The bigger problem was that I had agreed to share a car to Udaipur with a French couple, so I had an all day car ride ahead of me.
I still can't get over the driving here. The road out of Jodhpur was good, 4 lane, well paved. After an hour it became a 2 lane. Still not bad. Rajasthan is very flat, and the roads are straight.
We then turned off on a side road to Kanakpur, one of the largest Jain temples in India.
Here the road turned tricky. It was a SINGLE lane of paving, sometimes it was only a bit of aspalt connecting a lot of potholes. If traffic comes towards you, you just pull over to the dirt shoulder until you have passed. The thing that I had some difficulty is getting used to the left hand drive. As you speed towards each other I expect to move to the right. Well, here it is that you have to move left. Takes times to get used to,
The other thing is that the topography is different. Very hilly, so now the roads are curvy and bumpy. Not ideal for a queasy stomach. There are no "no passing" zones, Blind curves, villages, all is game. You just lean on the horn and go. Needless to say there are close calls.
The one nice thing was that I did get a chance to see rural India. We saw a lot of villages. Many women collecting, and carrying bundles of wood. I wondered how they balanced it, but it turns out that they have a cloth ring, doughnut shaped, which softenes the load. Still heavy, but not as painful  Lots of shepherds, usually little girls. One sight was unreal. It was a farmer who was lifting water from a pond to his fields. The power came from a pair of oxen. It was just like a picture from ancient Egypt. The only difference was he used tin cans rather than reed buckets.
Also lots of buses, packed to the hilt,  with people riding on top.
The temple at Kanakpur is in a remote setting, and very big. It has 20 interior rooms, divided by marble columns, each exquisitele carved. There are 1444 of these columns. I didn't count them, I took the guide book's word for it.
After that visit we took another hour to see another fort, Kumbhalgarth. Another impressive fort, on a high hill, gorgeous views, because this part of the country is hilly. To be honest I would have passed on this one, on that day anyway.
We finally arrived in Udaipur at 5:30, and I was happy that I had booked a hotel ahead. And it turned out a beauty. Nicest place I have stayed in so far. Even Sandy would stay here.
Another problem arose, when I tried to buy a plane ticket back to Delhi, on Thursday, No luck, everything was booked. So Plan B is to take an overnight bus on Wednesday, arriving in Delhi in the morning. 15 hours, but I did get a sleeper.
Tata

Feb 12 still in Jodhpur

This is turning into a real holiday, very relaxed and comfortable.
I had originally planned to take a bus to Udaipur today, but my landlady told me the buses that go there are not very uncomfortable. I happen to be sitting with a French couple who were also going to Udaipur, but not till Monday. I decided to stay here another day, and we will share a car to Udaipur on Monday.
Mornings here have been lovely. At about 6 I can hear the call to prayer from a nearby mosque. A very nice melodic chant. There is a group of doves nesting outside my window, and for the next hour or so, before the traffic starts all I can hear is the gentle cooing of doves.
The weather has warmed up quite a bit. The high today was 28, the low 12. I slept without my arctic nightwear for the first time on this trip.
I have walked all over the old town, and, once you get away from the tourist spots, it is very pleasant. The stores here are quite different. There are literally hundreds of little shops. The ground floor of every building is a shop. Most are about 10 by 20 feet. The textile shops are lined floor to ceiling with bolts of materials. If you want to buy something you sit on a cushion, tea is served, and the salesman starts his pitch. There is always an assistant who brings bolts of the materials that the salesman suggests. The only stores that are similar to what we are used to are emporiums that are strictly for tourists. Every tour I have been on has stopped at one or two of these. There is usually a floor for carpets, another for textiles, then jewelry and crafts. High pressure sales all the way. I have learned not to even go in anymore.
I read on the news last year that the Indian government has denied permission for Walmart and Home Depot to open stores in India. I think a Walmart would put thousands of these little stores out of business.
I did have another "Indian" moment this morning. As we were having breakfast we looked down to the street and there was an elephant rambling down the street. What a sight!
One more night in Jodhpur, and then it's off to my last stop before returning home.
Tata

Feb 11 Still in Jodhbur

Today was a day of R&R.
I had a nice cup of my coffee and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast on the roof top.
The rest of the morning I walked the old town. If it weren't for the taxis and cars you could be back in the middle ages. There are still public pumps where water is distributed. Freshly milked milk is sold out of big canisters, by the ladle. No homo milk here.
There are Internet cafes, but also places where you can rent a manual typewriter by the hour. A lot of tailor shops, still using manually powered Singer machines. No electricity.
I think today was the first day I didn't visit a temple. Hindu and Jain temples are quite different from our churches. Aside from one huge temple in Delhi none of the temples have large interior spaces. They are all divided into small rooms, like chapels, each dedicated to its own deity. And there are a multitude of those; elephant gods, monkey gods, and so on. In front of every temple are stalls where you can purchase flower garlands, and other offerings. These are offered at the individual altars. Sometimes a priest will conduct a service for a group of people, lots of chanting, bell ringing and incense.
In every place I have visited there are dozens of temples and shrines, some just a niche at the side of a building, others much larger.
There doesn't seem to have been the same sense of competition as European cathedrals, where they were definitely status symbols; you know "our cathedral is bigger than yours"
Indians do have festivals several times a year where large groups gather, but the rest of the time visiting temples and shrines seems to be a personal act.
They do have some weird ones. I mentioned the "rat" temple before. Near Jodhpur is another odd one. A few years ago a local smashed his motorcycle into a tree, and died. They took what was left of the bike to the police station. It disappeared from the station, and was found at the crash site the next day. They took it back to the police station, but, lo and behold, it once again went back to the tree. So they created a shrine, with the motorcycle at it's own altar and has become a place where travelers make offerings for safe travel.
To me it would make more sense using something that wasn't in a fatal accident.
We tend to make fun of stories like that, but Christians aren't any different. There is the story of St. James, the patron saint of Spain, who, more than a thousand years after he died, rode a horse out of heaven and helped the Christian army defeat the Moors. In just about every church in Spain is a painting of St. James the Moor slayer.
Let's talk about toilets. I was warned to expect the worst, but it not bad at all. It is true that every toilet, sit-down or hole-in-the-floor, has a tap and a bucket. If you want to clean yourself the Indian way you use your left hand, and rinse yourself clean. That's why it is a no-no to eat with your left hand. Having said that every hotel I have been in has provided toilet paper as an option. My left hand is still unused for that purpose.
I did have a pleasant experience today. I discovered a cafe that served a great cappuccino. It really was a good one.
Life is full of surprises.
Tatar

F 10 Jodhpur

I wish I could have shared last night with all of you.
I was sitting on the roof top of my guest house; the temperature was pleasant, I was listening to Leonard Cohen, and I had just talked to Sandy.
I was looking at the most magnificent fort I have seen on this trip. Mehrangarn Fort is a massive structure on a steep hill overlooking the whole area. The fort was built with stone from the hill, so it looks like a massive stone wall, all lit up at night.
It was a magical moment, and I realized how fortunate I am to be able to do a trip like this at this stage of my life.
Truly magical!
This morning the owner arranged for a tuk-tuk to do a city tour. There was another tourist, a lovely young lady from Edmonton, and we shared the cost of the taxi.
Jodhpur is a large city, but they have made an effort to clean it up. It shows, a lot less garbage, fewer cows. Actually pleasant.
We first visited a mansion, built in the 1930's. It is the home of the family of the last maharaja, and it is also a luxury hotel. Prices start at 800 dollars a night. There are 365 rooms in this palace. The grounds are immaculate, and, of course, the view is great.
We then visited a garden where there were cenotaphs from the 15th century on. Very peaceful and impressive.
It also was the first place where little kids were bothersome, but they gave up soon.
Stop 3 was a marble palace, another cenotaph. They sure know how to bury people.
Final stop was the fort itself. Fantastic. Many of the rooms were still furnished, and there were collection of weapons, paintings, carriages. All well displayed.
Jodhpur is called the Blue City, and from the ramparts of the fortress you can see why. Most of the buildings in the old part are painted a bright blue, and from the top it looks enchanting.
The young lady and I got along very well, it was nice to have a conversation. She is on a world journey. She started in Nepal, and after India she is off to Africa, North Korea, Vietnam, and then Russia and Easter Europe. Quite the adventure. We traded blogsites, and I am looking forward to following her blog.
Time for a hot shower.
Tata

Feb 9 Jodhpur

I took the bus from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur this morning. It was interesting because the bus was to leave at 8:15. By 8 there were a couple of people ready to board. I had bought a "sleeper" ticket, which gave me a 6 foot long, 2.5 wide and 3 foot high cabin. It had sliding doors and privacy curtains. The foam mattress was nice, and there was a pillow. By 8:30 we hadn't left, but a lot more people showed up, with their luggage. Because of the sleeper compartment there is no luggage rack, so it stays in the aisle. We left at 8:45, but made a couple of stops on the way out of the city. By the time we left, the bus was packed, and there wasn't even any standing room. I was very happy to have my private sardine can inside the bigger sardine can.
The bus ride took 5 hours, and I read my Kindle and slept.
Jodhpur is a big city, with another impressive fort. I am staying in a guest house in the old part, with a beautiful view of the fort from the roof top of the guest house.
I have a great room; it even has a foam mattress. The couple running the place are lovely.
I started to walk around, and spent a couple of hours at the market. This is, by far, the nicest and biggest market I have seen so far. The usual number of cows, but a lot to see. Jodhpur is noted for its spice market, and that is very colorful and aromatic. It's nice to smell something besides cow shit, urine, and exhaust fumes.
Till tomorrow

Jan 8 My last day in Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer's fort is different than any of the others I have seen. The forts in Agra, Jaipur, and Bikaner have all been turned into tourist sites. At one time they were all functioning forts, and they were mainly fortified cities. Once the British controlled the country, these forts remained in the private hands of the local princes. They started to use them as private residences and built palaces within the fortifications. In Agra, for example there were more than a dozen palaces in the fort.
Jaisalmer is different in that it is still a functioning town within the fortified walls. There are 3000 inhabitants living inside the walls, with numerous hotels, restaurants, and shops. There is one palace, and several Jain temples.
The fort sits on top of a triangular hill, with steep side all around. I would guess the perimeter is about 2 to 3 km.
All the buildings are made of sand stone, which is easily carved. The carvings in the temples and the houses are fantastic. Unbelievably beautiful, in their honey colours.
Another nice thing is that the lanes and streets are very narrow, they haven't changed for 400 years, so there is no car traffice, just the occasional motorcycle. It is actually peaceful and laid back. It's the first place where I have been able to browse without someone on your back.
I think I mentioned that there is a German bakery. I have shopped there every day; they make lovely brown bread buns, and cinnamon rolls.
The outside of the walls is full of shops of every kind. The problem is that they are all very small, and they all basically sell the same things. No variety. For example I have only seen one store that sold butter, and it was a1 lb size, not too convenient for me.
I should mention there are lots of stalls selling fruits and vegetables. Bananas, pineapples, apples, papayas, oranges, and grapes. I haven't seen a head of lettuce, or peppers, except for chili peppers, and beans. Some stalls will sell a fruit salad in a bowl. They have a variety of fruit, but also cucumbers and radishes. It took me about a week to try one, but I have been eating them regularly since.
Luckily I haven't had a case of Delhi Belly yet.
Tomorrow I am off to Jodhpur.
I should mention another "Indian" moment. I was at a restauranr in Bikaner, and one of the items on the menu was "Diet Cock"
Now there is an idea whose time has come.
Till later

Feb 7

I am still in Jaisalmer, and I am enjoying myself. I have decided to stay here an extra day, and catch my breath.
I lucked out with my hotel. This is the tenth hotel I have stayed at, and it is the nicest, by far. The owners are a couple, he is Indian, she is a Kiwi. They have been very helpful and it's been peaceful.
Yesterday afternoon I watched a camel tatoo, like a RCMP musical ride, only with camels. It was spectacular. The camels were decorated with very colourful pomoms, bells, even the tails were braided. The riders were as colorful as the camels. It was a great display of precision riding.
The only problem was the crowd. I have discovered Indians are quite pushy. When I am in line to buy a bus ticket, I have had people push right in front of me, push their money through, and order a ticket. The amazing thing is that no-one complains. This aggressiveness is how they drive, just plain nuts.
I have been stopped at several railcrossings. Rather than waiting in their lane, everyone drives up to the front. On a two lane road there will be four vehicles lined up. The same is on the other side. When the barriers go up there is a mad dash across, trying to get into the correct lane. It is hard to describe the experience.
Speaking of traffic I have not seen a set of traffic lights since Jaipur. And there it was only one. Everything depends on how aggressive you drive.
A couple of other observations. This part of India is flatter than the prairies; no rolling hills. It is desert country, miles and miles of brown earth, only scrub brush. Very, very few hills. The last time it rained was months ago. This explains why the further west you go the more camels you encounter. The camel is the beast of burden here.
Another thing that has struck me is the absence of what we would call a grocery store. Hundreds of stores line the streets, but they are all tiny; maybe 15 across and 20 feet deep. Some do sell the basics, like rice, out if big bags, and they all sell large cans, 15 kilos, of cooking oil. Trying to buy anything besides the basics is impossible. I did discover a "German" bakery that sold real bread. I have yet to see anything like cheese. Meat is also absent, there is a large Muslim minority, so no pork, and Hindus think cows are sacred, so no pork. The only meat is chicken, goat, or mutton. The chickens are pygmies. I have ordered half chicken a couple of times, and there was less meat than on a drum stick at Swiss Chalet. The sauces are good though.
I have spent a lovely afternoon on a roof top restaurant, sipping chai, which has nutmeg and cinnamon, looking out over the city and desert.
This is as relaxed as I have been on the entire trip.
Just lovely!!!

Feb 6 Jaisalmer

I met a couple of lovely American ladies from DC at breakfast at my hotel. We went to the Desert Festival together.

It was held at a stadium, and they had a special seating area for Foreign Tourists, right on the 50 yard line.

The first event was the camel decorating contest. The camels and their riders were spectacular. It was a real show. One of the Americans was asked to be a judge.

There were several other events. Some rather weird. There was one contest where camel riders dismounted. They took off the saddles and placed them about 20 feet to the back. Then they took their camel blankets and placed them another 20 feet back. Another 20 feet back they untied their turbans. Finally, at another 20 feet off came their trousers. So, starting in their underwear, at a whistle they raced to put on their pants, then their turbans, and so on. I am not sure how the winner was decided. It wasn't the first one on the camel again.

There also was a local game that looked like tag, only a lot more physical.

Then there was a camel polo game. Quite funny watching the camels romp around.

The highlight was a Tug-of -war, first pitting foreign men against Indian men. I actually had a spot on the team, but gave it to a Belgian, who was really keen on participating. The foreigners won 2 out of 3. Then came the ladies, foreigners against Indians. Both of my new acquaintances were on the team. After two hard fought pulls, they won. It was impressive.

Later this afternoon we are off to a Camel Tattoo. Sort of like a desert version of the RCMP musical ride.

Should be interesting.

There sure a lot of photos for me to sort once I get home.

Tata

Feb 5 Jaisalmer

I left Bikaner yesterday morning, and took a bus to Phalodia. All that was going was a local bus, very basic. None of these local buses are less than 40 years old, and they show it. The seats are cracked, the whole bus rattles continuously. Luckily it wasn't completely full, and I had 2 seats to myself.
I arrived in Phalodia in the afternoon, and spent the day walking around. I do like these smaller towns, no real hassles with salesmen. My hotel was another dump, but cheap. The only place the Lonely Planet recommended was 80 dollars, so I cheaped out again. The beds here are generally very hard, the matresses have given up on having any lift decades ago.
The reason I stopped in Phalodia was that it was near the village of Kachin. Kachin is the place where Demoiselle cranes winter. These are very graceful birds, about 75 cm tall, gre, with short peaks. They actually fly over the Himalayas from their breeding grounds in China and central Asia. The villagers have been feeding the, on a daily basis, for the last 150 years. There are supposedly several thousands, but my guess would be several hundred. At day break they swoop in and feed. It is quite a sight, and the noise is unreal.
After visiting Kachin this morning I took a bus to Jaisalmer. This happened to be a luxury Volvo bus and it was a world of difference from my other buses. The other interesting fact was that there were other Western tourists on this bus. On all the others I was the only foreigner.
Jaisalmer is as far west as I am travelling, and the reason I chose to go there is that the next three days there is the Desert Festival.
This afternoon I was in time to see the mustache competition, and the Mr. Desert competition.
It's like a county fair, rides, even things like corn on the cob, cotton candy and popcorn in addition to Indian specialities.
It should be a lot of fun, tug-of-wars, camel races, camel decorating, and fireworks.

I am looking forward to the next few days.
By the way the hotel I am staying in lovely, clean, quiet, and the even the bed is comfortable.
Till later

Feb 3 Bikaner

I had a good sleep, the wedding guests were not noisy at all.
One thing I learned, the entire city shuts off its electricity between 8 and 10 am every day. If you want to make coffee or take a shower it better be done before 8.
I spent the morning visiting some Jain temples in the old city in Bikaner. The old city dates back to the 15th century, and if you were to remove the motorcycles and tuk-tuks, you would be there six hundred years ago. The streets are lanes, going everywhich way. There are open sewers along all the streets; I even saw some women washing clothes in these sewers.If you could see a google view, it would look like a plate of sphaghetti. I had intended to walk around, but there was no way I could find my way out again. I used a tuk-tuk to take me to the temples, and then home again.
Jain is one of the old Indian religions. They belief it is wrong to kill any living thing, even mosquitoes. When you enter one of their temples, no leather is permitted. No shoes, no belts. It would be interesting to see a group of Satans Choice riders in one of the temples, down to their underwear.
The thing is that going in your socks, or even without, is fine as long as you are inside, but there are smaller temples on the grounds, and there are pigeon droppings all over the place. I have washed my socks on a daily basis.
In the afternoon I took a car, with driver to the village of Deshnok, about 30 km south of Bikaner. It is the location of a famous Hindu temple, the Karni Mata Temple. Karni Mata was a Hindu saint who lived in the 14th century. She performed several miracles for the local ruler, who rewarded her with a temple in her honour. It has beautiful solid silver doors. The claim to fame though is the she made a deal with one of the gods. For the return of her son, who drowned, she would promise that she and all her descendants would be re-incarnated as rats.
 I am not making this up.
So there is this temple, which is teeming with rats running all over the place.You have to watch where you step. They are fed and looked after. There are several hundred of these little furry creatures running around. Indians come from all over the place to ask favours from Karni Mata. They make offerings to her, and feed the rats. This is probably the most popular temple I have seen, there is a continuous line of locals going through the temple.
Another experience was the drive home, in the dark. I think to drive in India you need a drivers licence and a death wish. I haven't figured out the rules of the road yet. All I know is that cows have the right of way, every time. The highway from Deshnok back to Bikaner is a major road, which means it is paved, two-lane, no paved shoulder. At night everyone drives with their high beams, unless they don't turn on their lights at all. Cows come without lights. It's quite an experience driving along and meeting a big cow slowly ambling across the highway. You also have tuk-tuks, top speed about 20 km/h, bicycles, trucks, buses, camel drawn carts, and dogs and goats. I think the only reason there aren't many accidents is that the speed are low. In the city you don't go over 15 km/h, on the highway, 60 is the top.
I was very happy to return to my hotel

Feb2 Bikaner

India strikes me as a street lined with piles of garbage, where, every once in a while, you find a special diamond among the rubble.
You walk along a dirty street, an open sewer beside the road, and you turn into a fort, and you are in a different world. Inside there is no garbage, no animals, no noise. It's magic!
That's what happened this morning when I visited the fort in Bikaner.
All forts have things in common, but the amazing thing is that each one has some feature which makes it unique and special. This one has some of the most beautifully decorated interiors I have seen so far.
As I said MAGICAL.
In the afternoon I visited the Bikaner Camel Research Institute, just outside Bikaner. It is home to 360 camels, and is a breeding facility. I learned a lot of interesting things about camels, but I can see your eyes glaze over.
It was neat seeing new born camels. They stand 2 hours after being born, and by 10 days they are going gang busters.
During the day the camels are led into the country side to feed. At about 4 in the afternoon they all return for more feeding. It is quite a sight to see several hundred camels run towards you, eager to hit the trough.
I did a short camel ride, about 10 minutes. A bit scary, especially when they stand up, because they do the back legs first, and you feel like you will be projected forward. Then the front legs rise, and you are off. It's quite a bumpy ride, and I hung on for dear life. I really didn't want my obituary to say "Died from falling off a camel"
Another demonstration we saw was the mating of two camels. Local farmers can bring their females to the center and, for no charge, one of the male camels gets to do the job. They seemed to enjoy the experience, lots of grunting; it lasted about 5 minutes, and then they went off their separate ways, never looking back. I don't think they even knew each others names.
Another funny thing happened. An English group was there to film a documentary, and they asked me if I minded whether they shot me buying a camel milk ice cream cone. Their treat! How could I say no for free ice cream? The icecream was actually quite good. I might even make BBC.
I don't think I am going to sleep well tonight. My hotel is hosting a large wedding party. I think I am the only non wedding guest here.
We'll see
Till then