Australia Amnesia
April 15, Friday (6:30pm Phil):
I’m in the airplane at the window-side seat, 1st row on the left wing near the mini-pantry around the mid exit. I stared out of the windows. Down there was like a city map in lighted dots, sort of ant-like creatures moving on lanes with their antennas glowing. Well, those were cars in real life ;) As my eyes rolled up, I see a glow of horizon shading from dark brown to orange to yellowish to cream. Ahh.. The beauty of sunset right before my eye-level :) Welcome to my escapade; a temporal amnesia for rest and exploration in Australia :)
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April 16, Saturday (10am Sydney):
Sydney is shaking! Up and down! O.o and so is my head. 9hour flight to Sydney on top of a 2hour connecting flight. Haven’t had a good sleep. We’re now heading to domestic airport to travel another 2 hours toward Cairns, our 1st destination of escapade! :) Domestic flight airport is few kilometers away from international. We hopped into a taxi and the flag down rate was around $4 point something. As second ticks away, the meter went crazy! Every second increases the fare by $.05!, every second whether mobile or immobile! It took us a total of $25 just to transfer to another airport in about 10minutes! Say hello to the new standard of living here!
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April 17, Sunday (9:10pm Cairns): Escapade # 1: The Great Barrier Reef.
Cairns is a small city in Queensland with friendly outgoing people; tall, white, and well, yeah some handsome ones with nice smiles :) Kidding aside, what I love here is their discipline on the road. Most of the drivers do stop 5 feet away from a pedestrian, giving way, as compared to the Philippines wherein driving is equivalent to racing like there's no more tomorrows! The city houses a lot of open-air pubs so I guess meeting-up and drinking are the main social activities here. Our hotel is located near the beachfront. That leads to our #1 escapade: The Great Barrier Reef.
Main activity of the day: Scuba diving up to 20feet deep (how shallow I should say, just half of our local introductory dive!). It’s a sunny day. I went down and saw the wonderful underwater creatures; myriads of coral ranging from small to big, rounded to thorny, singles and chunks. Fishes are a big eye-catcher ranging from bright colored ones; yellowish angel-like, multi-colored stripy ones, reddish carp-like, and glowing-blue discus-like. A reef indeed for those healthy fishes :)
As I swam along, the instructor pulled me to kneel on a spot. As I turned my head, there was Wally! :D
The main attraction of the Great Barrier Reef lies upon a huge fish of about 6 feet long and 5 inches wide named Wally (pen-name from the scientific one hehe). He’s multi-colored scales shines from bluish green to reddish orange beneath the sun rays. What’s cool is he’s not afraid of people! Given the size, it also is a friendly fish. I’ve gotten the chance to get close with Wally touching his soft head towards his tail. Amazing. A connection with a different kind of underwater creature. Wally definitely made our visit worth the experience!
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April 18, Monday (10:20 Warimoo) On a Train:
I’m currently on a train traveling 2hours from Sydney (back from Cairns) to Katoomba. As I sat here waiting, time tells me to write.
People here are amazing; strangers interact with one another engaging in good conversation as they sat next to each other for the first time (maybe this simple activity is the basic reason why western influences are strong). Diversity in culture can be found in Australia; from Australian to American to Korean to Indian to Chinese to African to Arab to Japanese etc. People weren’t jampacking (or maybe due to off-peak hours). Seats are cool here in the train; you can pull the backrest on opposite directions depending on where the train is heading. Weather is nicely cold of around 20degC. People are disciplined and trusted. Everyone takes time to do everything; self-service ordering, self-service cleaning up, even self-service counters / cashier
What truly is the composition of a good society? A good micro-culture directed by good governance maybe? I couldn’t exactly state how the government here is doing. But to my observation, no doubt, it’s better than ours..
I haven’t seen a single church since my travel here started, or maybe I wasn’t yet too observant of that. One of my journey goals here is to reconnect with God. To be honest, seeing a lot of independent individuals empowers me to think that I too can do life on my own (physically and spiritually speaking). Maybe this is the danger of such society exposed too much on the ‘self’. Oh well, these are only observations. I still need to embrace life here if I was to conclude. More learning and fun on the coming days! :)
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| Three Sisters Rock, Blue Mountain |
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| Jenolan Caves |
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April 22, Friday (connecting thoughts of the day at Sydney):
Let me write something about the past 2 cities I’ve visited. To give you a look on what Cairns and Sydney is about, here are some observational keywords:
Cairns: Flip flops, Beachwear Everywhere, Barefoot walking, Shorts, Laid-back, Pub, Drinking, Smoking, White people, little diversity of Culture, 4pm store closes, Beach, Relaxed.
Sydney: High heels, Platforms, Dresses and Make-ups, Pub, Drinking, Smoking, Shopping, Fast-track living, various cultures (as in various from the ones mentioned above), "City-Lifestyle", Pressure, Explore.
Getting on Sydney with different race inhabiting, it feels so interesting to live in such and explore; to be independent and blend-in on what the city has to offer. Since day 1 until now, our trip has been a blast! It really feels so wonderful to witness how different people move on their own, and to learn from them. I felt the saying of how young ones wouldn’t want to come back home once they get the feel of living abroad. Could it be that I might reconsider this? But where? And when? Hmm… :)
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April 24, Sunday (10:10pm Adelaide):
Adelaide: “The Streets” (suburb lingo), Pub, Drinking, Smoking, “Pokies”, Medium-variety of culture with part-time students/ workers.
We arrived here yesterday. Our hotel is situated in the city, yet few meters away are a lot of bars and “Pokies”. I can conclude that drinking and smoking is rampant here in Australia, yet this specific area, there are legitimate “pokies” and stores that encourage “pleasure”. I was really distracted and annoyed. Felt uncomfortable walking in such lane when we’re just browsing thru for a decent restaurant. Exploring this place wasn’t part of the plan, except that it’s an overnight accommodation for our coming escapade. I don’t know how Adelaide really stands but with all these, I wasn’t satisfied.
Today is Easter Sunday. Few people are out as most stores are closed. We got to spend the day at Kangaroo Island (2 hours travel by bus and ferry from the hotel) and witnessed many majestic things. Paint this picture in your head:
Beach and rocks + waves rolling high + Fur Seals resting and singing on the rocks + sunrays = Breathtaking landscape
Vast land + Big trees + Green grasses + Group of kangaroos resting under the sun + Sunny skies = Instance of awe
Sounds good? :) These are what I commonly see at National Geographic/ Animal Planet shows and now, it’s really so amazing how I can witness these pictures first-hand. No amount of words can paint the beauty of it’s details. All elements are combined towards one purpose: Glorifying God for His Wonderful Creations :) The locals here try to protect and conserve these natural things and creations. Hopefully, the future can still preserve the intricacies of nature :)
I thank God for this day on how some things can go unsatisfying yet turned out to grab my attention back to Him again. I haven’t had much of my QT as the days we’re hectic to make the most of our stay. I was reminded to pause for a while from all the earthly things and to appreciate the beauty of just the wonderful things made by God, Himself. After that, feels like nothing else out there matters anymore.. :)
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April 26, Tuesday (7:35pm Melbourne) On a tour bus heading home:
Our last destination for this day was the Penguin Parade at Philip Island. Let me just say that the little penguins were so cute! Think about Happy Feet’s Mumble when he was still young :D
Our tour guide briefed us about penguins prior to seeing them: 1.) Penguins send usually either their bravest or weakest to check on the area first if it’s safe or not before the batch comes out. 2.) The male penguins will build or find a house hoping for female penguins to come by, and when the latter likes the house, she’ll settle and they’ll mate. 3.) Penguins make a funny pig-like crying noise when they find a mate. 4.) Penguins come back to the spot where they were born and will bear their babies there. 5.) Their feathers are 5x thick to protect them on the cold and they shed once a year. 6.) Penguins are birds, not fish (just in case some may still not know lol).
Actual Scenario: Sun was already so low that it’s almost night time. There were wooden paths and stairs built for people. Outside those were already the penguins’ property; ocean to shore towards grasses and bushes. The lights were so dimmed, much like a lantern hung for every meter lighting the place. We were on the wooden stairs similar to an arena structure on the shore.
6:20pm; a little penguin (about an arm-sized high with dark bluish feather on top and white on the tummy part) came walking by, alone! Amazing how brave (or weak) he must be :p He stood there for few minutes. Then another one came walking by him. After about a quarter, many penguins swam out of the ocean making their way towards the shore to the grasses!
The night ended with the skies so bright lit by countless stars above, as in countless! Imagine a scene full of nature where no hard constructions took place (no skyscrapers AT ALL). The skies were so wide open giving way to visibility to a heap of stars! That’s Philip Island, a small island about 3 hour drive from Melbourne, hectares of green lands and free animals roaming around. The evening was so memorable and I’m so in love with the landscape, the penguins, and the stars, oh so lovely :)
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| Koalas sleep around 20hours a day |
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| They are the only animal to eat eucalyptus leaves which is a low-energy meal that's why they sleep most of the day. They don't drink water unless they're really sick. |
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| Koala has a smiling face whenever they sleep :) |
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| Feeding a wallaby :) |
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| Wallaby, a family of kangaroo but smaller in size |
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April 29, Sunday (2:44pm Melbourne):
Melbourne: Black tights, dresses, boots, tunics, loose shirts, flats. Various cultures in friendships and relationships. Shopping galore, additional discounts for tourists. Tram, uniquely-Melbourne driving. Self-serve cashier!
Traveling is like going on to another dimension having the opportunity to learn new things and blend in with new cultures. It’s pretty interesting that every place has its own identity. That’s what makes traveling fun, aside from the temporal amnesia of stress and responsibilities back home hehe.
Well, I guess this is it. 15 days of rest and exploration. It’s time to go back to the real world once again. I thank God for the wonderful things I’ve seen and learned, for the breathtaking moments and all the revelation of important things in my life from God. He is indeed Majestic! Time to wake up! :) I miss my friends. Home Sweet Home :)
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