The Mays Go Down Under

July 29-August 14

Click here  for photo gallery and captions.
Australia
It was going to be a great  trip, and I had the best intentions of keeping a blog of our adventures along the way.  But between limited (and expensive) Internet access and the fact that we were on the move every day (by car, plane, bus, ferry, or feet), it turned out that my day-by-day blogging plan didn't work out as planned. So instead of using my little blue netbook, I ended up keeping a journal in my iphone. Therefore, following is an after-the-fact blog, all in one post, instead of daily, up to-the-minute news. So I can tell you now at the start that we had a great family trip in Australia!


Well, except for a disastrous beginning before we even got there....



Friday, July 29, 2011

Shocking and sad discovery at LAX - but all worked out! 



A passport snafu at LAX--poor Zoe!


Smooth sailing from San Francisco (Patrick, Zoe, Cody on one flight, me and Caitlin on another) only to meet disaster at LAX. At Qantas check-in, Zoe was told that someone had reported her passport "lost or stolen" a  year ago so it was invalid and she needed to get a new one or she couldn't go to Australia! We were all shocked at how such a thing could have happened when we had the passport right in our hand--and no one had ever contacted Zoe to say someone had called about her passport. And they wouldn't even tell 


It's not down under, but it's a beach!

us who had reported it! She would have to get a new passport. But since it was Friday night, she couldn't get the passport until Monday morning, and even that was uncertain given the mixed information we were getting from the airline workers. After much anguish about being separated, it was decided that we had no other choice but for Zoe to stay in Los Angeles so she could get her passport early Monday morning and catch the flight Monday night. I insisted on staying with Zoe, big sister Caitlin generously offered to stay instead. Thank you, Caitlin! We found a really nice Qantas manager, Vincent, who ended up helping them get through the ticket transfer smoothly. Meanwhile, looks like Caitlin and Zoe had their own adventure on and around the beach at Santa Monica...and got the passport on Monday morning at 6 a.m. without a hitch. (Their travails even made the headlines in the newspaper.) 

Sunday, July 31, 2011


 

We heart Melbourne (but miss Caitlin and Zoe)!





Susan and Cody pose with Melbourne in the background.

While Caitlin and Zoe were frolicking on the beach (and waiting on long passport lines) Patrick, Cody, and I were on our 15-hour journey (I was on a separate flight) with round-the-clock movie and tv entertainment. and we finally  landed in Melbourne. We eventually ended up meeting at the Oslo Hotel in the hip St. Kilda area in the afternoon. We grabbed a bite at  a popular outdoor cafe called GroceryBar, where we had small but delicious lamb and feta  "pides" (like a pita sandwich) and a swiss-avocado toastie (like grilled cheese). We like the food so far but it's expensive as we'll find out throughout the trip. Our friendly server told us all the hotspots in Melbourne. So first we hopped on a bus to the CBD (Central Business District) and got off in beautiful downtown Melbourne. It turned out to be a mixture of the old and the new - with beautiful architecture in the centuries-old office buildings, churches, and the old train station -- but also bright colors and designs of a modern, hip Melbourne. We strolled throughout the city, had a beer at a cool, outdoor bar under the bridge, took a bunch of  photos, and headed back to St. Kilda. There, we changed in the hotel and went out to eat on the bustling, restaurant-filled Alcade Street where we enjoyed Malaysian noodles and roti with peanut sauce. Yum!

 

Old Melbourne

New Melbourne

Ageless beer

We caught a bus back to our hotel area and walked a few blocks to the water and to the end of St. Kilda Pier (the place where three days later,  while we were still in Tasmania, Caitlin and Zoe would see little penguins come out of the water at dusk--I was so envious! Below is a photo of the pier and a 360 degree video view of the whole area. It was on the windy side (as you'll hear) and the temperature was a little cool (a warm winter in Australia, kind of like summer in San Francisco)!

St. Kilda Pier


Monday, August 1

On to the rugged island of Tasmania

 With a heavy heart (and two empty seats next to us), we continued our trip to TAsmania, the mountainous island in the southeast corner of mainland Australia. The flight took about an hour and when we arrived in Launceston (which we never could pronounce correctly), we rented a bright red car for our journey around the island. We called the girls to make sure they were ok, then toured the town and headed for our destination -- the snow-capped Cradle Mountain, a few hours north.

But first we stopped for breakfast at the Basin Café  at Cataract Gorge, the biggest tourist attraction in town and home of the” longest single-span chairlift in the world.” We passed on the ride but had a nice breakfast in the glass-walled restaurant looking out at the breath-taking gorge. Next stop was Elizabethtown at the highly recommended Ashford Cheese Company, where we sampled handmade cheese and  bought sharp cheddar and creamy havarti. Then we stopped at the next small town and bought bread, ham, apples, and éclairs and had a picnic at an idyllic spot along the nearby Mersey River. Another hour or so and we were driving up winding roads to the Cradle Mountain area  and found our small cozy cabin just as it was beginning to get dark and drizzly. We had been warned about the Tasmanian devils, wallabies, and other native creatures wandering around

and sure enough we saw them! We hung out in the nearby lodge and enjoyed the cozy fireplace, delicious dinner, and available internet. The next morning it was cold and sunny and we hiked in the rainforest until we came to the beautiful Cradle Mountain and nearby Dove Lake. 

When we got back to the lodge, we said goodby to our apple-loving pet wallaby (see video) and wound our way  back to Launceston, stopping to look at murals on the buildings in Sheffield and the  topiaries in the gardens of ___________ where we had lunch at a tea shop and talked to the owner about her rabbit pies and the bad economy. Back in the city, we found a nice hotel across from the lovely City Park (which interestingly housed an exhibit of Macaque monkeys, a gift from Japan).