Australia...in a nutshell

We truly enjoyed our time in Australia.  The weather was great, the people were SO friendly and the country was beautiful.  Here are some Australian observations:

It was definitely nice to be back in an English-speaking country again after 9 months of English being a second language.  However, it was still hard to understand people.  Australians can have pretty thick accents and use lots of slang and abbreviated terms, so sometimes it felt like learning a different language.  For example: they call McDonald's "Macca's."  They also use the c-word like it's no big deal.  They throw it around often and it can be used as an insult or (more often) a compliment.  It's a bit shocking at first, but you get used to it.

Australians are super nice and super fun.  Everyone we've met has been so friendly, whether they're servers at Macca's or just hanging out at the bar, they're all very pleasant people and we've made friends with some real gems.

The laws in Australia are very strict.  All bars/clubs tend to close early, especially on weekdays (we've been in bars that closed at midnight!) and are very strict about serving people who are intoxicated.  It's obvious they've had problems in the past and are cracking down.

There are many different parts of Australia and each part is unique.  There are big cities, the bush, the tropics, rainforests, beach towns and almost everything in between.

Everything in Australia is expensive, especially anything to do with smoking, alcohol or eating out.  You're hard pressed to find a pack of cigarettes under $20, a beer at a bar for under $7 or a dinner under $20.  It certainly limits what you can do if you're on a budget.  I will say the food here is of excellent quality and we were never really disappointed, so you really get what you pay for.  Same with the craft beers:

Carlton Draft is NOT a craft beer, it's a cheap-o, but the rest were pretty good (Cooper's was our fav brand).  We tried Foster's just to say we had Foster's in Australia, but it's not really considered a good beer in Australia and no one drinks it.

We tried some food items that are specific to Australia.  

Vegemite is a salty, yeast spread that's undeniably Australian:

You put a VERY thin layer on toast with a little butter:

This is my bite after I put it in my mouth and immediately spit it back out.  It's strong, salty and disgusting.  Even Australians admit it's an acquired taste.  We definitely didn't acquire it.

Tim Tams are another story:

They're delicious sandwich cookies with a cream filling and the entire thing is dipped in chocolate.  It's super rich, but oh so good and they come in all sorts of flavors:

They're the unofficial cookie of Australia (at least that's how it seems) and they're usually eaten with coffee or tea.  I miss Tim Tams already.

Here are a few more Australian foods:

We also tried kangaroo, which was delish!

Overall, even though we only got to explore a portion of Australia, we loved it so much and hope to return someday.  Next post starts the final portion of our trip: New Zealand!

Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation

On January 22 we took a tour of the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation.  We woke up early and our shuttle picked us up and drove us about 2 hours to Daintree.  Here's a pic of a sugar cane farm from the road:

It was rainy in the morning, but it cleared up once we got there.  The drive was beautiful, but it was too hard to take pictures from the road.

To get into the rainforest, our shuttle had to board a ferry:

We're in!

We stopped at this lookout:

Then we drove a bit more, parked and took a walk through the rainforest.

Check this guy out:

It's a Boyd's Forest Dragon and they are only found in this area.  It was super still because that's its defense mechanism against predators (not the best method if I'm being honest, little dude.  Although we all just walked by not even noticing until I looked over and spotted him (yes, out of 20 people, the Asian who's needed glasses since the 6th grade spotted him.  Not you're proudest moment Australians)).  

Overall, the rainforest was very cool because it's one of the oldest rainforests in the world and some of these plants have been around for millions of years.  However, I'm more of a wildlife person than a plant person, so the lizard was the highlight for me (good eye, Sharmeela.  Good eye.).

  

I also forgot to put on bug spray before the walk and I got bit like crazy.  Not to mention, Dengue fever is in this area and is spread through mosquitoes, so it wasn't a thinking cap moment for me.  Luckily, it has now been 10 days since my body was attacked and I feel fine, so no Dengue here (knock on wood).  Dengue fever basically makes you crazy sick for weeks and there's no medication to prevent or cure it, so you just have to outlast it, which sounds like a nightmare.  I got so lucky!

The coolest animal to see in this rainforest is the cassowary.  It looks like an ostrich that got in a paintball fight.  

There are very few places in the world to see them and this rainforest is one of them.  However, it's even rare to see one in the rainforest because they seem to travel alone and stay in the shade of the trees.  The guide said he sees maybe one every 10 tours.  We got so lucky because one crossed right in front of us in the road!

We had already seen one at the Melbourne Zoo, but to see it in the wild was way cool!

YAY!  Cassowary!

Next, we headed to Cape Tribulation, which is a really pretty, tropical beach and the view is spectacular.

We had a picnic lunch I packed us and then we went to the lookout before hitting the beach.

Niny, a hermit crab!

Spectacular!

We got back to the van just as it was starting to rain again (perfect timing) and drove to Daintree Ice Cream Co.  They make their own ice cream and tea as well (it tastes like an English Breakfast):

Tea:

They do four flavors every day and have it already pre-scooped, so you just pay and grab your cup.  Today's flavors:

mango, raspberry and wattleseed (not a clue) were on top and macadamia was on bottom.  They were all incredible, but macadamia gets top honors.

We ate our ice cream while the guide drove us to our next location, the mangroves.

The sun came out at the perfect time (it's like a theme!) and we got a beautiful boat ride through the mangroves.  We even saw a couple crocs!

This one was 11 months old:

This was an adult:

They were really hidden!  They love to nestle into the mangroves because they're hidden from sight, but our guide knew where they would be, so we got lucky.

After the boat ride, we got back in the van (this tour included a lot of van time) and headed to our last stop: Mossman Gorge.

Wild turkey:

Rex Creek Suspension Bridge:

Then we went down to the gorge and Aaron went swimming.  The water was WAY cold, so I opted out:

Saw another neat lizard:

Then it was a 2-hour ride back to Cairns!

Giant bird nests:

Stopped at another lookout:

Saw this eagle flying by:

People come to this beach and stack rocks.  Now there are tons:

We stopped in Port Douglas, a really nice town halfway between Cairns and Daintree.

Apparently, President Bill Clinton visited this Mexican restaurant called Salsa in Port Douglas.  I couldn't get a good pic because the van was going too fast:

Doesn't this look photoshopped??  Not only is it NOT photoshopped, but it was taken from inside the van:

Good job, Aaron!

We stopped in a field where a bunch of wallabies live:

Yay!  They were so adorable!

Then the guide dropped us all off at our hostels and we went to P.J. O'Brien's for dinner.  Daintree rainforest was beautiful!