Australia

    The underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef

Our adventure is nearing its end and neither one of us knows how we feel about returning home. Ambivalent at best, I think. Except about being reunited with our washer and dryer. Those two we've missed terribly. And decent Mexican food but that we'll find in Sydney.

Though we have a few more days of adventure in Sydney, I thought I'd review our time in Australia.

    Darwin
We've visited Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane and tomorrow Sydney, a city we toured in 2014. After the brilliant silky colors, pedestrian and vehicle chaos, and deafening noise of South East Asia, Australia seems a little ordinary and familiar, more like Canada, our North American cousins than a completely different continent and culture. Of course, how could Australia compare to  the exotic, mysterious South East Asia.

    Ammunition bunker from WWII, Darwin

Darwin, located in the Northern Territory, was our first port. It is the gateway to Asia and as one of our guides said, the last stop for people wanting to escape from Australia. Darwin served as a military post during WWII for Australian and American ships and troops and because of its proximity to Asia, the Japanese bombed it 64 times. The city is filled with war memorials and museums and is tropical hot, like 95 degrees and 98% humidity hot.

    Aboriginal sculptures, Northern Territory

    
Happily, our next stop, an area just outside Cairns, the home of the Great Barrier Reef, was much cooler. Having been warned about the potential for rough seas, I wore a seasickness 
patch and was glad I did.
  

    

    Brilliant fish and colorful reef

Those passengers who pressed into service the "vomit bags" during the two hour boat ride 
probably wished they had "patched up" themselves.  I'm guessing the poor crew member 
who sadly found himself heaved upon by a sick passenger wished that, too. Isn't it smart 
to travel with seasickness meds?

Unfortunately, we made port in Brisbane on Easter Sunday so not much was open. A ship lecturer had discussed the Battle of Brisbane during WWII and we were eager to find a memorial or plaque or something about this event. This battle was actually between 
Australian and American troops who took to the streets of Brisbane for an alcohol fueled 
slug-fest over manly things like who got the prettiest local girls. We found nothing commemorating this colorful battle. Darn!

We moved on to visit General Macarthur's former headquarters, now a museum but Easter Sunday foiled us again! The place was closed so we settled for a pic of the plaque outside. 

The wonderful Gallery of Modern Art was open and gave us another opportunity to view 
Aboriginal and Indian Art.

Now it's on to beautiful Sydney.


Stay Calm. Travel when you can.