Great Barrier Reef & Sydney, Australia
Nov 9, 2024
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G'day, friends and family.
We are happy to share photos and a few experiences from our 2-week September trip to Australia. We visited Cairns & the Great Barrier Reef for snorkeling, and then Sydney.
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef comprises nearly 3000 coral reef systems and 900 islands along a 2300km stretch of Northeastern Australia. So, kinda big.
Snorkeling
The Reef has two sides, the inner reef that's closer to shore and relatively shallow, and the outer reef that is farther out and much deeper. We sampled each, one day at Fitzroy Island (inner reef) and another at Michaelmas Cay (outer reef).
Fitzroy Island
Fitzroy is a small resort island with gorgeous turquoise waters and a gentle rainforest hike.
It all looks so idyllic, so we expected the snorkeling to be easy. And the swimming part was, with calm and shallow waters. But the water visibility is limited to ~ 5 feet. Snorkeling there means swimmming from one spot to another, head on a swivel, hoping that something comes into view. It's an exercise in faith. Thankfully, it paid off. We saw a turtle, a stingray, and many colorful small fish.
Michaelmas Cay
We took a daylong tour to this small island whose waters are somehow even more stunning than Fitzroy's. They must add dye.
The coral were lively and pretty. The waters were very deep and with good visibility (at least 10-20 meters). The fish variety was good and included many large species like parrotfish and batfish. But the waves were tough and exhausting. Most of us used life jackets and still needed rest breaks. Still, great outing!
Some photos, most of them courtesy of our tour company:
Lots of life here. Large parrotfish and small clownfish (Nemo), star fish and sea cucumbers, giant clams that close up when approached, green sea turtles, and pretty corals.
This cay is a nesting site for many types of birds, including the brown booby when we visited. The chicks are snow white.
Rainforest
This region of Australia has huge untrammeled rainforests with ancient trees, enormous waterfalls, diverse wildlife, etc. They allegedly inspired James Cameron's vision for the Pandora rainforest in Avatar. We enjoyed a day outing for a hike, plus a cablecar ride above the tree canopy and Barron Falls.
Cairns
We stayed in Cairns, a laid-back town that feels a lot like California. Great for evening strolls by the water, birding, and enjoying the amazing ficus trees and fun aboriginal pointilism art style.
And then there are the bats. Cairns is home to one of Australia's largest colonies of flying foxes. They are the largest bat species, with wingspans up to 5 feet. These super-pollinators fly ~30km per day to forage for flowers and fruit, dispersing seeds along the way for new plants to grow. At dusk, hundreds descend to the fig trees, apparently not the least scared of us humans. Quite a sight.
A few bats flew low over a family with a baby stroller. Having grown up watching The In-Laws (1979) repeatedly, I feared the worst.
Sydney
Davina's parents visited Sydney during their own sabbaticals some years ago, and her mom still swoons over Sydney. Now we can see why. Sunny skies, gorgeous beaches, interesting architecture, and laid-back culture.
Beaches
Nestled on the coast, Sydney boasts several gorgeous beaches and shoreline walks that are simply unfair to the rest of us.
Colleagues
This trip was also very social. Davina met separately with 5(!) colleagues at the University of Sydney. If you know her, you aren't at all surprised.
Her colleague Betina hosted us at their home in Bilgola, a Sydney suburb. A terrific visit that began with an amazing walk to view the ocean and bay.
We introduced Betina's family to our favorite board game, Hogwarts Battle. It's a Harry Potter themed cooperative game that, since the start of COVID, we have played most weekends with our friends Megan and Alex. We've missed that routine during sabbatical. It was a hit with Betina's boys.
The next day, we joined Lee in Chinatown for yummy dim sum, a fun Chinese lion dance, and a tour around downtown. The following day, we joined Bo in Manly for a long hike along the beach and through different trails. Then Davina visited the university to see Stefan and Echo. Whew!
Sydney Opera House & Darling Harbour
Sydney is beautiful at night, especially near the water. Here's its iconic opera house, where we took in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical -- Sunset Boulevard, starring Sarah Brightman.
A lovely nightime skyline at the harbour:
Animals
Australia is renown for odd animals. We saw many on our daily walks, at the Koala Gardens near Cairns, and at the wonderful Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Here's a sample, most of them Austrialian natives.
Koalas
We were lucky to get a photo with one at Koala Gardens. The folks in charge have strict rules about how to hold the koalas. Davina impressed with her technique and obedience. They said she'd make a good tree.
Kangaroos & Wallabies
Below, a red kangaroo (the largest type), a wallaby and her joey, and Davina feeding a wallaby.
Quokkas
These adorable marsupials won the internet a few years ago for being the selfie kings.
Echidnas
These timid, waddling, porcupine-like cuties love ants and burrowing. They and the platypus are the only mammals that lay eggs. We happened across one on our walk with Bo through Manly.
Some folks believe that echidnas were the inspiration for the niffler, the mischievous creature from the Fantastic Beast movies. A side-by-side view of the niffler and a baby echidna. You decide.
Platypus
This is Taronga Zoo's star attraction, Matilda the platypus. Fun fact: she was named after the Australian national women's soccer team (the Matildas), and the players adopted her as their mascot during last year's world cup. How adorable! (The Matildas themselves were named after a kangaroo mascot in the 1980's.)
Photos courtesy of the zoo.
Davina was smitten right away, transfixed in one spot for at least 20 minutes, watching and recording Matilda. Some highlights stitched together:
Cassowary & Emu
These two flightless birds are among the largest in the world. Check out the emu's feet! Cassowary images courtesy of CNN.
Other assorted birds
Red Pandas
These cuties sleep 18 hours a day. Sounds good to us!
Ring-Tailed Lemurs
Lizards and chameleons
Skinks, both small and large
Crocodiles
Reflections on Australia
Corwin's three very deep thoughts...
A. Australians Love Superlatives
Everyone is so effusive. For example, at every restaurant, our waiters greeted our choices with "Amazing" or "Perfect!" We've never felt so confident about our menu selections. Now we dread dining out in New York.
We thought often of Davina's mother, who has been known to use a superlative or two. Erika would love it here. These are her people.
B. Australians Are Healthy
Everyone's so gosh darn fit. They walk and hike. They swim and surf. They're exhausting.
And we didn't see any smoking. Just sunscreening. People bum the cream off each other in parking lots. "Hey man, can you spare a squeeze?", pointing to our bottle of 50 SPF. That was weird.
We do admire how serious they are about sunscreen -- 'white gold', some call it. Outdoor cafes keep jugs of it next to the hand sanitizer. That's a good idea. I think I'll bring a jug to class when we return to teaching next year.
Australians Love Avocado Toast
We always thought of avocado toast as a California / Brooklyn hipster food. It's just not for us, we figured. Keep the bread and give us some chips, thank you very much.
But avocado toast is inescapale here. Every breakfast menu features it, typically with a silky poached egg. So we tried it. Perfect! We went avocado toast hopping one morning across 6 cafes. Totally epic, as the kids say.
Up next time: Our journey to Middle Earth.
Take care,
Davina & Corwin
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