Author: Robin Busalacchi

Bucket List: Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. Check!

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Clear skies. Mid 80’s. Smooth seas. The makings of a perfect day to sail and snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. And what a day it was! The sea was a kaleidoscope of the most vibrant and beautiful blues I have ever seen. Donning wetsuits and flippers, we spent hours in utter amazement as we navigated our small slice of the incredible outer reef. I was a little surprised that the coral itself wasn’t as colorful as I imagined. Shades of yellow, brown and green were interspersed with only occasional smatterings of blue. The magnitude of various corals, sponges and rainbow of colorful fish, however, quickly dissolved any disappointment. I always dreamed of going to the Great Barrier Reef and here I was!

Did you know the GBR spans 1,250 miles and is the only living thing that can be seen from the moon? I knew it was big but wow! One of the best places from which to see it is Cairns because here, the outer reef is closest to the coast and the water isn’t too deep. After whittling down the large number of available boat tours, we decided to go with the Passions of Paradise catamaran. It held about 35-40 guests. The crew was friendly and fun. Although pictures can’t really do justice to what we saw, the pictures below can provide you with a little taste.

Vacation from the vacation – Melbourne to Cairns

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This week, Frank and I took our first major side trip from Melbourne to visit Cairns (pronounced “cans”) and the Great Barrier Reef. We arrived early evening to find our apartment’s backstreet reception area dark, quiet and deserted. We were able to check in by phone. After surveying our strange accommodations (large cylindrical glass shower visible to the kitchen?!), I decided to run out to get an underwater camera for the next day’s cruise. We took the elevator back downstairs. Still, not a soul in sight.

We opened a random side exit door and were blinded by the bright lights of an “alternate universe.” Unbeknownst to us, our hotel was located immediately above the Cairn’s Night Market. Countless souvenir shops, cheap massage kiosks and an international food court opened out to the busy beachfront Esplanade. There were people everywhere!

Nonetheless, we slept fine, discovered that a curtain could obscure the shower peep show and found that the apartment was perfectly located for the tours we had scheduled. What’s more, we had a balcony with a wonderful view. While our side of the Esplanade was populated with busy shops and restaurants, there was parkland — walking paths, picnic tables and a huge public pool — between the street and ocean. In the morning, you’d see people of all ages doing tai chi and yoga and every night, backpackers, retirees and families would swim, hangout and relax.

Cairns is tourist town and much larger than we anticipated — about 160,000 people, including some beautiful, upscale beachside suburbs. It is the major gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, so is very popular for tourists (about 10,000 on any given day). Cairns is also located near the world’s oldest rainforest. We spent four days exploring this spectacular area of North Queensland, Australia.

Back to school – music to our ears

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We are relaxing in the apartment when we hear random bursts of rock music. Is it those party-animal old fogies lawn bowling across the street? Nope. School is back in session. The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” calls the kids inside instead of a high pitched bell!

When we arrived in Melbourne, the kids were just beginning their spring break (yes, we are in the southern hemisphere!). Of course, kids were everywhere – on the trams, in the museums, etc. Now, they’re back in school. The school year runs from late January until mid-December. Schools are closed for public holidays (including the upcoming Melbourne Cup Horse Race!). 35% of the students go to private, rather than government run schools, but regardless of where they go, the schools require uniforms.

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Today’s Big Adventure: Driving!

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IMG_5217Knowing we would eventually need to expand outside our mass transit comfort zone, we chose to give driving a try. The challenge? Australians drive on the left side of the road. Steering wheels are on the right. This was a new experience for both of us. We rented a small, automatic deciding that I would drive and Frank would navigate. It took a little getting used to traffic approaching from the right, making right turns into left lanes and maneuvering from the left through roundabouts. I drove Frank nuts because I kept flicking on the windshield wipers — the turn signals here are on the right and old habits die hard!!! We drove across the northern suburbs, into the mountains and back along the ocean. Other than a couple beeps, I am happy to report we made it back without incident!

Footy Fever in Melbourne – my perspective

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Australian Football League. Australian Rules. Footy. Before I start, let me say that before I got here, I knew nothing about the game except that a friend asked us to bring him back an Australian Rules football — he plays on a league in Milwaukee! I still don’t much but it’s been impossible to avoid a bit of “footy fever” over the past two weeks. Frank and I watched the semi-finals last weekend to learn a little about the game.

This week, the sidewalks and trams were filled with hundreds of fans sporting scarves with the finalists’ team colors – brown and gold for the Hawthorne (Tasmania) Hawks and red and white (Badger colors!) for the Sydney Swans. Today was the AFL Grand Final or the Australian Super Bowl. The game is held each year at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, which holds over 100,000 people! For those who don’t know, Australian Rules is kind of a mix between rugby and football. The players wear tight little shorts with no protective gear, the field is huge, the game high-scoring and each team has 18 players on the field at a time. Frank loves that the game is void of video replays and that it keeps moving — when a player is injured, they play around him! I’m sure that’s pretty simplistic for AFL purists but what do you want from someone who makes the game secondary to the color and excitement of the fans?

The Royal Melbourne Show – the “State Fair” of Melbourne

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I missed the Wisconsin State Fair this year so was thrilled when I heard about the Royal Melbourne Show. In many ways, the two events are very similar but there are also some big differences. Both are family friendly, feature carnival rides and exhibit and judge animals. Both demonstrate products that everyone “must have” and each tempts fairgoers with countless food choices. Although you see the typical food stands and trucks, most of the food choices at the Show are in a really nice, organized food tent. A short-term, rotating pop-up restaurant featured a gourmet menu.

One big difference in events is the concept of “show bags.” At the Wisconsin State Fair you see people walking around with plastic bags, collecting assorted free trinkets and product samples. In Melbourne, they have taken this to the extreme. There is a huge gift bag pavilion, where fairgoers choose from almost 400(!) different  show bags, which could include toys, costumes, sporting goods, cosmetics, magazines, deli/wine, candy and more. Products inside amount to more — sometimes much more — than the selling price and bag prices go from $1 (for a candy or “lolly” bag) to $30. Almost everyone was happily carrying some kind of show bag!

 

Like the WI State Fair, the Royal Melbourne Show featured games …
and rides…
and product demonstrations…
and fun things to buy.
Like all good fairs, there is the ubiquitous food-on-a-stick. Shown above are waffles-on-a-stick
The Baked Potato Stand is a crowd favorite at both. The Show threw in some cole slaw with the potato.
Many food booths were set up neatly inside.
Rotating gourmet “pop-up” restaurant
and really good desserts!
There were cooking demonstrations…
and this is the actual set of Master Chef!
They had silly performances for the kids.
Of course, there were plenty of animals to see.
This one had more chins than I do!!
The babies . . .
Unlike ours, the Show also had many dog and cat exhibitions, too.
Sheepshearing
Touching the wool
The Showbags — something for everyone . . .
. . . even for the dogs!

G’day from Melbourne!

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We have settled into our new home away from home and couldn’t be more pleased. Our airbnb apartment, billed as “Fitzroy St with the WOW factor,” did not disappoint. The wall of glass doors open to a sweeping view of the Melbourne city skyline and the ocean. The one bedroom space is comfortable and seems to have everything we need for our 2-month stay. It is located in Melbourne’s St. Kilda neighborhood, a lively and eclectic area of restaurants, bars and great people watching. Directly across the street from us is scenic Albert Park. On our second day here, I took a bike ride around the park’s lake, utilizing the city’s handy bike rental system. Albert Park also has a golf course, sport fields and an amazing Olympic aquatic center. Frank is trying to stay in his routine with his new “swim heaven,” enjoying its many lap lanes (two 50m pools!). We have picked out our favorite grocery store (a Woolworth’s, which everyone calls “Woolie’s), identified a nearby church for Sunday Mass and are learning to navigate Melbourne’s convenient transportation system of trams and trains.

PS I haven’t actually heard anyone say “G’day” yet but there are some unique “Australian-isms” I will write about soon.

Up the elevator four floors, then up a flight of stairs.
The courtyard outside our back door.
That’s a loft for guests but neither of us are quite sure of how to squeeze up there!
Full wall of glass doors. Note our two love birds that we see each morning on the right.
Ocean is about 5 blocks away.
Bowling club
Albert Park
Black swans of Albert Park
Frank’s dream come true – an outdoor 50m pool!

Fiji, continued

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OK, I take back some of what I said about resorts. This is heavenly. Fiji IS a wonderful place to relax as you cross the Pacific. It’s very affordable and features everything you’d want in an island paradise — sunshine, palm trees, ocean breezes and gentle surf. I have seen better beaches but those on the other islands might be nicer. Frank and I were more than content with the pools and our seaside lawn chairs.

The best feature of Fiji is its locals. Those who worked at the resort and the few we met outside it (our cab driver and cafe workers in the marina area) were so kind and extremely helpful. They were engaging and really appreciative of the few extra dollars Frank would slip them. Our favorite waiter, Net, actually gathered his co-workers during our final breakfast and they sang to us!

 

Westin Denaru
Low tide
School kids wear uniforms.
Farewell song for us!
Vanaka (thank you) Fiji!

Fiji, Election Day and the concept of resorts

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Bula! That’s hello from Fiji! Frank and I usually aren’t “resort people” but considering that our 3-day visit to Fiji was basically a scenic jet-lag reliever, the Westin Denaru Resort provided a relaxing and pleasant stay. Denaru Island is connected by causeway to Fiji’s main island of Vita Levu and is 10 lm from the international airport. Vita Levu is pretty big, with 600,000 residents (60% of Fiji’s population). Most tourists stay in this area but many others use it as a jump-off point to other islands. You can find countless boat and helicopter day trips as well. The natives are very friendly and we met many tourists (mostly from “nearby” New Zealand and Australia) who gave us great tips for the rest of our trip.

Wednesday was Fiji Election Day, a public holiday. You think our ballots are confusing? Fiji voters had a choice of over 300 candidates! After marking a ballot with the number of their preferred candidate, each voter has one of their fingers dipped in ink to prevent voting twice. Other than tourist spots, businesses were closed and newspaper ads encouraged people to report employers who would not allow them time off to vote.

It was a very important day for Fiji citizens but on the resort, you’d never know it. It was business as usual. I think the concept of a resort as an isolated and insulated paradise is probably why we tend to shy away from them. Frank and I both prefer being out among the locals and exploring. It tends to be a much richer experience.