We had several glorious days in Sydney. Activities included exploring the amazing Sydney Opera House, taking a Captain Cook Tour, a walking tour through The Rocks, repelling down a cliff in the Blue Mountains, surfing Bondi Beach, practicing at the Sydney Cricket Grounds and learning about opals.
We didn’t have much time to spend in Brisbane, really just lunch and some look around time. But what little I saw of Australia’s third largest city was very nice. There were plenty of flowers and a lovely man made beach, which was under construction. There were plenty of these birds walking around much like pigeons in the US, only much bigger!
Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort is a magical island place. The resort is situated on Moreton Island, about 70 minutes by boat from Brisbane. The majority of the island (98%) is National Park, though it had been a whaling station between 1952 and 1962. The resort is well known for its wild dolphins which come in every evening to be feed by visitors. Another major feature is the Tangalooma wrecks, 15 vessels that were deliberately sunk to create a dive and snorkel site. For some great photos of those, go here. Oh, and how could I forget sand tobogganing!? A long walk up and a few very fast seconds coming down. Note to self…wear the goggles when they offer them next time!
The Capricorn Caves near Rockhampton were formed from limestone. There was singing in the Cathedral Cave which has excellent acoustics. A few, small bats were spotted. 🙂
The Mercure Capricorn Resort Yeppoon is just lovely. Amenities include several glorious swimming pools, a hot tub, laundry facilities, frontage on the Coral Sea (pictured above) and a multitude of kangaroos.
The Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville is the world’s largest living coral reef aquarium. It is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. We visited this aquarium and had a behind the scenes look at a sea turtle hospital as well as all of the wonderful conservation work being done. We spent the night here and I didn’t think that I’d be able to sleep on the air mattress, but really it was no problem!
Woodleigh Station is a working cattle ranch in Australia’s Out Back (Ravenshoe). We spent two delightful days there learning to use a bullwhip, visiting their history cabin and soaking in the history, wading in a stream, telling stories around the campfire and eatting wonderful food! http://woodleighstation.com.au/
The wallaby pictured above is named Pepsi and while she is wild, she often comes to visit and mooch.
The Skyrail Rainforest Cable Way is an almost five mile one way trip. At both ends there are shops and services and in the middle there is an interpretative trail to explore. The highest station is 1,788 feet above sea level and the lowest point is 5 feet above sea level. It is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. I found, but did not purchase, this jaunty fellow in a near by store. (see below) More information can be found here.
