Feb 27: Byron Bay to Brisbane

The coast of New South Wales and southern Queens;and has hundred of miles of wonderful beaches.

One stretch, the "Gold Coast" stretches for 40 miles. It looks like Miami Beach with scores of high-rises and golden powdery sand.

And this little mynah bird visited us...tried to teach hm to talk but...

And the safely on to Brisbane where we turned in the motorhome without a scratch.  7683 km  (4775 miles) over 28 days.

And we had barely scratched the surface of Australia.   As an example, Cairns, near the great barrier reef, is more than 1000 road miles to the north, and in the same state! Perth is 2240 air miles to the west.

Feb 26: Southwest Rocks to Byron Bay

We awoke to a beautiful day to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks, and to the sight of a kookaburra sitting on our chair!  

Then we swam in the ocean, showered, and headed into town and then up the coast.  The road from Melbourne to Sydney is freeway the whole way, but the road from Sydney to Brisbane is freeway only part of the way.  The main road here is studded with long sections of two lane roads, small towns, 25 mph school zones and tons of trucks.  They are working on extending the freeway in places but it will be years before it is completed.

Now by “freeway” this is what I mean:  It is limited access in places (off-ramps and on-ramps only) but for long stretches it is what I would call “divided highway” with turns across traffic and entrance roads from homes and ranches.

During one 30 km stretch we were warned to look out for all of the following on the highway: kangaroo, cattle, horses and koalas.  This is Australia!

The main way they try to prevent deaths in these hundreds of miles of ‘blood alley” is to use speed cameras which not only check your speed but measure your average speed from point to point.  Albeit annoying at times, it works and no one drives 15 kph (10 mph) over the limit.

We drove through beach towns and sugar cane fields

 and at Moenee Beach had the best fish and chips ever...hoki and barrimundi...

and then stopped for the night at the wonderful beach town of Byron Bay: think Santa Cruz or Huntington Beach with warm water, warm air, long sandy beaches, and shallow water….with warnings for snakes, sharks, and stinging jellyfish.

 We never did find out what this interesting tree was.

We celebrated our last evening of camping with a couple of pints near the beach and a wonderful dinner in the motorhome.

Tomorrow, we drive the two hours to Brisbane, turn in the motorhome, and head for the Marriott. Then off to dinner with our good friend Barb Gnatz Johnston’s brother Bob Gnatz, who lives in Brisbane.

Feb 25: The Entrance to Southwest Rocks

Finally, with good campground wifi, I was able to post the prior 6 days of travel. While I was blogging, Linda took a walk down the inlet and watched the birds and the fisherman.  Looks like there is a lot to catch here!!

We then spent the day driving both freeways and smaller coastal roads as we made our way up the Pacific coast, with bizarrely, the ocean to our right as we drove north.  It truly seemed like it should be the Atlantic to our right…to the east.  We drove along wide sand spits where here were parking lots and then a short walk over the dunes to the ocean.  Was this North Carolina? Delaware?

We stopped at Elizabeth Beach at Booti Booti National Park.  The water was warm and shallow, and the sand like golden powder.  Booti Booti is Aborginal for “plenty of honey”, likely referring to the sand.  Failing to see any other “booti booti” of interest, we moseyed on up the coast.

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/booti-booti-national-park

We camped for the night at Arakoon National Park, just near the small seaside town of Southwest Rocks.  Our camp spot was on the ocean’s edge and under the rocky bluff of the Trial Bay Gaol. And there was a wonderful calm, shallow beach just around the corner.

A wild lorikeet!

Roos!

A Norfolk pine, a  very cool tree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_heterophylla

We camped down on this road...

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/arakoon-national-park?gclid=CJePrqKxgcQCFZcnvQodB2oA8A

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/Arakoon-National-Park/Trial-Bay-Gaol/tourist-information

Feb 23: Yarra Valley to Canberra

It was good to make up in the Yarra.  After a good breakfast we were off to wineries...at 9:15 am :)  we first visited Rockford.

http://rochfordwines.com.au

And then to a cider/brewery for delicious liquid yummies.

http://www.napoleone.com.au

And then up the Yarra on our best Aussie roads yet and on to Canberra on the M31.

Feb 24: Canberra to "The Element" (beachside north of Sydney)

Canberra is the capital of Australia.  When the several states of what is now Australia came together in 1901 to form a federation, there was intense competition between Melbourne and Sydney for the right to host the capital.  The disagreement could not be resolved, so a new city, halfway in between, was carved out of the wilderness.  

An international competition to design the city was held and an American architect, Walter Burley Griffin, won, even though he head never been to Australia.  All of his design was based on photos and too maps.

http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs95.aspx

The city is quite beautiful, with intersecting lines along the compass, and many green spaces.  We visited the Australian War Museum, from which you can look across the lake to the Parliament.  Here, a group of private school girls were on tour.  Love the uni's and bonnets!

The government is a hybrid.  It has two houses, the Senate and House of Representatives. But it is a parlaimentary system, such that the party in power elects the prime minister.  It differs from the US system in that there is no executive branch and John Boehner would be Prime Minister.    With one caveat...there is an executive branch, and it remains headed by the queen, and is exercised by the Governor-General. This is the traditional English colonial government.  You can still visit the Governor-General's office in Virginia.

Representatives serve a maximum of 3 years.  Why a maximum? Because like any parliamentary system, the House can be dissolved by a majority vote of the house or by order of the Governor-General.  There are two reasons why the House might dissolve itself early: 1) because it is enjoying overwhelming public support, and wishes to capitalize on that by calling early elections; or 2) because the party in power has lost the coalition support to govern (it is a multi-party system and often one party does not have control with partners).

All bills passed by both houses require the Governor-General's approval.  It is literally a rubber stamp. The last time the Governor-General acted in anything but a ceremonial role was in 1971 when he dissolved both house and called for new elections. It is unlikely that the Governor General will ever act id=n an executive capacity again, and such action, when it occurs, effectively makes Australia a colony again, not something the Aussies would likely tolerate.

We then drove up the coast and spent the night in the lovely little village of The Entrance.  The east coast here is like the southeast coast of the US.  Lots of long sand bars along the coast with inland seawater lakes,  The Entrance is situated at a narrow break in the sand bars.

We treated ourselves to a rare dinner out. Yum: fresh made duck rolls with scallions and cucumber in hoisin sauce, followed by fresh snapper with "chats" (potatoes) and vegies.

And then to the campsite, across the inland sea from the restaurant esplanade.