2007 Hannah Walkabout

aka "ROAMING THROUGH ROOLAND"

Sunday, June 3

 * DEP MCI (Kansas City Intl.) 3:35 PM, Sunday, June 3, Midwest fl YX206
 * ARR LAX (L.A. Intl.) 4:55 PM, Sunday, June 3
 * DEP LAX 11:50 PM, Sunday, June 3, Qantas fl 108

Monday, June 4
Fly Down Under, 15-25 hours in flight (and lose a day)

Tuesday, June 5 (City Center Area)

 * Arrive in Sydney 7:25 AM; housing at Hyde Park Y; stash luggage
 * Buy 7-day Sydney Sightseeing Pass for total transportation (airport express, Sydney explorer, busses, ferries, rail, and Sydney Harbor Cruise)
 * Tour Sydney Tower, the highest observation deck in the southern hemisphere, giving a bird’s eye view of all of Sydney, 9AM-10:30 PM tours, inc. option of 75-minute Sky Walk Tour over the roof of the tower
 * Shop at Queen Victoria Buildng, a former produce market in 1898 now restored as a shopping mall
 * Visit Martin Place, an open-air plaza with sculptures, street musicians
 * Visit Museum of Sydney, with extensive exhibits of aboriginal and early Australian history
 * Play chess on giant chess board in Hyde Park
 * Evening cruise of Sydney Harbor; departs Wharf 4, Circular Quay, 8 PM

Wednesday, June 6 (City Center Area and Darling Harbour)

 * Tour Australian Museum, the nation’s leading natural science museum and the premier showcase of Australian natural history, including aboriginal exhibits, dinosaurs, a cast of Australia’s biggest gold nugget (156 pounds!), gems & minerals, etc.
 * Visit the Australian National Maritime Museum, touring a Navy destroyer, a lighthouse, and a first-peoples display
 * Second overnight at Hyde Park Y

Thursday, June 7 (Megalong Valley)

 * Blue Mountain Megalong Stockman’s ride/The Dude Ranch Ride: three-hour horseback ride to Cox’s River Lookout, camp oven dinner, sleeping in lodge or bunkhouse or under the stars, learn whip-cracking and how to cook a bush damper, enjoy a campfire after dinner and a hearty breakfast in the morning

Friday, June 8 (Megalong Valley)

 * Blue Mountain Megalong Stockman’s ride (cont.); return to Lodge, shower, enjoy displays and presentations at Megalong Farm’s Visitors Centre.
 * See Three Sisters rock formation in Blue Mountains?
 * Return to Sydney; buy 3-day Sydney Sightseeing Pass

Saturday, June 9 (The Rocks & Circular Quay Area)

 * Tour The Rocks and Circular Quay, an historic district that includes an eclectic marketplace, plus star attractions such as the Sydney Observatory, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Cadman’s Cottage, plus The Rocks Discovery Museum, Susannah Place, and Sailor’s Home,. the Justice and Peace Museum, the Writer’s Walk (where quotes of famous Australian authors are embedded in the sidewalk), etc.
 * 2 PM or 8 PM: Attend play at nearby Wharf 1 Theatre: “The Art of War,” based on Sun Tzu’s two-and-a-half thousand-ear-old manual, updated to the twenty-first century to “gauge how adequate war is as a model for life, relationships, or making money.”

Sunday, June 10 (The Rocks & Circular Quay Area)

 * Sydney Opera House : attend Beethoven Festival, Symphonies 1 and 9, afternoon matinee.
 * Tour the Opera House
 * See more sights of The Rocks, as above.
 * Take coach to Port Stephens (just north of Newcastle on the NSW North Coast) for Blue Water Country Music Festival, including country, bluegrass, traditional, country rock, and Australian ballads. Free transportation and admission mostly.

Monday, June 11 (The Rocks & Circular Quay Area)

 * QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY (long holiday weekend, some services closed)
 * Sydney Bridge Climb, 3.5 hour guided tour (one hour walking time), either the traditional climb or an alternative “discovery climb” through the bridges girders; open 8 AM to 6 PM

Tuesday, June 12 (Darling Harbour Area)

 * Buy 3-day Sydney Sightseeing Pass
 * Tour Darling Harbour: visit the Australian National Maritime Museum, the swingspan of Pyrmont Bridge, an 8-story IMAX large-screen cinema, the Sydney Aquarium, the Chinese Garden, and/or China Town

Wednesday, June 13 (Manly Area)

 * Ferry ride to Manly, a 7-mile journey from Circular Quay.
 * Visit Oceanworld Manly (10AM-5:30 PM) to view reptiles, sharks, and giant stingrays in an underwater viewing tunnel, plus swim with the sharks in Shark Xtreme.
 * Visit Toronga Zoo. More than 2,000 critters. Star exhibits: free flight bird show, orangutan rainforest, koala walkabout, meerkat colonies, African waterhole, platypuses. Two-hour guided tours depart 10AM and 2PM, with opportunity to photograph koala bears, hand feed kangaroos & wallabies, visit animal kitchen to see how food is prepared, see nocturnal creatures, etc. Zoo open 9AM to 5PM daily.

Thursday, June 14

 * Fill in the blank.

Friday, June 15

 * DEP Sydney 9:05 AM Qantas fl 512; ARR Brisbane 10:55 AM; travel by rental car to Gladstone 320 miles and stay there overnight (alternative train connection leaving Brisbane at 5 PM or 6:25 PM, arriving Gladstone 12:10 AM or 1:48 AM).

Saturday, June 16

 * DEP by catamaran 10:30 AM from Gladstone; arrive Heron Island
 * Swim with the little fishies; guided island and reef walks; snorkeling lessons; tennis day and night; evening activities, including entertainment and movies under the stars; breakfast provided daily
 * Heron Island overnight: sons in Turtle Room; ma & pa in Reef Suite

Sunday, June 17

 * More of the same…relaaaax!

Monday, June 18

 * Still more of the same….oh soooo relaaaxed!

Tuesday, June 19

 * DEP Heron Island by catamaran in afternoon, arriving at Gladstone 4:00 PM
 * Travel by rental car 320 miles to Brisbane; stay overnight

Wednesday, June 20

 * DEP Brisbane, Qantas fl 611 at 7:50 AM; ARR Melbourne 10:15 AM
 * Hook up with Geoff & Pat Henshaw and rental van
 * Take car ferry across Port Phillip Bay to Phillip Island. See koalas closep up; visit “The Knobbies” where waves crash onto the shore; see dusk “march of the penguins,” stay over night on Phillip Island waterfront.

Thursday, June 21

 * Return to mainland via car ferry. Drive The Great Ocean Road, an oceanside drive of rugged coastal scenery, one of Australia’s surfing meccas, and scene of migrating whales (May to August). At Werribe maybe visit Victoria’s Open Range Zoo, “a safari-style zoo of the highest caliber” (per Fodor’s) that replicates southern Africa and houses Australian species as well.
 * Return to Melbourne. See the sights and eat the chow recommended by our local guides/friends
 * Enjoy an authentic home-cooked Aussie roast dinner with family (Tricia, and/or Greg and Rondell Ferrett). Reflect on our adventures through rooland.

Friday, June 22

 * See the sights of Melbourne, e.g. Federation Square’s Australia-art-only gallery (the National Gallery of Victoria), the Centre for the Moving Image, the BMW Edge ampitheatre for contemporary music and theatre, the Victorian Wine Precinct, and/or the Melbourne Racing Museum (all Fodor’s Choice).
 * Ride the Melbourne tram. Visit Old Melbourne Jail, Parliament offices.
 * Attend an evening Australian “footie,” 8 PM. Try not to offend, or get trampled.

Saturday, June 23

 * Delivered to airport by Geoff & Pat by 9 AM
 * DEP Melbourne Qantas fl 25 at 10:55 AM;
 * ARR LAX 10:45 AM (ten minutes before you left!) Suffer jetlag.
 * DEP LAX 1:15 PM, Midwest fl. YX492
 * ARR MCI (Kansas City) 6:20 PM (Kiss the ground)