2007 Hannah Walkabout

aka "ROAMING THROUGH ROOLAND". Questions about this page can be emailed to jay(at)jays(dot)net.

Map
Check it out! I drew a not-yet-very detailed Google Map of our trip!

Questions / Misc

 * What's the glasses/contacts idea during scuba? Without either I won't see any cute little fishies. Or monstrously hideous sharks eating my legs. Can I wear contacts inside a scuba mask? --Jhannah 13:08, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I still need the baggage info: number of bags / size / weight. I thought dad was going to email that to me. --Jhannah 13:09, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Check the Qantas website
 * Jay: Have Omni call Sprint (888-226-7212) and activate international roaming. Coverage map.
 * Andrew said he'd do it. Check back. --Jhannah 16:38, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Matt Honaker's dad was telling me about Australian opal mines where the entire town ended up underground since it was so much cooler there. In a 5m Google search I found Umoona Opal Mine, but its way the heck and gone far away from where we'll be. I wonder if there are any closer. --Jhannah 16:26, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

June 3 (Sun)

 * 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

June 4 (Mon) Sydney
Fly Down Under, 12-13 hours in flight (and lose a day)

June 5-11 (Tue-Mon) Sydney

 * Arrive in Sydney 7:25 AM; housing at Y Hotel Hyde Park; stash luggage
 * Buy 7-day Sydney Sightseeing Pass for total transportation (airport express, Sydney explorer, busses, ferries, rail, and Sydney Harbor Cruise)

June 9 (Sat)

 * 2PM: 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.”

June 10 (Sun)

 * 2PM: Sydney Opera House : attend Beethoven Festival, Symphonies 1 and 9.

June 11 (Mon)

 * QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY (long holiday weekend, some services closed)

Whenever
City Center Area
 * 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

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, the swingspan of Pyrmont Bridge, an 8-story IMAX large-screen cinema, the Sydney Aquarium, the Chinese Garden, and/or China Town

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.
 * Holy crap, I'm a little freaked out by the "swim with the sharks" idea. I guess this is just me and Mom?? Is chain mail armor neutrally buoyant? --Jhannah 13:06, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
 * 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.

The Rocks & Circular Quay Area
 * 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.
 * Tour the Opera House. Tours 9-5 daily.
 * 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

Port Stephens
 * 3 hours, 11 minutes north of Sydney (just north of Newcastle on the NSW North Coast). Take "coach" (bus). It's free for sucker tourists like us! Yee-ha!
 * June 7-11: Blue Water Country Music Festival. Country, bluegrass, traditional, country rock, and Australian ballads. Free transportation and admission mostly.
 * It's whale watching season

June 12-13 (Tue-Wed) Mowbray Park Farmstay

 * Catching an early morning train out of Sydney to Campbelltown, then bus to Pincton. The Mowbray Park Farmstay folk pick us up there.
 * Live the cowboy lifestyle for 2 nights. Trail rides, bull whips, boomerangs, outback adventures (manure pitching, roo skinning, etc.). Web site.

June 14 (Thr)

 * Bus and train back to Sydney

June 15 (Fri) Brisbane

 * 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).

June 16-18 (Sat-Mon) Heron Island
Wow, this is way too cool! A tiny little resort island in the middle of nowhere! Check out the satellite pics on the map!


 * 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

June 19 (Tue)

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

June 20 (Wed) Melbourne

 * 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.

June 21-22 (Thr-Fri) Melbourne

 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Visit the Shrine of Remembrance regarding the HMAS Perth and USS Houston. They have an annual ceremony. Is there a plaque or something too?

June 23 (Sat)

 * 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)

GuestBook

 * Top post! - pbaker
 * You're a loose cannon, Baker! --Jhannah 14:30, 17 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Jay spammed everybody this morning. Add your thoughts on specific events wherever or your general thoughts down here! --Jhannah 13:03, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Damn spammers. -awendel
 * Please film the toilet water draining in the opposite direction for me and stop at the American embassy to see if they have a machine to do it the other way. -jhop
 * I do not see any reference to Jay calling work and telling us what is going to happen since he is a day ahead of us, oh yes call your wife as well! - Your current but soon to be ex-Boss (work that is).
 * Your comment here.
 * Is that Aussie Rules Football or just Football (known here as soccer)? DaveT
 * etc...