Koalas, Kangaroos and Crocs 3-25-09

It seems that Australia has some of the deadliest animals and insects in the world. So many in fact they keep lists of THE most deadliest and like to share them with their tourists to scare them to death! By the time we attended the lectures given on the ship by the "experts" in these creepy, crawly, scary, and intimidating creatures, we were scared to step foot onto the continent! They have snakes, 170 different kinds and most of them are poisonous. Not only are they poisonous but the most deadly ones will kill you before you can possibly get to help! They have snakes that will chase you, snakes that crawl into your car, snakes that lay still even if you jump up and down to create noise and strike you anyway! They have spiders that are even more deadly than some of the snakes! Some spiders have been known to cause car accidents because they like to crawl up into the driver's side sun-visor of your car. (Don't know why they prefer the driver's side) However, when an unsuspecting driver is driving along and has the sun come into their eyes and pulls down their sun-visor...YIKES...the spider drops down into their lap and the Aussie driving the car goes completely bonkers and ends up swerving off the road to their ultimate death! So the spider doesn't even have to bite you to cause a death!! They have Box Jelly-fish that are just plain deadly. No hope for you if you are stung by those guys. Also some smaller sneaky jelly fish that swarm and can be deadly if you are stung enough times!
We had to see for ourselves. Land only. We went to a wildlife park that allows you to hold,pet, cuddle the animals. We did not cuddle any snakes! Notice the top ten list of snakes...all Aussie's!!!!
Yes, the Koalas are the cutest living creatures on earth. So soft!!!!
The Dingos. They look like under-nurished dogs. Giant bats...they bite. Don't bite us! The kangaroos. Friendly and hungry guys. They hopped right up to you looking for a bite to eat and even ate the cone!!! Notice one photo that the momma kangaroo has her baby in her pouch and the baby is eating too! Very cute.
The crocs were kept at bay...that goodness. They were big monsters that we wanted nothing to do with.
Penguins. As if we have not had our fair share of those guys! These were appropriately named "small penguins".
Fun day. Glad we saw them and did not get bitten, stung, or clawed!!
However.....The Great Barrier Reef is waiting for us!! That will be Monday, March 30th. Stay tuned things could get exciting!!!!

The Blue Mountains, Australia 3-25-09

Cable cars and run away rail cars. Do the mountains really look blue? "The Three Sisters", do you recognize them? The cable cars have glass bottoms, so you can see the big ravine you will go crashing into if the cables decide to fail!!!
What causes the Blue Mountains to be blue? Eucalyptus. Thousands and thousands of these trees surround these mountains and give off a "dust" that makes the mountains look blue. Unfortunately for some, it makes you feel a little "stuffy" and some loose their voices! Crazy but we did not. We saw the famous "Three Sisters" rock formations while we were on the cable car ride. What a ride it was. When they said that the floor was "glass bottom" who would really believe that? It was. Also, after we did the crazy coal mine car ride that plunged straight down it seemed (700 feet to be exact and is the world's steepest perpendicular railway), the kids wanted to do it all over again. We did.
We were joined on this fun tour by a family from Oklahoma that joined our cruise in Chile. They are a really sweet family and we have enjoyed being with them.
The tree studded valleys and scenic waterfalls make this a very special place.
This canyon has nothing on The Grand Canyon except it has trees and "bush". Yes, we saw a real Australian bush fire! We saw helicopters that Australia leases from the USA come put buckets of water on these wild fires. Problem was they don't require handrails in this county I guess as you could walk right out to the end of the sheer rock face, sit down and dangle your feet over the canyon! We didn't.

Sydney, Australia March 25th, 2009

Some things in life are better than you have ever imagined. Some things are real disappointments.
You remember things in life that at that time in your life or maybe for your whole life, were/are life changing.
Milestones in your life could be as small as learning to tie your shoes, learning to ride a bike, or bigger things like, your first time to fly in a plane, your graduation from high school, your graduation from college, your first true love, your wedding day, the birth of a child...all of these can be recalled with fond memories and a sense of accomplishment.
Today we reached a milestone that not many people in the world ever have the opportunity to reach. We arrived in Sydney, Australia. Very early in the morning, our ship sailed into this city. The quiet was shocking. The views from the ship were of one of the world's most beautiful harbors. The sun was coming up to say "Hello, welcome to your seventh continent. Enjoy the "show". We "snuck up" on Sydney while she was still asleep and watched the sun rise over the top of one of the world's most famous and recognizeable sites, The Sydney Opera House. Some things in life are better than you ever imagined.
It has been almost three years since we took our first "big" trip to a new continent with Kathleen and Nicky, Africa. Today the four of us checked off our last continent, Australia. There have been MANY sites along the way. Many new friendships made. Many "treasures" that cover the walls, floors, ceilings and doors of our house. To be able to share these experiences together is a gift. As we continue our travels, we remember the good, the bad and the ugly (not much was ugly). We hope you have enjoyed watching us travel in this blog to reach this milestone in life! The story won't end here but it certainly was a day we won't ever forget. SEVEN...who would have ever thought??

Sad good-byes once again! March 25th, 2009

One of the nicest things about traveling, is meeting new friends and seeing old friends again! One of the worst things about traveling is making these new friends and seeing your old friends and having to say good-bye again!
Good-bye to Stu. Good-bye to Handre. Safe travels to you and hope to see you again someplace someday very soon!!
To Stu. Thank you for your friendship. You are a highlight in the Welden family travel journal and always will be. Nicky will not be able to replace you on his trivia team! Keep in touch and hopefully you will make a trip to Alabama soon!
To Handre. Best of everything on your new ship. You certainly enhanced our trip. You will be sorely missed. We will enjoy your CD and you never know when you might hear from the Welden Clan!! Safe travels!

Bay of Islands, New Zealand Mar. 22nd, 2009

The Bay of Islands is on the North Island. We were able to go to the house where the treaty was signed between England and New Zealand (the Moaris) to become a nation. The property was lovely. We had a "show" of local dance and song. This whole area is beautiful. We did not have enough time here. Would like to come back and see it all over again.