That may not make much sense but if you were to compare this boat to a dive boat that can hold 90 people, well, you'd understand. Each room had bunk beds and their own private shower. If you're into real luxury, such as steak dinners every night, well, this boat isn't for you. Personally, I was there for the diving and meeting new people and I can say I wasn't disappointed.
Basically we did a total of 10 dives during those 3 days. We did 3 the first day, 4 the second and 3 on the third. Within those dives, two of them were night dives.
The dives were spectacular! Words couldn't describe the beauty of this place. So many colors, so many aquatic creatures (not to mention a shovelnose shark one night!).
Our boat was approximately 60 kms from shore. The reefs that we visited were: Milin Reef (a decent intro to the GBR), Koala Pass (terrific coral), and Flynn Reef (the shovelnose shark and mantaray).
What else is in Cairns?:
Rainforests and such. I can't say too much...all I did was scuba here. >From what I hear, you must check out the rainforests. Maybe I will when I come back again.
|
On September 20th, I left Cairns and headed south to Scone (more about Scone later). My intention was to fly to Brisbane and then take bus/train/ car to Scone. My friends and I eventually settled on a car (which cost A$420 for 7 days from Thrifty). We left the Brisbane airport around noon and started on the Pacific Highway.
I'm not going to go into great detail about the Pacific Highway (or the Oxley Highway) but let just say that it was great to see the scenery at ground level. And in the case of the Oxley Highway, you'll drive through several national parks.
Just one word of caution, watch out for kangaroos at night (or cattle)! Kangaroos react about as well as a squirrel trapped on the highway -- they don't know which way to go and when they do, it's too late...
Total driving time: Approx. 10 hrs.
|
SCONE (AND THE HUNTER VALLEY)
|
Scone, population of roughly 3,000 people is situated along the New England Highway in the Upper Hunter Valley wine region, north of Sydney and southwest of Brisbane. Scone is basically a 'horse' town where there are many horse farms. If you like to 'play the horses', they have a racetrack here. Although I drove here, Scone does have an airport and trains come from Sydney daily.
In case you're curious, the reason why I came here was to visit a friend who was working on one of the farms there.
I guess my stay here could be analogous to a 'farm stay' (of which I've seen advertised in several travel brochures). Since I grew up in Kentucky, you can pretty much say, 'if you seen one farm, you've seen 'em all'. The best part about being on a farm is the contact with the local folks. We did spend some time looking for 'roos out on the farm as well (and we weren't disappointed).
Meanwhile, the Hunter Valley (of which Scone is in the upper part) is known pretty much for the wineries. I was told that the lower wine region contained the best wineries so we headed to Branxton from Scone (on the New England Highway (15)).
A good starting place is to enter onto 82. Right here there's a large billboard showing the layout of the roads and the wineries/restaurants in the area (there's also a descent map in the Lonely Planet guide as well). The Lonely Planet guide suggested to go during the week instead of the weekend since many people travel up from Sydney. We went on a Sunday however it was the day of the 'Grand Final' in rugby. If you're an American, think of it as going out during the Super Bowl...there wasn't too many people out.
We pretty much used the Lonely Planet guide as our guiding force to good wineries. The first one that we went to was the Rothbury Estate. If you haven't wine tasted before, they'll certainly give you a good introduction. In my opinion, this was the best winery we visited. (NOTE: I saw a special on the Discovery Channel which mentioned the Rothbury Estate and their fine wines).
Here's a list of the other wineries we visited and my opinion of the wines (after I tried them back at home):
Chateau Francois -- Owned by a man who originally hailed from New Jersey. None of his wines are exported and ordinarily you need to have an appointment to try the wines (we lucked out). He doesn't have much of a selection but all of them tasted pretty good. I recommend a visit, if anything, ask him how he ended up in Australia. If you have to make an appointment, don't sweat it.
Oakvale -- Due to the 'Grand Final' not much talk from the owners. I purchased a 1985 and a 1987 Peppercorn Shiraz. Each of them were aged differently and thus, each had a unique taste. Recommend.
Terrace Vale -- Interesting conversation however, stay away from the Pinot Noir. Not very good. The 1988 Semillon (from Bin 1A) was okay but did not compare the Rothbury Estate wines. So-so.
After all of the wine tasting, I purchased 9 bottles. I had no problems bringing them back into the country. However, you might be taking a chance so DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU COULDN'T.
|
When you are set to leave Australia, make sure you get to the airport early to fill out your departure form and be prepared to cough up A $20 departure tax. Afterwards, if you're headed to the East Coast of the US, be prepared for what seems like a never ending day. I left at 10am Sydney time, arrived at 8:50am in LA (same day) and finally got back to Cincinnati at 7:45pm (after a 3 hour layover in LA).
If you have a flight like I had, a nice sponge bath (so to speak) in the LA airport will do wonders in boosting your energy level (for a while).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rec.Travel Library
More on Pacific Rim
More on Australia
|
|
