Friday Septmber 16, Daintree Nature Reserve

We left early in the morning and caught the Koranda Train to the top of the Mountain. 

                                                                                                               We had a ride on the military vehicle through the rain forrest.  We went to a small zoo and saw kangaroos and crockodiles, and to the Butterfly Sanctuary.  We came down the hill on the Skyrail.  It was a very interesting all day event!

Alice Springs to Cairns

We flew from Alice Springs to Cairns.  It was raining when we got there, and rained most of the night into the next day.  We had actually had very good weather up until that time.
The weather in Cairns was good.  We joined a Quicksilver reef tour on Thursday, Se[te,ber 15th.
They took us out to the reef.  As we do not go snorkeling, we went under water in a mini sub instead.  Although the reef is dying, it was still very beautiful.  We saw many schools of fish and a sea turtle.

   

Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, Alice Springs

The sunset at Uluru was spectacular.  The sunrise was interesting, but not as impressive.   Katatuta was very impressive as well.
The desert area was beautiful.  They had more rainfall than usual and plants that had not bloomed for several years were blooming.  I was surprised to hear that they had underground water, so technically they are not a desert, but classed semi-arid, like our area here.

                                                                           

    

Melbourne to Sydney

We flew from Melbourne to Sydney on September 8th.  One of the things I found interesting throughout our travels were the drivers that we had, to and from the airport.  We had several from Iran.  Like Canada, Australia is a good place to immigrate, because of the opportunities to get ahead.  We also met several people that were traveling, that immigrated to Australia.






We took a walking tour on the waterfront, "The Rocks" which was so interesting about Australia and the city of Sydney.  Most people are aware of how Australia was colonized by the English, with the penal colony.  There was also quite an influence in some areas by the French.

The tour guide we had on the waterfront was very interesting and knowledgeable about the history and the buildings in the area.
We also had a city tour which included Bondi Beach, famous for its surfers.

The hotel we stayed in, the Menzies, was historical in itself.  Of all the hotels we stayed in, it was one of the most central to everything.  It was very close to the waterfront, which was the most interesting.  We  really were not there long enough to see everything.  We just got a taste of what there was to see.  We plan on going back in the future and spend more time.

                                                                                             "The Rocks" and  Harbor Bridge