IN OZ
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THE RELLIES
THE GAMES
ROY, H.G. & FATSO
THE PUBS
OTHER STUFF
HOME, JAMES
you as honored guests more so than these two... and they will surely throw back a beer or two with you
while doing so. So, if you ever venture into the Maroochydoore area, DON'T pay them a visit. We don't want
them being too worn out for our next trip.
As we left the airport in Brisbane, Norm started things out nicely by schooling us in the way of Aussie Rules Driving. It's on the left and out in the smaller towns there are very few traffic lights or stop signs, just lots of roundabouts. Since we left LAX at about 10am L.A. time, when we got to their house 18 hours later, it was time for bed - perfecto! When we woke up the next day we were ready for some adventure.
Our adventures included a trip to the Australia Zoo, home base of Steve Erwin, a.k.a. the Crocodile Hunter. Maybe the most interesting thing there was an "Animal Rest Area". It was a section of grass that was marked with a sign where the zoo's free roaming animals, mostly kangaroos, could go to rest without being disturbed by any humans. When we walked past the rest area, there were about 3 or 4 roos lounging in in the shade. Maybe it was a union mandated break.
Another animal story concerns the trip we made to a deer park. It was a small drive-thru forested area
in the hills where you could feed the critters - deer, roos, wallabies and emus - and take pictures with
a koala who wanted nothing more than to be left sleeping in a tree. At one point a big deer
stuck his head in the window as Cas was filming and trying to feed him. 
Then, without warning, he sneezed
the biggest, wettest snottiest sneeze that has ever been witnessed in recorded history. Well, it was pretty
messy and got all over Cas and some of the seats in the truck. After that we got to go to another area of
the park where you can feed and just hang with the roos and the little wallabies.
Later during our stay with Norm and Elaine, they took us up the Noosa River on their boat. After cruising around a bit, we picked up some yabbies - bait prawns. Remember that Paul Hogan "throw a shrimp on the barbie" commercial? Bogus! No self-respecting Aussie would refer to a prawn as a shrimp. Anyhow, we cast anchor and tried our hands at fishing with no success. But hey, we had, Jim Beam and Cola, XXXX beer, food, glorious Queensland late winter weather and good company. No worries. None at all.
Our final adventure was a trip over to Frasier Island, the world's largest sand island. The island has no paved roads except for two very small towns on opposite sides of the island. The Land Rover got stuck in the sand, and this was on the beach before we even left the mainland on the way to the ferry that took us across the strait to the island. We only managed to see one dingo but the scenery was beautiful. The high point might have been the stop at Lake Mackenzie. It is the most pristine body of water these city eyes have ever seen - probably cleaner than Long Beach tap. But, given the time of year, it was c-c-cold but still quite refreshing.
Our stay in Pacific Paradise also included a trip to one of the many pokie palaces - casinos filled with one-cent and two-cent slot machines. Imagine playing slots in Vegas all night and only losing $10. Or how about getting on the hottest streak of your life and only winning $82. We also had our first encounter with a beet burger. A common way to get a burger in Oz is to order it with a slice of beet. And it's actually quite good. And yes, McDonald's, or Macca's as it's often called, even serves one up. Not surprisingly it's called the McOz Burger. True, 15,000 kilometres from home and we went to Macca's, but just once!
Finally we hit the road for Sydney on a two day trip to cover about 1100 kilometres mostly through quaint small towns, farmland, mountains and beautiful valleys. And it was nothing like driving from L.A. to Las Vegas or the Bay Area. At some points, we were lucky the two lanes (one in each direction) were actually wide enough for two cars. And this is the main highway between Brisbane and Sydney. In fact, we were told that the Thunderbolt Highway, which we took to get to the coast, had just been completely paved... for the first time!
Rob missed most of the drive down the second day since he got sick. He actually decided to go into a clinic in the small town where we spent the night. Within about an hour, he had seen a doctor and been prescribed some pills. Total cost was about $20 AU or some unbelievable price. In the States, he probably would have completed about 8 pages of paperwork and paid twice as much. The pills knocked him out. Cas slept. Sherry slept. Your faithful narrator just drove... taking in all the natural beauty.
Norm and Elaine. Our Aussie holiday hosts for the first week of the trip.
- Disassociated Press, 2000
Finally, a tree for me to sleep in... and this one's nice and soffffft... zzzzz
- Disassociated Press, 2000
"Please, misses. Can you help a poor wallabie who's down on his luck?
- Disassociated Press, 2000
Jim Beam and Cola. Keep 'em comin'. Nice farmer tan there, fella.
- Disassociated Press, 2000
Taking a break from a nature walk in a small local rain forest about 30k from home base.
- Disassociated Press, 2000
Waiting for the ferry back to the mainland. Hey Cas, get away from that dingo!
- Disassociated Press, 2000