Australia - Melbourne & Phillip Island

Saturday, February 5, 2011

We got to Melbourne from Uluru the day before (Friday, Feb 4) but got in late.  We flew from Uluru to Sydney then to Melbourne.  The Sydney to Melbourne leg was delayed because of weather problems then once we got to Sydney, we had to circle in a holding pattern almost as long as it took to fly there in the first place due to weather issues.  It was raining and there were minor floods (but nothing compared to the ones in Brisbane).

So Friday was a late night and I didn't go out once we had checked in.  We're staying at the Rydges Melbourne and it's a pretty nice hotel.  Unfortunately when I walked into the room they had first given me, I thought someone must've left the faucet on as I could hear water running.  Turns out there was a steady stream of water dripping from the ceiling onto the bed, thoroughly soaking in.  I was on the 21st floor and the hotel has 22 floors so I don't think it was a roof leak on the hotel itself.  More like someone left the water running in the room above me and it came pouring down.  Fortunately the hotel quickly gave me another room on a different floor and I was able to crash.

Saturday, we had a city tour of Melbourne from the bus and it was interesting to see the architecture.  Some of the houses with their iron lacework/trim almost made it seem like being in New Orleans, according to my fellow travelers who'd been to Louisiana.  The driver took us around to Victoria Market where we stopped and shopped for an hour.  It was much like a farmer's market where you could buy clothes, fresh fruits and veggies, cheeses, breads, wine, organic stuff, etc.  Cheapest place we've been to in Australia so far.  I didn't buy much but enjoyed poking around the different stalls and stretching my legs.  After that, we went to St Kilda and had a 30-minute walk around.  Also fun as the main street they dropped us off at were lined with cake shops.  Their front window displays were fun to look at and mouth watering although most of them I just like to look at but would find it too overwhelming to really eat.

You know I had to take a picture of some of the bakery storefronts in St Kilda:

The city tour ended around 1 pm and we weren't meeting until 3 pm for the next excursion so I took the opportunity to walk the streets of Melbourne.  Our hotel was centrally located right near Chinatown and Little Italy.  I walked almost the entire two hours just absorbing the sights.  I must say, I LOVE Melbourne.  It's got a lot of character and architecture and you can stumble upon an old church and right next to it or across from it is a modern office building.  Or a beautiful park.  There are also more breadshops lined with tempting goodies, reminiscent of Paris where I could walk into any place and get an awesome baguette.  It has the bustle of a New York or San Francisco or Boston but without being crowded like those cities can tend to be.  It could be because we were there on a weekend and Melbourne is a commuter city with most of its residents living outside the city center but still, it was ideal as a tourist. 

Our afternoon excursion was to see the penguin parade at Phillip Island.  It was about a 90-minute to 2-hour drive out there one way but we had to take some detours due to the recent flooding as some of the roads we needed had been closed off.  It was an overcast, cloudy day but I didn't mind that.  Prior to our arrival, there had been a heat wave in Melbourne but now it was cool because of the rainy weather.  I'll take cool over hot any day, especially having come from the Outback.


Phillip Island is a sanctuary for the little penguin.  That's literally what they're called because they're the smallest of the 17 different types of penguins, standing no more than a foot tall.  Supposedly the sight is something else because at night when they return from fishing in the sea and make their way back to their nests (burrows) there are hundreds, sometimes thousands of them and there's a viewing place on the beach where tourists can see them come up from the water.  Unfortunately, I say supposedly because I didn't see that many.  We waited on the beach for over an hour until it got dark enough around 9 pm for the penguins to return home.  But it was dark, there weren't really any bright lights to see by and it was hard to see.  They told us we could hear the penguins calling to each other as they came in before we could see them.  That might've been true if the hordes of other tourists managed to shut up long enough to be quiet and listen to the penguins. But they didn't.  It also started to pour down rain so imagine a horde of noisy, rain-soaked tourists flooding the place.  If I were a penguin, I wouldn't come out of the ocean either to face that.

As it was, I did see a few penguins up close as I walked back to the bus as some of them had their nests near the walkways.  The little buggers were cute with their waddle.  But I'm not sure this particular excursion was worth it.  They told us later that not a lot of penguins came out (you think??) because of the stormy weather.  Again, it's just one of those things you roll with and just suck up because it's not within anyone's control to make penguins come out of the ocean or shut up the yakking tourists.  Or keep the rain from coming down in a deluge.  Our bus driver was missing in action so we ended up waiting, huddled outside the locked bus, as the rain came pouring down and other buses drove off.

When we finally did pile onto the bus and head home, it was late and we were all tired, cold and grumpy.  Erica, our tour guide, was smart enough to know we wouldn't appreciate a bunch of commentary so she wished us goodnight and suggested we all take a nap until we get back to the hotel.  Unfortunately, the bus driver didn't get the hint and tried to give us a trivia quiz.  Even more unfortunately, a wallaby darted out in front of the bus as he was driving and talking and he hit it.  UGH.  He stopped and reported it to the rangers and seemed to think the wallaby would just hop away but I don't see how a small wallaby can withstand the hit from a huge tour bus and come out the winner.  UGH again.  The driver took up where he left off on the quiz and after the half-hearted answers, he finally dialed back on the commentary over the microphone but then turned on the radio.  The tour group is a pretty good-natured one but I think we'd finally reached our limits - disappointing penguin experience, getting soaked in the rainy weather, hitting/killing a wallaby and having someone talk your ear off for hours on the trip in and now it looked like the trip back.  Someone asked the driver to turn off the radio and the driver gave us some lip about it but everyone else clapped once the radio was turned off.  We just wanted to nap in peace.

Which lasted until we were about 15 minutes away from the hotel and the bus driver's commentary started up again.  This is probably one of the biggest drawbacks of a tour for me - I know it's their job to point things out as we go but when we're doing long drives, other than a few facts here and there, I'd prefer to enjoy the drive in relative quiet, not have someone talk at me for 2 hours (yeah, I was pretty crabby by this time too but kept my crankiness to myself as there seemed to be enough to go around, lol).  We ended up getting to the hotel after midnight because of more detours due to flooded roads.  I was pretty glad to get to bed.

Today, Sunday, February 6, is another day.  There was another tour excursion to wineries but I don't drink and I wanted some free time to explore Melbourne so I gladly opted out.  As soon as I finish updating my blog, I'm off to go explore Melbourne some more.  I love the city so far and the best way to see it is on foot.  They're celebrating Chinese New Year here (lots of Asians in Melbourne) so I expect to see some fun stuff on my walking travels today.  I'm also excited to try some of the bread shops, especially in Chinatown.  Pork buns!  Custard buns!  I keep trying to try "real Aussie food" but it's become inevitable that there's more to that than fish n chips and meat pies.  There's such a strong Italian and Asian presence here that I'm going to enjoy some of those foods as well.

A shot of part of the Melbourne skyline from the river walk.  Look at that beautiful blue sky!

Australia - food tried in the Outback

The food I tried in the Outback

Kangaroo (bottom left)

Crocodile (middle left)

Camel (bottom right)

 Barramundi Fish n Chips at Bo Jangles

 Meat pie

Cheeseburger and fries at a cattle station in the Outback between Alice Springs and Uluru

Vanilla slice from the cafe at Royal Flying Doctors Service - it's more like a custard cake with thin slices of something like phyllo dough but not as flaky.  It's not really a cake like I think of cake but if you like custard, it was pretty good.  But rich.  I couldn't eat the whole thing.

Australia - Uluru

February 4, 2011 - Friday

We spent last night at Uluru and are leaving this morning for a tour at the Uluru Base and Culture Center then boarding a flight to Melbourne.

This is just a placeholder post as internet is expensive here so I will have to find a cheaper place in Melbourne to blog from....(writing on Feb 6 - finally found an internet cafe in Melbourne to blog from without costing me an arm and leg).

Uluru (formerly known as Ayer's Rock) as we waited for the sun to set

Back in Uluru, on our last morning in the Outback, we toured the base of Uluru then the Culture Center to look at aboriginal history and art.  So far we had been lucky in the weather, beating Yasi out of Cairns and leaving Alice Springs before the flash flood warnings.  On our last morning in the Outback, it was hot, hot, hot.  And the flies they told us about were in full evidence.  We had to wear fly nets over our heads to keep them at bay.  Even then, I sense we were still fortunate in that there weren't as many as there could've been.  Fortunately they didn't seem to be biting but there were still enough of them to be annoying.

I've got to admit - I don't have the fortitude for the Outback.  I'm glad I experienced it on the trip but it isn't somewhere I'd go back to.  First, I'm a weather wimp.  Can't stand the heat.  And even if I could, second, I'm enough of a girly girl to be squeamish about all the insects and reptiles out there.  All the dire warnings about what to watch out for in the outback (snakes, flies, lizards, ants etc) were enough to make me shudder and let my imagination go into overdrive.  Never mind that they had us stay in a decent place at Uluru and I didn't actually have them in my hotel room - just thinking about them and looking for them were enough to make me edgy.

I have to give major props to all the people who can live in the Outback and love it there.  It takes a special kind of person to not only deal with the weather and the bug/reptilian life but also the isolation and the challenging way of life that comes when you're in the desert miles and miles away from the sea or cities.  I couldn't do it.  So you can imagine how grateful I was to board the flight to Melbourne :).

Australia - Alice Springs

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

We left Cairns this morning along with many other people packing up to head out away from Cyclone (Hurricane) Yasi heading for the Queensland Coast.  Looks like we left in the nick of time.  We found out later that our flights was one of the last ones out of Cairns and they shut the airport down shortly after. Our flight to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory (the Outback) was only a couple of hours long but what a different environment altogether!  Prior to landing, we were told to expect very hot temperatures, around 110-120 degrees.  I'm spoiled by the climate at home and my normal operating temperature is 50-70 degrees.  We were also warned about the flies in the outback and how they can bite and fly in your face.  Many tourists opt for the fly netting to put over their heads.

When we landed, it was raining.  The rain didn't last long and it was pretty hot although a "mere" 105 degrees or so.  The afternoon was free time and I explored a bit of Alice Springs, although the heat chased me indoors and I amused myself by doing a thorough inspection of Woolworth's, a grocery chain in Australia.  Many people travel for the different adventures that other countries have to offer.  That's well and good and I enjoy that too but I also enjoy checking out the food scene, whether it's restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores.  You can learn a lot just by checking the aisles, the packaging, the sizes and the pricing.  I found it pretty fascinating.  Yes, I'm in the Outback and yes I'm hanging out in a grocery store.  Yeah, that might sound weird.  But in 105 degree weather, it was just self preservation.

Our hotel in Alice Springs is a far cry from the one in Cairns.  I have to admit to not being all that impressed with it.  The air conditioner doesn't work that well, the faucet in the bathroom drips, the TV needs sine coaxing to turn on and one of the lamp bulbs is burnt out.  But it's only for a couple of nights and I'm no diva so I just suck it up.  I could transfer to a new room but it doesn't seem worth the bother especially as my fellow travelers are having similar problems with their rooms.  I don't want to be the spoiled American tourist who can't roll with the punches so I'm just rolling.

Tonight we had a "barbie" at our hotel.  Erica, our tour guide, got kangaroo, camel, crocodile, burgers, chicken wings and sausages for the barbie and we cooked it outside at the hotel's barbecue facilities.  Unfortunately we got hit with a thunderstorm so after the meats were cooked outside, we went indoors to eat.  I've never had 'roo, camel or croc so it was my first time trying them.  Honestly, the kangaroo and camel tasted like tough beef, if a bit gamey.  If you didn't know what you were eating, it was like eating overcooked beef.  They looked the same too. Can't say I loved it but it was good to try and say I've eaten it. The crocodile was a bit of a surprise.  It looks like white breast meat and interestingly, it really did taste like chicken!  That was the funniest part.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Day 2 in Alice Springs: there was an optional excursion this morning to visit an Aboriginal village but I skipped it.  The excursion is only a few hours long and I wanted some free time to explore Alice Springs as we were already booked for that afternoon.  I went back to the Todd Mall to poke around and continue my exploration of the stores, products and prices.  I discovered a Target at the mall so that was amusing to snoop through.  It's much smaller than the Targets at home and mostly stocked with soft goods (clothes for men, women and children) and a few hard goods (small appliances, books, CDs, DVDs).  Still finding things pricey here.  I also browsed through a bookstore and was horrified to discover paperbacks were $20-$30 AUD.  For a bibliophile like me, I would go bankrupt in a month if I bought books here.

In the afternoon we visited 3 main spots in Alice Springs: the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the School of the Air and the Telegraph Station.  The RFDS is just what it sounds like - doctors and nurses who fly out to service patients in the Outback who don't have easy access to medical care.  It's funded primarily by the government and private donations/fundraising.  It was pretty interesting and gave us a good idea of the vastness of Australia and what it does to serve its people's needs.  Same with the School of the Air where children spread through the region don't have access to a brick and mortar school so they have a virtual classroom and interact with their teacher and other students hundreds of kilometers away via computer.  It was fascinating.  Also funded by the government like any public school.  They also told us the kids typically score in the top 10% on standardized tests compared with other schoolchildren who go to a regular school.  The government pays for the computer, satellite dish, and other equipment the children need to be hooked up into their virtual classroom.  That's what I think tax dollars should be spent on - education.

Lastly, that afternoon, we also visited Telegraph Station which used to be where the telegraph master and his family lived and where they ran the telegraph out of Alice Springs.  It was an outcropping of various buildings that gave a sense of how they lived back then.  I can't even begin to imagine those conditions and the fortitude of the people who lived there at the time.  I think it takes a certain toughness to live in the Outback at any time.

Dinner that night was at a local bar where they offered tourists a $15 menu.  After the priciness of some of the places we visited, $15 was a bargain.  The offerings included camel pie and kangaroo but since I'd already tried those at the barbecue (and considered them to be once-in-a-lifetime experiences), I went with the barramundi fish and chips.  Bo Jangles was a bit quirky but fun.

Ned Kelly was Australian's most famous outlaw - you turned the handle on the coffin to get shelled peanuts

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Thursday morning started at 4:30 am for those of us who went on the sunrise hot air balloon ride.  They took us out to where we would take off from, tested the wind for favorable (or not) conditions and determined we'd be able to go on the ride that day.  It took about 45 minutes to an hour to fill up the hot air balloon with a huge fan and the flames from the "office" of the hot air balloon basket to warm up the air.  There were 2 balloons and we fit about 19-20 people in each one.  I have to say this was one of the highlights of the trip.  It was really smooth to go up in the air and we had beautiful weather for it.  The sunrise was partially obscured by the clouds but it was so pretty to be up there that it almost didn't matter.  What there was of it was beautiful.  Heights don't bother me so I enjoyed looking out at the view as we got higher and higher.  The takeoff, the ride and the landing were all as smooth as can be and a very enjoyable experience.  I'd recommend it to anyone who wanted to try it.

Pic of the other balloon from the balloon I was in:

After the balloon ride, we got back to the hotel and immediately took off again for the 6-hour bus ride to Uluru, formerly known as Ayer's Rock.  On the way we stopped at a camel farm where we could pay $6 to ride a camel around a small track.  I'm not much of a rider and have gone on horseback a few times when I was younger.  Riding a camel is a lot different than riding a horse.  And infinitely funnier.  The movement of the camel as it steps down and steps up so you can mount the saddle is similar to a rollercoaster movement.  I had a fun time on it but was glad the ride only took a few minutes as it definitely wouldn't have been comfortable for longer.  At the back half of the track, the guide had the camel trot.  Trotting was actually easier to hang on than walking.  Overall, it was hilarious.

To be continued as I'm running out of internet minutes
Still need to cover:

Observations about the aborigines in Alice Springs

Australia - a little on the food I tried in Queensland

Lamington: named after Baron Lamington who was a governor of Queensland in the early 1900s, a lamington is a square of vanilla cake covered in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut.  I bought a lamington in Kuranda ($3.50 AUD) and tried it before we left Cairns.  It was pretty good.  It was a standard white cake and chocolate frosting but I liked the added texture of the coconut.

ANZAC - I'd heard of Anzac biscuits before and even had a few recipes of them in my baking books.  What I didn't know is that ANZAC stands for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.  Anzac "biscuits" are essentially hard, crunchy cookies.  I tried a macadamia Anzac from Kuranda ($1.20 AUD) and thought it was pretty good.  It's a butter cookie without being buttery and has a nice crunch.  I'm going to have to try and make this when I get back home.  They seem to have a lot of macadamia products here as well as fresh pineapple (which I love).

Chicken & Potato Pie - the meat pie is an Australian staple as it's hearty, filling and (generally) nutricious.  It's also one of the cheaper foods I've found here - $5AUD for the one from Kuranda.  What I liked about the pie I tried is its simplicity: crust, chicken & gravy filling and mashed potatoes swirled on top.  No ruining it by adding veggies (can you tell I don't like vegetables?) to be overcooked inside the gravy.  Just meat and gravy - that's my idea of a meat pie.

One of the things I'm constantly doing as I travel is checking out the food being sold or offered at various places like restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, hotel buffets, etc.  A couple of observations so far: first, I'll reiterate again how expensive things seem to be.  It's not just that I'm shopping in touristy places or airports.  Woolworths, a grocery store chain in Australia where many locals seem to shop, bears out the prices.  Think of it as like a Safeway in the US.  Cake mix was "on sale" for $4.93 AUD.  A 1.2L container of ice cream was $7 AUD.  Bananas were $2.50 a kilogram.  A can of Spam was on sale for $3.30.  For those of us in the US, we're really fortunate...and spoiled.  Never again will I complain how much food costs.  I've seen much higher in other parts of the world.  I don't know what salaries are like here but I hope they're high enough to compensate for the cost of food.  Feeding a family here must be enormous.

In the confectionery aisle - which is the aisle I always pay particular attention to - there are also brands I'm familiar with, namely Nestle and Cadbury.  But they offer a greater variety of flavors which is really cool.  Before I go home, I'm stocking up on some of this stuff that we don't have in the US.  Snickers and Kit Kats also seem popular here but they have "limited edition" Snickers with a chocolate wafer and almonds and caramel more than nougat.  M&Ms are also common in plain, peanut, mint, and crispy.  I'm still on the lookout for caramel M&Ms which I once had in So Cal but I think those were a test run and I don't think the M&M people have continued making them.  Darn.

Before I left for Australia, my friend Cheryl, who used to live here, recommended I try Tim Tams.  I don't know whether to thank her or curse her.  I bought Tim Tams in Cairns and they're delicious.  Think of them like Kit Kats in cookie form but much, much better.  I don't usually like KitKats as the wafer part always seems soggy.  But not in Tim Tams.  They're crisp chocolate wafer cookies sandwiched with a chocolate creme filling (same texture as the filling in Oreos but chocolate) and enrobed in milk chocolate.  YUM.  I also tried the caramel Tim Tams where instead of the chocolate creme filling, it was caramel.  More YUM.  Yeah, some boxes of those are going in my suitcase before I leave this country.

Australia - Kuranda

January 31, 2011 - today we took a ride on the Scenic Railway up to Kuranda, a "hippie" village in the mountains.  The train ride was about 1 1/2 hours through 15 tunnels and a number of bridges with 1 horseshoe turn and a stop at Barron Falls which were utterly gorgeous.  It was a nice ride up there and they gave a good voiceover on the train about its history.  I can't wait until I can upload pics to these blog posts.  Everything was beautifully green.  I could easily imagine I was back in the rain forests of Belize, complete with the humidity but sans the man-eating bugs and howler monkeys.

Barron Falls:

When we got to Kuranda, we walked along the town's main strip lined with tourist shops and ended up at the Heritage Market where we went to the Koala Gardens.  For a tour-discounted entrance fee of $12AUD you can get into the gardens which boasted crocodiles, wallabies, lizards, a cage of snakes and, of course, koalas.  For another $16AUD, you can "cuddle" a koala and get your picture taken with it.  I wasn't so hot about the picture (in the humidity, my face was shining like a homing beacon and my hair was flatter than limp noodles) but it was the koala that mattered, right?  The picture taker's assistant positions your arms before plucking the koala from the last tourist and putting it in your arms.  You have to cradle "the bum" with one hand and keep the other hand up so the koala can be draped in your arms.  I've never held a koala before and hadn't realized how sharp their claws are.  Fortunately the one I held didn't scratch me or break skin although it got a pretty good grip on my shirt when it was time to give it to the next tourist.  We could get our picture taken with one of the two koalas they were using for that purpose.  I got the smaller one which I wanted - the big one looked like it could take me on and win.  Both poor things looked a mite cranky but I would be too if I had to put up with a never-ending lineup of tourists.

Within Koala Gardens, they also had a small lake for the crocodiles (don't disturb them and they won't disturb you), some lizards (in a fenced off area but the top half was open which made me wonder what makes them stay there), and wallabies (who I consider kangaroos) including some "joeys" or baby wallabies.  I've never seen them up close before so that was pretty cool to experience.  There was also a snake cage for the snakes but I channeled my inner Indiana Jones and skipped all that.  Some things I don't need to experience and snakes are on that list.

We had a few hours to kill in Kuranda so I did a lot of walking.  The town's main strip isn't very big so I traversed it several times before sitting down and writing postcards.  It was pretty hot and humid so it kind of kills the desire to do much.  I did finally get to try a meat pie - or rather, it was a chicken and potato pie.  Pretty good.  It was deceptively small but actually quite filling.  I also bought a Lamington and a macadamia Anzac but saved them for later.  More on those later in a separate post once I can get the pictures up.  I'm trying to try as much authentic Australian food as possible - that's one of the pleasures of traveling, after all.  Unfortunately the heat and humidity is a bit of an appetite killer and the chicken & potato pie did me in so I saved the desserts for later.  Although I did indulge in ice cream (hey, it was hot) and tried a flavor called violet crumble which was a mocha and chocolate swirled ice cream with a toffee crunch.  It was GOOD.

Violet Crumble gelato

ETA: criminy, I was so focused on the food I can't believe I forgot to mention the gondola ride down.  We took the train up and the Skyrail gondola down.  It's listed as the longest gondola ride in the world and I'll say it lives up to that.  It was an awesome experience.  You're up ridiculously high so if you're afraid of heights, this won't be the best ride for you but I loved it.  I may feel icky on 15-foot waves in the Coral Sea but hanging in a little gondola over the highest trees you can imagine that are so tall you can't see the ground they're growing in is cool. Not to mention the scenery was just top notch.  I am in awe of all the people who built this thing.  Not only is it so high up but it's a long ride and a lot of towers to build and a lot of cable to string up between the towers.  I'll have to look up how they built it and how long it took - it's really quite impressive.  My pictures don't do it justice because you can't really get a sense of how high up you are through pictures.  Only that you're hanging all the way up there in an enclosed "car" hanging on a cable.  Awesome.

Australia - The Great Barrier Reef

Monday, January 31, 4:45 am - so far I'm not adjusting that well to local time.  I went to bed before 8 pm last night, slept a solid 4.5 hours then dozed off and on (again, more awake than asleep) for a few hours and was up by 4 am and showered by 4:30 am.  Nothing's open, not even the fitness center, and it's still too dark to go for a walk outside so might as well go to the open 24/7 Business Center at the hotel and check in.

Yesterday was our excursion to the Great Barrier Reef.  Cairns is about a 90-minute boat ride out to Green Island and the Reef.  We were bussed to the marina where our tour guide, Erica, went to get our tickets for the "Sunlovers Cruise" out to the reef.  It was then that we were told that, because a cyclone was headed to the Queensland Coast, the waters were a bit choppy.  The cyclone was on a path to hit several hundred kilometers south of us so we weren't in any danger but we were going to feel some of the effects from winds and rough waters.  There was a chance the boat wouldn't sail out there today so we were on standby.

Not being able to go when we were so close was disappointing but everyone took it well and were prepared to roll with whatever came up.  Fortunately, it was decided the waters were safe enough but the captain did warn us that the winds were 25-30 knots (whatever that means) and the ride would be a bit bumpy.  He wasn't kidding.  Now, I don't normally get seasick.  I haven't been on a lot of boats or ships but enough that I know I'm not really prone to seasickness.  I went on a cruise several years ago and was queasy the first night but was perfectly fine after that.  The waters were so rough that the trip out to the reef was like being on a rollercoaster ride....for 90 minutes.  I didn't get queasy but I did end up with a headache from having my brain tossed around inside my skull for so long.  You couldn't really walk anywhere on the boat because it was being tossed around so much and even seated, I had to hold the chair rest to keep from being tossed to another seat.

The pontoon at the Great Barrier Reef

When we got to the pontoon on the reef, I was prepared to go snorkeling and had already worn my bathing suit underneath my tank top and shorts.  I decided to take it easy for awhile though and let my head get back to normal.  I hung out on the pontoon which was steadier than the boat, went back to the boat for the buffet lunch and chatted with Pat, a very nice lady on the tour group whose daughter works for Google and was having a great experience there that Pat was happy to share with me.  After lunch, I caught a ride on the semi-submersible boat off the pontoon where you sit in the lower level that's completely below water and you get a ride around part of the reef so you can get a closer look at the coral and some of the fish.  In essence, it's like seeing what the scuba divers were seeing.

It was an interesting trip but it turned out to be my Waterloo.  While I wasn't nauseous on the boat ride that took us out to the reef, being in the enclosed "sub" and still in those choppy waters turned out not to be a good idea.  Yup, I yakked up my lunch.  Fortunately, there were seasick bags right in front of me and I had enough warning to have one open in front of me so I could quietly toss my lunch the hard way up there.  Eww.

After that experience, I actually felt a little better but was glad to get back up on the pontoon when the ride was over.  Okay, no more boat rides in little enclosed spaces for me.  I hung out on the pontoon and watched the snorkelers.  There were a lot of mostly yellow-tailed fish, swimming so close to the surface that I was able to get some good pictures of them.  I saw one large gray fish (I know nothing about marine life) that looked large enough to be a baby shark but apparently it was quite safe.  I talked to some of the other people who had gone snorkeling and it sounded like they were seeing the same things I was from the surface so I talked myself out of donning the snorkeling gear and stayed where I was to enjoy it instead.  Yeah, yeah, it's the Great Barrier Reef and it'd be nice to say I'd snorkeled there but I'm not much of a swimmer or a snorkeler so I was fine skipping it, especially since I didn't want to risk throwing up in the Coral Sea.

The fish were pretty fearless to watch.  They'd swarm around the snorkelers and sometimes the snorkelers were so intent on what they could see through their goggles into the water beneath them that they never looked around to see they were literally surrounded by a school of them.  I took some cool pictures that I can't wait to upload to this post.  I also attended a mini lecture on the pontoon about sea cucumbers and star fish and got to touch both.  The sea cucumber was a bit slimy to the touch and the starfish were spiny.  It was interesting to learn about their habits.  I'd never really gotten a close look at sea cucumbers before so that was interesting.

The ride back wasn't as bad as the ride out but still choppy enough that I had to lie down on one of the couches in the lounge deck to fight off the headache coming back.  It didn't really help that the lady who sat next to me was literally retching half the trip.  Apparently I wasn't the only one having a hard time on the boat.  Quite a few people did get seasick on the trip there and back.

But all in all, it was a good experience and when I'm traveling, I always chalk up everything to an experience.  The day alternated between cloudy and sunny but overall the sights were beautiful and I'm glad I went.  I bought a cute t-shirt in the gift shop at the wharf before the boat ride for one of my nieces as her souvenir present from Australia but when I got back to the hotel and tried it on, I liked it so much I want to keep it (sorry, Laur).  So now I have to hotfoot it back to the gift shop before we leave Cairns and buy another one so I can still be a good aunt, haha.

Today's excursion is a train ride up to Karanda and a gondola ride back down.  It's the only time on the tour we'll get to hold a koala if we choose - more about that tomorrow.

A word about the tour group - there are 33 of us on the tour and it's primarily an older group, filled with retired couples and older people traveling with a friend or sibling.  I'm the youngest person here by a decade...or two.  One of the couples jokingly asked me if I was even old enough to drink.  LOL!  Age is apparently relative.  But everyone seems really nice and I've enjoyed talking with various people.  Most of them are well-traveled with a lot of people having taken trips and cruises to Europe and Asia although it seems to be most people's first time to Australia.

Australia - initial observations and more on Cairns

January 30, 2011 - at least I'm pretty sure it's Jan 30.  I'm still a bit turned around on time. 

After my internet cafe check-in, I wandered around Abbott St and the Esplanade in Cairns which is right near the wharf.  It rained off and on as it tends to do in tropical areas and the heat (when it was sunny) and the humidity (when it was raining) were challenging, especially when you're sleep deprived.  I had my first lunch in Australia by having fish and chips at the food court at the Cairns Night Market (most of the market was closed since it was daytime).  My friend Cheryl, who lived in Australia for several months, said I had to try the fish and chips, especially berrumundi.  Unfortunately the stand only offered mackerel but I thought it was pretty good.  A bit greasy but nowhere near as bad as the one I had in London.  When I get back home I'll have to go back and update these blog entries with pictures as yes, I take pictures of my food.

ETA: fish n chips

We had a welcome dinner at the hotel last night but by then I was so sleepy I really couldn't function very well.  It was a buffet dinner but I was still full from the fish and chips so I didn't eat much.  The offerings seemed like standard Western fare that you'd serve tourists.  It wasn't bad but nothing really stood out.  I left the dinner early as I was on my last legs, was back in my room and crashed by 7 pm.  Slept like the comatosed until just past 11 pm then dozed off and on (mostly off) for the next few hours.  By 4:30 am, I had given up.  I was awake.

I initially planned to hit the fitness center and, tricked out in my running gear and armed with my ipod, I got there by 6 am only to discover they don't open until 9 am on Sundays.  No matter - I went outside instead.  I might've planned to run since there's an awesome path by the waterfront but in reality, I was so intent on absorbing my surroundings that I did more of a gawking walk than anything more cardio-minded.  Which was great.  I saw the sun come up over some hills, the sky spill into blue and, because it still kept raining off and on, a rainbow made itself known halfway through my walk.  I always love looking at bodies of water and there's something beautiful and soothing about walking alongside, just enjoying the ambiance.  As in most places, sometimes the best part of the day is the early morning, especially in the tropics.  The heat and humidity haven't taken hold yet and the morning air is nice and cool.

Other random reflections: had a laughable moment when I first got inside my hotel room.  I kept flipping the light switches but nothing was turning on.  After a few minutes, I finally discovered the slot to insert my room key so that the switches worked.  Smart thinking on the hotel's part - ensures less energy is wasted when people aren't in the room.

Currency: the challenge of going to any country with different currency is becoming familiar enough with it that you're not always fumbling for the right amount to give and knowing how much change you should expect to get back.  The AU dollar and the US dollar are almost at parity.  The best exchange rate I saw without fees was $100USD = $94.50 AUD.  And did I mention how expensive everything is here??  The smallest bill seems to be for $5 AUD and their $2 coin is smaller than their 50-cent piece, something that always throws me off.  But it's all good learning and I'm enjoying the differences.

Oh and the most US-centric thing I'll say - they drive on the "wrong" side of the road!  lol.  I have to swivel my head like an owl as I cross the street as I always seem to forget which side I should be looking at.

More later - heading out to the Great Barrier Reef shortly.

Australia - Cairns

G'day from Australia!  I'm fulfilling one of my dream trips by going on a tour of Australia and New Zealand.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to get internet access or how often and I likely won't be able to upload pictures until I get back home but I thought I'd try snatching some time to blog while I can and wherever I can get cheap internet access.  I'm at an internet cafe at the moment for $3 an hour although my goal is not to spend more than 20 minutes a day online.  I'm here to experience the trip, not just write about it.  I'll be hijacking my baking blog to blog a bit about my trip.  Although knowing me, you know food will feature prominently here.  It'll just be Aussie and NZ food.


I've been in transit for almost 24 hours now and am operating on 3 hours' sleep over a 2-day period so I'm a bit punchy.  We're in Cairns for the first leg of the tour.  Flew to Brisbane first to go through Customs & Immigration.  I finally got an Australian stamp on my passport (although I confess to being disappointed that it doesn't actually SAY Australia on it.  But I'll know what it is).  Then boarded another plane to fly to Cairns.  It's more tropical here, i.e. humid and 90 degrees.  First thing I need to stock up on is water to keep hydrated.  And I thought I had packed the sunblock I had bought especially for the trip only to discover it's nowhere in my suitcase.  So that's the second item on the buy list.  There's a grocery store near our hotel so I'm checking that out as soon as I log off.

Australia is actually quite expensive and our tour guide, Erica, corroborated this.  The store prices so far confirm it.  Fortunately I don't have a lot to buy other than food and souvenirs.  Gotta go - tomorrow is a trip to the Great Barrier Reef.  Stay tuned....

ETA: aerial view of Cairns as we approach the airport to land

Triple Layer Chocolate Mousse Cake

Triple Layer Chocolate Mousse Cake - originally made April 25, 2005 from Chocolatier Magazine, June 1997 issue

I can't let National Chocolate Cake Day go by without posting this recipe - it goes down in the baking archives as the most expensive chocolate cake I've ever made.  Normally I don't let the cost of ingredients faze me but when you couple the amount of chocolate this recipe calls for with I-take-my-own-advice about using the best quality ingredients you can afford, well, let's just say, this cake made me realize why fancy bakeries charge as much as they do for some of their cakes.

Don't let the length of the recipe deter you.  I admit I made this cake over the course of two days so it can take a bit of time but the steps themselves aren't hard.  Some recommended tips: this makes a lot of chocolate mousse, probably double what you actually need for the cake itself.  So unless you have other plans for the mousse, you can get away with only making a half recipe for the cake (that'll cut the chocolate cost as well).  I probably didn't use very much since I didn't make the mousse layers between the cake layers very thick.  Oh and another plug for baking with cake strips as you can see where I had to fill in a bit more mousse because the cake layer was domed and shorter on the sides than the middle - this is a cake baked without the cake strips.

I also ended up with too much ganache and too many Oreo cookie crumbs.  Depending on your fondness for chocolate, you can cut the ganache recipe by at least a third.  If I were to make this cake again, I also would use chopped toasted nuts instead of Oreo cookie crumbs for the garnish along the sides of the cake, more to add texture than anything else.  The cake itself is good and the mousse and ganache make it over-the-top chocolate.  This is not for the faint of chocolate heart.

Chocolate Mousse

28 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 1/3 cups milk

½ cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

3 cups heavy cream

Devil’s food cake

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup water

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, such as Land O Lakes, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

Ganache glaze

16 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 cups heavy cream

Assembly

25 Oreo Cookies

Make the chocolate mousse

1.     Put the chocolate in a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade.  Process for 20 to 30 seconds, until finely ground.

2.     In a small saucepan, combine the milk, sugar and salt.  Cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sugar dissolves and the milk comes to a boil.  Remove the pan from heat.

3.     With the motor of the food processor running, pour the hot milk through the feed tube.  Process for 10 to 20 seconds, until the chocolate is completely melted.  Using a spatula, scrape down the side of the work bowl.  Add the oil and vanilla extract; process for 5 to 10 seconds, until the mixture is creamy.  Scrape the chocolate mixture into a large bowl and cool for about 5 minutes, until tepid.

4.     In a chilled 4 ½-quart bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft mounds barely start to form and the cream is still pourable.  Do not overwhip the cream.

5.     Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold one-third of the whipped cream into the tepid chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Fold in the remaining whipped cream.  Do not overfold the mousse or the texture will be grainy.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 6 to 8 hours or overnight, until firm.

Make the cake

6.     Grease three 10-inch round cake pans.  Cut three 10-inch circles of waxed paper and place in the bottom of each pan.  Grease the pan well and then flour, tapping out the excess.  Set aside.  Place the oven racks two shelves apart.  Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

7.     Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.  Place the coarsely chopped chocolate and the water on top of a double boiler and turn heat to medium high, whisking occasionally until smooth.  Remove from the top of the double boiler and cool slightly.

8.     Meanwhile, in a 4 ½ -quart bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugars.  Add the vanilla.  Add the eggs one by one, mixing on medium speed until blended.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the mixer at its lowest speed, add half of the dry ingredients, and then half of the buttermilk.  When blended, add the remaining buttermilk and the chocolate mixture.  Mix until blended then add the remaining dry ingredients.  Mix on medium speed just until blended and the flour lumps disappear.  Divide evenly among the three prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset metal spatula.  Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove the pans from the oven and place on wire cooling racks.  Cool for 15 minutes and invert.  Peel off the waxed paper and cool completely.

Begin to assemble the cake

9.     Place a dab of chocolate mousse and then a layer of the cooled cake on a 10-inch cardboard cake circle or the circular insert of a tart pan.  Using a large rubber spatula, place about one-quarter of the chilled chocolate mousse on top of the first cake layer.  Using a metal cake spatula, spread the mousse evenly not quite to the sides of the cake.  There should be slightly less than one-half inch of mousse on top of the cake.  Place the second cake layer on top and repeat the mousse layer.  Place the third cake layer on top, then spread the remaining chocolate mousse over the top and sides of the cake, coating smoothly and evenly.  Place the cake in the freezer for a minimum of four hours.

Make the ganache glaze

10.   Place the coarsely chopped chocolate in a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade.  Process for 20 to 30 seconds, until finely ground.  Place in a large bowl.  In a medium pan, scald the heavy cream and pour over the chocolate.  Using a metal whisk, gently stir until smooth and melted.  Continue stirring until the ganache is room temperature or just slightly warmer.

Glaze and garnish the cake

11.   Place the Oreos in a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade.  Process for 20 to 30 seconds, until finely ground.

12.   Remove the cake from the freezer and place on a wire rack that has been set over aluminum foil or a sheet pan.  Slowly pour the ganache over the top of the cake, smoothing with a large metal cake spatula.  When the top has been coated, slowly pour the ganache around the sides of the cake so it drips down and coats the sides.  Use the spatula to spread the ganache evenly over the sides of the cake.  When completely coated with the ganache, scoop the Oreo crumbs with your hands and press them onto the sides of the cake, coating its entirety.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.