Katoomba, Scenic World Blue Mountains, Jenolan Caves and even a Kangaroo! - Friday, September 25, 2015 - Our last full day

 Our hotel Lilianfels Resort and Spa, is in Katoomba, walking distance to the "Three Sisters". The Three Sisters is essentially an usual rock formation representing three sisters who according to Aboriginal legend were turned to stone. 

Our first stop this morning was at the Scenic World, Blue Mountains.  I took the Scenic Skyway, while Beth waited for me.  Next we took the WORLDS STEEPEST RAILWAY!

Here is a you tube video of the ride

After enjoying Scenic World in Katoomba we drove to the Jenolan Caves.  We toured the Imperial Cave followed by the Diamond Cave.  Here are a few of our photo's:

On our way home we saw kangaroo's in the wild!

Tonight we had an AWESOME dinner at Darley's restaurant next to but part of our Lilianfel Resort and Spa.  Here is a little history of Darley's.

It was THE PERFECT END TO THE MOST WONDERFUL HOLIDAY (vacation) EVER!

Tomorrow we fly home…..

Driving to the Blue Mountains - our last two nights in Australia - Thursday, September 24, 2015

We picked up our Hertz rental car at the Sydney airport.  And once again the Aussie's are ACE!

The man helping us at Hertz was SO NICE….we got into the interesting conversation about us driving on the RIGHT side of the road where as he says they drive on the "correct" side of the road.  I said that they actually drive on the left side of the road.  He said his Grandpa told him it was due to our use of Guns in the days of horse travel this is what I found on the Internet:

 "All available evidence seems to indicate that the RIGHT-HAND travel predominated in Colonial America from the time of the earliest settlement.  The ox-team, the horseback rider, the handler of the lead horse, and even the pedestrian all traveled to the right.  A Travelers with hand guns carried their weapons in the hollows of their left arms and traveled to the right, the better to be ready if an oncoming stranger proved dangerous"

He was great, gave us awesome directions.  Told us to stop in the lovely town of Leura.  He even gave us the name of a wonderful restaurant to have a lentil burger called the Red Door Cafe.  We did stop in Leura and we did eat at Red Door cafe it was excellent.

It was getting late so after we checked into our room at the classic Lilanfels Resort and Spa, with a bottle of champagne from our travel agent as a congrats on our 20th wedding anniversary,  we took a short drive then walk in Wentworth Falls.

We decide to stay local and casual for dinner…..and we had dinner at Unique Patisserie.  Yes, a patisserie that has Malaysian food, Thai food, Chinese food…..

Our room with our anniversary bottle of champagne

Outdoor pool

Darley's Restaurant

Lobby/lounge area

 Indoor pool

Yom Kippur day, our departure from Heron Island flying to Sydney and breaking the fast

One of the families we met on Heron Island were The Clarke's - Rodney, Penny, Daniel and William.  You can read about the entire family on the above link.

We met and became friends because I was moved to tears as I watch Daniel age 19 (who has cerebral palsy) and William age 17 give a presentation about their cause, which is to SAVE THE ORANGUTAN'S of Borneo and Sumatra. At least this is where we first met Daniel, William, Penny and Rodney

Here are a few things Daniel and William have achieved following their visit to the jungles of Borneo in 2008 when Daniel was 12 and William 10:

• Self published authoress of the Best Selling Australian book "Tears In The Jungle" - a children's adventure to save the orangutan
• Raised over $785,000.00 to save the orangutan - there goal is $1 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!
• Sponsored over 108,000 acres of orangutan habitat in Borneo
• Presented to 48 schools and events across Australia on the problems facing the orangutan (around 28,000 people)
• Awarded the NSW & National Pride of Australia Medal, Environment Category 2012 and the Pride of Australia "People's Choice" Award 2012
• Received International conservation award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) "Young Campaigners"
• Featured in ABC's Australian Story, March 2012
• Received a letter from President Barack Obama in recognition for their efforts to save the Orangutan.
•  Their book was the inspiration for a song written and sung by Australian rock band, INXS it's called 'Tears In The Rain"

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Orangutans share 97% of our DNA?
2. The female orangutan only has ONE baby every NINE (9) YEARS!
3. The orangutan baby stays with its mother for SEVEN (7) YEARS!
4. An adult orangutan has the strength of TEN (10) men
5. Orangutans can live up 40 to 55 years in the wild and 50 to 60 years in captivity

Orangutans MAY BE EXTINCT within 5 to 10 years!

 WHY?  PALM OIL!!!   The industry is linked to major issues such as deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and indigenous rights abuses in the countries where it is produced, as the land and forests must be cleared for the development of the oil palm plantations. 

This single vegetable oil is found in approximately 40-50% of household products in countries such as United States, Canada, Australia and England. Palm oil can be present in a wide variety of products, including: baked goods, confectionery, shampoo, cosmetics, cleaning agents, washing detergents and toothpaste.

What can YOU do?  #1) Do NOT buy anything made with Palm Oil, unless it is sustainable Palm Oil.  #2)Write to companies using Palm Oil.  Tell them to either change to another type of oil OR use ONLY sustainably grown Palm Oil.  #3) Adopt an Orangutan or make a donation!

Rodney is a 5 time Ice Dance Champion (Junior/Senior) and represented Australia in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary in Ice Dancing (20th in the World).

Penny started figure skating at age of 10 as a solo figure skater and then turned to ice dancing and by 19 was the 1981 Australian National Ice Dance Champion.  Read about her life and how Daniel got Cerebral Palsy in the link above.

I was so inspired and totally blown away by Penny and Daniel.  Penny took Daniel everywhere and he did everything.  Penny picked him up out of his wheel chair helped walk him down a set of stairs to help him put on his wetsuit so he could snorkel with the black tip sharks.  Another afternoon I was heading to the east side of the island when I met the Clarke's and they invited me and Beth to snorkeled with the sting rays, etc on the west side.  I enjoyed being with Daniel.  It helped that his passion in sports is the NBA.  His favorite player is Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.  So we spent quite a bit of time talking basketball.

We were also moved by another family Jason Sayre and his wife Allison along with 5 kids. He works for BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (think coal).  I love his job title Execution Superintendent Major Shutdown.  I think he oversees the shutdown of old coal mines?

In any case our first experience with them was when we were eating lunch and Jason was just relaxing playing his Ukulele while his kids played in the pool.  When a few coke's arrived the kids took time to thank their parents for the cokes and go on the think them for taking them on this wonderful vacation. Both of us were crying……it blew us away to see how much these kids loved their parents, how much they appreciated everything their parents did for them…it was incredible to watch and experience. So naturally we told them how moved we were by their family and we became friends.  It must have been meant to be a 2 of the 5:30 am mornings that I could not sleep and went to see the sun rise…..Jason happened to be there to. 

Today we depart, all while I am on my Yom Kippur fast.  First is our departure from the island for our 2 hour boat ride to Gladestone…..sad to be leaving Heron Island…..hope to come back some day!

So after arriving in Gladestone we took the bus to the airport and caught our flights - Gladestone to Brisbane to Sydney.  It was nice to travel all the way to Sydney with the Clarke.

What was MOST UNIQUE was breaking my 24 hour fast for Yom Kippur.  I had seen the sun rise and set on erev Yom Kippur and the sun rise today, Yom Kippur day.  Now I am at 35,000 feet watching the sun set…..it was the closes I ever have been to G-D on Yom Kipper.  I might also reconsider my break fast at home.  I broke my fast on the plane with 2 FREE beers and peanuts (Qantas provides free beers for flights that depart between 5pm and 7 pm)  It was refreshing, I loved it.

We arrive in Sydney and walked our luggage over to the Stamford hotel…nothing to write home about just a airport hotel!

Low tide walk…open house at the University of Queensland Research Centre all on erev Yom Kippur evening

I started off this day of erev Yom Kippur with the morning sunrise….for some reason….maybe the birds….I could not sleep!

Then after a wonderful buffet breakfast we took the low tide walk with Sara Margaret Keltie.  Sara is passionate about the oceans it was refereshing to be with her.  She has done some amazing things, check out her time on the Sea Shepherd. We were all lucky and surprised to see a Epaulette shark…..a shark that can WALK!!!  Sara even caught it so we could feel it, etc.  This shark can breath air for up to about and hour without any side effects.  

Here are my photo's of our low tide walk

Blue Sea Star - Blue Linckia

Sea Hare

Yes, this is a crab. I forget it's name some thing like a moss crab?

At this sunset I started my 24 hour fast for Yom Kippur.  So I've been fortunate to see the sunrise in the East and the sun set in the West as I start my fast.

Scuba Diving Heron Island - Monday, September 21

When in Rome………yes I did not get enough scuba diving (10 dives) on the live aboard boat….therefore I just HAD to do some more diving here on Heron Island.

This link list the TOP 10 dive sites on Heron Island.  I did 3 dives here, Heron Bommie, Tenements and Pam's Point.

Here are some of my own photo's taken from my iPhone!

My FIRST and probably ONLY SELFIE…..EVER!

These are NO LONGER called Star Fish….as they are NOT a fish….they are now call Sea Stars.  They are a echinodem, closely related to sea urchins and sand dollars.

Below is a You Tube scuba diving video of Heron Island, just for fun!

Heron Island - snorkeling, diving, nature walks and a tour of The University of Queensland Research Centre - Sunday, September 20th

We arrived on Heron Island yesterday, Saturday September 19th and we depart on Wednesday, September 23 (Yom Kippur Day)

Do birds really call at night?  Have they gone wild? That's what we were asking when we couldn't sleep?  Here is a link about the sights and sounds on Heron Island.  One thing is FOR SURE…..if you don't like bird calls while you are sleeping and you don't like to see bird poop or get hit with bird poop Heron Island maybe a challenge.

Here is a list of the Heron Island birds:

In certain months, up to 100,000 birds flock to the island.  The bird species can be grouped into the following populations:

Breeding birds

• Black Noddy (between 70,000 to 120,000)   
• Bridled Tern (approximately 50)   
• Wedge-Tailed Shearwater (between 30,000 to 35,000) 

Residents - these birds live on Heron Island all year round and breed on the island.

• Bar Shouldered Dove   
• Black-Faced Cuckoo-Shrike   
• Buff Banded Rail   
• Capricorn Silver Eye  
• Eastern Reef Egret (formally known as a Reef Heron)   
• Sacred Kingfisher   
• Silver Gull   
• White-Bellied Sea Eagle

As it happened when we were taking the tour of the Research Centre a pair of White-Bellied Sea Eagle's flew above our heads.

One of many Black Noddy's

Birds flying over as we take in our beautiful first sunset on Heron Island

On the road again…car, plane, plane, bus, boat then arrive in storm at Heron Island - Saturday, September 19, 2015

Can you imagine a 3:45AM wake up call while you are on Holiday (vacation)?

Well that was the case for us….last night we drove from Port Douglas to Cairns.  We are staying in the Hilton Doubletree Hotel in Cairns and we ate dinner at the Bushfire Grill.  Nice night, but early morning!!!!

5:30AM departure flight from Cairns to Brisbane.  Then a 9:00 am flight from Brisbane to Gladstone airport. Then a bus transfer to the boat harbor, then the boat to Heron Island.  It was a pretty windy day 20 knots of wind, we must have gone over at least 10 foot swells.  I thought we might be in for a ride when every table, seat and or space on the boat had MANY "boat distress bags" and a box of tissues.

We had taken sea sick pills about and hour prior to our departure so we didn't have any issues.  I was fortune to be able to enjoy a few beers on the 2 hour journey.  We arrived and the staff greeted us in raincoats!

Below is part of the description of Heron Island as found on Wikipedia;

Heron Island is a coral cay located near the Tropic if Capricorn in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 80 km north-east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, and 460 km north-north-west of the state capital Brisbane. The island is situated on the leeward (western) side of Heron Reef, a fringing platform reef of significant biodiversity, supporting around 900 of the 1,500 fish species and 72% of the coral species found on the Great Barrier Reef.

The island is about 2,600 feet long and 980 feet at its widest, giving an area of approximately 40 acres. The highest point, near the western tip, 12 feet above mean sea level. A dune ridge along the southern shore rises some 9.8 feet above mean sae level, lower dunes on the north-eastern side are only about 3 feet above the sea.

Heron Island - The Hidden Gem of the Great Barrier Reef

Port Douglas 4 Mile Beach day - Friday, September 18, 2015

We spent today walking 4 mile beach and kicking around Port Douglas.

Check out the water temperature on the board…..24 celsius which is 75 fahrenheit…which is WARM ocean water!!!

Ice cream on the beach anyone?  As I've mentioned numerous times that THE PEOPLE of Autralia were AMAZING…this guy is having fun.  He gave me the Thumps Up as I had on my SF Giants hat. When I purchased an ice cream from him all he could talk about was Jarryd Hayne.  I think he may have thought my Giants hat was a 49er hat!

Stingers

I have seen snow angels but never before a beach angel or wave angel?

 Port Douglas at sunset

We also loved this old church, this part of Australia remindeds me of the old Plantation days in Hawaii. The flora and fauna as well as the homes and structures as well as the Sugar Cane harvesting all made me feel like I was in Hawaii.

This link is a little history of St. Mary's by the Sea

We hate to leave Port Douglas, we loved it here….but with a 5:30 am departure flight tomorrow morning from Cairns we decided to drive back to Cairns tonight so we wouldn't have to get up at 2:45AM!