Macswayround Blog - Sunday, 01 March 2009

PICS- AUSTRALIA ZOO AND MORE .........

The Cuddly Croc!

Don't argue with this one!

Can you spot Ben past the Snake?!

The Real Thing!

Just Look how Cuddly!

The Very Laid Back Approach!

Sunday, 01 March 2009 03:53:39 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1] Australia

Good'ay from the Pommes!

Good’ay!

Our flight from Los Angeles took 13.5 hours on a Bowing 747 Jumbo Jet, with four Rolls Royce engines! We travelled with Quantas and were very happy with the service from the flight staff and information from the pilot during this long flight! Some of the flight was quite turbulent in places and maybe this is quite usual – we don’t know, as none of us has ever journeyed over the Pacific Ocean before! Due to us flying through the date line, we actually took off just before midnight on the 3^rd February and arrived into Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – on the morning of the 5^th February!! We are still amused at having lost that complete day-somewhere up there in the clouds! We travelled approximately 7,340 miles at an average height of 42,000 feet and 556 miles per hour! As we flew through the night Ben was asleep even before we took off and was then the most awake of us all when we arrived early on Thursday morning (5^th!) We exited through the security at the airport very smoothly after collecting our luggage and were all ‘hit by the weather’ as we stepped outside in Australia! It was still very early in the morning but very hot already! Jemma started the trick of running to the shade! We were able to catch a cab outside the airport and go straight to the ‘Around Australia Motor homes’ rental depot, just fifteen minutes from the airport. This was the beginning of Macwayround Part 3 (following Europe- part 1 and USA -part 2!) It was difficult to believe that we had made it to the other side of our world as we know it and we were now in Queensland, 10 hours ahead of the time in England!

We had a thorough guided tour from the staff around our’ Nessie Two’ which we have decided to affectionately call ‘Ozzie’ for the purpose of this part of our trip! When all the paperwork and formalities were complete we set off with the help of our downloaded Australian maps and the satellite navigation – remembering to drive on the LEFT again! We set a loud alarm to remind us on the sat nav as we have been a long while driving on the right!

As nobody (apart from Ben) had managed to have much sleep during the flight, we decided not to venture too far on our first day. We stopped off at Landsborough Pines Caravan Park on the Sunshine Coast and were instantly amazed by our first encounters of camping with Australian Wildlife! The Managers and neighbours were all very friendly and we used a day around the campsite to try and recover from some jet lag! We were all up before 5am for the next few mornings and all ready for breakfast as our body clocks took their time to adjust! Being the twitcher that he is (with Ben now following closely behind!), Phil was frustrated by not being able to name the birds that we were seeing –and so an Australian book bird was put onto our shopping list at a very early stage! We took a walk around the lakes and grounds of this site and it was great to see how much wildlife was encouraged to come and stay too! There was also a tame resident Sulphur Crested Cockatoo who was beautiful and chatty too! He liked to dig and it was funny to hear that he was digging his way to China – when at home we might say he was digging down to Australia!

As we were all up again so early we were able to make a very full day out at the infamous Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin’s- Australia Zoo......and what a most amazing day we had too – another highlight of Macswayround so far! Australia Zoo opened and began to develop in 1992 when Steve and his wife Terri took over management. The zoo quickly went from strength to strength through the commitment and dedication of Steve as a genuine wildlife warrior and his team. They have an ultimate aim of being the World’s Leading Zoological destination and believe in conservation through exciting education. Today the current team is working very hard to keep this aim real and achievable in honour of Steve’s memory.

As we entered the gates the children were greeted by a ‘cuddly crocodile’ –with the warning that this was going to be the only croc they could cuddle that day! The first enclosure was home to a fine example of a Komodo- Dragon and gave us all an insight into the extremely high standards of enclosures we were to observe all day and throughout the whole zoo. There was a tribute to Steve at the entrance which was a bronze casting of him with his family, a crocodile and their family dog too and plenty more tribute boards towards the end of the trail. As we travelled around there was a great feeling of Steve’s enthusiasm all around us. The information boards were packed with his pictures and famous phrases and ‘Oh Crickey!’ the staff were all so very knowledgeable, informative and a pleasure to talk to. They seemed to be on an active journey to help Steve’s dream continue and grow to reach its full potential. We consider ourselves to be a wildlife enthusiast family and of all the zoos and wildlife parks that we have visited, we feel that this is probably the best we have ever seen! It was a delight to see ‘happy tigers’ at play, chasing and pouncing on one another, a sight which is often unusual in these settings. It was great to be able to hand feed an elephant and be close- up to the power and gentle precision that they have in their trucks! We were able to see many of the Native Australian animals at this early stage in our time here and hope to see many more ‘in the wild’ at a later date! The kangaroos and wallabies did a great job at being available for a cuddle or two, as did the koalas! We all loved the kookaburras and found their laugh to be very contagious! The photo opportunities were endless!

The Wildlife Warrior Live Show in the World Famous Crocoseum was entertaining and informative. We saw a wide variety of birds, snakes and of course the hand-feeding of the croc as it launched itself from the water’s edge! Crocs rule – OK! We studied the collection of most venomous snakes ever and took note of those to definitely avoid – although we do think it is better to avoid any of these wriggly creatures in this country!

The Tasmanian -Devils certainly lived up to their name as we saw how vicious they got when it was time to go to bed at the end of the day! We wouldn’t like to catch them having a bad day as we saw them rip their meat to pieces in temper!

We left the zoo wanting to find out more about the wildlife warriors and how we can help. Conservation is so very important and as wildlife numbers continue to drop, many to the endangered point, we ALL need to take an active part in saving our planet and the wildlife within it, in order to let mother- nature do what she is designed to do best. Many of Steve’s important words were displayed including these – which to us- said it all - “My job, my mission, the reason I’ve been put on this planet, is to save wildlife. And I thank you for coming with me.”

Back at camp and we had a traditional Australian happy hour (chat!) with our neighbours (Dianne, Kelvin & John) as news of the devastating and severe bush fires in Victoria were emerging.

We drove past the Glass House Mountains as we left the Sunshine Coast and headed for the Gold Coast. These mountains are most spectacular and are the remnant of cores of volcanoes which were active about 25 million years ago. They were formed as molten rock that was forced out of the vents from within the earth and over a period of time these flows of magma cooled to form the conal shapes of hard rock that we see today.

Arriving on the Gold Coast we had been recommended to stay at the Tallebudgera Creek Tourist Park and what a good recommendation that was! This is just north of Palm Beach and we camped right next to the beach with a netted swimming area in front of us! Jemma and Ben were off again and it reminded us all of our favourite seaside spot in Croatia! We were even lucky enough to see a ‘wild’ dolphin as it came up the estuary for a quick swim! This was the first time we heard the kookaburras laughing as their early morning call and it was a great sound! Since being amongst Australian Campers we have noticed that they seem to retire off to bed much earlier than Europeans or indeed Americans, however they are up and about very early at first light instead!

Next we came across Brooms- Head, another lovely spot and stayed at the caravan park there. This was in North East New South Wales. The sea here looked very tempting but we were warned about the ‘blueies’ – which are a jelly fish type thing and they are capable of giving you a nasty sting should you pass their way! Since then we have discovered that we know this as the Portuguese Man of War and that the nasty sting is actually excruciatingly painful!

As we were leaving Brooms -Head we were recommended to keep an eye open to see the only coastal flock of emu’s. Alas it was not to be our turn, however Ben’s spying caught a very well hidden ‘real wild!’ kangaroo and we were all very happy! A little further down the road and there were a whole mob of them sitting in the shade of a tree right in the middle of a field!

PERFECT-one of our missions accomplished already!!

FACTIODS-

· Brisbane Airport is Australia’s second busiest International Gateway.

· The Australian Wildlife Hospital has a new 5 million dollar site, situated next to Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast. This hospital will help to care for up to 10,000 native animals each year. Please remember to get involved in helping to keep Steve Irwin’s mission and dream alive by visiting and supporting his devoted team at www.wildlifewarriors.org.au. Thank-you.

· In 1770 Captain James Cook, on ‘Endeavour’, named the Glass House Mountains (as the reflections and shapes of these hills reminded him of the glass manufacturing houses back in England).

· Mount Beerwah, at 556 metres high is the ‘Mother by Legend’ and the grandest of all the 15 Glass House Mountains.

· Australia Zoo was formally known as Beerwah Reptile Park which was opened in 1970 by Steve’s parents Bob & Lyn Irwin.

· The Koala Bear is not a Bear! It is a Marsupial!

· A Koala Bear sleeps for an average of 16-20 hours per day!

· The Tasmanian- Devil stores its fat in its tail – therefore a fat tail means a healthy devil. Also, the Tasmanian- Devil’s pouch opens backwards so dirt does not enter while it is digging.

· The Deadliest Spider in the world is the Sydney Funnel Web.

· Steve Irwin Day is on the November 15^th each year.

· The Gold Coast has 100,000 hectares of parks and reserves and 70 kilometres of celebrated coastline.

· The Gold Coast has an average of 8 hours of sunshine for 300 days of the year!

WILDLIFE HITS:

· A Variety of Lizards, up to 18 inches long.

· Brush Turkeys

· Piwis

· Little Egrets

· Flying Foxes (Fruit Bats with up to 1 metre wingspan))

· Rainbow Lorikeets

· Noisy Minors

· Australian Magpies

· Dusky Moorhens

· Crested Pigeons

· Azure Kingfishers

· Swallows

· Pelicans

Tuesday, 24 February 2009 11:49:05 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [2] Australia

Our first sights of Australia!

We have just been 7,300 miles together!

Our first spotted Australian Wildlife - all 18 inches of it!

Please Don't worry Mum!!

"IT IS TOO HOT!!"

Friday, 20 February 2009 23:10:35 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0] Australia

Woops - a couple we forgot!

Jemma and Ben meet the original Disney Star!!

It was great to reach California and get to the end of the infamous ROUTE 66! We have had a great time along this fun-filled route and would highly recommend it to everyone! We did get our kicks on Route 66 on The Glory Road, the Main Street of America and the Road of Dreams! Whatever you want to call it- this is one of the most famous roads in the world.......................

Speak next when we land 'down under!'

Friday, 20 February 2009 09:49:09 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [2] USA

California in pictures..........

A Lonesome Tree! Our Victorville Neighbours!

Mexican Indian Dancers. Phil's all time FAVOURITE ACTOR!

Disney - Where Dreams Come true! Our Californian friends - Tim & Sylvia.

Saturday, 14 February 2009 12:11:33 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0] USA

MORE CALIFORNIA!

As we have made many changes to our initial game plans along our way on Macswayround, we decided to make another as we headed towards California. We arranged to put Nessie into safe and secure storage to let her have a rest when we reached California. This decision is due to the current worldwide financial situation, and in particular to the massive drop in the exchange rate of the U.S Dollar to the British Pound. This- on top of the fact that shipping costs have almost doubled since our initial quote to ship Nessie across the transpacific has meant that it makes much more sense for us to store Nessie and rent a similar camper from Brisbane, for the time we are in Australia.

We camped at the Shady Oasis Campground in Victorville, and found an excellent storage facility, to the north east of Los Angeles. This is where Tim and Sylvia (our new found Zion friends) sprang into action and helped us out. As they live at Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles, they VERY kindly offered to pick us up from the Storage Centre, let us stay with them for 4 nights and then, if that wasn’t enough – drive us to the airport when it was time for our flight! It is uncanny to think we ended up here as this is next door to Long Beach where Nessie was due to sail from! We couldn’t believe our luck and we are very grateful to them both. We really enjoyed Huntington Beach and our time with them, also meeting some of their friends and family too. Huntington Beach is located along the Southern California coast in Orange County. It has been named as the best city to live in Orange County and has been ranked among the ‘top ten safest cities’ for decades. It has pristine white beaches and is also named as the Surf City of the USA – surfing began here as it became popular in the States!

We visited the original part of Los Angeles, as it always was, with Tim and Sylvia. Once again local knowledge was priceless! We saw the traditional market stalls, some Mexican- Indian dancers and some break-dancers too!

Into Hollywood and we took a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard where famous stars have their names written in a gold star – along all the pavements. As the sun set the Boulevard was illuminated with bright lights and atmosphere! We saw the place where the stars have signed their names and left hand and foot prints too.

The next day Sylvia, Jemma, Ben and I took the Disneyland experience! Tim and Phil got out of the treat (we are not quite sure how!) and they enjoyed a day at the Petersen Automotive Museum instead!

It was great to go to the ORIGINAL Disneyland Theme Park in California! It was very busy on the day we chose and there were some long queues but we did manage to do lots of different attractions, throughout the whole day. We went on every roller coaster possible and even I can say I went on them all and enjoyed them – which is very unusual as I usually avoid them and hold the bags while Daddy gets the pleasure! We even went into the home of Mickey Mouse and met him while he had a break from his filming. The children got a photo each with the most original star of Disney!

Everything was aching as we got back to the house and after carrying two happy, sleeping children to bed we adjourned to the hot tub with a good supply of wine! The perfect recovery – how lucky are we?!

On Tuesday 3^rd February we packed our bags ready to fly down under! After a lovely Thai Curry we were taken to the airport and dropped at the check-in point. We said our goodbyes and thanks to Tim and Sylvia and the two dogs and we look forward to meeting again on our return to the States! (please?)

WILDLIFE HITS-

· 2 different types of Humming birds

· Sparrows

· Lots of Starfish

· Ground Squirrels

· Various very large butterflies

Saturday, 14 February 2009 11:53:07 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0] USA

DEATH VALLEY PICS.......

Not a lot of grass at the Nevada Desert. HOORAY!

The Armargosa Desert. "Its getting Hot Down Here!"

Zabriskie Point. Nessie is dwarfed! A Steam Tractor!

Full Zoom needed to get this one! We said it gets hot! Its Not all Tarmac!

Too salty to drink! Salt Lake in Death Valley. "Can you see the face?"

We couldn't find the surf! Dawn to the howling of coyotes!

Saturday, 14 February 2009 11:42:16 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0] USA

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

Like Father, Like Daughter! The Gambler!

A City of Neon! No Ifs or Butts!

Elvis Lives! New York, New York - Las Vegas!

"Where's the Lollipop Lady?" The Fremont Street experience!!

The Famous Cowboy!

Saturday, 14 February 2009 11:12:32 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [1] USA

LAS VEGAS TO DEATH VALLEY TO LOS ANGELES!

We found a friendly campground called Riviera RV Park in Las Vegas, Nevada. As soon as we went into reception to check in, the lady joked with us saying that it was not possible to stay there, as our steering wheel was on the wrong side (poor Nessie!)

There was a lovely pool there so the children took advantage once more and met up with some new friends. In the evening Phil fell asleep in the chair outside and he was surprised that when he woke up a couple of hours later -the sky was lighter than when he had gone to sleep! The city and lights of Las Vegas had come alive for the evening shift!

The next day we took the bus into town which made life very easy and we went down ‘Las Vegas Boulevard’ affectionately known as ‘The Strip’ (or Casino alley!) in the centre of Sin City!

“Circus Circus” was a great place to get a taste of this life, as it allowed children into some sections and had a variety of games for them to do. There were even live circus acts every half hour or so, which showcased a variety of circus talents, from unicycles to limbo dancing! Phil just had to chance his luck at the big time (where the children were not even allowed to linger) – a very new experience for him! He was playing for 200,000 U.S Dollars and a Ford G.T Mustang car (in red!) I was concerned at what Phil thought he was going to do with it – after he had won it! But alas -not to be this time although Phil was quite happy after a good few hours of entertainment –he came away 49 bucks up-what a result!!

We had a fantastic time at XTREME MAGIC starring Dirk Arthur at the Tropicana. Without giving too much away, this show involving Dirk and his team of female dancing assistants producing a variety of tigers from out of nowhere and then a helicopter onto the stage! We left the show dumb-struck and confused as the explicable was no longer explicable! This was indeed extreme magic, not to be tried at home but definitely recommended to go and see! I don’t think that any of us will be satisfied with a card trick again! This makes us realise once more how lucky we all are to be having many extreme experiences on Macswayround. It was interesting and encouraging to be able to watch a TV clip that showed us how these animals are not just used as a tool to make a show. Dirk talked about how he is dedicating his life to these monstrous cats and is involved in a number of breeding programmes and projects around the world to help promote the ever deceasing number of these creatures in the wild. During this show we also got to see the only ‘Ligar’ in the States (so we believe)– and he is half lion and half tiger! What a combination!

We tackled the busy streets by sitting on the bus and went ‘Downtown’ to see the Fremont Street Experience! The light shows run at regular intervals throughout the evening on the biggest screens in the world and neon lights shone all around us as we wandered through the street. We saw the Neon Cowboy that has become a famous symbol of Las Vegas and a motorbike stunt show called the Thunder Dome - where as many as three bikes whizzed around a ball cage, only narrowly missing each other at any one time!

We needed a day to recover from the buzz and fast pace of life around Las Vegas! So when our batteries were re-charged we took off across the Nevada desert and mountains over to the Death Valley National Park. We travelled through the Armargosa Desert and were intrigued by Area 51 along our journey too.

We camped at Texas Spring in Death Valley and the children set to work collecting information to become Junior Rangers for a third time! Death Valley is known as the hottest, driest, lowest spot in North America. As its name suggests lives have been lost here due to the extreme summer heat. Its harsh desert climate results from a rain shadow effect created by mountains which are uplifted to the west. We saw the view from Zabriskie Point which was a colourful landscape of gullies and mud hills at the edge of the Funeral Mountains. Badwater is a salt flat land (5 miles across) and at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere.

Death Valley has more abandoned mines than any other National Park, all of which remain dangerous today. There were warnings, especially for Keane Wonder mine which was one of Death Valley’s most successful gold mines. So much rock was mined there that the entire area became unstable and began to collapse and there is also signs of toxic waste from cyanide and other toxic chemicals which were used to extract the gold from the ore. This area is closed to the public until it can be made safer as breathing this contaminated air is not a wise idea.

It was good that the children had to work hard answering questions about all the other National Parks that we have been to so far – to be awarded their 3^rd Junior Ranger badge! We drove out of the valley with the China Lake Naval Weapons Centre each side of us and maybe we were unwittingly a moving target as fighter planes soared directly over Nessie! We met a young German guy who asked Phil for help with his inverter. Stephan was a nocturnal photographer who will wait as long as it takes to get the correct photographic conditions (and we may be talking days here). We saw some examples of the superb quality that this high standard of patience and equipment can produce and we wish him luck in his current project.

We stayed at the Paramint Spring RV Park and Phil was taken back as this was the first place that he could not hear a dawn chorus. However, this was compensated by being able to hear and capture on camcorder a pack of coyotes as they voiced spine tingling howls across the valley. We continued our journey to Victorville, California.

FACTOIDS-

· Las Vegas translates to “The Meadows” in Spanish.

· Las Vegas gained its name in the 1800’s when this green valley and desert spring waters offered a respite for tired travellers who were making the journey along the Old Spanish Trail on their way to California.

· In 1905, 110 acres of land was auctioned and in 1911 this was incorporated into a city-Downtown Las Vegas.

· In 1931, Navada legalised casino gambling and liberalized the state divorce law by reducing residency requirements to six weeks.

· These changes impacted on Fremont Street as now it was no longer a dusty whistle stop -but a haven for fun- seekers!

· In 1959 the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign was created by resident Betty Willis.

· The Las Vegas Strip is an All-American Road, a prestigious federal designation awarded to roads which are recognised nationally and internationally for their outstanding and unique qualities!

· The Strip is the only scenic byway in the world that has the distinction of being as scenic and unique at night as it is by day!

· During the middle of the 20^th century Las Vegas continued its march towards becoming the gambling capital of the world.

· Fremont Street introduced the use of Neon lights and today this ‘Glitter Glunch’ has the largest light show screen in the world!

· The extreme conditions of Death Valley have attracted hardy, adaptable, and sometimes eccentric human inhabitants!

· Along the 27 mile stretch known as the ‘racetrack’ at Death Valley-rocks mysteriously slide along the dry lakebed, leaving behind long tracks for visitors to ponder on!

· Walter Scott – a western cowboy known as ‘Death Valley Scotty’ – claimed that an elaborate Spanish-style mansion was built by gold from his fictitious mine. In reality, it was the 1920’s vacation home of his wealthy friends! Today it is known as Scotty’s Castle!

· Throughout history and still today the Timbisha Shoshone people live sustained in Death Valley by their ‘valley of life’.

· In 1904 gold was found and this sparked the last American gold rush. It drew 10,000 people to Death Valley!

· In 1994, in order to protect its extraordinary natural and cultural landscape, Congress made Death Valley a National Park, enlarged its size and designated most of it as wilderness.

WILDLIFE HITS-

· Coyote-heard and seen outside Nessie!

Friday, 13 February 2009 08:11:58 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Comments [0] USA

Zion in Pictures.........