Byron Bay Christmas

For the holiday week we decided to go to Byron Bay, NSW. Byron Bay sits on cape Byron on the North New South Wales coast. The small town boasts a pretty, functional light house, busy down town, hip restaurants and fantastic beaches. It is a green town that is plastic bag free and McDonalds and other fast food chains are prohibited to operate.

Byron is a beutiful small town that unkowing to us, swells to mega proportions during the Christmas week. We both agreed that we liked Byron and would go back again eagerly but never again during any public holiday. It is way too crowded and way too expensive as all hotel and meal charges essentially double during the holiday week. You live and you learn i guess.

We got there and got lost but eventually checked into The Bamboo Cottage, a B n'B we reserved in town. It was nice and the house was well kept by the owner Bernice. She gave us some info on the town and things to do around town but we ignored it and chose to our benefit to get out of town during peak hours.

Byron was kind of a hippie town until money discovered it. I believe it's history is somewhat paralell to that of Laguna Beach. Byron was once a little art community with cheap rents now there are swanky villas in the hills and a $30,000 a month rehab frequented by supermodels and sports figures. There were lots of hippies about but with all of the high end hair salons offering "dread locks" for a hundred bucks a pop, it was hard to tell who was really on the road or just looking earthy. Most were just looking earthy I suspect as any meal could not be had for under $25.00 a head.

Happily, although the restaurants were ungodly expensive were all very good. Every meal seemed better than the last and each bordered on exessively good. Everynight instead of braving the packed bars and night clubs we opted to head back to the hotel with some beer and sit in on the dark deck and have a drink with some of the other guests we befriended.

We had a great time in town but the best times were in the surrounding areas which will be in the following posts.

Merry Christmas

Lone Pine Koala Sancuary

We made the trek to Lone Pine this weekend to see some native Australian wild life. I mean, c'mon, I haven't even seen a kangaroo yet and I have been here over two months.

It is really a snap to get to. It sits about a half an hour bus ride south of the CBD, right on the bank of the Brisbane River near Queensland University.

They care for about 230 koalas and a plethora of other native animals. Tropical birds, emus, crocs, snakes, bats and dingos. They have a big reptile and venemous snak was display which was very informative as most of them are common in Queensland.

Mariana got to hold a koala which was quite an ordeal. They (koalas) seem very slow but tempermental and they have to be coaxed into your hands with food and at their pace. A couple of times we had to take a break and try again. They said to be very still as the koala thinks you are a tree which leads me to believe that they are not very smart.

As I sat petting a kangaroo it finally occured to me that we are truly in Australia.

Aussie Dream House

This spectacular and interesting house sits on the North End of the Brisbane River and I have thus deemed it "the dream house".

Life would be sweet indeed with what I am imagining are five to six rooms, five bathrooms and tons of entertainment space. It has a private dock with what appears to be a forty foot Skip Jack out front for any quick fishing expeditions. Mine would run on bio fuels.

Of course there would be cat trees in every room and cat walks constructed up high for the multitude of felines that we would have to bring in to complete the picture.

Leaving On A Jet Plane...

Today is the big day for our cats. It is the culmination of five months of stress, wondering and scheduling. I am still not comfortable with the thought of the plane ride and how terrifying it will be for them but it is better than the alternative of leaving them at a shelter, which we never would have done. I told Pandemic, "they don't go, we don't go". Pandemic has been great and agreed to pay for all of it. For all that wonder, for two cats to Australia including all veterinarian bills will add up to about $3500.00 USD.

Right now I imagine they are sitting at The Kennel Club near LAX waiting for transport to their midnight Qantas flight to Sydney, Australia.
It has been a long process that I started way back on July 26th but we are entering the home stretch. After they land there is just the 30 day in-country quarantine and they are official Australian residents.
A quick shout out to Mom and to Nathan at Pacific Pet Travel for coordinating the logistics end of the move while I sit in Australia. Pacific Pet Travel has been really great and professional during this process.

30 days to go...

Beach Blanket Bingo

Mariana and I decided to beat the heat and head to the beach. We went back to Burliegh Heads as it is a really nice beach and it was the best bet for some waves on the Gold Coast that weekend. We don't have a car yet and it has been frustrating as i have only been able to surf a couple of times.

I got skunked. It was 1-2 foot at max and the NW winds were all over it making for small and sloppy. It was a nice day however and we sat on the beach for a few hours and went for a few swims in the now very warm water.

Next week is Byron Bay so I should be able to get some board time then.

City Cat

I finally got to take the City Cat last weekend. I have been wanting to take it but thought it would be better to ride once Mariana got here. I didn't want to see everything then have to watch her have all the excitement on here own and me just feel like the tour guide.

The City Cat is great, it is a high speed, powered, catamaran that goes up and down the Brisbane River and makes frequent stops along the way. There is the City Ferry that makes even more stops. The river is a functional commuter system and a great way to see the city.

The Wife Arrives

Mariana got here last week and she is adjusting well. The first day is always tough and she got tired early which is to be expected. Since then, she has been good to go and we got out and explored Queen Street, South Bank, CBD, and City Beach.