Day 54 ............ November 18, 2008

Train from Los Angeles to San Jose
  • Depart Los Angeles 10:15 am, Tuesday, November 18, 2008
  • Arrive San Jose 8:37 pm, Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Cruise Picture Departed Union Station in Los Angeles on time; however, arrived in San Jose at 9:30 pm, an hour late. The scenery as the train traveled along the coast next to the Pacific Ocean was well worth the trip. The terrain of southern California much resembles that of coastal Australia.

On Friday had supper on the outdoor patio of a local restaurant. (Eat your heart out, Chicago.)

Weather: Mostly sunny and in the 60's.

Day 53 ............ November 17, 2008

Flight from Sydney to Los Angeles
  • Depart Sydney 3:20 pm, Monday, Novermber 17, 2008
  • Arrive Los Angeles 9:50 am, Monday, November 17, 2008
  • Lunch at the Hop Woo Chinese Restaurant
  • Overnight in Best Western Dragon Inn Motel (in the heart of Chinatown)
Cruise Picture The image at the right is from our hotel window. We were met at the airport in LA by Jack's neice, Kathleen.

Weather: Partly cloudy and cool when leaving Sydney; weather through flight path good.

Day 52 ............ November 16, 2008

Train from Melbourne to Sydney
Cruise Picture It was interesting to see the countryside between the two cities. The area around Melbourne was drier and has been in a drought condition for a number of years. The train route took us through one of the grain belts of Australia; the terrain was more hilly than our Midwest. As we approached Sydney the terrain looked similar to the foothills of the Appalachians; lots of cattle. There are many suburbs in the hills just west of Sydney.

Weather: Mostly sunny, but cool.

Day 51 ............ November 15, 2008

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ~~ Tour: Personal tour guides
Cruise Picture We took the commuter electric train down and back to downtown Melbourne from the suburb, about a 20 minute trip.

Weather: Partly cloudy and cool turning warmer. (We did not see it, but this was the day of the Christmas Parade in downtown Melbourne sponsored by the Myer Department Store.)

Day 50 ............ November 14, 2008

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ~~ Tour: Personal tour guides
Cruise Picture The Heales Sanctuary is part of the Melbourne Zoo and is in a natural setting for exhibiting native Australian animals. After a performance by native birds of prey, we saw most of the native animals that were weren't able to see in the wild: kangaroo, walabee, kolala, platapus, etc.

Weather: Day started out with a thunder storm (lightning killed a famous race hortse out in pasture); rest of morning overcast with drizzle, temperature in the 60;s; warmed up in the afternoon with the sun peeking from behind clouds.

Day 49 ............ November 13, 2008

Cruise Picture

Weather: Partly cloudy, warm

Day 48 ............ November 12, 2008

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ~~ Tour: Personal tour guides
  • Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
    • More detailed visit to Cultural Centre
  • Air travel
    • Ayers Rock to Sydney
    • Sydney to Melbourne
  • Welcomed by the McKechnies
Cruise Picture Before catching the plane out of Ayers Rock we spent a couple of hours absorbing the information available in the Cultural center; the center also is an outlet for Aborigine artists.

Weather: Sunny and becoming very hot; very windy (hat blowing-off type) at the airport. Very pleasant in Melbourne.

Day 47 ............ November 11, 2008 (also a Remembrance Day in Australia)

Cruise Picture The trek from Kings Canyon to Ayers Rock passed through the same monotonous Australian outback; however, we did see some wild camels grazing along the highway and some caged parrots at Curtin Springs.

We arrived in the National Park around 2 pm when it was very hot. However, the views were quite impressive.

Weather: Hot, bright and sunny, with occasional clouds which passed shadows over "the rock".

Day 46 ............ November 10, 2008
Cruise Picture Our 476 km trek from Alice Springs took us along Stuart Highway, Lasseter Highway, and Luritja Road. The only signs of civilization between the beginning and end points were the roadhouses. The terrain was very monotonous; it varied from Texas-like flatlands to a more rolling area with low mountains in the distance. We saw more dead kangaroos than live ones (the live ones were in a cage); most live animals were cattle or scavengers near the road kill.

The walls of Kings Canyon form a a chasm which cuts through the George Gill Range and shelters an area of rain-forest type vegetation.

Weather: Cloudless blue sky; temperature started out in Alice springs in the upper 60's and reached the 90's as we approached King's Canyon; low humidity.

Day 45 ............ November 9, 2008

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia ~~ Tour: Rental Car
Cruise Picture During the flight the terrain changes from green fields to a reddish-orange barreness.

Alice Springs is the cultural oasis of the outback and noted for its outdoor experiences and aborigine culture and art.

Weather: Brilliant sun, but not yet hot. (All school children in Australia must wear hats because of the hole in the ozone layer above Australia and Tasmania.)

Day 44 ............ November 8, 2008

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ~~ Tour: On our own
Cruise Picture The harbor was within walking distance down George Street from the hotel. The harbor area, including the Rocks area, is a very tourist-friendly area with lots of shops and sidewalk vendors. The Circular Quay area is a major transportation center with harbor ferry terminials, a train station, and bus routes and is a popular tourist area because of the poximaty to the overseas cruise terminal and the Opera House. There are lots of restaurants, food shops, and street entertainers, including aborigine digereedoo players.

The views from the harbor cruise were quite spectacular and included some of the most expensive properties in Sydney.

Weather: Overcast with a brief shower around noon, but termperature in the 70's.