Random Impressions

A few early impressions of the country:

1. They are very strict on the road rules. Speed cameras, mobile speed cameras in unmarked vehicles, red light cameras and strict drink driving laws are just the start. Victoria especially is full of warning signs about speed, getting enough rest etc, etc, etc ad nauseum.

2. There is an amazing profusion of bird life. From the bright and exotic (lorikeets, cockatoos, rosellas, parrots, gallah), the typically Australian (kookaburra) and the very large (pelicans) to smaller songbirds and seabirds there are seemingly birds everywhere.

3. We have seen most of the well known marsupials in the wild without looking too hard: kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies and platypus... plus a couple of emu. The huge bats are pretty impressive too. Only one snake (roadkill) and a few biggish spiders among the "nasties" this country is famous for.

4. The east coast between Sydney and Brisbane is much less developed than I had imagined. While some stretches of the Gold Coast feature a succession of condos and towering hotels and the coastal burbs of Brisbane could pass for the US, there are also large areas of forest, National Park and wetlands.

Brisbane

I'm still trying to find time to document our travels but suffice to say we have settled in Brisbane for a week after dropping Trena and Treavor off at the airport. Weather has been clear and sunny and we've enjoyed having time to just relax and not have to move. The city is very manageable (outside rush hour) with lots of bike paths and good public transport.

Ouch!

Ouch No. 1: Tracy turns 40 tomorrow (30th). She is celebrating by inviting over some friends who are considerably over 40!

Ouch No. 2: The price of beer in this country. Being used to paying about $1 a beer (whether that be US$1 in the US or NZ$1 in NZ) we are getting a shock at beers for A$2 to A$2.50. Probably similar to UK prices these days though. At least the wine is reasonable, though duty is threatened to go up for beer and wine.

Ouch N0. 3: The nighttime temps are getting down near zero in the outlying areas and even here in Brisbane it's been cold in the last couple of days (record official low for April is 8.3C - 47F - and it's been colder than that here in the northern burbs. The city had it's first recorded temp below freezing last winter). Winter is approaching, but we are near the tropic of Capricorn (Brisbane's latitude is 27deg28') and expected warmer. Time to get a heater for the camper or move north!

Visitors

We now have Tracy's brother Treavor and sister Trena staying with us for 2 weeks. Good thing the 5th wheel has an extension out the back! After Canberra we have driven down to Sydney today and intend to spend and few days before heading up the coast.

Another Marathon Survived

Tim managed to finish his second marathon yesterday in a slightly faster time (3:02:07) than the first... but still outside the magic 3 hours. This time is good enough to qualify for the New York marathon so I'd better train a little harder for that!

The conditions were wet but with little wind and mild temps for the first 2 hours or so. Then the sun came out pretty hot so I was glad to be out of it in an hours. Once again few physical issues during the race (and none of the severe thigh pain this time) but a very sore ileo-tibial band afterwards (i.e. sore right knee and thigh).

Another Blog

Welcome to our new blog. I'll be trying to post all the details of our Australian tour here, 5 months in a 5th wheel with a plan to cover most of the east side of the country. Here's our new home:

The New Zealand blog will still be available at http://www.timtracynz.blogspot.com, and I may even detail our last month there when I have time.