Australia Great Barrier Reef
Australia | Country 39 | 6 day |
Ms. Q and I are visiting the Aussies for Thanksgiving! Specifically, we’ll be visiting Sydney (New South Wales), Cairns and Brisbane (Queensland).
- There are more kangaroos (~40 million) than people (~27 million) in Australia. Kangaroo populations are managed through regulated culling and commercial harvesting, and kangaroo meat is commonly eaten.
- In 1770, James Cook charted the east coast. British colonization began with penal colonies in 1788; the colonies federated in 1901 to form the Commonwealth of Australia.
- Australia has been home to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for tens of thousands of years.
- Like the Kiwis to the east, Aussies face similar social issues like housing and Indigenous rights, with an overall slower pace of life compared to where we live.
- It is summer here in November as we are in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Pronunciations: Cairns (“Canz”), Brisbane (“Briz-bin”), Melbourne (“Mel-bn”).
Circular Quay in the CBD | View from our hotel (Opera House)
Day 1: Sydney Taronga Zoo, UofSydney and Chinatown
After leaving our luggage at the hotel, Ms. Q and I took the bus to visit Taronga Zoo. We were greeted by a beautiful koala statue.
We roamed the Australian section of the zoo with wonder and amusement. There is a giant fenced enclosure with kangaroos and emus (both appear on Australia’s coat of arms), where roos relaxed everywhere.
We entered a dark enclosure for mouse and platypus. Many types of mouse-like animals hopped around. We interrupted a tender moment from a couple of passionate lovers, and saw big rats the size of a big cat. The platypus swam freely in the enclosure, and we were baffled that it failed to get up to a different section of the enclosure at least 5 times as it flopped around…
The Tasmanian devil is a famous scavenger. We hope to visit Tasmania one day.
Unfortunately the zoo did not have a wombat, an animal that we fell in love with over YouTube, famous for their hardened bottoms and cube-shaped droppings.
It amazes me that so many Australian animals nurture their young via pouches, such as koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and quokkas.
Ms. Q’s favorite is the cassowary, a blend of peacock and emu, with a blue head and crown.
Ms. Q and I embarrassingly asked a volunteer so many questions about the dingo, which looks very similar to a Shiba Inu.
We stood at the famous spot in the zoo that overlooks the Opera House and Sydney CBD.
Opera House in the distance
Ms. Q and I took the ferry back to the CBD, looking at the Harbour Bridge and Opera House up close.
After resting a bit, we took off to see the University of Sydney. We originally thought that Harry Potter was filmed here, because of Chinese social media, but came to the realization that the Gothic architecture and the franchise have little connection.
In the evening, we happily took to visiting Chinatown and eating some guilty pleasure skewers and Tianjin crepes.
Day 2: Fish Market, walking tour, Bondi Beach & Ms. Q’s former classmates
We took the bus amongst middle schoolers to visit the Sydney Fish Market. It was full of restaurants and shops selling fresh catches: lobsters, oysters, Moreton Bay bugs (slipper lobsters), and Tasmanian salmon.
We took our seafood outside and ate it under the supervision of bin chickens (Australian white ibises with long black beaks) by the outdoor tables. The lobster tail was quite lean and the uni sushi was great!
Queen Victoria Building (QVB) and Martin Place
We then embarked on the free walking tour, visiting many of the city’s CBD areas:
- Queen Victoria Building (a modern mall, but former produce market)
- Hyde Park and St Mary’s Cathedral (whose twin spires were added in 2000 before the Olympics only after like 130 years since commencing construction)
- Martin Place, the financial hub, named after a mogul
- Macquarie’s many statues and first buildings
- The Rocks district where the first immigrants settled
As the tour was wrapping up, the clouds came after us. Amid a heavy drizzle, we rode the bus to Bondi Beach (BON-dye).
The beach had a famous public ocean swimming pool. Many Korean tourists and swimming Aussies relished the sun after the rain.
Coincidentally, as we wrapped up and headed to CBD, the weather again turned to rain.
That evening, we met up with Ms. Q’s two high school friends and one of their husbands. She was super happy to finally see them after a decade and more.
We spoke about their lives in Sydney, on different continents, we share the same daily commutes, work-from-home. And of course, housing prices, medicine, dating and working culture also came up.
From 6pm to 10pm, we had a great time. I mostly spoke with the husband, while Ms. Q chatted to her friends about everything that had gone by.
Day 3: Opera House and Cairns Night Markets
Staying so close to the Opera House, we finally visited. The design competition was held in the mid-1950s; Danish architect Jørn Utzon won in 1957, and construction began in 1959.
The Opera House had many construction challenges and was about 14x the original budget. The architect resigne (was pushed out) in 1966, and the building was completed in 1973.
The 3 shells are i) an opera ii) a theater and iii) a restaurant.
We walked under the boardwalk, in front of the Opera House and around from the surrounding park. Despite so many years passing by, the Opera House still looked decent.
In the afternoon, we boarded our 3-hour flight to Cairns.
When we board our Aussie domestic flight from Sydney to Cairns, we did not get asked to show our ID before boarding the flight?!!
We stayed at a hotel by the Esplanade about a 30-minute walk away. We got some serious tropical rainforest vibes from the humid air and lush mountains.
The sea was muddy, but that made way for the many birds (alongside crocodile warning signs)
After walking the main strip, we decided to get dinner (Chinese vermicelli) at the Nightmarket. There are many stalls inside, and after eating, we explored the many affordable souvenir shops, art stalls, and massage stalls.
Day 4: Great Barrier Reef
We woke up early to check in to our 7am tour. Our boat had around 90 passengers, split between some divers and mostly snorkelers.
Our lunch buffet onboard
Our tour visited two reef sites about two hours from Cairns. One was called Hastings Reef. The crystal blue waters were interrupted by spots of turquoise, where the reefs are.
We got on our stinger suits and saw these gorgeous reefs. They are amongst touching distance, where you can almost accidentally step on it.
Brain coral and colorful fishes
Blue starfish (ENTP) and reefs of all different colors
We had lunch between the two dive sites and they were equally amazing.
Different corals thrive at different depths; the more colorful ones are typically in shallower water.
A diver was as amazed at the starfish as we were. There were so many schools of fish 🐠 that swam among the coral reefs.
Can you see the coral reef?
After the snorkels, we learned about the reefs and bleaching. There were periods in 2016 and 2017 when water temperatures stayed above 28°C (82°F) for 6–8 weeks, causing bleaching as corals expelled their symbiotic algae.
As we touched land for the first time at around 5pm that day, we walked alongside the sea to explore the Lagoon, a public infinity-styled swimming pool, full of happy faces.
We briefly explored the market as it was closing, full of fresh produce
Ms. Q and I explored the Cairns downtown and made our way to the mall for Zootopia 2. Despite our best efforts, we kept falling asleep, but we were so happy to see the Australian animals make appearances—the quokka (the police counselor) and the koala (the vacation agent).
Day 5: Brisbane shopping & Bell Tower
Brisbane is hosting the 2032 Olympics!
We flew from Cairns to Brisbane and checked into our hotel by noon. Brisbane is a much smaller city than Sydney, going for the artsy vibes; BNE is the Portland, Oregon, to SYD’s Los Angeles.
We walked past City Hall and learned about its history from the early 1920s. (We signed up for the Bell Tower tour later that day) It was a humble city hall and even the tree in the center of the courtyard was plastic.
We had a blast enjoying the food on the main shopping strip (a fried chicken patty that Ms. Q ate a lot of during undergrad), as well as the higher-end shopping.
We returned to attend the Bell Tower tour, where they had the original elevator and clock.
After the tour, we took the bus to the South Bank. Brisbane city is quite inland and the main body of water is the Brisbane River.
L: Ms. Q and I call the rightmost building The Blender | R: Street Beach which is quite similar to Cairns Lagoon.
Ms. Q and I tried the Kangaroo Jerky, which tasted quite a bit like the beef ones.
Day 6: Kangaroo Point & Roo Burger
Ms. Q and I had originally planned to go to the Gold Coast, an Aussie favorite south of Brisbane. However, public transit for some reason on the Sunday would take two hours compared to the one hour the day before. Therefore, we decided to take our last day to explore Brisbane more thoroughly.
We started the day with a shopping appointment, where Ms. Q’s high school friend had directed her a few days prior.
After which, we walked to the City Botanic Gardens, where there was the Sunday pop-up market. We spotted a German styled Kangaroo burger truck and knew that we had to try it.
The roo meat is quite lean and gamey. It is supposed to be a better type of red meat. You can tell by how muscular the roos are. Having had crocodile meat and horse meat in the past year of traveling, I’d say that the kangaroo meat takes the gold medal here.
We crossed the beautiful pedestrian Kangaroo Point bridge, under the Aussie sun and made our way to Kangaroo Point. We saw many lizards sunbathing and a beautiful view of the Brisbane waterfront.
We scootered to the State Library and read about the Great Ocean Road that we might want to try one day, a bit west of Melbourne.
We also visited the Queensland Museum, where we learned about all the cool native animals that have evolved.
G’day Mate!
Throughout the week that Ms. Q and I spent here, we ate almost exclusively Asian food, besides the occasional burger. We had tried some Aussie favorites like Tim Tams, but will need to leave Vegemite for the next time.
We’d love to be back to visit more of Australia!
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