Global Wandering

The weather turned rainy for our final two days in Australia so we spent them in traditional Australian pursuits. Like going to a game arcade at the mall, eating pizza while watching The Incredibles on the television at the hotel, and sleeping.

On our trip home, we spent a day in Seoul, Korea. Believe me, Brisbane to Seoul to Los Angeles is not the most direct way to get home. It is 3,575 miles out of the way, but then again it was the only route available using Delta frequent flier miles.

I didn't do any research on Korea prior to our trip, figuring I'd be surprised. So what was the biggest surprise? That folks who live in Seoul, a city of 12 million inhabitants just across the pond from the "Land of the Rising Sun" rarely get to see the sun's brightness. The smog is too thick. The sky is perpetually gray, and the sun when it can be seen is an orange ball so shrouded in haze you can stare at it without squinting.
Smoggy SeoulHere is a picture from our hotel room at the Sheraton Grande Walker Hill overlooking the Hangang River.

Once in Korea, I perused a number of websites trying to get a sense of what were the "must see" sites if one only had a day in Seoul. There was no concensus. In fact, of the sites I visited, no one seemed passionate about any particular place. So we deciphered the subway system and took a train downtown.
Gyeongbokgung Palace We first visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace, parts of which date back to 1395. I won't bore you with the details. You can read about it by clicking on the hyperlink.

We then headed over to the Namdaemun market. My son Camden in looking at this picture said the market looks like Chinatown in San Francisco.
Namdaemun Market Which just goes to show you the various Chinatowns around the U.S. indeed look like the real thing. Because of course they are. Bret wasn't very impressed with clothes, food and Korean handicrafts so he found a store more to his liking and bought a European made Lego set.

Posted by jd at 8:55 PM | Permalink

We are back from our excursion into the world’s oldest rainforest. Access to the Cape Tribulation area where we stayed is by ferry.
Daintree River FerryBret suspects they haven’t built a bridge because there are crocodiles in the river. I suspect it is lobbying by the ferry owners.

The Daintree is one of the few areas of the world where the rainforest meets the ocean (in this case the Coral Sea).
Crocodile Warning It sounds picturesque, but it also limits the areas where you can safely swim do to hazards such as crocodiles. Plus, the entire beach area is off limits to swimming from October through May because of the stinger jellyfish, which has a nasty habit of killing or severely disabling anyone that gets in its way. In other words, if you are planning a beach vacation I would stick to the Caribbean, where the water is warmer and the sand is softer. On the other hand, if you want to take a nighttime hike into one of the most diverse natural places on earth, the Daintree is the place.

Our guide for our jungle hike was Neil from Cooper Creek Reserve. He led Bret, myself and three elderly Australians - all grasping flashlight “torches” on a two-hour jaunt into the “heart of darkness.” There we came across numerous marsupials, tree-frogs, spiders, and sleeping birds. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any pythons on our walk, which tend to dwell high in the forest canopy. Because the pythons slither high in the treetops, birds sleep on little vines or twigs about five to ten feet from the ground. Their perches are so delicate it looks as if they are suspended in mid air. This choice of sleeping locale is strategic. Any approaching python would undoubtedly cause sufficient vibration to wake the birds from their slumber, allowing them to escape. Several times during the hike, Neil had us douse our torches just to see how dark it was. Amazingly dark. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. It was a dark as being in a cave.

On our drive to the cabin after the hike, we finally saw a python. It was slinking along the edge of the road. Must have been at least eight feet long.
Cabin at Rainforest HideawayBack at the cabin, Bret using his newly acquired spider identification skills promptly spotted a venomous wolf spider on the floor. I used my well-honed wildlife handling skills and smooshed it with my shoe. We slept poorly and were awakened early by a pair of squabbling cockateels.

The weather turned cloudy and rainy, dampening our plans to relax on the beach so we took a hike through the very wet Mossman Gorge area and then headed south in search of sunnier weather.
Bret at Mossman Gorge
Mossman Gorge
Mossman Gorge

Posted by jd at 6:45 PM | Permalink

We have relocated to Northeast Australia where the weather is warmer (eighty degree highs instead of seventy). We are staying at the Sheraton Mirage Resort⎯another overpriced hotel I am willing to patronize because I could cash in Starwood points and get free accommodations.
Sheraton Noosa
Sheraton Mirage
I liked the room at the Sheraton Noosa resort better. It had more of a beach feel. The Sheraton Mirage tries too hard to be opulent and as a result comes off as tacky. The four acres of saltwater crocodile-free swimming lagoons are nice though.

Yesterday, we took an incredible trip to snorkel the great barrier reef. The reef is thirty miles off the coast.
Australian Continental Shelf Here is a picture of the edge of Australia’s continental shelf taken from the boat. We toured with Wavelength Cruises. We chose this boat because they only carry thirty snorkelers and go to three different sites. I highly recommend them. Some of the larger outfits carry 400 snorkelers. Sounds a bit too crowded for me.

The variety of coral was amazing. The fish were also stunning, although to see larger fish, I think one would have to dive at the edge of the continental shelf. Wavelength rented an underwater digital camera so we were able to capture some shots of the reef. Here are a few of the better ones.

This afternoon we drive north into the Daintree rainforest for a few days of backcountry living. I am certain they don’t have internet access, and electricity is by gas generator only, so we won’t be posting any entries until at least Thursday or Friday.

Posted by jd at 6:43 PM | Permalink

Hervey Bay is a tranquil body of water that lies between Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island, and the Australian mainland. It also happens to be the playground where 7,000 South Pacific Humpback whales take a little R&R on their 3,500 mile journey from the warm equatorial waters north of Australia to the frigid seas of Antarctica. Here is where baby whales get to practice important survival skills, such as hunting⎯“open mouth, let kelp flow in”⎯and breathing⎯“No son, you’ll never have gills like a fish, we’ve evolved beyond that; we’re mammals now; we have to go the surface and breath, keep the whale tour boats in business.” That may sound farfetched, but our bus driver said when new baby whales are born, other female whales act as midwives by taking the newborns to the surface to breath while the exhausted birth mothers recover. Apparently, breathing needs to be taught.

Whale Harpoon Gun Unfortunately, not all 7,000 whales show up in Hervey Bay at once, so spotting a pod of these mammals requires the hiring of expert sea captains (most likely former Captain Ahabs, who reengineered themselves into whale conservationists after commercial whaling was outlawed in the 1960’s).

Our whaling vessel, The Spirit of Hervey Bay, was outfitted with underwater viewing windows.
Spirit of Hervey BayAfter ninety minutes at sea with no whales in sight, I began to think the viewing glass was a gimmick, that no whale had ever stepped a dorsal fin near those windows.

But alas, the captain finally found some whales, and for the next ninety minutes we watched the most fascinating display, much of which I didn’t catch on digital film because the shutter speed on the camera was too slow (note to self, buy single lens reflex digital camera). Hence, I have dozens of pictures of rippled water where a whale used to be. Here are a few shots where I got lucky and a whale swam into the frame just when the camera decided to do its t

Posted by jd at 8:37 PM | Permalink

We are headed to Hervey Bay to spot the South Pacific Humpback whale. We are on those fancy internet kiosks where we pay by the minute. Our hotel at Noosa Heads has no broadband so we haven't been able to upload our latest pictures and adventures. We hope to do so tomorrow at an internet cafe with a broadband connection. Yesterday, we had a delightful time at the Australia Zoo. Well time to sign off, we have only 6 minutes to post this and then our money runs out.

Posted by jd at 6:08 PM | Permalink

Today we visited one of the main sites that inspired Bret to want to come to Australia ⎯ The Crocodile Hunter’s Australia Zoo.
Australia Zoo I’ve toured a number of zoos in the past year (Seattle, Phoenix, and San Antonio) so I have some recent points of reference to rank the quality of this zoo. All in all, the Australia Zoo is very well done. Most of the animals are displayed in their natural habitat, but you can get close enough to almost touch them (in fact some, like the koala, you can even touch ⎯ their fur feels like…well, fur; their meat taste like chicken⎯yes, there’s no better way to top off a day at the Australia Zoo then by feasting on a Kaola-Kabob at the zoo’s food court).

Australian Bengal Tiger Here is an example of how close the animal action is. I took this photo of the native Australian tiger readying to pounce on its prey.

Australian Bengal Tiger Here is the same tiger successfully mauling its defenseless catch. Crikey, you can’t get any more realistic than that.

Here Bret risked his life to get this shot of the world’s most venomous snake, the taipan.
Taipan

Dingos And while Australia’s native dog, the dingo, looks cute and cuddly, they are actually ferocious hunters. This dingo grabbed the rat from the zookeeper’s hand in the next photo before the saltwater crocodile even knew what happened.
Saltwater Crocodile

We changed our base camp this evening to the Sherton Noosa Resort on the South Pacific Ocean.
Australia ZooThe resort was kind enough to upgrade us to a pool-side two-story, two-bath suite. Not bad for free. I have only two complaints about the hotel. They have no broadband connection so I have no idea how I will upload this post, and they charge outrageous prices for breakfast. They want $35 dollars for bacon and eggs and $25 for cocoa puffs. Fortunately, I noticed this small resort town has its own food court. We will be breakfasting there.

On the cultural front, apparently Australian waiters/waitresses while providing excellent tableside service, do not deliver meal checks to the table nor handle payment of any type. I first noticed this the other day in Brisbane. When the waitress came to clear the table, I asked for the check. I was still sitting there without the bill 5 minutes later while the waitress chatted with her colleague at the counter. I couldn’t think of any other English or Australian words for check so I went up and asked if I could pay. I then paid at the counter. Later, I believe I heard the waitress apologize to her boss, presumably after being told how stupid Americans expect the restaurant staff to shamefully acknowledge they are serving food for money by requiring them to bring the check tableside, rather than respecting the Australian custom of allowing servers to maintain their dignity through the separation of the meal presentation from the unpleasantness of making payment.

The other big cultural news story is the head of staff at the Australian Parliament sent out a written directive to Parliament’s support staff that they can no longer use the term “Mate” when addressing members of Parliament. This has caused quite an uproar.

Posted by jd at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We took it easy today and explored close to home. In the morning we visited the Queensland Museum and Science Centre.
Public Bug outside Queensland Museum The Science Centre is the Australian equivalent of a U.S. children’s museum. Many of the exhibits were similar to those I have seen at other children’s museums, with a focus on weather, physics, etc. But then again, science is science. Bret enjoyed it immensely. I found the exhibits on optical illusions most interesting.

Fruit Platter
Here is Bret decapitated with a side of pineapple and banana.

The main museum featured exhibits on Queensland’s history and natural resources. I’m amazed at the variety of critters in this part of the world.
Red-bellied Black Snake I am keeping a mental list of those animals I would like to see when we visit the Daintree rainforest next week and those I would just as soon remain hidden deep in the jungle (i.e. the taipan and the red-bellied black snake are among the latter).

I’ve noticed food courts are very popular in Brisbane. The larger train stations have them and downtown there were three food courts within a half of block. They are better than U.S. food courts, because while you can still get Subway and Quiznos, they also have sushi, imaginative salads, and Greek cuisine.

Except for a short drive to the Brisbane Forest Park to visit a nature walk, we kept the car in the car park today and used the train. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Brisbane. The best thing about the hotel is it is next to the Roma Street train station.
Roma Street Station This is the view from our room. The hotel staff is pleasant, the room is clean, and the breakfast buffet is overpriced. The Australian national women’s field hockey team is also staying here. Bret didn’t believe me at breakfast when I showed him a picture of one of the players in today’s newspaper and then told him she was standing behind him getting coffee. He wouldn’t even look.

Below is the picture of the day. What a concept. A dog washing service that makes house calls. Now that’s what we needed for Kody-the-dog, before he passed away.
Aussie Pooch

Posted by jd at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kangaroo We arrived in Brisbane, and I began the painful adjustment to driving on the left-hand side of the road. After frightening a cyclist, smashing our hubcap against the curb, and nearly missing being broadsided, I have it down now. The problem is many things are reverse from how we are used to doing them in the States. The steering wheel is on the right side of the car so when driving one needs to remember the bulk of the vehicle is on the driver’s left, not the right. The tendency is to keep the car too close to the curb, because the American driver is not use to being so near the center road line (hence the cyclist and hubcap mishap). As for nearly being broadsided…. just remember when driving on the left side of the road, the oncoming traffic will be from the right.

Interestingly, a country that drives on the left hand side of the road, will do other things opposite of a country that drives on the right hand side. For example, with the steering wheel on the right side of the car, Toyota places the windshield wiper lever to the left of the steering wheel and the turn signal level to the right. I signaled at least a dozen turns today by flicking on my wiper blades. (I had to look twice to make sure Toyota hadn’t switched the placement of the brake and accelerator pedals) Another change is when you walk down the sidewalk and someone is walking toward you, you move to the left and let them pass on your right. And on escalators and moving walkways, you stand to the left and let others pass on the right.

This isn’t the first time I have been somewhere that is left-side oriented. London is the same way, but there they have more American tourists, so they paint warnings on the asphalt at crosswalks advising pedestrians to look to the right to avoid being pummeled by their quaint black taxis. Plus, no Americans in their right mind would attempt to drive in London’s traffic.

Lone Pine Koala We spent the morning wandering among the kangaroos and koalas at the Lone Pine Koala Santucary. The weather was perfect. It is similar to San Diego. Seventy degrees, low humidity. The Sanctuary is the largest koala retreat in the world with over 130 koalas.

Bret got his picture taken with a koala. I was amused by the gallery with photos of all the stars that had previously had their pictures taken with koalas (i.e., Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Dixie Chicks, etc.)
Bret and the Koala Rich and famous singers smile the same way common folks do when they are being photographed holding a koala. They plaster on tentative grins that seem to say, “Yes I’ll smile because you told me to and you’re holding a camera, but what if this thing rips into my neck with its razor-edged claws.” Later, I learned koalas don’t have enough energy to tear into human necks. They eat eucalyptus leaves. Apparently, eucalyptus leaves have as much fiber as sawdust, and are only slightly more nutritious. So koalas are slow and lethargic not so much by choice, but because any energy they can muster is better expended dealing with their chronic constipation.

The most interesting part of the sanctuary is the area where you can roam among the kangaroos and koalas feeding them.
Kanagroo Eating Specially-Formulated Kangaroo Feed
The sanctuary sold specially-formulated kangaroo food, which looks remarkably like the specially-formulated goat feed they have at U.S. petting zoos. After reading the headline in the local Brisbane newspaper (see Croc Grabs Man's Arm, Drags Him From Canoe), we decided we would not buy specially-formulated crocodile feed to dispense at the crocodile sanctuary.

Later in the day, we took the train to Queensland’s equivalent of a state fair, The Royal Queensland Show. Now that the car is safely parked at our hotel’s parking lot, I decided we’ll take the train for the rest of our time in Brisbane. It’s cheaper and the station is next door to our hotel.
Ekka Equestrian Competition Australian state fairs are just like U.S. state fairs, except the carnival barkers screaming into microphones trying to entice you into paying five bucks to win a two dollar stuffed animal by throwing a rubber ball into a basket lined with springs and grease⎯to discourage the ball from remaining in the basket if it happens to land in it⎯all have Australian accents.
Ekka Rides
Not surprisingly, everyone here has an Australian accent. Even the large, white parrot-like bird at the koala sanctuary spoke with an Australian accent.

Posted by jd at 1:46 PM | Permalink

The fog finally lifted in San Francisco so we only arrived ninety minutes late at SFO. I write this after having sat on our San Francisco to Seoul flight for six hours. We now only have to sit for six more. Bret is entertaining himself listening to the sixth Harry Potter book. He seems engaged. I am entertaining myself by watching Korean soap operas on the big screen, which is so far away that I can’t see the English subtitles. A man is talking on the phone. He just hung up. Now he is pensive. Now he breaks into tears. Must be a sad show.

I would estimate 90 percent of the passengers on our flight are Korean. I know very little about Korea, but I suspect they must respect children, because they let all the families with children get on first, and no one complained like the non-child-toting passengers on Southwest do when the children board first. In fact, I thought it was a little odd that they scheduled boarding to start for a 2:50 PM flight at 2:40 PM. I wondered how they were going to get 513 passengers on in ten minutes (no I didn’t count them. I just know there are 57 rows on the plane, because we are in row 56. Korean Air wouldn’t assign us seats until we were at the airport). Anyway, they managed to board the plane in 17 minutes, something I have never seen an American airline do. I’ve decided most Koreans check their luggage so the absence of quarrels over the storage bin space for roller bags sped the boarding process along.

After we arrive in Seoul, we have a ninety minute layover and then we board the flight to Brisbane, Australia. It is also a 12 hour flight, most of which we plan on sleeping.

After I got tired of watching Korean soap operas, I was inspired by a mosaic mural I saw in the San Francisco airport to make my own.
Joyce Kozloff Mural
The SFO mosaic is by Joyce Kozloff. I call mine View from Seat 56H.
View from Seat 56H

Posted by jd at 2:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How fast would you have to fly so that the sun appeared to stand still and it would always be daylight?

1037.56 miles per hour. Bret took a lucky guess and said 1000 miles per hour. Of course the answer assumes you are flying along the equater.

P.S. We are stilled delayed in SLC.

Posted by jd at 10:03 AM | Permalink

We are on our way. Sort of. We are in Salt Lake City, awaiting our delayed flight to San Francisco. Fortunately, our San Fran layover is 4 hours. So I am posting this with my Treo cell phone.
Bret Delayed Playing Gameboy DS

We calculated that even though we leave for Korea at 4 PM Idaho time and are in flight for 12 hours, it will stay daylight until our arrival, because we will alway be flying toward the setting sun. Which brings up an interesting triva question. How fast would you have to fly so that the sun appeared to stand still (i.e. It would always be noon)?

Answer: I don't know, yet. You would need to know the circumference of the earth. I think I will go ask the Skywest gate agent. He looks smart.

Posted by jd at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Within a two month time span in early 2004, I visited three fascinating trees. Unfortunately the only camera I had was my cell phone.

I first drove up to Kings Canyon National Park after a presentation in Fresno.
General Grant Tree
While spring had arrived in the valley, the park itself was still covered in snow. Only Grant Grove near the entrance was open. The trees were massive. It’s difficult to judge their true size from the picture, but if you look close you can see me at the bottom right side of the trunk wearing my snowman suit.
General Grant Tree

A few weeks later I was in Tucson speaking at a conference. I spent a few hours hiking through a desert park among the saguaros.
Saguaro in Tucson Mountain Park

It was my first time to see a saguaro close up. I was surprised how pock marked it was, but the holes provide nesting spaces for birds and other critters. The only other time I had seen a saguaro was when I was twenty, looking out the window of a bus traveling along the border of Northern Mexico. At the time, having grown up in the midwest, I assumed all deserts had saguaros. Now that I live in arid Idaho, I realize how many types of deserts there are.

I guess technically a saguaro is not a tree, but it’s certainly the tallest thing in the southwestern desert. In April of this year, I was again in Tucson, presenting to the Sonoran Desert Museum. The saguaros were in bloom. Beautiful yellow flowers capped the cacti like easter bonnets.

Cherry Tree in the National "ArboretumThe next month I was driving from Washington D.C. to Baltimore and happened upon the National Arboretum. I took a quick tour and found pink blankets of cherry blossoms draped over the daffodils.

Posted by jd at 8:50 PM | Permalink

Monday we move into our new home. It’s probably the second bungalow built in Idaho in the last 50 years.
Our New Bungalow
The other was a house in Sun Valley we modeled our home after.
Sun Valley Bungalow
A year ago, LaPriel and I went to Ketchum for the weekend. I was biking on the trail that runs between Ketchum and Hailey when I spotted this forest green bungalow. It had such a welcoming feel to it. Later, I showed it to LaPriel, and the owners were kind enough to let us peak inside. We knew then we had to build a house like it. Based on the cell phone pictures we took of the house’s exterior, we designed our home. We made numerous modifications, but we think we have kept the same welcoming feel.

So what did we learn from having a house built.

1. It’s not as bad as everyone makes it sound. Of course, that because LaPriel obsessed over every detail.
2. The best part about having the house in the home show was we were certain it would be done on time.
3. Its better to reduce the square footage and put the money saved into windows and doors. Good windows connect the house to the outside.
4. Order everything way sooner than you think you will need it.
5. After telling a subcontractor what you want, write it down and send it to them. It saves the time of having the sub contractor redo things.

Now for the tour

Here is the entryway. The floor is slate.

This is the view from the loft above the entry.

Here is the livingroom with a sunroom off the back.

The woodburning livingroom fireplace looks through to the dining room.

The diningroom. The kitchen connects to it. The floors are hickory.

The kitchen. The light outside makes it hard to see. The floor is true Linoleum.

Another kitchen shot. They have to replace the countertops. They did the edges wrong.

The laundry/mudroom off the diningroom. The stairs lead to my office.

My office above the garage. I get to work from home now.

The garage and laundry room entry.

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Front bedroom

Posted by jd at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

A year ago I spent a weekend in Venice. I took the train from Lausanne, Switzerland. Fascinating ride. The valleys and foothills of southern Switzerland are covered with vineyards and gardens. Any land that is not forested or too steep is cultivated. The fields are orderly, and in the order there is beauty. Italy is also beautiful, yet the landscape seems less tame. Weeds abound as if Italians are more willing to let nature take its course.

In Venice, I stayed at the Westin Regina, overlooking the Grand Canal and the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute.
Chiesa di Santa Maria della SaluteI took this picture of the church from my balcony. The Chiesa was built to commemorate the end of the plague epidemic of 1630.

I spent hours and hours walking along the canals, exploring the palazzos, churches and museums.

In the evenings, when I was too exhausted to walk any further, I lay on my bed, listening to the boats navigate the canal outside my window while watching the European soccer championships on television. My only regret was LaPriel wasn’t with me to share the experience.

Posted by lapriel at 8:26 AM | Permalink