Blue Mountains to Sydney is Mahabalipuram to Chennai – a sure visit place for anyone staying more than 2 days in Sydney. A places surrounded by hills! You take a train from Sydney and it will drop you in Katoomba in less than 2 hours! Hills, cableways and something they say as World’s steepest railway too!
We had this as the first in the plan, but winter was making us keep postponing the trip. As the winter is giving way to spring (ideally, but still the chilly wind is ), this is the best time to be in Blue Mountains.
It was a Saturday, we started by around 9:20. Parramatta, where we live, is on the way to Katoomba from Sydney Central. The CityRail offers a combined ticket which incorporates a return train ticket with a site seeing double-decker for one day. It costs around A$38.
We got a train by around 9:45, it runs every one hour. The trains were more crowded, a clear reflection of the climate change! Crowded, I mean, relatively crowded. We were just finding it tough to get a side seat. Sometime people just spread around their hats, bags etc around them filling all 4 seats for a single person! You really have to stand and give them a stare for the bags to be put in its place!
As the train was moving away from the city, the flats started disappearing. Once it past Penrith, the limit of the city trains, it was fully moving in through woods. Slowly we were surrounded by mountains, and far above the sea level!
The train dropped us in Katoomba by around 11:20. A livelier town or I will call a village as the shops and crowds ended once you walk a 100 metre away from the station. We came out of the station, walked to the office across the street to change the link ticket from CityRail, to get a bus pass along with a map book depicting a lot of walking trails and the route for this hop on-off bus. This hop on off concept is same popular one in Europe! You take a day’s ticket and you can use the bus, which keep on going around in a specific route, thus turning up at the same spot every 1 hour or half an hour. So you can get down anywhere, spend sometime there, and pick the same bus to the next stop!
It was a double-decker running for the London Transport. The label was still on it. Again, inside the bus, the stickers normally seen in the London buses were still there! We got the driver seat in the first floor (I mean, the front seat on the top of the decker, which is a normal seat. That used to be my favourite in my childhood days). We decided to go for a full route first and then decide on which all to be prioritised for getting down and spending time. The bus went on with us, passing some stunning views of mountains, view points, the Scenic World (which has this cableway, and winch across the mountains), golf courses, houses with gardens, and then it was village nearby called Leura. This one looked like a typical English village – a long street full of small shops, selling paintings, flowers, a bar, butchery, a bakery, a pizza shop and so on.
During the next round, we got down at Scenic World, took a combined ticket for all the three trips. Started with the scenic rail which, they say, is the steepest in the World! It was taking us down through a slit between two huge rocks almost vertically! The ride will be for some 30 seconds, but it was amazing. We were actually sitting horizontally and the train was moving not as fast as a ride, it looked wonderful why we were not getting pushed out of the seat! I forgot the tickets leaving it in my seat. We had started walking through the rainforest which they call as scenic walk. Suddenly I realised it and came back. The train has gone up to pick the next set of people. I was amazed to see the tickets lying in the same spot, when the train came back!
We completed the walk, through the forest. We have to walk half a km and then, we will be picked up by a cable car of a capacity about 15 people taking us to the top. The last stretch was another cable car to take us to a point from one hill to another and bring back. It was again having a capacity of 10 plus, but was empty when we went in. That was amazing one. They had made the flooring also with transparent glass which made a flying feeling! A water fall, down below, gave us the feel of the depth. I would say that was the best of all!
I think it is enough for a week. I will continue with it next week.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Friday, September 23, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 11
We started where we left it last week. We, actually planned for a two day trip with a day stay there in Kiama or Wollongong. But I got too confused that nothing really happened on Saturday J !
The same train on Sunday, and reached Wollongong around the same time, seeing the same views! Isn’t it boring? But this time, we had a better flask; we planned our lunch to be taken at the Buddhist temple. Nowhere could we find where to get a bus or timings, for the temple! Anyway, we walked to the closest bus stop and checked the timetable. It had an entry for the place where the temple is situated. We had no clue of the next bus, it said after an hour!
But sometimes, timetables go wrong for good! A bus turned up in 10 minutes! It was costly, far costly compared to the train fare and Sydney city buses. For a 15 minute ride, we were charged A$4 per head! The only good thing was, the driver was asking us whether we have to get down at the temple, straightaway, while issuing the ticket. The bus went out of the town area, was moving parallel to the rail and crossed a level cross( with no gate man), climbed a hill and dropped us in an isolated place where we could see a Chinese building inside the gate far away hidden in woods.
The time was around 2pm. The driver told us that there will be only one bus to go back now, around 5:40pm. The temple was built up around a compound of some acres, landscaped with trees, pond (we saw some lotus leaves, but no lotus), some ducks in them. The temple architecture was typical Chinese with the curves and all. I still wonder whether it was Chinese, as the whole premises including the Shrine was crystal clean and very well maintained.
We saw the boards saying No meat, No alcohol, no smoking, no pets, etc. in the premises. We tried the small restaurant like below, which was obviously fully vegetarian. I ordered for a vegetarian mince with noodles, and Krithi tried some Veggie nuggets. The dishes arrived, made of mushrooms in different shapes and colours – mostly look like meat ! I confirmed with them twice or thrice and the monk was smiling and telling that it is all mushroom no meat J !
Krithi couldn’t get on with it (She had to depend on the sandwiches we brought with us for lunch). So I had to eat them both! It was tasty, with a difference.
We slowly climbed the steps to the shrine. It was a Buddha with 12 hands (or more?) all having weapons of different kind ! I think, I have missed out something here! Else how can I see a God, who is the teacher of Ahmisa, standing packed with all sorts of weapons like a God of destruction! The prayer hall was silent. There was a stand on the corner selling some beautiful candles covered with glass, and some incense sticks, again for offering. The prayer style suggested was standing on the knees! More like the idol is similar to a Hindu God and the rest (candles, praying on knee) similar to Christianity!
We climbed the steps through the sides to the main shrine. It was bigger than I thought; the infrastructure around the main shrine included a Student room, a painting gallery, a dining hall, and a souvenir shop. The shrine consisted of 5 huge Buddhas sitting in colourful attire, each representing a direction (the 5th Buddha for the middle direction). The main shrine built in a Chinese style resembled the palace structure in ‘The Last Emperor’ from outside. Inside, the walls were gloriously filled up with small Buddhas in 1 foot squares, lighted with a neon lamp, uniquely named and covered in glass! Sounded very much taken from Hinduism, chants thousand names for God! The floor was having some cushions for seats where you can kneel down and pray. In front of the five Buddhas covered in glass, plenty of candles been lighted by the worshippers. There were prayers written in English and Chinese, for different purposes (money, prosperity and what not). Easy way of praying, isn’t it? Decide what all you want, and then, take the respective notes and read it silentlyJ !
We spent exploring the premises, for an hour more and came out by 4:50. We had more than half an hour for the bus. Just gave a try to walk down the hill, to the nearest rail station. The roads are empty with a few cars passing by.
We walked for some 40 minutes to reach the station, Unanderra. Now, we had to wait for an hour in that small, lonely station. The station is empty, not even a station master, except an young guy with his girl friend who got disturbed with our presence. The machine gives the ticket, and there is no need for anyone to be in the station! By the time train came, there were some more people started coming – a drunkard gang of teenagers, and a couple of girls. Though the gang was talking to each other using all swear words, it was within them. As far as we are not too bothered about it, can just stand away as nothing is happening; none is going to bully you.
The train was empty again, dropped us back at Central by around 8. One more weekend gone with a bit of redundancy with the travel, but there was this unique experience of a Chinese temple. Mind is filled with a lot of questions: Buddha had been customised for marketing? Or is it something in Buddhism we never have heard?
I also overheard one of the monks explaining to the tourist saying, ‘We are also like you. We also believe that a Buddha will take birth (I am not sure what he meant by ‘you’. Christianity is heard to have this basic difference between Christians and Jews that Christians have Jesus as God, and Jews are still waiting for Jesus. So for both of them, The Bible is the religious text)’. That seems to be something sounds like ‘Heenayana’. I know that Mahayana worships Gautam Buddha as their God (and those are the only two partitions in Buddhism).
Please revert if you have any idea about this, or if you feel I am wrong about anything.
Tailpiece:- About my query on Australia as a colony, one of my friends replied that Canada is also similar. Though it was freed from English colonialism, still they maintain Queen, for their coins, holidays, and heard they even pay taxes to the Queen! So, ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’, we have left it long long ago !
Information :- About Nan-Tien Temple : Opened in 1995, the Temple is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Wollongong was chosen as the site for the Temple because of the ideal location of Mt Keira and Mt Kembla in relation to the site. The name 'Wollongong' also has significance in the way that it is a tribute to a Chinese man of great intelligence named Wollong. The translation of Nan Tien is ‘Paradise of the Southern Hemisphere’.
The same train on Sunday, and reached Wollongong around the same time, seeing the same views! Isn’t it boring? But this time, we had a better flask; we planned our lunch to be taken at the Buddhist temple. Nowhere could we find where to get a bus or timings, for the temple! Anyway, we walked to the closest bus stop and checked the timetable. It had an entry for the place where the temple is situated. We had no clue of the next bus, it said after an hour!
But sometimes, timetables go wrong for good! A bus turned up in 10 minutes! It was costly, far costly compared to the train fare and Sydney city buses. For a 15 minute ride, we were charged A$4 per head! The only good thing was, the driver was asking us whether we have to get down at the temple, straightaway, while issuing the ticket. The bus went out of the town area, was moving parallel to the rail and crossed a level cross( with no gate man), climbed a hill and dropped us in an isolated place where we could see a Chinese building inside the gate far away hidden in woods.
The time was around 2pm. The driver told us that there will be only one bus to go back now, around 5:40pm. The temple was built up around a compound of some acres, landscaped with trees, pond (we saw some lotus leaves, but no lotus), some ducks in them. The temple architecture was typical Chinese with the curves and all. I still wonder whether it was Chinese, as the whole premises including the Shrine was crystal clean and very well maintained.
We saw the boards saying No meat, No alcohol, no smoking, no pets, etc. in the premises. We tried the small restaurant like below, which was obviously fully vegetarian. I ordered for a vegetarian mince with noodles, and Krithi tried some Veggie nuggets. The dishes arrived, made of mushrooms in different shapes and colours – mostly look like meat ! I confirmed with them twice or thrice and the monk was smiling and telling that it is all mushroom no meat J !
Krithi couldn’t get on with it (She had to depend on the sandwiches we brought with us for lunch). So I had to eat them both! It was tasty, with a difference.
We slowly climbed the steps to the shrine. It was a Buddha with 12 hands (or more?) all having weapons of different kind ! I think, I have missed out something here! Else how can I see a God, who is the teacher of Ahmisa, standing packed with all sorts of weapons like a God of destruction! The prayer hall was silent. There was a stand on the corner selling some beautiful candles covered with glass, and some incense sticks, again for offering. The prayer style suggested was standing on the knees! More like the idol is similar to a Hindu God and the rest (candles, praying on knee) similar to Christianity!
We climbed the steps through the sides to the main shrine. It was bigger than I thought; the infrastructure around the main shrine included a Student room, a painting gallery, a dining hall, and a souvenir shop. The shrine consisted of 5 huge Buddhas sitting in colourful attire, each representing a direction (the 5th Buddha for the middle direction). The main shrine built in a Chinese style resembled the palace structure in ‘The Last Emperor’ from outside. Inside, the walls were gloriously filled up with small Buddhas in 1 foot squares, lighted with a neon lamp, uniquely named and covered in glass! Sounded very much taken from Hinduism, chants thousand names for God! The floor was having some cushions for seats where you can kneel down and pray. In front of the five Buddhas covered in glass, plenty of candles been lighted by the worshippers. There were prayers written in English and Chinese, for different purposes (money, prosperity and what not). Easy way of praying, isn’t it? Decide what all you want, and then, take the respective notes and read it silentlyJ !
We spent exploring the premises, for an hour more and came out by 4:50. We had more than half an hour for the bus. Just gave a try to walk down the hill, to the nearest rail station. The roads are empty with a few cars passing by.
We walked for some 40 minutes to reach the station, Unanderra. Now, we had to wait for an hour in that small, lonely station. The station is empty, not even a station master, except an young guy with his girl friend who got disturbed with our presence. The machine gives the ticket, and there is no need for anyone to be in the station! By the time train came, there were some more people started coming – a drunkard gang of teenagers, and a couple of girls. Though the gang was talking to each other using all swear words, it was within them. As far as we are not too bothered about it, can just stand away as nothing is happening; none is going to bully you.
The train was empty again, dropped us back at Central by around 8. One more weekend gone with a bit of redundancy with the travel, but there was this unique experience of a Chinese temple. Mind is filled with a lot of questions: Buddha had been customised for marketing? Or is it something in Buddhism we never have heard?
I also overheard one of the monks explaining to the tourist saying, ‘We are also like you. We also believe that a Buddha will take birth (I am not sure what he meant by ‘you’. Christianity is heard to have this basic difference between Christians and Jews that Christians have Jesus as God, and Jews are still waiting for Jesus. So for both of them, The Bible is the religious text)’. That seems to be something sounds like ‘Heenayana’. I know that Mahayana worships Gautam Buddha as their God (and those are the only two partitions in Buddhism).
Please revert if you have any idea about this, or if you feel I am wrong about anything.
Tailpiece:- About my query on Australia as a colony, one of my friends replied that Canada is also similar. Though it was freed from English colonialism, still they maintain Queen, for their coins, holidays, and heard they even pay taxes to the Queen! So, ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’, we have left it long long ago !
Information :- About Nan-Tien Temple : Opened in 1995, the Temple is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Wollongong was chosen as the site for the Temple because of the ideal location of Mt Keira and Mt Kembla in relation to the site. The name 'Wollongong' also has significance in the way that it is a tribute to a Chinese man of great intelligence named Wollong. The translation of Nan Tien is ‘Paradise of the Southern Hemisphere’.
Friday, September 16, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 10
It was another weekend, and we had run out of plan. We had planned to start going out of Sydney now. Though we have a lot to see in Sydney itself, we can keep them as fillers and start going for long ones now.
To begin with, I was planning to start with one day trips, to places where we can reach with a 2-3 hour travel and then, spend a day there and come back home by late evening. That will give a feel of the places outside Sydney in terms of expenses and food. That is, if I can see that in an outer area is a problem for vegetarian food; I will have to plan for either for packing food or take a self contained cottages.
We had Blue mountain as the first pick, and we didn’t bother to check for others at all ! Checking the weather, the Mercury level was still giving us a ‘negative’ answer ! But it was too late by the time we dropped Blue Mountains. Else, this place is an hour from Sydney and the train will pass through Parramatta.
We spotted a diesel locomotive train in our of our leaflets, which takes us for a day tour leaving Sydney Central in the morning and reaches back by evening. The journey is the attraction here – the route passes through the Royal National Park, a cliff and seashore to Wollongong and then climbs a hill to reach the destination, Robertson ! It just reaches there stays 2 hours, and comes back. But by the time we started chasing it, the offices were closed. As it was a private rail, none know about it in the City Rail office ! Again, it runs only on Wednesdays and Sundays. The tour costs A$85 pp. So, we got Saturday free to plan( *understood* free to sleep too) !
There goes the filler concept – this is where the remaining spots in Sydney comes! We planned for an IMAX experience, and while going to the city planned to check for more information about the Cockatoo run( that is the touring rail’s name).
Took a return ticket to Town Hall station, got down at the Central for more information ( but I can’t go out of the station as the return tickets does not allow breaking the journey, unless for changing trains). The rail staff had no clue about this rail. But they gave me another valuable information. The normal trains go through that route to the same destination, and it costs just 18 bucks for a same day return! Then, we are paying the extra 70 bucks for just the diesel experience( which we get in India without any choice) ! The normal trains also takes the 2 hours plus, and we will have the advantage of travelling free than depending on this train which will wait at the destination for 40 mins for shopping and lunch, before it starts its journey back.
Walking to the Darling harbour from Town Hall, the cloudy sky started a light& shade show with the Sun and the clouds! I will say it was the best, better than the IMAX ! The sky was dark, and suddenly we found only the skyscrapers behind us lit by the Orange Sun rays! As the Sun went down, it gave a beautiful backlit sky ! And whoever had a camera or a camcorder were copying it into the celluloid. But, I have seen the best shows of nature only when I forget to take my SLR. Today was no exceptionL !
IMAX, I had my first experience of a 3D film in my life and Krithi, it was her first IMAX experience! A show costs A$17( for 3D and 16 for 2D), and you will get a A$27 if you can see two shows one after the other !
For Sunday, we decided to give a try to take the normal train and see what can see ! We chose Wollongong, a spot on the way which is a coastal spot. It was just a 1hr 40 min. journey, and the trains left Central every hour. We started by 11 from home to take the 11:44 train starting from Central. We took a direct ticket from Parramatta and rushed into the local train just ready to depart. It was as usual slow. It dropped us at the central station by 11:38 at platform 6. We have to see which platform our trains for Wollongong depart. Each platform/ the escalator to the platform will have a TV displaying only the routes of the trains departing from that platform. Nowhere can you get the big pictureL ! So we did a running to the main board to check with the information, and ran to platform 14, the train was just about to close its doors!
As a precaution for the first journey, we had taken a flask full coffee and some sandwiches! The train was slow but it was not stopping in any of the local stations! It went in to a tunnel after Waterfall station, and there we go…. ! It was full of trees, dominated by Eucalyptus (now we know why Koala is so choosy, and may be why Australia is very dry)!
The train stopped at one or two stations, and was moving faster than ever before! It was going through a tunnel every 10 minutes! There were a couple of bridges too, very old ones! We exited a tunnel and down some 200-300 meters was a beach! We were on the edge of a sea cliff ! It was greenery around us, and filtering through the woods was the glittering sun rays resulting from the reflection of the beach! It took a turn through the side of the next hill to go much closer to the beach, and at a point, the sea was just below us down the hill! I would say it was beautiful!
It was travelling through the coast at some distance – the greenery in between slowly tuning in to roads, houses, shops and all. It approached small stations every 5-10 mins. A very useful fact I noticed was a board with the next station name on it, at the end of platform for each station.
It dropped us at Wollongong by around 1:20. We walked with no plans ahead. All we know is, we had to take a train back by evening. We know there is a beach there, and there is a Buddhist temple too! That latter is been told as the biggest in Southern hemisphere!
We had a problem with my bag getting wet with the coffee leaking from our new flask, just bought a day ago! We cleaned up the mess, but some of our travel books had already gone for a toss! Foreign vacuum flask, ehJ !
We found a shopping mall there, as good as one we could find in Sydney! We spotted the food court and had Pizza( this looks better, at least you get some pizzas all over the country. Thanks to Roman !). A long walk to the beach, and spent sometime walking through the rocks and that was it. We had to cancel the Buddha temple plan as the last bus was also gone by 3 (we realised that it is far and there are only buses once in 2 hours) !
That was all we could do that day, so it was at the end of the day just as good as the train journey! We returned by 4:30 train, promising we will be right back :) !
To begin with, I was planning to start with one day trips, to places where we can reach with a 2-3 hour travel and then, spend a day there and come back home by late evening. That will give a feel of the places outside Sydney in terms of expenses and food. That is, if I can see that in an outer area is a problem for vegetarian food; I will have to plan for either for packing food or take a self contained cottages.
We had Blue mountain as the first pick, and we didn’t bother to check for others at all ! Checking the weather, the Mercury level was still giving us a ‘negative’ answer ! But it was too late by the time we dropped Blue Mountains. Else, this place is an hour from Sydney and the train will pass through Parramatta.
We spotted a diesel locomotive train in our of our leaflets, which takes us for a day tour leaving Sydney Central in the morning and reaches back by evening. The journey is the attraction here – the route passes through the Royal National Park, a cliff and seashore to Wollongong and then climbs a hill to reach the destination, Robertson ! It just reaches there stays 2 hours, and comes back. But by the time we started chasing it, the offices were closed. As it was a private rail, none know about it in the City Rail office ! Again, it runs only on Wednesdays and Sundays. The tour costs A$85 pp. So, we got Saturday free to plan( *understood* free to sleep too) !
There goes the filler concept – this is where the remaining spots in Sydney comes! We planned for an IMAX experience, and while going to the city planned to check for more information about the Cockatoo run( that is the touring rail’s name).
Took a return ticket to Town Hall station, got down at the Central for more information ( but I can’t go out of the station as the return tickets does not allow breaking the journey, unless for changing trains). The rail staff had no clue about this rail. But they gave me another valuable information. The normal trains go through that route to the same destination, and it costs just 18 bucks for a same day return! Then, we are paying the extra 70 bucks for just the diesel experience( which we get in India without any choice) ! The normal trains also takes the 2 hours plus, and we will have the advantage of travelling free than depending on this train which will wait at the destination for 40 mins for shopping and lunch, before it starts its journey back.
Walking to the Darling harbour from Town Hall, the cloudy sky started a light& shade show with the Sun and the clouds! I will say it was the best, better than the IMAX ! The sky was dark, and suddenly we found only the skyscrapers behind us lit by the Orange Sun rays! As the Sun went down, it gave a beautiful backlit sky ! And whoever had a camera or a camcorder were copying it into the celluloid. But, I have seen the best shows of nature only when I forget to take my SLR. Today was no exceptionL !
IMAX, I had my first experience of a 3D film in my life and Krithi, it was her first IMAX experience! A show costs A$17( for 3D and 16 for 2D), and you will get a A$27 if you can see two shows one after the other !
For Sunday, we decided to give a try to take the normal train and see what can see ! We chose Wollongong, a spot on the way which is a coastal spot. It was just a 1hr 40 min. journey, and the trains left Central every hour. We started by 11 from home to take the 11:44 train starting from Central. We took a direct ticket from Parramatta and rushed into the local train just ready to depart. It was as usual slow. It dropped us at the central station by 11:38 at platform 6. We have to see which platform our trains for Wollongong depart. Each platform/ the escalator to the platform will have a TV displaying only the routes of the trains departing from that platform. Nowhere can you get the big pictureL ! So we did a running to the main board to check with the information, and ran to platform 14, the train was just about to close its doors!
As a precaution for the first journey, we had taken a flask full coffee and some sandwiches! The train was slow but it was not stopping in any of the local stations! It went in to a tunnel after Waterfall station, and there we go…. ! It was full of trees, dominated by Eucalyptus (now we know why Koala is so choosy, and may be why Australia is very dry)!
The train stopped at one or two stations, and was moving faster than ever before! It was going through a tunnel every 10 minutes! There were a couple of bridges too, very old ones! We exited a tunnel and down some 200-300 meters was a beach! We were on the edge of a sea cliff ! It was greenery around us, and filtering through the woods was the glittering sun rays resulting from the reflection of the beach! It took a turn through the side of the next hill to go much closer to the beach, and at a point, the sea was just below us down the hill! I would say it was beautiful!
It was travelling through the coast at some distance – the greenery in between slowly tuning in to roads, houses, shops and all. It approached small stations every 5-10 mins. A very useful fact I noticed was a board with the next station name on it, at the end of platform for each station.
It dropped us at Wollongong by around 1:20. We walked with no plans ahead. All we know is, we had to take a train back by evening. We know there is a beach there, and there is a Buddhist temple too! That latter is been told as the biggest in Southern hemisphere!
We had a problem with my bag getting wet with the coffee leaking from our new flask, just bought a day ago! We cleaned up the mess, but some of our travel books had already gone for a toss! Foreign vacuum flask, ehJ !
We found a shopping mall there, as good as one we could find in Sydney! We spotted the food court and had Pizza( this looks better, at least you get some pizzas all over the country. Thanks to Roman !). A long walk to the beach, and spent sometime walking through the rocks and that was it. We had to cancel the Buddha temple plan as the last bus was also gone by 3 (we realised that it is far and there are only buses once in 2 hours) !
That was all we could do that day, so it was at the end of the day just as good as the train journey! We returned by 4:30 train, promising we will be right back :) !
Friday, September 09, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 9
Getting into the big picture now, Australia is a place big enough to be told as the 6th largest country in the World next to Russia, Canada, China, USA and Brazil. It is the flattest and driest of continents (after Antarctica). This landmass of 7.7 million sq.km( India is around 3 million sq.km) yet has got extremes of climates and topography !
There are rainforests and vast plains in the north, snowfields in the south east, desert in the centre and fertile croplands in the east, south and south west. About one third of the country lies in the tropics. Australia has a coastline of 36,735km - if it were possible to drive non-stop along the entire coast at 60 km/h it would take about 24 days to complete the trip !
Australia consists of 8 territories : New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania( this is a small Island on its South east corner) and ACT( Australian Capital Territory).
The local currency is Australian dollars which costs around 33 INR. The denominations are cents. The currency notes are in denominations of 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. The coins goes as $2, $1, 50c, 20c, 10c and 5c. Like India, 5c is the minimum denomination. The currency notes are thin, and like a polythene sheet with some faces featured on it( I have not heard of anyone before). The coins mostly contain Queen's face( no confusion, I am talking about Queen Elizabeth II only ) ! The coin size grows bigger till 50c( 50c coin is bigger than any coin I have ever seen). $1 coin is a bit smaller( comes to our 50ps size) and $2 is smaller than that( its radius is almost same as 5c). The difference is, $1 and $2 are heavy and made of bronze(not sure what it is, the same metal as 1pound coin) whereas the other coins are made of nickel/steel.
This coin's head raises a big question: Is Australia still a British colony?! The union jack part in the map of Australia ( same as New Zealand’s flag) is again confusing ! To my knowledge Australia still got a Governor General! Queen’s Birthday is a National Holiday here! Any idea ?
But, I still know that the immigration laws are separate, UK citizen need a Visa to enter Australia, and so this is surely a separate country!
Coming back to the vastness, there is a wonderful train across Australia. It starts from Sydney on Saturday afternoon and ends its journey in Perth travelling some 4000+ kms, by Tuesday! It is a bit expensive with the fare coming to A$1500 one way per person for getting a berth, and if you are ready to spend 3 nights in a daynighter seat, it is A$550. This is heard to be a life time experience to travel across Australia. It travels the World’s longest straight stretch of railway track (478 kms ! ), and promises you unique landscapes and fascinating array of wildlife from the comfort of the lounge or your cabin.
The travelling costs compells me to restrict my journeys or rather, sample them. A night's stay costing around 150-200 bucks and the food costing some 100 per day, travel is costly even without the train fares. Again, after all this, we rather end up getting tried at the destination after a long journey may not be worth it.
There are rainforests and vast plains in the north, snowfields in the south east, desert in the centre and fertile croplands in the east, south and south west. About one third of the country lies in the tropics. Australia has a coastline of 36,735km - if it were possible to drive non-stop along the entire coast at 60 km/h it would take about 24 days to complete the trip !
Australia consists of 8 territories : New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania( this is a small Island on its South east corner) and ACT( Australian Capital Territory).
The local currency is Australian dollars which costs around 33 INR. The denominations are cents. The currency notes are in denominations of 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. The coins goes as $2, $1, 50c, 20c, 10c and 5c. Like India, 5c is the minimum denomination. The currency notes are thin, and like a polythene sheet with some faces featured on it( I have not heard of anyone before). The coins mostly contain Queen's face( no confusion, I am talking about Queen Elizabeth II only ) ! The coin size grows bigger till 50c( 50c coin is bigger than any coin I have ever seen). $1 coin is a bit smaller( comes to our 50ps size) and $2 is smaller than that( its radius is almost same as 5c). The difference is, $1 and $2 are heavy and made of bronze(not sure what it is, the same metal as 1pound coin) whereas the other coins are made of nickel/steel.
This coin's head raises a big question: Is Australia still a British colony?! The union jack part in the map of Australia ( same as New Zealand’s flag) is again confusing ! To my knowledge Australia still got a Governor General! Queen’s Birthday is a National Holiday here! Any idea ?
But, I still know that the immigration laws are separate, UK citizen need a Visa to enter Australia, and so this is surely a separate country!
Coming back to the vastness, there is a wonderful train across Australia. It starts from Sydney on Saturday afternoon and ends its journey in Perth travelling some 4000+ kms, by Tuesday! It is a bit expensive with the fare coming to A$1500 one way per person for getting a berth, and if you are ready to spend 3 nights in a daynighter seat, it is A$550. This is heard to be a life time experience to travel across Australia. It travels the World’s longest straight stretch of railway track (478 kms ! ), and promises you unique landscapes and fascinating array of wildlife from the comfort of the lounge or your cabin.
The travelling costs compells me to restrict my journeys or rather, sample them. A night's stay costing around 150-200 bucks and the food costing some 100 per day, travel is costly even without the train fares. Again, after all this, we rather end up getting tried at the destination after a long journey may not be worth it.
Friday, September 02, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 8
Australia is the land of Kangaroos. But we have not yet met one! The only place we can see a Kangaroo in Sydney, is Zoo ! There is another species Koala, you can say it is like Panda.
There was a place nearby which they called Featherdale Wildlife Park, which turned out to be a place little bigger than our Panagal park J !
We had to take a bus after getting down from the train. On Sundays, the frequency of the buses is only once in an hour ! And we landed just when the bus just left ! That left us wait in the bus stand for an hour. It was noon by the time we reached the gates of the ‘Park’.
Once we had a look at it, and realised that it has all birds except a crocodile( which I doubt Krithi is still believing that it was a statue), some reptiles in a small room and then some Koalas and small kangaroos. And for that, the entry fee was A$18 !
The birds which can fly out were in cages, and the fats ones were out in small river-shaped pond (I would like to call it so, as it was supposed to look like a river and got some flow also, of recycling. But I hate to call a 100 meter -sort-of-river, a river).
That is it with them and we will move to Koalas. None of them are caged, and at places we never even had fences. The advertisement itself was ‘take a snap with Koala’. There are one or two kangaroos also in the open.
Koalas are the most wonderful creatures I have ever seen. They just somehow manage to be in between the branches of a tree, and that is it! You should be lucky to see it moving! It mostly will be sleeping, sitting on some branches of the tree and holding the next branch tightly, like a standing person sleeping in a running bus! In between it opens its eyes, looks around with minimal movement for its head, like the sleeping traveller sees whether the bus has reached his place, and goes back to sleep J. It was fun watching them, as they look cute, but deadly lazy!
They eat only Eucalypts leaves! Believe me, I just mean it! They won’t eat anything other than that, it is said to get 90% of its hydration from these leaves. It only drinks water when the leaves are dry, or when it get sick! The word Koala came from the aboriginal language which means ‘no drink’! It will be more surprising when you know that these leaves are very low in nutrition and extremely poisonous to most of the animals.
This chap, then says he is very choosy! All he eats is only Eucalypts leaves and that too he eats only a few types of them! Luckily that Australia has some 80 types of Eucalypts J.
They are also like Kangaroos in carrying the young ones in a pouch! I was of the impression that only Kangaroos do this!
But at the end of the day, this guy won’t even move for the fear that movement may trigger the digestion of what they ate and so may have to eat again J ! I think their fat, bluffy body should be a lesson for people who think that fasting is the way to become slim :D.
We met some Kangaroos also. They are mostly fed up with the feeding of the people coming there. They also follow Koala as their stomach is full J !
We finished it all in 1-2 hours, and that too because we spent too much time waiting to see Koala moving J ! A restaurant inside the park had only French fries (rather will say potatoes in the shape of French fries) for vegetarians!
Tailpiece:- School looks full fun here ! They got a hell lot of vacations – 1.5 months for Christmas, 1 month April, 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in September !
Information :- More information about Koalas can be found at : http://www.thekoala.com/koala/index.htm
There was a place nearby which they called Featherdale Wildlife Park, which turned out to be a place little bigger than our Panagal park J !
We had to take a bus after getting down from the train. On Sundays, the frequency of the buses is only once in an hour ! And we landed just when the bus just left ! That left us wait in the bus stand for an hour. It was noon by the time we reached the gates of the ‘Park’.
Once we had a look at it, and realised that it has all birds except a crocodile( which I doubt Krithi is still believing that it was a statue), some reptiles in a small room and then some Koalas and small kangaroos. And for that, the entry fee was A$18 !
The birds which can fly out were in cages, and the fats ones were out in small river-shaped pond (I would like to call it so, as it was supposed to look like a river and got some flow also, of recycling. But I hate to call a 100 meter -sort-of-river, a river).
That is it with them and we will move to Koalas. None of them are caged, and at places we never even had fences. The advertisement itself was ‘take a snap with Koala’. There are one or two kangaroos also in the open.
Koalas are the most wonderful creatures I have ever seen. They just somehow manage to be in between the branches of a tree, and that is it! You should be lucky to see it moving! It mostly will be sleeping, sitting on some branches of the tree and holding the next branch tightly, like a standing person sleeping in a running bus! In between it opens its eyes, looks around with minimal movement for its head, like the sleeping traveller sees whether the bus has reached his place, and goes back to sleep J. It was fun watching them, as they look cute, but deadly lazy!
They eat only Eucalypts leaves! Believe me, I just mean it! They won’t eat anything other than that, it is said to get 90% of its hydration from these leaves. It only drinks water when the leaves are dry, or when it get sick! The word Koala came from the aboriginal language which means ‘no drink’! It will be more surprising when you know that these leaves are very low in nutrition and extremely poisonous to most of the animals.
This chap, then says he is very choosy! All he eats is only Eucalypts leaves and that too he eats only a few types of them! Luckily that Australia has some 80 types of Eucalypts J.
They are also like Kangaroos in carrying the young ones in a pouch! I was of the impression that only Kangaroos do this!
But at the end of the day, this guy won’t even move for the fear that movement may trigger the digestion of what they ate and so may have to eat again J ! I think their fat, bluffy body should be a lesson for people who think that fasting is the way to become slim :D.
We met some Kangaroos also. They are mostly fed up with the feeding of the people coming there. They also follow Koala as their stomach is full J !
We finished it all in 1-2 hours, and that too because we spent too much time waiting to see Koala moving J ! A restaurant inside the park had only French fries (rather will say potatoes in the shape of French fries) for vegetarians!
Tailpiece:- School looks full fun here ! They got a hell lot of vacations – 1.5 months for Christmas, 1 month April, 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in September !
Information :- More information about Koalas can be found at : http://www.thekoala.com/koala/index.htm
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