Australian rain forest walks

We visited 2 national parks. The huge ancient trees were 200+ feet tall, their tops out of site in the triple canopy jungle. The many exotic birds sounded very alien to our ears. Giant ferns towered above Karen. Some climbing vines had 16" stems, diappearing into the towering  canopy. Although we weren't there at night to see them, the jungle had mushrooms that glowed in the dark. We saw no spiders or snakes. 

Australian Mt Inn

I found this small inn ( 3 guest rooms) on line, it's run by a retired chef from Sydney. We are nestled amongst cattle ranches and banana groves in the middle of nowhere. The surrounding lush green mountains remind us of Vermont. Flocks of large,  noisy parrots awake us with there squawking every morning. With 85 degrees during the day dropping to 70 at night,we are enjoying perfect weather. We are the only guests here. 

Downtown Brisbane

  We wandered around the city for a while after arriving on the free ferry that runs up and down the river. The waterway is lined with parks and pubs, a great spot to sit and watch the Australian scene.

   We couldn't resist peeking in a souvenir shop which had some nice Aboriginal art, we bought a piece. The place also had some bizarre kangaroo items: bottle openers made from severed  feet and key chains made from testicles. ( do people really buy this stuff ? ). 

   We leave Brisbane tomorrow and drive into the mountains to stay at a remote Inn. We may and may not have Internet., could be a few days before another blog post. Cheers.

Brisbane Botanical Gardens

Brisbane ( pronounced 'Brisbin') had the foresight to create a huge (300 acre) tropical plant perserve right in the city. We wandered around for 3 hours marveling at the lush trees and bushes, all well marked. The jungle was wonderfully full of exotic birds and countless butterflies . There was almost no one at this free park. We saw acres of Eucalyptus trees with their fragrant leaves, ( Koala food).Trees that looked like giant Balsam were actually 100 foot tall pricker bushes. We quickly learned to stay in the center of the paths. We saw dozens of HUGE ( 8 feet across )  spider webs with 4" spiders in the center. The webs always seemed to be at face height.  They certainly got our attention,

but the spiders seemed to ignore us. 

Brisbane Wildlife Preserve

We visited a wildlife refuge today , I was a bit skeptical as I hate zoos. The place turned out interesting and fun. The Koalas were amazingly gentle and tolerant of people ( the staff limits handling them to 30 minutes a day). The kangaroos were rooming around and quite tame. They were smaller than I thought they'd be, they probably averaged under 100 pounds and 4 feet tall.  They have quite a set of claws.  I hope to be able to eat one while I'm here, the meat is readily available  and tasty . 

Brisbane

   First considering Melbourn and Sydney, I chose Brisbane for its smaller scale. It was an 8 hour flight from Hong Kong, distances are vast when crisscrossing this part of the world. 

    I found our hotel on line, and it's a gem.  Our 3 room suite is brand new and a bargain at $220 a night ( with breakfast). The hotel has a rooftop bar and resturant. 

   Australians are very friendly, strangers say hello on the street. Driving is a bit dicey on the wrong side but everyone is polite and patient. People seem to be happy here. 

Around the World, 2016, To Hong Kong

We're off, once again using frequent flyer miles to travel first/business class around the globe. Boston to Hong Kong leg took almost 24 hours, made bearable with fine dining and fold down beds . We were bleary eyed on arrival in Hong Kong. I didn't sleep much in the airport hotel last night, my internal clock was hay wire. 

12 hour time diffrence takes a while to adjust to. Off to Australia today