11-22-2011 We got our laptop fixed! We can now access our emails and download photos to our blog-- we are doing our 'happy dance' right now (we are in Sydney). Who would have thought that years ago when we bought that Commadore 64 computer for the games, that we would become so dependent on our computers?---Well, back to our blog story. We drove the five hours back to Hobart and stayed one night at the Hotel Collins before our two hour flight to Sydney. We have booked five nights at the Four Points Sheraton with a view of Darling Harbour--kind of a splurge. But, before we get on to Sydney, we want to discuss the modes of travel in Oz. Oz is HUGE, and there different ways to travel around the country. There are trains, we took the train from Bundaberg to Brisbane, and they are enjoyable but limited on their routes. There are buses which are quite good--but again you are limited to their routes (if you do book a train ride, book first class. It is not that expensive and it is nice). Organized tours in buses can be convenient and cost effective--but you get into a 'herd mentality'--being shuttled around according to the set timetables. We did the motorhome rental in the west and that was fun, but you need to find the caravan park each night and you can be tightly squeezed in the parks. We did like the motorhome as it was a small one and manageable to drive--the roads are narrow and often only two lanes. But, we found that we were still packing up each time we moved and the one-inch thick mattress in the Mini Winnie was not comfortable. The other method of motivating around Oz is to rent a car and stay in motels/hotels. This worked out good for us as the car was easier to handle/park and the cost of the motorhome rental/gas/caravan park fees actually worked out to be more expensive than a car rental and motel. We also used a service called 'Drive and Stay' in Tasmania through a company called Innkeepers. We told Innkeepers how many days we had in Tasmania and they pre-booked our motels/hotels and gave us a list of things to do at the various locations. The motels/hotels were very nice (excellent in Cradle Mountain) and we were given good advice on the sights to see. We elected to arrange our own car rental as I found a better deal than Innkeepers, but that was OK with them. They even had a deal going where by they gave us $100 gift cards for petrol (gasoline)--that pretty much covered our gas bill. How you travel around Australia is your own personal choice, but know this-- it is a big place and distance between towns can be big. We found the roads in Tasmania to be well maintained and uncrowded. The hikes were awesome and the trails well maintained. The towns had a wonderful history and architecture. The animal and plant life were very unique and wonderful. But, the best part of Tasmania and all of Australia, is the people. An example of the friendliness of the Australians is Louie's Dad, Eddy, driving to our Perth hotel to give us a ride to the motorhome rental place. Also, after hiking the Gorge in Launceston all day, we returned to our hotel and had a hot coffee in the lounge next to the gas fireplace. An elderly lady sat down opposite us and said hello and started to tell us that our hotel used to be the only hospital for miles around. In the 1940's there was a polio outbreak in Tasmania and this hospital was the main treatment center. People were cared for here from all around Tasmania and their families would travel up to Launceston for the weekends--staying at this lady's family owned boarding house. Her daughter came and took this wonderful lady away for her hair appointment--and we felt enriched by her story and presence. The Tasmainians and other Aussies are friendly and warm--even the people serving you. It is a wonderful place to visit--if you can accept the dangerous bugs, critters, and overzealous lawmakers. Aussie word for the day--Ripper: good.
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We went to a community play in Strahan called "The Ship That Never Was". It was an audience participation play based on a true story from Sarah Island prison days. The play was very well done and was humorous -- but the actual story was what made the play worthwhile. Sarah Island was once the most terrible prison in the world -- it was said that convicts would commit murder on the island just to escape by hanging. After twelve years as a prison, and the opening of Port Arthur prison, the last ten prisoners were assigned to build a ship that would take them to Port Arthur prison, which is close to Hobart. They built a really good ship but when it was completed the convicts overpowered their guards and sailed away. They sailed their ship to Chile in six weeks -- quite a feat. Once off Chile they sank their ship and told the Chilean officials that they were ship wrecked Irishmen. They lived in freedom for one year. Two of the convicts left Chile on an American ship, four other convicts built another ship and sailed to the Carribean. The last four were caught by the English and returned to Tasmania. The remaining convicts were charged with piracy and mutinee. They were found guilty and sentenced to hang. But upon appeal, the convicts argued that they did not pirate the ship as it was never registered as a ship -- as it was never registered as a ship -- it was just a pile of wood and fasteners valued at ninety pounds. They also argued that they were not under anyones command -- so they could not be convicted of mutinee. They actually won their case and were put back in prison to complete their sentences -- extended for the escape. There were many interesting stories, like the above one, that we learned as we took a six hour boat tour around Macquarie's Harbor. Our boat tour included a stop up the Gordon River for a trek through a lush temperate rain forest -- which is a world heritage site. We also had a guided tour through Sarah Island prison ruins -- very interesting. With rain off and on all day it was a great damp experience. Aussie word for the day: Bogan -- unsophisticated person
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Our guide on the prison island Sarah was informative and funny--she actually was one of the actors in 'The Ship that Never Was' production.
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The Gordon River is an amazing environment. It is a temperate rainforest of immense density. Prisoners that tried to escape from Sarah Island prison would die trying to get through the forest.
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The community play of 'The Ship that Never Was' was an audience participation production. We really enjoyed the play and highly recommend it.
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We took a tour boat ride up the Gordon River which is a 'World Heritage' preserve. The boat went out of the Hell's Gate entrance to MacQuaire Harbor. The entrance was very narrow and tortuous which made it difficult to find.
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