Short Life, Big World

I have seen many roadsigns in many parts of the world, but none that have given me as much joy as the ones I have seen in Australia. I love that everything has to be demonstrated in pictorial form, rather than just with words. Here is my collection of these signs. Wildlife Crossing Signs General Safety Signs Unofficial Signs

Apparently camping in a van in Tasmania wasn’t enough, because we decided to do more camping once we got back to the mainland, this time in a town about three hours north of Peregian Beach called Bundaberg. Although it was quite warm and I did end up having to abandon the tent and sleep in the car on the second night, it was a good short trip complete with turtle hatchings, a soda factory and some other random excursions. Mon Repos Turtle Sanctuary Bundaberg is known for being one of the prime locations where turtles will nest their eggs on the beaches from November to March. The Mon Repos Turtle…

Prior to learning how to scuba dive, the thought of seeing a ship underwater terrified me. It still kind of does, but when heard that there was an intentionally sunken destroyer off the coast of Mooloolaba, a mere 30 minute drive from Julie and Warren’s house, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see it. The Ex-HMAS Brisbane was a destroyer that was constructed in Michigan in 1965 and made its way to Australia in 1967. It was used during the Vietnam War and then for other various things before it met its destiny to become a dive ship. They cut huge sections out of the ship to…

As I am sure most people are aware, Australia is huge. And, unless you are going to stay here for many, many months, you have to really calculate where you are going to go. Initially, it was my goal to get to the opal mining town of Coober Pedy, located in the middle of nowhere where it is so hot that they have to live underground. When I used to teach 7th grade geography, I’d always show a video that had a bit about this town and it just stuck with me as being a place that I had to get to. Well, fast forward to now and knowing a…

After having made the decision to come to Australia, the thing at the top of my list to see was the Great Barrier Reef. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best place to do this from, and before arriving, had thought it would be out of a place called Townsville. However, once arriving and talking to Julie and Warren, that was immediately nixed. Apparently Townsville is a pretty sketchy town, and though it is a good place to see the reef, the rest of the experience there was just not going to be great. So, Warren highly recommended going out of a place called Port…

Despite the fact that there are koala and kangaroo crossing signs all along the roadways, most of the iconic Australian animals have been elusive in the wild, so we made the journey to the Australian Zoo which was a great one-stop-shop to see them all. Up until now, the temperatures have been pretty pleasant here on the Sunshine Coast, but the last few days have seen summer really kick in. Why we chose the first 97 degree day to go to the zoo is beyond me, but it was well worth it. The Australia Zoo is run by the family of Steve Irwin and prides itself on the conservation projects,…

Australia is a huge country making it difficult (and expensive!) to get from one place to another. We do have some upcoming trips planned, but most of our time has been spent here on the Sunshine Coast which does have plenty of its own beauty to offer. Noosa National Park There are national parks all over the place along the Sunshine Coast. Noosa is to the north of Peregian Beach about 15 minutes. We drove up here to go for a run one morning. Mt Coolum National Park and Coolum Beach Mt Coolum is to the south about 10 minutes from Peregian Beach. There is a nice bike path that…

The Australian Open officially went underway on the 16th of January. As I was sitting here, knowing it was going on, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I would kick myself for eternity if I knew I was this close to the action and didn’t go. So, we booked flights to leave on the 17th and headed to Melbourne for a few days! This wasn’t a place that was originally on the list of must-see places, but I am very happy to have made the decision to go because, in addition to seeing some tennis, the city was clean, diverse and a bit funky. Australian Open We arrived in…

Here it is Day 11 since we have arrived in Australia and I will be honest, we have not done a whole lot! After three months of being on the go constantly, it has been nice to just relax a bit and sit in one spot. We are staying with our friends, Warren and Julie, who live about a 200 meter walk away from the beach. You can see the ocean from their balcony, which makes for a real nice morning (and afternoon and evening) view! The beach also offers a nice place for a challenging run. That happens sometimes, but not often because I prefer to hide from the…