This is a chronicle of our visit to Australia from 31 October through 11 November 2000. We hope these comments and lessons learned might be helpful to those planning a first-time visit.

Because we only had 12 days, and this was our first visit, we were only able to visit Sydney and part of Queensland. Australia is an enormous country with much to see, so our limited itinerary was intended to gain an introduction for planning future visits.

More photos will be posted on this page as available, so check back periodically.

Monday and Tuesday, 30-31 October: Travel to Sydney, New South Wales

We took Qantas flight QF8 from LAX to Sydney, departing LAX at 12:50 PST and arriving in Sydney at 22:25 local time in Sydney the following day, 31 October. Although the enroute time (gate-to-gate) is only 14 hours and 35 minutes, Sydney is 19 hours ahead of PST. Another way of looking at it is by considering Sydney 5 hours behind L.A. (since we are travelling west) plus one day (since we cross the International Date Line). For the current time in Australia (or anywhere else), go here.

The advantage of this particular flight is that it puts you into your hotel at the and of the day, allowing plenty of rest before daylight and an easier adjustment to jet lag.

Customs note: you can't bring any food into Australia, which has strict quarantine regulations, even for processed (i.e., American) food. So if you bring any snacks to munch on during the flight, eat them. You are given a card to fill out prior to arrival, which asks if you have any food ("anything which can be eaten, cooked or uncooked"). This is pretty straightforward.

The lodging we selected in Sydney was Medina Grand Apartments Sydney City Centre, a five-star accommodation used mostly by businessmen and conventioneers but also appropriate for tourists in our configuration. "Serviced apartments" are furnished apartments with hotel-like services and are available throughout Australia. They cost about the same as a hotel room but perfectly fit our needs since we traveled as a as a party of five adults and could stay in a single 3-br luxury apartment for much less than the cost of three hotel rooms. Our 26th floor apartment had a complete kitchen and laundry room and balcony overlooking downtown (city centre) Sydney. We were less than ten blocks from most of the major attractions in Sydney. Indeed, we did most of our exploring on foot, taking taxis only when required by time or fatigue.

Wednesday, 1 November: Sydney

Karina arrived on schedule and told us all about her flight and experience with the Australian Customs Service. She was apparently one of the few unaccompanied young adults on the flight, consisting mostly of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) missionaries. She must have fit a backpacker profile, as the Customs official separated her from the other arriving passengers and performed a thorough search of her baggage, including an interrogation and once-over with a drug-sniffing dog. The official was polite while ransacking Karina's carefully-packed luggage, and let her go after confiscating her unopened package of trail mix.

Our first activity was exploring Sydney on the Sydney Explorer. This is a bus that allows tourists to get on and off at any of 24 selected stops for a single all-day fare. The route passes by most of central Sydney's highlights and is narrated. We used it to visit The Rocks and Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay, the Opera House, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kings Cross (for lunch at the famed Bourbon and Beefsteak Bar), and Queen Victoria Building (a restored Victorian shopping arcade). (It was at the B&B Bar that we learned how to order coffee.)

That evening we met Heather Adie (Qantas Director of Marketing) for dinner at Cafe Sydney, a restaurant on the roof of the restored Customs House on Circular Quay, at a table on the terrace overlooking the Harbour with a view of the Harbour Bridge.

Thursday, 2 November: Sydney

In the morning we walked over to Darling Harbour and the Sydney Fish Market, to get a first-hand look at the the local catch served in Sydney restaurants, such as John Dory, Barramundi, yabbies, and mud bugs.

Then at noon we did our internet-booked three-hour Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. It's every bit as exciting (but not quite as strenuous) as we had heard.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing in the apartment, then back to Circular Quay to take the Evening Harbour Lights Cruise. Restaurants close early in Sydney (at least on non-summer weeknights), so we settled for a pizza at Zia Pina in The Rocks.

Friday, 3 November: The Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range that divide the state of New South Wales west of Sydney, and are a must see for any visitor to Sydney. From a distance they resemble the Blue Ridge, but up close it becomes evident that the forest is predominantly eucalypt and the mountains and gorges are more dramatic with vast canyons and long waterfalls (the blue haze is produced by the volatile eucalyptus oils). Any tour should include Echo Point, the Three Sisters, the town of Katoomba (with its 52º railway and waterfall), the Jamison Valley, and Wentworth Falls. The Featherdale Wildlife Park (on the route to the Blue Mountains) is a good place to view Australia's native bush wildlife up close.

For our visit, we selected a tour from the internet, WonderBus, which is also recommended by the Sierra Club. But we probably caught them on a bad day. First, the bus showed up 40 minutes late. Second, our bus driver was also our tour guide (a standard practice in Australia?), a "genuine Aussie" named Juan Carlos from Uruguay. Now, Juan Carlos (or "J.C." as he preferred to be called) is a pleasant enough fellow, but about as close to genuine Aussie as PeeWee Herman is to a cowboy. We admired the way he drove the bus (stick shift) while trying to hold a lapel mike to his mouth (why didn't he just clip it on?). And when he sensed he was losing our attention, he resorted to challenging us with riddles, such as "How long is a length of string?" (ans.: twice the length from the midpoint to the end).

We also got to meet Goomblar, an Aborigine who lives in Katoomba. Goomblar performed for us by playing the didjeridu while his cousins danced, then gave us a lecture on Aboriginal culture. We discussed topics such as the relationship between the Australian newcomers and Aborigines, the differences between the Australian and Arizona deserts, and the reasons for the Electoral College.

We arrived back in Sydney too tired to venture out to a restaurant and dined on gnocchi in the apartment.

Saturday, 4 November: Sydney

We devoted this day to see more of The Rocks, a fascinating part of Sydney which intrigued us on the first day. On Saturday they hold a street market, and it seemed that almost every booth we visited had interesting articles for sale. We did a lot of Christmas shopping and had lunch at Caminetto restaurant.

Afterwards, we head on over to Manly on a jet cat from Circular Quay.

For the evening, we had reserved (via the internet) a performance at the Sydney Opera House - a Sydney Philharmonia Choir performance of liturgical ("passion") chorales by three composers: Paul Stanhope (The Heavens Declare), Gabriel Fauré (Requiem, Op. 48), and Francis Poulenc (Gloria). It was an unforgettable concert, and the world premier performance of the Stanhope work.

Sunday, 5 November: Travel to Port Douglas, Queensland

We departed Sydney for the three-hour flight to Cairns, Queensland, and from there rode a coach for the one-hour trip to Port Douglas, and our lodging a the the Radisson Reef Resort Hotel. No sooner had we checked in when we took a look around and decided that the Radisson Villas didn't meet our standards, and set out looking for more suitable accomodations. We found a much better place right on Macrossan Street called Villa San Michelle and reserved an apartment there for the remainder.

Monday, 6 November: Port Douglas

After breakfast on our terrace, we head on out to the nearby Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary which contains an excellent recreation of the three Queensland habitats (rainforest, estuary, and grassy plain) with associated wildlife.

For lunch, we went to the recommended Salsa Bar and Grill, which had recently moved from its longtime location on Macrossan street to a more spacious location on Wharf Street. The food was world-class in a casual tropical atmosphere and at very reasonable prices. (I had yabbies and fish cakes.)

Tuesday, 7 November: Great Barrier Reef

You can't visit Queensland without visiting the Great Barrier Reef. We booked the recommended cruise, the Quicksilver Wavepiercer. After taking the cruise, we wish we had chosen the Wavedancer instead. The Wavepiercer was well organized and efficient, but it was just too big. A smaller, more intimate excursion (with a younger clientele) would have been more to our liking.

For dinner, we decided to try Australian steaks and picked the Starfish Restaurant on Macrossan Street. I ordered a rare ribeye.

Wednesday, 8 November: Aboriginal culture

Kuranda is a small village in the rainforest above Cairns, and we arrived there via the Kuranda Scenic Railway. The railway was built to access the tin mines, but today Kuranda boasts the Kuranda Market. After spending much of the day there, we returned via the Kuranda Skyrail, a cablecar that descends back to the coast and the Tjapukal Aboriginal Culture Park.

Upon return to Port Douglas, Karina and I went to an internet cafe in Port Douglas to check the election results, then we all returned to the Salsa Bar and Grill for dinner, where I tasted my first kangaroo meat. While dining, the wind began to pick up, and the waitron warned us that rain was coming. We quickly paid our bill and head out for the 5-block walk back to the Villa San Michelle. We got only one block when we were hit with a downpour, and arrived soaked to the skin.

Thursday, 9 November: Daintree and Mossman Gorge

The tour we chose for our rainforest adventure was Wet Tropics Safaris. Our guide David Sperling picked us up at Villa San Michelle at 7:15 sharp in his Toyota Land Cruiser and we spent the rest of the day in his expert company as he took us to see the Daintree River (including a private river cruise), the Alexander Range, Kaway Beach at Cape Tribulation, and Mossman Gorge. Our spectacular tour included the Bloomfield Falls and a private cruise along the Daintree River looking for crocodiles. (We sighted no crocs, but we did see a large number of freshwater jellyfish, and a bloody shirt embroidered with the name "Steve Irwin".)

Friday, 10 November: Return to Sydney

We returned to Cairns via a stretch limousine (much better than motor coach and costs about the same), then caught our return flight to Sydney, where we checked back in to the Medina Grand Sydney for our last night in Australia before flying home. That evening, we ate room service pizza while watching Gallipoli on television.

Saturday, 11 November: Return to San Diego

The 11th of November is Remembrance Day in Australia, so Carol and I thought it would be appropriate to visit the Veterans War Memorial in Hyde Park. At this impressive memorial, we learned all about Australia's participation in United Kingdom and Allied wars, including the current conflict in Timor. Then we head on over to the Paddington Market. Paddington resembles Hillcrest in San Diego, so we felt right at home.

For lunch, we went to Doyle's at the Quay, where I had grilled Barramundi.

We left Sydney on Qantas flight QF7 which departs at 19:00 and arrives in L.A. at 13:30 the same day. So the day lost on the trip over is gained back on the return (don't ask me to explain it again). The gate-to-gate time is also about an hour less when (13 ½ hours) when travelling east due to jet streams in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.