I love Australia, fondly referred to as OZ . Although they speak English and have a similar history to the US (except they never ditched the King), everything else is different…plants, birds, animals, geology, topography, etc. Craig and I have explored the entire continent, plus Tasmania, over several long visits starting in 1998. But the last time was in 2011, so I was curious to see what has changed. It is an awful air trip, unless one can afford business class. I flew cattle car…on Air Canada to try something new. Sadly, Air Canada may be worse than the big US carriers. (Customer service is non-existent.)

In Sydney, after a long and sleepless flight, I arrived by taxi at the Indie Camper agency’s lot where I had reserved a “compact” camper for 58 days. It was was huge. I knew I was in trouble the minute I saw it. I begged to change to a smaller unit, but they said no…and no refunds…and by the way, ”don’t drive under low bridges”.

Not having driven on the left side of the road for a while, I was nervous about driving this giant camper through Sydney, but did manage to arrive at my reserved spot in the Royal National Park without incident. While the park is close to Sydney, it is a wonderful respite from the crowded urban area.

Fortunately, Aussies set aside 58 square miles in 1879 for this first national park (and only the second worldwide, the first being Yellowstone in 1872). I stayed two nights to recover from jet lag before heading south to meet friends.

It was such a treat for me to see some of my favorite birds right outside the camper door after a good night’s sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australian magpies have the most beautiful songs. They sing several notes simultaneously.  I had longed to hear them again. Many birds in Australia have songs like no others… magpies, lyrebirds and laughing kookaburras most notably.

Now began my solo adventure in OZ. The reason I chose Indie Campers was because a number of the other well-known RV rental companies didn’t allow their vehicles to go to Kangaroo Island…and I wanted to go there. Indie has a questionable reputation, but the reviews varied dramatically, so I took a chance. Bad decision! Leaving the National Park to meet my friends who were now driving north to meet me, I creased the left side of the van on a low post at a narrow bridge’s end. I couldn’t take the van back as I had to meet my friends, so I continued. Then the gas gauge and speedometer failed (the RPM gauge never worked). I followed the traffic flow on the freeway and met my friends halfway. I emailed Indie and told them what happened, and asked if I could pay the excess insurance and get a smaller vehicle. Not only did they say no to that, but they demanded I drive the van back, pay the excess insurance, AND no refund, and no other vehicle! Followed by a series of threatening emails. Since it is illegal to drive with no speedometer (which one Indie agent inadvertently admitted), I parked it in a large shed and looked for a small RV to rent. Meanwhile, my friends, Beris and Andy, showed me around Narooma, a charming city five hours south of Sydney. This southern stretch of New South Wales is a playground for locals and tourists alike. Ocean to the east…mountains to the west.

Beris, my good friend in Narooma, works for WIRES, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation operation. She plucks living joeys from the pouches of female kangaroos and wallabies killed on the highways. Then she rehabilitates them until they are old enough to release in safer places. 

Every day for 5 days, Beris took me to a different scenic area near Narooma. One day, near Moruya, she showed me a colony of Grey-headed flying foxes. These are large fruit-eating bats only found in forested areas of SE Australia. There are a number of different species of flying foxes in OZ, but these are the largest. They leave their safe roosts at dusk and fly out to find nectar, pollen and fruits to eat. The giant bats serve as vital pollinators and seed dispersers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another day we visited Australia Rock, a natural result of thousands of years of erosion of the ancient chert and shale headland, the result of uplift pressure from the Pacific Plate’s collision with the land.

Nearby New Zealand fur seals, now just called fur seals, lounge on rocks. They needn’t worry about losing their skins here.

 

I wanted to mention a lovely coastal walk in Narooma. There, besides this Great Cormorant,  we saw a tiny, golden seahorse twining its tail around some kelp. But the most impressive sight was the number of giant stingrays with wingspans about 6 feet, that swam right up to shore. (Didn’t have my camera, sorry.) Obviously, someone has been enticing them in, probably with food, although today they went away hungry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It had been a hot and dry summer, but as autumn approached in the antipodes, rains started in earnest. The northern states got drenched with flooding reaching as far south as Victoria and South Australia. Fortunately, I stuck to the southern coast avoiding the worst of it. I saw lots of clouds, but very little rain.

My new RV, a Spaceship, suited me. It’s the perfect size for a single person. Two would have been crowded. It didn’t take long for me to appreciate the petrol-sipping Toyota engine. The US had recently attacked Iran and fuel prices were starting to rise. In just a few weeks gas prices were soaring. Diesel (which the giant camper sucked down) was topping out around $10/gallon, while regular gasoline neared $8. This adventure was getting very expensive. But finally, I had my own wheels and got on the road. First night out I found the free, Logger’s camp. Very funky, but no one was there. It looked like a local ATV weekend playground and dump site.