Reading Rating: Afternoon Cuppa Tea
Davin Reporting!
A few days ago we decided to break up our time in Sydney by exploring some of the nearby countryside. Today we started that journey by picking up our rental car from the Hertz location in Artarmon. I’m a “gold member” with Hertz, since it’s free with your AAA membership, and it makes renting cars much easier. No longer do I have to sit through the 20 minute spiel of total BS, saying, “No, no, no, no...” to the two dozen or so optional add-ons. I just show up and get the car and go. Also, unlike some other rental car companies, Hertz (so far) hasn’t tried to screw me over with add-on penalty charges after turning the cars in (we’ll see how long that lasts).
Like most days, we had an ambitious schedule (probably too ambitious). First on the itinerary were the Kiama Blowholes. A blowhole is basically an underwater cavern on the ocean that is partially submerged. At the front the blowhole is open to the ocean. In the middle there is an opening in the top for water and air to be ejected, and at the back there is a sealed chamber. When waves come in the front, it compresses the air in the chamber, and then when the water recedes a high pressure wave of air and water is ejected from the blowhole’s top, accompanied by a whoomping sound.
 |
| Kiama Large Blowhole |
The force at which the water and air is ejected depends on how strong the wave action is on that day. Under the right conditions, (a big storm coming in from the right direction), the large Kiama Blowhole can create a spout 100 feet high, and so it holds the record as the world’s biggest blowhole. On the day we were there, there was at least enough wave action that we got to see the blowholes in operation. It was interesting to see, but not particularly mind blowing either. We visited both the big and the little Kiama blowhole. (Kristin Interjection: “At the large Kiama blowhole, a little four year old girl who screamed every time the blowhole went off was the only thing that gave it an atmosphere of intense EXCITEMENT. She saved the whole experience!”)
 |
| Kiama Small Blowhole |
After leaving the blowholes, we drove a short distance up into the mountains to see the Illawara eucalyptus rain forest. Here a company called Illawara Fly had constructed a large walkway which allowed you to walk among the treetops. The name Illawara Fly came from the flying squirrel, since that was the perspective you experienced by walking among the trees.
They had also created a zipline system between the trees, which was notable for not harming the trees. The zipline platforms were synched tight around the outside and did not penetrate more than a few centimeters into the bark. The zipline holds the record as “Australia’s highest zipline experience”. Unfortunately, that is the only good thing that can be said about it. Overall, the zipline experience was, bar none, the lamest zipline experience I’ve had in my life. (Kristin Interjection: “I agree!”) There were only three fairly short ziplines and you spent most of the time just waiting around for the rest of the group to go– not worth it at all! (Kristin Interjection: “The website advertised it as an ecological tour that would teach you about the rainforest. They literally told us nothing about the rain forest. They only explained how their zipline clamps don’t cause permanent damage to the trees!”)
The treetop walk was decent though. Eucalyptus trees can grow up to several hundred feet tall and it was interesting seeing them from a higher perspective. We also found it surprising that this was classified as a rain forest, since our experience back in San Diego is more that eucalyptus flourish in fairly dry conditions– apparently that is not always or only the case. Although the platform was obviously completely stable, it was also amusing, and perhaps a bit eerie, how some sections swayed as you walked along them. (Kristin Interjection: “We did a simultaneous jump on the platform to see how much it would sway! For some reason I really couldn’t, and still can’t, wrap my head around the idea of a Eucalyptus forest being an awe-inspiring forest. It’s just so weird to me. I think I feel like Eucalyptus are an non-native and therefore an undesirable species of tree! Obviously, it belongs here in Australia, but I just don’t really consider a Eucalyptus tree to be beautiful. The landscape taken as a whole was definitely beautiful though!”)
Now you may be wondering why I said at the start that the day might have been too ambitious. Well, as usual everything took longer than expected, putting us hours behind schedule. After quickly buying dinner at KFC– interesting aside: in Australia they don’t sell buckets and they seem to emphasize chicken nuggets and chicken sandwiches rather than the individual pieces (Kristin Interjection: “I had another language barrier experience when they asked if I wanted “serviettes” and I said hesitantly, “I... don’t think so?” but then they opened a drawer and I saw they meant napkins!”) – we began our drive to the Jenolan Caves area. Ultimately, this meant driving four or five hours through narrow, winding mountain roads in the middle of the night, dodging kangaroos and wallabies (at least half a dozen animals were sighted, if not more). It was going on midnight when we finally arrived at our lodgings.
Every night we plug in a combination of our various devices: 3 phones, 2 laptops, 1 heart rate monitor watch, and 1 tablet. We don’t have enough plug-ins off our converter to plug everything in at the same time, but that has not been a problem. Here is a picture of the resulting mass of plugs. I think you’ll agree it is a bit of a Frankenstein monstrosity. In fact, depending on the location of the outlet, the weight of the plugs can cause it to fall out. When that happens we have to support it with something– in this case the electric water boiler.
No comments:
Post a Comment