Caravan/Kangaroo

The interior of our caravan.

Yesterday was the first day with our new caravan (as seen in the picture) and it worked pretty well during our 6 hour drive from Adilaide to Mount Gambier, (named after the admiral of the first Australian navy) where we stayed to sleep.  Today was a 5 hour drive from Mount Gambier to Warrnambool, a city west of Melbourne.  This picture is of the interior of the caravan.  The little "shelf" in the back is a bed where my brother and I sleep.  I am sitting on a bed not seen in the picture.  There is a kitchen to my left, and a bathroom to my right.  My mother and brother are photobombing the picture.  Don't mind them!  Gotta practice violin when you can, brother!

Kangaroos are the six largest species of macropods.

Today, we also saw kangaroos up close at the Tower Hill Conservation Reserve.  Most people had left the Reserve and it was almost dusk, the Kangaroos' favorite time to graze.  (Hey, this would save us time mowing at home in Exeter!). One kangaroo had a Joey.  Since we got to see them so close up, I noticed their vivid facial features.  This is a picture of one of the kangaroos.  By the way, all wallabies and kangaroos are macropods, meaning they have big feet.  They are also marsupials, meaning they carry their young in a pouch.  Wallabies and kangaroos are native only to Australia, and New Guinea.

Tomorrow we will go to a maritime museum and then see some huge stone formations in the ocean by Princeton, called the Twelve Aposltes.

Not much Wi-Fi

I might not have Wi-Fi each day. :-)

Because we will be in a motor home for the next few weeks, I'm not sure what the Wi-Fi access will be like.  I might not update my blog for a few days at a time.  But don't worry, I'll fill you in whenever I have a chance.  I'm really enjoying Australia, and I hope that, if you are liking my blog, you will get a chance to visit this fun continent too and/or again.  Please comment with stories from Australia, or any questions you have about my trip.

Today, we flew from Uluru, the big red rock in the center of Australia, to a city in the southern quadrant of Australia called Adelaide.  We flew in a Boing 717 to and from Uluru, which is cool because I hadn't heard of it before.  The Boeing 717 is the smallest plane in the Boeing collection of commercial jets.  It is designed for fairly short distances (3,820 km.) and carries up to 117 passengers.  Adelaide has a fun pedestrian center.  Alas, we couldn't play our violins on the street because we would need a permit.

Camels and Scat

Our camel caravan to Uluru at sunrise on Friday.

You may wonder: "How the heck did camels get to AUSTRALIA?"  Well, the answer is they came in ships (no surprise) 12 or 13 at a time, beginning in the early 1800s.  Our guide told us they came from Afghanistan and other places in the Middle East.  Most died on their way to Australia, but the few that survived eventually populated this large continent.  Once railroads replaced camel trails in the late 1800s, the government told camel owners that they had to start paying registration fees for each camel.  Or, they could shoot the camel.  Ranchers didn't like either option, so most let their camels go.  Now, there are about 750,000 camels in Australia.

Leroy, our Aboriginal nature guide, holding peach seeds.

There are so many camels in Australia now that the rule is: "If you can catch it, you can keep it." Can you imagine?  Free camels!  Every day could be "hump day"!  Camels have no natural enemies and no diseases in Australia.  They love eating almost anything they can find here in the semi-arid conditions.  It's not all "peachy," however.  Here is why: There is a kind of peach tree that the camels love.  When they eat the peaches, they crush the seeds.  Therefore, their scat doesn't spread the seeds.  The tree is now on the endangered species list.  Emus, on the other hand, eat the fruit and swallow the seeds whole.  When they poop, the seed is still there so it can grow wherever the emu, um, drops it.  Who knew that some scat was better than other scat?

Sacred Spaces

Dacha and I celebrated sunset at Uluru with some OJ.

Today, in Uluru, we have the pleasure of riding camels.  My dad and I shared a camel named Taz, and my mother and brother got Pete.  We got up at 5am and took a bus to the camel stable.  Our guide explained how to mount the camels and we started our ride at 6:20am to see the sunrise.  I was a little disappointed that today wasn't "hump day," (Wednesday), but whenever you ride a camel, it's always hump day!  They are very gentle animals and they do sometimes make funny noises.  I learned that they regurgitate their food three or four times!  Now that's a commitment to chewing your food well.

HUMP DAY!!! (Or, in camel language: AHUUURRRGH!)

This is a picture of me "chewing" next to Taz.  The next picture is of Uluru, one of the giant sandstone domes that the Aboriginal Australians believe is sacred.

We also took an Aberigional art class with a local artist named Pamela.  She taught us how to use different lines and dots to tell a story on a canvas.  I enjoyed the art class and I thought it was really clever to use symbols, like hieroglyphics, to tell a story.

Our teacher was an Aboriginal artist named Pamela.

Today, we also purchased some Aberigional art: one picture was of a starry night; another of honey-pot ants in the ground.  Here is a picture of my mom holding the starry night canvas.

Tons o' Travel

Australia is full of beautiful wildlife, including palms.

Today was yet another big day of travel.  We woke up at 3:45am Tasmania time, and went to the airport.  We got on a plane to Melbourne, where we were before we traveled to "Tassie" or Tasmania.  Then in Melbourne, we got a plane to Alice Springs and then on to Uluru, a large rock in the middle of Australia that was worshiped by the Aboriginal Australians.  As we flew in to Alice Springs, my impression was of a barren desert, with a few dirt roads and the occasional paved road every few miles.

Windy Travel

The "Ball & Chain" steakhouse in Hobart

Today was another big day of travel.  We started out in Cradle Mountain, and took a six hour drive south and then west towards the Tasman sea.  Now we are in Hobert, Tasmania, and we have a nice hotel near the middle of town.  After settling in, we went to a very yummy restaurant, where I had a steak.  Now, we are back in our hotel,

Old Hobart Gaol/jail

This is a map of the jail

Today, we visited a jail that was part of one of the first British penal colonies.  This jail was in Hobart, Tasmania, one of the oldest cities in Australia.  Britain claimed Australia after James Cook charted the eastern coast of the country in the 1770s.  (He thought that the Sidney area was a great place to establish a first colony.  Other explorers had gone inland and discovered that it was populated with Aboriginal people.)  In the early 1800's the Brits started sending criminals to Tasmania.  When the prisoners finished their time in jail, they could live normal lives and populate thisnew British colony.  This jail (see photo on right) was built in 1821 and was shut down in 1963.  Even though some of it was destroyed, part of it (the chapel with solitary confinement cells under the pews) still stands today.

Here is my brother, my mom, and me in one of the primitive jail cells.  I am 4'11" and the cell isn't that much taller then me.  If I were a criminal, and I had done something to anger one of the guards, I may have to stay in solitary confinement for four weeks were for the first four days, I couldn't exit the cell!  These cells are for people who bug the guards, and if they get really angry at you, they would put you in an even smaller one.  This would be tough because I only would only have one piece of bread and a glass of water per day, and one bucket just in case I had to...um...go.  I would empty this bucket myself every few days, which isn't a lot!  This experience made me glad that I'm not a criminal!

It's been fun learning about Australian history.  Tomorrow  we'll fly to Alice Springs and learn about the Aborigonal Australians who settled this country from Southeast Asia before 40 and 70 thousand years ago!

Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain is on the right. It has three peaks.

Today, we went on a 6 kilometer walk around Dove Lake, at the base of Cradle Mountain in Cradle Mountain-Lake Saint Clair National Park.  Cradle Mountain looks like someone took a bite out of the tip of a mountain, because (from the picture), you can tell it looks like a cradle.  

I'm not sure what this plant is called, but it looks really neat! 

On this walk, we saw lots of different wildlife from in the states, such as odd looking trees.  The scenery reminded me of a rainforest with dense bushes and tiny waterfalls here and there.  Some of the trees looked like something Dr. Seuss would draw in his stories.  We seemed to be walking through different biomes only minutes apart.  This is a picture of one of the trees I thought looked like something in a fairy tail.

This is a picture of my brother and me on glacier rock.  This rock is located on the shore of Dove Lake.  Based off of the picture, you can tell how high we are off the lake.  There was a beautiful view of the mountain from here.  I really enjoyed today, and I hope to have just as much fun tomorrow!  So far, being on a different continent, in a different hemisphere, has taught me a lot about how much the world can be different then from New England.

AC/DC Lane Way

AC/DC Lane had grate artwork, but no stores.

Yesterday, we visited what Melbourne is known for - lane ways.  In the United States, they are called ally ways, but in Melbourne, they are different.  These lane ways are basically spaces in between buildings that run entire blocks, with all kinds of fun stores, including restaurants and toy stores.  From the picture, you can tell how narrow they are!  One lane way is called the AC/DC lane way (named after the band AC/DC) and is known for its artistic graffiti.  Did you know that the heavy medal band AC/DC that was popular in the 80s was originally from Melbourne?  I didn't quite enjoy all the artwork in this lane way because I thought some of the art was a little gory, but if you were a spray painter, this would be your heaven.

Today, we woke up at 5:45 (AU time) and went to the local airport by catching a cab.  Then at 8:35 (AU time) we took a plain to Tasmania, an island south of Victoria, in the Tasman sea.  Tasmania is one of the Australian states just like Victoria.  The island is only 45 minutes, by plane, away from the main land!  So far in "Tassie" as the local people call it, we have visited a gorge called Cataract Gorge which is kind of funny because Cataract is an eye condition that effects your vision.  We could see it just fine though.  The gorge is located in Launceston, pronounced "lonsysten."  Today was really fun and I'm sure tomorrow will be just as exiting.

Cataract Gorge

Penguin Parade

As I said yesterday, I will write about the penguin parade on Phillip Island.  The penguins that were in the parade were called "Little Penguins" because they are a foot tall and weigh only one kilogram. They are the smallest of 17 breeds of penguins in the world.  The biologists (called Rangers) who worked at the preserve, were able to judge the time that they would come out of the water--about 6:15 P.M.  This estimate is based on the sunset time and the weather.  The penguins prefer to come out if the water when it is dark to avoid birds of prey.

The penguins were supposed to come out 5 minutes earlier, but they were scared of the wallaby that was munching on seagrass.  Once it went away, the penguins started appearing in the waves, and on the beach.  (The predator birds have gone to sleep by then.)  They were very cute as they waddled out of the sea and onto land.  Some of them were really chubby and weighed almost 3 kilos.

 During molting season, Little Penguins need to stay 17-18 days on land because they need to regrow feathers.  They need to stay on land as they regrow their feathers because they could get hypothermia in the water without fully grown feathers.  They came out of the water in groups, which tells me that they are social animals.  According to our guide, some of them had to walk over 1.5 miles to get to their nests for the night.  Surprisingly, we found that they have to wake up 2 hours before dawn to go back into the water before their predators wake up.  I really enjoyed yesterday a ton.  Penguins are my favorite animals because I like the way the look and the way they waddle.

Wildlife on Phillip Island, Victoria

A koala wakes up after 20 hours of beauty sleep.

Today we saw lots of Australian wildlife.  We took a bus to Phillip Island, southeast of Melbourne where there are many animal conservation areas.  We saw lots of wallabies, koalas and various birds such as penguins, magpies, cape barren geese and masked lapwings.

Here are some interesting things most people don't know about koalas.  Only 60% of the space inside their skull is brain tissue; the rest of the space is fluid.  This helps them conserve energy, because brains use a lot.  In other words, the koala conserves energy by thinking less.  They eat a pound of eucalyptus leaves each day which are 50% water, so they don't have to drink.  Eucalyptus leaves are low in nutrients, so even though this is the only food that koalas have evolved to eat, it does it give them much energy.  So, koalas have to sleep 20 hours a day, almost always in the crook of tree branches.

A chicken very proud of its topknot.

This bird is a kind of chicken, even though it is black and has a giant topknot. I thought it looked kind of funny, but I'm sure that it got respected by its friends.  My experiences today gave me a good taste of Australian wildlife.

Tomorrow, I'll write about the penguin parade we saw.

Two Countries; One Day

Today, we were in two countries.  One minute, we are in Aukland, New Zealand checking out the knik-knaks before we changed flights, and four hours later, we are in Melbourne, Australia.  This first picture is of me and a (stuffed) Kiwi, a small, flightless, furry bird in one of the toy shops in the New Zealand.  (Kiwi is a nickname for a person from New Zealand.) The reason I took this picture is because the Kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand.  They are in the same family as ostriches. New Zealand is also famous for the location of filming of "The Hobbit" and for having more sheep than people (lots of good wool products here!).

This other picture is of a possum.  The picture was taken in Parliament Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. We also saw St. Patrick's Cathedral and walked along the Yarra River at sunset.  We are exausted, but this first day was lots of fun.

Across the World

Watch out, Australia! Here come the Thurber boys.

Today will be another big day of travel.  We first started out in Exeter, New Hampshire, where we spent the last two days at home mainly re-packing for the new climate of Australia (it is now early fall in Australia).  After flying 6.5 hours from Boston to San Fransisco, we have a 3 hour layover before we take a 13 hour flight from San Francisco to New Zealand.  Then, we will have a 3 hour layover in Aukland, New Zealand, followed by a 4 hour flight to Melbourne, Australia.

By the time we arrive in Australia, we will have traveled over 24 hours, and never experienced April 15, 2015, because we will be crossing the international date line!  (We left Exeter on April 14, but will arrive in Australia on April 16, about 24 hours later!)  I am so exited to arrive in Australia.  This picture is of my brother and me in front of the airport in our "Australia" clothes. BTW, if you drew a line from Exeter, through the center of the earth, and out the other side, you'd be somewhere in New Zealand. We really are going as far away from home as we can get (while still being on the planet, of course!).

Master Class & Master Cake

Nikolas is a violin professor at the University of Novi Sad.

Today, we saw one of my mom's cousins wich she hasn't seen in a few years!  He is a very accomplished violinest and he gave me a few tips.  His name Nikolas Aleksić.  Here is a picture of my lesson with Nikolas

The first sunny day in Belgrade was also our last!

We also went to one of my favorite restaurants, Hotel Moskva with some more of my Mom's cousins Boris and Tamara that she hasn't seen for 30 years.  I had a tasty cake with a white chocolate bunny on top.  The picture is of me with the cake before I ate it.

Fun in the Sun

Today, we practiced violin in preparation for our BYSO auditions.  We also went to a park in Kalemegdan with the awesome swings. (You can see another example in my last post.) This park's playground also had a spinning seat that spun so fast I couldn't hold my head up.  This first picture is of me on the spinning seat.

On our way back home, we bought my mother a necklace, which we bargained for.  It was originally 1200 dinars (about $12) and we bargained down to 1000 dinars (or $10).  This picture shows Dacha and me in Kalemegdan in front of the row of kiosks that sell souvenirs.  

No Dogs Allowed

I took this picture of a "no dog" sign in the Park Tashmajdan next to Saint Mark's Church.  Can you count how many dogs are in the photo?






The second picture is of me in a kind of swing that we have only ever seen in Belgrade.  It would be really cool to get one for my school.

Stare Into a Canon

Today, we met some of my mother's friends (the same ones we had seen in Leipzig) for hot chocolate and lunch.  Here is a picture of their children (Phillipe and David), and my brother and me.  David is the younger one in the yellow.  We are sitting on a cannon used in the 1700.

The second picture here is me looking into the same cannon.  This landmark (and many other old weapons) is in a fortress called Kalemegdan.  Kalemegdan was built and destroyed many times, beginning in 535 during the Roman Empire.  It is in Belgrade, Serbia, at the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers.  It has always been used to protect the city, not always successfully.

The third picture is of my family in front of two towers in Kalemegdan.  I am on the left with my brother next to me.  My mom is in the middle and my dad is on the right.  I had a lot of fun today, especially when we got to have lunch with my mom and her friends. I ordered barbecue chicken that had a strong hickory taste.

Yummmmmmm!

These are pictures of traditional Sebian food.  The first one is called šopska salata or Šopska Salad. It has cucumber, tomato, onions, and cheese.

The second is pljeskavica which is a meat patty with spices, served with onions and potatoes.  They are both really tasty, but I prefer the pljeskavica over the salad.

History Lessons

For the last few days, we had a lot of fun.  It started off with a plane ride from Prague to Munich.  It was only about an hour and a half, but it felt like 30 seconds since I fell asleep before we even began taxiing.  Then, we had a 4-hour layover in Munich before we took a plane to Belgrade, Sebia,  where my mom's mother, Gordana, lives.  When we got to her apartment, we all walked to one of my favorite places, the Sava River.  Here is a picture with me in front of the River Sava.  This river connects to the River Danube at the base of an ancient fortress called Kalemegdan, only a couple hundred yards down the river to the right of where I am standing.

These other two pictures show the stairs next to the Sava River, before and after World War I.  You can see how destroyed it got.  Some other parts of Belgrade got even more damage!  I am on the left of the picture, and next to me is my brother, then my grandmother and my mom.  The city is still being rebuilt.  Right now, they are repairing the National Museum.

Prague, Czech Republic

Dacha and I enjoying "trdelnik," sweet rolled pastry.

Today didn't start off so well.  It started with us waking up at 5:30 A.M. to catch a train from Berlin, the capital of Germany, to Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. When we got to the station, there was an announcement regarding a delay to our train.  Then another announcement said that the train was delayed for 30 minutes.  Then, 4 delay announcements later, our train was delayed for an hour!!  We were so cold at a near freezing temperature, that we went to get a coffee, but when we came back, we had missed our train, because it actually showed up with "only" a fifty minute delay.  So, after a lot of agrivated gesturing and grunts by somebody in my family whose name starts with "S" and ends with "imonida" (e.i., my mom), we exchanged our tickets for a new train that was also going to Prague an hour later.  Oh, did I mention that the second train was also delayed by about 20 minutes?  But this time we knew not to leave the platform.

My family and I in front of the cathedral in Prague Castle

When we arrived in Prague, we checked into a beautiful old-fashioned hotel, from where we walked to the Old Town Square area, which is full of small, narrow, curvy roads, with many beer pubs and stores selling Bohemia crystal chachkies.

From there, we walked across the famous Charles Bridge over the River Vltava, to visit the Prague Castle with a gigantic cathedral from over 500 years ago.  On our way back from the castle to our hotel, it started snowing and hailing!!!  So it was a tough walk back, but we finally made it back to our hotel!  Even though it is April Fools Day, this was all true.  Here is a selfie of us in front of the cathedral.