Closing Chapter of Australia

Silverton---April 5th

Dear Blog-Readers,

It is difficult to believe I have neglected this site for two months! A number of you have asked for a wrap-up on my Australian Odyssey, so here goes! (First you need to know it has snowed nearly daily since I arrived home from down under---life gets even with us, doesn't it? After spending two months of what is usually our worst winter in the NZ/Australia sunshine, ol' Mother Nature is getting me now!)

After enjoying several weeks with Maggie, Travis, and Finn in Perth and surrounding areas, I left on January 28th on the Indian-Pacific Train, which travels from the Indian Ocean on the west of Australia to Sydney, on the Pacific on the east. I had wondered how it would be to travel by myself in another country---you know, would I feel lonesome? nervous? bored? Well, I am delighted to report all went well and I had a marvelous time! The trains are popular conveyances for foreign students and they seemed happy to visit with me. I probably look safe---sort of like their own granny!

I traveled across the Nullabar Plain, which is as close to a moonscape as I'll ever get! We got off at Cook (it was a mere 119 degrees that day and the flies were thick) and I was happy to have the fly net Maggie had suggested I purchase! Eventually I arrived in Adelaide where I stayed for a few days, enjoying their fabulous museum with a huge section of Aboriginal art and artifacts. So, it is time to start offering you a few pictures of my adventures. Enjoy!

I left Adelaide on the north-south train, known as the Ghan, named after the camels from Afghanistan that used to haul the freight in central Australia. I de-trained at Alice Springs and enjoyed a few days in that area, going to Uluru Rock (a/k/a The Big Red Rock) and shopping for Aboriginal artifacts.

The flies at Uluru were anxious to find moisture---often on people's faces. Here I am at a desert dinner, drinking my champagne UNDER my fly net!

Seeing Uluru at close range was an interesting experience, though it was not as large as I had anticipated. However, if I had walked around it in the heat rather than taken a nice air-conditioned bus, I am sure I would have thought God made it much too large!

The next part of my adventure took me to Katherine Gorge, between Alice Springs and Darwin (crocodile country). A boat trip through the gorge was a great way to see the geology, and the fruit bats hanging in the trees! Goodness---they were as large as a good-sized cat.

When I got to Darwin, I enjoyed touring more back-country. It was "in the wet", meaning during the rainy season, and the savannahs (grasslands) were flooded. Boat trips were great---we saw crocodiles and "Jesus Birds"---little birds with huge feet so they can walk over the lily pads looking for insects. They look as if they are walking on water.

I enjoyed a flight with a bush pilot who took me to see the escarpment that the Aborigines think God came from---as well as many waterfalls, floodplains, and great red cliffs.

We got caught in a thunderstorm, which provided an exciting ride around it, and then through it in order to land. It is hard to believe I wondered if I might be bored, traveling alone!

From Darwin I flew back to Adelaide to resume my train trip to Sydney. Flying over the center of Australia was interesting, as it was a clear day, and the geology was clearly evident. What a lot of territory with flat plains and dry lake beds---I have a much better understanding of the terms "outback" and "bush." A fascinating country, for certain.

After traveling from west to east and south to north across the continent by railroad as well as air, I enjoyed being back in Sydney for a day, as it is such a great city. Flying home from there, via Los Angeles, I was delighted to find I was in an airplane row of five seats---four of which were empty. The flight to LA was quick---I slept most of the way, stretched out in five seats. What luxury!

This closes the chapter on Australia. Go visit if you can but plan lots of time. It is a huge country and there is much to see and enjoy. If you would care to come to Silverton, you may spend time with my photo album/journal...there are lots of pictures you haven't seen and adventures untold!

See you on the next blog posting---it won't be two months again!

Perth, Pinnacles, and MarsuPials!

Greetings from Perth, the city that brags about being the most remote city in the world! Below is a view of the city center from a lake near Travis and Maggie's, that I have enjoyed walking around each morning, early, before it gets really warm. The lake is a refuge for birds and has black swans, herons, ducks, grebes, and other water birds in abundance.

The swans have been of particular interest to me, as they are in their season of having no flight feathers, so they spend a great deal of time on the water, where they are the safest. They curl their long, graceful necks over their back in a sort of figure eight, tuck their red beak under a wing and go to sleep. In the early morning there are dozens of them, just sort of bobbing around on the lake---sound asleep!The Australians are proud of who they are and seem eager to offer that they are very relaxed and easy-going. They even sell hamburger in the shape of their continent! (This was dinner, prepared by Maggie.)

Last of all, on the Travis and Maggie home front, I have been delighted to listen to Travis play his didgeridoo---it has a wonderful l-0-w resonance---a sort of haunting sound. Additionally it is a beautiful, hand-decorated instrument.

Perth is the site of Trav's current work, so Maggie, Travis, and Finn are settled into a charming townhouse, just two train stops from the "city", which really does have tall buildings, fountains, sculptures, museums, art galleries, and the various other features of a city (even a city that is a long, long, long way from any other city!).
This elaborate building houses the Swan Bells, a set of bells donated to Perth by St. Martin in the Fields cathedral in London. The bells were cast in the 1700s and have had a few added to make a complete set of eighteen. We went up in the tower one day to watch the bell-ringers and the bells. I was especially interested because Ruth Ann and I went to a concert at St. Martins in London in November on our way home from our freighter trip! (Just how small is our world?)

Just across the park from the bell tower in Perth is this wheel, which is a smaller version of the London Eye, which Ruth Ann and I rode when in London. Perth's would give a great view of the river and the harbor as well as the city. Don't you love the palm trees?

Now, for a few basics that all of us non-Australians expect to see as soon as we get to Australia! Here is how the bush looks---just like overgrown forest. There was a bush fire in a park, right here in the city, a week ago. We saw the burned over area later and noticed the fire had gone right along the ground, cleaning up the dead material. It appeared that the living trees were relatively undamaged.Next is a gum tree. They are huge, beautiful, and tricky to photograph because they are so tall. The kookaburra for this tree was off looking for some bush tucker (food)---my apologies!

The first weekend we were back in Perth after our New Zealand cruise, we headed up the west coast to see the Pinnacles. This is an area of thousands (truly!) of limestone formations of varying sizes (see my blue hat peeking over a pinnacle in the photo above). Our family is always interested in rocks and these were indeed that-interesting.

Travis kindly posed (above and below) with a few of the formations....

The Pinnacles border the Indian Ocean so we had to play in it a bit, even though it wasn't a very safe or friendly beach. For those of us who have always lived in land-locked states (as Maggie so aptly put it), sand and surf are real magnets!

Finn and I are contemplating our wet sandy feet...
Finn's mom is explaining to him that the next stop west is 6000 kilometers or more and that is too far to swim---

Now, back to basics!

Emu-in-the-wild country and we did see two! Just their heads were visible, bobbing along over the short bush but they were there! How exciting!

Next was a kangaroo, in the wild. Wow! Were we excited!! He was very large, just sitting on the ridge. What a great day! Then, as we began our drove back down the coast to Perth, we saw six wallabies, frolicking in a grassy field. They were too far away to photograph, and it was getting dusky, but what a treat to watch them having fun, ka-boing-ing about!!!

The following weekend we took a ferry to Rottnest Island, west of Perth, in the Indian Ocean. When Dutch settlers discovered it, they thought it was inhabited with cat-sized rats, hence the name. However, the inhabitants are actually quokkas, cat-sized marsupials. They have a rather rat-like face and look like little, fat, kangaroos. Even though they are nocturnal. we saw a number of the 15,000 or so residents of the tiny island.

Finn loved petting one of the little marsupials...
The rest of that day was spent playing in the Indian Ocean. Note that Travis and Finn are wearing "rashees":---special heavy nylon swimwear that keeps out the UV rays. Because the whole in the ozone layer is over Australia, the sun here is especially intense and dangerous.

Finn's suit has long arms and legs which also minimize the scratching from rocks and sand.

So---signing off from west of western Australia! Later today we are off to the southland to enjoy
Australian wine country and their forests of huge trees. Nice to visit with you and thanks for tuning in! Fondly, Penny

Holiday Cruise Around New Zealand

Traveling from Sydney to New Zealand by cruise ship was sheer delight! We were at sea for Christmas and Santa found us! Travis arrived equipped with a tiny tree that had lights and ornaments and Maggie produced Christmas stockings, so we had a family Christmas in my cabin. Then Finn went to see Santa, who had remained on the ship to give the 300+ children on the ship individual, hand-wrapped gifts! The ship was decorated with a number of beautifully-decorated trees, lots of pointsettas, and a large gingerbread village in the centrum--a sort of atrium that was six stories high, located in the center of the ship.

Our first port of call was Bay of Islands, a scenic bay containing over 150 islands. Our ship was anchored in the bay and we tendered ashore in the life boat to which we were assigned. Travis remarked that he was happy our boat was used to tender because we could be confident that the motor worked and the cables that let the boat down to the water were not rusty!

"Rhapsody of the Seas", at anchor at Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Finn loved the first two days at sea, as he could sit on a pillow in my cabin window ledge and watch the water and other ships. He was a good little sailor and soon had friends among the staff all over the huge ship---they all enjoyed his enthusiastic "high fives." A lovely staff member from Jamaica was his sitter six evenings. Samona's arrival was always met with a huge grin.

We took several shore excursions in New Zealand. Maggie and I went to see a grotto with glow-worms on the ceiling and a forest of Kauri Trees, great trees that challenge the Redwoods as to height and girth. They are very straight with clear trunks (no knots) and were popular with the British for the masts on sailing ships.

Maggie (in red) and I (in blue) loved the huge trees, tree-ferns, and all the rest of the lush vegitation that grew between the kauri trees.

We also visited reserves for Royal Albatross and Yellow-eyed penguins. Interesting birds and interesting locations, as they were right on the sea coast. The penguin reserve was also a farm and had lots of interesting vegetation...below is a PP (parent penguin) with its baby.
Penny at the Penguin Preserve

My favorite area in New Zealand was seeing the sounds on the southwest corner of the south island (the farthest south I've ever been---43 degrees, I believe). They are very similar to the fjords of Norway, in fact some of the area is called "fiord country"---just different spelling. Different from Norway is the fact that the vegetation grows abundantly right down to the water in New Zealand and the area is essentially un-inhabited whereas Norwegian fjords are dottewith farms and villages and apt to have bare, rocky areas.

Here are views from Dusky and Milford Sounds, New Zealand:

Maggie and I had fun shopping for knitting yarn that has possum fur in it! Possums are considered pests in NZ so they have learned that making yarn from their fur creates a lovely, warm product---so possum fur yarn we both now have. Clever use, right?

My advice to you: The next time someone invites you to go to Zealand with them, pack your bag, pull out your passport, and be on your way! (The next report will be from Perth.)

"Down Under" in Sydney

Hi! After a few weeks of no posts, I have pictures and tales to post! I traveled to Sydney, Australia with Maggie (daughter-in-law) and 18-month-old grandson, Finn, on December 18th to meet Travis, who works in Perth. (Maggie and Finn had been in the US visiting family for about six weeks.) You can probably guess that flying non-stop from LA to Sydney is L-O-N-G but add a toddler! What a hilarious time we had but how glad we were to see Travis in the Sydney airport!!! We had lots of luggage and managed to haul luggage, toddler, car seat, hand luggage, and ourselves through immigration and customs but it was sheer joy to turn the works over to Travis! He and the taxi driver soon has us at our lovely hotel at "The Rocks", the oldest part of Sydney which is now a wonderful area for tourists, as it is right on the harbor and was just a few blocks from the cruise ship terminal.

We spent the next three days in Sydney, which is a beautiful place. The view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House from the zoo is just below---quite spectacular. Travis, Finn, and I enjoyed an early morning stroll from our hotel, which was just across the bay from the Opera House. (I could lay in bed and see the flood-lit Opera House out my hotel window wall---that was something I would never have guessed would ever be in my range of experiences.) When our cruise ship arrived we could see it right off the deck of the hotel.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge is the widest bridge of its type in the world. Travis and I actually climbed it, taking a tour that took us up, down, and around the guts of the bridge and then to the very top of the curved arch. What a view and what a great thing to do with your son.
-Travis and Finn, checking out the bridge before our climb, wearing their

"sunnies"---the Aussie term for sunglasses-

Maggie and Travis are adept at porting Finn in his stroller (asleep) up and down flights of steps---here they were coming off a walk across the bridge.

Finn loved the zoo where we saw kangaroos sleeping in the shade. He is a merry little guy with a big, belly laugh and a cute little giggle. I am certainly enjoying time with him!

Finn, having a bit of a stroll at the Sydney Zoo

(note his Colorado Crocs if you can)

Having time in Sydney together was a wonderful way to start our journey together. Finn and I got acquainted---he looks so much like Travis did and has many of the same traits---sort of like winding the clock back 33 years!

Next posting: pictures from our New Zealand cruise.

December 18, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Maggie, Finn, and I are off to Australia to meet Travis in Sydney. After a few days in Sydney we will board our cruise ship for a 14-day trip around New Zealand's two islands. We will be aboard for Christmas and New Year's and are all looking forward to being together and the cruise fun.

Next we will travel to Perth, where Maggie and Travis have established their current home. I imagine that will be the next place I will be posting news and pictures---so Happy, Happy Holidays and love from Penny.

Greetings from Pennsylvania!!!!

Hello from York, Pennsylvania! I am so happy to be here visiting Suzie and James and my month-old grand-daughter, Audrey Grace! This picture shows one of AG's favorite activities--sleeping on her mom's shoulder!

Her dad is also very good at discussing the affairs of life and the world with her. Note how carefully she listens to his wise counsel!

She also enjoys her favorite mittens---hand-me-downs that were made in 1975 for Uncle Travis by my cousin, Arlene Helling, from North Dakota. She seems to live the big flappy "paws" the mittens create!

Here she is back on her mom's shoulder! Sleep is soon to come...

Sleeping in the Heskin family heirloom cradle. Audrey is the 11th child to sleep in this special cradle that two generations of Heskin babies have enjoyed. She is a lovely baby and is a

wonderful addition to our family. Thanks, Suzie and James!

Over the Bounding Main---With All the Cars!

Little did we know that "the bounding main" is a very real thing when you are in the North Atlantic on a flat-bottomed car transport freighter! We bounded, rolled, tilted, thumped, crashed, ande creaked our way from southern England to the far eastern reaches of the Mediterranean and back. We also glided quietly along in the lovely sunshine all of which offered a great deal of variety and adventure to our 36 nights at sea on the Grande Europa.

The following pictures were planned to be in a somewhat orderly arrangement, but you are going to have a bonus as there are two that sneaked in--????

Our "cabina" (remember, we were on an Italian ship!) had cozy bunks (my bottom bunk even had the Virgin Mary on the wall over my head!) It was about 10 X 14 feet, including our nice little bathroom. There was a wall of hooks for hanging coats and hats, one chair, and reading lights over each bed. (I wonder why we think we have to have such large bedrooms in our houses?)

and adequate storeage for our clothing and other effects. It should be noted that the dresser drawers and closet doors locked for our convenience. The first night of rough water we did not know what that convenience was---the drawers and doors took turns banging most of the night. The next night we were smarter! There was also a pull-out shelf for writing. Note also the bar across the front of the bookshelf to keep things in place during the rocking and rolling It worked!

Here is the Grande Europa of the Grimaldi Line, of Naples, Italy. (It's actually the large yellow and white ship in the background---not the skiff in the foreground. I'll bet you wondered!)

The ship was 588 feet long, rather like a large floating parking garage. It had eleven levels with all the living quarters on level ten in the front of the ship.

Here is my travel mate, Ruth Ann, walking across the ramp at the stern to get back into the ship. The entire ramp lifted up, hydraulically, to close for sailing---the ramp weighs 150 tons!

The ship is built to carry 2500 vehicles or more, depending on size. To a couple of mountain ladies, it was BIG!!!!

Picture #1 that sneaked in---a street in Setubal, Portugal. Note the lovely mosaic pavement, all made from local marble. This is where we fell in love with Portuguese Muscatel wine. Try some! We were only there in the morning so we started drinking it at about 9:30!

This was the bathroom in our cabin. At the left, with the stars and fish pattern, is the shower curtain as there was a tiny little shower in the corner. It worked quite nicely, however. I did wonder how Travis would ever be able to use it but the Italians are rather short! Note the handle on the wall over the sink (right hand side)---we laughed about that at first but it came in handy when the water got exciting!

Another "extra"---this was a Rumanian deck hand who tied down all the cars on the decks. We thought that would be an exhausting job. He had a tie-down that hooked into the wheel and then hooked to a loop on the deck. All four wheels were tied. Imagine if the ship was full of 2500 cars---that would be 10,000 wheels to tie!

Here is our life-boat, hiding behind two cars. It was made to lower by cable to the sea, 10 floors below. However, the Bulgarian officer told us that if it wouldn't lower properly, it would have to be dropped and then rope ladders hung off the side for descent. No thanks!

This vision is me in my hard hat and life jacket, complete with reflective tape. I am holding my blinking light and my whistle and hanging off to the side was the bag containing my heavy neoprene immersion suit. In case of an abandon ship alarm we were to show up at our muster station in our suit, wearing our lifejacket and hardhat as well. I am not sure I could have walked with all that on! I did try on the immersion suit at one of our drills---I could hardly move once it was on let alone climb stairs or down the ladder into the life boat!

This photo was taken off the top deck of the ship in the huge container port at Ismir, Turkey. The containers were stacked with "streets" sectioning them. I'm not sure how you'd ever find a missing container!

Limassol, Cyprus:

Ruth Ann and I visited a Medieval Castle which was remodeled by the Ottoman Turks. It was where Richard the Lion-Hearted rescued and married his fiance'; the locals still have a big blowout every year to celebrate!

Yes, that is me all bundled up to be on deck on a sunny day as we sailed past the Rock of Gibraltar! I remembered studying about it in 5th grade geography and you would not believe how many pictures I have!!! (The rock is off to the right behind me!)

Several people have asked about the ship's water. The Europa had her own desalinization system but the water was still quite salty. We did not notice it when we drank it but soon we discovered we were developing little bags of water around our ankles---so then we drank bottled water. Here are the deckhands lifting a pallet of bottled water on to the ship. All our food was brought on this same way from the dock below.

Lunch on my birthday started with this fantastic antipasto spread. On the left was octopus salad which was absolutely wonderful!!!! Our food was quite wonderful and much too plentiful. After all, we were eating like sailors!

The morning of my birthday was spent sailing past Gibraltar. The afternoon was spent in the sunshine on the deck---knitting, reading and snoozing. What a great way to be 66!!!

Most of our 37 days at sea ended with a glorious sunset like this one. What an interesting, informative trip we had. Freighter travel is not for everyone but it was a huge success as far as Ruth Ann and I were concerned. Come visit me and see the rest of the 300 photos I took!