The ranch

So I woke up in the morning to sunlight streaming through my window and stumbled out of my room to the kitchen where everyone was already up and the smell of coffee was tantalizing. It turns out they have an espresso machine and Starbucks espresso blend for the morning. It was heaven and to top it there was home made muesli with oats, puffed rice and buckwheat, flax seed, dried apricots, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and fresh cantelope and kiwi to go on top. I will try not to dwell too much on the food but Sally is an amazing cook and I have yet to encounter a single thing that she cooked that I did not enjoy. The picture below is of most of the working buildings excluding the actual house which was built in the wool boom of the 50s which is a 6 bedroom house with beautiful hardwood floors and a very welcoming feel. I got to stay in George's room which is covered with posters of Australian cricket and rugby stars

The ranch compound

Cattle out in the paddock

The green you see in the picture is one of the two main types of grass on the ranch, a variety of bull grass which is a perennial and most of the dried out grass is a variety of flinders grass which is an annual. This country is a natural grassland, and it just happened that I came at the perfect time just after the rainy season when there is grass everywhere. The first day here Belinda, the governess and I went out to muster a mob of steers from one paddock to the next and then relaxed. The weekend was another story.

Ranmoor

So after getting into the car with a Sally who was just flying back to Townsville after dropping off her youngest son at a boarding school near Brisbane we headed off toward the outback. We stopped in Charters Towers which is about 3 hours out of Townsville where her parents have retired to and had a bit of lunch and some black tea. We then continued on the Flinders Highway and I got to watch the country roll by. At first it was a very scrubish landscape with lots of trees and bushes and not much grass and then suddenly it opened up into beautiful wide open grassland. I got to watch the sun set over the plains which was stunning. Sally who is very into photography reckons it is a photographers paradise where there is always a beautiful picture to be had.

After the sun had set we arrived at Ranmoor (the name of the ranch) where I stumbled in and met the rest of the family who was home; Steve, Rose and her governess Belinda. George, Whitney, and Henry were away at boarding school near Brisbane. So I climbed in bed and had to wait for the morning to see what I had gotten myself into.

Brisbane

I spent the first night of my stay in Bunk which I wouldn't recommend to anyone unless you are planning to be out at the attached bar until it closes around 3:30 am. Chill backpackers was a much better option as given away by its name. During the weekend on the south bank there was a festival celebrating the birthday of Buddha and they had several performances the most impressive of which was the world champion Chinese yo yo. He was dealing with three of them at the end of his act which was amazing.

A great lookout over Brisbane was Mt. Cooth-tha where you got to see the whole city. Australians evidently are not worried about urban sprawl.

After spending a few days in Brisbane I finally made up my mind to fly up to Townsville and dive the Yongala wreck which took a bit of doing. Of course as soon as I made plans they had to change. On the plane ride up to Townsville I met a wonderful woman named Sally Stacy who owns Ranmoor cattle station with her husband Steve Stacy. She heard that I really didn't have much in the way of plans and said that I should come out and stay with them on the station and see what ranch life is like in the outback so I hopped in the car with her to drive out to near Richmond which is nearly 5 hours driving west of Townsville.

Byron Bay

Once I got to Byron Bay I had a wonderful time relaxing there. It is filled with tourists but the beach is peaceful and the beach break is great for beginners when their is swell. It is such a relaxing place and has several natural food stores where and one local produce stand where I got several delicious pineapples and some garlic which had wonderful flavor. I also did two dives off the coast at Julian Rocks Aquatic Reserve. There was a underwater photography festival going on at the time and so I got a CD of pictures that were taken but they are in the mail back home and I don't have them to put up. I did have my fingers about 3 inches from the tail of a leopard shark which was exciting and got to see several rays as well. Two days before I left I ended up getting slightly sick so spent several days taking it easy (even easier) before I headed up to Brisbane.

Leaving Sydney

On one of the ferry rides from the city back to Manly there was an old Australian gentleman who was describing all of the sights which we passed. A free tourguide who was quite charming. The most interesting I found was the way in which ship captains used to have to navigate their way into the harbour which was using two white pillars which you can see from the harbour mouth. when they lined up it ment you were comming in at the deepest part of the channel and would be able to safely enter.

An interesting bit of harbour history. We also passed the beach where people were quarentined as they immigrated to Australia.

Before I left Sydney I found out that John Yandell a friend since freshman year at Stanford would be showing up in Sydney the next day so I spent the next few days with him and his significant other exploring the south east side of Sydney. They suggested that I head to Byron Bay so the day John left I took off for Byron on the Greyhound.

Sydney

I have been in Sydney for a bit over a week now and spent the first few days hanging out in downtown Sydney walking around. I made it to the botanical gardens and a few other touristy attractions. When I arrived i was somewhat surprised at the number of "backpackers" here who brought more shoes with them than I own and whose luggage was roughly the same size as the person carrying it.

the opera house as seen from the ferry

harbor bridge

After a couple days surrounded by skyscrapers I took the ferry up to Manly and enjoyed the time I spent up there and so the following day I packed and moved up. Since then I have been cooking, body surfing, playing beach volleyball and chess.

Home

Just a few pictures from home that were on my camera from before I started traveling.My dad working on the mixer

and my mom with her flowers