Aug. 21 etc. - mopping up

A few last thoughts on the Australia portion of this trip.

1. If you go to Australia, you must go for more than 4 days; OK I was there for 8 days, but half of that was conference. Nevertheless, even with only four days to explore and educate myself about Australia, it was worth it, despite the 35 hr trip back, one leg of which I was seated next to a crazy person (no, not Sara). Try going for at least a month. Maybe 2 if you want to check out Tasmania and New Zealand!

2. I always tell people "You must go to Alaska sometime in your lifetime". Well, I might have to add another A list destination to that with an "...and Australia" on that. It's a super-cool country. I'd recommend reading Bill Bryson's "In a sunburned country" before you go - it's spot on in its descriptions, and hilarious to boot.

The pictures above show another Wendy recommendation: going down to the wharf district for sunset-watching and a drink by the piers. She implied we would see something special. Little did we know it would be a ca. 10 foot fish eating scraps under our noses by the shore. It was 'George the Grouper'. Now, Australians call them Gropers...I think on purpose. I told one of our reef guides the next day that that name might have other connotations in North America and he just smiled. Anyway, both George and the sunset were amazing, and all the tourists seemed quite happy despite the outrageous price of the wine.