Noosa and the Gold Coast

Flew to Maroochydore and then a short drive on to Noosa Heads on the 20th for a criminal law conference at which Roger was  a keynote speaker, and Amy (for once in her life) got to play spouse!  We spent Christmas 2004 in Noosa with Melissa, Rupert, Ashley and Gracie, and were delighted to return.   Although we didn't get to Steve Irwin's crocodile farm this time round, we saw his countenance on numerous road side billboards, so he is alive and well in spirit if not in body.  Again, we had a view of the ocean from our room balcony.

We were introduced to a very Australian custom: the long lunch.  The conference adjourned on the Friday at one, and we boarded a ferry to sail down to Ricky's on the River.  There we wined and dined, and ultimately were entertained by many drunken lawyers and judges singing sometime in key and sometimes not.   Our Waitangi crowd would have been delighted by the range of songs, including (in key) The Band Played Waltzing Matilda .  [See blog entry below, Circular Quay, for more about that song!]

Awaiting ferry to Ricky's.

 Then, a pleasant drive down the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, for a few nights in Burleigh Heads just south of Surfers Paradise.  The Law School at Bond University, where we both gave classes and schmoozed, was our host for this part of the trip.  A beautiful campus, one of Australia's two private universities, and a nice faculty.  Again, a view of the beach from our balcony!  Note the Norfolk pine as in James Mitchener's Tales of the South Pacific.

University of Sydney

Roger spoke at the University of Sydney about the International Criminal Court.  The University has a spectacular new law building on the main campus.

Sydney Statues

Statues of the royalty decorate Sydney. The big question is who has been decorating them.

Oops.  Not royalty, but a royal talking dog urging you to put coins in a wishing well!

Queen Wikitoria

And again (but younger!)

Albert the Good

Night Noodle Market (Sydney)

Every year, Sydney has a huge open air food festival. 

We were lucky to be able to dine at the Night Noodle Market in Hyde Park.  Yum.

Who has the highest post office?

You will recall the Melbourne picture in an earlier blog claiming to be the highest post office in Australia.

Lo and behold, we visited the Sydney Tower which claims to be the highest post box in the Southern Hemisphere.

So which one is lying?

See that great authority Wikipedia giving the comparative heights of the towers.

P.S. This may be a trivia question on Waitangi Day.

Ocean Vistas

View from our room in Freysinet

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View from our room in Strahan, Tasmania

We have also had ocean or bay views in Sydney, Noosa, and Burleigh Heads. More pics to come!

Sailing into Circular Quay

Greenwich Ferry in Sydney Harbor

We took the ferry from Greenwich, on the Sydney Harbor, where we were staying with our friends Phil and Sue Burgess, to Circular Quay, the center of the old port of Sydney.  As we came into the Quay, the Sydney Harbor bridge loomed above, and the Sydney Opera House was resplendent in the sun on our left.

Approaching Circular Quay

The Most Iconic Building of the 20th Century?

At the Jetty

Circular Quay is where, in Eric Bogle's classic anti-war song, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, they landed: "the crippled, the wounded, the maimed. . . the legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those proud wounded heroes of Suvla".

It is also the spot where Tom Dudley of The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens  set up shop as a sail maker after he did his time in gaol for eating the cabin boy.

Such history in Australia!