Kohana's Travel Journal

Our Journey to Australia - July 2004

Our trip to Australia – August 2004

Mews, This month we went to Australia, and we had such a lovely time. The flight over was long, but at last we landed in Canberra, Australia’s Capital. Our first stop was the Australian National Zoo and Aquarium, where I visited the native animal section. The Zoo is fabulous, and the animals are housed in areas which are made as natural as possible.

First I visited the Platypus house, because those are my mewmie’s favorites. She first learned about them when she was just a young human kitten. The platypus is one of the most unusual of living creatures. It is a mammal which has fur and suckles its young, but it also lays eggs, has webbed feet, a bill that looks like that of a duck, and a tail resembling that of a beaver. I thought the Platypuses were furry nice. Next I visited the dingoes in the petting zoo. The dingo is the native Australian dog, and is now an endangered species. I enjoyed meeting and talking to the dingoes.

I would like to have visited more animals, but the day was quickly flying by, so I went to see the birds next. Of course I had to see the Kookaburras. I had often heard mewmie talk of them. There was an old song she used to sing about Kookaburras. It went like this:

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry merry king of the bush is he,
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
Laugh so merrily

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gumdrops he can see,
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
Leave some there for me.

The Kookaburra lives in the forests, and is brown, black, white and blue. Mr. Kookaburra likes to eat snakes, lizards, frogs and fish, and his call sounds like laughing. What beautiful, funny birds they were. They do sound like they are laughing. Hee hee.

After visiting the birds, I went to see the Aquarium section of the zoo, which was made to look like the Great Barrier Reef. To my surprise, I found another bird there. The Little Penguin, which is sometimes called the Fairy Penguin or the Blue Penguin. The Fairy Penguin is the smallest penguin in the world, and is the only Penguin that is native to Australia. They are only 16 inches tall, and weigh about 2 lbs. They like to eat fish, squid and krill. They have bluish feathers, and that is why they are called the Blue Penguin. One unusual thing is that they can breed all year, unlike most penguins. They live along the southern coastline of Australia, and around the offshore islands in New Zealand.

At the Aquarium, I also saw lots of scary sharks, as well as sea anemones, Pig-nosed turtles, the giant Hump-headed Maori Wrasse, and many lovely corals. The underwater world is quite fascinating.

Day 2

The next day we went to Adelaide, where we visited the Wittunga Botanic Gardens, which was established by Edwin Ashby in 1901, and given to the state by the family in 1965. Oh, the gardens were so beautiful. We wandered about the grounds for most of the morning, looking at lovely native plants. There were Eucalyptus Trees, and Bottle Brush, as well as many other native plants.
Edwin Ashby originally created a formal English garden at Wittunga with herbaceous borders, roses, trellises and arbours. However, his fascination in the native plants of Australia and South Africa led to the development of a most interesting and different garden, part of which remains today.

Finally we were served a lovely picnic lunch on the beautiful lawns by the lakeside. It was a lovely day, and I was sorry to see it end.

Later that evening we visited Prince Buddee, the Duchess Pinkie and the lads, who are D*gs. It was so nice to see other CLAW kitties. Prince Buddee had prepared a lovely high tea for us. And so ended our second day in Australia.

Days 3 and 4

Next on our Agenda was Sydney where we went to see the famous Sydney Opera House. It is one of the most famous buildings in the world, and is very beautiful. It is the home of Opera Australia, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The Australians are very fond of their arts and entertainment.

We also had the opportunity to learn about famous Australian actors and actresses. My favorite, of course is Paul Hogan. But that is only because my mewmie got to meet and work with him. (In the US, not in Austrualia, MOL). You may have seen him in the very funny Crocodile Dundee movies. Mewmie worked on the movie Almost An Angel, which was filmed in the small town where I live, Fillmore. Mr. Hogan was born in New South Wales, but now lives in the United States.

Some of my other favorite movies set in Australia are The Man from Snowy River, and the Mad Max series.

The movie The Man from Snowy River was based on the poem “The Man from Snowy River”, which was written in 1980 by A.B "Banjo" Paterson (1864-1941). He is Australia's national folk poet, who also wrote the words to the ballad Waltzing Matilda, the unofficial national anthem of Australians everywhere.

The scenery and the horsemanship in this movie are superb.

Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson, is set in a futuristic Australia, and is really a beautiful and very sad story.

In the first movie, his partner and family, are killed by a motorcycle gang. Their downfall comes when they try to kill Max also. In the end he wins. In the second movie, Mad Max – The Road Warrior, he helps a community that still has fuel overcome a gang of bandits. In the third movie, which is my favorite, Mad Max – Beyond Thunderdome, Max helps a colony of children escape into their future. They go to the north and rediscover and re-invent much of the technology which has been lost. And in this way, he helps ensure the future of the human race. This last movie is told from the viewpoint of Jedediah Jr., who at the time is a young boy in the decayed world. In the very end of the movie a much older Jedediah says, “In the fullness of time I became a man, and the leader of the great Northern tribe. And the Road Warrior? He lives now only in my memories.” So one is left with the feeling that there is always hope for the human race.

Day 5

Our next stop was Uluru, or Ayer’s Rock, where we were given tours of this giant monolith by native guides. Ayer’s Rock is the world's largest monolith rising 318 meters above the desert floor and with a circumference of 8 km. It is considered once of the great wonders of the world. It is located in the Kata Tjuta National Park, which is owned and run by the local Aboriginals. The Australian government handed ownership of the land back to the Aboriginals some years ago. Ayers Rock was named for the Premier of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers, but the native people call it Uluru. I personally called it awe-inspiring. Just seeing it sitting there so huge and red in the middle of all that flat desert was really something.

In the evening we gathered around a campfire at the base of Uluru for an authentic aboriginal feast which consisted of kangaroo roasted over banksia cones, witchity grubs and fried emu seasoned with kurrajong flowers. I liked the emu, as it reminded me of duck. The witchity grubs are eaten raw. Some of the side dishes were lilly pilly berries, which are soaked in honey, and stewed quandongs, which are like a wild peach. We also had bunya nuts, and wattle seed ice cream. To drink we had Tea Tree which is made from the native plant Leptospermum. It was quite good.

After the feast we were entertained by natives who played didgeridoos and danced. I cannot tell you how special it felt to be sitting around a campfire under the stars, and listening to the didgeridoos. They do make the strangest, eeriest sound. Finally an old aborigine told us tales and legends of the dreamtime.

This was one of my favorites:

“Three men were camped on a cold night in the outback. One of the men told another to put another log on the fire, because the fire was getting low and it was so cold. So, the other man turned around and grabbed a log, which was awfully light to the touch, for it was hollow. As he turned to drop it into the fire, he noticed the entire length was covered with termites. He didn't know what to do, for he could not throw the branch into the fire, because it would kill the termites, and his friends were telling him to do so because it was cold. So he carefully removed all the termites from the outside of the log by scooping them into his hand, and he deposited them inside the branch. Then he raised the branch to his lips and blew the termites into the air, and the termites blown into the air became the stars, and the first didgeridoo was created.”

That night we slept in the desert, and the next day we were on our way to the last stop of the trip.

Day 6

Our last stop on this trip was a visit to the home of our good furriends Fleabag and Fluff. It was nice to be able to spend a day resting before our long flight home. In keeping with Australian custom, Fleaby and Fluff had planned a lovely and yummy Barby, or BBQ fur us. I will not tell you all the yummy food which was served, for your mouth would only be watering to hear it. I will only say that it was delicious. And our furriends had one more little surprise planned for us. He had invited a very special neighbor, Lady Ashley Mist. She was a purebred Australian Mist. The Australian Mist was developed in Sydney, and was first recognized for champion status in 1980 in NSW. She was a lovely cat, and we hit it off quite well, as we found we had a lot in common. I myself am also a pure-bred cat. I am a lovely Japanese Bobtail with the classic tri-coloring of my breed.

Day 7

I was sorry we had to come back so soon. There were many other things in Australia which I would like to have seen, such as the Great Barrier Reef, Western Australia and Tasmania. Perhaps one day I shall return.

I did buy some lovely souvenirs. Postcards, and a small didgeridoo for my mewmie, who is quite a musician. I also must confess that all along the way I had to stop at all the local bookstores. I love to read, and discovered many good books set in Australia which I have added to my collection. But I was very clever on this trip. Instead of carrying them all with me, I mailed them home from the shops. I am looking forward to getting home and reading them. I will mention two of them here in case you would like to read them also. The first one is called Spindles and the Mystery of the Missing Numbat, by Barry Chant. It is part of a Christian series written for young humans. Spindles is a young human who lives in the outback and has many adventures. I haven't read this one yet. The other book is called The Nargun and the Stars, and it was written by Patricia Wrightson. The Nargun is a rock monster and is one of the dreamtime legends. I have actually read this book and found it quite fascinating. I was ever so glad to find it, as it is hard to find in the United States.

Well, as delightful as our trip was, I was very glad to get back home. Next month we will be visiting schools in Europe. Until then, purrs to all.

Kohana Makamae