Our first visit to Australia turned out to be a very difficult time. We were there in 2019 during possibly the worst fire season in history. We started our visit, driving north from Sydney, on the East Coast, to the Flynn’s Beach Resort in Port Macquarie. We could not believe the fires we saw from the highway as we drove north from Sydney. We were hoping that we were driving past the fires, but, alas, that was not the case. There were several detours on our drive north, adding a couple of extra hours of driving time.

We arrived late in the evening at the Flynn’s Beach Resort. Everything was covered with ash and the smoke was so thick that we had to put towels around the base of the door to keep the smoke out. After no improvement in air quality the next day, we planned to head south on the 2nd day. Most of the main highways were blocked because of the fires, so we were redirected to side roads as we made our way south to the Wyndham Ramada Resort in Shoal Bay at Port Stephens.

The air was much clearer there most of the time. The smoke would move in and out of the area depending upon the coastal breeze. We did visit one of the local Koala Rescue facilities. It was so sad to see the injured wildlife and the loss of their habitat. As a Californian, I am not a stranger to wildfires and as a retired game warden, I am not a stranger to injured wildlife, but this scene from hell was worse than any that I had encountered in my life.

I was regularly impressed by the efforts the locals were making to save and help the wildlife as well as how they reached out to assist each other. The online coverage was better than any that I saw in the US which made it easier to leave Flynn’s Beach and head to Shoal Bay, and later to the Sydney area.

We stayed in at the Wyndham Ramada Hotel and Suites in the Cabramatta area east of downtown Sydney for our last week in Australia. Wow, do they have a lot of great Asian restaurants in Cabramatta. There was still smoke in the are each day, but we were still able to take the train into downtown to enjoy the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Botanic Gardens.

We visited Killarney Heights where my wife lived when she was in grammar school. We also enjoyed the awe-inspiring show, KURIOS under the Cirque du Soleil’s Signature Big Top in Sydney at Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park on the 17th of November.

Also, since we both belong to service clubs at home, me in the Lions and my wife in Soroptimist International, we try to join up with local club members wherever we are in the world. It worked out on this trip to join with Soroptimist International The Hills District in the northern part of Sydney on the 18th of November before heading home.

This was still a great visit and we are looking forward to another trip down under in the next couple of years.

We did get back to Australia, this time visiting Melbourne, Ballarat and Philip Island. Have not written up the story yet, but working on it. We had quite a bit of rain, but really loved visiting the Tesselaar Tulip Festival in Melbourne and seeing the Penguins Parade at Philip Island. In Ballarat we visited Gails Patchwork Emporium and the Creswick Wool Company. We will be returning in 2024 to visit Melbourne and Ballarat again. This time we hope to drive the Great Ocean Road if the weather cooperates.