Qantas - The airline that ALMOST stopped a nation!

G'Day from Melbourne!

And it definitely is a good day in Australia -- Qantas just announced that they will start flying again by noon today.  The strike probably didn't make major news in the US but here it was top priority.  Literally, the Qantas strike could have stopped the nation had it continued much longer.   I don't know all the details leading up to the strike, but Qantas is one of my favorite airlines and I look forward to flying them again.

Many travel agents at Corroboree arrived at breakfast with a huge smile on their face(and this was before they had their coffee) as they could now plan to fly home tomorrow -- that is, if they don't get bumped to accommodate all the stranded passengers whose flights were canceled over the weekend.

The other big news here that probably won't even make the 3rd page of our sports section is THE race tomorrow--Nov. 1st is  the running of the Melbourne Cup.  I am so lucky to be attending it along with 5 other agents who are going with me on the post-Corrobore Famil to Northern Queensland.  I'll have much more coverage of the big event (as us commentators say) tomorrow.

Corroboree ended today -- can't believe how fast it has gone.  Seems like just yesterday I was struggling to get out of the Melbourne airport.  Tonight was the Opal Dinner with tomorrow's race being the theme.
I had been wondering what the mood would be since Qantas Airlines was the sponsor, but, fortunately 'all's well that ends well' and everyone was definitely happy about the outcome. 

The dinner was held in Myer Mural Hall located within a Melbourne department store.  The room was decorated with works by Napier Waller who was commissioned to paint the 10 huge murals as a tribute to women and their achievements throughout history.  What is even more remarkable is the fact that Waller painted these after he lost his right arm in WWI and  retrained himself to paint with his left arm!

Earlier today I bought my 'fascinator' hat for the race and am looking forward to all the excitement tomorrow.  We leave at 11am in the morning and travel to the race via a boat on the Yarra River. Maybe I'll get an insider tip on the way as to which horse to back!
The race will be at 3pm so tune in tomorrow for the results.
Linda

Melbourne

Leaving Phillip Island this morning we drove back to Melbourne, our home for the next 4 nights.  There was time for one stop at  Warbok, a rescue center for injured Australian wildlife.  This wombat on the left was blind  in one eye but definitely enjoyed the carrots we fed him.  The kangaroos loved being scratched under their chins as they can't reach this spot.  And none of them turned down the food we were allowed to feed them.

Melbourne had never looked lovelier as we drove into the city and passed numerous parks filled with trees sprouting bright green leaves and beds filled with colorful spring flowers.  It's a very clean city with a combination of 17th century and modern architecture.  This lovely Gothic structure is St. Patrick's Cathedral. I had stayed at the Park Hyatt across the street from the cathedral two years before.

Our tour ended at the Crowne Promenade Hotel where I registered for Corroboree and checked into my room on the 22nd floor.  What a view -- the city of Melbourne and the Yarra river spread out in front of me!  Not much time to enjoy the view, however, as I inhaled the box lunch Aussie Tourism had prepared for us and hurried downstairs for the opening session.

Changing clothes for the Cocktail Reception a few hours later, I turned on the TV to see if I could get an update on the 7th game of the World Series.  Instead, the breaking news reported Qantas had just suspended all its flights until the dispute with their pilots and ground crews could be settled.  I wasn't too worried at this time as my return flight isn't until Nov 10th, but many of the agents here were planning to leave on Nov. 1st as they had already done pre-Corroboree famils.  I soon found them on the phones frantically trying to book flights on V Australia!  I also found out that the Rangers had lost the World Series.  Bummer!

Despite the bad news regarding Qantas, the Cocktail Reception was lovely, and I enjoyed visiting with freidns from earlier Corroborees and the views of the Yarra River.  From there I headed over to the Langham Hotel (Melbourne's 5* hotel) for a lovely dinner sponsored by Swain Tours.  The dinner was delicious, but I didn't get back to my room until almost midnight.  Needless to way, I fell into bed.  An exhausting but fun day!

We're all anxiouslly awaiting the re-establishment of flights to the US, but the outcome remains to be seen.
More from Melbourne soon.
Linda

Phillip Island and the Penguin Parade

Great flight from LAX to Melbourne on the new Qantas A-380 'mega plane. 'Although built for 800 psgrs, it has been reconfigured to seat 450 – still a lot of people descending on a single airport, especially when their baggage crew is on a “slowdown” to protest the airline's policies .

Finally, we exited the airport into a lovely warm spring day in Melbourne and boarded buses along with about 160 other Aussie Specialists for our PreCorroboree foray down to Phillip Island, The lovely pastoral scenery was lush and green after the sprng rains. Really looked good to a Texan who's gone through the state's hottest and driest summer in history.  Almost 2 hours late due to the slowdown at the airport we were starving by the time we arrived at the All Seasons Resort. Lunch on Phillip Island and devoured the sandwiches which tasted wonderful.

Back on the road again on Phillip Island we headed to the Koala Conservation Center. Dedicated to koala research and conservation, it offered an excellent  opportunity to view koalas in their natural habitat on treetop boardwalks. I learned that Koalas (those adorable Teddy Bears that everyone associates with Australia) are definitely nocturnal creatures and sleep about 20 hours a day -- sounded pretty good to me ! They're picky eaters and only eat eucalyptus  leaves which provide very little nourishment, thus the lack of energy! By the time we left our sun had departed and we'd donned blue parkas in the rain.

Final stop and virtually every visitor's goal when visiting Phillip Island was  the Penguin Parade.  The experience began at Nobbies Center for some background on these adorable little penguins.  They achieved notoriety when threatened by an oil spill in 2000.  Locals responded to an appeal and knitted tiny sweaters for the little guys to prevent them from licking the toxic oil off their feathers. Photo shows their little attire. 

As the sun  set we walked over to bleaches just beyond the beach and waited for the Parade to begin.  When total darkness covered the beach, someone whispered "Here they come,"and, sure enough, the little guys weighing about 7kg. rose out of the ocean where they had been feeding all day and waddled beside us toward their individual burrows. Here they frequently live for years and usually with the same mate and their offspring (usually 1 or 2 a season).  I could see their bulging bellies, and some had eaten so much they had to rest occasionally during their walk.  Thousands of the birds passed just a couple of feet in front of us --  totally ignoring our presence.  The peace of the night had been replaced by their noisy chirping.

Thoroughly exhausted but also exhilarated by our first-day's experiences, we returned to our bungalows and fell asleep instantly. Tomorrow we head back to Phillip Island and begin our 3-day meeting.

More tomorrow from Melbourne.
Linda

Australia - Reef, Rainforest and Rail

It's hard to believe that it's been over 2 years since I've been in Australia.   This will be my 6th trip in 10 years, and each time I find new regions to explore.

I will be flying tonight to Melbourne for Corroboree, the 3-day Aussie Specialist annual meeting.  This beautiful Victorian city is situated on the Yarra River.  My favorite activity has always been walking along the River, but this year's special event will be seeing the Melbourne Cup in person.  Billed as "The race that stops a nation," it is Australia's premier thoroughbred horse race and is a national holiday.

Leaving Melbourne I will be joining a few other travel agents and traveling north, first to Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef.  From there we'll venture further north to the Daintree region staying in the world's oldest rain forest.  Planned adventures during the next 10 days include hot air ballooning in northern Queensland, hobnobbing with kangaroos and koalas around a campfire, sailing and swimming on the Great Barrier Reef and and overnighting on the Sunlander train to Brisbane.

I 'll fly  this evening to LAX and then board Qantas for a nonstop to Melbourne.  Losing a day as I cross the International Date Line, I'll arrive Friday morning.  From there it's on to Phillip Island that evening before returning to Melbourne Saturday to begin Corroboree.
More from Australia!
Linda