Wife and I just returned from a trip to Australia..

[Afflyer]

Ahhh Australia.  What an awesome time the wife and I had in the land down under!

My first taste of Australian cusine was "vegemite" spread on toast.  I can honestly say that it was an aquired taste- a bit too salty for my palate.  Word to the wise- don't treat it like peanut butter or nutella spread...go very sparingly, as a little dab will do ya.

Monique and I spent five days with close friends in Melbourne- hell of a great town- felt completely safe there.  In fact, the first day trip into the city, I swear I never saw the first cop car, fire truck or ambulance on any street!  No kidding!

While in the Melbourne area, we traveled the road that was once used in the filming of a road chase sequence in the film, "Mad Max".  It was the one where the dude hit a bridge abutment and went flying off into oblivion- or so I was told.  It's been many years since I've seen the movie. 

Later that day, we traveled the "Great Ocean Road" and checked out the nine of the remaining "Twelve Apostles" rock formations along the southern coast.  Totally cool.

After five days in Melbourne, Monique and I flew up to Ayers Rock (Uluru) where the temp was 105*F and had a blast there, as we spoke with local Aboriginal keepers of Uluru.  It's the worlds largest/tallest free standing monolith and what is amazing about it, besides the Aboriginal lore, is what you can't see below the surface.  It's like looking at the tip of an iceberg- the largest part lies beneath the surface, more than a mile down!

After three days in the real Australian outback of Ayers Rock, we flew up to Cairns and took a scuba diving trip up to Lizard Island and sailed back along the Great Barrier Reef, diving eleven times (and also getting NITROX certified in the process- Merry Christmas to me) the deepest dive being 90 feet.  Guys let me tell ya- diving the GBR was like NOTHING else in this world!  Like living in the the worlds largest aquarium!  Sharks, rays, sea turtles, jellyfish, sea snakes, giant potato cod fish, thousands of different colored fish- you name it- I SAW IT!!!  Thrill of a lifetime, let me tella ya.

After stepping off the "Spoil Sport" from four days and three nights, in Cairns and being VERY wobbly from having sea legs (it's funny how if you stand completely still on land, you find yourself swaying from the time spent on water), we met our friends from Melbourne again and toured the rain forests north of town.  After a few days of that in Cairns, we flew down to the big city of Brisbane, spending the night in a four-star hotel overlooking the Brisbane River and city sights, before flying back to LAX the next day.

All in all, it was a most memorable trip in the land the group "Men At Work" made famous- they still play that song on the radio stations as if it were a national anthem! 

If ANY of you get an opportunity to visit that wonderful continent- my wife and I HIGHLY advise you to do so.  It is SO very worth the money and effort to see it.  We'll be paying the balance on our credit card for several months from now, but it was so very much worth every penny.

G'day mates-

Bradley

[Chryco Psycho]

I wish I could afford to go , I even seriously looked at moving there seeing as I connot get into the US 

[Shakey]

That sounds like an awesome trip!  My Wife has been bugging me for a couple of years now to go and I have agreed, after we see some other parts of the world first.  The diving sounds like it was a great experience.

Do you have any photos that you'd like to share?

BTW - when it comes to spending money on something like that, this is the way I look at it.

If you go now and spend that kind of dough you might regret it for a while, as you work to pay off the bills.  However, if you don't go and enjoy your lives together and explore the world we all live in, you will regret it forever.

Good call on making the trip!

[TruckDriver]

WHAT! NO PICTURES!!! 

I myself would love to go there to visit. But I have a phobia of being on big ships, and I hate flying too   I would probably want to bring a Aussie Falcon GT back too for my collection. 

[Afflyer]

We took well over 300 pictures, but I'm not able to upload them on this site as they are too big.  I'm not sure how to upload large pic files.  If you have any ideas- please let me know!  I'd like to upload pics of my Charger to this site!!!

With regards to the vehicles in Australia, I fell in love with the "Utes" over there; a vehicle that would be the El Comino's and El Dorado's over here.  They are WILDLY popular, as our trucks are just not readily seen over there and if they are- they are exspensive to have and operate.

The Ford "Falcon" ute and Holden (GM) utes are who own the market.

The only Chrysler products I witnessed were the Jeep brands, the latest 300 series, and the Caliber.  Chrysler products were seldomly seen anywhere.  The Japanese companies, as well as Ford and Holden, own the streets of Australia.  I didn't see a whole lot of European cars there either.

Bradley

[BMOTOXSTAR]

My Aunt works for IBM and she stays in the land down under and Japan. I am going to visit her down under in a few months. Hope I can spot some Chargers down there.
  See any Mopars on the trip? Those Australian Chargers are slick !
BMOTOXSTAR

[moparsuebear]

I am sooooooo jealous!! Bill has been to Australia with the AF, but I haven't gone yet. I'd love to go over there! Did you ever see the movie of the backpackers that their car breaks down and they meet up with a dude who turns out to be a mad killer? (Wolf Creek) That was filmed in Australia. Did you see lots of kangaroos? Did you get to hug a Koala? Did you go to that park that has a huge roller slide? Is the water as pretty as it looks in photos?

Did you rent a car or do any driving? How did you find driving on the opposite side? Living in Okinawa for 5 years and England for 4, I actually prefer right hand drive!

I am happy for you that you had such a nice time. I am headed off to Korea on Saturday to go visit ol Billy boy. Can't wait!!! No nice beaches there though, but good shopping!

[TruckDriver]

We took well over 300 pictures, but I'm not able to upload them on this site as they are too big.  I'm not sure how to upload large pic files.  If you have any ideas- please let me know!  I'd like to upload pics of my Charger to this site!!!

Open a free account at www.photobucket.com Upload them there. Then to post them here, just select and copy the web address below the pictures. But once you do post the pics here or anywhere else, if you delete them off of Photobucket or if you decide to put them in a different folder, you will break the link to what ever website you posted the pics on. Otherwise use a photoshop program to resize the pictures. Usually about 600x450 is a good size to use. And with Photoshop, if you pick one size either the height or width, it will automatically select the other dimension for you so the picture does not distort. Then they will be small enough to post here.

[Dans 68]

I wish I could afford to go , I even seriously looked at moving there seeing as I connot get into the US 

Not to hijack a cool trip thread, but what the hey? There must be a story.... Just move to Mexico first, and then the border crossing will be a snap. Oh, you want to come legally?

Anyway, I'd hire ya just for your contributions here.

As for this thread, my father-in-law and wife took a trip down under years ago, and had a great vacation. Please tell me about the benefits of using Nitrox...it seems that the last dive trip I took (Hawaii in August) about half of the divers used it.

[AKcharger]

I am sooooooo jealous!! Bill has been to Australia with the AF, but I haven't gone yet. I'd love to go over there! Did you ever see the movie of the backpackers that their car breaks down and they meet up with a dude who turns out to be a mad killer? (Wolf Creek) That was filmed in Australia. Did you see lots of kangaroos? Did you get to hug a Koala? Did you go to that park that has a huge roller slide? Is the water as pretty as it looks in photos?
Did you rent a car or do any driving? How did you find driving on the opposite side?

Moparsuebear ...What are you dan Rather...is this 60 minutes?

Hey Bradley you moving to Cannon with the 16th or staying on at Hurlburt with the 1st?

[TruckDriver]

I am sooooooo jealous!! Bill has been to Australia with the AF, but I haven't gone yet. I'd love to go over there! Did you ever see the movie of the backpackers that their car breaks down and they meet up with a dude who turns out to be a mad killer? (Wolf Creek) That was filmed in Australia. Did you see lots of kangaroos? Did you get to hug a Koala? Did you go to that park that has a huge roller slide? Is the water as pretty as it looks in photos?
Did you rent a car or do any driving? How did you find driving on the opposite side?

Moparsuebear ...What are you dan Rather...is this 60 minutes?

[Afflyer]

As for this thread, my father-in-law and wife took a trip down under years ago, and had a great vacation. Please tell me about the benefits of using Nitrox...it seems that the last dive trip I took (Hawaii in August) about half of the divers used it.

Chryco:  NITROX utilizes more O2 than regular air that a lot of divers use (which is 21%).  NITROX O2 levels can be from 32% to 45%.  Being NITROX certified gives you two advantages over regular air; more "bottom time" and/or feeling more refreshed and less tired after completing a dive, as you utilize more O2 and ongas less nitrogen into your system.  I could tell after my second dive on NITROX, that I was less tired after I got back on the boat.  They say that you really don't notice a huge difference unless you consistently dive with NITROX and then dive with regular air.  Get the certification if you are afforded the opportunity.  It's worth the few hundred bucks.

Hey Bradley you moving to Cannon with the 16th or staying on at Hurlburt with the 1st?

Bill:     Send me a PM and I'll give you the opportunity to listen to my rant from my soapbox regarding the move to Clovis. 

Did you ever see the movie of the backpackers that their car breaks down and they meet up with a dude who turns out to be a mad killer? (Wolf Creek) That was filmed in Australia. Did you see lots of kangaroos? Did you get to hug a Koala? Did you go to that park that has a huge roller slide? Is the water as pretty as it looks in photos?

Did you rent a car or do any driving? How did you find driving on the opposite side? Living in Okinawa for 5 years and England for 4, I actually prefer right hand drive!

Sue:  Umm...no- never heard of that movie with the backpackers.  I saw a helluva LOT of backpackers though in our travels Down Under.  As far as the "roos" go, my first experience with them was "on the barbee" marinated in lemon and garlic...delicious!!!! Or as they say "good tucka".  I'm glad I got to actually "taste" them before I actually saw them up close and personal, petting the incredibly cute creatures.  I must admit- I'll never eat another roo again after having one lovingly nudge me in the Kuranda Rain Forestation park.  Monique wouldn't LEAVE the park until she got a picture of a koala with her.  I stepped in the pic as well, and it was really cool.  Their fur is incredibly dense.  We didn't go on any amusement park trips- the diving was much better than any roller coaster or slide could ever give.  And YES- the water is as beautiful as you can imagine- what lies beneath the surface is where the REAL color is!  We didn't rent any car- just flew Quantas (which, in case you were wondering- stands for "QUeensland And Northern Territories Aviation Service"), or took the tour bus shuttles or taxis.  Hope that answered your questions!

Bradley

[Brock Samson]

i thought this pic would fit nicely here..

hope ya dont mind the down unda thunda''...   



this one seems to need a flag on the roof...



i wonder if they actually had the hi-impact colors down under?...



these are from this website.
http://www.nwcctas.org.au/

more here..

http://www.chargerclubofwa.asn.au/Articles/Images/AdvertVH02.jpg


welcome back...

[Brock Samson]

here's a bonus pic of another kind'a  charger, not related to the aussie ones..

[Brock Samson]

i'm findin some neat stuff this eveining..

[Afflyer]

If only I would have seen those lovely beauties while we were there!  Like I said in the original post; the Pentastars were few and far between over there.

Too bad.

Bradley