Our First Visitors (Part II)

The next morning we walked the quiet streets of Young looking for some breakfast while keeping an eye out for possibly the strangest store in the world. We had read about it in Bill Bryson's book "Down Under" written more than 10 years ago (you may have noticed that I keep mentioning this book-I highly recommend that you read it-just don't hold my blog up to that standard). As described by Bryson, this shop was a pet store in the front and an adult shop in the back. Surely, such an odd combination of goods could not have survived for more than a decade. Oh, but it did. And you couldn't miss it. I had assumed that the adult section would be "hush-hush," and only apparent once in the store. We were, after all, on Main St. in a small town. However, Herrett's Book Shop and Aquarium was anything but discreet, and the storefront made every possible effort to draw attention to exactly what was going on inside. Can you imagine if Herrett decided to franchise, and open his second store on Main St. in some place like....Danville? You wouldn't be able to drive down the street for all the protesters. Now I'm not saying the world needs a second store like this (or even a first one for that matter), but I do find it interesting that small town Aussies are apparently laid back enough to allow such a place.

Heading out of Young, we drove for about an hour in the direction of the coast before making a slight detour to visit Canberra (pronounced Can-bruh), the capital of Australia. We had been warned by nearly everyone who had been to Canberra that it wasn't worth the trip. In fact, I think it's the only place in Australia that people will tell you not to visit. Nevertheless, our route was going right by the city, and we figured we might as well give it a shot. It's an inland city located between Sydney and Melbourne, although closer to Sydney. Thanks to a rivalry between the two big cities, neither of which could stomach the thought of the other becoming the capital, Canberra was selected out of compromise in 1908. At the time, Canberra was nothing more than farm land. As a result, the city is entirely planned, and the design came from the winner of an international contest. I would hate to see what the loser came up with. The Parliament building is built into the ground in the center of the city, and everything else radiates like bicycle spokes from there. Entering the city, we drove down a long straight four-lane highway lined with mid-rise commercial buildings and offices. It was a Sunday afternoon, and the place was practically a ghost town. I kept thinking that around the next corner would be a quaint little bustling street filled with restaurants and shops. If such a street was hiding somewhere in Canberra, we never found it. Aside from a few randomly placed restaurants, there was nothing but empty office buildings. I have no idea how Canberrans manage to entertain themselves in this city. I was beginning to realize why several former prime ministers had snubbed Canberra and lived in Sydney instead. A three-hour commute is apparently less daunting than the thought of actually living in Canberra. I will say, however, that the parliamentary building was quite impressive, and I thoroughly enjoyed the halls of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Our time in Canberra was short and in all fairness to the city, I'm sure it has more to offer than what we saw. It has to.

We continued up the road towards the Southern Highlands, an area of small mountains south of Sydney near the east coast. Along the way, we passed tons of sheep, nice small towns, a dried up lake filled with sheep, scenic rocky green fields, several kangaroos, and more sheep. By this time it was getting late, and so began our search for a place to stay. It was a Sunday night; we were surrounded by small towns, and finding a place for the night seemed like an easy task. Our first attempt was an old "hotel" in the town of Bundanoon. The place was a bit run down but it looked like a great spot to belly up to the dimly lit bar and soak up some local culture. The bartender informed us that there were 65 rooms upstairs, none of which were occupied that night. However, they were fully booked the night before and none of the rooms had been cleaned. I though about asking if it was possible to clean two of the rooms, but I got the feeling that was out of the question. With another option down the road we moved along figuring it was for the best. The next place had been rented out for a school trip, and on to the next town we went. We looked for a room in every hotel we passed, but nobody had clean rooms. This unfortunate pattern continued through each of the next two towns, and it had become quite obvious that maids in this part of the country refused to work on Sunday. Like several other experiences in Australia, I got the feeling that I had stepped back in time. Back to an era when things moved at a slower pace and when giving people the day off on Sunday took priority over operating a business. It was a bit frustrating, but at the same time refreshing. In the end, after what must have been close to 15 failures, we finally found a a great hotel on the outskirts of Moss Vale. It featured a cozy restaurant/bar warmed by two fireplaces and heaps of Christmas decorations. Christmas decorations you ask? Yes, July is the coldest month of the year-it feels most like the Christmas season-and Australians often celebrate something they call "Christmas in July." They put up decorations, serve meals with traditional fare, and put Rudolph the Red Nosed Kangaroo on the stereo. It is quite the experience, and despite all our troubles locating a hotel that night, things had definitely worked out for the best.

We spent the next day visiting small villages, waterfalls, and gorges throughout the Southern Highlands before making our way over to Woollongong and up the coastal highway back to Sydney. We stopped at a couple lookouts along the way, and enjoyed the spectacular stretch of road that hovers above the ocean while hugging the sea cliffs. On our three day road trip we had seen so much despite never being more than a five-hour drive away from Sydney. When most people think of Australia, they only picture the coast and the outback. Those two things certainly exist here in large quantities, but there is so much else to see including mountains, canyons, wine country, caves, waterfalls, rural countryside, etc... There are so many different environments on Sydney's doorstep, and it's great to know how easily we can escape the city should we get the urge.