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It’s been quite a while. In the mid-1990′s, I spent a lot of time in Kenya. Specifically Nairobi. My last visit to here was about five years ago.

Nairobi is one of the cities that I miss if I’ve been away from it for too long. It is cosmopolitan, with friendly people and great weather. As one of the largest and most populous cities in Africa, its proximity to the Equator is the main reason for a very constant temperature all year round. Like anywhere else, progress has been steady. The most noticeable difference is in infrastructure, which has without doubt improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years.

The airport retains its distinct circular layout, but provides visitors with brand new buses and bridges extending to the aircraft. Shiny signage and a much-needed revamp of the passport control area is a welcome sight.

Visitors not holding a Kenyan passport are also privileged enough to surrender a photograph and extensive fingerprint scans to the Kenyan immigration authorities. So much for advances in technology – the ever-increasing focus on authorities wishing to capture biometric information from a population that is guilty of little else than the wish to travel does not meet with my approval. What happens to the extensive database is anyone’s guess…

Driving into the city, the absence of potholes indicates that something has happened to improve the infrastructure. Mayhem in the roundabouts on Uhuru Highway replaces the awe that some potholes have disappeared with the realization that uncontrolled intersections do not bring out the best drivers.

For now, it’s time for a Tusker. Baridi.

Maybe two…

Our holiday is at an end. The way back is a fairly long one, taking us by Airtrain from the Gold Coast to Brisbane airport. Our CO2 emissions will be the lowest on this part of the journey, whatever that’s worth…

From Brisbane, we have an eight hour flight to Singapore, then a waiting period of about six hours in the spacious Changi airport.

Another eleven hours and we should be in Johannesburg, ready to face early Monday morning rush hour traffic. What an exciting prospect!

A huge thank you to everyone – we had a great time!

Our last day in Australia. We’ve been busy packing our bags and getting ready for our trip home tomorrow. Amazing how much stuff one can collect in four weeks. Even more amazing that everything fits, by hook or by crook, into the original set of luggage we have brought with us.

My dire prediction that we’d require a separate 777 to cart everything home is not entirely accurate

Australia is pretty much comparable to South Africa when it comes to a variety of things. That’s taking the AUD price and converting to ZAR. The exchange rate is roughly ZAR 6.7 to AUD 1. I’ve collected a couple of indicators here for your perusal.

Here, the new year Toyota prices. Toyota imports most cars from Japan, hence the inclusion of some model names South Africans may never have heard of.

The fuel price is pretty much on par with back home, give or take a Rand. But, you need to pump your own tank full and run inside to pay…

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If yesterday was hot, today was just so. Humid as anything with temperatures running into the low thirties. I feel really sorry for the guys at Sea World who have to dress up as Elmo and the rest of the Sesame Street clan and then hop up and down to amuse shrieking five year olds. We ran through a very full program at Sea World, which is easily the best value theme park on the Gold Coast.

Sea Word hosts a decent-sized aquarium, but it’s in the outdoor attractions that this theme park excels in. We were treated to some excellent swimming displays by the polar bears

and the dolphins in their show

There’s plenty to do for the little ones, and of course rides are available for older kids, too. We enjoyed the Bermuda Triangle and the Viking longboats, both of which feature a rollercoaster-like downhill into water.

After a lot of walking, we were content to watch the final attraction of the day: the Waterski WipeOut, before heading out of the park after an enjoyable day.

Sea World comes highly recommended!

Today was hot. Humid and hot. Roughly 32 degrees, with nary a breeze. Our destination: one of the many theme and activity parks spread around the Gold Coast – Warner Bros Movie World. Finally we were welcomed to the world of Looney Tunes, yet here we’d been in Australia for about three weeks already

Tickets to these parks are not exactly cheap. We settled on the aptly-named Escape Pass which provides entrance to Movie World and Sea World over a period of three days. When you hear the name Escape Pass, it’s a sign to run for cover: the price per adult is AUD 115, per child AUD 75. For our party of two-and-a-half, the cost for entrance to the parks equals a return ticket from Johannesburg to Cape Town. Let’s focus on the positive: fun for the whole family and it’s a holiday! WB Movie World is a real treat for kids of all ages, though a single day is quite strenuous and not enough to see all the attractions.

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Another lazy day and enjoying our last week in Oz. Kids love playing in the sand, and running away from breaking wavelets is huge fun too. Getting to the beach at the right time is normally the critical part: the temperature during the day is high and the constant, daily rain pelting down after sunset makes for incredibly humid conditions. But it’s the sun one really needs to watch: even a quarter of an hour can cause a sunburn. Today was hazy and overcast, though still warm. Not a great view of the Surfer’s Paradise skyline, but its the only one I’ve had the opportunity to capture so far.

The beaches are pristine and the water very pleasant. Lifeguards patrol constantly and are ever-vigilant.

Mom and dad get to sort out sandy, wet clothing because junior simply can’t stop himself from diving into the business of sand play.

Tomorrow, Warner Bros Movie World.

Hello, Batman

Rain threatened to fall in masses as it had in short bursts a few times this week. Our trek out to the Springbrook National Park area took place in the late afternoon with the dark clouds never subsiding. The Springbrook National Park is in an area of huge, tropical rainforests close to Mudgeeraba.

For enthusiastic drivers, the 24km trip up to the Purling Brook waterfall is a treat, featuring hairpins and curves through the mountain pass. Pity about the speed restrictions…and the family in-car

A further hindrance to our planned hike on the falls circuit was a recent rockslide that is obstructing parts of the path. There are plenty of hiking opportunities in this area.

Not wanting to get too active, we took the easy route of simply checking the waterfall out from the various lookouts.

A much easier way of viewing the splendour of the surrounding rainforests and the Purling Brook Falls!

What would a visit to Australia be without seeing a can of XXXX, a kangaroo and at least one koala? The Gold Coast is home to two well-known wildlife reserves, namely The David Fleay Wildlife Reserve and the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. We’ve been to both on previous visits and decided on a visit to Fleay‘s simply because it’s a lot smaller and requires less walking.

David Fleay was an Australian naturalist who pioneered the captive breeding of endangered species, and was the first person to breed platypus in captivity. The park provides a pleasant environment, replete with extensive boardwalks that provide a pathway among the various enclosures.

Arriving at Fleay‘s, the first sign I noticed was this rather prominent one:

It’s not my intent to discredit what I’m constantly being told about how safe and wonderful Australia is. Let’s face it: bad things happen everywhere. Australians do lock their homes, have alarms and ensure their cars aren’t vandalized at night by securing them in a lock-up garage or their driveway. When questioned about this behaviour, the most likely response is that petty theft is committed by drug addicts. Which leads me to another very interesting line of argument I’ll dispense with for now. Suffice to say that drug abuse in Australia is pretty much out of control. (Like it probably is anywhere else).

Fleay‘s has not been maintained well. It’s similar to the Johannesburg Zoo some years back. The number of visitors may be an indication that all is not well. Many enclosures are under repair and without inhabitants, while the number of weird and wonderful creatures is really low and not very impressive. From a previous visit, I remember enclosures being far less restrictive with regard to visitors having access to take photographs and a decent view of the animals. I fear that the ever-present litigous nature of Australia is forcing public attractions, like Fleay‘s, to be fearful of potential liabilities due to injuries and mishaps. It’s a pity, and no positive sign for the promotion of Australian nature reserves.

We did get to see some critters.

Should you have the need to check out some Australian wildlife on the Gold Coast, visit Currumbin. Hopefully, it’s in a better condition than Fleay‘s.

Finding a XXXX, luckily, presents no problem at all… Much easier to spot, too!

Unlike previous years, we will be able to open our gifts even earlier tonight: the Gold Coast is eight hours ahead of Johannesburg

Of course we dispense with the Christmas Day event. Early mornings are not that cool. Besides, if you can follow German tradition, then why not

May you and yours have a merry Christmas!