The price they pay for your perfect vacation photo

MAY 15, 2021

Shane Gross

The New York Times


BAHAMAS — It took nearly three months, but Mr Jody Pinder eventually succeeded. Endangered green sea turtles, usually shy, skittish and satisfied with a diet of sea grass and algae, were accepting handouts of squid that he and other local tour operators were providing at Bottom Harbor in the Bahamas.

“If you don’t feed them, they won’t come close enough for you to see them and photograph them,” Mr Pinder said.

Before the pandemic, Mr Pinder and others had been selling this assured adventure to a booming population of tourists. Day after day, boats would flock to Bottom Harbor and tourists would hop into its shallow turquoise waters holding squid morsels in their hands or on wooden skewers.

The turtles would then grab the snacks as the visitors snapped Instagram-worthy images.

Western Australia - Naturally. Or not.

[Note: This was from a trip in July 2014. I never "published" it. Might as well do so now.]

I started titling this blog piece as "flora and fauna of Western Australia" - like I was an expert. I was just going to post some pictures of flowers and wildlife.

And the caption would go along the lines of "here's a blue wildflower." And "here's a small yellow one. I don't know their names."

Helpful huh?

So if you stumbled on this while Googling for "flora and fauna of Western Australia - the definitive guide", this is not it.

Once in a Lifetime Experiences: Penguins of Phillip Island

We booked a tour with Wildlife Adventures, which start the day picking us up from our hotel at about 9.30. This is followed by a 90 minute drive South, towards Phillip Island.

Before that, we stopped just after 11.00 am for lunch, at Maru Koala Sanctuary.

Maru Koala Sanctuary has Kangaroo feeding (which I have already done at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary), and two albino kangaroos, which are quite rare.

But of course, Koalas are their main attraction.

We were lucky to catch the Koala at their most active. According to their handler, Koalas move only about 15 minutes a day. And sleeps up to 20 hours.

And are not the very brightest of creatures.

Because of their exclusive diet of Eucalyptus leaves.

So we were VERY lucky that while we were there, one Koala moved from one bunch of leaves to another.

And then she was done moving for the day (according to the handler).

After about 2 hours there, we headed to Phillip Island and the Penguin parade.

Melbourne next

We were in Melbourne for 3 nights recently after over a week in Tasmania.

And we wished we had more time in Melbourne!

There is a lot to see in Melbourne, and we should see it all.

Our three nights were too short a time. We barely explored QV market - maybe 30% of it, if at all.

We didn't go for Puffing Billy.

We should aim for when Thomas is back. That would excite my daughter.

We didn't go to the zoo - either Melbourne Zoo or the Weeribee open range zoo.

And we only spent about half a day in Chadstone Shopping Centre. Or "Chaddy" to the locals. We need more time there!

The Penguins Parade of Phillip Island (Melbourne)

The Penguins of Phillip Island, Melbourne is well known.

And also Puffing Billy, the heritage steam engine train.

So when I heard of the offer from iVenture Card, and since I was going to be in Melbourne for 3 nights, I thought it was a good deal.

Especially since I checked their brochure and found that they had Puffing Billy, the Werribee Open Range Zoo, and a Werribee Park shuttle from Melbourne to Werribee (this counts as one attraction!).

There was an option for a 3 Attraction card, so that seemed perfect.

So I bought the card/pass online.

Our next adventure - Houseboat?

After my camper van adventure in 2014, I decided that the next adventure would be on water - house boating.

I checked out house boating in Australia, New Zealand, and even Canada. Canada because when we were travelling in Canada in late 2012, we passed by Shuswap, British Columbia, which claims to be "the house boating capital".



And I have a few options.

The simplest option was just to travel with the wife and kid. Three of us on a cosy little houseboat for 4 to 6.

Another option was to bring my in-laws and maybe my mom. This would mean a slightly larger houseboat, and likely would be more expensive. And I would have to bear the travel costs for some or all of them.

And recently, I had another idea. More on that later.

But it's 2018 and I haven't gone house boating yet.

Tasmania Plans April 2018

We wanna take Z caravanning. Or Campervanning

The Wife says we should get a cabin and not "rough it" with a powered site or less. So I checked.

There are more than 50 caravan parks around the state, some with private ensuite facilities for caravan-motorhome travellers. Others include comfortable, cabin-style accommodation for those looking for an economical 'night away' from the confines of your vehicle.
Campsites can be found in most parks and reserves, providing a true wilderness experience on or off the beaten track.

Preliminary Plans

Visit Tasmania in Autumn - April

Temperature is from just below 10 to above 15. So should be comfortable or at least tolerable.

Fall colours in the Cradle Mountains should be gorgeous.

There are no direct flights to Hobart from SG. Most have a stopover - either Melbourne or Sydney. So why not spend a few days in Sydney? Or Melbourne?

So fly to Sydney/Melbourne. Stay for a night or two, then fly to Hobart.

Melbourne has the Skybus airport shuttle.

Rent a campervan for 1 week to 9 days then fly back to Melbourne, stay a night or two, then fly back to SG.

Then in Jan 2018, Emirates had a sale! How fortunate!

Things you only learn firsthand II

Then there was the fresh water tank.

So the instructional video said to fill it up through the water intake and that there is overflow buffer of sorts, so there will be a little bit of overflow when the tank is full.

I had been careful to (try to) refill the water tank at every opportunity. But we have not used it much. Only for hand washing (after using the toilet) and maybe washing cups or plates.

So at four different occasions when I tried to fill the tank, the water almost immediately started to overflow. Once, the water shot out of the intake port. It should be full right?

Anyway, about a week in (or about 5, 6 days), we had no problems. Then one night the wife asked, "what's that noise?"

Caravan Park overview - From Perth to Exmouth

This is a brief over view of the Caravan Parks we used, and the places we visited.

1) Sunset Beach Holiday Park (425 km from Perth, Britz, 4 hrs 40m), 21/7 (1 night). Powered Site. This park is right by the beach, with strong winds. The bathroom/toilets are accessed with a code. As it was only our first night, we did not need to empty our chemical toilet so I did not find out if there was a dump point.

The nearest IGA supermarket was about a 10 minutes walk. When we got there, we had dinner at a burger/fish and chips joint. The lamb burger I had was dry. The fish was like fish fingers. The chips were great (all the chips we had on this trip were great!) and we filled ourselves on that. But we cannot recommend the place (it is located with the IGA).

The walk back to the caravan park was in near pitch black darkness. It was bracing. Walking from our motor home to the bath was not as bad as we feared (cold, but not intolerably so). Rained during the night. The sound of the rain on the roof in the cold cold night, as we huddled and cuddled beneath the comforter was quite nice.

There was a drainage point for "grey water" at the site.

Things you only learn firsthand I

I wanted to go "camper-vanning" or a Motor Home holiday, to learn firsthand about motor home holidays.

So the 10/11 days in the motor home was as educational as I had hoped.

To prepare myself I watched the 13-min introductory video (below) several times. Particularly about emptying the chemical toilet, emptying the waste water tank (grey water, which is mainly water from the shower and the sink, which may at best be a little soapy, or a little oily. As opposed to black water which would be sewage or toilet waste).

Alternative uses for Vegemite.

So my wife loves Vegemite.

You know, that quintessential component of "How Australian are You?" quiz. Which is similar to Marmite, and Bovril. The black, gooey, too-salty-to-be-possible substance that Australians spread on their toast?

We saw a vegemite and cheese sausage at the butchers and I pointed it out to my wife.

The Butcher noticed and commented, "that's the funny thing about Vegemite - you either love it or hate it."

"She loves it!" I told the butcher as I pointed at my wife.

Later he gave us one of the sausage to try.

I don't mind Vegemite actually. I'll eat it, no problems. With toast or English Muffins. The difference between my wife and me is that she'll slather it on. I dab it on.

So for those of you who do not like Vegemite, here are the Alternative Uses of Vegemite I discovered while camper-vanning in Western Australia.

Perth and the Coral Coast by Campervan - the Itinerary

Arrival in Perth on 20 Jul, 12:50 pm.

Hotel booked: Airport Apartments by Verandah, Redcliffe

Campervan Itinerary

1) 21/7 - 22/7 (1 night) Sunset Beach Holiday Park (425 km from Perth, Britz, 4 hrs 40m)

2) 22/7 - 24/7 (2 nights) Kalbarri Anchorage Caravan Park  (151 km from Sunset Beach, Geraldton, 1 hr 42 mins) - Stay two nights

3) 24/7 - 26/7 (2 nights)  Monkey Mia - Blue Dolphin Caravan Park (374 km from Kalbarri, 4 hr 40 mins) - 2 nights

4) 26/7 - 27/7 (1 night) Carnarvon - Big4 Plantation Caravan Park (324 km from Blue Dolphin, 4 hrs) - 1 night

5) 27/7 - 29/7 (2 night) Exmouth - Exmouth Cape Holiday Park (360 km from Carnarvon, 5 hrs) - 2 nights

6) 29/7 - 30/7 (1 night) - Wintersun Caravan Park, Carnarvon - 1 night (360 km from Exmouth, 5 hours)

7) 30/7 - 31/7 (1 night) SeaSpray Beach Holiday Park, Dongara - 1 night (540km from Carnarvon, 5hrs, 44 mins)

8) 31/7 Perth (354 km from Dongara -SeaSpray Beach Holiday Park, 3 hrs 48mins).

Cab to Airport directly from Britz. Flight is 5 pm, need to be at airport at 3 pm.