We encountered some technical glitches so the Phillip Island blog entry didn’t not publish as scheduled. That day trip occurred before we began our Melbourne golf adventure.

Hopefully things are sorted out now.

Click on the photos to see the full picture.

Nine couples opted for a full, and I do mean full, day traveling to Phillip Island.

Our young driver, Mike, kept us entertained with facts and figures about Melbourne and then the countryside as we made our way to the coast.

A mid way stop included a dairy farm where this fellow looked quite dangerous but nothing happened when approached for a photo.

We carried on to the island which has an eclectic history of farming and other economic activities but now has become a very popular tourist destination.

There is a nascent winery industry so our tour included a tasting at the aptly named Phillip Island winery.

None of the offerings were my cup of tea but it interesting to listen to the host describing the process used and the different varietals.

Then it was off to the Koala Reserve where a large plot of land has been designated as a mini game park focused on protecting a small Koala population. An elevated boardwalk provided great views although given the bear’s normal habits (sleeping 20 hours per day), most were tucked into the trees.

Birds and wallabies were also in abundance.

Back into the bus and onto the town of Cowes on the north shore for a wander along the jetty and beach. The town has a heritage designation for the golden cypress trees that line the main avenue. The photos don’t do justice to how vibrant the boughs are.

And how can you not like a town with this type of attitude?

Back on the bus and off to Flynns beach which provided a moment to reflect.

From there we went to the Nobbies, a south coast boardwalk overlooking some awesome coves where the waves crashed ashore. The wind was fierce and one had to hold on to the handrail and hat at the same time.

Surviving the wind successfully meant one last trek to the conservation area where bleachers have been built to watch the nightly penguin parade. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of small penguins gather in the water as “rafts” to fool predators. They come ashore en masse and waddle up the hills to burrows. It was an extraordinary sight.

The parade starts at dusk so photos are not permitted. They do offer downloads of pictures taken by the conservation staff.

It was captivating. We lucked in to a larger than normal volume of penguins clambering across the beach and up the hills. Estimates exceeded 1,000 just past our viewing stand.

Our long day ended with the two hour bus ride back to Melbourne, arriving near midnight. Tomorrow is our first experience of golf on the famous sandbelt of Victoria. Four rounds in the next five days will have us playing top ten in the world layouts. Can’t wait.

On the southern outskirts of Melbourne is a rich vein of sandy loam subsoil upon which are situated eight of the best golf courses in Australia known throughout the world as the famous Melbourne Sandbelt.

Our oddesy of playing on four of the eight courses on the sandbelt began with a visit to the Woodlands GC. Evolving from Mordialloc golf club to the present Woodlands Golf Club, the club began in 1913.

The challenge of the course can be summed up with one word, sand. Deep, grey sand bunkers. Sand rather than rough a few steps off the fairway. Oh, and greens where the ball would trickle off the edges into, you guessed it, deep bunkers.

Notwithstanding the challenges, it was a great day. The sun shone. Our Australian host were tremendous. And there was the occasional good shot.

Everyone is starting to feel the effects of two plus weeks on the road. Many failed to answer the dinner call, opting instead for an early bedtime. Tomorrow we get to play Kingston Heath, #11 ranked in the world.

Herding 30 travelers, each with at least one large suitcase plus 25 sets of golf travel bags meant two coaches were needed to transport us to the Sydney airport. It seemed most of Australia was on the move as the domestic terminal was packed but somehow we managed to get our entire party, luggage and all, to Melbourne.

It’s a 90 minute flight to Melbourne which is in the state of Victoria. Stepping out of the plane was like walking into an oven. Temperatures here this week are expected to rise into the mid to upper 30’sC (mid to upper 90’sF).

With a population of 5.4 million, it’s a BIG city. We are staying right downtown at a beautiful hotel owned by the Royal Automobile Club Victoria.

There is a 1937 Austin coupe in the lobby highlighting functions of the RACV back in the day.

After a brief respite it was into the red jackets for a short walk to The Australian Club which is one of the iconic social clubs in the city.

Housed in an imposing Victorian building, the club has magnificent rooms full of paintings and architectural flourishes. After having the official team portrait done we did take a few pictures before learning photos were not allowed.

Curiously we were served a delicious Cote de Rhone despite being in the land of world class Shiraz (Syrah for you familiar with the French version). Not really a hardship though.

After the reception a small group wandered off and found a steak restaurant serving Wagyu beef. Paired with a fantastic Barossa Valley Shiraz it was fun way to end a great day.

Tomorrow it’s off to Phillip Island, southeast of the city for a wine tour, beach walk and nature walk through the Koala conservation reserve. The highlight comes at sunset when the penguin parade occurs where, hopefully, thousands of penguins make their way up the beach.

Following a day off for the harbour cruise it was back to the main focus of our trip – golf.

Opened in 1899, Killara golf club is described as being on Sydney’s north shore, 14 km from downtown. It’s in the hills, similar to Pymble GC which we played earlier.

Described as a parkland course the fairways are bordered by giant gum trees. In turn, those trees provided cover for the flocks of cockatoo birds that, while neat to look at, have an incredibly loud screech.

It was a tough walk with the small wheel trolleys but the early leg pain has subsided.

The day ended with a BBQ hosted by the club and another great evening to chat with our new found Aussie friends.

The next day we set off for Manly GC in the north beaches region. Founded in 1903, Manly was one of the four founding clubs of the New South Wales golf association.

Sadly as we arrived, so did the rain. It drizzled, it rained, it poured! We all began our round but over the course of the next few hours, most abandoned and headed indoors. In fact, Mark and his host and one Canadian lady and her host were the only golfers to stick it out and play all 18 holes. We were rewarded for our perseverance (?) with a nice gift from the club.

Those that stopped early found something to pass the time.

Because of the rain the camera never came out so these pictures have been lifted from different sources.

The course is extremely tight in some areas with heavy forested boundaries, lots of water and penalty areas crossing the fairways. Keeping it in play with wet hands and slippery grips was a challenge.

Fortunately it was a red jacket dinner at the club so everyone had a complete change of clothes. Speeches and an exchange of gifts concluded the evening.

Back at the hotel it was organized chaos as everything had to be hung to dry as we’re packing up and heading to Melbourne tomorrow. The forecast there is dry and extremely hot. Fingers crossed.

A day without golf meant a day on the water. Our group enjoyed a three hour tour of the Sydney Harbour (Gilligan Island theme again?).

As you can see the harbour is massive.

We boarded our boat next to the Opera House and headed east (to the right towards the ocean). The captain cruised into each of the bays on the southern shore where we admired some fairly impressive real estate both in terms of architecture and prices.

One of the bays contained the Australian navy shipyards.

The real estate is mind boggling. Anything near the water is multiple millions and starter homes in some neighborhoods begin at $6M. There wasn’t a square foot of space left available.

And of course one has to have a boat anchorage.

We reached the eastern end of the harbour where it empties into the ocean.

Turning westward we paralleled the north shore which is not as built up but still had some impressive homes.

Back under the Harbour bridge with its climbers.

A very enjoyable afternoon on the water learning about the different areas and how they’ve changed in the past few years.

The day ended with dinner on the waterfront near the Opera House with about two thousand of our closest friends (the people and entertainment continues to amaze).

Back to golf tomorrow in the hills in the northern suburbs. Our good weather fairy continues to perform as warm, dry conditions prevail.

Tap the photos to see the full picture.

We are here as part of the Canadian Senior Golf Association tour of Australia cohosted by the New South Wales and Victoria Senior Golf Societies. We will play four different courses in each state over the next two weeks.

Day one was at the Pymble GC, about 45 minutes north of downtown Sydney.

The course was built out in stages on land used to graze dairy cattle and officially opened as a full golf club in 1928.

Those cattle must have had great balance as the land can only be described as hilly. Serious hills, both up and down. Lots of blind shots to greens where only the top of the flag could be seen.

Aside from the elevation changes, the main feature was the unique sculpturing of the bunkers.

It was evident our golf walking fitness was sadly lacking and not helped by the old fashioned small two wheel trolleys that we dragged everywhere. Notwithstanding the physical challenges, it was a good day overall golf wise as Mark was low Canadian and second overall while Mo won the ladies closest-to-the-hole competition.

The following day we moved to The Australian Club which is right in the city., 20 minutes south of the harbour.

This is one of the blue blood courses of Sydney. Opened in 1882, The Australian holds the honour of being the oldest Golf Club in the Commonwealth. Since a complete renovation in 2013 it has hosted the Australian Open six times.

While the start and finish were down/up a hill, for the most part it was serene parkland golf. The turf, rough, and sand, were in immaculate condition. The greens were tough to read but fair.

We were pitted in a match against our Australian hosts who promptly played their best golf of the season. Uh huh. We were waxed. The ladies played a different format and Mo was the top Canadian, finished T3 overall.

The fitness level is still dodgy with sore shins creeping into the mix. At least we had the big two wheel Rickshaws this time.

The camaraderie of meeting some of the Canadians for the first time and interacting with our Australian counterparts has been first class. Looking forward to cruising the Sydney Harbour tomorrow and then it’s on to more golf.

Sunday morning. Great day to get strapped into a safety harness and clamber up the steel structure to the summit of the Sydney Harbour bridge. Why? Why not.

We chose the Summit option which would mean climbing to the flagpoles at the apex of the span.

One other Canadian joined us (did the remaining 33 know something we didn’t?). Our climbing group comprised 13 people from all corners of the English speaking world. The entire operation is a very well oiled machine putting through anywhere from 800 – 1,400 climbers a day.

There’s a sunrise option (4:30 a.m.) and a sunset choice (7:45 p.m.) and a new group every 20 minutes or so. We began our forty minute “training” session just after 11.

You are required to remove any and all items that could possibly fall and they double check using metal detectors. That meant no phones which meant no photos. Wearing a full body jump suit, everything is provided and is clipped on securely. Hat, sunglasses, radio equipment, etc. is attached.

There is an umbilical cord which links the climber to the bridge and as our guide said, we haven’t lost anyone “yet”. They have a small climb section in the ops area which one has to do to confirm they’re listening to the guide then it’s off and upward.

The path includes squeezing along a narrow track past the girders before ascending three vertical ladders stretching 100 feet. Focus on the steps, Don’t look down.

We then emerged into the sunshine and trekked upward.

Higher up we stopped for more photos.

And the views were spectacular.

One last wave and it was time to descend.

We covered 1,332 vertical steps and reached a height of 134 metres (440 feet) above the bay. The round trip took just over two hours although the guide taking photos meant a lot of waiting around.

Back on tera firma, the inevitable tourist shot.

Back to the hotel and a quick change into our reception clothes as we headed to the Royal Sydney Golf Club for cocktails.

This is one of the prestigious clubs in the city but having just undergone $40 M renovation, the club isn’t open for play until the end of March. Pity. It looks very inviting.

A long fulfilling day. Tomorrow we begin our rounds of golf at the Pymble GC. Can hardly wait.

A bit of a blogging gap time wise as we got caught up in joining the Canadian team in Sydney and had some technical difficulties with photos.

On Saturday (our time) we flew south from Cairns (3 hours) and left the hot sticky weather behind. It was, however, the third consecutive day of sunshine there which was nice for the locals.

Successfully navigated the Sydney Airport and retrieved our golf clubs which we had stored there for four days. Interestingly, they distinguish terminals by destinations, not airlines so the domestic and international terminals are a ten minute bus ride apart on opposite sides of the airport. Our biggest fear was the safety of the glass Inukshuk mementos we’ve transported in our golf bags to give to our Australian hosts.

The city is massive and quite hilly. Everything leads down to the water which is swarming with boats, ships and ferries. Our hotel is right down on the harbour front, literally. The famous bridge and even more famous Opera House are right next door.

Most of the Canadian group (16 couples) have arrived as the official program starts tomorrow. We linked up with a few familiar faces and walked down to the waterfront for dinner. It was absolutely hopping with music and young people. Couldn’t help but have thoughts of how mundane the Toronto waterfront is in comparison.

Night fell and the lights came on.

Very idyllic and sufficiently cool to warrant a sweater. What a difference from the morning. Tomorrow is the bridge climb in the morning and a red jacket reception late afternoon. Two very different environments.

Editor’s Note: tap on the thumbnail pictures to see the full shot.

Our lucky weather charm continued today as not only didn’t it rain, the seas were calm as well. In the past three weeks either heavy rain or rough seas were the order of the day so another bullet dodged.

The marina is a 15 minute walk away so we out of the hotel just after 7:00. The humidity had dropped overnight and merely registered seriously uggghhhh!

We had chosen Ocean Freedom GBR Tours because it offered snorkeling (yes) and scuba diving (not for us this time) on a midsize boat and its appointed anchorage was straight off the coast from Cairns.

Along with 48 other holidayers and 10 crew, we headed out to sea for the one hour trip to the dive site. Cue the Gilligan’s Island theme song although our tour was scheduled for eight hours in total.

The sun was already beating down so we quickly secured space on the top deck to maximize the effect of the wind. Oh, and you can never apply too much sunscreen when traveling this close to the equator!

The portion of the reef we went to is 16 Kms (10 miles) offshore and is probably amongst the closest to Cairns. As noted previously, the reef is massive. It’s composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi).

Safety lecture done it was into anti jellyfish suits and geared up with the necessary snorkeling equipment. Our first swim lasted about an hour and is difficult to describe without pictures (we didn’t bring the underwater go pro). Image a densely packed forest with all manner of trees, plants, scrub, bushes, rocks, etc. Thats the reef except it’s all coral. Different shapes, colours, sizes, and like a forest with animals, home to hundreds of different species of fish. It was spectacular.

Recent storms had stirred up the ocean but it was still clear enough to see everything. Occasionally schools of fish would join you just below the surface while others buzzed about in the coral. Literally a colourful aquarium just beneath you.

Some down time on the boat, a buffet lunch and then more snorkeling over a different section of the reef. Again, special.

Back on board we had to figure out how to get out of the suits that were now plastered to our bodies.

Our trip back to Cairns was interrupted by the crew doing a mock man overboard drill – successfully thank goodness.

We traipsed back to our hotel and just beat a massive cloudburst that lasted 10 minutes. Our weather fairy is on the job! Then it was back out to enjoy more of the local cuisine – Mexican, of course.

Tomorrow we fly to Sydney where it’s hot but dry. Fingers crossed our good weather luck travels with us as we’re about to tackle climbing to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Stay tuned.