Nashville Kangaroos Look to Launch "Lucky Roo Raffle" in 2005 !!
Win Your Dream Trip Of A Lifetime To Australia
Story posted February 5, 2005
The Australian Festival Director, Peter Beare, has just returned from a 6 week visit to Australia. With the Nashville Kangaroos looking to launch their annual Lucky Roo Raffle Fundraiser in May 2005 - this is a great time to get a refresher on what it might be like to visit the land down under. The Nashville Kangaroos and the Australian Festival have now awarded 8 round trips to Australia over the last 4 years (2 round trips each year) - and from all accounts each trip has been the trip of a lifetime. The Lucky Roo Raffle which will be launched this May in conjunction with the Australian Festival and will be offering the major prize of a "Dream Trip of a lifetime To Australia for 2" - that will include a full custom planned trip, round trip tickets, accommodation, day tours, event tickets (a complete customized trip down under!). A big thanks to Peter and his partner Vicki Payne for sharing their trip to Australia with us and getting us excited about the possibilities of winning this years trip. 

Festival Director Down Under.....

Visiting Australia (and my family) for the first time since 1997 has indeed been exciting. Coincidently, the last time I visited my home country was the year we founded the Australian Festival, and from the experience of this trip I can see what my motivation would have been. Australia seems to have more to offer than I ever imagined – and we (Vicki has been my traveling partner on this trip) have been exploring lots of new and exciting options and features that will be included in the 2005 Australian Festival.

We have included some pictures that we shot on our trip - as well as some great reference websites that make some great reference material if you are planning a trip. I would like to take this time to remind everyone reading that Nashville Kangaroos will be raffling a "custom" trip for 2 to Australia as this year's official Lucky Roo Raffle Fundraiser – which means you could be following in our footsteps if your lucky number comes up. The flight to Australia is a long one – so we decided to break it up with a 2 day stay in Honolulu. This was a great call (and a good way to break one of the longest flights currently on this earth). Actually, on review I wish we had stayed an extra day. I have been to Hawaii five times – but don't ever recall Honolulu being so pretty, clean, and covered with the most exotic plants I have ever seen. We also climbed Diamondhead, which was awesome, giving breathtaking views on Honolulu – a definite must do if visiting Hawaii. 

[Hawaii Pictures Here - Album One - Album Two] - Reference - http://www.honolulu.com

The next phase was a short (9 hour flight) to Sydney, Australia. The neat thing for those traveling down under is the public transport shows its awesome might immediately on landing at Sydney Airport. We went straight off the plane and onto a train to down town Sydney – and a quick walk and we were all checked in. This trip was a combination work & pleasure trip so I was also pleased to find our hotel with broadband access – and quickly got to work on my client websites. The next two days it was running through Sydney – taking a ferry to Manly Beach and a city bus to Australia's most famous beach – Bondi Beach. Again, one day too short in my book – but we were certainly awed and amazed by the scenery. 

[Sydney Pictures Here - Album One] - Reference - http://www.sydneyaustralia.com/

A train back to Sydney Airport and then off to Melbourne – where my entire family surprised me with a full showing at the airport. Growing up in Melbourne in a family of 6 (3 boys, 1 girl) has left some tremendous memories for me and it was great to visit with my entire family again. My brothers and sisters are all now parents (and maybe even heading into becoming grandparents). My family are all avid sports people (tennis and Australian Football in particular) so it wasn't long before we settled into discussions on the upcoming Australian Open (tennis) – and also the Kangaroos' chances for success in 2005. We also shared details about our lives in Nashville, the Australian Festival, and the development of Australian Football as a sport in the States. My family, Vicki, and myself spent a wonderful Christmas together – and even though it was summer in Australia we had a traditional English Christmas Dinner. 

[Melbourne - Family Christmas Pictures Album One - Album Two ] - Reference - http://www.visitvictoria.com/

Melbourne is a city of around 3 1/5 million people (very big even in US standards) – but a very liveable city surrounded by Port Phillip Bay (and surrounding small mountain ranges). Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria - the second most populated stated in Australia. Vicki immediately fell in love with Melbourne and proclaimed it her favourite Australian city. Without a doubt it is a very heavily European influenced city – with café's on every corner (and pubs of course) – and also many nationalities that now make Melbourne their home. 

After a great Christmas around family and friends – we took a day trip to Kinglake – which is a mountain range around 60 kilometres from Melbourne (north). The weather was a beautiful 25 degrees (around 75 Fahrenheit) – just perfect for the 3 kilometre hike we went on. On the trip to Kinglake it was amazing to see Melbourne suburbia finish and the country side appear around 40 kilometres out. One day I suspect that suburbia will run all the way to Kinglake - but with Australia's low population growth probably not in my lifetime. (Australia's population is around 20 million people, which is tiny compared to other major countries – many not ¼ the size of Australia). We finished the day with some great farm fresh strawberries. 

[Kinglake – Melbourne Pictures- Album One] - Reference - http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=121

Our next and biggest adventure down under was our trip to Queensland and the Sunshine Coast. Vicki and I had debated about flying to Queensland (which has become increasingly less expensive in Australia over the last few years) – but since Vicki had never seen the Australian country side we chose to drive. It is a two day drive each way – so I would only recommend this if your trip was in the 3-4 weeks range! We decided to take the Hume Hwy. to the Newell Hwy., which would take us through the country towns of New South Wales and then through equally rural southern Queensland before heading to the Coast. Of course, our highways in Australia aren't exactly the US Interstate system – with the most of the Newell Hwy. being a two-lane road – but that just added to the excitement of driving on the let hand side of the road (with a right hand drive vehicle). The drive to Queensland was outstanding – seeing some of the prettiest country towns I have ever seen. These towns dotted the highway, and a lot of them were settled a day's travel apart from each other (a day on horse and buggy). I couldn't help but marvel at what life would be like in these towns – and of course being a technology buff – how technology today may make these towns more income liveable than in the past 100 years, in particular with the possibilities of telecommuting over the internet. A highlight of the Newell Hwy. route was going to Parkes in New South Wales. Pending your age – you may remember when a man named Armstrong walked upon the moon. People all over the world watched Apollo 11 land on the moon, but few people know that that broadcast was beamed all around the world from a big satellite dish sitting in the middle of a paddock in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. (A big, big dish!) Due to time and location of the earth and moon, Houston (which was the primary broadcast location) was out of range – and thus Parkes was required to broadcast one of the twentieth century's most famous moments. If you haven't seen the film "The Dish" you need to see it. This was one of Vicki's favourite stops – she just went nuts seeing this place!

[Trip driving to Queensland Pictures - Album One] - Reference - http://www.parkes.nsw.gov.au/

We arrived in Caloundra – our destination on the Sunshine Coast – which is a beautiful coastal city around 150 kilometres north of Brisbane. We were staying at a lovely resort a block from the beach and settled in for 4 days (including New Year's Eve). I actually didn't know much about the Sunshine Coast, but found from statistics that it is sunny around 340 days a year – which of course is a blessing, but is also an issue with European settlers developing skin cancer. Nearly everywhere (including parking lots at supermarkets) there was portable shading to protect you from the sun's rays. This was most noticeable at playgrounds and parks, where all the children's areas are covered. Everybody – but everybody - wears hats as well as screen. Even beach body suits were prevalent. This was really amazing – when I grew up we just didn't have that level of knowledge about the sun's effects, but it was certainly great to see a national campaign that had caught on so well (and don't think for a minute this stops the Aussies from having a great time!). Caloundra was full of cafés, restaurants, fish and chip shops – and some of the prettiest coastal line you will see. I went running along the coast several mornings (yes, really) and cannot think of a more enjoyable thing to do. On New Year's Eve there was a fireworks display on Kings Beach, as the coastal city welcomed 2005.

Reference - Caloundra - http://www.caloundratourism.com.au

Our next big adventure was visiting the "Woodford Folk Festival" – one of Australia's most popular folk festivals that has grown from a concept to a thriving event over the last 20 years. Certainly part of the reason for visiting this event was to get some concepts for the Australian Festival (and so my ace photographer Vicki was taking snap shots fiercely). The Woodford Festival attracted around 150,000 people over its 10-day duration. With strong support from organizers, volunteers, general public, and the Queensland Government, the event has just grown and grown. The festival site (which was moved to in 1994) was a rather barren piece of land about 50 miles inland from the Sunshine Coast. Over the years, the festival property has really been developed – most notably by the planting of around 20,000 trees. This is not just a phenomenon of this festival – all of rural Australia is heavily in the replanting stage (of land that was cleared in the past two centuries for farming). Erosion that has occurred with severe droughts (there is a current 7-year drought) has really made Australia look at the land and begin to restore to its original landscape in attempts to preserve the land for the future. This movement is also happening in the cities with a tremendous amount of native trees being planted. The Woodford Festival was truly impressive with around 6-7 key areas (a little bit like the way our festival is designed). Lots of music, arts and crafts, great food and interesting talks ranging from animal extinction to immigration policy in Australia. To end the Festival I attended the Festival Director's "State of the Festival" presentation – this year's event had seen a 50 percent increase in ticket sales (and a $1,000,000.00 profit!) which superseded all expectation. This Festival had truly hit its mark, but there had been many years of loss and hardship along the way which made their success this year all the sweeter. From what we could gather, festivals are all the rage in Australia today!

On the way to the festival we paid a quick visit to Australia Zoo ("Crikey!"). Yes, the home of the Crocodile Hunter. This was actually a huge place – growing from a small sideshow that Steve Irwin's father ran in the 60's to one of Queensland's largest tourist attractions. Due to our schedule we did not go into the park – but got some good pics of the place (and a bunch of literature to read on the flight home). The Crocodile Hunter was in Los Angeles presenting at G'Day L.A in January 2005 (an event with that promotes Australia to LA). We certainly hope to see him in Nashville sometime in the future!

[Woodford Folk Festival Pictures - Album One] - Reference - Woodford Festival - Australian Zoo

Well, that completed the Queensland part of the trip. We headed back to Melbourne along the Prince's Hwy., which runs along the coast, and stopped off at the Gold Coast – which has grown considerably since my last visit in 1990. Similar to the explosion in Honolulu, high rise buildings were everywhere (with more going up). I must admit the actual beach line could be a little cleaner – but I have seen that with Honolulu in the past. These cities get pounded by visitors each year – and it is a daunting task to maintain a place of that size. I personally think the Gold Coast needs some work – and if you are headed to Queensland – then heading on to the Sunshine Coast is the way to go (but if you like massive amounts of people – then the Gold Coast is it BABY!). On the way back we stopped at a famous country town Gundagai - where the dog sat on the tucker box (actually 5 miles from Gundagai).  Gundagai is close to the Victoria/New South Wales border (really in the middle of now where) but was a typical horse and cart ride from the next town in the 1800's. The story of the dog sitting on the tucker box is one of Australia's oldest and most loved poems (and songs). We spent quite some time here getting information, pictures,  and facts so the next time you come to the Australian Festival you may just be able revisit this famous place.

[Trip back to Melbourne - Album One] - Reference - http://goaustralia.about.com/od/nswsightseeing/a/gundagai2.htm

Back in Melbourne for a week of working (BeareWare) and the arrival of my oldest brother David's first child (at 45!) (with partner Kerry). This was an exciting time for all as we welcomed a new member into our family. After visiting our new niece Ruby, we were off to Rosebud, a beach town located 60 miles from Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula. My parents have a small holiday house a block from the beach which made for our next stop. My bother Tim, his wife Dawn, and their baby Corey were sharing accommodation there – so we all joined in a "gardening" exercise and cleaned up (weeded and turned over) the front garden (the soil was very sandy making weeding a breeze!). Then off to the beach – which on one side of Rosebud is the bay side (safer beaches) – while on the other side of the peninsula is the ocean side (wild and rough). Locations on the peninsula such as Rosebud have become hot spots for residents of Melbourne. Rosebud used to be a day trip from Melbourne with a picnic lunch. It is now developing into a very commercial coastal city. Hopefully it will maintain its old "Aussie charm" while allowing more people to find a piece of property near the ocean. While in Rosebud we worked (of course at several different internet cafés), played tennis, went running on the beach most mornings, swimming, shopping, and generally relaxing. 

[Rosebud Trip Pictures - Album One] - Reference - Rosebud 

After our lovely visit to Rosebud – we were back in Melbourne to complete the final stage of our trip. We also had plenty of work to do back in Melbourne – with clients going live with their new websites (and updates and management to existing clients). We had been set up with a back room office by my sister Rosemary and her I/T husband Phillip – which gave us a great working environment. With the internet today – and portable computers (laptops) we were able to operate a full day's work – half way around the world! We were very grateful to Rosemary and Phillip for setting us up. Australia is 17 hours ahead of Nashville (in the summer) – and 15 hours ahead in the winter. Generally when we finish our work day and go home for dinner – Nashville is starting its day. This did take some getting used to from a communications point of view – but again, the internet and e-mail provided the best communication tool for that purpose. Also, phone calls from Australia to the United States are "cheap as chips" – which was not always the case. My mother reminded me on this trip of a 17-year-old boy that made a lot of phone calls to the States in 1980 (and an $800.00 phone bill that some angry parent had to pay) which really emphasized the cost in those days. Now a call from Australia can be made at the rate of .008 (8/10 of a cent) per minute. This bodes well for Australia operating in the global village both now and in the future. 

During our work week my sister Rosemary gave us some tickets to Australia's grand old tennis centre, Kooyong. Rosemary, her husband Phillip, and daughter Jacquelyn are all tennis umpires –and would be working at these demonstration matches as well as the upcoming Australian Open. This grand old place was built in the 1930's and really has a resemblance to Wimbledon in terms of structural design. Kooyong was the home of Australian Tennis until the 80's when it was recognized that for the Australian Open to remain a viable grand slam event, a new venue was needed. Thus came the development of Flinders Park (now known as Melbourne Park). Kooyong once consisted completely of grass courts but now the main stadium courts are synthetic - the primary surface that tennis is played on world wide. The Kooyong tournament was a warm-up round robin to the Australian Open – and featured the world's number one player, Roger Federer, as well as Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and other some top ten players. We went to the finals day which saw Federer defeat Roddick in the final. Visiting Kooyong was a highlight of the trip for me – the history and elegance of this facility is timeless. I hope that the Kooyong Tennis Club can maintain this event – and keep this fine, magical old stadium open to the public.

[Pictures from Kooyong - Album One] 

The Australian Open is the largest sports event held in Australia. (Yes, that surprised me as well). It attracts around 500,000 fans over the two week event – which supersedes the AFL Grand Final, Rugby League and Union Grand Finals, The Grand Prix and the Melbourne Cup. This has not always been the case – but if ever there was an event to replicate the success of, this is truly the event. The Australian Open is held at Melbourne Park, which was built in the early1980's with the main stadium court being "Rod Laver Arena". Rod Laver Arena has a "retractable roof" that allows for matches to be played both indoors and outdoors (pending the weather). The facility is across the railroad tracks from the MCG – and a half-mile from Downtown Melbourne. Set on the Yarra River, and with downtown Melbourne as a backdrop, Melbourne Park is a phenomenal place to see. Besides Rod Laver Arena, there are 3 other stadium courts. Then, to take this place to the "out of this world" status, they added another stadium "Vodaphone Arena", which is of a similar size area to Rod Laver Arena. These main arenas are used year round for concerts and other sporting events – but having them working together in the Australian Open was a bonanza for the tennis fan. 

Vicki and I attended the Friday daytime session of the first week. Around 30,000 other fans attended with us that day. We roamed from court to court – looking for the best matches – and just enjoying the venue. There was a complete tennis expo going on in one section, plenty of restaurants and café's, and a grand courtyard area which had a big screen to watch the Rod Laver Arena match (if you weren't lucky enough to get in). With brilliant sunshine all day we feasted on the day's great tennis, food, and drink. This year marked the Australian Open's 100 year – and without a doubt tennis is still one of Australia's most popular past times, with vocal crowds cheering on Aussie stars Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik. There was also a large contingency of European fans (all dressed in their countries colours) which gave the Open the atmosphere of the World Cup.

To finish our day we left the tennis - and walked along the Yarra River into downtown Melbourne to finish up at a location called Federation Square (the official Center of Melbourne). A summer music concert was going on (ala Dancing in the District). Melbourne, which is my home town, is a very European city with many nationalities of the world calling it home. It is a city of 3.4 million people (and growing). Originally built with major English influences, Melbourne now has European like cafés on every corner (and a pub – although with regret I must state the café-style pub are actually replacing the great Aussie Pub). Post the English influence the overall flavour of Europe can be found in Melbourne, which has the second largest Greek population in the world (behind Athens) and when combined with many residents of Asian origin, you really have a mini New York multi-cultural population in the city of Melbourne.

[Pictures from the Australian Open and Melbourne - Album One] - Reference - www.australianopen.com - http://www.federationsquare.com.au/

Down to the last few days of our trip - and we still had a bunch of things to fit in, especially visiting with family and friends (and now saying good-bye!). We visited with my Auntie Lorna who lives in close to Melbourne (Brunswick). We had a great visit – and went to her favourite pub (The Normandy Pub in Clifton Hill) to enjoy a "counter lunch". The food at this pub was outstanding – and so was the price! I could not speak highly enough about the general food, and service, and as anyone who has visited Australia would know – we do not tip for waiter service – but I must say the service was great!

After our visit with Auntie Lorna, we went to the Queen Victoria Market (which Vicki enjoyed immensely). A lot of our souvenirs were purchased here – and if you are looking for the best prices in town (and an exciting market place) this is the place to go. Unfortunately due to our over extended counter lunch in Clifton Hill – we got to the Market just before closing. Still got some great deals – as many vendors were closing their stalls for the day. After Vic Market it was on to the Royal Botanical Gardens. These gardens were absolutely breath taking. The amount of variation of plant life was amazing. Even species such as magnolias (from the south eastern United States) were spotted. If you ever wanted to understand the beauty of Australia, the Royal Botanical Gardens are the masterpiece of God's work in an amazing land. Victoria is the "Garden State" in Australia – and no doubt it was named correctly. We spent around 3 hours "oohing and ahhing" – and of course have major plans for our back yard in Nashville after being inspired by these amazing gardens.

Pictures from Visit with Auntie Lorna, and Royal Botanical Gardens - Album One - Reference - http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/visitorinfo

As you may have noticed by now, many of the older structures in the city are named after the Royal Family. Expanding on this, Australia is still under British Sovereignty (in a literal sense) which includes having a Governor General who is appointed by Queen Elizabeth. The Governor General is now a figurehead position, though this was not always the case. In 1974 the Queens appointed Governor General "Fired" our Prime Minister (Gough Whitlam) which help coin the phrase "no job is safe" in Australia. The country is now governed by an elected Prime Minister and we operate a parliamentary system. A vote to become the "Republic of Australia" has been held once to date (with the vote results staying with the British Sovereignty for the time being). The vote for the Republic of Australia will happen again – and one day I believe we will have our British ties removed. The actual spirit of Australia is already one of great independence – but like many commonwealth countries, a strong British influence in our founding and development will have an enduring effect on the country for centuries to come..

As with all trips – ours had to come to an end. We decided appropriately to spend our last day returning to my past (and my family's past) with a trip to a town called Wonthaggi, 100 miles southeast of Melbourne. My father had grown up in this coastal mining town, which today is known as the historic mining capital of Victoria). At the peak of coal usage and production, some 17 million tonnes of coal were mined in 12 separate mines in Wonthaggi and shipped to Melbourne via railroad. My grandfather, Frederick Beare, like most residents, worked in the mines. He passed away in 1928 when my father was only 1 year old, so neither I nor my dad knew him, but visiting the mines was a great way to see what life might have been like for him in the pioneer days. The mines closed ultimately in the late 60's when demand for coal diminished. After stopping at the mines, we went to one of my favourite pubs in Australia – Taberners Hotel (Since 1910) – which to this day has as its main feature the jaw bone of a 74 foot whale that washed up on the Wonthaggi Beach in 1923. They also have a huge stuffed Crocodile in the public bar. We had another great counter meal at Taberners before heading out. Wonthaggi's major boom came in the 20's – but as we did with most coastal and country towns we visited, we stopped by the Real Estate Offices to get a feel for growth – and without a doubt once the Morning Peninsula is all bought up, then Wonthaggi and this coastal area will most likely be the next boom.

Our next stop was at Phillip Island – which is a very small island around 20 miles from Wonthaggi – heading back to Melbourne. This island is a haven of animal life, including the famous fairy penguins which make their home on the south (ocean side) of the island. There is also an excellent Koala Sanctuary located in the middle of the island, and the largest fur seal population in the Australia. My family had spent summer holidays on Phillip Island when I was very young – and then I attended several tennis camps at the Koala Tennis Centre. I always thought Phillip Island was a neat place and enjoyed showing Vicki around for the first time. With a very windswept landscape as a backdrop, the main city of Cowes is as pretty a beach side city as you will see. It has ferries running to the mainland, and has old 1920's architecture in the main shopping centre area. We drove onto the far end of the island, which is now called the Philip Island Penguin Reserve at the end of  the reserve is the "Nobbies". This is right on the point of the island – with wild wind and waves coming from Antarctica. It is always cold and always windy. Through binoculars we could see the seal population – which was amazing. (hundreds of seals). Then we took the walk to see a wave-formed blow hole – and a bunch of fairy penguin burrows. The penguins come in each night to feed their babies – and apparently swim out around 5-10 miles each day looking for food before coming back to their burrows each night. Due to our tight schedule we quickly visited Cowes, and then drove by the Koala Sanctuary. In the past, I have spotted koalas on the side of the road – but no luck this time (much to Vicki's disappointment). Then back on the road to Rosebud to have a final dinner with my parents and family. We had a great visit and a great dinner at the Rosebud RSL (Reserve Servicemen's League). It was tough saying good-bye to my parents, Tricia and John – but with them being both in great health we plan to see each other more often in the future. We then drove back to Melbourne to pack and head back home to Nashville. 

[Pictures from Wonthaggi & Phillip Island - Album One] - Wonthaggi - Phillip Island

We flew to Sydney early the next morning – and had a 12 hour layover (deliberately) so we could spend our last day in Australia sight seeing around the Sydney Harbour. This included walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time – which provided a view that is one of the wonders of the world. We also visited the Sydney Opera House, the Rocks, and the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens (nice but no cigar compared to Melbourne's). I think we must have walked around 10 miles on our last day in Sydney – and flew out late that night. Around 35 hours later we arrived home in Nashville (not so well planned on the way back) – tired but very grateful for such an amazing trip! We had covered around 30,000 miles over the course of the six weeks and the amazing thing was there was so much more to see. Maybe next year!...... - Cheers, Peter

[Pictures from Rosebud & Sydney - Album One]