The trip back and the run up to New Year
The trip back from Mudgee was interesting. We chose a different route through Rylstone, where the first shop we saw advertised " guns and ammo", Zoe was not amused. We did try to sell her on the idea of a 100 acre plot where she could run some chalets, a camping site and a cookery school, whilst David could organise a track for four wheel drive vehicles, but she wasn't interested . We even suggested that she would have plenty of room for horses, but she still wasn't interested. We drove back down Bell's Line of Road, which was very scenic and offered some spectacular views.
We stopped at Mt Tombah, botanical gardens for a photo opportunity before getting home late in the afternoon.
Strangely all of us were very tired and the afternoon and evening passed quietly and watched Salmon Fishing in the Yemen which we all enjoyed.
The last day of the year dawned and Rosemarie and Zoe went off for a facial and a pedicure before the evening. I stayed at home to work on a talk for Tasmania and David went for a surf and then took the dogs out. All in all it was a quiet day.
We were picked up by a limo Zoe had organised and were taken into North Sydney. All the roads to the waterside were closed even at 6.00pm and we had to walk the last 500 metres or so. It was clear even at 6.30 that there would be thousands of people joining in the celebrations. The restaurant, Aqua
Dining was at one end of the old Olympic swimming pool and was right behind the harbour bridge.
A truly spectacular setting.
As luck would have it the restaurant was closed when we arrived but Zoe knew that they would open at 7.00 on the dot, so we spent some 10 minutes or so watching customers come and ring the door bell for admittance only to be told the restaurant would, open in five minutes.
As soon as the doors were opened, we were there, our names were on the list and there was great excitement when on the second name check we were led to a table outside with a clear view of the bridge, looking down on the pool where hundreds of children were swimming. What we don't realise in Britain is that there are two firework displays, one at 9.00pm for the children and one at midnight. The children swimming in the pool had booked seats in the stands to see the 9.00 show after which they had to go home.
Our meal started with tempura courgette flowers stuffed with mozzarella, and a wonderful wine. In fact all the food and wine throughout the evening was wonderful. As Zoe had indicated the swimming stopped at 8.30 and at 9.00 the lights were dimmed before we had the first firework display of the night. In fact if that was all you had been able to see you would have gone home deeply satisfied. After the courgette flowers we had scallops and Moreton Bugs, duck and venison all with superbly chosen wines.
At midnight we were treated to the most fantastic firework display which brought tears to our eyes. It is one thing to see the display on television but quite another to see it first hand. We may never come again for New Year but every time we see the bridge or the fireworks at New Year, we can say, "We were there and had the most wonderful evening." An indelible memory.
After the display and the Happy New Year wishes we left the restaurant, where we had been treated like royalty, the food was delicious and beautifully prepared and the staff we attentive and very friendly. We walked back to where the hire car had dropped us to be picked up for the return journey. To get back to the car we had to make our way through the thousands of people waiting to catch a train home.
We were dropped home at about 1.30 made some phone calls and opened another bottle of wine, which we sat and drank, sitting outside until about 4.00am, another first, you could never sit outside in Cornwall on New Year's Eve in short sleeves.
We had the most fantastic of New Year Eve's, neither of us could have asked for more and we are more than grateful to David and Zoe for giving us this opportunity as a present. We will never forget this very special day in Sydney.
Monday 31 December 2012
Sunday 30 December 2012
Wine tasting in Mudgee
The day began bright and beautiful, like almost every other day in Australia. We enjoyed our breakfasts in the hotel and Terry,our jovial guide, turned up right on time. He did seem a little suprised that there were four of us, but said that we would all fit in his four wheel drive. We climbed aboard and spent some minutes discussing the types of wine we liked. He then took us to our first vineyard which was closed, well these things happen, we headed off for Logan's, a major producer. This was a little way out of town , and was closed until the 2nd January. "Not to worry" said Terry, "I'll take you to a small independent producer." The sign on the gate said "Open" but there was no one at home, so our first three vineyards were all closed. Now it might be me, but if I was running a wine tour I think I might have checked up which vineyards were open. However, Terry was a likeable chap and it was easy to forgive him. Our fourth vineyard, an organic one was open, but only just, the lady in charge was putting up the open sign when we arrived. The place looked like a venue for a jumble sale , but the proprietor was very friendly and we tasted six organic wines and some olive oil. We did buy some oil and some dried apricots but not the wine.
Our next port of call was a vineyard on the other side of town, which had about thirty bottles out to try. I had learnt from our last wine tasting tour that this is almost an impossible task, and left at least 20 out.
Several of the wines were very passable and Zoe ended up buying some.
Onto our third vineyard and one which specialised in Mediterranean grapes, Ian,our host,was very interesting and we tasted Tempranillo , Garnacha, Touriga, several whites and a port. By now we were all dying for some food, having had a successful morning of wine tasting.
So we went off to another vineyard , where David, the proprietor, proved very amiable and had spent several years making wine in Europe. Luckily his wife is quite a good chef and we had a grazing board, sausage rolls, frittata, olives and baked ricotta with bread. This filled the gap but was not enough to sustain us so we ordered another one. This vineyards tasting came with lunch and consisted of four flights of wine, four glasses in each flight, one of which a Petit Verdot, he opened specially for us, and which was a really good wine too. As we paid he very kindly opened for Zoe, who was making a substantial purchase, a bottle of his Zinfandel at $100 a bottle, which was the best wine I tasted all day.
After lunch was over, and all suitably refreshed we went to another vineyard, where we tried some more wines but this time I tried to concentrate only on the wines that Terry recommended. However, I am fairly sure we didn't buy anything. There was avery interesting old wine cellar which was worth looking around.
And so off to another vineyard, the oldest in Mudgee, by now I honestly felt that my palate had gone. However, we tried a few more wines and liked their Durif , of which we bought three . By my reckoning I had now tasted more than 30 wines, which I thought was enough for one day. I had learnt from our tour of the Hunter region to take lots of water with it and to tip out those I didn't like on first taste, but even then it was very wearing. Was it over? No, we headed off to a cheese and wine place, where luckily we tasted cheeses first, and then another four or five wines. We didn't buy any.
We returned to our hotel with our purchases of essential supplies and went to our apartment. Having sat in the cool for a while I felt I had to go for a doze before dinner which I did for about an hour.
We had a really lovely meal in the evening before all of us retired to bed early.
Sometimes, the best present you can give someone is a memory and memories will abound from this exceptional day. It was the very best of presents and Rosemarie and I really enjoyed it, so thank you very much David and Zoe and Emma and Pete, it was a day which will stay long in our memories.
The day began bright and beautiful, like almost every other day in Australia. We enjoyed our breakfasts in the hotel and Terry,our jovial guide, turned up right on time. He did seem a little suprised that there were four of us, but said that we would all fit in his four wheel drive. We climbed aboard and spent some minutes discussing the types of wine we liked. He then took us to our first vineyard which was closed, well these things happen, we headed off for Logan's, a major producer. This was a little way out of town , and was closed until the 2nd January. "Not to worry" said Terry, "I'll take you to a small independent producer." The sign on the gate said "Open" but there was no one at home, so our first three vineyards were all closed. Now it might be me, but if I was running a wine tour I think I might have checked up which vineyards were open. However, Terry was a likeable chap and it was easy to forgive him. Our fourth vineyard, an organic one was open, but only just, the lady in charge was putting up the open sign when we arrived. The place looked like a venue for a jumble sale , but the proprietor was very friendly and we tasted six organic wines and some olive oil. We did buy some oil and some dried apricots but not the wine.
Our next port of call was a vineyard on the other side of town, which had about thirty bottles out to try. I had learnt from our last wine tasting tour that this is almost an impossible task, and left at least 20 out.
Several of the wines were very passable and Zoe ended up buying some.
Onto our third vineyard and one which specialised in Mediterranean grapes, Ian,our host,was very interesting and we tasted Tempranillo , Garnacha, Touriga, several whites and a port. By now we were all dying for some food, having had a successful morning of wine tasting.
So we went off to another vineyard , where David, the proprietor, proved very amiable and had spent several years making wine in Europe. Luckily his wife is quite a good chef and we had a grazing board, sausage rolls, frittata, olives and baked ricotta with bread. This filled the gap but was not enough to sustain us so we ordered another one. This vineyards tasting came with lunch and consisted of four flights of wine, four glasses in each flight, one of which a Petit Verdot, he opened specially for us, and which was a really good wine too. As we paid he very kindly opened for Zoe, who was making a substantial purchase, a bottle of his Zinfandel at $100 a bottle, which was the best wine I tasted all day.
After lunch was over, and all suitably refreshed we went to another vineyard, where we tried some more wines but this time I tried to concentrate only on the wines that Terry recommended. However, I am fairly sure we didn't buy anything. There was avery interesting old wine cellar which was worth looking around.
And so off to another vineyard, the oldest in Mudgee, by now I honestly felt that my palate had gone. However, we tried a few more wines and liked their Durif , of which we bought three . By my reckoning I had now tasted more than 30 wines, which I thought was enough for one day. I had learnt from our tour of the Hunter region to take lots of water with it and to tip out those I didn't like on first taste, but even then it was very wearing. Was it over? No, we headed off to a cheese and wine place, where luckily we tasted cheeses first, and then another four or five wines. We didn't buy any.
We returned to our hotel with our purchases of essential supplies and went to our apartment. Having sat in the cool for a while I felt I had to go for a doze before dinner which I did for about an hour.
We had a really lovely meal in the evening before all of us retired to bed early.
Sometimes, the best present you can give someone is a memory and memories will abound from this exceptional day. It was the very best of presents and Rosemarie and I really enjoyed it, so thank you very much David and Zoe and Emma and Pete, it was a day which will stay long in our memories.
Saturday 29 December 2012
And so to Mudgee
Our Christmas present from David and Zoe was a trip to Mudgee during which Emma and Pete have paid for us to have a wine tour. Obviously collaboration between Zoe and Emma here.
We left Manly at about 10.00 and had a relatively good journey out to the Blue Mountains. However, there were roadworks on the highway, probably just as there are in Cornwall during any holiday period. We stopped for lunch in Leura and went looking for a sandwich shop we had been to before. Leura was absolutely full of tourists, we forget of course that this is the summer holidays, and that the Blue mountains are a major tourist destination.
Having managed to park safely it was off to find t he shop, only to discover that it was no longer there. Luckily finding sandwich shops in Australia is a fairly easy business and we were soon satisfied. Lunch over it was back in the car to Mudgee, all in all a journey of about four hours.
Mudgee had the feeling of a colonial town and reminded us of many of the towns we have seen in America.
We found our hotel easily enough and Zoe had booked us a beautiful place, all four of us staying in a lovely apartment in a converted Victorian hotel. Two bedrooms, a huge lounge, with a six seat dining table, a well equipped kitchen and an enormous bathroom, which has the only double shower I have ever seen. Not just a cubicle big enough for two people but also two shower heads with individual controls.There was also a double spa bath.
After we had moved our bags in, not without some effort I might add,as the master packer always finds it difficult to pack lightly, and our room was up two flights of stairs, we repaired to a local micro brewery where we had a couple of beers in the afternoon sun. The beers were well deserved and much appreciated.
In the evening we went to a local pub, the Oriental hotel. Known locally as the Ori, where we had our evening meal. I was left at the drinks bar with the difficult task of ordering the drinks. The wine we wanted had an unpronounceable Australian name, and as David left to get the food I was left to struggle with name much to the amusement of the bar staff who broke out laughing. My concern was such that I forgot to get the sparkling water I had been instructed to get. So great was the mirth of the serving wenches that when I went back to get a second bottle of wine they started laughing immediately.
Having established that there were four bush fires in the area, and that none of them were threatening the town, we walked back to our hotel and retired to bed. An excellent journey, a wonderful evening and a great start to our time away.
Our Christmas present from David and Zoe was a trip to Mudgee during which Emma and Pete have paid for us to have a wine tour. Obviously collaboration between Zoe and Emma here.
We left Manly at about 10.00 and had a relatively good journey out to the Blue Mountains. However, there were roadworks on the highway, probably just as there are in Cornwall during any holiday period. We stopped for lunch in Leura and went looking for a sandwich shop we had been to before. Leura was absolutely full of tourists, we forget of course that this is the summer holidays, and that the Blue mountains are a major tourist destination.
Having managed to park safely it was off to find t he shop, only to discover that it was no longer there. Luckily finding sandwich shops in Australia is a fairly easy business and we were soon satisfied. Lunch over it was back in the car to Mudgee, all in all a journey of about four hours.
Mudgee had the feeling of a colonial town and reminded us of many of the towns we have seen in America.
We found our hotel easily enough and Zoe had booked us a beautiful place, all four of us staying in a lovely apartment in a converted Victorian hotel. Two bedrooms, a huge lounge, with a six seat dining table, a well equipped kitchen and an enormous bathroom, which has the only double shower I have ever seen. Not just a cubicle big enough for two people but also two shower heads with individual controls.There was also a double spa bath.
After we had moved our bags in, not without some effort I might add,as the master packer always finds it difficult to pack lightly, and our room was up two flights of stairs, we repaired to a local micro brewery where we had a couple of beers in the afternoon sun. The beers were well deserved and much appreciated.
In the evening we went to a local pub, the Oriental hotel. Known locally as the Ori, where we had our evening meal. I was left at the drinks bar with the difficult task of ordering the drinks. The wine we wanted had an unpronounceable Australian name, and as David left to get the food I was left to struggle with name much to the amusement of the bar staff who broke out laughing. My concern was such that I forgot to get the sparkling water I had been instructed to get. So great was the mirth of the serving wenches that when I went back to get a second bottle of wine they started laughing immediately.
Having established that there were four bush fires in the area, and that none of them were threatening the town, we walked back to our hotel and retired to bed. An excellent journey, a wonderful evening and a great start to our time away.
Friday 28 December 2012
Bundeena And Kurnell
It was decided that we would take the dogs to Bundeena where we could walk them on the beach. Bundeena is in the middle of a national park and is a very scenic spot. We spent some little while getting there through the suburbs of Sydney and some more time driving around looking for the right beach. These days, this is achieved by checking on one's mobile phone. In the end the main beach at Bundeena was OK if the dogs were on the lead. Zoe and Rosemarie went off to buy a sandwich for lunch and David and I parked the car with some aplomb, I felt, and walked back down to meet them.
We had lunch in a beautiful spot, under a tree, over looking the beach. After we had eaten we walked the dog the length of the beach admiring the beautiful houses along the beachfront and deciding which one we would like to buy. There were several there that met the bill. If only we had several million dollars!
We then drove to Kurnell Beach where you could drive the car onto the beach and the dogs could roam off the lead. Again another beautiful stretch of sand , unspoilt by development, no shops and no hotels. The dogs had a great time chasing their tennis balls into the sea, although both were a little startled by the crashing of the waves. It is hard to believe that so close to the sprawling metropolis that is Sydney there are are such beautiful and unspoilt beaches. I had Not thought of Sydney being built on several coves along the sea front, but that is exactly what has happened, and for almost all of the journey to Bundeena from Manly we were looking at creeks, or beaches,or sea views. There is a lot to recommend about Sydney.
It was decided that we would take the dogs to Bundeena where we could walk them on the beach. Bundeena is in the middle of a national park and is a very scenic spot. We spent some little while getting there through the suburbs of Sydney and some more time driving around looking for the right beach. These days, this is achieved by checking on one's mobile phone. In the end the main beach at Bundeena was OK if the dogs were on the lead. Zoe and Rosemarie went off to buy a sandwich for lunch and David and I parked the car with some aplomb, I felt, and walked back down to meet them.
We had lunch in a beautiful spot, under a tree, over looking the beach. After we had eaten we walked the dog the length of the beach admiring the beautiful houses along the beachfront and deciding which one we would like to buy. There were several there that met the bill. If only we had several million dollars!
We then drove to Kurnell Beach where you could drive the car onto the beach and the dogs could roam off the lead. Again another beautiful stretch of sand , unspoilt by development, no shops and no hotels. The dogs had a great time chasing their tennis balls into the sea, although both were a little startled by the crashing of the waves. It is hard to believe that so close to the sprawling metropolis that is Sydney there are are such beautiful and unspoilt beaches. I had Not thought of Sydney being built on several coves along the sea front, but that is exactly what has happened, and for almost all of the journey to Bundeena from Manly we were looking at creeks, or beaches,or sea views. There is a lot to recommend about Sydney.
Thursday 27 December 2012
Boxing Day Blues
What is about Boxing Day that makes it a little depressing? Is it after days if not weeks of preparation and planning , it is suddenly all over. Christmas has passed for another year, the presents are mainly opened , the major meal has been sweated over, cooked majestically and then eaten. After which there are copious comments praising the chef, thank yous for presents, hangovers to accommodate and a general feeling of lethargy that creeps in, unwanted and unasked for.
If any of this is true it was certainly reflective of the spirit of Manly on Boxing Day.We all woke feeling tired and reflective. There was certainly no rush to get up and get going. When we did there was major work to be done, food to put away, general detritus to be cleared, washing up and tables to be moved. After all that had been done we went out to see the star of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race from Tania Park, along with a couple of thousand other people. Apparently, this is a very popular pastime on Boxing Day in Sydney.
The sight of the fleet acting out through the heads which directly in front of us was something to see. The coloured the sea and sky, the wind, the excitement of the crowd, the flotilla of small ships which lined the route, and the general setting makes it a complete spectacle. I have seen the start of other yacht races out of Plymouth, but they haven't got the setting that Sydney Harbour has and that makes the spectacle.
After the boats had departed we returned home for lunch and in the afternoon almost all of us had a snooze if not a proper nap. In the evening we watched an Australian film called "The Sapphires" about an all girl aborigine group, who sung in Vietnam for the Australian and American troops. I thought it was an excellent film, which raised all sorts of issues, about the treatment of aborigines, racism in both Australia and America and it also had some very good music in it.a very tired quartet of people then made their way to bed. A sunny Boxing day which in its own way was very memorable.
What is about Boxing Day that makes it a little depressing? Is it after days if not weeks of preparation and planning , it is suddenly all over. Christmas has passed for another year, the presents are mainly opened , the major meal has been sweated over, cooked majestically and then eaten. After which there are copious comments praising the chef, thank yous for presents, hangovers to accommodate and a general feeling of lethargy that creeps in, unwanted and unasked for.
If any of this is true it was certainly reflective of the spirit of Manly on Boxing Day.We all woke feeling tired and reflective. There was certainly no rush to get up and get going. When we did there was major work to be done, food to put away, general detritus to be cleared, washing up and tables to be moved. After all that had been done we went out to see the star of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race from Tania Park, along with a couple of thousand other people. Apparently, this is a very popular pastime on Boxing Day in Sydney.
The sight of the fleet acting out through the heads which directly in front of us was something to see. The coloured the sea and sky, the wind, the excitement of the crowd, the flotilla of small ships which lined the route, and the general setting makes it a complete spectacle. I have seen the start of other yacht races out of Plymouth, but they haven't got the setting that Sydney Harbour has and that makes the spectacle.
After the boats had departed we returned home for lunch and in the afternoon almost all of us had a snooze if not a proper nap. In the evening we watched an Australian film called "The Sapphires" about an all girl aborigine group, who sung in Vietnam for the Australian and American troops. I thought it was an excellent film, which raised all sorts of issues, about the treatment of aborigines, racism in both Australia and America and it also had some very good music in it.a very tired quartet of people then made their way to bed. A sunny Boxing day which in its own way was very memorable.
Tuesday 25 December 2012
Christmas in Manly
Christmas Eve was quiet and very enjoyable, we walked the dogs on the beach and loved the sunshine. In the evening we watched Miracle on 34th Street just to get ourselves into the Christmas spirit. Rosemarie got involved with tracking Santa's journey around the world checking every 10 minutes or so that he was making satisfactory progress. I also had the normal problem of presents being demanded before we had even got to midnight. We were in bed before midnight ht to make sure Santa would come. Rosemarie and I had agreed not to give each other presents this year and before I even got into bed I was told in no uncertain terms that if there was a surprise for her on Christmas Day I would be in deep trouble.
Christmas started at about 8.00 am when I got up to make coffee, Zoe had been up since 6.00am doing various jobs. After we were up and dressed we had some breakfast before opening our presents. Rosemarie and I felt very special.
After presents people began to arrive and David and I moved tables to create a large dining area as 10 were invited to dinner. Daiquiris were made for those that wanted them and by 2.00 pm all had arrived. Dinner was superb, a seafood starter, comprising scampi, prawns, oysters and cold meats for those who didn't like fish. Main course, beef marinaded in Soy sauce and ginger, turkey roll and ham, accompanied by cold vegetables, and potato salad and tomatoes with mozzarella and basil. Pudding was a choice of trifle or small Christmas pudding.
Unfortunately for us all it rained all day and fairly heavily too, although it was slightly warmer than Cornwall.
In the period after dinner we played a game called Logos which was a little difficult for us as several of the questions referred to Australian brands.However, we played competitively and helped by a resident Australian on our team won two games out of three, by this time it was late in the evening and calls were made to family at home.
Rosemarie and I have never been away from home for Christmas before and this was a very special one for us. It is several years since Rosemarie and David have been together at Christmas and it was a joy to see.
We retired to bed feeling that we had experienced a very special day indeed.
Christmas Eve was quiet and very enjoyable, we walked the dogs on the beach and loved the sunshine. In the evening we watched Miracle on 34th Street just to get ourselves into the Christmas spirit. Rosemarie got involved with tracking Santa's journey around the world checking every 10 minutes or so that he was making satisfactory progress. I also had the normal problem of presents being demanded before we had even got to midnight. We were in bed before midnight ht to make sure Santa would come. Rosemarie and I had agreed not to give each other presents this year and before I even got into bed I was told in no uncertain terms that if there was a surprise for her on Christmas Day I would be in deep trouble.
Christmas started at about 8.00 am when I got up to make coffee, Zoe had been up since 6.00am doing various jobs. After we were up and dressed we had some breakfast before opening our presents. Rosemarie and I felt very special.
After presents people began to arrive and David and I moved tables to create a large dining area as 10 were invited to dinner. Daiquiris were made for those that wanted them and by 2.00 pm all had arrived. Dinner was superb, a seafood starter, comprising scampi, prawns, oysters and cold meats for those who didn't like fish. Main course, beef marinaded in Soy sauce and ginger, turkey roll and ham, accompanied by cold vegetables, and potato salad and tomatoes with mozzarella and basil. Pudding was a choice of trifle or small Christmas pudding.
Unfortunately for us all it rained all day and fairly heavily too, although it was slightly warmer than Cornwall.
In the period after dinner we played a game called Logos which was a little difficult for us as several of the questions referred to Australian brands.However, we played competitively and helped by a resident Australian on our team won two games out of three, by this time it was late in the evening and calls were made to family at home.
Rosemarie and I have never been away from home for Christmas before and this was a very special one for us. It is several years since Rosemarie and David have been together at Christmas and it was a joy to see.
We retired to bed feeling that we had experienced a very special day indeed.
Sunday 23 December 2012
The run up to Christmas
The last two days have been fairly quiet as the last minute preparations for Christmas take place. It is also the first two days of David and Zoe's holiday and there is the inevitable winding down that has to take place.
On Saturday we had a very quiet day and there was much discussion about whether or not we would go to an open air carol service called Carols in the Domain. In the end we decided not to go and to watch the event on television , this proved to be a wise choice as apparently they were turning people away. We ended up watching the event on TV and all of us were very glad we didn't go. It was awful in its own crassness. In fact it was so bad we didn't even watch the end of it. The co-hosts were almost amateurish in their presentation and it was a bit like watching a second rate Eurovision contest, without Terry Wogan doing the commentary. We were all so tired that we went to bed before the end of the thing.
What is about Australia which makes you so tired? Is it the fresh air? Is it sitting around outside with the odd glass of wine? Who can say?
Sunday we took the dogs to the beach and Zoe took her paddle board. Rosemarie went in her swimming costume and very bravely had a go on the paddle board, ably assisted by Zoe. She managed to stand up and do about four or five strokes before she fell off, but it was a very brave effort and I was proud of her. She returned to the shore brimming with excitement and confidence, it was lovely to see, and yes before you ask, we do have photographic evidence of this voyage of discovery.
This along with the wrapping of Christmas presents and friends coming around for drinks took up the whole day.Drinks in the afternoon sun is avery civilised affair and is something we have difficulty organising in England due to the unpredictability of the weather, but here , due to severe thirst and a remarkably predictable weather pattern any day can almost be guaranteed to be fine and therefore drinks outside is a given.
The last two days have been fairly quiet as the last minute preparations for Christmas take place. It is also the first two days of David and Zoe's holiday and there is the inevitable winding down that has to take place.
On Saturday we had a very quiet day and there was much discussion about whether or not we would go to an open air carol service called Carols in the Domain. In the end we decided not to go and to watch the event on television , this proved to be a wise choice as apparently they were turning people away. We ended up watching the event on TV and all of us were very glad we didn't go. It was awful in its own crassness. In fact it was so bad we didn't even watch the end of it. The co-hosts were almost amateurish in their presentation and it was a bit like watching a second rate Eurovision contest, without Terry Wogan doing the commentary. We were all so tired that we went to bed before the end of the thing.
What is about Australia which makes you so tired? Is it the fresh air? Is it sitting around outside with the odd glass of wine? Who can say?
Sunday we took the dogs to the beach and Zoe took her paddle board. Rosemarie went in her swimming costume and very bravely had a go on the paddle board, ably assisted by Zoe. She managed to stand up and do about four or five strokes before she fell off, but it was a very brave effort and I was proud of her. She returned to the shore brimming with excitement and confidence, it was lovely to see, and yes before you ask, we do have photographic evidence of this voyage of discovery.
This along with the wrapping of Christmas presents and friends coming around for drinks took up the whole day.Drinks in the afternoon sun is avery civilised affair and is something we have difficulty organising in England due to the unpredictability of the weather, but here , due to severe thirst and a remarkably predictable weather pattern any day can almost be guaranteed to be fine and therefore drinks outside is a given.
Saturday 22 December 2012
A quiet day in Sydney
The day was spent at David and Zoe's doing various little jobs. We caught up with some e mails made Zoe lunch as she was working at home and polished David's guitar again. The excitement began when we left at 4.00pm to go into Sydney to a restaurant where Zoe and David had booked a meal.
The journey on the ferry was lovely, as was the walk into the Rocks area where we had gone to see the night markets. Unfortunately we were a little early, the markets didn't start until 6.30 and we were there just gone five. This matter was easily resolved by Zoe who suggested a glass of wine and as she was a little hungry a small snack. So we went to a small wine bar and ordered some wine and a taster plate. At this point David joined us which was great, but we were still too early so we had to have another glass of wine.
After this we walked around the markets which David and Zoe were a little disappointed about as they were a little smaller than last year. Rosemarie and I still enjoyed them and the walk around the Rocks area. All too soon it was time to walk off for our meal.
On the way to the restaurant we saw Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman who were at the premiere of Les Miserables in Sydney, they were all of seventy five yards from us. Big thrills all around.
The restaurant was in a shopping mall and you had to enter it through a clothes shop which was a bit odd, but of course if you needed a new dress for the meal this was the place to go.
By this time I needed to visit the toilet and asked where they were, to be told that they were outside the shop , just to the left. Off I went, but for a little while I couldn't find them. They were off to the right about fifty metres away, I felt a little better on my return to find David looking for them on the left side.
The meal was very interesting , fish cerviche for the first course which I did manage to eat, then we had chicken cut into two centimetre rounds and served with crisp chicken skin and vegetables.
The next course was veal which was fantastic but a little spoilt by a large dollop of tuna mousse in the middle. I did try it twice but found it too strong so I was then forced to separate it form my meat and veg, with the result that I ate all around it. The end result was that the tuna mousse was left in the middle of the plate completely deserted. When the waitress came to collect the plates she asked me why I had left it and I replied that I didn't like tuna, which seemed fair enough to me. Se then told me that it did have a strong taste.
By this time I needed to go to the toilet again and left the table. When I got to the shop door the door was closed. I eventually found a button to open the door but as soon as I stepped out I knew I was in trouble as there was no button on the other side to get back in.
To add insult to injury the mens' toilets were shut so I had to use the disabled toilet, when I got back to the shop door I couldn't get in and was forced like some idiot to mime eating actions to a shop girl inside, she clearly thought I was the local lunatic and started laughing so I was forced to repeat the action at which point she signalled that I should go around to the left and ther I found another entrance to the shop /restaurant, this led into a corridor which looked like a medieval armourers ' as it had chain mail curtains all along the corridor, which had appeared by magic in the time it had taken me to go to the loo and perform my mimes.
Back at table we had pudding based around macadamia nuts which was very tasty. The whole meal was a real experience and we were very grateful to David and Zoe for organising it, it so rare that we get a chance to eat a meal like that.
After the meal we all decided that we might not go to the restaurant again but hat it had been a very interesting experience.
The journey home was also interesting as we got a taxi and the driver spent almost the whole journey on the phone talking to someone in Sri Lankan or Urdu. We all decided that he would get no tip and that is exactly waht happened.
So a quiet day, a great meal, and an interesting ride home, all in all a good day.
The day was spent at David and Zoe's doing various little jobs. We caught up with some e mails made Zoe lunch as she was working at home and polished David's guitar again. The excitement began when we left at 4.00pm to go into Sydney to a restaurant where Zoe and David had booked a meal.
The journey on the ferry was lovely, as was the walk into the Rocks area where we had gone to see the night markets. Unfortunately we were a little early, the markets didn't start until 6.30 and we were there just gone five. This matter was easily resolved by Zoe who suggested a glass of wine and as she was a little hungry a small snack. So we went to a small wine bar and ordered some wine and a taster plate. At this point David joined us which was great, but we were still too early so we had to have another glass of wine.
After this we walked around the markets which David and Zoe were a little disappointed about as they were a little smaller than last year. Rosemarie and I still enjoyed them and the walk around the Rocks area. All too soon it was time to walk off for our meal.
On the way to the restaurant we saw Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman who were at the premiere of Les Miserables in Sydney, they were all of seventy five yards from us. Big thrills all around.
The restaurant was in a shopping mall and you had to enter it through a clothes shop which was a bit odd, but of course if you needed a new dress for the meal this was the place to go.
By this time I needed to visit the toilet and asked where they were, to be told that they were outside the shop , just to the left. Off I went, but for a little while I couldn't find them. They were off to the right about fifty metres away, I felt a little better on my return to find David looking for them on the left side.
The meal was very interesting , fish cerviche for the first course which I did manage to eat, then we had chicken cut into two centimetre rounds and served with crisp chicken skin and vegetables.
The next course was veal which was fantastic but a little spoilt by a large dollop of tuna mousse in the middle. I did try it twice but found it too strong so I was then forced to separate it form my meat and veg, with the result that I ate all around it. The end result was that the tuna mousse was left in the middle of the plate completely deserted. When the waitress came to collect the plates she asked me why I had left it and I replied that I didn't like tuna, which seemed fair enough to me. Se then told me that it did have a strong taste.
By this time I needed to go to the toilet again and left the table. When I got to the shop door the door was closed. I eventually found a button to open the door but as soon as I stepped out I knew I was in trouble as there was no button on the other side to get back in.
To add insult to injury the mens' toilets were shut so I had to use the disabled toilet, when I got back to the shop door I couldn't get in and was forced like some idiot to mime eating actions to a shop girl inside, she clearly thought I was the local lunatic and started laughing so I was forced to repeat the action at which point she signalled that I should go around to the left and ther I found another entrance to the shop /restaurant, this led into a corridor which looked like a medieval armourers ' as it had chain mail curtains all along the corridor, which had appeared by magic in the time it had taken me to go to the loo and perform my mimes.
Back at table we had pudding based around macadamia nuts which was very tasty. The whole meal was a real experience and we were very grateful to David and Zoe for organising it, it so rare that we get a chance to eat a meal like that.
After the meal we all decided that we might not go to the restaurant again but hat it had been a very interesting experience.
The journey home was also interesting as we got a taxi and the driver spent almost the whole journey on the phone talking to someone in Sri Lankan or Urdu. We all decided that he would get no tip and that is exactly waht happened.
So a quiet day, a great meal, and an interesting ride home, all in all a good day.
Thursday 20 December 2012
A day of bits and pieces.
As we're detailed for cooking the dinner we had to go to the shops for essential supplies. This entailed us making a trip to the delightfully named Warringah Mall. So two days in a row have I broken that personal promise not to go shopping in the last few days before Christmas. Parking was a complete nightmare . We ended up on the roof which under the Australian sun is no joke.
On the way to the supermarket we passed a Specsavers and as Rosemarie needed her sunglasses adjusting we went in. They were very accommodating and dealt with issue speedily and with great charm. rosemarie was very pleased.
Before we even got to the supermarket we had to go to a shoe shop. Had is the appropriate term here. Apparently Rosemarie needed a pair of shoes with heels for Christmas. These were duly purchased, and even if they have to be posted home before we weave Sydney, Rosemarie is much happier
The supermarket shopping itself was fairly easy and after that we went to Dan Murphy's to buy David and Zoe some wine and beer for Christmas.
We did meet rather an odd couple in the lift on the way up to our car. We started our ascent from the ground floor and picked these people up on floor one, I told them we were going up and they said they wanted to go to Woolworth's, they got into the lift with us and up we went to floor P (parking) where they got out of the lift looking for Woolies, we told them it was awaking floor and that they need to go down and with some difficulty persuaded them back into the lift, where we pointed out on the display that Woolworth's was on the ground floor. Up we went again to floor R (roof parking) and once again they tried to get out of the lift looking for their destination, by now Rosemarie was very concerned and literally escorted them back into the lift. Meanwhile I was holding the lift doors open and once they were safely back inside pushed the G button for them. We told them, rather patronisingly I thought that when they got to the Ground floor they needed to ask someone where Woolworth's was. As the lift had two floors where it could stop on the way down, they may never have reached their destination, and may yet still be wandering the corridors of Warringah Mall.
When we returned home we did some gardening, got the dinner ready and cleaned David's guitar.Rosemarie spent a very happy hour playing with Tiger and Roly in the back garden, whilst I got on and cooked the tea. A picture of domestic bliss. I can almost see us getting a dog journey retirement, almost but not quite.
We had a quiet dinner and enjoyed a lovely glass of scotch to end the evening,
As we're detailed for cooking the dinner we had to go to the shops for essential supplies. This entailed us making a trip to the delightfully named Warringah Mall. So two days in a row have I broken that personal promise not to go shopping in the last few days before Christmas. Parking was a complete nightmare . We ended up on the roof which under the Australian sun is no joke.
On the way to the supermarket we passed a Specsavers and as Rosemarie needed her sunglasses adjusting we went in. They were very accommodating and dealt with issue speedily and with great charm. rosemarie was very pleased.
Before we even got to the supermarket we had to go to a shoe shop. Had is the appropriate term here. Apparently Rosemarie needed a pair of shoes with heels for Christmas. These were duly purchased, and even if they have to be posted home before we weave Sydney, Rosemarie is much happier
The supermarket shopping itself was fairly easy and after that we went to Dan Murphy's to buy David and Zoe some wine and beer for Christmas.
We did meet rather an odd couple in the lift on the way up to our car. We started our ascent from the ground floor and picked these people up on floor one, I told them we were going up and they said they wanted to go to Woolworth's, they got into the lift with us and up we went to floor P (parking) where they got out of the lift looking for Woolies, we told them it was awaking floor and that they need to go down and with some difficulty persuaded them back into the lift, where we pointed out on the display that Woolworth's was on the ground floor. Up we went again to floor R (roof parking) and once again they tried to get out of the lift looking for their destination, by now Rosemarie was very concerned and literally escorted them back into the lift. Meanwhile I was holding the lift doors open and once they were safely back inside pushed the G button for them. We told them, rather patronisingly I thought that when they got to the Ground floor they needed to ask someone where Woolworth's was. As the lift had two floors where it could stop on the way down, they may never have reached their destination, and may yet still be wandering the corridors of Warringah Mall.
When we returned home we did some gardening, got the dinner ready and cleaned David's guitar.Rosemarie spent a very happy hour playing with Tiger and Roly in the back garden, whilst I got on and cooked the tea. A picture of domestic bliss. I can almost see us getting a dog journey retirement, almost but not quite.
We had a quiet dinner and enjoyed a lovely glass of scotch to end the evening,
Wednesday 19 December 2012
A day with the beautiful people.
Today we were going going to the northern beaches but David and Zoe persuaded us that we should go to an iconic site in Sydney, the majestic Bondi Beach. This is a land of beautiful people who live sybaritic lives. The sun was shining and the beach itself was relatively full of young people all practising a form of sun worship. We parked at one end of the beach and paid 4 dollars to park for an hour, which we felt was a little high, but this was an iconic site. We walked along the esplanade feeling a tad on the old side. However, there is nothing quite so odd as watching fifty something g men running up and down the beach trying to maintain their six packs as well as their tan.
The beach itself is everything we were led to believe at school, golden sands, deep blue sea, fit life savers and surfers. The waves were crashing in at one end of the beach and the surfers seemed to be enjoying themselves.
This is in short the Australian dream that we were promised in the days of the ten pounds assisted passage , sand sun, warm seas and beautiful bodies.
After Bondi we made our way to Coogee beach where we had lunch. Another beautiful beach with high cliffs which we walked along after lunch.The town council had very kindly put up white railings along the cliff edge with clear notices telling people the cliff edges were unstable. This did not deter some Australians from climbing over the ail and sitting right on the edge. Now I am all for taking the odd risk but when we eventually got a sideways look along the cliffs it was very clear that a large part of the cliffs had fallen away fairly recently. This rather persuaded us that the edge was not safe.
A little further around the cliff we came across a party of youngsters who were jumping fifty feet off the cliff into a pool of water surrounded by rocks. They wer edging this with the casualness of youth, no worries, no concerns and no thought of danger.
After Coogee we drove to Bronte another picturesque beach which shelved a little more steeply.
By this time it was time to head home. Our journey home was not helped by my complete inability to follow the very clear signals that the car's sat nav system was giving us.the situation was not helped whenI decided to argue withe trip's navigator who firmly told me that I was wrong and that I needed to listen to her more carefully.
The mood darkened when having gone through the tunnel and moving onto the Military Road the sat nav decided that we were heading in the wrong direction and tried unsuccessfully to get us to turn left into a one way road. This then entered the "turn around when possible" phase , followed by do a "u turn when it is safe to do so" chapter, followed by "turn left and left again " until we had reached the point where we could take no more and turned the thing off. As we had no map this presented us with another problem and it took us a a little while to find our way back to David and Zoe's. it would be fair to say that tempers were a little fraught when we eventually got home.
The evening was very relaxing and for some reason, so far unexplained to me we appeared to get through four bottles of wine.the chapter of the book I read in bed needs to be retread tonight.
Today we were going going to the northern beaches but David and Zoe persuaded us that we should go to an iconic site in Sydney, the majestic Bondi Beach. This is a land of beautiful people who live sybaritic lives. The sun was shining and the beach itself was relatively full of young people all practising a form of sun worship. We parked at one end of the beach and paid 4 dollars to park for an hour, which we felt was a little high, but this was an iconic site. We walked along the esplanade feeling a tad on the old side. However, there is nothing quite so odd as watching fifty something g men running up and down the beach trying to maintain their six packs as well as their tan.
The beach itself is everything we were led to believe at school, golden sands, deep blue sea, fit life savers and surfers. The waves were crashing in at one end of the beach and the surfers seemed to be enjoying themselves.
This is in short the Australian dream that we were promised in the days of the ten pounds assisted passage , sand sun, warm seas and beautiful bodies.
After Bondi we made our way to Coogee beach where we had lunch. Another beautiful beach with high cliffs which we walked along after lunch.The town council had very kindly put up white railings along the cliff edge with clear notices telling people the cliff edges were unstable. This did not deter some Australians from climbing over the ail and sitting right on the edge. Now I am all for taking the odd risk but when we eventually got a sideways look along the cliffs it was very clear that a large part of the cliffs had fallen away fairly recently. This rather persuaded us that the edge was not safe.
A little further around the cliff we came across a party of youngsters who were jumping fifty feet off the cliff into a pool of water surrounded by rocks. They wer edging this with the casualness of youth, no worries, no concerns and no thought of danger.
After Coogee we drove to Bronte another picturesque beach which shelved a little more steeply.
By this time it was time to head home. Our journey home was not helped by my complete inability to follow the very clear signals that the car's sat nav system was giving us.the situation was not helped whenI decided to argue withe trip's navigator who firmly told me that I was wrong and that I needed to listen to her more carefully.
The mood darkened when having gone through the tunnel and moving onto the Military Road the sat nav decided that we were heading in the wrong direction and tried unsuccessfully to get us to turn left into a one way road. This then entered the "turn around when possible" phase , followed by do a "u turn when it is safe to do so" chapter, followed by "turn left and left again " until we had reached the point where we could take no more and turned the thing off. As we had no map this presented us with another problem and it took us a a little while to find our way back to David and Zoe's. it would be fair to say that tempers were a little fraught when we eventually got home.
The evening was very relaxing and for some reason, so far unexplained to me we appeared to get through four bottles of wine.the chapter of the book I read in bed needs to be retread tonight.
Christmas shopping in Sydney
One of the great delights in life is the annual Christmas shop. Normally this demands a trip to Exeter but this year being in the Antipodes we have to make a special trip to the heart of Sydney.
The first two parts of the journey are marvellous, Zoe drops us into Manly right opposite the ferry terminal and then we catch the Manly ferry into Circular Quay. The ferry ride must be one of thebest journeys in the world. The view of the bridge and the opera house as you turn around the head is without doubt worth the trip. I can't imagine what it must be like to use this very day to commute but I think like all commuter journeys it must become passé after a time.
We had decided to sit at the front of the ferry, but rather unsurprisingly so had almost every one else. Rosemarie moved at a sedate pace whilst I was barged out of the way by a couple who looked decidedly Korean. The man managed to get past me but I held my ground valiantly to fight the wife off. Rosemarie was blissfully unaware of all this but did manage to cut the chap up at the door to the outside and therefore he had to wait for her. I did mange to call out to her to save two seats and she duly obliged.
Sydney itself was rather busy, I had thought the Xmas spirit had really entered in Australian life, but once again I was just being naive. The shops and the streets were jam packed with the normal rush you would find in any English city on the 19th December. I have a philosophy which has stood me in good stead for the last twenty years at least and that is I do not go shopping for Christmas in the last week before Xmas. However, this too had to be put to one side as we had nothing for David and Zoe.
My general mood might have been slightly more amenable had we got any idea what we wanted to purchase. David and Zoe had very kindly told us where to go in Sydney and so like the good people we are we duly went there.
I have to say it was not necessarily one of the nicest or most pleasurable experiences of my life , as we trudged from shop to shop, but I was told in no uncertain terms that we couldn't return empty handed.
All I can say here is that in the end, we found something we could both agree on which seemed to match the bill. David and Zoe both read this blog, and therefore it would divulge gargantuan secrets if I was to say what we did purchase, and my life might not be worth living over the Christmas period.
We did have a lovely lunch of Falafel rolls in a food court which were very tasty and as a reward for being a good boy I was allowed both a beer on the quay before we left, dreadfully expensive, and a pint when we got back to Manly in my favourite micro brewery in all of Australia so far. The summer ale at the Four Pines is well worth trying.
The very lovely Zoe came and picked us up and asked me if we had been to the gardens, I replied we had seen no gardens, and the next question was "had we had a nice day?" The answer to which is "Well we shopped!!!"
Zoe cooked a crab for tea and had sought me prawns which was really nice of her so we had a beautiful meal and after the four bottles of wine the previous night only one. We were all a little tired and I was safely tucked up in bed by 10.30. Truly a day to remember.
One of the great delights in life is the annual Christmas shop. Normally this demands a trip to Exeter but this year being in the Antipodes we have to make a special trip to the heart of Sydney.
The first two parts of the journey are marvellous, Zoe drops us into Manly right opposite the ferry terminal and then we catch the Manly ferry into Circular Quay. The ferry ride must be one of thebest journeys in the world. The view of the bridge and the opera house as you turn around the head is without doubt worth the trip. I can't imagine what it must be like to use this very day to commute but I think like all commuter journeys it must become passé after a time.
We had decided to sit at the front of the ferry, but rather unsurprisingly so had almost every one else. Rosemarie moved at a sedate pace whilst I was barged out of the way by a couple who looked decidedly Korean. The man managed to get past me but I held my ground valiantly to fight the wife off. Rosemarie was blissfully unaware of all this but did manage to cut the chap up at the door to the outside and therefore he had to wait for her. I did mange to call out to her to save two seats and she duly obliged.
Sydney itself was rather busy, I had thought the Xmas spirit had really entered in Australian life, but once again I was just being naive. The shops and the streets were jam packed with the normal rush you would find in any English city on the 19th December. I have a philosophy which has stood me in good stead for the last twenty years at least and that is I do not go shopping for Christmas in the last week before Xmas. However, this too had to be put to one side as we had nothing for David and Zoe.
My general mood might have been slightly more amenable had we got any idea what we wanted to purchase. David and Zoe had very kindly told us where to go in Sydney and so like the good people we are we duly went there.
I have to say it was not necessarily one of the nicest or most pleasurable experiences of my life , as we trudged from shop to shop, but I was told in no uncertain terms that we couldn't return empty handed.
All I can say here is that in the end, we found something we could both agree on which seemed to match the bill. David and Zoe both read this blog, and therefore it would divulge gargantuan secrets if I was to say what we did purchase, and my life might not be worth living over the Christmas period.
We did have a lovely lunch of Falafel rolls in a food court which were very tasty and as a reward for being a good boy I was allowed both a beer on the quay before we left, dreadfully expensive, and a pint when we got back to Manly in my favourite micro brewery in all of Australia so far. The summer ale at the Four Pines is well worth trying.
The very lovely Zoe came and picked us up and asked me if we had been to the gardens, I replied we had seen no gardens, and the next question was "had we had a nice day?" The answer to which is "Well we shopped!!!"
Zoe cooked a crab for tea and had sought me prawns which was really nice of her so we had a beautiful meal and after the four bottles of wine the previous night only one. We were all a little tired and I was safely tucked up in bed by 10.30. Truly a day to remember.
Tuesday 18 December 2012
Unpacking
As we are now staying at David and Zoe's, the master packer has had a chance or rather an opportunity to display her unpacking skills. There is nothing quite like seeing the bottom of a suitcase you haven't seen for two months.
The thrill of having proper drawers to put things in and a wardrobe large enough to hang things up in presented too great a temptation and so we are now completely unpacked.
For me it creates a major problem in that I have to find my clothes and belongings in drawers that have been allocated to me. As I took no part in the whole process I can not complain.
So unpacking and doing the washing takes almost all of one morning,still we have been travelling for so long that it is almost a pleasure to see all of our belongings again.
After the joys of unpacking we borrowed Zoe's car and headed off to reacquaint ourselves with Manly . It hasn't changed much since last year! We wandered into a supermarket and purchased items we badly needed, deodorant, shampoo and a new sponge for Rosemarie. This is not to say that we have been unclean but rather that we have just run out.We walked down to the beach and watched the surfers for a while and generally we were happy to be back, it almost felt a little like coming home.
After David and Zoe returned home we took the two dogs down to the beach to exercise them and had a quiet evening.
In general it doesn't quite seem to be Christmas , we see Father Christmases and Christmas decorations up, David and Zoe have a tree up and flashing lights outside but the weather is not conducive to putting one in the Christmas spirit. Neither of us have been away from England before so it is a great thrill for us to be doing something completely different, that and the fact that we might never do this agin make it very special. Having said that despite the fact that Australia is a very expensive it has a hold of us and there is no doubt that we will return, that is of course as long as we don't upset all those people who have been kind enough to host us.
As we are now staying at David and Zoe's, the master packer has had a chance or rather an opportunity to display her unpacking skills. There is nothing quite like seeing the bottom of a suitcase you haven't seen for two months.
The thrill of having proper drawers to put things in and a wardrobe large enough to hang things up in presented too great a temptation and so we are now completely unpacked.
For me it creates a major problem in that I have to find my clothes and belongings in drawers that have been allocated to me. As I took no part in the whole process I can not complain.
So unpacking and doing the washing takes almost all of one morning,still we have been travelling for so long that it is almost a pleasure to see all of our belongings again.
After the joys of unpacking we borrowed Zoe's car and headed off to reacquaint ourselves with Manly . It hasn't changed much since last year! We wandered into a supermarket and purchased items we badly needed, deodorant, shampoo and a new sponge for Rosemarie. This is not to say that we have been unclean but rather that we have just run out.We walked down to the beach and watched the surfers for a while and generally we were happy to be back, it almost felt a little like coming home.
After David and Zoe returned home we took the two dogs down to the beach to exercise them and had a quiet evening.
In general it doesn't quite seem to be Christmas , we see Father Christmases and Christmas decorations up, David and Zoe have a tree up and flashing lights outside but the weather is not conducive to putting one in the Christmas spirit. Neither of us have been away from England before so it is a great thrill for us to be doing something completely different, that and the fact that we might never do this agin make it very special. Having said that despite the fact that Australia is a very expensive it has a hold of us and there is no doubt that we will return, that is of course as long as we don't upset all those people who have been kind enough to host us.
Sunday 16 December 2012
And now to Sydney!!
Packing is a woeful and exasperating experience, even if you have it done by one of the master packers of the universe. We were up at seven and ready to go by 8.30. The trip to the airport took 20 minutes and we arrived at 9.10, a full fifty minutes before we had to give the car back. We were both a little sad to part with our Toyota Landcruiser, which we both had grown to appreciate. In general humans tend to have a love hate relationship with cars and we were definitely in the former camp about this one. This, despite the fact that there was no step to help Rosemarie get up and into the cab.
As it had Northern Australia Plates I tend to think the manger in Perth wanted to move it off his lot and get it somewhere else, but if that was his motive, we were more than pleased to help him.
Our arrival at the airport for a 12.15 flight left us with over two hours to kill, which was lucky as one of our cases was a full three kilos overweight. The very kind lady, who thought we were English idiots explained to us that we would have to pay for the overweight. Our second case was over weight as well.
The result, we ended up in the airport lounge repacking our suitcases on the floor. This had to be done with some decorum so that all the other travellers couldn't see our clothes apparently.We removed a bottle of whisky we had bought for David, put our coats and a couple of pairs of shoes into our rucksacks and then went back for reweighing. Luckily for us both cases were now within the weight limit.
The flight itself was enlivened by our neighbour, called Chelsi (sic) who was working as a nurse in London, she was a real character who had come back to Adelaide for two weeks for a family wedding. The conversation never stopped and as a result the trip passed in a flash.
David and Zoe were waiting for us at the airport and met us as soon as we were out of the gate. Cue family celebrations of a major proportions.
We drove back to David and Zoe's palatial new house and had a quiet afternoon of drinking and chatting. The first third of our adventure is over we have arrived at our Christmas destination, the next three weeks will be time of celebration and for family. Like millions of others around the world we are looking forward to the festive season.
Packing is a woeful and exasperating experience, even if you have it done by one of the master packers of the universe. We were up at seven and ready to go by 8.30. The trip to the airport took 20 minutes and we arrived at 9.10, a full fifty minutes before we had to give the car back. We were both a little sad to part with our Toyota Landcruiser, which we both had grown to appreciate. In general humans tend to have a love hate relationship with cars and we were definitely in the former camp about this one. This, despite the fact that there was no step to help Rosemarie get up and into the cab.
As it had Northern Australia Plates I tend to think the manger in Perth wanted to move it off his lot and get it somewhere else, but if that was his motive, we were more than pleased to help him.
Our arrival at the airport for a 12.15 flight left us with over two hours to kill, which was lucky as one of our cases was a full three kilos overweight. The very kind lady, who thought we were English idiots explained to us that we would have to pay for the overweight. Our second case was over weight as well.
The result, we ended up in the airport lounge repacking our suitcases on the floor. This had to be done with some decorum so that all the other travellers couldn't see our clothes apparently.We removed a bottle of whisky we had bought for David, put our coats and a couple of pairs of shoes into our rucksacks and then went back for reweighing. Luckily for us both cases were now within the weight limit.
The flight itself was enlivened by our neighbour, called Chelsi (sic) who was working as a nurse in London, she was a real character who had come back to Adelaide for two weeks for a family wedding. The conversation never stopped and as a result the trip passed in a flash.
David and Zoe were waiting for us at the airport and met us as soon as we were out of the gate. Cue family celebrations of a major proportions.
We drove back to David and Zoe's palatial new house and had a quiet afternoon of drinking and chatting. The first third of our adventure is over we have arrived at our Christmas destination, the next three weeks will be time of celebration and for family. Like millions of others around the world we are looking forward to the festive season.
Saturday 15 December 2012
South of Adelaide
It always helps when you are travelling if you some vague idea of where you are going. A second good option in anywhere foreign, is to acquire a relatively good map. We knew today that we wanted to go to McClaren Vale, to see yet another wine producing region. We really like looking at vines.
However, whilst we did have a vague idea of where it was in relation to Adelaide, the map we had was not good.
We started out on the right road, but lost it altogether just after Brighton and Hove in what Rosemarie christened the Hackett Bay Consolation Park, apparently conservation is a difficult word to get your tongue around. The result was that we spent a very happy half hour circling various suburbs of Adelaide. We did see some very nice houses in some obviously rich suburbs, but quite where they were I couldn't tell you.
Eventually, after a twist of fate, we ended up on the right, road and went to Aldige Beach and Silver Sands which were lovely,we then made our way to Cape Jervis and watched the ferry from Kangaroo island dock and load and unload. We really do know how to enjoy ourselves. The area south of Adelaide is very like Dorset and travelling from the Cape to Victor Harbour we passed 6 cars in thirty minutes over a thirty mile drive. The bay at Victor Harbour sparkled like a postcard picture and we drove to the top of The Bluff to get a view of the bay.
We drove back through the wine region and forgot that supermarkets in Australia shut at 5.00pm, which is either very civilised or very annoying, as you are standing outside at 5.04pm. As we need supplies for breakfast it was the latter. The issue was solved by finding a convenience store in Glenelg when we got back to our hotel.
We filled up our car with diesel which was rather a lot, costing about £105 but then we had done over a 1000 kilometres other last trip so we can't really complain. It is rather frightening to see over a hundred litres go into the tank.
We had decided to get fish and chips for tea but as it was raining we were forced into a restaurant called Ambient where we had a really good meal.definitely slightly more up market than fish and chips out of the paper sat on a bench in the town square.
Back to the mundanities of packing before moving onto Sydney tomorrow.
It always helps when you are travelling if you some vague idea of where you are going. A second good option in anywhere foreign, is to acquire a relatively good map. We knew today that we wanted to go to McClaren Vale, to see yet another wine producing region. We really like looking at vines.
However, whilst we did have a vague idea of where it was in relation to Adelaide, the map we had was not good.
We started out on the right road, but lost it altogether just after Brighton and Hove in what Rosemarie christened the Hackett Bay Consolation Park, apparently conservation is a difficult word to get your tongue around. The result was that we spent a very happy half hour circling various suburbs of Adelaide. We did see some very nice houses in some obviously rich suburbs, but quite where they were I couldn't tell you.
Eventually, after a twist of fate, we ended up on the right, road and went to Aldige Beach and Silver Sands which were lovely,we then made our way to Cape Jervis and watched the ferry from Kangaroo island dock and load and unload. We really do know how to enjoy ourselves. The area south of Adelaide is very like Dorset and travelling from the Cape to Victor Harbour we passed 6 cars in thirty minutes over a thirty mile drive. The bay at Victor Harbour sparkled like a postcard picture and we drove to the top of The Bluff to get a view of the bay.
We drove back through the wine region and forgot that supermarkets in Australia shut at 5.00pm, which is either very civilised or very annoying, as you are standing outside at 5.04pm. As we need supplies for breakfast it was the latter. The issue was solved by finding a convenience store in Glenelg when we got back to our hotel.
We filled up our car with diesel which was rather a lot, costing about £105 but then we had done over a 1000 kilometres other last trip so we can't really complain. It is rather frightening to see over a hundred litres go into the tank.
We had decided to get fish and chips for tea but as it was raining we were forced into a restaurant called Ambient where we had a really good meal.definitely slightly more up market than fish and chips out of the paper sat on a bench in the town square.
Back to the mundanities of packing before moving onto Sydney tomorrow.
Friday 14 December 2012
Welcome to sunny Adelaide
Well it would be nice if it wasn't pouring with rain. We got up this morning to find it very wet indeed. Even the locals were out with umbrellas.
Generally it felt just like Cornwall, it was even a bit chilly when we eventually got out.
I say eventually because we had a lay in this morning after three nights of getting up at 6.00 am, we then put our washing into the hotel launderette and thus had to wait for an hour. Half an hour for the wash and thirty minutes for the dryer.
The motel also left us a note on our windscreen, I thought I had parked in the wrong place but no they had left me a note to tell me that they had cleaned the windscreen so that I could drive more safely, what a wonderful thing for them to do. Another first for us.
And now to the question of cloudy beer. When we staying at Madurah we ordered two beers made by a Mr Cooper. Imagine our surprise when we watched the the barman take them out of the fridge and turn them over , top to base several times. When I asked him why he was doing this his reply was that he had to shake up the sediment. Apparently this made sure the beer remained bitter all the way through. Now, I have drunk beer for a long time and I have sent several cloudy pints back in my time, but here we were being assured that cloudy beer was perfectly fine.
The beer was good but I have to say I would not have drunk it in Cornwall.
In Adelaide today, we went to a bar where eventually we were served a beer,from Mildura, which was similarly cloudy, but which tasted fine.
On our return to Glenelg we walked to a bar on the beach and again were served a beer that was definitely cloudy. Obviously this is a cultural difference between Australia and the UK and one that we might well be forced to get used to. The question therefore is, when is it right to send back a pint of beer in Australia?
The highlight of today was a ride from Glenelg to the centre of Adelaide on the tram. Again we displayed complete naively, we boarded the tram to find we had to use a machine to buy tickets. Our first discovery was that we had no change and we had to ask other passengers if they could change a $5 bill. Eventually a couple clubbed together their loose change to help us out. Then we discovered that there were four options regarding ticket purchase, so we had to waylay another passenger and ask for help. She patiently explained to us that we needed a three dollar fare as we were now in the off peak period, and told us that if we came back after 4 pm we would have to pay the €4.90 fare. We were very grateful. Sometimes being stupid is entirely the right position to take.
We both enjoyed the city centre of Adelaide and when the rain stopped we left the shopping centre and walked around Victoria Square admiring the huge Christmas tree there. Both of us are sure this is a city we need to spend a couple of more days in.
Well it would be nice if it wasn't pouring with rain. We got up this morning to find it very wet indeed. Even the locals were out with umbrellas.
Generally it felt just like Cornwall, it was even a bit chilly when we eventually got out.
I say eventually because we had a lay in this morning after three nights of getting up at 6.00 am, we then put our washing into the hotel launderette and thus had to wait for an hour. Half an hour for the wash and thirty minutes for the dryer.
The motel also left us a note on our windscreen, I thought I had parked in the wrong place but no they had left me a note to tell me that they had cleaned the windscreen so that I could drive more safely, what a wonderful thing for them to do. Another first for us.
And now to the question of cloudy beer. When we staying at Madurah we ordered two beers made by a Mr Cooper. Imagine our surprise when we watched the the barman take them out of the fridge and turn them over , top to base several times. When I asked him why he was doing this his reply was that he had to shake up the sediment. Apparently this made sure the beer remained bitter all the way through. Now, I have drunk beer for a long time and I have sent several cloudy pints back in my time, but here we were being assured that cloudy beer was perfectly fine.
The beer was good but I have to say I would not have drunk it in Cornwall.
In Adelaide today, we went to a bar where eventually we were served a beer,from Mildura, which was similarly cloudy, but which tasted fine.
On our return to Glenelg we walked to a bar on the beach and again were served a beer that was definitely cloudy. Obviously this is a cultural difference between Australia and the UK and one that we might well be forced to get used to. The question therefore is, when is it right to send back a pint of beer in Australia?
The highlight of today was a ride from Glenelg to the centre of Adelaide on the tram. Again we displayed complete naively, we boarded the tram to find we had to use a machine to buy tickets. Our first discovery was that we had no change and we had to ask other passengers if they could change a $5 bill. Eventually a couple clubbed together their loose change to help us out. Then we discovered that there were four options regarding ticket purchase, so we had to waylay another passenger and ask for help. She patiently explained to us that we needed a three dollar fare as we were now in the off peak period, and told us that if we came back after 4 pm we would have to pay the €4.90 fare. We were very grateful. Sometimes being stupid is entirely the right position to take.
We both enjoyed the city centre of Adelaide and when the rain stopped we left the shopping centre and walked around Victoria Square admiring the huge Christmas tree there. Both of us are sure this is a city we need to spend a couple of more days in.
Thursday 13 December 2012
The Great Trek
We were up early and left Esperance at 7.30 the trip to Norseman was quiet and we saw 14 vehicles in an hour. Later on in the day we counted again and saw 18 cars so 32 vehicles in two hours can't be too bad. We stopped for the night at Madurah Pass a basic motel but clean and the staff were very friendly. Diesel was exorbitantly expensive there at 1.98 a litre when we have been paying 1.56 and as a result we only bought $40 worth. To be fair Madurah is in the middle of nowhere and transport costs in and out must be enormous.
There was some disappointment in the camp as we had seen no kangaroos in the wild, but we read later that they only come onto the Nullabor after heavy rains, to make sure there is water there for them. We saw several who had been run over, so I can only assume that they were practising their camouflage skills whilst we were looking for them. We did see some emus in the middle of nowhere which was quite a thrill.
We left Madurah at 7.15 am to continue across the plain. We stopped at the border village , where we meant to be searched for fruit and vegetables, only to find the checkpoint was a further 400 kilometres down the road now. So at the border where we were meant to bring in no fruit or vegetables or plants there was no one to check us.This was a little annoying as we had thrown away 2 tomatoes and stripped our sandwiches of lettuce before we got to the border, all that effort to avoid having it confiscated and yet there was no one there to do the dirty task.
We stopped and looked at the cliffs of the Australian Bight and unbroken run of cliffs that stretches for over 200 kilometres. Very impressive but a bit hazy, so the photos won't be up to much.As we moved across the plain the temperatures rose and we got to 41 degrees Celsius, which was a little on the warm side. We had lunch in the car withe engine running and the air conditioning on. The first time we have ever done this.
One really annoying thing about the whole drive is the vast number of flies which descend on you as soon as set foot outside of the car or a building. These are not flies that go for your food, but rather they head for your face , buzzing around your eyes and nostrils, they are very annoying.
For the second day we saw no kangaroos, they are clearly aware of our presence and have entered there hiding phase, in an attempt to win their senior camouflage badges .
Our second night was in Ceduna in a caravan park, where we hired a chalet for one night. This is the only accommodation I have ever had where the toilet was on the other side of our "outdoor space". The outdoor space was a six foot wide gap between the kitchen and the bathroom which was protected by a fly screen at one end and separated form our neighbours by a corrugated metal wall at the other end. Going to the toilet in the middle of the night was an interesting experience I can assure you.
The accommodation was very clean and we had a good night before heading off to Adelaide. In two days we had covered nearly 1400 kilometres had seen very little traffic, had been in awe of the road
trains which can be enormous and had seen almost no wildlife of note. We have had however, a truly wonderful experience and one never to be forgotten.
We were up early and left Esperance at 7.30 the trip to Norseman was quiet and we saw 14 vehicles in an hour. Later on in the day we counted again and saw 18 cars so 32 vehicles in two hours can't be too bad. We stopped for the night at Madurah Pass a basic motel but clean and the staff were very friendly. Diesel was exorbitantly expensive there at 1.98 a litre when we have been paying 1.56 and as a result we only bought $40 worth. To be fair Madurah is in the middle of nowhere and transport costs in and out must be enormous.
There was some disappointment in the camp as we had seen no kangaroos in the wild, but we read later that they only come onto the Nullabor after heavy rains, to make sure there is water there for them. We saw several who had been run over, so I can only assume that they were practising their camouflage skills whilst we were looking for them. We did see some emus in the middle of nowhere which was quite a thrill.
We left Madurah at 7.15 am to continue across the plain. We stopped at the border village , where we meant to be searched for fruit and vegetables, only to find the checkpoint was a further 400 kilometres down the road now. So at the border where we were meant to bring in no fruit or vegetables or plants there was no one to check us.This was a little annoying as we had thrown away 2 tomatoes and stripped our sandwiches of lettuce before we got to the border, all that effort to avoid having it confiscated and yet there was no one there to do the dirty task.
We stopped and looked at the cliffs of the Australian Bight and unbroken run of cliffs that stretches for over 200 kilometres. Very impressive but a bit hazy, so the photos won't be up to much.As we moved across the plain the temperatures rose and we got to 41 degrees Celsius, which was a little on the warm side. We had lunch in the car withe engine running and the air conditioning on. The first time we have ever done this.
One really annoying thing about the whole drive is the vast number of flies which descend on you as soon as set foot outside of the car or a building. These are not flies that go for your food, but rather they head for your face , buzzing around your eyes and nostrils, they are very annoying.
For the second day we saw no kangaroos, they are clearly aware of our presence and have entered there hiding phase, in an attempt to win their senior camouflage badges .
Our second night was in Ceduna in a caravan park, where we hired a chalet for one night. This is the only accommodation I have ever had where the toilet was on the other side of our "outdoor space". The outdoor space was a six foot wide gap between the kitchen and the bathroom which was protected by a fly screen at one end and separated form our neighbours by a corrugated metal wall at the other end. Going to the toilet in the middle of the night was an interesting experience I can assure you.
The accommodation was very clean and we had a good night before heading off to Adelaide. In two days we had covered nearly 1400 kilometres had seen very little traffic, had been in awe of the road
trains which can be enormous and had seen almost no wildlife of note. We have had however, a truly wonderful experience and one never to be forgotten.
Monday 10 December 2012
Being new to blogging, it strikes me as very interesting that so many of you who read this are doing so from the USA. I have no idea what you find interesting to read in this blog and would welcome some comments from you. Readers in the USA outnumbered those in Australia and GB in the last week.
I have tried to be both humorous and entertaining without giving too much of a blow by blow account of what we have been doing and I intend to keep that up for the next four months whilst we are travelling. After that who knows I might be hooked by blogging.
I am also interested to see that we have regular readers in Russia,so perhaps I am part of Glasnost after all, I certainly never wanted to earn active participant in the Cold War.
Today was a rest day before we tackle the mighty Nullabor plain tomorrow. As a result we were up late and breakfasted at leisure. After the ritual cleaning up we headed off to get some supplies. We ended up in Woolworths. Now I remember Woolworths before they went bust in England, in fact it was always a great treat to be taken there as a small child. However, this was nothing like what we used to have, it was far more of a giant food supermarket and we were pleased with the range of goods on offer.
After the chore of shopping we headed off on the Great Ocean Drive and saw some of the most spectacular scenery we have seen all the time we have been away. White sandy beaches with turquoise seas, dotted with small islands. We had our picnic lunch at Observation point watching the sea rolling onto the rocks below.
We returned to base relatively early after an abortive attempt to go to Wylie Bay on a road that went right by the town's rubbish dump.Pulling into a garage to purchase diesel we were a little perturbed to read on the pump that it was not recommended for cars and 4WD s. the Australian filling up beside us was unconcerned and assured me he put it in his ute all the time. We knew one other garage in town so made our way there to buy the fuel we needed. Imagine our chagrin to find it was exactly the same make with the same warning on the pump. as this was the only diesel in town we had to buy it, although this was done with some trepidation.
When we were back at base I checked the brand on the Internet and it transpires the only reason the warning icon the pumps is because the fuel is delivered at a high flow rate and might kick back out of a small inlet nozzle. Silly us, of course we should have known this.and now to pack for the great trek.
I have tried to be both humorous and entertaining without giving too much of a blow by blow account of what we have been doing and I intend to keep that up for the next four months whilst we are travelling. After that who knows I might be hooked by blogging.
I am also interested to see that we have regular readers in Russia,so perhaps I am part of Glasnost after all, I certainly never wanted to earn active participant in the Cold War.
Today was a rest day before we tackle the mighty Nullabor plain tomorrow. As a result we were up late and breakfasted at leisure. After the ritual cleaning up we headed off to get some supplies. We ended up in Woolworths. Now I remember Woolworths before they went bust in England, in fact it was always a great treat to be taken there as a small child. However, this was nothing like what we used to have, it was far more of a giant food supermarket and we were pleased with the range of goods on offer.
After the chore of shopping we headed off on the Great Ocean Drive and saw some of the most spectacular scenery we have seen all the time we have been away. White sandy beaches with turquoise seas, dotted with small islands. We had our picnic lunch at Observation point watching the sea rolling onto the rocks below.
We returned to base relatively early after an abortive attempt to go to Wylie Bay on a road that went right by the town's rubbish dump.Pulling into a garage to purchase diesel we were a little perturbed to read on the pump that it was not recommended for cars and 4WD s. the Australian filling up beside us was unconcerned and assured me he put it in his ute all the time. We knew one other garage in town so made our way there to buy the fuel we needed. Imagine our chagrin to find it was exactly the same make with the same warning on the pump. as this was the only diesel in town we had to buy it, although this was done with some trepidation.
When we were back at base I checked the brand on the Internet and it transpires the only reason the warning icon the pumps is because the fuel is delivered at a high flow rate and might kick back out of a small inlet nozzle. Silly us, of course we should have known this.and now to pack for the great trek.
Sunday 9 December 2012
Today was along drive but like nothing we have ever done before. In an hour this morning we counted 33 vehicles going in both directions and when, because we were bored we repeated the exercise when Rosemarie was driving we counted 16 vehicles. Hopefully you get the idea that these are not the busiest roads on the planet. I could see 50 cars on a trip from our house to the centre of Launceston.
This does of course make driving very pleasurable.
We stopped for lunch in the town of Ravensthorpe and felt as though we were truly in the outback,there was a great history display there, created in ceramic tiles that made us think about the history,particularly as the town hadn't been founded until 1878.
The journey to Esperance was through the wheat belt and pasture land and passed quickly. We were ensconced into our hotel room by 3.30 and were pleased with our chalet. Why can't there be a national standard for hotel rooms? In Dunsborough we had everything, toaster, plates, cutlery and glasses. In Pemberton we no plates or cutlery or a toaster but we did have a tea towel and washing up liquid. In Albany we had a toaster but no plates or cutlery and no hand towels. The toaster was so effective we set the smoke alarm off twice this morning, probably much to the annoyance of our neighbours.
In Esperance we have a fully equipped kitchen.
Tonight we decided after walking around Esperance that we would have chips from a fish and chip shop to go with our salad. We made our way to the shop and ordered a large portion of chips, the pleasant girl behind the counter asked how many people we were trying to feed? We replied just the two of us. She suggested we had a medium portion of chips, so we agreed. When our chips arrived there was about two pounds of potatoes in a bag. We were flabbergasted by the size of the portion,we managed to eat about half of what we received, if this is what two people normally order in Australia, then they are heading for an obesity crisis. We decided we had enough chips for four healthy adults and it broke our hearts to put such good chips in the bin.
All in all an interesting day.
This does of course make driving very pleasurable.
We stopped for lunch in the town of Ravensthorpe and felt as though we were truly in the outback,there was a great history display there, created in ceramic tiles that made us think about the history,particularly as the town hadn't been founded until 1878.
The journey to Esperance was through the wheat belt and pasture land and passed quickly. We were ensconced into our hotel room by 3.30 and were pleased with our chalet. Why can't there be a national standard for hotel rooms? In Dunsborough we had everything, toaster, plates, cutlery and glasses. In Pemberton we no plates or cutlery or a toaster but we did have a tea towel and washing up liquid. In Albany we had a toaster but no plates or cutlery and no hand towels. The toaster was so effective we set the smoke alarm off twice this morning, probably much to the annoyance of our neighbours.
In Esperance we have a fully equipped kitchen.
Tonight we decided after walking around Esperance that we would have chips from a fish and chip shop to go with our salad. We made our way to the shop and ordered a large portion of chips, the pleasant girl behind the counter asked how many people we were trying to feed? We replied just the two of us. She suggested we had a medium portion of chips, so we agreed. When our chips arrived there was about two pounds of potatoes in a bag. We were flabbergasted by the size of the portion,we managed to eat about half of what we received, if this is what two people normally order in Australia, then they are heading for an obesity crisis. We decided we had enough chips for four healthy adults and it broke our hearts to put such good chips in the bin.
All in all an interesting day.
Saturday 8 December 2012
Back on the road again.
Having spent last night in Pemberton, where to be truthful, although it is a lovely spot there is little to see. We were back on the road by 10.00 am.
We drove today through miles of bush seeing very few cars and marvelling at the trees we saw.
To make sure we saw enough trees we even did a 23 kilometre forest drive , this was on an unmade road at about 30kmph maximum. As we had told no one we were going to do this, in fact we weren't even sure until we arrived, I was glad another large vehicle followed us circumspect fully around. In this case it was good to have company.
One has to marvel at the attitude the early settlers must have had to clear forest like we saw today. I am fairly sure that I would have been fairly useless at it. We visited a museum where one of the pictures was of a settler in the 1920's using dynamite to blow up a tree stump and I could understand why he did.
After lunch we did the tree top walk in the Valley of the Giants which was a wonderful experience 40 metres up in the tree canopy.
The drive to Albany was fairly pleasant and at times you could have thought that yo were in England as pastureland rolled down hills towards the sea. The sighting of a kangaroo in a field rather ended this thought though.
We are now camping out to avoid paying exorbitant prices for meals in restaurants. We have purchased some plastic plates and glasses, along with a couple of plastic glasses, so that we can eat in our room at night and use a toaster in the mornings. We have had some really nice salads and tonight had roasted chicken bought form a supermarket. For breakfast we are having toast, as most motels provide a toaster and yoghurt with fruit juice, who could ask for more. As breakfast out seems to cost about 20$ each this is quite a considerable saving. This is not totally based on penny pinching but also on the avoidance of too many calories. To survive like this is quite a pleasing thing and we are having some good simple meals, we feel sure that many other people must do the same. Tomorrow off to Esperance, only 490 kilometres away.if nothing else we should see a few more trees.
Having spent last night in Pemberton, where to be truthful, although it is a lovely spot there is little to see. We were back on the road by 10.00 am.
We drove today through miles of bush seeing very few cars and marvelling at the trees we saw.
To make sure we saw enough trees we even did a 23 kilometre forest drive , this was on an unmade road at about 30kmph maximum. As we had told no one we were going to do this, in fact we weren't even sure until we arrived, I was glad another large vehicle followed us circumspect fully around. In this case it was good to have company.
One has to marvel at the attitude the early settlers must have had to clear forest like we saw today. I am fairly sure that I would have been fairly useless at it. We visited a museum where one of the pictures was of a settler in the 1920's using dynamite to blow up a tree stump and I could understand why he did.
After lunch we did the tree top walk in the Valley of the Giants which was a wonderful experience 40 metres up in the tree canopy.
The drive to Albany was fairly pleasant and at times you could have thought that yo were in England as pastureland rolled down hills towards the sea. The sighting of a kangaroo in a field rather ended this thought though.
We are now camping out to avoid paying exorbitant prices for meals in restaurants. We have purchased some plastic plates and glasses, along with a couple of plastic glasses, so that we can eat in our room at night and use a toaster in the mornings. We have had some really nice salads and tonight had roasted chicken bought form a supermarket. For breakfast we are having toast, as most motels provide a toaster and yoghurt with fruit juice, who could ask for more. As breakfast out seems to cost about 20$ each this is quite a considerable saving. This is not totally based on penny pinching but also on the avoidance of too many calories. To survive like this is quite a pleasing thing and we are having some good simple meals, we feel sure that many other people must do the same. Tomorrow off to Esperance, only 490 kilometres away.if nothing else we should see a few more trees.
Friday 7 December 2012
Thursday in Sunny Australia
We awoke to find that was pouring with rain, in fact this is not true, we were awoken by the water cascading from a gutter outside our room, which could not cope with the rain. To be honest, you put your head out of the door, shivered and retracted it quickly. The sky had the look of an impending Atlantic storm.
Breakfast was in the room, and we managed, no small feat in itself, to set off the smoke alarm, by placing the toaster right under it. We stopped it bleating, by opening the front door of our room and letting copious amounts of fresh air in.
After we had loaded our vehicle, we were off down the coast, stopping at Yallingup to take photos in a force nine gale, nothing like being hardy, we are definitely not complaint poms.
After that we set off down the coast road to Canal Rocks, impressive with the sea crashing over them and us hardly being able to stand, in a force nine gale. The pictures will make it look as though we were there on a balmy summer's day.
We explored Margaret River, which again was a town awaiting an influx of tourists, before going to Prevelly beach where we had lunch, locked safely in our car, as it was far too windy to eat out doors.
In the afternoon we drove through large forests to arrive in Pemberton, where we explored a waterfall and booked into our hotel.
Now bearing in mind we arrive with one large suitcase, is it beyond the realms of common sense not to give us a room up a flight of stairs and at the farthest end of the corridor?
We have arrived in the coldest start of a summer ever to have been recorded in Western Australia. It would be fair to say that I have beeen frozen all day. Towns recorded their lowest ever temperatures for December last night and here we are as tourists wearing shorts and desperately seeking some relief from the wind. However, as I understand it has been snowing in England today I must stop this welter of criticism.
The only snow I have seen is the wonderful Xmas display in the bar of the hotel we are staying in. To say that they have gone over the top with the spray snow would be an understatement of considerable proportions.
We awoke to find that was pouring with rain, in fact this is not true, we were awoken by the water cascading from a gutter outside our room, which could not cope with the rain. To be honest, you put your head out of the door, shivered and retracted it quickly. The sky had the look of an impending Atlantic storm.
Breakfast was in the room, and we managed, no small feat in itself, to set off the smoke alarm, by placing the toaster right under it. We stopped it bleating, by opening the front door of our room and letting copious amounts of fresh air in.
After we had loaded our vehicle, we were off down the coast, stopping at Yallingup to take photos in a force nine gale, nothing like being hardy, we are definitely not complaint poms.
After that we set off down the coast road to Canal Rocks, impressive with the sea crashing over them and us hardly being able to stand, in a force nine gale. The pictures will make it look as though we were there on a balmy summer's day.
We explored Margaret River, which again was a town awaiting an influx of tourists, before going to Prevelly beach where we had lunch, locked safely in our car, as it was far too windy to eat out doors.
In the afternoon we drove through large forests to arrive in Pemberton, where we explored a waterfall and booked into our hotel.
Now bearing in mind we arrive with one large suitcase, is it beyond the realms of common sense not to give us a room up a flight of stairs and at the farthest end of the corridor?
We have arrived in the coldest start of a summer ever to have been recorded in Western Australia. It would be fair to say that I have beeen frozen all day. Towns recorded their lowest ever temperatures for December last night and here we are as tourists wearing shorts and desperately seeking some relief from the wind. However, as I understand it has been snowing in England today I must stop this welter of criticism.
The only snow I have seen is the wonderful Xmas display in the bar of the hotel we are staying in. To say that they have gone over the top with the spray snow would be an understatement of considerable proportions.
We left Perth with heavy hearts after a fantastic time there. We were up early on our last day, finished our packing and as instructed, rung our car hire company to tell them we were on the way. The man on the other end of the phone informed us that we had been upgraded to a hybrid which we were pretty pleased about as it would be very economical, we set off to catch the bus in high spirits. We arrived about an hour later, to be told that we weren't allowed to take a hybrid to Adelaide, so maybe that city has banned them or just has a very big dislike of them. We were then told that the manager had rung the store and that we were to be upgraded again.The receptionist pointed out of the window at a land cruiser and muttered" It will be something like that is that OK? We nodded meekly believing that anything would be better than a hatchback. We completed the paperwork and were duly given the keys to the very land cruiser he had pointed to. Result, we ended up with a six foot tall , 3 litre land cruiser .
We drove it back to Richard and Margaret's with some trepidation, as the hire outlet was right in the city centre of Perth.
We loaded it up and set off south, the drive was good and we ended up in Dunsborough. This town has a proliferation of campsites on its outskirts so as you drive in you see as neighbours the catholic youth camp, the baptist camp, the Methodist camp, the Anglican youth camp,the scouts and last but by no means least the Seventh Day Adventist camp.
Dunsborough was peaceful, with a beautiful turquoise coast line which we explored at some length trying to find our way to the lighthouse on Cape Naturaliste. We eventually found it and went for a majestic walk along what could have been Cornish cliffs. The views were out of this world.
Dunsborough itself was small and quiet, a town awaiting the Summer holiday rush. We walked around it in 15 minutes in the dark as the rain began to make us wet. So much for sunny Australia.
We drove it back to Richard and Margaret's with some trepidation, as the hire outlet was right in the city centre of Perth.
We loaded it up and set off south, the drive was good and we ended up in Dunsborough. This town has a proliferation of campsites on its outskirts so as you drive in you see as neighbours the catholic youth camp, the baptist camp, the Methodist camp, the Anglican youth camp,the scouts and last but by no means least the Seventh Day Adventist camp.
Dunsborough was peaceful, with a beautiful turquoise coast line which we explored at some length trying to find our way to the lighthouse on Cape Naturaliste. We eventually found it and went for a majestic walk along what could have been Cornish cliffs. The views were out of this world.
Dunsborough itself was small and quiet, a town awaiting the Summer holiday rush. We walked around it in 15 minutes in the dark as the rain began to make us wet. So much for sunny Australia.
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Hairdressers in Perth
Why is it when you are looking for something they all apparently disappear? When we went to Perth last week, we were sure we had seen hundreds of hairdressers.Yet, when Rosemarie decides it is time to have her hair dealt with, there is not one in sight.
Today was the start of summer and the forecast was for temperatures of 37C. Deciding not to be too silly we cancelled a trip on a boat to Rottnest Island where there is little shade and instead decided to go and sort out our hire car for Thursday and to get Rosemarie's hair cut.
By the time we got off the bus in Perth city you could have fried an egg on the pavement. We walked slowly form the bus stop to the car hire agency, but when we got there were told we couldn't have the car early and that they could not do any of the paperwork until the day we a picked the car up. To be fair to them they were very nice about it but it felt a little like a wasted trip.
The great hairdresser search then commenced, shops that had clearly been hairdressers last week were suddenly now nail bars, or they had entered a period of camouflage. We traipsed around for a good hour in the blazing heat looking for a female hairdresser. To be fair to the profession in Perth, it also had to be a salon that Rosemarie liked the look of. At least two did not meet this high level criteria. Eventually we found one and were told we would have to wait for 45 minutes so we agreed to return.
By this point I was flagging and we decided to go for a sandwich where we had eaten last week. As we arrived in the food hall imagine our surprise to find a hairdressing salon there. The stylist told us she could do Rosemarie's hair and whilst she was saying this inspected Rosemarie's head carefully, I suspect she saw it as a challenge, particularly as she was finishing a short back and sides, yes, this was a unisex hair salon.
We were told to return in a few minutes so we grabbed a sandwich and sat eating it in the food hall. When we returned to the salon I was impressed with the professionalism of the stylist who knew exactly what a she was doing. I was left waiting and became fair game for a bit of Pom bashing form the owner of the shop. It was all good natured banter, at the end all parties were pleased with the result and the owner even recommended a good pub for a pint afterwards, much needed in the oppressive heat.
In the evening we had another first, a visit to an outdoor cinema as part of the Perth International festival, neither of us had been to an outdoor cinema and it was a great experience. We saw Ken Loach's , The Angels' Share and thoroughly enjoyed it.
There have been so many firsts on this trip that it seems to me that we need to remember them carefully and to celebrate the fact that we are very lucky to have this opportunity.
Wednesday morning blues
This morning arrived and we are more than a little sad that today is our last day in Perth. The city itself is in a magnificent location, with water and bays all around. Richard and Margaret have been wonderful hosts and despite their attempts to kill me by making me cross dangerous 4 lane highways, where there are clearly no foot crossings, they have been more than kind and generous.
On Monday Margaret lent us her car which was really nice and somewhat foolish as I haven't driven an automatic since the last time I was in Australia. Luckily the quiet area in which they live gave us the chance for a peaceful practice, before we hit the main freeways. We were honked at a couple of times in our first journey but after that did fairly well. We went to see Richard's school which is well worth a visit, and having been to plenty of schools in my time it takes quite a lot to impress me. We met the principal who explained a little of her philosophy, in that she wanted it to look more like a university campus than a school, and you have to say she has achieved that.
After the school it was off to some personal study for us in the Swan valley vineyard area. Unfortunately, as it was Monday many of the cellar doors were well and truly shut. This was a vital piece of information which had not been imparted to us. We travelled for a while on the Great North Highway and found a national park which we decided to visit. The Walyunga national park is the basin where the Swan and Avon rivers meet.
Our arrival was greeted with glee by the millions of flies who were waiting for the first visitors of the day to arrive, we saw only two other cars in the park and therefore to the flies we must have seemed like fresh game. They descended on us in their droves.the Western Australian salute, i.e. batting flies away from your eyes was very much to the fore.We walked along one pool for about a mile and saw a kingfisher, we then returned to the car and went to other pool where we saw two kangaroos. Now Australians are fairly blasé about kangaroos, but when we see one in the wild we become very excited and tell each other how lucky we are. The fact that there are millions of them out there does not dampen our enthusiasm.
After our wildlife adventure we found an open vineyard that had a restaurant on site. So we had lunch there and afterwards Rosemarie did a wine tasting. We spent some time talking about vine yards we have visited, a subject no doubt we could bore the world with. The wines were good and we bought a couple to share with Richard and Margaret. A quiet evening ensued with our hosts to mark another wonderful day in Perth.
This morning arrived and we are more than a little sad that today is our last day in Perth. The city itself is in a magnificent location, with water and bays all around. Richard and Margaret have been wonderful hosts and despite their attempts to kill me by making me cross dangerous 4 lane highways, where there are clearly no foot crossings, they have been more than kind and generous.
On Monday Margaret lent us her car which was really nice and somewhat foolish as I haven't driven an automatic since the last time I was in Australia. Luckily the quiet area in which they live gave us the chance for a peaceful practice, before we hit the main freeways. We were honked at a couple of times in our first journey but after that did fairly well. We went to see Richard's school which is well worth a visit, and having been to plenty of schools in my time it takes quite a lot to impress me. We met the principal who explained a little of her philosophy, in that she wanted it to look more like a university campus than a school, and you have to say she has achieved that.
After the school it was off to some personal study for us in the Swan valley vineyard area. Unfortunately, as it was Monday many of the cellar doors were well and truly shut. This was a vital piece of information which had not been imparted to us. We travelled for a while on the Great North Highway and found a national park which we decided to visit. The Walyunga national park is the basin where the Swan and Avon rivers meet.
Our arrival was greeted with glee by the millions of flies who were waiting for the first visitors of the day to arrive, we saw only two other cars in the park and therefore to the flies we must have seemed like fresh game. They descended on us in their droves.the Western Australian salute, i.e. batting flies away from your eyes was very much to the fore.We walked along one pool for about a mile and saw a kingfisher, we then returned to the car and went to other pool where we saw two kangaroos. Now Australians are fairly blasé about kangaroos, but when we see one in the wild we become very excited and tell each other how lucky we are. The fact that there are millions of them out there does not dampen our enthusiasm.
After our wildlife adventure we found an open vineyard that had a restaurant on site. So we had lunch there and afterwards Rosemarie did a wine tasting. We spent some time talking about vine yards we have visited, a subject no doubt we could bore the world with. The wines were good and we bought a couple to share with Richard and Margaret. A quiet evening ensued with our hosts to mark another wonderful day in Perth.
Monday 3 December 2012
Lazy Sunday
Sunday got off to a late start and we ended up at the John Street Cafe in Cottesloe for breakfast, sat on the pavement having a real feast. As we have only ever had breakfast out twice before it still comes as a surprise, albeit a nice one. There is something rather pleasing about having a huge plate of food on the pavement.
After breakfast we walked on the beach at Cottesloe, a true depiction of the Australian life, golden sands, life savers and the possibility of sharks in the swimming area. Whilst we were there we saw two dolphins playing at the end of a groin, an absolutely marvellous sight. The picture created was that ideal we were all fed in primary school, miles of golden beaches, blue seas and bright sunshine.
After Cottesloe we drove to King's Park right in the heart of Perth and walked on the boardwalk to see two wonderful view points. The park area itself is huge and well worth a vist on any trip to Perth.
On our return home, imagine our surprise to find that the next beach down from Cottesloe had been closed because a great white shark was cruising in the swimming area. The beach was closed for three hours. It doesn't make me very keen to get in the water.
We had a very peaceful and quiet afternoon watching the South African establish a throttle hold on the third test , a great meal and wonderful conversation all outside, a real treat.
Sunday got off to a late start and we ended up at the John Street Cafe in Cottesloe for breakfast, sat on the pavement having a real feast. As we have only ever had breakfast out twice before it still comes as a surprise, albeit a nice one. There is something rather pleasing about having a huge plate of food on the pavement.
After breakfast we walked on the beach at Cottesloe, a true depiction of the Australian life, golden sands, life savers and the possibility of sharks in the swimming area. Whilst we were there we saw two dolphins playing at the end of a groin, an absolutely marvellous sight. The picture created was that ideal we were all fed in primary school, miles of golden beaches, blue seas and bright sunshine.
After Cottesloe we drove to King's Park right in the heart of Perth and walked on the boardwalk to see two wonderful view points. The park area itself is huge and well worth a vist on any trip to Perth.
On our return home, imagine our surprise to find that the next beach down from Cottesloe had been closed because a great white shark was cruising in the swimming area. The beach was closed for three hours. It doesn't make me very keen to get in the water.
We had a very peaceful and quiet afternoon watching the South African establish a throttle hold on the third test , a great meal and wonderful conversation all outside, a real treat.
Saturday 1 December 2012
Saturday Cricket
We had agreed in a moment of madness, that we would spend Saturday at the test match between Australia and South Africa. Our reasoning was two or even threefold, one, we had never been to the WACA and might not get the chance agin, two it was Ricky Pointing's last match and it would be emotional, three Rosemarie had never been to a cricket match, let alone a test match.
We were up early and left at 9.30 and arrived at the ground at 10.00 have walked across the Cuaseway to get in. The walk was interesting as Margaret had this desire to make us cross busy freeways where there was no crossing point. There is nothing quite so comical as four adults scuttling across a busy road when the opportunity arose, trying hard not to get run over. I did point out, rather forcibly I felt, that I had felt my life was in danger. Having been through this rather risky operation once , I was more than a little surprised when I was asked to do it again.
Anyway we arrived safely in the ground.
The cricket was really interesting we saw 10 wickets in the day, and over 300 runs. Ponting got a standing ovation when he came out but only scored 4 runs. Australia collapsed and at one time were 7 for 65 and were saved by an innings from Wade. They were all out after lunch and in the afternoon session South Africa put on 200 runs. The crowd, being a little bored got stuck into their beers and began to play make a snake with empty plastic beer glasses. This apparently innocuously pastime is apparently banned at the WACA and as soon as the stewards saw this they descended to confiscate the cups. This led to an ongoing set of skirmishes between supporters and security , it also led to several spectators being evicted from the ground.
Australia struggled in the field as South Africa applied pressure and it clearly was not going well for the home side. At the close of play South Africa were already 270 runs in the lead.
The walk home, I am pleased to report was a little safer than the walk in and we arrived home tired but pleased with the day.
A typical Aussie barbecue for tea and a couple of bottles of red wine sealed a perfect day made even better by the fact that Rosemarie said she might go to the cricket again.
After tea we had a planning session for our trip to Adelaide and we went to bed with a much clearer idea of what we might be able to achieve.
If it's Friday it must be Freemantle
Our journeying continued with a day trip to Freemantle. We were early and set out to catch the bus at 09.53 only to find we had misread the timetable and the bus didn't arrive until 10.06 so the forced route march up to the bus stop had all been in vain.
The bus journey to Freemantle was good and took half the time we thought it would take. We really must learn to read a bus timetable properly. We had a brief stroll through Freemantle to find our bearings before ending up in the information office asking where the prison was. This was not because we wished to be incarcerated, but because as a historical museum they gave good tours. We found our way to the prison , discovering the markets on the way.
The tour of the prison was well worthwhile, our guide had a good sense of humour and a good knowledge of the history. The prison was built by convicts in the middle of the nineteenth century and had been used until 1991. After the prison we strolled through the markets before finding Sisarello's for a fish and chip lunch. Our first chips in six weeks!!!
After lunch we walked to the seashore, to the roundhouse , along high street and back to the markets. Before going into the market we stopped in a pub which had been recommended by Richard as they had their own micro brewery on site. We ordered a pint and a half and were stunned by the asking price of 15.9 dollars. This worked out at £6.50 a pint. We were so shocked we asked the barmaid if a pint was 10 dollars in the vain hope that she had made a mistake. She assured us, with a vague smile of sympathy, that her mathematics were entirely in order. We supped our drinks very slowly indeed.
Our return home went well.
In the evening we went out to a restaurant on the Cut in Perth and we had a lovely meal with Richard,d and Marg and two friends of theirs, Robin and Mary. It was a truly lovely evening, warm enough to walk with out a coat on, a good restaurant and great company.
Our journeying continued with a day trip to Freemantle. We were early and set out to catch the bus at 09.53 only to find we had misread the timetable and the bus didn't arrive until 10.06 so the forced route march up to the bus stop had all been in vain.
The bus journey to Freemantle was good and took half the time we thought it would take. We really must learn to read a bus timetable properly. We had a brief stroll through Freemantle to find our bearings before ending up in the information office asking where the prison was. This was not because we wished to be incarcerated, but because as a historical museum they gave good tours. We found our way to the prison , discovering the markets on the way.
The tour of the prison was well worthwhile, our guide had a good sense of humour and a good knowledge of the history. The prison was built by convicts in the middle of the nineteenth century and had been used until 1991. After the prison we strolled through the markets before finding Sisarello's for a fish and chip lunch. Our first chips in six weeks!!!
After lunch we walked to the seashore, to the roundhouse , along high street and back to the markets. Before going into the market we stopped in a pub which had been recommended by Richard as they had their own micro brewery on site. We ordered a pint and a half and were stunned by the asking price of 15.9 dollars. This worked out at £6.50 a pint. We were so shocked we asked the barmaid if a pint was 10 dollars in the vain hope that she had made a mistake. She assured us, with a vague smile of sympathy, that her mathematics were entirely in order. We supped our drinks very slowly indeed.
Our return home went well.
In the evening we went out to a restaurant on the Cut in Perth and we had a lovely meal with Richard,d and Marg and two friends of theirs, Robin and Mary. It was a truly lovely evening, warm enough to walk with out a coat on, a good restaurant and great company.
Friday 30 November 2012
Thursday
Thursday morning dawned with the same weather that had greeted our arrival on Tuesday. We were greeted with the front page of the local paper telling us that Perth had been "blown away".
We were assured by Richard and Marge that this weather was odd and unseasonal.
We were very glad that we had flown in Monday as the news stated that 20 planes were stranded on the Tarmac because of the high winds, and 15 planes had to abort their landings. In this great storm 50000 homes lost their power and a gust of wind was recorded at 115kmph. 100 homes were damaged and boats were washed ashore.
So this is sunny Western Australia!
We had talked to Richard and Marge about what we could do if the weather was bad and they had sensibly suggested art galleries and museums, even pointing them out to us on a map.
However, in true adventurous spirit we decided against doing this and instead decided to go a train ride to a town called Mandurah. Our reasoning being that even if it was raining we woud, see some of the surrounding countryside. So we caught a bus into Perth and then got the train. Unfortunately we were told by a very pleasant man in the information office that we didn't qualify for the concessionairy fare.
The train ride was interesting out through the suburbs and then on into the bush, we even saw a kangaroo. We alighted at Mandurah Station, having no idea where we really were or how far the station was from the centre of town. As usual or planning was second to none. Luckily outside the station there was a free shuttle bus advertising that it went to the town centre. So on we hopped, the driver was asked to tell us when to get off but this didn't happen, so we got off when we saw a foreshore sign. So being totally lost we started walking, after about 10 minutes we found a map on a post and discovered that we were going in the wrong direction. So we retraced our steps and found the information centre. There is some quite pleasing about being so naive and lost in Australia.
Mandurah was a new town built on a series of lagoons and canals all charmingly named after Italians.
The summer had clearly not started and there were very few people about. This may have been because of the high winds and the low temperatures but who I am I to make that judgement. We are tough people from Cornwall. We walked to the breakwater and watched the waves crashing over the wall in a fairly heavy wind. We had a pint of very cold and expensive beer and saw dolphins playing in the inner harbour, unfortunately they were just too far away for us to photograph.
We escaped the wind by going into the market hall, but is a fairly small and I interesting market. We walked back to the information office and had a warming coffee looking out over the breakwater, which was very pleasant.
The journey back to Perth was smooth and uneventful and we reached home safely. In the evening we went to the cinema to see Skyfall, the new Bond film. We arrived at the cinema and got tickets for the seven thirty performance. We sat down and due to form the adverts started at 7.15. Unlike England, the adverts then continued unabated for thirty minutes. We were really glad that we hadn't gone for the 8.00pm showing, as it was were arrived home at about 10.30 which was good timing.
We all enjoyed the film and it was interesting to me that the Aussie audience seemd to find different jokes in the script. All in all a really enjoyable day.
Thursday morning dawned with the same weather that had greeted our arrival on Tuesday. We were greeted with the front page of the local paper telling us that Perth had been "blown away".
We were assured by Richard and Marge that this weather was odd and unseasonal.
We were very glad that we had flown in Monday as the news stated that 20 planes were stranded on the Tarmac because of the high winds, and 15 planes had to abort their landings. In this great storm 50000 homes lost their power and a gust of wind was recorded at 115kmph. 100 homes were damaged and boats were washed ashore.
So this is sunny Western Australia!
We had talked to Richard and Marge about what we could do if the weather was bad and they had sensibly suggested art galleries and museums, even pointing them out to us on a map.
However, in true adventurous spirit we decided against doing this and instead decided to go a train ride to a town called Mandurah. Our reasoning being that even if it was raining we woud, see some of the surrounding countryside. So we caught a bus into Perth and then got the train. Unfortunately we were told by a very pleasant man in the information office that we didn't qualify for the concessionairy fare.
The train ride was interesting out through the suburbs and then on into the bush, we even saw a kangaroo. We alighted at Mandurah Station, having no idea where we really were or how far the station was from the centre of town. As usual or planning was second to none. Luckily outside the station there was a free shuttle bus advertising that it went to the town centre. So on we hopped, the driver was asked to tell us when to get off but this didn't happen, so we got off when we saw a foreshore sign. So being totally lost we started walking, after about 10 minutes we found a map on a post and discovered that we were going in the wrong direction. So we retraced our steps and found the information centre. There is some quite pleasing about being so naive and lost in Australia.
Mandurah was a new town built on a series of lagoons and canals all charmingly named after Italians.
The summer had clearly not started and there were very few people about. This may have been because of the high winds and the low temperatures but who I am I to make that judgement. We are tough people from Cornwall. We walked to the breakwater and watched the waves crashing over the wall in a fairly heavy wind. We had a pint of very cold and expensive beer and saw dolphins playing in the inner harbour, unfortunately they were just too far away for us to photograph.
We escaped the wind by going into the market hall, but is a fairly small and I interesting market. We walked back to the information office and had a warming coffee looking out over the breakwater, which was very pleasant.
The journey back to Perth was smooth and uneventful and we reached home safely. In the evening we went to the cinema to see Skyfall, the new Bond film. We arrived at the cinema and got tickets for the seven thirty performance. We sat down and due to form the adverts started at 7.15. Unlike England, the adverts then continued unabated for thirty minutes. We were really glad that we hadn't gone for the 8.00pm showing, as it was were arrived home at about 10.30 which was good timing.
We all enjoyed the film and it was interesting to me that the Aussie audience seemd to find different jokes in the script. All in all a really enjoyable day.
Sunny Perth
Wednesday morning started in Perth with pouring rain and a force six gale, so much for it being balmy here. In true Cornish fashion we showed total disregard for the weather and went on a walk that Richard had shown us on the way home the night before. This walk was along the Swan River bank and probably was not the wisest decision we have ever made. We struggled to walk into the wind, and the river was so rough it was breaking its banks with spray covering the footpath. We walked along the path with the wind behind us and saw a black swan and her cygnets. As the trees were moving about in the wind I pointed out to Rosemarie that it wasn't a very wise thing to do to stand under a tree to take photographs. We saw branches being blown down and decided that we might as well surrender and catch a bus into the city centre. Not only was it so bad that I had to put a raincoat on but also I was cold!!!
In Perth we found a phone store and bought a new SIM card for Rosemarie's phone. We had a sandwich in a food court and walked around some shops and Serling Gardens before catching the bus home again, as we didn't know where to get off the bus and our description was not understood by the bus driver, it was a fairly interesting journey home. Part of our problem was that we had caught a different bus into Perth. we did however get a concessionaire fare both ways because the first bus driver felt we looked old enough, this didn't go down too well with Rosemarie.
We returned home wind swept and cold but felt that we had really explored Perth City.
Wednesday morning started in Perth with pouring rain and a force six gale, so much for it being balmy here. In true Cornish fashion we showed total disregard for the weather and went on a walk that Richard had shown us on the way home the night before. This walk was along the Swan River bank and probably was not the wisest decision we have ever made. We struggled to walk into the wind, and the river was so rough it was breaking its banks with spray covering the footpath. We walked along the path with the wind behind us and saw a black swan and her cygnets. As the trees were moving about in the wind I pointed out to Rosemarie that it wasn't a very wise thing to do to stand under a tree to take photographs. We saw branches being blown down and decided that we might as well surrender and catch a bus into the city centre. Not only was it so bad that I had to put a raincoat on but also I was cold!!!
In Perth we found a phone store and bought a new SIM card for Rosemarie's phone. We had a sandwich in a food court and walked around some shops and Serling Gardens before catching the bus home again, as we didn't know where to get off the bus and our description was not understood by the bus driver, it was a fairly interesting journey home. Part of our problem was that we had caught a different bus into Perth. we did however get a concessionaire fare both ways because the first bus driver felt we looked old enough, this didn't go down too well with Rosemarie.
We returned home wind swept and cold but felt that we had really explored Perth City.
Wednesday 28 November 2012
Tuesday continued
There is something rather soul destroying about sitting around in airports waiting for a flight. They are incredibly soulless places. We sat in Lombok watching military planes taking off at regular intervals hoping that Indonesia had not declared war on the UK overnight, and waited for our flight to be called . We watched our plane arrive and disengorge it's passengers and load. We were then rushed down some steps and onto the plane and were fortunate enough to see that our cases were in the open hold,always reassuring, this is quite a small plane and we had to walk up about six steps to get onto it.
We arrived in Bali with no problems and with the ease of experienced travellers hired a porter to take our cases from the domestic airport to the international airport. This of course involved haggling and we settled on 20000 Rupiahs for the task in hand because it was a long walk. This amounted to £1.30 and for this, he lifted our cases off the belt, put them on a trolley, walked us and the cases about half a mile and made sure that we arrived at the correct check in place. All in all it seemed fairly good value for money.
We checked in for our flight to Australia and then had the enormous pleasure of a two and a half hour wait. The airport authorities in Bali have decreed that there should not be enough chairs for all the passengers and so began an enormous game of musical chairs. If you moved, your seat was immediately preyed upon. We were very lucky to get a seat right outside the gate our plane was leaving from and having gathered that occupation of the seat was the major issue,we were not for moving.
Having been through two security checks and x rays of bags, imagine our surprise when we had to face another to get into the boarding lounge when our flight was called. Our surprise was confounded even more when as my bag went through I was told I had a a bottle opener in it. I , of course, denied this. My bag was duly searched and the offending item could not be found. However, they decided to put it back through the scanner again and were insistent that there was one in the bag. It suddenly struck me, with that particular clarity which is granted to idiots , that they were talking about a corkscrew which was in one of my shoes, the offending item was found and was duly confiscated, rather a sad loss really as it was one of my favourites. The master packer had not realised that this was in a shoe when she had packed the rucksack.
Our flight to Perth was operated by Jetstar, a budget airline, although we had booked through Quantas, we decided that this didn't make a huge amount of difference and started looking at the list of refreshments we would have to purchase as both of us were a little hungry. Our first surprise was when a stewardess came and gave us an orange bag each which contained a blanket, a toothbrush, facemask,socks and a neck cushion. No other passengers around us were given anything and we immediately felt that the stigmata had been placed upon us. We had decided to have a sandwich each, when we received a second surprise, as the stewardess came and asked us what hot meal we would like and if we wanted coffee or tea. By this stage the Australians sat all around us had decided that we were very special people and luckily for us were joking about it.
The flight to Perth was good and our entry in Australia was welcoming and quick, there. There were only three foreigners on our plane so immigration was a doddle. The immigration guy was extremely friendly and seemed genuinely interested in us. We were through immigration and customs in no time at all and met up with our good friend, Richard,in the arrivals lounge, it was really good to see him.
Richard drove us back to his house through the quiet streets of Perth, it was really strange to see no motorcycles or scooters and no mad rush at every junction. All in all Perth seemed like a very civilised place with little or no traffic mayhem. We saw the bright lights of the city across the Swan river and met Margaret back at their house it was really good to be with friends.
There is something rather soul destroying about sitting around in airports waiting for a flight. They are incredibly soulless places. We sat in Lombok watching military planes taking off at regular intervals hoping that Indonesia had not declared war on the UK overnight, and waited for our flight to be called . We watched our plane arrive and disengorge it's passengers and load. We were then rushed down some steps and onto the plane and were fortunate enough to see that our cases were in the open hold,always reassuring, this is quite a small plane and we had to walk up about six steps to get onto it.
We arrived in Bali with no problems and with the ease of experienced travellers hired a porter to take our cases from the domestic airport to the international airport. This of course involved haggling and we settled on 20000 Rupiahs for the task in hand because it was a long walk. This amounted to £1.30 and for this, he lifted our cases off the belt, put them on a trolley, walked us and the cases about half a mile and made sure that we arrived at the correct check in place. All in all it seemed fairly good value for money.
We checked in for our flight to Australia and then had the enormous pleasure of a two and a half hour wait. The airport authorities in Bali have decreed that there should not be enough chairs for all the passengers and so began an enormous game of musical chairs. If you moved, your seat was immediately preyed upon. We were very lucky to get a seat right outside the gate our plane was leaving from and having gathered that occupation of the seat was the major issue,we were not for moving.
Having been through two security checks and x rays of bags, imagine our surprise when we had to face another to get into the boarding lounge when our flight was called. Our surprise was confounded even more when as my bag went through I was told I had a a bottle opener in it. I , of course, denied this. My bag was duly searched and the offending item could not be found. However, they decided to put it back through the scanner again and were insistent that there was one in the bag. It suddenly struck me, with that particular clarity which is granted to idiots , that they were talking about a corkscrew which was in one of my shoes, the offending item was found and was duly confiscated, rather a sad loss really as it was one of my favourites. The master packer had not realised that this was in a shoe when she had packed the rucksack.
Our flight to Perth was operated by Jetstar, a budget airline, although we had booked through Quantas, we decided that this didn't make a huge amount of difference and started looking at the list of refreshments we would have to purchase as both of us were a little hungry. Our first surprise was when a stewardess came and gave us an orange bag each which contained a blanket, a toothbrush, facemask,socks and a neck cushion. No other passengers around us were given anything and we immediately felt that the stigmata had been placed upon us. We had decided to have a sandwich each, when we received a second surprise, as the stewardess came and asked us what hot meal we would like and if we wanted coffee or tea. By this stage the Australians sat all around us had decided that we were very special people and luckily for us were joking about it.
The flight to Perth was good and our entry in Australia was welcoming and quick, there. There were only three foreigners on our plane so immigration was a doddle. The immigration guy was extremely friendly and seemed genuinely interested in us. We were through immigration and customs in no time at all and met up with our good friend, Richard,in the arrivals lounge, it was really good to see him.
Richard drove us back to his house through the quiet streets of Perth, it was really strange to see no motorcycles or scooters and no mad rush at every junction. All in all Perth seemed like a very civilised place with little or no traffic mayhem. We saw the bright lights of the city across the Swan river and met Margaret back at their house it was really good to be with friends.
Monday was as quiet as a church mouse creeping around a deserted belfry. We had decided to have a day of rest and that is exactly what we did. A late breakfast followed by a swim at the pool, a beer and some lunch on our balcony and a trip to the beach, all of four hundred yards away for a swim and a sunbathe. We watched the sun go down again, whilst we supped a beer on the beach and then made our way to Yesse's cafe for our last meal in Lombok.
Lombok is apparently like Bali was thirty years ago,it strikes me that it is very poor and a large number of people are subsisting, farming looks like hard work with little mechanisation and is heavily reliant on rice. Housing looks to be of a poor standard with many being little more than huts. However, the people are very friendly and always seem to be smiling. It certainly is very beautiful and I hope that tourism is introduced responsibly so as not to destroy what they have.
After our meal we were returned to the hotel. Our host's main concern was that we gave him a good review on Trip Advisor, maybe these companies will soon rule the way in which we all think and act.
Our return to our room was marked by feverish activity as we packed ready to move on Tuesday morning. This time to avoid the excess baggage fee we had had to pay on the way out, we packed a lot more heavy stuff into our rucksacks, careful planning being the key. It did mean however a complete rethink about where everything was packed.
Careful packing on a trip like this is essential and you clearly need a master packer like Rosemarie to ensure that all goes smoothly. This does not negate however, the fact that we still need to send more stuff home, cue another trip to a post office.
Tuesday dawned early , in fact a little bit too early for me, as it had been decreed that we needed to be up by 6.00am. We were in breakfast at 7.00 and ready to be picked up at 8.00. Our guide was waiting for us and the whole situation was marred when I asked him if he had our money, that is, the money we had spent to alter the tickets, he mumbled that his company had said he had to pay it out of his own pocket and that they would reimburse him the following month. He was clearly not happy and made no offer to give us any cash. Thus this 174000 Rupiahs became a matter of principle. He drove us very quickly to the airport and kept looking at his watch, both of us thought he had a better paid engagement elsewhere. At the airport he offered me a 100000 Rupiahs but I said, rather bravely I felt, that we wouldn't settle for less than 150000, which we agreed on. I told him he could keep the remaining 24000 as a tip, this sounds fairly generous doesn't it? But in effect we were offering him less than £2.
Our passage through the airport was almost faultless until we came to check in our cases, our careful planning and Rosemarie's masterly skill had ensured that they were under the required 40 kilos. Imagine our shock,horror and consternation, when the check in girl told us that they were overweight. Rosemarie , gave her a quick verbal volley and she ran off over the conveyor belt to find a book to check her facts. She soon returned however to tell us that there was no problem and that we would be fine. Another apoplexy averted.
Lombok is apparently like Bali was thirty years ago,it strikes me that it is very poor and a large number of people are subsisting, farming looks like hard work with little mechanisation and is heavily reliant on rice. Housing looks to be of a poor standard with many being little more than huts. However, the people are very friendly and always seem to be smiling. It certainly is very beautiful and I hope that tourism is introduced responsibly so as not to destroy what they have.
After our meal we were returned to the hotel. Our host's main concern was that we gave him a good review on Trip Advisor, maybe these companies will soon rule the way in which we all think and act.
Our return to our room was marked by feverish activity as we packed ready to move on Tuesday morning. This time to avoid the excess baggage fee we had had to pay on the way out, we packed a lot more heavy stuff into our rucksacks, careful planning being the key. It did mean however a complete rethink about where everything was packed.
Careful packing on a trip like this is essential and you clearly need a master packer like Rosemarie to ensure that all goes smoothly. This does not negate however, the fact that we still need to send more stuff home, cue another trip to a post office.
Tuesday dawned early , in fact a little bit too early for me, as it had been decreed that we needed to be up by 6.00am. We were in breakfast at 7.00 and ready to be picked up at 8.00. Our guide was waiting for us and the whole situation was marred when I asked him if he had our money, that is, the money we had spent to alter the tickets, he mumbled that his company had said he had to pay it out of his own pocket and that they would reimburse him the following month. He was clearly not happy and made no offer to give us any cash. Thus this 174000 Rupiahs became a matter of principle. He drove us very quickly to the airport and kept looking at his watch, both of us thought he had a better paid engagement elsewhere. At the airport he offered me a 100000 Rupiahs but I said, rather bravely I felt, that we wouldn't settle for less than 150000, which we agreed on. I told him he could keep the remaining 24000 as a tip, this sounds fairly generous doesn't it? But in effect we were offering him less than £2.
Our passage through the airport was almost faultless until we came to check in our cases, our careful planning and Rosemarie's masterly skill had ensured that they were under the required 40 kilos. Imagine our shock,horror and consternation, when the check in girl told us that they were overweight. Rosemarie , gave her a quick verbal volley and she ran off over the conveyor belt to find a book to check her facts. She soon returned however to tell us that there was no problem and that we would be fine. Another apoplexy averted.
Sunday 25 November 2012
Local Enterprise.
The guide who had picked us up at the airport had offerd to arrange a half day tour for us on our first full day and we agreed we would meet him to do this.
We met at 9.00 and were taken off up the coast line to see the Gili islands. The coast itself is beautiful and the Gili Islands, which are not that far off the coast looked like jewels floating in the ocean. It is really hard to describe the beauty of this place, but if in your imagination, you have a picture of a south sea Islam them this meets all of those expectations.
After the Gili Islands we were taken to the monkey forest where Macau monkeys prey on unsuspecting tourists. As we were getting out of the car our guide gave Rosemarie a pack of monkey nuts to feed to the monkeys, she didn't have time to walk around the car before one of the monkeys snatched the pack out of her hand and ran off with it. There is something quite sad about seeing animals like this begging for food from tourists.
After the monkeys we made our way through some spectacular scenery to Mataram the largest city on the island, where apparently a there isn't an awful lot to see apart from the old Dutch Colonial buildings whIch took all of two min
Uses, as they are used by the present government and are heavily guarded.As it was a Sunday most of the rest of Mataram was shut.
Our next stop was a clay making village ran by a tribe called the Sassaks who seem to specialise in crafts as it was the same tribe who did the weaving we went to on our first day. We didn't buy anything because of the weight and to be honest were not that taken with the quality of the pottery.
Our guide then asked us if we would like to see his house and off we went. This was a fairly small house, where we met mother, and aunts and shared a plate of mango. None of the other adults could speak English, but they seemed genuinely pleased to meet us. We did feel honoured to have been invited.
We got bak to the hotel about lunchtime and had a beer on our balcony looking at the sea. As we're doing this the rainy season started and the rain poured down. After lunch both of us went to sleep for a while before heading down to sunset point to watch the sun go down over Bali. We had done this the day before and it had been worth seeing but the rain meant that there was not a lot to see, which was bait of a pity.
Being creatures of habit the day ended with the restaurant coming to pick us up so we had a nice meal and then were dropped back at the hotel.
Senggigi
Before arriving at our hotel our guide took us to a local restaurant and showed us the menu, recommending the food. We thought it looked alright and they agreed to pick us up from the hotel and to bring us back when we had finished our meal. The guide told us , rather worryingly we thought, that it wasn't safe for us to wander around in the dark outside of the hotel.
We were booked into our room and had to wait some time whilst they converted two single beds into a double. The room was upstairs and as I had to carry one of our suitcases upstairs I wasn't in the mood to tip the porter. Whilst we were settling into our room we began to notice that things were not quite right. There was grass on the floor, the bathroom light cover was full of dead insects, and you could see on the bathroom walls where previous guests had killed insects. As we sat on the bed watching the news a wasp appeared, apparently out of one of the pillows, this was killed unceremoniously. Both of us also caught our foot on a nail that was protruding from the floor. The final straw was finding two more wasps and the remains of one on the wall, killed by a previous occupant.
On our way to dinner we decided to complain and the result was that we were offered a different room and that we could change rooms when we returned from eating. We had a pleasant meal although the gloss was taken off it a bit by the thought that on our return we would have to move. However, that is exactly what we did. Imagine our surprise on our return to find all our complaints had been dealt with, the light cover had been cleaned , as had the bathroom walls, the remains of the dead wasp had been removed and the offending nail had been hammered back into the floor. However, as I am allergic to wasp and bee stings we still moved rooms, and from the new room, on the ground floor we could see the ocean.
There is nothing quite like going to sleep,whilst being caressed by the sound of the rolling waves.
By the way the guide had been quite right about the area outside the hotel, which is very dark and a good half mile from the main road, we were very grateful for the transport provided by the restaurant.
Our first night in Lombok had been fairly eventful.
First let me begin by explaining why we have been unable to blog for three days. I feel sure many of you have missed your daily blog fix! Although we are in a lovely hotel in Lombok their Internet provision is very poor and whilst we have been able to pick up mail we have not been able to access any websites due to the paucity of the signal available.
So back to our travels. We left Bali and were escorted to the airport by a rep from Tour East who was extremely concerned that our flight back fro Lombok did not give us time to connect with our flight to Perth and so she started to change our arrangements whilst we were in the car. This involved phoning the rep in Lombok and several assurances that we didn't need to worry as they would sort it out.
She left us at the entrance to the domestic flight terminal and we then entered what can only be described as mayhem. There is no understanding of the notion of orderly queuing in Indonesia, we joined a queue and were moved by a porter, then a woman in the line next to us pushed in front of us , Rosemarie told her in no uncertain terms that this was not on. To be fair to her she eventually suggested that Rosemarie could go in front of her. The when we did reach check in our bags were overweight so we had to take a bill to the airline office to pay the excess. The airline office was somewhere to our right, but we were given no clear indication of exactly where it was. We joined a queue to find we were in the wrong place, this did not go down well with Rosemarie and eventually a pleasant employee of another airline took pity on us and showed us where we should go. We did feel it would have been helpful of the airline had they put their name above the door in large letters.
Having paid the bill we had to return to our original queue but his time we went straight to the front of the line and pushed our papers forward. We were then assured our bags would be put on the plane which was good news as we could see them at the end of the conveyor belt waiting patiently.
Just to prove that the Indonesians love a good melee we then had to queue again to pay, our tax to leave the airport.
Having done this we made our way to our gate to find, yes you have guessed it, a large queue waiting for another flight to Jakarta. As there were no seats we had to stand until that plane had boarded. As soon as the last passenger had gone through they announced our flight and we were almost at the start of the scrum. We were checked in, ushered down some stairs, taken outside and told to wait. Eventually a bus came to take us to the plane.
We arrived in Lombok and were entertained by yet another queue as we had to wait for our baggage on the only belt in the airport which was also dealing with the arrival of another flight 2 minutes before ours.
By now we had had enough of queues but no, we were greeted by our rep who took us straight to the airline office where we had to get in line again to change our flight back. To add insult to injury the rep had no money and we had to pay the excess due although to be fair we were assured that we would get the money back.
This took about 30 minutes, we were then treated to an interesting drive to the hotel which included stopping at a village famed for its spinning, and yes Rosemarie did buy a scarf, and then to a stop at a roadside cafe to try Bakso a famous Indonesian soup, of meatballs and garlic which our guide treated us to, although we had to pay for the drinks, which seemed fair enough. The soup was delicious.
So back to our travels. We left Bali and were escorted to the airport by a rep from Tour East who was extremely concerned that our flight back fro Lombok did not give us time to connect with our flight to Perth and so she started to change our arrangements whilst we were in the car. This involved phoning the rep in Lombok and several assurances that we didn't need to worry as they would sort it out.
She left us at the entrance to the domestic flight terminal and we then entered what can only be described as mayhem. There is no understanding of the notion of orderly queuing in Indonesia, we joined a queue and were moved by a porter, then a woman in the line next to us pushed in front of us , Rosemarie told her in no uncertain terms that this was not on. To be fair to her she eventually suggested that Rosemarie could go in front of her. The when we did reach check in our bags were overweight so we had to take a bill to the airline office to pay the excess. The airline office was somewhere to our right, but we were given no clear indication of exactly where it was. We joined a queue to find we were in the wrong place, this did not go down well with Rosemarie and eventually a pleasant employee of another airline took pity on us and showed us where we should go. We did feel it would have been helpful of the airline had they put their name above the door in large letters.
Having paid the bill we had to return to our original queue but his time we went straight to the front of the line and pushed our papers forward. We were then assured our bags would be put on the plane which was good news as we could see them at the end of the conveyor belt waiting patiently.
Just to prove that the Indonesians love a good melee we then had to queue again to pay, our tax to leave the airport.
Having done this we made our way to our gate to find, yes you have guessed it, a large queue waiting for another flight to Jakarta. As there were no seats we had to stand until that plane had boarded. As soon as the last passenger had gone through they announced our flight and we were almost at the start of the scrum. We were checked in, ushered down some stairs, taken outside and told to wait. Eventually a bus came to take us to the plane.
We arrived in Lombok and were entertained by yet another queue as we had to wait for our baggage on the only belt in the airport which was also dealing with the arrival of another flight 2 minutes before ours.
By now we had had enough of queues but no, we were greeted by our rep who took us straight to the airline office where we had to get in line again to change our flight back. To add insult to injury the rep had no money and we had to pay the excess due although to be fair we were assured that we would get the money back.
This took about 30 minutes, we were then treated to an interesting drive to the hotel which included stopping at a village famed for its spinning, and yes Rosemarie did buy a scarf, and then to a stop at a roadside cafe to try Bakso a famous Indonesian soup, of meatballs and garlic which our guide treated us to, although we had to pay for the drinks, which seemed fair enough. The soup was delicious.
Friday 23 November 2012
Firstly, I have tried hard in this blog to write a travelogue as well to write about all those little things that have amused us. Sometimes I feel like I cannot find a voice to write with and sometimes to me it reads just like a rant.
Bali is a beautiful island and we are both convinced we want to come back one day, when that will be who knows. We met our friend Sarah yesterday and she took us around her school, a really lovely building in Canggu. It was a real pleasure to see her classroom, which looked like a hive of activity. We also went to her house which is truly beautiful , they were in the process of finishing the swimming pool in the back garden, and when that is done it will look great.
We had a meal in a restaurant with them and witnessed a storm over the ocean before returning home in a taxi.
The money here is something else, £60 will get you a million rupiahs, so you honestly feel like a millionaire when you leave the ATM. We took out three million and had quite a lot of notes to count.
Nothing starts here price wise at less than a 1000 so they might as well devalue. Maybe that is a little simplistic.
The Balinese are one of the friendliest races I have ever come across, nothing is too much trouble and they always appear to be bright and cheerful. After our meal tonight we went to the phone shop to top up Rosemarie's mobile and as we arrived the lady was in the process of locking up, the lights were off and the key was in the lock, we explained we were leaving tomorrow morning and she opened up again and put the money on our phone for us. I am not sure that would, have happened in England.
Secondly , I would love some comments from those of you in the USA who are reading this , or even those in South Korea. I think the blog probably marks the death knell for the postcard, you just write this and invite all your friends to read it, so much cheaper too. I not sure I understand the appeal of this if you live in Alaska, so maybe you might enlighten me.
We spent the day on the beach relaxing before we move to. Lombok tomorrow, the beach has a gentle breezewhich dissipates the heat a little and then when you are ready you can walk into the Indonesian Sea, which is the warmest sea I have ever swum in.And now to Lombok.
Bali is a beautiful island and we are both convinced we want to come back one day, when that will be who knows. We met our friend Sarah yesterday and she took us around her school, a really lovely building in Canggu. It was a real pleasure to see her classroom, which looked like a hive of activity. We also went to her house which is truly beautiful , they were in the process of finishing the swimming pool in the back garden, and when that is done it will look great.
We had a meal in a restaurant with them and witnessed a storm over the ocean before returning home in a taxi.
The money here is something else, £60 will get you a million rupiahs, so you honestly feel like a millionaire when you leave the ATM. We took out three million and had quite a lot of notes to count.
Nothing starts here price wise at less than a 1000 so they might as well devalue. Maybe that is a little simplistic.
The Balinese are one of the friendliest races I have ever come across, nothing is too much trouble and they always appear to be bright and cheerful. After our meal tonight we went to the phone shop to top up Rosemarie's mobile and as we arrived the lady was in the process of locking up, the lights were off and the key was in the lock, we explained we were leaving tomorrow morning and she opened up again and put the money on our phone for us. I am not sure that would, have happened in England.
Secondly , I would love some comments from those of you in the USA who are reading this , or even those in South Korea. I think the blog probably marks the death knell for the postcard, you just write this and invite all your friends to read it, so much cheaper too. I not sure I understand the appeal of this if you live in Alaska, so maybe you might enlighten me.
We spent the day on the beach relaxing before we move to. Lombok tomorrow, the beach has a gentle breezewhich dissipates the heat a little and then when you are ready you can walk into the Indonesian Sea, which is the warmest sea I have ever swum in.And now to Lombok.
Wednesday 21 November 2012
We had a really lazy day the day before yesterday, mainly spent on the beach at Sanur, which is sandy and quiet. Both of us swum in the Indonesian Ocean and spent most of the day enjoying a slight breeze in the shade of a huge tree. Despite thinking we were in the shade both of us suffered a degree of us,Nairn which was bit careless.
We did walk around the beautiful gardens of the hotel I.n the morning and were astounded by the size of them, they are a miniature botanical gardens.
In the evening we went for a meal and I had foolishly promised Rosemarie that we could walk around the night market at the end of the street. So after a pleasant meal we wandered off to what looked like a small night market. This was clearly a mistake, not only did we purchase a dress but we also managed, almost magically to purchase another pair of shoes as well. So Rosemarie hit the jackpot two days in a row. Both the dress and the shoes had to be bartered for and I notice that I am left to do that part of the transaction. The dress started at 350,000 and we got it for 205,000 , the shoes started at 200,000 and we got them for a 110, 000. I can't quite get out of my head the idea that we still paid too much for them.
Yesterday we decided to go on a day trip to the north of the island, and we are really glad we did that. The scenery was really interesting, terraced rice fields, clove trees, cocoa plants and farming on slopes which a) look unfarmable and b) which look nothing like farmed land.
We went to a fruit market, which was colourful and to a magical Hindu temple set on a lake with the mountains as a backdrop. We stopped to look at two volcanic lakes and then went to the north coast at Lovena for lunch. Lunch was slightly disappointing as the choice son the buffet was poor. We then travelled to the highest waterfall in Bali, unfortunately called the GitGit waterfall, however in Balinese the G is soft. It was a site well worth seeing.
The mini van we travelled in left a lot to be desired, there were no seat belts and no suspension as far as I could tell. My posterior is still sore, we left at 8.45 am in the morning and returned at 7.30 at night.
The day was enlivened by our travelling companion who shall remain nameless. She came from Georgia and appeared to have little to no idea about travelling. From the first stop it was clear to us and our guide that she was going to be a pain. She could not keep to time, asked stupid and irrelevant questions and wanted clam chowder for lunch. We had the buffet for lunch she ordered a la carte, so when we had finished our meal we were able to go for a walk on the beach which is black volcanic sand. She decided to come back to the minibus 15 minutes after the stated time which is no joke in the heat we have here.
The guide asked me if we could drop her off first on our return and then we could see Kuta, we said that was fine but then she decided she didn't want to be taken back to her hotel but to be dropped somewhere else. The guide and driver had a conversation in Balinese And told her they were not going that way so we dropped her off outside her hotel where she was still demanding that they "hang a right " and drop her off somewhere else. The stalemate ended with the guide opening the door for her to let her out.
These little things are sent to try us. Anyway we both decided tht Kuta wasn't the place for us and we were glad we were in Sanur.
The day ended with a lovely meal and a quiet but exhausted walk back to the hotel.
We did walk around the beautiful gardens of the hotel I.n the morning and were astounded by the size of them, they are a miniature botanical gardens.
In the evening we went for a meal and I had foolishly promised Rosemarie that we could walk around the night market at the end of the street. So after a pleasant meal we wandered off to what looked like a small night market. This was clearly a mistake, not only did we purchase a dress but we also managed, almost magically to purchase another pair of shoes as well. So Rosemarie hit the jackpot two days in a row. Both the dress and the shoes had to be bartered for and I notice that I am left to do that part of the transaction. The dress started at 350,000 and we got it for 205,000 , the shoes started at 200,000 and we got them for a 110, 000. I can't quite get out of my head the idea that we still paid too much for them.
Yesterday we decided to go on a day trip to the north of the island, and we are really glad we did that. The scenery was really interesting, terraced rice fields, clove trees, cocoa plants and farming on slopes which a) look unfarmable and b) which look nothing like farmed land.
We went to a fruit market, which was colourful and to a magical Hindu temple set on a lake with the mountains as a backdrop. We stopped to look at two volcanic lakes and then went to the north coast at Lovena for lunch. Lunch was slightly disappointing as the choice son the buffet was poor. We then travelled to the highest waterfall in Bali, unfortunately called the GitGit waterfall, however in Balinese the G is soft. It was a site well worth seeing.
The mini van we travelled in left a lot to be desired, there were no seat belts and no suspension as far as I could tell. My posterior is still sore, we left at 8.45 am in the morning and returned at 7.30 at night.
The day was enlivened by our travelling companion who shall remain nameless. She came from Georgia and appeared to have little to no idea about travelling. From the first stop it was clear to us and our guide that she was going to be a pain. She could not keep to time, asked stupid and irrelevant questions and wanted clam chowder for lunch. We had the buffet for lunch she ordered a la carte, so when we had finished our meal we were able to go for a walk on the beach which is black volcanic sand. She decided to come back to the minibus 15 minutes after the stated time which is no joke in the heat we have here.
The guide asked me if we could drop her off first on our return and then we could see Kuta, we said that was fine but then she decided she didn't want to be taken back to her hotel but to be dropped somewhere else. The guide and driver had a conversation in Balinese And told her they were not going that way so we dropped her off outside her hotel where she was still demanding that they "hang a right " and drop her off somewhere else. The stalemate ended with the guide opening the door for her to let her out.
These little things are sent to try us. Anyway we both decided tht Kuta wasn't the place for us and we were glad we were in Sanur.
The day ended with a lovely meal and a quiet but exhausted walk back to the hotel.
Monday 19 November 2012
Yesterday we went on a day trip to a volcano, and had a really good day. We started with an hour long Balinese dance performance which was accompanied by a full gamelan orchestra . I not totally convinced that I am in love with this music, but the dance was good and had pantomime elements in it to appeal to all ages. After the dance went to Batik works, now the two things Rosemarie cannot walk away from easily are fabrics and shoes. This is a known fact. We ended up buying two pieces of fabric, after some negotiation we managed to get a sizeable drop from the starting price, so all in all it could have been worse. The next stop was a silversmith but luckily we bought nothing there or at the stone carvers or woodworkers.
Bali is clearly delineated in term of industrial activities, one village does paintings, one silversmithing, one woodwork, it makes it all dreadfully easy for the tour guide. We drove up to the volcano which luckily for us was only slightly obscured by mist, for as we had lunch the clouds rolled down and you couldn't see it all. We did see some marvellous layered paddy fields which were worth the day alone. Farming them must be incredibly labour intensive as there was no room for tractors or mechanisation.
We did the tour with another young couple John and Rachel who are both wanting to be PE teachers and they were very good company. In the afternoon we visited an 11th century Hindu temple. Until arriving here we had no idea that Bali was a Hindu island, we thought it would be Muslim like the rest of Indonesia.
After returning to our hotel we decided to book another trip to the north of the island for Wednesday on the grounds that we may never come again so take the chance whilst you can.
In the evening we walked into Sanur, this proved to be a mistake as Rosemarie managed to buy a pair of shoes. Jackpot!!!! Material and shoes in the same day.
There are a lot of European restaurants here, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch and a Bali Pub!! We did find a restaurant and a hotel called the Swastika restaurant/hotel and we both said that nothing would make us eat there.I know the Greeks had the Swastika before the Nazis appropriated it, and I think it was originally a sign of peace, but it strikes me that it is an unfortunate name in a town which clearly has a lot of European visitors.We wandered back to the little restaurant we have used before and had satay which was really good.
Bali is clearly delineated in term of industrial activities, one village does paintings, one silversmithing, one woodwork, it makes it all dreadfully easy for the tour guide. We drove up to the volcano which luckily for us was only slightly obscured by mist, for as we had lunch the clouds rolled down and you couldn't see it all. We did see some marvellous layered paddy fields which were worth the day alone. Farming them must be incredibly labour intensive as there was no room for tractors or mechanisation.
We did the tour with another young couple John and Rachel who are both wanting to be PE teachers and they were very good company. In the afternoon we visited an 11th century Hindu temple. Until arriving here we had no idea that Bali was a Hindu island, we thought it would be Muslim like the rest of Indonesia.
After returning to our hotel we decided to book another trip to the north of the island for Wednesday on the grounds that we may never come again so take the chance whilst you can.
In the evening we walked into Sanur, this proved to be a mistake as Rosemarie managed to buy a pair of shoes. Jackpot!!!! Material and shoes in the same day.
There are a lot of European restaurants here, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch and a Bali Pub!! We did find a restaurant and a hotel called the Swastika restaurant/hotel and we both said that nothing would make us eat there.I know the Greeks had the Swastika before the Nazis appropriated it, and I think it was originally a sign of peace, but it strikes me that it is an unfortunate name in a town which clearly has a lot of European visitors.We wandered back to the little restaurant we have used before and had satay which was really good.
Bali
This is a wonderful place although very hot with 65% humidity. Yesterday was a quiet day, we were up fairly late had a nice breakfast with sweat running down our brows, before excitement of excitements we took our dirty washing to a local laundry. The laundry had been recommended to us by the lady who picked us up from the airport. We couldn't go there though until we had battled with the local ATM to get some money out. You could only take a million rupiahs out at a time. (15,000 to the pound) when you get the cash you feel rich but 90,000 is only £6.
At the laundry our clothes were weighed and we were presented with a bill for just under £5 for three kilos of washing , and this included ironing.
It was then back to the hotel and down to the swimming pool which was like entering a warm bath. For me the major problem was to find some shade.
We had been in touch with our friend Sarah and arranged to meet her later in the afternoon so there was plenty of time for a swim and to read. At about four we got a message from Sarah, saying that she and her family were on the beach to the right of our hotel.
We duly set off in search of them. We reached the beach and turned right and walked for a couple of hundred yards before deciding that she must be in the opposite direction so we turned around and trudged along the beach. When we reached the end did our beach we decided to give her a ring, yes you have guessed it, she was just a little further along in the direction we had taken at he start, so back we went, all good for my sylph like figure.
Sarah very kindly came to meet us and we spent a very pleasant time on the beach with her and Irawayan and Jolita. We then went for a beer , during which I had to go and fetch our laundry, all done and pressed. We decided to go for a meal together and had a very good meal in a local restaurant before putting them all into a car to drive home. We had a really nice time with them.
Tomorrow a trip to the volcano.
This is a wonderful place although very hot with 65% humidity. Yesterday was a quiet day, we were up fairly late had a nice breakfast with sweat running down our brows, before excitement of excitements we took our dirty washing to a local laundry. The laundry had been recommended to us by the lady who picked us up from the airport. We couldn't go there though until we had battled with the local ATM to get some money out. You could only take a million rupiahs out at a time. (15,000 to the pound) when you get the cash you feel rich but 90,000 is only £6.
At the laundry our clothes were weighed and we were presented with a bill for just under £5 for three kilos of washing , and this included ironing.
It was then back to the hotel and down to the swimming pool which was like entering a warm bath. For me the major problem was to find some shade.
We had been in touch with our friend Sarah and arranged to meet her later in the afternoon so there was plenty of time for a swim and to read. At about four we got a message from Sarah, saying that she and her family were on the beach to the right of our hotel.
We duly set off in search of them. We reached the beach and turned right and walked for a couple of hundred yards before deciding that she must be in the opposite direction so we turned around and trudged along the beach. When we reached the end did our beach we decided to give her a ring, yes you have guessed it, she was just a little further along in the direction we had taken at he start, so back we went, all good for my sylph like figure.
Sarah very kindly came to meet us and we spent a very pleasant time on the beach with her and Irawayan and Jolita. We then went for a beer , during which I had to go and fetch our laundry, all done and pressed. We decided to go for a meal together and had a very good meal in a local restaurant before putting them all into a car to drive home. We had a really nice time with them.
Tomorrow a trip to the volcano.
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