The last two days have been spent with my niece and her partner and their two year old twins Henry and Alice. The children were absolutely delightful and we had a great time. We did those things that children love to do. So on our first afternoon we went for a picnic in the botanical gardens in Melbourne and we had a pleasant afternoon, after our picnic we walked around the newly planted cactus garden which was a real delight.
The evening was spent playing games, bath time and reading stories before the adults could enjoy their meal.
It was full on again at 7.00 on day two and you forget how much noise two lively two year olds can make, breakfast, a walk to the beach, all of ten minutes away, a morning sleep and an afternoon walk to the park filled the whole day, before bath time, reading stories and bedtime. It was a very different experience for us but a truly enjoyable one.
Today we were up early again, breakfasted and off to the village to buy a birthday present before heading off to the park again. We left as they were heading off for their morning sleep.
We returned to the botanical gardens which we love to park there and go for a walk.We didn't have enough money for the parking meter and a very nice chap just gave us three dollars to pay for the parking, it was very good of him and was totally unexpected. We walked off into the city to get some cards for various birthdays and then had lunch in a food court, where we had noodles in a small box, I had chicken and Rosemarie had prawns and its was extremely good.
After lunch we headed back to the car and off to the airport to take our bags to our hotel, we went the wrong way down the motorway and had eventually to turn around having already been through several toll machines, so it could prove to be an expensive mistake. The trusty expedition navigator let us down for the first time this trip.
We found our hotel easily and took our bags to our room, filled the car with petrol and took it back where we complained that it had felt as though the front left wheel was not balanced , it had not been good all the time we had had the car. It was then off to the terminal to book our seats on tomorrow's flight where the nice man on the Quantas desk gave us some seats with plenty of leg room, when we thanked him his reply was that he tried to do one nice thing a day.
We then walked back to our hotel and the master packer began the magical experience of repacking of the cases and getting us organised for a 4 .30 am start tomorrow. We have to have checked in by 6.00.
Our last day on mainland Australia and a really lovely if somewhat busy one.
Thursday 31 January 2013
Tuesday 29 January 2013
What sort of idiot would say to their wife on August Bank holiday Monday in England"Let's go for a drive from Bournemouth to Brighton, along the sea front, it's bound to be easy to park and everyone else will be at home". Well the answer to that question is the same person who says to his wife on the Australia Day holiday Monday, "Wouldn't it be a great idea to drive the Great Ocean Road today?" And in these two sentences you have the whole idea of our day along the coast.
Most of Melbourne was out for the day, several beaches were crammed and there were very few places to park.
In addition although we had discussed this drive with my sister and my nephew and niece no one had told us this was a 250 kilometre drive, each way. In a moment of senility we also badly misjudged what we had to do as we came back along a much faster road. In hindsight we should have driven out on the fast road and come back along the coast. We left our hotel at 9.45am and got back just before 9.00pm.
The scenery was fantastic and well worth seeing and the idea that the road was built as a memorial to the soldiers who fought in World War One made the journey especially memorable.
We are back to camping out in out hotel room, partly because the hotel wants 40$ a day for two of us to have breakfast, as we have a fridge, a kettle and a toaster we make our own breakfast , and use our plastic plates and cutlery to have salad and cold meats in the evening.
On this particular day we were both so tired we wanted something hot so we went out to a local take away and ordered some chips.We then crossed the road to get some falafel and bought those and a spinach and feta borek as well as a couple of potato and feta patties, all this on top of chips meant we had a lovely supper in our room.
Supper over, fatigue set in and we were both in bed and asleep in fairly record time.
The scenery on the Great Ocean Road made the whole day worthwhile, particularly the Twelve Apostles, the Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge. However, if we do it again we will stop at one end and have a bed and breakfast so that we can have more time to explore and so that we don't drive nearly 600 kilometres in a day.
I apologise for the rather short nature of the blog over the last couple of days but the hotel was charging $12.60 for two hours of Internet use, we tried to ration our usage , but by the time we had looked up addresses and routes and checked our e mails 2 hours doesn't last very long and so I was forced to write the blog quickly and to make it fairly short.
To the nineteen of you in Russia who have read the blog over the last few days, welcome. I hope you are enjoying it.
Most of Melbourne was out for the day, several beaches were crammed and there were very few places to park.
In addition although we had discussed this drive with my sister and my nephew and niece no one had told us this was a 250 kilometre drive, each way. In a moment of senility we also badly misjudged what we had to do as we came back along a much faster road. In hindsight we should have driven out on the fast road and come back along the coast. We left our hotel at 9.45am and got back just before 9.00pm.
The scenery was fantastic and well worth seeing and the idea that the road was built as a memorial to the soldiers who fought in World War One made the journey especially memorable.
We are back to camping out in out hotel room, partly because the hotel wants 40$ a day for two of us to have breakfast, as we have a fridge, a kettle and a toaster we make our own breakfast , and use our plastic plates and cutlery to have salad and cold meats in the evening.
On this particular day we were both so tired we wanted something hot so we went out to a local take away and ordered some chips.We then crossed the road to get some falafel and bought those and a spinach and feta borek as well as a couple of potato and feta patties, all this on top of chips meant we had a lovely supper in our room.
Supper over, fatigue set in and we were both in bed and asleep in fairly record time.
The scenery on the Great Ocean Road made the whole day worthwhile, particularly the Twelve Apostles, the Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge. However, if we do it again we will stop at one end and have a bed and breakfast so that we can have more time to explore and so that we don't drive nearly 600 kilometres in a day.
I apologise for the rather short nature of the blog over the last couple of days but the hotel was charging $12.60 for two hours of Internet use, we tried to ration our usage , but by the time we had looked up addresses and routes and checked our e mails 2 hours doesn't last very long and so I was forced to write the blog quickly and to make it fairly short.
To the nineteen of you in Russia who have read the blog over the last few days, welcome. I hope you are enjoying it.
Monday 28 January 2013
Sunday with the family
My nephew Lee and niece Di had asked o re to Di's house for a barbecue, however we had no directions apart from the fact that Lee had told us that Di's house was miles away from where we are. However we found the address on our trusty iPad and set off in high expectations. Everything was fine until a e came to a toll road and as it required an electronic tag I was unsure as to whether the tag our car had from New South Wales would do the job in Victoria. Rosemarie said it would, I was unsure so we came off before the toll section and found gods old ordinary roads to get us there. We arrived about ten minutes late.
The afternoon was spent chatting and eating and all concerned had a good time or at least we hope they did.
Di and Paul told us our tag would work but we still came back the way we went as we sort of had an idea about where were going and what we had to do. The journey home was in facta doddle.
We left about six pm to get back in time for Rosemarie to watch Andy Murray in the tennis. We were home in good time and watched the match. We both thought Murray put up a great performance and when we saw how bad the blister on his foot ws we both winced.
The end result was of course disappointing but it was quite an enjoyable game to watch. All in all a really good day and it ws good to see my extended family again.
My nephew Lee and niece Di had asked o re to Di's house for a barbecue, however we had no directions apart from the fact that Lee had told us that Di's house was miles away from where we are. However we found the address on our trusty iPad and set off in high expectations. Everything was fine until a e came to a toll road and as it required an electronic tag I was unsure as to whether the tag our car had from New South Wales would do the job in Victoria. Rosemarie said it would, I was unsure so we came off before the toll section and found gods old ordinary roads to get us there. We arrived about ten minutes late.
The afternoon was spent chatting and eating and all concerned had a good time or at least we hope they did.
Di and Paul told us our tag would work but we still came back the way we went as we sort of had an idea about where were going and what we had to do. The journey home was in facta doddle.
We left about six pm to get back in time for Rosemarie to watch Andy Murray in the tennis. We were home in good time and watched the match. We both thought Murray put up a great performance and when we saw how bad the blister on his foot ws we both winced.
The end result was of course disappointing but it was quite an enjoyable game to watch. All in all a really good day and it ws good to see my extended family again.
Sunday 27 January 2013
Three days in Melbourne
We have spent the last three days in Melbourne and it has been difficult to blog as the hotel charges exorbitant amounts for Internet connection. We bought two hours and used them and then bought another two hours of which we used about twenty minutes. When's slogged on again it told us we had used all of our time cue the master negotiator to take it up, and after a lengthy argument we had one hour forty minutes reinstated.
Our first day in Melbourne was spent walking to the Victoria Market and around there, this is a really interesting place and we spent a good couple of hours there. Before that though we had to go and buy another camera as our big one had died on us and needs to be returned home. This was not something we wanted to purchase but rather something we felt we had to do. After the market, where we both bought hats we had lunch in Flagstaff gardens which was great before catching the tram to Federation Square where we went to to the tourist information office. After that we went to Young and Jacksons pub on Flinders Street for a quiet pint before walking home again. All in all we walked about five miles.
day two was Australia Day and we walked the lanes of Melbourne which were very interesting architecturally. We then walked to the botanic gardens which we really enjoyed and we had lunch there, after that we walked to Government house, which had been opened to the public for the day but when we saw the queue to get in we declined the hour wait, and instead watched a fly past and aerobatic display and looked at the vintage car parade. this was like the story of our lives told in cars, Cortinas ,Anglias, Singer Gazelles, VW's etc.
We returned to the pub for a drink and then walked back up the lanes to our hotel. Then just to prove how mad we are we walked from the hotel to Mary Tonkin's exhibition where we had a couple of glasses of wine and looked at her wonderful picture. After the walk back to Lygon Street we treated ourselves to an Italian meal which was really good. Back to the hotel we reckoned we had walked about eight miles during the day and both of us felt a little weary.
Today we have spent with our nephew and nieces at Di's house for a barbecue, where we had a really great afternoon, very relaxing, with some good food and some good company. All in all a great three days .
We have spent the last three days in Melbourne and it has been difficult to blog as the hotel charges exorbitant amounts for Internet connection. We bought two hours and used them and then bought another two hours of which we used about twenty minutes. When's slogged on again it told us we had used all of our time cue the master negotiator to take it up, and after a lengthy argument we had one hour forty minutes reinstated.
Our first day in Melbourne was spent walking to the Victoria Market and around there, this is a really interesting place and we spent a good couple of hours there. Before that though we had to go and buy another camera as our big one had died on us and needs to be returned home. This was not something we wanted to purchase but rather something we felt we had to do. After the market, where we both bought hats we had lunch in Flagstaff gardens which was great before catching the tram to Federation Square where we went to to the tourist information office. After that we went to Young and Jacksons pub on Flinders Street for a quiet pint before walking home again. All in all we walked about five miles.
day two was Australia Day and we walked the lanes of Melbourne which were very interesting architecturally. We then walked to the botanic gardens which we really enjoyed and we had lunch there, after that we walked to Government house, which had been opened to the public for the day but when we saw the queue to get in we declined the hour wait, and instead watched a fly past and aerobatic display and looked at the vintage car parade. this was like the story of our lives told in cars, Cortinas ,Anglias, Singer Gazelles, VW's etc.
We returned to the pub for a drink and then walked back up the lanes to our hotel. Then just to prove how mad we are we walked from the hotel to Mary Tonkin's exhibition where we had a couple of glasses of wine and looked at her wonderful picture. After the walk back to Lygon Street we treated ourselves to an Italian meal which was really good. Back to the hotel we reckoned we had walked about eight miles during the day and both of us felt a little weary.
Today we have spent with our nephew and nieces at Di's house for a barbecue, where we had a really great afternoon, very relaxing, with some good food and some good company. All in all a great three days .
Thursday 24 January 2013
The trip to Melbourne
Goodbyes are always sad and there is something in me that wants to get them over with as quickly as possible. We were away by about half past ten and on the road. W estoppel in mYrtleford to get some supplies and a sandwich and drove to Melbourne in a fairly uneventful way.
W e arrived at our hotel at about three forty five and decided after we had ad a beer to catch the free round the city tram. As luck would have it we did this at the very hottest point of the day and the tea we caught was not air conditioned. We were going to go around to Federation Square but as it was so hot we got off in The Docklands and found a waterside pub for another beer in what was their happy hour.
After our liquid refreshment we walked back to the tram stop and went to the Square.
We walked along the Yarra river and around the Rod Laver and Hi Sense arenas before taking in the Melbourne Cricket Ground and walking back to our hotel, all in all about three miles and probably a bit too far on a baking hot day. We a tally failed to find a bar we both liked until we were almost back at our hotel.
Melbourne seems to be a very pleasant city not as large as Sydney but not as compact as Perth.
To cap it all our big Sony camera has given up the ghost and the expedition photographer is a bit lost with only the small one to use so we need to get another camera. This will fill our minds tomorrow and the days are flying by.
Goodbyes are always sad and there is something in me that wants to get them over with as quickly as possible. We were away by about half past ten and on the road. W estoppel in mYrtleford to get some supplies and a sandwich and drove to Melbourne in a fairly uneventful way.
W e arrived at our hotel at about three forty five and decided after we had ad a beer to catch the free round the city tram. As luck would have it we did this at the very hottest point of the day and the tea we caught was not air conditioned. We were going to go around to Federation Square but as it was so hot we got off in The Docklands and found a waterside pub for another beer in what was their happy hour.
After our liquid refreshment we walked back to the tram stop and went to the Square.
We walked along the Yarra river and around the Rod Laver and Hi Sense arenas before taking in the Melbourne Cricket Ground and walking back to our hotel, all in all about three miles and probably a bit too far on a baking hot day. We a tally failed to find a bar we both liked until we were almost back at our hotel.
Melbourne seems to be a very pleasant city not as large as Sydney but not as compact as Perth.
To cap it all our big Sony camera has given up the ghost and the expedition photographer is a bit lost with only the small one to use so we need to get another camera. This will fill our minds tomorrow and the days are flying by.
Wednesday 23 January 2013
Monday/Tuesday in Bright
Monday was one of those days that you can't really find anything to write about. So to give you an idea. We were up,early and took Mike and Pam to Wangaratta where we dropped them at the hospital. We then spent a happy hour wandering the shops of that metropolis. We picked Pam and Mike up again after about an hour and went for a coffee in a little cafe.
We drove back in brilliant sunshine and had lunch before a leisurely afternoon watching the tennis.
Tuesday Rosemarie and I went out for the day. We had decided to visit Lake Buffalo and set off to the wonderfully named Myrtleford where we stopped to look at yet more shops and Rosemarie bought a pair of flip flops, because the pair we had bought in Bali had apparently worn out. Our next stop was a supermarket to buy some drinks and a bag of crisps and then we went to the bakery where we ordered custom made focaccia, mine with salami and salad and Rosemarie beef and salad.
The master navigator got us on the right road to the lake and off we went.
The road out to the lake , all 20 kilometres of it, was very lovely like a view straight off a postcard, and we arrived at the lake to find that to was truly beautiful. We walked around the picnic area for a while before deciding to drive to the other side of the lake to explore that. As luck would have it there were no picnic tables in the shade on that side so we decided just to follow the road along the side of the lake for a little while. After about 15 minutes we reached the end of the road, or rather it turned into a dirt road and we decided not to go any further, partly because the car we are driving is very low slung.
So it was back to the first picnic site for lunch and we sat here I the shade watching children swimming and eating our sandwiches. The highlight of this time was watching a toddler in life jacket who had absolutely no fear of the water. He toddled into it fell over and his mother had to hoist him out by the life jacket. The jacket was designed to throw him onto his back and he loved it. His Mum had to fish him out four or five times and then when his father came back the whole thing was repeated with him , father even took him him out quite deep and dunked him and he never complained. Absolutely marvellous and in a great setting.
We drove back to Bright after lunch and saw a huge plume of smoke rising just behind the town, it was difficult for us to decide exactly where it was but as we got closer to the town we decided it was further away than we had previously thought. We drove up to a spot called Huggins lookout and got a great view of the town, to reach it we had to travel along 5 kilometres of dirt road, so our earlier conservatism, with a small c went out of the window. From the lookout we could see the smoke was a little further down the valley. When we arrived home we told Mike there was a plume of smoke but he seemed very unconcerned. It was only a little later when Pam took a phone call that we realised that it was a bush fire down the valley near a little town charmingly named Harrietville. At this point Mike asked me if I wanted to go to another lookout to look at the fire and I agreed, after a five minute drive we arrived a spot where we could see the fire about five miles away. From this point we could see flames apparently 200 feet tall and we could watch the fire travel up a mountain, it was very frightening. Mike rang Pam and she and Rosemarie also came out to look. It is marvellous to see the destructive forces of nature like this but it is also very worrying, because if the wind changed and the fire changed direction Bright would be right in its path. This is not a phenomenon that we have to face in Cornwall. The result is that the road we arrived in Bright on is closed and several small villages have had to be evacuated, we are very grateful we are not in that situation.
Monday was one of those days that you can't really find anything to write about. So to give you an idea. We were up,early and took Mike and Pam to Wangaratta where we dropped them at the hospital. We then spent a happy hour wandering the shops of that metropolis. We picked Pam and Mike up again after about an hour and went for a coffee in a little cafe.
We drove back in brilliant sunshine and had lunch before a leisurely afternoon watching the tennis.
Tuesday Rosemarie and I went out for the day. We had decided to visit Lake Buffalo and set off to the wonderfully named Myrtleford where we stopped to look at yet more shops and Rosemarie bought a pair of flip flops, because the pair we had bought in Bali had apparently worn out. Our next stop was a supermarket to buy some drinks and a bag of crisps and then we went to the bakery where we ordered custom made focaccia, mine with salami and salad and Rosemarie beef and salad.
The master navigator got us on the right road to the lake and off we went.
The road out to the lake , all 20 kilometres of it, was very lovely like a view straight off a postcard, and we arrived at the lake to find that to was truly beautiful. We walked around the picnic area for a while before deciding to drive to the other side of the lake to explore that. As luck would have it there were no picnic tables in the shade on that side so we decided just to follow the road along the side of the lake for a little while. After about 15 minutes we reached the end of the road, or rather it turned into a dirt road and we decided not to go any further, partly because the car we are driving is very low slung.
So it was back to the first picnic site for lunch and we sat here I the shade watching children swimming and eating our sandwiches. The highlight of this time was watching a toddler in life jacket who had absolutely no fear of the water. He toddled into it fell over and his mother had to hoist him out by the life jacket. The jacket was designed to throw him onto his back and he loved it. His Mum had to fish him out four or five times and then when his father came back the whole thing was repeated with him , father even took him him out quite deep and dunked him and he never complained. Absolutely marvellous and in a great setting.
We drove back to Bright after lunch and saw a huge plume of smoke rising just behind the town, it was difficult for us to decide exactly where it was but as we got closer to the town we decided it was further away than we had previously thought. We drove up to a spot called Huggins lookout and got a great view of the town, to reach it we had to travel along 5 kilometres of dirt road, so our earlier conservatism, with a small c went out of the window. From the lookout we could see the smoke was a little further down the valley. When we arrived home we told Mike there was a plume of smoke but he seemed very unconcerned. It was only a little later when Pam took a phone call that we realised that it was a bush fire down the valley near a little town charmingly named Harrietville. At this point Mike asked me if I wanted to go to another lookout to look at the fire and I agreed, after a five minute drive we arrived a spot where we could see the fire about five miles away. From this point we could see flames apparently 200 feet tall and we could watch the fire travel up a mountain, it was very frightening. Mike rang Pam and she and Rosemarie also came out to look. It is marvellous to see the destructive forces of nature like this but it is also very worrying, because if the wind changed and the fire changed direction Bright would be right in its path. This is not a phenomenon that we have to face in Cornwall. The result is that the road we arrived in Bright on is closed and several small villages have had to be evacuated, we are very grateful we are not in that situation.
Sunday 20 January 2013
A fear of fire
Many of our regular readers have asked us how we are getting on with the bush fires all around us? It would be entirely wrong to say we weren't a little worried when just over a 100 kilometres away a fire is blazing that covers thousand of hectares. You may well be saying,
"Well why is that worrying you?" The answer is that for the last two days the town of Bright has been covered in a smoke haze from the fires at Gippsland. Our fears were not alleviated when a friend of Pam and Mike's glibly told us that if any fire came from the south Bright didn't stand a chance. Ever since I worked for the London Fire Brigade 40 years ago I have been scared of fire in all forms and think it possibly a worse way of dying than drowning. Cheerful topic for a blog eh?
There are fire advice lorries in the town square, signs up everywhere saying there is a total fire ban and the gardener told us he wouldn't mow the lawn in case a spark started a fire. Cap all this with all news bulletins covering bush fires in and around the state and suddenly fire is at the top of everyone's agenda.
We are all meant to have a fire survival plan which as far as I can see is that we get in a car and drive away, remembering that fires can travel extremely quickly and that according to the television ad we saw we might not be able to out run one. So far so good and the whole situation was helped by a rain/hail storm today. How can you have relatively large chunks of hail when the temperature has been 30°C and over? The hailstones were about 5 mill across and lasted for four or five minutes before really heavy rain. Unfortunately the whole storm only lasted for thirty minutes or so and the rain was hardly enough to help the situation. However we all sat on the verandah and watched the rainfall as though it was a strange phenomenon.Rosemarie even took several photographs of the storm as part of the expedition record.
We had really good lunch at the stag farm and enjoyed seeing some spectacular stags. The scenery here is very reminiscent of southern Germany or the low alps in Austria. It is a very beautiful part of the country and one that is easy to love. So we spent the afternoon watching the tennis or the cricket and had an early night.
Many of our regular readers have asked us how we are getting on with the bush fires all around us? It would be entirely wrong to say we weren't a little worried when just over a 100 kilometres away a fire is blazing that covers thousand of hectares. You may well be saying,
"Well why is that worrying you?" The answer is that for the last two days the town of Bright has been covered in a smoke haze from the fires at Gippsland. Our fears were not alleviated when a friend of Pam and Mike's glibly told us that if any fire came from the south Bright didn't stand a chance. Ever since I worked for the London Fire Brigade 40 years ago I have been scared of fire in all forms and think it possibly a worse way of dying than drowning. Cheerful topic for a blog eh?
There are fire advice lorries in the town square, signs up everywhere saying there is a total fire ban and the gardener told us he wouldn't mow the lawn in case a spark started a fire. Cap all this with all news bulletins covering bush fires in and around the state and suddenly fire is at the top of everyone's agenda.
We are all meant to have a fire survival plan which as far as I can see is that we get in a car and drive away, remembering that fires can travel extremely quickly and that according to the television ad we saw we might not be able to out run one. So far so good and the whole situation was helped by a rain/hail storm today. How can you have relatively large chunks of hail when the temperature has been 30°C and over? The hailstones were about 5 mill across and lasted for four or five minutes before really heavy rain. Unfortunately the whole storm only lasted for thirty minutes or so and the rain was hardly enough to help the situation. However we all sat on the verandah and watched the rainfall as though it was a strange phenomenon.Rosemarie even took several photographs of the storm as part of the expedition record.
We had really good lunch at the stag farm and enjoyed seeing some spectacular stags. The scenery here is very reminiscent of southern Germany or the low alps in Austria. It is a very beautiful part of the country and one that is easy to love. So we spent the afternoon watching the tennis or the cricket and had an early night.
Saturday 19 January 2013
Rutherglen
One of the great delights of touring a wine producing country is that you are never very far from a vineyard and Bright is no exception to that rule. So yesterday we set off to explore the wine producing region of Rutherglen.
The drive there, about an hour and a half was picturesque and we chose to go through Chiltern an historic town, that looks exactly like something out of the Wild West films we used to watch in black and white. Linear development but attractive in its own right. If a town was founded in 1862 how much real history has it got? Revert to history teacher mode, what is history? The whole region was developed by gold miners when gold was discovered in the area and all around the same time, but one town can turn to another with its thumb on the end of its nose and say"Well we are two years older than you!!"
We arrived in Rutherglen, another Wild West copy, and walked up and down the street looking for the information office. We found a pub and a pie shop and a little later an information board but no office. It was only after we had walked the length of the Main Street in both directions that we suddenly saw what we had been looking for, stuck on the other side of a roundabout.
A quick visit , a charming chat about how cold it was in England, the production of a map of the area and we were on our way to Pfeiffer's winery. So far so good, unfortunately we completely missed the turn and ended up crossing the Murray river back into New South Wales. However, it was worth seeing the river. The master navigator soon got us back on the right road and we arrived at Pfeiffer's , a delightful spot on the Sunday Creek, a tributary of the Murray. Before going into taste wine we walked down to their historic bridge and looked at the long necked terrapins swimming in the creek, and were lucky enough to see and photograph a pair of kingfishers.
The wine tasting was excellent and we were regally looked after by Robyn Pfeiffer, the wife of the wine maker. Well we started out being looked after by a young man who gave up on us when four rather attractive young ladies appeared for a tasting, I did point out to him that we had noticed, but that we weren't really hurt.
As I was driving I spent the tasting spitting but Rosemarie tried seven or eight wines, some of which she liked, and we ended up buying some to take back to Pam and Mike some to take to Melbourne next week and a couple for Mary and John.
After the tasting, the official tour taster stated that she needed something to eat so we headed back into Rutherglen, where we enjoyed that national Australian delicacy, the pie. The pies were really good and after we had finished then we headed off to Stanton and Colleens for another tasting. After that one it was across the road to Campbell's where we had another tasting. It was here that we ran into a hens' party. All the young women were dressed in black apart from the bride to be who was in white, several of the group had pink sashes on indicating that they were bridesmaids or the mother of the bride and they looked wonderful sat out on the grass at picnic tables enjoying their lunch. We talked with a couple of them who came into the tasting room and one of them was a teacher who had visited Cornwall whilst she had worked in London.
At the end of this tasting Rosemarie felt the need for some sustenance and so she bought some crackers from the winery which had been made in Derbyshire. This was fully understandable, as by is time she had tasted about sixteen wines.
After Campbell's we headed off to Morris's winery where we encountered the same group again. We asked a couple if we could take their picture and ended up talking to the mother of the bride who proudly told us that her ancestors came from Cornwall and that they all came from the Redruth area.I asked her if her ancestors were miners and she proudly replied,"No criminals." It was carefully explained to me though that they were all Methodists,perhaps in some way that excused their criminality.She and a friend and arranged a holiday the year before to go to Egypt and then Cornwall, both of which they loved. It transpired that the whole group of about thirty women were going onto a pub for a meal and then back to the bride's mother's house to carry on the revelry, so we wished her the best of luck with that.
The bride then came up and told me she knew me, apparently one of her challenges was to persuade a strange man that she already knew him, so we had a laugh about that. The tasting inside the winery was a little raucous but it was still very enjoyable.
We drove home through Wandonga and down a really picturesque road back to Myrtleford. All in all a really interesting day out.
One of the great delights of touring a wine producing country is that you are never very far from a vineyard and Bright is no exception to that rule. So yesterday we set off to explore the wine producing region of Rutherglen.
The drive there, about an hour and a half was picturesque and we chose to go through Chiltern an historic town, that looks exactly like something out of the Wild West films we used to watch in black and white. Linear development but attractive in its own right. If a town was founded in 1862 how much real history has it got? Revert to history teacher mode, what is history? The whole region was developed by gold miners when gold was discovered in the area and all around the same time, but one town can turn to another with its thumb on the end of its nose and say"Well we are two years older than you!!"
We arrived in Rutherglen, another Wild West copy, and walked up and down the street looking for the information office. We found a pub and a pie shop and a little later an information board but no office. It was only after we had walked the length of the Main Street in both directions that we suddenly saw what we had been looking for, stuck on the other side of a roundabout.
A quick visit , a charming chat about how cold it was in England, the production of a map of the area and we were on our way to Pfeiffer's winery. So far so good, unfortunately we completely missed the turn and ended up crossing the Murray river back into New South Wales. However, it was worth seeing the river. The master navigator soon got us back on the right road and we arrived at Pfeiffer's , a delightful spot on the Sunday Creek, a tributary of the Murray. Before going into taste wine we walked down to their historic bridge and looked at the long necked terrapins swimming in the creek, and were lucky enough to see and photograph a pair of kingfishers.
The wine tasting was excellent and we were regally looked after by Robyn Pfeiffer, the wife of the wine maker. Well we started out being looked after by a young man who gave up on us when four rather attractive young ladies appeared for a tasting, I did point out to him that we had noticed, but that we weren't really hurt.
As I was driving I spent the tasting spitting but Rosemarie tried seven or eight wines, some of which she liked, and we ended up buying some to take back to Pam and Mike some to take to Melbourne next week and a couple for Mary and John.
After the tasting, the official tour taster stated that she needed something to eat so we headed back into Rutherglen, where we enjoyed that national Australian delicacy, the pie. The pies were really good and after we had finished then we headed off to Stanton and Colleens for another tasting. After that one it was across the road to Campbell's where we had another tasting. It was here that we ran into a hens' party. All the young women were dressed in black apart from the bride to be who was in white, several of the group had pink sashes on indicating that they were bridesmaids or the mother of the bride and they looked wonderful sat out on the grass at picnic tables enjoying their lunch. We talked with a couple of them who came into the tasting room and one of them was a teacher who had visited Cornwall whilst she had worked in London.
At the end of this tasting Rosemarie felt the need for some sustenance and so she bought some crackers from the winery which had been made in Derbyshire. This was fully understandable, as by is time she had tasted about sixteen wines.
After Campbell's we headed off to Morris's winery where we encountered the same group again. We asked a couple if we could take their picture and ended up talking to the mother of the bride who proudly told us that her ancestors came from Cornwall and that they all came from the Redruth area.I asked her if her ancestors were miners and she proudly replied,"No criminals." It was carefully explained to me though that they were all Methodists,perhaps in some way that excused their criminality.She and a friend and arranged a holiday the year before to go to Egypt and then Cornwall, both of which they loved. It transpired that the whole group of about thirty women were going onto a pub for a meal and then back to the bride's mother's house to carry on the revelry, so we wished her the best of luck with that.
The bride then came up and told me she knew me, apparently one of her challenges was to persuade a strange man that she already knew him, so we had a laugh about that. The tasting inside the winery was a little raucous but it was still very enjoyable.
We drove home through Wandonga and down a really picturesque road back to Myrtleford. All in all a really interesting day out.
Another day in Bright
Today was the day when I had to get my hair cut. In any normal situation this would be a relatively easy exercise, but in Bright there is no men's hairdressers. However, Mike knows a chap who does haircuts from home called Ralph. So Mike rings him up and yes he can fit me in half an hour.
So thirty minutes later we head off in the car to a private house on the other side of town. Ralph turns out to be an Italian who has a two acre garden, makes his own wine and grappa and has cut hair for fifty years.
On arrival we are directed to a utility room which has a proper barber's chair, sanitizer and mirror. Ralph then gets to work, the cape is wielded in matador way and the cut begins. At this time I realised that my understanding of Ralph's English left quite a lot to be desired. Mike and I between us made him understand I wanted some of the length taken out of it and that I wanted a straight edge across the neck.
All proceeded fairly well until the straight edge when Ralph decided to tell Mike that my hair wasn't growing on one side and therefore the straight edge would need to be higher than he wanted.
Mike pointed out to him that he was under direct instructions not to have my hair cut too short as Rosemarie would never forgive him and the result was a lengthy discussion. Finally I emerged with much shorter hair and a feeling of great accomplishment.
Rosemarie and I went for a drive just before lunch up Mount Buffalo where we enjoyed the view and the afternoon was spent watching tennis again. Enough is enough, grown men and women thrashing the ball as hard as they can fills me with an impending sense of boredom and ennui. I managed two hours and then went to be to read my book.
The whole day was hot getting up to 39/40C so the afternoon in general was a washout with out any water being employed. It was not as aggressively hot as it had been in Sydney but it was still hot enough to make one seek cover. All in all another quiet day in Bright. we did enjoy the demolition of Australia by Sri Lanka in the one day international and in the evening we went out to the pub in Porepunkah where we had a a really good meal. After the meal we came back to the house to endure more tennis and again I
Capitulated and went off to read my book, luckily the plot is quite interesting.
Today was the day when I had to get my hair cut. In any normal situation this would be a relatively easy exercise, but in Bright there is no men's hairdressers. However, Mike knows a chap who does haircuts from home called Ralph. So Mike rings him up and yes he can fit me in half an hour.
So thirty minutes later we head off in the car to a private house on the other side of town. Ralph turns out to be an Italian who has a two acre garden, makes his own wine and grappa and has cut hair for fifty years.
On arrival we are directed to a utility room which has a proper barber's chair, sanitizer and mirror. Ralph then gets to work, the cape is wielded in matador way and the cut begins. At this time I realised that my understanding of Ralph's English left quite a lot to be desired. Mike and I between us made him understand I wanted some of the length taken out of it and that I wanted a straight edge across the neck.
All proceeded fairly well until the straight edge when Ralph decided to tell Mike that my hair wasn't growing on one side and therefore the straight edge would need to be higher than he wanted.
Mike pointed out to him that he was under direct instructions not to have my hair cut too short as Rosemarie would never forgive him and the result was a lengthy discussion. Finally I emerged with much shorter hair and a feeling of great accomplishment.
Rosemarie and I went for a drive just before lunch up Mount Buffalo where we enjoyed the view and the afternoon was spent watching tennis again. Enough is enough, grown men and women thrashing the ball as hard as they can fills me with an impending sense of boredom and ennui. I managed two hours and then went to be to read my book.
The whole day was hot getting up to 39/40C so the afternoon in general was a washout with out any water being employed. It was not as aggressively hot as it had been in Sydney but it was still hot enough to make one seek cover. All in all another quiet day in Bright. we did enjoy the demolition of Australia by Sri Lanka in the one day international and in the evening we went out to the pub in Porepunkah where we had a a really good meal. After the meal we came back to the house to endure more tennis and again I
Capitulated and went off to read my book, luckily the plot is quite interesting.
Thursday 17 January 2013
A Day in Bright
Generally we have had a quiet day yesterday. A trip in Bright , which is a small town of about 3000 people and has a small shopping centre.
The temperature was again 40C but not as aggressively hot as it had been in Sydney. The trouble with such heat is that you don't feel that you want o do very much at all. Hence, one falls into a languid spell.
The master packer, navigator was a bit miffed in the afternoon that Andy Murray's tennis game at the Australian Open was not covered on free to air television in Australia, mainly because some Australians were playing at the same time and therefore they got the coverage. I did tell her to write to ABC but this received short shrift for some reason.
In the afternoon Pam took me down to the Bright United Men's Shed to show me the project that Mike had spent a lot of time working on. It is certainly impressive, a huge shed with a welding bay, woodworking facilities, a display kitchen , a small lecture theatre and a snooker table. There about 55 members and this labour of love has taken them over 2 years. A bit sad really when we have fighting to get a community centre in Launceston, and this one is purely for men, although apparently women are allowed in as well. Interestingly the local council gave the land to the men's group for the project.
The master packer/navigator did stay up to watch the Laura Robson match which finished here at about 12.45am . I have to admit I was totally bored by the tennis and went to bed at about 11.00. At the most I can watch it for an hour or two but then get completely fed up with the baseline battles that both men. and women produce.
Anyway it is quiet nice to have a couple of quiet days after three months on the road, I did cook tea for all of us and guy called Ray, who is a friend of Pam and Mike's. I stole an idea from Zoe and did an oriental salad that went down very well. Always acknowledge your sources.
Generally we have had a quiet day yesterday. A trip in Bright , which is a small town of about 3000 people and has a small shopping centre.
The temperature was again 40C but not as aggressively hot as it had been in Sydney. The trouble with such heat is that you don't feel that you want o do very much at all. Hence, one falls into a languid spell.
The master packer, navigator was a bit miffed in the afternoon that Andy Murray's tennis game at the Australian Open was not covered on free to air television in Australia, mainly because some Australians were playing at the same time and therefore they got the coverage. I did tell her to write to ABC but this received short shrift for some reason.
In the afternoon Pam took me down to the Bright United Men's Shed to show me the project that Mike had spent a lot of time working on. It is certainly impressive, a huge shed with a welding bay, woodworking facilities, a display kitchen , a small lecture theatre and a snooker table. There about 55 members and this labour of love has taken them over 2 years. A bit sad really when we have fighting to get a community centre in Launceston, and this one is purely for men, although apparently women are allowed in as well. Interestingly the local council gave the land to the men's group for the project.
The master packer/navigator did stay up to watch the Laura Robson match which finished here at about 12.45am . I have to admit I was totally bored by the tennis and went to bed at about 11.00. At the most I can watch it for an hour or two but then get completely fed up with the baseline battles that both men. and women produce.
Anyway it is quiet nice to have a couple of quiet days after three months on the road, I did cook tea for all of us and guy called Ray, who is a friend of Pam and Mike's. I stole an idea from Zoe and did an oriental salad that went down very well. Always acknowledge your sources.
Wednesday 16 January 2013
A quiet day in Bright
There are days travelling when you need or want a quiet day and this was one of those.
We started the day late as Pam had to go into Bright to get her hair cut, and as a result we didn't breakfast until after 10.00.
After that we decided we would go into town to buy some postcards and three of us went into town.
Suddenly this entailed a trawl of all the shops in Bright. Luckily for me there aren't that many. What there are is a number of small independent clothes shops which are the sort of establishments which seem to hold a dreadful fascination for Rosemarie. And lo and behold, she found a pair of cropped trousers she really really liked and we had to purchase them. We did look for a hat for me but were unsuccessful, Rosemarie has decided that my hat, which is like a trusted old friend is no longer up to the task and therefore, I must have a new one.
We went out for lunch to a pleasant restaurant overlooking the River Ovens and returned home for a quiet afternoon. Much of the evening was spent watching the Australian Open Tennis until I reached the point where I was so bored I went off to read a book.
One of the things I really miss is the news, the BBC do a fantastic job, and whilst I have found ABC radio which takes and transmits a lot of BBC stories it is not the same as sitting down with the Guardian and listening to Radio Four. This is probably just an old man's thing and if that's the worst thing you can miss travelling must be good. In these days of iPads and laptops it is easy to look up the BBC News or the online Guardian, but even twenty years ago this was not easy if even possible and I wonder how many ten pound migrants missed the news coverage when they arrived?
I have forgotten completely to write anything about he journey from Eden to Bright. We went through the southern wilderness coastline and came up the Great Alpine road, the highlight of which was suddenly and unexpectedly arriving on the summit of Mount Hotham. Whilst we both knew we had been climbing for a while it came as a great surprise that we were on the top of a high mountain looking down on several other peaks. This meant that the expedition's photographer had to have several photo stops to try and capture the majesty of the scenery. Unfortunately it was a rather hazy day and many of the photographs will not be that good. The journey up the mountain was surprising in that there were very few bends and certainly no hairpins, the descent made up for this and we enjoyed the drive tremendously.
There are days travelling when you need or want a quiet day and this was one of those.
We started the day late as Pam had to go into Bright to get her hair cut, and as a result we didn't breakfast until after 10.00.
After that we decided we would go into town to buy some postcards and three of us went into town.
Suddenly this entailed a trawl of all the shops in Bright. Luckily for me there aren't that many. What there are is a number of small independent clothes shops which are the sort of establishments which seem to hold a dreadful fascination for Rosemarie. And lo and behold, she found a pair of cropped trousers she really really liked and we had to purchase them. We did look for a hat for me but were unsuccessful, Rosemarie has decided that my hat, which is like a trusted old friend is no longer up to the task and therefore, I must have a new one.
We went out for lunch to a pleasant restaurant overlooking the River Ovens and returned home for a quiet afternoon. Much of the evening was spent watching the Australian Open Tennis until I reached the point where I was so bored I went off to read a book.
One of the things I really miss is the news, the BBC do a fantastic job, and whilst I have found ABC radio which takes and transmits a lot of BBC stories it is not the same as sitting down with the Guardian and listening to Radio Four. This is probably just an old man's thing and if that's the worst thing you can miss travelling must be good. In these days of iPads and laptops it is easy to look up the BBC News or the online Guardian, but even twenty years ago this was not easy if even possible and I wonder how many ten pound migrants missed the news coverage when they arrived?
I have forgotten completely to write anything about he journey from Eden to Bright. We went through the southern wilderness coastline and came up the Great Alpine road, the highlight of which was suddenly and unexpectedly arriving on the summit of Mount Hotham. Whilst we both knew we had been climbing for a while it came as a great surprise that we were on the top of a high mountain looking down on several other peaks. This meant that the expedition's photographer had to have several photo stops to try and capture the majesty of the scenery. Unfortunately it was a rather hazy day and many of the photographs will not be that good. The journey up the mountain was surprising in that there were very few bends and certainly no hairpins, the descent made up for this and we enjoyed the drive tremendously.
Tuesday 15 January 2013
Jervis Bay to Eden
After a wholesome breakfast we set out on the road to Eden, the coast was delightfully pretty and we made several detours which ended up in us looking at a number of really pretty beaches.
Our first call was to Durras which had a small lookout overlooking a sandy beach with a small number of tourists on it. The first thing you notice is that there is no development, no houses or hotels on the beach, unlike so much of Europe.
We stopped in Bateman's Bay to buy sandwiches and had them a little later on the beach at Moruya on a picnic bench overlooking the sea.this would have been a wonderful place to have lunch apart from the force six gale which was blowing straight off the sea into our faces. The sandwiches were not as good as we had first imagined. My roast beef salad sandwich had anchovies in it. It takes a particularly warped person to put any sort of fish into a roast beef salad. Rosemarie had a roast chicken salad sandwich, but didn't enjoy it all as the chicken appeared to have been reconstituted, in fact she felt it was so poor she didn't eat all of it. The wind was so cold we had our banana and chocolate bar in the safety of the car.
After lunch we drove along the coast and made a detour to Potato Point. This was a fantastic spot, another unspoilt beach on one side and fewer tourists, on the other side was a rocky cliff somewhat reminiscent of Cornwall. We have already decided this is an area we would like to explore further if we get the opportunity to come again.
The rest of the drive to Eden was pretty much the same as we hugged the coast, coming to beach after beach, some more crowded than others.
We arrived in Eden and were a little disappointed that our motel was someway out, in fact as the receptionist said "It is up two hills" and as I couldn't manage even a slight slope with my calf, it meant we had to drive in.
Eden is in a wonderful setting ,as the name implies, a deep double bay harbour and unspoilt beaches all around. We drove in to the town to look around and then went back to the motel for a coffee having spied a fish and chip restaurant for our supper. In the process of drinking our coffee on the verandah outside our room, I shut the door to keep the flies and heat out. This was a slight mistake on my part, as I managed in one foul swoop, to lock us out of our room. This did not please Rosemarie one bit as she had to walk off around the motel to get the spare key, to say she was not very pleased would be a minor understatement. In fact I had to hobble back with the key as a form of appeasement.
Having rested for a while we drove back into town at 7.30pm to get some food. The restaurant we had chosen had stopped serving for the day.Luckily on the way to it we had spotted another fish and chip shop so we went back, only to find that one had closed as well. What sort of tourist destination allows all of its fish and chip shops to close so early? We did find a pizza takeaway place open so went in there and ordered a Chicken De Luxe to take back to our motel room. It turned out to be quite a good pizza with lots of topping and we were both able to have a couple of beers with it.
This and the fact the chef in our motel was ill and so there were no meals in the motel at all,seemed to me to be odd in a supposedly tourist destination.
So a wonderful setting, a pleasant little town but rather difficult to get an evening meal might be a good summary. To be fair we could have eaten in the local pub or in the fishermen's' social club but neither really struck us as what we wanted. I did say to Rosemarie that we would probably have got good fish in the fishermen's' social club, but we didn't go in so what can we say.
Tomorrow onto Bright.
After a wholesome breakfast we set out on the road to Eden, the coast was delightfully pretty and we made several detours which ended up in us looking at a number of really pretty beaches.
Our first call was to Durras which had a small lookout overlooking a sandy beach with a small number of tourists on it. The first thing you notice is that there is no development, no houses or hotels on the beach, unlike so much of Europe.
We stopped in Bateman's Bay to buy sandwiches and had them a little later on the beach at Moruya on a picnic bench overlooking the sea.this would have been a wonderful place to have lunch apart from the force six gale which was blowing straight off the sea into our faces. The sandwiches were not as good as we had first imagined. My roast beef salad sandwich had anchovies in it. It takes a particularly warped person to put any sort of fish into a roast beef salad. Rosemarie had a roast chicken salad sandwich, but didn't enjoy it all as the chicken appeared to have been reconstituted, in fact she felt it was so poor she didn't eat all of it. The wind was so cold we had our banana and chocolate bar in the safety of the car.
After lunch we drove along the coast and made a detour to Potato Point. This was a fantastic spot, another unspoilt beach on one side and fewer tourists, on the other side was a rocky cliff somewhat reminiscent of Cornwall. We have already decided this is an area we would like to explore further if we get the opportunity to come again.
The rest of the drive to Eden was pretty much the same as we hugged the coast, coming to beach after beach, some more crowded than others.
We arrived in Eden and were a little disappointed that our motel was someway out, in fact as the receptionist said "It is up two hills" and as I couldn't manage even a slight slope with my calf, it meant we had to drive in.
Eden is in a wonderful setting ,as the name implies, a deep double bay harbour and unspoilt beaches all around. We drove in to the town to look around and then went back to the motel for a coffee having spied a fish and chip restaurant for our supper. In the process of drinking our coffee on the verandah outside our room, I shut the door to keep the flies and heat out. This was a slight mistake on my part, as I managed in one foul swoop, to lock us out of our room. This did not please Rosemarie one bit as she had to walk off around the motel to get the spare key, to say she was not very pleased would be a minor understatement. In fact I had to hobble back with the key as a form of appeasement.
Having rested for a while we drove back into town at 7.30pm to get some food. The restaurant we had chosen had stopped serving for the day.Luckily on the way to it we had spotted another fish and chip shop so we went back, only to find that one had closed as well. What sort of tourist destination allows all of its fish and chip shops to close so early? We did find a pizza takeaway place open so went in there and ordered a Chicken De Luxe to take back to our motel room. It turned out to be quite a good pizza with lots of topping and we were both able to have a couple of beers with it.
This and the fact the chef in our motel was ill and so there were no meals in the motel at all,seemed to me to be odd in a supposedly tourist destination.
So a wonderful setting, a pleasant little town but rather difficult to get an evening meal might be a good summary. To be fair we could have eaten in the local pub or in the fishermen's' social club but neither really struck us as what we wanted. I did say to Rosemarie that we would probably have got good fish in the fishermen's' social club, but we didn't go in so what can we say.
Tomorrow onto Bright.
Monday 14 January 2013
A wet and dismal day
The morning got off to a relatively slow start and then we went to to Manly for breakfast, a very Australian experience. We all had a good meal and Mark paid for all of us which was very nice of him.
We returned home finished the packing and sat around waiting to go to the airport. Tese final moments of waiting are always the worst in my opinion, we eventually got away at about 12.15 and got to the airport in good time dropping Mark off at the international departure lounge.
There was then some discussion about where we were picking our car up and as we headed away from the international area towards the domestic airport, Rosemarie found the relevant address on the e mail and we had to turn around and go back.
As with all car rental places there was a fair wait whilst the chap in front of us decided that none of the details the car hire firm had on him actually matched anything about him. He no longer lived at the address he had given, his credit card had changed, and he had a different mobile telephone number. It rather suprised me that they were still willing to give him a hire car.Eventually we got to the desk.
The first hurdle was that I had rung earlier in the week to request a larger car, this then entailed a discussion of all the cars they had available.We settled on a Holden sedan and were then billed 500$ to reduce the amount we would have to pay in excess. This and the additional charge was paid and we were on our way.
Our next hurdle was a tearful goodbye to David and Zoe and we expressed we hope our sincere gratitude for all of their kindness and generosity.
We left the car park and headed for Sydney south and as soon as we did this the storm which had been threatening all morning decided it was time to play. Cue, heavy rain,mist and grey skies, on a day when we were driving down the coast to look at the scenery.
The first lookout we arrived at was a disaster, you could not see further than 50 yards and it was cold and rainy. Just like being in Cornwall really. We stopped at a couple of other places and from time to time were able to see something. When we arrived at Jervis Bay where were stopping we found our Bed and Breakfast, and decided to explore in the rain. The white sand was grey, the sea was grey as was the sky,but you could see how beautiful the whole area was. It is almost as I imagine the West Indies to be.
After some exploration and several settings we went in Huskisson to find a meal and eventually found a stone grill.
This is a interesting concept in running a restaurant, basically the premise is that they give the customer raw food and a very hot stone and you cook the food yourself, taking responsibility for any mistakes you may make. It wasn't until we sat down that we realised the restaurant didn't have a drinks licence and so I had to leave and walk to the bottle shop, all of 75 yards away to get some wine for Rosemarie and a beer for me.
Back to the cooking, the food was in fact very good and excellently cooked, certainly the raw ingredients were very good indeed. We ended up extremely pleased with our meal.we came out I to pouring rain and went back to our B and B. We had a cup of cafetiere coffee and retired to bed.
The morning got off to a relatively slow start and then we went to to Manly for breakfast, a very Australian experience. We all had a good meal and Mark paid for all of us which was very nice of him.
We returned home finished the packing and sat around waiting to go to the airport. Tese final moments of waiting are always the worst in my opinion, we eventually got away at about 12.15 and got to the airport in good time dropping Mark off at the international departure lounge.
There was then some discussion about where we were picking our car up and as we headed away from the international area towards the domestic airport, Rosemarie found the relevant address on the e mail and we had to turn around and go back.
As with all car rental places there was a fair wait whilst the chap in front of us decided that none of the details the car hire firm had on him actually matched anything about him. He no longer lived at the address he had given, his credit card had changed, and he had a different mobile telephone number. It rather suprised me that they were still willing to give him a hire car.Eventually we got to the desk.
The first hurdle was that I had rung earlier in the week to request a larger car, this then entailed a discussion of all the cars they had available.We settled on a Holden sedan and were then billed 500$ to reduce the amount we would have to pay in excess. This and the additional charge was paid and we were on our way.
Our next hurdle was a tearful goodbye to David and Zoe and we expressed we hope our sincere gratitude for all of their kindness and generosity.
We left the car park and headed for Sydney south and as soon as we did this the storm which had been threatening all morning decided it was time to play. Cue, heavy rain,mist and grey skies, on a day when we were driving down the coast to look at the scenery.
The first lookout we arrived at was a disaster, you could not see further than 50 yards and it was cold and rainy. Just like being in Cornwall really. We stopped at a couple of other places and from time to time were able to see something. When we arrived at Jervis Bay where were stopping we found our Bed and Breakfast, and decided to explore in the rain. The white sand was grey, the sea was grey as was the sky,but you could see how beautiful the whole area was. It is almost as I imagine the West Indies to be.
After some exploration and several settings we went in Huskisson to find a meal and eventually found a stone grill.
This is a interesting concept in running a restaurant, basically the premise is that they give the customer raw food and a very hot stone and you cook the food yourself, taking responsibility for any mistakes you may make. It wasn't until we sat down that we realised the restaurant didn't have a drinks licence and so I had to leave and walk to the bottle shop, all of 75 yards away to get some wine for Rosemarie and a beer for me.
Back to the cooking, the food was in fact very good and excellently cooked, certainly the raw ingredients were very good indeed. We ended up extremely pleased with our meal.we came out I to pouring rain and went back to our B and B. We had a cup of cafetiere coffee and retired to bed.
Sunday 13 January 2013
Lila's Party
Saturday was mainly spent in Centennial Park Sydney at Lila's first birthday party. We had been invited by Katie and Paul who we had met at Xmas. The sat nav took us almost there and we drove through the park as we had gone to the wrong entrance. As we arrived there were a few drops of rain and our first task was to put up a gazebo for which David had mislaid the instructions. Luckily the posts were all numbered and it became a logic puzzle, all we knew was That when erected it was two metres square. The brains involved got the job done fairly speedily and David was adamant we didn't need to peg it down. Five minutes later a gust of wind moved the whole thing so out came the guy ropes and the whole thing was securely fixed to the ground.
Infact the rain never came and the crawling horde of one year olds had great fun using it as a hiding place.
There was plenty of food and beer and the event was very friendly. In fact David and Paul even organised a game of tip and run cricket which I enjoyed immensely, proper plastic stumps were set up and the whole thing was good fun. Now one thing sixty something's should remember is that they shouldn't run around like, thirty year olds. I bowled a couple of overs and still managed to get the ball to turn quite a bit which I was pleased with, however when I went in to bat to support a lad from Bolton, I suddenly had to start running and after about ten minutes I felt a pop in my right calf and it became immediately clear to me that I had pulled a muscle. Result; I had to retire hurt,but not before I was run out. Now the cost of this vanity was that I could hardly walk for the rest of the afternoon and had to take two painkillers when I went to bed to ensure I would get some sleep.Luckily it is much better this morning.
Two things struck us about the party, the first is that you could never plan something like it in Cornwall and be sure that you would be able to have a party in a park. There was no wet weather contingency plan.
The second thin,g was that you forget how small one year olds are and the topics of conversation that young parents engage in. The intake of solid foods, the speed of walking, child care, behaviour and learning all came into the equation somewhere.
Zoe's elephant birthday cake went down really well, as did her peach jellies which unfortunately melted in the heat of the day, but they made a delicious drink anyway. Rosemarie gave me very clear instructions on how to approach them, loosen all around with a knife and the drink, easy when you have that sort of knowledge. The eating of jelly would have been hard anyway as there were no spoons, an oversight by someone and earlier the day I did see someone attempting a set jelly with a fork.
In the evening we had a wonderful paella rather influenced by Mexico, in that it was a little spicy. Unfortunately a swe had been late the night before and it was sour last meal it was all rather subdued, everybody retired early to bed, quite a sad way to finish really.
Saturday was mainly spent in Centennial Park Sydney at Lila's first birthday party. We had been invited by Katie and Paul who we had met at Xmas. The sat nav took us almost there and we drove through the park as we had gone to the wrong entrance. As we arrived there were a few drops of rain and our first task was to put up a gazebo for which David had mislaid the instructions. Luckily the posts were all numbered and it became a logic puzzle, all we knew was That when erected it was two metres square. The brains involved got the job done fairly speedily and David was adamant we didn't need to peg it down. Five minutes later a gust of wind moved the whole thing so out came the guy ropes and the whole thing was securely fixed to the ground.
Infact the rain never came and the crawling horde of one year olds had great fun using it as a hiding place.
There was plenty of food and beer and the event was very friendly. In fact David and Paul even organised a game of tip and run cricket which I enjoyed immensely, proper plastic stumps were set up and the whole thing was good fun. Now one thing sixty something's should remember is that they shouldn't run around like, thirty year olds. I bowled a couple of overs and still managed to get the ball to turn quite a bit which I was pleased with, however when I went in to bat to support a lad from Bolton, I suddenly had to start running and after about ten minutes I felt a pop in my right calf and it became immediately clear to me that I had pulled a muscle. Result; I had to retire hurt,but not before I was run out. Now the cost of this vanity was that I could hardly walk for the rest of the afternoon and had to take two painkillers when I went to bed to ensure I would get some sleep.Luckily it is much better this morning.
Two things struck us about the party, the first is that you could never plan something like it in Cornwall and be sure that you would be able to have a party in a park. There was no wet weather contingency plan.
The second thin,g was that you forget how small one year olds are and the topics of conversation that young parents engage in. The intake of solid foods, the speed of walking, child care, behaviour and learning all came into the equation somewhere.
Zoe's elephant birthday cake went down really well, as did her peach jellies which unfortunately melted in the heat of the day, but they made a delicious drink anyway. Rosemarie gave me very clear instructions on how to approach them, loosen all around with a knife and the drink, easy when you have that sort of knowledge. The eating of jelly would have been hard anyway as there were no spoons, an oversight by someone and earlier the day I did see someone attempting a set jelly with a fork.
In the evening we had a wonderful paella rather influenced by Mexico, in that it was a little spicy. Unfortunately a swe had been late the night before and it was sour last meal it was all rather subdued, everybody retired early to bed, quite a sad way to finish really.
Friday 11 January 2013
A day on the coast
This was our last full day in Sydney alone so we decided to go up the coast to Palm Beach which we have always loved since we went there on our first visit. Our departure was delayed by washing and wrapping. We had to wait for the washing machine to finish so we could hang our clothes out and whilst we were waiting we wrapped David's birthday present.
We travelled up in bright sunshine and arrived just gone midday, Rosemarie went in for a swim and I went of a paddle. We then sat under the shade of a tree to eat our picnic lunch and lay there for a while just chatting in a pleasant way.
After our lunch we moved from the inland side to the sea side, about 100 yards away over the spit and Rosemarie, very bravely, went into the monster waves. We watched the sea for a while and a thirty year old man building a sand castle. We would have stayed a little longer but our parking ticket was by this time running out and so we had to leave. Over our lunch we had several minutes of enjoyment watching individuals and groups of people coping with the vagaries of the car park ticket machine. One woman said she needed a university degree to operate it but as far as we could see you just put in three dollars for an hour , six. For two hours and so on. However, many people appeared to be totally perplexed.
We drove back to Manly put some fuel in Zoe's car and bought her some flowers before returning home.
In the evening we went to a beautiful restaurant on the water front to celebrate David's birthday and had a wonderful meal. Another evening to remember.
All around us is news of the bush fires, there are several in New South Wales but none near to us. Our problems may begin tomorrow when we move to Bright as apparently several roads may be closed. The really bad sinews is that the forecast is for another day with 45C temperatures and thus the whole state is in the middle of a total fire ban and watching and waiting. It is hard to believe but several teenagers were arrest yesterday for deliberately starting fires in the Sydney area and from what I can gather the judicial system will not be lenient with them.
There is also a hint of sadness in the air as we prepare to leave, as I write this the master packer is preparing our suitcases with a heavy heart and little determination. This four weeks in Sydney have been amazing we have seen and done so much as well as having the opportunity to sleep in the same bed for several nights. This is a month we will never forget, the fine details may blur over time but we will always have the overall memory of a wonderful time.
This was our last full day in Sydney alone so we decided to go up the coast to Palm Beach which we have always loved since we went there on our first visit. Our departure was delayed by washing and wrapping. We had to wait for the washing machine to finish so we could hang our clothes out and whilst we were waiting we wrapped David's birthday present.
We travelled up in bright sunshine and arrived just gone midday, Rosemarie went in for a swim and I went of a paddle. We then sat under the shade of a tree to eat our picnic lunch and lay there for a while just chatting in a pleasant way.
After our lunch we moved from the inland side to the sea side, about 100 yards away over the spit and Rosemarie, very bravely, went into the monster waves. We watched the sea for a while and a thirty year old man building a sand castle. We would have stayed a little longer but our parking ticket was by this time running out and so we had to leave. Over our lunch we had several minutes of enjoyment watching individuals and groups of people coping with the vagaries of the car park ticket machine. One woman said she needed a university degree to operate it but as far as we could see you just put in three dollars for an hour , six. For two hours and so on. However, many people appeared to be totally perplexed.
We drove back to Manly put some fuel in Zoe's car and bought her some flowers before returning home.
In the evening we went to a beautiful restaurant on the water front to celebrate David's birthday and had a wonderful meal. Another evening to remember.
All around us is news of the bush fires, there are several in New South Wales but none near to us. Our problems may begin tomorrow when we move to Bright as apparently several roads may be closed. The really bad sinews is that the forecast is for another day with 45C temperatures and thus the whole state is in the middle of a total fire ban and watching and waiting. It is hard to believe but several teenagers were arrest yesterday for deliberately starting fires in the Sydney area and from what I can gather the judicial system will not be lenient with them.
There is also a hint of sadness in the air as we prepare to leave, as I write this the master packer is preparing our suitcases with a heavy heart and little determination. This four weeks in Sydney have been amazing we have seen and done so much as well as having the opportunity to sleep in the same bed for several nights. This is a month we will never forget, the fine details may blur over time but we will always have the overall memory of a wonderful time.
Thursday 10 January 2013
A day in the mall.
What is it about shopping malls that I dislike? I think it is that they are soulless, passionless places that offer a formulaic way of separating people from their money. Add to that the fact that they destroy small local shops in a Genghis Khan sort of way and I come to the conclusion that they are not necessarily good for the human race.
This maybe because I detest change and the demise of the small shop, often more expensive, but generally twice as interesting.
We had agreed we would take our box to the shopping mall to send it home and that whilst we were there we would do the food shopping we required for the evening meal we were cooking. It was as we arrived that Rosemarie told me she wanted some three quarter length navy leggings and asked politely if we could look for some.
The packing of the box had been completed in the morning in a rather sad way. Putting in pamphlets and maps that we had collected along with clothes and shoes and bits of electrical equipment that were surplus to requirements. I could tell the master packer was having great difficulty in deciding what to send home. The sad face and the constant sighing rather gave it away. However, it had to be done and their are lessons to be learnt here for future trips.
The box was then put in the car and off we went.on arrival at the mall we parked near the lift and put the box into a trolley to get it to the post office. We enquirer at the I,n formation point where the post office was and were given a set of directions, that took us in the vague direction but not actually to it. The result was that we had to ask again, and a very kind woman gave us clear directions. We arrived and joined a queue for the counter, the box was weighed at 10.87 kilograms and we paid our $120 to have it shipped back to Cornwall. Having paid the money you would have thought that would have been it , but no we were then given a form and told to take the box away to a separate counter, complete the form and then return to the chap who had processed our package. So, we carried the box and the form across the post office and stood there and completed it. Then we picked it up again and took it back across the post and rejoined the queue, and there we stood for several minutes waiting for our chap to be free, waving other customers through as we cheerfully stood there. Oh we do have such jolly times in post offices! Eventually we handed the box over again and off it went, we asked how long it might take to return to Cornwall and we were told two to three months. We then, rather stupidly I felt, asked how much it would have cost by air mail and we were told at least twice as much, so our parcel is now safely on its way to a slow ship who will get it back to Cornwall just before we arrive home.
Back to the leggings, after the despatch of the parcel, we started to look for leggings and went to Target where we found two pairs that might have fitted the bill, but no there was hesitancy in Rosemarie's voice and I suggested in a foolhardy sort of way that we could look elsewhere. This proved to be a costly mistake on my part, as we spent the next two hours traipsing around the mall looking in countless women's shops, until we returned to Target and bought one of the first pairs we had looked at. I think both of us found it a very dispiriting experience.
After the leggings we did our food shopping and came home for lunch, to go out again in the afternoon to pick up some items we had forgotten. We then had a small disagreement over the sat nav, from my point of view it is hard to drive in a large city and keep an eye on the sat nav at the same time, from Rosemarie's point of view this should be an easily achievable task. We were not helped by the fact that we have no idea how to turn the spoken directions on, so I was relying on Rosemarie to give me clear directions. As we shot past our destination and were caught in heavy traffic having to go around the block I was a little displeased, as w as Rosemarie who told me categorically she had mentioned that we had arrived, but I hadn't heard her. Anyway we eventually found what we were looking for and returned home safely.
A pleasant meal in the evening , ended rather a tristful day as our departure looms ever closer.
What is it about shopping malls that I dislike? I think it is that they are soulless, passionless places that offer a formulaic way of separating people from their money. Add to that the fact that they destroy small local shops in a Genghis Khan sort of way and I come to the conclusion that they are not necessarily good for the human race.
This maybe because I detest change and the demise of the small shop, often more expensive, but generally twice as interesting.
We had agreed we would take our box to the shopping mall to send it home and that whilst we were there we would do the food shopping we required for the evening meal we were cooking. It was as we arrived that Rosemarie told me she wanted some three quarter length navy leggings and asked politely if we could look for some.
The packing of the box had been completed in the morning in a rather sad way. Putting in pamphlets and maps that we had collected along with clothes and shoes and bits of electrical equipment that were surplus to requirements. I could tell the master packer was having great difficulty in deciding what to send home. The sad face and the constant sighing rather gave it away. However, it had to be done and their are lessons to be learnt here for future trips.
The box was then put in the car and off we went.on arrival at the mall we parked near the lift and put the box into a trolley to get it to the post office. We enquirer at the I,n formation point where the post office was and were given a set of directions, that took us in the vague direction but not actually to it. The result was that we had to ask again, and a very kind woman gave us clear directions. We arrived and joined a queue for the counter, the box was weighed at 10.87 kilograms and we paid our $120 to have it shipped back to Cornwall. Having paid the money you would have thought that would have been it , but no we were then given a form and told to take the box away to a separate counter, complete the form and then return to the chap who had processed our package. So, we carried the box and the form across the post office and stood there and completed it. Then we picked it up again and took it back across the post and rejoined the queue, and there we stood for several minutes waiting for our chap to be free, waving other customers through as we cheerfully stood there. Oh we do have such jolly times in post offices! Eventually we handed the box over again and off it went, we asked how long it might take to return to Cornwall and we were told two to three months. We then, rather stupidly I felt, asked how much it would have cost by air mail and we were told at least twice as much, so our parcel is now safely on its way to a slow ship who will get it back to Cornwall just before we arrive home.
Back to the leggings, after the despatch of the parcel, we started to look for leggings and went to Target where we found two pairs that might have fitted the bill, but no there was hesitancy in Rosemarie's voice and I suggested in a foolhardy sort of way that we could look elsewhere. This proved to be a costly mistake on my part, as we spent the next two hours traipsing around the mall looking in countless women's shops, until we returned to Target and bought one of the first pairs we had looked at. I think both of us found it a very dispiriting experience.
After the leggings we did our food shopping and came home for lunch, to go out again in the afternoon to pick up some items we had forgotten. We then had a small disagreement over the sat nav, from my point of view it is hard to drive in a large city and keep an eye on the sat nav at the same time, from Rosemarie's point of view this should be an easily achievable task. We were not helped by the fact that we have no idea how to turn the spoken directions on, so I was relying on Rosemarie to give me clear directions. As we shot past our destination and were caught in heavy traffic having to go around the block I was a little displeased, as w as Rosemarie who told me categorically she had mentioned that we had arrived, but I hadn't heard her. Anyway we eventually found what we were looking for and returned home safely.
A pleasant meal in the evening , ended rather a tristful day as our departure looms ever closer.
Wednesday 9 January 2013
Thank you
Thank you to all of you who have expressed concern about the blog not appearing for three days, I recognise that we might have caused all our loyal readers around the world some distress and we apologise unreservedly for not keeping our fingers on the pulse and all of you up to day with our exploits.
Yesterday we decided on a full day out, having been incarcerated by the heat the day before. We chose to go to Newcastle to look at the coast a little further north. We prepared our sandwiches, not wishing to purchase expensive sandwiches out, filled our water bottles packed the rucksack and like true Cornish tourists were ready for our day out.
Using modern technology with aplomb we put Gosford into the satellite navigation equipment and set off. The route chosen out of North Balgowlah was interesting as every fifty yards we were turning right or left, but eventually we emerged unscathed and on the road David had said we should take. By this point we had decided to purchase an old fashioned piece of equipment called a map.
We went to a garage but no maps were to be found so we carried on for a while and stopped at another garage , still no map. By this time we had arrived at the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, where they charged us eleven dollars to enter. Still had we come the day before the park would have been closed and we would have faced a lengthy detour. Bobbin Head in the park was a beautiful picnic area set in a fiord like setting and we walked along the river for a while looking at the boats in the marina and watching a pair of eagles circling above us, I was a little concerned that they might swoop and take Rosemarie, but that seemed to give up on that idea, luckily for me.
We drove on and found a discovery centre which we decided to visit and we are glad we did. We saw a brush turkey and its nest and visited a fantastic lookout, we were sad to leave but we had said we would go to the coast and go to the coast we would.
So, we set off again and went to Gosford which was very pretty and then on up the coast to an interesting place named The Entrance, where we stopped and photographed some pelicans. We had lunch in Bateaux Bay overlooking the beach about forty metres below. We then went up the coast to Newcastle which provide an interesting study of place names as we went through Wallsend, Jesmond, and Gateshead before visiting the wonderful beach at Stockton. What was interesting to me was that this is a huge coal mining area and the trip to Stockton involved passing several extremely large coal loaders, very scenic.
On our route we tried two more garages before we found a map, what are garages for? We then discovered that that map ran out halfway through our adventure and had to look for another one, luckily we had less trouble purchasing that one, I was very grateful as garage forecourts are not the most interesting places in the world.
We came back via the freeway and had a wonderful meal of prawns and steak before retiring to bed, a great day exploring some more of Australia we have not seen.
An Apology
First let us start by apologising to all our regular readers around the world for not blogging for three days.
There are several reasons for this. Sunday and Monday were both very quiet days, Sunday was a day of recuperation after the Thai meal, sometimes called a hangover day,I believe and as a result all we did was read and take the dogs to the beach .Hardly scintillating reading.
Monday we went shopping in the Stockland Mall, and there was hardly anything interesting about that. Shopping is a kind of twenty first century penance we all pay to the great god Mammon, we do it with I'll grace shuffling around looking at things we don't really want to purchase and experiencing pangs of avarice about items we can't afford. It is hardly great material for a blog such as this.
In the afternoon we took the dogs to the beach by ourselves. We had been given the relevant permission by Zoe, and feeling brave took them to their favourite beach. They were as good as gold, and whilst we were a a little concerned they slight not respond to us they were excellent. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to come home without one of them.
Tuesday was a day of inertia as temperatures in Sydney rose to 42.3C. There is something about heat a which makes one lazy, and this was a very oppressive heat. The day started warm but you could feel the temperature rise as the morning progressed. It was a day for staying in the cool and not undertaking any strenuous activities. Apparently it was even too hot for the dogs so we couldn't take them to the beach.
I had an attack of conscience and worked hard on a talk I have promised to deliver in Tasmania, but even just sitting there typing bought out floods of sweat. The heat is also not conducive to clear thinking and the result was a talk of about twenty minutes length when I need an hour.
All around us there are bush fires, well there are several in New South Wales, and there is great concern there will be more. A state of emergency was declared, all national parks and camping sites were closed and all fires were banned. In Tasmania the devastation has been dreadful and we have been keeping a very careful eye on that.
Whilst I was working on my talk, the first pangs of a farewell were felt as Rosemarie began to box things up to go home. This is not a task the master packer enjoyed and it was done with more than a little reluctance. A suitable box was found, and vacuumed out by me to ensure there were nod nasty spiders in it, and slowly a pile of things to be sent home appeared. I am fairly sure, but not definitely certain that malt of the pile is mine, but then I am sure I can survive. I did note there were none of Rosemarie's shoes in the pile, and happened to remark on this to be given a fairly terse response, which I shall put down to the heat.
The heat continued into the evening with the forecast saying that the temperature would drop at midnight, which it did. In fact it fell by 20C making it much more bearable, but even then the accumulated heat of the day made sleeping a nightmare and very uncomfortable. We have experienced 40C before in France several years ago and it is not a pleasant temperature, but this was aggressive heat, unrelenting and threatening. I can't help thinking about how early settlers coped without air conditioning, living in huts with no showers etc. in the middle of the afternoon the electricity went off for about two hours and then we really felt what the weather was like, there was not a hint of a breeze coming in through the open windows and doors and we just sat there reading.
According to an article I read yesterday the body doesn't appreciate temperatures above 35 and the fantastic advice offered was to wear light clothing, to seek out a cool place in the house, to drink lots and to avoid strenuous exercise. I think we met all of these recommendations, but perhaps there are people who need to have this kind of advice.
First let us start by apologising to all our regular readers around the world for not blogging for three days.
There are several reasons for this. Sunday and Monday were both very quiet days, Sunday was a day of recuperation after the Thai meal, sometimes called a hangover day,I believe and as a result all we did was read and take the dogs to the beach .Hardly scintillating reading.
Monday we went shopping in the Stockland Mall, and there was hardly anything interesting about that. Shopping is a kind of twenty first century penance we all pay to the great god Mammon, we do it with I'll grace shuffling around looking at things we don't really want to purchase and experiencing pangs of avarice about items we can't afford. It is hardly great material for a blog such as this.
In the afternoon we took the dogs to the beach by ourselves. We had been given the relevant permission by Zoe, and feeling brave took them to their favourite beach. They were as good as gold, and whilst we were a a little concerned they slight not respond to us they were excellent. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to come home without one of them.
Tuesday was a day of inertia as temperatures in Sydney rose to 42.3C. There is something about heat a which makes one lazy, and this was a very oppressive heat. The day started warm but you could feel the temperature rise as the morning progressed. It was a day for staying in the cool and not undertaking any strenuous activities. Apparently it was even too hot for the dogs so we couldn't take them to the beach.
I had an attack of conscience and worked hard on a talk I have promised to deliver in Tasmania, but even just sitting there typing bought out floods of sweat. The heat is also not conducive to clear thinking and the result was a talk of about twenty minutes length when I need an hour.
All around us there are bush fires, well there are several in New South Wales, and there is great concern there will be more. A state of emergency was declared, all national parks and camping sites were closed and all fires were banned. In Tasmania the devastation has been dreadful and we have been keeping a very careful eye on that.
Whilst I was working on my talk, the first pangs of a farewell were felt as Rosemarie began to box things up to go home. This is not a task the master packer enjoyed and it was done with more than a little reluctance. A suitable box was found, and vacuumed out by me to ensure there were nod nasty spiders in it, and slowly a pile of things to be sent home appeared. I am fairly sure, but not definitely certain that malt of the pile is mine, but then I am sure I can survive. I did note there were none of Rosemarie's shoes in the pile, and happened to remark on this to be given a fairly terse response, which I shall put down to the heat.
The heat continued into the evening with the forecast saying that the temperature would drop at midnight, which it did. In fact it fell by 20C making it much more bearable, but even then the accumulated heat of the day made sleeping a nightmare and very uncomfortable. We have experienced 40C before in France several years ago and it is not a pleasant temperature, but this was aggressive heat, unrelenting and threatening. I can't help thinking about how early settlers coped without air conditioning, living in huts with no showers etc. in the middle of the afternoon the electricity went off for about two hours and then we really felt what the weather was like, there was not a hint of a breeze coming in through the open windows and doors and we just sat there reading.
According to an article I read yesterday the body doesn't appreciate temperatures above 35 and the fantastic advice offered was to wear light clothing, to seek out a cool place in the house, to drink lots and to avoid strenuous exercise. I think we met all of these recommendations, but perhaps there are people who need to have this kind of advice.
Sunday 6 January 2013
A quiet Saturday
Saturday was quiet, David took Rosemarie and I up to the Northern beaches so that Zoe could stay home and clean and tidy. She wanted to get the tree down and the decorations away. It was a hot morning and all the beaches were packed to capacity. This was after all a Saturday in the middle of the school holidays and all those fathers who had been working all week suddenly found themselves charged with looking after the children as a kind of penance.
We went to Newport beach, where a pod of dolphins had been spotted the day before, but unfortunately they had decided to absent themselves whilst we were there. It is hard to describe how beautiful some of these Northern beaches are and to realise that they are part of a sprawling metropolis.
We also looked at Mona Vale Beach and Curl Curl both of which were wonderful. By this time it was clear that we had allowed Zoe the necessary time she needed and we got the all clear by text.
In the afternoon we took the dogs to the beach and it he evening we treated David and Zoe to a meal in a local Thai restaurant, with the very Thai sounding name of the Mortar and Pestle.
We took a taxi down to Manly so no one had to drive and went for a pre dinner drink at the Manly wine bar.
This was clearly a young persons' place, and several young ladies appear not to have got properly dressed for an evening out. Even David at one time exclaimed "Christ, did you see that skirt?" Personally I thought skirt was rather a strong description of what the young lady was trying to wear.
A party of young ladies sitting to our right seemed determined to advertise their wares in brazen way and it was interesting to hear two thirty year olds criticising them.
Mark arrived a little late and I went back in to get him a beer , I followed into the bar a very attractive young lady, slim, good figure , obviously someone who worked out, but whose right arm and left leg were covered in tattoos. Whilst I don't like tattoos personally, I do not object to the odd discreet one, but his was altogether to much and I had to stop my lips from curling.
The restaurant was jam packed and we were sat on a table for six with two complete strangers on the inner side against a wall. Mark who came with us was given a chair on the end which stuck out into the aisle.
The food was excellent and the wine which we had purchased in Mudgee went well with it. We had a great evening. We returned home for another bottle of wine and talked. il the early hours of the evening.
How we wish we could the same in Cornwall.
Saturday was quiet, David took Rosemarie and I up to the Northern beaches so that Zoe could stay home and clean and tidy. She wanted to get the tree down and the decorations away. It was a hot morning and all the beaches were packed to capacity. This was after all a Saturday in the middle of the school holidays and all those fathers who had been working all week suddenly found themselves charged with looking after the children as a kind of penance.
We went to Newport beach, where a pod of dolphins had been spotted the day before, but unfortunately they had decided to absent themselves whilst we were there. It is hard to describe how beautiful some of these Northern beaches are and to realise that they are part of a sprawling metropolis.
We also looked at Mona Vale Beach and Curl Curl both of which were wonderful. By this time it was clear that we had allowed Zoe the necessary time she needed and we got the all clear by text.
In the afternoon we took the dogs to the beach and it he evening we treated David and Zoe to a meal in a local Thai restaurant, with the very Thai sounding name of the Mortar and Pestle.
We took a taxi down to Manly so no one had to drive and went for a pre dinner drink at the Manly wine bar.
This was clearly a young persons' place, and several young ladies appear not to have got properly dressed for an evening out. Even David at one time exclaimed "Christ, did you see that skirt?" Personally I thought skirt was rather a strong description of what the young lady was trying to wear.
A party of young ladies sitting to our right seemed determined to advertise their wares in brazen way and it was interesting to hear two thirty year olds criticising them.
Mark arrived a little late and I went back in to get him a beer , I followed into the bar a very attractive young lady, slim, good figure , obviously someone who worked out, but whose right arm and left leg were covered in tattoos. Whilst I don't like tattoos personally, I do not object to the odd discreet one, but his was altogether to much and I had to stop my lips from curling.
The restaurant was jam packed and we were sat on a table for six with two complete strangers on the inner side against a wall. Mark who came with us was given a chair on the end which stuck out into the aisle.
The food was excellent and the wine which we had purchased in Mudgee went well with it. We had a great evening. We returned home for another bottle of wine and talked. il the early hours of the evening.
How we wish we could the same in Cornwall.
Saturday 5 January 2013
A trip around the harbour.
Patrick and Sarah had very thoughtfully given us a Red Balloon present of a trip in the Nanpean Gorge on a boat, but because this is the period of the Australian school holidays we were unable to book a trip this week. The other thing was that the boat could only take 2 passengers, the trip would take 2 hours and so even if we could have got on, one couple would have to wait for two hours, whilst the other couple went on the trip and then vice versa. Thus a 2 hour boat trip would take up to six hours, eight hours in reality as the drive was two hours.
After much discussion and scouring of the web it was decided we would exchange the Nanpean trip for a lunchtime cruise around Sydney harbour.
We set off at about ten, drove into Manly and caught the fast ferry to Circular Quay, on arrival we had to walk to Tiffany's, the jewellery store to exchange a Christmas present Zoe had received from David. Zoe led the way at a rapid rate of knots as she was afraid we would be late for our cruise. We had a look around Tiffany's whilst Zoe was dealing with the business. Downstairs there were no prices on display, this was the sort of shop you knew you were in trouble, if you wanted to buy anything. Upstairs in the silver section things were priced and were very reasonable. Anyway the good news is that although Rosemarie liked quite a few pieces we didn't purchase anything.
We walked back to the quay and had to wait a few minutes to board our boat. None of us had really known what to expect , but our tickets enabled us to go to the top deck and lunch was in a silver service restaurant. On the lower decks they had a buffet lunch, but we had proper waitress service.
The lunch was quite good, gnocchi for starters, steak or salmon for main and chocolate mousse or crumble for pudding. The cruise was a slow delight as we went to areas of Sydney we had never seen before, including Darling Harbour. Rosemarie and I really enjoyed ourselves. Another memorable present.
After our return to Circular Quay we went off to find some new sandals for me as the pair I had bought in Portugal for £19 had reached the end of their serviceable lives. David and Zoe took us to a branch of Katmandu where we found an appropriate pair which cost a little more than £19. I had worn the sandals from Portugal almost every day of our trip and quite understand why they have decided to give up the ghost. I really hate losing old shoes and breaking new ones in. It is a bit like losing an old friend. However, as the old pair had given me a massive blister on the sole of my foot it was time for them to go.
We returned home for a quiet afternoon a great spaghetti bolognese and a couple of bottles of wine.A very enjoyable day.
Patrick and Sarah had very thoughtfully given us a Red Balloon present of a trip in the Nanpean Gorge on a boat, but because this is the period of the Australian school holidays we were unable to book a trip this week. The other thing was that the boat could only take 2 passengers, the trip would take 2 hours and so even if we could have got on, one couple would have to wait for two hours, whilst the other couple went on the trip and then vice versa. Thus a 2 hour boat trip would take up to six hours, eight hours in reality as the drive was two hours.
After much discussion and scouring of the web it was decided we would exchange the Nanpean trip for a lunchtime cruise around Sydney harbour.
We set off at about ten, drove into Manly and caught the fast ferry to Circular Quay, on arrival we had to walk to Tiffany's, the jewellery store to exchange a Christmas present Zoe had received from David. Zoe led the way at a rapid rate of knots as she was afraid we would be late for our cruise. We had a look around Tiffany's whilst Zoe was dealing with the business. Downstairs there were no prices on display, this was the sort of shop you knew you were in trouble, if you wanted to buy anything. Upstairs in the silver section things were priced and were very reasonable. Anyway the good news is that although Rosemarie liked quite a few pieces we didn't purchase anything.
We walked back to the quay and had to wait a few minutes to board our boat. None of us had really known what to expect , but our tickets enabled us to go to the top deck and lunch was in a silver service restaurant. On the lower decks they had a buffet lunch, but we had proper waitress service.
The lunch was quite good, gnocchi for starters, steak or salmon for main and chocolate mousse or crumble for pudding. The cruise was a slow delight as we went to areas of Sydney we had never seen before, including Darling Harbour. Rosemarie and I really enjoyed ourselves. Another memorable present.
After our return to Circular Quay we went off to find some new sandals for me as the pair I had bought in Portugal for £19 had reached the end of their serviceable lives. David and Zoe took us to a branch of Katmandu where we found an appropriate pair which cost a little more than £19. I had worn the sandals from Portugal almost every day of our trip and quite understand why they have decided to give up the ghost. I really hate losing old shoes and breaking new ones in. It is a bit like losing an old friend. However, as the old pair had given me a massive blister on the sole of my foot it was time for them to go.
We returned home for a quiet afternoon a great spaghetti bolognese and a couple of bottles of wine.A very enjoyable day.
Thursday 3 January 2013
Bondi to Bronte
The day started war and rather slowly. It had been suggested that we walk from Bondi to Bronte which is meant to be very beautiful. We arrived in Bindi at about quarter past midday on a brilliantly sunny and hot day. Like all mad English people we think nothing about walking five or six kilometres across Bondi Beach and Roy Nd the coast to Bronte.
The start of the walk, along the esplanade in Bondi gave no inkling of what the rest of the walk would be like. As soon as we were up and out of Bondi the views began to be impressive. Huge views of impressive small cliffs against azure seas, crashing waves and long coastal vistas. The walk was wonderful apart from the large numbers of people who were attempting to do it in both directions, but that in itself was a small price to pay for such stunning scenery.
It is hard to believe that there can be such beautiful scenery right in the heart of a major city, and that of course is why so many people of so many different nationalities attempt to walk this coastline.
It is also a very cosmopolitan walk, with so many different nationalities walking. We heard German, French, Japanese, Brazilian, Americans and of course English.
We returned home for a late lunch and after some time we went with David to Freshwater Beach, so that he could surf and Rosemarie could go for a swim. Even at 5.00pm it was still very warm and Rosemarie really enjoyed her swim in a very rough sea.
We came home for dinner and compared sunburn form the morning walk, the hole in the ozone layer had created its normal damage. All of us were sunburnt to some degree despite copious amounts of factor 30 sun town lotion being applied. Walking in Australian heat is also a different experience to walking in England, Rosemarie and I were both very tired and had avery early night.We had taken both the dogs with us and they were also exceptionally tired probably form the heat as well.
Sydney truly is a very beautiful city you can't travel very far in any direction without catching a glimpse of water. This applies even to suburban streets which in Northern Sydney look down onto various little bays of beautifully coloured water. After London, it is perhaps my second favourite city.
The day started war and rather slowly. It had been suggested that we walk from Bondi to Bronte which is meant to be very beautiful. We arrived in Bindi at about quarter past midday on a brilliantly sunny and hot day. Like all mad English people we think nothing about walking five or six kilometres across Bondi Beach and Roy Nd the coast to Bronte.
The start of the walk, along the esplanade in Bondi gave no inkling of what the rest of the walk would be like. As soon as we were up and out of Bondi the views began to be impressive. Huge views of impressive small cliffs against azure seas, crashing waves and long coastal vistas. The walk was wonderful apart from the large numbers of people who were attempting to do it in both directions, but that in itself was a small price to pay for such stunning scenery.
It is hard to believe that there can be such beautiful scenery right in the heart of a major city, and that of course is why so many people of so many different nationalities attempt to walk this coastline.
It is also a very cosmopolitan walk, with so many different nationalities walking. We heard German, French, Japanese, Brazilian, Americans and of course English.
We returned home for a late lunch and after some time we went with David to Freshwater Beach, so that he could surf and Rosemarie could go for a swim. Even at 5.00pm it was still very warm and Rosemarie really enjoyed her swim in a very rough sea.
We came home for dinner and compared sunburn form the morning walk, the hole in the ozone layer had created its normal damage. All of us were sunburnt to some degree despite copious amounts of factor 30 sun town lotion being applied. Walking in Australian heat is also a different experience to walking in England, Rosemarie and I were both very tired and had avery early night.We had taken both the dogs with us and they were also exceptionally tired probably form the heat as well.
Sydney truly is a very beautiful city you can't travel very far in any direction without catching a glimpse of water. This applies even to suburban streets which in Northern Sydney look down onto various little bays of beautifully coloured water. After London, it is perhaps my second favourite city.
Wednesday 2 January 2013
January the first and second.
January the first was a quiet day. As no one went to bed before 4.00am no one was up before 11.00am. The day was off to a slow start and no one wanted to do very much at all. It is one of life's experiences to stay up late, but the days when you could stay up and then continue as normal the next day are long gone. This doesn't only apply to us in our sixties but also to those in their thirties.
Zoe very kindly volunteered to go to the supermarket and brought back a hot cooked chicken and some very good bread, so brunch was a great hot chicken and salad sandwich.
After brunch every settled o. The sofa and seemed disinclined to do very much at all. As a result we sat and watched two films. The first was Hugo, a very different film from Martin Scorcese . However we all enjoyed rut immensely.
The second film was the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a very sad and thought provoking film, which on reflection was perhaps not the best film to watch on New Year's Day. Another way of looking at this was that it started the New Year making you think about what has happened in the past. There are certainly issues in this film which should never be forgotten. Anyway at the end of the film we were a little depressed so we watched a recording of Phil Jupitus doing a stand up routine which cheered everyone up a little.
The second day of the New Year was also a little lethargic. Zoe went off to the airport to collect Mark, a friend of theirs and on her return made very one a bacon salad sandwich for breakfast. The rest of the morning was spent chatting and lunch was a grazing board of cheeses and cold meats, including a supposedly spreadable salami, which was anything but spreadable. In the afternoon, David, Mark, Rosemarie and I popped into Manly to look for some sandals for me. The cheap sandals I bought in Portugal are wearing out. This is partly because I have worn them almost every day since we left home. We couldn't find any sandals but we did find a pint of beer. We sat in the wharf bar in Manly watching a motor boat trying to pick up a passenger from the pier. After several near misses they succeeded in getting close enough for the man to leap from the wharf to the boat. It provided us with about thirty minutes of entertainment.
We had a great evening meal of spicy lamb and retired to our beds.
January the first was a quiet day. As no one went to bed before 4.00am no one was up before 11.00am. The day was off to a slow start and no one wanted to do very much at all. It is one of life's experiences to stay up late, but the days when you could stay up and then continue as normal the next day are long gone. This doesn't only apply to us in our sixties but also to those in their thirties.
Zoe very kindly volunteered to go to the supermarket and brought back a hot cooked chicken and some very good bread, so brunch was a great hot chicken and salad sandwich.
After brunch every settled o. The sofa and seemed disinclined to do very much at all. As a result we sat and watched two films. The first was Hugo, a very different film from Martin Scorcese . However we all enjoyed rut immensely.
The second film was the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a very sad and thought provoking film, which on reflection was perhaps not the best film to watch on New Year's Day. Another way of looking at this was that it started the New Year making you think about what has happened in the past. There are certainly issues in this film which should never be forgotten. Anyway at the end of the film we were a little depressed so we watched a recording of Phil Jupitus doing a stand up routine which cheered everyone up a little.
The second day of the New Year was also a little lethargic. Zoe went off to the airport to collect Mark, a friend of theirs and on her return made very one a bacon salad sandwich for breakfast. The rest of the morning was spent chatting and lunch was a grazing board of cheeses and cold meats, including a supposedly spreadable salami, which was anything but spreadable. In the afternoon, David, Mark, Rosemarie and I popped into Manly to look for some sandals for me. The cheap sandals I bought in Portugal are wearing out. This is partly because I have worn them almost every day since we left home. We couldn't find any sandals but we did find a pint of beer. We sat in the wharf bar in Manly watching a motor boat trying to pick up a passenger from the pier. After several near misses they succeeded in getting close enough for the man to leap from the wharf to the boat. It provided us with about thirty minutes of entertainment.
We had a great evening meal of spicy lamb and retired to our beds.
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