Location:T1 Link W,Singapore
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Postscript
Singapore airport has the nicest airport toilets on the planet. I've just been in one and it had a plant. A plant! Real, not plastic. In an airport toilet.
Singy
Am in Singy airport T1, waiting 6 hours or so for the Landan flight. Dad chose to put us on the earlier flight from Perth because otherwise there was only a 2 1/2 hour connection time, and he was worried we might miss it. This is, I think, possibly a slightly cautious outlook, but there wouldn't have been much extra time to do anything in WA so hey. Anyway, I don't mind. I have set up small refugee camp and am waiting for Dad to get back from the terminal shops so we can go for nasi goreng. Free interweb here too so I can update this waffle and the photos.
It seems a bit of a shock to be going home, so I don't mind a bit of time here to acclimatise to returning. I'm very much ready to get back but I think I was so psyched for a long trip I forgot it was only a couple of weeks. I am most impressed with Australia and most of the people I met. Just about the only grumpy person I met was the customs guy at Perth airport who grudgingly gave me the tax refund on the thing I bought for C that I can't mention right now. He must've done his training at Heathrow. I'm not at all surprised that lots of employable Brits are getting out of our crowded and increasingly foreign land and moving to WA in particular. What's not to like? Well, apart from the sharks, obviously, but at least they don't have crocs too, or murderous jellyfish like in Queensland.
It has also been the longest time I have spent with Dad, ever, and it has been good in a very chilled kind of way. Right, am signing off as nasi goreng calls and I am fed up blogging. If anyone has been reading this, hello!
It seems a bit of a shock to be going home, so I don't mind a bit of time here to acclimatise to returning. I'm very much ready to get back but I think I was so psyched for a long trip I forgot it was only a couple of weeks. I am most impressed with Australia and most of the people I met. Just about the only grumpy person I met was the customs guy at Perth airport who grudgingly gave me the tax refund on the thing I bought for C that I can't mention right now. He must've done his training at Heathrow. I'm not at all surprised that lots of employable Brits are getting out of our crowded and increasingly foreign land and moving to WA in particular. What's not to like? Well, apart from the sharks, obviously, but at least they don't have crocs too, or murderous jellyfish like in Queensland.
It has also been the longest time I have spent with Dad, ever, and it has been good in a very chilled kind of way. Right, am signing off as nasi goreng calls and I am fed up blogging. If anyone has been reading this, hello!
Location:T1 Link W,Singapore
En route Perth to Singapore
The 5 hour flight to Singapore seems a breeze compared to the last leg to London, especially when the Xanadu Chardonnay is freely available. Waved goodbye to the Aussie coast a few minutes ago as we angle out towards Indonesia, with some sadness. It has been a great trip - a good taster for Australia and most excellent to spend the time with Dad. I certainly hope I will be back one day, and it will be interesting to see how the country develops, given what I am sure is its vast untapped potential. Now I'm going to watch a rubbish film on Queensland And Northern Territories Air Services in-flight entertainment system...
Location:QF77
Last day in Oz
Our last full day in Australia turned out to be idyllically sunny and just warm enough to wear short sleeves. A local complained about the cold as we were packing up the car at Seashells. Ha! We went for a short walk from the main building of the hotel down to the same Yallingup beach we visited yesterday. The walk was through the grounds of the "heritage building", which were lovely - all greenery and roses at the moment. There was a decent offshore breeze and the surfers were out in force. Watched for a bit and none of them were eaten, or even de-limbed, by a shark. Weird.
Went to the Yallingup gallery after that and didn't buy anything. Was tempted by a glass dish but not tempted enough. There are sheep around here as well as grapes - saw a flock of merinos in a field full of arum lilies in flower. Then to the nearby Ngigli cave for some spelunking. I do like a good cave. This one reminded me a bit of the Poldark mine in so far as some bits of it were quite claustrophobic, and it was interestingly different because of the instability of the local limestone, and the lack of ventilation - breathing was noticeably harder at the bottom due to high CO2 levels. Worth the trip, but not exactly Skocjan. After the cave we took a walk around the national park at Cape Naturaliste, and saw whales migrating south. Again, we were struck by the views and lack of intrusive development.
Lunch was at the idyllic Bunker Cafe, just down the road on the north side of the cape. Bunker bay is out of the westerlies, and so calm. Another perfect Aussie beach. The cafe was half hidden in the bush, but with a great view over the bay. Good menu too, and we saw whales again while eating. Got my feet wet once more after lunch. Water temperature: Cornwall in August.
We felt we had "done" the Margaret river area as much as we were going to, so we headed off north to our last night stop at Mandurah, about 70km short of Perth. Took the old coast road between Peel Water and the sea. The road was empty at first, going through some good mixed country and then into increasing suburban development before the city. Mandurah is a largish town at the end of the Perth commuter routes, and is obviously growing quickly. After a certain amount of messing about caused by neither of us thinking to find out where the place actually was, we got there and settled in with pizza and final James Squire ales. The Quest Resort is adequate for our last stop, but Mandurah is fairly soulless. Watching Ashley Judd gushing about her past on the Septic version of Who Do You Think You Are and then going to build up some sleep creds for the marathon trip tomorrow.
Went to the Yallingup gallery after that and didn't buy anything. Was tempted by a glass dish but not tempted enough. There are sheep around here as well as grapes - saw a flock of merinos in a field full of arum lilies in flower. Then to the nearby Ngigli cave for some spelunking. I do like a good cave. This one reminded me a bit of the Poldark mine in so far as some bits of it were quite claustrophobic, and it was interestingly different because of the instability of the local limestone, and the lack of ventilation - breathing was noticeably harder at the bottom due to high CO2 levels. Worth the trip, but not exactly Skocjan. After the cave we took a walk around the national park at Cape Naturaliste, and saw whales migrating south. Again, we were struck by the views and lack of intrusive development.
Lunch was at the idyllic Bunker Cafe, just down the road on the north side of the cape. Bunker bay is out of the westerlies, and so calm. Another perfect Aussie beach. The cafe was half hidden in the bush, but with a great view over the bay. Good menu too, and we saw whales again while eating. Got my feet wet once more after lunch. Water temperature: Cornwall in August.
We felt we had "done" the Margaret river area as much as we were going to, so we headed off north to our last night stop at Mandurah, about 70km short of Perth. Took the old coast road between Peel Water and the sea. The road was empty at first, going through some good mixed country and then into increasing suburban development before the city. Mandurah is a largish town at the end of the Perth commuter routes, and is obviously growing quickly. After a certain amount of messing about caused by neither of us thinking to find out where the place actually was, we got there and settled in with pizza and final James Squire ales. The Quest Resort is adequate for our last stop, but Mandurah is fairly soulless. Watching Ashley Judd gushing about her past on the Septic version of Who Do You Think You Are and then going to build up some sleep creds for the marathon trip tomorrow.
Location:Quest, Mandurah
Margaret River
Look at this. Just look at it:
Idyllic isn't it? Makes you want to grab a surfboard or something and throw yourself in. Sun is out, water is warm, what more could you want? Well there's just one tiny problem. This place is teeming - teeming I tell you - with great white sharks. The other day, some guy was horribly dismembered by one just round the corner from here, and that's not to mention the chap who left nothing behind but a pair of chewed shreddies up in Perth. I need to keep reminding myself of this because otherwise, I could be persuaded to think that this place is as good as Cornwall. In Cornwall, it may rain all the time, the water may be as cold as interstellar space, but at least you know you can go for a swim (for 90 seconds until hypothermia sets in) without having a leg chewed off.
So, we set off out of Perth in the rain, having checked out of the pretty good Mantra and collected the car from Avis. Headed south down the freeway, getting out of the suburbs fairly quickly, and following the route of the commuter line to Mandurah, where we will stay tomorrow. The countryside down the route is fairly nondescript scrub and gum, with vast scope for development, as usual. Parcels of land are advertised here and there en route. We stopped for lunch at an out of town mall on the outskirts of Bunbury. There was a maccy d's, a KFC and the Feedingwell Cafe. Not wanting to put more cash into the capitalist corporate homogenisation system, we went to the Bleedinghell, which served the worst coffee in Australia and some toiny toasted sandwiches. Still, putting money into the lercal economy I suppose. On the way out we noticed a noodle bar and Dad was relieved I hadn't seen it. Noodles are kryptonite to Dad, it seems.
Carried on driving for another hour or so, and tracked inland before Busselton, driving due south on completely straight, empty roads through some national forest areas. There was some foreign-looking pine forest, but also a lot of native eucalypt, apparently greener and more varied than the type we saw north of Sydney. Miles upon miles of native wilderness - very striking to someone from a landscape which is almost entirely man made. turned west towards Margaret River and slowly signs of habitation appeared - vines, cattle and my first Australian sheep! I had forgotten that Australia is famous for sheep until I saw them. Destined for Uggs no doubt.
Margaret River itself is a fairly ordinary uninspiring town, so we looked at the visitor info centre then moved on out to the coast at Cape Mentelle. The beach was western, windswept and very beautiful. It reminded me immediately of Cornwall, or Cornwall before any people arrived, so unspoiled was it. Some guys were kite surfing but that was about all the visible human influence.
We drove up the Caves Road just inland, towards Yallingup where we are staying for the night. The countryside is almost English - green fields, rolling hills etc. The difference is the amount of wilderness between the agriculture, and the many vineyards. Stopped at a one at random, which turned out to be Lenton Brae, one of the best boutique vineyards in the area. Bought a very good bottle of cabernet merlot. You can't get it in Europe. Shame.
Then off to Yallingup, to our apartment at the very nice Seashells. We bought ingredients for dinner and visited the local beach, which was bathed in that evening light you only get on a west coast. Again it reminded me of an empty Cornwall, but I made myself remember the sharks...
Idyllic isn't it? Makes you want to grab a surfboard or something and throw yourself in. Sun is out, water is warm, what more could you want? Well there's just one tiny problem. This place is teeming - teeming I tell you - with great white sharks. The other day, some guy was horribly dismembered by one just round the corner from here, and that's not to mention the chap who left nothing behind but a pair of chewed shreddies up in Perth. I need to keep reminding myself of this because otherwise, I could be persuaded to think that this place is as good as Cornwall. In Cornwall, it may rain all the time, the water may be as cold as interstellar space, but at least you know you can go for a swim (for 90 seconds until hypothermia sets in) without having a leg chewed off.
So, we set off out of Perth in the rain, having checked out of the pretty good Mantra and collected the car from Avis. Headed south down the freeway, getting out of the suburbs fairly quickly, and following the route of the commuter line to Mandurah, where we will stay tomorrow. The countryside down the route is fairly nondescript scrub and gum, with vast scope for development, as usual. Parcels of land are advertised here and there en route. We stopped for lunch at an out of town mall on the outskirts of Bunbury. There was a maccy d's, a KFC and the Feedingwell Cafe. Not wanting to put more cash into the capitalist corporate homogenisation system, we went to the Bleedinghell, which served the worst coffee in Australia and some toiny toasted sandwiches. Still, putting money into the lercal economy I suppose. On the way out we noticed a noodle bar and Dad was relieved I hadn't seen it. Noodles are kryptonite to Dad, it seems.
Carried on driving for another hour or so, and tracked inland before Busselton, driving due south on completely straight, empty roads through some national forest areas. There was some foreign-looking pine forest, but also a lot of native eucalypt, apparently greener and more varied than the type we saw north of Sydney. Miles upon miles of native wilderness - very striking to someone from a landscape which is almost entirely man made. turned west towards Margaret River and slowly signs of habitation appeared - vines, cattle and my first Australian sheep! I had forgotten that Australia is famous for sheep until I saw them. Destined for Uggs no doubt.
Margaret River itself is a fairly ordinary uninspiring town, so we looked at the visitor info centre then moved on out to the coast at Cape Mentelle. The beach was western, windswept and very beautiful. It reminded me immediately of Cornwall, or Cornwall before any people arrived, so unspoiled was it. Some guys were kite surfing but that was about all the visible human influence.
We drove up the Caves Road just inland, towards Yallingup where we are staying for the night. The countryside is almost English - green fields, rolling hills etc. The difference is the amount of wilderness between the agriculture, and the many vineyards. Stopped at a one at random, which turned out to be Lenton Brae, one of the best boutique vineyards in the area. Bought a very good bottle of cabernet merlot. You can't get it in Europe. Shame.
Then off to Yallingup, to our apartment at the very nice Seashells. We bought ingredients for dinner and visited the local beach, which was bathed in that evening light you only get on a west coast. Again it reminded me of an empty Cornwall, but I made myself remember the sharks...
Location:Seashells, Yallingup
Monday, 17 October 2011
Diggers
Today we did a bit of a route march around Perth, having decided that the tourist hop on/off bus was for wimps. We called in at the Perth mint, on account of it being just down the road, and it turned out to be very interesting. I had thought it was just a heritage building but actually it is still operating - not producing standard coins, but gold coins and bars for investment purposes. There was a load of stuff about the diggers who flocked to WA in the 1890s after a couple of prospectors found a 6 kilo lump of gold just lying around in the dirt out in the desert, 600km east of Perth in a place called Coolgardie. There was also a fun demo of making a gold bar in the original smelting room, complete with crucible, furnace etc. And real actual gold. Plus an impressive strong room full of gold bars and nuggets from around the world, guarded by some creditably laid-back security guys. Couldn't help thinking that the place is due some kind of Ocean's 11 heist...
Had a coffee then off to St. George's cathedral, where my grandfather and grandmother were married in 1929, pretty much directly after she'd stepped off the boat from England. It's one of the older buildings still standing in Perth, but looks strangely new compared to our Norman ones. Walked the mile or so to King's Park, a hyowge great botanic garden not much more than a stone's throw from the CBD. Pottered around there and had burger and gassy beer for lunch, then back to the apartment via the WA art museum, which had some good aboriginal art and a varied selection of mainly 20th century art, mostly Australian of course, but including a Barbara Hepworth. A whole bunch of pretentious mediocrity as well, naturally.
Ate in again, and felt obliged to try another bottle of the local wine. Thus fortified, we did some online research into Donald Bell's circumstances, and found a birth record for him. There were also records for Alice Maud Barwick's marriage to Archibald Bell and then, after he died in 1906 (when Ding was only two) her second marriage to John Oliver. The really interesting thing was Archibald's death record, which placed him at Coolgardie at the time of his death. He had obviously gone out to the gold fields to find fortune but died out there, as so many did, leaving a young widow and small child. So, my great grandfather was a genuine gold rush digger. We have drawn a blank on Scottish records though - more research required there.
Had a coffee then off to St. George's cathedral, where my grandfather and grandmother were married in 1929, pretty much directly after she'd stepped off the boat from England. It's one of the older buildings still standing in Perth, but looks strangely new compared to our Norman ones. Walked the mile or so to King's Park, a hyowge great botanic garden not much more than a stone's throw from the CBD. Pottered around there and had burger and gassy beer for lunch, then back to the apartment via the WA art museum, which had some good aboriginal art and a varied selection of mainly 20th century art, mostly Australian of course, but including a Barbara Hepworth. A whole bunch of pretentious mediocrity as well, naturally.
Ate in again, and felt obliged to try another bottle of the local wine. Thus fortified, we did some online research into Donald Bell's circumstances, and found a birth record for him. There were also records for Alice Maud Barwick's marriage to Archibald Bell and then, after he died in 1906 (when Ding was only two) her second marriage to John Oliver. The really interesting thing was Archibald's death record, which placed him at Coolgardie at the time of his death. He had obviously gone out to the gold fields to find fortune but died out there, as so many did, leaving a young widow and small child. So, my great grandfather was a genuine gold rush digger. We have drawn a blank on Scottish records though - more research required there.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Freo
Today we took the Captain Cook's Tours rivercat done the Swan river to Fremantle, which is further away from Perth itself than I had thought (about 19km I think) Lots of very posh developments on the north bank, which must have excellent views across the water and the seemingly endless marinas which line the banks. Lovely day - blue sky and 33 degrees. We pulled in to Fremantle directly opposite the main docks where a couple of container ships were unloading, and right next to HMB Endeavour, the replica of Cook's ship that we missed in Sydney but which is by luck in WA at the moment. We decided to give the Endeavour queue a miss until later and walked to the Little Creatures brewery, which had been recommended as a lunch stop by various people. Plagued by the famous Australian flies today. Haven't noticed them anywhere else, but Perth and Fremantle are infested with the things. I thought they were only interested in English people but then I was heartened to see that the locals were doing the Aussie wave as well.
Had a vast pile of nachos and a very acceptable light-ale style beer in Little Creatures, which was a great barn of a brewery into which they'd put a kitchen and loads of tables. The beer was drawn straight from the steel vats. It was packed with both families and hardcore beer drinkers, and had a very nice view of the fishing boat harbour. We liked it. I resisted the temptation of a second pint as we had some exploring to do and you can't do that when you're lying down for a while resting your eyes in the sun.
After lunch we took a stroll down South Terrace, which is where all the coffee shops, funky retail emporiums and markets are. It's not as self-consciously alternative as somewhere like Camden, and the vibe is a bit more laid back hippie than urban, but it's a fun place to be. Fremantle centre has retained many if not most of its original 19th and early 20th century buildings, so is architecturally interesting as well. Outside the Market building we watched a punk bagpiper with a leather kilt and an orange Mohawk doing Metallica covers. He was great.
We then viewed the town's first jail and WA's first permanent building - the Round House - which was worth a visit for some local context and history. On the ferry ride over we had been told about the new maritime museum, and indeed it's impossible to miss as it is the most imposing building on the south bank of the river. It was to this that we found ourselves inexorably and mysteriously drawn... luckily though, it was free today in some kind of link up with the Endeavour being in town. They have another Oberon (out of the water on the slipway this time though) but we didn't go aboard as it was exactly the same as HMAS Onslow in Sydney. The galleries were good.
Final stop was Endeavour again, with shorter queues now, and we had a tour of the ship. I confess it was quite exciting, in a spotterish kind of way, particularly to see Joseph Banks's actual cabin etc. Well, not his actual cabin of course as it is a replica, but it is a very good replica. I didn't tell Dad for fear of being branded a lubber, but after crawling around the highly compact below deck spaces for a while, and with the ship bobbing about quite a bit on the wash from the various traffic passing by, I felt slightly green and was pleased to get back on to dry land. Pathetic isn't it? Still, it gave me an appreciation of the mettle required to live on such a thing for three years, cut off from home, exploring places that must have seemed entirely alien. I suspect we have completely lost the ability to undertake tasks requiring such fortitude and expertise.
Then back to Perth on the commuter train, and a stop at a pub to watch the Wallabies being beaten by the All Blacks. Ate in tonight, as fed up of restaurants.
Had a vast pile of nachos and a very acceptable light-ale style beer in Little Creatures, which was a great barn of a brewery into which they'd put a kitchen and loads of tables. The beer was drawn straight from the steel vats. It was packed with both families and hardcore beer drinkers, and had a very nice view of the fishing boat harbour. We liked it. I resisted the temptation of a second pint as we had some exploring to do and you can't do that when you're lying down for a while resting your eyes in the sun.
After lunch we took a stroll down South Terrace, which is where all the coffee shops, funky retail emporiums and markets are. It's not as self-consciously alternative as somewhere like Camden, and the vibe is a bit more laid back hippie than urban, but it's a fun place to be. Fremantle centre has retained many if not most of its original 19th and early 20th century buildings, so is architecturally interesting as well. Outside the Market building we watched a punk bagpiper with a leather kilt and an orange Mohawk doing Metallica covers. He was great.
We then viewed the town's first jail and WA's first permanent building - the Round House - which was worth a visit for some local context and history. On the ferry ride over we had been told about the new maritime museum, and indeed it's impossible to miss as it is the most imposing building on the south bank of the river. It was to this that we found ourselves inexorably and mysteriously drawn... luckily though, it was free today in some kind of link up with the Endeavour being in town. They have another Oberon (out of the water on the slipway this time though) but we didn't go aboard as it was exactly the same as HMAS Onslow in Sydney. The galleries were good.
Final stop was Endeavour again, with shorter queues now, and we had a tour of the ship. I confess it was quite exciting, in a spotterish kind of way, particularly to see Joseph Banks's actual cabin etc. Well, not his actual cabin of course as it is a replica, but it is a very good replica. I didn't tell Dad for fear of being branded a lubber, but after crawling around the highly compact below deck spaces for a while, and with the ship bobbing about quite a bit on the wash from the various traffic passing by, I felt slightly green and was pleased to get back on to dry land. Pathetic isn't it? Still, it gave me an appreciation of the mettle required to live on such a thing for three years, cut off from home, exploring places that must have seemed entirely alien. I suspect we have completely lost the ability to undertake tasks requiring such fortitude and expertise.
Then back to Perth on the commuter train, and a stop at a pub to watch the Wallabies being beaten by the All Blacks. Ate in tonight, as fed up of restaurants.
Location:Bennett St,East Perth,Australia
Saturday, 15 October 2011
WA
Am now ensconced in the Mantra Hay St, East Perth, trying to keep eyes open as we have put watches back 2 hours coming here from Cairns. Left Port Douglas earlyish and drove the Getz to Cairns to get the flight to Perth via Ayers Rock. We flew on a 717 aka DC9, which seemed suspiciously like something from the 1960s but was apparently more or less new. Lots of arid redness below during the 3 hours to Ayers Rock and 2 hours to Perth. Caught a glimpse of the rock and the Olgas from the window on descent but that's as close as we got - the stop was just long enough to refuel the aircraft and get us off and on again. Decided against buying an Uluru t-shirt as have only seen it through aircraft window and I'm not sure that counts.
Perth is warm at about 28 degrees and is apparently going to get hotter tomorrow, so the evil day of chilly reckoning will be delayed until touchdown at Heathrow. On that subject, Cairns airport was like a Platonic ideal, such was the lack of people, and the disconcerting friendliness of the security people. Yes, that's right, even the security people were friendly. I promise, it's true. Ayer's Rock airport was old-school - there was a bloke with ping pong bats, one had to walk across the Tarmac etc. I liked it.
Got a taxi from the airport to the Mantra on Hay St. and then went for a bit of a wander around central Perth. The city is small and has a Milton Keynesy feel to it, in so far as there are self-consciously large amounts of pleasant open space centrally, all the roads are nice and wide, and you have the deep suspicion that anything you see that is apparently old is in fact a pastiche built last year. This is probably very unfair. At least it doesn't have the roundabouts, so that's a blessing. The other thing it doesn't appear to have is people. It's Saturday night and there didn't seem to be anyone around at all. It's like someone's set off a neutron bomb. To be fair, we mainly walked around the CBD, which is never the most lively part of a city at the weekend, but still. Maybe they all go to Fremantle..? Which is where we have decided to go tomorrow. Laetitia on reception said we should go there tomorrow as it's the markets, and there was also something about beer which sounded good but the details of which I can't remember. We came back to the restaurant downstairs and had some pretty nice food and local wine.
Perth is warm at about 28 degrees and is apparently going to get hotter tomorrow, so the evil day of chilly reckoning will be delayed until touchdown at Heathrow. On that subject, Cairns airport was like a Platonic ideal, such was the lack of people, and the disconcerting friendliness of the security people. Yes, that's right, even the security people were friendly. I promise, it's true. Ayer's Rock airport was old-school - there was a bloke with ping pong bats, one had to walk across the Tarmac etc. I liked it.
Got a taxi from the airport to the Mantra on Hay St. and then went for a bit of a wander around central Perth. The city is small and has a Milton Keynesy feel to it, in so far as there are self-consciously large amounts of pleasant open space centrally, all the roads are nice and wide, and you have the deep suspicion that anything you see that is apparently old is in fact a pastiche built last year. This is probably very unfair. At least it doesn't have the roundabouts, so that's a blessing. The other thing it doesn't appear to have is people. It's Saturday night and there didn't seem to be anyone around at all. It's like someone's set off a neutron bomb. To be fair, we mainly walked around the CBD, which is never the most lively part of a city at the weekend, but still. Maybe they all go to Fremantle..? Which is where we have decided to go tomorrow. Laetitia on reception said we should go there tomorrow as it's the markets, and there was also something about beer which sounded good but the details of which I can't remember. We came back to the restaurant downstairs and had some pretty nice food and local wine.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Fish
Today we got up early but not quite as early as yesterday to go on our trip to the Barrier Reef. We had time for brek in the hotel, and I had anaemic hotel toast with vegemite. Dad said that this made my Aussie education complete. Vegemite is very much like Marmite but it just lacks that tangy je-ne-sais-quoi that the mighty Marmite has. Sure, it's fine for a nation that can't quite take proper Marmite just yet, but there's no substitute for the real thing. There was excitement when a desiccated old chap inserted some bread where it wasn't meant to go and the toaster caught fire. A perky blonde guest alerted the staff while the crusty in question pretended it wasn't anything to do with him. Or possibly didn't even notice anything was happening...
We got on another granny bus, bigger this time but without quite so many concentrated grannies. It drove us the 10 minutes' walk to the marina, where we stood in a queue and were then directed to the wrong boat, viz. the romantic sailing catamaran going to the Low Isles. Dad had made a mistake with the booking, but a regulation perky blonde was very happy to take another $110 off of us to upgrade to the proper big catamaran to the outer reef. Got on board the wave piercing vessel, the like of which Dad had investigated on a company jolly in 1989 with a view to buying bigger versions for the Sealink routes. On the advice of various people I took a seasickness pill, but this was unnecessary as it was a perfect day with no swell at all. Motored out for about 90 mins to the moored pontoon, while being invited by various perky blondes to spend more money on helicopter rides, scuba diving etc. and so forth. They also invited us to rent, at minimal cost it has to be said, lycra suits to keep off the deadly poisonous killer stinging murderous jellyfish. I had been led to believe these were out of season, but apparently the season is just about to start and someone had already been proper stung just down the coast. Was scared enough to hand over $5
The lycra suit turned out to be ok, but it did make one look like a cross between a portly Marcel Marceau and Jacques Cousteau in his twilight years. I didn't mind because by this stage (now on the pontoon thing) I was tremendously excited by the presence of actual fish, actually swimming around in the water all casual like. I could see them right there even as I was sitting on the submerged bench thing putting my flippers on. Off we went, and I have to say, dear Reader, that it was pretty amazing. Lots of coral, lots of fish, what more could you want? There were some big ugly ones that looked a bit scarey, and toiny ickle stripey ones that hung about just out of reach. There were also some giant clams, of the sort that trap unwary divers' legs and cause them to drown (according to a book I'm sure I remember reading years ago) - I gave them a wide berth of course. Took a few photos on the waterproof camera, and was so engrossed that I failed to realise that the current was about to wash us to Fiji. Dad did notice of course, so we made our way back to the pontoon and had some lunch.
After that we went on a thing they called a semi-submersible, but which was actually just a boat with windows in the bottom. Although it didn't submerse at all, it was still a good way of seeing some more distant bits of reef. We caught a glimpse of a Lazyarse shark (not sure that's the entirely correct name) which just sat on the bottom not even bothering to have anyone's leg off, and a couple of excellent turtles. Encouraged by the lack of any kind of jellyfish or motivated sharks, I went for another snorkel and saw more cool stuff. It made me want to learn to scuba and get down there.
Headed back at about 3 or so, and skipped the bus to walk back. We hung around for a bit then back into town for a pizza, which we decided was the only thing we were prepared to stump up for. This is an expensive town in an expensive country, and after a couple of days you start to notice that the prices are in Handley territory - the thing on the menu that amounts to posh fish and chips actually costs the best part of 30 notes.
Off to Perth tomorrow, where is is apparently 28 degrees. Hurrah!
We got on another granny bus, bigger this time but without quite so many concentrated grannies. It drove us the 10 minutes' walk to the marina, where we stood in a queue and were then directed to the wrong boat, viz. the romantic sailing catamaran going to the Low Isles. Dad had made a mistake with the booking, but a regulation perky blonde was very happy to take another $110 off of us to upgrade to the proper big catamaran to the outer reef. Got on board the wave piercing vessel, the like of which Dad had investigated on a company jolly in 1989 with a view to buying bigger versions for the Sealink routes. On the advice of various people I took a seasickness pill, but this was unnecessary as it was a perfect day with no swell at all. Motored out for about 90 mins to the moored pontoon, while being invited by various perky blondes to spend more money on helicopter rides, scuba diving etc. and so forth. They also invited us to rent, at minimal cost it has to be said, lycra suits to keep off the deadly poisonous killer stinging murderous jellyfish. I had been led to believe these were out of season, but apparently the season is just about to start and someone had already been proper stung just down the coast. Was scared enough to hand over $5
The lycra suit turned out to be ok, but it did make one look like a cross between a portly Marcel Marceau and Jacques Cousteau in his twilight years. I didn't mind because by this stage (now on the pontoon thing) I was tremendously excited by the presence of actual fish, actually swimming around in the water all casual like. I could see them right there even as I was sitting on the submerged bench thing putting my flippers on. Off we went, and I have to say, dear Reader, that it was pretty amazing. Lots of coral, lots of fish, what more could you want? There were some big ugly ones that looked a bit scarey, and toiny ickle stripey ones that hung about just out of reach. There were also some giant clams, of the sort that trap unwary divers' legs and cause them to drown (according to a book I'm sure I remember reading years ago) - I gave them a wide berth of course. Took a few photos on the waterproof camera, and was so engrossed that I failed to realise that the current was about to wash us to Fiji. Dad did notice of course, so we made our way back to the pontoon and had some lunch.
After that we went on a thing they called a semi-submersible, but which was actually just a boat with windows in the bottom. Although it didn't submerse at all, it was still a good way of seeing some more distant bits of reef. We caught a glimpse of a Lazyarse shark (not sure that's the entirely correct name) which just sat on the bottom not even bothering to have anyone's leg off, and a couple of excellent turtles. Encouraged by the lack of any kind of jellyfish or motivated sharks, I went for another snorkel and saw more cool stuff. It made me want to learn to scuba and get down there.
Headed back at about 3 or so, and skipped the bus to walk back. We hung around for a bit then back into town for a pizza, which we decided was the only thing we were prepared to stump up for. This is an expensive town in an expensive country, and after a couple of days you start to notice that the prices are in Handley territory - the thing on the menu that amounts to posh fish and chips actually costs the best part of 30 notes.
Off to Perth tomorrow, where is is apparently 28 degrees. Hurrah!
Location:Park St,Port Douglas,Australia
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Rain forest
I've titled this one "rain forest" but it should really be KOALAS, because I finally saw cute fwuffy koalas today hurrah! They're all teddybearish and sleepy and cyooot! Dawwww! Ahem. Anyway. We got up at six effing thirty, on our holidays, to get a tourist bus most of the way back to Cairns to catch the train up to Kuranda in the hills above. The bus was, inevitably, late to the extent that I could've had an extra half an hour in bed, and it filled up with a SAGA group shortly after we got on. There's nothing like a SAGA group getting on the bus to make you determined to book independently in future. I mean, it's not as if they're louts or anything, but it's just the terrible shorts, the M&S polo tops, the sandals with socks and the self-conscious jollity. Shudder. Only 7 years til I qualify... Ooh, saw grey roos on the way to Cairns, but they are officially boring now, because of koalas.
Took the aged train from Freshwater station up the slow but spectacular twisting track through the forest to Kuranda, a journey of about an hour and a half. The line carries on to the Atherton Tableland, where it used to serve the gold-rush mining communities, but the train goes no further these days. Dad said it was steam when he came 12 years ago, but no longer. Kuranda is a pleasant hill station, but inevitably fully dedicated to extracting money from tourists. The most important thing about it is that it has a koala park, which we visited at a cost of $16 or so each. We declined to pay extra for a koala cuddle (I am now 43, after all) so we watched the poor old koalas being cuddled by a coach load of excitable Japanese. The furry lumps took it all in their stride and just went back to sleep when put back on their branch. Apparently they eat gum leaves two hours a day and sleep for the other 22. That's my kind of bear. Also in the park were roos (yawno), wobbelies and some somnolent wombats which were not going to come out of their hollow log for anyone. Now that I've done koalas I want to see a wombat properly, or a platypus. I am still skeptical of the existence of the latter. I require proof.
After the koala excitement we went and bought stuffed koalas (Australian made, no less) and I bought a pressie for C but can't say what it is. All retail requirements are now fulfilled. Had a proper Aussie pie for lunch, went for an hour's walk through the mercifully unrainy and dry jungle, and then got the "Skytrain" i.e. cable car back down the mountain. It takes you over an impressive and interesting tract of proper wet rainforest, and there's a stop halfway where a worryingly over-enthusiastic guide called Phil talked to us about rattan, cassowaries etc. It's the perfect time to visit a rain forest, I reckon - the end of the dry season so there's hardly any rain, it's not soggy and there aren't any bugs or other unpleasant invertebrates waiting too fly/crawl/ooze out of the undergrowth to sting/bite/infect/inhabit people.
At the bottom, while waiting for the granny bus, I read a book in the gift shop about Australia's poisonous creatures. All of the most deadly/disgusting ones live in the sea where I was swimming yesterday. Am going to go in the pool tomorrow.
Took the aged train from Freshwater station up the slow but spectacular twisting track through the forest to Kuranda, a journey of about an hour and a half. The line carries on to the Atherton Tableland, where it used to serve the gold-rush mining communities, but the train goes no further these days. Dad said it was steam when he came 12 years ago, but no longer. Kuranda is a pleasant hill station, but inevitably fully dedicated to extracting money from tourists. The most important thing about it is that it has a koala park, which we visited at a cost of $16 or so each. We declined to pay extra for a koala cuddle (I am now 43, after all) so we watched the poor old koalas being cuddled by a coach load of excitable Japanese. The furry lumps took it all in their stride and just went back to sleep when put back on their branch. Apparently they eat gum leaves two hours a day and sleep for the other 22. That's my kind of bear. Also in the park were roos (yawno), wobbelies and some somnolent wombats which were not going to come out of their hollow log for anyone. Now that I've done koalas I want to see a wombat properly, or a platypus. I am still skeptical of the existence of the latter. I require proof.
After the koala excitement we went and bought stuffed koalas (Australian made, no less) and I bought a pressie for C but can't say what it is. All retail requirements are now fulfilled. Had a proper Aussie pie for lunch, went for an hour's walk through the mercifully unrainy and dry jungle, and then got the "Skytrain" i.e. cable car back down the mountain. It takes you over an impressive and interesting tract of proper wet rainforest, and there's a stop halfway where a worryingly over-enthusiastic guide called Phil talked to us about rattan, cassowaries etc. It's the perfect time to visit a rain forest, I reckon - the end of the dry season so there's hardly any rain, it's not soggy and there aren't any bugs or other unpleasant invertebrates waiting too fly/crawl/ooze out of the undergrowth to sting/bite/infect/inhabit people.
At the bottom, while waiting for the granny bus, I read a book in the gift shop about Australia's poisonous creatures. All of the most deadly/disgusting ones live in the sea where I was swimming yesterday. Am going to go in the pool tomorrow.
Location:Park St,Port Douglas,Australia
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Stingers
Apparently it is not yet the season for box jellyfish. Hurrah! So I only have to worry about the crocs and the sharks and those fish with poison spines and stuff like that. Come to think of it I'm pretty lucky to have survived my evening swim. Maybe I'd better not risk it again. The news is full of some guy who went for a swim in Perth and got eaten. All they found was his budgie-smugglers, which the shark spat out. Nasty...
Location:Davidson St,Port Douglas,Australia
Port Douglas
Got to Port Douglas after an easy winding drive north along the coast from Cairns, and checked in to the rambling Mantra Portsea. It's pretty hot here -about 33 or so, and sunny, and the multi-level "lagoon pool" in the middle of the building looked very tempting. However, we decided to go the half a mile or so into town to get some food and had a bruscetta and schooner of Coopers at the "Iron Bar". Took a wander around and I got hoodies for the girls - a matching one to Jim's for Min and a more grown-up one for Amy. Hope they like them. Then back to Mantra, where I lost Dad on the way to the beach. This comes of us both being people who are convinced they know the right way to get to any given point. Eventually we both made it through the line of vegetation they have left between the hotels and the beach, and I went for a swim - an actual proper swim. Water temperature:Caribbean. The beach looks completely unspoiled.
Failed to persuade Dad to go in. He thought the water felt cold, which just shows how long it is since he's been in the water in Cornwall. am annoyed with him because he's booked a tour for us tomorrow which starts - starts!! -at 7am. Tsk.
Failed to persuade Dad to go in. He thought the water felt cold, which just shows how long it is since he's been in the water in Cornwall. am annoyed with him because he's booked a tour for us tomorrow which starts - starts!! -at 7am. Tsk.
Location:Davidson St,Port Douglas,Australia
To Cairns
Set the alarm for a slightly paranoid 7am, given a 0955 flight, but that's 8am NSW time so it was ok really. Strange having to put the clock back when coming up the coast yesterday... Anyway, we returned the hire car at the domestic terminal, checked in and deposited bags, all in a pretty much automated fashion. No human interaction in check in and bag drop at all, with the result that it was very quick and we had plenty of time for coffee and muffin plus perusal of tourist tat shops. Need to buy articles of clothing for the girls, or will be in trouble when Jim gets his off duty life guard top. Want to buy stuffed koalas too, despite complete lack of real actual koalas on this trip so far. Have high hopes for koalas in Port Douglas.
Location:Qantas flight Brisbane - Cairns
Coff's Harbour to Brisbane
Started off fairly early after a drug-free and therefore slightly disturbed night, bidding a willing farewell to the CH Novotel. Unfortunately the local zoo, on our route north, closed a while ago so no koalas today. I just *have* to see a koala. Apart from the exciting appearance of a roo just before Grafton, the drive up to the Clarence valley was fast and uneventful. Gum trees gave way to ranch land, and then, near the Clarence itself, sugar cane and houses on stilts. We decided to take a detour to Yamba, at the river mouth, for an early lunch. Yamba was a lovely but slightly strange place. Lots of he by now almost boring perfect beaches, a lighthouse and a tidy town centre with a very American feel to it. As usual, seemingly uncontrolled but very tasteful development along the road into the town and the sea shore. Had a sandwich at the Caper Berry Cafe, and then sent a duty post card to work.
After lunch, back to the Pacific Highway as far as the big smoke Ballina (home of the Big Prawn!) where we turned off onto the coast road to Byron Bay via Lennox Head. Took a walk along the completely unspoiled 7-mile beach, and saw my first Australian jellyfish on the sand. Prodded at them with a stone, carefully as they were probably deadly poisonous. Everything is around here, they say. Got my feet wet though. Water temperature:balmy.
Stopped again slightly farther along at Cape Byron (named by Captain Cook after one of the famous Byron's predecessors, apparently) where we parked up to walk to the lighthouse. Due to a slight error in navigation which I put down to inadequate local signage, Dad and I had an unexpectedly long and steep walk through some interesting coastal rain forest. We then, having firmly fixed the position of the lighthouse, drove to it. Australia's most easterly point has absolutely stunning views over Byron Bay and the hills beyond. Stayed long enough to have a mango and macadamia gelato, during the consumption of which we saw a humpback whale breach off shore.
Hit the road again northwards, with development increasing gradually towards the Queensland border. We left the main road again at Tweed Heads to drive through Coolangatta and Surfers' Paradise on the Gold Coast. Dad was last here over 50 years ago, when his ship was in Brisbane and he took a trip on a day off. Apparently he flew back from Coolangatta in a Viscount and was the only passenger, attended to be three stewardesses. He confessed to enjoying the experience. Anyway, the only thing to be said about the Gold Coast is that it is like Shagaluf of somewhere equally awful, but on a massive scale. We thought we'd never get out. Endless ribbon development and high rise apartments. Not classy. Not classy at all.
Finally the schlep round Brisbane to the delightful Novotel at the airport, form where we have an early flight to Cairns tomorrow.
After lunch, back to the Pacific Highway as far as the big smoke Ballina (home of the Big Prawn!) where we turned off onto the coast road to Byron Bay via Lennox Head. Took a walk along the completely unspoiled 7-mile beach, and saw my first Australian jellyfish on the sand. Prodded at them with a stone, carefully as they were probably deadly poisonous. Everything is around here, they say. Got my feet wet though. Water temperature:balmy.
Stopped again slightly farther along at Cape Byron (named by Captain Cook after one of the famous Byron's predecessors, apparently) where we parked up to walk to the lighthouse. Due to a slight error in navigation which I put down to inadequate local signage, Dad and I had an unexpectedly long and steep walk through some interesting coastal rain forest. We then, having firmly fixed the position of the lighthouse, drove to it. Australia's most easterly point has absolutely stunning views over Byron Bay and the hills beyond. Stayed long enough to have a mango and macadamia gelato, during the consumption of which we saw a humpback whale breach off shore.
Hit the road again northwards, with development increasing gradually towards the Queensland border. We left the main road again at Tweed Heads to drive through Coolangatta and Surfers' Paradise on the Gold Coast. Dad was last here over 50 years ago, when his ship was in Brisbane and he took a trip on a day off. Apparently he flew back from Coolangatta in a Viscount and was the only passenger, attended to be three stewardesses. He confessed to enjoying the experience. Anyway, the only thing to be said about the Gold Coast is that it is like Shagaluf of somewhere equally awful, but on a massive scale. We thought we'd never get out. Endless ribbon development and high rise apartments. Not classy. Not classy at all.
Finally the schlep round Brisbane to the delightful Novotel at the airport, form where we have an early flight to Cairns tomorrow.
Location:Brisbane airport Novotel
Roos again
I saw one! I saw one! Well, I saw two, but one was dead. The other one was definitely alive and sitting in the middle of a cow field. Hurrah!
Location:En route to Brisbane
Roos
This is Australia and I haven't seen any roos yet. Plenty of caution:roos signs on the road but no actual roos. V frustrating.
Location:En route to Brisbane
Monday, 10 October 2011
Coff's Harbour
In the Novotel Coff's Harbour, after a drive of about 350km from Port Stephens. Easy driving all the way up, but the road cuts inland most of the time so there's not much sea to see. Lots of feel for the country though as we drove through. Started off with lots more gum forest, but about halfway through it started to give way to ranch land, and then to a mixture of farmland and a more varied type of forest. Lots of big rivers and lagoons crossed as well. We stopped for lunch at Port Macquarie, a seemingly brand new place of about 40k residents. All sunshine, sand, boats, nice restaurants and pleasant streets. Australia seems to be such a forward-looking place. The vibe I get is young, positive and self-assured, with none of the grumpy greyness of England, and much entrepreneurial spirit. Maybe it's because of the sunshine, the independence or the fortunate economic position, or all three, but it is refreshing.
A bit more driving and we were in Coff's Harbour, which is bigger than either of us expected. We went for a walk over Muttonbird Island, but the residents were not in evidence. Apparently they come home in the evening. Sun out, and the coast very pretty - low mountains, beaches, islands, forest. Very little development and surely vast amounts of potential. Honestly, there's so much space I reckon you could leave England to the foreigners, move everyone else out to the sunshine and no-one here would notice much difference.
Checked in to the Novotel, which is out of town on its own site and sort if unpleasantly sanitised. Apart from the palm trees, which are pretty much growing in to my landward room, it could be anywhere. We declined the barn-like restaurant and drove back into town to the Hog's Breath, where we had enormous steaks. The HB is US diner style chain full of happily noisy local families. Unfrequented by Handleys, one suspects...
A bit more driving and we were in Coff's Harbour, which is bigger than either of us expected. We went for a walk over Muttonbird Island, but the residents were not in evidence. Apparently they come home in the evening. Sun out, and the coast very pretty - low mountains, beaches, islands, forest. Very little development and surely vast amounts of potential. Honestly, there's so much space I reckon you could leave England to the foreigners, move everyone else out to the sunshine and no-one here would notice much difference.
Checked in to the Novotel, which is out of town on its own site and sort if unpleasantly sanitised. Apart from the palm trees, which are pretty much growing in to my landward room, it could be anywhere. We declined the barn-like restaurant and drove back into town to the Hog's Breath, where we had enormous steaks. The HB is US diner style chain full of happily noisy local families. Unfrequented by Handleys, one suspects...
Location:Bay Dr,Coffs Harbour,Australia
Bug
Last night, at the posh place in Port Stephens, I was attacked by the biggest cockroach, like, ever. Well, when I say "attacked by" I really mean "in the vicinity of", but still, it was very traumatic. I had seen a tin of bug spray in a cupboard in the room and mentally noted the badness of that sign. Then, while reading with my glasses off, a fuzzy blob far too large for comfort crawled/scuttled up the wall opposite me. I hesitated to put my glasses on, but when I finally plucked up my courage and did so, the full horror of the situation was revealed. I was forced to go chemical on its ass I'm afraid, and have probably poisoned myself as well as it, such was the quantity I used. It did the roachy equivalent of coughing and going green and then crawled under the bed. I didn't see it again, so I like to think it expired horribly under there, rather than, say, coming out and dancing a little jig of vengeful glee on my face while I slept...
Bye bye Sydney
This morning it was time to say goodbye to the Mantra and to Sydney, and head up the Oz equivalent of the great north road to Port Stephens. I thought Sydders was a great place. All the usual reservations which apply to any big city, of course, apply to Sydney e.g. the nice bit in the middle is surrounded by endless dismal suburbs where everyone except the uber-rich live. However, it does seem to be blessed in terms of climate and location on such a beautiful bay. I don't think it's quite as isolated as it once might have been either, given the centre of the world's gravity steadily moving east. One of the topics of conversation at lunch yesterday was Duncan and Angela's impending 9 month career break, during which they will 'do' central Asia and South America overland. Dad though it was sad that they felt they had to do that - I don't think it's sad because they have no kids (that may possibly be sad) and they obviously both want to do it, but it is a little strange from my point of view. It strikes me that Australians still seem to be responding to their nation's years of isolation with a rather manic desire to travel, even though they really aren't that isolated any more.
Anyway, we hit the road at a leisurely pace after packing. (I have averted a pant crisis by doing a wash using the machines at Mantra. I am pant-rich for a week or so. This gives me peace of mind, in the pant department at least) Getting out of central Sydney was easy - down the road and over the big bridge and then north on the "freeway" (eurgh! how Septic of them) through the aforementioned endless suburbs, which reminded me quite strongly of New Jersey. We turned off for lunch at the Hogs Breath at Terrigal, a resort - with the obligatory perfect crescent beach - north of the Hawkesbury River. Had prawns, served, as usual, by perky but excessively made-up identikit Aussie blonde. The service here has been uniformly good, as in the USA, and food portions generally big. Not as many lardbutts here though, ISTM. Dad remembered it was my birthday half way through the prawns, prompted by a 2.30 am txt from mum...
North again as far as Newcastle, where the coal comes from (and wine, from the Hunter valley) and then off on the side roads towards Port Stephens where we're staying at a place called Pepper's Anchorage. V posh, but no wireless broadband. What flippin' century do they think this is hmmm? This being a trip with Dad, we of course stopped off at "Fighter World" on the way, a small but still interesting collection of old RAAF jets in a hanger next to an extant F18 airfield.
Declined the astronomically priced dinner here and, after watching Australia get a flukey win against SA in the rugby and having a happy birthday chat with C, Ali, Jim and mum, went for a cheapy Thai with byo VBs up the road in the local smoke Nelson Bay. Acceptable green curry. Nothing to write home about.
Sun came out this afternoon, and it is appreciably warmer here. I was looking forward to swimming up at Port Douglas but the Aussies took great pleasure yesterday in telling us we wouldn't be able to swim on account of the killer jellyfish. We could possibly swim at Margaret River but there we'd almost certainly be eaten by a Great White. Humph. The water may be bone-numbingly cold in Cornwall, but at least you can be fairly certain of setting foot in it without suffering a horrible untimely death.
Have been writing this while watching Sean Connery sporting an incredibly unconvincing Japanese disguise in "You Only Live Twice" on local telly. Hilarious.
Anyway, we hit the road at a leisurely pace after packing. (I have averted a pant crisis by doing a wash using the machines at Mantra. I am pant-rich for a week or so. This gives me peace of mind, in the pant department at least) Getting out of central Sydney was easy - down the road and over the big bridge and then north on the "freeway" (eurgh! how Septic of them) through the aforementioned endless suburbs, which reminded me quite strongly of New Jersey. We turned off for lunch at the Hogs Breath at Terrigal, a resort - with the obligatory perfect crescent beach - north of the Hawkesbury River. Had prawns, served, as usual, by perky but excessively made-up identikit Aussie blonde. The service here has been uniformly good, as in the USA, and food portions generally big. Not as many lardbutts here though, ISTM. Dad remembered it was my birthday half way through the prawns, prompted by a 2.30 am txt from mum...
North again as far as Newcastle, where the coal comes from (and wine, from the Hunter valley) and then off on the side roads towards Port Stephens where we're staying at a place called Pepper's Anchorage. V posh, but no wireless broadband. What flippin' century do they think this is hmmm? This being a trip with Dad, we of course stopped off at "Fighter World" on the way, a small but still interesting collection of old RAAF jets in a hanger next to an extant F18 airfield.
Declined the astronomically priced dinner here and, after watching Australia get a flukey win against SA in the rugby and having a happy birthday chat with C, Ali, Jim and mum, went for a cheapy Thai with byo VBs up the road in the local smoke Nelson Bay. Acceptable green curry. Nothing to write home about.
Sun came out this afternoon, and it is appreciably warmer here. I was looking forward to swimming up at Port Douglas but the Aussies took great pleasure yesterday in telling us we wouldn't be able to swim on account of the killer jellyfish. We could possibly swim at Margaret River but there we'd almost certainly be eaten by a Great White. Humph. The water may be bone-numbingly cold in Cornwall, but at least you can be fairly certain of setting foot in it without suffering a horrible untimely death.
Have been writing this while watching Sean Connery sporting an incredibly unconvincing Japanese disguise in "You Only Live Twice" on local telly. Hilarious.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
North beaches
After a certain amount of debate this morning we decided that instead of heading for les montagnes bleues we would go north to Whale Beach and sponge off more Handley hospitality. The weather wasn't that great, it was a long drive up to the hills, my back was hurting and in any case I favour doing people things over sightseeing things these days. Dad phoned Duncan Handley and secured us an invite for lunch. We felt bad about this momentarily as they had a couple of friends plus medium-sized children up there already. D phoned back to cancel, but were told we had to come, insist, no problem etc. and so forth, so honour was served. Got the car from Avis in Kings Cross and then drove up through the uninspiring northern suburbs of Sydders with its reasonably hellish traffic, and reflected that while living in waterfront style in Manly or the centre might be great, it's not how most of us would get to live. Eventually got to the place, which was of course in a fantastic location overlooking the beach, and had genuine Aussie barby for lunch. Invited Duncan and Angela to Cambridge as is only polite.
Drove back via rainy stop at Palm Beach where we were going to climb up to the lighthouse but didn't because it was raining and we stupidly had not brought waterproofs. Stopped on the way south at Newport beach where I got my feet wet in the Pacific for the first time. Water temperature: warm Cornish.
Then to North Head where we admired the view and looked at the very nice new houses being built on seminary land behind Bower St. Back to Mantra via a supermarket to buy some quick dinner, and watched the ignominious England performance on the hotel telly. Supermarkets here don't sell booze. And I thought this was a civilised country...
Drove back via rainy stop at Palm Beach where we were going to climb up to the lighthouse but didn't because it was raining and we stupidly had not brought waterproofs. Stopped on the way south at Newport beach where I got my feet wet in the Pacific for the first time. Water temperature: warm Cornish.
Then to North Head where we admired the view and looked at the very nice new houses being built on seminary land behind Bower St. Back to Mantra via a supermarket to buy some quick dinner, and watched the ignominious England performance on the hotel telly. Supermarkets here don't sell booze. And I thought this was a civilised country...
Friday, 7 October 2011
Sydney walkabout
Had to wake Dad up this morning at 0945, having been woken up myself by the alarm an hour earlier. I reckon that must be a first. The sun was shining so we decided to go out for a walk down Macquarie St via the museum of Sydney and then cross town to Darling Harbour, which is another place Dad has never been. The MoS was interesting - build on the site of the original 1788 government house, and containing a lot of stuff about the house, the colony and significant things like the bridge and the opera house. After that we walked past the state library, parliament building, hospital and the old barracks to St. James's church, which Dad thinks is where my grandfather's funeral service took place. Then across town to Darling Harbour, noticing a number of instances of older buildings. I had thought central Sydney would be entirely new but they have preserved some good examples of inter-war tower blocks as well as older terraces tucked away amidst the skyscrapers.
Darling Harbour has been turned from a major dock area (Dad recalls it as such, although he used to dock up at Walsh Bay by the bridge - now posh apartments it appears) to a very nice waterfront, with bars and restaurants, the aquarium and, over the Pyrmont bridge, the Australian national maritime museum. Guess where we ended up? After a very good lunch at a place on the dockside called Bungalow 8 (food in Sydney seems universally very good, in my experience so far) we crossed over to the museum. The galleries and HMAS Onslow (Oberon class submarine) and Vampire (1950s destroyer) were worth seeing too. Unfortunately the Endeavour replica was not there, as she is in the process of circumnavigating Australia.
Got the ferry back under the bridge to Circular Quay and a brief change before going to dinner at the Bennelong restaurant - in the small operahouselet at the southwestern corner of the opera house site - with Ken and Di Handley, who were greeted by name in there and, fortunately for me, picked up the tab. Nice, and probably insanely expensive, Tasmanian pinot was chosen for us. The eponymous Bennelong was, I found out in the MoS, one of the Aboriginal people who first interacted with the colonists, and he became quite a celeb in his time. Wonder what he would make of his restaurant...
Jet lag has subsided today and I felt fine. Having lunch on the wharf in the sun I could appreciate what a great place Sydney would be to live and work, especially if you were a young professional with some money to spare.
Darling Harbour has been turned from a major dock area (Dad recalls it as such, although he used to dock up at Walsh Bay by the bridge - now posh apartments it appears) to a very nice waterfront, with bars and restaurants, the aquarium and, over the Pyrmont bridge, the Australian national maritime museum. Guess where we ended up? After a very good lunch at a place on the dockside called Bungalow 8 (food in Sydney seems universally very good, in my experience so far) we crossed over to the museum. The galleries and HMAS Onslow (Oberon class submarine) and Vampire (1950s destroyer) were worth seeing too. Unfortunately the Endeavour replica was not there, as she is in the process of circumnavigating Australia.
Got the ferry back under the bridge to Circular Quay and a brief change before going to dinner at the Bennelong restaurant - in the small operahouselet at the southwestern corner of the opera house site - with Ken and Di Handley, who were greeted by name in there and, fortunately for me, picked up the tab. Nice, and probably insanely expensive, Tasmanian pinot was chosen for us. The eponymous Bennelong was, I found out in the MoS, one of the Aboriginal people who first interacted with the colonists, and he became quite a celeb in his time. Wonder what he would make of his restaurant...
Jet lag has subsided today and I felt fine. Having lunch on the wharf in the sun I could appreciate what a great place Sydney would be to live and work, especially if you were a young professional with some money to spare.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Eastern beaches walk
Today we decided to do a walk that had been described to us last night as fantastic (amongst other superlatives) so we got the bus at Circular Quay to go to North Bondi, with the idea being to walk to Coogee further South. Dad had never been to this part before so he was also interested to see what it was like. The bus journey was through seemingly endless Sydney suburbs, and the drop-off at Bondi was distinctly unpromising. The walk, past Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte and Clovelly beaches, was pretty unprepossessing,to be honest. There was a fine rolling swell in use by the surf dudes, the beaches were perfect sand crescents, but everything else was kinda ordinary. Suburban development has consumed the whole coastline, so to our right was an unbroken line of posh houses and flats, with hardly an inch of undeveloped land on the sea front. The cliffs were low sandstone with some interesting formations but the path was concreted and fenced almost all the way along. It wasn't a walk in country at any stage. The overcast weather didn't do it ant favours - it would undoubtedly look much prettier on a sunny summer day, when the beaches and the sea would look so great you wouldn't notice anything else. Anyway, I'm glad we did it, but there's just no competition with Lizard - Porthleven.
After the walk we busses from Coogee back to Sydney, picked up the Don Giovanni tickets for tomorrow night, and then went back to the flat for late lunch. Chilling for a bit now before going out to dinner. Still somewhat laggy and tired, but getting better.
After the walk we busses from Coogee back to Sydney, picked up the Don Giovanni tickets for tomorrow night, and then went back to the flat for late lunch. Chilling for a bit now before going out to dinner. Still somewhat laggy and tired, but getting better.
Manly
Was woken by Dad at 0839 after a good night's sleep. Eggs benedict in the lobby then down to Circular Quay for the Manly ferry. Seeing the bridge and opera house for the first time reminded me of being in New York - the scene is so familiar it is difficult to persuade yourself that you are actually there. Manly was a trip down memory lane for dad - he talked a lot about his childhood there, the beaches where he learned to swim, who he remembered etc. Saw 77 bower St, which is still very much there although in need of some repair by the looks of things, and which appears to be no. 59 now, plus the plot of land my grandfather and grandmother bought before he fell ill, with the intention of building on it. Lunch at a nice cafe on Shelly beach. Manly is lovely and I can understand my grandmother (or anyone else, really) wanting to locate there. The house must be worth a fortune now. Got the ferry back to Sydney, and had a wander around the Rocks. By this time I was really flagging so we went back to the flat and I had a short kip. At 6ish we got the Mosman ferry over the water to meet up with Uncle A's friend Ken Handley, and had dinner at his rather nice place overlooking the harbour. His wife Di, sons David (art dealer) and Duncan (policeman) and their wives Kirsten (architect) and Angela (editor for Allen & Unwin) were the other attendees. I talked to the wives most, who were interesting people. Ken is very like Uncle Andrew in some respects, especially in the way he contributes to conversations. I felt horribly rough at the beginning of the evening due to jet lag related general gut poorliness, but after a glass of two of very nice Cab Sauvignon I felt a lot better...
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Sydney
Well, I'm finally in my crisp Sydney sheets but unforts the room is on first floor so the traffic noise is considerable, plus vaguely Arab-sounding music filtering irritatingly from somewhere nearby. As is usual when I arrive somewhere like this, I am asking myself what I am doing here. Suppose maybe one of the functions of travel is to make to realise what you have back home, and I will be more positive tomorrow, assuming the melatonin plus night nurse combo I have taken wins out over the beeping taxis. It was a bit of a thrill, despite the journey, to finally touch down in real actual Australia.The flight was fine but it was very irritating to have to get off in Singapore to go through security again. About halfway through that second leg I began to really want to get off the stupid plane. At least the back held up relatively well. It's a bit sore now but not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. Ho hum. I'd best try to get some sleep I suppose. Tomorrow we're going to Manly to see Dad's old house and then apparently we have to do dinner with the high court judge and various other family members.
The journey
Cambridge station
Said goodbye to C and the girls in too-perfunctory fashion due to general travel nervousness. Commuters piling up for 0745 First Capital Connect sardine can to KX... And it's here. In first class with academics and City types.
Heathrow Express
On the 0925 to Heathrow, slightly later train than planned. So much for their free wifi service - it doesn't work. Travelling with the iPad will reveal just how rubbish public wifi availability is I think. London rubbish generally, all full of people. Underground is like Third Reich transportation system...
A380
The big plane has USB points and enough room, in premium economy at least, for a full sized human being. Relatively luxurious in fact. The entertainment appears to consist of The Green Lantern, and.. er.. that's about it. Useless. Good job I've got the pad and the aforementioned USB port. So... a bit of reading, dinner, 6 hours kip or thereabouts I hope. Then Singapore, more food, naps, and oz on time for maybe dinner and a sleep. Missing a good night's sleep is what it amounts to I guess, and so long as this can be rectified with drugs we should be ok. It turns out we have to get off the stupid aeroplane at stupid Singapore just to go through stupid security and come back again. This at about midnight body time. Presumably this is so they can vacuum the plane and sell us stuff at duty free. I'd much prefer just to sit in my pod. On the plus side, have found the Qantas entertainment better than I first thought. Watched Source Code. Meh. Not so forthcoming with the booze as Gervaise on the Colorado to LHR flight earlier in the year. Maybe a good thing, maybe not. About 5 body time and have smacked self with melatonin and stugeron. Hello (hopefully) oblivion...
Somewhere over central Asia, unable to sleep
So much for drugs...
Singapore
A couple of hours in the transit lounge, aircon unable to fully exclude the 100% humidity. Tipping down with rain. Had to go through security again, but quickly back aboard the A380 and another glass of champagne yay! Stewardesses are now Aussie.
Said goodbye to C and the girls in too-perfunctory fashion due to general travel nervousness. Commuters piling up for 0745 First Capital Connect sardine can to KX... And it's here. In first class with academics and City types.
Heathrow Express
On the 0925 to Heathrow, slightly later train than planned. So much for their free wifi service - it doesn't work. Travelling with the iPad will reveal just how rubbish public wifi availability is I think. London rubbish generally, all full of people. Underground is like Third Reich transportation system...
A380
The big plane has USB points and enough room, in premium economy at least, for a full sized human being. Relatively luxurious in fact. The entertainment appears to consist of The Green Lantern, and.. er.. that's about it. Useless. Good job I've got the pad and the aforementioned USB port. So... a bit of reading, dinner, 6 hours kip or thereabouts I hope. Then Singapore, more food, naps, and oz on time for maybe dinner and a sleep. Missing a good night's sleep is what it amounts to I guess, and so long as this can be rectified with drugs we should be ok. It turns out we have to get off the stupid aeroplane at stupid Singapore just to go through stupid security and come back again. This at about midnight body time. Presumably this is so they can vacuum the plane and sell us stuff at duty free. I'd much prefer just to sit in my pod. On the plus side, have found the Qantas entertainment better than I first thought. Watched Source Code. Meh. Not so forthcoming with the booze as Gervaise on the Colorado to LHR flight earlier in the year. Maybe a good thing, maybe not. About 5 body time and have smacked self with melatonin and stugeron. Hello (hopefully) oblivion...
Somewhere over central Asia, unable to sleep
So much for drugs...
Singapore
A couple of hours in the transit lounge, aircon unable to fully exclude the 100% humidity. Tipping down with rain. Had to go through security again, but quickly back aboard the A380 and another glass of champagne yay! Stewardesses are now Aussie.
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