Poda Island Paradise - Jealous?
Jo on her hog...
Team Thailand...
25 January 2007
Pho-toes
Joey taking in the scenery... Awesome!!! - Lae Phra Nang, Krabi.
Poda Island Paradise - Jealous?
Jo on her hog...
Team Thailand...
Poda Island Paradise - Jealous?
Jo on her hog...
Team Thailand...
Tie-Land
We're not exactly the first visitors to this place. We're not the first people to say this, and we're not saying anything new. But it has to be said. Thailand is a top top country. I know we've only been here a few days, but from the invasion of all your senses when you arrive in Bangkok to the easy going life in the north, it's extremely likeable. We're on a plane now, heading down to the andaman coast for some R&R but we're already wishing we could have spent more time in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Still, 2 weeks on beautiful Thai beaches can't be bad. Now then, where's that bride I ordered?
16th
Landed in Singapore at 3am. Found a quiet little corner to try and sleep, Joey on a reclining chair and me on the floor, and dozed off and on for a couple of hours. Not the finest sleep! Eventually arrived in Bangkok at about 12 midday following the (previously mentioned) hideous journey... Exhausted, but given some sort of adrenaline boost by Bangkok itself. Every inch of pavement space is given over to stalls of some sort. Food is everywhere. The smell of food is everywhere. Unfortunately so too is the smell of sewage. And then there's the most appalling traffic. And smog. Motorbikes, taxis, cars and tuk-tuks. And people. It's overwhelming but so inoffensive that you can't help but like it. Everyone's smiling and friendly. Fortunately we had a quiet escape in our hotel. They upgraded us for some reason which included a free mini-bar. Cool. Add that to the free hotel bar and free bar snacks, it's amazing that we even left the hotel.
Since we've been away we've met up with relatives and friends around the world which has generally made the whole thing easier for Joey. Could you spend 24 hours a day with me for six months? The previous day our mates kingsley and anne-louise had jetted out to Thailand for a months travelling and it was no understatement to say that we were looking forward to seeing them. They very kindly came and met us at our hotel (lured by the free beer no doubt). Good to catch up with fellow brightonians and hear how cold and gloomy it was back there. We also revelled a little too much in their pastiness. Me and wifey have a bit of colour. Well, I have sporadic sun-burn and my Thai bride has enough tan for two.
The kinkster (kingsley) suggested an evening of culture Thai style. Also known as muy thai, thai boxing makes for a fair spectator sport with a couple of thousand locals cheering on every kick, punch and knee to the ribs. Good fun.
17th
Sightseeing recipe for success:
° 1 short journey on the Skytrain to the central pier.
° 2 boat journeys. Add 1 boat journey now, up the river to pier 8 and put the second aside (we'll need that later).
° A sprinkle of the historic Wat Pho (the main temple includes the huge gold reclining Buddha) for texture.
° Garnish with a trip to the Grand Palace and in particular the Emerald Buddha. It's very important at this point to ensure all legs and arms are covered up as a mark of respect and not to point your feet at the big guy. Due to my shorts I had to borrow a ridiculous pair of bright blue "fisherman's-pants". Almost ruined this recipe.
° Now add the boat journey back to central pier that we put aside earlier and mix well. Hmm, tasty!
Of course, no meal is complete without dessert. In the evening Annie-Lou, Kinky, Joey and I went to an Indian restaurant called "Mrs Balbirs". She's a TV chef in south east Asia and was in the restaurant when we had dinner. As English, she respected our curry appreciation skills and joined us for a chat and a few photos... I can't go anywhere these days. I forgot to mention that to get to the wild-ones hotel (Kingsley's surname is wildman), Mrs. H and I took our first Tuk-Tuk. A three wheel motorbike/death trap with fearless drivers swerving through the traffic and accelerating and braking sharper than most F1 cars. The fare was only about 40 baht, but the laundry costs on our undies could reach twice to three times again...
18th
Unfortunately, due to our delayed flight from Oz we lost a day in Bangkok, meaning that after only one full day there, we were off again. This time to the mountainous North of the country. Chiang Mai is a provincial capital and once housed the Emerald Buddha (he's the big daddy of them all). We had a good stroll around after some extended lunch with Anne-Louise and Kinko (they were spending a few days before they went trekking into Laos). We went to the dodgiest dinner place ever, but at 45baht for pad Thai (apx 60p), it was not to be sniffed at.
19th
A stroke of genius on the males' part meant that whilst Joey and annie-lou browsed tat jewellery, kings and I went motorbike hunting. Unfortunately, nobody could provide us with suitable bikes without us giving them our passports. Damn these reputable companies! So, we spent the rest of the day doing the tourist thing and looking at the Wats. Wat, wat, wat! They ranged from 800 to 1300 years old and were very impressive. Wat Phra Sing and Wat Chiang man. Most of these old temples have practical use. Some are schools and colleges others have people living there.
In the evening Joey stumbled on the five star Chedi Hotel near our guest house where we stopped by for dinner and cocktails. A stunning location by the river with only candlelights... After that, a trip to the slightly too touristy Night market...
20th
Cookery course. What an excellent day. We went to the Chiang Mai Thai cookery school run by none other than, yes, you guessed it, tv celeb chef Somphon Nabnian. Of course, Somphon being the big name that he is, he wasn't around. But our teachers Oh and Mee were more than capable. We started with a prawn soup. Mine was nothing short of foul. Joey's still vegetarian and so her's was tofu based and a little bland. Kings & A-L seemed satisfied with their efforts. Next up fish cakes. Here I outdid myself. I was particularly pleased with the outcome. They were damn good. Again, Joey had tofu cakes (can you see a theme?) Next course, Green Curry. And surprisingly tasty. And served with pad Thai which also worked well. By this point Joey actually resembled and smelt a bit like tofu... We were starting to get really full by this point but just managed to hold out and polish the chicken salad and sweet water chestnut dessert.
The whole day was excellent fun, and if anyone is interested in being catered for let us know. We also do weddings and funerals. As long as you like tofu.
21st
Early start to the day. Our car was delivered to our accommodation early doors and it was time for our biggest ever challenge: driving in Thailand. When driving there is only one rule: there are no rules! Speed limits, stop signs and traffic lights are just there for decoration. The line in the middle of the road and one way signs only apply to farang drivers like us! So, it's fair to say we were a little hesitant, especially knowing that the national Thai Elephant Foundation and Hospital was a 100km round trip. It turned out to be quite good fun. It's probably safer being a road user rather than a pedestrian, and the rule that the largest vehicle has right of way meant that all the motorbikes move out of your way. Cool.
The elephant sanctuary was a bit weird. Most of the elephants used to work for the (now illegal) logging industry. If it weren't for these sanctuaries they'd all die. Therefore they're all re-trained to amuse the public and give rides. Ethically, you know it's not exactly as nature intended, but without it they'd be long wiped out. And with this thought in mind we paid to have a short elephant ride, paid for the show and bought loads of bananas and sugar cane to feed them. We helped them earn their living. Interestingly, after 3pm each day, the elephants are free to roam the huge park where they eat, relax, chat etc. So there work is only really part-time... Anyway it was a good day out and we got close to loads of these beautiful creatures. Jo thinks that I'd make a good elephant and spent the rest of the day asking if I'd enjoyed being back with my own kind. Isn't she funny...
16th
Landed in Singapore at 3am. Found a quiet little corner to try and sleep, Joey on a reclining chair and me on the floor, and dozed off and on for a couple of hours. Not the finest sleep! Eventually arrived in Bangkok at about 12 midday following the (previously mentioned) hideous journey... Exhausted, but given some sort of adrenaline boost by Bangkok itself. Every inch of pavement space is given over to stalls of some sort. Food is everywhere. The smell of food is everywhere. Unfortunately so too is the smell of sewage. And then there's the most appalling traffic. And smog. Motorbikes, taxis, cars and tuk-tuks. And people. It's overwhelming but so inoffensive that you can't help but like it. Everyone's smiling and friendly. Fortunately we had a quiet escape in our hotel. They upgraded us for some reason which included a free mini-bar. Cool. Add that to the free hotel bar and free bar snacks, it's amazing that we even left the hotel.
Since we've been away we've met up with relatives and friends around the world which has generally made the whole thing easier for Joey. Could you spend 24 hours a day with me for six months? The previous day our mates kingsley and anne-louise had jetted out to Thailand for a months travelling and it was no understatement to say that we were looking forward to seeing them. They very kindly came and met us at our hotel (lured by the free beer no doubt). Good to catch up with fellow brightonians and hear how cold and gloomy it was back there. We also revelled a little too much in their pastiness. Me and wifey have a bit of colour. Well, I have sporadic sun-burn and my Thai bride has enough tan for two.
The kinkster (kingsley) suggested an evening of culture Thai style. Also known as muy thai, thai boxing makes for a fair spectator sport with a couple of thousand locals cheering on every kick, punch and knee to the ribs. Good fun.
17th
Sightseeing recipe for success:
° 1 short journey on the Skytrain to the central pier.
° 2 boat journeys. Add 1 boat journey now, up the river to pier 8 and put the second aside (we'll need that later).
° A sprinkle of the historic Wat Pho (the main temple includes the huge gold reclining Buddha) for texture.
° Garnish with a trip to the Grand Palace and in particular the Emerald Buddha. It's very important at this point to ensure all legs and arms are covered up as a mark of respect and not to point your feet at the big guy. Due to my shorts I had to borrow a ridiculous pair of bright blue "fisherman's-pants". Almost ruined this recipe.
° Now add the boat journey back to central pier that we put aside earlier and mix well. Hmm, tasty!
Of course, no meal is complete without dessert. In the evening Annie-Lou, Kinky, Joey and I went to an Indian restaurant called "Mrs Balbirs". She's a TV chef in south east Asia and was in the restaurant when we had dinner. As English, she respected our curry appreciation skills and joined us for a chat and a few photos... I can't go anywhere these days. I forgot to mention that to get to the wild-ones hotel (Kingsley's surname is wildman), Mrs. H and I took our first Tuk-Tuk. A three wheel motorbike/death trap with fearless drivers swerving through the traffic and accelerating and braking sharper than most F1 cars. The fare was only about 40 baht, but the laundry costs on our undies could reach twice to three times again...
18th
Unfortunately, due to our delayed flight from Oz we lost a day in Bangkok, meaning that after only one full day there, we were off again. This time to the mountainous North of the country. Chiang Mai is a provincial capital and once housed the Emerald Buddha (he's the big daddy of them all). We had a good stroll around after some extended lunch with Anne-Louise and Kinko (they were spending a few days before they went trekking into Laos). We went to the dodgiest dinner place ever, but at 45baht for pad Thai (apx 60p), it was not to be sniffed at.
19th
A stroke of genius on the males' part meant that whilst Joey and annie-lou browsed tat jewellery, kings and I went motorbike hunting. Unfortunately, nobody could provide us with suitable bikes without us giving them our passports. Damn these reputable companies! So, we spent the rest of the day doing the tourist thing and looking at the Wats. Wat, wat, wat! They ranged from 800 to 1300 years old and were very impressive. Wat Phra Sing and Wat Chiang man. Most of these old temples have practical use. Some are schools and colleges others have people living there.
In the evening Joey stumbled on the five star Chedi Hotel near our guest house where we stopped by for dinner and cocktails. A stunning location by the river with only candlelights... After that, a trip to the slightly too touristy Night market...
20th
Cookery course. What an excellent day. We went to the Chiang Mai Thai cookery school run by none other than, yes, you guessed it, tv celeb chef Somphon Nabnian. Of course, Somphon being the big name that he is, he wasn't around. But our teachers Oh and Mee were more than capable. We started with a prawn soup. Mine was nothing short of foul. Joey's still vegetarian and so her's was tofu based and a little bland. Kings & A-L seemed satisfied with their efforts. Next up fish cakes. Here I outdid myself. I was particularly pleased with the outcome. They were damn good. Again, Joey had tofu cakes (can you see a theme?) Next course, Green Curry. And surprisingly tasty. And served with pad Thai which also worked well. By this point Joey actually resembled and smelt a bit like tofu... We were starting to get really full by this point but just managed to hold out and polish the chicken salad and sweet water chestnut dessert.
The whole day was excellent fun, and if anyone is interested in being catered for let us know. We also do weddings and funerals. As long as you like tofu.
21st
Early start to the day. Our car was delivered to our accommodation early doors and it was time for our biggest ever challenge: driving in Thailand. When driving there is only one rule: there are no rules! Speed limits, stop signs and traffic lights are just there for decoration. The line in the middle of the road and one way signs only apply to farang drivers like us! So, it's fair to say we were a little hesitant, especially knowing that the national Thai Elephant Foundation and Hospital was a 100km round trip. It turned out to be quite good fun. It's probably safer being a road user rather than a pedestrian, and the rule that the largest vehicle has right of way meant that all the motorbikes move out of your way. Cool.
The elephant sanctuary was a bit weird. Most of the elephants used to work for the (now illegal) logging industry. If it weren't for these sanctuaries they'd all die. Therefore they're all re-trained to amuse the public and give rides. Ethically, you know it's not exactly as nature intended, but without it they'd be long wiped out. And with this thought in mind we paid to have a short elephant ride, paid for the show and bought loads of bananas and sugar cane to feed them. We helped them earn their living. Interestingly, after 3pm each day, the elephants are free to roam the huge park where they eat, relax, chat etc. So there work is only really part-time... Anyway it was a good day out and we got close to loads of these beautiful creatures. Jo thinks that I'd make a good elephant and spent the rest of the day asking if I'd enjoyed being back with my own kind. Isn't she funny...
21 January 2007
Travelling Thai Style! (yeah baby!)
Reflexology with Kinko and Annie Lou in Chiang Mai (North Thailand)
The lovely foot ladies wouldn't touch Mattie's wart feet!
Bangkok Baby!
Bangkok - a city full of life (and smog!)
The girls loving it in Chiang Mai
Oooh wouldn't you just kill for a Thai green curry (delicious) ??
The lovely foot ladies wouldn't touch Mattie's wart feet!
Bangkok Baby!
Bangkok - a city full of life (and smog!)
The girls loving it in Chiang Mai
Oooh wouldn't you just kill for a Thai green curry (delicious) ??
tie me kangaroo down sport, tie me kangaroo down..
Here's a rough transcript of today's events:
° Got up at 7am.
° In a cab at 8:15 to the airport!
° 9am check-in for flight at 10:50.
° At 10:30 we get an announcement that the plane is broke.
° 2 hour delay.
° At 12:30 the plane is not fixed nor going to be. There's more chance of me going on a low-carb diet than them getting SQ238 off the ground.
° Flight is re-scheduled to 10pm.
° No it isn't, it'll be fixed in 5 minutes. Actually, I can see the airplane mechanic from the window. He has a white face with a big squidgy red nose and giant feet. Looks like he's got a flower that squirts water at the pilot too.
° Oh no, the plane won't be fixed. 10pm again. I was right, the mechanic is clearly a clown.
° 2pm and we're given a room in the hotel over the road. Well done singapore air. This isn't so bad. Hilton. I can see why Paris H does okay. Includes lunch and dinner. A buffet! That's where I get my compensation...
° 8pm back to the airport. Flight due at 10pm still. Gets in at singapore at 3am and our flight to bangkok leaves at 8:45am. Great. The couple at the check-in desk next to us are losing their rag. No, they've lost it. Like a scene from the docu-soap airport. Tools. We should get another hotel at singapore airport. If not they've got a swimming pool and free internet. Could be worse. I could be married to psycho-wozza in the next line...
We lose a day in bangkok, but i've caned two buffets, and we lounged around watching mtv for six hours. Every cloud has a silver lining.
And for the last week......
8th january
Drove the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Apollo Bay, back to Portarlington. The road was built after WWII to create jobs for returning soldiers. It was built as a tourism attraction to rival California's Pacific Coast Highway. It is very scenic, nice small towns, great surf beaches, wildlife... Lots of wildlife. The Koalas are just sleeping in the trees above the road. Excellent. And we finally saw some (non-dead) 'Roos. And an Echidna. A bit like a hedgehog. We were very pleased with our wildlife spotting!
9th
Woke up to the smell of smoke. Bush fire! We're all going to die! Help, help. At this point, Joey told me to shut up and pointed out that the smoke was from a fire some 250km along the coast, that a change in the wind from a Southerly to Easterly, had brought our way... Quite weird. The sky remained very hazy and quite dark, and the smell made everything smoky...
We drove further up the bellarine peninsula so that we could catch up with Sally (a girl joey used to work with who's back in oz). Over to Joey: spent the day in Ballerine with my friend Sally, her Dad and new baby Harrison...lovely lunch (thanks Sal) and much fun baby cuddling. Really nice to see Sally and catch up on all the news...top day!
Back up to melbourne.
10th
Time to give the van back. Despite the relief of moving out of the van (3 months in total) we were a bit sad to give it back. This country's so damn big, you feel like you've just scratched the surface and want to carry on round to Adelaide and Perth. One hour later we've checked in to the relative luxury of the newly decorated holiday inn melbourne (an absoloute steal) and all van sadness is totally forgotten...
Melbourne is supposedly the most english part of australia. Known for it's food and culture. Culture? Australia? Surely some mistake? Maybe it's a bit early for us to judge, but at first glance it looks okay... Spent the afternoon orientating our good selves (which translates to me looking at interesting old buildings and Jo looking at shoes). Back to the hotel where phil and fiona met us for a food court dinner, a few hands of blackjack and the cinema. The Holiday. Have you seen it? Diaz, Winslett, Black and some other bloke. If you're a Shiela, it's okay. Otherwise, not so hot. I think joey was dehydrated by the end of it... Must have been all that crying.
11th
After all the time in the van, we felt it time to get vain. Which of course for me equates to a £5 haircut. For joey it was hair, feet, eyebrows etc etc. With time on my hands I did what I do best; hit the foodcourts. They say that Melbourne's not in the seeing or doing. More just relaxing, eating, drinking, and taking it all in. Worked for me.
Had dinner cooked for us in the evening by the luton-travellers. Spag bol. Just like home!
12th
Dossed around in the morning. Then planned on some more cricket misery. Eng v Aus one day (Day/night) at the MCG. What can I say. It's an incredible ground. 100,000 seats 80,000 of them full. And it was rowdy! The MCG is to the SCG what The Oval is to Lords. More of a people's ground. We met up with mike stephenson who I used to work with at Amex. He's emigrated to Melbourne with his family. We had a few beers whilst watching england get battered again (despite KP's and Freddie's efforts)...
13th
General shopping and strolling. Went to the shopping mecca of Chapel street. I think Jo was in some kind of comatosed state as she went from shop to shop on autopilot. We also saw some parks and the state museum which had an excellent display on trainers/sneakers. All the history and influences. Pretty cool.
14th
Last full day down under. How would you spend it? Probably want to do something typically Australian? Beach? BBQ? 'roo watching? Maybe some sport? No. A Neighbours tour. Infact the official Neighbours tour. Now if there's an official tour, there must be unofficial tours too. I didn't realise neighbours was such a big deal. Anyway, we were booked in for the 1:45 tour. Or so we thought. Got there at 1:30 and guess what? They didn't have our booking and the tour was full. Cue dissapointment from Mrs. H and relief for me. Some free souvenirs and tat certainly eased the pain. There was another couple who had been hanging around for about four hours waiting for a cancellation (they hadn't booked though). It was their last day and they were flying later. The tour office offered us directions to get there ourselves via taxi. AU$50 each way. The other couple asked us if we wanted to split a cab to see Ramsey Street as they only had $25 left. Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that we would have had to foot the cab bill back. Also, whilst the tour would have been enlightening/bearable (joey's/my perspective), a quick look up Ramsey Street would be as much fun as removing your own wisdom teeth. So we told the other couple we'd give it a miss. The reaction was priceless. I believe it would be described as "stropping off in a huff". She turned on a six-pence and steamed off down the street leaving her bloke red faced. Like we'd ruined her holiday. If she was that bothered, she'd have had the sense to book it, or got some more cash from an ATM. How we laughed as she sped down the street with steam coming out of her ears... Tool.
We got over it quickly. A couple of shandies, some grub and a return to the cinema. "The pursuit of happyness" (as opposed to happiness). Watchable, but a bit slow.
15th
I think I've mentioned enough at the top.
° Got up at 7am.
° In a cab at 8:15 to the airport!
° 9am check-in for flight at 10:50.
° At 10:30 we get an announcement that the plane is broke.
° 2 hour delay.
° At 12:30 the plane is not fixed nor going to be. There's more chance of me going on a low-carb diet than them getting SQ238 off the ground.
° Flight is re-scheduled to 10pm.
° No it isn't, it'll be fixed in 5 minutes. Actually, I can see the airplane mechanic from the window. He has a white face with a big squidgy red nose and giant feet. Looks like he's got a flower that squirts water at the pilot too.
° Oh no, the plane won't be fixed. 10pm again. I was right, the mechanic is clearly a clown.
° 2pm and we're given a room in the hotel over the road. Well done singapore air. This isn't so bad. Hilton. I can see why Paris H does okay. Includes lunch and dinner. A buffet! That's where I get my compensation...
° 8pm back to the airport. Flight due at 10pm still. Gets in at singapore at 3am and our flight to bangkok leaves at 8:45am. Great. The couple at the check-in desk next to us are losing their rag. No, they've lost it. Like a scene from the docu-soap airport. Tools. We should get another hotel at singapore airport. If not they've got a swimming pool and free internet. Could be worse. I could be married to psycho-wozza in the next line...
We lose a day in bangkok, but i've caned two buffets, and we lounged around watching mtv for six hours. Every cloud has a silver lining.
And for the last week......
8th january
Drove the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Apollo Bay, back to Portarlington. The road was built after WWII to create jobs for returning soldiers. It was built as a tourism attraction to rival California's Pacific Coast Highway. It is very scenic, nice small towns, great surf beaches, wildlife... Lots of wildlife. The Koalas are just sleeping in the trees above the road. Excellent. And we finally saw some (non-dead) 'Roos. And an Echidna. A bit like a hedgehog. We were very pleased with our wildlife spotting!
9th
Woke up to the smell of smoke. Bush fire! We're all going to die! Help, help. At this point, Joey told me to shut up and pointed out that the smoke was from a fire some 250km along the coast, that a change in the wind from a Southerly to Easterly, had brought our way... Quite weird. The sky remained very hazy and quite dark, and the smell made everything smoky...
We drove further up the bellarine peninsula so that we could catch up with Sally (a girl joey used to work with who's back in oz). Over to Joey: spent the day in Ballerine with my friend Sally, her Dad and new baby Harrison...lovely lunch (thanks Sal) and much fun baby cuddling. Really nice to see Sally and catch up on all the news...top day!
Back up to melbourne.
10th
Time to give the van back. Despite the relief of moving out of the van (3 months in total) we were a bit sad to give it back. This country's so damn big, you feel like you've just scratched the surface and want to carry on round to Adelaide and Perth. One hour later we've checked in to the relative luxury of the newly decorated holiday inn melbourne (an absoloute steal) and all van sadness is totally forgotten...
Melbourne is supposedly the most english part of australia. Known for it's food and culture. Culture? Australia? Surely some mistake? Maybe it's a bit early for us to judge, but at first glance it looks okay... Spent the afternoon orientating our good selves (which translates to me looking at interesting old buildings and Jo looking at shoes). Back to the hotel where phil and fiona met us for a food court dinner, a few hands of blackjack and the cinema. The Holiday. Have you seen it? Diaz, Winslett, Black and some other bloke. If you're a Shiela, it's okay. Otherwise, not so hot. I think joey was dehydrated by the end of it... Must have been all that crying.
11th
After all the time in the van, we felt it time to get vain. Which of course for me equates to a £5 haircut. For joey it was hair, feet, eyebrows etc etc. With time on my hands I did what I do best; hit the foodcourts. They say that Melbourne's not in the seeing or doing. More just relaxing, eating, drinking, and taking it all in. Worked for me.
Had dinner cooked for us in the evening by the luton-travellers. Spag bol. Just like home!
12th
Dossed around in the morning. Then planned on some more cricket misery. Eng v Aus one day (Day/night) at the MCG. What can I say. It's an incredible ground. 100,000 seats 80,000 of them full. And it was rowdy! The MCG is to the SCG what The Oval is to Lords. More of a people's ground. We met up with mike stephenson who I used to work with at Amex. He's emigrated to Melbourne with his family. We had a few beers whilst watching england get battered again (despite KP's and Freddie's efforts)...
13th
General shopping and strolling. Went to the shopping mecca of Chapel street. I think Jo was in some kind of comatosed state as she went from shop to shop on autopilot. We also saw some parks and the state museum which had an excellent display on trainers/sneakers. All the history and influences. Pretty cool.
14th
Last full day down under. How would you spend it? Probably want to do something typically Australian? Beach? BBQ? 'roo watching? Maybe some sport? No. A Neighbours tour. Infact the official Neighbours tour. Now if there's an official tour, there must be unofficial tours too. I didn't realise neighbours was such a big deal. Anyway, we were booked in for the 1:45 tour. Or so we thought. Got there at 1:30 and guess what? They didn't have our booking and the tour was full. Cue dissapointment from Mrs. H and relief for me. Some free souvenirs and tat certainly eased the pain. There was another couple who had been hanging around for about four hours waiting for a cancellation (they hadn't booked though). It was their last day and they were flying later. The tour office offered us directions to get there ourselves via taxi. AU$50 each way. The other couple asked us if we wanted to split a cab to see Ramsey Street as they only had $25 left. Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that we would have had to foot the cab bill back. Also, whilst the tour would have been enlightening/bearable (joey's/my perspective), a quick look up Ramsey Street would be as much fun as removing your own wisdom teeth. So we told the other couple we'd give it a miss. The reaction was priceless. I believe it would be described as "stropping off in a huff". She turned on a six-pence and steamed off down the street leaving her bloke red faced. Like we'd ruined her holiday. If she was that bothered, she'd have had the sense to book it, or got some more cash from an ATM. How we laughed as she sped down the street with steam coming out of her ears... Tool.
We got over it quickly. A couple of shandies, some grub and a return to the cinema. "The pursuit of happyness" (as opposed to happiness). Watchable, but a bit slow.
15th
I think I've mentioned enough at the top.
14 January 2007
so much to do and so little time...
Haven't done this for a while. Updating the blog whilst Joey's driving. Today we're covering over 650km from Canberra to Melbourne. This is the longest drive we've done for a while. It's not too bad as the roads here are generally pretty good. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the drivers. The male drivers. Cars here aren't just unleaded, they're testosterone fuelled too. Perhaps the drivers here are reflective of the country's general attitude, but we campervans get a raw deal. On a daily basis we get cut up and near rammed off the road. If we try to overtake someone, then they speed up (the pride won't allow being overtaken by a campervan), so we pull back in and then they slow down again. The male aussie pride is scary. And you should see the looks we get when they see a shiela behind the wheel when there's a perfectly good bloke in the passenger seat.
Anyway, rant over with, where have we been...
29th December (Wozza)
Let the birthday commence! Today Matt surprised me by checking out of the campsite and checking into the Hyatt hotel on Sydneys glamourous Rocks....it was amazing. We're talking views of the Opera house about 100m from the bedroom window, marble bathroom, rooftop pool with the harbour bridge looming over the top....as you know, i'm not one to boast but the boy done good! The champagne was on ice (thank you lovely Ali) as we entered the room and the birthday was in full swing.....
The Evening began by discarding the Tie Dye Teashirt, bongos and Thai fishermans trousers in favour of the new birthday Sass and Bide jeans for a night out on the town. The evening began with a delightful meal in the Sydney institution that is Doyles fish restaurant followed by drinks in Darling Harbour with Phill and Fiona (friends from NZ). The evening was completed with a selection of cocktails, Karaoke (me, matt and phill - a dazzling rendition of "papa don't preach"!) and a few rounds of black jack at the casino......all in all an excellent night, didn't get to bed till 3am which isn't to bad for an (almost) 30 year old! The egyptian cotton sheets at the Hyatt were also far more preferable than the somewhat musty (well we have been away 4.5 months) and torn (Matt has got a long toe nail!-only joking) sleeping bags!
30th December
What a lovely day......thank you for my surprise birthday cards, it was so lovely to read everyones messages...
Breakfast in bed looking at the opera house, birthday phonecalls, balloons and flowers delivered to the room...what a lucky girl I am.
Spent the day mooching round the Rocks and relaxing by the rooftop pool, bliss. The evening was spent with a surprise trip to "Bills" restaurant. Bill Granger is the Aussie equivalent to Jamie Oliver and does the meanest passionfruit pavlova ever, I was fit to burst! The birthday was brilliant.....
31st December (Matt)
Unfortunately we had to check out of the birthday hotel. We packed our bags and asked the concierge to get our van. What a site. On the hotel concourse was a charcoal Porsche 911, followed by a blacked out mercedes, followed by a 1993 toyota hiace campervan. What a sight! Then we saw the owner of the first two cars - some bloke called Sir Richard Branson. I've never heard of him but joey later told me that he's the founder of branston pickle. Who'd have thought there'd be that much money in pickle? So, we said hello. Posed for a couple of photos with him (I don't usually allow photos with joe public, but he was very insistent). Then we hopped in the van and cruised off. I think the highlight of the meeting (and for him i'm sure the whole experience was a highlight) was when I shook his hand and as jo went to shake his hand, he went in for the kiss!!! He very sharply backed away and put his hand out. The sly old dog! I think Wozza is going to sell her story to the News Of The World: "Married woman gives Branson the elbow". Or how about "Branson pickled". I should be a pun writer.
Anyway, down to earth with a bump as we were back in the Lane Cove Tourist Park. Not the 5 star pampering we had become accustomed too.
Then it was time for the grandaddy of all new years celebrations - fireworks in Sydney harbour. We got the bus in to town and watched from just below the bridge. Very very impressive I can tell you! 15 minutes of awesome whizzbangs and the like. Good atmosphere, good organisation, good night out. It was also the 75th anniversary of the bridge, so the fireworks were especially large! We were home by 2am using public transport. I can't imagine it being that well organised back home...
1st January
Got out of bed late. Lounged around all day and did bugger all - probably for the first time since we've been away. In the evening however we went on a wildlife walk with one of the park rangers (our campsite was in a national park). We saw a ringtail possum, brushtail possums, rabbits, various birds. All very impressive.
2nd January
One of Sydney's central beach suburbs is called Manly. When Cap'n Cook sailed past the cove just north of the entrance to Sydney harbour, he noticed that the "natives" were manly in appearance. Cook would turn in his grave if he saw the current state of the area's natives. It's nearly all tourists and backpackers. Most of them quite scrawny. Perhaps it should be renamed? After an hour or so trying to find somewhere to park (cue arguing and bickering) we ambled around the town. Pleasant enough with a top beach. But the main reason for coming here is to get the cross harbour manly ferry - the best way to see Sydney harbour. So we got the ferry to Sydeny circular quay. 30 minutes of surprisingly rough motoring. It does give great views though. Whilst in the city we took in the botanic gardens before popping back on the ferry. A nice day out
3rd January
Today something strange happened. Joey learnt cricket songs, and she won't stop singing them. In particular "monty, give us a wave, monty monty give us a wave" and (to the tune of yellow submarine) "you all live in a convict colony". Why? Because we spent the day with the barmy army at the SCG. 5th test day 2. Delicately poised. England were something like 230-4 with flintoff looking good on about 60. By lunch? 289 all out. Oh well. I think we know the rest of the story. Still, we had a great day out. We drunk and sung and engaged in light banter with the locals - though most of the banter was convict related. More importantly, joey has broken her england duck. Howzat!
4th january
Sydney. Home to the 2000 Olympics. So why not stay in the Olympic village? Good to see a different part of the city too. What better thing to do than try to set our own Olympic record? 100m sprint? Too easy. Marathon? Too time consuming. Gymnastics? Lycra's too embarassing. These events are for mere mortals. How about something a little more extreme? 3 full loads of laundry washed and dried in 1:58:27.53 - a new world record. Alright. I was so proud and honoured to be part of something so special. Just as the flag was being raised and the national anthem blared around the stadium in front of 75,000 people the news we feared most came through. Joey failed a drugs test. Again. I guess it explains why her biceps are now bigger than my thighs. And her gruff voice. And hairy back.
A few more wickets tumble down the road at the SCG.
5th january
Day 4 - SCG. This time it's personal. Overnight england were struggling with a 15 run lead and only four down (KP + monty at the crease). So we thought we'd make a real effort to cheer on our finest. We both had flags as capes. I bought a cheap red + white polo shirt. Wozza bought some red short/top combo. And we had face paints. We rocked. And we got amusing looks on the train into town. Unfortunately the day's play started 20 minutes early and KP had thrown his wicket early doors. There was then very little to celebrate as we finished with a 50 run lead and the convicts had an easy run chase. At least the barmy army amused everyone with renditions of "livin on a prayer" and "the final countdown"... We sat through the presentations but then left when the gloating got too much. Arrogant bunch.
In the afternoon we collected our passports after they'd been couriered to the Chinese embassy for visas. They look very cool. We can't believe we've been away so long and still have so much great stuff to do...
6th january.
350km to Canberra. Capital of Australia. It's about 150km inland. The area round there is like plains and quite beautiful. Like how you think the plains in Africa would be. And as beautiful as it is, you've got to wonder why the capital would be in the hot humid muggy inland region when the coast is so beautiful. Apparently 80 years ago when they became their own entity neither Sydney nor Melbourne would accept the other city as capital, and so they started from scratch and Canberra was born. The federal buildings are all newish and not that fascinating. The most interesting place was the aboriginal tent embassy outside the old parliament building. It's little more than a tin shack but is permanently manned by some tented aboriginals who are available for political chat and debate. The embassy has been there for 30 odd years, but unfortunately the old parliament building is now a national gallery with the new parliament now about a km away, reducing it's impact. Very interesting.
Other than that, canberra is a bit tame...
7th January
Drove to melbourne all day and just stopped to kip before we go onward to the great ocean road...
Anyway, rant over with, where have we been...
29th December (Wozza)
Let the birthday commence! Today Matt surprised me by checking out of the campsite and checking into the Hyatt hotel on Sydneys glamourous Rocks....it was amazing. We're talking views of the Opera house about 100m from the bedroom window, marble bathroom, rooftop pool with the harbour bridge looming over the top....as you know, i'm not one to boast but the boy done good! The champagne was on ice (thank you lovely Ali) as we entered the room and the birthday was in full swing.....
The Evening began by discarding the Tie Dye Teashirt, bongos and Thai fishermans trousers in favour of the new birthday Sass and Bide jeans for a night out on the town. The evening began with a delightful meal in the Sydney institution that is Doyles fish restaurant followed by drinks in Darling Harbour with Phill and Fiona (friends from NZ). The evening was completed with a selection of cocktails, Karaoke (me, matt and phill - a dazzling rendition of "papa don't preach"!) and a few rounds of black jack at the casino......all in all an excellent night, didn't get to bed till 3am which isn't to bad for an (almost) 30 year old! The egyptian cotton sheets at the Hyatt were also far more preferable than the somewhat musty (well we have been away 4.5 months) and torn (Matt has got a long toe nail!-only joking) sleeping bags!
30th December
What a lovely day......thank you for my surprise birthday cards, it was so lovely to read everyones messages...
Breakfast in bed looking at the opera house, birthday phonecalls, balloons and flowers delivered to the room...what a lucky girl I am.
Spent the day mooching round the Rocks and relaxing by the rooftop pool, bliss. The evening was spent with a surprise trip to "Bills" restaurant. Bill Granger is the Aussie equivalent to Jamie Oliver and does the meanest passionfruit pavlova ever, I was fit to burst! The birthday was brilliant.....
31st December (Matt)
Unfortunately we had to check out of the birthday hotel. We packed our bags and asked the concierge to get our van. What a site. On the hotel concourse was a charcoal Porsche 911, followed by a blacked out mercedes, followed by a 1993 toyota hiace campervan. What a sight! Then we saw the owner of the first two cars - some bloke called Sir Richard Branson. I've never heard of him but joey later told me that he's the founder of branston pickle. Who'd have thought there'd be that much money in pickle? So, we said hello. Posed for a couple of photos with him (I don't usually allow photos with joe public, but he was very insistent). Then we hopped in the van and cruised off. I think the highlight of the meeting (and for him i'm sure the whole experience was a highlight) was when I shook his hand and as jo went to shake his hand, he went in for the kiss!!! He very sharply backed away and put his hand out. The sly old dog! I think Wozza is going to sell her story to the News Of The World: "Married woman gives Branson the elbow". Or how about "Branson pickled". I should be a pun writer.
Anyway, down to earth with a bump as we were back in the Lane Cove Tourist Park. Not the 5 star pampering we had become accustomed too.
Then it was time for the grandaddy of all new years celebrations - fireworks in Sydney harbour. We got the bus in to town and watched from just below the bridge. Very very impressive I can tell you! 15 minutes of awesome whizzbangs and the like. Good atmosphere, good organisation, good night out. It was also the 75th anniversary of the bridge, so the fireworks were especially large! We were home by 2am using public transport. I can't imagine it being that well organised back home...
1st January
Got out of bed late. Lounged around all day and did bugger all - probably for the first time since we've been away. In the evening however we went on a wildlife walk with one of the park rangers (our campsite was in a national park). We saw a ringtail possum, brushtail possums, rabbits, various birds. All very impressive.
2nd January
One of Sydney's central beach suburbs is called Manly. When Cap'n Cook sailed past the cove just north of the entrance to Sydney harbour, he noticed that the "natives" were manly in appearance. Cook would turn in his grave if he saw the current state of the area's natives. It's nearly all tourists and backpackers. Most of them quite scrawny. Perhaps it should be renamed? After an hour or so trying to find somewhere to park (cue arguing and bickering) we ambled around the town. Pleasant enough with a top beach. But the main reason for coming here is to get the cross harbour manly ferry - the best way to see Sydney harbour. So we got the ferry to Sydeny circular quay. 30 minutes of surprisingly rough motoring. It does give great views though. Whilst in the city we took in the botanic gardens before popping back on the ferry. A nice day out
3rd January
Today something strange happened. Joey learnt cricket songs, and she won't stop singing them. In particular "monty, give us a wave, monty monty give us a wave" and (to the tune of yellow submarine) "you all live in a convict colony". Why? Because we spent the day with the barmy army at the SCG. 5th test day 2. Delicately poised. England were something like 230-4 with flintoff looking good on about 60. By lunch? 289 all out. Oh well. I think we know the rest of the story. Still, we had a great day out. We drunk and sung and engaged in light banter with the locals - though most of the banter was convict related. More importantly, joey has broken her england duck. Howzat!
4th january
Sydney. Home to the 2000 Olympics. So why not stay in the Olympic village? Good to see a different part of the city too. What better thing to do than try to set our own Olympic record? 100m sprint? Too easy. Marathon? Too time consuming. Gymnastics? Lycra's too embarassing. These events are for mere mortals. How about something a little more extreme? 3 full loads of laundry washed and dried in 1:58:27.53 - a new world record. Alright. I was so proud and honoured to be part of something so special. Just as the flag was being raised and the national anthem blared around the stadium in front of 75,000 people the news we feared most came through. Joey failed a drugs test. Again. I guess it explains why her biceps are now bigger than my thighs. And her gruff voice. And hairy back.
A few more wickets tumble down the road at the SCG.
5th january
Day 4 - SCG. This time it's personal. Overnight england were struggling with a 15 run lead and only four down (KP + monty at the crease). So we thought we'd make a real effort to cheer on our finest. We both had flags as capes. I bought a cheap red + white polo shirt. Wozza bought some red short/top combo. And we had face paints. We rocked. And we got amusing looks on the train into town. Unfortunately the day's play started 20 minutes early and KP had thrown his wicket early doors. There was then very little to celebrate as we finished with a 50 run lead and the convicts had an easy run chase. At least the barmy army amused everyone with renditions of "livin on a prayer" and "the final countdown"... We sat through the presentations but then left when the gloating got too much. Arrogant bunch.
In the afternoon we collected our passports after they'd been couriered to the Chinese embassy for visas. They look very cool. We can't believe we've been away so long and still have so much great stuff to do...
6th january.
350km to Canberra. Capital of Australia. It's about 150km inland. The area round there is like plains and quite beautiful. Like how you think the plains in Africa would be. And as beautiful as it is, you've got to wonder why the capital would be in the hot humid muggy inland region when the coast is so beautiful. Apparently 80 years ago when they became their own entity neither Sydney nor Melbourne would accept the other city as capital, and so they started from scratch and Canberra was born. The federal buildings are all newish and not that fascinating. The most interesting place was the aboriginal tent embassy outside the old parliament building. It's little more than a tin shack but is permanently manned by some tented aboriginals who are available for political chat and debate. The embassy has been there for 30 odd years, but unfortunately the old parliament building is now a national gallery with the new parliament now about a km away, reducing it's impact. Very interesting.
Other than that, canberra is a bit tame...
7th January
Drove to melbourne all day and just stopped to kip before we go onward to the great ocean road...
10 January 2007
This and that...
Aboriginal Embassy - Canberra
The Great Ocean Road (Victoria) Residents
Roos Chillin' on the Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road (Victoria) Residents
Roos Chillin' on the Great Ocean Road
More Photos......
Birthday Dinner at Bill's Sydney (as in Granger - Aussie celeb chef)
New Years Eve - Sydney - A few sparklers and a Catherine Wheel!
The Hyatt Hotel - Me and my old mate Dicky!
New Years Eve - Melonhead!
Sydney SCG - 4th and last Day! Boo Hoo
New Years Eve - Sydney - A few sparklers and a Catherine Wheel!
The Hyatt Hotel - Me and my old mate Dicky!
New Years Eve - Melonhead!
Sydney SCG - 4th and last Day! Boo Hoo
Fotos.
Blue Mountains, NSW
Largin' it in the early hours on Joey's Bithday eve with Fiona & Phil (Joey was tucked up in bed by 7:30!)
The Bithday Hyatt with a fair-dinkum view of the tinpot Opera House.
Bondi Beach on Christmas Day - Poms and Irish everywhere!
Darling Harbour on Joey's birthday-eve celebrations (shortly before she won $100 in the casino!!!)
Largin' it in the early hours on Joey's Bithday eve with Fiona & Phil (Joey was tucked up in bed by 7:30!)
The Bithday Hyatt with a fair-dinkum view of the tinpot Opera House.
Bondi Beach on Christmas Day - Poms and Irish everywhere!
Darling Harbour on Joey's birthday-eve celebrations (shortly before she won $100 in the casino!!!)
02 January 2007
some time in december. in australia. in a galaxy far far away...
18th december
Still in Burleigh heads. Went to the beach, Surfed a bit. Fell off a bit. Got caught up in the rip a bit. Drowned a bit. Got tired a lot. Joey sunbathed. Maybe next time i'll join her. In the afternoon (or arbo as it's known here) we walked in burleigh heads NP. This walk was notable for having the biggest lizard i've ever seen. It was a foot and a half long basking in the sun. Maybe he too had had a tough morning on the gold coast's waves. This is probably the best campsite we've been in. Everyone's really friendly and it wouldn't be the end of the world if we were staying here over christmas...
19th december
Goodbye gold coast. Goodbye queensland. Hello new south wales. The only differences so far is traffic volumes. Anyway, two hours after leaving goldie, we arrived in Byron Bay. Where do I begin. Beaches? Stunning - you can see shipwrecks just off the coast. Town? Very nice. Amenities? Excellent. Camp-site? Okay. Locals? Pleasant. Travellers? Freaks. Serious freaks. Look at me, i'm finding myself. Look at me i've dyed my dreads pink and made my own clothes, i'm so unique. Sure, you and the dozens of other crusty clones. We went to lunch at a pleasant café, but ended up leaving abruptly after somehow ending up in conversation with two of the strangest (and drunkest and highest) men ever. They tried to buy us lunch and drinks. Then they admitted that they were making a film. Cue joey putting her jumper on, despite the heat...
At about ten pm the drumming circles started on the beach. Tools. The biggest irony was that by about midnight it was silent and all the wild ones were tucked up in bed.
20th december
After the huge success of snorkelling on the reef, we decided to go out onto the julian rocks marine park 3km off the coast. We were told that turtles were common and we might see giant rays and sharks. No matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find those darned sharks, however we did stumble upon one giant turtle napping on the sandy bottom and one young turtle swimming near us. Not to mention a myriad of brightly coloured fish. As this was not shallow coral, it was far more affected by the weather than at the great barrier reef. After an hour bobbing around on 3-4ft swell, all but one of the seven of us started to feel a little peaky. In fact on the boat back I was so close to puking. I went white but recovered quickly on dry land.
I had another go at surfing later in the afternoon (more bruises and near death experiences), and then we went out for a couple of beers after dinner - just to see what the fuss was all about. Pretty tame...
A lot of people love byron bay, and it's undeniably beautiful but it's no longer the hippy epicentre (hippycentre?) it once was. As our guide book says "these days it's about as alternative as MTV".
21st December
Drove down to Port Macquarie. Macquarie was an early governor in the original colony down in the south and his name crops up everywhere - towns, parks, buildings, malls... Nice town but it rained the whole time we were there...
Hmm, I smell a 30th birthday on the way...
22nd December
Cessnock is the main town in the Hunter valley. It's probably the closest we've been to the outback, but it's actually wine country. It was also mosquito country. We'd avoided them on the coast once we left the tropics and didn't expect to meet them this far south... Anyway, I got eaten alive. Again. We spent most of the evening drinking with an aussie family who were local to the area but spending christmas in the campsite. They had really strong accents which must have been the aussie equivalent of an english west country accent. They taught us some new words. My favourite being "wozza", which is really woman or your wife. The example they gave us in context was "hey, wozza, get us another beer". Amusing.
23rd December
Hunter valley wineries. We went to draytons, ivanhoe, rosemount, lindemanns... The list went on. I tasted quite a few, and joey drove. It was a really nice area and really easy to navigate, despite the amount of wine i'd drunk by 11am! Unfortunately though, we couldn't spend all day there as we'd decided to get down to sydney in good time for christmas.
After an uneventful drive we arrived at narabeen (north sydney) only to be told that the campsite had a four night minimum stay, which at $60 a night was $240. We were booked into an apartment the following day, so there was no way we were paying $240 for one night in a campsite when our apartment was only $180. So, whilst the staff at the campsite were completely unhelpful, the staff at the apartment were bonzer! They managed to squeeze us in a night early, and the apartment was awesome! Massive one bedroom with two balconies giving distant views to bondi, located above a mall with nice restaurants and a supermarket. Ripper!
24th December
Still can't get my head round aussie christmas. It's too hot. Why are people wearing santa hats and reindeer ears. Reindeers would hate this heat. I fear santa might struggle himself with all those layers. Maybe he just wears his undies and a vest on the aussie leg.
We went to the supermarket and got the grub in for a makeshift english christmas day - chicken, potatos, veg etc. Everyone else was buying sausages, burgers, steak and shrimps. I wanted a bbq so badly...
In the afternoon we got the train into the city and caught our first glimpse of the opera house and bridge. Very impressive. Obviously by this point I was getting rediculously excited by the prospect of santa's arrival. As they say here - one more sleep!
25th December
Christmas Day......(Joey)
Well, in true Aussie style we decided to spend the day at Bondi. After a delightful cooked brekkie, we sauntered down to the beach to watch the revellers, tourists and families celebrate santa's jaunt down under! No reindeer for this guy, a ute pulled by NSW's finest sheep maybe! The sun was shining, the surf was up and a great time had by all. We then bused back to the junction for a spot of roast choock and a few glasses of hunter valleys finest.
26th December (Joey)
The festival that is my birth began today! After a morning spent watching the cricket on the big screen downtown, my lovely husband announced that he had a surprise planned for the afternoon......yes, that's right, the Harbour Bridge climb! Apparently there were no climbs on the actual birthday as apparently there is this little tinpot firework display going on in the harbour which means preparation on the 30th...very selfish if you ask me, all for the sake of a few bangers and a ropey catherine wheel! The bridgeclimb was brilliant, it involves donning a rather fetching all in one suit with a harness to secure yourself to the bridge when you walk. It takes about 2 hours and you get to climb right over the steel girders, above the cars to the highest point. The views were amazing, we could see right over to bondi and out to sea and the jewell of the harbour (the opera house) was right in front of us....a brilliant and memorable start to the birthday celebrations indeed!
27th December (Joey)
Lane Cove Campsite
Now downgraded to the local campsite, except it's not really a downgrade as is situated in a National Park a few miles from Sydney CBD. Saw possums, cockatoos and skinks loitering round the van....excellent. Met nice fellow campers and enjoyed a few drinks al fresco listening to the sounds of the forest.
28th December (Joey)
The Blue Mountains
Drove the 2hours west from Sydney to the Blue Mountains National Park. They are referred to as "blue" because of the blue tinged mist given off from the native eucaliptus trees that grow all over them. The mountains are UNESCO world heritage listed and surfice to say are very pretty indeed. We stopped at Wentworth falls on the way to Katoomba (the central point to visit the mountains). The falls were relitively small compared to the beasts in NZ but this was mainly a result of the lack of water due to current drought conditions in the region. Went for a nice walk admiring the 3 sisters rocks and kings tableland on the way. Saw lots of cockatoo's too....very nice indeed.
Joey's Musings:- 2 more sleeps till i'm 30! xxx
Still in Burleigh heads. Went to the beach, Surfed a bit. Fell off a bit. Got caught up in the rip a bit. Drowned a bit. Got tired a lot. Joey sunbathed. Maybe next time i'll join her. In the afternoon (or arbo as it's known here) we walked in burleigh heads NP. This walk was notable for having the biggest lizard i've ever seen. It was a foot and a half long basking in the sun. Maybe he too had had a tough morning on the gold coast's waves. This is probably the best campsite we've been in. Everyone's really friendly and it wouldn't be the end of the world if we were staying here over christmas...
19th december
Goodbye gold coast. Goodbye queensland. Hello new south wales. The only differences so far is traffic volumes. Anyway, two hours after leaving goldie, we arrived in Byron Bay. Where do I begin. Beaches? Stunning - you can see shipwrecks just off the coast. Town? Very nice. Amenities? Excellent. Camp-site? Okay. Locals? Pleasant. Travellers? Freaks. Serious freaks. Look at me, i'm finding myself. Look at me i've dyed my dreads pink and made my own clothes, i'm so unique. Sure, you and the dozens of other crusty clones. We went to lunch at a pleasant café, but ended up leaving abruptly after somehow ending up in conversation with two of the strangest (and drunkest and highest) men ever. They tried to buy us lunch and drinks. Then they admitted that they were making a film. Cue joey putting her jumper on, despite the heat...
At about ten pm the drumming circles started on the beach. Tools. The biggest irony was that by about midnight it was silent and all the wild ones were tucked up in bed.
20th december
After the huge success of snorkelling on the reef, we decided to go out onto the julian rocks marine park 3km off the coast. We were told that turtles were common and we might see giant rays and sharks. No matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find those darned sharks, however we did stumble upon one giant turtle napping on the sandy bottom and one young turtle swimming near us. Not to mention a myriad of brightly coloured fish. As this was not shallow coral, it was far more affected by the weather than at the great barrier reef. After an hour bobbing around on 3-4ft swell, all but one of the seven of us started to feel a little peaky. In fact on the boat back I was so close to puking. I went white but recovered quickly on dry land.
I had another go at surfing later in the afternoon (more bruises and near death experiences), and then we went out for a couple of beers after dinner - just to see what the fuss was all about. Pretty tame...
A lot of people love byron bay, and it's undeniably beautiful but it's no longer the hippy epicentre (hippycentre?) it once was. As our guide book says "these days it's about as alternative as MTV".
21st December
Drove down to Port Macquarie. Macquarie was an early governor in the original colony down in the south and his name crops up everywhere - towns, parks, buildings, malls... Nice town but it rained the whole time we were there...
Hmm, I smell a 30th birthday on the way...
22nd December
Cessnock is the main town in the Hunter valley. It's probably the closest we've been to the outback, but it's actually wine country. It was also mosquito country. We'd avoided them on the coast once we left the tropics and didn't expect to meet them this far south... Anyway, I got eaten alive. Again. We spent most of the evening drinking with an aussie family who were local to the area but spending christmas in the campsite. They had really strong accents which must have been the aussie equivalent of an english west country accent. They taught us some new words. My favourite being "wozza", which is really woman or your wife. The example they gave us in context was "hey, wozza, get us another beer". Amusing.
23rd December
Hunter valley wineries. We went to draytons, ivanhoe, rosemount, lindemanns... The list went on. I tasted quite a few, and joey drove. It was a really nice area and really easy to navigate, despite the amount of wine i'd drunk by 11am! Unfortunately though, we couldn't spend all day there as we'd decided to get down to sydney in good time for christmas.
After an uneventful drive we arrived at narabeen (north sydney) only to be told that the campsite had a four night minimum stay, which at $60 a night was $240. We were booked into an apartment the following day, so there was no way we were paying $240 for one night in a campsite when our apartment was only $180. So, whilst the staff at the campsite were completely unhelpful, the staff at the apartment were bonzer! They managed to squeeze us in a night early, and the apartment was awesome! Massive one bedroom with two balconies giving distant views to bondi, located above a mall with nice restaurants and a supermarket. Ripper!
24th December
Still can't get my head round aussie christmas. It's too hot. Why are people wearing santa hats and reindeer ears. Reindeers would hate this heat. I fear santa might struggle himself with all those layers. Maybe he just wears his undies and a vest on the aussie leg.
We went to the supermarket and got the grub in for a makeshift english christmas day - chicken, potatos, veg etc. Everyone else was buying sausages, burgers, steak and shrimps. I wanted a bbq so badly...
In the afternoon we got the train into the city and caught our first glimpse of the opera house and bridge. Very impressive. Obviously by this point I was getting rediculously excited by the prospect of santa's arrival. As they say here - one more sleep!
25th December
Christmas Day......(Joey)
Well, in true Aussie style we decided to spend the day at Bondi. After a delightful cooked brekkie, we sauntered down to the beach to watch the revellers, tourists and families celebrate santa's jaunt down under! No reindeer for this guy, a ute pulled by NSW's finest sheep maybe! The sun was shining, the surf was up and a great time had by all. We then bused back to the junction for a spot of roast choock and a few glasses of hunter valleys finest.
26th December (Joey)
The festival that is my birth began today! After a morning spent watching the cricket on the big screen downtown, my lovely husband announced that he had a surprise planned for the afternoon......yes, that's right, the Harbour Bridge climb! Apparently there were no climbs on the actual birthday as apparently there is this little tinpot firework display going on in the harbour which means preparation on the 30th...very selfish if you ask me, all for the sake of a few bangers and a ropey catherine wheel! The bridgeclimb was brilliant, it involves donning a rather fetching all in one suit with a harness to secure yourself to the bridge when you walk. It takes about 2 hours and you get to climb right over the steel girders, above the cars to the highest point. The views were amazing, we could see right over to bondi and out to sea and the jewell of the harbour (the opera house) was right in front of us....a brilliant and memorable start to the birthday celebrations indeed!
27th December (Joey)
Lane Cove Campsite
Now downgraded to the local campsite, except it's not really a downgrade as is situated in a National Park a few miles from Sydney CBD. Saw possums, cockatoos and skinks loitering round the van....excellent. Met nice fellow campers and enjoyed a few drinks al fresco listening to the sounds of the forest.
28th December (Joey)
The Blue Mountains
Drove the 2hours west from Sydney to the Blue Mountains National Park. They are referred to as "blue" because of the blue tinged mist given off from the native eucaliptus trees that grow all over them. The mountains are UNESCO world heritage listed and surfice to say are very pretty indeed. We stopped at Wentworth falls on the way to Katoomba (the central point to visit the mountains). The falls were relitively small compared to the beasts in NZ but this was mainly a result of the lack of water due to current drought conditions in the region. Went for a nice walk admiring the 3 sisters rocks and kings tableland on the way. Saw lots of cockatoo's too....very nice indeed.
Joey's Musings:- 2 more sleeps till i'm 30! xxx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
