Sunday, January 28, 2007

Things I like about OZ Part 1


1) Instead of boring British lions, eggs here have smiley faces! (I promise they came like that!)
2) Every time you step outside you smell eucalyptus trees...mmm.
3) There are loads of brightly coloured/strange birds ones with pointy heads, green parrots, cockatoos! It's good
4) The houses are all different in a street and have been painted different colours. No shortage of pink houses
5) The cities are clean and well looked after no rubbishon the streets.
6) The locals are really friendly and always want to stop for a chat.

to be continued...

Thought you may also want to see pictures of where we are staying.. Our little home until we fly off to Adelaide on Tuesday!


That's our hire car too!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Some Video Clips

I promised some clips...

Here's some...


Driving in to Ramsay Street.. Can you tell me whose house is whose? I pressed record a little early so you can check out a traditional Melbourne Suburb too :) lol - I didn't want to miss any thing lol..

The guide is telling us why they need security.. lol.




Here's Matt's new friend... ( Ray look away when you get scared - it can't bite you it's in Sydney..relax)





Driving the Great Ocean Road

Congratulations!


To Rachel and Dave!

They're engaged!!


Yeah

apparently they're getting married next year in Goa... OOOohhhh~!!

4 days in Brissie and a decision has been made...

We're not staying.. It's sad isn't it but that's the way it is.

Brisbane is a beautiful, clean and lovely city. Much nicer than Sydney and with better shopping facilities! lol. It really hot, the people are friendly and we could afford a nice house in a nice area but... it's not where we want to be. In the back of our minds we keep thinking about Adelaide. About how we could have the city 15 mins one way and the beach 15 mins the other. We've checked and we can afford the same kind of house with a pool there too so we're getting on a plane on Tuesday morning and we're going back.

It's been really hard the last few days because we didn't want to feel this way at all and in many ways if we hadn't been around Oz and seen the other cities we'd be fine. The choice is definitely between Brissie and Adelaide. Both are beautiful places. Neither of us feel right here though and that's no good.

We've driven around every part of the coast near to the city and there are no beaches. Manly has a lovely harbour and new houses with nice views over the sea but no beaches, no places to stroll around at night together. Renting is tight here there aren't many places available. If we were going to buy we would be fine we'd be able to buy a 4 bedroom house with a pool and land but we don't want to commit ourselves in that way. It's too early and that's too permanent.

We drove to a place called Redcliffe today where there are beaches but if LOF lay down his head would be on the sand and his feet in the sea! it's not very impressive and the town has the feel that if it were out of season it would be very quiet indeed.


Brisbane is a lovely place to visit and we're enjoying our stay but it's not for us to live in.

It has some brilliant traits. I'm going to try and get a picture of the enormous bats which fly over the river at dusk. They have the wing span on a seagull! They're huge. LOF pointed them out first and I though he was lying! lol. I was very wrong.
I Love the south bank where they've built a man made beach and there are some lovely restaurants overlooking the river.
the parrots that fly around are great too.
It's always hot 36/38 degrees everyday so far with some spectacular storms.

I would be concerned about the television adverts advising you to store strips of wood and nails for storm season though! gulp!


I can see Catherine doing Cartwheels! lol and Mas. saying "Adelaide, yes, Beautiful" :)

Brisbane

After a 12 hour bus ride we arrived, check our selves into a hotel had a shower etc and bventured into the city to find out about rental places, caravan parks etc. We've booked ourselves into the Nestle Inn caraven park whilst we find somewhere to rent. We'll be staying in a little self contained cabin (a porta cabin really) for a week. We've also booked a hire car to take us to places so that we can explore and find a good place to live.

One thing worries us. The lack of beaches.. Mmmm can it be true?
We'll see...

Surfers Paradise? mmm


Well last night was the worst night ever. I only had one glass of sangria whilst everyone else got drunk as a skunk because I was sensible and wanted to stand up on my board the next day. I didn't count on the snoring, the heat, the clicking fan, the throwing up at 3:30 am, the going hot and cold all night and not being able to feel at a human temperature unless I fell asleep on the porch outside. Not a good nights sleep.

On the up side some kangaroos were watching me at about 5am, Kookaburras woke me up laughing at 5:30am. (they're like kingfishers without colour), i saw a rat around the water tank near where I was sleeping... It was a great night for wildlife.

I felt rubbish today and didn't surf. The second beach was really beautiful and misty because it was so hot. I told Tim that I was going to sit out and explained why. I think I must have got sun stroke :( no good. we're taking shade down to the beach so I'll stay under that.

The beach was also cool because it was covered in sneaky crabs who were white with big black eyes on storks. Very cool. I say covered but I only saw 5 so that's a bit OTT! lol. i tried to get pictures but they bury themselves in the sand as soon as they know you've seen them. :( They're called ghost crabs apparently.


Matt came in after the first attempt. The second lesson seemed to skip practising yesterday's skills and seemed to require that you go out into the deep behind the waves. No good for someone who doesn't like to go beyond their depth. If he was normal in height I am sure that this wouldn't be an issue. I blame the people who make pools no deeper than 1m97! lol.

So all in all it was a bit rubbish and we made the decision that we didn't want to stay. We'll be on a bus at 12:00am to Brisbane and our new home.

Time to stop and settle down I think.

1, 2, 3 nipple!


So we left the hotel and carried the enormous teenage mutant ninja turtle bags a few blocks to Central Station. We waited and along came a big blue bus to take us away for a surfing holiday. We were greeted by Dylan and Tim who are exactly what you would expect a surfer to be like. Imagine the turtles in Nemo and you've got them - that image kept popping into my head everytime they spoke lol.

We put the bag on the bus and started to travel in the direction of surf camp. It took a lot longer than expected because (once again) a bush fire had started and the highways had been closed. Loads of locals lined the streets taking photographs and we were introduced to Elvis the water helicopter as he flew by. Must be scary to live somewhere near one of those fires.

On the bus we were told that the aim of the trip was to teach us to surf and to learn to appreciate the lifestyle and culture of a surfer. Basically chill out, drink alot and hang out at the beach. Sounds nice. Well most of it - alcohol and me do not mix well as we know! ;)

It took us a little longer than expected to get to the camp as there were big bush fires again. These ones had closed the main highway which meant that Matt and I felt right at home in a big traffic jam for a couple of hours. The locals were out with their cameras taking pictures of the flames lapping very close to their own homes and gardens and I have to say I was very concerned for the well being of the little Quarley bears who would have lost several resting places. We were introduced to Elvis though, the big helicopter whose job it is to douce the flames with water that it pick up from the sea.

When we did arrive at the camp it wasn't exactly as glamorous as it appears in the brochure. The estate was clearly once a very lovely and luxourious resort then some bright spark realised that if they took one of the villas with a mezzanine bedroom and open plan lounge, kitchen and diner they could rip out the furniture and squeeze enough bunk beds in there to house 18 people. It was very compac and Bijou! There was a bathroom and toilet with one shower in. The water was from a bore hole in the ground and was not suitable to drink. Instead they provided rain water in cooled tanks for us to swalllow - very nice.

There was a shower block with 6 showers and two loos in it. This was a strange place too though. There were contemporary, posh sinks with lovely pebble effect tiling and nice mirror and then there were 6 sheds with a shower in each lol. Most of them were occupied by at least one spider and some dead moths. LOL. Ah well we've slept in a swag in the outback so it wasn't all that bad but the brochure does make it look very much more snazzy than it actually is!

After we'd had some lunch we went to the first beach. It was beautiful and very empty. It's situated in a national park which means that not many people visit it as it's not all that touristy. Perfect for beginning to surf. we laid our surfboards in a semi circle for the first lesson and put on our wet suits.

We were told by Tim and Dylan about what each of the parts of the board were and then he showed us how to find our "sweet spot" - to find it you lie on your board with your feet hanging off the end and make sure that you're body is in the middle. This way you won't over balance and fall off. You ahve to be ready to jump straight into your "sweet spot" as soon as you find a wave that suits.
The aim of the first lesson was to learn to "ride the waves" to make sure that we could catch one and stay on the board all the way to the beach.
in order to do so you have to jump on the board, lie down in your sweet spot and paddle. When you've got the wave you think you want to catch (that make it sound like a choice - the next one heading for you is the one that will take you not the other way around!) you wait until it hits the back of you feet push you feet up so your toes rest on the edge of the baord and they're pointing upwards and count to three. 1,2,3 then you " grab your nipples!". I know. I know it sounds mad and I though they were joking too. They're not though. It's basically a silly way of reminding yourself that your hands need to be under your breasts/ chest and its an excuse for a couple of males to mention nipples! :| lol Anyway you grab your nipples and then push down with your hands on the board, pulling yourself up so that your weight moves \back propelling your forward.

at the end of the lesson we all went into the water to try it out. It was ok and despite" wiping out" (falling off into the sea and drinking alot of it) a few times I eventually manged to get myself "all the way to the beach" :) Woo hoo. I rode dem waves!

Time for lesson 2 - STANDING UP- GULP.
To do this you follow the same technique and add a sun salutation at the end. You 1,2,3 nipple, push up do a downward dog (stick your bum in the air) pull your right foot forward and stand up. Easy on the sand... Not so simple when 'floating' on a mean looking wave. lol.
I tried. I tried a lot but I couldn't find my "sweet spot" fast enough to manage to squeeze it all in before I got to the beach. You have a cord attached to your leg thoguh so the board never goes far away.

The first time I tried to stand up it was the cord that was my down fall. 1,2,3 nipple. Up Downward dog - cord trapped. wrapped around other leg! Arghhh SPLASH salkty sea drink. Doh!
Second time. Come on. 1,2,3 nipple. lift, leg up.... come on... leg. Doh! Crash! No Sweet spot off and leg just wouldn't lift up before I fell off the side!

\Third time. .... Crash into another boarder. lol

Along comes Dylan to give me a hand. Good good. 1,2,3, nipple, lift, push up... KNeww.. why is that on the board? Oh no. Just lie down... don't fall off. Oh i've made it to the beach though! woo hoo.

Dyaln:" What happened? Where'd that knee come from? you have two chances to stand up you know. You wasted it. Don't waste the waves they're precious..."
Oh dear sensing laid back attitude does not include surfing... mmm.. Never mind. Keep trying.

I managed to half stand up once before it wqas time to return. On the up side i can now ride a waveon my belly with skill and can even make the board go left and right to avoid other surfers... Good start I think.. :)

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Sydney - Off to surf tomorrow


We're leaving the big smoke for the beaches in the morning. We're off surfing.
We've had a good time in Sydney. It feels like a proper city and the weather has been very kind to us 37 degrees today! lol.

The bridge, the opera house and the tower are all exactly as you would expect and the mixture of the old and new is very nice. It's still very pretty. My favourite bit is "the rocks" where there are narrow cobbled streets and bistros/bars with a view. Very lovely.

We went to the aquarium and a large shark kept coming up to the glass to make friends with Matt and reassure him. Matt didn't agree - He's sure it's evil. lmao. It's just a big fish with wonky teeth. lol.

Friday, January 19, 2007

New Occupants of 14 Fryer Road




It has come to our attention that these 3 illegal imigrants have kicked out Emma and Wanye and have taken over the house!

We want to know everything... names, ages, where'd they come from..
What do Tom, Dick and Monty think of them?
CUTE!!

:)

More piccies!

We've added more photos to the flickr thingy! Woo hoo.

See LOF covered in flies, being hugged (with a smile on his face) by neighbours stars and lots of pictures of rocks - where there are two it's because I've taken one and then Lof has taken a 'better' one ;)

Enjoy!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

We've been to Canberra...

It's the capital... but according to the woman in the tourist information place that's only because they couldn't decide whether to have the capital as Sydney or Melbourne and canberra is somewhere in the middle.

It's very pretty but for a capital it's a bit pants... There's one street of shops, lots of hotels and Head offices and the Parliment building. That was pretty much it!

LOL.

The government here has a senate and a house of representatives - a little Americanised? It was nice to see the house thoguh. Strange to imagine it was only built when I was 8! 1988! LOL. The "old" one was built in the 1920s. Crazy!

Congratualtions to the Shenley Crew who have some unplanned time off. I new if I wedged those missing t-towels into the pipes that eventually you'd get a day off! ;)

We've arrived in Sydney now. It's very busy and a propper city - unlike Canberra! lol.

Will let you know more once we've explored in more detail. Got here in D.E's camper van. She was passine through Canberra and picked us up! Very nice of her! :)

I have once request...

Everyone who is reading this... I want you to say hello in the comments so I know who my audience is! lol. I'd love to know who's reading :)

and for the English Department... and other language types... a puzzle.

Try it on the kids (i bet bradders level 7s won't get it!;)

What'd the difference between a cat and a complex sentence??

Answers with your greetings in the comments section...

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

MELBOURNE - Is cool for one very special reason!



Neighbours... every body needs good Neighbours!!

I have had a great time! I've met three of the stars, been to Ramsay Street, got some Soap gossip from one of the actors, visited Erinsborough High and driven past the studios! I've also purchased myself a rather fetching Neighbours T-Shirt and Pen. :)

I've got an autograph for 8H as promised and one for myself too.. :)

Happy Happy me :)

Monday Night was Neighbours night at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow Pub. It was a very camp evening with lots of fun, trivia and Toadie, Paul Robinson and Janelle! Yeah! Stpehan Dennis (Paul R) even managed to get LOF to have his picture taken with him !! I saw LOF having fun - i did! What with the silly dancing competitions etc. It was a really daft night.

Tuesday Morning was the Neighbours tour. LOF refused to attend this one on principle so I went on my own! Woo Hoo! Got picked up at 8:30 in the morning and visited lots of great places and learnt lots of cool things.
Now, even I knew that Neighbours wasn't real but I do have to admit to thinking that Erinsborough and Ramsay Street existed! lol. I even checked the map (directory) to see where it was and couldn't find it.... They don't exist of course. Erinsborough is a loose anagram of Neighbours, Ramsay Street is in fact Pin Oak Court!

Each of the residents of Pin Oak Court get paid a wage by the TV company, have the gardens and pools managed for them and have to move their cars out of the way when filming happens. They also have to have a 24 hour security guard as some rather strange things happen. Apparently Aussie Blokes like to tear into the Court in their fast cars do a handbrake turn and scream Harold Sucks out of the window at the poor unsuspecting residents.

The residents of Number 1 (or 31 - the Hoylande house) is a British family who wanted to emigrate to Oz but only if they could live in Ramsay street! See I'm not the only one whose crazy! lol. They got their wish though and to be fair the area in which it's filmed (somewhere near Blackburn) is lovely and well erm just like Neighbours really! lol


The school - Erinsbourough High is just down the road. The outside shots are done at Blackburn English Language School. Obviously all internal shots are done in the studios. The school is for children who enter Oz speaking no English. It's an EAL school. The kids have no idea what Neighbours is so they're not bothered and they film whilst the kids are around! The famous - first lesbian kiss was filmed on the school site and the school playing fields provided the scene for Jack Sculley's footy. I also saw the bit under the big sails where most idle chit chat occurs and the stairs where we walk in our uniform and get the goss.

I tried to text mum whilst I was waiting outside the pub (as soon as I knew I was meeting Stephan Dennis) as for some unknown reason mum loves him and wants me to find a copy of his album! God! I did let him know she was a fan. Dad didn't tell her until that evening though so she was disappointed not the have the opportunity to send me questions LMAO. And we wonder where I get it from!


Now for some gossip straight out of Janelle's (Nell Feeny - who I met twice)mouth.

Sting Ray leaves the show....
He dies....
The all the Timmins' leave (she didn't look happy!)
except Janae...
But Boyd leaves instead.... ooooohhhhhh!


Now none of that is even in the mags out here yet!! Tasty gos. I was worried for Sting Rya though. I like him and I really hope it has nothing to do with that Paul Robinson who is upset out here at the moment because the Timmins' own 50% of Lassiters and as he told Dylan the other night he didn't sweat blood and tears for Lassiters so it could be owned by a bunch of Boguns!






I'll be adding video too but running out of credit and it takes sooooo long to upload! lol.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Melbourne

Melbourne is certainly a lot more lively than most cities we’ve stopped in along the way. It has a massive Chinese influence with a rather large China town. It’s big and bustling and has a similar mix of old and new to Adelaide except on a much larger scale.

LOF and I have rented a small apartment for 4 days so that means I have a sofa, a Tv and KITCHEN!! A bedroom and a bathroom.. Homely.:)
It’s really nice, right next to a train track though lol. We’re not in the city itself but near the beach at St Kilda. I’ve been sat in an internet Café for 2 hours now lol. I dunno !
It’s ok though because we’re here for a while!

The tennis Open starts here on Monday so accommodation gets scarce after that so we’ll be off to Canberra on Tuesday afternoon.

I’ve booked Neighbours night for Monday where I’ll get to meet some of the stars (There’s beer so I managed to persuade LoF to come to) On Tuesday morning I’m off to visit Ramsay street, Erinsborough High and have my picture taken by Harold’s fence! Lof could not be persuaded to attend so I’m on my own – I don’t care I’ll be so excited!! Lol. You can’t visit Ramsay street anymore unless you’re on a tour as the tourists kept messing up the people’s gardens! I didn’t come all this way not to visit it now did I! lol
;)


By the way Lof’s been blogging too. Just click on the link that’s on the right 

The drive....

Day One:

10.10 am Pick up car
10.20 Get bags from hotel etc
10.30 LOFs Glasses? Where are they? We stop for a panic we find them down the back of the seat phew.
11:45 – Passed Mt Barker (Paula??)
12:20 pm – Tailem Bend
1.04 – Stopped at Meningie
1.41 – Policeman’s point for petrol
1.58 – Mile Crossing
2:36 Kingston S.E. for Fish and Chips and email checking!
4.23 Left Kingston S.E.
5:16 Millicent – Pretty little town Loads of Christmas trees!



5.57 – Found a motel in Mnt. Gambier for the night

Total- 437 KM 272 miles

Day Two:

9.58 – left Mount Gambier
10.25 Nelson
11.30 – Cape Bridgewater – beautiful beaches, petrified forest, blowholes etc.
1.20 – Left Cape Bridgewater
1.43 – Narrawong
2.03 Yambuk (Quick stop)
2.23 Left Yambuk
2.33 Port Fairy
2.52 Warrnambool.

Total 205 KM 127 miles

Day 3

12:00 left Warnambool
Various stops along the way to see lots of cool rocks… Car park,… drive 200 metres, car park… etc



3:11 – 12 Apostles.
4:15 – Air walked in a rainforest!! Woo hoo



7:00 – Arrived in Lorne – Can’t find any cheap accommodations so …
11:30pm Melbourne!!!

353 Km without adding Ottway de-tour! ;)

219 miles


With in Town /City driving the mileometer said we’d driven about 1,090 Km in total… 677Miles!!! OMG 

Thank god Petrol is cheaper here About 114.9 (40p a litre!)

Great Ocean Road Part 1

We picked up the car from some friendly Adelaidians and got to grips with automatic transmission. No need to check it’s in neutral or to change gears!! It’s amazing what 9 years of driving a manual conditions you into! We’ve got a Mitsubishi 380. It’s red. It has cruise control, aircon and a CD player! Finally I got to listen to Mrakus’ Cds. Very cool. Particularly like Gorky Zygotic Mynki – Yep that’s their name (not sure of the spelling) – welsh – explains it doesn’t it? Lol. Didn’t make me feel homesick though. (that was his evil plan) How could it with the view that I’ve been looking at as we drive along!

We’ve been going for 2 days and have covered around 650 K (400 miles)

We’ve shared the driving don’t worry. You don’t really notice the distance for some reason! Kangaroos, echidnas (sp?) and birds (like emus) keep you entertained, along with the fab views.

We spent the first night in Mount Gambier where we stayed in a motel. (I like these – you get your own little flat with a front door!) Here we discovered the sink hole. An awesome volcanically created hole in the ground that had been turned into a Victorian English Garden and now houses loads of possums! We got to feed then bread and fruit as the sun went down (they’re nocturnal) One even let me stroke him (Felt just like S+H) Check them out – aren’t they cute….


Next day we kept driving. Driving past Cape Bridgewater by accident and having to turn back. There were seals, the petrified forest (a weird rock formation) and blow holes – spectacular coastal views. The beach was beautiful and we stopped here for lunch.


We then drove to Warrnambool. This is a sea-side town. I get the impression it’s a summer holiday destination for the local (Aber style) The beach is beautiful but what is even more exciting is Tower Hill – Which we’d driven past – The tourist information lady told us about it so we went back to have a look.

Tower Hill is another volcanically formed island in the middle of a lake. (which is now dry in this heat!) You can drive onto the island where 2 emus looked at us suspiciously and go for walks.

We opted for one of the shorter walks which took us over the lake on a boardwalk and into Koala country. (or as LOF and I like to to call them Quarley bears) We were happy enough until we read a sign which said “ Yes! Don’t be alarmed we live here too” with a picture of a snake. GULP! “ If you see me just stand still and then back away slowly – I’ll usually run for cover” ARGhhh!!

This meant that I was very much looking at where I was treading rather than in the tree canopy for Quarley bears! Half way along, surrounded by big, tall reeds and twittering birds, watching the un-painted wooden boardwalk beneath my feet and wondering if a snake could fit between the gaps, pop up and bite me an almighty growl began. Both LOF and I froze.. Was it a bear? An Emu? A Hog? Who Knows! We were frozen to the spot. Just the two of us with no outback Dave to allay our fears! ARGHH

It started like a quiet grunt and eventually turned into a threatening sounding snarl! We couldn’t see anything in the towering reeds which made it worse and I was instructed not to stand directly behind LOF in case he turned to run, bumped into me pushing me over and turning us into angry giant animal food!

It did stop after a while so, rather than having to go back through snake country we carried on into the woodlands. The grunting/snarling was replaced with the sounds of snapping twigs… We still couldn’t see anything…

Then we looked up to discover that the twig snapping sound was being created by quarly bears eating and dropping leaves and twigs.

They were high up but we could still see how cute they are, clinging to various trees. God knows what the grunty thing was but it didn’t growl again!

We did see the S.E.S – Alf Stuart , Summer Bay Crisis Style- in their orange jump suits. A 20 year old Autistic man had gone missing. I’m pretty sure they found him, thank fully….

Adelaide



If you like art, theatre, foods from around the world and music the Adelaide is perfect. It really is lovely. There is a good mix of the old and new in terms of architecture and things don’t shut early, as they seem to in Perth.

I felt quite at home today. I’m definitely getting used to this vagabond life!
D.E. spent a day or so here before she left for Alice and the tour. We met her at 12:00 and she showed us what she’d discovered last time she’d visited.

There’s a FREE bus which takes you along designated routes within the city – which is great – but we chose to walk, via the post office, and head to the market. It’s an enormous, much more exciting version of Hereford’s butter market. Only, unfortunately, they don’t sell Jelly Shoes 

Instead there’s stall after stall of every food type imaginable interspersed with coffee shops, bakeries etc. Brilliant sites and smells with posters all over the walls advertising new plays, bands and art exhibitions. Heaven! I tell you it’s winning in the where to live stakes (Baring in mind this is only the second city we’ve visited! Lol)

D.E. had booked a tour to Kangaroo Island so after a little wandering, sampling and chatting we said farewell.

I then spent and hour and a half trying to catch up with this blog – Still not managing to get it completely updated! I didn’t come to Adelaide to sit in the 24 7 so I got LOF and decided to hunt down dinner!

There is a tram system in Adelaide and for $3 you can get on and in 15 minutes you’re at the beach! It’s really lovely at the beach. It has a square (Moseley Square lol) full of restaurants and cafes. We opted for fish and chips – I had a Veggie burger – which was no ordinary burger – all freshly roasted veg + tsatsuki (MMMM Good food in Adelaide!) and ate it on the beach as the sun set.



At this point LOF was feeling a little wiped out – still got a cold – So we made our way back to the tram. He was very tired and ill looking. His sluggish steps seemed very purposeful as we headed back.

Then a mad face appeared in a pub window. Dave! Suddenly LOF was full of beans!!! LOL. A schooner of larger and a double whiskey later and we said goodbye to Dave who had a new tour to pick up in the morning and returned on the tram.

When you but a tram ticket it’s valid for 2 hours so as long as you return in that time you don’t have to pay again! Bargain! 

We got back to the hotel for about 9:45pm, packed up our belongings ready to leave the next day and fell into the land of nod…. ZZZZzzzzzz

The last day in the outback :(




Today was the last day of the tour :(. It’s been really good fun and its going to be really weird not having to get up top the call of Nazi Dave and sleep to the sound of other people’s snores and giggles!

D.E. made us stay up last night to wait for the longest train in the world to go by. It never came! Doh! We went to bed at around midnight. We had a lie-in though and got up at 7am.

Today’s’ aim was to be in Adelaide by 6pm, stopping along the way to look at some Aborigine art in a cave.

We managed the canes really well. LOF was feeling groggy so he stayed on the bus. D.E. and I went up the hill though, meeting a few nosey kangas on the way. The art was still very clear – even after 6,000 years. The dreamtime story here included Kangaroos and Wallabies – which there are plenty of.

We all got back on the bus and trundled onwards. That was until Dave pulled up in front of a picturesque post office…

“err guys. I’ve got a problem with the transmission – I can only get 5th. I’m just gonna make a phone call.”

LOL. The gear box was knackered. We ended up being stuck in the small town of Wilmington for 4 ½ hours!



Wilmington, an old telegraph station, has a very small population. It contains a few houses, a pub , a general store, a café and little else. We were fine and the ale flowed freely whilst we waited for a new bus to arrive.


As it was we didn’t get to our hotel (The Mecure) until after 11pm. We said goodbye yo Dave and let him know about the secret book we’d signed, messaged and left in the bus for him and went up to a comfortable double bed with a bathroom that you don’t need to get a torch or shoes to access!

We’re in Adelaide and from the drive in I have to say it looks very nice.

Sunday Wilpena Pound and Parachilna

We were allowed a lie in today. We got up at 6am! woo hoo! I went to bed at 11:30 so got 6 hours sleep. mmm sleep.

We went straight to Wilpena park. Those who are walking wanted to go early so that it's not too hot. Ironically it did seem quite cold last night and, where as I have become used to sleeping on a mattress without need for a sheet, blanket or any other cover, last night I was COLD! A welcome felling! This probably meant that the temperature was about 20 degrees :) - We didn't need the air-con either. Unfortunately I'd decided that i wouldn't need my sleeping bag either and left it on the locked bus. I got cosy under my towel instead.

As i wasn't walking today i also got dressed in a nice skirt with shoes instead of walking boots. Dave thought this amusing this morning! LOL. I explained that today I was going to be a "lady what lunched" he just looked perplexed and walked on! lol

LOF has decided, rather sensibly i think, that he will pass on the walk. He's feeling too poorly and is chewing on Strepsil after Strepsil and taking Beechams too. Trust him to get a cold in the desert! Lol. Bless. He's O.K. Just mute tis all!

He's going to relax in the visitors centre whilst DE and I go for our fly. (I can see Dunk getting excited lol) He's got a book and access to egg and bacon muffins so I'm sure he'll be fine! ;)

The visitor centre and park itself is lovely and full to the brim with Kangaroos and birds. We made friends with some black and white birds who like butternut squash cookies!


The flight was really cool and we had the best views in town. We got to see the pound and the ranges either side. We also saw the campsite where we stayed last night! It was over far too quickly though. We returned to the visitor centre for a cappuccino where I wrote another lot of postcards and chatted for a bit whilst we waited for the others to return.

After they had, and we'd had lunch, we headed out onto Dave's "mystery tour" across the gorge and into Parachilna (Standard Population 5!! lol)

I later discovered it was a "mystery tour" because he didn't have a plan! We went along dirt tracks and visited lots of lovely look-out spots. We also went Wallaby spotting on the rocks before we got to tonight's accommodation. All good fun!

The place we are staying at is made up of loads of porta cabins :( It does have a pool and a pool table though so it'll be fine for one night :).

Adelaide, civilisation and hotels tomorrow! Woo Hoo! It'll be very strange without Nazi Dave to spur us on and wake us up. I"ll have to cope with a good nights sleep too... how terrible! :)



Dave and D E prepare dinner - Emu, Kangaroo and camel. Eughh

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

7th January - Port Augusta and camp!

Port Augusta was really nice - if a little windy! It was the first time in a while that I got to see water. The sea was a beautiful aquamarine colour. A small pier had loads of children jumping into the cool refreshing waters.

We stopped by the park to have lunch - Quiche and salad - we sat on green, yes GREEN grass. Another complete contrast to the brown and stark deserts of the North. A Battle witha flock of sea gulls did commence however as we retreated into the shade leaving the left over picnic food on the table. Mine! Mine! Mine! One got hit on the head I'm afraid :( Poor little thing.

We went into the town itself and took a shopping trip to Woolworths. Woolies is very different out here. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be owned by Wallmart as it looked exactly like ASDA to me. Obviously I took some pictures! Much to the embarrassment of LOF.

LOF is feeling a little throaty now and seems to be loosing his voice. We've bought him some throat sweets and medicines so here's hoping he'll be ok again soon. Poor thing. Maybe the sand from the desert? The hazards of sleeping in a SWAG!

Once we'd left we moved into our camp at Rawnsley Park which is right next to the Flanders Range National Park. As we were driving through there was loads of wildlife to be seen. I've certainly witnessed my fair share of kangaroos now! They're found in the shade of the trees. They sort of sit back, balancing on their tales and dangle their front paws like they've got no energy to stand up straight. Think 13 year old. You've got it! They're very cute though! (Is that an oxymoron? cute and 13 year old?)

Outside we had a campfire. It glowed and spat whilst the bats and crickets sang songs and we all had a go at the didgeridoo.

By the time tea0time came around LOF had completely lost his voice - This made for a slightly quieter evening. LOL and Double E and I took full advantage of the situation - As did Davey

Double E and I also spotted that, instead of the 3 hour walk to the edge of the Wilpena POund we could take a little Sessner plane - Dunk Style - and look at it from the sky. We've decided to treat ourselves - It's about $100 each. LOF is determined to walk it but I think he needs to rest and see how he feels tomorrow.

It's off to look at the spectacular stars now. I can't believe we couldn't fit int he telescope. The sky is beautiful. I've never seen so amny of them sparkling. I"m looking at Englands' summer sky, which is a little odd in January but there are constellations there which could never have been seen in Fryer Rd. Those Hughes and their BBQ lights :) Nick would love it out here with all the BBQS! He's missing out a little I reckon!

06/01/07 contd..

The evening in Coober Pedy was great. We went to a pizza place instead of having to cook and wash up and then to a local, underground pub. Some strange characters in there but that's just part of the wonder of it all! You'd have to be a little bit crazy to live in the desert in 50 degree heat

During our walk back from the pub a huge storm started. It's just weird. In the desert walking through torrential rain, lightning and thunder! They get 150ml of rain a year here and it evaporates ar 200ml a year! So it is rare and there we were in the middle of it all. Everyone went to bed except LOF, Double E, Davey and me. We stayed up to watch it :) We dodged the rain under the veranda until 11:30pm. A 5:30am start tomorrow :/

Off to Port Augusta now- another long drive - 6 hours. The we're camping in a sheep station neat Wilpena pound - It's a town with a population of 5! We'll make it a city tonight.

Aussie have a fun sense of humour about these things though! ;)

5th January To Coober Pedy!

Today has been mostly driving. That's from 4:30am until 6:30pm. OMG. I swaer a 3 hour drive to wales seems like a quick trip to the shops now! dave the driver and tour guide extraordinaire deserves a medal of some kind!

We stop along the way to eat and go to the loo. I have now used several "bus toilets" which were very clearly the inspiration for those found at Glastonbury - They are alot cleaner though. Stupidly, I used to check under the toilet seat for spiders at each stop. I've stopped doing that now! There are a lot of moths at night and millions of flies during the day but that's about it.

Lunchtime was great because Double Espresso bought a bag of ice - oh the the simple pleasures! I don't think you can understand! When you ahve a shower the water in the cold tape is warm, the drinking water is warm (If we only had a tea bag!) Warm water for days and then ICE!! MMMmmmm Ice. Ice is good!

Coober Pedy is a crazy place. Everyone lives under the ground in houses tunnlled into the side of hills. Its summer temperature can be anywhere up to 50 degrees! OMG
The opals they mine are beautiful though. Some are very expensive, I bought myseld a ring with a real opal in it for $40! Bargain.
We're sleeping in an underground bunker tonight. There are beds! Woo hoo!
The swag was amazing though. I slept like al og. So Cool. The wind was quite strong and there was sand everywhere nut I got a good 4 hours sleep - which is all there is time for before we get up! It's a good job we can sleep on the coach! ZZzz

It rained though! They hardly ever get rain in the desert and yet I was woken up by a few drops in the middle of the night. It doesn't last long - just a few seconds and it stops. You're dry again in a few more as it's sohot! I just carried on sleeping. LOF reckons there were Dingos howling around us but i don't remember hearing them! - Too sleepy :)

4th January Uluru and The Cultural Centre



Had to get up early today so that we could watch the sun rise over Uluru.
The day has been very long and very insightful. I've learnt an awful lot today about the aboriginal culture and have even had a few ideas to add to lessons (always working!lol)

It's a beautiful national park with a rich culutural history. Australia's real history. This place is incredibly young. it really only began to take it's current form 200 years ago. Whilst we were exploring the world on big boats and about to embark on the industrial revolution, Australia was an enormous continent containing just nature and its guardians; the aboriginals

Uluru us actually only spiritually important to one tribe. There are hundreds of aboriginal countries in Australia, all of them with slightly different dream time stories but all of them sharing basic principles passed through the oral tradition. Nothing is written down. It is all "Carried in {their} hearts"

Uluru is steeped in the stories of the dream time of the Arangu. Uluru itself was created by two young boys making sand castles. They made this one so big that they were able to play on it - sliding down the sides of it on their nu,s - that's where the ridges and lines on the rock came from :). The face of Uluru changes as tou walk around all 9kms of it (it takes a good couple of hours and it's still 40 degrees outside) It has honeycombed bits, large gashes in it's sides, caves, recess etc. Each one of these has a dream time story attached to it. Stories with giant sankes, gian wild Dingos and Mala men( Half man half wallabee)

I learnt these stories and about some of the other culutural traditions they had. For example, the boys were divided up into 3 sections. (Child, A young man waiting to be mature enough to train how to be a man and a man. Once they are in training they learnt the dreamtime stories and "Mens business" . They boys had to sit in a waiting cave for days/months until it was considered that they were mature enough to accept the responisbiliites of manhood. This started as soon as they began to show interest in women.

I also learnt about the importance of aboriginal art and what the symbols mean. Circles for water holes/meeting places. Footprints to show the paths of the ancestors, half horse shoes for sitting people etc.

We're staying in a campsite and sleeping bush. It's so hot in our tent that LOF and I are going to sleep under the stars in a SWAG tonight. This coming from the same girl who, whilst in Perth, wouldn't even sit on the grass for fear of big spiders! There are big signs warning us not to feed the wild Dingos and not to be fooled by vicious wild dogs!! GULP.

We've made some friends too. Catherine from Folkestone, who shall here after be refered to as Double Espresso, (as that's what she runs on) is great fun and has fitted well with LOFs humour. She owns an Italian Ice-cream shop. Her O H makes fresh Icecream. MMMmmmm fresh Ice-cream!!

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Outback explorer 1/6

Wednesday 3rd Jan.



Oh my god. You step off the plane and it feels like you've stepped into a sauna! I was wearing a cardigan too! Omg!

It's such a contrast out here to perth. It's a desert with trees, kangaroos and imported camels.

Alice Springs itself is , to be honest, a little dull. We stayed in the 'Melanka' cleverly disguised as THE Alice Springs Plaza. Mmm, missing off the Crowne bit really does make all the difference! ;)

At 4.oo am, when we had to be up and ready for our adventure tour, LOf managed to make a new friend. He treated his 6 legged mate to a new house - a glass- and placed him under the sink for the 'cleaner' if there is one :/

It was a very early start but it was still roasting hot outside. We met our tour guide Dave and boarded the bus. It's air conditioned thank fully.

There are a wide range of people in our group all of varying ages and natonaliities. We all have one thing in common though - we all speak Aussie! This is grest as Dave only speaks Aussie. Lol

Some people are only with us for 2 days to do the Uluru bit. Most of us are going all the way to adelaide but --> In the spirit of the AUSSIE dialect I have placed the connective in it's traditional place - the end. Lol.[

LOF has adapted well into the role of Outback Matt and has been enjoying the challenges set. I , on the other hand, have taken some of the easier walks - it's 41 degrees out here and a 2.5 hour walk up and around a canyon - King's Canyon - seemed mad! I went for the 40 minute stoll inside the canyon instead. Even LOF struggled a little and had to share in what he likes to think of as a semi-erotic T-shirt competition with Dave who had to throw water over him so he would cool down enough to finish the walk. He had soggy pants for the rest of the day!

Today has mostly been driving - with that walk in the middle. We'vw covered hundreds of KMs through a red desert with occaisional green trees.

I saw my first kangaroo today leaping away in fright after it tried to cross the road infront of our bus. Don't worry he/she was absolutly fine :)

The birds are really awesome too. Loads of gallahs (just like Darl') - they're very pretty and pink. They like to make a bit of noise (but).
I've seen cockoteils too. Wikd ones, free to sit a top lamp posts and request a bit of your sandwich! There are also zebra finch like the ones grandad has in his front room, Green parrots and a weird looking parrot with a plume of spikey feathers on its head.
I'm camping in the outback tonight. I'll look out for dingos. You have to hide your shoes because they like to run off with them and chew them up! You'd Think they'd be house trained by now!

Outback explorer 1/6

Wednesday 3rd Jan.



Oh my god. You step off the plane and it feels like you've stepped into a sauna! I was wearing a cardigan too! Omg!

It's such a contrast out here to perth. It's a desert with trees, kangaroos and imported camels.

Alice Springs itself is , to be honest, a little dull. We stayed in the 'Melanka' cleverly disguised as THE Alice Springs Plaza. Mmm, missing off the Crowne bit really does make all the difference! ;)

At 4.oo am, when we had to be up and ready for our adventure tour, LOf managed to make a new friend. He treated his 6 legged mate to a new house - a glass- and placed him under the sink for the 'cleaner' if there is one :/

It was a very early start but it was still roasting hot outside. We met our tour guide Dave and boarded the bus. It's air conditioned thank fully.

There are a wide range of people in our group all of varying ages and natonaliities. We all have one thing in common though - we all speak Aussie! This is grest as Dave only speaks Aussie. Lol

Some people are only with us for 2 days to do the Uluru bit. Most of us are going all the way to adelaide but --> In the spirit of the AUSSIE dialect I have placed the connective in it's traditional place - the end. Lol.[

LOF has adapted well into the role of Outback Matt and has been enjoying the challenges set. I , on the other hand, have taken some of the easier walks - it's 41 degrees out here and a 2.5 hour walk up and around a canyon - King's Canyon - seemed mad! I went for the 40 minute stoll inside the canyon instead. Even LOF struggled a little and had to share in what he likes to think of as a semi-erotic T-shirt competition with Dave who had to throw water over him so he would cool down enough to finish the walk. He had soggy pants for the rest of the day!

Today has mostly been driving - with that walk in the middle. We'vw covered hundreds of KMs through a red desert with occaisional green trees.

I saw my first kangaroo today leaping away in fright after it tried to cross the road infront of our bus. Don't worry he/she was absolutly fine :)

The birds are really awesome too. Loads of gallahs (just like Darl') - they're very pretty and pink. They like to make a bit of noise (but).
I've seen cockoteils too. Wikd ones, free to sit a top lamp posts and request a bit of your sandwich! There are also zebra finch like the ones grandad has in his front room, Green parrots and a weird looking parrot with a plume of spikey feathers on its head.
I'm camping in the outback tonight. I'll look out for dingos. You have to hide your shoes because they like to run off with them and chew them up! You'd Think they'd be house trained by now!

Monday, January 01, 2007

PERTH

is beautiful and I can really see why a lot of expats want to live here. It's a shame that we haven't had enough time to explore some of the famous ex-pat locations like rockhampton etc but I get a gist... LOL.

It's very laid back here. So laid back that on New Years Eve when traditionally people are everywhere, drunk and watching fireworks there was only one place with colours and lights! How strange. LOL We thought it was a little bit crazy that a large city - a very famous city- didn't have a bigger bang for New Year.

I took Matt to a surf shop where we happily spent hundreds of dollars on new "sunnies", "boardies" , T-shirts and shorts. In DIFFERENT COLOURS!!!! :)
As the shop assistant said "Now you're in the land of sunshine things are different" we bought a pair of cool polarised oakley Sunnies. (We have noticed that most Australian slang ends in the suffix ies... mmm?)

Yesterday I also learnt that an "Eskie" is a big cool box on wheels - check me out - turning into an Aussie already :)

We paid 32 dollars each to go to Gloucester Park (where the "trots" are) no.. no illness but little horses who pull chariot style carriages round a track. There were bands playing etc. I have to admit I said "LOM would love this..." really missed my mates, held back the tears and realised that all this was pointing out that we weren't with the people we wanted to be with. After about 2 hours we wandered off and sat next to the river instead. It was much nicer and much more personal and we got to watch the fireworks we'd paid for from a distance anyway. :)
Soppy sods aren't we.

I tried to text SPAN last night but LOF's mobile wouldn't do it.:( We can't use his phone anymore because it's a works one and I'm still waiting for the code to unlock the handset so that I can use the new Aussie Sim. It's too expensive. :( I'm not even sure if she's got a computer at the moment - we kindly donated our PC but Bogus has to set it up for her so she can use her pretty new Ipod. :)

Thanks to everyone who's sending us emails. It's always great to hear from you. Not sure how easy it will be to update this over the next few days as we're off to the outback. Little scared about the closeness to the wildlife -:\ We'll see. I haven't seen a single Kanagroo yet though so maybe I will in Alice Springs? Who Knows. Apologies for the lack of pictures. Current internet point won't let me upload them :( I've even paid to be apro member of Flickr so that I can put them all into sets. Bummer!

OOh on a soaps note. Haven't yet seen Home and Away or neighbours but there was strange music video on yesterday which seemed to be dedicated to Sally Fletcher. It showed her failing in love with Rachel's brother and then i could have sworn that she collapsed and died at the end.!!! I hope that doesn't mean that she's left the program. The end of Miss Fletcher where will I get my inspiration from Eh Bradders?

X
Love to you all.