Let's Off Road....to those Wedding Bells

G'day
My last email from Australia, though have no fear, I will try to summarise my time here in the way I summarised NZ...I'm sure my conclusions will generate 'discussion'!

I last emailed you from Brisbane. It was a bit of shock to the system being back in a major city, after being in the outback or smaller places for the previous two weeks. Brisbane has a lot of Chinese and Korean students. (Indeed, many times during my time in Australia I have been asked whether I was a student - a sign that I need a haircut and some new clothes I guess!) I was also refused entry to a Brisbane bar/restaurant for wearing shorts - metropolitan ponseyness has spread to Australia it seems!

My last big trip in Oz was to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. To travel around the island requires a 4WD, as there are no proper roads. I signed up on a 2 day tour. No Chelsea tractors employed here, my vehicle was a proper 4WD, a Landcruiser Troop Carrier, an 11 seater as used by the Australian Army.
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The downside of this go anywhere ruggedness, was that it was desperately uncomfortable, especially for the 8 of us perched on the thin sideways benches at the back! Especially, as it was a FOUR hour journey fro Brisbane to Fraser Island....

Incidentally, the driver guides bore a striking resemblance to the "Let's Off Road" characters from The Fast Show...but with a bit more success thankfully!

Once on the island, the main highway, 75 mile beach, ran along the east of the island, we sped along at 100km/h plus, popping blue bottle jellyfish along the way. The highlight of the first day was Lake Wabby. To get there involved climbing a giant sand dune.
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Once there we were greeted with a lovely lake, with the sand dune on one side, and thick forest on the other.
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On the way back along the beach we saw wild dingoes. I also saw a dingo rooting around later that evening near the 'resort' bar.
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The next day we headed inland, into the thick forest at the heart of the island, being thrown around in the back as the driver ponced around at the wheel. It was worth it though, when we arrived at Lake McKensie. White sand, beautiful clear freshwater, a lovely place to hang around. With such beautiful surroundings, it is common to have a lovely model posing for the camera. Sadly, you will have to make do with me
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From there, after a walk through the forest, it was back on the long and painful journey back to Brisbane. Ouch!

From Brisbane, the next evening I flew to Sydney, but stayed the night in one of those dull airport hotels, as the next morning I flew back to Auckland. It was nice to be back (absence makes the heart grow stronger I guess). I was back in my usual guesthouse in Parnell, so it was nice to catch up - I've now stayed in 3 of the 12 rooms! Parnell is definitely my favourite part of Auckland, attractive and convenient for the centre. I was a bit under the weather and feverish around this time, adrenalin and alcohol got me through!

I was back for Tim and April's wedding, held high in the scenic Waitakere Ranges. Being the true traveller, I had managed to work out how to get there by public transport (not easy in NZ I assure you), so the next day I boarded a train for Swanson where I got a taxi for the final journey to the venue.

The wedding was a lovely, informal occasion. I won't steal Tim and April's thunder by showing my photos yet, suffice to say the dress was simple and stylish, though I had expected April to wear it rather than Tim! Seriously, Tim was wearing something far more shocking, a suit and tie!!! I think he should be made to come to work like that, what do you think Pitt? Tim's brother Andrew is a winemaker, and he provided the wines. Naturally I had to give them a thorough testing (I'm not into snap judgements), and I'm happy to conclude that after a comprehensive evaluation, they're very good!

The next day, I visited the Auckland museum again to see the bits I missed back in January. The highlight was a realistic simulation of Auckland being destroyed by a dramatic volcanic eruption - created by a South Islander no doubt! From there I strolled down to Mink bar, to meet up with the wedding party again for the post wedding rendezvous, then coincidentally later met up again in the same venue with another of my kiwi relatives, Emily.

After this frenetic kiwi interlude, back to Oz again (a horrible flight over the Tasman, very turbulent, though the Air NZ plastic cutlery was very good, so I kept it for future use). In Sydney again, I visited the brilliant aquarium - probably the best I've been to (and there've been many).

The next day I headed out of town to the Blue Mountains on the train. There I based myself in Katoomba in a charismatic B&B (i.e. old and run down, but in a nice way!), and enjoyed the stunning scenery.
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As this was ANZAC day, a public holiday, everywhere was crowded, with lots of families everywhere. Near Katoomba is Scenicworld, with a the world's steepest incline railway down into the valley (this used to be used for coal), a cable car up and down and one over the top with a see through floor in the middle! All good fun, but it was nice to get away from this commercialism and see some of the stunning beauty for myself. These are the famous Three Sisters.
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There are lots of beautiful walks in the area, away from the 'coach stops' the crowds quickly disperse. The following day (today) I visited Wentworth falls, walking along the Charles Darwin Walk (he walked along this path in 1836, albeit in somewhat harder conditions!) to get there, then taking various walks around (and partially under) the cliffs. Quite strenous at times, but stunning vistas.
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Anyway, that's more than enough from me. I fly to Asia (Singapore) tomorrow (Thursday) to start the next phase of my adventure. The weather in the Blue Mountains was pretty cold at night, but I can safely say I won't be needing my fleece for a few weeks now!

Mike

Crocodile Conway

Greetings from Brisbane. I can't get back in my hotel, as the fire alarm has gone off (someone burned some sausages) and nobody can find the key to turn it off! Basil Fawlty has emigrated down under it seems!

I last emailed you from Darwin. Darwin is a fairly dull looking city (not surprising really, as it was flattened by a cyclone 30 years ago), but it is a good base for exploring the dramatic scenery around it at the top end of Australia.

After a quiet Sunday (the whole city was feeling lethargic, with lots of people lazing in the sun, or drinking in cafes), the next 2 days were taken up with all day excursions.

The first concentrated on the wildlife. In the morning, I visited the NT wildlife centre, where the highlight was stroking Erica the Wallaroo (a species of kangaroo) under the chin, and in return having my arm licked.

Moving on to less cuddly creatures, next was the crocodile farm, where crocs are bred for their leather (and meat). These crocs are harvested at 3, whereas the lucky ones are the breeding ones, many of which are very old, and very big (5 metres!). The slightly shy creature below starred in Crocodile Dundee! (what ever happened to Paul Hogan?)
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Naturally, I had to try some crocodile while I was there. The croc leg I had was fried in breadcrumbs, and was like an old, tough chicken drumstick.

Continuing the croc theme, we moved on to the Adelaide river, for a cruise down it's croc infested waters, made all the more 'interesting' as the banks had overflown, and we had to wade across to our vessel...happily everyone made it on board, with all limbs intact! The attraction here, is that they dangle meat from a fishing rod into the water, and get the crocs to jump for it! (see below)
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This is normal behaviour for crocs. Yours truly also 'won' the right to do this too, my effort wasn't quite as good as the pros, but my 80+ y/old croc got her feed!

I was very lucky with the weather during this period, which was dry throughout, as Darwin hadn't finished the wet season yet, and the surrounding area was very wet. As a result of this I gave Kakadu a miss, but went to Litchfield instead, another National Park.

Litchfield is full of beautiful waterfalls and wilderness. It also has some enormous termite mounds - the cathedral mound towers above me!
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The last picture features cycads, and ancient fern from the beginning of plant life, and a wild hibiscus. Incidentally, while wallowing in a rock pool, I bumped into a couple from my Ocean Road trip, while I kept bumping into two English guys from the Uluru trip throughout the day - parts of rural Australia are like that, it doesn't matter who you go with, you all end up at the same places!

From Darwin I flew east to Cairns. The flight left at a painful 6am - at 4.15 I was in the airport bus, watching people staggering out of clubs! My contrast to Darwin, the weather here was pretty dreadful, hot and humid, with large amounts of heavy rain.

Cairns is another nothing place, people come here to see the Great Barrier Reef. Before doing that, I took a day trip to Kuranda, a rainforest town high in the hills. This turned out to be a cracker of a day.

First, was the Kuranda scenic railway, a highly enjoyable ride, as we slowly wound our way up the hill, past dramatic waterfalls and lush rainforest. The railway line was built by hand, to serve the gold mines, an impressive feat.
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Kuranda is very touristy, but is a very pleasant place nethertheless (despite the constant showers!). Amongst the attractions are Birdworld, an amazing aviary full of jungle birds darting around, an informative butterfly sanctuary, and the koala gardens. There are plenty more attractions there for another day!

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The silly _expression above, is due to the second bird perched on my arm flying off suddenly, the blur was caused by it landing on my camera instead!

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Cute koala picture!

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Mother kangaroo with giant joey stuffed in her pouch!

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This is the same pair....

The great thing about Kuranda, is that the journey there is part of the day out. Returning to Cairns, I took the Skyrail, a cable car that takes you over the rainforest! The views from above are stunning, you get a wonderful look at the forest canopy. Photos don't do it justice.
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As we rode higher into the sky, the mist closed in on us, giving an eerie feel. Unforgettable, and only slightly scary! There was even the chance to take short walk into the rain forest, where Queensland Kauri trees grow (Aussie cousins of the magnificent Kiwi specimens)
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By contrast, my trip to the Great Barrier Reef was a bit of a let down. Each to their own I guess. It started badly, as I felt a bit seasick on the way, so I took a tablet. This unfortunately made me very drowsy, so while everyone else was ready to rumble, I was ready to slumber! Waking myself up, I put on a wetsuit (sadly no pictures exist!) put on my flippers and snorkel, grabbed a bendy float and slumped into the water, to try a spot of snorkelling. The intention was the gaze down at the coral reef, admiring the fish and sea life. The reality was a lot of floundering around, and swallowing of disgusting sea water, so I soon gave up. In the afternoon, I stuck to the glass bottomed boat, where at least I stayed dry (until it started raining that is).

The finale to the day was a bit better though, as I booked a seat on a helicopter ride back into town. This got me out of the 1.5 hour trip back, but more importantly gave a chance to see the reef from above, a very impressive sight, as you get to see the scale of the reef, and contrast it's shallowness with the deep ocean all around it. I'd certainly recommend some sort of flight over the reef, as it's the only way to see the coral reef as an entity.

I'm now in Brisbane, another of those pleasant cities, without that many sights in town. The attractions are all outside, whether you fancy beaches (the gold and sunshine coast), theme parks (of which there are many) or Forest parks. Today I took a trip out to Lamington national park, and more specifically O'Reilly's a complex which swarms with tourists, but has an interesting and vertigo inducing canopy walk, and a number of longer trails that I didn't have time to do...
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A very hectic few days coming up, culminating in Tim and April's wedding this Saturday in Auckland! No rest for the wicked...

Mike

Lord of the Flies

G'day all. I am relaxing in sunny Darwin, so have a bit of time to recap the last couple of weeks and sort out my photos.

On my trip along the Great Coastal road from Melbourne to Adelaide, I took loads of pictures. Picking out a few of interest...

The beautiful beach at Gibson Steps just before the 12 Apostles
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The 12 Apostles, taken from the helicopter
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From the Tower Hill wildlife reserve, a few shots of koalas, emus and a grey kangaroo (the kangaroos only came out late in the day). Incidentally, the koala in the second picture cr*pped on us seconds later!
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Finally, a group shot late in the evening, showing me in the best light
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Yes, that's me behind the foot!

This is from the Port Adelaide vs Kangaroos Aussie rules game, with the Kangaroos kicking another 6 points. Mr Pitt, are you an Adelaide or Port Adelaide man?
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Having reached Alice Springs from Adelaide on the Ghan train, I spent the afternoon at the Desert Park, a very good desert wildlife park, before meeting up with a few of the lads from the Ocean Road tour for a beer. A couple of northerners joined us, Ian and Ian, and I would be seeing a lot more of them in the next few days...

The next day I joined a tour to see Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the 'red centre'. Quite a young crowd (many just out of university or about to go), but a good group. The first day was a long drive to Yulara, the Ayers Rock desert resort, where we stayed for 2 days. Deserting my customary 5 star luxury, and leaving my valet behind, I swagged it for this trip! (happy Greg!). Swags are a type of canvas sleeping bag with a simple mattress, and fully zipped up look like a body bag. With this I slept in the open, under the stars. The first night was quite pleasant, the second and third absolutely freezing with a howling gale and plunging temperatures! The camp ground was well equipped, with a fridge, kitchen/dining area and barbie (a stir fry on the barbie was a new one for me!) for each group, and a shared bathroom/toilet block, so it wasn't a complete wilderness experience, though the bathroom block had an impressive menagerie of nasty spiders including two deadly redbacks!

From viewing areas we saw the sunset at Uluru, then the next morning the sunrise.
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From here we moved on to Kata Tjuta, another impressive rock formation, where we did the stunning Valley of the Kings walk. The second picture shows the fly net I wore, as the flies were unbelievable, settling on all parts of the body, eyes, ears, nose...And no, I didn't see anyone with dangly cork hats!
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Incidentally, I met 'the Ians' at all 3 of these locations.

From here, we moved on to Uluru itself, visiting the interesting, though slightly sanitised visitor centre - lots about Aboriginal spirituality, little about the absolute poverty, alcoholism and hopelessness of much of their lives. Petrol sniffing has been a major problem, and unleaded has been taken out of many of the outback petrol stations as a result, which is a bit depressing. Alice Springs has quite an Aboriginal underclass, and parts are unsafe at night.

Uluru is a wonderful natural feature, a giant rock rising from the ground. It still has genuine spiritual significance for the local aboriginal tribe, so it shouldn't be climbed, but as well is an arduous and dangerous ascent. 2 weeks previously a 70 year old German man had fallen off running down, as he thought his tourist bus was going to leave without him! He's apparently now off the critical list, thus failing to make the 2006 Darwin awards...
We did the base walk around the circumference, which takes 2 - 3 hours. This was interesting, but frustrating. Many parts were closed off, with photography forbidden, as they were sacred to the local tribe, but no explanation was given why, so you ended up none the wiser about their customs and beliefs - the aboriginal people are very private about such matters.
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Next morning, we headed off to Kings Creek resort, where I tried a spot of quad biking (see below for obligatory silly photo) before heading off for the somewhat more majestic Kings Canyon.
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Kings Canyon is yet another amazing rock formation, and another long walk. It started with a painful climb up steep steps (heart attack hill, as it is delightfully known) before levelling out over the rocky peak. A tiring walk (it must be hell during the hottest months, as there's no shade up there), we enjoyed our grog and spag bog around the camp fire that night! On the way back to camp we just avoided 2 kangaroos on the road (a mother and joey) and watched as they hopped off down a side road, an amazing sight.
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The journey home the next day turned out to be quite eventful, as the 'special' bus we used to go on a side leg down a sandy road to Rainbow valley (not much to see, millions of flies) broke down! Our tour leader eventually got a lift back to collect our original bus, leaving us with a couple of hours of chatting and finding new ways to squash flies...

That night back in Alice Springs, we all went out for a night on the the town ending up in a dodgy bar (the Ians were there naturally), so getting up the next morning for my flight out was a bit painful (the Ians were at the airport too!). Now I'm in Darwin, right at the top of Australia.

Finally, a story with a relevant message, as we approach Easter. Back in Melbourne, 2 weeks ago, I was given, by one of those nice Grand Prix promo girls, 2 small easter eggs, one of which I ate straight away, the other I put in my bag for later. Last night, I was emptying out my bag, when I found the crushed remains of the egg, and the chocolate crumbs ground into the bottom of my bag...

The moral of the story. When you are given Easter Eggs this comigng weekend, stuff your face with them as quickly as possible, it's the safest option!

Mike

12 Apostles plus my first Roos!

Hello All
Just a quick update, as must dash. I last emailed you when I was in Melbourne. The next day, I left on a 3.5 tour along the ocean road. I had a great time, a good crowd of people and the scheduling worked well, as by leaving half a day after all the other tours, we missed the crowds. (Wayward tours was the operator). Quite a youthful crowd, so I fitted in well ;-)

Highlights include seeing the 12 Apostles (the famous rock formations in the sea) and taking a helicopter flight over them (a bargain at 25 pounds for 10 minutes), seeing London Bridge (another well known rock formation), Tower Hill wildlife reserve (not the one on the Circle Line) where I saw my first kangaroos, koalas, emus and an echidna! We also walked over cliffs, seeing seals and strange formations, saw sinkholes, forests, and visited an Aborginal centre where we tried a few bush plants that they use for food and medicine. An interesting first night in a locals pub too!

Culinary highlight was the bbq we had on the last night, in a bush lodge. Lots of grog, and a wide variety of food was made and cooked. Our veg kebabs were very nice, the cheap sausages and burgers were better than the cheap ones back home! My suggestion of sliced aubergine cooked in the juices left on the bbq tasted better than I expected!

The end of the road was Adelaide. That night, many of us continued the festivities, culminating in a local speciality, a pie floater - a meat pie in mushy pea soup. Just what you need after a night on the beers!

Adelaide is a small city, quite attractive and well laid out. The next day, I visited the Barossa wine region on a tour, but far more excitingly a group of us went out that evening to see an Aussie Rules Football game! The first of the season, Port Adelaide vs Kangaroos (a team from Melbourne) at the AAMI stadium. I really enjoyed it, the game was fast and exciting, and not as violent as I had expected! Well organised too, with shuttle buses to take you back to the centre, where I ended up taking to a West Ham fan from Romford!

After sightseeing the next day, I headed up to Alice Springs on the Ghan train, an overnight journey taking 20 hours. As I only had a seat, not overly comfortable...The scenery wasn't the most varied, lots of red soil/sand with half dead bushes over it, but it got me safely to the Red Centre, where I am now.

Alice Springs is very hot, and the flies are really irritating! Off to Uluru next, so off to grab some lunch first.

Mike