Koala Encounter (staged)

Tuesday 24^th February (last day in Brisbane area)

I settled on the bottle of XXXX Bitter, for a volume produced lager it was not a bad drink.  In this area XXXX is definitely the best selling Australian beer, you see it everywhere.

First thing today we started to pack, not such a big job for the next few weeks though as we are keeping the car and not having to check our luggage for a flight, therefore case weight and actually fitting everything into the three bags is not a problem.

Late morning we packed up a lunch and headed for the Lone Pines Koala Sanctuary, established in 1927 it advertises itself as the largest Koala Sanctuary in Australia and boast an impressive array of indigenous species in addition to the Koala.

First off when we arrived we headed for the Koala cuddling area and for $13 we had a photo taken of the three of us with a Koala, if you did not want to pay you could still get to cuddle, but taking pictures with your own camera was strictly prohibited unless you had paid for the official photo.  You can blame the Koala’s for that, the little dears have to eat!

After the Koalas we went and visited the Kangaroos, you could walk through an area with the Kangas in it and stroke them, even feed them if you had the foresight to buy a bag of Kanga food from the gift shop.  They were very placid and extremely tolerant.  We even got to witness a mummy and daddy Kanga having a go at making babies, much to Baggage’s delight.

Whilst there we also saw wombats, Tasmanian devils, echidnas, dingos, various snakes and lizards and a number of birds.

The sanctuary was more commercial than I had expected, but it was very relaxed and we enjoyed our time there, including our various close encounters.

Back to Deagon, a quick tea and then Baggage is off to Guides for her second visit to an Australian troop.  Again they make her very welcome and she has a great time.  Tonight they were making, cooking and then eating Kebabs and she came back feeling seriously stuffed.

A bit more packing and Baggage is off to bed now.  First bottle opened tonight Little Creatures (last tried in Margaret River, though I may have incorrectly named it Little Critters then).  I am saving the bottle of Blue Tongue for last.

Lost Baggage

Sunday 22^nd February

Today we are off to see Trish and Steve Chapple and girls who we know from when they used to live in Braunton.  They have been living about 60km north of Brisbane since them moved here from the UK last summer.

We get a reasonable start and the drive takes and hour getting us there just after 11am.

They live in a spot called Dicky Beach, from what we saw of it an ideal place to bring up a couple of children.  The community is large enough to offer all the facilities you require, but no so large that you feel your children need constant supervision.

We all take a walk to the local beach, where the wrick of the SS Dicky still lays, how the area got it’s name, then return to their house for our first taste of the Aussie Barbecue.

Barbecued steak, sausages and prawns, some OK beer, a fresh golden lager, and good company, oh yes and of course the sun, who could want for more?

We sit outside for both the barbecue and a chat, even though we spray for bugs and Steve lights citronella candles to keep them at bay they still feast on us.  By the time the bites start to itch I have over 20 on both my arms and my legs, tomorrow these will drive me crazy with the constant desire to scratch them no matter what I do to them.

The girls all play in next doors pool and Trish and Steve’s has been filled with mud following the recent heavy rains and is not getting cleaned out until tomorrow, after which Baggage and Emma hatch a plan for Baggage to sleep over that night.

We realise what Baggage has given up by travelling with us, whilst on the one hand she has the opportunity to experience some wonderful things, at the same time she gets little chance to relax and simply ‘hang’ with children of her own age.  We decide to give her the night.  We leave her there and the plan is to collect her tomorrow afternoon after she has had a chance to spend a reasonable amount of time with Emma.

Lisa and I drive back to Deagon and it does seem a little strange leaving her so far away from us, in a foreign country, after she has been living in our pockets for the past month.  On the way back we take a detour and check out Redcliffe, realising this is probably the only chance we will now get to see the town adjacent to where we are staying.

We get back to the house at 9:30, just a bit of time for a few emails and a quick bit of MSN before bed.

 

Monday 23^rd February

A change in our plans today, as we no longer have Baggage with us there is little point in us going to the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary, which is where we had planned to go, also we had to head back up north again to collect Baggage mid afternoon, as a result we decide to drive up to Noosa Head then return to Dicky Beach along the coast road.

First we make a quick trip into Sandgate and cash our remaining AUD travellers cheques and post the next instalment of our backup of photos back to the UK.  Also the all important restocking of the beer fridge, a couple of brews I had tried before: Beez Neez and Little Creatures, plus two new bottles to sample: Blue Toungue; XXXX Bitter.  Read on to see how these new ones score.

On the way up to Noosa we stop at the Ettamogah pub, a theme pub modelled on a popular Australian strip cartoon. Here I tried a small glass of a draught beer ‘Fat Yak’ would definitely drink it again.

Whilst stopped at Ettamorgah we also try our first traditional Aussie pie, I go for a curried steak and Lisa tries the steak and mushy peas, both are very good and nothing is left on our plates (well actually we ate them off paper bags, there were no plates involved).

After Ettamorgah we drive on up to Noosa then  head back for Dicky beach down the coast.  From Noosa on down everything looks pretty new, it suggests that whilst there may have been some settlement there the majority of the communities have grown up over the past few years, maximising the use of the superb beaches along this stretch of the coastline.  Heading back to Dicky Beach along the David Low Way we passed idyllic beach after idyllic beach, and very few of them had more than a handful of people dotted about the golden sand.

We collected Baggage just after 3:30, she had a great time.  This morning they went kayaking and then fished for a bit, she was the only one to catch anything, a small flat headed mullet which they subsequently released.

A quick drive back to the house, we then used up what was in the fridge for tea (we may all get food poisoning as the fridge door was not quite closed all day, I had put a bottle of milk in it that did not quite fit, hopefully not though, things did not feel that warm!).  Baggage then got some internet time before I kicked her off so I could use the computer and so we could talk to my mum and sister who were going to skype us from the UK.

Earlier night tonight I think, must be the heat but we are all very tired.

Have just had a bottle of beez neez, we know what that was like as first sampled it back in Perth, it is one of those beers that does taste better out of the bottle.

What shall I have next?

A few days near Brisbane

Thursday 19^th February

A bit of a lazy day.

We stay in the house until mid afternoon, catch up on washing, catch up with the Internet, sort the cases and check all the stuff we have purchased, sort stuff to keep out in the car as we will be using this car for 5 weeks, etc. etc. etc.

Lisa takes a quick trip out in the morning to identify the local Guide hall to see if we can get Baggage to visit, apart from that we are all in until well after lunch.

When we do go out we take a drive down into Sandgate, the adjacent area of Brisbane to take a walk along the seafront.  We find a nice café for dinner, I have a Moreton Bay bug and salad, Lisa has Octopus and a Greek salad and Baggage has grilled Snapper and salad.  All are extremely large portions, very well priced and very good.

After dinner we pay a quick trip to the local Woolworths for all our basic provisions and then return to the house.  Baggage has an early night and Lisa monopolises our one laptop.  I end up watching pretty mindless Australian TV.  Fine, I am pretty tired and this is about all I can cope with.

I feel more tired than I should considering the fact that I had a very good nights sleep last night, not sure at all why, but by 9pm I can barely keep my eyes open.

Whilst we were out I stocked up on beer, no interesting local brews found so I bought three large bottles of Tooheys: Old Dark, New, and Light.  Tonight I had the Old Dark, not at all a bad pint!

 

Friday 20^th February (another theme park)

A bit of a belated birthday treat for Baggage today as we spent most of her birthday travelling so we are off to Dreamworld.  About an hours drive south from here, past Brisbane towards the start of the Gold Coast.

We get there at park opening, 10am, the park is only open until 5pm so we wanted to ensure we got as long in there as possible.

First off we hit the two water rides, a white water raft ride and a log flume, both are tamer than we have experienced before, but OK.  We all get wet!

Next up is the Moto Coaster, the first roller coaster we have ever experienced where you are seated on a car that is a replica motorbike, in actual riding position, in order to ride it.  The theory is that the experience is similar to that experienced by riders in an actual Motogp race.  It is great, the track is smooth and the ride not dissimilar to the experience of sitting on a bike, however obviously you do nothing to guide it around the track…

Next to Nikelodeon land and a ride on the raptor coaster, a small hanging coaster that was OK, but aimed at small children really.  After this Charlotte stayed in Nickelodeon Land whilst Lisa and I went and road the Tower of Terror. 

Unlike it’s namesake in Disney Studios Florida this ride is not a dropping elevator.  You are loaded into a car at the foot of a track that goes very steeply up the Big Drop tower, the highest structure in the park, to a height of nearly 38 storeys, our car reached a speed of 156 kph.  You then return down the track backwards to break and stop at the point you departed from.  The entire ride takes a little over 10 seconds.  Definitely the highlight of the day for me.

A quick lunch and then Lisa and I take the train around the park whilst Baggage goes to the slime show in Nickelodeon Land, then to the Flowrider.

Flowrider is a continuous wave on which you can body board, we did not go to it with the intention of using it, we were actually heading to the park’s largest coaster, but when we got there the coaster had been closed as there was a storm coming in and Flowrider caught Baggage’s attention. She was up for a go, so we signed her up and she got changed into her costume.  The threatening storm came in and initially her session was delayed due to lightening, then when it did start I had to stand out in the rain in order to video her.  A session lasts half an hour and during that time she got about 6 rides, the session is shared with other riders.  She really enjoyed it and quite got the hang of it. Some of the more experienced riders were doing tricks and that was a bit out of Baggage’s league, but she was riding the wave well and only fell off once during the session, unlike some of the other novices who could barely stay on.

Due to the storm and delays by the time Baggage was off Flowrider it was nearly 4:30 so Baggage went straight to the closest ride that was open, the Claw, and rode it until it closed at 5pm.

When we eventually left the park we drove back to Sandgate and got a Domino’s Pizza for Dinner, not bad, but not Papa John’s.

After dinner a quick chat with Danny on MSN then some more mindless Australian TV, though this time I think it was a mindless UK documentary being screened over here.  Tooheys new accompanied it, far more acceptable than the program.

Saturday 21^st Febraury (a day out in Brisbane)

Today we decided to take the train into Brisbane, the line passes right past the end of the road and the train runs every half hour from a station less than 100 yards away, plus the cost is only $6 return so it was really not worth driving.

We caught the 9:47 train, getting us to Brisbane’s Southbank just before 10:30.

Southbank is a rejuvenated waterfront area, housing the majority of the cities galleries and museums, it also boasts Streets Beach, a man made sandy beach and swimming lagoon on the riverfront boardwalk.

Baggage had a quick paddle and got soaked in the Streets Beach area, luckily a shop nearby sold board shorts as she had nothing to change into so we had to pay that a quick visit before moving on.

We decided to visit the Museum of Modern Art as it had a hands on section for Children.  The hands on stuff was great and much of it worked at two levels, engaging both child and adult.  However I struggled with some of the other exhibits, but maybe I am simply not imaginative to see the art in an old turntable under a suspended light, or a painting ‘my child could do’!

After the Museum we take a ride on the Brisbane Wheel for a skyline view of the city, it is great and visibility is good, however as it is so quiet and there is not much loading going on the time we get on the wheel is much less than we expected, subsequently I do not get all the filming and photos I intended and leave somewhat dissatisfied.

Back to Streets Beach and we give Baggage a longer play, she meets up with a couple of girls her age with whom she quickly makes friends and we let her spend well over an hour there.  I use the opportunity to take a few photos in the area.

After her swim Baggage ends up travelling home in her board shorts and her coat as her other shorts and top are what she was swimming in.

We catch the 7:40 train back to Deagon getting us back to the house just before 8:30, a quick stirfry for dinner and tonight’s beverage is my last bottle of beer, the bottle of Tooheys Light. 

Time to try a different drinks outlet to see if I can get a local brew as now the fridge is bare.  In Oz so far it would appear that supermarkets do not sell drink, beer, wine or spirits, and that if you want it you go to a drinks outlet, many of which are drive through and geared up to you loading by the case.

Living on an Island

Tuesday 17^th February (What a difference a days makes!)

I was awoken at 6am by the birds singing in the trees and bushes all around our chalet.  When I post the pictures of Lady Elliot on www.beingbaggage.com you will get to see why this was a problem.  Not long after I awoke I heard a steady drumming start on the chalet roof, soon it was a constant roar as the heavens opened and what we were later told was the wettest day on Lady Elliot any of the staff could remember began.

We managed to take advantage of a quick lull to dash to the restaurant for breakfast, though it did not lull for long.

We spent most of the morning in our Chalet avoiding the rain, though at 12 we decided to take the glass bottom boat tour across to the second reef, after all it was only rain.  The boat trip started out OK but when we had been out for about fifteen minutes the wind turned and significantly increased in ferocity.  At this point most of the people on the boat had got off to snorkel along the reef, it was not long however before the skipper sounded the horn to call everyone back to the boat and cut the trip short due to the conditions we were now experiencing.

When we got back to the island Baggage had a quick swim in the pool before we went for Lunch.  Due to the weather the resort had decided to provide everyone with a free buffet for their lunch which was very welcome.  After lunch I used the time to catch up on some of the entries for the website, it was still poring.

The rain was so intense that all flights to the island were cancelled, eventually at about 4pm the two planes that had been stuck there earlier did get off though watching them on the grass landing strip as they accelerated to take off was like watching a motor sport race in the rain with water pluming out behind the plane.

As tomorrow is Baggage’s birthday we had arranged for a cake to be delivered to our table after dinner, so we went to dinner and were again joined by the girls from last night.  After the dinner the cake was bought out and we think caught Baggage completely by surprise.

After we had all eaten our fill of cake we went on a night walk with a member of staff to release a number of hatchlings on the far side of the island.  Even at this point it had not stopped raining, though by now it was only spitting.  As we walked over there all the paths were flooded and the wet conditions had bought all the tree frogs out, there chorus was intense.

Hatchling turtles head for the lightest part of the horizon, that is how they find the sea, however on Lady Elliot all the light of the small resort, even though they are limited, can disorient the turtles which is why we had found so many in strange locations the night before.  These we were to release had been gathered up the night before and we were releasing then on the far side of the island from the resort where it is very dark.

To affect the release a turtle tunnel was created, a row of people with torches pointed on the ground at the foot of the person in front.  When the turtles were released they would in theory then head down between the torch holders legs, the last torch holder standing in the sea.  In the main this was successful, however there were a few stragglers who struggled, one had a crushed flipper and eventually needed manual intervention to get him into the water. 

The tunnel concept with the turtles finding their own way to the sea is necessary as it is believed that it is at this time that the turtle takes it’s imprint of the earth’s magnetic field that it will use in 30 years time to find the beach on which it hatched where it will return to lay it’s own eggs.

In all we released 17 turtles, three were loggerheads and 14 were green turtles.

After the last turtle had finally reached the water we then had to extinguish all light before returning carefully back up the beach.

After the release we returned to the bar where we found another turtle hatchling wandering on the path so Baggage released that one, then later just as we were getting ready for bed Mariam and Rani knocked on our door with another one they had found and again Baggage went with them to help with the release.

Whilst with only a 1 in 1000 chance of survival to adulthood it is likely all we have done is created a bit of shark food there was something immensely satisfying about helping the poor stranded little critters on their way.

 

Wednesday 18^th February (Baggage’s Birthday)

Baggage came into us just after 7am, her earliest unaided waking for some time, I am sure she was encouraged by the thought there just might be a few presents waiting for her.

She was right there were a few, and a number of cards we had been given to bring before we left the UK.

A few presents were opened before breakfast, then we headed off to the restaurant.  The sky was patchy, but the sun was out and there was a lot of blue between the white puffy clouds.

After breakfast we finished the present opening and then had to pack up as we had to clear our room and get our luggage to the baggage area, we still had a few more hours to enjoy however as our flight was not until 2pm.

We decided to have one last snorkel off the far side of the island.  As we were walking over the sky darkened, as we were about to enter the water the wind picked up and the rain fell in buckets.  There was no way Baggage was going in the water so I accompanied her back to the resort swimming pool, Lisa, Mariam and Rani decided to go ahead.  Lisa only managed 15 minutes at most, the conditions were terrible and the visibility was so bad that it did not even make struggling against the waves worth it.  In fact before she got out the snorkelling area was deemed unsafe to snorkel and officially shut.  We all ended up back in the resort pool.

Whilst we were in the pool the rain stopped, by the time we got out from having lunch the sun was out and the temperature had reached the low 30s.  I took the opportunity of one last wander, camera in hand whilst we were waiting for our flight.

If we thought the plane on the way out was small, this one was teeny…  10 seats, including the one for the pilot and a flight back to Hervey bay at a much lower altitude than the flight out.  It was also much slower than the plane we had taken out to the resort.  Because of the low altitude however we could see some of the larger marine life (possibly sharks or dolphins) breaking the surface of the water below us and in the areas of shallower water we could see their black outlines against the lighter sandy bottom.

From Hervey bay we had a three hour drive to Deagon, a suburb of Brisbane and Emily house where we will be staying for the next week.

INTERNET !!!

At last we have a permanent net connection in our house, the first job I do is get our macbook connected and log onto skype, Baggage is expecting a call on her birthday from Grandma.

We will be here for a week and we will have the car we now have for five weeks so we can rethink how we pack and store some useful items in the car so we have them with us wherever we go, the Xtrail is great for the latter as it has storage bins in the back below the luggage floor.

Supper is bacon sandwiches, the bacon and bread being bought from the local corner shop, they are good too, after which we get baggage into bed for a reasonable night and we are not too far behind.

No beer reports for a few days now:

Whilst on Lady Elliot I sampled bottled beers, most of which I had already tried whilst in Australia, I even stooped to a bottle of Corona with a slice of lime as I was fed up with the Australian bottles I was drinking.  At some point tomorrow I will have to pay a visit to a local booze shop and refresh with a few bottles to see me over the stay in Brisbane.

Alice Springs then on to Queensland

Thursday 12^th February (more rock and a long roll)

Up at 5:30am, quickly dress and out of the hotel, the horizon is already lightening in the east.  20 minute drive to the best point to watch the sunrise and the light had by now spread a little further than the horizon, but the sun was still safely below and the rock still a very dark shade in the shadows.

To view sunrise at the rock you again stand with the sun rising behind you, the spectacle being the changing light on the face of the rock and the colours that brings to the rock.  The rock moves from a dark shadow to a vivid reddish brown, the changing angle of the sun making patterns with moving shadows as it goes.

After sunrise we continued to circumnavigate the rock, and Lisa had her first taste of driving in Australia, not sure why she chose now, but she just hopped in behind the wheel and said ‘I’ll drive’

Back to the hotel and a bite of breakfast before packing and setting out for Alice Springs.  Before leaving I filled the car with fuel, the highest price per litre I have paid since being in Australia, but still not as much as such a remote service station could have demanded.

288 miles, and between the first and last mile one single left turn.

The scenery also did not change much, we saw a couple of mountains in the distance, but basically we left the centre with a desert terrain on either sides of us and that was how we arrived in Alice, along the way it was only the frequency of trees dotting the vista that changed.  Service areas are about all you pass on route also, these consisting of a single petrol pump, some toilets and maybe somewhere to buy a bite to eat.

4 ½ hours later we arrived at the hotel in Alice, we are staying at the Crowne Plaza and it is just like any other Intercontinental the world over, that is fine, we are there for three nights and sometimes it is good to know what you will be getting and not to be disappointed when you get there.

Internet at last, not free but a reasonable rate so we sign up for 24 hours.

After sorting out and hand washing enough clothes to get us through until we next have a house in Brisbane.

A quick drive around and then it is time for Baggage to go to the local Girl Guide meeting.  As she is a Guide in the UK she has decided to visit as many guide troops on our travels as she can, this is the first such visit we have been able to organise.  She has a really great time, she exchanges email addresses with a new friend and has fun joining in with the local guide activities.

As it was getting late we decided to eat in the hotel, though they do have a very good Thai / Indian restaurant inside and we did have a very nice meal.  They even offered oriental flavoured but not ‘too spicy’ kids meals which suited Baggage fine.

Beer tonight was a bottle of James Boag’s Premium, a well liked beer in Australia, but far to gassy for a bitter drinker from the UK.

Back to the room and a jostle for Internet access before a reasonable night, we had all been awake since 5:30 after all (apart from Lisa who stole a little shut eye in the car!).

 

Friday 13^th February

Not too early up, breakfast in the hotel, a little more Internet time then out to see what is about.

First stop the Alice Springs Reptile House.  Quite a small set up but well presented and we all got to handle a number of the reptiles, mainly lizards, though there was one snake and even I, with my fear of the slithering ones, had  go.

The Alice Springs reptile house had made the news around the world last year, we caught it whilst in Florida. When a 7 year old boy had got in over a wall early in the morning whilst it was closed and had killed a number of the reptiles.  Security footage showed he had narrowly missed his own end when he had tried on a number of occasions to climb into the salt water crocodile’s enclosure.

After the reptile house we grabbed a bite of lunch before heading out to take a look at the School of the Air, the uniquely Australian venture that delivers education to children in remote areas, these days via computers and satellite, but as recently as 2001 was still relying on a wireless delivery using a radio system.

Back to the hotel for a cool off then out for a camel ride in the foothills of the Macdonnell  range.  The camel ride was great, it lasted an hour and the route was circular with only a short exception so you got a good look t the area.  I shared a camel with Baggage who was very nervous at first and talked constantly as a result, but after we had been riding for a while settled down.

An hour was quite long enough, a camel has a significant girth and when I got off at the end of the ride it took a while before I could no longer feel the camel in place.

A quick supper at the local KFC rounded out the day.

 

Saturday 14^th February (Cupid found us in Australia)

A more relaxing day today.  We got up had breakfast in the hotel then headed out to take a look at the Royal Flying Doctors visitors centre.  We grabbed lunch here as they had a great café then headed into the town for a climb up Anzac hill.  Baggage struggled to get to the top, we need to get a bit fitter before we reach New Zealand, so I ended up walking back down and getting the car to pick her up from the upper car park.

Next stop the centre of Alice Springs and a walk through Todd Mall, here we bought a couple of souvenirs from the shops and a original Aboriginal painting direct from the artist after a bit of haggling by the roadside.

Back to the hotel and Baggage had a quick swim whilst I made use of the Internet to update the website before we went out to dinner.

Dinner tonight was at Bojangles, a traditional frontier town saloon on the main street in Alice Springs which has served the people of the area since the early 20th century.  You can watch the diners at Bojangles via www.bossaloon.com.au, there are a number of web cams around the saloon and a live feed moves between them on the website.  Dinner was Bo’s Big Grill: Bufallo Steak, Kangaroo Fillet, Camel Kebab, EMU sausage and Crocodile Rissole, one with chips and one with mash plus and empty plate so baggage could be fed off our plates and try everything, and she did, she had a go at everything that was on offer.  We did very well, with the exception of a bit of sausage and rissole Lisa left we ate it all.  For pudding we shared a ‘Chocolate Indulgence’ a large plate of everything chocolaty.

To go with my dinner I have a couple of glasses of NT (New Teritories) draught which I really enjoyed, shame I doubt I will be able to get this when I get over to the East coast.

Back to the hotel and it is time to pack and let Baggage hit the Internet before we get a reasonable night.

Whilst we have been in Alice Springs the Impaja Cricket Festival has been going on and our hotel is full of state cricket teams from the corners of the country.  Considering the number of them, and the noise they have been making early in the evening they were remarkably quiet at night, or if not we were so tired nothing would have disturbed us.

I have heard nothing from Perth Council about my appeal against the parking violation, so today I logged a repeat appeal through their website this evening.

 

Sunday 15^th February  (moving on again!)

Up at a reasonable time, breakfast and check out.  A quick stop at Target in town to get some essentials for our time on Lady Elliot then to the airport.  I forgot to fill up the car before returning it so I will just have to pay up the additional charge for not bringing it back full!

Our flight was 11:45 and the small airport was heaving, mainly cricket teams and supporters heading out of the area.  Alice Springs offers only one flight to most Australian destinations per day.

The flight leaves on time and it is a pretty uneventful flight, we arrive in Brisbane at 2:50 local time, half an hour ahead of Alice Springs.

We clear the airport reasonably and within the hour are driving out onto the M1 on our Nissan Xtrail ST.  I had decided to go for a more up market car this time as we will be living with it for the next 5 weeks and driving all the way down to Melbourne before we leave Australia for New Zealand.

The drive from Brisbane to Hervey bay where we are staying tonight ahead of our flight to Lady Elliot Island takes 4 hours including stops, the only notable point is the fact that the sat nav is no longer talking to us, Lisa dropped it on Saturday, broke the on off switch and seems to have deprived it of it’s voice.

The temperature here is similar to that we have been used to since arriving in Australia, though it is different, as the days draws to a close the humidity sets in and by the time we arrive in Harvey bay you feel you could cut the air with a knife.  The other notable thing is the scenery, very green, unlike what we have seen in either WA or the Northern Territories.

We arrive at our hotel just after 7, we have booked into a Best Western Motor Lodge, we are only in it for one night and this is just fine.  We have an early start in the morning as we have a plane to catch out to the island at 08:10.

Before we hit the sack we have to sort our baggage and pack the bags we are taking with us tomorrow, the rest of our luggage will be staying in the car at Hervey Bay airport.

After unpacking I have a bottle of Cooper’s pale ale, I am sure the glass of milk I will have when I finish writing this will be enjoyed more!

Monday 16^th February (Living on an Island)

Today we fly out for the start of our brief stay on Lady Elliot Island, one of the few islands in the Great Barrier reef that offers the facilities for a residential stay.  Established as an ECO resort, Lady Elliot can support up to 100 residents at a time, there is a light aircraft airstrip for getting them on and off and it offers a great base to explore what the Reef has to offer.  Lady Elliot is situated at the southern end of the Reef, thus for us considering our onward plans was ideal.

We get up early as our flight to Lady Elliot is at 8:10 and we have to check in at 7:40, though the airport is only 15 minutes from our Harvey Bay hotel and therefore we do not have to get up ridiculously early.

The flight is great, a prop engine light aircraft that can carry 15 passengers, though at a tight squeeze.  We take off on time from Hervey Bay, make a quick stop at Bundaberg to take on two more passengers and fuel and then arrive at the island at just after 9.  Lisa felt a bit sick on both legs of the flight and Baggage was stressed out as she was desperate for the toilet by the time we arrived on the island, I loved every minute of it.

When we arrive at the island the sun is shining, temperature about 32 with a light cooling breeze.

A quick orientation on the island and then we collect our scuba gear just in time for an introductory scuba lesson in the pool.  After the lesson it is time to go directly to the lagoon and see what we can find.  The water is crystal clear and just feet off shore is teaming with small, colourful, fish.  I say small but even in the close confines of the beach we are seeing fish more than one foot in length.  The most impressive fish we see in the lagoon today is a Picasso Fish whose abstractly coloured back is shining in the sun light.

After a quick snorkel we grab a bite of lunch at the café, again as in the Red Centre I am pleasantly surprised, we are a totally captive audience for the café yet they make no attempt to rip you off.  Up front there is an apology that some prices may be a little high, but I see no evidence of it, in fact in some instances prices are cheaper than we have been paying on the mainland.

After lunch we head for the far side of the island to snorkel in the deeper waters, however there is a strong breeze here pushing away from the shore so after a brief spell in the water we head back for the lagoon.

At 3pm we take part in a fish feeding session in the lagoon, the fish have been fed at the same time in the same spot for 29 years and they know it is coming, they gather in anticipation and frenzy around the feeder as soon as someone carrying a bucket enters the water.

Baggage now has a quick swim in the pool then we head to the education centre for a session on turtles as now is the nesting and hatching season and we are hopeful we may get to see some turtle activity tonight so want to know what to look out for and how to behave around the turtles.

Dinner and breakfast are part of the resort package at Lady Elliot and the food is great.  There is a well stocked buffet with a good variety of choices on offer.

After dinner we go for a quick walk to see if we can see anything happening on the beach, though with the exception of a number of crabs we see nothing of note.

We take part in an island trivia session later in the evening, it is good fun, Baggage treats it as part of her education session and befriends a couple of girls, Mariam and Rani, from Brisbane who we find on our team.  Possibly a bit of ‘sister replacement’ here as they are not dissimilar in age to her big sis’.

As the trivia is wrapping up a small turtle hatchling is spotted lost and confused and being attracted by the lights of the bar rather than the low horizon out to see.  He is collected up and with a bit of help set on his way.  As we are heading back to the bar another is found, and then another is seen who does not appear as disoriented as is making his own way to the sea.

We have a further sit in the bar and then just as we re about to go to bed we find another one again lost on the path, now it is our turn to help him start his journey.  Just as we are heading back up the beach we find the two girls we were talking to earlier heading towards us with another two they had found on the path, another successful release to the sea followed.

We then return to our chalet, adult turtles are expected on the beach after midnight tonight as they come over the reef at high tide to climb the beach and lay their eggs, we decide to put Baggage to bed and then wake her later if we see anything going on. 

About half an hour later I take a walk up the beach and meet a couple who have just seen a large loggerhead digging her nest, by the time Lisa and I get there she is well into her laying cycle.  We wake baggage and bring her to see, at first she is a bit spooked being out in the dark and by the size of the turtle we are watching, probably more than 4 feet long across the top of her shell.  By the time Baggage has arrived the turtle has finished laying and is burying her eggs, the burying and preparing the nest for leaving takes about an hour after which she turns herself and heads back to the sea.  During the retreat to the sea it is safe to get a few photos, though you have to be careful earlier as any light can disorient her and send her off into the middle of the island when she is ready to return to the water.

The entire process is fascinating, it is not every day you get to watch nature at work in such a way.

It is probable that the turtle we were watching hatched out on Lady Elliot around 30 years ago, she will have spent the past 30 years cruising the currents in the Pacific and only now returns to her place of hatching to lay her own clutch of eggs and thus the process repeats.

We finally return to our chalet at 1:30am, it does not take any of us long to fall asleep tonight.

A rather large rock - and other stuff!

Sunday 8^th Feb

Today we stayed in Margaret River to visit a couple of the wineries and generally chill out before we head back north and fly to the Red Centre.

Firstly we went to Voyager Estates, the gardens at the winery are spectacular and well laid out, the winery itself is very well established and welcoming.  Here we restricted ourselves to tasting the reds as it was a bit early on a Sunday afternoon to be working through their catalogue.

After Voyager we went next door to Leuwin estates as we had been advised we could join a wine making tour here, again a wine tasting, this time Lisa hit the full array but I held back on a few being the ‘designated driver’.  Of the two estates I preferred the wines we sampled at Leuwin, though the layout of the Winery at Voyager was much better.

After Leuwin we returned to Voyager to buy Baggage a bottle of grape juice and film the next instalment of her video diary for the website.

After the wineries we returned to the hotel as it was time Baggage did a bit of school work, and on a Sunday afternoon too.  Whilst this was happening I caught up on Website work, two new videos were created ready for posting.

Dinner tonight was back over at Settlers, the lure of Internet connectivity too great to let us try somewhere different, anyway the food and beer here were both very good.  I tried two new beers tonight the first was Tooheys New which was OK, the 2^nd was Little Critters, a very good draught pint and amongst the best I have had so far, will definitely have that one pulled again if I come across it in a bar.

Monday 9^th February (another day another journey)

Today we got up promptly in order to be out of our suite by 10am.  The first stop was The Margaret River beverage company, here was Baggage’s opportunity to do some tasting of her own.  The drinks were all fairly exotic soft drinks, including the more traditional Berry and the Grapefruit with Lime and Bitters, both of which were her favourites and we ended up buying a bottle of each for her to drink in the car.  We were very tempted to buy more as they were very good, but with flying again tomorrow anything we bought had to be drunk today.

Their Ginger beer was particularly good and their Cola with Chili had a real kick.  Baggage struggled with the latter.

It was great for her to get the full tasting treatment, a selection of bottles, a small tasting glass and an explanation of every drink she was trying from the proprietor of the business.

After leaving Margaret river we drove up to Bunbury to visit the Dolphin Discovery centre again and see if we could have a bit more luck in seeing a dolphin or two, it was not to be, no Dolphins had been seen at the centre since Friday, the weekend we are passing though just happens to be when they decided to pack their bags and take an Indian summer break.

Next stop Mandurah and an Apple store to see if they have got iLife 09 in yet, I had been checking all week.  No luck here either, I will have to wait and get it when we are in Brisbane.  I am keen to get a copy as some of the new features added over 08 which I currently use should enhance the production of Baggage videos.

Then finally on up to Perth Airport and the Country Comfort hotel where we are spending the night before we fly in the morning.  The hotel is fine, the room comfortable, though definitely not the best value we have enjoyed so far. (pretty basic and not cheap).

After sorting the bags ready for flying tomorrow and the girls having a swim we went out to dinner, we found a nice seafood restaurant, the Red Cray where we had a nice meal, total cost $70 for the three of us including drinks, not bad.  Another beer added to the list, Beez-Neez, a beer from Victoria with the addition of Honey, OK but I will not be seeking it out when we get to Melbourne.

All over the news today are the Victoria bush fires, raging all around Melbourne and into central Victoria, so far in excess of 130 people are being counted as dead and the entire area has been declared a disaster zone.  We will be entering into that area in just over three weeks as we fly from Melbourne after a week on the Victoria coast at Mt. Martha, fires are not too far from where we will be, not sure what we will find when we get into that area?

After dinner back to the hotel and a chance for us all to catch up with our writing.

Tuesday 10^th February

Today we fly to Ayers Rock (Uluru) and we were very lucky it was not a total fiasco.  As far as our itinerary was concerned the flight was at 12:30, so no great rush in the morning, however as we picked up our car in the morning at 9am if we got it back at 9am we would avoid an additional day hire charge, so we decided not to hang about in the morning, get to the airport, return the car and then get ourselves some breakfast.

When we got into the terminal we decided to check our baggage and go through to departures then settle down for our breakfast, however on checking the baggage we found our flight time had been changed from 12:30 to 10:55, if we had not returned the car early and decided to get breakfast at the airport we would have turned up a couple of hours early at around 10:30 and would no way have made our flight, with only one flight a day from Perth to Ayers rock that would have been it and we would have to have spent another night in Perth rather than at our hotel in the desert.

We arrived at Ayers Rock airport at 1:40 and cleared the airport pretty quickly, only a small airport and with most people being met by coach and almost everyone going to the Ayers Rock Resort, the airport was pretty small and relatively quiet.  Our car this time is a Toyota Corolla, and whilst a bit bigger than our Ford Focus it is not as convenient with our luggage, our three cases fit in the boot of the Focus with the parcel shelf out we need to put one on the back seat of the Corolla.

The first thing you notice as soon as you leave the sanctuary of the airport buildings is the flies, I guess at other times it may be the heat and the flies, but it was only the flies for us as the temperature on our arrival was barely above 30 degrees.  The flies are attracted to you and before you know it you are the centre of your own private swarm.  Throughout our stay at the rock we were constantly bothered by flies, but you very soon get used to them, whenever you stand still for more than a few seconds outside in the sun they are there.

The next thing that struck me, never having driven a Japanese car before was the fact that they cannot seem to get the indicator and windscreen wipers on the correct side, consequently whenever I wanted to turn I gave the windows a quick wipe and in some cases then missed the indication altogether, hopefully by the time we get to slightly busier roads in Alice Springs I will have gotten used to this, but at the time of writing this (evening of day 2 at the rock) I am still doing it with regularity.

Only a 5 minute drive from the airport to the hotel and an easy check in, our room is very good, spacious with a big bathroom and two double beds.

And so to our first purchase, before I had even got all the cases out of the car, three fly nets that fit over your hat and at least keep the flies off your face.  A great investment of $26 for the three, if ever there was one!

We spent a little while in the room and grabbed a quick snack then headed for the national park.  $25 for a three day park pass, only Lisa and I had to pay, ideal.

A quick visit to the visitors centre then we made our way to the base of the rock for a walk.  I guess the rock is what I expected, a large lump in the middle of a flat landscape, I can see why it is considered so significant for the region and am glad I made the effort to see it, hopefully the photos will be great, however it held no surprises for me.

The walk was good, we got to see a few cave painting, though I was surprised how little has been done to protect them considering the cultural significance Australia places on them.

After the walk we drove to the official sunset viewing area and waited on the sunset.  Sunset viewing for the rock is with the sun setting behind you and the changing light on the rock, both in angle and intensity, producing the effect that is so prized.  As the sun goes down the rock moves through shades of brown, from a vivid red to a dark almost muddy brown and as the sun changes angle the patterns on the face of the rock vary immensely.  Many photos were taken which I have yet to see.

After sunset we returned to the hotel and grabbed a bite to eat in one of the restaurants.  The food was good and well priced, in fact one of the things I have been impressed with here is that you are not ripped off as you have no where else to go.  The supermarket at the resort is the only one for more than 150 miles yet the prices of food were not that much more than they had been in Perth.

The plan was an early night and then up to see sunrise at the rock.  We got the early night but after Baggage had us all up feeling sick and with diarrhoea I killed the alarm clocks and we decided to put seeing the sunrise off for 24 hours.

Wednesday 11^th Feb (another day another rock!)

Today we eventually got up just after 8 and managed to get out of the hotel by 10.  First stop Kata Tjuta (The Olgas).  We decided to go for the Wampa Gorge walk as this is the most gentle and we were not sure how Baggage would cope.  Wampa Gorge is about an hours drive from the hotel and the walk takes an hour, the biggest worry was whether we would need to do an emergency stop for the toilet, and in the desert that meant a carrier bag and toilet roll being carried in the car!

Another first for us, just after we left the hotel car park we saw a mini tornado moving through the bush at the side of the road, picking up the sand in a swirl and thowing the small scrub up into the air and onto the road, as we drove past it nicely sand blasted the side of the car.  I am sure it was too small to officially be called a tornado, the column of whirling debris standing no more than 10 feet tall from the ground.

To take Baggage’s mind off the way she was feeling we decided to listen to the first of the Harry Potter audio books that we had bought with us whilst in the car.  The drive to Kata Tjuta took almost exactly as long as the first disk, leaving us arriving at the rocks wondering what was to happen to the young lad left on the doorstep (as if we had no idea!).

When we got there Baggage was up for the walk so we set out, expecting to get a short distance and then be returning to the car, as it was she got almost to the end before she felt she wanted to go back as she was starting to feel very tired.

Of the two sites, Uluru is more awe inspiring as it is a single rock of immense proportions standing in the middle of a very flat and featureless landscape, however Kata Tjuta, I felt, offers far more to look at.  The gorge we walked into has vegetation at its base, not just a bit of scrub, but quite a lush little oasis, and the sides of the gorge rising up above you on both sides is a sight to behold.

I guess of the rocks did not surprise me when I saw them the terrain did, I am not sure what I expected but I do know I did not expect the landscape to be as covered in bush growth as it is, there are desert trees growing in all directions, not as a thick forest, but spread out as if spaciously planted in a well maintained garden.  Everything underneath is obviously red, the colour of the underlying sandstone on which the entire region is based.

After Kata Tjura we returned to our hotel for a rest out of the heat and a spot of lunch, before heading out again.

This time we set out for the Uluru Cultural centre to join a dot painting workshop we had signed up for.  The workshop was an hour and a half, during which time an Aboriginal woman explained the meaning of a number of the key symbols they use and the history of dot painting was explained.  We were then shown how to create a dot painting, given a small piece of canvas and allowed to get on with it, we all created our own mini Aboriginal masters, surely to be hung when we finally get home.

After the dot painting, once again back to the hotel for a swim and then out to dinner, we went back to the same  café as last night as the food was good and there was a reasonable variety to choose from.

And so our second day at Ayers rock draws to a close, with a bit of luck we will get up in time for the sunrise in the morning …

Moving on and more beer!

Friday 6 February

Our last night in Mandurah and it is hard to express the mixed feelings I have.  When we were planning this trip a week in a place seemed plenty, in fact I was not sure we actually wanted that long, but also did not want to be constantly on the move, yet a week has gone by very quickly and we are now back in suitcases and ready for our drive to Margaret river, in fact today has predominantly been about the fact that we are moving on.

I definitely do want to move on and see what is around the next corner, yet also am very aware of how short our time here has been and yet how this is typical of the time we are spending in many places as we progress on our route, will the whole trip seem to be a succession of moving on, I guess it is up to us to ensure it is not.

This morning Baggage and I went to the library and she caught up on her email, we then did a bit of shopping, including my bargain of the trip so far, three wide brimmed straw hats for just over £6 for the three.  These we wanted as disposable items for Lady Elliot Island as we have been advised that the local bird population is extreme and delights in decorating your head and shoulders as you move around the island.

After lunch we went down to Mandurah harbour to hire a boat for an hour, but when we got there found out it was really too windy to be taking one out…  As a consolation prize we went to Abingdon model village which is just outside Mandurah.  This was smaller than I expected but we enjoyed our time there and had a game of miniature golf whilst there which we all also enjoyed.

Dinner tonight was at Ciccerellos, a local fish and chip chain, we went for a set family dinner and there was far more food than we could eat, all of it very good.  With dinner I clocked up another local beer, EMU, bit of a gassy lager, think I will give that a miss in future.

After dinner we went for a drive into the canal section of Mandurah, then beyond that to the coast and took a pleasant walk on the beach to work of dinner.

Now back at the house we have a couple more tasks to do tonight after Baggage is asleep, including wrapping her birthday presents as she will be sharing a room with us for the next 11 nights, right up to her birthday and thus wrapping her presents then will be a bit of a challenge.

Tonight’s beer is Carlton Draught, again pleasant enough but nothing to write home about.

Saturday 7^th February (Moving on!)

Once again we have to vacate a property by 10am, this will become the way of things over the next few months.  We were actually away by 10:10,  not too bad really.

From Mandurah we are headed down to Margaret River the heart of the South West’s wine growing region.

Our first stop on route was the Dolphin  discovery centre in Bunbury, this is based in a small bay that Dolphins frequent, as many as 100 Dolphins are known to be in the vicinity, however today they were all elsewhere, no dolphins had visited the Interaction zone, where you can stand in the water and they swim around you that morning, however on a notice board where they record the week’s interactions it was clear that this is not the norm.

Even without the dolphins paying us a visit we still spent an hour there, the centre has a very informative display about dolphins and we also saw a film about the dolphins in the bay.  Our entry fee gives us entry until the end of Feb so we may drop in and see if there are any dolphins about as we drive past on Monday, I guess they do this as they have no control over when the wild dolphins will choose to perform.

From Bunbury we drove on to Busselton and paid a visit to the longest pier in the Southern Hemisphere, here we enjoyed and ice cream and Baggage had a paddle in the sea.  This is the weekend of the annual Busselton jetty swim, however the actual swim is on Sunday so all we saw was the preparation for it and a number of the contestants training in the water in preparation for the swim tomorrow.

We finally arrived at Margaret River at 3:30, we are staying in the Margaret River hotel, though not in the main building, in the suites out the back.  The suite is fine it is one room with a dividing wall, so whilst Baggage does not have her own room we are not quite so ‘on top’ of each other as we were in Hong Kong.  There is a funny smell in the room however, possibly cleaning products or a chemical toilet system?

A quick visit to the information centre, Lisa and Baggage find a scrap booking shop,  and then we go out for a drive to a scenic woodland drive.  The drive to the scenic drive is scenic enough, about 15 km, most of it through woodland and when we get to the scenic drive we had targeted we found it to be an unsealed road and fairly rough, not sure the little Ford Focus will handle it so we give that a miss.

Back into Margaret river and then out to dinner, we went to a bar called settlers where the food was great, the beer, James Squire, the best to date and they had free wireless internet for patrons which kept baggage very happy.  It also enabled Lisa and I to catch up on our email…

Another visit to the Library...

Wednesday 4 February

Another quiet day today and a chance for Charlotte to catch up on some school work.  I took the opportunity this morning of spending some time at the library for more Internet updates, it is a thriving work community there, free wi-fi draws a crowd and they are all sat in a row conducting their separate business on their own laptops.  I joined the throng.

After lunch we took a drive out up the coastal route to Rockingham.  Most of the communities you come across here are fairly new, as recent as 10 years ago you would probably have found not a lot more than sea and dunes.  These show absolutely no resemblance to the recent American communities we are used to however, the Australian way seems to be that you buy a plot of land and then build your house on it, consequently all the properties are individual and the communities whilst being very new are unique and interesting in their own right.  Properties drawing from traditional Spanish architecture are alongside contemporary designs bustling with glass, an English country cottage alongside a typical new build home.  The communities are being built along the shore with the first phase of each development enjoying shore front positioning with great views and easy access to the beach, as the community then grows it builds out landwards.

As always timing is everything, we found the ferry boat to Penguin Island, ten minutes after the last ferry for the day sailed.  On the way back to the house we were delayed by a bush fire that was pretty well out when we past it but we could see evidence of the burn on both sides of the road and in the central reservation, it also was not too far from a built up area.

A quick trip to the library to give Baggage a bit of time on-line and I then paid a further visit to the local beach to catch the sunset photograph I found just a little too late last night.

That is it for the day, now onto the beer..

So far since being here I have tried:

Swan Breweries draught – OK

Tasmanian Bitter – Quite nice

Tooheys Extra Dry – Very Good, first bottle sampled whilst on the boat around Mandurah harbour, so good I bought a few bottles for the fridge, tonight’s is a .7l bottle, so a good couple of glasses in that one…

Thursday 5 Feb

Today we drove into Perth again to have another attempt at getting to Perth Mint and to take Charlotte to the Perth discovery centre (Sitech).  For once we made a good start getting away from the house at 8:30 and arriving in Perth before 10.  Parking was a bit of an issue, though we managed to find a space on the roadside not far from the Mint.

The Mint was really good, the exhibits were excellent and the guided tour well worth doing, the gold pouring was also something well worth seeing if you have not seen such an activity before.  In total we were at the Mint for about an hour and a half, though as I had paid for two hours parking that should have been fine.  On returning to the car however I found a ticket under the windscreen wiper, a $50 fine for parking facing the oncoming traffic.  It was only at this point I noticed that every other car was parked with the traffic flow, however there is no signage to say this has to be the case, you just have to know, great if you learn to drive in Australia but I wonder how many other foreigners get caught with that one?

There was an opportunity to appeal printed on the ticket so I took it directly to the council offices and lodged my appeal for leniency on the grounds of me simply being an ignorant grockle (Devonian for tourist). My appeal was accepted and I will be notified within 7 days of the outcome.

We then drove up to Sitech where we spent the next three hours with Baggage trying out many hands on activities, she was even confident enough to volunteer to be the guinea pig in an experiment with a Van De Graf generator, putting her hand on the side and letting the electricity push her hair up on end.

After leaving Sitech we took a walk in King’s park and got some great photos down over Perth from atop the hill before driving back up to Mandurah.  On the way we stopped for a quick supper at Red Rooster (KFC but roasted option available), great chips!

Hopefully I will get to last the last couple of episodes of Season 4 of 24 tonight in-between the packing we have to do in preparation for moving out on Saturday morning. 

More time down under

A Couple of footnotes:

Sunday 25^th January - Whilst walking on Hong Kong island today we came across many groups of women just sitting on the ground, chatting and playing cards.  The first group we found we thought were well to do homeless, then we wondered if they were queuing for something, in the end I just had to ask...

It was a woman’s day of rest

The woman I asked thought it very amusing I had asked her and even more amusing when I asked if I could photograph her little group, so amusing in fact that she just could not stop laughing, I did photograph her group, but then had to photograph another group inconspicuously in order to get the shot I wanted.

Friday 30^th January – Australian Immigration

Again very efficient and the first time ever we have had both sniffer dogs at our cases and them x-rayed on the way into a country.  We already had Australian e-Visas in our passports so the only form we had to complete on the plane was the customs declaration, the list of quarantined products is very restrictive and could easily catch you out, for example no wooden souvenirs… strange that they are so careful what gets in when you consider that the largest concentration of dangerous animals and creepy crawlies in the world resides within their shores.

Saturday 31^st January – Sunburn

On Saturday Baggage spent the best part of the day in the water at just 4 fun, she had a great time and made lots of friends and whilst it was hot it was overcast.  We did keep plastering the sun screen on, but not enough, she burnt on her arms and her face, and a little on her scalp.  That evening she was not too bad as a result of this, but Sunday she really did have a job getting off to sleep.

 

Monday 2^nd February

Today we decided Charlotte should catch up with some schooling so after a bit of a lay in I headed for the library to upload some Baggage changes and left the two of them to it.  It is really useful having unlimited Internet access at the local library which is only just around the corner from our house.

After I got back we had a quick lunch then headed out to catch a boat for a cruise around the Mandurah waterways.  The canals are fantastic and it is hard to believe as little as 15 years ago it was all a dairy farm, all totally man made.

Whilst in the harbour area we were lucky enough to get a pod of dolphins swimming around the boat, a great photo opportunity.

The boat was not too full and Lisa and I stayed outside on the bow of the boat for most of the sailing, on the return to the harbour Baggage was even given a chance to drive the boat and steered it for about 10 minutes, including under a couple of bridges, check out the transport pictures on www.beingbaggage.com to see her in action.

After our short cruise we went shopping for a few things that the heat was requiring us to add to our wardrobe, then we returned to the house for a home prepared tea and to get Baggage a reasonable night.

Tuesday 3 February

Today we drove into Fremantle to see Fremantle prison and spend a little time on the beach.  The prison is well worth a visit, we opted for one of the guided tours and it provided a great insight into life behind bars.  It is almost inconceivable that even as recent as 1991, when the prison was closed the cell blocks still had no running water and latrine arrangements were via a bucket in the prisoner’s cell that was ‘slopped out’ each morning.  As part of the tour we visited the gallows block, where 44 people were executed, 43 of them men, the most recent being at the end of the 1960s.  The gallows room was as it would have been at the time of the last execution, the gallows were fully intact and even sported a genuine hangman’s noose, produced when executions were still being carried out.  The gallows room was in construction not much different from any of the other rooms we visited in the prison, yet you felt uncomfortable standing in there, was that purely psychological?

After leaving the prison we drove to Fremantle South Beach, here we spent a couple of hours laying on the beach and playing in the sea, before returning to our house for a Chinese take-out for dinner.

After dinner I took the short drive to the local beach to catch the sunset over Mandurah and took a number of photographs, after the sun was down I saw what would have been an excellent shot during the sunset so will have to make sure I visit this spot again at the appropriate time before we move on. 

I have Wi-Fi - so here comes the backlog ...

10:30am Sunday 25^th January

Whoops! We had planned to get going a bit earlier today as we intend to head to Jumbo Kingdom in Aberdeen for some lunch, but we had such a problem getting to sleep last night, I was still awake well after 2, that I killed the alarm and let nature wake us as it saw fit.

Yesterday we went to Tseun Wan and visited the restored walled Haka village of Sam Tung Uk.  It was a very well laid out museum and well worth a visit, though plan to do something else on the same day if you follow in our tracks as it is no more than an hour’s visit, and we tend to take our time around such things.

Again the MTR proved very easy to use and find our way around and the other thing that struck me is how well the exits from the stations are signposted, we have yet to be looking for somewhere when we leave a station that does not have a very clearly posted trail to follow.

After Sam Tung Uk we returned to the hotel and Charlotte did a bit of school work before we headed out to visit a number of the markets.  We again took the MTR to Prince Edward (the station not the member of our Royal Family!) and from there walked through the Flower Market, Bird Garden, and Goldfish Market.  The Flower Market was intense, I am not sure if it is always like that or if it was busier due to the imminent arrival of Chinese New Year but there were hundreds of people all buying great big tall bunches if flowers, from exiting the train station if you did not know which way to walk all you had to do was follow the trail of flower carriers back track and with the tall bunches in their hands it was like a line of marching ants all with their prizes held up high.  The Bird Garden is a place where Chinese locals bring their birds to sing and where there are a number of stores specialising in birds and bird related products.  The Chinese are very fond of their birds and a bird that sings well is a very lucky charm, this is therefore a very popular spot.  Again it presented something we had no prior experience of, literally thousands of birds in stacked cages, sometimes tens of birds in a rather small cage, a great photo opportunity.  Then onto the goldfish market and basically the same as with the birds, walls covered in hanging bags of goldfish, and other aquatic creatures, for sale, this was probably Charlotte’s favourite.

After the Goldfish market we took the MTR to Jordan (the station not the country!) then walked to the Temple street night market.  It was literally thronging with people looking for a bargain and we very soon discovered that you do not pay the price on the ticket, in fact if you show interest in an item they will follow you as you leave their store throwing ever diminishing prices at you in order to secure your business.  Whilst here we picked up a few trinkets and started to realise how difficult it was going to be to complete this trip and buy all the trinkets we fancy plus transport them back to the UK.

Whilst walking around this area we came across a number of back street cafés that whilst I am sure were perfectly safe I would not have felt comfortable eating there, one in particular where the food on display was being carried across the street from where it was being prepared in what were basically dirty looking, uncovered, buckets.  Some of the food on display was also very interesting to us of western origin, dried duck heads, chickens feet, and various other undistinguishable parts of animals.  We also came across a dried seafood store where Charlotte took a fancy to some dried whitebait, the store owner gave her a small bag ‘as a new years present’ though you should have seen her face when she tried it, first bite was OK then the taste intensified in your mouth as the small fish became more moist.  While she did not eat anymore she did treat one as a pet for the remainder of the evening carrying it with her and showing it whatever was about as we went.

25^th January 21:49

When we eventually left today we caught the MTR into Central then a local bus to Aberdeen.  We were immediately attached to as we got off the bus by an elderly local woman keen to show us the way to the harbour, then when on route she introduced that she ran a sampan and would be happy for us to have a ride around the harbour, for a price.  This is what we had expected, though I have to say I had expected to reach the harbour before being attached to, and in fact what we wanted, so after a bit of bartering on the length of the cruise and the price we had booked ourselves a sampan.  For hk$200 the three of us had a 45 minute tour around the harbour that would deliver us to Jumbo Kingdom where we planned to have lunch.  When we arrived at the boat it was fascinating to see how my money changed hands, I paid the lady who had pulled us in from the station, she pocketed hk$100 and handed the other hk$100 to the skipper, who in turn handed hk$50 to the skipper of the boat next door.

Because it is Chinese New Year almost the entire fishing fleet was in the harbour making it very busy, we could barely get near the house boats that the sampans usually sail amongst due to the fishing boats being moored in front of them.  It was a very impressive site, red fishing rig after red fishing rig and all the boats wearing their red paper tags and ribbons holding oranges to bring them luck for the coming year.

Our 45 minute cruise actually ended up running to just under an hour and our guide was great, he even positioned his boat for him to take a photo of the three of us with our camera with Jumbo Kingdom as the backdrop.

Jumbo Kingdom was all I expected it to be, as the largest floating restaurant in the world it is a collection of moored vessels all built on as one.  When you are aboard you really do not know you are not on dry land.  The food was fantastic, as we were there on Sunday we had the benefit of being able to sample the dim sum, looking at the menu if we had been there on any other day the bill would have been significantly more.  We sampled from the dim sum menu and followed it up with a plate of fried noodles and chicken.  Of the dim sum my favourite was the deep fried mashed squid.

After leaving Jumbo Kingdom we took the water taxi back to the harbour and then the local bus back into Hong Kong Central.  As it was still fairly early in the afternoon we then headed up to Mid-Level via the escalator that runs to over half a mile long.  It took just over 20 minutes to ride it from the bottom all the way to its top, then we promptly turned around and walked back down.  Finally we rounded the day off with a ride on a Hong Kong tram before catching the Star Ferry back across to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Hong Kong public transport continues to impress me.  The busses to Aberdeen were frequent and the total cost of the 20 minute journey was hk$4.70 under 50p of UK money.  The tram was only hk$2 per person even if you rode from one end of the line to the other.

When we got back to the hotel Charlotte wanted to go for a swim, I agreed to go in with her and soon wished I had not, it was freezing, not literally but far too cold to be taking a dip!  We only managed to stay in the pool for about 10 minutes before giving in to the temperature.

For the last couple of days the weather has been much colder with a constant wind blowing, this has however bought with it the advantage of significantly reducing the level of pollution and improving the visibility from Kowloon over to Hong Kong Island.

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, the plan I believe is to take it somewhat easier, so hopefully I will find time to visit the shopping arcade over the road and get this blog posted….

3:35pm 30^th January

Well we are now in Perth and I have failed to record what went on for the last few days in Hong Kong, plus failed to get what I did record posted.  I did well didn’t I!

On Monday 26^th July we had a lazy morning in the hotel and Charlotte caught up with some school work.  As it was the first day of Chinese new year a lot of the places were shut anyway so we decided this was as good a course of action as anything.  We left the hotel and went to Outback Steakhouse for a late lunch then took a walk to Kowloon Park before returning to the hotel for a further rest ahead of the Chinese new year parade.  Our hotel was very well placed for the parade, it past only one street away from the rear entrance.  We took up a reasonable position about 45 minutes before the parade began and it was packed.  Unlike parades that we are used to back home there were significant gaps between the floats, this was due to the arrangement of the parade route with specific spectator areas where the players would pause to perform to the assembled masses who had paid for the privilege of a grandstand seat.  We did try to join this privileged group but the spectator seating had sold out well in advance of our arrival in Hong Kong, this did not turn out to be an issue however as our free viewing position offered a perfectly acceptable vantage point.

The parade was well worth seeing, it began at 8pm and ran until nearly 10, there were a mix if professionally sponsored floats and traditional performers.  It was far more colourful than we generally see in the UK, as is everything in Hong Kong.

If you find yourself in Hong Kong over new year, see the parade, take up a place early to get a railing side viewing point, or plan in advance and purchase a spectator viewing seat directly from the Hong Kong tourist board.

After the parade we realised we had missed out on an entire meal so took Charlotte to Charlie Brown’s café, where she had been wanting to go ever since first seeing it earlier in our stay.  I then left Charlotte and Lisa finishing their food and drink and went back to the front to take more night pictures across the bay as it was a particularly clear evening.

Tuesday 27^th (The second day of Chinese new year)

As we had a late night last night we again had a lay in this morning, Charlotte was particularly tired so we decided it best we had a quiet day and thus ensure we would enjoy the new year’s fireworks that night.  I left Lisa and Charlotte at the hotel went for a walk to do a bit of shopping.  Whilst out I found what looked like a nice dim sum restaurant so when I had walked enough I returned to the hotel, collected the girls and we went out for dim sum.  The food was fine, though not as nice as we enjoyed at Jumbo Kingdom and we reckon it was something there that disagreed with Lisa, more on that later.

After the Dim Sum we went for a walk and looked at the static new year’s displays along the avenue of stars, then returned to the hotel to watch a traditional lion dance that was being held to bless the hotel for the coming year.  The lion dance started outside the front door then proceeded through the hotel blessing every different area, reception, the shops, the gym, the pool, the restaurants etc.  It was interesting to watch and we followed it around the hotel for nearly an hour before returning to our room.

We went out to see the fireworks at Victoria harbour, we opted for that over the option of watching from the hotel roof and were glad we did, the place was packed and the atmosphere electric.  The fireworks were the best I have ever seen, displayed over the backdrop of Victoria harbour it really was pretty spectacular.

After the fireworks we returned to the hotel to get Charlotte to bed a bit earlier as tomorrow we plan a full day out at Ocean Park.

As I mentioned earlier the dim sum did not necessarily agree with Lisa, she was up a number of times in the night with Hong Kong belly and as a result was not feeling too hot the following day as we left for Ocean Park.

Wednesday 28^th

We had decided to spend the day at Ocean Park for Charlotte today, it is the original Hong Kong theme park on the far side of the island near Aberdeen.  To get there we took the MTR and then a local bus, again I was impressed by the efficiency of the Chinese, when we left the station for the bus we were in a crowd of people all going the same way, as this was a public holiday it was obvious that the park was going to be very busy, yet we were not delayed at all, we walked out of the station joined a short queue to buy our combination bus and theme park tickets then another queue which was moving at an incredible rate to join a bus.  Our experience coming out of the park at the end of the day was very similar.

We enjoyed the park, whilst it did not have the finesse of Disney it provided a good relaxing day and the backdrop to the park, the bay and Island of Lama, was just incredible, I even managed to spend some time observing an eagle fishing for his lunch whilst Charlotte was on one of the rides.

We stayed in the park until just after 7pm and did most of the rides, did not have time to do many twice and even though the park was busy did not spend a ridiculous amount of time queuing.

Thursday 29^th March, our last day in Hong Kong

Today it was Charlotte’s turn to have a spell of Hong Kong belly, not the best of timing as we had to check out of our hotel so we decided to restrict what we did to indoors things at which she would never be too far from a bathroom.  As a result we visited the space museum, which was OK but do not allow very long for it and then the History museum, which was brilliant and at which we had far too little time before we had to eat and head for the airport.

Our flight to Perth was at 11:30pm so we got to the airport quite early and made use of the free terminal wide wi-fi, though the performance was pretty poor, possibly due to the high level of government filtration.

Our flight was on time and pretty uneventful, we arrived in Perth on time and collected our hire car a blue Ford Focus.

So at the end of our time in Hong Kong what are my main observations:

·      It is physically very clean, though the level of air pollution due to the level of emissions is excessive, on many days it can be clearly smelt in the air.

·      Public transport is great, easy to use, efficient and very cheap.

·      The people are generally very accommodating.

·      The food is great, though do have a little care about where you eat.

·      Would I go back, definitely, though possibly not with a child as young as Charlotte as there are many things we wanted to do she simply would not have coped with.

Friday 30^th January (our first day in Australia)

The drive from the airport to Mandurah and our house was just under an hour and I was pretty tired whilst driving it having pretty well missed an entire nights sleep whilst on the plane.

The house is OK, nothing special and it could have done with a few extra touches and a bit better a clean before we arrived to have enabled it to offer a much higher first impression.  For example it has a small pool in the back yard, more a dipping pool than a swimming pool, great for those hot afternoons, however it had a good collection of leaves floating on it when we got here and an amount of sand in the bottom of it, consequently I spent about an hour cleaning it and the decking to make it more enjoyable for us.  I guess I could have called the owner, but to be honest I always find such things far less hassle to do them yourselves, and anyway Charlotte enjoyed helping me.

After we had a bit of lunch and a serious chill we decided to set out and see what Mandurah had to offer.  About a two minute drive from the house we found a nice beach with free parking, that could prove very useful, we then drove into central Mandurah and parked by the side of the river and had a short walk.  It was quite late in the afternoon when we set out and I was surprised by how early shops were shutting, including the bigger supermarkets, by …..

Break in typing blog whilst I am called inside to remove a lizard from the wall in Charlotte’s bedroom!

… 5:30 almost everything was shut.

We found the local library as Lisa wanted contact numbers for local Girl Guide groups and then went to McDonald’s as we had been told we could get limited, but free internet there.  This proved to be inaccurate so whilst Lisa and Charlotte were finishing off their drinks I crossed over to the library to see what they offered and bingo, free wi-fi, you can even access it when the library is closed from a bench outside the building and only very limited filtering, for example Charlotte found she could not access facebook.  Reckon this could prove very useful over the next week.

When we left McDonalds I had a feeling of sheer panic, as we walked across the car park I saw the driver’s side door of our car was open, we had been in McDonalds for about 15 minutes…  Upon checking the car we could find nothing missing, and this included my camera and laptop that were in the boot!  The only conclusion we could reach was that I must have simply left it open when I got out of the car and walked away from it, though since then I have noticed how natural an act the shutting of the door after you get out is, guess tiredness just gets to us all.

After a spell outside the library where we all had some internet time we returned to the house for some tea and to get Charlotte to bed.

Saturday 31^st January (today)

Almost up to date…

Today we have had a pretty easy day, we went into Mandurah and Charlotte spent the entire day in the just4fun waterpark, managing to make a few new friends along the way.  Lisa chilled on the beach and I spent sometime there and sometime off shopping for the few things we had not managed to sort yesterday, including and Australian pay-as-you-go sim card to provide us with mobile phone coverage for our stay in the country, always a good idea especially when you are not always on the beaten track and to use our UK phone for all those incidental calls would just be far too expensive.

We returned to the house about 6:30 this evening and had a light supper, Charlotte has now just gone to bed, after the aforementioned lizard incident, hopefully that will be the only uninvited guest we get in our house!

I have to add that this beats a January evening in the UK, I am now sat out by the pool, it is in the upper 20s and I have a cold beer by my side.

Sunday 1^st February

Hopefully this will be the last entry in this long post as I have every intention of going to the library for a spell in the morning and uploading this and a number of other things.

Today we drove up to Perth, had a picnic on the river bank then went up the Swan Bell Tower and saw the Bells of St. Martin’s (as in the children’s nursery rhyme).  After this we headed for Perth Mint, but had not done our homework effectively (oh how an internet connection where you are staying makes things so much easier) and it closes at 1pm on a Sunday, we got there just after 2…

We walked back down to the front, then decided to drive to Fremantle.  Here we walked around the harbour and then had a fish and chip supper, very good!  We then headed for South Beach where Charlotte recorded her first Australian Baggage report and after a spell on the beach drove back to the house, arriving here just after 8:30.

The temperature was pretty hot today, mid 30s and the storms that were forecast for the back end of the afternoon did not turn up, just as well or we  may have had a damp supper!