Walking down Sham Castle Lane, excited and pleased to be finally on the way after over a year in Planning
Mandatory pre-departure airport shot. \240The aircraft our home for the next 13 hours.
LHR takeoff
From Heathrow to Hong Kong. 12.5 hours for 10.800. \240Smooth enough flight although it takes an hour to get through is migration. No passport stamp but instead, in a quite Comminist way we get a small receipt to be given in when we leave.
Permit
Hotel Harbour Grand Kowloon is indeed grand and our room is indeed harbourside. Worth all the travel \240
Room with a view :-)
We take a local wander to find many many families with children out and the full moon reflected beautifully in the water. Turns out it the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival, like Harvest Festival and celebrating the Quinox all-in-one.
Harbourside park
Hotel celebrates
Chunking Mansions - notorious backpackers hostel location 30 years ago when casted and same \240still today
Here we are again …
I managed in 1994 quite well in a very small but clean room benefitting from wall to ceiling tiling.
The lifts look as dodgy as of old. \240We used to stand around the edge of the lift to avoid setting off the “overload” alarm which prevented the lift moving.
Exterior
I seem to remember choosing a place with an Indian sounding name in case the food was good. \240The place was fine but there was no food :-)
A choice of accommodation
History/ Politics
27 years since. British rule. Are we celebrating?
Well, preparations are under way….
But Taxi driver tellls us China has moved 2M Mandarin speaking Chinese to dilute the Cantonese culture of HK.
Busy day spent exploring Hong Kong. It’s hot and humid (30C) and it’s the mid autumn festival national holiday. \240Not sure whether that makes the city busier or not, but there sure are lots of people sitting out in the open air, even right inthe mains streets of Central, the business district. This is surely holiday behaviour?
Heading to the ferry
Out and back Kowloon-Central on the trad Star Ferry, built in 1956 like me.
Following the excellent Lonely Planet city guide, we visit the Flagstaff House Museum of teaware and enjoy tea with dim sum at the nearby cafe. \240Turns out yea should be on the pot for only 10-15 seconds before being decanted. Who knew?! \240Anyway a great beat from tramping around.
In Hong Kong Park
We visited the M+ Arts Centre - huge and impressive \240
Henry Teiner - archetypal HK designer - HSBC logo
\240Also Nathan Road where Dave stayed in 1994 in the still-scummy Chunking Mansion and loved to tell the tale.
Quick swim the the hotel pool, \24020th storey with harbour views.
\240Eve meal at Pizza express conveniently just over the road from the hotel.
Travelling day from \240Hong Kong to Melbourne
Uber to the super-efficient AirPort Express train which is an eye-opener. Fast comfortable and pretty cheap 140HK$ for two )£7 each)
Noticeable numbers of “helping” staff directing people on and off trains. Beginning to see how these folks are also policing behaviour, for example stopping people boarding when train ready to depart.
Cathay Pacific’s in-flight beer
MEL approcj
Melbourne exploring day
Tram then 6km walk
The graffiti
Flinders station
Arts quarter with tickets booked for a concert
Botanic gardens with Mynah birds and lovely snax
Back past the Laver Tennis
Happy family in house cookery eve with Cat and Dev
Puffing Billy Railway excursion day organised by Cat and Dev.
Walk leaving the apartment 7.45 to meet up at Richmond stations, then Longish train ride from Richmond where we are staying to Belgrave to catch the Puffing Billy to Lakeside - an eventful journey of about an hour.
Leaving Belgrave
Narrow gauge train
Sitting with legs dangling outside is de rigeur
Returning to Belgrave we diverted to a beer and had wine, beer, laughs and chats. \240Deb’s influence!
Belgrave in monochrome
J made salmon potatoes and broccoli for supper in, as all to tired (and emotional) to go out. Early night!
J saw Crimson Rosella and Kookaboora birds
Crimson Rosella
Melbourne exploring today. Sadly just Julia and me as Clare looking after Nigel who is unwell today and resting at the apartment.
We visit the fab Immigration museum which tells the atory of how )non Aboriginal) people arrived here over the years. Includes some great interviews with younger \240first generation immigrants about the difficulties they have, partly a handover from the “White Australia” policy only abandoned in 1966 whereby people’s rights to remain depended on where they had arrived from.
I found the whole experience incredibly moving, especially a film reinforcing the reasons people emigrate illustrated by real poles interviews:
- Wars and conflicts
- Freedom
- Family
- A better life
- Disaster
After that the CBD offers coffe and a variety of retail therapy including the lovely Kathmandu outdoor store and the Victoria market.
Along the way we see a large Gaza protest, peaceful but with lots of police present.
For a wider view of the city we head out to Albert Park where friends lived for 5 years about 20 years ago. \240We send a picture of their old house and they wish they’d bought it as prices for these and smaller workers houses nearby are £1.5M-£2M. Big wide streets but virtually no gardens. \240Still ready areas have good cafés and we have a healthy pavement table lunch.
Melbourne Beach by Albert Park
Pick up hire car - Mazda CX5 - lovely. Drive 315km to Lakes Enterance on the Tasman Sea.
First stop at the West Gippsland Arts Centre in Warragul. Chosen at random as we needed a break. A lovely busy place with kids doing their dance exams, a local photography exhibition and most happily a fab lunchtime cafe, run as a social enterprise to offer meaningful employment to people with disability. Civilisation
Second stop at Bairnsdale where a friends parents lived for several years, he loved rowing nearby. A bit less up and together with several \240“Op Stores”, we know as Charity Shops [op=opportunity]
We arrive at our destination in time for a nice walk on the beach then a fish and chip supper with the most excellent chips. \240Happy times :-)
400km drive from Lakes Enterance to Jindabayne in the Snowy Mountains.
Early in-room snack breakfast and 8.15 departure makes it possible. Fill-in breakfast snacks at the bakery at Cann River. Excellent coffee, veg pasty and huge muffin.
Scenery varies:
- Eucalyptus-type trees lining the road with farmland behind, Forests of these trees with varying undergrowth, in one place bright yellow gorse like bushes
- Wider open farmland with trees and long sandy farm roads stretching into the distanceOpen high land with rolling hills and the Snowys peeping over in the distance
- Finally the high valley ascent to Thredbo with rocky fields and the occasional kangaroo
My GPS tracker says 4192m of ascent today, although that does include a chairlift ride at Thredbo to admire the view.
Canberra scenes
Arriving at the Prime Minister’s coffee shop
Oz democracy
The Senate
The House of Representatives
“Black fellow bye and bye all gone, plenty shoot’em white fellow … long time, plenty, plenty”
One of a series of embroidered panels. This one show the new farms of the outback. The captions tells the story.
We’ve adopted a Parliamentary Wombat
Drive today: 200km from Snowy Mountains to Canberra then 300km to Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountians arriving 6.30 after dark.
Breakfast surprise at the Lake Jindabayne Hotel - there is breakfast, and it’s free. Functional arrangements, eg cartons of milk in a standard domestic fridge, but it does the job.
We park in the. National Archives visitor car park in Canberra and head towards the rarest coffe shop. \240It’s park of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office building but we are welcome to sit amongst the workers in their plush environment.
On to the Parliament Building (1988) throughly modern but with plenty of “Commonwealth” overtones, eg a parliamentary Mace donated from London. The whole set up seems modern and good, suitable for a modern democracy. Unlike our crumbling faux Gothic parliament and its building.
Snacks en route at Sutton and a stop for petrol. The last 45mins ont he Great Western Highway are pure Scalectix. The one where all the Straights have been used up and the road up the hill has all Curves, plus many returning commuters make a busy end to the drive.
The lovely Silvermere Guest House, builds in 1923. \240A friendly welcome from host Lew, a nice local Italian meal, then we settle into the residents lounge with the specially lit log fire to keep us cozy. Seems like it’s early season and we are the only ones here.
A very cloudy and wet \240day in the Blue Mountains.
Superb breakfast at our bijou accommodation. Local walk to the actual Wentworth Falls which are barely visible but it’s fun to explore.
Split afternoon. Julia takes it easy at the b and b, I explore the local “Grand Canyon” as recommended by our host Lew. \240A descent into a narrow and spectacularly green narrow canyon.
Back at the Silvermere b and b we have chats and champagne (who’d have thought) with hosts Lew and Catherine and their two visiting friends. Interesting to hear Australian view of life!
Silvermere Australian antique radio and it’s stations
From the Blue Mountains to Sydney
Say to say goodbye to Silvermere GH and hosts Lew and Catherine. Slightly less rain and a little more visibility. \240
Our room rhs
We drive to nearby Katoomba to check out another local town. \240It’s a bit of an eye opener. On the one hand lots of Art Deco and 50s buildings but on the other, lots of weird shops and “op” stores. Sill, good coffee then on Dow the racetrack to Sydney.
Hotel exceeeds expectation and the trusty Maza is seconded in the basement car park. \240We set off to explore.
View from our balcony, 12th floor
Stylish double deck metro to Circular Quay
Ferry to spick and span Kiribilli a short distance but it’s quiet and suburban only a short ride fro \240m the just central area.
Kirribilli
The bridge - six lanes of traffic, two rail tracks, pedestrian and cycle tracks
Product of Middlesbrough - how are the mighty fallen
Famous British names here
DORMAN, LONG AND CO., LIMITED, MIDDLESBROUCH, ENCLAND..
RALPH FREEMAN, M.INST.SE, M.AM SOCCE
SIR JOHN BURNET AND PARINERS, ARCHITECTS FOR THE CONTRACTORS
We walk right back to the hotel as a way of seeing there downtown area. \240Increasingly busy with “it’s Friday” workers. A thriving place with noticeably more ethnic diversity than we saw in Melbourne.
Happy Greek meal including “Fix” beer which I order by name sans menu to waitress surprise. \240 Busy day.
Sydney and Bondi Beach
Local bus from right outside the hotel direct to the beach. \240Interesting to suburbs on the way as we’ve been downtown/CBD \240so far.
It’s a bay enclosed by headlands, which presumably make the waves. \240A genuine Sydney scene and great for for people watching. \240Mostly locals not tourists. Kids of various ages being coached in surfing. Many many lifesavers - and they’re needed. \240We saw one teenager “escorted” to shore after getting caught in the longshore drift.
Bus North to Watson’s Bay with fab sea cliff and ocean crashing in. \240It’s home to several expensive restaurants but we don’t indulge (yet). \240Ferry back to Circular Quay, then walk to hotel through the relatively quiet CBD.
CBD from Watson’s Bay
Eve meal at nearby Norman restaurant - expensive and and not really tumour taste, but an “experience” all the same.
Sad to leave lovely Sydney but a lovely drive with sunshine and the sea makes it ok. 288km to Melua Bay where we have a fab room overlooking the sea and can hear waves break after dark.
Exit from Sydney less than smooth roadside. A narrow tunnel and then many miles of start stop traffic lights. \240Traffic gradually wanes and we take coffee and snacks at the University in Wollongong as it’s home to Wollongong Unix, famous in elder computer science circles. :-)
There are so many nicely looked after one storey homes on the way. \240We pause at Gerringong to take a look at the sea - another fab beach - here there are posher houses, further from Sydney, but never ostentatious.
Drivers change at Ulladulla where there’s a perfect fishing harbour and little town. This really is the land of plenty. There’s a Stork in the harbour!
Pause at Bateman’s Bay for essential supplies, bananas, beer (Balter XPA again per Dev’s recc in Belgrave).
Relax at Melia Bay. D take a walk on the perfect (natch) beach as the sun goes down.
F and C dinner at the big scary Club Meulua. Efficient and not expensive but there is lots of gambling opportunities here, bingo, many slots and a betting screens, currently showing the race at Sandown Park.
380km drive from NSW to Orbost Victoria
Gloriously sunny day, starts with a paddle together in the Ocean just by our hotel.
Some fun stops en route:
Roadside soon after starting out
Bega cheese museum - we visit its cafe!
Flying-foxes
Curious Dingo
Kangaroo feeding
Genoa Rest Area \240idyllic campsite
Cann Rover where we rejoin outward route but sadly the Bakery is shut late afto.
Self checkin at the Snowy River Homestead near Orbost - again we are only guests. \240This time unlike Wentworth Falls the host is away and talks us through entry on the phone.
view from \240the room
Orbost Club Hotel, basically the only place open. Unprepossessing initially but friendly staff, good food and beer so the Jin and won is over
2558km driven on seven driving days (parked for \240two non-driving days in Sydney)
.
430km driven on lovely roads - except the M1 through central Melbourne which was a busy 5-lane highway which was bad enough without having crawls for miles due to volume of traffic!
Nice stops at two country towns with good little cafes!
- Cellar Door in Stratford
- Stump Tea Rooms in Darnum
After breakfast at Snowy River Homestead
Ditto
Country roads
Lunch view of village hall at Darnum
Linch just for the road on a perfect.
Arrive Geelong and check in Admiralty Inn. \240It’s. Motel bit that’s the standard and it’s
440km on the ferry across the Bass Straight
Geelong to Devonport
Sunny taxi to the bait and quickly on board. \240It’s said to be a busy crossing and we see lots of cars and even more RVs and trailer board but there’s plenty of space and no sign of crowding.
Boat takes a circuitous route out of the huge Port Phillip Bay. Due to the entrance being quite shallow
Comfortable times on the boat. We both have a couple of naps on our Relconere chairs.
Kind taxi share on arrival - it’s the only taxi there. Food out at Turkish Dilight friendly people and memories for me of Istanbul
Couple huge and modern. Cafe services noodle based \240meals. We can see the market. \240And there’s an unfinished footbridge across to the ferry too. Will be nice one day.
350km drive from Devonport to Hobart via the East Coast of Tassie (not mountains as planned, \240as a huge rainfall forecast).
Variable weather with not much sunshine but we almost completely avoided the rain
Spot the Antelop #1 of a new series
Deloraine Deli
Road to Deloraine
Tasman [E Coast] Highway
Near Swansea - perfect beach
Approaching Hobart
Our car, our airbnb :-)
Hobart day with Nigel Clare Cat and Dev
Comfy breakfast in the fab airbnb. Walk in to the Salamanca Market and explore.
Lunch at the Custom Hosue hotel featuring Pub Loaf with melted cheese.
Boat to MONA the unique museum of old and new art. \240A crazy experience rather than a place to study art! \240
Finish off with. Drink in the courtyard there and then back for dinner.
We’ve been out today in the ”bus”. \240We dropped Gabriel’s at pretty Richmond (quite English well NZ really) and headed to another animal sanctuary. \240Happy to see a lovely wombat and lots else. \240Team visit to the Pressing Matters winery. \240Very modern and swish. Waitress from Exeter about to start the second year in Oz.
Drop C and D at the airport then quiet times at the lovely apt. I take a half hour walk round nearby streets. \240Serenely peaceful and lovely inthe sunshine. \240U of TAs is nearby. \240
Patchwork day of adventures.
Up early (7.15) to clear out the airbnb we’ve loved and head off to fuel up the bus )£30 for 500km+ diesel - very cheap).
Drop luggage at the newsagent left luggage at Salamanca by where the market was held at the weekend. C and N stay I. Town as Clare has a toothache and can make the planned expedition to My Wellington.
Car returned smoothly and soon we’re in the Uber to start of planned walk. \240It’s a 30min drive. Sunny at first then rain starts, heavily. near the top there’s sleety snow which is starting to settle. We have a quick selfie in the cold and the wind is very strong. I take another foray out of the car and can barely get my coat in in the gale.
Happily the driver is ok to take us back down and we retreat.
Coffee at Rosie’s by the harbour and J recovers her beatiful Sweaty Betty hat from the MONA boat office. \240Lost on Saturday probs left behind on the boat.
Gentle wander round Hobart. \240It’s quiet on the streets. \240There a mixture of shops none hyper posh and occasional evidence of the. National \240gambling habit.
Anglican Catherdral is old and perhaps more traditional than in UK.
Meet C and N refreshed at same pub/restaurant as Sat \240then dodgy Uber to airport - I report “2*” and tick “drowsy while driving” and “driving too fast” on the customer feedback :-(
Flight quite late but we sit it out at the gate rather than queue.
Melbourne airport confusion as we strigglemto locate Holiday Inn on foot. Recover and eat together then chats in bar before an early night.
Snow
Downtown Hobart
Sad to leave beautiful relaxed Tasmania
From Melbourne to Uluru / Ayers Rock
Skimpy breakfast then 0700 bus transfer to nearby Melbourne airport, certainly i not our favourite. Poorly organised and badly signed.
Nice flight to Uluru. \240Arriving it hot and dry (35C). \240Reminds me of my times in Central Africa and things this kind of heat I can cope with.
Transfer to the lovely Lost camel Hotel. \240Very “hot country” in design. \240Corridors partly open sided. \240Bedroom has separate loo and bathroom across the ed where a window would be. \240They shield us from the heat outside. \240Works well and does the job.
Explore the Town Square and stock up on essentials including big hat for Dave.
Surprise news that there are no Uluru walking tours available to tomorrow. \240Instead I beg if to plan a self guided route on the hop on hop off bus.
Fab trip to Uluru’s sister Kata Tjuna. Sunset with canapes beautiful.
Meal at the next door “Sails” hotel poolside thenwrre done!
Uluru walk day
Some worry for me about the trip, what, when, where and whether the team are up for it. All goes well and much appreciated.
4am alarm for 4.45 bus. Sunrise is 6.17 but we get the fab experience of seeing the world from dark to light in so many stages. \240Sublime
Walk 10.5km in 3.5hrs including a few stops and a bit of sightseeing. We finish befor 11 as hoped although it’s already 31C
Back at hotel one ish and rest of afto recovering and snoozing
Out at 5 to meet the others army Sails hotel bar next door. \240First I take a picture of Ann’s stone for Will
A other great poolside meal