Australia 2013: Signing off......

So here we are, headed home....

The last couple of days have flown past really, we were pretty busy yesterday with a trip to Cronulla beach in the morning; again, under questionable skies, and then to the ABC building (that's Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not some iffy flea pit of a cinema in south-east London) to be part of the audience for a radio show entitled Thank God it's Friday.  This is some sort of a 'mock the week'-y sort of programme with a musical act thrown in, this week was Dragon, an ageing,  if seemingly quite good and well-liked Aussie rock outfit.  Never heard of them myself, but I enjoyed the song they played all the same.  Show was excellent even if we didn't quite get all the topical Aussie jokes. 

Then it was on to the Coopers in Newtown for Rebecca's birthday bash.  On the way we found that Philip has no sense of measurement  whatsoever, it was bloody miles despite him claiming otherwise.... nevertheless, the Coopers was a fine place with an open-air area where we camped for our tea and a good few beers before heading back for a few more at home to round off our last night in Oz. 

Our final day started with rain again and Rebecca turned up with her friend Ash for a birthday breakfast of eggy bread.  We chatted for quite some time before finalising our packing and getting all the weights hopelessly wrong. As a result Becca is bringing back a lot more of our stuff than she really needed to.

And so Jez waved us goodbye for the last time from Petersham and our travelling problems started in earnest.  Roadworks at Sydenham station delayed us for some time although we're really not sure why the dappy driver chose to go that way - they were removing a railway footbridge and you might think that the cab company would have been privy to that fact. 

Then, when we got to check the bags they rejected Fairy's art folder despite her  ringing in advance to check whether it would be OK.... evidently the arse/elbow familiarisation concept is as rife out there in Oz as it is back home.  We eventually got it sorted and it sits below us in the hold. 

As for the journey so far..... Well. Where to start.  First of all we were flying via Dubai rather than Singapore.  This pleased me as the longer stretch improved the chances of a decent kip.  And we had a feuding couple kicking verbal chnks out of each other behind us to raise our spirits. So off we went and well, the girls say I slept, but I really didn't feel it. It was a very bumpy ride, the worst I think Ive encountered in my limited flight experience. The seatbelt signs went on about three times and the Captain warned of 'weather ahead'... Then, when Wayne woke up she was even more fidgety than ever before and after five minutes of shifting and sweating she finally put the sick bag to good use.   Not good.....but more bad news was on its way.

Seems the 'weather ahead' was a thunderstorm at Dubai which had kicked up the inevitable sandstorm and landing at Dubai, and the back-up airfield was out of the question as nobody could see where they were.  So on we flew to Bahrain where we spent a good hour or so on the Tarmac while they refuelled the plane.  Then we headed back to Dubai for the connectors who were on our flight.  Further waiting there even before we were off the plane as the was a medical incident as well to contend with.  We waited ages to re-board but eventually we made it back on. 

So here we are, hopefully on the final leg back to Heathrow.  We've texted our chauffeur, John, in the hope that he can still come collect us after our extended flight.  Needless to say, just for more fun, I was out of credit on my Optus simcard so I was beginning to wonder if we'll ever get home.... So glad we got tomorrow off too, even if it is to go see me old ma and explain where it is we've been for the past four weeks... 

The Captain said he'd give it the berries for us on the way home and we are looking at seven hours before we are finally back on British soil for the first time in four weeks.  

So, where has this four-week journey taken us, just to round up this blog once and for all and relieve those few of you who have bothered of the burden of reading it.......

Sydney: Just another large city with people going about their daily routine, kids going to school, poeple going to work, catching trains, hustling and bustling. Until, of course, you get to the harbour.  Apart from Manly I never did see the north side of the main harbour area, nor did I go over the bridge;  nevertheless, the whole area is simply breathtaking and the Opera House was even more stunning than I ever imagined it would be.  Betterthan London?  You betcha!

Melbourne: aside from the Grand Prix and interesting, older town,  you have to conclude that Melbourne means one thing and one thing only: rain.  And lots of it.  Four seasons in one day,  they say, and it's no exaggeration.  If snow fell in Oz, which I'm sure it does some place,  you'd get that along with sun, wind, rain, fog, frost, sleet, hail,  plagues of frogs and all the other weather forms we endure, all within 24 hours.  

Grand Prix:  despite the weather we loved the Grand Prix.  Melbourne puts on a top show, and where  we stayed was excellent. Shame Raikonnen won though......

Jucy Rentals Campa: for me, the best bit even if the male/female battle for supremacy between Wayne and I reached boiling point whenever navigation reared its ugly head.  We saw real  Australia on our five days on the road, and my favourite bit of Oz - Paynesville and Raymond Island.  Just watch that dead right hand corner going in to the Town, one day there'll be a Jucy parked in someone's front garden despite the huge right turn sign and purely because women still cannot tell their left from their right... close  behind was Phillip Island with its penguins, the  glorious race track, it's wandering Wallabies and of course the Cowes camp site right on the beach, and I mean right on the beach.  Foster, Tathra and Ulladulla saw us come and go too.

Manly Beach:  the best beach in Sydney,  bar none.  Nice bit of town and a lovely ferry across to this northern beach.  You can take your world famous Bondi and keep it, to me it was little more than Margate on a bad day.

Taronga Zoo:  glorious views of the Harbour and home to a hundred or more weird, wild and wonderful animals, including a tiger who I bet is still trying to get its football out of the pond.....and of course the seals and sea lions, always a delight to see.

Bribie Island:  Gods waiting room  for savvy wrinklies maybe, but he musta got Michaelangelo in to do the decorating.  A glorious sandy beach stretching for miles in a small corner of a little island, which has everything you could possibly want for a holiday getaway.  Pelicans nestle on the streetlamps over the one and only  bridge just for good measure.  Happy to go there again, but stay away from number 3 Pacific Breakers.... Although I s'pose 10 million ants can't all be wrong, can they? 

Mooloolabar:  only taken me a week to learn how to spell it.  Great pizzas, great beach combing beach.  

Scarborough (Queensland not North Yorkshire): saw little of this town but instead we had the delightful family get together and probably the best barbie I've ever had. Just wish I'd known who's house I was at.....

Brisbane:  another town where  it surely knows how to rain, but despite that we had a pleasant evening after all, and got some good nightscape pictures from the bridge. 

Montville:  sleepy little tourist village which will never be the same without cries off 'its rolling forward, it rolling forward' and 'keep your foot on the bloody brake and give it some, ferchrissakes'......

The Big Kart Track,  Beerwah:  scene of the re-enactment of the closing laps of the Malaysian Grand Prix between Fairy and myself.  Well it was once they gave me a kart that could cope with my weight....

Brighton, Cronulla: short stay beaches where we've eaten and argued at, and not seen in their best light because of the weather thrown at us during the final few days of our stay. 

Petersham, Newtown, Stanmore - southwestern suburbs of Sydney where we have happily stayed, eaten and drank with Philip and Jez.  Great food and I love Aussie beer.

And thanks to Philip, Jez and of course Harry  for giving us bed, board, bacon and beer when we've been back in Sydney. They may be back over with us before much longer, and we can look forward to a few days and nights out in hopefully some half-decent weather. Remember how cold it was up at Bletchley Park, guys? 

And finally  to Becca for driving us and showing us around on her days off. She's back in London next week for a wedding; bet the short reminder of England and its delights, such as they are, will send her scuttling back with renewed vigour to look for permanent employment.  Good luck, sure you'll get there very soon! 

The Trumpet Polisher, signing off once and for all.....

And so, the end is near...........

Can't believe we only have two days to go before we are headed home.

The last couple of days have been spent in Sydney, and boy does it know how to rain here. We decided yesterday to head out to Bondi as Rebecca has been hunting down some shoes for a wedding she's going to back in the UK, and Bondi Junction was the only place they had them in her size. Sounds more like a place in Imperial India than Oz to me, but hey ho.... So I got dragged to a Westfield (never knew it was an Aussie thing) and Wayne and Becca went into full on shopping mode;  I actually thought Becca had qualified for citizenship the amount of time she spent in one shop...

Shopping done and we strolled on down to the world famous Bondi beach.  Just as we get there it starts to pelt down again. Even if the weather was more akin to Margate on a wet Monday in March,  I don't get what all the fuss is about. I know the surf is great there but for god's sake, the place is more like Scarborough than an international jet-set destination for the beautiful people. If they do go there on days like this, I doubt if they stay beautiful for too long.  We pitched up at a cafe which would equally have been at home on the rain-soaked and wind-swept coast of Yorkshire; the heaters were on outside and the food was the wrong side of iffy.  Rebecca is sweating over a short creative test for a job she's going for here, and I'm sweating under the glow of the heaters and have to bale out early.

We bus it back into town on the world's  slowest bus, and head home on the train, ready to head out again for a beer and a Thai dinner in Stanmore. The food is superb and revives our spirits.  We head home, thankfully fairly dryly, and spend the rest of the evening watching tv and trying to fathom why Jez is spending so long playing Bad Piggies...

Today is more of the same.....we head out to the City in wet weather, this time in search of treasure to take home with us for friends, and I guess family as well.  We are soon done as the Aussie souvenir experience is actually pretty good.  We whack it all in two shops and I also sate my desire for fast food with a Hungry Jacks - excellent.  Seems to be what we know back home as Burger King - only a hundred times  better.  It's still pouring,  so we head home to go out to Brighton with Rebecca to what is best described as a dessert restaurant, complete with pancakes, ice cream chocolate and unfortunately a nasty bout of sisterly acrimony..... We cut the trip short before murder is done and head back to supermarket and bottle shop for final provisions.

So, here we are, having a quiet evening (aside from Waynes eternal/infernal fidgeting on the sofa)and this time in two days time we will be on that plane home.  She'll be fidgeting on there too, no doubt.  You get to a point on most holidays where home becomes appealing and fidgeting partners aside, I'm most certainly there now.  Bet that appeal vanishes faster than a beer at a barbie, the minute I get back to Swanscombe......and fidgeting is the least of my worries.....

Easter on Bribie - Chapter 2

So here we are at the end of our time on Bribie. Tomorrow morning we head back to Brisbane and on to Sydney for the final few days if our holiday.

The rest of Easter has been a mix of busy and laid back; yesterday we had a quick hour on the beach before heading up to Scarborough (that's Queensland, not Yorkshire or wherever it is these days) for a family get-together.  Again the newbie was made to feel most welcome as I chatted to Wayne's cousins Gary and Sarah, and Clive and Barbara and her wacky sister Beryl are there too. The food was great and lots of it; I made a new friend in Ben, the very large black Labrador who, as he's a boisterous boy, was confined to the side of the house.  Reminded me of Scooby with his head the size of a football.......

From there we went on to Brisbane; I'd hoped to get there and tick off another major Australian city; however there's an extra reason for being there as one of Wayne's school friends is also on a visit to Oz, and we are all in Brisbane the same night so a meet has been arranged.  However, by the time we get there the heavens have opened and in very big style. For a second I think we are back in Melbourne....... we park and I'm dead against going any further.  But we head back over to the north side of the river and after going to the wrong hotel and getting wet we finally meet up with Janice and Tony, Debbie and Brian.  The latter couple live in Perth.  We find somewhere to eat on a pretty dead Easter Sunday evening. I get talking F1 and bikes with the boys while the girls catch up, and get on well with another 2 total strangers.  On this occasion, both are brits but neither live in the uk - Tony lives in Barcelona because of a caravan- and thats true.  I won't go into details.....  I don't want to eat after such a huge spread back in Scarborough, so order a light meal.  I've quite enjoyed cutting back on my food, but doubt if it will carry on back in the uk. On the tv in the restaurant is a tv show about near plane crashes including the one that dumped in the Hudson a few years back. I really need to see that, don't I?

We stroll back in thankfully dry weather, across the bridge, take a few snaps, say our goodbyes and head home to bed.  I just wonder, how many of the so many delightful people I've met during my time in Oz, will I ever see again?

And so to the last day of Easter and our last full day on Bribie.  The girls head out shopping after a late start and I head to the beach. By the time I arrive it's grey and windy and I sat half an hour before giving up and heading back to the unit. The girls arrive back and the sun starts to shine again....conspiracy?  I used to think that, but now I know everyone's got it in for me........

We head back out to the beach and have our final session (sadly a so-so one weather-wise) before saying our last goodbyes to Clive and Barbara.  We walk back and head out for fish and chips from the local chippie and that's our day done.  

Bribie?  Love it.  A tiny little corner of an island where the beach is long and beautiful.  It has all you need and isn't too far from civilisation.  The weather has been pretty kind to us and thankfully nobody has got sunburn.  Have to take issue with the dolphins for their no-show though......

Easter on Bribie - the story so far.....

....is an entirely different experience to our days so far. We have had the beach and it seems most of the island to ourselves for the rest of the week, but since yesterday the world and his wife showed up.  Well, by comparison.... Yesterday we still had loads of space on the beach and, by English standards, was deserted, but there we certainly lots more people than before. This included parascenders landing near us and half of China pitching up next to us, or so it seemed.  Our day was spent sunning ourselves and little more, really, other than cooking a spag Bol, drinking beer and watching a film. Oh yes and running out of all phone credit, so sorry, no post last night :-( 

Not so today though, it was a very grey start so we decided to head up to Mooloolobar (still not sure I've spelt this right) where it was still grey upon arrival. We encountered some very English traffic on the Bruce Highway heading up there and detoured along a more countrified route which was quite nice. We arrived in Mooloolobar and had lunch at Augellos, who dont shrink back from telling you they are two-time winners of the Best Global Pizza competition.  I had the 2010 winner of hot smoked salmon plus just about everything else you could chuck at a pizza, and very, very nice it was too. 

We strolled around Mooloolobar for a bit, had a bit of a beachcomb and also came upon a very touching war memorial for our canine friends.  One thing I can't wait for is to get home as that signals the search for a new dog for me.  Hopefully I do better this time and don't repeat the Scooby experience.  I frequently wonder how the huge, big, soft lad is getting on, hope he's well and found a much better home than I could give him.  Still miss him and of course my beloved Abs loads and loads, so the new arrival can't come soon enough for me.  Evidently and surprisingly to my mind, Australia is very much a nation of animal lovers, and it seems above most, dogs are much loved here. 

As I write Wayne and Fairy have gone for a walk up to Clive's to get an address for a family do tomorrow. Im s'posed to be dozing rather than writing as Im knackered but hey! it got me out of another walk....... At least, hopefully, this herd of family members are not all seven foot tall like the remainder of the Saunders clan, and I won't come away with another bout of neck ache........

So, another, and thankfully much cooler, day is coming to a close here on Bribie,  two more to go before we head back to Sydney for our last few days in Oz.  Beginning to think about, and look forward to in some ways now,  home, despite the inevitable wild downward mood swing the minute I hit Swanscombe, and get back to the daily grind of work, chores, deadlines and dilemmas.  But, I got my mates to go back to, and that will cushion the blow, so to those of you that know me,  it won't be long before I'm back to bore the arse off you with my tales of 'that country next to New Zealand'...... bet  you all can't wait!

Ps once again this blogger software has proved itself to be the biggest pile of kangaroo s**t I've encountered since I've been here.....it's worse than CF21 by kilometres......

Taking it easy today

Not much to report today I'm afraid, been taking it very easy.  

This morning we went off to see Clive and Barbara again, this time with an 80th birthday cake for Clive, expertly baked under testing conditions by Rebecca and Fairy.  He had a great time and  we spent a lot of the morning chatting and eating spring rolls in the garden. We have even managed to convince him to come out and play tonight at the Surf Club. It's Rebecca's last night with us before she heads back to Sydney. 

Time has gone fast already, we are heading fast into Easter Weekend, when the Island will fill with holidaymakers -in fact it's pretty much their last chance for this year as Easter signifies the end of the season down under. From now until September its autumn and winter, and the temperature drops as low as 8 degrees - at night. Did you all get that at home - that's 8 degrees at might!  None of this snow rubbish we have to put up with; guess it must get as bad as a pleasant autumn's day in England at worst.  Only saying today though that if I was ever to live out here, I'd miss the changing of the seasons - but not the dead of winter....

We spent a lovely easy afternoon on the beach, enjoying the warm sun and the refreshing sea.  Haven't done much more than heavy paddling though,  it's quiet choppy and I'm not sure of the depth to chance a few swimming strokes.  We do have a pool in our complex though, and hopefully we will try that out over the weekend.  Never did make time to go and moan about the state of our unit and probably won't now, as its getting well into our week here. 

Just getting ready to head out to the Surf Club for dinner and a few beers.  Looking forward to it - skipped yet another meal again today so we are all pretty peckish.   

And that's that for another day........ It won't be long before we too will have to face up to this elongated winter back in Blighty, I hear its set to continue into April.  Noooooooooooo...........

Island Life Day 2 - caught between a rock and hard place....

Day 2 and we are slow out of the blocks, but Wayne and Rebecca make it on to the beach for a morning walk.  I really must try to get up earlier while on holiday and  make the most of my time up here.

Today it's karting at the Big Kart Track, apparently the biggest track in Australia.  We get there after a rainy trip in.  We are umming and ahhing about taking the plunge when it starts raining again,  and those on the track spend more time facing the wrong way than the right.  They shorten the track, and we decide to go and get lunch before we head out on track.  Wayne knows a really nice place they've been too before, but for one minor detail.... What village  it's in. It begins with  'm', apparently..... Trouble is, every village in the Glass House Mountains begins with an 'M'...... We tour about a bit, more heavy rain, until we actually find the mystical team room, actually located in Montville.

And that's where the fun really started...... Wayne untypically makes a bit if a mess of parking our little lorry.  We end up a matter of a few inches from the back of a Mercedes 4wd, facing downhill and she can't work out the odd handbrake arrangement or the auto box, which seems to have no concept of what a hill is. We are properly stuck, well and truly. Wayne can't back the car up for fear of rolling into the merc in front of us. She has her foot planted on the foot brake and daren't move..... and we have attracted the attention of the tearoom across the road who seem highly amused at our predicament.  WTer is pouring out of the car and it's getting very hot as the engine is still on. We decide to try and wedge a rock in front of the front wheel to stop it getting further down the hill and guess at? It worked? Wayne manages to back the car out of danger and somewhere near to where it should have been in the first place.... 

Lunch in the Poet's Room and we head back to a kart track bathed in brilliant sunshine, and Fairy and I head out on to an empty track.  She immediately starts disappearing into the distance despite my foot being flat to the floor for each and every lap.  I slow down, she catches up to lap me and I try to defend.  She breezes past with a wave.  This is not good.  I'm a lot fatter than I thought I was.  A couple more humiliating  laps of her becoming a spot in the distance and I'm called in.  They give me another kart.  This is much better..... I'm not so fat after all and we are both flying, we trade places a few times and have top fun despite some much slower people getting in the way of our frantic pace.  Our half hour is soon up and we hobble back up to Wayne and Becca with big grins on our faces.  I make the classic 'L' on my forehead in the Top Gear style, in deference to the round thrashing that's just been dished out to me. That's it, I'm gong on a diet. Thanks Fairy for a brilliant birthday pressie, thoroughly enjoyed it! 

Our evening plans to go to the movies are  ruined when we arrive to find the cinema....shut.  Hardly surprising, it's a tin shack with a single screen and an estimated 30 seats. Hey, ho, instead we nip back to the video shop and buy $20's worth of ex-renters to keep us going.   True to form, Wayne's fidgeting after 20 minutes of the first one. ....

And that's day 2 over and done with.  Beach tomorrow - if the weather holds! 

Island Life: Day 1 - a day late.......

Apologies for another no-show last night - more tethering problems last night and I lost a page of priceless blog. Ok so no it wasn't priceless it was the usual shite, but I got hacked off with it nonetheless.  So it's a double helping to bring you back up to date tonight, in two chunks  in case the Internet goes on me again.....

So here we are, finally on Bribie Island, Queenslamd, about an hour north-east of Brisbane.  The majority of the island is a national park, the remainder a sleepy yet sunny beach resort with a glorious beach.  I think, however, have lowered the average age of the population by some measure.  About 50 years, I'd say..... We are in a great location but sadly the unit we are in is tired and has quite a few things wrong with it.  We are heading in to the booking office tomorrow to have a moan. If you are reading this Philip, please dont take  this as any complaint about what you booked for us, the location is absolutely perfect, and you can hardly be blamed for the place not being cleaned properly, half the cupboard doors are looking for a hand to fall off into, and things are hanging off the wall.

Anyway, back to our first day on Bribie...... We collected our Kia people carrier from the airport and headed up the Bruce Highway and headed right to the Island. We arrived about lunchtime and headed straight for the beach, some 40 yards from our front door, or at least as long as the front door stays on its hinges and doesn't fall down the stairs, at which time it will be just 36 yards from the beach.....

We head off along the beach to Uncle Clive and Auntie Barbara's about a mile up the beach.   They have lived on the Island for 24 years and Clive has just turned 80, and looks pretty good on it despite just having had the flu for 3 weeks.  They are very welcoming, especially to the newest member of the clan.  I even chat on the phone to Sarah, their daughter, on the phone when she makes her daily call.  If only people back home were as friendly, then the daily grind of life there would become so much more bearable; earlier, outside Woolworths, we had struck up a jovial conversation with a a complete and utter fruitcake, and back in Sydney, we even had a laugh with the usually inscrutable check-in fella.  Forget all the glorious scenery and landscapes, and maybe even the mental animals here,  for me it's the people that makes this country so enjoyable.

We head back and have dinner at the Surf Club, just along the beach.  Not too bad, but I had to gee them up after we wait for nearly an hour for our food.   We finish our first day on Bribie off with  a stroll back and spend some time drawing on Wayne's leg, where a rather large bite has emerged and gone very, very red.  We think it might actually need medical attention; and I advise her not to buy any new shoes for now, just in case.......  

Tomorrow we are due to go karting where Fairy and I will be going head to head on the track.  We both love F1 so it should be very interesting.  We are trying to get Wayne to come too, but I doubt that will happen.  

So that's about it for part 1 of tonight's meanderings.....the font may end up funny as Fairy has just shown me how to avoid any further word losses and the accompanying losses of my usual, legendary composure :-)