Australia Day 2011

Not sure what I expected for Australia Day, but luckily Andy found a leaflet on the tram about what was going on in Melbourne. We decided on a two pronged attack on the day, heading into town for the morning, returning home for a BBQ in the afternoon and then returning to the city for the evening.

We had a great day; starting off with the Peoples March down near Fed Square. Here are some pictures; it felt as if there should have been prizes awarded as some of the groups put in a lot more effort than others.

We then wandered over the river to the Gardens where we watched the Australia Day woodchop, a 140 year old sport of chopping logs in two, started by a bet between two men about who could cut the most shingles in the least time. They gave away mini plastic axes to the kids (just asking for trouble!).

After all that excitement we headed to the B-Sharps Big Band and sat on the slightly damp grass (only noticed once I got back up) listening to some swing and watching other people dance (really quite well, far too well for us to join in).

A visit to the RACV old vehicle display (which also had all sort of stalls and stands) finished us off for the morning. The afternoon consisted of an Andy BBQ (3 types of meat product covered in BBQ sauce for Andy, a veggie burger and corn on the cob for me). There was also an opportunity to have a rest (isn’t that what public holidays are for really).

Heading back into town for the evening our first stop was the Queen Victoria Market, to experience the Sukuki Night Market (every Wednesday). Unfortunately we were stuffed from the BBQ, otherwise we would have eaten loads here. There were stands of every type of food and craft you can imagine (and several I couldn’t – a spiral potato on a stick, sorry no photo! when we go back I will get one). We managed to force in some honey dumplings and real lemonade before we left for the fireworks.

So the final event of the day was the fireworks back at Fed Square, we positioned ourselves downriver slightly and hoped we were in the right place. At 9.15 they began shooting out from the top of the Eureka building (tallest in Melbourne) and the Gardens on the opposite side of the river. They were fab, and the finale appeared to involve setting off every kind of firework they could get their hands on!

Happy Australia Day 2011

I have a couple of reviews to write up about the Melbourne Museum and the Aquarium, so they will be coming soon to a blog near you!

The Sydney Trip - Part Three

OK, time to speed up here are the highlights of the rest of the trip:

Tuesday

Andy did some work in the morning and early afternoon, I was sent out to scavenge for food, luckily I found a nice patisserie.

In the afternoon we arranged to meet a friend of Andy’s near the river, he had moved to Sydney a few months before we went. We had a lovely chat and some grub. We finished the night off in the Casino (no gambling, just watching) with a cocktail!

Wednesday

Again the morning involved some phone calls and computer time for Andy. The afternoon was spent in South Melbourne. Naz took us to Bondi Beach to watch the surfers, we ate super-sized cake, went for a cliff walk, and completed the 360 degree view of Sydney harbour.

Our final night was spent enjoying a Taiwanese meal, which was another delicious meal, so we now know good places to eat in Sydney we just need to get Melbourne sorted.

Thursday

Today we began our journey home, using the coastal road as our route. Fairly pretty in places with some good views and lovely beaches, the highlight of the driving was the coastal cliff bridge, where instead of cutting a road into the cliff side they built a bridge half way up the cliff following the contours.

We stopped at a couple of motels, one in Merimbula, the other in Bairnsdale. Merimbula had kangaroos on a golf course (my first views of wild kangaroos). On the final leg of the drive we went via a couple of wineries (no drink driving!) and had some fantastic tapas at the Brandy Creek Winery.

We had a fantastic break!

The Sydney Trip - Part Two B

Monday

Walking... and more walking!

So we lost our tour guide today, Naz had to do some work. So it was up to us to entertain ourselves, there was the option of going to Bondi Beach but is was a bit grey and was threatening rain... so instead we headed into town. I had the intention of going to the Old Mint (this was actually closed on Mondays unfortunately). Next door, however, is the Barracks where the prison immigrants used to be housed.

Before entering we debated about going in and had set a limit of $12 per person, it was $10 so in we went. The place was well laid out, the first room showing some of the original features of the Barracks building, the next room contained information about the lives of the prisoners who lived there, including clothes and shackles to try on (perfect for the kids).

Other rooms showed models of the building through history, the barracks had also been used as an asylum and government buildings before becoming a museum. My favourite rooms were in the roof where they had recreated the living space of the prisoners (row upon row of hammocks), I would mention that if you dislike heights don’t look down between the floorboards! 3 Stacey stars (didn’t take long to get round).

We continued wandering aimlessly around the centre of Sydney, passing by the Royal Botanical Gardens, taking a closer look at the Opera House and revisiting the Rocks, then the rain started.

After a change of clothes we headed back out as we had to be at the Sydney Harbour Bridge ready for our Bridge climb at 7.10pm, so a quick dinner was had at the Rocks Cafe (gnocchi for me, burger for Andy – yummy) before doing some more walking up to the bridge (walking was a rather large part of the day!).

So the climb... starts with a breathalyser, then form filling, a boiler suit, waterproof trousers (as raining), locker visit to drop off all possessions, belt, head torch, rain coat, then a choice of... hankie, hair band, hat, gloves... then a practice climb of a small ladder, followed by headset. Ok an hour later and you are finally ready to walk that Bridge.

It was a good experience, anyone who knows me knows that I am not keen on heights (the worst bit was the ladders to get onto the bridge, you don’t have to do this with all climbs, there is a lift, which I used on the way down), but once you are on the bridge it feels really secure and the views are great. We met a couple of Melbournians on the climb who were very friendly and made sure we were next to them, you can’t swap places on the climb as you are attached to a steel cable via the belt.

It was late by the time we had finished, so we caught a taxi back (I couldn’t walk another step).

More to come... hopefully the last of the Sydney trip!

The Sydney Trip - Part Two

Sunday

Blue Mountains

An early start today. This was due to a 3 hour drive to the Blue Mountains located outside Sydney. First stop was the Janolan Caves, which was along a very narrow, twisting, mountain edged road (my favourite). To enter the area you drive through a cave mouth, from which many of the walks originate. When you arrive there is a board listing the walks and the times, several were already sold out, but it was still difficult to make a decision. In the end we did the most popular walk which featured a bit of everything (underground rivers, crystals, big cave spaces). I was slightly concerned that it was listed as a strenuous walk on the board, but this was due to the number of steps, other walks also involved ladders and pot holing (or as they called it plug holing, which sounds as if you might not fit through).

The walk through the cave was guided by a very enthusiastic American lady, we were accompanied by many other people of all ages, in particular 3 older Italians who paid little attention to the guide possibly due to age or the language barrier, but it was funny when after telling everyone not to use flash photography as we were in this special cave where there was special lighting and music effects to enjoy and that as soon as it was over you could take as many pictures as you wanted they proceeded to use a flash on a camera and a bright light on a video camera throughout the whole thing, exclaiming at one point that they didn’t know how to turn it off (it was funny but it’s probably one of those things you had to be there for!).

After the caving we headed off down the twisty, narrow road again this time with a coach in front (the road is 2-way, but the coach cleared the route). We stopped off at a few nature parks, saw a waterfall, the 3 sisters (3 rocks), and a lot more of the mountains.

So a little weary and a little wet (it had rained as we viewed the waterfall, we had not gone under it) we returned to Sydney.

One of the places to visit in Sydney is the Fish Market and it was on our list of things to do, although I don’t think we had planned to do it when most of it was shut. Although this is what happened and it was fantastic as we went for a Chinese meal. The restaurant was up a flight of stairs (many good restaurants have been found up a flight of stairs) and was very busy. The food was fabulous, Andy plans to return whenever he can it was that good.

Additional: Naz decided to play a joke on me whilst in the caves and told me that the cave tour continued up this ladder, I couldn't remember whether this tour included ladders or not at this point, so I kinda freaked out. NOT FUNNY.

The Sydney Trip - Part One

Thursday

Driving to Sydney

Having planned the route on the SatNav and packed up the cooler bag with drinks and sarnies, we were ready to head off down the Hume highway to Sydney. The TomTom lady had told us it would take 8 hours, so we left at 9.30am with the estimated arrival time of 5.30pm. After getting out of Melbourne the lack of cruise control on the new car became obvious, it would be a very easy drive with it but what could we do about it... suggestions included a variety of different weight bricks which could be placed on the accelerator pedal to enable different cruising speeds (due to Health and Safety hazard of bricks this was never made reality).

The drive was fine, some bits of scenery, plenty of roadkill (big stuff, ew!) and only a few other cars. The obligatory slowing down for road works with no one actually working on them also featured, this was one of the reasons the estimated time of arrival was never met, also the lack of including time to eat and to get petrol so that the car can keep going. We eventually arrived at 7.30pm, and no matter what Andy says he did not drive the whole way.

We were greeted by Naz with our first Aussie BBQ, and the amazing view of the Anzac bridge from their gorgeous apartment. Then bed, considering we had sat down most of the day we were still exhausted and ready to sleep.

Friday

New Years Eve

Brunch breakfast, a walk across Sydney taking in the highlights (Opera House and Harbour Bridge among others) and a few welcome beverages in the local public houses in the Rocks.

This was Friday; a preparation for the evening festivities, one particularly memorable moment of the day was lunch. The Australian Hotel is featured on trip advisor, many people tell you not to stay there, however they do recommend eating there and so do I. The menu provides a range of gourmet pizzas, including crocodile pizza, which was part of the lunch selection along with a chorizo pizza and a prawn pizza. Good tucker!

The evening was rounded off at midnight with fireworks. Sydney Harbour and Bridge were lit up for over 10mins. A fab way to start 2011. Christmas felt odd due to the hot weather, however I think New Years is excellent when warm, it makes you want to go out, whereas often in the UK I would rather have had a cosy seat by a warm fire then venture out into the night.

Saturday

New Year Day

A gentle start with a cooked breakfast and then we were taken (by car) around the North side of Sydney. We visited several nature parks with beautiful views of the harbour, Andy was busy snapping away with the camera so we should be able to put together a 180 degree view (360 degrees once we had also done the south).

We stopped off at a small beach (it is usually fairly empty but as this was a really sunny day and part of the holidays it was a little busy) and paddled our feet in the water, which was really clear and not too chilly. We had ice cream from the ice cream van (I was happy to find out they had them over here, complete with 99’s), the ice cream of choice was a ‘choc top’, a mr whippy ice cream which is then dunked in chocolate topping (the stuff that hardens), tricky to eat but yummy.

Wok station for dinner, and then a final look at the harbour by night, accompanied by a short night photography lesson for Andy.

There is more to come in Part 2 and maybe 3...

In Sydney

Happy New Year to all. Have a great 2011... we sure hope to. We have just finished watching the fireworks over Sydney Harbour bridge, which we hope to climb on Monday. Obviously we are now in Sydney (a smooth 8 hour drive from Melbourne), and we have been on a tour of some of Sydney's major sights today.
More to come later.

Xmas Angles

Not the greatest of pictures, but what do you expect from people who are living upside down...

It was a little cloudy, the temperature was still perfect for shorts though.

Merry Christmas from down under to everyone.