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Published: August 9th 2006
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Aaaah, the brakes!
The streets of San Francisco. Hi All
I know what you're thinking, no blogs for weeks and then two in a fortnight. Don't worry, this is just a quickie to bring the story up-to-date so if I were you I'd save it for Friday afternoon when you need to look busy. As you probably guessed from the cheesy title of this instalment, I've left the warm weather behind and am now in wintery Oz. After a lovely, relaxing and very expensive 10 days in San Francisco (my credit card is now on life support!) where I caught up with my mum and some old family friends I flew to Melbourne on 20th July (arriving on 22nd July having crossed the dateline and completely missed the 21st!) and got back into proper travelling mode.
Melbourne bills itself as the 'loveable, liveable city', and it really is. On first, bleary-eyed impressions as the airport shuttle bus ambled it's way into the city at 8.30am, I could have sworn I was back in the UK. Everything seemed so familiar after so many months visiting places that bear no ressemblance to home. From driving on the left, to the road signs and the mixture of old red-brick buildings
Haight Ashbury
For a few summers in the 60's it was the centre of the counter-cultural hippy-trippy world, now there's a GAP store. But a few wackos remain. and shiney new high-rises, I could have been in London or Manchester or even Basingstoke (although Melbourne is, obviously, much, much nicer than that). The only confusing thing was the weather, which had a wintery chill and that weak, yellow light that we get in the weeks before Christmas which seemed very weird at the end of July.
The hostel I'd chosen (Urban Central) was within easy walking distance of the city and a very pleasant walk it was too, along the banks of the Yarra river and the new Southgate development and then over Princes Bridge to Federation Square, from where all the main attractions could be easily reached on foot or by tram. After all the activity and constant moving around of the last few months, it was really nice to be in one place for a week and to just amble around seeing the sights without any sort of timetable. Even though it's the middle of winter, I was really lucky with the weather which was cold, but not bitter, and perfect for gentle strolling and sitting in cafes with a cappucino to watch the world go by. Melbourne is also home to two old friends
who I lived next door to when I was a nipper so as well as all the usual touristy things (such as visiting the beach at St. Kilda, doing a tour of wineries on Mornington Peninsula, and shopping at Queen Victoria market), I was very lucky to get a local's eye view of the city as well. This included a 10-hour tour of some of the city's 350-odd bars, which as in Mexico pretty much put paid to my final day in the city!
After Melbourne it was a 4-hour flight to Perth on the West coast. Everybody in Melbourne assured me that the weather would be noticeably warmer in Perth, so I was looking forward to a week of sunshine and outdoorsy type activities. Unfortunately, the allegedly 'sunniest city in the world' has been experiencing a period of uncharacteristically wet, cold and windy weather recently so bang went that plan. Rather than stay in Perth itself, I opted for the more laid-back atmosphere of Fremantle - or Freo - which is about 20km south of the city centre. In the summer, it's a beachy, surf-bum kind of place and even in the winter it retains some of that
Wintery Melbourne
It looks like a big city, but feels like a small town. vibe. The main street is known as the cappucino strip and is lined with cafes, restaurants and bistros from which you can watch Fremantle life go by. As well as the weather being off colour, I'd come down with a stinking cold - the inevitable aftermath of sharing recycled air with 700 other people on the flight in from LA - so the laid-back atmosphere of Freo was perfect for a week of doing not very much. Apart from a couple of trips into Perth to check out the city (surprisingly small) my main touristy thing was a day-trip to Rottnest Island about 40 minutes off the coast. What started out as wet and miserable turned into the nicest day of the week and I was able to see it at it's best. It's absolutely beautiful and, out of season, it felt like I had the place to myself. The island is very small (about 18km round) and there's no traffic apart from the odd bike, so it was lovely to get some exercise and walk. Every twist and turn in the road brought another beautiful bay of white sand and clear, turquoise water. For birdwatchers, it's apparently a bit
Beautiful Rottnest Island
It felt like I had the whole island to myself. of a paradise but my main wildlife quest was to see a quokka - a small marsupial that one of the first European visitors to the island mistook for a rat, giving the island it's present name of Rottnest (rat's nest in Dutch). Luckily, they're totally unafraid of humans so when I did meet one, it was very happy to pose for photos and even came right up to me to investigate the taste of my shoe!
I'm now in Cairns on the east coast of the country and about to begin my journey south to Sydney. I've mostly been enjoying the sun and warm weather after two weeks of winter, but earlier in the week, I took a day trip up the coast to the Daintree National Rainforest. Apparently the world's oldest rainforest, it's also home to an array of, mostly killer, wildlife including cassowaries (big birds that can ripe your stomach out), venomous snakes, and crocodiles. Our guide for the day, Dan, took great pleasure in telling us about all the things in Australia that can kill you, or at least severely ruin your day, but he was also very informative about the rainforest and brought the
A quokka
Ain't he cute!! whole experience to life for us.
So, that's the story so far. I hope the weather at home is still good and you're all having a great summer - it's been a long time since I heard from most of you so let me know what you're up to and all the fun I'm missing!
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