The Land of Oz

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Flew Bali - Singapore and spent nearly 24 hours stopover ( we watched 3 films in the private lounge and slept on the spa treatment rooms - but v boring to the extent that Carol was induced to buy a bottle of mango flavoured vodka!!) - then flew Singapore Brisbane (heavy rain) then connecting flight to Cairns - a weird way to go and taking 2 days but arrived safe and well in Australia at last. We then went straight to a campervan hire place and drove off up the coast to Far North Queensland within an hour of landing.

All of our preconceptions have been blown away - Aussies polite and have a great and justifiable pride in their country and a desire to keep it clean and organised. Everyone is really helpful. The only down side are the prices - to eat out is around £50 and it comes as a massive shock after Bali and Thailand where we could eat out for £5.

So we started our travels driving up the Captain Cook Highway in Far North Queensland - pristine beaches which are deserted and wooden pastel painted weatherboard houses in little towns, deep blue sea and green trees down to the waters edge. The country has really strong bones and decent straight people we feel exhilarated as we travel through it. The weather sunny and in the high 20s.

After eating Asian food for most of the last 6 months and drinking hardly any alcohol all of our good intentions collapsed within 48 hours when we had a beer and steak and chips - good but it didn’t feel as good as we expected (it was a bit boring taste-wise) - odd how tastes change over time. However it is almost impossible to eat out without getting chips and we had chips three days running in Sydney. It is really obvious that in the West we eat far too much meat, not enough fruit and veg, and there isn’t as much taste per bite so you don’t feel as though you have eaten enough, and w should eat little meals 5 times a day instead of one big one, plus eat rice each day instead of spuds. The size of people in Oz came as a shock after SE Asia as well. If you eat Thai food every day it is impossible not to lose weight it also is the best tasting cuisine in the world. (End of lecture and rant)

Back to Far North Queensland - tootled our way up the coast to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest - again stunning vistas - hugs beaches and we felt on the edge of the world - the only way to go further north was by 4wd vehicle along very rough tracks - the road literally stops. The Aussies have really done their national parks well - very organised, there is always a loo when you need it and the roads are very good. So as we travelled through the countryside in a big loop inland which took us back to Cairns the highlights were
- Port Douglas for being so pristine pastel coloured and dinky - so different to what we have seen in the last 6 months
- Cape Tribulation - the edge of civilisation and you really get a feeling of just how BIG Australia is
- Atherton Tablelands - stunning rolling verdant pasture and farmland for miles and miles with pineapples bananas avocados potatoes mandarins mangos etc being sold by the roadside - otherwise an almost exact ringer for rural England in the Lincolnshire Wolds
Millae Millae Waterfall - for being a perfect waterfall about 60 metres high with a pool underneath it where Ian went for a swim - bloody cold but a great end to a warm day.
We had decided to keep the campervan for a bit longer but when we rang up it had been booked out so we had to urgently rejig our plans and Carol managed to get us into a nice hotel in Cairns. Once we had got ourselves sorted we went for a walk to the centre of town along the new promenade that runs along the sea front. Really pristine, places to play beach volley ball, a free water area for kids to play, places to have a barbeque and eat, cafes, skate board areas and a large grassy green where people were sitting chatting and listening to live music from bands that were playing - and all very civilised with no shouting or drunkenness. Truly civilised and confirmed our views re the Aussies -Good on yer Mates!
It also gave us the chance to book a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. We sailed on a big catamaran to Michealmas Cay and took the opportunity to buy some seasickness pills which worked really well as it was very choppy. When we got there, there were fish as big as a motorcycle (and pretty damn scary) - the coral is fantastic and with lots of little jewel fishes an unforgettable experience
Water was colder than we are now used to (sensitive creatures that we have now become!) but not really cold as we put wet suits on and flotation belts. A very full day and another highlight of our travels.

The next day we flew down to Sydney - again the distances are mind-blowing - it was a 3+ hour flight and our first big city since Singapore (which feels ages ago).

It was at this point that things became surreal - our first walk from the Rocks area where we were staying took us to the Tyne Bridge - I mean the Sydney Harbour Bridge - we had a beer in a pub that is just like the old ones in Newcastle - some of the old buildings are just like the Georgian/Victorian ones in central Newcastle.
All of this is juxtaposed with the Sydney Opera House which is truly iconic in the same way as the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids. As a real treat we went to a concert in the Sydney Opera House which was being record for broadcast on the radio - Very odd as it was at noon and everyone else in the packed auditorium was at least 85 years old. We were the youngest ones there - everyone had a good time though it did my head in a bit.
We felt really excited the whole time in Sydney as there is such a buzz. It is a great city and very liveable (great bookshops) - really friendly decent people and we both felt that it would be the easiest place to live and work.

After 3 days in Sydney we again rented a campervan - bigger this time and set off for the Blue Mountains and Katoomba.

It was much colder and rainy as we wended our way into the highlands - the scenery stunning - huge forests and views across mountain valleys that go on for miles. Lots of small towns that seem unchanged from the 1950s and again a feeling of exhilaration as we walked and drove through the countryside. We then headed north to the Hunter Valley and the scenery changed to rolling hills and vineyards. We sampled quite a few and had a great tour at the Wyndham Estate which was really interesting. Fascinating to hear how they construct a wine for a target market - Aussie wines are not complex as they are made for the mass market - also that no wine is worth more than 35 aus dollars (about £17). We have been buying wine in Oz called clean skins (i.e. they don’t have a label for about £3 a bottle which is the cheapest we could find). We did buy a lovely new white Semillon as a treat which was delicious. Then on we drove past signs to Newcastle, Hexham and Morpeth which again was weird to the Pacific Highway. Then up along the coast staying at little beaches - unfortunately cold and driving rain which was the first bad weather in 7 months but a bit better now we are in Port Macquarie. Another very pretty town and the sun is out as I write and 26 degrees.



So there we are - Oz is a great country with really good decent helpful people, expensive (confirmed by South Africans and Americans we have spoken to) but a country that is still growing and values what you do rather than how you look.
Seems to be a thoroughly decent society although there are bound to be some wrangles. Lots of space to breath in clean air and nobody is living on top of their neighbour. There are few of the tensions we learn to live with in Europe. No obvious racial tensions, no apparent divisions amongst classes, everyone is simply AUSTRALIAN and they value and respect their country. No fighting for space…… if you want it and can afford it, its there

And what are the big stories in the news - water prices rising by over 15%, shortage of gas and power in Western Australia because of a gas pipeline accident and the selling off of power companies (interested parties are the Chinese and Singaporeans who seem to own quite a lot of the infrastructure already)

Finally - we have another week in Oz and hopefully we get to Bondi Beach, have a pie floater, then we fly to Hawaii

Catch you later and make sure you don’t get sand up yer clacker.. …….

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Photos

Carry on Camping
Deserted beaches - sun - and a nice cup of tea at brew time

Style??!!
ready to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef

Sydney Opera House
..a stunning building in a great city in a fantastic country..

Newcastle Upon Tyne???
...scary and confusing - the Sydney Bridge is just like the one over the Tyne - or was it the beer...?

I didn't realise Koala Bears were so big!!!!
...they sleep for 18 hours a day...

Carol found a normal one
...aahhhhh... the kangeroos were like big rats though.