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Published: August 6th 2007
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G'day folks,
We've made it to the land of Koalas, Roos, Dags, Flaming Gallahs, Alf Stewart and crap sports folk. We're here for about 8 or 9 weeks (not decided yet) to take in a few sights, a few old friends and a few aussie beers (already cracking on well on that front).
Got the flight from Singapore over to Perth and it went very smoothly. Nice bit of luxury flying after the Air Asia flights. Got decent tucker and polished off a few coldies on the way over. Mrs Deane has already got stuck into the Australian reds.
On the way over I watched Happy Feet and The Devil Wears Prada while Mrs Deane checked out The Departed and Rocky Balboa. I may have got that the wrong way round.
Landed and went through the pain of Oz customs. They check everything. Took about 75 minutes to get through. I was particularly worried about the plastic gloves. Full cavity search would not have been much fun. We did have one item confiscated. Mrs Deane's notepad from Laos. Turns out it was made from elephant dung.
Jumped straight in a mini-bus and headed out to Fremantle
on the coast. Very nice and pleasant little town. It's a big place for Perth folk to head to on a weekend so arriving without a booking at a hostel at 7pm on a Friday evening may have been a mistake. Hostel 1 - no room, not even a dorm bunk. Hostel 2 - the same, hostel 3 - the same. Bearing in mind there are only 5 hostels we were a smidgen concerned. Shouldn't have worried as the Australian Backpacker Hostel had a room for us. Dumped the bags and headed down to the bay for some fish and chips by the quay. Very nice and pleasant. After that it was an early night to recharge the batteries.
Our first full day in Oz was a nice doss day. A lie in till about 11 and a simple mooch around the town. I had got some picnic provisions from the supermarket and we headed off to one of the parks to enjoy the sunshine. Took in the history museum and then a look round the small town centre before settling ourselves on the Cappuccino strip for a drink (beer and wine - not coffee). It looks a lot
like Didsbury but with much nicer weather. After that it was a stroll back to the hostel to cook ourselves some noodles and get tucking into the local wine. Very nice chilled bottle of Banrock Station Rose followed by a Penfolds Cab Sav. Both for under 2.5 quid. Excellent. Mrs Deane could definitely get used to this.
Next day was another relaxed affair. Missed our intended get up time by an hour but not to worry as it was the end of daylight saving which gave us back our hour. Didn't see that one coming. jumped on the free bus and took off to South Beach for our second picnic day. Beautiful, sunshiny day, about 30C but without any of the humidity from the tropics. The sea was a little bit chilly compared to previous places but really nice and clear and the beach was quiet and relaxing. Had an ice cream and did a little people watching before joining the rest of Western Australia (probably all of Australia) for a Sunday tradition - a good old fashioned Sunday Session.
Headed to the Little Creatures brewery for a few bevvies. About 400 people crammed in all enjoying the
sunshine and good beer. Got stuck into a few of the local brews which are all really nice - if you're out here any time soon get yourself a few pints of the Little Creatures Pale Ale - very decent, even Mrs Deane agreed. Wandered back via the supermarket to get a 2L box of decent red wine for under 4 quid and a few provisions for tea.
The great thing about hostels in Oz is that you can cook as they've got all the kitchen facilities you could possibly want. We've not done any cooking since our cookery course at Chiang Mai at the start of Jan and I was a little worried my Delia-esque skills would be rusty. I needn't have worried as I rustled up a very tasty bacon pasta dish. Beautiful and probably the only way we'll stick to our Oz budget.
A message to all the people we'll be stopping with around Sydney and the East coast - let me know what dishes you want us to cook in return for accomodation and I'll get practising. All reasonable requests considered.
After dinner - wine time.
Day 3 and our final one
around this part of the country. Up early and off to catch the ferry over to Rottnest Island just off the coast. Really nice there. It's only 11km long and there's no cars or anything so we hired ourselves some bikes and got our snorkel gear and set off. Have finally bought ourselves masks and snorkels to go with our diving so that we can jump in the beautiful warm water and swim with the fishies whenever we want to. Not quite as warm over here as it is near the equator though.
Spent about 6 hours in total cycling round the island and seeing all the sights. Really beautiful island and we stopped off at about half a dozen beaches for swims and snorkels. The water is refreshing, you could say. Good to get out in the fresh air and see the countryside. The island reminds me a bit of Devon and Cornwall way with hardly anyone there and really nice beaches and cliffs and rocks and shipwrecks.
Loads of Quokkas on the island as well. They appear to me to be the result of a cross between a kangaroo and a rat. Very cute things. We
saw a family of them at one point. Baby Quokka, Father Quokka, Mother, no, no, no, this is a family blog.
As we got to one of the final beaches on our circuit and I headed in for a snorkel it started to rain. So much for the Oz climate. After I got out we decided it was time to head to the pub for some beers instead.
Sat for an hour or two at the Quokka Arms drinking a couple of new beers and enjoying a bit of chilled out time.
Got the 4.30 ferry back. As we set off a calm Aussie voice told us it may get a little choppy. A big understatement. We thought we were going to drown. Out of our window we were alternately 10m in the air and the next second under 15m of waves. The surfer dudes on the ferry were looking out in envy and wishing they were out there riding them.
Oh well, home safely and chicken curry (cooked by me again) for tea. Must get Mrs Deane to step up her domestic duties. At least she keeps on top of the laundry.
That's all
for here though. Next up, road trip. We're getting a car for 8 or 9 days and taking off down south. I will be allowing Mrs Deane to blog next but I'm not sure about letting her behind the wheel. We'll have to see.
See the later,
Rolf & Waltzing Matilda
P.S. still struggling with the photos.... On the old camera. But we have a new one that we are having a go with. Early days but you can take pictures under water.
Beer 42: Victoria Bitter, Australia, Can, 4.9%, 7.0, a good start - not great but not bad
Beer 43: Carlton Draught, Australia, Bottle, 4.6%, 7.5, Nice and tasty
Beer 44: Little Creatures Pale Ale, Australia, Draught, 5.2%, 8.5, excellent brewery and an excellent beer
Beer 45: Little Creatures Pilsner, Australia, Draught, 4.6%, 7.0, another lager, ok but nothing special
Beer 46: Little Creatures Bright Ale, Australia, Draught, 4.5%, 7.5, decent and nice
Beer 47: Tasman Bitter, Australia, Bottle, 4.8%, 7.0, Very tasty with a bit of pasta
Beer 48: Tooheys New Draught Beer, Australia, Draught 4.6%, 6.5, running out of descriptions for plain lagers
Beer 49:
Swan Draught , Australia, Draught 4.6%, 6.5, running out of descriptions for plain lagers
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James Cheverton
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Suggested Australia Beers to try
James Boag's premium and James Boag's draught i think they are from the Tasmanian region. Enjoy Aus.