Wine, friends and high prices in WA and NSW

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After 4 months in Asia, I was ready to move onto somewhere different and catch up with friends in Australia but I barely registered arriving as we landed in Perth at 4 in the morning. I was soon wide eyed though as I saw the taxi meter ticking over as if it was a stopwatch as it made its way the few kilometers across town to Leederville, where Clem and Becky live. Somehow it made its way to $50 by the time we arrived, not a good start to this leg of the trip!

Fortunately Clem and Becky were up for work when I arrived and after a little bit of catching up they headed off to work while I hit the sack to catch up on the sleep I had missed on the red eye flight from Singapore. The house felt freezing cold after the heat of Asia but it was nice to be tucked up in bed under a big thick duvet…..sometimes you just cant beat that feeling.

The guys finished work early and we were on the road down to Margaret River for the weekend by 4pm. The traffic out of the city was slow but it wasn’t too long before we were making headway down the coastal highway and, after a stop for food and alcohol, we made it to our rented house. The house itself was huge and in the middle of nowhere on the edge of one of the many national parks. It had a bit of a creepy edge with the lack of light and remoteness but it was perfect for a weekend away.

After choosing bedrooms and putting the food away we got a roaring fire going and cooked a big spag bol to go with the wine we had brought down with us. It was great to catch up over good food and good wine in a gorgeous setting and the feeling of remoteness there was highlighted by the night sky, which was stunning with the absence of man made light. The sky is so much more interesting in the Southern Hemisphere, with a much better view of the Milky Way than back home.

Saturday was an early start as we headed to the beach to try and spot the big sting rays that are common in the area coming in close to shore to feed but sadly we couldn’t spot any so it was back to the house for a big fry up to line the stomach for the day’s serious business, the wine tasting. Jonny was at the house to meet us after coming straight from the airport after landing back from the UK at 2am. He was understandably nackered but gamely tucked into brekkie and joined us for the day trip.

The first stop was Redgate winery, a small operation run by a semi retired couple and the husband was running the tastings at the cellar door. The last time I was in Margaret River was before Clem and Becky’s wedding in 2008 when a big group of us did the Wine For Dudes tour (which I highly recommend if you are in the area). This was a very different day with it being a small group but it meant we could go where we wanted to at our own speed. The tastings are free for normal groups and you tend to try 3 or so whites and 3 reds and maybe a speciality such as a port or a sparkling wine. We ended up buying a case of clean skins from there after chatting with the owner for a good half an hour about his winery and the different wines on offer.

Over the course of the day we visited a number of different wineries, varying from large, internationally renowned places like Leeuwin down to the family owned and run type spots. All of them had stunning scenery and it was great to try all of the wines and ports. Unfortunately the reds made in the area aren’t big and bold enough for me, especially the Shiraz, which I like to be very full bodied but there are some fantastic whites and ports and the car was pretty full of bottles as we made our way back to the rented house in the evening, feeling slightly tipsy. Dinner was accompanied by several of the bottles we had acquired that day and then we took blankets outside and laid on the huge table on the decking to do some stargazing under the incredibly bright and vast night sky. By the time I went back in a couple of hours later we had seen 16 shooting stars between us, not bad in one night. As well as the night sky to enjoy, we were also visited by some very friendly possums, who were obviously used to the house guests and who were keen to have some fruit passed their way.

The next day was more of the same with a few wineries and two chocolate factories on the agenda before the long drive back to Perth. The free chocolate was tucked into with just as much gusto as the wine at the cellar door tastings and we all felt fairly unhealthy by the time we made it back to the city, just in time for the men’s road race in the Olympics. Having applied for £2,000 of tickets for the Olympics, I am gutted to be missing the biggest thing to happen in England in years, especially as most of the action will take place while I sleep due to the time difference with Australia.

Clem and Becky were at work during the week so I was left to explore the city and surrounding area during the week, which took me to the coastal suburbs of Fremantle and Cottesloe for fish and chips and a walk on the beach, Kings Park for a long walk round the gardens and the city centre for a look at the shops. As well as exploring the city, I spent plenty of time exercising Simba, their enormous dog who loves to spend her days asleep in various parts of the house.

The thing that struck me during the week was just how much effort is put into providing the locals with the facilities to live a healthy outdoor life style. There are large numbers of parks and huge amounts of sports facilities. Car parks are free in most locations outside the city centre. The parks are full of workout stations, running tracks, cycle paths and water fountains and the people take full advantage. Each evening and during the weekends, they flood the parks to walk dogs, run as they push prams along, cycle, roller blade and do any other number of activities. Given that the winter weather was around 22C and sunny every day of the week I was there, I can certainly understand why everyone is keen to be outside, it is a lifestyle which is definitely attractive.

After some beers on the Friday night, the weekend was spent relaxing and enjoying the more laid back side of life on the West Coast, with a game of crown green bowls overlooking the Swan River and accompanied by a picnic, a stroll along the river itself, a trip to the cinema and coffee and beers in Leederville. It was hilarious to see how many people wanted their photo taking with Simba as she sat on the sidewalk outside the coffee shop….apparently she is somewhat of a local celebrity!

Sadly it was time to move on by Monday morning with a flight to Brisbane but it had been great to spend so much time with Clem and Becky and Jonny and seeing how relaxed and laid back their lives are in WA has certainly given me food for thought about a possible relocation with work……

After some more ridiculous taxi journeys and a 4 hour flight across the massive empty vastness of the country, I arrived at the hostel I had booked in Brisbane city centre, BASE, which turned out to be a complete hole. The beds were squeaky, there was one bathroom/toilet per floor, no wifi, no lockers and hardly any space for storing bags. The guy in the bed under mine must have been pushing 60, thought it was socially acceptable to wonder round in his pants and spent the whole night snacking, taking a drink and moving round loads in the squeaky bed…..all adding up to a pretty pi** poor nights sleep…..oh how I love hostels!!!

Fortunately that was the only night I had in a hostel in Oz as the next morning I went to pick up the camper van I had hired for the drive down the coast to Sydney and I was soon on the Pacific Coast Highway for the short drive down to Byron Bay, one of my favourite spots that I have been to on all my travels round the world. The holiday park I had booked turned out to be deathly quiet but with good facilities so I found a spot for the van by the lake and then headed into the town for some food and a walk along the beach in the afternoon sunshine. The weather on the East coast was just as glorious as the West, despite it being the heart of winter and the views from the beach across to the mountains was every bit as stunning as I remembered. I drove the van up to the lighthouse for the sunset and took some photos before heading back out to the campsite to make some dinner and watch the Olympics in the camp kitchen. The van was snug enough during the cold night and I definitely got a better sleep than in the hostel.

After spending the next morning on the beach I headed out of town towards the mountains via Nimbin, a very hippy town about an hour inland. I had been told to head to the Border Ranges National Park, to a free national park campsite there from where I should get stunning views of the sunrise over Mount Warning. Unfortunately, I ended up at the wrong entrance and spent an hour driving very slowly along a gravel track in pitch blackness, trying not to hit one of the many wallabies bouncing out onto the road in front of me. Eventually I gave up hope of making it to the camp site and parked up at a deserted picnic area. There cant have been another person within 40km of where I was and it felt fairly spooky spending the night there, various images of axe wielding maniacs running through my mind as I tried to sleep in the freezing temperatures up in the mountains. Fortunately I made it through the night just fine but missed the sunrise as the spot I had ended up in was surrounded by high trees as far as I could see.

I decided to write the venture off and head down the coast rather than try and find somewhere to go for a walk as I didn’t have much daylight driving time to make it to Coffs Harbour, a couple of hundred kilometres down the coastline and I didn’t want to rush back down the gravel track given that the van wasn’t meant to be driven off sealed roads. The drive down to Coffs was fairly uneventful, with the scenery providing plenty of great views along the way. The campsite for the evening, Park Beach Holiday Park, was really nice, right by the beach and I was delighted to find out that they were doing a free breakfast in the morning of bacon and egg sandwiches. This turned out to be a feast as they had cooked far too much and had plenty of leftovers so I tucked in and ate as much as I could manage before going for a long walk round the marina and along the coastline.

After that it was a long drive down to Maitland, near Newcastle, via a stop for lunch in South West Rocks, a pretty little seaside town with a small beach and some good surf for beginners. The drive took about 6 hours in total and I was pretty stiff by the time I arrived at my friend Mike’s house. He wasn’t yet back from dropping his folks off at the airport in Sydney so I chatted to his wife Rochelle, who I hadn’t met before as I hadn’t seen Mike since we were both at uni back in 2001. It was great to see him again and meet his family as we had grown up together, playing a lot of cricket for club and county and also spending summer days messing around together on the grounds of the agricultural college where his dad worked. We spent the evening reminiscing and catching up over a few of Mike’s home brew beers, definitely a good idea given the £30 cost for a case of beer in the bottle shops. It was strange to see him with his three boys but he clearly loves being a father…..hopefully it wont be another 10 years till I see him again.

Rochelle sorted a quality fry up in the morning and then I said my goodbyes and hit the road for the final leg of the journey down the coast to Sydney. Last time I was in the city it was over New Year 2002/2003, when I stayed on the edge of Kings Cross in a hotel cum hostel which Simon and I were very lucky to get into. This time I was at the other end of Kings Cross, in Potts Point, a nice little area with lots of coffee shops and delis, right by the harbour. After dropping the van off and finding the guesthouse, I headed out for a walk in the late afternoon sunshine, down by the Botanical Gardens for a view of the sunset over the harbour bridge, before walking round to the famous Opera House to savour the atmosphere as hundreds of people were out enjoying food and drinks in the many bars and restaurants on the harbour front.

Sunday was spent catching up with more friends, this time from Deloitte, over at Manly, with food and drinks by the beach on a lovely sunny winter’s afternoon. The ferry journey out across the harbour offered some great views of the city and the famous landmarks but annoyingly I had left the memory card for my camera in my laptop again!! My last day in Oz was a chilled one, with a lazy afternoon in the gardens followed by a few drinks in Bondi in the evening before an early night as I was due at the airport at 5am the next day.

It has been great to be back in Australia and I still love the country and the laid back attitude of the people here. I love that radio presenters swear and I think it is brilliant how much Ozzies support small local businesses in favour of large international chains….I think I only saw 2 Starbucks in 3 weeks! Catching up with so many friends in such a short space of time has been brilliant, though I fear it may be some time before I see some of them again. The scenery in WA and down the East Coast is fabulous and I can see how all of my friends here have settled so easily and why none of them want to move back to the UK. The weather, the outdoors lifestyle, the beaches, the scenery and the laid back lifestyle are all great reasons to stay. I would say to everyone that, if you have the money, you should visit Australia. It is no longer a cheap haven for backpackers but it is still a country with masses to offer, especially if you are willing to get off the beaten track a little bit and go exploring. I can’t wait to come back soon!

Next stop New Zealand and my last leg before heading home……

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