Blogs from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 17

So we have arrived in Australia. Our lovely friend Brad and his lady Lara picked us up from the airport drove us to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House and then we moved north to Newcastle, land of the O'Haras and Silverchair. Our first night was pretty tame and involved going to bed. Christmas Eve was a different story altogether. Brad and his amazing girlfriend Lara picked us up at 10:30 took us to the Chrissy Surf Comp (I did not compete as I felt that it was unfair to the other surfers). Brad did manage to score us some free gear which was a bonus. Then it was back to the O'Haras for lunch, a change of clothes and then onto one of the swank new bars the Dockyards where we were introduced ... read more

15/12/06 - 18/12/06 A quick stop at Surfers Paradise, to say we’d been there and then up a winding mountain road, reminiscent of Northern Thailand or Bhutan up to O’Reillys plateau. O’Reillys guesthouse is set in an amazing location with fantastic views. It is primarily a bird watching retreat with lyrebirds and their symbol the black and gold bower bird. Crimson rosellas and king parrots landed on our balcony, table and Jeanette’s shoulder enjoying my banana muffin -  Sacrificing the only food that we had to tempt them with. We stopped off for a couple of days at the infamous Byron Bay (named by cook after the Poet) and managed to avoid the Crystal Castle and any appointments on offer for ‘Tantric God pleasuring’ and ‘cranial accoustic healing with the power of angelic love’ etc ... read more

Kate has far surpassed me in hospital visits. Unless South America hits me with multiple parasites or cases of malaria, she may have the win. She's only been sick twice though, so I might contest her total. It's not my fault it takes two hospital visits per illness before a doctor correctly diagnoses her. The latest illness was strep throat, so Kate is recovering at a steady pace. Do not fret. Onto Malaysia... we'd met a lot of smack talkers who said Malaysia was worthless. We disagree. Yes, it's Western-ish. We were amazed by the number of golf courses, billboard advertisements, housing developments, and mini malls. But the people have been wonderful, and we've seen some zany stuff. Malaysia is worth a stop, and I bet Malaysian Borneo is lovely. T(h)ana Rata Originally, we were supposed ... read more

We picked the car up this morning and headed north along highway 1 towards the Hunter Valley. We got to our accommodation at the Hunter Country Lodge quickly enough and then freshened up ready for an afternoon’s private wine tour. The weather had been overcast all morning, but when we stepped out of the car the humidity in the valley was oppressive. It was hot, and damn, it was sweaty as well (and not in a good way). The valley was also hazy due to the bush fires burning nearby. Our guide arrived promptly and whisked us off to our first winery of the day, Blueberry Hill. They had a very good rose sparkling and a very unusual Pinot Noir (who says that they don’t do Pinot in the Hunter). We avoided the big producers, such ... read more

Well we made it.. After 25 hours on a crammed plane Dayna and I were ready to get the hell off!! We definitely made the best of the long flight though.. While everyone else was sleeping we took full advantage of the free alcohol on international flights situation.. We drank, played cards, listened to good music and laughed a lot... I still find it hard to believe that we are actually doing this!! But so far things are going really well.. everything seems to be working out perfectly for us so we're wondering when things are going to stop going our way. Our first night we stayed in a hotel downtown sydney where we passed out really early.. If it weren't for Dayna dragging me out of bed I could have slept all day and night.. ... read more