Trials and (Cape) Tribulations

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Before I start this blog properly I just have to tell you all about The Arctic Monkeys - yay I managed to get to see them in Melbourne and it was the best concert I've ever ever been to. They were just brilliant. The tickets had sold out in April within about an hour of going on sale apparently so I wasn't too hopeful but I'd arranged to meet up with Grainne who I'd met in Darwin to see if we could get in. The concert was being held in a really small venue - with a capacity of about 1000 people. Anyway we rolled up and starting looking for touts but there were none, then I saw a man loitering at the front of the queue and I asked him if he was selling any tickets and he said Yes, he had 3!! Also, even though Grainne and I had agreed we'd pay up to $200 for them he only wanted the face value of $70 - bargain!!!!! We were so excited we literally skipped away holding on to our tickets for dear life and went to the pub to celebrate. Because the venue was so small we decided to act like teenage groupies and managed to edge our way to almost the front - though I now feel like I have crushed ribs, I have a huge lump and bruise on my knee and my hip feels like its been dislocated - but it was all worth it - they were brilliant. I was quite surprised that they were so young though - the lead singer looks like he'd be at home in McFly (another great band!!). Anyway a brilliant night - the best yet I think and Grainne even managed to video some footage on her camera which I've now burnt to a disc so I can relive it all over and over. It also provided a much needed antidote to all the cr*p music that the tour buses play - I'm sure that tour guide training includes handing them 2 cd's to play - Chilli Peppers greatest hits - which is at least bearable, and Jack Johnson - which is not bearable under any circumstances.

Anyhow, sorry, back to the normal blog info....

Let me tell you about a strange place called Coober Pedy - a little Opal mining town in the middle of the desert between Alice Springs and Adelaide. It's very odd, mostly because of where it is I guess - as it's in the middle of the desert temperatures in the summer can hit upwards of 50 degrees and in the winter at night it gets really cold so everyone lives underground - kind of like trolls.

The town is there only for people who think they are going to make their fortunes by mining opals. The landscape is really strange - bit like the surface of the moon, so much so in fact that NASA uses the desert around CP to test out some of their moon buggy vehicles. It was also used as a movie set for some spaceship type films starring Val Kilmer and Vin Diesel - who locals say is a very nice man - and also for the Mad Max films. Some of the space ships are still littering the streets acting as tourist attractions.

Can I apologise for the appalling green stripey thing I'm wearing in the photograph. I was in Alice and in need of more layers in preparation for heading south again and, while I don't claim to be a fashionista, I do think I normally have fairly decent taste in clothes, but Alice is a bit lacking in decent clothes outlets so it was this or freeze. You'll be happy to hear I've since made a visit to the Ripcurl outlet in Torquay and have got some slightly more stylish clothes.

There are 3500 men in CP and only 500 women but being so isolated and being opal miners they have no social skills so we were keen to hit town to find out for ourselves. When I say 'hit town' I actually mean we went along to the local bar which reminded me of a workman's social club - not the type of establishment I usually frequent, but beggars can't be choosers. Apart from a couple of middle-aged Croats who came straight in for the kill and a mad Aborigine who starting ranting that the Lebonese were trying to take over Australia, they all seemed OK if you ignored the slightly mad look in their eyes - I put it down to living underground and not being used to sunlight. Anyway we thought we'd participate fully in the CP lifestyle and slept in an underground bunker which turned out to be surprisingly cosy. Next morning was a 4am start - hideous, but we had a long journey to take.

So the next day we had a first hand encounter with roadkill when we hit a kangaroo at about 5.30am. It was horrible, I saw it hopping across the road and the driver slammed on the brakes as much as he could without sending us through the windscreen, but the roo just kind of stood there stunned by the headlights. The thud was sickening, but the blood and guts on the windscreen and the smell of it heating up on the radiator grill was worse - yet a properly cooked kangaroo steak smells delicious!

I arrived in Adelaide and found it a bit strange to be in a city again after spending two weeks looking at pretty much nothing but desert. Still it was good to shake off the red dust, though I keep finding traces of it in the most peculiar places and I'm not sure it will ever come out of my clothes. Adelaide seems like a nice city, though Í only used it as a stopover, managing to squeeze in the important bits, ie a wine tasting tour of the Barossa Valley. Interesting facts about Adelaide - they have had a disproportionately high number of serial killers here and there is currently an investigation going on into what is thought to be a huge peodophile ring involving some some very senior public figures including a judge, a surgeon and several members of parliament. On a lighter note, it's also home to the world's biggest rocking horse at 18 metres!

Leaving Adelaide behind I did a 3 day tour to Melbourne, on the way taking in the Grampian Mountains and the Great Ocean Road. Saw loads of really awesome scenery and did some great hikes but the weather has been cold and wet. Very exciting though I saw my first koala - and it was awake, which is amazing when you consider that they sleep for 20 hours a day due to the narcotic nature of the eucalyptus leaves they live off. They looked so cute and I really wanted to pick it up for a cuddle but it had fiercesome looking claws and really only looked interested in finding a more comfy tree to go back to sleep in.

On the road trip down we did all the usual sights - Twelve Apostles (although clearly Australians are innumerate as there are only 7 of them!), London Bridge - which fell down a few year's ago, Loch Ard Gorge etc etc. Also went to Bell's Beach where they filmed the end of Point Break but sadly no sign of Keanu.

So I arrived in Melbourne on a Monday night, which happily coincided with the famous Neighbours night. It was hilarious and I got to meet the legend that is Harold Bishop who turned out to be a bit of a letch - yuk!! There were a couple of other cast members there too, but not having watched the show for about 10 years I have no idea who they were - but I still had my pic taken with them - must be the stalker in me! Dr Karl Kennedy was also there playing with his band, Waiting Room - geddit?? He's a rubbish singer, but they played loads of covers - bit of Robbie, Killers, Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, U2 etc so it was a really good night.

Melbourne is a proper big city and I found it difficult to cross the street with all the traffic and the trams to contend with - I'm just not used to it anymore and I found myself hesitating and then just flinging myself out into the road and hoping for the best!! Also had a bit of adventure on the trams, being unable to work out which tram was going where so just hopped on one eventually and hoped for the best - saw some interesting parts of the city, none of which I was aiming to see, but I finally got the hang of it.

I spent a couple of days in Melbourne with Lisa, a girl I met on the trip down, but she's completely skint so we spent a day or so being really pikey and trying to do all the free stuff - museums etc, and when we ran out of free things we went and sat in the magistrates' courts and watched some of Melbourne's tea leaves get their just desserts!!

I think that Melbourne is my favourite city so far - its so cool and funky and it must be really buzzing in the summer, I think I could live there. They have loads of arty statues and things randomly attached to buildings, there's loads of live music going on all the time and cafe life seems to be the order of the day everywhere - very cool.

So then I flew off to Cairns in search of some sunshine - hooray it's 30 degrees - which I know is what you're all used to now, but I seem to have had an endless winter. On first sight Cairns feels a bit 'Brits abroad' but there's loads of stuff to do here, I just don't have the time to see it all.

Uncle Peewee - you'll like this, I saw a bus that was going to somewhere called 'Yorkey's Knob'!!

I've just spent the weekend in the Daintree National Park at Cape Tribulation, where I got to lay on a gorgeous white sand beach at last. It was really beautiful. During the weekend I also did (another) crocodile cruise. These were huge beasties - up to 5 metres long and maneaters. Also did the obligatory rainforest walk and then later got to see the trees from a different perspective when I went jungle surfing. This involves using a series of flying fox cables to cross the jungle - really good fun - especially the upside down one!

So you might also notice that I have a picture of Kat Slater on the blog - oh no, hang on, that's me with dark hair!! Sorry Mum, I know you think all your girls should be blonde, but it was getting like straw and something drastic needed to be done.

Off now to catch the nightmarkets here in Cairns (I'm trying hard not to buy too much tat), before I get on a bus tomorrow morning for a, no doubt, scintillating 10 hour journey down to Airlie Beach - my i-pod batteries will be worn down by the time I get there. From Airlie beach I'm doing a 3 day Whitsunday Islands cruise on a sailing ship - pray for calm seas.

I can't believe that I have so little time left in Australia - there's loads I still want to do, so it's going to be a rush down the coast cramming in what I can before I get to Sydney to stay with Katie and Marc (and the kids and Bob and Margaret). Jossy - can you remember if Bob was Badger 1 or Badger 2????

Anyway will do one more update from Australia I guess before I head off to Hong Kong to meet Pips for the China adventure!!!!!!!!!

lots of love to everyone, thanks for the e-mails,

Carole
xxx

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Photos

The Palace
venue for the Arctic Monkeys gig

Mind your step!
The perils of living in Coober Pedy

Is there a doctor in the house?
Dr Karl Kennedy giving it all....

All the fun of the fair
Luna Park, St Kilda, Melbourne

Melbourne Art
a hair salon in St Kilda

Belt up!
I have no idea why my belt was undone...

Comments

[Dan Watkins]

Arctic Monkeys...$200?...no.
CB, I'm enjoying reading your stories and Lucy and I sure are jealous...fair shout, you are a proper globetrotter. However, I have to stress my concern at the Arctic Monkeys article you wrote. Not sure if the heat is getting to you, but being prepared to pay $200 to see a couple of spotty 16 year olds (they are 16), that have only released 3 songs is lunacy. I'm sure the Auzzies get excited about English bands because all their music is sh*t, so I can see how things get out of hand when a half-decent band turns up...but for god's sake man, pull yourself together. Oh, and I quite liked the Green, stripey jumper. I thought stripes were trendy at the moment!?...are you taking drugs!? Anyway, your stories are ace so keep them coming and look after yourself. Cheers, Dan x