Blogs from Australia, Oceania - page 4836

A rare lay-in this morning, till 7:30am, which was gratefully needed by all after two really early starts in a row. We had time to all have our showers, pack our things and have a decent breakfast: cereal, and some exotic fruits. Today was a special day; it was Jacqueline’s twenty-ninth birthday. We sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her while on the coach. Today, our destination was the King’s Canyon Outback Resort. It was a long journey there, which took in more of the Lasseter and Stuart Highway’s. We had another couple of stops on the way, at the same roadhouses as before. Also during the journey we watched some ‘topical’ video. It was a film about a group of English down-and-outs, who owe serious money. One of them goes a telly dating show, and wins a ... read more

My watch alarm was set for 5am, yes five in the morning. After a heavy night, that’s all we wanted. Anyway, they were aiming to the bush camp by about 6am, which left an hour to get dressed, have breakfast and dismantle our lovely tent. There were some tired eyes I can tell you that morning. Some of the others were already up, dressed and having breakfast. Anyway, I stumbled out of the tent and got dressed. I was up earlier than most people, solely because I wanted to make sure I had the chance to get dressed properly. I didn’t fancy having a shower there as it didn’t look to clean. Once dressed and packed I left my bag by the coach on the tarpaulin, and got some breakfast: some bran-type cereal and a mug ... read more

Up at 5:15am. Have wash, breakfast and leave for the Kingston-Smith International airport at 6:15am with Bryan. Arrived at the airport with twenty minutes or so spare, which was ideal. As it was an internal flight, my flight took off from the domestic terminal, whic was different to the one I’d arrived at when I first landed in ‘Oz’. I had a short wait to get through check-in, but other than that I had no problems. I didn’t have to go through the stringent checks I’d experienced at Bangkok. It was a good flight, and didn’t seem to take long, although it was a three-hour flight. The only bad thing was that I had no one to talk to, as the two passengers I had sitting next to me were German. Not that I wouldn’t talk ... read more

Easy day today, as I’ve had a really busy couple of days back-to-back. We drive to the Warringah Mall today, so that I can get some bits and pieces for my tour. At Big W, the Australian equivalent of Woolworth’s, I bought a rimmed akubra hat to keep the sun off. Also in the shopping basket were some batteries, a water bottle, and two more triple-packs of camera film. From the Angus Robertson book store I got two videos, The Odd Couple and The Odd Couple 2. Then we stopped off at the Australian Geographic shop where I got a hat net to keep the ‘mozzies’ away from my face, an ‘Olgas’ poster, as it looked brilliant, and some ‘Bush Blends’ scented candles for Mike, as it would ‘chill’ him out. Whilst in the mall, I ... read more

I woke up this morning, still a little depressed after last night’s mauling, but I decided to cheer myself up, and book up to do the BridgeClimb™ this morning. I was to be climbing tomorrow at 11:05am, and it would cost $125 (£41). It was yet another early start this morning, as we were to go to the Blue Mountains today. We drove through the Harbour Bridge and then joined up with Great Western Highway (M4). It was a long drive, during which we travelled through Glenbrook, Blaxland, Springwood, Faulconbridge, Linden, Woodford, Hazelbrook, Lawson and finally Wentworth Falls. We then drove a further 5 km (3 miles) west and arrived at the beautiful settlement of Leura, where we drove down the ‘Corridor of Oaks’. In the Australian Spring (October) there are many private garden displays of ... read more