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Published: August 28th 2005
(Dave writes...)
I'm sat in Adelaide, in Hallet Cove Beach (or thereabouts). We've done quite a lot since our last entry, I'll fill you in on our last week in Sydney first, then our week in Tasmania, before Gem covers 5 days in Melbourne and on the Great Ocean Road, and finally Adelaide where we've been staying with Gem's second cousin Sue and family for the last few days. Be warned, this is a long entry!
On our penultimate weekend in Sydney we decided we had to see the administrative capital Canberra, despite some people's warnings to the contrary! We caught the greyhound down there on Saturday 6 Aug, nice drive of about 4 hours and stayed in a youth hostel there on the Saturday night.
Canberra is quite bizarre: a planned city along the lines of Milton Keynes or Warrington, designed for cars from the ground up and filled with open space, greenery and monumental buildings such as the parliament house, an array of museums and memorials. A competition was held to find a design, the winner was a bloke called Burley Griffin. He was an American who had never visited Australia and both facts are obvious
immediately - I'm sure it must be very similar to Washington in design, and some of it looked uncannily familiar to those pictures of the area surrounding the White House you see on TV now and then. The fact that the guy hadn't been to Australia explains why Canberra is so very different from the rest of Australia we've seen. It's all very grandiose with a lot of room for expansion in the future. We kind of left feeling quite bewildered as to whether we liked it or not!
On the Saturday of that weekend, we visited the War Memorial, which had a good exhibit on Gallipoli and war from the Australian point of view. The museum was excellent, and they had huge centrepieces such as helicopters used in Vietnam, the famous Japanese submarine that sneaked into Sydney harbour during WWII etc.
Sunday we hired mountain bikes, which made getting around a lot easier until my chain broke and we pushed them back across the city! We went to the museum about Canberra itself - it's a bit like the York University campus expanded to the size of a whole city, with a huge lake in the centre
that encourages the wind to slap you in the face. I feel cold just thinking about it! We also had an experience trying to reach the parliament house by foot, in the end we had to run across 4 dual carriageways and climb over a wall to get there! We were half expecting to be picked up by secret service officials protecting the building, but having spoken to other ozzies about it, this is the only way to get around Canberra if you don't have a car.
The new parliament building was awesome - inside the building is modelled on the progress of Australia from the first colonisation, reflected in the building materials used, e.g. the entrance is constructed of European marble, the starting point for colonisation, then the next hall is constructed from the timbers that were initially used, etc. We did a tour and were allowed into the chambers, parliament wasn't sitting but it was amazing. Interestingly, there's a throne in one of the houses for the queen to sit in when she visits, and a comparitively humble chair for Prince Philip next to it!
Down at the old parliament house (built as a temporary facility
Richmond
Quaint village in Tassie.for 40 years, all planned you see) there was the Aboriginal tent embassy camped outside, and an array of protests over native land rights and environmental issues. I think that a new protest area is to be provided at the new parliament house eventually (not sure how happy the politicians are about it though).
So that was Canberra. The following Friday we quit our jobs (hurrah), Gem got lots of children's drawings and a book of handprints and presents from the staff, I went to the pub and had a spicy Thai meal and we said goodbye to all our workmates. We weren't too sad to leave our house in Coogee, as the atmosphere was pretty downbeat there (try 'mortuary'). We stayed with the lovely Sharon and Den one more night, said sad goodbye's on the Saturday and kipped in Sydney proper for one night before flying out to Hobart on Sunday 14 August. On the Saturday night we went to the Sydney opera house to see the opera 'La Boheme'. Neither of us had seen an opera before and we both liked it. In the interval we splashed out on Champagne and stood on the balcony enjoying the
Tasman Peninsula
In South-East Tassie views of the harbour. It was a good finale to our time in Sydney.
The reason I'm writing this part of the blog despite it being Gem's turn is that I insisted I write the Tassie entry. Tas is by far the coolest place we've visited, I think the best week of travel I've ever had. It started off soberly - staying in Hobart, which had the allure of Rochdale barring a nice preserved old port area, and we were staying in a hostel that was pretty bleak. When we did our maths, we realised that it would actually be cheaper to see Tassie by car and on Monday 15 Aug we picked up our 800cc Daewoo 'Matiz' for $30, or 15 pounds, a day. Bargain.
As soon as we got out of Hobart we found ourselves driving through the lake district. We stopped off at an essentially English village called Richmond and then drove down to Port Arthur to see the preserved penal colony. Tassie is quiet in Winter - when we arrived at the hostel there we were the first people to stay for two days! The penal colony was fascinating and lovingly restored, if a
Us at the remarkable cave
Though you can't see it here, the cave is indeed remarkable. bit spooky. Tragically, it was also the site of a shooting in the late nineties that saw both staff and visitors lose their lives. Tassie's Dunblaine, if you will, and the roads down the peninsula there were painted with anti-gun slogans - a campaign that has been extremely successful since the incident.
On the Tuesday we drove around the peninsula and saw some amazing rock formations and wished we had paid more attention in GCSE Geography. We headed up the East of the country and Gem took us on a shortcut that the lady at the hostel had recommend. "It's a dirt track, but it's a good dirt track." I wasn't so sure about that! But we survived in our little bubble and also managed not to add to the extensive collection of roadkill (kangas, possums, wallabies etc) on the way. The track went through a beautiful forest reserve, the scenery was absolutely stunning.
...As was the East coast, which looked to me like the Irish coastline, just an incredible drive at 100kph along country roads.
We got to our destination, Cole's Bay, just before the most outstanding sunset we have ever witnessed set the sky to
a firey orange, also illuminating the impressive Hazards (huge mountanous rocks that rise out of the sea) bright red. We stayed in another little YHA there and got used to sleeping in full clothing and keeping the stove going. We also met a few other travellers there, and my proudest moment came when myself and another Englander called John defeated, no destroyed, a pair of Canadians at pool in the local.
The next morning we crammed John and two lovely Irish girls Gillian and Jennifer into our little car to split the national park fee 5 ways and drove up to the start of a walk that took us to Wineglass bay, a stunning beach on the edge of the peninsula bordered by beautiful forest and granite rocks. Had a great walk and later in the day went in the car to the friendly beaches, which I'm sure had the whitest sand possible, almost luminescent.
Following day we drove for flippin' miles to get to Cradle Mountain in the North West of Tassie, stopping at a tiny petrol station where I had to wander round for a while before a local noticed us and told me where to
Gem at Coles Bay
Gem running, scared by an unexpected wave... find the attendant. In Tas they fill your car up for you - just like the roaring fifties.
Anyhows, the roads to Cradle Mountain took us through the clouds and our car stuggled all the way to the top. We stayed there in a lodge-like hostel with beautiful wood-lined walls and a cosy kitchen. We did a walk that day and the Friday, which took us round the area at the base of the Mountain. It was just the most unusual and stunning landscape, the vegetation was incredible, autumnal colours surrounding beautiful lakes. I was in heaven.
I can only hope the pictures we've taken convey some idea of how Tassie is - the most lush, diverse island that is a hiker's dreamworld.
The Friday afternoon we drove down the state back to Hobart, via the secondary route - the A5, which started out a little windy and eventually descended into gravel track with potholes big enough to swallow a cyclist. It was a very long drive, but we blindly ploughed through it and the rental company didn't take our deposit so it worked out ok.
Saturday we saw a bit more of Hobart (Salamanca market
and the top of nearby Mount Wellington) and returned the car for a good wash before flying out on the Sunday (with tears in my eyes) to Melbourne, leaving Tassie behind.
Now I'll hand you over to Gemma to continue this mammoth entry...
We arrived in Melbourne very early on sunday morning. It wasnt a good start as they were doing a lot of roadworks in the centre of town and the trams were all redirected. People kept sending us off in the wrong direction and it was all a bit stressful! Anyway, we made it to our hostel in the trendy suburb of St.Kilda. The hostel was called Olembia, it was a lovely big house with a cosy living room and dining room and a big cat called Alexander the Great! It was well worth the stressful journey to get there. In the afternoon we went to an Aussie Rules game at a big stadium in the centre of Melbourne. Aussie Rules is a mixture of football and Rugby. It is such a fun game to watch. The two teams playing were Richmond and Hawthorne, both Melbourne teams. Knowing nothing about the game or the two sides,
Wineglass Bay
View from the lookout. i decided randomly (i preferred the colour of their shirts!) to support Richmond. Anyway, it became clear that they were the underdogs and all through the game were getting thrashed. Then right at the end they started catching up and in the last 5 mintutes the two teams were neck and neck. Then in the last minute Richmond scored and won the game! It was very exciting, the guy behind us was hugging us and jumping up and down. It was such a cool atmosphere.
On the monday we went into Melbourne and had a good look around. It certainly is a city of shops and cafes. I dont think we liked it as much as Sydney, but that could have just been that we had longer in Sydney to get to know it. Also, the weather was miserable and we both had stinking colds, so we probably didnt do the city justice. But anyway, on the monday night i had an amazing time at a Neighbours quiz night, being a big fan of the show i nearly fainted when i got to meet Karl Kennedy, Toadie and Steph. I was completely star struck! I had a good chat
with them and had my photos taken with them and then Karl Kennedys band played. Im not kidding! He took it really seriously, it's a cover band and they have toured and have a CD out! Even i didnt think he was any good, no offence dad, but it was like listening to you sing! It was a really fun night. Dave didnt come, he wouldnt have appreciated it! I went with a group of people from the hostel.
On the tuesday we went into Melbourne again and went to the Botanical Gardens. In the afternoon Dave did a library tour and walked around the city and me being the cultural person i am, did a tour of Ramsay Street in the Neighbours bus! Now i know some of you will think im sad, but it was brilliant. I went to Erinsborough High School and saw all the houses. On the bus there and back we watched the Neighbours DVD (which I own) of all the famous episodes, e.g. Scott and Charlenes wedding! I loved it! We then met up and sampled one of Melbourne's cafes for a big slice of cake.
On wednesday we hired a car
for two days and drove along the Great Ocean Road. It is a beautiful scenic coastal drive with lots of nice sights to stop at, including the famous Bells Beach where they hold the big surfing competition. We also turned down this little road that we had been told about and up in the trees there were lots of koalas, so cute! We stayed the night at a sleepy seaside resort called Apollo Bay. It was a lovely hostel with luxuries such as a bath (had my first bath in four months!), dont worry i have been showering! The beds even had electric blankets on. Real luxury. It was funny, we were talking to an English couple staying at the hostel and it turned out the girl went to my old school Townley Grammar and was in the year above me. It is such a small world. On the thursday we drove further down the Great Ocean Road and stopped at the famous 12 Apostles. They are rock stacks in the ocean. We werent expecting them to be anything special, but we were both very impressed with them. The colours of the rocks against the contrasting ocean was really beautiful.
One of the Apostles has actually recently fallen down after millions of years, so there are only 11 now. We then drove further along the coast and stopped at Logans beach which is famous for its yearly visitors of Southern Right Whales. We were lucky to see two mothers playing with their babies. They come to this beach every year from Antartica to have their babies. We watched them for ages, it was amazing.
We returned to our hostel in Melbourne on the thursday and had a quiet last night chatting with people at the hostel. On friday morning we flew to Adelaide to stay with my mums cousin Sue, her husband Pete and daughter Roxy. We have had a brilliant few days with them. They have two big dogs, Teala and Badge, 3 rats and two horses-Cherrypop and Brandy. On the friday Sue took us for a walk down to the beach with the dogs. We picked Roxy up from school and went to feed the horses. Roxy let me ride Brandy, i rode bareback! It was brilliant. The horses are on a massive area of land in a big valley. Its beautiful. On saturday we went to
a nearby beach resort called Glenelg and went to a museum about sharks. Just last week a guy got eaten by a great white shark 2km off of the beach, he was scuba diving. We then went into Adelaide on our own and went to the Museum of South Australia. It was very interesting as it had a big exhibit on Aboriginal culture. We then went to a museum about winemaking and generally looked around Adelaide. We really liked the city and surrounding areas. In the evening we had a meal and went to the cinema to see a new Australian film thats actually based in Adelaide called Look Both Ways. It was sad but a really good fim. Today we went to Granite Island which is a wildlife haven for little penguins and a good whale watching place. It is connected to the land by a thin causeway with horsedrawn carriages that take you to the island. We had a lovely walk around the island and had lunch in a little pub. We then drove to see the mouth of the Murray river, a famous river in Australia which supplies about 80% of the water in South Austalia but
unfortunately is in crisis at the moment due to large amounts of water being diverted further upstream for irrigation.
Tomorrow we are off to Alice Springs to hit the red centre and tour around the outback...
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John S
non-member comment
neighbours across the globe!
Talk about television's global reach! I don't watch Neighbours, but I recognized all the faces in Gem's pictures.