Feeling Manly

Manly is a nice beachside resort-type area of Sydney but what makes it really special is the ferry ride. Probably the number one top tip to do if you ever find yourself in Sydney and all for about ten bucks. This is what you get to see on the way.

There are plenty of harbourside coves here as well as the long surf beach on the Pacific. It's a popular place (rightly so) and the fish and chips are pretty good too!

The North

If I had the luxury of a wad of cash I'd probably buy a place on the Northern shores of Sydney Harbour. There are countless little bays and coves, mostly with great views of course. And everything seems, well, fragrant at this time of year. It's also really quite peaceful, despite being 10 minutes from the city by ferry. This is Cremorne, which looks the same as Mosman, which looks the same as Kirribilli, which looks the same as Lavender Bay...

Here we are back closer to North Sydney at Milsons Point.

This is Luna Park which seems a right bundle of fun judging from the screams that sound across the bay!

I caught the ferry across from the North Shore a couple of times, which is a great little harbour tour in itself, taking in all the sights as it chugs under the Bridge. The bridge is great, what an icon.

So Palm trees in the North. It's definitely an upside-down world down here!

Harbour nights

The city buzzes at night, particularly if it is a Friday when obviously the start of the weekend is a celebration. Just hanging around Circular Key is a night out in itself.

Two familiar icons as the sky darkens...





This is the crazy face of Luna Park across on the North shore.







And the view from the North side




All it needs is some fireworks!

arrrr Devon

So today I visited Cockington village in south Devon...

Then I wandered along to North Devon to go on the Lynton-Lynmouth railway.

To cap the day off, I took in a game of footie and afterwards a pint of Old Speckled Hen.

Was my time in some small bush town called Canberra a dream? Were those bouncy animal types and multicoloured skwawking things with wings a vision? Or was I just in Cockington Green, the ACT's number one tourist attraction?!

They love us Pommies so much they build a tourist attraction about us! They can't get enough of us mate, and they admire our skills at cricket too. So England is all idyllic, with village greens, canal boats and friendly yokels. I'm thinking of opening up my own version called Cookworthy Crescent, complete with burning ford escorts, snotty nosed kids who tell you to f**k off, and pram pushing 14 year olds wearing gear from Bits and Bows! (I expect some money for the free plug for Devon's premier Fancy Dress and Fashion Accessory outlet by the way).

So I'm all off to have tea with the vicar, tally ho old chap.

so here we go...

Blue skies, 26C, a perfect day for cricket. I joined the full house at Manuka Oval, a place I walk past on my way to work everyday, to watch the Prime Minister's XI take on England.

The PMs XI settled in gently to their innings and somehow managed to make 347 in 50 overs...it never really seemed like they were slogging it around or anything. Well, I didn't care too much as the plastic beer cups were starting to stack up, the amazingly crafted chants of "Ausse Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi" were ringing in my ears and I had not one, but two meat pies!

A strong England batting line up never really threatened the total. It was a shame both Flintoff and Pieterson fell cheaply as they could've livened up the afternoon. Mahmood did hit a six rather close to where we were sat, some drongo lost out on 500 bucks though by dropping it.

It wasn't all bad though, as England only arrived on Monday and have been doing the media circus, playing cricket with Prime Ministers, they must be pretty knackered! And here is Freddie Flintoff thankfully bowling again...



What it does mean is that I face a long tough summer if things carry on this way. It's almost like I've been brought in to be the token Pommie so that they can give me stick about the cricket! Still, the England flag is flying on my desk. Laters sports fans.

The race that stops a nation

Today was the Melbourne Cup and I won $2.60! I also lost $6.40...

So, yeah, the Melbourne Cup, a race that stops the nation on a Tuesday can't be bad. Come 3 o'clock the Canberra streets were deserted (what's new?!) and eyes were glued to screens, hats were wedged to heads and chicken was being digested. I watched it in work, where a big screen was constructed (a promising development for the Ashes), hot chicken and salad was brought in, along with champagne and some sweet treats. Being the new boy, I got to organise the sweepstakes and just about managed to sort it all out in between eating chicken.

Some horse whose name I have forgotten already won. It was a close finish. The top two were Japanese horses, and the post race interview was classic, some Aussie drongo trying to interview somebody who didn't speak a word of English.

So that was my Melbourne Cup experience. I guess the great thing about it is the communal aspect... everyone just stops what they are doing and gets together, has a bit of food and drink and good times roll. Next up sports fans it's the PMs XI v England on Friday, bring it on!

Wild times

I passed through Exeter today. It was drizzly and there were some backward people. Yes, I am still in Australia!

Exeter is between here and the coast and this weekend I was in Jervis Bay, home to officially (according to Guinness Book of Records) the whitest sand in the world. Now whether it is the whitest or not, I think the question on my mind is how the hell do they come up with such stupid records?! I probably could have a world record for, I dunno, having the most exclamation marks after one sentence !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Saturday morning, two pommies, a couple of Brazilians and a Spaniard braved the cloudy cool conditions and went on a boat trip around the bay and out to sea. Whales often come into the bay to shelter on their annual migration routes but not today. Instead they preferred to drag us out of the relative calm and onto the rollercoaster of the Pacific Ocean. Before I held my head in my hands focusing only on the floor and sucking one of those red and white mints, a humpback whale and her calf put on a bit of a show in the distance. This is the best image I have, not bad given that one hand was gripped on a railing so that I didn’t fall overboard…

Back in the bay, and slightly less pale, there were a few dolphins feeding by some rocks. And here’s the best picture I got of them.

Am I sounding like David Attenborough yet?!

Well, after the boat cruise it was good to get on terra firma and explore the area a bit more. The southern half of the Bay area is covered by Booderee National Park, which boasts plenty of bushland, a few endangered species, plunging cliffs and those white sandy beaches. This is the scene at Murray’s Beach.

Here a little swamp wallaby who decided to venture onto the sand.

Near Murray’s Beach was Governor Head, a rocky outcrop looking out into the Pacific and it’s migrating whales…we saw a couple more out to sea flapping about a little. Back inland were some Botanical Gardens where (keeping the Attenborough theme going) this Kookaburra posed quite happily.

So after the wildlife it was time to see the, er, wildlife in the Husky Pub. The good news is it was better than the Narooma pub (see previous post) and whilst the band didn’t have the same billing as the now legendary Nashberries, they were crowd-pleasers nonetheless. Sampling these local Aussie pubs in the back of beyond is what it’s all about.

Well, summer is here and with it came a top of 17C and rain on Sunday. The rain was good for a stop on the journey home – Fitzroy Falls in Morton National Park. The falls were plunging impressively down to something but you couldn’t see what, as the scene was a bit of a white-out. A place to go back to I think (and provide photos of something you can see).

Given the conditions, there was nothing better to do than visit a museum in a small place called Berrima. Museums in small country towns offer a taste of the real Australia. The people who run them are enthusiastic beyond belief and all for a couple of old fish knives and some old invitation to the mayor of Bowral. Some of it was of interest to be fair, there’s just only so much that Berrima can offer to the history of the world.

It was a shame in a way that we spent so long in Berrima as it meant we had to whiz past Goulburn and the Big Merino at 130kph. Some people would say that isn’t fast enough, but, I mean, it’s the home of the Big Merino, man. Anyway, as we neared the nations capital (as the road signs helpfully point out) the sun came out and all was warm and sunny again. Good old trusty Canberra!

End of the line

Friday 27-Sunday 29 October: Narooma NSW

A mere four hour journey mostly in the dark on Friday night brought me & Georgina to the town of Narooma on the NSW south coast. This is where the Murrays coach from Canberra ends its journey, and the last stop was but a short walk dodging cars along the dark and winding Princes Highway to the YHA, which was more like a motel and came complete with some very accommodating hosts, Chris & Wendy. One of the main reasons for coming to Narooma was for the whale watching…but we’ll get to that later.

A windy night was followed by a hearty breakfast down on Wagonga Inlet. Narooma is set on a bit of a peninsula with the inlet on one side and the ocean on the other. The water is beautiful, clear, pristine and many-coloured with the various sandbanks and shallows.


The YHA gladly lent us a couple of bikes, complete with dodgy helmets and barely decent gears, but they were a good way to get round, as long as the hills were avoided (which wasn’t always possible).

A small climb led to Wagonga Head, a good spot to look for whales in the choppy ocean, but there were none sighted. There was also a little bay here…

Did you spot anything noticeable in that last picture?

Nice beach?

Beautiful sea?

Some clouds?

Look again, and if you still don’t get it, check out a map of Australia!!

Now, running up and down the coastline of that country represented in rock form in the above picture are many animals, some of which are whales. Unfortunately, that country does not, contrary to some commercials saying something like “Where the bloody hell are ya?” have perfect weather 100% of the time. Whilst the sun may shine the wind can blow, seas can get rough and whale watching trips can get cancelled.

Alas, the bikes came in handy again and we pedalled to another beach further down the coast, sat on a rock and saw a few dolphins fairly nearby showing off in the surf. No pictures of the dolphins (too bleedin’ quick) but here’s the beach from atop the rock and some other intelligent animal species.

Despite aching legs and saddlesoreness, and after a somewhat boringly bland sunset, it was necessary to check out Narooma's nightlife, which seems to exist of one pub which functions as everything. It was a bit like a clubhouse at a holiday park, loads of kids and families, but also some couples and young whippersnappers showing off their dance moves to the Nashberries. The Nashberries sang everything from The Beatles to Blur with a bit of reggae and swing thrown in. Any band which sees two chavs in hoodies and shorts up dancing on the makeshift "dancefloor" can only be commended.

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Sunday and with no whales to watch because of trips being booked out, Chris took us to the pretty village of Tilba.
This (for Australia) is quite a historic place, with a small street of wooden buildings, most which are now shops selling trinkets and what not. The sweet shop was pretty good, along with the ice cream parlour.

The village is in a nice setting, with Mount Dromedary rising up to the West and rolling hills around.






There was time for a stop at Tilba Winery and one last desperate attempt to see something thrashing about in the ocean at Kiama before boarding the Murrays coach for the journey back along the coast, over the mountain, across the plains and towards the Telstra Tower and jolly jolly bus station in Canberra. Despite the disappointment of a cancelled boat trip, it was a good weekend in another lovely place in this vast country they call straya.

West is best

Today I saw more of the ACT than ever before thanks to a westcountry propelled people carrier (cheers Georgina!). It wasn't long after leaving home and heading west that the landscape turned dry and barren, not helped by the extensive damage in this area due to 2003 bushfires.

After a winding drive through a sandy landscape, and a brief stop beside the Murrumbidgee River, we reached Tidbinbilla Nature reserve.

This place had recovered somewhat since the fires, though the koala population on the koala walk was still somewhat limited (total of 8). So, much neck craning looking up at trees was fruitless. The rock wallabies were also elusive and it wasn't until reaching a scenic overlook that a first animal spotting was made with this little lizard.

Here's Georgina and I at the overlook - the hills in the background are over 1000 metres high, so we're getting a bit of altitude going on round here!

Things had taken a turn for the better and to follow were countless close encounters with the kangaroos. The second ice cream of the day (yes, second!) was spent watching these guys boinging their way down to a watering hole.

The drive back took me through parts of the deep south (aka Tuggeranong) for the first time and some Portuguese food later in the evening capped off a fine day.

Southern Highlands Och aye guvnor

Sometimes in life you have to make a few sacrifices. In Canberra this means getting up at 6am on a Saturday morning to get the only train out of town. I was off to the hills and it was about 7C and drizzly. I was questioning my decision. From Canberra the train soon passed through Queanbeyan and then wound its way through Molonglo Gorge before coming out on the yellow tablelands surrounding Bungendore. Kangaroos and Magpies were aplenty and I even saw what was probably a swamp Wallaby, which are more black in colour. Hitting glamourous Goulburn, which seems to have a love affair with rusty bits of metal, my destination of Bundanoon followed 45 minutes later. Bundanoon was deathly quiet. The drizzle had passed but it was still cloudy and chilly.

The main attraction for me was nearby Morton National Park. It takes a bit of walking along some dirt roads (and past more roos), but there are rewards...

It's much like a sister of the Blue Mountains, only much quieter and even more untamed. I pretty much had the place to myself, just me and the birds sqwawking away in the thousands of trees lining the carved out sandstone valleys.

As well as the overlooks, there are numerous trails through the bush, dotted with all sorts of habitats (plenty of holes and crevices for snakes and spiders!) There are many of these termite mounds scatterted about, some just off the side of the road. They're pretty big, this one was a tall as me.

Here we are down in a bit of a Fern Tree Gully. You can see how the rain will rush through here and eventually head on down the sandstone cliffs into the valley.


More walking led me to a creek and a glow worm glen which was a bit pointless as you can only see them in the dark. This then looped back round into Bundanoon, so I checked out "Viewland Road" and "Panorama Drive" which were a bit misleading, given that there were no views or panoramas! The village did have a good country bakehouse including excellent caramel slices which kept me occupied until the train arrived for the trundle back to Canberra.

It will be good to go back there when the sun comes out, and there are a whole set of overlooks yet to discover...

Magpies belong in a pie

The Australian Magpie. Not the prettiest bird round here. Makes a bit of noise in the morning. It's the bird sound you usually hear in Neighbours.

Also opportunist attacker of cyclists. I was happily pedalling away around the foot of Red Hill when the first one swooped. I think I swore a lot and waved my hands at it and that seemed to make it think again (from my experience I've found a crazy English person swearing and waving their hands like a madman usually puts people off). A few more had a go before the day was out though.

Well, at the top of Red Hill (which I climbed most of out of the saddle) there were great views which hadn't changed a lot since last time I was there some 2 months back. The big disappointment was the cafe was closed so the ice cream I was craving never materialised. There were plenty of Crimson Rosellas hanging about though (still I would have prefered an ice cream whilst I was looking at them).
I chained the bike up and walked along to Mount Taylor, which is basically the next bump along from Red Hill. I think what you notice here is how the city seems to disappear and you could be virtually anywhere in Australia (there is even a rough red dirt track).

Back at Red Hill I saw three kangaroos, two of whom scarpered when I appeared and the other one followed soon after. No great pictures, but I did film one of them boing-boinging down the hillside.

The ride back home was good, barring one or two more magpies, mostly because it was downhill. The bike seemed to survive though was a little dustier at the end of the day.

Tara from the nation's capital,

Neil, the bike and the flamin' magpies

Friday 6th-Monday 9th October: In Victoria

Friday evening saw me arrive in St. Kilda, the seaside bit of Melbourne on Port Phillip Bay. It has the seaside lot – a seaside esplanade, a seaside beach, seaside amusement park, seaside pier and seaside fish & chips. I arrived by the tram, a journey I was to get to know fairly well over the next few days.

So, the sun set over Port Phillip Bay and I would see it rise again in the morning with a few drinks in between…

The first drink I had on Friday night was a good old pint of Tetleys in a “British / Irish” pub. This place had a good live band too and sold a nice burger. Oh yes, pint of Tetleys and a burger. Yes indeed. About seven hours later I seem to remember drinking water in some place playing R&B (hmmm my favourite!) and going to bed hearing the birds greeting dawn.

So with very little sleep I won’t bore you too many of the details of Saturday, but they included brekkie in St Kilda and falling asleep several times in the Dandenongs. Do you know, I also had a London-like experience in Melbourne? Travelling back from the Dandenongs by train to St Kilda took something like 2 ½ hours, thanks to weekend engineering work Something going on in Camberwell. Or was it Mitcham? Well they say Melbourne is the most like a British City!

Champion Grampian Sunday

Rest was not an option on Sunday as I went on a day trip to The Grampians, a range of hills 200km west of Melbourne. The drive there did allow more snoozing though. The Grampians rise up from the farmland of the Wimmera and offer staggering overlooks over the forest. Much of the forest however was burned in a bushfire in January, but it is encouraging to see how much it is rejuvenating. It was pretty windy and chilly up there, which helps explain the coat and the relatively frizzy hair…

This is the view from the Balconies lookout.

There are also some lakes and waterfalls in the park, this is McKenzie Falls.


















Walking back up the (all too) many steps from the base of the falls, I came across this little guy – a Kookaburra.

It was a long trip back through the town of Ararat for a brief bite to eat and then some more snoozing along the Western Highway to Melbourne.