The Journey

It all started so well. Canberra was sparklingly clear on a beautiful Tuesday morning and one last Aussie coffee and Eggs Benedict with Lauren sent me on my way. Cutting through the Great Dividing Range the bus reached Sydney airport in three hours and I checked in with ease and time to spare for a Bondi Burger. The flight departed Sydney, taking some five hours to leave Australia beneath us, before hopping across the sea to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I’ve never set foot in Asia before (excepting airport terminal buildings which don’t count), and I hadn’t intended to this time but a “technical problem” hit the onward flight to London, which first got delayed two hours then a further twelve! What ensued was the stuff of TV reality airport shows – loud Brits in their “this is not acceptable” tone, backpackers crumpling into a mass of blankets and bags on the seats and Aussies turning up pissed wanting to know “where’s the bloody plane gone?!”. It took some three hours or so to then get from the airport into the sultry night air and a hotel…not any hotel but the Palace of Golden Horses, an exquisitely adorned, oh-so-slightly over the top huddle of towers and fountains on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. It was 4am local time Wednesday and 24 hours since I left Canberra.

Three hours sleep later and the cars and trains were whizzing to a day of economic productivity in KL, making any further sleep challenging. I took the opportunity to wander around the hotel, first taking in the views from my room. Hazily in the distance were the twin Petronas Towers.

I then went for some breakfast and an exploration of the quite sizeable hotel, resplendent with golden domes and mock waterfalls and big lush green plants. I think a few other guests were doing the same, taking pictures by some golden horse or other.

A much more organised return to the airport followed shortly after, including provision of free food and shopping vouchers (hot noodles, ouch!). Finally, some 15 hours later than planned flight MH002 departed for London. The good news was I had 3 seats to myself and could try my hand at chess over India, doze off during Afghanistan and try watching Back to The Future three times without falling asleep! It was late evening Wednesday when the plane reached London and the city was aglow on the approach from Canary wharf along the Thames to Heathrow, where we sat a further half an hour waiting for a parking spot.

Heathrow was as tumultuous as ever and not a good place to be after little sleep and too much time crammed into an aluminium tube. Speaking of tubes, it was with joy that I revisited the Piccadilly and Northern Lines and, I have to say, they were flawless!! The best transport experience I had for this long trip was on the underground, and I can’t believe I’m saying that…it’ll get its revenge on me again soon I have no doubt. The tube dropped me off at West Finchley where I had an unscheduled six hour stopover and managed to grab 5 hours kip at my friends Melita & Geoff’s flat. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation but it didn’t seem at all strange to be on the underground or back in Finchley, like I’d never been away.

Day three and some 55 hours into the journey and it was back to Heathrow on the faultless underground to catch the short flight to Alicante in Spain. Thanks to Mr B. Laden and associates this was hardly a tranquil and calming experience but I managed to board the flight along with numerous families and loud people going on stag dos. Have I mentioned how sick I was of airports and aeroplanes at this stage? Thankfully it was only a couple of hours and we touched down in Alicante, where I was met by Mum and Dad who were holding a thankfully modest sized “Welcome to Spain…at last” sign. We travelled half an hour west of Alicante, along pink flamingo dotted salt lakes flanked by dry and barren mountains to their gorgeous little holiday home, checking in at about 3pm local time. I made that, from door to door, 62 hours to get to my destination. Who said it was a small world?

109 posts later

My final weekend in Canberra before travelling to Europe for five weeks and there was a final Friday flourish with a work related fun extravaganza! First up was a not so quick nine holes on one of Canberra's golf courses, complete with carts and snazzy attire! I was pretty rubbish but the weather was fine and the course was nicely set up.

Following the golf, it was off to Flavours, a kitchen in Fyshwick where we were given some ingredients and told to make some entrees. My team had the chook and proceeded to make an Asian style chicken with so many seasonings and spices I lost count! It was so yum though, as were everyone else's dishes...even better dare I say than the main course of duck and dessert of Panacotta and kiwi puree and celery sorbet prepared by the chef and his team!!



From the food it was up the road for more creativity at M16, an art studio run by Joseph, a former TNSer, where we got our hands dirty drawing hands and trees and mechanical objects before transferring something into a print...it was quite a journey!

We then moved back to more familiar territory in one of the pubs in Kingston, where Mat & Barbs celebrated their co-ordination in putting on the same outfit in the morning. Things progressed and got more and more messy before calling it a night and stumbling back home.

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It was back to Filthy's (the pub in Kingston) on Sunday evening for my last laksa for a while and a couple more beers with Steve & Lauren. Here they are with some tired looking Mexican bloke, who is looking forward to a 36 hour door to door journey, crossing hemispheres and continents all in the search of that perfect siesta! Adios for now and catch up with those up over soon.

Neilio,
Canberra July 2007

The Heart of the Nation

Where the bloody hell are ya? It's pushing on for 11 months in the colonies now and all is jolly good, the locals seem to be accepting of me and I have become accustomed to the subtle marketing trick of shouting through TV advertising to try and get me to buy some furniture. Alas it is not all barbies and thongs and trips to Domayne, with a few gloomy London-esque days and twice the average June rainfall falling over the last couple of days. I'm not really used to this type of weather, having dodged it for as long as possible, and I think it is partly responsible for a small dose of the manflu. Oh well, only a couple of weeks and I'll be back in the UK for a bit where it will be warm and sunny, right?!

So a pretty indoorsy weekend, though I got some very fresh air saturday afternoon, wandering close to home around the usual haunts.

So there you go. What else can I say? "Happy Canada Day" for one. And come on Tim! (oh, wait he's been knocked out). What the hell...COME ON TIM!!!

Blue Power

I clocked up the 300 kilometres to Sydney on Friday night, managing to lose my way just the twice…ending up at one point near the end of one of the runways at Sydney Airport! But it was safe and sound that I arrived at Caroline’s to celebrate her 21st (?) birthday with her and another friend, Jill, in the Blue Mountains.

We headed up on a beautifully clear Saturday morning, fighting our way through the traffic destined for some winter kilt wearing shenanigans in Katoomba, arriving at Govetts Leap near the town of Blackheath. It was great to get out of the car and take in the expanse of the Gross Valley below…

After some fine lunch at Blackheath we headed back on ourselves through the town of Wentworth Falls to some more lookouts, with the inevitable steps there and back. It’s quite disconcerting watching old Indian ladies and 3 year olds climbing the steps whilst you have to stop to take in the view (and some breath!)

Of course, it goes without saying food played a major part in the weekend and we had coffee and chocolate cake in Leura before racing off to miss the sunset at Sublime Point. It was still rather beautiful though, accompanied by that peace and stillness you get just after the sun goes down.

After a quick rest in our hotel in Leura we took Megalong Street, which wasn’t the longest street I’ve seen, towards Katoomba. This place was still suffering the after effects of too many young people and hippies gathering in one place, but we managed to escape the cold in a wonderful Greek restaurant, warmed up more in the car home and baked overnight like a turkey over Christmas Eve!

Sunday presented contrasting weather but the food continued with buffet breakfast at the hotel, before a walk beside the laughing Kookaburras to more steps and increasingly misty wilderness. We stopped briefly at Leura Cascades, home of some pretty falls and Flintstone style toilets carved out of the sandstone.

At Echo Point in Katoomba, tourists who had come from all over were taking pictures of mist but the famous Three Sisters cleared a little at one point.

Perhaps more impressive were The Three Pommies proudly wearing their anoraks, despite advice from back home that surely you would never need such a thing down under!

The weather was not getting any better so we said farewell to the Mountains and headed back through the brighter Western suburbs of Sydney, stopping for a bite to eat at Italialand, otherwise known as the suburb of Leichardt.

To finish the mini holiday off we took advantage of having a car to cruise the Eastern suburbs listening to MC Hammer, stopping at the beautiful Shark Bay in Vaucluse.

Just around the corner from the beach were the harbour views and the reason why Vaucluse is one of the more prestigious neighbourhoods.

Sadly, time was running out and I could not get a seaplane home but drove through patches of rain out of the sprawling suburbs of Sydney and through the darkness back to Canberra…the Nation’s Capital, the Heart of the Nation. Feel the Power as the licence plates say!!

The sunshine of my life

God Bless the Queen for having two birthdays, one of which her Australian subjects use as an excuse for a public holiday. Convenient scheduling meant I was in Queensland for the break, up in the Sunshine Coast. Whilst frosts were appearing in Canberra and storms were battering the NSW Central Coast, Queensland was fining up just perfectly as I arrived…

I arrived at a surprisingly cool Brisbane airport where I had to wait almost an hour until my connecting shuttlebus, but once you hit the Queensland roads it feels like holidayville central. The Bruce Highway (yeah, Bruce) zooms you past signs of Steve Irwin and Australia Zoo, the tin sheds and dunnies of Australia World, and the promise of hundreds of kilometres to the tropics beyond. My mind cannot stop me daydreaming about taking that road further one day.

Back in the present the bus arrived in Noosa, my home for the next couple of days, and scene of many a sunset (three nights’ worth taking up a lot of space on my memory card!). Here we are on the main beach on the first night.

A cool but sunny morning brought on the shorts and sandals v trousers and shoes dilemma, like my own little State of Origin battle. But I was in Queensland, in Noosa, up north…it just had to be shorts and sandals, no question. Cold feet warmed up as I climbed uphill into part of Noosa Heads National Park and Laguna Lookout, where the town beaches and Noosa River were visible through the trees.

The path from up top then wound its way back down to the main strip of town, Hastings Street, full of shiny designer stores, cafes and more upmarket tourist tat. You could end up spending a lot of money in Noosa! I spent a little on brunch, but it was well worth it, sat beside the sand watching the world go by tucking into rashers of bacon and scrambled eggs washed down with a flat white.

As it was so close, I walked along the main beach for a bit, now pleasantly warm and with water temperature suitable for one of those lower bottom half of leg paddles.

The other side of the beach features plenty of swanky apartments with jetties onto the Noosa River. Thankfully you don’t need to be a millionaire to get out on the water thanks to an excellent ferry service along Noosaville to Tewantin. There wasn’t a great deal at Tewantin, bar more cafes on the water and a small market selling massages and smelly things, so I got the return ferry back and stocked up on some food in preparation for a BBQ dinner.

To work up an appropriate appetite though, it was necessary for more walking, returning to the beach, and back for sunset number two!

And after the fine sunset the BBQ lived up to expectations and left me very full and satisfied!

Today it was time to hit Noosa Headlands National Park, armed with BBQ leftovers for sustenance, taking the coastal track around the perimeter. The route took me past several golden bays, peppered with palm and fig trees lapped by turquoise waters.

The track eventually reached the headland and turned south onto the sweep of Alexandria Bay. Now, I sat here for a bit and thought about eating my lunch. Something wasn’t quite right though and I was put off my food somewhat by a number of wrinkled buttocks flapping about in the distance. To my left a couple appeared from the dunes warts and all and somehow my leftover BBQ sausage lost its appeal!

I headed off the beach and further south towards the family town of Sunshine where people keep their clothes on. The headland here was pretty rugged, with waves sweeping into narrow coves.














This was a much nicer spot to eat lunch, with a laid back surf vibe, blessed with temperatures of 23C in winter.

From Sunshine Beach I caught a bus back to Noosa where I was in time for, guess what, another sunset! To mix it up a little I took in the sunset overlooking the Noosa River.

It was such a fine way to end a fine day yet again, and by now I was truly aligned to that easy going, sunny Queensland vibe. Good job there’s still that gap between Noosa and Cairns to take in.

It was back to the real world today but I had a few hours spare in the morning and a little 4WD on my hands, so I headed inland from the coast to the Glass House Mountains, a series of prehistoric looking volcanic plugs rising from the land.

After getting lost several times, I only had a small amount of time to take some snaps before heading back to the coast and then down to Brisbane. Here they were moaning about the cold nights – down to 9C. They don’t know how lucky they are…flying back into Canberra over snow capped hills, it was a bit of a shock to the system to be back in winter. Two seasons in one day…not sure when the shorts will be out again!

Chooks and Chocs

Ah, regional Australia, it's good to get out there and meet the people. Work took me to Victoria for a few days...first to Melbourne, a city I increasingly like more with each visit. I met up with Haeli and the family for a typical family sunday, out for lunch in the Dandenongs and Roast Lamb for dinner. Then it was west to the town of Geelong, an industrial port where I totally lost my orientation, not helped by a car hire place which had transformed into a building site.

An hour or so north of Geelong through wide green farmland and koala lined roads (well, signs saying as much anyway) brought me to Ballarat, a town with a bit of history thanks to the discovery of some big gold nuggets back in 1851.

Unfortunately I spent most of my time in a hotel out of town, speaking to people from the area who were all rather charming in that country town type of way. After a long day tucking into a dinner for one in a sparsely populated hotel restaurant I felt very much like the travelling salesman!

Oh well, I managed a quick half hour look round the centre of Ballarat the next morning and it felt kinda nice, a bit twee in places, but certainly showing some history. It must've been well established a century or more ago as they even have some Brit named Vicky looking down on the town. She looked a bit grumpy though. Less grumpy was the pink haired woman in the coffee shop and she served a good brew too. And that is about all I can tell you about Ballarat.

I like Victoria (the state), it seems a bit more manageable and more English-like, complete with cool grey clouds and mist at this time of year. I'll be back living the Aussie dream this weekend though, as Queensland is a-calling and it'll be back to the beaches, barbies and bush.