Earth 2010

In the Outback - Alice Springs and Uluru

Only 15 days until we're home, 1 year and 28 days since selling up. David Jones recording.

If you've been an avid follower of this blog you won't be surprised to hear that our ventures into the Outback have not involved any tents, camping stoves or dodgy dunnies. We've had a four star adventure in the Outback, and it's been lovely.

Alice Springs, the little city in the red centre of Australia turns out to be a pleasant and surprisingly green place to stay (well it is at the moment, they have had ten times their usual rain in the last year, but fortunately not while we're here). The air is clear, the sky blue, the breeze blows through the gum trees, and the whole vibe is relaxing.

Our main reason for being here is to see the famous Uluru (what used to be called Ayer's Rock). We took a day trip there, which meant an early start - people don't realise that it's a five hour solid drive each way across the desert from Alice Springs!  

Emu Run tours did it all very well. Kept us entertained on the ride out, we saw a few camels, and some emus. They took us over to see Kata Tjuta first, another big red rock formation (which from the right angle looks like Homer Simpson lying down at sunset) before driving us over to Uluru itself.

We were amazed by the mystical looking big red rock created hundreds of millions of years ago. Our guide told us some of the mystical aboriginal stories which make this place sacred for them as we walked around. We rounded the day off with a glass of champagne and a good old Aussie barbie as the sun set on the rock. Cool bananas. See you in Queensland.

 

The Great Ocean Road and the Victorian Goldfields

19 days until we're back home, 1 year and 24 days since selling up. Paul Twocock recording.

"Have you ever, ever felt like like this? Have strange things happened? Are you going round the twist?" Remember that? Cracking Aussie kids drama/comedy in the early nineties about the Twist family who live in a lighthouse and have ghostly adventures? If you don't remember it, get on Amazon now, fantastic series... and we've just stayed just up the road from the Round the Twist lighthouse itself. How exciting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's called the Split Point lighthouse at Airey's Inlet and it's at the start of one of the world's most amazing ocean-side highways: the Great Ocean Road along Victoria's coast (though I think California's Big Sur just pips it for spectacular views). Not only do you see gorgeous cliffs, hills and pounding waves inland there are waterfalls, koalas and kangaroos. Though our first animal encounters happened right outside our door at our apartment in Airey's Inlet.

As soon as we arrived we were amazed to be greeted by a big cockatoo swooping down and landing on our balcony. We thought it was a fluke... turned around a few minutes later and there were three cockatoos, we couldn't believe our luck. Five minutes later and there were six lined up along the balcony bannister looking at us intently, and then ten. It was like we were in a scene from 'The Birds'. Course it was obvious what they were here for, and David soon became their biggest chum, doling out multi-grain bread and then sunflower seeds supplied by our hosts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He even attracted some very exotic looking red and green parrots to land on his arm and feed from his hand - a proper Doctor Doolittle. Though you have to be careful; he ignored his cockatoo posse for just a few moments and was rewarded with a sharp nip on his big toe from one frustrated bird. 

Elsewhere along the Ocean Road we had our second encounter with the lovely koala. There's a road inland and up a wooded hill that's famous for its wild koalas, and we weren't disappointed. Usually they are high up in the trees, but we found one hungry little bear sat on a branch right over the middle of the road munching away on his eucalyptus leaves, occasionally having a glance down at us and a little stretch. What a cutie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kangaroos we discovered on a golf course were a little more aloof, hopping around on their own business or lounging by a bunker: see the photos in the album.

When we could tear ourselves away from the animal encounters we spent our time driving along the cliff hugging road to our next base and exploring the national parks. We had forest walks to three fantastic waterfalls - pics in the album - visited the oldest lighthouse in Australia (1848) at Cape Otway, and saw the craggy landscapes that the Great Ocean Road is famous for, including the Twelve Apostles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a stunning sight. But it's not alone, eroding limestone cliffs line the coast and just up the way from the Twelve Apostles is a very beautiful and sad place. Loch Ard Gorge is the site of one of the many wrecks along the coast. The Loch Ard was cargo ship that set sail from Gravesend (my home town) in 1878 for Melbourne with 36 crew and 18 emigrant passengers. In a storm and poor visibility it foundered on the rocks one day shy of its destination, smashed against the cliffs and only two people survived: the ship's apprentice Tom Pearse and one of the emigrants Eva Carmichael. They were washed up in the gorge, sheltered in a cave until Tom could climb the cliff and get help. There are photos in the album - it's a very serene place now.

After four days exploring the coast we've set course inland and spent today exploring the goldfields of Victoria - site of one of the biggest gold rushes the world has ever seen - in the 1850s. There are lots of small towns with grand buildings built on the profits, and pockets of scarred landscape that show just how voracious the fortune hunters were. I'll leave you with the sun setting over a hollowed out hill that was once stuffed with gold. Farewell for now. Tomorrow we're off to Melbourne and then we fly to the outback for a date with Uluru. The wifi's a bit iffy here so we'll upload the photo album as soon as we can, check back for more photos next week.

Chilly Melbourne and animal antics in Phillip Island

20 days until we come home, 1 year and 23 days since selling up. Paul Twocock recording.

I am recording today because David has picked up an Australian accent after just two weeks and I can't trust him not to spray this with 'G'days', 'good on yers' and other phrases which he keeps using too loudly in company... Anyhoo we've been in Victoria for the last week and a bit, and it's chilly and sometimes very wet. Okay, so winter is coming, we should expect it - but you just don't in Australia. To be fair Australia seems to be equally surprised at the 'earliest start to winter in thirty years'. But we've kept calm and carried on.

Melbourne turned out to be a very workaday city. Some nice Victorian buildings (by the way someone should tell the newscasters that saying 'a Victorian was arrested today for stabbing someone outside a pub' just sounds weird, like there has been a crack in time that Doctor Who needs to step in and sort out) and some decent cafes and restaurants especially out in the suburbs like South Yarra where we stayed. But there are few sights for tourists and the torrential rain and grey skies coloured our experience. It was always a relief to get back to the flat and put the heating on. (Another note to Australia: get central heating! The whole country seems to get by on fan heaters and the occasional gas fire. Not good for the world or for the health.)  

On the plus side David got to see an old chum who had emigrated out here ten years ago. We saw the cottage that Captain Cook was born in, which had been transported brick by brick from Yorkshire. And we did make a pilgrimage to the real Ramsay Street, though it's been so long since we watched it we had difficulty remembering all the houses. Here's us outside the home of Madge and Harold, and the place where Scott Robinson first set eyes on Charlene Mitchell, aah innocent days...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After four days in the city we set off to explore the Victorian coast (there I'm doing it now - ridiculous). First stop was a long weekend in Phillip Island, a small island off the coast, main town Cowes, next to Ventnor. David's folks, sister and family all live on the Isle of Wight back home so we know it well and there were certainly similarities. Indeed Cowes is twinned with its namesake in the mother land. But one thing the Isle of Wight doesn't have is Phillip Island's animal attractions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as we arrived at our 'eco-resort' we were surrounded by pink and grey parrots (Galahs or rose-brested cockatoos we found out later) and some red, green and purple ones too. Some rather pretty wading birds wandered around probably looking for the marsh land the 'eco-resort' had been built on. Then we went for a short bush walk in a nearby reserve to be amazed by swamp wallabies popping up, left, right and centre staring at us curiously, wondering what the hell we were doing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop was the famous Penguin Parade. A colony of thousands of little blue penguins live and breed at a spot on the south west corner of Phillip Island, and every night, just after sunset you can see them come home from fishing in the sea, waddle across the beach in groups and climb up the grassy hills to their burrows. No photos I'm afraid, cameras strictly prohibited, and there is always a crowd of people there (even on cold, windy winter nights) but nothing detracts from the amazing and comical sight of these little penguins coming home. And what a racket they make when they get back up to their burrows. The place resounds with squawks and trills and penguins flapping their flippers in mating rituals. It's really cool.

We completed our wildlife encounters the following day with the ultimate Australian icon: the cuddly Koalas. The poor sods find life so trying they spend 20 hours a day asleep, so most of the bears we saw in the trees were tucked up in a ball having forty winks, but they were totally enchanting: how could you not say aaah?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We've got into the Australian groove now, and are really enjoying the last leg of the grand tour. Australia, even more than New Zealand is very like Britain in many ways. They even love Eurovision, so we had a whole weekend of the glorious camp festival every night in Phillip Island, yay!

But as we say up top, there's only 20 days left so we've started thinking about our return: a few job applications in, more to do, real life beckons. But not for another 20 days. So here's to a fabulous last three weeks. Good on yer! 

Sydney

 

31 days until we come home, one year and 12 days since selling up. David Jones recording.

Sydney is such a wonderful place, especially after the relative isolation of the islands in French Polynesia. We stayed in a wonderful trendy apartment facing one of the many bays in Sydney Harbour.  We caught a ferry into town every day, which made us feel like a local.  We have really enjoyed the bars and cafes and the normal trimmings of a modern city.  I think I have finally discovered my bliss: mod cons and civilisation.

We also ventured out of the city to the Blue Mountains, so named because of the blue hue given off by the surrounding eucalyptus trees.  It makes you start to realise just how vast Australia is. 

 

We have enjoyed living in Sydney; eating pie and chips,  taking the ferry to Manly beach and having fish and chips sitting in a harbour-side park.  Despite Australians' protests, it all seemed very British, perhaps even more than when we were in New Zealand.  They are even showing the new series of Dr Who on the TV.  But as Dr House said to his Australian colleague: you must be British, you have the Queen's head on your money!

We have loved sitting in the evening at the apartment watching the parrots and kookaburras, and waiting for the late night appearance of the possum running across the deck.  SHUSH! He doesn't know we are watching!

Let's hope the rest of Oz is just as enjoyable, as we are starting to think about the real world and returning to normal life.  (I have already applied to one job, fingers crossed!) We need to try and make the most of our final month, so ta-ta for now, off to Melbourne in the morning

Oh yes, must just mention the lammingtons: a great chocolate and coconut covered sponge cake which makes a very nice treat for afternoon tea! Such fun!