Sydney Part 2

Boxing Day

Bit of  a late start, then off to the ferry to get to Manly.  Ewhen picked us up at the ferry terminal and  took us to a headland overlooking the start and the first turning mark for the Sydney-Hobart race.  Loads of people on all of the headlands making a party of it.  Great event with th big boats close tacking out of the harbour before turning south and popping their spinakers fo the run south.  Heading into a big storm too. I've just seen the results and after 438 miles, 3 minutes seperated the front two over the line.

Ewhen then gave  us a cooks tour of the area - its easy to see why he is so proud of Sydney; it pretty much ticks all the boxes.

Meet up with Jen, Bobby and their friends for a drink, along with Bob and Jan's tenner, in the city.

Big day today, firstly we had a tour of the Opera House in the morning; fascinating building, over budget, over time and clashes of egos give it a great story as well as being an iconic building.

We then met up with Jen nd Bobby for their (and our) Christmas present; we did the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. Nearly 500 ft up from the water on the outside of the bridge, fantastic views.

We were right at the top where the flags are.  Love to say I took this photo but Jen did.


We then shot back to the digs to get dolled up for a night in the members stand at Sydney Cricket Ground for the Twenty20 Big Bash Match, Sydney v Melbourne. Great night, meal in the members restaurant watching the cricket.  Shane Warne came up for Melbourne to much abuse from the Sydneysiders and then much amusement when his first bowl was hit for six. Corporate tickets courtesy of Ewhen - a fantastic host and guide to the best of Sydney.

He and Ann are near New York when we get there so the plan is to meet up for a meal in New York

Off to New Zealand at Stupid O'Clock on the 28th.

Sydney

Firstly Merry Christmas from Aus!

                             

What  revelation?  What a top place, much more of a normal city than Melbourne but then its heart is the stunning harbour. You can see why Sydneysiders are really proud of it, it’s hard to beat’

We arrived about midday and our friends Ewhen and his wife Ann arranged for us to have dinner at their yacht club – the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. 

This place makes the Royal Windermere look like a garden shed.  It has its own wine cellars, a couple of restaurants and some of the best views in the harbour.  Also there was Duggie and his partner Liz.  We’ve met, sailed and partied with Ewhen and Duggie quite a few times  before at the European “Coppers Cup” sailing competition that’s held in the Netherlands.  Great night.

We’d told Ewhen the dates we were in Sydney and he’s sorted out a few trips for us – absolutely fantastic, I only hope we can repay their generosity if they come “up north” sometime.

The following day, Christmas Eve, Duggie took us for a sail in his boat around Sydney Harbour – heaven – blue skies, decent wind, fantastic location. Just to be able to sail towards the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House was fantastic. He picked us up at Middle Harbour Yacht Club, a slightly more modest affair but still great and what a location.

 Some of the boats preparing for the Boxing day start of the Sydney-Hobart were out practising, enormous sailing machines – just look at the size of the crew in the picture.  This is a big, very tough, world famous race – hope to see the start on Boxing Day.

 Neither of us had realised just how big the harbour area is, it’s like a slightly smaller version of the Clyde with lots of bays and creeks to explore, and better weather

We all went to Bondi Beach for Christmas Day – “along with a million other pommies” as Ehwen rightly said, but it had to be done.  The beach was packed but we found a corner and sorted out our Barbie, along with suitable hats that Jen and Bobbie had found – revenge for the Vietnamese hats we subjected them to! Three courses but the Mr Kipling Mince Pies don’t travel too well. Another great day, even I got in the water for a swim, well thrash about in the waves at least.

Christmas day tennis.

They crashed just after I took the photo!

Our first view of the beach.

Bob and Jan's tenner got a little sunburnt today but should be out for anoter drink soon.



Grampian Vistas

Did I say yesterday that th country was big? Well today I've seen the biggest vista in my life.

You look across several mountain ranges and not see a single sign of human habitation - fantastic.

Climbed to the bottom of McKenzie falls, about 1000 steps down and at least 2000 back up. Had a picnic at the bottom - didn't want to have to carry the butties back up the steps - only for a Kookaburra to swoop on Carole and pinch her butty and then sit on the ground 10 feet away and start to eat it, it didn't even fly away when I grabbed the butty back - just kept hold of the ham (Halls Gap's not very finest ham) and watched us, while nearly choking itself.

We have however been tormented today. Tormented by one particular bright red and blue parrot. Everywhere we went it, or possibly a brother, well it could have been a distant relative I suppose, but it/they still tormented us by flying slowly past, pausing until we got the camera nearly ready and then disappearing into a bush and laughing, laughing I tell you.

This was the best photo we got and frankly its rubbish.


Carole was in seventh heaven when we found a stumpy tailed lizard - she took 11 pictures, then the poor thing got fed up and started hissing at her! Not suprised really.  It's about 18" long and fairly chubby.

She then found this other lizard - not a clue what this ones called. This one was about a foot long and skinnier!

The view of Halls Gap from Barooka Lookout.

I'm sat on the veranda of the YHA typing away and a blasted red and blue parrot has just flown past me, not more than 5 feet away, and the camera is upstairs...

Long day in the car tomorrow as we head back to Melbourne before going to Sydney with Jen and Bobbie.

The Grampians

Today we left the coast and headed inland towards the Grampians (just next door to the Pyrenees you know) and I think today it really struck home how big this country is.

One desolate farming community garage was still advertising La Fayete and Nash cars from the 1930s, I’m not sure if the doors had been opened since;

The town looked like it was dying on its feet, must be tough out here.

It looked like some of the places we’ve seen on films of deep American farming towns.
The farms are huge but then we got to the forest leading up to the mountains – just massive.

Apparently 700 different types of Eucalyptus tree alone.  We stopped at one information site and found that a lake in the woods had just refilled after 10 years of being dry.  The rain came with a roar and took away quite a few roads in January, some still closed.

We realised we were a bit isolated when we tried to buy some meat at the local General Store in Halls Gap and they said “sorry we haven’t had a meat and veg delivery for over a week.”

We’ve spotted loads of birds and animals, both native and introduced, today, Carole got very excited.

Red deer were introduced for sport by the Eauopeans.

We saw this on the side of a track, its like a large hedgehog but is called an Echidna, an egg laying mammal.  A farmer stopped to see what were looking at and he said he'd only seen half a dozen in his life.

Thought we'd done well when a troop, (a new collective noun for you) of kangaroos bounced across the road in front of us but then we walked into the village from the YHA past the cricket ground this evening... Is this a pitch invasion? They had a sign up saying "no dogs" - it just didn't mention Roos.

A kokkaburra

Bob and Jan's tenner enjoying a glass of wine at the YHA - they are so much more civilised than they used to be!

Melbourne and Port Fairy

What is the collective noun for a group of wallabies?  It’s a mob, a mob of wallabies, that’s tickled me all day, especially after furtling around an island taking pictures of the mob. 

We’re at Port Fairy, the last bit of coast before we head inland to the Grampian Mountains and the wine region. Quiet day today spent most of it ambling around bits of coast, and “lookouts”, along quaysides, not doing very much, but both feel shattered.

Is this the longest boat slip in the world?

Great name for a pub – shame it was shut.

Sad to leave the coast it’s been spectacular, quiet but obviously gets busy at the height of the season.  That said there is so much stuff here that has tourist potential its hard to believe that it hasn’t been developed in any way. We reckon that there simply aren’t enough tourists to go around to make development worthwhile which says more about the amount of things to see rather than a lack of tourists – probably a good thing really – it leaves miles and miles of unspoilt coast and land.

The other thing we’ve noticed is how few boats there are around here, even the little harbours and towns we’ve stopped in have few boats and even less real ones with flappy bits of sailcloth to play with; and we’ve only seen one ship on the horizon in the last 4 days – probably shows how remote this place is nowadays.  Most of the towns seem to have had their heyday in 1890’s during the whaling and seal hunting days, then clung on until tourism gave them new hope in 1930s.

Melbourne Great Ocean Rd Part 2

We’ve spent more of today meandering along the Great Ocean Road, seeing more and more fantastic beaches and rock cliffs and formations. The towns along the road are quaint; small and very local.

Thoroughly enjoying wandering along the coast, we ended up at a place called Peterborough, having already driven past Torquay, Anglesea, Casterton(!) and Dunkeld(!!).  This place is very 70’s and quiet, one shop and one pub, may be 50 houses.  It must survive on the summer trade.

Say what you mean.

Carole insisted on going for a swim, white hot sand and water like ice, I retreated to the pool and eventually after much screaming managed to get in for a brief flounder.

We’ve found this part of Australia somewhat disorientating, the beaches are definitely like the Algarve coast of Portugal but bigger and longer.

We’ve driven inland and we’d come across a really English pastoral scene; picturesque fields, great cattle grazing by the stream, only when you re-focus you realise that the field is 2000 acres not 20, the stream is a full blown river and there’s a red and white parrot sat on the fence.  As I said before “Same, same, but different”.

Yet another bird we’ve never seen before

Going further along the coast tomorrow before swinging inland into the Grampians – wine and hill country. When we rang to book the YHA at Halls Gap in the Grampians they told us not to arrive too late as we’d risk running into a kangaroo on the roads at dusk”

I particularly liked the 'roo's hat...

Melbourne and the Great Ocean Rd

The Great Ocean Rd is a stunning trip along the coast of Victoria. Beautiful blue seas, crashing white waves, creeks and cliff; with a scattering of small villages along its 150mile length.  It’s a surfer’s paradise and so picturesque you take far too many pictures.

The road was built between 1919 and 1932 as job creation scheme for returning WW1 soldiers. It opened up the whole area for trade and tourism.

It was easy to get off the road and footpaths led to some pristine countryside.  We’ve been reading a book by Bill Bryson about Australia and it’s nice to know that of the top ten most venomous snakes in the world, all ten live in Australia, its similr for spiders, lizards and they even have the world’s only venomous mammal, makes you think as you push through the undergrowth…

Strangely the forest and scrublands looked like the ones  in Portugal – almost felt like being at home.

In Vietnam, the locals have a saying “same same; but different” – it even appears on t-shirts; this area of Australia is a bit like that , from the distant it looks familiar but the closer you look everything is subtly different, either bigger, brighter coloured, louder, smaller towns.

We’re stopping half way along it for a couple of nights at a place called Apollo Bay, it’s the crayfish season so Carole is planning a seafood fest tomorrow. This is the view Jan and Bob's tenner had from the veranda.

You have no idea how long it took to take these next pictures, all I can say is Carole has a lot more patience than me! They were being fed just next to the veranda.

Just where are we?