A Bolt from the Blue Mountains

Hello,  I've noticed Mark's blog entries are moving towards the first person singular so I thought I'd pay a visit to show I'm still here. Here, at the moment, is in a quiet little hotel in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains a couple of hours west of Sydney. Last time I came here in 1992 we couldn't see the mountains for the mist, but today was beautiful and we walked the undercliff pass to the lovely Wentworth Falls. They're called the Blue Mountains because the eucalyptus trees that cover the area give off an oil which makes the air look really blue.

 

Australia........ I can see the attraction, it really is a beautiful country and incredibly different from one State to the next.

 

I loved being in Perth and south WA, its so easy and comfortable, and spending time with family and friends was a wonderful welcome to the country.

 

Flying into Darwin and the NT, I felt like we'd entered a different country. The heat smacked you in the face the minute you stepped off the plane, and then the next thing to hit me was the Very Short Shorts that everyone was wearing - mainly the men - Kevin Keegin style shorts, not a great look. The whole atmosphere of the place seemed more casual - I guess when it's that hot nobody feels like rushing around - we certainly didn't see as many joggers and keep fit fanatics as we have in the other States.  I had some of my major holiday highlights up there - I just loved Lichfield national park with its natural spring pools, when we were boiling and sweaty after a walk through the trees or magical sandstone hillwalks we just plunged into these crystal clear waterfall pools to cool down.

 

Cairns felt different again  - still very hot - but very rainy because of the cyclone kicking about just off the coast in the Coral Sea. The town is very geared up for tourism and that was fine as we were being tourists and enjoying the beautiful rain forests and coral reefs, we really relaxed there and had 8 nights in the same bed for the first time in over 2 months - bliss.

 

One thing I'm really into out here is the birds, I bought a bird book early on and I'm marking off all the the new birds I see - they are so gorgeous and colourful and noisy - I think I may be a twitcher in the making.

 

Sydney, well we were absolutely blown away with how beatiful the place is - it seems to be surrounded by water and harbours on all sides, I know that would make it an island but when you go up the Sydney Tower it certainly gives that impression. We could have stayed there much longer there's so much to do but Christmas is a'coming and we're Adelaide bound to see the lovely ex-pats.

 

We're pretty excited about this next part of the trip too, heading down to Melbourne to see Jo and Ole and my family from my dad's side who welcomed me with open arms last time I visited - I'm hoping there arms are a bit longer this time as I seemed to have gotten a bit wider since then, the food out here is good!

 

I spoke to my mum yesterday and she asked - does it feel too long to be away from home and I can honestly say no, it feels fine, but there is so much to do and see that every so often I just have to say STOP!!! we need to chill and just 'be' for a bit.

 

So we're just being in the mountains for a couple of days and then heading slowly down to Victoria via Canberra and maybe the Snowy Mountains.

 

Hope you're all doing well, take care and lots of love,

 

June

Heading South

Hello all. Well, we've finally managed to drag ourselves away from Sydney and are about to head off on our road trip to Melbourne. We reckon it will take about a week, with stops at the Blue Mountains, Canberra and a couple of other National Parks on the way down.

 

We both really loved Sydney and are amazed how easy it was to fill 8 days here. I reckon that alongside Worthing it must rank as one of the top places to live in the world.....

Guess who it is.....

None other than Mr David Beckham!
Originally uploaded by mark&june

I've had a pretty cool day today! This afternoon I went on the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, which was amazing and not at all scary (apart for the price tag).

After the climb as I wandered back through the city I came across a large crowd gathering outside Customs House. It soon became apparent that the throng had assembled to see Becks and his LA Galaxy team-mates attend a pre-match reception. A few celeb's came and went (check out my photos to see who) before the main event arrived to the screams of thousands of fans. Getting a photo was pretty tricky - this was the best one I managed. I tried to get a bit closer by climbing over a barrier but was forcefully removed by security!

An Auspicious Weekend in Australia

Hi all. Fear not, I'm feeling much better today! We've had a good couple of days. Manly was really nice and we enjoyed the ferry trip over, and today we went to another art gallery (getting pretty cultured now), visited the trendy Paddington area and went up the Sydney Tower to get a bird's eye view of the city.

 

Today was election day in Oz and it looks like Labor (sic) have wrested power from John Howard's liberal / conservative coalition after 11 years. Its been interesting to watch the campaigning on TV over the last few weeks - its a bit more knock-about and fun than in the UK. Kevin Rudd (the new PM) comes across a lot better than Howard to me - it will be interesting to see if the economic boom continues with the country in new hands. One funny story about Kevin Rudd was that there was almost a scandal when it emerged he had visited a strip club in New York, but when he admitted he couldn't remember what had happened as he'd had a few beers it seems his popularity went up rather than down!

 

Another big event over here is the final of Australian Idol tomorrow night. The final is being held at the Opera House, and we happened to come across the dress rehearsal last night and watched the hopeful contenders run through a few numbers. We took a few photos and may stay in on Sunday night to see the real thing.

 

The final big event this weekend is the arrival of none other than David Beckham. He's over here for an exhibition match between LA Galaxy and Sydney on Tuesday night, and is causing quite a stir. 80,000 tickets for the game have been sold - Sydney normally only get 15,000 for a home game.

 

OK think that's it for now. Bye!

Sleepless in Sydney

Despite being in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, I've felt a bit down in the dumps today. After a sleepless night I got up at the crack of dawn (6.45am!) to wander down to a local watering hole to watch England qualify for Euro 2008. Needless to say things went downhill from there pretty sharpish, and the rest of the day has been a bit of a struggle.

 

Anyway, as you can tell we've made it to Sydney, which has so far lived up to my very high expectations. Its a truly stunning place, and we spent a lovely day on Wednesday wandering through the Botanical Gardens down to the harbour. The Opera House and Harbour Bridge were as picturesque as I'd expected, and with the sun high in the sky life seemed pretty good.

 

Today, however, as the sun refused to emerge from behind the clouds and the temperature dropped, it seemed that Mother Nature was sharing my mood. We tried to make the best of the day though, and went on an Opera House tour as well as popping into the Museum of Contemporary Art (lots of photos of nude women, cheered me up a bit), Sydney Observatory and the NSW Parliament building.

 

Unfortunately the dodgy weather is expected to continue for a few more days (what's up with the Australian weather?!), so I may put off the Bridge Climb for a bit. We'll probably take the ferry to Manley Beach tomorrow instead.

 

Hope all's well with you all. Thanks for popping by!

Swimming with fishes

Under the Sea

Hi everyone!

 

As you can see from the video below we made it to the Great Barrier Reef!

 

It was an absolutely amazing experience. I'd never been diving before and am a land-lubber at heart, so was a bit nervous about taking the plunge. The tuition beforehand was good, but when we got below the surface I had a brief panic attack and thought "I can't do this!". Luckily the fear passed pretty quickly, and we headed down to the Reef, remembering to equalise the air in our ears as we went down. I was really surprised at how much we were allowed to do after such minimal training; we got down to about 12m and saw loads of fish and coral. We enjoyed it so much that we signed up to do a second dive at the next reef, and spent a total of an hour under water. Snorkeling at the third reef was a bit of an anti-climax after that!

 

The weather wasn't great and the seas were a bit rough but you didn't notice that underwater. Definitely one of the highlights of the holiday so far!

 

Yesterday we visited the Cairns Botancial Gardens which were lovely, and today we finally got some sunshine and happily lazed beside the pool at our hotel reading our books.

 

We've really enjoyed our time in Cairns - its a relaxing and beautiful place. Unfortunately we've only managed to scratch the surface of Queensland - hopefully we'll get a chance to come back again some time.

 

Tomorrow we fly down to Sydney. Will the adventures ever cease?!

June diving the Great Barrier Reef!

Birthday Blog

Well, the Rainforest certainly lived up to its name, although Queensland ("The Sunshine State") could be done under the Trade Descriptions Act.....

 

Despite the imminent arrival of Cyclone Guba and the slightly grey weather we're having a good time in Cairns, and I'm having a lovely 37th (I know, doesn't seem possible) birthday.

 

We had a nice couple of days visiting Kuranda and the Daintree Rainforest. Kuranda was reached by a 4.5km cable car on the way up (apparently the longest in the world) and a scenic train trip on the way down. The town itself was pretty, and we went for a nice walk through the forest. As you can see from our photos we came across a bush turkey, although it looks a bit scarier in the photo than it actually was in reality! The only threatening bird we've actually come across so far was a masked lapwing which almost took our heads off for wandering too close to its nest.....

 

 

We've been putting off a trip to the Great Barrier Reef until the weather improves, but as there is no sign of an change for the better in the next few days we've decided to go for it tomorrow. We're going on a day trip visiting three reefs, and are going snorkeling as well as doing a trial dive. We're really looking forward to it, and are packing some sea-sickness pills just in case.

 

OK, better go now and head out for our slap-up birthday dinner. Mustn't overdo it too much though, as we're getting picked up at 7.20 in the morning......

Chilling in Cairns

Hi everyone.

 

Leg 5 of our world tour has brought us to Cairns, which is in the north-east of Australia, handily located for the the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforests of Daintree. 

 

We're staying in the only accomodation we booked before leaving the UK. It's called The Lakes, and is a very posh apartment complex at the northern end of town. After spending a lot of time in backpacker hostels it feels really strange being in a plush apartment, with a separate kitchen, bathroom (with jacuzzi), lounge and balcony. Despite her protestations that she'd forgotten how, June cooked a lovely meal last night, which we enjoyed with a nice bottle of Chardonnay listening to the wildlife in the neighbouring forest.

 

Cairns itself is a very nice place, surrounded by forested hills and the coast. There's a lovely beachfront walkway complete with fitness-mad Australian joggers, and a good selection of shops and restaurants. As in Perth and Darwin there's a lot of building going on - the country seems to be in the middle of a boom, and there is a lot of wealth on show.

 

The weather is a lot cooler here than in Darwin (30 degrees instead of 40) which is very pleasant, although there's a bit of wind and rain as well. We've decided to put off a trip to the Reef until the weekend in the hope that the weather improves, but we are planning a scenic train trip to Karunda tommorow, followed by a visit to the Daintree forest and Cape Tribulation on Thursday. We'll let you know how they went when we get back.

 

We've been on the road for over 10 weeks now, and occasionally my thoughts turn to what will happen when we get back. I'm surprised to report that I am not entirely dreading the thought of going back to work any more. The question though is whether I want to go back into IT, or to try my hand at something different. Being off the nine-to-five treadmill for this length of time has made me think a bit about what my life is really all about, and what I want to achieve. Maybe I'm having a (very premature) mid-life crisis? Watch this space.......

 

 

 

Affairs of State

Morning all. Hope you are having / have a had a good weekend.

 

We've had a lovely few days in Darwin. When we were here last week we only managed to see the area near our hostel, which is quite touristy, but this time we've hopped on some buses and ventured a bit further afield. We went to an old Gaol, visited the excellent Museum & Art Gallery, and yesterday went on a very interesting tour of the NT Parliament building. For historical reasons I don't quite understand the Northern Territory isn't a State, whereas the other areas of Australia (New South Wales, Tasmania etc) are. They do have a fair degree of self-rule though, and the Parliament building is very impressive. The chamber itself was quite reminiscent of the British parliament, with a speaker's chair, copies of Hansard and a big mace.

 

Today is our last day here, and we're about to head off to have lunch down in the sunshine at Cullen Bay Marina. This evening we're going to the cinema to see a new film called 'Rogue', which is an Australian film about some tourists who visit the NT and are attacked by a rouge crocodile! It's probably a good thing that we're seeing it now rather than before we went down to Kakadu.

 

The weather is lovely at the moment. The intense humidity has died down a bit, and we've spent a few happy hours lying beside / in the pool at the hostel.

 

Hope you enjoyed June's video blog below. We've also added a few more photos to the NT set.

 

Bye!

 

 

A message from Kakadu

Back from the Outback

Hi everyone. We're safely back in Darwin after our week exploring the Top End. We've had a great time. Lichfield National Park was tranquil and we loved lazing in the water holes. Katherine Gorge was spectacular, and we really enjoyed a walk up to Edith Falls through beautiful scenery. Our last port of call was Kakadu, a huge National Park with lots of Aboriginal Rock Art dotted throughout it. We went on a great 4WD trip to Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls. Even though the falls were not much more than trickles (as the Wet season hasn't quite started yet) they were really stunning places and we enjoyed the company of Wade and Jacqueline, a young couple from Adelaide on their honeymoon. Wade was great fun and spoke at 100mph - mostly about the various time he's been bitten / stung / set on fire by spiders / snakes / alcohol.

 

The following morning we got up at the ungodly hour of 6am to go on a boat trip through the Yellow Waters, which contained a huge variety of birds. June has bought a "Birds of Australia" book and is becoming quite an expert in spotting them. We also saw lots of crocodiles, and are glad to report that we've returned with a full complement of limbs. The tour guide warned us not to lean over the side of the boat - a few years ago a croc took a tourist's head clean off.....

 

On the way back from Kakadu we drove through an incredible thunderstorm. The rain was amazingly heavy and reduced visibility to a few feet, and there were lightning flashes every ten seconds right around us. It lasted for about 30 minutes, by the end of which June was ready to have kittens! She isn't the best passenger at the best of times.....

 

We've uploaded a few photos from the trip - link on the right.

 

OK then, I guess its time to go out and explore Darwin. It's a smallish place but there is lots of building going on, including a grand Convention Centre and marina village which looks really nice but locals warn could be underwater the next time a big Cyclone hits. Catch you all later. Watch this space for a video podcast from Mrs F.......

 

Top Enders

Hello all. Sorry for the lack of updates recently - the internet is a
bit harder to come by when you're off the beaten track!

We've spent the last few days exploring the Top End of the Northern
Territory. So far we've been to Lichfield and the Katherine Gorge
National Parks. They are both really beautiful, containing lots of
wildlife (although no crocodiles so far) and more greenery than we expected. The best bit has been swimming in the pools and creeks dotted throughout the parks, which given that the temperature has reached 39 degrees has been a life saver! We also loved canoeing up the Katherine Gorge - even though it was our second canoe trip during a torrential downpour of our holiday!

The NT has a very different feel than WA. The tropical climate is a
big change, and Darwin is a lot smaller than Perth. There are also a
lot more Aboriginals up here. Most of them live a traditional life on
the land, but unfortunately the ones we see the most of are in the
cities, and lots of them seem to live rough and / or have drink
problems. We're going on a trip guided by an Aboriginal in Kakadu
tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be able to find out more about their
culture then.

That's it for now. We'll upload some photos when we get back to Darwin
on Thursday. Bye!