Aus Day 9 - Sydney Bridge Climb

Walked up George Street (think of it as Sydney's version of London's Oxford Street) past the shops and office blocks. As we approached The Rocks, I spotted a side street with an art installation of bird cages hanging from wires above. On closer inspection there were also well-hidden speakers broadcasting bird songs of those specicies no longer in the Sydeny area (either migrated away or extinct).

Found David Jones department store for Kerry amongst the Westfield shopping complex (is it Australian or a UK company?). Sadly for Kerry they didn't yet stock the Dita Von Tease clothing in store. Within the same block is the Sydney Tower which we booked the 360 restaurant for next Sunday.

Walked further towards The Rocks then sat down to check our bearings when a tramp approached us asking for spare change. She had a 100 yard stare. We said sorry, no, She asked for a cigarette. We said sorry again as Kerry had barely enough for herself at which point she had a go at us for saying sorry.
By now hunger was building so ignoring a number of different cafes we found a great cafe with a backyard. We had a fatboy breakfast and an omlette to sink a ship.
Sydney Bridge Climb
The weather turned from a fine sunny day into full-on rain as we went in to prepare for the Bridge walk. It was very, very, very well organised. Every stage of the experience was well thought out, every little detail thought through, practiced and delivered without a hitch. for example, the overalls we had to wear attached everything you needed for the walk. You weren't allowed your own cameras with the risk of dropping anything onto the road below. By the time we went through the long preparation process wearing waterproof over-trousers the rain had actually stopped and the sun was beating down again. Shame Kerry had to go a different route after the first bad instance of fear.
Later, Kerry was led out to a different route then taken up a lift for a second attempt but stopped again due to feeling sick and hot. They had to actually cut her away from the safety line this time. According to the safety crew, the freak rain storm caused an emergency evacuation then the temperature went from 17C up to 25C in the space of 30 minutes. Apparently Kerry wasn't on her own for feeling sick as another two people had suffered in that period.
The climb and views were possibly the best of Sydney you could get. It was a leisurely pace enough to see an incoming tanker ship guided by 4 tug boats. The guide said the tanker owners would have to pay $5000 for each tug. The whole experience took about 2.5 hours and I'd say well worth the money.

Darling Harbour delights
We'd finished with the Bridge Climb around about 5:30pm and had arranged to meet up with Neil and Nikki in Darling Harbour. We were really impressed by the size of the place and the range of restaurants, bars and clubs. We picked the Italian restaurant, Baia which had to be the best of the holiday so far. The other highlight was the unexcpected fireworks display as we were eating dessert just within the neighbouring marina.

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Aus Day 8 - Hello Sydney Oxford Street

We checked out the Desert Gardens hotel at 10am ready for the 10:30am transfer to the airport. Had time to quickly check the internet at $2 for 5 minutes but it was painfully slow (using satelitte connection I guess). the local newspaper made me smile at the type of hearsay it has to rely on for headline news.
We arrived at the airport to find both our Virgin and Quantas flights delayed due to the heavy rains in Sydney. We also found out that the same two English guys I had a go at yesterday were waiting for perhaps the same flight...D'oh!
Not much at Ayres Rock airport to be honest and the extra 30 minutes delay was hard work especially as the air-conditioning wasn't working particularrly well. As we boarded we notcied the same two English guys in the same queue then as our luck goes we were sat on the same row separated by the isle!
I must've been dehydrated as my headache didn't really go away and with a combination of this, a slightly bumpy ride and not in the window seat I had a very sickly flight towards the end. It took a few minutes after landing to fully recover.
Airport transfer was very simple at $15.90 for a single rail ticket to Central Station. Then a 5 to 10 minute walk to our apartment on Campbell Street. We'd hoped to see our friends Candide and gavin in the evening but they were staying with friends near Bondai beach. Internet access at the apartment was $5 an hour via wifi.
Somehow I picked a good choice of restaurant. The Pink Peppercorn was a Laos Burmese cuisine place situated 10 minutes walk from the apartment on Oxford Street, Sydney's gay district. Plenty of bars, kinky shops and the odd club as well as one or two good restaurants. The food at Pink Peppercorn was amazing - the lamb was possibily the best I've ever had.
After our meal we walked further up Oxford Street to a bar simply named '?' though it might have been previously called 'He Made She Made'. The DJ was playing quite cool disco-like house though the bar customer were quite random with types of people but mainly people getting trashed and girls (and sometimes boys) dancing around handbags. It was a funny people-watching type of experience. The cocktails weren't up to the same standard we'd hoped for but the bar's interior made up for it (fake grass on the walls and goth or kitsch like furniture and fittings).

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Aus Day 7 - Uluru sunrise

Very, very, very tired after perhaps sleep calculated in minutes. Breakfast was excellent with more choice than expected. Some awkwardness and lack of eye contact with our Japanese neighbours but at least everyone was ready to go at 5:20am for the Uluru sunrise. Again it was no secret to every tourist who all got up even earlier than us to get their viewing place. Coaches and their guides had already set up breakfast tables for their passengers. The raised viewing platform was already humming with people so we found a quiet spot further in front of everyone.
Although it had a more vegetation (trees and shrubbery) but only one couple was there enjoying the silence. We kept quiet ourselves looking for the same chilled vibe but then a German couple and teenage son arrived chatting away. Worse though were the pair of British gap year guys who just talked and talked ignoring the sunset and the majesty of the scenery. It got to the moment of them talking about X Factor that something had to be said. I think my 'verbal diarrhea' comment may have been a step too far but they certainly kept their tongue after my outburst. The actual scenery was indeed stunning (though a little bit tainted by the new British atmosphere) with the moon still hanging around, the golden colours changing the rock and the neighbouring Kata Tjuta still in sight.
Back on the bus for a long walk around one side of Uluru with a pre-amble by the guide explaining some of the notable sights. Many of them were interesting corroded holes or cracks which the local aboriginal tribe, the Anangu hold sacred or used for teaching their children of their law and history. As we walked around the guide was keen to point out that certain areas or directions of the rock could not be photographed due to their sacredness. A $7000 fine and your camera confiscated was the charge if caught by a park ranger.

Some interesting facts came up when talking about the Aboriginals. Scientists sat they now think their ancestry goes back 20000 years. There are (or were at last count) 300 'countries' that make up Aboriginal Australia each with their own dialect. The story of Uluru could only be told in Uluru. If you traveled to the next country you might hear the next part.
Since the park became national and protected, the management and preservation is made up of 8 Anangu and 4 white Australians. Its hard for Aboriginals to adapt to modern life as they haven't learned to read or write, know maths (true fact: their numbering is simply 1, 2, 3 or many) or have any concept about using a PC.
We were all given the 3 options for the next activity: either walk one side of Uluru, walk all 10kms around or climb it. The third option wasn't really an option as the Anangu said it was sacred. The guide said many Japanese would still do the climb as they either couldn't understand the concept or it was part of their culture: to respect a mountain you have to climb it. All but one hardcore German went for the half distance (he did the whole circuit). We spread ourselves from the group to enjoy our own company. Lots of small birds buzzed around in flocks and squeaked like Sweep from the Sooty Show. There were also some falcons hovering around too. Went into the rock's watering hole where the rain would pool in a sheltered cove.
Last stop before lunch was the cultural centre, a museum dedicated to the Anangu. No photos were allowed at this simple building with displays of tools, art and supporting information. The highlight was listening to a local elder who with an Australian translator re-told the same story our guide told us but with more detail plus some personal boyhood memories. He must've been about 70 or 80 wearing surfer's sunglasses and the centre's uniform.
Back at the campsite after dropping off Team Japan, camel burgers were our last meal with the group. Slightly awkward moment with a German couple. I was trying to describe Kerry's brother-in-law's house in Australia, where we'd been staying, as just like what you'd see on Neighbours or Home and Away. The German lady totally got the wrong idea and talked about her own neighbour. I then said it was a soap opera(s) we get in the UK. Some translated conversation with her husband, more than expected. I tried a different tact: had they heard of Kylie Minogue? No but 'we are aware of her music' was the response though had no idea she was an actress. I gave up and went to hide from the embarrassment on the bus to go back to the hotel.

Pool side for an hour or two dodging massive bees or wasp-like flies who insisted on trying to drown. Then the retired German guests descended into the pool and congregated in the middle just to chat to each other blocking any route to properly swim.
Making a few trips to the supermarket was the only other excitement and started to regret booking the hotel (Desert Gardens) at all with the restaurant meals costing around $56 a head - way more than our budget. Instead we bought rolls for our evening meal and cereal for our breakfast.
I must've been exhausted from the lack of sleep so took in an hour's kip. After our ham rolls with crisps for tea (classy I know) we left our room, passed the rabbits munching on the outside lawn's grass and headed out to view the clear night sky. No shooting stars or satellites tonight but at least you could see a definition of the Milky Way.

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Aus Day 6 - Uluru

Such an early start with an 5am alarm but my paranoid mind woke me 2 hours earlier. We managed to leave just after 5:30am whilst it was still dark. The satnav predicted an arrival time just short of 9am. At the start of the journey there were a few cars and UTEs on the road and as we approached Newcastle many construction and mining workers were arriving to start their day.
After Newcastle we joined the motorway and if it wasn't for the different place names you couldn't help feeling we were driving in the UK. Getting out of Sydney was slow when we first arrived but returning back was horrendously slow building up our stress levels. Through hideous traffic that never seemed to let up. The rush hour and traffic lights added more and more pressure, and the satnav recalculated a later arrival time as we crawled along. By the last 5kms we were truly panicking especially as the baggage deadline was about to come up (30 minutes before the flight). Through a tunnel we lost the satnav transmission and thought we'd missed the exit which almost reached our boiling point. A desperate phonecall to Virgin was abandoned after touch-tone menu hell. We'd even talked about leaving our main baggage with Nikki and having to run to the gate. When we pulled up to the terminal building we legged it over to the check-in desk only to be met by a couple of chilled out Virgin staff who casually said we had plenty of time. We'd made it with time for a fag, toilet and something to eat.

Travel Tip
1. Get online as soon as early to check-in and chose better seats.
2. Don't chose seats that back onto the Exit row as the chair won't lean back i.e. it'll be fixed.
3. Leave another 30 minutes earlier when calculating travel time to the airport

After all the stress, our flight to Yulara, the airport closest to Uluru (Ayres Rock) took off 20 minutes late. From the airplane window I could see the land change from the lush green to desert red with straight line roads and territory divisions that went on for miles into the horizon.
Before we landed we changed our watches to the new timezone - not just an hour but 90 minutes behind Sydney time so we'd almost time-traveled. As we approached the airport I spotted both iconic rocks of Uluru and Kata Tjutu (the Olgas), not hard to miss with the flat landscape.
The landing itself was the worst I've ever experienced with the bumpy ride from what I'm guessing the hot air thermals. Airport was really basic with just a shop and four car rental desks which all advertised as full booked. We walked straight up to the free connection coach located at the airport entrance to all the resorts. About 10 minutes later we arrived at our hotel, the Desert Gardens which we were to stay Thursday night. Checked our big bags into storage (no charge) then went in search of lunch. The resort had a deli, cafe, a supermarket and a noodle bar named Ayres Wok. It was baking hot with clear blue skies, perfect for our planned sunset viewing.


Overnight Uluru Safari by Adventure Tours
Karla ('no worries'), our guide picked us up as well as 3 Japanese girls and about 6 tourists from Germany and Denmark. We drove past the campsite which didn't look the romantic, sleep under the stars place but a cluster of large tents with an undercover canteen and a huge shower and toilet block in the centre.
After we fueled up the 4x4 bus we headed for the first viewing point for Kata Tjuta (silent 't') or the old name, The Olgas. Its not as famous as its neighbour but the rock formations were just as impressive. A few miles later we come across two of the 1.5 million in Australia (a handful imported years ago) the stop at 'Valley of the Winds' for a walk to Karingana Lookout. The flies were getting annoying and drinking water was becoming essential. Slightly under-prepared in terms of footwear as hiking trainers would have been the safer option. The end point was a shared by the huge rocks and deserved the 2 to 3 minute silence we gave to enjoy the surroundings. The walk back proved to be challenging in respect of putting up with the persistent flies and having to drink warm water.

Sunset on Uluru
Climbed back into the air-conditioned (but barely working) bus for our final day's activity of the Uluru sunset. The roads were quiet and are simply dedicated for servicing tourist related vehicles including the odd campervan. The car park for the sunset was already full of coaches and other smaller vans. We avoided the masses assisting the guide with an eski of drinks, biscuits (crackers to us Brits) and dips. Kerry had somehow got chatting to an Australian couple who weren't on our tour but were enjoying a few beers and part of a similar tour. The sunset itself was very special with a full moon rising immediately after. The colours of Uluru subtly interesting but maybe I was expecting a deeper purple.

Our drive back to basecamp, Karla played some classic Oz rock music plus some comedy songs about the safeness of the country. The BBQ food for the evening's meal was a selection camel meat sausages, kangaroo steaks and  beef burgers. Loved the camel (hope it wasn't toe) plus the fruit crumble dessert was really tasty and a lot better than expected.
Despite the campsite not being as we'd expected it was nice to see a full sky of stars without the light pollution of the UK. At the dinner table we get chatting to the Japanese girls who'd stayed in the UK and spoke some English.
The tents were more like bedrooms under canvas with proper single beds, a light, two chairs, a table and a fan. With the 4:20am alarm we needed an early night. The shower facility was surprising good too with warm water to wash away the desert dusting.
I was pretty knackered and almost asleep except that our Japanese female neighbours continued to chat well beyond 11pm oblivious of the lack of sound-proofing. I had to rephrase my request three times until they understood to shut up. After that the wind picked up then the tent started to creak and rattle every minute or two resulting in just a few hazy minutes instead the planned hours of sleep.

Aus Day 5 - Murray's Brewery

Original plan was to have breakfast down at the beach but the grey weather must have put off the cafe owners who didn't bother opening up. Instead we went back to Nelson Bay marina where I spotted a modern day Long John Silver with a proper wooden leg. Normally the dolphins would hang around the edge of the marina but we had to make do with some window shopping of boats for Neil. We must have been getting too acclimatised as with the 21C we felt we needed long-sleeved tops.
Went back to visit a few more beaches further down the coast but the damp air and greyness didn't look that inviting to stay. Only a few hardcore (and jobless) surfers stuck around. Near one of the beaches was a known area for koalas where eucalyptus trees for common. It took awhile but Kerry spotted one sleeping but it was so high up and had its back turned to us so couldn't really see its face.

Lunch was at Murrays Brewery which offered a taster 'wheel' of their six beers. Unlike the Blue Tongue version there were more varied in flavour choice. The Grand Cru was just like its Belgian white beer equivalent whilst others were a lot more citrus in flavour. We'd just caught the end of a serving to two coach-loads of Koreans. Hotwings for me and a cheese board for Kerry and Neil.
The weather was teasing us with some rays of sunshine but as we headed towards the quad-bike place it chucked it down to spoil the plan. For dinner we headed back to the local marina where I had a battered barramundi fish, a bit like cod. Didn't hang around for another drink as we had an early start for our flight to Uluru. Poor Nikki, who was to drive us the 200km to the airport, hadn't even arrived back from her work when we went to bed. Alarm set for 5am!

Aus Day 4 - Newcastle

A fractured night's sleep meant my mental capacity unable to cope with anything less than one word responses. We'd got up a little earlier to climb a local hill of Tomaree Head to enjoy the vista of Nelson Bay and its many coastlines. It took about 30 minutes to walk up whilst freaking ourselves out at the massive spiders and their webs along the way. The Scalp Spiders weren't poisonous but just looked nasty like something from the dungeons of a Zelda game. Past the spiders and we spotted our first kookaburra just perched on a branch above our heads just ignoring us. At the top of the hill was indeed the impressive views of Zenith, Wreck, Box and yesterday's beach, Fingal.

A quick shower back at home then back out to Newcastle. The weather had clouded over as we approached the coal and mining town. We drove past massive piles of coal being moved by huge scooping machinery either onto the already long row of train trucks or for the container ships we would see later.

Newcastle reminded me of Southampton and Bristol in terms of the old and new style ports. For lunch we headed to the port-side restaurants and bars ordering two starter meals to save money (at $18 each). After lunch we walked along the port side towards Nobby's Head where tug ships were guiding out a tanker of coal then came across two groups of surfers on either side of the walkway. The waves were really crashing on both sides but the port side getting better results though in dirtier and more congested water.

Drove back to Corlette stopping off at Woolworths (Australia's equivalent of Tesco') for some evening BBQ supplies. The Wagyu burgers were delicious!
Local radio news report: "Some thieves had broken in to a 'bottle shop' (off-license)and had only stolen some 'smokies' (cigarettes). Weather for this 'arfo' (afternoon) will be cloudy with potential showers."

Aus Day 3 - Hunter Valley, beer and beachlife

Escaped the golf village and headed out for breakfast at a place called Oscars near the Hunter Valley gardens. Ordered a proper fatboy meal of French Toast which the bread was the size of my head, had about 4 strawberries, covered in maple syrup and bizarrely (though very Australian) came with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Delicious and it worked. The shopping centre was a typical outlet tourist fare and very over-priced.
Next stop was the Blue Tongue Brewery to sample some beer instead of wine. We bought a paddle of 6 for $15 which allowed us to choose a complimentary midi sized beer of your favourite. The ginger beer had a weak flavour but strong with alcohol content whereas the other 5 beers ranged from light, crisp tasting lagers to a red coloured ale. It was a tough task in the heat of 30C!
The rest of the afternoon was traveling back to Corlette via Petersons Champagne place for some present buying and helicopter spotting.
A quick freshen up after returning from Hunter Valley, we took advantage of the hot early evening and headed to the local beach. Loved the way we could go barefoot from the car park to Fingal beach. Even though it was late in the afternoon there were plenty of families, fisherman and joggers enjoying the beach. Stunning views and a decent surf. We walked for about 15 minutes until the spit where the beach had tow tide directions crashing into each other. The water temperature for dipping was perfectly warm. As we walked back to the car Neil told me about the recent sale of a house opposite the beach. Looking more like run-down bungalow, the property was bought by a Hunter Valley farmer for over $1 million. For quite a sleepy but beautiful part of the country there's plenty of money around with the local mining industry.

For the evening's meal, Neil treated us to an Australian institution, dinner at the 'Bowlo' (translated: Bowls Club). It was good, honest pub-like food within the sights of the green but within a huge social club. For such a family-friendly place I wasn't allowed to wear my hat yet shorts and sandals were ok. I had the 'schnitty' (translated: chicken schnitzel) which was very tasty though we were becoming more aware of how expensive food was due to the exchange rate. After the meal, we gambled a few dollars on the chocolate sweeping machine. Bit senseless really as the vending machine next to it offered Cadbury's bars for $2.50 (that's about £1.75).
Back home, Neil entertained us with his telescope since there was very little light pollution. Otherwise, we enjoyed a new bird call (or it might have been a frog) which sounded like a squeaky dog toy. Nowhere on the internet could we find out what it was though.

Aus Day 2 - Hunter Valley

Managed to have an undisturbed night of sleep until dawn broke and the local bird life waking up. Quite nice to hear the kookaburras and parakeets instead of the normal Brighton seagulls. Stuck in the earplugs and dozed until 8:45am though Kerry couldn't resist the pool for a morning dip. The weather had improved slightly but it was still cloudy.
Today's plan was to drive down to Hunter Valley for some wine exploration which was on the way back to Sydney through some quite ordinary towns filled with popular fast food chains though in Australia, Burger King is called Hungry Jacks. Good to see some traditional 'hotels' or what we'd define as pubs. Passed some roadkill of a wallaby which smelled so bad we had to wind up our car windows.
First stop in Hunter Valley was the champagne place called Petersons to have lunch. The day had started quite overcast and fresh at 21C but by the time we finished our meal, it was a scorching 27C. Restaurant was a stylish place and everyone's food turned out to be excellent.
Second booze station was one of the larger sites called Tempest 2 for some proper wine tasting and was busy with a few hen and stag parties. Whilst Kerry and her brother did the wine, me and Nikki enjoyed a few exotic flavours of ice cream including Turkish Delight and Kinder (egg). The third place was the Little Wine Company, a smaller establishment but still good for tasting according to the bro-in-law.
We headed over to our serviced apartment arranged by Neil. It was part of a huge golf course estate with a number of remote housing estates which some houses had their own golf buggies. For non-golfers there were the sights of more wild kangaroos to make up for it and the apartment itself was very modern with a balcony at both ends. For the evening dinner we went to a recommended Italian restaurant but the jetlag stopped me short of eating half of it.

Aus Day 1 - Corlette

Arrived at Sydney (woke up at 4am local time and landed at 7:30am). Nice to skip the long queues of the normal passport control but we had to hang around to get customs to check Kerry's medication. Bro-in-law, Neil wasn't at the gate but had waited at a different. Still he had driven 200kms to pick us up and was probably been up the same time as us.
Weather was wet with light rain but we appreciated the fresh air. The weather didn't change much in the 2 and half hour drive north. Getting out of Sydney was very slow with traffic and single lane roads. At least we drove over Sydney Harbour Bridge with a view to the Opera House. Still, it looked really different in the grey, dull light of the overcast sky.
Stopped for a coffee at a McCafe (crap coffee) then drove past Newcastle, very industrial with the coal business but surrounded with loads of fields where every house owned at least two horses. Saw our first wild kangaroos before reaching Neil's home in Corlette, a coastal town part of Nelson Bay.
The weather was still pants so couldn't enjoy his outdoor swimming pool so tried to keep the tiredness at bay with some more coffee and banana cake which kept us just short of feeling 'sketchy'. However, the jetlag did overcome us and had to have a couple of power-naps before the evening's BBQ. Neil was very insistent on plying me with beer and had bought too many crates for the stay. There was no way I could appreciate the Japanese beer in my state.
Couldn't do the BBQ food justice either as I guess our stomachs thought it was breakfast time. As we ate next to the lit up swimming pool we heard some strange rustling in the hedge. Neil expected to find a blue tongue lizard but it turned out to be a tree frog which posed perfectly for my first great photo. After some more chat we only lasted until about 10pm before giving into sleep.

On the road (and plane) to Oz

Finished work about midday and got ourselves ready for our chauffeur pick-up. We'd saved enough Virgin Atlantic loyalty points to get some great discount on Upper Class which included a chauffeur pick-up. I had to ask who else the driver had a famous passengers which he replied with an impressive list including Naomi Campbell and Steve Coogan. The car didn't have a privacy screen and he didn't wear a peaked hat. For the first time ever I was almost car sick by the end of the journey as the driver kept blipping the accelerator rocking the car to and fro up the mototway.
We arrived at Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow via the private road then the check-in staff took our bags. The only thing that didn't quite complete the perfect experience was the standard (yet speedy) security check and walk through the hoi poloi of the retail area.
The actual Virgin Clubhouse lounge was pretty cool but no one famous flying that day. Haircut was complimentary but any further services had to be paid for. Cocktails were the best part of the experience and any longer there we could have been carried out instead. Some excellent food and table top video games before the flight.
On the plane, Upper Class rocked! The seat/bed really did make the 24 hour flight very relaxing. Watched the excellent but complicated Tinker Tailor Solider Spy on the first leg before Hong Kong. We only had about 40 minutes in Hong Kong in Virgin's modest lounge. On the second leg before arriving in Sydney I mostly slept but managed to fit in watching Drive, a slow building, cool film but had all the exciting bits in the last 30 minutes.