Jan 31^st

Up early as we had a ferry to catch from Penneshaw to Cape Jervis on the mainland. The weather had changed and was now overcast skies with a cool, gusty wind, temp. approx. 18C. Both Gill and Tamsin hadn’t slept well. A quick breakfast in the hotel before literally just rolling down the hill to the ferry terminal. The sea looked reasonably flat until we reached just over halfway at which point Tamsin saw her breakfast again. She must be the world’s worst sailor. As soon as we touched dry land she was right as rain.

From the ferry terminal at Cape Jervis we headed back to Victor Harbour as yours truly had managed to leave behind a mobile charger. Fortunately we had to go through the town anyway. We fuelled up just out of town. The lady there was very helpful and advised to take the car ferry across the river at Wellington. This saved us 40 mins and about 70kms plus it was free!

There was another involving a cockerel.......  

Geddit?

After crossing the river (Tamsin was fine) we got on the road to Meningie for lunch and along the way we saw some “to the point” and rather blunt signs advising against drink driving etc. We reached Meningie and had an interesting lunch – pies, pasties etc served by some incredibly surly ladies. The sizes of the portions are enormous. If you’re ever thinking of doing this trip, don’t bother stopping at Meningie – it’s a dump!

After about 4 hours and about 350kms we reached Robe. Gill had obviously enjoyed the trip as she’d slept almost as the way. Tamsin had slept much of it. Least they were both refreshed.

Robe is a delight. The accommodation at the Lakeside Motel is excellent and includes much needed laundry facilities. The town is a small seaside resort and has most of what you need. Everyone has been very friendly and helpful. After being on the road for 11 days we’re eating in tonight and using the apartments cooking facilities - bliss!

Jan 28^th – 30^th

Caught the ferry over to Kangaroo Island with time to spare and spent the 50 minute journey being amused by some very excited Chinese tourists who took photos of themselves and each other from every vantage point you could imagine.

Our first point of call was the Eucalyptus oil distillery where we tried some cough sweets and watched a short video on how they made the oil and learnt it could be used for almost everything.  Then, excitement as we spotted our first kangaroos, but sadly road kill ones in various states of decay so I guess they don’t really count?  Next stop was Seal Bay where we trekked along a board walk to observe sea lions (not seals at all).  Lunch was next and we were thrilled to see a very sleepy koala in the huge Eucalyptus by the car park.  We then decided to stop off at our hotel to start chilling drinks before going to Flinders Chase National Park where we were hoping to do some walking and see some famous rock formations.  However, it was not to be as the park office shut at 5pm – frustrating as it was so hot that the evening would have been a much better time to visit.  However, we did luck out and see some wild kangaroos jumping across the road and I was in 7^th heaven when I spotted some wild banksias in flower.  We were given some dried pellets on checking in at the hotel and were told that the local wallabies loved them.  So, we spent the early evening having a drink outside and feeding the wallabies which turned up as the sun went down.  They were incredibly tame and literally ate the unappetising looking pellets straight out of our hands.  It was a strange sensation having a finger gripped surprisingly tightly by a tiny wallaby and feeling its little whiskers brushing your hand.  We then had a delicious dinner in the hotel restaurant and were rewarded by possums turning up later - even coming into the restaurant and going round your feet searching for food.

Remarkable Rocks are remarkable!

On the 29^th, we took it reasonably easily as yours truly has picked up a minor cold and a very annoying cough so didn’t sleep that well.  We went straight to Flinders Chase Park so we could do the platypus pools walk before it got too hot.  It was lovely walking through the bush hearing the birds and spotting new and exciting plants. We hung around the rather primeval looking peaty pools for a while but the platypus weren’t co-operating, so we made our way back in the mounting heat to the visitor’s centre for a well earned rehydration break.  After that, we drove down to the Remarkable rocks which are truly amazing.  They are exposed granite hill tops that have been eroded by the sea and winds to create some incredible shapes.   Nothing can beat that we thought.  Wrong.  Admiralty Arch was equally impressive with the added bonus of lots of fur seals basking on the rocks.  I took some nice photos of the seals but they don’t capture the strong fishy odour that accompanies them.  

Admiralty Arch

As it is very hot and incredibly humid (maybe indicating some rain?), we’ve come back to the hotel for a break before heading out for a guided nocturnal tour of the koalas which starts at 8.30pm after an early dinner and perhaps some more wallaby feeding?  In the event, the wallabies turned up a bit earlier than the previous night, so, we were able to feed them again – Chris had a bold one dribbling in ecstasy all over his hand gripping it with both front paws.  I felt a little guilty eating a close cousin for dinner that night, but wanted to try kangaroo.  It was a little stringy and the closest I can describe the taste is a cross between beef and venison,  so yes, it’s a dark meat but probably best eaten rare rather than the medium rare I had. 

?

Snoozing/Alert Koala? 

Dribbling Wallaby

As we drove to the koala sanctuary just down the road, we passed masses of wallabies grazing by the side of the road – a bit like rabbits that you seen in England coming out at dusk.  We were the only 3 people on our tour, which was lucky for us.  The 1^st koala we saw was a mother and her baby.  Although the baby appeared to be snoozing, the mother was very active and we were all surprised at how quickly she could move through the tree.  After that, we saw several more koalas – one even leaping from branch to branch.  We learnt lots of useless koala facts too – they only eat 1 leaf out of every 3 they pick, they weigh about 12kgs, live for about 12 years, pooh 170 times a day and it takes 5 days for eucalyptus to pass through their digestive systems.  One koala was spotted only because it did a pooh from very high up and our guide recognised the sound. She even managed to find the fresh turd, which was about the size of a jelly bean, very spongy and smelt strongly of eucalyptus.  We also saw kangaroos on our tour and stroked a tame one that had been hand reared.  She had beautiful soft fur and was surprisingly bony – apparently, if they put weight on, all the fat is stored in the tail.  Possums were bountiful too – the Australian equivalent of racoons.  They are strictly nocturnal so we were pleased to see so many all together.  We also admired some huge grass trees, which I’ve become very taken with and had visions of them growing in my Portuguese garden.  However, we learnt that the short ones with no trunk were about 50 years old and the impressive large ones were at least 200 years old, so I’m having to revise my gardening ambitions!  When we got back to our hotel, the area outside the restaurant was literally crawling with wallabies – pah, we thought and went to bed!

We woke to a shock on the 30^th – overcast skies, showers and temperatures that meant Mum and I required fleeces!  Made our way back to the ferry terminal where we have a hotel booked via the northern part of the island.  We couldn’t believe the lack of traffic.  We visited an animal reserve or sanctuary in the morning and hand fed kangaroos this time.  We also saw some different marsupials – most are variations on a rat and apparently all give a nasty bite.  There were loads of birds too, but all in cages which we didn’t like.  They should be free and with their own kind.  After lunch in Kingscote, we spotted some pelicans close to the shore as well as black swans and what we think were cormorants.  There were also at least one hundred white cockatoos roosting in a nearby tree squabbling very noisily.  We’re now ensconced in our very nice hotel by the ferry terminal in Penneshaw as are taking the early ferry back to the mainland tomorrow.

Jan 26^th – 27^th

We arrived in Adelaide after a very impressive and efficient Quantas flight, which even provided a breakfast where the eggs tasted of eggs.   Picked up our hire car – a nice roomy Toyota Camry – and headed for our hotel in the CBD of Adelaide.  First impressions were that it appeared to be a relaxed and interesting city with modern buildings interspersed with lots of older ones in a colonial style and had a nice feel to it.  A delightful guy checked us in and assured us through slightly gritted teeth that he’d much rather be doing that than drinking and partying on the beach with his mates celebrating Australia day.  Thank goodness the weather is significantly cooler than Perth and is a comfortable 35 degrees with a bit of a breeze!

We then headed off to the botanic gardens (poor Chris is so tolerant of my plant passion as that’s all we’ve done so far in Oz).  Again, they’re free which is so amazing when you think of having to pay nearer £15 per person to get into Kew these days.  They were absolutely delightful and full of interesting plants and ideas plus lots of noisy parrots.  Again, lots of photos were taken!  I was thrilled to find lotus flowers in bloom – they really are quite special and I can see why they are so revered in Buddhist culture. 

Parrots

After that, we headed off for a well earned drink and dinner before retiring Mum to bed.  C and I then headed off to a Cooper’s Ale house, which is a local brew. We had one for the road and were amused to watch several slightly inebriated people being gently, but efficiently dealt with by the security person employed by the bar.  Basically, glasses were removed from their hands once they were outside and the contents emptied on the road.  Pity they don’t do that in England to control the drunk yobs and ladettes.

I also did a newspaper Australia Day quiz to check on my Australian knowledge.  Think I scored about 10%, which I was quite pleased with!  I learnt lots of interesting information though.  I had no idea that Australia boasted a Prime Minister who held the world record for drinking 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds in 1967 – Bob Hawkes for those who want to know.  Can you imagine any politician being proud of that record today?!  

Glass House

Today, after checking out of the hotel, we went back to the botanic gardens as wanted to visit the largest glass house in the southern hemisphere which had been shut the previous day.  As it turned out, it was a disappointment and it looks better from the outside.  We also fitted in a visit to Ayers House, which is a classical example of a colonial house built between 1850 and 1870....and yes, Ayers rock is named after this guy, who was the big cheese at that time.  We had a very interesting guided tour for just the three of us tailored to suit our requirements – i.e. he had to fit the tour into 40 minutes instead of the usual 50 as we had to get back to our car before the parking ticket expired. We liked Adelaide and look forward to revisiting it later in our trip when we have more time to explore.

After that, we headed off to Victor Harbour which is in the Fleurie peninsula en route to Kangaroo Island – tomorrow’s destination.  We got side tracked by a couple of typical old colonial towns, Hahnsdorf (founded by Germans where we could have bought a cuckoo clock) and Strathalbyn (founded by Scots).  Have explored Victor Harbour where they have a magnificent avenue of Araucharia trees (type of monkey puzzle) and a steam train called The Duke of Edinburgh.  We have a lovely room in the oldest part of the hotel with a balustrade around it overlooking the sea, which is where I’m writing this missive from.

So, off to Kangaroo Island tomorrow where we’re staying for 3 nights – hope we might encounter a koala bear then?! 

Jan 24^th – 25^th

We arrived in Perth slightly behind schedule.  During the flight we heard the dreaded “is there  a medical Doctor on board”.  Last time we heard that we ended up diverted to Nante so thought we might have made an unscheduled stop in Singapore.  Anyway, it was not to be.  On arrival at Perth medics came on board to assess the situation before we were allowed off.  I guess if it had been more serious we could have ended up in quarantine!

Perth CBD from the Botanic Gdns

Got through immigration and even by declaring that we had some items that required additional attention made it through to kerbside in less than an hour – not bad! Arrived at our hotel just before their offices closed which was good as there was a slight problem.  Tamsin had ordered one room with two bedrooms and they had arranged two rooms so we would have only retrieved one set of keys – problem averted.  It is incredibly hot here and we were told upon checking in that this was the hottest temperatures they’ve had since 1967, and the heat wave was due to last at least a week!  Thank goodness, we’re only here for a couple of nights.  After a quick shower we headed out for dinner and an early bed.  

Botanic Gdns Perth

Baobab Tree

Today, we headed out a bit later than planned as we’d managed to over sleep - again.  We set off in the already hot temperature for the Botanical Gardens in Kings Park using the very handy free CAT buses. With the aid of a very helpful local and compliant driver we were delivered to the bottom of Jacobs Ladder. These are a set of stairs that many locals use for keeping fit –so you can guess what they were like. We made it to the top (having passed numerous red faced, panting joggers several times on our way up) and walked along to the park admiring fantastic views of Perth City Centre and the Swan River out to Fremantle. We stopped for a well earned drink and light bite before exploring the gardens. Gill and I headed for the shade between admiring/reading about various plants while Tamsin took photos, and photos and yet more photos. The highlight of our walk around the gardens was the aerial walkway through the tree canopy after which we headed as quickly as sensible back to the shop as it was now beyond midday and extremely hot!  The shop had many interesting items of artwork. The one’s I liked best was a chair made from scrap metal and re-bar (Jan I hope you’re reading this) and welded together and some rabbits complete with shadows. We asked at the shop about a taxi and were advised to catch the no.37 from just outside. When the bus came I asked how much to the ferry terminal and was advised that any bus fares within the city are free – what a brilliant concept.

Kangaroo Paw

We took a cruise from the ferry terminal out to Fremantle going up from Perth on the Swan River, which is incredibly wide at this point.  It really is very scenic with lovely views of the low rise suburbs either side interspersed with parks, local wild vegetation, low craggy cliffs, lots of yacht clubs and marinas and quite a few very blingy, rather tasteless noveau riche mansions.  Eventually, after 1.25 hours, we arrived at Fremantle, which is a huge container port and watched as the tugs brought in a massive vessel stacked high with containers.  On the way back, we were treated to a wine tasting on board which helped wile away the return journey!  After 2 free bus rides we made it back to our abode rather hot and tired as the heat really is sapping.  However, after refreshing showers and a change of clothes, we popped next door for a light dinner washed down by Fat Yak Pale Ale, which we highly recommend.

Tomorrow , it’s another early start to Adelaide and also Australia Day, so guess a lot of stuff might be shut then, but we’ll find out in due course........

Jan 22-24

I met up with an old school friend of mine the other night, Don Thraves. He now lives most of the year in Thailand in Pattaya which is about 1.5 hours out from Bangkok.  

The next morning we headed for the river Grand Palace. This required using the very impressive Skytrain to the river, a river cruise up to close to the Palace and stroll. The stroll required some dashing between shady areas as it was now about midday and the humidity and the direct sun are not a good combination.  During the stroll, we also passed lots of market stalls en route selling virtually anything you could possibly want including false teeth and plates, but we managed to resist all the tempting goodies!  The Grand Palace is on a huge site and almost all the buildings are old and very ornate. The “Reclining Buddha” and the “Emerald Buddha” are housed there.   Sadly the “Reclining Buddha” was not on display, however, the Throne Room was open, which none of us had ever seen on previous visits.   Everything is incredibly ornate, with Mother of Pearl in-lay, bright colours, semi precious jewels and, of course, pure gold everywhere. The overall effect is quite overwhelming and surreal.

On the way back to the river we stopped for some late lunch and to cool down before getting back onto the boat. During our journeys up and down the river we were entertained by boat hostesses who’s “Chinglish” was amusing.  Not only did we get a running commentary in Thai and Chinglish as to what we could see on the river, but also to things in Thailand in general. Apparently there are 3 seasons in Thailand – hot, hotter and very hot!!

On the way back to the hotel we went via another huge shopping mall and were entertained by a Dragon dance to celebrate Chinese New Year. The celebrations were started by a visit by the Queen and Princess of Thailand to the Chinatown district and last two days. This I learnt from a very helpful young man (blimey I sound old) on the Skytrain. Have to say that whenever we looked remotely lost someone would ask where we were heading and direct us – not like in London where they are more likely to send you round to meet their mates!

For our last night in Bangkok we ate in one of the hotel restaurants. The waitress was very complimentary on my pronunciation of the Thai dishes I wanted to order – but we know the truth! The food was excellent as was the wine (despite some guessing games as to what they had available). Then early to bed as we had a very early start the next morning.

Have to say that my second visit to Bangkok was much better than the previous one. Not only was the company better, but also the Skytrain has transformed the horrendous traffic congestion.

Tamsin got up at 04:30 as the limo was picking us for the airport at 05:15. We were ready before then believe it or not. Checked in at the airport at about 05:50 and boarded the plane at 07:20. The flight so far, has been reasonably smooth. We’re now just about an hour from landing and I think we’re starting to get excited about the start of our holiday proper – especially as we’re flying over parts of Western Australia that we’ll be driving up in 2.5 months time.

Jan 20^th (CW’s birthday) was spent wandering around Oxford.  Got back to Gills (T’s mum) for 5pm and the taxi picked us up just before 6pm. Made it to LHR with plenty of time to spare. Plane left about 15 minutes late (a very new A340 – nice). We all got some sleep on the flight and the only concern we had was just as we were about to land – the landing card mentioned “visa”. Tamsin and I looked at one another as neither of us thought we needed one, nor had we bothered to check! It’s nearly 20 years since either of us had been there and things do change. However, not to worry we made it through immigration without the slightest blink!

The limo from the hotel was there for us as planned and we arrived at the Hansar hotel at about 5pm. The hotel is rather nice and we suspect the quality of the hotels  will go down from here :^(   As we were all tired we had an early dinner (that’s breakfast to Mrs Michie). Although the food was very nice it was European fare and we’d hoped for Thai.  It wasn’t until the next morning that we realised that there was a Thai restaurant on the same level.  Anyhow we went to bed early and all had a bad night’s sleep due to jet lag.

Next morning, a bit later than planned, we headed out for some retail therapy. We took the skytrain from Ratchathewi which was an easy walk from the hotel. Fortunately it was an easy walk, as it’s hot. We went to Siam Square and the huge shopping malls there. This is basically a massive 5 floor department store with every designer logo I can think of plus some I’ve never heard of. We headed for the Jim Thompson House outlet as Gill was looking for a silk blouse. No luck there. So we headed next for the Jim Thompson House Museum where we had a tour.

Jim Thompsons House

Jim Thompson for those who don’t know (i.e. me) was the saviour of the Thai silk industry after WWII. He disappeared in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia in 1967, just after his 61 birthday. No trace has ever been found.  After the tour we had a bite to eat to discuss what next as we still needed to hunt for this bloomin’ blouse. About this point Gill started to fade so we decided to head back to the hotel. As we were leaving we were accosted by a rather familiar looking tuk-tuk driver 

Dodgy looking tuk-tuk driver

 who offered us a lift back to the hotel for 200 baht (about £4), or 100 baht if we went via a Chinese gem shop that was offering a discount for Chinese New Year.

Engines/Gearboxes/Axles

 He would get a litre of petrol if we went there and 2 if we bought some jewels. We didn’t buy any jewels but Gill did get some paper parasols that she wanted.  As we were heading back he mentioned a silk shop that made clothes and if we went there he would get 3 litres if we bought something. We did go there via an interesting route where you could buy any type of car engine/gearbox/axle that you needed – an interesting spin on recycling.  At the silk shop Gill was fading fast and decided not to make any decisions  - very wise. On the way back we experienced the thrills of a tuk-tuk ride in Bangkok. In busy traffic we’re cutting across 4 lanes of cars, buses and trucks in little more than a motorised shopping trolley.  Fun, certainly.  Scary, absolutely!!

UK Part of the Trip (16^th to 20^th January)

Left a damp Portugal on the 16^th of January to fly to Stansted airport and were transported by a rickety train into London.  We stayed the 1^st 2 nights with Kim and Mark where we were treated to meatballs the 1^st night and then went out to celebrate C’s birthday a few days early at a great pub in Chiswick.  On the Tuesday, we met up with Hanna in London and visited the V&A, which I hadn’t been to for ages and C had never visited.  It’s so vast, that we just picked off some of the theatrical sections including a special exhibition on Annie Lennox, who is one of my favourite singers.  After that, we had a dim sum lunch near Queensway – not our 1^st choice as that was closed due to “problems in the kitchen” – does that mean mice?! 

On the Wednesday, we moved down to Battersea to stay with Carol and David.  We amused ourselves in the afternoon and went to see War Horse at the cinema – it was predictably Hollywood, but we enjoyed it nevertheless.  In the evening, we tried a new burger joint, which was okay but a bit noisy, although they did great milk shakes!

Thursday we moved to Reading to stay with my mother.  Today (Friday), as it is C’s birthday, we went to Oxford for the day.  We went on the excellent bus which picks us up outside my mother’s house and drops you off in the centre of Oxford.  We went to the Pitt Rivers museum, which had an eclectic mix of anthropological items.  Two whole cases were given over to betel chewing equipment as an example!  After some shopping, a couple of beers and some lunch, we’re now back in Reading and I need to sign off to finish repacking to get our taxi in 45 minutes........

Into the final stage of the countdown

After a years delay due to unfortunate circumstances we will soon be on the road for our 3 month trip touring parts of Australia. Jan 16th we fly to the UK for a few days before flying from Heathrow for Bangkok on Jan 20th where we have few days lay over, then on to Perth. For the first leg of this trip, we will be accompanied for this leg by Tamsin's Mum, Gill.
We fly from Perth to Adelaide where we pick up the Ocean road, first to Kangaroo Island, then on to Melbourne following the coast stopping at various places along the way. At Melbourne we fly to Hobart, Tasmania. We're touring Tasmania for 10 days before flying to Sydney. After a couple of days there Gill departs for the UK via Gold Coast where she is visiting an old friend. We then continue by road back to Melbourne before departing for Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, then onto the Red Centre (Alice Springs/Ayers Rock) before flying back to Adelaide and some wine tasting and meeting up with some friends of Tamsin's that she's not seen for more than 20 years! From there we fly to Perth and meet up with our friend Hanna who will accompany us for the final leg. First Fremantle before heading south for the wine regions before turning and heading north back through Perth to Monkey Mia and Ningaloo where we have planned to swim with Whale Sharks. Eventually the 3 months will almost have elapsed and we head back to Perth by air before flying home via Jo'burg where Hanna leaves us to visit an old college friend. After a night in London we head back to Portugal and home - phew!!

We shall be up dating this blog with more information and pictures as and when we can.

Chris