Brisbane

Sunday, December 7 - Have just been hanging out for the last couple of days here.  It's hot, and it is actually nice to be in one place and not tour around.  Both of us need to pick up on some rest, and Lyn needs to get over this horrible cough and infection.  So reading on the deck, dipping in the pool, a little wine, a little nap - all's good.  Tomorrow will be soon enough to wander around the city - and take in the zoo the day after. That is a planned excursion - it is about an hour outside the city and requires the train.  But apparently well worth it - this is Steve Irwin's zoo.

Up the Coast

Heading down (up) the pacific highway

December 4 - Arrive in Sydney.  Pick up the car.  Attempt to get away from Sydney airport out onto the M1 and the Pacific Highway.  Don't you know all roads lead back to and around the airport?????  After several valiant tries, we make it.  Of course, signs indicating which road you are on would help.  That will be a constant theme all the way to Brisbane.  By the time we are on the right road, we're taking bets on our success rate - and we are in a comfortable rhythm of driving and navigating.  I'm driving and she's navigating, lol.  My goodness, Sydney is hugely spread out.  Even taking the tunnel under the harbour, and the express ways, it still takes us 2 hours to get 'heading down the pacific highway' as the song goes (though actually I think that's Atlanta highway).  

It is far more hilly than I ever expected.  As much as possible we head off the main M1 highway - which is like the 401 but much better - and take the Pacific Coast road, which is also good, just two lanes.  Then we will come out of the hills onto huge flat alluvial plains where there are farms and ranches.  Around 4 pm we come into Newcastle.  Through sheer luck we find the beach and surf club.  I love missed turns.  Lots of kite surfers by the headland (photo on left).  This is Nobby Beach, and the Nobby Beach Surf Life Saving Surf Club (photo on right)

After a little break here, we switch driving and head off.  We haven't yet decided how far we will drive today yet.  So we keep heading up the road until it looks like it will be dark soon.  Data access is great throughout most of this part of Oz, and a search on TripAdvisor reveals great reviews on a little highway motel in Taree.  A quick phone call gets us a room, and they even call down to the local surf club to see if they will open by the time we get in.  The surf clubs are wonderful places to eat - very reasonable and very good food.  So we sourced them out most of the way up the coast.  We arrived around 8:15pm, checked in, ordered our breakfast, and headed out to the club for dinner.  Seafood plate and veggie pasta, oh so good.  Back to the motel, and fell into bed.  

December 5 - Surprise surprise breakfast was delivered hot and fresh to our room the next morning through a little drop window.  Complete with fresh cappuccino.  We have a side stop to make though.  Lyn's cold has developed into something more and she sounds awful.  She's feeling quite awful.  So to the medical clinic we go.  Diagnosis is bronchial infection, so antibiotics and cough medication are prescribed.  We head out of Taree about 10:30.  Our next stop is Coffs Harbour which we make about 2:00pm just in time for lunch.  Again to the surf club for seafood.  (can you guess we're a little focussed on food? - but's it's so good and freshly caught)

Salt & Pepper Squid

Prawn Salad

Leaving Coffs Harbour the route takes us up towards Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads.  We detour into Maclean - a truly Scottish town.  Even the lampposts wear tartan, and the public facilities detail some of the history.  We got there just after 4:30 and even though business said they closed at 5pm, very little was open.  No afternoon tea stop here.

Onward through Woodburn and Ballina.  The road takes us to Lennox Head and this spectacular view from a lookout above the town.  In the far far distance is Bryon Bay point lighthouse.  Half an hour later we roll into Byron Bay and are greeted with their claim to fame - The Giant Prawn.  We laughed about that all the way through the town.  By the time we got through Byron Bay the sun was starting its descent.

We decide to head to Brunswick Head (past Byron Bay) for the last night on the road.  It's starting into evening, and we set the GPS to take us back out to the motorway.  Which it does - through a very unexpected shortcut - only one car wide, full drop off on the right side, steep inclines and large ruts.  The scenery, when we could look, was wonderful - the drive however was a bit nerve wracking.  Our car is a Hyundi Elantra - nice for the highway - not designed for this.  After about 30 minutes we pop out right at the motorway entrance.  We were quite happy from this point on to stick to the main highway.  Again, we had booked from the road - Brunswick Heads only has 3 hotels so there wasn't much decision making to be done.  We arrived around 8:30 to find that our hotel was under construction, and looked quite unfortunate from the outside.  The owner assured us it was just the outside - they were building a new cafe.  True to his word, the rooms had all been renovated and were modern, very clean and comfortable.  We dropped our bags in the room and went next door to the Brunswick pub for dinner.  

December 6 - On the road around 8:30 our destination this morning is Fingal Head for the beach there.  We get directions for the coast road and leave Brunswick Heads.  Takes us about 2 hours, but what a great little beach.  Totally uncrowded, with some families, and a couple of people surfing.  Including one fellow on a SUP.  Had a dip, then lay out in the sun for bit.  Have to be careful though - the sun is very strong here and it is 33 degrees.  Doesn't take long to fry pale skin.  Lots of SPF.

From Fingal Head we take the coast road up through Gold Coast to Surfer's Paradise.  It truly is blingy, gaudy, all hotel strips and shops.  But the beach is immense and no wonder it is surfer's paradise.

In the photo on the right, the tall building is the Q building.  On top of the building is a structure ending in a spire.  You can go to the top floor of this building, cable on, swing outside and climb the exterior right to the top of the spire - if you're into that sort of thing.  Like the Sydney Bridge climb.  Amazing Race challenge??


We stopped for lunch at, you guessed it, the surf club on the esplanade, then headed out to the motorway for the final leg into Brisbane.  Finally arrived at the house in Brisbane around 4pm after stopping for groceries.  Unloaded the car, put the groceries away and then went for a dip in the pool.  Now we can sit for a few days.  What a fun trip up the coast - we haven't done a road trip together in many years, so glad we decided to take the time to do this.  Now for Brisbane...

Time in Melbourne

November 28 - it's cloudy, and starts to rain as we arrive in Melbourne.  Short trip to pick up the car, and we are off to the Dandenong Ranges just east of Melbourne.  Lush mountains, and home to the tallest flowering tree in the world - the mountain ash.  Not like our mountain ashes back home though.  These all incredibly tall, shed their bark and don't fruit the same as the ones we have.  Really narrow, winding roads, with steep switchbacks.  Combined with driving on the other side of the road. Now both of us have experience with right hand driving, but neither of us are the best of passengers - to put it mildly, we both like to drive.  So we are working on our skills at being navigators - to stop us both being 'passenger seat' drivers.  All in all, we're doing okay at it.


It's pouring - really teeming, so too wet to go anywhere, or do anything outside.  So we head to our B&B, this custom built home on the side of a mountain.  The view of their gardens is really something.  We settle in, then head out again to do a little exploring in the car.  Up and down windy narrow roads, we visit a few small towns.  We did try for the Dandenong Lookout, but the mist and fog completely block any view - and the road back for that matter.  So back to Olinda for some tea and later on some supper at the local restaurant.  Stayed up a bit chatting with Graeme, our host, learning about the area around Melbourne.  Then to bed for a fairly early start to tomorrow.


November 29 - It's stopped raining, so we are heading out to the Mornington Peninsula to visit a couple of wineries, and shop for some sheepskin.  So we are off in our usual get up and go manner - or get up and meander through the morning.  We head out and decide that we will do the sheepskin stuff first to make sure places are open.  Well, needless to say by the time we are done that, there is no time for wineries - WHAT since when is there no time for wine????  We reset the GPS and gird ourselves for the drive into Melbourne.  Big spread-out city - it takes quite a long time but finally we find our way down to St Kilda - a really funky area of Melbourne right on the beach.  Comparison would be the beaches area of TO before it became too pricey.  This was great, we were steps from the beach, interesting homes, good restaurants and beach markets.  Like Sydney, everyone here is very friendly and helpful.

We had a small flat, so were completely self contained.  Went out and had yummy Malaysian food for supper.  (Note:  have been treating my cold with love and chemical care, and now Lyn has decided she wants one too.   So back to the pharmacy (they call them chemists or druggists here - very appropriate I think) we go to double up on the drugs!!)  We have a big tour day tomorrow.

November 30 - It's the Great Ocean Road Tour day today!  This is one of the main things we wanted to do in Melbourne so I'm very excited about this.  We chose Escape Discovery Adventures for our tour.  They offered small (only 10 people), all inclusive very extensive tours.  David, our guide, picked us up at 7 am, and we headed out.  Our first stop was at Torquay, the official start of the road.  I finally see my first roos.

The Great Ocean Road was started in the early 1900s to connect towns along the southeast coast by road, and also to provide returning soldiers with employment.  It was built totally by hand, no machinery.  Much of the road runs directly along the coastline cliffs, an amazing feat.  It is spectacular scenery.  Many of the towns now are holiday places.  When we got to the Twelve Apostles, Lyn took the helicopter flight over the coastline and got some incredible shots and video, which was a blessing as somehow I managed to delete all the photos on my card.  I was so ticked at myself.  The weather turned out to be perfect for the day, a little cloudy to start, but it warmed up and then was brilliantly sunny by the time we got the rock formations.  We have too many photos and too much information about it to put here, but it is a must for anyone who visits Melbourne.

Loch Ard Gorge - site of the  Loch
Ard shipwreck in the late 1800s

London Bridge - the joining part
collapsed in 1996

Stopped for dinner (both lunch and dinner were included in the tour) in Port Campbell - where the London Bridge rock formation is - the furthest stop westward at a surf side restaurant.  One of the choices for dinner was kangaroo - which everyone had.  Closest I can get is that it tastes like a cross between really good beef and bison.  Very lean, cooked like a beef tenderloin, yummy with a horseradish cream sauce.  The drive back to Melbourne was through the countryside, rolling hills and cattle stations. We arrived back in Melbourne around 10 pm, tired and very happy with the day.

December 1 - Today is putter and beach day.  After wandering through the market along the beach boardwalk this morning, we go back and have brunch, call (Skype) our families, and then head out for a lazy afternoon on the beach.  It's a hot one today - 32 degrees.  But the water is still cold - that southern ocean.

December 2 - On my own today as Lyn is at RMIT giving a workshop.  So did some work in the morning, and then off to the beach.  It is really hot today - over 36 degrees.  After a bit, I found some shade and spent the afternoon reading.  Too hot even for the birds, they were also resting under a tree.  Made for a nice and relaxing afternoon.  Caught up with Lyn later for a late supper.

December 3 - Our last full day in Melbourne.  Today is winery day.  So off we go to the Mornington Peninsula.  We arrive at Manton Creek Estates around mid-afternoon and spend an hour of so sampling their wines and chatting.  Then off to a couple of others and in search of food.  We missed the lunch window, and found that most places only cater to weekends or are closed Monday and Tuesdays.  Most of the wineries are in the southern part of the peninsula, along a high ridge that runs like a spine.  Coming down there were a couple of lookouts and parks where we were able to stop and see the views.  It was a very pretty drive back up the peninsula to the town of Mornington where we ended up at Kirk's for a seafood dinner.  Not the best we've had, or will have, but certainly lots of it.  And those were the largest prawns I have ever seen!

December 4 - We were both awake really early this morning.  Lyn's cold is getting quite a bit worse, mine is on the way out, so neither of us slept really well.  But that was okay as we had to leave around 6am for the airport and to return the car.  Good thing we left really early, as it turned out that our domestic flight was routed through the international terminal which meant that on the Sydney end we had to line up and go through customs.  Everything took of course twice as long.  Very bizarre, apparently it is a cost-saving measure.  Certainly not a mood-saving measure.  Now on to our coastal adventure.

And now for Sydney

Well lots to catch up on!  It's been so busy, and intermittent internet access, so here's where we've been and what we've been up to.

So to finish off in the UK, Friday and Saturday were the days of the conference, and it while I wasn't the one with all the responsibility of the organizing, there was lots to do and assist with.  The conference went really well, plans are on the go for next year's event, and that will our turn.  I didn't get any chance to do the 'Long Walk' on Saturday, which was a shame, could have used the exercise,  and all of a sudden I was on my way to Heathrow to catch my first of the long flights.

Got to Heathrow Saturday night around 8pm, checked-in my baggage and off to the plane.  Nice big NEW plane, Singapore Air is fantastic - they look after you very well.  But wouldn't you know it, over the next twelve hours felt a distinct cold coming on, assisted by the young lady two rows behind who coughed and sneezed her way to Singapore.  Oh well.  Left Heathrow at 10:10 pm, arrived in Singapore one day later at 6:45 pm, deplaned and made my way to the next flight which left at 8:45 pm to Sydney.  Arrived in Sydney at 6:45 am Monday morning.  At some point you totally lose sense of how many hours you have been in flight, and what day it really is.  By the time I got my cleared immigration, picked up my luggage, and made my way through the airport it was about 9am.  Oh, time for a coffee.  (Australia's even better for coffee than we are - there are coffee places everywhere that do cappuccino, lattes, etc.  It's actually more difficult to get a regular coffee here.)

Sydney Cove from the
steps of the Opera House

Here I am in Sydney, doesn't seem quite real.  Caught the train to downtown Circular Quay.  This is Sydney Cove right at the bottom of the central district of Sydney, and where the Opera House is.  It's a beautiful spot made for walking, with a park and museums on the other side, and also the place where the cruise ships come in (as you can see)

Lord Nelson Brewery and Hotel

The place I had booked was in The Rocks area of Sydney, a very old part right past here, that was originally where the ships warehouses, workers, lower class, and all the neat stuff that goes along with that lived.  It has been in many places restored, and gentrified, but is a very neat area to be in, and within walking distance of the downtown core, Sydney Harbour, shopping, aquarium, gardens and museums.  So true to the location, this is what my home for the next few days was - the oldest continuous running pub in Sydney and a local brewery - The Lord Nelson.  If you ever go, stay here, great rooms, food and ambience. Oh and the beer is really good too.

So for the next couple of days all I did was walk around Sydney and explore.  Lots to see, went to a couple of the museums, the aquarium was good, Hyde Park, the botanical gardens were fantastic - and they want you to walk on the grass, lie down and have a rest, step into the rose gardens and smell the flowers - but mainly I just walked around.  It's more hilly than I thought, so definitely a good workout.  There is some amazing and beautiful iron work on the balconies and houses - apparently it was the pig iron used as ballast in the ships.  There was a time when it was ripped away as garage, but luckily now it is being restored in most places.

Can you guess?
Under the Sydney Bridge

Another piece of history is this unique structure located directly underneath the iconic Sydney Bridge.  Can you guess what it is?  I will say that it is a very useful item.

 Lyn arrived on the Wednesday, met her at the Quay and we decided it was time for some sun, sand and surf.  So off to Manley we went - a 20 minute ferry ride from Circular Quay to a beautiful beach where we had lunch-yummy salt and pepper squid, wandered around and spent the afternoon just soaking up the sun.  Water was chilly but who needs to swim yet?  This little beach is where the ferry comes in - you can rent kayaks here.  A 5 minute walk directly across the 'corso' or walking mall brings you to the main play beach.  What a great afternoon.  Back to Sydney late afternoon and had a wonderful dinner with our cousin Kate and Joshin.  Thanks guys, it was so good to see you and catch up.

Our time here is over - early morning to the airport for the flight to Melbourne...


.

London and all

Big Ben from the Waterloo bridge

Well yesterday was our day in London.  On the bus by 8 am for the trip in, alight at the Houses of Parliament on the Embankment.  While the group had briefings in the House of Commons, I was
lucky enough to be able to take the morning and walk around all over the area, up and down the embankment.





Amazing, there are palm trees growing all over place.  And London is further north than we are at home.  Dawn doesn't happen until about 7:15 and it is dark by 4:45.  It was about 8 degrees yesterday and a mix of cloudy day, then turned very sunny in the afternoon.  What nice is that there aren't a large number of tourists, so it's easy to get around and not be too crowded.  It's been a long time since I have been here, and one thing for sure - the food and the coffee is much much better.

Templar Church just off the Embankment

This is the Templar Church in London, Scrunched in-between two other newer large buildings.  Atop is a gold ship with the Maltese Cross on the sail, and off the right on the sidewalk of the embankment is a silver/pewter griffin wearing a shield bearing the Maltese Cross.

I spent the afternoon in the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square.  Wandering around the rooms was a great way to relax, and get some quiet.  When I came out there were several events/performers going on - a food promotion/bbq by Nelson's statue, and a performer right in front of the steps of the Gallery.  It was quite funny because they both had PA systems and remote microphones so of course were competing loudly with each other.  The audiences were definitely amused.


Met up with everyone after their meetings were finished, and we all got back on the bus to head back through London traffic to Windsor.  Since we had a number of people onboard who had just arrived that day and had their luggage with them, the plan was to go back to Cumberland Lodge, let them check in, everyone have a quick change and then back on the bus to go to Fort Belvedere.  Fort Belvedere is the home of Galen and Hilary Weston, who were hosting a reception for us, as attendees of the Canada-UK Colloquium.  We were all really curious and intrigued to be going there.  As you can guess, the plans fell apart rather quickly.  London traffic ruled the day, and the first part of the evening.  It took us 2.5 hours to get to Windsor, so the bus took us straight there.  Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to take any pictures.  But it was pretty amazing.  While it has a long history, the most recent would be that Fort Belvedere was the home of Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor.  The room where we had drinks and the reception was the room where Edward signed the abdication papers. After abdicating, the Duke and Duchess continued to live there.  The Westons have lived there for 35 years and have fully restored it.  7:30 came, and back on the bus we got to finally return to Cumberland Lodge for dinner.  Dinner was over around 10, and it was time to fall into bed.

Today started a little later - catching up on jet lag, and feeling a little slow today.  But it was conference day 2, so meetings all day and catching up on work.  Am glad it wasn't so hectic. Just have to finish up with dinner, then early to bed.  Tomorrow is the last day here - I hope to be able to take the 'Long Walk' (a straight grassy avenue 2 miles long) up to Windsor Castle, but that will depend on weather.  Then off to Heathrow tomorrow night for the long flight to Singapore and Sydney.  Right now this is jet lag in training, lol.

Day 1 - Arrived in Windsor

Here I am.  In a beautiful old place called Cumberland Lodge.  Originally a hunting lodge for a Duke of Cumberland way back when.  Now a residential conference facility, academic retreat and educational charity.  Situated in the Great Park at Windsor, it is on the original grounds of Windsor Castle which is approximately a 3 mile walk away up the 'great road', a grassy thoroughfare for walkers and riders.  I am planning on going for a walk up there later and will take some photos.  The afternoon has turned sunny so it will be good to get out - leaves are still on the trees so it is a gorgeous fall day now.

 This is my room.  and the bathroom has heated floors and heated towel racks, and a great big cast iron tub.  May not come out.







The plane was pretty uneventful - got some intermittent sleep.  Heathrow makes Pearson airport look like a tiny place.  It is huge, but luckily it wasn't busy this morning so it only took about an hour through the airport, customs and baggage collection for our group.  We had pre booked a taxi service to pick us up and drive us to Windsor and he was waiting there, so off we went.  Since the airline fed us supper at 11:30, and only a coffee or juice and 'muffin' for breakfast, we told the driver we wanted to stop in Windsor for some breakfast/lunch before going on to the lodge.  At first he thought MacD's was a good suggestion - quickly disabused that idea.  So he took us to a local place loosely called a bed and breakfast.  A diner that served 15 different versions of english breakfast, combinations of: eggs (scrambled, omelette, fried), sausage, blood pudding, ham, bacon, chips, beans, toast (which was bread and margarine not toasted), chips, beans, black sausage, fried tomatoes, did I say chips and beans yet? a daily special, and of course tea.  Todays was pot roast beef, chips, beans, gravy and something green.  And they only use g.m. oil.  So I had to ask - general motors oil, grape mustard seed oil????  Nope, you guessed it - genetically modified oil.  yum.  So we had a very entertaining breakfast with all the local tradesmen.  5 GBP each, pretty good I'd say.  Tonight we've all decided we are going to the pub down the road - pints are needed.  But right now coffee is needed.  So I am on the hunt for some.

In the final rush!

Two days = 48 hours and counting down to departure.  A little bit of panic has now set in.  And the excitement is building.

Today was a practice pack - the good news is that I haven't stuffed the suitcase yet, and have already included my business clothes for the UK portion.  Bad news (for a while) was that I lost my dive computer and spent the better part of the day frantically searching for it in all the normal, right, safe places it should have been.  Of course, the longer I searched the worse it got.  Finally, found it!! Where?  Already safely put in my carry-on in the secure inside sleeve.  Phew.  Maybe I should put stickers or something when I do stuff like that.  My goal is to finish this task tomorrow night.  Any bets?  I have one - I bet I will unpack it all on Tuesday morning, rearrange it and pack it all over again.  Obsessive, I know.  All under the very watchful eyes of DOG.

The biggest dilemma I have right now is what to take to read.  The reality is that while e-readers are great, there often isn't power charging available on planes, so they run out of juice when you need them most.  So traditional reading always a good bet.  But what to take?  Most of what I want to read is on my iPad.  Haven't actually purchased a paper book in a while.  The great thing is with paperbacks is that you can read them then leave them behind for the next person.   Hmmm.