I did it my way

On arriving in Darwin, I had one week's accommodation booked and my Pet Shop Boys ticket for 06 June in Sydney. I had my ticket home from Melbourne for 10 July too. But that was it, to quote Mr Sinatra, the rest "I did it my way":

And now, the end is here

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I'll say it clear

I'll state my case, of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full

I traveled each and ev'ry highway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt

I ate it up and spit it out

I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried

I've had my fill, my share of losing

And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that

And may I say, not in a shy way,

"Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way"

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught

To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels

The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

[instrumental]

Yes, it was my way

And it's been a bloody good holiday too.

Nearly a week has gone by!

The Great Ocean Road trip part two was scenic and rocky. The weather was mixed but held up pretty well. The third most visited natural location in Oz was busy but the guide assured me it was nothing like it is in Summer. I can believe him. We popped in to a rainforest boardwalk (another one!) and yes it was me who found the carnivorous snail. Small, shiny black shell, snail-like. It was amusing to watch tourists trying to get excited about a snail. Some of them even took photographs. I took one but it was blurry! Damn fast these creatures. A long bus ride back to Melbourne and my last YHA of the whole holiday - Melbourne Metro - and what a hostel. Fairly new, good rooms, great bathrooms (including a bath!), a rooftop lounge and terrace, a cafe and well equipped kitchen. And it was completely non-smoking. I submitted and had a pizza and chips from the cafe for dinner and wasn't disappointed. In fact, I couldn't even eat all the chips! I spent the evening chatting to a Kiwi who writes travel reviews and collects old books. Shows what you can find out if you offer someone a share of your chips! Probably the best hostel in my travels.

Tuesday I made my way over to West Brunswick (I believe the 'west' is important) to see out my days in Oz at Lauren and Michael's place. It was lovely to stop and sit down, chill and chat, catch up over a cuppa.

Since then, I've been mooching about, dropping in on what Melbourne has to offer and getting ready mentally to come home. Normally, if you've got ten days to go that's pretty much a whole holiday but that's not how it's been feeling. To be honest, I'm suffering separation anxiety! I want to go home but don't want to leave Australia. I have managed to visit Queen Victoria Markets more than once; the National Gallery of Victoria (Australia branch); botanic gardens x2; St Kilda (the seaside in Melbourne); Melbourne Museum and Melbourne Zoo. General shopping has happened and I have to finish my pressie finding this week! I've discovered the source of a most amazing carrot cake, ploughed my way through an over-sized slab of Death by Chocolate and eaten a couple of pizzas. Fruit and vegetables have also been consumed. Of course.

Staying with Lauren has been great. Not having to share a room being one feature but a cat to play with is an added bonus. I can even cook in a kitchen, on my own, and find things in the cupboard that I can use. Melanie lives only round the corner so she and I have also spent some time together, putting the world to rights. We went to the Winter fireworks on a Friday thing in Docklands which was good. Having given up on watching football in the middle of the night once the Socceroos and England failed to escape the first round of the World Cup, I've had nocturnal tennis to watch. I stayed up for the local interest, Nick Kyrgios beating Rafa Nadal, and then last night I watched the amazing final between Federer and Djokovic.

So, my time here is drawing to a close. Hopefully, my next posting will be more upbeat.

Rain - it's the new way

Friday morning I checked out of Melbourne Central for the last time and went off on the Great Ocean Road tour. Our guide warned us that high winds were expected along with rain as the day progressed. However, as we ventured nearer the coast it seemed that we would perhaps be lucky.

Tea break by the beach at Anglesea was breezy but sunny. This (or nearby Torquay) is where Rip Curl the surf company invented wetsuits for surfing. We did some ooh look at the sea ocean stops and went to find some koalas. This was not so easy; seems like they've been scared off by all the tourists. I spotted one, high up in the very top of a very tall eucalyptus tree. It's almost like he was doing it on purpose - yes I'm here but your photos will be rubbish! Returning to the minibus, I ambled past a group of three small trees and found another beastie, much lower down and photo friendly. I quietly mentioned it to people who came our way, so as not to overwhelm the poor creature. One tour driver was very happy that I told him! Made him look good, I suppose. A French girl from my tour said yes, I saw him already and took lots of pictures. Hmmmm so you didn't think to share your good fortune with anyone else? I've learned a lot about myself and other people on this trip (I think you always do) but sometimes I'm just lefting shaking my head.

Another thing (bad way to start a new paragraph) about tourists and photographs is this idea of wanting a picture of yourself in front of every piece of scenery, statuary, landmark, furry creature. It makes for very irritating times when someone else ie me wants a picture of the thing on its own. I bet the enforced slide show back home is exciting too "Here's me in front of the bridge. Here's me by the sea view. Here's me by the statue. Here's me.... Zzzzzzzzzz". Ok, perhaps that's lovely for some folk. All you'll get from me is photos of things I've seen and want to remember. I know what I look like and it's not getting any better.

Anyway, we got to Apollo Bay where we had lunch and I left the group and walked a few yards to the YHA. Very similar design to Halls Gap, I dumped my things and made off to the visitor information centre. A very helpful lady there photocopied a couple of pages from her book of walks and suggested a few options. I went off to Marriners Lookout (correct spelling). The road wanders away from the coastline then heads up, nice and steeply. A few cars went past, of course I would have refused any offer of a lift but no-one stopped anyway. I reached a car park and then there was a footpath, with more storm damaged trees, to reach the 'top'. Here were glorious views out over Apollo Bay and nearby Marengo, the surfing crashing relentlessly, the sky blue and the wind picking up, just a bit (lot). I find it so calming to be able to take in the simple beauty of the environment. Anyway, no tourists in the way of my camera! Back down to earth and town, I bought some beers and checked in for my three night stay at the YHA. I was amused to find wine for sale in those squeezy sports drink packs, and reduced to $2 for 250ml too. I had to buy one just to take a picture. I'm sure my friends at the running club would have appreciated them on their 24 hour event.

Saturday and it was raining. Undaunted, I started the Great Ocean Walk once the skies had cleared a little. The day warmed up and the scenery was fantastic. Surf, sea, seals they were all there together with very few other walkers, mostly people with dogs. The path ventures inland at times and there are decision points along the way where it's up to you if you think you can get to the next bit of the path via the beach or would rather not swim for it. Eventually the rain gods woke up and by the time I was back at Apollo Bay via Shelly Beach about 10 miles later I was soaked. However, there's a bath! So I made use of that and re-appeared suitably clean and with a warm glow.

Sunday and it was raining. Undaunted, I started the walk to Paradise. Well I had to check a place with a name like that! The walk was all on roads, flat to start and then a gentle upwards drift. I passed fields and rolling hillsides, looking very picturesque and British with the rain, the green grass, sheep, cattle, donkeys and alpaca..... Well they have alpaca in the Lake District, I've seen them! Is the plural of alpaca alpaca or alpacas? I like them with their cute hairstyle and they seem slightly less threatening and belligerent than llamas although I haven't tested that theory in any way. The Paradise picnic area was a bit disappointing but it did have a toilet. Marriners Falls was advertised as closed but I decided to keep walking on as I was now in forest with massive eucalyptus trees, the Barham River rushing by at great volume, birds, sheep and road. There were occasional houses, holiday homes and what I imagine were smallholdings off this road. Many unseen but announced by their gate sign or a letterbox. Remote enough not to be heard by the neighbours pretty much unless you let off big fireworks but still on a road which was not even a dirt track. I turned back at 2pm, not wanting to be walking in the dark if I could help it. I always need to allow for distraction time! It did stop raining and I waved at the donkeys and alpaca who had moved in their field and were looking a lot more cheerful. I probably covered about a half marathon so a decent day's walking (for a holiday!).

Monday and it was raining. Undaunted, I stayed in a while and did my packing. A final walk in the wet around the harbour and I went to resume my Great Ocean Road One Day Tour.

Wow no pictures for ages!

The view from Telstra Tower, Black Mountain, Canberra

 Sovereign Hill

 Redcoats, Sovereign Hill

Ballarat these days

 View from the kitchen, Halls Gap YHA

View over Halls Gap

 Of course there's a path here 

 This is what kangaroos do - lounge about

 Trees and branches down all over the place

 Kangaroo pausing in the middle of ear scratching

Still raining

The second full day in the Grampians was still a bit middling as far as the weather was concerned. I put off going out until lunchtime and finally headed off down to Brambuk, yet again. This time to do a return leg 'the other side of the creek'. Storm damage was very much in evidence with branches, bark and general debris all over the place. As the walk progressed, the wind picked up again and I was left thinking that once more potentially this could be dangerous. I tried to comfort myself with the thought that perhaps all the dodgy branches and trees had already fallen down overnight. I met only three people on the way and they were right near the beginning. The power of nature is incredible at times. The impact of the high winds was obvious but I was pondering rock falls, looking at cracks in the rocks above me, admiring ancient distributions of huge boulders as if involved in a game of marbles in some long gone era. But then, we still see cliffs crumbling and boulders going through Italian farmhouses, so I stepped out, just in case. That night, I enjoyed the luxury of the room to myself, my previous room-mates having moved on. I keep having to remember that this is Winter in Victoria, not Summer in the Lake District.

My final morning was spent exploring the 'first' bit of town, as you approach by bus. I found a pub, hotel, houses, building plots. There's quite a bit of space up for building in the area. It would be interesting to see the council's plan for what's to happen in the next few years. The area is very beautiful walking and hiking country. I hope they're trying to balance conservation with economics.

The journey back to Melbourne, by three buses, went well although I did try to leave my sunnies at the milk bar in Stawell where I had to buy my 'train' ticket.

I wasn't happy with the Melbourne Central YHA and I'd heard good reports of Melbourne Metro so I changed my single night next week to the other hostel. Central has no real social space, the televisions are in the two, very cramped kitchens and the rooms are really dingy and not nice. I was back in the same room as last week with the nocturnal Dutch girl still slumbering through the days.

I had a very lovely, sociable day on Thursday. I met up with one of the WEC ski team aka one of the people in the group we go on holiday with. Darren's been working in Melbourne for 3 years so it was interesting to get his perspective on living here as well as having a catch up. I walked around Victoria Markets for a while and bought a few things - a gift for a small person, some blue cheese (it's definitely worth the tastings!) and some fruit (two apples and two mandarins for about 40p). You can buy pretty much anything there, I may well return on my present-buying quest. Does anyone want real or pretend uggs? They're everywhere!  In the evening I met up with Melanie and we briefly visited Lauren's place to drop off some of my stuff and then enjoyed a couple of hours chatting over dinner. I hadn't seen her since she stayed 2-3 years back so it was good to spend time together. I've now met up with the whole family again!

Back again!

Wow, doesn't time and the world (cup) move on?! Last you knew, I was in Melbourne, now you find me in the Grampians of Victoria, having spent three days in Ballarat on the way.

I enjoyed Ballarat, a proper town with history, a community, real life going on around you. But strangely very poor wifi reception in the YHA! It's a tiny place of four rooms in a single building hosted by the Sovereign Hill Comfort Inn. I think the actual building is fairly old. It's a bit of a hike from the station - uphill as you might guess - but then very convenient for some of the major touristy things one of them being Sovereign Hill.

Sovereign Hill is a reconstruction of Ballarat in the 1850s following the discovery of gold. There's a small village of shops, hotels, two mines, a stream for gold-panning, horse carriage ride, school houses and simply lots to see and get involved in. All the staff are in costume, signs are written as of old even if they do confirm that "...contemporary forms of credit are accepted". There were school groups there on a Friday enjoying all that was on offer. Even the opportunity to sit in a class in  one of the school houses. Put your hand up, stand to speak, be polite and so on. I saw one class learning how to form their letters to write properly. It would be interesting to know how much of that they keep. I thoroughly enjoyed it all, even the slightly too realistic sound effects on the Red Hill mine tour.

Not far away is the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka which is frustratingly abbreviated to M.A.D.E - where's the last bloody full stop? It's a new museum dedicated to Australian democracy but on the site of the Eureka Stockade which arguably had a profound impact on the development of workers' rights. It was good to learn more about various aspects of Australian history. However, I have to question yet again whether people who design these places actually do a usability check themselves. For example, the central information display area is 'interactive' in that you prod a big screen to read up on different things represented in the picture. Fair enough, you get to read what you want. But only you get to do that. If someone else is interested in that particular display they have to wait until you've finished or read over your shoulder, at your speed the things that you are looking at etc. It's alright when the place is quiet, which it was for my visit but I can't think that a school group say, would be able to get the best out of all the information that is available. Apart from the history section, there were also thought provoking sections on how change happens. Again, I was a bit flummoxed by some of the 'interactive' things. One encouraged you to stand on footprints to see what happens when one person acts and then asks you to look at what happens when people act together. But how you did that through the display was lost to me. A face recognition thing decided I was male which then made the following discourse a little confusing.

I did also visit the Art Gallery of Ballarat, the oldest and largest regional art gallery in Australia. I'm presuming they mean town-based rather than state level because the Art Gallery of NSW seems a lot bigger to me. It was quite good but did contain a lot of dreary landscape pictures which seem quite common. And the cafe had free wifi!

And then on to Halls Gap in the Grampians. This was always going to be a bit of a journey and it ended up involving the downhill version of the hike to the station, followed by three buses. Not quite as horrendous as it might sound as the buses are meant to link up. So, the last driver waited for the second bus to turn up even though it was late and no-one had called to let him know. All for only two passengers but we both appreciated it. He even dropped me right opposite the hostel rather than go on to the bus stop which actually wasn't that far away.

The hostel is an Eco Lodge, with all sorts of environmental attributes, including its own chickens (chooks). I went for a walk to discover the 'town' and went down the road to Brambuk as that was the nearest tourist information centre while the old one is being redeveloped. Pretty quickly I decided that this is a lovely place. Beautiful scenery, wildlife and chances to do some walking. There are kangaroos everywhere too! Over dinner I worked out what walk I would do today.

Then the weather went a bit nasty, so Plan B swung into action. This involved a shorter, more local walk. Off I went, in the rain. It was easy enough to find the path and follow the signs. The weather even started to ease a little. I found Clematis Falls and they were fine. I went on, towards something called Chatauqua Peak, promising an excellent view out over the area. The path wandered upwards until I finally reached the 'rocky' bit that the guide had promised. It was also pissing down by now, so it felt very British and Lake District like. Although not quite so cold. There is something different to being caught in the rain when it's not freezing cold at the same time. I did well, clambering over rocks, avoiding large puddles, admiring the views, generally making progress. That is until right near the summit where I simply could not get up the last bit on my own in the rain. There was this slab of stone which looked too smooth with a tricky corner at the top, possibly with a cliff on the other side. Ah well, I did my best but I didn't feel the need to test the rescue services. I turned and made my way down, which was occasionally even more challenging than the upward journey. It was still raining.

My return to Halls Gap was going to be via somewhere called Bullaces Glen which was very pretty and reminiscent of Scotland. Still on the way down I realised I could do a mini diversion to some rock pools called Venus Baths. Again, an extremely picturesque spot but by now I really was pondering my safety. I wasn't up on the hill anymore but the wind was blowing up a storm, and the trees were really thrashing about. It was still raining and at quite an angle. The decision not to do the Plan A walk for the day had definitely been the right one. Through the botanic gardens (I didn't stop) and to the shops to find somewhere dry for lunch.

At the Black Panther cafe I ordered a pizza and coffee. I wouldn't normally have a cooked lunch but felt I earned it and perhaps should after my exertions. They were not extreme but I was very wet and slightly cold. The pizza was really good, the best I've had in ages. Good thick base with plenty of topping. Almost like you might make for yourself. Not this measured out, two bits of this, half of one of those jobs. And not too expensive at all.

It seems that the weather has turned generally with reports of blizzards and snow elsewhere in Victoria, so I'll wait until the morning before I make any plans for the day. It might have to be the local zoo! In the meantime, come on Socceroos!

Quick post

I am now in Ballarat with access to very ropey wifi at the YHA. Moving on to Halls Gap in the Grampians tomorrow, Sunday. Let's hope it's better there.

A little reflection

I'm in Melbourne, sitting on the rooftop terrace of the Central YHA. There are no smokers! That's a shock. But then, I suppose for non-Brits it might be classed as 'cold', even though I'm wearing lightweight trousers and a t-shirt (technical not cotton). Random thoughts coming up....

Why oh why do so many young people smoke? Even when I were a mere womblette it was known that Smoking Was Bad For You. Both my parents smoked but made sure that under no circumstances should we even think of taking up the terrible habit. They pretty much succeeded too. It seems so expensive a habit, how do people afford it, and why start when the health risks are so well documented? In hostels, it's amazing how many nasty coughs there are and they generally belong to smokers.

Why is Canberra such a strange place? I was told on a few occasions that "It's a planned city". Ok, that's nice and yes the map is all pretty lines and curves and the buildings are fairly modern and huge. But. It seems like someone said "Here's a big piece of land, fill it up" and so they did by putting huge amounts of space between everything and everywhere. There are tracts of grass all over the shop but they don't seem to *do* anything except put distance between you and where you want to go. If you're in a car, and most people seem to be, then it won't matter, in fact you may not have a clue what I'm talking about. There was no sense of community or localness to the city. There are lots of car parks and office buildings. I got the sense that everyone works for the government, lives a little way outside town and gets in their car to drive to work, does their job and goes away again. Lunch places seem expensive and aimed at highly paid government workers. Where are the corner shops, the favourite pub, the street market that's there on days that aren't Saturday or Sunday? I have no idea how the massive shopping centre survives, it never seemed busy enough to support the enormous number of shops, some of which are very big. Perhaps rent and rates are low. Even the cinema - I went to see The Fault In Our Stars (very good do go) and there can't have been 20 people.

I thought all this might have been me in a five day grump for some reason but I was chatting to a Sydney person and she said she was glad to find someone who thought the same as her! It has interesting things to go and see but it's like they've been put there because the federal capital should have these things. Whereas, the excellent Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney has been there a long time, its collection has grown over many years.

I'm not saying that Canberra is ugly. No, I found quite a few of the buildings to be very beautiful, suiting my penchant for symmetry and lines. It has no soul. No spirit. No joie de vivre. It couldn't *do* a Vivid Canberra. No-one would come. Or they would all clap politely over their non-alcoholic drink before driving home.

And why do people build airports near vast lakes, happily magnifying the opportunity for fog days? I shelled out for a taxi to take me to the airport this morning. I might as well have walked and saved the money. My flight left five hours late, for a journey that only takes 40 minutes. I thought technology was available to enable planes to land in fog but either it doesn't exist or here, in the capital city, they haven't invested in it. Thank goodness for Qantas and its free wifi. Some airports have it, some don't. I've ended up doing all my internal flights with Virgin Australia but you only get their wifi if you're in their lounge. So I was getting e-mails telling me the latest new departure time. I tweeted Virgin Australia to ask why there was a difference between my e-mails and the departure board (e-mails seemed to be more up-to-date). They replied with even more delay so I asked about refreshments for a 5 hour hold-up. They said the Ground Crew could provide me with a voucher. All well and good but have you ever tried to find one of those? So I went to The Lounge and asked nicely. The man had to attend to a Business Class Traveller and then he said please go through :-) Now that is the right response. The incremental cost to Virgin was naff all but they now had a much happier customer on their hands. And I even got to use the wifi (try password 'wireless' the next time). I tweeted them to say thank you. And now I know how my daughter travels :-)

Is there a point at which, due to one's senior years, you get treated differently even though you still look a tad scruffy? See the above with Virgin as an example. I'm not sure that some 20something wearing similar clothes would have had the same response, although it would still have been polite. Or perhaps I'm so polite and reasonable that I know how to get my way ;-)

I may not, however, be quite so nice with Bank of Ireland/Post Office if/when they call me in response to my two requests for contact. For some reason unknown to me, my credit card has been having hissy fits today. I panicked and checked all my online stuff, checked I'd not had brain failure on the PIN and no, could find no reason for 'Declined' to appear. So I've had to use my back-up which charges an extra transaction fee. Grrrrr

On the upside, to end the day on a positive note - I have not killed one of my room-mates and the other is intent on watching all the World Cup games so I have a companion for Holland v Australia at 02.00 local time. She's Dutch.....

More Canberra

There is a telecoms tower on a hill mountain overlooking Canberra which has great views all over the local area. Monday started gloomy but picked up quickly so I walked off to the Black Mountain Tower. Took just under an hour for 5k but in my defence, the tower is up at 800 metres so I had to walk upwards quite a bit. It's also called the Telstra Tower, and opened in 1980. It costs $7.50 to get in but I was amazed at the lack of security checks. Here we are, with significant telecoms links going through the building and you can go to the loo without even paying to get in! It's not like that in London if you go up the Telecom Tower, believe me!

The lady in the cafe wasn't overly friendly but I found something to eat and drink. Yes, the views are spectacular. Fortified with caffeine, I ventured to the outdoors viewing platforms above the cafe level. The first is wide and has a nice spiky fence. It was windy, I took some pictures but didn't exactly stick my nose out through the bars. Managed a lap. Up again to the second level and OMG it was windy and scary! I got to the top of the stairs and could not move any further. The platform is narrower and, perversely, has a lower fence (no spikes) than downstairs. Even in calm conditions I would have struggled although I might have held onto the wall for a few yards. This was ridiculous, I could stand upright braced against the wall and took a few pictures but move? You are joking. But I did it :-)

Back at ground level there is the Telstra Heritage Exhibition. It was tiny and the signs say the collection was put together by volunteers. I'm presuming that there's another Telstra collection elsewhere which is a little more in-depth. However, an absolute highlight was the film showing in the 'Theatrette' - about ten minutes of 1970s/80s commentary, clothes, outfits and technology! It deserved to be in a museum exhibit of its own! Oh yes, it was about the construction of the tower. Health and Safety was slightly different too. Fabulous.

Having walked up the road, I decided I would take a track down through the trees to find the Australian National Botanic Gardens. That was beautiful with glorious sunshine poking through, lovely scenery and views out over the lake towards Canberra. I even saw some kangaroos hopping off in the distance. The gardens were well labelled with lots of signs to encourage children to look at their environment. The cafe was quiet but the young lady there was much more friendly and suggested the most divine macchiato, chocolatey cake. Of course I tried it, would have been rude not to. And outside the cafe I found laughing kookaburras, they are cute to look at but other birds don't seem to like them. There were also plenty of other birds - yellow-tailed black cockatoos, pied currawong, Australian magpies, crimson rosellas, ducks, gorgeous little wrens and everything. The gardens were good and free. Well, I didn't have to pay the parking fee, did I. I walked back through the university, wondering why you would go to Canberra (unless you're studying politics) when there are so many more exciting places.

For my final day, I went to the Parliament Zone - isn't that a sterile way of describing a part of your town? Kind of sums the place up for me. The National Gallery is in an impressively huge building with a pretty good collection. Not only did I have to give in my bag but you couldn't take any photographs at all. It's normal that they ask you not to use flash. Now I've photos of other pieces by the same people in Canberra which I've taken at other museums and galleries. Where's the sense or consistency? They can include caveats for non-commercial purposes only but I don't see why there should be this seemingly arbitrary ban in some places. I always try to acknowledge the creators of anything that I post online and where I saw the piece.

Having surveyed the cafes in the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, I lunched at the High Court of Australia. No queues, views over the lake and reasonably priced, normal food. This building too, is majestically impressive in the brutalist style. I sat in on a little bit of a school tour in one of the courts and watched another video. Not quite so dated and less hilarious, but very informative about the building as well as the High Court itself. A very satisfactory diversion. I was going to take in the Old Parliament    House but by the time I'd walked all the way round to the opposite side to the way in, I gave up and ploughed on up the hill to the Parliament Of Australia.

I tried to smuggle in my Swiss Army knife but they spotted it! I sat in on part of Prime Minister's Question Time. They are extremely rowdy and noisy. I know it gets a bit 'interactive' at home but this seemed plain rude at times. How can you debate if you can't hear what's being said. Or is that the point? Interesting to see, in any case. The building was very sparkly and gleaming and I took afternoon tea on the Queen's Terrace. One poor chap left his cake on the table while he went to get his coffee and returned to find three magpies already pecking at it. There are some practical difficulties to travelling solo - reserving a table and guarding your food being one of them!

After that I walked back to the hostel. The evening's entertainment was an interpretation of Henry V at the Canberra Playhouse. It was good although I have no idea how it drew from Mr Shakespeare's work. The young Australian lady next to me said it was "Awesome" so that's the verdict.

It's now Wednesday morning and I've written this in the fog at Canberra airport. So far my flight to Melbourne is delayed by 4 hours. Thank you to Qantas for the free wifi and the nice man from Brisbane for the conversation.


I'll be back.

Photos from...

The view from the beginning of the Scenic Railway, Katoomba. Yes, it really is as steep as it looks.

 These are called the Three Sisters. Note the small bridge to the first one. I stood at the beginning of that but could not progress.

The view from somewhere or other, near Katoomba. Scenic.

Those Three Sisters again, this time in the morning, with mist in the valley, a "temperature inversion"

An art deco staircase scene from the house at Everglades, Leura

Small scene from the 'mural' in the dining room at the house, Everglades

Snowdrops and narcissi! Almost like Spring in England.

And so to Canberra

The journey to Canberra was very nice - I was inside the train and it was murky and damp outside. I saw quite a few kangaroos bounding about, seemingly worried that the train was going to chase them. Got the little-advertised bus into town, about a minute round the corner from the YHA. And another very good hostel it is. Strangely, like Sydney Central it also has a swimming pool that is too small and too shallow for swimming. Fine for children to splash about but you don't get that many children in hostels most of the time. However, there is a sauna and that is great! Had it all to myself.

I'm not a great one for commemorating war but I went to the Australian War Memorial. It was incredibly moving and beautiful. There is a Roll of Honour, listing the names of over 102,000 fallen Australian servicemen and women. This series of bronze paques is decorated with many poppies, adding colour to a dark scene. My emotion at places like this is always why can we never learn from war? Those who lived through the Great War were led to believe that it was the war to end all wars but really, it has only got worse. Also at the War Memorial is an extensive museum of Australia at war as well as its involvement in peacekeeping actvities in more recent times. There was some surprising honesty at times, publicly questioning activities in the closing days of WWII, for example.

As I left there was a small group of people at the entrance, carrying flowers. I asked a lady what was going on and she said that every day there was a service to remember a dead soldier. Later research shows this to be a new 'tradition', which started only last year. Every day, at 16.55, there is a Last Post Ceremony which includes the story of an individual who died. Each person is nominated and there is already a waiting list. Anyone can lay a wreath at the daily ceremony but pride of place goes to the family or friends of the subject of the day's story. What a wonderful idea.

In the evening, I went to see "The fault in our stars" which was very good. But if you go, do take some tissues.

Sunday, I did more wandering about, taking in the Canberra Museum and Gallery and the National Museum of Australia. I thought the former was rather thin and I wasn't that impressed. Two bits I really liked - a retrospective of Bob Graham who wrote and illustrated children's books and, Growing Up in Downer which was the story of a family living through the early days of Canberra. 

The National Museum of Australia is in a modern building which had been designed for the purpose but, I suspect not by someone who has since tried to navigate the place. Yes, I like the idea of innovative architecture but fitness for purpose should play a part in the finished product. There's a lot of good things in this museum and I didn't have enough time left to do it justice.

Somewhere along the way I also managed to watch Australia lose against Chile and England do the same with Italy. Both matches were at 08.00 here. The next matches are not so kindly timed, I think they'll be at 02.00. I suppose I should really be supporting South Korea as my third team....their first match is at 08.00 on Wednesday morning when I shall be in transit to Melbourne, sorry neighbours.

Day Three Blue Mountains

Another glorious day dawned. I checked out of the YHA but could continue to use the facilities during the day. How helpful! I lost track of time and missed my bus but then worked out that if I walked through a couple of streets, then I could pick it up further down the route. I returned to the Everglades House & Gardens which was even more beautiful with the mist removed. The house was fascinating too, all art deco with incredible views out to the mountains. I could almost live there! Nice cake too. The lady on reception pointed me in the right direction and added to my map collection, so that I could commence my walk to Gordon Falls.

The plan was to do a walk, then have a look round Leura, the neighbouring village to Katoomba, and catch the bus back to the hostel for my dinner then get an evening train to Sydney. However, the day was so beautiful and the track quiet, that I carried on walking. The path is along the top/edge/side of the cliff on which Leura and Katoomba sit. I didn't like to think too much about how far from 'down there' I was at times, but it was spectacular. The path is not flat. If you're following a sign to a lookout, then that is generally up and looking out (!). If you're going to a falls, then that tends to be down so you can appreciate the watery features from below. In between, the path might be flat and concrete, hilly and muddy, stony and root-riddled, up or down metal stairs, ascending or descending stone carved and footworn steps. All the while, scenic with varying temperate rainforest vegetation, some birds and lots of quiet.

The big tourist attractions like Scenic World and Echo Point are quite busy but not so many people get out for a walk, so it was really great and you could enjoy even more incredible views from many of the other viewing locations all on your own. No-one cluttering up the viewfinder.

Although the signage could have been a little more helpful. I did do some doubling back as none of my maps would show the name of the signed lookout, usually just along 'there' a bit, and the signs wouldn't say if the lookout was on the route I was following, the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, or down a dead end. Not to worry, it was all lovely and beautiful and gave me a bit more exercise! Mind you, I was better equipped with maps than some people. I was able to direct and save a couple of groups of people from going the long, wrong way.

By the end of the day, my legs knew they'd been working but I still resisted taking the bus the long way round to save the walk back up from Echo Point to the hostel.

And then to Sydney Central YHA, right by the station. What a contrast to be back in the city. I really enjoyed the Blue Mountains. Thanks to Paul for suggesting the visit.

Pictures to follow!

A few more shots from Sydney

Health & safety Sydney style

We shall not let you read about us....

Bat mobile - "Fruit bats" by Lin Onus at Art Gallery of NSW

Snazzy bat capes

Surf's up at Bondi

Didn't know that I liked Grayson Perry but this is brilliant, "Map of truths and beliefs" Art Gallery of NSW

"Alien toy painting" by Yinka Shonibare, such fun - there are 75 of these, all different!

Day Two in the Blue Mountains

Well, they call them mountains but the highest point is Mount Coricudgy at 1255 metres and the biggest in the whole of Australia is Mount Kosciuszko at 2228 metres. Val Thorens resort is 2300m and that's before you go uphill for the skiing. However, it is all very beautiful. Big isn't everything. There's a lot of walking trails and bushwalking opportunities around here. Katoomba is pretty close to the edge of a cliff, so there's a whole host of epic views down and across, with sandstone cliff faces showing the ravages of time and waterfalls continuing the work. You can also walk up and down hill quite a bit. Katoomba was originally a mining 'town', producing coal and shale. The railway serving to bring the coal out of the ground found itself in demand by gentlefolk out on their country walks and eventually, as mining disappeared, the railway became a tourist transport device getting people back up the hill without all the exertion. These days, there is the railway "the steepest passenger rail service in the world", with a length of 415 metres covering a vertical drop of 206 metres, a cableway (cablecar to me and you) covering the same route as the railway and, the skyway (a cablecar across a big gap) featuring my favourite construction details such as floor to ceiling glass and an added extra of being able to see through the floor if you stand in a special bit in the middle. The walkway is an elevated 2.4km boardwalk through temperate rainforest on the valley floor. I did all of these bar the skyway....

After lunch, I got that red bus to a point further along the cliff top to Echo Point and a rock formation called The Three Sisters (via a place with the word 'chocolate' in its title which I left empty handed!). I did approach the Sisters and got within a few yards of the first one, with only a small bridge left separating us. It was near enough. The route down to that point was the beginning of something called The Giant Stairway. It had been my plan to descend the stairway and go along the valley floor back to the railway and up to Katoomba again. But, steep rock steps doesn't mean I can't cope but narrow and next to a cliff edge is usually off my agenda and my nerves were not wanting to be tested. So, plan B. The Prince Henry Cliff Walk. That had plenty of scenic views and lookout points. I also managed to find an alternative set of steps - the Furber Steps - back nearer to Katoomba which went down, down Peter and down to the valley. They were rock steps and metal stairs, as well as muddy pathways and wood edged walkways. Entertaining and I was glad not to be doing them in the opposite direction!

By contrast to yesterday, today's weather was lovely. In the morning, it was sunny but with a temperature inversion which meant there was cloud in the valley below us. This cleared in the middle of the day and then returned sporadically later on. Lots of pictures of scenery were captured, of course.

On the return journey, I sat at the bottom of the train and pointed my camera down the track and videoed it all. At its steepest, this track is at 52 degrees incline. The ladies sitting behind me hadn't quite grasped the significance of this until the train started moving and they tried to slide into me! They fell about laughing. It only takes about a minute but it's pretty amazing.

Tomorrow I shall do some more walking if the weather is nice; revisit the Everglades and say goodbye to the quaint and kooky shops and establishments of Katoomba. Back to Sydney in the evening and a new YHA for one night. 

Katoomba, it's not a city

The journey away from Sydney on Tuesday was grey and damp and drear. The Scots have a word for it: "dreich".  I found the YHA on what seems like the main street of Katoomba. No mod cons here in this 1918 art deco place that was called Homesdale. I think it started life as a guest house. To be fair it is an interesting building but I think it's overdue a refresh. There is wifi obviously but it gets a bit flaky by the time you're down the other end of the building where my room is. The room is a reasonable size for the 5 residents but there are only two power sockets, we had two each at Sydney! And it has taken a day and a half for the light in my end of the room still not to be fixed.

Off out for lunch and over the road was a place that had potential, it even had the word 'vegan' on its menu. I had 90 minutes until the tourist bus left. I was pointed in the direction of a table for one upstairs on a little balcony, not shown to my table mind you. After a while, someone showed up and I ordered my lunch - a coffee, poached eggs on sourdough and a piece of carrot cake. The coffee came rather slowly, but it was speedy compared to the main. A couple of girls near me were fidgeting for attention, even taking to leaning over the edge of the balcony to attract attention. My food was warm but not hot and the eggs seemed greasy, more like fried than poached. Meanwhile the carrots were being grown somewhere. Then harvested carefully by some underpaid farmworker, packed into individually hand-crafted boxes, put on a slow boat to China, returning to Australia some time later where they lingered awaiting their fate. Eventually, they would become a jolly lovely carrot cake of good proportion fed to someone who'd forgotten what they'd had for their main course. I had to ask twice if I could have my cake and no-one seemed at all apologetic about the fact. I have no idea what they were upto because while perusing the action downstairs (which I had plenty of time to do) I could see staff wandering about, seemingly not doing a great deal. The food did look interesting and a bit hip, but goodness me, get the service sorted out.

The bus, however, turned up on time. It's a tourist, hop on, hop off thing that loops round the sights of Katoomba and Leura. And yes, it's a red, double decker London bus. I bought a 3 day pass as a bundle with my rail ticket. The driver does his guiding you along bit, persuading you of the merits of each of the 29 stops especially when there's not a lot of visibility and much of the attraction to this area is the spectacular scenery. I think he was slightly upset that I already knew where I wanted to go (one positive aspect to having all that time waiting for my lunch to arrive). I went to the Everglades Historic House and Gardens. Such peace and calm and beauty after the hurly burly and excitement of Sydney. The gardens were lovely, really quite European in style and planting, and beautifully landscaped. I shall have to return to see the house as I didn't have enough time before the place shut. And it was free as I'm a member of the National Trust and Everglades is an Australian NT property.

Still on my cultural journey from Sydney, I stopped off at the local cinema and bought a ticket for later. Only trouble was the film "A million ways to die in the West"! Liam Neeson was good as the baddy, Charlize Theron was the pretty cow-girl and the plot was a bit tenuous. But for $8.50 it wasn't too bad.

The usual mixture for a day with me!

Some pictures from the last few days

An interactive piece at Vivid Sydney

 What it was like close up to Sydney Opera House.

The 'tree' building

Same again but with lights

Sunset

 A very big boat has sneaked into the harbour and parked at Circular Quay

Stylish wash basins at Sydney Opera House

 Inside Sydney Opera House

 Sunset

 Elf n Safety, Aussie style

This has been shut since the end of April, presumably because it's too cold for the delicate   Australians 

Womble goes surfing!

Or at least catches the bus to Bondi beach! The weather wasn't the best but I splashed out on a return bus ticket for $9.20 and hoped I would be able to work out where to get off. There's none of this nice, talking bus information or dot messages about the upcoming stop here in Sydney you know. So 20th century. You can even pay with *money* on some buses! In fact, it's a bit of a mess really. On some buses you have to get a ticket before you board at certain times of day. So you have the situation where some people want to pay by cash and they might be able to depending upon the time; others have bought a ticket with a magnetic strip which needs to go clunk in the machine and out again and others yet have an Opal card which looks like it might be something akin to an Oyster. I don't know how you get an Opal card as a visitor as the ads all say to get one online, which I presume means the thing is then sent to you.... Apologies if this is not correct. I give a tourist's eye view here. Sometimes you realise how good some things are at home and how we take them for granted.

Where was I? Ah yes, well, to be brutally honest, I was a bit disappointed. Bondi beach has this reputation for sun, sea, surf, beautiful people, life-savers...... And it's a nice beach with something like Poole or Bournemouth immediately behind it (at least it's not Newquay). The surf looked good and the sand is very fine and soft on the toes but really, the 4 Mile Beach at Port Douglas is so much more   beautiful. I think the most amazing beach I've ever stepped on is still the north west coast of Pemba. There were people in the surf at Bondi, although it seems a lot of surfing involves paddling out and waiting for the right wave to turn up. There's a coastal path which gets good use by runners and walkers (not so many cyclists due to the hills and steps I suppose), so I followed that. There were some gorgeous views, especially when it wasn't raining.

There was one of those 'people on the bus' on the way back, commenting on every groan of the engine as there was obviously a problem underneath us somewhere. The lady and her husband  (Aussies) eventually got off to go the Australian museum "Well if we go to Circular Quay then it'll take us 20 minutes to get  back again and we've been on this bus for over an hour and I didn't know which we were coming back into Sydney and if we'd caught a taxi it would have been much quicker because there's a bus stop every 50 metres don't you think it's ridiculous oh look there's an aboriginal art sale....". There were definitely people talking about her once she'd gone. Blitz spirit I think we call it.

To mark the passing of my last full day in Sydney I opted for a takeaway pizza from the pub next door, along with a bottle of wine. It was raining, I know you shouldn't buy take-out from a pub, ok? Anyway, it costed in quite well as they refunded me half the cost of the pizza when I pointed that it wasn't to my specification of "please leave out the zucchini". And the pizza was lovely when I finally got it. So, the lights of Vivid have now dimmed for the final time and I have to sort my bag for departure in the morning. I'm off to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Definitely not a city. It will be different to the last week.