Oz - Wednesday Morning

So I am now sat on a bus heading Westwards (ish) towards Adelaide. What's that all about?

Well, Monday evening came round and I was planning what I still had left that I wanted to do. Not a huge amount to be honest. I was sat in my hotel room on the internet and got chatting to Kerynn. Who she? Well, Kerynn is someone that I first met on the internet, on a forum, about 18 months ago. She lives in Australia and in about July last year, she visited the UK for about three weeks and stayed with us for a weekend of that time. Her birthday is on the same days as mine albeit 2 years earlier (which I take great pleasure in reminding her).
Anyway, like I said we got chatting (mainly because she's online at at the same time as me, being in the same country). We were both saying that it was a shame that we didn't organise a visit what with me being in Australia.
Well, whilst chatting, I dived onto the Quantas website. Even at this sort notice, it was still do-able. 30 mins later, I had tickets booked. I've got to admit that my geographical knowledge of Australia isn't the best and I wasn't totally sure where Adelaide was in relation to Perth. The answer is rather a long way!
I got up at 4am yesterday morning (Wednesday) and got a taxi to the airport. I expected it to be fairly quiet, but it was pretty busy. Sill, 6.10 and I was on the plane. A spot of breakfast, a jump of 1.5 hours across the time zones and I set down in Adelaide at about 11am.
Kerynn lives in a place called Bordertown. I'd offer a link, but being on the coach, I don't have internet access. It's quite a small town, but most importantly, it's still 3 hours from Adelaide. Good old Kerynn had got up early and driven all the way to pick me up. So, we hit the road (Australian term) and set off back to her place. After 30 mins or so, we had totally cleared the city. The roads are all good, quite straight and very quiet! After a short while, I offered to give Kerynn a break from driving. This is the sort of thing that cruise control is made for. I only had to let up on the rare occasion that we caught a lorry up. Other than that it was 110 km/h all the way (68 mph). Taking it above that is a bit risky, as although the roads are so quiet, the police are pretty hot and speeding. My guess is that they get bored and so relish the opportunity to stop someone.

Okay, I chose against typing whilst riding, so two hours have past since I started this and we've just stopped for a 10min break en route.

Erm, yeah, back to Adelaide. We got to Kerynn's place at Bordertown at about 2.30pm local time. Like I said, it's a fairly simple town. Quite small and very much depends on the main freeway passing through it. All the places there are single storey and Kerynn lives in a nice house with her three boys, Jake (17), Dillon (10 I think), Jamie (6) and finally Ryan (can't remember). Ryan wasn't there though as he was poorly and was still at his dad's from the weekend, about 50km away.
So we had a quick look round the town and I then spend the next couple of hours thinking up all my best jokes, riddles and tricks to keep the younger boys entertained.
Kerynn was the perfect host and we headed out to the local bar for dinner. I need only say that the food is as good in the South as it is in the West. The steak was magnificent. We also had a dozen oysters. I admitted to never having had them before, so we had some Kilpatrick style - topped with chopped bacon, worcester sauce and grilled. I shall certainly be having them in the future, they were very tasty.
Ooops time to go again. See you in a while - I've got to get back to the in-coach movie now!

[Quick Edit - it's now just gone 11pm, but gonna add a couple of pics from Bordertown]

Firstly, Kerynn and Dillon


Now, the cheeky monkey, Jamie



I'm back and I'm now in Adelaide airport, it's 15:20. The coach got into the City at about 14:15. My flight is not until 19:55, but I caught a taxi to the airport in the hope that I could get an earlier flight. Unfortunately, I have now found out that although there is a flight at 16:45, AND there are free seats on it, I cannot bump onto it due to me buying a cheap ticket for the later flight. If I want to do so, I get no refund on my later ticket and the new fare is over $300. Hell, I've got a good back and my laptop (with wireless). It ain't worth that money to save three hours, is it?

Again, this looks to have turned into a bit of an epic. Who knows though, maybe you like reading my ramblings!

What are my plans from here on in?
Well, I'm going to finish this off, check a few websites and maybe have another beer. There looks to be a good chinese place across the way, so maybe some food is in order. Then I'll try and find a power outlet to charge this up and sit down for a few hours and have a good read.
I get into Perth at about 21:50, so with a cab I should be back at the hotel for 22:30. Grab some supper and bed.
Tomorrow, grab a bus or a taxi back to the airport (terminal 1 this time, not 2). My flight to Hong Kong is at 12:20, arriving at 20:15. four hours there and then the final flight homewards at 23:55, arriving at 05:45 Friday morning. THEN, I'm saving H the hassle of driving down and back, so I'll be making my way on the tube to King's Cross and then getting the best train I can back up to Downham. Phew!

Everyone I talk to can't believe that I've only come to Australia for 10 days, let alone popped across to Adelaide for just over 24 hours (apparently that makes me insane) , but you know, it ain't all that bad. I don't mind traveling so much. I've also got totally used to hanging around in airports. There are worse places for people watching! Not especially looking forward to the long flights back, but I'm resigned to the fact that I wont be able to sleep, so anything else is a bonus!

One thing for sure though - H is coming with me next time!

See later, or tomorrow!

Oz - Monday Afternoon

Well, this morning got off to a poor start. Firstly, I've got to say that I'm sleeping damn well here. More so than I do at home. I typically wake up to some noise or other at 4 something, but then soon drop off not waking again until 8-ish. So much sleep!

Anyway, This morning I woke to rain. Not good. There isn't a lot to do here when it's raining. I've done the shops etc and I'm afraid that the art galleries don't really inspire me.
Well, I planned to chill in my room until maybe 11.30, then head down to the lounge and read (whilst people watching of course) until maybe 12.30, then pop to the bar a few doors down to grab a couple of beers and a bite to eat before returning to some of the same.

I duly carried out the first part of my plan. It got round to about 11.50 and I noticed that it was getting decidedly brighter outside. Back up to my room to deposit my book and grab my jacket. I headed out.
Within seconds, literally, it was drizzling. Never mind, I'm out now. I headed for the nearest Red Cat bus stop (note - I wrongly reported it as Central Area Transport, that should have been Transit). As it was a weekday, they are much more frequent, so only 3 minutes to wait this time.
I jumped off somewhere near the shopping mall. Sure enough, the clouds had parted, I removed my jacket and wished that I had brought my sunglasses.
I wandered about for a bit and my head started to absorb where everything was. I think that some people do this better than others. No doubt someone can explain why, but some people are much better at sussing out directions, landmarks and the like to form a map in their head, whereas others have no idea whatsoever. I like to think I fall into the former. Indeed, I pride myself on being able to navigate myself around Center Parcs (Elveden) pretty much blindfold. Jealous aren't you? I can tell. Anyway, I digress.

Erm, yes. Onto the mall. My plan was still to have a wander around the shops for about an hour or so and then have a slow walk back calling at the aforementioned bar on the way home.
So I wandered. I was pretty sure I had got the hang of the little arcades both under and over ground. I decided to dive into a particular food hall (underground), expecting it to be full of greengrocers and the like. After about 100 meters, it opened up into a huge space. I had to stop and take it all in. What was in front of me was a massive diamond space full of tables. These were bordered by every single possible food outlet that you could imagine!
You know me, I'm a real "foodie". To see Indian next to Thai next to Cantonese next to Mexican next to Sandwiches next to Chinese next to Italian next to Burgers.... well, you get the idea. I had to wander round the whole place about three times to take it all in. Of course, the idea at calling off at the bar on the way back to the hotel was long since shelved. Choices, people, choices!!!
I dwelled, not for long, on taking some photos and decided that I would look like some sort of idiot, but it will stay in my head for future reference.
So after a few circuits I descended upon a particular Chinese spot. BBQ Combo Soup looked good (well, it did on the pic). At this point I must declare my utter surprise at which outlets were the busiest. Bearing in mind there was everything you could wish for on offer, the queues were at... Hungry Jacks (Burger place) and Subway (Sandwich Bar). Unbelievable! Still, I got served straight away. My server picked up a bowl. Now I will make a point of not exaggerating. It was about 200mm diameter and 150mm depth, seriously! She chucked loads of noodles and beansprouts in with a handful of pak choi. This was followed by a huge helping of clear soup. On top was placed liberal helpings of pork, and I mean liberal. Finally topped with a mound of chopped spring onion.
The cost of this? $9 or £3.75. Absolutely unbelievable.
I had a spoon, fork and chopsticks to tackle it all with. Being the professional that I am, the fork was cast aside and I practiced my chopstick skills and used the spoon for the soup.
Needless to say, there was plenty left, but I was stuffed.

So that was lunch!

Afterwards I had wander, took in a lovely phonecall from H and generally chilled.

I felt like a sitdown and a read, so headed to a bookstore. I gave the magazine rack a fair hearing, but a lot of them were UK/Euro issue and so overpriced (£8) and last months editions. I searched the biogs, but most were Aus orientated. Eventually my eye was taken by the true crimes section. Again, a lot of the books were Aus centered and so not strictly relevant. However I did notice the (Jeffrey) Archer prison book. Now I have this thing about Archer. He's one of those blokes that I want to dislike. Indeed when I see him on TV or interviews in the press, I no doubt end up cursing him. But I've always been taken with his novels. I decided to give this book a go (although there are 2 further books). So, I went into it with a slightly cynical head on, especially as I now have some insider knowledge of the prison service.
Damn you Archer!!! The man has got an amazing talent for writing. It is an absolute pleasure to read. I started it at a coffee bar in town and set off back to the hotel, pausing at that aforementioned bar to have another couple of chapters. It's really rather good you know.

So, the day improved weather wise, and I had a nice relaxing day. It's now 6.45 and I'm relaxing with a nice glass of red.
Sorry if I've gone on a little in this last entry!

Oz - Sunday Afternoon

Back in the hotel after a bit of an excursion North.

First glimpse of slightly worse weather today. Not bad, considering it's still winter.
After getting sorted here - making my own breakfast in my own kitchen! I headed out at about 11. A bit of rain in the air and for the first time since last Tuesday I had to stick a jacket on.
Up until now, to get around the city, I've been walking everywhere. I don't really mind walking - even when I've got a big rucksack on my back. However, what with the rain I decided to try out this bus service that they run in the city.

CAT - Central Area Transport. This is essentially three closed loops that operate in the city - the Red Cat, The Yellow Cat and The Blue Cat. Between them, the three circuits cover most of the central city. The roads that aren't covered are but a short walk from the nearest CAT stop. Also, the loops cross over, so you can jump from one to the other. At each stop, is a little display which tells you how long until the next bus. They just go round and round, no timetable. So basically, you just head to your nearest stop check the time and see whether it's worth waiting or walk a little. This morning as it was raining, I waited the 12 minutes for the next bus.
The best part about it? It's totally and utterly free! You just hop on and off as many times as you like.

So onto the train. As I mentioned in the last post, this is ridiculously easy too. Select your destination, punch in the number next to it. It then tells you the cost (in my case $3.40), look up the platform and away you go.
The stations and trains are incredibly clean too. I think it's a combination of the whole culture and the policing. There are a lot of "transit guards" about. They're not imposing though, they do seem as they're there to help.
I was heading towards the Aquarium. I followed the instructions on the brochure. When I got off the train, I checked the bus stop and realised that the service was reduced quite a lot on a Sunday. I asked one of the staff and they gave me full directions in the best way to get to the place without incurring any extra cost.

So onto the Aquarium. Now for some reason, I am drawn to these. I don't know what it is, I just am. But when I get there, they're all pretty much the same, aren't they? Just fish in big tanks. Today's was no exception. I think the possible highloght of the visit was lunch - red snapper in beer batter and chips, for less than a fiver. Really nice it was too.

Tomorrow's plan is to head to the zoo in South Perth. Let's see if the weather holds.

Oz - Sunday Morning

So, yesterday.

Well, I had a leisurely stroll up to the train station, pausing for a roll on the way. Even though I'm getting used to it, the quality and price of food here still makes me smile.

The train system from Perth is very simple. Basically, there are four lines out. These all meet at Perth, so it's just a case of catching the line that your stop is on.
My trip to Fremantle (end of the line) cost me the grand sum of £1.40.

Firstly, I had a bit of a wander. This took me down to the Roundhouse (an old Jail), then to the harbour and eventually back to the town centre where I discovered the markets.
Right outside the entrance to the markets is a large square where buskers take it in turns to perform...



The markets were great and you could sample all sorts of cooked foods mostly with an Asian influence.

I'm a bit of a sucker for buskers, so kept heading back to the square to see the different ones perform.

I took time out to visit the Motor Museum which had a fair selection. I'm sure that Brown snr will appreciate some of the pics that I took, but they'll save for later.

Here is a typical "hold the camera myself" shot, and also one of many bronze statues that are all over the place.

Oz - Saturday Morning

Right, quick catch up for you.

Thursday day time was spent having a leisurely wander into town and firstly grab something to eat. We then wandered around a bit. I did the tourist thing of just meandering around the streets looking at stuff. There was this guy...



I had offered to cook dinner so after much wandering, I headed off to Woolworths, which in Australia is a food store. Food again was relatively cheap compared to the UK. I also bagged a box of wine. I thought that £4 was pretty good for a 3 litre box. I got home and realised it was a 4 litre box!

So that was Thursday, a quiet one.

Yesterday I got up nice and early to have a walk down to the pier to catch a ferry to Rottnest Island. As the links shows, this is a lovely place. No cars allowed, you get round by bike or foot. I was determined to get round the whole island but managed it. To say it's winter here, it was bloody warm on that bike!

The main inhabitants of the island are quokkas..



I took loads of photos on the island, but these will all be on my Mac page when I get back.

Last night I transferred to a lovely hotel near the City centre. I was given the tip by a lovely lady that I met on the way back from the island.
So now I have a big room with an attached kitchen.
Today I will be heading to Freo (Freemantle) where the markets are said to be really good.
I seemed to have done loads already and I've still got 5 days to go! Bring it on!

Oz Thursday

Firstly - The Steak

The place was the called The Llama bar and is a slightly upmarket place in Subiaco, a couple of stops away from Perth centre.

I can normally take or leave steak. For me it really has to be a top quality cut, and cooked well.
Anna's friend arrived at the same time as us and we grabbed a seat at the only table that wasn't reserved. After a quick beer, Jontel went and ordered the steaks. Mine and hers were medium rare in a mushroom sauce, Anna chose rare in bearnaise.
Feast your eyes...




Oh my God, they were simply glorious. Served on creamy mash and the sauce was divine.
The best part? The price!
In the UK, I swear that this sort of thing would be the best part of £25, we paid $9 (£2.75). The same price as a pint!
I might have to go again next Wednesday before I leave.

Today brings shopping and possibly back to King's Park.

Oz Day 3

Well, I've certainly seen some of Perth today!
As mentioned, it was a little cloudy earlier. Fortunately the sun burnt the clouds off. I decided to go for a walking tour out of a book that the wonderful H bought me in preparation for this trip.

I started off from the flat and cut through some of the business area, up a hill and then into the famous King's Park.
I couldn't resist taking lots of shots of the skyline of Perth from the park, but I'll just put a few tasters here. I'll publish all of my pics to my Mac page when I'm done here. For now, feast your eyes on this view...



The park itself is absolutely beautiful. You're constantly looking up in the trees to see the birds that are making such a noise. A lot of these are wild parrots. Unfortunately, as they're against the sky, they only come out as silhouettes, but I will try and get some pics of them next time I go to the park.

I walked the whole length, popped into the university area and then walked back along Swan River.
This structure is called Swan Bells and is named as one of the largest musical instruments in the world.



I kept following the river and then popped onto Heirisson Island, on which there are supposed to be kangeroos. Unfortunately there weren't any there, but I grabbed this view...



If you look at the bottom photo and look at the horizon to the very far left, that is from about where that I took the first photo on here.

I headed back through town, although didn't do too much browsing as that's tomorrow's job!
All in all, I plotted it to be 11.55 miles, so a bit of a leg stretcher.

Food talk - a filled chicken roll near Swan Bells was absolutely huge and only $4.60 (£1.90). I grabbed a smoothie on the way back too. Bloomin' lovely. I have never had them at home, but may well do so from now on.
Ms Carter is taking me out for a steak somewhere tonight and to meet one of her friends from here, so that should be a nice evening.

See you tomorrow.

Oz Day 2

Here are the pics from Hong Kong airport. Like I said, A little dull, but at least you can see the mountains etc...






The journey from HK to Perth was pretty uneventful. This time I was sat next to a teenage Chinese boy. His English was only marginally better than my Cantonese, so the conversation was pretty much limited to "hello" and "goodbye" at the relevant times of the journey.
The food was nice again though. All things being relative, this flight lined up to be a short one, but at 7.5 hours, it wasn't really. I struggled to get to sleep again. Every single position that I attempted resulting in aches somewhere. In the end, I gave it up and watched a few films.

The sun was out as we flew in to Perth and it was good to see the city skyline. I seem to be pretty familiar with it having seen so many photos leading up to this trip.
Australia have really tightened up on quarantine inspections lately. This is a lot due to the recent foot and mouth outbreak in the UK. So arrivals took a while.

After about 30 mins. Anna turned up in a people carrier taxi. Fortunately, her recent part time job is manning the telephone for this tour place, so the trip back to the city was gratis.

We chilled for a lot of the day, but wandered around the city a little. I bought a compact sleeping bag and we headed back to her flat.
Later on we had another walk around. The sun was shining brightly, so it was pretty warm. Late afternoon saw us head to a sushi restaurant. We ordered a mixed dish of sushi, plus some (raw) tuna served on boiled rice.
I've never really sampled sushi before. It was ok, but I prefer standard Chinese fayre I think. At $17.50 (Just under £7.50) for two, it was an absolute bargain though.

An early night for me saw me getting my head down by 7pm and I pretty much slept through for 11 hours solid.

This morning it's little overcast, but it's hopefully going to brighten up. We will be heading off to King's Park for some good sightseeing and lots of snaps!

See you later.

Oz - Day 1

Breaking with the title rule for the duration to make it a bit easier.

So I started packing about an hour before we set off. Amazing how much you can get in a rucksack.
We decided to head off down to Heathrow in good time to be able to grab some food before we went off in different directions. Good job we did as the traffic actually getting into the place was horrendous. Still don't know why. Probably due to those do-gooder climate protesters!

Still manage some nice food we did. I then escorted H back to the car park and we split. Not a dry eye in the house. Well, it is the longest (and furthest) that we've been apart - ever!

I then had 2-3 hours to kill before my actual flight. H kept texting me. It took her well over an hour to get out of the car park. Her journey then went from bad to worse. She had the Satnav, but the power outlet in her car wasn't working so the battery was on it's last legs. Somehow she ended up going wrong. The last I managed to actually speak to her, she was heading towards the North Circular. She made it home safely, but instead of before 10, it was after midnight!

My journey began in earnest.
Got on the plane about 30 mins before take off. Quite a nice chap sat next to me. His wife and daughter were sat in front. We had a bit of a chat, but pretty much kept ourselves to ourselves.
My plan was to try and get to sleep nice and early. Failed!
I had a glass of wine, and then abdout 1.5 hours in, they dished up some food. Very nice it was too. Steak casserole with mash and veg. It was now about 1am and I thought I mush be able to drop off, but no such look. So for the next 7-8 hours, I tried every single position in my seat possible. Each one lasting about 10 minutes before I had to move.
I managed a bit of rest, but no sleep as such.

So here I am in Hong Kong airport. I think I've adjusted to times already as it does indeed feel like about 8.30pm. Here's hoping for sleep on the next leg. A comparatively short hop across to Perth in just under 8 hours.

Unfortunately, it was starting to get a bit dull when I got here, so although I have some pics, they aren't so good.

Right, I'm off for a bit more of a wander about.

Just Abuse Me

You know having what I'm listening to as the blog title sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't!

I could give a big old write up about H's trip to NY. Ideally she'd do it herself, but I haven't been persuasive enough to get her on here yet.

In short, she went as with a few others as a guest of British Airways / Trump Towers.
She did lots of stuff - all expenses paid. Stayed in a fantastic suite at Trump Towers and travelled there and back, business class.
In the process, she chose(?) to headbutt the door frame in hotel bathroom and needed four stitches to accompany a black eye.

A few pics...

I Believe

Right, hands up who can remember what they were doing exactly nine years ago today?

I can.

I was walking towards the church in Downham, having just paid a visit to the Livvy. I was in the company of several others. Four of us were wearing evening coats and fancy waistcoats.
Mrs B was having the final touches done to her general appearance... or should I say Miss S rather than Mrs B.

I'll add a few pics later, but here are some memories.

- The settling pints at the Livvy
- Nervously pacing around outside the church
- Going and saying hello to H's uni friends who I met on that day for the very first time
- The lovely, relaxed service
- Being married by my dad!
- Slipping a note to H when she walked up the aisle
- The photos (they always go on for ages)
- The few laps of Downham waving at everyone
- The very relaxed lunch
- Forgetting to thank H in my speech!
- Chilling for the rest of the day

and last but not least

- Being the happiest man in the world