This year James and Rachel had both been working hard on exams and would finish summer term early. So it sounded like a good excuse for a long holiday. We have lots of relatives and friends in Australia and we'd been talking about going there for a while. This year the talking stopped and the planning and booking started.
We only took one picture of this, but as you can guess there was quite a lot of it. We flew with Qantas — who were
great — from London to Singapore to Sydney to Adelaide to Melbourne to Cairns to Sydney to Bangkok to London. We had
iPods and noise cancelling headphones to pass the time and help us sleep. They worked a treat. Only one mishap on the way;
we'll tell you about that later.
Singapore
We decided to break up the journey to Australia with a stop in Singapore. We stayed at a hotel just off Orchard Road.
It was raining when we arrived, but no matter because we went straight to bed. When we got up the sky was clear,
the air was fresh and the tree and plants looked very lush.
We had a long walk around the shops on Orchard Road. Had Chai Tea in Starbucks. And Anne decided to go for a massage
in a little place under the Tanglin Centre, while John kept walking with James and Rachel. When we got back Anne looked
very happy … and she still looks happy here at dinner. But we think the massage was a bit more vigorous than
she's used to because she started to feel a bit bruised later.
James' knowledge of Japanese culture helped out when he recognized the noren (a kind of curtain) over the door
of an authentic Japanese restaurant called Akashi. We each had something different (Domburi, Sukiyaki, Yakitori,
Soba noodles, Miso soup, pickles, …) and it was all wonderful. Just goes to show how the accidental is often
the best.
Next day we went over to Geylang Serai and then to East Coast Park. The Geylang Serai area was very remarkable with
all kinds of shops and businesses spilling out on to the covered pavements — an air conditioner repair shop next
to a seafood shop next to a traditional remedy shop next to a mechanic next to … well go and see for yourself.
But it was getting too hot for us to we went over to the park for some cooler air.
From the park we travelled in to Clarke Quay and had some drinks. Anne and Rachel had had enough and went back to the
hotel, but James need to see Chinatown and I needed to see some temples.
We walked over to Chinatown, looked in the shops and bought a few things. We also saw the Sri Mariamman temple, which
is covered in coloured paint, and piled with statues of Hindu gods.
We were getting a bit footsaw by now, but I had one more place to go. On the map it looked like a long walk round the block
to Amoy Street, but there was something marked that I thought might be a cut through. So we had a look and found a
magical little path running past the backs of houses.
Even better after working our way past a stray chicken, it opened out into an amazing raised walkway over a tiny park
and gardens. An unexpectedly beautiful little backwater.
And that brought us out close to the Daoist Thiang Hock Keng temple, which was magnificent. We especially liked the fire
deities. People bring them cigarettes, so the burns on them are not vandalism but offerings. By now we'd had our quota
of religious sites, so we took a taxi back to the hotel.
In the evening we went on the Night Safari. It was good fun and you really could see a lot of animals, especially on the
walking sections. We had a mad guide who called herself Fifi. If any of you have ever met her, I'm sure you'll
remember.
Sydney Central
We arrived in Sydney late in the day and we didn't do much more than get the keys to our apartment on Finger Wharf.
We spotted a late night store and had intended just to pop out for snacks, cereal, milk, etc; but we turned out to be
right next to the world famous Harry's Café de Wheels. The pies and other food was excellent and we ate there twice
more while we were in Sydney. If you're out late and feeling peckish head to Woolloomooloo and make sure you order
something with mash, gravy and mushy peas!
Our apartment in the same complex as the very swanky W Hotel. A favourite haunt for celebrities visting Sydney. There was
a film premier party in the hotel while we were there, but we didn't know who the Australian celebs were.
Our apartment was great. Split level and very airy with a good sized kitchen and living area, lots of storage and lovely
bathrooms. Considering it was the last part of the holiday that we booked, we had really fallen on our feet.
We had booked and payed for apartment on the cheaper side of the wharf — looking away from central Sydney —
but were given one on the better side. So we woke up to a fantastic view across the Botanic Gardens toward central
Sydney skyline.
Most of our first day in Sydney was taken up with a long walk. We headed out from Finger Wharf toward the
Botanic Gardens and out to Mrs Macquarie's Point for some great views across the harbour.
The Botanic Gardens were excellent. A great space with beautiful gardens, lots of facilities and spectacular views.
One of the best city parks we have ever visited.
We walked past the ferry terminals towards The Rocks, and stopped for a bit to see the street entertainers.
The acts were pretty good but some of the local humour was hard to understand; especially the jokes about Kiwis
and people from other parts of Australia.
We stopped for lunch at Doyles. The food was fabulous with excellent fish and seafood. Eating outside looking across
the harbour to the bridge and the opera house made it all taste even better.
We continued past the Rocks area, and looped back round toward Woolloomooloo. We ran out of steam on the way back
but can't remember whether we got a bus or a taxi home.
We also spent a day in Sydney with John's aunt Frances, uncle Dave and cousin Dawn. The weather wasn't the best but
we met them at the main ferry terminus and walked over to Darling Harbour.
We all enjoyed the Sydney Aquarium. We have been to similar places before (in Birmingham and Boulogne) and Sydney
is one of the best. The displays are great and the large walkthough tanks were filled with types of fish that we had
never seen before.
Here's a picture of a coral reef at the aquarium. This will have to make up for lack of photos from our trip to the
barrier reef later on.
We came back from Darling Harbour on a ferry. It made several stops on the way back so we got lots of great views
to all the sites around the harbour — including a great view through the bridge.
Sydney Suburbs
On our second day in Sydney we went for a drive out past Double Bay, Rose Bay and Vaucluse to The Gap.
We stopped a couple of times to check out the fantastic views back towards Sydney.
We stopped at Neilson Park to stretch our legs. We found a great little beach with a strange cable running out into the
water. We all had a go at guessing what it was — to help separate boats and children swimming was the best we could
come up with — but we eventually found a sign that told us it was the cable that held the shark net during the summer
months.
We walked up to The Gap where the Parramatta meets the Pacific. People used to come out from Sydney to watch the tall ships
making their way into the harbour.
There are lots of beautiful towns, bays and parks between Sydney and The Gap. John could definitely see himself
living in a place like Rose Bay or Vaucluse, with a view of the harbour and only a few minutes from Sydney CBD.
From The Gap we moved on to Bondi Beach; a broad bay with a large and gently sloping expanse of sand. The sea was
quite calm on the day but you could see how the shape of the bay creates the waves.
James found his first skate park of the holiday. It was a pretty good one so it was lucky that James had brought his
board with him on the off chance.
We then went to stay with John's aunt Frances in Winston Hills in the western suburbs. We started out by visiting the
Featherdale Wildlife Park. It is well worth a trip with lots a animals that us Europeans don't often see. If you want
to you can even cuddle a koala.
The birds were fantastic and the Barking Owls were a great laugh. They really do bark like dogs.
As we walked up to the Tasmanian Devils we wondered whether they would fit the cartoon stereotype. And they were
everything you would expect. Small black lumps of snarling, yapping aggression.
We also took a trip up to the Blue Mountains National Park. The drive there was interesting and the view from Echo Point
across the Jamison valley was spectacular.
Although it was winter it was sunny and not too cold. But we all still needed to wrap up warm.
We also took a trip down into the vally on the Scenic Railway and Scenic Cableway. At the bottom we followed the walking
tracks past Katoomba Falls.
Adelaide
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Melbourne
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Port Douglas
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