Thursday 25 December 2008
Merry Christmas from the sunshine!
OK, so it certainly doesn't FEEL like Christmas, but the calender definitely says that it's the 25th of December, so therefore that MUST be the reason I've eaten many mince pies today... Merry Christmas from someone who's spent much of the day chilling in the garden with a cold beer!
Saturday 20 December 2008
Melbourne or bust!
To cut a long story short, I made it to Melbourne. There you go, that's it - shortest blog EVER!
OK, maybe not, it's just that I've been a bit lazy about updating my blog lately, having had very rare (and very expensive) access to t'internet, so I don't really know where to start. I can't tell all, so maybe I'll just tell a few short stories...
At some point I realised we were in termite country. I think I first noticed it as we shook our way along a dirt track to yet another free camping area. Every dirt track is a challenge, and it isn't only small roads that can be unsealed. You can have followed a seemingly quite major road for 50km
only to find that there's 20km of dirt road in the middle before you get back to the tarmac at the other end. Some dirt tracks are fine, but it has been raining (yes - really) and many tracks have had dust rivers washed away and potholes enhanced. This tested Ricardos driving skills to the limit (thank goodness we had the brakes replaced eh?), and also tested the fittings in the van as they squeaked and rattled more and more. Anyway, I digress. When you see one termite mound you see more and more and eventually you wonder just how many you passed without seeing, and they can't suddenly have 'appeared' right? The termite mounds are a good indication of the colour of the soil - never brown, but varying shades of orange from yellow through to red. Which makes me wonder whether the 'dusting' of colour on the tops of all the trees is dust or flowers. I suspect flowers, but it really does look like the termite mounds are mini-volcanoes that have shot plumes of dust up to the treetops.
Last time I wrote I believe I talked about our encounters with wildlife. Well since then we found possums that were even braver than our rubbish bin raiding kangaroo. We had possums IN the van. They chewed a banana and an orange that we then left close enough to us to get some decent photos whilst they finished them off. Or at least we would have if possum world war III hadn't started - oops! Who'd have thought that something as simple as a misunderstanding (in this case over a banana) could cause a war *ahem*. Other wildlife encounters were less cute and cuddley. Yes a huntsman spider tried to get in the van. And it nearly did. It turns out that the "insect killer spray" that Ricardo had doesn't do what it says on the tin. Fortunately my 40% DEET insect repellant DOES kill big spiders. Nice to know! (And yes, I did sleep with it beside me that night... just in case...)
We spent a few days in the Snowy Mountains. Only a few days though. It was VERY cold at night (below 4 degrees) - OK, so that's not as cold as most of you guys are at the moment (he he he!), but you were not in a little camper van. Trust me when I say it was COLD. And the roads winding, and the views spectacular. What else can I say except that we pushed not showering to the limits (yes there were rivers. Need I remind you how COLD it was? And that Mount Kozioszco still had patches of snow on the top? Yes smelling WAS the better option!)
So at some point we had the luck to happen across the Blue Pools campsite. Another free campsite. Recently built compost toilets (ie the door still shut, even if it didn't lock). Looked just like any other campsite at first glance (except it was all on a bit of a slope). Then we wandered off looking for firewood and found the bathroom... (now's the time to look at the video below!) We spent an extra night there to explore. Went for a lovely bushwalk the next day, with a little light rain falling. One thing that's different about Australian rain is that there's a lot of space in between drops, so you hardly even notice that it's raining, especially when it's warm. Of course it does rain heavily (as we discovered later that night), but during the day it was "lovely weather for a bushwalk" as we were greeted by the local guy prospecting for gold at the river at the apex of the walk (which had no bridge. I was wearing crocs, so just waded through, fortunately for Ricardo our gold prospecter had a spere pair of wellies in his car and threw them across to him!). This chirpy chappy told us where to find gold near our campsite, so we spent a pleasant few hours in the afternoon prospecting for gold in a wok. And yes we did find some! And boy we must have looked daft!
That evening the heavens opened and a proper downpour prevented any firelighting (even using firelighters made from nasty fake marshmallows (so much stuff here is just way too sugary - even for me!) wrapped in free newspapers from the tourist office). So we were huddling under a tiny canopy with Riocardo attempting to find exactly WHERE that water that was dripping in his dinner was coming from, when the only other van in the site regurgitated one of its occupants. Which is how we met Fabrice and Thomas from the French Alps. They invited us over for some wine, and by the end of the evening we'd decided to travel together! The next morning I woke early (for someone who'd been up drinking with French guys until late) and went for a swim in the pool from which the campsite took its name. Which isn't blue by the way, but is more a kind of greenish brown, as that is the colour of the rocks underneath. The water is incredibly clear, but the pool so deep in the middle that even with a snorkelling mask on you can't see the bottom. Did I mention how COLD the pool was too - I have no idea where the water came from, but seeing as we were at the edge of a mountain range it'd be fair to say that it's probably partially snowmelt. And it was freezing! And therefore a very SHORT pre-breakfast swim, but very pleasant nevertheless as the sun was shining and the wind hadn't yet picked up for the day. And boy did the wind pick up....
So we headed off down Wilsons Promotory with the French guys. By this time the weather had changed and it was tipping it down with a bit of a gale blowing. Just like summer in England really. On our way to the Prom we stopped off for lunch outside a pub (having found no rest areas). Here we got talking to the local lads (although where they live I couldn't tell you as the town seemed to consist of a pub, a service station and a shop/chippy - incidently, they don't do proper chips with their fish and chips down here). The local lads insisted on buying us drinks (well, me and Thomas, Ricardo and Fabrice were driving) and kept feeding Thomas Aussie speciality after speciality (and I tried a "Bundy" for the first time - Bundaburg rum and coke in a can - very nice!). They then put music (power rock) on the jukebox and rocked out to Aussie music, which they were then shocked that we'd never heard. One of the guys ran to his truck and grabbed a few CDs of MP3 files with "Aussie music" on them. Although when we finally managed to look at the files most of the bands seemed to be American or British... maybe he gave us the wrong discs?
The time at the pub definately made us care a little less about the storm at the campsite down at Wilsons Prom. Well, me and Thomas cared less - we had the warming power of alcohol inside us, Fabrice and Ricardo had been wrestling with the vans in the wind, dodging branches and in some cases trees, and now they were stuck with two giggling idiots in the rain. Fortunately with two campers and two canopies one of the giggling idiots (yours truely) realised that we could build a room with 3 walls and a roof in an attempt to stay warm and dry. We stayed nearly dry and nearly warm (obviously the wine had to be drunk for its medicinal warming properties...). The next morning we realised that it wasn't a good idea for Thomas and Fabrice to go to bed without finishing their bag of wine (the seagulls had pecked it open), and that the parrots are just as dangerous as seagulls if you have food... I had a parrot walk onto my head, then later one landed on the arm of my chair, walked across my knees to the other arm, then back again, whilst another flew in and landed on my head. And all because I was eating tortilla chips! Wilsons Prom (the Southernmost point in mainland Australia) turned out to be very pleasant in the sunshine, even though half the paths from the campsite to the bridge across the adjacent river were flooded and "squeaky beach" was so wet that the sand didn't squeak at all. I feel a little short-changed about that....
And so much more has happened besides! I have been within 200 km of Horsham (Victoria), and found a coffee shop that does Fairtrade coffee (in Ballarat) and serves very delicious "something wicked?". So it's probably just as well that I'm no longer in Ballarat and am in Melbourne for the forseeable future. And the sun has come out!
OK, maybe not, it's just that I've been a bit lazy about updating my blog lately, having had very rare (and very expensive) access to t'internet, so I don't really know where to start. I can't tell all, so maybe I'll just tell a few short stories...
At some point I realised we were in termite country. I think I first noticed it as we shook our way along a dirt track to yet another free camping area. Every dirt track is a challenge, and it isn't only small roads that can be unsealed. You can have followed a seemingly quite major road for 50km
only to find that there's 20km of dirt road in the middle before you get back to the tarmac at the other end. Some dirt tracks are fine, but it has been raining (yes - really) and many tracks have had dust rivers washed away and potholes enhanced. This tested Ricardos driving skills to the limit (thank goodness we had the brakes replaced eh?), and also tested the fittings in the van as they squeaked and rattled more and more. Anyway, I digress. When you see one termite mound you see more and more and eventually you wonder just how many you passed without seeing, and they can't suddenly have 'appeared' right? The termite mounds are a good indication of the colour of the soil - never brown, but varying shades of orange from yellow through to red. Which makes me wonder whether the 'dusting' of colour on the tops of all the trees is dust or flowers. I suspect flowers, but it really does look like the termite mounds are mini-volcanoes that have shot plumes of dust up to the treetops.Last time I wrote I believe I talked about our encounters with wildlife. Well since then we found possums that were even braver than our rubbish bin raiding kangaroo. We had possums IN the van. They chewed a banana and an orange that we then left close enough to us to get some decent photos whilst they finished them off. Or at least we would have if possum world war III hadn't started - oops! Who'd have thought that something as simple as a misunderstanding (in this case over a banana) could cause a war *ahem*. Other wildlife encounters were less cute and cuddley. Yes a huntsman spider tried to get in the van. And it nearly did. It turns out that the "insect killer spray" that Ricardo had doesn't do what it says on the tin. Fortunately my 40% DEET insect repellant DOES kill big spiders. Nice to know! (And yes, I did sleep with it beside me that night... just in case...)
We spent a few days in the Snowy Mountains. Only a few days though. It was VERY cold at night (below 4 degrees) - OK, so that's not as cold as most of you guys are at the moment (he he he!), but you were not in a little camper van. Trust me when I say it was COLD. And the roads winding, and the views spectacular. What else can I say except that we pushed not showering to the limits (yes there were rivers. Need I remind you how COLD it was? And that Mount Kozioszco still had patches of snow on the top? Yes smelling WAS the better option!)
So at some point we had the luck to happen across the Blue Pools campsite. Another free campsite. Recently built compost toilets (ie the door still shut, even if it didn't lock). Looked just like any other campsite at first glance (except it was all on a bit of a slope). Then we wandered off looking for firewood and found the bathroom... (now's the time to look at the video below!) We spent an extra night there to explore. Went for a lovely bushwalk the next day, with a little light rain falling. One thing that's different about Australian rain is that there's a lot of space in between drops, so you hardly even notice that it's raining, especially when it's warm. Of course it does rain heavily (as we discovered later that night), but during the day it was "lovely weather for a bushwalk" as we were greeted by the local guy prospecting for gold at the river at the apex of the walk (which had no bridge. I was wearing crocs, so just waded through, fortunately for Ricardo our gold prospecter had a spere pair of wellies in his car and threw them across to him!). This chirpy chappy told us where to find gold near our campsite, so we spent a pleasant few hours in the afternoon prospecting for gold in a wok. And yes we did find some! And boy we must have looked daft!
That evening the heavens opened and a proper downpour prevented any firelighting (even using firelighters made from nasty fake marshmallows (so much stuff here is just way too sugary - even for me!) wrapped in free newspapers from the tourist office). So we were huddling under a tiny canopy with Riocardo attempting to find exactly WHERE that water that was dripping in his dinner was coming from, when the only other van in the site regurgitated one of its occupants. Which is how we met Fabrice and Thomas from the French Alps. They invited us over for some wine, and by the end of the evening we'd decided to travel together! The next morning I woke early (for someone who'd been up drinking with French guys until late) and went for a swim in the pool from which the campsite took its name. Which isn't blue by the way, but is more a kind of greenish brown, as that is the colour of the rocks underneath. The water is incredibly clear, but the pool so deep in the middle that even with a snorkelling mask on you can't see the bottom. Did I mention how COLD the pool was too - I have no idea where the water came from, but seeing as we were at the edge of a mountain range it'd be fair to say that it's probably partially snowmelt. And it was freezing! And therefore a very SHORT pre-breakfast swim, but very pleasant nevertheless as the sun was shining and the wind hadn't yet picked up for the day. And boy did the wind pick up....
So we headed off down Wilsons Promotory with the French guys. By this time the weather had changed and it was tipping it down with a bit of a gale blowing. Just like summer in England really. On our way to the Prom we stopped off for lunch outside a pub (having found no rest areas). Here we got talking to the local lads (although where they live I couldn't tell you as the town seemed to consist of a pub, a service station and a shop/chippy - incidently, they don't do proper chips with their fish and chips down here). The local lads insisted on buying us drinks (well, me and Thomas, Ricardo and Fabrice were driving) and kept feeding Thomas Aussie speciality after speciality (and I tried a "Bundy" for the first time - Bundaburg rum and coke in a can - very nice!). They then put music (power rock) on the jukebox and rocked out to Aussie music, which they were then shocked that we'd never heard. One of the guys ran to his truck and grabbed a few CDs of MP3 files with "Aussie music" on them. Although when we finally managed to look at the files most of the bands seemed to be American or British... maybe he gave us the wrong discs?
The time at the pub definately made us care a little less about the storm at the campsite down at Wilsons Prom. Well, me and Thomas cared less - we had the warming power of alcohol inside us, Fabrice and Ricardo had been wrestling with the vans in the wind, dodging branches and in some cases trees, and now they were stuck with two giggling idiots in the rain. Fortunately with two campers and two canopies one of the giggling idiots (yours truely) realised that we could build a room with 3 walls and a roof in an attempt to stay warm and dry. We stayed nearly dry and nearly warm (obviously the wine had to be drunk for its medicinal warming properties...). The next morning we realised that it wasn't a good idea for Thomas and Fabrice to go to bed without finishing their bag of wine (the seagulls had pecked it open), and that the parrots are just as dangerous as seagulls if you have food... I had a parrot walk onto my head, then later one landed on the arm of my chair, walked across my knees to the other arm, then back again, whilst another flew in and landed on my head. And all because I was eating tortilla chips! Wilsons Prom (the Southernmost point in mainland Australia) turned out to be very pleasant in the sunshine, even though half the paths from the campsite to the bridge across the adjacent river were flooded and "squeaky beach" was so wet that the sand didn't squeak at all. I feel a little short-changed about that....
And so much more has happened besides! I have been within 200 km of Horsham (Victoria), and found a coffee shop that does Fairtrade coffee (in Ballarat) and serves very delicious "something wicked?". So it's probably just as well that I'm no longer in Ballarat and am in Melbourne for the forseeable future. And the sun has come out!
Thursday 4 December 2008
White sand, white surf
Ah yes, I'm headed down the coast between Sydney and Melbourne in a camper van with a German guy called Ricardo. So far we've made it to Horseshoe bay. Having seen many beautiful beaches, and much wildlife en route. Most of the wildlife has been flies. Although we did spend a night with wombats and kangaroos on site in Kangaroo Valley, where the wombats wandered under the van, rocking it in the middle of the night. Then there were the Possums in Jervis bay, so unafraid of us that one ran straight into me in the dark whilst they were busy fighting. And then there was the kangaroo that snuck up on us and raided our bin with me sitting under a metre away!
But the scariest encounter was the one with the huntsman spider than ran across the table (in the dark) and I saw it just as it approached, and climbed, our full bottle of wine... I'm very proud of the fact that I DIDN'T scream! And boy did I NEED a drink after that one! (A friendly Aussie guy removed it for us, after laughing quite a lot at the look on our faces!). And there is so much more to tell, but the sun is shining, the sand is white, and the sea blue, so why would I stay in here any longer than necessary?!
But the scariest encounter was the one with the huntsman spider than ran across the table (in the dark) and I saw it just as it approached, and climbed, our full bottle of wine... I'm very proud of the fact that I DIDN'T scream! And boy did I NEED a drink after that one! (A friendly Aussie guy removed it for us, after laughing quite a lot at the look on our faces!). And there is so much more to tell, but the sun is shining, the sand is white, and the sea blue, so why would I stay in here any longer than necessary?!
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