Feeding the wallabies

Right next to the door of our room, the wallabies come down over the hill at sunset to be hand fed. We bought a couple of bags of special pellets to feed them. They are super-cute. Some of them have joeys in their pouches, but some of the mothers are so small I don't know how they fit in there.

If you pull your hand away slightly while you're feeding them, they hang onto it with their claws gently to keep you there.

Liam's Mala Creation Story

The Mala king built a tree out of dirt and brought it to life. He bit off the roots and spat them into the sky. This forced lightening out of the sky. As the lightening hit the ground it turned into people. One of the people willingly gave the Mala being both of his eyeballs and the being threw them into the sky to form the sun and the moon.

The being built a large hole and spat in it. His spit molecules quickly multiplied and the people drank from the waterhole. The being then created animals for hunting and the people made weapons for hunting. The being was glad that they could now survive for themselves.

The poisonous snakes of the desert were jealous of the people and some of them attacked them. The being was angry at the snakes that had attacked and turned them into honey ants for the people. They then had honey.

Uluru and Kata Tjuta

Yet another early start (6.00am) but we were really excited about going to Uluru today. It's a four and a half hour drive from Alice Springs but as you can imagine, it's a straight road and we went with Emu Run Tours who really looked after us.

Our first sight of a big red rock was Mount Connor, we thought it was Uluru at first. We learned that this rock isn't a sacred site for the Aborigine people and a local cattle man has buried two of his former wives up there (legally!).

We first headed out to Kata Tjuta (formerly known as the Olgas). It was impressive and some people including one of our guides, Ken, favour it over Uluru (formerly named Ayer's Rock). I think that Uluru still has the edge though.

After a stop at the Cultural Centre where we learnt a bit more about the Anangu people and the four major Tjukurpa stories associated with Uluru. These are Kuniya, Liru, Kurpany and Mala who are all ancestral beings who help form the basis of traditional law and custom for Anangu.

We saw a pile of rocks in the Cultural Centre which have been returned from all over the world by people who had taken a bit of Uluru home. One of the rocks apparently weighs 20kg! Their letters telling of bad luck since they took the rocks and the 'sorry rocks' themselves form a reminder for current visitors to leave the big red rock alone.

The rock climb is also not approved of by the Anangu but not banned outright, although it is closed depending on weather conditions.

After a couple of base walks, where we saw rock paintings, heard some of the Anangu stories and found out about bush tucker, we headed to the sunset viewing area and enjoyed a champagne BBQ. It's a long day; getting back to Alice Springs about 11.30pm, but the coach was comfortable and the guides Scott and Ken were excellent.

A truly memorable day. Liam has written a Mala creation story of his own which I'll post onto here soon.

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia

We arrived in Alice Springs on 28th July for a four night stay. It's very hot here and it's lovely after so many damp and cold days. The Todd river is dry and has been for some time. People use it as an alternative route to walk into town. The town relies on tourism and there are lots of shops and galleries selling aboriginal art. In the early 70's an art teacher called Geoffrey Bardon encouraged the transfer of dreamings onto canvas, previously these had been in sand or on rocks. Although in the 1930's there had been other aborigine artists selling their work in watercolours.

Aborigines make up about 17% of the population of Alice Springs (compared to about 2% in Australia overall) , they usually reside in the suburbs, on special purpose leases - town camps or further out at Amoonguna to the South and on the small family outstation communities on Aboriginal Lands in surrounding areas. We were warned by Ken, our guide to Uluru, that most of the people we'd encounter in town would be the ones who had lost hope; in town to collect their welfare cheques and not to confuse these with the majority of aborigines. From walking around town, I really got the feeling of there being two sides here; an uneasy co-existence. It's clear to see that the influx of white settlers here changed the aborigine way of life beyond all recognition. And what we witness in Alice Springs is the fall out from that. There is obviously a complex history behind all of this and I don't have the knowledge or experience to comment and neither is this place to do so. If you want to learn more about the stolen generations, the film Rabbit-Proof Fence is a good place to start.

Melbourne - a day in the city

We were up early to catch a lift into Melbourne with Wayne, who was heading into work in the city. First stop was the Eureka Skydeck 88, the highest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere. It was a beautiful clear day and the views were amazing. They also have something called the Edge, which is like a vertical elevator that moves out (with us in it) and has a clear glass floor. It also has some horrible cracking sound effects, so you think the whole thing's about to plummit.

We then headed over to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image to visit the Tim Burton exhibition. It was excellent and included items from 40 years of his work - paintings, drawings, puppets, costumes, props, storyboards and film. We watched his quite disturbing version of Hansel & Gretel that aired on TV in the 80's. What is interesting is that the first work he submitted to Disney was pretty generic, smacked of Dr Seuss (and they declined to use it) and just shows how he evolved his own style and how he frankly got much better. I think it would give anyone with any ambition to be an artist some hope. You can explore the exhibition here.

We then went to a trading card shop that Liam had looked up to buy some more of his Magic - the Gathering cards. He's really into it and is building and re-building his decks. He likes to win. So now in every town we have to visit the card shops.

After a late lunch (pancakes) we found a comic book/toy shop where we could have spent the rest of the afternoon - Vicky: they had an entire Twilight section :)

Having dragged ourselves away without buying anything, we walked over the Captain Cook's cottage. Yes unbelievably, the cottage in which he supposedly grew up in Great Ayton, Yorkshire, has found it's way to Melbourne (some say that he never lived in the house, but almost certainly visited his parents there). The owner sold it in 1933 for £800 and it was deconstructed brick by brick and transported to Australia. Cuttings of ivy that adorned the house were also taken and planted when the house was re-erected in Melbourne. The new owner donated the house to the people of Victoria for the centenary anniversary of the settlement of Melbourne in October 1934. It's absolutely tiny, has a little cottage garden and a rail of 18th Century clothes outside that you can use for photos. It's brilliant.

We went over to meet Wayne and got a lift back with him to the house. On the way we headed for the paddocks again to see if we could spot some kangaroos. No luck. We then headed out to their local Chinese restaurant where the owner, Jenny, really looked after us. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. There is a moral to this story: always speak to strangers you meet on a bus in Vietnam. Thank you Heathcotes!

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The morning of our departure from Sydney was eventful. I got up early and went down to the hotel basement to do some laundry (that's not the eventful part, although I do enjoy de-linting the dryer - it's just a thing I have). Just as I was finishing up, an alarm sounded which I thought was a car alarm. I calmly made my way back upstairs and realised it was the fire alarm and there were two fire engines outside. Luckily I'd left some clothes up in the room so that Cliff and Liam were decent and able to evacuate.

The fire alarm (false, as it turned out) put our schedule out a bit and we barely got ready in time to meet our taxi to the airport. The flight to Melbourne was quick and Sarah was there at the airport to meet us. Sarah and Alison were the young ladies we met in Vietnam when we took our trip to Ha Long Bay and they'd very kindly invited us to stay at their home in Melbourne.




We made our way out to the Dandenong Ranges. We stopped at Miss Marples, a cafe in the village of Sassafras. They were proper English-style tea rooms and were having Christmas in July. This is exactly as it sounds - Christmas decorations, songs and menu. We had some tasty veggie Cornish pasties.

After lunch we had a stroll through the village and Liam had a confrontation with Ned Kelly himself.

Sarah had an appointment, she's an osteopath, so we dropped by her practice and we had a stroll around the shops. Alison had finished at school by that time (she's a teacher, not a pupil) and picked us up. These girls sure looked after us. On the way to the house, we went down to the paddocks to see if we could see the kangaroos but it was just a bit too dark to see any. At home we met the rest of their lovely family - Mum Jenny, Dad Wayne and brother Tim. After dinner we headed for bed as we had a long day planned in the city for the next day.

Bondi and a bit of TV excitement

It was Sunday and we'd arranged to meet Natalie and Kathy, who we originally met on Turtle Island in Malaysia back in February. Natalie picked us up from our hotel and we headed out to Bondi. We had a walk around the thriving market; lots of jewellry and arts and crafts. We had lunch in a pizza place and afterwards Liam dared to go for a swim (it wasn't the warmest of days) although he got told off by a lifeguard for not swimming between the flags and we had to move along the beach. We saw a few Portugese Men of War jellyfish - Natalie called them bluebottles. Not to be stepped on.

Natalie kindly allowed a sandy and wet Liam back in her car for a drive up to The Gap, a favourite haunt for suicides, but with fantasic views over the sea and the city. There was a channel 9 helicopter there when we arrived and we watched a little boat down below being pursued by both a police and a coastguard boat. There was much excitement and Natalie made a report for the evening news.

We got back to Natalie and Kathy's place in time for the channel 9 news; turns out they weren't reporting on the sea chase at all, they were filming a piece on a recent death. So Natalie did film the exclusive after all.

We had a lovely, fun evening with Natalie and Kathy - we were too busy laughing to take any photos though, which is a shame.

Into the Blue Mountains

We took an organised tour out to the Blue Mountains. Tours are always a bit of a compromise I think. You get to go places that otherwise might be expensive or complex to travel on your own (and you don't have to drive yourself) but you are also limited in the time you spend in places. Today was a prime example, we did feel quite rushed at some of the stops (for example at the Olympic Park 'You have seven or eight minutes to be back at the bus'!). Our driver/guide Soloman was German and was very good at time management. And toilet break management.

Our first stop was for morning refreshments at the Nepean River, I was last back on the bus after having to wait behind a long queue for the ladies. Result: I had to sit in the naughty seat next to the driver.

Next stop was a bushwalk to Wentworth Falls. It would have been nicer if we hadn't been so rushed. Again, we were last back onto the bus. The shame of it.

From there we headed to Scenic World, in the heart of the Blue Mountains. We took the Skyway across the 720 metre gap, 270m above ancient ravines and the Katoomba waterfall.

The ride has an electro-sceniglass floor, when they flip the switch, breathtaking views are revealed through the cabin floor. Don't look down! From the Skyway, we saw the Three Sisters, Katoomba Falls, Mount Solitary and the never ending expanse of the Jamison Valley. When we reached the end of the ride, we took the Sceniscender down to the rainforest floor. We opted to take the long walk around on the boardwalk, I barely had time to take any photos though as I felt a bit rushed here. We then got aboard the world's steepest inclined railway up from the floor of the canyon. Yay - first back to the bus!

Two of the passengers hadn't arrived back at the bus in time so he dropped us all in Leura for lunch (45 minutes allowed) and went back for them - suprised they weren't lined up against a wall and shot! We just had time for a sandwich in a cafe before heading back to the bus. Yes I think we were last again. It as a shame we didn't have a little longer because the village had lots of little shops and it would have been fun to have a stroll around, although we did make it to the sweet shop (or lolly shop, as they're called here) which stocked sweets from around the world. Cliff found his precious chocolate limes; they were pretty expensive so he bought enough for about one a week until we get home. But he's finished them already.

We headed out the the Kings Tableland for some more fantastic views at Flat Rock. There are no barriers here so you have to make sure you stand well back from the edge (about a metre) as you can see new cracks in the rock. Soloman told us about another guide who brought a group out here and was leading them out to a nearby cave (inhabited by a leftover hippy) when she fell and sustained loads of broken bones, but was miraculously not killed.

Then we went to some cockatoos in the wild - they look beautiful but have a hideous screech, but I suppose other cockatoos must love it.

On the way back to Sydney, we stopped at the Olympic Park, home of the 2000 Games. Whilst it didn't seem to have the awe-inspiring atmosphere of the Bird's Nest in Beijing, they have found a way of keeping it in constant use. Over 5000 events per year are held here, all the local sporting teams use the facilities and it's the site for the Royal Easter Show and gigs - the Big Day Out music festival is held here. This is just something Bejing have failed to harness. They even sold all the apartments in the Olympic Village before the games, used them for the athlete's housing and the owners moved in afterwards. Liam was trying to work out if he could unscrew the casing and get at the Olympic flame torch.

We then caught the boat along the Parramatta river for the trip back to Circular Quay.

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

We arrived in Sydney on 22nd July, after a short 3 hour flight from Christchurch. We were staying close to Central Station, so within easy reach of the sights. We took the train (a double decker, a bit like the ones in Amsterdam) down to Circular Quay. We took a walk around the Rocks and up to the Harbour Bridge. It looks very familiar and we discovered that it was designed by a company in Middlesbrough - who also did the Tyne bridge in Newcastle. Later on we walked across it, not over it, for several reasons: a) we didn't have time, b) it's expensive, c) I've developed a bit of vertigo since I've been away and d) how great can it be to climb over a bridge?

We then wandered around to the Opera House. Amazingly the architect never saw it completed. It's kind of smaller than I imagined and I didn't realise that the roof (well, roofs) are covered in tiles from Sweden. We had another argument outside the Opera House. To put it in context, we have spent the best part of seven months together, often in confined spaces. And to be fair, Cliff and I never really argue, so it's kind of all built up. Still together though.

We took the ferry over the Manly, a half hour crossing. When we got off the boat, we headed to a really good deli to collect some lovely sandwiches. We walked onto the beach for lunch. There were hundreds of gulls there (but not as big as the ones we get in Brighton, so they didn't seem as aggressive). One of them swooped down and took the last of Liam's sandwich right out of his hand.

Christchurch, New Zealand

After a smooth crossing over the Marlborough Sounds, we arrived in Picton and headed for the campsite. The following morning we drove to Nelson, where we stopped for some lunch supplies (and a big argument at McDonalds where we'd stopped for coffee) and then headed towards Christchurch (still together). We had planned to spend the night at Hamner Springs but when we got close we realised it was only a short hop to Christchurch, so decided to spend our last three nights in NZ there instead (two at the Papanui campsite and one in a city centre hotel after we dropped off the van).

This is a cat who lived at the campsite, he'd obviously gone for the 'lion cut'.

We had an easy couple of days in Christchurch; packing, clearing out the van and packing up a box to send back home - which was really expensive because their international economy service is still airmail - they don't do surface mail, like we used in Hong Kong. On Wednesday we met up with Sally, a friend of a friend who very kindly took us up to a chocolate cafe overlooking Governor's Bay where we had lovely hot chocolate.. Then it was back to the magnificent home she shares with her partner John, for dinner with their friends Thomas and Rina. Rina is a landscape photographer. Sally and John run tours on the South Island and their website is here.

Heading to Wellington

On 15th July Arnica and Remco returned from their holiday and after lunch we headed out of Hikutaia, leaving them to their jetlag. Cliff had visited the doctor in the morning and found out that the pain and bruising he's been experiencing is because of shin splints. So no running for him for a while and he'll have to get some new running shoes when we get the US (too expensive here) as he's actually worn the old ones out.

We spent an uneventful and cold night back in the van at Lake Taupo.

We got to Wellington the next day and really liked it. The last time we were here we didn't spend very long, but we had a couple of nights this time. It's quite a small city for a capital but it has a nice feel to it, unlike Auckland which is a bit of a sprawl. Liam went and bought his first deck of Magic - The Gathering cards (lots more on all that later I expect).

The guide book says there is a tattoo museum in town which we were up for visiting because they were meant to have some real back skins (with tattoos on them) - that all sounds a bit gross when I actually write it down. It turns out that it was closed down. So we went to see Toy Story 3 instead.

Before catching the Inter Islander ferry to the South Island, we stopped for a small pizza.