Category Archives: Australia

Back to Darwin… and counting down to leaving

Posted on by
1

Friday the 13th – what a day to fly! Which may explain why my flight was moderately empty. It’s also my mum’s birthday, so maybe everyone else was having a party for her.

Mel wasn’t in a fit state to drive (or walk, come to mention it) at 6:15am, so Matt drove me to the airport. My last impression of Mel is someone lying in bed in a semi-coma, apologising for not being able to get up… so I remember her as someone who parties far too hard, which is no bad thing!

We made it to the airport with ten minutes to spare and I rattled off a blog post or two while I waited. Yay for free wireless! Quantas called me on board shortly afterwards and we took off dot on schedule.

I’d not had time for breakfast when I left the house, so it’s a good job I was with the only non-budget airline in Oz as it meant I got fed. It was still the cheapest flight I could get. Air fares here are barmy. A really cute little girl in the seat in front kept playing peek-a-boo with me and that helped while the time away, as did ploughing through another Grisham and snoozing for the last hour.

Darwin was as hot as I remember it, and the shuttle bus had me at the Cav within 15 minutes. Quick check in and back in the old favourite room 36. Esther was out at work and shortly after I started sorting my things out I met Katie, the only other person in the dorm. She’s a vet from the UK looking at settling here and in a fluster about trying to find a house to live in.

The kitchen at the hostel is out of order as they’re refurbishing it. It was supposed to re-open today, but is now scheduled for tomorrow. We’ll see… I argued with the reception staff as I’d not been told this and they were only dishing out free dinner vouchers for the Queen Vic, not lunch ones. As I budget 50c for lunch (beans on toast!), this means a big increase in expenses as eating out is much dearer. We ended up with five meal vouchers which should take us past when the kitchen is available again. Hopefully that will balance things out.

The rest of the day went predictably and Darwin-y enough. Down to the pool at 5:00, Esther back from work (lovely to see her again), the Vic for (free) dinner, back for a quick change and then out for a few beers. Shennanigans was our chosen venue as the Vic itself was a little quiet. A covers band was playing some decent tunes, the beer was cold and the company good.

Between lack of sleep and five pints of Coopers Pale, I enjoyed a good night’s kip!

Slayer! Slayer! Slayer!

Posted on by
2

My last full day in Perth and I didn’t do a whole heck of a lot except work on the 1000 Mile Walk page, eat food and watch telly.

Until 7pm when I headed for the train station, then the Claremont Showgrounds for Slayer’s first Australian appearance in 10 years.

Perth Central station was packed with black t-shirts, leather boots and bizarre hairstyles as the Fremantle line trains filled with loud metal fans off to the first major concert by pretty much any well-known act in a long time. It seems Perth has reached the population level it needs to make a tour date on the west coast economically viable as other acts are starting to dribble through now as well.

I got there in time to see the tail end of Mastodon who were OK, but nothing special. Outside, the concession vans were charging inflated prices for food and drinks but I did enjoy a fairly tasty and scorching hot chicken roll for $6. I also weakened and bought a tour t-shirt at $45 (quite pricey – they’re normally around $30 in Oz) just so I could get one with Australian dates on the back.

The original venue had sold out in next to no time, so the Showgrounds were selected as a larger one. Tickets were on sale at the door, but looking at the crowd inside it must have been very close to a sell-out. As soon as Mastodon finished and left the stage, the chants for Slayer began. And kept on going for the usual extended set-change times you have to get used to at these things.

The crowd got rowdy, people started shoving around as they always do, temperatures rose (and it must have been over 30 degrees to start with) and empty drinks containers flew through the air.

Then… darkness.

Then… smoke.

Then… Slayer!

Over 90 minutes of very loud, very fast music and people collapsing all over. Definitely the warmest indoor gig I’ve ever been at. Both my t-shirts and my shorts were drenched by the time I left. I was rather disappointed in the sound, though. Tom’s vocals were far too quiet and Kerry’s guitar kept dying – sounded like a dry joint or a dodgy cable somewhere.

Still, the crowd were active but much like the Brisbane mob for Fear Factory, content to do no more than move around occasionally, shove a bit and crowdsurf. Try to start a pit and you rapidly find yourself in a little empty spot thrashing at thin air. Wusses.

Talking to people on the train before and after only a handful had seen the band live before, and most of them while they were abroad in the UK or US. I have Slayer t-shirts at home older than some of the kids at the show. That’s scary.

The train back was delayed something rotten as well. It doesn’t help when the station display says that the next train is due in three minutes and you’re still standing there half an hour later. Of course, there was a mad crush when it did arrive and the driver’s pleas of “do not crowd onto the train – there is another one behind this one” fell on deaf ears. After all, if you can’t trust the sign to tell you when one is arriving, why believe the driver. As it turns out, the next train was over 20 minutes behind – I watched it pull into Perth later on.

The noise and atmosphere on the train was almost as intense as that at the Showgrounds. For three stops, almost the entire carriage I was on were chanting the band’s name. It was good to see that the “normal” passengers weren’t cowering, though. Instead, they sat and smiled at the loonies knowing that they weren’t going to be mugged or anything. Not what happens in the UK where anyone with a leather jacket or long hair is mentally branded a potential criminal.

I made it back to Mel’s around 12:30 and spent far too long packing my bags, showering and drinking lots of water before crashing at around 2:30. A bit silly as my alarm was set for 6:15 so I didn’t miss my flight the next morning.

SW Day 3 – chocs and caves

Posted on by
Reply

Today was a bit of a mix between the first two, with a few things to do and visit and a fair bit of driving to get back to Perth.

Destination one was the lighthouse at Leeuwen, the most south-westerly point in Australia. Looking at it on a map, this looks strange as I think there are places more westerly, and there are definitely places more southerly, but this seems to combine the two. It’s where the Indian and Great Southern oceans meet at an arbitrary line drawn at 45 degrees from the point where the lighthouse rests.

Another lovely bay was next, with waves coming in from two directions. These collided at the beach and surfers abounded. The sun had finally come out and this was starting to look more like the brochure!

After lunch by an old railway engine in Margaret River (where we fed the ducks and the kookaburra), Bob drove us to the Ngilgi cave at Yallingup. This was stunning. Originally discovered late int he 19th century, it’s been open for tourists for over 100 years. Definitely worth the visit if you’re in the area, the rock structures, stalactites and “views” are simply breathtaking. Not for the claustrophobic, though there are only one or two places where you need to duck your head.

More touristy stuff followed as we visited a chocolate factory (OK, it was more a shop with a viewing room) where free samples of proper milk, creamy white and delicious dark chocolate were munched down.

We were due to stop at a winery somewhere down the road, but it was closed when we reached it. We’d spotted a brewery on the drive, and convinced Bob to take us there. A good choice, and I think Bob may even suggest it be added to the regular itinerary! The old wooden building was set in a field surrounded by a gallery and some other small buildings. Blankets were available for free for those wanting to park their bums on the grass, humorous signs were up, lawn chess and pool available… it was more a bar than a brewery (I didn’t see any signs for tours), but the beverages were superb with a great variety of beers. I tried most of them!

And then the long haul back to Perth during which I read most of a Grisham novel and listened to my MP3 player. Goodbyes were said and I got on the train back to Mel’s after a very enjoyable three days.

P.S. Perth airport has free wireless access now – this item uploaded from there.

SW Day 2 – tall trees

Posted on by
Reply

Somewhat more busy today. The usual “you’re on a tour – get up” early rise for breakfast and into the bus for a quick squizz around Augusta. A replica of one of the early ships is stood on chocks not far from the hostel. This tiny thing was sailed from Canada to the UK and then to the east coast of Oz before bringing a boatload of people from there to Augusta. Impressive for a ship so small.

The Gap and Natural Bridge a few miles out of town are worth a visit. The overcast windy weather made these formations all the more spectacular as waves pounded off, under and over them. We didn’t stop for too long as the schedule was quite busy.

Our next brief stop was Demark (seriously) for a leg stretch, then another pitstop to walk along a beautiful stretch of coastline as the weather continued to blast us with windchill. It didn’t stop some people (not in our tour group) from having a swim, though. Nutters.

Bob gave us another pitstop at the Bartholemews Meadery. Here they make a gazillion things, including wine, from honey. I was particularly taken with the spicy wine which is best drunk warm. Shame my rucksack’s full to bursting or I’d have been tempted!

To burn off the alcohol, we headed into the Valley of the Giants. In here is a tree-top walk, a series of suspended walkways taking you up into the forest canopy some 40m above the ground. Not for the faint hearted (and well done to one of the Swiss girls sho does have a problem with heights for managing it), the walkways and support columns all wobble quite a bit. An amazing view, though I’m sure it would be better in sunnier weather when the birds weren’t in hiding.

Lunch was next in a little layby surrounded by greedy magpies. Then we headed for the really tall trees…

In the forests around the South West there are strategically placed trees chosen for their height. These monsters are usually over 60m tall and have tree houses perched on the top so that non-height-fearing watchers could keep an eye out for forest fires. To get to the top of them one has to clamber up a load of metal stakes hammered into the tree in a spiral. There’s a chicken wire cage around the steps, but it looks flimsy – and there’s no protection from slipping through the large gaps between the spikes.

There’s no sign up anywhere saying that anyone’s fallen through and died, so I assume they haven’t. I know I didn’t. Scared the bejabbers out of me, though. I found that a good way to ensure you don’t look down is to get an Australian woman with a great bum to go up ahead of you. Of course, this doesn’t help on the way down.

Last stop of the day was our cottage in the forest outside of Pemberton. A large shack outside housed a barbequeue and an open fire where we sat and drank beer – and ate food – until late in the evening.

SW Day 1 – to Augusta

Posted on by
Reply

A stupidly early rise to catch the bus for the trip and thanks again to Mel and Matt for driving me into Perth. I would have caught the train but as it was a public holiday, the first one would have got me into the city over 30 minutes too late!

On the bus, I ws introduced to Bob the driver and the two Swiss girls I’d met on Kangaroo Island! Small world, indeed. The mix on the bus this trip was: 2 x English, 1 x American, 2 x Aussie (one tourist, one driver), 2 x Swiss, 1 x Japanese and 1 x Malaysian.

Because of the public holiday, traffic and so on Bob announced that we’d be doing the tour “backwards”. So instead of having a busy first day and the last day being a long haul drive back to Perth, we’d be getting the driving out of the way first. This suited everyone as we were all knackered from lack of sleep. What I saw of the scenery between naps was pleasant enough and Bob was great to talk to at the rest stops. Sadly, the weather sucked, so the places we stopped at looked stormy rather than lush or idilic. This actually appealed to Bob as he always sees places bathed in sunshine, so it made a change to see them grey and rough.

We really only had a couple of stops for the loo and lunch on the way to Albany so there’s not a lot to report. The hostel was great, though. Empty other than ourselves and a small handful of other people, but it just struck me as somewhere that would be huge fun with a larger group.

After dinner we headed for the London bar along the road as they dished out “Buy One Get One Free” beer vouchers at the hostel. Several pints later I was curled up and not snoring despite what the others in the dorm may say.