What a mess....

Three days here- washing, drying, packing, getting ready for our trip to Malaysia and Thailand. Everything out of the car, sorting out what's going and what's staying. It's a good job I have Anne here to take charge!

Took the tent and things off the roof rack ready for storing them inside the car while we are away- everything was sodden even though I had carefully wrapped them in a tarpaulin.

No chance of drying them out, it is overcast here and likely to rain again anyway, so I have to put them back on the roof. Just hope they are safe there, as soon as we can get on a camp site we will have to get them out and erect them all.

Anyway, last night we attended Fortitude Valley Rotary Club, in the Pavillion of the Queensland Cricket Club.

They have around 65 members, chartered in 1939, but what surprised me was the number of quite young people who were there. I would guess some of them are in their twenties, certainy a number in their thirties and forties.they are recruiting regularly, and quality members by the looks of it. A lively club also, twilight, the speaker told us about the music scene in Brisbane. Two famous 60's groups come from here, before moving to the UK, The Saints, and another well known group that I can't remember.


What I omitted to mention the other day when I reported on Anzac Day was the buses here. There are dedicated bus routes, either overhead the street or underground, and no other traffic can use them.We came back from George Square, an underground bus station, to Chermside on these routes, three miles of roads completely clear of traffic, even with the bus stops overhead. What a fantastic idea- and quite cheap too- just a pound for about 6 or 7 miles!
My next report will be from Kuala Lumpur- we have a couple of days there before we go on to Ipoh. A night flight tonight though- not looking forawrd to that!

Lest we forget.

It's Anzac Day here, the day when Australia remembers those who have died in all the wars since the first world war. The day commemorates the Galipoli landings in 1915, which the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) took a major role.

This morning the services took place at 5-30am, before dawn, the time when the Anzacs went ashore, and met fierce opposition from the Turkish hordes onshore.

Later the parades started, we went down into the town to watch, and were amazed at the crowds there. I think there would be in excess of half a million people of all ages just watching. The parade took over two hours to go by, led by a force in the dress of  first world war diggers, who got a huge cheer from the crowd.

Representatives from every branch of the \Australian services followed, some thousands on the parade, along with many veterans, some of whom made brave efforts to march along, and some who had to be driven in Jeeps and the like.

As they passed us many of the units saluted us, or at least we thought they were, it was later that we realised that we were stood in front of the Anzac Memorial and the eyes left was of course for that!

Later in the parade representatives of many overseas forces passed us, one of the strongest was the British, because of course there are many ex-pats here. They were followed by groups from other Commonwealth countries, and even France had a contingent from the Foreign Legion..

It was heartening to see the many young people who took part, some of whom proudly wore the medals of their fallen fathers and grandfathers, marching along with their units.

They do this so well over here, they are truly proud of their forces and will not forget the sacrifices that have been made in their name, and bearing in mind that there are at least another dozen parades in the suburbs of Brisbane, the turnout was absolutely huge.

Later while walking about the city we found out that the show Annie is on here, and there was a matinee on today. We went along to the theatre on the off chance of getting tickets, to be told it was completely sold out. However we decided to wait to see if there were any returns, and we were rewarded with two of the best tickets in the house- tenth row right in the centre stalls! The show was fantastic, the kids stole the show of course, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house at the end.

Add in a great meal at the local RSL club, and it all adds up to a great day in Brisbane, tomorrow it is packing and making ready for our trip to Malaysia.

Ride 'em cowboy.....

I hate horses - in fact I just hate large animals- they are unpredictable and usually manage to bite or kick me when I get near them. So it was with a great deal of trepidation that I went along with Anne's wish to go on the Numinbah Valley Adventure trail, riding an 'orse to "spectactular scenic lookouts, beautiful rock pools, ancient volcanic caves lush rainforest and much more".

Numinbah Valley was "about three quarters of an hour from Tweed Heads", it took us twice that, and when we got there we found that we were a party of around fifteen, mostly young people. I've never ridden an 'orse in my life, so by the time we all got mounted and ready to go ( I had to be helped on mine, who was called McCloud) it took a full hour. So off we went, uphill, along the top (spectacular views!) Plodding along was quite comfortable, McCloud behaved himself except when we stopped, at which time he got the munchies and put his head down to graze- and I nearly slid down his neck.

So on we went, Anne plodding along behind me on Fred, a most amenable horse. Of course, she has done it before, and had no fear of these huge creatures.

At one point our guide said it was time to break into a trot, Mccloud did, I nearly didn't and had to call a halt before I fell off. My horse was very good- he realised I was terrified and when I started screaming "whoa" and pulled his head off his shoulders he stopped. That's enough of that.

We passed though streams, up hills, and down dales, until we eventually arrived at a river, which, we had been told, contained water "cleaner than our bottles". It was too- well, the horses liked it.

At that point we lit a fire, and put the billy on by the billabong. It didn't take long to boil, and throwing a few tea leaves into it we enjoyed a great cup of tea, along with 'damper' a kind of hot Ausie bread which they eat in the outback. I must say it was rather good.
Once a jolly swagman etc.......
A couple of the guys jumped in the pool for a swim, but we didn't fancy getting back on the horses all wet, and perhaps sliding off them too.

So we plodded on back to the farm, McCloud behaved impeccably, even when I tried to get him to trot again he was having none of it. He was thinking of me really- or maybe if I'd fallen off he would have had to stand in the naughty corner and not get his tea....

Hey- it was a great day, we rode for about three hours, and I really enjoyed it. However I decided that Numinbah valley was misnamed, it should have been Numinbum valley.  Hi-ho silver.......



A quiet time

This last few days have been rather quiet, done a bit of fishing,(caught nowt again!) dried the car out twice ( got a leak on the passenger side), and moved up the coast a bit to a place called Tweed HeadsAnother nice place, right on the border of NSW and Queensland- in fact the border runs through the middle of the town, except that Queensland calls it Coolangatta.  There are some really great beaches along this coast, running for miles, and after the storms we have had in the past few days the surf is really running high. Everywhere we go people are surfboarding, although very few seem to get up and ride the surf in. Maybe that's what it is about- just lying there going over the waves.

They have a place here called the Devil's Causeway, similar to the one in Northern Ireland, but not as extensive or indeed as good. However from the top there are views all the way up to Southport, and down to Byron Bay, maybe 20 miles each way. Most of it is beach, white sand and surf.
We are rather killing time here before we move on up to Brisbane to make ready for the Malaysia/Thailand trip,

To fill an evening we went to a dinner show at a wildlife park, just a couple of miles up the coast. It was mainly Aboriginal dancing, but we did see a few animals as well. The food was pretty good, mostly, and the beer was better! Just Bl****y expensive at $8 a bottle. (£5). Anne enjoyed feeding the Roos and the emu, and we got to see a Tasmanian Devil, I'll put a few pics on at the end

The dancing was OK, while we weren't allowed to photograph the Abos we were allowed to film the Torres Island Straits people, something to do with keeping an image of the people when they are dead I think. Anyway, what was very good was a toddler, maybe two years old, who could dance almost as good as her parent, mimicking their every move. It really was a delight to watch her

To fill time a trip up the coast to have a look at the various theme parks was the order of the day. We weren't very impressed- most of them were about swimming pools- wet and wild type. However as we were passing Sea World we decided to give it a whirl, and it was quite good. In particular there was a show with Jet Skis, quite sensational and daring. I didn't know Jet Skis would do somersaults! There was the usual Dolphin and shark shows, and a couple of rides. I was rather glad we got in at pensioners rates as I would have hated to pay full price!

The Koala is real-and quite cuddly. But I think she might have been a little more interested in the males of the species rather than us!

Is that rain?

Yes it bl***y well is! with a vengeance! Yamba is certainly a beautiful resort area, but at the moment it is the wettest place in Oz! All of this coast is getting it, from Brisbane down to Sydney and beyond, but Yamba has twice been mentioned on the Sydney TV news!Night before last we had 64mm of rain, continuous downpour for over four hours, which made the site look like a lake, but last night we had continuous thunderstorms and over 100mm of rain. In our language that adds up to 7 inches over two nights. a hell of a lot.

We are fortunate, we are in a nice cabin, on stilts, so we are quite dry. We feel very sorry for a couple in front of us in a tent, with four children, who are continually baling water off their pitch to try and keep the water from under their tents.

We had intended to spend just a couple of nights here, but there is little point in moving on up the coast where the rain is nearly as bad. In any case, we have a problem, Betty is taking in water in the passenger side, the carpets are sodden, and our suitcase in which we keep our best clothes is damp also. We have had to unpack and lay out to dry, so we have rebooked here until Friday. We are unsure where and how it is getting in, we will certainly have to find the leak before we can travel on. At least we are comfortable in our little cabin, most of the tenters have packed up and gone home, not the guy in front of us though- he is determined to face it out.

But the rain does not deter the ardent surfers, this coast is a surfer's heaven, just a little further north is a resort called Surfer's Paradise. A break in the rain yesterday let me sit and watch them for a time while Anne went to beautify herself at the hairdressers.

The beach is sandy, with rocks at eather side of the cove, ideal conditions for these people, who will spend most of the days just waiting for the best wave. Most are without wetsuits, so the water must be pretty warm, I don't do sand and sea so I didn't try it.

This place and the rain will give us a chance to relax a little before the hectic trip to Malaysia and Bangkok coming up next week, sitting around reading and watching TV is quite a change from charging about, which is what we usually do.

Last night we went to Yamba Rotary Club, whose meetings are held in the local bowling club. Many sporting clubs and RSLs (Like our British Legion) in Oz serve budget meals, and will allow visitors to sign in providing they live over 5k away.  A lot of Rotary clubs meet in these places to keep costs down and are quite good. I had a good meal of roast beef, but Anne wasn't keen on hers, a chicken snitzel. That's how it goes!.

The club has a very high profile in their community, we saw seats throughout the area, and a couple of welcome signs as we arrived in town. They have also marked out a few walking trails around the coast, with Rotary wheels in prominence along the trails.

So we are stuck here for a couple more days, as I look out of the window it is teeming down again, not a break in the clouds, the tent next door is starting to float down the site..........

A night out.

In Inverell there is a natural amphitheatre by the river, terraced with seating, and in the evening there was a charity concert with several local bands there. Raising money for breast cancer, a couple of local girls had organised it, and it was extremely well supported, even though we had been told it was not well advertised. With the backdrop of a weeping willow and a fountain in the middle of the river, the evening was a very relaxing end to our visit to the town.

Up early on the Sunday morning, we made our way down again towards the coast, some 250k away. Passing through no less than three national parks, we took the occasional short detour to see the sights. This waterfall is about 100 ft high, and falls into a pool just right for swimming. A lot of this area is virgin rain forest, with massive eucalypts and tree ferns lining the road. The weather today is not as good as we have had, the occasional short shower washes over us as we travel, and the clouds are quite low over the hills. But we can't complain, we have had great weather in the main, and now it is getting a lot warmer as we approach sea level.

Some of the roads in this area are very steep. up to one in three, sometimes as long as three kilometres. With the weight we are carrying we have to be very carefull not to overheat the brakes as we descend, often changing down into second gear to save them. Although we are descending generally, as we go uphill we have to be careful that Betty doesn't overheat the engine. We have a long way to go yet, so we treat her like a very good friend. 

One of the many things we love about Australia is that wherever we go we can find somewhere nice to stop to have lunch. Often by rivers or great viewpoints, these lay-bys always have seating of some kind, toilets, and sometimes BBQs, and there are so many of them that we very often have them to ourselves. Get the kettle out, make lunch and relax for a few minutes, the surroundings are superb!

We are now at the coast, a place called Yamba halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, a lovely resort area, great for boating and fishing, and of course the great Aussie backpackers. We are starting to come across 'Wicked' campers again, this one demonstrates the Aussie sense of humour, which sometimes can be a little crude......

Onwards and downwards....

It was with considerable reluctance that we left our little cottage by the river, of all the places we have stayed that was certainly the most memorable, and the most beautiful. However we have to get on, to be in Brisbane in a few days time, a long way to go and a lot to see.

One of the first places we passed through was a little gold mining village called Gulgong, Which boasts the oldest Opera House in Australia still operating. Started in the goldrush days, Dame Nellie Melba sang here, and a then famous boxer had his last bout. Many very old buildings line the main street, a rather quaint little town.

We are now passing into an area called New England, and it does indeed remind us of home, particularly as we passed Lake Windamere, (no- that's the way they spell it!), the water and the hills around it are just like our Lake District.

An overnight stop at Tamworth enabled me  to attend Tamworth Sunrise Rotary Club, only chartered 30 months ago, and already they have forty seven members. They are to induct another two next week. What is their secret? I don't know, but it works, bearing in mind that there are five clubs in a town half the size of Carlisle.

Meeting a dentist there enabled me to have my tooth sorted, so before we travelled on I made myself handsome again.

The president reccommended that we travel by Inverell. Another very nice area, we are on a site just outside the town. So today we are seeing what it has to offer, and the first visit is to the 'National' Motor Museum. There are around 150 vehicles of all types here from 1908 to the seventies, many famous marques are represented. I particularly liked the commercial vehicles, a Coca Cola delivery van caught my eye.

This afternoon it rained a little, but that didn't stop us from visiting a Pioneer Village. We have seen quite a few of these in our travels, but none as good as this one. Manned by vollunteers, most of the buildings have been gifted to them from outlying villages and farms, as have most of the contents. We enjoyed a great couple of hours there, and as a bonus a wedding took place in the grounds while we were there.

A lazy day...

Well- sort of. We had intended to travel on today, further north towards Brisbane, where we have to be in 12 days time. But it really is so nice here, if we had the time we would spend a week.

But we did do a visit- we had to go up to Lithgow, so we took in a visit to the Small Arms Factory there, and their museum,

Hundreds of rifles, bayonets,machine guns, and handguns of all varieties were on display, from flintlocks to the very latest. Some were actually made in the factory behind the museum, which is still in operation.

Opened in 1912, the factory was well hidden from any possible aggressor during both world wars, and produced 303 rifles from that date to 1953. They are now manufacturing a Belgian Rifle for the Aussie and NZ armies.

After lunch back at the farm we took a gentle stroll around Hartley, a village close to where we are staying.Started as a stockade in the early 19th century to store cattle for the convicts and their gaolers making the road, it developed into a substantial town very quickly. However when the railway bypassed Hartley in 1858 in passed into disuse, leaving a remarkable time capsule of a time largely unchanged since the mid nineteenth century.

Thed courthouse, built in 1838 and not used as such since 1888, looks like it could have been built yesterday, and most of the other buildings were in a remarkably good state of repair.  Just a pity that we were unable to be given a guided tour, and get into the buildings, but most were well described on the notices outside.

Back to the farm, and a gentle walk down to the river. It really is beautiful, but due to a flood which swept down the valley only a month ago has many trees and branches piled up against the bank.Ohilip and Andrew would have a field day here- there is enough wood to keep their fires going for twenty years!

It was cold last night- Rosemary, the owner, reckons that there was 2 degrees of frost, so we have the log fire on early. As I write it is as warm as toast in here, we are going to have a really snug night in front of the fire.

It's been an up and down day.....

Well- its been interesting. We've spent most of it at the top of a hill, or many hills actually! Some of the views we have seen rival many we have seen before, but the Blue Mountains are different, in that there is a constant blue hue which comes from the gum trees below.
Unlike other places we have been, however, we had to share this day with hundreds of other tourists, but we can't have everything.

The road up to this area was originally built by convicts around 1813, many died while working in chains. The road nowadays is dual carriageway, but driving some of the hillside roads gives us some idea how difficult it must have been.  Katoomba Rotary club has erected a bronze memorial to them in a prominent tourist spot, telling that gangs toiled for over thirty years to build the 'Great Western Highway' from Pernrith, where we stayed last night, to Bathurst, some 160 kms. (100 miles)

At Scenic World, a major tourist trap in Katoomba, we found a cable railway that is reputed to be the steepest in the world. Running from the cliff top to the valley below, some 350 mtrs, its steepest angle is 52 degrees, and the seats have to reflect that. There were queues all day to go down, and also at a cable car to come back up. In the valley itself is a jurassic rainforest walkway, with descriptive boards giving information about the various plants and animals that inhabit the forest floor. Yet another cable car runs across the valley, it has a glass floor which would not appeal to everyone.

The cable car was originally built to take coal out of the valley from the mines below, long since worked out. An interesting fact is that the miners built fires inside the mine to vent in fresh air, something I would have thought dangerous.

It has taken us most of the day to see the mountains and valleys, so we have to make onwards to Hartley, a historic village which we shall see tomorrow. In the meantime we have to find our accommodation, Glenroy Cottages. After a deal of argument over the map, which I won, we arrived at the gate, literally a farm gate, but no sign of where we were to check in. We drove over the farm eventually coming to a couple of cottages, both empty. Maybe this is where we will sleep tonight. No-one to be seen anywhere, we turned around to go to a bungalow on top of the hill, to be met by the farmer who told us the cottage below us was indeed ours for the night.

What a lovely place! We look down over the Coxs River, which provides much of Sydney's water lower down, have our own log fire, (we need it- it's bl***y cold up here!) Satellite TV, all we could need. Far away from the crowds, even some distance from the other cottages, it is heaven. See you tomorrow!