Blue Remembered Hills

Had a good few days in Sydney with Chris at the conference (mostly) and Judy doing the tourist bits we didn't do last time we were here in 2008. Had a great apartment right in the centre by Chinatown, so good cheap food nearby. Visited the Maritime Museum and saw a boat made of beer cans (empty of course) which they race at Darwin and a replica of Cook's Endeavour.

Managed a walk from Bondi Beach along the coast which was very pleasant.

In 2008 we had a day in the Blue Mountains and said we had to come back, so here we are for 5 days, after dealing with the worst car hire company ever (East Coast Rentals). Anyway, it's fabulous walking country and stunning scenery. It was cool and cloudy when we arrived but walked for a couple of hours from the Three Sisters.

Does this remind you of anyone?

Next day was sunny and warm when we did their 'Grand Canyon'...

… but had a good excuse to rest on the way back up to watch a pair of lyre birds scratching about in the undergrowth. We liked the scenery here in the Grose valley better then the rest. Then had a great meal at the Katoomba RSL – highly recommended if you ever get here.

Sunday Chris did National Pass, along one of the cliff faces and almost got back before the thunderstorms while Judy did a shorter walk to the best waterfall (although Chris did lots!), saving herself for Monday.

Monday dawned cold and grey and eventually turned into a typical (bad) Dartmoor day. But we were taken on a guided bush walk by an 'aboriginal' and had a lot of culture to absorb. Judy even tried her hand at ethnic painting. Very interesting and absorbing.

Still unseasonally cold but still had a good day's walking. Great memories of cliffs and waterfalls.

Now off to Mackay to stay with Donna and Jacko, and help them move house (again) but not 1000km this time!

North of Perth

Spent the first night at Cervantes, a small fishing/holiday village then went to the Pinnacles Desert National Park. Surreal landscape of thousands of limestone pillars. Saw emus and a Western Blue-tongue lizard which tried to see Chris off its patch.

Then went up to Kalbarri for three nights. Rented a small house for the same price as a caravan. Did a 3-hour walk through the Murchison River Gorge – stunning. Explored the coast as well but spent both afternoons on the beach.

Then continued north to Carnarvon with the idea of heading inland to Mount Augustus, stopping on the way at Gascoyne Junction. Fortunately we stopped in the information centre in Carnarvon who told us that Gascoyne Junction had been badly damaged in the floods three years ago and there was nowhere to stay – so we overnighted in Carnarvon. Then it was a 1000km round-trip to Mount Augustus, mostly on dirt roads and no town for the middle 600km, only Mount Augustus Station which had sort-of cabins in which to sleep. We were carrying food and water for 3 days, so no problem. Then up at 4:15 am to start walking up the mountain at first light. It was 25 degrees when we set off and 35 degrees when we got back down 5 hours later! But we had climbed the biggest rock in the world and the highest point in Western Australia.

Then we drove back to Carnarvon, but about 250km away we came across an Aborigine family who had broken down. We were the first car to pass and they'd been there 2 hours. Took mother and kids to Gascoyne Junction to get help, then on to Carnarvon – civilisation!

Next stop was Coral Bay where we lazed on the beach and booked a snorkelling trip to the Ningaloo Reef for the next day. Fantastic! Coral, amazing fish, sharks, turtles and the highlight, swimming above a manta ray and watching it feed. Never seen anything like it. It was a 7-hour trip with 3 hours of snorkelling – better then the Great Barrier Reef, partly because it's so close inshore, but also because of the marine life. Unforgettable, but no photos, sorry.

Then to Shark Bay where Judy brought her hat home – when we were staying with Jill and Andy in Malaysia we visited the Cameron Highlands. Judy had lost her hat, but hanging on a bush in the jungle was a hat saying “Shark Bay Australia”. Didn't have a clue where it was, but we do now! Stayed in Denham, the most westerly town on Australia, for 3 days.

Went to Monkey Mia to see the dolphins that come and visit almost every day. Never been so close to wild dolphins, and the real treat was they were two mothers with calves.

Next day was a long 4-wheel drive up to Cape Peron in the Francois Peron National park. Deflated the tires for lots of sand, but got a bit bogged with only about 15km to go, so reversed out. Met a very helpful ranger who checked our tyre pressures – still too high! Let more air out then almost floated over the deep sand all the way to the end. Watched a group of about 10 manta rays in the water below Skipjack Point, and, we think, a big old dugong.

Third day we visited the church in Denham, made out of blocks of compressed shells cut out of a quarry with a saw.

Then to a wonderful aquarium where we learned a lot about fish, turtles and especially sharks – very appropriate for Shark Bay. Then to Eagle Bluff where we watched sharks swimming below, before a long afternoon on a beach all to ourselves.

Have just done a long day's drive back to Perth to spend one last night with our friends Brian and Ann, then off to Sydney tomorrow so that Chris can attend a conference.

Big things in the south of Western Australia

Our second week in WA was our first week touring. Headed south to a place called Busselton where whales rest on their way south. Saw whales from the cliffs at Cape Naturaliste then went on a boat to get amongst them – superb, but impossible to photograph!

Headed south-east towards Walpole and stopped on the way to climb a tree. Diamond Tree was a forest fire lookout and you get up it by a 51-metre ladder. Although ladder is a bit of an exaggeration - it's reinforcing rods hammered into the tree at regular intervals so you can get to the top. Judy did it all!

Toured around Walpole and saw massive trees – karri and tingle trees which are both huge varieties of eucalypt. Fortunately now saved from loggers as this is the only area where they grow.

Lunch on the beach at 'Conspicuous Cliff' then off to see the Natural bridge near Albany which is a lot bigger than it looks here.

Then off to the Stirling Ranges where we climbed Bluff Knoll, the highest point in southern WA. Two hours up (only 3km) then down a bit quicker! The views were fantastic, even from part way up...

… as were the wild-flowers which covered the higher slopes.

We took the long way back to Perth via the famous Wave Rock.

It was much more interesting 20Km away at The Humps and Mulka's Cave which had aboriginal hand paintings.

Stopped at a nice motel in Corrigin on the way back as we were kn*****ed. Swapped car for a 4WD and now heading north from Perth, up the Indian Ocean.

Greetings from Perth

We got to Perth early last Saturday morning after the flight from Heathrow was delayed 4 hours which meant that we missed our connection in Singapore. But as we were with Quantas all the way, they sorted it quickly. So after about 3 hours sleep (the hostel kept our room for us), we went to Fremantle to see an Aboriginal display which was very good – dancing and digeridoo music.

Next day we went to a suburb called Subiaco where there was a great market and some interesting traditional old houses.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Chris was working but Judy managed to do the tourist bit in Perth city, especially King's Park and the Botanic Gardens.

Thursday we picked up a hire car and went via Guildford, an interesting old town with more old buildings and the Aussie Eton School, then spent the evening with an old friend and family. Next day went for a long hike in the John Forrest National Park up in the Perth Hills (Darling Range). 

 

Cooled our feet in a waterfall near the end.

Then off to spend a couple of nights with other old friends from our walking group who showed us around the area.

Tomorrow we're off to the southern bit of Western Australia for a week to see the beaches, trees, wildflowers and mountains and whatever else takes our fancy – nothing planned. Then back to Perth to change our car for a 4WD to head a long way north into the outback  until the end of November.

Busy Times

Well, the invasion happened at the beginning of September.  14 walkers arrived from Devon (1 from Wales) and spread themselves around Montreal.  The weather was superb all week, a little hot for some, and a good time was had by all.  We walked, feasted on French lunches, drank and sang in the evenings under starlit skies, saw some of the sights and languished by the pools of the respective accommodations.  We hope that now our whereabouts is known people will return when in the area.

While the group were here I had a message from my mum saying that my nephew was getting married suddenly to his Indonesian girlfriend.  The wedding was to be in Jakarta.  Could we go?  Fortunately we had a week in between two other commitments and were able to book flights and a hotel.

First we had to recover from the group visit, tidy up and get back to normal, then we had a long weekend walking in the Spanish side of the Pyrenees (Sierra de Guara) with our walking group here.  We left at 6am on Friday morning arriving in Spain in the evening.  On the way we visited a sanctuary which is enormous, a place for travellers and pilgrims.  Beautiful architecture, mosaics etc. but one does wonder if the money would have been better spent on the people of the area.  Anyway the hotel was good with a pool (needed as it was very hot).  We walked Sat, Sun and Mon leaving for home in the afternoon.  I managed short walks of about 4 hours so was quite pleased, Chris of course did the long ones.  Spectacular countryside and pretty mountain villages.

Arrived home late Mon night and were on the plane for Jakarta Tues pm.  Jakarta is huge, polluted and noisy.  The traffic never stops.  We did manage to find backpacker area (the only place where there are bars as far as we could tell).  We did a tour of the port which was very interesting, visited the museum and did loads of shopping in the covered clothes market which is huge.  So much stuff!  To start with we thought it expensive until we realised that the prices quoted were for batches of 12 items!

So on to the wedding.  So glad we went as we were 'in loco parentis' for the day as my nephew's parents are hippies and have no money.  I had the full make up treatment - even false eyelashes, and hair back-combed and lacquered until stiff as a board.  We were provided with traditional dress and then had the ceremony itself.  This involved lots of talking among the men agreeing the wedding contract and then the bride arrived and vows and rings exchanged, in all about 1.5 hours.  Fortunately there was an MC who translated things into English.  After this there was a bit of refreshment and a change of clothes for the evening reception.  Baubles, bangles and beads were the order of the day.  We as 'parents' were up on the stage receiving all the guests (about 1,000).  2 hours later we got some food and it was all over.  A really great experience.

We arrived back on a Tues midday and were off again the next morning to the UK.  Had a great 10 days catching up with friends and family (Chris did a bit of work to keep his hand in).  Came back several pounds heavier as everyone had cooked yummy food.   The weather was foul while in Devon and made us realise why we are here.

So now we are back for 2 weeks before going to Australia for 2 months.  Lots of things to organise, people to see, events to go to, so no time to be bored! 

The house is having its outside coat on which will hopefully be finished before we go. 

Other than that not a lot of progress as no time but would like to tidy the garden a bit before we leave.  Next blog probably from Oz or next year!

Waiting for the invasion!

It's been 8 weeks since Judy's fall and she's improving all the time.  She's getting some physiotherapy and has finally shed the metal corset.  That was a relief, it was far too hot and sweaty.  She can now climb the ladders again (with care!) so the spare bed which she was sleeping in downstairs is now up in the spare room ready for visitors.  Also got the office finished.  Hooray, things are tidier and can now find paperwork which has been residing under the bed for a couple of months.  The computer has also gone back upstairs to the office. 

The second week in August was Montreal fete with a big mediaeval fair on the Tuesday evening.  Chris had volunteered to help and ended up helping to cook confit de canard - they served 360 as well as the same number of chicken legs, 325 kilos of chips, over 1000 meals in total.  Thursday night was a short walk and then Friday to Sunday was constant partying, although we were helping.  Judy sold meal tickets, Chris helped set up the bar, and so it went on.  But we did take Sunday night off to watch the end of the Olympics.

Talking of which, what a god-send for Judy.  As she couldn't work she had to do something useful so watched all she could and shouted for Team GB!  I'm sure they only did so well cos of my support!  I'm so glad we have our satellite trained on Astra 2 so we can get Brit tele.

It's been flat out on the house trying to get the first spare bedroom ready for our walking group visit next week.  A friend came to help Chris put up the plasterboard which took all of one day, but then he could plaster the joints (getting better at that), paint, lay the floor etc on his own.  Then another couple helped get the floorboards upstairs. 

So today we finished assembling IKEA furniture and it's habitable if not perfectly finished. 

Spent another jolly day with the quilles (skittles) teams at the French Championship.  Unfortunately no-one did as well as expected, but the food and drink flowed as usual, the sun shone and it was a jolly day out.

We did manage to take some time off last week when we could see the end of the bedroom in sight.  Slobbed in the sunshine at some of the local swimming lakes for the best part of three days - it has been hot!  In fact, it's been too hot for our lettuces which died despite watering.

Yesterday we went out for lunch at a nearby village - it was billed as an Asterix theme, magic potion to start and did we eat a lot of roast boar!  We drank far too much to drive home so walked the 7km back.  Judy managed fine and it did sober us slightly.  Didn't need food in the evening!

So now we wait for the English invasion - 14 walkers/party goers descending on Montreal Monday for a week.  Not all staying with us I hasten to add.