nickharris87

Monday 2nd March 2015

Up at 8am for a nice FaceTime chat with Christopher to find out how his new job is progressing, and got updates from home. This morning there is a nice blue sky a few white clouds. We went down for breakfast, it is the normal fare. Plan today is Bondi Beach, for a chill day.

Sue borrowed a couple of towels from reception, then we headed out to catch bus 333 out to the beach. We had a bit if a hiccup when we got the bus on the wrong side of the road, went about 250 yards and finished back at Circular Quay! Walked back up to the stop on the other side of the road and after a few minutes the same bus came along and we got it!

The route out to Bondi took us past Hyde Park site of the old Marriott that now appears to be converted to condos. It was a good run out to the beach through Bondi Junction. We got off bus and walked to beach, it was cloudy but warm. I got changed in the huge free changing rooms and we walked onto the lovely soft sand.

We laid our towels out like proper tourists and had a pleasant couple of hours on the beach watching the people, paddling in the sea and walking along the sand. i didn’t bother having a swim. The water wasn’t too cold, but wasn’t as hot as Port Douglas. The waves were really powerful though and it is a great place. The sun broke through the clouds every now and again making it very warm. There is even free, council provided, free wi-fi on the sand.

Once we had had our fill of the beach life we walked up to the big cafe, where we both had a coffee and Sue and her favourite toasted banana bread. I had some carrot cake.once we had eaten we walked back up to the top, taking loads of photos as we did, then got the 333 bus to Bondi Junction. This area is one huge shopping area with a big Westfield Mall and lots of shopping streets. Our first call was the Bondi Junction Apple store for the obligatory Facebook check in.

In the mall itself we made our way to Target, where I bought some new three quarters, as my current pair are well ready for a wash. Sue a got a new long skirt. We then wandered the other shops in the huge mall. We decide that we would eat here, as the lounge food had become a bit samey. There is no shortage of places to eat – there are at least two food courts and then a ‘restaurant precinct’ which we assume is a cut above a food court.

In the precinct we were given a voucher by a girl outside a Mexican Taquenta called Guzman y Gomez. They were offering half price $5 burritos and $5 Corona beer, so we decided to give them our custom. We both had chicken burrito and a beer and shared some quesadillas – very nice they were too. Once we had eaten it was after six pm and most of the smaller shops were shut – only the anchors remained open. We went to the bus station and got the 333 along the very busy streets back to the city.

On the way back to the hotel we bought postcards then went to the lounge where the hot choice was salt and pepper calamari,so eating out was good choice. We had a drink then went down to the room for the big pack and another reasonably early night.

Sunday 1st March 2015.

Absolutely glorious blue skies this morning, the forecast is for it to be hot – but for afternoon thunderstorms. We were up by 8am and went up for the usual lounge breakfast – a good way to set up the day. Before we went out we went down to the fourth floor to have a look at the pool and gym – all the times we have stayed here,we had never seen it before – always something more exciting to do – it is very impressive, with a big spa pool.

After this we had walk out to in the hot sunshine to Circular Quay, there was a P&O cruise liner moored up – not as big as yesterday’s. the Quay is very busy, as normal we walked along and round the back of the Opera House, where we paused to watch a lone seal, that appeared to be performing in the water.

Our destination this morning is the Botanical Gardens – a wonderful place that I could visit again and again without getting bored – there is so much to see, be it plants, animals, birds or just people watching – we went in through the Queen Elizabeth II gates, and just wandered . We took photos of trees, plants and lots of other things, including suck in a tree, fish in the pond and parrots on a fountain. Eventually went exited the gardens through the Woolloomooloo Gate and walked down to look out over Woolloomooloo Bay to Finger Wharf. This is a fabulous development of condos which each have parking for boat outside and great views – when I win the lottery I am buying one!

Making our way round the bay, we went past the Andrew (Boy) Charlton Swimming pool and the Navy ships moored on the other side of the Bay to Mrs Macquarie’s Point and Chair. We have never walked this far round and we were rewarded with another fantastic angle giving views of the Bridge and Opera House. We then walked back through the gardens out to Macquarie Street and then into the city through Martin Place which last time were here was lined with motor cycles in a display to celebrate Australia Day, but has since gained infamy as the scene of the siege and shooting earlier this year.

Clouds have started too appear so we decided to stick with plan A, which is a shopping afternoon. We walked to George Street and managed to grab some wi-fi then used the Opal Bus app to work out the one we wanted to catch – after a couple of false starts we eventually got a bus at the corner of George Street and Park Street out to Birkenhead Point shopping mall. We christened our Opal cards and were charged $2.50 for the ride.

The mall was clear to see as we crossed over a big river bridge, but we needn’t have worried as most of the bus’s passengers had the same intention and there was a mass exodus. We crossed the road and walked to the Mall, the entrance was slightly convoluted, as it had us going into the car park and down two levels, but we made it eventually. It is a good big mall and we made our way to the food court overlooking the river. The views over river were very familiar and we recognised them from our ferry trip to the Olympic Stadium on the last trip. We went to Coles for salads and a drink. I had a nice Lamb salad and Sue had chicken.

After we had eaten, we split up and wandered the big mall – I went to the Asic’s Outlet and got and Aussie cricket polo shirt, as I was wandering it clouded over some more, then rained very heavily, so it had been a good move to get indoors. I even bought a lottery ticket, so that I can buy the condo on Finger Wharf. It is a luck dip for two draws – Monday and Wednesday. There are some really good shops and some real bargains but nothing I had to have. Sue did get a long skirt. When we met up we headed for a bakery near Coles and had a cake and a coffee.

At 5.30pm we walked for the bus and just as we got to the stop it started to RAIN, and boy! did it rain? We dived on the bus and had a good run back through town, occasionally hitting a mega puddle. All the people who got one were soaked – a lot in their evening finery ready for a night on the town. Where the bus stopped, we were able to run to a back door into the hotel, even though it had eased off a fair bit by then.

In the lounge, the hot dishes are pork in breadcrumbs and spinach ricotta, plus the usual salads meats and cheese. We had our food and drink but it was still naff weather, so we decided to go down to spa on the fourth floor for a jacuzzi, to ease our weary bones.

Saturday 28th February 2015.

It was nice to wake up to blue skies this morning. We have another unhurried morning, which is nice. Sue got sorted and debated whether to take clothes to the laundrette. I got here a coffee then went for my breakfast to get last night’s diary done and I also managed to get several days uploaded to the blog.

Once all that was done, and we had decided have enough clean clothes, we headed out. A nice walk up to an along George Street. It is very busy with Saturday shoppers and lots of tourists and it was nice to spot places that were familiar from previous visits. We made it through the hostel area to Chinatown then over Paddy’s Market which is a huge multi storey market and shop complex with a large number of stalls on the ground floor which include a massive fruit and veg market.

It is a great place to browse around, so we split up. There are very, very cheap t-shirts and souvenirs. There are also a number of stall selling very cheap sports tops, but all of the tops are for US NBA, NFL and MLB teams – a lot of them were old,the Red Sox tops had Kevin Youkilis’ name on the back and he left the Sox in 2012. Sue got a t-shirt, but I didn’t bother. I was after a ‘Big Bash’ team shirt but it would appear that the Aussie authorities are only happy to allow dodgy shirts of non-Aussie sports teams.

Outside the market is the huge new Qantas Credit Union Arena, advertising tickets for Billy Idol, Ed Sheeran, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue and Spandau Ballet to name a few. This led us into the Darling Harbour area – we had a look round here last time we were in Sydney, but it appears to have expanded somewhat. It is also expanding further with a massive new Convention Centre springing up – there are lawns, and a huge child’s play park. The Imax claims to be the biggest in the world. They were setting up for a display of Law Enforcement with police bikes, cars and even a helicopter, but that wasn’t on today.

The main draw at the harbour today is Dragon Boat racing – clearly taken VERY seriously here with lots of teams, all with team shirts with proper logos and looking very professional – it attracts all ages and has mixed teams – we were amazed at the number of folk on the wrong side of sixty who were taking part – it is very well organised – as you would expect – there are six boats racing a short sprint course – each had 20 rowers a steerer and a drum beater to keep their strokes in time.

There are two lots of six boats all shared by the teams, so while one is racing the other set of boats are being loaded up and getting ready to go to the start line – this way the races come thick and fast. A starter gets them all lined up by barking tot he teams to move forward or back until they are all in line and then they are off! We watched a few races from the bank, then went up onto the Plymouth foot bridge to watch some more. Very enjoyable.

The harbour area was very busy and the considerable number of restaurants all seemed to be doing a roaring trade. We walked past Madame Tussaud’s and then to the end of the harbour intending to walk to The Rocks. There are a lot of new buildings springing up here too. As the floors build up they are numbered and to show how long one been going up, some wag had been gong up, some wag had painted November on floor 18, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on floor 21 and a tribute to Phil Hughes ’63 not out’ on floor 22 – they are currently up to floor 29.

It was all fairly quiet in there area, so we climbed up some steps to Kent Street and round to the Harbour Bridge Climb building, where we treated ourselves to a nice ice cream from and Ice Cream Van. We had a look round the shop, but didn’t buy any bridge climb souvenirs – the exchange rate makes them much more attractive now, then when we actually did the climb.

Next stop was The Rocks weekend market, though we did pause for a photo op to three parrots up in a tree level with where they were – they were very close to us and clearly weren’t bothered by us. We both had a mooch round the market, but the prices were clearly aimed at the many, Chinese and other nationality of tour group that were thronging round it. We made our way round to the cruise terminal where the Royal Caribbean boat that we had seen in Cairns, The Rhapsody of the Seas was in the throes of departing – we had another photo op there, then headed back through Circular Quay to the hotel, arriving just after 5.30pm. We dumped our stuff in the room then headed up to the long for pizza and small ‘assorted’ meat pies, as well as some salad and cold meats, some sweet and, of course, our fill of G&T and beer. After the excesses of the past two evenings, we decided to chill in the lounge for the evening before retiring for baths and a reasonably early night.

Friday 27th February 2015.

We woke to a strange noise just before 8am – it turned out to be rain – not just a bit of a shower but a torrential downpour. We looked down at the traffic below and the cars were ploughing through water on the road! Not what you want on a cricket day.

After a nice FaceTime chat with Christopher, we got ourselves sorted. I went and got a coffee for Sue then went back to the lounge to type diary while she washed her hair. I had some fruit and coffee for breakfast and got caught up. By the time I had finished eating, the rain had stopped and there was blue sky in evidence, so we will see what happens. The breakfast buffet here is as good as I remember it – certainly enough to set us up for the day.

Later: The trend to blue sky and sunshine continued, and by about 11am, apart from a few puddles, it was hard to tell it had been raining. Once we were all sorted and ready, we walked to Circular Quay for advice about transport, as this is included in the price of tickets. This is a good deal as the tickets were only about a tenner. We were told that there were a series of shuttle buses from Circular Quay and Central out to the ground. Before we caught the bus we went to a nearby Woolworth’s and got sandwiches and fruit etc. for later.

The bus service was excellent – it was 1pm when we got to the bus stop and there was a bus in – we got on and it set of almost immediately for a formula one type drive through the fairly busy streets. We were dropped at the ground and had a wander outside – there was a steel drum band playing on top of a bus to greet fans in the fan zone – lots of South Africa and West Indies fans mixing and enjoying the now bright sunshine.

This is our second visit to this complex – on our first visit to Australia in 2010 we came to see George Michael at the adjacent rugby stadium. Inside the ground there is a very nice, and very reasonably priced modern food court, and – of course – lots of bars. The players were still on the pitch practicing, so we went down to the edge to take photos. There aren’t too many of the South Africans we recognised apart from AB De Villiers, Dale Steyn and of course Hashim Amla, who played for Notts in 2010. Over on the West Indian side of the pitch, again there were a lot of new players but most eyes were on Chris Gayle who had hit 215 in his last match. The West Indies seems far more laid back, which isn’t a surprise. Their main focus was when they started a quite intense and physical game of five a side football.

Our seats were really good in a fairly sparsely populated part of the ground, close to the pitch and next to the alcohol free zone. The ground isn’t anywhere near full, but the lower tier and the members area have a fair few in. South Africa won the toss and chose to bat. They made a steady but unspectacular start, with Amla pushing and prodding but not going mad. After 20 overs they were 87-1. By the time AB De Villiers came to the crease in the 30th over they were 146-3. Alma had made 65 and du Plessis 62.

That was when the fireworks started! De Villiers was majestic – he hit 162 not out from 66 balls as he and Rilee Rossouw took the West Indies attack apart. They scored 222 in the last 15 overs – De Villiers was smacking it to all parts of the ground and the crowd were going wild – it was fantastic to watch. They broke all sorts of records – AB hit the fastest ever ODI 150 – 64 balls. beating Shane Watson’s previous record by 19 balls. He also hit the fastest 50 (16 balls). The South Africans finished on 408-5 – the highest total ever hit in an ODI in Oz. It was the second highest total ever in the World Cup only India’s 413-7 against Bermuda was higher. The West Indian Captain Jason Holder finished on 1-104 off ten with his last two overs going for 64!

The West Indies innings after this was always going to be a challenge and when Chris Gayle was out for three, we all knew it was going to fade away. At 63-7 it was all over bar the shouting, but a bit of resistance from Jason Holder (56) got them to a semi respectable score of 151 all out, but the winning margin of 257 runs also equalled a World Cup record. The South African spinner Imran Tahir took 5-45 and he was great entertainment value, as every time he took a wicket he ran off waving his arms like he had just won the World Cup.

All in all, great entertainment for the 23,000 plus crowd. The crowd has swelled considerably during the late afternoon and evening, presumably as locals had come in after work. The final impressive act was the bussing away from the stadium. We went outside and there were two orderly queues at the bus stops – one for Central and a much shorter one for Circular Quay. There were also a great long line of busses waiting to get people away – very, very well organised.

In no time at all was were back at Circular Quay and decided to go into The Ship for a beer on a busy Friday night – it was very nice and really welcome – we also had a supper of chicken and feta pizza, as we had only eaten our picnic at the ground.

Back to the hotel about 10.30pm to settle down after another very enjoyable and memorable day.

Up at 0615 and breakfasted with the usual Weetbix and coffee, we were on the road checked out for 0730. It was only a short drive to the airport, it has rained during the night but it is fine now. We drove to the Thrifty car park where we picked the car up from, then dropped the keys off inside – they are much more laid back here about everything, there was no formality just a cheerful thanks and see you again we hope.

Final trip – 325.

There was a massive queue at the Jetstar check in – mainly Chinese people, but the bag drop only had about three people waiting, so we were soon sorted. We went through security and had a coffee while waiting for the plane to board at Gate 18. Today’s plane is an Airbus A321-231. We boarded at 0835 push back was at 0901 and wheels up at 0910. Flight time today is 2 hours 40 minutes.

We made a very tight turn immediately after take off, giving us great views of the airport and the beaches. I spent the entire flight converting the bullet points from about five days of diary to prose, so that I can update the blog. We were again given the coffee and banana muffin deal from our tickets, which was nice. This plane is also very busy, we were impressed by the flight manager who gave us a very detailed briefing abut the emergency exit because we were sitting in the exit row.

Another uneventful flight (which is good). We landed at the domestic terminal and made our way to baggage reclaim – Sue made some enquiries and found our best best would be to get the train to Circular Quay – we thought about getting a bus, but wouldn’t save any money. We bought two tickets for $17 each and went down to the platform – the train was only three minutes away and wasn’t busy at all.

As we got to Circular Quay I got some wi-fi, and there was a message waiting to say our room was ready. We checked into room 2112 on the 21st floor – Sue had spoken to a lady while we were in Melbourne and asked for a room with a bath, and that is exactly what we got – a very nice room with a bath and a shower. Up to the lounge for a coffee and to catch up with the world, to learn that Christopher’s car has packed up AGAIN! It was 0320 in the UK,by the time we got the message so too late to speak to him. We had coffee and cakes and chilled for a while. The weather is okay, but nowhere near as hot as Adelaide or Cairns.

After the coffee, we had a walk out onto Circular Quay. First stop was a cash machine, as we are both running a bit low again. Second stop was the Transit Shop, where Sue has a long chat with a chap who told her our best bet for transport tickets during our stay were the new Opal card, which are more or less the same as Oyster cards in London and Octopus cards in Hong Kong – and the credit on them is valid for ten years. Sue bought two with $25 credit on them.

Following our noses a bit we wandered up to the main shopping street in Sydney – George Street. It is quite busy as there are lots of folk leaving work but it was a pleasant stroll. As we got to Market Street, we saw the State Theatre – on the board outside it said Michael Palin was playing two nights – last night and tonight! We went to the box office and they have tickets left, so we go two. They ranged in price from $95 to $195 and we got some nice seats towards the rear of the stalls for $95. The lady said it was a 2000 seat venue and wasn’t far off sold out. The show starts at 8pm and it was about 5.15pm when we got the tickets.

Back to the hotel to shower and change, then up to the lounge for a bite to eat. I felt a bit funny as it s the first time I have worn long trousers and proper shoes since we left Japan. The food offering was very nice – pork gyoza with sauce, plus the usual salads and cold meats – we managed to put a nice meal together. There were also some nice sweets and, of course, beer, wines and spirits. It was a bit rushed but we ate and drank our fill. The lingo was very busy but the staff worked hard ot clear tables and restock the buffet.

At 7.20pm we made a move and, of course, had to wait ages for the lift. It was a bit of a fast trek back to the theatre, but we made it in plenty of time. The show was very good – the format was Michael Palin being interviewed by a Sydney radio DJ – the first half was about his early life and his travel shows, the second half was about Python and his other films like A Fish Called Wanda. The theatre is very ornate with huge lobby area and a big organ in the stalls. A very nice evening all in all.

The show finished about 10.40pm and everyone left the theatre singing “Always look on the bright side of life”. We walked back to the hotel and got sorted. We checked our tickets and realised the cricket is tomorrow – not Saturday as we originally thought !

Wednesday 25th February 2015.

Up at 7.30am to check out after our usual breakfast of Weetbix and coffee. Apparently we have to empty all the bins in the unit as well as pack cases – this was spelt out on a note left under our door last night – it is to ‘help out the housekeepers’!. The only extras for us to pay at check out, were the pool towels and internet – two things I begrudge having to pay for.

Leaving the hotel, we drove up Macrossan Street. Then drove up Island Point Road to the look out up a very steep hill that is ‘not suitable for caravans!’ it was worth it, we got a great view of four mile beach. Back in the car and off to Quicksilver wharf. We arrived just before ten and all of the all staff were dealing with today’s departure, so we went to watch the boat go then went back in – they had found my glasses – a bit battered, one lens out but easily put right – great news. We had a look round the gift shops, but nothing grabbed Sue.

Clutching my glasses, we headed out of Port Douglas and south. We called at several of the villages / beaches on the way, (Oak Beach, trinity Beach and Yorkey’s Knob) just to have a look round but didn’t stop at any of them for any length of time. We drove right into Cairns and parked up at the official Tourist Info place. A nice lady (Sue) suggested the Mercure or any other near it, as they are a little bit out of the centre and likely to be cheaper. We drove to the Mercure and Sue went in. She managed to get a room for $139 for room 212. She also managed get an upgrade to an exec room because the chap dealing with her was a cricket fan.

Once that was sorted we had a drive back out to the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. – We parked up and bought two return tickets for $73 each, we didn’t get diamond vision (glass bottom). We were a bit hungry so we had lunch in the Canopy Cafe, next to the gift shop. I had a steak and potato pie whilst Sue had Veggie stack – sweet potato, aubergine and other veg warmed up in the microwave plus cups of coffee.

The Skyrail is a 7.5km (4.7 miles) cableway in Barron Gorge National Park. The first stretch is from the station at Smithfield – 14 towers to Red Peak station then we had to change gondolas- From tower 15 to Barron Falls Station then Tower 28 to Kuranda at tower 33. The trip is above the canopy of the rain forest with views of the Barron Fall and over the Barron River to Kuranda Village.

At the village there are lots of shops, market stalls and Aboriginal art and crafts. We walked up the main street and the rain started, a huge storm; then it stopped and the sun came out – very Floridian, we headed back towards station and had an ice cream, then it started again – very heavy warm rain. Waiting for a break in the rain that didn’t come, we walked to the station, there was a short queue before getting on but only for a few minutes. On the way back we got off at Barron Falls Station, we walked along the boardwalk to the lookouts over the spectacular Barron Gorge and Falls. We also saw a Bush Turkey in the trees – it wasn’t bothered by the people at all. There was a bit more rain, but they had supplied umbrellas so it wasn’t a problem.

Back on the Sky Rail to Red Peak Station, there was another boardwalk with spectacular views and good explanation of rain forest botany. We went back down to the bottom with an English lady and then to the car. We drove to the hotel and before going to our room we told the girl reception that I have Accor Platinum card. She tapped the number into the computer and gave us each a free drinks voucher and two codes for free internet, that would normally cost $15 each.

Up to room 212 – it is very nice with settee and bath, the digital TV includes Fox’s cricket channel. We settled in a bit, then went downstairs and after a lot of faffing about in the business centre thanks to the crap net connection, we managed print off boarding passes for tomorrow. Once this was done, we had a drive out to Cairns Central Shopping Mall – Kmart, Target,Coles and Myer are the mall anchors. We split up and had a wander, unfortunately it was 5.30pm and most of the non-anchor stores were in the process of closing. It was still a good mall though, very big by Oz standards. I got two three dollar (£1.50) t-shirts from Kmart, Sue tried on lots of bits but nothing caused the plastic to come out. At Coles we got milk, pop, plastic dishes for Weetbix and sweet for later.

On the way back we decided to get petrol so that we can return the car full tomorrow.

At Caltex Cairns I put in 23.04 litres costing $29.93 @ $1.299 per gallon – trip 318

Back to the hotel to wash and freshen up. We then had a walk next door to the Acacia Court hotel for a buffet meal. We had a look at it before committing and it looked very nice. There were a lot of salads and the cold section also included huge King Prawns and oysters. The hot mains had nice beef, fish, chicken wings and lots of diverse dishes. Sweets were also included, so I had cherry cheesecake and Sue had banana cake. A nice meal and very reasonable price.

Back next door to our hotel to use our free drinks vouchers. I had a Hahn Dry Lager and Sue had G&T. Very nice for nothing – thanks Amex. Back in the room for diary and sorting. The cricket was very good Ireland chasing a big total of 278 made by the UAE, but they did it with three balls to spare to win by two wickets. The internet here is painfully slow and prone to frequent drop outs – we can’t complain as we got it for nothing, but if I had paid $30 for both of us I wouldn’t be happy.

Trip 319.

Tuesday 24th February 2015

Alarm was set for for 0715. We had a nice FaceTime chat with Christopher after his first day at work, which he seemed to have enjoyed, even though he was doing boring computer learning for a a fair bit of it. We had toast and coffee for breakfast, then set off to walk to the harbour.

We got to the Quicksilver offices for 9am, and Sue got our tickets for inner reef trip. At 9.30am she went back in, to find that there had been some cancellations on the other boat so we can go on the big trip to Agincourt Reef. After we swapped our tickets and paid the extra money, we went to Berth 4 to board the huge Quicksilver VIII catamaran. http://www.quicksilver-cruises.com There are lots of Chinese I would estimate that they make up about 75% of the passengers and there are lot of Chinese speaking crew. One of the girls told us there are 450 passengers on board, and about 50 crew. We managed to snag two window seats on the lower deck and we were set to go. They had comp coffee, tea and biscuits available when we were moored but hot drinks are only served in port. They offered comp iced water and cordial all day.

Departure was just a little late at 10.05am and we had a slow cruise out of the harbour to the open Coral Sea, which was as calm as a mill pond. There were several good briefings on the many TV sets around the cabin as we sailed out. One from a Marine Biologist,explaining about the history of the reef and what we may see out there – he particularly emphasised the fish that Disney’s Nemo is based on. There was also a good briefing about snorkelling for those who hadn’t done it before and we took the advice of the crew and paid $7 each for the hire of lycra stinger suits.

After an hour and a quarter we moored up and a huge 50 metre pontoon that is anchored above the reef. We got our masks, snorkels, flippers and stinger suits and got changed – it is very well organised given the numbers they bring out each day. They gave us a buffet lunch before we went into the water. There was a good choice of salad, cold meats, pasta and two hot dishes with steamed rice – hot honey glazed beef and vegetable korma curry.

Once we had eaten we got changed and hit the water – it is truly fantastic, absolutely crystal clear with loads of fish really close to the boat – the water entry was a bit chaotic but once we were in it was okay. Sue did brilliantly, as she doesn’t like putting her head under water, or breathing through her mouth – both of which are pretty much essential in snorkelling, she found it quite difficult. She wasn’t put off though, and overcame her discomfort. The coral reef and the fish were just stunning – it was very well set up – they have ropes attached to buoys to guide those less confident out to the reefs. There are also plenty of activities for others too – those who are Padi qualified can go scuba diving – those who don’t want to swim can put a full diving suit on and go down steps for the underwater experience without the swimming. They also had several submersibles that you can go out in an also an underwater viewing platform on the pontoon.

After being in the water for ages Sue got out and went for a trip in the submersible – I stayed in the water and swam further out and was rewarded with seeing some stingrays on the bottom of the sea. I had one dodgy moment when I swam into a small jellyfish, and it hit one of the very few areas of exposed skin – my lip just below my mask – it looked huge when it was close up and made me jump, but it was actually quite tiny and clearly didn’t sting me.

Sue enjoyed her trip in the submersible and all too soon it was time to get changed and return to the boat. I can’t believe how quickly the day went. On the way back we sat upstairs on the sundeck. It was very cloudy as we got close to land and also quite breezy, as Sue found to her cost when she went to the front of the boat to take a photo and her visor blew off! We had a few drops of rain as we neared the port, but not enough to make us shelter indoors.

When we docked I went into the gift shop and treated myself to a Quicksilver polo shirt. and then we walked back to the unit. When we got back I realised I had misplaced my reading glasses. We got showered and changed and then headed out to a restaurant near the dock called Hog’s Breath Cafe which is one in a chain of about 80 around Oz. It wasn’t very busy and we got a table straight away. To start we shared Sicilian loaded potato skins. For main I had – Serious Steak Burger, which is – Double steak, double cheese, lettuce, red onion rings, beetroot, tomato, grilled onions and our hot Byron Bay Chilli Sauce. Sue had Lemon Myrtle Salmon, which is Pan-fried salmon sprinkled with a lemon myrtle, coconut and chilli rub, served with mashed potato and crisp house salad in a balsamic dressing. To drink I had a Carlton Mid and Sue Somalian Sauvignon Blanc. It was another nice meal. The Byron Bay chilli had a real kick. We also saw several flashes of lightning while we were eating.

We walked back to unit – we saw lots big birds in road. We now know they are Bush Stone Curlews, they walk all over and only seem to fly when they have to. At the unit – internet, diary and bed!

Trip – car didn’t move.

Monday 23rd February 2015

We were up at 7.15am, as this is really 8.15am body time. We had a chill morning washing and sorting. Breakfast was the familiar Weetbix and coffee. It is a lovely sunny hot morning, so once we were sorted we had a walk out into the town again. We walked along Mowbray Street and saw a strange Irish train – the Faugh a Ballagh, which dates from 1899 and is in the process of being restored. We also saw loads of tadpoles in the stream next to it.

Our walk to took us to the docks and along Wharf Street and Port Douglas Park, several photo ops later we reached the Police Station, which had a big ‘Open’ sign on the door but a smaller ‘out on patrol’ one underneath it. We walked onto Macrossan Street to Coles supermarket again for drinks and bread.

Sue booked a trip for us out to the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow while I walked back to unit and made sandwiches. Sue joined me – the lass she had booked the trip with was from Stoke on Trent! She couldn’t get on the one she wanted to the Outer Reef, but had booked us onto the one to the inner reef and waitlisted us for the other one.

I went to sit by the pool for a bit and Sue sorted clothes. England are playing Scotland it all sorted very well with Moeen and Belly putting on a solid opening partnership. Moeen got his century but then we started to lose quick wickets.

After some discussion, and poring over maps, we made the decision to head up to the Daintree Rain Forest area . We had to drive back out to the 44, then north onto the 14 through Mossman which is quite big place with lots of shops including very big Woolworth’s. Carrying on north to Daintree very green and humid – a lot like New Zealand. We parked up and had a walk down to the river but we didn’t see any crocs. It is still really hot but amazingly green.

Sue took over the driving and we stopped at Daintree Village General store an for ice cream but they had all melted in the freezer! We went for a look at the ferry over the river, it is very much like the Sandbanks Ferry in Dorset, but we didn’t bother going over.

Starting back south, we called at Wonga Beach, which was deserted and then at Newell Beach , which was also deserted. It is still red hot, but we can see storm clouds in the distance over the mountains. Listening to the radio news, it is all all about the Cyclone Marcia clean up, which is entered around Rockhampton, which is a long way south of us – about half way to Brisbane. No mention of England cricket in the sports bulletin, so we assume they won, or it would have been the lead story without a doubt.

After having a walk on Newell Beach Sue drove onto Mossman. We called into the Woolies, but despite its size, there is no cafe, so we headed back to the unit for coffee and a shower. We also found out that England won by 100 plus runs. Christopher was starting his new job as we were sat drinking coffee, but we were thinking abut him.

We got changed and had a walk out to the supermarket. They have flying foxes here too – they are equally as noisy – they are classified as an endangered species, but the numbers we have seen would dispute that. For food we settled on an Italian place called Bucci. For starter we shared salted cod with bread and for main Sue had pan fried local barramundi with Tuscan fennel and orange salad salsa verde. I had Cotoletta Alla Milanese, which is parmesan herb and chilli breaded free range chicken breast with garlic and lemon butter, heirloom tomato and fennel salad.

Our waitress was from Essex! We both had a beer which was missed off bill. Being very honest , we pointed out their mistake, which seemed to take them by surprise! It was a very nice meal, but it was the dearest to date at $100 plus.

We walked back to the unit. I did diary and Sue ironed – Robbie Williams in concert from the Royal Albert Hall was on the TV followed by Coldplay in concert from the Sydney Opera House. We settled down at a reasonable time as we have a fairly early start tomorrow.

Trip 210km

Sunday 22nd February 2015

Our alarms were set for 3.40am! But, we both beat them, and got sorted and breakfast very quickly. We were on the road for 4.15am in the dark. Along the quiet, but by no means deserted streets of Adelaide.

Last job was to fill up with petrol at the United Garage just outside the airport – the fuel cost $44.99 – 37.59 litres at $1.197 a litre.

Trip 1401km.

At the airport, we dropped the car at the Thrifty garage and dropped the key in the box – Final trip 1402km.

This all meant we were checked in with bags gone before 5am. The airport is fairly busy. There are three planes out at six am and several just after. There isn’t a Priority Pass lounge in our terminal, so Sue had to buy some very expensive water and also got a morning paper. The lounge area at gate 25 is very busy but we only had a short wait before we boarded into seats 1a and 1b right at the front of the very full plane. There is an off duty pilot next to us, and he appeared to be fast asleep well before we pushed back. Our plane is an Airbus 320. Push back was exactly on time at 0600, wheels up was 0610. It was still dark for our take off to the south and we quickly swung round and headed up country. Our flight time is 2 hours 47 minutes and we have to put our watches back half an hour so that we will land at 0830.

An on time landing after an uneventful flight spent snoozing and reading – I had forgotten that the fare I booked included and $5 food and drink voucher – this was covered by their special offer of coffee and a banana muffin for $5 so we enjoyed one of those. After we landed we went straight to Thrifty desk, which was in the baggage reclaim area. There was no queue so we were sorted immediately, by a very efficient agent who didn’t try any big sell on upgrades or insurance. Once we had done that we went to get our bags from the carousel and went outside to the Thrifty parking area. The first thing that struck us was that it was hot and very humid – almost Floridian.

The car was a Kia Cerato S, on a Victoria plate – 384TBO with 46,861km on the clock.

Once I had familiarised myself with the car we drove into the centre of Cairns and parked up on the Esplanade near the Hilton and a tourist info office. As it is Sunday, street parking is free. We had a brief look in the tourist office, but it wasn’t an official one and was geared for selling trips and excursions. There are two big cruise ships moored in the city centre – the Royal Caribbean -Rhapsody of the Sea – this boat had been subject of a local news story when it was caught in the path of Cyclone Marcia, – http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/rhapsody-of-the-seas-photos-show-storm-hitting-cruise-ship/story-fnizu4n5-1227237231375 the second ship was a smaller one called The Albatross, which is apparently operated by a small German company called Phoenix Reisen.

Walking into the town centre which was just waking up early on this Sunday morning we saw some trees with literally hundreds of flying foxes hanging from the branches – they were unbelievable noisy and quite smelly – they were easy to photograph in the trees but we had several futile attempt at snapping them in flight and then gave up. We made use of the very clean public facilities on the main street then went to Woolworth’s for a coffee.

As we walked back to the car we noticed along from waterfront that the sea was very cloudy and very high over grass, we guessed this must be some aftermath of the recent cyclone. Setting off agin we drove north along the coastal highway. The cloud has burned off it is now very hot . En route we stopped at a viewpoint, then drove into Port Douglas. It was only just after 12, but we found The Meridian hotel very easily and managed to check in lovely apartment 19a. There is a nice cool underground car park with a lift to our apartment on the second floor, which is a bonus.

The complex is very luxurious and the fixtures, fittings and the pool are top notch – we have a nice two room apartment with a kitchenette and huge fridge, which is nice. I was surprised to find that we had to pay for wi-fi! $20 a day, with discount if you had it for the week. Before we unpacked properly, we drove to Coles in the shopping area and stocked up on drinks, bread, fruit, cereal – salad items for lunch and other essentials. Next door to Coles in the very upmarket shopping area is a Country Target, which ironically has free wi-fi.

Back at the unit. Sue made lovely ham and cheese cobs with really nice crusty cobs we had got. We also took the plunge with internet, paying $40 – I am afraid what used to be a luxury has now become an essential. Once we had eaten we had a walk over to the beach, which is only a couple of hundred metres away just past the Port Douglas motel, which looks cheap and cheerful and also does free wi-fi!

Sue had a chat with the with deckchair man, he offered us a special deal, but we aren’t stopping very long. We could see millions of tiny sand balls all over the beach below the tide line, there were also lots of tiny crabs diving in and out of small holes – the chap explained that the crabs dig down, extract some nutrients from the sand, then throw it away, so all the balls are created by the crabs. There was a netted off swimming area as this time of year there are lots of jellyfish, known as stingers. All along the beach there are warning notices about them and each notice has a bottle of vinegar attached to it, to pour of stings. I went into the lovely warm water and had a bit of a swim about inside the net. Sue sat on the beach and chilled, but did manage a bit of a paddle.

Back to the Meridian, we decided to have a walk into town, it is only a shirt distance, but would have been too far to carry the bags full of liquids and food. We eventually made it back to Coles and got Weetbix that we had forgotten and treated ourselves to an ice cream. There was still some warmth on the sun when we got back so we had a nice swim in the hotel pool. It had lovely warm water.

As the sun went down, we went back upstairs and got changed. Sue also did some washing, as the hotel provide free washers and driers. Once we were sorted we went out for a meal. It was dark at 7.30pm but very warm still. We walked up and down Main Street. there are lots of places to eat some very expensive and some closed, as this is their off season.

After some debate we settled on a bar / restaurant called Rattle and Hum. I had a lovely prime rib , which surprisingly was chargrilled not roast, as it is in the US, and it was on medium side of medium rare but very nice. Sue had the local speciality fish – Barramundi, pan fried with mash and veg – all very nice. Because we were walking, I had a pint of Carlton Mid and Sue had a wine. Very good meals – the cricket was on the TV – India look like they are going to beat South Africa quite easily.

Back at the apartment, we chilled and settled down

Trip 77km

Saturday 21st February 2015

Up this morning for a day sampling the delights that Adelaide has to offer. Sue had chatted with the hotel people last night, as we had considered getting a bus into town, but she was told we would be fine driving as there is plenty of on street parking. We had the usual breakfast of Weetbix and coffee, we also he a nice FaceTime chat with Christopher, now that he has finished as a Duties Manager. He seemed quite touched that they had given him chocolates and a £30 iTunes voucher as leaving presents. He starts as an Analyst on Monday morning at Radford Road. Before we set off I checked in for our up coming Jetstar and Air Asia flights. Jetstar check in opens 48 hours before flight but Air Asia is 14 days!

The nice lady on reception offered to print the boarding passes if we emailed them to her. This was a nice touch. We did that, then hit the road. It was very hot, but the roads were fairly quiet as we made our way to the city centre. We parked up on Frome Street at 10.30am. On a Saturday on street parking is only charged till 12 noon and the payment is a flat rate of $2.

Walking into the city past the city beach, which looks a lot more appealing than Mansfield’s or Nottingham’s, we realised just how hot the sun is. The forecast is for it to get over 40 today and it can’t be far off that already. It was so hot that we were soon glad to dive into the aircon in a city mall called Rundle Place. It is a very nice mall with a good food court, and a big sports shop. Lots of world cup souvenirs – the England shirts haven’t been consigned to the clearance section yet.

Back out into the sun, we continued our wander onto the main shopping street of Adelaide – Rundle Street. Our destination is the Adelaide Oval and it was soon apparent we were going i the right direction as it is huge and dominates the skyline. We walked through a nice park at the side of the river pausing for a photo op with the black swans and the fountains, as well as a very nice church. Adelaide is in the throes of its Fringe and there are lots of stages being set up in the park. We saw a poster for Michael Palin doing a one man show. Unfortunately it was on Thursday – we have missed it by two days.

At the Oval we did a complete circuit before we got to the main entrance – we went past the tennis club that is part of the complex – there is a pro tournament starting next week and there were several players out practicing in the searing heat – it was good to watch for a bit. We saw that there was a security guy on one of the doors so we went to see if we could blag our way in to get photos – he invited us in, as this is where the stadium tours start.

Inside it was lovely and cool so we took a couple of photos then signed up for the 1pm tour. We had some time to kill and asked if there was anywhere to get a drink – the girl was very apologetic and said because the ground had been taken over by the ICC for the world cup, all the Coke and other drinks machines had to be covered up because Pepsi are a major sponsor. She said there was chilled water in the mother and baby room, which was more than welcome.

Before the tour started we spent some time in the Sir Donald Bradman Museum – he is a local hero and the museum is very well set up. It has quite a lot about the Bodyline series. At 1pm our tour guide Katrina took a group of about 20 of us on the tour. It was very well done – Katrina was very knowledgeable, both about cricket and Aussie Rules Football, which is clearly her main interest. We went up to the fifth level and had a bird’s eye view of both the ground and the city behind us, then we visited all parts of the ground. There are lots of AFL trophies and shirts on display as both the Power and the Crows play the games here but obviously they didn’t mean much to us.

In the press box, there were notices posted with the log in and password for the stadium wi-fi, so I was able to do a Facebook check in. We sat where the players sit before going into bat, then went to the old scoreboard. Three sides of the ground have huge modern stands, but one end still has the old scoreboard and lawns backed by huge trees for standing room – apparently both the scoreboard and the tress are heritage sites, so cannot be knocked down. The scoreboard is a fascinating old relic of the old days – all mechanical needing about 8 or 9 people to operate it. When we went inside, it is like a sweat box because of its metal roof. Some of the controls are driven by hand cranked bike chains, and the only nod to technology is a light switch at the side of some of the player’s names to show who is bowling and who is in strike

Another World Cup quirk was revealed during the tour of the corporate hospitality area, which is sponsored by Audi and normally features one of their top of the range cars on display – this has been covered up, as Hyundai are one of the ICC sponsors and have one of their cars, a Sonata on display near the scoreboard.

Other nice bits of the tour were the changing rooms, which I have to say are a bit basic – we went into the room that had just been used by the Pakistan team in their recent game with India and still had the players name cards in it. One of the last stops was the South Australia Crocket Museum which features the actual Sheffield Shield, trophy – this stays here despite the fact that SA don’t win it very often. It also features memorabilia of their famous players including Ian Chappel, Sir Garfield Sobers, Jason Gillespie and Barry Richards, who set all sorts of records in his brief tenure here.

At the end of the tour, we watched the tennis players a bit more, there is also a massive TV screen over the main entrance – it should be showing the Australia V Bangladesh game from Brisbane but it has been rained off thanks to Cyclone Marcia. It did show some highlights of the West Indies / Pakistan game where the Pakistanis were 1-4 at one stage. It looks like the Windies re bouncing back from the thumping Ireland gave them

Leaving the stadium we walked back over the river in search of food, as it was after 2.30pm. We walked over a new $52 million dollar footbridge and thought he very impressive old railway station. We made our way back to Rundle Street and went into the Rundle Mall where we found a food court – I had a couple of slices of pizza for $2 each – with hindsight, maybe one would have been sufficient – Sue had a chicken sandwich

Back out on Rundle Street, we called in the Apple Store for the wi-fi and a Facebook check in , we didn’t go in Kmart, but we did go into Target for another much needed drink and Sue got a top. Our destination now is the East End, which is the arty section of the city and features lots of the Fringe shows. We were fascinated by the number of coins that had been planted into the pavement in several areas – I am sure that if that was the UK someone would have been along with a chisel during the night, as there are loads of them.

At a park by the river there were lots of small tents and food stalls – the tents were for the shows, none of which really appealed to us. We had a sit and people watched for a time, taking advantage of the free water tanks, before making our way back to the car.

The plan had been to get sandwich stuff from one of the Woolworth’s / Coles / Foodland stores we had passed on the way into town. What we didn’t realise was that nearly all supermarkets here – particularly the main ones all shut at 5pm on a Saturday and it was 5.30pm when we were looking!

Back at the hotel, our boarding passes were done and waiting for us, and we were told of a supermarket called Drakes near the hotel that opens till 10pm so we had a walk there. It was only relatively small but it was clean and well stocked. We both got a veggie Frittata to heat in the microwave, some salad and some drink – a cheap and cheerful room picnic, like the old days.

Back in the room we chilled, ate our salad and caught upon the internet, We also packed our bags ready for the bags ready for the ridiculously early start tomorrow. The motel is very, very busy they told us they had turned away loads of people and even manager’s room is being used being used.
In fact, they are booked solid for the next few weeks.

Trip 1390km

I got chance to sort through the photos on my computer – we have already taken about 2570!