Author: Tom Kennedy

Bondi today!!!! I’d been warned it was a bit like Blackpool but we shall see. There’s a bus (333) just by Hyde park which is only five minutes walk from the hotel via the coffee shop. Good call. Believe it or not there’s a bus every five minutes to bondi and it costs £0.53 to get there. Andy Burnham please note!!! Every five minutes. I had to repeat that cos it’s hard to believe and it’s a bendy bus and it’s full. What a service. Any transport in Sydney you can use your debit card to swipe in and swipe out. I like it.

Anyway to Bondi. It’s not like Blackpool at all. Golden sands in a bay with a magnificent open air swimming pool at one end and rugged rocks at the other. With a gorgeous pavilion in the middle. Okay they had a tee shirt shop in the middle but also several sushi shops alongside. No Kiss me Quick hats here i can tell you. So I walked from one end to the other and stopped for some time by the Iceberg swimming pool on the headland. There were not too many in the pool but it did look inviting. Fortunately I’d left my trunks in Melbourne!!!

Louise had recommended a cafe called Harry’s for lunch. It’s just behind the pavilion and it was rammed,stuffed. I managed to get a stool seat by the window thanks to a very helpful English waitress. Completely wasted on this place. She recommended bacon and eggs but it came with a tomato sauce and I’m not going down that road. So I had the eggs Benedict with a pot of Earl grey. Very nice. All the tables were taken and it did generate a very good atmosphere. Well done Harry.

Back on my £0:53 bus ride to the centre of town and a visit to the Australian museum. It’s just next to St Mary’s cathedral so not far from the hotel (feet sore). It’s more like the natural history museum in London with lots of fossils, skeletons and stuffed birds but interesting nonetheless. That was my last museum in Sydney so I’ve ticked them all off.
I needed a beer so dropped off at a pub opposite the hotel. I won’t need any rocking tonight.

You’ll be sad to know that Bolton lost to Oxford at Wembley yesterday. I bet there are a few heartbroken supporters back home.
I stopped off at the coffee shop just round the corner at 8:30 this morning. It was quieter than yesterday which is to be expected. Then walked west over to the Sydney fish market not knowing what to expect. Through china town to get there. All quiet as it was early on a Sunday morning. The market was buzzing!!!! Lots of stalls selling raw and cooked shell fish plus others serving cooked delicacies including lobster mornie ,crabs,oysters and sushi. Each stall had its own eating benches. They were all doing a roaring business with breakfast eaters. Mainly Chinese and Japanese . Best fish market I’ve ever seen. Even better than Bolton !!!!! By a country mile.

From the market I walked across to the sea museum which was adjacent to the Pyrmont pedestrian bridge. Lots to see here including a replica of The Endeavour which was captain Cooks ship. You can’t believe how small it is considering they had 97 people on board. Did they not have any health and safety back in the eighteenth century??? And where did they store the beer as each man had a ration of eight pints a day. Proper sailors I say. Also there was a submarine you can tour plus lots of navy boats. Excellent.

Across the bridge and into Darling harbour then sharp left to walk along the front through Barangaroo reserve. Lots of runners around this area taking in the sea air on a Sunday morning. Along this pathway and turned the headland into Walsh Bay where there are more quays from the old days. There about five wharf’s that have been converted into apartments and heaven only knows how much they are fetching. Mega bucks I expect as it’s right under the harbour bridge. Then into The rocks for some lunch and a well earned beer!! There was a Carnival cruise ship docked there. You have no idea just how big these things are until you’re right up next to one. Enormous.
I decided to pop into the Contemporary Art museum. It’s fine building but a complete waste of space. Should have made it into a five a side football pitch. Very disappointing I must say.
Back to the hotel for a rest. 22,000 steps today. That’s a lot.

My feet are sore!!! Too much walking yesterday and more to come today. The weather started overcast with rain promised around lunchtime. So it was a museum day for the most today. Initially called at a coffee house adjacent to the hotel. Then on to the art gallery NSW. It was some gallery with lots of Australian art. There was Monet, Matisse, Blake, Pissarro and Lister. But some of the modern stuff was a bit beyond me. No bricks on the floor but rocks hanging on strings.
From there a walk through the botanical gardens. Which was okay but not as good as Melbourne. Then down to the seafront to the peninsula to take a few photos of the opera house and harbour bridge. It stated to rain at this stage so beat a fast retreat to the quayside for lunch. It turned out to be a less than average fish and chip lunch. It had been some time the fish had last seen the sea. But at least it was dry.

Time was getting on so started to head back to the hotel. Stopped off at the Library NSW which is quite a building but not that impressive on the inside. Again Melbourne beats it but the front cast iron doors are worth a look at. I had a Quick Look inside The Hyde Park barracks from the old days. Hyde park was full of protesters against the Israel invasion but it was all peaceful.

Up at 06:00 for an early start to the airport. Louise kindly dropped me off at terminal 4. Id already checked in the day before and was only carrying hand luggage. Over the years I’ve travelled extensively but this was a complete surprise. You did not have to show a boarding pass to get to security. At security you put your coat in a tray and your bag on top. That was it. No liquids out, no phones out,no laptop out, no camera out. Nothing!!! Through in seconds. I could not believe it. Next came boarding the plane. All you needed was your boarding pass and that was it, no ID at all from start to finish. I said to the girl at the desk I could be an international terrorist!!! She did not seem to mind at all. Bring back the good old days I say.

Made it to Sydney okay and straight off the plane. They have an underground train to the city centre. Not being satisfied with a two tier one they have a three tier one. All electric. Woooooooosh it went. Right to central station. My Ibis hotel was only a fifteen minute walk from there. Unfortunately I could not check in but the desk kindly stored my bag until I returned. Off into Sydney. I’d not planned to do that much today but headed down to the harbour and The Rocks which is a quay on the bridge side. I had to walk through Hyde park to get there and down Bent St.(see the sign).
There’s lots to see and I’ll start properly in the morning. Back to the hotel for a beer I thought. £8:45 in happy hour. Won’t be doing that again.

Firstly you’ll be pleased to know that the Dogs mixed netball team won last night by 23-3. Mind you it was the first time the opposition had played together but they did well.

The initial plan was to try and sort out some sort of itinerary for Sydney on Friday. That only took me an hour but now at least I’ve got some sort of plan. I’d decided to make a desert for after dinner tonight so crossed over to Malvern to get some ingredients. Malvern is another upmarket little village near here with swish fashion shops and just about the best butchers I’ve ever seen. They had ox cheeks!!!! Back home to make the desert which was really easy. Nice.

I’d arranged to meet up with Louise for lunch in Malvern later on to have a sandwich and a cuppa. It’s quite a busy place.
In the afternoon I drove over to the Yarra river outside the city centre for a riverside walk. Part of it was closed due to flooding but I managed to detour round that. It took me three hours which was longer than expected. Back to base. The plan tonight is to take the van back after 18:00.

This morning was a booking morning to Sydney. I’d been unsuccessful in getting there in the van because of the rain ten days ago so it made sense to have another go as I’d probably never be this way again. I’d looked yesterday and picked an Ibis hotel in the city centre. Here’s were Louise’s technical expertise came in as she did the final search and booked the whole thing for me. I’m leaving on Friday morning returning Tuesday afternoon. 4 nights which should be enough. With the airfare and hotel it’s set me back over £500 but it has to be done.
After breakfast I’d decided to head down to the Botanical gardens again to try and take some autumn colours. It’s not quite there yet but give it a couple of weeks and it will be at its peak. It’s the most magical peaceful place you could ever imagine with the trees by the lakes and the birds singing. Really cool. There were not too many people about so even more quiet than the first time I went. Back to base for a rest.

It’s the start of the mixed netball season tonight so I’ll go and watch Louise’s team. Perhaps a team photo. Rich will not be playing as he’s going to try and go to hockey training. Let’s hope his back holds up.

First thing this morning I had a look at flying up to Sydney for a few day as I might never see this part of the world again. I was a bit hesitant as I thought the prices would be prehibative but was surprised when I looked at a flight and hotel package staying in an Ibis hotel in the centre. I had thought about Manley and commuting in. I’ll discuss with Louise when she gets back about the easiest way to book and when best to go.

I thought for some time to visit the Victoria art museum on St Kilders rd near the centre so off I went. The sixteenth century stuff is pretty basic but the porcelain displays are worth a look. The European 19th and 20th century paintings are very impressive. Matisse, Picasso, Monet and Manet were all there. They even have a Dali on show that I’d not heard about before. Brilliant. The Asian and oriental exhibitions were a bit beyond me but were busy with Chinese and Japanese visitors. It’s definitely worth a visit but don’t be put off by the first section.

Nothing much to report after this visit as I just bought some sushi for lunch and sat in Fed Square watching the world go by.

After moving the van when the bins were already emptied the van was returned to its original position. It’s a mystery why we have to move the cars!!!

Both Louise and Rich work from home on a Monday so headed into the city with a few things to visit. The first was the police museum which was located in the new down town police station. I’m sure it would have been better in the old Victorian station but there you go. It had the history of the police force in Victoria dating back to the convict time and then the gold rush. Also they had the armour worn by Ned Kelly the famous bush outlaw. Very interesting.

From there I walked over to the old Melbourne goal which was by the university. Tents were up in the grass grounds protesting about Palestine. The prison itself had been preserved with just the one wing on display. It was the exact same design as Pentingville prison in London. Three stories high with individual cells along each hall. In each cell was the story of some criminal who was hung there. Ned zkelly was the most famous of course but there was suggestions that Jack the Ripper was hung here. Gruesome but interesting. I escaped!!!

I’d promised to get some food for dinner from China town so headed the short distance over there. It’s not that big comprising of only one street. Managed to get a take away of sorts. Hoping it’s enough.

Packed up the tent in rough style as it needed cleaning and drying out back in Melbourne. We decided not to stay in Halls Gap for breakfast but head to Ararat (where do they get these names?) instead. There was a rubbish and collectibles show on at the town hall. Well it turned out to be more rubbish!!! But I nearly bought a Slim Whitman LP then thought I’d better not.

Breakfast in a nearby cafe which was extremely busy but there was no rush. I had eggs Benedict which was really nice. Louise had a huge vegetable omelette. All good.

Next stop was Werabee gorge for a walk before the final stretch to Melbourne. It was okay but we had to park some way from the dstart. All downhill for 1.5km. Eventually we ran out of path along the gorge but had seen enough to appreciate it. Nice place. The next task was to climb back to the carpark. It was very steep but slow progress to the top. I knew this would not do my back any good.

And so back to Melbourne where Louise went for a swim at the local Olympic outdoor swimming pool. Just round the corner and next to the pub!!! the flying Duck.

We woke up this morning surrounded by mountains after arriving in the dark. This is a really nice camp site more or less in the centre of the village. After a shower and a quick cup of tea headed into the tourist off to get some information. All these villages have tourist centres which is good to see. The lady there put us straight on a reasonable walk for the morning and some sight seeing spots for the afternoon.

There was a bakery just nearby so popped in for a quick breakfast before starting our walk. We made our way through the botanical gardens and then started to climb towards Wonderland gap. The initial part was a smooth gravel path but then it started getting rougher going with boulders making the pathway. In the end I had to give up and retraced our sheets back to a river crossing and back to the van.

Not stopping for long we set sail for Mackenzie falls which was about 30 minutes away by ven. All up hill I must add. The carpark was nearly full when we got there and it was only a short 800m to the viewpoint. It was worth the effort and higher than I expected. On to Boroka lookout which had a great vista over the ground below. I bet on a clear day it would go on for ever. But moving on back to base we stopped off at the cricket club to see the kangaroos feeding. 25 in total completely chilled out in the afternoon sun. Not a care in the world.

Everyone was a bit tired by this stage so after an ice cream Louise went for a coffee and I went back for a beer and to sort my photos out.