March 27
Sue had got us a whole load of brochures and leaflets on stuff to do in and around Sydney, so we waded through them in the morning.
Ray took us for our first "bush walk". We went through their back garden and into the "bush". We didn't see any of the dangerous wildlife (thank goodness!) Only a termites nest and wombat droppings! We saw wome waterfalls. We got back and had bacon butties - great!
In the garden they don't have the usual birds we get back home, apart from the odd Oz pigeon. Here they have Parrots! Red ones, green ones, cockatoos - madness!
Craig (James cousin) came round and we had a few drinks. James hasn't seen him in 20 years so a bit strange to catch up.
We had the tradition of Steaks on the barby for dinner and salad (so good to eat fresh salad!)

written by  James & Tracey on March 26, 2007 from Tahmoor, Australia
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
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March 29
We got up early and said our farewells to Clare. We headed along the coast, stopping off at various beaches for little strolls. The first beach we walked along for about 20 minutes before we had to turn around as it started to rain - this place is just like England - Cold and Wet! Not the best day to look at all the beaches but we went to them with our umbrellas. Don't think a lot of people have work over here as there were loads of people surfing, at all the beaches we went to!
As tradition in England when its raining we headed to the nearest pub. I had a hot chocolate and James a scooner of Tooheys (a scooner is just smaller than a pint at 450ml).
We drove on a new part of road - the sea bridge - it goes over the water and people have been raving about it. For me it was just a road but don't know how excited I'm meant to get about it! We drove through the National park and stopped off for some lunch - along with hundreds of cockatoos. Protecting our lunch from them was a big job! We stopped off at a few more lookouts on our way back to Tahmoor. I think I saw a Kangaroo, at first I thought it was a horse but then it stood up and hopped!!
We stopped off at Craigs house on the way back home. Had a few beers and some more. Also a drink called Wild Turkey - mixer drink with Bourben and coke.
I got to drive the car home - didn't go too fast as it was dark and also couldn't reach the pedals properly!

written by  James & Tracey on March 28, 2007 from Wollongong, Australia
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
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March 31
Today was a bit of a lazy day to catch up with writing the blog and stuff.
In the evening we went to the local pub with Sue - The Tahmoor Inn. There was a charity evening being held there and it was packed. They served us good large portions of "tucker".

April 1
We packed the car up and headed to the beach - a sunny day at last!
We went to Bulli beach, put up the half tent thing that Sue had given us and layed in the sunshine (James in the tent). We had a picnic on the beach. Then decided to brave the water - it was ok, not very warm but bearable! James had one of the boogie boards so played about in the surf for a bit, but the 12 year old surfers kept getting in his way and annoying him so he came out. By then the heat of the sun had gone so he was able to sun bathe!

We went back to Tahmoor, had some chops on the barbie.

written by  James & Tracey on March 30, 2007 from Tahmoor, Australia
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
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We then walked through the Sydney Botanic Gardens (which is not as nice as Singapores!) We followed a path towards a noise which sounded like a lot of birds. When we got there we realised it was thousands of flying foxes (fruit bats). They made a right racket! And poo was everywhere. The gardens are having problems as they have moved in and are killing the tree tops of the large variety of old trees. They have been given permission to move them on using non-harmful techniques - in our opinion its not working very well!
We walked across town in the boiling heat stopping off to have lunch in a posh cafe, to get to the Harbour Bridge. Only to be told all the trips for the day were fully booked and to come back tomorrow.
For the rest of the afternoon we walked around teh Sydney Aquarium. We saw lots of sharks, but not a great white!
Tracey then decided she had had enough of the boiling heat and it was Pimm's O'clock. These are quite expensive in Sydney, especially if you only drink the double measures!

Sue picked us up from the train station to take us to the RSL club (servicesmans club). Sue went to her Rock and Roll dancing class and we gave our money to the Pokeys along with hundreds of others!

Tracey playing on Pokey Machine

April 3
Another early start to catch the train into Sydney. Our first priority was to get to St James' park, find a clear, quiet piece of grass in the sunshine and have a nap.
Refreshed, we then walked across town to Darling Harbour to go to Sydney Wildlife centre. Here we saw loads of snakes, spiders and other animals that can seriously do you harm - they all live in the wild in Australia! However we did see nicer animals such as cuddly koalas, wombat (we only saw one!) and wallabies.
For the afternoons activity we walked to the Sydney Harbour Bridge to do the famous Bridge walk. Luckily it was cloudy so it was nice and cool for us. We had a training session on the safety equipment we were using - including a breathaliser test and going through a metal detector - like airport security! To climb up the bridge structure we first had to go up some steep ladders, which were reasonably scary, to get to the large steel arch. We then walked up on top of the steel arch all the way to the summit. From here we had an amazing view across Sydney. We would have got some amazing photos, had we been allowed to take our cameras - this is a ploy to get you to buy their very expensive cheesy shots of you - Rip off at 10 quid a photo!

Cheesy photo on top of Harbour Bridge

April 4
In true Aussie style James cooked his breakfast bacon on the Barbie!
Sue and the 2 girls who worked for her had managed to avoid work for the day and take us diving. They took us to Shelley beach which is North East of Sydney. At the dive shop where we hired the kit, the lady gave us 2 piece very thick wetsuits, telling us that the water is cold around here. We parked the cars inthe cliff top car park and put on these ridiculously thick wetsuits and all the rest of the kit - instantly sweat was pouring down our faces in the hot sun. We climbed dwon the steps to the beach and went through the gentle surf into the 23 degrees water - this is not cold! We did 2 shore dives both lasting around 45 minutes. On the dives we saw a giant cuttlefish - about 1.5 metres long! Also saw a couple of small sharks - Wobygong shark and dusty/black wailer.
On the first dive we took in our new case without the camera to make sure it does what it says on the tin - and doesn't leak! It didn't so on the second dive we took the camera and took photos under the water.

James scuba diving

Due to diving taking all day Sue had to drop us at the nearest train station as she was dashing off to Rock and Roll dancing class. We looked like typical, out of place tourists in just our beach clothes - Craig said looking like that we were lucky we didn't get a wholop from the crazy locals. As it was Erins birthday we went round there and enjoyed a few drinks and clowned around in their yard.

written by  James & Tracey on April 2, 2007 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
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In the evening we went to a local pub - the Imperial. Here we met a couple of Sues crazy friends and enjoyed a meal and a few drinks.The pub we went to that night had a music night where the local musicians bring their instruments and enjoy an evening of playing lots of songs, particularly Irish numbers.

April 6
We had a bit of a lie in to rest our weary heads. Especially Trace!!
Vicky (James' other cousin) arrived with her family all ready and raring for an Easter BBQ at Craigs. The afternoon and evening was spent (again) in Craigs yard with the 7 kids charging around. The rest of us chattingover old times and working through Australias wine supply! James' cousins are a pair of nutcases!!

Craig and the kids playing footie

April 7
It was a slow start to the day. We got up and bumbled around the house. We then ssat down and spent a good 2 hours and wrote the last lot of entries you've been reading we were happy we got to the end of the task, hit save only to find the internet connection went down half way through the save. After a while of shouting at the good for nothing computer we proceeded to write it again - it wasn't as good as the first but you'll never know that!

In the evening we went to the local pub with Ray and had dinner. James had veal and lobster - because he could! They serve such big portions in the pubs here, you eat as much as you can and you finish with a portion that you would normally start with back home!

April 8
Started the day with an easter egg - Not the same as home though. Had a Cadbury mini egg one but it tasted like the cheap ones you get at home - not happy!!

We set off in the car for a tour round. Starting at a small animal sanctuary where we walked in the same penned area as the wallabies. The emus, dingoes and wombats were in separate areas because they bite.
We drove to a place near Picton. The view from the lookout was stunning across a reservior - as still as a mill pond! Across to the mountains at the other side. The weather was ok, but raining in the Valley below us.

We visited the famous Robinsons Pie shop. Wow! They make exceedingly good pies over here. James acclaimed that it was the best small pie he had ever had. The best large pie being the one he had in a pub near work for his last meal with work before leaving - A Pie expert!!

We then drove down a winding mountain road into the valley in the pouring rain. At the bottom we got to Jamberooo - this place hold lots of exciting activities such as grass slope skiing, taboganing n a steel tube, water slides. However, we walked to the entrance to find out it was $31 to get in, with a big sign saying certain rides would not run in the rain and no refund. As it was tipping it down, we turned away dejected and headed off back home in the car.

In the evening when we had time to dry off, we went back to the local pub - The Tahmoor Inn - for a roast dinner. The roast dinner had a cheek to be called a roast dinner. The roast beef came without yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, peas, gravy, carrots - but did come with pumpkin, asparagus, cheese and tomato sauce, I don't suppose you can do them for trades description as it did have roast beef on top!

April 9
The days plan was to head to the local Dam with all of the family - however, as it was drizzling and Vickys lot didn't turn up til mid afternoon, it was decided that, for a change, we would go to Craigs house for drinks and some Tucker.
Once again a relatively early night, turned into quite a long boozy affair.

written by  James & Tracey on April 5, 2007 from Tahmoor, Australia
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
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Dan and Dawn

April 11
After a decent lie in, we headed off to the local travel agents - Peterpans in St Kilda where we hoped to sort out the next few week in OZ. We had only expected this to take an hour maybe 2, upon which we would go and walk to the beach to visit one of the many cafes Dan and Dawn had told us about.
However, 5 hours later, bleary eyed we left the travel agents with our wallets much lighter! But we have now booked all our nights accommodation, planes, trains, automobiles, outback tour, island hopping and liveaboard diving course and the majority of meals for the next 4 weeks left in OZ. Sorted!

Pizza and beer for the rest of the evening at Dan and Dawns with plenty of chatting!

April 12
We caught a couple of trains to Mooroolbark station. We met up with Pauline and her husband, Gerald. (Pauline was one of the people on our trip to India, and shared the boat we were on down the Ganges.)
First off they took us to the Domaine Chandon Vineyard, in the Yarra Valley. A beautiful setting and the sun was shining! We had a very pleasant early afternoon sampling sparkling wines, sipping our way through a couple of bottles of Cuvee Riche and a cheese platter. On leaving we decided to buy ourselves a couple of bottle of sparkly stuff to thank Dan and Dawn for letting us stay at theirs.
We then went up Mount Dandenong for a spectacular view across Melbourne all the way to the coast. However, to stop big bush fires they have been back burning the undergrowth and had created a massive blanket of smoke which in the still air, managed to completely block out any view - Oh well better luck next time!

We then headed down back into Melbourne town and met up with Matt and Ange (also from the India trip). We walked along a road which must have a good 60 restaurants on it foods from all corners of the world, but mostly Italian. We settled for a small Italian on a side street.
We said our goodbyes to Pauline and Gerald and us "younger people" (well kind of!) found our way to an Irish bar to chat away the evening. Come 11.30 it was time for us to make our way across Melbourne where Ange stuck us on a number 16 Tram - adament it was the right one! Along with a few other drunk people we travelled across Melbourne, however, none of the tram stops had signs to tell you which stop it is. We knew the tram journey was about 40 mins long and were really hoping we would spot somewhere we knew from the 2 days we've been here. To our relief we passed a BP garage which we recognised and quickly hopped off at the next stop. If it hadn't been for that great petrol station I think we would have ended up at the end of the line with a long walk home! Ange was right after all (sorry Matt!) and we arrived home safe and sound.

April 13
Had a bit of a lazy morning. Around midday we walked into St Kilda (in the sunshine). We got to the sea and walked along the seafront. Stopping off at a beachside cafe for a spot of lunch and glass of wine in the sun - nice!
We popped into some of the shops on the way home, being very restrained and not actually buying anything.

Dan cooked us dinner and we enjoyed a bottle of Bubbly with it. We met up with a couple of Dan and Dawns friends and headed on the train into Melbourne for the Comedy Festival. We had a quick drink before going into the show. We were on the top floor of the town hall in the "wee room" it held about 30 people. We watched a young Aussie guy called Tom Dassalo. Thank goodness he is young as he needs a few more years experience to become funny! We did learn a couple of new words though - some of which we cannot repeat on this blog! Dan said he's only 20 so how far can his worldly knowledge stretch - think he's trying to stick up for the poor lad! We went to a Jazz bar after the town hall and enjoyed a few more drinks and chats. We got the tram home - this time we had Dan and Dawn with us so we were safe.

April 14
Dan cooked his special beans and bacon for James' breakfast.
We went on the train into the city and met up with Matt and his mate, Andrew. We had a couple of drinks in a local pub. Then walked over to the MCG stadium ready for the footie match. Matt is an Essendon supporter and they were playing Carlton, a bit of a grudge match as these 2 teams were at the bottom of the league last season. Bit different to English footie league as the same 16 teams stay in the premiership and there is no relegation - boo!!

Aussie Footie Match

April 15
As rent to stay with Dan and Dawn, it had been pre-agreed in Thailand that James would make and fit a shelf in their store cupboard. So we headed to the local B&Q (or Bunnings as they call it here) to get the necessary equipment. Along with a few other things, including 96 litres of water!
We met Dawn at their facourite place to eat in Balaclava and had Folafel pitta - out of this world!
For the afternoons activity Dan and Dawn took us into the city to show around. They took us through the market along the river and up lots of side streets with cafes. We went up this network of alleys which had become sort of allowed area for grafetti art - some of it was really good.

The Grafetti Wall

April 16
Today was a pretty lazy day as we just chilled out at the flat.
Tracey ventured into Balaclava to get ther hair cut and get some fish (for dinner) But it seemed Mondays are when everyone else chills out too as half of the shops were shut, so no haircut and no fish!!
Managed to figure out what else to cook that was veggie, so the day was saved.
A nice evening in with a bottle of wine and watching the comedy gala on the TV.

April 17
Trace had her hair cut in the morning. We then got on the Tram into the city.
We headed for the tallest building in Melbourne - the Rialto. Where they have a 360 degree observation deck. Unlike the Petronas towers, we have to pay for the priviledge of going up 55 stories! There were some amazing views over Melbourne though. Quite a few of the buildings have tennis courts on the roofs. We had a hot chocolate and beer in the cafe whilst admiring the views.
We walked around by the river and caught a train to Prahran. We spent the next 2 hours wandering up and down the high street perusing the vast array of little designer shops and boutiques. However, all we managed to pick up was a couple of pairs of pants and socks for James - cos goodness knows where they go!
A quick sprint meant we just caught the train back to Dan and Dawns place. Where we chilled before catching the train back in the city to meet Ange and Matt. They took us for an Italian and 2 for 1 cocktails. Trace had a Chicken Parma. Followed by a drink in the sports bar with horrific karoke. We made a quick exit for the casino, and the roulette table. James and I decided to make these interesting by taking $20 each and seeing who could come out with the most money - if any. We both decided on the roulette table, it was a close competition for a while with both of us being up on chips ($2.50 each chip) however the final outcome was Tracey victoriously had doubled her money and James had broken even. But all in all a successful piece of fun.
To finish the evening off we took a stroll along the river bank where they have a line of large steel sculptures from which they blast large flames every 30 minutes or so. we were lucky to be there just at the right time. You could feel the heat from quite a way away.
We said our farewells to Matt and Ange - quite sad as don't know when we'll see them again.
On the way back to the train station I needed the loo so stopped off at one of those automatic dalek-looking public toilets. This was an experience in itself!! I pressed a botton on the wall and magically with a click and a whirr a toilet seat appeared out of a letter box above the loo - bizarre!

April 18
Another quite lazy day and our last day in Melbourne.
Sat in the sunshine reading.
We walked into Balaclava to get some stuff for Dan. I cut James' hair in the afternoon.
Dan cooked us dinner, we had a few drinks as Dan wanted us to drink the remaining alcohol as we were getting up early in the morning!

written by  James & Tracey on April 10, 2007 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
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We Left Dan and Dawns for the last time bright and early and got a tram to our pick-up point for our next journey. We got picked up by a mini bus with a crazy driver called Bill. He has a very uncanny look of Crocodile Dundee!! We pushed through the morning rush hour traffic of Melbourne to start our 2 day trip along the 'Great Ocean Road' to Adelaide.
We had about 10 other travellers on the bus with us. We followed the road along the coast stopping at various points to enjoy the view and take photos (feel like real tourists again). On one of the stops I managed to get a photo of a Koala with its eyes open and waving at me which, is not as easy as you may think as they are asleep for the majority of the day.

Hi Down There

We again made stops at various good views and natural rock formations. Two being the 12 apostles and the 'London Bridge' both very spectacular and as so we took many photos along with the bus loads of other tourists!!

After more Km's under the belt Bill took us for a short guided walk through some of the National park forest where he showed us some massive trees, a few examples of the 640 different types of gum trees and plants that grow 1mm a year, one is about 10m high so is about 10,000 years old. In this forest various full skeletons of dinosaurs have been found.

As night fell and we were on deserted roads we all had to be on the look out for kamakazee and sucidal animals the majority being walabies and kangaroos. We witnessed many trying to eat the front grill of the bus but we managed to miss them all thanks to the skillful driving by our guide, think he has hit alot in the past though!! He was just telling us of how proud he was at keeping a clean sheet and we were just about to arrive at our evenings accomodation when a deer ran out of the bush and accross the front of the bus. With a quick shout of "right" from one of the other passengers Bill hit the breaks hard and some how managed to steer around him, that was very close and left us breathing hard only about 40m from our home for the evening.

After dinner we ventured out around the buildings in search of wildlife. Under torch light we found a family of grey kangaroos. One of the mothers had a roo in her pouch which was eating the grass at the same time. After a few cracks of twigs by us lot the quickly bounced away into the darkness. We turned around and set of in the opposite direction and soon again found some more grey kangaroos. These were males who were fighting to be the dominant male and like all the cartoons you see they do actually face each other and box. Great ring side seats.

April 20

Through the night we were freezing only to find in the morning that the window had been open opps! First leg of the trip was up the mountains to look out from the great views from the 'Balconies'. The bus then took us on to Mckenzie falls. We got dropped of at the top and in the heat of the day had to walk down the 279 steps to the bottom. and of course back up again but well worth it. At midday we got dropped of at a bus stop to change to a normal coach for a 6 hour ride to Adelaide. On the coach we crossed into South Australia and therefore back 0.5hrs.

After we found our hostel we headed out for a few supplies and dinner. For dinner the local Indian caught Tracey's eye and we went for that as we hadn't eaten Indian food since being in India! We had a really early start the next day so had an early night only to be kept awake by the other backpackers having a good time out on the balcony which our room was one that opened up onto. Oh well you get what you pay for!

written by  James & Tracey on April 19, 2007 from Adelaide, Australia
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
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The Long Road

April 22
Up at 6am, for breakfast at 6.30am. When James got on the bus I knew he hadn't checked his clothes for insects as there was a hairy catepillar coming out from his collar!
Our bus went down a 30km dirt track towards Blinman for a quick loo stop. We went to a lookout point and saw Wilpena Pound Mountains - where we were heading next. We climbed (yes it was a climb not a walk!!) up Mount Ohlssen Bagge (3.2 km) up and down. At the top we had a few minutes to admire the views (for me, Trace to nip to the ladies!) and get our legs back into order for the trip back down.
An hour and half later we reached the bottom for lunch with a well deserved BBQ burger and salad.
Back onthe bus for another couple of hours to Rawnsley Park (where we are staying) We helped with the food prep for dinner. We walked to the site shop and got an ice pop! James walked up a hill to take a look at the sunset but wasn't much good so came back down again.
Dinner was curry and rice. We played cards then sat around the campfire looking at the stars.

written by  James & Tracey on April 21, 2007 from Parachilna, Australia
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
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Salt Lake

Underground Home Extension

April 24
Up at 4am again. We stopped again at 6.30am to watchg and take photos of the sunrise. This time James got his tripod out and was laying in the road just to get that perfect shot. We also had to get some firewood from the side of the road for the campfire tonight.
We stopped off at Marla for a bit of Brekkie and loo stop.
When we set off again a Black Wedge Tailed Eagle flew really close to the bus, James was too slow with the camera though so you'll just have to take our word for it.
We stopped off at the South Australia and Northern Territory border - so far done 1746km (thats 1091 miles!)
We stopped off for some fuel and to pick up some food supplies, plus the all important fly veil!. We had lunch at Mount Endevour, we had a look at some Aboriginal art work.
The next part of the journey we had to try and spot Uluru (or Ayres Rock to you and me!) Some people got caught out by spotting the "giant toothbrush" (Mount Connor) which meant they had to buy Horty a drink In Alice Springs. We arrived in Yulara and headed towards Uluru to do a short walk called the Mala walk. We drove a bit away (along with many others) to watch the sunset on the rock - However the sun was not playing as it hid behind some clouds, but we still enjoyed some bubbly and crisps and dip.

Outback Tour Group

April 25
Up at 5am (so a bit of a lie in) cleared up camp. We went to Uluru to start a walk at 6.40am. We walked around teh bottom of the rock to watch the sunrise and got to see the colour change of the rock - awesome!

Red Uluru

Ooh, You Thorny Devil

April 27
We woke up after the sun was up - how strange! We checked out and got a bacon sarnie for brekkie. Went to the Baby Kangaroo Sanctuary. Here we were able to hold little joeys. James' one was called Hannah and mine was Dave, they were around 7 months old.

Ahh, Aren't they Cute Roos.