Australia vs Wales

I caught up with Ems, Solveig at Sydney central station, on Saturday, for a small Acacia tour reunion with the warm & sunny Darling harbour playing back drop to the initial part of our day.

Ems set about her day’s mission “to find a Welsh flag or rugby shirt,” for the evening’s international game, by dropping into umpteen shops & kiosks. A few hours later we’d had no luck, so we scoffed some lunch down & jumped on a train bound for the Olympic stadium hoping to find something there.

There had been lots of marketing hype to sell match tickets but the 44,000 people that came to watch only half filled the huge stadium.

Not to be deterred by the semi vacuous venue the Welsh fired up their side with a rousing national anthem. Despite the initial part of the game being full of mistakes, the final minutes were hugely exciting as the Ozzies pounded the Welsh line, finally breaching it in the closing seconds to win the thrilling game.

The painful end to the game (well for Ems) was mirrored by her excitement to be give a Welsh flag to wave at half time.

We returned to the city & set about commiserating in true Welsh fashion, with a few beers & a post match autopsy!!

Airlie beach ahoy

A short stop in Brisbane over & a short flight up to Prosopine airport courtesy of Virgin Blue & I’d arrived in the hot & humid Whitsunday Islands just after a rain storm. A warm smiley face greeted me as I came through arrivals. One hand snapping a photo the other extended to shake mine “Welcome to Airlie beach mate,” said my uncle David.

After a surprisingly long drive back from Whitsunday’s airport (45mins), I was given an extensive guided tour of the town & surrounding area, including the local boat club & future marina developments. We then returned to his abode in Cayonndale where David ran through a raft of coastal activities for us to pick & choose from. We chose to dined at his place the first evening & then eat out on the Airlie beach strip the second.

David played perfect host for the next 3 days, giving me a comfortable, spacious bed under the awning next to his A-framed camper. Each morning, before grabbing breakfast, we decided to rise early & watch the Tall ships and huge tourist motor boats set sail from the harbour. Some were day trip boats & others 3 day 2 night adventures.

I was keen to do some hiking, so we packed up some snacks, water & sandwiches & set out into the heat of the Conway National park. As we stomped along the narrow bush trail I was shown a plethora of wildlife, planets & fungi.

We spent my final day wandering around Vic Hislop’s rather gruesome Shark museum & then the more tranquil setting of these refreshing some local waterfalls. The museum was a bizarre mix of hunting trophies & tenuous shark attack justifications, that left us a little perplexed as to whether Vic’s shark killing activities were either a good, or a bad thing. The water falls washed our mixed thoughts away however & we soaked in the cool atmosphere, while turtles surfaced & then dived away into the opaque green-blue water.

I waved David farewell at the airport. My 3 O’clock flight, departing at 6.30 meant we hadn’t had to rush (but there hindsight for you). The delay meant I missed the last connecting flight in to Sydney, so instead I was put up in a Brisbane hotel & afforded the chance to catch up with Claire for a late beer instead.

And so to Brisbane....

...for a whistle stop tour of the city & a few nights out with Claire, before heading up the coast to see David in the Whitsunday Islands.

Qantas delivered me on time in to the Brisbane rush hour which was a pleasure I’d rather have avoided but a short taxi ride later I was standing on the door step of Claire’s house in Paddington saying hi to my cousin who I’ve not seen in 15 years & has changed some what since I threw her around the swimming pool in 1992!

Tina & Claire had arranged a spicy Thai restaurant in town, so given the hour of my arrival we shot out to eat & catch up on the few years since my last trip to Oz.

The next day while Claire was at work I caught up with Kyla (Acacia tour in Africa) to explore Brisy’s thriving CBD & South bank area. A quick drive into the centre & we sat people watching over lunch. The menu read as below so I curiously inquired into how the bugs could be cook & whilst I listened to the options of chilled, garlic or regular I chose to throw caution to the wind & washed what I’d call baby lobster down with a local schooner of cloudy Coopers Ale.

Brisbane has a Fast cat service linking the city’s riverside developments so we hopped on to gain a clearer view of the city skyline before picking up with Claire & her flatmate Jake for starters at Wogamamma’s, mains in a fantastic desert parlour & then desert over a few games of ten pin bowling.

Back to Sydney for a weekend out in the city.

Post diving, an overnight stop in Cairns was required. 24 hours shore time is required to ensure everyone on board has had sufficient time for residual Nitrogen to escape the blood system. 3 of us checked into a basic hotel that offered dinner bead & breakfast & spend an early evening in a crappy Irish bar enjoying 2-3 pints of Guinness. I couldn’t take any more so Larry lightweight went to bed!

The jet lag from the African time change meant I rose early & ate breakfast alone. This friendly fellow hopped on to the table to join me for brekkie, literally!


Back in Sydney, Mel kindly picked me up again. We drove over to Marty’s place in Paddington for dinner, before taking a short stroll around the block to the insalubrious “Paddo Arms,” to watch Bills beat the Sharks in the all South African Super 14s cup final, followed by Chelsea win the late night FA cup back home.
Sunday the two of us were joined Mel’s brother & sister to start Mel’s move into Bondi by carting bed & kit across from Cooggee. The reward for my physical efforts was a guided trip up to Watson’s bay & lunch overlooking the entrance to Sydney harbour.

Diving the Great Barrier Reef

The Qantas flight up from Sydney to Cairns was over in just over 3 hrs & within an hour of landing I was aboard ship having scooted down to the docks on a shuttle bus.

The Take live-a-board dive boat had waiting for me & pushed off as soon as I stepped aboard. With my kit quickly stowed in the bilges I joined the melee of activity on deck, as the crew set about kitting everyone up with masks, fins, tanks & wetsuits.

A short meet & greet briefing later & 14 of us were tucking into a fine dinner spread with almost as many crew. The boat was half full which made it comfortable & spacious. I rented camera
equipment after dinner & was trying to work out how to use them, but couldn't keep my eyes open for long. So whilst most people started to relax in front of the TV, I slipped off to bed & was snoring in my bunk before 9.

Day 2 – Discovering the Great Barrier Reef

During the night Taka positioned itself some 200miles north of Cairns near Lizard Island. I was up early (due to Jetlag) & raring to go, as none of the crew had yet risen I watch the sunrise. The rising sun’s rays spiked the few fluffy clouds gathered on the horizon with rich golden colours & I pondered on what the day was to have in store.

The diving day kicked off with at Cod hole. I was buddied up with an Ozzie guy, Daniel (28), who works for a white water tour company based out of Cairns town centre. He was typically loud & talked constantly, I thought, to conceal his nervousness. I hadn’t figured at this stage that the only peace & quiet I was going to get on the trip, was the odd 45min session that we both spent under water…… !

The Diving at Cod hole was truly amazing, the sea life was literally everywhere. Huge schools of fish swan through the hard & soft corals, whilst an array of Anemones, Fans & Sea Cucumbers littered the reef. Little clown fish hid from preying larger fish & others small fish set about cleaning Sea Bass. We circled through it all, taking pictures & trying not to disturb the 3 dimensional film show that surrounded us.

We made 2 dives before lunch, then moved elsewhere for an afternoon & later night dives. During the day dives we saw these huge Potato Cod. The 2^nd Dive had us all sat in a circle while the dive director feed 2 huge Cod & numerous Red Sea Bass.

I was all but exhausted by the time we night dived. Stepping out into the black water was a nerve racking experience in itself so I stuck close to the dive master in fear that I’d wander too far from the boat & end up in an Open Water situation. The tiredness of the 3 previous dives really lessened my enjoyment of the night dive. The sea had become rougher & I have to say I felt a little queezy. I tried to relax with a beer but it served simply to knock me out until morning.

Day 3 – Steve’s Brommie

Overnight we’d positioned south to Steve’s Brommie, an Oasis of rich sea life crapped onto an up crop of reef/rock, in a desert of ocean sand. I’d hired a camera & strobe flash the first evening & spent much of my dive time snapping away like a Japanese tourist.

Dan’s diving mirrored his land based lifestyle & quickly hovered through his O₂ in less than 30mins. Fortunately for me the visibility was so clear that he could surface & snorkel, leaving me to carry on below for a further 15mins. There was so much to see without even having to move that I finally suggested that he slow down & on trying it his dive time increased 2 fold!!

I choose not to night dive again. The fatigue of 7 dives in 36hrs was taking it’s toll, so along with almost half the group opted for a few drinks on deck as we watched the others head out & back. Like moths to a summer camping lamp, plankton & shrimp surrounded the stage lights at the back of the boat. As the numbers grew, so did the ensuing food chain. Firstly little tiddlers fed on the shrimp, then larger predators in turn fed on them. By the end of the dive there as a frenzy of feeding activity going on.

Day4 – The Return Journey

Having not dived the night before I felt much freshed for our final day. En route to Cairns we had 2 final dives in Challenger bay. The reef has been significantly damaged by a combination of pollution & tourism. I now know why Polly had urged me to head as far north as possible & am thankful for her advice. That said there was some fantastic animal life for our final dives. The highlight of which was to capture this single turtle swim right over me.

Australia: My stepping stone to South American

It’s perhaps a little unfair to think of Oz as a place I’m skipping through, especially in light of all it has to offer, but having travelled here when I was 19 & hung out with numerous in various parts of the world I reckon I’ve a fairly accurate idea how this deeply cultural nation tick.

I arrived into Sydney international airport after a crippling 2.5 day dog leg journey back through Jo’burg (where I picked up my Round the world route). Mel, a friend from London now living back in Sydney picked me up & kindly showed me the sights & sounds of the city by night. The weekend passed as one long party, consisting of a couple of laps around the Kings Cross & Wooloomooloo areas. Despite being completely spaced out for the first few days of my stay I managed to hook up with Marty & between us we managed to assist Australia towards its annual beer & wine quota.

I was thankfully able to run off the beer Monday morning with a run from Cooggee Beach to Bondi. The gentle terrain turned into a hilly nightmare, as I quickly discovered that I’d been sat on my bum for far too long crossing Africa & my legs turned to jelly. To recover I treated myself to a drive into Sydney city centre to catch up with Marty for lunch & some slightly more sober conversation.