The Blue Slipper Selection

Scenic World - Blue Mountains Australia

You can see where we were this morning by follwing this link.

Location: Leura, in the Blue Mountains, NSW

Ice-cream: chocolate fudge and coconut macaroon

We had a few more lovely days in Sydney doing city things and trying to be sophisticated. We sat in trendy bars overlooking Sydney Harbour sipping champagne and watching the crowds. Didn't fool anyone though, I just don't have the shoes for it. Also, I noticed that, apart from a couple of Asian girls, I was the only female in the bar who wasn't blonde.

We went to the Sydney Aquarium which was fun but while we were looking at fierce sharks safely behind glass friends in Perth were being warned to get out of the water at Trigg Beach. The spotter planes had noticed 19 hammerheads in a feeding frenzy only 400 m from the shore. Scary.

Yesterday we left Sydney and drove into the Blue Mountains. In case you were wondering the name comes from the ever-present blue haze which envelopes the mountains. The haze comes from rays of light striking droplets of oil dispersed by the gum trees. And there sure are a lot of gum trees: 92 varieties of Eucalypt here.

Today we took the cable car over the valley and then went for the forest stroll on the boardwalk. It was nice to be in the midst of trees without the high humidity we're used to. We caught the scenic railway train back up which was quite terrifying. It's the steepest one in the world at 52 degrees inclination.

Jim went for another forest walk this afternoon to try out his new walking boots. He came back very thirsty so he's having a pre-pub beer on the verandah as I type.

Popular films

Do you enjoy spotting mistakes in movies? I never notice them, I'm too caught up in the 'magic'. I was amazed to see how many errors I had never noticed even in films I've seen many times.

Location: Sydney, NSW

The car had to go for its 10,000 km service today. We dropped it off at 8.00 and so were left to wander around the district until 1.00 when it was ready to collect. It was an area colonised by the Italian community so there was plenty to see and do. I inspected the Italian shoe shop but concluded that I don't have Italian feet. I doubt if there was a shoe in the place that would fit me. Who are these people who can wear six inch spike heels and pointy toes without falling over? Is there a training school somewhere?

I was more tempted by the signs advertising "Artisan crafted gelato" but I resisted (probably because I was eating a muffin at the time) and had the dubious benefit of feeling virtuous. Our current hosts own a bathroom scales but I am reluctant to spoil my holiday by standing on them. (Er, the scales that is, not our hosts)

As we had so many hours to spare we went to the cinema again. It was a good thing we didn't have the car. Yesterday it cost us $20 to park for the duration of the film! We saw Veronica Guerlin as it was the only thing on at the time. Cate Blanchet as an Irish investigative journalist who was murdered by drug barons in 1998. Very watchable if you've nothing better to do.

The Random Oscar Wilde Quotes Page

Today's time waster.

Location: Sydney, NSW
Reading: The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith; Back editions of Gourmet Traveller Magazine

Out for breakfast yesterday, then a stroll through the park. A game of Scrabble (haven't done that for years, haven't improved any, I still lost; Jim was victorious) then out for a fish and chips picnic.

Today: out for breakfast (corn fritters, yum), stroll through park. Cinema later to watch "Mystic River."
As it's Australia Day and we're not far from the harbour bridge we may even get to see some fireworks this evening. The days drift by very pleasantly. I'm wondering when the urge to work will strike. No time soon, anyway.

Location: Sydney, NSW

A belated merry Christmas to my family in UK who just received the presents I sent them from Limbang post office in September. Better late than never.

We had a wonderful meal at an Italian restaurant last night. I had sardines to start followed by braised goat and roast potatoes. Of course, I had ice-cream for dessert. We had chosen a Margaret River (West Australian) wine to accompany the meal. It was from a small winery called Minot. As we were opening it a guy from another table came up and asked how we had come to choose that wine as it was not well known in NSW. It transpired that he knows the vineyard owners. A very good drop it was too.

Today Jim and his brother went off to the city on a search for hats so it was something of a surprise to meet up with them later and find they had instead bought boots. I tried on a shirt but ended up buying another book.

While the lads went off to watch yet more bloody cricket, I took a harbour tour boat trip and was able to take some snaps of the bridge and the opera house. I'll probably get round to putting them in the album in a few days...but then seen one pic of Sydney harbour and you've seen them all, mine are no different.

CitySearch Australia welcome

This link may come in handy for readers in Australia. Choose a city and search for whatever you like there. If you need to find a Honda garage, for example, in the western suburbs if Sydney then this site can help.

Location: Sydney NSW
ice-cream: cookies and cream

A cloudy day, pleasantly cool. We went to the cinema to watch Sean Penn in 21 grams. There isn't much you can say about it without giving away the plot. You'll notice none of the reviewers give any details about what actually happens. In so far as I am any judge (and bearing in mind that Terminator is one of my favourite movies so I am not very discriminating) it was well acted, well scripted and very grim. Not a cheery movie but if you're feeling a bit cheesed off with life you should go along just so you can come out counting your blessings.

Forgot to say that we won $39.90 on the Saturday Lotto this week. That's two weeks in a row. If the blog goes quiet next week you'll know we've won a million. Jim has abandoned Morris port and instead invested this week's winnings in a case of beer. You all knew he wouldn't stay off it for long, didn't you?

Location: Sydney. NSW

The weather in Sydney has been perfect so we've been able to get out and about a fair bit. You need the agility of a mountain goat to walk the streets here as most of them are like the north face of the Eiger. However, I still prefer to walk as the driving is terrifying. Jim has now mastered the art of city driving and fearlessly cuts across four lanes of trucks to merge into fast moving traffic without turning a hair. As I never really managed a right turn in Bangar without breaking into a sweat, I don't think Sydney driving is for me.

Yesterday we went to Bondi Beach. I had a quick paddle and my admiration for the bathers increased greatly. The water was freezing! I like water to be chilled if I am drinking it but warm and soupy if I am immersed in it.

Today we took the train to Darling Harbour and then the monorail (I love that episode of the Simpsons, but it doesn't inspire confidence) to the centre. I intended to buy a trendy city outfit but, as is usual when I go clothes shopping, I came back with a stack of books.

Whatever you are celebrating this weekend (Chinese New Year / Australia Day / Burns Night / ...) have a great time.

Location: Sydney

Well, we made it to Sydney. Fancy that! And we're staying with rellies which is a lot cheaper than motels. Of course, I don't get a tiny, fresh bar of soap every morning and I have to make my own bed but I can live with that.

The house.. did I say house? Perhaps mansion would be a better description. I had only previously encountered houses like this whilst perusing "Home Beautiful" in the dentist's waiting room. I'd better iron my tee-shirts if I'm going to be staying here.

Our task for the day was to book the car into a nearby Honda garage for its 10,000 km service. They can't fit it in until next week so while we're waiting we'll just crack open a cold one and make ourselves comfortable on the verandah.

Location:Kiama, NSW
Listening to: London Calling by The Clash and 18 by Moby
Ice-cream: a cup with a double scoop coconut commotion and chocolate oreo cookie

After leaving Canberra we had planned to spend the night at Nowra. However, on brief acquaintance the town had nothing to recommend it and a heavy drizzle did not increase its charm. To quote a wise man: It had “all the franchises that pass for civilization” stuck on the side of the highway and little else. We decided to press on to Kiama which at least claimed to have a blowhole to entertain us. We duly visited the blowhole and then retired to our room to watch old movies: Robin and the Seven Hoods starring Peter Falk (Yes, he of Colombo fame) who really should not have been singing, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davies Junior, Dean Martin etc. The Million Pound Note starring Gregory Peck and a Carry On… marathon starring every British comedy actor of the era. Such fun.

Location: Canberra ACT (Australian Capital Territory)
Listening to: Vertigo by Groove Armada

We waved a fond farewell to the Pelicans and drove west from the coast towards the capital. As I am sure you have been told before, the name Canberra comes from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘meeting place.’

One of the advantages of Oz being such a large and relatively new country (for Europeans anyway) is that at the beginning of the last century when they decided they were grand enough to need a capital city they could just call up the town planners, allocate a patch of land and build one from scratch. This explains why, unlike other capitals such as London or Jakarta, Canberra is neat, tidy, spacious and logically arranged. Even someone with my poor sense of direction couldn’t get very lost here. I like things to be orderly. I find the chaos of most modern cities somewhat unsettling. My suspicions have been confirmed: I have the mind set of a bureaucrat. I could definitely live in Canberra were it not for the weather. The winters (and most of the summers) are too cold for my thin blood.

We made contact with our host, Justin, a former colleague who has recently abandoned teaching in favour of real estate, and went out for lunch. In the afternoon we visited parliament house and the national museum and so fulfilled our obligations as tourists. A ‘must do’ on any trip to Canberra is a visit to the Telstra Tower. It’s on a hill above the city and from the top you can see the entire city laid out below you like toytown. Or so Jim tells me. I spent most of the tour clinging to the walls and looking at my toes. I’m not very good with heights.

Location:Batemans Bay, NSW
Listening to: Audio CD Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Motel Milk: A plastic pot with a foil lid.

We went to the cinema to see Something’s Got to Give. I recommend it for women well over forty who fancy Keanu Reeves. (Guilty, m’lud) Everyone else can wait till it reaches channel 7 in a few years.

There are so many pelicans here. I’ve no problem with that, I like pelicans. However, these like to perch on the lampposts and crap on you as you pass beneath. I never go out without my hat here.

We had a late lunch overlooking the bay and just as we were finishing the last drop of red the sun disappeared and the rain came down. Well, what’s a girl with no raincoat to do? Order dessert, of course. We got home eventually.

Location: Eden
ice-cream: chocolate fudge
Listening to: Loop Guru, Dunia.
Motel Milk: A small glass bottle with a wide neck and a large cork

Eden may not have been anything special but the drive from there up the coast to Batemans Bay was lovely. Tuross Head was especially beautiful.

In fact, the beauty of Aus is much underrated. The damn country is so enormously huge that tourists on a two week holiday only ever get to see a fraction of it. The Aussies themselves take their own area for granted and seldom travel beyond it. They’d be more inclined to fly to Europe than from Sydney to Perth. Heaven forbid they should visit Darwin or Tassie. So it’s left to me to inform the world that this country is impressive. Some bits are green, some brown and some an implausible red. It has azure lakes and sapphire oceans, rolling wheat fields, absurd wildlife and incredible birds. The scenery changes dramatically as you drive around and it’s all worth viewing. Yes, the distances are vast, (we’ve done 9,000 kms since we bought the car six weeks ago) but the roads are excellent, tourist information offices abound and there are plenty of motels & petrol stations.

There are even plenty of toilets. I now use my telephone as a toilet detector (in SE Asia you can just do it by sense of smell, phew!) If the town you are approaching produces a signal on your mobile then you can be sure it will have public conveniences. Even better, they are all clean and well lit. They all have running water, soap, toilet paper and (mostly) paper towels. They also have great signs. My favourite is, “Leash your dog! Comply or get out!” “No Alcohol Allowed” seemed a little unnecessary. Who on earth would want to party in the bog? I wondered. Then, in a small country town that shall remain nameless I tripped over a case (yes, a case) of empty Bundaberg rum & coke cans as I wandered in to the ladies loo. Party on, dudes.

Location: Eden, New South Wales

Not much to report except that we crossed the border from Victoria into NSW today. Our first stop is a charmingly named little place called Eden. With a name like that it can't help but disappoint.

Stop press: Jim has given up beer! Instead he has decided to drink port. I can't help but feel this is a retrograde step. We won $23.80 on the Saturday Lotto. Jim decided to invest the money wisely (his words) in a cask of Morris port.

Location: Lakes Entrance, Victoria
Listening to: Audio CD A Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

Jim decided to make a rapid recovery and vowed never to combine Guinness and ice-cream again.

The Alps were pretty chilly. I suppose I should have expected that and come better prepared than with just one sweatshirt but I had this idea in my mind of Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music dancing though sunlit fields. She didn’t look cold. It’s summer in Australia for goodness sake, where did these arctic conditions come from?

And then suddenly the sun came out and the mountains appeared from the gloom. The whole place was transformed and my jaw dropped as we drove from one scenic viewpoint to the next. Most people come here for the skiing but there’s plenty to see even when there is no snow on the ground.

We’ve lost all track of time. I never know what the day or date is anymore. If you don’t have to write it on the blackboard in the morning it doesn’t seem important information. Today it must be Sunday because I was woken at 9.15 by church bells. After five years of being woken by the mosque call at 4.30 a.m. it made a pleasant change. Another alteration to my previous routine was the roast pork for lunch. This was the meal provided as part of our boat tour of the Lakes. A very enjoyable way to spend our last day in Victoria.

Please note my hotmail account doesn't appear to be working. I can see that I have mail and from whom but I can't open any of them. Apologies, therefore, to those who have failed to receive a reply from me. Write to my yahoo or bigpond address until I get it sorted out.

Location: Birchip / Bendigo, Victoria

A pleasant lunch in Birchip with a former student who is now the local doctor. After lunch we drove on to Bendigo to rest up and wait to see if Jim really is coming down with the 'flu.

Location: Hall’s Gap, Victoria
Listening to: The kookaburras laughing in the trees.
Ice-cream: stairway to heaven (white chocolate ice-cream with plain chocolate and honeycomb chip)

Another day in the Grampian Mountains, lots more lakes and scenic views.

We drove further into the mountains up very, very steep, winding roads then trekked down muddy paths and were rewarded with spectacular views. To say the weather was changeable would be the understatement of the decade. We’d venture down a path in blazing sunshine only to be driven back five minutes later by heavy rain and a biting wind. I’ll admit that being cold and wet has a certain novelty value but I don’t think I’d like to make it a lifestyle choice.

Location:Hall’s Gap, Victoria
Listening to: The Monologues of Stanley Holloway
Ice-cream: A single scoop of cookies and cream in a waffle cone

A day in the Grampian Mountains, lots of lakes and scenic views.

Location: Ballarat

Our room in Ballarat was freezing. The aircon was central with no way for individual rooms to turn it off or regulate it. The receptionist blamed the age of the building. Rubbish! The ancient Romans mastered central heating, there’s no excuse for a cold storage bedroom in a 1970’s motel.

We were driven out to the pub, a welcoming place where Jim finally got his long-awaited pint o’Guinness.

Best bet for dinner looked liked ‘Noodle Box.’

How to order noodles in Bangar:
As you stroll past café No. 3 on your way to the supermarket shout to Tian, “Seafood noodles please.” When you come back the noodles are waiting. They are cooked just as you like them because you’ve had this conversation before.

How to order noodles in Noodle Box:
Approach the flat screen touch display on arrival. Pictures appear of five different types of noodles (e.g. egg noodles, rice noodles, vermicelli etc) You touch the one you want and the next screen appears displaying pictures of items you may wish to add – pork, chicken. seafood etc. followed by a variety of veggie pics. You finish off by choosing a sauce to cook them all in and selecting a drink to accompany it. When you’re satisfied that you have chosen the perfect combination the machine prints out a docket which you take to the till to pay. The girl at the till passes the paper to the chef who deftly chucks your chosen ingredients into the wok, gives it a stir and shovels it into one of those little boxes you always see San Francisco detectives eating from when they get a case in Chinatown.


On leaving Ballarat:
K: Where’s our stop for brunch this morning, d’ya think?
J: Lake Bollocks. 95 clicks from here.
K: Don’t be ridiculous. What’s it really called?
J: Lake Bollocks. Look there’s a sign.
K: That’s Lake Bolac! It’ll be the Aussie spelling of the French ‘Beau Lac” meaning beautiful lake.
J: Nah, I reckon it’s from the Yorkshire meaning ‘testicle.’

Location: Ballarat, Victoria

We're in the Goldfields area of Victoria so today we went to the Gold museum which was suitably eductional. We should have gone to the exhibition at the site of the bloody Eureka Stockade Rebellion like good little tourists but we were too mean to pay the entrance fee and came home for a cuppa instead. There's always more cricket on the tele. Sigh.

The 2003 blog entries are now available on request as a word document for those of you who would like to catch up but don't want to spend forever on line. It's in chronological order (not in reverse as you read online). Email if you would like me to send it to you as an attachment.

Location: Geelong / Melbourne, Victoria

Listening to: The Rolling Stones

Did I say that we would have to be mad to try to drive into a city the size of Melbourne? Well, call me crazy, coz we did. Victoria is a beautiful state but when you have had a few days of glorious sunshine it's easy to forget that there is a price to pay for all this greenery: rain, rain and more rain.

We got up this morning with the firm intention of catching the bus to Melbourne (as the trains aren't running) but the idea of waiting at a bus stop in the driving rain with a cold wind whistling round the ankles was decidedly unnattractive. I spent most of my youth like that coz I didn't have a choice, these days life is less harsh. We don't have any warm / waterproof clothing either. So we got on the freeway and drove for 70 kms in appalling weather from road works to traffic queue to diversion into Melbourne. I'm told it's very beautiful. Perhaps it is. It just looked liked Manchester in November to me.

To cheer ourselves up we returned to Geelong and went to the pictures. We saw Cold Mountain which was great though Jude Law always looks a bit vacant to me, he has that 'stunned mullet' look that leaves me cold. Jim was pleased to come home, crack open a cold one and watch that damn cricket which seems to be going on forever.

I'm sure I should give a few words of encouragement to those of you who are returning to work after the break but I can't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound somewhat hollow and decidedly smug so I'll stay quiet. Cheers!

Musings on Motel Milk.

Today's Milk: a small carton

You’d be amazed at the variety of motel milks. They like to give you some along with some sub-standard coffee and a few cheap tea bags by way of refreshments. We’ve been given sachets of powdered creamer, little pots with beautiful butterflies on peel-off lids, miniscule cartons and tiny jugs. The worst was a triangular-shaped device that was so tricky to open Jim declared it would have been quicker to milk the cow. Our favourite was the tiny glass bottle with a red foil lid. It was so reminiscent of our early school days. Explanatory note for foreigners and the under forties: in the UK in the pre-Thatcher era each school child received a third of a pint of milk in a diddy glass bottle every day. The crate was hauled into the classroom and dragged over to the radiator to take the chill off. It was a privilege (one I was never accorded) to be allowed to pierce the tops with the teacher’s red biro and insert the waxed paper straws. The milk always tasted foul and to this day I take my coffee black and avoid milk if at all possible.

Location: Geelong, Victoria
Listening to: Flanders and Swan

Munched a muffin for breakfast overlooking Torquay beach, the surf capital of a surfing nation. From the crowds of surfies in wetsuits it looked like they were expecting a major event but mother nature refused to cooperate and the sea was like the proverbial mill pond.

Thwarted in our desire to surf (and if you believe that you’ll believe anything), we drove on to Geelong. A pleasant place that reminded us of Fremantle in some ways. This gave us our first experience of gridlock in many years and we resolved to take the train into Melbourne tomorrow. It would be madness to try to drive. Unfortunately they are currently upgrading the train line and so there is no train service whatsoever. I am reliably informed, hoever, that if I turn up at the railway station a bus masquerading as a train will take me into Melbourne city centre.

Motel rooms are as rare as hens’ teeth but we managed to find one with the help of the nice ladies at the information centre of the Wool Museum.

We made a point of driving past Deakin University. When I was studying with them by distance learning for my M.Ed I used to get a regular emails informing me that, for example, ‘the coffee shop on Geelong Campus will be closed from 11.00 – 2.00 on Thursday.’ I went to look at the Geelong Campus to see what I had been missing. Not a lot. It’s a squat, square building that looks like it was consructed by a five-year old with Lego bricks.

Location: Lorne, Victoria
Listening to: Van Morrison

Twelve Apostles and hundreds of Hell’s Angels.

We set off early from Warrnambool so the mist was still clearing as we arrived at the first viewing spot on the Great Ocean Road. We saw beautiful coastlines in New Zealand so I was prepared to be unimpressed but it was totally magical. Each place we stopped was better than the last and by the time we reached the famous ‘Twelve Apostles’ limestone formations we had given up on admiration and moved into awe. By mid-morning the sun was shining and the ocean looked even better. Whenever I could tear myself away from the sea view on my right I was equally delighted by the trees and hills on my left. I’ll put some pictures in the album but I don’t know if they can do the scene justice.

We had planned to stay overnight in Apollo Bay but we just ate lunch and moved on. The place was mobbed. Half the population of Melbourne were in Apollo Bay and, as we soon found out, the remaining two million were in Lorne. Having driven all day, we had no choice but to stop in search of accommodation but every place had a ‘no vacancy’ sign outside. We checked the internet but prices quoted were over 250 bucks for the type of very modest room that would cost $80 a night at any other time of year.

We ended up at a backpacker place which lacked a lot of the luxuries we have come to expect but it was a great location and nothing else at all was on offer. Next weekend it’s going to be even busier (!) here as the annual ‘pier to the pub’ swimming race attracts around 4000 competitors. That didn’t sound plausible to me but I wasn’t about to argue with my new best friend, my landlord.

After checking-in we went for a stroll through the town and along the seafront. We didn’t set foot on the beach as you couldn’t have put a toe down without standing on some bronzed beauty or hunk. This is definitely a place to see and be seen for the city youth on holiday. In my baggy shorts, oversized tee-shirt and Boddingtons baseball cap I fitted in a treat – NOT. Where do all the ugly ones hang out then? Ah, the internet café.

Squeezing into the town centre we noticed another phenomenon: the entire main street was filled with bikers. I don’t mean the weekly outing of the Honda 50 owners club either. These guys looked seriously severe. Each one had a heavy duty motorcycle, a huge bushy beard (eat your heart out ZZ Top) and a cut-off denim jacket over their leathers saying “Gypsy Jokers Australia”. The gang have been a major news item since Xmas when the Perth chapter announced they were travelling en masse to South Australia for ‘a run’. They got a heavy police escort across the Nullarbor and the media were speculating about how much damage they would do at their eventual (undisclosed) destination. Scenes of carnage from two years ago were broadcast to remind viewers of the havoc a rampaging biker on a binge can cause. The media were not allowed to say where the Jokers were going in case other gangs decided to join in the fun. Well, it can now be revealed that they were in Lorne with us. “If it’s good enough for Kay and Jim,” the leader was heard to mutter, “Then it’s good enough for us.”

It was a matter of some confusion to me that the same, seemingly inappropriate names feature time and time again in any given area. “Buffalo” for example in Adelaide which has none of these beasts at all. There was no lake at Loch Ard and Lady Nelson never set foot in Mount Gambier. With experience all becomes clear. It transpires that HMS Buffalo was the first ship to sight Adelaide, HMS Loch Ard was shipwrecked (158 souls and only 2 survivors) on the Victorian coast and HMS Lady Nelson brought the first settlers to the Mount Gambier region. South Australia is very proud of having been colonized by free settlers not convicts like the rest of the country. I’m reading a fascinating book at present on the subject of transportation and the experiences of the early settlers both convict and free. It’s called The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes and comes highly recommended. Things have certainly improved here, I haven’t seen a weevily ships biscuit for years.