Well, we're now in Airlie Beach killing a bit of time whilst waiting for our three day sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands. Since the last blog entry we caught the overnight train north to Brisbane. We had 12 hours or so in Brisbane before our coach north once more, so we had some breakfast in a nice cafe and then ended up in a travel agents sorting out what we would do in Airlie Beach, Magnetic Island and Cairns. Once that was all sorted (which took a while...), we had a wander round the Domain gardens in central Brisbane and then wandered up to the transit centre to catch the overnight coach up to Rockhampton.

 

We arrived in Rockhampton in the early morning and were feeling a bit worse for wear after two nights with no proper sleep. The coaches in Australia are not a patch on the South American ones!! From Rockhampton we transfer to Roslyn Bay and then on a ferry to Great Keppel Island, our home for the next two nights.

 

The island is a very quiet (at this time of year anyway...), with a small resort, a YHA (where we stayed) and a few deserted beaches. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit overcast for our two days with a coolish breeze, so we didn't go snorkling or swimming and spent our days lazing about or trekking through the centre of the island. It was nice being back in a hostel and to meet some new people once more.

 

On Friday we caught the afternoon ferry back to the mainland and then had to hang around in Rockhampton ('Rocky') for six hours to wait for our midnight coach to Airlie Beach. We'd had a pub recommended to us, so we heaed there and, as Rocky is in the middle of Australia's beef country, tucked into a couple of steaks. We then had an amusing evening watching some rugby league (trying to work out what was going on), people watching and 'band-miming-to-greatest-rock-hits' watching. Another sapping overnight coach trip followed and this morning we've spent the time looking around the market and internetting.

 

We'll be back on the mainland on Monday and the weather is pretty good right now, so here's hoping it stays that way for the next 48 hours.

 

On Sunday we went to an Italian festival in Darlinghurst. There was some music, plus lots of food stalls. As you'd expect, the standard of food was great and after a few samples we decided to get some gelato and go for a wander around the eastern suburbs. Later that afternoon we went to see a Spanish film, Volver, which Xana had wanted to see. It had Penelope Cruz in it, so I was happy too. The cinema was great as, instead of regular seats, it had mattresses you could lay down on. Very comfy.

Next day went to Sydney Fish Market to get some food for that night and then went down to Coogee to do the Coogee-Bondi walk. After a bit of a look around Bondi, we headed back into town.

On Tuesday we wanted to see a couple of suburbs we hadn't seen before, Leichart and Newtown. Leichart has a big Italian community and plenty of places to get coffees and pasta We then walked down to Newtown and, on the way, we stopped off at a small park for lunch and found a very closed looking Portuguese Ethnographic Museum of Australia. No idea what that was doing some quiet residential street in western Sydney! We then headed to Newtown, which is a kind of cool and grungy neighbourhood. We had a couple of huge (and very sweet) pieces of cake and then walked back.

Wednesday morning we sorted out our train trip to Brisbane for next week (we had to pay 100 dollars more because it was a bank holiday for the Queen's Birthday!) and then headed back to Coogee to meet up with the family of a friend of ours back in Norfolk. It was great to meet them and see their new home.

Next day we did some shopping in the morning and then went to the excellent Powerhouse Museum. This is a huge museum covering everything from Space exploration to Australian designers.

On Friday we sent some 15 kilos of stuff back to the UK - will be nice to be travelling light again! The weather took a real turn for the worse (some of the worst storms in recent years over the next couple of days), so we hid out for some hot drinks and then got ready for a meal at that night at Bill's (a restaurant owned by celebrity chef Bill Granger). The rain was so hard we took a cab out there (avoiding fallen branches on the way). The food was great. Definitely one to recommend. Afterwards the rain had eased off for a moment so we walked down to Oxford Street for a few drinks. On the way I managed to walk head first into a signpost, comedy-style. Luckily there wasn't too much damage - just a few stars...

Next day we tried to go back to Paddington Market to take a top back, but the weather had been so bad that it had been cancelled. So, instead, we bought some books and headed to the Lord Dudley pub for a quick beer. That night we went to Waggamammas restaurant.

Today there is a Jazz and Blues festival happening down at Darling Harbour, so we got some tickets for a lunch in the Chinese Garden of Friendship, listening to some live music. We then saw a couple more bands playing, before heading back.

Tomorrow we head to Brisbane by train and then on to Great Keppel Island - let's hope for good weather!

 

 

On Sunday we spent most of the day trying to find a flat for the next two weeks in Sydney. We saw a place down near Bondi, somewhere near the top of Oxford Street, but decided to go for a place just on the edge of Chinatown in a suburb called Ultimo. We figured it would give us a base near the centre of the city and it was a really nice newish flat, sharing with our landlady.

Once we had decided, we went back to the hostel and packed up to get ready for moving in the next day. At the hostel we bumped into a couple who we'd met in New Zealand, which was really nice. We exchanged travelling tips and caught up on where we'd been since.

Next day we moved into the flat and then headed off into the local area to explore what was around our new home. We took a walk around Ultimo and the nearby suburb of Glebe.

On Tuesday we went to the State Library of New South Wales, where they had an exhibition of press photographs from around the world. Very interesting and some great photos.

Wednesday saw us up at the Opera House for a guided tour of the inside. Here we saw some of the concert halls and learnt a bit about the history of the place, including the fact that the orginial architect, after 40 years of seperation, is now being involved in renovating the halls (which were not actually built to his designs). After the tour we walked up over the Harbour Bridge, stopping off on the way to take a view up one of the (non-) supporting pylons. The views from here are almost as good as those from the bridge climb (and a damn site cheaper!) and we had to restrain ourselves from taking too many shots of the bridge, Opera House and Sydney skyline. We then continued over the bridge and spent a couple of hours exploring the north shore, before taking a ferry back to Central Quay.

Next day we went to the Australian Museum. On the way we saw a ceremony at the War Memorial to those Aboriginal people who had fought overseas for Australia - the first time they had been specifically remembered. On to the museum and here they had a guy dressed up as a surprisingly convincing dinosaur! After a chilly lunch in Hyde Park, we walked up Macquarie Street and to the cafe that is owned by the mother of a friend of ours back in England. It was really nice to meet her and to catch up over Pat and his family.

On Friday we went on an Aboriginal cultural cruise. This took us out into the harbour on the boat that was the first Aboriginal boat to circumnavigate Australia. We were given information on the pre-European history of what is now Sydney. We then sailed onto one of the islands in the harbour where we got off and were met by an Aboriginal guy with full body paint who proceeded to tell us some more of the Aborigianal culture. His tribe was from the Sydney area and he taught us some of the local language and the girls were then taught a traditional dance. The guys were supposed to clap in time, but we were so bad the guy made us stop as we distracting the girls... After that we got back on the boat and headed back to Circular Quay. It was an interesting, if brief view into the Aboriginal culture.

That night we went to Glebe for food and ended up having some really nice Nepalese food.

Today we went to Paddington Market for a good look around, a few purchases and then a stroll back into town, down Oxford Street. Tonight we're being sad and staying in as we've spent far too much today...