On the Tarmac

Australia is in the grip of its worst drought in many years so typically, a few hours after bolting the tent onto the roof rack it poured with rain.  However, apart from slowing up the packing, it cleared the air and our (reasonably) early start was greeted with a fine morning and clear views of the distant mountains as we left the urban conurbation of Brisbane and set out west.  Heavy traffic meant slow progress for the first hour after which, as we cleared the city we made better progress.  I anticipated that the long slow climb onto the Great Dividing Range towards Toowoomba would have us grinding along in second gear, but Vin Rouge decided that it was time to get cracking and we roared up, passing truck after truck.  Coffee at Picnic Point is something of a ritual for us, but we didn’t stay too long, despite the attractions of the scenic vista.  As we made progress the traffic thinned until we were passing only road trains carting cattle towards the east and four wheel drives from the various mining and gas drilling plants.  There were a lot of road trains, and a lot of prime steaks on the move.

Soon we were pretty much on our own.  Despite the seemingly never-ending roadworks the k’s mounted up as the scenery became less green and the land less undulating.  We did see a great many kangaroo carcases, victims of altercations with trucks.  By late afternoon, as the sun was making its inevitably journey towards the horizon, we pulled up at the small town of Mitchell, checked into the caravan park, set up camp – surprisingly quickly as it’s been a few years since we last did it – walked over the bridge and immersed ourselves in the naturally warm waters of the artesian spa.  Glorious.  The aches of travelling washed away courtesy of the Great Artesian Basin.

It took a little while to get used to sleeping in the rooftop tent.  Was that because we were unused to it or because the temperature dropped like a stone to freezing?  Either way it was not the best night’s sleep we’ve ever had.  But morning dawned bright and crisp, and it was not long before the sun’s warming rays restored us, along with hot tea and porridge.  Then it was time to hit the tarmac.

We’re told that Tambo is famous for its teddy bears.  Now I confess that I’ve not previously heard of Tambo, let alone their teddies, but stop we did to check them out.  They are rather special, made of pure sheepskin in a variety of colours that sheep were never meant to be.

On again and as we made further progress west the road trains became longer and the other traffic less.  Blackall is reckoned to be the place where the outback begins, marked by a tree stump that was used as a survey point 150 years ago and so I guess we can say that we are now in the Outback proper.  Augathella we somehow missed.  Barcaldine passed under our wheels with little to notice it.  A near altercation with a large kangaroo was averted by application of the air horns, quite a few wedge-tailed eagles flew languidly away from their carrion at our approach and eventually we arrived at Ilfracombe.  Now Ilfracombe cannot the described as the hub of the universe, but the Wellshot Hotel serves magnificent lamb shanks (two of ‘em) plus veggies.

So here we are at the end of day two, well over a thousand kilometres from Brisbane and we’re not even out of Queensland.  Australia is a big country.

Preparations are under way

It’s been three years since our old Land Rover, Vin Rouge, had a good long trip.  OK, we’ve done a bit of travelling in the meantime but not in the outback of Australia. 

In previous years we’ve visited all eight Australian States, completed the circumnavigation, travelled many of the noted tracks (Birdsville, Oodnadatta, Strzelecki, Gibb River Road, Cape York, etc.).  We’ve driven the interminable length of the Nullarbor (with a head wind all the way!)  experienced the majesty of the Kimberleys and the wide open spaces of Western Australia, climbed to the top of Mount Kosciuszko and ridden the horizontal falls.  We’ve spent time with some amazing people, met up with quite a lot of other Land Rovers, had a couple of interesting breakdowns and generally lived up to the maxim of growing old disgracefully.  At least Mike has, Kim is far too young.

So what’s left?  For some time we’ve had a hankering to cross the Simpson Desert.  It’s the world’s largest sand dune desert with something in excess of a thousand dunes to tackle.  When we were last in Birdsville we drove out and motored steadily to the top of Big Red, reputed to be one of the highest dunes – that’s it behind us in the picture – without much difficulty.  How we’ll feel meeting it again with so many other dunes behind us, we’ll have to wait and see.

There’s two ways to cross the Simpson, east to west and west to east.  The latter, we’re told is easier going as the prevailing wind will be behind us and that makes the ascending side of the dunes less steep than the descending.  But we first have to get to the western side of the desert as we live in Brisbane on the east coast.

The navigator, that’s Kim, has a plan to take a northern route through Mitchell, Longreach, Winton to Boulia.  That’s a little over 1,700 kilometres.  We’ll then follow the Plenty Highway, which is mainly unsealed, through pretty much nowhere until we turn south to Alice Springs - another 800 plus Kilometres.  I guess we’ll take a couple of days in Alice before setting out for the Simpson and Birdsville, but more of that later.

For now it’s vehicle preparation time; servicing, checking and cleaning the equipment we take with us, fitting two jerry cans for additional fuel and finding somewhere for Cito, our Beaglier, to stay while we are gone.  He’s a bit of an old softy and likes his luxury.  And doggie demands must be met.

It’s almost time to load up, top up the fuel tanks and get ready for the off.  The scheduled date is Tuesday 7^th August.  First stop hopefully is Mitchell.  No doubt it will take a couple of days to get back into the routine of setting up camp and adjusting to life on the road/track but that’s all part of the fun.

Who’d have thought that I’d be camping well into my seventies.  Ho hum.

More soon. 

Hong Kong and Home

Looking back over the last several blogs I noticed that it’s written in the third person.  I’m not sure why.  Was it an ‘out of body experience’?  Have I suddenly become a non-person?  I don’t know, but will write this, the last in the current series of blogs in the first person.  Stand by for a bunch of ‘I’ and ‘we’.

Hong Kong is a special place for us.  We spent the first few years of our life together there.  We were married there and made friendships that have endured over the years.  It’s a place we cherish and where we still feel at home when we visit.  We arrived, courtesy of that dreadful airline Lufthansa, mid afternoon, checked into our hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui (more-or-less pronounced Chim Sa Choy) and straight away went for a walk.  It was hot and humid, no change there then!  Finding ourselves near the water we took a nostalgic trip on the Star Ferry (on the Twinkling Star if you must know) and watched fascinated as myriad lights on both sides of the harbour changed in a variety of patterns and colours.  They never did that when Kai Tak was the airport.  The ferry ride is quicker these days as the water front extends further out and the harbour decreases in size as the years pass.  Should you go to Hong Kong, take a tram ride on the island and consider that the tracks were originally right on the waterfront.  They’re not now!

Bright and early next morning, well almost, we found our way to Dick Ho’s jewellery shop tucked away in a back street arcade.  Dick made Kim’s engagement ring and one of the stones had been lost.  Could it be fixed?  We were in Hong Kong for only a few days.  “Of course, today is Friday, collect it Monday noon.  And your pearls will also be restrung.”  Yes, all was ready on time, the ring repaired, polished and shiny as new, the pearls restrung and the clasp fixed as the jeweller spotted that it was worn.  Such is Hong Kong.

Almost thirty years ago I worked for the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club as it was then known.  It’s title has now lost the Royal but it continues to thrive as horse racing is just as an important part of life as it has been for decades.  Isaac Tong was part of our original data security team and he invited us to dinner where we met his lovely wife Sugar for the first time.  They found a pretty special restaurant – check out the specialities.  And yes, it tasted as good as it looks.

Next day and jet lag caught up with us in a big way.  We didn’t wake up until eleven o’clock!  Fortunately it was not too late to pay a visit to the flower market in Mong Kok where amongst the displays we spotted these orchids.

We rode the tram back to Central, nostalgic certainly as we frequently travelled by tram when we lived in Happy Valley.  It seemed as though little had changed.  They rattled and clanged just as they always did, and were crowded just as they always were.  Just the fare had increased a bit.

Sunday and we met with very good friends Hayden and Scarlet with their youngest daughter Prudence.  We even found a Land Rover in the middle of the city and tried to explain how we travelled around Australia in such a vehicle.  I’m not sure they thought us entirely sane!

We’ve done the tourist trails in Hong Kong before and so Hayden and Scarlet took us to their temple where joss sticks were lit and we absorbed the peaceful, if somewhat smokey atmosphere.  We’d not known of this temple tucked away in a back street and it came as a pleasant surprise to see so many people attending their devotions.

A gathering in Hong Kong is never complete without eating and so we were taken for excellent dim sum at lunch time and to a local restaurant for dinner where, as I am approaching yet another birthday, Scarlet had arranged for a special celebratory treat called Shoutao, or Longevity Peach.  I’m hoping it works!

It was with real pleasure that we enjoyed the company of our friends, had a lot of laughs, reminisced about times past, discussed how children were rapidly growing into adults and what plans that were being made for the future.  We were joined by Scarlet’s sister and her daughter and of course Kim took more photos.  As evening turned to night it was time to leave after a very special time.

All good things come to an end and it was with sadness that we made our way to the airport and the flight home to Brisbane, QANTAS this time thank goodness.  We’ve been travelling for over three months and were beginning to feel that we needed to stay put for a while.  Living out of suitcases is fine but it will be nice to have a real wardrobe and according to Kim, a larger selection of clothing from which to choose to wear.

Arriving in the early morning at Brisbane we rapidly passed through the immigration formalities, made our way to the taxi queue and in twenty minutes or so were at our door.  The only problem was youngest son Alexander had decided to meet and greet us at the airport but somehow had missed seeing us.  So we were camped outside our house while he waited at the airport with his specially made welcome sign.  Ah well, things do go awry and a phone call soon brought him home where cups of morning tea eased the soul as well as the thirst.

There’s just one disappointment.  Mike’s brother Malcolm remains unwell.  He’s had another fall and is back in hospital.  Hopefully he will make a full recovery but it may be a bit of a long haul.

So that’s it.  We’ve travelled right around the world.  America, Canada, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.  We’ve caught up with family and friends, met some fascinating people and experienced some incredible sights and events.  We’ve enjoyed a variety of cuisines, beers, wines and other treats.  Kim has taken thousands of photos (which now need sorting) and I’ve found time to write a small blog.  We’ve had another amazing adventure and hope that you have enjoyed sharing some of it with us.  We’re signing off - for now. . . .

Antiques and Flowers

Monday 23rd May started out well enough.  The sun was shining and apart from a bit of a traffic holdup on the M25, the drive to Faversham in Kent was pleasant enough.  Kim was born in the town and although it’s not on the tourist map, Faversham has some interesting old buildings and a lot of history.  The old market square  building is almost a thousand years old

Mike used to sail there but now Faversham creek has been cleaned up a bit and presents tranquil scenes of boats and riverside dwellings.  However, it’s still all mud when the tide goes out!

The journey back left something to be desired.  Completely blocked motorways, traffic chaos on minor roads exacerbated by schools turning out and large trucks endeavouring to manoeuvre on country lanes made for a slow going.  Almost at journey’s end a text call alerted that Mike’s brother Malcolm had suffered a serious accident and was in hospital.  The details will be omitted here but suffice it to say that much of the rest of their ‘UK holiday’ was spent in dealing with hospital and social care people, and cleaning up Malcolm’s house that looked like a scene from a horror movie.

There were lighter moments.  There was time to visit the Antiques Roadshow which was being filmed at Audley End house, not very far distant.  Attending with Paul and Sue, they watched the filming and saw some of the presenters and specialists identifying and valuing antiques, all taking place in the warmth of a beautiful spring afternoon.  If you are a fan of the show, you should be able to recognise a couple of the ‘celebrities’– there were lots more.

Kim took time out to attend the Chelsea Flower Show with Ros, a good friend of hers.  From the reports and photographs (over 600 of them) it would appear that they had a good time, checked out quality of the Pimms and once again played ‘celebrity spotting’.  Now it’s an impossible task to pick out a couple of representative pictures from the hundreds on the computer, so at great personal risk here are a few that Mike likes (he’ll be in trouble now).

In the final couple of days there was time to have dinner with some friends, enjoy a short walk in the Essex countryside and visit a country pub or two.

Then it was off to London for two nights.  They took in a show – Beautiful, the Carole King musical (a fabulous show that leaves the audience singing as they leave).  Mike had a Nostalgia Lunch (he’s a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists – the 100th City livery company) and met up with some old work colleagues.  Meanwhile Kim needed to catch up with some late shopping.  Then it was off to Heathrow for Frankfurt, change planes and on to Hong Kong.

Magic

Kim and Mike returned to Essex by way of the New Forest, taking in the vibrant greens of new Spring growth on the trees, watching the ponies and generally relaxing.  There’s something very special and unique about an English Spring Day and they made the most of the season.  In just a few days the hedgerows changed from bare brown sticks to a mass of green leaves, decorated with white and pink blossom.

They also found time to check out the Bombay Sapphire gin distillery where Kim was treated to ‘The Laverstoke’ a new cocktail and Mike learned a lot about botanicals.

Essex found them taking the traditional walkway in Maldon, trying to avoid the traditional rain.  They took Mike’s brother Malcolm with them and enjoyed a pint at Heybridge Basin.  Several decades ago Mike sailed these waters and it seemed as though little had changed, just the price of beer had increased.

The younger members of the family grew up with the Harry Potter stories and so Kim and Mike made the trip to Watford for the Making of Harry Potter studio experience.  They found it fascinating, not only for the scale of the film sets but also for the attention of detail that had been incorporated into every scene.  Each character had its own individual wand, every costume and prosthetic was made to include the tiniest of detail and each set appeared so realistic it was easy to believe that the magic was real.

Mike was particularly taken with the Knight bus, created from three regular buses . . . .

. . . . while Kim admired the huge and incredibly detailed model of Hogwarts.

Then it was back to Essex and time to catch up with friends.  They stayed with Paul and Sue, who were neighbours until Kim and Mike moved to Australia.  Many happy memories were rekindled as they enjoyed their legendary hospitality under the thatched roof of their medieval cottage.

The story will finish here because things get a bit complicated later.  More will be revealed in the next blog.

Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion

The main reason Kim and Mike made the journey to Bristol was to spend time with James, Mike’s eldest son.  James’ work life is demanding and it was a special treat that he was able to take a week away to show us around the city.

Bristol is a thriving place that is proud to show off its history and art.  There’s a lot of Brunel of course.  The SS Great Britain, from 1845 to 1854 the longest passenger ship in the world has been restored from a rusted hulk to demonstrate how magnificent it once would have been.  Especially impressive is the replica engine, complete with its eighteen feet diameter main gear and giant pistons, all of which move.  Cabin and galley reconstruction tell stories of earlier times whilst six towering masts dominate the sky above decks.

Of course Isambard Kingdom Brunel was also responsible for the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge.  The trio walked it several times and checked out the visitor centre that clearly explains the challenges of building and the innovative method of construction.  The bridge was opened in 1864 and in its 150 years of operation has been closed due to adverse weather only once (in 2015).  Originally designed to cater for horse-drawn traffic, the Clifton Suspension Bridge today serves as a crossing for more than four million vehicles every year.

Brunel’s achievements are recognised as being remarkable.  Mike asked him about it but found IKB to be most reticent in his responses.

Kim, Mike and James walked around the ‘Floating Harbour’, several times in fact, spotted yet more engineering masterpieces including a very early water powered hydraulic system, Brunel’s ‘other’ bridge (a smaller swing bridge) but never did get to fully understand which bit was supposed to be floating.  However, it’s a bustling, picturesque place made lively by locals and visitors alike, sampling the delights of myriad cafes and bars that line the docksides.

Now it’s not clear why it was decided to produce a knitted Bristol, but a lot of effort must have been required to make the display.  Maybe the artistic side of the city influenced the decision.

Bristol does have a thriving art scene.  Banksy lives there and his work can be seen, that is, if you have a local guide like James.  Mike especially liked this take on Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a pearl earring’.

One high spot of the week was a visit to The Puppet Place.  Bristol is the where Wallace and Gromit have their adventures, where Shaun the Sheep gets up to mischief, where Chicken Run was filmed, where Morph was created and where puppetry thrives in many forms.  At the Puppet Place Generator, four very different puppetry acts were presented, all entertaining, all comical.  At the fund raising auction at the end, James bid for and won the star lot, a model of Morph made there and then by Peter Lord, the creator of the character.  James also gets a private tour around the Aardman Studios.  Just let’s say that there were a lot of very envious people in the room that evening.

James also created his own private contribution to the Bristol world of art.  Everyone got stuck in with paint and brushes to revamp the courtyard.  Note the water feature and James’ ‘artistic’ scooter hanging on the wall.

And so a terrific week came to an end.  Kim and Mike made their way to Essex and James returned to work.  Thank you James for a great time.

Glorious Albion

There’s something special about Springtime in the English countryside.  Vibrant iridescent pale greens of new growth in the hedgerows shimmer in the bright sunlight.  The dark skeletons of deciduous trees burst into glorious pink and white blossom.  Yellow daffodils nod their heads in the gentle breeze whilst pale blue carpets of bluebells impart a gently perfume into the dappled sunlight and a bumble bee takes full advantage of the available pollen.

We arrived in the UK to be greeted with sleet and rain but that lasted only the first day.  Then the sun appeared, the temperature increased and Mike approached his first pint of real ale with a certain trepidation.  Would he still enjoy the taste of a ‘real’ beer?  Had his taste buds been corrupted by what Australians call XXXX (they’re embarrassed to call it beer)?  Nervously he approached the foaming brew and after the first sweet mouthful the world took on a golden hue and improved considerably.  Now the only problem with real ale is that it has a tendency to evaporate when you’re not looking and all too soon the glass became empty.  Fortunately an alert landlord spotted the dilemma and came to the rescue with a further supply.  So should you find yourself in the wilds of Essex our recommendation for a perfect brew and an excellent meal is the Square and Compasses at Fuller Street.

One of the reasons Kim and Mike made the journey was to celebrate the 70^th birthday of Mike’s brother Malcolm.  Malcolm has no sight but it did not stop him from the traditional act of blowing out the candles on his cake.  Fortunately avoidance of the one candle per year tradition meant that a re-enactment of ‘The Towering Inferno’ did not take place.

It’s always difficult to find time to visit everyone that they would like to see but it was possible to catch up with some friends, to reminisce about times past, to learn how families have grown, how child offspring have become responsible adults, how teenage romances became lifelong partnerships and what others have on their bucket lists.   No names, no photos, just a great big thank you for the hospitality and the laughs.  Memories will be enhanced and photographs perused for some time to come.  

And of course there are certain places that must be visited.  They’d done the Square and Compasses so next on the list was the Butt and Oyster at Pin Mill.  Years age Mike would sail there and when very young Kim would holiday at her grandparents house nearby.  The tide was out so the scene was typically East Anglian – a sea of mud.  But interesting mud complete with a couple of picturesque Thames barges in the foreground.

Mike met up with his old drinking buddies from a previous life in the UK for a traditional Friday evening pub session.  Later, staying with good friends and ex-neighbours next door to where they once lived, the convivial evening meal completed with one of Sue’s magnificent cheese boards with a rather excellent red wine – is there a pattern appearing here?