A day in Canberra 30^th November 2014

We found accommodation in Canberra fairly close to the “centre” in NewActon, well centre doesn’t quite mean that everything is close. This purpose built capital, the first of its kind, is so spaced out that you would find it tough to walk to all the attractions in a day and find time to digest the details. Traffic is not a problem.

We decided to take the City Explorer, a bus that circles the city attractions, but not as frequent as found in other cities. 

Australian War Memorial

We headed for the seat of government in the “new” parliament building.  Australian government is based on the UK parliamentary system but with the two houses called the House of Representatives and Senate House, with similarities to the USA two house government arrangements.

The Senate

We learnt some interesting facts: first, while bankrupt personnel and those working for foreign entities were excluded from being members of the House of Representative or Senate, criminals were not specifically excluded, were we ever in doubt?  Secondly, who was the Prime Minister who was in power for only 7 days, and thirdly, the Prime Minister who managed the “Ramrods” and said he took them “from nowhere to obscurity!” (answers on stamped addressed envelope).

Old Parliament in background

From the Parliament we took a guided tour of the old Parliament building from one of the volunteer staff, excellent and absolutely free. 

A selfie with the Crown Jewels - a first?

We just had time to fit in a quick tour of the National Art Gallery to see some aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander’s art before catching the tour bus back to the apartment.

A touch of Magritte in Canberra

Our accommodation in the Capital Tower - the tower on far right 

The evening’s meal was taken just across the road in the Bicicletta where we found another good wine, a cabinet sauvignon from the Swift winery, which is between Canberra and Yass, just north of Canberra. With a plate of cheese I tried a glass of Wily Trout Shiraz, not nearly as good. I doubt these wines travel so the chances of finding then in the UK will be minimal.

Lithgow to Canberra! 29^th November 2014

Lithgow to Canberra

We were aiming on going to the Jenolan Caves about 50km away from Lithgow, on the edge of the Blue Mountains, and then planned on travelling to Canberra.  There was a range of cave tours and the first started at 9:30am. To be sure we got on the first tour we left Lithgow at 8am. Lithgow is quite high and the road to the caves travels along a ridge adjacent to the Blue Mountains at about 1250m, with a steep drop off on either side, and with dramatic views. 

Route along ridge to Jenolan Caves

A small kangaroo or wallaby came out of the woods and ran along the side of the road, parallel to the car direction, and then dashed across the road behind the car. At one point I thought we were going to hit it. Throughout the day we saw a number of road kills.  On the route we saw an emu, the second we have seen on the trip.

The road eventually descended steeply over a few hundred metres, for a distance of 8km, with a continuous series of tight bends and with parts of the road limited to a single track.  We never met a single car so were more than pleased. We eventually emerged at the base of the valley and passed through a narrow rock tunnel, only wide enough for a single car,.

Jenolan car tunnel

We emerged to see a stunning alpine looking building bathed in sun shine, the Caves House, a heritage listed building.  

Jenolan Cave House

This was the centre for the Jenolan Caves with a ticket office on the other side of the road. The Caves House provides accommodation, a restaurant and café. A few parrots were flying around seeking food from the visitors.

Eastern Rosella Parrot

We took a trip down the caves for about 1½hr and saw stalagmites and stalactites as well as a form, helictites, which were random in orientation. The caves extend underground for some 9km with multiples levels and an underground water courses.  The complete cave system has still to be explored. 

Janolan Stalagtites

In the ticket office they have a 3D model of the cave system. This was made by the person who explored and opened up the caves early last century. They also have a modern 3D printed version. Apparently the latter was built up using a laser scanner, not quite the plan and elevation sectioning approach that was used back in the 60s when I used to go pot-holing in Somerset and Yorkshire.

Sheila holding 3D printed model of the cave system

After a quick cup of café latte we headed up the other side of the valley and along a road with even tighter corners but shorter in extent. We left the caves behind and headed through Oberon and Goulburn and eventually on the road to Canberra. 

Much of the trip was over the Tablelands and the views on either side of the road confirmed that it was a high flat plane stretching as far as the eyes could see.  

Tablelands landscape

We travelled for miles without seeing any cars and convinced us that only the keen venture off to see the caves.

Another day of Adventure! 28^th November 2014

Muswellbrook to Lithgow

We got an early start for a change and drove out of Muswellbrook and headed south west passing some very large working open-cast mines. We eventually met the Golden Highway going northwest passing over the famous Hunter River.  We turned off in Sandy Hollow onto the “Bylong Valley Highway”, which on many maps shows parts of it as a dirt track.  However, the internet had it as a sealed road so we thought we were on safe ground, although we always had the backup of the 4WD.

The road was in fact very good and looked as if it had recently been surfaced, although not particularly wide. I was even more convinced that it would be fine when two large juggernauts came thundering down the road in the opposite direction. Despite my confidence our satnav system wasn’t convinced and kept on trying to make us make a U-turn, so we eventually turned it off.  

Bylong Valley Way

The valley was very peaceful and provided a pleasant morning drive, passing through the Wollemi National Park. The road also followed a rail track for part of the way and we spotted a coal train pulling 500m length of trucks and got a friendly wave from the driver as I took his photograph. The route passed a number of horse stud farms and one winery but being so early in the morning I thought it was a tad early to start sampling wine! 

We surfaced on what looked like a “main” road just past Breakfast Creek near Rylstone, although still on the Bylong Valley Road.  

.. lots of friends or big on Amazon?

We stopped to take a look at an information boards about Mudgee, which was back up the road, where some 38 wineries were located, but unfortunately ended up with loads of flies in the car.  A few miles down the road and in my haste to flick a fly off my eye-lid I accidently caught my glasses and they got thrown backwards. We stopped to look for them in the car without success at which point I had the sickening feeling that, being so light, they had been flung out of the window.  I walked down the road a few hundred yards but couldn’t see them anywhere so went back to the car to recheck and found them in the boot!  

We then tried to start the car but it refused and it looked as though the battery was dead, even though the radio and fan worked.  We were in the middle of nowhere, without telecom signal nor any nearby houses. We managed to enlist the help of another car driver who had stopped.  Fortunately, he had a portable battery pack to get the car started (what are the odds of that!!!). We then drove to the nearest petrol station, come general store and cafe, in Capertee, a village with about a half dozen houses, some 9km away and using their landline called the car recovery service. We had to waited 2 hours to get the problem resolved, eventually driving into Lithgow.

Two hours wasted but locals were friendly!

I have been struggling for the last two days getting Google maps to work on my Samsung phone. I keep on getting a message that implies that someone may be trying to compromise my phone. I have absolutely no problem with my Nexus so at dinner tonight I asked a group of young lads with their dads, all the lads probably being under 12. Well they thought they knew the answer but didn’t.  However, one of the fathers suggested checking the time zone. Sure enough I was still on QLD time and this was enough to invalidate the Google certificate.

At dinner I tried a Cabinet Sauvignon wine called Tamburlaine from Orange NSW, absolutely brilliant and well worth seeking out.

Armidale to Muswellbrook  27^th November 2014 

Armidale to Musweelbrook

We left the city of Armidale and headed south to Muswellbrook (pronounced as Musselbrook by the locals) a journey of 266 km, passing through Tamworth and Scone. The landscape changed from the lush fields in the New England National Park to scorched plains and hills.

Parched landscape

Tamworth from Oxley Lookout

Tamworth is quite large and is the centre of Australian country music and every January music lovers turn up to contest the coveted “Golden Guitar” award.  This supposedly takes place at the Oxley Outlook, overlooking the town, but many other venues in the town are used. 

Golden Guitar in Tamworth

The town is also famous for being the first town in the southern hemisphere to have electric street lighting from a municipal powerhouse; this took place in 1888. The river running through the town is the Peel and is apparently named after Sir Robert Peel, who later became PM of England.

We took a morning coffee in a café on Peel Street, which was largely occupied by retired ladies.  To get to the toilet one had to go through a large back room where other elderly ladies were practising their quilting skills with electric sewing machines.  As with many of these cafes that we have frequented they double as shops selling books, paintings or knick-knacks as well as teas, coffee and cakes.  

Not too far from Muswellbrook is the town of Scone and this is a very famous as an equestrian centre and the seriously rich like the Emirates rear and train their horses there.

Emirates Park in Scone

Muswellbrook is a spread out town with a population of around 11,000. Both Muswellbrook and Scone are in the Upper Hunter Valley region and a number of wineries are close by. 

The recommendation from the host was to eat at either the Golf or the Workers Clubs, we chose the former and had really good Thai meals.  The golf looked cheap but the club house doesn’t open until 10:30am, hardly the pressure for golf facilities that one gets in the SE of England!

A Plan is formulated!

Yesterday we formulated a planned route to Melbourne, derived from three different sources, the first from friends in Sevenoaks, who have travelled in Australia and recommended a route around the Snowy Mountains. Secondly, from an Australian couple we met at a picnic stop on the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and Coffs Harbour. Their logic was that one should frequently turn left when travelling north in Eastern Australia and lastly from a map my Uncle in Victor Harbor provided showing the Melbourne Heritage Route.

Planned route from Cotts Harbour to Melbourne

So today we started the first part of the trip from Coffs Harbour to Armidale. However, before we had gone a few hundred metres and within the Wyndham complex we spotted our first wallaby. Mike still awaits a kangaroo sighting.

Our first wallaby sighting

The trip from Coffs Harbour to Armidale takes one down to Rayleigh and along the Bellinger River and climbs the escarpment of the Great Dividing Ridge skirting the Dorrigo rainforest. The route from Rayleigh is very steep and we drove through a low lying cloud with little visibility.

We travelled on into the New England National Park (NP) and once out of the cloud appreciated the assignment “New England” since the landscape is very much like the Yorkshire Dales in England. 

New England Landscape

The route also skirts other NPs such as Guy Fawkes, Cathedral Rocks and Oxley Wild Rivers. The highway is called the Waterfall Way and along the route there are waterfalls and gorges at Dorrigo (Dangars Falls), Ebor and Wollomombi.

Dangars Falls - both upper and lower

Dorrigo is the only significant town on the trip and sits at around 750m altitude and looks like a town locked in the 50’s and in part with buildings from a western movie. The Dangars Falls at Dorrigo are reasonably impressive but so are the propensities of flies that descend on one, literally dozens land on ones shirt or blouse. At the Dangars Falls we spotted our first kookaburra with its distinctive call https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXA0-YAoo9Q

Kookaburra

Along the Waterfalls Way, all streams, whether filled with water or not have specific “creek” names – an amazing attention to details, I thought the Aussies were a little bit more laidback!  There were spells along the trip where the motorist was warned about kangaroos on the roads but the kangaroos clearly don’t understand the picture language!

In the evening we strolled into the town for a meal and noted the architecture of a number of the commercial buildings, many from the 1800’s with balconies and elegant wrought ironwork. 

Armidale from the past

The residential houses are typically wooden and single storey, very similar to New England in the USA. The city with a population of under 24,000, smaller than many English towns, has two cathedrals, one Anglican and the other Catholic.  The city is also famous for being the highest city in Australia at 980m. It is located in the Northern Tablelands.  

A slight amusement is the Aussie alternative to zebra crossing Belisha beacons – see below:

Aussie equivalent to zebra crossing Belisha beacons

South to Coffs Harbour (24^th & 25^th November 2014)

We said our farewells after breakfast to both Carole, Jim and Minty the cat and headed south along the Pacific Highway to Coffs Harbour, over 350km away.

We were to stay for two nights at the Wyndham timeshare accommodation just outside Coffs Harbour that Helen and Fred had kindly offered. We had to be there for 4pm.

Wyndham Resort

We left at 8am and some way into the journey thought we were getting a bit tight to arrive on time. Now Brisbane is located in Queensland, while Coffs Harbour is in New South Wales (NSW) and there is a one hour time difference, with NSW being one hour ahead. We had mentally factored this extra hour into our estimate for arrival so were looking for an arrival time from the navigation device of 3pm to give us an hour to spare.  When the margin had been whittled away to 30 minutes we were getting a little anxious so added a little extra speed. However, within a short distance of Coffs Harbour we realised that the navigation device was smart enough to recognise the state line and had already adjusted the arrival time, so we ended up arriving at 2:30pm! This was a surprise and a bit annoying since along the journey we had peeled off to see Byron Bay and Ballina, but the going was slow through the local beach traffic and due to the “pressure” on time had unnecessarily aborted the trip to Ballina.

Sheila was very excited to spy a kangaroo in amongst the trees as Mike was driving, the first sighting of our trip. Mike’s still waiting for his first sighting. The landscape down to Coffs Harbour was very fertile with many farms growing sugar cane and rearing cattle. As we approached Coffs Harbour we noticed the odd fields of vines and quite a few banana plantations.

In the evening we drove into Coffs Harbour to find a restaurant. The wind was blowing up a storm, and it was at least a force 5-6 but not a single windsurfer in sight. We ate at the Yacht Club to get a view of the turbulent sea but all the windows were sandblasted and too misty to see through.

Coffs Harbour Beach - blowing a gale

The following morning we played the nine hole golf course on the resort and both Mike and Sheila spotted a frog in one of the golf ball cleaning units. 

Sheila dodging the rotating water spray as she hits the ball

After golf we went for a swim and then had fruit for lunch. A storm then started to brew across the mountains, eventually bringing heavy rain, thunder and lightning to the resort, the first rain we have seen in Australia. We spent the afternoon sorting out an inland route down to Melbourne and checking to see whether "The Bylong Valley Way" had sealed surfaces, even though we have a 4WD car we didn’t fancy taking chances.

We popped down to the resort bar/restaurant for tea and cake but they had no cake so bought a Kit Kat bar to have with the tea. 

Mike spotted a water dragon statue on a stone in the pond in front of the restaurant, only to see it move and realised that it was real, then turned around and found one behind him on the patio of about 9-12 inches long!

Water Dragon on patio

We drove down to Coffs Harbour, after the storm had abated and walking up and over Muttonbird Island and spotted a number of birds that we had not seen before, they looked rather like grey heron and blue chaffinchs. 

Sheila on Muttonbird Island with storm clouds in the distance

Dinner was taken in the Deep Sea Fisherman’s Club were we had a great meal of grilled sword fish..

Sheila had been given some insight into “one-armed-bandit” strategies by Jim Cooper over the weekend, so tried her luck in the club with a $5 bill, winning back her $5 within two attempts and so decided to take her money and run. Now she needs lesson two!

A weekend in Brisbane (21^st to 23^rd November 2014)

We drove to Cairns and took a Qantas flight down to Brisbane. We both watched the Jersey Boys film on the plane but the sound was very poor from the headphones. This is a film about the Four Seasons and their road to fame.

In Brisbane we picked up an Apex rental car and drove down to Carole and Jim’s where we stayed for the weekend. Brisbane has a number of toll roads and the car was equipped with a sensor that picks up the toll system’s transmitted signals and charges ones credit card directly. The navigation device in the car has a traffic monitoring system that provides route redirections to avoid delays – very useful.

We had a very enjoyable weekend, not only meeting Carole and Jim but also Helen my cousin, Carole’s sister, and her husband Fred as well Fred’s family from Fred’s previous marriage. Each morning we were serenaded by a magpie or two that have an unbelievable song.

On Saturday morning we visited Daisy Hill Koala Centre, which is both an educational and rescue centre for Koalas.  Koalas are not very active during the day but we did get a few movements while we were there.

Koala

In the afternoon Jim drove us down to Brisbane and we took one of the fast commuter boats along the river to see the city skyline and strolled along the river.  

Commuter Ferry

We eventually arrived at the base of the George Paragon Restaurant were we met Helen and Fred and eventually Tima and Jason and enlisted a guy in a bar to take a group photograph. Other group photos were also taken as directed by Carole, who clearly had a plan in mind.

Family Group

We ate on the veranda at the George, since it was warmer outside than in and had a fantastic view of the river and famous Story bridge . The night life in Brisbane, especially down by the river is very vibrant and all the bars were heaving with youngsters.

Brisbane night scene

Sheila and I were both invited around to Andrew and Angela’s house for a barbeque breakfast the next morning, and met most of Fred’s family, except for Ricky who was in Sydney (at the GABBA) working.  Angela is Fred’s daughter. It turned out that Dean’s wife, Michele, mother lives in Christchurch, England, about two streets away from my sister, Sue and her husband Robert.

In the afternoon Sheila and I and Jim and Carole went up to Mt Gravatt Outlook Reserve where we could get a panoramic view of the city from up high, including the coastline and the GABBA cricket ground, which we had passed the previous night. Another unsuspecting tourist was commandeered to take a group photo. The afternoon was spent sorting out internet access and re-packing the luggage in the car so that we didn’t pull a muscle every time we lifted cases in and out of the car. 

The Great Barrier Reef (20^th November 2014)

We took a Sailaway yacht out to Low Island, next to the larger Woody Island, to explore the world below the waves.

Woody & Low Island

The 50ft catamaran was a great size for a smallish group with enough cover from the sun if one required it.

Sailaway 50ft catamaran

We actually sailed on a broad reach both out and back with motors only used in the harbour and around the reef. The trip included all the gear for snorkelling plus lunch and a short tour around the island. The threat of stinger and box jelly fish meant that we all had to wear lycra suits, which also provided protection from the sun.

Haute Couture - "Lycra Lady" 

There were plenty of colourful fish to see around the coral as well as large variety of coral formations. One bonus, which we hadn’t seen on previous snorkelling trips was the large clams that could be seen opening and closing their “jaws”. When closed they just look like a large black set of lips.

Back in and ready to relax

On the way back in we spotted a pod of dolphins that followed the yacht for a bit. 

Dophins in tow

Relaxing on the sail back to harbour

Blogging off tomorrow as we fly to Brisbane to meet up with my cousins for the weekend, unless of course there are more airport incidents. The temperature in Brisbane has just cooled from 40 to 30C, and apparently nothing to do with the world politicians departing the G20!  There has also be torrential rain in the Brisbane area, hopefully now all over as we head off down.

Jungle Golf (19th November 2014)

We decide to forgo the normal tourist attractions and headed to Mossman a few miles up the coast to play golf.  Mossman also boasts a gorge walk but we were looking for more excitement!  The apartments where we are staying have a set of men’s and ladies’ golf clubs so we borrowed these at no charge.  We also managed to get a concession rate at the golf club, worth asking for, for all those budding “third age” travellers, although many places restrict the concession rates to Australians.

The course was relatively flat with good quality greens but scorched fairways, although not hard, yet the balls carried well.  It was odd seeing these patches of green separated by brown fairways. At one point we were caught under water sprays while putting, which provided some relief to the 31C temperature.  The fairways were lined with trees that provided shelter from the scorching sun plus there was a breeze that brought additional relief. Even better the trolleys incorporated seats for the weary.

"Green to Green"

Midway around the course they had provided a set of toilets and wash basins.  On lifting the seat I discovered a startled lizard sitting on the edge of the seat.  A few holes further on I lifted the plunger on the ball washing unit, ready to slot my ball in, and was surprised to see the head of a frog emerge!   We were later told that one should look up after discovering the lizards in case there is a python waiting to catch the lizards.  These stories are quite common in this part of the country. One of the receptionists at our apartment hold me that she went for a shower in Cape Tribulation and discovered a python in the foot basin!  Needless to say she decided to give it a miss.

Jungle golf

The golf course was located along the side of the rail track that carries the sugar cane and while we were there three trains came through at quite a leisurely rate pulling trucks of sugar cane.

Sugar Cane Train

We managed to get around the course without losing our balls, which we were pleased about considering conditions and after a drink at the bar headed back to Port Douglas for a swim off 4 Mile Beach in the “bath” warm water but between the jelly fish protected netting.

Scenic railway trip to Kuranda (18^th November 2014)

We drove down to Freshwater station, just north of Cairns, and took the scenic railway to Kuranda. The railway covers 37 kilometres and was built to service the bustling gold mining industry. It was started in 1886 and required 15 tunnels and 55 bridges. The terrain, as part of the Far North Queensland’s World Heritage-listed rainforest, is certainly quite dramatic for such a construction. 

  

The construction required 1500 men and they had their own beer making facility on site making 2000 gallons of beer a day!

The views of the distant mountains as one ascends are magnificent.

At one point of the journey the train goes through a right angled bend.

Kuranda is a picturesque town, once a hippy commune but now quite commercialised with numerous gift shops and cafes.  We spent a couple of hours looking around, particularly admiring some of the art galleries/shops,  but knowing that we had no room whatsoever in our suitcases for extras.

The route we took down was on the Skyrail. 

This has 33 towers across the top of the rain forest that provides a bird’s eye view of the forest canopy. A mini-bus links the Skyrail terminal at the base with the Freshwater Railway Station to enable one to pick up ones car.