By date
By place
- Agra
- Arugam Bay
- Australia
- Bali
- Bangkok
- Battambang
- Beijing
- Buryatia
- Cambodia
- Chiang Mai
- China
- Chongqing
- Delhi
- Galle
- Goyambokka
- Guilin
- Halong Bay
- Hanoi
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Hoi An
- Hue
- India
- Indonesia
- Irkutsk
- Java
- Kandy
- Koh Samui
- Koh Tao
- Lake Baikal
- Laos
- Listvianka
- London
- Luang Prabang
- Malaysia
- Mekong Delta
- Mirissa
- Mongolia
- Moscow
- Mumbai
- Nanning
- New Zealand
- Nomad ger camp
- North Island
- Northern Territory
- Nuwara Eliya
- Penang
- Phnom Penh
- Polonnaruwa
- Rajasthan
- Russia
- Saigon
- Sapa
- Siberia
- Siberian village
- Siem Reap
- Singapore
- South Island
- Sri Lanka
- St Petersburg
- Tangalle
- Tasmania
- Thailand
- Tissamaharama
- Tourist Ger Camp
- Trans-Siberian Railway
- Ulaan Bataar
- Ulan Bataar
- Ulan Ude
- Unatwatuna
- Uncategorized
- Vietnam
- Western Australia
- Wuhan
- Xi'an
- Yangshou
- Yangtse cruise
- Yekaterinburg
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Australia day 86 – Perth, WA
It’s bye bye to Peg today, our home for the last two months. Peg has always seemed a more friendly name than the rather aggressive ‘Hostile Takeover’ as dubbed by Wicked. Peg because the clothes pegs used to fix things to the outside of the van were often left clipped to the little gutter around the roof as we travelled along. We drop our gear at the Britannia on William, a rambling Victorian building in the heart of ‘China Town’, with friendly staff, spanking new ablutions and a spotless kitchen. We then head out to Bursford to put the van through the car wash and take it back to the Wicked depot. The young English girl in charge of the office is very candid about the companies failings; allegedly it is well-known throughout the company that the Darwn office doesn’t service the vehicle it sends out and noone sees fit to do anything about it! What’s more according to her when the police slap an unroadworthy notice on any of the vans, the company simply changes the registration plates and re-registers the van rather than undergoing the mandatory road test. Another little bit of information we gleaned – each van has a spare key under the wheel arch. Good for Wicked because they don’t have to come out when drivers lose their keys; good for thieves too, no need to make a nasty mess smashing the window to get in. A final irony is the sad and sorry tale of our Wicked encounter – the reg0 ((road tax) had run out several days before the end of our hire! My advice? Don’t hire from Wicked.
The transport system is excellent here. Like other Australian cities a bus ticket lasts for two hours and during that time you can make as many bus trips as you like. On top of which all travel within the central free transit zone is – free. Boris Johnston take note!
Australia day 85 – Perth, WA
Lovely Perth! Full of parks, green space and trees all kissed by the warm winter sunshine. Today sees us back in the CBD (Central Business District in Aussie parlance, city centre to the rest of us) with it’s wide streets an eclectic mix of gleaming ultra-modern high rise, Victorian gothic churches and grand 19th century public buildings that wouldn’t look out of place in London. As well as several examples of remnants of the old incorporated into the facades of the new and a rather twee recreation of an old English street scape vaguely reminiscent of The Shambles. Our first port of call is to the Indian Consulate office in West Perth very near King’s Park. The consulate employee is late arriving, fails to apologise for keeping us waiting and is rather rude when we explain that we have come to pick up our visas. Apparently we have the wrong office and are instructed to read the notice on the door! Once we find the correct office, our passports and visas are soon forthcoming, in fact we must be the only people applying by post and collecting in person as they know who we are when we walk through the door!
We spend the rest of the afternoon locating our hostel accommodation in Northbridge and the Wicked depot in preparation for tomorrow’s drop off. True to form, Wicked have provided us with the wrong address for their depot in Perth, which has moved from Northbridge to Bursford – a suburb on the way out towards the airport. So our carefully laid plans to have our accommodation within walking distance of the depot have been thwarted!
We round off the day with a fish and chip supper, and ice cream in MacDonalds before settling down to our last night in the van.
Australia day 84 – Yanchep to Perth, WA
And here we are in Perth! Who would have thought that this clapped-out old van that goes under the name of ‘Hostile Takeover’ would have made the journey all the way from Darwin without major mishap or breakdown particularly given such an inauspicious start. The gods must have been smiling on us! Perhaps the epithet emblazoned on the back of the van had an element of truth ‘Without order nothing exists; without chaos nothing evolves’. But ours was definitely not the most provocative or entertaining slogan we have seen along the way. Some of the huge number we have come across include ‘If I were you I would have sex with me’ (South Park), I’m a schizophrenic and so am I’, ‘ Lord knows I just want to break free’ (Queen), ‘Stinky Bum’, What’s wet, pink and likes dark holes?’, the words to Strawberry Fields (The Beatles), ‘Sometimes you just have to pee in the sink’ and the one I like the best ‘If only men were as satisfying as chocolate’.
We are now into our last week in Australia and have a number of things to sort out before we leave. Not least, booking our flight out of Indonesia otherwise we could be refused entry, getting some more anti-malarials to see us through to the end of the trip, cleaning out the van in readiness for it’s return on Wednesday, booking airport transfers and accommodation in Bali, collecting our passports from the Indian Consulate plus a number of other little jobs. All of which will keep us pretty busy for the next couple of days at least.
After booking into the campside in the suburb of Redcliffe about 8km out from the centre we drive into Perth and make an appointment at the Travel Clinic for later in the afternoon. We then walk 20 minutes to West Perth to the Indian Consulate office on the edge of Kings Park only to find it closed. It’s opening hours are 12.30 to 1.30 pm Monday to Friday! Back at the clinic we have more success and for a mere £140 including consultation fees we have secured 11 weeks supply of doxycyclin anti malarials.
It’s too cold to sit out after dark so we retreat to the MacDonalds up the road to avail ourselves of the warmth and, just as importantly, the free wifi. They also do a rather nice ‘Mr Whippy’ type ice cream with a flake for a mere $1 – so who could resist! Yes, we know how to live the high life! It allows us to book a couple of night’s accommodation in Ubud on Bali – another job done. Still no progress with Amex though and the connection isn’t good enough to support Skype in order to make a chase-up call. That will have to wait for another day.
Posted in Australia, Western Australia
Tagged Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Yanchep
Leave a comment
Australia day 83 – Cervantes to Yanchep, WA
Last night was a bitterly cold and even at 8am the temperature is still only 8 degrees. It is proving hard to keep warm at night even sleeping fully clothed and with the additional blankets. We re-light the fire this morning and have breakfast huddled round the flames for warmth. Cows and sheep can be heard grazing somewhere nearby and galahs are calling in the trees as the sun filters through the leaves. Despite the cold start we are in for another gloriously sunny day and even at this time of year (winter) the temperatures are in the 20s when the sun is out.
Cervantes – which is not full of people tilting at windmills – is a small sleepy town where little opens on a Sunday apart from the general store. The main attraction in this area is the Pinacles Desert in Nambung National Park a few kilometres outside town. Lonely Planet describe it as ‘other worldly’ and the large limestone obelisks rising out of a golden desert create a surreal landscape that could well be a set from Star Wars or Star Trek. Thousands of naturally occurring limestone pillars some as tall at 5m weathered by the elements into some intricate shapes, are scattered across an area of 400 hectares. There is a short walking trail as well as a 4 km loop road which winds through the formations, for those, like us, too lazy to walk round.
From here we travel further south to Yanchep about 70km of Perth. We are now within striking distance of our goal and the end of what has been an amazing 10,000 kilometre road trip. We can hardly believe that we have been on the road for two months! As we approach Perth there is less bush and more rolling farmland. Trees are much more in evidence, traffic is on the increase and sheep and cattle graze alongside the highway. We camp a Willanga Grove Rest Area. This rather noisy site on the roadside is not our first choice, that seems to have been decommissioned. So we have to make do. This, unsurprisingly, is not a popular site judging by the absence of any other vans and the abundance of firewood.
Posted in Australia, Western Australia
Tagged Australia, Cervantes, Western Australia, Yanchep
Leave a comment
Australia day 82 – Eneabba Bush Camp to Cervantes, WA
Blue sky and sunshine greet us this morning and by mid morning it is lovely and warm. We are making our way down the coast to Cevantes to visit the Pinancles Desert National Park and along the way stop a Leeman Green Head and Jurien. Leeman is a tiny fishing village (population 680) with an old wooden jetty jutting out into a picturesque bay. A large grassy area fronts the ocean edged by small, single storey houses. The few people about are drawn to the jetty like us, curious to see what might be swimming by. A young boy is fishing. And we are in luck as two massive sting rays glide under the jetty posts; each with a wingspan of at least 5′. Leeman might well specialise in large creatures as we come across a monster ant which must be at least an inch long, it’s massive pincers clearly visible; a nip from those and you would know about it.
Green Head is a similar kind of place, but seems to be slightly more popular with the boating set if the number of 4wd and boat trailers are any indication. The focal point here is the boat ramp.
Jurien is another lovely, unspoilt bay with a white sand beach strewn with washed up seaweed. But as well as the debriis, seaweed grows along the waters edge clinging to the sand and preventing it from being washed away. This gives the impression of miniature cliffs along the waters edge. This sleepy ‘resort’ seems to shut up shop at the weekend; the visitor’s centre is closed, as is the only internet cafe and the ‘bottle-o’ and indeed most of the few other shops. Only the general store and the petrol station are serving customers. So we push on to Cervantes and stop overnight at Tuarts Reserve, a delightfully secluded camping area shaded by large Tuart trees. We are now becoming expert at foraging for firewood – essential for keeping warm in the evening.
As the weather gets progressively cooler and the sun rises later so our sleeping habits are returning to a more normal pattern – going to bed later providing the firewood lasts, and getting up later once the sun’s begun to take the chill out of the air. Andy still rises early, but now lights a fire in the morning to keep us warm while we eat breakfast. A fire is definitely one of the pleasures of rough camping in Australia and – despite the lack of facilities – gives it the edge over staying at caravan parks where fires are strictly prohibited.
Posted in Australia, Western Australia
Tagged Australia, Cervantes, Eanabba Bush Camp, Western Australia
Leave a comment
Australia day 81 – Dongara to Eneabba Bush Camp, WA
We wake to a lovely, sunny, if rather chilly, morning; not a cloud in the sky. Our self-imposed task today is to sort all our gear with the objective of reducing the weight of our backpacks and making life easier for the next leg of the trip. We plan to jettison what we no longer want and send home anything we won’t need in Indonesia and India . In all we identify 15 kilos of stuff a third of which is straight in the bin. We box up the rest intending to post it home. But get a bit of shock when we discover that it will cost over $100 dollars to send it surface mail; probably more than the contents, mainly clothes, are worth. A radical rethink is required. The parcel home is much reduced in size and the remainder is donated to the local charity shop. A more acceptable cost of $45 is the end result. The lady in the post office couldn’t be more helpful and understanding, taking our change of heart all in her stride as though it was quite normal for people to come in with two huge parcels, changing their minds and coming back a few hours later with one of much reduced proportions. Our backpacks should hopefully now be much lighter as a result – although snorkelling and fishing gear as well as swimming shoes and one or two items of clothes acquired along the way will have to be accommodated.
The promised email from Amex has not materialised. So we are no further forward on that front. Another call to them will have to wait until we reach Perth on Monday.
Tonight’s stop is Eneabba Bush Camp, a huge area of bush set well back from the road which we have all to ourselves. There are no facilities whatsoever here – this is rough camping at its most basic – but at least there is plenty of fire wood. This looks like an area that sees flash flooding; a thin layer of white sand covers the reddy-brown earth beneath. Noise from the occasional car drifts from the highway to compete with unseen frogs croaking in a small gully a few yards from the van.
Posted in Australia, Western Australia
Tagged Australia, Dongara, Eneabba Bush Camp, Western Australia
Leave a comment
Australia day 80 – Dongara, WA
Dongara on closer inspection turns out to be a rather attractive little seaside town with a definite sense of community. mingled with a holiday atmosphere. Situated behind the sand dunes that front the Indian Ocean to the west and bordered by the Irwin River to the south, the unspoilt surroundings have a windswept beauty. It is cloudy and distinctly chilly and fleeces are the order of the day. We are staying another day in here primarily to be able to call Amex again when the London offices open at 4pm local time. We spend a day dilly-dallying around town, browsing the few shops and taking a short walk on the seaweed-strewn beach which falls steeply into the sea and back into town along the shady and unspoilt bank of the river. On the sand dunes we pass a couple of women frantically looking for a missing child. We are about to offer to help in the search when the child is found and there is a tearful reunion.
We find a laundrette to do some washing and avail ourselves of two power sockets that are presumably provided for the use of customers, to charge our laptops. Just outside town there is a small wetland area behind the sand dunes which is very popular with the local duck population as well as several other species including a pelican.
At four we are back on the internet for another frustrating call to Amex. Despite their assurances yesterday, the claims team have not still not reviewed the claim and we seem to be no further forward. In fact, we have taken a few steps back as Amex are now saying that they will require sight of specific original documentation to support the claim. What exactly they can’t say at this stage. This setback is all the more frustrating because all the documentation was faxed to the Amex Assistance in Sydney back in Novemer and we were assured that it would be forwarded to London and that the claim would be paid on the strength of what we had supplied. Now we must wait for Amex email later today details of the documents they require.
While we are logged onto Skype, Mike calls from his office in Leeds – the first time he has found us online since he signed up to Skype in early May. By what chance is it that he happens to be logged on at 9.30 am … in the office? We have a short chat before he is called away to a meeting.
Back to the camp area we stayed at last night with a van load of wood collected along the way. A fire is the only way to keep warm on these cold nights and there is something rather special about sitting under the stars watching the flickering flame dancing and crackling . Tonight we are on our own.
Australia day 79 – Geraldton to Dongara, WA
Geraldton has an historic centre and pleasant suburbs facing the Indian Ocean. Otherwise it has little to remark on other than the view of the drilling rig that sits prominently in the centre of the bay. We do a little shopping, visit the second-hand book shop which, rather enterprisingly, doubles up as an internet café, so that as I spend half-an-hour or so browsing the shelves, Andy can occupy himself researching accommodation in Bali. After selecting three books and exchanging three, we visit the post office to get prices for sending some of our stuff back to the UK. We are determined to seriously reduce the weight of our backpacks so that we don’t spend the next three months struggling under the strain of ridiculously heavy luggage on the next leg of our trip.
We leave Geralton behind and arrive in the small seaside town of Dongara further down the coast by mid afternoon. Dongara’s outstanding feature is the majestic avenue of fig trees that line Moreton Terrace in the centre of town. A visit to the visitors centre which is housed in the Old Post Office is rewarded with a list of things to do in Dongara which runs to an implausible three pages of typed A4. This is followed by another session on the internet. We have been trying for what seems like weeks to find an internet café that has Skype and stays open beyond 4.30 pm so that we can make some calls to the UK. Firstly to chase up on the status of our insurance claim for the expenses we incurred at the Hanoi French Hospital and secondly to change the tariff on my mobile phone which has come of contract and, for a phone not getting much use, is costing far too much at 35 pounds a month. In Dongara of all the unlikely places there is a electronics shop that has broadband access and stays open normal working hours.
The Amex claim has been dogged by problems; the delay caused by the Hanoi French Hospitals administrative failure to take the payment from our account meant that the claim couldn’t be submitted until February; the discovery that the claims email address quoted in the policy handbook delayed the claim by a further month; and since we sent the claim to the correct address in early March we have heard nothing. All call to the London claims office reveals that due to an administrative error in their automated system the claim has not been allocated to a claims officer. I’m assured somewhat apologetically that the claim will be prioritized today and someone will be able to speak to me about it if I ring back tomorrow – no-one in the claims team is available to speak to me at the moment as they are all in a meeting!
The call to Orange is more successful but only marginally less frustrating; Orange have a complex, multi-level IVR system, the sort that involves choosing from several options only to present several more and several more after that, by which time you’ve lost the will to live and are selecting any option a random just to get through to someone who will talk to you. On the first attempt I speak to the retentions team who provide me with another number to call, which turns out to be discontinued. The second attempt gets me through the phone upgrade team who transfer me to an Indian call centre and a person I can’t really understand but it seems that I can’t have the tariff I want because I wasn’t on the right contract. So I ask to close my account and, yes, I’m once again talking to the retention team! At this point I’m offered a sim-only contract with double the minutes of the tariff I had asked for from the Indian lady for 15 pounds a month. A result, but surely it shouldn’t be such hard work.
We camp just off the Brand Highway at the Midland Road Rest Area. It’s a pleasant shady site, if slightly noisy; there seems to be an electricity generating plant somewhere close by but out of sight. There are three other groups of people here including an Australia with a Japanese wife who we never see. He on the other hand is very chatty and brings over a beer for Andy as he sets about lighting the camp fire – not one for me of course – this is strictly a boys’ tete-a-tete.
Which brings me on to the absence of a well-developed sense of political correctness in this country, which in some ways is refreshing and in others quite shocking. For example, a whole variety of gollies are sold without anyone seemingly batting an eye, Wicked have a slogan on one of their vans that contains the word ‘poofter’ which would probably cause uproar in the UK and terms like ‘coon’ are used by some people without a second thought. Our self-styled pc police would have a field day here, I’m sure.
Posted in Australia, Western Australia
Tagged Australia, Dongara, Geraldton, Western Australia
Leave a comment
Australia day 78 – Northampton to Geraldton
We return to Northampton to complete the heritage walk. All the sights historic interest are strung along the main highway and comprise a mix of 19th and earl 20th century buildings including the old post office, the old police station, two churches, and a number of shops. The interiors of some of the latter appearing little changed since they first opened. One in particular has original fittings and an overwhelming smell of moth balls. We browse the shops and pick up a rather nice silk shirt shirt for $5.
Then on to Geraldton to do some grocery shopping, check emails at MacDonalds. Geraldton is a large town by comparison with most places along the west coast, with a population of 20,000. We don’t stop long as we plan to return tomorrow and in the late afternoon we head to Ellendale Pool to camp. This is a pretty spot by a large ‘swimming hole’ tucked under a sheer escarpment. The only drawback is that, when the temperature of the water is 24 degrees or more microbes carrying amoebic meningitis become active; there is a large notice advising against swimming, but rather ambivalently providing safety instructions (such as don’t put our head under water and, hold your nose when jumping in) for those foolhardy enough to ignore the warnings. But who in their right mind, one has to ask, would put their children’s, or indeed their own lives, at risk by swimming here given the risk?
The camping area along the river has recently been upgraded and delineated with posts whih have had the effect of placing most of the area out of bounds to campers and thus much reducing what appears to have been a large camping area along the river so that with four or five vans it seems a little crowded.
Wide loads are a regular sight on the single carriage highways. They are preceded at some distance by an advance vehicle displaying a sign announcing a wide load vehicle. There invariably follows two enormous lorries. More often than not each is carrying half a house or on some occasions it might be a piece of large machinery. They take up as much as two-thirds of the road. On-coming traffic have to take whatever avoiding action is necessary, which usually entails pulling to the side of the road, to make way!
Posted in Australia, Western Australia
Tagged Australia, Geraldton, Northampton, Western Australia
Leave a comment