Rebecca & Stephen's Trip: April 2007

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Blue Mountains

The blue mountains are a two hour train ride west of Sydney. Unfortunately the weather was not great again for our day, although the cloud did clear for us to see some of the amazing panorama from the town of Katoomba.

View across to the Blue Mountains

Rebecca and the rocky formation known as the 'Three Sisters'

Katoomba Falls

Mum and Kate

The view looking down the steepest railway in the world, which decends at 52 degrees

The view looking back up!

Exploring Sydney

Our first week in Sydney did not reward us with great weather, although the four of us really enjoyed exploring the city. The harbour is a fantastic spectacle, especially when the sun does shine!

Blue skies

One of many spider webs we nearly walked into in Manly - urgh!

The Sydney Harbour Bridge - 75 years old this year

The Rocks - old buildings and cobbled streets

Sunny Manly

Anzac Day, Sydney

'ANZAC Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25 April every year to remember members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I...They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold strike to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stale-mate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war' - www.wikipedia.com
It is a public holiday and throughout the country there are services and events attended by masses of people. We were fortunate enough to see the march through the streets of Sydney by Veterans, Schoolchildren and many more. It was a very moving occasion but lovely to see so many families spending the day together and remembering how lucky we are.

A Surprise in Sydney!

We flew from Adelaide to Sydney to meet my Mum (Stephen). As we were waiting for her in the reception of her hotel, a person walked over to us looking very similar to my sister, Kate - it was Kate! What a surprise, we had no idea...they (and a few others) has kept it a secret for months. A great way to start our time in Sydney and now with a guide who had lived here for a year!

All of us at Circular Quay

The excellent two hour walk from Coogee to Bondi

Adelaide, South Australia

After a week on the road with Hound Dog, we handed back the keys and checked into a very nice, chilled out and CLEAN hostel. Adelaide is a laid back city with nice parks to walk around. The university area felt just like being in Oxford or Cambridge.

The main CBD

University area

Blog Updates

Have a look at the side bar to the right of the blog page. We have added some new links to blogs and websites. 'Walking the Wall' is about a couple who are currently walking the whole length of the Great Wall of China. Also have a look at the link to some multimedia slide shows. This multimedia format allows photographers to combine audio with their still images. We really like the initial commentary on 'Palestinian Taxi', wherby he talks of how taxi drivers can be ambassadors for their country. Of the few negative experiences we have had travelling, a few have been in taxis. 'Preserving Tibet' is from a New York Times journalist speaking of how mass tourism is affecting Tibet. We'll add more as we find them (you can tell we have had a bit more time on our hands in Adelaide!) and you can let us know of any interesting blogs you have found.

Final days in the van

Our last few days with Hound Dog took us through some varied country. Here is a selection of photos...

Last night's sleep on the road, nice curtains!

Vineyards and that deep red soil

Rebecca enjoys a german beer in the town of Handorf - the oldest german community in Australia

Autumn colours in Handorf

A classic aussie symbol, the Ute (complete with 'roo-bar')

Rebecca got up early to get this shot of pelicans at Meningie

South Australia

Crossing into South Australia from the state of Victoria, we gradually made our way north to Adelaide. There is a serious drought in Australia at the moment and no region displays this better than South Australia. Dried up river beds, failing crops and severe water resrictions are abundant. It really makes you realise what a precious resource water is and how much we take it for granted.

Entering South Australia

A dusty river bed

Dried up waterfall

Port Fairy

The tiny town of Port Fairy is lovely. It was settled in 1835 by whalers and sealers. Nearby, Griffiths Island is a nature reserve and on a walk around early in the morning we saw several wallabies.

The picturesque port area

Rebecca finds a familiar name...

and another!

The lighthouse on Griffiths Island

The Great Ocean Road

Leaving Anglesey, you officially start the Great Ocean Road. Amazing views of the coastline confront you at nearly every bend in the cliff hugging road. We free camped one night at Johanna Beach which had the biggest waves I have ever seen, very popular with surfers. A recommended walk through the rainforest at Melba Gully was also excellent.

The Twelve Apostles, although they are only all visible from the air

A typical view along the road

Dinner time at camp!

A surfer rides the waves at Johanna Beach

Taking a walk though Melba Gully

Melbourne to Anglesey

On the road with Hound Dog, our faithful Toyota Hiace van with about 580,000 kms on the clock (those zeros are correct!) we left Melbourne. We visited Torquay and Bells Beach, where there was a big surfing competition going on. Rebecca was very dissapointed not to see Kelly Slater so we carried on to Anglesey where we set up camp for the night.

Rebecca and Hound Dog get a good view of Anglesey Beach

One of the resident kangaroos of Anglesey Golf Club jumps across a green - not sure if they have any special rules for the ball hitting them!

A surfer walks along as the sun goes down at Bells Beach

Travel Warning

We don't often give out warnings, in fact I'm not sure we ever have before on the blog. But this is important. Do not, on any account, ever, even if you are desperate, stay at The Nunnery Hostel in Melbourne, Australia. It is filthy, not even dirty. Pictures speak louder than words...

Yes, they are brown mens underpants - worn.

Pilgrimage to Ramsay Street.

For those of you who are my age you may understand that any trip to Australia must include this pilgrimage. It was a true pilgrimage too, as we were unable to get onto any tour so we grabbed the map for Melbourne's suburb and set out on our way to find the past homes of Charlene, Scott, Helen Daniels and Jim Robinson! We were acually the only people there ( is that lucky or slighly sad?) and a very kind man allowed us to walk up the street and take pictures. I smiled for hours afterwards. Reminding me of my childhood and right through to my university days, Neighbours kept me ( and lots of you!) company many a day. You may mock but I feel complete now! At least my Mum will be excited to see these photos.

This isn't right!

That's better and how realistic the sign looks!

Whose house was this all those years ago? Mum- you can guess this one!

Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city with a european edge. We spent a week enjoying the museums, galleries and parks as well as the many excellent cafes! Also, the annual comedy festival was on, so we caught a couple of shows which were very good. We particularly liked the area of Fitzroy where we spent a lot of time including two good meals with a friend of our friend Naomi, Liz.