Moving on from the vantage point we walked over the top of Wentworth falls round the cliff path with a very steep drop and then on to Katoomba, home to the three sisters (shown above). Here we did the cable car across the valley and scenic railway down almost to the Valley floor, the standard tourist trip with the day rounded off with the sight of my first wild kangaroo in Australia. It was a beautiful place with the perfect weather for visiting. Past the blue mountains I can't remember off hand if I did anything particularly interesting - I had a lot of work to do and obviously university is fun and all, cricket in the courtyard and an odd Australian version of handball becoming a regular lunchtime activity.
As Christmas drew closer we had the Group Christmas/end of year barbeque chez Thomas', the main supervisor of the lab which was very enjoyable, a bit of byo food with Steak and drink supplied. A very enjoyable evening. The department Christmas part followed the staff student cricket match in the morning, which much like the York game was a complete hammering, but then beer was consumed before a ball was bowled so a high standard of play couldn't really be expected. I found myself taking 4 wickets and a catch in the field although not many whilst in bat. Still an enjoyable game. The Christmas party was however, because of this early effort quite an alcoholic affair. There was so much beer... And then when everything ran out the lab supply of bioethanol/limoncello and grappa made an appearance. A fun evening had by all then.
From this the road trip was the next big event. Ramon and I hired a car with the aim to drive down the South-east coast to Melbourne, stopping at Jervis bay and anywhere that took our fancy. The drive out of Sydney was dull and largely uneventful apart from the smell of handbrake (we didn't realise autos had them) and a parking ticket registered to the wrong car, but really the sun shone for us as we left and when we left the main road to take the first of the "tourist drives" down through the Royal National Park to the coast past Wollongong, the view through the trees as we glimpsed the sea and beaches round the first hairpin, followed by the road bridge raised above the water around the outside of the cliff, was to set the bar high for scenery. In the end we got to Melbourne in three days stopping at Jervis Bay, which lays claim to the whitest beach in the world in Hyams, as well as Eden for overnight stops on the way. The journey was long, and the view often beautiful of wide beaches etc although the weather was very changeable. Batemans Bay and Lakes Entrance are both lovely places and it was unfortunate the weather didn't hold at better at the latter as we might have stayed.
Melbourne is a nice city, much like Sydney except a bit more laid back, less busy, more green space and a really impressive tram system. Our campsite was a good 40 minutes from the centre when the traffic was light, so we didn't end up enjoying much of the nightlife for which the city is known, but we did all the touristy things more or less, which were rather impressive all the same. We saw as much of the city as we could get to by foot and tram including the MCG and surrounding sports park, the war memorial, the zoo, Federation square, Docklands etc. Without the nightlife however, there was not too much going for the place unless you wished to brave the toll roads to get to the distant islands with the impressive wildlife, these trips being long and expensive so were avoided as driving was not at the top of the list of things to do in Melbourne as the drivers were as bad as if not worse than in Sydney. We ended up leaving earlier than planned to drive further down the Great Ocean road. This road does rather spectacularly live up to its name. It is home to some stunning scenery, of which the most famous spots were not necessarily the most pretty if you had the time and concentration to look out for them. The landscape changed so much along the road, starting off in coastal hills where the weather was gloomy and always looked like raining, to wide open flat marshland to flat cliff top roads that were it not for the water to one side would resemble the middle of the desert.
The highlights of this road, which is itself a highlight of Australia, were many but the truly spectacular bits that I can remember off the top of my head (bearing in mind it's approaching a month since I was there) were the regulation 12 apostles (although thanks to erosion and lightning there are now only 11), the loch and gorge and thunder cave. These were all truly spectacular rock formations off the coast, and although within the last year or so a lot of the arches have collapsed (boooooo), still remains rather awe inspiring. At the cove down from the loch and gorge we went for a swim given the weather, and it was gorgeous, because it was a long natural harbour style place the water was warm and the waves small, it was most enjoyable. The day was one of those where you end up just being very happy, and perhaps doing things not perhaps advised, as the best view we saw the whole day required a near emergency break as we sailed past it first time round, and then a trip down a dirt track to the boat launch car park. From here was the Bay of Islands, for which I'm very glad we did not miss.
I liked this view so much I currently have it as a desktop and spent at least an hour restitching it together so it looked better for this blog. As you can see, a pretty breathtaking place. The same day as all of this we drove back to Torquay, 100 km ish west of Melbourne, so we effectively drove there and back. It was a very long day, but very glad we did it. From then on the road trip was mostly just a journey back to Sydney, long hours of driving and not overly interesting stopping points. We stopped off at Canberra to cross into our third state in Australia, and we were very impressed with the immaculate city planning, if not the city itself. The capital of Australia is all but devoid of life. We arrived at about six in the early evening on a weekday and there was no traffic in the centre of the city. There was no traffic all the way to Old Parliament house, where the parking restrictions deemed as able to park directly in front of the place. Some Japanese tourists went into the official car park unchallenged for an even closer look and almost put their car through the garden wall... We then moved to the current Parliament house, where we actually parked underneath, also for free. It was eerie, a huge underground car park, going up to a Parliament house that was deserted. In their defence, it was the day before Christmas eve, but still. We saw one police officer on a bike. From there we decided to drive to the other of the lake and valley to take a picture up the vast boulevard of the admittedly spectacular Parliament houses, but at no point were we under the impression that the city was a great city. As far as capital cities go it was a beautiful place, but compared to Sydney or Melbourne, and even some of the towns we drove through on the way, it was a ghost town.
An overnight stop in Goulburn was uneventful and then was the triumphant return to Sydney, only for it to rain as hard as I have seen it, at least until this week. Car returned and money saved, we went to the park to kill time, as Christmas eve away from family is a very odd thing. Christmas day I woke up late at least, and then until we headed to Ant's for four ish, all we had to do was eat lunch and pack what we wanted to bring - described on the invitation as swimmers and something to drink. We went for a swim in the pool and then came back to talk and drink etc, eventually sitting down to a meal of roast leg of lamb with roast potato and pumpkin, with runner beans and there may have been more but I have forgotten. The only thing that possibly could have better the food was the free flowing wine. We had started on M&S cancelled order white which had been sold here at $5 a bottle which would have retailed in the UK for upwards of £15, then moving to the red I brought, further supplemented by more red, and then eventually by port and a red pudding wine, and then whisky. Needless to say much fun was had by all, at least until the next morning. A very enjoyable evening, even if it didn't quite feel like Christmas even with the silly cracker party hats.
Due to reduced funds I bailed on the trip to the Blue Mountains, opting to eat and or have a little left for New Years eve. I did visit an art exhibition entitled "The Art of the Brick", an enjoyable peruse, but given the size and number of pieces maybe did not justify the entry fee (not even the concession). We decided, quite late the day before NYE, to try to watch from Mrs MacQuarry's point in the Royal Botanic Gardens, and as a result, didn't arrive horrifically early in the morning. This wasn't an issue per se, but simply inconvenient as we had to queue a lot.
This photo is by no means indicative of the size of the queue as there is much more stage left, perhaps being chased by bears, but we joined here at the back, from which at least two more bends had appeared by the time we'd moved more to the left of the picture. Still, it was enjoyable, and met up with a friend from York to chat for the afternoon. The day which started out gloomy in this photo, turned shortly into oven conditions after lunch so obviously stuck in the botanic gardens with not much to do, obviously resting, or in Ramon's case sleeping in the sun, was the perfect plan. The fireworks were rather spectacular. They don't look quite as good as on the tv given the lack of changing angles and panning shots etc, but the bangs and the atmosphere certainly go some way to match it.
Not long after New Years we were back at work, although no sooner had I been back a day then I was off again watching the second day of the Australia vs. India test match at the SCG. It was somewhat of a field day for Australia who, most of them not actually on the field, piled on the runs. First Michael Clarke (the current captain) scored his hundred, then Ricky Ponting (ex captain) before falling the only man of the day for 134 with the captain supported past his double ton by Mr Cricket himself (Mike Hussey) who also made 50 not out. These batsman remained not out the next day with Michael Clarke posting over 300 and declaring after Hussey's 150 despite an obvious chance to break records and still win the game with half the match remaining. The match was, despite being one sided, a pleasure to watch, if unfortunate that we had to watch Virender Sehwag bowl rather than his more customary batting. A rather amusing moment was when an ex Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, came into the crowd to welcome the Indian supporters. He was well received and we definitely couldn't have predicted what was to occur next. The man, into his 80s and definitely looking it, walking back up the steps, accepted a cup of beer and with the crowds wishes, skulled it. A video of the event can be seen here, needlessly we were left impressed and wondering whether any British politicians would like to take up the challenge, it's not really surprising this guy is considered Australia's most popular politician past and present.
That aside, work has crept back in as the norm and the routine has resumed. The first night of the Sydney festival was impressive, as although we didn't realise Normal Jay was playing in Hyde Park, we decided to go see Manu Chao at the Domain, a decision which was fine enough for me as it was a really good gig. Not often you see a crowd dancing up front with the people standing with families and parties having picnics enjoying the music behind, all for free. Having asked around, I don't know many people in Sydney who weren't at one of the events - as far as crowd pleasing goes, free concerts are clearly a no brainer. Wish they'd do them more at home, and get big names in as well.
Anyway, I have gone on for a very long stint, and given this was written in more than one session, apologies as my train of thought probably doesn't match up to a logical or particularly readable essay, but some people had been asking me to update so felt like I should get back on level terms, and laziness meant that it comes all in one go.
