We arrive to board this very long and famous train which will take us through the Red Centre of Australia.  The process is extremely efficient and while we all wait to board there is a cafe for Platinum passengers to choose a range of food and drinks and all passengers are given a glass of bubbly whilst we sit at tables under cover and listen to a representative of the Jawoyn people (who are custodians of the land here and who have a deep spiritual and cultural connection to the land around here) who is playing his guitar and singing well known Australian songs.  The Ghan gets its name from the first Afghan cameleers who arrived in South Australia in 1838 to assist in the early exploration of the interior of the country.  The train begins to make its way on this 2,979 km journey which will take four days and three nights to get to Adelaide. 

Katherine

Our first stop is Katherine – the 4th largest city in the Northern Territory with a population of 10,000 and began as an outpost for the overland telegraph line.  Our chosen excursion is a boat trip on the Nitmiluk Gorge.  As we glide through the serene waters of this amazing place, the towering cliffs of rock reveal themselves and you can observe the geological transformations that have taken place over millennia.  You get off the boat at the end of the first gorge, walk about 500 m over a beautifully formed but uneven rocky track to board another boat for the second part of the gorge.  The astounding fact about this gorge is that this year, in the wet season, it was flooded and the waters reached a height of 20 metres (that is not a typo) above where it sits today.  As you can imagine, it takes quite a long time for that volume of water to recede and you can see evidence of the damage that the floods had on this incredible landscape.  Today it was 34 degrees so the walk was a little warm to say the least but cold cloths are provided by the staff of the Ghan along this walkway, plenty of water and even fruit.  I also must mention that the yellow flowers of the Kapok trees have produced white kapok which is covering the ground in places we pass.

Back on board and a four course dinner is served and our cabin is transformed into two nice beds.  Now on the end of the beds are little treats like a chocolate, ear plugs, an eye mask, a T bag for a sleepy tea and some lavender pillow spray.  Well I am in for the whole lot (including a little nightcap of Bayley’s sitting on the bedside table).   All this should help with a good night’s sleep.  The boss, however, is convinced that the chocolates will really help him so he devours them while I am spraying, drinking, plugging in ear plugs and putting on ze satin mask.  The train gently rocks us to sleep like babies and all is well until I get up to go to the bathroom.  I am thinking it is very dark indeed in this cabin so am feeling my way, banging into the wall, etc and then suddenly I feel this piece of satin down under my nose and realise that I am trying to do all this forgetting I had the eye mask on – OMG what a dipsy traveler I have become.  It is interesting on this train because it gently rocks so I said to the boss now just watch when you are getting dried after the shower because if you stand I one leg (as I did) to dry the other you are exercising to test your balance.  Now if your balance is not excellent you will end up with your head in the basin as I nearly did – or it could be worse because the bathroom is quite small and the toilet is within a hand length away as well!

Alice Springs

Day 2 on the Ghan and we arrive into Alice Springs after a leisurely, healthy breakfast of almost everything on the menu!  We devour these treats whilst sitting watching the view of the landscape with the earth turning a very deep shade of red.  Our excursion today is a flight to Uluru.  The airport (where several large planes are stored out here in this dry part of the country – including an Air NZ plane) is a busy hub for the Royal Flying Doctor Service out here in the outback.  We board a Caravan plane where we all have a window seat.  The young pilot is a Kiwi – educated at Westlake Boys and has been flying in the outback for the past three years.  Heading towards Uluru we pass Pine Gap – the US-Australian Military intelligence facility which stands out because of the very large golf-ball shaped domes.  The earth is very red out here in the centre of the country.  In fact Alice Springs is just 230 km from the geographical centre of Australia.  We fly over a Salt Lake, tiny settlements and, dry river beds and the landscape is criss-crossed with red roads and tracks and dottted with vegetation on this enormous flat plain.

We circle Uluru which is magnificent with the sun shining on it – we go around it twice in different directions and we then fly away a little distance to see Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) – a spectacular rock formation made up of 36 domes covering an area of 21 km.  It is as spectacular as Uluru.  After landing at Uluru Airport we board a mini bus to take us to a lookout spot for a picnic lunch in the shade.  As we sit in this remarkable environment there is little to be said as we just take in the magnificence of this amazing rock and can scarcely believe we are sitting right in front of it.  We arrive back in Alice Springs around 5.30 pm – it has been a big day but it is not finished.  We are dropped off at Telegraph Station where every passenger on the Ghan enjoys a three-course dinner outdoors on a still evening with the full moon rising as we eat.  Entertainment is provided by a “Boy Band” – average age around 65 who play wonderful music and the highlight of the evening was a special guest – an Indigenous gentleman who lives out here – is actually a paramedic.  He plays the digeridoo and, as he is an astronomer, he then gets all the lighting turned off and, with the help of a laser pointer, he gives us a wonderful explanation of the constellation above us.  The evening ends with him playing the digeridoo to the music of “A Land Downunder” and we all circle him to dance.  Magnifique!

Manguri – Coober Pedy

We arrive into Manguri Station on a very hot morning and board the bus to travel 42 km on a red earth bumpy road – more like a track actually.  The land is entirely flat and we are told we are surrounded by sheep and cattle stations that are 5000 square kilometers in size.  This area gets around 120 ml of rain per year but this year they have had 300 ml to date.  There are copper, gold and iron ore mines around this area.  It is flat, barren land as far as the eye can see, sparsely scattered with low growing bushes.

Suddenly we see white mounds all over this immense landscape.  These are the extractions from opal mining here.  We pass open cut mines and many dangerous looking shafts very close to the roadside where people have come to try their luck at finding opals.  There are very old and rusty pieces of machinery around the place and huge mounds of different sizes.  I wonder if we have somehow landed on the moon?  

We arrive in this very unusual township of Cooper Pedy where 70 per cent of the population live in dugouts because of the intense heat which reaches up to 51 degrees C in summer.  In these underground dugouts the temperature only gets to 26 degrees.  We actually visit one and it drives my simple brain crazy – how do you live with no daylight (what about the VitaminD?). And if you go outside the temperature melts you.  We would last two minutes in this moon-like environment.  The town has a grocer, a few restaurants, hardware and a chemist shop and a number of opal shops.  There is an immense amount of scrap metal everywhere – everywhere!!  I think the people here have a little trouble getting rid of stuff!

We are taken to an old gold mine around 30 metres underground which has been converted to a nice place to host an underground lunch experience for the tourists and what an experience it was.  An old miner was there telling porkies in one corner and we got to have a peak at what was a working part of the mine.  A Greek lunch was served – there is a large Greek population here in Cooper Pedy as well as a rather large Serbian and Croatian population.  After this delicious lunch of lamb, chicken, Greek Salad, Baclava and Ravini Cake, we were all given a little glass of Ouzo to gulp down together when the signal was given – “Yamas!”  The final stop was to the magnificent underground church of St Elijah.

The old rusty trucks are everywhere – do they work? Not sure!

Back to the Ghan and tables had been set up alongside the siding.  Cold drinks and canapés were served in the sun as our journey comes to an end.  Another four course dinner, another evening of spraying the pillow with the lavender, eye masks, ear plugs etc and we settle into bed to be rocked and rolled down the track to Adelaide where we arrive around 11 am.

Our wonderful journey on this remarkable Ghan comes to an end.  The whole experience runs like a well oiled machine.  These young people who work on the train do seven days on and seven days off but they work around 14 hours a day.  

As I write this we are now in Sydney with Georgia and Matt in their new apartment which is gorgeous.  Hannah is here and Oliver is arriving in Sydney this afternoon.  We are with the young ones now and it is great.

Ghan Facts:

Journey is 2979 km and the train travels at an average speed of 86 km/h and a maximum speed of 115 km/h

Average train length is 902 metres and 1,768 tonnes

49 onboard crew

30 Platinum beds, 70 Gold Premium beds and 200 Gold beds

36 carriages including guest carriages, crew carriages, Platinum, Gold Premium and Gold lounges, restaurants and power vans

3 power vans which each contain three 180kVa generators – each van provides electricity for 14 carriages

2 locomotives

This morning we departed Darwin to travel to Litchfield National Park and then on to Kakadu National Park.  In fact we have just been told we travelled 550 km to reach Kakadu on the very long Stuart Highway.  The first stop was to see the enormous termite mounds (which are all the way along this long highway) and the driver set up morning tea in the shade.  The boss was very ‘appy as lamingtons appeared on the table!  The landscape never really changed for the entire journey, with the exception of very expansive mango orchards at Humpty Doo where mango trees dripping in fruit extended as far as the eye could see.  The mangoes in the Northern Territory ripen before the Queensland crops because of the sub tropical climate.  Dragonfruit is also grown in abundance here.  The bush everywhere else, with the exception of a few wetland areas, was a mass of trees of varying species with the undergrowth of cycads and grasses (along with thousands of termite mounds).  In many areas there had been controlled burn offs eliminating the undergrowth to stop wildfires spreading.  These termite mounds, by the way, can reach 2 metre in height.

We passed through Batchelor, an outback settlement out here in the National Park which is predominantly an educational centre for indigenous people.  On we travelled on Rumjumble Road out of Batchelor where lush trees and palms were a beautiful shade of green contrasting the deep orange earth surrounding them – this was an area years ago where uranium was mined.

Prior to our lunch stop, there was a visit to Wangii Falls where many people were swimming in the pond.  We walked the boardwalks surrounding the water to see large spiders and lizards!  OMG – between the crocodile warnings, the spiders, lizards and snakes we are almost tip toeing around these scenic places and if I hear the slightest crackling of the undergrowth I am regretting I didn’t purchase Stress Remedy from Chemist Warehouse!  The boss copes with the thought of these creatures much better than the one he chose to travel with!  

Eventually we arrive at the beautiful Kakadu National Park and this park extends over 20,000 square kilometers – huge.  It is the first place on earth to get dual UNESCO World Heritage status for its Natural Beauty and Culture.

Onto Day 2 of our Top End tour and we had to set the alarm for 5.30 am to have a quick brekkie and be out at the bus to travel to Jabiru, which is the gateway to Arnhem Land.  This township was established in 1982 to service the nearby Ranger uranium mine.  We arrive at Jabiru Airport where five Cessna’s were waiting for our half awake troops to climb aboard to see the magnificent Kakadu National Park at sunrise from the air.  Now this group of young pilots looked like schoolboys to be honest, but they welcomed us very professionally and got us aboard in pre-arranged seating.  The thing is, our weights had to be sent in a few months ago when we booked this tour and whenever we go on a holiday or a tour the clothes shrink, so the question is – are the weights I sent in accurate?  I would say not but I am not saying a thing as we are told where to sit, put on the headphones, do the safety briefing and off we go.  

Soaring above this utterly incredible landscape was beyond awesome.  Whereas the 550 km we travelled yesterday to get here, the landscape of trees and undergrowth was repetitive, when you are looking from above and going further out into this massive National Park, you see the glistening wetlands of streams and rivers meandering their way through like pathways taking water to animals that live in this park.  You see the layers of rock formations changing colour from dark brown to orange, purple, yellow and red as the morning sun shines down on them, and the vibrant green carpet of the floodplains looks like bright green velvet draping itself over the flat plateaus of Arnhem Land.  It was utterly magnificent and it is obvious why this treasure of a park has been given dual UNESCO World Heritage Status.

Onto the next activity where we travel on the Arnhem Highway to meet one of the indigenous caretakers of the land to see saltwater crocodiles and see them we did.  After being given the safety instructions – keep your hands, arms, cameras, wives etc inside ze boat and do not let anything hang over or out from the railings.  It is not difficult to abide by all this when you see the size of these creatures sunbathing on the banks of the river.  A few pairs of eyes surfaced to see if they approved of this motley bunch of onlookers but praise be – we didn’t seem to interest them.  Motoring up the river we see different bird species and some of the magnificent rock formations of Arnhem land.  Following this (and you can tell we had a busy morning) we went to Ubirr where we did a walk (a very hot walk) to see ancient rock art where it was interesting to make out the shapes.  By now, many of us were wilting in this very hot environment with the heat radiating up from the earth and from the rocks on this 38 degree day.  There was a plus in all this because we were likely losing weight we were so wet with the heat.  It was so very important to have a hat, to have your water bottles filled and to be constantly sipping to keep up the fluids.  We have not been quite this hot since our tour bus broke down on the edge of Death Valley in the US at midday – no trees for shade and the sun beating down.  No air conditioning in the bus because of broken fan belt and the temperature was in the 40’s and there we were for a couple of hours until the mechanic could get there and get the simple problem of a broken fan belt fixed.

On the last day of this tour before returning to Darwin we departed Jabiru after a look around the township and onto a very informative Information Centre.  From there we travelled to the Cororabee Billabong for an enjoyable cruise on the waterway to see water buffalo, wild pigs, many different bird species, fresh and saltwater crocodiles and wallabies.  This billabong is surrounded by an enormous floodplain and in a few weeks, the dry season will come to an end and the wet season that follows floods this entire area with waters more than 1 metre deep.  You can see the height of where the waters have been by the grasses that have been tossed up and over bushes.  The volume of water that will soon flood this area over the course of about 3-4 months is hard to comprehend but it has been like this for hundreds of years.

Astoundingly we have survived this week of temperatures between 32 and 38 degrees every day.  How we did this I am not really sure to be honest but let’s just say the inclusive drinks package helped, the amount of fluid we lost each day just had to be replaced – end of story!  This blimmin red earth has mucked up my nice purple ASICS and I have spent each evening tidying them up.  The boss lost his sun hat somewhere – just where we have no clue so he picked up this Hawaiian sun hat which means I can easily spot him in a crowd so that’s an advantage when he wanders off!  You don’t wander off far when the sun is beating down on your head and the heat from the red earth is coming up your shorts – you sort of hop from tree to tree to try and stay in the shade.  It is onto the Ghan tomorrow and we don’t see the temperatures dropping but we are excited to see the red centre of this vast country.

We have loved this city in the very north of Australia.  The lush tropical plants are beautiful and are everywhere and, although the temperatures are well into the 30’s, there is plenty of shade.  The dry season is coming to an end and the wet season officially begins 1 October.  In many ways it is a city of shade – there are magnificent mature trees, many parks, and large shade structures providing relief from the heat at playgrounds, bowling greens and other sports areas, picnic areas, eating areas and even over a couple of swimming pools.  The apartments have been cleverly designed to provide interesting shade awnings and canopies over windows that face the sun.  The disappointing thing about the North of Australia is that you cannot swim at most of these beautiful beaches along the coast because of the stingers and crocodiles.  However, the cities have provided extraordinary large pools that stretch out in different directions with water fountains, water parks with slides, wave pools and even sand so that they become mini beaches.  Today the lovely water park is very busy with families having picnics under the trees while the children swim. This is the first week of the school holidays. The park has numerous sun loungers and seating for people to stay and enjoy the surroundings in comfort. Our time in Darwin finishes tonight with a sunset dinner cruise and tomorrow we travel to Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks and stay out there until Friday before starting the journey south on Saturday.

Here we are in a rather warm 35 degree Darwin but a nice breeze is blowing so not too bad unless you want a long walk – we don’t!  The plan was the Hop on Hop off bus which all went very well until the last hopping on when we nearly missed ze bus which would have stranded us at the Military Museum!  However, this bus took us all around this interesting city – Botannical Gardens, Darwin Museum of Art (very interesting and rather emotional to see the effects that Cyclone Tracy had on his city on Christmas Day 1974 – absolutely disastrous to see photos of a city decimated by that terrible event.  On to the Military Museum where we saw the effects of the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese in February 1942 where 188 Japanese planes targeted the harbour, ships and airfields.  This city has had to rebuild multiple times which leaves little to see in terms of old historical buildings.  There are modern apartment blocks all around the city and out to the suburbs here – well maintained and solidly built because this city is prone to cyclones and is used to battening down the hatches.

One small bathroom problem – I thought!  Now we have had bathroom problems all around the world with me not being able to figure out the plumbing and last night the shower was utterly cold – I thought!  I called Guest Services to let them know ze shower vas cold and I had let the water run for five minutes to see if it warmed up – it didn’t.  So the boss goes for the shower this morning and declares there is plenty of hot water – hallelujah!  I called Guest Services to let them know the good news.  The not so good news was that the boss gave me a lesson in reading the hot/cold signs on the wall because (surprise surprise) I had misinterpreted the blimmin signage! These Aussies need to be just a tad clearer in their instructions I believe. The boss doesn’t believe they do so we will leave it at that!

We have contacted Jenny, our Camp Mother to see if she is prepared to hop on a plane and come up here to look after us because apparently I have not passed the tour leader exam!

Now we are off to the outback tomorrow and reception might be a bit off the grid (so might we by the end of the three days out there) so we will take a break until we surface back in Darwin before hopping onboard the Ghan on Saturday.

Thursday night was our last in Port Douglas and Camp Mother Jenny had booked the beautiful Melaleuca restaurant for dinner – magnifique!  But before dinner we had to visit the historical little church of St Mary’s by the Sea and the pre-dinner item on the agenda was a sundowner G&T at the park by the beach to see the sunset before crossing the road to the restaurant.  Another fun filled day before a couple of nights in Cairns.

This morning we departed Port Douglas and made our way to Kuranda which is an interesting and colourful little village set in the mountains 25 km north west of Cairns.  We had booked to do the Skyrail gondola to Barron Falls which is just a 10 minute ride soaring high over the rainforest and then a short walk to see the magnificent falls.  The views from the Skyrail looking down on the forest canopy were magnificent.  After arriving back in Kuranda it was on to Cairns and a walk around part of the Botannical Gardens before visiting the night markets.

Now these brothers are fixated on gelatos and, wouldn’t you know it, there is an Italian gelato shop right opposite our apartment in Cairns and they can view the state of the queue from the windows here!  They are like two hawks keeping watch!  The range of flavors is so immense that the decision making takes time.  It has been a mixed day starting off with a visit to the Medical Centre – why is it that in nearly every city we get to I have to acquaint myself with a doctor?  Well, at least today’s little chat was not as challenging as telling a doctor in Paris of a tonsillitis, a German-only speaking doctor in Berlin and an entire non-English speaking emergency department in Wittenberg of a problem that will remain undisclosed by let’s just say I thought I may have to mime to get them to understand!  After this morning’s little tete a tete we visited Rusty’s Market – that was a lesson in horticulture and we honestly had no clue what a lot of the produce was but we came home and had a platter of pink and white dragon fruit, papaya, mango, pineapple, Missile apples (google that – delicious) and tiny bananas. This deliciousness was preceded by a plate of French pastries which went down a treat – and then you sit and stress as you are enjoying your cuppa about the shrinking of the clothes! And we have just heard that my little medical issue is not as bad as Oliver’s who has acquainted himself with the orthopaedic department at Melbourne Hospital with a broken collarbone. Guess that will have been a practical tutorial for his BioMed degree!

Off to Darwin tomorrow and then on to Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks – our outback adventure begins!

Exploring Nature was the theme of our trip today and when we all arrived at the car we discovered that Jenny and I had been promoted to pilot and co-pilot and the brothers had seated themselves in the back – heaven forbid this could be interesting because dear Jenny was still figuring out where we were going first! Anyway, a decision was made and off we travelled the rather short distance to Mossman Gorge where we boarded a shuttle to be taken to the start of the walking tracks on a pleasant 25 degree day. The gorge is simply beautiful ancient rainforest located in the southern section of the World Heritage listed Daintree National Park which covers a vast area of land in the far north of Queensland. It is the sacred land of the traditional Kuku Yalanji people. The walking trails are easy boardwalks and we decided on a 2.4 km circuit track beside the river where beautiful clear water flows strongly over enormous boulders – it is spectacular.

Then on to the Daintree Rainforest and Cultural Centre – a short drive, followed by a car ferry across the river and then a longer drive on the other side to get to the centre where you collect audio sets and set off. The lovely wide boardwalks take you in various directions and loops around parts of this expansive lush green and absolutely stunning rainforest – the oldest rainforest in the world and older than the Amazon rainforest. Trees tower above you, even when you are many feet off the ground on these raised boardwalks – the effect is simply stunning and the forest is home to many animals, snakes, birds, and a huge number of edible, and some very poisonous plants. Walking under this spectacular canopy of green is an experience to be had and what a perfect way to spend some time in this incredible environment.

Ice creams were on our minds – actually Jenny’s mind – and the journey back turned out to be an obsession around finding a real fruit gelato. She declared she had found just the shop – in Daintree Village so we drove for 30 minutes on winding roads with many roadworks taking place to get to Daintree – a bar, a takeaway, a park but no ice cream shop! A wrong turn had been taken so, with much hilarity, we set off back towards Port Douglas looking for ice cream signs – none! Finally, to our great relief we found the real Italian Gelato shop less than 1 km from our apartment back in Port Douglas – it was a long way to go for a gelato but the boys were very ‘appy!!

Over dinner watching the sunset we had a meeting about the plan for tomorrow and the meeting closed before a decision was made so we have no idea but we are in the hands of a very efficient sister-in-law (Camp Mother) who will have a plan by breakfast – you can bet on it and I have a feeling that the boys may be sent in one direction while the girls go in another! C’est la vie!

6

Well Gidday – that’s what they all say here in AUS!  To be honest, arriving in Port Douglas after a 5 am start for flight to Cairns, a lovely drive with Aidan and Jenny to Palm Cove, walk along the beachfront, find a place for lunch and drive to Port Douglas the welcome at the accommodation was very nice and the guy so helpful with all the information but my tired brain was not functioning as it should!  A feast of prawns the size of small fish certainly helped the situation and an early night was required for both our brains so that we can press Reset and start again tomorrow.

A very interesting few days to be sure – the most important for my dear sister-in-law was for the two of us girls to find some activity for the brothers that would take their minds off us strolling through the shops with the credit cards. The activity that pleased my man was a visit to the large marina complex to look at the boats.  I might add that the credit cards did not get a workout which made the menfolk very ‘appy.  The other task we set for these two was dinner – a bbq here at the accommodation by the pool and they had to go find the food – and we actually trusted the two of them to carry this task out with enthusiasm!  Well, we did wonder how all this would work out to be truthful but they returned with the chilly bag full plus a wine bag full – good start.  We girls resisted the urge to ask about the menu but the men set off to the bbq and we sat down to partake of this feast and raved about the amazingly delicious sausages – with little reaction from the cooks!  So, after we had cleaned up the sausages, lamb chops, salad etc it was announced by the chefs (who almost took a bow) that the sausages were actually crocodile! Mmmmm – very interesting!

I was put in charge of the potatoes for this feast which I decided to quickly boil then fry to brown and crisp and all was going well until the crisp part when suddenly the smoke alarm screeched into life with a deafening noise while I was scrambling to stop the cooks down by the pool hearing any of this frenzy going on in the kitchen of the apartment! I was also worried that the manager would arrive at the door ready to extinguish the problem. Fortunately I got away with this little calamity which caused me to gulp down the gin and tonic that had been poured followed by the Italian Pinot Grigio which all helped to calm the nerves.

Almost ready for lift off ……….

Well, here we go again and this time it is to a rather warm part of Australia – Cairns, Port Douglas, Darwin, Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks and then the Ghan to Adelaide.  The packing is done to the relief of both of us and no arguments took place even though my pile was like Everest and the boss’s pile was like a millpond!  What to take for temperatures 25-35-40 C, hot days, cooler nights, insect protection, sun protection, snake protection. OMG this is a nightmare!  I have visited Kathmandu multiple times – cool neck scarves, cool towel, long sleeve shirts and sun hats as big as sun umbrellas (and don’t forget the netting to go over the hats because the information says so!)  Bags need to be certain size, weight – so do we apparently!  Well that will be a disaster – you always leave at one weight and when you return home the clothes have shrunk and the scales have completely mucked up the weight! And then another problem is that we will be questioned by those men in uniforms because of the amount of medications in the luggage!  But the boss is in charge of the B’s – (bags) so he will need to answer those questions.  I am in charge of the P’s -( passports, paperwork, payments and Pinot Gris) – easy peasy!  What it is to be almost 80 and going places we have never been – let the adventure begin.

It is such fun having your granddaughter as your tour leader and Georgia is so happy to see us through the crowds at Sydney Airport.  She has good sense this girl – obviously her paediatric nursing skills have qualified her to see that these two 70 something kids that have arrived on her doorstep are quite happy to go at a slower pace in Sydney.  For our first full 31 degree Sydney day she decides a trip to Centennial Park, a picnic under the trees at the iconic Bondi where half the population of Sydney are strutting the beach and there is much to see – and I mean much to see!  Let’s just say that the bathing suit manufacturers these days are economizing on fabric!  Georgia decides that we should move on to Coogee Beach, near where they live, for our swim (I wonder if it is because there will be less chance of us tripping over the beach babes at Bondi to get to the water!)  On to Coogee it is and we “slip” into our bathing suits and into the beautiful clear water not worrying a jot about what we look like because there is every age, size and shape wearing all manner of interesting itsy witsy teeny weeny bits and pieces of swimwear!  I feel the need to tell the one in charge of the B’s that bikinis are not included in the contract!  After that little excursion we go home to watch the Sydney Swans playing AFL which is a really big thing here.

Day 2 and Matt is back briefly from his golf trip to Melbourne and the two of them have planned a trip to Manly so off we head on the light rail just up the road outside Sydney Children’s Hospital where Georgia works.  Onto the Manly ferry for the lovely ride across the harbour to our lunch venue with the temperature predicted to get to 36!!!  Just a tad warm.  After a lovely lunch at a restaurant on the pier (one in charge of the B’s very ‘appy because he can sit and look at BOATS!)  we head over to view the beach which, as you can imagine on a hot day, has scarcely any room to put down a towel!  Back home to watch the Formula 1 race in Melbourne which adds much excitement to the afternoon and then the beach gear is packed up again – the boss is very lucky actually because I hung his togs over the verandah and they ended up on the roof of the entrance to the apartment building here and we needed to get a broom to retrieve them!  Heaven forbid!  We all just about flopped into the water to cool off and it was heaven – no boogie board required because just very gentle waves in the lovely clear water – oh boy did we need that!  Could someone just please turn down the temperature!  Georgia and Matt’s roast lamb went down a treat to end a perfect day.

Monday morning saw us take a walk through Centennial Park while Georgia did a run around the park and a beautiful park it is.  The boss is pretty sure there are Kauri trees here – how did that happen?  Is this another NZ thing these Aussies have stolen?  We had a lovely afternoon exploring Darling Harbour which reminds us of the Viaduct at Home.  Honestly, Mayor Brown needs to come here and try out the light rail that will solve his road cone problem! I will let him know!  Our early morning departure to the Blue Mountains started at the magnificently designed Sydney Zoo before it opened to the public and then on to Scenic World in the Blue Mountains to do the more adventurous things like the Skyway 270 meters above the valley floor and the highest cable car in Australia.  Just what two oldies need at this time of day because this adrenaline rush will wake us up big time!  This was followed by the cableway which is a large cable car carrying 84 people that descends 545 meters into the Jamison Valley with amazing views.  Following that it was a scenic walkway around temperate rainforest on a nice boardwalk at the bottom of the valley – but then of course you have to get back to the top and that involves a railway with a 52 degree incline and is the steepest passenger train in the world where you sit almost vertically, hang on till your fingers are white and almost hold your breath till you get to the top. (Then you hop out and say how wonderful it was!) Leura for lunch and then a visit to three other lookouts before being dropped at Wentworth just past Olympic Park in Sydney to get the ferry down the Parramatta River back to Circular Quay.  Whew – what a day we made it back on the light rail to Randwick just in time for Georgia to finish her shift and she and her colleagues are waving to us from the ED at SCH as we pull into the train station opposite! 

Second to last morning sees us having a late start (we need it!) and then off to do a tour of the Sydney Opera House with Georgia as the TL once again – whew – what a blessing that is!  A dinner date with Hannah is interesting as we hear all about her new job as Commercial Content Leader with the Sydney Giants AFL team based at Olympic Park.  Now I don’t need to tell you how excited a 25 year old single gorgeous lady is to be working in that environment!  No trouble getting up early to get to work on time here with that job!  So it is bye to Aussie for now and time to go home and think about our next adventure.

OMG – Adelaide is a beautiful city but right now we are in need of someone to turn down the temperature!  We are staying in the centre of the city on North Tce just across the road from the Adelaide Convention Centre.  This is a great position to get almost anywhere so the plan is to get our bearings and see as much as we can.  We start by getting our heads around the free tram which runs around the centre of the city and making our way to the Botanical Gardens which are beautiful.  Sunday morning it was an hour long cruise on the Torrens River which is literally just over the road on the “Popeye” boat including Devonshire Teas which kept the one in charge of the B’s very ‘appy!  The idea for the afternoon was a 30 minute trip on the tram to the lovely Glenelg Beach, which I can report is indeed very beautiful.  However, on a 38 degree day, even in the shade, we melted like a bar of chocolate.  I decided on a swim and Vern decided to play lifeguard and stand on the pier in case one of those things with fins should swim by.  Well, I am not entirely sure what he was looking at (but there was a lot to look at if you get my drift) and I was enjoying my swim very much indeed when suddenly an English couple started waving their arms around and calling to me to let me know a large stingray was heading my way!  Well, let’s just say that saw me in the shallows quick smart and the lifeguard didn’t even see it!  Before returning to the city we found an ice cream shop – of course we did!

Monday saw us take a trip to roll down the river on the Proud Mary so off we went with the lovely coach driver and a mixed assortment of travellers to Mammun on the Murray River which took about an hour.  It was very nice indeed gliding up and down the Murray on Proud Mary (who is in great shape considering her age).  Morning tea was served, then the boat left the pier and later a lovely lunch was served and later we disembarked into 41 degree heat to spend time in Mammun- well we found some shade and sat and drank lots of fluids!  Then it was on to a chocolate and cheese factory where the one in charge of the B’s found more BAGS but they were full of deliciousness – and calories – but who cares!  Tuesday we had a tour of the Adelaide Oval – a very busy stadium and so interesting, especially the manual scoreboard – no electronics involved!  Following that the boss suggested I go look at shops – on my own!  Heaven forbid – this is a big risk!  So I wasted no time – why would you?  Anyway, I visited Rundle Mall – well known here – a street of shops and no traffic and all was well until I took the wrong turn out of the Mall to return to the apartment.  Then Missy Google told me go left, go right, and on she went until all of a sudden it said I had 2 km to walk and had no blimmin clue how all that happened!  I found a tram coming my way – praise Joseph, Mary, the donkeys, camels and all and in no time I was back and even had dinner in the bag!  My travelling companion did not even notice how long I was gone OR read the texts saying I had a fairly long way to walk to get home!  I could have visited twice as many shops – darn it!

We had a hard day in the Barossa Valley but someone’s got to do it.  After leaving Adelaide we traveled past harvested canola and wheat fields, olive and almond trees and large strawberry farms.  We passed a number of new housing areas and cannot believe how the houses are framed in rows – it looks like you could shake your neighbour’s hand from the shower!  First stop was a Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop which did not disappoint.  Then it was on to Tanunda Chateau to have our first tasting – now the boss cannot taste but I can and you cannot let people down can you – especially at around 11 am!!  I really liked the sparkling Shiraz – very nice indeed.  Chardonnay not so nice.  There is more Shiraz produced than other varieties in this area and there are over 100 vineyards.  Then it was on to Kies Family vineyard for a nice lunch and more tastings.  We then travelled for about an hour through a very large area that went on for several miles and was the scene of the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 which were devastating and, after all this time, you can still see the remnants of dead trees.  These huge eucalyptus trees are everywhere and the oil fuels the fires with terrible consequences.  There are also constant reports of huge limbs falling off these trees in these dry conditions.  We also pass many huge apple orchards – these ones for cider and huge acreages covered in nets.

Our final stop is at the German village of Hahndorf which reminds us of Arrowtown with its beautiful trees and little, very old and gorgeous buildings and, in these very hot conditions, the leaves are already changing into their golden autumn colour.  We found an ice cream shop – boss very ‘appy!

We had been told that the Adelaide Central Market was the place to visit to purchase food more cheaply than the supermarkets but honestly that was not our experience.  Beautiful fruit and vegetables on display, meat, fish and seafood, bulk foods all sold from permanent stalls within the market.  Prices were potatoes $10 kg, tomatoes $11 kg, cauli $7, bananas $6 kg, apples $6-7 kg, lamb $36 kg, sausages $25 kg.  We have found that dairy products and meat seem on a par with home.  There is a great assortment of apples just now but as it is the start of the season they are still quite expensive.  Petrol here in Adelaide $2.80 litre – Melbourne was $1.80.

Adelaide is a simply beautiful city – if you think of it like a poached egg with the city centre being the yolk and the parks around it being the white – this is how the city was designed with four main streets running in very straight lines – North, South, East and West Terraces.  The basis of the planning was to design the safest city in Australia centering on schools, parklands and churches.

We depart Adelaide having spent an enjoyable week here and move onto the last stop for this holiday to Sydney to spend time with Georgia, Matt and Hannah.