I have a few random photos that I'm not entirely sure of and a handful of ones from Adelaide.
( Adelaide photos )
Anyway, here is me living my best tourist life:
( Adelaide photos )
Anyway, here is me living my best tourist life:
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We turned up on the Great Ocean Road (GOR) to discover that it was pretty much mist. Exsquisite, wreathing mist, but mist nevertheless...
That was sunset the day we arrived at the 12 Apostles. The day we drove like loons to reach the 12 Apostles because we wanted the sunset view.
Oops.
( Melbourne to Adelaide )
That was sunset the day we arrived at the 12 Apostles. The day we drove like loons to reach the 12 Apostles because we wanted the sunset view.
Oops.
( Melbourne to Adelaide )
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Well, I'm home. My travelling companion will be another month overseas, working and touristing as the world takes her.
I am absolutely zonkered. The flight was an overnighter and I got maybe a couple of half-hour snoozles. Very uncomfortable.
Of course, now that I'm back there are several things to navigate at once:
1. The garden has grown like a crazy thing while I was away thanks to the rain and the heat. Not all of it has been productive.
2. Several structures fell over/blew over while I was away, and B1 hasn't sorted them out. She doesn't have the energy, I know, but it's a bit daunting to come back and look at what needs to be done.
3. Jobs. All of them outside of Sydney. With people trying to bring the price down for accomodation or stuff. Six months, possible extension to 2 years or more. Money is better than Sydney. So if I get it, then there goes my gardening, hockey, church, social life, etc.
Okay, I'm going to go lie down for 30 mins with my kitteh; then I'll get up and maybe do some washing...
I am absolutely zonkered. The flight was an overnighter and I got maybe a couple of half-hour snoozles. Very uncomfortable.
Of course, now that I'm back there are several things to navigate at once:
1. The garden has grown like a crazy thing while I was away thanks to the rain and the heat. Not all of it has been productive.
2. Several structures fell over/blew over while I was away, and B1 hasn't sorted them out. She doesn't have the energy, I know, but it's a bit daunting to come back and look at what needs to be done.
3. Jobs. All of them outside of Sydney. With people trying to bring the price down for accomodation or stuff. Six months, possible extension to 2 years or more. Money is better than Sydney. So if I get it, then there goes my gardening, hockey, church, social life, etc.
Okay, I'm going to go lie down for 30 mins with my kitteh; then I'll get up and maybe do some washing...
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Danang was a bit of a write-off. We originally planned two days there, but changes to our flight prompted by the airline and probably the reduction in travellers due to coronavirus meant we only got two nights and one day (arrive 10:30pm one night, have one day, stay the night, fly out 9am the day after).
We were booked on a tour to go to Sunworld, Bana Hills. They couldn't quite tell us what it was, though. We thought there might be some cultural things happening.
It turned out to be a low-key entertainment park of the Disney-esque kind. Some fake historical places (temples built in the old style), a fake European village, places to eat, some gardens with nicely arranged flowers, and a funpark with rides and stuff. It's not as bad as the entertainment parks I remember of my childhood (Australia's Wonderland seemed particularly grotesque in my memory), but it's not great either. And it wasn't what we'd hoped to see. But we didn't have any way to exit from the situation, so we were stuck there for the entirety of the tour - from 8:30am in the morning until 5:30pm in the evening.
At 5:30pm we were returned to the hotel and were promptly off elsewhere - on a tour to Hoi An. Originally, we'd been talked into going to a show, but my father suggested that was entirely unnecessary and so we cancelled it so we'd just walk around.
Frankly, if we'd spent the entire day at Hoi An, it would have been exactly what we wanted. There was an 'old city' tour, where you could pay a set amount of money and visit a set number of locations that were all historical and had interesting museums on them. Ones detailing the history of the port city, the movement of goods, the cultural background of the area...all the things that we would have loved to spend a day on.
So.
We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City early on Friday morning and have been pretty busy since.
We were booked on a tour to go to Sunworld, Bana Hills. They couldn't quite tell us what it was, though. We thought there might be some cultural things happening.
It turned out to be a low-key entertainment park of the Disney-esque kind. Some fake historical places (temples built in the old style), a fake European village, places to eat, some gardens with nicely arranged flowers, and a funpark with rides and stuff. It's not as bad as the entertainment parks I remember of my childhood (Australia's Wonderland seemed particularly grotesque in my memory), but it's not great either. And it wasn't what we'd hoped to see. But we didn't have any way to exit from the situation, so we were stuck there for the entirety of the tour - from 8:30am in the morning until 5:30pm in the evening.
At 5:30pm we were returned to the hotel and were promptly off elsewhere - on a tour to Hoi An. Originally, we'd been talked into going to a show, but my father suggested that was entirely unnecessary and so we cancelled it so we'd just walk around.
Frankly, if we'd spent the entire day at Hoi An, it would have been exactly what we wanted. There was an 'old city' tour, where you could pay a set amount of money and visit a set number of locations that were all historical and had interesting museums on them. Ones detailing the history of the port city, the movement of goods, the cultural background of the area...all the things that we would have loved to spend a day on.
So.
We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City early on Friday morning and have been pretty busy since.
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Before I forget.
( rough sketch of our travels in Indonesia )
I think it's about time that we headed out to our next stay.
( rough sketch of our travels in Indonesia )
I think it's about time that we headed out to our next stay.
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So, I've never been to Bali before, and it's kind of spectacular.
Including spectacularly hot and humid. 99% humidity! ARGH!
Last night, we arrived just past midnight, got picked up around 1:30am. Arrived at our hotel around 2:30am. Finally fell asleep some time around 3am.
This morning, we veged. This afternoon we went on a Balinese food tour in Denspasar. Oh boy. We ate and ate and ate and the guy was still suggesting food as we left. Suffice it to say, I'm absolutely stuffed full and I'm pretty sure the tour guy made a motza from herding us around but not having to buy absolutely everything. (That's okay, now that I've taken it, I know where to go and I'm not afraid to order it next time.)
Tomorrow, my travelling companion goes on an early-morning hike up the mountain to see the sunrise. She'll be leaving around 2:30am. And around 9am, she plans to return and we'll go see the Monkey Sanctuary together. And then we have a temple tour, dance, and dinner from 2:30pm until 9pm.
I'm happy to vege out; that's what Australians usually do in Bali, right? Only with more alcohol and less inhibitions. Not that I wouldn't mind a little squidge of alcohol. A nice cocktail would be fantastic.
Aaaaanyway. I should go to bed. Get some sleep after last night. Get some sleep before 'I' wakes up at 2am to go on her hike for the sunrise.
I'm sure it'll be a spectacular sunrise; but I'm okay with not seeing it.
Including spectacularly hot and humid. 99% humidity! ARGH!
Last night, we arrived just past midnight, got picked up around 1:30am. Arrived at our hotel around 2:30am. Finally fell asleep some time around 3am.
This morning, we veged. This afternoon we went on a Balinese food tour in Denspasar. Oh boy. We ate and ate and ate and the guy was still suggesting food as we left. Suffice it to say, I'm absolutely stuffed full and I'm pretty sure the tour guy made a motza from herding us around but not having to buy absolutely everything. (That's okay, now that I've taken it, I know where to go and I'm not afraid to order it next time.)
Tomorrow, my travelling companion goes on an early-morning hike up the mountain to see the sunrise. She'll be leaving around 2:30am. And around 9am, she plans to return and we'll go see the Monkey Sanctuary together. And then we have a temple tour, dance, and dinner from 2:30pm until 9pm.
I'm happy to vege out; that's what Australians usually do in Bali, right? Only with more alcohol and less inhibitions. Not that I wouldn't mind a little squidge of alcohol. A nice cocktail would be fantastic.
Aaaaanyway. I should go to bed. Get some sleep after last night. Get some sleep before 'I' wakes up at 2am to go on her hike for the sunrise.
I'm sure it'll be a spectacular sunrise; but I'm okay with not seeing it.
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I have photos.
Many, many photos.
( a selection from Melbourne )
But we'll backtrack a little.
This is me, sitting on the station at 6:15am, anxiously waiting for the train to Melbourne, having driven my sister's car to the station because my mother - who was supposed to drive me to the station to catch the train - didn't turn up. This is my mother, reknowned for being unable to sleep in, who actually managed to sleep in so soundly that it took my stepdad (whom I called because mum wasn't answering and that wasn't like mum) to shake her awake.
There was some last minute shuffling. First I was going to drive my car and leave it at the station for three weeks, then I was going to drive B1's car to the station with the spare key and she was going to pick it up with her regular key and be without a spare for a month, and then I was to lock to spare key in the glovebox and she'd pick it up that evening... It was all quite a bit of stress, not least of which was that I wasn't sure I'd make the train. The train to Melbourne leaves twice a day - once in the morning, once in the evenin. The Melbourne train in the morning leaves at 7:40 and the suburban train I was catching would arrive at 7:25, which basically means I'd have to run straight on... In the end, I did manage to get hold of a latte and made it with a little time to spare.
We've left Melbourne, travelled the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, and caught the Ghan from Adelaide up to Alice Springs, and in to Darwin. Today is a single day in Darwin before we head for Bali - and arrive just past 12am. That'll be interesting.
Many, many photos.
( a selection from Melbourne )
But we'll backtrack a little.
This is me, sitting on the station at 6:15am, anxiously waiting for the train to Melbourne, having driven my sister's car to the station because my mother - who was supposed to drive me to the station to catch the train - didn't turn up. This is my mother, reknowned for being unable to sleep in, who actually managed to sleep in so soundly that it took my stepdad (whom I called because mum wasn't answering and that wasn't like mum) to shake her awake.
There was some last minute shuffling. First I was going to drive my car and leave it at the station for three weeks, then I was going to drive B1's car to the station with the spare key and she was going to pick it up with her regular key and be without a spare for a month, and then I was to lock to spare key in the glovebox and she'd pick it up that evening... It was all quite a bit of stress, not least of which was that I wasn't sure I'd make the train. The train to Melbourne leaves twice a day - once in the morning, once in the evenin. The Melbourne train in the morning leaves at 7:40 and the suburban train I was catching would arrive at 7:25, which basically means I'd have to run straight on... In the end, I did manage to get hold of a latte and made it with a little time to spare.
We've left Melbourne, travelled the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, and caught the Ghan from Adelaide up to Alice Springs, and in to Darwin. Today is a single day in Darwin before we head for Bali - and arrive just past 12am. That'll be interesting.
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In Melbourne tonight, have met my friend and we're chatting pretty well.
Caught the train down rather than fly, 12 hours travelling from door to door rather than 4 hours, but it was environmentally friendly and I've never done it before. Plus, it was interesting to watch the shift from the Sydney downpour to the light sprinkles in the southern highlands with attendant green shoots, to the dry, dry fields of the northern Victorian tablelands.
A few highlights of the trip:
Caught the train down rather than fly, 12 hours travelling from door to door rather than 4 hours, but it was environmentally friendly and I've never done it before. Plus, it was interesting to watch the shift from the Sydney downpour to the light sprinkles in the southern highlands with attendant green shoots, to the dry, dry fields of the northern Victorian tablelands.
A few highlights of the trip:
- chatted with the guy in the seat next to me, he's a physio from Adelaide getting off at Cootamundra to work at Temora Hospital. Some good discussion around jobs and careers, IT, health, socialism and government, privatisation, health services and all services
- the train down is pretty busy: people getting on and off at all stations, weirdly a few of the ones going through the melbourne seem to have been set on the aisle seat instead of at the window seat
- next guy in the seat got in the one behind, then was corrected and moved by the conductor. Made lots of hacking and coughing and snorting noises. Makes lots of grunting noises, too. Not a quiet travelling companion. And doesn’t respect the personal space of the armrest – I’m getting lots of elbows in the arm.
- apparently my travelling companion got interrogated by immigration because they were suspicious about her coming to travel with someone she’d never met before
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