Tag Archives: Australia

2011: To infinity and beyond? Maybe not quite yet.

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Thinking Man
This is how I feel right now, typing up this blog post!
Cartoon by Gisela Giardino

I was inspired by my running buddy, the photographer and entrepreneur Karen Strunks, who on New Year’s Day wrote her plan for the forthcoming 12 months covering everything from her work to her social life. And I really did like it, I think that it is a good way of doing things, much better than a New Year’s Resolution along the lines of “not biting your fingernails”.

A mutual friend, Jamie Summerfield, took inspiration from Karen and also devised a plan of where he wanted to be in 12 months time. He was reasonable in his planning and didn’t write saying that he wanted to be lying on a beach in the Caribbean drinking cocktails, though I’m sure he wouldn’t mind doing that at some point in his life!

What is fundamentally brilliant about both of these blogs is that the writers are realistic about what they want to achieve. They have set their sights high, but not unreasonably high. They also haven’t planned too little to achieve: goals and targets are set across the course of the year. I picture them as many little obstacle courses that we used to do as children at sports day with that goal and feeling of achievement at the end.

So what about my plan for 2011? Here goes…

Health
I really need to lose weight. I admit that and have admitted that for a good few years but have done sod all about it. Not this year. 2011 will not be about crash dieting or trying out the latest fads in dieting. Nor will it be about sitting in front of my laptop all day…wait…I’m doing that right now… Okay, not as much then. I want to lose weight and I want to do it sensibly. I’m not going to cut out alcohol, chocolate, crisps and Jaffa Cakes and never touch them ever again because I know that by doing it that way I will just crave them and my willpower is not that great, especially when it comes to Jaffa Cakes. I will monitor my consumption of these but also bring in more fruits and vegetables to my eating habits. I’m also trying to kick my Coca Cola habit by drinking double strength orange squash from Sainsburys like it’s going out of fashion.

I know that the quest for losing weight isn’t all about making changes to your diet, exercise is equally important too. I’ve enjoyed my runs around Swanshurst Park with Karen, where we’ve done a combination of power walking, jogging and I’ve occasionally stretched my legs further by actually running. I want to aim to go for an hour’s run about 3 times a week in the mornings, I’m up early enough, why not utilise that time? For solo runs I want to experiment by trying some different running related podcasts with music at different paced beats or just download an album full of dance music!

I’ve looked into various mass runs to act as my goals, while raising a bit of money for charity at the same time. I am very tempted by 5k runs such as Cancer Research’s Race For Life, which generally takes place around May/June, and adidas Women’s Challenge which tends to happen in September. Who knows I might try and go for the Birmingham Half Marathon in October!

University and Graduating

In little over 5 months time my dissertation will be handed in. A week after that my production project, which is going a blog covering the lighter and more humourous side of sport, will also be handed in. Not long at all. In fact it’s quite scary. From the week beginning January 24th, these will be my sole focuses. And I really want to do well in them. I openly admit that I am not first class honours material. But I will be happy with a 2.2, I will be over the moon if I manage to get a 2.1. This degree in Media and Communication has been one of the hardest things that I have ever done and I will be the happiest person around when I finish it.

But what will I do after that? There are two options:

The Teaching Route
In the autumn of 2010 I put in my application for Post-Graduate teaching courses through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry. I want to teach in secondary education in the subjects of English and Media. I had an interview with Leicester University, having had very little time to prepare for it. I didn’t get offered a place partly because my knowledge of classic novels wasn’t up to scratch. Apparently my knowledge of Jane Eyre through reading The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde isn’t as useful as reading actual Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë… But at least I’ve had the experience of the interviews now and what to expect, just got to wait to see if Exeter ask me for interview now. If not them then Canterbury Christchurch. Or Cumbria.

The Media Route
It was whilst out running with Karen yesterday that really put a focus on what I want to do if I don’t get onto a PGCE course. She told me to think about my dream job and to take some steps back and see what I need to do to get to that job. I’d love to work in sports media, I think everyone knows that, but I am also the sort who is willing to join an organisation and work their way up to that goal if it’s possible. I know that during my spare time I will be looking into different jobs and such like any other final year student, it’s just a case of getting onto that career level as soon as possible and even at whatever level possible.

I don’t know in what direction my career path will take me, or where in the world it will lead to (though I would love it to lead to Australia) and the thought of the unknown is scary, but I’m also excited by it.

Personal
2011 is the year that I’m going to drive. Mum’s given my brother and I an ultimatum to book lessons by the end of January or she won’t pay for them. I’ve had lessons before, even taken my practical test, but obviously I failed and haven’t sat behind the wheel since. That was 4 years ago this coming May. I’m currently looking into the merits of driving schools vs independent ones etc and I’ll probably book something by the end of the week.

I also need to trust my instinct more, I’m so indecisive at times I just need to go and say “I’m going to do this and not change my mind”. It might work out for the better or my instinct might be the wrong call, but it’s something to learn from.

I want to try acting classes. Not just because I fancy a go at it but because I hear it can be great for your confidence, which is something that I’ve had issues with for a while. I also really miss singing. For those who haven’t known me for long I used to sing in the CBSO Young Voices which is something that I really enjoyed. I miss the team work that you get with acting and singing and I guess I was stupid to stop singing in the first place…

Travel

How can you top spending 10 weeks travelling in Australia?

I’m not sure you can.

But what I do know is that I’ve been bitten by the travel bug big time. I do know that I really want to go back to Australia, perhaps permanently even, but I know that I don’t think I’ll be able to do that in 2011.

I’d love to go back to New York having spent all of 4 days there in 2008. We got a load packed in to that 4 days but I’d like 2 weeks to see it properly, do all the museums and stuff as well as see a show or two. Plus the time I’m thinking of would fit in nicely with the US Open tennis at Flushing Meadows.

If I can’t manage that then I’ll spend the whole summer teaching my American friend in Leicester, Brandy, all about cricket. She’ll be well versed in it when I’m done with her.

Oh and maybe a couple of day trips to the beach with the dogs. Just not Weston Super Mare.

So that’s it. My plan for 2011. And I’ll tell you all about its progress on here.

Australia: Sydney Part Two

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Wednesday 21st July
A wet day as Evie and I headed out to do the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium tours. As soon as we bought an umbrella the rain stopped, sod’s law or what? Still we had a nose around the food market nearby, treating ourselves to crepes.

Evie and I were the only ones on the SCG/SFS tour so we got to go to places that the usual tour groups wouldn’t go on, such as the away dressing room, where we saw the “Honours Cupboard”. It was started by Geoff Marsh who got a king pair when playing there for Western Australia but since then it’s been used to document all batting and bowling achievements by visiting sides with the player signing next to his name afterwards.

Part of the Honours Cupboard at the SCG
Part of the Honurs Cupboard. Photo by Me.

The home dressing room was good too, with our guide explaining that the windows were tinted so the players can look out but the members can’t look in. Evie showed off her cricket knowledge by pointing out the “Matthew Hayden Door” after he accidentally smashed the glass in the door with his bat when getting out playing for Australia.

There’s also a brilliant quote from Don Bradman in there which he wrote early on in his career.

Quote by Don Bradman
“If it’s difficult, I’ll do it now. If it’s impossible, I’ll do it presently”

The SCG pitch is a complete circle and is used for the Sydney Swans AFL matches during the winter and the New South Wales Blues’s games in the summer. They share ground as the cricketers played Aussie Rules Football to keep fit during the winter.

We were able to walk over to the statue of Yabba, who lives in the Victor Trumper Stand. The statues around the ground are really good, in fact the one of Richie Benaud is where he used to park his car, nice memento there!

Richie Benaud

When we walked over to the Sydney Football Stadium one of the first people we saw was Australia Rugby World Cup winning captain John Eales! I would have loved to have met him and had my photo taken with him but he was working on a corporate day with a company so we couldn’t. I was still extremely excited to have seen him though, I mean he’s a rugby legend!

That afternoon we went to Darling Harbour for lunch, going to the amazing and beautiful Chinese Gardens, where we were accompanied by a mother duck and her numerous ducklings as we ate. The thing about the Chinese Gardens is that even though it’s in the middle of a city it sounds really quiet, a bit like the canals around Brindleyplace in Birmingham.

The Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour

Afterwards we had a wander around Paddy’s Markets and Market City before doing a loop on the monorail, which cost $4.50. We got off a stop early though as we wanted to have a look at Darling Harbour before getting the ferry back to Circular Quay, going under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

That evening we stuck around Circular Quay as we hunted for somewhere to go and eat in The Rocks, which is one of the oldest parts of Sydney. We settled on The Australian Hotel where we each had a delicious pizza and I made Evie have a beer, she opted for the sweet tasting Beez Neez, while I had a Fat Yak, very nice.

Thursday 22nd July
Powerhouse day! Powerhouse is a museum round by Darling Harbour that specialises in art and design, very cool. They also had a special exhibit on the 1980s going on at the time, so Evie and I being 80s kids, just, we thought we’d have a look around.

One of my favourite parts was the Watt and Boulton Engine, which was originally from London. It was absolutely enormous and they’d got it working on the day we were there for the first time since February. It brought out the geek in me as not only because Watt and Boulton are Birmingham legends (Boulton was the name of one of the houses in my primary school’s house point system along with Chamberlain, Cadbury and Lucas) but also because I’d studied all about the developments in industry at the time of Watt and Boulton for my History GCSE.

We witnessed the chiming of the Strasburg Clock too, and I was amazed that the man who made it did so only from photos of the original clock.

There’s a good amount of experimental science activities such as making your own firework and working out which is the authentic lemon smell. I really enjoyed the transport and musical bits too, there’s a great collection of stuff.

We decided to do the 80s exhibit last, where I managed to beat Evie at Pacman! We both decided that it was nice to learn about the 80s retrospectively whereas a 90s exhibit would be one more of having actually experienced it. The music and TV areas were really good while we found the outfits hilarious. Towards the end there was also a section on how the 80s have influenced musical artists of now.

Friday 23rd July
Rugby day!

We took it easy in the morning, just going for brunch at City Extra on Circular Quay again. I was wearing my Leicester Tigers shirt, which got a few looks from some of the people walking past, a rugby tour from the Wirral noticed it too!

After the obligatory photos of Evie and I at the Sydney Opera House, which is such an amazing building, we walked over to the Harbour Bridge where we just chilled for a bit enjoying the view!

Me at Sydney Opera House

Later on we headed to the ANZ Stadium where we were going to watch the Bulldogs vs the Eels. It was a night of firsts: the first time I’d ever been to a rugby league match, the first time I’d seen some sport live at the ANZ and my first ever Aussie meatpie, which was delicious.

Being a union girl through and through I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the rugby league! I’d go and watch it again, definitely, but I wouldn’t actively seek it out, it’d just be an if I’m in the area where a game is being played sort of thing.

The Parramatta Eels won, which was who we were supporting, their fullback Jarryd Hayne is a brilliant player!

Saturday 24th July
Proper rugby day! Today we were going to see our first ever Shute Shield game: Sydney Uni vs Warringah.

The walk up to the university was really nice, the uni grounds are really pretty and we made our way to the ground in good time before the first grade match started. It was set to be a good match with it being 6th vs 7th and only the top 6 going through to the finals.

There were a few notable names playing for both sides, with Warringah sporting the likes of former Bath and England flanker Michael Lipman, ACT Brumbies fullback Pat McCabe and Evie’s favourite, the scrum half Josh Holmes. The home side had the likes of Julian Huxley – the former Brumbie who has successfully come back to playing at the top level after having a brain tumour, he’s also recently signed a contract with the new Super 15 side the Melbourne Rebels. Also in the line-up was Tim Davidson, who I recognised from his time playing for Leeds in the Guinness Premiership.

So much for a tight game, having got the try bonus point (which you get for scoring 4 or more tries) by half time, Sydney Uni won the game 49-12. It was a good game and fun to watch, sitting on the bank reminded me of being at Billesley Common watching Moseley play!

Sydney University Oval 1

That evening we went to see the band Kasabian play at Hordern Pavilion, which is just down the road from the SCG. Supporting them was Little Red, a band from Melbourne, who I really enjoyed. Kasabian were amazing, keeping the crowd engrossed throughout. We’d found a good spot at the front but to the side of the pit. They opened with Shoot the Runner and Underdog and closed with LSF – which the crowd kept singing as they headed out when the gig finished. It was one of those gigs that you really didn’t want to end.

Australia: Sydney Part One

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Sunday 18th July
Having been woken at 5am on the train we eventually arrived at Sydney Central Station at 7.30 quite sleepy still! But we managed to dump our bags at our lodgings for the week: Springfield Lodge, which is between Potts Point and Kings Cross, before heading to the train station to go and explore.

We got a couple of weekly MyMulti passes which would give us unlimited travel on the buses, trains and ferries in Zones 1 and 2, which was all we needed. They were $48 each which isn’t too bad with the amount of times we were going to use it, it paid itself off very quickly over the week.

Our first stop was at Circular Quay, where the first thing you see as you get off the train is the magnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge. It looks amazing on television, it’s even better when you’re actually there! We had breakfast at the City Extra Cafe where the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast seemed to wake me up just a bit! The pot of tea helped too.

The plan for the day was a quiet one, seeing as we had a long night of travelling and not very good sleep. We took the ferry over to Manly which was fun as you do get some of the best views of the harbour from it, cue many photos and everyone wanting to sit outside!

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

Manly Beach is gorgeous, it really is, and it was quite busy for a Sunday. There was an equal mix of surfers and beach dwellers, Evie and I falling into the latter category. We had a wander down the beach before looking through the craft market that they had on before lunching at Ocean Foods, which apparently is a Manly institution!

Monday 19th July
Today we went to the ANZ Stadium, or the Olympic Stadium, or the place where England won the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final. I like to refer to it as the last one, but it gets me a glare and sometimes a slap from Evie. We did the tour of the ground, accompanied by some New Zealanders and some Canadians, a very Commonwealth feel to it!

One thing that I really like about the ANZ is how adaptable the stadium is for the sports that it hosts. They can move both of the stands at the side closer in for rugby and football matches and then move them out for if the ground is hosting cricket or Aussie Rules Football, taking away and replacing the grass very easily, you’d never have thought they had moved!

The rugby posts were out so it was great to think back to certain events in November 2003, the tour guide pointed out the posts in question that Mr Wilkinson slotted that drop goal through, making me grin like the Cheshire Cat and Evie frown as she was there on that night.

The ANZ Stadium, Sydney

At pitch level they had one of the medal podiums from the 2000 Sydney Olympics so the obligatory cheesy snaps of us on the gold medal spots were taken! We also found out that the actor Russell Crowe had changing rooms made just for his NRL team the Rabbitohs, the other numerous home teams that play matches at the ANZ just have to make do with sharing the other home changing room, not at the same time though!

After the tour we decided to book tickets to see some action at the ANZ, in the form of the Canterbury Bulldogs vs the Parramatta Eels in the NRL. It would be my first ever rugby league match seen live, and not the last one on my trip!

Later that evening after a lovely meal at the Fountain Cafe we raided the English shop that we’d seen earlier for sweet treats, with me buying a can of Vimto, a bag of Quavers, some Refreshers and Bournville chocolate. Evie bought some Revels, which she had only started craving after Bill Bailey mentioned them in his gig in Brisbane!

Tuesday 20th July
We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo…

Yes Tuesday was all about going to the world famous Taronga Zoo, which you have to take the ferry to get to. You then have the option of going up to the top of the zoo by cable car or working your way around the zoo by foot from the bottom of it. We went for the cable car option. It cost $30 with my ISIC Card (well worth getting by the way).

We saw loads of animals (duh because it’s a zoo) including some very cute Tasmanian Devils. They’re cute but they look really strange, they were fun and playful anyway. In the night time area we played a game of “Spot the Possum” as well as there being a very inquisitive Quoll, it kept following us when we walked past its area!

Tasmanian Devil at Taronga Zoo

When seeing the Wallabies, Kangaroos and Quokkas (which are fat little marsupials) it was a very open area, so open that an Emu walked behind me which spooked me a little!

We managed to catch the end of the elephant show after lunch where we saw the legend that is Mr Shuffles, the baby Elephant at Taronga, he even has his own Twitter account which is very amusing: @mistershuffles. There’s going to be a new baby calf due in November though, very exciting!

Mr Shuffles the Elephant

A lesson on seals happened later as we went to the seal show, where the keepers and seals were informing us about the differences between a sealion and a seal as well as displaying lots of tricks and conservation information.

I loved the Meerkats and the Mountain Sheep/Goat (I can’t remember!), one of the Meerkats was sunning itself against the heater for the whole time we were watching it, while the Mountain Sheep/Goat was very inquisitive as it kept following the birds about!

Meerkat enjoying the warm!

There was also a very strange mammal that smelled of popcorn, it’s called a Bintarong.

A great day was had by both of us, we spent ages at the zoo and we kept going back to our favourite bits: the red pandas in Evie’s case and the Tassie Devils for me!

Australia: Gold Coast, Strawberry Ice Cream and Ripley’s

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From 12th-14th July, Evie, Tarsh and I spent three days in the Gold Coast, which is about an hour’s drive south from Brisbane.

On our way down we stopped by The Strawberry Farm in Pimpama for one of its legendary strawberry ice creams. Now I’m more a chocolate girl but this strawberry ice cream is the best that I’ve ever had, yes even better than at Henley Ice Cream, which is somewhere that I rave about to anyone spending time in Warwickshire! The ice cream had actual strawberry bits in it, which is always good, and you also get whipped cream and fresh strawberries with – bonus!

Strawberry Ice Cream from Pimpama The legendary ice cream. Photo taken by me.

The place we stayed at in the Gold Coast was The Moroccan which gifted us this wonderful view:

View from our balconyThe view of the beach from our balcony. Photo taken by me.

That night we went out to a favourite restaurant of Evie and Tarsh’s called Mario’s, which was just a short drive from where we were staying. The food was absolutely delicious as was the atmosphere in the restaurant. We had a laugh with our waiter, Rob, who originally hailed from Essex. My favourite bit was the dessert/pudding: profiteroles with Cointreau cream – something I know Mum would really love!

The next morning was an early start as we went out to spend the day at Dreamworld which is this great themepark in the Gold Coast famed for its “Big Six” Thrill Rides. Tarsh, Evie and I did four of them: The Giant Drop, Tower of Terror, The Claw and Wipeout. We did the Tower of Terror and The Claw more than once as they were out favourites. I have no idea why but The Claw kept making Tarsh and I giggle, much to the amusement of Evie who was sat between us when we went on it!

As we were tired after Dreamworld we didn’t go far for dinner, just to the Coffee Club (yes, there again), where I had a lovely rump steak for $10, can’t complain about that!

The following day was decided as Sports Day, where the three of us would take part in three events: Tenpin bowling with the bumpers up, tenpin bowling without bumpers and mini golf.

So the results were:
Tenpin with bumpers
1. Tarsh
2. Evie
3. Me

Tenpin without bumpers
1. Tarsh
2. Me
3. Evie

Mini Golf
1. Evie
2. Tarsh
3. Me

So yeah, I didn’t do overly well. Am still shocked that I managed to do better without bumpers than with though!

We ended our time in the Gold Coast with a lovely meal at the Hard Rock Cafe where we all left feeling extremely full and with souvenir glasses from our cock/mocktails. We walked it off in the Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Museum which was full of weird and wonderful things like ancient implements of torture, the process behind creating a shrunken head and loads more. It was really interesting the things that had been collected and I especially liked the collection of really small things, especially the violin.

On our way back up to Brisbane we couldn’t help but stop off at The Strawberry Farm again, it was too good not to!

And so to the end of the first part of my Brisbane adventure, as I’ll be up again later this month visiting family.

Next stop in the blog series is Byron Bay (as I’m catching up big time on all of my notes!)

Australia: Brisbane, State of Origin and Tim Tam Cocktails

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On Monday 5th July, Evie and I headed for Brisbane, which is only a 90 minute flight from Townsville, managed to get through a couple of magazines in that time!

We were staying with Evie’s best friend, Tarsh, but first we had to go and meet her at her work – Allan Border Field, as she works for Queensland Cricket. The first person we saw when we got there was the former Warwickshire wicket-keeper batsman Trevor Penney, who’s recently taken over as the Queensland Bulls assistant coach.

Due to the travelling we had a lazy evening, sat on the bed watching Good News Week and eating spring rolls from Red Rock, which is a takeaway noodles restaurant, very nice.

Tuesday brought about my first introduction to the City Cat, which is the ferry that goes along Brisbane River, as Evie and I went to explore the centre of Brisbane. The ferry cost $7.80 for a day ticket; once again there was no student discount, only for Queensland students.

Having got off at North Quay we went straight for Queen Street Mall, where I learned that in Brisbane city centre the vertical streets on the map are named after English queens and the horizontal ones after English kings, very handy!

I was introduced to one of Evie’s favourite fast food places: Oporto, which sells mostly chicken burgers and nuggets and so on. It was very nice, not too keen on the chips though, they tasted quite sweet, strange.

In preparation for Wednesday’s final game of this year’s State of Origin series, which is a 3 match rugby league series contested between Queensland and New South Wales, Evie and I bought Queensland shirts for $99 each. They wear maroon, which is a lot nicer than the light blue that New South Wales wear!

We also went to the South Bank, which reminded me a lot of London’s South Bank. It’s a lot quieter and prettier than the North Quay with a nice array of shops, restaurants and greenery. They have a big wheel too, like the London Eye, only it moves a lot faster!

After having a lovely crepe at the Crepe Café we proceeded to use our ferry tickets to good effect, taking a tour on the City Cat down the Brisbane River before settling down in the evening to watch the new DVD from the Scottish comedian, Danny Bhoy, who I hadn’t heard of until I came here! He was brilliant though, we watched both of his DVDs during my time in Brisbane.

Wednesday was State of Origin day so after a relaxing day the three of us in our maroon jerseys headed out to The Caxton Hotel to watch the game. The bar had Bulmers on tap, which made Evie and me very happy as we hadn’t had cider yet on our trip! Pre-match the television screens showed an old Bledisloe Cup game from 2000, getting me all excited for our trip to Melbourne, where we will be watching the first BC game of the year. It was a bit of a nostalgia trip watching the likes of George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and John Eales (more on him in Sydney) playing for Australia and Christian Cullen, Andrew Mehrtens and Justin Marshall playing for the All Blacks.

Tarsh, myself and Evie watching the Origin L-R: Tarsh, me and Evie at The Caxton Hotel. Photo taken by The Caxton Hotel.

Having watched the second match of the Origin series at home with my Queensland supporting relatives David and Claire, I had already known that Queensland had won the series 2-0 but this one was to seal the whitewash over New South Wales. It was also the 5th year in a row that the men in maroon had won the series! Oh and it’s also prone to a few fights in the games – always good!

I found the game confusing at first as I am more used to watching rugby union but I found it enjoyable, especially with the atmosphere in the bar and the final score line, which was 23-18 to Queensland, thus sealing that white wash! And then came the cheesy celebration music, starting with We Are the Champions by Queen then Simply the Best by Tina Turner.

We stopped by Windmill Pizza on the way back for a snack, which was very nice, who knew that BBQ Sauce would work on a pizza? Then we detoured to the Suncorp Stadium where we posed for photos with the statue of King Wally, aka Wally Lewis, who is a Queensland rugby league legend. It was the perfect end to the sporting evening.

Due to the Origin the night before we had a late start on Thursday, deciding on a spot of retail therapy followed by the cinema. We went shopping at a factory outlet place called DFO where I managed to pick up a couple of pairs of jeans from Jeans West for $90. That and we went to the Coffee Club (continuing my tour of them) for afternoon tea, I had a really nice lemon meringue!

Later on we went to see the film Eclipse, which is the third film in the famed Twilight series. I had read the books, and not been keen on them, but the film wasn’t too bad, I just still don’t like the character Edward! I really liked the character of Jasper though, played by Jackson Rathbone, I thought he was excellent in it.

With Tarsh having turned 25 recently we went out to the restaurant Aqua Linea to celebrate, with all three of us trying one of the cocktails that they had called a Tim Tam, which is a well known brand of chocolate biscuit here in Australia. Consisting of Tia maria, Kahlua, Baileys, cream and chocolate, it was absolutely gorgeous! The food was really good too, definitely worth going to!

Saturday brought about our last chance to watch the Australia A boys in the deciding ODI against Sri Lanka A at the Allan Border Field. With Sri Lanka A having won the first game and the second one being tied, this one was essential for the Aussies to win. Which they didn’t unfortunately, but it was close and an excellent game!

Inbetween innings at the cricket we took the short trip to the famous Breakfast Creek Hotel where we had possibly the best steak that I’ve ever had. It was done perfectly and just tasted amazing. I want to go back there!

On Saturday evening we went to see the genius that is Bill Bailey perform at the QPAC on Brisbane’s South Bank. Needless to say that he was hilarious, he’s a comedian, duh. I won’t go into the details about it but I just love the way that he links his jokes throughout the show into a video montage at the end, it wouldn’t make sense if you’d seen it first! And now I can’t listen to Cars by Gary Numan, Goodbye My Lover by James Blunt or Hallelujah without giggling…

Sunday and our last full day in Brisbane before going to the Gold Coast for a few days. We spent it on the South Bank where we had a wander around the craft markets, eating Churros, before going to The Plough Inn for some lunch and a catch up with one of my friends from Brisbane, Hayley. It was on another look around the markets after lunch where we were looking at some cartoons of animals and I mistook a possum for an upside down cat! Bearing in mind that I hadn’t seen a possum and it really did look like a cat that was upside down…

I also tried Cold Rock Ice Cream for the first time. What you do is that you choose a flavour of ice cream from the ones available and then pick a couple of fillings to be added to it, which they do on a cold rock, hence the name Cold Rock. Evie had been raving about it for ages and she was right, it was delicious! Just a shame they don’t have one in Canberra…

So from Brisbane we then headed to the Gold Coast on Monday, which is where my next blog post will be about…

Australia: Townsville, Magnetic Island and Koalas

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On 2nd July Evie and I left a cold and frosty Canberra early in the morning to get our flight to the a lot warmer Townsville, which is the unofficial capital of North Queensland. We flew with Virgin Blue, the domestic branch of the V Australia airlines, as I took advantage of their Virgin Airpass, which is a system exclusively for those who don’t live in Australia.

You have to book a minimum of three flights, the maximum is eight, and you’ll get the flights at the cheapest rates. Plus you can change the dates and times of your flights online up to 24 hours before that flight is due to depart. You might get charged for changing your flights but only if the new one that you pick is more expensive then you will have to pay the difference. We had to change our flights to Brisbane as we were getting there earlier and I only had to pay $40 to make up the difference, which is about £20.

So we arrived early afternoon to temperatures of about 20 degrees and despite it being overcast it felt just right for me! Evie and I stayed at the Reef Lodge Backpackers, sharing a twin bedroom with a TV for $60 a night, which worked out at $30 each per night shared so I was impressed that I was only paying £15 for each night! As we were due to stay there for a week we got one night for free. It was a really nice hostel; it gives you the feel of kind of being in a rainforest: there are lots of plants and trees around to add to the atmosphere.

We then made our way to the Tony Ireland Stadium which is a $30 taxi fare from where we were staying, to watch the first Twenty20 match between Australia A and Sri Lanka A, which Australia A won! See, there had to be cricket somewhere in this trip…

On Saturday morning we had decided to get the ferry over to Magnetic Island (which is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park) to spend the day there, it was something that both Evie and I had on our lists of things we wanted to do and it was a nice day to do it, especially as we had cut our trip short in Townsville to get to Brisbane early.

We had breakfast at a lovely restaurant that was about 10 minutes from our hostel. It was called The Balcony Restaurant and the food was so nice that we went there the following morning as well! Having already started to miss home comforts such as HP Sauce, I was over the moon to find out that the restaurant had some!

As our ferry wasn’t due for a while we took a walk along The Strand, which includes a man made beach. It was there that I saw my first Ibis, which apparently is a common bird in these parts. They look quite creepy at first look and they’re fairly big too, but the ones that we saw, and we saw many, were pretty docile. The seagulls on the other hand were tiny compared to the ones we get back at home!

We went over to Magnetic Island using a company called Sunferries. It cost me $29 for a return as they only accepted Australian Student Cards, unlike the bus service who accepted my ISIC card so my day ticket for that was only $3.30. We had looked into doing a guided tour but then found out that it was $40! I definitely recommend the cheaper route, it gives you a chance to do things your way.

Our first stop was at the end of the bus route at Horseshoe Bay. It took around 15 minutes to get there on the bus, would take a bit longer walking as part of the route is quite hilly. I loved Horseshoe Bay. It’s so picturesque and I could have spent the whole day just there, and I definitely want to go back. We took a walk along the beach, where the sea was nice and warm, picking up broken off bits of coral that had hardened and shells and such. On our walk back towards the town area I saw a ray in the sea! I know it wasn’t a manta ray as they’re huge but it could have been a stingray, I’m not sure.

Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic IslandHorseshoe Bay. Photo taken by me.

We had lunch at a place called The Marlin Bar, where I had some crumbed (breaded) scallops with chips for $6 – knowing how expensive scallops are back in England I just had to have them. I was also introduced to Australian “champagne”, which was really nice, especially the Rosemount O as it was quite fruity and not too dry. We saved by getting piccottos (small bottles) at $6.50 each.

After getting some postcards and stamps, we made the short walk up to Bungalow Bay Koala Village, which is not only YHA (Youth Hostel Association) accomodation but it also has a wildlife park on site that you can do tours of. We also saw a Kookaburra on our way up, hearing it first before seeing it as they’re quite small! At the Koala Village we registered for the tour and opted to have a photo with a koala, which cost $31 altogether. The koala was called Barney, and we were told to pretend that we were trees, and also that he was fond of grabbing breasts, which we soon found out! We were also lucky enough to see a female koala that had recently given birth, so it was still in its pouch.

It was a really interesting tour, a very hands-on one too, as we got to hold a wide variety of animals. One of the most challenging animals for me was the Black Cockatoo, who would take a sunflower seed from you if you put it between your lips! Now I’m not keen on birds at all but I managed to do it, after all, when are you going to get the chance to do something like that again? We also held various lizards, from a Blue Tongue to a Shingle Back and a Bearded Dragon. We saw an Echidna too but it was being too shy to come out fully.

Onto the bigger lizards and we were able to hold a little crocodile. I say little, it was about a foot and a half long! I also held a huge python, where we were told to keep our palms flat at all times. Evie held a yellow bellied tree snake which was a lot smaller than the python!

One animal that wasn’t part of the tour but we saw anyway was a very inquisitive Rock Wallaby, which was really cute! Needless to say in my rugby loving brain it received the name Rocky, after the Wallabies (Australia Rugby Union team) captain Rocky Elsom. Since then we’ve named any wallaby we’ve seen after past and present players!

I know I’m on holiday and it’s about trying new things but one section of the tour that I couldn’t do, that was thankfully at the end, was the butterflies and birds sections. When the tour guide mentioned that there was a part on butterflies I went into a slight panic attack as I have quite a bad phobia of them, especially when there’s lots of them in close proximity to me! The same goes with birds, they’re okay when they’re far away from me but when there’s lots of them flying around me then I just panic, which is why holding the Black Cockatoo was such an achievement for me.

With the excitement and business of Saturday, we decided to have a lazy day on Sunday back at the Tony Ireland Stadium watching the first 50 over match between Australia A and Sri Lanka A. With our student discounts it only cost $2 to get in! That’s £1 to go to the cricket! Despite Australia A losing their game, there was still much hilarity that amused Evie and I from the music to the players.

Monday was our last day in Townsville and we spent the morning after our Coffee Club breakfast (this trip is going to end up having a subtitle of: A tour of the Coffee Club chain) exploring the two main museums that they have: Reef HQ and the Museum of Tropical Queensland.

They were both really interesting, we learned a lot about the Great Barrier Reef and its inhabitants at Reef HQ, where Evie and I were on a hunt for Nemo and Dory from the film Finding Nemo – we found both, along with many other weird and wonderful fish. My favourite bit, in honour of my brother, was the sharks. We saw dogfish, reef sharks, nurse sharks, it was pretty cool.

At the Museum of Tropical Queensland there was a big exhibition of the wreckage found at the Pandora, which was a ship sent to find the Bounty, which then ended up sinking in North Queensland. A lot of what they preserved was still in a fairly good state and it was interesting to watch video footage of them x-raying rocks that they had brought up to find out what was in them. They also had exhibits on dinosaurs found in the area, very cool, along with a science bit that reminded me of places like Thinktank and the Science Museum as there was lots to try and play with.

I enjoyed my stay in Townsville. Having been unsure of it at first when first arriving, once I got settled it was all very interesting. The highlight of it for me would have to be Magnetic Island, I would love to spend a bit more time there just exploring and relaxing, we didn’t see much of the small island and I think it would definitely be worth a few days just there.

Australia: History, Sport and Toy Story 3

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On Tuesday I had a history lesson, two of them in fact. First there was the history of Australia, as we went out to the National Museum of Australia, which is by the lake. It’s a pretty amazing looking building, very funky!

We had a look around all the parts of the museum, from the animals, where there was a taxidermied kangaroo and other animals like a platypus. There was an interactive map of the growth of certain animals that had been introduced to the country. The rabbit one was alarming but I’m not surprised, given the term “at it like rabbits”. We were also quizzed on what is the highest point in Australia, my friend, Evie, said it was Mount Kosciuszko but it’s actually a point called Big Ben which is on Heard Island. Every day really is a school day!

I found the history of the Aborigines the most interesting part of it, bits about their culture and their struggle for acceptance in the modern society were really eye opening, especially as it all happened relatively recently with the apology and the protests and so on. It was really emotive stuff, finding out all about it. I also had no idea that the cricketer Jason Gillespie was of Aborigine descent!

They had a display about cricket, with various bits of memerobilia, including a pair of Rod Marsh’s wicketkeeping gloves – another pair of his is at the Australian Institute of Sport, they get around! Evie and I had a giggle at the knitted egg cosies, they looked so silly!

After the museum it was time for the history of Canberra, so we went to Regatta Point. A smaller but very informative exhibit, with lots of interactive bits and bobs, it was really interesting to find out about how the location for Canberra, the city’s design and its name were decided. They had suggestions of what Canberra could have been called, ones like Empire City and New London really amused me, but the area suits being called Canberra, I reckon.

I really like how Canberra isn’t like most other cities that I’ve been to. I really like the mix of the trees and almost country-esque setting combining with what would make a stereotypical city with the big buildings and so on. Plus Lake Burley-Griffin is amazing, Evie and I are going to hire some bikes towards the end of my trip and cycle round some of it. I like how the Governmental building are organised in a triangle, it’s easy to remember!

Yesterday afternoon we went over to the Australian Institute of Sport to do the tour there. They have some stunning statues outside the building, one of a gymnast and one of a wheel chair basketball player. Both of these were at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and were then moved to Canberra. Our tour guide was a very tall volleyball player called Jasper, who was only about 20! The students at the AIS can work in the shop, on the reception and on tours to earn a bit of extra money in their time there. Previous alumni includes Glenn McGrath and John Eales.

The first part of the tour was a fun part where we were able to have a look at some memerobilia and have a go at some of the sports there. In the cricketing section there was another pair of Rod Marsh’s gloves – I told you they get around, Dennis Lillee’s aluminium bat and some Don Bradman stuff. There was also an Australia rugby union shirt signed by the 2007 World Cup squad – cue a bit of teasing from me on how well Australia did at that tournament…

Evie and I had a go at an interactive throwing the cricket ball at the stumps – I was useless, Evie wasn’t: the cycling – which I was good at, and the basketball/wheelchair basketball – I was useless, Evie wasn’t. The basketball proved why I always play in defence!

The rest of the tour was good, from the gymnastics hall being split in half – the guys on the right hand side, the girls on the left. The gym was HUGE and really warm, while the swimming pools were just completely state of the art, way better than what we have back at home! No wonder the Aussies are so good at the Olympics…

Evie and I decided to brunch this morning. We went to Kingston Grind, which is apparently really tough to get a table at and their coffee has had good reviews (not that I’d be drinking it as I can’t stand the stuff). We each had a big breakfast: sausage, Turkish bread toasted (we don’t have this back in England but it’s very nice), bacon, tomato, mushroom and eggs. It was so filling but I did miss having baked beans and brown sauce with it – you really can’t take the girl out of England! Oh and instead of coffee I had a lovely chocolate milkshake.

After brunch we got the bus into Civic where I had to cash some Traveler’s Cheques ahead of our trip which takes in Townsville, Brisbane, Byron Bay and Sydney, that killed some time ahead of our cinema trip to see Toy Story 3 in 3D. I wasn’t warned when buying popcorn that Aussies do not do sweet popcorn, just salted. The film was absolutely fantastic! I laughed, I cried, there were jokes old and new and it was such a good story line. In fact most of the audience was made up of people in their early 20s – we’ve been waiting 11 years for the film to come out! I’ll have to go and see it again definitely, it should still be running by the time I get back to England – it’s sad that most of you won’t get to see it at the cinema until the end of July!

I saw a nice piece of art, well I say art, it’s just a canvas with some of the places in Australia done prettily in the shop Typo for $40. I really want it, I think it’d look good in my room, it would just be a bugger to ship home! Will see if it’s there and possibly cheaper towards the end of my trip, then I might buy it…

Tomorrow Evie and I are off to Townsville in North Queensland to start a mini tour of the East Coast, taking in Brisbane, Byron Bay and Sydney as well.

It’ll be great to have some warmer weather!

Australia: Flights, Lost Luggage, Jet Lag and Canberra

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I am here in Canberra! For those who don’t know it’s the capital of Australia and where my friend Evie lives! I’ll be staying here for the majority of my trip with her and her family.

Flights and Lost Luggage

But back we go to Thursday and leaving Heathrow, Terminal Four. I was flying out with Malaysia Airlines as not only were they cheap but I had heard good recommendations about them. The flights were so-so, I guess. The first one, the 12 hour one to Kuala Lumpur was horrible, I had a beef and carrot meal that really did not agree with me and I struggled to sleep on that leg, not nice at all.

The 5 hour stop over at Kuala Lumpur really dragged, I managed to get a shower at the Airside Transit Hotel though, which I really needed, it only cost 20 Ringget too, well worth it, not only because the long flights really dehydrate you but it allows you to freshen up too. I grabbed a Burger King meal too to get the horrible taste of the airline meal out of my mouth and had a wander around the terminal, it was so humid, even inside the building!

The second flight, the 8 hour one to Sydney was a bit better, I managed to sleep for about 5 hours of it which was good. Unfortunately the air hostess woke me up while I was in a deep sleep asking me if I wanted something to eat…

Having landed about 20 minutes early I made it through immigration only to find out that mine and a few others’s bags had not even got on the plane at Heathrow. So we had to fill in these forms and they’d get in touch when they had any news.

I met up with Evie, Alex and Alice in floods of tears and we drove to this shopping centre in an area beginning with “Rock” where I bought some PJs and stuff from Big W (which is like Walmart, I guess), putting it on the credit card which Mum and Dad said was for emergencies, and this definitely was one! Evie and I were then dropped off back at the airport where we had loads of time to kill before our coach to Canberra. We checked in at the baggage reclaim where they said that Malaysian Airlines were going to put our baggage on their next flight. They would then give one of us a call about delivering it to me.

Jet Lag!!!

I never feel travel sick but I did on the coach to Canberra, it was a 3 hour journey and I ended up sitting at the front with a bottle of water and my super cheap World Cup pillow because I felt that crap. I did get a phone call from Malaysian Airlines though who gave me a reference number and contact number and said they would call me tomorrow about my bag. I don’t even remember falling asleep for about half an hour towards the end of the journey! I was woken up towards the end and chatted to the girl sat next to me, a philosophy grad student from Ohio called Melissa who was returning to Canberra after seeing her boyfriend in Sydney.

I was feeling okay by the time I got to Evie’s so I settled down, and met her parents and brother before watching the New Zealand v Wales rugby match – it was really strange watching it in the evening, I’m used to waking up first thing in the morning for it! We had a lovely home made Italian dinner, it beat me, I admit, I couldn’t finish it but it was very tasty. I watched the first half of the Australia v Ireland game before going to bed to crash, but it was only an hour’s kip so I got up and channel surfed and opened some Australia related presents that Evie bought me.

She got me some Canberra postcards (with international postage paid for), a soft toy wombat, who has the name Wally because I’m so original like that, an Aussie flag and temporary tattoos, a keyring with a koala on it and a couple of books: two copies of a picture book about Canberra, one for me, one for a gift for family (who wants it?), and a signed copy of The Complete Matthew Hayden Cookbook – the recipes look gorgeous in it, I can’t wait to try them!

Sunday: Canberra and Kangaroos
Having gone to bed at midnight on Sunday, I woke up at 9am feeling extremely refreshed! I also found out that my luggage was going to be dropped off between 2 and 6! Some Marmite on toast – it’s different to at home and it’s not Vegemite which is always good – and we headed into the centre of Canberra to the Civic Shopping Centre for some browsing and sales shopping as it’s the end of Australia’s financial year so there are lots of sales on.

We had a nice lunch at The Coffee Club before heading for a drive around Canberra. I love how green it is, it’s full of trees, reminds me of home and being in Moseley Bog. Some of the buildings were made in the 60s and 70s and they look strange, like the Central Library in Birmingham, but they seem to work in Canberra…

We went up to the Red Hill Lookout where you get a really good view of Canberra, you can see pretty much all of it from up there. We managed to see some wild Kangaroos too, about 5 of them!

Little did I know that I’d be having it for dinner later!

Oh and my luggage arrived, so relieved!

One BIG Adventure: Itinerary

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It was about 2 months ago that I mentioned that I’m going to be spending this summer in Australia. A lot has happened since then planning wise, as I now have a rough itinerary!

Map of Australia
Image courtesy of Flickr user Marxchivist.

So here goes:

24th June: Fly out of Heathrow

26th June: Arrive at Sydney (after a stopover in Kuala Lumpur) at 8.00 to be greeted by my friends Evie, Alex and Alice. Go to Canberra with Evie.

27th June-1st July: Acclimatising, getting over jetlag, doing stuff, shouting at the football at about 4am as it will be the knock out stages of the Football World Cup

2nd-9th July: Fly to Townsville with Evie for a bit of Australia A (cricket) action, catching the sun as it will still be nice and warm up in Queensland and some touristy bits.

10th July-14th July: Go to Brisbane for a little more Australia A action, catching up with Evie’s friends, some more touristy bits. If England make the World Cup Final (it won’t happen but stranger things have happened) then I will have to watch that. Also planned is a trip to the Gold Coast!

15th July-17th July: Go to Byron Bay, leave on the 17th getting the overnight train to Sydney.

18th July-25th July: Sydney! Much planned like the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, getting the ferry to Manly, going to the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground) and the Olympic Stadium (where Jonny Wilkinson kicked THAT drop goal in November 2003). Going to see Kasabian on 24th July.

25th July-29th July: Back to Canberra, few days of resting after our epic East Coast trip!

30th July-1st Aug: Evie and I embark on one of our legendary rugby weekends in Melbourne consisting of plenty of banter, lots of red wine, and the small matter of Australia v New Zealand – *bounces excitedly about going to a Bledisloe Cup match* Oh and the tour that we’re going on gets us a free Wallabies shirt each (I didn’t say I was going to wear it) and the chance to meet the players – for my 18th Birthday Evie got a load of the players to sign my birthday card, best birthday card EVER.

1st Aug-7th Aug: I’m actually going to go backpacker-style for this. Following my friend Larina’s great time in Melbourne by hostelling recently I’ve decided that I want to hostel too! I have YHA (Youth Hostel Association) Membership so I can get a discount at the Melbourne Metro hostel ($182 for the time I’m there compared to $203 without the membership), or there’s the NOMADs option which Larina went for which has more Brits and costs $210 for my duration.

8th-14th Aug: Fly to Brisbane to spend some time with my Dad’s cousin, David, and his wife, Claire. Only his parents have been over to see them previously so this is a first for the family having someone else come over!

15th Aug: Fly back to Canberra

18th Aug: My birthday! Doing stuff with Evie then.

19th Aug-2nd Sept: I don’t have much planned for then, was planning on sticking close to Canberra and Sydney but if anyone else has any bright ideas for something I could do in that time then comment on the post!

3rd Sept: Fly home from Sydney

4th Sept: Arrive at Heathrow (after another stopover at Kuala Lumpur) fairly early in the morning

One BIG Adventure

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It’s about time I blogged about the event that I haven’t stopped thinking about since I booked my flights nearly two months ago! That and I’ve been asked by people “Why haven’t you blogged about your trip yet?” My one big adventure is an adventure down under this summer.

Yes, I’m going to Australia.

View of Sydney
Photo taken by Michael McDonough.

Now usually my summer is spent obsessing over cricket (some might say that I do this all year) and spending long lukewarm days at Edgbaston watching my beloved Warwickshire don their whites/pyjamas. It’s also spent contemplating life and drinking Pimms and cider (but not together) as I dog sit as my parents and brother have usually gone away to Spain.

But not this year. This year I have decided to make a very very big dent in my savings to splurge on this trip. I could have done it last year, but I chose not to. I decided to do it this year as it will be the summer between my second and third year at university and therefore a good relaxing break before the stress and chaos of the production project, dissertation, and applying for jobs and PGCE courses. It made sense to me at the time.

So from 24th June to 3rd September I will be exploring the East Coast of Australia, taking in the likes of Sydney, Canberra, Townsville, Brisbane and Melbourne. I’m not backpacking, I’m making my base at my friend Evie’s house in Canberra and travelling from there, saves lugging everything around with me.

I was going to create a whole new blog for my adventure but having bought my shiny new domain, I felt that it should go here, after all, I’ve created a new category where all of my Australia related posts will go.

I want to use my blog for the purposes of my planning thoughts and progression, my research for places to go and see, and then the actual holiday itself.

I seriously cannot wait for 24th June to come along.

It’s going to be one great holiday.