Bombay and Beaches

So, eventually another blog, no excuses, just couldn't be arsed to sit in some dark room when the sun shines and the beers are calling. To also be honest I found this difficult to get excited about writing, its a tour of the SW Indian coast back to Sri Lanka then the scheduled hop to Thailand to re-visit old places / people and mainly to meet up with Taff and Lin plus Mark, Georgie, Bob and Mandy to celebrate Taff's 49th and their 25th wedding anniversary in Ko Samui. Beaches are beaches at the end of the day!
Then when I sit here I do it a disservice: fabulous beaches, newly opened post-war Sri Lankan east coast and then the guys of course. All mixed with the pains of travel and dry states in India, still apprehension in NE SL and diving and drinking in Thailand! So, I'll do this chronologically for a change:

Mumbai:
The only city in this chapter - and what a place! Full of more contradictions, history and today - colonial / anti-colonial, art deco mansions and skyscrapers, shanty towns and beaches but above all for me Mahatma Ghandi's base. What a man, lawyer/ philosopher / leader / peaceful revolutionary in India, South Africa (deported) and Britain. Visiting his old house is an eye-opener on his life and works, shame about the cheesy pastiches of his life.

SW Coast:

Bus and train trips all the way back down the west coast to fly back to SL through 4 states, all different:

• Maharastra - deserted beaches but Robinson Crusoe-style, no tourists, no infrastructure, no beer! Great for a day or two, move on;
• Goa - like another country! Just cross a river and there are Moorish cathedrals, shrines and bars / restaurants, and a thriving illegal booze smuggling trade with other states who tax it to the heavens. So small after the other states too, easy trips between sites. Portuguese until 1960's and fully western: still some old hippies but many old 60's hangouts are now either package tourist towns full of Russians and Brit winter escapees or backpacker beaches but all different styles, cultures, nightlife with a Portuguese twist in the inland towns, and still a few almost (always a bar) deserted beaches if you look hard enough! And cheap! Recommended by DUM's very lonely planet, but go soon the Russians are coming.
• Karnataka - a flying rail trip through, as stopped many times on way up. Again huge beaches in the north with little infrastructure but as Goa keeps being packaged, many independent travellers are starting to migrate south. Doesn't have the western "culture", few hotels and DIY nightlife. Then, like Kerala, you have the historic ports and waterways and hill stations if you're not a beachie, so take your pick!
• Kerala - as above with a couple of exceptions: Varkalla, for instance, an old established clifftop beach resort. But summed up India for me, I couldn't take a decent photo without streams of rubbish covering the cliff sides opposite each restaurant or shop area. Someone Else's Problem. Bye India.

Sri Lanka:

From Colombo up to the newly opened NE coast following the 30-year civil war. 8 hours on the train to Trincomalee, supposed to be a beach gem around there. It was still pretty much closed, the beaches deserted, hotels closed or still burnt out, army and navy patrols. Talking to the locals was easy but don't mention the war! Still tensions as most people here are Tamil and don't like the Singhalese even though most didn't fight themselves. My guest house owner spent 8 years in USA/Canada to avoid being "conscripted" by the Tigers, his family still there. His wife stayed throughout as local teacher, they have re-built their house 3 times, twice as burnt out by warring parties and once destroyed by the tsunami (4 metre high wave here)! What a cushy life we have.

Followed the east coast down through Batticaloa (pretty old Dutch fort city) through lagoons and dunes to Arugam Bay - a surfer paradise from April and all Muslim here. They were caught pretty much in the middle of the civil war, less forces and patrols here, they are still re-building from the tsunami in 2004 as money allows! Found great bar run by half-Dutch/half-Isle of Man guy who rode a bike out here in the 70's, married a local and has never been back! Illegally brews his own beers too! German-style from wheat beers to stouts - wonderful! He just pays off the police, etc and they come and drink it too! Think Arugam Bay would be fun in season!

Then through the southern national parks for the elephants (inc Born Free Foundation place, excellent) and back to the west coast beaches on the way back to Colombo and the airport. Beware full moon days in SL! Unlike Thailand, the place goes dry - its a holy day! Still, got served special "tea" in big teapots and drank from a cup and saucer! Saved.

Thailand:

Re-visited Phuket - last time I think, my favourite beach, Kamala, has 2 more big hotels behind it and you can't see the beach for sunloungers. Must have been there too often anyway, the local tailor salesman, Dave, didn't even try this year! Bye to some good people.

Then across to the east Gulf coast to the Samui islands - Ko Tao for cheap diving and fun times (except for abandoning a dive at 18 metres down when my throat closed up on me! Caught a virus it turns out, scary); Ko Pha-Ngan, the famous full moon party island (don't bother if its not full moon, its empty and sad) and to Imperial Boat House Hotel on Ko Samui - luxury! Don't think the porter had seen a backpack before, he carried it upside down, desperately clutching it to his chest! And the mob, great fun for 3 days of swimming pool, drinkies and eats by the beach. Congrats to T&L too! Then moved on - its somewhat out of a traveller's budget! Back to the west coast, Ko Lanta and Ko Lipe (free mozzies with every visit to the outside loo) for diving and island hopping south to cross into Malaysia by boat to Langkawi, and so to the next blog!

Odds and odds:

• India: go back? Only to see historic palaces further north, Andaman Islands diving people rave about, and the northern mountains into Nepal, apart from Goa - a good cheap escape
• Sri Lanka: go back? I loved the ancient cities, hill country and some of the resorts but not enough to stop me going somewhere new, which is my measure I guess. On second visit after India, its not as manic as I first thought!
• Thailand: always fun but only with others now for fun or for diving, I think. It's not cheap anymore either, twice the price of SL or India.
• Food: Thai then Lankan then Indian, though to generalise about Indian food is dangerous, each state is different, the further south the better the food
• Drink: Its all become fizzy pop lager to me now. Singha still has a taste of its own. Local spirits are interesting - from rice wine to palm toddy to "whiskies", all worth a try! Some disgusting, others like raw spirit, some real smooth, all with a hell of a kick. Indian real wine was good too but expensive. Alcohol - a benefit or a barrier to travelling - discuss. Certainly "lost" a few days along the way but met some interesting locals too.
• People: Thais are the most friendly, Lankans friendly but nearly always with an ulterior motive to remove money from your pocket. Indians are business people and more serious OR they ignore you because life is hard enough without helping others. Exceptions all over of course. Me being non-PC again.
• Tourism: a subtle form of colonialism? Certainly completely alters the cultures, the infrastructure and the environment, but brings in dosh which makes a few very rich and jobs / services for the rest
• Kites: a fond memory of India, watching huge birds of prey wheeling above and watching crowds of dads and kids queuing (well as near as you get in India, lots of shouting and scrums) to get served at Kite Shops - yes, that's all they sold plus re-stringing services! Good people watching!
• "Silent Noise" night club in Goa: pay your money, get headphones and a choice of channels and dance the night away to your own DJ! Four DJ's each playing different club styles in a big open air arena, so different groups raving, smooching, headbanging all over the place at the same time! and all to get around the noise pollution laws!! Surreal, especially after a few bevvies, etc.

Sorry, rambling on as usual. Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/laurentmik/SW_India_SriLanka_Thailand_2010

Cheers! Mike

Cows and Contradictions

So India or to be precise southern India. I came here with all my western stereotypical thoughts and fears of poverty, dirt, crowds but with history, India seems to get a lot of that sort of press and images at home.

First, a step back to set context: I have been here 5 weeks now and have managed to see only part of the south! It's massive. And what I've seen and experienced have thankfully confirmed some but dispelled, or at least overridden, most of those stories.

• The biggest surprise has been the geography, which is beautiful - forest covered hills (the Western Ghats) behind a western coast of beaches, waterways and historical ports. Behind the hills, fertile plains (the Deccan plateau) cut by river valleys with areas of barren hills and volcanic outcrops.
• The history stretches from centuries BC to British colonial to Independence via warring kings, sultans and emperors who all built cities and fortresses, trading routes with Arabic, Persian, Chinese and then European merchants, created advanced civilisations and brought their religions - buddhism, hinduism, muslim, christian, jainism. And left huge legacies of cities, palaces, temples and cultures.
• Independent India has had a fight to catch up with western countries who to this time have held the power, money and economic influence. Hence our views of a backward nation. But that is changing, at least for those who have managed to catch the new gravy train of an Indian economic boom based on IT and manufacturing (cheap labour), there is a thriving educated middle class.
• Languages: there are 7 official languages, so quite often people from different states revert to Hindi, the most populous) or English!
• Travelling is hard work - the distances involved plus the ageing roads (they just go from a reasonable B-class road to a mass of dirt, potholes and axle-breaking trenches within a split second), ever-stopping buses and trains means a 30 kilometres (say, 20 miles) per hour average speed. So any move is a full day or overnight lack-of-sleep-er bus/train.

So, the stereotypes and the contradictions:

• Yes, there's poverty - huge numbers scrape an existence through scavenging, sweeping up after everyone else or begging. Shanty towns and homeless on the city streets. Many who won't catch this economic development through lack of opportunity (the caste system is still alive and thriving, I'm told), education or chance. But hopefully its effects will filter down. Remember, Britain had huge slums and homeless during our big development times of the Industrial Revolution and before - and we may have again some time?
• Farming appears to be subsistence only and country folk stay that way or join the shanty towns - this is very much a bullock cart and ancient local buses in the country versus cars, taxis or at the worst tuk tuks in cities
• Yes, there's dirt - but there's a strange dichotomy between a complete willingness to create rubbish and a culture of personal and home / business cleanliness (linked with Hinduism water rituals I think) - so dirt is someone else's problem, as long as it is not on me or in front of my house / shop - they are forever sweeping their bit of the pavement or road. And it feeds the scavengers, animal (cows - who even eat cardboard here!, pigs, dogs, crows roam the streets) or human (night sweepers, recyclables collectors, homeless). The real problem comes when they litter in areas where no one cleans up like beaches, empty building plots, river banks.
• Yes, there's crowds - the Indian government openly admits it can't keep up with the population growth in terms of housing, infrastructure, education and employment, So exaggerating the haves and have nots gap. No, there are not crowds everywhere - this country is massive and you can find some beautiful places in the hills or on the coast.

And now the fun bits.

Highlights include:

• Swimming on Xmas Day at Om Beach with a barbecue fish dinner on the beach
• New Year's Eve on a guest house roof swigging illegal local spirits until 4am with a group of other travellers from 4 countries in Hampi, a dry city
• Hampi - an ancient temple and royal capital in a pink granite bouldered river valley - surreal. It took 3 days to walk around all the sites / sights!
• Mysore and Hyderabad royal palaces - those guys were seriously rich and knew how to show it off
• Indian whisky is pretty damn good, and cheaper than drinking local (Kingfisher, Cobra, Foster's) beer. About 1.40 pounds for a treble in one of the dark and grotty bars they specialise in here
• Ellora cave temples complex and Khailasa monolith temple, quarried out of a cliff to leave behind a big piece in the middle which then got carved into temple halls, shrines, statues and monuments - without breaking any away from its base - 2x Athens' Parthenon! All by hand in 12th century
• Western travellers going native - hippy linen clothing, long hair and Jesus beards, beads and bangles and ashram/yoga/meditating things (actually saw one bloke get up after his meditation on top of a rock above the sea, not realise his legs had gone to sleep and fall over - nearly killed himself! Dead funny) whilst Indian middle classes and youngsters are heading west - clothes, TV (for good or bad - reality TV has arrived here), music
• Indian politician's polling victory parade in Madakeri - motorcade, fireworks, dancing, drums - blocked all the streets - until it reached a T-junction and no one could decide which way they should go!! Brilliant

Lowlights include:

• Lack of sleep on sleepers and travel times
• City pollution, traffic noise (drive without signals or mirrors just blow horns) and yes, rubbish
• Spitting, hawking at maximum volume and anywhere that's got a wall is a public toilet - mind you there are no actual public toilets except in major cities and tourist venues. ALWAYS watch where you are walking! Avoid the cows too, they stroll or just sit down anywhere
• Bloody vegetarians - everywhere, I know its a religious thing but come on....
• Power cuts
• Grotty, cold water sluice buckets not showers in guest houses
• A cockroach on my toothbrush
• Moustaches are a must!

Enough! Photo link is http://picasaweb.google.com/laurentmik/South_India_1_2010

Cheers! Mike

Anyone for Tea?

And so begins another piece of work for DUM. Have you any idea how long these blogs take to research? The blood, sweat and beers that are lovingly captured for your benefit?

August, and England gets dark, grey, colder and, yes let's get it out of the way now, the bloody merry Xmas serpent is rearing its ugly commercial head again - jingle bells is heard in Boots and turkey / stuffing sandwiches appear in Gregg's.
Anyway, bugger all that, much as I love you all, I'm off while I still can. Its November before I actually get away as I have to spend 3 weeks crewing boats in Channel Islands and Sardinia, and its Vinny and Beck's wedding! This allied to the Asian monsoon cycle timings in my target destinations - Sri Lanka and India.
So the only booked stuff is a plane ticket to Sri Lanka, on to Bangkok in March and return legs in July, the rest of it is all mine to play with (I mean work within).

To Sri Lanka: in summary, it is all it says on the tin for the enquiring tourist - ancient cities, temples, the "hill country" of British colonial settlements, miles of tea plantations hiking and views, beaches and tropical sun. The weather is still changeable as the end of the SW monsoon is about a month late (here too, eh?).
So that's the advert over, now for what I found and think:

• Forget Colombo, a commercial, polluted, traffic nightmare
• Beaches: For those who just want an "all-includio" hotel complex holiday then Beruwela / Bentota but NOT Negombo - it only exists as a resort for those who won't do an airport transfer of longer than 20 minutes, the beach is crap. All the good beaches are at least 2 hours away heading south, and then keep going for the really good less developed resorts and beaches to near Galle and beyond, but beware the tides and currents - its not Thailand
• Cities: some great ancient cities founded 3BC (what were we doing then, apart from going "ugh" and applying a nice shade of wode?) around either kingdoms or religion or both. Mainly buddhist (one of earliest buddhist countries, visited by Buddha himself. In fact there's an authenticated 2,000 year old Bhodi tree which came from Buddha's family home, guarded 24/7 for all this time. Are the people worshipping the tree or its symbolism now - difficult to tell, cynic that I am, bits of leaf / twig are handed out to the devout and carried off in great awe. Then the colonial cities of Colombo and Galle, Galle is fascinating mix of Portuguese, Dutch and British. Kandy was still an independent hill country kingdom (too bloody difficult to get an army up there!) until the Brits conquered it in 1815, so is a real mix.
• Hill country is totally different - cool climate for the summers, hence the Brits built an amazing railway up there and started up tea growing (and imported '000s of Tamils from India to pick it, another great legacy of ethnic "management" from us). Great hiking and views though.
• Food and drink: Hot and spicy but with surprisingly mild coconut milk based curries. Great seafood on coasts. The standard offering is "Rice and Curry" on the menu or signboard but talk about underselling! It is served in about 6 dishes so you can mix and match spicy with coconut, vegetables with meat / fish, add to the rice and use your RIGHT hand to knead that bit together, make a small bucket with your 3 forefingers, put to your lips and shovel it in by scraping your thumb along your fingers from the palm out to your mouth - NO licking fingers, go wash your hands either during or at end of meal. Or ask for a spoon. Local spirits are homemade spirit versions (which taste nothing like, but the Lemon Gin is not bad); Arrak - coconut palm spirit, rum-like, which is the usual locals' choice - very cheap and of course lethal; Toddy - tapped from palm trees and so new still fermenting in the bottle; local beers (mainly Lion) are ok lagers, Three Coins is a malty pilsner which is the best if you can find it.

Some thoughts:

• The whole of SL is just praying that the final end of the civil war after 30 years will hold and the tourists will start to come back, as a local said to me "it will only take 1 suicide bomber at the airport or at a resort and SL will be dead in the water for years to come". It was a bit weird with all the armed forces checkpoints and bunkered guardposts along the roads and main buildings, and then in the north going into what was contested territory until only a month ago. Didn't go right up north though, although possible now, aiming to get further up there when I come back for a couple of weeks in February (also when their monsoon lets up).
• The roads, or more particularly the drivers, (the roads are bad enough). Size matters, if you have the biggest truck or bus and /or the loudest horn, then all other rules don't apply. Driving on the left is optional particularly if you are a tuk tuk or motorbike. Cyclists are completely immune to all rules, and appear to have a force shield to avoid contacts. All this at top speed with horns blaring - even if its just to wave at your mate going the other way! Bus drivers have six arms, one eye on a telescopic arm and 2 brains, which enable them to drive down mountain roads / hairpin bends, hold mobile calls, chat with their mates, see round blind bends and press the horn simultaneously.
• The people are really friendly, and the kids all shout and wave and practice their English - apparently all part of growing up to become a serious scam merchant. I've seen quite a few before now but I've learnt some new ones! "You're so lucky today is a festival at the temple, come see..."; "How much are these English coins worth?"; "No money please, this is my job...(until the end)"; "I've been working as a dried fish turner-overer for 20 years, let me show you....". The last guy was even on Rick Stein's Asian Odyssey apparently, still has the BBC badge (dried fish turner-overer, yeh right).
• Pubs / bars: weird away from the resort beach bars, which themselves are only where independent travellers go, as the package hotels trap their people by the pool - Bentota has none, you have to use your hotel; and there are strict licensing laws. But the bars in the towns are amazing! "Attached to a hotel for local people only" (separate alleyway entrance). Men only. Purposely darkened, blinds / one-way glass to the outside / low lighting (if any), cement floors and walls, caged cashier / bar, pay before you get a drink (take a chitty to the bar cage from the cashier cage in some cases), and sit on plastic beach chairs and plank-top tables - with the rest of the top-class clientele of course (the Baker's has nothing on this I promise you). But all passed off peacefully so far, if a little strained at times
• Official photographer to the launch of a fishing boat was an interesting morning in Tangalle, all had to be done strictly in time with the given propitious horoscope moment (11.12am apparently, all done by my watch anyway, which I know is a minute fast but they all assumed mine was right, so if you hear of a fishing boat mysteriously disappearing on its maiden voyage...). Joined in the milk rice, sambol (hot and spicy coconut, onion, lime, chillies chutney) and bananas celebration (Muslims, just my luck!) and back slapping all round, so it was great fun. Thank whichever God or Prophet, the prints came out ok, so sent them to the owner a few days later.
• And then I wind up making my way back up the west coast to Negombo to find that Xmas is alive and well and living Roman Catholic missionary style here (shrines ans churches, convent schools everywhere)! Which is fine for the devotees but the retailers are catching on fast - Xmas trees, lights, tinsel, blow-up santas, shopping specials and sales. Luckily only there 2 days then off to India.

Bye!

Photos are at http://picasaweb.google.com/laurentmik/Sri_Lanka_1_2009

Now where WAs I??

A ridiculously late blog post to complete the Aus jigsaw, apologies. This is being done as I wait for my friends to give me a lift to Heathrow for the next research trip!

Anyway, Western Australia (WA) was immense, dry (until the winter storms hit) and yet again subtly different from the other states. Vast driving distances through flat desert plains to reach towns who really shouldn't exist but for mining (largest diamond mine in the world Kimberley diamond anyone?) and pearls. But worth all the effort.

• The Kimberley mountain ranges, coastline and rock formations
• Shark Bay world heritage site (the oldest living organisms on the planet, stromatolytes, which convert nitrogen into hydrogen and oxygen and were instrumental in creating the atmosphere we breathe today!)and the Ningaloo reef, the only reef on the western side of a continent - dived with manta rays, dolphins, dugongs and nurse sharks cruising past! Dugongs, sea cow type things and supposedly the origin of the mermaid myths - how pissed were those old sailors??
• The Bungle Bungles sandstone rock formations, only publicly discovered by white folks in 1982 when a film crew asked locals for somewhere interesting to film! Now world heritage site but with private aboriginal areas as they are still believed to practice sacred burial rites inc. termite burials of elders - period of mourning lasts until the termites have completely covered the corpse
• Broome for the "Staircase to the Moon", the moon rising over the sandbars and shallow sea and reflecting a prism of lights onto them from the setting sun.Also for the open air Sun Pictures House, the oldest operating open cinema complete with deckchairs and old benches
• The Dampier peninsular, home to many aboriginal people but with a catholic missionary twist
• Then to the south of Perth,the giant Kauri pine forests and bleak Capes with Margaret River wine district sheltering behind them
• Fremantle, a preserved Victorian city centre of grand terraces of villas and shops and public buildings, esplanade leading to the harbours and the brewery! And a party town too

Sorry, a brief summary but too late to start waxing lyrical really, but also because as I neared Perth, so my deadline loomed and the last 2-3 weeks were a real whistle stop tour and the weather went sour with gales and storms as soon as I headed south from Shark Bay.

A few last thoughts:

• Best road signs "Local Police Are Targeting...", normally D&D, speeding, etc but these were "Fatigue"! Instant visions of sleeping policemen (real ones); quiet crimes during siesta times
• Whim Creek Hotel, re-built by Rio Tinto Mining Corp after hurricane a few years ago, and now the mining teams@ work camp but still open to public! Ate with miners in their mess rooms and a few beers too. Amazing
• Road kill (again!), emus - just the most brainless things in the world. And in Exmouth are often seen wandering down the high street - weird
• Wedding, WA-style: women in party dresses, blokes in ironed shirts with shorts and flip flops but loads of beer all round - hooray!

Handed Lindie back on time and went to local "skimpies" pub (only one near camp site, honest) - barmaids and pole dancers entertaining a load of very bored looking blokes just finished work and intent on watching the horse racing in the bookie area. One of them had bra, knickers and ugg boots on, coz she was cold!

So, would I go back? Yes but would need a team and two vans better equipped so that could do the even more remote places. Would I live there? Perhaps in Sydney or Melbourne or a diving / sailing place, the country towns are as dead as Alton but without history as we know it.

Enough! Photos are at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/laurentmik/Aus_WA_2009

Cheers!

Back out in Out Back

A brief blog I think for a change. Left the beautiful coast and coastal ranges behind for the outback again, albeit including the outback's coast! (Gulf of Carpentaria, the big bite out of Aus at the top).

Leaving the QLD coast at Cairns, immediately climbing the coastal mountain range at Kuranda, then onto the Tablelands, a volcanic plateau between the coastal ranges and the Great Dividing Range (yet again) and over that into the outback travelling west to the Gulf and into Northern Territory for the 2nd time, this time the northern Northerrn bit up to Darwin.

Took lots of diversions and unsealed tracks on the way to see the weirder bits and the national parks, and up here the aboriginal sites. These people were / are all over Aus but seem more concentrated influence and history here.

A few more thousand kilometres and two punctures later and am in Darwin, "the top end". Via volcanoes, savannah grasslands like Africa, world heritage sites like Kakadu Park and Katherine Gorge, loads of wildlife (some very dangerous) and lost explorer camps and townships. Darwin is very small (about 4 blocks by 6) and very modern having been completely decimated in 1974 by Cyclone Tracy (were you around to smite then dear?) and now a laid back traveller hangout (lots of bars, clubs and hostels with pools!) plus state government and armed forces bases.

Next and last stage is into Western Australia, and everyone keeps telling me its going to be the best of the lot, and I have a fixed end date, bugger.

Aboriginals: what a confusing and difficult culture to understand. They believe in spirits creating and ruling the planet and that they are just guardians, no concept of land ownership, with no written languages just art and stories as teaching tools. Fair enough, but hence the clash with the capitalist, land grabbing / destroying / fencing-off Europeans.
So there now seems a complete mess between the government saying sorry and giving land rights back (but no you can't go back to hunting, gathering or nomadic lifestyles, we'll pay you to sit in "closed communities" and keep out of the way. Oh, and by the way, because you have been naughty boys we shall ban alcohol and porno material from your communities too for your own good - they actually smuggle alcohol into their own homes!).
But on the other hand many apparently wreck any homes built for them, drink the handout money and refuse to work, they just stroll around the towns, look straight through you (so the whites do the same back, who started it?) and then just sit / lie in any shaded spot. Its like they are waiting for the day when the whites will disappear again and all will be restored, maybe they're right??
What a mess. Its just like the nomadic tribes in Africa, their lifestyle doesn't fit with land ownership so they have to be fenced in / out, have no future, get paid to shut up, so they get drunk and violent, very sad. Having said that, of course some do break that stereotype and are teachers, expert guides, stockmen and artists.

On a lighter note, I'll never complain about changing tyres again at home, jacking 4wd trucks up in the outback in 30C, being eaten by ants and attacked by mossies is a painful experience!

Also, why can only under 30's get 12 month working visas? Renewable for another 12 months if they fulfil the work commitments? Us old gits can work too (well, maybe).

And it was only 150 years ago that people were still dying here trying to find a way across this island! Went to Burke and Wills' expedition's last camp site, really eery - just a few miles from reaching the north coast when they turned back and died trying to get home when missed their support team by 9 hours

Northern Territory "top end" - country locals in singlets, short shorts, big hats, big boots, big beards and mullet haircuts! But fun evenings in the pub watching the sport. Even the lady cook in the Humpty Doo Hotel smoked a pipe!

OK, time up. Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/laurentmik/Aus_Outback_2_2009

Off into Western Aus tomorrow, see you all too soon.

Queensland - bye and thanks for all the fish

So to the renowned Queensland (QLD) state and what I hoped would be one of the highlights, the Great Barrier Reef and sunshine coasts. To summarise, I found North QLD coast amazing, central and south too commercial for me. All the inland mountain ranges are good, getting more and more tropical as I went north of course - lots of areas are World Heritage Areas or National Parks, so its all about the geography and nature and no development. In the North, the mountains meet the coast, so the two merge into gigantic national parks and marine parks - absolutely beautiful, could spend weeks exploring, sailing and diving here, and very few tourists except in Cairns (central base for it all).

First to Brisbane and a couple of nights at Simon and Dawn's (and not forgetting Charlie - great fun, you couldn't forget him anyway!) place in Manly. Great to see them again (and thanks guys for the hospitality) - Brisbane is compact, modern and pretty laid back for a state capital - even less history than the southern cities! But still has the mix of architecture.

On to the tourist "Sunshine" coast above Brisbane, pretty much developed, smart and rather unexciting to me - nice beaches with surfing, high rise apartments, adverts everywhere for retirement properties, and holiday hotels / units. Headed into the hills behind the coast, a tip from my Sydney friends, to Looking Glass and Blackall ranges and the valleys behind them - very beautiful, and rich farming country - country fairs on as another "long weekend" for Labour Day on May 1, which were interesting - real locals and their families not tourists, but rubbish bank holiday weather works here too.

Also to Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's place - concentrated on Australian critters, quite rightly, but now extending to include a SE Asia zone, shame. The other shame was piped Aussie "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" type music in the main areas and a mini-football stadium (the Crocadium, from memory) with cheerleader commentaries for the croc feeding (cheer for what country you're from!! Louder, I can't hear you - yuk, then named crocs doing their bit to a hyped-up commentator). But the redeeming feature was the kangaroo park, like a walkthrough their pastures, all quiet and almost natural. Worth 54 Aus dollar (27GBP) entry?? mmmm.

Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world - a 75 mile long beach serves as the main road, then tracks through the dunes into the interior rainforests and lakes, really interesting for a couple of days guided tour. 4WD would be possible on my own, but if I got stuck then completely stuck here, loads of soft sand driving - tricky. Turpentine trees from here were used to shore up the sides of the new Suez Canal, as they are resistant to saltwater and marine rot!

Up through central QLD, all coastal plains full of sugar cane and cattle. Built own cane railways for harvest time, musat be quite a sight as it goes for hundreds of miles and tracks are everywhere.


Diving: 4 trips (2 day trips to shipwrecks, and 2 live aboard trips to the outer barrier reefs inc 2 night dives, 1 complete with real shark - if you see one green eye it is swimming alongside you, if you see two it is coming towards you - stay still and either douse the torch to make it bored or keep on taking photos and let it hit the torch!). The weather sea conditions and quality improved massively as I moved north, so sorry but you have fish photos again!! The wrecks were totally opposite: HMAS Brisbane, a deliberately sunken destroyer was ruined by rough seas and very bad visibility; SS Yongala, a passenger steamship sunk in a cyclone in 1911, was fantastic - now in top 10 wrecks dives in world, but a grave site (122 people were lost and never recovered) so you can't go inside - but you can see portholes, stairways, etc (and full medecine bottles, baths and everyday stuff still in there if you did go in as some have, of course) - but it is a wonderful dive as an artificial reef anyway. Oh, and I passed my certification in enriched air mixed-gas diving!! Go further for longer, and more times is the idea but got to get the formulae right.

The Great Barrier Reef is all it is supposed to be, and doing it on liveaboard trips gets you to the real barrier (coral walls, caves, etc) reefs which day trips can't reach (also 450 people on one boat. No!!). The weather was great, the dives wonderful and some sailing too. Saw sharks, rays and a Minke whale too, and giant cod (these look docile if big, but are carnivorous, or is it fishivorous?... "if you get your hand inside its mouth, push further in so that it chokes and spews it out as it has rows of backward facing teeth that will lacerate your arm if you pull").

Whit Sunday Islands are mountain range peaks split from mainland when sea levels rose after Ice Age, close to coast and great sailing country - we had good winds but not great sun and currents, so good sailing but not great diving - just have to go back. Whitehaven beach was massive, and such pure silica that it was used to make lenses for the Hubble Telescope!

Went as far north as Cooktown on land, where Captain Cook first landed in 1770 (only because he had a hole in his boat from the reefs!). He was not a happy bunny - named places as Cape Tribulation, Weary Bay, Cape Flattery, Mount Sorrow. Good area though, would have liked to explore further north but no time now.

Some thoughts:

• Why can't bowls clubs at home be like here, and act as pubs? Walked into one, through the ranks of white-clad bowls players on the rinks to find JJ Cale playing "Cocaine" on the jukebox, bookie shop in one corner and the machines in the other and cheap beer too! Plus these are community clubs so profits go back to local projects, etc. Great idea, would bring clubs at home back into centre of social life in the right places.
• What a waste! Miles and miles of beaches that can't be used for swimming. Signs up in northern areas - not only will you get stung by life-threatening jellyfish, so small that they can get through normal nets, but if the sharks don't get you the saltwater crovcodiles will! Oh and by the way, here's a free bottle of vinegar to douse the stings with until / if you can get to medical assistance - seriously!
• What is it with obsession with giant fibre glass figures? I have given up taking photos, but in QLD they have risen above giant prawns, lobsters and bass to include: a gumboot the height of the rainfall in that town one year (Tully, 9.7 metres (about 32 feet)) - there's a staircase up it!; Captain Cook (a really awful "statue" at the start of the Captain Cook Highway in Cairns; fruit - "The Big......" mango, banana, pineapple....

OK, now heading west towards Darwin and Northern Territories national parks. Only 6 weeks or so to go! Bugger.

Photos are at http://picasaweb.google.com/laurentmik/Aus_QLD_2009

Cheers!

NSW: State and Sydney Bye with...

...chips. Dropped my camera and it bounced on the attached wide angle lens of course. 120GBP to replace, but very lucky to find one in Sydney. So, you will find either a fly or white fuzzy marks on many photos (inc some of those from last blog) until I got the replacement - bugger.

Been ages since last blog it seems as I missed the opportunity to do it in Brisbane. Managed to get the photos loaded but not do the blog. Its a hard life.

So, headed into Sydney via the Royal National Park and to friends of my dad and Val's - Phil and Liz. Not the royal family but a very kind, retired couple with a manic lifestyle of 7 children and 24 grandkids plus.... They have been, and will again be, avid travellers - they went to Uluru when it was still desert tracks with the kids in the back of a car in the 70's! They live in the outer suburbs, Revesby, a 45 minute trainride into the city, so I became a commuter again for a few days (not good memories).

Sydney is a fantastic place, waterfronts and gardens everywhere - and commuting by ferries from suburbs or down the river. Quite a sight, could spend many days there, partic if I stayed in the nightlife areas and the weather allowed more time on the beaches, but I did get to Manly and Bondi and have a very quick swim - it was more like Newquay in midwinter than some sexy Aussie mecca. Like Aussie cities, so far, a mix of modern and Victorian / Edwardian architecture and layouts and all starting as a port on the coast or a permanent freshwater source inland.

Then into the nearby Blue Mountains, spectacular scenery and hikes (if still changeable weather), then zig-zags up the coast to the Queensland border between coast and mountain / gorges / waterfalls national parks. Didn't manage to escape the autumnal weather which swept up from Antarctica for a few days, catching me in the mountains - frosts and ice on Lindie in the mornings (comments anyone?).

Exceptions were detours into central NSW, to Orange and Bathurst for a view of the central plains areas, and Tamworth and "New England's" farming and gold mining towns. Great diversion was to drive around the Bathurst motor racing circuit, Mount Panorama, which used to hold the F1 grand prix racing (bikes and cars) until the 1960's and is a hell of a climb and drop around the mountain - now does famous endurance races, etc. Weird, it is a 2-way public road (60kph/45mph limit normally with turn-offs into houses and farms!) in normal times - that's how they got the govt to help pay for it back then, as a scenic drive apparently, clever. So Lindie has done 3 laps of a racing circuit now!

Thoughts:

• Aboriginal names: is it a con? The tribes didn't speak the same languages but managed to come up with similar names for places, all with loads of "o's" and "a's" (how many "O's" can I get away with in a name joke = Wooloomooloo in Sydney), and all meaning logical things like "place of many waters" or "place where one can see for f****ing miles, mate, trust me". That was until I got to Angourie Point, a great surfie place - now either the dopy English explorer accidentally talked to a Frenchy taking the piss or the locals had got bored of the joke, but Angourie means "place of angry seas"?? No way.
• For some reason remembered it was my very old mate, Jon Pearson's birthday on St George's Day. Should have kept up with him, a great bloke and wonderful friend all those years ago, somewhere in NZ still I believe - too late now. Got that way with all the old North London crowd too, probably. Still can't change history.
• Anzac Day, remembering all Aus/NZ forces, very serious over here. Dawn services of remembrance then a wake at the pub. Special licensing, cheap offers and a gambling game as played by the veterans in the trenches, betting on 3 coins landing heads or tails - only allowed on Anzac Day in the local pub (saw this in a gold mining town called Hill End - Royal Hotel's beer garden, whole families, BBQ and friendly betting betweeen each other (no bookie or central bank here). It was a special afternoon.
• Great names for places if not Abo or copying Euro name: Buckaroo (near Mudgee) and Broke (Hunter Valley)
• Aus still very much a rural country, well into horses (breeding, racing and betting), farming and local communities for locals only. The cities are isolated hotspots almost out of character, except on the coasts where they are suffering from the same problem as UK, all the retirees going to the good places and skewing the demography, and thus the local economies.
• Lindie got a good servicing in Sydney

OK, so now in Queensland but I'll save that, except to say many thanks to Dawn and Simon (and little Charlie, aka "Bob the Builder") for their hospitality and friendship in Brisbane, before it seems too late to say it.

Photos link at http://picasaweb.google.com/laurentmik/Aus_NSW_Sydney_2009

Cheers! Mike