Australia is a vast country, and spending 8 weeks there was no where near enough time to get more than a feel for the place. Our impression was that it is particularly rich in natural wonders… but that we didn’t have the time or money to scratch the surface. You really need to have a car to get around but we couldn’t afford to hire one for very long. Although this wasn’t a problem when Catherine and Ben were around as they were fantastic at taking us everywhere. It will be great to return the favour in the in the UK in the future! Oh, and as for our misconceptions of Oz being a hot country, well, the Blue Mountains sorted that one out for us. I’ve never used an air-conditioning unit to heat a hotel room before!
Anyway, the now obligatory good versus scary list for Australia follows:
Some things we’ve found great…
1. Marsupials. Koalas are my favourite. Gary prefers kangaroos. But we both agree that all the marsupials we’ve seen have been great. Koalas are the sweetest – soft fur, intrinsically huggable. Kangaroos and wallabies move in the most original way we’ve ever seen, I mean, hopping – how do they make it look elegant? Or walking with the tail as a third leg for that matter. And we loved the pouch for joeys… seeing little ones poking their heads out of their Mummies tummies and then wriggle around or kick viciously was great!
2. Natural Wonders. We only really had time to see a few of these – the Great Barrier Reed and the Blue Mountains. And when you consider that we only spent one day on the reef itself, we can’t really say that we’ve had more than a fleeting introduction. But we did see a nice big stingray! Australia has so many national parks it’s scary, and it would take many years to get even a vague idea of their scope as like everything else here they are all so large! At the very least you need lots of time and a four wheel drive.
3. Sydney Harbour. It’s a lovely harbour. Great waterfront, coves, bridge, and of course the stunning, weirdly shell-shaped Opera House. Fantastic on a nice day. But we have to say, not the most beautiful harbour in the world – it comes a close second to Hong Kong in our opinion. The beauty of Hong Kong harbour is its three dimensional nature – the most impressive range of skyscrapers I’ve ever seen on the slopes of the dramatic Victoria Peak. You can’t beat the way the mountain rainforest rises out of the city over the harbour. But Sydney with its twisting coves, river-side gardens and shining Opera House does offer a pretty good challenge!
4. BLTs. For those of you that may not know, Gary likes BLTs. Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches (with a bit of mayonnaise). But they were something he would have once in a while previously. While in Australia he has had billions of the things! Practically one every day (and occasionally two…). While we’ve been in Auckland I’ve suggested that there may be healthier things to survive on than fried bacon, (as they seem to be common in New Zealand too), so hopefully he may explore the exciting options of a chicken sandwich, or maybe ham cheese and tomato from time to time. You never know! Saying that, I like a BLT too - though not every day – so I can vouch that some of the ones we had in Oz were very good. Particularly one in a café called the Conservation Hut near Katoomba. Even my Mum loved that particular BLT!
5. Cappuccino Chocolate. For some reason the chocolate powder they dust on top of cappuccino froth is delicious in Australia… much more chocolaty than the stuff we’ve found in the UK or even Italy! This is definitely a version of a chocolate drink they should export to the rest of the world. I feel a bit sorry for Gary and my Mum - they would both order a cappuccino while I’d go for an espresso. But as I’d get no chocolate on my shot I’d tend to steal a bit of theirs… they are both lovely to put up with me!
6. Muffins. Or rather one particular muffin from a particular chain of muffin shops. Gary has become addicted to the raspberry and apple muffin from the ‘Muffin Break’ shops, and I’ve become pretty fond of them too. They have a nice texture and a great almost caramelised glaze on top. And better still, we’ve found a few of these places in Auckland too since we’ve arrived.
And some scary things…
1. Transport. If you want to get from A to B within an Australian town or city it’s fine – there’s usually a bus network, or in the larger places there may even be a metro or light rail system. But try to get between towns and you hit a few difficulties. You can fly – Australian operators offer flights between destinations surprisingly close together as well as those over 5 hours apart. But it does seem a bit hard on the environment to take a flight that lasts only 30 minutes – especially given Australia’s current obsession with Global Warming. But the only other real option is to go by road. There are no trains to speak of. And if you do travel by road, unless you can afford to hire or buy a car you’re stuck with long distance coaches. These are not great to say the least – slow and expensive. And they seem to spend more time at service stations for ‘rest breaks’ than on the road. Hmm.
2. Local Produce. We were slightly horrified to find out that it costs more to buy a nice bottle of Australian red wine in Australia than it does in the UK! Ben explained this to us – apparently Australians will pay more for Australian produce than for imports – it’s a long-standing national thing. So everything Aussie is artificially price inflated! Such a shame, but we still had some lovely wine over there (especially at the Settlers Rise winery that Catherine and Ben took us to).
3. Imports. And the strange thing is that some imports also manage to be hugely expensive! Not all, but a few select groups. Such as many technological things and magazines. Weird! This country has not been cheap for us, even though the Australian Dollar crashed against most currencies (including the pound) halfway through our trip.
4. BO. Not all Aussies smell – the vast majority don’t, but a few really need to pay more attention to personal hygiene. We found far more groups of people here which made us stop breathing and walk that little bit faster than anywhere in Asia. Not good!
5. Male v Female Bars. There seems to be a bit more separation between men and women here than we are used to in the UK. A lot of pubs seem to be very male dominated – to the point where it’s uncomfortable to go in there if you are a woman. In fact we read that some places still go so far as to segregate men and women into different rooms. We didn’t like this, but through our stay found it relatively easy to get a quiet drink in a bar instead of the traditional pubs. These were fully mixed sex and therefore much more comfortable to enter!
So, on to New Zealand. Land of All Black rugby and sheep. Just like going home to Neath!
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