South Africa 2006 – Weekend

The firm I’m working for moved us to a hotel that is closer to the city and quite near the V&A Waterfront. Not as close as I’d hoped, so it’s unlikely that we’ll be walking there – we did try it on Friday evening, but gave up after we got fed up of being constantly harangued by beggars. It’s not as though they just ask you once – they follow you for a hundred yards down the road. We’d walked the best part of a mile when we decided that we would rather not do this and returned back to the hotel, on the way being accosted by a young boy whose performance should win him an Oscar.

So, I returned to my room and ordered room service, getting the maps of the area out to try and work out how to drive to the Waterfront.

I then discovered, hidden in a drawer, the list of the services that the hotel provides and one of them is a shuttle to the Waterfront. It costs R30 return (less than £3) so we decided to use that today (Saturday).

So, off we went after breakfast and booked up to go out on a boat Whale-Watching and we put our name down to do a “Combat Mission” in a Huey helicopter, which had been recommended to us as a “must-do.”

The Huey needed a minimum of six people to fly so they said they would call us when they had another four people booked.

After wandering around the Waterfront for a while, we went to an Italian restaurant for lunch and then joined the boat for the Whale-watching trip. It wasn’t long before we came across a couple of Southern Right Whales close into the shore. It was great to see these huge creatures in the wild. The boat kept a good distance from the animals to avoid disturbing them. Shortly after, we saw another on the other side of the boat that briefly surfaced, giving us all a great view of how large and majestic it was.



On the way back into the harbour, the Huey people rang to ask if we wanted to go on a flight, which we did, but unfortunately, by the time we got there, one of the people had dropped out, bringing the numbers down to five. We put our name down for one of the flights for Sunday which now had its full quota of people, so hopefully it’ll be okay.

We then went did some more shopping before going to an Indian restaurant for our evening dinner and then catching the shuttle back to the hotel.

I had a bit of a lie-in on Sunday and caught the 11am shuttle to the Waterfront in preparation for the 1pm Huey ride we were booked on. At around 12.30 we were put on the mini-bus and driven to the base where we were to begin our flight. Apparently the company has around twenty Huey helicopters.



There were eleven of us on the flight and after a brief safety briefing (basically – don’t take any loose objects and this is how you put your seatbelt on) we climbed onto the helicopter to begin the flight.

I sat on one of the outward facing seats towards the rear of the helicopter and was strapped in. The seatbelt was a simple lap belt, about two inches wide. These, we were assured were military issue and worked just fine in Vietnam. The End by the Doors began to play (nice touch) and we took off. After initially feeling a little uncomfortable with the fact that there was nothing between me and the outside world (oh yeah, did I mention that this Huey “Combat Ride” was done with all the doors open) I settled back to enjoy the ride, and the stunning views.

After about 5 minutes flying over the sea the helicopter started spiralling downwards towards the water. It then pulled up sharply and swooped towards the land about five or ten feet above the waves. It was superb. The trip continued with low-level high speed runs over the dunes and the scrub punctuated with sharp turns and dives all accompanied by a rock soundtrack.

Unfortunately all this was a bit too much for one girl on the trip who went very pale and spent the rest of the trip with her head in her hands and a handkerchief in front of her mouth.

After about twenty minutes the helicopter headed back towards the Waterfront and 5 minutes or so later it was all over. It was a great experience and one I’d recommend to anyone who visits Cape Town.

From there we went for a late lunch at Cantina Tequila and from there we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium and arrived just in time to watch the shark-feeding. The sharks are fed by divers who drop into the tank and hold out dead fish on sticks which the sharks eat as they swim past. Unfortunately (although this depends on your point of view I guess) the sharks didn’t appear to be hungry and only one bothered to take the fish.

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The rest of the aquarium was pretty good with some great exhibits of crustaceans, some of which looked like something out of a sci-fi film.

From the aquarium we wandered around the craft market and then watched some of the performers at the amphitheatre before catching the shuttle back to the hotel.

South Africa 2006 - Tired

It’s Wednesday, or “hump day” as Paul calls it. I think it’s because it’s the middle of the week, but maybe there is some other reason.

It was another long day at work and we were all supposed to be going out to a Mexican with the clients tonight. I was going to go, however, the client has decided not to go and as I’m really tired and still full from the last few meals I think I’ll have a bit of a rest tonight. I was only going to go along in the interest of business relations (honest) so I’m quite pleased to be able to have a relaxing evening in the hotel room and maybe get a takeaway. I think the others, with the exception of Ian are going to go.

Because of the security issues in SA, only certain delivery drivers are allowed to the hotel. There is a brochure from a company called Mr Delivery in my room. It has the menus of around ten different takeaway companies in it. The idea is that you phone the central contact and they then gather your order from the different restaurants and deliver to you. So I’ve ordered a pizza.

The pizza turned up after about an hour – it was okay, a bit soggy but tasty enough. The rest of the evening I spent watching a couple of films on the tv before falling asleep.

South Africa 2006 - Settling In

I’ve now been here a couple of days now and I’m gradually settling in. Yesterday (Monday) started with breakfast – cereal followed by an omelette before heading off to work.

It was a long day, punctuated only by half an hour at lunchtime while we wandered around a couple of supermarkets in the local mall unsuccessfully trying to find some sandwiches. I ended up with a pasta salad. We finished work at around 6.45ish and we decided to head out into Cape Town and get some refreshment somewhere in the Waterfront. After some discussion three of us decided to get a taxi and the hotel reception ordered one for us.

The others drove into Cape Town and we waited for the taxi. Eventually a clapped out Mercedes turned up with the fattest guy you ever saw behind the wheel. We all piled in and he dropped us at the Waterfront, leaving us with his number so we could call him later. He was a chatty guy and a Manchester United supporter (aren’t all overseas football fans?) and very proud of his city.

We met up with the others in Mitchell’s a pub that brews its own beer and had a couple of drinks. Then, after some discussion, we headed for a fish restaurant called the Ocean Basket. We quizzed the maitre de about the possibility of a veggie meal and he said they would do a halloumi cheese stir fry.

We started with a few olives, fried halloumi and some feta accompanied by some tasting of the various chilli sauces on the table (one of which was very hot) while we waited for the mains to turn up. When they did, the fish meals were huge and my halloumi stir fry was pretty good. It was served in a large frying pan along with some chips.

I was planning on having dessert, but the main meal was so filling that I decided not too.

Once we had paid our bill we went back to Mitchell’s for a drink – I had an 18yr Glenfiddich and we phoned the taxi. Once he arrived, three of us went back to the hotel, but the others decided they’d stop off at the club down the road for a couple more drinks.

Today started with another omelette for breakfast before heading off once again to the office. Despite planning to leave around 5.30pm we still ended up leaving around 6.30pm although we did go out for lunch to a place called Casablanca in the local mall. It was pretty much a burger joint and I ended up with a salad, which was okay, but not particularly exciting.

After arriving back at the hotel, I spent a couple of hours catching up on some work before meeting the some of the others for a late dinner in the Wild Fig.

The dinner was quite spectacular. I started with the fried camembert again and then followed it with a Thai vegetable curry which was lovely. I managed to pick a nice white wine which accompanied the meal nicely. For dessert I had chilli nut ice cream with chocolate sauce – wow! It was lovely. After the meal, despite the bar being closed, the waiter got us some whiskies and brandy to finish the meal off. I had a very pleasing 21yr old Speyburn. They have quite an extensive collection of single malts so I reckon I’ll be back there before the end of the week.

South Africa 2006 - Arrival

So, here I am on my first day in South Africa. The flight was relatively painless except for the traffic jam at the airport, but I met up with Ben, Paul, Mark and Ian and managed to make arrangements to meet with Ian in SA, as he was on a different flight to the rest of us. Paul and Mark had already booked in when I arrived – Ben had waited so that we could get seats together on the plane.

We had a quick meal in the airport before boarding the plane. Ben and I were at opposite ends of a row, but negotiated with the two girls in the middle to move. This annoyed the air-steward when he brought my veggie meal, but no matter.

The flight took off around a half hour late, but caught up on-route and landed on time. It was fairly smooth, the food was okay (macaroni cheese for dinner, scrambled eggs with mushroom and hash browns for breakfast) and I managed to get a few hours sleep.

Once we’d landed we all made our way through customs and picked up the hire cars. I then followed Paul to the hotel – the Courtyard which is about 10 mins from the airport and about 15mins from the V&A Waterfront. The hotel is quite nice – it has more of a “motel” setup with two storey blocks of rooms around a central courtyard. The rooms each have a small “kitchen” area with a sink, microwave and fridge which might be handy.

After booking in and freshening up we drove in one car to the V&A and had something to eat at Cantina Tequila, a Mexican restaurant. They had a varied veggie selection which surprised me as SA is very meat oriented in its eating. I had a vegetarian combo which consisted of stuffed burritos, tortilla, wrap, peppers and beans and corn in a barbecue sauce all delivered on a huge plate.

While we were there two guys dressed as kangaroos “bounced” along the waterfront where we were sitting, performing a comedy routine, the highlight of which was one of the bouncing along with a large breasted girl while the other one shouted “Don’t look at the headlights!”
“I can’t help it,” replied the first kangaroo.
“No,” shouted back the other guy pointing up the road to an on coming vehicle. “The van!” The timing was perfect.

After finishing the meal, drinks and coffees (which for four of us came to less than £10 each) we made our way back to the airport to meet Ian, who had had to connect flights in Jo’burg.

After returning to the hotel, Ian booked in and I went back to the room for a rest before we all planned to meet up again for the evening.

Around 6.20pm Ben phoned me to say that he and Mark were going to go down to the club that was just down the road. We walked down there, passing the mental hospital that is next to the hotel and had a couple of beers, before making our way back to the hotel and its adjoining restaurant, the Wild Fig, where we were going to eat.

The menu at the Wild Fig has a couple of veggie options and I started with deep fried camembert served with a fig chutney followed by dolmades stuffed with pureed aubergine, rice and mushroom served with a pesto sauce. For pudding I had crème brulee – about a 7 on the scale. The whole meal was very pleasant – the others sampled springbok and ostrich – and it was all presented very well. For five three course meals, two bottles of wine and coffees the total bill came to around R800 (around £75) which is quite amazing. We then tried to get a nightcap in the restaurant and hotel bars, but they were closed up for the night (it was only 11pm) so we all retired to our rooms.

Australia 2006 - Last Day

Saturday 22nd April
Its our last day. I really don't want to go back. Melbourne is such a fabulous city, and Australia is a great country.

We got up early, booked in to our flight using the internet, finished packing and dropped our cases at the apartment's office.

Then we walked to a cafe opposite South Melbourne Market called Panette where we were meeting Little Louise for breakfast. Last time we were in Melbourne, Alicea told me all about the banana porridge they served, but it was shut over the new year so I've been waiting two years to have it! Louise arrived and I finally got to try the porridge - yummy.

After breakfast we walked around the market It was smaller than the QVM, but still had amazing stuff.

From there Lou drove us to St Kilda, where we had a wander around before meeting Big Lou and Janet at Soul Mama, a vegetarian restaurant in the St Kilda Baths building. Soul Mama is a buffet restaurant where you pick a bowl-size and then you choose the dishes you want to have. It was mostly curry stuff, with the odd pasta and moussaka and I had curry. At present, sitting writing this on the plane, I wish I hadn't as I feel quite bloated and gassy.

After the meal we said our goodbyes and Janet dropped us back at the appartment office where we waited for the shuttle to take us to the airport. Once again, as we left Melbourne, I had a huge lump in my throat and wished that I could stay.

We arrived at the airport and checked in at the online check-in desk - we were pleased that we had done this, as the normal queue was huge.

That done, after a brief moment where Alicea thought she had lost her passport, we went through passport control and looked around duty free, before our flight was called. It took off pretty much on time for the first leg to Singapore.

We arrived slightly early in Singapore. We got off the plane for a brisk walk around duty-free before boarding for the next leg to Dubai. Once in Dubai, we spent quite a while looking around the duty-free and bought a few bits.

The plane from Dubai to England had a better entertainment system and I watched Wallace & Grommitt and Corpse Bride. When we arrived back in the UK, surprise, surprise it was raining...

Australia 2006 - Back to Mornington

Friday 21st April
We had arranged to meet Nicki at 11am at Federation Square, so we had breakfast on the way at Southbank, then walked to Federation Square where we had a wander around for half hour or so before Nicki picked us up.

She drove us down to Blairgowrie on the Mornington Crescent where Debbie lives. We all then went to the Portsea Hotel for lunch where the girls reminisced about their schooldays. Lunch was good - asparagus risotto followed by a cheese board, but there was a mixup with Debbie's - she is wheat intolerant - but it was sorted out okay.

We went back to Debbie's for the afternoon, stopping by the local school to pick up her daughter and friend - so it was a bit of a squash in the car. We showed them the wedding photos and some of the pictures of the house before we left and Nicki drove us to Surrey Hills, where Robyn lived. She took the scenic coastal route back which was nice but quite a lot longer.

We were all quite full from lunch, so we didn't have anything to eat at Robyn's but we had a nice evening chatting, before we had to say our goodbyes and Nicki drove us to the apartment. Once there, we packed our cases ready for the journey back to the UK tomorrow.

Australia 2006 - Queen Vic Market

Thursday 20th April
I got up very early this morning (5am) to chat to the family back in the UK over the webcam. It worked really well and it was great to see them. After an hour or so online, we went back to bed to try and catch a snooze before getting up again and getting ready to go out.

We caught a tram to Queen Victoria Market for breakfast. We went to a small coffee house for breakfast run by some Italians. They lost our order and we could hear the arguments in the kitchen, which was quite amusing. We were given a free coffee as recompense for their mistake, so we didn't mind too much.

Queen Vic Market is fantastic. The food halls and the fruit and veg market are awesome. The produce looks so fresh and the variety of stuff available is amazing.

After wandering around there for a while, we then wandered around the rest of the market, which has clothes, opals, watches, in fact just about anything you can think of. It really is huge.

From there, we caught a tram back into the city and did some shopping. We've popped into a couple of banks here to see what the options are for us to open an account for when we move here – the bank fees are unreal, especially when you compare them to the free banking in the UK.

We had lunch in the Blue Train Cafe on Southbank, where Alicea picked a disgusting tasting white wine – I'm not sure if it was corked or not, but they replaced it with a red instead without any fuss.

We returned to the apartment, picking up a souvalaki on the way and Alicea made arrangements to meet up with all her friends over the next couple of days.

Tonight its the turn of Janet and her new boyfriend Andrew. We went to a restaurant in South Melbourne called O'Connells. The food and service was really good, and it was good to see Janet again. We all had a good time, and Alicea enjoyed catching up with all the news. Janet and Andrew dropped us back at the apartment after the meal.

Australia 2006 - Melbourne

Wednesday 19th April
We got up at 5.45am as we had to drive to Melbourne this morning and arrive there by 10.30 to avoid having to pay an extra day's car hire. Saying goodbye to Mary was very hard, and we packed everything into the car and left around 6.45. I drove for about three quarters of the way to Melbourne, and Alicea took over for the last 50km or so.

As we got closer, we tuned the radio to Triple-M and listened to the breakfast show, which had us in stitches. They'd never be able to get away with most of the stuff they do if it was broadcast in the UK, but it was so funny. I'll never be able to take the film, The Worlds Fastest Indian seriously if I ever see it. At one point I thought we were in serious danger of crashing, Alicea was laughing so much!

Once we arrived in Melbourne, we went to the apartment booking office and booked into our apartment. Luckily, it was ready, so we dumped the luggage and then took the car back. The apartment is on the 34th floor and has a fantastic view across the city.

We then walked into Melbourne city centre, along South Bank. We did some shopping, and then jumped on a tram that took us to Lygon Street, where all the Italian restaurants are. By now, it was lunchtime so we popped into a restaurant where I had a pizza and Alicea had spaghetti bolognaise.

From there, we did some more shopping, before jumping on a tram to take us back to the main shopping area around Swanston Street. I wandered round the food hall in David Jones (a bit like the Harrod's food hall) and found Tiptree Jams and Maldon Sea salt!

After finishing this particular shopping spree, we popped back to the apartment for a rest, before venturing out for dinner. We walked to Federation Square, where we had a drink at one of the bars, before going to a great Chinese restaurant called BokChoy Tang. The food was really nice, and their was plenty of it.

On the way back we both grabbed an ice cream before returning back to the apartment for the night. Before going to bed, Alicea contacted Nikki to make arrangements to see her on Friday, and I connected my laptop up to the internet, and was surprised and pleased to find John online, so I could test my webcam out.

Australia 2006 - Last Day in Moama

Tuesday 18th April
Today is the last day with Mary and Ray before we head to Melbourne for the last few days of our holiday. After breakfast the girls went shopping in Echuca while Will dropped me off at the internet cafe for 30 minutes while he got some petrol and checked his car for his and Lauren's journey back to Adelaide.

Once he'd picked me up we went along to the outskirts of the town to where there were a few car dealerships. We took out a few cars for a test drive. Will took out a large Toyota jeep and a Toyota pickup and I took out a Rav4 and a Ford four wheel drive. Once we'd done that, we drove into town with the intention of having a pub lunch. We pulled up to park outside a cafe next to the pub and saw the girls eating at the cafe, so we joined them.

After eating, we popped back to the car dealership so that Will could show Lauren the jeep he had test driven. We then said our goodbyes to them and they left for Adelaide.

When we got back to the house, Mary showed me how she makes her shortbreads. I feel quite honoured to have been shown her 'secret' recipe as she said that her, Nick and now me are the only ones to know the recipe.

We then popped back into town and went to Big W, Coles and filled up with petrol ready for the journey to Melbourne tomorrow. For dinner I used up some of the stuff in the fridge and had a curry. After dinner, Michael phoned and chatted to Alicea – apparently he had tried to book a flight from Tasmania to Melbourne to meet up with us, but all the airlines were booked, which was a shame.

The rest of the evening was spent watching the tv before going to bed.

Australia 2006 - Barmah Forest

Monday 17th April (Easter Monday)
Lauren and Will came round about 10ish and Lauren and Mary went shopping in Echuca. Alicea, Will and myself went to Barmah Forest, a large redgum forest about 30kms from Moama. It was really interesting wandering around the forest with Will as he is very knowledgable about wildlife etc. He found a small ant-lion nest to show us, and we saw a couple of fallen trees that had been used for shelter by kangaroos or wallabies. You could plainly see the tracks left by their tails.

We were hoping to see some goanas, but despite seeing marks on some trees where they had climbed them, we didn't see any of the animals themselves.

We stopped by the river and had some lunch, propping up redgum stumps for a table and chairs before driving through some sandy roads back to the main highway.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Mary's and left around 5ish to meet with Lauren and Will for a drink at the Border Inn before meeting up with Mary and Ray for a meal. The meal was very nice, but the service was very poor, we had to clear our own table at one point and even summon a waitress for an adjacent table!

Once we left the Border, we went back to Mary's for the night.

Australia 2006 - Easter Barbie and Boats

Sunday 16th April (Easter Sunday)
Lauren and Will came around for breakfast – a nice fry up of eggs, mushies, tomatoes, bacon etc. I had my veggie bacon and sausages. Once breakfast was over and everything was cleared up, we went down to the “Soundshell” in Moama, where there was a market. The Soundshell is a small open air 'amphitheatre/bowl' where they hold local concerts etc. The market was a fair size and we spent a little time looking round it before heading back to Mary's for lunch. I didn't buy anything at the market, Alicea bought some novelty bra strap thingies.

For lunch, we had a bbq. I did some kebabs and some haloumi cheese and aubergine rolls. The others had ribs, sausages etc. I had my own electric bbq to cook all my stuff on. It was all rather nice and very filling. Nick popped in just after we'd finished eating for a chat. Once all the clearing up had been done, we had a fairly lazy afternoon chatting and watching Aussie Rules on tv. Mum phoned up around 17:20 – it was nice to hear from her and Dad.

Around 6ish, we left to pick Lauren and Will up from their hotel and we went to the port at Echuca, where they were having an Easter Festival on the wharf. We picked our spot on the front of the wharf and Alicea and Lauren went to get some chips for us to eat. Once they returned and it had begun to get dark we watched a sail past of all of the paddle steamers followed by a firework display.

It was a nice evening – the sail past was accompanied by a commentary telling the history of the boats and the fireworks ended the evening nicely. We left the port and dropped Lauren and Will back at their hotel, before going home to Mary's and to bed.

Australia 2006 - Morrisons

Saturday 15th April
The plan this morning was for Alicea to drive Will's car around to their hotel and to pick them up. However, her and Ray couldn't get it started, so we had to go in our hire-car. It turned out that there was some security thing on their car that we weren't aware of.

We picked up Lauren and Will from their hotel and drove into Echuca where we did some shopping. I picked up a cookbook and Alicea went to see if her ring was ready and also got some Easter eggs. Then we met up with Lauren and Will in a coffee shop and popped into Safeways to get some supplies for tonight and for the bbq tomorrow. On the way back we double parked outside a wine store and Will pretended to check out under the car bonnet while Lauren bought some wine. Then we went back to Mary's and caught a taxi to Morrisons Winery where we were having lunch.

We started with a wine-tasting and we then had the meal. It was fabulous and the service was great. The waiter went through the menu with me, explaining that they could change the dishes if required, so I ordered a spaghetti with mushrooms where there should have been prawns. When it turned up there were loads of mushies of different sorts – it was great. The setting was great, it is on the banks of the Murray river and it was just a really nice meal. We then went back to Mary's for the afternoon and relaxed.

For dinner, we had some antipasti, and I cooked some fennel in cream and some eggplant with pesto and mozzarella. I also did some tamari seeds, which disappeared pretty quickly. The n we all sat and watched a cookery show called the Iron Chef. Its a Chinese/Japanese show dubbed by Americans and was really entertaining. Once that was over it was time for bed.

Australia 2006 - Aussie Rules

Friday 14th April (Good Friday)
Got up about 8.30 and had hot cross buns for breakfast. I rained quite hard last night and was threatening to rain all morning. After breakfast Alicea and I walked into Moama to a local bakery to buy some bread. The morning was fairly relaxed, and we popped out again to get some stuff for lunch and dinner. Lauren and Will arrived about noon and after lunch, Ray, Will and I went down the local sports club to watch Echuca and Moama play Aussie rules. Moama lost quite heavily (about 105 – 54 or similar) but despite this it was a great afternoon, drinking VB and chatting with Will and Ray. We returned to find all the girls watching a film, which we tried not to make comments through... and then we had dinner. Lauren and Will took a taxi back to their hotel later when the rest of us retired to bed.

Australia 2006 - Long Drive

Thursday 13th April
Alicea, Mary and I went to a place in the old port in Echuca for breakfast called Wistaria. We all had omelettes, mine was spring onion and mushroom and, as it has been everywhere, asking for something off-menu was no problem.

After breakfast I went to the internet cafe, where I updated my blogs and checked my email. Alicea and Mary went into the town to do some shopping. We met up after an hour or so for coffee and then dropped Mary back home while Alicea and I decided what to do for the afternoon.

The original plan was to go to Bendigo and maybe go down a gold mine, but we decided to head for a small town called Barmah instead. It was pretty small, so small in fact that we had driven through it before we knew it. So, we decided to head towards the city of Shepparton.

It was a long and boring drive along about 60 so kilometres of straight roads. Once we got there we parked and wandered around for an hour or so. Shepparton is a fair size but is pretty unremarkable. In retrospect, given the distances we drove, I wish we had gone to Bendigo, as it looks to have a lot more character. We drove the boring drive back to Moama where we picked up Mary and Ray as we are taking them out for dinner in Echuca.

We went to a place called the Harvest Hotel in Echuca for dinner. The food was okay, and once again there was no problem with me juggling the menu around. The only downside of the meal was the mashed potato which tasted suspiciously like powdered potato.

From there we went back to Mary's for the night.

Australia 2006 - A Trip to Maldon

Wednesday 12th April.
After breakfast we left to go to Maldon, a small town in the Gold-Mining area. We passed through Bendigo, and arrived in Maldon around 11.30. Its a great little town, but I can't help thinking that it could be much better with a lick of paint and a few more shops selling local produce etc.



We had a cheese scone and a drink and then walked around the town. There are a couple of nice little shops there, and an awful lot selling second hand books, antiques, nik-naks etc and much of the stuff in these shops is pretty awful. At one end of the town is a 'gnome factory' which is fairly awful. The quality of the stuff you can buy there looked mediocre to say the least. There was also a pretty rank Christmas shop there. Unfortunately the vintage motorcycle museum was shut, which was a shame as it looked really good through the window.

We then went back to the same place where we had coffee and we had lunch. I had a teryaki rosti and Alicea had vegetable samosas. Both were very nice.

After we left there, we went to the Goldfields Railway, which is a steam train that runs from Maldon to Castlemaine.



Alicea, not being a train bore like me, drove to Castlemaine with Mary while I took the trip on the train. It was pretty good.



At one point, I thought it had broken down as the train stopped for five minutes or so as it reached the crest of a hill. Apparently, they were pumping water into the boiler so that when the loco headed downhill the water didn't run away from the boiler.



I met up with Alicea and Mary at Castlemaine, and after I watched the train turn around on the turntable, I joined them in the car and we drove back to Moama, via the shops.

Australia 2006 - Paddlesteamers

Tuesday 11th April
I slept better last night and we had crumpets for breakfast.

We popped into Echuca and booked a ride on one of the paddle-steamers for the afternoon. The guy that sold us the tickets knew of Kent in the UK and spoke of 'two oaks' meaning Sevenoaks and the 87 storms. We also popped into a juice bar and had a smoothie each, before driving to see Nick and Natalie's place.

Their place is quite nice, but is in the middle of nowhere. They are doing a lot of work on it and Nat's family were over helping build a pen for the dogs as well as doing other stuff. We spent about an hour or so there before leaving for Echuca once more.

At Echuca, we parked at the port and had some lunch at the Star restaurant. We had sandwiches and some chips and wedges.



Then we had a quick look around the wharf before boarding the PS Pevensey for a leisurely cruise along the River Murray. It was nice and relaxing and the scenery was great.




After the cruise we had a quick look around some of the other buildings, including an underground bar and tunnel where the locals used to escape from the police when drinking.

After that we brought a few bits at the local shops before returning back to Mary's where I cooked myself a courgette and pumpkin risotto and Alicea had stew on toast which, apparently, is one of her favourites.

Australia 2006 - Echuca

Monday 10th April
I slept in two halves. Despite having some indigestion – I was so full after the meal - I fell asleep fairly shortly after going to bed, but woke up around 2ish and then took a couple of hours to get off again. I heard Ray leave for work somewhere around 3.30 and I must've fallen asleep sometime after that, as the next I knew, it was 8 o'clock.

I got up and cooked some pancakes for brekky as Mary had made a mix up although, to be honest I am still full from the meal last night.

Alicea, Mary and myself drove into Echuca and went shopping at Coles where we bought some food for dinner tonight and the barbecue that Mary is having at the weekend.

Once we had returned to the car, we drove to the old Port part of Echuca which has all the historical buildings. We wandered around a redgum furniture place – there was a fantastic table and a magnificent breakfast bar there – before going to a couple of places to do some wine tasting. We bought a nice Merlot to accompany tonight's dinner and a white port, which was really nice. I also bought some nice olive oil from one of the places that press their own. On the way back to the car, we popped into a fish & chip shop where Alicea had some Dim Sims. From there we went back to Mary's and then popped out briefly to drop some dry cleaning off and have a quick look around the nearby Safeways where I managed to pick up some veggie bacon. The current quest is to find some vegetable suet as it seems to be fairly unknown here, and Mary is going to make some syrup dumplings.

Once back at the house we cooked our dinners. Mary had done herself and Ray some lamb cutlets and Alicea made herself some Spaghetti Bolognaise. I made papardelle with zuccini and chilli.

After dinner we sat down and began to watch the TV, but we were both still tired, so around 8.30pm we decided to retire to bed.

Australia 2006 - Arrival

Sunday 9th April
We awoke and breakfasted at the Hilton around 10ish. After checking out we picked the car up from Budget and began our trip to Moama to see Alicea's mum and Ray. The car is a Nissan Pulsar and has cruise control, which is a bonus when you are driving long distance and have to watch the speed limit.

After an initial mistake, where we missed a couple of turn offs, we were on the road to Echuca and Moama. We stopped at a small town to go to the loo, but other than that it was a straight though drive and we arrived at Mary's around about 2.3ish.

Their new house is really nice. It's spacious and really well laid out. Our bedroom is a good size and the bed is very comfy.

We sat around for the best part of the afternoon chatting with Mary, Ray and Nick (Alicea's nephew) and it really feels like we've never been away. It was good chatting to Nick. He's a chef at a local restaurant and we spent quite some time talking about food. He's quite keen on getting a better knowledge of vegetarian food and has asked me to send him some recipes when I get back.

In the evening we went into Moama and ate at the Border Inn Hotel, which is where Nick chef's, although tonight it was his night off. The food was very nice – and the gnocci was the best I've had for a long time. After eating we went back to Mary's where we watched CSI before going to bed.

Australia 2006 - Getting There

Saturday 8th April

We landed at Singapore more or less on time. Apart from the stewards forgetting my food, the flight was straighforward and fairly smooth. The planes have outside cameras which let you watch the take off and landing or what you are flying over, which is quite fun. We only had about half an hour at Singapore, so we rushed around duty free where Alicea bought herself a gold charm.

The flight was a bit late taking off, which meant we were around half an hour late landing at Melbourne. I was really pleased that we had booked into the Hilton Hotel opposite the airport as we were able to have a shower and fall into bed vitually straight away after we had cleared customs.

Australia 2006 - On the Way

Friday 7th April

The taxi picked us up just before 10am and dropped us at Edenbridge station. The train was on time and got to Gatwick nice and early, enabling us to check in and have something to eat. The flight to Dubai was fairly uneventful and we had a couple of hours at Dubai airport to look around.