Jali's Journey

Sunday, 4 June 2017

The Journey Home

We left Hong Kong for an evening flight bound for Dubai, where we would change for a flight to London Heathrow. The first 9hr flight was thankfully half empty so we had a lot of space on the giant A380 Emirates plane to spread ourselves out on the seats to try and get some sleep. The flight was memorably bumpy and we passed above an amazing lightning storm which flashed and cracked lighting up the clouds.

A 3hr changeover in Dubai in the middle of the night is never going to be ideal but we managed and on the last leg of the journey we endured a much busier flight. However, thankfully we had a lovely air steward near to us who was very kind and friendly with the boys. Ben definitely slept the best out of all of us and he doesn't even get a seat to himself!

We arrived at Heathrow at 7.30am, bleary-eyed but happy that we'd arrived safely and with all our luggage (and pushchair!) intact. Hooray! The boys had done fantastically, taking everything in their stride as usual. Now it was just a coach trip from the airport to Reading station where we met 'Grumps' ready with hugs, kisses and firm handshakes for us all. How strange that 6 months earlier he had waved us off at the exact same spot where we met him.

Over the next few days, we were 'introduced' back into life in England in the best way possible: well looked after by Granny Ann and Grumps in their village home in Wiltshire, surrounded by the most beautiful quaint English countryside that seemed all the more welcoming as the Spring sun shone down. Quite the homecoming.

The Emirates A380 that would fly us home

On the coach to Reading station, tired but happy.

Meeting Grumps again

With Granny Ann

The lovely village of Great Bedwyn

Walks in the English countryside

Canal boats

Cow parsley and parish churches and blue skies

Hong Kong Capers

After a month of travelling around Australia with all the packing and unpacking, we were pretty tired and travel-weary. Ready to come home to be honest. However, our 4-night stay in a smart hotel in Hong Kong was definitely worth it...

We had a 7hr daytime flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong which was hard-work with Ben only managing a 40-min nap. However Sam happily sat in his seat all the way, watching TV shows and playing on the iPad. We only prised him out for toilet visits and to stretch his legs. Arriving in Hong Kong, we - with all our heavy luggage - managed to somehow navigate our way on the airport express train and then underground metro. We popped up in Causeway Bay, near our hotel on a street so busy with people, traffic and neon. We were hit by the humid heat even in the late evening.

Our hotel was excellent - a really swanky 4-star affair and we were really looked after. A cheeky mention of our Wedding Anniversary (the following day) and wine, chocolates, cakes and a card were arranged to be brought to our room. Our view looked out over Victoria Park. Lovely. We had a fantastic time in Hong Kong and the boys loved it. It was indeed completely different to anything we'd experienced in NZ or Oz - a feast for the senses, a bonkers but amazing city. We loved riding on the old trams which wind up and down the busy streets with the skyscrapers towering above and all around us. A trip up to the mountain on the super-steep old Peak tram gave us a stunning panorama of the city skyline. We walked around the city streets admiring the glorious HSBC building and then walking around the gardens at St John's cathedral. Taking a Star Ferry across the bay to Kowloon allowed us to explore Kowloon park (and swimming pool!) and track down an old temple hidden amongst all the new buildings. We ate some lovely food, even though not all of it was quite what we imagined when we ordered it!

In a lovely chance meet up, we met our friend John who was spending a few days in the city. John lives round the corner from us in Manchester so it was great to see a familiar face and have coffee and lunch and a catch up at the excellent Maritime museum.

Looking out of the hotel room window

Lovely hotel room gifts

Riding the Hong Kong trams

Tram riding

On the Star Ferry

The city skyline at night

Late night

The view at the top of the Peak Tram

Norman Foster's iconic HSBC building

Some big shoes to fill

With our friend John outside the Maritime Museum

Road Trip to Melbourne

Our road trip to Melbourne took us to some lovely spots, mostly following the coast around the south-east of the country. We enjoyed a relaxing stay in Eden - a small town by a beautiful coastline. We spent three nights in a beach-front cabin that was just metres from the sea. A really special spot. We enjoyed some dips in the sea and found a lovely secluded spot behind some rocks with a perfect sea pool for skinny-dipping. The local area has a whale-fishing history and when the season is right, people flock to the area to spot whales. We enjoyed a day out exploring some of the historic whaling station sights and lookout tower.

A couple of nights were spent near Nicholson where we visited nearby Raymond Island - a short ferry hop onto a small island where koala's inhabit the local trees. There's a 'Koala Walk' that leads you down residential streets and you can look out for the furry creatures dosing in the trees. It was a great place for a picnic too and of-course the obligatory playpark session.

Onwards to Cape Paterson (near Inverloch) for a stay near the rough and rugged coast with some wet and windy weather. No sunbathing on the beach here, just walks in our wet-weather gear.

The journey continued to the end of the Mornington Peninsula where we caught the ferry in Sorrento that would take us the 40-min trip across the bay to Queenscliff. There were dolphins jumping through the waves as the ferry set off (Jonny missed them as he was in the toilet...). Queenscliff is a lovely little town and it's a shame we only had time for a one-night stay at a cosy old cottage with lots of character. We enjoyed fish and chips and a relaxing evening watching 'The World's Fastest Indian' (a great film about New Zealander Burt Munro who raced motorbikes).

The next day we set off to drive down some of famous Great Ocean Road. This starts in Torquay and snakes its way unsurprisingly along the coast south west of Melbourne. We had a lunch stop in Torquay with time to visit the Australian National Surfing Museum. This was a pretty cool place and entertaining even for non-surf buffs like us.

The journey took us through some pretty spectacular coast - beautiful scenes with huge oceans, rolling waves and vast skies. We stayed two nights at Apollo Bay in the Eco YHA there. This allowed us to take a day trip to the lighthouse at Cape Otway, Australia's oldest working lighthouse. Sam and Ben enjoyed walking up the narrow winding steps to the top where we enjoyed some special views out to sea. We then went on to see 'The Twelve Apostles', a famous spot on this route that is packed with tourists who come to see the cliff towers that stand tall and mighty in the sea along the coastline. It was certainly an impressive sight and unsurprisingly busy - not just with people on foot but with helicopters buzzing overhead giving people rides down the coast.

We left the coast and made our way to Melbourne - our final destination on our Australian adventure. We had four-days booked to explore the city and then to make our escape to the airport. With an Air BnB booked at a house north of the city in Coburg, we could take a train to the centre for some sight-seeing and much-needed souvenir shopping. While in Melbourne the sun shone and we enjoyed hanging out in Federation Square, riding the trams, walks in the Botanical Gardens, visiting the impressive ACMI - Australian Centre for Moving Image and walking down some of the quirky graffiti covered side streets.

The last night of our stay was spent packing and repacking our bags, throwing away the non-essentials to make room for souvenirs and travel keepsakes. The next day was to be an early start.

The beach at Eden just outside our cabin

A lovely secluded swimming spot

Typical Ben - invites himself to breakfast with a Mauritius family

Koala trail at Raymond Island

Koala spotting, Raymond Island

Rainbow at Cape Paterson

Leaving the Mornington Peninsula for Queenscliff

Action shot on the Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean road views

Cape Otway lighthouse

Climbing up the winding steps

Windy at the top

The Twelve Apostles

Family shot at this busy tourist destination

Melbourne - Federation Square

Possum at the Botanical Gardens

Children's garden

Old characteristic buildings in Melbourne central

Graffiti-strewn side streets

At the ACMI - Australian Centre for Moving Image

Tuesday, 25 April 2017

Hello Australia

Since arriving in Australia a couple of weeks ago we have had a whirlwind tour of Sydney and Canberra, exploring the cities and meeting up and staying with friends. "Toto, we're not in New Zealand anymore": this country is HUGE.

So we arrived - but only just made it. We actually made the BIG mistake of forgetting to arrange our Australia visas and only just realised when waking up on our last day in NZ. However, we luckily managed to get some last minute visas online and we were able to board our flight later that evening. We 'crash landed' late in Sydney, tired out, staying in a cheap and cheerful hotel in what we realised was a rather seedy part of the city (Kings Cross).

However, the bright sunny morning that greeted us was much welcomed having escaped the rain from NZ. As we took a stroll outside we were immersed in the vast, cosmopolitan city that is Sydney - quite a shock to the senses. That morning we walked through the beautiful botanic gardens, spotting the new and exotic birds and dodging some rather scary looking spiders. Walking round the headland to Mrs Macquarie's Chair, we were able to see the majestic view of Sydney Harbour bridge and the Opera House. Fantastic.

We met up with Juliet and Mark: Ali's friends who have been living in Sydney for a while and who had very kindly arranged for us to stay at her friend's house while their family were on holiday. The house was perfect for us as they also have two young children, so there were plenty of toys and books to keep Sam and Ben happy. The house was in the Balmain suburb, a great spot full of charming Victorian buildings with independent coffee shops, bars and eateries. It was lovely to have 'our own home' for a few days and a sense of normality: we enjoyed having Juliet and Mark come over for dinner, enjoying good company with the boys tucked up in bed. A walk away down the main bustling street was the Balmain ferry terminal so it was simple to hop on a ferry that took us 10-minutes to busy Circular Quay passing under the harbour bridge and past the Opera House. Our stay in this part of Sydney took us to The Rocks and a great Sunday craft market. We had a day out to Manley beach where Juliet and Mark live playing on the local beach and getting a 'feel' for the Sydney lifestyle. Ali even had a night out for another school friend's birthday in Bondi, whoohoo!

Our next stay was with Dick and Jenny who are friends of Ali's parents. They live in a Pymble, a suburb north of the city and on a train line that takes you 30mins to get into the city. Dick and Jenny were so kind to let us stay with them and made us feel very welcome. The boys were happy exploring their house and playing with old family toys and model trainset (under Dick's careful supervision!). They even babysat for us one evening so that Ali and I could head out to the local winebar and enjoy a delicious dinner sans kids. Hooray! We fitted in a few more Sydney activities: the aquarium and the Eye Tower. We also had a day out at the Royal Easter Show which is a big annual event full of agricultural-based stalls, shows and entertainment. We enjoyed baby animal petting, horse displays, food tasting and a train ride. Sam event won a cap for dancing along to 'George The Farmer' and his children's songs.

We said farewell to the big city and headed to Australia's capital city: Canberra. After a 3hr bus ride we were met by Ali's lovely friend Eve. We were to stay with Eve and Tim and their dog Wilma for five nights, with them being such super hosts and letting us and the boys into their home. We packed so much into our Canberra stay as well as celebrating the Easter weekend. We visited 'Questacon' - The National Science and Technology Centre. It was an awesome place full of 'hands-on' experiments for both children and adults (Ali and Jonny tried the 'freefall' slide...) I'm sure we all learnt a lot as well as having lots of fun. The National Museum of Australia is a big modern museum with some interesting displays and artifacts - our visit gave us just a glimpse of the history behind this great nation.

A day out to Tidbinbilla nature reserve saw us head out to the beautiful hills and bushland. On our nature walks we were thrilled to spot koala bears, kangaroos, wallabies and even platypus splashing in the wetlands.

For Easter Day we set up an Egg Hunt for Sam and Ben in Eve's garden (with eggs hopefully out of eye-sight and smell from Wilma the dog). They loved finding all the eggs and a 'giant' egg at the end. Tim cooked a beautiful leg of lamb for our Easter feast lovingly and slowly spit-roasted over the BBQ. With salads and trimmings it was the most delicious meal.

While in Canberra we made a rough plan for our next two or so remaining weeks in Australia that will take us to our final destination, Melbourne. We decided to visit the Australian Alps and then head to the coast. With a hire car arranged (much needed for all our baggage) we said 'farewell' to Eve and Tim and headed off to Thredbo, home to Mt Kosciuszko and at 2228m, Australia's highest mountain. We enjoyed two nights at a YHA enjoying the last of the sunny weather before the winter season opens in June. Jonny had a fantastic day downhill mountain biking on the hills, hiring a bike and with a ski-lift pass took rides to the top before descending down on the steep, twisting routes down the mountain. Ali, Sam and Ben also had fun and took a ride on the lift to the top. It's hard to imagine that these parched slopes will eventually be covered in snow and full of skiers and snowboarders.

Just a note: we've just worked out that since leaving Dougie and up to the end of our trip, we will have stayed in 17 different places (hotels, hostels, houses, cabins). Wow. That is a lot of packing and unpacking...