Raving Queensland
So back to Australia. Coming into Melbourne after my 6 weeks in NZ was a little depressing but after getting back to my friend David's house it all slotted back into place and I felt fine. It was good to catch up with him and his mates again as my first time there was short.
I have nothing much to say about Melbourne. It's a big city with one of the largest populations in Australia. It appeared free from pretensions and has a tram system that actually works. The centre is easily walkable and the taxis yellow. The MCG is massive and the weather this time of year cold and wet, like the UK. I met some of my mate's friends and had a good week and a half there. One weekend we spent out in the "country" watching some bogans trying to hillclimb in some tatty old cars. That was a highlight because it was ridiculous.
Melbourne was the stopover before my push Northwards to Cairns in the Tropical North of Queensland.
Queensland is regarded within Australia as the Hick State as it is largely undeveloped and the coastal areas are mainly farmland. At sea level they grow many fruits like banana, mango, papaya, and a lot of sugar cane. Further down the coast this cane gets turned into rum in the town of Bundaberg. "Bundies" is a popular mixer drink here that is basically rum and coke, is renowned for turning men feral and goes by the pseudonym of Wifebeater. Nice. You can see the Man On The Cairns Omnibus in his blundies (chelsea boot), stubbies (short shorts), and wifebeater (sleeveless tee-shirt) drinking this by the gallon.
Inland from the coast the altitude rises to about 700m and stays there because there's nothing else to do. These are called The Tablelands and this is where the dairy farms are. Rolling green hills, patches of rain forest, and mountains in the distance make for some lovely scenery. It is cooler up here and less humid which makes for a pleasant few days touring the countryside. One or two of the views reminded me of Emmerdale save for the huge insects and the humidity. I saw many waterfalls, lakes, and did some rain forest walks. These rain forests actually sounded like rain forest with exotic birds making Casio-like sounds and other things foraging in the undergrowth to a constant hum of cicadas. I didn't see any snakes though apart from the one I almost ran-over in my car. So much for the endangered list.
I spent a lot of time with friends I met while I was in Perth up there as one of them was competing in a triathlon. I almost missed the one minibus from Cairns airport to the hills and got up to Tinaroo way after dark. I could not find my hostel and was spaced after the comforts of Virgin Blue's Super Economy Flight so one of the local characters, a man called Bob Horriman, took me in. He had volunteered as a resident to host some competitors while they were there and his hospitality was second to none.
He is 88 years old and still runs marathons. He has been an engineer, draughtsman, mayor of Ringwood in Victoria, soldier, and competitive runner. I spoke at length with him about current affairs and cricket. He's still as sharp as they come and spoke of cricketing legends that he had actually seen play in his youth. Names like Bradman, Jardine, Hodge, and others who I have only ever read about he would speak about as if they had played only last month. Fascinating stuff. While I was there for the triathlon I spent a little time with him but went back a week later to spend some more time and see more of the countryside. It was he who congratulated me warmly on the result in the Ashes. He had really enjoyed the series.
I believe that the Queenslander's reputation as a "hick" is very unfair. It's a reputation brought about by snobby southerners from NSW who probably have never been into the bush, but I found everyone I met there to be friendly and straightforward.
One night there we frequented one of the (very) local bars in a tiny speck on the map called Kairi, not far from Atherton which is the "big" town. I walked in and felt a little uneasy but soon detected that most of the people in there were married couples and local soaks so there was not going to be trouble. Buying a beer and sitting at the bar with my friends we were soon being spoken to by some of the locals and sharing some good banter.
Luke, one of my friends, was drinking water as it was he who was competing the next day. The big local with a voice almost as large as his sideburns came over and started teasing him about this, good naturedly.
"You don't want to be drinking the water from round here, mate," he said. "It comes from the lake and the barra [barramundi fish] FORNICATE in it!". His mate at the bar screwed up his face at the word "fornicate", "Whyd'ya say that for?". "We have to be politically correct now, don't we?" he slurred and he returned to his wife and XXXX.
Luke confirmed the following day that the crowd from that pub were cheering them all on and singled him out for some extra encouragement. All good stuff.
We came back to Cairns after the event. Cairns is essentially a big base-camp with a few supermarkets and a lot of things nearby to do. I spent time white-water rafting which is good fun. The river that we rafted on is dammed (it must have done something bad in it's life) and they explained how by paying $20 each the power company open the sluices and the river flows more heavily making for good rafting. When we leave they close them, so in effect they can switch the water on and off as desired. I thought I did really well on this rafting though the photos they took and showed us at the end seemed to picture me cowering in the front of the raft holding on with my teeth. Pah, just bad timing.
I then went snorkeling for the first time in my life! Very exciting, this. They were able to provide me with prescription goggles which meant that I could actually see stuff in the water which was incredibly novel. This being the Great Barrier Reef meant that I saw a lot of brightly coloured fishes, coral and starfish. It was very pretty though I kept swallowing sea-water through the end of my snorkel. I looked like a Bo Selecta character with the very thick lenses on these goggles and a lot of snot running from my nose but it was worth it.
After a couple more day I went back to the Tablelands with Bob and have spent a relaxing (and dry of alcohol) 3 days there. It was a real pleasure driving around the Tablelands with him in the passenger seat. We ran a few errands as he has no car and then went and looked at a gorge and did some walking. He's still steady on his pins.
Tomorrow I travel South to Mission Beach and then start to see more of Queensland's coast. In my opinion Queensland is one of the prettiest states I have seen so far. Even from the air when I flew in from Brisbane it looked green and lush. Certainly towards the centre of the continent it becomes savannah as it gradually turns into the reds of the Northern Territory.
Good roads, nice people, nice climate, and NO flies!
I have nothing much to say about Melbourne. It's a big city with one of the largest populations in Australia. It appeared free from pretensions and has a tram system that actually works. The centre is easily walkable and the taxis yellow. The MCG is massive and the weather this time of year cold and wet, like the UK. I met some of my mate's friends and had a good week and a half there. One weekend we spent out in the "country" watching some bogans trying to hillclimb in some tatty old cars. That was a highlight because it was ridiculous.
Melbourne was the stopover before my push Northwards to Cairns in the Tropical North of Queensland.
Queensland is regarded within Australia as the Hick State as it is largely undeveloped and the coastal areas are mainly farmland. At sea level they grow many fruits like banana, mango, papaya, and a lot of sugar cane. Further down the coast this cane gets turned into rum in the town of Bundaberg. "Bundies" is a popular mixer drink here that is basically rum and coke, is renowned for turning men feral and goes by the pseudonym of Wifebeater. Nice. You can see the Man On The Cairns Omnibus in his blundies (chelsea boot), stubbies (short shorts), and wifebeater (sleeveless tee-shirt) drinking this by the gallon.
Inland from the coast the altitude rises to about 700m and stays there because there's nothing else to do. These are called The Tablelands and this is where the dairy farms are. Rolling green hills, patches of rain forest, and mountains in the distance make for some lovely scenery. It is cooler up here and less humid which makes for a pleasant few days touring the countryside. One or two of the views reminded me of Emmerdale save for the huge insects and the humidity. I saw many waterfalls, lakes, and did some rain forest walks. These rain forests actually sounded like rain forest with exotic birds making Casio-like sounds and other things foraging in the undergrowth to a constant hum of cicadas. I didn't see any snakes though apart from the one I almost ran-over in my car. So much for the endangered list.
I spent a lot of time with friends I met while I was in Perth up there as one of them was competing in a triathlon. I almost missed the one minibus from Cairns airport to the hills and got up to Tinaroo way after dark. I could not find my hostel and was spaced after the comforts of Virgin Blue's Super Economy Flight so one of the local characters, a man called Bob Horriman, took me in. He had volunteered as a resident to host some competitors while they were there and his hospitality was second to none.
He is 88 years old and still runs marathons. He has been an engineer, draughtsman, mayor of Ringwood in Victoria, soldier, and competitive runner. I spoke at length with him about current affairs and cricket. He's still as sharp as they come and spoke of cricketing legends that he had actually seen play in his youth. Names like Bradman, Jardine, Hodge, and others who I have only ever read about he would speak about as if they had played only last month. Fascinating stuff. While I was there for the triathlon I spent a little time with him but went back a week later to spend some more time and see more of the countryside. It was he who congratulated me warmly on the result in the Ashes. He had really enjoyed the series.
I believe that the Queenslander's reputation as a "hick" is very unfair. It's a reputation brought about by snobby southerners from NSW who probably have never been into the bush, but I found everyone I met there to be friendly and straightforward.
One night there we frequented one of the (very) local bars in a tiny speck on the map called Kairi, not far from Atherton which is the "big" town. I walked in and felt a little uneasy but soon detected that most of the people in there were married couples and local soaks so there was not going to be trouble. Buying a beer and sitting at the bar with my friends we were soon being spoken to by some of the locals and sharing some good banter.
Luke, one of my friends, was drinking water as it was he who was competing the next day. The big local with a voice almost as large as his sideburns came over and started teasing him about this, good naturedly.
"You don't want to be drinking the water from round here, mate," he said. "It comes from the lake and the barra [barramundi fish] FORNICATE in it!". His mate at the bar screwed up his face at the word "fornicate", "Whyd'ya say that for?". "We have to be politically correct now, don't we?" he slurred and he returned to his wife and XXXX.
Luke confirmed the following day that the crowd from that pub were cheering them all on and singled him out for some extra encouragement. All good stuff.
We came back to Cairns after the event. Cairns is essentially a big base-camp with a few supermarkets and a lot of things nearby to do. I spent time white-water rafting which is good fun. The river that we rafted on is dammed (it must have done something bad in it's life) and they explained how by paying $20 each the power company open the sluices and the river flows more heavily making for good rafting. When we leave they close them, so in effect they can switch the water on and off as desired. I thought I did really well on this rafting though the photos they took and showed us at the end seemed to picture me cowering in the front of the raft holding on with my teeth. Pah, just bad timing.
I then went snorkeling for the first time in my life! Very exciting, this. They were able to provide me with prescription goggles which meant that I could actually see stuff in the water which was incredibly novel. This being the Great Barrier Reef meant that I saw a lot of brightly coloured fishes, coral and starfish. It was very pretty though I kept swallowing sea-water through the end of my snorkel. I looked like a Bo Selecta character with the very thick lenses on these goggles and a lot of snot running from my nose but it was worth it.
After a couple more day I went back to the Tablelands with Bob and have spent a relaxing (and dry of alcohol) 3 days there. It was a real pleasure driving around the Tablelands with him in the passenger seat. We ran a few errands as he has no car and then went and looked at a gorge and did some walking. He's still steady on his pins.
Tomorrow I travel South to Mission Beach and then start to see more of Queensland's coast. In my opinion Queensland is one of the prettiest states I have seen so far. Even from the air when I flew in from Brisbane it looked green and lush. Certainly towards the centre of the continent it becomes savannah as it gradually turns into the reds of the Northern Territory.
Good roads, nice people, nice climate, and NO flies!