We left Bali and flew to Singapore.. Brian wanted to buy an Ukulele from a shop we had found in Singapore when we were last there, but once he had decided to buy it, the shop was closed... so this time ha ha ha we were getting a cab straight into town, in between flights , an Indian in Little India and then he was getting himself a Ukulele !!
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| Should have bought it first time !! |
so off we went .. and guess what ... SHOP SHUT !!!! arrrghhh ... a sodding public holiday ... poor Brian , it was like telling a kid he was getting a shiny BMX bike for Xmas and when he opens it on Xmas day its a barbie doll .. he was crushed .... I felt so sorry for him .. still we had a nice meal and got back to the airport where we threw wine down our throats and waited for our flight to Darwin .
This was the most uncomfortable flight we have had ... not helped by a pesky group of Indians , who stood up more than they sat down .....
Flight was not helped by the most wonderful thunder and lightening storm which prevented us from landing .... the lightening flashes from the plane were amazing ... a very bumpy ride, Brian was swinging the old rosary and I did find myself muttering the lords prayer but hey ... we made it .. Into Darwin Australia .. at 5am !!! lovely .. although the sunrise was spectacular ... our room was ready ( that prayer paid off ) .. so straight to bed to try and feel normal .....
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| Deckchair Cinema |
That afternoon we headed to the waterfront for the evening fish feeding session... it was such a lovely warm evening and the sunset was awesome, you get to hand feed fish with bread at high tide , there were hundreds of them , barramundi, barracuda, rock cod, batfish ... milkfish which look like sharks.. it was a really great thing to do .... but constantly aware of any box jellyfish which prevent you from going in the water !!! nuts .... From here we walked along the lovely prom avoiding extremely drunk families of Aborigines to get to the Deckchair Cinema, an outdoor cinema showing a film called Win Win .. a film we normally would not have chosen to watch, but hey we are in Oz and fair dinkum it was pretty good.. .. it was so lovely to sit outside, watching the sun go down then the stars come out, in a deckchair with a pillow and a cold beer .... Struth it was Bonza Mate !!....all for a whopping £70 ... 2 tickets , 2 beers, 2 plastic meals ... it is so frigging expensive here its ridiculous ....
The next day we wandered around this bleak boring town , to find internet !!!! cant believe we have been in jungle / Laos / remote parts of the world and not only got WIFI but it was free !! here .. no WIFI and if you do find it , it is £8 per hour ... I would n't give a XXXX for that !! we found it , in the City Library .. so after a lot of SSSHHHHH having spoken to mum on skype we left . Bought snacks for the room as even a pizza here is £20 , and its crap ... everything shuts here early, it is soulless, atmosphere less, culture less, no style no character, I just don't get it ,
The next day we were up and at it , picked up at 7am by our tour bus for our trip to the outback ... the bus had an eclectic bunch on board... 2 dull Norwegians, a Pole fluent in English with the most dreadful accent who Lurrrved to speak English ... two gay Singaporeans, an Anglican priest with her ex spy (GCHQ) husband, and a fat family from Luton, of which the husband had the sweatiest bollocks Brian had ever seen ... it looked like he wet himself .... the chaffing alone must have been uncomfortable , oh and a Mick who spoke to nobody all day long ..... this made good material for a great trip....
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| termite mounds |
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| Incy Wincey |
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| Beautiful falls |
The first stop was to see the magnetic termite mounds ... these mounds are taller than us.. some having taken 70 years to build by these tiny termites ( ants ) as it is so darn hot they build then exactly North to South so as to receive a little sun exposure as possible , when the sun does hit it , it causes a shadow on the other side to keep it cool ... unbelievable... they were loads, and it looked like a cemetery which pleased the Irish Catholic Brian .. nothing pleases them more than a death and a cemetery !! From here it was onto the first waterfall.. we seemed to be driving on incredibly boring straight roads, with nothing but scraggy rock and scrub forest... there was absolutely nothing here, which had its appeal for about 20 minutes !!! the first falls were lovely, a lovely trek in 30 degrees with 100 % humidity... we saw some huge spiders and the Pole was really struggling his pole was handy as he could hardly walk !! but he was up for everything .....The next falls was stunning, very high and falling into a huge Billabong.. Brian and I swam out to the falls, and right upto it, the power from it was incredibly uplifting , it felt like a helicopter trying to land next to you, the roar of the falls, and the spray coming off it was a very special moment.. at that the Anglican Priest swam or near drowned upto me , I grabbed her hand and she shouted " it doesn't matter where you are in the world God is with you - open your mouth and drink him in !!!! " I was really laughing as old sweaty bollocks was upstream of us and Brian was shouting back " alleluia to that sister" .. we swam back to find the pole dragging himself from the falls in his Underpants and flicking leeches off his foot !! ( already been invaded and occupied by others ) !! we were told that this pool had fresh water croc in it, but they were harmless ! have you seen the teeth on those things !!!! it was onto the next falls which were 8 tiered and beautiful , we all slithered over them like seals and jump from one pool to another ! Much to Brian Angst !! the priest threw herself in after me ( 67 years old ) and took a while to come up ,, when she did I grabbed her again... she spluttered .. thank you my angel, what is your name ... oh yes .. " Gabrielle " well it was as if the clouds had parted and our good lord was looking down at her !! arrrrrhaaaaa !! she was speechless !! as we were towelling our selves off, brushing baby leeches from our arms and legs, I told Brian he might want to check his crown jewels for leeches !! he then says to the priest " you might want to check your Holy undercarriage " laughing , she replies " why is mine Holier than others " nice reply !!! she was great fun ..
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| on the dunny |
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| 11th Nov 2011 11am |
Back on the bus , where the heavens opened ( him upstairs was obviously mispleased with our Holy comments ) you couldn't see out of the windscreen , our female driver (who gave us a lengthy Health and Safety chat at the start, which was amusing having travelled on death rides for the last 3 months ... weird not seeing piles of rocks on the back of buses to REBUILD roads as you go along ) was freaking out , especially when our windscreen wiper flew completely off and she could not see at all.. we had to pull over and wait for the storm to pass.. which of course I found hilarious and was becoming disruptive .. and was desperate for a wee..A really great day out.
The next day was rememberence day , and we headed for the Cenotaph, it was a lovely service, I sat next to an Aborigine who was with her care home, she was a didgeridoo short of a billabong but held my hand.. as always the service was very humbling, it was absolutely sweltering so we headed for the Wave Park an outdoor pool with 2m waves...you cant swim in the sea due to sharks and jellyfish ( great country this ) the pool was great fun and we bounced around in rings and on bodyboards for hours !!
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| Crocodile Dundee |
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| opera house |
The next day we headed for Crocosaurus Cove ... it was brilliant, like a crocodile zoo, you saw the wardens feed them, they are so fast, strong and agile, a bit like my Brian !! there was a lot of WHOAAA !! as the crocodile tore meat from the wardens rod .. we then got to fish for the juvenile crocs.. they jump really high and are so strong.. we loved it, we then got to hold a baby one ...pretty awesome day, I certainly wont be swimming in a billabong after seeing these bad boys...The next day we were flying to Sydney ...so we left Darwin, It has been like staying on Wincheap Industrial Estate for a week, at least in Wincheap you can see the Cathedral Spires !!! funny place this , everything shuts at 3pm and it is like a ghost town .. we did everything Darwin had to offer so gave it a fair chance , but I am sorry Oz lovers... it is dull dull dull.. A lovely flight, well apart from Brian turning my tv over 12 times with his bony elbows !! we arrived in Sydney at 10pm got the train into town and walked a mile with our rucks on to our Hotel .. up and at it the next day , we went to the Australian War Memorium in the park, through gardens , down to the Botannical gardens, to the art museum, down to the Opera House, which stands very proudly at the harbour side, and looking at the ugliest bridge man has made !!( why does everyone take a photo of it !! have they not seen Tower Bridge, or Clifton Bridge !! its such an eyesore on an otherwise lovely city.. We then went to 3 music shops to buy Brian a sodding Ukulele ... he tried about 10 .. guess what .. talked himself out of it !!! arrgghh..
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| Cousin Jayne |
We were meeting my Cousin Jayne for dinner and we were very excited... first bit of family in nearly 4 months !! we even put on clean clothes !! I used an iron for the first time !! we went to meet her in Darling Harbour and had a lovely evening chatting away, watching the sun go down and eating yummy food.. Jayne was looking amazing, and Brian couldn't take his eyes off of her !! ( I know those stunning looks run in the family ) thanks Jayne for coming to meet us ....xx it was back to our hotel to pack and get ready for our new adventure... New Zealand - Bring it on ...
The first stop was to see the magnetic termite mounds ... these mounds are taller than us.. some having taken 70 years to build by these tiny termites ( ants ) as it is so darn hot they build then exactly North to South so as to receive a little sun exposure as possible , when the sun does hit it , it causes a shadow on the other side to keep it cool ... unbelievable... they were loads, and it looked like a cemetery which pleased the Irish Catholic Brian .. nothing pleases them more than a death and a cemetery !! From here it was onto the first waterfall.. we seemed to be driving on incredibly boring straight roads, with nothing but scraggy rock and scrub forest... there was absolutely nothing here, which had its appeal for about 20 minutes !!! the first falls were lovely, a lovely trek in 30 degrees with 100 % humidity... we saw some huge spiders and the Pole was really struggling his pole was handy as he could hardly walk !! but he was up for everything .....The next falls was stunning, very high and falling into a huge Billabong.. Brian and I swam out to the falls, and right upto it, the power from it was incredibly uplifting , it felt like a helicopter trying to land next to you, the roar of the falls, and the spray coming off it was a very special moment.. at that the Anglican Priest swam or near drowned upto me , I grabbed her hand and she shouted " it doesn't matter where you are in the world God is with you - open your mouth and drink him in !!!! " I was really laughing as old sweaty bollocks was upstream of us and Brian was shouting back " alleluia to that sister" .. we swam back to find the pole dragging himself from the falls in his Underpants and flicking leeches off his foot !! ( already been invaded and occupied by others ) !! we were told that this pool had fresh water croc in it, but they were harmless ! have you seen the teeth on those things !!!! it was onto the next falls which were 8 tiered and beautiful , we all slithered over them like seals and jump from one pool to another ! Much to Brian Angst !! the priest threw herself in after me ( 67 years old ) and took a while to come up ,, when she did I grabbed her again... she spluttered .. thank you my angel, what is your name ... oh yes .. " Gabrielle " well it was as if the clouds had parted and our good lord was looking down at her !! arrrrrhaaaaa !! she was speechless !! as we were towelling our selves off, brushing baby leeches from our arms and legs, I told Brian he might want to check his crown jewels for leeches !! he then says to the priest " you might want to check your Holy undercarriage " laughing , she replies " why is mine Holier than others " nice reply !!! she was great fun ..
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