Back to Brisbane

The past few weeks have been more slowly paced and less exciting since I returned from Auckland. Chris and I spent four days in Melbourne staying at a YHA; it felt strange to be in what I consider my home city in Australia but to be staying in a hostel amongst tourists and other such commoners (joking!...). Nonetheless it was great to be staying in the CBD, and especially in North Melbourne, which is a part of the city I like a lot but don't often go to. We were right next to the Queen Vic markets and I enjoyed visiting the lively shopping hub every day for a cheap lunch, to shop for essentials or to catch up with friends at the famous Wednesday night markets. As happy as I was to be back in my favourite city, the Victorian winter was starting to chill us and Chris' thoughts were always with returning to Brisbane, something he has looked forward to for most of our time living in Melbourne. Regrettably I didn't make the most of my last few days in the city; I think I was worn out from three weeks of constant movement and put off by the less-than-appealing temperature outside. Of course I regret it now, missing my favourite city and thinking of it longingly every time we can't find a decent restaurant or order a rubbish coffee here in Brissy.

Nonetheless, I'm in no position to complain and I am certainly enjoying the twenty degrees weather of a Brisbane winter. Things have been slow-paced here for me as Chris has mostly been out working on a construction site every day and I have often found myself lacking the motivation to go out and do things. But I've seen some of the city's museums, including the fabulous Queensland Art Gallery on the South Bank, and volunteered for a day doing some conservation work on a wasteland in the suburbs- hard graft under the sun but I think that's what I needed after a week of laziness! The weekends are more fun as Chris is around; last weekend we visited Mount Coot-tha in the suburbs and enjoyed the botanical gardens and the great views of the city.

We don't yet know how long we'll be staying here; Chris needs to save up money before we can hit the road again. But the plan is to chase the sun and travel up north to tropical Cairns, taking in Northern Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. Then we would both love to visit Darwin and the neighbouring Kakadu National Park. I have six weeks left until I return to the UK, which is plenty of time to see more of Australia, but I hope we can be on our way again before too long. I do like Brisbane very much- its great weather, its stylish South Bank and its free ferry trips up and down the river- but my feet are itching to move, to see new places and get rid of this feeling of limbo.

Trip to the ice-rink in Melbourne with our former flatmates

A last visit to Hosier Lane to check out the latest works

Poster in support of migrants/refugees, Bakery Lane, Melb

The ultimate Melbourne souvenir- AFL socks bought at Queen Vic markets

Enjoying the awesome Brisbane views from cliff-top New Farm

An evening at the night noodle market on the South Bank

A scaly friend at the botanical gardens, Mt Coot-tha

Big-kid Chris enjoys feeding the ducks

The view from the top

My new favourite lunch spot: at the Queensland Art Gallery's cafe

Magnificent views at night

Auckland

I don’t think my arrival into New Zealand could have been much lovelier. After a three and a half hour flight from Brisbane and hopping two hours ahead in the new time zone, we descended over the North Island as the sun set, which cast pink hues onto the clouds that drifted leisurely over dotted islands. Rolling green hills came into view and I felt excited about my arrival in a new and beautiful country. From Auckland airport I took the bus into the city and found my way to my hostel on Karangahape Road- known locally as K’Road- with its numerous small Turkish and Asian cafes. I met my dorm mate Ryan, a cheery American at the start of a round-the-world trip, before heading out for a quick dinner of pizza and beer. I didn't feel like venturing much further out after that, and went to bed to the sounds of Friday night revelry on the street outside, preparing myself for a day of exploring in the morning.

I didn't have much of a plan for my first day in Auckland, but came down the hostel stairs happy to find myself in a haze of winter sunlight and coffee steam from outdoor café tables. It was a crisp, bright day in Auckland, and I was lucky that the fine weather continued for most of my stay. I wandered down the steep hill of Queen Street and made my first stop at the art gallery. The building of the gallery is magnificent, with large glass panes allowing beautiful views through to Albert Park, and wooden ceilings and pillars decorated with Maori-inspired motifs. I was shown around by a friendly guide called Trish, and the gallery provided interesting insights into New Zealand culture and history. Afterwards I wandered through Albert Park with its lovely view over the city (I was to find many such vantage points over the next three days) and found my way down to the harbour, where there happened to be a Maori festival on, with stalls and a dance performance. I couldn't see much as it was heaving inside, but upstairs I chanced upon a great little photography exhibition put on by Greenpeace commemorating a history of protest in New Zealand. The photos spanned from the mid-twentieth century to the present day, incorporating peace campaigns, anti-nuclear protests and direct action, protests against the Vietnam War, Maori-rights campaigns and student protests. One of the Maori rights campaigns that caught my attention took place in the 1980s to campaign for the Maori language to be incorporated as an official language of New Zealand. Everywhere I went in Auckland official signs were always displayed in both English and Maori, and this reminded me of how change always comes about in society by people fighting for it. The last exhibit was a mirror, and the accompanying sign reminded visitors that their actions and decisions can help shape the world. It was a nice detail that I liked very much. Leisurely I made my way back uphill and finished the day in the stylish suburb of Ponsonby, where I browsed the boutique shops and enjoyed yet another great view of the city- Auckland is very hilly, with its CBD on low ground near the waterfront, allowing for lots of unexpected and spectacular glimpses of it wherever I went.

Sunday was a busy and tiring day for me, but very rewarding nonetheless. I took a morning ferry across the Waitemata Harbour to Rangitoto Island, an extinct volcano with brilliant hiking opportunities. The main walk is a moderate hike up to the summit, and as the herd of passengers disembarked onto the island, everyone set off in that direction at varying paces. Being a volcanic island, the foliage was wonderfully lush and green, and the sun showered down as I crunched over the black lava rocks. I reached the top and had a look at the crater; I had never seen a volcano crater before, and it was only distinguishable because of the distinctive bowl shape of the land. All was covered in trees and bushes, with the exception of a captivating little circle of grey ash right in the middle without much growing on it, which filled me with an incredible temptation to go down there and stand right in the middle of it. But I sensed that if I did so I would probably inadvertently cause an unexpected eruption and devastate most of Auckland, so I decided to keep to the assigned paths. A short way further up was the lookout point, and the views were fantastic. It wasn't the view over the city that impressed me as much as the view of the rest of the Hauraki Gulf, which is made up of several lush green islands. It was certainly a pleasant place to sit and eat my picnic. After resting up a while I continued, this time hoping to take a route that would distance me from the crowds. I definitely succeeded in that respect, finding a walking track away from the direction of the wharf which I had just to myself and to the birds. Neighbouring Rangitoto is another island called Motutapu, and the two are connected by a narrow causeway. I had aimed to head a little way onto this island before taking a long coastal track back to the wharf, but in the end I decided to play it safe and turned off before the causeway. I reflected on what a colonial attitude it was of mine to feel compelled to go to the other island purely for the accomplishment of setting foot on it, but in the end, that is what travel is often about.

The coastal walk began with wonderful secluded views of the bay before turning off into the forest for most of the way. It became hard going and I realised that I shouldn't overestimate how much I can do! In any case, I made it back to the wharf with lots of time to spare before my ferry departed, and I was so worn out I could hardly compel my feet to explore any further. I had possibly overdone it a little, particularly as all the travelling I've done recently had brought me down with a cold which I had hoped to remedy with some fresh air and moderate exercise. Instead I had worn myself out enough to bring on a severe case of the sniffles. I was chilled through when I got back to the hostel, so I warmed up with a hot shower and went out for a bowl of udon noodles and some green tea, which I couldn't taste properly because of my cold. I went to bed feeling a little sorry for myself.

Thankfully, I enjoyed a tremendous night’s sleep after my long day of activity (doubtlessly ensuring the opposite effect for my room-mates) and woke up feeling miles better. I promised myself I would take things easier today, and I did... to begin with at least. I had decided to go to the Auckland Museum to learn about New Zealand’s history, and set off in that direction first thing. The museum- a grand neo-classical building on top of a hill with another great vantage over the city- is located in Auckland Domain, a huge park that also houses a delightful wintergarden. I went here first, enjoying the surroundings and indulging in generous sit-downs to rest my legs that were still complaining from the day before. Next I went on to the museum, and paid the fairly steep entry fee of $25 for international visitors, with no student discount, I was dismayed to find. I was further disgruntled to find half of Auckland’s juvenile population running and shouting through the galleries. I hate the school holidays. Grumpiness aside, the collections were spectacular- and I even managed to avoid most of the children if I went to the least colourful and interactive galleries. The ground floor is devoted to Polynesian and Maori history, and contains huge numbers of anthropological artefacts from different Pacific islands. I found it really useful to learn about the time scale of Polynesian migrations across the Pacific; I didn’t know before that New Zealand was the last country in the world to be settled by humans- the first Polynesian migrants are thought to have arrived around 800 years ago, the descendants of the Maori people. In contrast, Aboriginal people are thought to have arrived in Australia as much as 60,000 years ago.

Upstairs, the second floor focused on natural history, and I particularly enjoyed the volcano exhibition. Of course, volcanic and tectonic activity is of great significance to the lives of New Zealanders, and the exhibition sought to explain both the risks and the importance of volcanoes to life, as well as explaining the science behind them. It was like A-Level Geography all over again. Finally, the top floor is dedicated to war memorials and war history, but I spent less time here as my brain was already worn out after taking in the first two levels. I went back out into the sunshine and enjoyed another rest looking out over the city and the harbour. In the afternoon I ventured into another suburb of the city, Parnell, which is referred to as a village and is suitably quaint. Northeast of the main shopping strip is a wonderful park and rose garden, on the top of a hill facing straight out onto the bay, and it was a beautiful spot to relax and soak up the surroundings. From here I walked on to Parnell Baths, a historic outdoor saltwater pool that is now closed for the winter, but looked as though it would be a fantastic place to spend an afternoon in Auckland. I followed the elevated walkway around the baths and looked down into the murky water half-filling the pools. There is something eerie and captivating about abandoned swimming pools!

In my rough plan for the day I had considered a walk to a seaside resort called Mission Bay, if I had time and energy for it after the museum and Parnell. It was only four o'clock when I found myself at the baths so I decided to walk some of the way around the bay to use up the rest of the daylight. Well, I didn't quite make it to Mission Bay- I had had enough by the time I reached the headland that precedes it- but I was in time to watch the sun set from a wooden jetty where silent fishermen cast their lines out and took no notice of me. I think the expedition was probably worth this pleasant moment, but I certainly didn't enjoy the long trudging walk back to the city. It must have been about five kilometres- not what I needed after a full day walking about town, especially after promising myself a leisurely day. After what seemed like an endless road, I reached the CBD and turned up Queen Street to head to the hostel. And I was taken aback by the number of homeless people lining the street as commuters headed home. It really put things into perspective for me. I had noticed early on that there seemed to be lots of homeless people on the streets in Auckland- many of them Maori- but on Queen Street that evening it was very striking and saddening to see. I also noticed that the City Mission was advertising its Winter Warriors campaign on bus stops to help the city's homeless over the winter, and I will include a link to their website here in case anybody reading this would like to make a donation to help the city’s many homeless men and women.

Finally I came to my last day in Auckland before an evening flight to Melbourne, and wasn't certain how to fill it. In the end I decided to take the short ferry trip across the water to the seaside village of Devonport. The good weather didn't last into Tuesday and it was an overcast day; I can see that Devonport would be very pretty when the sun shines on it, but today it felt very quiet and empty. Firstly I headed up to Mount Victoria, a small hill overlooking the town, which allows views in all directions. From here I got a great view of Rangitoto in all its dark, symmetrical glory. I came down the hill and stopped to look at the writers’ house, principally because I’d never heard of a writers’ house before. The cottage was originally built as a signalman’s house when the hill was used for an artillery emplacement. Later it was established as a house for visiting writers and writers-in-residence in honour of the late Michael King, a popular New Zealand historian who died tragically in a car accident in 2004. His Penguin History of New Zealand, according to the information sign, remains a hugely popular and significant history of the country, and his engaging writing style has earned him the title of 'the people’s historian'. I happened to find a copy of the book in a great second-hand bookshop in Devonport, and so far I can see why King was praised in this way.

In the afternoon I visited the Tepid Baths, another historic swimming pool in the city- but this time an indoor pool that I could visit, complete with sauna and steam room. I enjoyed the chance to have a swim and use the spa facilities. A woman in the jacuzzi even asked me if I was alright as I was so red, but I explained to her that this is normal for me. ‘You could poach an igg in here’, she added in her Kiwi twang. I dried off and felt very refreshed as I headed back into the city. My Auckland visit came to an end as I boarded the bus to the airport and set off back to Oz. I’m really glad I had the chance to see this lovely and surprising city, and I know I’ll have to see more of New Zealand one day. 

Auckland from the summit of Rangitoto

The view on the coastal walk

Heading back to the city

The wintergarden

View from Parnell Rose Garden

Parnell Baths

Sunset over the City of Sails

Rangitoto viewed from Mt Victoria, Devonport

Exploring the West Coast

It’s been a busy and fun couple of weeks getting to know a new part of the country. Mum, Dad and Grace arrived in Melbourne on a Friday night and we spent the weekend walking around the city and taking a daytrip to the lovely Wilson’s Promontory National Park on the most southerly tip of the Australian mainland with its beautiful white beaches, very tame marsupials and great sunset views. The following week we had an early start to fly to Exmouth in Western Australia by way of Perth. Chris and I wished goodbye to our suburban home of the past four months without a backwards glance, but as our taxi took us through Melbourne in the pre-dawn darkness I was glad I wasn’t having to say goodbye to the city yet. We arrived in Perth after a four-hour flight and sat in the lounge as we waited to board our much smaller plane on to Exmouth further north, and Chris and I discussed Perth’s status as the world’s isolated city. A Google search told us that this classification was based on the measure of being the city furthest from another settlement of over 100,000 people. I thought about the roadtrip ahead of us from Exmouth to Perth and couldn’t believe we wouldn’t pass through a town of a hundred thousand until we reached our destination. I think at that stage I hadn’t quite grasped just what Western Australia would be like...

A Wilson's Prom sunset on the winter solstice

Exmouth was hot and dry; a welcome surprise after several winter months in Melbourne. We picked up our car and left the tiny airport to drive through dusty red desert. We were to spend many hours on the road on our journey of over a thousand kilometres and overwhelmingly this consisted of single-lane roads that we had all to ourselves, passing through vast plains of scrub or deserts crowned with hundreds of termite hills in all directions. What struck me most about WA was the vast expanses of sky everywhere we went as it was all so flat, and the sky was always blue. Exmouth turned out to be an intriguing little settlement of no more than two thousand that had only been established in the 1960s as an American military base for spying on its Cold War enemies. It was sparsely populated and most establishments were staffed by European backpackers earning their rural work quotas for their working holiday visas. We stayed for three days, enjoying that holiday feeling of drinking beer at midday and pursuing outdoorsy activities such as snorkelling, swimming, sea kayaking and jogs along the beach. The next stop on our itinerary was Coral Bay, which was no more than a large resort but was still a lovely place with a beautiful beach (we were spoiled for beautiful beaches over the two weeks). Here we had a brilliant trip on a glass bottom boat to see the coral and do a spot of snorkelling. The coral here was hard, not soft, so didn’t share the wonderful colours of soft coral as in the Great Barrier Reef, but nonetheless it was hugely abundant and unspoiled and we saw lots of beautifully shaped corals. While snorkelling we were lucky enough to spot a turtle that let us swim around with it for ages, and at another spot found ourselves in the midst of a huge crowd of fish. Chris freaked out more than a little when he thought the fish were attacking him, but (obvious to everyone except him) it was a little prank played by the boat staff who threw fish food off the boat around us. And I found that having a laughing fit while wearing a snorkel certainly produced some interesting noises.

We spent a night in a tiny place called Carnarvon where the main attraction was a creaking wooden jetty a mile long out to sea with a café at the start. I don’t think it’s particularly fair to form judgements about places I’ve merely passed through- not that you need very long to see all that Carnarvon has to offer- so I’ll just say that I don’t have a huge amount to say about Carnarvon! Throughout the trip we stayed at a couple of such places, but nonetheless it’s been an interesting insight into life in Australia’s largest- but often most overlooked- state. What we sacrificed by way of diverse dining options and reliable Wi-Fi we gained in sunsets over the sea almost every evening and the freedom to do whatever we wanted without the impediments of traffic, queues and scores of tourists. Our next stop was Denham, a long drive down Shark Bay and onto a peninsula that homes the Francios Peron National Park. On the way we stopped at Hamelin Pool to see some stromatolites, which are- as far as I can understand- ‘microbial platforms’ and at an impressive three billion years old are the world’s oldest living organisms. Observing these unremarkable rock-like lumps in the shallow waters it was hard to fully appreciate their significance, but even so you knew by their age alone that you were looking at something special. Even if they don’t look it. Denham was a nice little town with a beautiful waterfront and in the morning we set off early for Monkey Mia, a neighbouring resort that has become famous (at least by the standards of the area) for its dolphin-feeding sessions (called ‘experiences’) that take place every morning that dolphins and visitors show up. There were perhaps fifty people at the first ‘dolphin experience’ at 7.45am, the most people we’d seen in one place since we left Melbourne a week earlier. Even so, the experience was managed tastefully, and staff were at pains to stress that every effort is made to ensure that human interaction does not compromise the normal hunting and socialising behaviours of the dolphins. It seemed that it was all being managed very sustainably with a focus on education, which was good to see. We got to see the dolphins close-up in the clear, shallow waters and it was all good fun. After the dolphins had been fed their quota of three fish each, they swam off and the crowds dispersed. It seemed that the majority of tourists hit the road again after this, but we decided to stay in Monkey Mia a bit longer to enjoy the views and the tranquil atmosphere. After Denham came Kalbarri, one of our favourite places on account of the lovely rugged cliffs and choppy waves that made it very scenic. We hit the road again after two days exploring the town and the neighbouring national park, and our next destination was Dongara. On the drive down we took a small detour on a special request of mine to visit an eccentric place called Hutt River, a sovereign state since 21^st April 1970 when a farmer named Leonard Cassey succeeded from Australia following a tax dispute with the state government. Today the self-appointed Prince Leonard and his son Prince Graeme welcome curious visitors to their country, where you can purchase a visa or get a stamp in your passport and receive a tour of the main sites- the post office and government building, the museum and the interdenominational chapel named in honour of the late Princess Shirley. We were shown around by Prince Graeme- who took it all astonishingly seriously- and saw the flag of the principality, photographs of their various representatives around the world and an assortment of other oddities. Rather unsettling was the collection of passports and ID cards supposedly donated by visitors. As my mum pointed out, they all belonged to white, bearded German males, and the faces staring up through the glass cabinet made us wonder whereabouts on the farm they had been buried… Joking aside, it was certainly a bizarre place. Notably, all the daughters of the family had left Hutt River at the first chance to head to Perth, and we promptly followed suit.

Chris at Carnarvon's jetty

Mum enjoying the stromatolites at Hamlin Pool

...And here's what the big deal is

Tranquil Denham

Morning dolphin-spotting at Monkey Mia

Here's a close-up

Grace explores

An abandoned station in the Francois Peron National Park, left as a museum for visitors

The family enjoys another sunset

Pelican-feeding at Kalbarri

Patient pelicans and a sneaky seagull wait their turn

Great views at Kalbarri National Park

My lovely mum and dad

Monument to Prince Leonard at Hutt River Province

At Dongara we stayed in a former nunnery turned to a proper outback-style pub hotel. It was a majestic building with lots of polished wood and a nice terrace, but the rooms felt they’d been left over from the seventies so we didn’t spend too much time in them. Our last stop before Perth was Cervantes, where we had a nice apartment which we all appreciated. We enjoyed a barbie and some beers in the afternoon sunshine before heading out to see the intriguing rock formations of the Pinnacles National Park at sunset. Finally it was on to Perth. We were all looking forward to seeing a city that none of us had been to before, and especially to returning to the urban delights of good coffee and more than one option for dinner. We stayed in South Perth, across the Swan River from where there is a great vantage of the city. South Perth was dominated by apartment blocks, tidy tree-lined roads and tennis courts and it felt as if we could have been in a rich Asian suburb- indeed, Perth is famously closer to Singapore than Sydney and in South Perth it certainly felt this way. On our first evening we took the ferry across the river and walked up to Northside for dinner. After a week of pub grub we all fancied Asian food for tea, which was a good job as that was pretty much all that was on offer. We were even lucky enough to encounter the opening night celebrations of a new Chinese fast food joint, involving a colourful dragon performance on the roadside. The next day we went to check out Fremantle, a town in Perth’s suburbs that once functioned as a port and today is a hipster haven with trendy brunch spots, a market, second-hand bookshops and the (brilliant) Little Creatures brewery. On our last full day in Perth we were unlucky to have rain, but we used the opportunity to duck into the city’s art gallery and museum, which were both very interesting. At the art gallery we were treated to a tour by a lovely volunteer called Jenny, on the subject of Western Australian artists. The charismatic lady was often diverted by other artworks she liked that weren’t by WA artists, but that was all part of the charm. The rain continued into the next morning, when we took a damp morning walk onto a small island in the Swan River, where kangaroos can be spotted. We did spot some, but even more remarkably, I caught sight of a school of perhaps five or six dolphins making their way up the river. We certainly weren't expecting that!

Dongara treats us to another wonderful sunset

The surrealist landscape of the Pinnacles National Park

Chris checks out the view

We arrive in Perth

An incongruous sight- dolphins in the Swan River

After such a flying visit to Perth we took off again to travel across the width of the country to Brisbane, after having said goodbye to Chris at the airport as he was to head back down to Melbourne. We arrived in the evening and picked up a car for the hour’s drive north to the Sunshine Coast, where we stayed with family friends Julia and Mike for two nights. They took us on a whirlwind day out, starting with a morning coastal walk through the national park at Noosa (which I had walked part of with Chris back in February), then to the local pool for a bracing outdoor evening swim, rounded off with a walk in the park and a meal at the local Thai restaurant. Finally, we came to my family’s last day of their trip. We left the Sunshine Coast in the morning and headed back to Brisbane by way of the Glasshouse Mountains. We visited the same viewing point and café that I had been to five months earlier, and it was lovely to revisit the places I had really enjoyed back then. We reached Brisbane in the late afternoon, in time for a leisurely walk through the botanical garden and along the south bank. We had dinner in Chinatown, not far from the hostel I was staying at that evening, and then it was time for them to walk me back and to say our goodbyes. It’s always sad, especially after having had such a lovely time together over the past three weeks, but at least this time it’s only two months or so until I’ll see them again, which made it a little easier.

A morning walk at Noosa

Glasshouse Mountains

Saying goodnight to Brisbane

The Story Bridge in red

Suddenly all by myself, I kept myself busy at the hostel for a few hours before getting an early night. I was up early in the morning before my flight on to Auckland, and decided to make the most of my morning with a walk around the city. I left my hostel a bit after seven and walked through the upmarket clifftop suburb of New Farm with its wonderful views over the river, the bridge and the CBD, before descending to the riverfront to walk along the smart new boardwalk. It’s not often I’m out and about at that kind of time (the hours before 9am are a complete novelty to me), so when I do I feel incredibly self-satisfied about my achievement. I topped it off with a fresh OJ and smoked salmon and scrambled egg sourdough amongst Brisbane’s business people on the riverfront, still marvelling to myself that it was only 8.30am.

By midday I had boarded my flight, and I touched down in Auckland just as the sun set this evening, giving me beautiful views as I descended over the island. I’ve checked into my hostel and been for a beer and pizza tea, and that’s about as much exploring as I fancy doing tonight. Tomorrow I’ll set out and get my bearings in this new city and new country!…