Hmmmmm

It's been a while (not including last night) since I've posted! But at least I have a way to go before matching Mum's gap between posts, which is about eight months! (I wonder when the next post will appear!!)

But what do you do when you think that you haven't got anything to say!? Waffle on about everything and nothing and send everybody to sleep or just leave it until you do have something to say, only by which time everybody thinks that you have abandoned your blog and so they wont visit again!

Anyway....have been back from Australia for just over two weeks and two things are apparent to me; firstly - was it really only two weeks ago? It feels more like four weeks! Secondly - I miss being on holiday! All that lovely sunshine and utter lack of responsibility!

Coming back from a holiday (particularly a far-flung one) is strange, there is the usual let down of having to go back to work again, but also there is that sensation of wondering whether you have actually been at all!! If it weren't for my tan, you'd hardly think that I'd been away at all. I almost have to say to myself, emphatically, "yes, you have been to Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and the Whitsundays".

I have had lots of lovely comments about my holiday photos and there are some that I am particularly proud of - here are a few!

Firstly - proof that was I indeed there and it wasn't all a figment of my imagination!!

Took this one on the ferry heading towards Sydney, I think that it was the day I went to Darling Harbour.

Sunset off Brighton (!) Beach in Adelaide where the temperatures hit 40 degrees!

Waterfall in the Blue Mountains just north of Sydney.

How's that for a little selection of the 800-odd photos I took in three weeks!!

Final Australian message!

You may have been wondering where I have been for the last few days? Well, I was in the sub-tropical Whitsundays on Hamilton Island and for some odd reason the one computer available to use kept blocking the use of blogger. Which was really annoying, but now I am at Sydney airport waiting for my flight home.

Actually, that is a bit of an understatement - do you remember that I mentioned that I had a voucher for the Qantas lounges at the airport? (if you look a few posts back you will see that I had trouble with my television screen on the way over and so they gave me a few vouchers). Anyway, I am now in the Business Class lounge and I can see over the top of my screen to the centre of Sydney! Can't see the bridge or the Opera House, but it is enough to know that they are there!

I am looking forward to coming home, although I am not certain how the flight will be as my back is a bit sun burnt! I went sailing on Friday and didn't notice until I got home that my back was a bit pink! Whoops - I thought that I had put enough suncream on, but clearly not enough!

Anyway - I am going to go and make use of the free tea, coffee, food, wine, etc that seems to be available in the Business Class lounge - what luxury!! Mind you, I don't think that I will be drinking anything alcoholic as that really wouldn't be a very good idea just before a long flight!

Melbourne

Am now in Melbourne for a few days! Arrived on Thursday and leave on Tuesday for the Whitsundays.

Still trying to squeeze in as much as possible, went for a tour of the Great Ocean Road on Friday - didn't get off to a great start as the minibus suffered a blown tyre on the freeway!! But the driver (and a few passengers) managed to change the wheel and we were off again - lots of twisty and windy roads with fantastic beach views!

Yesterday went to the City Museum and the immigration museum; second museum about immigration that I have been to - I just find the whole subject so fasctinating - what courage it must have taken to sail thousands of miles to create a new life for yourself.

Today I am busier still, popped along to the Queen Victoria Building where there is a very big market - all kinds of things - fruit, meat, seafood, clothes, tourist stuff, etc etc - even took a photograph of a pile of baby octupus all ready to cook! (ewgh!). Have just been to the Old Melbourne Gaol - fasctinating stories, visited the Watch House where we all got treated as suspects!! Had a photo taken of me holding a serial number! Will put that one up as soon as I get back home!

Now I am in another natural habitat - Victoria State Library - I don't suppose that many tourists know that these libraries provide free internet access!! Then this afternoon I am off to Melbourne Museum and then on the way back to the hotel I plan to stop for an iced chocolate drink at KokoBlacks - a well known chocolate haunt for Melbournians!!

The Grand Prix is on in Melbourne at the moment, but it does not appear to disrupt city life too much - only when the spectators are coming and going from the racetrack, then you see them in their droves - all wearing those laminated passes around their necks!!

Still hot!

It's still hot in Adelaide - I think that the forecast for today is 36 degrees! Fortunately I have been sensible and stayed out of the sun as much as possible whilst drinking like a fish! (water that is, not alcohol!)

The wedding is now over, Sarah is now Mrs Halliwell! We all had a great time, even though it was hot - lots of photographs have been taken and I will share some of them with you when I get back to the UK as I have too many to try and upload and pick through for your viewing pleasure! (I think that I now have about 500 photos on my camera!!)

The wedding ceremony was quite different to what you might expect to see in the UK - the rings were "warmed" by the wedding guests, Sarah and Phil shared wine and said vows - it was all very unusual but at the same time very moving. Sarah was certainly very emotional at certain points during the ceremony.

Anyway - I am still in Adelaide and go swimming with the dolphins tomorrow morning before flying to Melbourne on Thursday where I have a tour of the Great Ocean Road on Friday.

Hot Hot Hot

Adelaide is currently experiencing a serious heatwave at the moment - it is about 13 degrees centigrade above the average in March! Today is 40 degrees which is actually hotter than Alice Springs in the middle of Australia which is at a mere 35 degrees! And let me tell you, it certainly feels hot!

Still, it is nice and cool here - I have found my natural habitat - the State Library of South Australia!! (they let you use the internet free here!) Still, I think that everybody simply ambles from one air conditioned building to another!

For those of you that don't quite know what is happening when - the wedding is tomorrow (Sunday 9th March) in the late afternoon; it will be held at Tapestry Wines in Mclaren Vale about 45 minutes outside Adelaide. We are all a little concerned about the weather, especially poor Sarah as she will be wearing a wedding dress - quite how heavy the dress I do not know, but I do know that the men will be wearing suits! So, it is a good thing that the venue is heavily shaded!

This time I am staying with my Aunt and Uncle in a caravan park that is right on the beach! The cabin is tiny (I think that my hotel room in Sydney was bigger than the whole of this cabin!), but it does have air conditioning!

Like I said - hot, hot, hot!

Adelaide

Am not in Adelaide just yet - my flight is this afternoon! I am a bit worried about the Adelaide weather - the temperatures for the last few days and today has been in the 30's!! I hope that I am up to that kind of heat!

Oh well, it's a bit late now as I am off to the airport in about an hour and will be met by my Aunt and Uncle at the other end with plans for a dinner at an Italian restaurant tonight!

The opera on Wednesday was wonderful - a fantastic, modern version of La Boheme - both moving and funny with superb music - those opera singers certainly know how to maximise lung volume!

Visited the Blue Mountains yesterday and descended the Giant's Steps - vertigo inducing for those that don't have a head for heights - I have taken lots of photos just for you Mum! The mountains were lovely and cool in the shade with the fragrance of eucalyptus hanging in the air.

Well, I had best be off now as I am running out of my allotted time for the internet and before I head for the airport I need to get some souvenirs from the Tourist Information Centre - which is where I am sitting at this very moment.

Sunshine

It is another sunny day here in Sydney, although it is a bit cloudy today. I have just had a late breakfast after walking in the Botanic Gardens before picking up my ticket to the Opera House for tonight!! Today I am off to Darling Harbour by ferry to see the Wildlife Park and perhaps do a bit of shopping!

Some of the local shops are nothing more than you'd see at home - Borders (!), MacDonalds, Starbucks etc! But there are a few shops that aren't to be found all over the world - one of the supermarkets is called Coles and I believe that another one is Woolworths! Clearly not the same Woolies that we might find at home!

Yesterday I took a bus to Spit Bridge and walked along a well known route to Manly - a seaside resort about seven miles from Sydney, although I don't think that I walked quite 7 miles! I then had the traditional fish and chips on the beach - lovely! Caught the ferry back to the centre of Sydney and then traipsed about trying to find some new sandals!! Found some in the end, but also had a good time rummaging around the shops - some familiar and some not so familiar! There is a shop called Billabong which I think is similar to Fat Face in the UK and I expect that I will buy some flipflops (called thongs in Australia!!) from Billabong or some other shop - gotta have flipflops in Australia - they are everywhere - as part of a casual or office or posh outfit!!

Tomorrow I plan to head off to the Blue Mountains and then on Friday to visit the Museum of Sydney in the morning before catching my flight to Adelaide in the afternoon!! Hopefully I be online again in Adelaide to tell you a bit more about my travels!

Sydney!

I have been in Sydney for a few days now and am trying to do as much as possible without totally exhausting myself!

The weather has been gorgeous so far - apparently Sydney has had a rather wet summer so far, well, apart from a few drops of rain this morning, I have not seen any sign of rain, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed for good weather!

Have taken too many photos of the Opera House, seen too many spiders (although they haven't actually gotten entangled with me!) and have walked what feels like several miles!

The hotel is gorgeous, I actually have a really good view of the Harbour Bridge from my bedroom window and a partial view of the Opera House.

The strangest thing about Sydney is the sheer range of dress to be found, there are all sorts - from the short skirt and vest top (me right now) to the office women wearing tights (urgh - in this weather!) to the guys wearing jeans and sweaters!! I suppose that heat is relative really, I mean - coming from the UK where it is fairly cold at the moment - this 24 degree heat is just lovely for me, but if you are an Australian and are used to 30-40 degree weather then 24 degrees may just feel a bit cool!!

Singapore!!

Well, this is it, I have made the first leg of the journey - next one starts about 45 mins late as the plane has been "retimed" as they call it!!

So far so good!! The anxiety experienced yesterday I could have done without!!

Singapore has been the best bit so far though as I have just had a lovely refreshing shower and rather forceful massage!! I clearly needed it though as my back and shoulders feel all liquidy!! It was jolly painful though, at least it got rid of all those kinks that developed as I tried, and failed, to sleep on the plane!!

Am really looking forward to getting to Sydney though as then that is the end of this journey that seems to be rather arduous! Ooh, I have just realised that there are rather a lot of exclamation marks in this post!! (look another one!)

Still, that does rather reflect my excitement and the fun that I am having - I mean - look, I am on the internet in Singapore (!) am I really? Of course, I can't really say that I am in Singapore, cos I wont get to see any of the city proper - I don't even go through customs so I feel a bit of a fraud there!

I will see if I can find an internet cafe or two during my travels, so keep checking back to see if I have written anything interesting!

For the moment though, I need to jump back on another plane and keep going!!

Update: well that was daft of me - I bought some water and some face wash at Heathrow after I'd gone through security and was expecting to be able to take them all the way to Sydney - but, no - there is another security check in Singapore - never mind the fact that I haven't left transit or left my bag unattended...oh well, I suppose those rules are there for a reason - good job it wasn't a bottle of wine or something like that as the water and face wash got summarily thrown in the bin!!