Erm, apparently we went to a dog beach that day just before Christmas. The human beaches are there if you walk up a bit. We'll know not to make that mistake again.
The meal we cooked for our guests went really well. After eating we bored them with the photos we've taken so far.
The pace of our travels has slowed right down. Christmas Eve we didn't do very much at all. The weather was so hot we were glad to have a cool house to sit in.
Christmas Day we got up early-ish and headed over to Jo and John's house for breakfast. They live just the other side of the golf course. Took about 30mins to walk it. We had fruit, croissants and posh fizz. Was lovely. When we got back James and I both spoke to our mum's. Our Christmas dinner was a kangaroo roast that was a bit chewy for me. More for James!!
We ventured to the beach in the afternoon. It was quite cloudy and not at all warm enough to go in the sea. There were loads of people at the beach like us - a lot of them riddled with alcohol.
Boxing Day we got the train into Perth town to find a bargain mp3 player for me (Mree) since mine broke 2 weeks in. You can't travel without music. We found a good one for about £25. We also made some preliminary investigations at the Tourist Information into the great train journey across Oz.
Our first train from Perth to Adelaide takes 43hrs 15mins (approx). We get to sleep through 2 nights in our special budget class reclining seats. I'm excited now, but it has potential to be horrendous.
We have discovered that the next train we can get is Wed 6 Jan. Which means we'll have spent 3 weeks in Perth out of our 2 months in Oz. I can think or worse places to spend 3 whole weeks of our trip tho.
Boxing Day afternoon we walked from town to King's Park, and through it, until my legs nearly dropped off.
Yesterday we went out for tea for the first time. It was a Thai restaurant. It wasn't bad but I have to say some of the meals we have cooked while house-sitting were much nicer. Ha!
We have about 4 days left in the house. We've really got to know the cats. Tibby is a young boy who keeps bringing in presents (yeuk) but is very affectionate and fussy. Winky is 15 and lives mostly upstairs on the mezanine so Tibby can't eat her food. She doen't like so much fuss but will come and sit on a chair with you if there is room.
They both talk a lot, Tibby shouts when he wants feeding. He is very funny.
We're going to go to the beach later on. It's super hot today. 39 degrees. We'll wait til it gets a bit cooler and throw ourselves in the sea - hopefully not on the dog beach.
Monday, 28 December 2009
Friday, 25 December 2009
Merry Christmas!!
In the words of Noddy Holder - Its Chriiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaasssss!!!!
A quick post from us in Perth saying Merry Christmas to all. And as a bonus here is a photo (yes, a photo!) of our kinda Aussie-style xmas dinner. Kangaroo - yum!
A quick post from us in Perth saying Merry Christmas to all. And as a bonus here is a photo (yes, a photo!) of our kinda Aussie-style xmas dinner. Kangaroo - yum!
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
No Sea Poos Here
Dunedin was grey and wet. Very unusual for the time of year we were told again and again by everyone we met.
We had booked a rather posh place to stay called LivingSpace. It was a mini apartment really, all new and posh. Of course the obligitary accommodation photos are linked here through Flickr.
Dunedin apparently means Edinburgh in Celtic. The city is the oldest in NZ and actually has builidngs made of stone higher than one storey and over 100 years old. It also has a Cadbury's World and more panel beaters than you can shake a stick at(!?).
We visited the botanical gardens (in the rain) and spent a very happy 10mins on a see-saw. We found our first charity shop and had a good old rummage. In the afternoon we went to the cinema to see Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things Are. We hijacked the 'state of the art theatre room' in LivingSpace in the evening to watch The Kite Runner.
Next day, Thurs 17 Dec, we spent a cultured couple of hours visiting the city's art gallery. There was a real flamin' Monet in there. Wasn't expecting that!
We flew to Perth that day, changing at Brisbane. We left Dunedin at 4pm and reached Perth at what should have been 5am to us, but was midnight Perth time. I utterly underestimated how long it would take us to reach WA. We fell into the Formule 1 we'd booked at Perth airport, and slept like logs.
In the morning we couldn't believe the weather. Proper sun with not a cloud in the sky. The weather forecast was 34 degrees! Whoop whoop!!
We hopped on a bus into Perth town centre, where we stayed for the day window shopping, eating lunch and lying in the park. We'd arranged to meet Lisa (friend from Birmingham UCE and London) and Jo and John (friends from Barratts, Camden) in Little Creatures in Fremantle. A great night was had. It's the best thing to sit in a pub on the other side of the world and your mates come through to the door to meet you.
Jo and John put us up that night. We walked back to their house in East Fremantle and crashed into bed. The next morning, Sat 19 Dec, the heat woke us up so we had some breakfast and went to Port Beach. The beaches are amazing here. I even will go in the water without any shoes on. There isn't a sea poo/slug/cucumber to be seen, and the water is the perfect temperature.
We were dropped off at Lisa and Dale's, in Spearwood, that afternoon. Was great to see Dale as he had his Xmas works night the night before and couldn't come to the pub with us. That evening we visited Gila and Pasqualie, the people we will be house and cat-sitting for.
They are lovely, so friendly and easy to get on with. We had tea and they showed us were everything was in the house. It's a great house, the upstairs has a mezanine with a sort of tv lounge. Gila paints and sews, she quite arty. Her pictures are up around the house. It's the best house sit we could have hoped for. It's walkable into central Fremantle and it's not too big for us to look after and keep clean. The cats are cute too.
Next day, Sun 20 Dec, Lisa and Dale took us to the supermarket for food shopping. It seems you have to have a car to be able to get around here. Everything is so spread out. Perth is enormous. I thought London was big.
That afternoon Lisa, Dale, me and James took Bella the dog to the beach. L&D are looking after her for family. We had another swim, the waves were bigger at this beach. Lisa had to pop to the pub she works at for a Christmas meeting, so we went with her, covered in sand, and had a drink outside.
Later on we had a barbeque of the best ribs I've ever tasted. I now eat all the meat! All of it!! Except the beef, which seems to be the promiment meat on sale here in the shops, but I still can't do the beef. Don't know why. It's a mental block.
Next day (21st) we moved into our house. We have the place to ourselves for 11 whole days! And the best bit is it's entirely free with unlimited internet access!! One our first day here we spend a lot of time uploading photos and keeping cool indoors.
Yesterday morning we walked to South Beach, which is closest to us and had another dip in the sea. There are dogs everywhere here. People have the space to keep them. Yesterday evening we went to the Moonlight Cinema in King Park with Lisa to see The Box. James and I were utterly unprepared with no food and hired beanbags. Everyone else had blankets and posh picnics. It did get a little bit chilly. We'll know for next time.
So now it's Wed 23 December. James has just worked out how to get the internet connected to the telly. He's rather proud of himself. We have guests coming for tea tonight. Jo, John and John's mum who is visiting for Christmas from South Africa. I'm making roasted tomato and garlic spaghetti and salad. I hope it works out. Wish me luck.
We had booked a rather posh place to stay called LivingSpace. It was a mini apartment really, all new and posh. Of course the obligitary accommodation photos are linked here through Flickr.
Dunedin apparently means Edinburgh in Celtic. The city is the oldest in NZ and actually has builidngs made of stone higher than one storey and over 100 years old. It also has a Cadbury's World and more panel beaters than you can shake a stick at(!?).
We visited the botanical gardens (in the rain) and spent a very happy 10mins on a see-saw. We found our first charity shop and had a good old rummage. In the afternoon we went to the cinema to see Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things Are. We hijacked the 'state of the art theatre room' in LivingSpace in the evening to watch The Kite Runner.
Next day, Thurs 17 Dec, we spent a cultured couple of hours visiting the city's art gallery. There was a real flamin' Monet in there. Wasn't expecting that!
We flew to Perth that day, changing at Brisbane. We left Dunedin at 4pm and reached Perth at what should have been 5am to us, but was midnight Perth time. I utterly underestimated how long it would take us to reach WA. We fell into the Formule 1 we'd booked at Perth airport, and slept like logs.
In the morning we couldn't believe the weather. Proper sun with not a cloud in the sky. The weather forecast was 34 degrees! Whoop whoop!!
We hopped on a bus into Perth town centre, where we stayed for the day window shopping, eating lunch and lying in the park. We'd arranged to meet Lisa (friend from Birmingham UCE and London) and Jo and John (friends from Barratts, Camden) in Little Creatures in Fremantle. A great night was had. It's the best thing to sit in a pub on the other side of the world and your mates come through to the door to meet you.
Jo and John put us up that night. We walked back to their house in East Fremantle and crashed into bed. The next morning, Sat 19 Dec, the heat woke us up so we had some breakfast and went to Port Beach. The beaches are amazing here. I even will go in the water without any shoes on. There isn't a sea poo/slug/cucumber to be seen, and the water is the perfect temperature.
We were dropped off at Lisa and Dale's, in Spearwood, that afternoon. Was great to see Dale as he had his Xmas works night the night before and couldn't come to the pub with us. That evening we visited Gila and Pasqualie, the people we will be house and cat-sitting for.
They are lovely, so friendly and easy to get on with. We had tea and they showed us were everything was in the house. It's a great house, the upstairs has a mezanine with a sort of tv lounge. Gila paints and sews, she quite arty. Her pictures are up around the house. It's the best house sit we could have hoped for. It's walkable into central Fremantle and it's not too big for us to look after and keep clean. The cats are cute too.
Next day, Sun 20 Dec, Lisa and Dale took us to the supermarket for food shopping. It seems you have to have a car to be able to get around here. Everything is so spread out. Perth is enormous. I thought London was big.
That afternoon Lisa, Dale, me and James took Bella the dog to the beach. L&D are looking after her for family. We had another swim, the waves were bigger at this beach. Lisa had to pop to the pub she works at for a Christmas meeting, so we went with her, covered in sand, and had a drink outside.
Later on we had a barbeque of the best ribs I've ever tasted. I now eat all the meat! All of it!! Except the beef, which seems to be the promiment meat on sale here in the shops, but I still can't do the beef. Don't know why. It's a mental block.
Next day (21st) we moved into our house. We have the place to ourselves for 11 whole days! And the best bit is it's entirely free with unlimited internet access!! One our first day here we spend a lot of time uploading photos and keeping cool indoors.
Yesterday morning we walked to South Beach, which is closest to us and had another dip in the sea. There are dogs everywhere here. People have the space to keep them. Yesterday evening we went to the Moonlight Cinema in King Park with Lisa to see The Box. James and I were utterly unprepared with no food and hired beanbags. Everyone else had blankets and posh picnics. It did get a little bit chilly. We'll know for next time.
So now it's Wed 23 December. James has just worked out how to get the internet connected to the telly. He's rather proud of himself. We have guests coming for tea tonight. Jo, John and John's mum who is visiting for Christmas from South Africa. I'm making roasted tomato and garlic spaghetti and salad. I hope it works out. Wish me luck.
Monday, 14 December 2009
South
Been a while since the last blog update, even including the very short "TV one" I did when we had only about 2 minutes to do do an update. It probably made no sense to anyone but me and Marie.
We are now very close to finishing the New Zealand part of the trip which is a bit sad because its blooming lovely in New Zealand, even when the weather isn't great. Its been a bit of a whistlestop tour so, in that spirit, heres a whitslestop low down:
After 3 rather drizzley days in Wellington we headed over to the south island on the Bluebridge ferry. Its was still rather miserable so we couldn't appreciate the scenery as it was mostly just mist and cloud but it was uneventful (no sinking!) and we arrived in Picton for our bus to Renwick on time. We spent a couple of days in Renwick (very small place near Blenhiem) and hired some bicycles and cycled around the surrounding wine country. We even did a spot of beer tasting at a microbrewery and bought a couple of "Moa's".
We then headed south to Kaikoura and went whalewatching which was good although the whole thing ran like a military operation (onto boat, off boat, outside, inside) and was a bit rushed but was still a good thing to do. We stayed in the Adelphi - but no-one was heard shouting "Just cook will ya!"
We then had a couple of days in Christchurch, which seemed a nice city although not much to do but wander around and we spent two nights in jail. It was then an early start to get the TranzAlpine across the Southern Alps over to Greymouth on the West Coast. This is when the rain started again.
The rain didn't stop for over three days - and it was proper rain too - not that namby-pamby North Island drizzle. After a quick night in Hokitika (which might be nice - we'll never know as we were holed up in our -admittedly lovely- hostel) we headed to Franz Josef to see the glaciers. Only you couldn't, because it was raining. I went on a Glacier climb which was really good (if wet) and poor Marie spend two whole days there without seeing even a glimpse of a glacier!
The rain finally stopped once we left the West Coast and headed into the mountains and to Queenstown. This is where we are now - its much nicer than I thought it would be. We have been luging (again!) and yesterday had a 13 hour round trip to Milford Sound. To say its impressive is an understatement. Sheer vertical cliffs, the height of two Empire State Buildings, shooting out of calm waters and then continuing up to snow capped mountains was just awe inspiring.
All of which brings us up to now- an Internet Cafe in the local shopping mall, waiting for our bus to Dunedin - our final stop in NZ before heading to Perth. I just hope that Oz is as good as NZ - its got a lot of live up to!
Also, I'm painfully aware theres not many photos on here which might be dissappointing for you (whoever you are) but hopefully once we get to Oz we'll have plenty of time to upload the photos and I'll post some on here for your delictation.
Blog soon
James
We are now very close to finishing the New Zealand part of the trip which is a bit sad because its blooming lovely in New Zealand, even when the weather isn't great. Its been a bit of a whistlestop tour so, in that spirit, heres a whitslestop low down:
After 3 rather drizzley days in Wellington we headed over to the south island on the Bluebridge ferry. Its was still rather miserable so we couldn't appreciate the scenery as it was mostly just mist and cloud but it was uneventful (no sinking!) and we arrived in Picton for our bus to Renwick on time. We spent a couple of days in Renwick (very small place near Blenhiem) and hired some bicycles and cycled around the surrounding wine country. We even did a spot of beer tasting at a microbrewery and bought a couple of "Moa's".
We then headed south to Kaikoura and went whalewatching which was good although the whole thing ran like a military operation (onto boat, off boat, outside, inside) and was a bit rushed but was still a good thing to do. We stayed in the Adelphi - but no-one was heard shouting "Just cook will ya!"
We then had a couple of days in Christchurch, which seemed a nice city although not much to do but wander around and we spent two nights in jail. It was then an early start to get the TranzAlpine across the Southern Alps over to Greymouth on the West Coast. This is when the rain started again.
The rain didn't stop for over three days - and it was proper rain too - not that namby-pamby North Island drizzle. After a quick night in Hokitika (which might be nice - we'll never know as we were holed up in our -admittedly lovely- hostel) we headed to Franz Josef to see the glaciers. Only you couldn't, because it was raining. I went on a Glacier climb which was really good (if wet) and poor Marie spend two whole days there without seeing even a glimpse of a glacier!
The rain finally stopped once we left the West Coast and headed into the mountains and to Queenstown. This is where we are now - its much nicer than I thought it would be. We have been luging (again!) and yesterday had a 13 hour round trip to Milford Sound. To say its impressive is an understatement. Sheer vertical cliffs, the height of two Empire State Buildings, shooting out of calm waters and then continuing up to snow capped mountains was just awe inspiring.
All of which brings us up to now- an Internet Cafe in the local shopping mall, waiting for our bus to Dunedin - our final stop in NZ before heading to Perth. I just hope that Oz is as good as NZ - its got a lot of live up to!
Also, I'm painfully aware theres not many photos on here which might be dissappointing for you (whoever you are) but hopefully once we get to Oz we'll have plenty of time to upload the photos and I'll post some on here for your delictation.
Blog soon
James
Sunday, 6 December 2009
We're Getting Riddy for Gists
Zumba! Its the great new way to lose weight and improve fitness with fat melting moves, combining the dancing styles of Salsa and Cumbrian. Apparently. And I want an Ab-Circle Pro too.
We have been watching too much NZTV the past few days, every place we've stayed has had tv in our room. Although we have managed to get outside too! Curently in Kaikoura, heading to Christchurch later today, went whalewatching yesterday (cue more Terrorvision songs....)
I can Zumba in my sleep.... Marie loves it, she's a lucky lady!
We have been watching too much NZTV the past few days, every place we've stayed has had tv in our room. Although we have managed to get outside too! Curently in Kaikoura, heading to Christchurch later today, went whalewatching yesterday (cue more Terrorvision songs....)
I can Zumba in my sleep.... Marie loves it, she's a lucky lady!
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