In the Bay of Islands

Now in our second day at the Sea Spray apartments in Paihia, Bay of Islands. Excellent facilities and just across the road from a nice beach of which we have made good use for swimming.

In general the vegetation is wonderful and the lovely lady wife is eulogising over a bright red tree (unknown variety but see photo) and the agapanthus which are everywhere

This evening we are heading off across the ferry to Russell to spend New Years Eve at a highly rated restaurant called Kamakura. Back on the ferry after midnight; I must have gone all romantic!

This morning we enjoyed a 4 hour cruise on the bay visiting most of the well known sites including the hole in the rock and yes we did see dolphins. The guy we bought our tickets from was a very pleasant ex pat and he was so delighted about the Ashes result that he gave us a 10% discount to which we were not really entitled. We stopped for around 45 minutes on Otehei beach on the island of Urupukapuka and surprise, surprise we swam again.

Now in New Zealand

We have now arrived in Paihia, Bay of Islands after travelling from Melbourne yesterday.

The cricket was so exciting that we had contemplated going back to the MCG for the morning session and the final rights but with a 3/4 hour walk to the ground and then back we decided it was just too big a risk for our lunchtime departure. Instead we had a lovely final walk around Melbourne taking in the Royal Exhibition Building and the Parliament Gardens before catching the free no 35 tram back to the hotel where we watched the last 1/2 hour of the cricket and saw the final 2 wickets. Celebrations all round!

The flight to Auckland was great and the the lovely lady wife was so relaxed she was almost flying the plane. Just as well she wasn't given the number of glasses of champagne consumed during the flight.

Stayed at a hotel close to Auckland airport overnight; picked up our hire car and drove the 3.5 hours to Paihia with no real dramas. Very mixed weather here with rain for a large amount of the journey but then out came the sun and we had a fantastic swim in the sea followed by a visit to the treaty grounds at Waitangi and an excellent seafood dinner.

Off on a cruise around the bay tomorrow.

Our day at the Test

The headlines in the local paper were again unfavourable to Ricky Ponting as we had breakfast before leaving for the MCG.

We walked the 2.7 miles to the ground, along with large numbers of others and took our seats just before it started. It is a tremendous ground. We had seats fairly high up but with a great view.

Well, we had a great day as you will know from the score and it was tremendous to hear the Barmy Army in such good form. They made the point at various stages of singing God Save the Queen, but changing the line "Long to reign over us" to "Long to reign over YOU", with considerable emphasis on the YOU. Not sure whether this was a sporting or a political statement, but it raised a laugh, at least from the English in the ground.

By the middle of the afternoon we needed our hats (first time in Oz that we have had such hot and unbroken sunshine) and at the end of play, we walked back to our hotel stopping in the centre for supper.

Today we have a few hours in Melbourne and then it really is the end of the first part of our trip as by tonight we shall be in Auckland in New Zealand.

Day 2 in Melbourne for us and Day 2 of the Test. Headlines in the local papers showed a picture of Ponting under the headline DISGRACE. Smug - of course we were!!

We set off for a ride round the City on the complimentary City Centre tram which takes in and explains a lot of the key buildings (and also stops near the MCG and so was full of people on their way to the Test). We stopped off close to the centre to do a walk through some of the old streets, taking on some of the arcades, which were very European in style plus a number of narrow lanes full of cafes teaming with people. We then could not resist a quick trip to Federation Square to catch up on the cricket and we stayed to watch a couple of overs - Pietersen and Trott were in at that point.

We headed by tram to St Kilda beach, the local beach for residents of Melbourne, complete with our swimming things, but it soon became clear that it would be too rough and too cold for swimming. We were told in Brisbane that we would need sweaters in Melbourne and they were right. Whilst this is not English weather, it is certainly not what we expected for summer in Australia.

We are now back to the hotel to take in a bit of cricket on Channel 9. At close of play Trott has 138 and Prior has 75 after surviving "being out" to a no ball on 6.

Off now to meet Ray's long lost cousin!

If it's Boxing Day it must be Melbourne!

We left the heat and humidity of Brisbane today and at the airport we found a cafe which was showing Channel 9, so we saw the first few overs of the Test, which initially did not seem to be going England's way. By the time we felt we should go to our gate (to avoid getting too engrossed and missing our flight), the Aussies were one wicket down and when we heard the score from a fellow traveller who had stayed longer it was 3 for around 35.

Ray suggested (rather hopefully I thought) that we should aim for 80 all out, but to our amazement, by the time we reached Melbourne, that was about where they were.

We checked into our hotel and after watching a couple of rather nervous overs of England's innings we headed down town and sampled the vibrance and variety that is Melbourne.

At Federation Square, there were deckchairs out in front of a giant screen showing the cricket so we could keep in touch with what was going on. At about 5.00 pm when it was clear that the Aussies were having a bad day there were long rather subdued queues emanating from the MCG. Needless to say Ray just had to capture the scene.

The neighbours of our friends, John and Sarah from Harrogate, were apparently there today as coincidentally were Ray's cousin on his mother's side who he has not seen for about 40 years. She and her son are visiting Melbourne and Sydney for both the last two tests, so we plan to catch up with them tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow we plan to explore Melbourne further (keeping in touch with the big screen at Fed Square) and then on Tuesday it us our turn. It is shaping up nicely.

Brisbane

Two full days in Brisbane now and still no sunshine. Very hot and very humid with rain at regular intervals but it has not stopped us walking all around the city and making full use of the day tickets including the ferries which are great. Yesterday evening we had dinner at a very nice pub in the Riverside complex and took the ferry back after dark; the views over the river and the business district were great.

Today Christmas Day was slightly more difficult with lots closed although the public transport was working a Sunday schedule. We decided to try a trip to North Stradbroke Island (Straddie) but having reached the ferry terminal after a train journey from Brisbane we found there was no ferry for 3 hours and then we would almost immediately have to turn around! So back to Brisbane it was with an interesting train journey, more ferries and finally a very good street restaurant for a late Christmas lunch. Moreton Bay bugs, scallops and enormous prawns for me and a very large steak for the lovely lady wife.

Back to the hotel for a couple of hours rest (and boring washing) before we head for the ferries again this evening. Really warming to Brisbane; a lively and vibrant city.

Arrived in Brisbane

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls (as they say in Oz)

We had a good flight into Brisbane and checked into our hotel about mid afternoon.

The sun is not shining and judging by the weather forecast, we won't see the sun any time soon.

In fact the forecast is for torrential rain in the north of Australia as far down as Brisbane over the Christmas period and there are the usual stories about staying in and stocking up!!

We had a good walk around the city yesterday and will do more exploring today.

Sunrise in Australian television has confirmed that Santa has left the north pole and air travel control have confirmed clearance to landing in Oz for tonight, notwithstanding the dreadful weather!!

Happy Christmas from Brisbane.

Great Barrier Reef

Back from our trip to the Great Barrier Reef and exhausted! Quite a difficult crossing particularly going out; strong winds and heavy seas. We were fine but lots of people suffered from seasickness. The attached picture is not of me but it could well have been except I was wearing a stinger suit in a rather fetching shade of blue. Really good experience and the reef is fascinating with countless species of corals and fish; which were all around us. As well as the snorkelling they has a semi submersible which gave an excellent view of the fish, turtles and corals.

Weather has not been great and we have hardly seen the sun whilst in the islands. A severe tropical storm is forecast for Saturday with up to 30cm of rain in one day. Luckily we will be in Brisbane by then.

Whitsundays

We are about to head off for our trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Staying on Hamilton Island which is quite busy and very expensive. Very beautiful all around but we haven't seen the islands at their best because the weather has not been great. Very hot and humid but mostly cloudy with the occasional rain shower some of which have been very heavy. Still enjoyed swimming in the sea inspite of warnings of Irukandji jellyfish

Moving on

Landed in the Whitsunday Islands a couple of hours ago. Shortly after arriving we experienced an extraordinary tropical storm and it is still throwing it down. The flight was delayed for a couple of hours because of very high winds in Sydney.

Very sad to leave Sydney as we had three great days there. On our last day, Sunday. we spent the morning walking through the botanical gardens which were wonderful. We saw the flying foxes roosting high in the trees and some flying. The signs suggest that they are not welcome visitors because of the damage they do but they made an interesting spectacle. We saw our first lotus flowers, which are stunning. They filled a pond in the oriental garden. We walked down to Mrs Macquaries chair which has a lovely view of the harbour and back around Farm Cove to the Opera House and Circular Quay where we caught the ferry to Manly.

We walked to Manly beach via the Corso and spent a couple of hours there swimming and relaxing. Initially it was slightly cloudy but the sun came out later and we realised its strength. Beautiful beach and lovely clear waters. We then headed back across the Harbour on the Ferry and after a short rest we were out again by ferry to Watson's Bay to visit Geoff Norman and his family, for drinks at his house then dinner at a lovely restaurant in Rose Bay. After a very enjoyable evening we headed back to our hotel through the lights of Sydney.

Off to dinner now!!

We love Sydney!

A great day yesterday and started with the bus to Bondi beach, a walk along the bay and of course a swim in the sea. Beautiful pristine sand and clear water. We then took the bus northwards to Watsons Bay and the bus dropped us off at the start of a coastal walk which we explored for a short distance. Fantastic views of Sydney Harbour and on the other side, the Pacific Ocean. Disturbed a family of blue wrens and one of the annoyed parents came very close to us in an attempt to distract us from the young ones -lovely! A light lunch at Doyles in Watsons Bay - yes I promise you it was a light lunch but certainly not inexpensive. We were joined at Doyles by four young Aussie lads wearing Reindeer antlers and not a lot else who had obviously rowed from Sydney; I promise you we had only one glass of wine. Sydney is great but cheap it is not; I think it's probably the most expensive city we've been to.

Took the ferry back to the hotel and after a brief interlude trying to encourage our cricket team (total failure) we headed off walking south through the city via Hyde Park and several other areas ending up in Chinatown where we dined at the Emperors BBQ. Very good and very authentic.

Bused back to the hotel and after a brief visit to the bar on the 36th floor (fantastic views of the harbour as you would expect) we collapsed into bed exhausted!

Enjoyed dinner last night at Wolfies Grill on Circular Quay with great views of the Opera House. It was particularly stunning against a dark sky. Lots of buzz and Christmas parties and some karaoke. Just up and about after our first night in Sydney. We both seem totally adjusted to local time and no jetlag! Off to Bondi beach this morning

In Australia

Arrived in Sydney on time after a very good flight with BA. Both of us slept very well and we were impressed with the comfort and service on board. The brief stop in Bangkok was a bit of a non event; hardly time to get off the plane before it was time to board again. However, we were glad to get back onto the air-conditioned plane as it was 34c, very humid and the aircon appeared to be broken at the airport.
Already been on a cruise around the harbour, ridden on the monorail, visited the fantastic Sydney Fish Market and walked hallway round the city. After a brief snooze we are on our way out again. Good hotel and we are on the 16th floor with great views of the harbour

In departure lounge

Success in getting the lovely lady wife out of the office in time and now happily sampling the G&Ts at the BA Heathrow lounge. All seems fairly calm!

Australia & New Zealand

Last minute preparations almost finished and pretty much under control. The biggest challenge is getting Rosemary out of the office in time to catch our cab to Heathrow.

Returning to Rackham after an Access Intelligence board meeting and still lots to do before we fly off on Wednesday evening to Sydney. Very cold here in the UK and can't wait to get some sunshine and warmth

Sunday lunch

Just returned from an excellent lunch at the Keepers Arms in Trotton with Jane & David

Skinners in the snow

Just thawed out after 6 days of snow