Culture and colour

Talk about an overload of fabulous scenery! I am exhausted from looking and shooting! Of course I should not be tired at all because I am sitting in air conditioned comfort as someone else does the driving! I just get so excited when I see the different landscapes and the different wild flowers that are here in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia that I want to preserve everything I see. Of course I cannot but that does not stop me from trying!

After our breakfast at Halls Creek, in the Kimberley Hotel, we were taken out to see the “Old Wall of China” which is an agate outcrop that does look very much like a wall that has been built from white bricks. Unlike most of the group, I clambered down into the gully to get a different viewpoint. One of the other women tried to follow me down and slipped over on the rocks – they were covered with small lengths of dry grass which rolled under her feet making the surface feel like it was covered with slippery ice. She did not hurt herself, fortunately, but it shook her up a bit.

A small waterhole was around the corner from the Agate wall so I just had to take half a dozen shots of that too!At each of the places we have stopped the rock formations are different, the colours are similar – rich nuggety red from all the iron in the ground – but the contours are so different.

The service stations in Halls Creek had run out of diesel fuel so Firie (my son and our coach driver) was delighted to see the fuel road train pulled into one of the service stations as we drove back into Halls Creek. Without fuel we would not have been able to do the distance we have covered today, from Halls Creek to Fitzroy Crossing. While the coach was being filled we passengers explored the town. It is only small but interesting and at the Information Centre there was a statue that commemorated one of the early characters of the gold rush days, Russian Jack. He brought a sick “mate” in a bush made wheel barrow from the gold fields to the closest medical help at Halls Creeks, a distance of 300 kilometers.

I am sure you will laugh when you see the sign I found outside the butcher's shop. I could not help myself, I just HAD to take a photo of it! This is typical of the humour of the people here.

When we clambered back into the coach we were told that we were returning to both the Old Wall of China and to the Kimberley Hotel. When Maria had slipped on the rock when out at the Old China Wall, she had lost her gold watch. Fortunately that beauty spot was not far out of town and it took us hardly any time to return to it – and Fran with her eagle eyes managed to find the missing watch almost immediately she reached the spot Maria had slipped. We must have walked right over the top of it without seeing it when we climbed back out of the creek bed – and so must other sight-seers. Then we went back to the hotel where one of the hotel staff had found money lying on the grass in front of one of the rooms - $100 no less! How honest is that? So a sheepish Peter went up to the Reception and was given the money back in an envelope.

We then had a fairly long drive to our next stop, a private school for indigenous children. The young principal had been at the school for quite a few years and in that time had married (a white girl) and had recently increased his family to three children, two boys and a girl.

The principal – Nick Try – was our host for an hour and told us of the way the community worked together and grew together, we were shown through the “Laarri” art gallery where there were lots of bright acrylic on canvas dot paintings. I wonder why this style of art has been adopted? I am sure the aborigines believe it to have been handed down through generations – but it hasn't, it is a fairly recent style from around the 1950s. Anyway, it is now a style that is recognised as being “typical”of the Australian Aborigines.

From this school we then drove for two hours with the coach DVD playing part two of the story of the Durracks, “Kings in Grass Castles” as we scooted past never changing countryside. The movie finished just as we arrived at Fitzroy Crossing but although we passed the hotel we were to stay in, we drove another few kilometers to where we were to board a couple of punts so we could enjoy an hour sailing down the Geike Gorge. The sky was strangely cloudy but that meant that it wasn't unpleasantly hot, however the light was not really all that brilliant on the unusual colours of the cliff faces.

Our punt guide was hoping to point out the abundant wildlife but the wildlife was in rather short supply. We did manage to see two fresh water crocodiles from rather a long way away. This sighting caused quite a lot of excitement! We had been warned about crocs in all the waterways of the north and this was the first time we had actually seen one!

The trip along the Geikie Gorge was slow and leisurely and the scenery gorgeous. The white area of the limestone cliffs is where the flood waters after the summer “wet season” scour the iron staining away. Floods here are a regular occurance. Where the high water swirls and tumbles the limestone has been cut into fantastic shapes and the calm waters reflect and enhance the formations.

So! Another amazing day in this part of Australia. Every day has been perfect.

AJ

Fabulous Scenery

After an early breakfast our coach was on its way south from Darwin to stop first at Adelaide River.

On the way south we learned a lot about the war time activities of this area and how the bitumen road served both as a Southern Access and as an airstrip for war planes. Evidence of those times is still on the sides of the road in the form of rusted 44 gallon drums that were once used as machine gun pits.

The Old Adelaide River Inn is home to a famous film star – the buffalo that appeared in the Crocodile Dundee movies! The buffalo died several years ago but has been “stuffed”and now supervises the happenings in the bar!

Since it was getting warmer and drier, many of us passengers bought ourselves bottles of water. Wanting a “sugar fix” I also bought myself a bottle of iced tea! Mango flavoured, very nice! Our next stop was the beautifully maintained war cemetery.

Here lie the unfortunate people of Darwin who were killed in the air raids on that city by the Japanese. By European standards the casualties were very small but to this remote area of Australia it was a catastrophe to lose over 400 people including 63 civilians.

The sprinklers were busy watering the imaculate lawns and the plantings of shrubs so we visitors had to time our walk among the markers on the ground so that we didn't get drenched too!

From here we made our way to Edith Falls. No one in the group wanted to swim so we enjoyed our sandwiches and juice in the picnic area and wandered around and took photographs.

This really is a beautiful waterhole and picnic area. The lawns are trimmed and the pathways paved so that it is easy to negotiate – which is important since we have two people in our group who are not very agile.

I don't know if I would call it the “best part of the trip” for the day but I certainly took the most photographs at the Katherine Gorge. We sat on a punt and were taken along the waters of the Katherine Gorge. The light was just beautiful and the scenery spectacular. Although I took hundreds of photos I will not share that many!

My final picture is of the canoes for hire, These are only for hire when the rangers are sure there are no esturine crocodiles to cause problems. The trees behind these canoes are weighted down with fruit bats. It is just as well I can't paste the horrible smell that these creatures put out! I thought the combination of the clean and colourful water craft contrasted so well with their backdrop!

AJ

Open water and sand

The grey clouds had all disappeared by the time we arrived at Nelson Bay to board our big cruiser. Today we were to chug out into the Port Stevens waters to see some of the dolphins that live out there. It was warm enough to shed fleeces and jackets but once we made our way out onto the open deck of the cruise boat and were underway it was certainly cold enough to put them back on again.

It wasn’t long before the first dolphins were spotted. A pod of around seven swam across in front of us. They didn’t do anything dramatic but they were beautiful as they did their formation swimming. The majority of people on the boat were young tourists from China and they were at first quite excited at the sight of the dolphins, however their enthusiasm soon waned and their interest switched to taking photographs of each other in poses around the boat! Fun to watch!

There were not too many dolphin sightings, so watching the young people perform for their cameras became far more interesting. I did take two still photographs of distant dolphins – the ones that were closer to the boat I took with my little video camera.

Unusually the boat pulled back into the marina and tied up before lunch was served. I guess it makes sense that the boat is not bobbing around on the water while people are wandering around with plates of food. We had out meal and left as the afternoon dolphin watchers boarded and started their tour with the second sitting of lunch on board! I think I prefer sailing before eating!

In the afternoon we drove only a little way north of Nelson Bay to where the beach reached for ever – inland! It looked as if we had arrived at the Sahara desert! Huge concrete pyramids reinforced that impression.

Our chariot was a regular looking street bus on a four wheel drive chassis. To negotiate the soft sand a special vehicle was imperative – we did see just how useless a two wheel drive car is on the sand – when we were leaving the beach we watched through the windows as a group of people valiantly tried to get their car un-stuck!

Our little group had fun being driven over the beach and up and over sand dunes. All of us “chickened out” at sand tobogganing. I was tempted but since I am accident prone I resisted the urge! There are a few more days to this holiday that I want to enjoy.

Beautiful Baltic

I have had another update on the holiday that is being enjoyed by Maria and John, the ship has been "out of range" for a while so there is a bit of catching up to do. Maria has broken her visits to the different places into little paragraphs. Enjoy! (I did!)

Dover, England - we spent the day there and visited a beautiful village called Rye which used to supply the King with ships and it's greatest trade in the 18th century was in smuggling.  Today this medieval town with its cobbled streets and narrow passageways revealed some beautiful little 'houses' where you can have a bite to eat or buy souvenirs.  Our Tour Guide told us that Paul McCartney still lives there.  We saw some wonderful Oust houses which were places to dry the hops for beer but today they are private dwellings and very prime real estate.

 Tivoli Gardens, Stockholm, Denmark. Toys for big and little boys.

Copenhagen, Denmark - the Tivoli Gardens was my biggest and best surprise as I was expecting it to be a garden however it was much, much more and thrilled all of my senses no matter where I looked!  It had the most thrilling rides with scaled down versions for the children.  I tried to get on one but literally ran out of time.  Beautiful restaurants by the dozen, pavilions with activities for the children and adults, sculptures, water fountains and art!!  Birds, seagulls, ducks, fish, sharks and even old vintage cars for the Boys .. big and little.  We were told that when Walt Disney visited the place it inspired him to create Disneyland.  Naturally we saw the "Little Mermaid" and now there is also a "Big Mermaid" nearby (cruise ship terminal) and as I was taking a photograph of it I overheard an American woman saying how this one offended her.  Yes the Big Mermaid is much larger and so are her breasts however still in proportion to her body.

The delight of sitting on verandah and soaking up the sun and cruising along.

Tallin, Estonia - we walked up to Toompea Hill on a hot day but we were rewarded with a magnificent view of the Old Town below with it's many beautiful church spires and listened to a medieval concert.  The people here can understand the Finnish language and visa-versa and often the Fins will get on a 2 hr ferry across the Baltic Sea to drop in and shop.  Stunningly beautiful wool products but very rough and scratchy to touch.  So far I have not come across any wool products that were soft to feel.

Saint Petersburg, Russia - I don't know where to begin because the iconic palaces and churches we saw were overwhelming with their grandeur and opulence!  You could never imagine the amount of gold that has gone into the trimmings, furniture, statutes, mirror frames, chandeliers, wall paper, dinner sets, door frames, ceilings, floors, door handles, cutlery, glassware, vases etc. etc.  It is phenomenal!!!  Just tons and tons of it!  Literally!  Everything is gilt-edged!  Nothing escaped.  And humongous in size!  There is nothing to compare.

  Catherine's Palace.  Just the tip of the Gold Iceberg.

It was here that I first saw people soaking up the sun anywhere they could find a place to sit.  In the city or countryside it was simply a case of taking of the outer clothes and lying back.  I mostly saw this in the city.  Sadly the Russian history has left it's mark on its people as the older generation are angry.  Fortunately the younger ones are far more optimistic and outgoing.  Let's hope that the political future of the country will be a lot more stable and not experience any of the dreadful upheavals of the past.

Passenger feeding seagulls off the back of the ship until he almost lost thumb.

Helsinki, Finland - not much to write about really as we only did a walking tour through the City and as everybody is on holidays - they get 5 weeks holidays during the summer - the place was deserted.  Pretty town with a lovely lake which they skate on in the winter.  A fire in the 18th Century wiped the town out so all construction after that had to be in brick.   Sailing boats are lifted and "garaged" during the winter because of the damage the ice creates.  The trams look exactly like our Melbourne trams.  Same colour and shape.

Street Entertainer having a fun moment with tourists.

Stockholm, Sweden - to reach this beautiful City we had to sail through it's Archipelago which was stunningly beautiful.  We got up at 3.30 am and it took another 3 hours of sailing to reach the Port.  There are over 32,000 islands but not all of them are inhabited.   We visited City Hall where the Nobel winners get together for their Banquet meal, the Royal Residence which is now a museum as the Queen way back in the 1980's wanted her children to have a back yard which they now have by the hundreds of acres and can ride their horses, and the Vasa Museum ... an incredible sight because it is literally a museum BUILT AROUND a ship that sank 15 minutes after it's launch in 1628 and it's still in its original shape due to the water being brackish.

One of the many glorious and rare ocean sunsets we saw from our Balcony.

Visby, Gotland, Sweden - I fell in love with this little Island as it was rural, it's paddocks chock full of wild summer flowers, and its beautiful town of Visby which still has a wall surrounding the town which once protected it's people.  It has the oldest Viking graves, it's wild horses were once exported to England and Ireland to work in the mines because of their temperament and size, the Island relies on fishing and agriculture today however the young people are often forced to move to find employment elsewhere.  The economic decline of the Island centuries ago,  resulted in the preservation of it's ancient buildings and monuments.

Warnemunde, Germany - we were so lucky to be here during one of it's annual festivals which made this seaside town into a fantasy, one that I have often read about in novels but have never seen.  The seaside walks were full of kiosks, each one selling something unique and colourful and once again we found ourselves walking on cobbled streets with narrow passageways and as a special treat, a huge lighthouse at the end of one of them.

Maria enjoying German Oom Pah Pah Band.  Yes it was a cold night.

  Later in the afternoon we went for a ride on the Molli Train which is quiet famous and had a ball all due to the locomotive being repositioned from the front (we were in the last carriage) to the back!!  So we copped it all, the sounds of the steam, the clanking of the bell and yes, even the black sooty smoke and laughed even though we were choking.   Later on that night on board the ship we were treated to a German meal of Bratwurst, sauerkraut and an Oom Pah Pah band so we danced, drank German beer and reluctantly crawled back home about 10.30 pm.

  Cruise coming to an end.  Second last pilot boat.

 (PS from AJ)  From one part of the world to another, Maria and John have now packed their cases and are on their merry way to Amsterdam where they will shortly start their next adventure - travelling down the River Rhine.

Maria is in Norway

Maria is enjoying her chilly cruise across the North Sea and has visited a port in Norway, Here is an update of her story.

We arrived at Stavanger, Norway this morning and what an amazingly beautiful place it is. The industrial part of town looks like a National Park with everything in its place and spotlessly clean.  We saw only one bit of graffiti in the not so good part of town.  It is as cold as I thought it would be.  The Long Johns saved the day as the wind it bitterly cold. As soon as the sun is hidden behind a cloud - it's murder!

We did a trip to the Lysefjord (sounds like Lucyfjord) and the quirky attractions made my day.  The boat had the responsibility of delivering the newspapers, this was done by just tossing them overboard onto the jetty.  The next attraction was calling in on a huge colony of seals, three goats which were called Clinton, Gorbachev and Brezhnev, after that we parked right under a fabulous waterfall where one of the crew filled a spotlessly clean bucket of water and offered each of us a drink.  This water had to be the best I have ever tasted in my life.  No animals live on the island which meant the water was really, really clean.

For morning tea we had the local waffles with fresh cream and home made jam.  Once again, I have never tasted such delicious jam and cream.  The other thing John and I noticed was the clarity of the air as it is incredibly clear making it a photographer's dream.
Maria

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Maria has limited internet connection (which costs an arm and a leg) and will be unable to send updates daily as a result. However I shall add more of her story as I receive them. Today there were no pictures to show the places that were visited so I have used a couple of pictures that are not mine - the first one I have been able to give credit to the photographer but the second came from a travel site with no reference to the photographer. I have changed the sky in the photo (the one of Lysefjord) but I would have liked to have known the name of the person who took it in the first place to give him or her, credit for it. AJ
AJ

On the high seas

Maria is aboard ship and off on a cruise across the North Sea. This is her story.

Well if I thought that London was cold, Dover proved to be a totally different meaning of brute cold winds!! Even the ship had troubles with the wind as it required two tugboats to get it away from the birth!!  The winds were over 54 km an hour.  Believe me it was a memorable experience. What a pity we had to leave London when the skies were blue and all dressed up for the trooping of the colour.

Last night I signed up to the package deal for the wifi on board ship and now have to see how it works because it is expensive no matter how you look at it and I hope it will not prove to be as inefficient as has been told to me in the past.

The ship is beautiful but cost cutting measures are obvious, the most annoying one is the toilet paper.  I am astounded that it even stays on the roll because it's sooooooo thin!!!   Some bathroom mirrors are kind and not give you the heebie jeebies when you see your reflection but the one in our cabin shows every crook, cranny and crevice that has been etched over the years, but what is even more depressing are the lines!!!  Where on earth did they come from?!  There are hundreds of them.  

Yesterday was once again, a difficult day spent mostly travelling not long distances, but tied up with getting from one point to another and listening to other travellers over-talking others in their group. We finally got on board the ship hungry and tired.  It sailed on time at 5.00 pm and our luggage arrived shortly after.  Two people unpacking in a small room naturally takes extra time and I have found I am still sorting things out this morning.  

We have a formal night on this evening so the long black dress is hanging up and ready to go.  At 11.00 am there is going to be a "dancing with the stars" event in the showroom which I am looking forward to.  

Maria