Adelaide Hills

19th August was spend sorting a few things, doing some research and revisiting the Botanic Gardens, with a trip the day after with Alison to The Cedars, home to famous local artist Hans Heysen, for a short (and cold) walk around the grounds to admire the inspiration for some of his works. This was followed by a drive through Hahndorf, the oldest German settlement in Australia, and a return to Blackwood for lunch. I amused myself in the afternoon with a walk around Belair National Park and up to the centre of Blackwood; I only saw one koala on this occasion.

Wooden man in front of Hans Heysen's studio

On Wednesday morning I met up with some more relatives, Joanne and Masoud, who took me down to Glenelg for some brunch and kindly agreed to drive me down to Victor Harbor. This was another very rainy day and we were lucky to have some respite and even some rainbows as we wandered around nearby Granite Island. Sadly the local penguins were nowhere to be seen, except for possibly one (a mystery animal bobbing up and down in the sea). More pouring rain saw us back to Blackwood.

Joanne and Masoud on approach to Granite Island

Rainbow over Granite Island

Sue picked me up the next morning and we went on a scenic drive to Hahndorf, via Stirling, Aldgate and Mylor. We stopped off in the Hahndorf Art Gallery and went emu spotting in Belair National Park before lunch with Sue's parents in Coromandel. After lunch seemed the best opportunity so far for a reasonable view from Adelaide's highest point, Mount Lofty. Sadly the view down to the city was still non-existant so we went to Haigh's chocolate factory before returning home in the worsening weather.

Wild emus

The following morning I met up with relative Helen in Unley and we went into town to see the Waterhouse exhibition in the museum, and some of Helen's artwork. We also had a stroll around the central market before I went on for a tour of Parliament House and a bit more of a wander around town.

Helen with her artwork

Order, order

On Saturday Alison and I returned to Hahndorf to see the rest of the town not covered in the previous two brief visits, including cheese and beer tasting! Taking advantage of the clearest skies in some time we revisited Mount Lofty which was not completely cloud covered on this occasion, and explored the nearby Cleland Wildlife Park.

Yellow footed rock wallaby

A trip to Melbas chocolate and confectionery factory and nearby award winning cheese came the following morning before trips to Birdwood Motor Museum, and the Whispering Wall, a dam where it is possible to converse between one side and the other due to the curvature of the architecture. Following this I returned to Belair where the sun had miraculously come out and a lunch party was in full swing! Richard, a friend I met in Cairns, kindly took me for an enjoyable night drive to the top of Mount Lofty, where the cleared skies allowed an excellent view of Adelaide's lights.

Whispering wall

Kangaroo by side of road on night drive

Birthday week!

Alison graciously took me up to Barossa Valley on Wednesday 14th August for some more wine tasting, visiting Penfolds, Maggie Beer and Jacob's Creek. While in nearby Tanunda, we stopped at the Museum where we saw the oldest concert organ in Australia. On the return journey we spotted many kangaroos grazing by the side of the road and stopped at the world's biggest rocking horse where there were also various talking birds! In the evening I was taken to a production of Macbeth with Adeo and his father, Bruce. Shakespeare seemed odd spoken with an Australian accent...

Penfolds

Australia's oldest concert organ

Sue took me, Bene and Franzi to Montefiore Hill next morning so we could see the view over the city from the Colonel Light Statue before wending our way along the River Torrens to the Botanic Gardens where we spent a while climbing trees! In the afternoon we caught the tram across to Glenelg beach. We were lucky enough to see some fishermen catch a dog shark - the first shark sighting of my trip - and hung around to watch the sun set over the water. After dinner we had cake in celebration of Sue's birthday followed by playing some games.

River Torrens on the way to the Botanic Gardens

Dog shark

Friday was rather rainy and after a short morning of playing card game Canasta Sue thankfully gave me a lift in to town to meet relatives Stephen and Liz who took me on a scenic route to their house - the weather was not conducive to getting out at Port Adelaide but we made a quick stop at Ikea (apparently the same the world over)  to make a collection. Up in Salisbury we had delicious roast lamb for dinner, which had been cooking for 9 hours; son Aaron (who had visited us with Stephen and Liz in 1992), girlfriend Elysa and Aaron's cousin James joined us for dinner, after which they introduced me to card game Phase 10 (which I had also played on Fraser Island, struggling with the German rules!)

Liz and Stephen - on a clear day the sea should be visible...

Bit chilly in Adelaide

Next morning the weather was still not letting up as we embarked on another drive up towards Barossa Valley, stopping at a few 'viewpoints' which offered little to no visibility! We dropped in on Stephen's aunt Melva, and Trevor, in Tanunda; they gave a guided tour round some of the Barossa's sights, finishing by going up to one of the viewpoints of the morning, where we could now actually see down to the Valley as the weather had cleared up somewhat! Next stop was a visit to Stephen and Liz's daughter Tara's place - we went for a quick stroll along the beach at Semaphore to watch the sunset before it was time to return to Sue and Paul's place in Belair; Ben was having a party to celebrate his birthday the previous weekend... I was wished a happy birthday once it had passed midnight, and before we went to sleep!

With Melva and Trevor overlooking Barossa Valley

At the beach with Tara

As I have come to expect, the weather on my birthday was appalling and meant it would not be an outdoor day. After a drive to Marion Shopping Centre to stock up on some provisions for Ben, Bene and Franzi's travels of the next couple of weeks we stayed indoors chatting, playing games and looking at some slides of mum travelling around Europe. Dinner was pizza baked in the pizza oven, and my amazing hosts made me a chocolate cake, complete with candles!

Birthday cake!

I've never been this far away from home...

I accompanied Marie to church next morning, 11th August, after which we sampled some fig vinegar (acquired the previous day) on strawberries, and cheese and crackers with a sweet Rose (also from the Stanthorpe trip). Once we were done with lunch I relocated up to Ralph in Boondall; we had our customary game of pool and an early night. There was an unexpected phonecall from Jan, who had just been visited (very briefly) in Canberra by Hester and Colin, and who was due to meet me next morning in S.A. Unfortunately all was not well and Jan (my Godmother) would not be able to join me in Adelaide... Ralph once again kindly delivered me to Brisbane airport; this is most appreciated as to reach it by public transport is ridiculously expensive. My destination was S.A., which as every Australian knows is NOT South Africa.  It was of course very disappointing not to be met in Adelaide by Jan, but I made my way into the city by coach... Jan had given me contact details for friends, and I was soon on my way to start meeting them; all of them went out of their way to make me very welcome. A couple of hours later the flight made it to Adelaide. I think I managed more sleep than on the flight over from the UK! 

Another early morning flight

A quick look around the airport revealed the bus stop a little way away. Despite fears I would not recognise when to jump off (the planned structure of the city means the CBD is surrounded by parkland with a grid street structure inside), I ended up in a reasonably central spot. I spent some time around the centre, investigating the Museum and Art Gallery and wandering into the Botanic Gardens, before meeting up with Ben (son of Sue who travelled round Europe with Jan and mum in the early 80s), Bene and Franzi (German visitors of the family). We took the free tram down to the Central Market and Chinatown before Ben drove us back to Belair where we played Kubb, a tactical outdoor throwing game (at which I was rather unsuccessful), until a dinner of delicious roast beef. Afterwards Sue took me over to Blackwood where I stayed the night at Jan's cousin Alison's house and met her son, Adeo.

Adelaide's Parliament House

Next morning Alison took me round nearby Wittunga Botanic Garden before picking up Bene and Franzi for a journey down to McLaren Vale for some wine tasting at Chapel Hill. We returned home in time for a stroll in Belair National Park, where we counted 14 koalas!

Alison at Wittunga Botanic Gardens

Wine tasting with Franzi and Bene

The friendliest koala of the day

Job Hunting

My smart(ish) clothes saw their first outing on Thursday 8th August as I made my maiden voyage south to the Gold Coast, for an interview rather than to sightsee. The Gold Coast is quite a distance from Brisbane and was not the easiest trip on public transport - hours, and plenty of walk, bus and train travel later, I made it to Coomera train station! From here I took a bus to theme park Dreamworld for a quick look and walked to my interview location (some distance but the bus only runs hourly). I was glad to make it unscathed to Upper Coomera and once the business was done I met up with Ian, the cousin of mum's father, who mum has never met! He took me over to Helensvale for a chat and coffee before I headed off on the return journey... Marie kindly picked me up at Cooper Plains to save me some of the travel, and we found a Japanese place in Sunnybank for dinner, followed by a self-service frozen yoghurt shop.

Next morning I was dressed up once more for an interview - this time in the somewhat easier to reach Lutwyche area of Brisbane! From here I followed the tall buildings towards Fortitude Valley, passing the EKKA (Brisbane Show or Exhibition) but not feeling like forking out the $28 entry fee. I continued on through The Valley to the town centre, heading back to Oxley after picking up a few freebie drinks and confirming I would not be able to donate blood in Australia :( The Aussies have a long memory for anything concerning beef - mad cow disease, and the recent 'only fools eat horses' episode... 

Sneak peek of EKKA

On Saturday Marie and I travelled Southwest through Warwick to Stanthorpe, crossing the Great Dividing Range at Cunningham's Gap. We had a delicious lunch at the Barrell Room Cafe followed by wine tasting at Ballandean Estate, Hidden Creek, Twisted Gum and Symphony Hill wineries. Another enjoyable but long day saw us return well after dark...

Heading home from Stanthorpe

These legs are made for walking (and cycling)

I took my faithful but rusty bike out again on Friday 2nd August morning; cadging a lift with Ralph down to Toombul I cycled round Shaw Park then back to Boondall following a creek. I returned to Oxley where I finally had all my possessions in one place again! After a tough day I had an early night and a laid back Saturday...

Pleasant creek cycle

My Australian Oboe performance debut came the following day, at Queensland's Lutheran Synod, playing classic item Gabriel's Oboe! Following this I rambled around the city for a while before returning home with Marie to cook what turned out to be an extremely tasty and succulent steak marinaded in lemon myrtle, ginger and salt. Not much happened next day - Marie and I went shopping, had some sushi and I practiced some music. Most importantly we discovered the identity of the new Doctor; I am looking forward to see what Malcolm Tucker makes of the role...

Photo incorporating many of the Brisbane bridges

Marie took me to a local sushi restaurant for lunch on Tuesday and then dropped me off in Milton; I had decided to be adventurous and attempt to intuitively find my way back to Oxley from town. Easier said than done - the loops in the Brisbane river make for tricky navigation and it took a couple of attempts to get past the first hill at Highgate! Clearly I have not done enough walking around Brisbane! A few more times getting lost and several hours later I made it back, shortly after nightfall, and sat down for a long while... Dinner was very late!

View of Brisbane from Highgate Hill

My legs needed a relaxing day on Wednesday so I embarked on a short jaunt around Oxley Creek. I also spent a fair bit of the day catching up on my blogging, hoping to reduce the influx of angry emails, letters and phone calls ;) In the evening I was picked up by Marie's friends Kath and Des who drove me to Eight Mile Plains to answer any questions their son Matt (about to be studying in London) may have about how things work in England! After pizza and some time looking over a map of London I was ready to go back to Oxley with Marie.

Oxley creek

Magnificent Fraser Island

Marie picked me up on Saturday 27th July in Indooroopilly and we drove up to Eumundi, where we collected Hester and Colin from the famed Saturday markets. We proceeded north through Gympie to Rainbow Beach; Marie continued up to Bundaberg while we checked into our hostel and visited the local beach. After an instructional safety video covering topics from wild dingos to beach driving we were pretty much ready to go to sleep, although Colin and I managed an undefeated pool run beforehand!

Rainbow Beach, trying to spot Fraser Island through the clouds

Rainbow at Rainbow Beach!

On Sunday morning, stocked up with provisions (for some reason Hester as a vegetarian seemed to be given double rations), we made an early start with our tour group for Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world! First stop was lunch in an area enclosed by a dingo fence; although we had seen a beached turtle we were still eagerly anticipating our first dingo sighting. Following that we drove through rainforest to visit Lake McKenzie, where some people braved a swim while others opted for a little walk! As the tide came in the beach driving became a little rougher, sometimes requiring driving over or around jagged rocks in places where inexperienced drivers had managed to roll cars. In the faltering daylight we checked out the wreck of the Maheno before retiring to our campsite.

Driving over rocky beach

In front of the Maheno wreck with Colin and Hester

The weather was not looking perfect on Monday morning, so in an attempt to catch the best of it (Fraser Island apparently has its own weather systems) we drove up to Indian Head, the eastern-most point on the island, for some views along beaches as well as whale watching opportunities (sadly not much was seen on this occasion). This was followed by the Champagne Pools, again offering the chance for a refreshing swim! After this we took a rather bumpy trip inland to Lake Allom, packed full of turtles, before moving on to Eli Creek. This awesome flowing stream allows one to float along in the current, and is also known as hangover creek; our guide's original plan had been to first head to Eli Creek in the morning to ease away the after effects of the previous night. The sun was out in the afternoon and my first swim on Fraser Island was not too cold... It was time to return to camp and another round of making our dinners and witnessing various levels of drunken shenanigans. A group of us braved the trip outside the safety of the electric fences to head to the beach and watch the many shooting stars, although a dingo encounter (we had seen signs about an aggressive dingo recently spotted in the local area) freaked out many people and hastened our return to camp!

With Colin and Hester at Indian Head

Champagne Pools - it started raining

Hester floating down Eli Creek

Dangerous dingo

On Tuesday it was time to pack up and leave the campsite. I took first shift driving our vehicle, enjoying an easy drive down to and along the beach in the direction of Lake Wabby, reachable only by a walk through the forest and down a  sand dune. The last opportunity for a swim in freezing cold water had to be taken, and was made more bearable by the long overdue appearance of the sun. After this it was time to finish off our provisions for lunch and head back to the ferry. We were optimistic we may have to stay another night after our tour guide got stuck in sand; this idea was short-lived however when we managed to free the car using all our strength and another car. The evening saw me desperately seeking internet (having been deprived for several days), eating a far too large pizza, and demonstrating my table tennis abilities.

Lake Wabby

Vehicle stuck in the sand

Early in the morning we caught a coach back to Brisbane, where for a while we rambled around town towards Story Bridge. Getting tired carrying all our luggage across the river Hester and Colin caught a ferry (and were pleasantly surprised to learn that this little red boat is free!) along to Southbank while I walked to see the Kangaroo Point Cliffs up close. We then headed out to see Ralph; Hester and Colin cooked dinner and we played a few games of pool before an early night. Ralph drove Hester and Colin to the airport next morning to continue their adventures, after a delayed flight, in FNQ...

Matilda the giant kangaroo - currently in Gympie

This was my last planned escapade for now and I will be working instead. Well not quite, as I have yet to land a job! But I will probably skip those activities which are less memorable...

Irresistible Toowoomba

Next morning, Monday 22nd July, we caught the bus into town and had a short wander before seeing Hester and Colin off to Toowoomba by coach. I spent some more time sauntering around town and making use of free internet before returning to Marie's to catch up on some relaxation and have an early night.

With Sue, Colin, Hester and Jenny

On Tuesday morning I was picked up early by Bill for a lift over to Toowoomba; he had a 9 o'clock lecture to get to - fortunately he made it in spite of my frantic last minute packing of not quite dry clothes! I met up with Hester and Colin, and Jenny who had been taking care of them, and we had a look round the sights including Lake Annand and the Waterbird Habitat. We visited Jenny's sister Heather, and her husband Ossie for lunch, and later in the day we also met up with mum's friend Sue, and cousin Ruth.

Wth Ruth, Hester, Jenny and Colin

Wednesday morning we visited Highfields Pioneer village, having traditional billy tea and damper before trekking over to Crows Nest for a pleasant walk by the creek. Dinner was a return to Meringandan pub for another enormous dinner!

Hester on the creek walk

Hester and Colin had an early coach back to Brisbane on Thursday morning and I spent some time exploring the centre of town, including the mysterious train station - while locals insist service to Brisbane does not exist, it turns out it in fact runs 3 times a week! I caught my slow afternoon bus back to Brisbane and made my way back to Tony and Theresa's.

Toowoomba train station

I went for a walk along the river to University of Queensland on Friday morning, taking in the views along the river and getting re-accustomed to the high gradients in the area. In the evening I joined my host family in July Christmas traditions - to celebrate while it is not too hot and most like the expected Christmas temperature. Singing carols felt somewhat strange!

Bus bridge