Day 2 of Canberra

08.01.2013

Day 2 saw us venturing back into Canberra to visit the Royal Australian Mint, where all the coins (but not the notes) are made in Australia. We arrived just in time for the free guided tour at 10 am - the first of two each day - and learnt the history of Australia's currency from a cheerful & informative guide. It was fascinating to learn about the first Australians using the currency of other nations to barter with, and even rum or alcohol when it was absent, before their own system was in place. There was such a shortage of coins - with the British government reluctant to send any more - that they cut holes into the coins to create the holey dollar and the dump. The 'holey dollar' being the original coin and the 'dump' being the centre of it cut out to form a second coin. This ingenious 'Buy one coin, get one free' concept was introduced in 1813, meaning it's bicentenary is being celebrated this year. 

                                            

                               Inside, watching the newly minted coins being poured into barrels ready for circulation

Australia became independent in 1901 and became responsible for its own currency, and the one they used followed the complex British system of 12 pence to a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound. In 1963, Australia switched to decimal currency and a nationwide debate led to it being renamed the Australian Dollar. By 1988, counterfeiting became such a huge problem that polymer (or plastic) notes were developed and introduced in the country. They are durable, hard to tear and can even survive a spin in the washing machine - the Bank of England should take note! In 1992, the rising cost of bronze led to Australia removing the 1 and 2 cent coins from circulation, meaning all prices in shops here are now rounded to the nearest 5 cents at the till. On a side note (if you'll excuse the pun), it was interesting to learn that the now defunct 1 and 2 cent coins were melted down and used to create the bronze medals for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 - an example of which can be seen during a tour at the mint. We really enjoyed this trip and would recommend it to anyone.

                                                           

                                                                        All the defunct 1 and 2 cent pieces were melted                     

                                                                        to make the 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medals

     

                                                             

                                                                                        The Polymer Australian bank notes

    

It was a second boiling hot day here (37oC at 1pm) and so we decided to check out the air-conditioned Canberra Centre shopping mall. It is a fantastic centre, crammed full of every store you can imagine including plenty of places to catch a bite to eat or sip a cheeky drink. I found a bargain cap for just 5 bucks, which became a staple item of my road trip wardrobe. And even if shopping isn't your thing, just walk out the back to check out the amazing view!

                                                                                 The awesome view from behind the Canberra centre!

This view can only be beaten by one other place in Canberra, the Black Mountain Tower, otherwise known as Telstra Tower. The tower is 195m tall, perched on Black Mountain at 812m above sea level, and the panoramic views make this the number 1 tourist destination in the state. It was quite an effort for Priscilla to make it up but well worth the slow ascent. Just $7.50 an adult to go up and you can even venture out to one of the open platforms, weather permitting. Unfortunately for us, the high temperatures were being blown in by high winds and  the open platform were closed for safety reasons. But the views - including one of a small bushfire - made it worth every penny, or cent should I say!

                                   Black Mountain Tower - or the Telstra Tower - in all its glory.
                           

This ended our stay in the nations capital, but we stopped off for one last scenic shot before heading towards Cooma where we would spend the night. On route, we topped up our fuel for the first time, which cost $63 with the petrol costing a relatively cheap $1.40 a litre. We also spied the first of the countless Kangaroo road signs we would pass on our journey - and which would eventually inspire a new tattoo idea for the future, to commemorate the road trip. Watch this space!

We were spending night #2 in the camper at Cooma Snowy Mountains Tourist Park, located in "The Snowies" which in the heart of an Ozzy winter, would be covered in snow. However, in the peak of summer, it was a barmy 36oC when we arrived. We paid just $24 for a powered site for the night so yet again, our small fan was utilised to keep us cool. At 2,228m tall, nearby Mount Kosciuszko is the highest peak on the Australian mainland and a magnet for skiers & snowboarders. It was the second steep climb of the day for Priscilla, and she definitely needed a rest. It was a lovely park to arrive to, near all local amenities of the town, and an onsite play ground, tennis court & trampoline. After all the frivolities, we set up camp for the second night and enjoyed our tea washed down with another Pure Blonde beer.

Camp for the second night

On day number 3, we go on the hunt for Platypuses and arrive at our first 'free camp' site - and what a breathtaking site it would be. Check out my next post for more info!

Still Day 1. Our first day in Canberra.

07.01.2013

As mentioned in my previous post, Canberra is the capital of Australia, and was chosen as a compromise between the two largest cities in the country. It is a relatively small place with more of a big town feel, and has a population of just 367,000 inhabitants (known as Canberrans) compared to the 4 million plus people that live in both Sydney & Melbourne, the two rival cities that wanted the title. It is the largest inland city in Australia, but just the 8th largest nationally. We are now in the Australian Capital Territory or ACT - the smallest state - making this the first time we have been outside New South Wales since arriving down under. Driving for 3 hours to get here, and not seeing too much in the way of towns along the way or many cars on the road, starts to make you realise the size and sparsity of Oz. A similar journey back home in the UK would have seen us pass numerous towns & cities in the same time frame and a whole lot of traffic congestion on the way. Not surprisingly, I'd take the smooth, uninterrupted drive with a lack of cars and a beautiful backdrop like below, any day!

Canberra's layout was completely planned prior to it being built, and so the streets & places are laid out in a very geometric fashion. Looking at it from above (see below pic), you can spot circles, hexagons and triangles, and so there is a very orderly - and almost deserted feel - as we drive into the CBD. Our first impression was of very wide roads, lined by trees on both sides and a distinct lack of people around - even  more so for a capital - to enjoy the abundant space to be found here. This, and the lack of high rise buildings, genuinely makes this feel like just a large, leafy town. We saw countless signs informing us of the upcoming celebrations for Canberra's centenary, showing you just how new the city is.

The capital is most famous for being the home of the federal government, which is the largest single employer in town! This all equates to a lower unemployment rate, higher average income, higher university education level and a younger population than the national average. However, it also equates to Canberra having a reputation of being a boring and staid place to visit, and so we were weary of what we would be able to do here. This reputation is also due to the vast array of museums found here, however being a pair of massive travel geeks, we found this a huge attraction and we started the day with a visit to the National Museum of Australia!

                                                                             Very modern entrance to the museum!

                 

Very excited finding a reference to my home town in England!

The museum is free and crammed full of exhibits & things to do. We designed our own virtual spaceship and watched it come to life in 3D, and learned the history of Australia, it's people and it's amazing wildlife. It is well worth a visit and was a great start to the day. Oh, and the air conditioning was a great relief from the 38oC temperature outside. Afterwards, we drove to the centre of the circular street layout to check out both the old and new parliament house. Both are very similar, but we agreed that the new one is a very impressive, modern and sleek building set in a beautiful landscape. A very fitting home for the government of a very impressive, modern and sleek nation.

Old Parliament House (above) vs New Parliament House (below)

Before finding our camp site, we stopped by at a local Coles (one of the two main supermarkets here) to buy the first round of bread, milk, cereal, noodles, pasta, biscuits and juice that we would be sick of by the end of the journey! We found the Carotel Motel Caravan park ($36 for a powered site) to spend the first night of our trip on site number 512, and enjoy our first supper in Priscilla - the camper - with a couple of Pure Blonde beers. The site had a whole heap of facilities; the standard amenities block, BBQ area, reception & shop but also a playground for kids, miniature golf and an outdoor swimming pool which we took full advantage of whilst watching the sun set. We were just 6km from the centre of Canberra and set in 20 acres of beautiful landscape, often frequented by Kangaroos which unfortunately didn't make an appearance for us on this occasion.

First night's camp

Our view in the park!

Not only was this our first night of the road trip, but also our first night spent in a van-shaped tin can possessing the uncanny ability to retain the days searing heat, all night long. Being inland, the night time temperatures didn't drop very much (unlike in Victoria, where you can bake during the day but freeze at night) however being in a powered site meant we had a small fan to provide a little relief against the uncomfortable sleeping conditions, combined with the excitement of our first day exploring this amazing country. Trust me, the novelty of spending a night in a camper van in these conditions soon wears off.. Tip for any future trip (funds permitting) would be to hire a luxury van with air con in the back... we can but dream!

Day 2 in Canberra will include a visit to both the Royal Mint and the Black Mountain Tower (offering superb views across the capital) and we leave the ACT to arrive back in NSW.

Day 1. Sydney to Canberra

07.01.2013

It is the morning of Monday 7th January, and we are about to embark on our 48 day road trip stretching 7,250 km (4500 miles) across vast Australia. Ours was to be a smaller journey than originally planned by the two naive, newly arrived Poms who finally touched down in Sydney after a monstrous, 54 hour journey via Amsterdam, Bangkok and Taiwan. It isn't until you arrive down under that you truly appreciate just how big the place is; it takes 5 hours to fly from east to west, even longer than it takes from London to pretty much every corner of the entire continent of Europe. This is even more mind-boggling to us as just 2 of the 640,000 Brits that visit Oz every single year from a tiny island which would fit into Australia 31 times over with room to spare. Being the travel geek that I am, I knew all of these facts & more before taking off from Terminal 5 at Heathrow, but until you visit, travel & live here, until you road-trip around this endless country, you truly do not realise just how much there is to see, visit, travel to & live in. 

We had initially talked of circumnavigating the entire country and visiting the scorching red centre too. Amazingly, the infrastructure to do so exists in the the holy grail of motorways, or freeways as they are called here. Highway 1 stretches 14,500 km (9,000 miles) around almost the entire coastline, barring just a small part of the Northern Territory coast. However, both financial and time constraints meant we had to be a little bit more realistic in what we could achieve on this 'little' adventure of ours.

      

The planned route vs. the actual route we ended up taking!

By this stage, we had spent an amazing 5 months travelling and living in this sunny corner of the earth, and it was sad to say goodbye to the amazing city of Sydney. When first arriving in August, we were initially surprised just how chilly it could be, even in the southern hemisphere's winter, but soon enough, the Australia from the tv commercials back home (and the dreams of inhabitants back home) surfaced and these 2 two pale Englishmen were sizzling in the sun. It was on one of these roasting hot days that we picked up our camper, who we duly named Priscilla. In reference to the classic Australian movie, and as two gay guys travelling across Oz, we couldn't call her anything else. With all our belongings crammed into our two massive, and very heavy, backpacks, we struggled to stand upright to admire our new home for the next 6 or so weeks, but she was ours and this was going to be one hell of a ride!

Destination #1 was to be Canberra, 280km and 3 hours away down the free way with the 110 km/h (68 mph) limit. It was chosen as the nations capitol as a compromise between rivals Sydney & Melbourne, both cities vying for the honour and we had heard very mixed reviews of the place. Needless to say, we couldn't wait to experience it ourselves and make up our own minds.

On my next post, coming soon, we arrive in Canberra!

Total. Utter. Rejection.

Now, I am not a man who's above a bit of good old-fashioned rejection, and believe me when I say I have had more than my fair share in the past. Whether it was someone I cared deeply for telling me that it just wasn't working out or receiving a call from an ex-partner as he lay in the arms of another man. I've even shared a bed with a guy who subsequently refused to sleep with me because of my hairy chest. He was upfront with it - no holding back - he put it right out there and said he hadn't realised I had one. Apologies for not pointing it out  to you whilst you begged me to come home with me. Anyhow, I digress.

I recently went on a date with a good-looking, 6 foot 4 hunk of a man who was both sweet and funny and who - despite the date being seemingly doomed from the start - said he enjoyed it muchly and couldn't wait to see me again. Even though it was pouring with rain, he got stuck in football traffic, got lost on the way from Colchester and turned up late, it actually went surprisingly well and ended in a little kiss. Things continued to progress well until a week later a broken down car put a halt to our weekend plans. Not that this prevented him going to see fireworks in Southend or enjoying a night-out in Chelmsford with friends  but I (generously) overlooked that. A week later again and with the car fixed, I brought up the subject of seeing each other again and "fixing the car had cost a lot of money" and he wanted to be able to "treat me." Sweet enough I guess, but I'm not one to be strung along and when, another week had passe, I finally put it out there. Are we going to meet or not? Did you actually enjoy yourself ? And if you don't want to and you didn't why have you been texting me non-stop for the last 2 weeks? This was met with a hole host of excuses; I've got a few issues going on, you're a lovely guy and I want to see you again but just for a "bit of company, nothing more." Ok, but what did you think I was after, marriage...?! Needless to say he was soon told where he stood, told to man-up and his number was duly deleted. Rejection #1 of the weekend. Nothing too exciting, just your bog-standard rejection to be honest. But honestly, do I look like some idiot who is gonna a man take me for a ride? I have this thing called a brain and I can work out how well things are going on my own thank you very much,

In the mean time, I had stumbled across a guy who I had been generally chatting to since the end of last week, and we continued to speak over the weekend. We seemed to get on and so he asked me (note here, who asked who) whether I fancied a spot of lunch and shopping next weekend. Sure, I said, that would be nice. After all, I had just been rejected and I'm only human. We continued to talk and at one point he asked me briefly whether I knew a particularly guy. I explained that no I didn't know this guy but oddly enough he had commented on a Facebook picture of mine earlier in the day and that, having no idea who he actually was or how he found himself to be on my friend list, I'd deleted him. "Oh, well he just poked me on Facebook, he must have seen me comment on your status and done it." Nothing more was said on the subject, and having had a hectic week prior to the weekend,  I spent my evening enjoying a thoroughly-deserved rest.

When I woke up this morning I sent a message to this guy, briefly apologising that I hadn't replied to his last text as I had been tired and had been chilling with music and television. He replied that he was tired too, but because he had got talking to the Random Poke guy and this had gone on until 2am in the morning. It turns out he's a lovely bloke...well isn't that cosy? I honestly don't remember what I replied exactly, but was more than a little surprised that he had divulged the information he did. When he replied, it was to explain how well he had got on with the guy, they had talked for 8 hours non-stop and that he was half Irish {input love symbol here}. Well, I suggested, why don't you rearrange our spot of lunch with this guy instead, as you got on so well? Cue his reply: "Oh I don't know, I never get this much attention." ARE YOU SERIOUS? Honestly, I spent a good few minutes working out whether the guy was for real or not. When I concluded he was then I typed "Okay, let me put it this way, I REALLY think you should re-arrange it with him instead." "Oh really, do you think? Would you mind?" WHAT?! MIND? Oh no, just replace me with someone else. "Well you definitely won't be meeting me any more, so you might as well." "Awww, well we could do it another time?" "Erm......let me think about this, no." TOTAL. UTTER. REJECTION. Rejection #2 of the weekend was delivered with as much tact as telling an employee they are being fired by text message. I really didn't, and still don't know, quite how to feel about the situation; whether to laugh my socks off or sob hysterically. 

Now, I'm not particularly confident about my looks on the best of days, but the whole situation is made marginally worse by the fact that Random Poke guy is not of the attractive variety - a fact concurred with by a number of sources during the course of today. In fact he looks like he may even have some sort of disability. And out of the two of us, even I - with what little confidence I do have - would have thought I was the better choice. Well now I know better than to ever be so stupid again. Not for the first time in life I come to the conclusion that I am destined to be remain single forever. Now I just need to wear a nightie and fill my house with cats.

Crazy Sunday times

You gotta love the 'rents sometimes... every Sunday is the same. My mum works all day on a Sunday and so the weekly dilemma in my Dad's life about when to have the roast dinner ready for, commences. He likes to do it just in time for when Ma walks in from a long days working - normally this is in the 2 hour period between 6 and 8, but we're never quite sure when it will be. It certainly add's just that little bit of extra excitement to what is inevitably a super-thrilling Sunday.

This week, the dilemma proved so much that my father felt the need to go for a pint at the pub (note singular) and stumbled in after a few pints (note plural) telling me the same joke twice and laughing hysterically about how drunk I had been the previous night and how next time I should invite him. Hmmm, yeah right. Then again, maybe it was just one pint. You see, it doesn't take my Dad much to get drunkard - one sip of beer normally has his cheeks a'glowing and his words a'stumbling.

Once my mother does walk in (earlier than usual) the roast isn't ready and she's complaining it's too late to be eating a big dinner. By the time it is ready, neither of us are hungry and we  force down what  we can. My mother decides to give a running commentary whilst eating; describing the taste and texture of each item on her plate, clarifying whether she likes it or not and repeating several times about how nice the gravy is. "Yes mother, I am eating the exact same dinner as yourself so I am quite aware thank you very much!" With this, we both get the giggles (which didn't help with the forcing down the food). We sneakily decide to limit the damage with father about the lack of food eaten by exchanging items of food one of us didn't fancy. When Dad  see's the plates he goes into a rant, like he does every Sunday, about how he is never going to cook a roast dinner ever again and all the time/effort he wasted blah blah blah. Until next week papa!

Dad is still drunk at this stage, which you can tell by the fact all the lights in the house are on and he has the telly blaring in the kitchen - if sober, this would not be the case - a lifetime of lectures/rants about the very subject are testamount to this. Worryingly, I found myself increasingly angered by the loud telly and the house being "lit up like a Christmas tree" and so I must regrettably conclude that I am slowly morphing into my old man. Not a good thing.

Mother is currently catching up on Strictly and Merlin that she missed the night before; clapping, jeering and cheering at her laptop as she watches them 'on demand.' She's quite new to this on demand malarky but is slowly getting the hang of it. The beer and food finally caught up with Dad and he's already in bed, and whilst he dozes I sit here pondering on how crazy (and incredibly entertaining) my parents really are. And I wouldn't live without either of them.

Scented candles should come with a warning

Most of us spent 9 months growing inside her, and usually another 18 years in her company, so a lot of us will associate a particular smell with our mother. Like most (if not all) mums in the world, my mother also has a 'smell.'

Despite a few failed attempts to give up and against the advise of her husband and 6 loving children, my mum remains an active smoker and so this smell incorporates a hint of smoke. And because of her favourite fragrance being so loyally worn, then this smell also includes a trace of her perfume. As such, when my mum returns from a hard day at work and duly lights up a (in her opinion, well deserved) cigarette, then I usually smell her before I see or even hear her - mainly due to her favourite smoking haunt on the patio being perfectly lined up with my bedroom window. Yesterday evening was no exception and so, whilst enjoying my evening in the company of a good book, I 'smelt' my mother arrive home and rushed downstairs to pass on a telephone message to her. However, arriving downstairs there was no car in the driveway, no light on in the back garden and she was no where to be seen. Weird, I had definitely smelt her.

Now I'm not normally a paranormally minded man, but at this moment I distinctly remembered hearing stories of people who smelt their loved ones at the time they passed, as their spirit stopped by to say their goodbyes before moving on. I'm not sure why this rather morbid memory sprung up in my mind, but the fact that it did only caused my mind to wander further. I actually started to get a little worried, my heartbeat increasing more with every minute, and I wasn't far off ringing her mobile (which she probably wouldn't have answered anyway) just to check she was okay. Getting a little bit panicked, then I was about to make that call....

And imagine my relief when the door opened and in she walked safe and sound, and very much still walking on this planet. However, also imagine my internal embarrassment when re-entering my bedroom to (re)discover the smouldering, scented candle I had lit -and forgot all about - earlier in the evening; the cause of the smokey, perfumey smell after all. Oops.

Maybe scented candles should come with a warning? Then again, maybe not.

Holland; the land of 2-storey trains, bikes, hookers and weed.

I'm a guy who enjoys taking a risk, so a coach arriving at Stansted at 4pm and a flight departing at 5pm didn't (quite) scare me. But when the coach was delayed then I will admit my heart did skip a beat. I arrived with all of 20 minutes to pass through security and dash to the gate. But the long queue at security and broken down airport scanner were having other ideas. I had to beg to be allowed to join a new line with a fully working scanner and skip to the front - but only after the inevitable setting off of the alarm and experiencing the joys of a full body search, could I start the mad run to the gate. Once I arrived at the said gate, sweating off a full stone in body weight, you can only imagine the looks of my dear fellow passengers once I was seated next to them on the plane.

During the shortest flight I have ever flown - just 40 minutes, you almost start landing before you even take off - the dear Lord found the good grace to give me a nice 10 minutes or so of some quite fun turbulence. And may I point out here that having once been on a particularly testing flight from Milan involving David Baddiel, a diabetic coma, a passenger having a fit and a 10,000 foot drop in altitude in about 10 seconds- but that's a whole different story - then flying most certainly isn't my forte. I eventually arrived in to Holland to pouring rain and a rather ill host for the weekend. Luckily the rain soon stopped, and what was at first a rather overcast affair became a clear and crisp weekend away, but only after walking a mile in the wrong direction whilst trying to find the hotel. Not even this however could dampen my boyish (probably immature) enthusiasm at the trams in the city, or the 2 storey-trains. And the awesome weekend I spent in Amsterdam.

I took in the cultural Rijksmuseum (Empire Museum), Amsterdam Historical Museum, Homomonument, Anne Frank's house and a canal tour and then the not so cultural but far more entertaining Sex museum! My geeky charm once again reared it's ugly head in my love for the houseboats on the canals (in which I have vowed to live one day) and the vast number of bikes that at times seemed to outnumber the inhabitants - for the 750,000 people in Amsterdam, there are 600,000 bikes! Finally got to see the world-famous coffee shops with a few very stoned inhabitants clearly enjoying their time, but will wait for another occasion to pay for one of the equally world-famous prostitutes in the red light district!

I was hungry & exhausted from all these activities and so opted for the easy option of a large portion of chips to fill the gap in my belly, not realising that in Holland a large portion of chips is enough to feed a small family for an entire year of course..

Just to spice things up, the Sunday was the 35th Amsterdam Marathon and nearly all public transport was cancelled, so needless to say a lot of walking was involved. But Amsterdam isn't too big, and its a nice, clean city to walk around and in the chilly autumn sunshine it was a nice experience. I flew back in to the UK that evening on a (thankfully) not-so eventful flight, ready to visit my brother in Cambridge the following day. After a whole weekend of journeys (coach-flight-bus-train-tram-walking-tram-walking-tram-walking-train-bus-flight-car), then yet another journey was made to Cambridge by train. I arrived at the train station just in the nick of time (thanks to missing my bus) the train pulls into platform 4, while I'm at the other side of the station at Platofrm 1a which is where the screen told me to be! After yet another mad dash, I eventually get on to the train to be told it will only go as far as Bury due to a fatality on the line, and that I have to get a coach onwards to Cambridge. I did eventually get to Cambridge, which coincidentally was another city full of bikes - two hours later than scheduled and had a day of shopping followed by a night of drinking, and a day of recovery afterwards.

All-in-all, a fun and eventful few days away in both Holland and the UK!