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Travel
MEL to OOL
This morning, we are starting the first of our three flights back home. Between this one and the penultimate two are another two weeks of doing very little. This is a rather positive note! The Virgin Blue service will shuttle us back to the Gold Coast in roughly two and a half hours.
Watches to be set back by one hour and we are getting ready to face the sweltering climate.
The Southern Star
Observation wheels are the next big thing. I didn’t have the time in London to ride the Eye, but we took the 30 minute round-about on Singapore‘s Flyer. The Melboune Southern Star has been dogged by numerous delays and we were rather fortunate to be able to get on board on opening night.
Arriving just on time for sunset and disembarking from our flight just prior to the light fireworks spectacular, this was certainly a night to remember. One circumnavigation by pod lasts roughly 30 minutes and provides a tranquil setting for taking in the Melbourne skyline and harbour area.
We got a great glimpse of the city and its surrounds: 60000 odd coffee shops and Australia‘s busiest harbour.
I’m not normally one to pay for touristy photos taken by automatons on site. This one may have been worth the AUD 15, though:
The opening night fireworks are easily the longest and biggest I’ve ever seen.
I like my Koko Black
The Westfield in Doncaster is a rather upmarket shopping mall, hugely extended and renovated since our last visit here about three years ago. Here, we spent a bit of time browsing and shopping. An astounding array of shops and shoppers as you’d expect in any part of the world. Nice Christmas decorations and extended shopping hours right up to midnight.
Since darkness falls only once 21:00 approaches, it’s easy to get time-confused…
Borders is easily my favourite bookstore abroad. Not quite the size of the Singapore store, the Westfield store provided the latest Wired magazine and a Sandisk 4GB Micro SD card for only AUD 17.95. I’m sure that’s a bit of a pricing error on their part. That extra storage will be put to use in the Telstra HSDPA modem and later the E90.
If you’re into chocolate, a visit to Koko Black is a must. Serving the best Belgian hot chocolate
and a rather decadent selection of their chocolate creations,
you’re well advised to eat dinner before venturing out for this treat. Once it’s dark in Melbourne, a visit to certain suburbs reveals some rather interesting decorations. The owners have gone to a fair bit of trouble to provide eye-catching exhibits.
Time for bed now!
Left on Batman Avenue
Today, it was time for increased activity and a short stint into town to see a bit of Melbourne‘s CBD. The best way to do that is by bicycle, which is a really great idea. Since travelling with a bicycle is a bit of an issue, I rented a rather capable mountain bike from Rentabike close to Federation Square. The Gitane something or other was decked out in a stylish blue, replete with working everything – no issues with the functionality of my steed!
The supplied bicycle lock has the code 1956. That’s the year the Olympic Games were held in Melbourne.
Clever! That way, anyone unable to remember the combination has a second chance: at least one or two people in Melbourne should remember the date they last hosted the Olympic Games… Starting at the intersection of Russel Street and Batman Avenue we made our way on a longish loop through the city. How cool is it to be in a city with a Batman Avenue?
John Batman was an Australian farmer and businessman who was one of the first settlers of Melbourne and known for founding Victoria. And here you’re thinking Bruce Wayne…
Since this was no hectic cycling event, we had decent time for a few photographs and to look around.
A curry on the way never hurt anyone…
I can recommend TIFFINs to anyone in the inner city eager for a delivered meal. A coffee close to the location of the world’s latest tourist attraction: the observation wheel. London has one, as does Singapore. Melbourne‘s Southern Star is another in a long line of similar structures. Not yet open to the public, we’re hoping to take a round-about trip sometime during the weekend. The surrounding harbour with its views of the city is quite spectacular.
For someone who’s not at all interested in cricket, a slow cycle around the MCG was more about seeing the impressive structure and its surrounds. Once again, some great views of the cityscape from that side of town. We made our way home after a solid three hours on the road: some Beard Papa goodies for the wives and kids…
OOL
An uneventful flight from Coolangatta (OOL) on the Gold Coast to Melbourne. The only notable happening was the lack of security from a passenger identification point of view. Even South Africans are used to the fact that some form of identification has to be produced upon check-in, be it a passport, ID document or driver’s license. Here, it was a rather simple indication of surname and then lugging bags onto the conveyor to receive barcoded boarding passes. No further questions asked.
Our etickets had been purchased a few months earlier using a credit card. Certainly, the security officials took their time to check all bags making their way into the cabin. But it seems no one really cares who you are when you take a domestic flight within Australia. A slightly more serious security risk in my estimation than trying to smuggle a can of deodorant on board…
As South Africans, we shouldn’t feel too guilty if we make domestic passengers walk across the tarmac to and from an aircraft. It’s the same here.
Off to Melbourne
The Gold Coast is being left behind for a few days while we zip down to Melbourne in Victoria. A reasonably short flight aboard Virgin Blue should have us there in roughly three hours.
What would travel be without a change in the timezone? We’ll be nudged gently forward by one hour, so this is the third time watches will have to be set. Sunrise at 05:53, sunset at 20:37. How’s that for a long day?
Thankfully, Melbourne has a climate more suited to my preference. It’s generally a lot cooler, bordering on the ice cold at the right time of year.
Melbourne is a city with a lot of history, having been founded in 1835. Melbourne is dubbed the sporting and cultural capital of Australia. It’s a really nice place.
Catch of the day
We’re well rested enough after a catch-up period of 15 hours sleep on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were lazy days involving a visit to the beach at Surfer’s Paradise, inevitable shopping outings and lots of eating. Alexander is crazy about the pool and can’t wait to hop in and float around. I’m enjoying the beer on offer and organized a prepaid Telstra Next G HSDPA modem for the MacBook. Internetlessness can last only so long…
It’s marlin season on the Gold Coast, apparently. The offer to head for the high seas early this morning was grudgingly accepted – wake time was set for 04:50. The Core indicates sunrise to be at 04:46. That’s for Brisbane, approximately 100km to the north. When I managed to get my eyes open at 04:40, it was already light. A quick coffee and a short trip to the launching point by 05:30. It was hot and sunny. Could’ve been midday.
The marlin had been spotted in waters roughly 50m deep. We headed out in a rather random pattern, zig-zaging with the lines towing in the water. One possible bite was all we had. We were not the only ones, I suspect.
Very calm conditions subsided and we decided to make our way back at around 08:00. Let’s me make this statement before I continue: my aptitude for fishing ends with a frantic hunt for a tin of tuna in the kitchen and a mad dash for the tin opener. That’s about it. Big surprise then when a marlin took our hook and let himself be caught rather easily. I even got to reel the dude in: how’s that for team work?
Danny gets to clean and cut him up, though 
Estimated time of death: 08:30, weighing in at approximately 30kg, caught about 16km offshore in waters 54m deep.
Tonight: marlin steaks and XXXX!
Very nice!
G’day mate!
We have arrived safely in Brisbane and shuttled an hour by bus to the Gold Coast. Singapore involved a lot of walking and sightseeing. Australia is where the actual rest period of our holiday should take place.
Australians have job creation down to an art. The best example is the queue to have baggage and personal effects checked for goods Australians simply don’t want imported. There’s a good reason for their paranoia: rabbits are a scourge here, as is the horse flu that recently made an appearance. Since this is an island (albeit a large one), any serious disease could wipe its population right out.
That fact shouldn’t be an excuse to have five customs officials check the same declaration form in the same queue consisting of hundreds of weary travellers. The catch-all tick box to indicate one is carrying foodstuffs means everyone gets to stand in the queue: those carrying a stick of gum are just as guilty as those wanting to import half a pig. At the end of the queue, one guy helps load luggage onto a scanner while another has the opportunity to check baggage contents. Every now and then, a hapless personage has the honour of having all their stuff unpacked and groped. All in the name of national health and safety. It’s inefficient and a pain. Why not scan baggage as it leaves the aricraft, mark offending pieces and then pick them out as they make their appearance at the red or green channels? Kenya has been doing just that for as long as I can remember… In the end, it’s all good. Relax and take it easy. This is Australia, after all.
Today, it’ll be crash time: a bit of sleep will be very welcome.
Island hopping
We are leaving the small island of Singapore and heading for a slightly larger body of land in the Pacific and Indian oceans: Australia. Our target is Brisbane, from where we’ll be taking land-based transport to the sunny Gold Coast. Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 once again, which means decent in-flight entertainment and reasonably-sized seating and legroom. Alexander gets to watch WALL-E another 25 times. Flying time is roughly 8 hours and a bit…
The time difference from Singapore is 2 hours, 8 from Johannesburg.
The Australian Dollar (AUD) is basically equivalent to the SGD. Almost 6.7 to the South African Rand. Here’s a fifty:
I caution you not to try to print out the above and use it in nefarious ways. In any case, you’re missing the backside
There’s no escaping the humidity and temperature in this part of the world:
The Gold Coast is a bit like Durban, really. A holiday city with entertainment galore, beaches and the ocean. One big difference: it has all the amenities a first-world city would provide, backed by solid infrastructure and a government that cares more for the health and prosperity of its country than its own back pocket.
Alexander finally gets to see grandma, cousins, aunts and uncles again. Our last visit here was more than two years ago.
I have faith in the Singaporean ground crew: none of our luggage should get lost on this part of the journey…
The Singapore Flyer and the Ikea tourist
Another lazy day, interspersed with a fair bit of walking. This morning, we hopped onto the highly efficient MRT from Orchard to City Hall.
Our destination: the Singapore Flyer. The Singapore Flyer is the world’s largest observation wheel, similar to the London Eye. Standing at 165m from the ground, the Flyer offers a unique, panoramic view of Marina Bay and a fair bit of the surrounding cityscape.
Getting to the Flyer is very easy and convenient, especially since the MRT runs like clockwork, all personnel at the train stations is interested in offering assistance and plenty of free shuttles and buses are available to carry eager tourists around. We saw the big wheel yesterday while waiting for the bus to run into Sentosa, so Alexander was highly excited to get going.
Kids get to fly at no charge and are provided with a smallish activity pack containing some stickers. For kids, stickers are important. Adults pay SGD 29, which is a very reasonable fee. All visitors are provided with an audio device to listen to a very informative audio track while the 28 cars make their way from start to finish.
The flight lasts about 30 minutes and is a great way to see Singapore.
Next, we did what every family gets to do all the time: we compromised. For dad’s ten minutes in the Funan DigitaLife Mall, mom would get to visit one (and only one) of the local Ikea stores. Dad was consoled by the fact that he managed to snap up a 16GB SD card for the camcorder before being whisked away on the green line and bus 195 to end up in front of Ikea.
Melody is a bit of an eco terroristIkea tourist. Every opportunity to visit an Ikea is eagerly anticipated. So, we’ve been to Ikea in Europe and Dubai. If we stayed in Sweden, we’d probably have complimentary gate passes to the factory and design studio…
After two hours, dad made an executive decision and called for an evac – enough is enough: dinner can only wait so long.
Speaking of food, Singapore is most certainly the Food Republic!
And so, our last night here is about to start. Tomorrow: pack the bags, last look around and off to the bigger island.
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