December 2003
Week 35: Monday 1st to Sunday 7th December
The first day of Advent and instead of eating the chocolate from our first door on the calendar we were sitting on platform 4 Jakarta's main train station. We had arrived at 6:30am to catch the 7:30am train but as with most Indonesian transport there was a delay. Three hours later we were on a train that had been made available for our journey as the original had derailed, just what we wanted to hear. The journey was quiet and comfortable, a far cry from our previous bus journeys. There was even a tasty lunch provided, a real surprise for us. We pulled into Yogyakarta train station later than we had hoped and stepped out into a late afternoon downpour. We were escorted to the hotel we had chosen from the guide book - Monica - and checked in. By the time we had settled in it was fairly late and we were pretty hungry, so we walked around the corner and had a good fill of steak and chips, washed down with a bottle of Bintang of course. Fed and watered we went searching for another place to be watered, unfortunately there didn't seem to be many decent places open, so we settled for a stint on the Internet before bed.
After our lovely breakfast of tea and a jam toastie, we headed off down Marlboro St past all the batik art galleries and their relentless salesmen to the Kraton. The Kraton is a walled-in compound, in the city centre. It is home to 25,000 people and includes the sultan's huge palace, the Taman Sari (also known as the water castle or fragrant garden), a bird market and several craft industries. We had a very good guide who spoke very good English and like most SE Asians loved his football so we had a chat about that. After our tour he suggested we go to the government run batik art gallery as it is a genuine place that won't try to rip you off. He hailed a cyclo and sent us on our way. At the gallery we were shown how the artwork on cloth is created, a very long drawn out process of waxing and dyeing to create very intricate pieces. After a mooch around and a few purchases we were cycled back to Marlboro St where we grabbed some lunch and looked around the impressively stocked market stalls that seem to come to life at nightfall.
We were up for 5am on Wednesday as we had booked ourselves on a tour to Borobudur. Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist relics in South-East Asia and is Indonesia's most famous attraction, built between 750 and 850 AD, 60,000 cubic metres (196,800 cubic feet) of stone were used to create it. On the bus to the temple we met a Dutch girl called Suzanne, who turned out to be far too intelligent to be mixing with the likes of us. Her education and career were to do with artificial intelligence, it sounded very complicated whatever she was trying to explain. The gates to the temple open at 6am and we were there on the dot and to our delight the three of us were the first at the monument. We were treated to a quiet, peaceful moment on top, able to take in the grandeur with lingering mist all around without the usual noisy crowds disturbing the enjoyment. We spent a couple of hours walking around the stone structure, starting at the base ascending the levels in a clockwise direction (as this is what you should do at Buddhist monuments for luck). At the top again we were joined by quite a few other tourists - mostly Indonesian - admiring the 200+ bell shaped stupas that housed sitting Buddha statues. Although this structure isn't on the scale of those in Angkor, Cambodia, it has to be one of the best preserved we have seen so far. We slowly made our way down the steps towards the entrance - where now there were hundreds of souvenir stalls opening - to have our breakfast. Next on the tour was another Buddhist temple that was discovered during Sir Stamford Raffles time in the area, a lot smaller but still worth a visit. We then returned to the hotel where we packed our bags and waited for the bus to Bali that we had booked the night before. This time the bus arrived on time and left promptly, quite a novelty. We headed east, through Java in a very nice and comfy air conditioned coach and at 7pm we stopped off at a roadside cafe to eat our complimentary meal. The two of us drifted in and out of sleep for the next few hours and awaited the delights of Bali.
When we woke early on Thursday we had arrived on the island of Bali and we weren't disappointed. The scenery was more impressive that we had expected. We drove through lush rainforest with bursts of vibrant colour from the tropical flowers. The beaches were black as night due to the dark volcanic rocks around the coast and the waves were enormous. About one hour away from our destination - Denpasar - without warning the coach’s engine decided to give up. The driver tried to start her up again but she was having none of it. The driver and his mate disappeared into the engine compartment and for the next 2 hours all we could hear was clanging of metal and what presumably was Indonesian cursing. Fourth time lucky and the engine roared into life and to the passengers relief the a/c was restored to cool our perspiring brows. We got off the bus and looked for a bemo to Kuta, this we found out wasn't as straight forward as we thought. We had to get one bemo to a different terminal and then from there we could get to Kuta. An hour and a half later, we made it to Ronta Bungalows in the heart of the tourist centre of Kuta. After a spot of lunch we made a beeline for the beach and relaxed, well baked in the sun. This was our chance to relax after several days of what seemed like non-stop travel. The beach was fairly busy with sunbathers and the sea was dotted with surfers of varying competence. That evening we found a pool table and played a few games before eating and then enjoying a few drinks and a very bad film in an establishment called Tubes. At around 11 we decided to go in search of some decent nightlife, we found a place called Paddy's, the one place that was pretty busy and carried on drinking. The music was, to put it kindly - terrible. Maybe that is because 90% of the clientele were Australian and that's what they like to listen to, but Bon Jovi and the Village People aren't our cup of tea. Still we had a good time, had a dance and met some great characters, they may have bad taste in music and fashion but the Aussies are a good laugh and very likeable. We carried on until the wee hours before stumbling back to our spacious room.
After our night of excess we thought we had better get some serious boat searching done. The Australian consulate was our first stop as we thought if anybody knew of scheduled or other crossings from Indonesia to Australia, they would. The woman there was very helpful but alas knew of no scheduled crossings, but gave us the number of the harbour masters in Benoa in Bali and Kupang in West Timor. So we asked our driver to take us to Benoa, where we found the marina and asked if there were any vessels heading for Oz. There was! So we raced to the yacht and asked for the skipper. After a short conversation explaining our situation he said 'yes, I am leaving for Australia tonight', our eyes lit up, 'unfortunately the paperwork is already done and I can't change it now.'. Our hearts sank. We asked - no pleaded - with him to see if he could pull a few strings, even pay the appropriate official enough (it's so corrupt in Indonesia), so he said he would try. We waited half an hour and we were told the bad news that there was nothing he could do. Ah well, at least we knew there were people heading in that direction. Next stop was the Pelni office (the ship company that services all the major Indonesian islands) to see when the next ship to Kupang was. It was in 1 hour and the next one wasn't for another ten days. We swiftly purchased tickets and drove at break neck speed back to our room to pack and check out. We had only spent one day in Bali but if we were to have any chance of getting to Sydney in time for Christmas we had to leave straight away. We made it back to the ferry port in time to get a bite to eat and catch our breath. We were all ready and set to board when Matt suddenly had a horrible feeling, he checked his bag and yes, he had - as he feared - left his money belt with passport under the mattress in the room. Lets just say his mother wouldn't have been pleased with his choice of words! He rapidly made his way to a bemo and said something like 'Kuta please, and step on it!'. Phil in the meantime was left with both rucksacks watching the ferry arrive and people board, neither knew if Matt would make it back in time or not. As it happened we needn't have worried, as we have mentioned before, timetables are something of a novelty in this part of the world and Matt made it back with passport in plenty of time. Phil has suggested to Matt that he attach his passport to a bit of elastic and sew it to his pants so he can't forget it again! Finally we boarded and found a space to settle. We were in Ekonomi class, which is open plan but with raised platforms with mattresses and it included meals. We had a stroll around with the only other white person, Alex from Wales and then lay down to sleep.
At four am it was time for morning prayers for the Muslims onboard and this was relayed through the PA system. Matt was woken but Phil remained oblivious to it much to Matt's amazement. The increasing temperature caused us to wake at 6ish so we made our way to the top deck and played Scrabble. This turned out to be quite a spectacle for the locals, they were fascinated with the two white people and even more amazed by the strange green board and white squares. The rest of the day was passed chatting to Alex and Adi our new Timorese friend, oh and a few more games of Scrabble.
Sunday was spent doing much of the same, Scrabble, reading and talking to the other passengers. There really was nothing to do onboard and some people were on the ship for 5 days, how they do it we don't know. When we stopped at Maumere we were told by Adi that the village to the left had been destroyed by a Tsunami ten years ago, hundreds of people died. That has got to be one of the most terrifying things ever. Again we had an early night, at least we knew we would be in Kupang the following morning. Well, that is what we hoped. Originally we were told it would take a day and a half but it then kept on getting longer and longer until it reached 3 days, it's a good job we had got used to long journeys and have increased patience.
Now for Liam and Rich's part
With Phil and Matt enjoying themselves in Indonesia still, things were coming together for Liam and Rich in Sydney. Rich started his job in telesales and Liam was looking forward to his parents flying out. Hostel life was still fun and we were lucky to have some great room mates. The bubbly Leanne from Barry, Mel and Jack and Tom, a couple of lads from Essex. Over the coming week we had plenty of good nights out in places such as the Wise Monkeys, Side Bar and Scubar.
Unfortunately for Rich today was his first day in his new job as a ‘customer relations manager’, working for Custom Call on behalf of their major client Westpac. What this grandiose title actually means is that he was now one of those tossers who phone you up out of the blue and try and flog you some life insurance. The upside to this was that the people he met at work were a fantastic crowd, Raj, Una, Connar and Lorna to name but a few. Some of whom were to become drinking buddies for the next few months. The first couple of days were training – which was fine – $16 per hour to listen to some cheesy salesman blabber on about being ‘assertive’ and ‘assumptive closing’. Sounds pretty good, yeah?
Rich went to work and shoved the Customcall guide to selling down the cheesy guys throat walked out and went to Bondi beach, well that’s what he wanted to do but instead he stuck out another session of gibberish. Liam on the other hand was having a great day after he had met his parents who were to be in Sydney for the next nine days. In the evening Liam enjoyed the hospitality of his parents and had what was probably his best meal since arriving in Oz. Richard on the other hand was out in Bondi with people from work, all of whom had been driven to drink by their new job.
Liam, by now, had found himself work, also in telesales. He was raising money for children with heart disease via Synergy call centre. At the moment he wasn’t doing to many hours as he was spending some quality time with his parents, with days out to Manly, Bondi, Sydney aquarium, and Sydney centre point tower. Rich sold his first insurance policy and was on route to becoming a sales guru, even though he was nursing a bad hangover. In the evening rich met Liam and his parents who had a Chinese meal and a few drinks out in the city.
Over the last few days Liam had done a great job looking for flats and had found a place in Pyrmont / Darling Harbour, and today we got to move in. 642 Goldsbrough building was our new home and it was nothing short of fantastic. A two storey apartment with 2 en suite bathrooms a sparkling new kitchen decadent minimalist living area. The view was amazing, a full city scope of Sydney CBD (central business district) with the centrepoint tower in the middle and all overlooking Darling Harbour. The Goldsbrough building started out life as a wool warehouse. Our new flat was perfect, much higher than our expectations. Rich and Liam immediately set about finding the local boozer, the cozzie PBH (Pyrmont Bridge Hotel), which was a 24 hour pub. Over the next five months we probably spent more time here than anywhere else.
After moving in and starting work we were looking forward to the weekend which was spent down the beaches and with Liam’s mum and dad, who very generously supplied them with beer and food - cheers.
Week 36: Monday 8th to Sunday 14th December
We woke up for the third day in a row on the Pelni ship, however this time we only had a few hours to go until we would be on dry land. We stood on deck and watched the Timor Coast approaching and finally, at around 10am, we arrived at our destination, Kupang. With Adi’s help, we took the opportunity to make some initial enquiries into the likelihood of getting a boat to Australia but nobody at the Harbour knew of any boats that would be leaving for Oz in the coming weeks. We got a Bemo into the centre and to Adi’s Grandma’s house. Despite being in her 90’s Adi’s Grandma was very kind and hospitable and made us tea while Adi popped round to the shops to buy some cake.
In the afternoon we searched for Lavalon hostel but could only find a bar of the same name. The owner, Edwin, informed us that the hostel had had to close due to lack of tourists but recommended another place called Maliana. Edwin’s bar doubles as an unofficial tourist office and he has a wealth of knowledge about Timor and the Nusa Tenggara region. We told him about our aim to get a boat to Australia and he recommended that we contact an Aussie guy called Warren who owns a yacht and transports freight between Kupang and Darwin. The next couple of hours were spent sending text messages, making phone calls and negotiating with Warren who was in Darwin at the time. Warren had no plans to return to Kupang for another week and a half and his due date back in Australia wouldn’t have allowed us enough time to get down to Sydney for Christmas. However, the lure of extra cash seemed to turn him round and we eventually struck up a deal that would see us in Darwin for the 21st December at the latest, giving us just enough time to get down to Sydney for the festivities. We were understandably excited that our dream of getting to Australia without flying was looking like a strong possibility of turning into reality, yet we were still cautious in the knowledge that the best made plans have a tendency of becoming unstuck. That evening, we dined with Adi and his family and were treated to some delicious local dishes washed down with cold Bintang beers. We were driven back to Maliana on the back of motorbikes ridden by Adi and his friend, racing through through the dark streets of Kupang.
On Tuesday morning we got up and were served tea and jaffles outside our room. We walked to a market and were followed by a self-appointed guide who we spent about half an hour trying to shrug off. After a visit to another market we went to Flobamora Mall, a large, new shopping centre that the people of Kupang are very proud of. We picked up some bargain clothes in preparation for our time in Sydney and had a bite to eat in the cafeteria. On the way back the Bemo drivers appeared to know where we were going, it seems that when tourists are in Kupang, the whole town knows about it! Whilst we were relaxing at Lavalon, the harbour master popped by to let us know that there was a guy at the harbour with a yacht who was going to Australia. Although we already had an arrangement with Warren, there was no harm in having a back up plan so we went over to find the guy. As it happened his boat was too small to take passengers, plus he was spending a few months visiting other places before he was due to get to Australia. We arranged to meet up with Adi the following day and had a quiet relaxing evening.
After breakfast Adi’s Uncle and cousin arrived at our hotel to pick us up. We went around town picking up various members of Adi’s family until there were 12 of us and packed into the people carrier. We went off to a place called Soe, a couple of hours drive away from Kupang. Adi’s Aunt and cousins had cooked and prepared lunch, but on the way we stopped off to pick up extra’s and to take photographs. We also stopped at a Zoo that housed a Komodo dragon (looking very sorry for himself) and to pick up some fresh coconut from the side of the road. When we arrived at Soe, Adi popped off to say hello to an old friend and then we went for a walk down by a beautiful waterfall. Lunch was served at a picnic table and we enjoyed the meal of rice, beans, salad and jerk beef. We the drove up to a viewpoint before heading back along the twisty roads at breakneck pace. We said our goodbyes to Adi who was due to return back to Bali the following day and promised to say goodbye to his family before we left Kupang. After a bite to eat and a drink at Lavalon we had another early night.
We got a Bemo to Bolok, the port where youcan get ferries to Roti, a small island a few hours South of Timor. When we arrived at the port, the bemo drivers wanted more than we were prepared to pay fro the journey so a we had to argue for quite some time before an agreement was reached. It was very hot when we boarded our 9am ferry and we decided to sit in the area, one class up from economy. Even so, the four hour journey was uncomfortable, sweaty and cockroaches were everywhere. When we arrived at Roti island we got on a coach to take us to Nembrala, a beach on the far West of the island, famous for its excellent surfing conditions. The road was bumpy and the journey took 3 hours but the untouched beauty of the island made for a fascinating trip. Nembrala was deserted and there didn’t seem to be much choice in the way of accommodation. After walking around for some time, we found a small series of huts called Anugerah and checked in. All meals were inclusive and the only other guests were a couple from Darwin and a seasoned japans traveller, with whom we shared our evening meal of Nasi Goreng, chicken, rice and egg.
Friday was spent mostly sat on the beach, our excuse being that there literally is nothing else to do on Roti but relax! Matt saw a huge starfish and ventured out to sea to try and get to the reef, only to find that it was much further than it initially seemed. We had a tasty lunch, sat on the balcony, did some more sunbathing, and played table-tennis. After dinner, we bought some beers and sat on the beach (again) watching the dazzlingly bright stars roll over the sky.
We were up at 5am to get bus back to the port. As before the journey took 3 hours, yet the ferry didn't leave until 1pm. If only the bus timetable was coordinated with the ferry timetable! After our 4 hour wait we boarded the ferry along with some squealing pigs, tied to tree trunks - not a pretty sight. From the port we were driven back to Maliana by a Bemo driver who should really be an F1 driver. As it was was Saturday night we really thought a big night out was necessary. We started off at Lavalon and then moved on to Teddy’s which wascompletelyy dead, Kupang in no fit state to support any form of nightlife. We drank our beers and walked over to the bus terminal for a bite to eat. Saturday night at 9pm and nothing to do! Another early early night.
We met Warren at Lavalon and filled in all the necessary paperwork. Our first impressions of Warren were of a large, loud, obnoxious but generally good humoured Aussie fair dincum bloke. We arranged to meet him the following day and gave him our passports so he could organise clearance. We visited the Internet cafe then went into town and bought presents for Adi's family. When we went round we were very surprised to see that Adi was still there he had decided to stay for a few extra days before returning to Bali. It was a great cause for celebration and we ate all sorts sorts of delicious food, washed down by the deadly local spirit, Sopi. After a few bottles we were all quite merry and ordered a couple of litres of the loopy juice to take with us to Australia. We said our emotional goodbyes to Adi's lovely family and were taken back to Mariana on the back of motorbikes driven by riders whose vocabularies don't feature the word 'breathalyser'.
Now for the other two
Monday morning came round fast and it took superhuman effort to drag our bodies out of bed for the coming days work. We don’t expect to much sympathy as it was 30 degrees and clear skies outside, as well as the walk to work taking us past some of the most famous landmarks in the world such as the Opera house and the bridge. Liam’s parents were still here and soon were to be joined by some other familiar faces. Marie, part of the Marie and Marie couple we met in Korea, was in Sydney for a few days with her friend Mybrit.
It was Tuesday evening before we met them, we introduced them to a number of the local pubs. Unfortunately we got the bad news that we would not be able to stay in our flat as long as we had planned due to the landlord selling the property. We were told that we would have to move out on the 29th of January.
Back in the call centre Rich was getting well into his roll as CRM, making sales like there was no tomorrow. A lot of the people he had started the job with last week were already quitting. Liam was working with Mel, who had found him the job and Leanne from our dorm room in the hostel. Out of work we spent plenty of time with Marie and Mybrit and Liam’s mum and dad, who were due to leave the next day.
The next couple of days were spent working. We had a few more decent night with Marie and Mybrit. It was fantastic to see Marie again and we are all looking forward to an invitation to Denmark.
Week 37: Monday 15th to Sunday 21st December
We got up and checked out early on Monday morning as
we had some shopping to do. We had a two and a half
day journey to prepare for, so a trip to the
supermarket was in order. After stocking up on plenty
of noodles and other simple food we returned to
Lavalon to say our goodbyes to Edwin and his staff.
We then hailed our last bemo and were sped to the
wharf where our home for the next few days was moored.
We made our way along the pier and met Fenddi, our
yachts second in command. He helped us onto a small
boat and then motored us to Queeyai, a light yellow
65-foot yacht. Se has seen better days but compared
to some of the other local boats she looked like a
luxury liner. Warren, the owner and captain wasn’t on
board, we were told he was meeting the harbour master
and sorting out some paperwork. We sat down and
relaxed, chatting to Fenddi and a few of his mates.
After five hours of waiting, we were getting a little
anxious. Finally Warren turned up and we thought we
were off, no such luck. So that we hit the tide right
in Darwin we had to wait until the moon was visible.
In the end we didn’t move until midnight, eleven hours
after boarding. We had a celebratory beer and a few
whiskeys with Warren before we set off and enjoyed the
starry sky before retiring to our bunks.
We woke up on Tuesday morning to a hot and sunny day
with the Timor coast just in sight. As you might
guess, there wasn’t much to entertain us on board, so
most of the day was spent sunbathing and reading. We
were occasionally distracted by the odd flying fish.
These things are amazing, they come out of the water
and fly for hundreds of metres. In the evening we
were treated to a great sunset and the clearest view
of the stars we have witnessed. The stars and planets
visible were even better to view because of the 360
degrees of unobstructed horizon.
Wednesday was much of the same as Tuesday with the
added bonus of sightings of several Dolphins. One
problem that presented itself during the day was the
fact that we had run out of water. This meant no more
showers, no tea or coffee and no drinking water –
great! Apparently Fenddi had forgotten to fill up a
tank and Warren had emptied a tank assuming the others
were full. Matt and I thought how great it was to be
in the middle of the ocean with no water and a couple
of incompetents. Well we can’t have a journey go
totally to plan now can we?!
We woke up early and waited until we could see the
north Australian coast, it didn’t take long and by
12pm we had arrived at Darwin port. We had hoped to
catch the 1.15pm bus to Sydney, but thanks to the long
drawn out quarantine procedures we missed it. Instead
we found the nearest pub and had a celebratory pint of
Stella, oh how we had missed a proper pint. Before we
got carried away we went to book a bus out of Darwin.
This proved a little tricky due to full buses etc. We
left Natalie at Backpacker World to work on a route to
Sydney and would return the day after. We went back
to Queeyai to pay Warren and say goodbye and thanks
for our ride. We got a lift into town and checked
into the YHA and relaxed before hitting the town.
Vic’s was the venue, cheap food, cheap beer and very
bad music, all in all not a bad night.
We returned to speak to Natalie who had bad news for
us, the route through Alice Springs and Adelaide was
fully booked. So we had to go for the longer option
of a bus to Brisbane, then on to Sydney. This route
would take three days and not leave until the
following day but at least we would be in Sydney for
Christmas. We bought the tickets and set about
spending another day in the very quiet Darwin. A walk
to Fannie bay was suggested, so that’s what we did.
Apart from a short downpour, the walk along the coast
was really enjoyable, it was topped off by being
attacked by a few overprotective birds in the nature
reserve. Before we went out in the evening we had a
few drinks, including our cheap Indonesian liquor –
Sopi. We ended up at Vic’s again and danced the night
away.
We woke up ridiculously early, hung-over and bleary
eyed, wolfed down a bacon sandwich and boarded our
McCafferty’s coach. Again, we failed to do the
sensible thing and have an early night before an early
start to a major journey – when will we learn?!
Compared to South East Asian buses this was a
comfortable bus, run in an ultra efficient and
organised way. We knew that temperature inside and
out, what the tyre pressure was and what the driver
had for breakfast. It was a real shock, in a nice way
after coming from Indonesia. The journey was smooth
and the scenery was bleak and the time passed fairly
quickly thanks to the onboard entertainment. We had a
change of bus at Mount Isa at 7am on Sunday and spent
the rest of the day onboard with occasional comfort
breaks.
In the meantime Liam & Rich.....
After saying goodbye to Marie and Mybrit Liam and Rich were meeting Whitey and Frenchy there mates from Uni. Frenchy had been up in Brisbane playing throughout the Aussie cricket season and Whitey had come from went Abercynon to catch some rays for a while.
The week was spent at work during the days whilst Frenchy and Whitey made full use of the flats conveniences such as the pool and sauna. At night every opportunity was taken to show them Sydney’s nightlife and much of the time was spent in Kings Cross, Bondi and the Wise Monkeys.
On Friday they left to return to Brisbane just a couple of days short of when Matt and Phil were due to arrive which was a shame but we had a great week and it was nice to catch up with some old friends again.
Week 38: Monday 22nd to Sunday 28th December
After Whitey and Frenchy left we were awaiting the arrival of Jon and Adam, who we had met in Thailand, to arrive in Sydney. At about lunchtime we got a call from them after they’d been spending the last couple of hours wondering aimlessly around Pyrmont. We met them on Pyrmont Bridge loaded up with backpacks and luggage. The rest of the day was spent swapping stories and finding out what they’d been up to since we saw them last. In the evening we showed them our local, the PBH, and had a few too many schooners.
The flat was rudely awakened at some unearthly hour by two yobs booting our front door in ranting and raving about completing some kind of overland journey or something. After a while we stopped scratching our heads and realised that it was the two guys we had managed to lose in Malaysia…
The rest of the day was spent catching up with each other with Matt and Phil looking forward to their new beds after the 3 day bus ride from Darwin. Later in the evening we all headed to the Side Bar @ Wake Up! hostel where our mate Tom from Essex was competing in and duly won the ‘backpacker idol’ competition and a 5 star holiday to Queensland. After we moved to the three monkeys and had a few celebratory drinks now we were all back together. Everybody, but especially Matt and Phil, enjoyed their beds that evening.
CHRISTMAS EVE – 1400hrs – In the park, tops off, playing footy in 30 degree plus heat. This was without doubt the weirdest Christmas eve on record for all concerned. It was odd enough seeing images of Santa Claus around the shops when the sun was burning everything in site but now the bizarre reality of it was really setting in. In the evening we went to the World Bar in Kings Cross and completely forgot to go to midnight mass.
CHRISTMAS DAY - We were picked up in the morning by Kelly’s Dad who had very kindly offered to allow us to spend the day with their family. It was a very very kind offer and it was much appreciated. We got to Kelly’s house in Emu Plains and met her folks. We exchanged presents before tucking into a fantastic Christmas dinner, with not a Turkey in site, although of course we did have silly hats.
After dinner we headed to the outside pool. If Christmas Eve was strange this was off the scale. Christmas Day frolicking in a pool in about 35C. Kelly’s dad then went on to completely humiliate us by trying to get us to sit in his racing canoe which was so hard to balance in none of us lasted more than a couple of seconds. Later in the evening we went to see more of Kelly’s family at her uncle’s house, who very kindly gave us his midnight Safari tour… spooky!
We headed to bed in the early hours after all ringing home to say hi to the family. That was our Aussie Christmas, which thanks to Kelly and her family was a really special day. Even if there was no Only Fools and Horses.
We got up early to witness what we were told was a great Aussie tradition. The Annual Boxing day start to the Sydney to Hobart boat race. We got to a great vantage point on one of the headlands around Watson’s Bay and saw the start of the race with the fantastic backdrop of Sydney skyline in the background. One of Kelly’s friends was competing in the over 100 year old event and through the mass of boats we managed to catch a glimpse of him clinging on and doing all things nautical.
Later we said goodbye to Kelly and her parents and we couldn’t thank them enough. As we had been doing all things Aussie for the last 48 hours that evening we went to the PBH to enjoy a great British Christmas institution; Boxing day football.
The weekend was spent doing very little except for recovering from the usual over-indulgence at Christmas. New Year Eve was fast approaching so we decided to save our selves for that so the weekend consisted of watching DVD’s and video; one of which was the Sean Connery classic Zardoz.
For those of you who haven’t heard of this classic (I’m sure there can’t be that many) Zardoz is a futuristic Sci-Fi. Sean is Zed - The ultimate in human evolution, but still an "exterminator" who wishes to destroy the Eternal society. The Eternals are a group who live within a protective dome living for eternity all going completely insane. Every so often a huge giant head floats from the eternals village (Vortex Four) to the outside world. Here the giant head is considered a God, which spews forth guns for the barbarians to annihilate themselves with. It also gives such advice as The Gun is Good… The Penis is Evil. When Sean discovers this is all just a man made ploy to control the masses, (not the most subtle one granted) he gets a bit angry and sets about destroying everyone and everything. The only problem is that the immortals are so desperately bored they end up throwing themselves at him to be killed. I won’t spoil the ending but you can be guaranteed Sean gets the girl. For more information on this movie go to www.badmovies.org/movies/zardoz/ If you think you would enjoy watching Sean in a loincloth, and why not, it’s the one for you.
Week 39: Monday 29th to Wednesday 31st December
With full bellies from our fantastic Christmas dinner and a hangover to contend with we relax for a couple of days with a few light kickabouts in the neighbouring Wentworth Park. We also had what promised to be one of our biggest New Years Eve’s to contend with coming up closely followed by Matt’s Birthday on the following Saturday.
New Years Eve
Before we knew it New Years Eve was here and we were hurriedly trying to work out what we were going to do. The one thing we knew we would be doing was to be at the Rocks and Circular Quay areas for midnight to see what promised to be one of the most fantastic fireworks displays in the World.
Continued in Jan 2004
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