Z Australie podruhe

Ahoj pratele a kamaradi, tentokrat zdravime ze Sunshine Coast, kde nas sunshine opravdu pronasleduje. Je krasne slunecno, ale teploty uz splhaji na neprijemnych 36 stupnu Celsia a vlhkost vzduchu dosahuje az 75%. A cim se budem posouvat severneji, tim bude hur. Vstavame kolem 6 ranni, dele se ve stanu vydrzet neda!

Z Melbourne do Sydney jsme se rozhodli pro cestu vnitrozemim a v horach trochu protahnout kosti. Prvni zastavkou byl Mt Kosciuszko (2228m), nejvyssi hora Australie a v zime nejvetsim lyzarskym centrem. Sli jsme asi 20ti kilometrovy okruh s vystupem na vrchol. Jednoducha prochajda po peknych chodnickach az na vrchol.

Po zaplaceni vstupu do narodniho parku, clovek muze zustat 24hodin a kempovat se da skoro vsude, vybrali jsme dobre misto, meli jsme navstevu zvedave klokani rodinky a zustali u naseho stanu cele odpoledne a rano se jeste prisli rozloucit.

Po ceste do Blue Mountains jsme se zastavili v Camberre, Camberra je hlavni mesto Australie a nachazi se tu vsechny vyznamne politicke, ekonomicke a kulturni instituce. Jen jsme se chteli presvedcit, ze je to moderni mesto bez jakehokoliv charakteru, jako vetsina australskych mest. Navstivili jsme Narodni Muzeum, coz bylo moc zajimave a pak jsme sli plavat do olympijskeho bazenu.

Plaveckych bazenu je tu pozehnane a kazde i male mestecko ma minimalne 2 na vyber, vstup do bazenu se vetsinou pohybuje mezi $3-5. Takze kdyz jdem do mesta, hlavni aktivitou je jit plavat.

Blue mountains jsou krasne hory s opravdu modrym nadechem. Narodni park je jen hodinu jizdy od Sydney, takze hodne popularni destinace pro turisty. Vybrali jsme si 10ti hodinovy trek a jediny problem s trekama, ze clovek vzdycky musi dolu nejdriv az 800m a pak se vydrapat zpet nahoru. Bylo to hodne narocny. Jeden z nejznamejsich vyhledu jsou 3 sestry.

Do Sydney jsme prijeli na Silvestra. Pres den jsme zajeli do narodniho parku Botany Bay, jizne od mesta a odpoledne stravili na plazi. Voda se konecne zacala oteplovat. Rezervovat si ubytovani pres Silvestra v Sydney neni nic jednoduchyho, nam se podarilo najit kemp asi 25minut vlakem od centra. Rezervovali jsme si misto na stan nekolik mesicu dopredu, ale jedine mozne datum bylo od 1.ledna a tak jsme zaparkovali nedaleko kempu a vyrazili do centra asi v 7 vecer, to uz bylo pozde na vsechno. Lide, kteri chteli mit pekny vyhled na pulnocni ohnostroj s Operou a Harbour Bridge uz byli v centru od 30.prosince. Vetsina takovych mist byla oplocenych a kapacita jen par set/tisic lidi, nebo jen pro VIP a nikam se nedal vzit alkohol. K veceri jsme si dali indicky curry sebou a s dvema flaskama vina jsme hledali to nejlepsi misto, abysme vubec neco videli v tu pulnoc. Vsude byli miliardy lidi a vsichni hledali taky takove misto. Nakonec jsme zustali na Circular Quay, kde jsme videli alespon kousek mostu.

Po ohnostroji se rozjela mega ohromna party po celem meste, vlaky jezdili celou noc a do auta jsme se dostali asi ve 3 rano. V Sydney jsme zustali jeste dalsi 3dni. Prozkoumali jsme krasnou botanickou zahradu, starou cast mesta Rocks, China town a navstivili jsme i nejznamejsi 2 mestske plaze Manly beach a Bondi beach, obe byly naslapane k prasknuti, ale prijemne schlazeni po celodennich chozeni po meste. Krasne mesto Sydney, uz je tomu 8 let, co jsem tu byla poprve:)

Allan se dostal do Opery na koncert Fleet Foxes, bylo total vyprodano, ale cekal, jestli nahodou nekdo nebude prodavat listek pred koncertem. Lidi tam takovych bylo vic, ale mel stesti, ze byl sam a listek sehnal. A jeste jeden den kriketu, opet 1.den druheho Test matche mezi Australii a Indii, lepsi atmosfera, mensi stadion a krasne pocasi.

Ze Sydney jsme pokracovali smer Brisbane po vychodnim pobrezi. Takzvane Gold Coast je lemovane krasnymi plazemi, more super, tepla, pruzracna voda, skvele vlny a bily pisek, ale hlava na hlave a obestavene hotelama, mesta s mrakodrapama a vsude mega shopping centra a zabavni parky. Po par hodinach na plazi, jsme meli nejak dost toho davu a docela rychle jsme se presouvali. Protoze jsou tu dost silny spodni proudy, koupat se da jen mezi vlajkama, kde jsou plavcici a nad hlavou litaj helikoptery a mezi tim jsou serfari a deti a vlny hazej jedny pres druhy. Se zastavkou v Byron Bay, Coolangatta, Surfers Paradise jsme se odrelaxovali v Brisbane v knihovne a v parku. Je hlavni sezona a tak jak mistnich tak zahranicnich turistu je tu fakt hodne a ve meste nikdo nebyl.

Prekrocili jsme hranice do statu Queensland, zmenil se o hodinu cas. Australie ma 4 casove zony a momentalne je tma uz v 8 hodin. Teploty a vlhkost se zvysuji a turistu ubyva. Na plazi v Noosa jsme si opalili zada a predek na Rainbow Beach. Dnes jsme v kempu v Harvey Bay a Allan vyrazil na organizovany celodenni vylet na Fraser island. Jeste mame asi 9 dni, nato se pres Whitsunday islands dostat do Cairns, kde se potkame s Allanovou mamou a Petem.

Mejte se vsichni krasne.

Zdravi monika a allan

Animal Kingdom

The excitement in Melbourne was palpable in Christmas Eve, there were queues to glimpse the Christmas window displays at Myers department store on Bourke Street Mall and the supermarkets were rammed with last minute shoppers picking up a few extra bottles or some last minute steaks and hams. The streets did start to clear earlier than usual though and the Chinatown area was empty as people toddled off to begin their celebrations. We enjoyed a sort-of Czech Christmas dinner (the Czechs celebrate Christmas on the 24^th the funny people!) of fish and potatoes.

There is a great British assumption that all Australians celebrate Christmas on the beach with a barbeque piled with giant shrimps. Sadly the reality is not quite so idyllic! St. Kilda beach in Melbourne was rammed with people but mostly foreign tourists, fat, pink European guys booting balls around, Italian and Spanish guys trying to look oh-so-cool in their boardshorts and stupid hats and Irish girls swearing loudly in the gutter. There were snaking queues for the filthy barbies and then it started to rain. We snuck off to cook t-bone steaks and prawns on our camping stove away from the carnage and toasted with our Katnook sparkling Shiraz under a tree, slightly scared of being struck by lightening! Walking back past the beach the crowds had abandoned their food to the seagulls and a group of them were cramped under a bandstand, listening to awful eurotechno. And then, when we were back at our hotel, a hailstorm started with stones the size of eggs. A white Christmas!

Boxing Day is a chance for Aussies to enjoy a Christmas tradition at the MCG with the Boxing Day Test. The MCG is a giant stadium, the capacity about 3 or 4 times larger than that of any cricket ground in England, and is designed in a coliseum style, meaning that the noise seems to reverberate around the whole ground. There was a little bit of rain but that just made the day last a bit longer. A classic days cricket with beach balls bouncing around and beer snakes being confiscated, us watching with a beer in one hand and a pie in the other. The day was slightly marred by a minority of fans resorting to a bit of old fashioned racism. This is not the only time I have seen Australian guys disgrace themselves, they like a bit of male chauvinism as well, sometimes it feels like we are stuck in 1982 down here, with one of the more cringeworthy examples being the group of guys on a Mornington beach sounding air horns whenever women walked past. The writer Kathy Lette, not known for her astute social commentary got it spot on about 30 years ago in Puberty Blues when she wrote that Australian males (she was referring to the surf community at the time) were perfect evidence for anyone looking to disprove evolution as they were devolving back into primates!

Before we left Melbourne we did wander around the tacky souvenir stalls of Queen Victoria Market, not sure whether to buy a painted boomerang or didgeridoo or whether to plump for a furry koala toy or a kangaroo with boxing gloves.

In order to work off a bit of the Christmas indulgence we headed north from Melbourne into the Snowy mountains, snaking up the treacherous Alpine way to Charlotte pass, from where we could climb up to Australia’s highest point, Mt. Kosciusko. Despite being more than twice as high as England’s hghest point the 21km round trip trek was fairly easy (I think Charlotte pass is already higher than Scafell Pike) but there were some really beautiful views of the Australian Alps and Snowy river and there were still a few glaciers around, melting into the lakes below. After returning we camped in the national park, visited by inquisitive kangaroos munching the grass around our tent.

Canberra is much maligned for being purpose-built but in such a young country this hardly seems unusual. It does give itself away with some typical facets of such cities being so spread out with plenty of green spaces, swimming pools and sports centres but no shops or urban areas. Whilst the government buildings are not particularly impressive, the National Museum of Australia is a highlight, especially the Garden of Australian dreams which looks like some sort of real-life CGI world!

The Blue mountains sit just 100km inland from Sydney although we took the back way in via a horrid road up from Canberra. Despite the poor weather we enjoyed a tough 15km trek through the Grose valley, descending from Govetts Leap lookout through the valley to the Blue gum forest and a demanding ascent up to Perrys Lookdown and returning along the ridge via Pulpit Rock viewpoint. It may seem strange to go trekking in mountains and descend first and then climb but that is because the Blue mountains are not really mountains, they are more like a network of valleys, canyons and gorges, only visible once right on top of them. They do appear blue as well, I don’t know why, perhaps the haze or the blue gum trees? After the trek we also visited the Echo Point lookout to view the famous Three Sisters rock formation, catching it just right as the sun set.

I didn’t expect to be visiting a hospital on New Years Eve but that is what I ended up doing after suffering from pain since Christmas Eve around the hernia I had operated on 18 months ago. The doctor confirmed I have suffered a re-occurence and will need an op when I get back to the UK. He did say it was not serious and should not affect my plans between now and then, just that I cannot do any exercise or any heavy lifting, so Monika has to carry everything from now on! He also said I should buy a lottery ticket as the chances of regression with the new mesh repairs are very low so I was the lucky one! Some luck! I consoled myself by visiting Royal National Park and the historic Botany Bay, sight of the first European landing in Australia. We spent the afternoon on a beach with a perfect view of the flight path into Sydney Airport.

Sydney is of course one of the most famous places to be for New Years Eve. The place was totally packed, I have never seen such crowds. There was no chance to get to one of the prime views over the harbour for the fireworks so we settled for a takeaway curry, a couple of bottles wrapped in paper bags and a view of the bridge from Circular Quay. The fireworks were impressive but when we saw the front page photos the next day we rued what we had missed! We queued up with the thronging masses to catch the train out of the centre, eventually getting on a train around 2:30. Having mentioned the guys earlier, it is surprising that not all girls in Australia are like those living in Earls Court, i.e. the kind you don’t want to mess with! There are plenty of vacuous blondes tottering around in high heels and skimpy hot pants and we sat next to a group of these on the train, all giggly inanely at the pretty colours on their mobile phones!

Returning to the centre on New Years Day around 3pm there were still some parties going on and a lot of people staggering around trying to find their way home. It was a beautiful day for walking around however and much of the clean-up had already taken place, very efficient. This was the chance to wander through the botanical gardens, spotting flying foxes in the trees and viewing the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the view at Mrs Macquaries chair. We walked around the outside of the Opera House and back through Circular Quay, the cafes and bistros doing a roaring trade with people just re-discovering their appetites. I was underwhelmed by the shops and bars of the Rocks but did enjoy walking around the old colonial homes of Millers Point and the Observatory. Crossing the Harbour Bridge is an exhilarating experience, not just the views or the height but also the rumbling of the cars, buses and trains crossing all at once. I don’t think I could handle the climb up to the top of the bridge. Nobody ever mentions the north shore of the harbour but I always imagined the view must be great from there as well, and so it was, the views from Luna Park being just as good as those from the botanical gardens. There is a great swimming pool just under the bridge as well which must be one of the most scenic places to do your weekly lengths!

Other sights of central Sydney we visited included the extremely tacky development around Darling Harbour (something akin to the V+A Waterfront complex in Cape Town), a Chinatown that feels more modern than elsewhere and the quiet Hyde Park. One of my highlights was wandering through the Kings Cross district, from the giant Coca-cola sign down past the backpacker hostels and cafes of Darlinghurst Street, intermingled with seedy bars and strip joints, a throw back to its earlier guise as the magnet for sailors and soldiers arriving in Sydney for R and R. Of course Sydney is famous for city beaches so we took the iconic Manly Ferry across the harbour, past the Heads to Manly beach. The ferry journey was great, the destination less so. The beach was rammed, it looked like a Bulgarian beach resort, unsurprising given it was a bank holiday!

Fleet Foxes are playing a three night residence at the Sydney Opera House and I queued up on the 2^nd January for over an hour in the hope of picking up a standby ticket. Amazingly I was in luck, jumping the queue due to their only being a single ticket left. Monika didn’t fancy it and the others in the queue were all couples! I could not believe my luck. I had missed out on three single tickets that had come up whilst we were waiting and I eventually got mine five minutes after the band started but I didn’t care. I saw one of my favourite bands play an incredible gig at one of the worlds iconic venues. Inside the concert hall the roof is the same shape as outside, for some reason I didn’t imagine that, so it was like hearing a concert inside a giant shell, and the sound was great. It was all just great.

On our final day in Sydney we visited the SCG for the Sydney New Years Test. Personally I think the SCG is a much nicer stadium than the MCG, probably one of the prettiest in world cricket and we sat there for a glorious day of cricket in the sun. The crowd were in high spirits but much more refined than in Melbourne (kind of like the difference between Lords and Oval crowds!) and we saw a ton of wickets fall on the first day. At stumps the sun was still shining so we took the bus down to famous Bondi beach. I didn’t want to end this on a low point but I didn’t see what all the fuss is about. I found Bondi to be crowded and the area resembles a British holiday resort. Everyone seemed to be strutting around trying to see and be seen. The sea was nice though, big waves and the perfect refreshment after a day baking in the sun!

From here we head north towards Brisbane. Luckily we have a new USB stick to provide the in car entertainment (that is between listening to the cricket) as our old one broke somewhere in South Autralia, putting paid to our White Album and Diamond Dogs sessions as we barrelled up and down the Stuart highway! Something tells me we could be listening to a bit of Fleet Foxes in the next few days.

z Australie

Zdravime tentokrat uz z Australie. Doufame, ze jste si vsichni uzili svatky vanocni v pohode a bez stresu a jste nateseny, co prinese rok 2012:)

V Australii jsme zacali jihem, priletli jsme do Adelaide, peknym privitanim pro nas byly aerolinky Quantas, kde se o nas moc hezky starali a nicim na nas nesetrili. Spali jsme 2 noci v takovym podivnym hostelu, postel za $17, coz je hodne levny na mistni ceny a meli jsme svuj vlastni byt s kuchyni a koupelnou a nikdo jiny se tam uz nenastehoval a v posteli jsme spali po hodne dlouhy dobe! Pujcili jsme si kola a objeli cely mesto, meli tam suprovy trziste a zajimavou botanickou zahradu.

Dalsi den uz na nas cekalo auto, pujcili jsme si nejlevnejsi ($30 na den), tim padem nejmensi auticko toyotu corollu hatchback, ne vlastne meli i mensi a to toyotu yaris. A hned jsme vyjeli do Outbacku, za trochu vzrusem do vnitrozemi. Cilem bylo podzemni mesto Coober Pedy a cervena poust Breakaways, meli jsme v planu takovy okruh, ale par silnic bylo nesjizdnych, kvuli povodnim a nektere byly otevrene jen pro auta 4x4, takze jsme se po Stuart Highway (ktera pokracuje pres Alice Springs az do Darwinu) museli vratit. Jako obvykle, kdyz my dva vyjedem kamkoliv do pouste, tam nam bez vyjimky prselo a to rovnou nekolik slejvaku!

Prvni zastavkou byl Narodni park Mt.Remarkable, prvni spani v divocine bylo docela hrozny, bala jsem se vylezt z auta a vsude bylo hrozne otravujiciho hmyzu a vsude to sustilo a bzucelo. Bylo asi 34 stupnu, spali jsme v aute, kde jsme se varili ve vlastnim potu, ale zakazala jsem Allanovi otevrit okno. Na spani ve stanu jsme se museli jeste trochu otrkat. V Narodnim parku jsme sli 2 treky, byli jsme tam skoro sami a az na par klokanu, ptaka emu a hada jsme nikoho nepotkali.

Hady nesnasim a hrozne se bojim, ze na nejakyho slapnu. Snazim se hodne dupat a vydavat ruzny zvuky na trekach, aby se me bali vic, nez ja jich. Ve statistikach jsem se docetla, ze v prumeru jeden clovek rocne zemre na kousnuti hada, to me troche uklidnilo. Ale je tu i jina havet!

Pres par divnejch mest uprostred pouste jako Port Augusta a Woomera jsme dojeli do jeste divnejsiho podzemniho mesta Coober Pedy, znamy tezbou opalu, 80% svetove tezby opalu pochazi odtud. Zije tu az 75 narodnosti a v lete teploty dosahuji az 50 stupnu. Sice je leto, ale nas zde zastihly dve ohromny bourky, jinak pred den bylo asi 30 stupnu (nastesti jenom).

Vyjeli jsme na celodenni offroad vylet pres mesicni krajinu k znamemu Dog Fence (Psi plot), nejdelsi plot na svete az 10 000km dlouhy a byl postaven, proti pruniku dingo (australsky divoky pes) do jihovychodni Australie a zbytek dne jsme stravili v neuveritelnych barvach Breakaways Reservace. Vydrapali jsme se na nekolik vrcholku, aby jsme meli co nejlepsi vyhled na tu neuveritelnou poust. Pozdeji jsme se docetli, ze nektere ty vrcholky jsou posvatne pro Aborigince a asi se nam to vymstilo.

Hned druhy den na to, se nam stala nemila prihoda, prasklo nam predni sklo u auta!! Asi kaminek od nejakyho tiraku, kterejch tu jezdi hodne a jsou mega veliky a valej to silenou rychlosti, prasklinka se rychle rozsirila a my jsme se museli vratit do Adelaide vymenit auto a samozrejme zaplatit spoluucast a ted musime jen doufat, ze nam to pojistovna vrati. Dostali jsme auto nove, tentokrat bile. Trochu zdeptani a unaveni po 600km rizeni, jsme si zasli zlepsit naladu do mistni klasiky na veceri do Cafe de Vili’s, mistni pie s hovezim masem zality zeleninovo-cockovou kejdou a pocakany kecupem! mistni to milujou.

Dalsich nekolik set kilometru a krasnych par dni treku v narodnim parku Flinders Ranges.

Ochutnavky vin v Barossa Valley, navstivili jsme nekolik vinic, ja jsem nemusela ridit a meli ten nejlepsi Shiraz.

Pak uz jsme se pomalu podel Limestone pobrezi presouvali smer Victoria, se zastavkou v Narodnim parku Coorong, krasne laguny plne pelikanu, obklopene ohromnema pisecnema dunama.

S navstevou par dalsich vinic v okoli Coonawarry, zname jednim z nejlepsich cabernet sauvignon. Bohuzel rada v rizeni byla tentokrat na me a kdyz clovek musi to vino vyplivavat, tak to proste neni ono.

Trek v Canunda Narodnim parku, barva vody tady pripominala nejakej Karibik, ale bohuzel koupani tady skoro nikde neni bezpecny, kvuli spodnim proudum.

Suprovy jeskyne Tantanoola.

Ve statu Victoria je Great Ocean Road, je jednou znejpopularnejsich primorskych cest na svete. Lemuje jihovychodni pobrezi Australie a je zname skalnimi vybezky z more jako 12 apostolu, London Bridge a Loch Ard gorge. Najednou jsme byli trochu sokovani, poctem turistu na Great Ocean Road, v Jizni Australii jsme si pripadali skoro sami. Nekolik znamych plazi na serfovani. A po ceste na Mys Otway jsme videli asi 20 roztomilych Koalu, v ruznych polohach na stromech.

Jen par dni do vanoc, ktere jsme meli v planu stravit v Melbourne a na doporuceni mistnich jsme je stravili v narodnim parku Wilsons Promontory. Opustene bile plaze s tyrkysovou vodou, destny prales a krasna divocina. V Tidal River je kemp, ktery ma 450 mist, nastesti jsme se tam vesli, ale pres vanoce se tam clovek dostane jen kdyz vyhraje v tombole a nebo si to musi zamluvit nekolik let dopredu. Bohuzel v roce 2009 byl v parku ohromny pozar a tenhle rok v breznu tam pro zmenu byly mega povodne. Z posledni katastrofy se park jeste nevzpamatoval a vic nez polovina treku je zavrenych. Presto jsme nasli pres 40km otevrenych cest a bylo to krasne!plaze jak z pohadky.

Po ceste do Melbeourne jsme si procvicili grilovacku (abysme na stedrej den pred australanama nevypadali jako uplny laici) a oslunili jsme se na par plazich po ceste.

V Melbourne jsme meli 3 noci v Hostelu. Tramvajema jsme si projezdili centrum mesta, docela moderni velkomesto bez nejakyho charakteru. Zasli jsme do Cinske ctvrti. Nakoupili zasoby na 3 dni vanoc, meli jsme lednicku na pokoji!coz se pak clovek v tom krame muze rozject a poprve jsme meli v Australii studene pivo! Na stedry vecer allan uvaril rybu s bramborama.

Druhy den, tady stedry den, je klasika jit na plaz a ugrilovat si steak a krevety a k tomu pit vychlezany cerveny bublinky! Plaz jsme si vybrali nedalekou St Kilda, tramvaje po meste byly ten den zdarma, bylo dusno, plaz plna k prasknuti, hlavne ozralejch turistu, vsechny grily v provozu a fronta, do toho zacalo poprchavat, vzali jsme nas plynovej varic, kdyby nahodou takova situace nastala. Misto na plazi, jsme skoncili v parku naproti pod stromem, protoze se totalne rozechcalo a dokonce padali i kroupy, takze se da rict, ze jsme meli bile vanoce:) Na panvicce jsme si udelali steak, pak krevety a salat, rychle jsme to do sebe nahazeli (bylo to moc dobry), zapili to cervenym bublinkovym shirazem a uplne promoceny jsme jeli zpet do hostelu.

A dalsi australskou tradici je jit na kriket. Stadion MCG v Melbourne je pro 130 000 navstevniku!! My jsme sli na prvni den 5ti denniho testu, tentokrat hrala Australie s Indii. Hralo se cely den, pres den trochu prselo a tak se hra odpoledne jeste prodluzovala a nijak to neskoncili, protoze to byl jen prvni den. Dali jsme si par piv, precetli jsme si noviny a Allan by nejradsi sel na vsechni dni:)

Tak se mejte vsichni krasne a vse nejlepsi v Novem Roce 2012

Zdravi Monika a Allan