Aussie Roadtrip: Port Macquarie

Saying goodbye to Andrea we hopped in the car for a rather lengthy drive to Port Macquarie. We had a delightful morning bakery stop in the seaside village of Lennox Head and made a snap judgement that we’d like to visit again. I couldn’t help but feeling that although Byron was nice, the traffic congestion and other minor issues might too easily getting in the way of a relaxing beach day. Lennox Head is smaller and the pace seems slower (as evidenced by the time we spent buying postal stamps!). As a Victorian I would wager that Lennox Head is to Apollo Bay as Byron is to Lorne. (Obviously there are differences and loyalists to any of these towns will likely be offended by my statements!)

Lennox Head 

Aside from Rob trying to eat a BIG BANANA on the way through, it was then pretty much full steam ahead to Port Macquarie. We did make a few short stops along the way, the most notable being at the Honey Place (a bee museum/café in Urgunga). I knew bees were amazing but the video and hive there refreshed my love of bees -as did the honeycomb we feasted on. What other animals perform beautiful and complicated dances to share the proximity and direction of food? Actually, if you know of one please let me know!

Hooray I am going to eat a big banana today!

Oh no! I shut my mouth at the wrong time!

I will keep it open in case we find the big pineapple!

Busy little bee

In Port Mac we stayed at a campsite next to Flynn’s Beach. (Also located near a street with a wonderful name –see photo below!) The weather on our first full day in town was not the clear sky and sun we had become accustomed to since leaving Sydney. It wasn’t terrible either. We had a slow morning, took some walks and read our books at a park overlooking one of the nine local beaches.  

An excited Chalmersarian

Traditional tent photo 

Near our campsite was a koala hospital that ran tours at 3pm. It included detail about the various ailments and diseases koalas suffer from (road accidents and chlamydia common) and an introduction to current residents. A few koalas will be there until they die but, where possible, the aim of the centre is to rehabilitate koalas back into the wild. One of the koalas lost a leg and the vets weren’t sure if she would be able to look after her joey. Usually a joey will receive pap from their mother whilst in the pouch. Pap, decomposed elements of eucalyptus leaves, helps joeys develop a taste for the leaves, provides adequate nutrition and included a specific gut bacteria needed for a koalas digestion of the gum leaves. In this case, the Mother managed to fulfil this role despite her challenges, the joey was released into the wild and Mum continued on, amazingly mobile. Then there was a big storm and she fell from her tree onto a clothesline damaging her eyes and losing her sight. She is apparently the most popular koala at the centre – what a trooper. It was sad hearing about the declining koala count due to loss of suitable environments.

Koala hospital

Food time

Yummy!

A climber

Munch munch munch

In the evening we went on sunset and dolphin cruise, recommended by our travel friends Jenny and Ben. They had missed out on seeing dolphins but we went one worse and didn’t have a visible sunset either! It was still fun seeing a bit of the way of life around the port and rivers. We had a much loved dog for our neighbour who was happy as he scored a few scooby snacks along the way. A young sea-goer (aged 5 or 6) was thrilled at the opportunity to steer the boat.

"Must love dogs"

Waking up to a roasting warm tent, Rob and I suspected that outside would be much cooler. It usually is. It always seems to me like the tent is trying to trick you into thinking it is a good beach day. Today it was actually warm again! We celebrated with yoga on the beach and some rough body boarding at Flynn’s beach.

Flynn's beach from the roadside 

In the afternoon we learnt about the area’s history and the town museum. The highlight was learning about how Edmund Barton had come to town to encourage a vote for federation. Previously the town members were rather ambivalent on the matter. In an unrelated somewhat random display on infants and motherhood, I also learnt that the invention of a banana shaped milk bottle for feeding babies reduced the amount of bacterial infection. The previous bottle was not on display but it apparently had some sort of tube for bacteria to build up in. I had never really thought about the fact that bottles might have been shaped in anything other than an upright position. There you go!

A dinner picnic overlooking the port was a lovely way to spend our final evening and discover that the town can indeed put on a sunset.

Moody sunset

Aussie Roadtrip: And then the Rain Came

It was lovely waking up with a bit of sunshine and the neighbouring kangaroos nibbling outside our window. It was very peaceful being the only humans staying amongst the chalets at the top of a hill in Jindabyne. And then the rain came!

Good day!

Our Jindabyne home for 2 nights

Lake Jindabyne in sunshine

Lake Jindabyne pre-storm

Jindabyne bush

Cloud collection 

Lake Jindabyne from the top of our hill

Neighbours 

Stormy backyard 

The reason they built a series of giant hydro-electric power stations through the Snowy Mountain region is because there is a lot of water.  There’s a lot of water because, well there’s a lot of rain (snow too, I imagine).  Unfortunately, we had to make an on-the-morning decision to scrap our plan to climb to the summit of Mt Kosciusko (which is apparently quite simple!).

Instead, we went the other way, along the road to Cooma, the home of the Snowy Hydro Scheme Discovery Centre.  It was a great way to learn more about what many describe as the greatest public infrastructure project undertaken in Australia.  We quite enjoyed it, although parts of it could be updated and/or fixed.  It was great to learn about not only how electricity is bought and sold throughout the east coast, but more about the scheme and the people who came to the region to help bring it to life.  I thought it kind of comical that they started the process with picks and shovels, but if that’s what you’ve got, then that’s what you’ve got!  Tens of thousands of people worked in this region to make these dams, it’s really pretty amazing. Many of the engineers, electricians, surveyors and other workers came from Germany, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Norway, Greece and other parts of the world.

What I would still like to know more about is why hydro power is still more expensive than coal, because as a result, hydro isn’t used to generate the bulk of electricity.  Still, visiting has meant that I have more questions to find the answers to, and I suppose that must be a good thing.

Our planned visit to the well reviewed NSW Correctional Services Museum was interrupted by a hiccup with the car, that fixed itself with no intervention from us but a lazy wait and try it again in 2 hours approach.  With the right mindset, you can fix anything!

Today Kat woke up and watched some boxing, kangaroo style- the only kind she enjoys! After some yoga and breakfast we got back on the road to head to the capital. 

It went on for quite awhile

Look at the far kanga propped up on his tail

Cycling Adventures 3: Zandvoort, Alkmaar and Edam

Day 3 - The Hague to Zandvoort (continued)

Leaving the Hague in the rain it wasn't too long before we hit the beach. It wasn't a hard choice to push on. By midday we were ready for a break and some lunch by another beach. We had a drink at a dead beach resort restaurant to get away from the wind. When we came out it had started to heat up and it wasn't long before we were stripping off layers and dreaming of beach afternoon at Zandvoort.

Raincoat and shorts turned out to both be good choices!

A large part of our route on day 3 was through the Meijendel sand dunes on the west coast. The sand dunes provide a natural protection from the threat of the ocean. In other areas artificial sand dunes are constructed for the same purpose. It was such a departure from the sight of the green Netherland's countryside and paired with the sun's reappearance we felt like we were in the middle of a desert. 

Cycling to the sky

The sand dunes were vast and appeared to go on forever. Cycling up and down the small hills we didn't seem to be moving anywhere and wondered if we would ever see the beach! Eventually we made it to North Holland where we took a break to celebrate.

Made it!

Sand dunes as far as the eye can see

After some serious up-hill as we approached Zandvoort, the beach finally seemed within reach. Zandvoort is one of the major beach resorts in the Netherlands. The campground we stayed at had everything you could need (well, no toilet paper) but was extremely cramped. The idea was to fit in as many paying customers as possible and it was certainly an experience.

After setting up camp we still had enough time to enjoy the beach with a book and a drink. It was too cold for swimming and perhaps that is why the beach there is so built up with shelters and cafes.

Zandvoort beach

Traditional photo amongst the masses!

Day 4 - Zandvoort to Alkmaar
Today we rode through windy, country roads on our way to Alkmaar. We enjoyed some street art, the cycling, some windmills and an ice-cream before making it to the B&B where we would camp that night. 

We hadn't booked our accommodation assuming we could just show up in the middle of August. It was a B&B place setup by a husband and wife team, who also allow you to camp or park your caravan in their backyard.  We hadn't booked - because it was virtually impossible to do that at any other campsite, but here the owner informed us that they usually have a 2 night stay minimum.  Rob said "OK, we'll go somewhere else", luckily, the owner accepted his bluff and showed us where to setup, because I didn't feel like cycling to the next campsite across the other side of Alkmaar. This spot was certainly a contrast to the chaos of the beach resort site the night before. With cows as our neighbours, we slept well in the backyard, waking to the sound of birds chirping.

Excitement and fireworks on the streets of the Netherlands

Happily cycling through the countryside

Windmill ahoy!

Bit of a rest after an ice-cream break

Traditional tent photo, cows included

In the evening we explored Alkmaar, another town famous for its cheese. There were some impressive buildings in town, the Waag (balance scale) building in particular really caught my eye. In the 14th century it was a chapel for the adjacent hospital, later it was converted to a weight-house and now it houses the cheese museum.

The Waag, Alkmaar

Pretty Alkmaar

Day 4 - Alkmaar to Edam
This was my favourite day in our cycling adventure, mainly because we learnt more about how the Netherlands manages its water challenges but also because the day included a few other things I love to do.

Twenty six per cent of the Netherlands is below sea level and much of it is prone to flooding.  The country uses a complex drainage system that includes sand dunes, dikes, dams, floodgates, canals and pumping stations. Developed in the 15th century, polder windmills used the power of the wind and scoop wheel to bring water up out of the polder into the canals for drainage. Mills were combined to increase the pumping height and later mills used an Archimedes screw to further raise the height of the water. Drainage mills were replaced by pumping stations firstly using steam and then diesel and electricity.  

The Museummolen Schermerhorn that we visited, is one of the eleven windmills left from the windmill complex of the Schermer polder in North Holland. For almost three centuries the Schermer polder was drained using windmills. The museum included a great video on the history of water management and the opportunity to see inside the mill. We left in awe of the Dutch and what they have achieved. I think a lot of people would have just given up and moved somewhere else (easier said than done too I suppose) but the Dutch persevered  The current level of maintenance and necessary forward thinking for the future also cannot be underestimated.

Museummolen Schermerhorn

Another windmill across the way

Water: enemy and friend

Inside the windmill

Picnic on the canal

After some more cycling we stopped for a picnic lunch on a little canal. Our lovely, calm spot was barely 20 metres from the supermarket. It was one of those days were everything just went to plan!

Enjoying the beautiful day we rode on to charming, little Edam (of the cheese notoriety). I realise I sound like a broken record but Edam was truly out of a storybook with its quaint houses and bridge and gorgeous gardens. I felt like I was in a chalk drawing and if I stepped too heavily or fell in a canal I might just break the spell of the place. 

Beautiful Edam

Don't fall in and wreck the spell!

House with traditional Dutch shutters

That evening our campsite was alongside the IJsselmeer, an artificial lake constructed in 1932 when a dam closed off an inland sea. (Another example of the Dutch command over water.) It was a lovely campsite and we were pleased to enjoy a swim and some lakeside reading in the afternoon. The pier provided a great place to watch sunset and I had fun chatting to some kids that were trying to convince me to dunk my shoes in the water! Their Dad soon followed in their footsteps to apologise and I ended up talking to him too. Soon Rob joined me and we saw the last of sun with a bit of pier yoga. It's like paddle board yoga but on a much more stable surface!

Tent photo with towels drying on bikes

Glasgow, Scotland

From Belfast to Glasgow
Farewelling Mum at the airport in Belfast, we then worked out how we were going to get to the ferry terminal to get to Glasgow. You see, we had chosen our accommodation excellently for Mum to hop across the train tracks to take her flight to London for further adventures with good friend Rhonda, but to get to the ferry terminal was another issue. In fact, it was what we like to call a DOLPHIN SANDS ROAD moment! (The most literal Dolphin Sands Moment we've had thus far!)

If you look at the map below you will see the marker on George Best Belfast City Airport where we said goodbye to Mum. Our accommodation was over the other side of the train tracks from the airport. The ferry terminal we needed to leave from is located at the very top of the map, labelled: "Stena Line Belfast." Short of swimming with our backpacks, we had to go the long way around!

Mapping a Dolphin Sands Road moment! 

So, we got on our way to Glasgow via ferry and bus, continuing our theme of sticking to land and water over air where possible. I tell you what, it is amazing what they have on ferries these days. Balloons, theatres, ponies, numerous restaurants and all for a short trip across the North Channel!* The bus ride was amusing for another reason. There was this loud, obnoxious siren noise coming from somewhere near Rob's head, "WaaahhWhhheeer". It didn't stop for 30 minutes.  The lady next to him asked, "Did I do that?" For quite awhile she, Rob and I could not stop laughing. Everyone else on the bus acted like it was normal for buses to make kind of noise. She was Irish and going to visit her daughter, who had moved to Glasgow a few years ago to find work.

* Ponies may be a slight exaggeration. 

After a short bus trip we found ourselves with Ben and Jenny, our Airbnb hosts for a few nights. They were very friendly and welcoming. Currently they are on their own 4 month trip which includes Australia. It was interesting hearing about their plans and hopefully we gave the some good pointers for when they get to Melbourne, as they did for Glasgow!

Glasgow
We had only booked Ben and Jenny's place two nights before we left Belfast. At this point in our trip we had next to nothing on our itinerary, just vague plans. The only future date and time where we actually knew where we would be was vague plans to be back in Melbourne in January 2016! It was both exciting and frightening and it meant our plan for Glasgow was...well...to spend time planning! We wanted to organise our time in Scotland, then potentially the Netherlands and France. I also had some research work that really needed doing. 

Our planning plans meant we did not see as much of Glasgow as you would expect in four days, but we did enjoy what we chose to see...

The People's Palace and Doulton Fountain
The People's Palace is a beautiful building that houses a museum of social history. It is set on the Glasgow green next to a big glasshouse and a beautiful fountain. The collections in the museum gave us some insight into the lives of Glaswegians over different periods. For example, we found out about tenement homes, the "steamie" or communal laundry and stories surrounding volunteers of the recent Commonwealth Games. Something that really struck me was the experiences Glaswegians had during war-time. I cannot imagine having to send your children to the country-side to keep them safe. 

Outside the grand Palace building is Doulton Fountain, the largest terracotta fountain in the world. In incredible detail, the fountain that was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's reign and features a statue of Queen Victoria over a wide basin and four statues of water-carriers representing Canada, India, South Africa and Australia (represented, as the Scottish viewed us, in the 1800's). 

Doulton Fountain

Australia

Hashing
Something I had managed to organise before arriving in Scotland was for Rob and I to go hashing. It was a gloomy, wet day in Glasgow and we nearly bailed on the whole idea but decided to brave the weather. (It was unlikely to get better...it was Summer in Glasgow after all!) We are very glad we went. As with our experience of doing a hashing in Phnom Penh, everyone was extremely welcoming. The location of the hash was at Mugdock Country Park, north of Glasgow and not easily accessible by public transport. We took the train part of the way and then one of the regular hashers had kindly offered to pick us up.

What made our time on the Glasgow hash fun was that included a castle, a loch and, naturally, a zombie dance:

When Zombies attack

Mugdock Castle

Braving the rain...sort of

Dinner and music at Maggie May's
Whilst in Glasgow we went to Maggie May's to hear some music. I had actually hoped there would be some dancing but not this particular night. We weren't in Glasgow long before we realised that we could only understand every 5th word someone said and they had no clue what we we were saying. 

Also, in a sad story; Rob loves to try local beers wherever we go; upset that we had just missed the Glasgow Beer Festival 2015, he asked the woman at the bar "What local beers do you have? Anything you can recommend?"  

She said "I have no idea, do you want to try Murphy's?  It's Irish"

Rob responded "...umm no, I'd like to try something local, you pick"

And he will never make that mistake again.


Sister Act 
I think we perplexed our aribnb hosts quite a bit with our choices of outings in Glasgow and maybe our Sister Act outing topped the cake. Although Rob and I enjoy seeing the important historical and cultural sites of a place, it can get a bit much after almost 7 months on the road. I think that is what prompted me to look on the "What's on Glasgow" website. I hoped to find something a bit different, perhaps a bit interactive, and definitely non-touristy. That is how we found ourselves at C7 Church for their production of Sister Act! Given we both love the movie we thought "Why not!" It was a pretty great community production, with mostly good singing. Embarrassingly, we got directly mentioned by the pastor (who hailed from Sydney), not because we were Australian but because when asked earlier we had told someone we had found the production on the "What's on Glasgow" website! Oh happy days!

Sister Act!

The Lighthouse
Originally it was the name of the Scotland's Centre for Design and Architecture that caught my eye. Reading a bit more into it I found that you could get some good views over Glasgow from the top of the Mackintosh Tower. Jenny had also told us a bit about the architecture exhibitions available. Although some of the exhibitions were interesting, we were probably more about the staircase and the views to be honest.

Rob getting dizzy

Glasgow

Watch this video that explains how the Duke of Wellington keeps getting a
witches hat on his head!