We Get Around

Easter Show, NSW

Another weekend rolled around and with this one a friend from work had his last day. A group of us headed over to the new bowling alley on Darling Harbour and did our best to end the lives of ten pins. However, without any dinner my Friday was over all too quickly for my liking and had to pike early.

Saturday was spent in some chilled fashion and for the evening time, Lauren and I headed out to Camden to check out a restaurant I would soon be shooting some photo's in. We checked out the town before dinner and had a quick drink in one of the pubs. Enzo's served me up an awesome Scotch Fillet and some great sorbet dessert too!

With Sunday, I finally got to get a weekend stop at an awesome book store in the city called KinoKinuya, Japanese and packed with just about everything you could ask for from a printed media store. I picked up a couple of titles and then after some O'Portos for lunch, we headed out to the Easter Show at HomeBush.

The show has been a Sydney tradition for quite some time... it's a kind of harvest festival celebration where farmers get to show off their prized livestock (before putting them on a Sunday dinner plate I presume?), fresh produce and all manner of handicrafts etc. There's also places to see baby animals run free around a mock barn, live music, food halls, kids halls and a fairground.

We checked out most of that stuff, and ended the evening around the brightly lit thrill rides. We hit up the RollerCoaster and felt shaken but not too stirred, then smashed the hell out of all and sundry on the bumper cars and then finally went big (ish) and went on some crazy upside-downy, twisty turny ride... which was fun for about 60seconds, before we realised lunch was on its way back with a vengeance.

Sitting down on the tarmac back to back, we decided that perhaps those rides should be best enjoyed on an empty stomach in future...

Ray of Light

Shoal Bay at Easter, NSW, Australia

At just after 6am on a very Good Friday, 5 figures left the Lane in cars. They had packed tents, sleeping accessories and plenty of food, drinks and object d'amusement.

After some early morning coffee’s they were fired up and blasting along the highway North of Sydney. The intrepid travellers made good time beating a lot of Easter weekend traffic, and arrived in Shoal Bay, Port Stephens; home to several family resort bays and a campsite, that they would call a home away from home for the next few days.

I decided to give the guys a good lesson in tent erecting, and knowing how easy it is to put up a tent, to show off I put mine up from the inside out! There wasn’t much faith in me, but I made it work :P With inflatable mattresses pumped, sheets and pillows in, it was time to fire up the BBQ and kick back for the long weekend. After lunch we took a trip around the area to Nelsons Bay where the boys bought fishing gear; they swore they would catch bigger fish than each other…

We got back to the campsite and then headed off to a recommended fishing spot, of course, I was happy hooking in the pictures rather than fishes. As Aaron and Jarrad practiced their skills, I was off snapping the landscape as much as I could. The sky was overcast and I figured the shots would look pretty crappy, but I still managed a few nice ones… at least according to the back of my camera.

Meanwhile A & J were ramping up their big to catch *something, and so had moved from a rocky point to ankle deep beach water. Aaron flanked out left, while Jazz decided the tactic would be best formed fishing in the open wash. A few beers on, a shout! I turned my head to see Jazz yoinking in a marine animal of some description. As it rose from the water, it became apparent it was a Ray. Jazz plonked him down on the wet washed sand and referred to his “Fishing for Dummies” book, as to whether it was legal to catch them or not… I never did find out the outcome, but we eventually got the hook from it’ mouth and threw him back in. Despite another couple of fish trips, that little fella was as much as the Chambers managed to bring in that weekend. Into the night and another BBQ with beers finished us off nicely.

Saturday welcomed us in with some rain, which set a tone for a very slow day. The sun eventually came out and we made it down to the beach for a swim. The night led us out to the local sports bar place, where we threw some cash in to the “WWTBAM” machine, and won nothing.

Inevitably, the JagerMeister came out when we got back to the camp site, and so it really wasn’t a surprise that the drinking games came out – I blame Em and Lauren to be honest, they just wanted to see the guys in pain. I also got to experience ‘Chew’ a delicacy Aaron had brought back with him from India. It was just plain WRONG. But hella funny all the same.

Easter Sunday rolled in Egg-stravagent style. After we played a game of throw the giant oversized easter-egg until someone (Em) drops it, we headed off to the sand Dunes to rip it up on Quad Bikes! The surprise package was little Macca who cained the living daylights out of her bike to beat all and sundry in a race around our freshly invented sandy circuit!

On the way back from the Quad biking, the bumpy 4x4 tour bus took us by Tin City; a small town made of, well you guessed already. I figured I should mention it in here, even though it wasn’t really that interesting…

The 5 of us spent the afternoon recovering from the mornings excitement in different ways, myself and Lozza heading over to Finkle Bay for a wander about. The Sun set on a thoroughly enjoyable Easter Sunday right before we headed out for a delish fish and chips meal.

Monday morning came the time for us to take out place in a queue of traffic stretching from Port Stephens to Sydney… and so it was, our Easter weekend, over for another year. I wonder if after last years Southern highlands adventures, and this years Northern adventures, if I’ll be West or East next Easter?

*Anything

My Star

Jetlag Rehab, Sydney

The fact I didn't catch a single wink of sleep on my night flight home led me to fully believe, I might be a little excited about getting to my final destination. The reason may well have been waiting for me at the airport with open arms.

Lauren and I drove back from the airport, stopped for a coffee, where only now I felt like falling asleep, at 10am with bright sunlight smashing through my eyelids. We got home where it took all of about 20minutes to find my way into dreamland. Though with a couple of hours sleep I was good to get back outside into the patchy sunlight to begin my path back into 11+hrs Sydney time. Watsons Bay provided an idealic haven of peace and plentiful fishy food.

That day seems hazier than any to recall, I do know there was but one bad taste left in the mouth... the thought of my first days work after 33 consecutive days of doing anything but

When I think about it hard, those 2days also seem very hazy and tricky to recap, though I made it through without falling asleep atop a workstation, server or rack. I chose to go soccer training on the Thursday night; since this would wear me out and make sure I'd fall asleep at the right time for sure, and so it was that my genius idea of only returning back for 2 days paid dividend as soon as Friday 5pm came around and I would return back to not working... comforting thoughts like "had more days off this calendar year than worked, and we're 3 months in already" really made this good to experience!

I returned back to the 5day week once more with a few highlights along the way, Jazz my housemate had his birthday so with partners in tow, we headed out for steaks and ribs down in Coogee; accompanied with some Wine and good chatter. Friday night seemed almost like I'd never been anywhere, with Aaron back too, a crowd of us went out to Newtown to watch some new comedians perform on stage at the Factory.

Another easy weekend would end rehab and cement lifestyle back in Sydney. Rog had a welcome home BBQ round at his place, where we got the chance to show everyone our holiday snaps and recount funny tales of the trip... and then afterwards a sneaky trip into the Cross where Teapots would take the short term minds of some of the patrons attending World Bar... we won't say who though Wedge ;)

Hong Kong Fury

Hong Kong

In terms of the time it once took me to book holidays, a relatively short amount of time had passed since I was last in Eastern Asia, however it felt like a lifetime ago that Nick and I were roaming Thai streets, Laos' waterways & Vietnamese tunnels. A few floods of excitement tipped with nostalgia poured through me as I thought about the prospects of visiting Hong Kong for the first time. I guess I've come a long way since those back pack days as I decided that the night I spent in HK should be somewhat luxuriuous and hassle free.

So as my Virgin Atlantic flight (special note here... their service has dropped in recent times!), landed and I grabbed hold of my faithful Osprey backpack and a rather floppy snowboard bag (I left my Fish in the UK). I made my way out towards where I expected my pick up to be... though I guess I shouldn't have tarred HK with the same 'cheap' brush as Thailand. I would be taking a bus and not a personal ride to my hotel, although it was a luxury coach with nice large clean windows that I could lear out of on my way into this tall city.

I felt much like what I see of most Asian tour groups when I'm travelling, tightly led with what appears to be very little freedom - told to sit 'here' and not wander, even in a quiet airport, a little like an inquisitive child. My hotel name was called and I made my way to those large glass windows.

Into the Miramar hotel of Kowloon and I dumped my bags, splashed my face with water and put some different shoes on before heading out into the mild night. Armed with my camera, this trip quickly presented itself more as a locational photoshoot than one I would remember for having awesome fun sociable times, I was alone in a half decent hotel afterall, not a shared communal backpackers joint!

I headed out to a typically crowded Asian highstreet shopping precinct and spent the first 10-15minutes getting my head around my map of the place. I popped in a small photographical/electrical shop and got a quote on a lens I liked... then realised the same road was home to about 15 virtually identical stores where the prices would be either similar or somewhat more expensive; I guess to some I look like someone that might be taken for a ride on price?! Hong Kong was starting to drop off to sleep, as suited youngsters left restuarants and cheesy bars, it was only around 8pm but as I looked into the bleached night sky I could see beams of green light... I then made out that these lasers were being fired from the tops of the skyscrapers on Hong Kong Island. Sadly once I got to within a good shooting angle, I'd missed the opportunity for this trip as I'd not see another nightfall here, other than from a departure lounge.

I wandered past the famously inaccurate clock tower and then set about getting the best night shots of the skyline as I could possibly achieve, with no tripod it wasn't that easy. I got a little creative before I noticed the temperature was starting to drop, though it was still infinitely better than what I'd become accustomed to in Kashmir and London! Also, a special mention to the 4ft jobsworth woman who gave me an ear bashing for putting one leg over a 1ft high plastic chain barrier; (to get a better angle on my photo) guarding the lantern show from Godzilla (it's okay Love, you've got a panda with a pistol here to frighten him off).

Much like many cities, street sellers and artists ply their trades to any tourists brave enough to be charactured or photographed in front of the pillars of concrete, glass and funky neon. But after checking out a couple of hot spots according to my little Berlitz city guide like the "Avenue of Stars", I suddenly decided I'd had enough, so headed back to my huge bed and fell to a slumber.

A cosmopolitan European breakfast welcomed me in to my second day in my Kowloon hotel, and after some confusion at the reception, they threw the cost in for nothing, which was jolly nice. I took another walk down to the waterfront and this time jumped on a ferry over to Hong Kong, a system very much like Sydneys ferry system.

I once again spent a few minutes getting some orientation before finding the base of the cable car up to Victoria Peak, where tourists are treated to the "Lumberman" view of Hong Kong. Except it was shut for maintenance. Of all the amazing chances on Earth, there was a taxi driver nearby ready to tell me this and sell me a return trip up to not only the Lumberman view of Hong Kong but a couple of other views too. I really had no idea what a lumberman was to do in the city but figured it must be worth a look.

I jumped out of the car at the given points took some token photos before jumping back in to get a sales spiel about a full on tour which would show me the lumberman market and the lumberman beach, it looked good but the dude wanted some ridiculous price so I thanked him and hopped out back down in the city.

I'd ticked off the few things that took my fancy (or at least the ones I could achieve in my 28hr stint here) and so figured I should use my last few hours to soak up a little sunshine, get some shopping and postcards done. I bought a few things, though in a way, it was good my pockets were nearly empty after a long trip like this, I could easily have gotten extravagent here.

I squeezed in a quick and pretty average Maccas (when will I learn my lesson in Asia?) before getting back for my airport pickup and, suddenly feeling the excitement of getting back home to Sydney I was revving to get going. My longest ever "holiday" was just about over. Sitting there changing lenses, I suddenly realised who the lumberman was... local dialect for "number 1".

Friday Street

Essex, UK

After a heavy day on the tourist trail, it was time to take things easier. I figured Friday to be my last chance to actually relax on this entire trip, I spent most in Corringham with some quick fleeting trips out to pick up my freshly serviced snow board. I headed over to Clives place in Woodham Ferrers in the evening where he, Emma and I left their newest family member sleeping at home, while we hit the pubs of Maldon. A pub with an open fire, and that typical hundred year old musty smell was the perfect venue to chat into the evening.

I spent my Saturday with Sian and Megan. We headed out to "Saafent" (Southend) as the locals know it so fondly. We wandered the prom with Megan skating along besides us. Up through the precinct and to Pizza Express for lunch before hitting 'Adventure Island' for nine holes of Aztec mini golf. The wind was so cold... it seemed colder than that on the snowy peaks of Kashmir, yet probably had most to do with the fact I was only wearing a thin jacket and t-shirt.

We hurried back in time for another great dinner with the family, mums soon to be world famous Austrian style Schnitzel... I could seriously eat a few plates full of that stuff I swear.

With barely 5minutes to let dinner settle, I was back out again to Basildons Festival park one last time, for a few drinks and a boogie to some bad party music... or good party music - I think that one of those is any oxy-moron, I'm just unsure which though.

I said goodbye to everyone, knowing I would see a few of them in the not too distant future on another continent, though at that moment - thoughts of Thailand were a very long way from the forefront of my mind. I awoke about 7hours later to get the last of my packing completed before my belated Christmas dinner would take place once again, with Mum, Dad, Grandma, Sian, Tim & Megan. All too soon it was time for that nasty emotional part again.

Tim and dad accompanied me to the airport in similar fashion to the last time I flew back to Sydney, though this time we did get a chance to stop for coffees and more chatting.

I'll miss you all

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