The Art of Avoiding Schmutzengään

What to do for Christmas and the New Year?  I had it in mind to go back to the UK as I haven't had a Christmas there since 2003 but then the snow started falling and the country started falling apart.  There was more snow predicted, even a white Christmas, and I wasn't going to substitute one third world country for another.  The thought of being stranded at the airport and/or the collapse of the public transport system and being subjected to that particularly offensive clipboard officialdom that pervades in the UK, I decided to look at alternatives.

I haven't been to Australia for a couple of years and so it seemed like an ideal time to catch up with some friends of mine down-under so I booked a flight to Oz, which wasn't as easy as you might think.  There were no direct flights from Manila and the flights from Hong Kong were ridiculously expensive so I ended flying with Thai Airways via Bangkok.  Yup, it was far cheaper to travel 3½  hours in the opposite direction than to go an hour north and fly from HK.  I ceased long ago trying to understand airfare structuring and it kind of make a mockery of all those stupid, and exorbitant green taxes you now pay if you end up longer in the air for a cheaper flight.

Sunny Manila From the Air

I flew in to Brisbane to visit my Brit mate Luis (I say Brit but he's actually half Spanish, half Scottish), who emigrated to Oz several years ago and went from being a civil engineer, to a gym instructor/owner to a police officer.  On arrival in Brisbane it was raining. And it continued to rain, constantly, consistently for a week which curbed our activities somewhat, particularly my intent to undertake some photography.  Which was particularly disappointing as I'd lugged my rather bulky and heavy Bronica and lenses along with me for that purpose.

On Christmas day, and with it still raining, we travelled to Noosa to visit Luis' girlfriend (Julie) and her brother (Steve) but ended up spending 3 hours in a car park in the rain due to some confusion over the rendezvous venue.  However, this wasn't a problem for Luis and me because we just sat and chin wagged, which is what we seem to do best.  We once went on holiday in Spain with the intent of hiking in the Pyrenees but all we did was drink coffee, eat pastries and talk lots.  As it was still raining in Noosa there wasn't much we could do there either but we had Christmas dinner that was a salad.  Very nice it was too, but I was rather hoping for turkey and all the trimmings, especially as it was a damp, dreary day just like a Christmas in England.

Christmas Dinner - Turkey It Ain't

On Boxing Day we went for a walk along Noosa beach in the drizzle and did some window shopping in the horrendously expensive shops there.  Australia has become very, very expensive since my last visit, not only due to the crash of sterling but also the prices seemed to have increased considerably.  I think long gone are the days of a cheap cost of living in the Land of Oz and combined punitive taxation Australia doesn't seem to be the promised land it used to be.

A Grey Day in Noosa

On the 29th December Luis, Julie and Luis' daughter Dani and me all went to Woodford Folk Festival, a sort of Aussie Glastonbury.  We were expecting mud induced carnage and the car park confirmed our fears as motorists without 4-wheel drive were slip-sliding all over the place.  However, once inside the venue things improved and were no where near as bad as you might have imagined after weeks of constant rainfall and this was already several days into the event.  Full marks to the event organisers who seemed to manage to keep everything relatively clean and operational.  We split up as Luis' taste in music aren't quite my cup of tea and besides, he was going to be looking for some venue where he could practice his fancy samba/rumba/salsa (or whatever it's called) steps.  He did try to convince me to join him at the menstruation symposium tent but I declined.

Woodford Hippies

As it was a folk festival I imagined it would be all Bob Dylan types and new age hippies but by chance I ended up in a tent where there was a band called Kooii playing (click here for a Youtube clip: Kooii at Woodford) and they were brilliant, playing a reggae/funk/soul/jazz mix of music that was right up my street.  I could have listen them all day.  After that I had a wander round and had a brief look at some hare krishna types banging drums and bashing those little cymbals but quickly moved on.  I saw the end of an acoustic performance by a guy called Geoffrey Williams and wished I'd seen the whole set.  However, having Googled him (he's a Brit) and watching some of his stuff on Youtube I found it rather disappointing.  Perhaps he should stick with the live performances.  Then I wandered into the tiny Pineapple Tent and there was some of the Kooii band doing a jam with another band (whose name escapes me) and this was even better than the first gig.  Brilliant stuff.

Woodford Hippie Wannabes

New Year's eve we flew down to Sydney to see the fireworks.  All of Sydney city centre seemed to have an alcohol lock-down with whole areas being designated as alcohol free areas.  The (other) brother of Luis' girlfriend has an apartment in a prime location with excellent views of the harbour bridge so that's where we welcomed in the New Year, on the roof top watching the fireworks.

Fireworks - No Booze Allowed

We spent 3 days in Sydney.  For me, one of the most rewarding parts were wandering around the city taking photographs.  I was up at 6:00am New Year's day (one of the advantages of not drinking I suppose) and spent the morning wandering over and around the Harbour Bridge taking snaps and having a very pleasant breakfast in a little cafe by Sydney North station.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge Approach Viaduct

In Brisbane I'd bought an old Nikon camera to add to my burgeoning collection and used it in Sydney as it was lighter and easier to carry around and I wasn't going to get hassle on the domestic flight for my hand luggage being too heavy.

On the Bridge

SHB and Lunar Park Fun Fair

We also had a pleasant, if uneventful day at Bondi Beach.  We didn't acutally go for a swim or lay on the beach, despite it being the sunniest day so far but went for a walk along the coast.  Australia might be rated as one of the countries with the lowest population densities but when all the population is squeezed in around the coast it feels as crowded as anywhere else in the world.

The Beach

The Graffiti 

The Cemetery

Checking in at Sydney airport there was a large queue, not unsurprisingly for the busy time of the year.  It would appear that there is no need to turn up early and queue because those that turned up at the last minute were allowed to jump the queue - and I'm not talking about just one or two.  Now to me this seemed likely to create queue anarchy and somewhat defeats the whole point of a queue.  If you can't organise your life and get to the airport on time (isolated, exceptional cases notwithstanding) then why should anyone be given preferential treatment and allowed to jump the queue?  Like I said, if everyone did that and waited until the last minute, knowing they wouldn't have to queue, then the whole system would collapse. Blame the airlines.  And why is it, whenever I check in I'm at the counter for no more than a minute whereas so many people seem to be there for ages.  What can possibly be the problem?  Ticket. Passport. Booking confirmation.  Boarding pass.  Go.  It's a mystery to me.

Gold Coast

Once we were back in Brisbane the sun started to shine briefly so we were up early and went walking in the hills around Brisbane in the hope of actually taking some photos and making use of the Bronica.  There wasn't that much to photograph but it was a very pleasant and enjoyable walk nevertheless.

Brisbane City at Dawn

I had hoped to get to Tassie and Melbourne to see my other friends but the travel and time constraints didn't really permit it.  Never mind, it's a damned good excuse to go again later in the year.