roo roo skip to my roo

Wow, what weekend. Went to the south coast of NSW, a place called Bawley Point about 3 and a half hours drive south of Sydney. Ben's mum, Jan has a place there looking over the sea. We travelled in and arrived to torrential rain. The forecast wasn't good but as long as we got some dry spells to go walking then I wasn't going to mind too much.

We arrived on the Saturday late afternoon and a quick roo steak later, David and I went off to MIlton for a concert of Bush tales and songs. David manages Musica Viva's Countrywide program which organises bringing music ensembles to venues all around Australia. Basically to me, that meant free tickets. So we went to see Warren Fahey and Dave de Hugard. The former's repertoire consists mainly of bush tales, poems and songs mostly unaccompanied. The latter mostly did folk type songs. The first half was really enjoyable - I particularly liked Warren's stuff but was a bit lukewarm about Dave's. One song was bout a load of shearers having a party and getting so drunk that they started mistaking the sheep for lasses and started dancing with them (and the rest...)!

Example bush tale:
Two drovers were camped by the orad for the night. After their meal they sat around the fire talking and, eventually, one of them got up and wandered over to the fence for a leak. After a minute or so he yelled out to his mate: 'Hey, Col, you ever smoked a cigarette that's been pissed on?'
The other drover thought this over for a few minutes and replied: 'Nar, I can't say that I have.'
More silence followed and then: 'Can't say that you've missed much.'

Since the first half lasted an hour an a half, I wasn't really expecting the second half to live up to the first - and I was correct. Half the audience had left during the interval anyway, thinking they'd probably got their money's worth by then and 10pm was their bedtime. I didn't quite fall asleep but I wanted to. I think even the performers were tired as they made quite a few mistakes and even admitted that some of the songs were the first time they'd performed them. Overall though, I'm glad I went.

Next day was stormy and cold. Made for dramatic waves crashing onto the beach and rocks though. The area consists of lots of beaches and headlands. We headed to Pretty Beach where I was promised I would see some kangaroos up close, which as you can see by the photo, I did. They don't seem bothered by humans at all, they just kind of crouch and stare at you. There was a camp site nearby though so they were probably partly tame and scavenging. Funny story actually, do you see how wet and bedraggled their coats look?.....Well, that's because it was REALLY BLOODY WET!! And cold - wished I'd brought a scarf and gloves. Ridiculous. Photo of Ben at strange angle is him being held up by the gale force winds. It cleared up a bit in the afternoon, still windy and cold but not as wet so did some more wondering along beaches and clambering on rocks. The surfers were out to enjoy the waves too. Found my ideal home - there is a lake set back from the beach and hidden by some trees. This is locally known as swan lake as it is populated by hundreds of black swans. Set back again from this lake was a house up on the hill with a great sweeping lawn down to the lake with a little jetty onto the lake that was just crying out for me to sit by it with a gin and tonic. It was the most beautiful setting. Also had it's own mini skate board park which wasn't really part of my ideal.

This holiday weekend is also traditionally bonfire night here - althougn fireworks are bannned in NSW. Neighbours very kindly put on a fireworks display for us during dinner. They'd built a big bonfire on the beach. After dinner and quite a bit of wine, we took over the by now slightly smaller bonfire and pranced around with sparklers. David also tried a bit of firewalking.

Bawley Point is apparently the first land Captain Cook spotted during his voyage of discovery. There is a very prominent hill that he said reminded him of a dovecot and it is now called Pigeon House. However the Aboriginal term for it is 'big breast' - can you see why?

Monday morning brought glorious sunshine and lots of very colourful birds. A pair of king parrots, some crimson rosellas, rainbow lorikeets and hooded pigeons as well as some slightly less exciting magpies visited us on the balcony. Had a great day involving more walks by beaches, lagoons and bush but then unfortunately we had to head back to Sydney


It was the World Cup Australia vs Japan match that night and I was supposed to be going to Darling Harbour to watch it but I was just too tired. Shame as looked as if it would have a been a great atmosphere. The next match against Brazil is at 3am our time so I don't suppose I'll watch that one either. Guess I should really find out how England are doing.

During the weekend I brought Ben and David's attention to the roads people's penchant for word play on road warning signs which they had never noticed before: "Stop, revive, survive", "driver reviver, 500m", "the road is there to share", "click clack, front and back" and although not about roads "slip, slop, slap, wrap" - I can't remember exactly what that's about but the 2nd one is for sunscreen and the last one for shades.

The commentary I get from my hosts is quite funny too - when they point out this historic old something or other and I find it's a whole 80 years old. Heheh, my flat in Edinburgh is older than that! There was one sign on the road for th Historic Boathouse. Jan used to use it for courting (the boats, not the shed) when she was a lass and it wasn't considered historic then, just a simple boatshed.

I am sitting typing this in more glorious sunshine in my garden but my skin is beginning to feel a little overexposed so I think I'll head indoors and do something more constructive - like maybe work! I hear there are lots of burnt folk wandering around Edinburgh a the moment - sunscreen, people, suncreen.

Gratuitous shot of surfers
Jan taking in the view

hungry lorikeets

stunning lagoon 50m from the beach
Either Pretty Beach, or Pebbly Beach or Bawley Beach or Gannet Beach or Cormorant Beach or... och I dinnae ken, there were just soooo many beaches!!

sunshine on a rainy day

makes my soul, makes my soul drip drip away..

Enough of the early 90s europop.

I am sitting in my back garden in the sunshine. Hurrah at last. It might get to the dizzy heights of 18 degC today, the pundits say. Better slap on the factor 40!! Tis Thursday and a holiday weekend looms. They celebrate the queen's birthday here - does the UK? I have been invited to someone's beach house in Bawley Point a couple of hours south of Sydney where there are long sweeping beaches with kanagaroos frolicking on them - that's if kangaroos frolick, maybe they gambol. Anyway it will be my first glimpst of kangaroos - alive anyway. Maybe I'll go hunting and then throw some on the barbie!! Only joking, they are kinda hard to kill without a 'ute' I would imagine.

Bawley Point is an area devoid of tourist trappings I am told. I am also going to a concert of bush songs and poetry on the saturday night in a nearby town. By choice! Please be aware that this is not the opposite of anti-Bush songs and poetry! The performance is by the most famous bush singer (?) in the land, so famous I don't know his name. Anyway, the songs and poems are based on stories heard on his travels around hicksville Australia. There may not even be a bar at the interval - now I really am immersing myself in a different culture!!

This week has been pretty tame so far I'm afraid to say, but I can tell you that both the Macquarie Uni and Sydney Uni gyms are abysmal compared to Edinburgh Uni - even before Edinburgh was refurbed - I guess I should never complain again. Macquaries is essentially a big shed with plywood panels to give the very faint impression of separate rooms. Women are not a common feature in either of them which is v v different from Edinburgh.

I am now working/volunteering every Wed morning at the Yoga in Daily Life ashram in my area. Think I'm becoming a volunteer junkie. I offered my services and they asked what I did for a living - when I said 'compooters' they rubbed their hands with glee and asked if I knew anything about databases. So now I will be replacing/augmenting my PHD procrastination skills with working out how the fuck Microsoft Access (doesn't) works.

Ohh, forecast is for 19 degC tomorrow - better go look out the SPF 50

Have a good weekend....

incy wincy spider

Another busy weekend down.

I continued my new found love of amber ale on friday night in the uni bar and then carried on in Glebe with Stephen and his flatmate, Conrad. I think he might be a little touched in the head but I like it! I also like his capacity for drinking which is as close a match to mine as I've yet found in Oz. We had intended to join people in Newtown for dinner, but well it was friday and the beerage had started early and I'm sure you know how the story goes. Got home to an empty house about 2am in a surprisingly reasonable state.

Next day I thought I should really go into town and have a look at the city I'm staying in. So I walked continuously for 4 hours. I tend to do that in new cities so I can get my bearings (and I'm cheap and refuse to take public transport). The weather wasn't very good but at least it was dry, so I walked into town with the intention of going to the Museum of Sydney which I heard was good and, more importantly, free. It took just over half an hour to get to Darling Harbour, then I went for a saunter through what I'm pretty sure was Chinatown, then up a part of George St which I presume is the adult bookshop part of town and then to Oxford St which, if I'm just going to generalise, was Japantown. This led me to Hyde Park and the museum. I had to pay to get in, tsk. It was pretty crap really. I had been hoping to learn more about the history of the place maybe with a view to getting an idea of where I would like to visit. Just seemed like a poorer version of the British Museum/Museum of Scotland/any museum. Bit about indigenous Australians, lots of pretty rocks, some skeletons and some stuffed animals. Not really a great deal about Sydney, in fact nothing about Sydney so I was a bit perplexed - that is, until I left the museum and realised that I had actually spent an hour and a half in the Australian musuem and not the Museum of Sydney - D'OH.
Oh well, at least I spent quite a few productive minutes trying to overcome my fear of spiders. In case you don't know I'm pretty arachnophobic and mostly can't even bear to look at a picture of a spider, never mind a live one. So I took myself off to the creepy crawly section of the museum and forced myself to look at the ugly 8 legged (dead and stuffed) beasties. The cabinets were on the left side of a narrow corridor with stuffed birds on the right hand side. I must have been amusing to watch as I realised after a while that as I was inching along the corridor I was getting closer and closer to the right hand side until I was actually sliding along the glass of the bird cabinet and peering at the spiders with only one eye open and a distinctly uncomfortable grimace! Beside kids who wanted to get the 'cute spiders' out and play with them. Huh, bet they don't have older siblings telling them every 5 minutes that they've got spiders in their hair causing a life long debilitating fear of anything with 8 legs. Off you go and have a guilt session now, Pete!!

Sat evening involved gate crashing a birthday party at the Mint Bar at the InterContinental Hotel. Group photo was taken there and features from L-R Mark, JP, Stephen, Conrad, myself and Joanne. Send me your 'hot or not' opinions!! Then it was off to a Karaoke bar. Not your usual karaoke event. This involved you and your friends having a (almost sound-proofed) room to yourselves, 2 mics, a sound/TV system and thousands of song choices and off you go....My love affair with Karaoke ended over a decade ago, but I was forced to sing The Proclaimers at the start. I mostly let the mic be passed to everyone/anyone else after that. Got home about 4am and my flatmate still got in after me (6 am). Think we might be having a competition.

Got rudely awoken at 11am with an invite to dinner so after a day of doing precisely nothing, off I went to Ben and David's to meet their friends Tat and Pauline. I think my sides are still hurting from laughing so much. Tat is a riot. Any story I tell here will lose its hilarity in the telling but suffice it to say that it tranpsired that we had cunt flavoured dessert. And I have to ensure that I don't injure myself at any public event I may go to in New South Wales as I may be attended to by Red Cross volunteers - 87 year old Nina who can only walk up stairs sideways and with sticks or a man with one functioning arm and an elephantitis-esque syndrome which involves massive cysts all over the face and body. Both of these volunteers are in charge of defibrillators and have requested to do CPR with their feet! Yep, kind of lost it in the telling there, didn't it! Ach well......