Category: Travel

Alice Springs to Darwin 2017

Road Trip July 2017

Alice Springs is in the centre of Australia, a two-hour flight from Melbourne. My wife, Cathie has travelled all through South Australia and the Northern Territory, taking groups of students or doing tours by bus or driving 4 wheel drive vehicles – I had been to Alice Springs once. In July 2017 we decided on a 10day trip, that would take us by car from Alice Springs up the Stuart Highway finishing in Darwin after stops in Tennent Creek for one night and Katherine for two nights where we took a boat tour of the famous Katherine Gorge. On reaching Darwin we went on a three day Kakadu-Arnhem Land organised Tour.

The map below allows you to zoom in and out. Alice Springs is south and Darwin north, the Stuart is Highway 1.

Flying from Melbourne on Monday the 3rd we arrived at 12.15am and collected the small SUV. The road is good as it turns out and any reasonably sized car would be fine, no need for an SUV or 4 wheel drive, and you would need to take insurance and advise the rental company of any intention to go off road. Many drive across the Tanami dessert route turning left off the highway and then driving to Darwin, who would need specific rental agreement to do this. We just drove up the highway!

In Alice there are many things to see and do, and places to visit. In the afternoon we managed to visit Standley Cassim and  Simpsons Gap.

 

Next day we drove to Tennent Creek (around 5 hours), staying at the BlueRidge Motor Inn, just on the edge of town as you drive in. Comfortable, good dinner and great breakfast. Tennet Creek was just a stop on the way to Katherine, a 7 hour drive the next day.

On rout to Katherine is the Devel’s Marbles, large rounded outcrop of bolders. A quick stop at Mataranka to view the hot springs and then a visit to Edith falls. Here is link to facebook video, shows sites on way to Katherine.

In Katherine, we stayed at the Pine Creek motel, nice place, close to town, good rooms and another great breakfast.

Up early to make the 9am tour of Katherine Gorge (see video KatGorgee), three sections of river, each separated by rock falls that form natural dams. The rock is hard sandstone, not like the normal standstone. The floods during the monsoon season have over many millions of years have carved step rock cliffs resulting in spectacular scenary. Along the edges fresh water crocodiles were plentiful, sunny themselves on the waters edge. However, there were places to swim! I managed a dip and nearly feel over in the process, I did manage later to fall and spain my left leg..limped the rest of the trip!

Off to Darwin in the morning, a shorter 350km drive. Stayed at the Hilton on the edge of the bay. Opposite was a great park for kids and further down a WWII memorial to US sailors who perished in the bombing raids in 1942.

Harbour    Darwin Past                 USS memorial             Oil Tunnels

      

We booked onto a city 5hour tour the next day and I would recommend this as a great way to get an appreciation of the history – check here.  A link to my facebook site to view Darwin Art Gallery

At night we ventured to Custaceans, an eatery on the end of Stokers Walf, watching the sun set over the harbour and eating a seafood platter for two is a great way to end the day.

Off next day on our 3 day Kakadu & Arnhem land tour. In short it was wonderful, it is full on, starts early with plenty of action, even if you have a bung leg.

The tour includes curises on the Kakadu flood plain (croc), rivers, walks to look at Aboriginal Art, visites to cultural Art centers and plenty more. A few pics, more in the overview video.

         

 

Overview of trip also pics of the tour.

THE END! Darwin Airport.

 

 

 

 

LAOS: Luang Prabang & Plain of Jars at Phonsavan

Laos is a small and mountainous country, 4% is arable, and during the Vietnam conflict the Ho Chi Minh Trail that boarders the two countries was constantly bombed, in fact, on some measures it is the most bombed country ever, for example, using per capita metrics, and a considerable amount of Unexploded Ordinance remains, on some estimates 8m bombs did not explode.

Pics

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The country is beautiful, at Lunag Prabang the Mekong slips past as it winds its way from Tibet towards the ocean outlet of the Mekong delta in southern Vietnam, cutting steep sided valleys covered in denser green rain forest and with very step banks, which make getting to and from boats a bit tricky especially for use oldies! Boats of all kinds traversed the river, cargo, tourist and ferries – we made one trip of about 4 hours in narrow long boat, which seemed to have a difficulty with its motor until we pulled up along side a larger boat that served as a gas station on the river.

https://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/picasaweb.googleusercontent.com/slideshow.swfThe river cruise to the Buddhist cave was interesting, passing farm land and weaving around the rocky parts of the river. At the caves one is provided a panoramic view of a mountain range and we could see elephants in the water on the opposite bank. All along the river small villages can be seen and the bank of the river is often used for market gardens, sometimes with small terracing, it seems the flooding of the river is less a danger with the  up stream dams. Laos is looking to the Hydro power industry as its major form of export income by selling power to its neighbors of Thailand, China and Vietnam, however, the ecology is impacted and the flow of the river is likely to lessen in time, thus impacting how the people who live along the river interact with it. We saw Monks walking along the bank, many fisherman in very small boats or sitting on the bank, women and children carry the daily supplies up the banks from small boats and sometimes cows and elephants drinking. The river is an integral part of local life.

A trip to a local Elephant nursery saw us spending an hour with a 57 year old female who seemed to enjoy eating, the rest of the tour group road off down to the river, and on return two elephants transported their tourist riders down to the river for a spot of bathing and washing, of both parties. Like most places across Asia the elephant is endangered and these nurseries are important, as are the ones for bears, we past one such Bear park as we visited one of the water falls in the area.

The Plain of Jars is one of the important flat and arable areas and it is in the East towards Vietnam, it is home to large stone jars that were chiseled into shape somewhere between 300BC to 300AD by unknown people’s, and it is thought as part of burial rights to hold the bones. It is a 6hour drive to Phonsavan but worth it, you can fly in and out, but then you miss the sights. The road is narrow and winds through steep mountains and past village after village, like in Sri Lanka the road is just an extension of the house and in most parts the road ran along a narrow hill top with the houses perched precariously with little of no backyard, hence all play and cooking and cleaning was done in the front between the front door and the road, which in all cases was no more than a few feet.

The jars themselves are large, about as tall as a normal person and varying in circumference.   There are many sites and we visited two, there other main one was impassable due to rain. The plains are about 1000 m and hence the weather is cool and during our visit rainy as there was a Typhoon off the coast of Vietnam. The thing that strikes you about the stone jars is “how did they do that”, this was during the Iron Age, so it is thought that some form of iron tool was used, but it would have taken many hours and then required a lot of effort to move them into place.

The local markets and eating places are pleasant without hassle and the food and drink all reasonably priced, the hotel accommodation provides a good range to meet different budgets with Tuk Tuks and hire vehicles plentiful.

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Japan April 2013

Just a few photo’s from a week long visit to Japan in April, went to a conference and to also pay my respects in Hiroshima.

The conference was a bit lame, but I visited Hiroshima and Kyoto before staying Osaka for the conference.

The country side I saw from the trains – the trains are clockwork, fast and clear – was a patchwork of green and plowed fields. The cities were a little drab but with a number of cultural and historic buildings. In Hiroshima mostly everything has been rebuilt, the peace park is a moving place to visit.

Some pics below.

pics

Life with a River

We live next to the Saigon River and I mean literally – it is about 10m away and there are panoramic views along about a kilometer of a gradual meander bend (see, Cathie I learned something when I taught Geography for you). Our vista points directly North and hence to the left is West and right East. We don’t see the early morning sun, but the afternoon sun sets behind a row of high rise apartments and produces many a wonderful sunset, shining for only a short time directly on the patio from about 2pm give or take the time of year till about 6pm or so.
The patio is shaded by two palms on either side but otherwise the view of the river is unimpeded. To the West the river bends away a little North before curling back again on its journey to Saigon, to the North-East the river bends past a busy container shipping area, it is this subsequent path of the river we have not seen yet, the other we often see as we catch the boat into town.
The river is wide maybe 200m, I guess I could get exact measurements but exactness is not necessarily always a good measure of the significance of something, so I will try and paint a picture for you. It is a stable river, no waves unless a large boat passes, and flows left and right with the tide, but never at a fast pace, it is clearly powerful but on first glance this is not apparent, it is only so when one hears the motors of the boats straining when running in the opposite direction of the prevailing current. It is not muddy but also not clear, there is quite a bit of sediment but it is home to jumping fish and various other marine creatures, much prized it seems as there are, at low tide, men gathered and diving into the muddy shore line collecting little shell fish, we think.
Rivers in Vietnam have shaped the country, especially in the South around the Mekong Delta. Our stretch of water carries the cargo boats, these move gracefully up and down all day and night, never stopping so it seems. There are large green boats with tall sides and shorter sided boats, and boats that appear almost sunk, these latter boats typically laden with sand, I am told destined for export to places like Singapore. Whilst graceful there is a traditional masculinity about the boats: strong, sturdy, reliable, what you see is what you get, there is no subtly. Many of the boats are homes as well, the washing often prominently displayed, and plant pots and TV aerials can be seen – there are women and children going about the daily tasks, the men can be seen washing the boat will bucks dipped into the river and hauled up – and themselves at times. The captains nearly all have the same pose, it is relaxed, with feet used to steer and resting back – you get the impression sometimes they maybe sleeping.
There is little noise from these boats but the smaller wooden fishing boats can make a putt-putt noise and at night or early evening this can be a little loud. These are small boats about 4 metres long, narrow and fishing boats in the main, but from time you see them burdened down with all manner of cargo. The crowd favorite are the pugnacious tug boats, these are squat, and resemble cartoon depictions of tug boats the type captain Pugwash captained. Their main task is to push against the current and move huge barges about, often empty but often full of sand.
As the boats have a maleness in the traditional sense the river itself is certainly – Mother Nature. There is a dependency on the river it is the giver, not wanting anything in return except some respect and to be treated with fondness. Traditionally this was the case, the rivers were revered and still are but environmental issues are present and growing urbanisation and industrialisation, and farming are starting to cause problems – erosion and pollution being the two main ones, and of course there is the ever present Up Stream damming in other countries.
In the morning the river often welcomes me with a carpet of green and in the so called winter months the green clumps of water hyacinth carry abundant bird life, mainly white storks. The carpet of green drifts with the current up and down and it is not clear where it goes to or where it comes from. Women in small boats drift with the tide collecting bottles and other rubbish that can be sold, this tends to keep the river clean or at least more so that you might expect.
It is a privilege to live so close and to see the goings on, it is truly a life with a river.

Kazakhstan

Made famous by Borat, my Skype photo and just a place I wanted to see. We noticed in the local paper that there was daily direct flights from HCMC to Almaty.

So we booked, to go in February……I arranged visa’s via a complex process involving a battle with DHL and Singapore, but the passports eventually arrived back…..then we realised it would be winter and not just any old wintery place; I looked at the temperature charts, -10 to 0 being advised. Shit, I have never been anywhere like that, we looked for clothes in the local market, and you can imaging trying these on in 36c and high humidity in crowded markets….fits like a love sir!…F’me mate get it off I am going to pass out!! Cathie had a return ticket, which would have been forfeited as she was not returning having found a full time job, so Cathie returned to Australia and brought back our winter kit, such as it is.

We took off and landed at 7pm, snow everywhere but welcomed by Slavan who turned out to be our driver for the week – I had booked through a tour company, who now I realise rather ominously had said …we don’t get many tourist in Feb so your group tours – they were all group tours – will likely only have you and your wife on them…, and that is what happened. We were deposited at our hotel and ironically had to open windows as the place was so hot. The hotel was Soviet style, Kasakstan was part of the USSR, it was where the political prisoners, including Lennin when he pissed Starlin off, were sent…I only found this out when, which is my habit, I bought some books to find out about the place I was visiting, I tend not to do it before I go, don’t want to be put off, it is best to be in situe otherwise you would never go anywhere and just watch Discovery channel.

Breakfast was a strange mix of attempts to satisfy some western taste but the majority was distinctly local including horse meat etc. Horses are close the heart of Kazacks!

Cathie bought a lovely book “Apples are from Kazakstan”, it turns out that what we eat as apples all originate from a single apple tree that grows wild, it is the genetic forebear of all apples, and the Caspian sea was the first major oil area and the list of …bugger me is that so…. goes on.

Kazakhstan was home to Genghis Khan, it is a mix of Tibet, Mongolia, China, Northern Slavic peoples, and is home to the Russian steppes, which I remembered from school. It is simply and amazing place and like Vietnam has had its Dynasties, revolutions, conflicts, occupations and through all this a rich cultural tradition – we even made it to the ballet to Anna Karenina. Almaty is not the capital anymore but is the hub of trade and culture, is surrounded by soaring mountains which are part of the Himalayas, and to the East, which we went to, lay the large mountains that separate the country from China. The Silk route traversed the country and thus we found a connection to Jordan…trekking over those mountains thousands of years ago must have been some effort, let alone making it to Jordan and then Africa.

We saw the sights of Almaty, parks, Christian Orthodox churches, which our young guide for one day had never been inside of as he is Muslim, as is the whole country except for a small group of Christians, but both get on, it is hard for us to understand the discrimination and down right brutality that Muslim groups have been victims of all over Europe, down through Russia, India and modern day Myanmar, which whilst not paralleling the WWII treatment of the Jews, both groups have suffered over 2000 years, and Kazakhstan’s Muslims are no different, the treatment during the USSR occupation, for example, was just appalling. The middle east conflicts are part of a much larger picture which I am only starting to understand, it seems to me that this mutual mistreatment by others may hold a small starting point to reconciliation – one thing for sure without the bigger historic picture being understood and accepted nothing will be resolved.

Almaty has many Soviet style monolithic style buildings – they are big, ugly and massive; the parks have many statues to the fallen heroes particularly related to WWI and WWII – we forget that the USSR lost over 20m people during WWII, is it any wonder that Stalin setup a buffer – but the treatment dealt out to these countries post WWII was horrendous.

Ironically in some ways Almaty is home to one of the worlds top Ski resorts which sits high above the city, but you can’t see it because of the smog layer, as you drive up and then catch the ski lift the snowy wonderland reveals itself – it is wondrous and so unexpected, and was packed. Apparently the slopes are so steep and fast that many find the first decent so frightening they are hesitant to go again. It is also home to many of the winter and European snow sports, in fact in the middle of Almaty is this odd looking structure, which turns out to be the ski jump used in competition.

We really need not have worried about the weather as it was perfect, clear skies with a temperature range of -10c to 5c but importantly with no wind. As we drove around the country side we saw the poverty (Borat did portray this accurately, and I will cut him some slack that he was doing so honesty to bring this to our attention), small houses some drab and decorated, Mosques – austere in design but in each town, many road side stalls and bakeries, we sampled the wonderful flat bread. There was one instance where we passed a lot of men and women standing on the roadside in the middle of nowhere – they were selling fish. Protein is important, obviously, and there a many fish farms, we even visited one and caught trout – Cathie catching the biggest!

To conclude we ventured out East wards towards the mountains and the border with China to see the gorges – well we didn’t make it and the van got bogged in the snow as we venturing across the start of the Steppes, a vast flat white with snow covered stretch of geography that goes on for thousands of miles North…it was a pity, but gave rise to much laughter and digging by Slavan with me standing around watching and Cathie marveling at the Geography of it all and taking a few snaps.

I could rattle on, if you get a change to go, do it. How you enjoy the pics.

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Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An, My Son…..

On the way back from Angkor Watt we toured through several of the mid Vietnam coastal areas – Cathy was keen to meet up with her friend she had meet in an earlier visit to Hue.

We fly from Siem Reap to Da Nang, I had booked a cheapie hotel, $29 per night, for one night….well we just could not stay there and ended up at the most amazing Hyatt resort about 15minutes north – opulence, it is amazing and putting aside the obvious reservations between haves and have nots, we ended up staying and extra night.

The visit to Hue was highlighted by a dinner with Cathie’s friend, her husband an engineer with little English, but we shared a passion for beer and got along like the proverbial house on fire; a friend of Cathie’s friend came as well who taught in the main school in Hue which resembled Wesley College, she was married to the Professor of Chemistry who had taught the husband and was somewhat of a big wig, so to turn a phrase. There was a cultural performance with beautiful singing and stringed instruments, percussion was by way of castanet type hand held clackers, the singer was just fantastic with who she played these.

My Son is a small area south of the Hoi An and I was keen to see these Charm ruins, and they did not disappoint, the area was in the DMZ and copped its far share of bombs.

Vietnam’s post BC history is as rich and varied as any other country: dynasties, invasions, rebellions, a very uneasy relationship with China and colonization and  the eventual expulsion of first the French and then uniting of the country after the civil war known here as the American war. The war, reasons for it, the impact on both sides, the psychological damage to all who were involved is one of the blights on the Western psyche, particularly on the conscripted soldiers. How anyone thought that the Chinese were going to somehow expand down through Vietnam, in hindsight, just had no idea the strength of feeling against the Chinese in Vietnam- all current books that have reference to the South China Sea, even on the map in the plane, have had the word China erased, often simply using a black texta. One thing I have noticed is there does not seem to be any continuing animosity towards the US, at least in the under 40s age group.

Enjoy the show.

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Reflection on first year in Vietnam

I started this a year ago and never finished the first line, what follows is a bit of a short summay of the first year.

I have started a new job as Director of Technology at the International School of Ho Chi Mnh City, August 2012. On my own, Cathie will join me after Xmas. Settling in to a new set of surroundings is always difficult, but the only way is to get out and about. On waking I was greeted with the most beautiful sun rise over the wide expanse of the Saigon River, which slowly meandered along past my third floor balcony view…..the school had put me up in a resort next to the school, after a short flirtation with the idea of living in the community, I eventually found myself ensconced in a lovely one bedroom apartment.

The most difficult adjustment for me was simply the humidity, i just resembled a tap and whilst keen to get out and look around i quickly found that I needed to change my approach. To give you an example, I am used to shopping locally at home in Melbourne and whilst there is a small shop on site I wanted to visit the local supermarket, I chose the one across the double lane highway, four lanes each way! I had read that to cross a road just walk out and the bikes will avoid you, I don’t recall the advice including what to do about cars, cement trucks, buses and huge lorries stacked with all many of things. So, i observed for a while, there was a tricky set of lights where bikes lined up waiting for a green light, but this only applied to some many just rode into the oncoming traffic, and when the light turned green, there was much anticipation of this event, the riders would sweep around and across the road in a rather frantic but well organised charge. I then noticed some locals who seemed to share my trepidation, so I sidled up and used what I been taught in Rome to use a human shield to cross the road, well obviously we all made it and by using the more or less walk straight out technique, but not when crazy bus or lorry drivers where in abundance….lesson 1 learnt use common sense.

The supermarket called Metro is a wholesale place, and for businesses, but as an expat I got in after much gesticulation and by handing over my drivers license, i am always wary handing over cards of any sort for fear I may never see them again! I need not have worried as the card was returned with a huge smile and a delightful and respectful ushering towards a lady dressed in traditional dress who scanned my card and who instructed me in perfect English…don’t lose that and show when paying….ok I said.

I love a good shop, and the place had aircond – putting aside environmental concerns as to where the power came from – I had a ball looking around and buying some cheap local beer, some wine and nothing to eat. I then set off back across the road back to my apartment, about 30 minutes, and it is something I have never done again: dangerous and dehydrating ensuring the beer was quickly consumed.

I have since discovered taxis are excellent and affordable, there is free bus and a boat into the city, And also a bus service that goes to the aforementioned Metro, all included in the rental charge, which I must admit is tad high, but then I do have a bar 10m away out my back door: there is also a pool, gym and tennis courts, I did venture into the gym once, no twice, the first time made ill and the second confirmed the feeling, so,I adopted Oscar Wilde’s suggestion …when I feel the urge to exercise I rest on a bed until the urge passes…seems good advice to me.

The first days at school where uneventful, I have seen it all before, I was asked to talk briefly to the staff and I did so, only person to do so without a bloody powerPoint, One person came up latter and said to me..thanks for your nice little talk we were reassured…she left it at that, and I was a bit perplexed as to whether I had reassured the staff I was another IT dick head or somebody that was about meeting their needs, thankfully it turned out to be the latter. I won’t go into details, but the year turned out to be one of fixing things e.g. Network, getting new servers, doing a budget and starting the process of accountability for expenditure based on clearly stated educational and administrative objectives, qualitative and quantitative ones..the idea of objectives and plans did seem to strange to many it seemed. Apparently it had been a case of, if you want something fill in a PO (purchase order ) and you get it…i said that is not budgeting or planning is it? Anyway, much was achieved in the first year and all of the credit goes to the highly skilled IT team, by far the best I have worked with by a country mile.

I tend to use colloquial Aussie language with a liberal sprinkling of rhyming slang picked up mostly from Dad, and also wise sayings I learnt from a Yorkshireman who told me when I was computer sales rep..if you want to know how somebody thinks find out how they get paid..i will return to that idea in a subsequent blog about Budgeting and Planning.

The IT team operates as a respectful family, this is their core value, we help each other and I quickly learnt that what was important was the outcome not necessarily the process, Vietnamese have there ways of doing things and these work, well mostly, but ways certainly do not work all the time either!

I have taken it upon myself to try and explain a few of my sayings, this is usually meet with much laughter and obvious …what is he talking about…., here is an example:

Running with the hares and hounds….this necessitated a discussion of the practice of the upper landed classes in England fox and hare hunting, in the end the general idea of two bob each way or having your cake and eating it, was understood, and yes there are always plenty of examples in schools, deputy heads responsible for staff welfare, for instance, rarely stand up to the Head, in fact one of my pet hates is bosses who will not disagree with their boss or bosses.

The year ended and for some reason know only to the good Lord or rock spirit or the cat fish the parent company decided it would install a new admissions system during the June and July the busiest period, do a timetable without reference to room numbers or student choices and to cap it of install a new student admin system the week before school starts without the timetable being complete. Dick Head Andy pointed out, I must say it was one of my better direct missives, that this was all likely to end in tears, put people under undue stress, against all principles of IT projects and straight bloody idiotic, possibly the last word was what got the powers in a flap, who knows and I don’t much care.

The above necessitated a new saying … there is whiff of dick head in the air … Seemed to bring much mirth to a few people I used it with.

Fortunately because of pure luck, the professionalism of the teachers and the remarkable tolerance of the kids, othe kids are in classes happy and being taught, the IT staff worked three weeks straight including weekends otherwise this fairy start would not have happened.

My dear wife tells me I have an ability to predict the future, in so far as that maybe the case, it is a curse rather than a blessing as they say.

The following blogs will concentrate on our many trips and all the wonderfully positive things we have experienced, I hope you get some enjoyment reading each…there will be pics too! Love to all.

Our recent Holiday in Jordan

We started with a long drive down to Tala Bay – staying at the Movenpick resort was just the ticket!

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After a three day stay we ventured up to Wadi Rum, a fantastic trip into the dessert and Cathie went on a balloon ride, resulting in some lovely pictures.

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Cathie’s Pictures

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Cathie’s Balloon Ride

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After Wadi Rum we ventured up to Little Petra and then Dana, spending a night in each.

Little Petra

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Shoback Castle and Dana

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Um Al-Jimal & Poppies

We set off about 10.30am to visit an ancient basalt city that had fallen victim to the earth quakes around 600AD up near the Syrian border – the place is rarely visited and I can’t imagine why, apart from the fact it is free it is just wonderful.

On route via Jerash to Rehab and then Masraq we passed through some lovely farmland, the whole area had been enlivened by the recent rain and the poppies and other wild flowers where starting to come out – I am still searching for a Black Iris.

Poppies
Poppies near Jerash

Here is a slide show of some of the flowers we found.
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Umm Al-Jimal is a fantastic – get a car and go take a look.

Here is a pic of the main tower, I think it has been re-built but the walls are surrounded by collapsed ruins.

Tower Um Al-Jimal
Tower Um Al-Jimal

Some of the highlights can be seen in this slide show.

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