Random notes about Australia...

The Southern sky

There are so many more stars to see in the southern sky than there are in the Northern hemisphere. The Southern Cross is easy to spot, and Orion is always very clear, but there are thousands of others. When you are in the bush with no light pollution, the sky is just magnificent.

Bogans

This is going to sound a bit non-PC, but in the eight years since we have been coming to Oz we have become more aware of bogans. The closest British translation is chavs, but it’s not quite the same. The average bogan is overweight, coarse, loud, underdressed and frequently drunk. In some areas they are hardly to be seen (eg in the remote rural areas) but in others......

‘Grey Nomads’

An Aussie phenomenon. retired people either sell up completely or invest in a mobile home of some sort, as well as their fixed address, and travel the length and breadth of their amazing country. Mobile homes can be anything from a simple campervan, ranging through smart caravans towed by 4WD vehicles, to full-on converted coaches complete with satellite dish and trailer behind towing the 4WD. Some people travel occasionally, some concentrate on avoiding the winter in the south and head up to the tropical climate in the north for the dry season, and others are permanently on the move.

We’ve met a lot of nomads and they invariably have interesting tales to tell about their travels, some sticking to the sealed (tarmaced) roads, and others more adventurously tackling the great off road tracks such as the Birdsville , Oodnadatta or Strzelecki Tracks in the Outback. Hopefully one day we’ll do one of these ourselves.

We learned this time that the Nomads have a great reputation for turning up in droves to help out whenever there is a catastrophe such as the recent floods in Queensland and Victoria, and the bushfires in Western Australia. There is very definitely an Australian culture of helping out those in trouble – this is especially noticeable in rural areas and has been very pronounced in the Australian response to the earthquake disaster in New Zealand.

The Gawler Ranges

Pleased that the weather had ‘fined up’ again, we drove north from Port Lincoln to Wudinna, one of the gateways to the remote Gawler Ranges National Park. At the information centre they told us the park was now open after the recent heavy rain, but only to 4WD vehicles as the dirt roads were in poor condition. We planned to go deep into the park the next day, but had time that afternoon to visit some monolithic rocks in the Wudinna region, notably Polda Rock and Mt. Wudinna, which is the second largest monolith in Australia after Uluru. Climbing onto the rocks in the heat was tough but rewarding – the views were spectacular, and there were rock pools all over the place, holding the remains of the recent downpours. There was plenty of evidence of how the water had rushed down in torrents, and by the clever device of a simple wall at the bottom of the rock, all the water was funnelled into a dam.

We had been teased by Aussie friends about planning to stay in Wudinna (also Kimba – see later) – lots of jokes about there being nothing there and the very basic standard of accommodation. These are small country towns on the Eyre Highway – very welcome oases on the road where you may see a car every 15 minutes if you are lucky. Because this environment is so different from what we experience at home we love it, and the people are invariably helpful and friendly.

The next day we set off early into the Gawler Ranges. The whole day was spent driving on dirt roads of varying quality – about 250km in total. Pindappa rock was the first stop – SA’s own version of the better known Wave Rock in Western Australia. The early morning light showed the rock (like a giant surf wave) at its best, and we had it all to ourselves.

The next destination was the Organ Pipes, the most well-known rock formations in the park, but 10 km off the dirt road on a rough track, mainly sand and rock. This was a challenging drive (we kept wondering what the rental car company would think if they could see the vehicle totally covered in red dirt!) but it was worth every pothole and puddle when at the end we found a small colony of rare yellow-footed rock wallabies playing amongst the organ pipes. There were five of them, incredibly agile, leaping around amongst the rocks and making strange little growling noises. It felt as if they had put on a show for us (nobody else was there of course) and we could have watched them for hours.

We then followed the scenic driving route through the park and had our picnic lunch sitting on the verandah at the Old Paney Homestead, now abandoned. A pioneering family had raised 11 children there. The place was very atmospheric, surrounded by beautiful country and utterly peaceful – yes, nobody else there again!

Throughout our day in the Gawler Ranges we saw only five cars. The small town of Kimba, where we spent the night, seemed like a bustling metropolis when we arrived there. Kimba’s two claims to fame are the fact that it is ‘half way across Australia’ and the home of the Giant Galah (an Aussie bird). This is one of the many Big Things in Australia (such as the Big Banana, Big Pineapple, Giant Prawn, Giant Ram.....)

Next day we drove from Kimba back to Adelaide, had time for a brief farewell drink with Joan and Don at lovely Glenelg, and then off to the airport for our evening flight to Perth and the last leg of the holiday in Western Australia.

Port Lincoln

After leaving Coffin Bay, we returned to Port Lincoln for a day to visit Lincoln NP, which turned out to be another venture along unsealed roads through lots of Aussie bush, seeing very few other people. There were fewer dramatic sights compared with Coffin Bay NP; we enjoyed the rugged coastline and a couple of lovely deserted beaches but the highlight was a climb up to Stamford Hill to see the Flinders’ Memorial which also provided spectacular 360 degree views of Boston Bay, Port Lincoln and the NP. The climb was arduous and involved fighting off the biting flies. However, when compared to the achievement of carting the marble blocks up to make the memorial, I don’t think we should complain.

Furthermore, the story of Matthew Flinders and his crew, who surveyed much of the South Australia coast around 1800 is both inspiring and extremely sad. In 1802, they were off the coast of what is now Lincoln NP, desperately in need of water, so Flinders sent a party of 8 on a cutter to the shore. They were never seen again, not even their bodies. Evidence that they came to grief on the rocks was found but, despite numerous attempts, no trace of the sailors was ever found. I should remind you that sharks reside in the area. Subsequently, water was found close by and meant Flinders was able to survey much more of the Eyre Peninsula rather than set sail further east. The various rocky islands off the coast are now named after individual members of the stricken party.

Matthew Flinders was a remarkable explorer, sent by the British Government, he only lived to the age of 40 and yet his discoveries provided an incredible amount of detailed information and his legacy lives on with numerous references to his name, most notably the highly impressive Flinders Ranges.

On leaving Port Lincoln we had a classic Aussie “can do” experience. On checking our tyres, we were concerned that one had a slow puncture, so contacted the rental company who gave us the number of the local office. By then, we had driven to a tyre repairer called Beaurepaires. When we told the local guy where we were, he said that was “highly fortuitous” and to ask for Brett and tell him the beers would be delivered on Friday. We duly found Brett, passed on the message to which he replied “you bet they will”, proceeded to arrange the immediate checking and repair of our rogue tyre and uttered the immortal phrase “it’s good to go” with no charge, although we tipped him, of course. This was all done in about 20 mins from arriving at the place.

Eyre Peninsula

The Eyre Peninsula is a vast area, encompassing miles of pristine beaches, the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor Plain, as far as the border with Western Australia.

We had to be flexible on our arrival here, as heavy rain was forecast for the following day, no good for our planned exploration of the Gawler Ranges National Park on gravel roads that were likely to be flooded. Instead we headed down the east coast of the V-shaped peninsula, and spent an afternoon and evening in Whyalla, where the huge OneSteel works provides a lot of employment. The motel pool was very welcome after our long drive from the Yorke Peninsula.

As predicted, the rain arrived during the night and persisted all the next day, so we kept driving south to Port Lincoln on the southern tip of the peninsula. We stopped at various small coastal towns on the way, all looking a bit sad in the rain but no doubt delightful in the sunshine. Boardwalks through the mangroves and coastal vegetation seemed to be on offer in various places, so we opted for the ‘award winning’ one at Arno Bay which was informative and enjoyable even in the rain.

Port Lincoln is a thriving fishing port - tuna, prawns and rock lobster (crayfish) especially, as well as a tourist town. Two main tourist attractions, both of which we were happy to forego, are the opportunity to swim with bluefin tuna (they are huge) or, 100 times more scary, to go cage diving several miles off the coast with White Pointer (Great White) sharks. No thanks! The latter trip is controversial as apparently they throw food into the water to attract the sharks and this can encourage them to associate humans with food...sadly, more about this later.

We had a night out in Port Lincoln at the local cinema (to see Burlesque). A quaint little single screen place, there were 18 customers, during the performance the projector broke down not once, but twice! It reminded me of Ruthin Picture House in the sixties when this was a regular occurrence.

We were lucky to arrive in Port Lincoln when the yachts in the annual Adelaide to PL race were arriving. The Lions Club (active in all Australian towns) were at the end of the jetty to welcome the yachts, grilling snags (sausages) and presenting each crew with a case of beer. This seemed to be the main reason for the yachts calling at the town jetty first before sailing round to the smart new marina. Whilst watching all this we got talking to Diane, a lovely local lady, whose stories ranged from the absolutely tragic (She had lost many relatives in a bush fire) to the amusing – her daughter is mad on animals and drove all the way to Adelaide to collect a baby pet emu, which now of course is huge.

Our next destination was Coffin Bay, about 40k west of Port Lincoln. Normally known for its lovely coastal national park, sadly Coffin Bay has been very much in the news as the day before we arrived a young local man had been taken by not one, but two, great white sharks whilst diving for abalone off the coast here.

CB is a very pretty small town, with a population of 600 which swells to 4000 in the season. It’s peaceful at the moment and we have a lovely apartment across from the beach. When we arrived there was an open-air wedding taking place in front of the main jetty – all very relaxed and informal, with the guests wearing thongs (flip flops) and the wedding cars were white 4WD Toyota Landcruisers.

The National Park is unspoilt, with some wild and rugged beaches on the Southern Ocean, and some calm swimming beaches on the inland side. The sun was out again so we did swim....but kept VERY close to the shore. We saw lots of emus, including one family of mum, dad and six young ones.

There were very few tourists about, so it was amazing to share the one picnic table at a beach with a British couple who had owned a flower shop in New Malden, where we used to live in the eighties.

Yorke Peninsula – secret treasures

Most Brits visiting Oz will not have experienced the Yorke Peninsula (west of Adelaide) even though it’s the most popular destination for South Australians. Fortunately, we chose a quiet time after the schools are back, so it was hard to believe that it could be so crowded when seeing deserted beaches, empty roads and encountering nobody else on walking trails and scenic driving routes.

We must thank Gene for the suggestion as an alternative to our original plan to drive across the Nullabor Plain to Perth.

The Peninsula is the shape of a foot and around 200km from north-east to south-west, where we stayed in Marion Bay for easy access to Innes NP. This provided a wonderful day of exploring with spectacular views over the Southern Ocean’s secluded sandy beaches, limestone cliffs and rugged headlands, with several lighthouses. There are numerous stories about shipwrecks and the gypsum mining history of the area which thrived over 100 years ago in primitive conditions. The vegetation is also fascinating, continually varying depending on the altitude and exposure to salt and wind. We also managed to find the time to swim and sunbathe on the beautiful Dolphin Beach.

We had a weird experienced after arriving at Marion Bay, having driven from Adelaide over a leisurely 8 hours of exploring, we’d unpacked and were relaxing in our motel room when a guy burst in and told us to collect our things and leave immediately because gangs of motor bikers were coming. He kept repeating himself in an urgent tone. Once we noticed a heavy smell of alcohol and perhaps a couple of screws loose, we ushered him out of the room as quickly as possible. Later in the evening, with our door now locked, he knocked a few times and enquired whether we were fishing with him the next day. In between, we enjoyed our Valentine’s Day meal in the adjoining Tavern!

In total, we spent two and a half days on the Peninsula and would highly recommend it as an alternative to some of the standard destinations in Australia. We spent time in Port Vincent, Edithburgh, Stansbury, Corny Point, Minlaton (a principal country town), Moonta Bay, Wallaroo and Port Broughton. In each place, we met some friendly and interesting Aussies; most notably Rick and Ann, a well travelled couple of farmers who have 4,000 acres, while we dined at the Moonta Bay Patio Motel. In addition, after Mary’s successful introduction to crabbing in Glenelg, she now speaks with confidence to fishermen we meet on the ubiquitous jetties, discussing the size of their catches.

Adelaide – two days of new experiences

We love Adelaide, a well-designed, leafy, cultured city set between the Adelaide Hills and mile upon mile of stunning beaches. This was our fourth time in the city, staying with our friends Joan and Don, and as always they had put a lot of thought into planning some new ventures for us.

The Adelaide Festival was about to start, and as a precursor there was a Fringe festival in one of the (many) parks, called The Garden of Unearthly Delights. There were dozens of shows to choose from, all an hour or less, taking place in a variety of venues ranging from tents to buses to wooden boxes to circus style big tops. The atmosphere was lovely – there were food stalls, bars, cafes, and stalls selling all manner of unusual goods. After a delicious Turkish meal we selected a comedian (quite funny but very nervous) and then what can only be described as a piece of performance art in a metal container, called Track. 15 minutes long, the piece consisted of a crazy Dutchman and an only slightly less crazy lady from Sydney simulating a train journey using an old sewing machine, some film, a model train and a video camera.......for 5 dollars, we weren’t about to complain as they promised we’d be entertained and we were.

Adelaide Zoo is lucky enough to have recently acquired 2 pandas, a male and a female, with the aim of attempting to breed from them in due course. We visited the zoo with Joan and Don and of course the pandas were a real highlight. We’d never seen any before, and they lived up to expectations. Wang Wang, the male, was very active and spent all his time wandering round his large compound looking for treats the keepers had hidden for him. Fanu, the female, was fast asleep but right at the front of her compound, by the glass, so we had a great view of her.

The zoo is beautifully laid out with lots of lush greenery. I always like to see the Australian animals and was really delighted to find they had a breeding programme for the endangered yellow footed rock wallaby. Pete, Stuart and I spent a lot of time in the Flinders Ranges last year scouring rock faces for this animal, always described as ‘shy and elusive’ – aptly, as we never saw one! They really do have yellow feet, and a very attractive ringed tail.

When Don and their Cambodian friend Sreng suggested we go crabbing that evening off Glenelg jetty, I imagined we’d be catching tiny crabs in little nets, just for the fun of it. Not at all! Sreng set up no less than seven large nets (made by Don) baited with carp, tied them to the pier railings and threw them over. While Pete went for a run and Sreng went on an errand, Don and I kept hauling in the nets, checking them and throwing them back in. In the space of an hour and a half we caught 15 blue swimmer crabs – beautiful to look at and delicious to eat, as we discovered later. Six had to be returned to the sea as they were too small and there’s a fine for taking them.

It was definitely a combination of Sreng and Don’s expertise and my beginner’s luck, because I pulled in lots of them, much to the disgruntlement of some of the local jetty regulars who weren’t best pleased to see a Pommie FEMALE having such success.

Don cooked our catch later at home – the blueys turned pink and we all got really messy as we tackled them – great fun.

Willunga and McLaren Vale

As the Indian Pacific pulled slowly into Adelaide Parklands station after our memorable 24 hour trip from Sydney, we spotted our friends Gene and Julian on the platform. Less than 90 mins after the warm welcome, we had picked up our hire car in the city and driven to McLaren Vale for an emergency dental appointment that Gene had kindly arranged for me. After that it was back to their lovely new home in Willunga for a dip in the pool where I managed to cut my knee on the sharp edge of the step requiring dressing. On the assumption that bad things happen in threes (dentist, cut knee...), I awaited the third with trepidation.

My mind was subsequently distracted by aperitifs prior to a thoroughly enjoyable (drink fuelled) dinner with next door neighbours, Pete and Annie, who had kindly let us stay in their house last year when they were away.

The following morning we awoke to a torrential rainstorm, which was apparently the first rain they had had since before Christmas and was courtesy of Cyclone Yasi (which also caused the rain we’d encountered earlier in NSW). We were then invited to coffee in a converted local church, which I can safely say is a first. I followed this with a run and another dip in the pool. However, the third bad thing duly arrived when I realised that my mobile phone was in my back pocket and was now inundated with water. My mind was then further distracted by a trip to several McLaren Vale wineries and a brewery, which served as a great way to celebrate Julian’s birthday. Fortunately, Gene was subsequently able to supply me with a spare Telstra phone and my sim card worked okay.

In the evening, Julian cooked a lamb meal using a clever Aussie device called an Easy Cook in which you insert the meat and vegetables inside a glass container and it cooks by convection, quicker and more evenly than conventional cookers. Apparently, Aussie caravanners wouldn’t leave home without one.

On our 3^rd day, I got up early and cycled through the vineyards to McLaren Vale and back and we then experienced the Willunga weekly farmers’ market, featuring an amazing variety of local quality produce and some definitely alternative folk. We concluded our most enjoyable stay with a visit into the Adelaide Hills and (you’ve guessed it) a couple of wineries; K1 alongside a beautiful lake with an avenue of Agapanthus and Lazy Ballerina containing an English rose garden.

We are looking forward to reciprocating the hospitality when Gene and Julian come to the UK in May for the first time in over 20 years.

The Indian Pacific

This trip was always going to be a highlight. The Indian Pacific and The Ghan are the two iconic trains of Australia – The Ghan crossing the continent from North to South (Darwin to Adelaide) and the IP from East to West (Sydney to Perth). On previous holidays we had travelled the entire length of The Ghan route, and the Indian Pacific from Adelaide to Perth, across the Nullarbor Plain. Both journeys took 2 days and 2 nights. On this occasion we filled in the missing part – Sydney to Adelaide, travelling through the beautiful Blue Mountains at sunset. They really do live up to their name – the blue haze surrounding them is produced by the thousands of eucalyptus trees covering the region.

The train stopped early in the morning at the outback silver mining town of Broken Hill. There was time for a brief tour of the town and a hilltop memorial to the more than 800 miners who have lost their lives there since the nineteenth century.

These trains are a real experience, especially travelling in Gold Kangaroo class which isn’t cheap but we believe worth every dollar. In your own private compartment, with a very cleverly designed en-suite loo and shower, you pass through some spectacular scenery. There’s a lounge bar carriage for when you are feeling sociable, and a restaurant car serving excellent breakfast, lunch and dinner. While you are having dinner, your compartment is converted into two sleeping berths with crisp white sheets. The rocking motion of the train at night is a lovely sensation, and peeping through the blinds to watch the sun rise over the outback is a memorable experience (especially for someone like me for whom sunrises are not a common sight).

One of the joys of the train is that you meet so many people. Sitting with a different Aussie couple for each meal of the 24 hour journey, we met some lovely, and well-travelled, people and picked up lots of tips for future Australian holidays, especially in the more remote areas which we love.

On both our previous trips the Hospitality Manager on the train had been Catherine, with whom we had struck up a good relationship and spent some time chatting in the bar late at night (as you do). That in itself had been a coincidence, as there are at least 8 train crews, so we were amazed to find that once again Catherine was our hostess. She greeted us like old friends so we felt immediately at home.

I could have happily stayed on the train all the way to Perth, but there was a big incentive to get off at Adelaide – we were being met by our friends Gene and Julian and were so much looking forward to seeing them.

Sydney

Having spent a few days on the Central Coast, NSW, we returned to Sydney for one night and day. Despite around 8 previous stays in the city, we still love coming back and soaking up the atmosphere.

Having dropped our cases at a “mid-town” hotel in George St, we headed down to Circular Quay where we were greeted with a huge cruise ship, Diamond Princess, initially blocking our view of the Harbour Bridge and setting sail for Beijing later in the day, with about 2,000 passengers taking 23 days – no thank you!

We settled for a 25 min trip on one of the newer Harbour ferries to Watsons Bay (where the famous Doyles fish restaurant was full of lunchtime diners). This and the return trip provided an excellent view of many of the Harbour delights and countless photo opportunities, despite our earlier trips.

After a brief look at the rock art works of an Aboriginal artist, Bardayal “Lofty” Nadjamerrek, in the Museum of Contemporary Art, we couldn’t resist sitting by the Opera House in the sunshine, with a glass of sparkling wine, looking over to the Harbour Bridge – an iconic setting which Dave and Pam will remember from a previous visit when we couldn’t tear ourselves away until the sun went down and a couple of bottles had been emptied.

This time we had to leave to get ready to meet Aussie friends, Sean and Anne, at a great fish restaurant called Fish at the Rocks, where we conversed non stop until we were the last ones left. The previous weekend, super fit Sean had run 45km in the Blue Mountains, up and down peaks, across creeks and a river up to his waist – it made my jogs along the Bridgewater Canal seem incredibly tame.

The following day, we had a few hours to spend before catching the Indian Pacific train to Adelaide. We walked to Darling Harbour and Cockle Bay in the sunshine and had a first look at the impressive National Maritime Museum, with an exhibition called Planet of the Sharks providing some thoroughly scary pictures and stories about these creatures that have inhabited our seas for 400 million years.

We also viewed the Australian Welcome Wall which lists many of the 6 million people who have made this country their home from elsewhere. Anyone or their forebears who has migrated to Australia can apply to have their name listed – an example of how proud most Australians are of their country.

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

Sydney and Central Coast of NSW

Vietnam was a wonderful experience and pretty full on, so the more relaxing part of the trip begins here, in our favourite country. Arriving in Sydney we couldn’t wait to get out and hit the town. We try to stay in a different part of the city on each visit, so this time we were near Central station, convenient for our train journeys. Although on the edge of Chinatown, we found a little Spanish area, a cultural centre and several authentic tapas restaurants (For those who know Sydney – corner of George and Liverpool Streets). We couldn’t resist a change from Asian food and weren’t disappointed.

Walking back to our hotel we noticed the Shark Hotel – attracted by the name, we had a look inside. There was a busy karaoke night in full swing, and although we increased the average age in there by several years we stayed for a few drinks. Two British lads in their twenties performed a difficult Eminem number really well, so we got talking to them. They had met picking Bowen mangoes up in Queensland while backpacking around and had settled in Sydney. Jack and Chris didn’t seem to be planning to return to Kent and Coventry anytime soon!

Next day we took the train to Warnervale on the Central Coast, to spend four lovely days with our friends Aid and Ed who have recently bought a new house in Gorokan. This is the sixth time we have experienced their great hospitality – although they have moved all over the country (Melbourne, Palm Cove, Brisbane, The Entrance....) we always track them down! Thanks Aid for suggesting we make the trip by train rather than car – the journey is spectacular in parts as the line cuts through mountain passes then hugs the edge of the scenic Hawkesbury River.

We had arrived in NSW toward the end of a heat wave with temperatures of over 40 degrees, so Aid and Ed’s lovely pool got lots of use and I was delighted to find that Crocky the inflatable crocodile, an old friend from Palm Cove, had survived their various house moves.

The following day we were all invited to lunch at our friend Sue’s. Sue, like Aid, was at school with me in Ruthin and emigrated in the seventies. Last year she had a new house built in Kellyville Ridge in the Western suburbs of Sydney and it was really good to see her happily settled in her new home. Lunch was very convivial – we renewed our acquaintance with Sue’s friends Marion and Richard, and were pleased to meet Patrick and Jose Carlos for the first time.

There was a big drop in temperature and some heavy rain the next day. Aid and Ed had taken us to the beach resort Terrigal for lunch, and the sudden cloudburst sent everyone scurrying for shelter. The poor waiters were like drowned rats trying to roll down plastic sheeting to protect the outside eating areas, but the whole place was soon awash and we all huddled inside till it had passed over.

The Central Coast is a lovely area, with miles and miles of beautiful surfing beaches. The weather stabilised the following day and Aid took us to Soldiers Beach then on up the coast to Newcastle for lunch.

Our time with Aid and Ed went too quickly, as always. We enjoyed a lovely last dinner together in the aptly named Ocean View restaurant, overlooking the coast, and then it was back on the train to Sydney the next morning.

Singapore return

We had a one night stopover in Singapore on our way from Vietnam to Sydney, which coincided with Chinese New Year’s Eve, so Chinatown was a blaze of colour, rabbits (2011 is Year of the Rabbit) and throngs of people. However, an early night was in order to prepare for our 5am taxi to the airport.

We had time to experience the impressive MRT metro system, with its no eating and drinking rule (which we broke due to ignorance) and visit the lively Arab and Indian quarters of the city, where we had a strong Indian beer with Graham, a Welshman we met from Newport visiting his son and grandson in Melbourne.

It was strange seeing so little traffic on the roads after our Vietnam experience, but I expect we’ll get used to it in Australia!

Saw another bizarre photo being taken by a young guy walking along with an ice cream cone, taking a picture of it with his mobile!

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

We have spent 4 nights in the city, staying in 2 hotels in different areas, separated by our trip to the Mekong Delta (described in another posting). From the moment we stepped off the plane it was evident that HCMC is very different from the other places we have visited in Vietnam. The first, very pleasant, change was the weather. We were welcomed with 32 degrees and sunshine, not something we had been acquainted with so far.

The comfortable taxi ride into the city showed us a very western-like scene of modern buildings, including high rise (such as the futuristic, impressively shaped and tallest, Financial Tower), flashy advertising hoardings and expensive cars. There is much more open space than Hanoi but one similarity was the incredible volume of traffic, especially motor cycles and scooters. The 7km journey to our hotel in the backpacker area took about 45 mins, which enabled us to gain a quite intimate view of city life on the streets.

The backpacker area was wonderfully lively, with fantastic choice of bars and restaurants. We soon made friends with a waitress called Mun (moon), who engaged us in lively banter and proudly showed us the menu she had produced on the computer. Then we met a Geordie called Andy over from KL for the weekend, followed by Aussies from Alice Springs. The only disturbing thing was to see a good many middle aged white men picking up young and attractive Vietnamese girls. We actually walked into one bar during our stay and realised very quickly that it was populated entirely by the above combination so didn’t stay.

On our first full day we decided to visit various sites on foot and by taxi. However, we were persuaded to accept an offer of city tour by cyclos (as in Hue). We agreed a price and our riders (Phung and Thao) set off through the busy traffic (you simply have to trust them to safely navigate through the hundreds of motor cycles) to the War Remnants Museum. This was extremely harrowing, because it portrays the American War in all its gory detail with horrific pictures and stories of the atrocities committed on the Vietnamese people and the long term effect still being suffered because of the use of toxins such as Agent Orange. It also reminded us that nothing has been learnt because similar abuses have been committed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the only difference being 40 years more development of the technology.

Phung and Thao waited for us and then took us to a wood lacquering factory, followed by a long ride in the hot sun to Cholon (China Town) to visit the huge market and Buddhist temple. A look at the Saigon River (although it was actually a canal we discovered later), then lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant some way from our hotel. All was friendly, sharing several beers and stories until Phung (the senior rider, who spoke quite acceptable English) started to re-negotiate the price by showing us glowing comments written by previous clients in his little book and indicating on his watch that we had had 4 hours of their time. We knew from the guidebooks that this was a typical scam so argued our corner and it got very unpleasant. We eventually walked off, having given them what we thought the trip was worth, about a quarter of what he was asking – it spoilt the experience somewhat.

The 2^nd hotel was close to the up market hotels, of which there are many, and City Hall. In fact it had a restaurant on the 17^th floor where we had breakfast and an outside pool on the 16^th floor with small selection of modern gym equipment where we spent our final afternoon in Saigon.

It was a wonderful time to be in the city in the lead up to Tet (the Vietnamese New Year) celebrations from 3^rd to 5^th Feb. This is their biggest event of the year and boy do they go to town. The central attraction is a wonderful flower festival taking up one of their principal boulevards, Nguyen Hue. We had a cocktail on the 23^rd floor of the Sheraton Hotel and watched the opening ceremony which many thousands flocked to see. The 2^nd night was just as busy and the sight of hundreds of motor cycles, many with a family of 4 on board, gridlocked along Le Loi (similar to the Champs Elysees) was absolutely amazing, notwithstanding the significant effect on air quality.

Another main attraction for tourists is Reunification Hall, which was the presidential palace up until the success of the North Vietnamese Liberation Army in 1975, when the tanks smashed through the railings shown on TVs around the World. It provides a memorable history lesson and fascinating collection of 60s and 70s furnishings, as well as the untouched communications rooms in the basement and an abandoned American helicopter still sitting on the 3^rd floor roof.

HCMC is a thriving city with a feeling of wealth, mixed with the inevitable poverty symbolised by the constant attempts to sell. The people are generally slim, attractive, smiley, wear bright colours and love posing for photographs.

The slightly disappointing thing is that at times you look around and see a city that could easily be Paris or any number of other World cities. Then you see the volume of motor cycles and realise where you are. It’s been a wonderful introduction to Southeast Asia.

Wincarnis – a blast from the past

I wrote the Mekong Delta post whilst at HCMC airport waiting for our flight to Singapore. Imagine my surprise when, having a browse round the duty free shop, I saw a section marked ‘Premium Wines’, where bottles of Wincarnis were proudly displayed! It took me back to the sixties and the days of ‘Mrs Wilson’s Diary’ in Private Eye.

Mekong Delta

We both agreed that the two days we spent on the Mekong Delta have been the highlight of our time in Vietnam. Having looked at all the options available we had chosen a private tour, with a driver and guide. This turned out to be a good decision, not least because we were so lucky with our guide, Mango. 27 years old, she was great company throughout, very bright and full of enthusiasm and knowledge on a whole range of topics. Her expertise ranged from local farming and produce, cooking (every time we came across a new fruit or veg. she would give us all sorts of recipe ideas), to economics, history and Buddhism.

By the end of the trip we really felt we had made a new friend and we’ll be keeping in touch. Mango has three jobs, two as a guide and one in export, and seems to be the main financial support for her extended family, having bought her parents a farm and paid for her nephew to study law in Hong Kong.

Mango’s English was excellent, easily the best we came across in Vietnam, but she was keen to improve and learn some idiomatic usage and we were happy to oblige. I’d love to be there when she asks her next English speaking guests if the sun is over the yardarm!

The trip involved an amazing number of different types of transport – air conditioned car, several sampans, rowing boat, bicycles, motorised rickshaw, even a horse and cart! I kept expecting a helicopter to arrive....

We were travelling through some unspoilt and quiet parts of Ben Tre province on the Mekong. The area is very fertile, growing a huge range of crops, especially coconuts, rice and bananas, but also all manner of herbs, fruits and vegetables. The whole area is a hive of industry; everyone is either growing things, manufacturing things or buying and selling.

We came across several small ‘factories’ by the water. At brick works, they were making bricks from natural clay taken from the paddy fields. The production line consisted of one antiquated machine supervised by two ladies, and was turning out perfectly formed bricks at an incredible speed. The bricks are then fired in beehive-shaped kilns, fuelled by stalks and husks from the rice fields. The resulting ash is then used as fertiliser – we saw so many instances of this, where nothing was wasted, and felt we have so much to learn from the Vietnamese in this respect.

Other places we visited were a couple of coconut processing plants. At the first one, we were mesmerised by the way two young guys were de-husking the coconuts – they had a very sharp spear at chest height sticking up from the ground, and impaled each coconut on it. One false move and the consequences would have been horrendous – they wore no protective clothing whatsoever.

We then had a go at scraping off the inner skin – a bit like peeling potatoes. The coconut flesh is used in a variety of ways, from pressing it to get coconut milk (used a lot in cooking) to making various types of coconut candy. The fibres from the outer husks are used for weaving mats and hats, and the shells make a good fuel.

Cycling or boating through the jungle was a magical experience and you never knew what little cottage industry you’d come across next – one lady was making roofing panels from coconut palm leaves. A particularly interesting stop was to meet Khanh, about our age, who has been collecting and restoring Chinese and Vietnamese ceramics since he was 13. His house is a treasure trove and he is a great character. He tried to teach Pete to shin up a coconut tree (not easy!) and was so amazed by the size of Pete’s trainers and feet that he took photos of them, all the while laughing out loud.

We had chosen to overnight at a homestay deep in the coconut palms. Our bedroom was a woven bamboo and coconut building, and the bed was basically a platform made from bamboo. Rock hard – I didn’t expect to sleep much at all but managed ok (must have been the banana rum and beers at dinner!). Pete didn’t get much sleep – hardly surprising really because the noises at night were incredible. Every family has roosters and dogs – they were all cockadoodledooing and barking, the crickets were chirping, and at some stage a local drunk was splashing about in the stream outside our window. Add to this the loud snores from Sean, the Canadian guy in the only other occupied room, and you’ll get the picture. The very basic loos were a walk across the compound as was the (cold) shower, but we wouldn’t have missed the experience for anything. The next night in a rather swanky Saigon hotel seemed almost surreal.

We were given cooking lessons by Mango and the ladies of the family, and made some very passable spring rolls and soup for our dinner. There was so much other food provided – pancakes, pork barbecued on an open fire, elephant ear fish, chicken, noodles, rice......and everything produced locally. Mango was amazed to hear we buy asparagus from Peru and green beans from Kenya in our supermarkets.

On the way back to HCMC we visited a Buddhist temple in My Tho, outside which was the most enormous statue we have ever seen. It’s of the Buddha of the Future (the fat, laughing one) and it just dominated the whole area. Over the years we’ve been photographing various giant kitsch things in Oz (big banana, giant ram etc) but this was in a different league.

All in all a wonderful trip.