Dwi’n falch i adrodd fy mod wedi cadw at fy adduned ar gyfer y flwyddyn newydd eleni. Ar ôl yr holl codi’n gynnar rydym wedi ei wneud ers cyrraedd Melbourne roeddwn wedi addo i fi fy hun y byddwn yn cael gorffwys i fewn tan yn hwyr ar Ddydd Calan. Ac fe wnes i, hyd at hanner wedi dau yn y pnawn i fod yn gywir. Ar yr un adeg fe ddigwyddodd rhywbeth rhyfeddol iawn o fewn hanner awr i mi godi. Yn ddiweddar, gan ei bod mor boeth yn Melbourne, roedd y ddau ohonom wedi dechrau dilyn tymheredd cyfredol Melbourne ar y we ac wrth i mi godi roedd tymheredd y ddinas yn dechrau gostwng yn sydyn iawn. Am hanner wedi dau roedd hi’n bron yn 42 gradd ac erbyn tri o’r gloch roedd y tymheredd wedi gostwng i 27 gradd! Mae’n debyg fod y ffenomen yma yn digwydd yn reit amal yn Melbourne pan fydd cyfeiriad y gwynt yn newid o gyfeiriad y gogledd i dod o’r de ac o gyfeiriad y môr. Ta beth oedd y rheswm roeddwn yn falch iawn o’r tymheredd llawer mwy iachus yma. Cymryd pethau yn ddigon hamddenol gwnaethom ac ar ôl brecwast!! Aethom am dro … yn y car am newid fach. Fe’r aeth Eifion a ni yn gyntaf ogwmpas trac ‘Formula One’ sydd wedi ei leoli rownd llun mewn parc yn y ddinas. Yn anffodus roedd gormod o fariau ar hyd y trac yn ein rhwystro rhag mynd yn rhy gyflym - ‘spoilsports’! Wedi hynny, i lawr yr afordir am ‘run’ fach neis a pasio ganoedd o dai byddai’n gwerthu am brisiau yn y miliynau.
Brysur iawn buom tra gyda Eifion. Fe aeth a ni i’r Healesville Animal Sanctuary i ni cael gweld yr holl amrywiaeth o fywyd gwyllt sydd yn Awstralia. Ymhlith yr holl anifeiliaid eraill cawsom weld y Tasmanian Devil, Echidnas, Kangarws, Wallabies, Platypus, Dingos, Emus, Bilbies, Koalas, amrywiaeth o frogaid, lizards, adar a nadroedd gan gynnwys y rhai mwyaf gwenwynus yn y byd heb anghofio pen-ol un Wombat (roeddent i gyd yn cysgu’n braf pan alwon ni). Cafodd Eifion enw newydd ar ôl y diwrnod hwnw, sef Searching Bear. Bob tro roedd Nia a finne yn symud ymlaen i’r gorlan nesaf i edrych ar anifail arall roedd Eifion yno yn barod wedi chwilio’r creaduriaid yng nghanol yr holl dyfiant ac yn eu pwyntio nhw allan i ni.
Gyda’r hwyr y diwrnod hynny fe’r aethom i farchnad nos yn y ddinas ble roedd stondinau yn gwerthu’r popeth gan gynnwys bwyd a chwrw ac roedd bandiau yn chwarae a miloedd o fobl ar hyd y lle. Cawsom swper yno ac ar ôl bod yn syllu ar yr anifeiliaid yn gynharach y diwrnod hynny ac yn www-an ac aaa-an drostynt doedd dim amheuaeth gennyf i’w blasu nawr. Dewisais felly y Bushman’s Choice a chael byrgyr kangarw, sosej o gig emu a stêc water buffalo. Braf iawn, meant yn blasu cystal ac meant yn edrych. Dewisodd Nia, a oedd ddim eisiau trio y kangarw, byrgyr crocodeil yn lle. Roedd hwnw’n neis hefyd.
Doedd y codi’n gynnar i fynd am wâc heb ddiwedd gyda’r flwyddyn newydd. Wedi un bore o orffwys i fewn bant a ni eto. Y tro hwn aethom ogwmpas gardd fotaneg Melbourne yng nghanol y ddinas. Lle braf arall. Fel pob wâc arall roedd cwmni gyda ni ac mi’r oeddem yn mwynhau cerdded gyda Bernie, Steve a Laura heb anghofio Eifion wrth gwrs. Wrth ymyl y gerddi mae cofeb ANZAC. Roedd yn le diddorol iawn a chawsom sgwrs golew hefyd gyda’r gwarchodwyr a ddysgodd rhagor am hanes y cofeb i ni. Roeddent yn ei ffurfwisg swyddogol â plu ostrich yn eu hetiau a gynnau (go iawn) ar eu cluniau.
Tra yn y ddinas cawsom rhywfaint o ddiwylliant. Ymwelsom â’r Oriel Cenedlaethol, yr Amgueddfa Mewnfudiad sy’n rhoi hanes ar mewnfudiad Awstralia ac aethom ogwmpas Mebourne ar hen dramiau’r ddinas yn dysgu am ychydig o’i hanes. Hefyd, cawsom ychydig o ymarfer corff, a oedd mor angenrheidiol arnaf, wrth ymweld a baddon y ddinas. Mi’r oedd yn le hyfryd iawn gyda chyfleutesrau modern tu fewn i hen adeilad hyfryd a adeiladwyd yn oes Fictoria. Roedd yna drefn ar bobeth gyda pawb yn nofio mewn un o bedwar lôn – un lôn ar gyfer y nofwyr cyflym, un i’r canolraidd, un i’r rhai araf ac yna un lôn ar gyfer y rhai oedd ond am ddod am chlonc a splash. Trefnus iawn – pam na allwn ni gael hyn adre’!?!?
Ar ein noson olaf ond un fe’r aeth Eifion a ni a’u deulu allan am bryd o fwyd i Ty Bwyta Stêc. Gan yr oeddem bellach wedi cael blas ar y ‘bushtucker’ cefais tamaid o bopeth sef stêc kangarw, stêc emu, stêc camel a stêc water buffalo. Roedd yn flasus iawn a doedd dim un yn blasu fel cyw iâr. Fe cafodd Nia yr un fath hefyd, roedd wedi newid ei chân am fwyta kangarw erbyn hyn.
Ar ein diwrnod olaf cyn symud ymlaen rhaid oedd mynd am un wâc arall (wedes i ein bod wedi cerdded tipyn). Wâc y tro yma o dy Bernie a Steve ar hyd yr afon Yarra eto. Yn dilyn, cawsom un ymweliad olaf â’r ddinas a hefyd nofiad fach arall yn y baddon. Gyda’r hwyr aethom allan am bryd o fwyd ffarwelio gyda’n cyd-gerddwyr, Bernie, Steve a Laura, yn y ddinas ar hyd Lygon Street. Cerddom i fyny a lawr y stryd gyda perchennog pob bwyty yn gwneud eu gorau i’n temptio i fewn i’w bwyty hwy gyda un yn trio curo’r llall gyda addewid gwell am hyn a llall. Yn y diwedd fe wnaethom benderfynnu ar fwyty yr hen foi Eidalaidd yma a wnaeth addo dim i ni ond y bwyd gorau a braf iawn ydoedd. Croesi’r ffordd wedyn i un o nifer o Gelatis sydd yw cael yn y ddinas am hufen iâ cyn mynd am goffi bach mewn caffi neu yn fy achos i, milkshake fawr â hufen iâ ynddi gan ei bod o hyd yn boeth er ei bod wedi troi ganol nos.
Monday, 28 January 2008
Cerdded i’r Flwyddyn Newydd
Fel dwi wedi crybwyll yn barod rhaid oedd codi o’n gwelau yn gynnar iawn tra yn aros gyda Eifion a rhoi ein sgidiau cerdded arno i fynd am ein wâc boreuol. Ond chwarae teg iddo fe’r aeth Eifion a ni i lefydd hyfryd i gerdded fel Parc Cenedlaethol Mynyddoedd y Dandenong sydd wedi ei leoli ychydig tu allan i Melbourne. Gan ein bod wedi codi mor fore roedd hi’n hyfryd yno. Nid oedd gwres yr haul wedi treiddio drwy coed y bwsh ac felly roedd hi’n cwl neis a hefyd, doedd dim pryfed yno. Dyma fy unig gwyn am Melbourne, mae llawer gormod o bryfed yno. Mi’r oedd yn braf cael cerdded drwy’r bwsh a gwylio’r holl amrywiaeth o adar a hefyd, coeliwch neu beidio, gwelsom dim un ond dau walabi du. Dyma’r creaduriaid roedd Ali wedi cynhyrfu gymaint wrth weld un yn Dunmoochin. Cefais fidio clip da o un ohonynt ac fe gei di copi Ali pan ddof adre.
Wrth ddychwelyd ar ôl ein whâc fe alwon fewn ar y cymdogion. Nid eich cymdogion arferol ond Y cymdogion, neu i fod yn fwy manwl galwon yn Ramsey Street ble mae’r rhaglen teledu Neighbours wedi ei leoli. Ond nid Ramsey Street yw’r enw go iawn, Pin Oak Street mae’n cael ei alw. Yn anffodus nid oedd ffilmio yn digwydd tra roeddwn yno a felly’r unig berson cawsom gwrdd â oedd y gwarchodwr diogelwch – ond mi’r oedd o’n foi iawn gan iddo adnabod ein acen Gymraeg yn syth. Felly, gan nad oedd unrhyw actorion i ni dynnu eu lluniau rhaid oedd i Nia a finne cael ein lluniau wedi’u tynnu tu allan i bob cartref ar y rhaglen – pob un o’r chwech ty. Sori Jan, does gen i llofnod neb o’r rhaglen i ti ond fe gei di lun o Nia a fi o flaen y tai ac fe rho i llofnod fy hun arno fe os ti ishe.
Ar ddiwrnod ola’r flwyddyn, codom yn fore eto i fynd am dro bach arall. Y tro hyn cerddom ar hyd yr afon Yarra o fewn parc mawr yng nghanol y ddinas. Mi’r oedd yn hafan braf ac anodd oedd credu fod yna ddinas fawr reit wrth ein hymyl. Ond mi’r oedd gormod o bryfed yno y tro hwn ac mi’r oedd hi’n boeth er pa mor fore yr oedd hi. Yn wir roedd y diwrnod cyfan yn boeth iawn gyda’r tymheredd uchaf yn cyrraedd bron 43 gradd. Roedd yn teimlo fel petai ni’n gwario diwrnod mewn ffwrn, a ffwrn ‘fan assisted’ ar hynny gan fod yr awel go gryf roedd gyda ni mor boeth hefyd a felly dim ond chwysu gwnaethom drwy’r dydd. Yn y pnawn roedd Nia wedi gwneud apwyntiad i dorri ei gwallt ac oherwydd y gwres roedd gwell gen i gwario fy amser yn y siop gwallt gyda’r ‘aircondition’ na mynd am dro i rywle arall. Yn wir penderfynais cael cropiad hefyd, roeddwn yn barod i drio rhywbeth i deimlo’n cwlach.
Gyda’r hwyr roeddem wedi derbyn gwahoddiad i fynd i barti Nos Calan gan Bernie a Steve, ffrindiau Eifion. Roedd yno llond ty o fobl ac mwynheuom ddod i nabod sawl un o ffrindiau Eifion. Roedd y cwrw’n oer, y bwyd yn flasus a’r cwmni’n dda. Ar hanner nos aethom i dop y stryd i edrych lawr dros y ddinas a gwylio’r holl dân gwyllt. Cawsom amser da er nad oedd y gwres wedi gostwng ryw lawer. Erbyn i ni gyrraedd adref am ychydig cyn 4 y bore roedd y tymheredd o hyd yn 32 gradd. Diolch byth am effaith y cwrw neu dwi’n siwr bydde ni heb gysgu’r noswaith hynny.
Wrth ddychwelyd ar ôl ein whâc fe alwon fewn ar y cymdogion. Nid eich cymdogion arferol ond Y cymdogion, neu i fod yn fwy manwl galwon yn Ramsey Street ble mae’r rhaglen teledu Neighbours wedi ei leoli. Ond nid Ramsey Street yw’r enw go iawn, Pin Oak Street mae’n cael ei alw. Yn anffodus nid oedd ffilmio yn digwydd tra roeddwn yno a felly’r unig berson cawsom gwrdd â oedd y gwarchodwr diogelwch – ond mi’r oedd o’n foi iawn gan iddo adnabod ein acen Gymraeg yn syth. Felly, gan nad oedd unrhyw actorion i ni dynnu eu lluniau rhaid oedd i Nia a finne cael ein lluniau wedi’u tynnu tu allan i bob cartref ar y rhaglen – pob un o’r chwech ty. Sori Jan, does gen i llofnod neb o’r rhaglen i ti ond fe gei di lun o Nia a fi o flaen y tai ac fe rho i llofnod fy hun arno fe os ti ishe.
Ar ddiwrnod ola’r flwyddyn, codom yn fore eto i fynd am dro bach arall. Y tro hyn cerddom ar hyd yr afon Yarra o fewn parc mawr yng nghanol y ddinas. Mi’r oedd yn hafan braf ac anodd oedd credu fod yna ddinas fawr reit wrth ein hymyl. Ond mi’r oedd gormod o bryfed yno y tro hwn ac mi’r oedd hi’n boeth er pa mor fore yr oedd hi. Yn wir roedd y diwrnod cyfan yn boeth iawn gyda’r tymheredd uchaf yn cyrraedd bron 43 gradd. Roedd yn teimlo fel petai ni’n gwario diwrnod mewn ffwrn, a ffwrn ‘fan assisted’ ar hynny gan fod yr awel go gryf roedd gyda ni mor boeth hefyd a felly dim ond chwysu gwnaethom drwy’r dydd. Yn y pnawn roedd Nia wedi gwneud apwyntiad i dorri ei gwallt ac oherwydd y gwres roedd gwell gen i gwario fy amser yn y siop gwallt gyda’r ‘aircondition’ na mynd am dro i rywle arall. Yn wir penderfynais cael cropiad hefyd, roeddwn yn barod i drio rhywbeth i deimlo’n cwlach.
Gyda’r hwyr roeddem wedi derbyn gwahoddiad i fynd i barti Nos Calan gan Bernie a Steve, ffrindiau Eifion. Roedd yno llond ty o fobl ac mwynheuom ddod i nabod sawl un o ffrindiau Eifion. Roedd y cwrw’n oer, y bwyd yn flasus a’r cwmni’n dda. Ar hanner nos aethom i dop y stryd i edrych lawr dros y ddinas a gwylio’r holl dân gwyllt. Cawsom amser da er nad oedd y gwres wedi gostwng ryw lawer. Erbyn i ni gyrraedd adref am ychydig cyn 4 y bore roedd y tymheredd o hyd yn 32 gradd. Diolch byth am effaith y cwrw neu dwi’n siwr bydde ni heb gysgu’r noswaith hynny.
Sunday, 27 January 2008
THE INDIAN PACIFIC - THE JOURNEY OF A LIFETME
Our next destination after Adelaide was Perth on the West coast of Australia. Perth is known as the most isolated city in the world and is closer to Beijing and Bali than it is to Sydney. We chose to let the train take the strain but not just any old train, but the famous Indian Pacific which runs from Sydney to Perth twice weekly, taking 4 days and 3 nights to cover the whole 2800 miles, crossing 3 different time zones. The Indian Pacific train is 700 metres long and about half way down the platform I started to ask Marc if we were nearly there yet. We boarded at Adelaide at 6.00pm on Thursday evening and would be travelling 1700 miles over 38 hours.
There are three travelling standards on board. Firstly Gold Kangaroo Luxury Sleeper Cabins i.e. “the attendant will draw your curtains, turn back your bed and warm your slippers as you are wined and dined in the Moonlight Dining Carriage. Then we have Red Kangaroo Sleeper Cabins i.e. “after you’ve scrubbed, moussed and oiled yourself with the free smellies in your private bathroom, retire to bed and awake refreshed for another day”. Finally, there is Red Kangaroo Day/Night Seater Class i.e. “here’s your seat for the next three days, no sleeping in the lounge car, no using the towels as blankets and no getting bladdered at any of the stopovers, stiff neck thrown in free”. Guess which one we were in? And yes, it was fantastic! Cattle Class is where you get to talk to and swap tips with people from all over the world. Our carriage had young families, backpackers and ‘grey nomads’ all taking the trip of a lifetime.
There were 10 Welsh people in our carriage alone, enough to have an eisteddfod, amongst them the backpacker from Pontardawe who obviously didn’t own any sort of pyjamas, but had taken heed of the Dress Code on board and had bought himself a sleek navy and purple dressing gown especially for the journey. He became known as Hugh Hefner.
The train takes 9 hours to cross the Nullarbor Plains – just mile after mile, hour after hour of nothing but red dust and bits of scrub as far as the eye can see. Somewhere across this vast wilderness, the train travels on the longest piece of straight track in the world – 300 miles without a curve. We had been advised that if we wanted to take a shower, then the best times were in the early hours of the morning or first thing in the morning before the water in the ‘cold’ water tank was heated to scalding point by the sun. Inside the train, the air conditioning made sure it was nice and cool, but the temperatures outside on the Nullarbor desert were in the 50’s!
I had read on the Internet that food was available on the train but we were welcome to take our own but just not eat it in the buffet car. Being skinflints, and taking previous British Rail experiences into account, we took our own food with us. We had prepared a cool bag crammed full of lovely cheese and biscuits, dips and crudities, fruit and muesli bars, and a packet of Tim Tams, which are a scrummy Aussie version of a Penguin, perfect with a cup of tea when smuggled into the buffet car!
We stopped to drop off provisions at a desert outpost called Cook (or as I’d read somewhere, it should be called Baked), population 7. We also changed train driver here but no one was sure how the new one had got there – was he already on the train or does the poor soul have to live in Cook, and of equal concern, what did they do with the old driver? Anyway, we were allowed 20 minutes to stretch a leg in the dust and derelict buildings of this once thriving ghost town where the words “Help Our Hospital – Get Sick” were painted on the side of a rusty old oil tank. We passed through a settlement called Forrest (hmmm) population 2. This must either be some form of penance or they get on like a house on fire. The train also stopped in the middle of nowhere where a guy was waiting in pick-up truck by the side of the track. He caught a big box that was flung off the train, chucked it in the pickup and drove off, who knows where.
At the end of the second day, we had a 3 hour stop at a town called Kalgoorlie, a thriving and prosperous gold mining town in the middle of the desert that produces 800,000 ounces of gold every year from the Superpit. Superpit is mined 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is expanding by the day. Eventually it will measure 4km long, 1.5km wide and go down to a depth of more than 500m – I just hope they got an EIA assessment done first. It will excavate the strip of land known as the Golden Mile where Paddy Hannan first discovered gold in Kalgoorlie in 1893. The Golden Mile has produced nearly 50,000,000 ounces of gold since the days of Hannan. We enjoyed a couple of drinks in a bar where the barmaid recognised our accents in a flash and told us that her dad came from Caerphilly. He had taken the family back last summer and they had spent hours driving up and down the road past the house where he was brought up. We saw a couple of fine examples of gold-diggers beards propping up the bar here too. One of the main attractions of the town are the ‘skimpies’ – scantily clad barmaids that start work at 10pm in some hotels and bars. I think that it’s more than a coincidence that all Indian Pacific passengers have to be back on the train by 10pm at the latest – they’ve probably lost a few in years gone by. ‘Houses of Ill Repute’ have been commonplace in Kalgoorlie since they struck gold here – whilst not legal, they are tolerated and one establishment has even diversified, offering daily tours around the 12 lavish and sumptuous themed rooms for a price, the most popular being the Boxing Ring Room and the English Haymeadow Room (why do I want to burst into a rendition of Roll Me Over in the Clover!)
Over the three days in the desert, we saw a caravan of seventeen camels, kangaroos dotted here and there, a family of emu’s, little white goaty things, vibrantly coloured birds and huge wedge-tailed eagles, the largest bird in Australia and the emblem of the Indian Pacific. At one point someone shouted “giraffe” – obviously been in the desert (or the lounge bar) too long.
At times, the journey seemed never ending, like at 3.00am when the floor looked to be a more inviting and comfy option than the reclining seat – but we both realise that we have been so lucky to be able to experience this trip of a lifetime.
And so we arrived in Perth on Saturday morning to the wonderful sight of Gwen, waiting on the platform, waving her little Red Dragon flag.
There are three travelling standards on board. Firstly Gold Kangaroo Luxury Sleeper Cabins i.e. “the attendant will draw your curtains, turn back your bed and warm your slippers as you are wined and dined in the Moonlight Dining Carriage. Then we have Red Kangaroo Sleeper Cabins i.e. “after you’ve scrubbed, moussed and oiled yourself with the free smellies in your private bathroom, retire to bed and awake refreshed for another day”. Finally, there is Red Kangaroo Day/Night Seater Class i.e. “here’s your seat for the next three days, no sleeping in the lounge car, no using the towels as blankets and no getting bladdered at any of the stopovers, stiff neck thrown in free”. Guess which one we were in? And yes, it was fantastic! Cattle Class is where you get to talk to and swap tips with people from all over the world. Our carriage had young families, backpackers and ‘grey nomads’ all taking the trip of a lifetime.
There were 10 Welsh people in our carriage alone, enough to have an eisteddfod, amongst them the backpacker from Pontardawe who obviously didn’t own any sort of pyjamas, but had taken heed of the Dress Code on board and had bought himself a sleek navy and purple dressing gown especially for the journey. He became known as Hugh Hefner.
The train takes 9 hours to cross the Nullarbor Plains – just mile after mile, hour after hour of nothing but red dust and bits of scrub as far as the eye can see. Somewhere across this vast wilderness, the train travels on the longest piece of straight track in the world – 300 miles without a curve. We had been advised that if we wanted to take a shower, then the best times were in the early hours of the morning or first thing in the morning before the water in the ‘cold’ water tank was heated to scalding point by the sun. Inside the train, the air conditioning made sure it was nice and cool, but the temperatures outside on the Nullarbor desert were in the 50’s!
I had read on the Internet that food was available on the train but we were welcome to take our own but just not eat it in the buffet car. Being skinflints, and taking previous British Rail experiences into account, we took our own food with us. We had prepared a cool bag crammed full of lovely cheese and biscuits, dips and crudities, fruit and muesli bars, and a packet of Tim Tams, which are a scrummy Aussie version of a Penguin, perfect with a cup of tea when smuggled into the buffet car!
We stopped to drop off provisions at a desert outpost called Cook (or as I’d read somewhere, it should be called Baked), population 7. We also changed train driver here but no one was sure how the new one had got there – was he already on the train or does the poor soul have to live in Cook, and of equal concern, what did they do with the old driver? Anyway, we were allowed 20 minutes to stretch a leg in the dust and derelict buildings of this once thriving ghost town where the words “Help Our Hospital – Get Sick” were painted on the side of a rusty old oil tank. We passed through a settlement called Forrest (hmmm) population 2. This must either be some form of penance or they get on like a house on fire. The train also stopped in the middle of nowhere where a guy was waiting in pick-up truck by the side of the track. He caught a big box that was flung off the train, chucked it in the pickup and drove off, who knows where.
At the end of the second day, we had a 3 hour stop at a town called Kalgoorlie, a thriving and prosperous gold mining town in the middle of the desert that produces 800,000 ounces of gold every year from the Superpit. Superpit is mined 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is expanding by the day. Eventually it will measure 4km long, 1.5km wide and go down to a depth of more than 500m – I just hope they got an EIA assessment done first. It will excavate the strip of land known as the Golden Mile where Paddy Hannan first discovered gold in Kalgoorlie in 1893. The Golden Mile has produced nearly 50,000,000 ounces of gold since the days of Hannan. We enjoyed a couple of drinks in a bar where the barmaid recognised our accents in a flash and told us that her dad came from Caerphilly. He had taken the family back last summer and they had spent hours driving up and down the road past the house where he was brought up. We saw a couple of fine examples of gold-diggers beards propping up the bar here too. One of the main attractions of the town are the ‘skimpies’ – scantily clad barmaids that start work at 10pm in some hotels and bars. I think that it’s more than a coincidence that all Indian Pacific passengers have to be back on the train by 10pm at the latest – they’ve probably lost a few in years gone by. ‘Houses of Ill Repute’ have been commonplace in Kalgoorlie since they struck gold here – whilst not legal, they are tolerated and one establishment has even diversified, offering daily tours around the 12 lavish and sumptuous themed rooms for a price, the most popular being the Boxing Ring Room and the English Haymeadow Room (why do I want to burst into a rendition of Roll Me Over in the Clover!)
Over the three days in the desert, we saw a caravan of seventeen camels, kangaroos dotted here and there, a family of emu’s, little white goaty things, vibrantly coloured birds and huge wedge-tailed eagles, the largest bird in Australia and the emblem of the Indian Pacific. At one point someone shouted “giraffe” – obviously been in the desert (or the lounge bar) too long.
At times, the journey seemed never ending, like at 3.00am when the floor looked to be a more inviting and comfy option than the reclining seat – but we both realise that we have been so lucky to be able to experience this trip of a lifetime.
And so we arrived in Perth on Saturday morning to the wonderful sight of Gwen, waiting on the platform, waving her little Red Dragon flag.
Saturday, 26 January 2008
ADELAIDE – CLOSED ON SUNDAYS
Adelaide was founded in 1836 by Colonel Matthew Light and has a population of just over one million with the highest ratio of cafes and restaurants per resident than any other Aussie city. It is also known as Australia’s City of Churches and I guess that this is why to all intents and purposes, it was closed when we arrived one Sunday morning and doesn’t seem to liven up much on the other days of the week either. Laid out in a very orderly grid fashion on both sides of the Torrens River, Adelaide is ringed by a green belt of parks and Colonel Light is honoured in the form of a sculpture called Light’s Vision above the city. He holds a set of plans in one hand and points down into the city with the other – I’m sure that he’s pointing right at the Lindt Chocolate shop, or it could well be the nice shoe shop next door.
Being Cardi Backpackers (can there be a more tight combination?), our first foray into the city was to the marvelous State Library where they offer a free internet service! At the Library, we also found a fascinating exhibition of memorabilia and bits of kit belonging to Sir Don Bradman – Australia’s greatest sporting hero and the world’s best cricketer, including the bat that he used to score about 6 million runs against England in the famous Bodyline Series. Even I, who finds it impossible to understand how two teams can play cricket for a week and still end up with a draw, was engrossed - praise indeed!
One ‘must do’ for every visitor to Adelaide is to spend a day on the superb beach at Glenelg which is a thirty minute tram ride from the city. The tram ride was hyped-up to be part of the experience and I quote “the 1929 trams have original fittings, red leather seats and wood paneled compartments …” The tram that arrived forty-five minutes late was a modern steel and plastic grey thing – not an original leather hanging strap in sight. The glorious old-timers have been replaced by these boring things following an efficiency review – ha! The beach was gorgeous and we really did try our best to stay but we were sand-blasted off after a couple of hours, hair & ears, books & bags, nooks & crannies all filled with sand. Disappointment now complete, we traipsed back to the hostel, to make sandcastles in the shower with all the sand that we’d carried back.
The Adelaide area is home to the world famous wine producing Barossa Valley, first settled in the 1840’s by Germans fleeing religious persecution at home, hence the snappily titled Die Deutsche Post fur Die Australischen Colonien, the first non English language newspaper to be published here. Today, the valley with more than 50 wineries, ranging from multinationals to tiny specialists, produces 80% of Australia’s wine. 80% of this is exported direct to the Tregaron area of mid Wales and purchased by an undisclosed buyer (well, most of us have a good idea).
We had chosen to join the Groovy Grape Tour for a day of wine tasting and enlightenment and were picked up from the hostel at 7.45am (yes, I know) where polite greetings and pleasantries were exchanged with fellow tasters as they boarded the minibus. Given the early hour and the fact that the sun wasn’t even in sight of the yardarm yet, we had a couple of stops at non-alcoholic attractions before the main event.
The first was at a wooden toy factory which had an enormous rocking horse as tall as a six-storey building as its ‘tourist trap’ on the roadside. We took the obligatory photo, resisted the impulse to purchase a wooden train set and an abacus then went to see something else far more interesting they had to offer. In a huge enclosure of several hectares, kangaroos wander around alongside peacocks and other furry and feathered creatures. We bought a bag of feed and went in through the gate where we were almost immediately ambushed by kangaroos snuffling their way into the brown paper bag. They were cheeky little chappies that sat there to be patted and tickled under the chin and their coats were far softer to the touch than I’d expected but underneath, they were as solid as whippets (is there such a comparison, or have I just made that one up?)
Then back on the bus and to the Barossa Reservoir on the Yetti Road (he’s behind you …) The Reservoir retaining wall is a perfect ellipse which means that sound waves are carried perfectly from one side to the other across the 140m span. Some walked across to the ‘whispering platform’ on the other side to talk to the wall (see, it works sometimes, stick with it) and amazingly their voices could be heard as clearly and loudly as if they were standing behind us. Our driver, Irish boy Tom had suggested that we whisper a dark, deep confession across the wall, like “I’m not wearing pants”. I suggested that even better would be “I’m wearing your pants”.
Back on the bus and down to the business of the day, first call at Jacobs Creek. Just incase you’re wondering, yes, there is a Jacobs Creek but given the current drought conditions it would be more accurate to call it Jacobs Creek Bed. We had a bit of spiel before getting down to the nitty gritty – 6 samples and none of this spitting out business either. We sloshed it about, stuck our noses in and held it up to the light in a very knowledgeable fashion before the tasting and delivering the verdict. Marc liked these wines but I wasn’t so sure – nothing really sweet enough for this Asti Girl. No purchases were made at this winery as Tom had told us that we could buy it cheaper at the bottle shops back in town. A bit of cheery banter ensued as we got back on the bus and onto our second watering-hole. Vine Crest is a delightful boutique vinery with wines to match. We sampled lots of lovely stuff, including some excellent white port that is fantastic served on the rocks with fruit and cheese. Lots of animated and lively tasting took place and the bus eventually bounced down the lane from Vine Crest to the sound of rattling bottles and loud laughter.
Onto Richmond Grove winery which was a bit more serious as we had a bit of a tour which involved the guide telling us the tale of the German founders’ quest to build a replica of a Bavarian chateau on the site etc etc. Bearing in mind that the temperature was by now well in the 40’s, there was a lot of yawning and leaning on things and each other as we waited for him to finish and lead us to the next batch of grog, which I’m afraid were all too dry for me again, but I stuck with it - just to be polite you understand. While we were busy increasing our levels of gaiety, Tom was busy preparing a huge BBQ for us down by the river, where we enjoyed roo, snags, prawns and an feast of other delights. Some played Frisbee and some just lazed in the shade under the trees (no need to guess who did what out of Marc and I!) Back onto the bus, by now everyone being bosom buddies and exchanging e-mail addresses, promising to come and visit when they got home.
Our last stop of the day was Bethany Vineyard – another boutique winery with the best wines of the day. To give us an idea of the size of their operation in comparison with the big multinationals, we learned that Bethany’s whole annual harvest could be processed by Jacobs Creek in 9 hours. The tasting structure was different here in that there was no structure. In all the other wineries, 6 bottles were lined up and tasted in a particular order. Here, you just got the list and asked for whatever you wanted and not just stopping at 6 either.
All good things must come to and end and reluctantly, we all clambered back onto the bus, but Tom had one more surprise for us and took us up to Menglers Hill lookout with its unparalleled views of the valley and vineyards. As a grand finale, Tom did ‘donuts’ in the bus round and round the tiny car park to lots of cheering and shouts of ‘woo-hoo, one more time’ before heading back to the city. We were all snoozing happily within five minutes.
That evening, there was a Twenty/20 cricket match being played at the Adelaide Oval (where the last Aussie/India test was played this week) and fresh from the Sir Don’s exhibition, we went along and watched the South Australian Warriors get the hiding of their lives from the West Australian Redbacks in a superb evening of entertainment. When the Warriors were all bowled out for 98, the man sat next to me just stood up with a resigned look on his face, shook his head and left the stadium. He did leave his programme behind though which was a good thing as there were none left by the time we’d arrived.
It was so hot in Adelaide that somedays it was best to stay indoors until it had cooled down a little (but it’s still blinking hot). It was in these ‘cooler’ evenings that we enjoyed walks around the parks, the cathedral, the North Terrace with its majestic old buildings and the Arts and Convention Centre which is situated on the banks of the lovely Torrens River. It was on one of these walks that we received possibly the best piece of safety advice of the trip from a local boilermaker – Never be the Last One in the Water …
Being Cardi Backpackers (can there be a more tight combination?), our first foray into the city was to the marvelous State Library where they offer a free internet service! At the Library, we also found a fascinating exhibition of memorabilia and bits of kit belonging to Sir Don Bradman – Australia’s greatest sporting hero and the world’s best cricketer, including the bat that he used to score about 6 million runs against England in the famous Bodyline Series. Even I, who finds it impossible to understand how two teams can play cricket for a week and still end up with a draw, was engrossed - praise indeed!
One ‘must do’ for every visitor to Adelaide is to spend a day on the superb beach at Glenelg which is a thirty minute tram ride from the city. The tram ride was hyped-up to be part of the experience and I quote “the 1929 trams have original fittings, red leather seats and wood paneled compartments …” The tram that arrived forty-five minutes late was a modern steel and plastic grey thing – not an original leather hanging strap in sight. The glorious old-timers have been replaced by these boring things following an efficiency review – ha! The beach was gorgeous and we really did try our best to stay but we were sand-blasted off after a couple of hours, hair & ears, books & bags, nooks & crannies all filled with sand. Disappointment now complete, we traipsed back to the hostel, to make sandcastles in the shower with all the sand that we’d carried back.
The Adelaide area is home to the world famous wine producing Barossa Valley, first settled in the 1840’s by Germans fleeing religious persecution at home, hence the snappily titled Die Deutsche Post fur Die Australischen Colonien, the first non English language newspaper to be published here. Today, the valley with more than 50 wineries, ranging from multinationals to tiny specialists, produces 80% of Australia’s wine. 80% of this is exported direct to the Tregaron area of mid Wales and purchased by an undisclosed buyer (well, most of us have a good idea).
We had chosen to join the Groovy Grape Tour for a day of wine tasting and enlightenment and were picked up from the hostel at 7.45am (yes, I know) where polite greetings and pleasantries were exchanged with fellow tasters as they boarded the minibus. Given the early hour and the fact that the sun wasn’t even in sight of the yardarm yet, we had a couple of stops at non-alcoholic attractions before the main event.
The first was at a wooden toy factory which had an enormous rocking horse as tall as a six-storey building as its ‘tourist trap’ on the roadside. We took the obligatory photo, resisted the impulse to purchase a wooden train set and an abacus then went to see something else far more interesting they had to offer. In a huge enclosure of several hectares, kangaroos wander around alongside peacocks and other furry and feathered creatures. We bought a bag of feed and went in through the gate where we were almost immediately ambushed by kangaroos snuffling their way into the brown paper bag. They were cheeky little chappies that sat there to be patted and tickled under the chin and their coats were far softer to the touch than I’d expected but underneath, they were as solid as whippets (is there such a comparison, or have I just made that one up?)
Then back on the bus and to the Barossa Reservoir on the Yetti Road (he’s behind you …) The Reservoir retaining wall is a perfect ellipse which means that sound waves are carried perfectly from one side to the other across the 140m span. Some walked across to the ‘whispering platform’ on the other side to talk to the wall (see, it works sometimes, stick with it) and amazingly their voices could be heard as clearly and loudly as if they were standing behind us. Our driver, Irish boy Tom had suggested that we whisper a dark, deep confession across the wall, like “I’m not wearing pants”. I suggested that even better would be “I’m wearing your pants”.
Back on the bus and down to the business of the day, first call at Jacobs Creek. Just incase you’re wondering, yes, there is a Jacobs Creek but given the current drought conditions it would be more accurate to call it Jacobs Creek Bed. We had a bit of spiel before getting down to the nitty gritty – 6 samples and none of this spitting out business either. We sloshed it about, stuck our noses in and held it up to the light in a very knowledgeable fashion before the tasting and delivering the verdict. Marc liked these wines but I wasn’t so sure – nothing really sweet enough for this Asti Girl. No purchases were made at this winery as Tom had told us that we could buy it cheaper at the bottle shops back in town. A bit of cheery banter ensued as we got back on the bus and onto our second watering-hole. Vine Crest is a delightful boutique vinery with wines to match. We sampled lots of lovely stuff, including some excellent white port that is fantastic served on the rocks with fruit and cheese. Lots of animated and lively tasting took place and the bus eventually bounced down the lane from Vine Crest to the sound of rattling bottles and loud laughter.
Onto Richmond Grove winery which was a bit more serious as we had a bit of a tour which involved the guide telling us the tale of the German founders’ quest to build a replica of a Bavarian chateau on the site etc etc. Bearing in mind that the temperature was by now well in the 40’s, there was a lot of yawning and leaning on things and each other as we waited for him to finish and lead us to the next batch of grog, which I’m afraid were all too dry for me again, but I stuck with it - just to be polite you understand. While we were busy increasing our levels of gaiety, Tom was busy preparing a huge BBQ for us down by the river, where we enjoyed roo, snags, prawns and an feast of other delights. Some played Frisbee and some just lazed in the shade under the trees (no need to guess who did what out of Marc and I!) Back onto the bus, by now everyone being bosom buddies and exchanging e-mail addresses, promising to come and visit when they got home.
Our last stop of the day was Bethany Vineyard – another boutique winery with the best wines of the day. To give us an idea of the size of their operation in comparison with the big multinationals, we learned that Bethany’s whole annual harvest could be processed by Jacobs Creek in 9 hours. The tasting structure was different here in that there was no structure. In all the other wineries, 6 bottles were lined up and tasted in a particular order. Here, you just got the list and asked for whatever you wanted and not just stopping at 6 either.
All good things must come to and end and reluctantly, we all clambered back onto the bus, but Tom had one more surprise for us and took us up to Menglers Hill lookout with its unparalleled views of the valley and vineyards. As a grand finale, Tom did ‘donuts’ in the bus round and round the tiny car park to lots of cheering and shouts of ‘woo-hoo, one more time’ before heading back to the city. We were all snoozing happily within five minutes.
That evening, there was a Twenty/20 cricket match being played at the Adelaide Oval (where the last Aussie/India test was played this week) and fresh from the Sir Don’s exhibition, we went along and watched the South Australian Warriors get the hiding of their lives from the West Australian Redbacks in a superb evening of entertainment. When the Warriors were all bowled out for 98, the man sat next to me just stood up with a resigned look on his face, shook his head and left the stadium. He did leave his programme behind though which was a good thing as there were none left by the time we’d arrived.
It was so hot in Adelaide that somedays it was best to stay indoors until it had cooled down a little (but it’s still blinking hot). It was in these ‘cooler’ evenings that we enjoyed walks around the parks, the cathedral, the North Terrace with its majestic old buildings and the Arts and Convention Centre which is situated on the banks of the lovely Torrens River. It was on one of these walks that we received possibly the best piece of safety advice of the trip from a local boilermaker – Never be the Last One in the Water …
Cefnder Geraint a’i Fwrdd Syrffio
Ar ôl yr holl bartio a mwynhau dros y Dolig roedd angen ychydig o orffwys arnom a ble gwell i fynd ond i lawr i Torquay … Torquay sydd i lawr yr afordir o Melbourne dwi’n ei feddwl. Yma mae tref fach ar lan y môr, ble mae digonedd o syrff i’w cael a dwsine o gaffis bach ac sy’n gartref i gwmniau bydenwog Quicksilver a Rip Curl. Yma hefyd mae Geraint yn byw, y brawd hynnaf o’r tri cefnder sy’n byw pen yma o’r byd. A braf oedd cael dod i lawr yma i’w gwrdd ac i aros rhai dyddiau gyda’g ef. Mae Geraint yn syrffiwr ac iddo ef mae mynd allan i’r swyddfa yn golygu mynd lawr i’r môr ar ei fwrdd syrffio. Ac mae yno draethau da i’w cael yn y rhan yma o’r byd. Yn anffodus, gan ei bod mor boeth, rhaid oedd i Nia a finne aros tan hwyr y prynhawn cyn mentro i’r traeth. Ond wedyn bydden yn ymlacio yno ac yn aros i wylio’r haul yn machlyd.
Yn Nhorquay hefyd mae’r Great Ocean Road yn dechrau (neu yn gorffen – yn dibynnu ym mha gyfeiriad rydych yn trafaelu!). Dyma’r ffordd sy’n rhedeg ar hyd yr arfordir am bron i 300km gyda’r golygeydd mwyaf arbennig. Fe’r aeth Geraint a ni am drip ar ei hyd, nid yr holl ffordd ond digon i ni werthfawrogi’r tag sydd wedi ei rhoi iddo o fod yn “one of the world’s great scenic coastline drives”. Wrth fynd rownd pob cornel roedd golygfa hardd arall yn agor lan o’n blaenau. Naill a’i bae hyfryd â môr glas a thywod melyn-wyn neu chloglwynnu serth yn syrthio ddramatig i’r môr a thonnau’n torri wrth eu sylfeini. Mae’n debyg fod nifer o hysbysebion ceir yn cael ei ffilmio ar hyd y ffordd yma a gallwch ddeall pam gyda’r ffordd ei hun yn cofleidio dynn i’r arfordir. Wedi’r holl golygfeydd, fe’r aeth Geraint a ni am drip hollol wahanol. Fe’r aethom i ‘offroadio’ yng nghanol y bwsh yn ei 4x4 newydd sbon!!! Ffantastig. Roeddem yn bownsio ogwmpas tu fewn y cerbyd wrth i ddringo a gyrru at hyd trac serth a chlogyrnaidd. Yna, yng nghanol y bwsh, arhosom am bach o bicnic a berwi dwr am baned. Ni welsom llawer o fywyd gwyllt, dim hyd yn oed Koalas yr oedd Geraint yn eitha hyderus y byddwn yn dod ar eu traws ond fe ddaeth Nia ar ddraws Scorpian gyda’i gynffon yn chwifio ffyrnig yn yr awyr ryw fodfeddi o’i bys mawr. Does dim rhaid i fi ddweud na wnaeth hi aros yn rhy hir yn yr unfan tra fu Geraint a finne yn ei archwilio cyn gadael llonydd iddo.
Tra yn Torquay caswom farbeciw mawr gyda Geraint yn gwahodd ei ffrindiau i ymuno a ni, sef Ken a Jan, a Marie a Trsystan. Cawsom noswaith hyfryd yn mwynhau y corgimwch mwya i ni ddod ar eu traws a blasu’r cwrw lleol. Hwyr roeddem i’n gwelau a felly methais ar y cyfle i weld Geraint yn syrffio y bore canlynol gan iddo godi mor fore (am bump o’r gloch!) er mwyn mynd i ddal y tonnau gorau. Bydd rhaid i ni felly fynd yn ôl i Torquay eto ryw ddydd er mwyn gweld Geraint yn hwylio’r ’30 foot waves’ ar ei fwrdd syrffio gan i’n harosiad yn Torquay orffen yn llawer rhy fuan. Roedd yn braf i dy gwrdd Geraint a diolch am y croeso cynnes.
Yn Nhorquay hefyd mae’r Great Ocean Road yn dechrau (neu yn gorffen – yn dibynnu ym mha gyfeiriad rydych yn trafaelu!). Dyma’r ffordd sy’n rhedeg ar hyd yr arfordir am bron i 300km gyda’r golygeydd mwyaf arbennig. Fe’r aeth Geraint a ni am drip ar ei hyd, nid yr holl ffordd ond digon i ni werthfawrogi’r tag sydd wedi ei rhoi iddo o fod yn “one of the world’s great scenic coastline drives”. Wrth fynd rownd pob cornel roedd golygfa hardd arall yn agor lan o’n blaenau. Naill a’i bae hyfryd â môr glas a thywod melyn-wyn neu chloglwynnu serth yn syrthio ddramatig i’r môr a thonnau’n torri wrth eu sylfeini. Mae’n debyg fod nifer o hysbysebion ceir yn cael ei ffilmio ar hyd y ffordd yma a gallwch ddeall pam gyda’r ffordd ei hun yn cofleidio dynn i’r arfordir. Wedi’r holl golygfeydd, fe’r aeth Geraint a ni am drip hollol wahanol. Fe’r aethom i ‘offroadio’ yng nghanol y bwsh yn ei 4x4 newydd sbon!!! Ffantastig. Roeddem yn bownsio ogwmpas tu fewn y cerbyd wrth i ddringo a gyrru at hyd trac serth a chlogyrnaidd. Yna, yng nghanol y bwsh, arhosom am bach o bicnic a berwi dwr am baned. Ni welsom llawer o fywyd gwyllt, dim hyd yn oed Koalas yr oedd Geraint yn eitha hyderus y byddwn yn dod ar eu traws ond fe ddaeth Nia ar ddraws Scorpian gyda’i gynffon yn chwifio ffyrnig yn yr awyr ryw fodfeddi o’i bys mawr. Does dim rhaid i fi ddweud na wnaeth hi aros yn rhy hir yn yr unfan tra fu Geraint a finne yn ei archwilio cyn gadael llonydd iddo.
Tra yn Torquay caswom farbeciw mawr gyda Geraint yn gwahodd ei ffrindiau i ymuno a ni, sef Ken a Jan, a Marie a Trsystan. Cawsom noswaith hyfryd yn mwynhau y corgimwch mwya i ni ddod ar eu traws a blasu’r cwrw lleol. Hwyr roeddem i’n gwelau a felly methais ar y cyfle i weld Geraint yn syrffio y bore canlynol gan iddo godi mor fore (am bump o’r gloch!) er mwyn mynd i ddal y tonnau gorau. Bydd rhaid i ni felly fynd yn ôl i Torquay eto ryw ddydd er mwyn gweld Geraint yn hwylio’r ’30 foot waves’ ar ei fwrdd syrffio gan i’n harosiad yn Torquay orffen yn llawer rhy fuan. Roedd yn braf i dy gwrdd Geraint a diolch am y croeso cynnes.
The Good, the Bad and the … Welsh!
Wedi mwynhau dydd Dolig yn fawr bydde chi’n meddwl mae rhybeth bach tawel fyddai Gwyl San Steffan. O na. Diwrnod mawr arall yw fwynhau yw GSS i’r Melbourne Breeses. Draw yng nghartref Lynne roedd dau ddwsin ohonom yn cwrdd - ie, dau ddeg pedwar yn deulu a ffrindiau. Yn gyntaf i fwynhau gwledd o ginio arall a chyfle i bawb ddod i nabod eu gilydd. Wedyn roedd y paratoiadau ar gyfer ffilm y prynhawn yn cael eu wneud. Na, nid trefnu digon o seddu ogwmpas y teledu a chael y popcorn yn barod ond ‘dress rehearsal’ a darllen y sgript dwi'n ei feddwl. Ie, traddodiad GSS y Melbourne Breeses yw gwneud ffilm gartref a does dim dewis gan neb, mae rhaid i bawb gymryd rhan. A Western oedd thema y ffilm ar gyfer eleni. Roedd Nia wedi cael rhan fel un o ferched dawnsio y salwn ac roeddwn inne yn un o dri Desperados. Yn ogystal, roedd yna bedwar Mexican yn ei hatiau mawr a’u ‘panchos’, tua wyth o Indiaid Cochion gyda’u plu a’u bwa a saith, un sheriff a’i ddau dirprwy gyda’u gynau a’u bathodynnau, tair o ferched dawnsio gyda’u plu boa a’u gwisgoedd lliwgar ac Emlyn fel y gweinidog yn ei got fawr trwm . Y stori yn fyr yw mae’r 3 Desperado (y ‘baddies’) yn herwgipio Little Squaw a’i gwerthu i’r Mexicans (rhagor o ‘baddies’). Mae’r Sheriff a’i dirprwyon (wrth gwrs y ‘goodies’) yn helpu’r Indiaid Cochion (sydd wedi’u camdrin), yn gyntaf i hela’r Desperados i lawr a’u rhoi yn y carchar ac yna i fynd ar ôl y Mexicans i achub Little Squaw. Yn ffyddlon i arddull Hollywood mae ‘na glo hapus i’r ffilm gyda Deputy Dawg a Little Squaw yn priodi ac mae pawb yn byw yn hapus byth wedyn (heblaw y Desperados sydd yn y carchar a’r Mexicans sydd wedi’u saethu i gyd). Cafodd y ffilmio ei wneud ar hyd y lle i gyda, yn yr ardd gefn, yn stafell wely Emlyn, rownd ochr y ty, o flen y ty a hyd yn oed allan ar y stryd ble roedd yna ychydig o dorf yn casglu erbyn y diwedd. Cawsom sbort a hanner wrth wylio a chymryd rhan, yn gwenud popeth lan fel roeddem yn mynd yn ein blaenau a defnyddio’r holl fathau o ategion (props) gan gynnwys potel o sos coch ar gyfer y ‘shoot-out’ mawr ar y diwedd. Bydd y ddwy cyfarwyddwragedd, Rhiannon ac Amanda, yn dechrau gyda’r cynhyrchiad ym mis Chwefror a gobeithio dderbyniwn gopi o’r DVD yn barod erbyn arddangosiad cyntaf o’r ffilm yng Nghymru Dolig nesaf. Edrychwch allan pawb adre’, mae hyn wedi rhoi llawer o syniadau i ni!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, 24 January 2008
Dyna i chi anrheg Nadolig … Marc a Nia yn glanio ar eich stepen drws
Fe glanio ni ar Eifion, fy nghefnder … ‘once removed’, ar noswyl Nadolig – dwi’n siwr iddo erioed dderbyn cystal anrheg! Roedd Eifion, chwarae teg iddo, wedi cytuno i ddod i fewn i’r ddinas i’n cwrdd jyst cyn y gyngerdd Carols by Candlelight er mwyn mynd a’n bagiau trafaelu oddi arnom fel nad oedd angen i ni eu halio i’r gyngerdd. A dyma’r tro cyntaf i ni gwrdd ag ef. Mi’r oedd Ali wedi bod yn tynnu fy nghoes cyn y ‘drop off’, yn holi os yr oeddem yn hapus rhoi ein holl meddiant yng ngofal dyn roeddem erioed wedi ei gwrdd o’r blaen a nad oedd syniad gyda ni beth roedd e’n edrych fel na ble roedd e’n byw. Ond wrth i ni gerdded i’r man cwrdd, gyda cwestiwn drigionus Ali yn chwarae yn dawel ar fy meddwl, death gwên fach i’n gwyneb wrth i mi weld Eifion yn dod i’n cwrdd. Gwyddwn mai Eifion ydoedd gan ei fod yn edrych jyst fel Wncwl Alun, ei dad. Wedi’r gyngerdd a chyrraedd ein cartref newydd am y bythefnos nesaf cawsom groeso cynnes a fyddai’n cael ei ail adrodd dro ar ôl tro am y cyfnod ein harosiad. Cawsom baned o de a mins peis a tipyn o chlonc wrth i ni ddod i nabod ein gilydd.
Codom yn fore dydd Dolig, rhywbeth arall fyddai’n cael ei ail adrodd yn reit aml tra’n aros gyda Eifion, a bant a ni i gwrdd a chael brecwast gyda’r Melbourne Breeses, sef Lynne - gwraig Eifion, Rhiannon - merch Eifion a’i gwr Jamie a’u mab Ioan Alun a hefyd Emlyn - y mab. Wedi mwynhau’r brecwast cawsom ymuno â’r traddodiad o agor anrhegion a chael syrpreis hyfryd wrth weld cwpwl o bethau a’n henwau arno. Derbyniom DVD o’r Melbourne Breeses o’r ffilm ‘The Castles’, comedi/drama am deulu nodweddiadol o Awstralia … dim! Mae’n ffilm mae pob person o Awstralia yn ei fwynhau ond sydd hefyd yn gwneud iddynt i ‘cringe’. Rhywbeth tebyg i’r The Royle Family sydd gan y Saeson. Hefyd, mi’r oedd yna becyn o’r Wellington Breeses, dau lyfyr hyfryd am bethau i wneud a gweld tra yn Seland Newydd. Diolch i bawb am ei caredigrwydd a’u haelioni.
Ar ôl brecwast fe’r aeth Eifion a ni am dro ar hyd draethau Melbourne. Fe gerddom o draeth Brighton i fyny at draeth St Kilda a’r holl ffordd nôl. Fe gerddom tua 15km i gyd a dyna’r mwya o ymarfer corff dwi erioed wedi ei wneud ar ddydd Dolig ond mi’r oedd yn wâc hyfryd. Roedd yr haul yn gwenu ac awel hyfryd yn dod o’r môr, roedd y traethau yn felyn-gwyn a’r môr a’r awyr yn cystadlu’n frwd i cael bod y mwyaf glas. Fel gwobr o’n ymdrech i gerdded i St Kilda cawsom cip olwg o’r Fairy Pengwin yn ei gartref yn y creigiau ger y môr. Dyma’r pengwin lleiaf yn y byd ac meant yn byw yn Awstralia credwch neu beidio. Wedi dychwelyd adref roedd gan Eifion ginio bach special yn ein disgwyl – wystrys a cimwch a chwrw oer Awstralia. Doedd Nia na finne erioed wedi blasu wystrys na chimwch o’r blaen ac roedd y ddau ohonom yn bryderus braidd wrth syllu ar y wystrys yma heb eu goginio a dal yn eu cregyn. Heb os, roedd y cimwch yn fendigedig a rhiad dweud mi’r oedd bwyta’r wystrys yn brofiad hollol unigryw.
Bydde bron unrhyw un yn fodlon derbyn wystrys a chimwch fel ei cinio Nadolig dwi’n siwr ond megis tamaid i aros y pryd mawr ydoedd y bwyd môr yma. Hwyr y pnawn, nôl a ni i gartref Rhiannon a Jamie am beth droeodd allan yn wledd fawr bendigedig. Ac nid oedd hyn yn gamp ddiffaith ar rhan Rhiannon a Jamies, wedi’r cyfan roeddent yn coginio ar gyfer 14 ohonom gan gynnwys Audrey (chwaer Lynne) a’i gwr Brian, mam a tad Jamie – Sue a Tim a’i frawd David a’i deulu ef. Gweler isod fwydlen o’r wledd fawr y Dolig. Yn ogystal a pharatoi y bwyd i gyd roedd Rhiannon wedi bod yn brysur yn meddwl lan am gemau bach i’n difyrru yn ogystal â ‘animal balloons, party poppers & crackers’, yn wir cawsom y ‘full works’. A jyst rhag ofn roeddech yn meddwl fod hyn i gyd yn digwydd o dan do, o na, roeddem allan yn yr ardd yn mwynhau’r haul a chynesrwydd yr hwyrddydd. Cawsom amser wrth ein bodd yn dod i nabod pobl a mwynhau a chael llawer o sbort yn eu cwmni. Diolch o galon i Rhiannon a Jamie a phawb arall am Ddolig bythgofiadwy.
CINIO NADOLIG 2007
Oysters with crème fraîche & salmon roe
Avocado wontons with salsa
______________________________________
Prawn or chicken rocket salad with lime butter dressing
______________________________________
Ham glazed with pomegranate
Beef crusted with coriander & pepper
Turkey with walnut and cranberry stuffing
Potatoes a la Tim
Beans and carrots with wilted rocket and lemon
Asparagus on peas with vinaigrette dressing
Squash with garlic
Tomato & bocconcini
______________________________________
Ice cream bombe
Mini Christmas puddings
Nana’s brandy sauce
Melon and berry salad
Codom yn fore dydd Dolig, rhywbeth arall fyddai’n cael ei ail adrodd yn reit aml tra’n aros gyda Eifion, a bant a ni i gwrdd a chael brecwast gyda’r Melbourne Breeses, sef Lynne - gwraig Eifion, Rhiannon - merch Eifion a’i gwr Jamie a’u mab Ioan Alun a hefyd Emlyn - y mab. Wedi mwynhau’r brecwast cawsom ymuno â’r traddodiad o agor anrhegion a chael syrpreis hyfryd wrth weld cwpwl o bethau a’n henwau arno. Derbyniom DVD o’r Melbourne Breeses o’r ffilm ‘The Castles’, comedi/drama am deulu nodweddiadol o Awstralia … dim! Mae’n ffilm mae pob person o Awstralia yn ei fwynhau ond sydd hefyd yn gwneud iddynt i ‘cringe’. Rhywbeth tebyg i’r The Royle Family sydd gan y Saeson. Hefyd, mi’r oedd yna becyn o’r Wellington Breeses, dau lyfyr hyfryd am bethau i wneud a gweld tra yn Seland Newydd. Diolch i bawb am ei caredigrwydd a’u haelioni.
Ar ôl brecwast fe’r aeth Eifion a ni am dro ar hyd draethau Melbourne. Fe gerddom o draeth Brighton i fyny at draeth St Kilda a’r holl ffordd nôl. Fe gerddom tua 15km i gyd a dyna’r mwya o ymarfer corff dwi erioed wedi ei wneud ar ddydd Dolig ond mi’r oedd yn wâc hyfryd. Roedd yr haul yn gwenu ac awel hyfryd yn dod o’r môr, roedd y traethau yn felyn-gwyn a’r môr a’r awyr yn cystadlu’n frwd i cael bod y mwyaf glas. Fel gwobr o’n ymdrech i gerdded i St Kilda cawsom cip olwg o’r Fairy Pengwin yn ei gartref yn y creigiau ger y môr. Dyma’r pengwin lleiaf yn y byd ac meant yn byw yn Awstralia credwch neu beidio. Wedi dychwelyd adref roedd gan Eifion ginio bach special yn ein disgwyl – wystrys a cimwch a chwrw oer Awstralia. Doedd Nia na finne erioed wedi blasu wystrys na chimwch o’r blaen ac roedd y ddau ohonom yn bryderus braidd wrth syllu ar y wystrys yma heb eu goginio a dal yn eu cregyn. Heb os, roedd y cimwch yn fendigedig a rhiad dweud mi’r oedd bwyta’r wystrys yn brofiad hollol unigryw.
Bydde bron unrhyw un yn fodlon derbyn wystrys a chimwch fel ei cinio Nadolig dwi’n siwr ond megis tamaid i aros y pryd mawr ydoedd y bwyd môr yma. Hwyr y pnawn, nôl a ni i gartref Rhiannon a Jamie am beth droeodd allan yn wledd fawr bendigedig. Ac nid oedd hyn yn gamp ddiffaith ar rhan Rhiannon a Jamies, wedi’r cyfan roeddent yn coginio ar gyfer 14 ohonom gan gynnwys Audrey (chwaer Lynne) a’i gwr Brian, mam a tad Jamie – Sue a Tim a’i frawd David a’i deulu ef. Gweler isod fwydlen o’r wledd fawr y Dolig. Yn ogystal a pharatoi y bwyd i gyd roedd Rhiannon wedi bod yn brysur yn meddwl lan am gemau bach i’n difyrru yn ogystal â ‘animal balloons, party poppers & crackers’, yn wir cawsom y ‘full works’. A jyst rhag ofn roeddech yn meddwl fod hyn i gyd yn digwydd o dan do, o na, roeddem allan yn yr ardd yn mwynhau’r haul a chynesrwydd yr hwyrddydd. Cawsom amser wrth ein bodd yn dod i nabod pobl a mwynhau a chael llawer o sbort yn eu cwmni. Diolch o galon i Rhiannon a Jamie a phawb arall am Ddolig bythgofiadwy.
CINIO NADOLIG 2007
Oysters with crème fraîche & salmon roe
Avocado wontons with salsa
______________________________________
Prawn or chicken rocket salad with lime butter dressing
______________________________________
Ham glazed with pomegranate
Beef crusted with coriander & pepper
Turkey with walnut and cranberry stuffing
Potatoes a la Tim
Beans and carrots with wilted rocket and lemon
Asparagus on peas with vinaigrette dressing
Squash with garlic
Tomato & bocconcini
______________________________________
Ice cream bombe
Mini Christmas puddings
Nana’s brandy sauce
Melon and berry salad
CAZ - HAVE A BEAUT' BIRTHDAY
Penblwydd Hapus i'r brawd gorau yn y byd. Fyddaf yn gallu dweud hyn yn swyddogol flwyddyn nesaf ar ol i ni fod reit rownd!
Bydd mam siwr o wneud cacen fawr siocled i ti a fydd mwy i ti heb i Marc a fi fod ar hyd y lle!
Cariad mawr a mwynha dy dydd
x x x x
Bydd mam siwr o wneud cacen fawr siocled i ti a fydd mwy i ti heb i Marc a fi fod ar hyd y lle!
Cariad mawr a mwynha dy dydd
x x x x
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1. Click on the words '0 comments' at the bottom of a post,
2. This will open a window where you can type your pearls of wisdom, jokes, hot goss, recipes etc - the choice if yours,
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Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Croquet, Boules a Roller Skating Gyda Ambell i Wydred o Wîn
Nid oeddem am adael i’r gwynt a’r glaw sbwilio ein cyfnod yn Nunmoochin ac yn ychwanegol i’r sesiynnau nofio a gwylio bywyd gwyllt, prysur iawn y buom. Ar y Sadwrn fe’r aeth Sally, Ali, Nia a finne i ‘Roller Skating’. Roedd Sally wedi cael ei blas cyntaf o’r hwyl yma ar drip ysgol yn ddiweddar ac roedd yn ysi am cael mynd eto. Wrth fynd ogwmpas y neuadd sglefrio ar fy ‘mlades’ roeddwn yn araf bach yn cael hwyl arni. Ond yna ar ambell i adeg bydde fy mreichiau yn cael eu chwifio’n ddwl yn yr aer a nghoesau yn mynd i wahanol gyfeiriadau neu’n clymu yn eu gilydd ac yna byddwn bron a chael cwymp dramatig … bron wedes i! Wrth ddyfalbarhau a cheisio osgoi pawb arall, a oedd yn gamp yn ei hun, gwella gwnes i tan yn gan bwyll bach bydde’r ddawns digri yn digwydd yn llai a llai amal. Fe ddigwyddodd yr un fath gyda Sally ac Ali ond gyda Nia, fe’r aeth ogwmpas y neuadd UNWAITH, heb adael fynd o’r ochr am eiliad yna i ffwrdd a hi i eistedd lawr i wylio pawb arall a dim mentro ar un cynnig arall! Gyda llaw, mae gen rhai lluniau da o Ali ar ei ‘skates’.
Gyda’r hwyr ryw noswaith ymwelon â marchnad St. Andrews, very hippyish … very Ali! Tro arall yn St. Andrews aethom i weld cwpwl o fandiau lleol yn chwarae yn fyw – eitha da rhaid dweud. Byddai Martin Wright wedi mwynhau ei hun y noswaith ni os na bydde fe wedi ymuno â'r bandiau ar y llwyfan. Ymwelsom a dinas Melbourne hefyd pan yr aeth y tîm SAS i’r bale (mae nhw’n deulu bach digon diwylliannol chi’n gwybod). Roedd Nia wrth ei bodd yn cael mynd ogwmpas y siopau … a phrynnu dillad newydd. So ddi’n gwybod nad dyna beth mae ‘backpackers’ fod ei wneud!! Ond cawsom fynd am bryd o fwyd i’r Italian Waiters Club … ble roedd merched yn gweini. Roedd y bwyty yn edrych yn le digon cyffredin a phlaen gyda byrddau a chadeiriau cymysg, dim byd crand ogwbwl. Ond mi’r oedd y lle yn llawn dop a rhaid oedd i ni aros mewn ciw am fwrdd gwag. Ac mi’r oedd yn werth yr aros, mi'r oedd y bwyd yn benigamp.
Tro arall fe’r aethom i winllan Redbox am brynhawn i flasu’r ‘grog’ lleol. Cawsom groeso cynnes a chael ein hadlonni gan y perchennog. Cawsom flasu nifer fawr o’u winoedd ac roeddent o’r safon gorau (nid fy mod yn esgus bod yn arbenigwr ond dwi yn gwybod beth dwi yn ei hoffi). Mwynhau wedyn bach o ginio yno gyda photel o win roedd Simon wedi’i ddewis. Roedd yn brynhawn braf iawn, os nad ychydig bach yn tipsi.
Yn ogystal a phwll nofio, mae gan Dunmoochin gyfleuterau chwaraeon eraill, sef lawnt croquet (heb graswellt) a phit ar gyfer chwarae boules. Ac mi’r oedd yna gystadlu brwd iawn yn erbyn y dau dîm – Nia ac Ali yn erbyn Sally a minne. Ond doedd dim otch pa mor galed roedd Nia ac yn enwedig Ali yn trio nid oeddent yn medru ein curo. Yn wir, mi’r oedd Ali mor awyddus i ennill gêm o ‘croquet’ ar un achlysur fel tra bod Sally yn erfyn iddi beidio fe fwrodd Ali pêl ei mherch i ganol y ‘bush’ er mwyn trio ennill mantes. Cywliydd arno ti Ali. Ond does dim angen holi, wrth gwrs fe waneth Sally a finne gario’r dydd.
Ar ein pnawn olaf gyda’r tim SAS, sef diwrnod cyn Nadolig, roedd yna dipyn o baratoi. Rhaid oedd paratoi ein bagiau gan ein bod yn symud ymlaen i’n rhan nesaf o’n taith, paratoi ar gyfer y Dolig (wel, mi’r roedd y tîm SAS yn) a hefyd paratoi ar gyfer mynd i’r gyngerdd Carols by Candlelight yn y Sidney Myer Music Bowl yng nghanol Melbourne gyda’r hwyr. Mae’r gyngerdd yn cael ei ddarlledi’n fyw ar ddraws Awstralia ac mi’r oedd rhestr hir o enwogion Awstralia yn canu yno … ond neb roeddwn i wedi’u clywed amdano o’r blaen. Roedd y gyngerdd yn un hwylus iawn gyda canu da, cynulleidfa gwell - miloedd ohonynt yn eu hatiau Siôn Corn yn ymuno a’r canu ac yn chwifio eu canwyllau yn yr awyr, ond gorau i gyd oedd y picnic arbennig roedd Ali wedi’i baratoi.
Roedd yn drist iawn gorfod gadael y Tîm SAS ar ôl y gyngerdd ond mi’r oedd rhan nesaf o’n antur yn disgwyl. Diolch yn fawr iawn i Sally, Ali a Simon am wythnos fach hyfryd dros ben, fe fwynhauom pob munud o’n amser yn eich cwmni. A diolch hefyd am ein cyflwyniad i’r ‘Australian bush’.
Gyda’r hwyr ryw noswaith ymwelon â marchnad St. Andrews, very hippyish … very Ali! Tro arall yn St. Andrews aethom i weld cwpwl o fandiau lleol yn chwarae yn fyw – eitha da rhaid dweud. Byddai Martin Wright wedi mwynhau ei hun y noswaith ni os na bydde fe wedi ymuno â'r bandiau ar y llwyfan. Ymwelsom a dinas Melbourne hefyd pan yr aeth y tîm SAS i’r bale (mae nhw’n deulu bach digon diwylliannol chi’n gwybod). Roedd Nia wrth ei bodd yn cael mynd ogwmpas y siopau … a phrynnu dillad newydd. So ddi’n gwybod nad dyna beth mae ‘backpackers’ fod ei wneud!! Ond cawsom fynd am bryd o fwyd i’r Italian Waiters Club … ble roedd merched yn gweini. Roedd y bwyty yn edrych yn le digon cyffredin a phlaen gyda byrddau a chadeiriau cymysg, dim byd crand ogwbwl. Ond mi’r oedd y lle yn llawn dop a rhaid oedd i ni aros mewn ciw am fwrdd gwag. Ac mi’r oedd yn werth yr aros, mi'r oedd y bwyd yn benigamp.
Tro arall fe’r aethom i winllan Redbox am brynhawn i flasu’r ‘grog’ lleol. Cawsom groeso cynnes a chael ein hadlonni gan y perchennog. Cawsom flasu nifer fawr o’u winoedd ac roeddent o’r safon gorau (nid fy mod yn esgus bod yn arbenigwr ond dwi yn gwybod beth dwi yn ei hoffi). Mwynhau wedyn bach o ginio yno gyda photel o win roedd Simon wedi’i ddewis. Roedd yn brynhawn braf iawn, os nad ychydig bach yn tipsi.
Yn ogystal a phwll nofio, mae gan Dunmoochin gyfleuterau chwaraeon eraill, sef lawnt croquet (heb graswellt) a phit ar gyfer chwarae boules. Ac mi’r oedd yna gystadlu brwd iawn yn erbyn y dau dîm – Nia ac Ali yn erbyn Sally a minne. Ond doedd dim otch pa mor galed roedd Nia ac yn enwedig Ali yn trio nid oeddent yn medru ein curo. Yn wir, mi’r oedd Ali mor awyddus i ennill gêm o ‘croquet’ ar un achlysur fel tra bod Sally yn erfyn iddi beidio fe fwrodd Ali pêl ei mherch i ganol y ‘bush’ er mwyn trio ennill mantes. Cywliydd arno ti Ali. Ond does dim angen holi, wrth gwrs fe waneth Sally a finne gario’r dydd.
Ar ein pnawn olaf gyda’r tim SAS, sef diwrnod cyn Nadolig, roedd yna dipyn o baratoi. Rhaid oedd paratoi ein bagiau gan ein bod yn symud ymlaen i’n rhan nesaf o’n taith, paratoi ar gyfer y Dolig (wel, mi’r roedd y tîm SAS yn) a hefyd paratoi ar gyfer mynd i’r gyngerdd Carols by Candlelight yn y Sidney Myer Music Bowl yng nghanol Melbourne gyda’r hwyr. Mae’r gyngerdd yn cael ei ddarlledi’n fyw ar ddraws Awstralia ac mi’r oedd rhestr hir o enwogion Awstralia yn canu yno … ond neb roeddwn i wedi’u clywed amdano o’r blaen. Roedd y gyngerdd yn un hwylus iawn gyda canu da, cynulleidfa gwell - miloedd ohonynt yn eu hatiau Siôn Corn yn ymuno a’r canu ac yn chwifio eu canwyllau yn yr awyr, ond gorau i gyd oedd y picnic arbennig roedd Ali wedi’i baratoi.
Roedd yn drist iawn gorfod gadael y Tîm SAS ar ôl y gyngerdd ond mi’r oedd rhan nesaf o’n antur yn disgwyl. Diolch yn fawr iawn i Sally, Ali a Simon am wythnos fach hyfryd dros ben, fe fwynhauom pob munud o’n amser yn eich cwmni. A diolch hefyd am ein cyflwyniad i’r ‘Australian bush’.
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Cangarws a Kookaburras
Roedd ein cyfnod yn Dunmoochin yn eitha difyr oherwydd yr holl wlypter cawsom. Roedd yn rhyfedd iawn gwrando ar y pobl lleol yn croesawi’r glaw gyda gwen ar eu gywnebau yn dweud pa mor hyfryd oedd tra adre byddai pawb â wep ar eu gwynebau yn cwyno ei bod yn bwrw eto. Ond er gwaetha’r tywydd cawsom, y mae Dunmoochin yn le hyfryd dros ben. Mae yno ddigonedd o fywyd gwyllt, unigryw Awstralia i’w gael os yr oeddech yn fodlon codi’n ddigon cynnar neu â digon o amynedd i fynd i wylio amdano yn nhywyllwch y nos. Ac mewn Ali roedd gyda ni’r person gorau i’n tywys ogwmpas y bwsh, i bigo allan y creaduriaid rhyfedd yma ac i esbonio i ni beth oeddent. Gwelsom yr holl gangarws allan yn y caeau neu yng nghanol y bwsh ond rhaid oedd codi’n gynnar i’w gweld gan ei bod yn tueddi diflannu o’r golwg yn ystod gwres y dydd i fynd i orweddan a chysgu. Mae gyda nhw’r syniad cywir. Cangarws yw ffefrynnau Nia a finne, maent yn edrych llawn cymeriad ac maent yn ein swyno wrth i ni wylio nhw’n adlamu ar hyd y lle. Bydden ni’n gweld dwsine ohonynt gyda’u gilydd ar y tro ac ar un achlysur fe wnaethom gyfri dros hanner cant ohonynt gyda’u gilydd.
Yn ogystal ar holl gangarws fe welsom gwahanol possums gyda’r nos. Ali oedd y possum ‘hunter’ yn mynd allan gyda’i ‘torch’ i’w chilio yn y coed a phan byddai’n dod ar eu traws byddech chi’n gweld cynffon flewog a dwy lygad mawr yn syllu nôl arnoch o’r brigau ac yn siwr o feddwl beth yw’r creaduriaid rhyfedd yna islaw. Cawsom weld hefyd wombat ac ar un achlysur walabi du. Maent yn eitha prin mae’n debyg ond o ymateb Alison wrth iddi weld un byddech chi’n meddwl mae dyma’r walabi du olaf yn Awstralia. Os oedd y sgrech “it’s a black wallaby” yn ddigon i godi ofn arnoch roedd y ffaith mai Ali oedd yn gyrru’r car ar hyd lon cul ac wedi gadael fynd o’r olwyn i bwyntio at y creadur yn codi fwy fyth o ofn. Does dim angen dweud wedi clywed sgrech Ali ni wnaeth y walabi bach du sefyll ogwmpas yn rhy hir ac roedd wedi diflannu i’r bwsh mor gyflym ac y’i gwelsom. Ond mi’r oedd Ali yn hapus dros ben gan er iddi chwilio a chwilio ers misoedd nid oedd wedi dod ar draws un cyn hynny.
Os mae cangarws yw ein hoff anifieiliaid, yna Kookaburras yw ein hoff adar. Adar bach eitha plwmp ydynt heb blu llachar ac heb gân swynol ond mae ei ysgrechian a’u golwg yn llawn cymeriad. Roedd Ali wedi eu hyfforddi i ddod at y ty drwy gopio eu sgrech a’u temtio â darnau o gaws. Byddai at hanner dwsin ohonynt yn dod i’n cwrdd ac yn glanio ar wal neu goeden isel wrth ein hymyl i ddisgwyl am eu ‘treat’ y bydden nhw’n derbyn o’n llaw. Ar un adeg bydden ni’n sefyll i ffwrdd o’r wal ac yn dal y darn caws uwchben fy mhen ac yna byddai’r adar yn hefan i lawr o’r coed ac yn pigo’r darn caws fyny cyn hedfan syth nôl lan. Wedi’r caws orffen fe dries i anwesu un ohonynt a oedd wrth fy ymyl. Ac fel roeddwn yn symud fy mys yn agosach fe gydiodd yr aderyn afael ynddo a dechrau wreslo gydag ef, roedd yn siwr o feddwl mae darn arall o gaws ydoedd. Mi’r oedd yn brofiad gwych cael bod mor agos i’r adar arbennig yma.
Mi’r oedd Ali yn hanner jocian dechrau tripiau natur ogwmpas Dunmoochin ond bydden i yn ei hargymell ac yn ei chymeradwyo hefyd.
Yn ogystal ar holl gangarws fe welsom gwahanol possums gyda’r nos. Ali oedd y possum ‘hunter’ yn mynd allan gyda’i ‘torch’ i’w chilio yn y coed a phan byddai’n dod ar eu traws byddech chi’n gweld cynffon flewog a dwy lygad mawr yn syllu nôl arnoch o’r brigau ac yn siwr o feddwl beth yw’r creaduriaid rhyfedd yna islaw. Cawsom weld hefyd wombat ac ar un achlysur walabi du. Maent yn eitha prin mae’n debyg ond o ymateb Alison wrth iddi weld un byddech chi’n meddwl mae dyma’r walabi du olaf yn Awstralia. Os oedd y sgrech “it’s a black wallaby” yn ddigon i godi ofn arnoch roedd y ffaith mai Ali oedd yn gyrru’r car ar hyd lon cul ac wedi gadael fynd o’r olwyn i bwyntio at y creadur yn codi fwy fyth o ofn. Does dim angen dweud wedi clywed sgrech Ali ni wnaeth y walabi bach du sefyll ogwmpas yn rhy hir ac roedd wedi diflannu i’r bwsh mor gyflym ac y’i gwelsom. Ond mi’r oedd Ali yn hapus dros ben gan er iddi chwilio a chwilio ers misoedd nid oedd wedi dod ar draws un cyn hynny.
Os mae cangarws yw ein hoff anifieiliaid, yna Kookaburras yw ein hoff adar. Adar bach eitha plwmp ydynt heb blu llachar ac heb gân swynol ond mae ei ysgrechian a’u golwg yn llawn cymeriad. Roedd Ali wedi eu hyfforddi i ddod at y ty drwy gopio eu sgrech a’u temtio â darnau o gaws. Byddai at hanner dwsin ohonynt yn dod i’n cwrdd ac yn glanio ar wal neu goeden isel wrth ein hymyl i ddisgwyl am eu ‘treat’ y bydden nhw’n derbyn o’n llaw. Ar un adeg bydden ni’n sefyll i ffwrdd o’r wal ac yn dal y darn caws uwchben fy mhen ac yna byddai’r adar yn hefan i lawr o’r coed ac yn pigo’r darn caws fyny cyn hedfan syth nôl lan. Wedi’r caws orffen fe dries i anwesu un ohonynt a oedd wrth fy ymyl. Ac fel roeddwn yn symud fy mys yn agosach fe gydiodd yr aderyn afael ynddo a dechrau wreslo gydag ef, roedd yn siwr o feddwl mae darn arall o gaws ydoedd. Mi’r oedd yn brofiad gwych cael bod mor agos i’r adar arbennig yma.
Mi’r oedd Ali yn hanner jocian dechrau tripiau natur ogwmpas Dunmoochin ond bydden i yn ei hargymell ac yn ei chymeradwyo hefyd.
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Sally, Ali a Simon (Y Tîm SAS) a Dunmoochin
Am tua saith y bore mae ein tren o Melbourne yn cyrraedd pen ei daith yn Hurstbridge ac yno i’n cwrdd gyda dwy wen fawr ar eu gwynebau roedd Sally ac Ali. Roedd yn braf gweld dau wyneb cyfeillgar a chyfarwydd wedi ein taith dros nos o Sydney. Siwrne fach wedyn o tua hanner awr drwy gefngwlad a elwir y ‘bush’ yn Awstralia i’n cartref am yr wythnos fach nesaf yn Dunmoochin. Dunmoochin oedd cartref yr arlunydd enwog Clifton Pugh ac sydd nawr yn cael ei ddefnyddio fel ymgiliad i arlunwyr (artist retreat). Mae wedi ei leoli mewn man digon anghysbell ond eto roedd nifer o gymdogion cyfagoes wedi eu ymwasgaru rhwng yr holl goedwigoedd bychain o ‘gum trees’ a chaeau melyn sych sy’n gartref i gannoedd os nad miloedd o gangarws yn ogystal â nifer fawr eraill o fywyd gwyllt Awstralia.
Fe wnaeth Y Tîm SAS i ni deimlo’n gartrefol reit a nine yn ffitio i fewn gyda’u bywyd bob dydd maent wedi creu dros eu harosiad yma yn y pedwar mis diwethaf. Cawsom y fraint o fynd a Sally i’w hysgol am ei diwrnod olaf cyn gwyliau’r haf a hefyd, wedi cinio, nôl i’r ysgol i weld gwasanaeth ola’r flwyddyn ble roedd y plant yn cael ei gwobrwyo am unrhyw gampau cyflawnwyd dros y flwyddyn academaidd ddiwethaf ac i wrando ar gân cyflwynwyd gan y plant hyn a oedd yn gadael i fynd i’r ysgol uwchradd yn y flwyddyn newydd. Roedd Sally wrth ei bodd wedi gwneud cymaint o ffrindiau newydd yn y cyfnod byr buodd hi yno ac wedi mwynhau ei hysgol dros dro yn fawr iawn.
Yn anffodus fe wnaeth ein hymweliad â Dunmoochin gyfuno a chyfnod o dywydd digon Cymreig, sef gwynt a glaw (llawer iawn) ac oerfel … wel, oerfel i safon Awstralia hynny yw. Ychydig iawn o gyfnodau sych gawsom yn ystod ein harosiad a llai byth gyda’r haul yn gwenu arnom. A dyna fel roedd hi, ar brynhawn cyntaf gwyliau haf Sally, a hithau bron marw am fynd a ni i nofio yn y pwll sydd ger llaw ein cartref dros dro. Ond nid jyst gwynt, glaw ac oerfel roedd gan y tywydd yw gynnig ond tarannau hefyd. Mi’r oedd hi’n tarannu drwy’r pnawn a Sally yn ysu i fynd i’r pwll … a finne hefyd … dim! A gyda Sally yn fy holi tro ar ôl tro i ni fynd i’r pwll dim ond Ali oedd yno i’m hachub yn rhoi stop arni gan ei bod yn tarannu. Yn anffodus i mi, ond er boddhad mawr i Sally fe arbedodd y tarannau os nad y gwynt ar glaw tuag at ddiwedd y pnawn ac o dan arweiniad pendant Ali cafodd Sally caniatad i fynd i’r pwll ond iddi ddod allan yn syth os fyddai’r tarannau yn dychwelyd. Off a hi yn sionc a gwen i’r pwll … ac yn fy llusgo i ar ei hôl. Diolch i’r nefoedd roedd hi’n gynhesach yn y dwr na tu allan ac roedd modd i mi ymdopi â gorchmynion Sally am ba gemau roeddem i warae. Nid oedd dim diwedd i’w dychymyg o wahanol gemau gellir chwarae o fewn pwll nofio gan gynnwys nofio dan dwr rhwng fy nghoesau, rasio nôl am mlaen, llithro lawr y sleid fawr a chwarae siarcod. Rhaid dweud cefais hwyl hefyd a siom oedd i’r ddau ohonom pan glywsom daran anferth uwch ein pennau a rhaid oedd i’r ddau ohonom ddianc nôl i’r ty. Ond roedd Sally yn hapus, roedd wedi cael ei ffordd ac am i mi fod mor ddewr o dan amodau diflas fe wnaeth hi creu tystysgrif i mi am fy newrder. Sylwer ni chafodd Nia dystysgrif am iddi wrthod mentro i’r pwll!
Fe wnaeth Y Tîm SAS i ni deimlo’n gartrefol reit a nine yn ffitio i fewn gyda’u bywyd bob dydd maent wedi creu dros eu harosiad yma yn y pedwar mis diwethaf. Cawsom y fraint o fynd a Sally i’w hysgol am ei diwrnod olaf cyn gwyliau’r haf a hefyd, wedi cinio, nôl i’r ysgol i weld gwasanaeth ola’r flwyddyn ble roedd y plant yn cael ei gwobrwyo am unrhyw gampau cyflawnwyd dros y flwyddyn academaidd ddiwethaf ac i wrando ar gân cyflwynwyd gan y plant hyn a oedd yn gadael i fynd i’r ysgol uwchradd yn y flwyddyn newydd. Roedd Sally wrth ei bodd wedi gwneud cymaint o ffrindiau newydd yn y cyfnod byr buodd hi yno ac wedi mwynhau ei hysgol dros dro yn fawr iawn.
Yn anffodus fe wnaeth ein hymweliad â Dunmoochin gyfuno a chyfnod o dywydd digon Cymreig, sef gwynt a glaw (llawer iawn) ac oerfel … wel, oerfel i safon Awstralia hynny yw. Ychydig iawn o gyfnodau sych gawsom yn ystod ein harosiad a llai byth gyda’r haul yn gwenu arnom. A dyna fel roedd hi, ar brynhawn cyntaf gwyliau haf Sally, a hithau bron marw am fynd a ni i nofio yn y pwll sydd ger llaw ein cartref dros dro. Ond nid jyst gwynt, glaw ac oerfel roedd gan y tywydd yw gynnig ond tarannau hefyd. Mi’r oedd hi’n tarannu drwy’r pnawn a Sally yn ysu i fynd i’r pwll … a finne hefyd … dim! A gyda Sally yn fy holi tro ar ôl tro i ni fynd i’r pwll dim ond Ali oedd yno i’m hachub yn rhoi stop arni gan ei bod yn tarannu. Yn anffodus i mi, ond er boddhad mawr i Sally fe arbedodd y tarannau os nad y gwynt ar glaw tuag at ddiwedd y pnawn ac o dan arweiniad pendant Ali cafodd Sally caniatad i fynd i’r pwll ond iddi ddod allan yn syth os fyddai’r tarannau yn dychwelyd. Off a hi yn sionc a gwen i’r pwll … ac yn fy llusgo i ar ei hôl. Diolch i’r nefoedd roedd hi’n gynhesach yn y dwr na tu allan ac roedd modd i mi ymdopi â gorchmynion Sally am ba gemau roeddem i warae. Nid oedd dim diwedd i’w dychymyg o wahanol gemau gellir chwarae o fewn pwll nofio gan gynnwys nofio dan dwr rhwng fy nghoesau, rasio nôl am mlaen, llithro lawr y sleid fawr a chwarae siarcod. Rhaid dweud cefais hwyl hefyd a siom oedd i’r ddau ohonom pan glywsom daran anferth uwch ein pennau a rhaid oedd i’r ddau ohonom ddianc nôl i’r ty. Ond roedd Sally yn hapus, roedd wedi cael ei ffordd ac am i mi fod mor ddewr o dan amodau diflas fe wnaeth hi creu tystysgrif i mi am fy newrder. Sylwer ni chafodd Nia dystysgrif am iddi wrthod mentro i’r pwll!
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
EVEN MORE DUDS AND SNAGS (part 3)
We did so much with Eifion in Melbourne that I'd be here until it was time to fly to home if I were to tell you everything but we had some more great walks - around the lush Botanic Gardens and on the city walking trails, where the paths follow the banks of the Yarra River and across parkland and bush. He also knows of some great places to stop for a coffee on the way and breakfast when we're done.
We spent a day at the Healesville Animal Sanctuary where you are guaranteed to see all of Australia's famous animals, reptiles and creepy crawlies without having to root about in the bush or leave the comfort of your bed to go shining a torch up a tree. We saw just about everything, except for the wombats who were snoozing under a log and all we got was one furry little bum. Marc seemed to be taking a keen interest in the kangaroos and we found out why a little later, when we ate at the Victoria Market and he ordered the Roo Burger. He was obviously eyeing up the best cut. I ordered a Crocodile Burger but after telling 'that' joke all my life, I chickened out of saying it at my first opportunity and I've been kicking myself ever since. We have also eaten camel, emu and ostrich since we've been here (not whole ones ...)
We spent a bit of time at the National Gallery and Immigration Museum - sounds boring but was very interesting and found time for a couple of swims in the old Victorian Public Baths. The Immigration Museum tells the history of immigrants in Australia over the centuries and has a replica of a creaking ship's hold where the $10 tourists, looking for a better life would be packed into for the long and arduous journey. A notice invited to 'touch anything we liked and use any of the furniture' so I made Marc wear an old life-jacket and get into a bunk to take his photo.
Our last day in Melbourne before leaving for Adelaide was spent back at Dunmoochin, where Ali, Simon and Sally's Art Exhibition was taking place. We arrived half an hour into the exhibition and already most of Sally's ceramic animals had been sold! We quickly bagged ourselves a bilby before enjoying the paintings and having one last swim and game of sharks with Sally and her friend Carys before making our way back to the city and the overnight journey to Adelaide.
We must thank everyone so much for making us feel so welcome here, especially Eifion who completely gave up his Christmas holidays for us. We will definately be back - sorry ...
p.s. Duds are long trousers that Bernie wears to go walking in the winter, snags are sausages (great with mash and onion jam) and sticky-beaking, well I think you've got a good idea.
We spent a day at the Healesville Animal Sanctuary where you are guaranteed to see all of Australia's famous animals, reptiles and creepy crawlies without having to root about in the bush or leave the comfort of your bed to go shining a torch up a tree. We saw just about everything, except for the wombats who were snoozing under a log and all we got was one furry little bum. Marc seemed to be taking a keen interest in the kangaroos and we found out why a little later, when we ate at the Victoria Market and he ordered the Roo Burger. He was obviously eyeing up the best cut. I ordered a Crocodile Burger but after telling 'that' joke all my life, I chickened out of saying it at my first opportunity and I've been kicking myself ever since. We have also eaten camel, emu and ostrich since we've been here (not whole ones ...)
We spent a bit of time at the National Gallery and Immigration Museum - sounds boring but was very interesting and found time for a couple of swims in the old Victorian Public Baths. The Immigration Museum tells the history of immigrants in Australia over the centuries and has a replica of a creaking ship's hold where the $10 tourists, looking for a better life would be packed into for the long and arduous journey. A notice invited to 'touch anything we liked and use any of the furniture' so I made Marc wear an old life-jacket and get into a bunk to take his photo.
Our last day in Melbourne before leaving for Adelaide was spent back at Dunmoochin, where Ali, Simon and Sally's Art Exhibition was taking place. We arrived half an hour into the exhibition and already most of Sally's ceramic animals had been sold! We quickly bagged ourselves a bilby before enjoying the paintings and having one last swim and game of sharks with Sally and her friend Carys before making our way back to the city and the overnight journey to Adelaide.
We must thank everyone so much for making us feel so welcome here, especially Eifion who completely gave up his Christmas holidays for us. We will definately be back - sorry ...
p.s. Duds are long trousers that Bernie wears to go walking in the winter, snags are sausages (great with mash and onion jam) and sticky-beaking, well I think you've got a good idea.
MORE DUDS, SNAGS & STICKY-BEAKING (part 2)
The 15km walk on Christmas Day should have served as a warning, as the evening we returned from Torquay, 'Trottenmeistr' Eifion announced that we were going out walking with some colleagues of his the following morning and had to be out of the house by 7.15am! So fortified with a mincepie and cup of coffee in the car on the way, we joined Bernie and Laura on the ascent of One Tree Hill, part of the Dandenong Mountain Range. It took us an hour and a half to walk to the top and I was very impressed to see how many people there were up there already, some going to the trouble of carting up huge picnics, until I saw the carpark - hmmm. On the way back to the city, we just happened to pass Pin Oak Street (or that's what Eifion would have us believe), better known to the world as Ramsey Street. I'm afraid that I can't give you an update on what's happening now as I didn't recognise anything and haven't got the foggiest idea of who is supposed to live in which house. The last time I watched Neighbours, Bouncer and Mrs Mangel were part of the cast and I guess that Bouncer has been in Doggie Heaven for at least 15 years.
New Years Eve was a scorcher - the temperature reaching 42c (a sweltering 108f) in the afternoon so we were out for our morning stomp in the Yarra Bend Park by 7.30am while it was still relatively cool. We had been invited to Bernie and Steve's home for a New Year Party and we had a fantastic evening in the company of more colleagues and friends. Gerard (I thought that Dewi Jones had arrived when he walked through the door) was fantastic, singing and on the guitar and we accompanied him on our tambourines, bongos, pipes, whistles and maracas. Eifion was on the 'spoons in a bottle' and Marc was on Bernie's best saucepan. At midnight, we all took our glasses to the top of the road for a view of the spectacular fireworks on the city skyline below us. By the time we left the party at 3am, it had 'cooled' to 32c!
New Years Eve was also the day of the 'Haircut Incident'. I won't bore you with the details right now, but it involved me heading out of Melbourne, by myself, on a train in completely the wrong direction (I can just hear my mother now). But all was well as I drew on my Risk Assessment and Stress Management training and I eventually got to the hairdressers, where they were very curious to see this person who had telephoned from a railway platform far, far away.
New Years Day was a very laid back affair - very hot again and when we did eventually venture out, Eifion took us for a nice air-conditioned drive around the city and the beach fronts, lined with multi-million dollar homes. We turned into the city's beautiful Albert Park which is the home of the Melbourne F1 race and we drove around with Marc doing the commentary and me 'da da daaa...ing' the F1 theme tune. We even had photos of us taken, lined up on the starting grid but I still don't think it's fair that Marc had pole position.
New Years Eve was a scorcher - the temperature reaching 42c (a sweltering 108f) in the afternoon so we were out for our morning stomp in the Yarra Bend Park by 7.30am while it was still relatively cool. We had been invited to Bernie and Steve's home for a New Year Party and we had a fantastic evening in the company of more colleagues and friends. Gerard (I thought that Dewi Jones had arrived when he walked through the door) was fantastic, singing and on the guitar and we accompanied him on our tambourines, bongos, pipes, whistles and maracas. Eifion was on the 'spoons in a bottle' and Marc was on Bernie's best saucepan. At midnight, we all took our glasses to the top of the road for a view of the spectacular fireworks on the city skyline below us. By the time we left the party at 3am, it had 'cooled' to 32c!
New Years Eve was also the day of the 'Haircut Incident'. I won't bore you with the details right now, but it involved me heading out of Melbourne, by myself, on a train in completely the wrong direction (I can just hear my mother now). But all was well as I drew on my Risk Assessment and Stress Management training and I eventually got to the hairdressers, where they were very curious to see this person who had telephoned from a railway platform far, far away.
New Years Day was a very laid back affair - very hot again and when we did eventually venture out, Eifion took us for a nice air-conditioned drive around the city and the beach fronts, lined with multi-million dollar homes. We turned into the city's beautiful Albert Park which is the home of the Melbourne F1 race and we drove around with Marc doing the commentary and me 'da da daaa...ing' the F1 theme tune. We even had photos of us taken, lined up on the starting grid but I still don't think it's fair that Marc had pole position.
DUDS, SNAGS & STICKY-BEAKING IN MELBOURNE (part 1)
Melbourne, set around the shores of Port Phillip Bay is simply a wonderful city. Home to Aussie Rules Football (absolutely everyone here 'barracks' for a team) and Australia's capital city until 1901, Melbourne was established in 1835 and has a population of nearly 4 million people. In contrast to Sydney, it is a very relaxed and relaxing place with a great feel-good factor.
Eifion, Marc's cousin, put us up and put up with us for the two weeks we spent in the city over Christmas and New Year. Christmas Day started early with breakfast at Rhiannon and Jamie's home (Eifion's daughter and son-in-law) and we watched Ioan Alun, their 6 month old son open his presents and play with the wrapping paper! There were even pressies for us - a hilarious classic Aussie comedy movie which will be Christmas viewing when we get home and there were parcels for us in the box from family in New Zealand. The NZ Christmas Pressie Procurement Committee is to be commended on its choices as some relate to my favourite pastime - shopping. To build up an appetite for lunch, Eifion took us on a 15km walk down to the hip-and-happening St Kilda beach (yachts big enough to make Howard Davies cry). The beaches were alive with families playing cricket, swimming, picnicing and just enjoying the glorious sunshine, wearing santa hats. Christmas lunch was oysters and lobster, a first for us both, washed down with a couple of stubbies - style eh? Late afternoon and we were back at Rhiannon's joining another 14 people for Christmas dinner where we dined like kings all evening. We grazed our way through six delicious courses, finishing off with tiny Christmas pudds and a great big ice-cream bomb. There were sparklers for the children, so I amused myself for a while, writing my name in the sky but I wasn't so sure about the balloon animals that we were all supposed to make. I still maintain that mine was a snake ...
Boxing Day and we were all off to Lynne's (Rhiannon's mum). Today, we joined about 22 people for a wonderful lunch by the pool (Aussie's certainly know how to party), which was followed by the real business of the day -The Movie! It has been a family tradition for many years that a movie is shot every Boxing Day and no visiting friends or rellies are spared. So one by one, we emerged from wardrobe, transformed into mexicans, desperados, indians, sheriff's men, dancing girls and a priest (Little Squaw marries Deputy Dawg at the end). There was no set script, only a list of scenes and a director who meant business -"silence on set", and the movie was shot in and around the house and garden, the final shoot-out taking place on the street much to the bemusement of passing traffic, some of which came back for a second look. The neighbours are long used to such bizarre goings-on. We hope that by the time we get home, there will be a copy waiting, for all of you to see 'Desperado' Marc galloping around on his trusty steed and Dancing Girl Ni serving drinks and mingling with the clientele at Titty Kitty's Saloon in her feather boas.
Something else funny (but not at the time) happened a few times on Boxing Day. Every time I sat down next to Marc, I would get a static electric shock which caused a reflex action and my arm would shoot out, throwing out the contents of my glass. As I was sipping champagne (not as nice as Asti) throughout the day and saw it as a terrible waste, I changed my drinking arm after the second time it happened, much to the relief of the person sat to my left with the wet leg!
That evening, Eifion drove us down to the surfing mecca of Torquay, 80km south of Melbourne to spend a few days with his brother Geraint. As soon as we got there, Geraint phoned to say that he wouldn't be home until morning, but told us where to find the wine and how to get to the beach for a walk at sunset, so we followed his instructions to the letter. The following day, he took us for a drive down the famous Great Ocean Road and we enjoyed superb views of turquoise seas and white beaches before he switched the 4WD on and veered up an almost sheer dirt-track and we disappeared into the bush. It was while I was enjoying a nice bush-cuppa in my directors chair that I noticed the scorpion walking in front of my foot - Marc asked me if I was sure of what I'd seen, so I showed them the tail - raised and pointed in our direction. I then decided to move the chair ... We spent a lovely few days in Torquay, swimming, walking, enjoying the largest, most juicy prawns imaginable on the bbq and just generally chilling out.
And so, back to the bright lights of the city ...
Eifion, Marc's cousin, put us up and put up with us for the two weeks we spent in the city over Christmas and New Year. Christmas Day started early with breakfast at Rhiannon and Jamie's home (Eifion's daughter and son-in-law) and we watched Ioan Alun, their 6 month old son open his presents and play with the wrapping paper! There were even pressies for us - a hilarious classic Aussie comedy movie which will be Christmas viewing when we get home and there were parcels for us in the box from family in New Zealand. The NZ Christmas Pressie Procurement Committee is to be commended on its choices as some relate to my favourite pastime - shopping. To build up an appetite for lunch, Eifion took us on a 15km walk down to the hip-and-happening St Kilda beach (yachts big enough to make Howard Davies cry). The beaches were alive with families playing cricket, swimming, picnicing and just enjoying the glorious sunshine, wearing santa hats. Christmas lunch was oysters and lobster, a first for us both, washed down with a couple of stubbies - style eh? Late afternoon and we were back at Rhiannon's joining another 14 people for Christmas dinner where we dined like kings all evening. We grazed our way through six delicious courses, finishing off with tiny Christmas pudds and a great big ice-cream bomb. There were sparklers for the children, so I amused myself for a while, writing my name in the sky but I wasn't so sure about the balloon animals that we were all supposed to make. I still maintain that mine was a snake ...
Boxing Day and we were all off to Lynne's (Rhiannon's mum). Today, we joined about 22 people for a wonderful lunch by the pool (Aussie's certainly know how to party), which was followed by the real business of the day -The Movie! It has been a family tradition for many years that a movie is shot every Boxing Day and no visiting friends or rellies are spared. So one by one, we emerged from wardrobe, transformed into mexicans, desperados, indians, sheriff's men, dancing girls and a priest (Little Squaw marries Deputy Dawg at the end). There was no set script, only a list of scenes and a director who meant business -"silence on set", and the movie was shot in and around the house and garden, the final shoot-out taking place on the street much to the bemusement of passing traffic, some of which came back for a second look. The neighbours are long used to such bizarre goings-on. We hope that by the time we get home, there will be a copy waiting, for all of you to see 'Desperado' Marc galloping around on his trusty steed and Dancing Girl Ni serving drinks and mingling with the clientele at Titty Kitty's Saloon in her feather boas.
Something else funny (but not at the time) happened a few times on Boxing Day. Every time I sat down next to Marc, I would get a static electric shock which caused a reflex action and my arm would shoot out, throwing out the contents of my glass. As I was sipping champagne (not as nice as Asti) throughout the day and saw it as a terrible waste, I changed my drinking arm after the second time it happened, much to the relief of the person sat to my left with the wet leg!
That evening, Eifion drove us down to the surfing mecca of Torquay, 80km south of Melbourne to spend a few days with his brother Geraint. As soon as we got there, Geraint phoned to say that he wouldn't be home until morning, but told us where to find the wine and how to get to the beach for a walk at sunset, so we followed his instructions to the letter. The following day, he took us for a drive down the famous Great Ocean Road and we enjoyed superb views of turquoise seas and white beaches before he switched the 4WD on and veered up an almost sheer dirt-track and we disappeared into the bush. It was while I was enjoying a nice bush-cuppa in my directors chair that I noticed the scorpion walking in front of my foot - Marc asked me if I was sure of what I'd seen, so I showed them the tail - raised and pointed in our direction. I then decided to move the chair ... We spent a lovely few days in Torquay, swimming, walking, enjoying the largest, most juicy prawns imaginable on the bbq and just generally chilling out.
And so, back to the bright lights of the city ...
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Beth arall welom yn Sydney?
Ar ol diwrnod arall yn crwydro ar hyd Sydney, hanner yn archwilio'r ddinas a hanner arall yn trio cael y camera wedi ei drwshio, fe'r aethom ychydig yn bellach allan o'r canol. Yn gyntaf aethom allan a'r fferi i Manly. Lle bach ar lan mor yw Manly a fyddai'n hyfryd iawn ond fod y tywydd wedi troi yn ein herbyn. Ni wnaethom adael y glaw i'n stopio rhag mwynhau'r lle a cherdded ar hyd y traeth a oedd yn frysur reit gyda syrffwyr a phobl yn chwarae 'beach volleyball' ymysg eraill. Pan arbedodd y glaw am ychydig cawsom bobi bysgodyn a sglodion a phaned o de ac eistedd ar y prom i'w bwyta - neis iawn. Ond pan ddaeth y glaw eto nol ar y fferi'r aethom am Sydney ac yna jwmpio ar fws, y Sydney Explorer, i'n tywys ogwmpas y ddinas ac yn adrodd ychydig o'i hanes wrth fynd heibio'r uchafbwyntiau roedd gan Sydney yw gynnig. Trip o ddwy awr ydoedd tra roedd y nefoedd yn agor allan ar bawb tu fas y bws.
Yn ogystal a'r Sydney Exploer sy'n canolbwyntio ar brif atyniadau o fewn ganol y ddinas, mae yna'r Bondi Explorer hefyd. Bws yw hwn sy'n eich tywys ogwmpas prif draethau Sydney ac sydd hefyd yn adrodd hanes y gwahanol mannau ymwelsom a. Rhaid oedd aros ym Mondi a chael profi'r traeth byd enwog yma. Yn anffodus nid oedd y tywydd ar ein hochr heddiw to. Tra roedd y tywydd yn braf i ddechrau roedd yr awel yn gryf reit sydd ddim yn beth da os am wario amser ar draeth, er fod y tonnau, na sori, y syrf yn dda iawn. Ond wedi ychydig o nofio a rhoi fyny a'r 'sand storm' ar y traeth fe fygythiodd hi ddechrau bwrw eto a phenderfynom ail afael ar y Bondi Explorer er mwyn cwbwlhau'r trip.
Ar ein diwrnod olaf yn Sydney fe ddalion ni fyny gyda Elfyn a Siwan. Dau arall o Aberystwyth sydd wedi bod yn trafaelu am bron i ddwy flynedd bellach! Cawsom yr amser gorau yn dal fyny a rhannu storiau ac o safbwynt Nia a finne cael pigo lan llawer o dips ar drafaelu. Roedd hi'n hyfryd iawn cael sgwrsio gyda phobl eraill yng Ngymraeg - er mai nid nhw oedd y Cymry Cymraeg cyntaf i ni gwrdd a yn Sydney - dawsom ar ddraws dau Gymro o Fangor wrth i ni groesi'r bont ar ein diwrnod cyntaf. Aethom ar y fferi eto, y tro yma i East Balmain a chael cinio bach neis yno. Yna nol i Sydney ac ymweld a thafarn Almaeneg yn ardal y Rocks ble roedd y cwrw braf yn dod mewn gwydrau tal maen. Yn anffodus fe hedfanodd y diwrnod, dyna beth sy'n digwydd pan da chi'n cael amser da ond mi'r ydym wedi cytuno i gwrdd lan eto yn Seland Newydd mewn ychydig fisoedd - rydym yn edrych ymlaen i hynny yn barod.
Yn ogystal a'r Sydney Exploer sy'n canolbwyntio ar brif atyniadau o fewn ganol y ddinas, mae yna'r Bondi Explorer hefyd. Bws yw hwn sy'n eich tywys ogwmpas prif draethau Sydney ac sydd hefyd yn adrodd hanes y gwahanol mannau ymwelsom a. Rhaid oedd aros ym Mondi a chael profi'r traeth byd enwog yma. Yn anffodus nid oedd y tywydd ar ein hochr heddiw to. Tra roedd y tywydd yn braf i ddechrau roedd yr awel yn gryf reit sydd ddim yn beth da os am wario amser ar draeth, er fod y tonnau, na sori, y syrf yn dda iawn. Ond wedi ychydig o nofio a rhoi fyny a'r 'sand storm' ar y traeth fe fygythiodd hi ddechrau bwrw eto a phenderfynom ail afael ar y Bondi Explorer er mwyn cwbwlhau'r trip.
Ar ein diwrnod olaf yn Sydney fe ddalion ni fyny gyda Elfyn a Siwan. Dau arall o Aberystwyth sydd wedi bod yn trafaelu am bron i ddwy flynedd bellach! Cawsom yr amser gorau yn dal fyny a rhannu storiau ac o safbwynt Nia a finne cael pigo lan llawer o dips ar drafaelu. Roedd hi'n hyfryd iawn cael sgwrsio gyda phobl eraill yng Ngymraeg - er mai nid nhw oedd y Cymry Cymraeg cyntaf i ni gwrdd a yn Sydney - dawsom ar ddraws dau Gymro o Fangor wrth i ni groesi'r bont ar ein diwrnod cyntaf. Aethom ar y fferi eto, y tro yma i East Balmain a chael cinio bach neis yno. Yna nol i Sydney ac ymweld a thafarn Almaeneg yn ardal y Rocks ble roedd y cwrw braf yn dod mewn gwydrau tal maen. Yn anffodus fe hedfanodd y diwrnod, dyna beth sy'n digwydd pan da chi'n cael amser da ond mi'r ydym wedi cytuno i gwrdd lan eto yn Seland Newydd mewn ychydig fisoedd - rydym yn edrych ymlaen i hynny yn barod.
Dyma ni ... yn Sydney!
Cyrrhaeddom Awstralia a dinas Sydney yn gynnar iawn fel roedd y dydd yn gwawrio. Ar ol gweithio allan ffordd o fynd o'r maes awyr i'r ddinas (mae'r awdurdodau yn eu doethineb wedi penderfynnu'n ddiweddar gohirio bysiau rhag codi pobl fyny o'r maes awyr fel yr oeddem wedi golygu trafaelu) fe ddaliom y tren a wrth lwc roedd yna orsaf tren ar gael jyst rownd y gornel o'r hostel roeddem am aros ynddi. Gan ein bod oriau yn rhy gynnar i medru bwcio i fewn, fe syrthiom i gysgu a'r un o soffeydd mawr yn lolfa'r hostel i aros am ein ystafell ddod yn rhydd.
Mas a ni yn y prynhawn i ddarganfod y ddinas ond nid oeddem pum munud allan o'r hostel pan wrth croesi'r ffordd fe afaelodd rhywun ym mraich Nia a oedd yn croesi y ffordd arall gan ddweud helo. Wedi i ni groesi i'r ochr arall a throi rownd gwelsom mai dwy Wyddeles, Elaine a Becky, gwnaethom gwrdd a yn gyntaf yn Chiang Mai ryw fis fach yn gynharach, roedd wedi ein nabod. Rhaid oedd wedyn croesi yn ol a chael sgwrs a dal lan ar hanes ein gilydd. Rhyfedd iawn - dim ond wedi bod yn cerdded yn y ddinas yn lythrennol am bum munud ac roeddem wedi cwrdd a dau wyneb cyfarwydd yn barod. Wrth gwrs, gwneud trefniadau wedyn ni er mwyn dal fyny am ddiod neu dau nes ymlaen.
Roedd Sydney yn edrych yn ysblennydd reit wrth gerdded trwyddi, gyda'r holl adeiladau tal newydd yn disgleirio yn yr haul ym mysg rhai hyn a chrand o'r bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg. Cerdded i lawr i harbwr Darling sydd wedi ei holl drawsnewid yn y blynyddoedd diwethaf gyda'i gwahanol atyniadau a'r holl tai bwyta modern yn llawn dop gyda Sydneysiders. Ymlaen a ni drwy'r ddinas ac yn sydyn reit rhwng ddau 'skyscraper' cawsom ein golwg gyntaf o pont harbwr Sydney. Yn syth fe wnaeth y bont argraff arnom cyn i ni medru ei weld yn iawn. Ymlaen ychydig eto ac yna cawsom ei weld yn ei holl ogoniant heb ddim i rwystro'r olygfa. Golygfa ffantastig reit. A'r unig beth oedd i sbwilio'r cwbwl oedd i'n camera (newydd!) benderfynnu ddim gweithio'n bellach jyst fel roeddem am dynnu dwsine o luniau o'r bont. Ta beth, gyferbyn a'r bont roedd y Ty Opera Sydney. Icon arall ar ein rhestr o bethau i'w weld. Yn anffodus, er pa mor hyfryd yw, dwi'n credu i'r bont ein syfrdanu gymaint fel pan welom ni'r Ty Opera am y tro cyntaf cawsom y teimlad bach lleiaf o siom. Doedd ganddo ddim cweit gymaint o'r wow ffactor. I fod yn deg a'r Ty Opera, ni chawsom ei weld o'r ongl orau sydd allan ar y dwr o flaen yr adeilad ac nid o'r man ble roeddem yn sefyll. Er hynny, fe mwynhasom gerddom ogwmpas y Ty Opera a hefyd ar ddraws y bont ac mi'r oedd yn ddiwrnod hyfryd, ble roedd yr haul yn gwennu arnom heb fod yn llethol ac yn wir roedd hi'n deimlad ffresh neis wedi'r tywydd profom yn ne ddwyrain Asia. Cerddom nol i'r Hostel drwy'r gardd fotaneg a oedd yn hyfryd iawn a gweld mai nid adar oedd yn gwenud yr holl synnau a sgrechfeydd i fyny ym mrigau'r coed ond yn hytrach ystlumod oedd yno yn dod i fyw wedi eu cwsg dydd - a maint golew arnynt hefyd.
Mas a ni yn y prynhawn i ddarganfod y ddinas ond nid oeddem pum munud allan o'r hostel pan wrth croesi'r ffordd fe afaelodd rhywun ym mraich Nia a oedd yn croesi y ffordd arall gan ddweud helo. Wedi i ni groesi i'r ochr arall a throi rownd gwelsom mai dwy Wyddeles, Elaine a Becky, gwnaethom gwrdd a yn gyntaf yn Chiang Mai ryw fis fach yn gynharach, roedd wedi ein nabod. Rhaid oedd wedyn croesi yn ol a chael sgwrs a dal lan ar hanes ein gilydd. Rhyfedd iawn - dim ond wedi bod yn cerdded yn y ddinas yn lythrennol am bum munud ac roeddem wedi cwrdd a dau wyneb cyfarwydd yn barod. Wrth gwrs, gwneud trefniadau wedyn ni er mwyn dal fyny am ddiod neu dau nes ymlaen.
Roedd Sydney yn edrych yn ysblennydd reit wrth gerdded trwyddi, gyda'r holl adeiladau tal newydd yn disgleirio yn yr haul ym mysg rhai hyn a chrand o'r bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg. Cerdded i lawr i harbwr Darling sydd wedi ei holl drawsnewid yn y blynyddoedd diwethaf gyda'i gwahanol atyniadau a'r holl tai bwyta modern yn llawn dop gyda Sydneysiders. Ymlaen a ni drwy'r ddinas ac yn sydyn reit rhwng ddau 'skyscraper' cawsom ein golwg gyntaf o pont harbwr Sydney. Yn syth fe wnaeth y bont argraff arnom cyn i ni medru ei weld yn iawn. Ymlaen ychydig eto ac yna cawsom ei weld yn ei holl ogoniant heb ddim i rwystro'r olygfa. Golygfa ffantastig reit. A'r unig beth oedd i sbwilio'r cwbwl oedd i'n camera (newydd!) benderfynnu ddim gweithio'n bellach jyst fel roeddem am dynnu dwsine o luniau o'r bont. Ta beth, gyferbyn a'r bont roedd y Ty Opera Sydney. Icon arall ar ein rhestr o bethau i'w weld. Yn anffodus, er pa mor hyfryd yw, dwi'n credu i'r bont ein syfrdanu gymaint fel pan welom ni'r Ty Opera am y tro cyntaf cawsom y teimlad bach lleiaf o siom. Doedd ganddo ddim cweit gymaint o'r wow ffactor. I fod yn deg a'r Ty Opera, ni chawsom ei weld o'r ongl orau sydd allan ar y dwr o flaen yr adeilad ac nid o'r man ble roeddem yn sefyll. Er hynny, fe mwynhasom gerddom ogwmpas y Ty Opera a hefyd ar ddraws y bont ac mi'r oedd yn ddiwrnod hyfryd, ble roedd yr haul yn gwennu arnom heb fod yn llethol ac yn wir roedd hi'n deimlad ffresh neis wedi'r tywydd profom yn ne ddwyrain Asia. Cerddom nol i'r Hostel drwy'r gardd fotaneg a oedd yn hyfryd iawn a gweld mai nid adar oedd yn gwenud yr holl synnau a sgrechfeydd i fyny ym mrigau'r coed ond yn hytrach ystlumod oedd yno yn dod i fyw wedi eu cwsg dydd - a maint golew arnynt hefyd.
Saturday, 5 January 2008
A WEEK IN THE SLOW LANE
Tucked away in the bush in the mountains above Melbourne is the little piece of paradise known as Dunmoochin. The Dunmoochin Foundation supplies artists with studio and residential studios in the Australian bush and artists come from all art forms and countries, for residential periods of six months to a year and this is where we would spend the week running up to Christmas with Alison and Simon, artists and colleagues of Marc's from the University in Aberystwyth and their lovely daughter Sally, who is 8. Ali and Simon have been living and painting at Dunmoochin for the last six months, culminating in an exhibition from 5th to 10th January where Sally is also exhibiting some of her excellent ceramic work.
We brought absolutely awful weather with us, the most torrential downpours with very rumbly thunder and lightning but this had its advantages as the water supply at Dunmoochin is rainwater only and with the severe drought out here, our daily showers which were limited to 2 minutes at the start of the week, were promoted to 4 minutes by the end, as the water-tanks were full. But this was Christmas and nothing was going to dampen our spirits!
Inbetween the downpours, we went for walks in the bush and saw huge mobs of kangaroos, sometimes up to 50 of them in a clearing. They would be grazing at first, then after spotting us, they would stand on their hind legs and check us out for a while before bouncing off gracefully, as if in slowmotion. They are truly beautiful creatures. We went possum spotting in the trees at night, then in the day we would hand-feed the Laughing Kookaburra birds that would congregate outside the house, screeching for bits of cheese which they would swoop down and take from our hands.
I got to play my first ever game of croquet at Dunmoochin, on a lawn without a blade of grass - just leaves and twigs. There was also a bit of sprinting involved as if a ball was seen to be heading for the boundary it had to be chased as it would only roll miles down the hill or even worse, into a rabbit hole. We also played boules in a pit of leaves and twigs where I managed to retain my international title, won in Spain two years ago. There is also a great swimming pool at Dunmoochin that has the bottom half of a huge slide. A few years ago, when one of the founding artists, Clifford Pugh lived here, the slide started at his bedroom window and he'd shoot down into the water first thing every day. Unfortunately his house burnt down a few years ago taking the top half of the slide with it, but it's still good to climb up, pour a bucket of water over your head and plunge into the refreshing water.
We visited the St Andrews Twilight Market up in the hills one evening which was a surreal experience - all lanterns, didgeridoo's and flowers-in-your-hair with delicious hot chocolate which we enjoyed whilst sitting on cushions in a tent. We also went rollerblading - well Sally, Ali and Marc did. A merciful assistant saw my plight in just getting up from my chair and took me off to tighten the nuts on the skates to increase the resistance so that they would not 'run-off' so easily. He suggested that I try five minutes practice on the carpet to start before getting on the rink which I did, very gingerly (Marc thought I was heading for the door) before I joined the other skaters that were whizzing round with big smiles on their faces. I managed one circuit of the rink, clinging to the side like a limpet before I decided that I didn't want a broken leg for Christmas and gave it up while I was still in one piece.
We spent a very pleasant afternoon wine-tasting at the RedBox winery just a couple of miles from home. We enjoyed a variety of fine red wine and champagne (with none of this spitting-out into a bucket business) with a platter of fruit and fine cheeses and somehow it just seemed to get more relaxed as the afternoon wore on. It was in the loo at RedBox that we met Albert. Albert was a great big hairy Huntsman spider - about 4 inches in diameter and he had taken residence on the wall right behind the loo a few weeks ago. It was a very hasty visit, keeping my eyes firmly fixed on the wall behind me throughout the proceedings.
Back in the city, and in keeping with true Melburnian tradition, we pressed our noses up against the Christmas windows of Myers Department Store one evening along with dozens of other excited children to see this years' animated story and on our last night with our friends, we went to the outdoor music bowl to sing along to Carols by Candlelight which is broadcast all over Australia on TV. The show started at 9.00pm and we arrived at 6, got the last visible patch of grass and sat down amongst a sea of santa hats and candles to a fantastic picnic that Ali had packed. We sang all the traditional favourites and bopped along to All I Want for Christmas is You and Sally gave us Christmas gifts and stockings filled with Aussie chocolate coins! It was a great night which ended at midnight with spectacular fireworks when we left Sally, Ali and Simon at Flinders Street station and caught a train to meet Eifion, Marc's first cousin (once removed!) for the first time who took us home for tea and mince pies before we telephoned home to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
We brought absolutely awful weather with us, the most torrential downpours with very rumbly thunder and lightning but this had its advantages as the water supply at Dunmoochin is rainwater only and with the severe drought out here, our daily showers which were limited to 2 minutes at the start of the week, were promoted to 4 minutes by the end, as the water-tanks were full. But this was Christmas and nothing was going to dampen our spirits!
Inbetween the downpours, we went for walks in the bush and saw huge mobs of kangaroos, sometimes up to 50 of them in a clearing. They would be grazing at first, then after spotting us, they would stand on their hind legs and check us out for a while before bouncing off gracefully, as if in slowmotion. They are truly beautiful creatures. We went possum spotting in the trees at night, then in the day we would hand-feed the Laughing Kookaburra birds that would congregate outside the house, screeching for bits of cheese which they would swoop down and take from our hands.
I got to play my first ever game of croquet at Dunmoochin, on a lawn without a blade of grass - just leaves and twigs. There was also a bit of sprinting involved as if a ball was seen to be heading for the boundary it had to be chased as it would only roll miles down the hill or even worse, into a rabbit hole. We also played boules in a pit of leaves and twigs where I managed to retain my international title, won in Spain two years ago. There is also a great swimming pool at Dunmoochin that has the bottom half of a huge slide. A few years ago, when one of the founding artists, Clifford Pugh lived here, the slide started at his bedroom window and he'd shoot down into the water first thing every day. Unfortunately his house burnt down a few years ago taking the top half of the slide with it, but it's still good to climb up, pour a bucket of water over your head and plunge into the refreshing water.
We visited the St Andrews Twilight Market up in the hills one evening which was a surreal experience - all lanterns, didgeridoo's and flowers-in-your-hair with delicious hot chocolate which we enjoyed whilst sitting on cushions in a tent. We also went rollerblading - well Sally, Ali and Marc did. A merciful assistant saw my plight in just getting up from my chair and took me off to tighten the nuts on the skates to increase the resistance so that they would not 'run-off' so easily. He suggested that I try five minutes practice on the carpet to start before getting on the rink which I did, very gingerly (Marc thought I was heading for the door) before I joined the other skaters that were whizzing round with big smiles on their faces. I managed one circuit of the rink, clinging to the side like a limpet before I decided that I didn't want a broken leg for Christmas and gave it up while I was still in one piece.
We spent a very pleasant afternoon wine-tasting at the RedBox winery just a couple of miles from home. We enjoyed a variety of fine red wine and champagne (with none of this spitting-out into a bucket business) with a platter of fruit and fine cheeses and somehow it just seemed to get more relaxed as the afternoon wore on. It was in the loo at RedBox that we met Albert. Albert was a great big hairy Huntsman spider - about 4 inches in diameter and he had taken residence on the wall right behind the loo a few weeks ago. It was a very hasty visit, keeping my eyes firmly fixed on the wall behind me throughout the proceedings.
Back in the city, and in keeping with true Melburnian tradition, we pressed our noses up against the Christmas windows of Myers Department Store one evening along with dozens of other excited children to see this years' animated story and on our last night with our friends, we went to the outdoor music bowl to sing along to Carols by Candlelight which is broadcast all over Australia on TV. The show started at 9.00pm and we arrived at 6, got the last visible patch of grass and sat down amongst a sea of santa hats and candles to a fantastic picnic that Ali had packed. We sang all the traditional favourites and bopped along to All I Want for Christmas is You and Sally gave us Christmas gifts and stockings filled with Aussie chocolate coins! It was a great night which ended at midnight with spectacular fireworks when we left Sally, Ali and Simon at Flinders Street station and caught a train to meet Eifion, Marc's first cousin (once removed!) for the first time who took us home for tea and mince pies before we telephoned home to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
STREWTH - WE'RE IN OZ
We touched down in Sydney at 6.30am having had no kip on the aeroplane as there was a woman sat next to me that seemed to think that she'd paid for half my seat also. As we were too early to check in, we crashed out in the TV lounge of our hostel until lunchtime then hauled ourselves into the shower and out into the most white and shimmering sunlight I've ever seen. It was so intense that within half an hour, I had a nose to rival Rudolph. The hostel was ideally located in the middle of the city and we wandered across to Darling Harbour, the Chinese Garden and of course, the piece de resistance - Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) and the famous Harbour Bridge, or the Coathanger as its known here, and the Opera House.
The Harbour Bridge was far more imposing and impressive that we'd expected. We walked under it, then across it but didn't climb it as we decided that we could do quite a lot with the
400AUD it would have cost us to be breathalysed, take a sanity test, be togged-up like Bob the Builder and trussed like a turkey before climbing to the top and wishing that maybe we should have told the truth in the sanity test a couple of hours earlier. In contrast, the Opera House didn't have the wow factor that I'd expected and it looks better from a distance. Close-up, it's just a big (and dare I say it, teeny weeny bit shabby) tile job of millions of tiny white mosaic tiles that must have been murder to space evenly and grout. Bryn Terfel wasn't at home either which put the tin-hat on it. We ambled back to the hostel through the lovely Botanic Gardens, where the public are invited to walk all over the grass and to hug the trees, surrounded by exotic blooms and delicious scents. A lovely end to the day.
On our second day we took Jan's recommendation and caught a ferry to Manly beach. Black clouds were gathering as we boarded and by the time we got there, a nice steady drizzle was falling - the type that sticks and gets you really wet. We watched some beach volleyball in the rain (Marc was mesmerised by the volleyball/wet t-shirt combo) but it stopped raining long enough for us to join the other dozens of day-trippers eating fish and chips on the prom, which apparently is compulsory here. By now it was coming down in sheets and we were rained-off onto an early ferry back to the city. We decided that the best thing we could do for the rest of the afternoon was to use our public transport passes to see the city on the Sydney Explorer bus. This is a bus that tourists can hop-on and hop off freely during the day to visit the sights, but there was no hopping anywhere for us and we sat there for the whole 2 hour loop enjoying the trip, wacky commentary and seeing people like drowned rats outside.
Day three was a trip to another beach - the famous Bondi Beach which looked exactly like it does on the tin. It was glorious, except for the wind which whipped sand across the beach, exfoliating our ankles. We left our bag on the beach to go swimming and by the time I came out of the water 5 minutes later (bad experience on a surf beach many years ago which resulted in me being deposited, spreadeagled on the shore by a huge wave), our bag was part buried by the blowing sand. There were hundreds of surfers, swimmers and sun worshippers on Bondi when we arrived but they scattered and disappeared in an instant when it started to rain again. This time we used our travel pass to go on the Bondi Explorer which took in some other famous beaches around Sydney and some very expensive and exclusive residential areas, which I'm sure were delighted to have a great big bus full of gawping tourists driving through every hour.
Our last day in Sydney this time round was spent with two 'Aberinians', who we met for a 'pre-Christmas sherry'. Elfyn and Siwan have been globe-trotting for nearly two years and we had a great day - eating, drinking, catching up and chatting a lot. I'm afraid that this is the spot where we 'dob-in' Elfyn and Siw. Their travel blog says that they are still in Broome, but we now know different and there is no longer a hiding place. Get that blog going again - you can't pretend anymore. We'll see you guys in New Zealand in February.
Later that night, we boarded an overnight bus to Melbourne, where friends and 'rellies' that we'd never met before would put us up and put up with us over Christmas and New Year. The bus had a big metal mesh sheet covering the bottom part of the windscreen which protects the bus from poor old kangaroos that leap out in front of traffic in the night. This is such a common occurrence that they have patrol vans in the morning that scoop up the previous night's casualties off the road. We had the front two seats in the bus and I was really hoping that my first sighting of a kangaroo wouldn't be one that had been sieved through the mesh onto the windscreen in front of me. Thankfully it wasn't.
p.s. At 11.00am this morning, I loaded up the Greenwich Meantime webpage and counted in your New Year along with you.
The Harbour Bridge was far more imposing and impressive that we'd expected. We walked under it, then across it but didn't climb it as we decided that we could do quite a lot with the
400AUD it would have cost us to be breathalysed, take a sanity test, be togged-up like Bob the Builder and trussed like a turkey before climbing to the top and wishing that maybe we should have told the truth in the sanity test a couple of hours earlier. In contrast, the Opera House didn't have the wow factor that I'd expected and it looks better from a distance. Close-up, it's just a big (and dare I say it, teeny weeny bit shabby) tile job of millions of tiny white mosaic tiles that must have been murder to space evenly and grout. Bryn Terfel wasn't at home either which put the tin-hat on it. We ambled back to the hostel through the lovely Botanic Gardens, where the public are invited to walk all over the grass and to hug the trees, surrounded by exotic blooms and delicious scents. A lovely end to the day.
On our second day we took Jan's recommendation and caught a ferry to Manly beach. Black clouds were gathering as we boarded and by the time we got there, a nice steady drizzle was falling - the type that sticks and gets you really wet. We watched some beach volleyball in the rain (Marc was mesmerised by the volleyball/wet t-shirt combo) but it stopped raining long enough for us to join the other dozens of day-trippers eating fish and chips on the prom, which apparently is compulsory here. By now it was coming down in sheets and we were rained-off onto an early ferry back to the city. We decided that the best thing we could do for the rest of the afternoon was to use our public transport passes to see the city on the Sydney Explorer bus. This is a bus that tourists can hop-on and hop off freely during the day to visit the sights, but there was no hopping anywhere for us and we sat there for the whole 2 hour loop enjoying the trip, wacky commentary and seeing people like drowned rats outside.
Day three was a trip to another beach - the famous Bondi Beach which looked exactly like it does on the tin. It was glorious, except for the wind which whipped sand across the beach, exfoliating our ankles. We left our bag on the beach to go swimming and by the time I came out of the water 5 minutes later (bad experience on a surf beach many years ago which resulted in me being deposited, spreadeagled on the shore by a huge wave), our bag was part buried by the blowing sand. There were hundreds of surfers, swimmers and sun worshippers on Bondi when we arrived but they scattered and disappeared in an instant when it started to rain again. This time we used our travel pass to go on the Bondi Explorer which took in some other famous beaches around Sydney and some very expensive and exclusive residential areas, which I'm sure were delighted to have a great big bus full of gawping tourists driving through every hour.
Our last day in Sydney this time round was spent with two 'Aberinians', who we met for a 'pre-Christmas sherry'. Elfyn and Siwan have been globe-trotting for nearly two years and we had a great day - eating, drinking, catching up and chatting a lot. I'm afraid that this is the spot where we 'dob-in' Elfyn and Siw. Their travel blog says that they are still in Broome, but we now know different and there is no longer a hiding place. Get that blog going again - you can't pretend anymore. We'll see you guys in New Zealand in February.
Later that night, we boarded an overnight bus to Melbourne, where friends and 'rellies' that we'd never met before would put us up and put up with us over Christmas and New Year. The bus had a big metal mesh sheet covering the bottom part of the windscreen which protects the bus from poor old kangaroos that leap out in front of traffic in the night. This is such a common occurrence that they have patrol vans in the morning that scoop up the previous night's casualties off the road. We had the front two seats in the bus and I was really hoping that my first sighting of a kangaroo wouldn't be one that had been sieved through the mesh onto the windscreen in front of me. Thankfully it wasn't.
p.s. At 11.00am this morning, I loaded up the Greenwich Meantime webpage and counted in your New Year along with you.
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