The East Coast Adventure Begins - Victoria!

I took the appropriately termed "red-eye" flight from Perth to Melbourne which seemed like a good idea at the time of booking but as it left at 11.30pm on Sunday 26/02/06 - and arrived at 6am in Melbourne on Monday 27/02/06 it was anything but pleasant as Victoria is 3 hours ahead of Perth so it was more like 2 am to me.

Its my second day in Melbourne and it seems like a really nice city, lots to see, do, drink and then probably spew. It seems alot like London. The way it looks and feels is very similar. With plans to buy a car as soon as possible, check out the Great Ocean Road and then make my way up to Sydney - the East Coast Adventure has begun!! Watch this space... for more regularly updated news (promise). You may already have noticed that I am now putting text links to my pictures as the previous format just takes too long!!)

Down south in W.A.

Having exhausted Perth and Fremantle for what they have to offer, I decided to follow everyones recommendations and head South. In the end I decided to hire a car, which was the best idea as everywhere is relatively close together if you have your own transport but a nightmare if you don't. Something like 90 per cent of the population of Western Australia (the largest state by double all the others) live in Perth. So going down south is ultra quiet and pretty much ultra deserted. However the area has alot to offer as far as beaches and wineries go. My main plan was to go down to Margaret River to experience some of the best surf breaks that Australia has to offer and then go to a few of the tourist attractions down there, and being a bit of a wine connoisseur since my days working the wine aisle in Tesco's (um... yeah ok) I was also keen to check a wine tour or two out :-) . The car I had rented was a brand new Toyota Sedan, 1.8 automatic, air con and CD player , and it made the trip down ultra pleasant. On the way down I had a massive emu jump out in front of the car as I was driving through one of the natural parks which was pretty surreal, not something that you seen back in Bucks. I fortunately didn't hit it and kept my $400 dollar damage excess intact. My first stop was Dunsborough where I decided to spend my first night. The place was dead with 3 old guys in the local pub but it did have this really cool shelter thing by the bay which I thought was about the only cool thing . This was actually my first hostel of the trip and my guide book described it as "spartan" which was an eloquent way of saying dead. I think there were about 3 people in the whole hostel. I did meet a nice Dutch/American girl who worked there as I was leaving the next morning (annoyingly!!). I then made the short drive over to Yallingup , famous for its surfing break and also home to one of my favorite surfers Taj Burrow (unfortunately Taj wasn't it the line up that morning). It was a nice spot but again very quiet. If you lived here you would be bound to be a good surfer as it seems there is bugger all else to do. I visited a few breweries (unless its a wheat beer they all taste the same over here) on my way down Caves Road to Margaret River. When I arrived in Margaret River I did the done thing and went straight to a spot called "Mainbreak"/Surfers Point which is the famous surf point here and where they used to hold a round of the World Championship Tour. Some of the biggest waves outside of Hawaii have apparently been seen here. Everything is bigger, heavier and more dangerous that many other spots I have ever seen so I decided to go and get a refresher surf lesson from a local shop. It turned out they didn't have any group lessons so the guy did me a deal on a 2 hour private lesson. Next morning at 8.30 am I went surfing with the coach, Dave, and had the best time. As it was only us I could start at the level I was already at and progressed much quicker that I could have expected. I spent the next couple of days totally stoked in the water, using copious amounts of the trusty white zinc cream on my face to avoid another episode of burning my face off, which I only semi succeeded at. There are so many top beaches and surf breaks here littered all along the coast for about 200 km's.

The next day I went on the "Wine for Dudes" wine tour in Margaret River. Its aimed at people my age and not a bunch of old's who want to buy crates of the stuff so it was a great atmosphere from the start. We stopped at four wineries over the day and tried everything they had to offer. You've not been to Margaret River unless you've got a shot of the vines, so here's mine . During lunch I asked Kat our "tour guide" how easy it was to get work in a winery and when she said she could sort it out for me, I seriously spent a few moments considering it (I could surf in the mornings and afternoons and then work during the day I thought) but I decided it was more of a future option as I really need to get myself round and see the rest of Australia. After another days surf it was time to move further south to Augusta, which is ultra quiet, full of fishermen and it is close to Cape Leuwin which is the most southern point of Australia. It is here where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet . That evening I met two other british travelers Jem and Chris in the hostel I was staying at. After realising that they were wanting to do the same thing as me over my final two days we embarked on a fairly mammoth road trip back to Perth. With only two days until my car had to be returned in Perth, we had alot of distance to travel. So early next morning we set off with the objective of reaching Albany that evening. First stop was the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse (the only real reason was to get a photo at the famous sign where the Southern and Indian oceans meet), then the Jewel Cave (one of a series of natural underground caves just south of Margaret River , home to one of the longest hanging stalactites in the world or something.., it was pretty interesting though ) then we made the mammoth journey over to Pemberton to the Glouster Tree (didn't have time to climb it but here is me standing in front of it ) then we finally made it over to Walpole to the Valley of the Giants Tree Top walk. The girl I was sitting next to on my flight over to Perth rated it as THE thing to do in W.A. so we thought it was worth a stop. Basically you walk at tree top level (40 meters up) along a suspended walkway in this giant national park forrest. It is pretty amazing and the views are awesome . After you finish you walk past loads of giant trees where the centre had been burnt out in bushfires, meaning you can get in them - and even walk through them . We spent about 20 minutes trying to to get the "deepest in a tree" picture we could find (being careful to avoid the Redbacks) and just generally broke all the rules . Brit's abroad and all!!

After another brief stop at Ocean Beach in Denmark on the way (pretty nice hey), we had finally made it to Albany after around 5 hours total at the wheel and a day of full-on sight seeing. We stayed for the night here before the 5 hour drive back to Perth. Albany again is pretty dead even though it is the second biggest town in Western Australia, again full of bloody fishermen. But we still managed to fill the jukebox in the local bar that night with a load of rock and punk songs that got the pissed old boy locals grovin'. Next morning we made the brief foray down to Albany's main attractions the Natural Bridge , the Gap and the Blowholes. Risking death to bring you these photos you can just spot Chris and I on the bridge if you look hard enough . After a long walk in 39 degree heat to the natural blowholes, the only natural blowhole that was firing that morning was Chris's. However there is some pretty stunning coastline down there to be seen. Its pretty cool . The next thing off the coast from here is Antarctica ! Its

As we made our way up the largely deserted bush Albany highway all the way to Perth, tanking it along wanting to make what is a 5 hour journey as short as possible, I got clocked doing 150 kph (97.3 mph) in a 110 kph (70 mph) limit by a police car coming towards me. After being pulled over, the next 10 minutes were spent praying that the cop didn't arrest me as he was threatening. I think if I had been Australian I would have indeed been behind bars for dangerous driving. Instead he slapped me with a $250 (£110) fine which I have not yet paid and am in a moral predicament whether to or not (as I am now in Victoria - a totally different state). All the cars I had been overtaking were probably cracking up as they caught me up to see me sidelined by the law, the other two found the whole situation equally hilarious. By the end of the trip, as we approached Perth I had driven 1,550 km's over about 5 days. It was good to be back, but it was time to move on to Melbourne. However in between arriving back in Perth and leaving for Melbourne, all hell broke loose as Fiona (who I was staying with) was evicted from the gallery she owned and managed thanks to a stupid landlord. So I spent two days helping move out (more heavy manual labour) which was not something that I was expecting, but I was glad I could help.

Rottnest Island - 14/02/06

Situated 18 km's from the mainland of Perth, the beaches around Rottenest Island ("Rotto" to the locals) are like paradise. The day I went it was 39 degrees and the only real way to see the island is by bike as cars aren't allowed. The bike I hired to get around the 25km sized island was firstly running without functional breaks or the ability to change gear easily. I decided to set off and explore the whole island before I got settled in one particular spot, hating the idea of not knowing what was just round the corner, so off I buzzed overtaking every other cyclist on the road, however I realised quite quickly that it was alot larger to get around than I had anticipated and coupled with the 39 degree heat every slight hill in the road soon felt like the alps. Stopping off on my way round there are just bay after bay of pristine white sand and blue water beaches, as you can see from the photos. I also saw a few decent waves also just off the south of the island . Once I had made it the entire way round, I then decided to check out the middle of the island, which was nothing on the beaches so I went back to find one to chill on. This basically meant that by the end of the day when I caught the ferry back to Fremantle, I had effectively cycled the entire island twice - most people don't make it round once - difficulty walking was experienced the next day, but I slept well that night! Apart from the beaches the island is home to a unique species the "Quokka" which is a big mouse/rat thing and they can grow to be surprisingly massive. Cycling along I spotted a whole bunch of them so stopped to get a photo. Instead of me going to them, this Quokka starts coming towards me, it came so close to me that I thought it was going to start knoring at my leg so I jumped off my bike and it just kept following me. After I put my backpack down it started sniffing at obviously wanting food. It then tried to eat my Ipod headphones. They are harmless and so tame and I got a couple of photos of it, they are really strange animals and totally unique to the island. I was laughing at a story Wozza later told me about when he was over there a couple of years back where they set up a row of cups, each with a different drink in. One with fizzy drink, one with water, one with beer, etc and one with Passion Pop (a cheap Australian sparkling wine that tastes of passion fruit, think Babysham and White Lightning. Think drink to get drunk not for its "vintage"). Anyway the Quokka went for the Passion Pop each time getting the cup stuck on its head in the process.

A week later, when I was down south of Perth, was the Rottnest Open Water Swim, which is the largest open water swim in the world. Basically it involves a bunch of nutters swimming from Cottesloe beach, Perth to Rottnest Island. Conditions were apparently really stormy this year and a load of people ended up in hospital as they couldn't make the 5 - 6 hours to swim!

Goodtimes in W.A.

After recent calls for less tourist spots and more booze, birds (looking scared?) and spew - please read on (sorry Gran!!)

Living life in W.A. for a month has basically been beach, barbies and booze. I was stoked to be invited to Kate's boyfriend Steve's 21st birthday, probably my biggest night out ('cos all the booze was free!). The yard glass made an appearance or two. A good time was had by all including the drunken debates on the English on the way home (what is the national animal of the UK again??...)

One photo which I neglected to add for fear of the law on obscenity is Josh's Australia Day morning glory shot. He spends alot of time at Swanbourne (the local nudist beach) getting that "all over tan".

Wozza had his John Travola impression down after 5 attempts and 5 major finger burnings...

I have tried many new beers since arriving and at this point Tooheys Extra Dry and local brew to W.A: Redback are personal faves. Long hard slogs at the bar were put in to achieve this result . We also entered a pool competition with some bogans that evening too (and we all lost fortunately otherwise the guy Wozza played was gonna be using his cue in what is classified in not only the snooker world as illegal).

And here we have a classic Bagshaw barbie moment - steak a plenty!!

I have been staying right on Cottesloe beach in Perth and have seen a few pretty perfect sunsets . Nothing better than chilling on the beach after a long day, with a beer in one hand and Donavon Frankenreiter on the Ipod - totally mellow . Another thing you don't see back in Bucks!!

Perth - On the Tourist Trail

I have been so busy since the last post doing the general tourist thing and seeing most of the sights and attractions that Perth and Fremantle have to offer. Then forgetting most of what happened after 10 beers in the evening. First stop was Fremantle and these sights included the Fremantle prison, of which there are two. Firstly, the Roundhouse which is the oldest public building in the history of Western Australia and also where the original British convicts where housed when they were transported over. (pictures below)



And then the Fremantle Prison, which was still in use as recently as 1991. It too was built by the convicts themselves and it was quite weird seeing such a British influence on something so far away from the UK. Everywhere you looked you saw "Victoria Regina". There was also a display of aboriginal prisoner artwork and I broke the no photography rules just to bring you one of them (below). The original singer from AC/DC, Bon Scott also served time here! All in all pretty interesting but not a patch on the excitement of Alcatraz in San Francisco!







I also visited the Fremantle Arts Center museum which used to be the old mental asylum complete with original cell and padded walls. The museum also contains a full history on Fremantle and how the British founded it, overcame the aboriginal's and began transporting convicts over to be put to good use. I also visited the famous Fremantle Markets, chilled out with a long black (black coffee) at Gino's on the coffee strip (Gino bought the first coffee into Fremantle), had a lesson on how to play the didgeridoo (which isn't too hard... until you run out of breath) and also took what I thought was a plain old ferry ride from Perth City centre down the Swan River to Fremantle, but just as the blue rinse brigade boarded the vessel I realised it was actually a cruise aimed at the "older" tourist.




Perth city center isn't the greatest of worldwide city centers by any stretch of the imagination, but the Perth Mint with more gold on show than Mr T, its live gold pouring and the facility to discover your own weight in gold made it an interesting visit. My weight was $1.46 million, which by my expectations means I have lost a good few bucks in value since arriving. Interestingly, gold is also one of the few investments that actually increases in value when the stability of the economy is bleak. It was also cool to see the Sydney 2000 Olympic medals in real life, which were produced here. So it hasn't all been beer and surfing, I have been learning some stuff... see!

On Thursday 26th it was Australia's 218th birthday and on Australia day there are only two essential pieces of kit: a flag in one hand and and a beer in the other.




I have been to numerous pubs over the past fortnight and one piece of advice I would offer anyone coming to Perth is to avoid Northbridge in the evenings as it is a sh*t hole! Wall to wall cheesy clubs, stroppy bouncers and people giving attitude (although I can't complain as we got in everywhere without queuing and paying as the people I was with were connected. This guy Wazza who I met through Luke is the sort of mate everyone needs, he seems to know the whole of Perth which is awesome when you are out on the town at the weekend!)




On Friday evening (3rd Feb) we went to the Jack McCoy Billabong Surf Film Festival in Subiaco and saw the new Billabong flick called "Free As A Dog" about one of my favorite surfers Joel Parkinson. The best night out this week was on Saturday when we went to see the UK band, The Subways, who were over for the Big Day Out festival. They are getting really popular now back home but over here are relatively unknown so I got to see them in a venue the size of my living room. Got in for free too as I had won a competition earlier that week! They were absolutely rockin! The only major draw back was that I spent that evening (and the last 3 days) suffering from proper killer sunburn on my face from spending the 2 days previous down the beach in the water surfing. My checks and chin were so bad that I thought that I may have to go to a doctor the next day. As I sit and write this the lower half of my face is a large scab. After a bit of internet diagnosis it suggested I had between a 2nd and 3rd degree burn. Ouch!! I later found out that Western Australia particularly has some of the harshest and most extreme sun and UV rays on the planet (something which Buckinghamshire most definitely does not). Even using an SPF 30+ is classed as low here! I am genuinely worried that I may end up looking like Freddie Kruger for the rest of my life, which I am told by the others may be an improvement! So sympathetic are they that my new nickname is Tom-ato.

Apart from that I bizarrely spent last Monday (30th Jan) as an antique removal man. The last thing I was expecting coming to Oz was to be lifting a load of British antiques, and some of the (very few) small (and thus light) items wrapped in the Daily Star newspaper and Sainsbury's carrier bags! It was the last thing I was expecting to be doing and the hardest physical day of paid work in my life too... and all for 95 measly bucks! It turns out the guy who runs the shop regularly goes over to the UK to auctions and brings back 10 tonne containers with him in the process! Fortunately by the time the next one comes in I will be long gone...

I also wanted to see some Kangaroo's! So we went on a hunt at a golf course outside of Perth and to my amazement I couldn't believe how many we actually found. They are one of the funniest and weirdest animals you have ever seen. Even stranger when they are in the wild as opposed to a zoo.





I have also seen my first snake which I noticed right by my bare foot as I ate lunch near the beach on Saturday. I moved away pretty sharpish! It was brown (not good) and about 4 inches thick by 4 feet long, when I returned to the beach I was later told it was a Dugite which is "dangerously venomous". Even most of the Ozzies said they had never even been that close to a snake before, let alone a Dugite!

The general plan for the next week is to get over to Rottenest Island, before hiring a camper van and making it down south to Margret River in pursuit of some good waves. The weather has been an average of 35 degrees over the last few days and is damn hot, fortunately its a few degrees cooler at night.

John Butler Trio - 3 Times in 5 Days

Firstly, you may ask why? Why see the same band 3 times in a row? Seeing them in London in November was amazing and the tickets were reasonably priced so why not?

Anyway seeing the same band 3 times in 5 days was an interesting experience. Firstly because it makes you realise that although the songs are all the same (with the exception of the odd few) no two, or in this case three, shows are ever exactly the same. When you see a band who come to your hometown once in a year you normally only see them on the one night they are there and assume that all the other nights they play are the same. It was really interesting how the audience, venue and even day made a difference to the overall dynamic of the performance. All the gigs were outside which was brilliant (a major change from the stuffy, sweaty and dark holes in London), I managed to get some of the others to come along to two of them which wasn't difficult as they all love JBT over here. The first gig was at Fremantle Arts Centre. For this I was on the front row and got some great pictures of the sunset behind the stage where it turned the clouds an amazing red. It looks like a screen or backdrop but it was real! It was such an amazing sight and coupled with the music, a unique experience. It dawned on me then that, jeez!, I had actually made it to Australia and that I had many adventures ahead of me over these next 8 months.




The second gig was at Belvoir Amphitheater (picture below) which is quite a way outside of Perth. It fell on Australia day and most Aussies had been drinking all day (as is custom) and by the evening were totally wrecked, which meant that the evening was generally spent avoiding aggro and holding back from knocking out "Shane". On the way out we saw some fat dude totally passed out being stuffed into the back of a Ute. In a word carnage! Which was amazing as everyone there seemed wrecked but the venue was out in the sticks meaning getting home was only achievable via car. Consequently we took the alternative route home. The offshoot of this rowdiness was that when John Butler tried to get the crowd to be quiet so he could do a proper unplugged version of "Peaches and Cream" (a quiet acoustic track) with just one mic at the front of the stage, nobody would shut up and when they started shouting "Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie, Oi, Oi, Oi" he promptly abandoned it.



The final gig back at Fremantle Arts Center was an all ages show, meaning no bar and this effect on the crowd was markable. The crowd was so quiet and was actually listening to what they were being given. This gig was also the best musically and out of the three versions of "Ocean" (an amazing 10-12 minute solo instrumental) I heard, this nights was the best. It was so spectacular that it was emotional. This was also the final gig of the Australian tour which made it particularly special for them as well as the fact is was also the last for John Butlers sister who had been working and traveling with him for years. He bought her out onstage and at that point I realised it was the girl I had been pointing out to everyone on the merchandising stall as well fit! He then played one of his very early tracks "Sister".




I heard about 5 new songs over these 3 shows (many of which were the first ever public performances) and they were all really cool. So predictions point towards a very good next album!

The support act at each gig, Carus and The True Believers, are also well worth checking out. And we were also treated to an authentic Aboriginal didgeridoo, spoken word and dance performance from Richard Walley and the local aboriginal tribe - the Noongar people.