Mon 1st Jul - Pre Wilf's B'Day

All up freshish.
Wayne managed to slash his face with a razor - err that would be a little nick.

The little pink penguin that appeared with me yesterday is helping.... we're well I hope it's not packed full of drugs.



OK other interesting facts on Australia:

Vodafone is rubbish coverage apparently. Bad to the point that if you go home and there's poor coverage they'll refund you - but at $1 for as long as you like calling home it's pretty bloomin amazing & we're only really staying pretty central so network is fine fine fine.

In Perth there's no competition on utilities. In Melbourne there is and you can save shed loads swapping around.

Broadband/Wi-fi. Aint good at all. Cause the providers stand no chance of making any money if they take on the infrastructure upgrading it's fallen to the government (which ever one that is today), and it's pretty ropey anyways - no BT Infinity here!

Right shutting down now, off to Sydney and another world of fun. We're in the center very near the four seasons & Circlular thingy Quay so that should be really good & with Wilf's Bday, Brad, Pippa family and Vince to catch up with, Sam and Donna, Rugby legends game and a silly test match on Saturday should be a fun packed week.
Laters

Oops, malc just sent these....

Ok so arrived in Sydney we're staying very centrally and looking forward to a great week.

this evening beers on Gullivers, the chaps arranging the tour & also present Steve Thompson, mr Guscott sir and Colin Charvis.

we forgot to eat.....

Sun 30th June - AFL day

Right no more moping around.
Today is meet up with Emily (was Marketing Director at Long Tall Sally before heading back home to Aus), try not to shock her with the mass band of Port Talbot/Sutts chaps and then head to the MCG to watch some AFL (Assie rules).
Now we all know the rules to Aussie rules..... there are none! Well that's not entirely true there are many rules, but no-one actually knows what they really are. Like women and the off side rule........ errr apologies to anyone who might actually know it, but I challenge you!

Ahhh - so I haven't been very good today with the piccies.
Emily took me down to St Kilda beach and we went for a wander before fish and chips looking out to sea. Great to meet up again and put the world to rights & finding more and more our about the differences between UK and Aussietralia. Thanks Em for the tour and lunch, see you soon.

56k people turned up and the MCG was only just over half full, $20 for a ticket pretty impressive and sit anywhere - well anywhere in certain sections, I think....

OK so my piccie taking is getting worse I admit!

Went for a Chinese in Chinatown with Shane Williams - the little Welsh Wizard - he had special fried rice - the rest of the group weren't impressed, errr not by his choice of food as special fried rice is very nice, although I prefer Keema rice but that would be at an Indian.

OK the Singy woman from last night has arrived in the bar so it's defo ni nite time.
Sydney tomorrow and the last leg of the tour.
COME ON THE LIONS!!!

MATCH DAY 2.... Tension rising.....

It's raining! It always rains in Australia!

Just to say - bumsie. That was slightly, just very slightly disappointing..... Ho well, lets see if I can fill in the blanks from yesterday.

Did our stuff
Off into Melbourne
Nice walk along river
Found a river front bar - still amazing how much the beer is!
Met up with people
You can get fresh water crayfish
Went to the game
Came back
Sang a bit
Beddiebies
Done


Right the day in piccies.
This pink penguin appeared on my baggage..... go explain?!?!?!? No-one has admitted to it & there's no camera...

Can you see it now? (no more Rolf comments I promise..... ) I entitle this one Lion in waiting.....

 Sam arrived (ish) yesterday - he loves his phone

 You would see just red here....

That's better!

 And the arty farty one

BTW Malc says I forgot to say the Lions lost.... like you all didn't know that! Ba

Thurs 27th/Fri 28th - Melbourne

Thursday was spent travelling from Cairns to Melbourne via Sydney.

First flight extra leg room - never had that before, bloody marvelous. Second flight near the front which was also pretty good. The same Quantas planes and the best been in so far, decent entertainment systems especially if you know how to use the headphones.... not saying anything specifically Malc but honestly...
Wilf getting on the plane


Have I told you about the Master/servant relationship that got decided without my input. I am Wilf's butler for the trip, named Baxter NOT baldrick.... Wayne is tasked with looking after Malc and took Jeeves as his butlering name.

Got to our new abode Bayview on the Park by a reasonabubble 4ish and went off to the Gullivers big pub in the evening. Now big pub basically means loads of people and some free food and drink and some rugger chaps from days gone by.

Wayne with Scott Gibbs (THE REAL SCOTT GIBBS!!!!!!) and Steve Thompson who is stupidly tall for a hooker, no wonder he kept breaking his neck.

 
 Malc, Wilf, Rachel and Wayne. Rachel is the Gullivers tour rep who has been having all the fun with the party splits etc etc

 Wayne talking to the back of Jim Rosenthall

Friday
Fantastic nights sleep!!!!! A double bed!!!!!!

Nice wander into Melbourne this morning, 4k odd, with Wilf and Tony. Little bit of shopping and tram back. So Melbourne is looking like being my fav city so far. I was accosted by a beggar who called me an Asian Hippy????? Wilf seems to think it could have been Asian hippy....

Queue for brekkie - you can see the entrance in the distance - and I was lucky to have already scoffed.

 Freddo the frog choccies!!!! Amazing!!!!! (for the parents)

 A gun in front of a building

 Wilf and Tony. A delivery chap did stop and shield his eyes complaining of glare from Wilfs legs! Damn cheek.

 Wilf on a bridge - anyone from Old Sutts would understand the significance!

In a shopping centre in Melbourne....... IN A SHOPPING CENTRE!!! They do go a little crazy on the roofs round here.

 right off to St Kilda this arvo.

Well there was an afternoon - this would be Malc in the curry house at around midnight. Nuff said.

Wed 26th - Is that a Koala in your pocket?

Well..... what a lovely day rounded off with the State of Origin game and some good old Aussie fare.

We went on the Skyride and visited.... errr a villiage and went to Koala world and there's a nice pressie for Mrs W.

Oh OK a little more detail.
Washing started the day, Wilf and Tim's use of the facilities - although Ginger and Tony had been up for hours and had finished by the time we started at 7ish. Now this is a proper Rugby tour - clean cloths!!!!
Nice breakie and 8:45 off to the Skyride taking us 7.5 km up and across rain forest and stuff. Now this would normally be a fascinating ride with superb views, however slightly different today as I was sharing a pod with Wayne who has a slight phobia about swinging free above the trees.... when we stopped it got quite exciting for a while!

So the town at the end was indeed touristy, but not ridiculously so.

OMG!!!!!! how could I forget the real news.... Our group split!!!!!!
Turns our some of the party wasn;t happy with the Cairns Colonial Resort Hotel and by the time I arrived had been popped somewhere else in Cairns!!!!!!
On of them was Zoe, her and boyfriend trump me as being the youngest in our party. Now is that a familiar face? Well it appears we have a Z-list celebrity in the group:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/series7/zoe-beresford.shtml
Oh and Tony lost his passport when he arrived in Cairns.
Oh and a update or more of a correction.... Wilf didn't get caught up in the re-booking fiasco in Sydney.... he just wanted to let you all know....

Could be going into Wifi hell again - but some piccies to keep you going

 Wilf in his natural habitat

 Tony on train

 Caged Lion....

 Sleeping beauties

 Spooooooky....

 Let me out!!!!!

Oh Tony's passport was returned

Tues 25th - Off to Cairns

OOOOOoooooooo I like flying!

So up at sparrows fart with the Marks clan and dropped off on the school run at the station.

Must thank Gary and Lynn for putting me up. I thoughtfully had brought a gift with me.... my washing. Doh what a bad Uncle. Both the guys took the day off work yesterday even with Lynn and kids buggering off to SA at the end of the week. Thank you so much Markses and see you in 2016 if not before.

Right back to the train. 8am to Perth, train packed.... felt like home..... AND RAIN AGAIN. why train and not taxi? well I had a few hours to kill and very much wanted to test out the public transport. Off at Perth approx 8:40 then bus to airport. Well the bus arrived at 9:10 and got to the airport at about 10:00 after going round ALL the houses. My message to Perth is to wake up and get someway of getting from the airport to town easily! It should only take 10 mins. Silly city planners, Wilf wouldn't have let it happen....

So I'm typing, guess where I am? Quantas lounge. The guys here haven;t really heard about the Lions and Rugby so my Guilivers lounge pass was greated with some confusion but accepted nevertheless.

Another observation of Perth.
There are shed loads of British and South Africans.
Loads.
I suspect the Aussies are outnumbered.
So.... Rugby Union stands a chance of taking over from AFL (Aussie footie)..... maybe!


Btw it's a mid-week game today so Lynn's gone into work wearing her Welsh shirt to show solidarity with the Lions! (the chap waving is Shane) Good luck Australia......

Arrived in Cairns latish. Got off plane at 10:10 and met the chaps after having booked into the hotel by 11:10 in the Rattle an Hum on Cairns Esplanade.A couple of welcome back drinks and off to a well deserved rest.

Mon 24th - Perth

So the day was planned.
Btw it allllllllways rains in Perth....

Anyone giving you the spin of good weather I just wouldn't Adam and Eve it, proof above the Marks pool.

The Marks clan is completed by the kids, Shane and Meghan who I once babysat for an evening - third time of asking for some reason Gary and Lynn always cancelled their evening out - anyone would think they didn't trust me.... The kids must have been sat in manure for the last x years as their almost taller than their parents now aged 12 and 14.

Anyways orf to Perth central via the coast road.
Stood on a beach

Had a walk round the park

Took in the sights of Perth

Nearly destroyed the bridge

Then had a cheeky beer or two....

Well we got a burger at fast eddies which was most excellent, and toured a few of the cultural establishments in the city before heading out to Gary's local patch for sundowners

and then a most excellent boerewors roll and off to Gazza's new local just to check out the locals. Anyone on facebook will have seen the trail.

Picture below for Malcolm - brewery with a fabulous view! (The Swan Brewery) (We also visited the Squires brewery and Indian Ocean Brewing company)

Perth is forever growing, so much building, houses, offices and roads both inside and outside the city. Where the Mark's live used to be the end of the line, now it extends out for miles and miles. Amazing how things are changing.

Sun 23rd - Off to Perth

Up nice a early and off to meet up with the Marks clan in rainy Perth.

In the Quantas lounge and have a solid Wifi connection. You CANNOT believe how weird it is not knowing what's going on out there. Wifi is gooooood.

Flight spent in and out of consciousness, only near 6 hours so a hop and a jump.
Now Quantas domestic have an interesting entertainment system, Ipads in every seat.... which stream their programs after take off. Wasn't impressed with the movie selection, would have meant thinking or re-watching what I'd already seen, so nearly ended up with the UK top gear James Bond special... I chose sleep...... well in an out of conciousness.

Perth arrived and Gazza and Lynn were there to meet me, my hosts for the next two nights.
Garry I used to work with at Innovations about 20 years ago, Lyndows was also there and much fun was had whilst all joints worked. The guys emigrated to Aus approx 8 years ago and we've seen them a couple of times since, but not in their own home town.

So back to chez Markses and with an extra 2 hours to the day and a Potjie (Poickie) (a stew type concoction cocked in a cauldron)(by Gary also)(and it was pretty good) and several beers, and good company and lack of sleep, I was ready for bed at 9.... thank fully saved the embarrassment when Damien one of their neighbours popped in and kept the flow going to around the witching hour.

Ready for the cultural tour tomorrow.

MATCH 1 DAY

Well who were a bunch of excited little Lions?
Match starts at 8pm.....
We started with a little shopping including the purchase of some Aussie phones..... OMG it's like going back to the dark ages, no touch screen, tapping 4 times for a letter s, the Old days.
Malcolm spotted this understated Aussie advertising.

OK so after Malcolm was interviewed for channel 10, the day pretty much went as expected - although cider being the chosen drink wasn't necessarily what I'd have guessed.
Right some random piccies, but will try to do some explanation.
Samsung S4 is an awesome phone - look at it's capabilities.....

 An intro to three of the chaps on tour.
Left Malcolm - Old Sutt
Middle Wayne - Port Talbot
Right Wilf - Old Sutt
Wayne knows everyone! Although that wouldn't be difficult, I don;t think there's anyone left in Wales.

 I felt hungry

 So did a Lion

And to my left... is Ginger - Port Talbot. He's called ginger cause..... err well isn't it obvious?

 I took one piccie of the match.
It was pretty amazing.
The whole build up was amazing - soooo many red shirts.
The match was pretty amazing - soooo many red shirts
The result was pretty amazing - soooo many red shirts
The referee was ama.... errr a....... (put that in for Malc and Wilf!)
I've never felt so ill at a Rugby match and not due to the cider/squid combination from the 8 hours earlier. When Mr Beal put down his pint and stepped up to miss that last penalty there 25,000 people dressed in red    who went through nearly every bloomin emotion imaginable.
Phew.
1-0
On to Melbourne

Well I say that, but of course our adventures continue taking us to alternate locations.

Late and back at the hotel bar started talking to the British Consol General based in Sydney.....of course I didn't realise who he was and had slightly confused hearing - but put it all together in the end. He watched the match as the guest of the president of Suncorp (it was played at the Suncorp stadium), how the other half live!! It was quite amazing Ginger politely forcing him to have a drink.

https://www.gov.uk/government/people/nick-mcinnes

Right last name drop of the day. Gareth Chilcott - mate of Malc and of course Wayne.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Chilcott

Tired bunnies all.
Night (although I am typing this the next day of course)

Fri 21st australia!!!

Made it to Sydney.
plane slightly delayed and Australian poor airport organisation meant we all missed the Brisbane connection.
Currently installed in the Quantas lounge waiting for the 1.40 flight.... hey ho.
WE SAW ALF FROM HOME AND AWAY!!!!

Eventually we reach Brisbane.

I happened to be on a different plane to my chaps and on installation in hotel went to find Mr Wilf at the local Irish pub.... THERE ARE ONLY IRISH BARS IN BRISBANE!!!! (might be an overeggsaturation but not far orf). Had a little wander before meeting up with everyone for intro's etc.

Malcolm's bag went missing, but turned up a few hours later. Phew.

At some point we were in another Irish club & some bagpipers struck up a nice little ditty.... why wouldn't they?

 Early to bed.
Jet thingy.
Match day ahead.....