Tuesday – Star Log

We leave Port August at about 9am, its cold and raining. The highway way west has plenty of traffic, but don’t stop and walk in the paddock beside the road, it has a warning on the fence that the area is military and subject to live firing exercises. Convinced me to stay in the car. The Don is Nomad 2 chief pilot and doing a good job, new underwear and no emus or roos today, we hope.

We left turn and head south west down the Eyre Peninsula.

The first stop is Whyalla which has 23,000 people, but it’s a quiet town centre, looks like a smaller town centre than 23k. It’s industrial originally based on iron ore mined from the Middleback Ranges, I’m assuming these are the scared ranges just outside town which have a patterned environmental rehabilitation works on them. BHP then turned it from a port into a steel production business. Originally a BHP town, then a dodgy Indian company took over, went broke so a rescue by the SA government is the most recent iteration of Whyalla. Coffee in town and a pit stop before we move on.

Further south we pull into Cowell – just out of town Nomad 2 spot some very pretty parrots on the side of the road, Nomad 1 crew is no help identifying these birds but Google tells me they are Australian Ringneck Parrots ( see Cowell solo art photo). Fishing boats and oyster boats are setting off leaving green John Deere tractors with their trailers in the boat ramp car park. The Cowell silo art has an Australian Ring Neck Parrot, a camel called Diamantina and a bloke ( local legend Lionel Deer and apparently he owns the camel). What would we do without Google???

The crops are improving and its less scrubby as we drive into Arno Bay – we are greeted by a small dolphin statue, in a land of big things its a contradiction but their effort is admirable. A pit stop for Pauolo is required,  the toilet is the Harbourmasters House ( thats what the plaque on the outside says!!!), he/she must be happy living in a toilet and administering the harbour. I wonder if it’s a posting you get for doing something wrong like letting a ship run into the rocks or a lihhthouse? A sign chalked the path between the men’s and the ladies says  ” follow Jesus”.  I wonder if Jesus needed a leak here as bad as I needed one after the Whyalla coffee stop. I’m taken back to the church we saw at Port Wakefield yesterday, nice church but it had a mural painted on it ” Jesus” written over a fishing boat. I feel like there is something that a higher being is trying to tell me but I’m just not getting the message. I consult Captain Kirk, he advises this part of SA is a strong Lutheran area, I conclude the Lutherans are very good at maintaining clean working toilets but if get any more messages from the son of God I’m gunna freak out.

Viterra silos are everywhere. This mob is a combination of Glencore, the old Australian Barley Board, CBH and Canadian company Viterra, they must employ half of rural SA

The crops run to the seaside and look pretty healthy unlike further back where they looked a bit sick.

Tumby Bay is next stop, the weather hasn’t improved but it’s lunch time and we luck out  at a nice looking pub that doesn’t normally serve lunch on Tuesdays, however today they have  a Probus group meeting, so a lunch is on, we feel privileged. Pumpkin soup is popular, Boar Fish on cous cous salad for me and Jenzy is really good. The Navigator goes for the soup, nice and simple. Tumby Bay is very nice, lovely water front houses, nice pubs and lots of murals. They have an annual street art festival and its reflected around the town. There is a great silo mural here as well, two boys falling towards the wheat fields.

The last it into Port Lincoln sees bigger trees, still not big by NSW standards and much healthier looking crops running to the sea, almost.

Our accommodation is Port Lincoln Beachside Apartments. Compliments to Captain Smurf, sorry Kirk, good selection. Tonight is a light dinner at a pub close by.

Ciao from Port Lincoln

Pauolo

It’s Monday, the trip begins in ernest. Vehicles to be collected early a.m. from Hertz, crew to be  briefed by Captain Kirk ( aka Smurf), route planned – Kirk had this sorted about 4 months ago, comms tested ” breaker breaker”, “copy that”, “out” and other technical comms words to be learnt so we don’t cop the the wrath of Kirk. And other stuff I don’t know about will come up.

Today it’s Adelaide to Port Augusta via Moonta (a Cornish Pastie town I’m told) and Port Pirie.

Captain Kirk is skippering Nomad 1, and The Don is skipper of Nomad 2, both craft are hybrid Toyota Klugers and are part of the Starship  Enterprise fleet, but this mission has been given to Nomad 1 and Nomad 2. I feel we have seen a few Star Wars characters cross over, but we’ll have to wait and see who they are.

The morning is brisk but not the freezing rain with a wind blowing off the Southern Ocean like the last 2 days. The traffic is busy as we leave Adelaide, heading north.

Port Wakefield is a short excursion into the town but not really much to see. The next stop is Moonta – for Cornish pasties for lunch. The pasties are very good and the Moonta toilets are clean.

There is a little conflict in Nomad 2 between The Navigator (aka as “Chekhov” on Starship Enterprise), and Pauolo – however its  nothing a little family counselling won’t resolve. the problem arose out of a navigation error and Pauolo is feeling slightly down because he’s allowed Nomad 1 to take the lead and get to the cornish pasties first, The Don is afraid Smurf will eat all the pasties before he arrives. On a serious note, a bit of opp shopping is done but not much damage is done to the credit cards. We venture out to the coast and the newer houses and subdivisions, the water is much cleaner than in Adelaide. Some erosion of the water front cliffs might be giving property owners some stress. There are some big expensive houses out here.

Afternoon tea at a roadside rest stop beside the Flinders Ranges and Mt Remarkable National Park is tea and coffee and cake suitable for diabetics. I thought it was a joke (cake for diabetics that is) but clearly I was wrong. The fluid intake means Jenzy needs to find a large tree for a comfort break, but Harve embarrasses her by commenting the large puddle of water nearby. We know the truth but it looks like somebody else also needs some family counselling.

Two emus beside the road surprise The Don driving Nomad 2, and I’m guessing an underwear change is on the agenda for him in Port Augusta. The emu’s didn’t look surprised at all as we sailed past at warp speed (the legal limit in Galaxy SA I believe), probably a reflection on their limited brain capacity (emus, not South Aussies that is)

We undertake a property inspection of one of Smurf’s (aka Captain Kirk) clients, in the middle of wind farm alley. There is some Bond 007 technology involved in the solar mirror array, I recall something like that in a Bond movie, or was it a Mission Impossible show? Dunno, anyway it’s impressive.

We arrive in Port Augusta at a civilised hour, about 5pm. We’re staying at Crossroads Econolodge, nice rooms, and dinner is planned at the pub down the road. We mostly order the $18 seniors roast lamb & veg. There have to be some benefits to aging disgracefully. The Don and Wally run into their nephew in law at the pub, he’s there for a work thing from NSW central coast. Just as well he was behaving!

Today we’ve seen mostly tidy, clean, civilised towns, sandstone, distinctly SA buildings (refer to Midnight Oils “Diesel and Dust” album cover. Not much grunge is evident. I’ve been impressed.

Ciao from Port Augusta

Pauolo

Breakfast in the hotel, its pretty good, a nice young Nepali guy is our waiter.

The Navigator waits for a catch up with a friend who moved to Adelaide, The Don got a bad something on last night’s pizza and decides to rest up, but the other 6 of us head off to North Terrace on foot.

The walk is refreshing and fresh bordering on freezing. Some very contemporary architecture catches Smurfettes eyes and then we wander over the Torrens to Adelaide Oval.

However there is a distraction as we walk to the oval..

We see a feast of crimson moving rhythmically on the concourse at the back of Adelaide Convention Centre. It’s a Kate Bush Flash group, whatever that is. Heaps of women in crimson ( forgive me if this colour isn’t correct – I’m a bit colour bind), dancing to Kate Bushes ” Babushka”. A bit weird but a bit Adelaide.

Back to Adelaide Ovel, this was a specific request by Wally. They allow us inside for a look at one of the most beautiful sporting venues in the world, which also houses the Bradman Museum ( there is another at Bowral). There is a sign saying ” No Photos or Videos” but some of us inadvertently don’t see it. Anyway it’s all good, nobody is arrested, and the Don’s ( not The Don!) records are safe with us.

The next plan is to go out to Glenelg, but instead of the right tram going the right way, we get on the wrong tram going the wrong way. Still, the Adelaide uni and Botanical Gardens look very nice.

Glenelg is freezing, a howling wind blowing over the jetty and brown foam on the beach. I guess it’s the algae? I’m glad we didn’t bring the togs, it was too cold to get changed let alone swim.

The tram ride back to the city was uneventful, shopping for supplies was planned, dinner at the Austral Hotel was booked, and tomorrows schedule was discussed. The Don looks better.

There is a thought that the “tags” of the crew of the Enterpwize  might reflect Star Trek characters. More discussion is needed but for starters I’ll list the main characters and their attributes as I see them;

Spock – 2nd in command and comes from another planet called Vulcan

Captain Kirk- skipper of the starship

McCoy – the doctor

Scotty – the chief engineer

Chekhov- the Navigator

Sulu – Helm officer

Uhura – communicactions officer

I’m thinking this will be too complicated!!!!

The rain and wind have blown in from the west, wait on, we’re heading west f….! I hope it doesn’t hang around.

Two of the Starship Enterpwize crew have already left from Canberra and are scouting Adelaide venues for dinner and a big screen to watch tonight’s rugby test between the Wallabies and the Lions. I hope the result is positive.

Six of the crew leave from the distant galaxy of Dubbo via the nebula Sydney, hoping the advance party have things sorted for us tonight.

Reminder for those who missed the initial briefing, the Starship Enterpwize is crewed by

Jenzy, Harve, Papa Smurf, Smurfette, The Don, Wally, The Navigator and shit kicking notetaker Pauolo.

We’re down the back of the plane but we booked the isle and the windows hoping nobody would take the middle seat. Which was the case. My last flight to Adelaide was 2008, just after a restructure that rendered me unemployed but amply rewarded for my employers ineptitude. Can’t say I missed the regular monthly/ bimonthly trips to the City of Churches for meetings.

In deference to Ozzy Osbourne who died yesterday my Sydney- Adelaide playlist includes a lot of Black Sabbath songs. Paranoid was the second album I bought with my own money. Doors  LA Woman was the first. Descending into a green Adelaide ” Children of the Grave” isn’t that appropriate, perhaps?

The weather is miserable, cold and raining. A $37 taxi ride into the Chancellor Hotel on Currie St and then a late lunch early dinner at The Black Bull hotel on Hindley Street before warming up for the rugby test between the Wallabies and the Lions.

The Wallabies have the game stolen from them 29-26 in the last minute. Bloody French ref and a Georgian linesman….

I reckon I’ll sleep well tonight.

There are some photos from Day 2 – I can’t work out how to delete them from Day 1

Ciao

Pauolo

Just a heads up, another trip is nearly upon us. We’re on a trip over the Nullabor in a few weeks time, organised by Alan (aka Papa Smurf), 8 people in 2 vehicles, Adelaide to Perth via Esperance, staying in fixed accommodation.

The travellers are ;

Alan – alias is Papa Smurf

Linda – alias Smurfette

Jenny – alias Jenzy

Howard – alias Harve

Don – alias The Don

Sharron – alias Wally

Genelle – alias The Navigator

Paul – alias Pauolo

The Plan;

Fly to Adelaide or a few days

Adelaide to Port August via the coast

Port Augusta to Port Lincoln

Port Lincoln to Coffin Bay

Port Lincoln to Ceduna to Eucla to Fraser Range Station for a few days

Esperance to Kalgorlie to Perth

Perth to Albany to Margaret River to The Pinnacles via Perth

Home

I’m looking forward to the trip. The only time I’ve driven across the Nullabor was in a bus, the company went broke while I was travelling so I had to cadge a lift from Adelaide to Dubbo. That was over 30 years ago, not that I remember the trip that much, I read about 3 books on the road and was really looking forward to a proper bed and a meal that didn’t come from a roadhouse by the time I got to Dubbo.

Ciao from

Pauolo

Qatar have a plan, sent via Whatsap to us late yesterday.

1. Meet at  Brisbane International Departures at Qatar counter at 12 midday. A bus to pick us up at 10.30. We only found this out at 9.25 this morning. No immigration or customs to get on the plane, obviously our bags will go through security.
2. 3.00pm (4pm NSW time) fly to Sydney, land at International. Get rushed through transit and across to Domestic to meet our plane to Dubbo
3. If we are on time, we hopefully will get our flight to Dubbo at 6.45pm ( NSW time) otherwise we’ll be staying in Sydney tonight.   

It’s a punt by Qatar that this will work. Anyway the whole thing had been exhausting, but we’re nearly there, thankfully I don’t have to go to work tomorrow because I couldn’t. A few days recovery is needed I reckon.

The Uber wad booked to pick us up at 10.30, now we know there’s a bus we cancel it with 2 minutes to spare.

OK, so it’s a bit of a mess, I’m doubtful they will be able to get us to our plane in Sydney in time. The mob in Brisbane are oblivious to what we need in the way of assistance to get us to Domestic and our flight in Sydney, they say talk to the staff in Sydney. We’ll see!

We’re sitting the plane in Brisbane for ages, another major cluster f…. up. I don’t think the issue isn’t  Qatar’s fault, it’s Menzies Aviation who manage the check ins, baggage etc for Qatar, they’ve f….d up the count and now they need to do manual count and check all the bags. They had dribbling staff at the boarding gates who delayed boarding and were so disorganised it wasn’t funny. The Qatar staff on the plane are livid with them, the Captain explained it to us over the pa and I think he’s pretty pissed as well.

Our mates who visited Mecca are on board, and I’m guessing they might start to get a bit annoyed if we don’t get off the ground soon. The 3pm take off is now 3.45 and counting. I’m pretty sure now we’ll be spending the night in Sydney.

It takes until 4.15pm for Menzies to disengage the air bridge, meanwhile we’ve been sitting in the plane for an hour not moving, babies crying, anxiety levels high due to warm air and claustrophobia sitting in a metal can not moving for so long. And I didn’t think it could have got worse than the boarding process!!!!

I’ll post this sitting on the tarmac in Brisbane still waiting for a slot to take off. A mix of, Mother Nature showing who is boss, lack of communication and incompetence has mucked up the end of a good holiday.

Ciao

Pauolo.

Qatar struggled to handle the aftermath of the Sydney storms diversion to Brisbane. Initially the Airport and Borderforce wouldn’t allow us to get off the plane, air con was inhibited it was hot, toilets were backing up and then some Economy passengers  (Aussies with ME heritage and big beards) came out to the door and demanded to leave the plane), they pulled the bully boy, standover tactics, but Qatar staff didn’t quite need security to handle this. To be fair they ( the aggressive ME blokes) were right, we were struggling and should have been allowed out into fresh air and space somewhere while they worked out how to handle it. They then let 1st class and business class off, dawdling out while we’re f…g struggling. Eventually we get off the plane, clear immigration, then wait for our bags for I reckon 2-3 hours, drug sniffer dogs walking around picked up one of the ME bearded bully boys for a drugs of some sort. His teenager looking wife in a burka looked distressed, frankly after seeing their attitude and behaviour I don’t care. He was away from the main group of them, some wearing dish dashes. One guy was in front of us at immigration and he got a bit upset when questioned about where he had been travelling “Mecca man, in Saudia Arabia, don’t youse understand anyfing!!!”

We find out the storm has damaged some sensors plus they can’t return to Sydney because of the 10pm curfew. We’re all tired and cranky, waiting for the carousel to start turning, it takes 2 1/2 hours to get going. Our bags are in the last batch. Qatar staff circulate advising options saying “if you have friends see if they can put you up or book your own accomodation, if you can find it” the line up their help staff is about 50 metres long so we  book the Mantra on Queen St via Agoda to circumvent tge wait (by this time its about 1.30am). As we get into a taxi, the driver – rude bugger wouldn’t even help put the bags in, The Navigator finally gets a call to say they actually don’t have 2 rooms even though we have a booking confirmed and money paid. The taxi driver cracks it big time when we tell him to turn around and go back to the airport, smoke comes off his tyres as he negotiates roundabouts, then stops at International, refuses to get out to help us unload, takes $40 for his trouble, I slam his door so hard his head would have wobbled harder, he then told the taxi coordinator we hadn’t paid him. Lying rude prick, he should have carrying the ME guys, he might have got a clip under the ear.  The Navigator straightens the coordinator out on the facts.

Back into Brisbane International airport and back to the help line we find Qatar staff actually have 2 rooms at a hotel, everyone settles down, things are very brittle by this stage.  We line up in the 70m taxi line again and finally get a nice taxi driver, to a nice hotel in Fortitude Valley, and are in bed not really sleeping at about 2.30 -3am.

Qatar send WhatsAp messages but today still no sign of flights back to Dubbo. At least we’re not in a drowned plane in Botany Bay. Qatar staff have been helpful and calm, just not enough of them in Brisbane to handle this chaos.

Breakfast is lovely, although we’re in QLD, hardly Australia in my opinion, the world feels a little better this morning. Adversity sometimes teaches you things about what’s important.

I reckon we won’t get back to Dubbo until tomorrow as more storms are forecast for Sydney today. Mother Nature, we’re in you’re hands!

Ciao from Brisbane

Pauolo

Standard long haul flight of 15 hours, sleep, movie, music, cramps in limbs from lack of movement, twisting and trying to get comfortable enough to squeeze in a few hours sleep.

Then we get to Sydney, earlier than expected, but it’s cloudy, raining and big storm clouds, no vision at all. Anyway you have to trust these planes and pilots, but I’m thinking this feels a little scary as the screen map shows us heading over Botany Bay, but all I can see is a white, odd glimpse of the ground then all of a sudden the engines are screaming and we’re into a steep climb. He pulled out of the the landing, the passengers are very quiet. Some underwear changes are probably needed after that. The captain comes on the pa and tells us he aborted the landing due to the storm being very heavy and unpredictable and hopefully we’d land soon. There is a distinct heavy storm band right over the city. We’re now over the Northern beaches and he comes on again and says its too dangerous to land in Sydney and we need refuel so we’re off to Brisbane,xthen hopefully the storm will have abated in Sydney and we’ll fly back there.

I was talking to the head steward ( nice Philipino guy) and he says this rarely happens. He said these planes are so large and stable that you know when they are shaking like this one was that the storm was bad.

Brisbane is clear as a bell, the plan is a 20 minute refuel then back to Sydney. One of the toilets is blocked so there is a line up for the middle lot of loos. I reckon the scare in Sydney might have filled the tanks a bit

Ciao from Brisbane International Airport

Pauolo

At 4.45am the black BMW Uber arrives early in via S. Maria del Pianto, we’re ready to go.

We scoot out to Fumicino Terminal 3, at up to 150km/ hour, he’s working his phone, driving one handed, overtaking other speeding cars, I think he’s been on the F1 circuit. We’re in Qatar checking in half an hour early.

Problem – The Navigators new handbags give her a heart attack, they ( Qatar staff) tell her she has 3 carry on bags and she is advised she can only take 2. F….k she swears under her breath. But shes not leaving the bags and she has no room in her heaving with shopping backpack so I graciously suggest my bag may fit them in and it’s the only option as the other 3 big bags have already disappeared down the conveyer belt of no return. The bags fit, she settles, and I did suggest, under fear of a death threat, that I mentioned this as a potential issue last night. Her response was blase, because she usually gets away with things by giving opposition the ” stink eye” Anyway problem solved, we move on, don’t we Pauolo!

Security and immigration is easy, then the long wait for our gate at Fumicino.

The short flight (5 hours) to Doha is without incident. Then , a coffee break with a  4 hour wait for the long haul to Sydney leaving at 8.40pm Doha time.

Doha airport is busy, full of transiting travellers, working class navies, cleaners etc in grey, women in burkas, sheiky looking dudes with heavily manscaped faces in long white robes with ropes around their heads and officious looking staff in maroon suits carrying walkie talkies, saying ” breaker breaker, big dog is on the move” or words to that effect in Arabic.

At Gate 13, there are Aussies like us waiting. No doubt looking forward to being home in their own beds soon.

That’s it for now, Day 29 we’ll be back in Australia.

Goodbye to Doha – وداعا للدوحة

Pauolo

It’s an interesting apartment. A bit run down. But a 5 minute walk to Campo de Fiori so well located. The taps drip, the 2nd bedroom is made for pygmies, and the steps up to it are difficult, skinny and a bit claustrophobic. Beds are ok, pillows are crap. The cutlery drawer is missing its front. But it’s a roof over our heads.

The plan today? There is none really, a last look around the markets, cap shopping for me, maybe check out the Pantheon (my favourite building anywhere) and Piaza Navonna, and maybe Trevi Fountain.

First stop is Campo de Fiori, Fruit salad cup, The Navigator does some shopping with Simone and I find my cap man  and buy a wooden cap.

Piaza Navonna is a hive of activity, restoration of the fountains is under way, they are white and experts are chipping calcium off the Bernini masterpieces.

The Pantheon is busy, you have to pay €5 now to get in but it’s absolutely worth it, it’s a fantastic building. For a building thats well over 2000 years old  hss been plundered for stone and other things, it holds its age well. Trevi has workmen and fences around it buts it’s white and cleaner. I’m guessing all for the Pope’s jubilee year next year when Italy will but fuller than a Catholic school.

Lunch is a little restaurant in a quiet piaza then back home via the Leonardo da Vinci museum for a rest.

Tonight a short walk over Trastavere and a light dinner in a Cafe near our apartment.

Arrividerci Roma, we leave here early in the morning, Uber is booked for 5am to get us to Fumicino Airport. We’ll be back  in Dubbo Monday about 10am

Pauolo

My favourite hat stall in Campo de Fiori