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17 July 2024

We have finally crossed the Nullarbor Plain where phone and internet connection is doubtful and where every fuel stop is a must. The Nullarbor is about 1100 km wide (684 miles) and no connection to the outside world is my excuse for not publishing this earlier.

In our travels we have learned about a courageous job in the tuna industry. The modern method for catching tuna is to use huge nets to enclose a school of the fish and to then tow that school back to holding pens where the fish are fattened for the Japanese market.

Now sharks like to jump up and into these nets or alternatively chew holes in the nets through which they enter to eat the tuna. To address this problem the tuna boats have divers on board who dive into the freezing water to then gently coax the sharks back out through the holes they created. It seems as the sharks swim in circles within the nets they become sluggish and docile, well that’s what the job ads say. Amazing but not a job for me.

The Nullarbor Plain is a place of wide open and empty spaces. One of the longest sections of straight road in the world crosses the Nullarbor. This is a place where you acknowledge all other drivers with a subtle wave and where a 2 way radio is almost mandatory. The road train drivers appreciate a word from you when the road is clear so they can pass.

Here the road can be a runway for aircraft especially the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Wide loads are common and when you hear a radio call with the words ‘we have an eight coming up’ that means a wide load 8 metres wide (24 feet) is coming your way and you need to get out of its way. We pulled over as far as we safely could and yet there still didn’t seem to be enough room for the two of us.

We stopped for a coffee and to refuel and to our surprise there in the coffee shop was a piece of Skylab. For those who weren’t around at the time Skylab was a NASA space station that fell out of its orbit back in 1979. I recall at the time the local council tried to charge NASA with a fine for littering. The coffee shop had all sorts of Skylab bits on display.

The Nullarbor is bounded by the Great Australian Bight which is where Australia separated from Gondwana about 50 million years ago. This separation created amazing clifftop camp sites from where you can watch whales, loose your drone or sit back and enjoy a wine as you contemplate the vastness of the Southern Ocean.

We are now in gold mining country. This is a place of very big holes in the ground and highly paid jobs in mining. More in the next log.

8 July 2024

It’s been a while since I last wrote and whilst there have been many adventures since my last musings there has not been one big event that motivated an article in its own right. That has now changed we are on the road again, this time for a couple of months.

Over the past many months we have travelled to Queensland and down to Victoria. We have visited gin distilleries in remote valleys in the hills, liquorice and chocolate factories in small country towns and railway museums in what were once bustling towns.

We have followed Google map directions into some remote areas, so empty there were street signs for shearing sheds. There was even a town with a hand painted basket ball court in the main street. Now that’s a quiet town.

It is sad to see what were once bustling country towns reduced to empty shells with antique shops and government agencies filling the old buildings. The pubs no longer filled with men at the end of their working day. The end of steam trains along with highly mechanised agriculture and bigger farms has brought these towns to an inevitable decline. Ignoring the obvious value in visiting a gin distilleries, many of these towns do have a history to tell from Devonian fish fossils through to WWII amphibious aircraft training. You’re just never sure what surprises the next town has to offer, and maybe it’s just the quality of their homemade meat pies.

We have discovered winter isn’t a great time for travel which just goes to show you are never too old to learn something new. That said we were kind of suspicious that camping in winter might be a challenge, and so it is. Regardless we are on our way west and will in a few days tackle the emptiness of the Nullarbor Plain as we head towards Western Australia. Stay tuned…

15 October 2023

The big news! We won the meat raffle at the Nicco pub. We haven’t won a meat tray in years and it’s great to see this Australian tradition living on in the local pubs. We won’t be on starvation rations for at least a few days.

We are determined to ride some of the amazing rail trails in Victoria. It’s just a matter of logistics and questions of how to get back to the car after a one way ride.

This question was solved yesterday when we rode from Nicholson to Bruthen a distance of 21 kms and then I rode back to get the car. That was after a refreshing coffee and egg and bacon roll.

We shifted our camp to Bruthen and planned today’s ride to Nowa Nowa. This time we came up with a different strategy. We rode to the half way point and then we both rode back to collect the van. The first half going out was all uphill but riding back 22kms was a great joy as it was all downhill.

We drove to Nowa Nowa for lunch and then rode back to out to the mid point and then returned to camp. This ride was again up hill all the way out and a great down hill run back to town. Just as well it was downhill as we were both pretty tired, completing 50kms in the day. There was a time when a 50km ride was a short ride but those days are back in the mists of time.

No cars, very few other cyclists, no snakes and just one rider and her horse. Sunshine, no rain and only a slight breeze. A perfect riding day and tonight a good night’s sleep will be enjoyed by all. Tomorrow looks like rain.

12 October 2023

It’s been a few months since we have been on the road and apart from a few short excursions we have stayed home over winter. That all changed with a trip to visit to an old friend who was celebrating the anniversary of his birth 3 score and 10 years ago.

After the celebrations we hit the road to discover new places and maybe fit in some bike rides on rail trails. With no plans we followed roads through towns we had not visited previously but with a destination in mind.

Our first day was to take us to Wilsons Prom, a national park in Victoria. The park includes the most southerly point of the Australian mainland. It includes some amazing beaches and remote bush land.

From the Tidal River campground we travelled west to the Gippsland lakes area to explore some of the rail trails. Along the way we discovered why this part of the country is so green – it rains a lot.

This part of Australia forms the first interruption of the weather coming up from the southern ocean (apart from Tasmania) so it blows and it rains.

We also discovered that during the off season travel destinations take the opportunity to upgrade or renovated their facilities. And so the general store was closed and there was no cafe to provide espresso coffees. The nearest town or at least a shop was a 2 hour round trip away. That meant we did the pioneer thing and checked what supplies we had left and decided what meals we could manage and how long we could survive without any wine. I know, serious stuff but we pulled it off.

Apart from the walks in the bush and along the coast the high point of this part of the trip was a boat ride along the coast in a amphibious vessel designed and built for this beach. They have three of these unique vessels which they drive down onto the beach and into the surf where they retract the wheels and hit the throttle on the outboard motors.

This boat tour took in the most southerly point of continental Australia, some whales, a seal colony which stinks and the famous skull rock. It turns out a TV crew some years ago used a helicopter and then abseiled into the cave in the rock only to find a Portuguese canon ball from the 1700s.

From here we are off to explore more rail trails and to enjoy the bush on our bikes and away from busy roads.

10 July 2023

We were at Barcelona airport with a 5 hour wait when I started this final log. Unfortunately the WiFi network was too slow so I find myself finishing this article from home and after our long flight home.

Some final reflections on this trip.

Our last tour was of Parc Guell, our last Gaudi site. A long day involving about 20kms of walking. We celebrated our last day with probably the best paella we have had on this trip, not to mention the steamed mussels and a cocktail at a Peruvian bar.

Final thoughts:

Travel without a smart phone is as likely as travel without a passport. It can’t be done. We have used our phone to book tours and to receive the electronic ticket. Audio tours for many attractions are delivered via an app. Boarding passes can be electronic and you are invited to check in via your phone 24 hours before boarding. Even the menu during your flight is provided via WiFi. A local SIM with at least data is the bare minimum.

Google maps are invaluable for negotiating your way around. I also used the location tag in a photo to find our way back to a restaurant. We had walked forever until I realised I had a photo of the place that would give us location details.

Use a smart phone to take photos in the most discrete way possible. They will also upload to the Cloud so no photos are lost even if you lose your phone / camera.

The Mediterranean diet is amazing. We have not been disappointed with any meal and the quality of the seafood is outstanding. I don’t know where they get such large fish particular the sole and sea bass. The mussels, prawns, langoustines, lobster, clams, octopus and squid were amazing.

There are too many high points to try to list them all however jumping off the back of a boat and swimming to shore where a sumptuous seafood meal was served under the trees has got to be up there.

I watched as a fisherman carried one of the largest lobsters I have seen out of his boat and up the quayside. Our friend approached the nearest restaurant and asked that we have that lobster for dinner. It fed five of us.

The Sagrada Familia is overwhelming and maybe one day I will see the finished building. It’s been under construction for about 140 years and they no longer provide an expected completion date. That’s a smart decision by the project manager.

A constant disappointment is about public bathrooms and this is regardless of the country you are visiting. If you are looking for a WC or loo, follow the signs and then look for a group of men sitting on park benches waiting. Nearby will be a long line of women and there you will find the public facilities. Yet again a failure in systems engineering.

It’s amazing that Mallorca and Barcelona are at about the same degree of latitude north as Tasmania is south. But do not think for a moment the climate of the Med comes close to that of Tasmania. The waters of the Med are crystal clear and warm, the climate mild to hot; just perfect.

Final comment, if you are thinking about travel and are wondering about whether people are wearing masks, well, they aren’t. We have hardly seen a mask on the planes or in the street. The world is back and open for travel!

5 July 2023

There are all sorts of warnings about pick pockets and how to protect yourself but these guys are good at what they do. It was a weekend train ride on the Metro and our friend had no idea his wallet had been lifted until he went to find his train ticket. No train ticket and no wallet.

Two 20€ purchases had been made at a supermarket within minutes and before our friend had called his bank to cancel the card. The purchases were small enough that a password wasn’t required.

We are now hyper vigilant and only carry a travel card and rail ticket.

Enough of the dark side to travel. Our last few days have been spent exploring Barcelona and visiting Gaudi buildings. My awareness of Gaudi’s was naive to say the least. After visiting three of his buildings, Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo and La Pedrera I have some appreciation of this man’s talent. I can only imagine the criticism he would have attracted 100 years ago with such radical designs supported by architectural innovation unheard of at the time.

The basilica Sagrada Familia is still under construction 120 years after work started. From the outside it is an imposing masonry structure, inside it is a massive open area full of light and colour. Maybe I will see the completed building in some years to come.

Casa Batllo and La Pedrera were designed as homes or apartments for families. They are filled with organic shapes and spaces inspired by nature.

In all three sites the one challenge you face is finding that opportunity to take that photograph without another human in view. It can be done but it’s not easy.

In Palma and Barcelona we have come across large groups of African men selling their wares in the street. They display their goods on large sheets laid out on the footpath. Many of the goods are football emblazoned clothing and designer products. What is fascinating is that when the police arrive the African sellers are able to fold up their displays in seconds and vanish down into the Metro. Just as quickly they reappear and are back open for business as soon as the police leave. It all seems to be a game. At night the sellers appear to bed down in the entrances to the Metro.

Just when you think you have worked out the extensive Barcelona Metro they change the rules. There are lots of announcements but they are all in Spanish so you go on your merry way until you reach a barricade and discover ‘your’ line is closed for maintenance. You are now faced with the challenge of plotting a new course on unfamiliar Metro lines, getting on and off at different stations all the while being vigilant about pick pockets. It’s time to celebrate when you get to your destination or return to the apartment at the end of the day.

We are close to the end of this trip with one more Gaudi site to visit and then the plane home tomorrow.

1 July 2023

We have left the yacht and said our goodbyes to the Captain and First Mate. The yacht is moored and we are landlubbers again. A flight to Barcelona and its time for new adventures.

I thought a quick summary of the seafarers we met during our time in the Baleares islands would bring this leg of your journey to a meaningful conclusion.

There were the Old Salts who contract their services to yacht owners to sail their yachts all over the world. The people we met had just crossed the Atlantic and were planning on a circumnavigation of the world.

The philosopher had discovered the root of all that ails the world and had a strong desire to tell everyone. He was stuck on transmit, not receive if you get my meaning.

The Lone Yachts man was a very competent sailor who hired crew as needed and sailed all over the Caribbean, Atlantic and the Mediterranean. He was a great conversationalist and had a story to tell. He had no desire to return too quickly to Canada.

There were yacht owners who were contemplating some long passages maybe without a good understanding of what 6 weeks at sea might feel like. Travelling in confined spaces with an unknown crew for extended periods must be fun, not.

A common theme was people who left colder climes to spend weeks, months and years on the sea. Their time and money was spent in chandleries, constantly repairing and cleaning their yachts and sailing on to the next exotic location.

Adonises are everywhere on the Med. I’ll say no more and leave that comment for the contemplation of my female readers.

The restaurant waiting staff are from all over the world, predominantly from Mallorca, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and a few from Italy. It all makes for great banter at the table.

Tourists on Mallorca are from Spain, the UK and lots from Germany.

For those wondering, a replacement dingy has been found. It’s just a case of ordering the boat and having it delivered to the yacht. I did enjoy a 30km e-bike ride with the captain to view the replacement boat. We rode through the streets and back roads of Palma. Not a ride for the feint hearted. E-scooters, e-bikes, pedestrians, cars, busses and trucks filled the roads.

Something that truely amazed. I thought all the big couture brands sold their wares in high end stores. Not so. In Palma Lacoste, Louie Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes and Yves Saint Laurent are all sold on the footpath. No need for fancy shops here, just acres of concrete on which to lay your goods. I’m sure the products were all the genuine article.

A couple of pics from our first day in Barcelona.

23 June 2023

We have adopted the Spanish ways, eating dinner at 11:00 pm and not shopping in the afternoon. Everything goes quiet in the afternoon with little activity until about 4:00pm.

Tying your yacht to a public mooring is no different to reversing a caravan onto a camp site. Everybody is watching while the tension on your boat rises. There is a collective sigh of relief when the boat is secure. It’s no different to caravanning, just wetter and if you drop something over the side it’s gone.

The following phrase has not been heard during our whole time in Spain: ‘Gosh, Brexit was such a good idea!’

The coastline is nothing like you will see in Australia. There are deep coves (calas in Spanish) that offer stunning mornings with deep crystal clear water and wonderful beaches. As you sail along these coves are not immediately obvious and it is not until you motor in do you appreciate these amazing moorings.

We have moored into one of these coves and swam to the beach for a seafood lunch at a quaint restaurant under the trees.

This is the place for big boy toys. There are yachts, motor boats, fliteboards, SUPS, seabobs (underwater scooters), para gliders and more. The Med is perfect for these distractions. The water is warm and crystal clear and the seas generally calm with no ocean swells.

23 June 2023

I enjoy food but please don’t ask me to critique the food I eat or provide a insightful comment on the complex flavours I might be experiencing. That said we have enjoyed some wonderful dining experiences in Mallorca and Ibiza.

We have dined on tapas, paellas, seafood and shellfish, and pasta. We have dined in beachside restaurants that look more like shacks and street side cafes in Palma.

The most challenging dining experience was arriving at a beach shack on a shingle beach in choppy water. A tender came to pick us up from our yacht but we had to get out of the boat and into knee deep, choppy water and then scramble up a shingle bank to arrive at the restaurant. It’s was not an elegant arrival. The departure was the reverse process however in the dark as the sun had set.

The ladies in their dining outfits did extremely well but there is no grace in getting into and out of a rocking dingy in the dark. All good fun.

The second experience was another beachside restaurant but this time on a sandy beach. The proprietor sent out a dingy to collect his patrons from their yachts. We landed on a lovely sandy beach and took a short walk to the restaurant. A far more dignified afternoon.

I have been intrigues by a couple of Australian curiosities in Palma. I found a bar offering TV coverage of the State of Origin and a number of other football competitions. More intriguing however was a souvenir shop offering boomerangs painted in Aboriginal artwork with the word Mallorca emblazoned across the piece. Bizarre!

We have sailed beyond Palma and are now moored in at Puerto Petro on the island of Mallorca.

20 June 2023

Our trip started with a somewhat minor frustration when my glasses broke about 1 hour out of Sydney. I do have a backup pair which are quite old but do the job. There was more to come.

Two days ago our tender broke free from its attachment to the yacht and drifted on to the shoreline which was a line of cliffs. We watched as the dingy was bounced against the rocks and for a while it seems to remain in tact. After some time it was apparent the dingy was breaking up and was probably unrecoverable.

A local delivery chap, Juan-Carlos turned up in his boat to see what could be done. Juan-Carlos had the physique and complexion of a bronzed Adonis. He was in the business of delivering food and wine to yachts. Juan-Carlos collected our captain and headed to the shoreline. He got into the water and climbed into the wreck of our tender. Nothing could be saved and the tender was too full of water. The motor and other parts had started to separate from the boat.

The Adonis returned to his boat and bought our captain back to Wyanga. He returned to his local harbour and promised he would be back when the sea has calmed to retrieve the pieces of the tender for an insurance claim. We lifted the anchor and headed for Palma, an eleven hour trip, sans tender.

As always 20-20 hindsight kicks in and there is lots of speculation on what could have been done differently. The big take away was no one was injured and no one made rash decisions that put people at risk. A good result.

Back to the days before the loss of the dingy…

We have been sailing and motoring around the islands of Ibiza and Frontera. The cliffs are spectacular. We have been in the company of other Oyster yachts and while we are 60ft long we are regularly dwarfed by 100ft vessels. We have met yachties who have just crossed the Atlantic and those who have plans for an 18 month circumnavigation of the world. Clearly we are not in Kansas any more.