Yes, I’ve been terribly slack at updating my blog, even when I kept promising to do so! I just haven’t had the time since coming back from my slightly long haul trip across the world to Australia.
My holiday was wonderful and very much needed. It was a great opportunity to recharge my batteries, live a little, and spend some time with my husband. We went to Australia via Shanghai, which is a strange mixture of modern/rich and old/poor. It’s very odd to see people living in run-down conditions just a few blocks from some of the worlds most advanced architecture and expensive shopping streets. The taxi drivers are insane. Actually, everyone on the road is insane, and there isn’t a point at which horns stop blaring as drivers go through red lights and come close to hitting each other as they race towards God only knows where.
Australia was a very welcome break after the insanity and heat of Shanghai. Having picked up what I affectionately called a Chinese burn in Shanghai, I was eager to enjoy the lower temperatures that southern Australia had to offer.
Sydney was a sunny (and a bit rainy the second day) 20c which was much more my sort of temperature (UK is currently enjoying a mini-heat wave of temps around 28c and it’s too much for me!) and it was such a contrast to the fast-pace of Shanghai. Once I was settled into Australia, I didn’t want to leave! We went to the Botanical Gardens the moment we were there, and saw the Opera House and Harbour Bridge together, and I also got to see the fruit bats (yes, they’re a pest, but they’re so cute and I really wanted to see them) that live in the city.
Second day we went to Bondi Beach, which was a bit rainy, but very cool when the sun came out.
Then it was off to Uluru to see the rock and Kata Tjuta. First night there we did a sunset at Uluru with the Sounds of Silence dinner, which was absolutely amazing. I’m something of an amateur astronomer (I own an 8-inch reflector telescope) and when they blew out all the candles the view of the heavens was just breathtaking. Husband referred to it as “like staring God in the face”.
Next day we went to Uluru for sunrise, and walked around the base, learning some of the Anangu stories about the rock, and then in the afternoon we went to Kata Tjuta and the Valley of the Winds (which always makes me think Nausicaa) and saw the most incredible sunset there!
Flew to Cairns the next day and went to the Rainforest, where husband wanted to hug a koala, so we did that and it was sooo soft and sweet (and later in the Blue Mountains / Featherdale Wildlife Park near Sydney, we saw a koala swipe and bit a poor Japanese girl!) and then spent a day on the Frankland Islands snorkelling (earplug in!) which was a bit scary as the water was full of bits of coral from the fish eating it. Husband remarked that I giggled the whole time and he could hear it through the snorkel… meh. He was braver than me, going out further towards open water, and his reward was seeing a turtle. He got pictures for me. I did attempt to go out a few times, but the word “shark” kept popping into my head when I couldn’t see further than a couple of metres clearly. We had a beautiful hotel in Cairns, the Rydges Tradewinds on the Esplanade. Close to everything AND we had a balcony. It was 27c and beautiful up there and we didn’t want to leave.
Went back to a colder Sydney and to the lovely Blue Mountains, and then crammed in a last-minute whale watching tour the morning of the day we were doing a night-flight to Tokyo. I don’t like boats (hence going to the inner reef, not the outer reef as 2 hours on a boat was not appealing) but this was cool. We went out of the harbour and immediately found a minke whale, and then two humpback whales. We followed the humpback whales around and they were incredible to watch. One even breached, which was amazing, and caused the husband to go “fuck me!” rather loudly as he’d been staring at the water in the exact spot the whale just came out of nowhere in. Missed it on the camera, but saw it in real life and that’s what counts, right?
Tokyo was incredible as always. I bought a couple new Gundam models (yeah, I’m a geek) and lots of stuff from Akiba (new mini figures for my work desk include Tyki Mikk from D-Gray Man, another Allelujah from Gundam 00, and a Sephiroth from Final Fantasy, as well as a VF25F Messiah (alto’s) from Macross Frontier… which join my 00 Gundam model, and another Allelujah… yeah… I love Allelujah.) and we went to some more theme bars / restaurants, including Lock Up (prison theme, very good), Kagaya (slightly crazy and unnerving/uncomfortable), Trick or Treat, Piano Bar (very small, only around 10 seats!) and Hollow Point. Hollow Point was the coolest. First you get a menu of drinks, and then a menu of air pistols to fire on the range. Husband fired a Robocop gun, with frightening accuracy considering it was his first time, but then he broke his wrist and can’t turn it too much so he can’t twist his wrist when firing, which I think helps… I fired a Walther P99… much smaller than my husband’s choice, less rounds, but it was a blast. You can even fire a grenade launcher!
Seeing my Bro-in-law and Sister-in-law was very cool. It’s always great to go out with them as they know all the best spots and my Sister-in-law is Japanese… which helps tremendously!
That’s all for now… what a long post!
