15th February 1992 Day 210

The Diary
Up early, had the free breakfast and lazed by the pool. Then we walked out into Kuta in search of trainers for Oz and to find the post office. We fought off all the usual traders and survived to get back for a nice relaxing afternoon by the pool. Despite the clouds I managed to get burnt on the arms and shoulders where my vest wasn't covering me. A suntan is no protection. We drank Coke by the bar in the pool and listened to a loud Japanese bloke at the far side.

Later on we ventured back to the beach to see the fabled sunset. Dear Tony Wheeler, it's not much good when there are clouds. We ate at Poppies Restaurant, supposedly the best in Kuta according to Mr Wheeler, and I devoured 1 beef curry, 1 maloprim and 2 chloroquinine. Yummy.

2012
Outside of Aussie surfing and bogan boozy holidays Kuta is famous for two horrible events in 2002 and 2005.

14th February 1992 Day 209

The Diary
A good start - Boro had beaten Peterborough and are now to meet Man Utd in the League Cup Semi-finals. Then things started to go downhill. Oz had lost the duty-free film he'd bought the previous day. I got to the Commonwealth Bank at 9am but it didn't open until 9:30am. So I stood by the door. However when it came to opening time they opened another door so I ended up at the back of the queue instead of the front.


I took the cheque to the counter and the girl went off to do what she had to do. Then she was told that they could clear the cheque immediately if I paid $5.50 for them to phone another one of their banks. Seemed a bit of a cheek to me but of it meant I would get my money then the answer was yes. Over an hour later I had an extra USD600 and AUD56.75 and no bank account. I stood there patiently while they made calculations, had meetings, walked around, re-did the calculations, had more meetings and argued about roundings and fees. It's a good job there were two of them doing it or I might have missed the plane.


Still, I was late back to the Transit Centre and the three of us and a Welsh Turk called Yil had to catch a taxi to the airport. It turned out to be half the price of the bus. The airport was small, uncrowded, new and spotless. We had a quick snack , I phoned Christy to say bye and before you could say Rolf Harris we were in Bali.

At the airport people were desperate to get us to stay at their accommodation. We chose Kuter and the Matahari bungalows. 44,000rp per night for 3 people. A gorgeous swimming pool and beautiful setting. That is, until you got on to the streets of Kuta. People everywhere and if they were Balinese they were probably trying to sell you watches, wallets, bangles, , cigarettes etc. or get you to ride in their bemo. The shops along the street were spotless but the road was filthy because all the rubbish and litter was just swept into the road. Kuta had a lovely smell of sewers and the beach was probably the dirtiest I've ever seen - but it was cheap and we had our own little sanctuary. 

For tea we ate at the Matahari restaurant and I had a pizza that was still covered in flour. So to bed.


2012
Man Utd had yet to start winning the league and were far from the force they are today so this semi was a good opportunity even though Boro were still in Div 2.


Kuter - person or my mis-spelling of the place? Who knows?


rp - Rupiah. I think it was about $5. It's AUD4.49 at today's ex rates.

13th February 1992 Day 208

The Diary
A day of sorting things out. My cheque which was arriving by express post wouldn't be there until the afternoon. I picked up my new glasses and then we all went to the bank to close our accounts and get travellers cheques. Easier said than done. 1.5 hours later I had some travellers cheques but my account was still open and I had to bring in the cheque so they could clear it and then send it to a bank in Singapore and close my account. I had to write out a letter to authorise this and the girl helping didn't have a clue what I should write. "What shall I write?" I asked. "Write what you want to do" she said. "Which is....?" I asked. Blank look. So I made something up.

I received a valentine's card from Christy and a long letter from Rob Hay, bought a mozzie net, flip-flops and numerous other small items. I picked up the cheque at 4pm and dashed to the bank as they said they closed at 4:30pm. No they didn't, they shut at 4pm. What a bank.


I had my haircut for a bargain $7 but it still wasn't as short as I wanted it. We had a Chinese in the evening and the waitress spilled a glass of water over me. Went for our last VBs and bumped into the two Irish girls we'd shared with in Katherine. Left after the first set of a blues band with an image problem. AC/DC's new drummer, Alex Lifeson circa '73, Ken from Magnetic Island on bass and a housewife on vocals and bad dancing.


2012
Rob Hay - ex PW mate who now lives in Noo York. May see him at the end of this week, funnily enough.

12th February 1992 Day 207

The Diary
"Yo, Corey man", 
"Yeah man, what's up?",
"I saw Elvis the other day",
"Get outta here man"

Unfortunately it was true. He was on our bus to Kakadu. Fat and from Leeds, Brylcreem, big mouth, smll brain, dumb wife. I preferred him in his Vegas days. I also chose this day to wear a shirt with Middlesbrough FC on it. He noticed it and tried to make a joke about it or talk about it every few minutes or so while I generally ignored him.

I upset him by putting him right about the state of play in the Rumbelows League Cup and he looked as if he was about to cry. I also said that I was quite pleased that Oldham had beaten Leeds which he took offence to. When I bought a newspaper he insisted on searching through it for football scores even though I'd told him there wouldn't be any. He revealed how bad his reading was and then informed me, pointing to a small article, that Wakefield was near Leeds. Well I never. What was he doing in Kakadu, he should have been in Blackpool.

The day started off badly. We awoke at 6am, it was pitch black and pouring with rain outside. we checked in, nobody noticed that I'd only paid $27 instead of $57. Inadvertently got away with that one. The rain gradually subsided during the day but the sun never made an appearance. Our bus driver was quite knowledgable about the area and he told us many interesting stories about aboriginals, crocodiles and his pet dog. His standard of jokes was the usual Greyhound bus driver standard though. We saw the best aboriginal rock art yet and Beth ate some ants. We then fought off hordes of marauding flies while trying to eat dinner.

Soon, it was off on our boat trip. Elvis wasn't going but Rod Stewart was. He didn't bring Rachel Hunter with him. She must be waiting at the airport. The water had risen so much that the road was underwater and we had to get to the jetty by 4WD. The trip was quite interesting and we saw a crocodile - this time quite a big one. Everyone dashed to the side of the boat to get a picture. Our guide was quite worried as the boat listed steeply. The journey back was quite uneventful as was the evening meal at Uncle Kens.

2012
Leeds, Leeds, Leeds - Oz was/is a Leeds Fan, I spend 3 years working for PW Leeds and I first saw Living Colour (Elvis is Dead) at Leeds University Refectory. 


Blackpool - Vegas of the north and the team followed by Howie and George.


Uncle Kens - KFC


Oldham must have beaten Leeds in the league as they didn't beat them in the League Cup that year.

Darwin to Kakadu round trip - 420km

Total distance since Sydney - 8,289km

11th February 1992 Day 206

The Diary
Another letter at poste restante - this time from Dileep. He's transferred to Newcastle, Steve's not seeing Cathy, Rich Goddard and Isobel were made redundant. Heavens to Betsy.


All my documents were present and correct at STA. I ordered some new frames for my lenses, looked at mozzie nets and coils, marvelled at the ineptitude of the Commonwealth Bank and sent Christy the crappest Valentine's card I could find. Also had some more injections including one in the bum. Ouch.

We all went to see JFK at the pictures, a marvellously complicated film that leaves you with a headache from the loud file score and from concentrating too hard. I think Donald Sutherland did it, so that he could marry Marilyn Monroe (who was already dead) and defect to the USSR to end the Cold War and beat Gorbachev to dismantling communism. Or it could have been......

Went for something to eat in town but it was shut. And it was raining. Phoned Christy, reverse charges and discovered my refund had turned up. Yee hah.


2012
Dileep - erstwhile flatmate from my time in Leeds with PW. He now lives in Melbourne and hasn't changed a bit. Steve (Allen) - our other flatmate - probably hasn't changed a bit. Other than he now seems to support Arsenal when he was always a Crystal Palace fan to my recollection. I remember watching the Man Utd v Crystal Palace FA Cup final at his parent's house. I think he down about 20 cans of Guinness during the game. 
Rich and Isobel - other friends from PW days. I think Rich lives in the USA and Isobel lives in Rome.


Mozzie nets, injections etc. - we were getting ready for our imminent departure to Asia.


Refund - I assume my tax refund.

10th February 1992 Day 205

The Diary
The shortest bus journey for quite some time - a mere 4 hours. We'd reached Darwin. I dashed to poste restante to pick up my mail after the 3 of us booked into the Darwin Transit Centre. 3 letters from Christy and 1 from dad. Shame I'd heard all the contents on the telephone.

Filled up at a pancake place and watched the English soccer as per usual. I even managed to phone home and catch someone in. Dad officially retires in April but finishes mid-March because of his holidays. He'll be a man of leisure like me!


2012

Katherine to Darwin - 317km

Total distance since Sydney - 7,869km

9th February 1992 Day 204

The Diary
Yet again, another early start. This time for a canoe trip to Katherine Gorge. Due to the rising waters we were restricted to canoeing along just the one gorge. We played in a waterfall, looked at yet more Aboriginal graffiti and splashed each other. And then splashed each other. And then we splashed each other and I capsized the canoe. It's a good job we're not scared of crocodiles. 


Fortunately our cameras etc. were in a sealed container but our small rucksacks went swimming and the clothes we were wearing , including shoes and hat, got a bit wet. Still, we weren't eaten and I did manage to sink one of the other canoes. 


Next, we fought our way against a current, up a creek. More capsizings occurred and a croc was spotted. A small one. Once at the end we got out of the canoes and sat there. And sat there. And got bored. Eventually we hopped back in and paddled back. An eventful day that could have been better organised.


Back at the hostel we had a bbq and then retreated back to the room before the rains came. Beth got very mad with an upper class Englishman who held differing views about aborigines and spoke with a plummy accent. At least he been to Middlesbrough.


2012

A freshie

8th February 1992 Day 203

The Diary
Katherine was very hot and sticky but at least we had an air-conditioned room at the Kookaburra Lodge. Unfortunately we could only switch it on between 6pm and 10am. Still, it was something to look forward to. This being a Saturday the town was shut, although I did manage to find somewhere to get some photos developed. We found a pizza place that was open and rather than buy any garlic bread we, or should I say, Beth, picked it up from another table where some had been left. Cheapskate Backpackers!

In the evening Beth cooked a chilli after having a mare with the mince. She left it in the shop. We had our first experience of the wet season, which was rather unfortunate as we'd just hung out our washing to dry.


2012
Was the Kookaburra Lodge good or bad ? Don't recall - see here and decide for yourself.

7th February 1992 Day 202

The Diary

Up early for the umpteenth time and straight on to the coach for the early morning Rock climb. 

The Rock is 348m high but it seems a lot higher when you have to climb it. It was almost as steep as the road at the back of Stokes Street in Lane Cove that I climbed on the way to work every morning. Well, it was slightly steeper but the journey to work every day was good training.

I reached the top in 30-35 minutes passing lots of Japanese tourists that were dressed as if they were climbing Everest. Were the white gloves to keep their hands clean? I signed the book at the cairn at the summit with the - as usual - inappropriate comment. "Rock Lobster".

When Oz and Beth arrived a few minutes later we posed for photos just to prove we made it. One of the girls from our bus then burst into "whhoooowhhhooo-yeah yea-----h" and people all over the Rock responded with "you know you make me want to shout, woooh". She was such a good singer that we got her to do it again and we all had a good groove at the top. Crazy chick, man. 

On the way down we observed the life-cycle of the world-famous Uluru shrimp (well, Beth had heard of it) i.e. born, eat, shag, die. Oz and I pretended to rap jump down the ridges before I yomped to the bottom trying not to use the chain. Pumped up quads or what? Back at the bottom I read the plaques dedicated to 5 of the 25 people that had died climbing the Rock. And then there was Lindy Chamberlain's baby.....

After everyone was down we were taken on a base tour around the Rock to look at the Aboriginal Rock Art, (looked like graffitti), and strange rock formations (the big smile, whale head, dolphin, greyhound bus rock etc.) and rock pools. By this time Karen had attached herself to a group of Swedes, much to my relief.

Back to Yulara we went, picked up our gear, had lunch and waited for the bus. The bus dithered so much that we only had 5 minutes at Alice before jumping on the overnight bus to Katherine. The bus was so full it was a single seat all the way, the road-houses seemed to have run out of food and I couldn't see without my glasses. Great night.


2012

Yulara to Katherine via Alice Springs to Yulara - 1,627km

Total distance since Sydney - 7,552km

I think Karen just talked a lot hence my relief when she bent someone else's ear for a while. I could be wrong though - don't really recall why I was relieved.

6th February 1992 Day 201

The Diary

Up early for the 468km journey to Yulara. About the same as Billingham to London. The coach did it at a very leisurely pace stopping at just about every road house on the way including Virginia Camel Farm.

Mt Ebenezer was even smaller and less impressive than Thompson, Utah and Beth was warned not to take any photos as it was aboriginal owned. We finally arrived at Yulara and Beth and Karen dashed to the front of the queue to check us in while Oz and I rescued the bags. A good idea if ever there was one.

We had a couple of hours before catching the coach to The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) which was just as well since the girl at the food kiosk was on her first day. I dashed to get a newspaper for the journey and was delighted to discover we'd knocked Sheff Wed out of the FA Cup. How about winning away from home in the league lads?

Off to The Olgas we went and our coach driver Lloyd filled us in with all manner of snippets of information. He stopped for various photo opportunities and then we did a walk into Olga Gorge. Big.

Back towards Uluru, we stopped to look at a thorny lizard discovered by Frank the Pioneer driver. Then we all saw a rainbow over the Rock. Wow.

Lloyd took us to the base of the Rock to show us what we had to climb up. Cracking jokes all the time. Then we got ready for the sunset. It didn't quite work at the allotted time due to the clouds but it was pretty good just 10 minutes earlier.

Back at the hostel I went for an early night to rest my poor aching back and discovered my broken glasses.

2012

Alice Springs to Yulara - 468km

Yulara to Kata Tjuta to Uluru to Yulara round trip - 123km
Total distance since Sydney - 5,925km

Google maps reckons Billingham to London is 408km.


Having broken glasses and a pair of hard contact lenses only was going to be a bit of a problem. I couldn't wear the lenses all day and couldn't sleep in them so evenings and bus trips would be a problem until I could get a new pair of glasses. I wasn't counting on too many opticians in the outback.

5th February 1992 Day 200

The Diary
We checked into the Melanka Lodge which was more like a motel than a backpackers'. I ended up sharing with Karen, a South Effrican that Beth had met on Fraser Island.  Not feeling too well I went for a walk into town in search of food totally forgetting that I was supposed to call on Oz and Beth. By the time I got back, still under the weather, they'd gone out. So I went to the pool and chatted to Karen for a while. I quickly decided that lying in the heat was not what I wanted to do so I packed the swimming kit and headed to the local municipal pool. Even in Alice Springs they've got an Olympic sized pool. I did my slow motion impersonation of Glen Houseman/Keiran Perkins and proved that the previous days front crawl mile was no fluke.

Feeling much better by this time I packed my camera and headed off to do the sights - the signpost and the Anzac Hill lookout and the dried up Todd River. I bumped into the two young lovers and arranged to meet them back at the hostel. I had a quick beer with Karen at the hostel bar and met a mad German who didn't climb "the rock" on principle and also a Dawn French look-alike who kept saying "I know".


Karen went to bed early in order to make an early start and Oz, Beth and I went to the Old Alice Inn for our tea. The Inn was possibly the most luxurious pub I've been in in Australia and the food was pretty good. Got back to discover that some bastard had nicked my Boro towel from the washing line. If I catch them they'll be sorry. There can't be too many Boro towels in the outback. I was so mad I didn't care about Karen's snoring.

2012
Years later Oz and Beth somehow got Karen to do a good luck message for my wedding. They also borrowed a Boro towel and presented it to me at the wedding to replace the one that was stolen in Alice Springs. 


I recall that Karen was getting up early to do a balloon trip.

4th February 1992 Day 199

The Diary
A look at the School of the Air and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (also known as the life and times of Rev Flynn). Bought some bargain batteries and a bonza mini tripod after smashing one in the shop. Off to the swimming pool and another 32x50m. All front crawl. I've done it. Shame it took me about 50mins. Wasted a lot of time before catching the overnight bus to Alice Springs. 


The first 200km was on a single track, pot-holed, roller-coaster of a road but once into the NT the road improved. The coach seemed to stop everywhere, clocks went back 90mins and we changed buses at 2:30am at Three Ways. We rolled into Alice Springs about 9:15am and I felt awful.

2012
Mt Isa to Alice Springs - 1,169km
Total distance since Sydney - 5,334km 

3rd February 1992 Day 198

The Diary
Mt. Isa, the world's biggest city (40,000km2 - as listed in the Guinness Book of Records) was not exactly bustling with life. We declined the 7:30am underground mine tour and headed to the hostel. It reminded me of a hospital. Oz and Beth crashed out and I explored the town - which didn't take long at all. The town has a distinct Billingham feel about it, with it's chimneys on the horizon, though Mt Isa is a lot further from the nearest town.


I decided to make use of the swimming pool in the shadow of the mine - 32x50m lengths - 18 front crawl, a new record. Then I went along to the gym and did a light work out before wandering over to the bus depot. The nutter was waiting for the bus. Yes please, referee, he's not on our bus. Oz and Beth arrived, shortly followed by Hels and Kate. Off we went to Boyd's hotel for food. Kate had a 'mare ordering a burger but soon it was time for them to leave again. Off to Darwin - with the nutter !!

Mt Isa or Billingham?

Mt Isa or Billingham?

We returned to the hostel via the city lookout with its signposts to various spots around the world. How could London be 700km further than Edinburgh? Surely Rio de Janiero is closer than New York City? And what is a Great Circle anyway? (I think you'll find it's the shortest route between 2 points on the globe - informed Ed). 

Back at the hostel we watched the soccer and chatted to my room-mate Sean an ex-British Aerospace employee and Spurs supporter who was doing our trip in reverse.


2012
Haven't been back to Mt Isa since.

2nd February 1992 Day 197

The Diary
Went to the Townsville Natural History Museum and paid $2.50 for the most disappointing museum ever. About the size of Brunner School gym, most of the exhibits were models or fakes and hardly any of the themes survived  more than one or two display cases. Oz and Beth went off to the aquarium after that but I decided to save my money and watch France beat Wales. This, they duly did but only 12-9. They must both be quaking in their boots after watching England. Famous last words??

Townsville

Checking in for the overnight bus to Mt Isa, a voice cried out something about a "daft hat". It was Hels and Kate just getting off the bus we were due to get on. We had a quick hour in the transit centre cafe, swapped a few tales and arranged to meet them in Mt Isa the following day.


The bus journey was memorable for the nutter who couldn't remember which seat he'd been sat in and accused everyone of pinching his inflatable travel pillow. As is usual with nutters he made horrible snorting noises in his sleep.


2012
I don't really remember the museum - which may prove my diary entry - but the current museum looks a bit better than my description.


If the reverse is true (nutter = snorer, snorer = nutter) then I must be a bit of a nutter according to Christy.


Oz spent most of the year complaining about my snoring but I'm sure it was a myth - he never proved anything.


Daft hat - the aussie bush hat I bought in a market in Cairns. It stayed on my head most of the next 6 months.


Townsville to Mt Isa - 904km
Total distance since Sydney - 4,165km 

1st February 1992 Day 196

The Diary
I normally associate Feb with the coldest month of the year but somehow I think it's going to be different this year. Oz and Beth noticed that I'd been depressed but what could  they do? We hung around the hostel for a while then Ken our sound-engineer-strong-opinion-on-everything-especially-music host took us to the ferry.


Back to the Townsville Backpackers'. The town itself was shut. The highlight of the day was watching England hammer Ireland 38-9. 


2012
Looks like Feb is living up to it's reputation in UK and Europe though it's not that great here either (relatively speaking).

I remember Ken debating (arguing) with me and Oz that Australia had made a much greater contribution to pop and rock than the UK. After living here for 16 years I've concluded that you were smoking something really, really strong Ken. I'm sick of hearing the same handful of Aussie rock songs over and over again. Australia would be better compared with, say, Surrey.

31st January 1992 Day 195

The Diary
My bum was aching like mad after the previous days walking and my back was not great either. Decided to have a quiet day. Beth and Oz went for a walk to the forts and I went to the local pool. Floated around for a while and then went back to the hostel. Grabbed a few magazines, laid on the floor and hardly moved until it was time to sleep. What a day. Phew!

2012
A pretty dull day but I'm sure the following had more exciting days as they all celebrated birthdays on 31st Jan 1992.


Johnny Rotten (36)
Lloyd Cole (31)
Phil Manzanera (41)

And on electric transparent violin is another Billingham boy - Eddie Jobson

30th January 1992 Day 194

The Diary
Went into town early to find out how much it would cost to fly back to Sydney - $189 - I had to think long and  hard before deciding to see what happens over the next few days. Christy recommended Magnetic Island but from what I've read it looks pretty much the same as most of the small coastal resorts we've been to with perhaps a few more walks.


A short ferry ride and then a courtesy car to Centaur House at Geoffrey Bay. There seems to be a good atmosphere of pop trivia (!) at this hostel and there are some Qs and Rolling Stones' lyrics lying about. Oz suggested going to lie on the nearest beach just as I knew he would but I'd already decided I was off to do some of the walks.

I walked for a good 5 hours, in the heat of the afternoon, at a fairly brisk pace, over some very hilly ground. I managed to get through about 3 litres of water and and 0.5 litre of orange juice. I didn't see any koalas but discovered some gorgeous little bays and it was good exercise.

I returned to the hostel, went for a chicken curry and then when Oz and Beth returned we played Australian trivial pursuit aided by free pancakes and ice-cream.


2012
Chicken curry, pancakes and ice-cream - highly nutritious recover food obviously.


The cost of one-way flights to Sydney nowadays ? Looks like anything from $99 to $449 - choose wisely children.