Alice Springs. The place where men are hard as nails and the place takes no prisoners. Well, not exactley.
Alice Springs is actually quite modern and the reputation of being a hard and difficult place seemed to be slightly unfounded. It's actually quite nice. Now I must add that we were only there for one night before our trip to Adelaide so it could be that all the hard arses were having a night off, but it didn't seem all that bad. It was a tad dusty though so atleast part of the reputation remains in tact.
Alice Springs. Not that bad, just a little dusty.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Something hot and spicy????
Needing a few bits a pieces for dinner, Clare and I found a small supermarket in a very small town on the Great Ocean Road. Seeing a couple of ingredients and knowing the facilities that we had on the camp site, Clare decided that we were going to have Indian. Get in, was my immediate thought as I hadn't had an Indian in ages.
We got just about got all of the necessary bits and pieces together (Which was difficult in a) a shop of that size and b) in a country that doesn't stock much in the way of ethnic cooking in supermarkets (Compared to the UK anyway). Clare was desperate to have poppadoms with the meal so we hunted high and low throughout the store (which was actually only about three-four isles). I had been less than confident from the start that we would find any, but Clare, determined as ever, carried on trying. Approaching a young, shop assistant of Eastern Asian origin (very PC) Clare asked very forwardly if they stocked poppadoms. The assistant, strangely, appeared to be quite taken aback by this request, but replied that they did and that they were at the front of the store. Clare, clearly excited by this, looked at and said, "YES, they've got some". This seemed to make the assistant even more uncomfortable. They walk through the store to the front, and the assistant presented Clare with her request, a shelf full of CONDOMS. Clare confused, then laughed and said "POPPADOMS....for an Indian meal?" The penny then dropped with the assistant "OOOOOoooooh.......no we don't have any".
We got just about got all of the necessary bits and pieces together (Which was difficult in a) a shop of that size and b) in a country that doesn't stock much in the way of ethnic cooking in supermarkets (Compared to the UK anyway). Clare was desperate to have poppadoms with the meal so we hunted high and low throughout the store (which was actually only about three-four isles). I had been less than confident from the start that we would find any, but Clare, determined as ever, carried on trying. Approaching a young, shop assistant of Eastern Asian origin (very PC) Clare asked very forwardly if they stocked poppadoms. The assistant, strangely, appeared to be quite taken aback by this request, but replied that they did and that they were at the front of the store. Clare, clearly excited by this, looked at and said, "YES, they've got some". This seemed to make the assistant even more uncomfortable. They walk through the store to the front, and the assistant presented Clare with her request, a shelf full of CONDOMS. Clare confused, then laughed and said "POPPADOMS....for an Indian meal?" The penny then dropped with the assistant "OOOOOoooooh.......no we don't have any".
Whale world, whale world. Party time. Excellent
Near Albany, right down the bottom of the West Coast is Whale World. This sounded like an interesting place to visit and learn about Whales, their habitat and which whales can be seen where. WRONG. It turns out that this place was the last Whaling station in Oz and this was the place that once the Whales had been caught, were chopped up into little pieces, stuck in an oven and oil then extracted. Not the kind of Whale world we were expecting!
Saying that, it was quite interesting and did provide a different perspective on the subject. They also heavily promoted saving the whales and conservation, which was great.....apart from one of these conservation videos was shown in one of the old ovens they used to cook the whales pieces.
Saying that, it was quite interesting and did provide a different perspective on the subject. They also heavily promoted saving the whales and conservation, which was great.....apart from one of these conservation videos was shown in one of the old ovens they used to cook the whales pieces.
...and now for something completely different.
After a long and interesting trip we've arrived in Perth.
The problem with arriving in a large city is that you start to run out of things to do that are new and different. There's always museums, galleries and that but it does become a little repetitive. So Clare and I made an effort to do something new and different in Perth. With that in mind we went into tourist information and looked at various fliers in a quest for something new. And then we saw a billboard. What it was advertising was definitely something that we had not seen on the trip, was unlikely to be seen on the rest of the trip and was certainly different. We agreed that we should go and take a look. So we did.
20 minutes later, Clare and I were paying to go into SEXPO 2007. Funnily, this hadn't been mentioned as a attraction at the tourist information centre but it certainly seemed to draw a crowd. Many of the crowd we giggling 20 year old blokes or slightly eccentric looking couples but we ventured in nonetheless.
The hall was full of stalls selling books, videos and 'equipment' for the disconcerting consumer. I think the one thing that stood out (If you'll excuse the pun) was the guy painting peoples portraits......in the nude.....with his privates. Not something you'd see at the Tate gallery. I just wonder what the guys' thought process was when he came up with the idea.
"I'm quite a good painter but I need an angle......."
The problem with arriving in a large city is that you start to run out of things to do that are new and different. There's always museums, galleries and that but it does become a little repetitive. So Clare and I made an effort to do something new and different in Perth. With that in mind we went into tourist information and looked at various fliers in a quest for something new. And then we saw a billboard. What it was advertising was definitely something that we had not seen on the trip, was unlikely to be seen on the rest of the trip and was certainly different. We agreed that we should go and take a look. So we did.
20 minutes later, Clare and I were paying to go into SEXPO 2007. Funnily, this hadn't been mentioned as a attraction at the tourist information centre but it certainly seemed to draw a crowd. Many of the crowd we giggling 20 year old blokes or slightly eccentric looking couples but we ventured in nonetheless.
The hall was full of stalls selling books, videos and 'equipment' for the disconcerting consumer. I think the one thing that stood out (If you'll excuse the pun) was the guy painting peoples portraits......in the nude.....with his privates. Not something you'd see at the Tate gallery. I just wonder what the guys' thought process was when he came up with the idea.
"I'm quite a good painter but I need an angle......."
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