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Australia via KL

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  • Trip start
    October 12, 2019
  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    1

    Leaving for Heathrow

    October 13, 2019 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    It was great spending the evening with Jessica, Chris, Toby and Lorna last night. Thanks and apologies to Toby and Lorna for the early start.

    At least it’s dry and still. The underground is surprisingly busy for 7:15 on a Sunday morning. We were expecting a carriage to ourselves but there were very few seats free and it filled as we travelled closer to Earls Court. We guess they were travelling to a half marathon as someone had a number on their shirt saying that. Lots of trainers! Bun tells me I mustn’t take a picture down the carriage 😞Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    The reality of the seating arrangementsSunrise over MalaysiaLanding at Kuala LumpurBaggage reclaim orchids

    I'm Bored

    October 13, 2019 in India ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    I’m bored

    It’s 19:44 on Sunday evening UK time, 2.44 am Malaysian time, so just over halfway through the flight. On my left Bun is watching “The Greatest Showman”. On my right a rather large passenger has his blanket pulled over his head in a poor attempt to be a ghost. At least it muffles his snoring, especially if I push the blanket into his open mouth.

    Two people sent me an amusing card depicting my seat on the plane - a photo is attached. Amusing at the time, reality is far worse, not one small crying child but a party from a kindergarten surround me. Then there’s the snoring, the incessant talking etc. The worst person is Mr Sneezy behind and to my left - YES YOU (- I’m sure he can read this through the gap in the seats.). He started by discovering he had a squeaky seat so spent a good time jumping up and down on it like a small child with ADHD. Then I think he waitedy for when I stopped watching a film and fell asleep, he then developed flu. A 6 gun salute of un-stifled sneezes followed with a light shower of mist landing on my head. Shuddering at that experience, he then followed up with many Walt Disney Jungle book like Colonel Hathi trumpets as he blew his nose. This woke the kindergarten who then started crying, but failed to wake the several people snoring. Within 30 minutes I could feel my sinuses blocking and my nose running. Feeling a sneeze coming on, I jumped over the ghoul next to me and locked myself in the toilet so as not to disturb anyone. Had the toilet been engaged I would have only been left with the option of going to the rear of the plane and throwing myself out rather than disturbing anyone ... well that’s just good manners along with compulsory catheterisation for anyone who isn’t sat in an aisle seat.

    We loaded in time for an 11 am departure, only to be told that air traffic control had told the pilot there would be a delay of an hour. Never mind, the hostesses broke out the emergency 3 gram packs containing 8 half peanuts. I can only think that this was to keep the hostesses entertained while 4 passengers went into anaphylactic shock and required Adrenalin. 45 minutes later we were informed that the plane had now developed a technical fault and an engineer was on the way to sort it. We weren’t told that it was resolved, maybe the pilot grew tired of waiting for the AA, but we were pushed back shortly after 12:15. One problem with Heathrow being so close to the M25 is that pilots can take the wrong turning and accidentally join the M25 near the junction with the M4 and gett caught in the motorway traffic. We then experienced the longest taxi ever, at least twice around the M25. At one point I thought we might be departing from Gatwick.

    Well we are on our way. One meal and a pack of sandwiches into the flight I must admit I’m a bit peckish. I won’t ask for a decaf coffee again as it took 45 minutes to arrive, by which time I was asleep, so I was woken and made to drink it because of the effort the hostess had gone to get it for me.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    I look asleep
    3Hopefully it wont be the last tome we see these

    Heathrow Terminal 4

    October 13, 2019 in England ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    In Jan's garden
    BBQ pork - for AndyDeep fried aubergineChicken SatayG'ma Jan with her plate of noodlesFresh Coconut (£0.70!)2Bun's dinner ....1ABC Chendol - ice, gula malacca, coconut milk, green worms and black beansAlways a catA random 95 year old chinese woman who we were talking to this afternoon.

    Home for the next week

    October 14, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Arrived at G’ma Jan’s (Bun’s stepmother) on the outskirts of KL. Hot and humid. A day for staying awake and eating the local food. We went to a local shopping mall for lunch and supplies from a supermarket. We all ate Nasi Lemak for lunch plus a bowl of fruit rojack, (rojack means “mix”, Jan told us that it is also used to refer to mixed marriages or mixed race). The fruit rojack contained pineapple, turnip, mango and cucumber all covered with a strong, sweet tasting sauce containing shrimp paste along with a deep-fried poppadom-looking crispy thing. Strange bedfellows, but it works. Bun drank a hot lime with assam (salted plumb) which probably contained a bag of sugar to counteract the lime and salt.

    We went home for a brief nap during which time there was a 90 minute electric storm that took the electric out 4 times. Thunder rumbled throughout the storm. I love electrical storms but Bun isn’t too keen on them.

    Dinner was at an old outdoor medan selera (food court). Unfortunately, what should have taken 30 mins to drive, took about 90 mins and someone the stalls had already closed by the time we arrived. However, plenty of selection remained. We are fortunate in that Bun spent the first 12 years of her life in Malaysia and we have always had Bun’s father and stepmother as a guides when buying street food. While the visible hygiene has improved over the years, the environment probably puts off a lot of visitors who either stick to hotel food or international chains and miss out on what we consider to be the tastiest, most freshly cooked and value for money food that we come across anywhere. It was interesting to see the “medan selera” concept being created at a number of locations in London. Off to bed, it’s been a long day since 6:15am Sunday morning. Next door are having an e tension built and the workmen will be starting at 8:00. Goodnight.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    2Olive-Backed Sun Bird
    Shy subjects5 a day made easyIt's 4:30 - time for some rainBun and Jan1-Utama indoor forest1-Utama indoor forest1-Utama mall - 5 floors and 1km longKway desserts

    1-Utama

    October 15, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Although the day was quite overcast, the temperature was over 30c in the morning. It felt very humid, but the weather app says it’s only about 70%. The beauty of gardening here is that everything grows really well. Last time we were here we helped with re-potting a plant. The process was simply to tip it out of the pot, hack most of the roots off with a large cleaver and then re-pot with fresh soil. The climate does the rest and everything grows almost despite what is done to it.

    During the morning the Olive-Backed Sun Bird appeared on the ornamental ginger plant. Only about 4 inches (12cm ) long, looking a bit like a large humming bird with its long beak for getting nectar from flowers. While it can hover to collect food, this one just sat to drink from the ginger flowers.

    The dessert after lunch was a selection of fruit - Pineapple, Guava, Water Melon and Papaya. The small dishes contain salt and assam powder. Assam is a Malay word for dried sour plumbs. 5 a day - easy.

    The afternoon storm was not as spectacular as yesterday’s but I love sitting outside watching it.

    1-Utama is a large shopping mall containing many eating places. 5 floors and 1,000m long it’s a good place to get in some paces. The mall prides itself on being Malaysia’s “first green mall” collecting 2.35 million gallons of rain water to use in all of the toilets (weather permitting). They also boast to conserving 287,833kWh of energy per month through the building’s automation systems. They’d save a lot more energy if they turned the a/c up to above freezing.

    One can never have enough desserts so we had them with our evening meal (another Chendol and a peanut cream). I was expecting the peanut cream to be cold but it came out hot and runny rather like peanut butter mixed with a small amount of boiling water and warmed up to take the roof of your mouth off. It was a new experience. Like so much of the food, it was laden with extra sugar. The desserts we took home were kueh (kway) flavoured with green pandan leaves. The green and white is Kuih Talam Pandan, a 2-layer Nyonya kuih dessert, the meaning of “talam” is tray. The top white layer is made with coconut milk, it is soft and slightly salty. The bottom green layer is made with pandan juice and has some alkaline water added, it is sweet and has a chewy texture. The green dome was a very squidgy kway with a coconut and cane sugar filling. Yes you can spell,ugh many different ways.

    The video of the woman with the bowl shows how they clean jade. It’s placed in the bowl on top of something (I’ll have to do more research) she then runs a piece of wood around the edge of the bowl that then vibrates and hums, finished off by striking the bowl three times. As I said, more research needed.

    Gate painting tomorrow so up early.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Gecko
    2PopiaTau foo far

    Mad dogs and Englishmen

    October 16, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I don’t want anyone to think that a week in KL is “a holiday”. Bun is working hard to devour everything she remembers from her childhood and there are chores to be completed.

    When there is plenty of time, painting a gate should be quite therapeutic. When it’s hot and humid and the paint dries very fast, it becomes less of a mindfulness session and more a race against time. It’s made less of a chore when I little gecko visits - thankfully not running across the fresh paint, and the sun bird kept popping past.

    Rewards are usually food orientated. Another food hall, another selection. I had a sizzling plate, Bun had a fish ball noodle soup, a sharing plate of popia - rice pancake with vegetables, turnip, beansprouts and chilli 🌶. All very tasty. Drinks were iced kopi (coffee), assam boi and an iced tea. Dessert will be somewhere else. We went and had a tau foo far, a soya bean curd with cane sugar and ginger syrup.

    Each stall rents a space from the owner of the food hall who runs the drinks counter, no other stall sells drinks. Someone is employed to collect all of the bowls and wash them.so that all bowls are returned to the correct stall, each one has their own colour, hence the differently coloured plates on our table.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    1Sticky Dicks
    PastriesSticky Dick plus a bun with red bean pasteWhat refrigerated transportation regulations?Lovely open drainsCendol (Chendol) any way you want it1Yep - still raining

    Sticky Dicks

    October 16, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    One of Bun’s dad’s favourite snacks was a deep fried dough that he called bones, or sticky dicks. Resembling a foot long doughnut, he would eat them while having a coffee. The shop where we had our tau foo far also sold a range of pastries which Bun and Jan ateRead more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    1Durian segments
    Whole durian fruitLa-laCheong chung funChicken SatayDelicious ...

    Durian and La-la

    October 16, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Many years ago, Bill (Bun’s dad) described durian as the tastiest custard you’ll ever eat but smells like the worst ever public toilets. That was actually quite accurate. Having travelled in India it out-competes some pretty rank toilets.

    It’s related to cacao but went on to develop a sulphurous odour to (apparently) attract orangutans and other primates.

    “Durian fruit is generally slightly oval, about a foot wide and covered in formidable looking spikes. The fruit can weigh between two to seven pounds, and this is heavy enough that in holding it in your hands by the body of the fruit, instead of the stem, it could potentially pierce the skin. However, its otherworldly appearance is dwarfed by another one of its attributes – the smell. Durians have a strong, rank smell that permeates the outer shell and lingers long after the fruit has been removed. Due to its overpowering smell, durian has been banned on many types of public transport across Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. In Singapore, the fruit is banned across all types of public transportation and even taxis have signs to let you know they refuse to carry passengers transporting the smelly fruit.”

    Anyhow, Jan has kept us some as the season has just finished ... beautiful, but still very smelly. What on earth tempted someone to fight through the smell to taste it? Maybe they had a cold at the time?

    La-la is the Malays for clams ... another of Bun’ favourites. Jan’s task this evening was to find Bun some la-la which she did very well. I hope that you are paying attention to all of these meals because there will be a test later. The highlight for me was another fresh coconut. They are full of juice and tender white flesh, the only drink I can find that hasn’t been adulterated with added sugar or sweetener.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    One wall of the tokensI'm not afraid of Mushu

    Budhist Temple

    October 17, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We were up early to paint the second gate before the weather became too hot. All went according to plan except that there’s a black metal fence between Jan’s house and her neighbours house, this could also do with a coat of paint. The neighbour has a black metal fence between them and their other neighbour, if we do the fence adjoining Jan’s house, should we do the neighbour’s other fence to create balance? And so on ...

    Today is a festival day for one of the Buddhist Gods at the temple Jan attends. Bill, Bun’s dad, is also at the temple, in spirit if not in body, so today we visited him.

    The spirits are housed in a room that is overseen by the god of health and well-being. Along the walls are “tokens” with the name of the deceased people. Some tokens are prepared in advance before anyone has died but the spot in the room is reserved. Others are prepared as couples (or more) and a red tape is placed over the names of those who have not yet died. These tokens frequently include photos of the deceased. Food is left for the spirits, it must be vegetarian - Bill was not a vegetarian!    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Durian cendol
    Bun had already eat one section of the prawn thingyLove the tea potDrwing in the white rice to create the patternFilling in with coloured riceStill raining

    Diwali and Pho Viet

    October 17, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    Went back to 1-Utama for a Vietnamese dinner. Other than the food was fantastic, we were most intrigued by the tea pot and how the handle actually makes it easy to hold.

    In 1-Utama they are preparing for Diwali by producing a large Kolam using coloured rice

    Diwali, Divali, Deepavali or Dipavali is a four to five day-long (varying as per Hindu Calendar) festival of lights, which is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists every autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in southern hemisphere).

    One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolises the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance." Light is a metaphor for knowledge and consciousness. During the celebration, temples, homes, shops and office buildings are brightly illuminated. The preparations, and rituals, for the festival typically last five days, with the climax occurring on the third day coinciding with the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, the festival generally falls between mid-October and mid-November.

    Forgot to mention dropping off for a combination dessert of two favourites, cendol and durian ... yes a durian cendol!    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Oh dear, never mind
    Mr Sun BirdMrs Sun BirdCake - not exactly as its glutenous rice.Guess where we areIew from the monorailChinese take away2Symphony LakeLittle things ... may take up train spotting

    KLCC Symphony Lake - and more rain

    October 18, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Decided to use the day to go sightseeing. The rain last night had left the gold paint washing off onto the black. Forecasting more rain, may as well be tourists.

    We’ve looked around the Petronas Towers before as they were built on the site of the old race course and Bun’s old house. However, we’d never been around the Symphony Lake

    “Within KLCC Park, sited at the esplanade outside of Suria KLCC, lies the 10,000 sq ft man-made Lake Symphony. Two musical fountains display over 150 unique programmed animations in a magical performance of sound and water. KLCC Lake Symphony Light and Sound Water Fountain showtimes are 8pm, 9pm and 9.45pm daily.

    The park is lovely because of the native trees and the birds. Mr and Mrs Sun Bird were whizzing about the trees. The lake was unimpressive, but then it wasn’t showtime. We nipped into the complex below the towers to find a coffee and to decide where to go next. A walk to a mall where we used to go with the kids, via the aquarium seemed a good idea, only to come out into daylight to find another storm pouring down. Plan B, a taxi to the mall.

    The mall was going through a revamp. Somehow it just wasn’t very interesting. There are hundreds of shops and this year’s main merchandise was optical glasses. Previous years it’s been cameras, games machines, computers etc. While all of that is still available, glasses shops predominated.

    Decided to ride the new monorail 🚝 to have a different view of the city. It’s certainly different being above the streets with nothing either side of you. I wondered how they changed the trains over from the up line to the down line and was fascinated by the track swapping over.

    Rained most of the afternoon. Streets in KL were flooded. Is there a theme to our holidays. Will areas of desert in Australia experience the first rainfall this century when we visit? Never mind, should get a few hours painting done tomorrow morning.

    Dinner was unusual. Rather than a food hall we went to a stall for a takeaway. Nothing was priced, nothing was weighed and people put what they wanted into varying sizes and shapes of containers. At the end a young woman looked at what you had and told you how much to pay. No one argued.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs

    1-Utama Secret Gardens

    October 20, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Not just secret, but hidden😡 “... the 30,000sqft Secret Garden, the largest rooftop garden in Southeast Asia: it is a popular tourist attraction with over 500 species of exotic flora”

    Today’s Sunday, Jan goes to the temple for prayers. We were on a mission to find Jan something she can listen to music from her phone on.

    A quick lunch and then Bun and I were dropped off at 1U while Jan continued on to the temple.

    The Secret Gardens are not well signposted but Bun had a rough idea of how to find them, other than the obvious - they are on the roof. Only a couple of lifts go to the roof, the one we found was a service elevator with a checker plate patched floor and walls that had been well bashed. It was a surprise to arrive at a clean and bright lobby before walking into the gardens that were well kept and receiving a constant dose of fine mist from a spray system.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Brown sugar any way you want itMaking satay

    Night Market

    October 20, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Some things never change and others things are changing so quickly. The night markets don’t appear to have changed all of the time we have been coming to Malaysia. Some of the goods that are sold are traditional, some are modern and much is food. Sugar cane is still squeezed and the juice collected for a drink. Similarly coconut water is drained from the coconuts and bottled in front of you.

    What is changing is the approach to litter, waste, plastics etc. Bins in the malls ask for waste to be separated for recycling. Plastic straws are (should) no longer be served with drinks, but you may request one if you want one. There are campaigns about the environment in many places. I wasn’t aware that - if food waste was a country, it would be the third largest contributor to carbon dioxide after USA and China.

    The food available is becoming very westernised. Major chains are in all of the malls and many of the streets. “Tiger Sugar” that sells a whole range of drinks, but all with lashings of brown sugar. I guess it won’t be long before they catch up the rest of the world with the “diabesity” epidemic.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Dates before they have dried. Sweet and crunchy
    How to peel a rambutanMaking a sticky dickMedan SeleraAll packed up againThe train between the two terminals at KL airportAndy srruggling with the Australian visitor questionnaireSunrise over AustraliaTouchdown

    Thank you Mr Sneezy

    October 21, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Our last day in KL and a 10:15pm overnight flight to Brisbane.

    The weather is still threatening storms. Jan wants to visit a friend so will drop us off at a mall for us to get lunch and then collect us to go back home to pack before being collected by a private hire to take us to the airport, approximately 1 hour away.

    The mall was nondescript, same range of shops, but plenty of space to be able to wander and a good range of food. We went into the Medan Selera and were hit by an extremely hot, humid, spice-laden atmosphere. The food on offer was predominantly curry. We decided to eat back in the mall, Bun electing for a build-your-own soup and I had a nasi lemak.

    Back home to pack and then an uneventful journey to the airport, loading etc. The flight was not full and I thought I’d managed to get four centre seats to myself only to have one of the last people on board take one of the seats 😩

    So, Mr bloody Sneezy who was behind us on the from flight Heathrow and sneezed over us for most of the journey, you infected me. Part way through the flight the sneezes started and my nose started running. Extreme Asian man flu (the worst kind) came on all at once. What a bastard that man was. I left KL feeling well, I arrived in Brisbane with nose streaming, eyes all red and feeling miserable. Not a great condition to arrive in bright sunshine and warmth.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs

    Brisbane

    October 22, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Arriving at 08:15, we were expecting a long delay getting through immigration, partly because of the questionnaire asking if we’d been in contact with farm animals in the previous 30 days. We ere directed to “quarantine” wondering how long we would be kept there, hours, days , weeks? We were asked two questions, had we been in contact with pigs and were our shoes clean? Happy with our answers we were sent on our way. We were out of the terminal by 9:30.

    Mike, Bun’s brother, was waiting and drove us home. The day was spent (for me) sneezing and blowing my nose, getting through a box of tissues very quickly.

    The Butcher Bird came to be fed a bit of meat. Mike feeds a variety of birds, the butcher, kookaburras, cockatoos and lorikeets. Magpies and other birds are sent away. Renate is not so keen, the birds poo everywhere and can be quite destructive, especially the cockatoos.

    Early dinner, bed by 8:30, wait for the down chorus!    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Anyone for an avacardo?

    Camper Vans - Tweed Heads South

    October 23, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Our plan .... no, it’s not a plan because we are not allowed to have one, our thoughts are to buy a camper and go walkabouts. Head north, see the barrier reef, do some diving, back to Brisbane for Christmas, see the kids, see in the new year, head south, Sidney, south coast, Melbourne, maybe Adelaide, back to Melbourne, catch a plane back to KL. Simple. Just need a camper van.

    We have been looking at vans on the Aussie gumtree. There are many good looking vans. Some basic, some quirky. The cost is less critical than what we lose on it between buying in Brisbane and selling in Melbourne. The most basic camper will cost us around Aus $50 per day to rent, approval $7,500 for 5 months. However, the most basic won’t allow us to take the six of us when Toby, Jessica and their partners come over for Christmas.

    We decided to go to a dealer in Tweed Heads South (THS) so that we could have a look at a range of.vans.

    THS is across the border in New South Wales. The time zone is currently one hour ahead of Queensland. If we were to fly the airport terminal is in NSW but part of the runway goes into QLD and is, technically, in a different time zone.

    The dealership had about 20 vans, we were looking at the more budget end. The photos on gumtree must have been taken by the same person who does house sale photos and can make a tiny box room look like an enormous double bedroom. We learnt a lot, mostly about what we didn’t want, a little about what we would lik (all round mosquito curtains) but couldn’t find a van we liked. Decided to retire for a coffee and rethink.

    The coffee shop was in NSW, south of THS and shut at 4. We set of and were due to arrive at 3:30 if we got a wiggle on. When we arrive£ we found that, despite being in NSW, they worked on QLD time and it was only 2:30. Very confusing.

    The previous day we had arranged to meet Carl and his girlfriend who had a quirky camper for sale. They had driven it from Brisbane to Sidney bcuase someone had said that they would buy it, but then didn’t. They were driving back from Sidney and we arranged to meet in the IKEA car park south of Brisbane. The van was certainly quirky and had been built to a high standard, but it was tiny. Not sure our marriage would have survived the time in that van. https://youtu.be/dq_TdykIqt8

    We drove back through Brisbane and continued the search for vans on gumtree and eBay.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    1
    1

    On our own - accidentally "stalking"

    October 24, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today, Thursday, both Mike and Renate do voluntary work. Mike helps out in a kennels with abandoned dogs, Renate works in the Brisbane City Information Centre. This has given us the opportunity to do a bit of exploring, buy a couple of items, find the house that we will be “sitting” during December etc.

    The temperature here is high 20s - low 30s but a lovely dry heat, it doesn’t feel that hot, there is also a lovely breeze, almost a bit windy for Bun’s contact lenses. Ideal for burning!

    Once everyone had left we ventured down to the swimming pool. Not as warm as we’d hoped, but very refreshing.

    We walked down to a local set of shops to top up two “Go” cards that are prepared-paid for buses, river taxi etc in Brisbane. The 7-11 shop also sold iced coffee .... well a coffee cup with ice in it that needs to be filled at the coffee machine. The resulting coffee was quite tasty, but a bit of a knack to making it as demonstrated by the staff.

    Walked on down to the shops near the house we will be “sitting” in December. The house is situated down a quiet road but we had to cross a major road to get there. A couple of school kids in uniform were stood next to us as we waited ages for the lights to change. The kids set off first and we followed them. We followed the girl across the road, down a small path to join up with the road that the house is situated on. We followed her along along the road as we looked for No 19. The girl crossed the road just as we passed No17, then took the post out of the postbox outside No 19, looking over her shoulder to see us watching her as she walked up her drive. We must have looked like a couple of stalkers. Well we’d found the house and the daughter.

    Back to the shop to buy food for dinner, missed the bus while waiting for the pedestrian crossing lights to change, walked the 30 minutes back to M&R’s house, stopping to take some pictures of cockatoos sat outside a house and appeared to be waiting for someone to feed them.

    At home we cooked dinner for everyone and continued our search for a campervan.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Brisbane evening sunBrisbane evening sunThis is a big place!

    The Darwin dilemma

    October 24, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Thursday - We’ve searched gumtree, google and Facebook for vans. Bun has found a website showing beautiful motorhomes, lower mileage than most we have seen and a good bit cheaper, but based in Darwin. I have tried phoning them and they have not responded ...
    https://www.em-caravans.com.au/

    The price difference will make flying to Darwin an economic option, stay a night in a hotel and pick up the van the next day. As we have no definitive “plan”, it doesn’t matter if our journey starts in Brisbane or Darwin. Starting in Darwin may actually be better, we’d see a bit of Australia that we hadn’t planned to see. The downside is 2,500km drive from Darwin to Cairns. We are told that not all of the roads are sealed and may be dirt rather than tarmac. Some of them are single track. It is also coming up to the rainy season in Darwin.

    From what we have seen and read, it makes sense for someone to want to offload their motorhome stock before the end of their season, but nothing accounts for the lack of communication.

    Friday - we keep trying to contact the company, we have been on automated hold for 15 minutes just to find that we are then transferred to an answer machine.

    A response to an email looked rather automated, poor spelling and not greatly welcoming or apologetic for not responding to telephone calls etc. They wanted to know which motorhome we were interested in as they had recently “sold many”. Again I asked to be telephoned. I gave details of the van we were interested in. Their email response was “Vehicle is located at our showroom in East Arm NT but we offer delivery anywhere in Australia for a very good shipping rate. For all the vehicles delivered we offer a 7 days inspection period from the moment you get it at your home and if for any reason you don't want to keep the vehicle you will be fully refunded.”

    Responding that we would like to see it first the response was.”The vehicle is in NT sitting at the shipping company ready to be delivered.
    They are a shipping company so it's impossible to test the vehicle there. As alternative we can offer a better solution for everybody.”

    I think this is the time to bale out. All looks too much of a scam for me.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Honey Eater
    Honey EaterDigestive biscuits, lorakeets fending off the magpies

    House Sitting

    October 25, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    To be able to own a vehicle we need to have a CRN (Customer Reference Number) this will allow us to register the vehicle. Sounds very bureaucratic and time consuming. We need various identification, passport, two bank cards etc.

    When we arrived at the offices we were given the forms to complete, plus forms for Mike to complete to verify our address, plus a queuing number similar to a delicatessent’s. Before we had managed to get half way through the form we were called to window 3. 10 minutes later, all sorted. The brits would have been able to make this process far more tortuous and time consuming.

    Unfortunately getting a SIM card for our old Nokia was not so simple. The Nokia works OK in England. Our iPhones have plans that allow roaming, using the 8GB data, unlimited call to UK and 500 minutes of international calls - we are sorted. Unfortunately it’s expensive for anyone within Australia to phone us, therefore we need an Australian SIM. Our Nokia is only 2G, that’s fine because we don’t need any data, but there isn’t a 2G network in Australia 😡 so we need a new phone. The Vodafone store do sell them $60 but don’t have any in stock, they do have the $159 available. The same story in Telstra store. The second hand phone store only sell upmarket phones - all with 1 or 2 day battery life whereas the cheap keypad phones can be left on standby for weeks. The suggestion is to go and get a phone from a supermarket.

    Target is a big store, but no staff. When Mike eventually found some staff, they could sell us a phone, but couldn’t tell us about the various plans ... The Telstra store could tell us about the plans but didn’t have any of the cheaper phones so back to Target to buy the phone and try to sort out the plan online.

    We had arranged to go to the house we will be sitting at 7:30 pm. M&R meet up with friends each Friday evening at 5pm at a bar in the small shopping complex near the house. A drink, back home for something to eat and then back to 19 Akuna Street for introductions and to be shown around.

    This area of Brisbane is hilly. It was very steep walking up their drive, not easy for Bun in a skirt. Kami and Andrew are both teachers, well Andrew is a school chaplain which is a pastoral rather than a religious position. They have two kids, Hayley and Lochlan (Lachlan?). The house is 4 bedrooms, two with en-suite, an open plan kitchen/sitting room, a large balcony, back garden and swimming pool. This looks like a tough assignment for 4 weeks, but someone has to do it. Our ward is Penny, a 6 year old black Labrador cross Kelpie. She is very affectionate. Penny has her own dog door and spends much of her time on the balcony. 2hrs 15mins later and a number of games on a board game I hadn’t played before, we left and went home feeling quite happy about where we will be over Christmas and that the kids will have somewhere to stay too.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    11

    Back to Tweeds Head South - whales!

    October 26, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    More Motorhomes have appeared on gumtree and Michael in Tweed Heads thinks he has the one that will be ideal for us .... well at least he communicates.

    It appears that, in Australia, the highways department keep the weekends for doing roadworks. As we approached the main road we could see the almost stationery traffic. It gave us an opportunity to people spot in different vehicles plus Bun taking some artistic pictures of chrome wheels and the reflections of us as we went by.

    The motorhome is a 1995 Mazda with a Winnebago body. 270,000kms with 4 litre diesel engine. Inside it looks a bit tired, but really well maintained and looked after. It feels wider and more airy than other we have sat in. The configuration will allow the bed to be a bed at all times and not have to put it away during the day. This may be the one.

    While we expected to pay the cost of the van, plus insurance etc, no one had mentioned stamp duty. This is set as a percentage of the price determined by the state and based upon vehicle weight, size etc. Fortunately Queensland is one of the cheaper states.

    The big blow was being told that it will take up to 2 weeks to prepare. All vehicles have to go through a test prior to sale to ensure that they are roadworthy. The test certificate cannot be older than 14 days so no one puts the vehicle through the test until a buyer is found. Any work required then has to be factored in .... not what we had hoped for, but let’s see what work is required.

    We took the van for a test drive and it moves. Sorted.

    On the way back to Brisbane we stopped off for some fish and chips (without the chips) for lunch. Met the pelican and seagulls, all of whom were well behaved and didn’t steal anything.

    Drove back along the coast road through the Gold Coast on to Surfers Paradise where we stopped for coffee. Out of the window, several hundred yards from the beach, we saw a whale flipping it’s tail about. Not easy to photograph but wonderful to see. We weren’t expecting that and never really expected to see a whale from shore.

    After that we rejoined the motorway. I managed to get the RWC England vs NZ on my iPad and then saw the end of it once home 😀, what a joy to watch.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    Mike, Bun and Renate
    Brisbane in the backgroundNoisy Miner Bird (no, not a mynah bird)Bush TurkeyWater Dragon1Not a cloud ...BBQ with Robin, Mike, Bun, Bob, Renate

    Mount Coot-Tha

    October 27, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Another day, another motorhome to see. This one was a beast. 4 tonnes of 4wd, on pneumatic (lift/lower) suspension. Designed for off road so that the accommodation doesn’t fall off when driven across extreme terrain. While this will give us options to go anywhere and not get stuck, I wonder how easy it will be to sell at the end of our trip? Again, a good learning experience and some sound advice about what works in Australia.

    The afternoon consisted of a visit to Mount Coot-Tha that overlooks Brisbane. At its foot is the cemetery where Bun & Mike’s mother’s ashes are, so we stopped off there to say “Hi” and also Bun had never been there. The cemetery is “heritage” so should remain forever .... it is vast and almost full, I wonder how long “forever” is when it has no relevance to anyone left alive which is what it will become after it’s full.

    Drove up to the summit where there is a lookout. It’s a bit hazy so the view was limited. Are there fires somewhere with the smoke causing the haze? At the foot, near the cemetery, is a botanical gardens. Time was running out as we were going out to our first Aussie BBQ this evening. We stopped for a drink before a slightly rushed walk around part of the gardens. Bun and I will have to go back when less rushed. The gardens are beautiful and full of wildlife.

    The BBQ was with Bob and Robin (Robyn?). Bob was RAAF and Robin a nurse. Their house is amazing, beautiful and airy with high ceilings. Bob gets frustrated that the large gardens are messed up by the local (protected) bush turkeys. Lizards and snakes co-habit the garden, some less welcome than others. At dusk, fruit bats flew in and out of the surrounding trees. Bob does most of the cooking and had prepared his own marinade for the satay chicken and prawns on skewers. The main BBQ was sausages, I wasn’t expecting that. Bob makes his own skinless sausages so they were pretty special. Hopefully we’ll go back again as we hadn’t finished our discussions about where to visit in NSW.    Read more

  • Andy n Bunny BriggsAustralia via KLAndy n Bunny Briggs
    It has to be done
    An Ibis hanging around looking for foodBlue skiesBotanical GardenBeach on the south bankBrosbane wheel

    Being Tourists

    October 29, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Yesterday was spent trying to sort out buying the van 😡

    Today, we are going off to be tourists in Brisbane. It didn’t start well. Renate has lent us a couple of “GO” cards, similar to the London XXXX cards. They work on the buses, trams and water taxis. Last week we checked the balance and topped them up. Today one of them didn’t work! The buss driver told us, “It’s been cancelled” that’s a great start. Fortunately he allowed one of us to travel for free so that we could get to the city to sort it out.

    A lovely warm day, blue skies and pleasant breeze made wandering around the city quite a delight. Walking through a couple of shopping malls between the bus stop and the river, well it’s not much different from any other city, expensive.

    We wandered across the bridge to the south side where the arts centres and museums are. We were expecting it to be a bit like London’s south bank, but there were very few cafes or bars. There was the Brisbane Wheel, not as big as the London Eye, but you get to go around 4 times!

    There was a lovely swimming area with man made beach not far from the river. After walking along the south bank we walked back over a bridge to the north side and into the botanical gardens. Approximately two weeks ago we were in the gardens outside the Petronas towers in KL, it was very wet and the gardens were pretty tired. This was so different. The gardens were immaculately manicured and the weather delightful.

    As well as the plants there was the wildlife, some familiar and some not. Loved the huge eel.

    Sorted the GO card - had to buy a new one! Back on the bus and home to continue to try and buy the van. I’m sure it will all work out in the end.    Read more

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