It was Good Friday and most of the already small city of Canberra seemed in hibernation. The roads were empty. I kid you not:

Unfortunately I’ve forgotten the name of this Roman Catholic Church that we went for Good Friday Service to, but I was very very impressed with several things. Firstly, there was a good turnout of the people, the church was quite large, and packed. Secondly, most people were formally dressed. Rather a silly thing to note, but then I’m from Mumbai, where the term “Sunday Best” is a common one owing to the fact that people really dress up for Mass (perhaps it’s a British thing?)

Anyway, people at this church were not only well dressed, but really into the whole service. Added to all that, there was an amazingly heart moving ceremony, when all the little kids (some really small ones too!) carried roses & placed it at the foot of the Cross.

From there we moved to Shab & Mas’s place, where we had an impromptu dinner party. Great fun! And really, no one could get enough of the twins:

All in all, super fun. Went to sleep after a reallllly long day tired but happy - and enthu to continue with our road trip down under. The temperature had dropped to around 8 degrees C by this point so it was quite chilly & I was glad to bundle up & sleep!

The first thing that struck me about Canberra was - cycles. Yup, that’s right. The the capital city of the Commonwealth of Australia and what do I see all about the place? Not fancy motorcades like they have in New Delhi, with Ambassador cars with tons of stars all over them. Nope, there were lots (& lots) of cycles.

Canberra is a rather small city and I learned that it was chosen as capital as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, (Canberra lies in between the two, which are Australia’s largest cities). It is an “entirely purpose-built, planned city”.

Here are some of the things you can do / attractions you can see in Canberra:

Lake Burley Griffin (named after one of the two Chicago architects who mainly designed the city):

The National Gallery of Australia, which has a Map of Canberra, in stone on the ground outside it:

The New Parliament House,

which overlooks the Old Parliament House:

Sunset at the Parliament House:

The Australian War Memorial:

Other attractions you can see in Canberra:
* National Archives of Australia
* National Museum of Australia
* National Library of Australia
* National Portrait Gallery
* National Film and Sound Archive
* National Science and Technology Centre
(I know there are a lot of ‘National’ stuff to see, which must be expected from the Capital of a country!)

Mel’s Guide to Road Trip Essentials:

(01) Car (may be a good idea to have one), all fueled up, spare tires and all required tools & thingiemajigs - Check
(02) Bags packed with things for all coming destinations. Including tickets for flights home & money - Check
(03) A good map - Check
(04) A sense of adventure - Check, check!
(05) Journal (I do have to write things down before I type them here y’know) - Check
(06) Camera (would be lost without it!) - Check, check
(07) Water - check & Snacks - nope (but plenty of Mackers on the way, so..) *Ozzie for McDonald’s!
(08) Book - Check - I picked up Kerry Greenwood’s ‘Raisons & Almonds’
(09) Varied Music to suit everyone’s tastes (everyone? what, are you friggin’ kidding me?) - nope

The road trip started out well. We had all packed the night before and gotten up on time (pat pat on our backs) so we left relatively peacefully and on schedule (barring arguments on what music ought to be played)

Breakfast was at Mackers (Ozzie for McDonald’s).

My first adventure - to get handcuffed by a (very sweet) cop! It was Sim’s great idea, she thought it’d be a funny picture & the cop was very obliging.

Jest of course though, like everything else, can cease to be funny (for some people at least) when taken to an extreme. I remember the cop, with great enthu (after he had handcuffed me in a split second before I realised what was happening), asking Sim -

Shall I also pin her on the ground?

er… NO?????

Next stop was ‘The World’s Biggest Merino‘, which is on Hume Highway at Goulburn.

It was not a real Merino of course, but this huge thingie:

Can you see it’s eyes? We also climbed all the way to the top where we coud look out, through the World’s Biggest Merino’s eyes & check out the view! I felt like a child going to Hanging Garden’s (in Mumbai, off Peddar Road) for the first time & climbing into the Old Lady’s Shoe!

Also learned what ‘Ugg Boots‘ are - and they truly are super sexy. No shoe lover in the world should be without a pair.

Focus of the day - trip to St. Leonards. Since I’ve already mastered the art (huh!) of train travel in Sydney & memorized all the stations upto St. Leonards, getting there is a breeze.

Upon alighting at the station, the first thing I am greeted with is the ultra modern railway station that has a huge central circular thingie & is surrounded by little foodie places. I also see a really high building, which I later find out is called Forum I and is the suburbs tallest skyscraper 38 stories high. More impressive since this suburb apparently is known for it’s skyscraper clusters.

In the midst of all the activity, I almost don’t find my friend who is waiting for me right there. Two telephone calls later we are walking back to his apartment & I’m getting the whole low down on St. Leonards.

One of the main reasons, my friend assures me, that he moved to St. Leonards is because of the variety of clubs, pubs & restaurants, seemingly everywhere one looks.

Among these, is prize winning Indian restaurant (touted as the best Indian restaurant in Australia), Nilgiri’s. Which of course I’m not going to - I haven’t traveled half way across the world to eat Indian food!

St. Leonards is next to the suburb Crows Nest & we peacefully walk to Da Valentino for a rather late lunch by Aussy standards anyway.

On the way we pass ‘The Stoned Crow‘ a rather fancy place that I see later on in my Aussy trip.

Back to Da Valentino though, we sit outside & enjoy the rather chilly Aussy day with good Italian food - and a debate that I try to stop (to no avail) on the existence of God & the decline of religion. Well, at any rate, the food was good

Hung out with my friend until it was time to get back & I even manage to get him to pose for a picture for me (until then he’s been most un-co-operative & not let me be my usual camera-happy self)

All in all a good day. Finish it off by quick packing. We were due to drive to Canberra in the evening but changed plans & are due to go there tomorrow morning. From there it’s Myrtleford & then Melbourne & I’m quite excited to say the least!

Day 3 in Sydney & I was already ready to explore the entire city by myself. The day’s chosen destination was Milsons Point.

If you want to have a mental picture of how beautiful Milsons Point is, take a look at these aerial photographs, which show Milsons Point, Lavendar Bay & Kirribilli (home to the Prime Minister)

Milsons Point is the western side of the Harbour Bridge approaches on the northern side. It is the home of Luna Park and is a adjacent to Kirribilli

I had decided to get there by train. From Central, which is the largest railway station in Sydney, it’s only three stations away on the North Shore Line.

I had all my instructions down to a T before I leave - and was more than somewhat amused at Sim & Ally’s worries that I would get lost / I would not be able to manage the crowds at Central!!

Especially since I come from the land of Victoria Terminus. Seriously people!

Getting there was a breeze, as I predicted. The station, though at rush hour, was not (even half) as crowded as Sim & Ally made out it to be. I got a place to sit - which as any Mumbaikar knows, on a train, is a luxury!

While waiting for the train, I memorized the stations in the North Shore Line:
Central
Town Hall
Wynyard
Milsons Point
North Sydney
Waverton
Wollstonecraft
St Leonards

I memorized upto St. Leonards since that was the plan for the next day & I thought I might as well get the hang of things.

Milsons Point supports the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and as such you can imagine is a very beautiful place. It was had many Restaurants, Cafes, Bars and Pubs as far as I could make out.

I walked around the place for quite a bit, taking in the architecture - though I do not understand it all (i.e. I’m not one of those people who’d be able to tell you which era & what style) - but it all still fascinates me. And you must admit, ignorant or not, the houses are beautiful!

I even found a lovely old church with a beautiful antiquated bell - ah, so so very pretty. It was unfortunately closed - so instead at the end of a lovely long walk, I found a nice little pier where I settled in for a nice time of quite & prayer. The atmosphere was just so conducive to meditation & prayer - I couldn’t help feeling close to God next to all the beauty I was seeing!

Finally it was time for dinner with Ally. Ally & I have been friends since we were of single digit age. And probably before that. Seriously, I have some very funny home videos to prove that! I don’t remember when she last came to India - but it was a looong while since I had seen her —- and I cannot begin to put into words how happy I was to see her!!!

Dinner was super fun.

It’s amazing how one automatically regresses into a little girl when with old friends! We chatted like two high school girls - I found it very hard to finish my huge fish & chips dinner I had ordered.

Al had taken me to ‘Ripples’, a multi-award winning restaurant & a really lovely place which is just outside at the North Sydney pool. So in the night, we could see the beautiful Harbour Bridge all lit up above us & the Opera House just a little bit beyond that! Such a great view!

We decided to walk home - dual reasons - first to digest our food! - and second to have more time to keeping yapping! We went around & even saw the Luna Park, which is brilliantly lit up in the nights!

Back home at Ally’s, I caught up with her hubby Bres who was also a friend of mine from school days. And when I say, caught up, I mean caught up! We literally discussed EVERY person I know - and then some (!!!) - I think Bres made a list before I arrive & then just quizzed me, lol. Stayed really late into the night & was so happy to spend time with them both - and yes, baby made three

The majority of my day was spent exploring Randwick. I was still a little in the ‘Gold Coast spirit’ (very laissez faire) so naturally I got up late & ate a nonsensical breakfast before heading out armed with my camera.

Randwick is a beautiful place and is very close (4 kms south) to the Sydney CBD (Central Business District) or what Mumbaikars refer to as ‘the city’.

It is known for housing Sydney’s largest park - Centennial Park and also the “world famous” Royal Randwick Racecourse.

It is also a pretty much a university area and is home to the University of New South Wales.

I also got to browse through plenty of little stores as well as the church I had gone to Mass at the previous day - Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. If you’ve followed my travelogues before, you’ll know that I have a fascination for churches (& for the Spirit therein!) & I did go a little camera crazy before I settled down for some good quality time with God.

I ended the day shopping with Sim - where she bought me my very first gift for myself from Australia - this very cute pair of bedroom slippers

When I arrived in Australia, I had left my main suitcase in (paid) storage at Sydney Airport & gone on to the Gold Coast with just my strolley.

On arriving back in Sydney, one of the first things I found out was that my lock was jammed. It was working fine at the airport when I transferred my liquid makeup from there to the strolley. It was a tiny little silly lock that thieves could have easily picked if they wanted to, so the whole jamming thing was a mystery. Nick however solved my problem instantly with the help of a few men tools.

Sunday morning Sim & I got up nice and early & headed down to church for Mass. It happened to be Palm Sunday, so we got to witness the procession as well as get out own palms.

After Mass, Sim took me out for breakfast before heading back home to get ready to head down to Coogee Beach.

After basking in what ozzies consider “Such glorious weather!” we headed down to ‘Cafe Ristorante‘, a lovely Italian Restaurant just off the beach. Met up with several people in Sim & Nick’s clan. Was somehow terribly noisy that day in the restaurant - so naturally we did what we ought to - we talked even more loudly over everyone else’s voice.

* Lunch (& dessert, I must add) was very good.
* The company was even better.
* The super-duper-gorgeous waiter who struck up a conversation (for about 15 minutes while we were waiting to get in) about Hard Rock Cafe with me (I was wearing a ‘Cabo San Lucas‘ T) - priceless.

I shall take you all around the table in photographs now:

After lunch digestion was by the beach:

Where I for the first time discovered “beach pools”!

The pool (see pic above) at Coogee was once called the ‘Giles Hot Sea Baths & Swimming Pools’ and was for “men only” when it opened, way back in 1929. Now the point has been renamed ‘Dolphin Point’. The pools apparently are used by kids & adults alike who want to swim in sea water without the danger of tides.

Anyway, we headed back home for evening tea before Sim & Nick decided to give me a tour by car of every place in Sydney all in one night. I was by this point quite tired and I honestly don’t remember half of where they took me! I remember them saying, “this is CBD”, “this is Oxford Street”, “this is blah”, zzzzz, “this is blah”…. wha-huh??

What I do remember was my very very very first view of the Harbour Bridge - and yes, of the Opera House. Just like I remember the first time I saw the Taj Mahal. There are some moments in life where you just don’t breathe for a second because they really are so breath-takingly beautiful.

We also drove over the Harbour Bridge (who would have thunk to use it as a bridge?!) & saw the sunset from a beautiful point at the other side of the CBD.

A beautiful end to an amazingly beautiful day.

My last day at the Gold Coast. Who said parting is bitter sweet? It’s just bitter!

The Gold Coast has been really good to me - and Sandra has been phenomenally good to me - but most of all, God is good. Truly, almost everything in the Gold Coast has been a spiritual experience - nature at it’s best, the way I’m sure, God intended it, be they rainforests or beaches, people cheerful or the weather great.

Every morning I’d awake & see this “Waterway Cruises” boat pass Sandra’s home as they did the “Millionaire Tour” - and it gave me a childish kick to stand there & wave to the people on the cruise! There I was, the (very pseudo) millionaire, who was very thrilled when they waved back

My flight to Sydney wasn’t until 9pm though, so I thought I’d get some stuff done today too. First up though, brunch! And, among other things, I polished off a good plate of Octopus! Yummmy!

My appetite thus satiated, I headed down to the Gold Coast Seaway, which I found out “is on the northernmost tip of the mainland beaches. Across the channel is South Stradbroke Island which extends a further 22km (13 miles) The seaway was built in 1986 to stablise what was a very dangerous bar, and incorporates the worlds 1st permanent sand bypass system” (cf pano.com.au)

I particularly liked the Seaway because it exemplified Gold Coast weather (as I see it) to a T. As long as it’s not windy, the sun at the Gold Coast makes it terribly hot - this mumbai girl couldn’t bear the heat (perhaps because I’m very used to the air-con). I actually went around the Gold Coast quite a bit with an umbrella much to most people’s amusement! Of course, when it’s windy, even if you’re completely in the sun, you may feel quite pleasant, even chill.

Before you get onto the actual Seaway, it’s hot in the beachy area that precedes. There were also lots of sailboats out & plenty folks trying their luck at fishing at this end.

I went from this the hot Gold Coast sun at the start of the Seaway (see the long passage that literary goes into the sea!)…

The seaway is flanked by rocks, and trust me when I say, despite what they may look like in these pics, they were Large!!

I finally reached the other end, where there’s a lighthouse for obvious reasons. The salty sprayed winds make it very cold & wet at this end of the Seaway:

See the pics above & imagine what it was like, Huge loud waves, bashing themselves into these huge rocks! I imagine that during a storm this place will such you into the sea - like Scarlet, I too was nearly Gone with the Wind…

There is also a parallel path built some distance away which is higher & more suitable for fishing, which I believe is very popular here.

It was towards the beginning of this parallel path that I saw many surfers & swimmers doing their thing in the waters despite huge “Not safe for swimming” boards put up everywhere!

I also got my favorite pic of the trip so far off the beach at the near end of the seaway:

Yes, ever the narcisstic, I’m in it

Since time was still on my side, decided to visit one more place - this time the Mariner’s Cove. This cove is just off the Marina Mirage, where we had danced away just the previous night.

Someone more into ships would have gone mad here - even I, a total idiot when it comes to these things - was floored by the beautiful boats (ships? yatchs? whatever, they were all gorgeous). There were dozens & dozens & dozens of them all over in separate (parking?) lanes-ish sort of thingies. Very cool.

I had this sudden urge to run down one of them with a gun chasing some bad guy down, who was romancing a very sexy hooker with some champagne on his private yatch. Ok, fine I’ll admit I watch too much TV sometimes. And I didn’t act on my urge, so there.

The place also looks fabulous in the night time - didn’t get pics last night, so took this off the planner/developers website. Later found out that these are the same guys who planned out Sahara India Pariwar’s Amby Valley!

Finally had to head back home & get ready to get to the airport which is at Coolangatta - and though officially called the “Gold Coast Airport” it is still refered to “Coolangatta Airport” which is an Aboriginal word meaning “Place of Good View” - which I think could be used for a multitude of places on the Gold Coast.

I had a flight on Jet Star, Qantas’ internal airline & I reached Sydney peacefully, despite being seated next to a Sri-Lankan guy who was trying to chat me up - I just pretended to fall asleep & pretty soon, I was! (a feat which my mum attest to, comes very easily to me).

I was a tad worried that when I reached Sydney it would be cold (brrr??) but I’m happy to say I didn’t feel anything of the kind. Didn’t even put on the jacket I had carried with me just in case. Got picked up at the airport by Sim & Nick (if you’ve been following my travel blog, you’ll remember them from my fabulous Goan holiday). I was promptly fed a nice hot meal & tucked into bed.

Seriously, this is life! Goodbye Gold Coast, hello Sydney!

Today headed down into Burleigh Heads. I’ve been told that it’s one of the most popular holiday destinations in the Gold Coast - mainly because it has one of the best beaches for surfing.

You can’t make out from the pic above but actually we were at a great height - it makes for a spectacular view of the entire beach! In fact it seemed that many people were there only to hang out up above, take in the view & enjoy the peace & quite - some had come with picnic baskets, others with study books.

As for me, I decided to do another “Bush Walk” this time at the Burleigh’s National Park - which is actually a series of long walks overlooking the ocean.

I was walking behind some “surfies” (yep, apparently that’s what most of the locals ’round here call ‘em) down the long path closest to the ocean, which was about 2.6 kilometers long. It kinda surprised (scared?) me that suddenly they decided to get off the path & climb down all the rocks & get into the ocean!!

I took the regular route however It had safe paths & was lined with a particular variety of trees (unfortunately I didn’t get a name) some of them were upright, others, well! I was also constantly on the lookout for wildlife - which apparently they have a lot of - but unfortunately I saw nothing. Except for some (very beautiful) butterflies which I discovered are very difficult to get photographs of since they’re constantly fluttering about the place.

As I neared the end of the walk (or so I thought at the time), I got another spectular view of the Tallebudgera Creek & Palm beach which are on other end.

Actually, in reality, my walk wasn’t over. I now went through a very surreal bit of nature - everything was seemingly not alive & yet very alternately alive - the feeling I got was like I was in the Lord of the Rings & one of those big trees were going to bend down & swoop me up any second.

I did finally reach the other end and took in the lovely sights - among them, this man fishing just off the shore! Wonder if he caught anything?!

After getting back to Burleigh’s, I rested a bit in the cool shade (I don’t need a tan like most of the people who come here!) until we finally decided to go back.

At this point let me mention that Sandra drives a Mercedes Sports Convertible! This poor girl enjoyed the feeling of sitting in one, back down (of course!) & driving through the Gold Coast… very very nice!

Headed for lunch to the Mandarin Court (somewhere between Miami & Mermaid), where we had an excellent selection of Yum Cha - including the delicacy ‘Chicken Feet’. Yep.

I rested a while more at home before heading into Surfers to explore the Night Markets (which are held Wednesday and Friday evenings approx. betweeb 5:30pm & 10:00pm). Incidentally, I took these pics at around 6pm - when it’s already pretty dark outside! The market, which is made up of “more than 70 market stalls stretching over half a kilometre of beachfront promenade” are located along the Esplanade.

I checked out the entire market - there seemed to be mostly handmade stuff - some of them very exquisite - like accessories, artwork, homeware, jewellery, recording memorabilia (I was floored at this stall but everything was very expensive), nostalgic Gold Coast photographs, children’s costumes and lots of other stuff.

I didn’t spent too much time at the Night Market as I had to head home - it was Friday Night & we were going clubbing!!

First up we headed to the German Club, which was very quaint & all done up in wood. I especially loved the chandelier which was wooden & had little men & women all over it. Unfortunately they were having a Singles Night that night - and it was ages 65+, lol, like Ros put it, I definetely wasn’t gonna find a man there - not that I was looking anyway. We did have a nice time anyway & some Hungarian Goulash for dins there. We didn’t stay for too long - though it was long enough! - and I realised (a) the people, aged 65+, who were there were really happening, they all seemed in the mood to pick up new partners & meet new people, very cool for that age, so alive! (b) I’d be really depressed if I had to do this every Friday night…

Fortunately we headed over to the Marina Mirage (Southport Broadwater) from there. Looking at the posh exteriors itself (lit up sails all open to the night light) I was relieved. Even more so when we reached ‘Saks‘ (yes of course Sakshi dear I thought of you!) which was a trendy place that reminded me of something between a Zenzi & a Seijo. No teenyboppers, people more my age & a little older, good music & though some were ozzie casuals, most were very fashionably dressed. Enjoyed it & danced away until we were tired.

Dropped into the ‘Pallazo Versace‘ hotel (just next door) before heading home just to have a look - there was a (super sexy) Ferrari right outside. The hotel was beautiful! (pic below off google) & Here’s more through Wiki:

All cutlery and china in the hotel is Versace. Framed photographic work from Gianni and Donatella’s collection line the hotel’s corridors. The rooms are furnished with a special range designed exclusively for the hotel by the House of Versace in Milan. The bathroom sinks are each made from one piece of marble, and the hotel has 28 pools. Five Italian mosaic tilers, with an average age of 75 years, built the hotel’s driveway in six weeks. Each tiler originated from a different region of Italy, collecting the stones used from their own local area.

And naturally, there was this very fine Versace mosaic among them:

A long day & a long night & I was definetely going to sleep in on Saturday morning!

No major post today because all I did was “Be”.

I was one of “them” today. One of those who didn’t look at the time all the time. Heck, I had no watch, no cell, not even a clock.

So I did what any sensible one of “them” do on glorious days like this. I abandoned my camera (yes, even that does happen sometimes) & I headed to the beach.

Right into the water.

Between the flags of course. In full sight of the lifeguards of course. Until the currents were too strong & threatened to pull me in - only then did I head back home.

My senses were filled up (there goes John Denver again in my head) -
sight (ah the beach is simply glorious, see the previous post pictures if you don’t believe me),
sound (the sea-gulls, the waves, the wind),
smell (the fresh air),
touch (the water against my skin, the sand beneath me)
& even taste (well, I did taste the salty water once or twice when a big wave downed me!).

Even my sixth sense tingled as I experienced the seemingly supernatural beauty of the place. A gift to us humans indeed.

On a completely other note - don’t ask me how - but I now know what it feels to act in a ‘Wild Wild West’ movie