I see ships

So today was very much a tick the box day. Climbed to the very top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.....a fantastic experience and of course I bought the t shirt.

The pre-climb prep doesn't do a lot to ease any apprehension. They make you take off any watches, bracelets and ear rings; they suit you up and put harnesses on you, prescription glasses and hats are held in place with clips and lanyards and of course you sign your life away.

The climb is both spectacular and a little scary. In some ways going up was easier than coming down; as you climbed you just looked up and concentrated on getting the plastic shuttle that anchored you safety rope to the safety line going all the way up and down on the bridge. The more scary experience was coming back down as you could see through the gaps of the metal honeycombed floors down to the water below.

Our 'Bridge Climb Leader' told us all the facts; x zillion rivets, 15000 people worked on the bridge - 7 fell, six died (some one lived!), the one fact that did register is that if you did fall it would take 4.5 seconds for you to splatter on the concrete or water.

The views from the top were of course just simply amazing. The ships and boats looked so small and our viewpoint was like the kind of shot that you might have for an opening sequence of a big budget movie - a huge panorama of the city within which the slow passage of expensive sailing yachts crossing the bay.

Today has been a very different day to the last couple. A new group of people to break in, none of who at the moment appear to be wildly fun unlike the ex-pats I have been socialising with the last couple of days. Brits who work and live abroad have a very (well the one's I know) tend to have a fantastically funny love/hate relationship with the territories and people in the countries that provide them with a home and a living.

So here I am at 11.15pm at night in a bland hotel lobby bar drinking a dark beer that is far too cold by myself. How sad is that. To be fair however I am also now feeling a little sleepy so as soon as I finish the beer I am off to bed....

Night night everyone.

P
Peter Jackson
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Day Eight and the natives are getting friendly

Well when I say friendly I actually mean chatty, which is ok as talking to people is why I am here.

With 15/16 appointments done yesterday and several other off the cuff encounters and the same again today when I get on my flight to Sydney tomorrow I think I shall be jacking into my iPod and closing my eyes.

So as most people I know in life are settling down for the evening I am sat on a pavement cafe in Melbourne and it's already tomorrow....very weird.

From the wrong end of a cricket pitch or rugby ground Aussies have always been the no 1 rival. If the world always delights at beating Britain in general and England in particular at anything from football to dwarf throwing we (the English) always want to beat Australia over virtually anyone - apart from Germany at football. So from a distance the Aussie nation has always been 'the enemy'. Reality is of course different and I am enjoying my time meeting and talking to people here. As Bill Bryson says in his book on the country Aussies are naturally engaging, friendly and fun to be with.

There is one aspect of their collective personality which is interesting is the reference to scale (biggest in city...state...country). The interesting bit is what comes after country; what appears to be the case is that uniformly people refer to 'the southern hemisphere'. Now I am not really sure what they really mean by this as I see very little evidence of people knowing what is going on in South America so I suspect in this context 'southern hemisphere' actually refers to Australia, New Zealand. South Africa and at a push SE Asia. I have not come across any referencing on a global scale - probably why is that it sounds a lot better to be 1st or 2nd largest in the southern hemisphere rather that 83rd in the world. Then again that maybe just my old world perspective.

Nice breakfast at a riverside cafe, day eight and 16 appoints awaits!

P
Peter Jackson
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Racing bikes and titchy penguins

Nearly midnight and an opportunity to look back at the day.

Didn't start off paricularly interesting with a visit to a Botanical Garden and a little chocolate factory/visitor attraction - but did it improve from there. We went to have a look at the race track on Philip Island. No these places can be pretty boring when not in use - huge areas of nothingness, empty rooms, pits, hospi areas etc. But not today - today was qualifying for the World Super Bikes Championship - so we was treated to watching from the pit lane roof bikes steaming down the home straight at over 200mph. Noisy and impressive - then after a quick trip to a smaller winery, a visitor attraction overlooking what is in effect the Southern Ocean (next stop the South Pole, and a early dinner we went to see something call the the Penguin parade.

Basically what happens is that each night 100's if not 1000's of penguins leave the sea for the day, cross the beach and disappear into the undegrowth and their nests. These penguins are really small, maybe 12-18 inches high and the cross several 100m of beach and dunes. What is really interesting is that this spectacle has been turned into a tourist attraction with a timed countdown as to when the birds will appear. I can only guess the pop up from the water at the turn of a tide to get the timing so precise. These guys are really cute as the waddled within a few feet of where I was standing.

So the day is finally beginning to catch up on me so time for bed. Due to do a helicopter flight tomorrow, learn to cook tapas and then back to Melbourne.

Night night fair world

P

There's trouble in the distance

I am sat in the window of my hotel room at Melbourne airport, it is 0645 and I have been up an hour after a good nights sleep.

Dawn has broken and the light beginning to break through. In front of me are some huge and mostly empty multi story car parks advertising 'shaded parking'. Fortunately I am on the 9th floor so I can see beyond and across the flat plain to see the city skyscrapers clustered on the horizon in one direction and some far off hills in another.

So having sorted my walking around bag to put suntan lotion in which I forgot to yesterday, re-packed and put away my jacket what am I being entertained with? A huge storm hanging over the city with enormous bursts of fork lightning which look like they could split a building in two. Oh well a quick adjustment is needed in my preparation for the day.

See you soon



Peter
Peter Jackson
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Plastic knife and metal fork

So I am sat on a commuter train on my way back to central Melbourne pondering the logic of Qantas serving meals with a plastic knife and a metal fork, and spoon for that matter.

I would have loved to be in the meeting to see how that piece of nonsensical logic was arrived at. Seems a bit mad to me.

First day in Australia, got off to a positive start getting off the plane and out of the airport was straightforward enough, not being able to access a bedroom was a bit of a pain. A quick shower in the gym, change of clothes was all I needed to get going again (oh yes 2 coffees).

Into town with a couple of people for a look around, bright day not too warm looking around. The city looks quite pleasant, an interesting mix of old and new buildings. The older ones older than I imagined for some reason don't know why. Came across a couple of tailoring shops called 'Peter Jackson', thought about trying the 'what discount do I get for having the same name routine' however my shopping priorities are elsewhere so I left it.

Why am I on a commuter train? Well a family from the village came out to live here a couple of years ago and the lady of the household is on my facebook, so when she facebooked me this morning to say she was around today it made total sense to jump on a local train to go and say hello....so after having a quick drive around a stunningly beautiful peninsula and a quick cup of tea and sandwich with Lisa and her daughter Kim who grew up together, went to pre-school, primary and secondary school with my son Tom I am now on my way back.

It's now somewhat warmer-probably around 30 but I think I will still have a little more of a wander around to see if I can realise some of the shopping priorities.......

So back to plastic knives etc. Long haul flights are very solitary affairs, get on the plane, settle into seat, position ipod, e book, passport etc, have first glass of champagne, watch safety instruction, choose which film you are going to watch, nod off for a few minutes - miss take off, start film, have another drink, eat dinner, watch end of film, try and go to sleep.

If you stare intently at your screen and only provide single word answers ('beer', 'chicken', 'white', 'French' 'thank you' (ok technically that's two) you can probably do a complete 12 hour flight and speak less than dozen words to anyone the whole flight.

There is a sense of being disconnected from anything and everything when on such a flight. When I got to Singapore I must have sent 10/12 emails and 1/2 dozen texts in very short order just to get in touch with my own world.

Still can't get my head around plastic knives and metal forks - time to go however so will think on a little further. Bye for now.

P
Peter Jackson
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Three more sleeps

It's Sunday morning and like most Sunday mornings I am on the field walking the dog. Well the dog is of course walking himself.

At some point in the next 20 mins Bailey Baloo will spot something of huge interest and he and I will have a difference of opinion over what constitutes 'master' and 'mans best friend'.

This picture of normality is going to change after 3 more sleeps as on Wednesday I venture on my longest journey yet to place known as 'Down Under'.

Unlike some of my friends who work away for several months at a time my trips tend to be measured in hours and days. Not this time however as I am away for two weeks. It will be strange being away for so long.

Anyway after 3 more sleeps I am on my way.

P
Peter Jackson
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Gone pass Go

Arrived at the Jurys Inn on Pentonville Road on the edge of Islington (light blue on the board if I remember correctly), the fact it is a low ticket street on a Monopoly Board gives you an idea how I felt carrying overnight and laptop bags....

Last time I stayed in this area was at a Travelodge close by and we went to sleep to the sound of whoop whoops going down the main road and the sound of empty bottle troughs being emptied.

It has been a while since my last blog. Why now....well two things, I am posting this by email and therefore a bit of a test and secondly to get back into the habit of doing posts - next month I am going to Australia and if that is not a great opportunity to share my impressions I am not sure what would be.

So what of Jurys Inn? Well my room has a single and a double - not sure about that and whilst sat in the bar with a colleague a small group came into the bar and promptly ordered pizzas to be delivered - you can't help thinking the hotel has missed an opportunity.

So as a test I think I have reached an end, and I hope the technology works.

Night, night

Peter
Peter Jackson