14th March
Saturday morning meant it was time for a bit of last minute retail therapy in Reading before departing for the airport hotel. We also had time to squeeze in a spot of lunch before returning to Sarah’s to load up and head out to Heathrow.
Upon arrival at the hotel, which had seemed ridiculously inexpensive when we booked it, there were signs of a major refurbishment taking place as the outside not only looked tired, but positively fast asleep. However, inside looked OK and the staff were friendly and courteous. It was obvious that the refurbishment was well under way as we wormed our way through the warrens of corridors to wards our room in the furthest most point from reception. We went through the nicely carpeted, well lit, freshly painted area into the dark, dingy, threadbare area where our room was to be found.
Holding our breath, we pushed the key card into the lock and pushed the door open only to be faced with a half reasonable room which was clean and tidy and much to Maureen’s delight a bathroom with a good size bath. We were overlooking the runway where the planes were queuing up to land, but because of the thick double glazing were doing so perfectly quietly.
We had to be up at 05.00 so an early night was required. We had an alarm call, set both our pads and a mobile phone alarm set for 05.00. There could be no risk that we overslept and missed the flight!! As it happens we were both awake by 04.00 and didn’t need any of the alarms. Down to reception and we were awaiting the 05.55 shuttle bus to terminal 4. Bang on time and we were pulling up outside the terminal in perfect time to check in at 06.15. There can be no question about it, there is now a definite element of relief, knowing that you are in the right place at the right time and you are safely checked in on your flight.
Boarding was pretty much on time and we pushed back from the stand just a few minutes later than scheduled. The good (or bad) thing about having cameras on the outside of the plane is that you can see what’s going on around you, which in this case meant that you could see the enormous queue that had formed at the end of the runway. There must have been 15 or more planes queuing for their turn to take off. Clearly we were not going to depart LHR on time and we didn’t! it was better part of 45 minutes later before we took off.
Once air bourne it was plain sailing all the way to Abu Dhabi in a brand spanking new Airbus A380. There can be no doubt that these are the best aircraft to make a long haul flight in. Apart from anything else, they are significantly quieter than any other aircraft. Couple that with the new set of noise cancelling headphones I had for Christmas and the flight was almost free of any distractions, like the young baby crying further up the plane and the loud voices of the young chaps in the seat behind. These will now become a standard part of our travelling kit.
We arrived in Abu Dhabi about 20 minutes late, which meant that we only had just over an hour to wait for the connecting flight to Sydney. We were making our way toward the departure gate, when suddenly we were confronted with a huge queue stretching better part of 50 yards and about 10 people wide all waiting for security clearance. By the time we cleared security and headed to the gate, they were just calling the flight and we boarded almost immediately. That was as far as it went! We were over half an hour late pushing back from the ramp and another 20 minutes just sitting there waiting for air traffic control clearance. I doubt that there was anything wrong with Etihad Airlines, but it has made us think twice about flying with them through Abu Dhabi.
An uneventful 13hrs later and we were landing in Sydney about 45 minutes later than scheduled. We must have just caught tea break at immigration as there were very few booths open for non residents, but after about 20 minutes we were formally in Australia again. The bags were already on the carousel, so we whipped them up and headed for the customs area, which is normally solid with bodies. However, on this occasion we sailed through and were headed for the Vodafone shop to get sim cards for Australia and phone John to let him know we were ready for collection. By the time we reached the pick up area, John was there to greet us yet again. About 40 minutes later and we were pulling onto his driveway in Engirding and were greeted by his wife Bev. It didn’t seem 12 months ago, almost to the day when we were last here. After a couple of beers, we retired to bed ready for departure in the morning to Port Stephens.
Tuesday 17th
After breakfast we were quickly loaded into John’s 4WD and heading off over the Harbour Bridge onto the Pacific Highway and heading North to Newcastle on the Freeway. Just past Newcastle we turned off the Freeway and stopped for some lunch at a fast food pie shop called Hannabreas. Thought by some to be the best pies in Australia, we all tucked into various different varieties and for some of us the pies were complemented with a portion of mash potatoes and mushy peas. Half an hour or so later and we were pulling into the Mile Log Beach Holiday Park at Port Stephens. Shortly after unloading John and I ventured onto the adjacent beach via the sand dunes that separated the cabin we were staying in and the beach. At the entrance to the dunes was the now customary notice warning of the venomous snakes that inhabited the area and the rip tides that will sweep you away unless you swim only in the designated areas. It’s great to be back!!!
Having climbed to the top of the dunes and survived the wildlife, the curving, golden beach was fantastic. Back we went to the cabin, where the girls had finished unpacking and had the place ship shape. John and I went to the local shops to get the food for our BBQ dinner. We bought 4 ‘Cattlemans Cutlets’, which were steaks still on the bone, but that were cut to look like lamb cutlets. A quick stop at the nearby bottle store for a couple of bottles of red and we were soon headed back to the holiday park with the temperature cooling to around 29 degrees. That meant it was time to break out a beer, which had been recovering from it’s journey from Sydney in the freezer. Several beers later and it was time to BBQ the Cattlemans cutlets, which John did with military precision. Clearly an old hand with years of experience. After consuming the steaks and quaffing the red, it was time to retire for the night, ready for our adventures tomorrow.
Wednesday 18th
Maureen and I woke early and John and Bev are natural morning people, so we decided to take a walk along Mile Long Beach, but not before conquering the venomous sand dunes. The surf was as brisk as the walking pace that we set and we were soon at the far end of the beach, clambering on the rocks to watch the waves break. The sun was out, but is was relatively cool, probably low 20’s. Time to walk the mile back and get some breakfast before heading out to the Hunter Valley Vineyards. It took better part of two hours driving to reach the Visitor centre and pick up a map of the area and some useful information from the friendly staff in the centre. By now the temperature in the Hunter Valley was a reasonable 33 degrees
First stop was the Smelly Cheese Shop, where we did a tasting session of 5 or 6 different cheeses before moving to the next counter and sampling a number of different ice creams before settling on our chosen flavours. From smelly cheese to one of the many boutique wineries in the Hunter Valley. Starting with some sparkly, then to a range of whites before finishing with 3 varieties of reds. We made our choice again and purchased something to go with dinner. From here we went to another winery called Audrey Wilkinson, which purely provided=s for the local market in much the same way as Micro Breweries do for beer in the UK. We skipped the sparkly and went straight for the whites, only to find that the Semillon was much nicer than w=the one we had just bought at the Tempus Two Winery! The reds were not so good, so that made us fell considerably better. By now it was lunchtime, so we went to the Hunter Brewery, a microbrewery that Bev and John had been to before. John Ordered me a ‘Sampler Paddle’ of 4 different beers. One was a German beer that had a hint of lemon, which sounds revolting, but was quite refreshing. The second was a Ginger flavour beer, which was also pretty drinkable, as was the third flavoured with a hint of passion fruit. However, my favourite was the last one. Not only because it wasn’t flavoured with anything but hops or that it was a whopping 7.5%, but its name did it for me…….Cranky Pants. Can you imagine going into the Saracens Head in Shirley and asking for a pint of Cranky Pants?
We also devoured two of the most comprehensive Ploughman’s lunches between the four of us and we still left some on the platter. By now it was time to head back, which John was probably glad about as all he had had to drink all day was lemon squash. The was a definite silence in the car going home which was punctuated by female snoring!!
Our evening meal was on the BBQ again, but this time it was sausages and chicken with wedges, all again expertly cooked by John.
More beers, white and red meant a quick to sleep bedtime and a little longer before the jet lag caught up in the morning.
Thursday 19th
Up early and a stroll along the beach again before breakfast - we could get used to this. John was still in BBQ mode and we had a fry up for breakfast, just to get us in the mood for the forthcoming cruise. We were showered and out of the cabin by just after 09.30 and headed for Nelson Bay and the ferry to take us to Tea Gardens, about a 1 hour trip across the bay. The ferry departed at 11.00, so there was time for a morning coffee and a stroll round Nelsons Bay. Just as we were approaching Tea Gardens, the skipper potted a couple of dolphins in the water and slowed down so we could get a good look at them.
We took a leisurely stroll around Tea Gardens and decided that we could sell our house in the UK, buy a waterfront property and have a few quid left to buy a small boat. Very tempting! Today was considerably hotter, some 36 degrees! Again, John and Bev had been here before, so suggested that we had a ‘light lunch’ in a nearby beer garden. We ordered a ‘cone of fish and chips each, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do as when it arrived, you could have fed a family of four on just one cone and we had four to get through. The ferry home was sitting much lower in the water than when it took us over to Tea Gardens and we had already decided that going out to dinner this evening would be a waste. On the way home, the skipper pointed out a couple of sea eagles sitting atop some dead gum trees. Maureen and I had never seen sea eagles before so this was a first for us.
Once back at at the cabin we relaxed and decided to pop to the local supermarket for some prawns to make a light salad for dinner. Mistake!! The tiger prawns here are about 4 times larger than our jumbo prawns and we had a massive plateful of prawns and salad, thanks to Bev. After more beer and wine, we shared some old photos of when John and I went to Spain with Ray back in the 60’s. I also had pictures from a teenage party in 1964, which was the cause of much laughter!! After a few games of Jenga it was time to retire ready to be out of the cabin by 10.00 on Friday.
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