On the Road Again

We have been on the road since Monday and have made it to the Nullarbor plain. We are staying at the Nullarbor Roadhouse tonight and will head back to the Head of the Bight tomorrow to look for whales.

Called in to look around an old homestead at Yanga Lake near Ballranald in NSW, spent most of a day touring Burra in SA and caught up with a friend for a cuppa in Port Augusta.

But mostly we have been just travelling so far.

Joy did break up the trip with a bull ant ride.

Getting ready for our next trip

Its been a while since our last post and its been a while since we have had a major adventure. We have had a few short holidays and a Pacific Island cruise since and now we are getting ready for our next trip.

We haven't however been sitting around doing nothing. In April 2015 Adrian retired and we decided t to build our own slide-on camper. It is now complete. We have tested it on a couple of short trips and now we are ready to go exploring. If you are wondering what is involved in building a slide-on camper, here is a short film of what was involved:

We had the shell manufactured to our design by Styromax www.styromax.com.au. Putting it together and fitting it out was a family affair and took about six months.

Next week we are heading off to Western Australia

Slumbering in Singapore

Its been a lazy few days in Singapore’s hot humid weather. In between lazing by the pool and nana naps we have managed to see some of the sights of the city. We managed to walk two blocks to have a look at Raffles, dined in china town, meandered Little India, visited the botanic gardens and the Changi Museum.

We also went on a night safari to the zoo. Below is a cute cuddly nocturnal animal.

Tonight is our last night’s sleep here, but we don’t leave until 10:30pm tomorrow.

A Long Way to the Beach

For our last day in Casablanca we decided to go to the beach. We asked for directions from the doorman at the hotel and we think he told us that we needed to take 2 trams. We confirmed directions from the tramway official and he said just take the tram to the terminus. At the end of the line was a university, no sign of water, not even a coffee shop. There was however a map which showed our doorman was correct! As there was not enough time to backtrack, catch the right tram and get back in time to catch the train to the airport, we had to wait till Singapore for the beach.

Today we went to Sentosa Island, the southern most point of continental Asia, for a swim at the beach before returning to the hotel for a swim at the pool.

From All Colour and Movement to the City of White

Our tour of Morocco ended today in Casablanca which translates to white house and we are now relaxing in a garden with a bottle of the country’s finest white wine. The waiters are wearing white shirts and a man at the next table is in white suit and shoes. The predominant colour of the city is … you guessed it, white.

It is such a contrast from the colour and movement of Marrakech with touts constantly in your face, the bustling square filled with fortune tellers, orators, dancers, musicians, henna artists and snake charmers. We toured the Medina and its sights (this time with a guide) and also a famous garden restored by Yves Saint Laurent. Last night we capped off the tour with dinner and a show at Fantasia which featured singers and dancers from all corners of Morocco, a band of armed horseman, trick riders, a belly dancing performance and even a flying carpet which landed in Aladdin's cave.

The journey from Marrakech to Casablanca has helped prepare us for our return home, passing though the wheat belt of Morocco along eucalypt lined roads with occasional plantations of gums. We still have half a day for further exploration before catching the train to the airport for our sojourn in Singapore.

From the Sands of the Sahara to the Red City

It’s been a busy few days since our last blog. We explored the Sahara first by four wheel drive and then by camel (a 1.5 hour trek each way). Joy had a case of Berber Belly but recovered in time for the camel ride and Adrian has caught a cold.

We have visited the Todra Gorge, travelled through the Rose Valley along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, explored the 800 year old Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou and the Atlas film studio.  

We arrived in the Red City of Marrakech tonight and almost managed to get lost in the Souk. Adrian took the photos below so we could find our way back to the Riad. But it didn’t help because we couldn't find the start point.

Berber Country

Today was a travel day, leaving Fes at 8.00am we travelled deep within Berber country and arrived on the edge of the Sahara Desert to the call of evening prayers at sunset.

It was a day of contrasts. We left the hustle and bustle of life in the medina, travelled through the cedar forests of the Mid Atlas Mountains, through a Swiss style village in the mountains and fed Barbary Apes on the roadside. We emerged from the mountains into an arid zone with minimal vegetation except for occasional apple orchards and then down into the date palm filled Rift Valley, then entering the desert. The mountains made us reach for jumpers for the first time of the trip and then we needed the air conditioning on full blast as we drove through a desert sandstorm.

This was the heart of Berber country and we saw many of the nomadic tribe shepherding through the mountains and arid zone and the occasional camp with traditional Berber tents. Ahkmed changed his language tuition to Berber with even less success than Arabic.

Tomorrow we explore the Sahara and will stay overnight in a Berber tent.  

In Fes

Adrian in fes in Fes

Today was spent exploring the Medinas of Fes. First it was a visit to the new medina to see the palace gates and the former Jewish Quarter. New is a relative term as the new medina was built in the thirteen century, long after the old medina which was founded in 859AD.

Much of the day was spent exploring the old medina on foot: wending our way through the maze of 10,000 streets, visiting one of the earliest universities, the famous tannery, mosques, vendors selling leather goods, ceramics, woven goods and other stuff. Being Friday, it was a quiet day with many of the markets and shops closed for the holy day. The streets here were quite narrow with one way signs on the narrowest of these to prevent donkeys (the main mode of transport for goods) becoming stuck.

This evening we ran the usual gauntlet of restaurants trying to attract tourists. We were taken in by the catch cry of one of these who whispered “good wine, best Berber wine”. It had been a dry trip for us as it is not easy to get a drink in Morocco. We were sat down in the open air restaurant facing one the busiest thoroughfares near the famous Blue Bab (gate). We selected our food and asked for wine. Much muttering went on in Arabic and French leaving us unsure whether the wine offer had just been a ruse. Finally we were delivered special bottles of Coke (containing red wine). We think some of the locals were a wake up to what was going on as we got the evil eye from some of the passers-by. Tomorrow it’s off to the Sahara. 

Wide Brown Land

Ahkmed and Rashid

We were joined on today’s journey by Rashid, the brother by his mother of Ahkmed. Rashid took on the driving and whilst he applied the same techniques the GPS failed to work as well and we observed the map being consulted on several occasions. Freed of his driving duties, Ahkmed attempted to tutor us in Arabic. We proved to be poor students frequently failing his pop quizzes.

Our journeys took us through cedar forests and then into more open country which resembled the wide brown Australian landscape including eucalypts on roadside verges. There were however a few exceptions: the architecture of buildings; the cattle were tethered on ropes; edible crops were hedged by cactus plantings; there were decidedly more people with shepherds tending sheep and goats and venders selling all manner of produce; the sight of horses and donkeys was common serving as beasts of burden; and an acrid haze permeated the atmosphere.

As we neared the imperial city of Meknes olive groves filled the landscape. We were taken on a guided tour of the 12^th century medina a city known for its mostly green and ochre hues. We observed traditional craftsmen making clothing, metalwork and wooden objects. We also visited a traditional Muslim school. After lunch it was on to explore the Roman ruins of Volubilis and then onwards to Fes where we will be staying for two nights. Tonight Adrian finally got his couscous.

Take me to the Kasbah

Today we left the hustle and bustle of Casablanca behind and headed to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Ahkmed, our driver was able to get us there with ease and it was only when he needed to find our riad that he had to call on his special GPS skills.

Rabat has given us our first taste of what we were expecting to find in Morocco. Our riad is located in the old medina (city) and is only accessible by foot or motorbike along narrow pathways. It is a magnificent old building entranced by an ornate door and the entire building surrounds an internal courtyard with Moroccan ornamentation throughout. Our French speaking hostess welcomed us with traditional mint tea.

After tea it was off to the Oudayas Kasbah, a twelve century old fortressed city which contains a tangle of pathways with buildings mostly painted in white and various blue hues, an ancient palace (now someone’s house), a mosque, views over the harbour and Atlantic Ocean from its highest point, women making traditional carpets and gardens.  We also visited the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and Hassan II.

Following our excursion we capped today’s taste of Morocco with traditional fare at a local restaurant. This time however it was Adrian that was hard done by. In Joy’s zeal to ensure that she was provided with a gluten free meal, poor Adrian had to put up with the same six dish entrée without the cous cous that should have accompanied the tagine  main course.

Here’s Lookin at you … from Casablanca

We have managed to make it safely to Casablanca despite a couple of communication issues. Firstly the airline didn’t get the information that Joy needed gluten free meals. Whilst the flight attendants did their best to provide her with sustenance she had to look longingly at the range of fine fare that Adrian was provided with on the two flights.

The more disconcerting issue was that there was no driver waiting for us when we arrived. We tried phoning the tour company but both numbers went straight to message bank, or so we thought. After waiting for an hour or so we tried again, still no luck. Had we been scammed: we were thinking? 

The information counter was able to provide a phone number for our accommodation, and phew, we were booked in. We got the information desk to check the number for the tour company and found out we needed to put 0 on the front. The message we had been getting was “the number you are calling is not connected” or some such thing in Arabic. As it turned out the driver thought he had to pick us up at 7.30pm not 7.30am and he was still in Marrakech. So we got a taxi to the hotel and the driver arrived this afternoon and took us for a tour of the Hassan II mosque (the third largest mosque).

Our first impressions of Morocco are that the people are friendly and the driving is chaotic. But drivers are courteous unlike Canberra, traffic lights are observed unlike Cairo and drivers stop for people on pedestrian crossings unlike Rome. There is also no need for GPS or street directories. The system used by both our taxi and tour drivers is simply to ask the driver stopped along side you or a pedestrian how to get where you want to go. In the case of pedestrians if they don’t know they will conscript others to help. Despite a few U-Turns the system seems to work.

In addition to the mosque we also found some markets (with Rick’s Café!) and the nearby streets are starting to fill up with vendors selling all sorts of wares, so we are off to go exploring. At least we know the system to get back to our hotel, if we get lost.     

One More Sleep and We're Off

The trip is planned, the bags are packed, one more sleep and we are off to Morocco.

We leave Canberra around 11:30am, travel for about 30hours and are scheduled to arrive in Casablanca at 7:40am on Tuesday.

Ia Moning Yumi Talem Tata Tu Vanuatu

This morning we said goodbye to Vanuatu or as the Ni-Vanuatu people would say ‘ia moning yumi talem tata tu Vanuatu’. We were up before the crack of dawn to make it to the airport for our 7.00am flight (the transport service picked us up at around 5.00am).

It was lucky that we were well rested, having spent most of the weekend lolling about in the gardens at our accommodation.

So until our next exciting adventure Yumi Talem Tata.

Tanna Island is Nambawan Destination

Tanna Island is a 35 minute flight south of Port Vila. Most of the island’s population continue to live a fairly traditional lifestyle living off the land; only 6% are in paid employment. We went on a tour to a custom village where the residents have chosen to live a traditional lifestyle, speaking only the local dialects and wearing traditional dress (or lack there of). The kids played a game similar to blind man’s bluff, one of men demonstrated how to light a fire by rubbing a stick on a piece of wood and the villagers did some traditional dances for us.

Tanna is probably best known for its active volcano, Mt Yasur, which we visited on our second day on the island. Whilst the island is only 10 km wide, it was a circuitous 35 km 4 wheel drive trek to get to the Volcano. The 90 minute journey was well worth it as the volcano put on an exciting display for us, blasting molten lava hundreds of metres into the air at regular intervals.

Snorkelling is also a highlight and there was great snorkelling just near where we stayed. We also went on a boat trip to the Blue cave. The cave is only accessible from the sea and has featured in one the James Bond movies. A small opening at the top of the cave allows shafts of light to penetrate the water in the cave.

We took a taxi to the main village on the island (population about 600) to escape the expensive prices at the resort restaurant. The village restaurant had one item on the menu so we ate the meat and rice. The few tiny morsels of meat tasted like shoe leather, but it was cheap (except for the taxi fares to and from the village).

Overall we had a enjoyable time on Tanna it really was a nambawan destination.

The Day the Earth Moved

Last night we had dinner at a local French restaurant and tasted the local cuisine (flying fox and wild pigeon). We recommend the pigeon. After the romantic dinner it was back to our lodgings to experience the earth move.

In fact the earth moved many times, the largest a magnitude 7.1 earthquake, at about 5.00am this morning. This was the third quake to wake us and was enough to keep Joy out of bed for the rest of the night (Adrian slumbered on waking with each aftershock). Whilst the quakes are the talk of the town today, we have only heard of minor damage and no injuries.

We have spent today communing with nature. We visited some nearby waterfalls and then went to the beach. Tomorrow we head to Tanna Island for 4 nights where we are hoping to visit Mount Yasur, the world’s most accessible active volcano; visit a traditional custom village; and snorkel the nearby reefs. We are not expecting to have internet access on Tanna.
Today’s Bislami word of the day is Welkum.

Port Vila Blong Vanuatu

We arrived safely and in Vanuatu yesterday and are staying in a suburban area of Port Vila. Our taxi driver from the airport told us how cold it has been lately. It got down to about 20 last night brrrr!!!

After settling in, we walked to the town centre last night and bought fresh fruit at the market that we had for breakfast.

Today we visited the museum and wandered the streets down town. We have found the people to be very friendly and are doing our best to understand Bislama one of the official languages of Vanuatu (fortunately English is also an official language). So far we are confident with the word blong.

The black forest

The black forest

Since Lotte is German, she seems to know lots of German people, one of them owned a cottage in the black forest, in a tiny little village called Rheintal Rheintal, nestled at the end of a very pretty valley, consisted of about 6 houses. The house we were staying in was originally built in the 1600s as the bake house for a monastery which has long since gone, but luckily the house remains.

From Rheintal, we set about exploring the surrounding countryside. We went and explored Freiburg, had a look around at Schloss Burgeln, a palace situated on a mountain nearby and explored it's grounds for a bit.

We went to the tops of a few mountains in the area and ate lots of wild blue berries on the way down from one of them.

We also went to France for a couple of day trips and checked out Colmar and Strasbourg, both of which were very pretty.

5 countries in 1 day

We decided that we were going to travel to 5 countries in one day and have a meal in each of them. So we did.

We had planned to hire a 3 series BMW or a C-class merc. Sixt in Heidelberg, the car rental place we were planning to use had even rung us the night before to tell us that if we went to Mannheim there would be one there for sure so we thought this was great. On arriving at Mannheim in the morning we discovered this was not the case and we had been 'upgraded' to a big 4wd, and we were also going to be charged extra for going to Mannheim to hire it and to drop it back to Heidelberg. After much discussion with the guy there we ended up with a B-class merc and we were off.

After having a light breakfast of pastries in Germany, we headed to France, where we found a patisserie and had some baked goods in some random small town that we have no idea what the name of was.

After France we headed to Luxembourg. We stopped at Luxembourg city, where we found a cafe and had lunch. Then headed to Belgium. We stopped at Malmody where we had crapes, ice cream and chips.

After belgium we headed into the Netherlands where we stopped for dinner at Maastricht.

We finished up by heading back to Germany to spend the night in Bonn.