Coonamble is a long long way from Sydney. Coonamble is located on that broad flat black soil country - with occasional touches of red soil - that only comes from really getting away from the coast. But it was well worth the drive.
Coonamble is a small town in Western NSW, not far from Bourke, about 553km from Sydney. It took us about 7 hours to get there and 10 to return, due to public holiday traffic problems in the Blue Mountains.
The idea came from my friend Yvette, who thought it would be a good idea to go away for the weekend co-inciding with the annual Coonamble Rodeo & Campdraft (CR&C) which
sees hundreds of competitors saddling up for some of the best bucking bull and big bronc action around. As a predominantly wheat and cattle town where the locals still tie their horses up to the rails outside the Commercial Hotel, Coonamble throws out the welcome mat in a big way. When the last cowboy picks himself up and dusts himself off each day, every pub in town overflows with live entertainment provided by some of Australia’s top country music artists. The Sunday night Cabaret kicks off at 7.30pm at the RSL Club and will provide a great night of entertainment.
Okay, so they were bullshitting a bit, but Coonamble is not some yuppie location a short drive from Sydney. Coonamble is really on the edge of the outback. And I’d been really looking forward to the trip for several weeks. You can take the boy out of the country….
The drive there was hard, solid driving, taking us through towns such as Mudgee, Gulargambone and Gulgong, a town is famous because it used to feature on the ten dollar note. As many country towns look a bit “the same”,it was great to visit a really distinctive place. Along the way we also made quite a few “pit stops” including one where a couple of people by while having a wee on the roadside, prompting the use of the word “tumbleweed” to describe the action.
Shopping in Coonamble turned out to be extraordinarily good. As the weather was unexpectedly incelement, we had a great need for umbrellas and rain jackets, which we obtained from “Bag A Bargain”. I’d also forgotten socks and jocks so we also paid a visit to the two local opportunity shop, wher I picked up a great pair of jeans for $2, and one of the others also picked up some great boots.
We spent the weekend staying at the “Sons Of The Soil” (known locally as SOTS) which was extraordinarily good value. Nothing special and you share a bathroom, but the people running it are extremely nice and welcoming.
Coonamble Rodeo
Coonamble is a long long way from Sydney. It’s on that broad flat black soil country – with occasional touches of red soil – that only comes from really getting away from the coast. But it was well worth the drive.
The rodeo itself was great fun. We paid a brief visit to the Junior Rode on the Saturday (almost completely washed out) and then spent most of Sunday afternoon at the rodeo proper where highlights including steer wrestling and bareback riding.
We kept ourselves pretty well entertained with a karaoke night at SOTS – where we dominated the microphone – and for a band at the RSL. It’s worth noting that at the RSL they were extraordinarily serious about the issue of identification, demanding from one woman in her early 30s proof that she was over 18. Although flattering, it was also pretty stupid and, when raised with someone in a more official position at the club, the security person was put back in his place and we entered without too much grief.
Aside from that moment, and another occasion where a couple of local girls poked fun of one of us – who was admittedly inappropriately dressed for the rodeo – we all thought the town was incredibly friendly. We, of course, stuck out like dogs balls. The eclectic mix of English backpackers, yuppies and a couple of gay boys thrown in were clearly not locals. But we weren’t resented, as sometimes happens to outsiders in a small town, but genuinely welcomed.
That friendliness also seemed to be reflected in the community spirit we saw evident in fundraising for the Conn Family, a local family in which the parents and one child had died in a house fire a week earlier.
Coonamble is a long long way from Sydney. It’s on that broad flat black soil country – with occasional touches of red soil – that only comes from really getting away from the coast. But it was well worth the drive.
Back in June, I wrote a blog post about the opening of the new discount chemist in Surry Hills.
As I noted at the time, it’s not as if we’re short of chemist shops in my neighbourhood. Within two or three minutes walk from my home, we already have three. Perhaps prophetically, I commented at the time “I hope they don’t suffer as the much larger discount chemist has moved in.”
Two months later, and I spotted the “For Lease” sign on the chemist closest to the new discount warehouse.
I had the pleasure of seeing two fantastic films recently, each with its own unique appeal.
The first was “Of An Age,” a movie that almost lost me during the opening sequence with its frenetic pace and my lack of sympathy for the characters.
However, I’m so glad I stuck with it because the rest of the film unfolds at a much more leisurely pace and captures the heart of a young man who’s finally accepting his sexuality. The central character, Ari, struggles with his identity in a culturally diverse environment, and the story reminded me of other great films like “Loaded” and “Head On.”
Overall, I highly recommend “Of An Age,” but be patient with the first fifteen minutes.
The second film I saw was “Allelujah,” and I was expecting a light-hearted English comedy with a star-studded cast that included Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Russell Tovey, and Jennifer Saunders.
However, the film surprised me with a plot twist that, in hindsight, should have been more apparent given that it’s based on a play by the renowned playwright Alan Bennett.
“Allelujah” explores themes of aged care and is filled with memorable performances, including Saunders in a role that’s a departure from her usual comedic roles.
Despite the audience being mostly composed of seniors, the film’s themes are universal, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates thoughtful storytelling.
It was an unexpectedly late night for me tonight. I didn’t expect to be out on Oxford Street at midnight, especially on a “school night”.
But when a mate from Perth e-mailed last week telling me he would be in town for a wedding, and asking if I would like to catch up for a group dinner, I actually expected a fairly sedate early evening.
Unlike most of my friends who drink like fish, he’s a tea-totaller. Which is kind of ironic, given that he comes from a family which makes wine for a living. I expected a fairly early meal and then home for bed well before midnight.
But the hours passed quickly and somehow it was suddenly midnight and we were out on Oxford Street.
Dinner, by the way, at Bay Bua was excellent.
“They used to be at Marrickville”, a couple of the people at the table (there was eight of us) said with a degree of expert knowledge.
Most memorable was the soft-skinned crab, though all of the food was very tasty.
It’s located in Springfield Avenue in The Cross, in case you’re interested.
The company was also great. All blokes, of course. But a combination of people from a range of different friendships, including someone I met a dozen or so years ago through work. Very pleasant.
So dinner, then a bit of a chat, and a few drinks, and then suddenly it was midnight.
And you know what midnight on Oxford Street means now?
It means the 10-minute non-service of alcohol period. It also means plastics, instead of glasses. And it means you can’t stand outside and have a drink while others have a cigarette.
I understand all of the reasons why this is happening, and agree that alcohol is an enormous problem in our community, that’s mostly under-estimated.
What I don’t understand is why the venue we visited, The Oxford Hotel is one of those venues which has been identified for the drinking restrictions.
Tonight the pub was full of a bunch of 40 to 50 year old poofs, none of whom seemed to be overly intoxicated. And none of who mseemed to be exhibiting any signs of violence, let alone threatening to “glass” anyone else.
It’s an issue for minds far greater than mine to consider I am sure. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.pany w
“I must take a photograph of the new Ultimo Wall”, I thought to myself as I left work this afternoon. There’s been such a transformation in what was previously a very ugly wall that I thought I should document what’s occurred because, frankly, no one else is going to bother.
But if you, like me, have a fairly regular routine to and from work every day, it’s the little things that sometime become big things in your life. For example, I can no longer bring myself to walk through the Devonshire Street tunnel. I’ve been doing that walk for 15 years now back and forward every day, and I find it all far too depressing, so these days I completely avoid the tunnel.
On the other hand, I always call in to my favourite coffee shop, Coffee Trails which does the best coffee in the whole area, as far as I’m concerned. Mostly, the staff are excellent there also.
And then, as I make my way through the tunnell, I walk past The Ultimo Wall.
The wall was erected in February last year, and I guess its purpose is to act as a safety barrier for the construction of the new student accommodation building at the University of Technology, Sydney. But as the wall is largely on the right hand side, and the accommodation is on the left, I’m not entirely sure how it’s provided much protection at all. But there again, I’m not a builder.
But what I do know is that for twelve months the wall has been as ugly as sin. In the last few days, however, it’s had a bit of a make-over. Green slogans now adorn the wall, and there are real life pot-plants to give it a bit of extra life.
I’m pretty sure that when the project is complete – which I believe includes extending the walkway down to the Ian Thorpe Swimming Pool – it’s going to be a really pleasant environment, especially when they add a few new shops to the Devonshire Street Tunnell and especially with all of that student accommodation which is sure to bring a bit of extra life to the area.
Hopefully within a few months The Ultimo Wall will disappear and life will return to normal.
The only break from routine today was calling in to that excellent Chinese BBQ Shop on Ultimo road to pick up half a kilo of BBQ pork, and into the Capital Centre Computer Shops to buy a new keyboard. The temptation to consume all of the pork while I installed my new computer was great. Tonight – TV watching and some washing.
And aside from that it’s been a fairly regular Monday.
After yesterday’s “country experience” I travelled further to Nyköping about an hour south of Stockholm to see Peter Jöback and Cookies n Beans. Peter is a singer-songwriter and musical theatre performer who I like very much for his sad, melancholic songs. Cookies n Beans is a Dolly Parton inspired country bluegrass band who I also like very much.
I thought Nyköping was a really lovely little town and I enjoyed my star there very much.
As I didn’t take my computer with me, I recorded an audio blog in my hotel room that night. So here it is… my voice.
When I have a moment back in Sydney, I’ll transcribe.
With some time to kill at Hong Kong airport, I’ve decided to make a list of all the things I’ve learned which may help other potential independent travellers. The knowledge I’ve gained is from the perspective of being a forty-two year old single man who wanted to travel around Europe simply and cheaply. I went with the idea of wanting to combine notions of being a “tourist” and being a “traveller”. I also went with the idea in mind that I was willing to make some “compromises” in terms of my personal privacy (staying at hostels), but would also happily hop into a hotel or B&B when I needed a bit of space.
GETTING AROUND: Although it’s tempting to get a rail pass, for my trip I found it better and cheaper to catch cheapie airlines. I did the sums for a couple of trips and it was faster and considerably cheaper (one third of the price) to catch a cheapie flight than a regular train. With cheapies, you should go online, check that you’re travelling to and from the main airport and not something in the middle of nowhere, and make sure there are no baggage restrictions. That said, I enjoyed the train trips I did and they deliver you right into the middle of town which is good.
THE COST: Prague is still pretty cheap, especially if you like beer. Stockholm, Tallin and Berlin are on a par with Sydney, which surprised me since I’d always heard that Stockholm was really expensive. The expensive stuff seems to anything that involves a human doing something for you. Paris and surprisingly Riga, are both slightly more expensive than Sydney. London and Amsterdam are just outrageous.
CLOTHING: Even with my small bag, I still think I took too much clothing. I basically wore only two pairs of shorts and two pairs of jeans and about four shirts the whole time. A couple of items of clothing I’d packed remain unworn. I took a leather jacket which was good for both the cold and the rain. I only needed an umbrella or a raincoat on a couple of occasions. I took one pair of Blundstone-style boots which I wore every day, because they were comfortable, hard-wearing, and could look good equally well in a casual or dressy situation. I lost some underwear and socks (the process of packing and unpacking) along the way, so I bought some along the way from H&M. H&M by the way is great for cheap, but good looking clothing. I wish we had one in Sydney. My luggage weighed on average about 14kg, but I reckon I could have gotten it down to 10 or 11kg by taking less with me at the beginning and buying a couple of items along the way. Reducing your luggage size is especially important as you have to lug the stuff up and down often old and narrow staircases in many buildings.
St Christopher's Inn Hostel, Rosa Luxemburg Strasse
ACCOMMODATION: Youth hostels are actually generally fairly ok, especially in Sweden, Germany and the Czech Republic. In those countries, they are generally clean, usually give you breakfast, and often have free wifi. Never stay in an old building converted into a youth hostel. Even though the idea sounds great of staying in an authentic 200 year old building that was formerly something historic, they usually try to squeeze too many people into a small space, and they usually don’t have enough bathrooms. Go for the purpose-built hostel, I say, or even better, the former Communist Party office building. Don’t stay too close to town, as the hostels closer too town are usually more expensive, in dirtier more run-down conditions, and are full of “party animals”. If there’s two or three of you, book a hotel and you’ll pay considerably less for a room that’s more private and in much better condition. You’re much better off finding a hostel on a train line a little further away from town. In a dormitory setting, go for the big rooms when you want some privacy, as smaller dormitories lead to a greater level of intimacy than you might otherwise desire. Always look for hostels with separate gender bathrooms and toilets and dormitories instead of the more popular combined gender facilities. Men always have much less stuff which they pack neatly away, whereas women always have too much luggage which they put all around the room. And let’s just say I never found long black hairs in the shower recess of single-gender facilities whereas I did with the combined genders. Ewww. Men’s luggage can be smelly, as they don’t wash their clothes enough, so if you’re staying in a room with men, make sure there’s good ventilation. If you’re in a hostel with bunk beds, go for the bottom bunk, as it’s a pain in the arse trying to climb up there in the middle of the night, and there’s often not enough room between you and the ceiling. And always leave your bed unmade so people don’t jump into it, assuming it’s there’s. This happened to me twice before I learned the lesson.
Light beer and meatballs at Skansen.
FOOD: You should never eat “ethnic food”, especially Asian food anywhere in Europe, with the possible exception of Paris. They always fuck it up with some local addition or variation, such as serving “Swedish salad” (comprising iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber and CORN) on the same plate as your Pad Thai tofu. My advice is stick to the local cuisine they’ve perfected over hundreds of years. And grazing all day on cheap bread-based and fruit-based meals is cheaper than going to restaurants. Go for the “all you can eat” breakfast or lunch and you often don’t have to worry about dinner. Have a glass of wine instead of an evening meal is my advice!
DAY TO DAY: Get rid of your day pack. Honestly, why do you need to carry around half your posessions with you every day? Backpacks also identify you instantly as a tourist which, in Hong Kong is a terrible thing because it makes it easier for the people who want to sell you suits and watches. Don’t carry a backpack in Paris, where everyone seems to be a potential pick-pocket, esp around major tourist attractions. A bag on wheels is much better than a backpack. They can be a bit of a pain on cobble-stone streets and in the Paris metro where there doesn’t seem to be much consideration of people in wheelchairs, but they’re easier to pack and unpack, and you don’t have to worry about falling over under the considerable weight of all the crap you’ve accummulated. By the way, don’t accumulate too much paperwork, as you can always find the brochure on later. Every day go through your paperwork and throw out the crap you don’t really need anymore.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: The metro systems in Stockholm, Paris, Prague, Singapore and Hong Kong are excellent, as they’re easily navigable and cheap. I didn’t use much public transport in Berlin, as everything was fairly close. London’s system is too big (and expensive) for words, so only travel there with a friend. Public transport in Riga is virtually non-existant. The train system in Amsterdam is very confusing, and I ended up half way across the country on more than one occasion due to the complex nature of it all. Avoid cities with cycle-ways at all costs. Give em an inch and they’ll take a mile. Generally cars will slow down and stop for pedestrians, but cyclists won’t. In fact they will nastily ring their bell at you if you’re on a cycle-way, but show no similar feelings of guilt when they’re on a footpath.
ATTRACTIONS: Museums are a totally pointless boring way to spend your holiday. One or two every so often is okay, but only on a wet day, and only for something you’re really interested in. But worst of all, they’re full of tourists who do this terrible slow-stepped shuffle from painting to painting, from installation to installation. Walking tours are usually quite good, as they give you a good introduction to a city, helping you to identify places for further investigation. Bus tours, especially those ones with headsets are just too awful for words. Ten seconds at a building, take a photo and then you’re off again. The pre-recorded commentary can also be very basic… “On your left, the Louvre”.
GETTING TO MEET PEOPLE: To get to really know something about the country you’re visiting, it’s best to find yourself a good local bar, start chatting to the barman, and say yes to every invitation you receive. If you see another solo tourist, say g’day to them, as they’ll appreciate the warm smile. And if you see a fellow Aussie looking a bit forlorn, there’s nothing quite like the sound of a familiar voice and a smile to make their day.
BLOGGING THE TRIP: Keeping this blog has been a good way of making sure I live my life to the fullest by keeping myself accountable for my daily actions. It’s also a simple way of keeping everyone back home up to date with what you’re doing without having to write lots of cut and paste emails. For this trip, I bought an ASUS EEE PC at $329 Australian (cheap), spent an hour or so each night before bed writing down my thoughts and picking out some photographs, and then when I found a hostel with wifi simply uploaded the posts to my blog. It was simple and provided a great record of what I did for the future. Not as “romantic” as the idea of having a log book, but faster (as I type more quickly), interactive with friends, and you don’t risk losing it or leaving it behind. Free wifi is all over the place, esp at train stations and airports.
Get over it, I'm a tourist!
TAKING YOUR OWN PHOTOGRAPHS: If you’re gonna take a photo of the Eiffel Tower, make sure you’re in it. There’s also a good chance someone else has already taken a better, more artsy photo than you anyway. Most tourists will happily take your photo (I was never refused) and you just need to show a camera to people from some countries and they’ll jump at the chance of taking your shot. Ask people to take a photograph of you, though and not the monument, or you’ll end up being just a tiny spec against a big building. And when you take a pic of yourself, use the timer on your camera, because you’ll look much happier, and you’ll hold it much more steadily if you don’t have to worry about pressing the button at the same time.
THEY’LL NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN: Dress like a local is always good rule of thumb, within reason. Try not to dress like a tourist… the backpack, three quarter pants, and comfy shoes make you stand out like dog’s balls. And ask about cultural appropriateness. If you’re unsure about the cultural appropriateness of something, just ask someone because people will honestly tell you the answer. Eg: When in Prague, I went to the Jewish Cemetery and asked on entry if there was something I should be aware. The guide said I should wear the little hat thing if I wanted to and I did and all was fine. Just ask, don’t assume. And remember, how many tourists do you notice in your day to day lives and do you judge them? Do you remember them? Of course not. It’s your holiday. Have a god time and remember… “they’ll never see you again”.
AND IN CONCLUSION The rule of more money and less luggage is completely true. Walk five minutes further than you planned, as you’re bound to find something interesting, and if you see an odd little street walk down it, as you might discover something even more interesting.
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