Melbourne ..........finally a victory

So the fourth test would take place in Melbourne.

I was travelling from Adelaide by the Overland which is one of the four tourist trains run by Journey Beyond. The others are longer and are sleeper trains, whilst this was just a full day. I had previously had an enjoyable trip between Perth and Adelaide in 2010.

These are prestige trains, looking to represent the glamour of historic train travel. The Overland was enjoyable but felt a little less classy than my previous trip – Journey Beyond is now owned by a US private equity firm so you fear slightly they are cutting back on investment and certainly the train carriages could do with some TLC.

The test match started on Boxing Day. I had been to MCG before but it was not at full capacity then as it was being redeveloped for the commonwealth games. It’s a mighty impressive stadium and had a great atmosphere with over 93,000 in attendance ( a record for a cricket match). The cricket itself was similar to the rest of the series – mental and manic. Over in two days, and whilst the Curator (or Groundsmen as we would call it) probably did not quite get it right both sides batsmen did not really cover themselves with glory. It was almost a replica of Perth with this time England ending on top and getting their first victory in Australia since 2011.

So once again this provided more time for sightseeing! This is not a burden in a city like Melbourne, which is easy for a tourist to get around, has lots of interesting areas and places to visit. So during my stay I managed to fit in visits to a few museums, visit the beach at St Kilda,  take a river cruise and take a guided tour of the MCG. All very enjoyable.

New years eve not surprisingly saw an impressive fireworks display against the city skyline.

My trip now takes me to Canberra for a couple of nights before final stop for the last test in Sydney.

Adelaide and Kangaroo Island

So the third test was in Adelaide. Despite the two matches played, i still had some hope - at least for a better performance - at best the start of a proper comeback. In the end it was not to be. The match was better, both teams had periods of good play but overall australia continued to have the edge. But five days in one of the most iconic cricket grounds in the world, in good weather (thankfully cooling down as the match went on) has to be enjoyable regardless of the outcome. Given the match went to the full, i did not see a lot of Adelaide, but per my previous trip it appeared a relaxed city, with a good vibe albeit a bit quieter than other venues on the tour.

In between Adelaide and Melbourne tests, i had decided to spend a couple of days on Kangaroo Island. So this meant picking up a hire car, around a 90min drive and then a 45 min ferry journey to the island. Good decision. The island is quite small, you can drive to most places in an hour or so, and there are a lot of sites with either great scenery, great wildlife or both. So that includes Kangaroos, Wallabies, Dolphins, Penguins, Seals and lots of different birds. I managed to book onto a number of guided tours, all of which were well organised with guides that both had excellent knowledge of the particular wildlife, but also an obvious love and pride in the area in which they live. Kangaroo Island, like Tasmania, was booked on the back of a general feel that it would be interesting rather than a detailed knowledge/recommendation of what it offered. In both cases it has turned out to be a great decision.

Melbourne test starts Boxing Day. I have done the reverse journey from Kangaroo Island to Adelaide and Xmas day consists of a train journey to Melbourne. I took its "sister" train from Perth to Adelaide back in 2010 and that was very enjoyable. This trip is shorter - just a fairly full day - with no organised stops - but hopefully will be a good experience.

A week in Tasmania

Tasmania is the one part of Australia that I knew the least about before booking this trip. I don't think that I know anyone that has been here, but I had read that it was quite different to mainland Australia and thought it would make a good break between 2nd and 3rd test.

So, my trip was a flight from Brisbane (to Hobart), pick up a car and then three main stops in Strahan, Cable Mountain and then Swansea. Then a flight to Adelaide (from Launceston). There were tours organised at each of the three locations, but otherwise I would just decide on what to do whilst travelling in between.

Landing at Hobart was quite a shock. The temperature had dropped, as had the humidity, and the scenery looked quite different. If I did not know better, I would have thought that the pilot had got things a bit wrong and had ended up in New Zealand (the more the time you spend in Tasmania the more the comparison with New Zealand comes up – including the town names). I guess I should not have been two surprised about the differences between Tasmania and the rest of Australia (which to be fair itself is very diverse). It’s about 150 miles between the two islands and that’s very similar to the distance between the Orkneys and Shetland Islands. Those two islands are massively different in terms of culture, climate and scenery, not all of which can be blamed on the Vikings.

So, the first full day was a drive from Hobart to Strahan, about 300kms and 4 and a half hours. The joys of AI meant that I could simply ask Gemini to put together a suggestion of places to stop along the way, to break up the journey, take in the local attractions and stop for coffee and lunch. The trip is stunning, going through the Derwent Valley, past the central highlands and into the rugged West Coast wilderness. At times you think you are in New Zealand, the Scottish Highlands or the Lake District with views over unspoilt scenery and plenty of stops/view points along the way. Thoroughly enjoyable full day of travelling.

The following day I had a six-hour cruise booked. This takes you out into the Macquarie Harbour, which is the second largest in Australia after Port Philip Bay and six times the size of Sydney Harbour. It is guarded by Hells Gates, which provides a narrow entry into the Southern Ocean. After that you cruise down Gordon River, a world heritage site saved from a potential additional dam being built in the 1980s by local campaigners. It’s a beautiful area and the fact that the large cruiser was able to switch to a much quieter electric motor for this element was very beneficial. You get to stop at a heritage landing which you can walk through local rainforest and then at Sarah Island, a penal colony with an "interesting history". Overall, the cruise was very well organised, helpful commentary along the way and knowledgeable guides on the two trips.

Next journey was from Strahan to Cradle Mountain, where I was to stay for one evening during which I had "an evening with Tasmanian Devils" booked. Once again Gemini suggested a couple of stops along the 150km journey. I reached Cradle Mountain early after lunch, saw the sign to visitor centre and decided to pop in. Right decision. I had not really understood that Cradle Mountain was a massive national park, with plenty of walks and once again stunning scenery. Jumped onto the shuttle bus from visitor centre into main park and then spent an enjoyable couple of hours on one of the suggested walks. I have quickly worked out that the Australian definition of walks - from 1 Easy to 6 Strenuous are very much based on Australian normal outdoor life. So what is Moderate to an average Australian is a bit more challenging to other nationalities. It’s a bit like asking for a small portion in US.

The Tasmanian Devils evening was remarkably interesting. Knowledgeable guide provided oversight of history of animals (as well as Devils they have their closet cousins - the quolls), their breeding programme and how they live both in/out of conservation areas. The Devils fight as much through noise as through power, with the females often dominating their much larger male equivalents.

From Cradle Mountain, it was a similar shortish drive to Launceston - with a couple of stops along the way. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania, after Hobart, and like Hobart was more of a stopping place to see the other areas in the Island. I am sure there is more to both the cities, but in my short stops they were less interesting than the rest of the trip.

Final drive was from Launceston to Swansea - again around 150kms. The main purpose was a cruise to Wineglass Bay. Unfortunately, as I was driving, I received a call saying that due to weather the cruise the following day was cancelled. I was able to however to spend the day in Freycinet National Park, including walks that provided stunning views of both Wineglass Bay and other local harbours. Whilst it was bright sunshine, there was a bit of a breeze and when you got down to waterfront you saw how choppy the water was, hence the reason to cancel. Unfortunate but the other locations with the National Park were really interesting.

Overall Tasmania was stunning and whilst not on everyone's itinerary when coming to Australia I would certainly recommend spending some time here.

The following day i had a six hour cruise booked. This takes you out into the Macquarie Harbour, which is the second largest in Australia after Port Philip Bay and six times the size of Sydney Harbour. It is guarded by Hells Gates, which provides a narrow entry into the Southern Ocean. After that you cruise down Gordon River, a world heritage site saved from a potential additional dam being built in the 1980s by local campaingers. Its a beautiful area and the fact that the large cruiser was able to switch to a much quieter electric motor for this element was very beneficial. You get to stop at a heritage landing which you can walk through local rainforest and then at Sarah Island, a penal colony with an "interesting history". Overall the cruise was very well organised, helpful commentary along the way and knowledgable guides on the two trips.

Next journey was from Strahan to Cradle Mountain, where i was to stay for one evening during which i had "an evening with Tasmanian Devils" booked. Once again Gemini suggested a couple of stops along the 150km journey. I reached Cradle Mountain early after lunch, saw the sign to visitor centre and decided to pop in. Right decision. I had not really understood that Cradle Mountain was a massive national park, with plenty of walks and once again stunning scenery. Jumped onto the shuttle bus from visitor centre into main park and then spent an enjoyable couple of hours on one of the suggested walks. I have quickly worked out that the Australian definition of walks - from 1 Easy to 6 Strenuous are very much based on Australian normal outdoor life. So what is Moderate to an average Australian is a bit more challenging to other nationalities. Its a bit like asking for a small portion in US.

The Tasmanian Devils evening was very interested. Knowledgble guide provided oversight of history of animals (as well as Devils they have their closet cousins - the quolls), their breeding programme and how they live both in/out of conservation areas. The Devils fight as much through noise as through power, with the females often dominating their much larger male equivalents.

From Cradle Mountain, it was a similar shortish drive to Launceston - with a couple of stops along the way. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania, after Hobart, and like Hobart was more of a stopping place to see the other areas in the Island. I am sure there is more to both the cities, but in my short stops they were less interesting than the rest of the trip.

Final drive was from Launceston to Swansea - again around 150kms. The main purpose was a cruise to Wineglass Bay. Unfortunately as i was driving, i received a call saying that due to weather the cruise the following day was cancelled. I was able to however to spend the day in Freycinet National Park, including walks that provided stunning views of both Wineglass Bay and other local harbours.Whilst it was bright sunshine, there was a bit of a breeze and when you got down to waterfront you saw how choppy the water was, hence the reason to cancel. Unfortunate but the other locations with the National Park were really interesting.

Overall Tasmania was stunning and whilst not on everyone's itinerary when coming to Australia i would certainly recommend spending some time here. 

 

Brisbane - its going to be tough to win ashes from now on

 So, the second test is in Brisbane somewhere I had visited a couple of times previously but did not really know very well. Both previous trips were quite short, firstly in 2001 for the first Lions test match (a great evening with the ground flooded in Lions red, and Jason Robinson scoring a try in the corner near us early in the match) and then RWC quarter final in 2003. I had come out for the quarter final onwards and losing at half time to Wales (sat with a load of Welsh supporters) did question my choice. Thanks to Mike Catt, that match and the following couple of weeks went the right way.

Brisbane is the third largest city in Australia but seems less interesting than other places. I guess most people that come to Queensland end up on the Gold Coast and so Brisbane itself is less touristy. Think about Manchester/Blackpool and you get the gist.

With this test match being a day night match (starts at 2pm and finished at 9.30pm) the feel is very different to other test match stays. You do have some time in the morning to explore, but not really afterwards. And you never know when to eat - "Lunch" is taken at 4pm, "Tea" at 6.40pm or you eat after the match.

I spent the mornings doing a bit of sightseeing - Brisbane is situated on a river and so there are plenty of places to explore along that (Botanical Gardens, South Bank including art galleries and some museums) - but there does not feel to be too much to do unless you want to go further afield. The city hall (and its free tour) was interesting and provided some context on its Scottish connections which I have noticed on previous trips. There are a few river cruises, and I enjoyed a 90mins morning cruise.

There were less free days here as the cricket went on longer than 2 days! It was another strange match, partly due to the pink ball and lights (which start to come on at around 5.15pm and are in full use at around 7pm) and does appear to have a massive impact in particular when new ball is being used. England did not play well, but in reality, even against an Australian team lacking Cummins/Lyon it was always going to be difficult. Australia have played so much more in these conditions that you are never going to match that experience (even if they had played a day/night match in Canberra as suggested by some commentators). Ok they did not bowl well, dropped catches and played some poor shots, but even if they played as well as they could I am not sure if they would have won here. 

The first two venues are clearly the most difficult for away teams and therefore an obvious tactic for Australians to choose. So, despite the Australian team having its challenges, it was always likely that it could go 2-0. Perhaps naively I still have some hope that in the last three tests we might be competitive. Who knows.

 I am getting a bit bored with media coverage. I knew the Australian press would be partisan (and that’s fine) but there are a number of English commentators (Vaughan and Agnew in particular) who just seem to want to criticise. There is a constant "well there is a lot of unrest in travelling supporters" which feels like something they are trying to create rather than the truth. I don’t think the team are badly prepared, unprofessional or don’t care, they have just not performed. That happens on occasions - a lot in strange environment like Australia - and to constantly whine that England should have done something different is hindsight and naive.  For example to constantly question why England did not practice at the WACA before Perth test, ignores the fact that Australia set the whole schedule including warm up venues - and England are not going to criticise their hosts at this stage.

So now off to Tasmania for a week before going to Adelaide. 

Darwin , Katherine and Kakadu

On my first trip to Australia ( Lions tour 2001), i had spent some time in NT and had always wanted to return.

2001 was on a short organised tour in between the first two tests which were in Brisbane and Melbourne. Before i arrived i did question my choice of mid test packages available when i realised the distances i would be travelling, but i did not regret it at all when i got here. Kakadu is one of those places where you question the significance of your existence! Both in terms of the scale and beauty of the natural wonders you see, but also the brevity of the current "sophisticated" era in which we live and how little we seem to have progressed from our predecessors. There have obviously been some challenging times between the aboriginal inhabitants and those that would later decide they would take control and colonise, but that balance of power/control/respect seems to have improved, even in the time since i was last here.

My plan this time was to fly Perth to Darwin, have two nights there and then pick up a car spending two nights in Katherine and two nights in Kakadu. That would imvolve around a three hour drive between each of the 3 centres, returning to Darwin for a flight to Brisbane. I was therefore happy that the car i was offered was new, with excellent aircon and android auto giving  me ability to use google maps easily. Whilst all the roads have been major routes and in good condition, this is the beginning of the wet season so the roads are fairly quiet and perhaps not surprisingly mobile reception not great for long periods. How things have changed since last visit - now its maps downloaded on my phone before the trip, that alongside downloaded podcasts kept me company the whole time. 

Darwin was quite quiet  - there was a large cruise ship that had docked but even they took things slowly in the heat and humidity. You could see some of the impact of recent cyclone with a number of large trees uprooted. Speaking to a couple of uber drivers, Darwin is a lot more robust fhan in the past in being able to cope with extreme weather and the information about when and where if will hit is a lot more advanced. So it just a question of being prepared to be without electricity for a few days if you are one of the unlucky ones.

The main aspects of the rest of the trip were to be on boats. The previous time i was here was dry season and i wanted to come back in wet season where the views would be completely different. I have come quite early in the wet season, and river levels will increase significantly over next few months but already previous dry creeks and gorges are coming to life. Given how heavy the thunderstorm was on my first night in Katherine - you can imagine how quickly the scenery can change.

In Katherine i booked a trip in the Nitmiluk National park - which takes you down some amazing gorges. In total i think there are 17, which gradually become deeper and  open for more activities as the wet season develops. We went down fhe first two, with the second due to open for canoeing and swimming in a few weeks. There is just the small job of checking that the saltwater crocodiles have decided to go further towards the coast before opening up. Even with the warnings (which are everywhere) there seems to be a small number of fatalities each year- mainly peope who think they will see or hear a croc coming. They soon find out they wont.

There was only three tourists on a boat which can hold 60, so we certainly got a more personal guided tour - from Jamie who was an excellent and knowledgble guide.

Next to Kakadu including a Yellow Water billabong cruise. The area around here is stunning with many sites hosting historic artwork. As its wet season some areas are closed or have restricted hours but the main purpose of coming was seeing the water networks emerging.  Everywhere you drive there are reminders of where water levels will reach at the peak during jan to mar.

The cruise was two hours and took in a whole range of birdlife, vegetation and the prospect of crocs. During the first half, there were potential sightings (combination of actual and imagined i suspect) but then the weather turned with rain and eventually lightning. This reduced the temperature and not sure whether it was this or just slight change of location but suddenly real croc sightings occured. They appeared either bored or unamused with boat but were quite happy for boat to come close making photos easy.  They are stunning animals and even appearing docile on ths riverbank you can see their immense power.

Overall really enjoyable trip - lucky to have the most experienced guide (Mandy) who had been working for 37 years and was able to share insights into her parents/grandparents  life in what were very differents. I enjoyed cruise so much i booked again for the second evening, this time with Adam. Amazing how different it can be as scenery and wildlife adapt to slightly different weather conditions compared to day before. Kakadu seems to be a place that you really need to return to a few times - at different times of the year - as its a constantly changing environment.

Perth - arriving in Australia, a mad test match and more sightseeing time than expected.

I had planned to come to the last ashes series.....

But covid got in the way. i was disappointed but i was in planning mode only, had not booked anything and so it did not cause me any major problems. and of course there was more to worry about at the time. But when this tour schedule was announced i decided that i would finally get to see a full ashes series in Australia.

i have been to australia a few times in the past, and seen test matches in Melbourne/Sydney [generally seeing us lose other than an occasional win in the lat test when they felt sorry for us] but had actually seen us win in Adelaide in 2010. So i came with some hope but understanding that, in cricketing terms this was a very difficult place to come. To be fair australia is quite a difficult place for any sporting team to travel to - i had been here in 2001 to see the Lions lose a series, but had travelled back two years later to see England lift the world cup trophy. So i generally had experienced more highs than many british sporting travellers in the past.

Last year i travelled to Pakistan with Gullivers. They had been excellent and having all the travel organised there was essential. This time i decided to travel independently which gave me more scope to tailor my itinerary. Trailfinders put something together for me - and some early mornings booking tickets when released by australian cricket - means that i arrived with a full schedule of things to do over the next couple of months. Regardless of how the cricket goes it feels like its going to be a great trip.

I arrived in Perth late afternoon on the Tues, ahead of the first test started on Friday, I flew via Dubai and generally jetlag has been ok but taking a while to get over. Waking up in the early hours in Aus, provides opportunity to listen to mid afternoon radio in UK! I had been to Perth once before, in 2010 where i had been travelling in asia [part of a sabbatical from work], spent a couple of days before getting a train to Adelaide for the test. This time i had longer to spend, and based on reports from friends [many who seem to have offspring in Perth at the moment] its a city that is an increasingly good place to live. Ok its remote - you are a couple of thousand miles from another city [and that city is not in Australia] but it does have a vibrant feel to it and according to the guide for my walking tour an increasing cultural edge to it. That certainly came across on the time i spent here, there are a lot of modern museums, street art everywhere you go, and lots of ways that the city is encouraging people to stay around rather than purely work and return home to suburbs.

Getting around is very easy - my preference is generally to walk around a city and that is easy to do here, but the transport system - buses/trains/ferrys are cheap [a few key bus routes are always free] and easy to use. Highlights of the trip include - walking tour of the city [i seem to be really lucky in that every walking tour i go on seems to be taken by a guide that is really knowledgeable, enthusiastic and proud of the city they live in],  a number of museums, a short trip to freemantle, Kings Park [large botanical park] and a morning at Perth zoo. Overall plenty to do and a relaxed start to my trip.

Oh, there was also the cricket. Two days of mad enterainment. Initial despair of what seemed like an average minus batting display,  hope from what appeared to be the dominant england bowling attack that we hoped might come good. Day one finished fairly even and having sat in a mix of English and aussie fans all day, the bragging rights had swung each way a few times.

Day two - a decent start, solid going into lunch, a collapse and then some rearguard attacking batting from the bowlers left us hoping we had enough to defend. There were more aussies in my area, they were less confident than they often appear. If we bowl as well as we did in the first innings then possibly.......

What happened next was an inspired innings from Head. The England attack was bowling for the second time with only a few hours break and did not appear to have the same spark as the first innings but even at their best Head could well have dominated in the same way. Everyone knew it was going to be tough out here, but had not seen that coming.

A lot of rubbish has been said and written since - by fans and some ex player commentators who always seemed to be jealous about how the current team went about their work. To be fair, Atherton/Hussain have provided a balanced view - the team do care, do take it seriously and think about the best way to prepare and sometimes you dont get it quite right or someone does something unique. Clearly a few players need to continue to evaluate how best to deal with the aussie attack/pitches but i still have some hope. It could have  been worse, Cummins/Hazlewood could have been 100% fit!