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!

3rd test and some spare time in Rawalpindi

So the third test finished in 2 and a half days. Fair play to Pakistan they bowled and batted better than England and home advantage is about creating wickets that favour your strengths. In addition England won the toss, so can not complain about having the worse of conditions.

That meant two full free days and Gullivers quickly arranged a couple of trips.

Day one saw a trip to Islamabad Mosque, reasonably modern and once the largest in the world. Impressive from outside but unfortunately we were not able to go inside. Then a trip to a local railway station with small museum (mainly closed). Not much to see but a few old engines and a train happened to stop as we were there. I don't think this was planned as trains in Pakistan are not that reliable (ask the two people on our trip whose train from Multan to Lahore turned up 4 and a half hours late).

Then on to a world heritage site at Taxila. Taxila was an important Buddhist Centre from 5th century BC to 6th Century AD. Ancient Taxila was situated at the pivotal junction of South Asia and Central Asia. Rare in a Muslim country.

Day two saw a trip into the mountains. I did not expect to go on a chair lift and cable car in Pakistan but after a twisting/turning journey up the mountains we ended up at about 5,000 feet with some great views. A further 90 mins drive took us to a popular walking spot based around a pipe laid during British occupation. More interesting than it sounds.

A very early flight will take us to Hunza Valley tomorrow and the last stage of the trip.

Lahore in between tests

So we leave Multan, with a police escort of course, for a trip to Lahore. Journey of four/five hours and we lose the police escort as we get on the motorway after 30 mins or so. 

The experience with police is very different in Lahore. We are allowed to come and go as we wish BUT the coach gets stopped a lot by local police - probably five times over the two full days we are here. Some random traffic offence is mentioned - given what you see on most roads it's difficult to believe there are any actual traffic laws - but eventually a cash fine is requested and given. Fairly typical low level corruption.

Lahore is a very different city to Multan. We are still interesting to locals but they appear more used to westerners and it seems a more relaxed culture, with the young of both sexes dressing in a more modern style. There is also a more confident approach from staff in serving tourists.

We spent two full days. Day one consisted of a tour of Lahore fort and neighbouring mosque. We had seen this the previous night from the top of a local restaurant and it was equally impressive during the day. Being stopped by police had delayed us, so we only briefly visited the mosque and returned the following day. We needed to get to the Waghar border with India for the daily ceremony. Difficult to describe but a combination of changing of guards, trooping the colour and Monty Python ministry of silly walks. All accompanied by nationalistic chanting both sides of the border. Quite surreal.

Day two saw an interesting walk through Bazaar, visit to a historic Hammam, a new mosque and the return to same mosque as yesterday to see inside. All very interesting and relaxed. Final visit to national monument and then back to hotel. 

2nd Test and goodbye to Multan

Back in Multan for 2nd test. This turned our to be a first for everyone as it was played on the same pitch as the first test. This seemed like a gamble for Pakistan and the only way they thought a win was possible. The gamble paid off when they won the toss and were always in the box seat as the wicket started to get worse quite quickly.

To be fair Pakistan played well, as the England coach said afterwards Pakistan were probably 65:35 favourites having batted first but they batted and bowled well - probably helped by some indifferent fielding from England and some bad shot execution (or choice) by our batsman.

So we leave Multan behind. Security here has been fairly intense and it will be good to get to a more relaxed environment as the trip continues. 

Pakistan Bahawalpur

Time for a couple of nights out of Multan in between tests, so a two hour drive to the 11th largest city in Pakistan - obviously with police escort along the way. The escort changed every half hour or so as I guess we move from one District to another. Overall whilst it's a bit strange it generally works fine, delays waiting have only been short, they are friendly and often provide the guide with some local expertise. Our main guide Nour, is from Hunza Valley and whilst he has a good knowledge of everywhere we have been the locals can always help.

To break the journey we stopped off at Tomb of Bibi Jawindi. Impacted by a flood  in 1817 conservation seems challenging but it provided a good feel for how impressive it would have been in its day

Drop off at bags at hotel and then out to the top local attraction - one of many palaces in the area Noor Mahal which is now owned by Pakistan military. We were told that we needed passport and visa for entry, but not that shorts were not permitted. This ended up with 20 mins or so negotiation but no relaxation of rules, perhaps not surprising give there were a number of locals visiting at the same time. So half of us with long trousers (thankfully me included) got in -actually without passport/visa being checked. The outside and inside were impressive and well maintained despite it not being used for some time. Well organised and set up for tourists (you have to wait via gift shop) just a shame they did not provide sarongs or something for people to cover up. This seems just to reflect the journey the country is on getting used to tourists again.

Following this brief walk through Bazaar - I sense we only saw a small element and police were keen to keep us moving.

Following day a couple of hours drive to Dera Nawab Sahib which is a palace originally owned by same family as yesterday. Six palaces on the same site linked by underground tunnels. Some are still in use so we were only allowed to see the guest's palace which to be far needs a bit of work! It must have been impressive in its day but really needs restoration now to avoid it decaying too much. Apparently it was built in 19th century for the Prince who had four wives, 10 sons and 10 daughters. The fairly large family remaining can't agree what to do - haven't they seen Homes under the Hammer - knock through here, new plumbing and electrics and the 120 rooms would make a decent HMO!

Next to Dewar Fort another location in need of some TLC but where work is under way. Really imposing from a distance - which you would want for a fort - the scale inside is significant but mostly in disrepair. Nour said it has improved over last couple of years   - so hopefully moving in right direction. As well as a mosque ( not allowed in) there is a burial site for prince's  family which is well kept.

Next day a brief stop at a farm for lunch and then dropped off at our new (better) hotel in Multan.

Tomorrow second test......