Andy's Blog - Gone Further

For a town with a population of under 300,000 it was ok, if a little quiet – the taxi driver said that the combination of dodgy weather, Christmas coming up and tomorrow’s election meant that some chose to stay in. We found a pub that did good food and good Hunter Valley wine (after a bit of an issue with the waitress who claimed to have grown up in the vineyards who didn’t know what a Hunter red was). After spending 10 days in Australia on this trip and eating out every night (as opposed to last year when I don’t think we ate nothing apart from midnight Subway) I have grown to appreciate what good Aussie Tucker is: it’s very similar to English food only much more of it and with added beetroot. Seriously, they add beetroot to everything, it’s even good enough for our friend Ronald McDonald who sells the bizarrely titled ‘McOz’ – a Quarter Pounder with a thick slice of the red stuff. I really wish I could have been in the kitchen when the chef said, “Aahh yeah, I reckon this lamb stew needs a bit more beetroot, Bruce, and fetch me the ketchup.”

That being said, it was very nice and we made our way the the bar for more VB and some live music – one of Newcastle’s best exports as Beaumont Street is home of the mighty Silverchair, but they were busy or something.

Saturday. Election day. After deciding that it would be inappropriate if we rocked up at a polling station to vote we hopped in the car and made the 3 hour drive to Bowral (the homeland of the magnificent Don Bradman) to spend the day and night with Grace & Billy. Aside from the fact it was good to catch up with them it was really nice to spend the night in a home after 3 weeks in hotels. We had it all, access to a washing machine, a home cooked roast dinner, live Premier League football (which we don’t talk about) and trash TV. Grace was looking forward to An Audience With The Spice Girls which I thought may have been filmed very recently to coincide with the start of their world tour (which wont be a patch on Take That’s) however I became suspicious that it may not be such a new program when Luther Vandross started singing with them. A nice homely day in Bowral (with typical Bowral weather) followed by the hour and a half drive to our final Australian destination, Sydney.

The drive to Sydney reminded me of the drive into Blackpool in that you’re always cricking your neck trying to look out for the landmarks. Karen won the race with first sighting of the bridge as I was arguing with the sat nav who didn’t seem to know any roads in Sydney apart from the ones that were closed for the Christmas Parade. It was sad to see the car go after spending 6 days on the road, driving through Queensland & NSW and stopping at Brisbane, Byron Bay, Coffs ‘fucking’ Harbour, Newcastle, Bowral and now Sydney together with all the little side stops at Surfers Paradise, Mermaid Beach, Lennox Head, Ballina, Yamba and Port Macquarie – a total distance of over 850 miles seeing some of the most glorious beaches in the world and some mild Aussie road rage. At least that’s what I got out of it – below is a picture of Karen in her typical ‘on the road’ pose.

Once we dropped the car off we could pop out and enjoy what was a cracking day at Sydney Harbour. We were more than happy to sit and take in the views over several drinks and it was great to see Alex & Dom (who I told at the wedding I would never see again as he threw up on the bar).

Today was the final of Australian Idol hosted by my good self, ‘Andy G’ (see – they couldn’t even come up with a nickname for him. And he IS the nickname for Nathan Bracken!)