Sunday 9 September 2012

What We Did On Our Holidays



Some of you may have been wondering where I’ve been. Well, okay, even if you haven’t, I’m going to tell you anyway. I’ve been on holiday, a belated honeymoon, to Australia. Queensland to be precise, Cairns, The Daintree, Port Douglas, Heron Island and Brisbane to be even more precise. And although this is really a blog about the Morris, I thought I’d tell you a bit about it, from the Wytchwood Drummer’s point of view.
After a day of travelling, via Singapore and Darwin, we spent the first five nights in an apartment at Trinity Beach, just north of Cairns. We managed to fit in a couple of days in Cairns, a trip to the “hippy village” Kuranda  on a cable car and  back on the rainforest train. A great trip, and an added bonus was the Tjapukai aboriginal culture centre, where I had a bit of a jam with an old aborigine rock fan, him on the didge, me on the clapsticks. Great fun!
Food was good quality, if slightly more expensive than Blighty, beer is, of course, not so good.  Although no Fosters was to be seen anywhere, they do seem to tend towards the fizzy lager, and what’s more, lull you into a false sense of security with names like Victoria Bitter, which is nothing of the sort.
We had three nights in the Daintree, the bit of rainforest in the far north, near the coast.  Went to sleep with the sound of cicadas and rainforest birds just outside the cabin. Great! Had a lovely meal at the Whet restaurant on the last evening. Superb food (crocodile, which, incidentally, I really recommend), nice white wine. Outside on the terrace, overlooking the rainforest. Really special.
So on to Port Douglas, where we stayed  two nights in the really swish Peninsula Boutique Hotel. Nightlife in Port Douglas seems to be centred on Macrossan Street, and I’ll describe the best bar, in my opinion. The Iron Bar looks like a great big tin shack, halfway along. The tables and chairs are made from old driftwood and potato sacks. The staff are hardworking and friendly, and they serve cider! Mercury cider from Tasmania to be precise, and apparently it’s growing in popularity. All is not lost then. A good pint of cider it was too. I had several. The main attraction in the Iron Bar though, is the cane toad racing. Seven cane toads on a table, seven “jockeys”, armed with party blowers, and the first toad to jump off the table is the winner. It has to be seen to be believed really. The toads have non-PC names like Fat B@%$^&d, Aussie Aussie Aussie and the ever popular Camel Toad. (Think about. No, don’t!) It was great fun anyway, and takes place every night, apparently. See the Iron Bar on my pub guide on the main Wytchwood site.
The highlight of our holiday then, was four nights on Heron Island, a coral cay right on the barrier reef. Absolutely superb. I could go on for hours describing cocktail hour as the sun goes down over the Coral Sea, walking along the seashore alongside huge ray fish, stargazing in the pitch black night sky, snorkelling amongst the fishes and corals. It was wonderful. Everybody should do it sometime.
Final two nights in Brisbane, a lovely modern city with a great night life. I drank some more cider in the Plough, and finally found a pint of Old Speckled Hen in the Pig and Whistle, an “authentic English pub” and home to the Brisbane Man City supporters club. I kid you not, they were showing the FA Charity Shield. English pub? Nah, more a pub designed by someone who’s never been in an English pub. But Old Speckled Hen though! Tasted okay too. 

So to sum up:
Food      8/10    Excellent if a little pricy compared to dining out in England
Beer      3/10       The cider was okay but otherwise my advice is to drink wine and spirits
Music    6/10       Some folky pub acts in Brisbane, and being a bit of a world music fan I enjoyed the aborigine culture centre. Other than that, Aussie folk music seems to be either C&W or Rolf.
Morris Dancing  0/10       Didn’t see any, although there are apparently a few sides about, mainly further south than we ventured.
All in all though, the holiday of a lifetime, which it needs to be really because we probably won’t be able to afford to do it again for some time.