Explore with Fran

Hello readers, welcome to something new!

January 20, 2018 by Fran 1 Comment

A new year, a new start. After being on the basic Blogger platform for a number of years, I am moving to WordPress in the hope that I can start polishing my content, and who knows, maybe even look a little more professional.

Watch this space my friends.

Roadtripping Western Australia – Part 1 – Perth to Wave Rock

January 16, 2018 by Fran 2 Comments

You are probably more familiar with literature on road trips that detail journeys across the USA.
Who hasn’t heard of the iconic Route 66? It wouldn’t be iconic if nobody had heard of it.
And if like me you enjoy Beat literature, you will no doubt have followed Jack Kerouac’s

Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty as they travel west, along Route 66, to California.
The same route the Joads took in Steinbeck’s timeless classic, Grapes of Wrath.
Don’t get me wrong, the States, and particularly up the coast from California, on Route 101,

has some amazing roads to travel on.

Bessie

But, if you ask me, not that you did, I think the country just made for road tripping is Australia. Great distances between places. Vast tracts of nothingness in between, bar the obligatory roadhouse, for refuelling both your vehicle, and your passengers, with decidedly dodgy meat pies. And towns that you will struggle to pronounce, such as Jerdacuttup, Munglinup, and Coomalbidgup. All these towns house at least one obscure museum. What is it with small Australian towns and their museums?

Hyden (or specifically Wave Rock), which turned out to be our first overnight stop in Bessie,
had the “Memories of Yesteryear” museum, where you could step back in time and “see an

Austin car, a bottle collection, and so much more”. My italics. At only $4 entrance fee, try

and stop me!! Once I had done that I could spend all of 5 minutes visiting the “Lace Place”,

and marvel at the “magnificent world renowned lace collection”. World renowned people.

No italics needed. The fact it is world renowned may explain why it was more expensive

than the “Yesteryear” museum, at $5 to get in.

It wasn’t just Hyden. Every small town we drove through had at least one museum advertised.
If we didn’t have somewhere to be maybe we would have stopped. At least once. Just maybe.

So it was, this December saw us doing our second Aussie road trip, after driving the East coast a
couple of years ago. In the same size campervan, Bessie, we were this year going to drive through
South West Australia. This was after we first had a few great days enjoying Perth, which as it always
does, looked after me very well. It is a great, compact city, that seems to grow more on me each time
I visit. The food and drink options were the best I can remember, and apart from an erroneous
visit to Durty Nellie’s Irish bar, for which I blame a fellow expat from Halifax, we got to
experience some of them.

The highlights included an excellent Indian curry at Sauma in Northbridge, an amazing old school
cheese toastie, at Toastface Grillah, and at Petition on Barrack Street in the CBD, probably the
best bacon, egg, and black pudding butty I have ever had. In the evening Petition becomes a very
good bar, where we managed to escape the unseasonably cold, wet weather, and sampled a few of
the hoppy ales on offer with some friends from Sydney. Guys, we need a catch up back home, if
only to return the cardigan 🙂

Perth CBD and the Swan river as seen from Kings Park

Kings Park remains a beautiful oasis just on the edge of the city. Swan River seems to get more beautiful each time I visit. And Elizabeth Quay just keeps expanding, which is fine with me, as long as they continue to fill the space with outlets like Gusto Gelato. Am I back in Italy? Beautiful. And for novelty value, for my English friends, I can’t leave Perth without mentioning that we had a great afternoon, catching up with family, and new friends, at the Lucky Shag. It is a shame that by the end of the year it will be completely overshadowed, literally, by the completion of the development next door of the Hilton DoubleTree.

Lowlights of the city break? Well, none really, but watching England “play” in the Ashes, the last
one at the WACA, was debatable enjoyment. The least said about this summer’s ignominious
Ashes series the better.

But, faster than we would have liked, I was saying goodbye to Michael Atherton, who was also staying at the Alex Hotel, as the city side of our trip drew to a close, and it was time for us to hit the open road in Bessie.

Unlike the previous few days, Tuesday dawned with weather that immediately put a smile on my face. After two days of heavy rain and winds, the sun had come out to play. Taking an Uber ride with our driver Sujan, out past the airport, we started the day at Apollo motorhome hire where the smile soon disappeared. We had a long frustrating wait. Not even the sunshine could keep the smile on my face.

We waited so long I thought I would just need to drive a lap of the building when I finally got the keys, and drop them straight off back at the office, as it felt my 2 weeks were already up. Watching plane after plane come in to land next door at the airport I was full of the frustration of the stranded traveller. Bags packed, yet going nowhere.

When we finally hit the road we decided a cheeky wine might help our moods, so we took the very short drive north to the Swan Valley wine region, where we stopped for lunch, and a tasting at Ugly Duckling winery. Despite having had several trips to Perth over the years, and wine tasting being one of my favourite things in the world, I had never made it to the Swan Valley. This despite it being so very close to the city. The long wait to pick up Bessie in the morning did mean that we needed to start heading south relatively soon, but we did sneak in one more winery, the fabulous Sandalford. We proceeded to have a quick tasting, make a purchase, and then were off. Next stop Wave Rock.

Yup, that is Wave Rock

“Why on earth are you going to Wave Rock?” people asked. Well, let’s be clear, Wave Rock is not, and never has been, on our bucket list. But, we did need somewhere to sleep, and break up the journey to Esperance. And Hyden was conveniently about half way. And it had a very big rock as a tourist attraction. How could we not stop? Situated some 336kms (208 miles) from Swan Valley, the little town of Hyden, population 400, home to both Wave Rock and a roadhouse selling the aforementioned dodgy pies, would do for the night. Regarding the pie, I lost count of the lumps of gristle I had to separate from the meagre chunks (pieces?) of meat. Arriving in Wave Rock past 7.30pm is not advisable if you are hungry. I was. The shop, yes, only one, had closed for the evening. With the roadhouse being the only thing open, my dinner options were said pie, a dry muffin, or a bag of crisps. Strewth.

Another reason to break up your journey south is to stop yourself dying from boredom en route.
The landscape is like being in a gallery for hours, staring at the same picture.
A picture made up of every shade of beige and green, only punctuated by the vivid red dirt, and
numerous roadkill, which were also colourful in their own way, lining both sides of the asphalt.
The only thing to keep you awake is the concentration required every time a road train comes
thundering past on the opposite side of the road, almost sucking you into their path. The road trains
are the enormous lorries, dragging three, or four trailers in their wake. Trust me, you don’t want to
mess with them. As you motor on, hoovering up the kilometres, the small towns pass you in the
blink of any eye. Corrigin. Kondinin. Small towns of small populations. But one thing in common.

Oh look, another bloody museum.

Signing off 2017

January 9, 2018 by Fran 1 Comment

Most of you will know that I like to make lists. And that I like to set myself goals for what I consider to be personal growth. Personal growth will mean many things, to many people. To me it simply means, did I learn something new, go somewhere different, or do something that I haven’t done before. If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then, I have achieved some personal growth. Even if the item is just to go to a restaurant I have always wanted to try, I like the sense of personal achievement when I get there.

No, I know that I don’t need an actual list to achieve this. But for me, having a list allows me to keep focussed on what it was that I said to myself that I wanted to achieve at the start of each year. It is my way of keeping myself accountable to, well, myself. And, I just like the satisfaction I get from crossing it off my list.

Some of the items are recurring, and have been for many years. The one item that is not actually on the list, but never leaves me, is the one where I tell myself this is the last year that I work in a corporate environment. Over the years I have become the “accidental project manager”. Without consciously choosing a career path, I have fallen into what I do now. I think I do it well, but that doesn’t mean it fills my soul with joy. Which has left the frustrated writer and traveller deep within me having to comply with the norms of working for large corporations. How, and when I will ever escape isn’t known to me. Yet. Until that time, I will continue setting myself goals to make sure I am filling the rest of my life, and my soul, with things that make me happy.

Here is what I wrote at the start of 2017:

Do a yoga class – result: I didn’t get to do yoga, but did start doing reformer pilates, something I hadn’t even heard of at the start of the year. Reformer pilates classes last for 1 hour, and isolate parts of your body in slow, controlled exercises. Who knew it could be so effective? So much so that I have already pre-purchased classes for the month of January.

See lots of Italy – result: I did see lots of Italy. I wrote this knowing we would be going on holiday to Italy, and we took 3 weeks to travel the length and breadth of that beautiful country. Along the way I brushed up on my rudimentary Italian, and tried quite a few Aperol Spritzs. Whilst in Rome we were lucky enough to be able to eat at Aroma restaurant, which overlooks the Colosseum. We had the perfect table, champagne (I am still scratching my head over the price), and fabulous food.

Do a surf lesson – result: I didn’t get around to this so it will be carried over to 2018. What we did do was more stand up paddle boarding. Even if most of mine was kneel down paddle boarding. On a beautiful stretch of the coastline, in Rockingham, Western Australia, we hired a couple of boards and had a great hour paddling around.

Drive from Perth to Broome – result: Due to realising that driving north would result in us slowly cooking like xmas turkeys in the campervan, we changed our route and went south from Perth, which was a lot cooler in the evenings. Along the way we discovered what I would confidently say are the best beaches in Australia. I also found the best fish and chips in Australia, but that will be part of another blog.

Visit Margaret River in Western Australia – result: We did. This was included simply on the basis that we love tasting wine and visiting new wine regions. Margaret River has a great reputation for it’s wine. I can confirm that the wines are excellent. And I tasted (drank) a lot so feel confident in my assertion. Whilst in that part of the world we even got to another new wine region, the Swan Valley, just 30 minutes north of Perth. I won’t tell you how much wine we bought as a result of all our wine tasting, but needless to say we have had to sell all our furniture to fit it in the apartment.

Learn basic Italian – result: I did, for the holiday. And through the 3 weeks there, managed to pick up even more.

One thing that wasn’t on my list, as I didn’t plan it myself, was a hot air balloon ride. Something I have wanted to do for many years, since watching my Dad go off in one for his 60th birthday. A recent Saturday morning saw us meeting up with Balloon Aloft in Mudgee, at 3.45am, for a sun rise flight, followed by a champagne breakfast. All I can say is a big thank you, you know who you are.

I signed off the year another year older, and happy in the knowledge that I had managed to achieve most of what I set out to achieve, apart from the job. That remains a work in progress.

Now onto the list for 2018. What would be on yours?

Christmas is coming, maybe you have heard – post #1

December 13, 2017 by Fran Leave a Comment

Christmas seems to start earlier every year.

I’m sure it does. There is going to come a time when we don’t even bother taking down our trees
and decorations. It is inevitable. We will be subjected to Michael Buble, The Pogues and Mariah Carey
all year round whilst shopping.

It could be worse. We could live in Manila where the decorations,
and the tree, go up with the advent of the “ber” months.

That my friends, if you don’t have a calendar to hand to consult, is September.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You have the power to make a difference.

Make it better for your children’s children. Make a stand now. Switch Noddy Holder for Buble.
And the tree? 12 days before, 12 days after, with the reintroduction of an orange and a piece of
coal for presents.

It’s how it used to be. In my day. It is how it can be again. We have to hope.

With the earlier start to Christmas, it feels like we are waiting forever for it to arrive.
It’s like waiting for, well, Christmas I suppose.

I for one don’t mind the wait. At least it holds up the inexorable slide into, and sooner than I’d like
to think, out of middle age. I am in the very enviable position of sharing my birthday with a very
illustrious crowd.

Jesus, Humphrey Bogart, Annie Lennox, Jimmy Buffett, and Quentin Crisp, amongst others. I could
also claim Isaac Newton, but his birthday changed to January with the start of the Gregorian calendar.

And no. Don’t feel sorry for me. About the date, not the Quentin Crisp thing. Envy me. I get double
of what you get on December 25th.
Admittedly, this only amounted to 2 pieces of coal as a child, but now, with the advent of the
materialistic, capitalist society we live in, I can demand real, actual presents.
With the amount of discarded wrapping, and bottle bags (actually, I hold on to these and use them for
gifting to other people), the bin men must think a very large family resides in my apartment.

Other pluses include never having to work on your birthday.

Being able to start the day with a glass of champagne without loved ones urgently “what’s app”ing
me the link to the local chapter of Alcoholic’s Anonymous.

And probably most highly prized, I have the best excuse ever to avoid the “family Xmas” as I can
always claim I just want to enjoy my birthday with my (non related) loved one.

If any family members are reading this, I would never, repeat NEVER do this.

Still feel sorry for me?

Adelaide – The City of Churches

October 7, 2017 by Fran Leave a Comment

Named after the wife of King William IV, Adelaide sits on the bottom coast of Australia. In the state of South Australia, some 2 hours flight from Sydney, it has the unusual quirk of being half an hour behind Sydney. Where else in the world do we get increments of 30 minutes between time zones? Just for clarity, this is rhetoric. I’m sure it happens elsewhere in the globe, I just didn’t have the time to Google it. My free 30 minutes wifi allowance was quickly running out.

If you are wondering, as I was, how the city gained the nickname “ city of churches”, it may be linked to that fact that there are over 700 of them, in a small, very compact city. Only outnumbered by pubs, it feels as though there are multiple churches on every street. Well, thinking about it, there probably are.

Europeans first settled in Adelaide in 1836 as a place for ships that were sailing around the coast of Australia to stop and replenish their stocks of food and grog. Over 200 years later it is still an excellent place to do the very same. Interestingly, Adelaide was different to Sydney, and Melbourne, in that no convicts were shipped here. It was a place for free immigrants to settle, and work.

Beautiful cottages of Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital of South Australia, and the 5th most populous city in Australia. With a population of only some 1.3million. The city straddles the River Torrens, with the very impressive (now that it has had a multi million dollar facelift) Adelaide Oval on the north side, and the CBD on the other. And all across the city remain pristine examples of the architecture dating back to the first settlements. The cottages you see everywhere are very distinctive, and very Adelaide.

On the banks of the River Torrens

Our Jetstar flight from Sydney landed on time at 11.40am, after accounting for that spurious 30 minutes, and being only about 6kms from the city centre, we were in our cosy, no frills Air BnB a short time later.

Nothing much is far from anything in Adelaide, and although our accommodation was on the outskirts of the CBD (city centre for readers from the UK) we were still only a flat 20 minute walk away. The city is bounded by North Terrace and South Terrace, the latter of which is where we are staying for the 3 nights we were there.

The first thing that you notice when in Adelaide, when you come from Sydney at least, is the lack of traffic. Then you notice how wide and expansive the roads are. Set out by Colonel Light, one of Adelaide’s founding fathers, in a perfect grid pattern, there are five squares in the city centre, and a ring of parks surrounding it. This gives Adelaide a very green, leafy feel. Not something you immediately associate with cities.

Looking down the roads, east to west, you feel you can see all the way to the horizon. In the distance loom the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale. And despite the lack of traffic, people appear to not be in a rush, actually waiting for the green man. How very novel. It took some getting used to. Slowing down to this place of life. But when you do, you feel a sense of calm, and a wish that only every day could be like this.

Talking to people from Sydney you would think that Adelaide was some long forgotten backwater.

That could not be further from the truth. You may be aware I have an obsession with quality coffee. Maybe I have mentioned it in previous blogs. Or perhaps you have seen my Instagram posts. Adelaide maintains the very high standards you can rely on in Australia, and that I have become accustomed to in Sydney.

Keeping the coffee warm at Fawn cafe

The same goes for breakfast and brunch. And it is not all smashed avo and vegemite. Two highly recommended options are “Coffylosophy” on Hutt Street, and “Fawn” on nearby Gilles Street. Great food continues into the evening. I would give a nod to “The Greek” on Halifax Street, where else for a boy from Halifax?, and the many options around Leigh Street and Peel Street. I would highly recommend pre dinner drinks at “Clever Little Tailor”. Or an afternoon sharpener at “Proof”. Both great bars.

In the Barossa

I have got all this way without mentioning one of the main draws of a visit to Adelaide. The world class wineries. We took a full day trip to one of them, the Barossa Valley, with Taste the Barossa. The full day trip starts from your pick up in the city and ends approx 5pm back in the same place. The drive takes you up through hills, and into the valley, where you visit some great wineries, and have a fabulous antipasto board lunch. All in, a wonderful day.

And what is a place in Australia without a beach? Well, Adelaide has you covered on this front too, with a long, wide beach at Glenelg, which you can easily reach in less than 30 minutes, on one of the many trams trundling between the city and the beach.

Although it wasn’t beach weather the day we were there, we still had a wind blown walk along the front, before decamping to the very imposing “Grand” pub fish and chips. Some traditions just refuse to die.

Adelaide is a small city with a big personality. It has everything you need for either a visit, or for those looking to settle somewhere a little more personable than one of the bigger cities in Australia.

I’m looking forward to returning already.

We laughed, we cried, we hugged

July 22, 2017 by Fran Leave a Comment

However long you are away from family and friends, by the time you have had the first sip of your coffee (French press, not instant. Mum is a fast learner), or a couple of swigs of that first real pint of Timothy Taylor’s (do any other ex-pats miss real British ale?), it is as though you only saw them yesterday. Is that the same with everybody?

In fairness, I had only been gone just shy of 2 years, but it is the longest I had been gone from the UK since landing in Australia back in August 2012. I had somehow found myself going back each year, a pattern that stopped last year when it was decided a “proper” holiday was needed.

Let me explain that. Not that going to the UK isn’t a holiday. But it is not the most relaxing holiday. To fit everybody in, and give yourself chance to see everybody, the time spent needs managing with military precision. Which is achieved to great effect by my now fabled spreadsheets. I may be a project manager by trade, and this comes in handy when scheduling my days overseas. Needless to say, each trip has been more successful as result. In my opinion.

So after a hiatus last year, spent on the west coast of USA and Canada, it was time to visit England again. Time to dust off the spreadsheet, and get planning. I have some catching up to do. Little nephews and nieces grow up fast, I’m finding.

Landing at Manchester, under blue skies, on a mild June lunchtime, we were only a short 40 minute drive over the Pennines, into Yorkshire. No matter how many times I do it I always feel a glow of pride when passing the border with Lancashire, and see the white rose of Yorkshire marking entry to one of the most beautiful places on earth. I have a passport now that proclaims I am Australian. But first and foremost, I am, and always will be, a Yorkshireman.

According to the spreadsheet, we had 13 nights in England, to see and do everything we had missed out on the preceding 2 years. The clock was ticking. No time for jet lag on the first day, as the top priority was to get a good Indian curry, something that is inordinately difficult in Sydney. Yes, we have curry houses, but can they do a good curry? The jury is still out. And on the same night, there was a football World Cup qualifier on. England versus the auld enemy, Scotland. Football at a normal time. Imagine that! Until you have spent 4 seasons bleary eyed from watching football at all hours from midnight, through to 4am, you won’t really appreciate how this feels.

And that folks was day 1. Done. Just like that. Only 12 nights left. And now do you see the need for a spreadsheet? You see my predicament? Not only do we have lots to do, every day, and every evening, but we have to navigate it after traversing multiple time zones. My eyes tell me it is 10pm. My head tells me it is sometime after 6am. On the FOLLOWING day. Good luck getting any sleep.

And this is how it is, going overseas (do some people say “abroad”?) from Australia to Europe. But those 12 nights, they will soon be 11. Then 10. And so on. Time to crack on and see what is next in the spreadsheet.

Last time I was in the UK, back in 2015, I was treat to the BBQ of all BBQs. I mentioned it in a blog at the time. The belly busting portions of food, and a quiche that would win first prize in any quiche contest. If such a thing existed. So, when promised a BBQ this time around, albeit with a different chef, I jumped at the chance. I drooled at the thought of everything that would be going on the BBQ. Cooking off the snags, and replacing them on the large, sizzling, hot grill with steaks. Throwing on some corn, and making room for some chicken. And then…

I had heard it was a small BBQ. I didn’t realise it was a BBQ for a hobbit. One hobbit. One very small hobbit, even by hobbit standards. Good lord, “this could be a very long night”, I thought. I definitely had not had my expectations set. I think plying me with extremely large Aperol Spritzes was a deflection tactic. I have never seen a magnum of prosecco disappear so fast.

And yet, we had a bloody fantastic evening. In no small part to the food that miraculously appeared from the kitchen, and wasn’t reliant on the behemoth that was our BBQ. We had a veritable Spanish feast, eating drinking, laughing into the small hours. This is why we travel 24 hours across the world. Priceless moments.

Did someone say tapas?

Talking of priceless moments, I also found myself doing something, twice, that I wasn’t sure would ever be on one of my spreadsheets. The school run. Yes, you read that right. Uncle Fran did the school run. It was insisted upon. No mummy, you can stay at home. Just me and uncle Fran today. So there I was, slightly dusty after another fantastic family catch up, slightly cold having to go out in the morning drizzle without a coat (I was on holiday! Who packs a coat for their holidays?), and saying hello to Mr Varley, the lollipop man. Wonders never cease.

There have been a number of traditions created through my visits home, and my waistline fought valiantly to get through them all whilst back. The obligatory breakfast at Wetherspoons, which I somehow managed to do on three occasions, fish and chips (if I had to have a last supper, this would be it), the aforementioned curry, mouth watering sausage butties to start the day (pork please, if I see another chicken sausage!), and at least one “all hands” family meal. We ticked that one off on day 2, with seventeen of us having a raucous lunch, and a not insignificant amount of drinks. Thank you sis for all your hard work in organising, and managing to keep it from mum so I could surprise her on the day. Cue tears. I think maybe even mum cried too.

La familia

Blink, and the time was nearly up. We had visited Yorkshire, explored all the nightlife that West Vale has to offer, walked in the Dales, played golf at Lytham-St-Annes (and forgot my “safety first” mantra by neglecting to apply sunscreen), BBQd in Poulton Le Flyde, had fish and chips at Harry Ramsden’s in Blackpool, lunched in gorgeous West Sussex, swam at the historic Spread Eagle hotel (and then had one of their famous “full english” breakfasts), strolled the pier, and The Lanes, before having dinner in Brighton, and lots in between. The weather had been kind to us, which it always seems to be. Maybe we bring a slice of Sydney back with us each time.

Thankfully I now had a couple of days relaxing in the beautiful city of Palma, on the (almost) annual boy’s trip. These occasions are renowned for slowing down, enjoying the culture of a place, taking in a few museums, a little tipple in the evening, then early nights. This trip would be no different. After that, I would fly to Milan, meet my better half, and 3 weeks exploring Italy would commence.

It is times like this I tell myself how lucky and blessed we are.

Ciao, until next time.