So my time is all but up here in Australia so it's time to get the blog bang up to date and fly to Japan tomorrow and what will probably feel like a lifetime of rice!
So here's a load of stuff to tell - and what a blast - homely time - I've had here in Australia
The time after I last blogged from Rousey's was 'boys at play' because Jo, Ashley and Chloe had gone to see the 'relos' in Tasmania (and bless you Jo for saying such kind words about my stay - I'm already looking forward to seeing Rousey's girls again)
The Great Ocean Road called us south west of Melbourne and along Australia's most gorgeous coastline (camper vans were back a la New Zealand styleeee)
One of the main reasons to go was to play our final round of golf together (for now) at Anglesea Golf Club (go Wales!) - the reason this course is played so heavily (and kept in such awesome condition with greens approaching Wentworth pace that just killed my short game) was because of a unique factor
As the bespectacled Antipodean genius Rolf Harris would say ... 'can you guess what it is yet?!'
James 'Crocodile Dundee' Rouse ...
Docking alongside one ...
This one gave me a strange stirring in a Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit way ... (I know but I swear it was batting it's eyelids at me!)
I just love these boinging little buggers (my new favourite animal) and at one point I was forced to pitch over a few to reach the green - they added a really camera sharpening edge to golf and clearly put me off - because for the record Rousey completed his demolition of me and took our series 3-0 - in my defence I'm not at my best when duffing chips and whacking putts having spent the last 5 months climbing mountains!
Here's a shot taken on my camera's delay function shortly before Rousey nailed a drive round the corner of the dogleg, nestled a wedge on the green and rolled his lag putt up to kick in distance - now off 26 he's pretty formidable - this boy could beat Richie Statham - I just wish he didn't put my tips into such great use against ME - by the way - the ocean's just behind us (you could see it if the camera wasn't placed on a railway sleeper) - and leafy Anglesea was a joy - I'm also not that great at golf in one of Rousey's borrowed, tight polo shirts!
It was even better to drink beer, chat about old times, soak up the view and get this kind of incredible sunset that you can only get in these huuuuge countries where the land mass stretches forever and the weather gets a chance to stabilise - it was of course followed by yet another look at the Milky Way (of everything beautiful that I'm seeing it's always the best)
The next day we were up and at 'em winding (literally and puky feeling) our way down the Great Ocean Road to Fairhaven, Lorne and Apollo Bay - crashing surf, thick rainforest, koala bears (Tracker Rouse did it again Swifty), mind the kangaroo road signs and dirt, unsealed roads - Rousey was a real legend in driving me round so much of his adopted patch (cheers pal) - the highlight of the day had to be seeing the legendary Bells Beach - this place is a mecca for surfers (of which we saw some Surf Foxes) and sits at the end of a bumpy road shaped like a cove (as all great Australian beaches seem to be) - no Starbucks, no Quiksilver shop, no toilets even - just the ocean and it's followers - this beach was the one at the end of Point Break when Patrick Swayze's Bodie paddles out never to come back having bailed on some enormous wave - remember it? - the truth is - that was Hawaii - but this was even more cool!
I commuted for a day into Melbourne just before Rousey and I headed south and had a fantastic time checking out another top city - so much to see and do - I saw Ned Kelly's armour in the most atmospheric Victoria State Library (the best except New York's) - Ned Kelly was one of Australia's bushmen that did the same kind of bad stuff as USA's Billy the Kid dudes (I've been in Australia too long clearly) - not the cleanest club in the bag, Ned Kelly covered his head, body and arms in armour and walked out towards the good guys - who promptly shot him in the legs (doh!), strolled over, picked him up and hanged him!
Melbourne's very cosmo as I'm sure the last blog pointed out - so cosmo in fact that while I was there it hosted the Game On exhibition at the Australian Museum of the Moving Image - this exhibition was a collaboration between the AMMI and The Barbican in London - it showcased (and let you play) all the video games since they began - I had the best time discovering new, old games (Rez on Playstation 2 comes to mind) and playing classics (Goldeneye on Nintendo 64) - Mario nestled in nicely alongside Melbourne's architecture ...
And before I knew it two weeks were up, love was passed to the family Rouse (that's pronounced Roose to be perfectly correct) and I was on train headed inland past Canberra (but not to it) and ended a long day (brilliantly serviced by Countrylink) in Sydney ...
So here's a load of stuff to tell - and what a blast - homely time - I've had here in Australia
The time after I last blogged from Rousey's was 'boys at play' because Jo, Ashley and Chloe had gone to see the 'relos' in Tasmania (and bless you Jo for saying such kind words about my stay - I'm already looking forward to seeing Rousey's girls again)
The Great Ocean Road called us south west of Melbourne and along Australia's most gorgeous coastline (camper vans were back a la New Zealand styleeee)
One of the main reasons to go was to play our final round of golf together (for now) at Anglesea Golf Club (go Wales!) - the reason this course is played so heavily (and kept in such awesome condition with greens approaching Wentworth pace that just killed my short game) was because of a unique factor
As the bespectacled Antipodean genius Rolf Harris would say ... 'can you guess what it is yet?!'
James 'Crocodile Dundee' Rouse ...
Docking alongside one ...
This one gave me a strange stirring in a Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit way ... (I know but I swear it was batting it's eyelids at me!)
I just love these boinging little buggers (my new favourite animal) and at one point I was forced to pitch over a few to reach the green - they added a really camera sharpening edge to golf and clearly put me off - because for the record Rousey completed his demolition of me and took our series 3-0 - in my defence I'm not at my best when duffing chips and whacking putts having spent the last 5 months climbing mountains!
Here's a shot taken on my camera's delay function shortly before Rousey nailed a drive round the corner of the dogleg, nestled a wedge on the green and rolled his lag putt up to kick in distance - now off 26 he's pretty formidable - this boy could beat Richie Statham - I just wish he didn't put my tips into such great use against ME - by the way - the ocean's just behind us (you could see it if the camera wasn't placed on a railway sleeper) - and leafy Anglesea was a joy - I'm also not that great at golf in one of Rousey's borrowed, tight polo shirts!
It was even better to drink beer, chat about old times, soak up the view and get this kind of incredible sunset that you can only get in these huuuuge countries where the land mass stretches forever and the weather gets a chance to stabilise - it was of course followed by yet another look at the Milky Way (of everything beautiful that I'm seeing it's always the best)
The next day we were up and at 'em winding (literally and puky feeling) our way down the Great Ocean Road to Fairhaven, Lorne and Apollo Bay - crashing surf, thick rainforest, koala bears (Tracker Rouse did it again Swifty), mind the kangaroo road signs and dirt, unsealed roads - Rousey was a real legend in driving me round so much of his adopted patch (cheers pal) - the highlight of the day had to be seeing the legendary Bells Beach - this place is a mecca for surfers (of which we saw some Surf Foxes) and sits at the end of a bumpy road shaped like a cove (as all great Australian beaches seem to be) - no Starbucks, no Quiksilver shop, no toilets even - just the ocean and it's followers - this beach was the one at the end of Point Break when Patrick Swayze's Bodie paddles out never to come back having bailed on some enormous wave - remember it? - the truth is - that was Hawaii - but this was even more cool!
I commuted for a day into Melbourne just before Rousey and I headed south and had a fantastic time checking out another top city - so much to see and do - I saw Ned Kelly's armour in the most atmospheric Victoria State Library (the best except New York's) - Ned Kelly was one of Australia's bushmen that did the same kind of bad stuff as USA's Billy the Kid dudes (I've been in Australia too long clearly) - not the cleanest club in the bag, Ned Kelly covered his head, body and arms in armour and walked out towards the good guys - who promptly shot him in the legs (doh!), strolled over, picked him up and hanged him!
Melbourne's very cosmo as I'm sure the last blog pointed out - so cosmo in fact that while I was there it hosted the Game On exhibition at the Australian Museum of the Moving Image - this exhibition was a collaboration between the AMMI and The Barbican in London - it showcased (and let you play) all the video games since they began - I had the best time discovering new, old games (Rez on Playstation 2 comes to mind) and playing classics (Goldeneye on Nintendo 64) - Mario nestled in nicely alongside Melbourne's architecture ...
And before I knew it two weeks were up, love was passed to the family Rouse (that's pronounced Roose to be perfectly correct) and I was on train headed inland past Canberra (but not to it) and ended a long day (brilliantly serviced by Countrylink) in Sydney ...
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