Go East!

So when you live on the east coast and someone says "we should go east". Where do you go?

To Byron Bay of course.


Steve and I headed to Byron Bay just for the day, with couchsurfer in tow. Just because we had both never really been to Byron. Or well I had been there overnight briefly but had never seen the beach.

And when at Byron you get a photo outside of the sign of "Australia's Most Eastern point".

But there is controversy. This point when standing at the viewing area doesn't seem to be the most east position. There is a little bit of a point down the cliffs about 100 metres away which seems more easterly. I put it down to the marketing department didn't want to have people climbing down a steep walkway.

Advantages of being a Queenslander

To be able to call oneself a Queenslander has its advantages. And they're not all obvious.

Take for example the "My Fun" card. The purchase of this card is restricted to residents of Queensland. It gives us unlimited entry to Seaworld, Movieworld, and Wet'n'Wild for about 9 months.

That is our compensation for having people from the south come over the border at will.

What's cheaper!

Rank the following items in order of their cost from most expensive to cheapest

1. A train ride from Sydney Airport to the City. About 15kms I think it is.
2. A 5km Cab ride from Brisbane City to Coorparoo where I live, and
3. A flight from Gold Coast Airport to Sydney on Jetstar.

If you answered 2 then 1 and then 3 you'd be correct.


A Cab ride home cost me $18 usually. ($20 bucks if you're talking graveyard hours).

The flight to Sydney was $11 after paying the $2 or so credit card booking fee.

And the train ride was $14.60.


That's right for the Ekka Show Day local public holiday Steve and I were not in Brisbane. Cheap flights made for one hell of a great day trip away from Brisbane.

I couldn't believe it when Steve told me he got us tickets. Glad he did book.

We spent only about $60 each for transport for the whole day to get to and from Sydney.

Sure 10 hours in Sydney doesn't seem like a lot of time. But it's enough time to see the big sites in the city centre. With enough time leftover to meet a friend, and find beer. German Beer.

I love German Beer. And Sydney gets a massive ratings upgrade thanks to it's new (to me) Lowenbrau German Beer Hall.

A win for all on that day of travel.

One Capital left.

In terms of seeing Australia I now have 1 left. One more capital city and I've seen the lot.

Fortunately for Adelaide they were not last. Darwin will be last. Luckily for Adelaide they had more cheap flights with Tiger Airways to direct me there.

Merely a weekend was allocated to seeing Adelaide. A trip with only a few goals.
1. See the Don Bradman Statue outside the Adelaide Oval
2. Go do a Winery Tour, and
3. Eat a Pie floater

I managed 1 + 2.



So I did fail to complete a goal. So perhaps a second trip will be required. Any excuse to see another winery valley will do really.

I missed a brewery tour. Shame on me!

Beer and Churches. That's what history preserves I say.

And therefore as a result I like to tour these places which have been preserved in this tradition. All in the expectation that I'll again get to hear from the tour guides how refined and revered the local brewery chief was to the local population.

It is with great regret that I must admit I missed one.

I didn't have time in Hobart to see the Cascade Brewery. Bad Chad, bad. It wasn't for the lack of trying. It was just that they don't run the tours on public holidays.

High flying...

Tiger Airways has a lot to answer. Like how long do I have before they figure out that I'm just using them for cheap flights and don't buy drinks on board?

Another weekend away for me. This time I paid $55 to get from Gold Coast to Melbourne. Return. Inclusive of fees and taxes.

And then $77 to get from Melbourne to Hobart. Return.

How's that work? Don't ask. Just accept and collect the boarding pass.

The Claytons Travel report

When is a trip not a trip for me? When it's not overseas.

However by most standards it is still a trip. So with that in mind I thought I'd just post some recent trip photo highlights.

First we have Melbourne.


This was a classic boys trip away. Tony, Steve and I were off to the football. Our (Steve and I) first ever AFL game at the MCG.

Brisbane was against Richmond. We won. That made our night. Can't say it was the case for the locals.

Bavarian Beer Report. The 2nd leg.

Bamberg had completed my quest to find good beer in Bavaria. However it did not mean the end of the Beer in Bavaria. I had one last stop before flying home. Munich.

Now I've been to Munich during Oktoberfest before so I know what to expect of a beer hall. Beer.
However this trip did leave me somewhat incomplete. The Oktoberfest experience was 1 night on a Contiki trip where we arrived in by bus after being depressed a the Dachau Concentration Camp, we had 15 minutes to the Glockenspiel, and then it was straight to Oktoberfest.

Yes, I know most would argue that's all you need to achieve in Munich. But for me it didn't give a sense that I had searched for everything, experienced enough of what it means to be in Munich. So this time I had 2 nights.

The first night was somewhat a repeat of the first experience. Get off the train, see the clock, and then go out for beer. However this time it was different. This time I was in the Hofbrauhaus not Oktoberfest. And I also made it into the Augustiner Brauhaus.

As a result of the night I'm confused as to whether it's the Beer, the Pretzels, or Pretzel sellers I liked in the Hofbrauhaus.


The 2nd day however brought change. This time I saw Munich. Saw the importance of Munich in terms of the history during the 3rd Reich movement, and the episodes of Hitler. And then I found beer at the Hofbrauhaus again, which made me forget the details of just what went on.

Luckily for me times do change in Bavaria once in a while. They make a really good wheat beer in the Hofbrauhaus. Gone are the days where beer could only be made of barley so as to preserve the wheat for making bread. Hence I enjoyed a last beer before returning to Australian soil.

Only I didn't drink it for breakfast like they do. After all in Munich wheat beers is considered "a breakfast beer". Forget toast this is beer country. Luckily I have photos and a memory to say I did more than drink beer in Munich.

And on that note I left Germany. For how long I don't know. As long as there's the promise of good beer, history, and scenery I'm sure I'll make it back.

I almost found my boss's utopia

I saw this sign in Bamberg. And for a second thought I had found his utopia. So I past the sign only to find there were women and children everywhere.

So much for that thought.

The best pasta dish in Italy belongs to Bermago

I visited Valentina for a night in Bermago. Just outside of Milan before venturing to Germany.

Highlight, as promised by Valentina, was the best Pasta in Italy.

A dish close to my heart. This was a Bermago Ravioli, sitting in clarified butter, with prosciutto.


Yes thats right, bacon, pasta, and butter. You can't beat that. Really you can't.

Going out in Style in Milan

Another thing Darren and I decided to try in Milan was a bit of modeling. After all Milan is full of the catwalks, and beautiful people.

Darren when for classical style thanks to the artistic direction of his photographer.


Whilst I went for classical, yet more contemporary "Garfield Doll Stuck on the Car Window".

What do I know about Bamberg Now

Bamberg was a destination on my "places to visit list" thanks to a television show I watched when I was in Canada. The show was "The Thirsty Traveler". I could ascertain from the TV program that this guy "Kevin Brauch" had the best job in the world. Going around the world in search of alcohol, and then making a TV show around his drinking adventure. Kevin dedicated a whole show to Bavarian Beer. Therefore in honour of this deed I decided that I would dedicate 4 days of my life in this same quest.

After taking a flight and then train out to Bamberg I was left in the able hands of my couchsurfing hosts, Wolfram, Steffi, and Vera. And what wonderful hosts they turned out to be.

It was their dedication to the cause that has demonstrated that Bavarian Beer is good for you.

I am unsure as to why the beer is good for me. But I suspect it is because either

1. it only has 3 ingredients (Water, Barley, and Hops) under laws made in the 1500s. Or
2. because the video at the Franconian Beer Museum told me so.

And if the media tells me so, then it must be right. I am but only an accountant. I am no expert on beer or medical health and therefore dare not question what is right and wrong.

So what did I, a man who can't usually drink more than 2 beers in one session, learn.

1. This is the famous smoked beer, Schlenkerla.


It tastes like beer with smoked bacon. This was the beer I had come for. It did not disappoint. I enjoyed it's quirkiness.

It goes well with Pork Knuckle.



2. If you are undecided on which Ambrausianum beer to try, then try a 3 pack "Beer Tester". With the Wheat Beer, the traditional beer, and the Dunkel (Dark) beer.

3. If you don't like beer then Bamberg also has a UNESCO World Heritage Listed Town Centre. Or that's at least how you can reason visiting Bamberg to another who may not be so interested in your pursuit of good beer.

4. It's good form to have a drinking strategy in Bamberg. Our strategy included crossing the road from Rauchbier Beer house to Fessala

Now where was I upto....

I just had to do this. If I had of gotten a photo with Wally then you might of not been able to find me.

Get your World Dictator Wines here

Another funny moment.

I found a shop in one of the towns in Cinque Terre selling "World Dictator" Wines.

My guess is they'd leave a horrible taste in the mouth.


It was actually the village of Cornigula. Right up the top of a switchback stair climb of about 1km in which you rise 400 metres.


No so funny was finding out after, that my ticket to the Cinque Terre Rail included the small mini bus that could have taken my up to the top where the village was.

Grinding the train door is not allowed

Another funny sign appeared in Milan.

We interpreted the sign as: Anyone found erotic dancing in the doorway will be injured badly.

Going to see Dave

After the Cinque Terre I had decided I needed to make a side trip to Florence.

I had set aside 2 days before my departure as "free days" just in case I needed extra time in the Cinque Terre. In the end though I got nervous about not having accommodation booked. The thought that I was in the most catholic country of the world in the lead up to Easter weighed too heavily on me. So instead of booking more time in Nowhere Italy I decided to return to Florence.

The hostel I stayed in was a revelation. It had an absolutely awesome view.


Or maybe it was just the 3 euro bottle of wine special they had one night that I liked.... Nope, it was definitely the view.

In general going back to Florence did go against one of my general traveling concepts. Not visiting the same place twice. But then the decision was made as in reality the first time I was on a Contiki trip in which not everything was achieved. After all I had never gotten to see the Statue of David.

It made even more sense to go see the Statue of David as I had just been in France seeing my cousin Mick. The younger brother of cousin David.

But when I finally got to see Dave I realised this wasn't the Mick's brother. Nothing like him in fact. Or well I imagine so. I've not seen my cousin Dave naked. I'm sure Sarah, his girlfriend would argue there are some similarities.

Sorry no photos of David were allowed.

Aside of seeing Dave I spent the next day avoiding Florence. Why? Because I was sick of the flocks of tourist in Florence. I spent an hour waiting to see Dave the day before. I wasn't going to repeat that again. Some places in Florence were just never meant to be seen by me.

Instead of Florence I thought to make a short side trip to Siena for the day. Sienna is a very important town in the Italian history, and quite the famous town centre. Historians and religious folks know the town for it being the home of the Dominican Church. The monks were there way before I got to Siena.

The rest of us people know Siena for being a medieval town which holds a crazy horse race (The Palio") around its town square every year. Interestingly thee horse race is sanctioned as religious.

Notice anything odd about this sign

I was at the beach in Monterosso Al Mare in the Cinque Terre region when I realised I had visited in the wrong season.

There were no stick figures with large breasts when I was there. And I was so looking forward to see what that would look like. After all the the stick figures I've ever drawn have not been anatomically correct.

And then I thought. What if a male stick figure came to the beach. So I left.

There's just some bits of a stick figure you just don't want etched into your memory.

I shopped, but didn't buy any big items

In Milan everything seems to end at the Duomo. And if you think about it, it makes sense.


Because one of the rich shopping streets with the like of Fendi, D&G, and others is one of these streets ending up next to the Duomo. I liken it to the vow of poverty. Ending at the church as you realise you've just spent $6500 euro on a leather handbag. Sorry ladies, I may say I love you, but thats the price of a small car. If that's unacceptable then so be it.

In the days in Milan I did manage to buy some stuff. But for me. My proudest purchase was a winter jacket. I have since been informed by my Italian friend, and others it's a spring jacket. It's a matter of prospective really. If you live in the right city, it's a winter jacket.

How to tour Milan

My friend Valentina recently graduated from university. So she organised a night out on the town.

Luckily I and my friend Darren (who flew out from London) were in town to experience the night.


A three hour ride around town on a Tram. Drinking, and drinking.... No toilette.


The end result. I've never seen so many guys run off tram around the corner.

I found a chink in the Cinque Terre

The good news for me when I arrived into Riomaggoire was that the hostel I was booked into was better than the last few in Italy. Perhaps a sign of improvement from here.

The Cinque Terre was something I decided I wanted to do when I was researching things to do in Italy. In fact the travel guides rated one of the top 5 things. I can see why. It's spectacular.

Now if I was coming here in the peak of summer it would have been even more special as I would have been able to swim at the beach. But reality is I got the other advantage. Less people. Apparently its crazy in summer.

For those not aware where the Cinque Terre is. It's 5 villages (hence the "cinque") that are clinging to the coastline. The walk between the 5 villages is what is supposed to attract everyone. However for the less fit there is the train.


The walk between the 1st and 2nd village is the most famous. The d'ell Amore. Or lovers walk. I completed this the first day. I stopped in at the bar along the walk thinking perhaps my love would show up to join me. Alas she did not. I drank alone.


It didn't matter. The view was still great.

Crazies find me! I don't know why!

Now why is it is that the weirdos find me.

When catching a train back to Turin I came across a lady who was ranting out to the world whilst waiting.

Fortunately for me I had already stuffed up. I had ended up with a first class ticket for the ride to Turin. She wasn't in our class. Heck, I think she was on her own track.

Va Bene! It's ok Touring Torino

Okay in about a day and a half of traveling in Torino here I have found:

1) a lack of chairs in the inner city under cover. It was raining all day. And well I didn't get to find a chair to take a rest whilst making use of my "48 hour Torino Card" over just 24hrs.

2) You can learn a lot more of the local attractions if you learn Italian.



3) I remember hardly a word of the 8 week Italian course I took in preparation. That's a good couple hundred I threw away I guess.

4) You can bluff your way through a guided tour in Italian when you don't understand a word. Heck I was lucky if I picked up 1 word in 50.

5) Italians don't have a good understanding of just what a hostel should be in Torino. The "Hostel Torino" I'm in was supposed to be the best rated. I'd call it a "shiny turd". It's clean, but horrible. (Only one more night)

6) If you're a hostel operator it may help to stock maps for your guests. For a start. Along with ensuring the transport directions to the hostel are correct and precise.

6) The Italians make good pizza.



7) The Italians make good gelato. (this makes up for bad hostel operators)

8) Torino has the best Caffé Mocha. The one from this morning was made with pure melted chocolate. Yes, there were tears of joy when I saw it start to be made in that fashion.
.

The Offender

Now over recent trips overseas I've been remiss in not getting a photo of the offender in the assults perpetrated. Yesterday though I was able to make amends.

However the victim wasn't me.

Here is the Offender:


It may seem like a nonchalant lump of snow. But that snow is a ice cold attacker of snow boarders. It has been guilty of going out to trip boarders without provocation. Calls have been made to "toast" it to the ground.

The victim was my cousin Mick. The damage was one broken collar bone.

There's snow news today.

Yesterday's snow fall amounted to about 10 cms.

Oh, and 1 serious knee injury, and 8 broken ribs. But they weren't mine, or my cousin's. Just some of the other travellers.

One guy did his knee on one of the slopes which had been turned to a sheet of ice after being warm the day of the BBQ, and then having the snow windblown away.

The other guy broke 8 ribs I've heard from sledding into a cabin. I haven't the full report but it sounds painful.

Today's snowfall about 10 cms. But again no injuries to me.

Went up to a different part of the resort today. Took some good shots while skiing.

Unexpected things you do in France no 1

Now there were things I did expect to do here in France. Going up a ski lift and having a BBQ half way up the slopes was not one of them.

But that's what we did yesterday.

A few of the staff from around the resorts who my cousin Mick can count as his friends decided that would be a good idea. Heck it was an awesome idea in the end.

You just set up your BBQ, take a few beers up, and then while waiting for food to cook you go for a ski or ride. Works well.

By the end of it a BBQ for 7 ended up being for about 30 passers through.

Clair

I had a short term relationship with a Clair yesterday.

In the end Clair ran out on me.

Last time I try to have a Chocolate Eclair on this trip. I'm sticking to the Crossaints instead.