Blog On Jonny Blog On!

I'm still sorting pictures out at a frantic rate. Hopefully i'll get all them uploaded by the end of the weekend.


So to blog or not to blog?


Over 90 people have visited the site and I'm amazed! Therefore i'm going to carry on blogging! Lots of stuff to talk about and lots of pictures to share.....

The first post Australia image for most people is a boring one, 'my hits stats!'. Anyway at least i'm proud! Who knows who the 90+ people are but I thank you anyway.

Speak to you soon.

By the way Lyns has lost all interest in blogging, i'm sure she'll come round.

and

Mum if you were the one to send me the weird e.mail, not funny, even on Halloween.

Images From Australia Uploaded

Sandcastles, originally uploaded by jonny_w.

I've started uploading hi-res files from our Holiday to Flickr. Hope you enjoy.

Regards Jonny

The last week

Today is our last day in Australia. Since our last post we have covered 1,700kms (1000+ miles) mostly in pursuit of giant objects at roadside shops and restaurants. Check out the giant prawn!

After leaving Byron Bay we followed the main highway down along the coast to Coffs Harbour, from there we turned in land to the small town of Bellingen to a little guest house just outside of the town. Our guestroom was very well appointed with a range of giant spiders, which Lynsey was really pleased about. The can of knock out spray left in the room had limited effect, the copy of ‘What’s On in Bellingen’ although less spider friendly, yielded immediate results. After a nice dinner in the local pub we retired early as country folk do. During the night a large mosquito took an immediate liking to Lyns and left some lovely bites. Not nice you might say? Well yes…. but back in Sydney we found out that the large brown hairy spiders are actually friends of the country folk. Huntsman spiders are, and I quote ‘timid creatures and harmless to humans’ their staple diet being those pesky flies and other spiders that annoy humans so much. So in summary brown spiders good, black spiders bad. I also must now admit that I also killed another huntsman in the lodge we stayed at in the Hunter Valley but now spiders are my friends all that killing is behind me.

After cleaning off the copy of ‘What’s On in the Hunter Valley’ following a long drive from Bellingen, Lyns and I decided to take a balloon ride. This was our earliest start yet (3.00am !!!!). The weather unfortunately was not to kind on us and after driving around with the balloon crew for a couple of hours daylight had already broken and we finally took off with three other balloons for a fantastic flight across the valley. After a drive back to our lodge Lyns became ‘designated driver’ and we headed back out to sample the many vineyards in the valley. The problem is apart from the odd duff white all of it tasted so nice (I bought far too many bottles) correction (I bought way too many bottles even if I was to become a wholesaler of fine wine). A barbecue we cooked at the lodge did help reduce the wine lake I had purchased and subsequent tastings have helped as well. Australia will have to become part of the European Union before our flight lands though for my new ‘cellar collection’ to pass duty free laws.

And now we are back in Sydney, yesterday we were meant to go to the Blue Mountains but instead just had a walk through the parks in the city and then drove out 40kms from the centre to spend the afternoon on Palm Beach lapping up the wonderful spring sunshine that has returned to New South Wales. Today we have some shopping to do, pack and then enjoy a nice lunch somewhere overlooking the harbour.

Whale Ahoy!!

Just got back from a morning whale watching. Very enjoyable and we actually saw some whales....

We're now off down to the town of Bellingen in a guest house for a night and then on to the Hunter Valley to a lodge on top of the Barrington Ranges. Unfortunately I don't think any of these places is connected to the worldwide web via broadband yet, so radio silence probably until we arrive back in Sydney on Saturday.

Regards Jonny and Lyns

Pictures From Tallow Beach - Byron Bay

Hi All,

Great day chilling in Byron. Took a long walk down Tallow Beach at sunset pictures in the post.

Another! early start tomorrow morning with a 5.30am alarm call. We're going whale watching in the Bay. The Humpbacks are just returning with their calves from Antartica so hopefully we'll see some. I think catching them is out of the question these days... The Victorians has so much fun...

Regards Jonny

(Lyns wants no part of this post due to my 'catching a hump bank' comment)

Mini Poll Sabotage

Dear All,

I have some sad news for you all. Through some e.mail correspondance I have received on my hotmail account mailto:getjonnywhite@hotmail.com I believe that the poll might have been sabotaged!!!

Yes Yes I know it is hard to believe and saddening for everyone who has been reading the blog but it's true. I don't wish to reveal the persons identity but lets just call him Mr W from Birmingham England. He has been voting 'too geeky' on multiple PC's. Please keep voting to stop this evil online villain succeeding in his plan.

Anyway, just sat having breakfast in Byron Bay. Great hotel right in the middle of a wetland rainforest and wireless access on the veranda! Weather has not been too great. The grey clouds followed us up from Sydney and although the weather was bright and sunny in Brisbane as we drove down Highway 1 back into New South Wales the rain began. Today is far brighter so we're off to town and then one of the beaches to chill for the day.

Regards Jonny

More Images Uploaded

As promised I've uploaded some more photos from our trip. Melbourne, Yering and a few from Sydney again.

Just click on the latest image in the bog to go to my Flickr page.

From a rainy Sydney..... Jonny

Lyns Calling

It's our first wedding anniversary today (we are now officially no longer newly weds!) and had a wonderful lunch on the balcony of the world famous Doyles Seafood restaurant at Watsons Bay overlooking the city. Our day was very relaxed and chilled but - yes - yet again the 15th October was drizzly and overcast as it was last year (and yesterday hit 36 in Sydney). We are destined to be blighted with poor weather on this day every year - but it is good luck! - so we consoled ourselves with a couple of bottles of chardonnay over lunch.

from Lyns.

Hello From Melbun International Airport

After a lovely 24hrs in the Yarra valley (plenty of wine tasted!) we're back to Sydney for the rest of the weekend.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is our first wedding anniversary so we're living it up in a 5 star hotel in the harbour.

Lot's more pictures to upload and news on the crazy weather as soon as we reach Sydney.

Enjoy the weekend.... Jonny

Off To The Yarra Valley

Our last morning in Melbourne (sorry Melbunnnnn!) today and I'm just off to pick up the hire car. The temperatures hit 36 degrees in the city yesterday just 12 degrees above the average for the time of the year. It was very very hot! The down side of the higher temperatures has been a number of bush fires in the state of Victoria so we're not sure how great our drive to the Yarra Valley will be.

We're staying in Yering overnight before returning to Sydney on Saturday lunchtime so this will be our last post for a couple of days.

Ausies still take the p*ss out of our wonder keeper Robinson. Having seen it several (hundred!) times on the news it does look like a nasty bobble (t*sser!).

They have failed to mention that the England cricket team won this week, I must admit the nation doesn't seem over confident about the ashes at the moment.

Speak to you from Sydney - Jonny an Lyns

Morning from Melbourne! sorry (Melbun!)

It was our first full day in Melbourne yesterday. A word of warning if your ever here it's pronounced Melbun not Melbourne, it really winds people up and they always correct you.

We pretty much spent the day around the Centre of the city to doing some sight seeing and shopping. Melbun (remembered!) definitely has a more laid back vibe than Sydney. We've already been to two great restaurants including a Chinese called the Red Dragon on the South Bank.

Today we're travelling a little further out to 'the burbs' on one of the many trams that criss-cross the city. My mood though is saddened as the Ausie news has just been laughing at Robinsons wonder clearance from G.Neville's powerful miss weighted back pass to the under pressure England keeper (T*sser!!!).

The picture at the top of the post is from one of the bridges next to our hotel. I hope you like.

Enjoy the sunshine... Jonny

P.S - Went to the Sony Central store yesterday 40" S Series 'Award Winning' BRAVIA TV was a UK pound equivalent of £1,200. The V series also has HD Tuner and S Master(tm) amplification. Those Melbun people sure are lucky with features and pricing like that.

Greetings From The Rock

_MG_6375, originally uploaded by jonny_w.

I can confirm that even in Uluru the value of the ubiquitous broadband era can be felt. I however resisted the urge to upload images from the "The Rock" and am doing so from sunny Melbourne this morning.

Lyns and I are rather exhausted as we have been doing quite a lot of trecking around both Uluru and Kata Tjuta over the past few days. The shot you see here was taken around 6.00am but our day started with an early rise at 4.30am.

Uluru was formed around 700 million years ago in an inland sea and forced up to a height of 348m, in fact just like an iceberg two thirds of it are still underground. Kata Tjuta 31 miles away is slightly higher at 558m with both sites being around 500m above sea level.

We learnt about the Anangu and some of the ancient stories of Uluru. Having spent two days here you can udesrtand why so many people visit. I hope you enjoy some of the images I have uploaded to Flickr as well.

Now I have been spiritually clensed I'm off shopping because everything I brought with me is covered in red dust..

Jonny and Lyns

Leaving Sydney For Uluru

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last 48 hrs. Lyns and I have been busy seeing the sights of Sydney.

Well since my last post we've both had little burst of jet lag. Mine after I delivered on my promise of 'National Walk To A Bar Day'.

Yesterday we had one of those days when everything goes wrong. We ended up making a 45 minute walk last about two hours! Our long route to Wollomooloo Wharf involved taking in the sites of the Kings Cross district after what looked like a heavy Friday night. I was most scared by the girl walking down the middle of the road 'eyes wide awake look' threatening on coming vehicles with a carton of milk. The day all turned out OK and we had some great sushi last night in a bar called Establishment on George St. Well worth a try if your ever in Sydney.

The alarm went at 5.30am this morning and I write to you from Sydney's domestic terminal. Lyns and I now have a 3 hrs 30 mins flight up to Uluru (Ayers Rock) which we're both really looking forward to. I'm not quite sure whether 'the rock' is broadband enabled yet so the next post might be from Melbourne.

Promise to get some pictures uploaded soon to as well.

Second Day In Sydney

Yesterday was hot! 27 Degrees and wall to wall blue sky. To make the most of the sunshine we went to Taronga Zoo. You can catch the ferry from Circular Key which must be one of the nicest ways to arrive at any sort of the Zoo in the world. We spent most of the day at the zoo which has been undergoing a multi-million dollar refurbishment programme and is celebrationg it's 90th year of operation this year.

Last night we caught up with an old friend we worked with in the UK. Great to see him and his family but can't really understand why he came back to live in Aus, I mean who needs a stunning view over a National Park and pool in the back garden.

When we got back to the hotel we went up to the bar on the 36th floor. Stunning views over Sydney and the harbour. If their are any DJ's reading this get yourself to Aus as their must be plenty of jobs. The DJ in the bar must have been wearing gloves. There is also two conferences going on in the hotel, one mostly male and one mostly female, considerable cocktail fueled fun was going on..... in some ways it was like watching the chimps in the Zoo.

Today Lyns and I have woken on a day with slightly more clouds and the chance of rain. I'm sure anyone who I know in the UK will think that's much fairer on me than '27 degrees and wall to wall blue sky'. We're off for some breakfast now at a little place we spied yesterday so I'll sign off.

Hope to upload some pictures later.

Regards Jonny

Hello From Australia

After 23Hrs of travel we're here safely. We arrived at a quiet Sydney airport at about 8.30pm last night.

We had arranged to get a car from the airport to the hotel before we set off and sure enough a nice lady was waiting for us.

Imagine my surprise when she leads us to a brand new Silver S Class Mercedes. In fact it smelt new and she was pleased to tell us we were only the second people to have travelled in it with her.

Turns out she is Russian and came over to Sydney 11 years ago with her dad who had built roads all over Russia including some in Kakistan. Anway she came over with all the family and now their running a nice family business in Sydney, her brothers are mostly involved though.

I hope the businessman gets his car back in time to go to work today. Talking of work it's 'National Walk To Work Day' here tomorrow. As I am on holiday I have committed to Lyns I'll get involved in 'National Walk To A Bar Day', I'll let you know how I get on.

Two pictures today. The one at the top of the page which is the view from our hotel window this morning and one of me looking 'rather tired' at Hong King airport.

Regards Jonny and Lyns

Arrived in Hong Kong

Just arrived in Hong Kong.

Quick look round the shops and managed not to by a watch and Lyns has resisted buying any more handbags or shoes (She has brought quite a few).

No pictures unfortunately due to time. Probably be arrested though, can't say more, just refer you to the case of China v Google and you can figure the rest out.

I'll send a picture from Sydney probably will be a nice cold beer or a bloody mary.

No BRAVIA's at airport duty free just iPods and Sony Ericsson Walkman phones!!!!! How can you watch telly on an MP3 player makes no sense....

Jonny

Sydney from Taronga Zoo

Sydney from Taronga Zoo, originally uploaded by jonny_w.

Hey,

1 am and just finished packing. Despite a 12.20pm flight the airport beckons at 8.00am. So either in the bar early or three hours of check in hell.

Maybe a post from the Heathrow but probably from Hong Kong. Anyway Lyns is long to bed and I have some last minute emails to send first thing tomorrow. I thought I'd leave you with one of my most viewed pictures on Flickr. Sydney 'the bridge' and 'opera house' from a Zoo on the other side of the bay. Taronga Zoo is a cool place to get over the jet lag and it's been undergoing a huge refurb so we're looking forward to going back. Plus great if rather different views of Sydney.

Regards

Jonny