4WD/camping at Ganami/Wonga creek

Hi all,

Here are some pics from a recent camping trip Sim and I went on with a few mates. We headed to a place called Ganami or Wonga Creek about an hour and a half to the South of Nhulunbuy. Ganami runs into Port Bradshaw, a beautiful spot on the coast. As such it is well known for crocs.. next time we head out this way we will head to Gapuru (Memorial) which is further upstream and therefore apparently has less chance of crocs. While Sim and I have had a few dips, we remain ever vigilant at checking and rechecking, only swimming in shallow, crystal clear waters where an approaching predator can be easily spotted. The locals are far more relaxed and comparatively we are highly cautious, we get the feeling they think we are over cautious.


Our camp site at Wonga Creek was an awesome spot to sleep under the stars in the (sandfly proof) swag for the first time. Unfortunately we had to put up the tarp as dark clouds threatened rain..

Creekside close enough to the campsite. Sim and I saw our first croc in the wild here, a metre long baby saltwater. We kept our eyes well and truly peeled but thankfully we didn't see his mum anywhere!

Great little spot a top a cliff edge over looking Wonga Creek downstream from the campsite. Attempted some fishing here but lost interest quickly after no immediate success...

This mud bath was a bit of fun on the way in, about 20 metres into it the car started to lose power and slow down, but thankfully we hit some more solid ground and the car pulled us steadily out. I am slowly growing in confidence at just how well this 3.5 tonne beast performs in all terrains.

Coming out the other side unscathed, thank goodness!

Em's first river crossing!

Was fun maneouvering up this little incline. Almost lost the left wheel into the ditch....

This was a tight squeeze between the trees on the other side (many of which were scarred with the markings of numerous bullbars before us) and the ditch.

News bites from Nhulunbuy

We have been very lax over the past few weeks, so here are a few headlines from Nhulunbuy since we last posted....

• Sim goes to Brisvegas to pick up our new car – a 1994 Toyota Landcruiser
  
• Sim and Dad travel from Brisvegas to Nhulunbuy

• Em takes a trip to Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island for three days
  


• Sim starts a new job – with Marngarr CDEP (Community Development Employment Projects)
  
• Em and Sim moved out of the little unit into a tiny room in the hospital quarters
  
• Plus... on the weekend we headed out to Bawaka, a beautiful homeland right next to the beach, about 100kms from town. The trip itself was a second option really, after the boat trip we planned fell through due to mechanical issues... The car handled the sand really well, once we had the tyres down to 15psi of course! We spent the afternoon swimming in the shallows (big croc area so can't go deeper), and looking for mud crabs to spear. We ran into some local indigenous guys - who were more than happy to pose for a shot (around 15 in the troopie!).

Check out the posts below for a little more detail and more photos on any of the above...

The new car....

We have hooked ourselves up with a 4wd from a Brisbane car dealer – a mate of Dad’s so we got it wholesale (at the trade in price). It’s a 1994 Toyota Landcruiser, a 6 seater. It’s done about 450,000kms but it’s a diesel engine so apparently they can go up to over 1M kms or so we hear.

I flew down from Nhulunbuy to Bris via Cairns (where I spent a happy few hours acquainting myself with the lagoon by the esplanade, a good coffee and the newspaper – perfect!). Brisbane put on a massive welcome for me – I got caught in an absolute downpour which was great for my Nhulunbuy uniform of thai pants, t-shirt and thongs. Over the week that followed, I spent almost equal time between my Dad’s place on Bribie Island, and my cousin Ben’s place in Zillmere...

I helped Dad build a new roof for his shack, and organised the transfer stuff for the car, which was horrendously complicated for reasons I cannot even bring myself to write about now. There were some light patches in the week though – I went out for some great food (Italian and Persian) with Ben and Amanda (his GF), and went shopping for camping and other essentials (a stovetop coffee maker, a Sherrin football, and star anise to name but a few). Anyway, by the end of that week, the car was ready to go on first its big test – the 4,000 km drive to Nhulunbuy.

Sim and Dad travel from Brisvegas to Nhulunbuy

The big drive went relatively well, bar a few major hurdles, including (a) not being able to turn the immobiliser off in the car, and having to wait 5hrs in Toowoomba on the first day for an auto-elec to fix the problem; (b) having to sleep in the car overnight when all the motels around Longreach had no vacancies, and (c) Dad leaving his medication in Brisbane and us having to bugger around in Tennant Creek waiting for it to arrive by Express Post.

I still haven’t really gotten over the tediousness of driving long stints on such flat and straight roads. Don’t let anyone romanticise about travelling long distances in the outback – its hot, tiring and very dry and there is nothing better than a cold shower at the end of the day.

The track into here from Mataranka (on the Stuart Hwy) is about 700kms long, and its a long red dirt road for the most part, a combination of hard corrugations, sandy bits, and much welcome (albeit short) patches of bitumen. Dad and I drove in Thursday arvo at around 4 and ended up sleeping in the car that night under the most beautiful and brightest stars I’ve ever seen – the milky way is so easy to see out here without the city glow.

I had heard a few stories about people rolling their cars on the track, but it wasn’t too bad after the wet season when the graders have just been in, and the biggest challenge is how long it is – and how long it feels. Arriving back home was so good – the dust on the road had permeated the whole car, our clothes and bodies. It took me a long shower with two shampoos to get rid of it all – crazy.

Dad spent the weekend up here – we treated him to a barbeque at the surf club of course, and took a drive out to little bondi beach for a lazy arvo. We hit the footy for the last half of the game, and had a cook up on the beach while watching the sun go down at Wirrwawuy, our local beach. Awesome times. Sad to see him go on the Monday morning, but it was a big treat to have him here and show him around. Fingers crossed he comes up again.

The footy at Yirrkala - Dhjarrak vs. Gopu (the two top sides) - Dhjarrak Buddy takes a big mark.

Dad taking in the footy on the roof of the landie. Our set up at Little Bondi - a nice half day spent swimming, reading and relaxing

Preparing our tucker for the barbie on the beach

Em takes a trip to Groote Eylandt

I (Em) had my first overnight trip out to Bickerton Island and Groote Eylandt (to the south east) recently. My workmates and I saw people from five different communities, one of which was a mining town, the others were indigenous. The people are lovely and I have really enjoyed getting to know the locals, they are shy and friendly, and have many different and interesting stories to tell. Despite my not speaking their languages nor knowing their culture, I seem to have been able to communicate ok and work as a physio.

I will always remember one fellow I met after being directed through a community (a cluster of seven houses), down the road to the beach, and walking a few hundred metres along the beach to where he was camping with his three wives (yes, this is appropriate in Yolgnu law!) and children. It was the most memorable place to do a physio assessment; crystal clear blue water and white sands! This man was happy to see a physio as he had been walking around (with help) with a ruptured patella tendon.

The flight (another seven seater propeller plane) saw amazingly beautiful scenery as the flight path took us directly over the coast line south of Nhulunbuy to the islands. People pay big bucks to do this as a joy flight so I feel really privileged to get the opportunity to fly for work. I still have another three or four trips while I am here so plenty more flying to be done!

Sim gets a new job with Marngarr CDEP

A little while back I mentioned on this blog that I had met a guy at a buffalo barbeque here - and hit him up for some contacts in the public service for a job. Turns out he is the new general manager of the Marngarr CDEP program - and that he needs a right hand person to help set things up in the early stages... So now I have a job! Formally, I am the Community Development and Employment officer (we made up the title today).

Marngarr has the Gumatj Association as its parent company,and is based in Gunyungara, about 12 kms from Nhulubuy. Gumatj is a local clan up here, quite a powerful one due to tribal hierarchies and a major recipient of mine royalties. The Gumatj leader is Galarrwuy Yunupingu, who incidently wrote an article in the Australian two weekends ago about economic participation for the Yolgnu people and the work that the community is doing in setting up a self sustaining timber mill and cattle station. I don’t know enough about the politics up here, but as a newcomer it seems a good thing to support as it will help the Yolgnu live the way they want to, and will provide resources for the community and real job choices.

Anyway, its nearly the end of my first week, and the 7am mornings have been difficult to adjust to! But I have met some great people and the program is slowly getting on its feet. The past few days have been all about paperwork and ticking federal government boxes. Its a great experience for me, esp. coming from a central agency where I am so far away from how things work on the ground... The thing I keep thinking about is how the timing is fairly ridiculous if the government wants to get quality outcomes happening. To get some substantial change out here will be a generational thing at the very least – the closing the gap targets are pretty ambitious if its based on the current population - even the older Yolgnu are saying so.

I do get out of the office though, and on Tuesday we drove two hours to Birany Birany (pronounced Bran Bran) to meet some program participants there... While the paperwork was being done, we played with the kids and took some great photos... One girl had a go on the camera and took some brilliant shots. I am hoping to spend some more time with them as the weeks go past and can’t wait to go to the Garma Festival in a couple of weeks with the team.

Em and Sim move out of little unit into hospital quarters

Shafted? Absolutely. We have had to make way for another longer term physio placement up here and move out of our comfortable unit.. into a motel-like room (two and a half star) in the quarters.

The worst part is that we can’t open the windows to get fresh air – its all about the air conditioning (or so they say) so the windows are screwed shut! Am sure this contravenes some tenancy laws somewhere but we only have a few weeks here. The up side is that we have a few mates just across the hallway so it makes hooking up for drinks and sport a lot easier.

Some more pics

Mark in the square... he goals! Some locals we had a kick around with...

More pics from our first weekend - the roads around turtle beach

Swimming at turtle beach... looks nice but the next day a small croc was sighted 30 mts from the sand.

James, Sim and Em

Heading back to Nhulunbuy on the red dusty roads

the last few days...

Things up here are pretty good – the weather is a steady 29-30°C each day and the nights are a beautiful 24. When it gets down to 28°C it feels positively cool!
We have met a few people here and managed to get a couple of invites out to social events at night – last Friday night we went to the surf life saving club. The Club are set up right on the beach (with a fence around) and every Friday they have a massive barbie, with a bar and everything. You grab a table and chairs, and set up anywhere on the lawn, and have a yarn over a few drinks and a burger while the sun sets. Pretty nice.

At about 11 or so, the gang decided to head to the Walkabout Tavern or the ‘animal bar’ as it is locally known. Its a pretty gross bar in the centre of town that hires hookers to come out from Darwin and Brisbane for a weekend – they serve behind the bar and once the beer jugs are filled with cash, they do a little topless action. Don’t get too excited anyone – they were feral, as were some of the patrons! Our group was attracting a little too much attention from some drunk old white folks so Em and I piked without regret. The Walkabout does have a nice lounge bar near its accommodation section complete with a pool, which is a much nicer way to spend an hour or so.

On Saturday, Em and I hired a 2wd hilux and headed out to Turtle Beach again – stopping at Yirrkala on the way to meet up with some people and watch the AFL. It was great fun - we had a kick with the local kids, and took a few marks from several missed shots at goal. The indigenous guys up here are so fast – that’s the biggest thing I noticed anyway. To my chagrin, the local hawks (Djarrak) team lost!

On Monday night, we went around to Dan the Doctor’s house for a birthday get together – he was cooking up a massive fillet of buffalo that he had hunted out at the Raminginning community (W of here) with a mate of ours, James. There were also couple of Yolgnu families there, and it was great to have a chat with them too – I learnt some Indonesian in exchange for a bit of Italian! The kids were very cute and told me about some local hip hop I need to check out. After talking with them for a while, we have decided we are definitely heading to the Garma Festival while we are up here at the beginning of August – its a five day cultural festival, music, dancing, food, camping etc.

With luck by this time next week we will have wheels (4wd ones!) so we can head out into the country again.

some pics for the text-phobic

some shots of em's first trip (today) out to a remote arnhem land community - Gangan.

Here is our little unit from the outside (bushes on the left are where the toadies hang out).

Inside...

This is our street...


And the bike path we take from the town centre every day (about three trips a day)
Here's the town square. Surrounding this is the Arafura Times office, a butchers, a bric a brac shop, quantas, westpac, Australia Post, and Woolies.
Here's the town square from the south side... Pizza shop, Em's work, Local MP office and Woolies of course.

Em outside her office (which is up the stairs)

Life so far in the Top End....

Darwin

We arrived in Darwin very late on Friday night (2am!)... It seems that most flights into the city get in really late, which (anecdotally) is because the Army or Airforce use the runways during the day.

Anyway, we ventured out of the airport into a beautiful 24 deg night, sorted out the shuttle bus to our hotel (with two bikes, two bags, a laptop and a backpack, we certainly were a hit with the driver!). Looking around at our fellow passengers, its funny but I kind of felt like we were hanging out with some real aussies – you know, tougher and harder working the land sorts. The weather also makes me feel like its more raw up here – like you have to strip off all of the accoutrements of Melbourne and get down to the basics again.

We hit the sack straightaway, as the last week in Melbourne had really drained both of us with all the organising, packing, working and going away events.

The following morning we ventured out into the main street of Darwin – Mitchell St – for breakie. Darwin is a strange sort of town to start with – its like the main street of any town, like Frankston for instance ;), but with heaps of hostels and hotels, and more pubs. Its got country folk with tans up to their shorts line, aboriginal people looking quite skinny compared to the whiteys, townies, and heaps of young european tourists.

There was one terribly ironic view we got on the main street – diagonally across from the territory housing office there was a massive public housing block that had been rubbished, with fences broken. But they do seem to be quite particular about their hours of work... which are common in the NT - Em has them too.

Its probably a good time to come up here as I think we have been way too spoilt in the south – in the culinary arts in particular – as evidenced by my horror when the poached eggs I ordered came out on tip top white bread.

We then hit the shops for a few hours to get all the summer gear we needed while in the top end. Its the strangest thing, but all of the stores here have the same winter stock (woollen jumpers, overcoats, woollen skirts and pants, skivvies) as in Melbourne, where it is 10 degrees and raining... I don’t know who is running the chain stores these days but they certainly could use a bit of common sense.

We had hoped to hire a car on the Sunday to drive down to Litchfield NP for a look see, but hadn’t taken into account the effect of the start of the dry season – the height of tourist time in the NT. So we put that aside for another day, and pottered around the hotel pool instead, with a slight detour by the pub to watch a dismal Hawthorn loss to the Crows.

Later that day though, we headed out to the famous Mindel Market, an awesome set up right next to the beach – complete with food stalls, hippy clothes for sale, and amazing live music (from jazz, to electronic didgeridoo and bongos). Very relaxing and a great source of some more summer gear.

On Monday Em headed out to attend a number of meetings with NT Health people and services, who she will have contact with while working in East Arnhem land. I did some more shopping.... yes there is a pattern emerging.

Nhulunbuy – Getting there and getting sorted

At 5.45pm we boarded the plane to Nhulunbuy – a 30 seater propeller driven thing... which makes a very loud sound as it flies along. We even got in flight service which was nice. We saw some amazing scenery from the plane, but once the sun had set it was pitch black until the lights of the runway showed up about 1hr 20 from takeoff. This was our plane...

It was much cooler than Darwin when we got out of the plane in Nhulunbuy – about 20 degs. We were picked up in a troopy by Craig, Em’s manager from the Aged and Disability Program. We got dropped off at our little unit – complete with a lounge, stocked up kitchen, laundry, bedroom and ensuite, not to mention a backyard to boot! Its got ceiling fans in every room, and an airconditioner in the lounge and bedroom which is nice to put on for a few minutes to take the edge off before bed.

I was the first into the unit, and was met by some of its lingering inhabitants (read - cockroaches) for a few seconds until Em quickly dispatched them. The cane toads out the front aren’t exactly my best friends, but we are moving closer to speaking terms as the days go on. Craig had sorted us out with some dinner and basic supplies in the fridge, and Em’s colleague Hillary had also dropped off some tea, sugar and muffins as a welcome as well – really thoughtful after the trip and newness of it all.

We have only been here a week but the people we have met so far have been incredibly welcoming and friendly. Its nice to get a hello from most people you walk past, and have a chat to people in the shops. Craig picked us both up on Tuesday morning, and took us to get our alcohol permits, tenancy forms signed, and Dhimurru permits for travelling outside of the leased town of Nhulunbuy into Yolgnu (the local Indigenous community) lands. I was also introduced to all of Em’s workmates, which was really nice.

We also stopped in at the local IGA because ‘market day’ was on – every Tuesday the barge from Darwin arrives with all the food and supplies for the town so the stores are on sale to get rid of it while it looks fresh and tastes good. Prices are halved, which brings them to the equivalent of Darwin prices – in general the basics are quite expensive here and anything more than that can be prohibitively so. Anyway, we stocked up with an entire box of fruit and veg including watermelon, bananas and pineapple. I love the summer fruit!!!!

Nhulunbuy – first impressions

I keep describing Nhulunbuy as a 1970's rural Vic town (like an outer suburb of Shepparton) that has been picked up and transported to remote Australia. So, as we ride around town on our bikes, shop in Woolies, swim laps in the olympic sized pool and play tennis at night under lights, we can't help but feel that while this is vastly different to the home we know and love in Melbourne, it isn’t really reflective of the broader region.

We haven’t really had much interaction with the Yolgnu people, save for Em getting herself invited onto the court of a kids beach volleyball match at the pool. There are many Yolgnu people in the town square, which is amazing for us given how isolated from indigenous people we are in Victoria. Hopefully we will learn a few Yolgnu words while we are here so that we can talk to people in their own language rather than rely on English all the time. It could be harder than Italian though!

The weather up here takes some getting used to – its around 30deg each day. The heat around 2pm is oppressive but we are adjusting and the night-times are magical. We have stocked up on cold water in the fridge, and I have been known at times to stick my head in the freezer or run outside in the neighbour’s sprinklers when things really hot up.

Adventuring

This weekend we went camping overnight with a couple of medical students (James and Dayton) that Em met at the hospital. They had access to a 4WD so we were able to drive roughly 25km south to a place called Numuy (Turtle Beach).

The water was pristine and beautiful to swim... and of course there are salt water crocodiles... We ended up at a beach nearby - Little Bondi - where we felt a little safer going in as the local surf life saving club (!) was out patrolling for crocs in a rubber dinghy, about 50 little nippers and their parents in the water, people snorkeling, spear fishing and throwing around the tennis ball...almost like port phillip bay, but a little more dangerous! This is Little Bondi from the bluff (pic courtesy of google images). Imagine about 50 more 4wds on the beach, and a red and yellow lifesaving tent near the far end of the beach, complete with flags.

Of course we have left our camera in Melbourne (most of these pics are from my mobs) but James has taken some great shots and we will post them shortly. We are hoping to head out to Cape Arnhem this weekend by jumping on to yet another pre-organised camping trip. Its supposed to be amazing... very wild with beautiful beaches. Although I may be a little more circumspect about the swimming without any locals or surf club patrols around!

We have been inspired to look around for our own 4wd soon so we can take full advantage of the local area, and of course to do a bit of a trek across to Broome after Em finishes work if we can wrangle it.

Lazy days – for now

At this stage, Em is pretty busy getting set up and aquainted with the way things work up here - both at the hospital and on the community outreach side of things. While Em works, my day consists of a little reading before getting up, a slow breakfast, some internet time, and some more reading. Then Em gets home for lunch. After that, I head out to the pool for some swimming and poolside reading... this is the view from my towel!
Em meets me after work and we do a few laps of the pool for exercise... then head back home for dinner, or to the courts for a hit of tennis. So far I have read three books:
- Excellent Cadavers by Alexander Stille
- Royal Exile by Fiona MacIntosh
- The Godfather by Mario Puzo
And am halfway through The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. Will shortly post a little review on each as requested by my lovely SPB colleagues. Speaking of work, I am keeping an eye on The Age, and saw that the successful tenderers for the Carlton Redevelopment have been announced. Finalmente! I hope its all going well at DPC.

I have recently applied for a policy officer job with the Community Stores program, a part of the NT intervention that relates to the provision of healthy food in remote locations for the indigenous population, who are on income quarantining. The good thing about it is that it is supposed to be based in Darwin, but the director has let me know that an outposting will be fine so I will be travelling around the area a bit as a result. The politics of the intervention (and this part of it) is very new to me, and very varied depending on who you speak to, so I was a little concerned about getting involved - but I have heard some really good reports on the benefits it is having for women and children in particular. I only submitted the application on Friday, so we will see. If that doesn’t work out, I am keen to do something in the broader area so I am not just hanging out in Nhulunbuy the whole time.

If anyone feels like being old fashioned, we are contactable via snail mail c/o the Nhulunbuy post office, Nhulunbuy, N.T., 0881 (apparently may even take weeks unless you post express, however we have not yet tested this theory!). Otherwise, email is good – sgianfrotta@cyberq.net.au or el2burnell@live.com.au

Will write more soon.

Take care,

S and E
xxxxxx

a bit more on nhulunbuy for the stats fans out there...

NB: courtesy of NT Tourism

first dip in the med (this time around anyway)

hi all.
today i moved into my new home for the next 6 days - an apartment in the centre of sorrento... its pretty well fitted out and am just waiting now for my housemate to turn up.
after the move i took the ferry over to capri. as with all popular places, it was teeming with tourists and even though i try to start speaking in italian, they often revert to english anyway. I guess this explains the 33euro lunch i had (and subsequent cheapo dinner).
was successful in asking for the best beach for a swim on the island though and found my way to marina piccolo, my pick of almost the best beach i have swum in in italy, including those from my trip last year. water was magnificent - best way to cool off after a huge walk with the weather in the high twenties.
will post photos when i can.
xx

happy team at hawthorn

hi all.
just arrived in sorrento after a few hours on the train south from Roma, and a very early morning spent in an irish pub with about 100 other aussies watching the MIGHTY HAWKS cane Geelong to be 2008 afl premiers. Ha to all those non believers. Still not sure why I am here and not in Melbourne at a time like this, but it feels good to be a supporter even 10000km away.
anyway, off to the hotel to check in.
arrivederci.
s x

ciao da italia (part ii

hi all,
just a quickie to let you know i am safe and sound in rome.. a bit tired after the huge flight but hey, cant complain...
will try to log on somewhat frequently to let you know how its all going...
today we are searching for sim cards, banks and a place to watch the hawks win the GF!
love to all.
s xxxx

ModularPeople.07 - ModCast

ModularPeople.07 - ModCast

arrivederci italia (but ill be back)!!!

ciao i tutti!

the last few hours roll around, and I can't believe it. A few days ago I was looking forward to seeing family and friends, and hanging out at home without having to worry about where we were to stay that night, but now I'm not so pleased to be heading out!!! How can we leave behind the great food, the beautiful people, the funny police sirens, and so many places yet to be discovered??? Bit of a sad feeling really to be leaving, at least on my side (sim). Em is keen to get started on the next adventure which will be physio placement at Box Hill again.

will def. be back - our visit to italy, and in particular, our last few days in rome, has ignited a desire in me to continue the language, return for a year or so, and try my luck with the work, the traffic and the housing. we will see.

cant wait to see you all - after the hideous flight of course!

love sim and em xxxx

the smart car

ciao i tutti!

so now that we are safely back, its time to come clean about our adventures of the past four days...

yes we took the plunge and hired a car from sorrento, to travel down to puglia (the 'heel' of italy) for a few days. it was an experience that was scary at times, but overall we adapted very well to not only driving on the right, but to the italian style of driving with a few exceptions (i.e. only 110 on the autostrada, instead of 200!). it was a little smart car, a two seater, which as you know is quite narrow, which was good as our first route planned was from sorrento to salerno, via the amalfi coast!!! lets just say it was great fun. em drove most of the way along the narrowest roads to amalfi, with great dexterity and calm. we landed at ravello, a gorgeous town 7kms inland and uphill from amalfi, with great views over the coast and beautiful hills surrounding. we enjoyed lunch at ravello, but chose not to take a walk through the gardens there due to the 5 euro pp entry fee!! sim took the wheel after lunch, and took the rest of the winding roads (which included being stuck behind two of the buses described in the previous post) to salerno, at which point we had our first taste of the italiano autostrada.ù

we motored along nicely until about 8pm, where we decided to rest our heads overnight in Martina Franca, a charming town just north of Taranto, or west of Bari. we ended up having to stay in a deluxe hotel, centrally located in the middle of parklands, within the city centre, because we hadnt booked anywhere and tried to wing it last minute style.

was actually quite amusing as we couldnt find the entry after a few laps around the hotel, at which point, em suggested that sim take a right into a big gate (which em maintains looked like a driveway), which turned out to be the aforementioned town gardens!! we drove in, did a u-ey australian style around the round about which was actually a garden bed, the only reason we made it was cos the car was so tiny!! we completed the turn, only to find ourselves pointing towards a now firmly closed gate, with the guard in front, about to call someone on the mobs. we both leapt out of the car at the same time, trying pitifully to explain in broken italian that we were australians, it was an accident, and we were really looking for the entrance of the hotel ducale. fortunately for us, he was a friendly man, smiled, and let us through, with a few correct directions. later when we parked in the real driveway, he came up and had a joke with us.

that night we headed out close by, and went to a pizzeria called don giovanni, at the start of the old town. just had to mention this as sim had previously sworn off pizza after napoli (ugh!) and this place was fantastic - crispy bases, and fantastic toppings (still italiano style not australiana). apparently they have different schools of pizza makers in italy... crazy but true. they take food v.seriously here we think - nice because we take eating very seriously too! one other interesting thing about italy is that most of the waiters are male, and the cooks female, unlike australia. the waiters are always fantastically helpful, and v.charming.

the next day we tripped past the trulli houses of puglia (see photos to come), we got to see inside an older trulli house made in the 1400's - it was amazing that 6 people fit inside!! apparently 4 sisters slept upstairs, in a space equivalent to a 3 man tent. from here, we hit the adriatic coast, found our place for the night, and then headed to ostuni, the so called white city, a gorgeous hill town with characteristic small cobblestone walkways, about 10 kms off the coast where we enjoyed what had to be one of the top 5 meals in italy so far... all hand made, and so well priced. the owner was great, and ended up telling us about a place he rented out in town that we will probably check out on our eventual return.

day three, we spent a lazy day at the beach, in a beautiful nature reserve. it was fantastic - white sands & crystal clear warmish water. we set up a little shade McGirlver style, and read, swam and ate fresh rolls for lunch!

we packed up around 5 and headed to Matera, our base for the next mornings trip back to sorrento. although we didnt get to spend much time there, it is def. worth a visit and interestingly, was used as the set for Jerusalem in Mel Gibson's the Passion of the Christ, and you can see why - the town was originally comprised of cave like dwellings housing about 15000 people up until the 60's, where the residents were forcibly removed and rehoused nearby by the Govt due to poverty, disease (maleria and other) - basically third world conditions. we walked through the old town and enjoyed a great dinner on a terrace overlooking the Sassi houses, as they are called. a little spooky to walk through late at night as the renovations are still in progress, and many of the cave houses are still empty and open (though most of them are renovated hotels/houses/restaurants etc which are neatly hidden to preserve the look of the old town).

an early morning today then - 6 am start to get the car back in time, and to potentially meet Em's brother Phil who had just arrived in italy last night, although this is now prob not likely. we are planning to finish up here, have a relax down at Marina Grande for a couple of hours, then head to the station to catch the long train to Pizzo (on the calabrian coast - the toe of italy), our destination for the next three nights.

following this, we will head to sicily for a day and a half - the plan so far is to check out the volcano Mt Etna which apparently still has snow on it, Siracusa, site of greek ruins, and possibly taormina. an overnight sleeper train from messina on the 15th will see us back in roma on the 16th for our last few days of adventure!! the time is going too quickly - we are not really focused on it though, as the travel adventure is still v.much in progress.

thanks for all the messages, and hope all is well in melbourne.

love em and sim xxx

sorrento

ciao i tutti!

a bit of time has past since we last wrote - getting more tardy as the time ticks by... sorry to all our fans out there!

just to close on Napoli, while our trip to the Museo didnt eventuate, we did stop by the Catacombs for a personal tour - very interesting but em was hoping to see bones strewn about the place but all of the excavated remains from the tombs had been buried in a nearby cemetary. was still pretty cool though, it had a functioning underground chapel, and we learned that it acted as a bomb shelter, refugee camp, and hospital in WW2 (given that Napoli was a big target cos of its massive port).

the rest of the time in Napoli was spent wandering around the streets, trying out the famous pizza, and negotiating our way around the chaos that is traffic in the city. its totally different to any other city we have seen in italy - by far the dirtiest and craziest. as far as first visit impressions go, it was a must do, however sim was on high alert all the time due to crime, traffic, smog, smokers, (you see the general trend) and so it was a very mentally tiring experience.

it was great then, to board the ferry to sorrento after a couple of days in the big smoke. mt vesuvius looked incredible - it was massive, and cant believe so many people are living just a km away from the peak!! apparently scientists predict that it should erupt every 35 or so years, and given that the last one was in the early 40s, it is well overdue!! we didnt climb it this time, maybe next visit.

sorrento was a breath of fresh air, literally, from napoli. the ferry was definitely the best way to approach given the amazing coastal views. the town itself is quite touristy, and most shop keepers speak excellent english, however we keep trying to practice our italian on them, and find that it often is more appreciated and warmly welcomed.

we spent four nights overall in the town, in which time we visited and explored pompeii (really interesting - massive, so it took up a good 5 hrs and we didnt even see the whole lot!), took a trip (bus there, ferry back) to the amalfi coast, explored sorrento itself, and Marina Grande, where, as some of you might know, sim's nonni was grew up. we even found out that we were staying on the exact site that nonni was born - an olive grove that her parents leased to work the land.

the amalfi coast was amazingly spectacular. em has put it as no.1 above the great ocean road, which must be saying something!! the bus trip down was slightly hairy, narrow roads, steep cliffs, and tiny villages with numerous near misses (millimetres, not feet!!), all seemingly a normal part of the experience. we saw a huge bank up just out of amalfi, with two buses coming each way, blocking the entire road (even the scooters stopped, and thats something!!).

it was great to see Marina Grande, finally, after I (sim) had heard and seen so much of it second hand. we explored the rock pools where nonni would of played, and walked the same streets - it
was a little surreal actually. we also found the school where nonni went, but were too shy to buzz ourselves in on a school day as the friendly old italian man suggested we do after giving us directions. we found a trattoria on marina grande that had been there for 60 years, and enjoyed some of the best fish yet.

that's our sorrento experience, in a nut shell!

napoli

ciao i tutti!

sim and i have made it to naples after a gloriously lazy half day in Ponza eating pasticceria specialities and drinking coffee (yes I have aquired the taste as long as it has two sugars!), and reading in the sun.

we have found a very laid back alternative cool (bordering on pompous)area, somewhat akin to fitzroy - in which we have enjoyed watching the last half of the semi final of the UEFA cup between AC Milan and Manchester United. Unfortunately for me, AC Milan were victorious and have made it through to the final against Liverpool. As usual, I was going for the underdog and given that we are in Italy, and everyone else was going for Milan (inc. Sim), I couldnt possibly throw my support that way as well.

Yesterday Sim and I had a great day exploring the isle of Ponza on a dilapidated old hire scooter that couldnt pass 35kms/hr to save itself. probably a good thing as I was in control with Sim as pillion passenger half the time (nb. in australia you need at least a year's experience before this is allowed, and here I had but two minutes experience as a solo driver). I was going so well - taking the turns like a pro, until we had to do a 180 degree turn - unfortunately we didnt quite make it and ended up driving on the side of the embankment on the left hand side of the road (wrong wrong wrong in Italia!!) I tried to put the brakes on but it was so close to the accelerator that I merely succeeded in accelerating further up the hill. Once we came to a stop, we gracefully slid back down to the level of the road, not without the left hand side of the scooter coated in dirt and grass. Not to worry, we emerged relatively unscathed- ready to take on the next few kms. The views along the road were amazing, and the trip as a whole was completely relaxing and therefore very worthwhile (although recommended in April or May during the week - molto tranquillo!).

tomorrow we are heading to the Museo Archiologica di Napoli and the Catacombs nearby (plus a bit of shopping on the side, and taste testing of the famous Napoli pizza of course!).

Ciao for now! Tanti baci, Em. xx

more photos - for pics 1-3, pls see previous post below

4. eating the pizza in the piazza at bergamo (città alta - the old town), with Matthieu, a cool french guy we met at the Ostello the previous night - who is riding his way across a few countries at the moment.

5. Berliner Dom - as seen on our second day in Berlin as we took a self designed tour around the city on bikes (v.reccomended!!). it is here that we spotted a strange old man whose movements we followed and captured on film as he trekked around the gardens in front of the Dom to about 5 different groups of girls. He proceeded to sit close nearby the group, and after a couple of minutes looking inconspicuous, he would edge closer, and taking what looked like a branch or a back scratcher out of his bag, he would lean in and tickle the nearest bare outstretched limb or back. the subject would often put up with the first, thinking it something else because he would look away and hide the stick, but on the second or third, the subject and friends would invariably move away - often accompanied by much laughter and hilarity - but also overriding wariness. we werent sure if we were watching a candid camera type show or a perverted old man, but we got him on camera anyway. v.amusing, especially as he had come to our attention intially because he had sat too close to us too (but not tried anything after we gave him the death stare for invading our personal space). anyway, the gardens were great to relax in, minus old man.

6. em on the bike in front of Brandenburger Tor- this is a video not sure if it will work though. just need to add here how freezing berlin was compared to the cinque terre - riding without gloves = pain.

7. Sim riding in Tiergarten - witness beanie and covered hands!! this is also a video, however i dont think it will work.

8. Night time riding in Marx-Engels Square.

9. Bundes Liga - Hertha BSC v Dortmund. A missed goal from a corner! the crowd loved it - it was an attempt by Dortmund of course.

10. A memorial to the Berlin Wall. The memorial stones trace the original path of the wall - em and I rode along the section from Checkpoint Charlie to the East Side Gallery, and then along to a watchtower. next to the path in most sections ran a 50 mt wide unused area which appears to be the site of the no-mans land created between the wall on the East side by the DDR.

11. the ride along the east side gallery - the largest remaining section of the wall. tried to get into a cafe as recommended by Sally at work but it was closed!!

12. a graduate in padova - as explained in 2nd last entry, it is a long standing tradtion in padova to cover the graduate in all sorts of crap and make them read a caricature of themselves out in front of the crowd in the piazza whilst drinking copious amounts of liquor that was sticky-taped to their hand.

13. Venezia - v.cute side canals&streets...

14. A picture of the family - from left - Eros, Elisabetta, Simona, Emma, Fabio (missing is Claudio as he was at work).

15. Em coming up the stairs (one of 463) that ran between the two walls of Bruneleschi's Duomo in Firenze.

16. the famous Michelangelo's David. I strategically hid from the guards who constantly yelled out NO PHOTO to score this one and others.

17. Ponza town from the ferry. a great sight for tired eyes. the ferry ride over to ponza from the mainland of lazio saw em and i trying to squeeze in an hour or so of sleep after our sleepless night on Roma Termini Platform One. yes we looked like hobos in our tartan sleeping bag but no we didnt care!!