Melbourne - February 2015

Warning,

this post could contain drug references, nudity, sex references, bad language, dodgy photos, political references, mullets, spandex, rock and roll, and cricket.

Huh, what's he on about? Well I've just got back from my annual indulgence in metal at Soundwave, so I figured that I'd better put that disclaimer up front just in case the post wanders into dangerous territory. I wasn't only in the city for Soundwave however, we also managed to do a walk, chill out a little and catch a show.

Can you spot our hotel?

The weekend started with a stinking hot walk to the station on Friday afternoon, feeling like a bit of a twat walking down with my bushwalking pack on. The weekend was spread out before me, although with the weather promising to be stinking hot all weekend and me planning to spend a lot of it drinking at a metal festival, a festival that the organisers had forgotten to organise public transport for, I could see there was potential for things to go awry. First up though I had to meet Sam at the hotel, we were staying at the Lindrum on Flinders street, before I'd even sweated my way to the station Sam was ringing to tell me she had checked in and was in the room, luckily she had a porter who was carrying all the essentials for the weekend on his back.

Starting of the weekend gently.

Eventually I arrived into the air-conditioned sanctuary that is the foyer of the Lindrum Hotel where Sam was on hand to lead me to our room. First job in the hotel is to spread gear from one end of the room to the other, second job is to crank the air con down as low as it'll go and third job is to shed all my clothes (relax this isn't the sex bit) and try and get my body temperature below melt down point. Once all that was done thoughts turned to food and the nights other activity, The Lion King. Food was sorted by Nando's just down the road from the hotel, although at over $40 for two chicken burgers, two chips and two cokes I think they may have thought that I owned the hotel. After scoffing down dinner we were soon dressed and on the way to the theatre for The Lion King, we saw this show in Sydney years ago and its a visually stunning show, the costumes are spectacular and the music, while not my favourite genre, is note perfect. Every time I go to this type of show I think that we should do it more often but we never seem to, and its another 5 years before our next visit to the theatre, strange. It was a very tired but happy punter that slipped into bed that night close on midnight.

Sam checked out the Mambo exhibition.

Waking up next morning we headed over to my favourite spot in Melbourne, Little Bourke Street and all the out door shops where I managed to pick up a complete set of topo maps for The John Muir Trail, watch this space.... From there it was two minutes to Hardware Lane where the touts competed for our breakfast custom, swayed by the offer of free coffee we settled in to read the papers and watch the passing parade. Melbourne was cranking this weekend, there was talk of 500,000 people being in the CBD over the weekend, apart from Soundwave there was Chinese New Year, White Night, World Cup Cricket, along with the usual exhibitions and markets. Finishing breakfast at 12 we headed back to the room, after a shower and a change of clothes it was time to head our separate ways, yeah I know its hard to believe that Sam didn't want to head out to Soundwave and head bang all afternoon in the baking hot sun, she headed to the Mambo exhibition and then had a quiet night.

Heading to Soundwave, I reckon we could fit another fifty on the bus.

I headed to the Show Grounds buoyed by the news that buses would be leaving from the North Melbourne Station every 5 minutes bound for Soundwave. Unfortunately the message hadn't been passed down the line to the bus drivers and we were left standing in sun for thirty minutes while we waited for our ride. Luckily this gave the punters time to finish of all their alcohol and smoke all their drugs before the bag search at the show grounds. Finally the 50 seat bus arrived and 100 of us piled in for the fifteen minute trip to the show, once again the punters were in a merry mood, maybe because we were being serenaded by a couple of the more well primed punters going through their Slayer repertoire, or maybe it was the alcohol and that sweet smelling smoke? Anyway we all arrived at the show slightly wired and with a few less brain cells, and a new appreciation for Tom Araya, although no one had the heart to tell the blokes serenading us that they had missed Slayer by two years.

Godsmack played during a thunder storm.

Once in the venue I made my way to stage 4 where I'd spend most of my day, well when I wasn't in the bar. First up I caught a band called Killer be Killed a  bit of a cross over between metal and punk and a band which I didn't know much about. Standing in the sun listening to the music and watching the crowd go off in the pit I was pretty content with life, but then again it could of been all the weed that I'd been passively smoking. As the music was building on stage so was the heat off it, by the time Godsmack came on something was gonna give, and it did. Godsmack were about halfway through their set when the power went out, everybody stood there looking at each other as the thunder crashed above and the lightning flashed. I'm not sure the bloke stuck one hundred metres in the air on the carnival ride that resembled a lightning rod was too happy to be hanging up there in an electrical storm however, with no music on stage the Godsmack crowd turned and watched to see if he'd get BBQ'd. After about five minutes the power came back on and it was back to business, Godsmack finished off their set and I headed to the bar for awhile to get out of the sun.

The powers gone off at the Godsmack show due to lightning. The punters turned their attention to the poor bastard stuck 100metres in the air on what was now a large lightning rod.

I caught a bit of Exodus, before Priest. 

There was no shortage of mullets in the crowd for the Judas Priest show.

Plenty of leather too, just what you need when the temperature is pushing into the high thirties.

Next up was Judas Priest, and while it had cooled a bit I was interested how Priest would go with all their leather gear on. Judas Priest, along with Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden was the band that got me into metal way back in the day, and this was to be the first time I'd actually seen them live. As show time grew nearer the number of mullets in the crowd multiplied, along with the number of old blokes who should know better, like myself. Judas Priest came on and put on a great show, playing a couple of new songs along with a stack of stuff from their back catalogue, including Breaking the Law, and Turbo. The photos from Soundwave are crap as they are taken on my phone but at least I had a go, its not that easy with no zoom to speak of and trying to dodge the constant spray of water that was trying to keep the punters from passing out in the heat. After Priest I spent a while checking out a few other bands, the stalls, and the punters, some of who spend a bit of effort dressing for the occasion, although one favourite in the crowd was the 'Fuck Tony Abbott' tee shirt, I don't think they were thinking romance though! After checking out the Sea Shepard stall it was time to head back to the city and catch up with Sam, dodging the White Night crowds I ordered room service, washed the days accumulated grime off and slipped into bed, my body telling me that I'm getting to old for this but my head already looking forward to tomorrow.

Judas Priest.

Judas Priest, still going strong after 40 years.

Waking on Sunday to the news that we were heading for a forecast top of 36 with high humidity I figure that we could just have breakfast in the hotel. For anyone who contemplating staying at the Hotel Lindrum and having breakfast there my advice would be don't, its overpriced and underwhelming and there are lots of better options around Melbourne in my opinion. After breakfast we had to check out, but with me not having to get to Soundwave until early afternoon we thought that we would do a city walk. We decided to head off on a walk called Birrarung Marr and Melbourne's sporting icons, a five kilometre ramble around Melbourne's sporting precinct and a walk though Federation Square and Birrarung Marr. From the hotel we headed along the William Barak Bridge to the MCG, it was just after 11 am but there was already a lot of Indian cricket fans around even though the game wouldn't start until after 2pm. The Indian Cricket fan has to be the most dedicated sporting fan in the world, and there was 90,000 expected at the MCG today for the match against South Africa. Walking around the 'G' I got a photo's of statues of Australia's great fast bowler Dennis Lillee and Australia's great sexter Shane Warne(apparently he could bowl a bit too).

Going for a bit of a walk on Sunday we headed around the MCG.

Rod Laver Arena from the William Barak Bridge.

Legendary fast bowler.

Legendary fast sexter, he could bowl a bit too.

The 'swarmi army' was gathering early. Indian fans are super keen, this was about three hours before the match was to start.

Leaving the MCG to our Indian mates for the day we headed across towards the Yarra River passing a multitude of different sporting arena's including the relatively new AAMI Park, the rectangular 'bubble stadium' that's home to The Storm and The Rebels among others. From there we walked along beside the Yarra River back towards the CBD passing the swimming centre from the 1956 Olympics, I'd spent some of my childhood swimming here when I used to swim competitively, now days its The Lexus Centre, owned by the Collingwood Football Club. Crossing the Yarra at Swan Street Bridge we walked the last section into the CBD past all the private school rowing clubs, although most of them must have been at White Night last night as it was very quiet this morning. Crossing back over the Yarra River on the Princess Bridge we were now in Federation Square, the cricket fans were now out in force with the Indian's out numbering the South Africans about two hundred to one. Promenading along Princess Walk we were soon back at our start point, returning to the hotel I grabbed the pack and pulled on my boots, walking with Sam down to Flinders Street station we went our separate ways, Sam home and me to day two at Soundwave.

Hisense Arena, home of the Melbourne Vixons netball team.

AAMI Park, home of The Storm and The Rebels.

The Glasshouse is the old swimming pool from the 1956 Olympics.

A bit of friendly banter between the Indian fans and the South Africans at Federation Square.

Princess Walk Vaults.

Hey hey there was even a little nature on the walk.

Art Play at Birrarang Marr.

Looking back towards the CBD from Birrarang Marr.

The buses were more frequent at North Melbourne today and I was soon at the venue, first up today I checked out Hollywood Undead, although that was more due to them being visible from the bar than me having any great affinity with them, that said I thought they were pretty good, although it was in the high thirties and I was drinking cold beer so most things were looking pretty good! After that I went and checked out Emily's Army a surf rock punk thing that if they last we might hear more of in the future, they were playing on stage 3 which was an asphalt carpark and it was baking hot, not much to do now but head back to the bar. I caught the end of Gerard Way from the bar, with the old lead singer from My Chemical Romance fronting them, and a tirade about Fox news in the set they couldn't be all bad!

Kicking back in the bar near the main stages.

Emily's Army.

It was now time for Steel Panther, over the years I'd heard great things about Steel Panther but I'd never actually seen them live. Steel Panther are a throw back to the late 80's Sunset Strip scene, they are all hairspray, spandex and make up. They are the self proclaimed sexiest band in the world and if you haven't worked it out yet, their tongues are planted firmly in their cheeks. Surprisingly they can actually play pretty good, especially if power ballads are your thing, but the highlight of the show is the humour, both in the lyrics but also the banter between songs, these guys should play the comedy festival they're fucken hilarious.

Once again on Sunday we had a bit of weather.

Steel Panther.

It was during the Steel Panther show that I was once again reminded that maybe I'm getting a little old for this. As a lot of the girls in the crowd started to take their clothes off and throw their lingerie on stage I remember thinking to myself 'gee that lingerie looks expensive, it's amazing that they can afford to throw it away' yep, I'm officially an old fart! The Steel Panther set consisted of sing along after sing along, with a bit of audience participation by the girls in between songs. After a day and a half listening to a fair bit of harder metal, Steel Panther came at just the right time for me. After the Panther show I wandered around for a bit longer checking out a few more stages before pulling the pin and heading home, once again I'd had a great time at Soundwave although I was happy to hear that next year it'll be back to one day, two days of metal, beer drinking and very hot temperatures had taken it out of this old bloke.

The weather was getting very hot, some people need to shed a few layers!

Steel Panther weren't the heaviest band of the weekend but they sure knew how to work the crowd.

The Dirt.
Ok, where to start? Well The Lion King was a good way to ease into the weekend, I'm not going to post a link as it'll be out of date quickly.
As I mentioned above, Soundwave was great, the bands are many and varied and the crowds are awesome, for a hardcore festival the vibe once your out of the pit is very mellow and friendly.
The walk we did on Sunday morning was out of the book Melbourne's Best Bush, Bay& City Walks by Julie Mundy. It was a five kilometres walk called Birrarang Marr and sporting icons, walk # 4 in the book.
For all the cricket fans out there India outclassed South Africa that night, the MCG was a sea of Indian Blue.
We stayed at The Lindrum on Flinders Street. The hotel is a small boutique style of place, the decor in the lobby was very stylish and the staff were wonderful. We had a superior room and it was nice, although I prefer a window with a bit of a view, we looked out onto a concrete wall about a metre away. The wifi was also having issues so for a lot of our stay we couldn't get on line. The biggest let down though was the breakfast, it was very under whelming and pricey to go with it. All this reeks of the old 'first world problems' but next time I spend $600 for a couple of nights in the city I think I'll try somewhere else.

Sam managed to get a photo of our room before I got there and trashed it.

The Caitlins, South Otago, New Zealand - December 2014

The day after Sam met me in Queenstown we decided that we would go on a bit of a road trip, we headed down to The Caitlins and then back to Queenstown via Invercargill. This was quite a big road trip by New Zealand standards and we would be on the road for over twelve hours, however with three walks thrown in I figured that it would still be an enjoyable day, and besides I'd been walking solidly for three weeks so a day sitting on my bum watching the scenery unfold through the window had a certain appeal.

Kelp and seals, Nugget Point.

So, after throwing in the walking boots we trucked out of Queenstown before 8am in the morning, filling up with fuel at a service station I grabbed my caffeine hit and hit the road. Due to the topography the quickest way to The Caitlins from Queenstown is a bit of a convoluted route, first we headed north, then east, then south. The same topography that makes for a convoluted route also makes for a scenic drive and as I hadn't been through this part of the south island before I enjoyed the journey. We pulled at a nice cafe/ boutique furniture store in a town on highway 8 called Roxburgh where we enjoyed a late breakfast and a bit of a break.

Rock stacks of Nugget Point.

With breakfast out of the way our next stop was Nugget Point in The Caitlins. Parking the car we set of on a two kilometre walk out to the lighthouse. The well benched track traverses some very steep slopes with the ground dropping away almost precipitously to our left, at the bottom of the drop the South Pacific Ocean crashed into the rocks. Adding to the scene were a large number of New Zealand Fur Seals either basking on the rocks or frolicking in the water, which along with the long strands of kelp making beautiful swirling patterns in the water, made for nice photos. I'd warn my special hiking havaiana's on this walk and was enjoying the relaxed pace, unfortunately every time I stopped to get a photo the sandflies enjoyed my ankles, there's always something, hey! Returning to the relative sanctuary of the car we headed off on our next adventure.

Taken from the lookout at Nugget Point.

Today was the day of the seals.

If you squint you may be able to see the seals in the cave.

We now headed down the dirt Cannibal Bay Road to Cannibal Bay. As this walk was around six kilometres on sand I decided to pull on the boots, in hindsight it was a wise decision. We were aiming to walk the length of Cannibal Bay and then over to Surat Bay before returning and that's how it turned out. After hitting Cannibal Bay we headed down the wide firm beach, all the time keeping an eye out for Hooker's Sea Lions and New Zealand Fur Seals that were meant to frequent the beach. Right at the end of the beach we found our first fur seal basking in the sand, she was basically comatosed though and didn't bat an eyelid as we got relatively close to take a photo, she was so still I thought that she may have expired. We now followed an unmarked sandy track across an isthmus for fifteen minutes to Surat Bay.

Sam, striking out along Cannibal Bay.

On the track across the isthmus behind False Islet.

Arriving at Surat Bay we found our route down from the dunes blocked by three sunbaking seals, hmm...  Apprehensively we inched our way past them making sure not to get between them and the water, once past we strolled along another wide sandy beach for another twenty minutes. The scenery was more rural than wilderness, the green paddocks on the surrounding slopes in contrast with the golden grass on the big dunes backing onto the beach, it was still a very nice setting though. With no more seals in sight we decided to turn around and re trace our steps back to the car, on getting back to Cannibal Bay the seal that I feared may of expired had actually moved a bit, I actually got a photo of her smiling at me...we'll maybe it was a snarl!

The wind swept dunes backing onto Surat Bay.

Looking back towards False Islet.

Surat Bay

Check out those teeth.

Getting back to the car it was off with the boots and on to the next attraction, Purakanui Falls. We had a bit of a drive to get there but as it was still only mid afternoon we had plenty of time. Parking at the Purakanui Falls car park I once again pulled on the hiking havaiana's for the two kilometre walk to the falls. Once again we followed a well benched track through podocarp and beech forest stopping at the numerous viewing points. I mucked around with the camera trying to get a decent slow shutter speed shot without a tripod, as usual my ambition outweighed my talent. The falls themselves were very pretty, falling in a perfect series of wedding cake like cascades in the lush forest, with the afternoon sun filtering through the canopy it was a scene I was never going to be able to do justice to.

The well benched track leading down to Purakanui Falls.

A small cascade above the main falls.

Purakanui Falls.

Returning to the car I kicked of the havaiana's and settled in for the long drive back to Queenstown via Invercargill. After stopping at a few lookouts and grabbing something to eat in Invercargill we eventually got back to our accommodation just after 8pm on what had been a very good day. Sam had had an easy introduction to walking in New Zealand to prepare her for the harder stuff to come and I had kept my eye in after three weeks of solid walking.

Long Point.

Tautuku Beach.

The Dirt.
The Caitlins are in the south east of the south island, it was our first visit there and they were very nice. I'd like to head back and book a b+b for a couple of days and explore a little more one day. All up we walked around ten kilometres on the three walks, all the walks are very easy. I used the rudimentary notes in the Bird's Eye Guide, Day Walks In New Zealand, 100 Great Tracks. The trail heads are all signposted.

How about a few more seal pictures.