September 26th, 1999
Got up at 5.00am as the taxi was picking me up to take me to the airport
at 5.30. Managed to be one of the first in the queue at Singapore Airlines check-in. Got checked in and then went back to the house of my friends who I stayed with the night before.
I was a little disappointed about travelling on the 26th as I am a golf nut and Europe were beating USA in the Ryder Cup after 2 days. One of the friends I was staying with is American so I was giving him a bit of a hard time as we watched the second day’s play on TV.
However, when I got the final result on board the plane somewhere over Asia, I was thankful that I had travelled on the 26th because Dave, my American friend, would have been getting his own back big style.
The flight from Manchester, England, to Singapore was uneventful apart from the fantastic food. Singapore Airlines are to be commended for their quality. I have never had airline food like it before. Had a 3 hour wait in Singapore before travelling on to Melbourne.
I have this problem when I am flying that I can’t sleep. I always feel that if I fall asleep then the pilot won’t be able to manage (stupid I know, but it seems to work because I’ve never fallen asleep and I’ve always got to my destination).
I arrived in Melbourne on time and it is the first time that when I’ve got off a plane my luggage has been waiting for me. I got off the plane at 7.00pm and I was in the Youth Hostel by 8.30. I hadn’t slept for God knows how long but it felt like a week. I thought I would have an early night to try and catch up – needless to say my plans didn’t quite work out.
I hardly slept for the first two nights but every time I sat down in a chair during the day I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
I went on a morning tour of Melbourne and was struck by the cleanliness of the city. I got the impression from the driver that Melbournians are very proud of their city and from what I saw of it they should be. There seems to be strict rules about knocking old buildings down. They would rather utilise them, giving them a new use rather than knocking it down and building a monstrosity.
In the afternoon I went on another tour. This time it was to the outlying areas as well as a working farm and an evening visit to Phillip Island. In the afternoon my jet-lag finally caught up with me and the only thing that I saw was the back of my eyelids. Thankfully I managed to wake up for the visit to Phillip Island which I would recommend to anyone.
This is an outcrop of Melbourne where thousands of penguins live. They go into the sea before dawn looking for food and return to their nests as it is going dark. The main part of the tour is sitting on a beach watching the penguins come out of the surf and run to their nests. It was very moving to see something taking place that had been going on for thousands of years and even with the encroachment of man, nothing was going to stop them.
It sent a tingle down my spine when I saw them come out of the surf for the first time. Before we left the coach we were warned that when taking photos we were not to use flash photography as this damaged the eyes of the penguins. When I saw hundreds of people had come to watch the penguins, I thought that maybe there was a chance for the human race to live in harmony with nature. But no sooner had the penguins left the water and the flashes started going off. People are so selfish.
Well, it is off to Adelaide tomorrow along the Great Ocean Road. Looking
forward to that.
Thanks to the people that have e-mailed me at david_barker50@hotmail.com.
Please keep sending messages.
