The Best Laid Plans…Well, sometimes things just don’t go as planned.
After spending three days in Sydney, mostly in a very nice neighborhood called Double Bay where I spent my time power shopping in the many boutiques, we rented a car and hit the highway. Before we left we made a daring raid on the Saturday market in The Rocks, the home of my favourite silver ring maker.Our plan was to drive to Melbourne along the coast road. After a couple of hours into the trip we realized we were never going to get even close to Melbourne. Driving on the main highway was so boring and we were keen to get off on the back roads, so we did. Our first stop was Kiama, a waterfront town about 120 km south of Sydney, where there was so much to do we stayed for two days. The clincher to our decision to abandon our trip to Melbourne was when we discovered there was a place called Minnamarra where there is the remnants of an old growth temperate rainforest. It is now a park and you can walk through it on a great board walk which winds its way from the ground way up to the forest canopy. The drive from Kiama to this place was also awesome, through a backroad up Saddleback Mountain which has the most amazing views of huge rolling farmland and the coast.
The fresh air was so very welcome. It is a perfect time to visit – it’s spring and mid 20’s C. Totally off-season, so no crowds and great value. From my balcony of our motel, I watched the sun setting over the mountains on one side, rugby players in the field opposite and surfers on the beach beyond. On the hotel television sets, out of about 20 stations, almost half are sports channels and two are rugby stations. The remaining stations suck.
The street this motel is on is called Bong Bong Street, which I thought was very coincidentally appropriate. Bong Bong is the name of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos’s son who is a congressman. (His actual name is Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but is known as Bong Bong). He also happens to be the former tenant of our new condo in Manila.When we checked in, I asked the maid who was cleaning the rooms where I could get some ice. She couldn’t understand what I was saying. Then the penny dropped. “Oh, you mean OYCE!” So when I went into the gas station (the petrol station), I asked the guy for “a bag of oyce” and was immediately understood perfectly! I was laughing so hard on my way back to the car I could barely walk in a straight line. I found out later from our waiter that night that "oyce" is also a word for crystal meth. Maybe it wasn't my accent at all that was the problem. Maybe she was completely gobsmacked by the sight of ME trying to score!
The rest of our time was spent enjoying the cool spring weather, the fresh air, the scenery and the very different wildlife and especially the ability to go for long walks outside - something we can't really do in Manila. We stayed in three different places for a few days in each, before returning to Sydney. Two on the coast and one inland on a river.
Life's a BeachPelicans outside our hotel on Bateman Bay
Wild parrotsCollecting seashells - catch and release
Spring flowers - tons of wisteria, a real treat for me as I adore it and it doesn't grow in our Ottawa climate. (Actually this is a cheat shot - this wisteria is actually located in Victoria B.C., in Cordova Bay, and although the Australian vines were fabulous, this is still the one to beat).
Wild kangaroos at Pebbly Beach (click on the picture below to enlarge to see them feeding). This was so amazing to see them in the wild, where they seem to be as plentiful as our deer - also plentiful as road kill too!
I also found a new drink in Australia. At first, as a dedicated bourbon on the rocks lover, I was quite appalled, but then, oh what the heck. I’ll try anything…and do!
We're back home in Manila now. Our shipment has arrived and tomorrow, after living in hotels for exactly three months, we are moving into our new home in the sky.
3 comments:
Hey traveller - how it stuns me to think that Bong Bong survived the purge. I thought the Marcos's were still under order to return about 20 billion trillion $$$ non?And also that they were generally speaking, personna non grata. And Bong Bong is a congressman? Well I am surprised. Please enlighten me. Barbara
Barbara, you ask great questions - maybe I'll need to write more on a future blog.
The political scene, and the corruption scene, is really really complex. For example, the previous President (Estrada) was ousted for what seems to be blatant mis-behavior and corruption, was convicted a week or so ago, and immediately the current President appears to be offering him a pardon. He has lots of supporters.
The "Facts" of an issue, don't seem to be the driving force, rather it is connections and power and who knows what else. And yes, many Filipinos are absolutely disgusted with all of this, and recognize that it is a huge impediment to their country's progress.
Yes, the Marcos were forced to leave in 1986 (I think), but after Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii, the rest of the family returned.
Lots of people are disgusted with the Marcos dictatorship, but the family still have a lot of friends. Both Bong Bong and his sister Imee were elected to office.
As for the money? Marcos is named as one of the very top of the top ten corrupt leaders. After all these years of the family denying that that those billions even exist and they have any concealed money at all, Bong Bong Marcos is now trying to claim, in court, rights to the family money in a number of companies. The columnists are going nuts with this. Weird and probably worth a longer look at another time. All I can say is we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto, and what would seem to be straightforward is anything but.
In 2004 PBS did a great documentary on Imelda and all that happened. I'm going to send it on DVD to you, it's a hoot. Anyone else interested, please let me know and I'll also mail you a copy. It talks about what happened and also the film maker was clever enough to let Imelda speak in her own words. Fascinating.
I'd like a copy
MDB
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