So, here's a quick summary of our 10 days in Melbourne staying an old house mate Karen, who has been an amazing host, driving us around all the attractions and letting me stay in her spare room.
Sun 4th November
The last day in Hong Kong saw me walking down to the harbour side to witness the noon day gun being fired. This very gun was immortalized in Noel Coward’s song, whose lyrics are:
“Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun”
“In Hong Kong, they strike a gong and fire off a noon day gun, to reprimand each in- mate, who’s in late.”
In a typical fashion, a walk around Kowloon, and a visit to the very good Hong Kong cultural museum meant i was very short on time to get back to the hotel, collect bags and get back to the airport, thus adding Quantas to the growing list of flights I've nearly, but not quite missed.
“Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun”
“In Hong Kong, they strike a gong and fire off a noon day gun, to reprimand each in- mate, who’s in late.”
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| The "Noon-day Gun" |
Mon 5th November
I arrived at Tullamarine airport at 8 am to find Karen and her father, Steve, had kindly crossed the city at the crack of dawn to collect me. Never a better sight after having been stuck with the least desirable seat in pleb class; that of the reduced legroom, heater under the seat in front near the back of the aircraft. I crashed out in Karen's new "unit" - Aussie for a compact bungalow - for a couple of hours before then going out to the Dandenong hills where we completed a maze at the lookout and then walked up 1000 steps path which is dedicated to the Australian troops who fought on the Kokoda trail in Papua New Guinea during WWII.
Tue 6th November
The next day was a national holiday in Australia - Cup Day. We went to a local pub to eat lunch and watch the race. In the headline race, The Melbourne Cup, the horse Karen had placed bets on came in 2nd and she had another placed horse in the next race; drinks on Karen! I didn't win anything :-(
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