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South Australia – Where Iced Coffee outsells Coca-Cola

Written by James Clark on July 29, 2009 · 3 Comments

I got the chance to drive to Adelaide for a tourism promotion and I was happy to take up the opportunity. I had never been to South Australia, and it seems that it’s not on the radar of most domestic and international visitors either.

The Mighty South Aussies

The coastal drive from the Victorian border to Adelaide along the Limestone coast is worth the road trip alone. Adelaide is a city with a well conserved Victorian heritage and completely surrounded by parkland.

One thing that has already endeared me to South Australia is Farmers Union Iced Coffee.

Farmers Union Iced Coffee Truck

It’s not that it’s the best iced coffee in the world, though many people in South Oz will tell you that. No I like Farmers Union because around here this drink outsells Coca-Cola. I’m all for a land where a coffee beverage is the most popular drink. Only Irn-Bru in Scotland and Inca Kola in Peru can claim a similar honour.

Australia's big things: The Big Lobster

Written by James Clark on July 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment

No Australian road trip is complete without seeing a big thing.

The Big Lobster in Kingston, South Australia, is one of the most iconic Australian big thing. It stands over 18 metres tall, and has even been featured on a postage stamp.

The Big Lobster – Kingston

Australian wildlife

Written by James Clark on July 27, 2009 · 3 Comments

Following on from being reacquainted with Australian birdlife, I’ve had a good run with seeing Australian Marsupials.

You can drive all over Australia and see “Kangaroos Next 10km” signs and never actually see a kangaroo.

Wildlife and farm animals

Koalas are even harder to spot than kangaroos. I got lucky here as this one was by the side of the road and was stopping traffic.

Koala up a tree

At my campsite in Capte Otway Victoria I had this curious swamp wallaby graze nearby my campervan.

Swamp Wallaby

In Cape Otway I also saw a reminder of what Australia is well known for – dangerous animals. Fortunately snakes are hibernating in the dead of winter.

Beware of snakes

Signs: Drive on left in Australia

Written by James Clark on July 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Drive on left in Australia

Drive on left in Australia sign on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria.

Australian Birdlife

Written by James Clark on July 25, 2009 · 3 Comments

Living in a city I forget how good Australian wildlife is. I’m staying at a friends house near Lorne on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. It’s in the forest so there is plenty of birdlife. You don’t even need to go looking here. Just put a bowl of sunflower seeds outside and you will have instant feathered friends.

Australian King-Parrot

There are plenty of king-parrots here, as well as crimson rosellas and the occasional sulphur-crested cockatoo.

Cockatoo and Crimson Rosella

The king-parrots here have become used enough to humans to be hand fed.

Feeding Australian King-Parrot

Room with a view

Written by James Clark on July 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I’m doing a road trip from Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road. My first port of call is at a friends place near Lorne, about 2 hours west of Melbourne.

The house has a view that is suited to a five-star resort. This is the view from the guest room.

Room with a view

Flight Review: AirAsia X – Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur

Written by James Clark on March 14, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Flight: AirAsiaX D7 2723
Date: 13 March 2009
From: Melbourne (MEL)
To: Kuala Lumpur LCCT (KUL)

AirAsia X is the long haul brand of Malaysian low cost airline AirAsia. They fly from Kuala Lumpur to the Gold Coast, Perth and Melbourne. They also fly to London Stansted, making it the first low cost airline to fly the whole length of the kangaroo route.

I was curious to fly this relatively short sector to see if I could handle flying a whole day to London on a low cost airline. Would the low fares on offer (up to half the price of a full service airline) offset the lack of frills you would usually get on a regular Australia to UK flight.

[MEL - KUL Air Show]

The first thing I noticed when entering the plane was the size of the seats. The seats are noticably slimmer. The cabin of the Airbus A330 is arranged in 3-3-3 format. Qantas, for example, use a 2-4-2 seat configuration on their A330 aircraft. AirAsiaX have a nine seat row compared to an eight seat row. That means each seat had to give up 1/8th of width to accommodate the extra seat. I noticed that lost 1/8th when I sat in the seat.

[AirAsia X seat backs]

As a low cost airline the pricing is a la carte style, so you buy a cheap seat and pay for any extras you fancy. You can pre-order extras when you are booking your ticket or purchase items onboard.

[AirAsia X Water]

Food and beverages are available for sale (there is no free water), as well as blanket and pillow packs and a video entertainment pass. The pass gives you access to the inflight entertainment, consisting of movies, tv shows, music and games.

[AirAsia X Food Prices]

As I was flying to see how cheap I could get the ticket, I ordered none of the optional extras. I bought my ticket when flights to Melbourne first went on sale at headline grabbing prices. The only optional extra I purchased was checked luggage. This was my return ticket breakdown:

Flight
Ticket 78.00 AUD
Surcharges, fees and taxes 320.00 AUD

Sub total 398.00 AUD

Services and Fees
Supersize regular (up to 15kg) 14.00 AUD

Total Amount 412.00 AUD

My total ticket was 412 AUD for two 7.5 hour flights. Normally flights from Melbourne to KL would run at about 1000 AUD, so this was a bargain price.

The flight was overnight and I usually can’t sleep on planes, so it was pretty boring without movies. Other than that the flight was fine. The main thing is I’m now in Southeast Asia with an extra $500 dollars in my pocket from the savings on the flight. This is what I will remember long after I have forgotten the details of the flight.

So would I fly from Melbourne to London with AirAsia X? It depends mainly on the price and on how badly I wanted to go to the UK/Europe. If I was to save $1000 on a ticket then I would probably do it. Long haul flights are generally mind numbingly tedious anyway and I can’t sleep in economy seats (not that I’ve ever flown up the front) but I would buy the entertainment access as it would be too hard without the distractions of watching movies.

If it was only a couple of hundred dollars difference between AirAsia X and a full service airline then I would take the latter.

Hand of Man – Crushing cars at the Big Day Out

Written by James Clark on January 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The Big Day Out is Australia’s premier rock festival. I didn’t think I’d go to another Big Day Out but this year had Neil Young as the headline act.

It was an interesting mix of crowd – from the baby boomer Neil Young fans, the Generation X’ers (myself included) who’ve been attending the BDO since it started in the early 90′s, and the current Gen Y crowd.

As part of this years side show was The Hand Of Man, which has been to all the Australian Big Day Out shows for 2009.

The Hand of Man is a hydraulic mechanical hand that is controlled using an ergonomically accurate glove. The hand responds to the movements of the operators own hand movements and the mechanical hand is big enough to crush a small car.

[The Hand Of Man picking up and crushing a small car.]

[The Hand Of Man mimicking the hand movements of the operators hand.]

Watch the Hand Of Man pick up a car video.

(Language Alert: There is swearing in the background from the band Bullet For My Valentine.)

If you can’t see video watch Hand Of Man

Banksy in Melbourne part III – Banksy Woz Ere

Written by James Clark on January 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Interesting evolution of a piece of street art by Banksy, the famous British graffiti artist. A Banksy in Melbourne has gone from getting a protective cover from the council to being destroyed by vandals.

[Little Diver - January 2008]