Month: May 2009

So the flight was Melbourne was very uneventful, and the airport was totally deserted ! , I can see why it is a hub and the transit lounges were all full of weary travelers.

So after thirty mins we arrive at the Scarlet Hotel, a rather small hotel constructed above a parade of shops in the China town area of sing. Left is a of the hotel

The reception was a rather lush

The uneven corridor to the rooms

The room, small but very well appointed

The Cigar bar in the china town district

Well to be honest, apart form the good food, this is what I was waiting for, this is why I came to Australia …… a drive down one of the most scenic roads along the Ocean (much better than Route 1 in California) in a convertible ….. the scenery was stunning and my photos do not do it justice … well I was taking them at 80km/hr and even with the new Canon G10 they did not come out as I would have liked them.

The houses over looking the ocean were … well some of the best designs I have seen.. Just check out the one below is on its own in the air and that is just one of the rooms the rest of the house was also on stilts

Do they really need to be told this???

….. its sad as this is my last day in Oz, the trip was great, I have met some nice people … had a really good home cooked Sunday lunch… yes I lots a few teeth, but I

Today after a quick visit back to the kind Dr. O’Brian, who seemed to think I was exceptional as I was living in China and running an Olympic Venue, he said it was an honour to meet me and enjoyed our conversations !!!! very humbling, as I just see it as a job. Well I suppose it has not really sunk in, what I do, not even the TV interviews or being on the front page of the news papers. Its a job…. anyway Dr O’Brian after taking 300 Ozzie dollars from me, and telling me I have to visit another dentist with in the next six months, we pointed the car to the Great Ocean Road ….. but we took a wrong turning and where did we end up ………..

Today everything has caught up with me, the travelling , the teeth coming out and now I have a realy bad throat, my glands have come up and so I decided to spend the morning in bed, well actually most of the day. This evening we went to St Kilda, its a suburb of Melbourne (SE) on the sea front and went to Donovans (www.donovanshouse.com.au). The restaurant is set on the beach front, with a deck directly on the beach loooking North you can see the lights of downtown Melbourne. As we were on the coast, one had to start with a Vodka Bloody Mary ( oyster infused) from then on your truely had to have more oysters, and then a rather fine T Bone steak all washed down with a few bottles of the local white wine… and then I ended up on the beach…. The drive home was intresting, in that we took the roof down and then went in search of more food …. on well a very lazy day followed by a very nice meal

So after the drama, with the dentist and missing teeth, we decided to rent a car and head out of the city, to the Yarra Valley and the wine region…. stopping off at a nature reserve to see Koala’s and Roos. The scenery was stunning especially as it was Autumn, with fantastic colours (something I had not seen since Canada a few years ago). Anyway pictures speak louder than words …. so please take a gander …

So this morning out to down town Melbourne and a visit to the dentist at 8am !!!, after walking down the street to have a x ray … the prognosis was …. take them OUT!!!!!! so yours truly ended up minus two teeth. Here I am just after having the surgery ( yes it did hurt, unlike the dentist in Bangkok and Hong Kong).

The rest of the day, I was in some kind of shock and so did not do much……..

Koala Count still nil
Kangeroo count still nil

Today was spent wandering around very quaint boutiques, and rather fine bars. However I broke my tooth … so now have to have an emergency dental appointment !!!!!