Day 2 | Jindabyne to Echuca

On Tuesday morning, we set off from Jindabyne to enjoy Alpine Way. This is the main road that goes through the Snowy Mountains (I think). It is very windy with nice, rolling twists and turns up and down the mountains. As the last of the winds were dying down from the previous day, I still had to battle 70 km/hr winds at the start of the day.

We stopped at Khancoban around 12:30pm for lunch. That's when we realised that it was still another 5 hrs until we reached Echuca.

The rest of the trip was along the Murray Valley Road, which - compared to the freeway - was a more scenic route to Echuca. The road was still quite straight and made for some tedious riding at times. By this time my knees had decided they'd had enough so were stiff and sore to keep in the same position. A couple of short 10 minute stops ensured that the gammy knees could somewhat function by the end of 5 hrs.

Noel and his family warmly welcomed us with a good ol' fashioned BBQ. His wife had made amazing meringues for dessert. They were a self proclaimed madhouse and with 4 out of 6 daughters home for dinner, why wouldn't you be? One of the girls was getting married on the upcoming Saturday, so I felt it was a sisterly bonding session as well.

Below are some photos at Thredbo and along Alpine Way:

Day 1 | Sydney to Jindabyne

The day started at half hour after dawn, with a casual, quiet scramble to get ready for the long trip without waking the neighbours. It was 6:30am by the time we left the house.


Below is a photo of the Trumpy and Duc, bags laden and ready to go!

Odometer reading at the start of the trip below. Sam's bike has had the speedometer replaced, so it looks like he hasn't done much riding at all!

 

 



Filled up at the BP across from Sydney City Motorcycles on Epping Rd. Sam had a moment where he thought he didn't bring his wallet. He'd unpacked both his sidebags and was getting a bit agitated by the time he got to the top box. He eventually found said wallet in his jacket pocket.

Taking the glorious 'back way' through Sydney's west and ingesting fumes from the finest WRXs, we made our way along Homebush Bay Drive, Hume Highway, Silverwater Rd, then the M5. There was a brood of ducks on the Hume Highway and I noticed Sam had braked slightly to avoid them. I had changed lanes to avoid the upcoming danger (I didn't know what it was since there was a Subaru between Sam and I) and witnessed a duck massacre. The Subaru was too close to Sam and had not seen the ducks, nor did he try to avoid them. I saw bits of duck rolling under his car from the next lane. I death stared the Subaru (as best I could with a dark tinted visor) before overtaking him.


I had booked a 9:00am appointment at MJM Custom Motorbikes in Goulburn to have my bike seat modified to accommodate my vertical challenge :) Mick was a great guy who really knew his way around bike seats. When he came out to greet us, he was covered in specks of foam! I sat on the bike so he could assess what needed to be done and were told to come back around 1pm. Mick had recommended going to The Roses Cafe as opposed to the well-known Paragon, so Sam and I went along with his recommendation. A man who was dropping off his blue Harley for seat mods was giving his two cents about cafes in Goulburn and routes to take down to Echuca.

Below is the result:

 



Poached egg on buttered sourdough, fetta, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes and balsamic vinegar

BIG BREAKFAST - enough said

Mick called at 11:45am to inform us that the seat was completed. Apparently it was peak hour when we'd arrived, but it had quietened down and Mick was able to work unimpeded.
He was able to take 42mm in width from the seat! I felt the difference immediately since I could touch the ground easier.

With new seat fitted, Sam and I set off for Jindabyne via Quenbeyan just after midday. It was mainly freeway driving, which is quite long and tedious. It was also extremely windy across every single open plain! At times there were gusts of wind that I struggled to stay upright, let alone lean into. There were many that would push the bike sideways and I'd have to nudge it back to the centreline. I half expected to have one wind just pick up the bike and carry it away. Later when watching the 6pm news, there were 100km/hr winds at Thredbo. I'd imagine that the wind speeds were not far off 100km/hr! The only advantage a car has is the comfort - the driving is still long and tedious.

 

 

On average, we had 10 minute breaks every hour, partly because of my gammy left knee which gets stiff if in one position for too long. While having a lemonade in a town just beyond Quenbeyan, the clouds started rolling in. The weather cycled through patchy rain, bright blinding sun and sun showers for the remainder of the journey. Travelling behind Sam, I could see the cloud shadows gain on him, then eventually envelope him in its grey cloak Upon the final approach to Jindabyne, dark ominous clouds were seen over the mountains and the rays of the sun highlighted sheet of rain in the distance. It was a race against the clouds.  

We arrived to Jindabyne at 4:30pm and checked into Lake Jindabyne Hotel Motel. As the name suggests, the hotel motel is located right on the lake. All safe and sound, I have Tiger Balmed the place out, hoping that that gammy knee will recover for tomorrow.

Final Day + Flight

This will be a short and sweet post.

I was too lazy to wake up early for a river ride to the Royal Palace. Instead I slept in, ate a late and massive breakfast to tide me over for lunch and lazed around in my room until the 12pm checkout.

Upon checkout, I walked upstairs to the business centre on the mezzanine level. I had earlier noticed there was a bookshelf, so I settled in with Kirstie Clements The Vogue Factor.

I was about 20 pages away from completing the book when the lovely reception lady came upstairs to inform me that the taxi for Don Mueang airport was ready.

These reception ladies were great! To make up for the fact I was blatantly scammed on my first night, they arranged for me to share a cab with two Chinese friends (also going to Don Mueang) for no cost.

Check in went well. I was unable to claim the VAT for the watch and shoes as I skipped the step to have the items inspected outside of Customs. Note for anyone wanting to claim VAT - make sure you read the instructions on the back of your VAT claim form.

Disheartened, I snubbed my nose at the tour busloads of Chinese travellers who were raiding the duty free store. Pushing, loud screeching, squatting, scavenging, you name every social etiquette and consideration you can imagine - they were broken by these cheap bargain seagulls. Walking to the gate, I did not need to look at the boarding pass. You could tell which one was the Sydney bound (via Kuala Lumpur) flight due to the amount of foreigners waiting at the gate.

Example of excessive shopping earlier in the trip - but it's ok because the idjits can squat next to their brand new shiny things!

The flight to Kuala Lumpur was uneventful - it was over in 90 minutes. The guy next to me was in such a deep sleep that he was snoring on the plane!

The layover in KL meant that I could eat dinner. The plane had landed at 8:30pm, and what does one eat at 8:30pm? A Medium Quarter Pounder meal, that's what. Malaysian Ringgits make you feel like a king (queen). When exchanged from AUD, you receive so many notes that you don't know what to do with them. I ended going to the Body Shop and buying a Vitamin E packed face moisturiser and rosewater face spray just to finish up the ringgit. I found a secluded Sports Lounge where two Bogans had decided to put their feet up - literally - and had an hour or so of peace and quiet.

At 11:30pm, the predominantly Aussie passengers boarded the plane for the final leg home. Dinner was served at midnight (really Air Asia??), then the lights were turned down for sleeping. I'm definitely not a plane sleeper as I would awaken at every sound and bump. It didn't help that the 'fulli sick' bro behind me was incapable of getting up without pulling on the back of my chair. 

As the sun was starting to rise, I also saw a correlation between the people closest to the sun also rise - with grumbly remarks. A spike in toilet usage was also noted at this time.

The plane touched down in Sydney at 9:25am. Border Patrol were filming at Sydney Airport that morning so I had to be on my best behaviour, being Viet and all. I had marked that I had plant/wood products so I was ushered over to the Quarantine Checking line. This line was empty so I made my way to the officer in charge of divvying the passengers to the different stations. I told him I had wooden chess pieces, to which he responded 'Is that all? You're right to go'. I'll have to remember this trick for next time.

70 dollar taxi fare later and I was home.

Bangkok - Chatuchak Markets

Sunday was basically Bangkok's last chance to redeem itself after the taxi fare incident.

It was a slow start to the morning - breakfast at 9:30am. Breakfast consisted of 2 eggs with toast, toast with jam, cornflakes with milk, a plate of fruit (dragonfruit, mangosteen, longan and rockmelon), tub of yoghurt, orange juice, two mugs of tea and a small piece of dry banana bread. God I love hotel breakfast buffets!

I had a plan to go visit Chatuchak markets as this is one of the largest weekend markets in Bangkok. Chatuchak markets is located right next to Mo Chit station and Chatuchak park. and is north of Siam I walked to the BTS Sky Train (brand spanking new monorail), which is 5 minutes from Bangkok Loft Inn. A one-day pass cost 130 baht (AUD4 - 5), so I made my way to the right platform to get to Mo Chit station.

The monorail was a smooth ride. It took 14 minutes to arrive at Siam station. The connecting monorail was on the same platform, so I hopped inside just as the doors closed. It was pretty easy to work out whether the platform was correct because the mass of people inside the first monorail shifted into the waiting monorail. Must be a popular market. From Siam to Mo Chit station, it was again very punctual and we arrived in about 10 minutes.

Giddy with shopping anticipation, I followed the shifting, lumbering mass out of the station and into Chatuchak Park. The markets were in sight and I was already searching for a drink stand. Being in air-conditioned comfort, I'd forgotten the weather outside was about 37 degrees and super humid. A chrysanthenum ice tea (complete with icy slivers) for 10 baht hit the spot. By this time, I'd relaxed my rules about consuming drinks with ice.

If you ever go to Chatuchak markets, bring some crumbs, rice, anything, so you don't lose your way. I spent about 4 hrs wandering around the narrow warren of stalls, stalls and more stalls. Occasionally I would come out of one set of markets and onto a pedestrian fare. On these rare events, the opportunity was taken to drink, eat and drink in the atmosphere, before delving into the shopping underworld. I must say that shopping-wise, I didn't buy much - a pair of kid's size 2 Converse for 350 baht (AUD12) and a pair of white/blue/red Tigers for 700 baht (AUD25).

I ate an amazing coconut ice cream for 35 baht (AUD1.20), in which the ice cream was contained in a coconut with shaved pieces of coconut and topping. I chose the lychee topping. I was also given a small cup of coconut water for free. I guess when the ice cream goes in the shell, you've got to get rid of the water somehow. Best 35 baht ever!

After I realised it was about 3pm, I wandered back over to the BTS station. I'd had a vague notion of getting off at Siam and checking out the shopping there, so decided to make it so at Siam Paragon. Let me just say - there's not many shops in the centre (most of it is taken up by Paragon department store) but it certainly was enough for me to stay four hrs inside the place! There was a massive food court on the basement floor, and 5 levels of shops such as Zara, H&M, Mango, Michael Kors, a Lamborghini showroom and an aquarium. I spent a lot of time in Paragon department store, mainly due to the fact that they stocked all the brands names and there was a sale on.

Long shopping story short: I bought a Baby G for AUD165, several pens for AUD0.30 (yes, I have stationary fetish) and two pairs of Steve Madden flats in shiny patent colours (yellow and coral) for AUD103.

Dinner was udon noodles in the food court for 85 baht (AUD2.20) and treated myself to a Cinnabon for 69 baht (AUD2.10).

I made my way home at 8pm. The day was topped off by playing Heroes of Might and Magic 5 until midnight. Yes I like outdated lame PC games.

Mmm... 6 hrs less flying time to get to a Cinnabon store!

The photo op outside the aquarium

TRES advert on the BTS station

Most of the Baby G watches had 15% off... except this one. At least it has a tidal calendar