L'Australie.

Ca va bien ici en Australie avec une couverture médiatique de tv, journaux et radio. La madame Indra qui ma interviewé à la radio 2xx fm à été particulièrement gentille avec moi. Je suis très impresionné de la capitale Canberra. Surtout les pistes cyclables autour des lacs. Vous pouvez pratiquer votre anglais en lisant le texte suivant:

(Anglais seulement) - I arrived at Sydney international airport on a cloudy Monday May 24th morning. I was nostalgic leaving New Zealand behind. After all, it is the nicest place on earth ! I contacted the local media. I then proceded to roller ski down to the circular Quay East and along the pedestrian walkway past the Sydney Opera House and along the green park bordered walkway to Hyde park. I was amazed at all the exotic birds. I was also impressed at seeing all the very strange trees and vegetation. The royal botanic gardens were a real treat with wooden walkways traversing tiny waterways. Clusters of palm trees and weird vertical branches caught my attention as I wizzed by on my roller skis. I was able to catch a glimpse of the small CN type tower reminding me of the one in Toronto. Many were the commonwealth or British images or symbols. Like Canada or New Zealand many British themes abound. Statues, landmarks, structures and historical figures like James Cook confirm links to the UK. I enjoyed my downtown Sydney Australia roller ski. I am sure it rivals in mystique and appeal of what American cities have to offer ! ?

Next I made my way south to Wollongong where I began using a Didgeridu. A Didgeridu is an Aboriginal musical instrument which sounds like nothing else you have ver heard. The world’s most primitive instrument it is used to gently blow down the tube making a low tone as if imitating a low engine noise. The paintings often tell a story of tribal designs or totems. Mine has a platypus and weird nature arrangements.

I have been using my Didgeridoo to visit and roller ski throughout this beautiful seacoast town of Wollongong or more affectionately known as the gong by locals. Both the 26 and 27th were consecrated to visiting this trendy city. Apparently 380,000 people live in the greater area and I was particularly impressed by the Mercury newspaper journalist and photographer. Mamma of Mamma’s pizza were definatinately on the good list. I must confess that Mamma’s is the best pizza so far in Australasia.

I met 5 young girls and gave them 5 cinema tickets. I didn’t feel like going to the movies with just anyone so my gesture wasn’t totally generous and slightly egocentric.

Next stop was Ross Vale where I met other nice people. The girls at the liqour store were nice and so was the greek lady at the Hot food restaurant. My roller ski along the roads of the town area was nerve wracking. Narrow, windy and cold. Ya cold, for the first time since early march I felt a winter wind. Even this part of Australia gets cold wind chills at this time of year. As I write this text the electric heater is full on in my motel room. 90 km’s from the above mentioned town is where I am spending the night. Goulburn is about 200kms south of Sydney on a high plateau. Known for its federal prison, agriculture(wool, manufacturing and police academy. Goulburn boasts all the modern facilities of a rural city, enhanced by the friendliness of a country town. I visited the area for about 24 hrs. Nice Aussies, yet a little red neckish. Many of the young people seem to gawk and gesticulate even more so than the Kiwi kids. First in-land city of Austraila dating back to 1818, it definitely has a cowboy feeling to it.

Next was Queanbeyan 15kms or so from Canberra. On my trainride their I saw for the first time Kangaroos. Most of them far off were like sentinels. Motionless and regal in their appearance. The ones caught closer to the train would hop away nonchalantly. It was as if they were playing tag with the train and running for cover as with hide and seek. Kangaroos appear mischievious yet likeable. Just like big kids. Soon the train pulled into Quenbeyan and I quickly found nice people to stay with. Mrs Skepev the function manager the Best Western Central Motel put me up in a quiet yet luxurious room. It was a nice change from the last couple of nights. I visited a couple of bars and pubs and called it an early Saturday night. I must confess that Charles Ness of the Canton Chinese restaurant gave me a nice hot meal of chicken, rice and curry. Nice way to end an adventurous day in Quenbeyan, Australia. Sunday I enjoyed roller skiing the resdintial roads of Q… and was happy to experience another day of glorious sunshine. The 5th consecutive day of bright blue skies. The farmers have to complain because a draught has been affecting this part of New South Wales for many months now. I know because the ground is hard. ahk

Oh my God, Canberra.The very beautiful capital of Australia. What a magnificent place. At this time of the year Canberra celebrates its birthday with parades, a balloon fiesta, and a top food and wine festival. Canberra is comprised of incredible architecture. It has an eclectic group of embassies and consulates. Many monuments are found throughout the city with parliament house as the top off. Oh, and I also enjoyed roller skiing around the National museum of Australia. It has a bold architectural form with many multi-colored buildings surrounding it. I was mesmerized and stricken with dizziness circling these beautiful works ! This 31rst day of May was especially gratifying because it is « World no tobbacco day » I felt very excited promoting the message on this special international no smoking day.

As yesterday I met the press again today. The Canberra Times were very nice to me as was Win Tv channel 9. I also had an interview on radio 2xx fm community radio. In fact, this was the highlight of the day ; being interviewed by a beautiful girl on lunch box radio.

To top off my day I roller skied around the two connected lakes of this magnificent city. Beautifully large bike path with paved surface in excellent condition. Exotic trees and birds dotting the way and looming mountains far off on the southern horizon. The Australian alps appear towards the south. A spectacular scene in a spectacular place it’s no wonder it’s the capital of Australia !

Sincèrement,
Phil Shaw; aka Crocodile Philey

Ah ha vous avez pris pour acquis que je suis mort d'une piqure de serpent ou d'un accident de la route!? Mais non! Je suis très vivant et très enthousiaste encore pour la campagne de santé ici en Australie. Pour en savour plus lire le document.

Sincèrement,
Phil Shaw

(En anglais seulement) - I will begin my experience with a description of my undersea odyssey. Port Douglas is where it all began. The surf, the sea and skiing. Roller skiing that is. And again on the beach. What feeling double pole with all the energy one can muster. The 8kms of beach was more than worth the effort. The undersea odyssey came next with the famous Quicksilver snorkeling experience. Led by world renowned marine biologist Annie I took in the amazing reefs many multi-coloured species. Pointing out the special sights I enjoyed her highly erudite commentary. Even though she was pregnant and impeded by the mask and snorkel and the tops turvey waves she made a very positive impression on me. I was most troubled when I had to leave the water because I had bonded so much with the surrounding sealife that when it was time to embark on the boat I felt I was leaving something incredible behind. Please visit www.quicksilver-cruises.com
To get a feeling for this special odyssey!

I spent 3 evenings visiting the bars and resto’s of Port Douglas. In my opinion there are World Class beautiful, World class trendy and World class friendly. Just 60kms north of Cairns it was a justifiable detour. Next stop on the “Roller-Ski Throughout N-Z and Au. For Health Awareness” was Cairns. A variety of experiences came alive here. I decided to let loose and take a beak from the mundane routine of roller skiing and promoting. So I took a mini vacation with a crocodile river cruise, a 4 by 4 jungle trek and guided walking trek lead by another World renowned biologist Dr Burns. The guide hike through rainforest was again the highlight with longing to stay and linger and explore. Another eye opener was the annual “Cairns Show” A festival of significance for this area. The fat laughing lady and the tall man on stilts were my favourites. Another highlight Gilligan’s resort. New, upmarket and great for meeting beautiful young women from far away places. My memories of Gilligan’s are fond, funny and fuzzy!!! A send a warm hello to Angie, Roz and Jackie; my British girlfriends. Great place to stay if you like a gigantic pool with a humungus video screen playing much music. www.gilligansbackpackers.com.au

Innisfail was a smaller town with lots nice country people. ‘Laid Back’ in the Australian sense. But loud and verbal too. Especially when I roller skied by. Apparently few Ozzies have seen roller skis and I am a living testimony and witness to this. I visited the nearby crocodile farm and was more struck by the owner than the actual Crocs. With many crocodile teeth scars and a weird sense of humour this chap was more than I bargained for. He was so jealous of my tatoos he tried to scratch them off my arm. Needless to say I kept away from him when CROC feeding time came. Spooky I’ll say. I made the mistake of stopping on 25-07-04 at Mission Beach not because it was a wretched place but because I hurt my back here. An out of place movement while walking made for a very unpleasant experience. I wasn’t able to roller ski, or promote the “Quest” I was frustrated and in great pain. It was incredibly hard for me to stop and take the day off. Doing nothing, absolutely zilch was harder or tougher than going up the steepest hill, or enduring the hottest heat, or whatever else I have found difficult in this endeavour. But again I must emphasise that Mission Beach is a beautiful getaway for those wishing to enjoy a peaceful and tranquil tropical beach town setting. Not too busy, not too quaint just perfect for the ‘Off The Main Beaten Track Adventurers.

Ingam originally called Sligo officially became a township in 1882. Named after William Barstow Ingam adventurer and dreamer-described by his peers as educated, adventurous, bohemian, athletic, utterly self-reliant and brave as lion. Hmm, sounds like a description of me. Today Ingam is a bustling little town of 5 maybe 10,000 people. I roller skied by the nearby sugar cane fields, talked to some locals and made my way south to Townsville. Townsville is the epicentre of the Queenslands north. Economic hubub with lots of industry. The strand bikepath is really nice though, with its column of pine trees and vistas of ocean /beach. Fewer tourists than Cairns and fewer related type businesses. I was happy to leave Townsville after a couple of days.

Ayr was another quaint little town. A hundred or so businesses cramed along a main street I had enough of a couple of hours. I will also mention the sugarcane ash deposits. Strands and bits & pieces of black ash from burnt sugarcane; not a pretty sight. At least the people are nice country folks with a generally friendly manner.

Next was Bowen. A nice little town perched on the South Pacific ocean. Typical of other Queensland towns I was able to relate to this quaint place. I made\an interesting discovery on that fateful evening. A roller skating club of about two hundred young people were practising their favourite activity. So sure enough I went for a visit and pep talk. Please see annexed photo. Airlie Beach was a lot more trendier and hip with the tourists and me too of course. I enjoyed roller skiing along the beautiful bike path, swimming in the nearby ocean and visiting some of the more posh nightclubs and cafes. Worth the detour Airlie beach is a good 25kms off the Bruce highway. I will never forget the beautiful view from my Whitsunday appartment. Neither will I ever forget the marina and the cruises & charters arriving and departing. The romance in the air and the excitement and lure of the Whitsunday corals and protected nearby islands.

Mackay another nice town just 150kms south of Airlie beach. Although reliant on industries and fishing this town is vying for part of the tourist pie. Being a very affluent and prosperous town Mackay has what it takes to attract some of the tourist flow heading towards northern Queensland. I was impressed by many things about Mackay including the numerous ceramic tile artistic work depicting endemic flora and fauna. Designs with colours and detail so vivid I would slow down and often stop to observe the beauty. Sarina was another very small town I visited for 24hrs. Dependant on cane or sugarcane it has its own unique charm. I would visit again one day just see the narrow wagons loaded to the brim with cane pieces roll through town emanating that subtle sweet smell.

Rockhampton turned out to be more fun than most people had suggested. The glittering action packed nightlife was really impressive for such a small town. My message was well received except for one girl who said I must be on drugs. “How can that be?, I said. I am promoting drug abstinence and not drug use! Its funny how different people are from one group to the next. Looks can be deceiving and usually are. But generally speaking "The older the person the less impressionable they are” Unfortunately that goes with the message of smoking less too. Fortunately the Rockhamptonites have a good sense of humour and cracking a joke was always likely. One of the funnier ones was the motor cycle gang guy of “The rebels” who was photographed with me and his buddy for the local newspaper. See annexed picture.

Gladestone was visited August 8 and 9th 2004. An industry based town of about 60,000 people which is friendly and well meaning. Of course most Australian towns are nice but this one in particular. The marina and the hilltop town centre setting contribute to Gladestones’ uniqueness. Bundaberg is a world famous town for its rum and sugar. Its also nice to roller ski around once. Once is enough.

Hervey bay wasn’t as nice as Airlie beach. But it has its own uniqueness. I preferred my Noosa experience more. With the nice sandy beach and international tourist draw. I was able to meet interesting people and enjoy in more places than previously espressos and cappuccinos galore. Similar get-set feeling in Mooloolaba. Very trendy and very expensive. A place for the rich and famous and affectionately called Sunshine Coast.