Friday 31 October 2008

Perth: Day Twelve (31 October)


We had such a nice time together yesterday that Lesley invited us to her home for lunch today and we met her husband Tony.

Although central Perth is quite small, there are lots of suburbs round about and it was lovely to see parts other tourists don’t usually visit.

Barnaby

Thursday 30 October 2008

Perth: Day Eleven (30 October)


We had a very early alarm call when the fire alarm went off at 3.25am. It had been set off by the steam from someone’s shower!

When morning proper arrived, we got a phone call from Lesley (the cousin of our friend Margaret in New Zealand). We caught a train to a suburb of Perth called Claremont where Lesley met us and took us to the famous Cottesloe beach. I dipped my paw in the Indian ocean but I didn't go swimming because there were reports of a Great White Shark in the area.

We had lunch in Fremantle Art Gallery before looking at the very unusual sculptures and drove back via the Ocean Road. On the way to Warwick Station, we stopped at the restaurant run by Lesley’s daughter, Bridget and her husband Ben. We also met her other daughter Jane.

Barnaby

Wednesday 29 October 2008

Perth: Day Ten (29 October)


We explored King’s Park and the Botanic Gardens. We haven’t seen a real kangaroo yet but I liked the statues of them in the city.

We also climbed part of the Kokoda Trail, in memory of Australian soldiers who protected Papua New Guinea’s Port Moresby from the Japanese in WW2.

We checked our emails and discovered a friend in New Zealand has cousins in Perth and suggested we get in touch.

Best of all, I got to watch Home & Away (see favourite TV programmes). :-)

Barnaby

Tuesday 28 October 2008

Perth: Day Nine (28 October)


We explored Perth and went for a walk along the Swan River, which flows right through the city centre.

As it was Sunday we went to Evensong at St George’s Cathedral.

Barnaby

Monday 27 October 2008

Perth: Day Eight (27 October)


We flew overnight to Perth and had to wait to leave the aeroplane because we had a stowaway. (There was a bird in the cabin!)

Perth is the capital city of Western Australia, which is the biggest state in the country of Australia.

Our apartment hotel was very nice and we could easily walk from there into the city centre.

Barnaby

Sunday 26 October 2008

South Africa: Day Seven (26 October)


We had a lie in as our flight wasn’t until the evening. It was cold and wet in Johannesburg too.

A nice man called Gerald took us to the airport, where we bought a toy zebra and a toy giraffe. We called the zebra Zippy and the giraffe Gerald after our driver.

Barnaby

Saturday 25 October 2008

South Africa: Day Six (25 October)


It was so cold for our last game drive the guide gave us blankets. We also needed waterproof ponchos.

But we saw lots of animals: giraffes all along the road and a live zebra crossing. The gnus all crossed the road at the same place too.

We had a quick souvenir stop and then had to go back to the hotel to pack. The journey back to Johannesburg took five hours this time.

We had an early night as we flew to Perth in Australia the next day :-).

Barnaby

Friday 24 October 2008

South Africa: Day Five - Afternoon (24 October)


The weather had turned cloudy for our third game drive so it was harder to spot the animals but we did see the horns and tail of a buffalo sticking out of the reeds (hurrah – we’ve spotted all of the Big Five)!

We saw storks and a crane as well as more impala, kudu and hippos and a group of baboons with babies.

Barnaby

South Africa: Day Five - Morning (24 October)


Our second game drive started at 5.20am so I was very sleepy to begin with. Then we saw a Cheetah (again very rare) and I woke up. Cheetahs are the fastest animals on earth and can run at up to 70mph.
We drove past a rhinoceros with a baby and grazing blue wildebeest. Also two male lions were sleeping next to the road.


Later we saw a big herd of elephants with several babies and had to watch out for the velvet monkeys and baboons at our rest stop.

Barnaby

Thursday 23 October 2008

South Africa: Day Four (23 October)


The minibus picked us up at 7.45am and it took six hours to drive to the Kruger National Park, with just one stop at Milly’s on the way.

We went on our first game drive straightaway and had already seen warthogs, impala, giraffes and kudu (another kind of antelope) when we heard someone had spotted a leopard. This is very rare so we quickly drove to meet them and we got to see it too. We also saw the oldest elephant in the park, Mulani, so could cross two of the Big Five off our list.

We had dinner under the stars in an African Boma
. There was lots of choice, including crocodile meat but Morris and I didn’t try any.

Barnaby

Wednesday 22 October 2008

South Africa: Day Three (22 October)


Parts of Johannesburg are not very safe for tourists so we didn’t go far from our hotel. We went to the shopping centre next door and also found an internet cafĂ© but none of the messages we sent from there arrived :-(.

Then we wrote postcards in the hotel garden before having an early night because we were going on Safari the next day :-). We were hoping we would get to see the Big Five: Elephant, Leopard, Rhinoceros, Lions and Buffalo.

Barnaby

Tuesday 21 October 2008

South Africa: Day Two (21 October)



We arrived in South Africa at 9am (local time). They are 1 hour ahead of us. It took over two hours to get through Passport Control and they didn't stamp mine :-(.

But the Protea Hotel where we were staying was very nice and we spent a nice afternoon reading books in its garden.

Barnaby

Monday 20 October 2008

South Africa: Day One (20 October)


Our first stop was Johannesburg in South Africa. We flew overnight from London on a double decker plane!

The South African Rugby team (the Springboks) had just won the Rugby World Cup. (They beat England). All the South Africans on the plane were very happy.

Barnaby




Sunday 19 October 2008

Meet Morris


This is my buddy Morris.

Morris came with me on my Big Adventure to keep me company.

Morris has got his own blog, which you can link to from mine. (See the link at the bottom of my profile page).




Barnaby

Where in the World is Barnaby?


Question: Where in the World am I?

Answer: Year 2, Claremont Primary School

But this time last year I was somewhere very different. I had a special Round the World ticket that took me to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and (the United States of) America. (Thank you Mr Sutton Smith for letting me have time off).

This blog is the story of my Big Adventure one year on. Now read on ...


Barnaby