Apr 2007

I have now been here nearly 3 weeks. I had penciled this long in but feel bad for settling somewhere for so long. Everyone raves about Sydney and although i have enjoyed my time here it is not somewhere that i don't want to leave. I think this may be because it is too similar to London. After living out of a backpack for so long, the culture of having to dress to impress and the suits crowd out after work on a friday night is all foreign to me.

Sydney is full of beautiful 'showy' people and i am unsure where i fit into this crowd. This is a city where if you appear even slightly inebriated you are thrown out and you can't get into many bars unless your toes are covered...apparently it is a health and safety issue of girls cuttting their feet on broken glass...when really it is that they are trying to ban thongs (sorry, flipflops!).

Ok, that was all a little negative. On the positive, Sydney is a beautiful city and by night, the views of the city are spectacular. I have seen it many times over; from darling harbour, on a ferry from the olympic village, on a ferry from Manly and from the harbour and Anzac bridges. The view of the sydney harbour bridge and the opera house all lit up is postcard perfection! It is also pretty special during the day when the sun is shining and the backdrop of blue skies. Be warned though, on a cloudy day, like when i first saw it, it was a little disappointing.

Sydney has been full of catching up with people i have met during my travels in Thailand. On my first day Kasey came and met me and we strolled in the rocks and had a drink in Cargo bar in Darling Harbour. It was amazing to be sitting in an uber trendy bar, sipping on wine looking out from the terrace seats we had onto one of the most famous harbours in the world. It is times like these that make you take a step back and apprecaite what an amzing thing you are getting to do.

I have also caught up with Luke. Due to a house move and uni law degree exams it has been a stressful time for him which has made meeting difficult. He was kind enough to drive me around some of the great beaches in north sydney around his old home in Bellview hills and new one in Veuclouse. I got to see Watsons Bay, Camp Cove and a few others i can't remeber the name of.

My last traveller to catch up with is Tim who gave me an insightful tour from a landscape architecture point of view of the city, circular quay and the botanic gardens on a beautiful sunny day.

I have also caught up with Lucy, Kelly and Emily, the girls i travelled SE Asia with which has been cool. Several other people i met in Adelaide and Melbourne have also passed through Sydney including Tom, Meriam, Oxford and Alex. The most unusual meeting was with my friend from home...Mr Tom Doyle. I was walking down the street on the phone right by my hostel and this familiar voice said 'Tina'. Was great to catch up but unfortunately both of us had plans that evening and he was flying to NZ the next day.

OK, so back to what i did in Sydney. I checked out the nightlife in the cities red light district of Kings cross on more than one occassion and i also stayed in the area. It is an extremely vibrant part of town that i thoroughly enjoyed staying in. The nightlife was cool and many locals have nights here. In the city i also checekd out a couple of bars which all were reminders of London life.

There is so much i could blab on about Sydney...it is safe to say that i did all of the touristy things, the botanic gardens, harbour bridge, opera house, maritime museum, observatory,Art Gallery of NSW, checked out the beautiful rocks area and went to the blue mountains (unfortunately it was more like the grey mountains when i went and to add to the misery the tour guide dropped my camera and cracked the screen!).

I ensured i kept my tan topped up by visiting Manley, Bondi and Coogee beaches. I did the famous Bondi-Coogee walk on several occassions and saw the guy who lives in a cave. Bondi is quite pretentious with everyone checking each other out and for that very reason i much prefered Coogee even though the waves took me out!

Right at the end of my time in Sydney, Luke and I got to catch up with Dan & Phil, two English guys who were travelling with Luke who i also got to know. Was extremely strange to be reunited in Oz. WE had a hardcore night out of a smoothie in a cafe in Bondi!

So overall, i'd give Sydney a 7 out of 10. I will return one day..with some money to burn, eating in all the amazing restaurants and to sip on decent wine in the many trendy bars.

Now again, if i heard the question...'why go to Canberra?' from both Aussies and other backpackers once, i heard it a million times. Ok so maybe they were right in that there isn't too much to see but none the less I am glad that i went.

I was lucky and extremely greatful that i was put up by a friend that i made whilst in Cambodia. Dan picked me up from the bus station when i arrived at 7am and became my source of knowledge and local history lecturer for the next couple of days.

We had breakfast by the Lake Burley Griffen, so named after the guy that designed the city. After a quick shower and dropping my stuff off, Dan took me to Belconnen Interchange where i jumped on a bus to the National War memorial museum. This certainly, as i had been told, a must see. When i arrived i was asked to join a tour group which was great as the guide took us around both the memorial sights and the museum educating us along the way. After a few hours here i then got another bus to the city, then another to the National museum of Australia. Canberra is made up of satelitte cities so it doesn't make it the easiest of places to get around, hindered by the fact there are only buses as means of public transport! Hard to believe that a place developed so recently did not incorporate a tram, tube or train system!

The Australian Musuem was one of the best I have seen yet. First off i got to sit in a rotating theatre with moving screen in each of the 4 sections. I watched films on Australian culture and what it means to be Australian. Not to be missed in this museum is Phar Laps heart...for those of you that don't know he is a famous Australian racehorse that had an extraordinarily large heart. Also there was a whole wall of australian lingo and the meanings of the words - some quite amusing.

Due to staying with a local, over the course of the two days, Dan drove me around civic (the city) so i managed to see both old and new Parliment buildings, the memorials lit up at night along Anzac parade, the clock tower given to Canberra as a present from the UK (aren't we nice!). If you want a place to party the locals will be the first to tell you that the nightlife in Canberra is not all that, this gave me the perfect excuse while i had a proper kitchen, to make the biggest amount of sausgae and mash for two people that you have ever seen. Dan should have never let me loose in the kitchen while he went to football training! Whilst on the subject of football, this covers two types...aussie rules and the NFL which is like our rugby league. Dan is a massive enthusiast and plays both.

As well as Dan, myself and the girls met his friend Ozzie. Dan and I went over to his bachlor pad one evening where we had a few beers on the balcony. I was surprised to see a picture of us all including me up on the wall...strange now to be in people you meet travelling, homes. They took me to their local watering hole, The lighthouse for a few schooners.

Dan kindly drove me to Botanay bay, Sydney where I stayed with his parents for a night as his sister was expecting her 2nd child on St Patricks day so he wanted to be around if she went into labour. The baby was a little overdue and finally arrived on the following tuesday, mum and baby both doing well. Going back to the football note...i didn't realise how much some Australian Families love their football but it is taken really seriously and a big part of their lives, it was on TV the entire time i was there. Their home was right on the sea front and the area had a lovely quaint English feel to it. That may have just been due to the fact that it was spitting with rain and due to the mist the sea frount could have been Blackpool!

A massive thank you has to go to both Dan and his parents who took care of me so well in both Canberra and Sydney. I had a lovely time and the meals were all awsome...no fear of me starving just yet! I had a really enjoyable time playing with Bella, Dan's niece and it was great just to be in a family surrounding for a day! Dan and his father drove me to mates place in Kings cross on Sunday morning... my home in Sydney for however long.

After spending the last 5 days in a camper van and 3 nights sleeping in it, it is great to have a place to stay. My hostel of choice is The Nunnery. As it suggests by the name it used to be a Nunnery and so is an old style building with great character. The stairway is grand with huge mirrors and paintings in the stairwells. The hallway is quarry tiles and antique furniture, the doors are heavy, the only thing modern about the place is a key card entry system..not to mention the cool nun motif splashed about everywhere including our key cards!

This place certainly had its fair share of characters and crazy people. To name but a few I met some of the long stayers, Eva (NZ), Dave (Ireland), Sarah (Perth), Dane (NZ), Josh (UK), jared (Canada) and Sean (UK). I also met so many other people who like me were only sticking around for a few days. Straight away, Laura and I met a Dutch girl names Meriam who was so much fun to hang around with. On one of our first days we also met two guys from England called Dom and Tom, we checked out Victoria Market which is well known for its cheap fresh food produce and a huge array of clothing. We found a funky hat stall which was loads of fun, the hilariaty being greatly improved by the fact Tom sports a very large beard and has long hair...thus resulting in him often being mistaken as either Jesus or John Lennon!

The five of us hung out for a couple of days, cooking meals together and seeing places like the Botanical Gardens, Foundation Square and other city sights such as Flinders station. It is easy to get around the city as there is a free tourist bus and a fantastic tram system. I am amzed at the trust of the public transport system companies or honesty of Australian citizens as in both Adelaide and Melbourne you buy your tickets on the trams and they are never checked...everyone still buys them though!

I hate to admit to this but the sad fact is that my highlight of Melbourne was visiting the neighbours set! A friend of Dom and Tom had made in Mexico was a local guy called Nick. He offered to take us to Vermount, the suburb in which Pin Oak court is located..aka, Ramsey St. Now this was cool enough but when he turns up in a convertable mark 1 golf that is literally falling apart and the smell of petrol is so great that if anyone decide dto light a cigarette near us it would have probably blown up, it made the trip oh so much more enjoyable.

Now i did warn the others how excited i was going to get but nothing could have prepared them for the overactive child that i became when i found myself in the surreal situation of standing in the middle of Ramsey St. I couldn't help but to have a picture taken of me outside every house and a few more to boot! I chatted to the security guard that ensures people don't wander onto the properties as obviously people live in these houses and are paid a tidy sum to allow filming two times a week and let their house number change, have their car removed from the drive and a number of other continuity issues inflicted upon them.

While in Melbourne i did check out some other city attractions, the Melbourne Museum, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Animation and Moving arts museum being the most notable. Also a few scenic spots of Carlton and Fitzroy gardens that are located across the city were great to chill out in.

Dom and I spent an afternoon at the beach resort of Melbourne, St Kilda. Here is the famous Lunar park, an old skool fairground where the entrance is a large clowns mouth...actually quite terrifying! The beach wasn't that amazing and the wind chill factor didn't make it the best to laze on for that long.We kept ourselves entertained by doing gymnastics, break dancing and body popping (well me attempting anyway!). We took a stroll down the popular and swanky Alders Street. This is every tea drinkers and cake eaters heaven...we couldn't help enduldge and blew our daily budget on the lovliest cakes we could lay our hands on. This street is filled with beautiful people, even the joggers were stunning.

While in Melbourne the Moomba festival was on. This is a 4 day event based around the river. Watched the bird man competition which is always good for a laugh wherever in the world you are. Took a carefree stroll along the river, taking in the fairground atmosphere and all the free entertainment that was put on.

Much of my socialising while in Melbourne was spent in the hostel drinking the notorious goon. Now for those of you that don't know what that is and i am unsure whether i ave explained this in my blog before, is a very cheap alternative to wine. Now no one is really sure what is in this stuff but i think it is fair to say that grapes are not high up on the ingredients list. I have drunk from a box of goon that states that it contains, milk, fish, eggs and nuts. Whatever is in it, it is sure to take you from sober to stupid goon drunk in a matter of around 30 minutes and you can be sure you will have the worst hangover for most part of the next day which gives you plenty of time to try and piece together what antics you got up to the night before! When i did make it out of the hostel, Melbourne had a pretty good nightlife. The nunnery was located in the trendy Fitzroy area which is very popular to go out in. Bars to mention are Bimbo delux, a trendy night club and the Night Kat, where I danced to a 12 piece jazz/salsa band one night. There were several other bars and pubs along Brunswick and Smith st that we checked out too. The scene is quite similar to Camden...a place where every fashion and trend has a place. I also had a cheeky red wine in a very English pub called the Elephant & Wheelbarrow in the city after a hard day lazing in the Botanical Gardens, drinking with the suits who had just left work...the poor souls!

The only thing on the backpacker to do list that i didn't manage to tick box was to go to the Neighbours night in St Kilda to hang out with toadie and lynn and listen to Karl Kennedys band! Something tells me that i didn't miss out on too much!

After much painstaking flyer posting, phonecalls and meetings I set off to explore the great ocean road with a Canadian girl called Laura and a Dutch guy called Joris in his 70's Nissan campervan called Rosy white clouds.

Laura and i were in the same hostel and she replied to my lift share ad. Joris had contacted me a few days earlier but i had dismissed it as we had found another lift but he failed to show up when we asked to meet him so had to go back to the drawing board.

Joris collected us and after picking up food supplies and fueling Rosy we were off. It was the hottest day and up front in a van sitting on plastic seats and no air con i did think... 'what the hell am i doing!???'

As the scorchio day became evening it all became much more pleasent. In some parts the land was very desert like. We arrived in Robe at around 8pm and set up camp in a campsite with electricity and water. Our first meal expertly cooked on a gas cooker was soup and toast. We dined on a great camping set of tables and chairs. Treated to milo with biscuits we retired to bed so as to make an early start in the morning to head to the Grampians.

We drove to a village called Penola and stopped in the Mary Mckillep memorial park (dedicated to the first saint of Australia) for breakfast.

We then drove onto Hamilton, another quaint village similar to Penola. From here we headed north through the Grampians National park, through Wannon crossing and jimmy creek, this was where the bush fires of 2006 happened. We went on a walk through some of the park lands at several points. We saw an elk that just ignored us as it bathed in a small pool of water. No koalas as yet!

Along the way we stopped to see Mackenzie falls. The walk through the rainforest to it was lovely, many ferns and a type of plant that looks like monkeys tails. Tonight we roughed it in one of the parks campsites. No electricity, running water only by the toilets so our pasta dinner was a challenge made much worse by the running out of gas on the cooker. To speed up the cooking process we were already trying to heat the sauce on the engine! genius!!!!! However, our plan failed and a lovely English couple helped us out and save us from starving by letting us borrow their stove. With our appetites filled, I threw on about 3 layers of clothes in attempt to keep warm in the van.

Another day more sights to see. We stoped in Zumsteins picnic spot and used the BBQ to have eggs, tea and toast for breakfast! We drove several hours to ur first stop, the Bay of Islands, similar to the 12 apostles we knew this was where the great ocean road became stunning. We stopped every 5 minutes to see another beautiful rock formation. We saw the Bay of Martyrs, The grottos, London Bridge, the arch and port cambell forshore. Loch Ard gorge followed, which is several differnt lookouts, the Razorback, the blowhole and thunder caves. All were made up of different types of rock and looked glorious in the sunshine. The ocean holds such power and i decide there that i could watch the waves crash up the rocks all day and not get bored.

Further down the road there was the famous 12 apostles...or 8 as they are now. We only just made it before nightfall so we headed to Princetown to camp for the night. We stayed in a campsite overlooking a beautiful river and rolling hils. After a very cordon bleu meal of beans on toast (i had to introduce this to Laura and Joris as neither had ever had it...would have been better if we hadn't used a contain that had stored washing powder in as they did have a strange tang...added a bit of cheese to mask the taste!) we headed over to the local pub. 9.30 and it was closed...rubbish, really fancied a drink too! We ended up drinking tea and playing cards in the van...life is good!

An early start took us to Melba Gully...a rainforest that we took a few km walk around. We had picked up a Chillian hitch hiker along the way and were taking him as close to Appollo Bay as we were going. We made another stop at Triplet falls which were absolutely beautiful. We hadn't planned to go to Appollo bay but a road diversion forced us to go there so we stopped by the beach and had a picnic lunch. I walked up and down the beach to stretch my legs before the next haul.

From here we were on amazing coastal roads that gave us great views of the ocean. The sun was shining and we had blue skys so it looked stunning...now i know why people say this drive is worth doing. We stopped in Lorne and watch the surfers as the waves here are notorious.

Joris wanted to make a stop in Fairhaven where Simon, his father friend who gave him the camper lives. We met Francis his wife who made us tea and gave us orios which was nice. Once simon had come home he took the kids straight to the beach and asked us to come too. It was quite chilly by this point so i managed a paddle! It is times like this that i really don't understand why i live in London when i could live somewhere like this!!! Both Simon and Francis offered for us to stay the night but we had planned to make it to Melbourne by the end of the day. The offer seemed such a nice idea and gave Joris some time to spend with Simon so we agreed. After dinner Simon took us to a local golf course where i got just a few feet away from a pack of Kangaroos feasting on the lush lawns. There was about 30 of them, some in pairs boxing, others just grazing and some jumping about. It was like nothing i have seen before. Back at the house, the three of us had a relaxed evening chatting about our families and watching 'Open season'...a disney/pixar film.The house was amazingly huge and I stayed in a room with floor to celing windows..such a great view to wake up to.

After a lazy morning and playing on the kids trampoline we drove back to Lorne, i donned a billabong rash vest and i gave body boarding a try. I wasn't bad for my first attempt, even if i do say so myself, caught a few waves. The sea was really cold though so didn't stick it out for long. We then got back on the road stopping in Geelong for some lunch. Melbourne was then only an hour away and after a few days in the country seeing the skyscrapers on the horizon got me in the mood for another city adventure!

Hey all,

Well OK...i've now been in Australia well over a month and i am only just getting around to writing about it!!! That just goes to prove to you what a great time i am having.

So everyone said "why are you going to Adelaide for?" especially all the aussies i met while in S E Asia. They were the most surprised by my first port of call in their home country.

Now just to set the record straight to any of you thinking of coming to Adelaide, its not just a city of churches...they have cathedrals as well..no only kidding, it has lots to offer.

Adelaide was a great start for me as the culture shock of coming back into western society for me was far greater than arriving in Bangkok several months ago. All of a sudden everyone speaks my language, i can read all the signs and nobody is spitting in the street. Adelaide got me used to being back in a western city. It's grid system and american style sinage was a surprise as i was expecting a much more English landscape from what i had been told.

Arriving in Australia i notice that all the homes are massive bungalows, hardly any house. As i move into the city, it strikes me how modern all the buildings are. I am about to spend 4 months in a country where nothing was built much more than 200 years ago!

Before i forget and for those of you that i didn't bore with this sad tale, i was accousted at customs by a dog for trying to get contraband in! First off i had forgotten that i had an orange in my handbag and if that wasn't bad enough when they checked my day pack they found Milo. 500g of the best Milo from Malaysia i tell thee. My god the way the customs officer went off at me threatening me with a $250 fine you think i was carrying kilos of coke and some of the finest heroin around. Apparently the dried milk in milo is a foot and mouth risk or something stupid like that! Like i was planning on sharing it with anyone...it would have just been me to have got sick!!!

Anyway back to Adelaide. So i arrive at Backpack OZ, my hostel for a few nights. Tired from the plane (my own fault...deciding not to sleep as the inflight entertainment and meals are so good!) and my epic city hopping of the past few days i still remain upbeat and try speaking to people. Whether it was because it was only 10am i don't know but the welcome wasn't great.

Not detered by this and due to feeling slightly alone now that i will be travelling alone for the rest of my trip (Kelly, Emily & Lucy all flew to Cairns to work their way south) I decide to busy myself and see the city. I walked solidly for the whole day and visited the Tandanya Aboriginal cultural centre and got to see a guy play the digeridoo and explain how to do it and speak about aboriginal culture and art. Next i visited the Botanical gardens. Very pretty but nothing could have prevented me from having a bit of a cry. It really hit home that i was totally alone in a brand new country on the other side of the world from home. You will all be very glad to here that things went from strength to strengh from that point. After wandering through rundal mall (the shopping area of the city) and checking out the Jam Factory of contemporary arts and crafts I made it back to the hostel and got settled in my room. As soon as i walked in a lovely English girl called Fankie said Hi and soon i was chatting with her and another one of the guys in my dorm, Lee. In true Aussie style, i was quite chuffed that my first meal in Australia was a Barbie. The hostel did a free BBQ every wednesday....result! Not only that but there was also ice cream too. In this one night i met so many people and they all made me part of this huge family that they had formed. It became obvious that some people had been there for several months and were still loving the vibe. I really could see why as i ate my barbie under the stars with everyone laughing and a bar being in the next room with cheap drinks!

With my new travelling companions, Frankie, Lee, Eddie and Will, we jumped in Eddies car and headed to Mount Lofty the following day. Armed with an eskie (cool box) of BBQ food and drinks we checked out the highest point in Adelaide. From Mount Lofty we could see across Adelaide and pin point the small city. We also made a stop in the German village of Handorf. The village was very picturesque...and amazingly authentic in its german style, even Eddie who is Dutch and spent a bit of time in Germany said so. Failing to find a BBQ (in Australia they provide free gas BBQ's in parks and nature spots for you to use...its ace!) in Mt Lofty we headed to Sterling, a small village away. Sitting amongst the teenagers kitted out in their oh so neighbours/home and away style school uniforms and large school issued rucksacks, pashing on the swings, we had a lovely BBQ.

Another day trip while in Adelaide was to the Barossa Valley wine region. Now this was a day plagued by bad luck but still an extremely fun one. Even before we reached our 1st winery, the van got a flat tyre. The driver changed it and wouldn't accept any help from us (mainly girls and the only guy was most certainly gay, so i'm not sure how much help we would have been!). We reached Jacobs creek and they had had a sewage leak and therefore couldn't let us visit. Due to all the time lost changing the tyre we had to visit a restaurant for lunch rather than the BBQ that we were suppose to have. As the driver parked up he scraped the side of the van against a tree!! The lunch was amazing however but it didn't prevent that on the way between wineries, a palate flew off the back of a lorry and into our path causing the driver to swerve off the road....nice!

All this aside, it was a great day. We visited 5 wineries and all got thoroughly drunk. I have now stood in a Jacobs creek vineyard and been to the creek itself! We were talked through the wine making process and shown the equipment used. Frankie and I had loads of fun and decide just to carryt on drinking when we got back to the hostel to make a good friday night out.

Obviously i can't take you through what did day to day in Adelaide as that would take for ages. So in a nut shell other highlights included a bike ride around the city taking in the Oval, Japenese gardens and the riding along the Torrnes river. I visited the Haighs chocolate factory...it sucked compaired to Cadbury's world and one girls i was with actually noted in the comments book that there was not enough free samples! I went to Glenelg beach several times with people from the hostel...once at nightfall and had a few drinks in the town.

I went to stay with Jodie, a girl i met while in Langkawi. She lived just two streets from the beach. It was utterly amazing to leave the house in the morning and be on the beach in under 5 minutes...a dream come true. Jodi, Gemma (friend of Jodie's who i met in Langkawi too) and I went out for Chinese in the city one evening but others were spent relaxing on her balcony sipping on wine taking in the spectacular beach views. Jodie also owned a turtle who she took out of the tank in the evenings when she was home. It would take refuge under the bean bag...strange animal! While i was there i walked from Glenelg to Brighton Beach. Compaired to many of the beaches in Thailand this beach just goes on for miles. The weather was glorious and the sand so yellow.One major difference from thailand is that the beach is straight on he road rather than having lots of beach bars! This doesn't take away from its beauty however and the contempory house along the beach front is all asthetically pleasing.

Jodie and her boyfriend Dave were so hospitable and let me treat the flat like my own...massive thanks to them.

So during my time at Backpack Oz i met lots of lovely people. Fun nights out were had at PJ O'Briens, a live music venue with an Irish bar theme, the austral...a trendy bar not far from the hostel and the terrible but cheap drinks nights at the club, church! So many others were spent staying in at the hostel, my last nighgt was particularly memorable with twister and pictonary being played by all. It really was a great atmosphere at this hostel and I was sad to leave when the time came to hit the great ocean road