Thurs 23rd Nov - Wed 29th Nov
My first impression of Brisbane (or Brissy) were not particularly great. Due to the hostel, which would be home for all but one of the nights here, well no, technically it was two; it would become apparent that Brisbane is a pretty cool place. A late pick pickup from the transit centre by a doze employee, who later turned out to be the hostels entire work staff, should have sent alarm bells ringing. It wasn't until a cock-up on the hostels part that caused Adam and I to spend a night on the street that the true nature of this abomination of a hostel was truly shown. A park bench became our bench for the night with a night of alcohol before to help ease us to sleep. It actually wasn't as bad as it may appear and I got at least 5 hrs sleep, better than that in some of the hostels I had experienced so far.
After day one here we'd pretty much got to know the city inside out. Not a particularly big place, the error of leaving my mobile at the transit/shopping centre (thankfully found by management) led Adam and I from one side of the city to another. Yes, a little annoyance to the day, but it actually turned out to justify itself due to three hot Aussie ladies in the management office. Chatting away, conversation seemed easy. The English ascent seems to certainly work wonders out here. We left heading for the cities centre again, this time to socialise with Ben and Kerry.
The Pig and Whistle, queens St is one of the official waterholes for the Barmy army, and for Ad's and I would later that day become the location where we would have tickets for the Gabba, celebrating the possibility if not in-probable chance of reclaiming the ashes. With Steveo and Mark joining the 4 of us and the rest of the Barmy Army, the atmosphere was electric, the smell of beer floating in the air. How I love that smell, brings back so many memories of days and nights at home. It's also so alluring that it practically forces you to get up and buy a pint.
Soon the banter and chatting with random fans bean, and it was through acquaintances of Steveo and Mark that miracle of getting Ashes tickets started. They informed us that tickets had been re-released and were on general sale just up the road in Rebel Sports. I was up like a shot and before anyone could realise it I was half way down the street. We couldn't believe it, days 2,3 and 4 for $65 (27 pounds). The shock and realisation that we had them didn't set in until the day we made the Gabba, but for now we could properly join in with the celebrations back at the pub. We were going to the Ashes, the Gabba, and would have the pleasure of seeing one of cricket’s biggest sporting occasions. 1 more sleep till the Ashes, 2 until the Gabba. "Come on the England!" pub chants began......
" Aussie where-ever you will be,
your cricket team is history,
your spinners to fat, the rest are old men,
you'll never get your hand on the urn again. "
and
"We've got $3 to the pound, we've got $3 to the pound, we've got......."
"we're so rich it's unbelievable, we're so rich........"
What a day, what a nigh!!!
Unfortunately with every good thing that happens, there is always a downside. On the day in which the Ashes started Adam and I need to start job hunting if we were going to stay in Brisbane for a while. Agency after agency after agency. My hatred for them has grown since getting here, and I will be glad of the day when I never have to use one again. This though is some way off with Melbourne in the pipeline, and more than likely the prospects of home when I get around to coming back. As things turned out we'd needn’t have bothered, it turned out work in Brisbane would prove impossible to get, something to do with the season (or so they said), and as a result we ended cutting our stay in Brisbane shorter than previously planned heading for Sydney. This though would have to wait for the Ashes experience for us had just begun, and nothing was going to ruin this, well apart from England's performance.
With free public transport, getting there was easy. The herds of Barmy Army and Ozzie fans taking full advantage of the facilities available. With green, gold (canary yellow really!), blue, blue red and white sea of colour everywhere, the smell of fast food and pints, and good natured banter between rival fans, it was an awesome spectacle equal to any other sporting event. And then there was the view. I've seen some great sights while travelling down the east coast, all natural, but it was good to see a man made one can give the same sense of impressiveness and wonder.
Seated on the upper tier on the West Side of the stadium, the view of the Gabba was priceless. Smack side on with the wicket, we had the perfect view of any run outs that may happen. The pitch was an immaculate green (you would never guessed they have serve drought problems) with the wicket sat in centre stage ready for battle. We arrived early enough to see the likes of Botham and Mark Nicholas on the wicket no doubt giving their views of the days play ahead and how the wicket would fair to the channel 9 views across Aus.
Then it happened at 10am, the umpires came out to a tremendous cheer, play was moments away. The teams the followed, and with the first appearance the surge in the atmosphere was electric. It sent shivers back, hairs all over standing on end as the 40,000 capacity starting cheering and singing swing low.
Play commenced and everyone settled down as the game reached a less frantic pace, especially after the disastrous first ball of Harmy. From here on it’s appropriate for me to cut the story short as England’s performance was nothing to write home about. At times it was mentally draining on both of us, walking home after the 2nd game feeling mentally exhausted and massively depressed. Add to this the physical tiredness of sleeping on a park bench and I’m amazed we managed to stay awake for all of play.
It wasn’t until our final day at the Gabba that England actually started to show a hint of class, with KP unleashing hell on earth. It was pure viewing pleasure and even some of the Aussie fans were complementing his play. They were probably being nice as a white wash was imminent. Overall though the Gabba was an amazing experience, and over a month on I still can’t believe we got tickets to the ashes. With beach balls and Mexican waves bad, the place atmosphere and an overwhelming police presence, some might have thought the experienced could have been ruined. The cricket overcame typical Aussie over policing, and with the aid of the Barmy Army, some inflatable paraphernalia including sex dolls, and a few people brave enough to try and start Mexican waves, one word, "quality!"
This wasn’t the end of Brisbane though, Adam and I had the small matter of celebrating his 23rd b’day. The 28th of November 2006 will be remembered for:
Moving from a hellish to high tech hostel
Over indulging in Thai cuisine
And starting far too early the celebrations
We arrived at Tinbilly’s that morning, finding ourselves directly opposite the transit centre ready to leave early the next day. No news of work had come from the agencies and to this very day, the start of 2007, we still haven’t heard anything. Obviously we cast a really good impression in the short time of signing up and handing in our CV’s. Nether the less no work forcing us to head south was probably a good thing, looking in hindsight there would have been no chance of getting any accommodation in Sydney if we left any later.
Tinbilly’s was an ultra modern hostel that was clean, well ran with high tech security leaving it in a class of its own when compared to that of Valley Veranda. Although more expensive it was only for one night, and considering the money saved at the cheap valley, it was well within our reach.
With a drink down us at the hostel we were ready for the night a head. Now I think the lack of "big" nights out for both of us may have gad a huge influence on us leaving base at 6pm, and it was no doubt this over eagerness that ultimately ended up making the night certainly shorter than was planned. We met with Kerry at her accommodation and basically went at it very hard. Drink after drink after shot after drink, well that’s what it seemed like. Beer and shots are fairly lethal on their own, through in a bottle of wine over dinner at a Thai restaurant and basically you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Before we knew it (shamefully around 10) we were back at the hostel ready to collapse. Luckily this wasn’t the case as there were two Irish women sharing our dorm with which we stay up with until the early hours of the following day.
At this point I should make a little apology to Nadja and Lena, especially as they made the effort to come to Brisbane City centre as we "kinder" made an arrangement to meet up. We had predicted our lack of practice in the art of alcohol consumption and were slightly drunk.
The following morning with strangely no hangover we left Brisbane heading for Surfers and Byron. With schoolies on it was sure to be lively.
DAY 54 to DAY 55 - R & R at Rainbow Beach, or so I thought.
Mon 20th Nov - Tues 21st Nov
With Fraser finished and myself safely back on the mainland in Dingo's, our Hostel for the next two nights, some much needed rest was required. With some Dolphin Kayaking planned along with a lot of nothing, it would be easy for us to catch our breath from all that passed over the last few days. As usual though I was wrong. It seems that as a backpacker there is never a restful moment, especially when travelling with Steve and Mark.
It would turn out that a large part of our East Coast would be spent with these two jokers. From Nottingham, their personality attributes had already started to become well and truly apparent from the Whit Sundays the previous week. Sleazy, funny, loud, outgoing, quirky lads, at times they impossible not to get on with and while at others you wondered why you were with them. They were so full on, you felt overwhelmed by them within a matter of minutes just from listening and in need in a break. Mark's laughter was infectious, Steve's humor was outrageous and together they were a comedy attack that would rival some of the worlds greatest. Well maybe not.
The most memorable of attributes that these two lads posses though was their desire and persistency with the ladies. It was at times impressive to watch them work the 'magic' as they certainly had the 'gift of the gab', attaining there prize's on more than one occasion. It was never going to be a quite time with these two. With drinking every night and more alcohol consumed than I care to remember they certainly knew how to enjoy themselves constantly.
The one time we have an afternoon without them on rainbow beach (we were sharing a dorm as well) was when Ad's and I embarked at lunch for a little Dolphin Kayaking just down the beach. Relishing the idea of gently paddling for the whole afternoon, with the opportunity to see some more local inhabitants, we were looking forward to the chillout session. Little did we know (again we were wrong) it would turn out to be an incredibly hard exercise workout with very little reward.
Now not trying to be sexist, but it all basically started when being paired up with the ladies from the group participating that afternoon. Although maybe seen as a blessing, allowing the perfect opportunity to meet some further female company, it turned out to be a bloody nightmare, well for myself anyway. I had the delight of sharing a raft with a "lovely" lady from the Netherlands. Her only appealing attribute being a rather nice figure, everything else about her was rotten to the core. Now of course that’s probably a little harsh as I didn't get the opportunity to know her properly in such a short space of time, but I got pissed off.
All was fine for the first min or so while we slowly paddled our way of the beach front with the rest of the group, admittedly she wasn't pulling her weight but it wasn't to bad as I was able do the majority of the work. But it was when she outright refused to do anymore paddling because she was tired that I started to get annoyed. Instead she was more preoccupied with possibly damaging a nail, taking photo's of her friends and self (how vain), and generally being a lazy sod while I struggled to keep up with everyone else. SHE EVEN had the cheek to complain about falling behind, pretty much ordering that we should catch up otherwise we'd miss out on the dolphins. How dare she!!! How dare she!!!! Nether the less maybe something clicked in her when I near to collapsing from exhaustion, she decided to pick up her ore and join me in the struggle.
It ended up being the longest 3 hrs of my life and the biggest waist of time ever. Although we did manage to see the odd dorsal fin and tail, the experience was not worth the amount of effort. Maybe if the dolphin sighting's were more intense I may of thought differently, but with everything else that had happened it was just a bad afternoon.
After another evening of drinking, very much needed after that experience, the following morning we left Rainbow Beach courtesy of the Premier Coach Service. Heading for Noosa for a night, a place we were pretty much told to visit, before reaching Brisbane the following day just in time to see the Ashes start and hopefully join in the party atmosphere. What were the chance of us being in Brisbane at the same time, as if it was almost planned!!!!
Noosa was pretty cool and looking back I wished we'd stayed longer. Really chilled out (even with schoolies on) with a calm feeling everywhere, I don't think there is anyone who could dislike Noosa. Well with the exception of Steveo and Mark who couldn't wait to leave due to the lack of party atmosphereat hostel and in town. Then again it was a tuesday, what were they expecting.
Ad's and I after exploring the place with the lads and a bit of relaxation time on Main Beach spent the evening with Nadja and Lena, the two German Ladies we had met on Fraser. Nadja's a good laugh and easy to get on with where as Lena's English isn't the best, and well my German is non existent thus making conversation a little differcult. Overall a good evening though ending with me passing out in bed reasonably early. I was shattered!
The following morning we left for Brissy, sad to be leaving as the place had quickly grown on us both even though it was slighty pricey, but at the same time it was only 'two more sleeps' to the Ashes and now they were within touching distance.
With Fraser finished and myself safely back on the mainland in Dingo's, our Hostel for the next two nights, some much needed rest was required. With some Dolphin Kayaking planned along with a lot of nothing, it would be easy for us to catch our breath from all that passed over the last few days. As usual though I was wrong. It seems that as a backpacker there is never a restful moment, especially when travelling with Steve and Mark.
It would turn out that a large part of our East Coast would be spent with these two jokers. From Nottingham, their personality attributes had already started to become well and truly apparent from the Whit Sundays the previous week. Sleazy, funny, loud, outgoing, quirky lads, at times they impossible not to get on with and while at others you wondered why you were with them. They were so full on, you felt overwhelmed by them within a matter of minutes just from listening and in need in a break. Mark's laughter was infectious, Steve's humor was outrageous and together they were a comedy attack that would rival some of the worlds greatest. Well maybe not.
The most memorable of attributes that these two lads posses though was their desire and persistency with the ladies. It was at times impressive to watch them work the 'magic' as they certainly had the 'gift of the gab', attaining there prize's on more than one occasion. It was never going to be a quite time with these two. With drinking every night and more alcohol consumed than I care to remember they certainly knew how to enjoy themselves constantly.
The one time we have an afternoon without them on rainbow beach (we were sharing a dorm as well) was when Ad's and I embarked at lunch for a little Dolphin Kayaking just down the beach. Relishing the idea of gently paddling for the whole afternoon, with the opportunity to see some more local inhabitants, we were looking forward to the chillout session. Little did we know (again we were wrong) it would turn out to be an incredibly hard exercise workout with very little reward.
Now not trying to be sexist, but it all basically started when being paired up with the ladies from the group participating that afternoon. Although maybe seen as a blessing, allowing the perfect opportunity to meet some further female company, it turned out to be a bloody nightmare, well for myself anyway. I had the delight of sharing a raft with a "lovely" lady from the Netherlands. Her only appealing attribute being a rather nice figure, everything else about her was rotten to the core. Now of course that’s probably a little harsh as I didn't get the opportunity to know her properly in such a short space of time, but I got pissed off.
All was fine for the first min or so while we slowly paddled our way of the beach front with the rest of the group, admittedly she wasn't pulling her weight but it wasn't to bad as I was able do the majority of the work. But it was when she outright refused to do anymore paddling because she was tired that I started to get annoyed. Instead she was more preoccupied with possibly damaging a nail, taking photo's of her friends and self (how vain), and generally being a lazy sod while I struggled to keep up with everyone else. SHE EVEN had the cheek to complain about falling behind, pretty much ordering that we should catch up otherwise we'd miss out on the dolphins. How dare she!!! How dare she!!!! Nether the less maybe something clicked in her when I near to collapsing from exhaustion, she decided to pick up her ore and join me in the struggle.
It ended up being the longest 3 hrs of my life and the biggest waist of time ever. Although we did manage to see the odd dorsal fin and tail, the experience was not worth the amount of effort. Maybe if the dolphin sighting's were more intense I may of thought differently, but with everything else that had happened it was just a bad afternoon.
After another evening of drinking, very much needed after that experience, the following morning we left Rainbow Beach courtesy of the Premier Coach Service. Heading for Noosa for a night, a place we were pretty much told to visit, before reaching Brisbane the following day just in time to see the Ashes start and hopefully join in the party atmosphere. What were the chance of us being in Brisbane at the same time, as if it was almost planned!!!!
Noosa was pretty cool and looking back I wished we'd stayed longer. Really chilled out (even with schoolies on) with a calm feeling everywhere, I don't think there is anyone who could dislike Noosa. Well with the exception of Steveo and Mark who couldn't wait to leave due to the lack of party atmosphereat hostel and in town. Then again it was a tuesday, what were they expecting.
Ad's and I after exploring the place with the lads and a bit of relaxation time on Main Beach spent the evening with Nadja and Lena, the two German Ladies we had met on Fraser. Nadja's a good laugh and easy to get on with where as Lena's English isn't the best, and well my German is non existent thus making conversation a little differcult. Overall a good evening though ending with me passing out in bed reasonably early. I was shattered!
The following morning we left for Brissy, sad to be leaving as the place had quickly grown on us both even though it was slighty pricey, but at the same time it was only 'two more sleeps' to the Ashes and now they were within touching distance.
DAY 51 to DAY 53 - Fraser Island!
Fri 17th Nov - Sunday 19th Nov"Ahhh! Ahhh!". The sound that immediately proceeded the clattering of the 4x4 traversing a creek. Immediately I slammed on the brakes bringing the Juggernaught to a stationary position almost instantaneously. What had happened, I thought to myself. Had more tomatoes fallen of the roof into the beach due to some no doubt sloppy packing, or was it the shear shock of the drop and lack of warning that had led to the girls into another screaming fit. Either way, it surely couldn't be too serious, I was trying my best to drive as steadily as possible. Surprisingly enough though I was wrong. The whiteness of Tess's face told a very different story as I glanced round to see that everyone was okay. What had happed. What had th
e hell had I caused this time. I think being the driver of the vehicle leaves you in a position where you’re always going to feel responsible for anything that happens inside the confines of the metal chassis. Especially when there is no other obvious person to blame. It would become apparent later that this was clearly no-ones fault, a freak accident to which could have happened to anyone, but it sure didn't feel that way for a good few days. Through the screaming and shouting of "Wrap it up" and "put pressure on it", I knew someone was hurt. The mention of blood going everywhere-conjured images of severed limbs from movies such Kill Bill and sent me instantly into a state of shock. Scrambling out the driver’s door just to get some air, let alone open the back door to let people out and to see what had happened, my motor functions seemed to fail to work. The emotional responses of everyone in 
the vehicle was overpowering and seemed to make even the simplest of tasks all the more difficult. Opening the back door there was urgency about everyone. The direction of some people’s eyes and others turned heads fixed towards Kieran, this was the place of incident, and this was the place where the trauma was coming from. Looking across I saw his hand grasping low, and it was then within a split second that all had been revealed. Clutching his, his big toe was a bloody mess, looking like it had been hacked to pieces. We had to do something and fast. Towels were thrown forward primarily to cover the damage up as the feeling of sickness set in among some of the girls, mark, and Kieran him self. There obviously aided in applying pressure and stopping the blood from spilling everywhere from the huge gash, which now dominated Kieran foot. With our breath regained partially the decision was made to head for help. Where though? Fraser Island being very remote and with little civilization, there seemed little chance of medical facilities. The only thing within reasonable driving distance was a small shop and camping sight we'd used earlier on our stay and thus, being the only real option we headed towards it as quick as humanly possible.
Being in the fairly shocked state, will a sense of self-blame on my shoulders, there was no way I was going to drive, and so Steveo took over. The drive seemed to take forever, with everyone quiet from the shock of all that happened. The only words spoken were those of comforting Kieran, trying to keep him as occupied from the gash on his foot. Reassurances of "everything will be fine" and "don't worry mate" spring to mind. Making the shop we got Kieran straight out the back, lying him down with his leg elevated to try and alleviate the bleeding. By this point the girls and mark, the big wimp, have scampered away to try escape the event that was Kieran's toe. I on the the other hand feeling guilty as sin was trying to help as much as possible. No doubt a method to redeem some of self blame but with no avail. With Kieran talking about passing out and "throw up", he still still had time to tell me that it was all an accident and that no-one could possibly be blamed. Kieran's a great bloke. Tall Irish fella with a large build, short redish brown hair and a face best described as, well Irish, his most memorable traits being; - An Irish Accent so thick it was near impossible the majority of times to understand - A high tolerance for pain as he never once screamed or swore - And a very low tolerance for alcohol considering his sized, he got pissed far to easily and drank most nights. The shop keeper was really helpful, providing a first aid kit and directions to the ambulance station a 30 min drive away. It was either this or call for the flying doctors, and considering the associated cost this was best left for the major emergencies. Leaving the rest of the group behind promising to be as quick as possible, Kieran, Adam, Mum (Claire), Steveo at the wheel and I headed out. Using the again the beach as the motorway we rushed south to seek some much needed proffesional medical attention. Kieran was lying in the back of the truck, Adam and I either side for support. 30 mins later we arrived where the paramedic manning the station examined and cleaned up the injured article. It looked pretty bad and luckily nothing had broken. Even more of a bonus was that it would be safe to leave it for a day or so before seeking further medical attention and thus allowing Kieran to experience the remainder of the island, although swimming was off the cards. Whilst the specialist worked on his toe we all distracted him by taking photo's, asking him to pose for all in true Kieran style. If I'm honest though we also did it to have a photographic record to remind us of all that had happened that day.
With everything now resolved as well as could be giving the circumstances and with a little DIY badaging to keep the sand away from the toe (I now hate sand, it get everywhere), we were back on our way to continue the island adventure. Overall it was amazing and I was flabbergasted by some of the sights, Lake Wabby and Mackenzie being the real eye openers, but isn't it funny how the most memorable moments are those of trauma and chaos.Lake Wabby is found about 1km in from the coast and approximately half way up the 160km island. With an amazing emerald green colour, in contrast to the perfect blue sea seen up and down Au's coastline, it made the place very unique. Put into the mix the steep sand dunes that run into and around the lake and frame it perfectly with some of the bushland on the other side its quite easy to forget that where you other with the scene looking more like an oasis in the middle of the Sahara. No wonder this place is talked about up and down the entire eastern coast by fellow backpackers/travellers.
Running down the sand dunes and diving into the water is a common event for all those crazy enough to do it, we on the other hand decided against it. Not because we were wimps or boring (it looked like amazing fun), but simply cautious due to the paramedic mentioning 3 people every year become quadriplegics from performing the travellers ritual, falling into mangled heap and ending up in the water at the bottom. I'm sure many people would think twice if they knew the dangers and likely hood of becoming wheel chair bound for the rest of their lives, but then again i'm sure many wouldn't.
Lake Mackenzie on the other hand is a completely different experience. Further south and inland, it took what seemed like hours to get there. To be honest it was probably longer, but due to the ipod connection in the car and music blasting out the 4x4's speakers, the groups collective singing and general pissing about seemed to make time move a lot quicker. Even after all that had happened with the foot incident, everyone even started to enjoy the huge dumps and diverts along the dirt track. There was still a large amount of cation concerning the positioning of toes so to avoid a reenactment.
Upon arriving, the first thing that hits you is the shear size and how blue the water is. This lake is bloody massive considering its on an island off the coast of Aus. Mind you over here, geographically speaking anyways, everything seems big. With another perfect weather day you vouldn't help but lose yourself in the surroundings. As the day continued the place got busier and busier becoming more of a holiday resort than a remote location.
Ad's and I took it upon ourselves to use this time to catch up on a bit of body maintenance. With a bit of limbering up we were ready to start the long distance main beach to a spit some 600-700m away that stuck out about halfway across the entire lake. Adam as per usual sped into the distance where as I took a more leisurely pace to ensure that I made the entire distance without drowning. Being a fresh water lake there was no added buoyancy to aid me. About half way the crossed my mind as to what the hell I was doing, but as per usual I put my head down and just got on with it. I still hate swimming. Making the shore I was a little bit out of breath, and even more so when Adam and another guy had been observing me for the final stint, informing me that there was something under the water following me popping its head up about 15m behind. This pretty much confirmed that there was no chance I was swimming back, instead the sandy beach would provide a suitable running track and safer route back. Adam the mad man that he is still swam. Admittedly it was probably a turtle but I wasn't staying to find out.
Soon after we jumped back in the 4x4, this time racing against time to make the ferry back to base camp at Rainbow beach. This was nearly without incident, but surprise surprise something had to happen. About 2mins from the ferry and Steveo decided to take us all on a little detour of the beach track and nearly into the sea. This was thankfully just about averted with screams and all, and we finally all made it safely to the ferry, well with the exception of Kierans foot.
Overall Fraser Island was awesome and probably my most favourite part of the east coast even with all that had happened. With beautiful surroundings and a great group, it's no doubt something i'll never be able to forget and constantly wish I was back at. Thrown all together with 2 nights of camping, plenty of alcohol (Ad's and I drank all our Goon on the first night, memory laps resulted), and some manic driving which would scare anyone at times, its easily an experience that comes highly recommended.
DAY 46 to DAY 49 - Airlee beach - Cape Canaveral to the Whits
Sunday 12th Nov - Wed 15th Nov
The carnival had come to town on arrival at Airlee. Children everywhere with floats of colour and music passing up and down the main street. It was certainly a welcome to remember, giving the place an instant feel of party, which defiantly turned out to be the case. Airlee is the launch pad for the Whit Sundays, the place where backpackers and holiday makers come before boarding a boat to see the world heritage sight of White Haven and its surrounding Island. Its also the place where much alcohol is consumed, and booze cruise begins. The Whit Sundays are a collection of Islands just of the coast of main land Aus, proving to be the major tourist attraction in
Queensland. Hence its another one of those boxes that just had to be ticked. There are hundreds of boats docked in the marina ready to take tourists out and around. From 5* hotels on water to the large boats made for taking as many people in one go for a more affordable price, there was a whole host of choice. I'm happy to say that the decision was easy and the large cheap option courtesy of Peter Pans one hands down, and it turned out to be bloody awesome. The Maxi Sailing boat Boomerang was our home for the next two nights, along with 26 fellow passengers. With cramp living conditions probably like those of the old slave ships, it would have been unbearable for any longer period time, but us was ideal environment to get to know some of our fellow travellers. Kerry, Ian, Mark, Steveo
, Ben & Kerry, Matt and Kieran to name a few. Each with their own stories to tell and abnormalities (Ian and Bens feet were weird), time with all was brilliant and thus made the trip pass a little too quickly. Two memories dominate the entire trip, White Haven Sands which is probably the most jaw dropping sight I have and will ever see, and a night at a pub located in the middle of nowhere on an island with nothing else around for miles. Saying that though the sunset was something special, as well as the snorkeling which easily rivalled that we experienced in Cairns if not beat it hands down just due to the large amount of sea life present.
White Haven is the mother of all beaches. So named I would imagine due to its perfectly white sand, the contrast in turquoise blue of the sea creates a canvas no painter could recreate. I'm sure the mass photo's both Adam and I took will never do this place justice and to truly appreciate this place I recommend everyone come. When walking on the sand, its so fine that it makes the sound of "crunching" like snow. in fact apparently the sand here is the finest natural source in the world hence why it was used for the mirror on Hubble.
With our Stinger Suits on (my god we all looked like prats) we ran into the sea Baywatch style. Warmer than a bath at home, it provided a refreshing opportunity away from the tight confinement on Boomerang. We spent the entire afternoon playing football, sunbathing, and generally mucking around with our fellow travellers, lapping up the beautiful surrounding we found ourselves in. It still wasn't enough time, and I could have quite easily spent a few days here. 
Later that evening when back on Boomerang we sailed to our stop over point for the night, parking as it were next to a pub situated in the middle of nowhere. With a little persuasion, well actually a lot of nagging from all the passengers to Jimmie the skipper, we took the dingy across for a couple of drinks. A small contingency of us continued the party when back on Boomer continued the festivities in a ritual in finishing of the Esky (admittedly half of it wasn't even our alcohol but this was the last night and we couldn't see any harm).
The trip ended and we all arranged to meet up at Beeches later that night. Firstly because it would be a good laugh to see everyone out and about other than on the boat, and secondly because for every 4 people that turned a free jug of beer was provided. There's nothing like alcohol to draw in a crowd.
The evening ended up being another night of drinking and pissing about, with the lads (well nearly all) ending up in a club where a female topless competition was taking place. Oh yeah I should have said that apart from alcohol, there's nothing like half naked women to draw in a crown of men. After many Snake Bites (which they make with cherry cordial out here, very nice) I was pretty wrecked and Adam and I stumbled back to the hostel.
The carnival had come to town on arrival at Airlee. Children everywhere with floats of colour and music passing up and down the main street. It was certainly a welcome to remember, giving the place an instant feel of party, which defiantly turned out to be the case. Airlee is the launch pad for the Whit Sundays, the place where backpackers and holiday makers come before boarding a boat to see the world heritage sight of White Haven and its surrounding Island. Its also the place where much alcohol is consumed, and booze cruise begins. The Whit Sundays are a collection of Islands just of the coast of main land Aus, proving to be the major tourist attraction in
Queensland. Hence its another one of those boxes that just had to be ticked. There are hundreds of boats docked in the marina ready to take tourists out and around. From 5* hotels on water to the large boats made for taking as many people in one go for a more affordable price, there was a whole host of choice. I'm happy to say that the decision was easy and the large cheap option courtesy of Peter Pans one hands down, and it turned out to be bloody awesome. The Maxi Sailing boat Boomerang was our home for the next two nights, along with 26 fellow passengers. With cramp living conditions probably like those of the old slave ships, it would have been unbearable for any longer period time, but us was ideal environment to get to know some of our fellow travellers. Kerry, Ian, Mark, Steveo
, Ben & Kerry, Matt and Kieran to name a few. Each with their own stories to tell and abnormalities (Ian and Bens feet were weird), time with all was brilliant and thus made the trip pass a little too quickly. Two memories dominate the entire trip, White Haven Sands which is probably the most jaw dropping sight I have and will ever see, and a night at a pub located in the middle of nowhere on an island with nothing else around for miles. Saying that though the sunset was something special, as well as the snorkeling which easily rivalled that we experienced in Cairns if not beat it hands down just due to the large amount of sea life present.
White Haven is the mother of all beaches. So named I would imagine due to its perfectly white sand, the contrast in turquoise blue of the sea creates a canvas no painter could recreate. I'm sure the mass photo's both Adam and I took will never do this place justice and to truly appreciate this place I recommend everyone come. When walking on the sand, its so fine that it makes the sound of "crunching" like snow. in fact apparently the sand here is the finest natural source in the world hence why it was used for the mirror on Hubble.
With our Stinger Suits on (my god we all looked like prats) we ran into the sea Baywatch style. Warmer than a bath at home, it provided a refreshing opportunity away from the tight confinement on Boomerang. We spent the entire afternoon playing football, sunbathing, and generally mucking around with our fellow travellers, lapping up the beautiful surrounding we found ourselves in. It still wasn't enough time, and I could have quite easily spent a few days here. 
Later that evening when back on Boomerang we sailed to our stop over point for the night, parking as it were next to a pub situated in the middle of nowhere. With a little persuasion, well actually a lot of nagging from all the passengers to Jimmie the skipper, we took the dingy across for a couple of drinks. A small contingency of us continued the party when back on Boomer continued the festivities in a ritual in finishing of the Esky (admittedly half of it wasn't even our alcohol but this was the last night and we couldn't see any harm).
The trip ended and we all arranged to meet up at Beeches later that night. Firstly because it would be a good laugh to see everyone out and about other than on the boat, and secondly because for every 4 people that turned a free jug of beer was provided. There's nothing like alcohol to draw in a crowd.The evening ended up being another night of drinking and pissing about, with the lads (well nearly all) ending up in a club where a female topless competition was taking place. Oh yeah I should have said that apart from alcohol, there's nothing like half naked women to draw in a crown of men. After many Snake Bites (which they make with cherry cordial out here, very nice) I was pretty wrecked and Adam and I stumbled back to the hostel.
DAY 41 to DAY 45 - FROM PARTY PLACE CAIRNS TO PEACEFUL MAGNETIC
Tues 7th Nov - Sat 11th Nov
Being in Queensland, there are several boxes that as a traveller you are expected to tick. One of them being a day visit to the great barrier reef which is accessible pretty much anywhere north of Brisbane. Me being the non-conformist that I am, decided that this was a must do activity and hence Adam and I took a boat trip out to sea the supposed wonders of the sea. Unsure of what really to expect, the day turned out to be awesome, with one of my most predominant memories involving diving for 25 mins (note this 
was the first time I have even dived before) or so, on the ocean floor amongst the coral of the barrier, and swimming along a turtle. Absolutely Stunning!! Elegantly and gracefully gliding through the water with ease, and that was just me, let alone the turtle. I'm sure retrospectively the turtle had a different opinion of my swimming, no doubt looking like a complete idiot with no rhythm or swimming ability. When not diving snorkeling was the aim of the day, seeming rather lame when compared. It turned out to be a well worth while experience, but looking back on it I couldn't really see myself rushing to do it again. I think its one of those things you have to do once in your life time, to tick the box as it were, but once completed that's it. Afterwards there was no personal burning desire to get back in a wet suit asap.
Later that same week we left for Townsville at 7:30 in the morning. Premier Coach service being our chariot from Cairns to Sydney, a cheaper alternative the nationally acclaimed Greyhound service. Unfortunately our first leg of the east coast nearly turned out to be a near disaster, with a close shave in missing the coach. 2 mins later and we would have been well and screwed. Was this an omen of the trip to come, some would say looking in hindsight yes! We made it to Townsville where we hauled our heavy luggage to the transfer terminal for Magnetic Island a short walk away. It was the first time we used the backpack straps of our bags and judging by the amount of effort and pain involved, probably the last. Arriving on Magnetic, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but then there's a shock. The place was quiet, a little too quiet, if you know what I mean. Somewhere that the locals of Townsville use to escape the hustle and bustle of the small city, its desolate with probably a population just about large enough to fill a London bus. Staying a Maggies, literally on the beach of Horseshoe Bay, the place was instantly cast its spell of relaxation and tranquility. An ideal place to read, as there is little else that can be done during the day, this was the scene where I starting reading. I never really read books. Magazines, the occasional paper and the Internet yes, but siting down and indulging in a novel has never really taken place. Now with days of quite literally nothing to do but it on the beach and soak up the sun, I have found a new found interest with the like of Brown, Mcnab and Cornwell. With the constant background sound of gently breaking waves, i
t was easy to lose yourself for the whole day in a good book. It was good that reading had become a predominant part of my day, as without it there was little to do on Magnetic. A few sighting exercises of the once again amazing beaches, with there rich blue sea's and framed with the perfectly clear sky, it was all typically Australian. I'd never thought I'd here myself say this, but beaches are becoming repetitive, very repetitive.To escape them, we also embarked on the Fort Walk, a small climbing surprising enough to a old Fort post originating from the second world war. It also provided the opportunity to seem some of the native wild life.
Home at the time to 3 gun emplacements protecting Aus from the overwhelming threat of invasion from the Jap's, its no surprise depending on how good your history is to find they were only fired once. It was also no surprise to find that the ship fired upon was American, forgetting to inform the Australian coast of their arrival. Stupid Americans!
We finished our top in this area with a quick look round Townsville. With a sun burnt head it was about time I purchased a hat, and seeming the cricket was upon us soon, well suprise surprise a cricket hat it was. With more books aswell, we took a quick look around the town and up to Anzac Memorial Park. Although staying in Townsville for a matter of hours, this felt like ample time as the city appeared to have very little to offer.
Being in Queensland, there are several boxes that as a traveller you are expected to tick. One of them being a day visit to the great barrier reef which is accessible pretty much anywhere north of Brisbane. Me being the non-conformist that I am, decided that this was a must do activity and hence Adam and I took a boat trip out to sea the supposed wonders of the sea. Unsure of what really to expect, the day turned out to be awesome, with one of my most predominant memories involving diving for 25 mins (note this 
was the first time I have even dived before) or so, on the ocean floor amongst the coral of the barrier, and swimming along a turtle. Absolutely Stunning!! Elegantly and gracefully gliding through the water with ease, and that was just me, let alone the turtle. I'm sure retrospectively the turtle had a different opinion of my swimming, no doubt looking like a complete idiot with no rhythm or swimming ability. When not diving snorkeling was the aim of the day, seeming rather lame when compared. It turned out to be a well worth while experience, but looking back on it I couldn't really see myself rushing to do it again. I think its one of those things you have to do once in your life time, to tick the box as it were, but once completed that's it. Afterwards there was no personal burning desire to get back in a wet suit asap.
Later that same week we left for Townsville at 7:30 in the morning. Premier Coach service being our chariot from Cairns to Sydney, a cheaper alternative the nationally acclaimed Greyhound service. Unfortunately our first leg of the east coast nearly turned out to be a near disaster, with a close shave in missing the coach. 2 mins later and we would have been well and screwed. Was this an omen of the trip to come, some would say looking in hindsight yes! We made it to Townsville where we hauled our heavy luggage to the transfer terminal for Magnetic Island a short walk away. It was the first time we used the backpack straps of our bags and judging by the amount of effort and pain involved, probably the last. Arriving on Magnetic, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but then there's a shock. The place was quiet, a little too quiet, if you know what I mean. Somewhere that the locals of Townsville use to escape the hustle and bustle of the small city, its desolate with probably a population just about large enough to fill a London bus. Staying a Maggies, literally on the beach of Horseshoe Bay, the place was instantly cast its spell of relaxation and tranquility. An ideal place to read, as there is little else that can be done during the day, this was the scene where I starting reading. I never really read books. Magazines, the occasional paper and the Internet yes, but siting down and indulging in a novel has never really taken place. Now with days of quite literally nothing to do but it on the beach and soak up the sun, I have found a new found interest with the like of Brown, Mcnab and Cornwell. With the constant background sound of gently breaking waves, i
t was easy to lose yourself for the whole day in a good book. It was good that reading had become a predominant part of my day, as without it there was little to do on Magnetic. A few sighting exercises of the once again amazing beaches, with there rich blue sea's and framed with the perfectly clear sky, it was all typically Australian. I'd never thought I'd here myself say this, but beaches are becoming repetitive, very repetitive.To escape them, we also embarked on the Fort Walk, a small climbing surprising enough to a old Fort post originating from the second world war. It also provided the opportunity to seem some of the native wild life.
Home at the time to 3 gun emplacements protecting Aus from the overwhelming threat of invasion from the Jap's, its no surprise depending on how good your history is to find they were only fired once. It was also no surprise to find that the ship fired upon was American, forgetting to inform the Australian coast of their arrival. Stupid Americans!We finished our top in this area with a quick look round Townsville. With a sun burnt head it was about time I purchased a hat, and seeming the cricket was upon us soon, well suprise surprise a cricket hat it was. With more books aswell, we took a quick look around the town and up to Anzac Memorial Park. Although staying in Townsville for a matter of hours, this felt like ample time as the city appeared to have very little to offer.
DAY 33 to DAY 40 - Cassowary's
Monday 30th Oct - Monday 6th Nov
Well guys you have gathered that keeping a blogg going is a lot more difficult than first perceived. Not only does it take a long time, dedication and a flare for writhing, non of which I have, it also require net access which is difficult to get and more importantly expensive. But anyways here we are. Since the last boring edition of Adam and Iain's adventure in Aus a lot has happened and been learned. In fact, probably to much. We finished working at Millers realizing that data entry is an amazingly tedious and repetitive task which requires the brain capacity of a new born. Admittedly though it provides the opportunity to use the internet all day and sit in an air conditioned office all day with free coffee.
Visiting Canberra, an odd place due to its overly designed layout with roads in geometric patterns any mathematician would be proud of, we got to sit in the public gallery of the house of representatives during question time. This confirmed my suspicions that Mps are all a bunch of crooks, whom never give a straight answer and would most probably steel candy from a baby. We got to see “Johno” perform, although he did come across as a tad arrogant. I also got to see a portrait of Robert Menzies, a supposed relative of mine whom also turns out to be the most renowned and longest serving Australian prime minister ever.
We also visited the Australian institute of Sport, an academic facility that only teaches funnily enough sporting courses. It highlights the amazing resources Australia has to offer its athletes (including saltwater sleeping booths) and provides an explanation as to why they kick our ass at nearly every sport under the sun.
We have also discovered that staying in one place at the beginning of a year out isn’t the best idea and hence have left Sydney for Cairns so as to start traveling down the east coast before the heat of summer really kicks in over here.
Now this idea seemed amazing at the time, and don’t get me wrong, was and is still the best decision we could have made, but there has been so many little hiccups along the way, that with a touch of foresight may have changed our mind.
The most memorable and now seems famous incident happening in Cape Trib. Found just north of Cairns, Cape Trib is Australia’s answer to the Caribbean. Relaxing aurora with a tropical beaches and rainforest country side, it’s certainly something worth seeing. We decided to Climb Mount Sorrow while there with the two Charlottes we were sharing a dorm with. Warned about the dangers of the hike, with tails of death and missing persons lost forever, we decided to continue anyways thinking how hard and bad 
could things really get.
The hike was hard and arduous, with vertical drops either side of a 1ft wide trail, leeches sucking away at your skin, lack of grip on my shoes, ridiculous humidity, and a language barrier of English and German which made conversation a bitch.
Anyways, we made the summit and the views as expected were worth every sweaty minute. Nothing short of spectacular. As you can imagine we rested for a while and then began our descent. I don’t think any of us really could have predicted what would happen next, but if so it may have changed the decision to climb.
No more that 200m from then end of the 3hr descent, we came across a cassowary. Not spotting it until we were right on top of it, we were amazed to see the Emu like bird with its graceful nature, which is well known throughout Aus due to being of the verge of extinction. As they say though, looks can be deceiving and this bird turned out to be a nightmare straight out of Jurassic Park.
Adam somehow wound up separated from us leaving him open for the bird’s first attack. Running down the steep slopes to get away the bird persuade managing to stab Adams lower side Abs with its beak.
The bird stopped having clearly scared the crap out of Adam, whom now due to his speed was most likely in another state.
It was now the Germans and my turn. We started to back off, but it kept coming, slowly increasing its speed to ensure the gap between us got shorter and shorter.
Realizing moving away was futile I stopped, the Charlottes following suite, although some what safer being considerably farther up the path. Whether this was the right thing to do, god only knows. Surprisingly though the Cassowary also stopped, and for about 5 heart palpitating mins, which seemed like a life time, groomed its self. But then suddenly it began to circle, separating me from the girls and ending up within arms length of me. Looking directly at me as I did it, the animal cast a shadow over me as it stood easily a foot taller.
Enough was enough, fear had really started to kick in and the basic instinct of running was taking over. I “legged” it without looking back, unsure if I was being pursued.
After a good 50m I looked back finding myself alone. Relief started to set in.
To conclude, whilst this was all happening the Germans had climbed a tree, and Adam was mot probably in Mexico by now, and the Cassowary was most probably laughing to itself over its easy victory. To cut the story short, we rescued the girls by making a load of noise with some Spanish blokes, and became local Celeb’s appearing the press due to the nature of the attack.
Oh yeah, then we went white water rafting where at one point I nearly drowned. So all is well in Aus.
Well guys you have gathered that keeping a blogg going is a lot more difficult than first perceived. Not only does it take a long time, dedication and a flare for writhing, non of which I have, it also require net access which is difficult to get and more importantly expensive. But anyways here we are. Since the last boring edition of Adam and Iain's adventure in Aus a lot has happened and been learned. In fact, probably to much. We finished working at Millers realizing that data entry is an amazingly tedious and repetitive task which requires the brain capacity of a new born. Admittedly though it provides the opportunity to use the internet all day and sit in an air conditioned office all day with free coffee.
Visiting Canberra, an odd place due to its overly designed layout with roads in geometric patterns any mathematician would be proud of, we got to sit in the public gallery of the house of representatives during question time. This confirmed my suspicions that Mps are all a bunch of crooks, whom never give a straight answer and would most probably steel candy from a baby. We got to see “Johno” perform, although he did come across as a tad arrogant. I also got to see a portrait of Robert Menzies, a supposed relative of mine whom also turns out to be the most renowned and longest serving Australian prime minister ever.
We also visited the Australian institute of Sport, an academic facility that only teaches funnily enough sporting courses. It highlights the amazing resources Australia has to offer its athletes (including saltwater sleeping booths) and provides an explanation as to why they kick our ass at nearly every sport under the sun.We have also discovered that staying in one place at the beginning of a year out isn’t the best idea and hence have left Sydney for Cairns so as to start traveling down the east coast before the heat of summer really kicks in over here.
Now this idea seemed amazing at the time, and don’t get me wrong, was and is still the best decision we could have made, but there has been so many little hiccups along the way, that with a touch of foresight may have changed our mind.
The most memorable and now seems famous incident happening in Cape Trib. Found just north of Cairns, Cape Trib is Australia’s answer to the Caribbean. Relaxing aurora with a tropical beaches and rainforest country side, it’s certainly something worth seeing. We decided to Climb Mount Sorrow while there with the two Charlottes we were sharing a dorm with. Warned about the dangers of the hike, with tails of death and missing persons lost forever, we decided to continue anyways thinking how hard and bad 
could things really get.The hike was hard and arduous, with vertical drops either side of a 1ft wide trail, leeches sucking away at your skin, lack of grip on my shoes, ridiculous humidity, and a language barrier of English and German which made conversation a bitch.
Anyways, we made the summit and the views as expected were worth every sweaty minute. Nothing short of spectacular. As you can imagine we rested for a while and then began our descent. I don’t think any of us really could have predicted what would happen next, but if so it may have changed the decision to climb.
No more that 200m from then end of the 3hr descent, we came across a cassowary. Not spotting it until we were right on top of it, we were amazed to see the Emu like bird with its graceful nature, which is well known throughout Aus due to being of the verge of extinction. As they say though, looks can be deceiving and this bird turned out to be a nightmare straight out of Jurassic Park.
Adam somehow wound up separated from us leaving him open for the bird’s first attack. Running down the steep slopes to get away the bird persuade managing to stab Adams lower side Abs with its beak.
The bird stopped having clearly scared the crap out of Adam, whom now due to his speed was most likely in another state.
It was now the Germans and my turn. We started to back off, but it kept coming, slowly increasing its speed to ensure the gap between us got shorter and shorter.Realizing moving away was futile I stopped, the Charlottes following suite, although some what safer being considerably farther up the path. Whether this was the right thing to do, god only knows. Surprisingly though the Cassowary also stopped, and for about 5 heart palpitating mins, which seemed like a life time, groomed its self. But then suddenly it began to circle, separating me from the girls and ending up within arms length of me. Looking directly at me as I did it, the animal cast a shadow over me as it stood easily a foot taller.
Enough was enough, fear had really started to kick in and the basic instinct of running was taking over. I “legged” it without looking back, unsure if I was being pursued.
After a good 50m I looked back finding myself alone. Relief started to set in.
To conclude, whilst this was all happening the Germans had climbed a tree, and Adam was mot probably in Mexico by now, and the Cassowary was most probably laughing to itself over its easy victory. To cut the story short, we rescued the girls by making a load of noise with some Spanish blokes, and became local Celeb’s appearing the press due to the nature of the attack.
Oh yeah, then we went white water rafting where at one point I nearly drowned. So all is well in Aus.
DAY 18 - 20 WOMENS FASHION WORK Part 1
SUNDAY 15TH OCTOBER
I’ve been told via e-mail (no names but, you know who you are) that my creative writing skills are hardly something to be desired. Now at this point you maybe expecting me to try harder in bringing the whole adventure to life, but I’ve decided that I can’t be bothered and hence why the style probably won’t change. Ha!
So if you can stand the drab factual account, here is the next instalment.
Well, as you know from the last blog, Adam and I both moved into the hostel during Saturday day. Sunday night was the first opportunity that we got to experience the whole community dorm principal, with our room buddy strolling in at some stupid time in the morning completely pissed out her head with a man in tow. Luckily, I suppose, the shock to them was probably greater, and they decided to vacate the room leaving Adam and I both to get back to sleep.
The morning came round and we’d decided to go check out the Car Market for travellers located in Kings Cross, an area renowned for its seedy features, with brothels and prostitutes supposedly every where. That said this was daytime and it was unlikely they would be around, which they weren’t. The area being slightly on the outskirts of the city centre had a run down feel to it, with old high rise building much like London council flats and underground car parks that looked dangerous to venture into.
Surprisingly enough this was the location of the traveller’s car market and when venturing onto the 5 level down it was absolutely shocking. There was probably only about 5 vehicles for sale and all looked like they could fall apart at any moment. I started to really contemplate whether buying a vehicle was worth the risk.
With nothing really to do for the rest of the day, Adam and I decided to venture through to the Royal Botanical gardens, the location where my grandparents apparently got engaged in the 40’s, which is situated right next to the opera house. To get there we walked through a suburb of Sydney called Potts Point. This was a really pleasant area with one main street home to many coffee shops, specialist food shops, and restaurants, giving the area a slightly classier feel than that of Kings Cross.
Along the main street we also found a backpacker’s hostel called the Blue Parrot. Walking inside to check on prices and facilities due to the possibility of moving closer to the city centre in the near future (work dependent), the place had a homely feeling about it. This was probably due to the simpsons being on tv, reminding me of the many a hours spent sat in Pointout with the lads, enjoy the “pure hilarity” that is homer and co.
We continued walking along the harbour front with the chance of rain looking increasingly likely. Even with the relatively bad weather the place looked amazing. The opera house being perfectly framed by the harbour bridge, a photograph no doubt many tourists had taken previously, and would take for many years to come. The only thing that let it down for us was the weather, its amazing what a difference cloud cover makes to a photo. The gardens as well looked picture perfect, with parrots and cockatiels flying between trees and squawking away, giving the place a prehistoric feeling to it.
Afterwards we sat down for a coffee and then returned back by bus as the heavens opened for the first time since we arrived. Once back we ventured to the supermarket to get dinner and in the evening went to the pub. At some point during the evening we met our late night intruder Hailey, our fellow dorm member. From Watford, she was telling us about her travels so far, and how drinking till 6 in the morning was a typical event at Scruphy Murphy’s, the renowned Irish Pub in Sydney. Nice!!!
MONDAY 16TH OCTOBER
Half expecting the communal showers to be packed, we woke up at 7am, trying not to disturb Hailey as we gathered our things. Luckily there was no one about and we went about preparing our selves for what we thought would be an amazingly boring day at work. Keeping to routine, I devoured a large bowl of aussie cereal. Its good that now being in a another country, I can continue on my quest to become a true connoisseur of cereal the world over.
Arriving at work just before 9, we were met by our boss Danilia, whom quickly showed us to our desks and gave a brief (and I mean brief) explanation of what was required. That said, it was hardly difficult, and it looked pretty obvious that after a couple of hours it would become very tedious. The delights of data entry!!!
Basically we’re inputting 4 columns of data into excel; first name, last name, old and new card numbers.
I was lucky compared to Adam having the internet on my computer which aloud me to surf the net whilst supposedly working. That said, the environment is so relaxed and easy going, everyone seems to be using a similar practise. Also Danilia almost said out right to take lots of breaks as she appreciated this would be an incredibly mind numbing task.
This was my first real time working in an office environment and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. With its modern and friendly environment it felt comfortable to work in and time just seemed to fly by. I suppose it also helped that 99% of the workers here are also women which gave us something to look at as well!!!
Whilst working we also met a fellow foreign temp, unsurprisingly another Irish man. Unfortunately his accent was pretty strong and hence why I was unable to decipher his name, but he told us about his journey so far through South America, New Zealand and Australia. Travelling for about 8 months some of things he’d done sounded pretty cool. Again the cost of living in areas such as Asia and South America came into conversation, him quoting figures of 1000 euros to live very comfortably in some places. This again raised some questions to myself e.g. do we stay in Australia where the culture is similar to the UK and living is more expensive for such an extended length of time as first intended? Or do we travel elsewhere to experience a much different way of living, and where the pounds of savings would certainly take us further for longer? This would be something to discuss with Adam at a later date.
The day came to a quick end and we we’re soon back on our way home. Adam and I had already planned afterwards to do our respective exercise routines, Adam swimming in a ridiculously freezing cold pool, while I ran through the chaotic city centre to circle quay and the Royal Botanical’s.
Afterwards we were both knackered, but managed to make our way to Coles supermarket, some 10mins away, for supplies for dinner.
TUESDAY 17TH OCTOBER
Once again Hailey strolled in at some god forsaken hour after another night out with the Irish contingency at Scruphys. I suppose this experience will become second nature as this will undoubtedly be a similar occurrence in all hostels. Performing the same routine as yesterday, we made it to work with plenty of time to spare.
The work was identical, but now with the advantage of knowing the required time to complete our daily quota, we could relax more and use the internet at our own leisure. (Adam had asked for it to be fixed on his computer by this point.) This explains the length of the blog!
During the day Adam and I had been discussing the possibility of changing our plans and travelling to Cairns in a few weeks, working our way down back to Sydney in time for Xmas. The influence for this had undoubtedly come from the various experiences of those at the hostel to whom we had spoken to over the last few days. That of the “Spaniard”, Nina and Arran had made a convincing case.
Although Sydney is a great place and the opportunity of meeting people is vast, we couldn’t quite justify staying in the same place for so long (until January) working, when the opportunity to see new places and meet people simultaneously exists. Plus there is always the opportunity to work on route.
So it seems that Adam and I could be heading east a lot sooner than planned!!!
After work we returned home again, doing retrospective exercises immediately. I know I’ve been drinking and eating too much and everyone knows I’m a bit of a health freak, so it felt good to get the adrenaline buzz once again. We then went shopping again to get a few “bits and bobs” and then chilled in the courtyard area where we met up with the “Spaniard”, Nina and Arran.
I’ve been told via e-mail (no names but, you know who you are) that my creative writing skills are hardly something to be desired. Now at this point you maybe expecting me to try harder in bringing the whole adventure to life, but I’ve decided that I can’t be bothered and hence why the style probably won’t change. Ha!
So if you can stand the drab factual account, here is the next instalment.
Well, as you know from the last blog, Adam and I both moved into the hostel during Saturday day. Sunday night was the first opportunity that we got to experience the whole community dorm principal, with our room buddy strolling in at some stupid time in the morning completely pissed out her head with a man in tow. Luckily, I suppose, the shock to them was probably greater, and they decided to vacate the room leaving Adam and I both to get back to sleep.
The morning came round and we’d decided to go check out the Car Market for travellers located in Kings Cross, an area renowned for its seedy features, with brothels and prostitutes supposedly every where. That said this was daytime and it was unlikely they would be around, which they weren’t. The area being slightly on the outskirts of the city centre had a run down feel to it, with old high rise building much like London council flats and underground car parks that looked dangerous to venture into.
Surprisingly enough this was the location of the traveller’s car market and when venturing onto the 5 level down it was absolutely shocking. There was probably only about 5 vehicles for sale and all looked like they could fall apart at any moment. I started to really contemplate whether buying a vehicle was worth the risk.
With nothing really to do for the rest of the day, Adam and I decided to venture through to the Royal Botanical gardens, the location where my grandparents apparently got engaged in the 40’s, which is situated right next to the opera house. To get there we walked through a suburb of Sydney called Potts Point. This was a really pleasant area with one main street home to many coffee shops, specialist food shops, and restaurants, giving the area a slightly classier feel than that of Kings Cross.Along the main street we also found a backpacker’s hostel called the Blue Parrot. Walking inside to check on prices and facilities due to the possibility of moving closer to the city centre in the near future (work dependent), the place had a homely feeling about it. This was probably due to the simpsons being on tv, reminding me of the many a hours spent sat in Pointout with the lads, enjoy the “pure hilarity” that is homer and co.
We continued walking along the harbour front with the chance of rain looking increasingly likely. Even with the relatively bad weather the place looked amazing. The opera house being perfectly framed by the harbour bridge, a photograph no doubt many tourists had taken previously, and would take for many years to come. The only thing that let it down for us was the weather, its amazing what a difference cloud cover makes to a photo. The gardens as well looked picture perfect, with parrots and cockatiels flying between trees and squawking away, giving the place a prehistoric feeling to it.Afterwards we sat down for a coffee and then returned back by bus as the heavens opened for the first time since we arrived. Once back we ventured to the supermarket to get dinner and in the evening went to the pub. At some point during the evening we met our late night intruder Hailey, our fellow dorm member. From Watford, she was telling us about her travels so far, and how drinking till 6 in the morning was a typical event at Scruphy Murphy’s, the renowned Irish Pub in Sydney. Nice!!!
MONDAY 16TH OCTOBER
Half expecting the communal showers to be packed, we woke up at 7am, trying not to disturb Hailey as we gathered our things. Luckily there was no one about and we went about preparing our selves for what we thought would be an amazingly boring day at work. Keeping to routine, I devoured a large bowl of aussie cereal. Its good that now being in a another country, I can continue on my quest to become a true connoisseur of cereal the world over.
Arriving at work just before 9, we were met by our boss Danilia, whom quickly showed us to our desks and gave a brief (and I mean brief) explanation of what was required. That said, it was hardly difficult, and it looked pretty obvious that after a couple of hours it would become very tedious. The delights of data entry!!!
Basically we’re inputting 4 columns of data into excel; first name, last name, old and new card numbers.
I was lucky compared to Adam having the internet on my computer which aloud me to surf the net whilst supposedly working. That said, the environment is so relaxed and easy going, everyone seems to be using a similar practise. Also Danilia almost said out right to take lots of breaks as she appreciated this would be an incredibly mind numbing task.
This was my first real time working in an office environment and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. With its modern and friendly environment it felt comfortable to work in and time just seemed to fly by. I suppose it also helped that 99% of the workers here are also women which gave us something to look at as well!!!
Whilst working we also met a fellow foreign temp, unsurprisingly another Irish man. Unfortunately his accent was pretty strong and hence why I was unable to decipher his name, but he told us about his journey so far through South America, New Zealand and Australia. Travelling for about 8 months some of things he’d done sounded pretty cool. Again the cost of living in areas such as Asia and South America came into conversation, him quoting figures of 1000 euros to live very comfortably in some places. This again raised some questions to myself e.g. do we stay in Australia where the culture is similar to the UK and living is more expensive for such an extended length of time as first intended? Or do we travel elsewhere to experience a much different way of living, and where the pounds of savings would certainly take us further for longer? This would be something to discuss with Adam at a later date.
The day came to a quick end and we we’re soon back on our way home. Adam and I had already planned afterwards to do our respective exercise routines, Adam swimming in a ridiculously freezing cold pool, while I ran through the chaotic city centre to circle quay and the Royal Botanical’s.
Afterwards we were both knackered, but managed to make our way to Coles supermarket, some 10mins away, for supplies for dinner.
TUESDAY 17TH OCTOBER
Once again Hailey strolled in at some god forsaken hour after another night out with the Irish contingency at Scruphys. I suppose this experience will become second nature as this will undoubtedly be a similar occurrence in all hostels. Performing the same routine as yesterday, we made it to work with plenty of time to spare.
The work was identical, but now with the advantage of knowing the required time to complete our daily quota, we could relax more and use the internet at our own leisure. (Adam had asked for it to be fixed on his computer by this point.) This explains the length of the blog!
During the day Adam and I had been discussing the possibility of changing our plans and travelling to Cairns in a few weeks, working our way down back to Sydney in time for Xmas. The influence for this had undoubtedly come from the various experiences of those at the hostel to whom we had spoken to over the last few days. That of the “Spaniard”, Nina and Arran had made a convincing case.
Although Sydney is a great place and the opportunity of meeting people is vast, we couldn’t quite justify staying in the same place for so long (until January) working, when the opportunity to see new places and meet people simultaneously exists. Plus there is always the opportunity to work on route.
So it seems that Adam and I could be heading east a lot sooner than planned!!!
After work we returned home again, doing retrospective exercises immediately. I know I’ve been drinking and eating too much and everyone knows I’m a bit of a health freak, so it felt good to get the adrenaline buzz once again. We then went shopping again to get a few “bits and bobs” and then chilled in the courtyard area where we met up with the “Spaniard”, Nina and Arran.
Day 15 - 17 - Hostels and Heat
Thursday 12th October
This morning we went to Olympic Site where Adam as per usual went for a swim, Mike for a walk and myself for a run. On our return Adam and I picked up some shopping to make dinner for tonight, Fajitas, and then spent the rest of the day arranging things for Friday.
The temperature at this point was really starting to rocket and on Saturday would reach a sweltering 38 degrees, so staying in the house all day with the air conditioning on was a life saver.
After a good meal we retired in the evening fairly early, watching the recruit with Collin Farrell and Al Pacino. An alright film, but nothing special.
FRIDAY 13th OCTOBER
Went into town fairly early to sign up with some more agencies so that finding work after next week is as easy as possible. In the end it proved a bit of a pain but most places took CV's and details. We then wondered down from circular Quay to Central station, looking at some of the Hostels on route. One of them being absolutely shocking, so dirty and horrible I started to wonder what I had let myself in for. We then found the Alfred Park Hotel (hostel) which was incredibly well located, infinitely better in every way, and pretty cheap, and signed up for a week pretty much instantaneously upon arrival. This is the view from outside which looks pretty awesome.
I got a feeling its going to take a while to get use to living like this again. Just like being in halls at uni in some regards, but with the added non-
privacy of sharing a room, should be interesting how long I last.
SATURDAY 14th OCTOBER
After moving in later that afternoon, Adam and I went to the local shops to get some food for the next couple of days. Trying to remember how to eat cheaply was high on the priority, and made exceedingly more difficult having to take in the exchange rate, weight conversion, and general comparison in price with the UK. Returning back to the hostel after sorting out a small issue of lack of a fridge in our room, we went swimming in the local pool (2 min walk in the park adjacent to the hostel). Afterwards we returned back, cooked dinner and then went down one of the local pubs (cricketer) where we met Steve and his house mates for a drink. Afterwards we went back to his place where we caught the end of Man U vs Wigan and the start of Liverpool vs Blackburn.
This morning we went to Olympic Site where Adam as per usual went for a swim, Mike for a walk and myself for a run. On our return Adam and I picked up some shopping to make dinner for tonight, Fajitas, and then spent the rest of the day arranging things for Friday.
The temperature at this point was really starting to rocket and on Saturday would reach a sweltering 38 degrees, so staying in the house all day with the air conditioning on was a life saver.
After a good meal we retired in the evening fairly early, watching the recruit with Collin Farrell and Al Pacino. An alright film, but nothing special.
FRIDAY 13th OCTOBER
Went into town fairly early to sign up with some more agencies so that finding work after next week is as easy as possible. In the end it proved a bit of a pain but most places took CV's and details. We then wondered down from circular Quay to Central station, looking at some of the Hostels on route. One of them being absolutely shocking, so dirty and horrible I started to wonder what I had let myself in for. We then found the Alfred Park Hotel (hostel) which was incredibly well located, infinitely better in every way, and pretty cheap, and signed up for a week pretty much instantaneously upon arrival. This is the view from outside which looks pretty awesome.I got a feeling its going to take a while to get use to living like this again. Just like being in halls at uni in some regards, but with the added non-
privacy of sharing a room, should be interesting how long I last.SATURDAY 14th OCTOBER
After moving in later that afternoon, Adam and I went to the local shops to get some food for the next couple of days. Trying to remember how to eat cheaply was high on the priority, and made exceedingly more difficult having to take in the exchange rate, weight conversion, and general comparison in price with the UK. Returning back to the hostel after sorting out a small issue of lack of a fridge in our room, we went swimming in the local pool (2 min walk in the park adjacent to the hostel). Afterwards we returned back, cooked dinner and then went down one of the local pubs (cricketer) where we met Steve and his house mates for a drink. Afterwards we went back to his place where we caught the end of Man U vs Wigan and the start of Liverpool vs Blackburn.
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