So after a few days in Brisbane, catching up with Mary and recharging the batteries after my sleep deprevation from room 101, I was ready, finally to get back onto the Oz Experience bus!And begin to explore more of the beautiful aussie land!!! Woo!!
I must say, being back on the bus was great, and made me think of all the great memories from the past! Although, it didn't feel the same without all the 'old gang'!
So my next stop was Surfer's Paradise, the famous gold coast of Australia, where many aussies go on holiday. It's a great area, with high rise sjy scrapers, golden beaches, surrounded by mountains, with many activities to do, and the famous partying!!!
So, on the bus, it was alot alot quieter than usual, probably due to the recent flooding in Brisbane etc, so travellers had migrated further down the coast, where I was heading!!! But I managed to meet a fellow Brit, Claire, and she was one of the funniest people I had meet, so we got on well! She was from where Shakespear is from (let me think.....) (...............) Oh yeah, Stratford upon avon (I think...) When we arrived at destination, after a quick and rather quiet journey, we jumped off the bus, and right into the heart of Surfer's, and booked into a hostel together, right by the beach, ooooo yeaha!!!!
We decided to go and explore the area, very touristy, but still pretty awesome! A BEAUTIFUL beach, with many shops and places to eat, lots for me to do then, lol, and alot of activities to keep me busy! But Claire and I got amushed by a chavy (lol), but friendly girl from Brighton, who was a promoter for pub crawls and the like, giving us a 'great deal'. Four nights of pub crawls and hitting a huge numumber of clubs for a baragin, which in retrospect was actually a pretty SWEEET deals (compared to pricey Sydney). So basically we were doing what all travellers do, when arriving in Surfer's, party, drink and dance!!! So for the next four nights, we went out every night at 6pm (tres early) and began the partying with 400 other people, being plied with free drinks all night, partying till the small hours going from bar to bar, and club to club, and then spent the next day, recovering on the beach. Pretty wicked for SUREEEE!!! We also had some cool people in our room from Norway, and they were doing the same pub crawl; so we all went together, so our last night resulted in a very messy night!!! Lets just say alot alot of tequila, I don't even like tequila (Barf, but it was free and I'm a backpacker, so you know.......Barf). So it was a pretty wicked night, although the next day, we just had to be catching the bus, and man, having a hangover on the bus, is really not a fun thing, and a banging headache to boot, it wasn't a long journey, but long enough for me!!!
I did also manage to something slighty culutured...kinda. I went to the skytower at Surfer's, and had amazing views of the entire Gold Coast, very breathtaking. The beach, and waves lapping against the shore, people playing on the beach, all agaisnt the funky high rise building, man and nature meeting, just spectualar (pics of that on FB now. Yes, I know it's only taken me 4 months to put them on....Sorry about that :O)
So I can sum up my time in Surfer's as, booze, dancing, drinking, sun, sand, sea, pretty much, what anyway backpacker would say of the place! So 4 days was just perfect there, ready to leave and hit the next destination, Byron Bay, for some very muched needed chill time!!!
So after a slow slow journey being hungover on the bus, we had arrived in Byron Bay! Which I had heard many many great things about from literally everyone I meet! So I was pretty pysched for sure! The hostel we stayed at was ace, very funky and right in the heart of Byron. So what's Byron like, I hear you say?! Pretty awesome, a very, very, chilled out place, everyone takes life slowly, very easy going, with people from all walks of life, lots of hippies and inddie people around. I have to say, I have never been anyway like it. Kinda like Camden in London, but warmer (much warmer) with beaches and beautiful scenery, okay maybe not so much like Camden, but you know what I mean.... Although Byron its self, is a pretty small place, a bit to small for moi! Also, this was the first time I had arrived into New South Wales (NSW) state, where Sydney is (argh, that will be my next blog, and a long one, lucky readers). What was great about the hostel I was at, was I managed to run into town friends I made in Melbourne, so there were many crazy times, and we spent the rest of our time in Byron all together, like a happy renunion, woo!
So my first full day in Byron, and it rained. ALL DAY. And the second day it rained. ALL DAY. You can't really do much in Byron when it rains, apart from be bored..... and DRINK!!! So the second night, all our room started drinking, before heading to the very famous CHEEKY MONKEYS! A backpacker bar, full of crazyness! This is where my love affair finally began with beer, and that's because it was free on tap, so I was drinking alot of it, getting drunk, the more I drank of it, lol! Cheeky's is well know, for its dancing on tables, so as the night became dark and later, the music was playing, everyone was drunk on beer, so the dancing on the tables began and went on till the end of the night, awesome!!! As well as, lots of crazy competitions for free shizz and trips and the like, so crazyness all night! A great night indeed, and cheap backpacker meals to boot, bonus!
The next day is was great weather, and although hungover, I was out like a shot to finally explore more of Byron (it didn't take long)! So I went on the famous walk up to Byron lighthouse, an epic walk along the coast. On this walk I managed to visit the most easternly point in aussie land too, woo, claim to fame, ha! The lighthouse was pretty cool and the view from it spellbinding, I even managed to see dolphins, just amazing!!!!
After a lazy one at the beach, it was that time again, back onto the bus and to the next destination. So Claire and I got up early 6am, groan to catch the next bus. We were tired and moody and the bus was late, unimpressed, and then we learnt the bus left an hour earlier than we were told, drama! So we had missed the bus, more bad times for Claire, as she was on a stricter time frame, so she had to catch another bus to catch up with the rest! I had more time, and Oz experience paid for my nights accomadation, score (as they told us the wrong time). It kinda worked out perfectly as I managed to go to the other hostel in Byron I wanted to check out, which is meant to be different to all other hostels, and I was staying there for free!!! And the hostel was very different, there were yoga lessons in the morning, a double decker bus, converted into a dorm, tepees and a huge lake around it all, awesome, as well as boomerang lessons! It had a different vibe as well, I just loved it there, totally different to all other hostels I've been to!
The next day, I caught the bus at the right time, 6am, MOAN! Next stop; Spot X, for surfing!!!! This is where all Oz Experience people get a surfing lesson, as its included in the package. It was my second time surfing and such a great day to do it, blue skies and hot weather, the water was so refreshing! I've gotta say the second time, I had even more fun, the feeling of freedom when surfing on the waves, is just amazing. I just loved it, and was in the water for hours, and even managed to stand up, alot more than my first time! Will deffo be doing some more surfing in the future!
So after a night in Spot X, we were heading to Sydney!!!!!! Finally, after being in Oz, for coming onto 6 months, I was finally getting there! It was soo exciting, as it felt like Sydney had been calling me for a while, so I was sooo ready to get there and live it up, big style!!!
So I've been in Sydney for coming onto 4 months, and have been having the time of my life in this city! My next blog will be all about my time in Sydney, partying and working! Awesomeness!
Until next time,
Angus x
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Melbourne Mania!!!!!
Greetings people of England (Sounds kinda lame I know)
So after a one and half hour flight from Brisbane (makes you realise how big Oz is) I had arrived into Melbourne, to one of Australia's largest cities; and into the state of Victoria for the first time! And it involved putting the clocks forward an hour for daylight saving; meaning=more sunshine in the evening, woooo!!!
After arriving in Melbourne airport and catching the skybus into the city, I had arrived at my home for the next 3 weeks, Nomads Industry (which is a chain hostel company around Oz and NZ, making millions from us poor travellers) and boy was it an interesting 3 weeks! As I was on a tight budget (the joys of travelling....) I went for the 14 bed dorm (the only 14 bed dorm) in a hostel that sleeps, over 400 people! And I was welcomed to the party room, 111. Also know as club 111! Bascially its the party room, where you never sleep, I was in for a great three weeks...... filled with really nice irish and italian people who had been living in this crazy room for over six months....... So let me expand on my experience in 111! So literally every night they would get home from work around 11.30ish pm, put on loud music and drink before heading out (always fun when you have an early start the next day and they are blasting music out till past 1am). Then they would return around 4am, making as much racket as possible and then Dario, the charming italian would then blast out his music again, and keep every in the room who wasn't parting, up, which was always fun...... So that can be one of the negitives of travelling and staying in hostels, I really do sound like a whinney pom now, ha! Why didn't I change room you ask?! Because being a traveller, your always on a budget, and the rooms were more expensive because of the Oz open; and I didnt want to pay any more then I was, okay, ha! There were some adavantages to the room, as I meet some really cool people who I have meet up with since in Sydney, which was rather awesome, whlist putting up with the dross, ha! But this did also mean, sometimes I gave in and joined in with the partying too, if you cant beat them, join em eh?! So I had to get back on the joyous goon once again, wooo.... It does such a good trick of getting you drunk though, woop! Ha! So I headed to a few backpacker nights out and to the treasury casino, which was absolulty HUGE, 3 floors of hardcore gambling, and even two clubs inside, and you guessed it I went to one of them! It was awesome! Nothing like it in the UK for sure!
So being in Melbourne for nearly 3 weeks allowed me to really explore the city and get a feel for Melbourne life! Allowing me to find all the hidden alleyways filled with trendy cafes, resturants, cool shops and bookstores (much to my delight, but not my budget!). To sum up Melbourne I would say its a very cool city, very funky with a really chilled, good feeling atmosphere, which I really loved. Melbourne is filled with lots of culture, history and quirky things! Whlist in the city I did many things: visiting the beautiful botanic gardens, a tour around the Victorian Parliament (which had a lot of British impact on it), federation square a really cool place to chill and one of my favorite places in Melbourne (where they showed the Oz open and had cool live bands play)! Walking along the beautiful Yarra river, visiting musuems about Melbourne's history and an exbition about the movie/tv industry which is a big interest for me, art galleries and the fancy area of Southgate! As well as this I visited the aqaurium, and saw penguins for the first time (I know penguins in Oz, weird huh?!), as well as seeing many other cool creatures, huge mantarays bigger then me, swimming over my head, and sea turtles which were the most magnificent creatures ever! I also visted the funky St.Kilda suburb, and hit the beach (topping up the tan). So I managed to pack in many things, and I haven't even started on the Australian Open yet!! Unfortunalty I didn't manage to go on the Neighbours tour (bad, I know), but I will be back in Melbourne again. AND I will for sure visiting Ramsay St; would be great to meet Carl Kenndy and his band (haha)!
What's that your all saying?! What about the Australian Open?! Details please!!! WELL....words cannot describe how amazing it was, a dream come true for sure!! I went to the Open for 6 days, and had to constantly pinch myself that I was there; as I couldn't believe it! I know 6 days, I was lucky, I bought a 5 day ground pass, which got me into all the courts; apart from the Hisense Arena and the main court Rod Laver! I managed to spend a day on the Hisense arena too (thanks Cath)! I didn't manage to get onto the main court, as the evening matches I wanted to see, were always sold out, which sucked, but that so I guess I have an excuse to come back, so I can go onto the Rod Laver court! There were 25 courts, and I managed to go on every one, bar the Rod! So who did I see, you ask?! Well quite alot of players in 6 days for sure: Murray (was soo awesome cheering him on, especially on the other side of the world), Nadal, yes Nadal (but only on the practise court, but hey, I was like les than 1 metre away from him), Roddick, Birdich, Tsonga, Sodlering, Ferrer, the Byran brothers, Pat Cash and Pat Rafter (two tennis legends) so they were probably the best people I saw, as well as many other lesser known players! On the women's side I saw: Sharapova, Jankovic, Petroviv (semi-finalist), some lovely aussie ladies, Mattek-Sands and as well as before, some lesser known players! So overall I had six days of heaven, watching tennis from 12-10pm every day, watching some awesome matches, supporting the Brits, eating some good food and getting my big nose burnt all the time (not a good look people, ha)!
There was a great atmosphere, as everyone had the same interest, seeing great tennis and players, so the atmosphere was pretty electric! And the aussies were great fun, dressing up and shouting, AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OI, OI, OI! Which made the atmosphere very fun! The first week, there was a huge amount of atmosphere as there were matches going on on all 25 courts and the place was packed, the Australian Open grounds are huge, much bigger than Wimbledon it felt! My last day was awesome, but also sad, I had gotten into a routine of going to the tennis very regularly, and then suddenly it was over... Boo! All good things come to an end, as they say! And I will forever remember being at the Australian Open 2011!
So on the 26th of January every year around Oz, is Australia day!!! Where the entire country has a public holiday and celebrates being an Australian and what is important to them, ie family and friends and living in such a beautiful country! It's also all about drinking..... and that is exactly what we did!! I went to a pub garden with friends and had lunch, whlist soaking up the sun in a chilled atmosphere with a beer in hand! In the evening we went to federation square to watch the fireworks, and then went to a backpackers club and danced the night away! So all in all, a pretty awesome day! Another great memory to add on my journey!
As you all know Australia has a wonderful climate (if only it were the same in the UK....LOL, although I must say I do miss the seasons) but this does mean it can be a volatile climate. So as most of you probably know, in January there was some MAJOR MAJOR flooding in Queensland. It had been one of the wettest summers (talk about unlucky), so the rivers, and ground were already pretty saturated before the storms and torentail rain came (and dams at bursting point). So this caused serious serious flooding where whole towns were literally washed away, water as high up as 10 metres, causing entire towns to be emerged in water. Many people were left left homeless, without any possessions but the clothes on their backs. In some places the flooding happened so suddenly that people were running for their lives! Peoples homes becoming submerged and having to stay on the roof to be resuced. And unfortuanlty many people lost their lives in the tragic floods, and there were many heartbreaking stories. The floods caused millions of dollars in damage, to infrastructure, homes and crops, and Queensland is still recovering now (their tourism industry has been hit hard). But aussies are tough fighters with strong spirits and pullled together everywhere to help their fellow aussies! People really rallied together, donating and raising money, as well as volunteering and helping the hit areas with the recovery process. Luckly Mary and I were fine, and where Mary lives wasn't hit (thank god), so we were okay. I actually left for Melbourne the day before the floods hit Brisbane, which was pretty crazy/good timing on my half! If your saw the images on the tv and videos, the scenes unravling before your eyes, was just so surreal, I couldn't believe what was happening and the devastation that it caused in many ways. I was so glad I had done my travels done the east coast, as that area, was hit really badly; and I knew many people who had to cancel their trips there or miss out parts such as Fraser Island and Whitsundays. It made me very grateful, I missed all the crazy. But it seems now Queensland has really pulled together and recovered alot; and is now again open to travellers.
A few weeks laters, Queensland was hit again, by another natural diaster, this time in the form of a cyclone; cyclone Yasi. Which mainly hit northern Queensland which wasn't really affected by the flooding. It was orginally believed to be a catory 5, the worst, but thankfully got down graded a few hours before it hit. But it still caused alot of structural damage, but nothing that couldn't be fixed! The worst dmaage was done to bannana crops, which caused the prices of them to go up hugley afterwards (glad I don't like em anyways). Thankfully no one lost their lives. I did have a friend staying in Cairns, which got hit, but she was fine!
Rather depressing topics I know, but its all part of the experience of travelling and dealing with new things, and makes you realise we are quite lucky in the UK and don't have such a volatile climate.
So after making some treausred memories in Melbourne, and leaving the crazyness of room 111 behind; I jumped back on a plane and headed back to Brissie for a few days! Again staying with the legend that is Mary, whlist I recharged my batteries. I also got to finally take Mary on a fancy lunch as a crimbo present, was such good food, and of course I had steak, mmmmmm!!! So after a few days chilling in Brissie, I was ready to hit the road again and finally jump back on the bus, excitement!!! And my next stop was Surfer's Paradise! My next blog will let you all know what paradise is like...... ;)
Until next time,
Angus x
So after a one and half hour flight from Brisbane (makes you realise how big Oz is) I had arrived into Melbourne, to one of Australia's largest cities; and into the state of Victoria for the first time! And it involved putting the clocks forward an hour for daylight saving; meaning=more sunshine in the evening, woooo!!!
After arriving in Melbourne airport and catching the skybus into the city, I had arrived at my home for the next 3 weeks, Nomads Industry (which is a chain hostel company around Oz and NZ, making millions from us poor travellers) and boy was it an interesting 3 weeks! As I was on a tight budget (the joys of travelling....) I went for the 14 bed dorm (the only 14 bed dorm) in a hostel that sleeps, over 400 people! And I was welcomed to the party room, 111. Also know as club 111! Bascially its the party room, where you never sleep, I was in for a great three weeks...... filled with really nice irish and italian people who had been living in this crazy room for over six months....... So let me expand on my experience in 111! So literally every night they would get home from work around 11.30ish pm, put on loud music and drink before heading out (always fun when you have an early start the next day and they are blasting music out till past 1am). Then they would return around 4am, making as much racket as possible and then Dario, the charming italian would then blast out his music again, and keep every in the room who wasn't parting, up, which was always fun...... So that can be one of the negitives of travelling and staying in hostels, I really do sound like a whinney pom now, ha! Why didn't I change room you ask?! Because being a traveller, your always on a budget, and the rooms were more expensive because of the Oz open; and I didnt want to pay any more then I was, okay, ha! There were some adavantages to the room, as I meet some really cool people who I have meet up with since in Sydney, which was rather awesome, whlist putting up with the dross, ha! But this did also mean, sometimes I gave in and joined in with the partying too, if you cant beat them, join em eh?! So I had to get back on the joyous goon once again, wooo.... It does such a good trick of getting you drunk though, woop! Ha! So I headed to a few backpacker nights out and to the treasury casino, which was absolulty HUGE, 3 floors of hardcore gambling, and even two clubs inside, and you guessed it I went to one of them! It was awesome! Nothing like it in the UK for sure!
So being in Melbourne for nearly 3 weeks allowed me to really explore the city and get a feel for Melbourne life! Allowing me to find all the hidden alleyways filled with trendy cafes, resturants, cool shops and bookstores (much to my delight, but not my budget!). To sum up Melbourne I would say its a very cool city, very funky with a really chilled, good feeling atmosphere, which I really loved. Melbourne is filled with lots of culture, history and quirky things! Whlist in the city I did many things: visiting the beautiful botanic gardens, a tour around the Victorian Parliament (which had a lot of British impact on it), federation square a really cool place to chill and one of my favorite places in Melbourne (where they showed the Oz open and had cool live bands play)! Walking along the beautiful Yarra river, visiting musuems about Melbourne's history and an exbition about the movie/tv industry which is a big interest for me, art galleries and the fancy area of Southgate! As well as this I visited the aqaurium, and saw penguins for the first time (I know penguins in Oz, weird huh?!), as well as seeing many other cool creatures, huge mantarays bigger then me, swimming over my head, and sea turtles which were the most magnificent creatures ever! I also visted the funky St.Kilda suburb, and hit the beach (topping up the tan). So I managed to pack in many things, and I haven't even started on the Australian Open yet!! Unfortunalty I didn't manage to go on the Neighbours tour (bad, I know), but I will be back in Melbourne again. AND I will for sure visiting Ramsay St; would be great to meet Carl Kenndy and his band (haha)!
What's that your all saying?! What about the Australian Open?! Details please!!! WELL....words cannot describe how amazing it was, a dream come true for sure!! I went to the Open for 6 days, and had to constantly pinch myself that I was there; as I couldn't believe it! I know 6 days, I was lucky, I bought a 5 day ground pass, which got me into all the courts; apart from the Hisense Arena and the main court Rod Laver! I managed to spend a day on the Hisense arena too (thanks Cath)! I didn't manage to get onto the main court, as the evening matches I wanted to see, were always sold out, which sucked, but that so I guess I have an excuse to come back, so I can go onto the Rod Laver court! There were 25 courts, and I managed to go on every one, bar the Rod! So who did I see, you ask?! Well quite alot of players in 6 days for sure: Murray (was soo awesome cheering him on, especially on the other side of the world), Nadal, yes Nadal (but only on the practise court, but hey, I was like les than 1 metre away from him), Roddick, Birdich, Tsonga, Sodlering, Ferrer, the Byran brothers, Pat Cash and Pat Rafter (two tennis legends) so they were probably the best people I saw, as well as many other lesser known players! On the women's side I saw: Sharapova, Jankovic, Petroviv (semi-finalist), some lovely aussie ladies, Mattek-Sands and as well as before, some lesser known players! So overall I had six days of heaven, watching tennis from 12-10pm every day, watching some awesome matches, supporting the Brits, eating some good food and getting my big nose burnt all the time (not a good look people, ha)!
There was a great atmosphere, as everyone had the same interest, seeing great tennis and players, so the atmosphere was pretty electric! And the aussies were great fun, dressing up and shouting, AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OI, OI, OI! Which made the atmosphere very fun! The first week, there was a huge amount of atmosphere as there were matches going on on all 25 courts and the place was packed, the Australian Open grounds are huge, much bigger than Wimbledon it felt! My last day was awesome, but also sad, I had gotten into a routine of going to the tennis very regularly, and then suddenly it was over... Boo! All good things come to an end, as they say! And I will forever remember being at the Australian Open 2011!
So on the 26th of January every year around Oz, is Australia day!!! Where the entire country has a public holiday and celebrates being an Australian and what is important to them, ie family and friends and living in such a beautiful country! It's also all about drinking..... and that is exactly what we did!! I went to a pub garden with friends and had lunch, whlist soaking up the sun in a chilled atmosphere with a beer in hand! In the evening we went to federation square to watch the fireworks, and then went to a backpackers club and danced the night away! So all in all, a pretty awesome day! Another great memory to add on my journey!
As you all know Australia has a wonderful climate (if only it were the same in the UK....LOL, although I must say I do miss the seasons) but this does mean it can be a volatile climate. So as most of you probably know, in January there was some MAJOR MAJOR flooding in Queensland. It had been one of the wettest summers (talk about unlucky), so the rivers, and ground were already pretty saturated before the storms and torentail rain came (and dams at bursting point). So this caused serious serious flooding where whole towns were literally washed away, water as high up as 10 metres, causing entire towns to be emerged in water. Many people were left left homeless, without any possessions but the clothes on their backs. In some places the flooding happened so suddenly that people were running for their lives! Peoples homes becoming submerged and having to stay on the roof to be resuced. And unfortuanlty many people lost their lives in the tragic floods, and there were many heartbreaking stories. The floods caused millions of dollars in damage, to infrastructure, homes and crops, and Queensland is still recovering now (their tourism industry has been hit hard). But aussies are tough fighters with strong spirits and pullled together everywhere to help their fellow aussies! People really rallied together, donating and raising money, as well as volunteering and helping the hit areas with the recovery process. Luckly Mary and I were fine, and where Mary lives wasn't hit (thank god), so we were okay. I actually left for Melbourne the day before the floods hit Brisbane, which was pretty crazy/good timing on my half! If your saw the images on the tv and videos, the scenes unravling before your eyes, was just so surreal, I couldn't believe what was happening and the devastation that it caused in many ways. I was so glad I had done my travels done the east coast, as that area, was hit really badly; and I knew many people who had to cancel their trips there or miss out parts such as Fraser Island and Whitsundays. It made me very grateful, I missed all the crazy. But it seems now Queensland has really pulled together and recovered alot; and is now again open to travellers.
A few weeks laters, Queensland was hit again, by another natural diaster, this time in the form of a cyclone; cyclone Yasi. Which mainly hit northern Queensland which wasn't really affected by the flooding. It was orginally believed to be a catory 5, the worst, but thankfully got down graded a few hours before it hit. But it still caused alot of structural damage, but nothing that couldn't be fixed! The worst dmaage was done to bannana crops, which caused the prices of them to go up hugley afterwards (glad I don't like em anyways). Thankfully no one lost their lives. I did have a friend staying in Cairns, which got hit, but she was fine!
Rather depressing topics I know, but its all part of the experience of travelling and dealing with new things, and makes you realise we are quite lucky in the UK and don't have such a volatile climate.
So after making some treausred memories in Melbourne, and leaving the crazyness of room 111 behind; I jumped back on a plane and headed back to Brissie for a few days! Again staying with the legend that is Mary, whlist I recharged my batteries. I also got to finally take Mary on a fancy lunch as a crimbo present, was such good food, and of course I had steak, mmmmmm!!! So after a few days chilling in Brissie, I was ready to hit the road again and finally jump back on the bus, excitement!!! And my next stop was Surfer's Paradise! My next blog will let you all know what paradise is like...... ;)
Until next time,
Angus x
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Living and working in Brisvegeas!!!
Helloooo guys!!!
The first thing I need to say is.... so sorry for such a delay since my last blog, I've been bad :O But I'm back onto it, as from now! So I can let you all know what crazy things I'm doing...... lol!
Secondly wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope you all had a great white christmas back home (yes, I know I'm very late.... well very late... But better late than never I guess)
Thridly, this blog is pretty long (sorry to bore you guys) as it's two months of things to update you guys with! Just a warning :O Anyway hope you enjoy it.......
This blog is all about my time spent in Brisbane with Mary (my aunt for those of you who don't know) from the beginning of November to early January!
After all my travels down the east coast, it was awesome to see Mary again and stay with her! It was awesome to have my own bedroom, a fridge (filled with nice food), a clean bathroom and not sharing with at least 8 other people!!! I won't take it for granted again, that's for sure!! Can't wait till I'm home and I have my own room again, heaven!! Lol!
So my plan was to stay with Mary for a short while to recharge my batteries, before getting back on the travels, but instead I managed staying for two months (much to Mary's joy...) And actually it was a good thing, as I was low on my funds after all my partying down the coast!!
So I started job hunting (I was pretty game for anything as long as I had some dosh!!) so I went for anything I could get into quickly-in Australia that means sales!! After a less than a week, I had got a job (woo) working for Amnesity International. This company is a charity and works as a human rights defender for people who have no voice. Some of their campagins were: 'end the use of child soliders', 'stop violence against women', and 'demand dignity for the world's poorest people'. So it was pretty cool to be working for a charity that was working for such great causes! My job was to be a sales rep/promoter for Amnesity, where I was put on the street in my 'cool' t-shirt and clipboard and had to approach random strangers to spread the word about Amnesity, the work it does, as well as trying to get people to sign up with us for a monthly sponorship. Yes, I know, I hate sales, but I though it would be a good challenage.... More like a TOUGH challenge!!!
I lasted five days... Bascially I was dropped off on a random street and had to approach people all day. It was soo tough because the majority of people ignore you, or reject you, which is hard to deal with for 6 hours straight!!! Trust me! Constanly people were ignoring you, it was difficult to enage most people as they weren't interested!! In five days I didn't managed to sign anyone up (I had a few really close calls) and you have to met targets. I got paid for my trial week, but after that it was only commission based anyway, which isn't that great. So I took the money and ran..... But I worked for a good cause for a week, managed to spread the word of Amnesity and what it does and I managed to get 100 signitures to free prisioners of conscience(!!!!!) in Bali. So I did some good work. I've just learnt sales is definalty not my career path!!
So after that interesting experience I was back on the job hunt, and was lucky enough to find a job only a few days later :) There was a local cafe/resturant in Manly, where I was living with Mary called 'Boats', which was looking for wait staff! I handed in my cv (or resume as the aussies call it) and had a trial shift on saturday morning (always a fun shift..... especially breakfast, manic busy). But they liked how I worked and I got the job, wooo!!! It was great to work there as it was local and only took 20 minutes to walk there and was situated right by the habour, which was super awesome! As I was there for a while, I made good friends with all the employees and socilised with them outside work, which was great. It's good to be able to work in Oz, because, then you get the real experience of living in Australia and can soak up the culture/lifestyle of ozzies!! I also learnt how to fry chips, crumb, battered etc all the types of aussie fish like snapper and buramundi! As well as becoming a trained barista (which bascially means coffee maker) so I learnt how to make fancy coffees; lattes, cappcinos, long blacks (black coffee), and flat whites, chi lattes, milkshakes, iced chocolates, you name it! So I've picked up a great skill, that I might be able to use when I look for a job in Sydney! So after just over two months, I left to continue my adventures onto Melbourne and the Australian Open!!!
But before that, how was everyones christmas?! Xmas down under was great fun and very different! It was soo hot, unfortunalty it rained, so we didn't make it to the beach. It was weird to be celebrating xmas and being so hot (and sweaty....) Lol! We had our own xmas tree, but it was fake, as it's too hot to have a real one (it still looked awesome though)!! Our christmas dinner consisted of sweet potato and pumpkin roasted (yummers), roasted ham, fancy bay leef potatoes and brussel sprouts (I actually liked them, crazy stuff) with lots of cream (that's probably why) and leeks! Lots of aussies usually have lots of seafood on xmas day (it's tradition), but as Mary is allergic we thought it wouldn't be too fun for her! Our main course was followed by the ultimate ice cream cake, which was three layers of chocolate with 2 different sections, mint ice cream with flake and strawberry ice cream with turkish delight (made from scrath by Mary and I) and it was AMAZING!!! So as usual, christmas involved eating tons of food and putting on at least 10 stone :O I have to say being on the other side of the world for christmas was very strange, espeically not being with family and friends and doing all the usual traditions! I have to say as well, aussies don't seem to embrace xmas as much as the english do, I think it's partly because of the weather, but they don't seem to be as festive people! And to be honest nothing beats christmas at home,the UK really is a great place to be for christmas!! And as always christmas involved presents and lots of great ones, thanks guys! Especially Cathy for the stockings, amazing :D
So a few days after christmas and recovering from all the over eating, New Year's eve was here! And it was time to PARTAY!!!! For new year's eve, I went over to a friends for a house party, which was good fun, whlist drinking lots of strong punch! We then headed into the city for midnight, to watch the Brisbane fireworks by the river! They were pretty awesome and lasted for 10 minutes with a huge variety of fireworks, golden ones, explosive ones, rainbow coloured ones, making huge booms and bangs! It was such a beautiful setting, starting the new year by the river with the sky filled with light and excitement for the coming year! After that we headed to Fortitude Valley, known as the 'Valley' for a few drinks..... and dancing! We all chipped in to hire an apartment in the city, pretty central and by the river!! So 2011 started out rather swnaky with great great people, views and weather!!!
After recovering from my toxic state from NYE, I had a week and a half left at Boats to save money for my trip to Melbourne and the Australian Open!!!!
So before I knew it, I was free from work and on a jetstar plane heading to Melbourne to start my next adventure!!!
That's all for now guys (hope you enjoyed my essay, and I know... not my most exciting blog, wait for Melbourne!!)
I'm just in the midst of writing my Melbourne blog, soo watch this space!!!
Until next time,
Angus x
The first thing I need to say is.... so sorry for such a delay since my last blog, I've been bad :O But I'm back onto it, as from now! So I can let you all know what crazy things I'm doing...... lol!
Secondly wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope you all had a great white christmas back home (yes, I know I'm very late.... well very late... But better late than never I guess)
Thridly, this blog is pretty long (sorry to bore you guys) as it's two months of things to update you guys with! Just a warning :O Anyway hope you enjoy it.......
This blog is all about my time spent in Brisbane with Mary (my aunt for those of you who don't know) from the beginning of November to early January!
After all my travels down the east coast, it was awesome to see Mary again and stay with her! It was awesome to have my own bedroom, a fridge (filled with nice food), a clean bathroom and not sharing with at least 8 other people!!! I won't take it for granted again, that's for sure!! Can't wait till I'm home and I have my own room again, heaven!! Lol!
So my plan was to stay with Mary for a short while to recharge my batteries, before getting back on the travels, but instead I managed staying for two months (much to Mary's joy...) And actually it was a good thing, as I was low on my funds after all my partying down the coast!!
So I started job hunting (I was pretty game for anything as long as I had some dosh!!) so I went for anything I could get into quickly-in Australia that means sales!! After a less than a week, I had got a job (woo) working for Amnesity International. This company is a charity and works as a human rights defender for people who have no voice. Some of their campagins were: 'end the use of child soliders', 'stop violence against women', and 'demand dignity for the world's poorest people'. So it was pretty cool to be working for a charity that was working for such great causes! My job was to be a sales rep/promoter for Amnesity, where I was put on the street in my 'cool' t-shirt and clipboard and had to approach random strangers to spread the word about Amnesity, the work it does, as well as trying to get people to sign up with us for a monthly sponorship. Yes, I know, I hate sales, but I though it would be a good challenage.... More like a TOUGH challenge!!!
I lasted five days... Bascially I was dropped off on a random street and had to approach people all day. It was soo tough because the majority of people ignore you, or reject you, which is hard to deal with for 6 hours straight!!! Trust me! Constanly people were ignoring you, it was difficult to enage most people as they weren't interested!! In five days I didn't managed to sign anyone up (I had a few really close calls) and you have to met targets. I got paid for my trial week, but after that it was only commission based anyway, which isn't that great. So I took the money and ran..... But I worked for a good cause for a week, managed to spread the word of Amnesity and what it does and I managed to get 100 signitures to free prisioners of conscience(!!!!!) in Bali. So I did some good work. I've just learnt sales is definalty not my career path!!
So after that interesting experience I was back on the job hunt, and was lucky enough to find a job only a few days later :) There was a local cafe/resturant in Manly, where I was living with Mary called 'Boats', which was looking for wait staff! I handed in my cv (or resume as the aussies call it) and had a trial shift on saturday morning (always a fun shift..... especially breakfast, manic busy). But they liked how I worked and I got the job, wooo!!! It was great to work there as it was local and only took 20 minutes to walk there and was situated right by the habour, which was super awesome! As I was there for a while, I made good friends with all the employees and socilised with them outside work, which was great. It's good to be able to work in Oz, because, then you get the real experience of living in Australia and can soak up the culture/lifestyle of ozzies!! I also learnt how to fry chips, crumb, battered etc all the types of aussie fish like snapper and buramundi! As well as becoming a trained barista (which bascially means coffee maker) so I learnt how to make fancy coffees; lattes, cappcinos, long blacks (black coffee), and flat whites, chi lattes, milkshakes, iced chocolates, you name it! So I've picked up a great skill, that I might be able to use when I look for a job in Sydney! So after just over two months, I left to continue my adventures onto Melbourne and the Australian Open!!!
But before that, how was everyones christmas?! Xmas down under was great fun and very different! It was soo hot, unfortunalty it rained, so we didn't make it to the beach. It was weird to be celebrating xmas and being so hot (and sweaty....) Lol! We had our own xmas tree, but it was fake, as it's too hot to have a real one (it still looked awesome though)!! Our christmas dinner consisted of sweet potato and pumpkin roasted (yummers), roasted ham, fancy bay leef potatoes and brussel sprouts (I actually liked them, crazy stuff) with lots of cream (that's probably why) and leeks! Lots of aussies usually have lots of seafood on xmas day (it's tradition), but as Mary is allergic we thought it wouldn't be too fun for her! Our main course was followed by the ultimate ice cream cake, which was three layers of chocolate with 2 different sections, mint ice cream with flake and strawberry ice cream with turkish delight (made from scrath by Mary and I) and it was AMAZING!!! So as usual, christmas involved eating tons of food and putting on at least 10 stone :O I have to say being on the other side of the world for christmas was very strange, espeically not being with family and friends and doing all the usual traditions! I have to say as well, aussies don't seem to embrace xmas as much as the english do, I think it's partly because of the weather, but they don't seem to be as festive people! And to be honest nothing beats christmas at home,the UK really is a great place to be for christmas!! And as always christmas involved presents and lots of great ones, thanks guys! Especially Cathy for the stockings, amazing :D
So a few days after christmas and recovering from all the over eating, New Year's eve was here! And it was time to PARTAY!!!! For new year's eve, I went over to a friends for a house party, which was good fun, whlist drinking lots of strong punch! We then headed into the city for midnight, to watch the Brisbane fireworks by the river! They were pretty awesome and lasted for 10 minutes with a huge variety of fireworks, golden ones, explosive ones, rainbow coloured ones, making huge booms and bangs! It was such a beautiful setting, starting the new year by the river with the sky filled with light and excitement for the coming year! After that we headed to Fortitude Valley, known as the 'Valley' for a few drinks..... and dancing! We all chipped in to hire an apartment in the city, pretty central and by the river!! So 2011 started out rather swnaky with great great people, views and weather!!!
After recovering from my toxic state from NYE, I had a week and a half left at Boats to save money for my trip to Melbourne and the Australian Open!!!!
So before I knew it, I was free from work and on a jetstar plane heading to Melbourne to start my next adventure!!!
That's all for now guys (hope you enjoyed my essay, and I know... not my most exciting blog, wait for Melbourne!!)
I'm just in the midst of writing my Melbourne blog, soo watch this space!!!
Until next time,
Angus x
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Noosa Times equals happy times!!!!
After returning to Rainbow beach after Fraser, we had a very chilled out night, back in civilization (well, just barely) before heading back onto the bus, (I nearly missed it, opps) and our next destination, Noosa!!!
Noosa is an awesome, holiday/tourist town, set right by the beach, we were so lucky and were greeted by lots of sun and blue skies. The place had a really cool vibe and a great fun/busy atmosphere, which I loved, and felt at home straight away!
So on our first day, we went kayaking in two man and one man kayaks! I went in a two man with Sidsel first, and our team work was awful, we just couldn’t time our strokes at the same time, which was rather funny and wet! After 40 mins or so of kayaking, we reached this small island, that was in the middle of the water and was free of people! So we moored up our kayaks, and had a whole island to ourselves, which was wicked cool, we went a bit crazy taking pics, and running around madly!
The next day in Noosa, it was my birthday!!!!! But my 22nd birthday; which makes it less exciting, as I am now beginning to get old….. My next exciting milestones is 30 and I don’t think that’s a good milestone, ha! Anyway, I woke up to the girls of the group, mainly Cathy and Gemma singing me happy birthday; followed by presents!!! Yay! I got Vodka (best present ever) and chocolate, which meant I could finally have a night off the goon, and onto something good! It was such an awesome start of the day, and so kind that the group all chipped in, to get me a present, it was just awesome. After that I went for a fancy brekky, a fry up, mmmmmm! Then I went and bought two books, since I’ve been in Oz, I have read soo much. I bought a new true blood novel, which I’ve already finished, and the Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (which I’ve finished too)!!! I read a lot here, and quickly and it was nice to buy something exciting; as usually the most exciting thing I’m usually buying is a pot noodle….. Or chocolate, but that’s always amazing, ha.
After that we all headed to the beach, woo, where we played in the sea, sunbathed, and read my new books, yay! In the evening we went out for a Chinese, delicious, sweet n sour! As well as a BIG surprise, the guys got me a birthday cake and candles, and sang to me, which was sooo wicked (and a bit embarrassing)!! After dinner we headed back home to play the deadly drinking game, RING OF FIRE, with my beautiful vodka J Then we dressed up as ravers, painting our faces, glow bands and headbands (which was also a joke at Gareth, as he is always wearing headbands). We headed out to an Irish pub, Murphy’s, which was really busy as it was a student night, so there was a great party vibe! So I continued to drink and dance my birthday away! It was a pretty special birthday, celebrating with awesome people, and on the other side of the world.
So the next day, as your guessing, I was RIDCIOUSLY hungover, banging headache and just general BLURGH symptoms, ha! It was also really emotional day, as all the group were leaving Noosa (most are on a shorter time frame than me). I loved Noosa, so wanted to stay longer. So Cathy, Gemma, Matt, Gareth, Louise, Sidsel and Gareth all got on the bus to Brisbane, without me, which was rather emotional, and a bit teary. It was so sad, because we had been traveling together for the last 3 and a half weeks together! We all got on so well and had great banter, we were like a little family unit; so it was very sad to say goodbye and be a lone traveler again! Boo hiss boo!
After a few days I got back into the swing of being a loner…. Uh, I mean lone traveler again, and was meeting lots of cool people again. That’s the great thing about traveling, you meet such different people and it’s so interesting to hear their stories, especially if there are from different countries!
On Wednesday I wanted to keep busy, so I went on an organised trip; Noosa’s big day out. Where we headed to the Emmundi marets, which are very famous throughout Aus! The market was huge and you had everything there, food, clothes, jewelry, massages, psychics, art, dvd etc, just everything! It had a really cool vibe, I bought some cool bracelets with my bday money; and there was lots of free food about, which is great when your eating on a budget!
After the markets, we headed to a nearby waterfall, which was really special, my first I’ve seen in Aus; and everyone ad to jumped off it! I’m not a big fan of heights, so I just stood there for a while, trying to psyche myself up, but instead, I became more hesitant! Then I just thought your only here once, so come on man; and I jumped!!! Woo, it was an awesome feeling, very cool to say I’ve jumped off a waterfall, I must say, happy days! After this we had a Barbie, good times.
Once we had all refueled from our tasty barbie, we headed over to the sunshine beach to go surfing!!!! Lucky no one else in the group had gone surfing before, so we were all novices! And gosh was it tricky, I have no balance or co-ordination, so it was difficult enough getting on the board, when the waves kept bombarding you. After getting on your board, you had to paddle, and then when you are right on the wave, jump up and ride the wave, sounds pretty easy, but it so wasn’t; in fact I sucked! It was only an hour or so of surfing, so not that long, and unfortunately I didn’t managed to stand up, as I’m a bit special that way! But it was awesome fun, and another thing ticked off the list. I may try it again, for some fun, but I’m not really a natural, ha!
The next day I went and ventured to the Noosa National Parks, and did a 6km walk along the coast, it was probably the most beautiful scenery and sights I have seen so far. I walked to Hell’s Gate, which is on the very edge of the Noosa coast, giving stunning views of the sea and Alexandria bay. After Hell’s gate, I walked along Alexandria bay, and as I was walking with my ipod blasting some tunes out, in my own world, and then I was like, huh?, why hasn’t that guy got any clothes on, or that person or that person…… Forgetting it was a NUDE beach, haha, so funny! But also rather rank, as they were mainly old, chubby and a bit freaky, so I sped up my walking, and headed over to Sunshine beach! Which was an awesome beach; and thankfully not a nude beach, sigh of relief!!! I chilled there for a while, reading, then headed back home, so I walked for around 4-5 hours, so a pretty good work out and all in thongs, pretty impressive, hey?! Lol!
As I write this I’m back in Brissie with Mary, after doing most of the east coast now! Woo! And it’s been an amazing journey and adventure, seeing great things along the way and meeting so many great people. For so long I wanted to have an adventure, and now here I am living and doing it, I really couldn’t be happier! Now I’m just recharging my batteries back in Brisbane with Mary; and enjoying having my own room, and not sharing with 15 other people, having free internet, (Oz internet is pricey, hence the gaps between my blogs) and good home cooked food, heaven!! I’m hoping to do my RSA training here too, which is Responsible Service of Alcohol, yes, you have to pay to do a course, to be able to serve/sell alcohol, so silly, oh well that’s the system. And I’m starting to look for jobs now, as unfortunately my funds are getting a bit low! So I’m gonna look for work further down, maybe a bar job or some office work in Sydney!!!!! Being back in Brisvegas is weird, as it was where I started my adventure, so I’ve been reflecting a lot about my travels, and what an amazing time I’ve had already. My highlights so far have to be Cape Tribulation (just beautiful), cantering on a horse along the beach, surviving a storm at Fraser and staying at Noosa, which is just a beautiful town; ooo and my very drunken night at the WhitSundays sailing! So, still having the time of my life! Will be in Brissie for a bit to sort out my next move/my life, before getting back on the bus and heading to Surfer’s Paradise; I wonder what Paradise is like?!
Until next time,
Angus x
Noosa is an awesome, holiday/tourist town, set right by the beach, we were so lucky and were greeted by lots of sun and blue skies. The place had a really cool vibe and a great fun/busy atmosphere, which I loved, and felt at home straight away!
So on our first day, we went kayaking in two man and one man kayaks! I went in a two man with Sidsel first, and our team work was awful, we just couldn’t time our strokes at the same time, which was rather funny and wet! After 40 mins or so of kayaking, we reached this small island, that was in the middle of the water and was free of people! So we moored up our kayaks, and had a whole island to ourselves, which was wicked cool, we went a bit crazy taking pics, and running around madly!
The next day in Noosa, it was my birthday!!!!! But my 22nd birthday; which makes it less exciting, as I am now beginning to get old….. My next exciting milestones is 30 and I don’t think that’s a good milestone, ha! Anyway, I woke up to the girls of the group, mainly Cathy and Gemma singing me happy birthday; followed by presents!!! Yay! I got Vodka (best present ever) and chocolate, which meant I could finally have a night off the goon, and onto something good! It was such an awesome start of the day, and so kind that the group all chipped in, to get me a present, it was just awesome. After that I went for a fancy brekky, a fry up, mmmmmm! Then I went and bought two books, since I’ve been in Oz, I have read soo much. I bought a new true blood novel, which I’ve already finished, and the Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (which I’ve finished too)!!! I read a lot here, and quickly and it was nice to buy something exciting; as usually the most exciting thing I’m usually buying is a pot noodle….. Or chocolate, but that’s always amazing, ha.
After that we all headed to the beach, woo, where we played in the sea, sunbathed, and read my new books, yay! In the evening we went out for a Chinese, delicious, sweet n sour! As well as a BIG surprise, the guys got me a birthday cake and candles, and sang to me, which was sooo wicked (and a bit embarrassing)!! After dinner we headed back home to play the deadly drinking game, RING OF FIRE, with my beautiful vodka J Then we dressed up as ravers, painting our faces, glow bands and headbands (which was also a joke at Gareth, as he is always wearing headbands). We headed out to an Irish pub, Murphy’s, which was really busy as it was a student night, so there was a great party vibe! So I continued to drink and dance my birthday away! It was a pretty special birthday, celebrating with awesome people, and on the other side of the world.
So the next day, as your guessing, I was RIDCIOUSLY hungover, banging headache and just general BLURGH symptoms, ha! It was also really emotional day, as all the group were leaving Noosa (most are on a shorter time frame than me). I loved Noosa, so wanted to stay longer. So Cathy, Gemma, Matt, Gareth, Louise, Sidsel and Gareth all got on the bus to Brisbane, without me, which was rather emotional, and a bit teary. It was so sad, because we had been traveling together for the last 3 and a half weeks together! We all got on so well and had great banter, we were like a little family unit; so it was very sad to say goodbye and be a lone traveler again! Boo hiss boo!
After a few days I got back into the swing of being a loner…. Uh, I mean lone traveler again, and was meeting lots of cool people again. That’s the great thing about traveling, you meet such different people and it’s so interesting to hear their stories, especially if there are from different countries!
On Wednesday I wanted to keep busy, so I went on an organised trip; Noosa’s big day out. Where we headed to the Emmundi marets, which are very famous throughout Aus! The market was huge and you had everything there, food, clothes, jewelry, massages, psychics, art, dvd etc, just everything! It had a really cool vibe, I bought some cool bracelets with my bday money; and there was lots of free food about, which is great when your eating on a budget!
After the markets, we headed to a nearby waterfall, which was really special, my first I’ve seen in Aus; and everyone ad to jumped off it! I’m not a big fan of heights, so I just stood there for a while, trying to psyche myself up, but instead, I became more hesitant! Then I just thought your only here once, so come on man; and I jumped!!! Woo, it was an awesome feeling, very cool to say I’ve jumped off a waterfall, I must say, happy days! After this we had a Barbie, good times.
Once we had all refueled from our tasty barbie, we headed over to the sunshine beach to go surfing!!!! Lucky no one else in the group had gone surfing before, so we were all novices! And gosh was it tricky, I have no balance or co-ordination, so it was difficult enough getting on the board, when the waves kept bombarding you. After getting on your board, you had to paddle, and then when you are right on the wave, jump up and ride the wave, sounds pretty easy, but it so wasn’t; in fact I sucked! It was only an hour or so of surfing, so not that long, and unfortunately I didn’t managed to stand up, as I’m a bit special that way! But it was awesome fun, and another thing ticked off the list. I may try it again, for some fun, but I’m not really a natural, ha!
The next day I went and ventured to the Noosa National Parks, and did a 6km walk along the coast, it was probably the most beautiful scenery and sights I have seen so far. I walked to Hell’s Gate, which is on the very edge of the Noosa coast, giving stunning views of the sea and Alexandria bay. After Hell’s gate, I walked along Alexandria bay, and as I was walking with my ipod blasting some tunes out, in my own world, and then I was like, huh?, why hasn’t that guy got any clothes on, or that person or that person…… Forgetting it was a NUDE beach, haha, so funny! But also rather rank, as they were mainly old, chubby and a bit freaky, so I sped up my walking, and headed over to Sunshine beach! Which was an awesome beach; and thankfully not a nude beach, sigh of relief!!! I chilled there for a while, reading, then headed back home, so I walked for around 4-5 hours, so a pretty good work out and all in thongs, pretty impressive, hey?! Lol!
As I write this I’m back in Brissie with Mary, after doing most of the east coast now! Woo! And it’s been an amazing journey and adventure, seeing great things along the way and meeting so many great people. For so long I wanted to have an adventure, and now here I am living and doing it, I really couldn’t be happier! Now I’m just recharging my batteries back in Brisbane with Mary; and enjoying having my own room, and not sharing with 15 other people, having free internet, (Oz internet is pricey, hence the gaps between my blogs) and good home cooked food, heaven!! I’m hoping to do my RSA training here too, which is Responsible Service of Alcohol, yes, you have to pay to do a course, to be able to serve/sell alcohol, so silly, oh well that’s the system. And I’m starting to look for jobs now, as unfortunately my funds are getting a bit low! So I’m gonna look for work further down, maybe a bar job or some office work in Sydney!!!!! Being back in Brisvegas is weird, as it was where I started my adventure, so I’ve been reflecting a lot about my travels, and what an amazing time I’ve had already. My highlights so far have to be Cape Tribulation (just beautiful), cantering on a horse along the beach, surviving a storm at Fraser and staying at Noosa, which is just a beautiful town; ooo and my very drunken night at the WhitSundays sailing! So, still having the time of my life! Will be in Brissie for a bit to sort out my next move/my life, before getting back on the bus and heading to Surfer’s Paradise; I wonder what Paradise is like?!
Until next time,
Angus x
Fraser Island-An interesting camping experience.........
After leaving Kroombit, we all jumped back onto the Oz bus with our driver; Nipples, they all have weird names, but don't tell us why they are called them..... So far I have met Nipples, Trucker and Coaster; I been told Disco is a cool dude to travel with, so hopefully I will meet him on my next bus adventure! Anyways, after 11 hours of traveling, we arrived at Rainbow Beach!
So Rainbow Beach is a really exciting coastal town........ It has a population of around a 1000 people, but I never even saw that many people, so its a very small place! It basically has a small high street, a supermarket and a beach (which was pretty awesome; although the beach was covered with dead jellyfish, which you have to dodge as they can still sting ya, even when they’re dead!). Although not many people are residents in Rainbow, there are up to 10,000 people visiting each day (I've been told, not sure that fact is true.....) This is mainly because people stop at Rainbow beach to head to Fraser Island! I spent around 4 days in Rainbow beach and by the end of it was going crazy, as there isn't much to do; which really highlighted to me that I'm a city guy!
On Wednesday, surprise surprise we had to get up at 5.30am, which was painful; but it was to go and feed wild dolphins, which is deffo worth getting up for! We caught a ferry and went to Tin Can Bay. The dolphins we feed were humpback dolphins and there was a pod (family) of ten dolphins living in the area, and we meet two of the pod. I was given a dead fish (NICE) and then went down to the water, where it was shallow, and then held out my hand with the dead fish, and gave the dolphin its brekky! It was soo awesome to be able to feed a wild dolphin (another thing ticked off the list). Although it was strange seeing the dolphins, as they didn't look real to me, it was a surreal, but magnificent sight. The pack leader of this pod, I managed feed, and he actually had lots of scars on him. This is because other dolphins pass through the waters where this pod lives, and they can get very territorial, and thus get into fights, which surprised me slightly as dolphins are usually very gentle creatures. But all in all, awesome times; now I’ve just got to swim with some!
So, when we booked our tour for Fraser Island, we did a package with the Whitsundays as well, so we got it pretty cheap (yay); but what I didn't know until we arrived at our briefing, the day before we set off, was that we were going camping!!! This was a bit of a surprise for me, as I assumed (never a good thing to do) that we would be staying in a hostel. So, I’m not really a camping person, I like my home comforts and having showers, which we didn't get for 3 days over there. So after getting over that shock (ha) we were told more about what we were doing. We were put into groups of 8 and were given a 4w4, all our camping equipment and food to cook for the next three days. Everyone who had a driver's license could drive the 4w4, I decided not too, unfortunately, :( as I haven’t driven for nearly 4 years, so I didn’t think it would be a good idea driving a 4w4 for the first time, on the beach, with 7 other people's lives in my hand, ha!). So we were exploring the island for the next three days by 4w4, with a guide taking us to all the cool places. To travel around the island traveling involved driving on the beach, super awesome (even if I wasn't).
But before I continue, I should really tell you more about Fraser Island!!! So Fraser Island is located south of Brisbane, and is the largest sand island in the world; at 1840km squared. It has rainforests, lots of beaches/bays, sand dunes, swamps, freshwater lakes, and coastal heaths. It's a very beautiful place, as it is touched very little by humans, so it's a very natural/beautiful place; unspoiled by mankind’s interferences basically.
So after traveling in a 4w4 for the first time; it's very bumpy in the back, going over lots of uneven surfaces, dips and rocky hills! And many times jolting out of my seat and hitting my head on the roof, (fun times), we caught a ferry, and headed over to Fraser Island. Once we arrived we drove along the beach (just awesome) and then arrived at our camp. So this was the next shock; we weren't camping on ground or grass, but sand!!!!! Oh dear! So after getting over that shock, we started to set up camp, and attempted to put up are tents, and somehow make them stay up in the sand! Which actually didn't turn out to be too difficult, even for a novice like me! Ha!
With camp now set up we got back into our jeeps, and headed over to Indian Head summit. To get to the top of Indian we had to walk up a tricky rocky cliff climb (very difficult in thongs). This was at the north point of the island, and looks over at a 75km beach and the sea, a beautiful sight in the sun. This headland was also named by Captain Cook, when he passed it in May 1770, because of the aboriginal people he saw there. As we looked out to the sea, we were very LUCKY to see: a wild dolphin, some turtles; and wait for it........ a humpback whale!!!!! We saw the whale from quite a distance, but it was still an amazing sight, seeing the size of the whale, huge, and the power it had, when it crashed waves with its body, wicked cool stuff!!!
After that great experience, we headed back to camp before it got dark, and the tide got too high, otherwise we wouldn't be able to drive on the beach; and would have been stranded :O. We then had dinner, the food we were given for the trip was actually pretty good! The first night we had steak, my favorite, medium rare, yummers! I cooked the first night and it was pretty fun to cook camping style I must say, even if it was very sandy. So; about the sand, it was a bit of a nightmare, I mean I've always hated sand, since like forever, so going to the biggest sand island probably wasn't the best idea, ha! Anyways the darn sand gets everywhere, in your food (it gives the food a nice crunch texture) your ears, hair, toenails, fingers nails, in your pants and lots of really not fun places (you know what I mean), in my sleeping bag, all over my clothes, in my camera (bad times) just EVERYWHERE!! There was no escaping the evil stuff, ha! Which really added to the camping experience……
After dinner, everyone in our camp, got on the goon, and drank the night away socialising and getting to know each other. Our little group then headed to the beach, and chilled out in the darkness, and looked up to the sky, and stared at the stars, so cool; if only I knew more about constellations. So my first nights sleep was interesting, as we didn’t have any sleeping mats, so we were basically sleeping on hard, uneven sand (nice and comfortable). I woke up the next day feeling really refreshed…. with a really sore back and shoulders……. lol! But it’s all part of the experience, I guess!
After getting up, or should I say woken up at 6am by our guide, we had brekky (scrambled eggs and toast with orange juice; a good way to start the day) and then got back into our 4w4s to visit the next natural sight on the island; Lake McKenzie. Lake McKenzie is the most visited site of the island, and no wonder why, it is a truly beautiful and secluded place! The lake is only made up from rainwater, so when I swam in it (it was very cold) the water was so fresh, it was such a refreshing swim, in a beautiful setting with a beach, and a forest surrounding the rest of the lake, wow! The lake had tints of blue and green, which was a great sight, just a really amazing place.
After that we headed onto Eli Creek, which is the largest freshwater stream on the island! I swam from the mouth of the creek to the end, also very cold, but pretty cool. There was also a boardwalk along the creek and through the trees; looking onto and over the creek which was brill. It was a very chilled out place, I felt very at peace here, and there was less sand, which was a bonus!
After our day of sightseeing on the island, we headed back to our camp to have dinner! That night was a very interesting experience; to say the least…. Our guide said there was a chance it would rain during the night, so our group erected a plastic sheet covering all our tents to keep us rain free. As we all began to head to bed (on our sand mattresses) it started to rain lightly, and continued on most of the night, but I thought little of it, till later….. It was about 1am and I was fast asleep, dreaming happy thoughts, when I was suddenly awoken by a howling wind and my tent shaking!!! I was meant to be sharing my tent with Matt, but he never returned…… (I found out later that he was so drunk he passed out in the jeep!). So I was by myself, when the wind started to get really strong and the rain pelted my tent! I actually thought my tent was going to blow away, so I had to sit up and literally hold my tent up, parts of it had already started to collapse! So I had to be strong and keep it up against the howling wind and drenching of the rain! Ha! As all this was happening, all the girls in one of the next door tents were screaming, as our make-shift roof had collapsed and gone onto their tent! Causing their tent to leak and they got soaked, so they had to run out, find the jeep; and then spend the rest of the night in the cramped back of the 4w4!!! As well as this, some Irish guys who were rather drunk; hadn’t set there tent up correctly, and it blew away with half of their stuff it in!! So I managed to brave the storm, and keep my tent up by myself, whilst other people’s tent had blown away or leaked; so I was a lucky guy under the circumstances! It was a pretty eventful night and a fun experience, I have to say! It’s cool to say I’ve camped at Fraser Island, AND that I have survived a pretty big storm! All you could do during the storm was laugh anyway, not that I could really hear other people, as the wind was so powerful!
Another thing Fraser Island is very famous for is; dingoes!!! Which are wild dogs, very cute, but dangerous! They have attacked quite a lot of people on the island before, so we had to be on our guard. At our briefing, we were told that we would be guaranteed to see lots of dingoes, and we really did! One of the girls of our group, didn’t have a torch, so I helped her go back to her tent, when we arrived, her tent was shaking and moving a lot! We were like OKAY, what’s going on?! Suddenly a wild dingo jumped out, with its mouth full of food, it had found in the tent! It was the first dingo I saw, so we both got a bit of a shock; I hadn’t expect them to come right into camp. The following days, there were all around our camp, in search of food scraps. It’s very bad to feed the dingoes, as they will keep coming back for more, and if you don’t continue to feed them, they become aggressive. Many dingoes have to be killed each year, for coming into contact too much with people, and becoming a danger to visitors. These dingoes are also some of the last pure breed wild dingoes in eastern Oz, there are only thought to be 120 or so, left on the island. Once a boy wandered off by himself on the island, and was found dead, the dingoes mauled him to death, so on the island, your never meant to go anywhere by yourself! Especially at night when they are more active; or you may never been seen again! So that deffo added to the camping experience.
On our last day, we went to Lake Wabby, which is in the middle of the island. The lake is rather small, but gorgeous and surrounded by steep sand dunes, and just huge areas of sand, if felt like a desert; which was
just such a magical sight. This was probably my favorite place on Fraser, as it was just so different to what I had seen before.
So after 3 days and 2 days nights of camping, we had finished our time at Fraser, and what an eventful three days it had been! And it was a really great experience to have (despite my moaning, lol), and with such great people and such awe inspiring landscape! But when we got back to a hostel, it felt like a luxury, my own bed, with a mattress, a shower and sand free! Although it took a few days till, I was totally free of sand from my body and clothes, ha! But it’s another thing ticked off the list, but still plenty more to go!!!
Until next time,
Angus x
So Rainbow Beach is a really exciting coastal town........ It has a population of around a 1000 people, but I never even saw that many people, so its a very small place! It basically has a small high street, a supermarket and a beach (which was pretty awesome; although the beach was covered with dead jellyfish, which you have to dodge as they can still sting ya, even when they’re dead!). Although not many people are residents in Rainbow, there are up to 10,000 people visiting each day (I've been told, not sure that fact is true.....) This is mainly because people stop at Rainbow beach to head to Fraser Island! I spent around 4 days in Rainbow beach and by the end of it was going crazy, as there isn't much to do; which really highlighted to me that I'm a city guy!
On Wednesday, surprise surprise we had to get up at 5.30am, which was painful; but it was to go and feed wild dolphins, which is deffo worth getting up for! We caught a ferry and went to Tin Can Bay. The dolphins we feed were humpback dolphins and there was a pod (family) of ten dolphins living in the area, and we meet two of the pod. I was given a dead fish (NICE) and then went down to the water, where it was shallow, and then held out my hand with the dead fish, and gave the dolphin its brekky! It was soo awesome to be able to feed a wild dolphin (another thing ticked off the list). Although it was strange seeing the dolphins, as they didn't look real to me, it was a surreal, but magnificent sight. The pack leader of this pod, I managed feed, and he actually had lots of scars on him. This is because other dolphins pass through the waters where this pod lives, and they can get very territorial, and thus get into fights, which surprised me slightly as dolphins are usually very gentle creatures. But all in all, awesome times; now I’ve just got to swim with some!
So, when we booked our tour for Fraser Island, we did a package with the Whitsundays as well, so we got it pretty cheap (yay); but what I didn't know until we arrived at our briefing, the day before we set off, was that we were going camping!!! This was a bit of a surprise for me, as I assumed (never a good thing to do) that we would be staying in a hostel. So, I’m not really a camping person, I like my home comforts and having showers, which we didn't get for 3 days over there. So after getting over that shock (ha) we were told more about what we were doing. We were put into groups of 8 and were given a 4w4, all our camping equipment and food to cook for the next three days. Everyone who had a driver's license could drive the 4w4, I decided not too, unfortunately, :( as I haven’t driven for nearly 4 years, so I didn’t think it would be a good idea driving a 4w4 for the first time, on the beach, with 7 other people's lives in my hand, ha!). So we were exploring the island for the next three days by 4w4, with a guide taking us to all the cool places. To travel around the island traveling involved driving on the beach, super awesome (even if I wasn't).
But before I continue, I should really tell you more about Fraser Island!!! So Fraser Island is located south of Brisbane, and is the largest sand island in the world; at 1840km squared. It has rainforests, lots of beaches/bays, sand dunes, swamps, freshwater lakes, and coastal heaths. It's a very beautiful place, as it is touched very little by humans, so it's a very natural/beautiful place; unspoiled by mankind’s interferences basically.
So after traveling in a 4w4 for the first time; it's very bumpy in the back, going over lots of uneven surfaces, dips and rocky hills! And many times jolting out of my seat and hitting my head on the roof, (fun times), we caught a ferry, and headed over to Fraser Island. Once we arrived we drove along the beach (just awesome) and then arrived at our camp. So this was the next shock; we weren't camping on ground or grass, but sand!!!!! Oh dear! So after getting over that shock, we started to set up camp, and attempted to put up are tents, and somehow make them stay up in the sand! Which actually didn't turn out to be too difficult, even for a novice like me! Ha!
With camp now set up we got back into our jeeps, and headed over to Indian Head summit. To get to the top of Indian we had to walk up a tricky rocky cliff climb (very difficult in thongs). This was at the north point of the island, and looks over at a 75km beach and the sea, a beautiful sight in the sun. This headland was also named by Captain Cook, when he passed it in May 1770, because of the aboriginal people he saw there. As we looked out to the sea, we were very LUCKY to see: a wild dolphin, some turtles; and wait for it........ a humpback whale!!!!! We saw the whale from quite a distance, but it was still an amazing sight, seeing the size of the whale, huge, and the power it had, when it crashed waves with its body, wicked cool stuff!!!
After that great experience, we headed back to camp before it got dark, and the tide got too high, otherwise we wouldn't be able to drive on the beach; and would have been stranded :O. We then had dinner, the food we were given for the trip was actually pretty good! The first night we had steak, my favorite, medium rare, yummers! I cooked the first night and it was pretty fun to cook camping style I must say, even if it was very sandy. So; about the sand, it was a bit of a nightmare, I mean I've always hated sand, since like forever, so going to the biggest sand island probably wasn't the best idea, ha! Anyways the darn sand gets everywhere, in your food (it gives the food a nice crunch texture) your ears, hair, toenails, fingers nails, in your pants and lots of really not fun places (you know what I mean), in my sleeping bag, all over my clothes, in my camera (bad times) just EVERYWHERE!! There was no escaping the evil stuff, ha! Which really added to the camping experience……
After dinner, everyone in our camp, got on the goon, and drank the night away socialising and getting to know each other. Our little group then headed to the beach, and chilled out in the darkness, and looked up to the sky, and stared at the stars, so cool; if only I knew more about constellations. So my first nights sleep was interesting, as we didn’t have any sleeping mats, so we were basically sleeping on hard, uneven sand (nice and comfortable). I woke up the next day feeling really refreshed…. with a really sore back and shoulders……. lol! But it’s all part of the experience, I guess!
After getting up, or should I say woken up at 6am by our guide, we had brekky (scrambled eggs and toast with orange juice; a good way to start the day) and then got back into our 4w4s to visit the next natural sight on the island; Lake McKenzie. Lake McKenzie is the most visited site of the island, and no wonder why, it is a truly beautiful and secluded place! The lake is only made up from rainwater, so when I swam in it (it was very cold) the water was so fresh, it was such a refreshing swim, in a beautiful setting with a beach, and a forest surrounding the rest of the lake, wow! The lake had tints of blue and green, which was a great sight, just a really amazing place.
After that we headed onto Eli Creek, which is the largest freshwater stream on the island! I swam from the mouth of the creek to the end, also very cold, but pretty cool. There was also a boardwalk along the creek and through the trees; looking onto and over the creek which was brill. It was a very chilled out place, I felt very at peace here, and there was less sand, which was a bonus!
After our day of sightseeing on the island, we headed back to our camp to have dinner! That night was a very interesting experience; to say the least…. Our guide said there was a chance it would rain during the night, so our group erected a plastic sheet covering all our tents to keep us rain free. As we all began to head to bed (on our sand mattresses) it started to rain lightly, and continued on most of the night, but I thought little of it, till later….. It was about 1am and I was fast asleep, dreaming happy thoughts, when I was suddenly awoken by a howling wind and my tent shaking!!! I was meant to be sharing my tent with Matt, but he never returned…… (I found out later that he was so drunk he passed out in the jeep!). So I was by myself, when the wind started to get really strong and the rain pelted my tent! I actually thought my tent was going to blow away, so I had to sit up and literally hold my tent up, parts of it had already started to collapse! So I had to be strong and keep it up against the howling wind and drenching of the rain! Ha! As all this was happening, all the girls in one of the next door tents were screaming, as our make-shift roof had collapsed and gone onto their tent! Causing their tent to leak and they got soaked, so they had to run out, find the jeep; and then spend the rest of the night in the cramped back of the 4w4!!! As well as this, some Irish guys who were rather drunk; hadn’t set there tent up correctly, and it blew away with half of their stuff it in!! So I managed to brave the storm, and keep my tent up by myself, whilst other people’s tent had blown away or leaked; so I was a lucky guy under the circumstances! It was a pretty eventful night and a fun experience, I have to say! It’s cool to say I’ve camped at Fraser Island, AND that I have survived a pretty big storm! All you could do during the storm was laugh anyway, not that I could really hear other people, as the wind was so powerful!
Another thing Fraser Island is very famous for is; dingoes!!! Which are wild dogs, very cute, but dangerous! They have attacked quite a lot of people on the island before, so we had to be on our guard. At our briefing, we were told that we would be guaranteed to see lots of dingoes, and we really did! One of the girls of our group, didn’t have a torch, so I helped her go back to her tent, when we arrived, her tent was shaking and moving a lot! We were like OKAY, what’s going on?! Suddenly a wild dingo jumped out, with its mouth full of food, it had found in the tent! It was the first dingo I saw, so we both got a bit of a shock; I hadn’t expect them to come right into camp. The following days, there were all around our camp, in search of food scraps. It’s very bad to feed the dingoes, as they will keep coming back for more, and if you don’t continue to feed them, they become aggressive. Many dingoes have to be killed each year, for coming into contact too much with people, and becoming a danger to visitors. These dingoes are also some of the last pure breed wild dingoes in eastern Oz, there are only thought to be 120 or so, left on the island. Once a boy wandered off by himself on the island, and was found dead, the dingoes mauled him to death, so on the island, your never meant to go anywhere by yourself! Especially at night when they are more active; or you may never been seen again! So that deffo added to the camping experience.
On our last day, we went to Lake Wabby, which is in the middle of the island. The lake is rather small, but gorgeous and surrounded by steep sand dunes, and just huge areas of sand, if felt like a desert; which was
just such a magical sight. This was probably my favorite place on Fraser, as it was just so different to what I had seen before.
So after 3 days and 2 days nights of camping, we had finished our time at Fraser, and what an eventful three days it had been! And it was a really great experience to have (despite my moaning, lol), and with such great people and such awe inspiring landscape! But when we got back to a hostel, it felt like a luxury, my own bed, with a mattress, a shower and sand free! Although it took a few days till, I was totally free of sand from my body and clothes, ha! But it’s another thing ticked off the list, but still plenty more to go!!!
Until next time,
Angus x
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Living in the outback as a cowboy!
Hey hey hey!!!
So, on Sunday (10th) evening I arrived at Kroombit Cattle Station (after a ten hour journey on the bus, which was actually pretty fun, lots of crazy singing, being creative with foil, I made a boat, but it SUCKED, and the item game, as well as beautiful scenery the whole way). Kroombit is in the outback, which is near Rockhampton, the beef capital of Australia, ooo exciting..... Before I arrived there we made a pit stop, and had a game of bowls, but barefoot, pretty exciting eh?! I was in a team with Gareth, and we played against everyone from the bus, and managed to get into the final, and won, wahey! It was actually quite a fun/chilled out game, the aim is to bowl your ball and to get as near as possible to a white ball on the other side of the pitch, and the nearest ball to the target wins, a pretty simple game! But the balls curve which makes it more tricky and its pretty hard to get the right pace. I was usually too hard or too soft, I couldn't get in the middle, lol! Anyways Kroombit was in the middle of nowhere, which you expect in the outback, on our big Oz bus, there was about 20 of us, and we all got on really well, which made the time at the cattle station more fun!!!
When we arrived we were given a bandana and a cowboy hat to get into the vibe of the place, so I felt like a bit of cowboy myself! We then had dinner; we were given some meat to eat, but weren't told till later that is was goat, it was delicious and had a similar taste to lamb, but better, and sweet potato, YUM! I then ate a bit of a goat testicle (sounds revolting) but it didn't taste that bad, it was just the thought of eating that was worse, all pyschological and that! We then had dinner, which was beef roast, which was awesomeee, haven't had a roast for ages, so it was a real treat, and the beef was great, and top notch gravy, mmmmm beef! As you can tell, being a traveller, I try to eat cheaply to save money, so having a roast is a big thing when travelling. Anyways....
After dinner we had a go at cracking a whip, which was awesome, the cowboy man could do it so powerfully, it was so loud, to make the sound so loud, you had to go faster than light or sound, one of those, I can't remeber, lol! I gave it a go and we had to wear funky googles when doing it, to protect ourselves, it was actually quite tricky as you had to do all these fancy arm movements, but really quickly to get the cracking sound of the whip. I managed to do it a few times, which was very satisfying and made me feel more like a cowboy, yehaaa (for some reason that made me think of Jesse from Toy Story)!
After that some of the group had a go on the mechanic bull, although I didn't go on it, as I had a dodegy back, so gave it a miss! And I'm glad I did, as the bull was called Nutcracker and it really was for the guys, I think a few of them won't be having kids (OUCH)! Ha! The bull was so powerful, it managed to throw people off which such force, crazy stuff!
The next day we had to get up at 6am for breakfast, boo hiss boo, I'm always getting up so early here, it sucks, I need my 8 hours, lol! After breaky (as the aussies say) we headed out, to go lassoing! First, I decided to have a go at clay pigeon shooting, with a big ass shotgun! I've never touched a gun before, let alone shot one, so it was pretty exciting!! I had to wear headphone things, as the noise when the guns fires is very loudly. Anyways on my first try, I was like wooo, as the power of the gun when you shot it was pretty forceful; you have to hold the gun really tight up against your shoulder to reduce the impact. It was pretty difficult aswell, because the targets moved really quickly in the air, and you have to have a really good eye. I had 5 goes as the rest of the group were watching me, pressure!!! I kept missing, oh dear.... but managed to finally shoot one on my 4th go, thank god! Lol! It was actually a good feeling hitting the target, and seeing it break up and hit the floor, very satifying and a great first gun experience, ha! I'm sure many more are to come....... But remeber kids, guns are dangerous, so be careful, lol!
After that we all had a go at lassoing, practising on a dead goats skull, to try and lasso it! Basically you have a big rope and you swing it over your head and have to use the hoop/loop at the end of the rope to catch the goat and then pull it back, to tighten the grip round it. It was actually pretty difficult to get the action right, but I managed it a few times! To be honest I kinda sucked, I think I needed more time to pratcise, and perfect my action, ha! So after a quick pratcise we got to have a go for real!!! We went into a goat pen, where there were lots of goats obviously and lots of poo all over the floor...... NICE! I had flip flops (thongs) on, so I manged to get poo all over my beautiful thongs and on my feet, which was rather lovely... Anyway we had a competition to see who could lasso a goat the quickest, then drag it out of the pen and then pretend to brand it for 5 seconds!
It was pretty tough as you had to first, catch the goat, whilst it was trying to run away for its dear life. First I had to try and lasso a goat, but I was pretty rubbish, as the goats kept running away from me, dam them! So eventually I had to call it quits, and instead just ran up to a goat, grabbed it by the horns and pull it out of the pen, so we could brand it! After running after the goats for a bit, like a lonney, I managed to grab one and drag it out of the pen, whilst getting pooo all over me, yay! So that was great fun (no really it was :D), a real good cowboy experience, and I know what your thinking, no our team didn't win!
After that we went on a bush walk to experience the scenery, high up on the hills, and it was just breathtaking; just pure nature, with no signs of human interference, it was awesome and really showed you were in the middle of nowhere! On the way back, we saw another tour group, who were throwing boomerangs, in a beautiful setting, a huge open field with horses all around! It was actually awesome as the boomerangs actually did come back, which I've never seen before, I didn't think it could actually be done, but it can and it was a very cool sight!
After that, our time at the Cattle Station had ended; and we said our farewells and jumped back onto the Oz bus, heading to our next destination Rainbow Beach, which is near Fraser Island! My next blog will be all about my intersting camping experience on Fraser........
Until next time,
Angus x
So, on Sunday (10th) evening I arrived at Kroombit Cattle Station (after a ten hour journey on the bus, which was actually pretty fun, lots of crazy singing, being creative with foil, I made a boat, but it SUCKED, and the item game, as well as beautiful scenery the whole way). Kroombit is in the outback, which is near Rockhampton, the beef capital of Australia, ooo exciting..... Before I arrived there we made a pit stop, and had a game of bowls, but barefoot, pretty exciting eh?! I was in a team with Gareth, and we played against everyone from the bus, and managed to get into the final, and won, wahey! It was actually quite a fun/chilled out game, the aim is to bowl your ball and to get as near as possible to a white ball on the other side of the pitch, and the nearest ball to the target wins, a pretty simple game! But the balls curve which makes it more tricky and its pretty hard to get the right pace. I was usually too hard or too soft, I couldn't get in the middle, lol! Anyways Kroombit was in the middle of nowhere, which you expect in the outback, on our big Oz bus, there was about 20 of us, and we all got on really well, which made the time at the cattle station more fun!!!
When we arrived we were given a bandana and a cowboy hat to get into the vibe of the place, so I felt like a bit of cowboy myself! We then had dinner; we were given some meat to eat, but weren't told till later that is was goat, it was delicious and had a similar taste to lamb, but better, and sweet potato, YUM! I then ate a bit of a goat testicle (sounds revolting) but it didn't taste that bad, it was just the thought of eating that was worse, all pyschological and that! We then had dinner, which was beef roast, which was awesomeee, haven't had a roast for ages, so it was a real treat, and the beef was great, and top notch gravy, mmmmm beef! As you can tell, being a traveller, I try to eat cheaply to save money, so having a roast is a big thing when travelling. Anyways....
After dinner we had a go at cracking a whip, which was awesome, the cowboy man could do it so powerfully, it was so loud, to make the sound so loud, you had to go faster than light or sound, one of those, I can't remeber, lol! I gave it a go and we had to wear funky googles when doing it, to protect ourselves, it was actually quite tricky as you had to do all these fancy arm movements, but really quickly to get the cracking sound of the whip. I managed to do it a few times, which was very satisfying and made me feel more like a cowboy, yehaaa (for some reason that made me think of Jesse from Toy Story)!
After that some of the group had a go on the mechanic bull, although I didn't go on it, as I had a dodegy back, so gave it a miss! And I'm glad I did, as the bull was called Nutcracker and it really was for the guys, I think a few of them won't be having kids (OUCH)! Ha! The bull was so powerful, it managed to throw people off which such force, crazy stuff!
The next day we had to get up at 6am for breakfast, boo hiss boo, I'm always getting up so early here, it sucks, I need my 8 hours, lol! After breaky (as the aussies say) we headed out, to go lassoing! First, I decided to have a go at clay pigeon shooting, with a big ass shotgun! I've never touched a gun before, let alone shot one, so it was pretty exciting!! I had to wear headphone things, as the noise when the guns fires is very loudly. Anyways on my first try, I was like wooo, as the power of the gun when you shot it was pretty forceful; you have to hold the gun really tight up against your shoulder to reduce the impact. It was pretty difficult aswell, because the targets moved really quickly in the air, and you have to have a really good eye. I had 5 goes as the rest of the group were watching me, pressure!!! I kept missing, oh dear.... but managed to finally shoot one on my 4th go, thank god! Lol! It was actually a good feeling hitting the target, and seeing it break up and hit the floor, very satifying and a great first gun experience, ha! I'm sure many more are to come....... But remeber kids, guns are dangerous, so be careful, lol!
After that we all had a go at lassoing, practising on a dead goats skull, to try and lasso it! Basically you have a big rope and you swing it over your head and have to use the hoop/loop at the end of the rope to catch the goat and then pull it back, to tighten the grip round it. It was actually pretty difficult to get the action right, but I managed it a few times! To be honest I kinda sucked, I think I needed more time to pratcise, and perfect my action, ha! So after a quick pratcise we got to have a go for real!!! We went into a goat pen, where there were lots of goats obviously and lots of poo all over the floor...... NICE! I had flip flops (thongs) on, so I manged to get poo all over my beautiful thongs and on my feet, which was rather lovely... Anyway we had a competition to see who could lasso a goat the quickest, then drag it out of the pen and then pretend to brand it for 5 seconds!
It was pretty tough as you had to first, catch the goat, whilst it was trying to run away for its dear life. First I had to try and lasso a goat, but I was pretty rubbish, as the goats kept running away from me, dam them! So eventually I had to call it quits, and instead just ran up to a goat, grabbed it by the horns and pull it out of the pen, so we could brand it! After running after the goats for a bit, like a lonney, I managed to grab one and drag it out of the pen, whilst getting pooo all over me, yay! So that was great fun (no really it was :D), a real good cowboy experience, and I know what your thinking, no our team didn't win!
After that we went on a bush walk to experience the scenery, high up on the hills, and it was just breathtaking; just pure nature, with no signs of human interference, it was awesome and really showed you were in the middle of nowhere! On the way back, we saw another tour group, who were throwing boomerangs, in a beautiful setting, a huge open field with horses all around! It was actually awesome as the boomerangs actually did come back, which I've never seen before, I didn't think it could actually be done, but it can and it was a very cool sight!
After that, our time at the Cattle Station had ended; and we said our farewells and jumped back onto the Oz bus, heading to our next destination Rainbow Beach, which is near Fraser Island! My next blog will be all about my intersting camping experience on Fraser........
Until next time,
Angus x
Friday, 8 October 2010
The Oz Experience Adventure Begins (and the wheels of the bus go round and round...and the camels roam free!!!)
Hey peeps, so since my last blog, I have started travelling on the Oz Experience Bus, which is awesome! Its a bus, that has 24 seats, so it's quite a small and sociable/personal bus; which is taking me from Cairns all the way south down to Adelaide. The great thing about the bus is that you can jump on and off at a stop for how ever long you want (ie how much you love/loathe the place!) The Oz Experience has a bus driver/guide who are great, really fun/crazy and tell you the history about areas, what they would recommend to do, basically they help you with your trip and they can book your accomendation if your feeling lazy; I've also played the crazy game, that is WINDOW BINGO!!! The only negitive of the bus, is that there isnt that much leg space for a 6'2 guy, ha! Travelling down the east coast in parts, makes it easier as well, as they journeys are shorter and more compact, and the scenery I have passed is just breath taking! The bus has been great, as a lone traveller, as I've met some really cool people, and I'm now travelling with a group of 8 people, Matt, Cath, Gemma, Gareth, Louise and Sicdly (her name is spelt wierd, they are from Denmark), Ailie (Scottish) and the rest are from the UK, who I met on the bus. It's great to be travelling with a group, as its alot of fun, doing different activities together in the day, cooking dinner as a group and then partying by night! So since I hopped on the bus at Cairns, I've been travelling with these guys; from Cairns to Mission Beach, Magnectic Island and now Airlie Beach/Whitsundays. So the question is, what have I been doing at all these places?!
My first stop was Mission Beach, where I stayed for one night. But before we got there we had a pit spot at a crocadile farm, which was so awesome; because I got to hold some aussie animals! First I held a baby croc, which was cool, very slimy/scaly skin, I had a parrot on my shoulder, ARGH MATEY, and wait for it........ I even managed to challenge myself to hold a snake, which was a bit freaky as it wrapped itself around my neck and started hissing, ha, but it was so cool to do, and you only live once! I also got to hold a dingo, they are wild dogs, but the one I held was so tame and was falling asleep in my arms, nearly as cute as Lottie :O, obviously in the wild they aren't like this, they are dangerous and have attacked people; so I will be staying away from them when I go to Fraser Island! I also feed some kangers, which was cute as they held you arm, as they ate from your hand, so cute! I then saw some of the crocs being fed, and boy, these animals are so deadly, their jaws are so powerful, more than twice as strong as a shark's jaw!! Ouch!!!
After the croc farm we went through the wettest town in Australia, Babinda (cool name). Beacuse its the wettest place down under; it was awarded the Golden Gun boot, and the locals are very proud of this. Tully, which is near Babinda also gets alot of rain, so the two towns are big rivals, competing for the gumboot; and they get very competitve. One year Babinda beat Tully and the Tully people couldn't believe they lost, they thought they had much more rain so they hired lawyers, it turned out that Babinda didn't have a post office, so they couldn't be called a town, so Tully won it that year! So you get how crazy competitive these two towns are towards each other, for being super wet, I wouldn't be so proud myself!!! Tullycurrenlty holds the record of the wettest year in 1950 with 7.9 metres (glad I'm not living there)!!!
So after stopping off on all those places, I arrived at Mission Beach! Mission Beach is a pretty small place, so not much was going on, but the beach was beaut, just a shame the weather wasn't as great! I had my first barbie, burgers and sauages, yummers, and my first experience of the vileness that is called goon. What is goon you ask? It's the most aweful wine ever, basically its really cheap, poor, quality wine (it has fish bones it in :O), but it gets ya drunk quickly, so it does the trick; even though after every sip I wanted to barf! Lovely image there for you all!!! So that's all I really got up to in Mission Beach; and the next day I jumped back on the bus with some of the gang I met on the previous bus, heading over to Magnetic Island.
Magnetic Island is just offshore of Townsville, so we had to get a ferry over there! Magnetic Island got it's name from Captain Cook; when he found it, in the 1770s; because his compass went crazy on the island (apprantly due to a magnetic vibe), sounds a bit like Lost, huh?! So, the hostel we stayed at was awesome, it was less than 1 metre from the beach, heaven! I stayed in a beach hut (so cool), which was right by the sea, so it was a great sight to wake up to; and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks! I went on the Forts Walk, which was SUCH an effort in the heat, alot of uphill climbing with a hangover.... But I managed to spot some wild koolas, as around 700 live in the area! We managed to spot a mum and baby koola, so cute!!! I really wanted to stroke them, but koola's have chlamydia, and this causes them to go blind; so I didn't think it was a good idea to touch one! At the top of the hill/mountain, there were awesome views of the whole island, a beaut sight! In the evening me and some of the group sat at the beach at night, playing drinking games with goon, happy days!
The next day, we hired a Moke, (a four wheeled buggy) which you can drive around the island, so we got to explore the city more; and it was a topless car, which was great in the hot weather, and the breeze was good times! We went over to Horseshoe bay, and all 8 of us, in groups of 4 went tubing! Basically you sit in a tube and get pulled along the sea, by a speed boat, which was awesome, we went really fast and it was a bit of a rush! We then went to part of the island where wild rock wallabies live, where we feed them carrots, and these critters look similar to kangers! So, Magnetic Island was such a great secluded place to be, very chilled out, although I don't think I could have stayed longer than 3 nights, because I felt it was just a bit too secluded for me; but it really was a very beautiful and tranquil place to be!Living on an island was very cool!
We then got back onto the Oz Experience, heading over to Airlie Beach. On the way there, we passed through Bowen, which was where the film Australia, with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman was filmed (a very bad film, as I found out with Helen!). Airlie Beach is a small town, and it's name is a bit silly, as it doesn't actually have a beach(!) so the locals had to make a manmade a beach, so they could keep it's name! The main reason for visting Airlie Beach is that is by the Whitsundays; which are a number of continental islands, 74 in total. That night arriving in Airlie beach, all the people on the bus went out together into town, which was a fun night, and there was lots of free alchol, which is always good! Altough that night I stayed at my worst hostel so far though, as I was about to have a shower and saw a cockroach, YUK, my first ever, not a pleasant sight....... I checked out the next day!
So on Wednesday (I loose track of days and dates so easily when I'm on holiday, ha) Matt, Gemma, Cathy and I went on our sailing trip to the Whitsundays! Our boat was called Habibi, which had a crew of 3 and there were 18 passenegrs! The people on the boat were great, as they were from all over the world, Canada, the states, Germany, Denmark, France, so a great mix of people; and great company for the next two nights! During the trip we visited Whiteheaven beach, which has been listed as one of the best beaches in the world, and the world's top eco friendly beach. The sand is 98% silica, so its very white, and it squeaks when you walk on it, cool huh! I also went snorkling again, in a really cool sexy stinger suit...... On my snorkel adventure I managed to spot a turtle, which was such an awesome sight! The second night we had a barbie on the boat and then played some drinking games; 'Ring of Fire', but with 2 packs of cards, I have never been so drunk, and I passed out on the deck with the stars above me, happy days! It was great being in the Whitsundays, it was such a beautiful place, the islands were an awesome sight and I felt very happy on the sea! Although its takes a while to get used to the rocking on the boat, especially when sleeping; when we came back on land, I still felt like I was rocking!
So I've got one more day in Airlie Beach, and then I'm getting back on the Oz bus with the gang, and heading to Kroombit, a cattle station in the middle of nowhere, where it's compulsory to stay for a night! Here we can ride a mechanic bull and go quad biking! I will kinda of get to experience a little bit of the outback. After that I'm heading onto Hervey Bay to go Whale watching!!! It's a tough life........
Until next time, Angus x
My first stop was Mission Beach, where I stayed for one night. But before we got there we had a pit spot at a crocadile farm, which was so awesome; because I got to hold some aussie animals! First I held a baby croc, which was cool, very slimy/scaly skin, I had a parrot on my shoulder, ARGH MATEY, and wait for it........ I even managed to challenge myself to hold a snake, which was a bit freaky as it wrapped itself around my neck and started hissing, ha, but it was so cool to do, and you only live once! I also got to hold a dingo, they are wild dogs, but the one I held was so tame and was falling asleep in my arms, nearly as cute as Lottie :O, obviously in the wild they aren't like this, they are dangerous and have attacked people; so I will be staying away from them when I go to Fraser Island! I also feed some kangers, which was cute as they held you arm, as they ate from your hand, so cute! I then saw some of the crocs being fed, and boy, these animals are so deadly, their jaws are so powerful, more than twice as strong as a shark's jaw!! Ouch!!!
After the croc farm we went through the wettest town in Australia, Babinda (cool name). Beacuse its the wettest place down under; it was awarded the Golden Gun boot, and the locals are very proud of this. Tully, which is near Babinda also gets alot of rain, so the two towns are big rivals, competing for the gumboot; and they get very competitve. One year Babinda beat Tully and the Tully people couldn't believe they lost, they thought they had much more rain so they hired lawyers, it turned out that Babinda didn't have a post office, so they couldn't be called a town, so Tully won it that year! So you get how crazy competitive these two towns are towards each other, for being super wet, I wouldn't be so proud myself!!! Tullycurrenlty holds the record of the wettest year in 1950 with 7.9 metres (glad I'm not living there)!!!
So after stopping off on all those places, I arrived at Mission Beach! Mission Beach is a pretty small place, so not much was going on, but the beach was beaut, just a shame the weather wasn't as great! I had my first barbie, burgers and sauages, yummers, and my first experience of the vileness that is called goon. What is goon you ask? It's the most aweful wine ever, basically its really cheap, poor, quality wine (it has fish bones it in :O), but it gets ya drunk quickly, so it does the trick; even though after every sip I wanted to barf! Lovely image there for you all!!! So that's all I really got up to in Mission Beach; and the next day I jumped back on the bus with some of the gang I met on the previous bus, heading over to Magnetic Island.
Magnetic Island is just offshore of Townsville, so we had to get a ferry over there! Magnetic Island got it's name from Captain Cook; when he found it, in the 1770s; because his compass went crazy on the island (apprantly due to a magnetic vibe), sounds a bit like Lost, huh?! So, the hostel we stayed at was awesome, it was less than 1 metre from the beach, heaven! I stayed in a beach hut (so cool), which was right by the sea, so it was a great sight to wake up to; and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks! I went on the Forts Walk, which was SUCH an effort in the heat, alot of uphill climbing with a hangover.... But I managed to spot some wild koolas, as around 700 live in the area! We managed to spot a mum and baby koola, so cute!!! I really wanted to stroke them, but koola's have chlamydia, and this causes them to go blind; so I didn't think it was a good idea to touch one! At the top of the hill/mountain, there were awesome views of the whole island, a beaut sight! In the evening me and some of the group sat at the beach at night, playing drinking games with goon, happy days!
The next day, we hired a Moke, (a four wheeled buggy) which you can drive around the island, so we got to explore the city more; and it was a topless car, which was great in the hot weather, and the breeze was good times! We went over to Horseshoe bay, and all 8 of us, in groups of 4 went tubing! Basically you sit in a tube and get pulled along the sea, by a speed boat, which was awesome, we went really fast and it was a bit of a rush! We then went to part of the island where wild rock wallabies live, where we feed them carrots, and these critters look similar to kangers! So, Magnetic Island was such a great secluded place to be, very chilled out, although I don't think I could have stayed longer than 3 nights, because I felt it was just a bit too secluded for me; but it really was a very beautiful and tranquil place to be!Living on an island was very cool!
We then got back onto the Oz Experience, heading over to Airlie Beach. On the way there, we passed through Bowen, which was where the film Australia, with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman was filmed (a very bad film, as I found out with Helen!). Airlie Beach is a small town, and it's name is a bit silly, as it doesn't actually have a beach(!) so the locals had to make a manmade a beach, so they could keep it's name! The main reason for visting Airlie Beach is that is by the Whitsundays; which are a number of continental islands, 74 in total. That night arriving in Airlie beach, all the people on the bus went out together into town, which was a fun night, and there was lots of free alchol, which is always good! Altough that night I stayed at my worst hostel so far though, as I was about to have a shower and saw a cockroach, YUK, my first ever, not a pleasant sight....... I checked out the next day!
So on Wednesday (I loose track of days and dates so easily when I'm on holiday, ha) Matt, Gemma, Cathy and I went on our sailing trip to the Whitsundays! Our boat was called Habibi, which had a crew of 3 and there were 18 passenegrs! The people on the boat were great, as they were from all over the world, Canada, the states, Germany, Denmark, France, so a great mix of people; and great company for the next two nights! During the trip we visited Whiteheaven beach, which has been listed as one of the best beaches in the world, and the world's top eco friendly beach. The sand is 98% silica, so its very white, and it squeaks when you walk on it, cool huh! I also went snorkling again, in a really cool sexy stinger suit...... On my snorkel adventure I managed to spot a turtle, which was such an awesome sight! The second night we had a barbie on the boat and then played some drinking games; 'Ring of Fire', but with 2 packs of cards, I have never been so drunk, and I passed out on the deck with the stars above me, happy days! It was great being in the Whitsundays, it was such a beautiful place, the islands were an awesome sight and I felt very happy on the sea! Although its takes a while to get used to the rocking on the boat, especially when sleeping; when we came back on land, I still felt like I was rocking!
So I've got one more day in Airlie Beach, and then I'm getting back on the Oz bus with the gang, and heading to Kroombit, a cattle station in the middle of nowhere, where it's compulsory to stay for a night! Here we can ride a mechanic bull and go quad biking! I will kinda of get to experience a little bit of the outback. After that I'm heading onto Hervey Bay to go Whale watching!!! It's a tough life........
Until next time, Angus x
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