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
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