Aymi’s Adventures

So I arrived in Heathrow, quite looking forward to getting home and suprising everyone.  I went to buy a new sim card for my phone and I remembered how bad the service was in the UK, after half an hour or so I finally got my new mobile number working.  That’s probably the longest i’ve waited for any service since leaving the UK – not to mention the most expensive!  I spent all my last foreign currency in Dubai airport buying cigarettes to sell to make some money when I got home, so I had no money to buy food or drink all day – well it certainly makes you appreciate the plane meals, I was absolutely ravenous!!

After texting a few people I realised I had no chance of getting a lift home on a Sat night without spoiling the suprise so forked out for a taxi.  Luckily Mum and Dad were in and the front door was open so I put my bags down and walked into the lounge – about 5 minutes later Mum realised it was me!!!  What a great night to get home on – I got to watch the X-factor final and then have a fab nights sleep in a double bed – wowow how exciting!!!

Went to see my Sister and her Kids on Sunday which was ace, I was so glad Jodie & James remembered me and spent all afternoon playing with them after promising to come back the next day and take them both swimming.  I was so impressed when we did go swimming, they had both improved so much and were so good, I couldnt believe it.  Spoke to my Bro and his son Harvey on the phone, but will have to wait til after Christmas before I see them again with my new Godson Kai.

Then after hiding away for 2 nights Monday night finally came around – the Poachers Christmas party at TGI Fridays.  I got to the pub first and sat hidden round the corner with Helen and got to see everyone’s reactions when they realised I was there.  Martha was the best, she took nearly as long as Mum to realise!!  I wish I culd have taken pictures of everyones faces!

At least now everyone knows I am back, feels kinda like i’ve never been away really, especially now the suprising everyone is over, nothing else to look forward to – Oh well, best get job searching now to earn some cash!

So much for my week in the sun, topping up my tan ready for Christmas – there has only been one day of sunshine with rain the rest of the time – not bad for a place where it isn’t supposed to rain!!!

Despite the weather I still had agood time, it was nice to have a friendly face waiting for me at the airport, a place to stay and someone to go out with at night – so thanks for that Nick.  I have to say it was a lot more upmarket than I am acustomed to!

Jumeirah is probably the most famous area of Dubai where the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach hotel’s stand out from the other many buildings but for me it was my least favourite part and reminded me more of a building site than anything else, there is certainly no culture to be found there.  If all your after is a nice hotel, a beach and a pool, then it will be okay for you, but it is quite a distance from the other areas of Dubai and the main means of transport is taxi, which given the traffic jams (rush hour seems to last forever because of the different working hours) in Dubai is far from ideal – especially if your in a hurry.

Bur Dubai and Deira are the other main areas and are seperated only be the creek.  Deira to the North of the creek is more business orientated and home to the gold souk and central plaza.  Bur Dubai (where I stayed) is the oldest part of Dubai and where it all originally began, it is also your best chance at getting some culture – especially in the museum here.

We went to the food hall in the Burjaman center (one of many shopping malls) every night for dinner – apart from the two nights I cooked (unsuccessfully I might add) and to satisfy Nicks nightly coffee craving, then we normally went on to a pub to satisfy my nightly alcohol cravings!  On the first night we went to the Irish Villiage for some Killkenny’s, then another night to rockbottom’s for a bullfrog or 2 and on the last night we got all dressed up and went up the Emirates Towers for a drink there – very upmarket for me!

The highlight of Dubai was the last day when we did a dune safari which basically involved driving (or should I say sliding) 4 x 4’s through the sand-dunes for a while before stopping, having a camel ride, getting henna tattoo’s, watching a belly dancer, having a fab buffet dinner and then smoking an apple flavour sheesha pipe – not a real cultural experience but as close as I managed to get while in Dubai & it was good fun.

Considering I wanted to spend a month at least here and maybe stay longer and get some volunteer work, I didnt do very well. However I did manage to go from Hanoi in the North to Ho Chi Minh in the South in just 14 days.

What suprised me the most was the huge amount of artwork available from almost every other shop and the variety of different crafts.  I always thought Thailand was the place to go if you wanted cheap clothes tailor making, but Vietnam – especially Hoi An was much cheaper and they were more friendly and helpful than in Thailand.  There was also a difference between North and South Vietnam – obviously it was a lot colder in North Vietnam, very wet in central Vietnam and hot and humid in South Vietnam but for the first time ever I actually prefered the South of a country, not the North!  Although im not entirely sure if that was more to do with the fact that I had grown more used to the Vietnamese ways by the time I got to the South of the Country.

Arriving in Hanoi was scary, I thought Bangkok was hectic, but it was nothing compared to here. Traffic everywhere, crossing roads really does mean risking your life, taxi drivers that take you to places you dont want to go to, no body knowing how to get anywhere, it really is chaos. Luckily I was with the Canadians and Irish people I met on the Kayaking trip in Laos or I would have felt a little lost – especially after the quietness of Laos – even Vientiane (capital of Laos) would be classed as sleepy against Hanoi!

I went to Halong Bay on a day trip which would have been beautiful if it wasnt so overcast, it was also a long way to go just for a day trip and i’m sure I didnt really see the best of what it had to offer.  The same night I did a 13 hour bus journey to Hue which was a cool little city, but with only 1 night there I wish I had more time to explore it properly, and not just cycle round the Citadel in the pouring rain – which I really actually enjoyed!

After resisting shopping for so long, in Hoi An I shopped til I dropped – literally, and then had a manicure, pedicure and haircut in a little makeshift den for US$5!!  I had to buy a new North face backpack just to put all my new clothes, books, shoes and handbags in to post home, but even with the postage charge I still managed to keep it below US$200 and there was nearly 10 kilos of stuff – he he!!  The only problem is, I bought presents for all my mates back home for Xmas, posted them all home and then realised it will take 3 months to get back, so I will be home way before it and they wont get their Xmas prezzies til March – oops!!

After Hoi An I decided to brave the typhoon and took another 12 hour bus journey to Nha Trang.  The roads were terrible and I saw lots of crashes, making trying to sleep even more difficult than normal.  I arrived just after the typhoon had passed through Nha Trang and the weather was still unsettled for the first day or so, but I spent my last day here sunbathing on the beach.  I had wanted to dive here, but because of the weather conditions the sea was too choppy and dirty – I couldn’t even distinguish where the sand ended and the sea began on the first day here, it was a bit better by the time I left, but still not back to it’s beautiful blue colour. 

Ho Chi Minh City was my last stop in Vietnam and I much prefered it to Hanoi, although it was almost as hectic and much more Western which I dont normally like.  Here I spent my time wandering around, going out with locals, visiting the Chu Chi tunnels (and crawling through a few – dont worry, they had been adapted for the fatter tourists, when I saw the real tunnels, I realised why they were so effective.  My leg wouldnt even fit through it, let alone my body!!!) and driving round on motorbikes.   By this point my money was almost non existent, so I was living on the 5-10 dong (aprox 30-60p) darylee baguettes and 10 dong foh (noodle soup) & ice tea from street vendors.  I think I am actually gonna miss it though, it’s going to be weird not having street vendors around to buy cheap food from as and when you want it. 

The motorbikes were probably my main highlight here, after the worry of driving round on the chaotic roads on the back of a bike with no protection wears off, you really begin to feel the thrill of the open road.  Sun beating down on you, wind blowing through your hair, okay so theres also the insects trying to get in your eyes and mouth and the dirt all over you, but the feeling is amazing.  One that I have never had back home in England, the feeling of true freedom!

Arriving in Luang Prabang was quite a shock to the system, it was so quiet and there were no tuk tuk drivers waiting at the airport, hassling us to take us into town. I never thought I would say this, but I actually missed them, I was at a loss of how to get into town!

Luang Prebang itself is really pretty, with candles and small nightlights dotted everywhere, streets lined with vendors selling everything from fruit to fried bats, lamp shades, slippers, trousers, jewelry, everything you can imagine. Wandered around the whole villiage visiting various temples and the Royal Palace Museum which had actually changed it’s name to the National museum (which confused me a little). Then took a tuk tuk to a beautiful waterfall with Gil & Cat, we never even thought to take swimmers, which was silly as the water was so clear and refreshing (as I found out when I slipped in and bashed my toe up – again!!!).

From there I took the 4 hour bus to Vang Vieng (which took over 6 hours) and wandered around for a while before an interesting night out with a Dutch girl named Mika, and Irish dance DJ??, some very drunk people (not me for once) and jacket potato’s cooked on a fire in the bar we were at. The next day I took a kayaking tour starting in Vang Vieng and finishing in Vientiane with 3 hours of Kayaking down the Nam Lik river inbetween.

The first 2 hours in the taxi van (like a pick up truck but smaller and with a roof but open sides) had 10 of us plus all our backpacks and paddles squished into the back, 7 double kayaks on the roof, 3 people in the front and 2 people hanging off the back – climbing onto the kayaks on the roof when they got bored of standing! The Kayaking itself was ace, although the rapids were a bit dissapointing, it was only level 1-2 though and I did start with level 4 in Ecuador! We stopped in a beautiful spot by the side of the river for lunch where they cooked us kebabs and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves served with a bread roll, it is the best meal I have had since being here – they dont really have any traditional dish of their own, unlike Thailand and Cambodia whose foods were amazing. Then we stopped for a bit of cliff jumping, which I chickened out of and just went for a swim instead.

The only word that can describe the last 2 hour bus journey into Vientiane is “dusty” and even that you cannot imagine. There was a little more space this time as it was a different truck, all the bags were on the roof and there was only 11 of us and the driver, the other guides went back with the Kayak truck. The narrow, bumpy, dry red dirt road really did not mix well with my contact lenses, or my lungs for that matter, I dont know how they cope with it. Most of us sat with Sarongs over our heads for the first hour just trying to breathe. By the time we got out we all had fantastic tans – the amount of dust stuck to our arms and legs was disgusting and everytime you tried to brush it off you just rubbed it in even more! I still havent washed my clothes from it, but dread to think how much dust is wrapped up in my top.

Vientiane pretty much sums up most of the capital cities I have been to, dirty, unfriendly and unhelpful. I thought it might be different in Asia as I liked Pnomh Penh and Bangkok so much, but it actually reminds me of all the capital cities in Central America with the exception of Panama City, which I hated so much. There is nothing majorly wrong with it here and no one has tried to pull any scams or anything, but I wouldnt be suprised if they did. The accommodation is also a lot more expensive for much worse rooms. I mean US$8 for my own room with AC, hot water (a luxury I am not used to anymore), cable TV and a fridge – (sounds ridiculous doesnt it), but when your used to paying US$3 and getting a much nicer room in a friendly guesthouse with really nice helpfull staff, without the needless AC, TV, fridge and hot water it makes you kinda annoyed.

I met back up with Gil & Cat here and visited Xiengkuane Buddah Park, which was kinda creepy with all the giant buddah statues everywhere, it felt almost like a weird graveyard, I felt like the buddah’s were watching me, but it was pretty cool to see. Also went to some Stupa that i’ve forgotten the name of and the Mini Arch De Triumph (also forgotten the correct name of), which did look similar, but didn’t have the same problem of not being able to get anywhere near the real one because of the traffic!  The best thing about Vientiane was discovering all the delicious French style deli cafe’s where I had some amazing sandwiches and cakes – not very Asian I know, but definately the best food i’ve found in Laos.

Gillian Cat and I arrived in Phnomn Penh very tired and weary. Its amazing how much a cold can affect you in this heat. Although to be fair the last 2 nights I have only had 4 hours sleep in total and had to leave at ridiculous o-clock in the morning. So after the scary tuk tuk ride from the airport and unfriendly Cambodian faces staring at us with a mixture of curiosity and fear, we were pleased that the staff at the Sunday guesthouse were really friendly and we fell into bed for a few hours.

After catching up on some Zeds we went for a walk to Boeng Kak, the riverside – or at least we tried. My map-reading skills took us past independence monument and various other things of interest leaving us at the wrong side of town!! A tuk tuk ride later and we got there just after sunset, missing the whole objective of the evening! Oh well, we did get taken home on motorbikes which was quite fun – there were 3 on a bike and the little one said roll over….! The Cambodians manage to fit a family of 4 on a bike with a baby and a dog as carry on luggage, and 8 year olds seem to ride scooters to school!!

Considering Phnomh Penh is the capital city here, and I normally hate capital cities, this just isnt the case here. I now realise that the look of fear in the Cambodians eyes was probably because we all looked so terrible after the lack of sleep and early mornings. They are the friendliest people I have ever met, nothing is too much trouble. Even the fact that you dice with your life every time you try and cross the road, I love it – sure beats road rage which just doesnt exist here, unbelievable considering all the traffic.

The Tuol Sleng museum (or S 21) was tear-jurking and sombering. So much so that words cannot describe it, as for photos, it just didnt feel right to be taking pictures of a sight where so much horror and torture has happened. It amazes me that such genocide can take place and so few people in Western Societies even hear about it – mainly because of the American involvement which will always be kept quiet (or tried to).

The Russian Markets were nice, but I wasnt really in the mood for shopping after Tuol Sleng, so we headed to the riverside, took a boat tour for an hour and then got refused entry to the Royal Palace, I mean I know im a traveller and my clothes ain’t the best, but come on – how rude!!!

Arrived in Battambang after a 7 hour bumpy sweaty bus journey, got taken on motorbikes – with all our cases to the Royal Hotel, again staff just cannot do enough for you. I Went for a ride along the riverside with a guy from the hotel to see how typical Cambodians live, felt like a celebrity as everyone was waving and shouting hi as we rode past. Stopped at a farm for some fruit tasting, which soon ended in tasting home-made rice wine and home grown marijuana. Well it would be seen as rude to refuse, and it is legal over here, they even have happy herb pizza places, not tried them yet though!

Another 7 hour journey, this time crammed like sardines onto the top of a “speedboat” (probably the slowest boat I have ever been on) took us to Siem Reap. The sun was relentless from 7am to 2pm and although I put on sunscreen continuously I still looked like a lobster. The hotel obviously knew more than us when they gave us krama’s (scarves worn by Cambodians as an affirmation of identity), they definately provided some respite from the sun, if not enough!

Watched the Sunset over Angkor Wat to get us in the mood for the next long hot day travelling around all the different Angkor temples on a tuk tuk, starting at 5am to get back to Angkor Wat for sunrise.  It was pretty spectacular feeling wandering around the temples knowing that in its day this was one of the biggest empires in the world boasting a population of 1 million people when London only had 50,000 inhibitants. 

The next day we visited the floating villiage and an apsara traditional Cambodian dance and buffet dinner.  The food was amazing, the dancing reminded me mainly of what I have seen before in Thailand which shows how much Cambodia has been influences by Thailand in the past. 

So now we are still stuck in Siem Reap waiting until we can get a flight up to Laos.  I wish I could stay here longer and explore East Cambodia, but I will definately be back.  We have also successfully managed to avoid eating the national dish of duck embryo’s – we think!

So considering I was only going to spend 1 week in Thailand, that quickly doubled, I love the way of life here.  After revisiting Khao San Road and refamiliarising myself with all the sights and smells, I was hooked once again.

It was also great to meet up with Gillian & Cat in Bangkok and Daniel & Cormac in Koh Phangnan, it was like Oz bus reunion at the full moon party, but not quite the same as some vital people were missing (you know who you are).

Koh Phangnan was pretty cool and it was nice to relax a bit and get into the Island lifestyle, catch up on some sleep, drink some beer and generally chill out. I stayed in Thong Sala but went out in Haad Rin, drinking and dancing on the beech. Tropicana where I stayed was really quiet, as in no one about at all and the local restaurant was pretty much the same. Think we were their best customers, but their kid was so cute I had to keep going back to the same place. Vix you can put your mind at rest now you know that the little girl at the restaurant, whose name I cant pronounce let alone spell, was very gratefull for the bats and ball that you were gonna leave in LA, so they now have someone to look after them after I have carried them half way around the world looking for a good home for them!!

Ko Tao was amazing, a really quiet, almost unspoilt by tourism, Island. Stayed at the Tropicana again which was much better than the one in Koh Phangan. Saw a lot more of this Island than Koh Phangnan partly because it is much smaller, but also because I hired a scooter which was going really well until the 2nd day when I attempted to get to an out of the way beach up a dodgy road and fell off (sorry Gillian). This resulted in a hefty payment for the scratches on the bike, but no injuries to myself or Gillian, so the only damage done was to my bank balance – again! The diving here was a little dissapointing as the visibility was really bad because of the monsoon season, but it was nice to get back into it again and I regret not doing more as it was only about 14 quid per dive – bargain.

Then it was over to the 3rd largest of Thailands Islands, Koh Samui, which reminded me of Phukhet two and a half years ago – way too touristy, or as the guide book describes it “like a beautiful woman who wears too much make up”. Didnt really do much apart from chill out here as I couldn’t dive because I couldn’t wear fins because my foot had swelled up to twice its normal size thanks to the really nice mosquito that decided to eat it.

Gillian and I left Cat in Samui to do some meditation / yoga course and got the first (and way too early) flight back up to Bangkok spending the day chilling out (if that’s possible on Khao San Road), eating and sleeping. Next thing we know, we get an email off Cat, she just cant bear to be without us (even after I hid her flip flops in the bin and they got taken away – oops) and had booked a flight back to Bangkok to meet up with us! When she arrived she insisted we went back to Svenns – the best ice cream shop in the world for dinner – yep thats right, no savory stuff, just ice cream. Needless to say I was a pig and had fondu for 2 – just to myself of course, and now the thought of chocolate or ice cream just makes me feel sick!

A few celebratory beers and a compulsary picture with sawaa-dee-kaa Ronald on the way back before getting ready to all fly to Cambodia together.

Arriving into Melbourne at 6am in the morning after no sleep on the overnight bus wearing thongs (flip flops) was not a good idea.  Luckily walking around with my increasingly heavy backpack kept me slightly warmer whilst I found the right tram to St Kilda and Base backpackers. The guy kindly let me check in early so I managed to get a couple of hours sleep before heading out to explore. Spent the afternoon wandering round St Kilda which was a beautiful place full of little boutique style shops and hundreds of bakeries and delicatessens to tempy even the strongest willed people.

Met up with Phil (who I met in the Galapagos Islands) in the city that night and he showed me round the area, although we did struggle when walking against the gale force winds!!

Spent the next day on the free tourist bus around Melbourne stoping for a closer look at the cricket ground (MCG), lunch at chinatown, afternoon tea at Victoria markets and various other places of interest.

Headed over to Phil & Leanne’s house in Healsville later on and had dinner with them, it was really good to catch up, finally got to see my surfing pictures and bungy DVD (which are now on their way home) and looked through thousands of galapagos pictures. It was a really nice evening.

The next day (after a long lie in and the clocks moving forward) I met up with Pip and Brooke (friends of Renee & Jane who I met in Costa Rica & still miss greatly) for a hot chocolate and a couple of beers, it was a great afternoon.

That night I ended up going out for dinner with Ben (from Sydney, who was away in Melbourne with work – weird or what) and then just chilled out the next morning before catching my flight at 1.15 back to Sydney.

Considering I wasnt looking forward to going back to Sydney I had a fab two nights there with Chris (cool Irish dude I travelled the East Coast with on the Oz Bus). Didnt really do much other than chat for hours over lots of beers and Jager bommers – the drink of Australia, then sleep for most of the day, have a little wander for lunch and then do it all again!!

I was sad to have to say goodbye to him again before heading back to Sydney Airport for the 3rd time for my flight to Bangkok, however I was looking forward to getting out of Australia and back to somewhere I love – Thailand.

My bed on the bus! 

So after the 2200km from Cairns to Alice Springs in 3 days, the next installment from Alice to Adeleide of 3200km in 6 days seemed like a doddle!

There was a lot more nothingness, vast empty spaces and roads that seemed to have no end. I thought the roads in the states were ridiculously long and straight, but these are just stupid. I really could not drive in the Ozzy Outback, I would be asleep at the wheel in 5 minutes. Which is basically what I did for most of the 6 days. We drove through various deserts, went to the moon (closest landscape to the moon anyway), through the mountain ranges, the only things in sight were the occasional kangaroo, wallaby or emu.

It was nice to feel like I could relax a bit for once without missing out on the scenerary, so have finally caught up on the last god knows how many months lack of sleep, read 3 books, worn glasses to try and save my last pair of contact lenses and think I have almost got rid of all of my bruises!!

Thats not to say we didnt have fun, had a few beers round the campfire most nights – although it wasnt quite the same as up the East Coast – there was no ring of fire for a start!! The nights were usually pretty early as we were up at between 4 – 5am most mornings to get the most out of the daylight.

Campfire, Didgeridoo playing

There were many highlights of the trip, and lots of short, long and steep walks, which did make me feel a little better after the 3 day trip to Alice Springs on which I did nothing but eat and sit on a bus. OZ Exp guys, you will be pleased to know that my skirt now not only fits but is also quite tight after all my complaints about it falling down not long ago – not bad going eh!!

Walking at Kata Juta, Kings Canyon, my feet after the walks as I refused to wear trainers in the heat – nice!!

Ayers rock was obviously the main highlight of the trip, even getting up at 4am to go there for the sunrise – although it wasn’t a very spectacular one 🙁 The Sunset over the rock was equally dissapointing, but at least we had champaign (well fizzy wine) and nibbles for that, so I was happy. The 10k walk around the base of the rock really made you appreciate the size of it, and the aboriginal artwork which is still visible in some areas was amazing to see. I’m glad we couldnt climb ‘the rock’ because of the weather – even though I wouldn’t anyway because it takes away the sacredness from the aboriginals (and its way too high!!)!

Sleeping under the stars in genuine Ozzy Swags was pretty cool, and the stars like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Orions belt so prominent in the sky, along with all the other constallations, and shooting stars galore. Good job I had something to keep me occupied as it was too cold to sleep as i was too stubborn to pay for a sleeping bag – as usual – and my cotton sleep sheet just didn’t cut it!!

We stopped at a salt flat, which seemed to go on for miles, it was weird to look at after days of red dirt roads and rocks, I guess its the outback’s version of snow!  The Ghan train line runs past the salt flat and seems to go on forever also!

Salt Flat, Ghan train line

Coober Pedy, the underground mining villiage was also pretty cool, the houses built into the sides of the ground always maintain a temperature of around 20 degrees which made for the best nights sleep in a while.  Here we learnt how to tell good opal from bad opal, but unfortunately I didnt manage to find any and couldnt afford to buy any so dont go getting your hopes up for presents guys!!

Coober Pedy sign, Danger sign, Opal inside the walls

The last night in Parachilna (total population of 5 including pets) was very bizarre, with local entertainment of a guy and his guitar – very talented actually, and then one of the girls in our group getting up and singing with him, dancing on huge beer barrels outside and cracking a whip every now and again!

Sunset entertainment, population sign

Finally we crossed the border from the Northern Territory into South Australia.

It was weird driving into Adeleide and actually passing other cars on the road, seeing traffic lights again, and just being back in civilisation, its amazing how quickly you adapt to your surroundings. Adeleide was a continuation of chilling out for me, minus the early morning starts. I slept lots, ate lots, caught up on email and shopped lots. Needless to say I am now skinter than ever, but have a new camera and tattoo to show for it – necessities of course! Three nights here was definately enough!

Took the overnight greyhound bus (saving on a nights accommodation) to Melbourne, arriving 10 hours later very cold and tired – why is it I have no problem sleeping on a bus when I dont want to, but whenever I really want to sleep I cant!

Looking forward to exploring Melbourne as I have heard only great things……..

Road’s to nowhere – Ozzy outback 

It was pretty silly to get so drunk on my last night in Cairns and not go to bed til 4am when I was getting picked up for the next leg of my Oz adventure at 5.15am. So the Desert Venturer 2250k trip from Cairns to Alice Springs started off pretty badly. I was in a right mood and didnt speak to anyone all day on the first day, after that it got a lot better and there were some really cool people on the trip.  It was pretty nice to have a detox for 2 nights and catch up on sleep on the bus – well lets face it, theres not much else to do when travelling over 2000k’s through pretty much nothing!  It really does make you appreciate how huge Australia is and how dangerous the outback can be.  It is amazing to see how some people live in the outback with nothing and no-one for miles around.  In fact most people have a helicopter as their main form of transport!!  Cattle ranches that are bigger than the whole of Switzerland and alcoholic Kangaroos – that was pretty cool actually – and he drinks coffee in the morning to get rid of his hangover!!

Sunrise at the house in the middle of nowhere, lets nip into town in the chopper, alcy roo, sunset at the ranch, Hilton Hotel

The heat and dryness really was amazing.  42 degrees minimum.  I would never attempt to make that journey alone, if anything went wrong with your car you really would just fry out there, especially if you ran out of water.  It’s quite scary to be able to see for miles in all directions and there is nothing but arid red dust, the occasional termite mound and a few dry green bushes. Also the flys – it would definately take a long time to get used to the amount of flys here.  It is way worse than in South and Central America even, but at least they werent mozzy’s so I was happy!

The desert Venturer bus, giant termite mound, desert and more desert.

     

32 of us in the group, so not much space on the coach, but it was much comfier than the OZ bus – not that that takes much.  On the 1st Day Laurie announced that there were 2 songs he played everyday – you can guess what the 1st was im sure…………….. G’day G’day, Hows it going!! and the other was The Road Less Travelled.  Well I didnt know whether 2 laugh or cry when he said that – bit of a joke from the OZ Bus, and any Ozzy would probably understand it, otherwise I will find the song and play for you all sometime!!  The food throughout the trip was amazing and as we were not getting much excercise my skirt no longer falls down anymore! 

Makeshift BBQ, Border crossing of Queensland and Northern Territory, Winton – where Qantas first began.

   

Considering there really was a lot of nothing, it was a great experience.  However I was so glad to be back in Alice Springs and Civilisation, although when we all met in Melenka’s for dinner and they announced there was a quiz I made a sharp exit to the toilet – think I’ve participated in enough quizzes (of the backpacker kind) to last a lifetime!!  So last night was back to the same dancing on tables and laughing at people making a dick of themselves – for once not me!!!

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Tags: alice springs, queensland, termite mounds, Travel, Travel, Travel

East Coast Australia – OZ EXP 21 Sep – 14 Oct

October 14th, 2006

A bunch of homeless backpackers waiting for the next bus to come along. 

Well since leaving Sydney on the Oz Experience bus I have had very little sleep, a lot of alcohol, and seen and done things I would have never dreamed of seeing and doing! 

It all started in Barrington with a spot of abseiling followed by as much as you can eat pizza then white water rafting – at NIGHT ahhh – finishing off with a nice hot tub looking up at the beautifully clear stars.

 

Next stop was Spot X surf camp at Arrawarra Beach, where I learned how to surf (badly, but at least I can stand up) – another fear conquered and more parts of my body in pain (was that the surfing or the 2 bottles of vino and no sleep??).  Byron Bay was next, and a little dissapointing after hearing so much about it, there was very little to do here except watch lots of DVD’s which we managed very successfully!  There was also Cheeky Monkeys, dancing on the tables and getting “infected with rage”.

Had my phone stolen in Brisbane – then got it back again after filing a police report and being very p*ssed off – might still claim for it anyway!!  Thats my main memory of Brisbane really, apart from our time spent drinking in casino’s and Irish Bars or being hungover!  Went to Australia Zoo & the Crocoseum, the guy who sang at Steve Irwin’s memorial service was there and sang again which was pretty moving, there is like a shrine for him outside aswell.  

Sian & Al, Daniel & I, Mr Croc

   

Frasier Island for me was the main highlight of the East Coast of Oz.  4 wheel driving a 10 person van around the Island, camping outside, living, eating and drinking under the stars, having drunk sleeping bag races, playing ring of fire and getting attacked by dingos – (well they tried to steel our sponge and peed on our toilet roll!) was the best two nights ever for me.  Lake Mackenzie & Lake Wabby were absolutely stunning.  I dont think camping at home will ever be the same again!

The 10 of us on the way over to Frasier Island, Sleeping bag races, driving along the beach, plane on the beach, last group picture. 

     

 

Hervey Bay, the base for going to Frasier Island didnt have much atmosphere so we created our own fun (well the boys?? provided it) by drinking some beer and dressing up – Chris you got away lightly, we will have to change that when I visit you in Dublin!  We also got stopped by the police for almost pushing each other down the street in a shopping trolley, and another night walked part way home doing wheelbarrows!

Chris being shy, Cormac pouting, Zak’s supermodel pose, Daniel enjoying it way too much, Jen & I – this is a lot harder than what I remember from doing it as a kid! Daniel & I

      

Next was a complete change of scenery at Kroombit cattle ranch where we learnt to muster goats, catching (lassooing) and branding goats, how to use a whip (ooerr) breaking the sound barrier!!   We also did clay pidgeon shooting which I was terrible at and rode a bucking bronco – we tried to do it again later at night, but Jen & I jumped off onto the mats which had been deflated by this point – owch, at least we were drunk so no pain (til the morning)!!  

Mustering goats, lassooing, clay pidgeon shooting, bucking bronco time!

    

 

Next it was time to hit the sea again for a 2 night sailing trip around the Whitsundays.  The atmosphere was great, chilling out on deck, playing cards and of course drinking more beer.  The snorkelling wasn’t so great for me as I had an eye infection so couldnt wear my contact lenses.  The food onboard was amazing as were the beaches we visited.  The last night on the boat a mosquito decided to join me in bed and feast on me all night, so the next two days were pretty painfull, therefore the beer was purely for medicinal purposes!

The crew, the 7 of us, sunbathing on the beach, Al Sian & I, Jen & I almost overboard! 

    

Airlie Beach was one of the cheesiest places ever and we got stuck here for 4 nights.  We went on a crocodile safari and was amazed at how close you got to these huge creatures, in the wild – with no protection apart from a small boat – it was pretty scary!  We also stopped at some Crocodile Farm where the crazy guys fed the croc’s chickens and knocked some of their old teeth out and stuff with no protection at all.  I know I have been to Australia because I have seen  and held and stroked so many crocodiles, snakes and kangaroos.  The nights were spent in Koala’s, Magnum’s or the Irish bar and normally involved lots of beer and Jaegar bommers resulting in me not making it home before morning most nights!

 Croc’s, snakes, Kangaroo’s, the girls in Airlie Beach, Jen & I with Skipper Chris 

     

    

Magnetic Island was all about limboing and pub quizzing – not your usual pub quiz though, this one was a go fetch quiz – I was shattered by the end of it, and all for 1 free jug of beer between about 8 of us – well worth it!  The morning Kayaking was nice and refreshing though, if a bit too energetic!  Mission Beach was the next stop where the main highlight was Alison (who has not eaten meat for 13 years) eating Kangaroo – absolutely hilarious. 

Other cool stuff Ive done is zorbing at 20k down a hill in a huge plastic ball with a bit of water inside it.  Playing lawn Boules, which I thought I would be rubbish at but Jen and I kicked Daniel & Cormac’s asses!!

   

On the way into Cairns I finally plucked up the courage to do a bungy jump – oh my god I nearly pooed my pants, it was by far the scariest thing I have ever done in my life – skydiving is nothing on this.  Also did the ninjin (spelling??) swing, which was pretty cool – kinda relaxing after the bungy jump!! 

Bungy jumping & minjin Swing

  

Cairns was pissing down with rain and pretty windy which (combined with my hangover) meant I missed my diving trip on the great barrier reef – a shite end to the Oz Exp roadtrip.  The last night together in Cairns involved lots of jugs of beer and looking very silly in spraypainted straw hats at the dreaded woolshead. 

Looking good at the woolshead!!

  

The final last night in cairns involved winning free bungy stuff which I couldnt use cos I was leaving and then selling it for 50 bucks and spending it all on Jager bommers – deadly things.  Dont even ask what was involved to win it!

Pub Quiz games, Cormac & I, Daniel & I, Sarah, Jen & I

        

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Tags: Brisbane, Cairns, Fraser Island, Travel, Travel, Travel

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