George’s Adventure

Wednesday 1st November 2006

Well our last day in Sydney and we have managed to cram in a trip to Bondi beach where we checked out the beach, had some fish and chips and then we caught the bus back to Sydney centre to go for a loop on the mono rail. Just a short little loop around the town and you get to sit in separate carriages, nothing like the one in Bangkok which I thought it would be. Then we walked to Darling Harbour where we walked and walked until our feet hurt. This meant some recovery was needed in Gloria Jeans Coffee – they seem to be everywhere here. Tonight we are off to the side bar in central Sydney and then we will be up early tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Thailand.

Tuesday 31st October 2006

Melbourne feels chilly. I think i have literally stepped into a fridge when i get off the bus. Melbourne is a bustling and vibrant city that is bigger than Adelaide but not so big that you cannot get around easily. Melbourne have trains, buses and trams galore. This is also a place where if you want to turn right at traffic lights you get into the left hand lane to turn – weird!!

My first day in Melbourne led me to the Old Melbourne Gaol. Janine insisted on calling it ‘gool’ for some reason. I did try and tell her. The jail was interesting as you get to look into the cells and walk around the prison and imagine what the conditions were like and you learn about the different inmates including the famous Ned Kelly.

We caught the free city loop tram. It just does a loop around the city. We did this and then got off to walk along the South Bank Arts and Leisure Precinct, then back along the river to the otherside accross Queens Bridge street to Rialto Towers and Melbourne’s Observation Deck. First we watched a short chessy film on Melbourne – it had the best 80s hair cuts in it. It encourages tourists to visit the different attractions in Central and the surrounding areas of Melbourne. We took a lift up to the main observation deck which gives you a 360 degree view of the city, 253m high.

At 6pm Janine made sure I was positioned in Melbourne Central Station, a massive train station filled with all sorts of levels from cinemas to expensive shops and food places. In the middle there is a clock which chimes at 6pm and moves around – quite amusing.

In our hostel that night we went down to our bar, Roo Bar. There was a pjama party going on. Very funny. I missed the bit where Janine put on some PJs and danced – haha!

Other hightlights of Melbourne have to be eating a mild bratwurst from Melbourne’s first bratwurst shop at the Queen Victoria Markets. A big market selling everything from fruit and veg to clothes.

Wandering around Federation Square where live music was being played I stumbled into the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image). A place dedicated to the moving image. After thoroughly depressing myself by watching a short film on a teenage girl who ends up loney I thought it best to get back to the hostel and Janine.

On Monday Janine and I visited St Kilda for the day. A beautiful beachy place. Fairly small but very happening. Lots of cafes and best of all, cake shops! We walked along the Esplanade there and the famous pier.

Last night we went to the famous Neighbours night. Well, we couldnt come to Australia and not do something related to Neighbours. It was hillarious! We got picked up by a shuttle bus that took us to the ‘Elephant and Wheelbarrow’ pub in St Kilda. You get one free drink and the chance to meet some stars. We got to meet Ned, Dylan and Sky. Being a bit of an old skool Neighbours fan and not having seen it that recently – some of us work you know – I did feel a little nervous about meeting them but it was fine. I had my photo taken with all of them. There was also a trivia quiz – just general knowledge – we didnt win obviously!! There were also various competitions that you could enter and then once it was all over the music started pumping and a dance floor emerged. Overall, a great night!

Saturday 28th October 2006 On Tuesday 24/10 my adventure to The Grampians and The Great Ocean Road began.  I had decided that this part of the Australian coast was something that I really wanted to do and Janine wasnt too bothered ... [Continue reading this entry]

Sunday 22nd October 2006 The first thing noticeable about Adelaide is that the temperature is undeniably cooler than what we have been used to in Central Australia (outback). It gets cold in the evening, a bit like our summer evening's at ... [Continue reading this entry]

Thursday 19th October 2006 Yes, I have finally made it to Adelaide. I have spent almost a month just travelling in the outback - it feel like an eternity - but it has been fun.  On Tuesday 17/10 we got picked up ... [Continue reading this entry]

Monday 16th October 2006 We left for our 3 and a half day Uluru trip from Alice Springs on Thursday 12/10.  The day before we had spent getting all our stuff ready for the trip and having a look around Alice ... [Continue reading this entry]

Wednesday 11th October 2006

We have now arrived in Alice Springs from Darwin.  We left Darwin on Sunday 8/10 after an early start of 5.30am to meet the bus.  The fact that we didn't leave and the bus didn't pull up ... [Continue reading this entry]

Saturday 7th October 2006 Darwin is extremely hot. Did you know that Darwin is the most likely place to suffer lightening and thunder in the world? Interesting I thought. Since we have been in Darwin we have been ... [Continue reading this entry]

Thursday 5th October 2006 I have now reached Darwin and what a hard slog it was to get there.  Looking at a map of Australia you would be forgiven for thinking that it wouldnt take that long to get from Cairns ... [Continue reading this entry]