Traveling with the rich and famous

Well I've just jetted into Sydney and I'm typing this blog entry into a word processor in the cafe whilst drinking a mocha. Oh yeah I'm so 21st century. I could be one of those web images of someone doing their work carefree on the move, sat on the beach or in this case sat in a cafe. Except I'm not a beautiful woman or a guy who looks like he has spent a lot more time in the gym than in front of a computer.
Here I am and you ask why am I still taking in the ambiance of Sydney Airport. Well my bag decided not to travel with me again, I think I will have to treat it better. It won't get away from me that easily though, I received my $6 token to spend in the coffee shop and opted to hang around for an hour to wait for it.

Anyway the flight was interesting. All very smooth and normal, but livened up by the announcement from the captain on the final approach to Sydney. After giving the usual weather report etc.. He said I'm sure you would all like to join me in congratulating Marcos Baghdatis (the runner up to Roger Federer the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne) who is Traveling with us today. I would and did in person after we got off the flight. Funnily enough he was still in his tennis gear. Hopefully he can afford some new clothes now.

Now safe and sound in my hotel, which doesn't quite live up to the photos on web, but the room itself is quite smart. Also got a free bottle of champers, which can't be a bad thing. I'm situated slap bang in the Soho of Sydney (Kings Cross) and it's pretty seedy to be honest, sorted myself with a curry and a bottle of vino. I'm a bit shattered to be honest, two pretty late nights in a row has caught up, so I'm going back to the hotel for a glass or two in front of the TV. Do the sights tomorrow, then meet my Uncle and two cousins on Thursday, hmm should be interesting!

Phillip Island

I managed to spend my last full day in Melbourne productively and took a tour to Phillip Island, the land of the penguin parade. It was a really good trip and a fun group. I got to see some of the Australian critters that I had wanted to and hadn't yet such as the wombat ant the koala so that was great. The penguin parade it's self was brilliant (not photos you ain't allowed) so funny seeing the little critters waddle up the beach, see the photos of the rest of the tour here.

Big Day Out

Ahh it was great fun. It was a pretty hot day, but not too fierce as the rain clouds were hanging around threateningly, but fortunately never delivering. The festival was only walking distance from M&K's which was a real bonus. So we rolled up at about 1pm and wondered around the stalls for a bit and then I got head long in to my planned schedule. I lost M&K somewhere in the middle of this, but we found each other again at the 2 Many DJs set at the end of the night.
First up was The Magic Numbers, those charming chubby hillbillies, who where really excellent and M even enjoyed them although he had subsequently said that he didn't like any band starting with "The". Straight up next The Go! Team, with a shout out to fellow Brightonians (I wonder if we were the only ones, probably not they get everywhere). Started off a bit ropey, but the lead singer has so much energy, a real entertainer and when the more familiar numbers came on the crowd really started throwing some shapes! I gave Henry Rowllins spoken word a go along with The Kings of Leon, neither really got me hooked, so I took the opportunity to have a roo burger.
Franz Ferdinand came on later and where really good, they seem to be popular in OZ too. Iggy Pop was absolutely mental, how that guy has the energy and physique he does at that age is amazing. He jumped into the crowd and then had half of them up on stage with him. The evening was rounded off by the White Stripes and although they went off on a bit of a self indulgent jamming session at one point, it was great when they just stuck to playing their tunes. See dem photos ere.

Kung Fu Hussle

Saw Kung Fu Hussle at the outdoor cinema in the botanical gardens in Melbourne tonight, fantastic setting. Amazing film, really silly and good fun, but also the most amazing special effects i think i have ever seen, a visual feast. Check it out, but definitely on the big screen.

That's Entertainment

Had a really good couple of days. Went to a comedy club on Saturday night for a friend of K&Ms Birthday and it was really good, if a little hot, the air conditioning had broken and it became a bit of a running joke for each comedian to start their act with something like "F**k it's hot". The acts were really good fairly un-PC as you can imagine, just damn funny though.
This was followed last night by a barn storming evening at the Australian Open. It was a dream line up for the 4th round, we couldn't have got luckier with the tickets:

Martina Hingis (SUI) vs. Samantha Stosur (AUS)
Roger Federer (SUI) vs. Tommy Haas (GER)

Hingis on an amazing comeback and Stosur the only ozzie iin the 4th round! Followed by Roger Federer - The Master verses the last person to beat him only a couple of weeks ago in oz, the resurgent Tommy Haas who was once heralded as the new Boris Becker. It went to form and both matches were absolute classics the mens game going to the 5th set and turned on a slightly controversial line call that gave Federer a break in the last game. All in all it was a great day for the Swiss, especially the two girls I was sat next to (pictured) who were very excited about the whole thing and made us all blow up red and white balloons. I was happy to be with the winning team ;o) The final scores:

Martina Hingis (SUI) def Samantha Stosur (AUS)
6-1 7-6(10-8)

Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def Tommy Haas (GER)
6-4 6-0 3-6 4-6 6-2

Click on the picture above for more photos from the tennis. Also download a video file of a great drop shot from Tommy Hass here

More Photos

You can find some more photos of my Ozzie experience here.

The Great Ocean Road

I finally made it and realised that I have made a very stupid miscalculation and actually I only have today, pretty much, to drive the whole stretch! Bum! Oh well it's not too bad I'm half way along already near enough, just stopped for lunch in Apollo Bay which is pretty cool, seems to be a bit of a popular surfers beach. I got handed a flyer for an open air performance of "As you like it" tonight at 6pm so I'm tempted to stay for that now - bit of culture innit.

I left the Grampians yesterday after going for a walk in the forest and a swim in the Mckensie waterfall (well a bit further down the river as you can't swim there) the water was so refreshing it was absolutely amazing.

I stayed in Port Fairy last night which was a pretty little coastal town and went for another swim in the sea, which again was fantastic the water is so clear, it was surprisingly cold. I guess maybe the sea on the southern coast of Australia is a lot colder (Antarctic?) Just realised I left my swimming shorts at the motel in PF, bugger!

Sarsaparilla

For those of you who read and loved my informative article concerning root beer. Sarsaparilla - It's absolutely horrible, tastes like medicine, what were they thinking!

To do list 2006

Ok So I am in a backpackers place in the Grampians (SP?) National park and it's a really cool place (Tim's Place - run by a bloke called Tim would you believe :) and sat outside chatting to a couple of German travellers and as night falls we are surrounded by kangaroos, brilliant and they are so tame that I could get pretty damn close. They just carried on eating the grass as I took some photos. The only thing that stopped me getting closer is the thought that if one of them just ran at me they could do some serious damage! Hopefully they could not smell my fear! Cocky buggers weren't afraid of me though.
Anyway before I met the Germans, i was preparing a list of things to do in 2006, this is only the first draft, but I thought it would be good to put it on record so I can look back and see what I didn't achieve ;o) Any suggestions welcome too.
To Do:
Learn a language - possible French lessons. Enrol on a creative writing class. More walks in the countryside. Cycle rides. Comedy Clubs. Theater. See more films. Create some useful websites. Grow my own food. Cook some more recipes / Bake. Attempt to write a novel. Prepare some more lists. See more of Britain. Cycle round Britain. Visit Paris again, Italy for the first time and more of Europe. Japan especially Tokyo. Learn a new programming language (ASP .Net?) Join a gym again!! Say yes to virtually everything! Read more books. Visit/Speak to Kate more (sorry sis;). See my mother more (or at least phone occasionally!) See more bands. Join a tennis club. Maybe take up Squash! Paint a little. Visit extended family (not sure about that one!) Visit some old friends. Go running. Run a marathon. See Wimbledon live. See a World Cup match in Germany live. Wear Flip Flops more. Invest in a more exotic wardrobe! Get some work in a bar,cafe and/or restaurant. Swim more. Drink and appreciate good wine. Start up a crazy business venture such as running a restaurant in Goa. Invest in something risky. Collect an eclectic mix of furniture. Try many new pubs. Be friendly and helpfully to strangers. Write a weekly poem?! Keep a diary/planner/calender type thing. Buy a plot of land somewhere. Work abroad. Have a regular meal night, such as pie night. Organise some group activities such as going to a Premiership football match, playing 5-a-side football, going bowling, a club in London, virtual golf, real golf etc... Hold some dinner parties. Take some singing lessons!

Me, Ayres Rock and a Frog

This is for Baz, I have been carrying this bloody inflatable frog around for my whole trip and every monument etc that I saw and photographed as I left I thought oh bugger that bloody frog I need evidence of it's travels, well here you go Baz ;o)
I will put all of this current trips photos up on the site when I get back to Melbourne.

Busted!

So I get back to Adelaide ok and stay a night in a backpackers before driving off to coast, Melbourne and The Great Ocean Road. 2 hours into the drive and I see a police trooper spinning round in the road and then firing up his sirens, oh shit he is pulling me over for speeding! $269 fine! F**K, F**K, F**K! Sorry I needed to get that out of my system ;o) I was going 134kmph in a 110kmph limit. Apparently if I was going 10kmph faster the fine would have been higher, luckily for me the Northern Territories police weren't quite as efficient as I'm sure I was hammering along at at least 170kmph along those deserted roads.*

Anyway after I had stopped swearing, I just thought bugger it, you just can't stop money leaving your hands, so you may as well enjoy it while you've got it ;o) It's just flowing out of my fingers at the moment, everything I buy I seem to loose (3 pairs of sunglasses! One I only had for about 4 hours!)

The countryside in South Australia is beautiful and a welcome change from the red desert!

I stopped in the quaint little town of Robe, that reminded me of where my Grandparents used to live (Barton on Sea) only much warmer and a nicer beach. I have got a feeling that this drive it's not going to be much of a party tour and more of a sleepy relaxing trip, so I got into the mood of just being a sightseeing old fella and even had a round of golf, most enjoyable. Although I am beginning to realise that City life and hanging out with some mates is probably a bit more fun, it's good to relax and maybe read some more or something??

*Please note anything written here could be purely fictional and would not stand up in a court of law ;)

The Outback

Well, it's been a fun trip so far, if a little expensive, even though I have roughed it as much as possible. Australia is just so bloody large that travel costs. I have ended up getting a flight back to Adelaide on Sunday as its the cheapest form of transport back from Alice Springs. Bus, train and plane are around $200+ each.

As for my car trip in my trusty Hyundai Getz hire car. It was a lot of driving about (1500km all told), so I really welcomed the speakers I bought for the mp3 player. I quite enjoyed it though, I was zipping along the almost empty highways in the midst of the red dessert. I went for 10 minutes at a time without passing another car and it took me a while to realise that other drivers were waving at me just because they hadn't seen anyone for so long too.

I went to Ayres rock first and thought I had spotted it after driving for about 4 hours only to discover it was another big rock in the desert called Mt Conner, it says in the guide that many eager tourists mistake this place for the rock. Eventually i get to the Uluru resort and decide not to pay the $170 for a basic room and go for the $40 four berth dorm as the guy said I might well have it to myself anyway.

I drive down to the rock and it is an amazing sight, it locks totally unnatural, it's just so red. I do the perimeter walk, the climb is closed as it is too hot, but although they allow you to climb (there is only one root to the top) they also ask you not to as the aboriginals find it disrespectful to this spiritual place. The climb actually looked pretty hairy to be honest, so as a mark of respect I didn't climb ;o)

The perimeter walk took about 3 hours, I was pretty bushed afterwards and just timed it nicely so that I could drive to the sunset viewing point take a few snaps as the sun went down then drive back to the resort. I was absolutely ravenous so I queued up to order my food that consisted of a variety of meats and free a salad bar. I ordered a marinated steak (possibly Kangaroo?) and then realised that it was just served to me raw and I had to barbecue it myself. This was actually quite fun and I wondered if something like this would catch on back in the UK, probably not enough sunny days though.

I got talking to a couple of girls from Glasgow who were really nice and had a couple of beers with them before returning to my dorm to discover I did have some roomies, who i managed to wake up, oops!

The next day got up fairly early and after breakfast went to see the other rocks in the area (I love 'em!) called the Olgas (Kata Tjuta). They were quite interesting, some (my humps my bumps my lovely lady) lumps in the sand. Then I prepped myself for another big drive to Kings Canyon. It took most of the day to get there and when I finally arrived, I don't know if it was because I was a bit rocked out of it, but apart from a little climb it was a bit disappointing really and the drive meant that I would have to pay for another days rent on the car as I had gone over the mileage. The resort was also expensive and looked incredibly dull. So I went back to a garage I passed that had accommodation. This turned out to be an excellent move.

I was fueling up the car before reserving my cabin for the night ($55 breakfast included) when this hick young pilot comes up to me and says do you want a helicopter ride mate. Apparently this Young Lady wanted to go on the chopper, but he needed to take a minimum of two people to make it worth their while. $40 I thought f**k it why not. He then says "great, tell you what I will leave the doors off its a bit more of a rush" (gulp!)

Anyway it turned out to be slightly terrifying, but a "rush" and the view of the canyon made it worth while. Also it turned out that I was the only person staying in the cabins, so I just cranked up my music and drunk a few tinnies as the sunset. Quite pleasant.

So I drove back this morning and in a vain attempt to keep down the mileage tried to take the non-tarmacked 4x4 root back to Alice. My advice is to not try this in a Hyundai Getz ;o) I turned back and took the long root, frustrating as it was nearly 200km longer!

Now back at the lively backpackers in Alice Springs, I fly back to Adelaide tomorrow, ready for my trip down the Great Ocean Road.

Real Men Love Jesus

An actual bumper sticker I saw on my long drive to Uluru. The Northern Territories are a bit like the Bible Belt of the US I think, I have also seen two fairly large christian book shops, scary.

The Red Rock

Uluru, Ayres Rock call it what you like, it really is an awesome sight. I think what makes it so special is that it is surrounded by nothing but flat never ending dessert unlike Everest which is surrounded by other mountains almost equally as high. Short entry as I'm on an Internet kiosk thingy. Off to see some more rocks and a canyon today then back to a town called Alice tomorrow.

Hot as Hell

That last post was actually published yesterday, but it didn't update for some reason?? Anyway here I am in Alice Springs and it is chuffing hot, 42 degrees!
I had a great beef Thai curry last night, can't remember what it was called, it had a sweet but spicy flavour and a peanut topping, yum. It has just reminded me that I haven't even eaten today, I had a croissant this morning in the airport since then nothing, got here booked into the backpackers and fell asleep I'm starving its 6pm, so I will keep this short. I have booked a car and I'm going to drive to Uluru tomorrow. Flying over central Australia it looks more like how I imagined OZ to be, red sand and bush, hot and barren.

In and out (oh er)

I spent a day in Adelaide, it's a nice enough City, but there isn't an awful lot the interests me here. So I'm off! I have booked a flight to Alice Springs tomorrow!
A made fairly good use of the day though, I have visited the South Australian Art Gallery, it's currently showing an exhibit of paintings by the first European settlers in Australia. None of the work was that mind blowing, but there was a painting of early Sydney that was quite interesting to see. There was some more modern works from Warhol, Kandinski and Matisse, so at least I recognised some of the artists (I don't know many!)
I also went to The Jam Factory, which disappointingly had nothing to do with Jam, but was another Art Gallery/Art and Craft sellers, had some lovely bowls if you are in to that sort of thing. I ducked into the cinema too and saw Jim Carey's latest offering "Fun with Dick and Jane"?? (something like that) anyway it was lame so I wouldn't bother if I were you.

On the road again

So with a heavy heart I left M&K's, sad to leave to comfortable environment I had been living in, but excited to be back on the road and off to see pastures new. I've had and early start and I feel totally shattered to be honest, but I'm here in the heart of Adelaide and it is only just gone 9am, so I have a whole day to fill, I have booked myself into the YHA for tonight.

So I have a vague plan to drive back along the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne, but if possible first to get up to Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayers Rock) I will look into the possibility of doing that today.

It's a blogs life

I have realised that I haven't posted much on the blog of any substance since arriving in Australia (perhaps since its creation many would argue!). I have managed to get most of my pictures online, so at least that is something anyway.
It has been far too pleasant here, I'm having such a great time doing a fair amount of things i could be getting up to back home in the summer and I guess that's why I haven't been reporting them much. Amongst other things, i have been to the gym a few times, played squash, eaten out in cafes, been to the pub, gone cycling, jogging. I also went a bit purchase crazy and got my self a little second hand lap top, it only cost £250 and it's nice and small so I can carry it around and it got my arse in gear with the photos (some of Melbourne to come shortly)
I will be leaving the new toy here on Tuesday though as I have bought a flight ticket to Adelaide so the adventure continues and I finally prise myself away for a while from the womb like comfort of M&K's.
Thoughts have turned to all the lovely folk back home and getting back there probably in the spring, hopefully the weather will have picked up by then, I hear it's been pretty cold in the UK. Also my eyes have been opened to the possibility of spending the English winter in the southern hemisphere, thus having summer all year round, if I can get a New Zealand passport then it would not be out of the question.

Slideshow-tastic

Some more photos uploaded, this time from the Everest trek
In other news, I have booked a flight to Adelaide for next Tuesday, so the adventure continues....

Pictures at last!

Hi finally posted my photos of my first trip Delhi to Kathmandu, more to come!

Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year to you all! This is a shot of the fantastic firework display in the middle of Melbourne. They launched the fire works from the river, but they seemed to be going off all around us, I set my camera to Fireworks Mode for this picture (brilliant it's a camera for complete idiots like me!) It was really odd to be celebrating New year in a T-shirt and shorts, but a very pleasant one. Also I really like the way the government seems to actually care about and do things for there people over here. Small example - all the public transport is free on Christmas day and New Years Eve. Also The bars open as long as they like (although is that happening in Britain now?)
Anyway political rant over, it was a really fun night that started with some Mojitos at M&K's, it such a good drink, learn how to make it here. After the fireworks we wound our way back to home via a really strange pub that was still open at 2am along with others when we left and no cost to get in, marvelous!
As you may have noticed I have been fiddling about with the site I just wanted to upload some pictures, but had to change the size of each page and got carried away. Still haven't upload the photos ;o) I will get on the case soon I promise!