Alex86
Alex Joined: September 11th 2008
Logged in: August 9th 2009
Logged in: August 9th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
Finally have time to add another entry...just read Aly's latest one so felt I had to post one of my own. Sorry its' taken 4 months though. Guess a quick summary of my last month or two in Australia is the best place to start... Had the best time at Opal Creek, working for the Lane family. Camilla left at the end of May, after a fantastic weekend in Surfer's Paradise. Jamie took us to the Marriott Hotel and we had an incredible dinner at the tepenyaki restaurant. Then we went out for a few (OK, a lot) of drinks and danced until the early hours. After saying farewell at Brisbane Airport, Fiona and I returned to Opal Creek for another two weeks before heading up the coast to Townsville. Was very sad saying goodbye to ... read more
Had the best time in Bondi, made lots of friends at the hostel. Ended up there until Tuesday morning, spent Monday night on the beach with friends from the hostel (plus Tom's guitar for some musical entertainment!)...perfect last night. Fiona and I finally got jobs, as apple pickers, so we headed in to Sydney on the 31st of March to get a Greyhound bus. The women at the check-in was a twat though and gave us the wrong instructions so we missed our bus to Wallangarra. Checked-in to a hostel. Camilla flew back in to Sydney that day so met up with her and her boyfriend James for dinner. She decided to come with us to be an apple picker as well, so met up again the next day for the 12 hour bus journey to ... read more
Flew in to Sydney airport last Tuesday and headed straight to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manly. Very sunny - delighted! The hostel we booked in to is on the Corso, the pedestrianised area that goes from the ferry terminal to the beach, and is a 10 second walk from the sand. Spend all of Wednesday and Thursday sunbathing/watching hot surfers, good times! On Friday, Fiona and I caught the ferry back to Circular Quay so we could meet up with Mairi and Ian (Mairi is a teacher at Kingsford with my mum). It was awesome coming round in to the harbour...fantastic views of the bridge/opera house etc. Was great seeing familiar faces, and nice to hear stories from home. Mairi very kindly treated us to lunch (Thank you so much!) then they headed ... read more
Finally have a chance to add another blog entry so here goes... Had a fantastic time in Tasmania. Fiona and I hired a car for 4 days and first stop was Port Arthur on the Monday. It was a really interesting place, a former convict penal settlement. Went on the harbour cruise and stopped for a tour on the Isle of the Dead! Stayed nearby on the first night so we could go on the ghost tour, really spooky, especially the seperate prison. On the Tuesday we went back again so we could walk around some more (it's huge!!). On day 3 we headed to Hastings Caves and they were incredible. Afterwards we went for a dip in the hot springs pool. On day 4 we headed to Rosny to hit the shopping mall then went ... read more
Fiona and me
Spent 12 days in Sydney altogether...the first two days were so sunny but after that it was cloudy and very wet! Met up with Joe, Fiona and Dave, so good to see them all again. We walked to the harbour a few times and saw the bridge and the opera house. Also went to Hyde Park Barracks, the Crime Museum, the Botanical Gardens and the Sydney Aquarium. Fell in love with the city, although the rain meant we were stuck indoors a bit. Fiona and I did developed a love for Starbucks New York Cheesecake though...yum! On Wednesday 18th Feb, Fiona and I flew to Tasmania. Yvonne and Brian very kindly agreed to let us stay with them. I took Fiona to Salamanca Market and in to town, then at the weekend Yvonne and Brian took ... read more
Left the island last Saturday and flew to Brisbane - Kylie kept us entertained with her dramatics...she's a bit of a nervous flyer! We ended up staying at Brisbane Backpackers Resort - the one I stayed at when I first arrived in Oz - so it was like going 'home'! Had a 'few' drinks at the hostel before Suzie and I hit the town. Found a club that we'd been to once before and had the best, and the sweatiest, two hours of dancing to tunes from the 70s, 80s and 90s. The next day we headed in to town for a bit then went to the cinema to see 'Twilight' - BEST FILM EVER!! That night we were joined by Nathan, one of Suzie's friends from home, and headed back to the bar (surprising, huh?) ... read more
Girlies
Can't believe it - only a week left on Magnetic Island! Still having a fab time, despite a minor incident with a spider!! Basically I found two white spots on the inside of my calf last Tuesday, just below my knee, and within 24 hours the whole of the inside of my calf was bright red and infected. Went to get it checked out and the doctor told me it's a spider bite. Haven't been able to ride since Tuesday afternoon and have to stay out of the water for a week which sucks! Changed the dressing this morning and there is only one word to describe what was underneath...FOUL!! Cleaned it out and there is a pretty impressive hole in my leg where the skin etc has died...yummy!! Not nearly as sore anymore though which ... read more
Horseshoe Bay
Still on Magnetic Island and am loving it here!! I managed to find a job at Horseshoe Ranch. It's has the only horses on the island and is just a 15/20minute walk from the beach at Horseshoe Bay. Basically we get up and feed the horses at 6am, breakfast at 6.30am, then back out at 7.30am to get the horses tacked up. At 9am we take the morning ride out - an hour through the bush then along the sand at Horseshoe Bay. We jump off, take off saddles, put on stinger suits (it's Box Jellyfish season!) then ride the horses in to the water. It's amazing! After we've gone through the water for a while, we stop and demonstrate a few "tricks" - turning around on the horses backs, horse surfing (we stand up on ... read more
Nemo!!!
Happy New Year everyone! I made it to Townsville on the 30th Dec and met Hannah and Suzie which was fab! We spent Wednesday working on our suntans before cracking open some wine and seeing in the New Year in a club somewhere! (I'll try to add some photos!) Yesterday we went to an aquarium then attempted to see a movie but the fire alarm went off an hour in so we were all evacuated!! This morning we packed up and headed to Magnetic Island...it's gorgrous! Just waiting to check in then we're gonna go explore this afternoon. Anyway, hope you've all recovered from hogmannay (that's how Hannah said to spell it!!!). Best wishes for 2009!!!!!... read more
So it's my last full day in Tassie...flying up to Townsville tomorrow for New Year. So excited to meet up with Hannah Mac, who is currently flying over from Aberdeen, and Suzie, but am sad to be leaving the Young family. Tassie is beautiful - have loved being here for the past 12 days. Time has flown by! Brian, Yvonne, Alan, Neil and Alex have made me so welcome and I've had lots of fun spending time with them all. The boys have been teaching me the rules of grid iron (NFL) and I even tried throwing the ball around in the garden (badly!). Yvonne and I have been shopping a few times, once in the city and twice at Salamanca market. I'm now kitted out with lots of surf clothes! Before Xmas we drove up ... read more
