http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Alex86/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Alex86 en-us Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:56:55 +0000 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:56:55 +0000 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 Ho http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-425850.html 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 checkin was a twat though http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Toowoomba/blog-387791.html 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 sunbathingwatching hot surfers good times On Friday Fiona and I caught the f http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-384334.html 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 spo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/CBD/blog-382073.html 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 me http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-376570.html 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 sw http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-371479.html 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 sinc http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Magnetic-Island/blog-366474.html 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 1520minute 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Magnetic-Island/blog-362588.html 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 photosYesterday 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Magnetic-Island/blog-359164.html 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 t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Hobart/blog-358110.html Hi guys sorry it's been so long since my last blog entry. Suzie one of the girls I met on the OutBackPackers course and I have spent the last month working on a property about an hour's drive from Clermont Queensland. So hot it reached 40degrees quite a few times. Worked from 6.30am 5.30pm six days a week. Was tough but amazing Got to go mustering on horseback quite a few days. The first http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Clermont/blog-354887.html Quick post as only have a few minutes on the internet. Loving my first week working for Liz and Barry. We're on a 60000 acre cattle station an hour away from Clermont NW Queensland. No phone signal or internet Liz is kindly letting us use her computer for a few minutes tonight. Being eaten alive by mosquitos Other than that it's fab. Luckily we haven't had any storms here at all but have se http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Clermont/blog-347148.html Finally got myself a job It's in Clermont Queensland on a cattle station which should be awesome. It's with one of the other girls I did the OutBackPackers course with Suzie so nice to be with someone I already know We left Brisbane yesterday at 2.30pm and arrived in Mackay at 7.15am today luckily we slept most of the way Stuck here until 1.30pm then got another bus journey only 6 hours http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Mackay/blog-345418.html Not much to report this week. Still in Brisbane. Was persuaded to go out with some Irish guys on Wednesday night for a few drinks.....MESSY Great fun though. Big night out tonight think I may need a powermap first though.Still trying to sort out a job fingers crossed I should have one for next week. Went in to town today really weird having the sun shining but the shopping centres were all http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-344953.html Just arrived back in Brisbane four of us have come back to the hostel we originally stayed at while we finalise jobs. Absolutely loved the OutBackPackers course. On Wednesday my group went out on the horses for a few hours and tried mustering cattle for the first time. It was so different to riding at home but the horses were fab. In the afternoon we went quad biking...so much fun. We were back http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-342814.html Arrived at the training ranch yesterday we are literally in the middle of nowhere First job was to go to the nearest town and get kitted out with a hat boots and work shirts I'll try to upload the photos tonight We are staying in a 'hostel' around 15 minutes from the ranch. It's awesome one big dorm room a big social room and a dining area which last night was full of insects as we ate http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Toowoomba/blog-341498.html On Saturday we decided to all go to Steve Irwin's zoo. It was amazing First we went to the crocoseum a 5000 seat stadium where we saw snakes birds and a crocodile called Monty. We then split into two groups and started working our way round the various enclosure. The afternoon was particularly exciting...some of us had our photo taken hugging a koala bear...so cute We also saw tigers swimming http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Australia-Zoo/blog-341198.html Finally arrived at Brisbane Airport around 7am on Thursday morning but had to hang around there until 9.30am as one of the other flights was delayed. Once everyone arrived we got transfered to a hostel in the West End of Brisbane. There's 9 of us on the Outbackpackers course and everyone is fab With 8 of us in one room we all got to know each other very quicklyDesperate for a shower we were to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-341193.html 37 hours after leaving Kingswells...I'm finally almost in Oz At the moment I'm in New Zealand at Auckland Airport waiting for my fourth and final flight. No dramas so far although we had to sit on the plane for an hour and a half in Aberdeen while they deiced the runway. Couldn't believe how much snow fell on Monday night. Was quite a contrast to the sunshine at LAX Lots of people missed thei http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-339690.html It's my last night in Aberdeen...still haven't started packing Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to the house yesterday. I had a fab time hope everyone else did too. Thanks for all the lovely cards and gifts as well.Will miss everyone heaps but will try my best to stay in touch. Fingers crossed I'll be able to add lots of entries to my blog so you'll all be able to see http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Aberdeen/blog-338986.html