CamCollingwood

Hello starving bloggers. The reason for the lateness of my final blog, is due to the fact that internet in Fiji costs as much as $18/hr. So i missed my original flight to Fiji from Cairns. I basically showed up for a domestic flight, when it was in fact an international flight, plus the flight rescheduled to 1hr 20min earlier in the morning than originally scheduled. Regarless, made it to Fiji 12 hours later that expected, so not a big deal; but it also gave me a chance to spend 12 hours in Brisbane, which I missed on the way up the coast. Rolled in the City of Nadi, on the major island of Viti Levu, and checked into the Hostel resort called "Smugglers Cove". This day was the first major case of Jet Lag that ... read more

Ok, so there has been a bit of a delay on entries. I don't really have a good explanation, other than i'm starting to get lazy. So this one will be shortened slightly to fit everything in. After the Fraser Island/4x4 trip, I made my way to Hervey Bay, where I only spent one night. But the one night was a good one. Myself and another group found an all you can eat chinese restaurant, with BYO (Bring your own booze). Fantastic. So after that, went to the irish pub to watch the State of Origin Rugby match. It is like the NHL All Star game, Canada vs. US born players, but it actually means something. That was great. The best of 3 final game takes place July 2, after i'm home. Onto the Kroombit Cattle ... read more

Hello blog junkies. June 3-11 So from Byron Bay, I made my way up to Surfers Paradise, which is the "Las Vegas/Miami" of Australia. Miles and miles of white sand beaches, lined with high rises. We only stayed one night as it is not cheap to travel there. On to Brisbane, the next afternoon. Apparently Brisbane is a beautiful city, I was only there for a total of 12 hours, and 6 of them were spent in the Hostel Bar downstairs. I was ok with that as I am done with being in the big cities now. Early morning Bus to Noosa, Noosa Heads and Noosaville. This is a small community of rich homes along rivers, and a very nice beach. I met up with an old girlfriend of my old roomates years ago in Calgary. ... read more

Hello die hard readers. I will have an update in 3 days, i'm heading out to Fraser Island tomorrow morning and it is late. Isn't the suspense too much to handle? I am fine.... read more

I have a mobile phone now. (61) (0)450564487. The 0 in brackets is a part of my mobile number, but apparently when calling the phone from overseas, you don't include the first 0. But i'm not exactly sure. It's something anyways.... read more

May 31-June 3 - Byron Bay/Nimbin First day in Byron Bay ended up being the best of them all for one reason, and one reason only. SUN. A group of us headed out to the beach today for some surf and sun. Apparently the surf here in Byron Bay is not for rookies. The strong northerly currents in the shallow waters was almost too much to handle, and actually getting out to the giant waves was the hardest part of it all. When you think you're paddleing out towards the surf, you're actually moving sideways at an alarming pace. Confidence level is pretty low right now, but I will try again in Surfers Paradise later this week. Went on a day trip to a little town about 1 hr outside of Byron Bay, called Nimbin. The ... read more

Hello all. May 28-30 Last day in Sydney today. Myself and the three english girls and irishman set out to Coogee beach, which is about 30min bus south of Sydney. Start our walk from Coogee beach to Bondi. Beautiful scenery, huge rock faces. The walk takes about 4 hours, with multiple stops for pics, lunch. Back in Sydney and hop on the manly beach ferry just as the sun is going down in the sydney harbour, pretty nice. A storm is on its way, and the lighting starts to strike behind the city as we drove away, it was quite a site. 6am, hop on Oz Experience bus en route to Byron Bay,driver's name is "Squirtle", via MojoSurf Camp. First surfing experience was an interesting one. up the next day at 6am for the surfing lesson. ... read more

cont'd... Day 7- Early morning Drive up the Great dividing range. A long, sharp winding road with no safty borders, and up the Snowy River. The "Man" from the river was not there. Capped the day off with a hike up Mt. Kosciuszko, highest point in Aus. and to Blue Lake. Fantastic hike. Onto Lake Jindabyne for a sauna and swim, check into hotel. Pool tournamnet tonight, ended up losing in the final for a $50 bar tab, ended up getting a couple jugs as consolation. Day 8 - Onto Sydney. Day 9 - Toured the city today by foot, Darling Harbour, parks and such. Will be doing more of a tour tomorrow. That is all for now. Pictures to follow. Bunk.... read more

Days 4-7 are in the bag. Day 4. Took it easy today, had a big night last night. Jody and Keith have invited me out for dinner with them. They decide it would be better to pick me up at the hostel, and I completely agree. Take me to the North side of Melbourne to an Italian district with many restaurants. Had a great pasta dinner with a local beer. Keith is off with some friends to see the upcoming Warren Miller flick. Jody and myself head to a couple local pubs in her area (Richmond). Both somewhat unsuccessful. They have again offered to pick me up tomorrow and to their house for dinner. Again, gladly accept. Day 5 - Went up the Eureka tower today, the largest free standing building in the Oceana. 88 floors ... read more

Day 1, from previous entry, was capped of with a night of beers and good people. Most of the people that I met were from England, and a couple of aussie locals. Carlton draught is the beer of choice, also dabbled in some Victoria Bitter (VB) as well. Day 2 started much earlier than advised. Up at 730am, I know I know, not really my style. Headed out towards south Melbourne, Canberen st.?, very old, lots of little shops and cafe's. Made my way to St. Albert Park, great walking lake/park area. Then back through the community of St. Kilda. Fairly upscale business district. Stopped by the war memorial site.Unreal history there, very nice. Made it back to the hostel just in time to sign up for pizza night. Went to the room for a snooze, ... read more