TKnowles
Tom Knowles Joined: October 20th 2009
Logged in: January 11th 2011
Logged in: January 11th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
February 10th 2010
Souther Cross Station
So it’s been a fair few weeks since my last entry, and in many ways a lot has happened, but in others, very little. I shall explain in due course. My first visit to Melbourne was a flying one. Barely a full day was spent waiting around in the city as we were on a mission to get to Shepparton. I and a friend had travelled by train over night from Sydney to meet two other friends who we had met back in Bundaberg during our melon picking adventures. They had flown in the night before from Brisbane so were on the other side of the city, asleep, when I and Raphael arrived from Sydney early Wednesday morning. The overnight train from Sydney to Melbourne was reasonably comfortable, aided by the fact we travelled in first ... read more
There is plenty of great little restaurants along the boardwalk of Bondi, but that is about it. Apart from the beach there is little to do, and you’ll have to venture inward towards the city for a large supermarket or anything along those lines. Xmas time was spent in and around the apartment, unfortunately the weather didn’t really play ball and instead of the BBQ on the beach I had to settle for a frozen turkey. Now we’d left it up to the girls to ‘cook’, as you do! In hindsight, with the turkey still frozen at 7pm so we were on course for having ‘lunch’ at about one am Christmas day. (I should explain that being French; my housemates celebrate on Christmas Eve.) However, the Christmas spirit was in the air and the friendly neighbor ... read more
I’d rented an apartment in Bondi with a few friends and now faced the task of getting there from wherever we were in Sydney. Nothing impossible, but not exactly the easiest task with bags hanging from every limb and very little sleep due to the ‘problem’ on the bus. We worked out it was going to be a train and then a bus to get to our final destination. Like London the train lines here are color coded and it’s very easy to find the correct platform for the desired destination. Thankfully they are pretty frequent, from Sydney transit centre to Bondi Junction you’re looking at a train every 10 minutes or so. I don’t know if it was the lack of sleep or a genuine observation, but I could not help but think the whole ... read more
Got to love the greyhound…..or not. It’s an 18hour bus ride from Brisbane to Sydney. That’s a very long bus ride in European standards but for Australia it’s nothing to write home about. (ha!). Now, on the whole you’ve got the choice between two different Bus Companies. There are others around, often for the more popular short haul journeys, but amongst the Backpacking community Greyhound and Premier are the only ones talked about. Greyhound runs more routes than Premier and often with more busses running per day. You’ll often pay more, but not always. Premier has a one bag per person policy whilst Greyhound will allow two bags, neither allow luggage heavier than 20kg, I’m not exactly sure as to why this is the case. But I’m guessing it’s a health and safety thing and not ... read more
So its been a while…… Reasons for my lack of updates are long and boring so we wont dwell on it too much. In short there is only so many day of melons a man can take before he gets a little fatigued; ‘survival’ mode takes over and food, water and sleep become the priorities of the time away from work. However the story so far…… Seven weeks in Bundaberg has been an experience to say the least. The Fruit Picking has been long and hot, but again, an experience. The Town, as already stated is what I imagined it would be like; Practical with its simple pleasures. I leave with no regrets of any sort. So the last few weeks have been quite eventful. Lets see there was the Kangaroo and the car incident, The ... read more
Bundaberg at night
Melons, melons, melons…….. Ah yes, a day in the life of a Water Melon picker. Wake up 5am. Breakfast is a large strong coffee and cereal, combined with murmured ‘good mornings’ to fellow workers. You know its going to be a good day. But every joint in your body screams ‘NO’. 5:45am, dressed and ready to go with your lunch you’ve packed the night before and the customary five litres of chilled water to last you the day. It won’t stay cold for long in the heat, but for the first few hours it was worth the effort. 6am and the bus leaves for your designated destination, and that of the others, dropping small groups off at different farms along the way. The coffee is starting to kick in and the painkillers have numbed the aches ... read more
Luxury???
Bundaberg isn’t exactly thumping. But if your coming here its probably for work so that wont really matter. I took a walk around the town today, and it seems nice enough. There is everything on the high street that you would expect from a large farming town such as this. There is also a new shopping complex a short walk off the main drag, with a Coles, Woolworth’s (both are the equivalent of Tesco/ Sainsbury’s), Kmart etc. Unlike Brisbane there would appear to be little vanity here. As you walk around the place, ‘practicality’ is the word that springs to mind. Compared to the state capital most people here look the same in dress and build. But I’m not an Australian so in many respects such observations are to be expected and perhaps ignored. Its hot ... read more
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Well...so...yeh... Rain!!! darn rain, ok, well it hasn't exactly been raining all of the days but it has rained rather a lot. However apart from talking about the weather all of the time, it is also quite hot, and when the sun is shining its rather pleasant. On the whole Brisbane is quite a nice city, its not full to the brim of endless things to do, but is on the right side of busy in my opinion. There is no beach here, but they have a man made swimming complex on the south-side of the river which makes for a great free get away, with nice views of downtown Brisbane to boot. Thats the thing I've found whilst staying here, although it might not have the beating pulse of London back home, it's much more ... read more
Brisbane Treasury
It rained!!!!! 3 days of traveling, and it rained! I dont know why i even bother. Well what's new?? Ah well, bank account is sorted, as is mobile, as if Tax File number.....Sleep??? not quite. Met up with Ben from back at village east which was good fun. Very weird to meet up on the other side of the world. Safe to say his is the only mobile number i currently have!!!! The hostel, I'm Currently at is Base Backpackers Central. Its pretty big as hostels go, filled with people from all over. Cant really give my opinion on it yet as haven't been here long enough. Safe to say at present, it will do. Its 7:45am and I'm in the lobby which serves as a travel agent/ internet hotspot/ 'job club'. The original intention wasn't ... read more
Good-morning, good-evening and goodnight....... RIGHT!, so currently sitting in a large part of the Dubai international airport, the food lounge to be precise. But there is a significant lack of food around. However the actual building itself is rather impressive. Oil does buy some pretty cool things. including reclined tacky leather chairs for me to lie about in whilst i wait for my connection. Yeh, about that, got off the first stint of this trip, to find out that i am in-fact flying via Singapore, before getting off at Brisbane. Just checked online, and i dont even get off the plane, either way i think the next bit of flying is going to be the killer. So far, 2 airline meals inside of me, 4 movies and very little sleep. Feel GREAT! Ok, best stop using ... read more
