Toby Berry

I was getting bored of city life, i wanted to go back to the real Australia, bring back the extreme heat, the dust, the insects, the backpacker lifestyle, everything to make me feel like i am travelling once again. I dont want to see cities that could be anywhere in the developed world, see all things English and easy, i want to feel challenged, far from the norm, away in a place i can learn and still don't fully understand, somewhere where the everyday life is more unpredictable than that of a city. Make me feel alive! I awoke on the sofa at Bram's after a heavy night drinking in bars of names i cannot remember or even knew. I had overslept having not heard my alarm, luckily i was already packed so i got changed, ... read more

The 7 hour journey from Mildura to Melbourne was nothing short of hell, the time was not a problem, the conditions on the other hand were horrendous. I seated myself on the V-Line bus ready for the 3 hour ride to Swan Hill where i would transfer to the train for a ride into Melbourne meeting Bram at Southern Cross Station. The first leg of the journey was routine, watching small towns and vineyards stretching seemingly to the horizon. I knew there were many but the scale is vast once observed from every direction. I would think if this was in England, a whole county would be filled with the endless green of leaves and fruit, thats what it seemed like. I disembarked the bus, passed the Big Murray Cod and boarded the train. I found ... read more

Mildura Part 2: (Writing from 20/12/2008) Two days ago myself and Mattias went to work on a farm to do a covering job. The farm was only about 20 minutes from the hostel and we were taken there by a Turkish guy. When we got there we met some other people that we would be working with, more Turks and a guy from Somalia. One of the guys in charge was a fat Turk who was an exact look alike to Azamat from Borat and i kept laughing everytime i saw him. It turned out that we weren't going to work that day because of some overnight rain so we ended up drinking coffee in a barn before being taken home. It was not all doom and gloom as i received my first pay from one ... read more

I took the Greyhound bus from Sydney Central Station on a 17 hour mission of a journey to Mildura, Victoria. The bus and the drivers were nowhere near as cool as Oz Experience, although this was transport, not part of a fun road trip adventure i had become so used to. The bus stopped in several small towns on the way and some big ones, including Canberra the capital city where i sat in the bus station for an hour and a half. It was bloody frezzing outside, im sure it would have been warmer at home that night. I was shivering like everybody else even though i was wearing warm clothes. Inside the TV had the rugby league world cup final on between Australia and New Zealand but it was boring and they even had ... read more

I returned to Mates Place, Sydney for an initial 3 nights where i was determined to find work and fast. The money had almost dried up and times were tough so i went to 'Work and Travel' to see what regional work was available. I needed to go somewhere where i would work alot and not have much temptation to spend it. The second number i called got me what i was looking for. Work starting monday in a regional area, an oasis town called Mildura on the borders of NSW and Victoria and not far from South Australia. I booked the Greyhound bus and spent the rest of the time relaxing, spending nothing, doing little, only uploading photos, laundry and other essential stuff. I needed some time out after sleeping in 14 hostels, 1 boat ... read more

Surf Camp was the penultemate leg of our epic east coast journey. The weather was still bad but that didnt matter as we were going to get wet surfing. We had a brief safety talk, then we were given our wetsuits and boards and then walked a short way to the beach. Before we entered the sea we stood in a large circle and went through the process of surfing and the technique that we would need to use. I was a bit apprehensive about entering the gloomy water but it was fine as there was plenty of us learning and lots of instructors. It was tiring work but amazing fun. I was standing within about 15 minutes and i gradually got better as time passed. Sure they were only small waves, well twice the size ... read more

From Surfers Paradise to Byron Bay, we arrived in the evening, enough time to check in, shower and walk to the main bar in town, 'Cheeky Monkies' where through 'Oz Experience' we got a reserved table with free beer, garlic bread and a $2 plate of carbonara which was a bargain. It heaved there, lots of games where prizes were won, table dancing throughout the entire bar and more. I stayed there until the early hours then went home while Lee ended up going back to a group of posh Australians holiday home where he went swimming and had cheese and champagne. He arrive back around midday without sleep. I wandered around town that morning waiting for the return of Lee, soaking up the relaxed surfers atmosphere and typical Australian seaside architecture. It was a beautiful ... read more

The Oz bus pulled into Surfers Paradise in the afternoon after another long days driving, stopping in Mooloolaba, Noosa and Brisbane for drop-offs and pick-ups. Myself and Lee walked a short distance on our hostel 'Backpackers in Paradise'. We stayed in an insane 20 bed dorm which was like a military barracks or something. The people in the room were ok and met some people to do stuff with. Surfers itself is on the Gold Coast. a holiday mecca for Australians. It reminded me of a cleaner, slightly less tacky European holiday destination. The weather was crap with lots of rain but we managed to avoid it when it mattered. We spent the afternoon wondering around and ventured onto the windswept beach where there were inevitably surfers. We booked a 3 day pass to the theme ... read more

I didnt spend long in rainbow beach, about an hour south of Hervey Bay, it was just a compolsary stop on the Oz bus trip so we spent one night there in the hostel and left early in the morning, headed for Surfers Paradise.... read more

We caught the Oz bus from Kroombit after our activities and headed for Hervey Bay which is the main gateway for Fraser Island. The bus arrived in Hervey Bay just in time for our hostel transfer and 4x4 self drive briefing. We got to the hostel named 'Fraser Roving', which was our chosen company, (the only one with pink cars), grabbed a beer and sat in the TV room where we met 7 other random people with whom we would embark on a 3 day adventure with. We watched a short presentation on the island and had the rules and regulations explained to us by the guy in charge. Firstly is was about losing our bond (deposit)."If you drive past certain points you will lose your bond, if you get saltwater under your car you will ... read more