vikki wyse
Hi, i am a 22 year old ex Veterinary Sciences student from Gloucestershire, England travelling to New Zealand and Australia with my buddy Lottie. We met in NZ in 2003, and since graduating this year have decided to return. We will be dairy farming in NZ near Christchurch until the end of January 2008, then on to Jackaroo School in Tamworth NSW in Australia then hopefully a job somewhere! the Oz part of our travels are still to be decided...kiwi_jillaroo
Travel Blog Posts
The Last Post
Published: September 5th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » England » Gloucestershire » Wotton-under-Edge
September 5th 2008
Well, there are a few more weeks of exciting adventures after the Red Centre Tour, but as its now over a month since i got back (YIKES!) i figured i'd finish the blog there. Overall i had a truly amazing time. Learned a lot about myself (wouldnt say i "found myself" as i dont think it was lost, and i dont think i'll ever really understand me anyway!), had some amazing and awesome adventure, met lots of cool, bizarre, lovely and occasionally slightly scary people and done more than i ever thought possible. i think this time around its the people i will miss more than the place. i hope i have made some friends for life and i cant wait to go back again, whenever in the future that may occur! Everyone asks "which is ... read more
Tour of the Red Centre - The Real Australia
Published: September 5th 2008Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » UluruJuly 5th 2008
I spent a total of 3 weeks in and around Alice Springs - two playing with puppies and kittens at the RSPCA, and one on tour in the Red Centre. After almost a year of travelling it would be very difficult to pick a highlight, such is the range of experiences i have had, people i have met and places i have been, but this would certainly come high on the list. Day 1: As all such tours do, the day started early at 6 am getting picked up from the hostel. I had booked a 5 day tour of all the major highlights of Central Australia, all of which lie a good few hours drive from Alice - Uluru is not just down the road! Myself and a German guy called Juergen were last to ... read more
MAD in South West WA
Published: July 4th 2008Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Bunbury » BunburyJune 17th 2008
For those that don't already know, MAD stands for Mum And Dad, although the customary use of the word could also apply here. For me, having MAD come out to Australia to see me created a mixture of emotions. having been away for 10 and a half months, the longest i have ever been away, i was very excited to see them again and, unlike the last time i went to New Zealand back in 2003, i was keen to share part of my experiences with them. It was a shame that they couldnt come up to the station and see that side of my travels, but we still had an amazing time together. Despite being 22 years old, i still count being "away from home" as being the time since i last saw my parents, ... read more
June 5th 2008
I still want to be a vet, but if for some reason that doesnt happen, this is where you will find me. It took a long time to realise my dream of becoming a jillaroo and working on an outback station, it nearly didnt happen at all, and it was almost nothing like i imagined, but in 10 months of travelling i finally found a place to be 'me', where i am actually seem to be good at the job and i enjoy the life. thats not to say it was all perfect and plain-sailing, i had my share of difficulties and challenges, but they were most definately out-weighed by the good times. The journey to the station from Kununurra was "interesting". I said farewell to my friends at the hostel in a last-minute dash back ... read more
Kununurra to El Questro.........and back!
Published: May 20th 2008Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » KununurraApril 26th 2008
The coach journey from Darwin to Kununurra took about 10 hours, including rest stops, which was a bit of a drag but i did get to see more of the amazing scenery. Australia is so varied, much like New Zealand, but wherever I go what really strikes me is the vastness. Not of the country as a whole, but simply in each place, no matter the climate or terrain, you can always see so far, its just endless. Travelling to Kununurra to finally start my job as a stationhand/jillaroo i got excited every time i saw a cow on the side of the road! mostly they have Brahmans here, or Brahman crosses (with red Angus = Brangus, with Shorthorn = Droughtmaster , etc) which are African-looking things, tall and slender with a hump on the point ... read more
Kakadu National Park
Published: May 17th 2008Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Kakadu National Park
April 12th 2008
I booked my 3 day 4WD Wilderness Tour via a very nice agent called Ben, who assured me that this was the best tour of its type and persuaded me to part with my $460 dollars (i got a slight discount by squirming about the price!). I was slightly nrevous, based on the brochure, that at 22 i would already be a bit over-the-hill and past-it as all the photos were of body-beautiful 18 year olds! But i was pleasantly surprised to find myself the youngest in the group by 9 years! There was Nicolla and Peter, from Brisbane, Duncan from all-over-the-world but most recently Canada, John from Ireland and Herwig from Germany, and our guide Sean (an Aussie). The tour can take up to 14 people so i was very lucky to have a group ... read more
Syndey to Darwin via the Blue Mountains
Published: April 28th 2008Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Blue MountainsApril 10th 2008
After saying a very sad farewell to Merryn's extended family, who i will miss very much and will definately visit again in the future, i took the train back to Syndey (during the day this time) for a few days of tourism before meeting up with friend Liz, from the jillaroo school, to go and see the Blue Mountains. The main highlight of my Syndey stay was doing theSyndey Harbour Bridge Climb. i had considered it before but Hannah had really strongly recommended it so i thought it was worth the money to have a go. i picked a night climb, to see the city all lit up, and was very lucky to get a perfect time when we also got to see the sunset. it took nearly an hour for them to brief us on ... read more
April 1st 2008
Being a vet student (hoorah and at last!), work experience is always interesting and fun, but i can honestly say that my 3 weeks in Rochester (near Echuca, see above) were the best i have ever had on placement. As friend at college Jenny says, who is lifelong friends with Merryn, the vet that i stayed with, Rochester Veterinary Clinic has probably spoiled all English placements for me! There is no endless tea and coffee making, moping floors or fetching and carrying. The entire team are the loveliest people and are constantly and actively making sure that i got to go out and see the most interesting cases and got involved as much as possible. I arrived from Syndey on the overnight train. I spent the Saturday after the jillaroo school with Kirke and Liz, meandering ... read more
Becoming a True Blue Aussie Jillaroo...Part 2
Published: April 7th 2008Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Tamworth
March 1st 2008
Day Seven: The following morning, or perhaps just slightly later that same morning, there was none of the usual 7 am stirrings and no usual wake-up music from the Pinky's lounge. Eventually we did stir around 9 am, mostly because the sun was coming in through 3 different windows and all hitting me in the face! The kitchen/dinning room was about half full but very quiet as a stumbled in. The boys were mumbling quietly into their cornflakes and several others were nursing their third or fourth of many coffees. With no structured programme for the day we were free to eat whatever we found in the student fridge (mainly cheesecake and other left over puddings!) so breakfast blurred into more coffee and a pudding brunch and on into random salad-and-leftovers lunch. We had been planning ... read more
Becoming a True Blue Aussie Jillaroo...Part 1
Published: April 2nd 2008Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Tamworth
March 1st 2008
The flight from New Zealand was uneventful. I said goodbye to the spectacular Southern Alps and the West Coast and then got bored looking out of the window at the sea, although i swear i saw a whale breaching as we approached Australia. I was in a state of unreality during most of it - it just wouldnt sink in that i was going to be in Australia! As we neared the coast however i got a little excited and my nose was glued to the window until we landed. Mostly we saw lots of trees and hills, then the Syndey suburbs came into view - lots of little houses accompanied by little blue swimming pool diamonds. The plane banked and we flew right over the city and i got a good view of the Sydney ... read more
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